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Life and public services of Henry Clay / by Epes Sargent.

Life and public services of Henry Clay / by Epes Sargent. Sargent, Epes, 1813-1880. 400dpi TIFF G4 page images University of Kentucky, Electronic Information Access & Management Center Lexington, Kentucky 2002 b92-97-27765714 Electronic reproduction. 2002. (Beyond the shelf, serving historic Kentuckiana through virtual access (IMLS LG-03-02-0012-02) ; These pages may be freely searched and displayed. Permission must be received for subsequent distribution in print or electronically. Life and public services of Henry Clay / by Epes Sargent. Sargent, Epes, 1813-1880. Greeley & McElrath, New York : 1844. 80 p. : port. ; 26 cm. Coleman Microfilm. Atlanta, Ga. : SOLINET, 1993. 1 microfilm reel ; 35 mm. (SOLINET/ASERL Cooperative Microfilming Project (NEH PS-20317) ; SOL MN03016.09 KUK) Printing Master B92-97. IMLS This electronic text file was created by Optical Character Recognition (OCR). No corrections have been made to the OCR-ed text and no editing has been done to the content of the original document. Encoding has been done through an automated process using the recommendations for Level 1 of the TEI in Libraries Guidelines. Digital page images are linked to the text file. Clay, Henry, 1777-1852.Willis, Paul A. Willis, Barbara. L I F E AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF HENR\lY [LAY I Brought down to the year IS14. NEW-YORK: GREELEY McELRATH, TRIBUNE BUILDINGS. 1 8 4 4. k'Kacs 12i CENTS-TEN COPIES FOR 1. This page in the original text is blank. This page in the original text is blank. tI II I f II, II I I i Odree/yl X.trti 7maluy WJ.rk /; e,a T H E LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES O F H E N R Y C L A Y BY EPES SARGENT, E SQ., OF NEW YORK. NEW EDITION, REVISED, ENLARGED AND BROUGHT DOWN TO THE YEAR 1844. BY THE AUTHOR. NEW YORK: GREELEY MCELRATH, TRIBUNE OFFICE, 160 NASSAU STREET. 1844. PREFACE. THE name of the Author having been associated with another "' Life of Clay," recently issued from the Press, he takes this occasion to say, that the present is the only one, in the preparation of which he has been, in the least degree, concerned. The first edition of this work appeared during the autumn of 1842, at which time there was no published memoir of Mr. Clay (so far as the writer's knowledge extended), except that by George D. Prentice, Esq. which terminates with the close of John Quincy Adams's administration. To this eloquent biographical sketch, the Author takes pleasure in acknow- ledging his indebtedness for a number of interesting facts. The new and improved edition of his "1 Life of Clay," now offered to the public, has been carefully revised-some errors have been corrected-several omissions have been supplied- and the Memoir has been brought down to the year 1844. Powerful and memorable as has been the influence which Mr. Clay has exerted upon the legielat'on of the country during the last forty years, the crowning felicity of his public career remains to be fulfilled and recorded. To his biographer of 1843 we leave the task of chronicling that auspicious event, to which the People of the United States now look hops fully forward as to the day-spring of a new era of prosperity in the government. E. S. NEW YORK, MARCH, 1844. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1844, by GREELEY McELRATII, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Unitel States, for the Southern District of New York. T HE L IF E AND PUBLIC S E RVICE S OF H E N R Y C L A Y. CHAPTER I. Birth and Parentage-Ifis early dluy,-The Mill-boy of the Sladihe-Studis 1w-leans Pltrick Henry-Removes to Ketehky-D1ehut at a lDe-ating Society-13eeomes a suc- te-sful Perinettioer-Canes in whidh hle distillguishes himself- Hle advinwatca the piidw uif grdualdly Eui`ancipai,,g the hlavcs in Kentocky)-4)p1-se the Alien and Seliti.n Laws- Is elected tx the General Assebly-Inistances of' his Elo- qc nel -Atfi ir itli (Il l)nvies-APpuurs at the BIar tr Aarol Burr-Subsequent Interview with Burr in New-York. EhENRY CLAY is a native of Hanover county, Vir- ginia. lie was born on the 12th of April, 1777, in a district of country familiarly known in the neighbor- hood as the Slashes. His father, a Baptist clergy- man, died during the revolutionary war, bequeath- ing a small and much embarrassed estate and seven children, of whom Henry was the filth, to the care of an affectionate mother. The surviving parent did not possess the means to give her sons a classi- cal education; and the subject of our memoir re- ceived no oilier instruction than such as could be obtained in the log-cabin school-houses, still comn- mon in the lower parts of Virginia, at which spell- ing, reading, writing and arithmetic are taught. In 1792, his mother, who had become united, in a second marriage, with Mr. Henry Watkins, removed to Woodford county, Kentucky, taking all her chil- dren, with the exception of Henry and his oldest brother. It was always a subject of regret with MIr. Clay, that he was deprived at so early an age of his mother's counsel, conversation and care. She was v woman of great strength of mind, and was tender- ly attached to her children. He had been only five years old when he lost his father; and, consequently, his circumstances in early life, if not actually indigent, were such as to subject himn frequently to hard manual labor. He has ploughed in conifields, many a sumtner day, without shoes, and with no other clothes on than a pair of Osnaburg trowsers and a coarse shirt. lie has often gone to mill with grain to be ground into meal or flour; and there are those who remember his youthful visits to Mrs. Darricott's mill, on the Pamunkey river. On such occasions lie generally rode a horse without a saddle, while a rope sup- plied the place of a bridle. But in the absence of a more splendid equipment, a bag containing three or four bushels of wheat or cormi was generally thrown across the horse's back, mounted upon which the future statesman would go to mill, get the grain ground, and return with it home. At the age of fourteen, he was placed in a small retail store, kept by Mr. Richard Denny, near the market-house in the city of Richmond. lie re- mnained here till the next year, (1792,) when lie was - transferred to the office of the Clerk of the Thigh Court of Chancery, Mr. Peter Tinsley. There he became acquainted with the venerable Chancellor Wythe, attracted his friendlyattention, and enjoyed the benefit of his instruction and conversation. The Chancellor being unable to write well, in conse- queiice of the gout or rheumatism iii his right thumb, bethought himself of employing his young friend as an amanuensis. This was a fortunate cir- cumstance for the fatherless boy. His attention was thus called to the structure of sentences. as he wrote them down fiom the dictation of his empoy- er; and a taste for the study of grammar was crea- ted which was noticed and encouraged by the Chancellor, upon whose recommendation he read Harris's Hermes, Tooke's Diversions of Purley, Bishop Lowth's Grammar, and other similarworks. For his handwriting, which is still remarkably neat and regular, Mr. Clay was chiefly indebted to Mr. Timisley. Chancellor Wythe was devoted to the study of Greek. .He was at one time occupied in preparing reports oh nis decisions, and comment- ing pon those of the Court of Appeals, by which some of his were reversed; and in this work lie was assisted by his amanuensis. After the reports were published], lie sent copies to Mr. Jefferson, John Adams, Samuel Adains, and others. In these copies lhe employed Henry Clay to copy particular passa- ges fromt Greek authors, to whom references had been made. Not utiderstanding a single Greekcha- racter, the young copyist had to transcribe by imi tation letter after letter. Life of Henry Clay. Leaving the office of Mr. Tinslcy the latter part of 1796, he went to reside with the late Robert Brooke, Esq., the Attorney General, formerly Gov- ernor of Vinr-inia. His only regular study of the lw was during the year 1797, that lie lived with rl. Brooke; but it was impossible that he should nor, in the daily scenes he witnessed, and in the pre- sence of the emiinent men whom he so often heard and saw, be in the way of gathering much valuable legal iniforination. During his residence of six or seven vears in Richmond, he became acquainted with nil or most of the eminent Virginians of the pe- riod, who lived in that city, or were in the habit of resortini_ to it-with Edmund Pendleton, Spencer Roamme, Chief Justice Marshall, Bushrod Washing- toin, Wickham, Call, Copeland, c. On two occa- piols, he had the good fortune to hear Patrick Hen- ry-monce, before the Circuit Court of the United States for the Virginia District, on the question of the payment of the British debts; and again before the House of Delegates of Virginia, on a claim of the supernumerary officers in the service of the State during the Revolutionary War. Mr.Clay re- members that remarkable man, his appearance and his minanner, distinctly. Tme impression of his elo- that, notwithstanding his fine capacities, lie had some native diffidence to overcome before they were fairly tested. He had joined a debating society, and at one of the meetings the vote was about to be taken upon the question under discussion, when he re- marked in a low but audible whisper, that the sub- ject did not appear to hint to have been exhausted. " Do not put the question yet-Ntr. Clay will speak," exclaimed a member, who had overheard the half hesitating remark. The chairman instantly took the hint, and nodded to the young lawyer in token of his readiness to hear what he had to say. With every indication of ex- treme cmbarrassmient, lie rose, and, in his confu- sion, began by saying: " Gentlemen of the Jury"- unconsciously addressing his fellow-members as the tribunal, to which he had perhaps often made ima- ginary appeals in his dreams of a successful debut at the bar. His audience did not add to his agita- tion by seeming to notice it, and, after floundering and blushing for a moment or two, and stamniering out a repetition of the words ` Gentlemen of the Jury," he suddenly shook off all signs of distrust and timidity, and launched into his subject with a promptitude and propriety of elocution, which ex- qutint powers remaining on his mind is, that their cited general surprise. charm consisted mainly in one of the finest voices To those familiar with the perfect self possession ever heard, in his graceful gesticulation, and the va- of Mr. Clay's manner in after life upon all occasions, riety and force of expression which he exhibited in the moat trying and unexpected, this instance will his bilce. I present an amusing contrast; for the evidence is Hlenry Clay quitted Richmond in November, 1797, not on record of his ever having failed for an instant his eldest brolher having died while lie yet resided in his resourcesof repartee or of argument in debate. in that city. Bearing a license from the Judges of Shortly after this early essay in public speaking, thie Virginia Court of Appeals to practise law, he he was admitted as a practitioner before the Fayette entablihed himself in Lexington, Kentucky. He Court of Quarter Sessions, a court of general juris- was without patrons, without the countenance of in- diction. Business soon poured in upon him, and fluenitial friends, and destitute of the means of pay- during the first term he had a handsome practice. jng his weekly board. '1 1 remember," says he, in His manners and address, both in personal inter- his spcuthi of June, 18-1l, at Lexington, "how corn- course and before a jury, were unusually captivat- fortalie I thought I should be, if I could make pound;100 ing. Frank in avowing his sentiments, and bold Virginia money per year; and with what delight I and consistent in maintaining them, he laid the foun- received the first fifteen shilling fee My hopes dation of a character for sincerity and honor, Which wereinurethan realized. limmediatelyrushedinto amid all the shocks of political changes and the a lucrative practice." Iscurrility ofpartizan warfare, has never been shaken Before assuming the active responsibilities of his or tainted. In the possession of these attributes, profession, he devoted himself with assiduity several beyond the reach of cavil or of question, is to be months tol his legal studies. Even at that period the found the secret of that inalienable attachment bhrof Lexington was eminentfor its ability. Among among the vast body of his friends, which has fol- its metimbers 'Aere George Nicholas, James Hughes, lowed him throughout his career. John Breckeaibridge, Jamnes Brown, William Mur-! One of the most important cases, in which Mlr. ray, arid others, whose reputation was sufficient to Clay was engaged during the first three or four discourage the most stout-hearted competition. But years of his professional life, was that in which he true genius is rarely unaccompanied by a conscious- was employed to defend a Mrs. Phelps, indicted for ness of its power; and the friendless and unknown murder. This woman was the wife of a respectablo youth from Virginia fearlessly entered the field, farmerand until the timeoftheactforwhich she was Which, to a less intrepid spirit, would have seemed arraigned, had led a blameless and correct life. One pre-occupied. He soon commanded consideration day, in her own house, taking some offence at a Miss and respect. lie was familiar with the technicali- Phelps, hersister-in-law, she levelled a gun, anid shot ties of practice; and early habits of business and her through the heart. The poor girl had only time application, enabled him to effect an easy mastery of to exclaim, I Sister, you have killed me,' and expired. the caCes entrusted to his charge. His subtle ap- Great interest was excited in the case, and the Court prniciation of character, knowledge of human nature, was crowded to overflowing on tle dav of trial. Of anil faculties of persuasion, rendered him peculiarly the fact of the homicide there could be no doubt. successful in his appeals to a jury; and he obtained It was committed in the presence of witnesses, and great celebrity for his adroit and careful manage- the only question was to 'Ahat class of crimes did ment of criminal cases. the offence belong. If it were pronounced murder An anecdote is related of him about the time of in the first degree, the life of the wretched prisoner his first entrance upon his profession, which shows would be the forfeit; but, if manslaughter, she 4 Mr. Clay as an Adzvocate-Slavery. would be punished merely by confinement in the gaol or penitentiary. The legal contest was long and able. The efforts of the cotunsel for the prome- cution were strenuous and earnest; but Mr. Clay succeeded not only in saving the life of his client, but so mnoved the jury in her behalf by his eloquence, that her punishment was made as light as the law would allow. fie gained much distinction by the ability he displayed in this case, and thenceforth it was considered a great object to enlist his assistance in all criitritial suits on the part of the defendant. It is a singular fact, that in the course of' a very extensive practice itn the courts oferininiial jurispru- denee, and in the defence of a large number of indi- viduals arraigned for capital offences, he never had, one of his clients sentenced to death. Another case, in which he acquired scarcely less celebrity, was shortly afterward tried in Harrison County. Two Germans, father and son, hai been indicted for murder. The deed, of killing was proved to the entire satisfaction of the Court, and was con- sidered an aggravated murder. Mr. Clay's efforts were therefore directed to saving their lives. 'l'he trial occupied five days, and his closinig appeal to the jury was of the most stirring and pathetic de- scription. It proved irresistible, for they returned a verdict of' manslaughter. Not satisfied with this sig. nal triumph, he moved an arrest of judgment, and, after another day's contest, prevailed in this also. The consequence was, that the prisoners were dis- charged without even the punishment of the crime, of which the jury had found them guilty. An amusing incident occurred at the conclusion of this trial. An old, withered, ill-favored German woman, who was the wife of the elder prisoner, and the mother of the younger, on being informed of the success of the final motion for an arrest of judg- ment, and the consequent acquittal of her husband and son, ran toward the young advocate, in the ex- cess of her gratitude and joy, and throwing her arms about his neck, kissed hitt in the eves of the crowd- ed court. Although taken wholly by surprise, and hardly flattered by blandishments from such a source, young Clay acquitted himself upon the oc- casion, with a grace and good humor, which won him new applause from the spectators. All great emotions claim respect; and in this instance so far did the sytnpaties of the audience go with the old woman as to divest of ridicule an act, which, in the recital, may seem to have partaken principally of the ludicrous. Notwithstanding his extraordinary success in all the criminal suits entrusted to him, the abilities dis- played by Mr. Clay at this period in civil cases were no less brilliant and triumphant. In suits growing out of the land laws of Virginia and Ken- tucky, he was especially distinguished; rapidly ac- quiring wealth and popularity by his practice. It is related of him, that on one occasion, in conjunc- tion with another attorney, he was employed to ar- gue, in the Fayette Circuit Court, a question of great difticulty-one in which the interests of the litigant parties were deeply involved. At the open- ing of the court, something occurred to call hitn away, and the whole matiagetnent of the case de- volved on his associate counsel. Two days were spent in discussing the points of law, which were to govern the instructions of the Court to the jury, and 5 on all of these points, Mr. Clay's colleague was foiled by his antagonist. At the end of the second day, Mr. Clay re-entered the Court. Ile bad not heard a word of the testimony, and knew nothing of the course which the discussion hld taken; but, af- ter holding a very short consultation with his col- league, lie drew up a statement of the forum ill which lie wished the instructions of the Court to be givc nx to the jury, and acconpatried his petition wvith a f'e v observations, so entirely novel and satisfactory, that it was granted without the least hesitation. A cor- responding verdict wvas instantly returned; and thus the case, which hald been on the point of being de- cided against NMr. Clay's client, resulted in his fiivor in less than half an hour after the young lawyer had entered the Court-house. For an enumeration of the various cases in which Mr. Clay was about this time engaged, and in a hich his success was as marked as his talents were obvi- omis, we mnust refer the curious reader to the records of the Courts ofKentuckv, and hasten to exhibit the subject of our memoir on that more extended field, where his history began to be interwoven with the history of his country, and a whole nation hailed him as a champion worthy of the best days of the Republic. As early as 1797, when the people of Kentucky were about electing a Convention to form a new Constitution for that State, M1r. Clay mav he said to have Xcomtnenced his political career. Ilis first efforts were made on behalf of human liberty, and at the risk of losing that breeze of popular tavor, which was wvafting on his bark bravely toward that haven of worldly prosperity and renown. The most important feature in the plan for a new Constitution, submitted to the people of Kentucky, was a provision for the prospective eradication ot slavery from the State by means of a gradual eman- cipation of those held in bondage. Against this proposal a tremendous outcry was at once raised. It was not to be questioned that the voice of the ma- jority was vehemently opposed to it. But voung" Clay did not hesitate as to his course. In that spi It of self-sacrifice, which he has since displayed on so many occasions, in great public emergencies, with- out stopping to reckon the disadvantages to himnsef; he boldly arrayed himself on the side of those friendly to emancipation. In the canvass, which preceded the election of members of the Convention, lie exerted himself with all the energy of his nature in behalf of that cause, which he believed to be the cause of truth and justice. With his voice and peti he actively labored to promote the choice of Dele- gates who were pledged to its support. lie failed in the fulfilment of his philanthropic intentions, and incurred temporary unpopularity by his course. Time, however, is daily making more apparent the wisdom of his counsel. Mr. Clay has not faltered in his views upon this great question. They are now what they were in 1797. In maintaining the policy of this scheme or gradual emancipation he has ever been fearless and consistent. Let it not be imagined, however, that lie has any sympathy with that incendiary spirit which would seem to actuate some of the clamorers for immediate and unconditional abolition at the present time. His views were far-sighted, states- man-like and sagacious. He looked to the general Lje of Itenry Clay. good, not merely of his contemporaries but of pos- terity; and his plan stretched bevonl the embarrass- ments of the present hour into the future. A more just, practicable and beneficent scheme than his, for the accomplishment of a consummation so devoutly to tie wished by humanity at large, could not have been devised. It resembled that adopted in Pennsylvania in the vear 1780 at the instance of Dr. Franklin, according to which, the generation in being were to remain in bondage, but all their offspring, born after a speci- fled day, were to be free-at the age of twenty-eight, and, in the mean time, were to receive preparatory instruction to qualify themn for the enjoyment of freedom. Air. Clay thought, with many others, that as the slave States had severally the right to judge, escry one exclusively for itself, in respect to the in- stitution of domestic slavery, the proportion of slaves to the white population in Kentucky at that time was so inconsiderable, that a system of gradu- al emancipation might have been adopted without any haz ird to the security and interests of the comn- mnoiwealth. Recently a charge was made by the principal op- po'itioIl paper at the South, that Mr. Clay had join. ed tile Atbolitionists; and the ground of the charge was the averment that he had written a letter to Mr. Giddings, of Ohio, approving the leading views of that party. Upon inquiry, it appeared, however, that the letter was written by Cassius M. Clay, a namesake. In noticing the erroneous statement, Mr. Clay remarked, in a letter to a friend-"I do not write letters for different latitudes. I have but one heart, and one mind; and all my letters are but copies of the original, and if genuine, will be found to conform to it, wherever they may he addressed." Would that every candidate for the Presidency might say this with equal sincerity and truth ! Notwithstanding the failure of his exertions in ar- resting the continuance of negro servitude in Ken- tacky, Mr. Clay has never shrunk from the avowal of his sentiments upon the subject, nor from their practical manifestation in his professional and poli- tical career. For several years, whenever a slave brought an action at law for his liberty, Mr. Clay volunteered as his advocate: and he always suc. ceeded in obtaining a decision in the slave's favor. Oppression in every shape would seem to have roused the most ardent sympathies of his soul, and to have enlisted his indignant eloquence in behalfof its unfriended object. The impulses, which urged him at this early day to take the part of the domes- tic bondsmen of his own State, were the same with those, by which he was instigated, when the ques- tions of recognizing South American and Grecian In- dependence were presented to the consideration of a tardy and calculating Congress. During the administration of John Adams, in 1798- 9, the famous alien and sedition laws were passed. Trhe popular opposition with which these extraordi- nary measures were received, is still vividly remem- bered in the United States. By the "1 alien law," the President was authorized to order any alien, whom " he should judge dangerous to the peace and safety" of the country "1 to depart out of the 4erri- tory within such time" as he should judge proper, upon penalty of being "1.imprisoned for a term not exceeding three years." c. The " sedition law" was designed to punish the abuse of speech of the press. It imposed a heavy pecuniary fine, and imprisonment for a term of years, upon such as should combine or conspire together to oppose any measure of Government: upon such as should write, print, utter, publish, c., "lany false, scandalous and malicious writing against the Government of the United States or the Presi- dent," c. Mr. Clay stood forth one of the earliest champions of popular rights in opposition to these memoriable laws. Kentucky was one of the first States that launched their thunders against them; and though many speakers caine forward to give expression to the indignation which was swelling in the public heart, none succeeded Fo well in striking the re- sponsive chord as our young lawyer. lie was soon regarded as the leading spirit of the opposition party; and it was about this time that the title of "1 THE GREAT COMMONER" was bestowed upon him. A gentleman, who was present at a meeting where these obnoxious laws were discussed, describes the effect produced by Mr. Clav's eloquence as difficult adequately to describe. The populace had asscm- bled in the fields in the vicinity of Lexington, and were first addressed by Mr. George Nicholas, a die4- tinguished man, and a powerful speaker. The speech of Mr. Nicholas was long and eloquent, and he was greeted by the most enthusiastic cheers as he con- cluded. Clay being called for, promptly appeared, and made one of the most extraordinary and impres- sive harangues ever addressed to a popular assen- bly. A striking evidence of its thrilling and effec- tive character may be found in the fact that when be ceased, there tas no shout-no applause. So eloquently had he interpreted the deep feelings of the multitude, that they forgot the orator in the ab- sorbing emotions he had produced. A higher com- pliment can hardly be conceived. The theme was a glorious one for a young and generous mind, filled with ardor in behalf of human liberty-and he did it justice. The people took Clay and Nicholas upon their shoulders, and forcing them into a carriage, drew them through the streets, amid shouts of ap- plause. What an incident for an orator, who had not yet completed his twenty second year! Four years afterwards, when Mr. Clay was absent from the County of Fayette at the Olympian Springs, he was brought forward, without his knowledge or previous consent, as a candidate, and elected to the General Assembly of Kentucky. He soon made his influence fllt in that body. In 1804, Mr. Felix Grundy, then an adroit and well-known politician, made an attempt in the Legislature to procure the repeal of a law incorporating the Lexington Insu- rance Office. He was opposed at every step by Mr. Clay; and the war of words between the youthful debaters drew to the hall of the House throngs of spectators. Grundy had managed to secure before hand a majority in his favor in the House; but the members of the Senate flocked in to hear Clay speak, and so cogently did he present to their understand- ings the impolicy and unconstitutionality of the moasure under discussion, that they refused to sanc- tion it after it had been passed by that other branch. and a virtual triumph was thus obtained. It is recorded of Mr. Clay, that, in the course of the legislative seFsion of 1805, he made an effort t 6 Col. Daviess-Aaron Burr. procure the removal of the seat of Government from Frankfort; and his speech on the occasion is said to have been an inimitable specimen of argument and humor. Frankfort is peculiar in its appearance and situation, being sunk, like a huge pit, below the sur- rounding country, and environed by rough and pre- cipitous0 ledges. "' We have," said Air. Clay, " the model of an inverted hat; Frankfort is the body of the hat, and the lands adjacent are the brim. To change the figure, it is nature'sgreat penitentiary ; and if the imemibers of this House would know the bodily condition of the prisoners, let him look at tivaee poor creatures in the gallery." As he said this, lie pointed with his finger to halfa dozen figures that chanced, at that moment, to be moving about in the gallery, more like animated skeletons than respectable compounds of flesh and blood. The objects thus designated, seeing the at- tention of the whole assembly suddenly directed to- wards them, dodged, with ludicrous haste, behind the railing, and the assembly was thrown into a con- vulsion of merriment. This argunsentum ad homi nme proved irresistible. The members of the House agreed that it was expedient to remove the seat of Government, but it was subsequently found impos- sible to decide upon a new location, and the Legis- lature continues to hold its sessions at Frankfort. It was an early resolution of Mr. Clay, that no litigants, rich or poor, should have occasion to say that for the wart of counsel they could not obtain justice at every bar where he could appear for thern. Col. Joseph Hamilton Daviess, at that time United States District Attorney, and a man ofinfluence and distinction, [ail committed an assault and battery at Frankfort on Mr. Bush, a respectable citizen, and a tavern-keeper at that place. The bar of Frank- fiirt declined instituting an action for the latter against Col. D. Bush finally appealed to Henry Clay, who promptly undertook the case, and brought the suit in Lexington. In the argument of a preliminary question, Mr. Clay felt it his duty to aniniadvertwith some severity upon the conduct of Col. Daviess; whereupon the latter, after the ad- journment of the Court, addressed a note to him, remonstrating against his course, and expressing a wish that it should not be persevered in. Mr. Clay immediately replied that he had undertaken the cause of Mr. BHush from a sense of duty; that lie should submit to no dictation as to his management of it, which should be according to his own judge. ment exclusively; but that he should hold himself responsible for whatever he did or said, in or out of Court. A challenge ensued; Mr. Clay accepted it, anti proceeded to Frankfort for the hostile meeting. There, by the interposition of mutual friends, the affair was accotnmodated in a manner honorable to both parties. In the autumn of Itt06, the celebrated Aaron Burr was arrested in Kentucky, on a charge of being en- gaged in an illegal warlike enterprise. The saga- city and penetration of that extraordinary man were never more clearly evinced than in his application to Mr. Clay to d, fend him Mr. Clay believed, and It was generally believed in Kentucky, that the pro- secution was groundless, and was instituted by Col. Daviess, whom we have already mentioned, who was a great admirer of Col. Hamilton. anti who dis- liked Burr because he had killed Hamilton in a duel, and was moreover, his opponent in politics. Mr. Clay felt a lively sympathy for Col. Burr, on account of his being arrested in a State distant from his own, on account of his misfortunes, and the di8. tinguished stations he had filled. Still he declined appearing for him, until Burr gave him written as- surances3 that hl was engaged in no enterprise for- bidden by laws, and none that was not known and approved by the Cabinet at Washington. On i- ceiving these assurances, Mr. Clay appeared for him ; and thinking that Burr ought not to be dealt with as an ordinary culprit, he declined receiving from him any fee, although a liberal one was ten- dered. Burr wais acquitted. Mr. Clay shortly after pro- ceeded to Washington, and received from Mr. Jef- ferson an account of the letter in ciptter, which had been written by Burr to General Wilkinson, to- gether with other information of the criminal designs of Burr. Mr. Clay handed the written assurances above mentioned to M1r. Jefferson at the request of the latter. On his return from Ghent, Mr. Clay made a brief sojourn in the city of New-York, and visited, among other places of interest, the Federal Court, then in session, escorted by his friend, the late Mr. Smith, then Marshall, formerly a Senator front New-York. On entering the court-room, in the City Hall, the eyes of the bench, bar, officers, and attendants upon the Court, were turned upon Air. C. who was in. vited to take a seat on the bench, which he politely declimed, and took a position in the bar. Shortly after, a small gentleman, apparently advanced in years, and with bushy, gray hair, whom Mr Clay for an instant didl not recognize, approached hinm He quickly perceived it was Col. Burr, who ten- dered his hand to solute Mr. Clay. The latter de- clitted receiving it. The Colonel, nevertheless, was not repulsed, but engaged in conversation with Mr. Clay, remarking, thit lie had understood that, be- sides the treaty of peace, the American Commis- sioners had negotiteed a good Commercial Conven- tion with Great Britain. Mr. Clay replied coldly, that such a convention was concluded, and that its terms would be known as soon as it was promua) gated by public authority. Col. B. expressed a wish to have an hour's interview with him, and Mr. C. told him where lie stopped-but the Colonel never called. Thus terminated all the intercourse which ever took place between Henay Clay and Aaron Burr. And yet even out of materials libe these Detraction has tried to maeufacture weapons for its assaults! CHAPTER II. Elected to the Senate ef the United Fts tis first Speech. h fever of Internal lImprovements-st eh -n aSpeaker of the Kentuicky nose if Asebly-Sehes an lleprt-Rm letions in favor of Ameri, an MTnurfatmi s-Del with tunts- uhrey laiahal-Htis seintimeats if regard to thonlieg-Tahi is -ent a second time ii the United States Senate-Speaks 1 behalf of Domestic Manifacturca-Lays the thnindntion of the Anerijn System-Spch ot the line ,f the P'ardtito- abeis; of the Ssio)n- Thint 9Sein of the Eleventh Ce_- ir rem-The Jnitet lStates stank-lHe becor-es a rnember of tus Yielled States Itosee ,sf Representatives--I ht-sen Speakr oen the first bsllot-Criti'al sate of Publie Atlsirs-ts in favte of a War with ('ret tritni,--SPeeh on the bill ftr raising Trowora-On a Naval Eetablishmhent-Carries his Nleasurs- Our Naval successes. ON the twetty-ninth iof December, 1806, Mr. Clay prodticed his crede tiale, and took his sent in thw Senate of the Uthited States. He had been elegc by the Legislature of the State of Kentucky to fill a vacancy occasioned by the resignation of the Hon. John Adair; and, from the journals of Congrees, he seems to have entered at once, actively upon the discharge of the duties of his new and exalted position. His first Speech was in favor of the erection of a bridge over the Potomac River; and tit this period we perceive the dawning of those views of Internal Improvement,' which he after- ward carried out so ably, and his advocacy of which should alone be sufficient to entitle him to the last- ing gratitude of the Country. He amused the Senate on this occasion by quoting a passage from Peter Pindar, as applicable to a Senator by whom he had been assailed, and who was remarkable for the expression of superior sagacity which his coun- tenance was wont to assume when he rebuked the youngsr members of the body. The picture was p and graphic: VTan have I seen a sa qpie in the street. A battering hird, we ten neet; A MMird ir curiosity well kown., With hend awry, ,i.d (cnning eye, Peep knowingly itio a narrow-bone." This Speech was soon followed by his presenta- tion of a Resolution advocating the expediency of appropriating a quantity of land toward the opening of the Canal proposed to be cut at the Rapids of the Ohio, on the Kentucky shore. The subject of appropriations for Internal Im- provements was at that time a novelty. So far as it related to the establishment of Post-Roads, it had, it is true, been discussed in February, 1795; but no formal opinion of Congress was expressed, so as to be a precedent for future action. A Committee, consisting of Messrs. Clay, Giles and Baldwin, was now appointed to consider the new Resolution, and on the twenty-fourth of Feb- ruary, 1807, Mr. Clay made an able Report to the Senate, in which we find the following passage:- dHow far it is the policy of the Government to aid 'in works of this kind, when it has no distinct in- 'terest; whether, indeed, in such a case, it has the 'Constitutional power of patronage and encourage. ' went, it is not necessary to be d cided in the present ' instance." A few days afterward, he reported a bill providing for the appointment of Commissioners to ascertain the practicability of removing the ob. structions in the navigation of the Ohio at the Rapids. This bill passed the Senate by a vote of eighteen to dimgt, The following resolution, presented ibe day of the passage of the bill, shows that Mr. Clay thus early in his career was deeply impressed with the imnpor- tance of a system of Internal Ilmprovement. Ile may truly be called the father of that syctem, which has so incalculably advanced the general prosperity of the Republic:- " Resolecd, That the Secretary of the Treasury be directed to prepare and report to the Senate at. their next session, a plan for the application of such meanr as are within the power of Congress, to the purposes of opening Roads find making Canals; to- gether with a statement of undertakings of that na- ture, which, as objects of public improvement, may require and deserve the aid of Government; ant also, a statement of works, of the nature mentioned, which have been commenced, the progre-s which has been made in them, and the means and prospect of their being completed; and all such information as, in the opinion of the Secretary, shall be material in relation to the objects of this resolution." The resolution was passed with but three disEen)- ing voices. During this session an attempt was made to sus- pend the Habeas Corpus Act, for the purpose of enabling the President to arrest, without going through the forms and delays of the law, Col. Burr, of whose evil intentions there was now sufficient proof. Mr. Clay did not speak on the motion, but his vote was recorded against it, not through any tenderness towards Burr, but because of the danger oi instituting such a precedent against the liberty of the citizen. The motion was, however, carried in the Senate, but defeated in the House of Represent- atives. Mr. Clay's election to the Senate of the United States had been but for the fraction of a term, amounting to a single session. In the summer ot 1807, he was again chosen by the citizens of Fay- ette to represent them in the Kentucky Legislature, and at the next session he was elected Speaker of the Assembly. In this position he did not content himself with faithfully discharging the ordinary du- ties of a Speaker. He entered the arena of debate, and took an active part in most of the important discussions before the House. A motion having been made to prohibit the reading in the Courts of Kentucky of any British decision, or elementary work on Law, he opposed it with a vigor and elo- queuce that could not fail of effect. Alore than four- fifths of the Members of the House had evinced a determination to vote for the motion. It was argued that the Americans, as an independent people, ought not to suffer themselves to be governed, in the ad. ministration of justice, by the legal decisions of a foreign power. Mr. Clay had to contend against a most formidable array of popular prejudice. To obviate one of the most potent arguments of the friends of the motion, he ingeniously moved to amend it by limiting the exclusion of British deci- sions from Kentucky to those only wltivhhbave taken place since the 4th of July, 1776, the date of Ameni- can Independence, and suffering all which preceded rthat period to remain in force. He maintained that before the declaration of our independence, the Brit- i ih and Americans were the same nation, and the laws of the one people were those of the other. IIe then entered upon one of the most eloquent ba- rangues that ever fell from his lips. He exposed the barbarity of a measure which would annihilate, for all practical uses in the State, the great bedy of the Common Law; which would " wantonly make wreck of a system fraught with the intellectual wealth of centuries, and whelm its last fragment beneath the wave." Those who had the good fortune to hear Mr. Clay on this occasion, describe his speech as one of trans cendent power, beauty and pathos. A gentleman, who was a partaker in the effect produced by his eloquence, says:-" Every muscle of the orator's 'face was in motion; his whole body seemed agi- 'toted, as if every part were instinct with a separate 'life; and his small, white hand, with its blue veins 'apparently distended almost to bursting, moved 'gracefully, but with all the energy of rapid and ve- 'hement gesture. The appearance of the speaker seemed that of a pure intellect wrought up to its LO, of He-Y Clay. a The Embargo-Duel wiuth HumpArey Marshall. 'mightiest energies, and brightly glowing through 'the thin and transparent veil of flesh that enrobed it." It is almost needless to add that Mr. Clay pre- vailed on this occasion in turning the tide in his fa- vor, and the original motion was rejected. A report drawn up by him in 1809 upon a question of disputed election is worthy of notice in this place. The citizens of llardin County, who were entitled to two Representatives in the General Assembly, had given 436 votes for Charles Helmn, 350 for Sam- ntel Ilaycraft, and 271 for John Thomas. The fact being ascertained that Mr. Hayeraft held an office of profit under the Commonwealth, at the time of the election, a constitutional disqualification attach- ed and excluded him. He was ineligible, and there- fore could not be entitled to his seat. It remained to inquire into the pretensions of Mr. Thomas. His claim could only be supported by a total rejection of the votes given by Mr. Haycraft, as void to all intents whatever. Mr. Clay contended that those votes, though void and ineffectual in creating any right in Mr. Haycraft to a seat in the House, could not afect, in any manner, the situation of his corn- 1-etitor. Any other exposition would be subversive of the great principle of Free Government, that the majority shall prevail. It would operate as a fraud upon the People; for it could not be doubted that the votes given to Mr. Haycraft were bestowed under a full persuasion that he had a right to receive them. It would, in fact, be a declaration that disqualifica- tion produced qualification-that the incapacity of one nlan capacitated another to hold a seat in that House. The Committee, therefore, unanimously decided that neither of the gentlemen was entitled to a seat. Such were the principles of Mr. Clay's Report. It was unanimously adopted by the House; and its doctrines have ever since governed the Kentucky Elections. In December, 1808, Mr. Clay introduced before the Legislature of Kentucky a series of Resolutions approving the Embargo, denouncing the British Orders in Council, pledging the cotlperation of Ken- tucky to any measures of opposition to British ex- actions, upon which the General Government might determine, and declaring that "THoMAS JEFFERSON 'is entitled to the thanks of his Country for the 'ability, uprightness and intelligence which he has 'displayed in the management both of our Foreign 'Relations and Domestic Concerns." Mr. Humphrey Marshall opposed these Resolu- tions with extraordinary vehemence, and introduced Amendatory Resolutions of a directly opposite ten- dency; but Mr. Marshall was the only one who voted in favor of the latter. Mr. Clay's original Resolutions were adopted by a vote of sixty-four to one. Soon after this event, Mr. Clay introduced a Reso- lution recommending that every Member, for the pur- pose of encouraging the Industry of tite Country, should clothe himself in garments of Domestic Manufacture. This Resolution was at once most emphatically denounced by Mr. Humphrey Mar- shall, who stigmatized it as the project of a dema- gogue, and applied a profusion of harsh and un- generous epithets to the mover. Mr. Clay retorted, azd the quarrel wont on until it terminated in a hos- tile encounter. The parties met, and by the fist shot Mr. Marshall was slightly wounded. They stood up a second time, and Mr. Clay received a hardly perceptible flesh wound in the leg. The seconds now interfered, and prevented a contiataneic of the combat. Mr. Clay was once again called upon in the course- of his political career, by the barbarous exactions of society, to consent to a hostile encounter; but we arc confident that no man at heart abominates the custom more sincerely than he. The following pas- sage in relation to this subject occurs in an address, which, in his maturer years, he made to his constit- uents: "1 I owe it to the community to say, that what- ever heretofore I may have done, or by inevitable cir- cumstances might be forced to do, no man in it holds, in deeper abhorrence than I do that pernicious praw. tice. Condemned as it must be by the judgment and philosophy, to say nothing of the religion,of ev ry thinking man, it is an affair of feeling about which we cannot, although we should, reason. Its true corrective will be found when all shall unite, as all ought to unite, in its unqualified proscription." When the bill to suppress duelling in the District of Columbia came before the Senate of the United States in the spring of 1838, Mr. Clay said, no man would be happier than he to see the whole barbar- ous systetu forever eradicated. It was well known, that in certain quarters of the country, public opin- ion was averse from duelling, and no man could fly in the face of that public opinion, without having his reputation sacrificed; but there were other portions again which exacted obedience to the fatal custom. Trhe man with a high sense of honor, and nice sen- sibility, when the question is whether he shall fight or have the finger of scorn pointed at him, is unable to resist, and few, very few, are found willing to adopt such an alternative. When public opinion shall be renovated, and chastened by reason, religio and humanity, the practice of duelling will at orce be discountenanced. It is the office of legislation to do all it can to bring about that healthful state of the public mind, and although it may not altogether ef- fect so desirable a result yet ne had no doubt it would do much towards it, and with these views, he would give his vote for the bill. In the winter session of Congress in 1809-10, Mr. Clay took his seat a second time in the Senate of th United States. He had been elected by the legisla- ture by a handsome majority to supply a vacancy occasioned by the resignation ofMr. Buckner Thrus- ton, whose term wanted two years of its completion. From thia period the public history of Mr. Clay taR be found diffused through the annals of the Union. The archives of the republic are the sources from which the materials for his biography may be hence- forth derived. When titne shall have removed the inducements for interested praise or censure, poster- ity will point to the records of his civic achievements, glorious though bloodless, no lees as furnishing a well established title to their admiration and grati. tude than as a perpetual mtonument of his fame. The predilections which Mr. Clay had early man- ifested in behalfofAmerican manufactures and Amer- ican principles, were unequivocally avowed in his first speech before the Senate on being elected a se cond time to that body as far back as April, 1810. A bill was under discussion appropriating a sum sai - - - 9 Life of Henry Cl496 money for procuring munitions of war, and for other purposes; and an amendment had been proposed, instructing the Secretary of the Navy, to provide supplies of cordage, sail-cloth, hemp, c, and to give a preference to those of American growth and nan- ufacture. Mr. Lloyd of Massachusetts moved to strike out this part of the amendment; and a discus- sion arose concerning the general policy of promo tirig domestic manufactures, in which Mr. Clay bold- ly declared himself its advocate. The fallacious courfe of reasoning urged by many against domestic manufactures, namely, the distress and servitude produced by those of England, he said would equally indicate the propriety of abandoning agriculture itself. Were we to cast our eyes upon the miserable peasantry of Poland, and revert to the days of feudal vassalage, we might thence draw nu- merous arguments against the pursuits of the hus- bandman. In short, take the black side of the pic- ture, and every human occupation will be found pregnant with fatal objections. The sentiments avowed thus early in our legisla- tive history by Mr. Clay are now current through- out oar vast community; and the "AAmerican Sys- tem," as it has been called, is generally admitted to be not only a patriotic, but a politic system. But let it not be forgotten, that it is to the persevering and unremitted exertions of Henry Clay, that we are indebted for the planting and the cherishing of that goodly tree, under the far-spreading branches of wvhich so many find protection and plenty at the pre- sent day. The amendments advocated by Mr. Clay on this occasion were adopted, and the bill was passed. The first step toward the establishment of his mag- aificent " system " was taken. Another speech in which he distinguished himself during the session, is that upon the question of the tight of the United States to the territory lying be- tween the rivers MiSsissippi, and Perdido, compri- sing the greater part of Western Florida. This im- portant region, ottt of which the States of Alabama and Mississippi have since been formed, was claimed by Spain as a part of her Florida domain. The Pres- dent, Mr. MladiEon, had issued a proclamation de- claring the region annexed to the Orleans Territory, and subject to the laws of the United States. The Federalists maintained that we had no claim to the Territory-that it belonged to Spain-and that Great Britain as her ally, would not consent to See her robbed. Mr. Clay stepped forth as the champion of the de- mocracy and the President, and eloquently vindica- ted the title of the United States to the land. His arguments evince much research, ingenuity and lo- gical skill; and on this as on all occasions, he man- Iested that irrepressible sympathy with the people -the tnass-his eloquent expressions of which had gained him in Kentucky the appellation of the GREAT COMMONER. Mr. Horsey, one of the Sena- tors from Delaware, had bemoaned the fate of the Spanish king. Mr. Clay said in reply: "I shall 'leave the honorable gentleman from Delaware to 'mourn over the folrtunes of the fallen Charles. I 'have no commiseration for princes. MY SYMPA- 'THtIES ARE RYSTERVED FOR THR GREAT MASS of ' mankind; and I own that the people of Spain have 40hem most sincerely." With regard to the deprecated wrath of Great Britain, Mr. Clay said, with a burst of indignant el- oquence, which is but inadequately conveyed in the reported speech: " Sir, is the time never to arrive, 'when we may manage our own affairs, without the 'fear of insulting his Britannic majesty Is the rod 'of British power to be forever suspended over our 'heads Does Congress put on an embargo to shel- 'ter our rightful commerce against the piratical de- 'predations committed upon it on the ocean We 'are immediately warned of the indignation of Eng- 'land. Is a law of non-intercouse proposed The 'swhole navy of the haughty Mistress of the Sea,- is ' made to thunder in our ears. Does the President 'refuse to continue a correspondence with a Minis- 'ter, who violates the decorum belonging to his di- 'plomatic character, by giving and deliberately re- 'peating an affront to the whole nation I We are 'instantly menaced with the chastisement which 'English pride will not fail to inflict. Whether we 'assert our rights by sea, or attempt their mainten- 'ance by land-whithersoever we turn ourselves. 'this phantom incessantly pursues us! " The strong American feeling, the genuine demo- cratic dignity, which pervade this Speech are char- acteristic of the man and of the principles, which, throughout a long and trying public career, he has steadfastly maintained. Aud yet we find new-fledged politicians and dainty demagogues of modern fash- ionable manufacture, charging this early and con- sistent leader of the Democracy-this friend and supporter of Jefferson and of Madison-this main pillar of the Party, who originated and conducted to a glorious termination the last WVar-charging him with Federalism and Aristocracyl Every act of his life-every recorded word that ever fell from his lips gives the lie to the imputation. Mr. Clay's labors during this Session appear to have been arduous and diversified-showing on his part unusual versatility, industry and powers of ap- plication. He was placed on several important Conl- mittees, and seems to have taken part in all discus- sions of moment. On the 26th of larch, 1810, from the Committee to whom was recommitted a bill grant- ing a right of preemption to purchasers of Public Lands in certaiq cases, he reported it with amend- ments, which were read; and, after undergoing some alterations, it was again recommitted, reported, and finally passed by the Senate. Mr. Clay was the early friend of the poor settler on the Public Lands, and he has always advocated a policy which, while it is extremely liberal toward that class, is consist- ent with perfect ju3tice to the People at large, who are the legitimate owners of the Public Domain. On the 29th of March Mr. Clay brought in a bill s ipplementary to an act entitled " An Act to Regu- 'late Trade and Intercourse with the Indian Tribes, 'and to preserve Peace on the Frontier." The bill was referred to a Committee, of which lie was ap- pointed Chairman ; and to his intelligent labors in their behalf, the People of the West were indebted for measures of protection of the most efficient character. The 20th of April succeeding, on motion of Mr. Clay, the bill to enable the People of the Orleant Territory, now Louisiana, to form a Constitutiom and Government was amended by a provision ta- quiring that the Laws, Records and Legislative Po- 10 United States Bank-Britieh Aggression. ceedings of the State should be in the English lan- guage. On the 27th of the same month he had leave of absence for the rest of the Session, after accomplishing an amount of public business that few nien could have despatched with so much promptitude, ability and advantage to the Country. The Third Session of the Eleventh Congress com- mencsed on the 3d of December, 1810. Mr. Clay was once inore in his seat in the Senate. The subject of renewing the Charter of the United States Bank was now the great topic before Con- gress. Mr. Clay had beten instructed by the Legis- lature of Kentucky to oppose a recharter; and his own convictions at the time accorded with theirs. He addressed the Senate at some length in oppo- sition to the proposed measure. He lived to rectify his opinions on this important question; and his reasons for the change must be satisfactory to every candid mind. They are given in an Address to his constituents in Lexington, dated the 3d of June, 1816. In a Speech to the same constituents, delivered the 9th of June, 1842, he alludes to the subject in these terms: I never but once changed my opinion on any great measure of national policy, or any great prin- ciple of construction of the National Constitution. In early life, on deliberate consideration, I adopted the principles of interpreting the Federal Constiu- tion, wiIC Is had been so ably developed and enforced by Wr. 1adlisimn in his memorable Report to the Vir- ginia Lezislature; and to them, as I understood t!,eoi, I have constantiv adhered. Upon the ques- tion coining tip in the Senate of the United States, tV reihuirter the first flnk of the United States thirty vears a-o, I opposed the recharter upon convictions wvlih I honevtlv entertained. The experience of the War which shortly followed, the condition into wicli the Currenty (of the Country was thrown, without a Mink, rind, I mav now add, liter and more mhi'ia trois experience, etinvinced me I was wrong. 1 publicly stated to ttv constititents, in a Speech at Lexiw Iton, (ttiat which I had made in the House of Represcintatives not having been reported) toy rea- sorts for that change; and they are preserved in the archives iif the C untrv. I appeal to that record; and I am willing to be judged now and hereafter by their validity. suI do nit advert to the fact of this solitary in- stance of change of opinion, as implying any per- monal merit, bIt because it is a fact. I will, how- ever, sav that I think it very perilous to the utility of sny public man to tmake frequcnt changes of opinion, or anv channe, but upon grounds so suf- ficient and palpable that the public can clearly see and approve them." Matty important stibjects were discussed by the Senate during the Session of 1810-11; and Mr. Clay was in all of theto conspicuous. His zeal and efficiency in the Public Service began to attract the eyes (if the whole Country. He was not the Repre- sentative of Kentucky alone. His capacious heart and active mind, uncontracted by sectional jealous- ies or local bigotry, comprehended the entire Union in their embrace. At the expiration of his second fractional term of service in the Senate of the Uttited States, having returned to Kentucky, he was elected a member of the Federal House of Representatives. Congress convened on the day designated by Proclamation, the foirth day of November, 1811; and, on the first ballot for Speaker, 1'8 members being present, he was chosen by a majority of 31, over all opposition. The aflairs of the Nation were never in a more critical position than at this juncture. The honor of the Republic was at stake. A long series of out- rages perpetrated against our Commerce by England and by Fiance had reached a hight, at which farther toleration would have been pusillanimous. Under the Be rlin and Mlilan Decrees of Napoleon, our ships were seized and our property confiscated by the French in a manner to provoke the warmest indig- nation of a free People. Great Britain vied with France, and finally far surpassed her in her acts of violence and rapine toward us. Each of the bcl- ligerent nations sought a pretext in the conduct of the other for her own injustice. At length France, ii answer to our remonstrances, repealed her odious Decrees so far as we were com- cerned, and practically abandoned her system of seizure and oppression. Great Britain did not fol- low her example. A year bad elapsed sitece the French Decrees were rescinded; btit Great Britain persisted in her course,-affecting to deny their extinction. The ships of the United States, laden with the produce of our soil and labor, navigated by our own citizens anil peaceably pursuing a lawful trade, were seized on our coasts, and, at the very mouth of our own harbors, condemned and confiscated. But it was the ruflfianly sostenm of impressment-by which American frcemen, pursuing a lawful life of hard- ship and daring on the ocean, were liable to be seized, in violation of the rights of our flag, forced into the naval service of a foreign Power, and made, perhaps, the instruments of similar oppression to- ward their own country men ;-it was this despotic and barbarous system that principally roused the warlike spirit of Congress and the Nation. And Posterity will admit that this cause of itself was an all-sufflicient justificatioit for hostile measures. The spirit of that People must have been debased in- deed, which could have tamely submitted to such aggressions. The feelings of Mr. Clay on this subject seem to have been of the intensest description. Though coming from a State distant from the sea-board, the wrongs and indignities practiced against our mariners by British arrogance and oppression, fired his soul and stirred his whole nature to resistance. To him, the idea of succitiunting a moment to such degrading outrages wais intolerable. The Nation had been injured and insulted. England persisted in her injuries and insults. It was useless to tem- porise longer. He was for war, prompt, open and determined war. He communicated to others the electric feelings that animated his own breast. He wreaked all his energies on this great cause. In appointing the Committee on Foreign Rela- tions, to whom the important question was to be referred, he was careful to select a majority of such Mleinbers as partook of his own decided views. Peter B. Porter, of New York, was the Chairman; and, on the 29th of November, he made a Report, in which the Committee earnestly recommended, in the words of the President, "that the United States be itmmediately pitt into an armor and attitude de 'manded by the crisis, and corresponding with the national spirit and expectations." They submit- ted appropriate Resolutions for the carrying out a this great object. 11 On the 31st of December, the House resolved Bainbridges ntod Perrys-let us not forget the States itself into a Committee of the Whole, Mr. Brecken- man, but for whose provident sagacity andl intrepid ridge in the Chair, on a bill from the Senate, pro- spirit, the opportunity of performing those exploi s viding for the raising of twenty-five thousand troops. might never have been affsrded. Of this measure, Mr. Clay was the warmest, and at the same time most judicious, advocate. He ad- dressed the House eloquently in its behalf, and CHAPTER III. urged it forward on all occasions with his best energies. Mr. Clay prefers a seat in the House to one in the Senate-Ren energies. aofns o too king him Speaker-The t'neaident recnrmmeneod ia lie contended that the real cause of British EVbargo-The measure opposed ii y Jluho ItandImph and Jo- aggression was not to distress France, as many msh QJuinry-Deleoded by Mr. Clay-His intercossne with aggression Randolph,-War deelared-fhe Leadens in the floose-_tr. maintained, but to destroy a rival. "1 She saw," Cheves arid Mr. Gallatin-Mr. Clay appointed to cdnfer with Pm-eiden.t ladion-Aneedntes--ventx of the WVar-Ao- continued he, "1 in your numberless ships, which tiies-Federal Asune-Clay's Reply to Qniney-Etects of 'whitened every sea-in your hundred and twenty hi, Eloquence-fPassage of the Army Bill-as dir bn re-eleted Prsietcl. Cly resigns the Speaker's Chair, bein'"i 'thousand gallant tars-the seeds of a naval force, pointed ComIissioner to bent-1im services during the War, 'which in thirty years would rival her on her own 'clement. She therefore commenced the odious Ta cause of Mr. Clay's transference from te 'system of Impressment, of ekz itr no languageenate to the House of Representatives was his sycan paint my ecrationf! She DARED to attempt own preference,-at the time, of a seat in the popular 'the subversion of the personal freedom of your wbranch His immediate appointment as Speaker 'mariners t" was, under the circumstances, a rare honor, and In concluding, Mr. Clay said he trusted that be one never, before or since, conferred on a new alem- had fully established these three positions :-That her. Among the qualifications which led to his the quantum of the force proposed by the bill was selection for that high Station was his known firm- not too great; that its nature was such as the con- ness, which would check any attempt to domineer templated War called for; and that the object of over the House; and many Members had a special the War was justified by every consideration of view to a proper restraint upon Mr. John Randolph justice, of interest, of honor and love of country. of Virginia, who, through the fears of Mr. Varnum, Unless that object were at once attained by peace- and the partiality entertained ftr him by Mr. Macon, 'jl means, he hoped that war would be waged be- the two preceding Speakers, had exercised a con- fore the close of the Session. trol which. it was believed, was injurious to the The bill passed the House on the 4th of January deliberations of the body. succeeding; and, on the 22d of the same month, the On the first of April, 1812, the following confiden- Report of the Committee, to whom that part of the tial communication from the President to Congress President's Message relating to a Naval Establishd- was received: ment was referred, being under discussion, Mr. Clay "1 Considering it as expedient, tnder existing cir- cumustances and prospectx, that a general embargo spoke in favor of an increase of the Navy, advo- be laid on all vessels now in port or hereafter arri- cating the building of ten frigates. ving, for the period of sixty days, I recommend the In his remarks, on this occasion, he contended immediate passage of a law to that effect. that a description of naval force entirely within our " JAMES MAD)ISON." means was that, which would be suflici-rt to pt- This proposition was imnumediately discussed in vent any single vessel, of whatever metal, from en- the House in secret session, Mr. Clay took an activa dangering our whole coasting trade-blockitig up part in the debate. He gave to the measure recom- our harbors, and laying under contributions our mended by the President his ardent and nnqsalified cities-a force competent to punish the insolence of support. iI APPROVE OF IT," said Ile, " BECAUSE the commander of any single ship, and to preserve IT IS TO BE VIEWED AS A DIRECT PRECURSOR TO in our own jurisdiction the inviolability of our peace WAR." and our laws. Among the most vehement opponents of the mea- " Is there," he asked, " a reflecting man in the sure were John Randolph, of Virginia, and Josiah ' nation who would not charge Congress with a Quincy, ofMassachusetts. Mr. Randolph said that 4 culpable neglect of its duty, if, for the want of the honorable Speaker was mistaken when he said ' such a force, a single ship were to bombard one of the message was for war. Mr. R. had " too much ' our cities Would not every honorable member 'reliance on the wisdom dad virtue of the President ' of the Committee inflict on himself the bitterest re- 'to believe that he would he guilty of such gross 4 preaches, if, by failing to make an inconsiderable 'and unparalleled treason." He maintained that ' addition to our little gallant Navy, a single Briti-h the proposed embargo was not to be regarded as an 'vessel should place New-York undercontributioi "' irsital step to war-but as a subterfuge-a retreat On the 29th of January, 1812, the bill to increase from battle. "1 What new cause of war," he asked, the Navy passed the House by a handsome majority. " or of an embargo has arisen within the last twelve To Mr. Clay's eloquent advocacy of the measure, 'months ''he affair of the Chesapeake is settledt: the Country is largely indebted for the glorious 'So new principles of blockade have been interpola- naval successes which afterward shed a new and 'ted in the laws of nations. Every man of candor undying lustre upon our hittory. But for the gal- 'would ask why did not, then, go to war twelve lant and effective Navy, which sprang up under months ago." such auspices, the main airm of our deience would "What nets cause of war bas been avowed!" said have been crippled. While we couttuiplate with lhr Cloy isl reply,-" The affair of the Chesapeake is se-ttled, to be sure, hut only to paralyze the spirit pride our achievements upoin the sea-the memo- of the country. Has Great Britain abstained from table deeds of our Lawrences, Decatura, Hulls, wiapremeing uur seamen-from depredating upon out 12 Life of Henry Clay. Declaration of War with Creat Britain. 13 rroperty We have complete proof, in her capture apllied to himself by the Speaker in the discharge of our shilps, in her exciting our frontier Indians to of the duties of the Chair. On one occasion he ap- Iiootility, and in her sending an emissary to our pealed to his constituents, and was answered by Mr. cities to excite civil var, that shie will do everything Clay The case was this: Mr. Clay, in one ofhis to dsiry uS: Otil resolution and spirit ate ouronly depnii(l iece. Althotgli I feel warily upon this morning rides, passed through Georgetown, where swiijiet,` continitied he, " I pride nmyself upon those Mr. Randolph, the late Mr. J. Lewis, of Virginia, teemiios, and should despise myself if I were desti- and other members of Congress boarded. Meeting tute ol thenl." with Mr. Levis, that gentleman inquired of him, if Air. Quincy expressed in strong terints his abhor- there verc any news Mr. Clay informed him, that rence of the proposed measure. He said that his ob- on the Alonday followinig, President Madison would jectiois were, tdat it was not what it pretended to send a message to Congress, recommending a decla- be; and was wvh;t it pretended not to be. That it ration of war against Great Britain. was not eihbargo prcparatoiy to war; but that it was The day after this meeting, Mr. Randolph came et:nbargo as a substitomte for tIme q testion of declaring to the House, and having addressed the Speaker in war. "I object to it," said he, "because it is no a very rambling, desultory speech for about an hour, 'efficient preparation; because it is, not a progress he was- reminded from the chair, that there was no 'towards honorable war, btit a subterfoge from the question pending before the House. Mir. Randolph 'question. If we must perish, let uts perish by any said hie would present one. He was requested to 'hand except our own. Any late is better than selt: state it. He stated that lhe meant to move a resolu- 'slauighiter." lion, that it was not expedient to decinre waragainst Agtiiust thli3 storm of opposition Henry Clay pre- Great Britain." The Speaker, according to a rule of sented an uridaunted firont. As the debate was car- the House, desired him to reduce his resolution to ried on waith closed doors, no aniple record of it is in writing, and to send it to the chair; which he aSc existence. But a memuber of Congress, who was cordingly did. And thereupon the Speaker informed presett, says: aOil this occasion Mr. Clay was a him, that before he could proceed in his speech, the 'flaLmue ot1 fire. He had now brought Congress to House must decide that it would now consider his 'the verge or what he conceived to be a war for lib- resolution. Upon putting that question to the 'erty and honor, and his voice rang through the cap- House, it was decided by a large majority, that it 'itol like a trutimpet-tone sounding for the onset. On would not consider the resolution; and thus MIr. 'the sub lject of the policy of the enibargo, his elo- Randolph was prevented from haranguing the House 'qimencf, like a lRoumian phalanx, bore down all op- farther in its support. Of this he complained, and 'p).4il iil, aniilie put to shame tttose of his oppo- published an address to his constituents. 'nelts, who flouted the government as being tinpre- Solme expressions in this address seeming to re- 'pared fur war." quire notice, Mr. Clay addressed a communication Th'Ihe Message recomimnending an embargo was re- tinder his own nanie, to the editor of the National ferred to mIhe cminiuttee on Foreign Rtelations, who Intelligencer, in which lie reviews the questions at reported a bill flr carr) iug it into effect, which was isstie between him and Mr. Randolph, and vindicates adopted by the House. lit the Senate it undorvent the justice of his recent decisions in the chair. a slight alteration in tIme substitution of ninety for "T'wo principles," he says, "are settled by these sixty days as the term ofttheembargo. Th is amend- decisions; the first is, that the Hlouse has a rikht nienit was conctirred in; and ore the fourth of April, to kn ow, throtigh its organ, the specific Illotion fir. Crawford reported the presentation of the bill i which a member intends making, belbre he under- to the President, and that it had received his signa- takes to argtie it at large; and in the second place, that it reserves to itself the exercise of the power ture. of determiniting whether it will consider it at the Througgh the indefatigable exertions of Mr. Clay particular timne when offered, prior to his thus pro- and his associates, the attitude of resistance to ag- ceedina to argtie it." gression was now boldly assitmed-the first step was Every succeeding Congress has acknowledged the taken towards a definite declaration of war. validity ofthe principles thurs established by Mr. On nssumiig the dutiaes of the Speakership, Mr. Clay. They seem essenltial to the proper regulation Clay had foreseen, from t4e peculiar character and of delate in a large legislative body." constitution of mitid of that remarkable and distin- A bill from the Committee on Foreicn Relations gtiished man, John Randolph, that it would be ex- was reported to the House on the third of June, 1812, tremely dillicuilt to maintain with him relations of declaring It'ar lietireen Great Brliain amd her de- civility and friendship. He, therefore, resolved to pendeswiesand the United States. Onthe eighteenth act onl the principle of never giving and never receiv- it Ila(l passed both Hrotses ofCongruss; and tIme next ing an insult without imniediate notice, if lie were day the lresidemit's proclamation was issuied,declar- in a place where it cotild be noticed. Their mode of imig the actual existence of War. Oil the sixth ot intercourse or non-intercourse vas most singttlar. Jlly, Cotigress adjourned to the first Monday in No- Sometimes weeks, mouths would pass withottt their vemnber. speaking to each other. Then, for an equal space Mr. Clay, Mir.T.owndes, Mr. Cheves, nid Mr. Cal- of tile, no two gentlemen could treat each other totin, were the leaders, who sustained and carried with more comtrtesy and attention. Mr. Randolph, throtighl the declaration of War. Mr. Clay, fully fiu- on entering the House in the morning, while these pressed with the conviction, that the honor and tile better feelings prevailed, would frepiently approach highest interests of the comliltry demanded the de- tile Chair, how respectfully to the Speaker, aiid in- claration, was ardent, active and etithlusiastic in its quire after his health. support. 'I'o him was assiene thie responsible duty llut Mr. Randolph was impatient of all restraints, of mippointing all the Comtunittees. Mr. Madison's and could not brook those uvlhich were sometimes Cabinet wa not unanimous ott the subject of war, 14 Life rf Henry Clay. Mr. Madison himself was in favor of it, but seemed press our seamen, was impossible; that enough had to go into it with much repugnance and great appre- been done by us with a view to conciliation; that hension. The character of his nind was one of ex- the time for decisive action had arrived, and war treme caution, bordering on timidity, although he was inevitable. acted with vigor and firmness when his resolution By way of illustrating the difference between was once taken. Mr. Gallatin, the Secretary of the speaking and writing, and acting, Mr. Clay related Treasury, was adverse to the war. to Mr. Madison an anecdote of two Kentucky Judges. It was the opinion and wish of Mr. Clay, Mr. One talked incessantly from the Bench. IHe rea- Cheves, and their friends, that financial as well as soned every body to death. He would deliver an military and naval preparations should be made for opinion, and first try to convince the party that agreed the conduct of the war, and previous to its declara- with him and then the opposite party. Tile conse- tion. Accordingly, Mr. Gallatin was called upon quence was that business lagged, the docket nccu- to report a system of finance appropriate to the oc- mulated, litigants complained, and the community casion. He had enjoyed a high reputation for finan- were dissatisfied. He was Succeeded by a Judge, cial ability; and it was hoped and anticipated, that who never gave any reasons for his opinion, but de- he would display it when he made his required re- cided the case simply, for the plaintiffor tire de- port. But the disappointment was great when his fendant. His decisions were rarely re'.ersed by the report appeared. Instead of indicating any new appellate Court-the docket melted away-litigants source of revenue-instead of suggesting any great were no longer exposed to ruinous delay-and the plan calling forth the resources of the nation, he re- community were contented. Surely, said Mr. Clay, ported in favor of all the old odious taxes-excise, we have exhausted the argument with Great l3ritaia. stamp duties, c. which bad been laid during pre- ir. Madison enjoyed the joke, but, in his good- vious administrations. It was believed, from the of- natured, sly way, said, he also had heard ani anec- feasive nature of the taxes, that his object was to re- dote, of a French Judge, who after the argument of press the war spirit. But far from being discouraged, the cause was over, put the papers of the contend. Mr. Clay and his friends resolved to impose the du- ing parties into opposite scales, and decided accor- ties recommended. ding to the preponderance of weight. Mr. Cheves was at the head of the Committee of Speaking of the opposition of the Federal party Ways ared Means, and went laboriously to work to Mr. Clay remarked, that they were neither to be prepare numerous bills for the collection of taxes as conciliated nor silenced-" let us do whdfat we sin- suggested by the Secretary. After they were pre- ,cerely believe to be right, and trust to God aid the pared and reported, it was for the first time diecov- goodness of our cause." ered that the Executive, and more especially Mr. Mr. Madison said, that our institutions were found- Gallatin, were opposed to the imposition of taxes at ed upon the principle of the competency ofm nan for the same session during which war was declared. self-government, and that we should never he tired This was ascertained by the active exertions ot Mr. of appealing to the reason and judgment of tire peo- Smiley, a leading and influential member from Penn- ple. sylvania, and the confidential friend of Mr. Gallatin. Such deference did Mr. Madison have. however, In circles of the members, he would urge in conver- fur the opinion and advice of hIs ri ;ends, that shortly aation the expediency of postponing the taxes to after this conference, he transmitted his war mes- another session, saying that the people would not sage to Congress. take both war and taxes together." The second session of the twelfth Congress took Mr. Clay and his friends were aware that the levy- place at the appointed time. Events of an impor- ing of taxes, always a difficult and up-hill business, tant character had occurred since it Inst met. The could not be effected without the hearty concur- war had been prosecuted; and we had sustained rence of the Executive, and therefore reluctantly some reverses. General Hull, to whom had been submitted to tile postponement-a most unfortunate assigned the defence of the Michigan frontier, had, delay, the ill effects of which were felt throughout after an unsuccessful incursion into the neighboring the whole war. Mr. Cheves, who had plied the la- territory of the enemy, surrendered ingloriously the boring oar, in preparing the various revenue bills, town and fort of Detroit. was highly indignant, and especially at the conduct An attack was made on a post of the enemy near of Mr. Gallatin, of whom he ever afterwards thought Niagara, by a detachment of regular and other forces unfavorably. under Major-General Van Rensselaer, ani after dis- The negotiations with Mr. Foster, the British playing much gallantry had been compelled to yield, Charge d'Affaires at Washington, were protracted with considerable loss, to reinforcements of Savages up to the period of the Declaration of War. The Re- and British regulars. publican party became impatient of the delay. It But though partially unsuccessful on the land, the was determined that an informal deputation should Americans had won imperishable trophies on the wait upon Mir. Madison to expostulate against long- sea. Our public ships and private cruisers had er procrastination; and it was agreed that Mr. Clay made the enemy sensible of the difference between should be the spokesman. The gentlemen of the a reciprocity ofcaptures, and the long confinement deputation accordingly called on the President, and of them to their side. The frigate Constitution, com- Mr. Clay stated to him, that Congress was impa- manded by Captain Hull, after a close and short en- tient for action; that further efforts at negotiation gagement, had completely disabled the British fri- were vain; that an accommodation was impractica- gate Guerriere. A vast amount of property Irad ble; that the haughty spirit of Britain was unbend- been saved to the country by the course pursued by ing and unyielding; that submission to her arro a squadron of our frigates under the command of gant pretensions, especially that of a right to in. Commodore Rodgers. Deec of t- War 15 ff A strong disposition to adjust existing difficulties with Great Britain had, in the mean time, been mani- fested by our Government. Our Charge des Af- faires at Lotidon lead been authorized to accede to certain terms, by which the war mhight be arrested, without awaiting the delays of a formal and final pacification. 'T'hese terms required substantially, that the Bti- tish orders in council should be repealed as they af- fected the Uttited States, without a revival of block- ndes violating acknowledged rules; that there should lie an immediate discharge of Americanl seamen fromii British ships. Oti such terms an armlistice was pro- posed by our Government. T'lhese advances were declined by Great Britain from an (roiced repuagnance to a suspension of the praetice of imp-essment during the armistice. Early in January, 1813, a bill from the Military Comminittee of the House, for the raising of an addi- tional firce, not exceeding twenty thousand men, un- derwent a long and animated discussion in commit- tee of the whole. The opposition on this occasion rallied all their strength to denounce the measure. Air. Quiticy, to whom we have before alluded, made a most bitter harangue against it and its supporters. '-Sitice the invasion of the buccaneers," said Mr. Q. "1 there is nothing in history like this wvar." Al- lading to some of the friends of the administration, lie stigmatized them as " household troops, who lomalied fior what they cotld pick up about the gov- cirnment hotuse-tolid-eaters, saho lived on eleenio- synary, ill-purchased courtesy, utpon the palace, who swallowed great men's spittle, got judgeships, and wondered at the fine sights, fine rooims, and fine cotiipany, and, moust of all, wondered how they them- selves got there." Napoleon Bonaparte and Thomas Jefferson came in for no small share of the saine gentleman's abuse. On the eighth of January, Mr. Clay rose in de- fence of the new army bill, and in reply to the vio- lent and personal remarks, which had fallen froml the opposition. His effort on this occasion was one of the most brilliant in his whole career. It is immi- perfectly reported; for Mr. Clay has been alwa sa too inattentive to the preparation of his speeches for the press. To form an adequate idea of his eloqstence we ltist look to the effect it produced-to the legis- laliots which it swayed. That portion of Mr. Clay's speech, in which lie vindicated his illustrious friend, Thomas Jefferson, from the aspersions of the lender of the Federalists. hlts been deservedly a(hsnired as a specimen of ener- getic and ittdignant eloquence. It msust have fallen with crushing effect upon him who called it forth: " Next to the notice which the opposition has founrd itself called upon to bestow ttpon the French Emperor, a distinguished citizen of Virginia, former- y President of the United States, has never for a moment failed to receive their kindest and most respeotftil attention. An hotnorable gentlemanfriom Massachusetts (of whom I am sorry to say it he- coutles necessary for me, in the coutrse of my remarks, to take sotne notice,) has alluded to him in a re- tinarkable maminer. Neither his re tirement from pitb- lie office, his eminent services, nor his advanced age, can exempt this patriot from the coarse assaults of party malevolence. No), sir ; in 1801 lie snatched fromt the rule hanmds of usmirp stion the violated con- stituti'n of the moumitry, acd that is his crime. lie preserved that instrument in forrm and substance antd spirit, a precious inheritance for generations to come, and for this he can never be forgiven. "1 How vain and impotent is party rage, directed against such a man! Ile is not more elevated by his lofty residence upon the sunimit of his own favorite nountain, than he is lifted by the serenity of his mimid, and the consciousnesss of a well-spent life, above the indignant passions and feelings of the day. No! his own beloved Monticello is not leas moved by the storms that beat against its sides, than is this illustrious man by the howlings of the whole Brittbh pack let loose from the Essex kennel! ", When the gentlenan, to whom I have been corn- pe-led to ullude, shall haie mingled his dust with that of his abused ancestors-' lien lie shall have beed consigned to oblivion, or, it he live at all, shall live only in the treasonable annals ot a certain jun- to, the niame of Jetferson will be hailed iiiths grati- tude, his memory honored auid cherished as the se- cond founder of the liberties of th 5 people, and the period of his administration will be looked back to as one of the happiest and brightest epochs in Amer ican history. ", But I beg the Fentleman's pardon. Ile has in deed secured to himself a more inperishable famne than I had supposed. I think it was about four y'ears ages that lie submitted to the House of Repres,;nta- tives, an initiative propositioni for an impeachment of Ar. Jefterson. The House condescended to con- sider it. The gentleman debated it with his usual temper, moderation and urbanity. T[he House de- cided upon it in the most solemin manner ; and, al- though the gentleman had somehow obtained it se- cond, the final vote stood, oneftr, and one hauidred anld seventeen against the proposition ! T-he sanle historic page that transmitted to posterity the virtue and glory of Henry the Great of Franice, for their admiration and example, has preserued the illfamous name ofthe fanatic assassin ofthe excellent mimonarch. [he same sacred pemn thlt portrayed the sult'rimigs and crucifixion of the Saviour of mankind, hbas t- corded lor universal execration the liame of' him who was guilty-not of betraying his iountr)-but-a kindred crine-of betraying his God !"1 In other parts of his speech, Mr. Clay clectrified the House by his impassioned eloquence. The day was intensely cold, and, for the omily time in his life, he found it difficult to keep himself warm by the ex ercise of speaking. - But the members crowded around him in hushed admiration; and there were few among them who did not testify by their streata- ing tears his mastery over the passions. The sub- ject of impressmuetit was touched upon; and the _oatchless pathos with which lie depicted the conse- quences of that infernal system-portraying the situation of a supposed victim to its tyrannic outra- ges-thrilled through cvery heart. The reported passage can but feebly convey a conception of thie impression produced. As well might we attempt to form an adequate idea of one of Raphael's pictutes from a written description, as to transcribe the elo- quence of Clay on this occasion. Even were his glowing words fully and correctly given, how much of the effect would be lost in the absence of that sweet and silvery voice-that graceful and exlpres- sive action-those flashing eyes-which gave life and potency and victory to his langusage! in conclusion, Air. Clay said :-" My plan would ' be to call out the ample resources of the country, ' give thetn a judicious direction, prosecute the tvar ' with the utmost iger, strike wherever we can reach ' the enemy, at sea or on land, and negotiate the When the proposition was madfle to impeach Thorn, .Jefer- ,Iloo, Mir. Cly is id so lase rsem, Fnd exclaimed in refeeiwe totheutover, " Sir.thegentlemansoilstilessdtthe Endsupomt." Defence of the War. 15 16 JAfe of Henry Clay. terms of a peace at Quebec or at Halifax. We are 'told that England is a proud and lofty nation, 'which, disdaining to wait for danger, meets it half way. Haughty as she is, we once triumphed over 'her, and, if we do not listen to the counsels of timi- 'dity and despair, we shall again prevail. In such a a cause, with the aid of Providence, we must come out crowned with success; but if we fail, let us rail like ten-lash ourselves to our gallant tars, 'and expire together in one common struggle- 'lIGHTING FOR FwEE TRADr AND SEAMEN'S 'RIGHTS ! " The Army Bill, thus advocated by Mr. Clay, passed the House on the 14th of January, 1813, by a vote of seventy-seven to forty-two. On the tenth of February, the President of the Senate, ill the presence of both Houses of Congress, proceeded to open the certificates of the Electors of the several States for President and Vice President of the' United States. The vote stood: For Presi- dent, James Madison, 128: De Witt Clinton, 89.- For Vice President, Elbridge Gerry, 131; Jared Ingersoll, 86. James Madison and Elbridge Gerry were accordingly elected-the former for a second term. The War Policy of the Administration was triumphantly sustained by the People. The first session of the Thirteenth Congress com- menced the twenty-futurth of May, 1813. Mr. Clay was again chosen Speaker by a large majority, and his voice of exhortation and encouragement con- tinued to be raised in Committee of the Whole in vindication of the honor of the Country and the con- duct of the War. The President, in his Message, alluded to the spirit in which the war had been waged by the British, who "were adding to the 'savage fury of it on one frontier, a system of plun- 'der and conflagration on the other, equally forbid 'den by respect for national character and by the 'established rules of civilized warfare." Mr. Clay eloquently called attention to this por- tion of the Message, and declared that if the out- rages said to have been committed by the British armies and their savage allies should be found to be as public report had stated them, they called for the indignation of all Christendom, and ought to be em- bodied in an authentic document, which might per- petuate them on the page of history. Upon his mo- tion, a resolution was adopted, referring this portion of the President's Message to a Select Committee, of which Mr. Macon was Chairman. A Report was subsequently submitted from this Committee, in which an abundance of testimony was brought for- ward, showing that the most inhuman outrages had been repeatedly perpetrated upon American prison- ers by the Indian allies of British troops, and often under the eye of British officers. The report closed with a resolution requesting the President to lay before the House, during the progress of the war, all the instances of departure, by the British, from the ordinary mode of conducting war among civil- ized nations. The new Congress had commenced its session at a period of general exultation among all patriotic Americans. Several honorable victories by sea and had had shed lustre on our annals. Captain Law- rence, of the Hornet, with but eighteen guns, had captured, after a brisk and gallant action of fifteen minutes, the British sloop of war reacock, Captain reake, carrying twenty-two guns and one hundred and thirty men-the latter losing her Captain and nine men with thirty wounded, while our loss was but one killed and two wounded. York, the capital of Upper Canada, had been captured by the army of the centre, in connection with a naval force on Lake Ontario, under Gen. Dearborn; while the issue of the siege of Fort Meigs, under Gen. Harrison, had won for that officer an imperishable renown as a brave and skilful soldier. In September of the preceding year, the Emperor Alexander of Rusaia had intimated to Mr. Adams, our Minister at St. Petersburgh, his intention of tendering his services as Mediator between the Uni- ted States and Great Britain. The proposition had been favorably received, and assurances had been given to the Emperor of the earnest desire of our Government that the interest of Russia might remain entirely unaffected by the existing war between us and England, and that no more intimate connections with France would be formed by the United States. With these assurances the Emperor had been highly gratified; and in the early part of March, 1813, the Russian Minister at Washington, M. Daschkoff, had formally proffered the mediation of his Government, which was readily accepted by the President. It was rejected, however, by the British Government, to the great surprise of our own, on the ground that their commercial and maritime rights would not thereby be as effectually secured as they deemed necessary; but, accompanying the rejection, was an expression of willingness to treat directly with the United States, either at Gottenburg or at London; and the interposition of the Emperor was requested in favor of such an arrangement. In conseqnence of the friendly offer of the Rus- sian Government, Messrs. Albert Gallatin and James A. Bayard had been sent to Join our resident Minister, Mr. Adams, as Envoys Extraordinary at St. Petersburgh. The proposal of the British Ministry, to treat with us at Gottenburg, was soon after accepted, and Messrs. Clay and Jonathan Russell were appointed, in conjunction with the three Plenipotentiaries then in Russia, to conduct the negotiations. On the 19th of January, 1814, Mr. Clay, in an appropriate Address, accordingly resigned his station as Speaker of the House. The same day a Resolution was passed by that body, thanking him for the ability and impartiality with which he had presided. The Resolution was adopted almost unanimously-only nine Members voting in opposition. Mr. Clay had always asserted that an honorable Peace was attainable only by an efficient War. In Congress he had been the originator and most ar- dent supporter of nearly all those measures which had for their object the vigorous prosecution of hostilities against Great Britain. On every occa- sion his trutnpet-voice was heard, cheering on the House and the Country to confidence and victory. No auguries of evil-no croakings of despondency- no suggestions of timidity-no violence of Federal opposition could for a moment shake his patriotic purposes, diminish his reliance on the justice of our cause, or induce him to hesitate in that policy, which be believed the honor and-what was inseparable from the honor-the interests, of the Country do. manded. X4fe of He-Y Clay. is ' lic or,,- ure oi gralitude due hiii] from his 1el- pressed, was pacification with the Indians, which the low citizens, for his exe. tions in this cause alone, is American Commissioners assured the British would not to be calculated or paid. But in that scroll necessarily follow pacification with Great Britain. where Freedom inscribes the namnes of her worthiest The former received some recent American mawo- chamipions, destined to an iinluortil renown in her papers containing an account of the actual couclu- annals, the name of HlsittY CLAY will be found sion of peace with some of the Indian tribes, but with those of WASHINGTON, JEFFEttsuN aid containing also an account of one of the splendid MADISON. Inaval victories won on Lake Champlain or Lake Having been the most efficient leader in direcLing Erie. Mr. Clay proposed to the American Com- the legislative action which originated and directed missioners, that these newspapers should be sent to to a prosperous termination the War with Great the British, ostensibly for the purpose of showing Britain-a War which the voice of an impartial that peace was made with some of the Indians, but Posterity must admit to have elevated and strength- in reality to afford thena an opportunity of perusing ened ut as a Nalion-Mr. Clay was now appro- the account of that victory. With the concurrence priately selected as one of the Commissioners to of his colleagues, lie accordingly addressed an offi- arrange a Treaty of Peace. cial note to the British Commissioners transmitting the newspapers. The mode of transacting business among the CHAPTER IV. American Commissioners was, upon the reception of an official note from the other party to deliberate Meeting ot the Ghent Comnmissioners-Mr. Clay visits Brus- fully upon its contents, and to discuss them at a Msel-Aecbe-Moeof transa,'tin-, Itusi.nes--Untowanrt1 kye.nt-Mr. Clay refuses to surrender to tihe British the Ri lit board. After that, the paper was placed in the no Navigate the Mlisaiaiiii-Hia Reasuoi-C-iitrnversy' e- hands of one of the Commissioners to prepare an tUvee- iiesrs Adams and R',ssetl-Mr. (lay'ys Letter-oes to itaris-lU intrduued to the Duke,'f Wellington by madame answer. Upon the preparation of that answer, it lte dtadl-le atrsolee the .Batt he. irwst Vrtlerais- vasitS Ei was carefully exanmitied and considered by the board, Naiilein-MNr.l Cliy's lteceptioo ill Englarid-LDeclies going every member of which took it to his lodgings to tii Cii-Sir Jameq kn.h-r Gambier, C.-Mr. (lay's Retiirn to New-Y.Vrk-Recevtion-Re-elected to tin- suggest in pencil such alterations as appeared to Vi.,di-ati-n (of the WV.'r-ntermal Impruveints-khi hitsb proper; and these were again considered and ontry. his whole C]ntry. finally adopted or rejected, and the paper handed to Ties Commissioners met first at Gottingen, but the Secretary to be be copied and recorded. their tneetiiigs were afterward transferred to Ghent. i In the composition of the official notes sent by the The csnferetnces occupied a space of time of about American to the British Commissioners, the pen of five iiiniiths. The American Commissioners were Mr. Gallatin was, perhaps, most frequently em- in reality negotiating with the whole British Mlitt- ployed; then that of Alr. Adams; then that of Mr. istrv; for, whenever they addressed a Diplomatic Clay. Messrs. Bayard and Russell wrote the least. note of any importance to the British Commis. During the progress of the negotiation and at a ioners, it was by them transmitted to London, from very critical period of it, the official dispatches of which place the substance of an answer was re- the American Commissioners, giving a full account turned in the form of instructions. The conse- of the prospects of the negociation, and expressing quence was, that the American Commissioners, very little hope of its successful termination, having after having delivered a Diplomatic note, had to been published by the order of the American Go- ',ait about a week before they received a reply. ivernment, came back to the Commissioniersat Ghent In one of these pauses of the negotiation, Mr. in the newspapers. They arrived in the evening, Clay made a little excursion to Brussels, and Mr. just as the American Commissioners were dressed Goulbouirne went there at the same time. The Brit- to go to a ball given to the Commissioners by the ish Comnmissioners had been in the habit of sending authorities of Ghent. The unexpected publication their Engliih newspapers to the American Comnmis- of these dispatches excited the surprise and regret sinners, through which the latter often derived the of the American Commissioners. Some of them first intelligence of events occurring in America. thought that a rupture of the negotiation would be TIe morning after Mr. Clay's arrival in Brussels, the consequence. Mr. Clay, on account of his opeis upon his coming down to breakfast, his servant, and frank manner, was on terms of more unreserved Frederick Cara, whom he had taken with him from and free intercourse with the British Commission- the City of Washington, threw some papers upon ers than any of his colleagues, and lie resolved that the breakfast table, arid burst into tears. "W What's evening to sound the furmer as to the effect of this the matter, Frederick " The British have taken publication of the dispatches. He accordingly ad- Washington, Sir, and Mr. Goalbourne has sent youv dressed himself to the three Commissioners sever- those papers, which contain the account." " Is it ally in succession at the ball, beginning with Lord possible " exclaimed Mr. Clay. " It is too true, Gambier, who was the most distinguished for amt- Sir" returned Frederick, whining piteously. i nity and benevolence of character, and saying: The news was by no means agreeable to Mr. Clay; i You perceive, my Lord, that our Government has nor was his concern dimnimiishced when lie thought of published our dispatches, and that now the whole the channel through which it had been conveyed to world knows what we are doing here." " Yes," re- him, although fully persuaded that Mr. Goulbourne plied his Lordship, "1 I have seen it with infinite sur- had not been actuated by any uncourtcous spirit of; prise, and the proceeding is without example in the exultation. Mr. Clay nevertheless resolved to avail civilized world." To which Mr. Clay mildly re- himself of the first favorable opportunity for friendly joined: " Why, my Lord, you must recollect that, retaliation; and one forttinately soon occurred. A at the time of the publication of those dispatches point in the negotiation, which had been very much our Government had every reason to suppose, ft'o Negotiation at Ghent. 17 the nature of the pretensions and demands, which yours brought forward, that our negotiation would not terminate successfully, and that the publication would not find us here together. I am quite sure, that if our Government had anticipated the present favorable aspect of our deliberations, the publica- tion of the dispatches would not have been ordered. Then, your Lordship must also recollect, that if, as you truly asserted, the publication of dispatches pending a negotiation is not according to the cus- tom of European diplomacy, our Government itself is organized upon principles totally different from those on which European Governments are consti- tuted. With us, the business in which we were here engaged, is the people's business. We are their servants, and they have a right to know how their business is going on. The publication, therefore, was to give the people information of what intimate- ly affected them." Lord Gambier did not appear to be satisfied with this explanation, although le was silenced by it. Mr. Clay had a similar interview with the two other British Commissioners; and their feelings, in con- sequence of the publication, were marked by the degree of excitability of their respective characters. But the fears which were entertained by some of the American Commissioners were not realized. The publication was never spoken of in conference, and the negotiation proceeded to a successful issue as if it had not happened. Between the American Commissioners, in the con- duct of the negotiation at Ghent, no serious difficul- ty arose, except on one point, and that related to the subject of the Fisheries and navigation of the Mis- sissippi. By the third article of the definitive Treaty of peace with Great Britain concluded in Septem- ber, 1783, certain rights of fishing, and of drying and curing fish within the limits of British jurisdiction, and upon British soil, were secuted to the citizens of the United States. And by the eighth article of the same Treaty, it was stipulated that the right to the navigation of the River Mississippi, from its source to the Ocean, should remain for ever free and open to the subjects of Great Britain and the citi- zens of the United States. The same mutual right of navigation was recognized by Mr. Jay's treaty of 1794. When the American Commissioners were in con- sultation as to the project of a treaty to be presented to the consideration of the British Commissioners, it was proposed thbt an article should be inserted renewing those rights of taking and curing and dry- ing fish, and of the navigation of the Mississippi. To such a proposal, Mr. Clay was decidedly op- posed, and Mr. Russell concurred with him. The other three Commissioners were for making the pro posal. The argument on that question was long, earnest and ardent. Mr. Clay contended, that the right of catching fish in the open stas and bays, be- ing incontestible, the privilege of taking them and euring and drying them within the exclusive juris- diction of Great Britain was of little or no impor- tance, especially as it was limited to the time that the British Territory should remain unsettled. With respect to the navigation of the Mississippi, he con- tended, that at the dates both of the definitive Treaty of peace of 1783, and of Mr. Jay's Treaty of 1794, Spain owned the whole of the right bank of the Mississippi, in all its extent, and both banks of it from the Mexican Gulf up to the boundary of the United States. That at both those periods, it was supposed that the British Dominions touched on the Upper Mississippi, but it was now known that they did not border at all on that river. That now the whole Mississippi, from its uppermost source to the gulf, was incontestibly within the limits of the United States. He could nost, therefore, conceive the propriety of stipulating with Great Britain fir a mutual right to the navigation of that river. It was the largest river in the United Stated; so large as to have acquired the denomination of the Father of rivers. Why select it from among all the tivers of the United States, and subject it to a forricn vassal- age Why do that in respect to the Missiseippi which would not be tolerated as respets the North River, the Jamnes, or the Potomac !hat would Great Britain herself think if a proposal were mad, that the citizens of the United States and the sub- jects of Great Britain should have a nmutual right to navigate the Thamnes To make the proposed concession, was to admit of a British partnership with the United States in the Fovereignty of the Mississippi, so far as its navigation was concerned. Then there might be a doubt and a dispute whether the concession did not comprehend the tributaries as well as the principal streani. If the grant of the right to navigate the Mississippi was to be regarded as an equivalent for the concession of the fishinz privileges, Mr. Clay denied that there was any af- finity between the two subjects. They wvere as dis- tant in their nature as they were remote from each other in their localities. On the other side, it was contended that it wouldl occasion regret and dissatisfaction in the United States, if any of the fishinig privileges, or other pri- vileges, which had been enjoyed before the break- ing out of the War, should not be secured by the treaty of peace. That those fishing privileges were very important and dear to a section of the Union, which had been adverse to the war. That the British right to the navigation of the Mississippi was a merely nominal concession, which would not result in any practical injury to the United States. That foreigners now enjoyed the right to navigate all the rivers ttp to the ports of entry established upon them, without any prejudice to otir interests. That Great Britain had been entitled to this right of navigating the Mississippi from the period of the acquisition of Louisiana to the Declaration of War in 1812, without any mischief or inconvenience to the United States. To all this, Mr. Clay replied that if we lost the fishing privileges within the exclusive jurisdiction, we gained the total exemption of the Mississippi from this foreign participation wit'i us in the right to its navigation. That the uncertainty as to the extent of privileges which the British right to navi- gate the Mississippi comprised, far from recommend- ing the concession to him, formed an additional ob- jection to it. That the period of about eight years between the acquisition of Louisiana and the Decla- ration of War, was too short for is to ascetain by experience what practical use Great Britain was capable of making of that right of navigation, which might be injurious to us. We knew that a great many of the Indian Tribes were situated upon the Life of Henry Clay. 18 Proceedings. at Ghent-Mfr. Clay at Paris. 19 sources of the Mississippi. The British right to na- nation of Mr. Russell's course in the alteration of vigate that river might bring her in direct contact some of his letters, which had been charged and with them, and we had sufficient experience of the proved upon him by Mr. Adams. In that same let- pernicious use she might make of those Indians.- ter, MIr. Clay gives his explanation of some of the lie was as anxious as any of his colleagues to se- transactions at Ghent, respecting which he thought cure all the rights of fishing, and curing and drying Mr. Adams was mistaken. The publication of the fish, which had hitherto been enjoyed; but he could confidential letter superseded the necessity of mak- not consent to purchase of temporary and uncertain ing the corrections which Mir. C. had intended. In privileges Ns ithin the British limits, at the expense of this letter, Mr. Clay in no instance impugns the mo- putiUng afforeign and degrading, mark upon the no- tives of Mr. Adams, nor does it contain a line front blest of all our rivers. which an unfriendly state of feeling on the part of After the argument, which was extended to set e- the writer toward Mir. Adams could be inferred. ral sessions of the consultation meetings of the Such was Mr. Clay's pride of country that le had American Commi-sioners, ivas exhausted, it ap- resolved not to go to England until he had heard of peared that the same three Commissioners were in- the ratification of the Treaty of Ghent. After the dined to make the proposal. In that stage of the termination of the negotiations he went to Paris, and proceeding, Mr. Clay said, he felt it due to his col- I tccepted the invitation of Mr. Crawfbrd, our Minis- leagues to state to them that he could affix his sig- ter, to take apartments in his hotel. Mr. Clay re- nature to no 'Treaty wchich should make to Great mained in Paris during upward of two months. On Britain the contemplated concession. After the an- the night of his arrival in that brilliant metropolis, nouncement of this determination, Mr. Bayard uni- Ie found at Mr. Crawford's an invitation to a ball ted with Messrs. Clay and Russell, and then formed given by the American banker, Mr. Hottingusr, on a majority against tendering the proposal-and it the occasion of the pacification between the United was not made. States and Great Britain. There hetnet forthe first Bltt, at a subsequent period of the negotiation, time the celebrated Madame de Stael-a as intro- when the British Commissioners made their propo- duced to her, and had with her a long and animated sitions for a Treaty, one of the propositions was to conversation. renew the British right to navigate the Mississippi i" Ali! " said she, " Mr. Clay, I have been in Eng- simply, without including the fishing privileges in land, and have been battling your cause for you question. On examining this propvsal, the Ameri- there."-" I know it, Madamne; we heard of your can Commissioners considered, first, whether they powerful interposition, and we are grateful and should accept the proposal with or without condi. thankful for it."-" They were very much enraged tions. All united in agreeing that it ought not to against you," said she so touch so, that they at he unconditionally accepted. But the samne three one time thought seriously of sending the Duke Commiasioners whol had been originally in favor of of Wellington to command their Armies against an article which should include both the Mississippi you! "-"1 I am very sorry, Madame," replied AMr. and the fishing privileges within the British limits, Clay, "4that they did not send his Grace."-" Why" appeared to be now in favor of accepting the British asked she, surprised.-" Because, Madame, if he had proposal, upon the condition that it should comupre- beaten us, we should only have been in the Condition hend those fishing privileges. Mr. Clay did not re of Europe, without disgrace. But, if we had been new the expression of his determination to sign tto so fortunate as to defeat him, we should have greatly Treaty which should concede to the British the right added to the renown of our arms." to the navigation of the Mississippi, althoughl he rc- The next time lie ntet Madame de Stael was at a mained fixed in that purpose; for he apprehended party at her own house, which was attended by the that a repetition of the expression of his determine- Marshals of France, the Duke of Wellington, and tion might be misconceived by his colleagues. other distinguished persons. She introduced Mr. It was accordingly proposed to the British Com- Clay to the Duke, and at the same time related the missioners to accept their proposal whit the condi- above anecdote. He replied, with promptness and tion just stated. In a subsequent conference be- politeness, that if he had been sent on that service, tween the two commissions, the British declined ac- and had been so fortunate as to have been success- cepting the proposed condition-, and it was mutually fmml over a fi)e as gallant as the Americans, lhe would agreed to leave both subjects out of the Treaty. And have regarded it as the proudest feather in his cap. thus, as Mr. Clay wished from the first, the Missis- Daring his stay in Paris, Mr. Clay heard of the s-ippi River became liberated from all British preten- issite of the Battle of New-Orleans. Now," said sions of a right to navigate it from the Ocean to its hle to his informuant, " I can go to England without source. Imortification." But he expressed himself greatly A controversy having arisen between Messrs. nortifiel at the inglorious flight attributed, in the Adams and Rtssell, about the year 1823, in respect Dispatcltes of the Ainerican General, to a portion to some points in the negotiations at Ghent, an emi- of the Kentucky Militia, which Mir. Clay pronouced hittered correspondence took place between those must be a mistake. two gentlemen. In the course of it, Mir. Clay Having heard of the ratification of tIme Treaty of thought that Mir Adams had unintentionally flllen Ghent, Mr. Clay left Paris for England in March, into some errors, which AIr. Clay, in a note ad- 1813, just before the arrival of Bonaparte in the dressed to the public, stated ble would at suone fi- Frenclt Capital. lie tlmmms tmissed the opportunity ture day correct. About the vear 1323 or 1829, Mr. of seeing the Great Corsican. Ile would have re- Russell, without the previous consent of Mir. Clay, imtained in Paris for the prirpose, had he supposed publishmemh a confidential letter addressed by Alr. the Emperor would arrive so soon. It was about Clay to him, in which Air. C. expresses his condem- this time that Louis XVIII. left Paris, and took up Life of Henry Clay. his residence in Ghent, nesr thle Hotel which the American Commis'inners had recently occupied. On his arrival in England, before ai;y of the other American Commissioners Ir. Clay had an inter- view with Lord Castlereegi, who contracted for him e hiMO esteem, which was fieqnently inani- fested during his sojourn in Frnglahid. Lord C. offered to present him to the Prince Regent. Mr. Clay said he would go through the ceremony, if it were deemed necesiary or respectful. Lord Castle- reagh said that, havinz been recog nized in his public character by the British Government, it was not necessary, and that he might omit it or not, as he pleased. Mr. Clay's repugnance to the parade of Courts prevented his presentation, and he never saw the Prince. He met, however, with most of the other members of the Royal Family. A few days after his interview with Lord Castle- reagh, the keeper of the house at which Mr. Clay lodged announced a person ho wished to speak with him. Mr. Clay directed him to be admitted; and, on his. entrance, he perceived an individual, dressed apparently in great splendor, come forward, whom he took to be a Peer of the Realm. Ile rose and asked his visitor to be seated, but the lItter declined, and observed that he was the First Waiter of my Lord Castlereagh! "The First Waiter of my Lord Castlereagh! " exclaimed Mr. Clay, " well, what is your pleasure with me "-" Why, if your Excellency pleases," said the man, "' it is usual for a Foreign Minister, when presented to Lord Castle- reagh, to make to his First WVaiter a present. or pay bim the customary stipend; " at the same time hand- ing to Mr. Clay a long list of names of Foreign Alin- isters, with the sunm which every one had paid affixed to his name. Mr. Clay, thinking it a vile extortion, took the paper, and, while reading it, thought how he should repel so exceptionable a demand. He returned it to the servant, telling him that, as it was the custom of the country, he presumed it was all right - Iut that he was not the 5linditer to England; Mr. Adams was the Minister, and was dsilv expected from Paris, and, he had no doubt, would do whatever wns right. "But," said the servant, very promptly, "if your 'ExcelleIney pleases, it makes no difference whether ' the Minister presented be the Resident Minister or 'a Special Minister, as I understand your Excel- 'lency to be ;-it is al ways paid." Mr. Clay, who had come to England to argue with the master, find- ing himself in danger of being beaten in argument by the man, concluded it was best to conform to the usage, objectionable as he thought it; and, looking over the paper for the smallest sum paid by any other Minister, handed the fellow five guineas and dismissed him. Mr. Clay was in London when the Battle of Waterloo was fought, aind witnpessev the illumni- nations, bonfires and rejoicings to which it gave ride. For a day or two, it was xa matter of er'-at uncertainty what had become of Napoleon. Ihuriin; this interval of anxious suspense, Mr. Clay dinedt at Lord Castlereagh's with tIle American Minioters. Messrs. Adams and Callatin, nndl the British Nlini- try. Bonaparte's flieht and probnale lilace of r, f'ic- became the topics of conversation. Among othpr conjectures, it was surgested that he might have gone to the United States; and Lord Liverpool, ad- dressing Mr. Clay, asked :-"If he goes llwre, -I hie uint give )ou a good deal of trNlvle1"-" Ne the least, my l oril," repli-d .\lr. Clay, with hi- habitual promptitude-' we shall be very glad to receive him; we would treat jima with all hospi- tality, and very soon ak-e of him a good De7nocaC't." The reply produced a very hearty peal oflatiughter from the whole company. AIr. Clay was received in the British circles, both of thle Ministry amid the Opposition, with the most friendly consideration. The late Sir James MAlnk- intosh was one of his first acquaintances in Lot- don;-auid of the lamented Sir Samuel Romilly and his beautiful and accomplished lad, Mr. Clay has been heard to remark, that they presented one ot'the most beautiful examples of a happy man and wife that he had ever seen. He passed a most agreeable week with his Ghent friend, Lord Cambier, at Iver Grove, near Windsor Castle. Of thid pious and excellent nobleman, Air. Clay has ever retained a lively andi friendly recollection. Ile tisited with him WVindsor Castle, Frogmore Lodge, the residence of the descendant of William Penn, adl sawv the wife of George Ill. and some of the daughters. In September, 1815, Mr. Clay returned to his own country, arriving in New York, which port he had left in March, 1814. A Public Dimier was gisen to him and Mr. Gallatin, soon after their disem- barkation. Every where, on his route hotnc aid to his adopted State, lie was received with con- tinual demonstrations of public gratitude and ap- probation. In Kentucky lie was hailed with every token of affection mtid respT(t. The Board of Triis- tees of Lexington waited upon hin an lI re-erited thi ir thanks fur his enminent services in behalf of his country. On the seventh of October, the cilizfns of ie Famnie town gave him a public dinner. In rnply to a toast complimentary to the American negotiators, lie made some brief and cloqtueCt r( inslrhs concerning the circurn-tnnces tinder which tlip Treaty had heeit concludedi, and the general conditiin of the country, both at the comrmenceinwnt and the close of the wa r. At the saine fretival, ini repvly to a toast highly com plimentary to hiimrelf, he thaiked the opntrany frir thdir kind and affectionate attention. Ilis reception, he sail, had been more like that of a brother than a common friend or acquaintance, and he was utterly incapable of finding words to express his gratitude. Ile compared his situation to that of a 8Swedish men- tleman, at a festital in England, given by tile Soi ety for the Relief of Foreianers in Distress. A toast having been given, coniplimentary to his country, it was expected that lie shotild addlress the company in reply. Not imnierstandiig the Engli-i language, he was greatly emnbarras-edl, and sail to the Chasr- tarn ": ' Sir, I wish you, arid this Society, to con. 'sider me a Foreigner in Distress." "'So," raid Mr. Clav, e idetitly much affected, `1 wish you to 'conFider me a friend in distress." In antiripatioti of his return home, Mr. Clay hald been inaninmou-4lv re-elected a Member of Congress from the District he formerly represented. Doubts arising as to the legality of this election, a new one was ordered, and the restilt was the same. On the fourth of December, 1815, the Fourteenth Congress met, in its first session. Mr. Clay was again elected Speaker of tlie House of Representa- 20 Discussion of the Treaty-Re.charter of the U. S. Bank. tives, almost unaijimously-receiving, upon the first balloting, eigiity-seen out of one hundred and twen- ty-two votes cast-thirteen being the highest num- be r giv. n for any one of the five opposing candi- dates. lie was, at this time, just recovering from a setious indisposition, but accepted the office in a brief and appropriate speech, acknowledging the honor conferred upon him, and pledging his best ef- forts for the proper discharge of its duties. Among the important subjects which came up, that of the new Treaty was, of course, among the foretmost. John Randolph and the Federalists, after having resisted tile War, iow took frequent ocCaLsion to sneer at the miode of its termination. On the 29th of January, 1b16, Mr. Clay addressed the Commit- tee of the House most eloquezitly in reply to these cavilers. '- I gave a vote," saild he, I for the Declaration of I War. I exetted all the little influence and talents 'I could command to make the WVar. The War was Wiade. It is terminated. Anid I declare with 'petfect Eincerity, if it had been permitted to me to 'lift the veil of ftturity, anid to have foreseen the precise series of events which has occurred, my 'vote would have been unchanged. We had been insilted, and outraged, and spoliiated upon by al- tnnt till EIu.-ope-hy Great Britaiti, by France, Spaiin, Detunark, Naples, and, to c ap tile clitnax, 'by tile little contemptible power of Algiers. We hail sphttiitted too long and too otuch. W'e had hecoi the scorn of foreign powers, and the deri- sion ol' our own citizens." It hud been objected by the Opposition that no provisiiti had been made in the Treaty in regard to thle itupreiisianent of our seanien bv the British. On this aiuj ;ct, Mr. Clay said-and his argument is as c h-lusuve as it is lofty :-i Otte ol the great causes of the WVur and of its contitiuance was the practice of impressment exercised by Great Britaini-and 'ii' l/'s ca imr had been adinmt/cd by neceszary imipli- 'cation or expmress slipuilation, the rights of our sea- ' At-n would have been abandoned ! It is with utter astoni-hainent that I hear it has been contended in 'this country that, because our right of exemption fromi the practice had not been expressly secured 'it, the Treaty, it was, therefore, given up! It is 'ilmlpos!sible that such an argutrietit can be advanced on this floor. No Meniber, who regarded his repo- 'mation, would ventomre to advance such a doctrimie !" Ini conclusion, Mr. Clay declared, on this occasion that his policy, in regard to the attitude in which the country should now be placed, was to preserve the presciut force, naval and military-to provide for the augmetitation of the Navy-to fortify the weak and vulnerabule points indicated by experience-to con- struct lilitary roads and catals-and, in short," -ro CoMMERCE TILE GREAT WORK OF INTNRNAL 15a- PROVE MENT." " I would see," he said, "a chaitn of turnp'ke roads and annls, from Paesaeataqioddv tm New-Or- lenna; end other semilar roads intersecting mourn- tainm, to fncizlitate intercourse bet-een all parts of the country, intd to bind and connnet us together. I WOUtf.D ALSO FiFF:CT0tt.Y PKOTECT OUR AIAaU- FACTO RtES. I would ffihrd thmemim protection, not So miluch for the sake of tile 'lantifacturers themselves as ,for tile general ititerest." It wic; in this patriotic spirit, and impelled by this tar-sighted, liberal, ard truly Americati policy, that Mr. Clay resumed his legislative labors in the Nation- al Councils. He has lived to carry out those truly great atid Statesman-like measures of Protection and Internal Improvement, .ihich even then began to gather shape and power in a mined ever active in the cause of his country. May lie live to receive a tes- timonial of that country's gratitude and admiration in the bestowal upon him of the highest honor in her gift! CHAPTER V. R-chnrter orthe Initerd qtstes Bank-Mr. ('la viewsin 1811. and 1816-S eete in the Itvuse with tndotphl'he compen- sani-l tbit-( anyteecs Imj t itrct--Skimiishl with Mr. Pope- The ()Md Hunter n,,d his Rfle--The trih Barber-Repeat of tbe o-tpeuna;ti u Hill-l-omth Amerit-an tndependence-tnter- nat tprvsments-.tr. ( 1:y's Relati,,s wittl Mr. Mladison- tntention of Madis-n t one time to appoint him Commander ih-Chiefot the Aru1--Elet-tip,n f James M1nroe-Mr. Clay carrie, his Measnrcs mit hehumlfofthue Stkuth American States- His Eloqnvent Atipes ti-His Ettlirts Succeseful-ttis Speeehe Rend at the teadl tthe Soutlm American Arniies-Letterfrom Btlivar-and Clay's Reply. The financial condition of the United States at the close of tie War was extremely depressed. The currency was deranged-public credit impaired- and a heavy debt impending. In his message, at the ope-ning of the Session of 1315-1(i, President Madi- son stated the condition of public affairs, and indi- cated the establishtnettt of a National Bank and of a IPotective Ttariff as the two great measures of relietf Oil the eightl of January, 181i', Mr. Calhioun from the cotornittee on that part of the President's Mes- sage, relating to tlte Currency, reported a bill to in- corporate the subscribers to a Bank ofthe United States. It ;il lbe remembered that lr. Clay in 1811,while a toeniber of the Senate, had opposed the re-char- teting of the od Batik. His reasons for now advo- catitig the bill before the House have been fully and freely comtnunmcated to the public. When the application was made to renew the old charter of the Bank of the United States, such an institution did not appear to him to be so necessary to the fulfilnetit of atny of tile objects specifically enu- mernted in the Constitution as to justify Congress in assunming, by constroction, power to establish it. It was supported natinly upon the ground that it was indispensable to the treasury operations. But the local institutions in the several States were at that time ini prosperous existence, confided in by the coniniunity, having confidence in one another, and maintaining an intercourse and connection the most iltimate. Alanv of them were actually em- ployed by the Treasury to aid that department in a part of its fical arrangements; and they appeared to him to be fully capable of affording to it all the facility that it ought to desire in all of them. They superseded iii his judgment the necessity ofa Na- tional Institution. But how stood the case in 1816, when he was called tpon again to examine the power of the General Government to incorporate a National Bank A total change oh circumstances was presented. Events of the tutmost magnitude had intervened. A suspension of specie payments had taken place. The currengy of the country was completely vitiated. The Gov- erntnent issued paper bearing an interest of six per cent, which it pledged the faith of the couottry to re- deem. For this paper, guaranteed by the honor and faith of the Government, there was obtaintd for tv- 21 Life of Henry Clay. cry one hundred dollars, eighty dollars from those banks which suspended specie payments. The experience of the WVar therefore showed the neces- sity of a Bank. The country could not get along without it. Mr. Clay had then changed his opinion on the subject, and he had never attempted to dis- guise the fact. In his position as Speaker of the House, he might have locked up his opinion in his own breast. But with that candor and fearlessness which have ever distinguished him, he had come for- ward, as honest men ought to come forward, and expressed his change of opinion, at the time when President Madison and other eminent men changed their course in relation to the Bank. The Coismtitution confers on Congress the power to coin Money and to regulate the value of Foreign Coins: and the States are prohibited to coin money, to emit bills of credit, or to make any thing but gold or silver coin a tender in payment of debts. The plain inference was, that the subject of the general currency was intended to be submitted exclusively to the General Government. In point of fact, how- ever, the regulation of the General Currency was in the hands ofthe State Governments, or, what was the same thing, of the Banks created by them. Their paper had every quality of money, except that of being made a tender, and even this was imparted to it, by some States, in the law by which a creditor must receive it, or submit to a ruinous suspension of the payment of his debt. It was incumbent upon Congress to recover the control which it had lost over the General Currency. The remedy called for was one of caution and mo- deration, but of firmness. Whether a remedy, di- rectly acting upon the Banks and their paper thrown into circulation, was in the power of the General Government or not, neidher Congress nor the com- munity were prepared for the application of such a remedy. An indirect remedy of a milder character seemed to be furnished bv a National Bank. Going into operation with the powerful aid of the Treasury of the United States, Mr. Clay believed it would be highly instrumental in the renewal of specie pay- ments. Coupled with the other measure adopted by Congress for that object, he believed the remedy effectual. The local Banks must follow the exam- ple, which the National Bank would set them, of re- deeming their notes by the payment of specie, or their notes would be discredited and put down. If the Constitution, then, warsanted the establish- ment of a Bank, other considerations, besides those already mentioned, strongly urged it. The want of a general medium was everywhere felt. Exchange varied continually, not only between different parts of the Union, but between different parts of the same City. If the paper of a National Bank were not re- deemed in specie, it would be much better than the current paper, since though its value, in compari- son with specie, might fluctuate, it would afford an uniform standard. During this discussion of 1816, on the Bank Char- ter, a collision arose between Messrs. Clay and Ran- dolph, which produced great sensation for the mo- ment, and which it was apprehended might lead to serious consequences. Although Mr. Clay had changed his own opinion in regard to a Bank, he did Dot feel authorized to seek, in private inter- course, to influence that of others, and observed a silence and reserve not usual to him, on the subject. Mr. Randolph commented on this fact, and used language, which might bear an offensive interpreta- tion. When he was done, Mr. Clay rose with per- fect coolness, hNt evidently with a firm determina- tion, and adverting to the offensive language, ob- served that it required explanation, and that he should forbear saying what it became him to say until he heard the explanation, if any, which the Member from Virginia had to make. He sat down. Mr. Randolph rose and made an explanation. Mr. Clay again rose, and said that the explanation was not satisfactory. Whereupon Mr. R. again got up and disclaimed expressly all intentional offence. During the transaction of this scene, the most in- tense anxiety and the most perfect stillness perva- ded the House. You might have heard a pin fall in any part of it. The hill to re-charter the Bank was discussed for several weeks in the House. The vote was taken, on its third reading, on the 14th of Match, 1816, when it was passed: 80 Ayes to 71 Nays: and sent to the Senate for concurrence. On the 2d of April, after the bill reported by the Financial Committee had received a full and thorough discussion, it was finally passed in thuat body by a vote of 22 to 12- two Metubers only being absent. The amendments of the Senate were speedily adopted by the House, and on the 10th of April the bill becamenc a law, by the signature of the President. The wisdom of the supporters of the measure was soon made manifest in the fact, that tie Institution more than realized the most sanguine hopes of its friends. During the period of its existence tht, United States enjoyed a currency of unexampled purity and uniformity; and the bills of the Bank were as acceptable as silver in every quarter of the Globe. In another part of this memoir will be found an outline of such a Fiscal Institution as Mr. Clay would be in favor of, wchen- ever a majority of the people of the United States might demand the establishment of a National Bank. On the 6th of March, 1816, Col. Richard M. John- son, from a Committee appointed for the purpose, reported a bill changing the mode of compensation to Members of Congress. The pay of Members at that time was six dollars a day-an amount which, from its inadequacy, threatened to place the legis- lation of the country in the hands of the wealthy. The new bill gave Members a salary of fifteen hun- dred dollars a year-to the presiding officer twice that amount. It passed both houses without oppo- sition. Mr. Clay preferred the increase of the daily compensation to the institution of a salary, but the majority were against him, and be acquiesced in their decision. He never canvassed for a seat in the Hlttsp of Representatives but on one occasion, and that was after the passage of this unpalatable bill. It pro- duced very great dissatisfaction throughout the Uni- ted States, and extended to the district which he represented. Mr. Pope, a gentleman of great abili- ties, was his competitor. They had several skir- mishes at popular meetings, with various success ; but having agreed upon a general action, they met at Higbie, a central place and convenient of access to the three counties composing the district. A vast 2g2 multitude as-wnibled ; anl(d lie rival candidates occu- iness of an experienced miiarksman, lie lifted "old piCel in their addresses the greater part of the day. Bess" to his shoulder, fired, and pierced the very Ilistead (if confining hiniself to a defence of the centre of the target. Cou'mpensation Bill, which he never heartily appro- "Oh, a chance shot! a chance shot! " exclaimed ved il the form of an annual salary to Members of several of his political opponents. " He might shoot Counzrss, 31r. Clay carried the war into the enemy's all day, and not hit the mark again. Let him try it country. Hle attacked Mr. Pope's vote against the over-let him try it over." Declaration of WVar with Great Britain, dwelt on the I "1 No; beat that and then I will," retorted Mr. Clay. wrongs and injuries wbich that power had inflicted But as no one seemed disposed to make the attenipt, on the United States, pointed out his inconsistency it was considered that he had given satisfactory proof in opposing the War upon the ground of a want of of his superiority ns a marksman; and this felicitous preparation to prosecute it, and yet having been accident gainied him the vote of every hunter in the willinr to declare WVar against both France and aseembly. The most remarkable feature in the trans- Grear -Britain. Thus he put his competitor on the action remains to be told. "' I had never," said Mr. defensive. The effect of the discussion was power- Clay, " fired a rifle before, and never have since." fiil acd triumphant on the side of Mr. Clay. From It is needless to add that the election resulted in his that daV his success was no lonaer doubtful, and, favor. accordiiigly, at the election which shortly after en- An Irish barber, residing in Lexington, had sUp- ied, le was choseti by a majority of six or seven ported Mr. Clay with great zeal at all elections, huiidlred votes. ! when he was a candidate, prior to the passage of D1iiring the canvass, Mr. Clay encountered an old the Compensation Bill. The fellow's unrestrained hunter, wvho had always before been his warm friend, passions haid frequently involved him in scrapes but was tiow opposed to his election on account of and difficulties, on which occasions Mr. Clay the Coiipensation Bill. "I Have you a good rifle, my generally defended himli atid got him out of them. friend ! " asked Mr. Clay. "' Yes." " Does it ever During tile canvass, after the Compensation Bill, fla'h ! " ;Once only," lie replied. " Whait did you the barber was very reserved, took no part in the do with it-throw it a-ay N, I picked the election, and seemed indifferent to its faite. He fliot, tried it again, and brought down thle game." was often importuiied to state for whom he teant "1 HaIve I ever flashed hut upon the Compensation to vote, but declined. At length, a few days before Slill " I No." "1 Will you throw me away " "No, the election, lie was addressed by I)r. W -_, a gen- no! " exelaiimed the hunter, with enthusiasm, nearly tlentan for whom lie entertaitied the highest respect, ov.'rtpowered by his feelinva: "I will pick the flint, and pressed to) sav to whom lie meant to give his and try you again! " He was afterward a warm suffrage. Looking at the inquirer with great earn- ruptuormeolr of Mr. Clay. l estness and shrewdness, lie said : `I tell you Nihat, This aniecdote reminds uts of another. which is doethur, I mane to vote for the man that can put illu-trative of that trait of bolduiess and self-posses- ' but one hand into the Treasurv." Mr. Pope had ri ... iii the iiianifestation of which Mr. Clay has the misfortune to lose, in earls- life, one of his arnis, nwver been known to fail duritng his l)ublic career. and here lav the point of the Irishman's repl]. A t the time that he was a candiilate for election to the Legislattire of Kentucky in 1803, while passing a It is due to the memory of Jeremiah Murphy, the few weeks at the Olympian Springs, a number a barber, to state that lie repented of his ingratitude to few vweeks at the Olvmpian Springs, a number of -u et old and youn, a d to hr i Mr. Clay, whom lie met one dav in the streets of huntsmtenl, oldl and young, assenlbledl to near llim x nmake a " stuamp speech." When he had finished, Lexington, and, accosting him, burst into tears, andl told him that he had wronged him; atid that his ine o the audience, an ancient Nimrrod, who had IpO wife h got I hi n r ltooli Ieaning upon ,is rifle for some time, regarding ing him for his conduct sating: "Do n't Pon re thie Noting orator with keen attention, commenced a meb e . . . ' member, Jerry, when you were ill Jail, 5fr. Clav coaversiition with hien. " Youing man," said he, " you want to go to the 'ctne to you, and made that beast, William B- Le-iJlrkture, I see e jailor, let you out "Whe'6 \\, yes," repliedl Alr. dlay, " since I have Having found that the sentiments of his constitu- crnseuted to be a candidate, I would prefernottoents were decidedly opposed to the Compensation be nefented." Bill, Mr. Clay, at the ensuing session, voted for its " Are you a good shot " repeal. A daily allowvance of eight dollars to every i'rv me." Member was substituted for the salary of fifteen liun- Very well; I would like to see a specimen of dred dollars. your q ualifications for the Legislature. Come : we During the month of Febotary, a bill was intro- Mnntu see you shoot."l dtced, setting npart and pledlgins as a fund for In- Rut I have no rifle here." ternal Improvement the bonus of the United State,' No matter: here is old Bess ; and she never fails share of the (ividends of the National Bank. As in the hanls of a marksman ; she has often sent death may le presumele, this oteasuire received the hearty thromatli a s-quirrel's head at one husndred yards, and sttpport of Mr. Clay. Without entering at length daylialit through manyared-skin twice thatdistance; into a disctission ofthe subject, le expresseil a wish if yoii cann shoot with any gun, you can shoot with only to say that " Ile had long thotighlt there a er old Recs." 'no two subjects which could engage the attention " Well, well: put up your mark, put up your 'of the National Legislature, more worthy of its de. mark," said Mr. Clav. ' liherate consideration than those of Internal In- The taret was placed nt the distance of about ' provements and Domestic Manatufactures." For eighty yards, when, witm all the coolness and stead- Constitutional reasons, President Madison withheld The Compensation Bill. 23 Life ef Henry Clay. his signature from this bill, much to the surprise of his friends. During the administration of Mr. Madison, Mr. Clay was, on two separate occasions, offered a seat in his Cabinet, or the Mission to Russia, by that distinguished Chief Magistrate. He declined them both. Mr. Madison appears ta, have had the highest estimate of his talents and worth. Indeed, so im- pressed was he with the eminent and versatile abili- ties of mar. Clay, that he had selected him, at the commencement of the W\ar, to be Commander in Chief of the Armay. The nomination was not made, solely because Mr. Clay could not be spared front Congress, where his powerful mind and paramount influence enabled him to render services superior to any that could have been rendered mn any other po- sition. On the fourth of March, 1817, James Monroe took the oath prescribed by the Constitution, and entered upon the duties of the Presidency of the Utlited States. The first session of the Fifteenth Congress commenced the ensuing December. Air. Clay was again chosen Speaker. It would be impossible in the brief space we have aDlotted to ourselves to present even a brief abstract of his remarks upon the many important topics which now claimed the attention of Congress. We mttst content ourselves with a succinct account of the leading measures with which his name and his fame have become identified. In his speech on the state of the Union in January, 1816, he had expressed his sympathies it behalf of the South American Colonists, who were then strug- gling to throw off the yoke of the Mother Country. The Suprente Congress of the Mexican Republic afterwards voted him their thanks "s for the disinter- 'ested, manly and generous sentiments he expressed 'on the floor of the House for the welfare of the In- fant Republic." In the debate on the proposition to reduce the Di- rect Taxation of the Country, he had alluded to the existing peaceful condition of the United States, and had hinted the possibilityv of hostilities with Spait. Ile had heard that the Mlinister of that Nation had demanded the surrender of a portion of our soil-that part of Florida lying west of the Perdido. Without speaking of it as it deserved-of the impudence of such a demand-he alluded to it as indicative of the disposition of the Spanish Government. "Besides," said he, "1 who can tell with certainty how far it may 'be proper to aid the people of South America in the 'establishment of their Independence 7 " The Pub- ject, he avowed, had made a deep impression on his mind; and he was not in favor of exhausting, by di- rect taxes, the country of those funds which night be needed to vindicate its rights at home, or, if ne- cessary, to aid the cause of Liberty in South Aie- rica. These remarks aroused all the spleen of Air. Ran- dolphi. ".As for South America," said he, in his re- ply to Mr. Clay, " I am not going a-tilting for the liberties of her People ; they came not to our aid; 'let us mind our own business, and not tax our Pen- 'ple for the liberties of the People of Spanish Ame- 'rica." He went on to ridicule the notion that the People of Caraccas and Mexico were capable either of enjoying or of understanding liberty and insinu- sted that Mr. Clay was influenced by a desire of conquest. " The honorable gentletrnn," he said' "had been sent onl a late occasion to Europe; lie 'had been near the fiehl of Waterloo, and, lie feared, 'had snuffed the carnage and caught the infection." "What! " said he, " insrease our Standing Army in 'time of peace, on the suggestion that we are to go 'on a crusade to South Amierica " Mr. Clav inti- mated that lie had advocated no such mensure.- "' Do I not understand the gentleman " said Mr. Randolph; "1 I aiti sorry I do not; I labor under two 'great misfortunes-one is that I can never under- 'stand the honorable Speaker-the other is that he 'can never understand me: on such terins. tin nrgu- 'menr can never be miaintained between us, atid I 'shall, therefore, put tin end to it." AMr. Clay sim- ply expressed his surprise that he cotild so have misunderstood his remarks, and deferred the general argument to another occasion. Soon after, on a proposition to "s prevent our citi- zens front selling vessels of war to a foreign poaer," Mr. Clay opposed the bill, on account of its etident hearing upon the question of' S)outhl Amnerical Inde- pendence; it would every where be urnerstoud f]as a law framed expressly to prevent the offer olf the slightest aid to these Republics by vour citizens.- `With respect to the natte of their strutlele," lie said, "1 I have not now, for the fir-t time, to express 'ily opinion and wishes. I wish them) lnlbpensl- 'ence. It is die first step towards iinprovittg their 'condition." During the summer of 1816, the President had ap- pointed Messrs. Rodney, Graham end Bland, Cotim- noissioners to proceed to Sooth America, to ascertmiin the condition of the country. Ilt March, 1818, the Appropriation Bill being before the House, Mr. Clay objected to the clause appropriating 30,000 for their compensation, as unconstitutional. He then ofiered an amendment, appropriating eighteen thouL-and dollars as the outfit and one year's salary of a 31in- ister, to be deputed froti the United States to the Independent Provinces of the River La Plata, in South America. The atnendinetit was lost; but Mr. Clay's speech itl support of it was one of his most memorable efflorts. Both Congress and the Presi- dent were opposed to any recognition of the Inde- pendence of the South Ai-ierican Colonists. In rising to protmulgiute views hostile to theirs, Mr. Clay said that, untich as lie valued those friends, in and out of the Houf-e, from whom lie differed, he could not hesitate w' in reduced to the distressing alternative of conforming his judgment to) theirs, or pursting the deliberate and matured dictates of his own mind. Ile maintained that an oppressed People were at- thorized, whenever they could, to rise nand break their fetters. This was the great principle of the English Revolution. It was the great principle of our own. Vattel, if authority were wantiing, ex- pressly supports this rigltt. Mr. Clay said lie was no propagandist. lie would not seek to force upon other nations our principles and ottr liberty, it they did not want them. He would not disturb the repose even of a dePwstable despotism. But, if an abused and oppressed People willed their freedota; if theY sought to establish it; if, in truth, they had established it, we had a right, as a sovereign power, to notice the fact, and to cst as circumstances and our interest required. South American Independence The Opposition had argued that the People of Spanish America were too ignorant and supersti- tious to appreciate and conduct an independent and free system of Government. Wve believe it is Mac- aulay, who says of this plea of ignorance as an ar- gument against emancipation, that with just as much propriety might you argue against a person's going into the water until he knew how to swim.- M1r. Clay denied the alleged fact of the ignorance of the Colonists. With regard to their superstition, he said: "They 'worslhipped the same God with us. Theirprayers 'were offered up in their temples to the same Re- 'deemer, whose intercession we expected to save us. 'Nor was there anything in the Cathowlse religion 'unfarorable to freedom. All religions united with 'government were more or less inimical to liberty. 'All separated from government were compatible 'with liberty." Having shown that the cause of the South Amer- ican patriots was just, Mr. Clay proceeded to inquire wlhat course of policy it became us to adopt. He maintained that a recognition of their independence was compatible with perfect neutrality and with the most pacific relations toward old Spain. Recogni- tion alone, without aid, was no just cause of war. With aid, it was; not because of the recognition, but because of the aid, as aid, without recognition, was cause of war. After demonstrating that the United States were bound, on their own principles, to acknowledge the Independence of the United Provinces of the river Plate, he alluded to the improbability that any of the European Monarchies would set the example of recognition. " Are we not bound," he asked, "s upon 'our own principles, to acknowledge this new repub- 'lic If WVE do not, who will " Thle simple words, ,who will " are said, by an intelligent observer, who was present, to have been uttered in a tone of such thrilling pathos as to stir the deepest sensibilities of the audience. It is by such apparently simple appeals that Mr. Clay, with the aid of his exquisitely modulated voice, often pro- duces the most powerful and lasting effects. WVe shall not attempt to present a summary of this magnificent address. " No abstract," says one who heard it, " can furnish an adequate idea of a 'speech, which, as an example ofargumentative ora- tory, may be safely trie d by the test of the most ap- 'proved models of any age or country. Rich in all 'the learning connected with the subject; method- 'ized in an order which kept that subject constantly 'before the hearer, and enabled the meanest capac. 'ity to follow the speaker without effort, through a 'long series of topics, principal and subsidiary; at 'once breathing sentiments of generous philanthropy 'and teaching lessons of wisdom; presenting a va- 'rietv of illustrations which strengthened the doc- 'trines that they embellished; and uttering prophe- 'cies, on which, though rejected by the infidelity of 'the day, time has stamped the seal of truth: this 'speech will descend to the latest posterity and re- 'main embalmed in the praises of mankind, lonr 'after the tumults of military ambition and the plots 'of political profligacy have passed into oblivion." After repeated efforts and repeated failures to car- ry his generous measures in behalf of South Anier. ican Liberty, Mr. Clay, on the tenth of February 1821, submitted for consideration a resolution de- claring that the House of Representatives participa- ted with the people of the United States, in the deep interest which they felt for the success of the Span- ish Provinces of South America, which were strug- gling to establish their liberty and independence; and that it would give its constitutional support to the President of the United States, whenever he might deem it expedient to recognize the sovereign- ty and independence of those Provinces. On this resolution, a debate of nearly four hours ensued, in which Mr. Clay sustained the principal part. Only twelve Members voted against the first clause of it; and on the second, the votes were eighty-seven for, and sixty-eight against it. The question was then taken on the resolution as a whole, and carried in the affirmative; and Mr. Clay imnme- diately moved that a Committee of two Members should be appointed, to present it to President Mon- roe. Although such a course was not very usual, a Committee was accordingly ordered, and M1r. Clay was appointed its Chairman. It was agreat triumph. He had been long and ardently engaged in the caube, and, during a greater part of the tine, opposed by the whole weight of Mr. Monroe's administration. And when he was appointed Chairman of the Com- mittee, to present the resolution, Mr. Monroe's friends regarded it as a personal insult, and Mr. Nelson, of Virgina, one of the warmest of them, retired froni the Capitol, after the adjournment of the House, de- nouncing the act in the loudest tones of his renilark- able voice, on his way down the Pennsylvania Ave- nue, as an unprecedented indignity to the Chief.Ma- gistrate. On the 8th day of March, 1822, the President sent a Message to the House of Representatives, recom- mending the recognition of South American Inde- pendence. The recommendation was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations, which, on the 19th of the same month, reported in favor of the recommendation, and of an appropriation to carry it into effect. The vote of recognition was finally passed on the 28th, with but a single dissenting voice. Such is a brief sketch of Mr. Clay's niagnani mous efforts in behalf of South American Indvpen dence. His zeal in the cause was unallo) ed by one selfish impulse or one personal aim. HIe could hope to gain no political capital by his course. He ap- pealed to no sectional interest; sustained no party policy; labored for no wealthy client; secured the influence of no man, or set of men, in his champion- ship of a remote, unfriended and powerless people. Congress and the President were vehemently op- posed to his proposition. But in the face of dis- comfiture, he persevered till he succeeded in making converts of his opponents, and in effecting the triumph of his measure. Almost mingle-handed, he sustained it through discouragement and hostility, till it was crowned with success. The effect of his spirit-stirring appeals in cheering the patriots of South America, was most gratifying and decided. His memorable plea of Alarch. 1818, was, as one of his most embittered adversaries has told us, read at the head of the South American Ar- mies, to exalt their enthusiasm in battle, and quick- en the consummation of their triumphs. 'The following letter from Bolivar, with Mr. Clay's reply, belongs to this period of his history: 25 B"OGSnTn, It 1 Novirnber. 18TI. glory of our immortal Washington to the ignoble SR: anoto itlig iiiselt Oil t1 op- fame of the destroyers of Liberty, you have formed portunitv ofl-r, d me by the delmtrtureot Col. Vatts, the patriotic resolution of ultimately placing the ChargeL d'Affaires of the United States, of taking the free'dm of Colombia upon a firm and sure tbun- liberty of addressing your Excellency. This dc- I dation. That your efforts to that end may be sire has long bi en entertained by me for the purpose crowned with complete success, I most fervently of expressing my admiration of your Exceilency's ap brilliant talents and ardent love of liberty. All "2 request that your Exellency will accept assu- Atnerica, Coluatbia, and myself owe your Excel- rances of my sincere wishes for your happiness and lency our purest gratitude for the incomparable prosperity. H. CLAY." services you have rendered to us, by sustaining our course with a sublime enthusiasm. Accept, there- The disinterestedness of dr. Clay's motives, in his fore, this sincere and. cordial testimony, which course toward the South American Republics, was I hasten to offer to your excellency, and to the Go- forcibly displayed in his frank and open appeal to vernment of the United States, who hae so greatly Bolivar. Had his object been to acquire itfluence contributed to the emancipation of your Southera and popularity among the people of those countriet brethren. "I have the honor to offer to your Excellency my he would hardly have addressed such plain ro- distinguished consideration. proaches and unpalatable truths to a Chief who was " Your Excellency's obedient servant, all powerful with them at the time. But in a cause "BOLIVAR." where the freedom of any portion of mankind was The following is a characteristic extract from Mr. implicated, Alr. Clay was never known to hesitate, Clay's Reply: to reckon his own interests, or to weigh the conise- "SWASIINgtGtO 77tIt c to ber, asrd. quences to himself from an avowal of his own "SIR: It is very grutlynilg to me to be assured opinions. On all subjects, ixldeed, be is far above directly by your Excelleticv, that the course which o O the (joreruilent of the United States took on this disguise; and though he may sometimes incur the memorable occasion, and nmy humble efforts, have charge of indiscretion by his uncalculating candor excited the gratitude and commanded the approba- and fearless translucency of sentiment, the trait is tion of your Excellency. I arti perstiaded that I do one which claims for him our affection tndi cotafi- not misinterpret the feelings of the people of the dence. Independent in his opinions as in hbi actions, United States, as I certainly express my own, in saying, that the icterest which was inspired in this no suggestion of self-interest could ever interpose an couii try by the aruluos i-truggles of South Ameri- obstacle to the bold and magnanimous utterance of Cs, itrose principallyfrom the hope, that, along tfrit/ the former, or to the conscientious discharge of thes its Independence, wtould be estabb/tshed Free Institu. latter. tious. insuring all the blessing-s of Civil Liberty. T'J' i/se accomplishmend of thute object we still anxe- iously lo0ok. OVU aire aware that great diffciilties CHAPTER VI. oppose it, azitong which, not the least, is that which art.es out of the existence of a large military force, 1nternal Improvement-t1,. Manr-es Crinstitti- nrA Otje- raised for the purpose of resiftinjg the power of Itians-M. ('lay replies o there-(a ngres adopts hI,' 1'nset- Spain. Sianding armies, organized with the most Pi,-Th, U a-tie.nd Bd-A cot -i- the S et-Il is- rumiant'Genral acisr'scod..it ... thre S i i r- patriotic intentions, are dangerous instruments.- paes.-Mr. (Cay'. Opinions of that 4'hiedltt Iet ls151-A frily denour the substance. debauch the morals, lPrttfhetic G(itie-Mir. Adams aril (Gereral J-skL-'-'Ti and too often destroy the liberties of the people. Fatier of the Amnerican Satem-Jtill to reg,.Itet Iiatas, ,.-Mr. ClJay's ePeeh in talrafof the Pet-eti-e Pliny- nothingi cail be more perilous or unwise thai to re- 1i (;rea, speerf lt 'T24--P i.ge te ''of te , liil-tesuta_ tain them after the necessity hals censed, which led Of tig P.]. Vy-fine of the 0t.6ry-tlis unreintoturd Exer to their formiation, especially if their numbers are tio.m-Raridwiyl-iSarcraan-Anecdote. disproportionat eto the revenues of the State. WE have seen that from an early period Mr. Clay "fuit, notwithstanditsg all these diffit ulties, we wsa doaeotedcrn fnenlIpoe had fondly cherished, and still indulge the hope, was an advocate of the doctrine of Internal Itiprove- that South America would add a new triumph to ment. His Speech in Congress in 1806 had been in the cause of Human Liberty ; and, that Providence vindication of the policy authorizing the erection of would bless her, as He had her Northern sister, A ith a bridge across the Potomac River. In the passages the genius of some great atid 'irtuous man, to con- we have quoted from his Speech of January, 1816, duct her securely through all her trials. We had . . i even flattered ourselves, that we beheld that genius he declared himself in favor not only of a system of in your excellency. But I should be unworthy of International Improvement, but of Protection to our the consideration with which sour Excellency Manufactures. honors me, and deviate from the frankness which I It will be remembered that the bill appropriating have ever endeavored to practice, if I did not0, on for purposes of Internal Improvement the bonus this occasion, state, that ambitious designs have which was to be paid by the Bank of the United been attributed by your enemies to your Exccellency Sae oteGnrlGvrteiatrhvn which hare created in my mind great solicitude. States to the General 6cvernment, after having Thlvev have cited late events in Colombia as proofs been passed by Congress, hai been returned by of these designs. But slow in the withdrawal of President Madison without his signature, in conse- confidence, which I have once given, I have been quence of Constitutional objections to the bill. Mr. most unwilling to credit the unfavorable ec- Clay had been much surprised at this act; for Mr. counts which have from time to time reached me. I cannot allow myself to believe, that your Excel- Madison, in one of his Messages, had said :-' I Iency will abandon the bright and gforious path particularly itivite again the attention of Congress whyih lies plainly before you, for the bloody road to the expediency of exercising their existing passing over the liberties of the human race, ontt powers, and, where necessary, of resorting to the which the vulgar crowds of tyrants and millitary 'prescribed niode of enilarging them, in order to despots have to often trodden. I will not dtoubt, 'effctuate a comprehesive system of Roads and that four Excellenxcy will, in d se time, render a atisfactory explanation to Colombia atild the w orld Canals, such as will have the effect of drawing of the parts tf your public conduct whitch have ex- more closely together every part of our Country, cited any distrust; and that, preferring the true ,by promoting intercourse and iniprovetnents, and 26 Life if Hlenry Clay. Internal Imnprorenents-Remarks on Gen. Jackson's Conduct in Florida. 'by increasing the share of every part in the com- for the continuance of the great Cumberland Road 'mon stock of national prosperity." across the Alleghauies, the records of Congruss will Mr. Monroe, in anticipation of the action of Con- bear ample and constantly recurring testimony. Ile gress, had expressed an opinion in his Message himself has said :- W We ae had to beg, etn-at, opposed to the right of Congress to establish a supplicate you, sesSion after Session, to grant the system of International Improvement. AMr. Jeffer- necessary nppropriations to cotmplete the Road. I son's authority was also cited to show that, under 'have myself toiled until my powers have been ex the Constitution, Roads and Canals could not be 'hausted and prostrated, to pre'ail on tou to 11,ake constructed by the General Government without 'the grant." His courageous efforts were at length the consent of the State or States through which rewarded; and to him we are inldebted for the most they were to pass. Thus three successive Presi- magnificent road in the United States. dents had opposed the proposition. At a dinner given to him a few years since by the Against this weight of precedent, Mr. Clay un- Mechanics of Wheeling, Mir. Clay spoke warmlny, dertook to persuade Congress of their power under and with something like a parental teeling, of this the Constitution to appropriate money for the con- Road-expressing a wish that it might be retained, struction of Military Roads, Post Roads and Canals. improved and extended by the Nation. Ile illustra- A Resolution, embodying a clause to this effect, came ted its importance by observing that, before it was before the House in March, 1818; and he lent to it made, he and his family had expended a whole day his unremitting advocacy. of toilsome and fatiguing travel to pass the distance In regard to the Constitutionality of the proposed of 4bout nine miles, from Uniontown to Freeman's, measure, he contended that the power to construct on the summit of Laurel Hill; adding that eighty Post Roads is expressly granted in the power to miles over that and otber mountains were now made ESTABLISH Post Roads. With respect to Military in one day by the public stage. lie said that the Roads, the concession that they might be made Road was the only comfortable pass across the when called for by the emergency, was admitting mountains, and that he would not consent to give it that the Constitution conveyed the power. " And up to the keeping of the States through which it 'we may safely appeal," said Mr. Clay, "to the happened to run. The People ot nine States might 'judgment of the candid and enlightened to decide thus be interfered with in their communication with between the wisdom of those two con-tructions, the rest of the Uinion. 'of wh ich one requirei you to wait for the exercise The country has not been wholly unininIhtl of 'of your power until the arrival of an emiergency MIr.Clay's pre-eminent serN ices in behalf of this I e- which may not allow s ou to exert it; and the neficent nieasure. On the Cumberland Road stands 'other, without denying you the power, if you can a Mlonuiment of stone, surmounted by the Genius of 'exercise it during the emergency, claims the right Liberty, and bearing as an inscription the name of 'of providing beforelhand against the emergency.' " IHESRY CLAY." AMr. Clay's motion, recognizing in Congress the During the second session of the Fifteenth Con- Constitutional power to make appropriations for gress, in January, 1819, the subject of G, n. Andrew Internal Improvements. was finally carried by a Jackson's conduct in his celebrated Florda camn vote of 90 to 75. 'The victory was a most signal paign came tip for discussion. That Chieftain, after one, obtained, as it was, over the transmitted preju- subjecting the vanquished Indians to conditions the dices of two previous Administrations, and the most cruel and imlpraeticable, had hung two prison- active opposition of the one in power. ers of war, Arbuthnot and Amibrister, and concluded From that period to his final retirement from the his series of outrages by lawlessly seizing the Spa- Senate lie was the ever-vigilant and persevering nish posts of St. Marks and Pensacola. ' advocate of Internal Improvements. He was the Committees of the Senate and of the House made father of the Systtin, and has ever been its most reports reprobatory of his conduct; anld resolutions efficient upholder. On the 16th of January, 1824, were presented, containing four propositions. The he addressed the House upon a bill authorizing the first asserted the disapprobation of the llouse of the President to effect certain surveys and estimates of proceedings in the trial and execution of Arbuthbot Roads and Canals. and Ambrister. Th'h second contemplatedl the pas- The opponents of the system, including President sage of a law to prevent the execution hereafter of Monroe, had claimed that, in respect to post-roads, any captive taken by the Army, without the appro- the General Government had no other authority than bation of the President. The third proposition was to use such as had been previously established bh expressive of the disapproval of the forcible seizure the States. They asserted that to repair such roads of the Spanish posts, as contrary to orders, and ist was not within the Constitutional power of Govern- violation of the Conwtitution. '1'he fourth proposi- ment. Mr. Monroe gave his direct sanction to tl 0tion wvas that a law should pass to prohibit the titarch doctrine, maintaining that the States were at full of the Army of the United States, or any corps of it, liberty to alter, and of course to shut up, post-roads into any foreign torritory, without the previous au- at pleasure. thorization of Congress, except it were in fresh pur- " Is it possible," naked Mr. Clay, " that this con- suit of a defeated ellenly. 'struction of the Constitittion can be correct-a We will not attempt an abstract of M1r. Clay's clo- 'construction which allows a law of the United quent and argumentative Speech' in support of 'States, enacted for the good of the whole, to be ob- these propositions. Far less disposed are we to re- 'structed or defeated in its operation by a Countyi f Court in any one of the twenty-four Sovereign- I Seethe-LifeandiSee-h-sofIHenryClay. Twovot, 8vo. Cuties nv WithEngravbtis. New-Yerk: GreetcyNTEtrth. Tribune ties" Mr.Clay'sstrenuouannsDllaaings. ITIe twm pious volumes are aflorded at o To Mir. Clay's strenuous and persevering exertions I olar-a'mnimele of clieapnns 27 Life of Henry Clay. peat the discreditable hietpry of the wrongs and usur- pations perpetrated by Gen. Jackson. It may be proper to state, however, that Air. Clay, grateful for the public services of the Gen, ral, treiited him with a forbearance and kindness which rendered the siiu- ceritv of his animadversions the inure obvious.- With respect to the purity of his intentionis," said Mr. Clay, I ant disposed to allow it in the mjost ex- 'tensive degree. Of' his ees it is my duty to speak 'with the freedom which belongs to my station." The Speaker then proceeded to expose, in a most forcible point of view, the dangerous andi arbitrary cluaracter of those acts, and the Constitutional vio- lutions of m iich Gen. Jackson had been guilty.- 'T'iiere are many passagcs in this speech which, when we regard them in connection with the subsequent Presideitial usurpations of the same Military Chief. tsin, seem truly like prophetic glimpses. Take, for example, the concluding paragraph: 11 Gentlemen mav ienr flown all opposition ; they rmoy even vote the Geu.eral the pulitl'- thanks they miiny carry him triumphantly through this- House. But, it they lo, in nay humnhble jildgiiienit igt will be a tPiaumpk of the principle if insubtordtnation-a tri- itili...p., Itue Alititary over the Civil authority-a tri- uildi over ttie Jiowesr of thbis House-a triumph over the V' `natitiutiun of the land. And I pray must dfev',uIt lv to Ileaven that it tnay not prove, iti its ul- tiiiiate etl'i'cts, a triumph over the liberties of the 'i-ple." ;v,-mi tit that diitant day, Air. Clay saw in the con- duct if General Jackson the indications of that im- periou will-of tlhat Pilrit of inmsuborditiation- which, ilan:ierous as they were in a Military Coin- jiselaer, were njot less perticious and alarming in a Civil CiiiefMagistrate. With his keen, instinctive ficltilt of penetrdtioni, lie discovered the despotic ard imipulnive charaiter of the man. Every page of IIIs sI i e, on the Seminole campaign furnishes ev- idence of this fact. Iliw, then, when the question was presented to hhim of deciding between the qualifications of John Quiiiiv Adailns and Andrew Jackson for the P'resi- deticy oif the U.,iteed States-how could lHenry Clay, as a cotisistent and honorable mun, hesitate for a inometit in his choice 7 And yet an amount ofoblo- qiiy and vituperation, such as nlever before was heaped upon a public servant, has been lavished on hibu because ofhis refusing to vote for Getieral Jack. son on that occasion ! Had lie done so, he would have bee n false to his past professions anid convic- tnims-fal4se to conscience, to patriotism, and the plainest dictates of duty. The resolutions of censure, being strenuously op0 posed by Mir. Monroe and his cabinet, were lost in the HIlose hy a small majority. 'lThe dispassionate judgmnctmt of posterity will inevitably accord with the views so eloquently expressed by Air. Clay in reestrd to General Jackson's conduct in Florida. We corne now to one of the most inportmitit epochs in MIr. Clay's public histur+. In the opiniin of a large portion of the peohile of the United States, it is to ldis ling-conmtinnaead, arduous and triumphant efforts; itt the cause of J-rotectiuin to Americati liidus- try arnd skill, that he will lie itid'bted for his highest and most enduring faine. We have seen that as far back as 1810, he haid the fiundalion-stone ofthat great and beneficent American System, of which lie was the originator and the architect. To specify and describe all his labors in the es- tabli'limaetit and advancement of his noble policy, front that time to the period of his tetirement from the Senate, would alone fill more space than iwc can give to his whole life. The journals of' Congress and the political newspapers of the country for the last thirty years will be fi'und to be occupied to no inconsideralilc extent with the record of' his effTrts and arguments un]d untirinig appeals. We can pre- aent but a very imperfect outline of hid glorious though peaceful achievements in the cause ol human industry, labor nnd prospierity. On the twelfth of March, 1816, Mr. Lowndep, of South Carolina, fiom the Committee oft Wvys and Means, introduced before the House a bill to Reg- tilate the Duties on Imports and Tonnage, c." The hill was avowedly favorable to a Tariff of Pro- tection; and, strange as the record may seem, one of its most ardent support, rs was John C. Calhoun. The whole question wus debated with refe-rence to the Protective policy. It was itoroughily discussed in tCommittee of the Whule; and, throughl the exer- tions of Air. Clay, a higher duty was adopted lor the important article of woolens. 'TIhe aueodiendut, how- ever, was unfortunately lost in the Huuse; but the bill, such as it was, was passed. II the spriuig of 1820, the subject of n Tariff again came before Congress; and Mr. Clay made fl olst itterestitig and imupressive speech ii fiavor of P'ro- tective Duties. " I frankly ownj,' said It on this occasion, u that I feel great eolh ittid fu)r the bs uccess of this bill. TIhe entire i.ldeljend, isce (of Joy coutntry on all forein Stites, as it resp-cts a supply of our essential wants, has ever boeen with in a lavor- ite object. The WVar of our Revolutiou effectod our political emancipation. The Last Warconuibuted greatly towards accomplishing our comitnercial frc- doin. But our complete ind'peidence tri/l ouiiy be consummated aJfer the policy of ttis bill shall be recognized and adopted. WVe have indeed great difficulties to contend with; old habits-colonial usages-the enormous profits of a for ign trade, prosecuted tinder favorable circuistantceF, hich no longer conitinue. I will not despair. The cause, I terily believe, is the cause of the country. It niay be postponed ; it nmiy lie frustrated]. for the moment, butit finally ttnust prevail." And it uas postponed; it was frustrated for the moment; bht it fihially did prevail. The Tariff was remodelled by the House, but their bill wits rejected by the Setiate. In 1823, the health of Mr. Clay was very poor-so much so, that his life was despair' d of both by his friends aid himself. He had attended the Olympian Springs in Kentucky, in the suminer, hind been placed under a strict tegitnen andi subjveted to a long course of medicine. In s;)ite of Oill remedies he felt a gradual decline, and 1boked r. rward tu a speedy dissolution. In Novernber lie vas to start f)r nsh- ington, and fully anticipate(d that, alter reaching that city, if lie reached it at all,he should lie obligetl to hasten to the South as a lJst resort. lie prouered a small travelling carriage anit a saddle-horse- threw aside all the prescriptions of the plysi- ian, andi commenced his jotirnuy. Daily lie wimlkeid on foot, drove in his carriage anti rodl on hiorsehaick. He arrived at Washington qluite well, was elected Speaker, and went through more labor than he ever Results of tab American System. p.-rformed in the same Session, excepting, perhaps, the Extra Session of 1841. The condition of the country in 184 was far from prod1 eroics. The amoatit of our exports had dimin- ished to anl alarming degree, while our imports of foreign goods had ereatly increa-ed. The country was thus drained of its Currency; and its Commerce was crippled. Nor was there any home--market for the staple productions of our soil. Both cotton- planters and wool growers shared in the general prostration; and even the Farmer had to sell his produce at a loss, or keep it on hand till it was ruined. Labor could with difficulty find employ- tuenit; and its wages were hardly sufficient to sup- ply the bare necessities of fire. Money could only be procured at enormous sacnfices. Distress and Bankruptcy pervaded every class of the commu- Dity. In January, 1824, a Tariff Bill was reported by the Committee on Manufactures of the House: and in March following, Mr. Clay made his great and ever menmorable Speech in the House, in support of American Industry. Many of our readers will vividly remember the deplorable state of the country at that time. : is impressiively portrayed in his ex- ordiurn on this occasion. The CAUSE of th, wide-spread distress, which ex- isted, he maintained was to be found in the fact that, during almost the whole existence of this Govern- ietit, we had shaped our industry, our navigation and outr contin-rcea in reference to an extraordinary market in Europe, and to foreign markets, which no longer existed; in the fact that we had depended too much upon foreign sources of supply, and ex- 'templatioa of a peop)le out of debt; land rising 'slowly in value, but in a secure annl salutary de- 'gree; a ready though not extracagant warket fur ' all the surplus productions of our industry; inntu- ' merable flocks and hards browsing and gahmboling ' on ten thousand hills and plainls, covered with rinh 'and verdant grasxes ; our cities expanded, and 'whole villages springing up, aa it were, by enchanit- ment; our exports and imiports i;creasvid aid iJn- 'creasing, our tonnage, four ie; and coastw ise, swel- ulig and ft ily occupied; tie rivers of or itnt rior animated by the thunder and lightning of cotintle.s steamnioats; th currency sound and abuinaddaut ; the 'public debt of two wars nearly redeemed ; alnd, Ito crown all, the public Treasury oserflovs ing, . in- 'Ibtrrassing Congre.s-, not to find subjects of taxa- 'tion, but to select the objects which shall be re- 'lieved from the impost. If the terni of seven vears were to be selected of the greatcstprosperiry wikith 'this people have enjoyed since the estatlishlinent of their prcfent Constitution, it would be exactly that period of seven years wvhicih ihitwdiate': tfil- 'lowved the passage of the Tariff of 1824." Such were the consequences of the henign leeis'a- lion introduced atnd carried into operation by Henry Clay. And though the reverse of the pictuire was soon presented to us, through the violent Execu- tive mr asures of General Jackson, inflating anid thei prostrating the Currency, and the course hfierward pursued, we have the satisfaction of knowing that Mr. Clay has never wavered in lkis coirree; and lhat. had IIs warnings been regarded end hlis counsels taken, a far different state of thines would, in ail probiability, have existed. cited too little the native. i The unanimous voice of the Country has ac- On this occaOsion, Mr. Webster, whose views upon corded to Mr. Clay the merit of having beect the 14- the subject afterwards underwent an entire change, ther of the system, which has been justly called the opposed the bill with the whole powerful weight American System. To his persutil hmistotv bLlong of his talents and legal profundity. Mr. Clay took the testimonials of the various State Legislatures up one by one the objections of the opposition, la- and Conventions, anid of the innuierab!e ptmblii: boriously examined and confuted them. For speci- meetings, in all parts of the country, loii;Ce an .l. d bnens of pure and strongly-linked argument, the an- hitn the praise, and tendered hinti the gralst'il a - nals of Congress exhibit no speech superior to that knowledgements of the conlmunity. To his indi- of March, 1824. In amplitude and variety of facts, vidual exertions, the manufacturing indwstry of tihe in force and earnestness of language, and cogency United States is indebtyd to a degrme whici, it is now of appeal to the reason and patriotism of Congress difficult to realize. By the magic power of his elo- and the people, it has been rarely equalled. It would quence, the cotmntry was raised froni a state ot pros- have been surprising indeed, if, notwithstanding the tration and distress ; cities wcre called into exist- strongly arrayed opposition, such a speech had ence, and the wilderness was truly inade to blos- failed in overcoming it. Experience lias amply sotn like the rose. proved the validity and justice of its arguments. Its Mr. Clay's zealous and laborious efforts in behalf prophecies have been all fulfilled. of the Tariff can only be appreciated by a reference The Tariff Bill finally passed the House, the to the Journal of the House of that period. It seenis 16th of April, 1824, by a vote of 107 to 102. It soon as if he had been culled upon to battle for v-ery afterwards became a law. item of the bill, inch by inch. The whole power of We will leave it to Mr. Clay himself to describe a large and able opposition was arrayed against tile results of his policy, eight years after it had been him; and every weapon that arguttien t, rhetoi ic and adopted as the policy of the country. After recall- ridicule could supply was employed. John Ran- ing the gloomy picture he had presented in 1824, he dolph was, as on fourmer occasions, an active end said: "I Ihave now to perform the more pleasing bitter antagonist. Once or twice lie provoked M1r. 'task of exhibiting an imperfect sketch of the exist- Clay into replying to his personal taunts. " Sir," sing state-of the unparalleled prosperity of the said M1r. C, on one occasion, ratIle gentleman faont 'country. On a general urvey, we behold cultiva- 'Virginia was pleased to say that, in one point at 'tion extending, the arts flourishing, the face of the 'least, he coincided with me-in an humble estimate country improved, our people fully and profitably 'ofmygramnmatical and philological acquirements. 'employed, and the public countenance exhibiting I I know my deficiencies. I was born to no proud 'tranquility, contentment and happiness. And,ifwe 'patrimonial estate; from my father I inherited only ' descend into particulars we have the agreeable con- ' infancy, ignorance, ard indigence. I feel my 29 'defects; but, Po far as toy situation in early life is ' concet red, I may, without presumption, say they lare more my misfortune than my fault. But, how- 'ever I deplore my want of ability to furnish to the 'gentleman a better specimen of powers of verbal 'criticism, I will venture to say, my regret is not 'greater than the disappointment of this Committee 'as to tile strength of his argument." The following is in a different vein. After the passage of the Tariff Bill, on the 16th of April, 1824, when the House had adjourned and the Speaker was stepping down from his seat, a gentleman who had voted with the majority, said to him, "we have done pretty well to-day."-" Yes," returned Mr. Clay, "1 we made a good stand, considering we lost both our Feet"-alluding to Mr. Foot of Connecti- cut, and Mr. Foote of New-York, wh.o both voted against the bill, though it was thought, some time before, that they would give it their support. CHAPTER VII. e Misoiuri Question-Mr. Clay resigns the Speakership-The Unaln in Dngier-He resumes his sat in Congrms-Unpaml- leled Exnitemet-Jli rorpro:iiite of the Question-Patifica- tion of arties--Character o1 hi, LWtPet-`ropo-ition of John Rand,,lphl rind sote of tine outhern, Nleinberm-lnterview with Randcnli--Anecdmte--Rlandn,,lph nnd Sleffliy-2Mr. Clay's Re- tirennelit from Congres.-erangeitont ,f hi, Priv ate Affair,- Rew-rne to the House-Again ii .iqpeaker-Jeu J)'esprit- Mr. Clay's Addreas-lndepent-nre of Gr eee-His Spee'h- Latin, durinig the isasiun of l34-lteleption of Lafay ette in the htonnsc-Welcoinedr by Mr. Czy-Lafayette's Rep t- 'a yctte' s wis tt f Mr. Clay Resident-Aneedote-Mr. Clay tard Mr. onroe,. DomING the Session of 1820-'21, the "distracting question," as it was termed, of admittingt Missouri into the Union, which had been the subject of many angry and tedious debates, was discussed in both branches of Congress. The controverted point was, whether she should be admitted as a Slave State. Slavery had been expressly excluded from Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, by acts of Congress, on their admission into the Union. But that restriction was, by virtue of an ordinance of the former Congress, under the Confi deration, prohibiting the introduction of slavery into the Northwest Territory, out of which these States were forned. Missouri was part of the Louisiana Territory, purchased of France in 1803. And in various parts of that extensive Territory, slavery then existed, and had long been established. Louisiana had been admitted into the Union without any restrietionofthekind proposeil forlfissouri. The States of Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Ala- bama had also been admitted as separate States pre- vious to this period; and, as they were taken from States in which Slavery existed, they had been nade subject to no such restriction. It was conteuded that, on the same principle, Missouri should also be received, without requiring, as a condition of ad- mission, the exclusion of Slavery. And it was also insisted that it wouldl he interfering with the inde- pendent character of a State to enforce any such restriction, which was manifestly a subject of regu- lation by the State authority. On the contrary, it was urged that in the old States the suljuct was expressly settled by the Coti- stitution, and Cougresa could not justly interfere in those States; but that it was otherwise with new States received into the Union ; in which case Con- greas had the right to impose such restrictions and conditions as it might choose; that it was evidently the intention of the old Congress not to extend Slavery, having prohibited its introduction or exist- ence in new States to be formed out of the North- west Territory; and that Slavery was so great an evil, and so abhorrent to the principles of a free Government, that it should be abolished or prohil- ited wherever it could be Constitutionally effected. The discussion went on from month to month, and from session to session, increasing in fierceness, and diverging farther and farther from the prospect of an amicable settlement. Among the prominent advu- cates for excluding Slavery from Missouri were Rufus King from New-York, Otis of Massachusetts, Dana of Connecticut, Sergeant and Hemphill of Pennsylvania. Of those opposed to Restriction, were Holmes of Mlassachusetts, Vandyke and McLane of Delaware, Pinckney of Mary land, Ran- dolph and Barbour of Virginia, Lowndes of South Carolina, Clay and Johnson of Kentucky. A bill for the admission of Mlissouri had been defeated during the Session of 1818-19; and tlhe inflammatory subject had, during the vacation of Congress, given lise to incessant contention. The Press entered warmly into the controversy. Thac most violtnt pamphlets were published on hotli sides. Public meetings thundered forth their Reso- lutions; and the Uiniotn seemed to be Ci arfully Ahaken to its centre. It may be imagined, then, with what interest the next Session of Congress was lookt d to by the People. Many eloquent Speeches were made ill the House upon the question. Mr. Clay spoke, at one tine, nearly four hours ngainst the Restriction ; but there remains no published sketch of his retmarks. The vote in the House of Representatives was several times given for excltidinug Slavery; but the Senate disagreed, and would not yield to the House. In 1820, the People of the Territory of Miissouri proceeded to ordain and establizh a Constitution of Goverment for the contemplated State. Among other provisions, it was ordained in the twenty- sixth section of the Third Articles that it should be the duty of the General As"emttbly, "as soon as 'might be, to pass stuch laws as were necessary to iprevent free Negroes and AMlulattoes from comieg, 'to sand settling, in the State, under any prettxt 'whatever." Under this Constitution a State Gov- ernment was organized aild went into operation. This clause, for the exclusion of free Negroes and Mulattoes, fanned into fresh life the flame of excite- merit, which had been partially allayed. The whole country was now thrown into conimotion upon the question of admtitting Missouri. In the autumn of 13:O, Mr. Clay, who had ex- perienced heavy pecuniary losses by endorsing for a friend, resolved to retire from Congres', and, in the practice of the law, devote himself to the repar- tion of his private nfl;irs. Accordingly, at the ineet- ing of Congress, thie 13th of November, I82(1, the Clerk having announced that a quorum was present, said that he had received a letter fromt the Hon. Henry Clay, which, with the leave of the House, he read as follows: LEXIc.NTOV. (Ky.) odtober . 18. i SIt : I will thiaink y0u to conilrniunicate to the House of Representatlivep, that, owing to imperious nircunistances, I shall not be able to attend upon it tag Life of Henry Clay. The Mis.Npri Question. until after the Christmas holidays: and to respect- fully ask it to allow me to resign the office of its Speaker, which 1 have the honor to hold, and to consider this as the act of my resignation. I beg the House also to permit me to reiterate the expression of yv sincere ackow ledgimeuts and unaffected grat- itude for the distin-iuished consideration which it has urnifbrinly matnifested for me. I have the honor to be, e. H. CLAY. -otos. DOUoHCRTY. Esq.. Clerk H. of R." In view ot the agitating question before Congress, Mr. Clay consente 1, however, to retain his seat as a niember of the House till his term of service ex- pired, although no longer its presiding officer. Early in the session the Missouri question came up. Those who now opposed its admission contended, that free citizens and mulattoes were citizens of the States of their residence; that as such, they had a right, under the Constitution, to remove to Missouri, or any other State of the Union, and there enjoy all the privileges and immunities of other citizens ot the United States emigrating to the same place; and, therefore, that the clause in the Constitution of Missouri, quoted above, was repugnant to that of the Utnited States, and she ought not to be received into the Union. Oil the other lhand, it was maintained that the African race, whether bond or free, were not parties to our Political Institutions ; that, therefore, free Negroes and Mulattoes were toit citizens, within the meaning- of the Constitution of the United States; and that even if the Constitution of Missouri were repugnant to that of the United States, the latter was paramount, and would overrule the conflicting ptiovision of the former, without the interference of C-on1gress. Such was the perilous and portentous question which now threatened a disruption of the Union.- In some shape or other it was presented almost daily and hourly to Congress; and became, at length, a perfect incubus upon legislation. In this state of things, Mr. Clay arrived in Washington, and took his seat in the House on the sixteenth of January, 1821. On the second of February, he submitted a inotion to refer a Resolution of the Senate on the Missouri Question to a Committee of Thirteen-a number suggested by that of' the original States of the Union. The motion was agreed to, and the fol lowing gentlemen were appointed a Committee ac- cordinglv: Alessrs. Clay of Ky., Eustis of Mass., Smith of Aid., Sergeant of Pa., Lowndes of S C., Ford of N. Y., Campbell of Ohio, Archer of Va, Hackley of N. V., S. Moore of Pa., Cobb of Ga., Tomlinson of Ct., Butler of N. H. On the tenth of the same month, Mr. Clay made a report, concluding with an amendment to the Sen- ate's resolution, by which amendment Missouri was adotitted upon the following fundamental condition: "It is provided that the said State shall never pats ainy law preventing any description of persons I-rom coining to and settling in the said State, who nlow are or hereafter may become citizens of any of the States of this Union ; and provided also, that the Legislature of the said State, by a soleman public act, shall declare the assent of tile said State to tile said fundamental condition, and shall transmit to the lPre- sident of- the United States, on or before the fourth Monday in November next, an authentic copy of the said Act; upon the receipt whereof, the President, by proclamation, shall announce the fact; whereup- on, and without any further proceedings on the part 31 of Congress, the admission of the said State into the Utwion shall be considered as comiplete: And pro vided, further, that nothing herein contained shall be construed to take front the mstate of Missouri, when adimitted into tile Union, the exercise otfanV right or power which call now be constitutionllly exerciacd by any of the original States." In defence of his report, Mr. Clay said that, al- though those favorable to the admnissiont of Mlisouri could not succeed entirely in their particular views, yet he was of opinion that they had, as regarded the Report of the Coumnittee, nothing to complain of.- At the same timle, the Report was calculattd to ob- viate the objections of those who had opposed the admission of Missouri on the ground of the objection to her Constitution which had been avowed. Thus consulting the opinions of both sides of tile Ilouse, in that spirit of compromise which is occasionally necessary to the existence of all societies, lie lhoped it would receive the countenance of the Ilouse ; and he earnestly invoked the spirit of harmoty and kia- dred feeling to preside over tile deliberations of tie House on the subject. The question being taken in Committee of the Whole on the amendment proposed by Mr. Clay, it was decided in the negatire by a vote of 73 to 64.- This decision was afterward overruled in the House. On the quoestion, however, of th.' third reading of the Resolution, it was rejected, by a vote of 23 to 30, in consequence of the defection of Mr. Randolph of Virginia, who dreaded the increase of popularity which would accrue to Mr. Clay by the success of his proposition. A reconsideration was moved and carried the next day, and the question of the third reading was again blrouTht before the Hlouse. Ano- ther protracted atid bitter debate followed, and was concluded by a speech of an hour's duration from Mr. Clay, who is represented by the cotenmporary journals as having " reasoned, remonstrated and eni- treated that the House would settle the question." On tlme fourteenth of February, the two Ihfouses of Congress met in the hall of the House of Reprcsest. atives, to perforitn the ceremony of counting the votes for President and Vice President ofthe Untited States. A scene of great confusion occurred wulten the votes of the Electors for Missouri were announced luy the President of the Senate, and handed to the Tellers. The Members of the Senate withdrew, and a violent discussion sprang tip. By the exertions of Mr. Clay, order was at length restored, and, ott his motion, a Message was sent to the Senate that the lousew as ready to proceed to the completion of tlte business of counting the votes. The Senate again came in. The votes of Missouri were read, and the restilt of all the votes having been read, it was announced by the President of the Sen- ate, that tile total tu mber of votes for J.ames Mlonroe as President of the United States, v'ns 2ll, and, if the votes of Missouri were not conited Nas 2213; that, in either event, James Monroe had a majority of the whole nimiter of votes given. James Monroe was accordingly re-elected President for fottr years comtimencing on the ensuing fourth of larch. While tile proclarmation wvas heing niade, two NMiermbers of the House claimed tile fl.oor to inqutire whether the votes of Missouri were or were not counted. Another scene of confusion hereumpon en- sued, and the House were finally obliged to adjourn in order to put an etid to it. 32 Life of Henry Clay. The rejection of Mr. Clay's report seemed to shut room to-morrow morning, before the House assem- out all prospect of an amicable compromise. He was bles, we will consider it together." not disheartened, however. He never despaired of He accordingly attended there with punctutality. the Republic. On the twenty-second of February, They remained in earnest conversation about an he submitted the following resolutiont: hour, Mr. Clay contending that it wts wisest to com- " Resolved, That a Committee be a ppointed, on promise the question, if it could be done without any the part of this House, jointly with sue h Committee sacrifice of principle, and Mr. Randolph insistinug as mlain be appointed on the part of the Senate, to that the Slave States had the right oin their ride colsi er an report to the Senate and to the House, that matters must collie to an extremity; and that reppectively wl ether it be expedient or not to make there could be no more suitable occasion to bring provision for the admisision ,V liseouri into the Unj- ton oil the samte looting as the original States, and for them, to that issute. They maintained their respect- the due execution of the law . s of the United Stats ive opinions firmly but amicably, without coming to within Missouri; and if not, whether Any other, and any agreement. what provision, adapted to her actuei contition, When they were about separating, Mr. Clay ob- ought to be shade by law." served to M1r. Randolph, that lie would take that opi This resolution was adopted in the House by a portunity of saying to him, that he (M1r. Randolph) vote of 103 to 55. The Senate acceded to it by a had used exceptionable language sometimes when large majority. the Speaker was in the Chair and had no opportu- The Joint Committees of the two Houses met on nity of replying; and that he was often provoked the twenty-fifth of February, 1821; and a plan of thereat. "1 Well, 31r. Speaker," said Rat doiph, - I accommodation, proposed by mr. Clay, was adopted, 'think you sometimes neglect me; you won't listen unanimously on the part of' the Committee of the 'tome when I an addresiing the chair, but turn your Senate, and nearly so by that of the House. The head away, and ask for a pinch (bf snuff." next dazy he reported to the House from the Corn- Mr. Clay rejoined: "You are mistaken. I em mittee a resolution. which was the same in effect as 'listening when I may not seem to be; and I call that which we have already quoted as having been 'repeat as much of any one of your late speeches reported by the former Committee of thirteen M1em- as you i ourself can, good as I know your nienhory bers. A short discussionensued, which was checked 'to be." by a call for the Previous Question. The resolu- " Well," replied Mr. Randolph, "perhaps I am tion was then adopted by a vote of eighty-seven to 'mistaken; and suppose we shakehandsand be good eighty-one. The Senate concurred, and the mo 'good friends hereafter." mentous question, which for three Sessions had ag-. "Agreed !" said Mr. Ciay. itated Congress, was, at length through the labors They shook hands accordingly; and never spoke and ifluestce of Henry Clay, peaceably settled. with each other during the residue of the Session. 'Ihe achievement of this vital compromise must It was about the period of Commodore Decatur's have been one of the most gratifying triumphs of his death. That ekent greatly excited Mr. Randolph;. political career. By his personal influence and abil- and Mr. Clay was informed by two different gentle- ities, he had saved the Republic. Ile deservedly men (the late Governor Edwards and Gen. C. F. won on this occasion the appropriate title of " the Mercer) about the sante time, without concert, and Great Pacificator; " for to his individual exertions do shortly after the interview described above, that they we owe it, that we were saved from the prospect of a knew that Mr. Randolph desited a duel, and with dissolution of the Union. His efforts in and out ef him (Mr. Clay.) lie thanked them for the commu- Congress were uncoasing in accomplishing his ob- nication; which was made froto friendly motives. ject. HemadedirectpersonaltaplpealstothoFCwhoM It naturally put him upon his guard, aid on first be could not influence in public debate, and left no meeting M1r. R., thiuiking that he saw something un- means untried for bringing Coneress to that harmo- friendly in his deportment, they passed each other aious state, which was essential to the safety of the without speaking. country. Shortly before the interview above-mentioned, Mr. While the Missouri question was pending, and the Randolph came to Mr. Clay with all insulting letter excitement of the contending parties was running to containinz a threat to horsewhip him (Mr. R.) a great and alarming hight, Mr. Randolph, anti per- and asked what lie should do with it-should lie haps some other gentlemen of the South, conceived communicate it to the House as a breach of privi- the projetc of the whole Delegation from the Slave- lege " How came the writer to address such a let- holding States, in a body, abandoning the House, ter to you " asked Mr. Clay. " Why, sir," said he. and leaving its b m- iness to be carried on, if at all, 1y "s I was in the vestibule of the House the other day, the Representatives from the other States. At that and he brought up a man and introduced him to me. time, one of those conditions of non-intercourse, I asked hibn, what right lie had to introduce that which we have described existed between him and man to me, and told him that the man had just as Mr. Clay ; but notwithstanding that, one night a hen much right to introduce him to ine. And he suid he she House was tn session by esndle-hirht, Sir. Chl thought it was an act of great impertinence. It was being outo' the Chair,1Mr. Randolph approached Imilt] for that cause lie his written me this threatening in the most courteous manner and said; N', r letter." Mr. Clay asked him if lie thougltt the ran's Speaker, I wish you would leave the Chair. I will mind was perfectly sound. "s Why," riplied Ran- 'follow vou to Kentucky or any where else in thl dolph, "I have some doubts about that." "If that 'wold" be the case," said Mr. Clay, " would you not better Mr. Clay replied: "That is a very serious prep- avoid troubling the House about the affair And I osition, Mr. Ratidolpi ; we have not tinle nltl( ,, will give orders to the officers of the House to keep discuss it: but it vou will come into the H neaker'n an eye on the man, and if he should attempt to do Anecdotes of Randolph-Lafayette and Clay. anything itnpropAr to arrest him." Mr. Randolph The firtt Session of the Eighteenth Congress said, it was perhaps the best course; and nothing opened the first Monday in December, 1823. At the more was heard of the matter. first ballot for Speaker in the House of Representa- On one occasion during the agitation of this same tives, Mr. Clay was elected. Mr. Barbosr of Vir- Missouri question, Mr. Randolph told Mr. Clay, that' ginia, the late Speaker, had forty- two votes-Mr. he had resolved, by the advice of Chief Justice Mar- Clay had one hundred and thirty nine. The follow- shall, to abstain froom the use of those powerful in- ing neat jcu decsprit appeared in the National Intel- strutnetits of irony, sarcasm and invective, which he ligencer shortly after the election: used with such cuttting effect, and to confine himself i As near the Potomac's broad stream, t' othter day. to the emiploytment of pure argument, whenever he Fair 1XBIRTY strolled in solicitous mood, Deep pondering the future-unheeding her way- spoke. He attempted it. lie failed. speech iemet gddess NATURs beide a green wood. possessed no attraction-cotnmanded no attention. Good mmother.' she cried, 'deign to help me at need! I, mtuAsttake for as' guardians. a eker to-day - lie was mortified, and resumed his ancient style; The first in tfe worn I wuld ive t,-'n tnd;ed! and listening and admiring audiences returned to When I made the first Speaker. I made him ofU LAY !"' him. ! On taking the Speaker's chair, Mr. Clay made a When the House sat in what has been called the brief and appropriate address, in which he returned old Capitol (the brick building at the North-East his acknowledgments for the honor conferred. The corner of the Capitol-square,) Mr. Randolph one day duties of a Speaker are happily enumerated in his came in collision with an able colleague from Vir- remarks on this occasion. ginia, Mr. Sheffey, in argument, in the course of On the fifth of December, Mr. Webster, of Massa- which Mr. Sheffey had indulged in some playful. re- chusetts, submitted a resolution providing by law mark. Mr. R. replied, and concluded by offering for defraying the expense incident to the appoint- him some advice, which he said, he hoped would be ment of an agent or commissioner to Greece, when- kindly received: and that was, that logic being ever the President should deem it expedient to make his (Mr. Sheffey's) forte, he ought to confine him- such appointment. He supported this proposition self to it, and never attempt wit, for which he pos- in a most able speech on the nineteenth of the ensu- messed no talent. Mr. Sheffev rejoined, answered ing January. Mr. Clay stood side by side with him the anrgument of Mr. Randolplh, thanked him for his in defence of the measure. Notwithstanding the ad- advice, but said he did not like to be in debt, and by vocacy of these gigantic champions, however, it way of acquitting himself of it, he begged leave to failed in the House. offer soirne advice in return. Nature, he said, had Mr. Clay's speech on the subject, though brief, been bountiful to Mr. R. in bestowing on him extra- was full of fire and point. "' Are we," he exclaimed, ordinary wit, but had denied him an' powers of ar- 0so hu mbled, so low, so debased, that we dare not gunient. Mr. S. would advise him, therefore, to con- 'express our sympathy for suffering Greece, that we fCie hiniself to the regions of wit, ant never attempt 'dare not articulate our detestation of the brutal ex- tosoarrin those of logic. Mr. R. imnmediately followed 'cesses of which she hlas been the bleeding victim, and han.dsomely remarked, that be took back what 'lest we might offend some one or more of their iw- he had said of his colleague; for he had shown him- 'perial and royal majesties " self to be a Inan of wit as well as of logic. .I If the great body of Christendom can look on It was a pleasant and enlivening incident, and the calmly and coolly while all thi is perpetrated on whole House and both parties appeared to enjoy the a Christian people, in its own immediate vicinity, in joke. But Mir. Randolph returned to the House the !its very presence, let us at least es ince that one of joke ButMr. andoph rturnd tothe ousethe ts remuote extremities is susceptible of sensibil ity to next day, and renewed the attack with great bitter- Christian wrongs, and capable of sympathy for seas. The parties had various and long passes at Christian sufferings; that in this remote quarter of each other. Mr. R. was repeatedly called to order the world, there are hearts not yet closed against by Mr. Clay, and finally stopped. ft was on that ec- ctnmpassion for human woes-thatcan pour out their casino, that Mr. Sheffey being called to order, Mr. idgatfeig tteopeso lapol n Claysatd that Mr.hewould be out oflorderoinrreplying, deared to us by every ancient recollec tion ant every Clay said that he would be. out of order in replying, modern tie. Sir, the comtumittee has been attempted aml he was, to any other Member but Mr. Randolph. to be alarnied by the dangers to ourcommnreree in the During the interval of his retirement from Cou- Mediterranean; and a irretched invoice oJ/Jigs and gress in 1822, Mr. Clay was delegated, in conjunc-i ontin u as been spread before us to repress our sca- tion with Mr. Bibb, to attend the Virginia Legisla a ht sblie and iradoiate oar hamaniey. An ! sir, ture, for the adjustment of certain land claimsin world and lose his own soul 1' or what shall it avail Kentucky. Their mission led to the appointment of a nation to save the whole of a miserable trade anal the Hon. B. W. Leigh on the part of Virginia; and lose its liberties " Mr. Clay was subsequently appointed to conduct Although Mr. Clay failed at the moment in pro- the negociation with him on the part of Kentucky curing the recognition of Greece, he afterwards when They concluded at Ashland a convention, which, Secretary of State acconmplir'hed his object. The though it was ratified by the Legislatture ofKentucky United States was the first Independent Power, by and the Hotuse of Delegates of Virginia, was finally whom she was recognized. rejected in the Senate of the latter State. Mr. Clay's labors during the Session of 1824, By an absence of nearly three years from Con- wotuld alone have been sufficient to make his name gress, Mr. Clay was enabled through his professional memorable, to the latest posterity, in the annals of labors, to retrieve his private affairs; and in the umon- the country. The Session is signalized by the pas- mer of 18-23, at the earnest and repeated solicitations sage of the Tariff hill and of his measure in behalf of his l'etllw'citizens, he accepted a re nominatitin, of Sotuth American Independence. In reference to and was again chosen, without opposition, to repre- the former, it should not be forgotten, that it was sent his District in the lower House at Washington. 'through his vigilant and persevering efforts, that the 34 Live of Henry Clay. PvoAit DoTy wat saved. Bv an examination of ercise. This sentiment, now fondly cherished by the proceedings of Congress, it will be seen that morethan ten millions of people will be transinitte , the ftw of this important duty hung upon his indi- cuwith unabated vigor, down the tide of time, through the ateof hisimpotan duy hng uon is di-the countless millions who are destined to inhabit widual exertions, and that to them its final preserva- this continent, to the latest posterity." tion was due. It was not to the protection of the Lafayette was deeply affected by this address, ut- industry of any one section of the country that he tered, as it was, in the Speaker's clear, musical and looked merely. The South and the North have been genial tones; and the hero of two hemispheres re- alvaha's regarded by hbn with an equally liberal af- plied to it in a manner, that betokened much em.- fection. tion. He maintained to the last a strong attachment On the fifteenth of August, 1824, General La Fay- for Mr. Clay; and when the miserable party hacks, ette, the Nation's Guest, arrived at New-York in the whooriginated the cry of' bargainand corrultion, at Cadinus, from Havre, accompanied by his son, the period of John Quincy Adams's election to the George Washington La Fayette. The following I Presidency, were actively circulating their base and tenth of December he was introduced to the National l baseless charges against Mr. Clay, the voice of La- House of Representatives by a Select Cotntuittee fayette was heard, high above the clamor, in vindi- appointed for the purpose. Alr. Clay, as Speaker, re- cation of the unsullied integrity anal honor of his ceived him with an address, so pertinent and elegant friend. in its cbaracter, that we cannot resist the temptation An anecdote, illustrative of the high opinion en- of quoting it entire: tertainedof hirubyLafayette,appearedrecentlyinthe "GENERAL: The House of Representatives of Commnonwealthl newspaper, published at Frankfurt, the Uttited States, impelled alike by its owl) feelings I (Kv.) An officer of the United States Na v, being and by those of the whole American people, could in Paris in 1832,s as entertained by Lafayette at his not have assigned to ttte a taure gratifying duty than c that of presenting to you ourcoardial congratnlatiuns t. During the thtree days, hith the of- upon the occasion of your recent arrival in the Uni- ficer passed with his venerable host at Lagrange, ted States, in complian ,e with the wishes of Con- the nffhits of the United States and the lharacters od gress, and to assure yotl of the very high satisfaction our distinguished public men formed protinent to- which 3 ottr presence affords tts on this early theatre pics of discussion. The name of HE;NRY CLAV of your glory and retnown. Although but ew of the could not, of course, le omitted it such a converE- menabers who compose this body shared with voun in the War of our Revolution, all have, from impar- tion; and the Gt aeral was delighted to find that his tial history, or frot faithfntl tradition, a knowledee guest was not only a political admirer, but a per- of the perils, the sufferings, and the sacrifices which sonal friend and acquaintance of the great Ameri- you voluntariy encountered, and the signal services, can Statesman. Ol the morning of his departtre in America and in Europe, which you performed for from Lagra an infant, a distant, and an alien people; and all feel fge, die taval officer was introduced by and own the very great extent of the obligations un- George Washitngton Lafayette, son of the General, der which you hiave placed our country. But the into the study of his father, wIhere, by the iglht of relations in which you have ever stood to the United candles, lie was employing his pen. Pressing his States, interesting and important as they httve been, guest in vain to remain longer, the General said: do not consti tte the otil) motive of the respect and "Before you leave toe, I want to show you our adomiration which the House of Represetitatives en- 'friend- anledgtewatonoeromh tertain for you. Your consistency of character, your a n d leading the way to another room, he uniform devotion to regulated liberty, in all the vi- exhibited a portrait of AMr. Clay. "1 Sir," said La- cissititdes of a long and arduous life, also command fayette, " TIIATIS THE MAN WH1OM3 I HOPE its saidmiration. During all the recent cotivulsiotis ITO SEE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED of Europe, amidst, as after the dispersion of, every 'STATES." The incident produced a lasting im- political storm, the people of the Uttited States have beheld you, true to your old principles, firm and Presion on the mind of the officer. "The bosom- erect, cheering and animating, with your well-known companion of Washington, his comrade in arms in voice, the votaries of liberty, its faiihful and fearless the glorious Revolution, feeling the deepest interest champitio, ready to shed tie last drop of that blood n the welfare of the United States, and well ac- wtizh here you so freely and nobly spilt in the same quainted with their policy, their institutions and holy cause. Itergetmn uaetwt h idmo h ";The vain wish has been sometimes indulged, their great men Lafayette with the wisdom of the that Providence would allow the patriot, after death, 'Father of his Country, pointed out the man fit and to return to his country, and to contemplate the in- worthy to stand at the head of our Government. terinediate chanees which had taken place-to view 'But his sainted spitit will look down in '45 and re- the forests felled, the cities butilt, the mountains le- 'joice in the consttmmation of hishopes, which Hea- velled, the canals cut, the highways constructed, the I vean, impatient to claim one of its first-born, denied proaress of the arts, the advancement of learning, him while in tme flesh." and the increase of population. General, your pre- sent visit to the United states is a realization of the We have seen that Mr. Clay was at variance with consoling object of that wish. You are in thientidlt President Monroe upon the subject of Internal Im- of pWstcrity. Every where, you must have been provements, as well as in regard to the mode of re- struck Ithe great changes, physical and moral, ognizing the independence of the South American which have occurred since vou left us. Even this i o t o very city, beating a venerated name, alike endeared patriots. Notwithstanding these differences of opin- tdo you and to us, has since emerged frot the forest: ion, the personal relations of the speaker and the which then covered its site. In one respect yot find chief magistrate were friendly. Mr. Clay was offer- ts unaltered, and that is in the sentiment of contin- ed a seat in the cabinet, and a carte blanche of all ted devotion to liberty, and of ardent affection and the foreign missions. Ilad place been his ambition profound gratitude to your departed friend, the fand his obj ct, lie might have attained it without any ther of his country, and to you, and to vourillustri- . n nus associates in the field and in the Ca inet, for the rifice of independence-without aly IOS of po- multiplied blessings which surround us, and for the sition as the acknowledged head of the great repub- very privilege of addressing you, which I now es lican party. He saw, however, that he could be Presidential Election of 1824-Tie Kremer Calumny. tdore useful to his country in Congress. Measures of vital importance were to be carried. The Tariff was to be adjusted-the Missouri business to be set- ded-the constitutionality of Internal Improvements was to be admitted-South American independence was to be acknowledged-how could he conscien- tiously quit a post, where he wielded an influence more potent than the President's, while such mo- menitous qtuestions remained open These being disposed of; he would be at liberty to pursue any course which his inclinations might indicate, or which the public interests might sanction. CHAPTER VIII. The Presidential Question-Nomination of Mtr. cla-HIls smuahi- fir-wsuas set fCrth-Gnceral Itar on in favor o1 Henry ('lay- SLtders ill the tloeI-Kre-er's Letter-onstrn. . nature of the ceftrges .ajist Mr. C.-llis s-,urs in regard to them-Ap- Con comittee of Exanminatiu-Clonplete Re- of the I alu -iy-Mr. Clay's Address t, his -sbsstuto- ente-Electi-a of.j)hi Qoiney Adasis by the IIs-Eas perati .a of Gen. Jackson'Is Fiienls-Nr. (lay's independence rf spirit-MN.tives ot his prewltence-Gen. Laftyette stbaan- tistes his Assertisns-MNr. C'iy asp. eidtsd S-cretary of State- View, of this act-Stander tpo P.r-ry, Justice inevitable-His character as Speaker-Azsecdute,. c. As Mr. Monroe's second Piesidential term drew to a close, the question of the next Presidency be- gan to be busily agitated. Four prominent candi- dates were presented by their friends for the suffrages of the People: being- John Quincy Adams of .aes- sachusetts, Andrew Jackson of Tennessee, Henry Claiy of Kentucky, and William H. Crawford of Georgia. [mm Noenember, l822, Mir Clay had been nominated as a suitable successor to James Monroe, at a meet- ing of the Members of the Legislature of Kentucky. The nomination soon after met with a response froni similar meetings in Louisiana, Missouri and Ohio; and, as the period of the election tsilroached, lie was hailed by large bodies of his fellow citizens in all parts of the country as their favorite candidate. The campaign of 1824 was one of the most warmly contested il our annals. Sonie of the more unscru- pulous of the friends of the various candidates re- sorted to mesatceuvres unworthy of their cause to advance their ends. Just as the election was com- mencing, a report was industriously circulated in diffirent quarters of the country that Mir. Clay had withdrawnl from the Presidential contest. In conse- quence of this report, G. ieral William H. Harrison, and other of Mr. Clay's friends ill Ohio, published a declaration, in which it was asserted that lie (Mr. Clay) " would not be withdrawn from the contest ' but by the fiat of his Mlake r." Our late lamented Chief Mlagistrate was at that litne, and ever after, his devoted political, RS well as lersonial friend ; and he has often been heard to declare his preference for bin over all other candidates. Earlv in the campaign it was discovered that there would be no election of President buy the People. By thie Constitution, the [louse of Relpresentatives would, therefore, be called tpon to choose from the three highest candidates. Its Decnmber, 1824, soon after the meeting of Congress, it was known that the three highest candidates were Jackson, Adams and Crawford, and that Air. Clay atnl his fiiends would have it in their power, when the question came before the House, of turning the balance in favor of any one of the three. Mr. Clay's position was now an extremely impor- tant one. Several weeks were to intervene before the election; and, in the mean time, the partisans of the three candidates looked with intense anxiety to the Speaker's course. Iiis preferences were dis- tinctly known to his personal friends, for he had expressed them in his letters and his conversations; but it would have been indelicate and superfluous for him to have electioneered in behalf or any one of the rival candidates-to have given occasion for intrigues and coalitions by deciding the question in advance. WVhile all parties were in this state of suspense, a gross and unprincipled attempt was made to brow- beat Mr. Clay, and drive him from what was rightly supposed to be his position of preference for Mr. Adams. A letter, the authorship of which was afterward avowed by George Kremer, a member of the Hourse from Pennsylvania, appeared in a Phila- delphia newspaper called the 'Columbian Observer,' charging Mr. Clay and his friends wiih the most flsgitious intentions-in short, with the design of selling their vote to the highest bidder. Monstrous as were these intimations, they were calculated to carry some weight with the ignorant and unretlecting. By such persons, it would not be taken into consideration that Mr. Clay had al- ready declined offices of the highest grade under Madison and Mlonroe-that, if either Jackson or Crawford had been elected through his agency, the first office in the gift of either would indubitably have been offered to him-that, in accepting office under Mr. Adams, it was universally understood at Washington he was conferring rather than receiving a favor-that he utiglt not inaptly have been accused of acting an ungenerous part, it; after bringing the Adams Administration into power, lie had refused it the countenance so essential to its success-that he would have neglected the solicitations of all who acted with him from the Vest had he refused the Secretaryship-and, in short, that in order to justify his vote it was incumbent on him to submit to the united voice of the friends of the new Administra- tion, and bring to it as much of his Western strength as he could lend. The I Columbian Observer,' in which the precious epistle we have alluded to appeared, was a print sus- tained by Mr. Eaton. the friend, biographer, and col- league in the Senate ol General Jackson. The position of the writer of the letter, as a member of Congress, gave it a consequence which, utterly con- temptihble as it is, it would not otherwise, in any de. gree, have possessed. Mr. Clay deemed it incum- bent upon him to notice it; atid he published a Card in the National Intelligencer, pronouncing the author of' the letter, whoever he might be, " a base and in- ' famous calumniator." This was answered by a Card fron Mir. George Kremer, in which the writer said lie held himself ready to prove, to the satisfac- tiotn of unprejudiced minds, enough to satisfy them of the accuracy of the statements in the letter, so far as Mir. Clay was concertied. The calumny having been thus fathered, Mr. Clay ro e in his place in the House, and demanded an in vestirntion into the affair. A Committee was accordingly appointed by ba lot on the 5th of February, 1835. It was compose of some of the leading members of the House, a.' 35 Life of Henry Clay. one of whom was Mr. Clay's political friend. Al- though Mr. Kremer had declared to the House and to the public his willingness to bring forward his proofs, and his readiness to abide the issue of the inquiry, his fears, or other counsels than his own, prevailed upon him to resort finally to a miserable subterfuge. The Committee reported that MIr. Kremer declined appearing before them, alleging Mit he could not do so tithout appearing either as an accuser or a witness, both of which he pro- tested against! " And yet this same MIr. Krenser, a day or two be- fore, when the subject of appointing an Investigating Committee canie up, had risen in his seat in the House and said:-" If, upon an investigation being 'instituted, it should appear that he had not suf- ficient reasons to justify the Statements he had 'made, he trusted he should receive the marked 'reprobation which had been suggested by the Speaker. Let it fall where it tnight, Mr. K. said, 'he was willing to meet the inquiry, and abide the 'result." But it is not on Mr. Kremer alone that our indig- nation should be expended for this miserable attempt to bolster up a profligate calumny just long enough for it to operate on the approaching Election. He was merely a tool in the hands of deeper knaves. A thick-headed, illiterate, foolish, good-natured man, he was ready, in his blind attachment to Gen. Jackson, to do any servile deed that might pro- pitiate his idol. Hle seerns to have inwardly re- pented of the act as soon as it had been committed. lie frequently declared his determination to offer an explaination and apology to Mr. Clay; and had gone so far as to draw up a paper for this purpose, which was submitted to the latter. But Mr. Clay replied that the affair had passed from his control intu that of the House ;--nd the rogues, who had taken Mr. Kremer into their keepitag, were careful not to allow him to repeat his offer of an apology subsequently when the House chose to let the matter drop. In 1827-8, M1r. Clay, in an Address to his con- stituents, gave a full aiid interesting history of this affuir, together with the sequel, at which we shall glance in our next Chapter, and in which General Jackson figured conspicuously. On the 9th of February, 18i25, in the presence of both Houses of Congretss, Alr. Tazewell, from the Committee of Tellers, reported the votes of the difierent States for President and Vice President of the United States. The aggregate was as follows: John Quincy Adams had eighty-four votes; Wil- liam H. Crawford, forty-one; Andrew Jackson, ninety-nine; and Henry Clay, thirty-seven,m-the 4The vote for Mr. Clay in the primary C'olleges stood :-Ohin, 16; Kentucky, 14i New-York 4; Alidiuri 3. By -sne party chicanery ,r conlition intuigue, b e(I definuhded ,ut of Electrwriil Votes in New-York and LuLsinos which w.uld have been -nre than sufficient to have rendered hlijm one it the three caodidstes rturned to the Hionse. It is, perhaps. unnecessary to nivive the recollection of those frauds upon the People. by which tbeir favorite champion wft excluded fromt a plhtion rin, t hisiP-b he would unquestionably have been elevated to the Pr'idency. It will be aern that missouri gave her entire Vute to, Alr. ( lay in 1824. at which time TnomAs It. lPaNToN tok the lead in lii, support, as the candidate must fnv-rable to, Interital Improve- mrets and the Protection of American htidustry. Tbe Party calling themnelves Rucktwilt, in New-York. were divided be tween 4t'rtwford andt' lay. the former havig the nsj.rity. The Opposition Party (Clittiinns) ,ere divided betwee, Adi Ayd Cloy: although by far the lurger portion preferred Adams. lut on a division (Jat had more itrigti than either ot the ,thern n fir expreafion of opinin, would have comnianded tCoraw 74ion of the Buckhil Pat was headed by U. Yena 8arm.- poemi which favoted Mr. Clay was led latter having been deprived, by party intrigue and chicanery, of the votes of New-York and Louisiana-w hich would have carried him into the House, where he would undoubtedly have been elected President, over all other candidates. The President of the Senate rose, and declared that no person had received a majority of the votes given for President of the United States ;-tltat Andrew Jackson, John Q. Adams and William H. Crawford were the three persons who had received the highest number of votes, atid that the rermnining duties in the choice of a President now devolved on the House of Representatives. Ie farther declared, that John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina, having received one hundred and eighty-two votes, was duly elected Vice President of the United States, to serve for four years from the ensuing fourth dity of l March. The members of the Senate then retired. The Constitution provides, that "t front the per- 'sons having the highest numbers, not exceeding 'three, on the list voted for as Presidentt, the House 'of Representatives shall cHoosE immediately, by 'ballot, a President." The friends of General Jackson now, as a matter of conrse, eagerly advanced the doctrine that a plurality of votes for any one candidate should be I considered as decisive of the will of the People, and should influence the metrbers of the House in their l votes. As if a mere plurality, forsooth, ought to swallow up a majority! A more dangerous doc- trine, and one more directly opposed to the spirit of the Constitution, could not well be imntagined. It cannot be called Democratic, for it does not admit the prevalence of the will of the majority in the Election. It was, in fact, a dogtna engendered for the occasion by the friends of the candidate, who happened to come into the Louse with a plurality of votes. Mr. Clay was not to be dragooned into the admis- sion of any such principle. lie resolved to be guid- ed by what was plainly the letter and spirit of the Constitution, atd to give his vote to that inan, whom he believed to be the most competent to preside over die destinies ol the Republic. By a personal visit to Mr. Crawford he had satisfied himself that that gentleman was too broken down in health to dis- charge with fiiting energy the duties of the Chief Magistracy. His option lay, therefore, between Messrs. Adams and Jackson. We have seen what were Air. Clay's views of the character of General Jackson as far back as 1819, when the Seminole question was before the House. Was it possible that he should regard those traits, which, in the soldier, had led to conduct, at war with the Constitution, as qualifications in the Pre- sident General Jackson was, furthermore, under- by t r. Voting. To heal this disiion and give the united Strength of that Party to Mr. Crawirt-d, the nonination of Gov- ern(o was tendered to M!r. Yoiung. ie acreepted the tiomination atid (nn, that time3 he arid hi, frijndsi laandoned MAr. C. and gavv their support to Mir. C'rawzford. tut for this arranzrenii it is certain that Mr. Clay would haeve receivedi Electoral Volcat o-i hi, from the State of New- Yotrk, to have carried bins into the flout with General Jackson and Mir. Adaim,. Mr. Clay had till many frienda in the Senate and Amembly. who united in stetp wrtiig a 'tiket consisting of twetity-fiva Adats nien and cloven rawforid ien. Of thac. however, it was underst, ad ibt ioi preferred Alr. Clay, and would cast their votes for him in the event that by so doing he could be briiugbt imp tic iloliae. But before the vote of the Electora Coll0 e was given, the news of the low iif Louisiana was re- OMvett whirt was thought to iitet an end to the cnmtingency, and the Electon f!endy ti. Mr. Clay voted, some for Mr. haw- fjtd, and somer hl. Ads. 26 Lafayette's Testimony-Truth Triumphant. stood to he hostile to those great systems of Inter- nal improvement and protection to home manufac- ture', which Mr. Clay had spent the best part of his public lice in establishing. At least, the General's views were vacillating and undecided on these points. Could Mr. Clay be called upon to sacrifice those important interests on the shrine of merely sectional partiality-for the sake of having a Western rather than an Eastern men to preside over the Union No! Henry Clay was not to be influenced by such narrow and unworthy considerations. He has himself said: '" Had I voted for General Jackson in oppo- 'tsition to the well known opinions which I enter- 'tained of him, one-tenth part of the ingenuity and 'seasl which have been employed to excite preju- 'dices against me, would have held me up to uni- versal contempt ; end, what would have been 'worse, I should have felt that Ireally deserved it." According to the testimony of his friend, Gen. Call, Gen. Jackson himself never expected that he would receive the vote of Mr. Clay. With Mir. Adams, Mr. Clay had always been on amicable if not on intimate terms. At Ghent, they had difrered on a question of public policy, but they both had too much liberality of soul to make their dissimilarity of opinion a cause of personal displea- sure and variance. The Speaker saw in Mr. Adams, a statesman highly gifted, profoundly learned, and loni r and greatly experienced in public affairs at home and abroad. HI-ow could he in conscience hesitate when the choice lay between two such men He did not he- sitate. He had never hesitated. Long before he left Kentucky, according to the testimony of the Hon. John J. Crittenden, six of the Kentucky dele- gation in Congress, and some hundreds of respecta- ble citizens, Mr. Clay declared that he could not imagine the contingency in which lie would vote for General Jackson. A still more important witness, in the person of the great and good LAFAYETTE, came forward to testify in Mr. Clay's behalf, as the fol- lowing extract frotn his letter to Mr. Clay will show: " My remembrance concurs with your own on this point: that in the latter end of December either be- fore or after my visit to Annapolis, vou being out of the presidential candidature, and iafier having ex- pressed my above-mentioned motives of forbearance, J, by iaay of confidential exception, allowed rnyself to ptit a simple, unqualified question, respecting your electioneering guess, and your intended vote. otir answer was, that in '-sir opinion, the actual ttate of health of M4r. Crawford had limited the con- test to a choice between Mr. Adams and General Jackson; that a claim fauadd on military achieve- meets did not meet your preference, AND THAT You HAI) CONCLUDED TO VOTE FoB Mi. ADAMS." Notwithstanding the flagitious attempt to infle- en-e his vote, Mr. Clay unhesitatingly gave it for Mr. Adams, and decided the election in his ftsor. lie went further. When, after he was seated in the Presidential Chair, Mr. Adams offered him the Sec- retaryship of State, he had the moral courage to ac- cept it ir. defiance of the storm of calumny, exasper- ation and malignant opposition, which he knew that act would bring down upon hiiu. This was a critical period in Mr. Clay's public life-a bold, intrepid atsd magnanimous movement. We know that lie niw thinks it was n imistaket otie. In his speech of the 9th ofJune, 1842, at Lexington, ho says : "kMy error in accepting the offi -e arose I 'ott of my underrating he power ofdetraction and 'the force of ignorance, and abiding with too sure a 'confidence in the conscious integrity and upright- 'niess of my own motives. Of that ignorance, I had ' a remarkable and laughable example on an on-ca- 'sion which I will relate. I was travelling, in 182, 'through, I believe it was, Spottsylvania in Virgin- 'in, on my return to Washington, in company a ith 'some young friends. We halted at night at a tavern, 'kept by an aged gentleman, who, I quickly per- 'ceived, from the disorder and confusion which reign- 'ed, had not the happinesss to have a wife. After a hurried and bad supper, the old gentleman sat 'down by me, and without hearing my name, but 'understanding that I was from Kentucky, remarked 'that he had four sons in that State, and that he was 'very sorry they were divided in politics, two being 'for Adams and two for Jat kson; he wished they 'were all for Jackson. Why I asked him. Be- ,cause, he said, that fellow Clay, and Adams, had cheated Jackson out of the Presidency. Have you 'ever seen any evidence, my old friend, said 1, of 'that No, he replied none, and he wanted to see 'none. But, I observed, looking him directly and 'steadily in the face, suppose Mr. Clay were to 'come here and assure you, upon his honor, that it 'was all a vile calumny, and not a word of truth in 'it, would you believe him No, replied the old 'gentleman promptly and emphatically. I said to 'him, in conclusior., will you be good enough to 'Ehow me to bed, and bade him good night. The 'next morning, having in the interval learnt my 'name, he came to me full of apologies, but I at once put him at his ease by assuring him that I 'did not feel in the slightest degree hurt or offended with him." With deference, we mustexpress our dissent from Mr. Clay in regarding his acceptance of office tinder Mir. Adams as an " error." It may have been, so far as his personal interests wtore concerned, erro- neous, and impolitic; but, in reference to his public duties. it was right; it was honest; it was courage- ous. Both Madison and Monroe had offered him. the highest offices in their gift; but the country was at those titnes in such a state, that he thought he could make himself more useful in Congress; and he refused tnem. None but the ignorant and base- minded covild credit the monstrous assertion, that he had made the promise of the Secretaryship the con- dition of giving his vote for Mr. Adams. Mr. Clay may have been temporarily injured by the wretched slander; and it will be seen, as we ad- vance in his biography, that after it had been drop- lied by Kremer, it was revived by General Jackson. But we do not believe that there is at this time a single person of moderate intelligence in the coun- try, who attaches the least credit to the story, tho- roug-hly exploded as it has been by the most abun- dant and triumphant testimony. It is, therefore, because we have faith in the ul- tiniate prevalence of truth, that we do not think Air. Clay was in error, when he so far defied his tradu- cers as to accept the very office which they had previously accused hbn of bargaining for. The cluiuds which for the moiuent hide Truth from our sight only make her shine the brighter when they are dissipated. In the words of Spenser: 37 Life of Henry Clay. ft often falls in course of common life Th,,t Right long time is overlkrae of iVrong, Thro' avance or power, or guile. or strle; Bu1t Justice. though her doomrshedo prolonti Yet at the last she will her own cause right. Mr. Clay may still abide, is with a sure confidence, in the conscious integrity and uprightness of his own motives." Slander has done her worst. Ne- ver before, in the history of our government, was a public man so bitterly assailed by every weapon and engine that unprincipled detraction and malig- nant party hostility could invent. For years, the opposition, in the face of the most decided and com- plete refutations of the calumny-and notwithstand- ing the original inventors had themselves confessed its falsity-continued to thrust it before the public, until, at length, they could find none so mean and ignorant to credit it. The natural reaction has ta- ken place; and every honest heart now visits with indignation any attempt to resuscitate the crushed and obscene lie. Mr. Clay's reputation has come forth whiter and purer from the ordeal. The ' most fine gold" is all the more bright because of those who would have dimmed its lustre. The stream of time is fast bearing down to oblivion the frail and unfounded falsehoods of his enemies; but the pil- lars of his renown, based as they are upon inesti. mable public services, remain unshaken and unim- paired. Mr. Clay entered upon the duties of his new post in March, 1825. In him the House of Representa- tives lost the ablest and most efficient speaker that had ever graced the chair. The best proof of his popularity may be found in the eloquent fact, that from the timie of his first entry into the House in 1811 to 1825, with the exception of two y ears when he was voluntarily absent, he was chosen to preside over their deliberations almost without opposition. The period of his Speakership will alwa)s be regarded as an epoch in the history of our Federal Legisla- ture. Perhaps the most remarkable characteristic of his Presidency over the House, was his perfect- his unimpeachable impartiality. Both foes and friends bore testipnony to this trait without a dis- senting voice. Strong as were his party feelings, they never could induce him, even in the very temn- peast and whirlwind of debtte, to treat an opponent with unfairness or undue neglect. His decisions were always prompt, yet never so hasty as to be re- versed by the House. Notwithstanding the many momentous and agitating questions which were dis- cussed while he occupied the chair, he was never known to lose his self-possession, or to fail in pre. serving the dignity of his position. During the long period of his service (some twelve or thirteen years) in the chair, such was the confi- dence reposed in his impartiality and the rectitude of his judgment, that appeals were rarely taken from his decision-during the last years of his in- cumbency, scarcely one. It was under Mr. Clay's administration d the duties of the chair, that the present use of the pre- vious question in terminating debate was establish- ed. In England it is employed to put by or post- pone a subject which it is deemed improper to de- bate; and then, when the Mouse of Commons do not cboose to hear an unacceptable debater, he is si- lenced by being shuffled or coughed down. Cer- tainly it is more orderly, and less invidious, for the House itself to determine when a subject slhall be put to the question and all debate upon it stopped And every deliberative body ought necessarily to possess the power of deciding when it will ex- psess its judgment or opinion upon any prolos- tion before it, and, consequently, when debate shall close. It has been seen, that Mr. Clay's presiding in the chair did not prevent his taking an active and lead- ing part in all the great measures that came before the House in committee of the whole. Ilis spirits were always buoyant, and his manner in debate ge- nerally animated, and sometimes vehement. But he never carried from the floor to the chair the ex- cited feelings arising in debate. There he was still composed, dignified, authoritative, but perfectly impartial. His adtninistration of its duties coat- minded the undivided praise of all parties. Uniformly cheerful when on the floor, he sometimeS indulged in repartee. The late Getteral Alexan- der Sinyth of Virginia, a man of ability and re- search, was an excessively tedious speaker, worry- ing the House and prolonging his speeches by nu- nmerous quotations. Ott one of these occasions, when he had been more than ordinarily tiresotne, while hunting up an authority, he observed to Mr. Clay, who was sitting near him, "1 you, sir, speak for the present generation; but I speak for posterity."- "Yes," said Mr. Clay, " and you seem resolved to speak until the arrival of your audience !" The late Governor lincoln of Maine was a gentle- man of fine feelings, eloquent, but declamatory. On one occasion, wlten addressing the House of Reprc- sentatives, of which he as a member, on the Re- volutionary Pension Bill, in answer to an argument that it would be a serious charge upon the Ircasu- ry of long continuance, as many of the officers and soldiers would live a great while, he burst out into the patriotic exclamation, " Soldiers of the Revoltu- tion, live for ever !" Mr. Clay followed hinm, incul- cating moderation, and concluded by turning to Mr. Lincoln, with an arch smile, and observing, a I hope my worthy friend will not insist upon the very great duration of these pensions, which lie has suggested. Will he not coissent, by way of a compromise, to a term of 999 years instead of eternity 1" CHAPTER IX. Account of Mr. Clty's Intercourse with General Jackson-Pev ertey Cartr's L.etter--enerel Jackson the Ac. lcr of fi ('lay-Mr. Buchanan-Finail Refutation of the tSt-der-Mol Adtams'sarestim ry-Repeated more ttrongly in 1843-40po- sition to MAr. Adams's Alninistration-Its Charttcter-.ohn RalndOlph's Asaults-tii, Iuel with, Mr. ulay-Last toter- view with Mr. (lay in 1833-Impaired state of Alr. Clay's Health-Qualiftiations for the Secretaryvhip-'The I'nialna Insnructionsrlb_ eetn n.l-ed in the Panama Concre-Mr. Clay's Letter to idr. iddletwn-flis Negotintions while See- retary ot Stnte-Treaties-Docu-ents from. his pen-l'etiey of Mr. Adams's Admisitrntion-Cnalitiin if the Oippotition- Their Conaistentcy-'he oloninal Bill-Mr. Van Bturen- Modes of Atsatc-Federatism nd lemocracy-Jacknitnia and Federalistn Identified-P'residential Election, of 1f8t- dnice of Andrew Jackson-E-onoy under Adams, Jn k- son, and Van Bturen-ir. Ctby'i views toward the new Ad- rinistration-He lease, Wanhin ett- (ri,- attenpt to injurq his private credit-His Letter ts R. Wickliffe, Esq. MR. CLAY has himself given to the public a his- tory of his intercourse with Gineral Jackson. It may be fouTd in his speech of 1838 in the Senate ot the Sub-Treasury Scheme. "MIy acquaintance," lie says, "with that extra- I I 38 Annihilation of the Charge made by Gen. Jackson. ordinary ian commenced in this city, in the Fall of 1815 or 116. It was short, but highly respectful atlid .iiitually cordial. I beheld in himii the gallant anid siiecesfutl General, who, by the glorious Vic- torY ot .Ne w-Orleans, had honorably closed tile sec- o.d WVtr oiftour lidependence, and I paid him the hoitiau-e due for that eminent service. A few years after, it tbecamne my painful duty to animadvert, in thte Ilouse of Representatives, with the indepen- dence which belongs to the Represeniative charac ter upon some of his proceedings in the conduct of the Seminole War, which I thought illegal and con- trary to tile Constitution and the law of Nations. A non intercourse between us ensued, which continued until the Fall of 1824, when, lie being a member of the Senate, an accommodation between us was sought to be brought about by the principal part of the delegtation from his own State. For that pur- pose, we were invited to dine with them at Clax- ton a boardinig-hltuse on Capitol 11H11, where my venerable friend from Tcnnessee (Mr. White) and his colleague on the Spanish Conmission, were both present. I retired early from dinner, and was fol- towed to the door by General Jackson and the pre- sent Minister of the United States at the Court of Madrid ( fir. Eaton.) Thev pressed me earnestli to take a seat with them in their carriage. My taithful servant end friend, Charles, was standing at the door waititig for mile with my own. I yielded to their ur- gent politeness, directed Charles to follow with my carriage, and they sat me down by my own door. We aiterward frequently met, with mnutual respect antd coldiality: dined several times together, and reciproc ted the hospitality of our respective quar- ters. This friendly intercourse continued until the election, in the House of Representatives, otha Pre- itie mit oh tile United States, cauie on in February, 1825. 1 gave the vote which, in tile contingency that happened, I told Imv colleague, (M1r. Critten- den,) w ho sits before me, prior to moy departure from Kentuc k, in November, 1-24, aitd told others, that I should give. All intercourse ceased between Geim- cral J ickeoa and omyself. We have never since, ex- cept ouce a -cide tally, exchtingvd salutatmotis, nor met, except o occasions when we were perforimming the last offices toward deceased nietubers of Coma- grss, or other officers of Governime nt. liummdiate- ly alter my vote, a rancorous war was commenced against ilie, and all tile barking dogs let loose upon nine. I shall not trace it during its tell years' bitter couitinuance. But I thank my God that I stand here, firm and erect, unbent, uitbrtoken, unsubdued, un- awed, and ready to denouace the mischievous mca- sures of this Administration, and ready to denounce this, its legitimate offspring, the most pernicious of 1al." Directly after the adjournment of the l9th Con- gress, a letter, dated March 8, 1825, appeared in the newspapers, purporting to relate a conversation of the writer with General Jackson, in which the lat- ter said that Mr. Clay's friends in Congress pro- posed to his friends (Gen. J.'s) that if they would promise for him, that Mr. Adams should not be con- tinued as Secretary of State, Mr. Clay and his friends would at once elect General Jackson Presi- dent; and that he (Gen. Jackson) indignantly re- jected the proposition. Mr. Carter Beverly, the au. thor of this letter, wrote to Gen. Jackson, soon after its appearance, for a confirmation of its statements. General Jackson replied, in a letter dated June 5, 1897-mire than two years after the charge was first Made ;-hut just in season to operate upon approach- im elc-tioits; and, in his reply, directly charged the frie-nds oif Mr. Clay with having proposed to hinl, (Jackaito,) through a distinguished Member of Con- S-ress, to vote for him, in case lie would declare that Mr. Adams should not be continued as Secretary of State; and insinuated that this proposition was made by authority of Mr. Clay; and to strength-n that insinuation, asserted that inniediately after the re- jectiton of the proposition, Mr. Clay cattle out openly for MIr. Adams. To this proposition, according to his own account, General Jackson returned for answer, that before he would reach the Presidential Chair bv such means of bargain and corruption, " he would see the earth open, and swallow both Mr. Clay and his friends and himself with them !"-a reply, which was no doubt literally true inasmuch as " such means " could never have been used to elevate the Hero of New-Orleans to the Presidency. General Jackson gave up the. name of Mr. Bu- chanan of Pennsylvania as " the distinguished Mem- ber of Congress," to whom he had alluded in his letter to Sir. Beverly. Mr. Buchanan being thus involved in the controversy, although a personal and political friend of General Jackson, made a state- ment which entirely exculpated Mir. Clay and his friends from all participation in the alleged proposi- titon. He stated, that in the month of December, a rumor was in circulation at Washington, that Gen. Jackson intended, if elected, to keep Mr. Adams in as Secretary of State. Believing that such a belief would cool his friends and inspire his opponents with confidence, and being a supporter of General Jackson himself, he thought that the General ought to contradict the report. lie accordingly called on him, and made koowit his views; to which General Jackson replied, that though he thought well of Mr. Adams, he had never said or intimated, that he would or would not, appoint him Secretary of State. Sir. Buchanan then asked permission to repeat this answer to any person he thought proper, which was granted, and here the conversation enlde(l. And out of such flimsy materials had General Jackson cou- structed his rancorous charge against Mr. C(Iv! MSr. Buchanan further stated, that he called on General Jackson solely as his friend, and upon his own responsibility, and not as an agent for Mr. Clay, or any other person; that he had never been a friend of Mr. Clay during the Presidential contest; a/id that he had not the most distant idea that Gee. Jackson believed, or suspected that he came on be- half of M1r. Clay, or of his friends, until the publi- cation of the letter, making that accusation. Nothwithstanding all grounds for the charge were thus annihilated by the testimony of the " dis- tinguished Member of Congress"-himself a warm partizan of General Jackson-the asinine cry or bargain and corruption was still kept tup by the op. ponents of the Administration; and the most auda- cious assertions were substituted for proofs. At length, although not the slightest shadow of anything resembling evidence had been produced ia support of the calumny, a body of testinmorny per- fectly overwhelming was produced against it. A Circular Letter wa,. addressed to the Western Mem- bers (for they alone were accused of being inmpli- cated in the alleged transaction) who voted fer Mir. Adames in the election by Congress in 12.-5, request- ing to know whether there was any foundation for the charge in the letter of General Jac kson. They ll (ith the exception of Mr. Cook, -be was dead) utterly disclaimed the knowledge of any 39 Life of Henry Cla. proposition made by Mr. Clay, or his friends, to General Jackson, or to any other person; and also explicitly disclaimed any negotiation with respect to their votes on that occasion. Ott the contrary, the menmbers from Ohio stated that they had deter- mined tipon voting for Mr. Adatits previous to their being informed of Mr. Clay's intetiun, and with- out having ascertained his views. The members from Kentucky, who voted with Mr. Clay, expressed their ignoranice of conditions of any Fort having been (offered by his friends to any person, on compliance with which their vote was to depend. The neembers from Louisiana and Missouri, coin- oided in these declaratiotis, and they all professed their belief in tie falsehood of the charges against Mr. Clay. on account of his conduct on that occasion. In addition to this testimony, letters were pro- duced from well known individuals, satisfactorily establishiig the fact that Mr. Clay, previous to his leaving his residetice in Kentucky for Washitigton, in the Fall of 1U24, repeatedly made declarations of his preferentce for Mr. Adanis over General Jack son, through the months of October, November, D)e- ember and January following, until he executed that intention on the 9th of Febuary, 1825, in the House of Representatives. We have already quo- ted front Getieral Lafayette's letter to Mr. Clay a passage confirming this amnple testimtoaty. Such a mass of evidence effectually crushed the accusation respecting a bargain, and convinced the public, that itt voting for Mr. Adams, Mr. Clay anid his friends cotiscientiously discharged their duty; and that they could hot have voted otherwise without palpable inconsistency. W'len, on the occasion of his speech of June, 1842, at Lexington, Mr. Clay alluded to this calunny, of which we have given a brief history, somebody cried out, that Mr. Carter Beverly, who had been made the organ of announcing it, liad recently borne testi- mony to its beitig unfounded. Mr. Clay said it was true that lie had voluntarily borate such testinsony. But, with great earnestness anid eniphams, Mr. Clay said, I trant no testrinony; here-here-HERE- (repeatetlly touching his heart, amid tremendous chleers)-here is the best of all witnesses of my in- socence. Soon after the close of his administration, Mr. Ad- mt,! in reply to an address front a committee of gen- tetenetn in New Jersey, spoke in the following terms of Mr. Clay: 'Upon him (,Mr. Clay) the foulest slanders have been showered. Litng known and appreciated, aR succe'sivelv a Member of both Houses of your Na- tional Legislature, as the unrivalled Speaker, and, at the same timle, most efficient leader of debates in one of thein; as as able and successful negotiator fior your iunterests in war and peace, with ftireign powers, and as a powerful candidate for the higlhest of yotur trusts-the Department of Stite itself was a station, wkich, by its bestowal, could cowJir neither profi wor hoitor upoe him, but upon which he habt sited unfadiig honjor, by the nianner in which, he has dis- eharged its duties. Prejudice gad passion have charged him with obtainintg that niffice by bargain and corruption. Before you, rayfellow-citizens, in tue presence of our country and Ileare, I vr- noutce that ehare totally unfounded. This tri ttte of justice is due from tre to hin, and I seize, with pleasure, the opportunity afflorded me by your letter, of discharging the obligation. "As to my motives for tendering to him the De- partment of State when I did, let that man who ques- tions them come forward. Let hbn look around among Statesmtren aind Legislators of this Nation and of that day. Let him then select and narne the man whom, by his pre-eninent talents, bv his splendid services, by his ardent patriotiam, by his all-enibra- cing public spirit, by his fid eloquence ii 1bellalf of' e rights antI liberties of mittind, by !his lonlg experience in the afrairs of the Unon, foreign anl domestic, a President of the United States, intent only upon thehonor and welfare of his couniry ,ought to have preferred to HENRY CLAY. Let hi'm nume the man, and then judge you, my fellow-citizens, of my motives." During his visit to the West in the fall of 1843, Mr. Adams confirmed this denial in the strongest terms, which it is possible for the human tongue to employ. " I thank you, sir," said he, in his speech at Mays- ville, (Ky.) " for the opportunity you have given mo 'of speaking of the great Statesman who was as-so 'ciated with me in the administration of the General 'Government, at my eaniest olicitation-svho be- 'lOngsB not to Kentucky alone, but to the whole Un- 'ion; and is not only anl honor to this State anid this 'Nation, but to mankind. The charges to which y ou 'reler, I have, after my term of service had ex pired, 'and it was proper for me to speak, dlenied before 'the whole country; and I here reiterate and reaf- 'firm that denial; and as I expect shortly to appear 'before my God, to atiswer for the conduct of my 'whole life, should those charges have found ths 'way to the Throne of Eternal Justice, I WI.L, IN 'THE PRESENCE OF OMNIPOTENCE, PRONOUNC1x 'THEM FALSE." In his address at Covington, (Ky.) Mr. Adams said, in allusion to the hospitalities, which be had met with: "Not only have I received invitations 'from public bodies and cities, hut also from indivi- 'duals, aftiong the first of whom was that great nian, 'your own citizen, who, during a very large portion 'of my public life, and in various public capacities, 'and in several instances in matters relating to your 'interests, has been my associate and friend, and the 'recollection of whom, brings me to the acknowledg- 'ment, before this whole assemilbly, that in all the 'various capacities in which I have known hint to 'act, whether as associate, as assistant, or acting in. 'dependently of mie, in his own individual character 'and capacity, I have ever found him not only one of 'tie ablest ien with whom I have ever co-operated. 'bet also of the most amiable and worthy."' We have but imperfectly sketched the history of the flagitious ineasures which were adouted to blast i Mr. Adams, Jf whomn it mnay e said, are annot mar, nor custom sI.i bus iatiite Vyicty, ' ttll retain tiis exaltef eatintes ,flttr. (lay's Ia mit aid patrrtism, and is his ardeft apurter e, e the Preaden: y. A correspondent ofthe Newark luily Ad- vertiser says: " I havefre1,, ety otserved ladies' a mlinms irculating throu It the 11,,use and is+este t, hanber, with tbe view ofcolkelting t utgraphs of the reitl ibes. tine this morniawg, 1idaging to a younY lady oft- attracted csiaienble attenti6n. tptm ex- amaituita, I iitni! it coltainiel a page f well writtei p.+try, ilatd Jul, 1842IS, in tie trealam's(P hbaiad-writii of ,ti Ihn Q. Adani. 1'Jims piiece wand dst riptive of the wild 'ha(,. at present sprentd over olr poliltical atl'airn and aotutpared euntCO g events whih hwsid bnrig order out of'disorder. The closiame vane wasu "ar. for whose brow this laurel crown I r or wshomtn this web of life is sainning Turn this, thy Album, up side down, And take the end tts the lbeginning.' The mneawid-w ftbii was somewhat mystical, hut by turnig to the back of the book, and inverting it, on its lat page a pies was found with thesignature of Ii. (34ir! " 40 Opposition to Mr. Adama's Administration-Mr. Clay's Labor. as Secretary of State. 41 the political reputation of Mr. Clay and break down the Admtinistration, of which he was the main orna- ment and support. To the future historian we leave the task of commenting, in adequate terms of repro- bation, upon the conduct of those unprincipled men who originated the slander, and continued to circu- late it long after it had been proved to be utterly ungrounded. That it answered the purpose for which it was intended; that it was the most efficient instrument employed to trammel and defeat Mr. Adams's Administration there can now be little doubt. The recklessness and audacity with which it was persisted in until it had served its end,-the conduct of Mr. Kremer, as he vacillated between bis good impulses and the party ties by which he was fettered,-and subsequent developments, still fresh in the remembrance of many of our readers, showed that the promulgation of the calumny was the result of a regularly planned conspiracy. We refer those who would satisfy themseltes of this fact, as well as of the sufficiency of the proofs by which this ' measureless lie' was overwhelmed, to the proceedings in the House of Representatives, instituted atMr.Clay's instance in February, 1825;- to the subsequent letter of Carter Beverley, detailing a conversation at General Jackson's;-to Mr. Clay's Letter to the Public, challenging his enemy to pro. duce his testimony;-to Gen. Jackson's surrender of the name of Mr. Buchanan as the "distinguished Member of Congress" upon whose authority the charge of corruption was reiterated against Mr. Clay;-to Mr. Buchanan's complete and decided disclaituation of any intention on his part of ever giving countenance to the charge ;-to Mr. Clay's pamphlets, published in 1827-8, embodying a mass of testilnony disproving the charge;-to Mr. Ileaha- nan's statetnents on the floor of the House of Repre- sentatives and the Senate, avowing his disbelief of the charge -and finally to Carter Beverley's letter, published in 1841, repudiating the calumny as desti- tute of the slightest foundation in truth, and making such atonement as he could for having given cur- wency to it in his letter of 1825.1 A review of these transactions cannot fail to arouse popular indignation, on account of the per. ecutions to which Mr. Clay was subjected in con- sequence of the calumny, and to react its authors and propagators. That the most satisfactory ev- dence of the reality of such a reaction will be given in the Presidential Election of 1844, we do not entertain the shadow of a lingering doubt. R:trely has an Administration been subjected to an opposition so unrelenting, so vindictive and so determined as that which assailed the Presidency of John Quincy Adams. The motives of that opposi- tion appear to have been purely selfish and merce- nary; for the policy of Mr. Adams resembled that of his predecessor, whose Secretary of State he had been, and it was little calculated to call down a viru- lent hostility. In his views of the powers of the General Goveinment he was more liberal than Mr. Monroe. He was friendly to the American System of Internal Improvement and Protection, which had been so ably vindicated by Mr. Clay; and all his measures were conceived in a truly generous, re- publican and patriotic spirit. A great clamor was most unjustly raised about the expenses of his Administration. At this day the iniquity of this charge is so apparent as to render it unworthy a serious confutation. It becomies in- deed laughable when placed side by side with the list of Presidential expenditures under Mr. Van Bu- ren. In the distribution of his official patrontiige Mr. Adams appears to have been actuated bh the purest and most honorable motives. Not a single removal from office on political grounds was made by his authority; and in no one instance does he seem to have been impelled by considerations of sif-inter- est or with a view to ultimnate personal advantage. The circumstances under which he came into of- fice, however, were a continual source of uneasi- ness to the friends of Jackson and Crawford; and his Administration, able and honorable to the coun- try as it was, was constantly assailed. John Ran- dolph, who had now a seat in the Senate, was espe- cially bitter and personal in his denunciations. The eccentricities of that extraordinary man induced many persons to believe that he was partially de- ranged in his intellect. His long, desttltorv and immethodical harangues were a serious inipedinient to legislative business, while his elfish taunts and reckless assaults upon individuals were so frequent, that he seemed at length to have arrived at the con- clusion that he enjoyed superior immunities in de- bate-that he was, in fact, " a chartered libertine." In one of the nutnerous discussions upon the Paina- ma Mission, he took occasion to animadvert in the most offenive manner upon the conduct of Mr. Clay, and denounced the hartoony existing between the Secretary of State and the Presidesit as a " coali- tior of Blifil and Black George ;" a combination of "the Puritan with the Black-leg." When called upon by Mr. Clay to explain or re- tract these expressions, he refused. A hostile meet- ing consequently ensued between them on the 8th of April, 1826. After two ineffectual fires it result- ed in the reconciliation of the parties-John Ran- dolph having given additional evidence, by his con- duct and afpearance on the occasion, that his eccen- tricity, if it did not border on insanity, was separa- ted from it by a very slizht partition. The last interview between Mr. Clay and Mr. Randolph was on the 2d or 3d of March, 1833, a few weeks before Mr. R's death, when he was on his way to Philadelphia, where he died. He came to the Senate Chamber, unable to stand or walk without assistance. The Senate was in session by candle-light, and Mr. Clay had risen to make some observations on the Compromise Asct. "[lIp me up," said Mr. Randolph, sitting in a chair, and addressing his half-brother, Mr. B. Tucker; - 1 have come here to hear that voice." As soon as Ir. Clay had concluded his remarks, he wetit to Mr. Randulph, and they cordially shook hands and exchanged salutations. The health of Mr. Clay during the whole period of his residence at Washington, as Secretary of State, was exceedingly umifavorable-so much so, that at one tine he had fully determined to resign the office. He was persuaded, however, to remain; ana, notwithstanding the depressing influence upon mental and physical exertion of bodily infirmi- All these dncmtments may be found in Nile,'s Register. We A that our limits will n'ut permit us to expiuse in it, full de- ity. the whole of this nefsriou pltot against iMr. ('lay. That pan must presume gremlt7 upon the ignorance of the Publim, rewsverwhowoul attis day venture to reviv the etinct lie Life of Henry Clay. ty, he discharged the complicate and laborious duties of the Secretaryship wi:h a fidelity and efficielacy that hale neter been surpassed. In tire records of' his labors, in his instrurctionis to linistcrs, arid his nu- nrerous leIters upon subjerts of foreign arid domnes- tic concern, the archives of the State Department contain a lasting monument to his transcendent abilities as a statesmian and his indefatigability as a public officer. One of the ablest state papers in the diplomatic anniala of the United States is the letter of instruc- tions of M1r. Clay to the Dulegation to Panama. TIre story of this Mission may be briefly told. A Con- gress wats proposed to be held at Panama or Tacu- bayta, to be comprised of Delegates from the Repub- lics of 31exico, Colombia and Central America, to deliberate on subjects of importance to all, and in which tie welfare arid interest of all might be in- volved. Tire threatening aspect of the Holy Alli- ance towards the free Goverrnments of the new world had irduced the late Pre:,ident, Mlonuroe, to declare that the United States would trot view with itidif- ference any interference on their part in the contest between Sp-in and tier former Colonies; and the Governmer.ts of the new Republics were naturally led to suppose that our own was friendly to the ob- jects proposed in the contemplated Congress. In the . of 1825, invitations were given on the part of Colombia, Mexico and Central America to the United States to send Commissioners to Pla- naina. Ini repily to this proposition, coming from the Mm- isters of those powers at Washington, Mr. Clay said, that before sueh a Congress met, it appeared to himi expedient to adjust, as preliminary matters, the precise objects to which the attention of the Conc ress wotrld be directed, and the substance and the firm of the powers of the M1inisters representing the several Republics. This suggestion called forth ansvers, whicth were not considered as sufficiently precise; but still to manifest the sensibility of the United States to what concerned the welfare of Ame- rica, ard to the friendly feelings of the Spanish Ame- rican States, the President determined to accept their invitations, and to send Ministers with the con- sent of the Senate. In Nlarch, 1829, a call having been made in the Senate for copies of the instructions given to our Ilini-ters at Panama, Mr. Adams transmitted them; and they were soon afterwards published, notwith- stariidig a rancorous attempt on the part of the op- positirin to prevent their appearance; so creditable were they to the Administration that was going out of power, arid to Mr. Clay, their author; and so completely did they refute the slanders, which had been propagated in connection Aith the Mission. Few state papers in the archives of the Govern- mertt will compare, in point of ability, with this let- ter oif instructions of Mr. Clay. It was, perhaps, the oimst elaborate paper prepared by him whilst in the l)epartmrent of State. The liberal principles of commerce and navigation, which it proposed; the securities for neutral and rnari ime rights, which it souglt; the whole system of international and Ame- rican policv, which it aimed to establish; and the preparatory measures, which it recommended, for ithn the two OceanJs by a Canal, constitute i one of t he boldest, most original, comprehensive and statesinan-like documents on record. Another masterly paper from the pen of Mr Clay is his letter of May, 11e25, to our Mirnister at 8b Peteriburgh, Mr. Middleton, instructing hiti to en- gage the Russian Governient to conitributri its beet exertions toward terminating the contest then exist- ing between Spain and her Colonies. The appeal was not in vain. Through Mr. Clay's exertions, the policy of recognizing the Independence of Greece, and sending a Minister to that country, was also at length acquiesced in; and the effect of that re- cognition-the first she had experienced-itl rousing the spirit of the struggling nation, is a matter of history. The number of Treaties negotiated by Mr, Clay at the Seat of the General Government is greater than that of all which had ever been pret iounly concluded there from the first adoption of the Con- stitution. His Diplomatic experience-his attract- ive manners-his facile and unceremonious niode of transacting business, rendered him u favorite with the Foreign Ministers at Washington, and enabled him to procure from them termE the moet advaD- tageous to the Country. During his incumbency as Secretary, he concluded and signed Treaties with Colombia, Central America, Denmark, P'russia I and the llanseatic Republic; and effected a riego- tiation with Russia for the settlement of the claims of Arimerican citizens. Ile also concluded a Treaty with Austria, but did not remain in office to see it signed. His letters to Mir. Gallatin, our Minister at Lon- don, in relation to the trade between the United States and the British Colonies, are docuiments of extraordinary interest and value, which ably advo- cate a durable and obligatory arrangement by Treaty in preference to other mcdes of settlement. Ilia let- ters to the same functionary, on the Navigation of the St. Lawrence, and to our Charg6 at London, relative to the North-Eastern Boundary, exhibit much research, and a sagacious, enlighteni d and trrrly American spirit. Never was the Diplomacy of the Country so efficiently and creditably con- ducted as when under the charge of Henry Clay. It has been justly said that no policy could be more thoroughly anti-European, and more com- pletely American, than that of Mr. Adams's Adurin- istration. He would exclude all farther Etrropean colonization from the American Continent; all in- terference of European Monarchs, especially those of the miscalled Holy Alliance, in Anmericrt n poli- tics; he would render his own country, essenitially, independent of European work-shops, by fostering American Arts, Manufactures and Science, and would strengthen her power, by rendering her force more available through the instrmentality of Inter- nal Improvements. To these objects his efforts were directed. Mr. Clay had long been the acknowledged head of the Democratic Partv; tire Orost vigorous, elo- quent and consistent champion of their pririciples, and we ma) add, that such he has ever continued. In giving his vote f(ir Mr. Adams, be belit vrd-and events justified his belief-that he would se-cure to the Country an Admitistration attached to tire same leading policy that had characterized the Adrhiinis- tratious of Madison and Monroe, with this additional 42f The West India Trade-Who are the Federalists. .dvantage: that it would be deciledly friendly to ahose great naeasures of 'rutecthou vmd Internal Inmprovemeent, of which he had beeat the early and pers veriig advocate. But the elements of oppo- sitilon, which hid remainaed izactive during the ei lit years of Mir. 3Monroe's Presidency, began to gorii and combine against his successor almost be- fore lie was ' warnm in his chair.' The character of shese elements was somewhat heterogeneous; and tde partisan managers were long puzzled to find some principles of cohesion in their opposition. The policy of Mr. Adams union all important ques- tions coincided with that of the majority, and was senctioned by the example of his great Democratic predecessors. At the commencement of his term of office, he had declared his intention to follow that example in the general outlines. He made it a rule to remove no man from office except for official mis- oondiict, and to regard, in the selection of candi- dates for vacancies, only their moral and intellectual qualifications. He tius voluntarily relinquished the support which he might have derived from Execu- tive patronage, and placed the success of his Ad- ministration simply upon the merit of its principles and its measures. What possible ground of oppo- sition, therefore, could be discovered or invented al No matter: his Administration must be put own; " for an army of aspirants and office-seekers were in the field. In the words of one of the most distinguished of General Jackson's supporters, the Administration must be pilt down, " thomg-h as pure ss the angels at the right hand of God." Sich being the tone of fecling among the Oppo- siti tn, it is not a matter of surprise that the weapons employei against Mir. Adants and his friends were of a character directly the opposite of ' angelic.' In tihe first place, a gross and utterly unfounded charge of corruption was brought against the Presi- dent and the Secretary f State. We have seen bow utterly exploded, by the most positive and overwhelming testimony, that niserable slander has been. Charges of extravagance were then made agaiist the Governtent; and a paltrv bill for erockery and furniture for the White House was magnified into an accusation against the plain, frugal and unassuming Mir. Adams of an intention so ape the extravagance and splendor of European Potentates. The ordinary and established expen- ditures of the Government were examined with new and unexampled rigor, for the purpose of producing the belief that they originated with the Administra- tion; n rli an assertion on his part of the President's Constituitional right to appoint, in the vacation of Congress, Diplomatic Agents to transact the Foreign business of the Country was construed into an Usurpation of a new and unconstitutional power. It having been discovered that the Secretary of State had, in some ten or dozen cases, transferrcd the employtnent of publishing the Laws from one Printing Elttahlishmetnt to antother, a great clamor was raised about an attempt to corrupt the Pruss. The Secretary was charged with selecting the papers for political and personal objects; and aI Resolution was offered, in the House of Repre- sentatives, requiring him to communicate the changes which had been made, and his reasons fberefor. But, on its being discovered that die House had no jurisdiction of the case, the inquiry was dropped. By way of showing the consistenry of the Opposition, at tihe very tirte the deticlitnent in the House were arraigning Mr. Clay for changing the publication of the Laws from one newspipt er to another, their brethren ilt the Senate, utle r the guidance of Mr. Van Buren, were engaged ii the attempt to deprive the National Iatelligenicer of the Printing of that body! Shortly before the termination of the Second Session of the Nineteenth Congress, Mr. Floyd of Virginia announced to the public that the 'com- binations' for effecting the elevation of General Jackson were nearly complete. During the Ses- sion, symptoms of the coalition began to appear; and on several questions an organized opposition was made manifest. Of these, we need only enu- merate the Bankrupt Act, the bills for the gradual improvement of the Navy, authorizing Dry Docks and a Naval School, the appropriations fur Surveys and Internal Improvetnent, the Controversy between Georgia and the General Government respecting the Creek Treaty, the bills to augment the Duty on im- ported Woollens, and closing the Ports of the United States against British vessels fioni the Colonies, after a limited period. With regard to the Colonial Bill, the condnet of the succeeding Administration upon the subject of the WVest India Trade may niake a brief outline of facts not inappropriate in this place. At the first session of the Nineteenth Congress, a bill was ititro- daced into the Senate to accept, as far as practica- ble, the terms propoped by the British Acts ot 132.5, reguoltittg the intercourse of Foreign Powers vaith her West India Islnnds. Owing to the long and in- terminable de bates for political effect in that Lody at that session, the bill was tiot passed, and in the va- cation the British Government interdicted the trade. The next session, nueasures of retaliation were pro- posed, but no definite steps were taken until the close of the session ; anid by a disagreertient between the two Houses, the bill was lost, atid the Execu- tive was conmpelled to close our ports abruptly with- out any conditions. The matiner in whticth Mr. Van Buren afterwards, when Secretary of State, availed himself of this fact, to disparage the admitiistratioa of Mir. Adams before the British Ministry and Na- tion, is well known; and the mendicant appeals which, in his instructions to our Minister at the Court of St. James, he directed to be made te the Ettglish negotiators, remain a stigma on the diplo- macy of the Uttited States. The West Itidia Trade was a fair and proper subject of conventioti between the two countries, to be settled on the basis of mu- tual rights and reciprocal interests. The honor of ottr country forbade aniy other course. If England would riot deign to treat on this subject, it v as not for us to coax her haughty Ministers into concession by legislative enactments. Such was tl e elevated and patriotic view of the subject taken by Air. Clay. Directly opposite were the view afterwards taken. anal the course adopted, by Mr. Van Burett. As Mr. Adams's adininistration drew to a close, it began to he apparent thtan it was not destined to a second term. The strongest appeals were niatde to the sectional feelings of the Western States in be- half of the candidate of the Opposition; and these appeals were btut too successful. In the various sections of the Unioti, opposite reasons were urged 43 with effect against the Administration. New-York At length, in the autumn of 1828, the Presidential and Pennaylvania were o)erated upon by an asser- Election took place, and resulted in the choice of tion, iridiistriously circulated, that General Jackson Andrew Jackson, hy one hundred and twenty-eight was the candidate of the Democracy of the country, votes in the primary Electoral Colleges, given by anti this impression contributed to create a strong sixteen States, including Virginia and Georgia, party in the States of Maine and New-Hampilhire. which, in the previous Election, had cast their votes Nothing could be more untrue than the assertion. for Mr. Crawford. Air. Adams was supported by Alany of the leaders of the old Federal party were the six New-England States; by New-Jersey, whick the Imrist ardent personal opponents of Air. Adams, had previously voted against him; by Delaware. anId iecotre the most effecti.e enemies ofhis Admuin- and sixteen votes from New-York, and six trout Ma- istration. These men might afterwards be heard ryland. Air. Calhoun obtained the same vote for claiming to be the orthodox Democratic party, and Vice President that Gen. Jackson did for President, denouncing Hlenry Clay-the early opponent of the except seven votes in Georgia, which were thrown Ali, n and Sedition Laws-the friend and supporter away upon William Smjith of ,tith Carolina. Mr. of Jeffereon's administration-the main pillar of Ma- Rush received the whole vote of the Administration disoti's-and the most active originator and advocate party for Vice President. of tbe Last War-as a Federalist ! Thus ended the administration of John Quincy The truth is that it has fared with the principles Adams, during which our domestic and foreign af- of Federalism as with its men. In the time of Mr. fairs were never more ably and prosperously con- Monroe there was a general bleeding of parties. A ducted. The foreign policy of the Government had new and distinct formation, on grounds at first pure- only in view the nmaintenance of the dignity of the 1. personjal, was made during the administration of National character, the extensionofourCommercial Gen Jnckson. As soon as there was a divisioti on Relations, and the successfuil prosecution of the prinripltes, the worst psrt oif the old Federalists- claims of American citizens upon Foreign Govern- sonic of the most bitter and envenomed-the black ments. cocklde gentry, who had pasiod theiryounger years The Domestic policy was no less liberal, active in writing p,,squinades on 31r. Jeffeison's breeches, and decided; and never was th-re a more ground. and h,.d teen in the habit of tbhnkinig Heaven ttiat less political libel than that which impeached the thlu' hal "ito Democratic blood in their veins"- integrity and economy of that Administration. Am Went over to Gen. Jackson, and cairried with them a the charge of extravagance was the argument roat Fpirit ofu tltraism, ay, atid of taltra-Fcdernlinm, which vehemently urged against Mr. Adams's Admitiistra- was do,-lojIed in the Protest, and P'roclarfiitiion, and tion, it may be well in this place to glance at its m n, tf the leading measures of his Administration. plausibility. The aggregate expenditures of the The t'ilre nioderate, plutdent amid patriotic joined several Adminiistrationis from 1789 to 1838, exclusive with the Deoti-cratic party, and formed the great ofthePublic Debt,anid payments tinderTreaty stipu- WlhIig p; rty of the coutitry. T'he ultrea of the old lations, including the expenses and arrearages of the partl s coolesced, and the comibination was natu- last War with Great Britain, were: rally To.-y.' Washington's Administration, 8 yrs. 15,890,698 55 UIpotm thf as-embling of the Twentieth Congress, Jefferson's 4 8 2 41,41i813;56 88 it was ascertained, by the election of the Speaker, Madison's " 8 " 144.6il4,944 8G that n mijajority of the House was opposed to t. e Monroe's " 8 " 99,36,35( 9 64 Adminiistration; and this victory was Psoon fillowed J. Q. Adams's " 4 " 49,725,721 26 bv such an accession front those who were u - Jacksot'sd " 8 " 144,579,847 79 initted in the Senate as to give a majority to the Total .--516,693j,867 1I samte paity in that body. Thlenceforward the Ad- From this statement it appears that the refortning ministration was not ailowed, of course, a fair trial; retrenching, economical, Demoeratic Administration anit every question was discussed with a view to of General Jackson, ihat expressed such a holy hor- political effect. ror at Mir. Adams's extravagance, cost the country Ia In . fthe ,kjnni-ie between Mr. Cl and r Calhoun. as much as the Administration of Mr. Madison, in- duri ng the st-itTrea'ury di.-euion, Mtr. clay took up. among cluding the outlays of an expensive War with Great ether t ril-!, this questian of Federatiar.. Air. C(aibhun hud al- t Britain. Mr. Van Bluren retrenched in the same haded the friends of his opponent as members of the Federa ratio withh pnrty. sir," ,lid Itr. Ctly. "I amn readyto ro intoan esami hii stion predeesstor. The first yea4r of hi anrsti. n M, ith the honorable fyensuor at any time, and then we AdinistratIion cost the People 33.554,311-aiwta hhi1 see ifthere are not more menmbens ,f that mne uuId Federal three times the average annve.1 expenditure of Mr. pa.tY y rmet thse whtm the erltor hS fso recejitly j.ilkid , Adams! During the renutuinder of his term the than -,,ar ,ide f the hbore. The plain t-vth is, that it if the ,'d .erfal pcati, wcith rhes he is nw acftinrg. For al public expenses were in a like proportion. W'hat the , ricer rr, urids ,fdifference wbhiuhulttinngiLhed that party, measure of condemnnation should Ie bestowed upon a id were the sutita of contention let.. en theic and the ]Re- thme political hypocrites who'e prorised reformill nnd 'putthe--, L-ve reed fi-n lapse .f time and hange of ir- retrenchments resulted in such gross profligacy and crun -tti with the Trefptif- of oe. and th't is the m rsirtc- and -n-ie a-d ase of Fzeatire rower. This wns a meading neelect of the plblie interests ! p 13iyf tteFederal party. Ats.ig, powerfulandenerg-tic In March, 1829, Genernl Jackson entered upon Fxse-tmse sitsfavoriieteoet.' " 'Imtolltte thedischargeofhisofficinl dutiesansPresident. Oil gcnrleran that he wiill find the ti-te o'd Demiocratie aia,",, s. s GIe ri tig Lhe .cahraet, e fr--c, and Utm- the 14th of the same month. Mr. Cloy left asbIing- 'r tij 5JeCtine patronage, en this ide ef tfhe Seate.-. aad ton for his residence in Kentucky. Before quitting ,iot tvath his new' allies, the Jaekson-Van Buren De--u-c-tic that city, some of the princital residents, a, a part- part.,, t-hye leading principle is to slurtain the irdsti net ing tribute of respect, gave him a Public Pinner. aid dais. altI poer to tks Lsit.etisetr: and 7ahich dese not hold a m .rit ciceix oo nox ltke RubicaxparIn his sp-ech on the occasion, he briefly reviewed Lv of l79." the events, in which he had been an actor, dluring 44 Life of HenU Clay. Return to Xentueky-Remsrks on Slavery. 4 the preceding four years. He alluded to the serious C charge against him, which had been brought by CHAPTER X. General Jackson, who, after summoning his friend Mr Clay's Return to Rentucky-Triumphant Reception-Pub. and only witness (,Mi. Buchanan) to establish it, and tic Diiner.-8poec es-,Nr. CUlay and the CUlonieza`:n S-ct hearing that witness promptly and unequivocally ty-lH lse ;timent, -i Slavery-Abolition Peutitns-t ist to hearing that witness promptly New-i,:reain-Nsitclwez-Co)mplitnenterty Reeptijon by tlhe deny all know ledge whatever of any transaction ouisiana H. a.otReordeatatves-VisittoOhi-!inc w the eh, iaCuuetsIi Elemtio t, the 1J1. St. that could throw the slightest shade upon the in 1ll3-Nmimnatii t tLhe PFiidt-y-Tnie T.aritf-Ioef- character of the accused, maintained a stubborn of the Anrvricani Sy ten-i-Mr. ulay's estinte ,t'ih, theI, and persevering silence upon the subject, instead of character-Reduction of Duties-LetterotfI'. It. Bentwi. vsagn.Xnimously acknowledging his error and atoning TuKRE are few men, who can bear defeat inore for the gross injustice of which he had been guilty. gracefully, or with more unaffected gooil humor, "1 But," said Mr. Clay, s "my relations to that citi- than Mr. Clay. Relieved from his official toils as 'en, by a recent event, are now changed. lie is Secretary of State, his health rapidly improved, and thle Chief Magistrate of my Country, invested with his fine spirits expaidted unchecked. Oi hiis jouriey 'large and extensive powers, tie administration of fromi the seat of Government, previous to his arrival which may conduce to its prosperity, or occasion at Unionitown in Pentns) Ivania, the roads beig e x- 'its adversity. Patriotism enjoins, as a duty, that treinely bad, he sent his private vehiels ahead and 'while hie is in that exalted staion, he should be took the stage-coach. Finding it disagreeable with- 'treated with decorum, and his official acts be judged in, however, he removed to an outside sent tnext the 'of in a spirit of candor." driver, and, in that situation, entered Uniointown. Such was the patriotic spirit with which Mr. Clay The good people of the place expressed a great deal regarded the elevation of General Jackson, and in of surprise at seeing the ex-Secretary in that lofty, which lie was prepared to judge of the acts of the and yet humble position. " Gentlemen," replied Mr. new Administration. Clay, "although I am with the out, yet I can as- The political enemies of Mr. Clay were not, how- "sre you that the ins behind me have much the worst ever, content with misrepresenting his public course of it." They lifted, with a rude and ruffiaimly hand, the veil On his way to Kentucky, Mr. Clay received con- from his private aflairs, and attempted to destroy his tinual testimonials of the attachment and esteeiit of private credit by charging hitm with bakruptcy. i the people. He was invited to innumerable public din. The consequence was the publication of a letter nersc hut wasable to appearonalyalafew. At Fred- from 51r. Clay to Robert WVickliffe, Esq. dated May crick in Marylid, he iade an admirable speech at 24, 1823, in which the falsehoods of his assailants one of these c'ompliimentary festivals on time eight- were fully confuted. He admitted that he had eenth of March, 1829. On the thirty-first of the same incurred a heavy responsibility, about ten years month lie dined with the mechanics at Wheeling, before, as endorser fur his friendds, to which cause whom he addressed principally in relation to the his temporary retirement from public life and the American Svstem-Manufactures and Internal Tm- renewal of his professional labors were to be provemients. He reached his home at Ashlland, with attributed. The mortgages upon his Estate did not his family, the sixth of April, having been imiet at amount to ten thousand dollars, and before the ex-some distance from Lexington by a large niber of piration of the year he hoped there would not remain friends, by whom lie wasmostaffectionately received. oee-fith of that sum. On the 10th of May, a great public dinner was "I have hitherto," says Mr. Clay, in this letter, given to himt at Fowler's Garden by his fellow- met all my engagements by the simplest of pro- townsmen. Three thousand sat down at the tallie; cess, that of ing a ets by the plest and SMr. Clay spoke for the space of one hour and, cess 'htn ivin within niy income, punctually paying interest when I could not pay principal, and thirty-five minutes; the following appropriate toast carefully preservitig my credit. I am not tree, ab- havinig been previously given: " Our distinguished oluttly, from debt. X am not rich. I never coveted 'guest, friend and neighbor, HENRY CLAY-With in- riches. But my estate would, even tniow, be estima ' creased proofs of his worth, we delight to regear tel t nt mch lss hanonehundred thousand dol- 'the assurance of our confidence in his patriotism, lars. Whatever it may be worth, it is a gratification for me to know that it is the produce of my own hon- talents and incorrtiptibility-may health and happi- est labor-no part of it being he reditarv, except one 'ness attend hint in retirement, amid a grateful tun- slave, who would oblige me very tnuA if he would 'tion do justice to his virtues." accept his freedom. it is sufficient, after paying all Mr. Clay's speech on this occasion is one of the my debts, to leave my family above want, if I should. . b r he separated from them. It is a mutter also ol conso-choicest specimens of hs eloquence, beig pervaded lation to me to know, that this wanton exposure of by some of the finest characteristics of his stx le, al- my private affairs can do me no pecuniary prejudice. though there is, of course, an absence of those im- M'y iew creditors will not allow their confidence in me to he vhaken by it. It has indeed led to one incident which was at the same time a source of pleasure and' of pain. A friend lately called on me at the instance of other friends, and informed me, that they were ap- prehensive that mv private affairs were emobarra eed, and that I allowed their embarrassaietitto prey upon my mind. He came, therefore, with their authority to tell me, that they would contribute any sum thiit I might want to relieve me. The emotions which such a proposition excited can he conceived only by honorable ..len. I felt most happy to be able to un- deceive them, and to decline their benevolent prop- coition." passioned appea!s, which would have been out of place. The exordium is full of pathos and beutv. He had been separated for four years from his friends and neighbors. After deaoting the beet etierg ies of his pmime to the service of his country, be had been grossly traduced and injured, and his niost cotmspin nOtns traducer had been elevated to the Presidenec. He had returned home once more; and now saw bW- fore him, gathered together to do hint honor. to re- new their assurances of attachment and confidence, sires with whom, for more than thirty years. he had interchanged friendly officee'their none, grown up . Life of Henry Clay during his absence in the public councils, accompa- nying them-and all prompted by ardent atta.;!- went, surrounding and saluting him as if he belong- ed to their own household. After alluding in the happiest manner to some of these circumstances, Mr. Clay reviewed briefly the course of the past Administration-referred to the clamor which had been raised against Mr. Adams :or proscription-vw hen the fact was, that not a soli- tarv officer of the Government, from Maine to Lou- isiana, swas dismissed on account of his political opinions, during the whole of Mr. Adams's Admin- istration-contrasted this course with that which President Jackson commenced so soon after his in- stallation-and eloquently pointed out the evil con- sequences of the introduction of a tenure of public office, which depended upon personal attachment to the Chief Magistrate. In concluding his remarks, Mr. Clay touchingly expressed his gratitude to his fellow-citizens of Ken- tucky, who had 'constantly poured upon him a bold and unabated stream of innumerable favors." The closing sentences of the speech are in the genuiine language of the heart which cannot be coun- terfeited, and which none can so eloquently employ as Henry Clay. "When," said he, "1 I felt as if I 'should sink beneath the storm of abuse and detrac- 'tion, which was violently raging around me, I have 'found mvself upheld and sustained by your encour- 'aging voice and your approving smiles. I have 'doubtless committed many faults and indiscretions, 'over a hich you have thrown the broad mantle of 'your charity. But I can say, and in the presence of my God and of this assembled multitude I will 'say, that I have honestly and faithfully served my 'country; that I have never wronged it; and that, howveser unprepared I lament that I am to appear 'in the DIvine Presence on other accounts, I invoke 'the stern Justice of his judgment on my public 'conduct, without the smallest apprehension of his 'displeasure." During the Summer and Autumn of 1829 Mr. Clay vi-ited several parts of the State of his adop- tion and everywhere he was hailed as a friend and public benefactor. On the 17th of December lie ad- dresied the Kentucky Colonization Society at Frank - fort in a speech, in which he eloquently vindicated the policy and character of that benevolent institu- tion. lie had been an early and constant advocate of the system of Colonization. Inhisspeechbefore the Ambnerican Colonization Society, delivered the 20th of January, 1827, in the Hall of the House of Representatives at Washington, we find the follow- ing impressive passage: " It is now a little upwards of ten years since a reliL imis, amiable and benevoIent resident of this cite .Nlr. Caldwell) firstt conceived the idea of plant- ing a 'olony, from the Unlited States, of free people of color, on the \Vestern shores of Africa. He is no more, eind the noblest eulogy which could he pro- noinced on him would he to inscribe upon his tomb, the amneriied epitsph-. Here lies the projector ot'thle A iter, ican Colonization Societv .' Amonigst others, to Whom lie communicated the project, was the p, r- son whi now has the honor of a(ldressing vou. Mv first inipressions, like those of all who have not fully irivestizated the subject, were against it. They yiefded to his earnest persuasions and my own re- flections, and I finally agreed with him that the ex- periment was worthy of a fair trial." After presenting in a clear and forcible light the project of the Society for the gradual extii ction of Slavery, Mr. Clay remarked in regard to it: " AllI 'or any one, of the States which tolerate Slavery 'uay adopt and execute it, by co-operation or so 'parate exertion. If I could be instrumental in era- 'dicating this deepest stain upon the character of our country, and removing all cause of reproach on 'account of it by foreign nations-If I could only 'be instrumental in ridding of thisfoul blot that re- 'viered State that gave me birth, or that not less be- 'loved state which kindly adopted me as her son, I 'would not exchange the proud satisfncteon tchich I 'should enjoy for the honor of all the triumphs eeuw 'decreed to the most successful conqueror." To the system of colonization, we believe, Mr. Clay yet looks as a means for diminishing the pro- portion of the black population to the white in the Slave States until emancipation would be compati- ble with the security and interests of the latter. In January, 1830, Mr. Clay made a visit to one of his married daughters at New.-Orleans. Although appearing there as a private citizen, he found it ins- possible to escape those attentions, which the public gratitude suggrested. He was daily visited by crowds of persons, including Members of the Legis- latare and Judges of the diflerent Courts. The ship. masters, who were in port, waited in a body upon him as the champion of Free Trade and Sailort Rights. Declining an invitation to a public dinnsu1 he left New-Orleane for Natchez, on his way hiom the 9th of March. As tie boat, in which he had embarked, quitted the pier, the scene was of the most animated description. Th-, Levee and the tops of the steamboats, a great number of which were in port, exhibited a crowded and almost unbroken mass of spectators, collected to see him and do him honor. The shouting multitude, the elevation of flags, and the roar of cannons, which burst from the crowd of surrounding vessels, as the boat moved off, present- ed altogether one of the most imposing spectacles that could be imagined. It was a grand civic ovb- tion, as honorable to the subject of it as any triumph which ever greeted a military conqueror. At Natchez, persons from all parts of Mississippi were waiting to meet him. The press of the crowd into the steamboat containing the illustrious visitor was so great as to excite alarm; and the mass colb, lected on the wharf was so dense that much time and exertion were required to make way through Li. Soon after his arrival he accepted a pressing invita- tion to a public dinner. A vast concourse asFem- bled on the occasion. His speech is described to unusually felicitous. He was several times obliged to stop speaking for some minutes-while the er- thusiasm of his hearers exhausted itself in repeated rounds of applause. In the course of his remarks. having occasion to allude to the battle of New-O.. leans, he paid a generous tribute to Gen. Jackson. Henry Clay never was the man to detract from the merits of even his most unrelenting opponents. On the twenty-seventh of March, Mr. Clay reacth ed Lexington, having declined numerous invitations to public dinners on his route. lie had stopped an his way unpremeditatedly at Donaldsonville, (the 4' Speech. in Cincinnati in 1830. new Seat of Government of Louisiana,) to see the public building3, and pay his respects to some of his old friends and acquaintatices. Unexpectedly enter- ing the haill of the House of Representatives, he was inm diertely recognized, and the whole body, inclu- ding the Speaker and Members of all parties, sinmul- ttineously rose to receive him. In the summer of 1830, having business in the Circuit and District Courts of Ohio, he visited Co- 1u11nlt'M, where he was cordially welcomed by the Mechanics, at whose Celebration the following ap- prop. iate Toast was given: " Oar inestimable guest, HEnRY CLAY. An effi- cient l0borer in sopport of the Industry of the Court- try. Ftrulers andi Mechanics know how to appre- eiate his services." His entry into Cincinnati was quite imposing.- All classes assembled to welcome his approach. He here dined with tie Mechanics, and his Speech upon the occasion is tn eloquent vindication of the American S',stem, and a just rebuke of the odious doctrine of Nullification, whcch was then beginning to be preached in South Carolina and Georgia. In the antumna of 1831, Mr. Clay was elected to the Senate of tihe United States by the Legislature of Kentucky, by the following vote :-In the Senate, Henry Clay, 18; Richard 51. Jolinsom,, 19; Warden Pope, 1. In the House of Delegates, Clay, 55; Johngon, 45.-At the first session of the Twenty- Second Congress, lie presented his credentials, and took his seat once more in a body where, twenty-five years before, lie had made his influence felt and his talents respected. Contemporaneous with his re-appearance in the SenaLte, was the meeting of the Natimial Republican Convention, which assembled at Baltinmore on the twelfth ofl December, 1831, atid unatinmously normi- nated IHEraY CLAY to the office of President of the United States, and JOHN SERGEANT to that of Vice rresident. The subject of the Tariff began to be vehemently agitated in Congress early in the session of 1831-32. The discontent of time South was assuming an alarm- ing aspect; and the systetm of Protection, which Mir. Clay had labored so long and iticessantly to estab- lish, was threatened with material qualifications, if not a complete overthrow. In that conciliatory spirit, which he had manifested on many critical oc- casions, lie now approached this exciting topic. On the ninth of January, 1832, lie introduced a Repoltu- tinn providing that the existing Duties upon articles imported frota foreign cotmsttries, atid not coming into competition with siimilar articles made or pro- dmiced within the United States, ought to be forth- with abolished, except the Duties upon Wines and Silks, and that they ought to be reduced; and that the Committee on Finance be instructed to report a bill accordingly. This Resolution he sustained in all ndmimirable Speech of about two hours' duration, in withih he spoke wanaly in favor of the mninte- nance of the Protective Policy and that of Internal Imnproivement. s Mr. Ilayne followed in reply; and on the second of February, the subject being still under di-ctussion before the Senate, Mr. Clay commenced his ever- memorable Speech in defence of the Ameriran Sys- tem against the British Colonial sNystem. It was continued on the next day, and finally completed on the sixth of the same month. Such a chain of irre- fragable argument as it presents, interlinked with facts the miost cogent and appropriate, has rarely been forged by human ingenuity. It will be refer- red to by future statesmen as their political text- book, when the Protective Policy is called in ques- tion. After an impressive exordium, he alluded to the distress of the country after the War. The erijod of greatest distress was seven years previous to the year 1824: the period of greatest prosperity the seven years following that act. HIe then gave a picture of the flourishing condition of the country. lHe miait tained that all the predictions of the enemies of the Tariff in 1824 had been falsified by experience-that all the benefits which lie had anticipated had been realized. He alluded to all the interests now prc tected-all Mechanic Arts-Nan igation-At ricul- ture-and Manufactures. He argued that the Tariff began in 1792, which established the great principle of Protection. It was the second act of the First Congress-sanctioned by the Father of his Country, and most of tihe eminent Statesmen of that day. Mr, Clay then traced the history of the subject down to 1816; commennted on the Tariff of that )ear, its ob- ject, extent and policy; then the Tariff ot' 1824; the amendment of tIhe system in 1828-the Bill f 'whici yerzvr was framed on principles directly adrerse i the declared wishes of the friends of the pulwy of Protection, although the error then perpetrated was corrected by subsequent legislation. After a graphic description of the beneficial effects of the policy, which they wvere now called tapon to subvert, Mr. Clay asked what was the substitute pro- posed by those whose design was the imimediate ov gradual destruction of the American Sostem The reply is as appropriate to the enemies of the S-.stem now as it was ten years ago. "C Free Trade!- 'Free Trade! The call for Free Trade is as una- vailin'- as the cry of a spoiled child, in his nurse's 'arms. for the moon or the stars that glitter in the 'firmament of heaven. It never has existed. Is 'never wvili exist. Trade implies at least two pai 'ties. To be free, it should be fair, equal and reck 'procal. But if we throw our ports wide open to 'the admission of foreign productions, free of all 'duty, what ports, of any other foreign nation', shall 'we find open to the free admission of our surplus 'produc-e WVe oay break down all barriers to 'Free Trade, on our part, bust they will not be cotm- 'plete until Foreign Powers shall have removed 'theirs. There wotmld be freedom on one side, and restrictions, prohibitions and exclusions ott the 'other. The bolts and the bars and the chains of 'all other nations will remain undisturbed." I " Gentlemen deceive themselves. It is not 'Free Trade that they are recommendinz to our cc- 'ceptance. It is, in effect, the British c'o/lliai 'Syst-m that wre are invited to adopt; and, if their 'poliry prevail, tt trill lead, substantially, to the re- 'co!oni mt/ion of these Stati,, tinder the conzerciaj 'dominion ef Great Britain." " Frtr Trudeand Sninod ' Right." -a, the T,,list ven ho the late Mr. (Glh er, the day of the fatal accideit enis rt th Prtinceto. The -mbhttmtinm of a ingles wnt i leintrs the whale stijuct. A " Fairl'rade" ix what Mr. Clay has alwaw aimed to secure fur his country. 47 Life of Henry Clay. In the course of his Speech, Mr. Clay had occa- sion to introduce the following remarks upon 1he Irish character. They show his high appreciation of the worth of an important class of our adopted fellow citizens: "s Of all foreigners, none amalgamate themselves so quickly with our people as the natives of1 the Enierald Isle. In Fome of the visions wbich lave passed through my imagination, I have supposed that Ireland was, originally, part and parcel of this Continent, and that, bv some extraordinarv con- vulbion of nature, it was torn from America, and, drifting across the ocean, was placed in the un- fortunate vicinity of Great Britain. The same open-heartednes4; the same geneotis hospitality; the satne careless and uncal cul ting indifference about htiman life, characterize the inhatbitants of both countries. Kentucky has been son etimes called the Ireland of America. And I have no doubt that, if the current of emigration were re- versed, and set from America upon the shores of Europe, instead of bearing front Europe to America, every American emigrant to Ireland would there find, as every Irish emigrant here finds, a hearty welcome and a happy home " On the 13th of March Mr. Dickerson, from the Committee on Manufactures, reported, in conformity with Mr. Clay's resolution, a bill for repealing the duties uipon certain specified articles of import. The bill was opposed at the threshold because it did not embrace the whole subject of the Tariff; because it made no reduction of duties upon protected articles. An animated debate ensued, and the bill was laid upon the table. After undergoing numerous modi- fications in both Houses, it was finally passed by Congress in July, 1832. By this new law, the prin- ciples for which Mr. Clay and the rest of the friends of Domestic Industry had contended, were pre- served. The Revenue was greatly reduced, but the Protective System remained unimpaired. Of Air. Clay's efforts in the establishment of that Sys- tem no one bas more impressively spoken than Thomas Hart Benton, Senator in Congress from Missouri, who, in a Circular signed by him and first published in the 'Missouri Intelligeucer,' October 22, 18i24, gives utterance to these jttst and eloquent sentimentrs: " The principles which would govern Mr. Clay's Administration, if elected, are well known to the Nation. They have been displayed upotI the floor of Congress for the last Feventeen years. They constitute a S stem of AMERICAN . OLtCY, based on the Agricu ture and Manufactures of his own country-upon Interior as well as Foreign Com- merce-upon Internal as well as Sea-Board Im- provemellt-upon the independence of the New Vorid, and close Commercial alliances with Mexico and South America. If it is said that others would pursue the same system; we answer, that the founder of a System is the natural executor of his own work; that the most efficient protector of American fron, Lead, Hemp, Wool and Cotton would he the triumphant I hampion of the New 'T'aritT; the safest friend to Interior Cotrmmerce would be the Statesman wht has prt)claimed the .Mississippi to be the Sea of the West; the most zealous pro- moter of Internal Improvements would he the Presi- d-nt, who has triuniphed over the President who oppo'ed the construction of National Rtoads and Canals; the most successful applicant for Treaties with Ahexico and South America would be the elo- .juent advocate of their own Ildependence. "THOMAS HART BENTON." CHAPTER XI. Reerption of the Amended Tariff, at the South-Progmss of Nu ilfiration-Re-etedtiun of General Jaeksun-lrXiama- tion-The Pruteetive System in danger-The Eunfihreeient Bill-Perilous state of Aflfirs-Henry Clay coiea fi r,,ard with hi Plnri for a (of1pronhise)rigm of that Al-tn re- Particulars iil regsrd to it-Mr. (tlnyton of eleaware-Ae- dote-Leaduig Aoti-en of Mr. LI ay-Statement of linn. H. A. S. tlerirtcra-t ad ge if the Co,.npr-,-ii- 1 Ji-I thlio (ratitide-- lara, teriyties of fir. Clay's Public Cl areer-Ilis Visit to New-Eigland-Triunuphal Recmptron-lloars pad to hint on his route. THE amended Tariff was received with little favor by the South. Nullificatiot grew daily bolder in its denunciations and menaces; and the Union seemed to be greatly in danger. On the 24th of November, 1832, the South Carolina Convention passed their Ordinance, declaring the Revenue Laws of the United States null and void; and soon afterward the Legislature of the State met, ratified the pro- ceedirngs of the Convention, and passed laws for the organization of the Militia and the purchase of munition and ordiance. In the midst of these troubles, the Presidential Contest took place, and resulted in the retlecttoll of General Jackson over the opposing candidates, Henry Clay, John Floyd of Virginia, and William Wirt. On the 10th of December, 1832, soon after the meeting of Congress, President Jackson issued tlis Proclamation, announcing his determination to en- force the Revenue Laws, and exhorting the citizens of South Carolina to pause in their disorgEnizing career. Thit remonstrance produced little cfli ct. It was followed, on the 20th of the same month, by a counter Proclamation from Governor 11nyne, warning the citizens of South Carolina against the attempt of the President to seduce them fiort their allegiance, and exhorting them, in disregard or his threats, to be prepared to sustain the State agaiust the arbitrary measures of the Federal Executive. The Protective System was at this moment iti im- minent hazard of being destroyed. General Jack- son's Administration was always inimical to that policy, originated and principally supported as it had been by a hated rival. The Tariff becatne the great question of the session. It was referred to the Committee of Ways and Means, where it was re- modeled; and on the 27th of December, a bill was reported, which was understood to embody the iews of the Administration. It proposed a dimiriotiot, oi the duties on all the protected articles, to take eflict immediately, and a further diminution on the 2ind of March, 1834. The subject was discussed fr,,mn the 8th to the 16th of January, 1833, when a message was received from the President, communicating the South Carolina ordinance and nullifying laws, to- gether with his own views as to what should be done under the existing state of affairs. On time twenty- first of the same month, the Judiciary Committee of the Senate reported a bill to enforce the collection of the revenue, where any obstructions were offered to the officers etnployed in that duty. The aspect of affairs was now alarming in the ox- treme. The administration party in the House had shown itself utterly incapable of devising n tarif! likely to be accepted by a majority of that body. The session wHB rapmidly drawing to a close. South Carolina had deferred the period of its collision with the General Government in the hope that soute mea- 48 I I The Compromiee Act-Mr. Clay's Exertin8-Mr. Clayton. sure of adjustment would be adopted by Congress. This hope seemed to be daily growing fainter. Should the enforcing bill not be carried into effect against the Nullifiers, the Tariff was still menaced by the Federal administration, avowedly hostile to the protective system. At this juncture, Henry Clay, deeply impressed with the importance of the crisis, stepped forward to reconcile conflicting interests, and to avert the direftl consequences which would result from the farther delay of an adjustment. On the eleventh of February he introduced his celebrated COMiPROMISE BILL, providing for a gradual reduction of duties until 1842, when 20 per cent. at a home valuation should be the rate, "' until otherwise regulated by 'law." Mr. Clay introduced this bill with some pertinent and impressive remarks, in which he deplored the distracted and portentous condition of the country, and appealed strongly to the patriotism and good sense of Congress to apply a remedy. The bill underwent a long and vehement discussion. None could deny the purity and loftiness of the motives which had led to its presentation; but it was vehe- mently opposed by many. Mir. Smith, of Maryland, opposed it, because " it contained nothing but pro- , tection from beginning to end." Mir. Forsyth ex- ulted over the admission, which had been made by M r. Clay, that "the Tariff was in danger." "It is," said Mr. F., "at its last gasp-no hellebore can cure ' it." The Southern members opposed the bill mainly because it provided for a home valuation. Towards the close of the debate, a personal dif- fictilty arose between Mr. Poindexer, of Mississippi, and Mr. Webster. The former, in the course of his reply to a very powerful attack from Mr. Webster upon the Compromise Bill of Mr. Clay, made refer- ence to the course of Mr. W., during the war of 1812. Mr. Webster declined all explanation, and Mr. Poindexter immediately declared that he "felt 'the most perfect contempt for the Senator from 'Massachusetts." Mr. Clay interfered, with his usual generosity, and in a few remarks, complimen- tary alike to both Senators, effected a mutually sat- isfactory explanation. Mr. Clav had conceived the idea of the Compro- mise in Philadelphia in December, 1832, when he was passing a few weeks with his brother-in-law, the late James Brown, Esq. who had fixed his res- idence in that city, after his mission to France. The reflection of Gen. Jackson to the Presidency had been made known the month before, and Mr. Clay had commenced his journey from Ashland to Wash- ington not in the best spirits but resolved to do his duty. Jackson's power was then at its zenith. He had vetoed the charter of the Bank of the United States. He was triumphantly reflected. His pow- er seemed resistless. Nevertheless, Mr. Clay was resolved to fight on, and to fight to the last. Hle believed the President insincere in his profes- sions of attachtnent to the Protective policy; that, under the delusive name of a judicious Tariff, he concealed the most deadly and determined hostility to the Protection of American Industry. Mir. Clay saw the partisans of "free trade" supporting Gen. Jackson, with the greatest zeal; and kete that some of them counted upon subverting the whole system through the power and influence of that arbitrary chief magistrate. He saw many of the members o( Congress from States known to be friendly to the preservation of that policy, yet willing to go secret- ly, if not openly, as far as they dared go in asserting the overthrow of that policy. In the mean tine Nullification had assumed a threatening aspect. The supporters of that heresy had gone so far that, if no change in the Tariff took place, they must fight or be forever disgraced. Mr. Clay thought that if a Civil War were once begun it might extend itself to all the Southern States, which, although they did not approve o" Nullifica- tion, would probably not be willing to stand by and see South Carolina crushed for extreme zeal in a cause, which was common to them all. Such were the circumstances, unds-r which, (lur- ing the leisure Mr. Clay enjoyed with his friend, Mr. Brown, in Philadelphia, he directed his mind to the consideration of some healing scheme for the existing public troubles. The terms of the Compromise Act substantially as it passed, were the result of Mr. Clay's reflec- tions at that time. He communicated themo to his friend, the lamented Senator Johnston, from Louis- iana, who concurred with him heartily. A Conm- mittee of Manufacturers, consisting of 3McEsrs. Bo- vie, Dupont, Richards and others, waited on Mr. Clay in Philadelphia, to consult with hirn on the inpetnmd- ing dangers to the Protective policy. To theni he broached his scheme, and they approved it. He mentioned it to Mir. Webster in Philadelphia, but that distinguished Senator did not agree with hilm. On teaching WVashington, Mr. Clay communimated it to many practical Manufacturers,; to HezeKiah Niles, 31r. Simmons of the Senate, from Rhode Is- land, and others. They agreed with himn; and exerv practical Manufacturer of that day with whom nie conversed (except Mr. Ellicott, of Maryland,) assent- ed to the project. Most of their friends in Congress, especially in the Senate, followod their exaniple. The chief opposition, it was thought, was to be traced to Mr. Webster and gentlemten who had a great deference for the opinion of the Massachusetts Senator. Mir. Clay's own convictions being thus strength- ened by the opinions of practical men, lie resolvedi to proceed. He had no interviews with Southern Members on the subject of the contemplated propo- sal, until he had prepared and was about to submit the bill; at which time, he had one or two inier- views with Mr. Calhoun, at Mr. Cla,'s lodgings. But through his friend, Governor Letcher of Ken- tucky, who was intimate with Mr. Mcl)uffie and other Southern gentlemen, Mr. Clay ascertained their views. He found one highly favorable state offeeling-that they were so indignant with Gcn- eral Jackson for his Proclamation, and his detenrii- nation to put down the Nullifi'rs by force if neces- sary, that they greatly preferred the di4icalty should be settled rather by M3r. Clay than by the Adrnawia- tration. Mr. J. M. Clayton of Delaware entered with great zeal into the views of Mr. Clay, and seconded his exertions with untiring, able, constant and strenu- ous endeavors. Often lie would say to him, look- ing at Mr. Calhoun and other members from South Carolina, "' Well, Clay, these are clever fellows, and it won't do to let old Jackson hang tneu Wemust 49 save them if possible." Mr Clayton belonged to a mess of seven or eight Senators, every one of whom was interested in the preservation of the protective policy. Without their votes, it was impossible that the Compromise should pass. They, through Mr. Clayton, insisted upon the home valuation, as a sine qua non, from which they would never depart. Mr. Clay told then that he would not give it up; and the Compromise Bill never could have passed without that feature of it. 'rhe Southern Senators had declared that they would be content with whatever would satisfy the South Carolina Senators. Mir. Calhoun had mani- fested strong objections to the home valuation. Mr. Clay told him that he must concur in it, or the measure would be defeated. Mr. Calhoun appeared very reluctant to do so; and Mr. Clay went to the Senate on the day when the Bill was to be decided, uncertain as to what its fate would be. When the bill was taken up, AMr. Calhoun rose in his place and agreed to the home valuation, evidently, how- ever, with reluctance. Two great leading motives operated with Mr. Clay in bringing forward and supporting his measure of Compromise. The first was, that he believed the whole protective policy to be in the most imminent peril from the influence of Gen. Jackson and the dominion of his party. He believed that ircould not possibly survive that session of Congress or the next, which would open with a vast increase of that influ- ence and power. He had seen the gradual but in- sidious efforts to undermine the policy, sometimes openly avowed, frequently craftily concealed. He had seen that a bill was actually introduced by Mr. Verplanck, and then pending in the House of Repre- sentatives, which would have utterly subverted the whole policy. He knew, or believed, that there was a majority in the House, willing, although afraid to pass the bill. Witnessing the progress of that party, he did not doubt, that at the next session at least, they would acquire strength and courage suf- ficient to pass the bill. He could not contemplate the ruin, distress and destruction, which would en- sue from its passage, without feelings of horror. He believed that the Compromise would avert these disasters, and secure adequate protection until the 30th June, 1842. And he hoped, that in the mean time the public mind would become enlightened, and reconciled to a policy, which he had ever believed essential to the national prosperity. But Jor the partial experiments, which were made upon the cur- rency ef the country, leading to the utmost disorder in the exchanges, and the business of society, it is yet the belief'of Air. Clay and his friends, that the mea- sure of Protection secured by the Compromise Act up to the 31st December, 1841, would have enabled our Manvfacturers to have flourished and pros- pered. Another leading motive with Mr. Clay, in pro- posing the Compromise, was to restore harmony, and preserve the Union from danger; to arrest a civil war, which, beginning with South Carolina, he feared might spread throughout all the Southern States. It may be added, that a third and powerful mo- tive, which he felt intensely, although he did not always avow it, was an invincible repugnance to placing under the command of General Jackson such a east military power as might be necessiry to enforce the laws and put down any resistance to them in South Carolina, and which might extend he knew not where. He could not think, without the most serious apprehensions, of entrusting a man of his vehement passions with such an immense power. He could not think without feelings of in- describable dread, of the effusion of blood, the dan- ger to the Union, and the danger to the liberties of all of us, which might arise from the application of such a force in the hands of a man already too pow- erful, and flushed with recent victory. It may be farther added, that Mr. Clay thought ha perceived, acith some a desire to push matters to ex- tremity. He thought he beheld a disposition to see South Carolina and the South punished. Indeed the sentiment was more than once expressed to him: "Let them put down the Tariff-let them bring ruin, 'embarrassment and distress on the country-the country will rise with renewed vigor. We shall 'have the policy, which we wish to prevail, firmly 'and inviolably fixed." IHe thought even that he perceived a willingness that the effect produced by the memorable Hartford Convention at the North, should be neutralized by the effect, which might arise out of putting down by force the nullification of South-Carolina. He could not sympathize in these feelings and sentiments. He was for peace, for harmony, for union, and for the preservation too of the Protective System. He no more believed then than now, that Government was instituted to make great and perilous experiments upon the happiness of a free people-still less experiments of blood and civil war. After the introduction of the bill of Compromise and its reference to the Committee, predictions of the failure of the measure were confidently put forth. Even in the committee-room it was asserted, that there was no chance for its passage; snd Members rose from their places with the intention of leaving the room, without agreeing upon any report. Mr. Clay said to them, with decision and firmness: "Gentlemen, this bill has been referred to us, and it 'is our duty to report it, in some form or other, to 'the Senate-and it shall be reported." Some slight amendments were agreed upon, and the bill was re- ported. Its subsequent fate is known. In bringing about the adoption of the measnre, Messrs. Clayton and Letcher are entitled to the most liberal praise, as the efficient coadjutors of its author. The private history of the Compromise Act re- mains yet to be written. Should it ever be given to the world, it will throw new lustre upon the patri- otic and self-sacrificing character of Mr. Clay. It will exhibit in a still stronger light his disinterested- ness-his devotion to country-his elevation above all selfish impulses and personal ends-his magna nimnity, and his generous intrepidity of spirit. The Compromise Bill passed the House Februa- ry 26th, 1833, by a vote of 120 to 84. It passed the Senate the ensuing first of March by a vote of 29 to 16-Mr. Webster voting against it. Mr. Clay was now once more hailed as the preserver of the Repub- lic-as the great Pacificator. The dark, portentous cloud, big with civil discord and disunion, which had been hanging over the country, rolled away and was scattered. The South and the North were reconciled; and confidence and prosperity were restored. Is not Life of Henry Claty. so Visit to the Eastern Citits-Entthuaitic Reception. such a civic triumph worth all the pirans ever shouted in the ears of a military conqueror It placed Mr. Clay in a commanding and elevated position- and drew upon him the eyes of the whole Nation as a liberal, sound and true-hearted statesman, in whose hands the interests of all sections would be safe. The act was characteristic of his whole public ca- reer. The only horizon which bounds his political vision is the horizon of his country. There is noth- ing small, narrow, sectional in his views, interests or hopes. North, South, East and West-they are all equally dear to him. Kentucky-noble Ken- tucky-where he is cherished and honored as such a Statesman and Patriot ought to be cherished and Lonored by such a gallant and generous constituen- cy-he regards with the attachment and devotion, v ith which no generous nature can fail to be inspired for the soil where his first honors were won, the early theatre of his fame atid its fruition-the home (d his hopes and his heart. But he looks abroad from the State of his adoption, and down from the pinna- cle of his e'evation-and there lie Massachusetts, and New-York, and the Old Dominion, proud of the blended honors )f their Lexington, Saratoga and Yorktown, radiant with the common glories of their Adtamses, Hamiltons and Washingtons-and he feels that in these glories and hotnors-in those traditions and records of achievenments-in the fame of those illustrious men, he has himself an equal inheritance witl, any of their children. The influence of this no- ble, national spirit pervades the whole of Mr. Clay's public career, and is stamped upon all those great measures by which, in moments of exigency and dlarkness, he has revived the desponding hopes and retrieved the sinking firtunes of the Union.' In the autumn of 1833, Mir. Clay, accompanied by his lady, fulfilled a design which he had long con- templated, of visiting the Eastern cities. His jour- ney was one continued ovation. Arriving at Balti- more early in October, he was waited upon by thou- sands of citizens, who canse to pay their tribute of gratitude and respect. At Philadelphia he was re- ceived at the Chesnut-street wharf by an immense concourse of people with enthusiastic huzzas, and conducted to the U. S. Hotel by his friend John Ser- geant. Arriving at New-York he was escorted to hsis lodgings by a large procession of gentlemen on horseback; and all parties sceneed to unite in their testimonials of welcome. A special meeting of the Board of Aldermen was held, and the Governor's room in time City Hall appropriated to his use, where he was visited by a constant succession of citizens. At Newport andi Pro'idence he was greeted with every possible demnonstration of welcome and admi- f Th- fttloviyw passa ge is an extract fro- a speech delivered by J.o1hn To/-r in the Vimrginin [toe of tietegates. in IB39. in fII- ,nr of th Istritmtjn nithe Pr-c-s ls ofthe Public Lands, as re- cwonmenxdcl by tie Kri ttcky Stnte-tan: to] myl delitseratl ophi njin there waPs hilt one man, who commhd hove"Irroted ththehen -isr.eofttlings ethe tendency of Ntlim. - mtioln ti dissolve the t'-tiin, atid thUt mon was HENRy ('LAY. It rarty lapitn's, M1r. vSe-ker to the -nt gifted, and talented, and pPtoie, tecort ti' nmes onto the pace of history. in clmirslt'tes irtlelible and unlqring. FAt. sir, if to have reseced his country fro)m civil wnr-if to ht ir peencted the Cmmtitu- W.on end Union frotm hn:ncd ansd totIl wrea k cuitstit,,te any Groul f-r an inntirttitd utld ttti-.yi- rs nrn tuotg ,ttetu. then 1 dt heleve, that he hts won f or hi nsuOlfthlt high renown. t speak wrhat I do know for I w-s an actir in the scenes of that Penlous period. When he rose in that S-nnte ('httblerr and held in his maad the Olive Branch of Pece, .ho, hand not known -hat envy was beSfre, envied him. I w:ns ror.t.l o.f hitt as my fellow- muntrymann and still protider that the Sln.ohe.s f Hanore,. within the limits of ay old District, glta' him births" ration; and on reaching Boston he was met and con- ducted to the Tremont House by a very numerous cavalcade. At all these cities, and many others on his route, he received pressing invitations to public dinners; but being accompanied by his family, he had, on leaving Kentucky, prescribed to hinsielf the rule, to which he rigidly adhered, of declining all such invi- tations. By all classes in New England, and par- ticularly by the manufacturing population, Mr. Clay was received as a friend and benefactor. The cor- diality of his welcome showed that his motives in originatiog tine Compromise Act had been duly ap- preciated by those who were most deeply interested in the preservation of the American System. He visited many of the manufacturing towns, and on all occasions met with a reception which indicated how strongly the affections of the People were enlisted in his favor. At Faneuil Hall and on Bunker Hill, lhe received Addresses from Committees, to which he replied in his usual felicitous manner. While at Bostot,, a pair ot' elegant silver pitchers, weighing one hundred and fifty ounces, were presented to him by the young men. A great crowd was present; and Mr. Clay, though taken by surprise, spoke for about half an hour in a manner to enchant his hear- ers. The following apposite Toast was offered by one of the young men on the occasion: " Our Guest and Gift-our Friend and Pitcher!" While at Salem, Air. Clay attended a lecture st the Lyceum, when the audience, numbering about twelve hundred persons, spontaneously rose, and loudly greeted him on his entrance. On the fourth of November, he left Boston with his family on his return journo -. He took the route through Massa- chuse-ts lo Albany, passing through Worcester, Hartford, Vringfield, Northampton, Pittsfield, c. and being every where hailed by a grateful People with every demonstration of heartfelt attachment and reverence. At Troy and Albany, the manifestations of popu- lar attachment were not less marked than in Massa- chusetts. In both places the People rose up as one man to do him honor; and at both places he made replies to the addresses presented to him, which are excellent specimens of his familiar style of elo- quence. The multitudes of citizens who met, fol- lowed atnd waited upon him at every point, in rapid succession, indicated how large a space he occupied in the public heamt. As he said in one of the nume- rous speeches which he was called upon to make, during his tour, ' he had been taken into custody, 'made captive of, but placed withal in such delight- 'ful bondage, that he could find no strength and no 'desire to break away from it." The popular enthusiasm did not seem to have abated as he returned through these cities which he had but recently visited. On his way to Washing ton, he was met at New-York, Newark, Trenton, Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore, by delega tions of citizens, whose attentions rendered his pro- gress one of triumphal interest. He reached the Seat of Government in season to be pregent at the opening of Congress. 51 Life of Henry Clay. CHAPTER XII. The Pablic Lnd-Anecdotc-T-Mr. Clay's Report-Its provi- .,-Pan.e of the Land till-It is Vetoed by 4e c. Jackson -Right of t:te Old Stotest. a share in the tublh jio.in- Mr. tlay', etit!ts- djnst!,e..t of the V.estjon-Mr. Van It- ren,'s Nomiuoanu as Alluister to England-Opposed by Mr. Clay. MR. CLAY'S course in regard to the Public Lands presents a striking illustration of his patriutic disin- terestedness and sell-sacrificing devotion to the cause of justice. The characteristic traits which he dis- played upon this question remind us of an anecdote of him, related a few years since !sy that eminent Statesman and high-minded tWhig, Willam C. Preston, in a speech at Philadelphia. "On one oc- 'casion," said Mr. P. ,he did me the honor to send 'for and consult with me. It was it1 reference to a 'step he was about to take, and which will, per- 'haps, come to your minds without more direct allu- 'sions. After stating what lie proposed, I suggested ', hether there would not be danger in it-whether 'such a course would not inijure his own prospects, 'as well as those of the Whig party in general - 'His reply was-' 1 did not send for you to ask what "might be the effects of the proposed movement an "my prospects, but whether it is right I WOULD "RATHER BE RIGHT, THAN BE PRESIDENT.' " On the twenty-second of March, 1832, NMr. Bibb, of Kentucky, moved an inquiry into the expediency of reducing the price of the Public Lands. Mr. Ro- binson, of Illinois, moved a further inquiry into the expediency of transferring the Public Territory to the States within which it lies, upon reasonable terms. With the view of embarrassing Mr. Clay, these topics were inappropriately referred by the Administration party to the Committee on Manufac- tures, of which he was a member. It was supposed by his enemies that he would make a " bid for the Presidency," by favoring the interested States at the expense of justice and sound policy. But he did not stop to calctulate the consequences to hiut- self. He did not attempt to evade or defer the ques- tion. He met it promptly. He expressed his opin- ions firmly and boldly; and those opinions, thus expressed, wipe, equitable, conclusive, were imme- diately seized upon for the purpose of breaking him down in the New States. The design had been to embarrass him by holding out the alternative of baf- fling the cupidity of a portion of the People of the West, or shocking the sense of justice and invading the rights of the Old States-to itujuriotasly affect his popularity either with the New or the Old States, or with both. But when was Henry Clay known to shrink from the responsibility of an avowal of opinion upon a question of public moment In about three weeks after the matter was referred to the Committee, be presented to Congress a most luminous, able and conclusive Report, and in the Ltl appended to it arranged the details of a wise and . ,itable plan, which no subsequent legislation was nbce w improve. Mr. Cleo regarded the National Domain in the light of a a c-mmon fund," to be managed and di:- posed of for the comnmon benefit of all the Sitates." This property, he thoutght, shouldh be prudently and providently administered; that it should not be thihs 'peecb on Slavery, and the receptian of Abolition peti- Men wantonly sacrificed at inadequate prices, and that it should not be unjustly abandoned, in violation of the trust under which it was held, to a favored section of the country. These prit.ciples were the basis of his Bill, which provided- I. That after the thirty-first day of December, 1832, twelve and a half per ce-it. of the rett proceeds of the Public Lands, ,old within their limits, should be paid to Ohio, Indiania, Illinois, Alabama, lis- souri and Mississippi, over acid above what these States were severally entitled to by the compacts of their admission into the Union; to be applied to In- ternal Improvements and purposes of Education within those States, under the direction of their Le- gislatures-independently of the provisions for the construction and maintenance of the CumberlartJ Road. II. After this deduction, the nett proceeds were to be distributed amotig the (then) twenty-four States, according to their respective Federal Repre- sentative populatioti; to be applied to such objects of Internal Improvement, Education, (or Coloniza- tion, as might be designated by their respective Le- gislatures, or the reimbursement of any previous debt contracted for Inaternial Improvements. 111. The act to continue in force for five years, except in the event of a war with any foreign power; and additional provisions to be made for any ne State that might be meanwhile admitted to the Union. IV. The mininium price of the public lands not to be increased; and not lees than t0,0t00 per an- num to be applied to couitlete the public surveys. V. Land offices to be discontinued in districts where for two successive years the proceeds of sales should be insufficient to pay the salaries of the of- ficers employed. VI. That certain designated quantities of land should be granted to six of the new States, not to be sold at a less price then the miniuuum price of lands sold by the United Statee, to be applied to In- ternal Improvements. Such were the simple and just provisions of the Land Bill of Mir. Clay. To the new States they were abundantly liberal, wiflirvut violating the terms of the original cession by the old States; for the money laid out in the new States for Internal Im- provenleutis subject to the use of the United States, mya b.- justly regarded as for the " common benefit" of the Union. The introduction of the report and bill created no little surprise and excitement in the Senate. It was hardly expected of a candidate for the Presidency, that he should have so proreptly and peremptorily rejected the opportunity, thus tcmptingly presented, of bidding for the votes of the new States by hold ing out the prospect at least of aggrandizement. But on thi- subject, as on all others, Mr. Clay took the broad national ground. He looked at the ques- tion as a statesman, not as a politician. He suffer- ed no individual inducements to influence his opi- nions or his policy. His paramount sense of duty; his habitual sense of the sacredness of compacts his superiority to local, sectional, and personal con- siderations, were never more conspicuously and more honorably manifested that] on this occasion. The Land Bill was made the special order for the 20th of June, when it was taken up by Mr. Clay, 52 Veto of Mr. Clay's Land Bill by President Jackson. and advocated with hi, usual eloquence and ability. Mr. B titon replied. His policy was to reduce the price of a portion of the Public Lands, and to surren- der the residue to the States in which they lie. It would have given to the State of Missouri 25,000,000 of acres, or about 160 acres to every individual in the State, black and white; while the State of New- York, by whose blood and treasure, in part, this great Domain was acquired, would have been cut off without an acre! Various motions were made in the Senate for the postponement and amendment of Mr. Clay's bill. The policy of reducing the price was urged with great pertinacity by the friends of the Adntinistration; but the objections of the report to this policy were j istly regarded as unanswera. ble and insurmountable; and, on the third of July, the bill, essentially in the same form as reported, received its final passage in the Senate by a vote of 20 yeas to 18 nays. The late period of the session at whicljit was sent to the House, and the conflict of opir.ion in that body in respect to some of its pro- visions, enabled the Administration to effect its post- ponement to the first Monday of the following De- cemitber, by a vote of 91 yeas to 88 nays. This, of course, was equivalent to its rejection. But such were the wisdom and obvious equity of its provisions, and so highly did it commend itself to tde goosed sense of the people, that the Adwinistra- tiois party Was compelled to yield to the uncontrol- able force of public opinion. At the next session, therefure, of Congress, the bill was again taken up, wid passed the Senate by a vote of 24 to 20, and the pnptlatr branch by a vote of 96 to 40 It was sent to tho President for his approval. Notwithstanding the unprecedented favor which it had tonrdsl among the imtnediate Representatives of the people, it was " trampled," as Mr. Ben- ton subsequently boasted, under the "big foot of Pr-esident Jackson." The dissolution of Congress, before the expiration of the cunstitutional term for which he was authorized to retain the bill, enabled that self-willed and despotic Chief Magistrate to de feat the obvious will of the people. If it had been returned to Congress at the session of its passage it would have become a law by a two-thirds vote. It wvas therefore withheld, and, at the next session, an the 5th ofDecemiber, 1833, was sent back with the veto of the President; and the veto, as we have every reason to believe, sprang from the personal hostility of General Jackson toward the author of the Land Bill, and atl apprehension that it would augment the popularity of a rival, whom he feared atud hated. The principles of time Veto Message accorded with those which had been already protaulgated by Mr. B trit in. General Jackson declared himself in favor ofredmucimig the price ofa portion ofthe Public Lands mnmd of surrendering the residue to the States in 'lhihlm they lie; and withdrawing the machinery of our lhnd system. Ile objected to Mr. Clay's plan ofgiving an extra 121 per cent. of the proceeds of th- sales within their owti limits to the new States, as an "1 indirect atid umdidguised violation of the pl. dge given by Congress to the States before a sin- Kle cession was made; abrogating the condition on which some of the States came into the Union; and setting at nought the ternis of cession spread upon tie face of every grant under which the title of tha portion of the Public Lands are held by the Federal Government." Such were the shocking violations of principle and compact, involved in the limited and equitable grant to the new States, contemplated by the bill of Mr. Clay; and yet we were gravely told by General Jackson, in the same breath, that to sell the lands for a nominal price-to withdraw the land machinery of the G,,erument altogether- to abandon the lands-to surrender the lands-to give them to the States in which they lie-,' im- paired no principle and violated no compact." It was a gross violation of compact-it was a flagrant outrage upon principle, to surrender a part-but the outrage was repaired, and the compact kept invio- late by an abandonment of the swhole ! S:uch was the reasoning of the Veto Message! General Jackson had been obliged to change his grounds on this question, in order to thwart the views of Mr. Clay. In his Annual Message of De- cember 4, 1832, he had recommended a measure fundamentally similar. But the measure now pie. seated to him, though it had passed Congress by triitr vhant majorities, had been suggested, although not uo ; tarily, by an individual who shared no part ir. his X unsels or his affections-by one, whont he had ungenerously injured, and whom he therefore disliked. He preferred the gratification of his nialev- olence to the preservation of his consistency. The consequence was his atbitrary retention of the bill, by an irregular and unprecedented proceeding, and his subsequent veto. The right of tie old States to the Public Domain is the right of conquest and ofcotmpact. Those lands were won by the blood and treasure of the thirteen Provinces. Their title deeds were signed, sealed and delivered on the plains of Yorktown. When the clouds of the Revolution had rolled away, and the discordant elements of the Confederation were taking the shape and system of our present glorious Constitution-the sages and soldiers of liberty as- sembled for the establishment of a more perfect union. To realize this grand end of their labors, they recommended to the thirteen States to make a common cession of their Territories to the Federal Government; that they might be administered for their common benefit, and stand as a pledge for the redemption of the Public Debt. Patriotic Vir- ginia, following the wise councils of her Wash- ingtons, Henrys and Jeffersons, surrendered with- out a murmur her boundless domain-now the seat of nunmerous new States, and still stretching thou- sands of leagues into the unsurveyed and uninhab- ited wilderness. Her sister States, though they had less to surrender, surrendered all that they poe- sessed; and in return for this liberal and patriotic abandonment of local advantages for the common good, the Congress of the United States pledged it- self by the most Eolenn compact to administer this vast Domain for the common benefit of its original proprietors, and of such new States as should there- after be admitted to the Union. The 2] (if May, IS34, Mr. Clav made a report from the Committee on Public Lands, in relation to the Pres dent's return of the Land Bill. In this paper he e;,poses with great ability the inconclusiveness of the President's reasons. For somte ten years, Mr. Clay was the vigilant, laborious, and finally suecess- ful opponent of the monstrous project of the admin- 53 Le of Hnry ClY. istration forasquandering the Public Domain and rob- bing the old States. To his unremitted exertions we shall have been indebted for the successive defeats of the advocates of the plunder system, and for the final adjustment of the question according to his own equitable propositions. By this adjustment, all sections of the country are treated with rigid impar- tiality. The interest of no one State is sacrificed to that of the others. The West, the North, the South and the East, all fare alike. A more wise andprov- ident system could not have been devised. It will stand as a perpetual monument of the enlarged pa- triotism, unerring sagacity, and uncompromising jus- tice of its author. The question of confirming Air. Van Buren's nom- ination as Minister to England, came before the Sen- ate during the Session of 1831-2. The conduct of that gentleman while Secretary of State, in his in- structions to Mr. McLane, had excited general dis- pleasure. Not content with exerting his ingenuity to put his own country in the wrong and the British Gov- ernment in the right, Mr. Van Buren had endeavored to attach to Mr. Adams's administration the discredit of bringing forward unfounded "pretensions," and by himself disclaiming those pretensions, to pro- pitiate the favor of the British King. Upon the sub- ject of the Colonial Trade, he said: " To set up the ' acts of the late Administration, as the cause of a 'Jorfeiture of privileges which would otherwise be 'e rtelided to the people of the United States, would, 'under existing circumstances, be unjust in itself, 'and could not fail to excite their deepest SENSIBIL- 'IT V." The parasitical, anti-American spirit displayed throughout these celebrated instructions, constituted a sufficienrt ground for the rejection of Mr. Van Bu- ren's nomination. Mr. Clay's personal relations to- ward that individual had always been of a friendly character, but he did not allow them to influence his sense of public justice. He addressed the Senate emphatically against the nomination, declaring that his main objection arose out of the instructions; the offensive passages in which he quoted. a On our side," said he, "d according to Mr. Van Buren, all was wrong; on the British side, all was right. We brought forward nothing but claims and pretensions; the British Government asserted on the other hand a clear and incontestible right. We erred in too tenaciously and too long insisting upon our pretensions. aId not yielding at once to their just de- mands. And Mr. McLane was commanded to avail himself of all the circumstances in his power to mit- igate our offence, and to dissuade the British Gov- ernuaent from allowing their feelings justly incurred by the past conduct of the party driven from power, to have an adverse influence toward the American party now in power. Sir, was this becoming lan- puage from one independent nation to another' Was It proper in the mouth of an American minister Was it in conformity with the high, unsullied, and dignified character of our previous diplomacy Was it not, on the contrary, the language of an humble vassal to a proud and haughty lord Was it not prostrating and degrading the American Eagle be- fore the British Lion " The nomination of Mr. Van Buren was rejected in the Senate by the casting vote of the Vice Ilresi- dent, Mr. Calhoun. It has been said that this act was a blunder in policy on the part of the Opposi- tion in the Senate-that it made a political martyr of a wily and intriguing antagonist, and commended him to the sympathy and vindicatory favor of his party. All this may be true; but it does not affect the principle of the measure. Mr. Clay did not lack the sagacity to foresee its probable consequences; but, where the honor of his country was concerned, expediency was with him always an inferior consid- eration. CHAPTER XIII. TIhe Currency Question-Gu. Jackson's "humble efforts" to Improve our Condition-Recharter of the U. S. Bank. ad ti President', Veto-Mr. Clay's Speech upon the subject-Char- acter of the Veto Power-Removal of the Depo.its -creta- ries Duane and Taney-Mr. Clay's relations toward the Bank -His Resolutions in regard to the Removal of the Ieposits fr. Clay's Resolutions- uent Debates in the Serate. Mr. Leigh-Interesting Incident-the Protest Excluded from the Jouma-Usremitted exertion, of iMr. Clay-Pubiic Dig- tres-Memonals-Forcible Coparison-The Panic S-sio- Anecdote-Mr. Clay's Departure for Kentucky-Serious Ac- cident. FOR the last twelve years the country has been kept in a fever of perpetual excitement, or in a stan of alternate paralysis and convulsion, by the agita- tion of the Currency question. General Jackson found us in 1829 in a condition of general prosperity. The Government was administered with Rjpublican economy. The Legislature, the Judiciary and the Executive, every one wielding its constitutional powers, moved on harmoniously in their respective spheres; and the result was a system that secured the happiness of the people and challenged the ad- miration of the civilized world. Commerce, agricul- ture, manufactures and the mechanic arts flourished; lending mutual aid, and enjoying a common pros- perity, fostered by the Government and diffusing blessings among the community. The banking sys- tem was sound throughout the States. Our curren- cy was uniform in value, and the local banks were compelled to restrict their issues to their ability of redemption in specie. There was no wild spec ula- tion. Industrious enterprise was the only source of fortune. Labor was amply employed, abundantly compensated, and safe in the enjoynient of its wages. The habits of the people were simple and democratfr ic. Our foreign credit was without a stain, and the whole machinery of Government, trade and curren- cy, had been brought to a state approaching the ut- most limit to be attained by human ingenuity and human wisdom. In 1830, Gen. Jackson commenced his " humble efforts" for improving our condition. Ile advised, in his message of that year, the establishment of a Treasury Bank, with the view, among other things, of" strengthening the States," by leaving in their hands " the means of furnishing the local paper cur- rency through their own batiks." This was his original plan, and in this message we hear nothing of a better currency, or the substitution of the pre- cious metals for bank paper. In the following year he again brought the subject before Congress, and left it to the " investigation of an enlightened people and their representatives." The investigation took place; and Congress passed a bill for the recharter of the United States Bank. This bill was perenip torily vetoed by General Jackson, who condemned it as premature, and modestly remarked in regard to a Bank, "1 Had the Executive been called upon to furnish the project of such an institution, the duty would have been cheerfully performed." 54 TrAe Veto Powver-Remotal of the Deposits. Mr. Clay was one of the foremost in denouncing .e extraordinary doctrines of this Veto Message. O1u the 12th of July, 1832, he addressed the Senate ups n the subject. We have already given an ex- position of his views upon the question of a Bank. They are too well known to the Country to require reiteration in this place. They have been frankly avowved on all fitting occasions. Touching the Veto power, that monarchical feature in our Constitution, his opinions were such as might have been expected from the leader of the Democratic Party of 1815. He considered it irreconcilable with the genius of a Rep- resentative Government; and cited the Constitution of Kentucky, by which, if after the rejection of a bill by the Governor, it shall be passed by a majoritv of all the members elected to both Houses, it beco;nes a law notwithstanding the Governor's objection. The abuses to which this power has been sub. jected under the Administrations of Jackson and Tyler, call loudly for an amendment of the Federal Constitution. The veto of a single magistrate on a bill passed by a numerous body of popular Repre- sentttives, immediately expressing the opinion of all classes of the community, and all sections of the country, indicates obviously an enormous preroga- tive. It must so strike every one who has ever rea- soned on Government. When the People of Paris called upon Mirabeau to save them from the grant of such a power, telling him that, if granted, all wile lost, they spoke a sentiment that is as universal as the sense and spirit of Liberty. When we reflect titat no King of Engiand has dared to exercise this p r since the year 1692, we cannot but feel that tit re miust have been good reason in the jealousy of tie People, and in the apprehension of the Crown. Mr. Burke, in his celebrated letter to the Sheriff of Bristol, observes, in reference to the exercise of this power by the King, that it is " wisely forborne. Its 'repose may be the preservation of its existence, 'amid ius existence may be the means of saving the Constitution itself, on an occasion sorthy of 'bringing it forth." So high a power was it con- sidered by Mr. Jeffe-rson, that he was at one tine de cidedly in favor of associating the Judiciary with the Executive in its exercise. It is in this light that the Veto power should be considered-as a most serious and sacred one, to be exercised only on emergencies worthy to call it forth. On all questions of mere opinion, mere ex- pediency, the Representatives of the People are the best, as they are the legitimate judges. The monstrous doctrine had been advanced by General Jackson, in his Veto Message, that every public officer may interpret the Constitution as he plluses. On this point Mr. Clay said, with great cogency :- I conceive, with great deference, that the President has mistaken the purport of the oath 'to support the Constitution of the United States. 'No one swears to support it as he understands it, but to support it simply as it is in truth. All men 'are bound to obey the laws, of which the Con- 'stitution is the supreme; but must they obey them aiis they are, or as they understand them If the 'uhIbligation of obedience is limited and controlled 'by the measure of information; in other words, if the party is bound to obey the Constitution rmale I" l'a ,rOsrsrt-wlq 'I what would be the coi-e- 'quence There would be general disorder and 'contusion throughout every branch of Adminis- 'tration, from the highest to the lowest officer universal Nullification." lnuring the Session of 18323, General Jackson declared that the Public Deposits were not safe in the vaults of the United States Bank, and called upon Congress to look into the subject and to augment what he then considered the " limited powers " of the Secretary of the Treasury over the Public Money. Congress made the desired inves- tigation, and the House of Representatives, by a vote of 109 to 46, declared the Deposits to be per- fectiv safe. Resolved on gratifying his feelings of personal animosity toward the friends of the Bank, General Jackson did not allow this explicit declara- tion on the part of the immediate Agents of the People to shake his despotic purpose. During the Autumn of 1833, he resolved upon that most arbi- trary of arbitrary measures, the removal of the Deposits. The Cabinet Council, to whom he originally proposed this measure, are said to hare disapproved of it in the most decided terms. Mr. McLane, the Secretary of the Treasury, refuoed to lend to it his assistance. He was accordingly translated to the office of Secretary of State, made vacant by the appointment of Mr. Livingston to the French Mission; and William J. Duane of Phila- delphia took his place at the Head of the Treasury Department. Mir. Duane, however, did not turn out to be the pliable tool which the President had ex- pected to find him. On the 20th of September, 1833. it was authoritatively announced to the pub- lic that the Deposits would be removed. The next day Mr. Duane made known to the President his resolution, neither voluntarily to withdraw from hii post nor to be made the instrument of illegally removing the Public Treasures. The consequence was, the rude dismission of the independent Secre- tary froen ofliL e on the 23d of September. Mr. Taney, who had sustained the views of the Presi- dent, was made his successor; and the People's Money was removed from the Depository where the law had placed it, and scattered among irrespon- sible State Institutions under the control of greedy partisans. The Congressional Session of 1833-4, was one of extraordinary interest, in consequence of the dis- cussion of this high-handed measure. In his Message to Congrees, the President said: "Since the adjournment of Congress, the Secretary 'of the Treasury has directed the Money of the 'United States to be deposited in certain State 'Banks designated by him; and he will immo- 'diately lay before you his reasons for this direc- 'tion. I concur with him entirely in the view he 'has taken of the subject; and, some months before 'the removal, I urged upon the Department the pro- 'priety of taking the step." The 'reasons' adduced by SIr. Taney for lending his aid to the seizure of the P'iblic Money, were such as might have been ex- pected from an adroit lawyer. However satistae- tiiry they might have been to General Jackson and lis party, they were utterly insufficient to justify the ict in the eyes of dispassionate and clear-minded even. NMr. Tiney undertook to sustain his p.osition prec e denlt w '-h he assumed to find in a letter ddlressed by M1r. Crawford, when Secretary -1 fb- 55 Life of Heary Clay Treasury, to the President of the Mechanics' Bank, of New-York. On the 19th of December, Mr. Clay introduced Resolutions into the Senate calling upon Mr. Taney for a copy of the letter, an extract from which he had cited in his Report. In his remarks upon the occasion of preventing tbese Resolutions, Mr. Clay made some observa- tions in regard to his own personal relations toward the ftank. Ati indtividual high in office had allowed himself to assert that a dishonorable connection had I utthbistde between him (Mr. C.) and that Institution. Mr. Clay said that when the Charter, then existing, was granted, he voted for it; and, having done so, he did not feel himself at liberty to subscribe, and he did not subscribe for a single share in the Stock of the Bank, although he confidently anticipated a great ri-e in its value. A few years afterward, during the Presidency of Mr. Jones, it was thought by some of his friends at Philadelphia, expedient to make him (Mr. C.) a Director of the Bank of the United States; and he was made a Director, without any consultation with him. For that pur- pose, five shares were purchased for him by a friend, tor which he (Mr. C.) afterward paid. Wh-n he cea;sed to be a Director, a short time sub- qttentlv, he disposed of those shares; since which time he has never been proprietor of a single share. WE en M1r. Cheves was appointed President of the Batik. its affairs in the States of Kentucky and Ohio were in great disorder; and Mr. Clay's professional ser'ices were engraged during several years for the BMink in thorie States. He brought a vast number of stutt, atid transacted a great amount of profes- sional business for the Bank. Among other suits, was one for the recovery of 100,000, seized under the authority of a law of Ohio. which he carried through the Inferior and Supreme Courts. He was paid by the Bank the usual compensation for these services and no more. No professional fees were ever nore honestly atid fairly earned. For upwards of eight years past, however, he had not been the Coune.l for the Bank. He idid not owe the Bank, or any of its Branches, a solitary cent. Some twelve or fifteen years before, owing to the failure of a friend, a large amount of debt had been thrown upon Mr. Clay, as his endorser; and it was principally due to the Bank of the Uttited States. Mr. Clay cotamenced a system of rigid economy-established for ltimself a sinkinagfzud-worked hard, and paid off the debt without receiving from the Bank the slightest favor. The res.oltitions of Mr. Clay, calling upon the Secretars iif the Treasury for a copy of the letter, said to have been written by Mr. Crawford, passed the Sttnte; and on the 13th of December, a com- tnunitttitior was rice ivcd from Air. Taney, the char- acter of which was evasive aild uinsatisfactory. T[he Senate had asked for documents, and he gave theti, arguments. In reference to Mr. Crawford's opinions, Mr. Clay said, that although there was pluitsil ,.1 in the construction, which the Secretary had - al to them, yet he, (Mr. Clay) would undirtake to show that the opinions ascribed to Mir. Crawford in reference to the Bank Charter, were never asserted by him. On the 26th of December, 1133, Mr. Clai laid the fOllowing resolutions before the Senate: I1. Revolved, That, by dismissing the late Sec- retary of the Treasury, because he would not, con- trary to his shene ot his own duty, remove the nto- ney of the United Statles in deposit with the Bank of the Unilted States and Branches, in conformnity with the President's opinion; and by appoititing his suc- cessor to effect such removal, which has been dolne, the President has assunied the exercise of a pmn er over the TreaFurv af the United States, not Lrnintd by the Constitution and Laws, and dangerous to the liberties of the peo,)le. "2. Resolved, I'hat the reasons asHigned l) the Secretary of the Treasury, for the remnonal of whe money of the Uniteg) States fronm the Unitet Ststes Bank and its Bratiches, cominnuicated ti) Congress on the 3d day ot Decemnber, 183W, are unsatisfitetory and insufficient." Air. Clay's speech in Fupport of the resolutions was delivered partly on the 2611) and partly on the 30th of December; and it is one of the most mas- terly efforts of eloquence ever heard within the walls of the Capitol. In force and amplitude of argu- meit, variety and appropriateuess of illustration, and energy of diction, it is equalled by few oratori- cal productions in the English language. During its delivery, the Lower House was almost deserie l; and the galleries of the Senate Chataber were filled by a mutely attentive audience, whose enthusiasm occasionally broke forth in unparliatnentary bursts ol applause-a demonstration, which is rarely eli- cited except when the feelings are aroused to an ex- traordinary degree. In his exordium, Mr. Clay briefly glanced at some of the principal usurpations and abuses of the Ad- ministration: ',We are," said he, "in the midst of a revolution, hitherto bloodless, but rapidlv tending towards a total change of the pure Repulilican character of the Government, and to the concentration of all power in the hands of one man. Tlhe powver of Cone-ess are paralyzed, except when exerted in conliformtity with his will, by a frequent and extraordinarv exer- cise of the Executive Veto, not anticipated by the founders of the Constitution, and iot practised by any of thte predecessors of the present Chieflllagis- trate. And, to cramp them still more, a new expe- dient is springing into use, of withholding altogeiher bills which have received the sanction of both Ilouses of Congress, thereby cutting off all opplor- tiunity of passing them, even if, after their return, the memiers should be unanimous in their favor. The Constitutional participation of the lenate in the ap- pointing power is virtually abolished by the cou- stant use of the power of removal from office, with- out any known cause, and by the appointment of the satue individual to the same office, after his re- jection by the Senate. How often have we. Sena- tors, felt that the check of the Senate, instead of be- ing, as the Constituition intended, a salutary control, was an idle ceremony s. . " The Jdiciarv has not been exempted from the prevailing rage tor innovation. Decisions of the tribiinals deliberately prottotinced have been con- tetuptuotsliv disregarded, atnd the satictity of nutner- 'us 're thies openly violated. Our Iidian relations, coeval with the existence of the Government, and recognized and established be natmerons laws atnd treaties, have been subverted; the rights of tIe helpless and unfortunate abrurigites trenipbld in the dust, and they brought under subjection to ut- known laws, in which they have no voice, pro- mulgated in an an unknown langtage. TIhe itost extensive and most valatable Public Domain, that ever fell to the lot of one Nation, is threatened with a total sacrifice. TIhe general currency of the country-the life-blood of all its business-is in the most imminent danger of universal disorder and confusion. The power of Internal Improve- Passage of Mr. Clay's Resoiutios-The Protest-Mr. Leigh on the Compromise. 57 ment lies crushed beneath the Veto. The system when it was passed by the Senate, 28 to 18. At the of Protection of American Industry was snatch- instance of some of his friends, Mr. Clay then modi- ed from impending destruction at the last session; fied his other resolution, so as to read as follows: but we are now coolly told by the Secretary of the Treasury, without a blush, ' that it i- under- "Resolved, That the President, in the late execti- stood to be Conceded on all hands, that a Tariff for tive proceedings in relation to the Public Revenue, Protection merely is to be finally abandoned.' By has assumed upon himself authority and power not the 3d of March, 1837, if the progress of innovation lonferred hy the Constitution and Laws, but in dero- continue, there will be scarcely a vestige remaining gation of both." of the Government and its policy, as it existed prior The resolution was adopted by the following vote: to the 3d of March, 1829." YEAs--Messrs. Bibb, Black, Calhoun, Clay,Clay- In the paper read to his Cabinet on the 18th of ton, Ewing, Frelinghuysen, Kent, Knight, Leigh, September, 1833, and afterwards published in the Mangum, Naudain, Poindexter, Porter, Prentiss, ttoPreston, Robbins, Silsbee, Smnith, Southord, newspapers, but which he refused to communicate to rague, Swift, Tomlinson, Tyler, Waggaman, the Senate,hen called upon by them so to do, Pre- Webster-26. sident .lackson is made to employ terms of blandish- NAYs-Messrs. Renton, Brown, Forsyth, Grnindv, ment toward his new Secretary of the Treasury, as Hendricks, Hill, Kane, King of Alabama, King on if to gild the shackles of dictation imposed hy Ele- Georgia, Linn, MeKean, Moore, Morris, Robin,'on, cutive power in regard to the removal of the de- Shepley, Tallmadge, Tipton, White, Wilkius, posits. He says, he trusts that the Secretarv will Wright-20. see in his remarks, "' only the frank and respectful The passage of Mr. Clay's resolution drew forth declarations of the opinions which the President from the President the celebrated Protest, which was 'has formed on a measure of great National interest, communicated to the Senate the 17th of April, 1833. 'deeply affecting the character and usefulness of This document was of a most novel and unprecedent- 'his Administration, and not a spirit of dictation, ed character, and gave rise to debates, which will 'which the President wou Id be as careful to avoid, always be memorable in our legislative annals. The z as ready to resist." assumptions of the President were truly of a kind to Mr. Clay very happily illustrates the hypocrisy excite alarm among the friends of our Republican of this deferential language. " Sir, it reminds me system. In this extraordinary paper he maintains, of an historical anecdote related of one of the most that he is responsible for the acts of every Executive remarkable characters which our species has ever officer, and that all the powers given by law are produced. While Oliver Cromwell was contending vested in him as the head and fountain of all. He for the mastery of Great Britain or Ireland, (I do alludes to the Secretary of the Treasury as his Sec- not now remember which,) he besieged a certain retary, and says that Congress cannot take front the Catholic town. The place made a stout resistance; Executive the control of the Public Money. His but at length the town being likely to be taken, the doctrine is, that the President should, under his oath poor Catholics proposed terms of capitulation, of office, sustain the Constitution as he understaads stipulating therein for the toleration of their reli- if; not as the Judiciary may expound, or Congress gion. The paper containing the terms was brought declare it. From these principles, he infers that all to Oliver, who, putting on his spectacles to read it, subordinate officers are merely the executors of his cried out: ' Oh, granted, granted! certainly! He, supreme will, and that he has the right to discharge however, added-' but if one of them shall dare be them whenever he may please. found attending Mass, he shall be hanged !'-(under These monstrous and despotic assumptions, tran- which section is not mentioned-whether under a scending as they do the prerogatives claimed by most second, or any other section, of anyparticular law, of the monarchs of Europe, afforded a theme for elo- we are not told.") quent discussion, which was not neglected by the After proving what is now notorious to the whole opposition, who then constituted the majority in the Country, that the Removal of the Deposits was the Senate. Mr. Poindexter, of Mississippi protested act of General Jackson and of him alone, and that against the reception of such a paper from the Pres- the Secretary of the Treasury was merely the cat'- ident; and moved that it be not received. Mr. paw in the accomplishment of the seizure, Mr. Clay Sprague, of Maine, exposed its fallacies, and de- proceeded to show that it was in violation of the nounced its doctrines in spirited and indignant terms. Constitution and laws of the United States. His The Senators from New-Jersey, Messrs. Freling. argument on this point is faithful and conclusive. buy sen and Southard, expressed their astonishment We regret that our limitedspacepreventsus from and indignation in strong and decided language. quoting freely from this interesting speech. It con- Mr. Benton, "1 solitary and alone," stood forth as the tains a succinct history of all the financial exploits champion of the President and the Protest. tafGeneral Jackson and his subservientaSecretary up The next day (April 18th) the consideration ofMr. to the period of its delivery h su d is as valuable for Poindexter's motion was resumed; and Mr. Leigh, its documentary facts as it is interesting for the of Virginia, addressed the Senate for about two hours vitor and animation of its style, and the impregna- in a speech of rare ability. Toward its conclusion bility of its arguments. an unusual incident occurred. Mr. King, of Ala- Thieity ofits on arguments. teisfcnyoth bama, had claimed for the President the merit of ad- The resolution declaring the insufficiency of the justing the Tariff question. He might, with quite as reasons assigned by the Secretary of the Treasury much truth, have claimed for him the merit of wri- for the Removal of the Deposits, having been refer. tui the D ation of Ii sod to the Committee on Finance, at the head of in reply to this assumption, spoke as follows: which was Mr. Webster, wast reported with a recomi- Sir, I cannot but remember, that during the sox- mendation that it be adopted. The question upon ious winter of 1832-3, when Snuth Carolina, uider Kite resolution was not tuken till the 28th of Marclh, a deep sense of injustice and oppression, (whether Life of lenry Clay. well or ill founded, it is immaterial now to inquire,) was exerting her utmost efforts (no matter now whether wisely or not) to bring about a relaxation of the system-when all men were trembling under the apprehension of Civil War-tremblingfrom the eon- cieto, that such-a contest should arise, let it ter- minate how it might, it rould put our present insti- hAtions in jeopardy, and end either in Consolida- tion or Disunion-far, .1 am persuaded, that the first drop of blood which shall be shed in a civil strife between the Federal Government and any State, Will flow from an immedicoble wround, that Bone amz hupe ever to see healed-I cannot but re- nenber that the President, though wielding such vast power aid influetice, never contributed the least aid to bring about the comnpromise that saved us tronti the evils which all men, I believe, and I certaulnk, so much dreaded. The men are not pre- sent to w;hom we are chiefly indebted for that com- promise; and I am glad they are absent, since it enables mte to speak of their conduct as I feel, with- out restraint from a senase of delicacy-I raise my humble voice in gratitude lor that service to Henry Clay of the Senate, and Robert P. Letcher of the Houise of Representatives-" Here Mr. Leigh was interrupted by loud and pro- longed plaudits in the gallery. The Vice President suspended the discussion, and ordered the galleries to be cleared. While the Sergeant-at-Arns wa iln the alt of fulfilhlig this order, the applause was re- peated. Mr. Benton moved that the persons ap- plauding should be taken into custody; but before the riiotion could be considered, the galleries were vacated and order was restored. On the 21st of April, another message was receiv- ed froni the President, being a sort of codicil to the Protest, in which he undertook to explain certain passages, which he feared had been iiiisapprehend d. Mr. Poiidexter withdrew his original motion, and substituted four resolutions, in which it was emthod- ied. lThese resolutions were modified by Mr. Clay, and an animetnditient suggested by Mr. Calhoun was adotted. Messrs. Clayton, Webster, Preston, Ew ing, M angtim, and others, addressed the Senate elo- quw ntly on various occasions upon the subject of the Protest; and, on the 30th of April, Mr. Clay, the resolution of Mr. Poindexter still pending, made his well-known speech. Although the subject seemed to have been exhausted by the accomplished speakers who had preceded him, it was at once re- invested with the charms of novelty in his hands. The speech contains the most complete and faithful picture of Jacksoniam ever presented to the country. 'T'he Resolutions of Mlr. Poindexter passed the Se- nate, by a vote of 27 to 16. on the seventh of May. They exclude the Protest from the Journals, and declare that the President of the United States has so right to send a Protest to the Senate against any of its proceedings. On the twenty-eighth of May, 1834, Mr. Clay in- roduced two joint Resolutions, reasserting what had been already declared by Resolutions of the Se- nate, that the reasons assigned by the Secretary of The Treasury to Congress, for the Removal of the Public Deposits, were insufficient and unsatisfac- very; and providing that, from and after the first day f July ensuing, all Deposits which might accrue om the Public Revenue, subsequent to that period, Should be placed in the Bank of the United States and its Branches, pursuant to the 16th section of the Act to Incorporate the Subscribers to the United Skates Bank. In presenting these Resolutions, Mr. Clay re- marked that, whatever might be their fate at the other end of the Capitol or in another building, that consideration ought to have no iufluence on the course of the Senate. The Resolutions were adopt- ed and sent to the House, where they were laid up- on the table, and, as was anticipated, never acted upon. The labors of Mr. Clay during the celebrated ses- sion of 1833-4, appear to have been arduous and in. cessant. On every important question that came before the Senate, he spoke, showing himself the ever-,igilant and active opponent of Executive usur- pation. Immediately after the withdrawal of the Public Money from the United States Bank, and before the " Pet Banks," to which the treasure had been transferred, had created an unhealthy plethora in the Currency by their consequent expansions, the distress among the People began to manifest itself in numerous memorials to Congress, protesting against the President's financial experiments, and calling for relief. Many of these memorials were communicated to the Senate through Mr. Clay, and he generalli accompanied Jheir presentation with a brief but pertinent speech. His remarks on present- ine a memorial from Kentucky, on the twenty-sixth of February. 1834-and from Troy, the fourteenth of April-are eloquent expositions of the financial con- dition of the country at those periods. In his speech of the fifth of 'February, on a motion to print addt- tional copies of the Report of the Committee on Fl- nance, to whom had been referred the Report of the Secietary of the Treasury in regard to the Removal of the Deposits, we find the following just and forci- ble image: "1 The idea of uniting thirt' or forty local Bank. for the establishiment and security ot an equal ( ;r- reney could never be realized. As well might the crew of a national vessel be put on board thirty or forty bark canoes, tied together by a grape-tine, and sent out upon the troubled ocean, while the billows were rising mountain-high, and mite tempest was x- hausting its rage on the foaming element, in the hope that they might weather the storm, and reach thefr distant destitnation in safety. The People would ho contented with no such fleet of bark canoes, with Admiral Taney in their command. They would be heard again calling out for Old Ironsides, which had never failed them in the hour of trial, whether amidst the ocean's storm, or in the hour of battle." This session, generally known as the " Panic Ses- sion," was one of the most remarkable that htmL ever occurred in the progress of our Government. Never was there collected in the Senate a greater amount of eminent ability. For weeks together the Whigs poured forth a torrent of eloquent denunicia- tions, in every form, against that high-handed mea- sure, the Removal of the Deposits. This was most generally done on the occasion of presenting peti- tions or memorials from the People against it. Ge into the Senate Chamber any morning during thin interesting period, and you wotild find some Whig on his feet, expatiating on the pernicious consequen- ces of that most disastrous proceeding. It was thee that they predicted the evil effects of it, eince so - tally and exactly realized. Mr. Clay was among the most active and eloquent of these distinguished champions of the People. rib one exhibited so great a variety of weapons of attack upon the Administration, or so consummate a skill 58 Ap meal to the Vice President-Anecdotes. is the use of them. Early in March, 1834, a Com- zlatee from Philadelphia arrived in WaShiugtutl with a memorial from a large body of Mechanics, de picling tile state of prostration and distress produced among all the laboring classes, by the high-handed and pernicious measures of the Administration- In presenting this memorial, Mr. Clay took occasion to dleviate somewhat from the beaten track of debate. He made a direct appeal to the Vice President, Mr. Van Buren, charging him with the delivery of a message to the Executive. After glancing at the gloomy condition of the country, he remarked that it was in hie power of the Chief Magistrate to adopt a measure which, in twenty four hours, would afford an efficacious and substantial remedy, and relstab- lish confidence; and those who, in that Chamber, supported the Administration, could not render a better service than to repair to the Executive Man- aion, and, placing before the Chief Magistrate the naked and undisguised truth, prevail upon him to Yetrace his steps and abandon his fatal experiment. "s No one, Sir," continued Mr. Clay, turning to the Vice President, "can perform that duty with I more propriety than yourself. You can, if you 'will, induce him to change his course. To you, 'then, Sir, in no unfriendly spirit, but with feelings 'softened and subdued by the deep distress which 'pervades every class of our countrymen, I make 'the appeal. By your official and personal rela- tions with the President, you maintain with him 'an intercourse which I neither enjoy nor covet. 'Go to him and tell him without exaggeration, but 'in the language of truth and sincerity, the actual 'condition of his bleeding Country. Tell him it is 'nearly ruined and undone by the measures which she has been induced to put in operation. Tell 'him that his experiment is operating on the Nation 'like the philosopher's experiment upon a convulsed tanimal in an exhausted receiver; and that it must expire in agony if he does not pause, give it fresh aid sound circulation, and suffer the energies of the People to be revived and restored. Tell him 'that in a single city more than sixty bankruptcies, involving a loss of more than fifteen millions of 'dollars, have occurred. Depict to him, if you 'can find language for the task, the heart-rending I wretchedness of thousands of the Working Classes. ' Tell him how much more true glory is to be won ' by retracing false steps than by blindly rushing on ' until the country is overwhelmed in bankruptcy I and ruin. Entreat him to pause." In this strain M1r. Clay proceeded for nearly twenty minutes. Nothing could be more eloquent, touch ing and unanswerable than the appeal, although, of course, it failed of effect. "1 Well, Mr. Van Buren, did you deliver the message I charged you with " asked Mr. Clay, as he met the Vice President in the Senate Chamber the next morning before the day's session had commenced. The reply of Mr. Van Buren is not recorded. That gentleman, however, was never celebrated for his powers of repartee. During the period of his Vice Presidency, Mr. Clay dined with him on one occasion in company with the Judges of the United States Court, the Heads of Departments, and others. Conversation at dinner glanced at the fact that Tory Ministers, both in England and in France, were more disposed than Whig Ministers to do justice to the United States, and deal liberally with them in all international negotiations. All the parties present agreed as to the fact; and turning suddenly to Mr. Van Buren, Mr. Clay said:-" If you will permit me,I will propose a toast." "With great pleasure," returned the Vice President. " I propose," still Mr. Clay, "d Tory Ministers its England and France, and a Whig Ministry in the United States." The toast was drunk with great cordiality by the company, Mr. Van Buren affecting to laugh, but blushing at the same time up to the eyes, and evi- dently nonplussed for a retort. The message addressed by Mr. Clay to the Vice President recalls to mind another, which he re- quested the late Mr. Grundy to deliver to President Jackson. It was the last of February, 1833, when the Land Bill was pending. "Tell General J ack- son," said Mr. Clay, "that if he will sign that bill I will pledge myself to retire from Congress and never enter public life again." Mr. Grundy, who was an amiable and remarkably good-natured person, said: " No, I ca n't deliver that message; for we may have use for you hereafter." This was, it will be remnem- bered, at the session when the Compromise passed. The First Session of the Twenty-Third Congress terminated the 30th of June, 1834, and fr. Clay, after his prolonged and laborious exertions in behalf of the Constitution and the Laws, set out immediately on his journey home. As the stage-coach, in which he was proceeding from .Charlestown toward Winchester in Virginia, was descending a hill, it was overturned, and a worthy young gentleman, Air. Humnrickhouse, son of the Contractor, was instantly killed by being crushed by the vehicle. He was seated by the side of the driver. Mr. Clay was slightly injured. The acci- dent happened in consequence of a defect ill the breast-chain, which gave way. On his arrival at Winchester, Mr. Clay was invited to a Public Din- ner, which he declined, as well on account of his desire to reach home, as because of this melancholy accident, which disqualified him for immediate eu- joyment at the festive board. CHAPTER XIV. Our Claims on France-1tostile tone of General Jackson's Aes sage of 1834-Recomniends Reprisals-Mtr. Clay', Report on the subject-llis 'siwin-Unanimou, adoption of his Its- Atu lion-Effect of the Nessage-Speech on presenting the Chero- Kee Memorial-Executive Patronage-The Cumbertnd Road. THE most important question which came before Congress at its Second Session, in 1834-5, was that of our Relations with France. The claims of our citizens upon that Government for aggressions upon our Commerce between the years 1800 and 1817 had been repeatedly admitted; but no decided steps toward a settlement had been taken until the 4th of July, 1831, when a Treaty was ratified, by which it was agreed, on the part of the French, that the sum of twenty-five millions of francs should be paid to the United States as an indemnity. By the terms of the Treaty, the first instalment was to be paid at the expiration of one year after the exchange of the ratifications. The French Government having failed in the per- formance of this stipulation-the draft of the United States for the first instalment having been dishonored by the Minister of Finance-President Jackson, ia 59 his Megsage of December, 1834, to Congress, recom- mended that, in case provision ihould not be made for the payment of the debt at the approaching Sea- eion of the French Chambers, a law should be Passed authorizing reprisals upon French property. Ihis was a step not to be precipitately taRen; and, to insure its patriotic, dispassionate and statesman- like consideration, the Senate placed Mr. Clay at the head of the Committee on Foreign Relations, to which Committee that part of the I'resident's Mes- sage relating to our affairs with France was referred. On the 6th of January, 1635, Mir. Clay made his celfbrated Report to the Senate. It was read by hi', from his seat, its reading occupying an hour snd a half; the Senate Chamber being thronged dulring its delivery by Members of the House, and the galleries filled to overflowing. The ability dis- played in this extraordinary document, the firmness anid moderation of its tone, the perspicuous arrange. menit of facts which it presents, the lucidity and strength of its style, and the inevitable weight of its condlu-ions called forth the admiration and concur- rrnee of all parties. It would seem to have been, u,!d, r Providence, the means of averting a war with France. In the preparation of it, Mr. Clay had a dit7, ult and delicate task to perform; and it was an, omplielted with great ingenuity and success. Not a wort that could lower the national tone and spirit was indulged in. He eloquently maintained that the right lay on our side, but admitted that the I rqucih King had not been so far in the wrong that nitl hopies of the execution of the Treaty were ex- hidet, nor did lie consider that hostile measures were yet juistiftiable. This temperate, judicious, firm and statesinan-like language, while it removed all cause of tffitwce on the part of the French, imparted new r. tuiwn to our own Diploniacy. While it was all that the most chivalrous champions of their Country's hunor could ask, it breathed a spirit which called forth the full approbation of the friends of peace. As soon as Mr. Clay had finished the reading of hi., Report, a discussion arose it the Senate as to the ntiier which should be printed. Air. Poindex- ter moved the printing of twenty thousand extra co- pi.s. Air. Clay thought that number too large, and sugeestidl five thousand. Mr. Calhoun said he should volte fir the largeet number propo)sed He had heard the report read with the greatest pleasure. It con- tained the whole grounds which ought to be laid be- fire the people. Of all calamities that could befall' the country, h1P most deplored a French War at that time. Under these considerations he should vote for twenty-thoasand copies. Mr. Ewiag aid Mr. Porter would vote for the lar- gest number, and the latter would have preferred thirty or forty thousand. Flr. Preston said he was strongly impressed by the views taken by the Committee, and considered them sufficient to satisfy the people that we could horior- ably and justly avoid war with France. Con ur- ring in the sentiments of the Comimtittee, and enter- taiaing a prafound respect for the wisdom exhibitetl itn the Report, he was anxious that the document should be spread through the cout try as wideb as possible. The Senate finally ordered twenty thousand co- pies of this admirable report tobe printed, and it was soon scattered to the remotest comers of the Union. Its effect in reviving the confidence and allaying the fears of our mercantile community must be fresh in the remembrance of many. The rates of Insurance were at once diminished, and Commerce spread her white wings to the gale, and swept the ocean once more unchecked by the liabilities of a hostile en- counter. The depression in business produced by the President's belligerent recommendation was at once removed, The Report showed conclusively that the Presi- dent's recommendation in regard to reprisals was premature, and unauthorized by the circumistances of the case; and that there had been a constant man- ifestation on the part of the Executive branch of the French Government of a disposition to carry the Treaty of indemnification into effect. The Cominmit- tee expressed their agreement with the President, that the fulfilment of the Treaty should be insisted upon at all hazards; but they considered that a rash and precipitate course on our part should be sedu- ously avoided. They would not anticipate the pos- sibility of a final breach by France oh' her sohlcan engagements. They limited themselves to a con- sideration of the posture of things as they then ex- isted. At tile same time, they observed that it could not be doubted that the United States we re abuitd- antly able to sustain themselves in tiny vicissitudes to which they might be exposed. The patri.tiei of the people had been, hitherto, equal to all emergen- cies, and if their courage and corstancy, when they were young and comparatively weak, bore thet safely through all past struggles, the hope might be confidently entertained now, wheti their nutimbers, their strength and their resources were greatly in- creased, that they would, whenever the occasion might arise, triumphantly maintain the honor, the rights and the interests of their country. The Comn- mittee concluded by recommending to the Senate the adrfptiin of the following resolution: " Resolved, That it is inexpedient at this time to pass ally law vesting in the Piesidetit authority tor making reprisals upon French property, in the coti- tingenaey of provision not b ipg made for pa ing to the United States the indetmiity stipulated by the Treaty of 1831, during the present session of the French Chatmbters." On the 14th of January, Mr. Clay, pursuant to previous notice, called for the consideration of the Report of the Comnmittee on Foreign Relations, and its accompanying Resolution. It being expected that he sould address the Senate, a large audience was in attendance, and, as soon as he was up, the other House was without a quorum. The question being upon agreeing to the resolution as reported, he sp lke for nearly an hour, and his retnarks were in the same moderate, magtnatniinous and truly Amiteri- cati straint, whit h characterized his Report. Mr. King, of Georgia. otie of the Administration Members of the Comtttitte on Foreign Relations, after hearing the strongest testimony to the catedid and temperate character of Mir. Clay's Report, mo- ved to give the Resolution such a modification as, without chlangitng its substance, would obtain for it a utiattnimous vote. Mr. Clay at-cepted in part Air. Kitig's amendtntit, and also one that was offered by .lr. Webster; atid the tollowing resolution was at length UtN ,t1tUSLY PASSED by the Senate. R- Resolred, That it is inexpedient at present to Life of He-y M. 60 Speech in behalf of the Cherokece-On the Abatement of Executive Patronage. 1adopt any legislative umeasure in regard to the state of affairs between the United States and France." The unanimous passage of this resolution, was a result as gratifying as it was unexpected; and its eflect upon the French Chambers, in neutralizing the harsh language of the President, and hastening the execution of the Treaty was most auspicious. Tle praises of Congress and of the country, were liberally awarded to Mr. Clay for his judicious and conclusive Report in behalf of a pacific course. The effect of the President's Message recommend- ing reprisals and conveying an imputation upon the good faith of Louis Phillippe, was such as might have been anticipated. The French King was just- ly offtlnded. The French Minister was at once re- called from Washingtou, and a Charg6 des Affaires substituted. Passports were tendered to our Minis- ter at Paris. In consequence of these developments, lIr. Clay, on the last day of the Session, made an- other and a briefer Report from the Committee on Foreign Relations, in which the committee expressed the opinion, that the Senate ought to adhere to the Resolution, adopted the 14th of January, to await the result ofanother appeal to the French Chambers; and, in the mean time, to intimate no ulterior pur- pose, but to hold itself in reserve for whatever exi- gencies might arise. The Senate concurred in the advice of the Comtnittee, who were then discharged from the further consideration of the subject. On the 4td of February, 1835, Mr. Clay made a brilliant and impressive speech in the Senate upon the subject of a memorial, which he presented from certain Indians of the Cherokee tribe. The memo- rial set forth in eloquent and becoming terms the condition of the tribe, their grievances and their wants. It seemed, that of the remnant of this peo- ple then in Georgia, one portion were desirous of being aided to remove beyond the Mississippi, and the other wished to remain where they were, and to be removed from the rigid restrictions which the State of Georgia had imposed upon them. In his remarks, Mir. Clay eloquently alluded to the solemn treaties by which the possession of their lands had been se- cured to these Indians by our Government. TIhe fhith of the United States had been pledged that they should continue unmolested in the enjoyment of their hunting-grounds. In defiance of these sacred stip- ulations, Georgia had claimed jurisdiction over the tribe-had parceled out their lands and disposed of them by lottery-degraded the Cherokees to the condition of serfs-denied them all the privileges of freedom, and rendered their condition infinitely worse than that of the African Slave. It was the interest as well as the pride of the master to provide for the health and comfort of his slave; but what human being was there to care for these unfortunate Indians As Mr. Clay warmed in his remarks, and dwelt, more in sorrow than in anger, upon the wrongs and outrages perpetrated in Georgia upon the unoffend- ing aborigines within her borders, many of his hear- ers were affected to tears, and he himself was obvi- ously deeply moved. The occasion was rendered still more interesting by the presence of a Cherokee Chief and a female of the tribe, who seemed to listen to the orator with a painfully eager attention. In conclusion, Mr. Clay submitted a resolution direct- ing the Committee on the Judiciary to inquire into I the expediency of making farther provision by law to enable Indian Tribes, to whom ltxids had been secured by treaty, to defeod and maintain their rights to such lands in the Courts of the United States ; also, a resolution directing the Committee on Indiani Affairs to inquire into the expediency of setting apart a district of country, west of the 3lississippi, for such of the Cherokee Nation as were disposed to emigrate, and for securing iti perpetuity their peal e- ful enjoyment thereof to themselves and their de- sce edants. The oppressed Aboriginal Tribes have always found in Mr. Clay a friend and a champion. Al- though coming from a State which, in consequence of the numerous Indian massacres of which it has been the theatre, has received the appellation of " the dark and bloody giound," he has never suffcr- ed any unphilosophical prejudice against the unfor- tunate Red Men to blind his senee ofjustice ortcheck the promptings of humanity. He has constantly been among the most active vindicators of their cautwe -the most efficient advocates of a liberal policy towards them. To General Jackson's administration we are in- debted for the system which makes the offices of the Federal Government the rewards of political parti- sanship, and proscribes all incumbents who may en- tertain opinions at variance with those of the Execu- tive. The Government of the United States dispo- ses of an annual patronage of nearly forty millions of dollars. By the corrupt use of this immense fund, the Jackson dynasty sustained and perpetuated it- self in spite of the People. Here was the secret of its strength. Commit what violence, outrage what principle, assail what interests he might, President 'Jackson threw himself back upon his patronage and found protection. The patronage of the Press, thi patronage of the Post Office, the patronage of the Custom House, with its salaries, commissions and fees-the patronage of the Land Office, with its op- portunities of esuccessful speculation-these formed the stronghold and citadel of corrupt power. On the eighteenth of February, 1835, Mr. Clay addressed the Senate in support of the bill for the Abatement of Executive Patronage. His speech contains a striking exposition of the evils resulting from the selfish and despotic exercise, on the part of the Chief Magistrate, of the appointing and removing power; and is pervaded by that truly democratic spirit which has characterized all the public acts of the author. A bill making an appropriation for the Cumber- land Road was discussed in the Senate early in Feb- ruary. Mr. Clay spoke in favor of the appropria- tion, but adversely to the policy of surrendering the Road to the States through which it runs. ife of Henry Clay. CHAPTER XV. attlemnent of our French Afftirs--Mr. Clay's Land Bill--His Speeh-Parsage of the Bill in the Senate-Abolition Petitions -NMr. Clay vindicates the Right of Petition-The Deposit Ba.'kv-Predietion-Independence . fTexnm-Variousqueetions -Return to Kentucky-IRe-elected Senator in Il-State of the ounDtry in l829 and 18u-A contrast-Administration ma- Uirtty in the Senate-.M1r. Calhoun's Land Bill--)pposition of tr. C.ay-Tariff-His two Compromises-The Specie Circu- lar-Its Rsseision-Benton's Expunging RBeslution-Miscel- laneous. OUR affairs with France occupied a considerable portion of President Jackson's Message to the 'Fwenty-Fourth Congress at its first session. Mr. Clay was again placed at the head of the Commit- tee on Foreign Relations; and on the eleventh of January, 1836, he introduced a resolution to the Se- nate, calling upon the President for information with regard to our affairs with France, and for the com- mussication of certain overtures made by the French Government. An additional resolution was pre- sented by him two or three weeks afterward, calling for the communication of the expose which accom- panied the French Bill of Indemnity of the 27th of April, 1835; and also, copies of certain notes which passed between the Duc de Broglie and our Charge, Mr. Barton; together with those addressed by our Minister, AMr. Livingston, to the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, or to the Secretary of State of the United States. These resolutions were adopted, with amendments. On the eighth of February, 1836, a Message from the President was received, announcing that the Go- vernment of Great Britain had offered its mediation for the adjustment of the dispute between the United States and France. The Message was rererred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs; and on the twen- ty-second of February, a correspondence between the Secretary of State and Mr. Bankhead, on the subject of British mediation, was submitted. This gave occasion for some remarks from Mr. Clay, who said that he could not withhold the expression of his congratulation to the Senate, for the agency it had in producing the happy termination of our diffi- culties with France. If the Senate had not, by its unanimous vote of last September, declared that it was inexpedient to adopt any legislative action upon the subject of our relations with France; if it had yielded to the recommendations of the Executive in ordering reprisals against that power, it could not be doubted but that war would have existed at that moment in its most serious state. Mr. Clay renewed his exertions in behalf of his Land Bill during this session. On the fourteenth of April, it was taken up in the Senate as the special order, and discussed nearly every day for a period of two weeks, during which he was frequently call- ed upon to defend and explain its provisions. His speech of April 26th is remarkable for the vigor of its arguments and the force of its appeals. Of this ef- ftort, the National Intelligencer said: "' We thought, 'after hearing the able and comprehensive argu- wments of Messrs. Ewing, Souathard and White, in 'favor of this beneficent measure, that the subject 'was exhausted, that, at any rate, but little new 'could be urged in its defence. Mr. Clay, however, 'in one of the most luminous and forcible argu- 'ments which we have ever heard him deliver, 'placed the subject in new lights, and gave to it new 'claims to favor. The whole train of his reasoning 'appeared to us a series of demonstrations." The Land Bill, essentially the same as-that vetoed by General Jackson, passed the Senate the fourth of May, 1836, by a vote of twenty-five to twenty; and was sent to the House. But the influence of the Executive was too potent here yet to admit of the passage of a measure which, though approved by the majority, was opposed by the President because of its having originated with Mr. Clay. The question of the right of petition came before the Senate early in the session. On the Hilt of January, Mr. Buchanan presented a memorial frotm a religious Society of Friends in Pennsylvania. re'- questing Congress to abolish Slavery and the Slave Trade in the District of Col]umbia. He moved that the Memorial should be read, and the prayer of the Memorialists be rejected. Mr. Calhoun demanded that the question should be first taken whether the petition be received or not; and a debate, which was prolonged at various intervals till tile 9th of March sprang up on this preliminary question. Before the question was taken, Mr. Clay briefly explained his views. On the subject of the right of Congress te abolish Slavery in the District, he was inclined to think, and candor required the avowal, that the right did exist; though be should take a future opportuntity of expressing his views in opposition to the expe- diency of the exercise of that power. le expressed his disapprobation of the motion to receive and im- mediately reject, made by the Senator from Penn- sylvania (M5r. Buchanan.) He thought that the right of pe tition required of the servants of the peo- ple to examine, deliberate and decide, either to grant or refuse the prayer of a petition, giving the reasons for such decisioni; and that such was the best mode of putting an end to the agitation of the public on the subject. The question "shall the petition be received 1" being taken, was decided in the affirmative-yeas, 36; nays, 10. Mr. Clay then offered an amendment to Mr. Bu- chanan's motion to reject, in which amendment the principal reason why the prayer of the Memorial- ists could not be granted are succinctly given. The amendment not meeting the views of some of his Southern friends was subsequently withdrawn by Mr. Clay, who maintained, however, that he could not assent that Congress had no Constitutional power to legislate on the prayer of the petition. The subject was at length laid on the table by a vote of twenty-four to twenty; but the friends of the sacred, unqualified right of petitian should not for- get that Mr. Clay has ever upheld their cause with with his best energies end his warmest zeal. A report from the Secretarv of the Treasury, showing the condition of the DeFosit Banks. came before the Senate for consideration the 17th ofMarch, 1836. Mr. Clay forcibly depicted on this occasion the total insecurity of the vast public treasure in the keeping of these Banks. What was then proplbecv became history soon afterwards. "Suppose," said be, " a great deficiency of southern crops, or any thercrisiscrea line a necessity for the exportation of specie to Europe, instead of the ordinary shipments. These Banks wrould le compelled to call in their 'issues. This would compel other Banks to call in, in like manner, and a panic and general scant of 42 NaPrrow Escape-State of the Country at the Close of Gen. Jackson's Administration. so 'confidence would enuete. Then what would become 'of the public money I" It is unnecessary to point to the fulfiltment of tiese predictions. Soon after the uleposits were removed to the Plet Banks, they became the basis of vast land speculations, into which all who could obtain a share of the Govern- ment money, plunged at once heels over head; Postmtasters, Custom-House officers, Navy Agents, Pet Banik Directors, Cashiers and Presidents, Dis- trict Attorneys, Government Printers, Secretaries of State, Postmasters General, Attorneys General, President's Secretaries, and all the innumerable sti- pendiaries of the Adtuinistration. It was this wild speculation, fostered and conducted by the facilities of the Deposit Banks, that filled the Treasury with unavailable funds. The experiment terminated, as Mr. Clay prophesied it would terminate, in univer- sal bankruptcy. On the 8th of June, Mr. Clay, from the Commit- tee otl Foreign Relations, introduced a report with a resolution, for recognizing the Independence of Texas whenever satisfactory information should be received, that it had a civil Government in success- ful operation. Air. Preston expressed a hope that the Executive was by that time in possession of such information; as would enable the Senate to adopt stronger measures than that recommended by the Committee; andl he submitted a resolution calling on the President for such information. Mr. Clay wished that the resolution might be taken up and acted on; as he would be extremely glad to receive intbrtuation that would authorize stronger measures in favor of Texas. The report of the Committee was concurred in; and Mr. Preston's resolution adopted. The result of the call upon the President and of the discussions that ensued, was the unani- mouts adoption, by the Senate, on the first of July, of the resolution reported by Mr. Clay, with an amendment by Mr. Preston adding a clause ex- pressing the satisfaction of the Senate, at the Pre- sident's having taken measures for obtaining ac- cttrate information as to the civil, nilitary and poli- tical condition of Texas. Similar resolutions pass- ed the House the 4th of July. Mr Clay spoke on a variety of questions, in ad- dition to those we have alluded to, during the ses- sion of 1834-5; on the motion to admit the Senators froto Michigan on the floor, and the recognition of that clause in the Constitution of Michigan, which lie conceived to give to aliens the right to vote; on the resolution of Mr. Calhoun to inquire into the expediency of such a reduction of duties as would not affect the Manufacturing interest; on the Forti- fictation Bill, c. Congress adjourned the fourth of July, 1836. On his return to Kentucky a dinner was given to Mlr. Clay by his fellow-citizens of Woodford County. During his absence from hole t, he had experienced heavy ahictions in the death of a beloved daughter and of his only sister. Ott rising to speak, le was so overcome by the recollection of these losses, ad ded to an allusion which had been made to the re- mains of his mother being buried itn Woodford, that hle was obliged to resume his seat. He soon rallied, however, and addressed the company for about two hours in an animated and powerful strain. He re- viewed the recent acts of the Administration-their constant tampering with the currency-the Trea- sury Order, directing that all payments for lands should be made in specie-the injustice practised towards the Indian tribes-and the disgracefully protracted Seminole War. In conclusion, Mr. Clay alluded to his intended retirement from the Senate ofthe United States-an intention, which, at that time, he fondly cherished. So fixed was his wish to withdraw from public life, that he had, at one period, in 1836, made up his mind to resign. It is certain, that he looked forward with confidence to declining a reflection; and he expressed a hope at the Woodford dinner, that the State would turn its attention to some other citizen. In the autumn of 1836, Mr. Clay narrowly escaped a violent death. He was riding on horseback in one of his fields, surveying his cattle, when a furious bull, maddened from some cause or other, rushed towards him, and plunging his horns with trenten- dous force into the horse on which Mr. Clay was seated, killed the poor animal on the spot. TIhe dis- tinguished rider was thrown to the distance of sev- eral feet from his horse, and, though somewhat hurt by the fall, escaped without material injury. Wye have already given an exposition of Mr. Clay's views in behalf of Colonization. In 1836, he was unanimously elected President of the American Co Ionization Society in the room ofthe illustrious Es President Madison, deceased. He accepted the ap- pointment. During the winter of 1836, Mr. Clay was relect- ed a Senator from Kentucky for six years front the ensuing fourth of Mlarch. The vote stood: for Henry Clay 76; for James Guthrie, the Administration can- didate, 54. Eight members were absent, four of whom, it is said, would have voted for Mr. Clay. The state of the Republic, toward the termination of General Jackson's second Presidential term, is yet vividly in the recollection of all our citizens. He had found the country, in 1829, in a condition of unexttmpled prosperity. The Government was administered with economy strictly republican. Congress was the dominant power in the land. Commerce, Manufactures, Agriculture, flourished. The Banking System was in a state of remarkable soundness. There was no disposition to multiply local Banks. There was neither temptation nor ability for these Banks to expand their issues. The failure of a Bank was an occurrence as unusual as an earthquake. Labor was sure of employment, and sure of its reward. There were few brokers, usurers and money-lenders by profession. There were no speculators by profession. There were no immense operations in fancy stocks and land schemes. There was but one way of grow. ing rich-hard labor-assiduous industry-early rising-late retiring-and anxious, devoted and per- severing attention to business. Our habits, as a people, were simple and democratic. Our FOR- .EIGN CREDIT WAS WITHOUT A STAIN. The debts which we contracted abroad were such as we could pay-and paid they were with scrupulous and honorable punctuality. OuR CURRENCY WAS, WITHOUT EXCEPTION, THE MOST PERFECT O0 THE FACE OF THE GLOBE. No man ever lost a cent by it. It was abundant, safe, and well ae- credited in every part of the world. All pecuniary operations of Trade and Commerce were conducted ith the most wonderful facility and regularity. Life of Henry Clay. Gold and silver were in free circulation, and there was at all times an abundant supply of the smaller coins. Millions on millions of exchanges were negotiated in every quarter of the country, and at an average rate of one-half or one per cent.-a charge merely nominal in comparison with the sub- sequent rates. The whole machinery of Society, Government, Trade and Currency was in a state as nearly approaching perfection as human wisdom and ingenuity could compass. Such was the condition of the Republic in I829. Then the destroyer came-and all was blasted. For eight years he managed the affairs of the country in his own way; and HIS WILL WAS THE LAW OF THE LAND. During those eight years, what a change came over our affairs! The whole machinery of Cur- rency, Trade and Government was deranged. The land was flooded with three or four hundred millions of irredeemable paper. The smaller coins disap- peared. Specie payments were universally sus- pended; and gold and silver were no more a cur- rency than amethysts and diamonds. In trade, every thing ran into speculation. Banks sprang up like mushrooms on every side. Any two men who could write their names so as to sign and endorse, a piece of paper, were enabled to procure ' facilities,' which generally turned out to be facili- ties for tLeir own destruction. Brokers, usurers, money-lenders, speculators multiplied till their name was Legion. Every thing was unnaturally distended, until, at length. trade came to a dead stand. No one wanted to buy, and every body was afraid to sell. There was an utter stagnation, paralysis, extinction, of business. Thousands on thousands declared themselves individually bank- rupt. As a nation, we were notoriously and miserably bankrupt-and we bad hardly foreign credit enough to make it either safe or decent for any American to cross the Atlantic. In Government, a revolution no less pernicious was accomplished. Congress became a mere step- ping-stone to lucrative appointments, and the session was merely a convenient reunion of its Members for the better arrangement of their land speculations, and the more eonvenient distribution of the Government Deposits among the most ac- commimodating Banks. The heart of our Govern- mert was rotten to its core-and, like our Currency and our Trade, it presented but a miserable contrast to the condition of 1829. And all these revolutions were brought about by the uncontrolled ascendency of acksonism, and by no other agency under heaven! Notwithstanding these deplorable issues, the end was not yet. The Jackson dynasty was to be per- petuated still another term in the hands of him who was proud to follow in the footsteps of his " illus- trious predecessor." The Presidential Election of 1836 terminated in the choice of Martin Van Buren. But we areltnticipating inatters. We have yet the short Session of Congress of 1836-7 to review, be- fore we take leave of the " Hero of New-Orleans." The Administration had now a majority in the Sena'e. That noble phalanx of Vbigs, who had so undauntedly withstood the usurpations of the Executive, could nowv only operate as a minority. One of the first acts of Mr. Clay was to reintroduce his Land Bill. On the 19th of December, in pur- suance of previous notice, he presented it with modifications suited to the changes in Public Affairs It was read twice and referred to the Committee on Public Lands,-at the head of which was Mr. Walker of Mississippi, who, on the 3d of January, gave notice that he was instructed by the Comnmit- tee to move for the indefinite postponement of the bill, when it should come up for consideration. Some days afterward, Mr. Walker introduced his bill to limit the sales of the Public Lands, except to actual settlers, and in limited quantities; and os the 9th of February, 1837, Mr. Calhoun's extr.-ior- dinary bill, nominally selling, bitt in reality giving to the new States all the Public Domain, camie before the Senate. Mr. Clay took ground at once against this scheme. He said that four or five years before, contrary to his earnest desire, this subject of the Public Lands watis forced upon him, and he had, with great labor, devised a plan fraught with equity to all the Siates. It'received the votes of a majority of both Houses, and was rejected by the President. He had always considered the Public Domain a sacred trust for the country and for posterity. He was opposed to any measure giving away this property for the benefit of speculators; and he was therefore opposed to this bill, as well as to the other (Mr. Walker's) before the Senate. He had hitherto labored in vail]-but he should continue to oppose all these schemes for robbing the old States of their rightful possessions. HIe besought the Senate to abstain from these up- peals to the cupidity of the new States from party inducements; and he appealed to the Senator finomo South Carolina whether, if he offered them higher and better boons than the party in power, he did not risk the imputation of being actuated by such in- ducements. Fortunately for the country, the Aush project of Mr. Calhoun did not reach the maturity of a-thihd reading. On the 25th of February, the bill from the Com- mittee on Finance to alter and amend the several acts imposing duties on imposts being before the Senate, Mr. Clay spoke against the measure at some length. His principal objection arose frotm what he conceived to be the interference of some of the provisions of the bill with the Compromise Act of 1833. In the course of his remarks, he gave an interesting account of his own connection with that important measure. He then went on to draw a striking parallel be- tween the Contpromise Act of 1833 as to the Pro- tective System, and that other Compromise Act which settled the much agitated Missouri Question, and by which the latitude of 36 degrees 30 minutes was established as the extreme boundary for the existence of Slavery in that State. Had not Con- gress a right to repeal that law But what would those Southern gentlemen, who hlow so strenuously urged a violation of our implied faith in regard t. the act of '33, say if a measure like that should be attempted 7 Mr. Clay concluded with a motion to re-commit the bill fom the reduction of duties to the Committee on Finance, with instructions to strike out all those articles comprised in the bill, which then paid a duty of 20 per cent, and upwards, embraced in the Corn- promise Act. The motion was lost-25 Nays to 24 TAh Expunging Resolution-Mr. Van Buren Elected President. Yeas; and the bill was the same day passed by a a vote of 27 to 18. Early in the Session, Mr. Ewing had introduced a Joint Resolution rescinding the Treasury order by which all payments for Public Lands were to be made in specie. On the 11th of January, Mr. Clay addressed the Senate in a speech replete with argu- ment and facts in support of the Resolution, and in opposition to an ametidanent, which had been offered by Mr. Rives. The Resolution was referred to the Committee on Public Lands, who itstructed their Chairman to lay it on the table when it should come up. On the 18th of January, a bill rescinding the Specie Circular was reported by Mr. Walker. It subsequently passed the Senate, with some slight amendments, by a vote of 41 to 5; and received the sanction of the other House; but notwithstanding this fact, and the additional well-known fact, that the order had been originally promulgated in defiance of the opinion of Congress and the wishes of the people, the hill, " instead of being returned to the House in which it originated, according to the requirement of the Constitution, was sent toone of the pigeon-holes of the Department of State, to be filed away with an ootpinrio of a convenient Attorney-General, always ready to prepare one in support of Executive en- croaclhment." Mr. Van Buren manifested-the same contempt for the will of thte people, expressed by Congress, as had been shown by his "iillustrious predecessor," and refused to interfere until the Specie Circular re- pealed itself in the catastrophe of an universal sus- pensioln. On the 12th of January, a Resolution, offered by Mr. Benton, to expunge from the journals of the Sen- ate for 18334, Mr. Clay's Resolution censuring President Jackson for his unauthorized Removal of the Puhblic Deposits name before the Senate for con- sideration; and on the 16th Mr. Clay discussed the question at considerable length. His speech was in a straint qf mingled sarcasm and indignant invective, which made the subservient majority writhe under its scorching power. Never was a measure placed in a more conteinptible light than was the expung- ing proposal by Mr. Clay. Those who heard him, ctsn never forget the look and tone, varying front an expression of majestic scorn to one of good-humored satire, with which he gave utterance to the following eloquent passages: " What patriotic purpose is to be accomplished by this expunging Resolution I Can you make that not to be which has been Can you eradicate from memory and from history the fact that in March, 1834, a majority of the Senate of the United States passed the Resolution which excites your enmity Is it your vain and wicked object to arrogate to yourself that power of annihilating the past which has been denied to Otunipotence itselfI Do you intend to thrust your hands into osir hearts and to p1 ouk out the deeply-rooted corvictions whihls are there Or is it your design merely to stigmatize us You can- Uot stigmnatize US: - Ne'er yet did base dishonor blur our name. "Standing securely upon our conscious rectitude, and bearing aloft the shield of the Constitution of our Country, youir puny efforts are impotent, and we defy all otor power. Put the majority of 1834 in one scalt, and that by which this E xpuneing Reso- tion is to he carnred in the other, and let Truth and Justice, in Leaven above, and on earth below, and liberty and patriotismi, decide the preponderance. 65 " What patriotic purpose is to be accomplished by this expunging resolution Is it to appease the wrath find to heal the wounded pride of the Chief Magistrate If lie be really the hero that his friends represent him he must despise all mean condeseen- sion, all grovelling sycophancy, all self-degradation, and self-abasement. He would reject, with scorn and contempt as unworthy of his fame, your black scratches, and your baby lines in the lair records of his country." The Expunging Resolution was passed; but no one will envy the immortality, to which the" knights of the black lines " have been consigned. Mr. Clay addressed the Senate upon several other important questions during the session of 1836.7- Among them were that upon the Fortification Bill, which was returned to the Senate after the House had insisted on the clause for a second Distribution of the Surplus Revenue; and the Resolution from the Committee on Foreign Relations, on the subject of outaffairs with Mexico. CHAPTER XVI. Presidenliil Campaign of 1836-Mr. Clay declines being a Can- didate-Result-Mr. Van Buren's Poblicy-A Itetruspect-De- mocratic Doctinel-ssue of the Expenment"-The Extra Fessiou-Mr. Van Buren's maage-The Sub-Treasury Schene-Indications of Split in thellouse-DiussiaImn ofthe Sub-Treasury Bill-Mr. Clay's SpeechlesHis Resolintin in relation to a Bank-Treasury NoteSon of 1837-8-Defeat of the Sub-Treasury Measure-Mr. Clay's Review of the Fi- nanecial lrojets of the Administration-Various subjects-His outline of a plan for a National Bank-Mir. CJlay s cours on the Abolition uesti n-His isit to New-York in the tSummer . of J-2ordiaReception, by the People. of the "lan of the .People." MR. CLAY had unifornmly discouraged the attempts of his friends to induce him to become a candidate for the Presidency in the campaign of 1836. He saw the unhappy diversity in the ranks of the Oppo- sition; and he saw, perhaps, the inevitable ability of the Jackson dynasty to perpetuate itself in the ele- vation of Mr. Van Buren So potent had the Execu- tive become, through usurpation and the abuse of patronage! On the eighth of February, that being the day ap- pointed by statute for opening the Electoral Returns for the Presidency and Vice Presidency of the Uni- ted States, the result was proclaimed in the presence of both Houses of Congress. The following was ascertained to be the state of the vote: V frPresident. ice President. Van .,In............. 170Johnon. ....147 Harrison................ 7llGranger ....... 77 White...Tyler. . . ..... 4T Webster. . 14j .......S.. 13 Manum..lij a., a It was then declared that it appeared that Martin Van Buren had been duly elected President of the United States, for four years from the 4th of Mlarch, 1837; and that no person had a majority of all the votes for the Vice Presidenev, and that Mr. Johnson and Mr. Granger had the largest number of votes of all the candidates. Mr. Johnson was afterward duly chosen. It had been hoped by many that under Mr. Van Buren a less destructive policy would be adopted than that which had signalized the reign of the '- Hero of New-Orleans." For the last eight years the country had been governed by Executive edicts. Congress had always beent disposed to do right, but it had been thwarted by a domineering and usurping Executive. The will of the People, constitutional4, 66 Life of Hetry Cl". evowed, had been constantly defeated by the impe- Sub-Treasury plan, which was, in other words, a rious and impetuous objections of one fallible and scheme for placing the Public Purse under the con- passionate old man. Itrol of the President, that he was defeated in the Congress passed Mr. Clay's Land Bill; but the very first party vote after the election of Speaker. Executive destroyed it. The leading topic of the session was of course the Congress said that the Deposits were safe in tho new S-ib-Treasury project; and it was discussed in Bank of the United States; the Executive removed the Senate with great ability on both sides. By this them. bill, the Treasury of the United States the Trea- Congress refused to issue a Specie Circular; itI surers of the Mint and its Branches, Coltectors, Re- was issued by the Executive. ceivers, Postmasters, and other office-holders, were Congress rescinded the Specie Circular; and the commissioned to receive in specie and keep, subject Executive defeated that rescision. to the draft of the proper Department, all public Now the doctrine of Thomas Jefferson, as adopted moneys coming into their hands, irsteed of deposit- and always acted upon by Henry Clay, is, that THY ing them, as heretofore, in Banks. Among the WILL OF THE MAJORITY, HONF.STLY EXPRESSED, earliest and most prominent advocates of this mea- SHALI. GIVE LAW. But Congress had no influence sure was Mr. Calhoun, who suddenly found himself in the Government during the pernicious ascenden- one of the leaders of a party, which for the last five ey of Jacksonism. It came together to pass appro- or six years he had been denouncing as the most priation bills, and register the decrees of the Chief corrupt that had ever cursed a country. Magistrate. The noble majority in the Senate, for a The bill was taken up in the Senate the 20th Sep- while, prevented much mischief, but they could tember; and on the 25th, Mr. Clay spoke in opposi- originate and prosecute no settled policy, in conse- tion to this audacious and Anti-Republican scheme. quence of the Administration majority in the other In this admirable speech he went at length into an lbranch. We lived literally under Executive Legis- examination of the causes that had led to the exist- lation. Where the President could not veto, he ing disastrous-state of public affairs. To the finan- could do some act of violence, and compel Congress cial experiments of General Jackson, he traced back either to leave the country without law or to adapt unerringly the consequent inflation of the currency- its legislation to the existing exigencies. Thus he the wild speculations, which had risen to their height could not prevail on Congress to remove the De- when they began to be checked by the preparations posits-but when they were removed, to "-furnish of the Local Banks, necessary to meet the Deposit an instrument of power to himself and of plunder Law of June, 1836-the final suspension of specie to his partisans"-Congress was compelled either payments-and all the disorders in the Currency, to leave them without law, or to pass laws for the Commerce and general business of the country, that regulation of new depositions. I ensued. He then gave his objections to the scheme The hopes that had been entertained of a reform before the Senate. It proposed one Currency for the under Mr. Van Buren proved fallacious; but his at- Government and another for the people. As well tempt to march in the "seven-leagued boots" of his might it be attempted to make the Government predecessor speedily resulted in a ridiculous fail- breathe a different air, be lit end warmed by a dif- ure. He was tripped up at the very start. ferent sun from the People! A hard money Govern- The disastrous condition in which the country ment and a paper-money People! A Government, was left by the "hero of New-Orleans,," whose an official corps-the servants of the People-glit- I humble efforts" to improve the Currency had re- tering in gold, and the People themselves, their mas- suited in the universal prostration of business, and a ters, buried in ruin, and surrounded by rags! By suspension of specie payments, called upon his the proposed substitution of an exclusive metallic successor in the Presidential chair for some im- Currency for the mixed medium, all property would nediate measure of relief. On the 15th of May, be reduced in value toOne-third of its present now- 1837, Mr, Van Buren issued his Proclamation inal amount; and every debtor would in effect have ordering an extraordinary session of Congress, to to pay three times as much as he had contracted commence the first Monday in September. In for. Then there was the insecurity ofthe system- accordance with that Proclamation, both Houses the liability to favoritism in the fiscal negotiation.- of Congress met at the Capitol on the day appoint- the fearful increase of Executive patronage-the ab- ed ; and the Message recommending the SuB-TREA- solute and complete union of the Purse and the sUtKY STSTEM for the deposit, transfer and disburse- Sword in the hands of the President! All these ob- inent of the Public Revenue, was transmitted by the jections were most powerfully elucidated and en- President. The consequence was an instantaneous forced by Mr. Clay. loss of his majority in the House of Representatives. He then proceeded to declare what he believed to In the election of Speaker, at the commencement be the only efficient measure for restoring a sound of the Extra Session, 224 members voted, making and uniform Currency, which was a United States 113 necessary to a choice. Mr. Polk received 116 Bank, established under such restrictions, as tho votes, and was elected. Then came the Sub-Trea- lights of recent experience might suggest. " But," sury Message, and the vote on the election of Prin- said Mr. Clay, " if a National Bank be established, ter indicated a sudden disaffection in the ranks, and 'its stability and its utility will depend upon the a general breaking up of the Administration party. general conviction which is felt of its necessity. On the twelfth and final balloting, Thomas Allen, 'And until such a conviction is deeply impresel the Editor of the Madisonian, was elected over the I upon the People, and clearly manifested lIy AeM, Van Buren candidates, Blair and Rives. A deci- 'it would, in my judgment, be unwise even to pr- ded majority of the House had been elected as friends ' pose a Bank." of Mr. Von Bures; but so alarming seemed his On the 4th of October the Sub-Treasury Bill f- The Sub.Treaeury Project-Outline of a Nationa Byak. ter undergoing various amendments, was read a of the late Bank of the United States, and the State third time and passed by the Senate by a vote of 25 Banks, a Government Bank, to be managed and con- to 20. It was taken up in the House on the 10th of trolled by the Treasury lepartment, acting under the commands of the President of the Unites Statel October, a1nd, on the 14th, laid or te table by a The manner in which Mr. Clay proceeded to ses- vote of 120 to 107. tain these charges against the Administration was The defeat of this measure in the-teeth of the extremely impressive. That he made out his case Executive recommendation, in spite of Executive satisfactorily to the People, subsequent events fully blandishment and terrors-the triumph of the ma- demonstrated. jority without doors over the majority within, Mr. Clay appears to have addressed the Senate and of both over patronage and power-revived the on every question of moment that claimed its atten- dying hopes of the patriot and infused new life into tion during the Session of 1837-8; on the reception our Constitution. The seeptre of misrule had crum- of petitions for the Abolition of Slavery in the Dis- bled. The dynasty, which for nearly nine years trict of Columbia-the bill to restrain the issuing of had misruled the country, received on that occasion small notes in the District-the disturbances on the its immedicable wound. Northern frontier, and the attack on the Caroline, an A resolution reported by Mr. Wright from the act which he denounced in the most unmeasured Committee on Finance, in relation to the petitions terms-the bill to grant preemption rights to set- for a National Bank, was called up in the Senate tlors on the Public Lands-the bill to establish the the 26th of September. The resolution declared Oregon Territory-in favor of the bill to prohibit that the prayer of the memorialists ought not to be the giving or accepting a challenge to fight a duel granted. In his remarks upon this subject, Mr. Clay in the District of Columbia-against the bill pro- alltided to the case in which Mr. Randolph moved viding for the graduation and reduction of the price in the House of Representatives a similar negative of the Publi-, Lands-and on many other subjects resolution-" That it is inexpedient to declare war of hardly inferior interest. against Great Britain." Mr. Clay said, that if Mr. A Joint Resolution, offered by him on the 30th of W. persisted in his resolution, he should move to April, providing for the reception of the notes of strike out all after the word Resolved, and substi. sound Banks in the collection of the Revenue, was tute: " that it will be expedient to establish a Bank adopted by the Senate, with some amendments, the of the United States whenever it shall be manifest 29th of Mlay. It was in effect a repeal of the Spe- that a clear majority of the People of the United cie Circular. States desire such an Institution." The motion In the course of the Sedsion Mr. Clay took occa- was subsequently made and lost; and Mr. Wright's sion, in presenting a petition for the establishment resolution was adopted. The party then in power of a United States Bank, to make known his own seemn to have had hut little reverence for the wishes viewsin regard to such an institution. Some of the of a unclear majority of the people of the United conditions and restrictions, under which it seemed States." to him suitable to establish such a Bank, were The Extra Sessioti lasted six weeks-Congress briefly given in the following sketch: adjourning on the morning of the 16th of October. 1. The capital not to be extravagantly large, but, The measure, on which the hopes and fate of the at the same tine, amply sufficient to enable it to per. Administration were staked, had been defeated. form the needful financial duties for the Govern- The Sub-Treasury project came again before the ment; to supply a general currency of uniform The Sub-Treasury value throughout the-Union; and to facilitate, as Twenty-Fifth Congress, at their Second Session. nigh as practicable, the equalization of Domestic The 19th of February, 1838, Mr. Clay once more Exchange. He supposed that about fifty millions addressed the Senate in opposition to the measure. would answer all those purposes. The Stock might This Speech is one of the longest and ablest ever be divided between the General Government, the delivered by him. At the commencement he stated States, according to their federal population, and individual subscribers; the portion a.-signed to the certain propositions, which he would proceed to latter to he distributed at auction or by private sub- demonstrate. He contended- scription. 1st. That it was the deliberate purpose and fixed 2. The Corporation to receive such an organiza- iAssign of the late Administration to establish a Gov- tion as to blend, in fair proportions, public and pri- ernment-a Treasury Bank-to be administered and vate control, and combining public and private in- controlled by the Executive l)epartment. terests; and, in order to exclude the possibili- 2d. That, with that view, and to that end, it was ty of the exercise of any foreign influence, non- its aim and intention to overthrow the whole Bank- resident foreigners to be prohibited not only from ing System, as existing in the United States when any share in the administration of the Corporation, t Adminiatration came into power, beginning with but from holding, directly or indirectly, any portion the Bank of the United States, and ending with the of its stock. The Bank would thus be in its, origin, Stste Banks. and continlte throughout its whole existence, agen- 3d. lhat the attack was first confined, from con-; uine American Institution. siderations of policy, to the Bank of the United 3. An adequate portion of the capital to be set States; but that, after its overthrow was accom- apart in productive stocks, and placed in permanent pli-hed, it was then directed, and had since been security, beyond the reach of the corporation (with continuied, against the State Banks. the exception of the accruing profits on those stocks) 4th. That the present Administration, by its ac- sufficient to pay promptly, in any contingency, the knowled-einents, emanating from the highest and amount of all such paper, under whatever form, inost authentic source, had succeeded to the prini- that the Bank shall pitt forth as a part of the gen- ples, plans and policy of the precedin g Adminis- eral circulation. The bill or note holders, in other tration, and stood solemnly pledged to complete words, the mass of the community, ought to be pro. and perfect them. And, tected against the possibility of the failure or the 5th. That the bill under consideration was intended suspension of the Bank. The supply of the circu- oexecute the pledge, by establishing, upon the ruins lating medium of a country is that faculty of a 67 Life of Hentt CMay. Bank, the property or the exercise of bhiz, inny be most controverted. The dealings with a Batik of those who obenin discounts, or muke deposits, are voluntary and mutually advantageous; and they are comparatively few in number. But the reception of what is issued and used as a part of the circulating medium of the country, is se arcelv a voluntary act; and thousands take it who have no other concert whatever with the Bank. The many oight to be guarded and secured by the care of the legislative authority; thc vigilance of the frse will secure themselves against loss. 4. Perfect publicity as to the state of the Bank at all times, including, besides the usual beads of in- formation, the names of every debtor to the Bank, whether as drawer, endorser or surety, periodically exhibited, and open to public inspection; or, if that should hoe found inconvenient, the right to be so- cured to any citizen to ascertain at tile Bank the nature and extent of the responsibility of ally of its customers. There is no necessity to to throw any veil of se resy around the ordinary transactions ofa Bank. Publiity will increase respisibltv, re- press favoritism, insure the negotiation of good pa- per, and, when individual insolvency unfortunately occurs, will deprive the Bank of undue advantages now enjoyed by Banks practically in the distribu- ti)n of the effects of the insol vent. 5. A limitation of the dividends so as not to au- thorize n-ore than - per cent to be struck. This will check undue expansions in the medium, and re- Straitn imnlroper extension of business in the admin- istration of the Bank. 6. A prospective reduction in the rate of interest, so as to restrict the Bank to six percent sinmply, or, if pr,,cticaile, to otily five per cent. The reduction may be effected by fUobearilig to exact any bonus, or, when the profits aie likely to exceed the prescribed limit atf the dividends, by requiring the rates of inter- est hallll be io lowered as that they shall not pass that linimit. 7. A restriction upon the premium demanded upon post notes and checks used for remittances, so that the maximnum should not be more than, Pay one and a halt' per cent between any two of the remotest points in the Union. Although it mnay not be prac- ticable to regulate Foreign Exchange, depending as it does upon commercial causes lent within the con- trol of any one government, it is otherwise with re- gard to Domuestic Exchaimge. 8. Every practicable provision against theexercise of improper influence, on the part of the Executive, upon the Bank, and, on the part ofi the Bank, upon the elections of the countrv. Trhe pemople entertain a just jealousy against the danger of any interfer- enc;e of a Batik ith the elections of a country, and every precaution ought to be taken striatly to guard agamllmt it. This was a brief outline of such a Bank as Mr. Clay thought would, if established, conduce greatly to the prosperity of the country. Its wise and ptov- ident restrictions would seem to preclude all those popular objections which generally apply to banks. With regard to the constitutionalty of' a National Bank, Air. Cla) said, that forty years of acquiescence by the people-the maintenance of the power by Washington, the Father of his Country; hi Madison, the Father of the Constitution; and by Marshall, the Father of the Judiciary, ought to be precedents suf- ficient in its favor. The Abolition question was agitated in the Senate during the last Session of the 25th Congress. Mir. Clay had been urged by many of his friends to re- frain from speaking on the subject. It was repre- sented to him as impolitic, superfluous, and likely to interfere with his Presidential prospects. Such arguments could have no weight with hint. His whole course upon this perilous quetstion lis been that of the honest, upright, practical and con- si-tent statesman, the true philanthropist, the sa- gacious and devoted patriot. When- Mr. Calhoun introduced, in the Session of 1835-6, his bill to give Postmasters and their Deputies a power of inspec- tion and espionage over the Mails--the bill which was passed to its third reading by the casting vote of Martin Van Buren-it met with the prompt and decided condemnation of Mr. Clay. No nian has more vigilantly watched the sacred Right of Peti- tion than Mr. Clay. He has condemned on all oc- casions the refusal of the Senate to receive petitions. His speech of February, 1839, yields to the Aboli- tionists all that they have a right to demand, and is at the same time so liberal in its doctrines as to dis- arm the ultraism of Southern hostility. Mr. Cal- houn himself was compelled to admit his acquies- cence in the Foundness of its doctrines and the secu- rity which their adoption would promise to the Un- ion. The enemies of Mr. Clay denounced this move- ment on the Abolition question as an effort to achieve popularity. They reasoned from the inevitable re- sult, to an unworthy inoucetnerit. To inmpute un. worthy motives to Mr. Clay because of suen a result was to impeach the purity of all public action, and to confine the statesman, who would preserve his po- litical reputation, to the advocacy of unwise and un- popular measures. Popularity did follow the pro- mulgation of such sentiments as are contained in the speech of Mr. Clay-the popularity which all good men desire-the popularity of which all great men may be prond-the popularity based tipon grat- itude for distinguished service, admiration for com- manding eloquence, and the eternal sympathies of the PEOPLE with the PATRIOT. In the summer of 1839, Mr. Clay visited Buffalo, and passing into Canada, made an excursion to Montreal and Qnebec. Returning, he visited the city of New-York. Ile had the previous summer been invited, at an enthvisiastic meeting of his friends at Masonic Hall, to visit the city, bitt had then been unable to comply with their invitation. Ilis recep- tion at the period to which wo nouv refer, was one of the most brilliant ever extended to a ptmblic man. Early in the afternoon he was landed at the foot of Hammond-street, Greenwich, from the stenuilmoat James Mledison, attended by a large number of eit- izens. An immense multitude was assembled to greet his arrival, and, as lie stepped on the wharf, the air waP rent with acclamations from a myriad of voices. The day was most propitious. At Green- wich, a procession was formed headed by marshals, after whom canie a numerous cavalcade. A band of music preceded the open baroitche of Mr. Clay, and a vast concourse of citizens followed in carriages. Everything in the city, in the shape ofa four-wheeled vehicle was in attendance, and tens of thousands of citizens followed on foot. When the head of the procession reached the Astor House, the rear had not yet formed in line. Through the whole extent fro m the point of landing, through Hudson-street, tip Fiourteenth-street to Union Place, and down Broadway to the Park, a distance of nearly three miles, it was at one and the same time a dense mo- ving mass of horsemen, carriages, carmen and cit- izens. Every window on either side of the way was occupied, and acclamations from every house, ad S6I Prcsidcuttal Contests of 1824, '32.-The Harrisburg Conveention of 1839. 69 the waving of handkerchiefs, and cordial salutationso greeted the illustrious Statesman ad he passed. At Constitution [jall, at Masonic Hall, and at every place of public resort and amusement, flags were d.'played, and hands of etusic were stationed to hail his approach. As he reached the Park, the tens of thousands who thronged the grounds, the windows and roofs of the surrounding edifices, the adjacent streets, and the large open space at the junction of Chatham- street and Broadway, thundered out the mighty wel- coune of a grateful people to the gallant, generous, warm-hearted and noble-minded citizen, whose life bad been devoted to their service. The reception was purely a civic one. It was not a got-up, official pageant, where the populace exhi- bit their gratitude by an invitation of the Common Council, and display a certain amount of enthusi- asm duly provided for by the resolves and ordinan- ces of the Corporation. It was the voluntary, un- bought, unbidden movement of the People, to greet the arrival among them of one, who had ever been CJI inently the MAN OF TILE PEGPLE. CHAPTER XVII. U larrisburg Convention-Mr. Cl y the choice of the Peopie -Preai-eltjal Contests of 1824 and 183-tntrigues ia the Coin- ve,,titn-Me.ts employed to thwart the Nominstion of Mr. CIOranization of the ('onxrenition-Nomination of Gene- asllHarrison-Aeqinscence of the Kentuckry D)eegation-Mr. Ctly's Letter-Remarks of Gov. Barhour, r.r Leigh, Mr. Liv- isngst:)n-John Tyler Nominated for the Vice Pnesidencv- Grounds of the Nomination. As the period of another Presidential Election drew near, that vast portion of the Democracy of the land, opposed to the administration of Mr. Van Ii,- ran, began to turn their eyes towards the most able, renowned and consistent of their leaders, Henry Clay, as a fitting candidate for the Chief Magtstracy of the United States. The Champion of the People, their interests and their honor, during the Last War -the Preserver of the Union on two momentous oc- casions, when it was threatened with Dissolution aud Civil War-the Founder and vigilant Protector of the American System-the Friend of Internal Im- provements-the intelligent Advocate of ad Sound, Unifiirm, Republican Currency, and of a Judicious Tariff-the experienced Statesman, who, at Ghent, antd in the Depattment of State, had displayed the highest order of talents in the service of Isis country -the active Foe of Executive Usurpation-the chiv- alrous Defender of the Constitution and the Laws, who, in his public career, had ever manifested his obedience to the principle that the WILL OF THE PEOPLE, faithfully expressed, should give Law- the Vindicator of Human Liberty throughout the World-WIIO could present claims so numerous, so powerful, so overwhelming, upon the gratitude, confidence and suffrages of the People of the United Statesr The fact of his having been in two instances an unsuccessful candidate for the Presidency, was the only objection worthy of notice, which was brought fihrward by those who, while they professsd to admit his claims, and to accord with him in his political creed, were doubtful of the expediency of his nonmi- nation. But what were te frets in regard to those two instances 7 In the el-ctimrn of 1U2-4, hI) failed in being elected by the Primary Colleges, in company with John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, and William H. Crawford. So that the argument io this case would have been as valid against any one of these candidates as it can be against Mr. Clay. He was excluded from being one of the three highest candidates, who were returned to the House on this occasion, by being unfairly deprived of Electoral Votes in iew- York and Louisiana. It was, more- over, well known that, if the Election were carried to the House, Mr. Clay would, as the natural result of his great popularity, be elected. The friends of all the other candidates, consequently, had a united interest in excluding him. With regard to the contest of 832, the reelection of Gen. Jackson at that time could not be construed into an indication of popular feeling towards Mr. Clay. The "Hero of New-Orleans" had, during his first term, just entered upon his novel experi- ments in the Currency; and a great part of the People were disposed to give them a fair trial, and afford him an opportunity to carry out the policy he had commenced. The patronage of the Executive was directed, to an extent wholly unparalleled, towards the continuance of the sceptre in his hands. Nulli- fication had begun to show its menacing face, and there were many, even among those who were hos- tile to the general policy of the Administration, and friendly to Mr. Clay, who yet unwisely thought that strenuous measures towards South Carolina would be required, and that the Union would be safest un- der the direction of a Military Chief Magistrate. In addition to these circumstances, the party op- posed to Gt-n. Jackson was distracted by Anti-Ma- sonry, which presented an excellent and popular candidate for President in William Wirt. These two elections are all in wvhich M3r. Clay has been a candidatefor the Presidency, and in nei- ther did he have a fair field. He has been nearly twenty times a candidate for the suffrages ofthe People, and only on these two occasions defeated. Mr. Van Buren, with a clear field and the whole pa tronage of the Government in his own hands, failed in the election of 1840. How ridiculous, then, to assert that the Presiden- tial contests of 1824 and 1832 afford any test of Mr. Clay's present strength with the People of the Uni- ted States! Let it be borne in mind, moreover, that since the period of his last candidacy he has resider- ed the most memorable services to the country; and that he comes before the people endued with many new claims upon their gratitude and support. The Democratic Whig Convention for the nomi- nation of a Presidential Candidate, met at Harris- burgh, on the 4th of December, 1839. That they representel a constituency, two-thirds of which were in favor of the nomination of Henry Clay, we cannot entertain a doubt. But soon after the as- senibling of the Convention, intrigues were set on foot by an adroit few for the selection of some other candidate. It was contended by these men that Mr. Clay was deficient in popular strength, and they would soothingly add, that he was too good and great a man ever to be made President. One word in regard to this argument, which we often hear from the lilps of persons professing an at- tachment to Democratic principles. It is a gross libel on the intelligence of the people, and is found Life of Henry Clay. ad in a supercilious distrust of their competency ti self-government. Communities may be deluded, and Republics, through error, be ungrateful for a liac. but so surely as truth prevails, as prevail it must, will they make mamnds for their injustice. The sentiment of generosity is strong in the breast of a people; and it is never stifled except through misconception or ignorance. The most successful means employed at Harris- burgh to defeat the nomination of Mr. Clay was to praise him and decry his prospects. Some dozen or more individuals residing chiefly in different parts of the State of New-York, but embracing persons in other States, would write letters to one another, professing to give calculations based upon unerring statistics. The intriguers were thus severally sup- plied with a bundle of letters full of extravagant eulogiums upon Mr. Clay, and of lamentations that so great and good a man, and one who had render- ed such signal services, could not be elected. These letters were pulled out and exhibited from time to time, as was best calculated to advance the end in view, their exhibition being generally preceded by the observation: " You know that Mr. Such-a-one, ' the writer of this letter, is a devoted friend of Mr. 'Clay; but only read what he thinks and says of his 'Presidential prospects." Attempts were also made to convey an exagger- ated impression of the superiority of Gen. Scott's strength over thatof Mr. Clay in New-York-a supe- iority which neverexisted. Men who had been sent to the Convention, by constituents entertaining an en- thusiastic preference for Mr. Clay, became suddenly doubtful as to his strength, and commenced manufac- turing public opinion forthe advancementoftheirown selfish ends. These manceuverers were few in nim- her, but in a body like that at Harrisburgh, where a conciliatory and compromising spirit prevailed, they were enabled to exert an all-important influence. The intriguers soon succeeded in detaching many of the honest and sincere friends of Mr. Clay from his support, alarming them by their fabricated pub- lic opinion and appealing to their patt intism and their attachment to principles rather than men. Hardly a doubt seemed to be entertained, on the first meeting of the Convention, that Mr. Clay would be nominated. There were not two opinions ex- pressed on the point, that he ought to be President of the United States. The question was one solely of proability of election; and this was a question partly of mere opinion and partly of testimony. Such a state of things presented a rare opportunity for intrigue and deception; and a few-a very few- could, it is obvious, by a resort to unprincipled arts and drained representations, and by busy, under- hand intrigues, mislead the majority and defeat their will. Unhappily for the country, such afew were found; and receiving coadjutors, as they soon did, in some honest but duped friends of Mr. Clay, their influence was greatly augmented, and even those who had had the fullest faith in the strength of their favorite candidate began to question whether expe- diency would not require another choice. In stating these well-known facts, it is far from our intention to intimate that there were not some gentlemen in the Convention who honestly believed that it would be injudicious to nominate Mr. Clay at that time. Unqucstionably there were stuch; anti they Lujay now be found among the warmest and mnost single-bearted of his supporters. But we must, nevertheless, adhere to the conviction that the will of the People was not faithfully spoken by that Convention; and that the defeat of Mr. Clay's nomi- nation was brought about by a misapprehension oe their most earnest wishes and anticipations. The Convention was organized on the 5th of De- cember by the appointment of Hon. James Barbour as President, with thirteen Vice Presidents and four Secretaries. A Committee was appointed to report upon the nomination of a candidate, and, after a se sion of nearly twb days, during which the intriguer were not idle with their bundles of letters, it reported in favor of William Henry Harrison. The friends of Mr. Clay-those who had adhered to him to the last-disappointed as they were in this unlooked-for result, were too well aware of the generous senti- ments of their candidate, not to acquiesce in it cheer- fully and with a good grace. At the meeting of the Convention, on the 9th of December, Mr. Banks of Kentucky was the first to rise and announce the hearty concurrence of the Delegation from that State in the nomination indicated by the informal ballot announced by the Committee. Mr. Preston, from the same State, followed in the same strain, and asked that a letter from Mr. Clay, which had for several days been in possession of a Delegate, but which had not been shown, lest it should seem intended to be used to excite sympathy for Mr. Clay, should now be read. Permission being unanimously given, the letter was read by General Leslie Combs of Kentucky. In this letter Mr. Clay says: "With a just and 'proper sense of the high honor of being voluntarily 'called to the office of President of the United States 'by a great, free and enlightened people, and pro- 'foundly grateful to those of my fellow-citizens who 'are desirous to see me placed in that exalted and 'responsible station, I must nevertheless say in en- 'tire truth and sincerity, that if the deliberations ol ' the Convention shall lead them to the cboice of an- 'other as the candidate of the opposition,far from 'fdeling any discontent, the iomination wi have ' my best wishes and receive my cordial support' He then calls upon his friends from Kentucky, dis- carding all attachments or partiality for himself, and guided solely by the motive of rescuing our country from the dangers which environed it, to heartily unite in the selection of that citizen, although it should not be Henry Clay, who might appear the most likely by his election to bring about a salutary change in the Administration. The reading of this letter excited great emotion in the Convention. It was the saying of a patriot of antiquity, that he would rather have it asked by pos- terity why a monument was lot erected to him than why it was. A similar spirit would seem to actuate Mr. Clay; for never has he been kn-wn to maniftst any personal disappointment at the failure or betrayal of his Presidential prospects. Gov. Barbour, of Virginia, after expressing his concurrence in the will of the Convention, said he had known Mr. Clay for thirty years, and had been intimately associated with him in public and private life, and that a more devoted Patriot or purer States. man never breathed. In the course of that thirty years he had never heard him utter one sentiment 70 Nomination of Mr. Tyler to the Vice.Preaidency-Mr. Clay again in Congress. unworthy this character. There was no place in his heart for one petty or selfish emotion. Benjamin Watkins Leigh anticipated the concur- rence of Virginia in the nomination. He had felt it his duty to support his more intimijate and endeared friend, Henry Clay, but he acknowledged the worth of Gen. Harrison. He had supported the former to the last from the firmest conviction that no other man was so fitted to the crisis-so transcendently quali- fied for the highest office ill the gift of the American people as Henry Clay. He never thought that Mr. Clay needed the office, but that the country needed him. That office could confer no dignity or honor on Henry Clay. The measure of his tasne was full; and whenever the tomb should close over him it would cover the loftiest intellect and the noblest heart that this age had produced or known. The venerable Peter R. Livingston, of New-York, an able and ardent supporter of Mr. Clay, said its regard to him-" I envy Kentucky, for when he dies, she will have his ashes! " A candidate for the Vice-Presidency remained to be nominated by the Convention. He was found in the person of John Tyler, of Virginia. By what un- fortunate chance this selection was made, it is unne- cessary now to inquire. It must be said in exculpa- tion of those, however, who acquiesced in it, that there was no good reason for doubting Mr. T, ler's political fidelity and attachment to Whig principles On all the great questions of public policy he was. considered as pledged to the support of those meas- ures for which the Whig party had been battling du- ring the last ten years. On the subject of the Public Lands he had, as a Member of the Virginia Legisla- ture, in 1839, declared himself, both in a Report and a Speech, an advocate of the measure of Diistriou- tion. In a speech before the U. S. Senate, he had condemned, in unequivocal terms, the abuse of the Veto power. He went to Harrisburg, as he himself has said, insfavor of Henry Clay-he voted for him in his own Delegation up to tea seventh and last balot-and, if his own words are to be believed, he was affected even tL tears, when the nomination was given by the Cbnvention to another. Stirely itcan- not be said that he might have been in favor of Mr. Clay's nomination to ite Presidency, and yet oppo- sed to the most important public nmeasures to which that distinguished Statesmen had ever rendered his support. Ots the question of a Bank, it was, with reason believed that Mr. Tyler's views were similar to those tisnintainled by the great Whig Party of the country. Wihilst a member of the Convention at Harrisburg, be had made to Governor Owen, of North Carolina, Chairman of the Committee, through whom all no- minations must find their way to the Convention, the following communication:' "-rhat his views on the Bank Question had un- dermotte an entire change; that he believed the es- tab'ishinent of a National Hank to le alike indispen- sable as a Fiscal Agent of the Governmn nt, and to the restoration of the Currency and Exchanges of the country; and he thought teat all Counwitutiottal objections oueht to yield to the various Exec;,tive, Legislative and Judicial decisiotis of the question." In addition to all these circumstances, the simple fact of Mr. Tyler's presence in the Convention-of his silent approval of all those important measures which were regarded as consequent upon the elec- tion of a Whig President-was, in the minds of hots- orable men, equivalent to a pledge that those meas- ures would, in any event, continue to meet his readr and earnest support. Under the influence of considerations like these, the Convention unanimously nominated John Tyler, of Virginia, for the Vice Presidency; and, having taken this step, adjourned. A deep disappointment was felt throughout the Whig ranks at the failure of the Convention to no- iinate Air. Clay for the Presidency; but the mag- nanimous sentiments expressed in his letter, read at the Convention, soon began to animate his friends; and they manifested their devotion to principles ra- tlher than to men, by rallying vigorously in support of the selected candidates. With regard to John Tyler, he was very Imper- fectly known out of Virginia; and if little could be said in his favor, still less could be said to his preju- dice. The office of Vice President was generally regarded as one of cotnparatively slight conse- quen(-e; and there seemed to be an utter absence of all apprehension of the contingency, by hicb its importance was so fearfully magnified. Future Conventions will never forget the lesson which Mr. Tyler has given to his countrymen and their poe- terity. CHAPTER XVIII. Mr. Clay again in con rPage with Mr. Calhoun-Reeon- ciliatory Incident-The Bankrupt lihl..-TheSub-Treasury agsin-A Government Bank-Mir. Clay visits his native Count! of Hanover-HIls Speechi-P-ro ed Reforrns-le address the Harrson Conventson at Nashvlle-leemocr-cy-Bor. a Demo- crat-Reminiscence of a Revolutionary IncidentL MR. CLAY'S efforts in the Democratic Whig cause appear not to have been less ardent, incessant and faithful, during the Congressional Session of 1839- 40, than at any previous period of his career. The just expectations of his friends had been thwarted at Harrisburg; but that circumstance did not seem either to affect his spirits, or to damp the ardor of his opposition to that policy which he believed inju- rious to the best interests of his country. He acqui- esced promptly, heartily and nobly in the nomina- tion of General Harrison, and did not manifest, on any occasion, a lurking feeling of disappointment. He took an early occasion in the Senate to rerterate the sentiments expressed in his letter, read at the Convention; and he showed himself prepared to do vigorous battle in behalf of the principles which he and his associates had been struggling, for the last twelve years, to maintain. In the Senate, on the third of January, 1840, Mr. Southsard moved the reconsideration of an order of reference of Mr. Calhoun's Land Bill to the Com- mittee on Public Lands. The proposition gave rise to a passage between Mr. Calhoun and Mr. Clay, in which severe language was employed on both sides. Allusion being made to their respective political ca- reers at the time of the Force Bill and the Compro- inise Act, Mr. Calhoun said that the gentleman from Kentuckv was flat on his back at that time, and was tomrpelted to the Compromise-and that he (Mr. Calhoun) was then his master. See the Address of the Delegates fto-m Maryland. in the Harrisburg Convention, to their constituents. Thsme facts will ie found eloqtiently set forth in that able paper. 71 Life of Henry Clay. In reply, Mr. Clay, in the ardor of his feelings, remarked:-" The gentleman has Faid that I was 'flat on my back-that he was my master on that 'occasion. He mny master! Sir, I would not own 'him for my slave! "' 'rhe principal questions on which he spoke during this session were-on the Abolition of Slavery; on the Bankrupt Bill; the Blaine Boundary Line; Mr. (Callouti's Bill to ecdc the Public Lands to the IatCs in which they lie; the Navy Appropriation Ilill; the Independent T-easury Bill; on the Brai ch A.lints; the Expenditures of Government; the Cum- herlarid Road; Repeal of the Salt Tax; arid the Bankrupt Bill. His opinions on nearly all these vubjocts ale so well known as to resder a recapitu- lation unnecessary. Notwithstanding the indications cf public hostility and " in spite of tile lamentations" in Congress " and elsewhere," Mr. Van Buren and his friends contin- ued to press their odious Sub-Treasury project, now nuewly christened tinder the name of the I Independ- ent Treasury Bill." Against this measure Mr. Clay battled with undiminished vigor ard zeal. On the twentieth of January, 1840, he addressed the Senate in one of his most spirited speeches, in opposition to the till, which he truly designated as a Government Bank in disguise, demonstrating the assertion by proofs the tiost convincing. " A Government Bank," said Mr. Clay, " may not 'suddenly burst upon us, but there it is, embodied in this bill. Let the reelection of the present Chief M Magistrate be secured, and you will soon see the 'Bank disnlos;ing its genuine haracter. But, thanks 'Ihe to God! there is a day of reckoning at hand.- 'All the signs of the times clearly indicate its ap- 'proach. And on the fourth day of March, in the 'year of our Lord 1841, I trust that the long account 'of the abuses and corruptions of this Administra- 'tion, in which this measure will be a conspicuous 'item, will be finally and for ever adjusted." lie introduced, on this occasion, a bill for the Re- peal of the Sub-Treasury System, but it was not acted upon until the will of the People was so per- emptorily spoken that longer resistance to it, on the part of Mr. Van Buren and his friends, was impos- sible. During the summer of 1840, Mr. Clay visited his native County of Hannver. and was every where hailed with enthusiasm and reverence. At a public dinner given to him at Taylorsville, June27th, 1840, he addressed a vast assemblage of his friends in a speech, which muay be referred to as a text book of his political faith. It is probably in the hands oftoo many of our readers to render an abstract of it use- ful in this place. Although his opinions on all pub- lic questions of importance have been always frankly Mr. ('lay is not the man to harbor the harsh feelings some- hines engendered in animated debate. After his farewell speech. cii resiging his seat in the Senate, as be was about to leave the Chamber, he encountered hir. Calhoun. They had not spoken ti each other for five years but they now simultaneoissly ex- .ndel their hands, and cordially greeted each other, while the tears sprang to their eyes. They had almost spent their lives to- gerler in Congress; arid during the War, arid at various timer subseiruently had stood shoulder to shoulder, animated by the same patriotic impules and aspirations. Time had passed over both, and the young men had become old. For a minute or more, they could not speak, so overcome were both with emo- tion. At length Mr. Clay said, on parting, " Give my best re- gards to Mrm Calhoun;" and tbey bade each other farewell. avowed, he defines his position in this speech witm unusual minuteness and precision. With a view to the fundamentaleliaructerof the Government itself, and especially of the Executive branch, he main- tains, that there should be-either by amendments of the Constitution, when they were necessary, or by remedial legislation, when the object fell within the scope of tie powers of Congress- 1st. A provision to render aL person ineligible to the office of President of the United States alter a ser- vice of one tert. 2d. That tlte Vetn power should be more precisely defined, and be subjccted to further limitations arid qualifications. 3d. That the power ofdisnission from office should be restricted, and the exercise of it rendered respors sible. 4th. That the control over the Treasurv of the United States should he confided arid confined ex- clusively to Congress; and all authority of the Prey- ideal over it, by means of disnmissing the Secretary of the Treasury, or other persons having the itinte- diate charge of it, he rigorouisly precluded. 5th.'that the ap1mmlintnrerr of Mleihert. of Con- tresa to nny lffine, or any but a fewr specific offices, during their continn-rice in office, and for one year thereafter, be prohibited. Mlr. Clay was among the most active of those, wins took part in tie campaign of 1840, which terminated in the complete triumph of the Whigs. On the 17th of August, 1840, lie addressed the HarrisonCrinven- tion at Nashville, Tennessee, in an interesting and eloquent speech. In allusion to the professions of the Van Buren party to be Democrats par ezeellence, he very happily said-" Of all their usurpations, I know of none more absurd than the usurpation of this name." " I WAS BUoR A DEmoCRAT," said he, subseqrient. ly in a speech delivered in Indiana-' rocked in the cradle of the Revolution- and at the darkest period of that ever memorable struggle for Free- dom. I recollect, in 1781 or '82, a visit made by Tarleton's troops to the house of my mother, and of their running their awords into the net-made gr-ave of mnyfather and grand-father, thinking they containred hidden treasures. Though then not more than four or five years of age, the circumstance of that visit is vividly remembered, and it will be to the last moment of my life. I was born a Demo- crat-was raised and nurtured a Republican-and shall die a Republican, in the faith and principles of my fathers." CHAPTER XIX Eleetion of General Harison-He visits Mr. Cle Y-Sertkod Ses- dion of the Twenty-Sixth Congres-tnauguration and death ofGeneral Harrison-The Extm Session-Mr. Clny's Ltsh- John Tyler's veto of the Bank Fill-fur. Clay's eloquent Speech in Reply to Mr. Rives-TS-e Vnn ltxire., nen in Cnn- gres call to, congraulste John Tyler on his Veto-bMr. Clay's fancifiul tes.rrpton if the scene-Events succeding the Vetn-ltlre Vetiren-The Tariff-Mr. Clay resigns his seat in the Senatelrpreawive Farewell. THE election of General Harrison to the Prm-si. dency in the autumn of 1840, by an immense ma- jority, was hailed by the Whigs as the triuniphant consummation of their lone and arduous twelve years' struggle against the disorganizing principle and measures which had prevailed during the ascen- dency of Jackson and Van Buren. A majority of the People had at length passed their solemn ver- dict againrt uose measures, and in favor of the lesi. 72 Death of President Harrison-Mr. Tyler's Vetoes-A Scene Described. lation lor whiichl Mr. Clay and the Whigs in Con- gress haid been so unanimously contending. Be- fore commencing his journey to the Seat of Govern- ment, General Harrison visited Mr. Clay, and per- sonally tendered him any office in the President's gift. Mr. Clay respectfully declined all invitations of this kind, and announced his intention of retiring from the Senate as soon as the objects for which he and his friends had been laboring so strenuously, were placed in a train of accomplishment. The Session of Congress preceding the new Presi- dent's installation found Mr. Clay at his post, still proipt arid active in the service of his country. On the L.and Bill-the Repeal of the Sub-Treasury-the Bill to establish a Uniform System of Bankruptcy- the Treasury Note Bill-the Prehmption and Dis- tsibu tion project-and other important questions, on which his views are familiar to our readers, he ad- dressed the Senate with his accustomed eloquence and energy. In his Speech of the 28th of January, 1841, on the Land Bill, he entered into an able vin- dication of Whig principles and measures as con- trasted with those of the expiring Administration. There being still a Van Buren majority, Mr. Clay's Resolutions, repealing the Sub-Treasury, after affording occasion for some eloquent debates, were laid on the table the 19th of February. Some remarks being made in the Senate by M1r. Cuthbert, toward the close of the Session, of a character prejridicial to Mr. Webster, Mr. Clay eloquently vindicated that distinguished Senator, and bore tes- timony to his exalted merits. The Second Session of the Twenty-Sixth Con- gress terminated on the night of the 3d of March- the Van Buren tnen having refused to pass a Bank- ruipt Bill and other important measures. The day after the adjournment, General Harrison was inaugu- rated President of the United States; and, on the 18th of March, he issued his Proclamation for an Extra Session of Congress, to commence on the last Mon- day in May. Before that period arrived, and pre- cisely a month after his inauguration, the venerable President departed this life; and, by a provision of the Constitution, John Tyler of Virginia, the Vice President, was invested with the authority of Presi- dent of the United States. The Extraordinary Session of Congress, convened by the Proclamation of the lamented Harrison, took place at the appointed time, the last Monday in May, 1841. Never was there a body of Representatives who came together with a more patriotic and honor- able desire faithfully to execute the will of their con- stituents, the majority of the People of the United States, than the Whigs, who composed the Twenty- Seventh Congress. Mr. Clay at once took active and decided measures for the prompt dispatch of the public business. The subjects which he pro- posed to the Senate, as proper exclusively to engage their deliberations during the Extra Session, were: 1st. The repeal of the Sub-Treasury Law. 2(1. The incorporation of a Bank adapted to the wants of the People and the Government. 3d. T'Ie provision of an adequate Revenue by the Imposition of Duties, and including an authority to contract a temporary Loan to cover the Public Debt created bv the last Administration. 4th. The prospective Distribrition of the proceeds of the Public Lands. 5th. The passage of necessary Appropriation Bills. 6th. Sotme modification in the Banking System of the District of Columbia for the benefit of the Peo- ple of the District. In the formation of Committees, Mr. Clay was placed at the head of that on Finance; and, on his motion, a Select Committee on the Currency for the consideration of the Batik question was appointed. Of this Committee he was made Chairman. Early in June he presented his admirable Report of a Plan for a National Bank; and, after a thorough discus- sion, the bill was passed, which, on die 16th of August, called forth a Veto from President Tyler. On the 19th of the same month, Mr. Clay addressed the Senate on the subject gf this Veto. His remarks, although apparently made "s more in sorrow than in anger," are pervaded by the spirit of unanswerable truth; and, in his rejoinder to Mr. Rives, on the same day, he rises to a hight of eloquence never surpassed on the floor of Congress. In the opinion of many of his hearers, it was one of the most bril- liant Speeches of his whole Senatorial career. On this occasion he showed, by irresistible proofs, that the question of a Bank was the great issue made before the People at the late Election. "1 Wherever 'I was," said he-" in the great Valley of the 'Missisappi-in Kentucky-in Tennessee-in Mary- 'land-in all the circles in which I tnoved, every 'where, Bank or No Bank was the great, the lead- 'ing, the vital question." Not long after the Veto, as Mr. Clay, with two or three friends, was passing the Treasury Buildings, along the road leading to the Pennsylvania Avenue, he noticed a procession of gentlemen walking two by two, toward the White House. "1 In the name of wonder, what have we here" exclaimed Mr. Clay, while his features lighted up with one of those mischievous smiles, which are so contagious, seen on his countenance. It weas a procession of tMe Van Buren Members of Congress, going person- ally to congratulate John Tyler on his Veto! The incident was not forgotten by Mr. Clay. The scene was too rich and piquant to pass unnoticed. On the 2d of September, a suitable opportunity pre- sented itself in the Senate fi)r a commentary on the occurrence; and he availed hiniselfof it in a man ner, which entirely overcame the gravity of all par- ties present. He gave an imaginary description of the scene at the White House, and the congratu- lations lavished upon the President by his new friends. He pictured to the Senate the honorable member from Pennsylvania (Mr. Buchanan) ap- proaching the Throne, and contributing his words of encouragement and praise to those, which had been offered by the rest. The imaginary speech, which he put into the lips of this gentleman on this occasion, was so characteristic, that Mr. Buchanan subsequently complained in the Senate, that it had been gravely attributed to him by several journals as having been actually delivered, and that he could not divest many of his worthy constituents in Penn. sylvania of the idea. The figure of Mr. Benton was one of too much importance not to be introduced by Mr Clay into this fancy sketch. I I can tell the gentleman from Kentucky, that I was not at the White House on the occasion to which he alludes," said the Missouri Senator inter- rupting him. - - - 7S Life of Henry Cloy. " Then I will suppose what the gentleman would have sail if he had been present," continued Mr. Clay, without suffering his imagination tn be check- ed in its flight. And he then represented the wordy and pompous Missourian bowing at the Executive footstool, and tendering his congratulations. The space to which we have been restricted, will not allow us to present even an imperfect sketch of the whole scene. We can only refer the reader to it as one of the most felicitous of those legitimate presentations of the ludicrous, made to illustrate the true, which sometimes occur to enliven the bar- renness of legislative debate. The events which succeeded the Veto are too re- cent in the minds of the People to render a minute enumeration necessary here. They are forcibly summed tip in Mr. Adams's excellent Report on the Preeident's Veto of the Revenue Bill. A second Bank Bill, shaped to meet the avowed views of the President, was prepared, passed, and then vetoed. The Cabinet, with the exception of Mr. Webster, resigned; and the great purpose for which the Spe- cial Sessi -n of Congress had been called was defeat- ed by the will of one man, who owed his influential position to his professed attachment to Whig princi- ples, and his declared preference for Mr. Clay as a candidate for the Presidency. Mr. Clay was unremittted in his application to the public business during the Fxtra Session. He spoke on a great variety of questions, and, being at the bead oftwo important Committees, performed a great amount of hard work. Although his principal mea- sure for the public relief was defeated by the unlook- ed-for defection of John Tyler, he had the satisfac- tion of aiding in the Repeal of the odious Sub-Trea- sury S a stem-in the passage of the Bankrupt Law -and in the final triumph of his favotite measure, often baffled but still persevered in, the Distribution of the Sales of the Public Lands. By the provisions of this laFt law, Distribution was to cease whenever the average rate of Duties on Imports should exceed 20 per cent. A Revision of the Tariff, rendered necessary by the expiration of the Compromise Act, was also un- dertaken. This was the most important subject which engaged the attention of the Twenty-Seventh Congress, at its first regular session. To meet the exigency of the occasion, a Provisional Bill, sus- pending the operation of the Distribution Bill for one month, as well in consequence of a lack of funds in the Treasury, as of a desire on the part of Congress to give more mature consideration to the subject of a Tariff, was passed. But it encountered still ano- ther and another Veto from the President. It has been asserted that Mr. Clay and his friends did not desire an adjustment of the Tariff question, during the Session of 1841-2. Nothing could be more unfounded than this charge. In spite of dis- comfittire and mortification, they persevered in their efforts for the relief of the country, and eventually surrendered the Distribution clause to meet the views of the President; and the Tariff Bill finally became a law, through the patriotic endeavors of the friends of Mr. Clay, notwithstanding the attempt of Mr. Ty- ler to crush their energies and arouse their opposi- tion. On the thirty-first of March, 1842, after one of the longest Congressional careers known in our annals, Mr. Clay resigned his seat in the Senate of the Uni- ted States. It having been previously understood that he would take occasion, in presenting the cre- dentials of his successor, Mr. Crittenden, to make some valedictory remarks, the Senate Chamber was, at an early hour, crowded to its utmost capacity, by Members of the other House, and by a large assem- blage of citizens and ladies. Some of Mr. Clay's best friends had looked forward with apprehension to this event-wearing the aspect, as it did, of a for- mal and appointed leave-taking. They remembered that there was but one step from the sublime to the ridiculous, and they dreaded lest the truly impress- ive character of the occasion might be marred, or di- vested of its dignity, by any farewell words. But Mr. Clay had hardly risen to speak before their ap- prehensions were lost and forgotten in a deep and absorbing interest in the language that flowed calm- ly, smoothly and majestically from his lips. He re- ferred to the period of his first entrance into the Sen- ate, in 1806. He paid a merited compliment to the high character of that body, and to the ability of its individual Members; but added that, full of attrao- tion as was a seat in that Chamber, to fill the aspi- rations of the most ambitious heart, he had long de- termined to forego it, and to seek repose among the calm pleasures of " home.". It had been his purpose, he said, to terminate his connection with the Senate in November, 1840. Had President Harrison lived, and the measures devised at the Extra Session been fully carried out, he would have then resigned his seat. But the hope that at the Regular Session the measures left un- done might be still perfected, induced him to post- pone his determination; and events, which arose af- ter the Extra Session, resulting from the failure of those measures which had been proposed at that Session, and which appeared to throw on his politi- cal friends a temporary show of defeat, confirmed him in the resolution to attend the present Session also-and, whether in prosperity or adversity, to share the fortune of his friends. But he resolved, at the same time, to retire as soon as he could do so with propriety and decency. Mr. Clay then con- tinued as follows: " From 1806, the period of my entry on this noble theatre, with short intervals, to the present time, I have been engaged in the public councils, at home and abroad. Of the nature or the value of the ser- vices rendered during that long and arduous period of my life, it does not become me to speak; history, if she deigns to notice me, or posterity, if the recol- lections of my humble actions shall be transmitted to posterity are the best, the truest, the most im- partial judges. When death has closed the scene, their sentence will be pronounced, and to that I ap- peal and refer myself. liy acts and public conduct are a fair subject for the criticism and judgment of my fellow-men; but the private motives by which they have been prompted-they are known only to the great Searcher of the human heart and to my- self; and I trust I may be pardoned for repeating a declaration made some thirteen years ago, that, whatever errors-and doubtless they have been many-may be discoveredl in a review of my public service to the country, I can with unshaken con- dence appeal to the Divine Arbiter for the truth of the declaration, that I have been influenced by no impure pturposes, no personal motive-have sought no personal aggrandisement; hit that in all my public acts I have had a sole and single eve, and a warm and devoted heart, directed and dedicas. 74 Retiracy from the Senate-Return to Kentucky-Remark. on Slaeve. ted to what, in my judgment, I believed to be the true interest of my country." Mir. Clay then alluded to the fact, that in common with other public men he had not enjoyed an immuni- ty from censure and detraction. But he had not been unsustained. And here the allusion to the persecu- tions of his assailants led to the mention of Ken- tucky, the State of his adoption-noble Kentucky- who, when the storm of calumny raged the fiercest, and he seemed to be forsaken by all the rest of the world, threw her broad and impenetrable shield around him, and bearing him up aloft in her coura- geous arms repelled the poisoned shafts aimed for his destruction. As Mr. Clay uttered the name of Kentucky, his feelings overpowered him-the strong man was bowed with emotion-he passed his fin- gers before his eyes for a moment-then rallied, and proceeded with his remarks. To the charge of Dictatorship, which was so often in the mouths of his opponents at that time, Mr. Clay replied tem- perately and happily. We can quote but a fragment of this portion of his Valedictory Address: "1 That my nature is warm, my temper ardent, my disposition, especially in relation to the public ser- vice, enthusiastic, I am fully ready to own; and those who supposed that I have been assuming the Dictatorship, have only mistaken for arrogance or assumptio.i that fervent ardor and devotion which is natural to my constitution. atid which I may have displayed with no little regard to cold, calculating andl cautious prudence, in sustaining and zealous- ly support tog important National measures of policy which I have presented and proposed." The truly generous qualities of Mr. Clay's na- ture shine forth from every line of the following pas- age: " During a long and arduous career of service in the public counicils of my country, especially dur- ing the last eleven years I have held a seat in the Senate, from the samne ardor and enthusiasm of character, I have no doubt, in the heat of debate, and in ali honest endeavor to maintain my opinions against adverse opinions equally honestly enter- tained, as to the best course to be adopted for the public welfare, I may have often inadvertently or unintentionally, in moments of excited debate, made use of lanautnge that has been offensive, and sus- ceptible ofinajurious interpretation toward my brother St nators. If there be any here who retain wound- ed fevlings of injury or dissatisfaction produced on utich occasions, I beg to assure them that I now of- fer the amplest apology for any departure on my part from the esiablishel rules of parliamentary deco- rum and courtesy. On the other hand, I assure the Senators, one and all, without exception and with- out reserve, that I retire frotn this Senate Chamber without carrying with te a single feeling of resent- nent or dissatisfaction towards the Senate or any of its members." Mir. Clay concluded this memorable address by Invoking, in a tone which thrilled through every heart, the blessings of Heaven upon the whole Sen- ate and every member of it. The hushed suspense of intense feeling and attention pervaded the croswd- ed assemblage as he sat down. For nearly half a minute after he had finished no one spoke-no one moved. There was not a dry eye in the Senate Chamber. Men of all parties seemed equally over- come by the pathos and majesty of that farewell.- At length Mr. Preston, of South Carolina, rose and remarked, that what had just taken place was an epoch in their legislative history; and, from the feel- ing which was evinced, he plainly saw that there was little disposition to attend to business. He would therefore move that the Senate adjourn. The motion was unanimously agreed to; bait even then the whole audience seemed to remain spell-bound by the effect of those parting tones i Mr. Clay. For several seconds no one stirred. " In all probability we should have remained there to this hour," said an honorable Senator to us recent- ly, in describing the scene, " had not Mr. Clay binm- self risen, and moved towards the area." And then at length, slowly and reluctantly, the assemblage dispersed. Shortly after the adjournment, as Mr. Calhoun was crossing the Senate Chamber, he and Mr. Clay encountered. For five years they had been estran- ged; and the only words which had passed between them had been those harshly spoken in debate. But now, as they thus inadvertently met, the old times caine over them. They remembered only their po- litical companionship of twenty years' standing.- The intervening differences, which had chilled their hearts towards each other, were forgotten. The tears sprang to their eyes. They shook each other cor- dially by the hand-interchanged a "' God bless you!" and parted. We have alluded elsewhere briefly to this scene. It was a happy sequel to the leading events of the day. CHAPTER XX. Returm to Kentucky-Speeh at Lexington-Visits Indiana- Scene with Mr. Mendenhall-Remarks on Slavery-Person- at Matte-Standers Refuted-I be Dayton Convention- Visit to the South-est-Triumphal Progrs-Retum Home Contemplated Visit to the South-Et-Letters ott the Tariff-Letter to the Whigs of Fayette County, Va., in re- guard to John TylerA a Visits New-Orlean-Add te XVWhig C:onventol-Leaves New-Orleans on his way to 5'Nerti-arotina. ON his return to Kentucky, after retiring from public life, Mr. Clay was received with all those manifestations of enthusiastic affection wvhich it is possible for a grateful constituency to exhibit. On the 9th of June, 1842, he partook of a public enter- tainment or Barbecue, given in his honor near Lex- ington. The speech which he delivered on this occasion is probably fresh in the recollection of many of our readers. Containing as it does many personal re- miniscences of his past career, and a review of those leading questions of policy upon wh-ich we have al- ready given his opinions, it is one of the most inter- esting of his numerous addresses to popular assem- blies. Early in October, 1842, being on a visit to Rich- mond, in the State of Indiana, the occasion of his meeting a large concourse of his fellow citizens was seized upon by a number of his political oppo- nents to present him with a petition praying him to emancipate his slaves in Kentucky. It was thought that even Henry Clay would be nonplussed and embarrassed by so inopportune and unexpected an appeal. A Mfr. Mendenhall was selected to present him with the petition, and expectation was raised to the highest pitch among the few who were in the se- cret, and who were far from being Mr. Cloy's well- wishers, to hear what he would say. Never did he acquit himself more felicitously than on this occa- sion. 7S The indignation was great among the assembly when they learned the object with which Mir. Men- denhall had made his way through their midst to the spot where Mr. Clay ctood. T1hey regarded it as an insult to him and his hiends; and the proba- bility is, that Mr. Mendenhall would have had some palpable proof of their sense of his impertinence, had not Mr. Clay instantly appealed to the assem- bly in the following terms: "1 I hope that Mr. Mlendenhall may be treated with the greatest forbearance and respect. I assure my fellow citizetis, here collected, that the presentation of the petition has not occasioned the slightest pain, nor excited ote soliiary disagreeable emotion. If it were to be presented to nme, I prefer that it ahtould 1e dune in the face of this vast assemblage. I think I can give it such an answer as becomes me and the subject of which it treats. At all events, I entreat and beseech tn y fellow citizens for their sake, for my sake, to offer no disrespect, no ipdig- nity, no violence,ta word or deed,to Mr.Mendenhall." Then, turning to Mr. Mendenhall: "Allow me to 'say," said Mr. C., that I think you have not con- 'formed to the independent character of an Ameri- can citizen in presenting a petition to me. A petition, as the term implies, generally proceeds 'from an inferior in power or station to a superior; 'but between us there is entire equality." Mr. Clay remarked, in continuation, that he de- sired no concealment of his opinions in regard to the institution of Slavery. lie looked upon it as a great evil, and deeply lamented that we had derived it front the Parental Government arid from our ances- tors. But, without any knowledge of tne relation in which lie stood to his Slaves, or their individual con- dition, Mr. Mendenhall and his associates had pre- sented a petition calling upon him forthwith to liberate the whole of them. " Now let me tell you," said Mr. C. " that some half a dozen of them, from age, decrepitude or infirmity, are wholly unable to gain a livelihood for tilem- selves, and are a heavy charge upon me. Do you think that I should conform to the dictates of hu- manity by ridding myself of that charge, and send- ing them forth into the world, with tie boon of liberty, to end a wretched existence in starvation V" In conclusion, Mr. Clay admirably exposed the hiypocrasy of the petitioners by the following pro. position, in regard to which they have never taken any eteps: " I shall, Mr. Mendenhall, take your petition into respectful and deliberate consideration; but before I come to a final decision. I should like to know wEab you and your associates are willing- to do for the Slaves in my possession, if I should think pro- per to liberate them. 1 own about fifty, who are probably worth fifteen thousand dollars. ''o turn them loose upon society without almy means of sub- sistence or support would be an act of cruelty. Are you willing to raise and secure the payment offif- teen thousand dollars for their benefit, if l should be induced to free them 1 The security of the pay- ment of that sum vtould materially lessen the ob- stacle in the way of their emancipation." Mr. Clay finished his remarks with some friendly advice to Mr. Mendenhall, which it is probable that individual will never forget. The tables were corn- pletely turned upon those who had thought to annoy and embarrass the great Kentuckian. The beater ofthe petition and his associates were suffered to slink away unnoticed and unheeded by the crowd. As the period for a new Presidential election ap- proaches, the enemies of Mr. Clay are circulating the grossest misrepresentations in regard to his con- duct as a slave holder and his opinions upon the subject of the institution of Slavery. A Mr. Janes Channing Fuller, who according to his own showing, smuggled himself into the kitchen at Ashlan4 and interrogated the slaves, in the absence of Mr. Clay from home, has published a statement in relation to Mr. Clay's domestic affairs, full of the most ridicu- lous falsehoods. One of the slaves, natined Darkey, who seems to have been very communicative in "1 humbugging" the fellow, on being asked why she had told him such big stories, replied : Ad Why, the man came sneaking about the house like a fool, and I thought I would make a bigger fool of him." A Mr. Abel Brown, who was indicted not long since for libel by the Grand Jury of Albany, has also been busy in propagating the vilest slanders irn regard to Mr. Clay's connection with the slave- holding interest. We need only stamp them as de, liberate and malicious falsehoods, wholly unsustain- ed by the slightest shadow of proof. The Lexington Intelligencer says: "d Mr. Clay owns about fifty slaves. Several of them, from age and infirmity, are an absolute charge upon him. His allowance of food to them, is a pound of bacon per day for adult men, and in that proportion for women and children-liee access to tile meal-tub for bread, and plenty of vegetables. Most of them raise fowls. They are well clothed and housed, and the tasks given them are verv light, insomuch, that during the season of breaking hem'p, some of the men can earn their dollar per day. Their attachment to Mr. Clay is strong. Chadles has travelled with him through the greateripart of the United States and both the Cansadas. When at the Falls of Niagara, three years ago, Mr. Clay was asked by a friend if he was sure of Charles's fidelity; for that some Abolitionists had been attempting to seduce him from his service. Mr. Clay replied that they were welcome to get him off if they could. He might go if he pleased;e would be only anticipating his freedom a few davs. In Canada, Charles was again importuned and teased, until excessively vexed, he turned upon his tormentors and told them that he would not leave his master for both of the Queen's Provinces. Charles's wife, a free wmnuan and her children, all live upon Mr. Clay's place and are chiefly supported by him, without rendering any equivalent." There has never been any concealment on Mr. Clay's part of his opinions on the subject of Slavery. Through the whole course of this Memoir they will be found scattered, from the period when he first advocated the gradual eradication of Slavery from Kentuckv in 1797 to the present motnent. In his speech before the Colonization Society in 1827, (see Chapter X. of the present work,) nothing can ho more explicit than the language he employs. We refer those who wostld be enlightened further in re- gard to his views, to that eloquent address. On the 29th of September, 1842, Mr. Clay attended the great Whig Convention at Dayton, Ohio, where OE HUNDRED THOUSAND WHIGS are believed to have been assembled. "At 8 o'clock," says one of the actors in the scene, "1 when every street in the city was filled, 'and there seemed no resting-place for any, the pro- 'cession was formed. This occupied a long time. 'When done, the order, ' March! ' was given; and, 176 Life of Henry Clay. Visit to the South-WVeat-The Tariff of 1842-Letters on the Tariff. '-in solid mass, we moved to welcome the great Statesman, Henry Clay, into the city. He wits 'met near the city, and, at half-past 9 o'clock, reached the neighborhood of the National Hotel. ' Here a beautiful sight was witnessed. One hun- ' dred and twenty-five children, as the honest patriot approached. welcomed him with songs! Their sweet voices rang out in mierry peals, and the mul- 'titude responded to it with the heartiest enthusiasm. Alter this, Mr. Clay occupied a stand for some tine, as the procession passed hy, welcotiming him to Ohio, 'and in return receiving his salutations. -1 When the procession had passed, Mr. Clay re- tired into the Hotel. Governor Metcalf then ap- 'peared at the window, arid delivered a Speech- returning the thanks of Kentucky for the warm- 'hearted reception they had met with, and bid- ding all who loved the name of American to rally 'together in defence of A merican Liberty and Ameri- ' can Labor. "1 Mr. Schenck read Resolutions, prepared by the Comormittee, nominating Henry Clay and John I Davis f'r the Whig candidates for 1844. At this 'time Mir. Clay was seen in the crowd, and then, as 'if there had been otme votce only, the shout went 'forth for the Statesmat of the Nation. He answered 'it; and, in a Speech of two hoors, plain, yet elo- 'quent, he spoke, concealing no opinion, disguising no wish, the nmultitude all the while listening with 'eager attention and breathless silence. And such 'a Speech! It was a master-effort of a master- spirit." Of this tremendous meeting Mr. Clay afterward remarked, that of all the crowds in Europe or else- where he never saw one so great. A vast sea of human heads surrounded the platform, covering many acres. In the month of December, 1842, Mr. Clay, having private business in New-Orleans, where one of his married daughters resides, visited that city, stop- ping at Natchez and other places on his route. lie was every where received by the People with such enthusiastic demonstrations of popular affection as had never before been bestowed upon any Amierican except Washington. On his return homeward from Louisiana, about the middle of February, 1843, his progress was continually impeded by vast assemblages of the people to meet and w, lcome him. At Mobile. on the 2d of February, and at Vickeburg, on the 20th of February, an immense concourse of citizens col- lecteid to offer the tribute of their gratitude and respect. The Hon. S. S. Prentiss addressed him, on the latter occasion, in that strain of fluent and impassioned eloquence for which that young and gifted orator is distinguished. At Jackson, the capital of Mississippi, Mr. Clay was inet and welcomed by the largest concourse ever assembled in the State. At Meniphis, Ten- neessee, crowds of citizens from the surrounding region assembled to tender him their affectionate respects, to look on and listen to the greatest living chanmpion of their Country's honor and interests. Thus felicitated arid welcomed on his route, Mr. Clay, with more than a conqueror's trophies, re- turned, in fine health and spirits, to Ashland, just as Spring was beginning to fringe with green the old oaks that waved around his homestead. Early in April he addressed a large body of his fellow citizens in the Court-House yard at Lexing ton; arid, in the course of his remarks, acknow ledged, in appropriate language, the attentions which had been paid to him and the honors which had been showered upon hitt by all parties during his late trip to the South-wet. It having been understood that Mr. Clay would make a tour to the South-eust during the autumn of 1843, innumerable letters from Committees in all sections of the country were poured in upon him. requesting him to visit a multitude of places, both on his route and aside from it. The task of reply- ing to these letters must alone have beemi exceeding- ly laborious. North Carolina was, we believe, the first to claim from him a visit. In his reply to a Committee of citizens of Raleigh, dated 10th July, 1813, he consents to pay a visit, some time in the course of the next spring to that State, hinch was "the first to declare the Independence of the Colo- 'nies, and will be among the last to abandon the 'support of the Union." Several letters from M r. Clay on the subject of the Tariff appeared, during the Sumitier of 1843. No- thing could be more explicit and undisguised than the expression of his views. In his reply, dated 13th September. 1843, to a letter from F. S. Bronson, Esq., of Georgia, asking his opinions in regard to the Protective policy ot' 1832, lie writes: " The sum anid substance of what I conceive to be tne true policy of the United States, in respect to a Tariff, may be briefly stated. In conformity with the principle announeed in the Compromise Act, I think, that whatever revenue is necessary to an eco- nomical end honest administration of the General Government, ought to be derived from duties, impo- sed ona Forein itrporte. And I believe that, in es- tablishing a l'ariffof those duties, ttch a discrimi- nation ought to be made, as will incidentally afford reasonable protection to our national interests. -I think there is no danger of a high Tariff being ever established; that of 1828 was eminently de- serving that denomination. I was not in Congress when it passed, and did tot vote forit; but wit, iths history and with the circumitances which gave birtli to it, I anim well acquainted. They were highly dis- creditable to American legislation and I hope, for its honor, will never be again repeated. " After my return to Congress in 1831, my efforts were directed to the modification and reduction of the rates of duty contained in the act of 1828. The act of 1832 greatly reduced and modified them; and the act of 1833, commonly called the Compromise Act, still farther reduced and modified them. 'The act which passed at the Extra Session of 1841, which I supported, was confined to the free articles. I had resigned mv seat in the Senate when the act of 1842 passed. Generally, the duties which it itn- poses are lower than those in the act of 1832. And, without intending to express any opinion upon eve- ry item of this last Taifi; I would sity that I think the provisions, in the teain, are wise arid proelr. It there be any excesses or defects in it, (of' vnhi,;h I have not the means here ofjudging,) they ought to be corrected. "My opinion, that there is no danger hereafter of a high Tariff, is founded on the gratifying fact that our manufactures have now taken a deep root. In their infancy, they needed a greater measure of pro- tection; but, as they grow and advance, they ac- quire strength and sitabilitv, arid, consequently, will require less protection. Even new, sorne branches of them are able to maintain, in distant markets, successful competition with rival foreign manufac- tures." 17 Is Life of cenry Cay. By this it will be seen, that Mr. Clay is indfaor zens: It is Dot proper that I should make a speech. of'eutasnieg the present Tariff; and that, so far and I will not make a speech. But this I may say from contemplating higher and higher duties, he be- to you-you are engaged in a good cause, an honeut linte8sthat the rapid and constant progress of our cause, a glorious cause: the principles which yes lieves that the rapid are advocating tend to the advancement of the pros. Manufactures tends ever to diminish instead of in- perity of the Republc, and 1 ill tel you that from creasing the necessity for decidedlyprotediucduties. all qatersrom Me farthest corners of Maine He never was in favor of a high tariff. In his own Ian- o Me eziremest poeits of Louiana, Mhe signs .1 guage, he believes: that the Revenue from the Gen- Me times are propitious, and tot a speck obscures 'eral Government should be derived from the Foreign the horizon. Go ox, TBEN Go AHXAD !" 'imports to the exclusion of direct taxes, and the On the 25th February, Mr. Clay reached Mobile proceeds of the sales of Public Lands; and that no on his way to North Carolina. Although it was 'more revenue should be levied than is necessary to the Sabbath, and of course no civic ceremonies de. 'an economical administration of the Government; noted the welcome which was swelling in every 'but that in levying it such discriminations ought to bosom, yet the wharves were lined with a dense and be made as will afford moderate and reasonable pro- innumerable throng, eager to catch a glimpse of 'tection to American interests against the rival and him as he disembarked. On the next day he was prohibitory policy of Foreign Powers." to receive his fellow citizens at the Mansion House Notwithstanding these clear and unequivocal dec- The Advertiser of the 26th says: "Mr. Clay, we larations, the attempt is frequently made to misre- 'are pleased to add, is looking in fine health, and present Mr. Clay's views in regard to the Tariff. promises to live yet many years, the benefactor and Surely there is no longer any excuse for ignorance 'the pride of his country." upon this subject among persons claiming to be in- On the 5th March, he left Mobile for Montgomery, telligent. Columbus, Ga., Macon and other intermediate cities The Whigs of Fayette County, Virginia, some on his route, followed by the best hopes of the peo- time in Septen.ber, 1843, wrote to Mr. Clay request- ple for his health, prosperity and elevation to the iLtg hin to favor them with a visit on his way to or Chief Magistracy of the Republic in November next. return from North Carolina. By the following ex- _ tracts from his reply, it will be seen that he is far from disguising his sentiments in regard to Mr. CHAPTER XXI. Tyler: Mr. Iives's Letter in favor of Mr. Clay-Review of Mr. Clay's 'The reachey, Genlemenof the Presi- Personal Histort'-Hip nieesses at the Bsr-Ulimef Justice i- The treachery, Gentlemen, or the acting Presi- Marshall's Opinion of his Talents.-Personal Iescription-Ha dent, to which you allude in terms of just indigna- Manner. and Mode of Address-Richard A. Johnson's RAl- tion, is mortifying to us as Americans. timateof Mr. Clay's Abilitie-Anecdote-Concluuion. "Considering the youth of our Republic, and the Owx of the most cheering evidences of the wide- virtuous and illustrious men who have filled the of- ra ecini h ulcmn nfvro fice of Chief Magistrate of the Union, it is painful pread reaction in the public mind iu favor of in the extreme to behold such an example of utter Mr. Clay may be found in the letter of theHon. Wil- abandonment of all the obligations of honor, of duty liam C. Rives, U. States Senator from Virginia, and of fidelity. But, far from allowing that de- dated January 1st, 1844, and addressed to Colonel grading fact to throw us into a state of apathy and Edmund Fontaine, of Hanover County. In this despondency, it ought to stimulate every American freeman to redouble his energies in rescuing his manly and eloquent letter, Mr. Rives states the Government from the impure hands into which it grounds of his preference for Mr.Clayover Mr.Van has accidentally fallen. Buren as a candidate for the Presidency in plain "1 Against Mr. Tyler no exertion is necessary. He and forcible terms. The following passages cannot will soon retire with the contempt and amidst the be made too familiar to the people of the United scoffs of all honorable men. Our efforts should be S directed against those who first seduced and then tCould any thing inflict a deeper wound on the profited by him; those who, after having won him "ol n hn nlc eprwudo h to their uses now affect to shrink from the contami- cause of Republican Instihutions than such a spec. nating association ; those who after his complete tacle of levity and instability on the part of the con- identification with them, and at the moment when stituent body as would be exhibited in the restoration he is appropriating to their exclusive advantage the of Mr. Van Buren, after the overwhelming condem- whole patronage of the Government, unjustly up- nation of his Administration pronounced by the braid us with the failure of measures, the adoption almost unanimous electoral voice of the country but of which was prevented by his perfidy and their three short years ago Would it not render popu countenauce and support of him." lar Government a by-word and taunt' among the Ia Decmber, 843,r. Cla's prvate afairsNations7 . . i S In December, 1843, rsr. Cla's private affairs H " It is impossible for any reflecting man to con- again required his presence in New-Orleans. He template the actual and prospective condition of the was welcomed on his route to that city by the same country without seeing in it already the germ of new testimonials of popular attachment that had signal- difficulties and troubles, which nmay, in their ap- ized his journey of the preceding year; and, during Proaching developement, agitate our glorious Union his residence in the great Southern Metropolis, eiti to its centre. T e Oregon and Texas question in rend of all tie seemd t nit i doin him our foreign relations; at home, a deficient revenue, rensof ll prtis semedto uitein dinghimwith all its ordi-nary. sources pressed up to their honor. Before his departure, the State Convention farthest produccive imit, and some of them, there of the Democratic Whigs of Louisiana, which was is reason to apprehend, beyond; the Tariff contro- holding its session at the time, formed in proces- versy reopened, with all the conflicting interests Sion, the 23d February, 1844, and marched to the and passions which never fail to be awakened by St. Charles Hotel, where he was staying, to tender it. and added 'to these, the rekindled fires of the Aitolition exciterri nt-each and all of them are ques- their respects. His reply to their enthusiastic con- tions which carry in their bosom the fearful elements gratulations A as brief but to the point: of civil discord and intestine strife. The worst and 'You call for a speech from me, my fellow-citi- most dangerous aspect they present is, that all of Col. R. M. Johnson'. Tribute to Iesary Clay-Prioate History-Conclusion. a them bring into immediate and opposing array, if Nothing could be more felicitous than Mr. Clay's not into angry and hostile collision, the sectional personal manners and mode of address. They im- interests and feelings of the different geographical press every one with the conviction that he is a true divisions of the Confederacy. Whome at such a presshateveryoe withn them c bonuiction tatd heis aotrue moment, is the master-spirit that may have power man-that there is no sham about him and his opin- to still the rising tempest before it sweeps with de- -ons. Frank, affable, natural and communicative-. structive fury over the face of our yet happy Union I as much at home among European princes and po- or, suould this prove hopeless and impossible, whose tentates as at a Barbecue with his own constituents the commanding genius I to ride the whirlwind and -his perfect self-possession and repose of manner direct the storm ' To preside over the destinies of a great Republic, in a crisis of such complicated sprig, not so much from long intercourse with the difficulty and peril, calls for somnething more than world as from that rooted democratic instinct, that the arts ofthe mere party politician. It demands the dignity of character, which looks solely to the in- highest nioral and intellectual qualities of the states- ward man, and sees not the stars and garters with man-courage, self-possession, elevation of charac- which he may be externally decorated. ter and elevation of views; a nobleness and ganer- Among the eminent men who have borne testimo. osity of nature that attracts coufidence, and can in- spire enthusiasm the spirit of persuasion and the ny to those qualities, which render Mr. Clay so wor- spirit of command combined. Let the annals of the thy a candidate for the highest office in the gift of country, in some of the darkest moments which have the American people is Col. Richard M. Johnson over lowvered upon its fortunes, be consulted, and of Kentucky. We are indebted to the Richmond they will answer whether HENRY CLAY or MARTN!N Whig for the following anecdote: VALN BURFN is the man for such a crisis." Of such paramount interest have been the details "On the 30th of September last, Col. Johnson be- of Mr. Clay's public career that we have but little in' in Staunton, Virginia, a number of gentlemen paid him the respect of' calling to see him. One of room to bestow upon his private and professional the company remarked to him, ' Colonel, when you history, honorable as it has been to him. We have reach the railroad junction, you will be near the alluded to his early successes at the bar, but space Slashes ofHanover.' The honest old warrior's face fails us in the attempt to supply even an imperfect immediately lit up with an expression of sincerity sketch of his numerous triumphant efforts in the and pleasure, and he eloquently said: II shall be sphee o hi prfesion Owig t th moe ppu-delighted to see that place. Every spot of ground aphere ef his profession. Owving to the more popu-Henry Clay touches he immortalizes. I have been lar character of his political labors, he has not en- in public life for forty yeers, and in that time have joyed, out of the boundary of the Supreme Court, been associated with all the great men of the coun. half the reputation which was his due as a jurist of try. Leaving out Madison and Gallatin, who were extensive attainments and profound ability. But old men when I first stepped upon the theatre of we have been assured by Mr. Jtistice Story, that he Politics, I will plaer Jeticu'l-n sinrai the qualHres was regarded by Chief Justice Marshall as second that can adorn human nature. Some men may ex- to no lawyer in the country in these respects. cel him in a single quality-for instance, Webster His arguments always evinced great reflection, and may be a greater logician, or some may be more re- often great erudition; and they were of that eleva- nowned for deep researches, but take Clay all in ted and liberal character, which excluded every aid all, he has not an equal in the Union, either in the North or South-the East or the West. In moral ot'a narrow or pettifog-ging cast. We must con- courage-in physical courage-in oratory-in pat. tent ourself with a mere reference to this department riotism, and in every noble quality, he is without a of Mr. Clay's history; referring the reader to the re- superior. I have been associated with him on Com- ports and records of the United States Courts for mittees in connexion with Calhoun, Lowndes, information in regard to it. Cheves, Webster, and other distinguished individu- Henry Clay is now (1844) in his sixty-seventh als, btut Clay was always the master-spirit. We year, and, notwithstanding his varied and arduous looked up to him as the Ajax Telamon; and by his yeandnowihismetaldn and physicdald prdouest counsel we were guided in our deliberations. It the labors, tasking his rental and physical poters to rest ohe Committee assembled before him and an extraordinary degree, and the several periods of were in doubt how to proceed,.wwhen he made dangerous illness, to which he has been subject, he his appearance, all eyes were turned upon him-and bears in his personal appearance the promise of a we wete certain to be right when we followed his vigorous, healthful and protracted old age. In sta- opinion. He is a great man, a very great man." ture he is tall, sinewy, erect and commanding, with As a writer, Mr. Clay will creditably compare finely formed limbs and a frame capable of much en- with any of the public men of the day. His style is durance. From his features you might at first infer singularly perspicuous, simple, forcible and correct, that lie was a hardy backwoodsman, who had been evincing a preference for good old Saxon words over accustomed rather to the privations and trials of a those derived from the Latin and Greek languages. frontier life than to the arena of debate and the diplo. In this respect, it is perfectly Addisonian. His in- matic table. But when you meet his full, clear, structions to the Ministers sent to the Congress of gray eye, you see in its flashes the conscious power Panama, his Land Report of 1832, his Report on the of a well-trained and panoplied intellect as well as differences with France, and numerous documents the glance of an intrepid soul. Its lustre gives ani- which emanated from his pen while he was at the mation to the whole countenance, and its varying head of the Department of State, may be referred expression faitnfully interprets the emotions and to not only as papers evincing masterly statesman- sentiments of the orator. Much of the charm of his ship, but as excellent specimens of" English unde- speaking lies in his clear, rotund and indescribably filed." melodious voice, which is of wide compass, and as In his tastes and habits of life, he is remarkably distinct in its low as in its high tones. The effect of simple and unostentatious. On his fine estate of it, when a passion is to be portrayed, or a feeling of Ashland, he has for many years devoted his leisure pathos aroused, is like that of a rich instrument upon to superintending the breeding and raising of cattle, ibe ear on an extensive scale, and no man has done better 80 Life of Hetry C;. y. service to the farming interests of the country. He indication of shuffling-of a disposition to evade or in an early riser, and methodical and industrious in defer the responsibility of uttering an opinion. In the disposition of his time. contemplating his career, we are often reminded of In early life, Mr. Clay had a fondness for play- these lines by the author of I Philip Van Artevelde:' not fiw, the sake of the money sported-but for the a All my life long company and the excitement. He has, on several I have beheld with most repe-t the man Who knew himself and knew the ways before him, occasions given up large sums that be had won, And from amongst them chore onsiderately, and often saved men from ruin. He has never played With a clear foromigit. ot a blidfld courage And, having chosen, with a steadfast mind atapublic tableorat gambling houses. For upwards Pued hi.uros." of thirty years he has ,tw played at any game of Such a man is Henry Clay! And in no one pub. kazad. We mention these facts because there is lic act of his life does he seem to have been actuated much misrepresentation abroad on the subject; and by othertthan pure and patriotic motives. "I ` uLD the most grossly exaggerated stories have been RATHER BE RIGHT THAN BE PRF.FItENT." In that made current by his enetnies. We have fairly stated expression we have a key to his conduct from the the head and front of his offending. moment he first entered the National Councils; and As an instance of that magnanimity which Mr. in that expression we have an earnest of the single- Clay carries into all the transactions of life, we may heartedness of purpose with which the affairs 4f the quote the following facts from the Cleveland (Ohio) country will be conducted under his administration. herald, of April, 1843: His'elevation to the Presidency would be a national "A near relative of Mr. Clay, residing in his vici- blessing-not merely because it would revive confi. nity, who tIas been largely engaged in the purchase dence and restore outward prosperity, but because and manufacture of hemp, for bagging and bale- its moral effect would be incalculably advantageous rope, for the New-Orleatis market, by the fall in to our highest interests as a Free People. It is no- value, and the enibarrassinents of the times, which torious that under tle dynasties of Jackson and have been felt with prodigiou.s force for a year past, in the great South-Western Emporium, was lately' i Van Buren, the moral tone of the country has been cotnpelled to mske an assignment of his propert7 to deplorably lowered; the dastardly doctrine of Re- trustees, for the benefit of' all his creditors. Fhe pudiation has sprung up, by which sovereign States whole amount of his liabilities was bear 50,000- have endorsed the ethics of the pickpocket nd ilia about one-half of which was due to Mr. Clay for ad- swindler; and our reputation, at home and abroad, vances to enable the manufacturer to prosecute his has received stains, which it will take years to business, so advantageous to the farming interests of Kentucky, with the hope of an improvement in the efface. condition of things, so that a suspension of the work To the Philanthropist, the Patriot, and the Chris- atid of the pavment might be avoided. tian, what arrelief to turn from this spectacle of dis- ", The sale of the property took place about a honor arnd mal-administration, to the prospect of fortnight auo. and as usual in such cases attracted Henry Clay's election il November next' several hundred persons, and among them many of C the creditors. Mr. Clav then told them in substance And now we approach the termination of our im- that tile assignment was for the benefit of all the perfect sketch of his Life and Public Services. X he credit Ir, himself included-that the amount due enthusiastic demonstrations in his favor, which are him WHs as large as all the other claims combined daily and hourly manifesting themselves in every -that from the relationship in which he stood to the debtr, t ws pobale ome an pehap may f quarter of the Republic, and which point to him as debtor, it was prohable solnie, and perhaps many of th the creditors. had become such under the expects- the ONLY candidate of the Democratic Whigs of the tion that, if difficulty occurred, lie, Mlr. Clay, wotlil Union at the next Presidential Election; the numer- protect thetin-that although there was to ground ous nominations, and the cordial testimonials of whaiiever for asking him to do so, pe, rimther than State Legislatures, and of primary meetings of the that any man should think lie liii Xhe slightest rea- People every where, in his behalf. are matters of son to complain of him, and in order further that p l every debt due to others should be paid, lie nIow re- present history, whijt it is the province of the news- leased all interest tinder the assignrieut uintil every papers of the day to note. So overwhelituing are dollar due to others was paid. and then if any thing they in their amount, that it would be useless for us was left be would take it. The sale was mnaae-the to attempt in this place to convey an idea of their other creditors were all paid, minil wliit little remain- character and weight. That they are the infallible ed was till Mr. Clay gut for his 25,000. dprecursor of the election of Henry Clay to the "1 How different this from the ordinary course, when Mr. Cliiy, beiig the confd erdial creditor, would Jresidency of the United States, in ilie autumn of have hceufirat paid. and tn this casre the onl one 1844, we firmly and fully believe. That triumph paid, and] who but Henry Clay could he found, under will be rendered all the more glorious from its con- such lireutmistances, to reject the whole of at any treat with the reverses and disappointments of the rate his sIare of the proceeds.'" sixteen years preceding it, illuminted only by that SHut it is with Mr. Clay's public history that we burst of sunshine which visited us in the election of have miaitily to deal. The Legislative annals of the General Harrison, and disappeared at his death. N.ation are the sources from which it may be deri- In this hope, we take a temporary leave of the ved. There it stands amply and immutably record- subject of our biography. What further distituetions ed, throtigh a period of iearly forty years. From and glories may await him, time only can reveal.- ts' itmi'unifiu ent quunrries (if thu Part, the materials . H in will le drawn for a monument more perennial than But the Past is secure. His name lives the bearts ninilie or frm-lf. Never were the views or a public of his countrymen. His fame is incorporate with man tipiot till questiomis tofpublic policy moore ingen- the history of the Republic. May they both be utouily and titiuqmivoclly expressed-more clearly blended with the highest honor which a Free People and broadly dehuied. Ott nxo one point is there an can bestow. THE END. Z GREELEY McELRATH'S PUBLICATIOiTS. 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While it proftlbr no claim td the abused namt of 0 ASf Democracy, so bug6 the cloak of political Pharisees, the can.t of designiig demagogues it will be, as it has been, .u. il the legitimnate seilse of the word trruly lDemratic-the adiversary of every wrolg, the exposer of hollow pro- uy ;4R laission attd scheming knavery, and the advoca e ofevery movement tenidifg to the diffusion of true Freedom and C (05the unvward Progress of the Iltintan Rnec ..an Itace ...... b'le Weekly Tribune i s published in this city every Saturday N 5 5mo nig. but despatched by the anils o fThursday and Friuay. It is o thei largestsizetfoldedineightpaee.s,s Political ciiorse. '1 lie Tribuie is ardently, inufleiibly VHIG. and advocate, with its utnmsst energies, the PRO- ETECTION OF HOME INDUSTRY, the rest, rastiol ofat SOUND AND UNIFORM CURRENCY, the rigorous p rowu- u O2 ti-n of INrTeRNAL IMPROVE MEYNST, and the electiont of HENRY CLAY as next Presidenit oththe LUnited Stntes. 5 Y S Being sent only for (Cash in advance, the Publishers are enabled to afford it, notwithstaitling thegreat size and 4 the cost of its ptblication, at the low price of Two Io llars a year. or where clubs are firmed Tei Copies for SFifteen Dollarn. P3 Postmasters are authorized hy lasw to transmit moneys futr subscriptions to newspapes, 5 '5 ; Ws , t under their t'rank, freeogf postage. A Money remnitted through tbe mail wsill bu at the risk of tb e Publishers.e iN'otes of all specie-paying Banks in any State of tdi. Union will be received at par. 2I McELRATH THE GREELEY McELRATH, Publishers. , Js5 GREELEY k McELRATH PUBLISI THE FOLLOWING VALLUABLE WORKS: The Life and Speeches of Henry Clay, T n o e M 2 vols. Octavo, A pnges, sith Steel Portrait and Engravings. Thb editon eomrise,-1. A 'FMOIR OF ss HENRY CLAY-teu ,r -ind glowing .vritten extressly tur this work; 2. TH lE SPEECHES O MIt. CLAY, from 1810 to 1842 inclusive, carefully c flic-ted from va6rios sources fior thin wrk, rmnk a nred corrected, and all restored to the tirst person-many of them hav.itg been only repurted ilt the thind p an(I es- Malr. Clay said" sit atId s u, and ''he ur-ed " c instead of ciVig his own vigorous arid gracetiil dictioii, witheut rtterpolation ortlilution. iNo coflectiolt of Nir. CLAY'S SPEECIIES st all comparahlewith this, inl Y0 0 cuespleteness or correctness, has ever before appeared. Each Speech is prefaced by a briet iitructory para- 5 graph explaining thse circumstances svihich called it forts,. and svheuever it is desirable all not etherswise i . indicated, a note at tie end gives the fate of the meastire unider discussio,n. pci-t Price neatly hound in boards, v widi gilt titles, St 25 per copy, or !95 ofr 100 copies. A The American Laborer. An InT portant Work for Mannuflieturers, Mechamiics, Farmers and Politicians.-The AMERICAN LABORER , devcted to the cause ot' Protection t Hl.ine lIndustry, etimbracutug the Arguuiments, Reports anid Speeches of the v0A . blest Civilians of the United States in fvi4rf the ol'icy of Prttection to Amisericant Labor, with tie Stdtiaics of Production in the Unite sStates Ic. c. 1 vol. octavo. Prce orie dodlar. 05 Elements of Natual PhiloXsophy : i Emhrncing the general principles of Mechainics, Hlydrostatics, flydraulics Pnemartics, Acoustics, Optis,' Electricity, GalvaNitsmn, agnetisiri, and Astr-.momy. Illustratedt by sesverrhi hnimdrd en IrwsingsB By LiEOrA, 5 O D. t.ALE. 51. D., Prufessur ufGel. ,gy and 31iiieralogy in th- University rJlthe City sfNes,-Yurk, atid Lxest ter , on Clieiiistry arid Natural Phil-s phy.....he above rk is exteeisvey i::tr minced il the bent SI-is Is and 3 le iruers. lDr. Glale being h risclfrn practical Chemist, nrnd bi, 1 s-0 sinunia I luties as I.e.t rer requiring tint tin t C ,-mkeertnstait and repeated experimentts in all 1ruimeiwesof qn aio. Idhilaslt y. ss entiinnentlyqquahuhed fir the 0 task of editing such a work. Mat-. ofthe other puhlicatiot.i oin the p)opu :r branches ,, l'liilosnphsy and Cheiiiistry are mere compilatiois male by book-m is; hence thme freqtienr failures of studentzs ins rhcr mutteipt ts, ate perniments svhile following the directirn. conts nill thc, wvrks. .S. s-ii diftfin-ty ,ill ty eur in the ge oft thi work of Dr. GalIe. Paremuts nin teachers ire requested ti exaine this work. Price .-0 cents. S s 'ss-seias.sl''as'iis GREELEY McELRATH'S VALUABLE PUBL.CATO. Tract. on the Tarilf, by Horace Greeley. j 5 1. .Tnz TwA3Lzr As IT 19, AND THE 9SYBTITUTS PrxnrosZD BY Tn Loo-Forns in " and eposition ot the Rtes of Duty fixed by the preset Triff. with the rema for .eh tem, howing why W i eachl duty wasw made hyher or lower, and how it bears upon the Labor of the Country ; with the eonding rivni oof the Tar if Bill reported to the House by Gen. McKAY, from the Commiutte of W mad Mni. r rice 2S per hundred, cr 815 per thousand._ !;. II. .PJaOgcrCIo15 AND I RMR TR.tDE: OR. Tna TARIFF Quxsriow FAIRLY STATID: bein an eleent-5. s ary exposatoli of the nauture, necesit Y. i pertion and eucts of a Tar.ffof Lhit a on Imports, with wis discr;- minatus in fav.,r of our Hiomne xIndustry. Price 2 per u ed or 15 per thousan. pound; Rensons for Preferring Cr. Clay to Mr. Van Buren for next President. BY Hon. WILLIAM C. RtvYI. U. S. Sator from Virginia. TFhc Tiriff Question in I.ermany. The above named Letterof Mr. Rives and the Discumion f the (erman Tariff. are both law d rether in. , Sanest Pr.mphlet of 8 vnages, and sold at I 25 Pper 100. or 010 per I,000. It is nooped b tS TnotBv gai a very extensive circulation.t n. iCommercial Illttrellurve with Great Britain. Thisgha Panphlet rr Tract of 8pagaa, showing the precise operation of the present British Tariff on the Pro- VI ence nid Nitanufuctrires f the Umitel Sttefs whenever the people of this country undertake to export to Eng- Fft lend. U:,Price k J 2, per 100. ,r 10 per 1,000 capives. ' - n:- The WVII(; ALMA N AC is regularly published every year. at the low price of 12. cents, or l por doz- en. and is only subect to periodical pwuisuge. A MIreland r Ireland ! 1Y M A Mlem J r on Ireland Stive a xn (Second Edition) by DAIuIL 6'CoxxzzL. U. P. wIth a Ilkesues, dpof the r' u i. Price 25 cents; fifecopiee for V,.. h5Iret Ures on (ieologty i E Doctor LYZLL's Lectures -n Gelogy, (Second Edition). It contains an engraved Froatipiece, exhiPbling an ,kt,, deal WcU-" 1ifP Qf thet Earth's uns.wnbi txplanatuon,. Prime 25 cents; five copie f.1 I.. t SF s TrdUSEFUL BOOKs FOR THE PEOPLE.- Farnham's Travels. NIo. 1. .jTravels in the Great Western Prairies, the Anahuac and Rocky Mountains and Oregon Twrritory. t i by '1 TLOtAs J. FARNHA-M, Eg. Price 25 cents: five copie for 1. It is renlly reFlresing to roe from te I 0-al ut such a valitattle arid interetitig work. Therei bt sch a fountani of freshnees and orig'naity gushing r ugh es ery page. u ich a sntinual stream of wit ald anecdote, that one never become wgry of drinig 5 f rga nt.s spaiklui, t.tiit "--Phila. paper. a Ellswortl: s !Rrport. N - I I...The Imprvveents in Agriculture, the Arts, c., in the United States: being an aceount efre- t vent ae ioin.rutzit discoveries and improveisents in the mode of building Houss, making Fesee. ring Grain 5 r m.ing Pork, dispuvilng it Flogs. nakint Lard Oil, raising Silk, with engravings of improved Plongh sns 5 S tlier Arricuurl lint) rinenta, e. By lion. H. L. E1LSWORT., C..mmisioner of Patents. And a Treai _ 7su ,an Arricultural (;eok. Prve 25 cents; five copiest r 81. " lt "ne of te mot valuable and interest ;! documeiits we have ever perused." Enn Dlr. Lardnler'si Leolures. No II1 ... Lardner's complete Course of Lectures, delivered at Niblo's Saloon in the City of Nes-York. The aubjests embraced in Uie Lectures are: Electricity-The Sun-Galvanis-The Fixed Stars-M a i s- Neltenlitde nnd l-- -ett Blesching-Tanning oplar Fal'ltcies-Light-Fn.ling Strs-Ternporary 1 Stars-listricil Sketh l A-wro(nrmy-Dew-Science aid by Art-Scientific Discoveriess-Muund-Vibranscatio h r. the Retina-Vi ltnic Battery-Ste.m Enginew of England and America. This edition of Doctor LArdners Ltiires is introducerl by a Sketch of the Progres of Physical Scienne. Price for the whole, including Lard-' cr'ersLectures. 2ceitperitiiglecopy. Podmasteandotheswillreceive fiveeopiefor 1. Si ritith's Chemistry and Dalton's Philosophy. t;, N !us.! IIV ... Chemnistry of the fiur Ancient Elements-Fme A-. Jaartk and Water-Founded upon uea t il dehvcred betbure her Sliesty the Qtieen. by TsosAs GaiurTvm Leoturer on Chemn t 1 t Bar'sos I [-spital. llulitrated by upward of seventy engravins....The Book of Philosophical Experiments. illusrtn he pricipal acts and tori ,us phenomena of Electrct, Galvanism Magnetism, Chemistry Optie, Het b. with Introductory Oberati ns on each Science, and upwards of ab lExperiments. By J. DALTO 'T1he above works are ise-tly printed on clear new type with about 150 engravings, and t e ae sod u t Ce 5nWF exceedingly low price of 21 cents; five copies for 81. M9 Polilical Economy, 'U Nss. V... Priiiciples of l',litiial Economy, or the LIws of the Formation of National Wealth, developed by 5 means of the Chrit ian Law of ;overnment: being the substance of a case delivered to the Hand-loom We- 5 eens' Commision, by ltiLLIAt AraIos. With an Introduction Treating of the present state of the P tiisi. Science of tiutical 'coui...oy. and the Adaptation of its ftriniples to the Condition of our own Country, and tbe upbuilduig of its Prcoperity, by HORACE GREEZLEY. Price 25 cents; five copies for .1. Cfisloq of the Silk Culture: !63f'- Ne. VI.. The Silk Culture in the United States: embracing complete accounts ofthe lat and most ipprived mres of llatchiig. Rearing, and Feeding the Silkworm, aiia sin a Cocoonery. Reeling, Spinnanz , , rind 5Manufacturing the Silk. c. c., with listorialt Sketches of the Silk usi"s'e Naural HTrrof Usa5 pound;s Silkworm, tse M.ulberry, ,i. .1r-trated iy numerus engravings of Machinery and Poeee and alanual if the Silk Culture. Price 25 cents: five copies for 81. E,1_ v " w1 "v, 0wj

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