i'. -*b v^ •Oj^ O* r " * ♦ 1 ^ "^ •' <^ *v.' 3* .""^s^mSL". ^oV ^0^'b^ V"^* T*- A '^tfi. 'co' ^ o.. * • - ■ <^. *- TO THE PEOPLE CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT COMPOSED OF THB COUNTIES OF FAYETTE, WOODFORD, and CLARKE, IN KENTUCKY. Jl J i. ^_^^ b^ '■ OO^ — To the people of the Congressional District com' posed of the Counties of Fayette, Woodford, and Clarke, in Kentucky. The relations of your representative and of your neigh- bour in which I have so long stood, and in which I have experienced so many strong proofs of your confidence, at- tachment and friendship, having just been, the one termi- nated, and the other suspended, I avail myself of the oc- casion on taliing, I hope a temporary, leave of you, to ex- press my unfeigned gratitude for all your favours, and to assuieyou (hat I shall cherish a fond and unceasing recol- lection o them. The extraordinary circumstances in which, during the late session of Congress, I have been placed, and the unmerited animadversions which I have brought up- on niyselt, for an honest and faithful discharge of my pub- lic duty, form an additional motive for this appeal to your candour and justice If, in the office which I have just left, I have abused your confidence and betrayed your interests, I cannot deserve your support in that on the duties of whicli I have now entered. On the contrary, shoulil it appear tiiat I have been assailed without just cause, and that mis- STuided xeal and interested p;jssions have singled me nut as a victim, I cannot doubt that 1 shall continue to find, in the enlightened tribunal of the public, that cheering counte- nance and impartial judgment, without which a public ser- vant cannot possibly discharge with advantage the trust confided to him. It is known to you, that my name had been presented, by the respectable stales of Ohio, Kentucky, Louisiana and JMissouri, for the office of President, to the consideration of the American public, and that it had attracted some at- tention in other quarters of the Union. When, early in Jfovemher last, I took my departure from tlie district to re- pair to this city, the issue of the Presidential election be- fore the people was unknown. Events, however, had then so far transpired as to render it highly probable that there would be no election by the people, and that J should be ex- r.ludedirom the House of Representatives. It became, there- fore, my duly to consider, and to make up an opinion on, the i'especiive pretensions of lire three gentlemen that might be returned, and at that early period I stated to Dr. Drake, one (jf the Professors in tiie Medical School of Transylva- nia University, and to John J. Crittenden, Esq. of Frank- fort, my determination to support Mr. Adams in preference to Gen. Jackson. I wrote to Charles Hammond, Esq. of Cincinnati, about the same time, and mentioned certain objections to the election of Mr Crawford, (among which was that of his continued ill health,) that appeared to me almost insuperable. During my journey hither, and up to near Christmas, it remained uncertain whetlier Mr. Craw- ford or I would be relurneil to the House of Representatives. Up to near Christmas, all our information made it highly probable that the vote of Louisiana would be given to me, and thai 1 should consequently be returned, to the exclu- sion of Mr. Crawford. And, whilst that probability was strong, I communicated to Mr. Senator Johnston, from Louisiana my resolution not to allow my name, in conse- •juence of tlie small number of votes by which it would be cnrricJ into Ihe House, if I were returnee), to constitute an obstacle, for one moment, to an election in liie House of Representatives. During tlie montli of December, and tlie greater part of Jnnuary, strong professions of liigh consideration, and of unbounded admiration of me, were made to my friends, in tlie greatest profusion, by some of tlie active friends of all Ihc returned candidates. Every body professed to regret, after I was excluded from the House, that 1 had not been returned to it. I seemed to be the favourite of every body. Describing my situation to a distant friend, I said to him, " I am enjoying, whilst alive, the pnsthun.ous honors which are usually awarded to the venerated dead." A person not acquainted with human nature would have been surprised, in listening to these praises, that the object of them had not been elected by general acclamation. None made mote or warmer manifestations of these sentiments of esteem and admiration, than some of the friends of General Jackson. None were So reserved as those of Mr. Adams; under an opinion, fas 1 have learnt since the election,) which they early nubibed, that the western vote would be only influ- enced by its own sense of public duty ; and that if its judg- ment pointed to any other than iMr. Adams, nothing which they could do would secure it to him. These professions and manifestations were taken by me for what they were worth. 1 knew that the sunbeams would quickly disappear, after my opinion should be ascertained, aiid that they would be succeeded by a storm ; although I did not foresee ex« aclly how it would burst upon my poor head. I found my- self transformed from a candidate before the people, into an elector for the people. I deliberately examined the du- ties incident to this new allitude,and weighed all the facts before me, upon which my judgment was to be formed or reviewed. If the eagerness of any of the heated partisans of the respective candidates suggested a tardiness in the H declarallon of my iiitenlion, I believed lliat the new rela- tion, in which I was placed to the subject, imposed on me an obligation to pay some respect to delicacy and decorum. Meanwhile that very reserve supplied aliment to news- paper criticism The critics could not comprehend how a man, standing as I had stood towards the other gentlemen, should be restrained, by a sense of propriety, from instant- ly fighting under the banners of one of them, against the otheis. Letters were issued from the manufactory atWashington,to come back, after performing lung journeys, tor Washington consumption. These letters imputed to "Mr. Clay and his friends a mysterious air, a portentous silence," &o. From dark and distant hints the progiess was easy to open and bitter denunciation. .Anonymous letters, full of menace and abuse, were almost daily poured in on me. Personal threats were communicated to me, through friendly organs, and I was kindly apprised of all the glOiies of village effigies which awaited me. A systematic attack was simultaneously commenced upon nie from Bos- ton to Charleston, with an object, present and future, which it was impossible to mistake. No mar. but myself cniild know the nature, extent, and variety of means which were employed to awe and influence me. I bore them, I trust, as your representative ought to have borne them, and as became me Then followed the letter, afterwards adopted as his own by Mr. Krtmer, to the Columbian Observer — With its character and contents you are well acquainted. When I saw that letter, alleged to be written by a member of the very House over which I was presiding , who was so far designated as to he described as belonging tn a [jarticu- lar delegation, by name, a member with whom I mijiht be daily e.xchangiiig, at least on my part, friendly salutations, and who was possibly receiving from me con«tanl'y acts of co^^•tesy ami kindness, 1 felt that 1 could no longer remain silent. ,\ crisis appeared to me to have arisen in my public life, I issued my card. I ought not to have put in it the last paragraph, because, although It does nor necessarily im- ply the resort to a (lersona! combai, it admits uf that con- ;triietioii; nor will 1 coixeiil that such a posMble issue was witliiu my roiitentiplalion. I owe it to the coinn)uni„y to say. that whatever heretofore I may have done, or, by ine- vitable circumstances, might be forced to do, no man in it "holds iii deeper abhorrence than I do, thai pernicious prac- tice. Condemned as it must be by the jiidsmcnt and phi- loso|)hy, to say nothing of the religion, of evei y thinking man, it is an alTair of feeling about which we cannot, al- though we shoulil, reason. Us true collective will bt- fnnnd when all .shall unite, as all coiilit to unite, in its nnqualilied pro-^cription. A few days after the publicatioa of my Card, " Another Card,'' under Mr. Kienicr's name, was published in ihe Intelligencer. The night before; as I was voluntarily in- forni'-d, .Mr. Eaton, a Senator from Tennessee, and Ihp Biogiiipher of Gen. Jackson (who boarded in the end of tills city nppnsite to that in which Mr. Kienier took up his aboili', -1 distance of about two miles and an half) was clo- seted for some lime with him. Mr. Kremer is entitled to great credit for hivino overcome all the disadvantages, in- cidmt to his early life and want of education, and forced his way to the honourable station of a member uf the House of Representatives. Ardent In his attachment to the cause which he had espoused. Gen. .lackson is his idol, and uf his- blind zeal others have availed themselves, and have made him their dupe and their instrument I do not pretend to know the object of Mr. Eaton's visit to him. I sti.ii' the fact, as It was communicatf d to me, and leave you lojiidjie. Mr. Kremer'scard is composed with some care and no Hi- de art. and he is made to avow in it, thoujih somewhat equivocally, that he is tlie author of the letter to the Co- lumbian Observer. To Mr. Cinwninshirld, a member from -Massachusetts, formerly Sccietary of the Navy, he declared •liat he was not the author of that letter. In his Card, he draws a dear line of separation betwepn my friends and nie, acquitting then), and undertaking to m?.ke good his charges, in that letter, only so far as I was coneerned. The purpose of litis discrimination is obvious. At that time the election was undecided, and it was therefore as impoUanl to abstain from imputations against my friends, as it was politic to fix them upon me. If they could be made to be- lieve that I iiad been perfidious, in the transport of their in- dignation, they miglil have been carried to the support of Gen. Jackson. I received the National Intelligencer, con- taining Mr. Kremer's card, at breakfast, (the usual time of its distribution,) on the morning of its publication. As soon as I read the card, I look my resolution. The terms of it clearly implied tliat it had not entered into his con- ception to have a personal afiair with me; andlsliould have justly exposed myself to universal ridicule, if I had sought one with him. I determined to lay the matter before the House and respectfully to invite an investigation of mv conduct. I accordingly made a communication to the House, on the same day, the motives lor which I assigned. Mr. Krenier was in his place, and, when I sal down, rose and stated that he was prepared and willing to substanti- ate his charges against me. This was his voluntary de- claration, unprompted by his aiders and abettors, who had no opportunity of previous consultation with him on that point. Here was an issue publicly anu solemnly joined, in which the accused invoked an inquiry into serious charges against him, and the accuser professed an ability and a willingness to establish them. A debate ensued, on the next day, wliich occupied the greater p;irt of it, dur- ing which ^Jr. Krenier declared to Mr. Brent, of Louisiana, a friend of mine, and to Mr. Little, of Maryland, a friend of Gen. JacVson, as tliey have certified, " that he never in- tended to charge Mr. Clay with corruption or dishonor, in liis intended vote for Wr, Adams as President, or that he "% bad transfered, orcftiiltl transfer, the votes or intevest oTiiia frioiuis ; that ho. (Mr. KiPiner) was among the last men in ihe nation to make sucli a charjfe against Jlr. Clay ; and that his letter was never intended to convey the idea liiven to it/' Mr. Digses, a highly reepeetable inhabitant of this cily, has certified to the same declarations of Mr. Kremer. A message was also conveyed to me, during the discus- sion?, through a member of the House, to ascertain if I would be satisfied with an explanation which was put on paper and shown me, and which it was slated Mr. Kremer was willing, in his place, to make. I replied tliat the mat- ter was iu the possession of (he House. I was afterwards told that Mr, Ingham, of Pennsylvania, got hold of that paper, put it in his pocket, and that lie advised Mr. Kiemer to take no step without the approbation oi his friends. Mr. Cook, of Illinois, moved an adjournment of the House, on information whicli he received of the probability of Mr, K.'s making a satisfactory alonemenl, on the nest day, for the injury which he had done me, which I have no doubt he would have made, if be had been left to the im- pulses of his native honesty. The House decided to refer my communication to a comntillee, and adjourned until the next day to appoint it by ballot. In the mean time Mr. Kremer had taken, 1 presume, or rather there had been forced upon hini, the advice of his fripnds, and I heard no move of the apology, A committee was appointed of seven gentlemen, of whom not one was my political friend, but who were among the most eminent members of the body. I received no summons or notification from the committee from its first organization to its final dissolution, but Mr. Kre- mer was called upon by it to bring forward his proofs. For one moment be pleased to stop here and contemplate his posture, his relation to the House and to nie, and the high obligations under which he had voluntarily placed himself. He was a member of one of tlie must au;'ust assemblies 10 upon carlli, of which he was bound to defend the purity, m expose the corriiplion, by every consideration ^vhich ought to influence a patriot bosom. A most responsible and high- ly important constitutional duty was to be performed by that assembly. He had chosen, in an anonymous letter, to bring against its presiding officer charges, in respect to that duly, of the most flagitious character. These charges com- prehended delegations from several highly respectable states. If true, that presiding officer merited not merely to be dragged from the chair, but to be expelled the House. — He challenges an investigation into his conduct, and Mr. Kremer boldly accepts the challenge, and promises to sus- tain his accusation. The committee, appointed by the ■ House itself, with the common consent of both parties, calls upon Mr. Kremer to execute his pledge, publiidy given in his proper place, and also previously given in the public prints. Here is the theatre of the alleged arrangements ; this the vicinage in which the trial ought to take place. — Every thing was here fresh in the recollection of the wit- nesses, if there were any. Here all the proofs were con- centrated. Mr. Krc.nrer was stimulated by every motive which could impel to action , by consistency of charac- ter ; by duty to his constituents — to his country ; by that of redeeming his solemn pled^^e ; by his anxious wish for the success of his favourite, whose interests could not fail to be advanced by supporting his atroiocus charges. But Mr. Kremer had now the benefit of the advice of his friends. He had no proofs, for the plainest of all reasons, because there was no truth in his charges. They saw that ■'to attempt to establish them, and to fail, as he must fail, in the attempt, might lead to an exposure of the conspira- cy, of what he was the organ. They advised therefore that he should make a retreat, and their adroitness suggested that, in an objection to that jurisdiction of the House, which had been admitted, and in the popular topics of the free- 11 «iora of the press, his iluty to his constituents, and ilic iiie- yualty in the conduioti ol tiu! Speaker of the House and a member on the floor, plausible means might be found to deceive the ignorant, and conceal his disgrace. A laboured communication was accordingly prepared by them, in Mr. Kremer's name, and transmitted to the committee, founded upon those suggestions. Thus the valiant champion, who had boldly stepped forward, and promised, as a Represen." lative of Ihr people, to " cry aloud and spare not." forgot all his gratuitous gallantry and boasted patriotism, and sunk HI once into profound silence. With these remarks, I will, for the present, leave him, and proceed to assign the reasons to you, to whom alone I admit myself to be officially responsible, for the vote which I gave on the Presidential election. The first inqui- ry which it behoved me to make was, as to the influence which ought to be exerted on my judgment, by the rela- tive state of the electoral votes which the three returned candidates brought into the Housr, from the colleges. Gen- eral Jackson obtained 99, Mr Adams 34, and Mr. Craw- ford 41. Ought the fact of a plurality being given to one of the candidates to have any. and what, weiifht .' If the Constitution had rntended that it simuld have been deci- sive, the Constitution would have made it decisive, and interdicted the exercise of any discretion on the part of the House of Representatives. The Constitution has not so or- dained, but, on the contrary, it has provided, that " from the persons having the highest numbers, not exceeding three, on the list of those voted for as President, the H. of Repre- sentatives shall choose, immediately, by ballot, a President." Thus, a discretion is necessarilv invested in the House ; for choice implies examination, comparison, judgment. The fact, therefore, that one of the three persons was the highest returned, not being, by the constitution of the coun- try, conclusive upon the judgment of the House, it still re- 12 niniiis to tietennlne what is the true degree of weight be- longing to it ? It has been contended that il slinulH operate, if not as an instruction, at least in the nature of one, ani llu.t in tliis form it should control the judgment of the House. But this is the same argument of conclusiveness, which the constitution does not enjoin, thrown into a dif- ferent, but more imposing shape. Let me ana'yze it. — There are cerlaiii St:iles, the aggregate of whose electoral votes conferred upon the highest returned candidate, indi- cates their wish that he should be the President. Their votes amount in number to 99, out of the 261 electoral volesof the whole Union. These 99 do not, and cannot, of themselves, make the President. If the fact of particular states giving 99 voles can, according to any received no- tions of the doctrine of instruction, be regarded in that Ji"ht, to whom are those instructions to be considered ad- dressed i* According to that finctrine, tlie people, who ap- point, have the right to direct, by their instructionE, in cer- tain cases, the course of the representative whom they ap- point. The States, therefore, who gave those 99 votes nray, in some sense, be undei^tood thereby to have instruct- ed thiij representatives in the House to vote for the per- son on whom they wete bestowed, in the choice of a Presi- dent. But most clearly the representatives coming from other states, which gave no part of those 99 voles, cannot be considered as having been under an}' obligation lo sur- render their judgments to those of the Stales which gave the 99 voles. To contend that they are under such an obligation, would be to maintain that the people of one state have the right to instruct the representatives from another state. It would be to maintain a still more absurd proposition, that, in a case where the representatives from a state did not hold themselves instructed and bound by the will of that state, as indicated iir its electoral college, the representatives from another state were, neverthless, in- 13 sliucled and boiinJ by that alien will. Thus, the eiuite vote of North-Carolina, and a large majority of that of Maryland, in their respective electoral colleges, were gi- ven to one of the three returned candidates, for whom the delegation from neither of those states voted. And yet the arginnent combatted requires that the delega- tion from Kentucky, who do not represent the people of Nortli-Carolina nor Maryland, should be instructed by, and give an eft'ect to, the indicated will of the people of those two states, when their own delegation paid no attention to it. Doubtless, those delegations felt themselves authorized to look into the actual composition of, and all other cir- cumstances connected with, the majorities which gave the ■electoral votes, in their respective states ; and felt their<- selves justified, from a view of the whole ground, to act up- on their responsibility and according to their best jude- iiients, disregarding fhe electoral votes in their stales. Aud are the representatives from a different state not only bound by the will of the people of a different commonwealth, but forbidden to examine into the manner by which the ex- pression of that will was brought about — an examination which the immediate representatives themselves feel it their duty to make? Is the fact, then, of a plurality to have no weight ? Far from it. Here are 24 communities, united under a common government. The expression of the will of any one of them is entitled to the most respectlul attention. It ou^ht to be patiently heard and kindly regarded by the others; but it cannot be admitted to be conclusive upon them. The ex- pressioti of the will of 99 out of 261 electors is entitled to very great attention, but that will cannot be considered as entitled to control the will of the 162 electors, who have manifested a different will. To give it such controlling in- fluence, would be a subversion of the fundamental maxim of the Republic— that the majority should govern. The 14 will of the 99 can neither be allowed rightfully to control the remaining 162, nor any one of the 162 electoral votes. It may be an argument, a persuasion, addressed to all, and to each of them, but it is binding and obligatory upon none. It follows, then, that the fact of a plurality was only one among the various considerations which the House was called upon to weigh, in making up its judgment. And the weight of the consideration ought to have been regulated by the extent of the plurality. As between General Jack- son and Mr. Adams, the vote standing in the proportions of 99 to 84, it was entitled to less weight ; as between the General and Mr. Crawford it was entitled to more, the vote being as 99 to 41. The concession may even be made that, i.pon the supposition of an equality of pretensions between competing candidates, the preponderance ought to be gi- ven to the fact of a plurality. With these views of the relative state of the vote, with which the three returned candidates entered the House, I proceeded to examine the other considerations which be- longed to the question. For Mr. Crawford, wlio barely en- jered the House, with only four votes more than one can- didate not returned, and upon whose case, therefore, the argument derived from the fact of plurality, operated with strong, though not decisive force, I have ever felt much personal regard. But I was called upon to perform a solemn public duty, in which my private feelings, whether of affec- tion or aversion, were not tu be indulged, but the good of my country only consulted. It appeared to me that the pre- carious state of that gentleman's health, allhoi/gh 1 partici- pated with his best fiiends, in all their regrets and sympa- thies, on account of it, was conclusive against him, to say nothing of other considerations of a public nature which would have deserved examination, if, happily, in that res- pect, he had been differently circumstanced. He had been ill near eigliteen months ; and although 1 am aware that 15 his actual condition was a fact dcpentliiig upon eiiidenee, and that the evidpnce in rcgar.l to it, which had been pre- senttd to the public, was not perfectly harmonious, I judg- ed for myself upon what I saw and heard.- He may, and I ardently hope, will, recover ; but I did not thiols it be- came me to assist in committing tlie Executive administra- tion of this great Republic on the doubtful contingency of the restoration to health of a gentleman who had been so long and so seriously afflicted. Moreover, if, under all the circumstances of his situation, his election had been desira- ble, I did not think it practicable. I believed, and yet be- lieve, that if the votes of the Western States, given to Mr. Adams, had been conferred on Mr. Crawford, the effect would have been to protract in the House the decision of the contest, to the great agitation and distraction of the country, and, possibly, to defeat an election altogether — the very worst result, I thought, that could happen. It ap- peared to me then, that sooner or later we njust arrive at the only practical issue of the contest before us, and that was between Mr. .\dams and General Jackson, and I thought that the earlier we got there, the better for the countiy and for the House. In considering lliis only alternative, I was not unaware of your strong desire to liave a Western Prcsideul; but I thought that 1 knew enough of your patriotism, and mag- nanimity, displayed on so many occasions, to believe that you could rise above the mere gratification of sectional pride, if the common good of the whole required yon to make the sacrifice of local partiality. I solemnly believed it did, and this brings me to the most important considera- lion which belonged to the whole subject— that arising out of the res|)eclive fitness of the only two real competitors, as it Sjipeared to my best judgment. In speaking of Gen. .lackson, I am aware of (he delicacy and respect which aj-e justly due to that dislinguis-heU citizen. It is far from my purpose to al^empt to liisparape him. 1 could not e appointment. I am fear- ful, if he does, he will not add much splendor to his pre- sent well-earned standing as a public character." Such *2 aas my opinion of General Jackson, in reference lo the Presidency. His convictions of Governor Shelby's unfit- ness, by the Ijabits of his life, lor the appointment of Se- cretary of War, were not more honest uor stronger than mine ivert of his own want ot experience, and the necessary civil qualifications to discharge the duties of a President of the United States, In his elevation to this oihce, too, I thought, I perceived the establishment of a fearful prece- dent; and I am mistaken in all the warnings of instructive history, if I erred in my judgment. Undoubtedly there are other and many dangers to public liberty, besides that which proceeds from military idolatry, but I have yet to acquire the knowledge of it, if there be one more perilous or mure frequent. Whether Mr. Adams would or would not have been my choice of a President, if I had been left freely to select from tire whole mass of American citizens, was not the question submitted to my decision, 1 had no such liberty: but I was circumscribed, iii the selection 1 had to make, to One of the three gentlemen, whom the people themselves had thought proper lo present to the House of Representa- tives. Whatever objections might be supposed to exist a- gainst him, still greater appeared to me to apply to his competitor. Of Mr. Adams, it is but truth and jus- tice to say, that he is highly gifted, profoundly learned, and long and gieatly experienced in public affairs, at home and abroad. Intimately conversapit with the rise and progress of every negotiation with foreign powers, pending or con- cluded; personally acquainted with tiie capacity and attain- ments of most of the public men of this country, whom it might be proper to employ in the public service ; exten- sively possessed of much of that valuable kind of informa- tion, which is 10 be acquired neither from books nor tradi- tion, but which is the fruit of largely participating in pub- lic affairs; discreet and sagacious; he would enter on the duties of the office with great advantages, I saw in bis 19 election the establishment of no dangerous exnmple. I saw in it, on tht- contrary, only conformity to the safe pre- cedents which bad been established in the instances of Mr, Jetterson, Mr. Madison, and Mr Monroe, who liad respec- tively tilled the same office from which he was to be trans- lated. A collateral consideration of mnch weisht was derived from the wishes of the Ohio delectation. A maiority of it, during the progress of the session, made np (heir opinions to support .Mr. Adams, and thiy were coniniunicaled to me. They said, " Ohio suppoited the landidate who was the choice of Kentucky. We failed in onr common exer- tions to secure his election. Now, among those returned, we have a decided preference, and we think you ought to make some sacrifice to gratify us." Was not much due to our ueiiihbour and friend ? I considered, wiib the greatest respect, the resolution of the General Assembly of Kentufky, requesting the delega- tion to >'ote for General Jackson That resolution, it is true, placed us in a peculiar situation. Whilst every other delegation, from every other st.ite in the Union, was left by its Legislature entirely free to examine the pretensions of all tiie candidates, and to form its unbiased judgment, the Geneial Assembly of Kentucky thought proper to inter- pose and to request the delegation to give its vote to one ofi the candidates, wh"m they were jileased to designate [ felt a sincere desire to comply with a request emanating from a source so respectable, if I could have done so consistenly with those paramount duties which I owed to you and to the ocuntry. But, after full and anxious consideration, I found it incompatible with my best judgment of those du- ties to conform to the request of the General Assembly. The resolution asserts, that it was the wish of the people of Kentucky, that their delegation should vote for the General. It did not inform me by what means (hat Ijody bad arrived at a knowledge of the wish of the people. 20 I knew tliat its members had repaired to FranVfoit before I departed fioiu home to come to Washiii?tori. I knew their their attention was fixed -m important looai concerns, well entitled, by their magnitude, exclusively to cngioss it No election, no general expression of the popnlai i-entimeut had occurred since that in November, when i-lertors were chosen, and at that the people, by an ovenvhelming majo- rity, had decided against General Jackson. 1 could not. see how such an expression against him, could be interpreted into that of a desire for his election. If, as is true, the candidate whom they preferred, were not returned to the House, it is equally true, that the sinte of the contest as it presented itself htre to me, had never beeii considered, dis- eussed, and decided by the people of Kentucky, in their collective capacity. What would have been their decision on this tiew slate of the question, I uii^ht have undertalien to conjecture, but the certainty of any conclusion of tact, as to their opinion, at which I could arrive, was by no means equal to that certainty of conviction of my duty to which I was carried by the exertion of my l>est and most deliberate reflections. The letters from home, which some of the de- legation received, expressed the nrost opposite opinions, and there were not wanting instances of letters from some of the very members who had voted for the resolution, advis- ing a different course. I received from a highly respecta- ble portion of my constituents a paper, instructing me a? follows: "We, the undersigned voters in the Congression. al district, having viewed the instruction or request of the Legislature of Kentucky, on the subject of choosing a Pre- sident and Vice-President of the United States, with rei:ret, and the said request or instruction to our npresentative in Congress from this district, being without our knowledge or consent ; we for many reasons known to ourselves, con- nected with so momentous an occasion, hereby inslructom lepresentative in Congress to vole on this occasion agnea- ble to his own judgment, and by the best lights he m^ 21 iiavc on the Mibjec*, with, or witliout, llie consent of ihe Legislature of Kentucky." Tliis instiuction came both un- expected aiiJ unsolicited by nic, and it was accomiianied by letters assuring me, tbat it expressed the opinion of a niojuiity of my constituents. I could not therefore regard the resolution as conclusive eviilcncc of your wishes. Viewed as a mere reque-t, as it purported to be, the Ge- neral As-tmbly doubtless bad the (lovver to make it. But then, with sreat deierence, 1 think it was worthy of serious consideration whether the dignity of the General Assembly ought not to have induced it to forbear addressing itself, not tu another legislative body, but to a small part of it, and requesting the members who composed that part, in a case which the constitution had coutided to them, to vote according to the wishes of the General Assembly, whether those wishes did or did not conform to their sense of duty. [ could not regard the resolution as an Instruction ; for, from the origin of our Slate, its legislature has never assum- ed nor exercised the right to instruct the Representatives In Congress. I did not recognise, the right, therefore, of the Legislature to in^truct me. I recognised that right only when exerted by you. That the portjon of the public ser- vants who made up the General Assembly have no right to instruct that portion of tliem who constituted the Ken- tucky delegatioa in the House of Representatives, is a pro- position too clear to be argued. The members of the Ge- neral Assembly would have been the first to behold as a piesuniptiious interposition, any insstruction, if the Ken- tucky delegation coulil have committed the absurdity tn issue, from this place, any instruction to them to vote In a particular maimer on any of the irtteresting subjects which lately engaged their attention at Frankfort. And although nothing is further from my intention than to impute either absurdity or presumption to the General Assembly, in the adoption of the resolution referred tn, I must say that the difference between an instruction emaualing from them to 22 the delegation, and from the delegation to them, is not in principle, but is to be found only in the degree of superior iiTipoilance which belongs to the General Assembly. Eiiteitaining these viewg of the election on which it was made my duty to vote, I felt myselt" bound, in the exer- cise of my best judgment, to prefer Mr. Adams ; and I ac- cordingly voted for him. I should have been highly grati- fied if It had not been my duty to vote on the occasion; but that was not my situation, and I did not choose to shrink fi'oai any responsibility which appertained to j'our Repte- sentative. Shortly after the election, it was runioied that Mr. Kremer was preparing a publication, and the prepara- tions for it which were making excited much expectation. Accordingly, on the 26ih of February, the address, under his name, to the " Electors of the ninth Congressional Dis- trict of the State of Pennsylvania," made its appearance in the Washington City Gazette, No member of the House, I am persuaded, believed that Mr. Kremer wrote one pa* ragraph of that address, or of the plea, which was present- ed to the. committee, to the jurisdiction of the House. Those who counselled him, and composed both pa^iers, and their purposes, were just as welt known as the author of any report from a committee to the House. The first ob- servation which is called for by the address is the place of its publication. That place was in this City, remote from the centre of Pennsylvania, near which Mr. Kremer's district is situated, and in a paper having but a veiy li- mited, if any, circulation in it. The time is also remarka- i ble. The fact that the President intended to nominate me to the Senate for the ofiice which I now hold, in the course of a few days, was then well known ; and the pub- I licatiou of the address was, no doubt, made less with anji THtention to communicate information to the electors of tlie| iiintli Congressional District of Pennsylvania, than to iiffect] liie decision of the Scuute on the iniended nominfttion, Oi| 23 lh« character and contents of that address of Messrs. Geoige Kremer Sc Co. madi; up, as it is, of assertion without proof, of inftMences without premises, and of careless, jocose, and quizzing conversations of s^nie of my friends, to which I was no part}', and of which I liad never heard, it is not my intention to say mucli. It carried its own refutation, and ilift parties concerned saw its abortive nature the next day in the indignant countenance of every uJiprejudiced and honorable member. In his card, Mr. Kremer had been made to say, that he held himself ready " io prove, to the satisfaction of unprejudiced minds, enough to satisfy them of the accuracy of the statements which are contain- ed in that letter, to the extent tkut they concern the course of conduct of H. Clai/ " The object for excluding my friends from this pledge has been noticed. But now the election was decided, and there no longer existed a motive for discriminating between them and me. Hence the only statements that are made, in the address, having the sem» blance of proof, relate rather to them tlian to me; and the design was, by establishing something like facts upon them, to make those facts re-act upon me. Of the few topics of the address upon which I shall re- mark, tlie first is, the accusation, brought forward against lue, of violating instructions. If the accusation were true, wiio was the party oflended, and to whom was I amenable? If I violated any instructions, they must have been yours, since you onlj had the right to give them, and to you alone was I responsible. Without allowing hardly time for you to hear of my vote, without waiting to know what your judgment was of my cooduct, George Kremer 6c Co. chose t^o arraign me before the American public as the violater of instructions which I was bound to obey. If, instead of being, as you are, and I hope always will be, vigil^t ob- * servers of the conduct of your public agents, jealous of your rights, and coippetent to protect and defend then). 24 you had been ignorant and culpably confiding, the gialu . itous interposition, as your advocate, of tlie honorable George Kreiner, of the ninth Congressional district in Penn- sylvania, would have merited your most grateful acknow- ledgments. Even upon that supposition, his arraignment of me would have required for its support one small cir- cumstance, which liappens not to exist, and thut is, the /ac; of your having actually instructed me to vote accord- ing to his pleasure, Tlic relations in which I stood to Mr. Adams constitute the next theme of the address, which I shall notice. I am described as haviiig assumed '* a position of peculiar and decided hostility to the election of .Mr. Adams," and ex- pressions towards him are attributed to me, which I never used. I am made also responsible for " pamphlets and es- says of great ability," published by my friends in Kentucky, in the course of the canvass. The injustice of the princi- ple of holding me thus answerable, may be tested by ap- plying it to the case of General Jackson, in reference to publications issued, for example, from the Columbian Observer. That 1 was not in favour of tlie election of Mr. Adams, when the contest was before the people, is most certain. Neither was I in favour of that of Mr. Crawford or General Jackson. That I ever did any thing against Mr. Adams, or either of the other gentlemen, inconsis- tent with a fair and honorable competition, 1 utterly deny. My relations to Mr. Adams have been the subject of much misconception, if not misrepresentation. I have been stat- ed to be under a public pledge to expose some nefarious conduct of that gentleman, during the negotiation at Ghent; which would prove him to be entirely unwortiiy of public confidence ; and tliat, with a knowledge of his perfidy, I, nevertmless, voted for him. If these imputations are well founded, I should, indeed, be a fit object for public censure; but ifj on the contrary, it shall be found that others, ini- inical both to liim and to me, have substituted llie'irown in- xerested wishes for my public promises, I trust that the in- dignation, wliich thpy would excite, will be turn(e of the United States had never decided the election iu his favour. If the people had willed his election, he would have been elected. It was because they had not willed his election, not that of any other candidate, that the duty of making a choice de- volved on tho House of Representatives. The General remarks : " Mr. Clay has never yet risked himself for his country. He has never saoriBced his repose, nur made an efTort to repel an invading foe; of course, his conscience assured him it was altogether wrong in aivy other man to lead his couulrymen to battle and victory." The logic of this conclusion is not very striking. Gen. Jackson fights better than he reasons. When have I failed lo con- cur in awarding appropriate honours to those who on the sea or on the land have sustamed the glory of our arms, if I could not always approve of the acts of some of them? It is true, that it has been my misfortune never to have repelled an invading foe, nor to have led my conntrymen to victory. If I had, I should have left to others to pro- claim and appreciate the deed. The General's destiny and mine have led us in (liff..rent directions. In the civil em- ployments of my country, to which I have been confined, I regret that the little service which I have been able to render it, falls far shoit of my wishes. But, why this de- nunciation of those who have not repelled an invading foe, or led our armies to victory? At the very moment when be is inveighing against an objection to the election to the Presidency, founded upon the exclusive military nature of his merits, does he not percsive that he is establishing Us 32 Talidity by prosciibiiig every man who has not success- fully t(.iii;ht the public enemy ? And that, by snch a gene- ral pi-'jsciiplion, ami the lequiieaiciit of successful iiiililaiy seiv.CH as the only condition o( civil prelerinent, the in- evitable effect would be the ultimate establishment of a Mi- litaiy Government } If the contents of the letter to Mr. Swanwout were such as justly lo excite surprise, there were other circum- stances not calculated to diminish it. Of all the citizens of the United States, that gentleman is one of the last to whom it was necessary to address any vindication of Gen. Jackson. He had given abundant evidence of his entire devoiinn to the cause of the General. He was here after the election, and was one of a committee wno invited the General lo a public dinner, proposed to be given to him in this place. My letter lo Judge Brooke was published in the papers of this City on the 12[h of Ftbruary. The General's note declining i he invitation of Mr. Swartwout and others was published on the 14lh in the National Jour- nal. The probability therefore is, that he did not leave this City until after he had a full opportunity to receive, in a persona! interview with the General, any verbal obser- vations upon it which he might have thought proper to make. Tlie letter to iMr. Swartwout bears date the 23d of February. If received by him in New- York, it must havs veached him, in the ordinary course of the mail, on the 25th or 26th. Whether intended or not as a " private communication,'' and not for the " public eye," as alleged by him, there is much probability in believing that its pub- lication in New-York, on the 4th March, was then made, like Mr. Kremer's address, with the view to its arrival in thisCity in time to affect my nomination to Ihe Senate. In point of fact, it reached here the day before the Senate acted on that nomination. Fellow-citizens, I am sensible that generally a public «(Iicer had better abstain from any vintlication of his con- Juct, andVaveilto llie candor and justice of liis country- men, under all '.ts attending circumstances. Such has been the course which 1 iiave heretofore prescribed to myself. This is the first, as I ho-,e it may be the last, occasion of my thus appearing before yo=. The separation which has just taken place between us, ai.-i the venom, if not the vigor, of the late onsets upon my p.vi)lic conduct, will, I hope, be allowed in this instance to form e,., adequate apo- logy. It has been upwards of twenty years i'mce I first entered the public servtce. Nearly three fourths ^f tljat time, with some intermisstons, I have represented the sa^ne district in Congress, with but little variation in its form. During that long period, you have beheld our country passing through scenes of peace and war, of prosperity and adversity, and of party divisions, local and general, often greatly exasperated against each other. I have been an actor in most of those scenes. Throughout the whole of them you have clung to me with an aftectionate confidence which has never been surpassed. 1 have found in your at- tachment, in evi;ry embarrassment in my public career, the greatest consolation, and the most encouraging support. I should regard the loss of it as one of the most afflicting public misfortunes which coulil befal me. That I have often misconceived your true interests is highly probable. That 1 have ever sacrificed them to the object of personal aggrandizen.ent I utterly deny. And for the purity of my motives, however in other respects I may be unworthy to approach the Throne of Grace and Mercy, I appeal to the justice of my God, with all the confidence which can flow from a consciousness of perfect rectitude. Your obedient servant, H, CLAY. Washington, 2&lh March, 18'J5. S9 H ^"•^*. -J % **'^"'' ^o'^ '^^^ 4> .-.. '^ o"^ .L^%% ""' '^^ • 0* ^°^ A-'^ ^. o 5> .i^,L'* > <^ * o » o ' O, r ii li^ ilff'iV, ir ^'im u !' I < 1 H| '^llfiil ii ' ' 1 M m\ W^h *^ API 1 ^ ^r I > iiw I ill i 1 1,1 Immm 1 f ,L„„.yl A^lt.U,il^J