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SECOND CARD TO THE PUBLIC, 
 
 'P 
 
 BY WM. L. BRENT, 
 
 REPELLING THE ATTACKS OF H. CLAY, 
 
 THROUGH THE LOUISVILLE JOURNAL, HIS ORGAN, 
 
 AND HOLDING HIS (CLAY'S) CHARACTER 
 UP TO PUBLIC VIEW, 
 
 AND SHOWING FURTHER AND CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE 
 
 nr HIS 
 
 PERFIDY AND 31ENDACITY 
 
 AND DENOUNCING HIM 1 THE PUBLIC 
 
 WASHiNGTON: 
 
 riilNTKO AT TUK GI.OI'E OFKICT. 
 
 1 S4L 
 

 
 
 O 
 
CARD. 
 
 Washington Citv, Aug. 30, 1841. 
 To THE Editors of the Globe: 
 
 Gentlemen: I am under ihe necessity of asking 
 a favor of yon once more. I have been moii 
 shamefully aitaclied, as I believe, at the in-^tance 
 of H. Clay, through his confidential organ, the 
 "Louisville JournA.1." The scurrilous produciion 
 has been republished in several papers, and among 
 them, much to my astonishment, in the "Richmond 
 Whig." I have applied to the Editors of the latter 
 paper to do me the jusiice to publish my reply, 
 and they have refused ii, unless it wa« "restricted 
 within moderate li'inits, and confined to a defence 
 of yourself [myself] from the imputations coniain- 
 ' ed in the article alluJed to." This offer I am not 
 disposed to accept. If you will not give the a**- 
 companying reply a place in your paper, I shall 
 be unable to defend mvself before a generous and 
 enlightened public. I hive been much injured; 
 and 1 appeal to you to afford me an opportunity to 
 protec my-.elfj and to expose the miserable shifts 
 resoried to by Mr. Clay atid his hired "writers" to 
 cover b\< reireat in the affair wiih, 
 Yours, most respecifully, 
 
 WM. L BRENT. 
 
 SECOND CARD. 
 The dastardly and libellous atiacks, made upon 
 my private character, through the confidential or- 
 gans of H. Clay, compel me to appear once more 
 before the public. So low and vulgar are those 
 attacks, they would be unworthy of Hiy nonce, did 
 I not feel satisfied that they were authorized by 
 H. Clay, and emanated from his suggestions 
 While that individual, affecting a lofty indifference 
 to the "brand" whici I have affixed on his fore- 
 head, stands mule at the bar of public opinion; he 
 has let loose his bloodhounds, in all quaners, to 
 prey upon an humble individual, whoke onlr crime 
 has been to quarrel with this modern Cse-ar, to 
 strip him of his "false plumage," and to exhibit 
 him in his true character, to the public. But I 
 tell these men of Rhoderic Dhu, that "the quarry 
 is al bay," and I do noc mean to be written down, 
 or hunted down, by all the .serfs who can be en 
 listed under the feudal banner of this faUe chief- 
 tain. I tell Mr. Clay, also, that his intimation to 
 me, through the "Louisville (Ky.) Journal," his 
 organ, to challenge in "mortal combat" "the num- 
 
 berless Whig editors," who offer to take up his 
 quairel in the hopes of having me assassinated, by 
 some one ot these hirelings, shall not avail him. 
 I will notice no one but himself. L't the attacks of 
 oihers be what they may, my quarrel is with their 
 master; and I will keep that issue before the pub- 
 lic, as long as I have life and strength. The ser- 
 vile presses, tied to hi^ car, will not do the poor 
 justice of publishing my remarks, which they un- 
 dertake to criticise. If they are not afraid to let 
 their readers hear both sides, why not publish my 
 former "card" and the present one? Let the peo- 
 ple read them, and decide for themselves. 
 
 Why have certain Whig presses as.«;ailed me in 
 this matter, and refused, at ihe same time, to give 
 me a chance to be heard? Is it not a personal af- 
 fair between H. Clay and myself, with which poli- 
 tics have n&ihing to do? Have I not always been 
 a firm and undeviaiing Whig, and am I not so at 
 this time? Why, then, do any of the presses of my 
 own party refuse to do me justice, and to show 
 "fair play" in a personal quarrel? Have I not 
 'he right to resent an injury from Mr. Clay, and to 
 treat him, in a personal matter, as I would treat 
 any other man? I had supposed, that in so free 
 and enlightened a coun'ry as this-, there was no 
 vian that could set h'mself up, or be set up by his 
 tools, as privileged above those rules which govern 
 all oiher men. Mr Clay's instructions to his 
 friends, by the course he is now pursuing, seems 
 shortly to be this: "I am your leader — you can't 
 do without me, and although 1 may be as black 
 as S.n, you must not attempt to whitewash me, 
 for you can't do it, but jou must villify all per- 
 sons who assail me." I have yet to learn that ihe 
 talents of H- Clay are indispensable to this great 
 nation — for indispensable they must be, if he can 
 reach ihe highest honors, who is covered with de- 
 ceit, perfidy, and f.ilsehood, as with a I -prosy. So 
 far as I am concerned, I am now willing that he 
 should rest upon his mock dignity, and look down 
 upon me, if he can, in his lordly and monarchical 
 piiie. It is ridiculous in him or his friends to 
 say, that I am not his equal. I feel myself, a^ an 
 honorable man, far above him, nor can I feel the 
 vSiing of contempt from that man, of whom the 
 eloquent rnd distinguished Virginian, John Ran- 
 dolph, said in public debate, that "contempt has 
 the property of descending, but she stops far short 
 
4 
 
 of him; he dwells beneath her lowest fall An hy- 
 perbole for meanness, would be an eclipse for 
 Clay." 
 
 As I ha^e neither H. Clay's inflated ideas of his; 
 own dijjnity, or his callousness lo accusaiion, I 
 feel constrained to notice the base slanders which, 
 concocied in Washington, no doubt under his 
 eyes, by his servile crew, have been transmitted 
 abroad, to appear a>; editorial remarks in hi-^ mf r- 
 cenary and subsidised presses. Among those who 
 have di.'-tinguihed themselves in ihe low art of 
 defamation, and blackguard ^currility lowatds me, 
 at the instance, no doubt, of H. Clay, his biogra- 
 pher and confidential organ, the editor of the 
 "Louisville Journal" stands foremost. From si 
 hackneyed and practistd a traducer of character, 
 I did not exprci any thing el^e but torrems of vul- 
 gar abuse, for danng 1 1 ;is-ail ihe immseulate H. 
 Clay, even in a personal affair; and I have noi 
 been disappointed. The object of H. Clay, in en 
 couragingsuch attacks, is to destroy me and my 
 family, if he can, by attacking my private affairs, 
 and by assailing my privaie character, a"; reasons 
 to justify his course towards me, and artfully to 
 draw off' public attention from himself. In this he 
 cannot succ-^ed. His arrows fall harmless at my 
 feet. His own letter of thr 22d of June last to 
 me, Ions after he had been gmliy of what I ch?rged 
 him wiih, and after the death of General Harrison 
 and the nomination to the Senate of Mr. Fendall, 
 gives the lie direct to thr'se newly fabricated rea- 
 sons. FiiT, in that letter, he admits the r?.<^pecta- 
 bilityof my standing and characier, by sayi'-ig to 
 me, that my insu'tin;^ Language should not -'be 
 allowed by me [Clay] to brtak off our friend; hp." 
 This declarai'ou admits, at least, that he regards 
 me (as be could not oiherwi.'e do) in poinf. of 
 character, as bis equal, and my friendjh:p as worthy 
 of reiaining. When a man fears to do that, in 
 an honorable point of view, which he is b'und to 
 do, he and his saiilites can easily as.sign reasons, bui 
 to honorable men, they will not be satisfactory. If 
 my only object was to expose the subterfuge to which 
 H. Clay had resorted, to gel out of ihe difficulty 
 in which I have placed him, and toclear himsel' from 
 the odium now aitached to him as a "dishonored 
 man," 1 might sujp here; but as he has dared to 
 arraign my ''moral <haracier," and to speak of 
 my "private affairs," i hope the pu'-«lic will permit 
 me to defend my.seli; and if, in doing so, I shall 
 feel myself compelled to a-sail him, he has no one 
 to blame but himself. 
 
 So rabid and hytnalikcis the at ack upon ms, 
 in seeking to rend me lo pi;'ces, by the publicaiions 
 allude! u>, that the vulnerable points in Mr. Clay's 
 own character have been entirely forgotten; and I 
 have been foolishly assailed as guilty of "vices," 
 which, all the world kno^v;, he is vastly more dis- 
 tinguished for, than ever I could be, if all were 
 admitted which is said against me I am accused 
 in the publications alluded to as being guilty of "a 
 disregard of public decency," of the most "shame- 
 less debaucheries," and of being "lost to.^elf-respect, 
 and to every sen^e of paternal duty ! !" Such low 
 contemptible scurri'ity is not worth noticing, and 
 is an insult to the moral feeling of the public I 
 deny the base slanders in every respect; and I cast 
 every one of them back upon H. Clay himSelf, to 
 
 whom ihey belong. I most positively assert ihit I 
 never was in a brothel, or in a hou^e of a-signa- 
 tion since I have resiled in Washington ciiy, or 
 elsewhere, in my life: I never was in a gambling 
 house, or gambled. I never wa>; accused of being 
 H blackleg or roue, I am no drunkard. I have 
 never been the cause of any disgraceful nighily 
 quarrels in the public streets by abandoned iemale 
 characters, and I have never commuted an act 
 which Cf)uld siubject me to the charges made so 
 unfeelingly against me by Mr. Clay and his 
 reptiles. I have been a resident of Washington 
 for about ten years, and I may say of the D, strict 
 nearly twenty ye^rs, for whilst in Congre.-s, I ge 
 nerally renmned here during ihe vvho!e year; and I 
 challenge H. Clay to produce oiie solitary indivi- 
 dual, who can prove lh*> reverse of these assertions. 
 In the community of Washington, there are many 
 who know this great moral exemplar, whoi^e nod is 
 the law to his iilaves, and "whose chief eunuch has 
 been been ordered to strangle me." L'!t his friends 
 beware how they tread upon the "moral character" 
 of others, or a min-^ may be sprung belore the 
 whole country, which will develope another hide- 
 ous feature of their prophet, no'v covered by the 
 silver veil of credulity and delusion. Before all 
 'he world I throw the gauntlet to H. Ciay. and 
 challenge a comparison of his "moral characier" 
 vwith mine. Put me thou^^h the "fiery ordeal," 
 and it will be found, that whilst I do not profess 
 to be either a suint or a puritan, my morals, to say 
 the least of them, will c impare with his If all 
 ihe base slanders were tru'', it does not belong to 
 him to throw them up lo me. Is that which is a 
 3ri(ne in one man, a virtue in anoiheil Before 
 'vlr. C ay permitted his serfs to assail me for the 
 want of a proper sense of "paternal duty," h^ 
 ought to have reSecied upon his own fense of "pa- 
 ternal duty," ah! yes, and his sense of con/i^'a/ 
 duty, too. It is degrading lo human natun-,ihat 
 he who knows what his ovvn conduct is, should sit 
 down quietly, and hear m^ abused by his minions 
 on such ground as this. 1 am ashamed lo be com- 
 pelled to reply to such charges, bu' I beg a generous 
 public to make allowance* lor my excuement at so 
 base an ait»fmpi to injure me, and to wound the 
 leeliugs of my friends. 
 
 This chargt^ against my moral ch racter ii; only 
 carrying out a deep game of "conspi acy" against 
 me, coinmencfd ih* raonipnt ii was suspec'ed that 
 my old friend. General Harrison, more mindfu' of 
 former frien.lshipi than Mr. Clay, might offer the 
 office of Attorney of Ibis District to me. Those 
 vile and cowardly 'conspirators," sought to im- 
 press ihe public mind, through an inymous letter 
 writers, with the idea ihat General Harrison was 
 prejudiced against me, and would not stop at my 
 house on account <f my moral conduct. Tne evi- 
 dence of such "conspiracy" is contained ia the 
 lollowing extract from a letter of S. S Southworth, 
 (the anonymous letter wnter, who first put ih's re- 
 port, as to ray moral character, in circuLition in the 
 Boston Times,) to a gentleman of the first respec- 
 tability in Washington city, who handed it to me, 
 to use as I thought pmppr, 
 
 "Hope Island, Narraganset Bay, 
 
 ".June 16,1811. 
 "My Dear Sir: I received a note from the eiliinr of tlie ''Bos- 
 ton Times," (a paper in which a similar publication to the 
 
one ill the "Louisville Journal" was mailc,) informing ine tliat 
 he haj publislied a letier, libellous of Colonel Brent, ilint 1 was 
 the author, unA demanding of ine to surreiidfr up my name to 
 that gentleman. As soon as I obtained a copy of the ("Tmies,") 
 paper, and had read the otTeneive article, 1 discovered that my 
 originalh.iii been materially changed in its language, gramiria- 
 tic.il construction and bearing; but I never'.heless, at the inaiant, 
 aedressed Colonel Brcnl, gave him my name, and denied all de- 
 sign to libel him. 
 
 '■'1 know there was a deep laid conspiracy among some of 
 the Whigs of, - • • • uud of the ciiy to de.-Jlroy lilm, and I 
 am .<?.>r;y to add, thatlfear the conspirators were too success- 
 ful. 
 
 "For Colonel Erent I always cherished the most profound 
 respect. 
 
 ''Not wishing to stand in your estimation as a cowardly and 
 base projligate, libeller, I have entered inio these explana- 
 tions, audio you I hope they will be satisfactory. 
 "Yours, &c. 
 
 "S. S. SOUTHWORTH." 
 
 To what e.^lrcmes will nol mea g ', who .■^fcret- 
 ly conspire to injure the character of anoth-r? 
 Wnat honest or honorable men can or will be- 
 lieve any statf merit, emanating from su;;h conspi- 
 rators as these? Yei I am assailed to ptomoe 
 Mr. Clay'j- views, by .^uch despicable combina 
 tions. 
 
 It is also insinuated, that here in Washington, 
 I am not respL-ct^d. Let facts .<peak to this charge. 
 When General Hirrison was ab uU being inaugu- 
 rated as President of th's United Sia'e^, I wa-- cho- 
 sea by a lar^e uiajori'y of the Whig-; of Washuij- 
 ton, sele^ied to make the appointment, in opp-vi- 
 tion to oihers who were nam°d, a.< tht^ Ciief Mar- 
 thai on the 4ih of March last, to presidr; over and 
 control the honors paid to our disiinguished favo 
 rite on ihU day, and '.!> head, in civic proc-ssion. 
 notles; than forty thousand freemen assembled 
 upon that occasion. Would I have been so ap- 
 pointed, above all oihers, upon so honorable an oc- 
 casion, had I not been respected by the people of 
 my own city, where I had rtsided so r>ni;? Would 
 they hive given me ''the post of honor" (in iha' 
 occasion, it I was viewed in the li-^ht Mr. Clay 
 now wishes to repre-ent me? Ajain, I call upon 
 these slanderers to look at the testimonials of a 
 majority of th° Whi^s of the District, now on file 
 in the State Department, expressing iheir hiah dm- 
 fidence in my character and abilitie*, and exprCfV. 
 ing a pleaure at hearing that I had be»n offered 
 the place of Attorney of the Dis,!rict by General 
 Harribon. 
 
 The Louii;ville Jourf,al cha'ges that my "infa- 
 my is wed known at Washinstm." SVhen I 
 wo aid ask, was ihis infamy discovered, and when 
 did it come to the knowledi^e of the pure ani ttn 
 defiled Henri/ Clay'i V. must have come to his 
 knjwled^e (if at all) either before or after the 
 921 June last, on which day he wrote me a letter, 
 declaring me worthy of hi<i friendship . If before 
 that dale, then he has debased him>elf m his ntie of 
 the 22d June last, by striving to retain the friend- 
 ship of an infamous man. If my alledged infamy 
 was made known to Henry Clay after the 22 1 June 
 last, it is no palliation or protection for his treach- 
 erous conduct to me previoits to that dale. I have 
 thus shown, by Mr. Clay's rcritten avowal of 
 ^'friendship" for me on the 221 June last, that he 
 either then knew my imputed infamy, and know- 
 ing it, wa^ base enongh to rank me as worthy his 
 ;"/nen«Jsfcip," or that he committed the p'-rfidy and 
 violation of his pledge, while he was ignorant of 
 
 aught to render me unworthy of his "Ineadship;"! in his own words: 
 
 fdr it is but a poor subterfuge to justify Clay's 
 shameless treachery before 221 June, by a subie- 
 quertt discovery that I am infamouv. Ttiis door 
 of retreat then is closed upon him, notwithstand- 
 
 n<j thf fflons of his friends lo screen their dis- 
 honored chief, and he stands brfore ih** public com- 
 vicied I f thf? rankest treachery or of knowingly con- 
 sorting with an "iiifamnus" man It Henry Ciay 
 jusiifies his silenc'- towards me by an int matioa 
 that I am too infamous for his noiice, I pronounce 
 him to be a bau slanderer, and if he does no; justify 
 
 toil ih.t ground, I pronounce him to be adailurdty 
 craven to cower under iny insults. Let his Inend). 
 choose the alternative. 
 
 Mr. Clay,ihrough his presses, is not satisfied wi'h 
 an attack npim my "miral characier," but with a 
 vie* to rouse my crediturs into ruthle>.s aeiion 
 lowardsme, to injure and destroy ray cedi', and 
 to ruin me, charges me with being '•insolvent." 
 The lime was and wi hia his lecollection, when 
 1 wav far from being "in'^olvent" — at a lime when 
 a similar charee w.<s unfeelinsly m-ide agaiu.>t him 
 iiy his enemies Did I then consider him, (or that 
 causf, as beneath my noticti? or did I abandon 
 him? Tae recollection of my conduct upon ihav 
 occasion, mu t noA? cover his cheeks with shame, 
 if ambiuon his not eradicated every honorable 
 and g'ateful (eeling- H--ar what he lhiin said. 
 I extract his- th^n opinion, from y letier addre*-ed 
 by him, lo the public, and which wdl bs found in 
 ihe 34ih volume of Nif-^'s Regi^ier, pase 295. 
 "VVashinoton. 2.5ih March, 1823. 
 "Dear Sir: It isa matter alsu ol rfpiisilaiion to me ioX-/ioic 
 that this wanton exjiosure of my private nlTiirs, couM dome 
 no pecuniary prejudice. It has indeed \eiilooi\e incident, winch 
 was, at the time, a sourse of pleasure and of pain. \ friend 
 lately called on me, at the instances of other friends, and in- 
 f inned me that they were apprehensive that my private affaira 
 were einbiinassed, and thai I allowed this embarrassment to 
 l>rey upunmy inind. He came, iherelnre, with tlioir authori- 
 ty lo tell me, that they would contribute any sum that I nnsht 
 want tore^/ece TOC- Tie emotions which such a proposition 
 excited may be conceived by honorable men. I felt most 
 hafipy to undeceive them, and to decline their benevolent 
 proposition. ' 
 
 'I am, with great respect, 
 
 '11 CLAV." 
 
 Mr. Clay know.s who those friends were who 
 in ide him the "benevolent" offer to "relieve" him, 
 and who that /ntnd was who called upon him. 
 Hecansiv whether I was not one of them, and 
 whether I was not the "friend" who, in person, 
 called upon him. Some of those g^nllemen now 
 live — some have parsed away forever. I will fur- 
 ther say, that I have ever po<ses«ed ihe personal 
 friendship of them all. Upon this charge I will 
 say no more than to add, I do not deny but that, 
 in these limes, I am embarrassed; but as to beng 
 "insolvent," I am not, and never will be, unless 
 Mr. Clay, and his tools, cao exci e my hiiherto 
 indulgpnt creditors, to crush me at once against 
 iheir own interests. Let the pullic contrast my 
 conduct to Mr. Clay, in 1823, with his to me in 
 1841. 
 
 The "Louisville Journal" contains another 
 statement: "That the Mar.-hil of the District of 
 Columbia, on being a^ked whether Brent's (my) 
 name would be received on a bond of between o.ie 
 and two hundred dollars, replied that it would not 
 be taken for a farthing." 
 
 I will give the Marshal's reply to this base lie, 
 
•'Washington City, D. C. August 16, 1841. 
 " Dear Sir: In reply to your noie of thi^i dale, I inform you 
 that the only imtance in which yiiur name on any bond, has 
 been teniiered me. was in the case of Francis Jolimon, (now 
 living ni Louisville, Kentucky,) and 1 ca?in()i tax my memory 
 with any such remark as has been ascribed lo me; on Ihe con 
 /rary, I referred, as the reason lor declining itto an or<ier of 
 court, in wliich, without the sanction of the court, the Marshal 
 waa/orAiJ to rec rive the oncers [of whicli number I was] of 
 the court as bail. 
 
 "Yours, &c. A. IIUNTER." 
 
 "Col. W.M. L. Brent. 
 
 1 should like lo know who gave the "Louisville 
 Jeuraal" this infoimationi I can never be- 
 )ieve that he tierived it from the individual whom 
 I was di.^posed to serve by becoming his bail and 
 preventing his going to jail. 
 
 The sam" publication says: "That upon the < c- 
 casion of General Harri.son's arrival ai Washing 
 loo, Col. Brent endeavored lo prevail on him to 
 attend a dinner party at his house, by way of giving 
 himself consequence; and thni certain respectable 
 Whigs found it necessary to interfere and thwart 
 the petty and paltry scheme, by informing the 
 General of Colonel B's infamous character, t? true 
 in every particular " I pron unre this to be false, 
 and a deliberate lie, in every particular. General 
 Harrison disiingui.sh'd me as hi.s fiiend, above all 
 oihets, by dininn; loitk r)ie the very first day after 
 his arrival in Washinston, m company with the 
 most disiingiii>hpd states-men in the country, and 
 several of the must resppciable citizens of the Dis- 
 trict. Tne public will bp astoni.shed to hear, af^er 
 this bold a^seriU'n of Mr. Clay's orijan, that H. 
 Clay himself was of the parly. 
 
 Goaded on by a. fiendi;.h malice, and not .«a'is- 
 fied with attacking my ''moral character" and my 
 priva'e atl'-tirs, I a:n profession illy assailed by 
 Mr. ClayV 6/'jo(i/toun(/s. I am charged wiih col 
 lecting m:neyfrom a "Typographical Society," 
 and of not paying "a dollar of it" to the dav < f 
 the acciisaijon. Ths is done to create a piejudice 
 a?aiii«t me, with the printers of the coumry. \ 
 never coil-eied «n.- cent for anv "Typosrap'.iiral 
 Society" but for ih« one in vV^a<-hin2tnn, and I 
 paid over every cent I received long before the ac- 
 CHsation was mtde. See the following certificate: 
 
 "Having read the charge referred lo, I feel ji my duly, as 
 Treasurer of the Columbia Typ.iiraiihical Society, to state, as 
 an act of but common justice to Mr Brent, ibat he honorably 
 transacted the busines.s which he had ill liaml for the Sucieiy 
 and paid th: siine. long since. M. CaTON ' 
 
 August 30, It^U." 
 
 Wot sa'i. fi.'d with all these charges against me, 
 my "veracity" is impeached. 1 defy the malignity 
 of H Clay and his organs, to prove that in any 
 o»i«i7utince, I ever told an untruth I would feel 
 humiliated, indeed, if I thought that any respecta- 
 ble man Would piat;e my veraci'y upon an equali- 
 ty with H. Ciay'.i, alter what I have prjved upon 
 htm, and after what I wid now prove upon him, 
 uader hi'^ tuvn hand writing. Now, to the prool 
 of his having deliberately sia'cd what he knew ai 
 the lime w/is not true. In the following note lo 
 me, he says: 
 
 Washington City, T). C. 
 19 b June, 1811 
 
 "Henry Clay'.s respects in Col. Breni, ind in ipply to his 
 note he inlorms liim, iliatdunng- the Presiilryicy of Gcufrul 
 JiairiuonUe adoj.'ied the rule of ;(«?j./M'er/(»(c?ice iiuilhcial 
 Bppoiiitiiient.'f to which he has adhered generally since the ac- 
 ccsdiun ol President '1 ylcr." 
 
 (jdeauiDg that he did not interfere du- 
 ring the Presideacy of Geueral Harrison 
 
 J 10 procure the appoittment of Mr. Feudal! as at- 
 torney of this District, with which I ciiarged him; 
 hut that he did interfire after the death of Gen. 
 Harrison, wiih President Tyler, as stated in the 
 samp note, which has already been published by 
 me) In a letter dated upon the I2ch of May last, 
 about a month before he made the positive ."State- 
 ment in his note to me that he did not imeriere 
 wiih Gen. Harrison in the anpointment, he ex- 
 pre.'sly admits the fact, that he did interfere witk 
 President Harrison to get the office lor Mr. Fendall, 
 intimates that Gen. Harrison had given him rea- 
 sons to believe that Fendall would get it; (which I 
 positively deny to be trur;) and he concludes by 
 saying to Mr Tyler, ihat he then asked the office 
 from him, as he had done from President Harrison. 
 Put these two letters of his, along side of one ano- 
 ther, and what can be thouiiht of the veracity of a 
 man who makes such contradictory statements? 
 I need not remind him of the legal maxim, as to 
 the cridibility of a witness, "Jalsum in uno,falsum 
 in omnibus " The letter is now on lile in the 
 State Department, where it can bsseen, and where 
 I saw it I was refused a c ipy of the letier, as 
 the rules of the Department do not allow rf co- 
 pies, as Mr. Webster informed me; but Mr. Clay 
 can procure one, and let hitn publish it, if he dares. 
 President Tyler, and the Hon. Daniel Webster, 
 Secretary of State, cmnot aeny this sia'Lemeni in 
 regard to a letter which they have both seen. I 
 do not pretend to give the exact words of the letter, 
 but I give its substance and meaning. 
 
 Again, I am accused of publishing a coniiden- 
 tJRl letter of General Harrison, in which he de- 
 clares that, "from Mr. Clay he had received only 
 ungenerous irfatment in requiial for years 
 of devoted service." Indeed I have recently seen 
 a Clay paper, in which it is charged that no such 
 letter exists, and that it is a forgery. To satufy 
 the public of the genuineness of the document, I 
 invite all who desire to know the truth, to call up- 
 on me and examine the letter lor ihemsslve'^. I 
 deny that the letier was "confidential," or that 
 Geni ral Harrison made any secret of his opinion 
 of Mr. Clay. In giving General Hirnson'i opi- 
 ni'not Mr. Clay's ingratitude to him, I only gav« 
 the opinion that General Harrison had expressed 
 of him, publicly, and upon all occasions, to others. 
 I have heard of his ?pe;<king of it on s'eamboats 
 and elsewhere. Tne 'L luisville Journal" admits 
 It lo have been his opinion, when he says that the 
 letter to me "was wriiien at a time when the ve- 
 nerable Harrison, almost despaiiing o[ ihe nomi- 
 nation, to which he deemed him.^e 1 entitled, was 
 known to leel no Utile exasperation towatds Mr. 
 Clay " But I deny, (and I call upon all General 
 Harrison's old friends in Indiana and Ohio, and 
 paniciilarly about Cincinnati, to sustain me in rc- 
 (ielli;ig the attack made upon the memory of our 
 old friend) that General Harrison's feelings to- 
 ward.s Mr. CUty, as expres-ed to me, arose out of 
 a rivalship (or the Presidential nomination. They 
 originated from various causes, known to his 
 iiiends long bffore General Harristn was spoken 
 of as a candidaie for ihe Presidency. The impu- 
 tation of such a base motive, as that given by Mr. 
 Clay's organ to General Harri.son, i% & slander 
 upon the magnanimous character of the departed 
 
hero and statesman. I stigmatize it as a foul 
 libel on a man, who was no less remarkable f ( r 
 his disregard of self-aggrandisfmcnt, ihan hi,^ com- 
 petitor (H. Clay) for the nomination, has proved 
 himself seljisk. I call upon ihe friends of Geneial 
 Harrison to rebuke this wantrn iraducerof ihi 
 "distingvi'shed dead," that hr may fxalt the un 
 worthy living. I deny, also, that General Harrison 
 evrr charged his private opinion of H. Clay as 
 a man. He never retracted his opinion, that 
 "from Mr. Clay he had received only vvgenerous 
 treatment in requital for yf.-srs of devoted jervice." 
 As a political ally of Mr. Clay, General Harrison 
 was not incrnsistent in eulogising Mr. ClayV 
 cpur.*e in opposing their common adversaiy, and 
 .tpcaking of him as a public man, in his pebtic ca- 
 pacity. 1/ there beany wto cannot see the d s- 
 tinction between General Harrison's opinion o( 
 Mr. Clay, as expressed to me and oiher friends, 
 and the language used by him, in his public 
 speeches, it is«, because they would desecra'e the 
 grave of Harrison wiih a charge of duplicity, that 
 they may gl< rify H Clay. 
 
 Havirg answered the foul aspersirns made 
 against me by some prostituted presses, and fear- 
 ing nothing froni their power, as I hope for nothirg 
 
 from the mercy of this "harpy crew," and having 
 once more charged home upon H. C'ay, whose 
 silence, broken in upon by the howling fierceness 
 ol his myrmidons, is as impotent of ime contempt, 
 as the defence he has caused to be made for him 
 is destitute of prudence. I will remark in conclu- 
 sion, that I was fully aware, when I published H. 
 Clay as guilty of di-bonorab!e conduct and dupli- 
 city towards me, that I should be compelled to 
 stand up, single-handed r nd alone, an humble in- 
 dividual, ct-ntcndirg with all the perscnai and 
 party influence which he could bring to crush me. 
 Myr»l;ancj was, and is, on the intclligpnce and 
 sense of justice of my fellow-citizens, throughout 
 the whol« country, not o( the servile and desperate 
 few, whcse (oitunes are embarked in ihe same 
 vessfl with ihfir cliief, but in the free, the un- 
 bonght feopk, who will give to the poorest, the 
 lowest cii zen, as full and impartial a h oaring, as 
 to the highest and proudest in the land. 
 
 WM. L. BRENT. 
 Washington CiTT, August 30, 1841. 
 
 P. S. I ask all honorable and impartial presJC?, 
 of both parties, whi(h have published the base 
 libels on me, to give ihis a place. 
 
89 W 
 
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