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 X 
 

 THE MILL-BOY OF THE SLASHES. 
 
THE YOUNG AMERICAN'S LIBRARY. 
 
 LIFE 
 
 OF 
 
 HENRY CLAY, 
 
 THE STATESMAN AND THE PATRIOT. 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 NUMEROUS ANECDOTES.- 
 
 'I 
 
 A-^- 
 
 Will) ^USHtratinns. 
 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 LINDSAY & BLAKISTON. 
 
 1853. 
 

 
 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852, by 
 LINDSAY & BLAKISTON, 
 
 in the Clerk's Office of the District Ccfiirt of the United States for 
 
 the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. J 
 ' .' 
 
 STEREOirPED BY J. FAGAX. PRINTED BT C. SHERMAN. 
 
 I 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The biography of Henry Clay is the history of 
 his country, during the term of years that it em- 
 braces. But, although he was a constant actor in 
 public life, his sphere did not embrace such stir- 
 ring events on the ocean and the battle-field, as 
 give the Uves of many other American public 
 men their interest. 
 
 Mr. Clay's history is the history of the Legisla- 
 tion of the United States ; and we have labored 
 so to present it, that our young readers may be 
 introduced to a portion of the annals of their 
 country, which is not usually embraced in brief 
 and compendious narratives. 
 
 His personal history, particularly that of his 
 early years, is an incentive to labor and diligence ; 
 for what he accomplished, was won with less edu- 
 cational advantages, than most of our young 
 
 (iii) 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 readers possess. And yet, by diligence, "The 
 Mill-Boj^ of the Slashes," became, as a brother 
 Senator happily styled him, " Primus inter Illus- 
 tres^' — the Prince of the Senate. He held this 
 position not by the accident of birth, for his 
 parentage was obscure — not by the fivor of par- 
 tisans, for he was often in the minority — not by 
 talent alone, for natural powers, uncultivated, 
 betray their possessor. To natural parts, aided 
 by industry, Henry Clay owed his usefulness and 
 his fame. A nation honors him ; for the influence 
 of his mind has guided the progress of his coun- 
 try — felt as that influence has been even while 
 unacknowledged. And it will moreover be per- 
 petual ; for it established customs and rules which 
 have survived the founder, and will endure as 
 long as the republic. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Birth and Boyhood of Henry Clay — His Schooling — His Clerkship 
 in Richmond — Enters the Office of the Clerk of the High Court 
 of Chancery Page 13 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Young Clay as a Student — Chancellor Wythe — His Friendship for 
 the young Student — His Removal to Lexington — His own Review 
 of his Early Life 23 
 
 CHAPTER IIL 
 
 Lexington Debating Society — The Kentucky Bar — Party Excite- 
 ment — Wasliington and Adams — Foreign Emissaries — French 
 Aggressions — Apprehended War with France — The Alien and 
 Sedition Acts 31 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Democrats and Federalists — Mr. Clay takes the Field against the 
 Alien and Sedition Acts — Mr. Clay and Emancipation — Is ap- 
 pointed U. S. Senator — "Old Bess." 43 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Mr. Clay in the Kentucky Legislature — Difficulty with Mr. Mar- 
 shall — Again sent to the Senate — Mr. Clay upon "Protection" — 
 Governor Shelby— The Governor's Household — Mr. Clay's House- 
 hold — Ashland — The Bottle of Wine 55 
 
vi CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Navigation of the Mississippi — Louisiana Ceded to France by Spain 
 — Napoleon's Project of a military Colony — His double Perfidy 
 to the United States and Spain — Purchase of Louisiana by the 
 United States — Disputed Boundary of Florida — Measures of Mr. 
 Madison in Relation thereto — Sustained by Mr. Clay 
 
 CHAPTER VIL 
 
 69 
 
 The Bank of the United States — Mr. Clay in 1811 — Cow and Tur- 
 key—Mr. Clay in 1816 77 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Mr. Clay Speaker of the House of Representatives — Causes of War 
 — War Resolutions — Bills from the Senate — Mr. Clay's speech 
 in Committee — John Randolph, of Roanoke 84 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The Navy under Jefferson — Timid Project of Mr. Madison's Cabi- 
 net — Remonstrances of Naval Officers — Bill to increase the Navy 
 — Speech of Mr. Clay — Naval History of the War of 1812 95 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Henry's Embassy — Declaration of War 105 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Mr. Clay appointed Peace Commissioner — Retort Courteous — British 
 Demands — Long Negotiation — The Treaty — Rejoicings and 
 Complaints — The London Times — Mr. Clay's Speech in Lexing- 
 ton — Anecdote 112 
 
 CHAPTER XIL 
 
 Mr. Clay's Eloquence — Frankfort and the Hat — Madame De Stael 
 and Wellington — Bonaparte — Mr. Clay's Advice to Young Men 126 
 
CONTENTS. Vll 
 
 CPAPTER XIII. 
 
 Debts at the close of the War of 1812 —The Tariff of 1816 — Mr. 
 Clay on the Spanish Republics 133 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Close of the Fourteenth Congress — Its Leading Measures — The 
 Compensation Act — Public Dissatisfaction — Opening of the Fif^ 
 teenth Congress — Internal Improvements 147 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 The Seminole Campaign of 1817 — Arbuthnot and Ambrister — 
 Pensacola and St. Marks — Difficulties in the Cabinet — Proceed- 
 ings in Congress — Speech of Mr. Clay 156 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 The Missouri Compromise — Retirement of Mr. Clay — His Mission 
 to Virginia — Visit to Hanover — Speech before the Virginia House 
 of Delegates 167 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Mr. Clay's Re-Election to Congress — Chosen Speaker — Greece — 
 Reception of Lafayette 178 
 
 CHAPTER XVIIL 
 
 Election of John Quincy Adams — His Testimony to Mr. Clay — 
 Mr. Clay in the Cabinet — The Panama Mission — Mr. Randolph 
 and Mr. Clay — Their Last Interview 186 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Mr. Clay's Retirement — His Election to the Senate — Removal of the 
 Deposites — Expunging Resolution — The Compromise Tariff.... 193 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Presidential Elections — Mr. Clay's Demeanor under Disappointment 
 — Resignation of his seat in the Senate 204 
 
 • 
 
• • • 
 
 Vlll CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Mr. Clay's Withdrawal from Public Life — Annexation of Texas — 
 The Tariff — Liberality of Mr. Clay's Friends — Speech on the 
 Irish Famine — Death of Henry Clay, Jr. — Mr. Clay's Baptism — 
 His Journeys — Speech on Colonization 211 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Mr. Clay returns to the Senate — The Compromise of 1850 — The 
 River and Harbor Bill of 1851 219 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Mr. Clay's Last Illness — Interview with Kossuth — His Demeanor 
 in the Sick-room — His Death 226 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Speeches in Congress — Funeral Honors — Burial at Lexington — 
 Conclusion 232 
 
< 
 
 o 
 
 w 
 
 
THE LIFE 
 
 OF 
 
 HENRY C LAY. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 BIRTH AND BOYHOOD OF HENRY CLAY — HIS SCHOOLING 
 
 HIS CLERKSHIP IN RICHMOND — ENTERS THE OFFICE OF 
 THE CLERK OF THE HIGH COURT OF CHANCERY. 
 
 Henry Clay was born in Hanover County, 
 Virginia, April 12th, 1777; and thus entered 
 the world at a time when his first perceptions 
 and thoughts would arise from the new order of 
 things, or be drawn toward the republican usages 
 of the new era. By this training he became, in 
 after years, a fit successor to the statesmen who 
 had guided his native country through a long 
 and weary struggle, terminating in a dearly pur- 
 chased peace, the proclamation of which was 
 among his earliest recollections. 
 
 2 (13) 
 
14 LIFE OF 
 
 There were many things in the circumstances 
 of his birth, which were conducive to his future 
 usefulness and success. Upon the foundation of 
 a house depends the strength of the structure; 
 and upon the childhood of the man is built his 
 future character. To show how from obscurity 
 and without the aid of wealth, connections, or 
 what are usually deemed the advantages of life, 
 Henry rose to a fame and position second to few 
 in the repubhc, will be the chief purpose of this 
 biography. Our young readers should be stirred 
 to generous emulation; and as Henry Clay never 
 received the high political reward which is 
 painted as the summit of American ambition, 
 those who read his life should learn the value of 
 that solid reputation, and calm self-respect, which 
 is the substantial recompense of true patriotism. 
 They should from his history learn to appreciate 
 the consciousness of rectitude which can console 
 the possessor even under the attacks of calumny, 
 and which can take away the bitterness of dis- 
 appointment, even when to defeat there seems to 
 be added the sting of ingratitude. Accident may 
 place the undeserving on the highest pinnacle of 
 human honor; but no accident can confer that 
 highest of worldly rewards — the innate sense of 
 
HENRY CLAY. IS 
 
 worth — which depends upon no popular verdict, 
 and can be taken away by no human injustice, 
 and destroyed by no ungrateful neglect. 
 
 When, in 1783, peace was proclaimed, Henry 
 Clay was in his seventh year, and had been for 
 about two years forced into that state of early 
 and trying independence which a lad inherits 
 who early loses his father; for Henry's father 
 died in 1781. He was a clergyman, and in the 
 humble worldly lot of a self-denying servant of 
 God, has left no memorial which places his name 
 on the record of distinguished men. But he was 
 remembered while those lived whose recollections 
 went back to the period of his life, as a man esti- 
 mable and beloved in his social relations; and the 
 fame of his son will carry down to posterity the 
 pleasant memory of the man whose early instruc- 
 tions — so soon interrupted — formed the germ of 
 the future excellencies of Henry's character. 
 
 But though the death of a father is a great 
 misfortune, there is relief for it in the manly 
 development of character, and the bringing for- 
 ward of mental strength, which are the effect of 
 the care of a widowed mother. Though her sway 
 be gentle, yet in the case of children thus be- 
 reaved we often read Sampson's riddle — out of 
 
16 LIFE OF 
 
 weakness cometh strength. The boy during his 
 father's life is dependent ; but to the feebleness 
 of his mother he becomes a protector; and is 
 early taught of what value even a child, disposed 
 to be obedient and useful, may prove in the 
 world. The mother of Henry Clay lived to see 
 her son realize the reward of his early industry 
 and studiousness, and his filial piety. She sur- 
 vived until 1827, at which date Mr. Clay had 
 been for over twenty years in public life. She 
 watched with a mother's honest exultation his 
 upward progress ; and with a mother's deep affec- 
 tion rejoiced that public duties never estranged 
 his heart from his domestic relations, or quenched 
 the sacred feeling of filial piety and obedience. 
 
 A favorite symbol during the election of 1844, 
 when Henry Clay was a candidate for the Presi- 
 dency, was a ruddy lad, mounted upon a horse, 
 with a sack for a saddle. This referred to his 
 early boyhood, when, in common with thousands 
 of his young countrymen, he performed his part 
 in the labors of the house and the homestead. A 
 cardinal requisite to success in life is industry ; 
 and a right understanding of what is honorable 
 and what is dishonorable, will lead young and 
 old never to be ashamed of necessary labor. Far 
 
THE VILLAGE SCHOOL. 
 
HENRY CLAY. 17 
 
 less will the truly honorable boy or man save his 
 own fancied dignity by imposing undue labor 
 upon mother' or sister. There is no more noble 
 trait of character than generosity; and he w^io 
 sacrifices pride, or overcomes indolence for the 
 assistance of others, is more truly generous, in 
 his self-denial, poor though he be, than if he 
 could throw away, with lavish hand, money 
 which he need not count. And the lad Henry 
 Clay, when a bare-footed messenger between the 
 house and mill, no doubt felt more content than 
 when in later years he bore the public burthen. 
 
 The early school advantages of Henry Clay 
 appear to have been very small. His teacher's 
 name was Peter Deacon, and Mr. Clay often re- 
 ferred to him with respect and affection. It does 
 not appear that Henry had any school oppor- 
 tunities after the age of fourteen years. The 
 school-house in which he acquired the elements 
 of reading, writing, and arithmetic, was a rude 
 log structure, having no glass windows — if indeed 
 it had any window whatever. It is said that the 
 only aperture through w^hich light entered was 
 the open door. Henry went forward in his arith- 
 metic as far as " Practice," a rule w^hich, in the 
 old style of teaching, was just far enough from 
 
 2* 
 
18 LIFE OF 
 
 "units under units, and tens under tens/' to ena- 
 ble the pilgrim among figures to "see through" 
 the book. No doubt Henry was very studious 
 under Mr. Deacon's tuition; and probably his 
 father's library, or what remained of it after his 
 decease, was useful to him. His mother and 
 elder brothers and sisters, for Henry was the 
 seventh child, must have aided him in his pro- 
 gress. Home education does often more than can 
 be accomplished in the few hours daily spent in 
 school. Many hours every day under a strange 
 instructor, will do little, if the familiar voices at 
 home do not cheer and encourage the beginner ; 
 and apparently small opportunities, if home in- 
 fluence is favorable, will produce great results. 
 
 At the age of fourteen, Henry Clay was placed 
 in the store of Mr. Kichard Denny, in Kichmond, 
 Ya. Neady all boys can recollect the ordeal 
 through which they were required to pass, on 
 leaving the familiar objects at home, and passing 
 the scrutiny of other and older lads. At school, 
 or in a store, a shop, or an office, the consciousness 
 of awkwardness, and want of habitude to the new 
 occupation, shows the novice to ill advantage. 
 The older and accustomed clerks, apprentices, or 
 students, do not hesitate to make a butt of the 
 
HENRY CLAY. 19 
 
 new comer. It was a discipline through which 
 they themselves passed, and they are not disposed 
 to lose their revenge, by forbearing to inflict the 
 same annoyance on their successors. 
 
 In the store of Mr. Denny, Henry remained 
 for a year. We have no record of the manner in 
 which he spent his leisure time, if he found any, 
 and can only judge by his conduct afterward, and 
 by the results of his life. He says of his own 
 education that it was "neglected, but improved 
 by his own irregular exertions, without the bene- 
 fit of systematic instruction." In this remark — 
 uttered as an apology for the deficiencies which 
 he felt more than others perceived — we are not 
 to suppose that he intended any reflection upon 
 the mother whose memory he so much revered. 
 She did all that a parent could, under such disad- 
 vantages as beset her path. Nor was Mr. Clay 
 forgetful of the kindness of Captain Henry "Wat- 
 kins, to whom his mother was married while 
 Henry was yet young. This gentleman took a 
 father's care of his wife's older children, and to 
 his kindness and influence Henry was indebted 
 for the propitious circumstances which opened to 
 him the career in which he afterwards distin- 
 guished himself. 
 
20 LIFE OF 
 
 Captain Watkins procured for Henry Clay, at 
 the age of fifteen, a clerkship in the office of Peter 
 Tinsley, Esq., Clerk of the Court of Chancery in 
 Richmond. This was considered a highly eligible 
 position for a lad, and it was no small testimony 
 to Henry's diHgence that he was competent to fill 
 it. Probably the other clerks had enjoyed oppor- 
 tunities of learning far superior to Henry's ; and 
 this spurred the new comer to stiidiousness to 
 overcome the distance between himself and them. 
 And if his first appearance in Richmond was a 
 trial to his nerves, the taking possession of his 
 desk in the office of the Clerk of Chancery must 
 have been much greater. He had in dress, man- 
 ners, and general appearance, all the awkward- 
 ness to which we have already referred; for a 
 year in a store could not transform a studious 
 boy into a town lad. His very awkwardness of 
 manner was in reality a testimony in his favor. 
 Any quick, but superficial boy, can soon appear 
 "to the manner born" among lads who have lived 
 in a circle which gives superficial polish ; but he 
 whose mind is occupied with graver pursuits, 
 may long be the object of the ridicule of his 
 inferiors. 
 
 We are not, then, surprised to learn that the 
 
HENRY CLAY. 21 
 
 first impression of the other clerks was, that in 
 the Mill-Boy of the Slashes they were to have a 
 fine object for their practical jokes, and a victim 
 for their pleasantries. The boy had not a hand- 
 some, perhaps not even an agreeable face. His 
 movements were awkward; his dress was rustic 
 — the product of the labor of his good mother — 
 home-spun cloth, made up without the artistic 
 skill of a town tailor. His little coat, which she 
 without doubt had smoothed, and adjusted, and 
 admired, had any thing but a " city set ;" and in 
 his clean and well-starched linen, no doubt the 
 little fellow felt all the consciousness of something 
 which he must " keep nice." But the office lads 
 soon discovered that the young rustic was no butt 
 for them, and that whoever encountered Henry 
 Clay in a war of wit and repartee, would find no 
 small antagonist. 
 
 Whatever awkwardness the lad felt among 
 those awe-inspiring rows of books and desks in 
 the Chancery Clerk's office, we are sure he could 
 not have felt for one moment ashamed of his 
 parents, or disposed to undervalue their kindness 
 which had placed him there. Perhaps his ardent 
 devotion to the system of " Home Industry," may 
 have had its origin in the Slashes of Hanover, 
 
22 LIFE OF 
 
 where lie early learned what economy and indus- 
 try can accomplish, with small means and against 
 adverse fortune ; and if he was not proud of his 
 home-spun clothes, he was glad that his mother 
 had not robbed her own comforts, or incurred 
 debts, to equip him, above her pecuniary means. 
 "We cannot conclude this chapter better than by 
 copying a sentiment offered at a Fourth of July 
 dinner, in Campbell County, Ya., by Mr. Eobert 
 Hughes: — "Henry Clay, — he and I were born 
 close to the Slashes of Old Hanover. He worked 
 bare-footed, and so did I; he went to mill, and so 
 did I ; he was good to his mamma, and so was I. 
 I know him like a book, and I love him like a 
 brother !" 
 
HENRY CLAY. 23 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 YOUNG CLAY AS A STUDENT — CHANCELLOR WYTHE — HIS 
 FRIENDSHIP FOR THE YOUNG STUDENT — HIS REMOVAL 
 TO LEXINGTON — HIS OWN REVIEW OF HIS EARLY LIFE. 
 
 Henry Clay was what may be termed an extra 
 clerk in the office of Mr. Tinsley ; for when he 
 was taken in, there was no vacancy. The favor 
 was procured at the earnest soHcitation of his 
 friends. If he had been idle, or negligent, or 
 inefficient, it will readily be supposed that he 
 could not have retained his place. He was put 
 to the task of copying — and of all drudgery, that 
 of writing off the interminable words of legal 
 documents, is to a lad most tiresome. Correctness 
 and clean writing are required; blots, misspelling, 
 and interlineations, cannot be tolerated. And 
 although lawyers themselves are proverbial for 
 bad penmanship, the clerks who copy documents 
 for reference or for record, must write a clean and 
 legible hand. He soon won the respect of his 
 office companions, and although the youngest 
 
24 LIFE OF 
 
 clerk, his superior abilities gave him precedence 
 in their regard. He did not buy their good opi- 
 nion by partnership in their follies. He was not 
 merely a "pleasant fellow;" for when the others, 
 out of office hours, devoted themselves to amuse- 
 ment, Henry Clay applied himself to his books. 
 He was a most assiduous student, and verified in 
 his experience the fact that change of occupation 
 is relief and rest. Many young men seek in vain 
 for recreation in the excitement of the theatre, or 
 even more questionable places ; laboring harder, 
 and fatiguing the mind and body more in the 
 pursuit of amusement, than they would in the 
 calm prosecution of some useful employment. 
 Henry Clay had a higher ambition than to remain 
 a copyist of the results of the legal knowledge of 
 others. He filled up his leisure in study. The 
 hints of erudition which he obtained in his rou- 
 tine of occupations, caused him to thirst for 
 knowledge, and to its acquisition he applied him- 
 self with earnestness. 
 
 Merit ensures success. Among those whom 
 business brought frequently into the office of Mr. 
 Tinsley, was a venerable man whose own life and 
 experience recommended to his notice the strug- 
 gles of the boy into whose history he had inquired. 
 
HENRY CLAY. 25 
 
 Himself left an orphan at an early age, he knew 
 the dangers and difficulties of such a position. 
 In his case, they rose from the uncontrolled pos- 
 session of great wealth — more dangerous, perhaps, 
 than the temptations of poverty. He could see 
 the lures to dissipation which surrounded the 
 young, and he admired the steadiness with which 
 Henry resisted them. He knew what industry 
 could accomplish ; for after having wasted the 
 years which are usually devoted to education, he 
 had commenced in manhood to recover the time 
 he had lost ; and so successfully had he labored, 
 that at the time of which we speak he was sole 
 chancellor of the state of Virginia, a trust which 
 he filled for twenty years — without reproach — 
 without suspicion. Conspicuous before the Ee vo- 
 lution, in the Virginia Legislature*, as an ardent 
 patriot; a delegate to the first Congress; a signer 
 of the Declaration ; a member of the Convention 
 which formed the federal Constitution; — George 
 Wythe was a friend of whom a young man might 
 well be proud. His patronage and direction 
 developed the character of the young clerk, and 
 the employments which he assigned to him in- 
 creased, while in a degree they met, the thirst for 
 
 3 
 
26 LIFE OF 
 
 knowledge which kept alive the ambition of 
 Henry Clay. 
 
 Chancellor Wythe procured from Mr. Tinsley 
 the services of Henry Clay, as an occasional 
 secretary, to copy his decisions. At length he 
 became, in effect, the private secretary of the 
 Chancellor, though nominally in Mr. Tinsley's 
 office. The studies of Chancellor Wythe were 
 prosecuted with great industry and far-reaching 
 research ; in learning, industry, and sound judg- 
 ment, he had few superiors; and for a lad like 
 Henry Clay to be such a man's private secretary 
 was itself an education. And not only in strictly 
 legal knowledge, but in the classics, in history, 
 in polite literature, the friendly advice of the 
 Chancellor was the guide of the young clerk. 
 Under such judicious instruction, Henry Clay 
 was so trained that he was more than able to cope 
 with his compeers, who received the benefits of 
 education in Universities. He was a continual 
 student, needing only suggestive advice ; and he 
 rewarded counsel by obedience, thus encouraging 
 his friends to direct him. Nothing is more dis- 
 couraging to one who wishes well to a youth, 
 than to find him inattentive to the directions of 
 ► his elders. No labor was thus lost upon Henry 
 
HENRY CLAY. 27 
 
 Clay. He not only availed himself of the kind- 
 ness of his friends, but remembered their good 
 offices with gratitude, and referred to them with 
 emotion, when he had reached a position in which 
 he no longer needed patronage or advice, but 
 could confer both. 
 
 Many youth read — but their reading may be 
 desultory ; without any established aim, and per- 
 haps with no higher object than amusement. 
 Henry Clay read with an object, as is evident 
 from the fact that when his name had been en- 
 rolled for about a year only, as a student of law, 
 in the office of Attorney-General Brooke, he was 
 admitted to practice by the Court of Appeals. 
 It is not to be supposed that one year could con- 
 fer knowledge of law sufficient to entitle a minor 
 to admission to the Bar, and we therefore infer 
 that the reading of the lad always was of a prac- 
 tical and useful character. For five years young 
 Clay enjoyed the privilege of Chancellor Wythe's 
 friendship ; and he was furthermore introduced 
 into the society and notice of John Marshall, 
 afterward Chief Justice of the United States, and 
 other distinguished men of that era. He had 
 thus an opportunity of acquiring, at the fountain- 
 head, a knowledge of the meaning of the founders 
 
28 LIFE OF 
 
 of the republic, in the constitution which they 
 drew up, and the laws which were passed in pur- 
 suance of it. His intimate relation with these 
 political patriarchs, apprised him of the cost of 
 that Union with which his life may be said to 
 have begun; and in his after life he showed him- 
 self, on more than one important occasion, the 
 effective friend of his country, and its able de- 
 fender, whether the threatening danger came 
 from foreign foes, or arose from internal diffi- 
 
 culties. 
 
 We cannot pass this period in the life of our 
 hero, without commending the example of the 
 young man who sought to improve his mind by 
 listening to the wisdom of his seniors, rather than 
 to dissipate his time and talents in amusement 
 with his fellow-students. He thus secured the 
 esteem of men who could appreciate his charac- 
 ter, and predict his success. His relations with 
 those of his own age were also of an elevating 
 character. Like seeks like — and with other 
 young men like himself, studious and ambitious, 
 he combined amusement with instruction in the 
 exercises of a debating society; which was the 
 first scene of his capacity for oratory and for 
 argument. The promise of his life early deve- 
 
HENRY CLAY. 29 
 
 loped itself; and we may add also that his capa- 
 city for winning and securing friends was also 
 early manifested. His frank and generous nature 
 had none of the finesse and art which can secure 
 advancement by duplicity and management. He 
 had not the small ambition which can stoop to 
 flattery and fawning, but his character was 
 stamped with an early manliness which commands 
 respect while it invites affection. 
 
 After obtaining admission to the Bar, Henry 
 Clay removed to Lexington, Kentucky, in 1797. 
 His parents had preceded him in emigration to 
 that State. The following brief review of his 
 boyhood is extracted from a speech made by him 
 ill 1842, when he met some of his old friends at 
 an entertainment, upon his retirement, as he sup- 
 posed, from public life. " In looking back upon 
 my origin and progress through life, I have great 
 reason to be thankful. My father died in 1781, 
 leaving me an infant of too tender years to retain 
 any recollection of his smiles or endearments. 
 My surviving parent removed to this State in 
 1792, leaving me, a boy of fifteen years of age, in 
 the office of the High Court of Chancery, in the 
 city of Eichmond, -without guardian, without 
 pecuniary support, to steer my course as I might 
 
 3^^ 
 
30 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 or could. A neglected education was improved by 
 my own irregular exertions, without the benefit of 
 systematic instruction. I studied law principally 
 in the office of a lamented friend — the late Gover- 
 nor Brooke — then Attorney-General of Virginia, 
 and also under the auspices of the venerable and 
 lamented Chancellor Wythe, for whom I had 
 acted as amanuensis. I obtained a license to 
 practise the profession from the Judges of the 
 Court of Appeals of Virginia, and established 
 myself in Lexington, in 1797, without patrons, 
 without the favor or countenance of the great or 
 opulent, without the means of paying my weekly 
 board, and in the midst of a Bar distinguished 
 by eminent members. I remember how comfort- 
 able I thought I should be, if I could make one 
 hundred pounds, Virginia money, per year, and 
 with what delight I received the first fifteen shil- 
 lings fee. My hopes were more than realized — I 
 immediately rushed into a successful and lucra- 
 tive practice." 
 
HENRY CLAY. 31 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 LEXINGTON DEBATING SOCIETY — THE KENTUCKY BAR — 
 PARTY EXCITEMENT — WASHINGTON AND ADAMS — FOR- 
 EIGN EMISSARIES — FRENCH AGGRESSIONS — APPRE- 
 HENDED WAR WITH FRANCE — THE ALIEN AND SEDITION 
 ACTS. 
 
 Mr. Clay did not immediately enter upon the 
 practice of law in Lexington, but allowed some 
 months to pass in farther preparatory studies, 
 before he applied for admission as a practitioner. 
 He had a guarantee of success in his modest esti- 
 mate of his own acquirements ; and knowing the 
 distinguished men with whom he would have to 
 cope, he preferred to wait and discipline his mind 
 by application, and to review and systematise the 
 studies which he had pursued with industry, but 
 not with method. 
 
 An amusing anecdote is related of this part of 
 his life. There was a debating society in Lex- 
 ington, of which Mr. Clay of course became a 
 member. His purposes in life, and his associa- 
 
32 LIFE OF 
 
 tions, would naturally lead him to embrace all 
 helps to the acquirement of experience in speak- 
 ing, and no opening was to be neglected which 
 would enlarge his circle of acquaintance, and 
 introduce him to those most likely to be of benefit 
 to him. One evening, as the debate was about to 
 close, Mr. Clay remarked to those who sat near 
 him, that "he did not think the subject had been 
 exhausted." The observation was overheard, and 
 by universal consent, Mr. Clay was called upon 
 to speak. He had never spoken in Lexington, 
 and probably never in Kichmond, except in the 
 debating club there ; and the call of his friends 
 caused him no small feeling of 'embarrassment. 
 " Mr. Clay will speak !" said one or two members 
 to the chairman ; and as he had hinted that there 
 remained something yet to say, he was placed in 
 a dilemma from which he could only escape by 
 saying it. The chairman nodded to the new 
 member — all eyes were turned upon him in ex- 
 pectation, and all voices were hushed as he rose. 
 " Gentlemen of the jury" — Mr. Clay commenced, 
 and ashamed of his ludicrous error, could not 
 proceed. But the politeness of the chairman, 
 and the courtesy of the members, who withheld 
 even the pardonable mirth which such a mistake 
 
THE DEBATING SOCIETY. 
 
HENRY CLAY. 33 
 
 might well occasion, reassured him. But he 
 began again ^^ Gentlemen of the jury" — and yet 
 again made the same inappropriate commence- 
 ment. As he must now speak, having risen, he 
 persevered, and convinced his hearers that the 
 subject was not, indeed, yet exhausted. Many 
 who heard him that night, and others who heard 
 of the awkward commencement of a brilliant 
 speech, were in the habit, while they lived, of 
 contrasting this maiden effort with the uncon- 
 strained and brilliant speeches which afterward 
 fell from Henry Clay, the finished orator and able 
 statesman. 
 
 This first speech in Lexington, notwithstanding 
 its awkward commencement, must have been a 
 very striking performance, and no doubt did 
 much in opening Mr. Clay's path to the practice 
 of his profession. One of the gentlemen who 
 heard it, was in the habit of declaring that the 
 debating club speech was the best that Mr. Clay 
 ever made in his life ! He was young, ambitious, 
 and sensitive, and deeply felt the importance of 
 first impressions to his success on a new scene. 
 The commencement "gentlemen of the jury" 
 betrayed his secret, and exposed the fact how 
 busily he had prepared unspoken speeches, and 
 3 
 
I 
 
 34 ' LIFE OF. 4, 
 
 how fixed his mind was upon the profession which ! 
 he had selected. It was acknowledging that he 
 
 had studied — and to fail would be to betray the : 
 
 fact that he had studied to little purpose. But i 
 
 he nerved himself, and succeeded. l! 
 
 If the young lawyer felt diffident upon entering i 
 
 the profession of law on account of his estimation i 
 
 of the talents of the members of the Kentucky , 
 
 Bar, time has shown that his appreciation of his i 
 
 competitors was not exaggerated. Nicholas, i 
 
 Brackenridge, Hughes, Brown, Murray, Kowan, i 
 
 and others ; men who have been conspicuous in i 
 
 the judiciary — ^in the National and State Legisla- i 
 
 tures — in foreign embassies — and in the walks of ; 
 
 public life at home, were among his associates, i 
 
 And his own life has presented a career as distin- ; 
 
 guished as that of any of his contemporaries, i 
 
 Some of these men had already achiaved reputa- i 
 
 tion when Henry Clay entered the lists with i 
 
 them; and others rose with him to eminence and I i 
 note. There is no school for youth more impi^v- ' ' 
 
 ing than a generous and honorable rivalry ; and '. 
 
 he is sure best to succeed whom choice or circum- ; 
 stance places among those with whom it is an, 
 honor to contend. 
 
 During these early days in the history of the 
 
 k 
 
HENRY CLAY. 35 
 
 republic, master minds had great subjects with 
 which to grapple. Perhaps these very subjects 
 made the men, developing and strengthening 
 their natural jDOwers, and requiring more various 
 knowledge than in more settled times. Every 
 thing was new ; and what is now determined by 
 custom, had then to be established upon its own 
 merits. The Presidency of Washington, and of 
 John Adams, was a stormy period. Even the 
 high veneration which the nation felt for the 
 Father of his country, did not prevent his motives 
 from being assailed, and his character aspersed, 
 with a violence and rancor unexceeded in modern 
 party warfare. In a letter to Mr. Jefferson, in 
 1796, President Washington wrote very feelingly 
 upon this subject of party bitterness : — 
 
 " Until within the last year or two, I had no 
 conception that parties would, or even could, go 
 the lengths I have been witness to; nor did I 
 believe until lately that it was within the bounds 
 of probability — hardly within those of possibility 
 — that while I was using my utmost exertions to 
 establish a national character of our own, inde- 
 pendent, as far as our obligations and justice 
 would permit, of every nation of the earth ; and 
 wished, by pursuing a steady course, to preserve 
 
36 LIFE OF 
 
 this country from the horrors of a desolating war, 
 I should be accused of being the enemy of one 
 nation, and subject to the influence of another; 
 and, to prove it, that every act of my administra- 
 tion would be tortured, and the grossest and most 
 insidious misrepresentations of them be made, by 
 giving one side only of a subject, and that too, in 
 such exaggerated and indecent terms as could 
 scarcely be applied to a Nero — to a notorious 
 defaulter — or even to a common pickpocket." 
 
 This is strong language. That it was not the 
 effect of mere feeling, there are unfortunate 
 proofs extant, in the contemporary newspapers, 
 and the correspondence of the period — in the 
 debates of Congress, and in the votes barely sup- 
 porting the President, which are on record. The 
 nation of which he was accused of being the 
 enemy, was France ; and that under the influence 
 of which he was said to act, was Great Britain. 
 Time has removed party prejudice, and no man 
 of any party now presumes to doubt the purity 
 and integrity of George Washington; and even 
 the measures which were unpopular during his 
 life, it is conceded were fittest for that period. 
 What he endeavored to do, as he claims in the 
 above paragraph, it is now admitted that he per- 
 
HENRY CLAY. 37 
 
 formed, and very much more. His acts and his 
 measures form the precedents or examples upon 
 which the government is now conducted. But 
 this could not be the case without loss to the 
 present popularity of the man who dared to do 
 what he thought right, at any personal sacrifice. . 
 The ^^exaggerated and indecent terms" in 
 which President Washington was assailed, grew 
 principrrly out of opposition to the determined 
 stand of neutrality which he took in relation to 
 the wars which followed the French Eevolution j 
 and it is matter of history that those who attacked 
 him were directly or indirectly in the French 
 interest. There was everything to prejudice a 
 generous people against Great Britain, and in 
 favor of France. With the one nation, the coun- 
 try had but recently been at war ; and the other 
 was the friend and ally of America in her strug- 
 gle. But the discernment of Washington could 
 not be blinded as to the character of the revolu- 
 tionary government of France, or the tendency 
 of the wholesale innovations in religion, order, 
 and law, which the reckless fury of the French 
 Revolution proposed and attempted. He feared 
 what events have since shown — that France was 
 not fi.tted for republican institutions. By his 
 
 4 
 
38 LIFE OF 
 
 I 
 
 resolute adherence to the policy which prudence 
 and patriotism dictated, the United States were 
 saved from embroilment in the European difficul- 
 ties. But the French Minister, and indeed the 
 French Government, took the highly indelicate 
 and aggressive attitude of appeals to the preju- 
 dices of the American people against the govern- 
 ment; the Minister setting on foot expeditions, 
 in defiance of law, against England and Spain ; 
 and successive ministers addressing letters to the 
 government, which in more than one case were 
 published simultaneously with their presentation 
 to the authorities. These were often written in 
 a spirit of arrogance and insult which it is diffi- 
 cult now to conceive possible. They were issued 
 at periods when they might have an influence on 
 elections ; and when the choice of a successor to 
 General Washington was pending, one of these 
 offensive documents made its appearance. And 
 not only were these acknowledged papers put 
 forth, but through the press appeared unacknow- 
 ledged articles, written by the same dictation. 
 
 General Washington, after eight years' service, 
 was succeeded by John Adams, in 1797. Not- 
 withstanding the efforts of his opposers, foreign 
 and domestic, such was the moral grandeur of 
 
HENRY CLAY. 39 
 
 his character, that Washington might have re- 
 ceived a third unanimous election. But he 
 declined a re-election in the Farewell Address, 
 which has ever since been appealed to as defining 
 American policy ; and which even the eloquence 
 of Kossuth, during his late tour, could not set 
 aside, or persuade the nation to forget. Thus 
 has experience vindicated the wisdom of Wash- 
 ington, although some of his contemporaries, and 
 among them patriots and well-wishers to their 
 country, second only to himself in fame, differed 
 from him in opinion. 
 
 His successor had not the prestige of a name 
 so honored to second his administration. At that 
 time, the mode of election differed from the pre- 
 sent. Each elector deposited two names, without 
 designating either as President or Vice-President. 
 The candidate who had the highest vote was 
 declared President, and the next in order Vice- 
 President. Thus Mr. Adams had for his Vice- 
 President, Mr. Jefferson, who was pledged to a 
 different line of policy from that which Mr. A. 
 pursued. The practical difficulties which this 
 mode of election caused were perceived, and the 
 present method of electing President and Vice- 
 President has been substituted. 
 
40 LIFE OF 
 
 Without the unanimity of choice which elected 
 Washington, and laboring under the disadvantage 
 of having received a partisan vote, being elected 
 over Mr. Jefferson by a majority of three only, 
 Mr. Adams had great difficulties to contend with. 
 The French Government became even more 
 aggressive than under Washington's administra- 
 tion, and the British Government did nothing 
 which could reconcile the people to what was 
 represented as the undue partiality of the admi- 
 nistration for that power. Affairs reached such 
 a crisis that war with France was deemed inevi- 
 table, and General Washington was summoned 
 from his retirement to take command of the 
 American army. The subject was thus intro- 
 duced, by President Adams, to the attention of 
 Washington : " In forming an army, whenever I 
 must come to that extremity, I am at an immense 
 loss whether to call out the old generals, or to 
 appoint a new set. If the French come here, we 
 must learn to march with a quick step, and to 
 attack, for in that way only they are said to be 
 vulnerable. I must tax you sometimes for advice. 
 We must have your name, if you will in any case 
 permit us to use it. There will be more efficacy 
 in it, than in many an army." 
 
HENRY CLAY. 41 
 
 The difficulty did not, however, proceed to open 
 war, being averted by negotiation. Much was 
 endured. Spoliations on American commerce 
 took place, and the flag of the United States was 
 insulted by both England and France. But the 
 conduct of the latter power was most preposte- 
 rous, particularly to the American envoys who 
 were sent to Paris to negotiate. These envoys 
 were even menaced in France with odium in 
 America, which the French authorities threatened 
 to excite against them. When these facts were 
 officially published, an universal feeling of indig- 
 nation in the United States overcame all party 
 prejudice, and as the French authorities de- 
 manded money as a preliminary condition to any 
 negotiations, the answer of the American people 
 was "millions for defence, not a cent for tri- 
 bute !" * Under the pressure of these causes, and 
 while the United States seemed to be contemptu- 
 ously treated as an instrument in the hands of 
 foreign nations — neither Great Britain nor France 
 fully acknowledging her independence — the 
 famous Alien and Sedition Acts were passed. 
 Great Britain continued to hold forts on our 
 Western frontier, and within our acknowledged 
 
 * Marshall. 
 
 4* 
 
42 . LIFE OF 
 
 territories, and insisted on her claim to search 
 our vessels, and impress men alleged to be her 
 subjects. France, in the manner already de- 
 scribed, tacitly denied our nationality ; and both 
 nations seemed to have forgotten that the United 
 States had ceased to be British provinces, and 
 were therefore no longer a mere battle-ground 
 for European quarrels. By the Alien Act, the 
 President of the United States was authorized to 
 send aliens — as foreigners are termed — out of the 
 United States, if he deemed them dangerous 
 characters; and no form of judicial proceeding 
 was necessary in the case. And by the Sedition 
 Act, prosecutions could be maintained against 
 those parties who accused the government un- 
 justly. 
 
HENRY CLAY. 43 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 DEMOCRATS AND FEDERALISTS — MR. CLAY TAKES THE 
 FIELD AGAINST THE ALIEN AND SEDITION ACTS — MR. 
 CLAY AND EMANCIPATION — IS APPOINTED U. S. SENATOR 
 — "OLD BESS." 
 
 General Lafayette well pronounced the Con- 
 stitution of the United States " a happy compound 
 of State rights and Federal energy." But the 
 precise limits of the Federal and State sovereign- 
 ties it was impossible to state in any instrument 
 written by man. The trial of the compact by 
 circumstances must define its nature ; and it was 
 Henry Clay's privilege to be, in youth, the atten- 
 tive observer of the progress of the events which 
 have determined many important questions. 
 Chancellor Wythe, his early friend, was one of 
 the framers of the Constitution ; and the proper 
 ambition of the young man brought him in con- 
 tact with many other of the leading spirits of the 
 day. There were two great contending parties; 
 the Federalists — who were accused of the inten- 
 
44 LIFE OF 
 
 tion to strengthen the United States Government 
 at the expense of the rights of the States ; and 
 the Democrats — who were for leaving the largest 
 latitude to the States, to guard against disunion. 
 The councils of the former party prevailed during 
 the days of Washington ; but the moderation of 
 that magistrate, and the democratic tendencies of 
 the people, prevented any such evil as was appre- 
 hended. On the other hand, the reaction caused 
 by the disastrous issue of the French attempt at 
 a republic, checked democracy from exceeding 
 the limits of safety; and between the struggles 
 of the two parties, rules were established which 
 have settled the policy of the United States down 
 to the present day. There are still many ques- 
 tions which remain undecided, but as none of 
 them equal in importance what have already 
 been determined, we need not doubt that the 
 Federal Union will prove strong enough for any 
 exigence. When Jefferson came into power, he 
 declared the contest upon the original disputes of 
 the two great parties, at an end. " We are all 
 republicans — we are all federalists." 
 
 To return to the subject of our narrative — 
 Henry Clay. The matter introduced at the close 
 of the last chapter, is necessary as preliminary to 
 
HENRY CLAY. 45 
 
 noticing young Clay's first appearance as a politi- 
 cian. It was at the early age of twenty-one, as 
 an earnest opponent of the Alien and Sedition 
 Laws. Great as was the excitement which fol- 
 lowed upon these enactments, they passed Con- 
 gress without any very strenuous opposition. 
 Once enacted, however, they were the rallying 
 point of the opposition. To give the President 
 absolute and unquestioned power over the liber- 
 ties even of foreigners, and to restrain the liberty 
 of the press in the discussion of the acts of the 
 public servants, were regarded as dangerous steps, 
 tending to monarchy and absolutism. The legis- 
 latures of Virginia and Kentucky passed strong 
 resolutions condemning these laws as unconstitu- 
 tional, and calling upon the other States for 
 responses. But the then existing evil of foreign 
 interference — " the intrigues of foreign emissaries, 
 employed by the profligate government of the 
 French Directory, who abused the freedom of the 
 press by traducing the character of the adminis- 
 tration and its friends, and by instigating the 
 resistance of the people against the government 
 and laws of the Union "* — this evil, we say, was 
 so much more apparent than the theoretical regal 
 
 * J. Q. Adams. 
 
46 LIFE OF 
 
 danger, that none other of the States jomed with 
 Kentucky and Virginia, and several strongly dis- 
 approved of their resolutions. But both measures 
 proved so decidedly unpopular, that nothing like 
 them has ever been repeated. The Alien Law 
 expired, by its own limitation, in 1800, and the 
 Sedition Law in 1801. Perhaps, with the eminent 
 statesman already quoted, we may safely pro- 
 nounce the acts themselves, and the resolutions 
 concerning them, as adversary party measures. 
 
 Mr. Clay appeared in the field as the earnest 
 opposer of these laws. No reports of his early 
 speeches on any subject are preserved, and we 
 have not met even a sketch of his highly popular 
 harangues upon this subject. It would be curious 
 to know to what length the ardent young politi- 
 cian proceeded; particularly as the legislature of 
 Kentucky, in her resolutions, affirmed the right 
 of nullification as the proper remedy for uncon- 
 stitutional acts of the Federal Government. But 
 in the absence of a full report, it would be highly 
 unjust to hold the popular orator responsible for 
 all the measures taken by those whose election 
 he advocated. 
 
 Young politicians are ardent, and usually un- 
 selfish — or less selfish than older men. No doubt 
 
HENRY CLAY. 47 
 
 many a man has unconsciously defended what he 
 esteemed the right with the more zeal that it 
 
 ij chanced to be popular, and that it thus opened a 
 path for his ambition. Still, the younger men in 
 ! a republic look more to patriotic and high na- 
 tional considerations, than to expediency; for 
 
 ^j expediency must make, more or less, an impor- 
 tant element in a veteran politician's calculations. 
 We may therefore concede to young Clay the 
 merit of discerning what subsequent events have 
 proved, that the powder of banishing even aliens 
 simply upon the suspicion of the Executive, is 
 not a prerogative Avhich comports with the genius 
 of our institutions. 
 
 Whatever desire of popularity may have en- 
 
 •I tered into Mr. Clay's course upon the Alien and 
 Sedition La^vs, there w^as another subject on 
 which he did not hesitate to defend the unpopular 
 side, deeming it the right. A convention was 
 about assembling to prepare a Constitution for 
 Kentucky, and Henry Clay was one of the earnest 
 advocates of a provision for the gradual abolition 
 of slavery in the Commonwealth. The measure 
 failed, the majority of the people out-voting the 
 emancipationists. Mr. Clay had, previously to 
 his public and personal advocacy of this reform, 
 
48 LIFE OF 
 
 strongly urged it in a series of papers published 
 in the Kentucky Gazette. Frequent reference 
 has been made by Mr. Clay to this period in his 
 life. We subjoin an extract from a speech deli- 
 vered by him at the anniversary meeting of the 
 Kentucky Colonization Society^ at Frankfort, in 
 
 1829: — 
 
 " More than thirty years ago, an attempt was 
 made in this Commonwealth to adopt a system 
 of gradual emancipation, similar to that intro- 
 duced in Pennsylvania, in 1780. And among the 
 acts of my life which I look back to with most 
 satisfaction, is that of my having co-operated with 
 zealous and intelligent friends to procure the 
 establishment of that system in this State. We 
 believed that the sum of good which would be 
 attained by the State of Kentucky, in a gradual 
 emancipation of her slaves, would far transcend 
 the aggregate of mischief which might result to 
 herself and the Union together, from the gradual 
 liberation of them, and their dispersion and resi- 
 dence in the United States. We were overpow- 
 ered by numbers, but submitted to the decision 
 of the majority, with a grace which the minority, 
 in a republic, should ever yield to such a decision. 
 I have nevertheless never ceased, and never shall 
 
HENRY CLAY. 49 
 
 cease to regret a decision, the effects of which 
 have been to place us in the rear of our neighbors, 
 who are exempt from slavery, in the state of 
 agriculture, the progress of manufactures, the 
 advance of improvements, and the general pros- 
 perity of society." 
 
 It will be sufficient to add, in this connection, 
 that Mr. Clay's disposal of his slave property, by 
 will, shows that he retained to the last his ideas 
 upon gradual emancipation, and that he remained 
 during his life a friend to the Colonization enter- 
 prise. His public labors and speeches, in early 
 
 I life, had the effect to secure a reputation which 
 brought him many and profitable clients. Both 
 as a civil, and as a criminal lawyer, he was soon 
 highly distinguished ; and it is said that no 
 
 \ alleged criminal whose defence he undertook, 
 failed to obtain discharge or acquittal. 
 
 In 1803, Mr. Clay was elected to the legislature 
 of his adopted State. Matters of local interest 
 caused him to be selected, but the election was a 
 high compliment to his talents and legal learning. 
 The Lexington Insurance Company was menaced 
 with a repeal of its charter, and the late Hon. 
 Felix Grundy was an advocate of the measure. 
 Mr. Clay was opposed to it ; and both gentlemen 
 
 5 
 
50 LIFE OF 
 
 had been employed as counsel by the parties, 
 whose controversy brought the question to an 
 issue. In the House the question came up, and 
 was debated with much pertinacity and ability. 
 The House decided against the corporation ; but 
 the Senators, who had many of them been pre- 
 sent, reversed this decision. Mr. Clay's short 
 service in the State Legislature was followed by 
 his appointment by the Executive of the State to 
 complete, in the United States Senate, the term 
 of General Adair, who had resigned. 
 
 Whatever may be charged against the unfor- 
 tunate and erring Aaron Burr, no one will suspect 
 him of any deficiency in legal acumen. It was, 
 therefore, a great compliment to Henry Clay, that 
 upon two occasions when Burr was arrested in 
 Kentucky, he applied to young Clay as his coun- 
 sel. In neither case was a bill of indictment 
 found against Burr, who was subsequently ar- 
 rested, and tried on various charges of treason 
 and misdemeanor. What the man intended to 
 do, still remains a mystery. The difficulty which 
 we have seen in our own day, attending the trial 
 of persons charged with organising military expe- 
 ^ ditions in the United States, and the sympathy 
 
 ^ which is always enlisted in behalf of those who 
 
 N 
 
HENKY CLAY. 51 
 
 are prosecuted for political offences of this nature, 
 will account for Mr. Clay's undertaking the de- 
 fence of Burr. It is proper to observe, however, 
 that as the developments of the trial proved Burr 
 to have deceived him, Mr. Clay regretted that he 
 had ever listened to his request. But in be- 
 friending Colonel Burr, he only shared the com- 
 mon feeling of the people of generous Kentucky. 
 Mr. Clay did not appear in the trial of Colonel 
 Burr at Richmond, nor in that trial was Burr 
 convicted ; though the verdict of popular opinion 
 was passed against him, from which he never 
 recovered. 
 
 Mr. Clay's appointment to Congress, in 1806, 
 was but for a single session of the Senate. Even 
 in that brief period, he gave earnest of his future 
 fame and influence. At that early day in the 
 history of our national legislation, no congres- 
 sional act was unimportant; parties and states- 
 men narrowly watched each other, since votes on 
 subjects which would now be regarded as unim- 
 portant, then had a signification as fixing the 
 practice of the govei-nment. The subject of 
 debate when Mr. Clay took his seat in the Senate 
 in 1806, was the erection of a bridge over the 
 Potomac at the expense of the United States 
 
52 LIFE OF 
 
 Government. The principle involved was the 
 constitutionality of public improvements at the 
 government expense. Mr. Clay here commenced 
 the course which he uniformly followed — the 
 defence of that policy — and his speech is repre- 
 sented as one of the best he has delivered. 
 
 In 1807, Mr. Clay's Congressional term having 
 expired, he was again elected to the Legislature 
 of Kentucky. To his early "canvassing" the 
 following anecdote is referred. Mr. Clay was 
 addressing a crowd, when a party of riflemen, 
 who had been practising, drew near to listen. 
 They were pleased with the off-hand and attrac- 
 tive style of his oratory, but, backwoodsmen-like, 
 considered that there were other requisites to 
 manhood, beside the capacity to talk. They 
 wanted no representative who was not able to 
 honor the Kentucky weapon, and do good service 
 with the rifle. An old man in the company, who 
 seemed to have the place of " spokesman" assigned 
 to him, beckoned to Mr. Clay to come towards 
 him, when his speech was finished. A candidate 
 for ofiice, who is soliciting the popular suffrage, 
 must be very courteous ; so he obeyed the signal. 
 
 "Young man," said the Nimrod, "you want to 
 go to the Legislature ?" 
 
HENRY CLAY. 53 
 
 Mr. Glay acknowledged this — very modestly 
 of course — principally on account of his friends ; 
 though he confessed, having been nominated, he 
 should like to be successful. But he was hardly 
 prepared for the next question. 
 
 " Are you a good shot ?" 
 
 Now shooting has little to do with legislation, 
 but a great deal depended upon the favor of these 
 marksmen. We are afraid that Mr. Clay had 
 some mental reservation behind the reply that 
 " he considered himself a good marksman !" But 
 he was to be proved. 
 
 " Then you shall go to the Legislature," said 
 Nimrod ; ^' but we must see you shoot !" 
 
 There was no escape. Mr. Clay pleaded that 
 his own rifle was at home, and he never shot 
 with any other. 
 
 "No matter," said the hunter. "Here's Old 
 Bess; she never fails in the hands of a hunter. 
 She has put a bullet through many a squirrel's 
 head, at a hundred yards. If you can shoot with 
 anything, you can with Old Bess.^' 
 
 "Yery well!" said Mr. Clay, "put up your 
 mark." There was no escape, and he was resolved 
 to try, " hit or miss." The target was placed at 
 eighty yards, and Mr. Clay, bringing the piece to 
 
 5* 
 
54 LIFE OF 
 
 his shoulder, pierced the centre — very much, we 
 suspect, to his own astonishment. 
 
 "A chance shot!" cried his political opponents. 
 " He can't do it again in a hundred times trying. 
 Let him try it over !" 
 
 "Beat that, and I will!" said Mr. Clay. It was 
 a fair offer, but no one accepted it ; and he, leaving 
 well enough alone, passed with the crowd as a 
 good marksman. He had moreover, in after life, 
 more fame in rifle practice than he desired. 
 When in Europe, as commissioner to make a 
 treaty with England, at the close of the war of 
 1812, he was represented in an English paper as 
 the man who killed Tecumseh; and furthermore, 
 it was stated with all gravity, caused several 
 razor strops to be made from the fallen Indian's 
 skin! 
 
 While relating anecdotes, we may mention 
 another which Mr. Clay used to relate with much 
 humor. He was once opposed to a gentleman 
 who had but one arm, and an Irish wag who was 
 under obligations to him, voted for his opponent 
 on the plea that he chose the man who could put 
 but one hand into the public treasury. 
 
HENRY CLAY. 55 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 MR. CLAY IN THE KENTUCKY LEGISLATURE — DIFFICULTY 
 WITH MR. MARSHALL — AGAIN SENT TO THE SENATE — 
 MR. CLAY UPON "PROTECTION" — GOVERNOR SHELBY — 
 THE governor's HOUSEHOLD — MR. CLAY'S HOUSEHOLD 
 — ASHLAND — THE BOTTLE OF WINE. 
 
 In tlie Legislature of Kentucky, in 1808, Mr. 
 Clay introduced a resolution to the effect that the 
 members, to encourage domestic manufactures, 
 and to give their constituents an example, should 
 clothe themselves in fabrics of domestic manufac- 
 ture. It was always a favorite opinion with some 
 of the prominent legislators and statesmen of our 
 republic, that domestic manufactures should be 
 encouraged by the exclusion of foreign, or by such 
 taxes on foreign goods as would give American 
 the preference in cheapness. Others have resisted 
 the policy of "protection," as it is termed, desiring 
 to leave foreign and domestic fabrics to stand 
 upon the ground of unfettered competition. The 
 right of the government of the United States to 
 
56 LIFE OF 
 
 impose duties of a prohibitory, or even " protec- 
 tive" character, has been denied by many. 
 
 War, viewed in whatever light w^e choose, is a 
 great evil ; and when, according to the rule of 
 national custom or intercourse, it becomes neces- 
 sary to resist aggression, or to assert right, the 
 advantages which may be secured through the 
 successful prosecution of warfare, are always 
 heavily balanced by the misfortunes and social 
 disadvantages which result from even a victorious 
 struggle. We have noticed in preceding chapters 
 the bitterness which the remains of the war feel- 
 ing caused in the early councils of our country, 
 and the charge of favor for one nation, and 
 enmity against another, which were mutually 
 alleged against the great parties in the United 
 States. The protective policy was defended and 
 attacked on similar grounds. It was the policy 
 of Great Britain to discourage, and prevent 
 manufactures in her colonies, in order to make 
 them dependent upon the mother country. This 
 system was carried to such an oppressive length, 
 that it formed one of the most serious subjects 
 of complaint in the colonies against Great Britain, 
 and was among the causes which led to the war 
 of the Revolution. 
 
HENRY CLAY. 57 
 
 When the United States became independent 
 of Great Britain, it was obvious that the inde 
 pendence was nominal only, while we were 
 dependent upon a foreign nation for articles 
 necessary not only for government purposes, but 
 for the daily uses of life. All admitted this ; the 
 question was whether American manufactures 
 should be left to struggle, unaided, against foreign 
 rivalry, or whether legislative enactments should 
 assist the American against the foreign article. 
 Mr. Clay was an earnest supporter of the latter 
 opinion. With such views, he brought forward 
 the resolution spoken of above. It was a stormy 
 session of the legislature, many subjects of im- 
 portance being canvassed, and no little heat being 
 exhibited. Out of this exciting state of things 
 grew a personal difficulty, which resulted in a 
 duel between Mr. Chiy and Humphrey Marshall. 
 We should be glad if there were no such passage 
 as this to record in his life ; but it is no faithful 
 performance of the duty of a biographer, to sup- 
 press the account of the faults of the subject of 
 his work. Duelling is an indefensible practice, 
 and no man has more strongly condemned it than 
 Mr. Clay himself. He said, in an address to his 
 constituents, in 1825, — "I owe it to the commu- 
 
58 LIFE OF 
 
 nity to say, that whatever heretofore I may have 
 done, or by inevitable circumstances might be 
 forced to do, no man holds in deeper abhorrence 
 than I do, this pernicious practice. Condemned, 
 as it must be, by the judgment and philosophy — 
 to say nothing of the religion — of every thinking 
 man, it is an affair of feeling about which we 
 cannot, though we should, reason. Its true cor- 
 rective will be found when all shall unite, as all 
 ought to unite, in its unqualified proscription." 
 Mr. Clay's abhorrence of duelling is just — his 
 apology is w^eak. The same sophistry would 
 apply to any act of violence, of revenge, or of 
 slavish conformity to the false opinions of the 
 world. What judgment, philosophy, and religion 
 condemn, cannot be defended; nor can necessity 
 be pleaded for it. True courage sets at defiance 
 the sneers of a world which urge a man to do 
 evil. There is no heroism in preferring the 
 chance of a pistol-shot — the danger of murdering 
 or being murdered — to the terror of a fiilse public 
 opinion. And this erroneous estimate of honor 
 is one of the teachings of war. Yet there have 
 been warriors who refused, upon principle, to 
 engage in a duel; as there have also been, and 
 still are, many civilians who aspire to the reputa- 
 
HENRY CLAY. 59 
 
 tion of submitting their quarrels to the flilse 
 arbitration of the duel. 
 
 Mr. Clay's meeting with Marshall resulted in 
 no fiital consequences. He was spared the re- 
 morse of murder, and his own life was reserved 
 for the long line of public service to which we 
 now return. He was again elected, in 1809, to 
 fill another Senatorial vacancy, that was created 
 by the resignation of the Hon. Bucknor Thurston. 
 During this session of Congress, he took occasion 
 to bring forward an amendment embodying his 
 views of the protection of domestic industry. A 
 bill was under discussion to purchase cordage, 
 sail-cloth, and other munitions of war; and to 
 this an amendment was moved, that preference 
 should be given, in the purchase, to articles of 
 domestic manufacture. The sole object considered 
 in the tariff, up to this date, was the provision of 
 revenue for governmental expenses. But Mr. 
 Clay, with other statesmen, saw the necessity of 
 the provision within ourselves of the necessaries 
 which war, by interrupting commerce, might cut 
 off. Washington and Jefferson had distinctly 
 recommended the fostering of domestic industry ; 
 and Madison, then President, had urged upon 
 Congress such alterations in the laws, as should 
 
60 ^ LIFE OF 
 
 more especially protect and foster the several 
 branches of manufacture which had then been 
 commenced. The bill above mentioned, with the 
 amendment, was carried by a large majority. We 
 subjoin an extract from Mr. Clay's speech : — 
 
 " It is a subject no less of curiosity than of 
 interest to trace the prejudices in favor of foreign 
 fabrics. In our colonial condition, we were in a 
 complete state of dependence on the mother 
 country, as it respected manufactures as well as 
 commerce. For many years after the war, such 
 was the partiality for her productions in this 
 country, that a gentleman's head could not with- 
 stand the influence of solar heat, unless covered 
 with a London hat ; his feet could not bear the 
 pebbles or frost, unless protected by London shoes; 
 and the comfort or ornament of his person was 
 only consulted, when his coat was cut by the 
 shears of a tailor ^ just from London !' At length, 
 however, the wonderful discovery has been made, 
 that it is not absolutely beyond the reach of 
 American skill and ingenuity, to produce these 
 articles, combining with equal elegance greater 
 durability. And I entertain no doubt, that in a 
 short time the no less important fact will be 
 developed, that the domestic manufactures of the 
 
HENRY CLAY. 61 
 
 United States, fostered by government, and aided 
 by household exertions, are fully competent to 
 supply us with at least every necessary article of 
 clothing. I therefore, Sir, am in favor of encou- 
 raging them, not to the extent to which they are 
 carried in England, but to such an extent as will 
 redeem us entirely from all dependence on foreign 
 countries.- There is a pleasure — a pride, if I may 
 be allowed the expression — (and I pity those who 
 cannot feel the sentiment) in being clad in the 
 productions of our own families. Others may 
 prefer the cloths of Leeds and of London, but 
 give me those of Humphreysville." 
 
 From a speech delivered at a later date, we 
 make the following extract. We may premise 
 that the man here held up as a model, was one 
 of those men of the revolutionary era, of whose 
 friendship Henry Clay was justly proud, and 
 whose experience and advice aided in forming his 
 character. Governor Shelby commenced his ser- 
 vice of his country in the Indian wars prior to 
 the declaration of independence. He served 
 through the whole revolutionary war in the field, 
 and as a legislator, as soldier, surveyor, and com- 
 missary; giving evidence of prudence, scientific 
 knowledge, and bravery, which entitle him to 
 
 6 
 
62 LIFE OF 
 
 high distinction, and also to solid reputation. He 
 was a member of the convention which formed 
 the Constitution of Kentucky, and was chosen 
 the first governor of that State. He was again 
 elected governor in 1812, and at his advanced 
 age, was active in the second war with Great 
 Britain, marching with four thousand men to the 
 frontier where General Harrison commanded. 
 After the close of his gubernatorial term, he held 
 several important trusts, till overtaken by the 
 infirmities of age. He died in 1826, at the age 
 of seventy-six years. Such was the man whom 
 Henry Clay thus cites as an example : — 
 
 " If you want to find an example of order, of 
 freedom from debt, of economy, of expenditure 
 falling below, rather than exceeding income, you 
 will go to the well-regulated family of a farmer. 
 You will go to the house of such a man as Isaac 
 Shelby. You will not find him haunting taverns, 
 engaged in broils, prosecuting angry lawsuits; you 
 will behold every member of his family clad with 
 the produce of their own hands, and usefully 
 employed — the spinning-wheel and the loom in 
 motion by day-break. With what pleasure will 
 his wife carry you into her neat dairy, lead you 
 into her store-house, and point you to the table- 
 
HENRY CLAY. 63 
 
 cloths, the sheets, the counterpanes, which lie on 
 this shelf for one daughter, or on that for another, 
 all prepared in advance by her provident care, for 
 the day of their respective marriages. If you 
 want to see an opposite example, go to the house 
 of a man who manufactures nothing at home, 
 whose family resort to the store for everything 
 they consume. You will find him, perhaps, at 
 the tavern, or at the shop at the cross-roads. He 
 is engaged, with the rum-grog on the table, taking 
 depositions to make out some case of usury or 
 fraud. Or perhaps he is furnishing to his lawyer 
 the materials to prepare a long bill of injunction 
 in some intricate case. The sheriff is hovering 
 about his farm to serve some new writ. On court 
 days — he never misses attending them — you will 
 find him eagerly collecting his witnesses to defend 
 himself against the merchant's and the doctor's 
 claims. Go to his house, and after the short and 
 giddy period that his daughters have flirted about 
 the country in their calico and muslin frocks, 
 what a scene of discomfort and distress is pre- 
 sented to j^ou there ! What the individual family 
 of Isaac Shelby is, I wash to see the nation, in 
 the aggregate, become. * * * If statesmen 
 would carefully observe the conduct of private 
 
64 LIFE OF 
 
 individuals in the management of their own 
 affairs, they would have much surer guides in 
 promoting the interests of the state, than the 
 visionary speculations of theoretical writers." 
 
 Having copied Mr. Clay's picture of the house- 
 hold of Governor Shelby, it will not be out of 
 place to introduce here the domestic establish- 
 ment of Mr. Clay, as described by one of his 
 biographers.* At the date of Mr. Clay's appoint- 
 ment to the Senate, in 1809, he had been married 
 ten years. Commencing life as a professional and 
 public man at a very early age, it was fortunate 
 for him, perhaps, that he had thus early also the 
 responsibilities of the head of a household. His 
 wife, who survives him, was born in Hagerstown, 
 Maryland, in 1781, being thus four years younger 
 than her husband. Her father was Colonel 
 Thomas Hart, a gentleman of high standing in 
 Lexington; for whom Mr. Clay's respect, and 
 Mrs. Clay's affection, is shown by their giving the 
 mother's paternal name to several of their chil- 
 dren. The date of the following extract was 
 1842: — 
 
 "Mr. Clay, in all his domestic relations, has 
 sustained through life an exemplary and spotless 
 
 * Colton. 
 
HENRY CLAY. 65 
 
 reputation as a husband, father, and master. 
 During his long public career, himself the ob- 
 served of all observers, few away from Lexington 
 and the neighborhood ever heard any thing of his 
 family, simply because everything there was as it 
 should be. It has been a quiet history, because 
 it has been without fault, and without ostentation. 
 The virtues of Mrs. Clay, as a faithful wife, an 
 affectionate mother, and a kind mistress, have not 
 been altoirether unknown. At the head of a 
 great household, her cares, in the absence of her 
 husband on public duty, so frequent, and often 
 long protracted, have necessarily been habitually 
 extended to interests out of doors, as well as to 
 the customary domain of woman; and no lady 
 was ever better qualified for the position she has 
 so long occupied. Her dairy, garden, the pleasure 
 grounds of Ashland — all on a large scale — and 
 her green-house, were always supervised by her; 
 and the operations of a farm of between five and 
 six hundred acres, were not less constantly some- 
 what under her care. The feeding and clothing 
 of all the men and w^omen on the farm and in 
 the house, being some fifty or sixty in all, also 
 required her attention, together with caring for 
 
 the sick. Not a gallon of milk, nor a pound of 
 
 5* 
 
66 LIFE OF 
 
 butter, nor any of the garden vegetables, went to 
 market without her personal supervision; and 
 the extent of these duties may be partly imagined 
 from the fact, that the Phoenix Hotel, in Lexing- 
 ton, is supplied with thirty gallons of milk per 
 day from Ashland, in the summer, and twenty in 
 the winter. Mrs. Clay is the first up in the 
 morning, and 'the last to bed at night. When 
 General Bertrand was a guest at Ashland, he was 
 much astonished at the extent and variety of 
 duties discharged by Mrs. Clay, and at the acti- 
 vity and system with which they were accom- 
 plished. The servants, in door and out, cared 
 for in health and in sickness, in infancy and in 
 old age, well-housed, well-clad, well-fed, exempt 
 from the anxieties of life, and always treated 
 with indulgence, would never have known they 
 were in a state of bondage, if they had not been 
 told." "*■ 
 
 The reader will not, we presume, be displeased 
 to learn something more of Ashland. We extract 
 from the same source as the above, the following 
 brief and interesting description : " Ashland, 
 comprising the house, gardens, and park, is situ- 
 ated a mile and a half south-east from the court 
 house in Lexington. The whole estate consists 
 
ASHLAND, THE RESIDENCE OP MR. CLAY. 
 
HENRY CLAY. 67 
 
 of between five and six hundred acres of the best 
 land in Kentucky, which, for agricultural pur- 
 poses, is one of the richest States in the Union. 
 Ashland proper was projected for an elegant 
 country-seat. The house is a spacious brick 
 mansion, without much pretension in architec- 
 ture, surrounded by lawns and pleasure-grounds, 
 1 interspersed with walks and groves, planted with 
 I almost every variety of American shrubbery and 
 forest trees, executed under the direction of Mr. 
 ' and Mrs. Clay. Mr. Clay appears to have de- 
 lighted in gathering around him the plants and 
 trees of his own country, there being among 
 I them few exotics. As the domicil of the great 
 I American statesman, Ashland is one of the house- 
 \ hold words of the American people. Having 
 I been deeply lodged in their affections, so long as 
 I the memory of the great proprietor is cherished, 
 i it cannot fail to have a place in history." 
 
 And, we may add, it is an evidence of what 
 energy and talent — talent not ashamed of indus- 
 I try — may accomplish for a young American. He 
 ': who finds a model in such a man as Isaac Shelby, 
 cannot fail to become independent of debt — ex- 
 cept, indeed, when drawn into embarrassment by 
 misfortune. Mr. Clay has been twice seriously 
 
68 LIFE OF 
 
 embarrassed — but in both instances by liabilities 
 for others. His manner of living was without 
 ostentation, and his habit has been to make no 
 engagements which he could not promptly meet. 
 But we must not anticipate our narrative. 
 
 An amusing anecdote is related of Mr. Clay in 
 connection with his defence of American manu- 
 factures and productions. A western vine-grower 
 presented him with some specimen bottles of 
 American wine. So pleased was he with this 
 evidence that we need not go abroad even for 
 luxuries, that at his annual visit to Washington, 
 he carried a bottle or two with him, to astonish 
 the anti-American-system men, with the Ameri- 
 can vintage. It was produced by him at a public 
 table, duly prefaced with a brief " protective 
 speech." Upon tasting it, his guests, in spite of 
 their politeness, looked awry and astonished in- 
 deed. Mr. Clay hasted to put it to his own lips, 
 and found it was — very respectable whiskey! 
 Subsequent inquiry developed the fact that some 
 of his servants Avith an epicurean taste, had 
 drunk the wine, and, fearing detection, refilled 
 the bottles with something decidedly American 
 to be sure — but still quite foreign to the purpose. 
 
HENRY CLAY. 69 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 NAVIGATION OF THE MISSISSIPPI — LOUISIANA CEDED TO 
 FRANCE BY SPAIN — NAPOLEON'S PROJECT OF A MILITARY 
 COLONY — HIS DOUBLE PERFIDY TO THE UNITED STATES 
 AND SPAIN — PURCHASE OF LOUISIANA BY THE UNITED 
 STATES — DISPUTED BOUNDARY OF FLORIDA — MEASURES 
 OF MR. MADISON IN RELATION THERETO — SUSTAINED BY 
 MR. CLAY. 
 
 Among the less familiar passages of history, is 
 the fact that this continent narrowly escaped 
 being made the theatre of the exercise of the 
 warlike spirit of Napoleon Bonaparte. Louisiana 
 was ceded to Spain by France in 1763, and re- 
 mained in Spanish occupation until 1800. Florida 
 was also a Spanish possession, having been restored 
 to that power in 1783, after twenty years' nominal 
 occupation by England. Thus the whole of the 
 southern and western border of the United States 
 was in the possession of Spain. After much 
 negotiation, and many lowering indications of 
 difficulty, the United States obtained from Spain, 
 
70 L I F E O F 
 
 by treaty, the right to navigate the Mississippi, 
 and also the privilege of using the city of New 
 Orleans as a place of deposit. 
 
 In 1800, Napoleon compelled Spain to re-cede 
 Louisiana to France, in the treaty of retrocession 
 binding himself not to suffer the colony to go into 
 the hands of the United States. But, as he did 
 not wish to have the possession of Louisiana 
 clogged by any conditions, he compelled Spain to 
 annul or withdraw the treaty stipulation by which 
 the United States enjoyed the use of the waters 
 of the Mississippi. Florida still remained in the 
 hands of Spain, and the boundary between Florida 
 and Louisiana was not very accurately defined by 
 the treaty of retrocession. Napoleon was not 
 unwilling, probably, to have open questions both 
 with the United States and with Spain ; for a new 
 scene of operations was open, before his mind, on 
 this continent, and occasions of dispute would 
 further his designs. 
 
 The transfer of Louisiana to France had been 
 stipulated, but not made public. The designs of 
 Napoleon, whatever they may have been, were 
 studiously concealed; but the temper of the 
 French Government toward the United States, 
 was anything but conciliatory. An armament 
 
HENRY CLAY. 71 
 
 was prepared to take possession of tlie newly- 
 acquired province, and twenty thousand troops 
 waited embarkation at Helvoetsluys, under the 
 command of Bernadotte. That the destination 
 of this force was for America, we have the official 
 declaration of the French Government. The war 
 between England and France had ceased, by the 
 treaty of Amiens, in 1801 ; but the details of the 
 treaty remained unfulfilled, and were the subject 
 of continual anger and bitterness. England re- 
 garded with jealousy every movement of France, 
 and although Napoleon insisted to the day of his 
 death, that he intended at that juncture no enter- 
 prise against Britain, yet the movements of the 
 French troops in the ports of France and Holland 
 were made the occasion of hostile j)reparations in 
 England. A note by Talleyrand, handed to the 
 British Ambassador in answer to a royal address 
 to the British Parliament, distinctly said : " If 
 His Britannic Majesty, in his message, means to 
 speak of the expedition of Helvoetsluys, all the 
 world knows that it was destined for America, 
 and was on the point of sailing; but in conse- 
 cpience of that message, its orders are counter- 
 manded." 
 
 What a succession of quarrels, difficulties^ and 
 
72 LIFE OF 
 
 wars, must have followed the attempt to control 
 the Mississippi, and hold the western part of this 
 continent! "Louisiana" had a meaning almost 
 indefinite ; and the power to annoy which such 
 an occupation would have given France, might 
 have heen full of great and unhappy results. Not 
 the least of these, would have been the compul- 
 sion of the United States into European war; ; 
 the continuation of our colonial misfortunes. 
 
 The spirited language of a great American 
 statesman and orator'^ thus describes the aim of 
 Napoleon : " Here it had been his purpose to 
 establish a military colony, with the Mexican 
 dominions of Spain on one side, and the United 
 States of America and the continental colonies of 
 Great Britain on the other, in the centre of the I 
 western hemisphere — the stand for a lever to 
 wield at his pleasure the destinies of the world. : 
 ♦ * :•: 'pj-^Q restless spirit of Napoleon, inflamed 
 at the age of most active energy in human life, 
 by the gain of fifty battles, dazzling with a splen- 
 dor then unrivalled but by the renown of Csesar, 
 breathing for a moment in the midway path of 
 his career, the conqueror of Egypt — the victor of 
 Lodi and Marengo — the trampler upon the neck 
 
 * J. Q. Adams. 
 
HENRY CLAY. 73 
 
 of his country, her people, her legislators, and 
 her constitution — was about to bring his veteran 
 legions in formidable proximity to this Union. 
 * * * In re-purchasing from Spain the colony 
 of Louisiana, Napoleon — to hold in his hand a 
 rod over the western section of the United States 
 — had compelled the dastardly and imbecile mon- 
 arch of Spain to commit an act of perfidy, by 
 withdrawing from the people of the United States 
 the stipulated right of deposit at New Orleans. 
 The great artery of the commerce of the Union 
 was thus checked in its circulation. The senti- 
 ment of surprise, of alarm, of indignation, was 
 universal among the people. The hardy and 
 enterprising settlers of the western country could 
 hardly be restrained from pouring down the 
 swelling floods of their population, to take pos- 
 session of New Orleans itself, by the rights of 
 war." 
 
 Even in Congress there were indications of a 
 war-spirit. To meet the dilemma, President 
 Jefferson sent Mr. Monroe to France, to be joined 
 in a Commission Extraordinary with K. H. Liv- 
 ingston, then Resident American Minister in 
 Paris. Their commission was to purchase the 
 island of New Orleans, and the Spanish territory 
 
 7 
 
74 LIFE OF 
 
 east of the Mississippi. Mr. Monroe had scarcely 
 reached Paris, when he and his colleague were 
 informed of the readiness of the French Govern- 
 ment to cede to the United States the whole of 
 Louisiana. Napoleon had too much work on his 
 hands already, in the threatened renewal of the 
 war with Great Britain, to cumber himself with 
 an American colony, which would offer a new 
 point of attack for his European enemies, and 
 entangle him, also, in a contest with the United 
 States. He needed money, and could spare no 
 troops for trans-atlantic operations. To accept 
 the proposition to take the whole colony of 
 Louisiana, exceeded the powers of the commis- 
 sioners, and the funds at their disposal. But they 
 closed with the offer, and in a few months, the 
 "Great West" became, by treaty, a portion of the 
 domain of the United States. 
 
 Spain objected to the violation of Napoleon's 
 compact. The cession to the United States was 
 directly contrary to his promise. He silenced 
 Spain, so far as the cession was concerned ; but 
 there still remained an unsettled question. What 
 was the eastern boundary of Louisiana? Spain 
 deemed that it included anything this side of the 
 Mississippi, and Napoleon's government defended 
 
HENRY CLAY. 75 
 
 her in the assumption. And yet it is said that 
 he was prepared to claim and occupy to the river 
 Perdido, the present western boundary of Florida. 
 The French Commissioner to take possession of 
 the colony for France, admitted this fact to a 
 member of the United States Senate, as that 
 gentleman declared on the floor of the Senate 
 chamber. 
 
 Thus the matter remained in dispute until 
 1810. Congress passed laws at a much earlier 
 period, asserting the sovereignty of the United 
 States over the disputed territory, but they were 
 not uniformly enforced, until, in the year above 
 mentioned, President Madison issued a proclama- 
 tion, and in pursuance of it, occupied the disputed 
 ground. 
 
 During Mr. Clay's second term of service as 
 Senator, the act of Mr. Madison, in asserting 
 jurisdiction east of the Mississippi, was the sub- 
 ject of debate. Mr. Clay vindicated the measure, 
 declaring that the President would have been 
 criminally inattentive to his duty had he neg- 
 lected to exercise the discretionary power vested 
 in him by the Acts of Congress above referred to. 
 He examined and stated the legal points of the 
 matter at issue between the United States and 
 
76 LIFE OF 
 
 Spain with the acuteness of a lawyer, and pressed 
 the vindication of American honor with the 
 warmth of a patriot. He demonstrated the 
 necessity, to the United States, of the possession 
 of the whole of Florida. He ridiculed the fear 
 of foreign interference to protect Spain in her 
 demands, and closed with the hope of seeing the 
 United States embrace the whole country east of 
 the Mississippi. None knew better than he the 
 rights of this nation; and none more warmly 
 resisted the pretence of European powers to 
 retain unoccupied tracts on the continent, for the 
 purpose of cession and retrocession in adjusting 
 treaty balances. Mr. Madison was sustained by 
 Congress in the step he had taken. 
 
HENRY CLAY. 77 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE BANK OF THE UNITED STATES — MR. CLAY IN 1811 — 
 COW AND TURKEY — MR. CLAY IN 1816. 
 
 The first Bank of the United States was char- 
 tered by Act of Congress, in 1791, for the term 
 of twenty years. We have not space, within our 
 limits, to discuss at length the subject of Banks 
 and Banking, and shall allude to it only so far 
 as necessary to explain Mr. Clay's connection 
 with it. And even that reference must be brief, 
 since it will prove less interesting to our readers 
 than any other portion of his life ; and, we may 
 add, in such a work as this, less instructive. 
 
 In 1811, came up the question of the re-charter 
 of the Bank. No human institutions can be 
 perfect; and while representative governments 
 have high advantages over all others, there are 
 certainly some respects in which they do not 
 work to advantage. Banks dependent upon 
 popular legislation for re-charter or continuance, 
 are frequently liable to depreciation of credit. 
 
78 LIFE OF 
 
 Such institutions should be not only above mer- 
 cantile reproach, but above suspicion ; as fluctua- 
 tions in the value of their stock and notes, occa- 
 sion public losses to the advantage of speculators 
 and stock operators. 
 
 Availing ourselves of the labors of a distin- 
 guished writer on the subject,* we condense from 
 his summary view an abstract of the arguments 
 by which the first Bank was defended. These 
 were, the credit and value it Would impart to 
 government stocks ; the convenience to the trea- 
 sury in the collection and disbursement of the 
 revenue of the government ; and the facilities it 
 would afford to merchants and others. On the 
 other hand, the opponents of the proposed Bank 
 alleged that banking institutions were artful con- 
 trivances of cunning men to grow rich at the 
 expense of the people; that the Bank would 
 tend to strengthen the hands of the Executive, 
 already too strong; and that the charter was 
 unconstitutional. The Bank was created by a 
 very close vote, the democratic party going 
 against it. It proved all that it promised in 
 reference to raising the value of government 
 securities. United States Stock being taken as 
 
 , - ■ . . . — 
 
 * Hildreth, on Banks and Banking. 
 
HENRY CLAY. 79 
 
 payment. The advantages which it afforded to 
 the Treasury Department were evident^ and its 
 utility in that respect was great. 
 
 But the objection that the institution would 
 strengthen the Executive, was not without its 
 proof in the trial. The first Bank became, from 
 the force of circumstances, a party institution. 
 It had been sustained by the friends of Hamilton, 
 and opposed by the friends of Jefferson; and 
 when, in 1811, the question of the re-charter 
 came up, it was defeated by one vote in the 
 Senate, having passed the House. The Senate 
 vote was a tie, and the Vice President's vote 
 decided the fate of the application. Mr. Clay 
 made, against the Bank, one of his most effective 
 speeches, from the echo of which he has never 
 been able to escape. Mr. Clay gave to his consti- 
 tuents, in 1816, three reasons for his opposition 
 in 1811 : first, that he was instructed by the 
 Legislature to oppose the re-charter; second, that 
 he believed the corporation had, during a portion 
 of the period of its existence, abused its power, 
 and had sought to subserve the views of a poli- 
 tical party ; and third, that as the power to 
 create a corporation, such as was proposed to be 
 continued, was not specifically granted in the 
 
80 LIFE OF 
 
 Constitution, and as the bank did not then appear 
 to him to be necessary to carry into effect any of ; 
 the powers which were specifically granted, Con- 
 gress was not authorised to continue it. To ■ 
 relieve the dulness of this topic a little, it may 
 be well to repeat an amusing passage from Mr. 
 Clay's speech against the Bank, in 1811 : 
 
 " A bank is made for the ostensible purpose of - 
 the collection of the revenue ; and while it is 
 engaged in this, the most inferior and subordinate 
 of all its functions, it is made to diffuse itself i' 
 throughout society, and to influence all the great 
 operations of credit, circulation, and commerce. ■ 
 Like the Virginia justice, you tell the man whose 
 turkey had been stolen, that your books of prece- ' 
 dent furnish no form for his case, but that you 
 will grant him a precept to search for a cow, and \ 
 when looking for that he may possibly find his • 
 turkey ! You say to this corporation, we cannot 
 authorise you to discount, to emit paper, to regu- 
 late commerce, &c. No, our book has no prece- 
 dent of that kind. But then we can authorise 
 you to collect the revenue, and while occupied 
 with that, you may do whatever else you please!" 
 
 In 1816, upon the suggestion of President ; 
 Madison, the second Bank of the United States 
 
*i 
 
 HENRY CLAY. 81 
 
 kvas chartered. Mr. Madison spake and voted 
 iigainst the charter of the first Bank in 1791, and 
 ndeed was active in opposition to the financial 
 measures of Hamilton generally. Mr. Clay was 
 Dne of the supporters of the new Bank, and 
 exerted himself in its favor. This inconsistency 
 bas often been charged against him ; but if incon- 
 sistent, he was not alone; for the Bank chartered 
 in 1816 was established by the votes of those who 
 had been the most strenuous in their opposition 
 to the re-charter of the first Bank. The argu- 
 ment was, that at this crisis it was necessary, and 
 therefore constitutional. 
 
 We do not purpose to follow the subject further. 
 The discussion, in which Mr. Clay took a very 
 active part, was renewed under the administra- 
 tion of General Jackson, who vetoed a third bank 
 charter. The Independent Treasury scheme of 
 lMr. Van Buren, and the efibrts to re-establish a 
 Bank, under Mr. Tyler, kept up the controversy 
 upon the currency for many years. It has now 
 ceased. Mr. Webster declared, in one of his 
 ispeeches, that a National Bank is " an obsolete 
 idea;" and to the same conclusion all parties seem 
 to have arrived at last. If a bank chartered by 
 the United States is unconstitutional, except 
 6 
 
82 LIFE OF 
 
 when necessary to enable the government to carry 
 on its operations, its unconstitutionality is estar 
 blished by nearly twenty years' experience ; and 
 no party will now be impolitic enough to under- 
 take again to establish a National Bank. 
 
 The jealousy of the great political parties has 
 really had more to do with the question than any 
 thing else. The democrats refused to re-charter 
 the first Bank, because it was in the hands of 
 federalists, and was charged with having been 
 made their instrument ; and the federalists, actu- 
 ated by a similar feeling, voted against the second 
 Bank, because, as a democratic measure, it might 
 become their ally. The third attempt was de- 
 feated — certainly in part, if not altogether — on 
 party grounds; and the paper currency of the 
 country is well relieved from the inconveniences 
 of a connection with national politics. The two 
 banks unquestionably rendered good service in 
 their day, with all their disadvantages. Each, at 
 the close of wars which had impoverished the 
 national exchequer, aided in the establishment 
 of the national credit ; and each rendered other 
 important services, in circumstances which will 
 not again occur. For instance, the Bank of 1816 
 relieved the Treasury of the United States of 
 
HENRY CLAY. 83 
 
 thirteen millions of the notes of non-specie-paying 
 banks. The country has gained in experience, 
 and in the elements of true wealth, The first 
 will forbid the renewal of the dangerous alliance 
 of bank and state — dangerous not so much to the 
 state as to the bank, and the pockets and business 
 of the people — and the second will put banking 
 upon its true basis, whether conducted under 
 state or national charters, or followed as an indi- 
 vidual and private business. 
 
84 -LIFE OF 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 MR. CLAY SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
 — CAUSES OF WAR — WAR RESOLUTIONS — BILLS FROM 
 THE SENATE — MR. CLAY'S SPEECH IN COMMITTEE — 
 JOHN RANDOLPH, OF ROANOKE. 
 
 We have seen Mr. Clay twice a member of the 
 Congress of the United States as Senator, filling 
 the unexpired terms of others. In 1811, he 
 received the higher popular honour of an election 
 to the House of Kepresentatives. 
 
 President Madison had summoned Congress to 
 meet a month earlier than usual, on account of 
 the disturbed condition of our foreign relations. 
 Mr. Clay appeared in his place on Monday, 
 November 4th, and was at once elected Speaker 
 of the House. He received seventy-five votes 
 out of one hundred and twenty-eight. On taking 
 the chair, he acknowledged the honor done him, 
 briefly and pertinently as follows : — 
 
 " Gentlemen, — In coming to the station which 
 you have done me the honor to assign me — an 
 
f! 
 
HENRY CLAY THE STATESMAN. 
 
HENRY CLAY. 85 
 
 honor for which you will be pleased to accept my 
 thanks — I obey rather your commands than my 
 inclination. I am sensible of the imperfections 
 which I bring along with me, and a consciousness 
 of these would deter me from attempting a dis- 
 charge of the duties of the chair, did I not rely 
 confidently on your generous support. Should 
 the rare and delicate occasion present itself, when 
 your Speaker should be called upon to check or 
 control the wanderings or intemperance of debate, 
 your justice will, I hope, ascribe to his interposi- 
 tion the motives only of public good, and a regard 
 to the dignity of the House. And, in all in- 
 stances be assured, gentlemen, that I shall with 
 infinite pleasure, afford every facihty in my 
 power to the despatch of public business, in the 
 most agreeable manner." 
 
 The position of Speaker of the House, always 
 one of importance, was forty years ago of even 
 greater consequence than now. As- we have had 
 before occasion to remark, the policy of the 
 government, and the Congressional usages of the 
 United States, were as yet undetermined ; and it 
 was Mr. Clay's delicate duty to decide on points 
 where he could not appeal to past usage. We 
 may observe in evidence of his impartiality, that 
 
 8 
 
86 LIFE OF 
 
 although he had frequent occasion to differ from 
 members, yet in no case during the term that he 
 presided, was his decision reversed by appeal to 
 the House. His election was an indication of the 
 temper in which Congress had assembled, as 
 regarded our foreign relations. The nation was 
 exasperated to resistance against European en- 
 croachments, and Mr. Clay was regarded as the 
 champion of a decided, and, if need should arise, 
 of a warlike policy. His occupation of the chair 
 precluded him from the opportunity of making 
 himself felt as an orator, except when the House' 
 was in "Committee of the Whole." On such 
 occasions, the Speaker leaves the chair, and ap- 
 points a temporary chairman of the committee. 
 
 The intention of submitting questions to the 
 Committee of the Whole, is to allow greater 
 latitude in debate. The resolutions and votes of 
 the House in Committee, are not binding or final, 
 until formally taken up in the House, after the 
 rising of the Committee. Thus, subjects are 
 discussed with more freedom. The Committee 
 of the Whole has been not inaptly termed a 
 "debating club;" and perhaps that is its best 
 designation. 
 
 President Madison's Message, on the opening 
 
HENRY CLAY. 87 
 
 of Congress, recommended placing the country in 
 an attitude of defence and resistance to the ag- 
 gressions of European powers, to which we have 
 frequently referred in these pages. The conduct 
 of Great Britain was particularly oppressive. In 
 enforcing her claim to the right of search for her 
 own subjects, her cruisers impressed seamen from 
 American vessels to the number of several thou- 
 sands. How many of these were really British 
 subjects, and what proportion were natives of 
 America, cannot be precisely stated; but it was 
 urged by Americans that all, whether native or 
 adopted citizens, who sailed under the American 
 flag, were entitled to its protection. Impressment, 
 and compulsory service in a man-of-war, is hard 
 enough for those who acknowledge the sovereignty 
 of a government which pursues such an oppres- 
 sive policy; but when natives of another countr}^, 
 or those who have elected that other country for 
 their future allegiance, are forcibly seized, such 
 an outrage merits the appellation of " man-steal- 
 ing," which was freely applied to it. 
 
 Another grievance was the proclamation by 
 Great Britain, that all the ports of France were 
 in a state of blockade, and the seizure of Ameri- 
 can vessels, any where upon the ocean, which 
 
88 LIFE OF 
 
 were bound to French ports. A blockade, to be 
 legal, must have a sufficient force to maintain it; 
 a force stationed off the blockaded port, to arrest 
 the vessels entering; but when the blockade is 
 merely a proclamation, and vessels are seized 
 wherever found, the act becomes one of war upon 
 neutral powers. 
 
 Such were the leading causes of complaint 
 against Great Britain. From similar acts of 
 injustice, France was by no means free. The 
 French Government interrupted our commerce 
 nearly to as great an extent as Great Britain, 
 only that France did not impress our seamen; 
 and this violation of the personal rights and 
 liberties of American citizens, was the popular 
 ground of enmity to Great Britain. It excited 
 a determination to resist; and it opened a path for 
 young politicians to popular support and sym- 
 pathy. Henry Clay was one of the acknowledged 
 leaders of "Young America" at this period, and 
 as such he was elected to Congress, and placed in 
 the Speakers chair of the House of Eepresen- 
 tatives. He was impetuous and daring — and in 
 his early days carried his measures with a will as 
 strong as his words were eloquent. 
 
 The Speaker has the appointment of standing 
 
P! 
 
 HENRY CLAY. 89 
 
 committees; and the Committee on Foreign 
 Relations, appointed by Mr. Clay, early reported. 
 The report represented that France had practi- 
 cally desisted from her encroachments on Ameri- 
 can commerce, while Great Britain still adhered 
 to her oppressive course, and the Committee 
 concluded with a series of appropriate resolutions. 
 These recommended the increase of the regular 
 army, the fitting out of all the national vessels, 
 the acceptance of the services of volunteers, and 
 permission to merchant vessels to arm in their 
 own defence. All these resolutions were carried 
 by large majorities, but not without warm debate. 
 The minority — at the head of whom stood the 
 able, though eccentric, John Randolph of Roa- 
 noke — combated these measures at every stage; 
 but, contrary to custom and precedent, the report 
 was not taken up in Committee of the Whole, 
 and Mr. Clay had therefore no opportunity to 
 speak upon the subject, when it was first pre- 
 sented to the House. 
 
 But while these resolutions were debated in the 
 House of Representatives, the Senate had been 
 more practically prompt. They had already 
 passed bills for largely increasing the regular 
 army, even beyond what the administration 
 
 8* 
 
90 LIFE OF 
 
 desired. When the Senate bill, for the increase 
 of the army, came to the House and was taken 
 up in Committee of the Whole, Mr. Clay improved 
 the opportunity, not before accorded him, to 
 speak upon the subject. He commenced his 
 remarks by stating that he should not complain 
 of the course of proceeding which had been 
 adopted, except for its effect in preventing him 
 from participating in the debate, and assuming 
 his share in the responsibility for the measures 
 which the exigency of the times, in his opinion, 
 demanded. 
 
 Mr. Clay urged the raising of a large army, 
 and reasoned that upon the mere consideration 
 of economy, a large and effective force was the 
 best. " I do not stand," he said, " on this floor 
 as the advocate of standing armies in the time of 
 peace ; but when war becomes essential, I am the 
 advocate of raising able and vigorous armies to 
 insure its success." Against the danger of the 
 domination of a standing army over the liberties 
 of the people, he opposed their general political 
 information, and the fact of the existence of a 
 powerful militia, " ready to point their bayonets 
 to the breast of any tyrant who may attempt to 
 crush their freedom." And in reply to those who 
 
IIKXRY CLAY. 91 
 
 feared the danger of invasion, Mr. Clay said: 
 "Paris was taken, and all France consequently 
 subjugated. London might be subdued, and 
 England would fall before the conqueror. But 
 the population and strength of this country are 
 concentrated in no one place. Philadelphia may 
 be invaded — New York or Boston may fall — 
 every sea-port may be taken, but the country will 
 remain free. The whole of our territory this side 
 of the Alleghanies may be invaded, still liberty 
 will not be subdued. * ^'' '•" The national 
 government ; one or more of the state sovereign- 
 ties, may be annihilated — the country will yet be 
 safe." 
 
 Such was Mr. Clay's earnestness and ardor in 
 the war cause. His expressions seem to us, at 
 this distance of time, like hyperbole; and his 
 contempt for all the dangers of war, like extra- 
 vagance. As we have before remarked, he was 
 the representative of the young men, who proba- 
 bly desired to emulate the course of their elders, 
 who were enjoying, in old age, the dignity won 
 by service in the days of the Eevolution, and the 
 troublesome times which followed. These same 
 old men were not yet out of the national councils, 
 and their cautious policy, had it been followed, 
 
92 LIFE OF 
 
 would not have precipitated war, though they 
 might have been driven to it at last, after even 
 longer delay. They knew the dangers and diffi- 
 culties of a state of warfare, and the high price 
 at which whatever is won by war is purchased. 
 "Young America" took the direction out of the 
 hands of the old statesman ; for even President 
 Madison never heartily sympathised with the 
 zeal of the younger and more enthusiastic mem- 
 bers of the war party. 
 
 Mr. Clay himself, after the experience obtained 
 during the war he had so zealously supported, 
 spake in a tone which contrasts strongly with the 
 sentiments which we have quoted above. In 
 1811, he argued that although nothing were left 
 of the national government, still "the country 
 would be safe." In 1818, he said "it is not every 
 cause of war which should lead to war. War is 
 one of those dreadful scourges that so shakes the 
 foundations of society, overturns or changes the 
 characters of governments, interrupts or destroys 
 the pursuit of private happiness, brings, in short, 
 misery and wretchedness in so many forms, and 
 at last is in its issue so doubtful and hazardous, 
 that nothing but dire necessity can justify an 
 appeal to arms." Experience teaches — and that 
 
 I 
 
HENRY CLAY. 93 
 
 course is ever safest which, though impelled by the 
 activity of youthful and ardent actors, like Mr. 
 Clay in 1811, is guided and moderated by older 
 men, whose monitor is memory of the past. 
 
 Much of the warmth and extravagance of 
 public speeches are attributable to the excitement 
 of debate. Under its influence, men say more 
 than they intend; more than, under circum- 
 stances favorable to calm reflection, they could 
 utter. The terror of the advocates of a war with 
 Great Britain was, at this time, John Kandolph 
 of Roanoke. Mr. Randolph was not a member 
 of the Federal party, for in that case his attacks 
 would have been less feared. He claimed to 
 belong to the democratic side of the House, and 
 as the war was a democratic measure, his resist- 
 ance had a double weight. Mr. Randolph's style 
 pf oratory — discursive yet pointed — sarcastic, 
 severe, and full of caustic wit, made him the 
 most dangerous opponent that party or individual 
 could have to deal with. It is said that Mr. Clay 
 pwed his election as Speaker to the hope that his 
 known fearlessness and dignity of character might 
 bold Randolph in check. 
 
 Mr. Randolph had been, in 1811, eleven years 
 in the House of Representatives. His first 
 
94 LIFE OF 
 
 utterance there was characteristic. On account 
 of his extremely youthful appearance, the 
 Speaker said to him, as he presented himself to 
 take the oath of office, "Are you old enough, sir, 
 to be eligible?" "Ask my constituents," was the 
 only answer that Eandolph designed to make to 
 this inquiry. Mr. Kandolph's secession from the 
 regular democratic ranks occurred during Jeffer- 
 son's administration. He voted against a resolu- 
 tion which was introduced to cease importation 
 from Great Britain. Through Madison's adminis- 
 tration, he strenuously opposed the war measures, 
 and all that tended to strengthen army or navy, 
 or to give the nation a military character ; and in ; 
 opposition to the measures now directly before i 
 the House, Mr. Randolph had made one of his 
 most effective speeches. To him, as well as , 
 others, Mr. Clay was replying ; and as they had 
 dwelt much upon the power, and extolled the 
 national character of Great Britain, he took the 
 opposite side with a natural, though excessive 
 warmth. i 
 
 The bill under discussion passed the House by a , 
 large majority — ninety-four to thirty-four. Next 
 in order came provisions for a Navy, the account 
 of which we reserve for another chapter. 
 
P! 
 
 HENRY CLAY. 95 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 the navy under jefferson — timid project of mr. 
 Madison's cabinet — remonstrances of naval offi- 
 cers — BILL TO increase THE NAVY — SPEECH OF MR. 
 CLAY — NAVAL HISTORY OF THE WAR OF 1812. 
 
 The policy of Mr. Jefferson had been decidedly 
 against a navy. When he came into office, in 
 1801, he found a law enacted by the Congress 
 which expired as his term commenced, which law 
 was designed to put the Navy on a peace establish- 
 ment. This act empowered the President to sell 
 any or all of the vessels of the Navy, with the 
 exception of thirteen of the frigates. But the 
 design of the law was not to extinguish or pre- 
 vent the increase of the navy. By the same act, 
 $500,000 (half a million) annually, were appro- 
 priated, toward the completion of six seventy- 
 four-gun ships, authorised in 1798. 
 
 Under Mr. Jefferson's administration, all the 
 vessels in the navy, except the thirteen frigates, 
 and one small cruiser of twelve guns, were sold. 
 
96 LIFE OF 
 
 The appropriation for the seventy-fours was dis- 
 continued, and the timber collected for them was 
 cut up to build gun-boats. The loss from the 
 navy of the vessels sold was not much to be 
 regretted, as they were mostly of imperfect 
 frames, or poor models; but they should certainly 
 have been replaced by something better than 
 gun-boats. The whole number sold was twenty, 
 carrying from twelve to twenty-four guns each, 
 and nine galleys. 
 
 From 1801 to 1811, not a frigate was added to 
 the navy. Of the thirteen in existence in 1801,1 
 one — the Philadelphia — had been destroyed, and 
 three had fallen into decay, leaving nine only. 
 One hundred and seventy gun-boats had been 
 built, and nine small vessels added, carrying from 
 twelve to eighteen guns. The impression was 
 prevalent, that it was impossible to keep a navy 
 at sea in the face of the overwhelming force of 
 Great Britain, which embraced not less than a 
 thousand sail. A project was actually entertained 
 by the President to lay up in ordinary the few 
 vessels which the United States possessed, to keep 
 them from falling into the hands of the enemy !i 
 This policy had been determined on, but was 
 changed by the efforts of two ofiicers of the navy. 
 
HENRY CLAY. 97 
 
 Captains Bainbridge and Stewart, happening to 
 be at the seat of government, were shown copies 
 of orders to Commodore Rodgers, not to leave 
 New York, but to keep the vessels under his 
 command in port, to form part of its harbor 
 defence. They obtained an audience of Presi- 
 dent Madison, and convinced him of the impolicy 
 and of the ruinous effect of such a course. Still the 
 i Cabinet, the President's constitutional advisers, 
 adhered to their opinion. The two naval officers 
 then addressed a letter to the President, who, 
 after reading their arguments, took upon himself 
 to change the plan. It is said that some members 
 of the Cabinet consoled themselves with the 
 reflection that if the vessels ventured out they 
 would soon be taken ; the administration would 
 be saved the expense and trouble of maintaining 
 them, and thus be enabled to devote all its care 
 to the army."^ So little do nations, as well as 
 individuals, understand their true strength ! 
 
 A bill was reported in the House of Eepre- 
 
 sentatives, in the spring of 1812, providing for 
 
 ten new frigates, and a dock for repairs. The 
 
 members of the Naval Committee, by whom the 
 
 I bill was reported, hinted in their speeches at a 
 
 * Cooper's Naval History. 
 
 9 
 
i 
 
 98 LIFE OF 
 
 much larger force than this. But there was a 
 very determined opposition to the support of a 
 navy; a subject upon which, as we have seen, 
 even the President and his Cabinet hesitated. 
 Henry Clay raised his strong voice in defence of 
 the naval arm. We make some extracts from his 
 speech : 
 
 " It appeared to Mr. Clay a little extraordinary 
 that so much, as it seemed to him unreasonable 
 jealousy should exist against the naval establish- 
 ment. If," said he, " we look back to the period 
 of the formation of the Constitution, it will be 
 found that no such jealousy was then excited. 
 In placing the physical force of the nation at the 
 disposal of Congress, the convention manifested 
 much greater apprehension of abuse in the power 
 given to raise armies than in that to provide a 
 navy. In reference to the navy, Congress is put 
 under no restrictions; but with respect to the 
 army — that description of force which has been 
 so often employed to subvert the liberties of 
 mankind — they are subjected to limitations 
 designed to prevent the abuse of this dangerous 
 power. But it was not his intention to detain 
 the Committee, by a discussion on the compara- 
 tive utility and safety of these two kinds of force. 
 
HENRY CLAY, 99 
 
 He would, however, be indulged in saying, that 
 I he thought gentlemen had wholly failed in main- 
 taining the position they had assumed, that the 
 fall of maritime powers was attributable to their 
 navies. They have told you that Carthage, 
 Genoa, and Venice, and other nations, had navies, 
 and notwithstanding were finally destroyed. But 
 have they shown, by a train of argument, that 
 their overthrow was in any degree attributable to 
 their maritime greatness? Have they attempted, 
 even, to show that there exists, in the nature of 
 this power, a necessary tendency to destroy the 
 nation using it? Assertion is substituted for 
 . argument ; inferences not authorised by historical 
 ; facts are arbitrarily drawn ; things unconnected 
 with each other are associated together ; — a very 
 i logical mode of reasoning, it must be admitted! 
 i In the same way, he could demonstrate how idle 
 : and absurd our attachments are to freedom itself. 
 He might say, for instance, that Greece and Rome 
 had forms of free government, and that they no 
 ; longer exist ; and, deducing their fall from their 
 devotion to liberty, the conclusion in favor of 
 despotism would very satisfactorily follow ! He 
 demanded what there is in the nature and con- 
 struction of maritime power, to excite the fears 
 
100 LIFE OF 
 
 that have been indulged ? Do gentlemen really 
 apprehend, that a body of seamen will abandon 
 their proper element, and placing themselves 
 under an aspiring chief, will erect a throne to his 
 ambition ? Will they deign to listen to the voice 
 of history, and learn how chimerical are these , 
 apprehensions?" Mr. Clay did not conceive it j 
 practicable to create a fleet which could cope with 
 Great Britain; but he did think it within the 
 power of the nation to provide a naval force 
 adequate to protect our harbors, coasting trade, 
 and inland navigation. He argued the necessity 
 of a maritime power, from the necessity of com- 
 merce to a nation's greatness. "But," he said, 
 "from the arguments of gentlemen, it woul(J ii 
 seem to be questioned if foreign commerce is 
 worth the kind of protection insisted upon. What 
 is this foreign commerce which has become sud- 
 denly so inconsiderable? It has, with very ■] 
 trifling aid from other sources, defrayed the ex- 
 penses of government ever since the adoption of 
 the present constitution; maintained an expen- 
 sive and successful war with the Indians ; a war 
 with the Barbary powers; a quasi war with 
 France; sustained the charges of suppressing two 
 insurrections, and extinguished upwards of forty- 
 
HENRY CLAY. 101 
 
 six millions of the public debt. In revenue, it 
 has, since the year 1789, yielded one hundred 
 and ninety-one millions of dollars. During the 
 first four years after the commencement of the 
 present government, the revenue averaged only 
 about two millions annually, or became equivalent 
 to a capital of two hundred and fifty millions of 
 dollars, at an interest of six per centum per 
 annum. And if our commerce be re-established, 
 it will, in the course of time, net a sum for which 
 we are scarcely furnished with figures in arith- 
 metic. Taking the average of the last nine years 
 (comprehending, of course, the season of the 
 embargo,) our exports average upward of thirty- 
 seven millions of dollars, which is equivalent to 
 a capital of more than six hundred millions of 
 dollars at six per centum interest ; all of which 
 must be lost in the event of a destruction of 
 foreign commerce. In the abandonment of that 
 commerce is also involved the sacrifice of our 
 brave tars, who have engaged in the pursuit from 
 which they derive subsistence and support, under 
 the confidence that government would afibrd 
 them that just protection which is due to all. 
 They will be driven into foreign employment, for 
 
 9* 
 
102 LIFE OF 
 
 it is vain to expect that they will renounce their 
 habits of life." 
 
 As a verification of Mr. Clay's predictions, we 
 may remark that the exports of the country, 
 embracing domestic products only, now exceed 
 one hundred millions annually; and if we include 
 the foreign articles re-shipped, the amount will 
 be increased some twenty-five millions more. ( 
 The valuable coasting and internal trade of the i 
 United States, especially since the acquisition of j 
 California, is another vast source of business and 
 employment for our mariners and others con- 
 nected with the shipping and transportation < 
 interests. The number of vessels built annually 
 is nearly two thousand, about one-fifth of which | 
 are steam-boats, and another fifth vessels of the 
 larger classes. This annual supply is more than 
 the whole loss during the war of 1812, by capture 
 or otherwise. The character of the American 
 mercantile marine is now second to none in the 
 world. Vessels under the American flag success- 
 fully compete with British ships in her own , 
 carrying trade between the mother country and 
 her distant possessions. The flag of the United • 
 States is seen upon every sea, and is everywhere ; 
 respected. Mr. Clay mentioned as a remarkable 
 
HENRY CLAY. 103 
 
 fact, in the speech above quoted, that an Ameri- 
 can vessel had arrived at Leghorn from Pitts- 
 burgh. It is frequently the case now that ships 
 depart from cities still farther inland upon our 
 great rivers ; but it is proper to remark that they 
 do not return to the place of their first clearance. 
 They can descend these rivers, but not ascend 
 them ; and the purpose of economy is served, in 
 the first instance, by launching them where the 
 timber for their frames can be most easily pro- 
 cured. 
 
 The number of vessels in the United States' 
 Navy now, is still less than one hundred, includ- 
 ing ten seventy-four-gun ships, and twenty-five 
 frigates. The steam arm of the service, which 
 has come into use since the war with Great Bri- 
 tain, is now rapidly increasing. The annual 
 expense of the naval service averages about 
 'seven millions, including the mail service between 
 'this country and Great Britain. 
 
 During the war of 1812, the gallant little navy 
 'of the United States won a distinction which 
 'placed our country among the chief naval powers, 
 'and demonstrated that the nautical skill of the 
 British seamen has not deteriorated by being 
 transferred to a new country. " Brother Jona- 
 
104 LIFE OF 
 
 than" has proved worthy of his parentage. We 
 have not space, nor would it be in keeping with 
 our purpose, to enter into war details, by land or 
 sea. Suffice it to say, that the captures by the 
 United States' Navy and privateers amounted, 
 during the war, to seventeen hundred and fifty, 
 leaving out of the count the vessels which were 
 re-captured. The British Navy captured of 
 American vessels, including gun-boats, sixteen 
 hundred and eighty-three. The United States 
 came out of the war with a naval reputation 
 which they have never lost. Since that date, 
 the services rendered to commerce and science j 
 by explorations and surveys, have more than 
 justified the friends of the navy in their defence 
 of its establishment and support. 
 
 We need hardly state that the bill which Mr. 
 Clay advocated was passed, and proved the com- 
 mencement of a more liberal policy toward the 
 navy than had hitherto prevailed in the party 
 with which he acted. The small appropriation 
 ($500,000 in all) which the bill provided, was 
 followed by more and larger grants. Experience j 
 has shown that the young statesman's predictions 
 relative to the imj)ortance and value of commerce 
 to the nation, were rather within than beyond 
 the truth. 
 

 HENRY CLAY. 105 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 henry's embassy — DECLARATION OF WAR. 
 
 There were some indications of an intention in 
 the Cabinet to take a step which would have 
 given Henry Clay a place among the military 
 heroes of his country. It is a historical fact that 
 the moderation, prudence, or hesitancy of Mr. 
 Madison's character, delayed positive action until 
 urged by the Congressional war-party, and of this 
 the soul was Henry Clay. Forty years have 
 produced such a change in the public sentiment 
 in relation to war and its evils, that it is hard to 
 try the friends of the war of 1812 by our present 
 standard of opinion. Yet we have seen, in a 
 ' recent case, war produced on much less pressing 
 occasion than that of 1812 — if indeed there was 
 any pressing occasion for the late war with 
 Mexico. There was everything to irritate the 
 popular mind against Great Britain ; and not the 
 least grievance was the despatching an emissary 
 
106 LIFE OF 
 
 into New England, to labor to produce disunion, 
 or neutrality. It is true that this agent does not 
 seem to have reached the ear of any responsible 
 party, or to have produced any impression ; and 
 his haunts while in Boston exhibited him as a 
 person of moral associations as low as his political 
 employment was disgraceful, xind it is true also 
 that the British Government subsequently disa- 
 vowed having given authority for his proceedings, 
 though his employment by a colonial governor 
 was certainly a fact. The truth respecting him 
 appears to be, that he was a man with a natural 
 proclivity for dirty work ; and that he suggested 
 and procured the employment, which resulted in 
 nothing but furnishing new cause of exaspera- 
 tion to the American people. He concluded by 
 selling his correspondence with the colonial 
 authorities and the British Ministry, to the 
 American Government. 
 
 This correspondence was transmitted to Con- 
 gress. There was nothing incredible in the 
 statement that Great Britain was prepared to 
 take advantage of any difficulty among the states 
 preparing for war against her, or to create, if 
 possible, a difficulty where none existed. It 
 would be a part of that diplomatic strategy which 
 
ri 
 
 HENRY CLAY. 107 
 
 nations striving to injure each other, or to defend 
 themselves, often practise. 
 
 The next prominent event in order of time, is 
 ithe second embargo, as it was termed, the first 
 [having occurred during Jefferson's administration. 
 jMr. Randolph and others strenuously opposed — 
 Mr. Clay earnestly defended it, and predicted that 
 war would take place in sixty days. In enume- 
 rating the causes of offence which Great Britain 
 had furnished, Mr. Clay referred to the mission 
 of Henry as that of "an emissary, sent to one of 
 I our principal cities to excite civil war." The 
 ! Embargo Act, prepared by the Committee on 
 , Foreign Relations before the President's Message 
 was received, and reported almost simultaneously, 
 was carried through the House, seventy to forty- 
 one, in secret session on the same day. It passed 
 the Senate on the next day, with an amendment 
 lengthening the time of the embargo from sixty 
 to ninety days, which amendment was concurred 
 in. The bill — declared emphatically by its 
 (framers to be a war measure — thus became a 
 (law. 
 
 On the 1st of June, 1812, the President trans- 
 mitted confidentially to Congress a Message, in 
 which he recapitulated the oppressive, unfriendly, 
 
108 LIFE OF 
 
 and unjust proceedings of Great Britain, and 
 presented the two nations as in a peculiar atti- 
 tude — war against the United States, so far as 
 Great Britain was concerned, and peace toward 
 Great Britain, so far as the United States was ' 
 considered ; and he submitted the choice of fur- 
 ther endurance, or of warlike resistance, to Con- 
 gress, as " a solemn question which the Constitu- 
 tion wisely confides to the legislative departpaent 
 of the government." i 
 
 The Message was referred to the Committee on 
 Foreign Relations, and in two days thereafter,. 
 John C. Calhoun, the chairman, reported a billf 
 declaring war against Great Britain. It was 
 passed, seventy-nine to forty-nine. No speeches 
 are recorded, and the only efforts made by the 
 opposition, were by ineifectual motions intended 
 to defeat or delay, which were at once voted 
 down. Though so summarily passed by the 
 House, the Senate held the bill two wrecks with 
 closed doors. On the 18th of June, it was re-' 
 turned to the House with an amendment author- 
 ising the issue of commissions to privateers. On 
 the same day, the amendment was concurred in 
 by the House, the bill was passed, and received 
 the President's approval; and on the next day 
 
HENRY CLAY. 109 
 
 was issued the President's Proclamation in pursu- 
 ince of the Act. 
 
 Thus in sixty days — with a few days' grace for 
 Senatorial delays — was Mr. Clay's prediction 
 verified, and the country was at war with Great 
 Britain. The simultaneous preparation of the 
 Embargo Act and Message of the President — 
 both done out of the House, the latter of course 
 — and the wonderful celerity with which the 
 House acted on the "War Message, argue a closer 
 connection between the Executive and his friends 
 in Congress, than more modern usage permits. 
 But the history of the times shows that several 
 members of the House, at the head of whom was 
 Henry Clay, had nearly as much voice in the 
 President's councils, as his Cabinet proper. Presi- 
 dential messages followed Congressional conclaves 
 with the Executive; and the message recom- 
 mending or suggesting war, was preceded by a 
 conference with Mr. Clay and others, the subject 
 (Of which was, at the time, no secret. There is 
 ino doubt that Mr. Clay was as active in procuring 
 war measures, as he was energetic in defending 
 them, and patriotic in his efforts to maintain the 
 cause of his country. His zealous eloquence, in 
 
 10 
 
110 LIFE OF 
 
 Kentucky, added to the zeal and fire of the citi- 
 zens of that warlike State. ' 
 
 It is related of Demosthenes, that courageous ' 
 as he was in his orations against the enemies of 
 Athens, in the field his valor failed him, and he ' 
 fled. We cannot suppose that Henry Clay would ' 
 have resembled the Athenian in this particular, 
 though no modern orator has more nearly ap-' 
 proached the father of eloquence in power of ' 
 persuasion, and command of the minds and 
 actions of others. Mr. Madison proposed, as^ 
 hinted at the commencement of this chapter, to 
 nominate Mr. Clay to the Senate a Major-General,!- 
 when making the new appointments upon the' 
 increase of the army. We can now only specu-' 
 late on the probabilities of Mr. Clay's fitness or 
 unfitness; but so far as patriotism and courage' 
 go to make up the qualifications of a military 
 ofiicer, there can be little doubt of his fitness.' 
 His laurels have, however, been won in a more 
 peaceful field ; and the services he has rendered 
 to his country are of a nature for which expe- 
 rience has proved him eminently fitted ; for his 
 best fame rests on his course since the war. 
 
 As we have already said, he was the soul of 
 the war-party, his ardent and impetuous charac- 
 
 ■ 
 
HENRY CLAY. Ill 
 
 ter communicating zeal and hope, when a more 
 cautious man would have failed. It was a fearful 
 crisis in the history of our country, when the fire 
 of youth prevailed over the caution of age, and 
 a nation lamentably deficient in means and in 
 preparation, was thrust into a contest with the 
 most powerful nation on the globe. If ever wars 
 are necessary, the strongest plea existed for this 
 war; and if any man, more than another, merits 
 the reputation of procuring its declaration, that 
 credit is due to Henry Clay. 
 
 His most effective and eloquent war-speech was 
 on the question of increasing the army, in the 
 session of 1812-13. We cannot make extracts 
 without the quotation of passages perpetuating 
 old subjects of bitterness, and reviving charges 
 against American statesmen and parties ; — 
 charges then received in the heat of party acri- 
 mony, but now forgotten. We therefore here 
 close the narrative of Mr. Clay's connection, as a 
 legislator, with the war of 1812. 
 
112 LIFE OF 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 MR. CLAY APPOINTED PEACE COMMISSIONER — RETORT 
 COURTEOUS — BRITISH DEMANDS — LONG NEGOTIATION — 
 THE TREATY — REJOICINGS AND COMPLAINTS — THE 
 LONDON TIMES — MR. CLAY'S SPEECH IN LEXINGTON — 
 ANECDOTE. 
 
 In the year 1813, the good offices of Kussia 
 were tendered as mediator between the United 
 States and Great Britain. The President ap- 
 pointed Gallatin and Bayard to act jointly with 
 J. Q. AdamSj the American Minister at St. 
 Petersburgh, in conducting this negotiation ; and 
 those gentlemen sailed for Europe in a private 
 vessel, protected by a " cartel," or letter of pro- 
 tection from the British admiral. But the 
 British Government declined the mediation of 
 Russia, and offered to treat directly with the 
 American Commissioners in London; or, if that 
 were not agreeable, in Gottenburgh. The Presi- 
 dent appointed Adams, Bayard, Henry Clay, and 
 Jonathan Russel, the Commissioners under this 
 
HENRY CLAY. 113 
 
 proposition, and afterwards added Gallatin to the 
 number, making ^ve ; and the place of meeting 
 was changed from Gottenburgh to Ghent. 
 
 Mr. Clay took leave of the House January 
 19th, 1814, resigning his seat, and receiving a 
 vote of thanks nearly unanimous ; nine only 
 voting in the negative, out of 123 votes cast. 
 Having presided in such difficult times, when 
 party feeling ran so very high, so general an ex- 
 pression of good will is a highly honorable testi- 
 mony to the impartiality of Mr. Clay. Messrs. 
 Clay and Kussel sailed in February, in the U. S. 
 ship John Adams, carrying the protection of a 
 cartel. The American Commissioners in due 
 time assembled at Ghent, but the British Com- 
 missioners did not meet them there until August. 
 The treaty was not signed until the 24th of 
 December, 1814. Much time was spent in 
 negotiation, and much firmness was necessary to 
 resist the enormous demands of the British Com- 
 missioners. Flushed with their victory over 
 Napoleon, they came into the negotiation pre- 
 pared to dictate terms, as to a conquered people. 
 
 There is an anecdote of Mr. Clay which 
 belongs in this connection, and is too good to be 
 lost. Mr. Goulburn, one of the British Commis- 
 
 10* 
 
114 LIFE OF 
 
 sioners, forwarded to Mr. Clay, at Brussels, a 
 London paper containing the official account of 
 the burning of the public buildings at Washing- 
 ton, by the British forces, Mr. Goulburn made 
 an apology for the disagreeable nature of the 
 intelligence, but presumed that Mr. Clay would 
 probably still desire to hear the latest intelligence 
 from America. It so happened that the French 
 journals were just re-publishing the account of 
 the British defeat on Lake Champlain. Mr. 
 Clay returned Mr. Goulburn's civility by enclos- 
 ing to him a French paper with that intelligence, 
 accompanied by a similar apology. 
 
 Of the spirit in which the more violent British 
 prints discussed the question of a treaty, some- 
 thing may be judged from the following para- 
 graphs : " It was strongly reported on 'Change, 
 that it is the fixed determination of our govern- 
 ment [the British] not to suffer the Americans to 
 fish upon the Banks of Newfoundland, and that 
 no American vessel will be permitted to pass the 
 Cape .of Good Hope; so that the whole of the 
 China trade will be taken from them." The 
 London Times of May 20, 1814, had the fol- 
 lowing : 
 
 ^^ Bonaparte is fallen — Madison is disgraced 
 
HENRY CLAY. 115 
 
 and discomfited, and Great Britain has the means 
 of inflicting ample and deserved vengeance. Lo ! 
 the pupils of liberality, the philanthropists, the 
 sworn advocates of foreign perfidy and treachery, 
 step forth and deprecate the very idea of justice, 
 or of prudent precaution against future insult. 
 But they will no more be listened to now, than 
 when they so urgently pleaded the cause of the 
 monster, Bonaparte. It is true that negotiators 
 of great respectability have been appointed on 
 the part of Great Britain, to meet the Genevese 
 democrat Gallatin, the furious orator Clay, the 
 surly Bayard, and Mr. Russel, the worthy 
 defender of the forged revocation of the Berlin 
 and Milan decree. 
 
 "We have, however, good reason to believe 
 that the British diplomatists will not condescend 
 to discuss the impudent nonsense called the 
 American doctrine, about impressment and native 
 allegiance, which was in truth a mere pretext for 
 war on the part of Mr. Madison ; but they will 
 enter into the true merits of the question — the 
 unprovoked and unprincipled attack on Canada ; 
 they will demand full security against a renewal 
 of this atrocious outrage ; they will insist on the 
 safe and undivided possession of the lakes ; the 
 
116 LIFE OF 
 
 abandonment of the Newfoundland fishery ; and 
 the restitution of Louisiana and the usurped 
 territory in Florida." 
 
 Such were the newspaper notions of what the 
 British Commissioners should demand; and the 
 claims with which those gentlemen entered upon 
 the negotiation, were little short of what the 
 Times demanded. The Commissioners claimed 
 that the United States should set off a permanent 
 Indian territory for the British Indian allies, 
 between the United States and Canada ; that we 
 should dismantle our forts, and withdraw our 
 vessels on the great lakes; and that Great Britain 
 should keep possession of a portion of Maine 
 which she had seized, east of the river Penobscot. 
 
 The treaty, as signed, contained no concessions 
 to Great Britain; and, as in all treaties where 
 nations are desirous of peace, no grants were 
 finally insisted on by either side. If Great 
 Britain did not, in terms, relinquish her political 
 claim, " once a subject always a subject," neither 
 did the United States admit it ; and the effect of 
 the war has practically been to abolish impress- 
 ment of men on board of American vessels. The 
 British lost the right of navigating the Missis- 
 sippi. The Americans lost that of curing fish on 
 

 HENRY'CLAY. 117 
 
 the shores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The 
 fisheries have since been arranged by a separate 
 treaty, under which United States vessels may 
 catch fish, except within three miles (a cannon- 
 shot) of the shore ; but they cannot land them, 
 as formerly, for the purpose of dressing and 
 curing. It was proposed, in the discussion, to 
 place these privileges as they were before the 
 war; but Mr. Clay refused his assent, and the 
 result proves his sagacity. The boundaries 
 between the two powers, on this continent, have 
 since been determined both in Maine, and west 
 of the great lakes. 
 
 The jpeojole of both countries were delighted at 
 the proclamation of peace. Great rejoicings took 
 place in this country, and in the other. A sketch 
 of the terms on which the treaty had been con- 
 cluded, was read to the audiences in the London 
 theatres. In the provincial towns, there were 
 great rejoicings ; particularly in those which had 
 most intercourse with the United States. In our 
 own country, the opponents of the war insisted 
 that nothing had been gained, though the wiser 
 were satisfied with any peace rather than war. 
 But if there were those who insisted that the 
 Americans had gained nothing, there were others 
 
118 LIF*E OF 
 
 in Great Britain who claimed no honor to British 
 arms or negotiation. The London Times of the 
 30th December, 1815, not having yet heard of 
 the Battle of New Orleans, said : 
 
 " We have attempted to force our principles on 
 America, and have failed. We have retired from 
 the combat with the stripes yet bleeding on our 
 backs — -with the various recent defeats at Platts- 
 burgh, and on Lake Cham plain, unavenged. To 
 make peace at such a moment, it will be said, 
 betrays a deadness to the feelings of honor, and 
 shows a timidity of disposition inviting further 
 insult. If we could have pointed to America 
 overthrown, we should surely have stood on much 
 higher ground at Vienna, and everywhere else, 
 than we possibly can do now. Even yet, how- 
 ever, if we could but close the war with some 
 great naval triumph, the reputation of our mari- 
 time greatness might be partially restored; but to 
 say that it has not hitherto suffered in the esti- 
 mation of all Europe, and what is worse, of 
 America herself, is to belie common sense and 
 universal experience. ^ Two or three of our ships 
 have struck to a force vastly superior.' No, not 
 two or three, but many on the ocean, and whole 
 squadrons on the lakes ; and the numbers are to 
 
HENRY CLAY. 119 
 
 be viewed with relation to the comparative mag- 
 nitude of the two navies. Scarcely is there an 
 American ship of war which has not to boast a 
 victory over the British flag ; scarcely a British 
 ship in thirty or forty that has beaten an Ame- 
 rican." 
 
 The mortified editor of the Times had still to 
 hear of the Battle of New Orleans, after the 
 above was penned. The naval engagements 
 which took place after the signing of the treaty, 
 added to the list of American successes. The 
 treaty took effect on land as soon as ratified ; and 
 on the ocean at certain specified times, to allow 
 opportunity to hear of the proclamation of peace. 
 There were three United States vessels at sea 
 when peace was proclaimed — the Constitution, 
 the Hornet, and the Peacock. The Constitution 
 captured the Cyane and Levant, engaging both at 
 once; but afterward lost the Levant in a squadron 
 of British vessels. The Hornet captured the 
 Penguin, but it became necessary to destroy her 
 prize; and the Peacock captured the Nautilus, 
 but restored her on the day following. 
 
 Mr. Clay returned to the United States almost 
 with the honors of a conqueror. At no time was 
 he more highly popular than at the close of the 
 
120 LIFE OF 
 
 war; for up to this date, the acts of his life 
 which partisan opposition has effectively opposed 
 to him, had not occurred. As we have presented 
 him to our readers as the most active supporter 
 of the war of 1812, we give, in justice to him,i 
 his views of its consequences. At a dinner in 
 Lexington, Mr. Clay replied to a complimentary 
 sentiment in a speech, from which the following 
 is an extract : — 
 
 "I feel myself called upon, by the sentiment 
 just expressed, to return my thanks in behalf of i 
 my colleagues and myself I do not, and I am 
 quite sure they do not feel, that in the service 
 alluded to they are at all entitled to the compli-i 
 ment which has been paid to them. We could 
 not do otherv/ise than reject the demand made by 
 the other party; and if our labors finally termi-l 
 nated in an honorable peace, it was owing toi 
 causes on this side of the Atlantic, and not toj 
 any exertion of ours. Whatever diversity of 
 opinion may have existed as to the declaration of 
 the war, there are some points on which ,all may 
 look back with proud satisfaction. The first 
 relates to the time of the conclusion of the peace. 
 Had it been made immediately after the treaty 
 of Paris, we should have retired humiliated from 
 
HENRY CLAY. 121 
 
 the contest, believing that we had escaped from 
 the severe chastisement with which we were 
 threatened, and that we owed to the generosity 
 and magnanimity of the enemy, what we were 
 incapable of commanding by our arms. That 
 magnanimity would have been the theme of every 
 tongue, and of every press, abroad and at home. 
 
 ! We should have retired, unconscious of our own 
 strength, and unconscious of 'the utter inability 
 of the enemy, with his whole undivided force, to 
 
 : make any serious impression upon us. Our 
 military character, then in the lowest state of 
 degradation, would have been unretrieved. For- 
 tunately for us. Great Britain chose to try the 
 issue of the last campaign. And that has 
 demonstrated, in the repulse before Baltimore; 
 the retreat from Plattsburgh; the hard-fought 
 action on the Niagara frontier ; and in that most 
 glorious day, the eighth of January, that we have 
 always possessed the finest elements of military 
 composition ; and that a proper use of them 
 only, was necessary to insure for the army and 
 militia a fame as imperishable as that which the 
 navy had previously acquired. 
 
 " Another point, which appears to me to afford 
 the highest consolation, is that we fought the 
 
 11 
 
122 LIFE OF 
 
 most powerful nation, perhaps, in existence, 
 single-handed and alone, without any sort of ' 
 alliance. More than thirty years had Great | 
 Britain been maturing her physical means, which 
 she had rendered as efficacious as possible, by 
 skill, by discipline, and by actual service. Proudly 
 boasting of the conquest of Europe, she vainly 
 flattered herself ^yiih the easy conquest of Ame- 
 rica also. Her veterans were put to flight or 
 defeated, while all Europe — I mean the govern- 
 ments of Europe — was gazing with cold indifier- 
 ence, or sentiments of positive hatred of us, 
 upon the arduous contest. Hereafter no monarch 
 can assert claims of gratitude upon us, for assist- 
 ance rendered in the hour of danger. 
 
 " There is another view of which the subject 
 of the war is fairly susceptible. From the 
 moment that Great Britain came forward at 
 Ghent with her extravagant demands, the war 
 totally changed in character. It became, as it 
 were, a new war. It was no longer an American 
 war, prosecuted for redress of British aggressions 
 upon American rights, but became a British war, 
 prosecuted for objects of British ambition, to be 
 accompanied by American sacrifices. And what 
 were those demands? They consisted of the 
 
HENRY CL 4.r. 12 
 
 o 
 
 erection of a barrier between Canada and the 
 United States, to be formed by cutting off from 
 Ohio, and some of the Territories, a country more 
 extensive than Great Britain ; containing thou- 
 sands of freemen, who were to be abandoned to 
 their fate, and creating a new power totally un- 
 known upon the continent of America; of the 
 disarming of our fortresses and naval power on 
 the lakes, with the surrender of the military 
 occupation of those waters to the enemy; and of 
 an arrondissement for two British provinces. 
 These demands, boldly asserted, and one of them 
 declared to be a sine qua non, were finally relin- 
 quished. Taking this view of the subject, if 
 there be loss of reputation by either party in the 
 terms of peace, who has sustained it ? 
 
 " The effects of the war are highly satisfactory. 
 Abroad, our character, which at the time of its 
 declaration was in the lowest state of degradation, 
 is raised to the highest point of elevation. It is 
 impossible for any American to visit Europe 
 without being sensible of this agreeable change, 
 in the personal attentions which he receives, in 
 the praises which are bestowed upon our past 
 exertions, and the predictions which are made as 
 to our future prospects. At home, a government 
 
124 LIFE OF 
 
 which, at its formation, was apprehended by its 
 best friends, and predicted by its enemies, to be 
 incapable of standing the shock, is found to an- 
 swer all the purposes of its institution. In spite 
 of the errors which have been committed, (and 
 errors undoubtedly have been committed,) aided 
 by the spirit and patriotism of the people, it is 
 demonstrated to be as competent to the objects 
 of effective war, as it has been before proved to 
 be to the concerns of a season of peace. Govern- 
 ment has thus acquired strength and confidence. 
 Our prospects for the future are of the brightest 
 kind. With every reason to count on the perma- 
 nence of peace, it remains only for the govern- 
 ment to determine upon military and naval 
 estabhshments adapted to the growth and exten- 
 sion of our country, and its rising importance, 
 keeping in view a gradual, but not burdensome, 
 increase of the navy ; to provide for the payment 
 of the interest, and the redemption of the public 
 debt, and for the current expenses of the govern- 
 ment. For all these objects, the existing sources 
 of the revenue promise not only to be abundantly 
 sufficient, but will probably leave ample scope to 
 the exercise of the judgment of Congress, in 
 selecting for repeal, modification, or abolition, 
 
HENRY CLAY. 125 
 
 those which may be found most oppressive, 
 inconvenient, or unproductive." 
 
 Kespecting the phrase sine qua non, an amusing 
 anecdote was related by Mr. Clay; for he had a 
 pleasant custom of enlivening a dry subject by an 
 amusing story. " While the Commissioners were 
 still abroad," said Mr. Clay, ^' there appeared a 
 report of the negotiations, or letters relative 
 thereto. Several quotations from my remarks, or 
 letters touching certain stipulations in the treaty, 
 reached Kentucky, and were read by my consti- 
 tuents. Among them was an eccentric fellow 
 who went by the nickname of ^Old Sandusky,' 
 and he was reading one of these letters, one 
 evening, to a small collection of his neighbors. 
 As he read on, he came to the sentence, ^This 
 must be deemed a sine qua non! 
 
 " ^What's a sine qua non V asked half a dozen 
 voices. 
 
 " Old Sandusky was a little perplexed, but his 
 native shrewdness was as good as Latin. 'Sine 
 qua nonV said the old fellow, slowly repeating 
 the question ; ' why sine qua non is three islands 
 in Passamaquoddy Bay, and Harry Clay is the 
 last man to give them up ! No sine qua non^ he 
 says, no treaty, and he '11 stick to it ! ' " 
 
 11* 
 
LIFE OF 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 MR. clay's eloquence — FRANKFORT AND THE HAT — 
 MADAME DE STAEL AND WELLINGTON — BONAPARTE — 
 MR. clay's advice TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 Mr. Clay was now (1815) in the zenith of his 
 popularity, and the pride of his manhood. The 
 epithet " furious orator," which the British press 
 applied to him, referred only to his energetic and 
 zealous efforts against what he deemed abuses, 
 or in denunciation of what he considered unpa- 
 triotic or dangerous measures — declamations I 
 against foes abroad, or errors at home. He could 
 be pathetic, or he could be playful. The follow- i 
 ing description of his manner, gesture, and ap- 
 pearance, is from an anonymous writer, but 
 strikes us forcibly with its graphic distinctness. 
 " Every muscle of the orator's face was at work. 
 His whole body seemed agitated, as if each part 
 was instinct with a separate life ; and his small 
 white hand, with its blue veins apparently dis- 
 
HENRY CLAY. 127 
 
 tended almost to bursting, moved gracefully, but 
 with all the energy of rapid and vehement ges- 
 ture. The appearance of the speaker seemed 
 that of a pure intellect, wrought to its mightiest 
 energies, and brightly shining through the thin 
 and transparent veil of flesh that invested it." 
 
 The possession of a talent for repartee and 
 sarcasm, and the ability to say amusing things at 
 the expense of others, however effective in carry- 
 ing a point, are not always safe for the speaker. 
 During the rejoicings which followed the procla- 
 mation of peace, Mr. Clay had an opportunity to 
 recall a humorous affront which he had once 
 given to the lieges of Frankfort. At a public 
 dinner, he paid the capital some very handsome 
 compliments, alluding to a diverting passage in 
 his legislative experience many years before. 
 The project of removing the seat of government 
 was before the House ; Mr. Clay argued in favor 
 
 • of the removal. Frankfort is walled in on all 
 sides by precipitous hills — romantic and pictu- 
 resque — with the beautiful Kentucky Eiver 
 cutting its way through these natural barriers. 
 
 j Nevertheless, Frankfort does seem, if we choose 
 to employ a grotesque comparison, like a great 
 pit. 
 
128 ' LIFE OF 
 
 ^The place presents," said Mr. 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's great peniten- 
 tiary. Who that gets in, can get out ? And if 
 you would know the bodily condition of the 
 prisoners, look at those persons in the gallery ! " 
 As Mr. Clay said this, he gave a sweep with his 
 hand, which directed the attention of the legisla- 
 ture to some half dozen persons who happened to 
 be lounging there, and who, finding the attention 
 of the House was directed to them, disappeared 
 with the utmost precipitation behind post, pillar, 
 railing, or whatever could offer a friendly covert. 
 The House burst into a laugh at the ludicrousness 
 of the incident, and voted to abdicate the peni- 
 tentiary. But the measure did not finally pass, 
 for Frankfort is still the capital of Kentucky. 
 
 Since we are repeating anecdotes, we may 
 relate one or two more which are connected with 
 Mr. Clay's mission to Europe. While in Paris, 
 after the signing of the treaty of Ghent, Madame 
 de Stael pleasantly told him that the Americans 
 were her debtors, inasmuch as she had been 
 doing battle for them in London, during the war. 
 This was magnanimous in the lady; for she thus 
 
HENRY CLAY. 129 
 
 furnished one example, at least, of a defender or 
 Eipologist of the war, with no Bonapartean preju- 
 dices ; for Madame de Stael, until the downfall 
 of Napoleon, was an exile from France. Napo- 
 leon exceedingly disliked her. Mr. Clay replied, 
 that "the Americans had heard of her good 
 offices, and were not ungrateful for them." This 
 was not necessarily a mere compliment; for no 
 woman in modern times has possessed more in- 
 fluence, by her pen and her conversation, than 
 Madame de Stael. 
 
 During the same conversation, Madame de 
 Stael remarked to Mr. Clay, that the British 
 Government had proposed, during the war, to 
 send out the Duke of Wellington to command 
 the British forces in America. "I am very 
 sorry," replied Mr. Clay, "that they did not send 
 his Grace." 
 
 " And why, sir ? " inquired the lady. 
 : "Because, madam, if he had beaten us, we 
 should only have been in the condition of all 
 Europe, without disgrace ; but if we had been so 
 fortunate as to beat the Duke, it would have 
 added greatly to the renown of our arms." 
 
 A few days afterward, when the Duke and Mr. 
 Clay met at her house, Madame de Stael, with 
 9 
 
130 LIFE OF 
 
 playful malice, repeated the conversation. The 
 Duke answered, "Had I been sent on such an 
 errand, and been so successful as to conquer the 
 Americans, it would have been regarded as one 
 of my proudest triumphs." It is one of the 
 absurdities of war that men can thus make 
 badinage of it — that, enemies to-day, to-morrow 
 they can be on terms of complimentary inter- 
 course ; or, in other words, that those who have 
 really no feeling but complaisance and courtesy, 
 can be placed, by a proclamation, in a position to 
 aim at each other's destruction ! 
 
 So wonderful, too, are the reverses of war ! In 
 a preceding chapter, we have speculated on the 
 chance which once existed, that Napoleon might 
 be the founder of a military colony in North 
 America — perhaps a military despot on this 
 continent. This was averted by the demonstra- 
 tions of Great Britain against him, and the sale 
 of Louisiana to the United States. It was 
 thought that the mighty conqueror, shorn of his 
 power at Waterloo, might come to this country 
 as a fugitive. It was suggested at the table of 
 Lord Liverpool, in London, where Mr. Clay was 
 one day a guest, that he might perhaps jflee to 
 the New World as an asylum. 
 
HENRY CLAY. 131 
 
 " Will he not give you some trouble; if he goes 
 there?" asked Lord Liverpool. 
 
 "Not the least, my lord," replied Mr. Clay; 
 " we shall be very glad to see him, will entertain 
 him with all due rites of hospitality, and soon 
 make him a good democrat." But Mr. Clay 
 lived to see that foreign discomfited captains 
 make very poor democrats. They are more apt 
 to continue adventurers, and cannot settle down 
 into the dull quiet of freedom without war. 
 
 Mr. Clay, on his return to America, found 
 himself already re-elected to the House of Repre- 
 sentatives. But as there were some doubts of 
 the legality of an election while he was absent, a 
 new canvass was ordered; and thus, twice elected, 
 he was ready to resume his place. As before, he 
 was chosen Speaker by a large vote; for it seemed 
 that none but he could answer the exigencies of 
 the post, in the minds of his contemporaries. 
 The secret of influence so paramount over the 
 minds of others, we may gather from his own 
 declaration. No doubt natural fitness is all 
 ' essential; but not even Henry Clay could become 
 an apt debater without industry. In an address 
 delivered by Mr. Clay to the students of a law 
 
132 LIFE OF 
 
 school at Ballston, New York, a few years since; 
 he said : 
 
 " I owe my success in life to one single fact, 
 viz. : that at the age of twenty-seven I com- 
 menced, and continued for years, the process of 
 daily reading and speaking upon the contents of 
 some historical or scientific book. These off-hand 
 efforts were made sometimes in a corn-field, at 
 others in the forest, and not unfrequently in some 
 distant barn, with the horse and the ox for my 
 auditors. It is to this early practice of the great ij 
 art of all arts, that I am indebted for the primary j 
 and leading impulses that stimulated me forward, 
 and have shaped and moulded my entire subse- 
 quent destiny. Improve then, young gentlemen, i 
 the superior advantages you here enjoy. Let not 
 a day pass without exercising your powers of 
 speech. There is no power like that of oratory. 
 Caesar controlled men by exciting their fears; 
 Cicero by captivating their ajQfections and swaying 
 their passions. The influence of the one perished 
 with its author; that of the other continues to 
 this day." 
 
HENRY CLAY. 133 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 DEBTS AT THE CLOSE OF THE WAR OF 1812 — THE TARIFF 
 OF 1816 — MR. CLAY ON THE SPANISH REPUBLICS. 
 
 One of the most reprehensible acts committed 
 during the war of 1812, was the destruction of 
 the public buildings and several private resi- 
 dences, in AVashington, by a British force under 
 General Ross. We have not space to go into 
 particulars, and need only say that the defence 
 of the capital — or rather neglect of defence — was 
 as little creditable to American arms on the one 
 side, as the destruction of the public buildings 
 was to British magnanimity on the other. 
 
 The only public building spared was that which 
 was used for the Patent Office and Post Office, 
 which were under the same roof. A portion of 
 this building was fitted up for the purposes of 
 Congress, and during the one session that the 
 national legislature met there, the project of 
 changing the seat of government was introduced, 
 but not carried. In the following year, 1815, 
 
 12 
 
134 LIFE OF 
 
 some of the citizens of "Washington, moved, per- « 
 haps, by apprehension lest the question of change 
 should again be called up, erected a temporary 
 building, of which the government took a lease. 
 It is mentioned in contemporary prints, that the 
 lot on which this temporary capitol stood was, on 
 the fourth of July previous to the meeting of 
 Congress, a garden. The bricks of which it was 
 built were in the clay, and the timber still stand- 
 ing in the forests at that date. 
 
 One of the leading measures of this session 
 was the charter of a new United States Bank. 
 This subject we have anticipated in a previous 
 chapter. The first thought of the national coun- 
 cils was to provide for the public debt, now 
 amounting to over a hundred millions in stocks, 
 beside some twenty more of treasury notes, and 
 a great amount of unadjusted claims. The sub- 
 ject of taxation of course was a prominent one, 
 and engaged much attention. The President, in 
 his Message, had recommended discriminating 
 duties in favor of American industry. "In 
 adjusting the duties on imports to the objects of 
 revenue, the influence of the tariff on manufac- 
 tures will necessarily present itself for considera- 
 tion. * '^ * In selecting the branches more 
 
HENRY CLAY. 135 
 
 especially entitled to the public patronage, a 
 preference is obviously claimed by such as will 
 relieve the United States from dependence on 
 foreign supplies — ever subject to casual failures 
 — for articles necessary for the public defence, or 
 connected with the primary wants of individuals. 
 It will be an additional recommendation of par- 
 ticular manufactures, when the materials for 
 them are extensively drawn from our agriculture, 
 and consequently impart and insure to that great 
 fund of national prosperity and independence, 
 an encouragement which cannot fail to be re- 
 warded." 
 
 As an illustration of party changes, we may 
 remark that the Federalists, as a party, now 
 opposed the protective system, while the great 
 body of the Democrats defended it; John Kan- 
 dolph, and a few of his friends, being the excep- 
 tions. Calhoun and Clay labored side by side for 
 the tariff — Calhoun, who, in his later life, opposed 
 nullification to protection. But the Federalists 
 were chiefly representatives of commercial inte- 
 rests, and the Southern men represented cotton- 
 growing states. American cotton, at that time, 
 was repulsed in England by a duty; and the 
 imported cotton goods which then came to Ame- 
 
136 LIFE OF 
 
 rica were chiefly of India cotton. American 
 manufactures received an impetus during the 
 war, which, taken in connection with the British 
 duty discriminating in favor of India cotton, led 
 the Southern men to suppose that their future 
 market must be in America. 
 
 A tariiF was enacted, but Mr. Clay was in 
 favor of a much higher rate of duty than it im- 
 posed ; arguing that, " the period of the termina- 
 tion of the war, during which the manufacturing 
 industry of the country had received a powerful 
 spring, was precisely that period when govern- 
 ment was alike impelled, by duty and interest, to 
 protect it against the admission of foreign fabrics, 
 consequent upon a state of peace." Mr. Clay 
 also argued the importance of preparation in 
 peace for war ; and laid down the principle that 
 in time of peace we should look to foreign impor- 
 tations as the chief source of revenue, and in 
 time of war to internal taxes. He referred to 
 the still unsettled state of our relations with 
 Spain, growing out of the Florida difficulty, 
 which remained unadjusted, though the land in 
 dispute was in part incorporated with Louisiana. 
 He alluded to the congress of potentates then in 
 session in Vienna. Their ideas of ^legitimate 
 
HENRY CLAY. 137 
 
 government' were carried to an extent destructive 
 of every principle of liberty. We have seen these 
 doctrines applied to create and overthrow dynas- 
 ties at will. Do we know, he asked, whether we 
 shall escape their influence ? 
 
 The subject of the recognition of the Spanish- 
 American republics was agitated in various forms, 
 in Congress, from the period of which we write 
 (1816) to the year 1822; when, upon the special 
 recommendation of President Monroe, their inde- 
 pendence was formally recognized by Congress. 
 The matter had been embarrassed by the boun- 
 dary dispute with Spain, as detailed in Chapter 
 yi. of this volume; and the difference was not 
 closed until, in 1821, the treaty with Spain in 
 reference to Florida was ratified. By this treaty, 
 all the Spanish claims east of the Mississippi 
 were annulled, in consideration of the release of 
 American claims against Spain. The boundary 
 west of the Mississippi gave Texa's, which had 
 also been in dispute, to Spain. 
 
 The Tariff Bill, which passed at this session 
 after a necessarily long debate, was based upon, 
 the principles propounded by the President. It 
 classified the articles of import under three heads : 
 Those of which a full domestic supply could be 
 
 12* 
 
138 LIFE OF 
 
 produced ; those of which a partial supply can be 
 manufactured ; and those not produced at home 
 at all, or in insufficient quantities. The last class 
 of goods was taxed with a view to revenue solely. 
 On the others, the rates were from twenty to 
 twenty-five per cent, generally; but some specific 
 duties were much higher. We shall have occa- 
 sion, in a future chapter, to refer to the Tariff 
 and the American system again; and for the 
 present will confine ourselves to Mr. Clay's efforts 
 in behalf of the sister republics on this continent. 
 For to put the nation in an attitude to defend its 
 position in regard to the American republics was, 
 as we have already observed, one great reason 
 with Mr. Clay for desiring a sufficient revenue. 
 
 Mr. Randolph was exceedingly severe upon the 
 republics then struggling into existence, and as 
 his remarks were made in a style characteristic 
 of the man, we make a brief extract. There is 
 a mixture of sound discernment and of extrava- 
 gance in what he said — a strain of what would 
 have been prophecy, if uttered in language a 
 little less exaggerated. Our South American 
 neighbors have not done so much credit to the 
 name of republicans as we could have wished; 
 and indeed, at this distance of time — nearly forty 
 

 HENRY CLAY. " 139 
 
 years — have hardly settled under their new insti- 
 tutions. Still, that they will become republics 
 indeed, there remains now no room to doubt; and 
 Mr. Clay's hopes for them will be reahsed. 
 
 " This struggle for liberty," Mr. Kandolph said, 
 "would turn out in the end something like the 
 French liberty — a detestable despotism. You 
 cannot make liberty out of Spanish matter — ^you 
 might as well try to build a seventy-four out of 
 pine saplings ! What ideas had the Spaniards of 
 rational liberty — of the trial by jury — of the 
 right of habeas corpus — of the slow process by 
 which this House moves and acts? None, sir, 
 none ! Expediency, necessity, the previous ques- 
 tion, the inquisition — these were among the 
 engines belonging to their ideas of government. 
 The honorable Speaker [Mr. Clay] had told the 
 House, on a recent occasion, that he saw instances 
 of this or that in the British House of Commons; 
 the honorable gentleman had been sent on a 
 recent occasion to Europe — he had been near the 
 field of Waterloo. He was afraid the honorable 
 gentleman had caught the infection — that he had 
 ! snuffed the carnage — and when a man once 
 catches that infection, like that of ambition or 
 avarice — whether taken by inoculation or in the 
 
 H 
 
140 ' LIFE OF 
 
 natural way, the consequences are permanent.! 
 What, increase our standing army in a time of 
 peace, on the suggestion that we are to go on a 
 crusade in South America ! Do I not understand 
 the gentleman? [Mr. Clay here intimated a 
 negative to this question.] I am sorry I did not," 
 continued Mr. Randolph ; '^ I labor under two 
 great misfortunes : one is, that I can never 
 understand the honorable Speaker; the other, 
 that he can never understand me 1 " 
 
 In answer to charges like the foregoing against 
 the Spanish patriots. Clay said : " It had been 
 charged that the people of South America were 
 incapable, from the ignorance and superstition 
 which prevail among them, of achieving inde- 
 pendence, or enjoying liberty. And to what 
 cause was that ignorance and superstition owing? 
 Was it not to the vices of their government ? to 
 the tyranny and oppression, hierarchal and poli- 
 tical, under which they groaned? If Spain 
 succeeded in riveting their chains upon them, 
 would not that ignorance and superstition be 
 perpetuated ? For my part," said Mr. Clay, '^ I 
 wish them independence. It is the first step 
 toward improving their condition. Let them 
 have free government if they are capable of 
 
I 
 
 HENRY CLAY. 141 
 
 i 
 
 enjoying it; but let them, at all events, have 
 independence. I may be accused of an imprudent 
 utterance of my feelings. I care not ; for when 
 the independence, the happiness, the liberty of a 
 whole people is at stake, and that people our 
 neighbors, our brethren, occupying a portion of 
 the same continent, imitating our example, and 
 participating in the same sympathies as ourselves, 
 I will boldly avow my feelings and my wishes in 
 their behalf, even at the risk of such an imputa- 
 tion." 
 
 Mr. Clay's speeches upon this subject are many 
 in number, and we extract from them without 
 regard to the order of time, such passages as did 
 not depend for their interest upon contemporary 
 circumstances, but are everywhere interesting, 
 and at all times. The parallel in the following 
 between the circumstances of the South Ameri- 
 can republics, and our own in its infancy, is well 
 drawn : — 
 
 " Let us recollect the condition of the patriots : 
 no minister here to spur on our government ; no 
 minister here to be rewarded by noble honors in 
 consequence of the influence he is supposed to 
 possess in our republic. No: their unfortunate 
 case was what ours had been in 1778 and 1779 ; 
 
142 - LIFE OF 
 
 their ministersj like our Franklins and Jays at 
 that day, were skulking about Europe, imploring 
 inexorable legitimacy for one kind look — some 
 aid to terminate a war afflicting to humanity. 
 Nay, their situation was worse than ours, for we 
 had one great and magnanimous ally to recognise 
 us; but no nation had stepped forward to 
 acknowledge any of these provinces. Such dis- 
 parity between the parties demanded a just 
 attention to the interests of the party which was 
 unrepresented. ^ ^ "^ "VVe must pass con- 
 demnation upon the founders of our own liberty, 
 and say that they were rebels, traitors, and that 
 we are at this moment legislating without compe- 
 tent powers, before we can condemn South Ame- 
 rica. Our revolution was mainly directed against 
 the mere theory of tyranny. We had suffered 
 comparatively but little — we had in some respects 
 been kindly treated; but our intrepid and intelli- 
 gent fathers saw, in the usurpation of a power to 
 levy an inconsiderable tax, the long train of 
 oppressive acts which were to follow. They rose 
 — they breasted the storm ; they achieved our 
 freedom. Spanish America for centuries has 
 been doomed to the practical effects of an odious 
 
HENRY CLAY. 143 
 
 tja'anny. If we were justified, she is more than 
 justified. 
 
 " I am no propagandist. I would not seek to 
 force upon other nations our principles and our 
 liberty, if they do not want them. I would not 
 disturb the repose even of a detestable despotism. 
 But if an abused and oppressed people will their 
 freedom ; if they seek to establish it ; if in truth 
 they have established it ; we have a right, as a 
 sovereign power, to notice the fact, and to act as 
 circumstances and our interest require. I will 
 say, in the language of the venerated Father of 
 iny country, 'born in a land of liberty, my 
 anxious recollections, my sympathetic feelings, 
 and my best wishes are irresistibly excited, when- 
 soever, in any country, I see an oppressed nation 
 unfurl the banners of freedom.' Whenever I 
 think of Spanish America, the image irresistibly 
 forces itself upon my mind, of an elder brother 
 whose education has been neglected, whose person 
 has been abused and maltreated, and who has 
 been disinherited by the unkindness of an unna- 
 tural parent. And when I conteniplate the glori- 
 ous struggle which that nation is now making, I 
 think I behold that brother rising, by the power 
 and energy of his fine native genius, to the manly 
 
144 LIFE OF 
 
 rank which nature, and nature's God, intended 
 for him. 
 
 " It is the doctrine of thrones that man is too 
 ignorant to govern himself. Their partisans 
 assert his incapacity in reference to ail nations; 
 if they cannot demand universal assent to the 
 proposition, it is then demanded as to particular 
 nations ; and our pride and our presumption too 
 often make converts of us. I contend that it is 
 to arraign the dispositions of Providence himself, 
 to suppose that he has created beings incapable 
 of governing themselves, and to be trampled on 
 by kings ! 
 
 ^^But the House has been asked, and asked 
 with a triumph worthy of a better cause, why 
 recognise this republic? Where is the use of it? 
 And is it possible that gentlemen can see no use 
 in recognising this republic ? For what did this 
 republic [La Plata] fight ? To be admitted into 
 the family of nations. ' Tell the nations of the 
 world,' says one of her statesmen, in his speech, 
 ' that we already belong to their illustrious rank.' 
 What would be the powerful consequences of a 
 recognition of their claim ? I ask my honorable 
 friend before me [General Bloomfield] the highest 
 sanction of whose judgment in favor of my pro- 
 
BOLIVAR READING CLAY S LETTER TO THE ARMY. 
 
HENRY CLAY. 145 
 
 position I fondly anticipate, with what anxious 
 solicitude^ during our revolution, he and his glo- 
 
 ^ rious compatriots turned their eyes to Europe, 
 and asked to be recognised? I ask him, the 
 patriot of '76, how the heart rebounded with joy, 
 
 - on the information that France had recognised 
 us ? The moral influence of such a recognition 
 on the patriot of South America, will be irresisti- 
 ble. He will derive assurance from it, of his not 
 having fought in vain. In the constitution of our 
 
 5 inatures there is a point to which adversity may 
 I pursue us, without, perhaps, any worse effect 
 
 i ithan that of exciting new energy to meet it. 
 Having reached that point, if no gleam of comfort 
 
 ^[breaks through the gloom, we sink beneath the 
 
 si pressure, yielding reluctantly to our fate, and in 
 hopeless despair lose all stimulus to exertion. 
 And is there not reason to fear such a fate for the 
 patriots of La Plata?" 
 
 Such are a few specimens of the earnestness 
 with which, year after year, Mr. Clay pleaded for 
 the South American republics. His speeches 
 were well known among those in whose cause 
 they were uttered. The Spanish are an enthusi- 
 astic people, and admire chivalric and noble 
 bearing ; and the efforts of Henry Clay in their 
 
 13 
 
146 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 behalf were translated, and read at the head oi 
 the armies who were fighting the battles of free 
 dom. The writer of this book had the pleasui 
 to receive in South America, while the indepen( 
 ence of the new republics was as yet hardli 
 established, the warmest evidences of the frienc 
 ship of these new republicans for their NortI 
 American brethren. This feeling of gratitude 
 was mainly owing to the speeches of Henry Claj 
 which were accepted among the people as ihl 
 sentiments of his countrymen. So far can on] 
 voice reach, when it is raised in defence of th^ 
 right ! 
 
 In 1827, General Bolivar sent a letter to Henri 
 Clay, expressing in behalf of the South America! 
 people, whom he represented, the strongest feel 
 ings of gratitude. Mr. Clay, in answer, expressed 
 his gratification that the course pursued by tl 
 government of the United States, had called forti 
 such grateful sentiments. He added, moreovei 
 with becoming frankness, a hope that certaii 
 imputations of ambitious designs to Generaj 
 Bolivar, would prove unfounded. Events aftei 
 ward exonerated the South American Patriot. 
 
f! 
 
 HENRY CLAY. 147 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 ;L0SE of the fourteenth congress — ITS LEADING 
 MEASURES — THE COMPENSATION ACT — PUBLIC DISSA- 
 TISFACTION — OPENING OF THE FIFTEENTH CONGRESS — 
 
 I INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 
 
 At the close of the second session of the four- 
 teenth Congress, Mr. Clay was complimented 
 ,vith an unanimous vote of thanks, "for the 
 ibility and impartiality with which he had pre- 
 sided over its deliberations, and the correctness 
 ,vith which he had performed the arduous duties 
 )f the chair." Such a resolution as this is a 
 natter of course under ordinary circumstances; 
 out the heartiness with which it was bestowed on 
 :his occasion, gave it more than a mere compli- 
 nentary character. The nature of the measures 
 kvhich the House had been called upon to discuss, 
 idded to the difficulties of the Speaker's position. 
 En making his acknowledgments, Mr. Clay re- 
 
 Qiarked that there were in legislation three periods 
 
148 . LIFE OF 
 
 of extraordinary difficulty, and requiring grea 
 fortitude. The first was that which immediatel}! 
 precedes a war, and in which preparation is madd 
 for that event; the second, that which accomi 
 panics, and the third, that which follows, wari 
 During the two first, however, there were ani 
 mating circumstances, always existing, whicl 
 invigorated the legislative function. During the 
 last, the stimulus is gone ; and being succeedec 
 by relaxation, the legislator needs more fortitude' 
 He has to survey the whole fabric of the State 
 to accommodate it to the new circumstances if 
 which it is placed; to provide a revenue fo. 
 redeeming the debt of the war ; to retrench, am* 
 by the reduction of establishments, to dismiss 
 from the service of the country many who hav( 
 nobly contributed to sustain its glory. In th(' 
 latter of the three periods, Mr. Clay remarked 
 the members of the House whose term was just 
 closing had been placed, and he reciprocated the 
 compliment which the members had paid to him, 
 by testifying to the patience, diligence, and zeal, 
 which they had manifested in the public service. 
 Many public acts of much importance were' 
 passed. The system of coast defence received its 
 first important aid at this session ; the principki 
 
HENRY CLAY. 149 
 
 if protection of American industry was recog- 
 lised; a bill appropriating certain moneys to 
 internal improvements passed Congress, but was 
 vetoed by President Madison ; the United States 
 Bank was chartered ; but no public measure pro- 
 duced so much clamor as what was termed the 
 ■^ Compensation Act." 
 
 Previous to this time, the pay of members of 
 Congress had been six dollars a day. A bill was 
 passed, giving to each member fifteen hundred 
 dollars per annum, without regard to the length 
 of the sessions. This law produced a great ex- 
 citement, and was condemned, not only by popu- 
 |lar meetings and the newspapers, but by formal 
 resolution in many of the State Legislatures. In 
 consequence of this it was repealed — the repeal 
 to take effect with the next Congress. The 
 members of the Congress which had passed the 
 law, in repealing it, made this compromise with 
 their dignity, that they permitted it to stand so 
 ifar as they were concerned. The next Congress, 
 Iwe may here observe, passed the act affixing the 
 present rate — eight dollars per day and mileage ; 
 and experience has demonstrated that the fifteen 
 hundred dollars per annum would have been a 
 much less tax on the public treasury. 
 
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150 LIFE OF 
 
 As the election for the new Congress took place 
 before the act could be repealed, many members 
 lost their seats. Some declined to be candidates 
 for a re-election. Those who were re-elected 
 came in by a very close vote. Even Mr. Clay 
 was taught how much the popularity of a poh- 
 tician depends upon a breath. While his election 
 was pending, and the popular clamor was at its 
 height, he met an old Kentucky friend who 
 showed ominous discontent on account of the 
 charge of compensation which the members of 
 Congress had voted to themselves. 
 
 " Have you a good rifle ?" asked Mr. Clay, 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Did it never flash ? " 
 
 " It did once." 
 
 " And did you then throw it away ? " 
 
 "No; I picked the flint, and tried it again, 
 and it was true." 
 
 " And will you throw me away ? " 
 
 " No, no," said the hunter, grasping his hand, 
 " I will pick the flint, and try it again ! " 
 
 Mr. Clay was again elected Speaker of the 
 House, in 1817, by a vote of one hundred and 
 forty to seven. The measure with which he 
 was most closely identified, during this ses- 
 
HENRY CLAY. 151 
 
 sion of Congress, was the passage of a resolution 
 I by the House, declaring that Congress has power, 
 under the Constitution, to make appropriations 
 for the construction of military roads, post roads, 
 and canals. It passed the House by a vote of 
 ninety to seventy-five. It is proper to say, how- 
 ever, that the question still remains open; and 
 , though large ajDpropriations have been made from 
 year to year for the improvement of river navi- 
 gation, and the security of harbors, yet the 
 construction of roads or canals, by the Federal 
 Government, has never been reduced to a govern- 
 mental system, as was contemplated by the origi- 
 nators of the policy. 
 
 Mr. Madison, as we have already said, vetoed 
 a bill having internal improvements for its object. 
 Mr. Monroe declared his opinion against the con- 
 stitutional power of Congress, in his first message; 
 and it was to meet the arguments of the message 
 that the resolution above mentioned was intro- 
 duced. It was at one time very common to 
 suggest revisions and amendments of the Consti- 
 tution, to meet particular exigencies. Thus Mr. 
 Jefferson contemplated an amendment of the 
 Constitution, to legalise the purchase of Louisiana. 
 Madison and Monroe, while they opposed internal 
 
152 LIFE OF 
 
 improvements by the Federal Government as 
 unconstitutional, favored the policy, and wished 
 the Constitution amended in order to permit it. 
 But altering the fundamental law of a state or a 
 confederacy is a doubtful experiment, and never 
 to be resorted to except from imperious necessity. 
 It is better to endure some evils and incon- 
 veniences, than to open the door to innovations 
 which may amount to revolution, and which 
 must impair the feeling of confidence and sta- 
 bility. The reasoning which Mr. Clay used 
 against the probability of amending the Consti- 
 tution in reference to internal improvements, will 
 apply to such a proposal if entertained with any 
 other view. " With regard," he said, " to the 
 possibility of obtaining such an amendment, I 
 think it altogether out of the question. " Two 
 different descriptions of persons, entertaining 
 sentiments directly opposed, will unite and defeat 
 such an amendment : one embracing those who 
 believe that the Constitution, fairly interpreted, 
 conveys the power; and the other, those who 
 think that Congress has not, and ought not to 
 have it." 
 
 Mr. Clay argued : " Of all the modes in which 
 a government can employ its surplus revenue, 
 
HENRY CLAY. 153 
 
 none is more permanently beneficial than that of 
 internal improvement. Fixed to the soil, it 
 becomes a durable part of the land itself, diffusing 
 comfort, and activity, and animation, on all sides. 
 The first direct effect is on the agricultural com- 
 munity, into whose pockets comes the difference 
 in the expense of transportation between good 
 and bad ways. Thus, if the price of transporting 
 a barrel of flour, by the erection of the Cumber- 
 land Turnpike, should be lessened two dollars, 
 the producer of the article would receive that two 
 dollars more now than formerly. But putting 
 aside all pecuniary considerations, there may be 
 political motives sufficiently j)owerful alone to 
 justify certain improvements." 
 
 The "Cumberland Eoad" extends from Cum- 
 berland, Maryland, over the Alleghanies to 
 Wheeling, Virginia. It was built by successive 
 appropriations, commencing in 1806, and amount- 
 ing in all to about two millions of dollars, exclu- 
 sive of sums appropriated for surveys 600 miles 
 further. This expense has been charged directly 
 or indirectly upon the public lands. Superior 
 modes of facilitating the transit of merchandise 
 and passengers, have superseded turnpikes as 
 objects of public patronage ; and convenience, or 
 
154 LIFE OF 
 
 policy, has transferred the erection or fostering 
 of these works from the National to the State 
 governments. Individual enterprise has proved 
 more efficient than either; and the great branches 
 of iron .roads and water communication, which 
 are spreading their arms in all directions, more 
 than realise the predictions of Mr. Clay as to the 
 advantage and benefits of internal improvements. 
 The distant members of the confederacy are 
 united ; communication is between the principal 
 points literally instantaneous, for the telegraph 
 has been introduced to perfect the work which 
 the Cumberland Koad began, and may finally 
 stretch across America from ocean to ocean. 
 
 Though we have said that the question as to 
 the power of Congress to make appropriations for 
 internal improvements still remains open, it is 
 adjusted to a great extent by the disposition to 
 compromise, which indeed determines, sooner or 
 later, all our great national questions. Indivi- 
 duals originate, State legislatures aid or assume, 
 and Congress by grants of land, or the proceeds 
 of land sales, assists in uniting our country by 
 the most magnificent public works ever erected. 
 For rivers and harbors, and other public objects 
 not of a nature to support themselves by the 
 
HENRY CLAY. 155 
 
 production of a revenue, Congress makes annual 
 appropriations. 
 
 To Mr. Clay the country owes much of this 
 prosperity. He saw the importance of easy and 
 rapid inter-communication ; and he advocated 
 the government aid which gave the system its 
 early impetus. Neither he, nor his compatriots, 
 the opponents of the policy which he advocated, 
 could foresee that the private energy of the peo- 
 ple, aided by the discoveries of the age, would 
 accomplish such wonders in art and enterprise as 
 have now become common-place events. They 
 could not predict that turnpikes, canals, and post 
 roads, would be rendered obsolete by the raih^oad 
 and the telegraph. But Mr. Clay's speeches in 
 favor of internal improvement, if they did not 
 effect all that he desired in the national councils, 
 reached the ears of the people, and influenced 
 the State legislatures. As the man in his 
 strength does not forget the kindness which sup- 
 ported his childhood, so may Mr. Clay's country- 
 men — who are now driven by steam over the 
 difficulties which once still farther impeded the 
 ancient slow modes of conveyance — thank him 
 who defended in its infancy the policy and enter- 
 prise which can now defend and sustain them- 
 selves. 
 
156 LIFE OF 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE SEMINOLE CAMPAIGN OF 1817 — ARBUTHNOT AND 
 AMBRISTER — PENSACOLA AND ST. MARKS — DIFFICUL- 
 TIES IN THE CABINET — PROCEEDINGS IN CONGRESS — 
 SPEECH OF MR. CLAY. 
 
 The relations of the United States with Spain 
 — embarrassed by the aid which the revolted 
 colonies, now the Spanish-American republics, 
 received from citizens of the United States — 
 were still farther complicated by the proceedings 
 of General Jackson, in the Seminole campaign of 
 1817. Sheltered within the Spanish territory of 
 Florida, the Seminole Indians committed great 
 depredations upon the frontier settlements of 
 Georgia. A few skirmishes took place between 
 the Indians and the American garrison of Fort 
 Scott, under the command of General Gaines. 
 Some lives were lost, and an Indian town was 
 surprised and burned. Up to this time, there 
 had been no invasion of the Spanish territory. 
 
HENRY CLAY. 157 
 
 The Indians retaliated by captunng a boat, 
 which was on its way up the Apalachicola Kiver 
 with supplies for Fort Scott. Between forty and 
 fifty men, women, and children, were killed, and 
 the United States Government took immediate 
 steps to punish the Indians, and put a close to 
 the state of Indian warfare. Major-General 
 Andrew Jackson was ordered to take the com- 
 mand in person, and authority was conferred to 
 enter Florida, if necessary, in pursuit of the 
 Indians; but the instructions did not authorise 
 an attack upon any Spanish fort. 
 
 General Jackson, with a large force, as 
 promptly as the nature of the country and the 
 insufficiency of supplies would permit, overran 
 Florida, burned several Indian towns, and took 
 possession of the Spanish post of St. Marks. The 
 only resistance offered by the Spanish commander 
 was a remonstrance. One of the Indian settle- 
 ments, a town on the Suwanee River, received 
 notice of his approach from Arbuthnot, an Indian 
 trader. The women and children were sent 
 away, and the warriors made a stand under the 
 command of Ambrister, another Indian trader. 
 The leader, Ambrister, was taken prisoner; the 
 
 14 
 
158 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 other Englishman, Arbuthnot, had already been '' 
 found in the fort at St. Marks. 
 
 Both these men were put on trial before a 
 Court Martial, of which General Gaines was 
 President ; and both were found guilty of excit-. 
 ing the Indians to war, and furnishing them with 
 supplies. Both were sentenced to death; and 
 although, on re-consideration, the Court Martial, 
 changed Ambrister's sentence to stripes and im- 
 prisonment. General Jackson approved the first 
 finding in the case of Ambrister, and caused the 
 sentence of death to be put in execution upon 
 both. Two Indian chiefs, who came on board an 
 American armed vessel, which wore the British 
 flag for a decoy, were also hanged by General 
 Jackson's orders. Pensacola was taken possession 
 of, and the aggressions of the Indians, and their 
 shelter by the Spanish authorities, were thus 
 summarily closed. 
 
 These measures called forth a protest from the 
 Spanish Minister at Washington. John Quincy 
 Adams, the Secretary of State, defended the 
 invasion of Florida, on the ground that Spain 
 had not fulfilled her treaty stipulations to keep 
 the Indians in check. He justified the seizure 
 of the Spanish posts as a measure of self-defence ; 
 
HENRY CLAY. 159 
 
 but as the war with the Indians was now ended, 
 the forts taken were restored to the Spanish 
 authorities. 
 
 It is matter of record that Adams was the only 
 one in the Cabinet who defended General Jack- 
 son. That officer had acted on his own responsi- 
 bility, and transcended the limit prescribed to 
 him. But it was necessary to defend his course, 
 on account of the position of the United States 
 Government toward Spain, and because, as Mr. 
 Madison said in a private letter to General Jack- 
 son, "the President was satisfied that General 
 Jackson had good reason for his conduct, and 
 had acted in all things on that principle." The 
 people of the United States, having since given 
 General Jackson the highest proofs of their con- 
 fidence, may be regarded as excusing him, under 
 the circumstances, for acts the principle of which 
 would have justified the British forces in Canada 
 in invading our northern frontier, during the 
 Canadian rebellion. Perhaps the failure of our 
 government to disavow General Jackson's course, 
 or to censure him, may account for the omission 
 of any demand, on our part, for reparation for 
 the burning of an American steamboat by a Bri- 
 tish party, while she was moored in the waters 
 
160 LIFE OF 
 
 of the United States. What a nation exacts, she 
 must endure; and if General Jackson was de- 
 fended in taking possession of Spanish forts, 
 because they were thought to shield hostile 
 Indians, the same plea of self-defence would be 
 available in justification of the destruction of a 
 steamboat in the service of an enemy; though 
 that steamer had taken refuge in the waters of a 
 friendly power. 
 
 Whatever may be said of General Jackson's 
 Florida proceedings at this day, when party 
 feelings enter no more into the estimate, we must 
 concede that the most friendly disposition can 
 only palliate, and not commend them. At the 
 time of their occurrence, there was a strong dis- 
 position to call the General to an account. Mr. 
 Adams saved him in the Cabinet; and, once 
 committed, the administration was forced to 
 defend him. The documents relative to the 
 Seminole war, and the Spanish protest, were laid 
 before the House of Kepresentatives, and referred 
 to the Committee on Naval Affairs. In their 
 report, the seizure and occupation of the Spanish 
 posts was condemned ; and to the report a series 
 of resolutions was appended. Among them was 
 one expressive of censure on General Jackson for 
 
 I 
 
HENRY CLAY. 161 
 
 the execution of Arbuthnot and Ambrister. 
 There was a minority report which defended 
 General Jackson for the occupation of the Spanish 
 towns. The debate lasted three weeks; and 
 resulted in a refusal to censure General Jackson, 
 by a majority of between thirty and forty votes. 
 
 Many very able speeches were made — none 
 more able than the speeches of Henry Clay. The 
 svhole subject was reviewed by him. In his 
 )pening, he disclaimed all feelings towards Gene- 
 ral Jackson but those of kindness and respect. 
 He reviewed and condemned the Indian Treaty 
 nade four years before, the hard terms of which, 
 le alleged, produced this war. He condemned 
 n eloquent language, the execution of the In- 
 lians, and that of the Englishmen, without, as he 
 irged, the authority of law. It is not our purpose 
 low to revive the charges against General Jack- 
 ion ; and we pass, therefore, the particular points 
 vhich Mr. Clay made, and extract the more 
 general conclusion of his speech; sound in wis- 
 lom, and earnest in patriotism. 
 
 "I will not," said Mr. Clay, ^Hrespass much 
 onger upon the time of the Committee ; but I 
 rust I shall be indulged in some few reflections 
 ipon the danger of permitting the conduct on 
 
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162 LIFE OF 
 
 which it has been my painful duty to animadvert, 
 to pass without a solemn expression of the dis- 
 approbation of this House. Kecall to your 
 recollection the free nations which have gone 
 before us. Where are they now ? 
 
 Some glimmering through the dream of things that were, 
 A school-boy's tale, the wonder of an hour. 
 
 And how have they lost their liberties ? If we 
 could transport ourselves back to the ages when 
 Greece and Eome flourished in their greatest 
 prosperity, and, mingling in the throng, should 
 ask a Grecian if he did not fear that some daring 
 military chieftain, covered with glory — some 
 Philip or Alexander — would one day overthrow 
 the liberties of his country, the confident and 
 indignant Grecian would exclaim, ^ No ! no ! we 
 have nothing to fear from our heroes ; our liber, 
 ties will be eternal.' If a Roman citizen had 
 been asked if he did not fear that the conqueroi 
 of Gaul might establish a throne upon the ruine 
 of public liberty, he would instantly have repelled 
 the insinuation. Yet Greece fell. Caesar passed 
 the Rubicon, and even the patriotic arm of Brutus 
 could not preserve the liberties of his devoted 
 country! The celebrated Madame de Stael, in 
 her last, and perhaps her best work, has said. 
 
HENRY CLAY. 163 
 
 that in the very year, almost in the very month^ 
 when the president of the Directory declared that 
 monarchy would never more show its frightful 
 head in France, Bonaparte, with his grenadiers, 
 entered the palace of St. Cloud, and dispersing 
 with the bayonet the deputies of the people, 
 deliberating on the affairs of the State, laid the 
 foundation of that vast fabric of despotism which 
 overshadowed all Europe. I hope not to be 
 misunderstood. I am far from intimating that 
 General Jackson cherishes any designs inimical 
 to the liberties of the country. I believe his 
 intentions to be pure and patriotic. I thank 
 Heaven that he would not — and I am still more 
 grateful that he could not if he would — overturn 
 the liberties of the republic. But precedents, if 
 bad, are fraught with the most dangerous conse- 
 quences. Man has been described, by some one 
 of those who have treated of his nature, as a 
 bundle of habits. The definition is much truer 
 when applied to governments. Precedents are 
 their habits. There is one important difference 
 between the formation of habits by an individual 
 and by governments. He contracts it only after 
 frequent repetition. A single instance fixes the 
 habits and determines the direction of govern- 
 
164 LIFE OF 
 
 merits. Against the alarming doctrine of unli- 
 mited discretion in our military commanders, 
 when applied even to prisoners of war, I must 
 enter my protest. It begins with them — it will 
 end on us. I hope our happy form of govern- 
 ment is to be perpetuated. But if it is to be 
 preserved, it must be by the practice of virtue, 
 by justice, by moderation, by magnanimity, by 
 greatness of soul, by keeping a watchful and 
 steady eye on the executive ; and, above all, by 
 holding to a strict accountability the military 
 branch of the public force. 
 
 " We are fighting a great moral battle, for the 
 benefit not only of our country, but of all man- 
 kind. The eyes of the whole world are in fixed 
 attention upon us. One, and the largest portion, 
 is gazing with contempt, with jealousy, and with 
 envy; the other portion with hope, with confi- 
 dence, and with affection. Every where the thick 
 cloud of legitimacy is suspended over the world, 
 save only one bright spot, which breaks out from 
 the political hemisphere of the West, to en- 
 lighten, and animate, and gladden the human 
 heart. Obscure that, by the downfall of liberty 
 here, and all mankind are enshrouded in a pall 
 of universal darkness. To you, Mr. Chairman, 
 
HENRY CLAY. 165 
 
 belongs the high privilege of transmitting unim- 
 paired, to posterity^ the fair character and liberty 
 of our country. Do you expect to execute this 
 high trust by trampling, or suffering to be tram- 
 pled down, law, justice, the constitution, and the 
 rights of the people ? by exhibiting examples of 
 inhumanity, and cruelty, and ambition? When 
 the minions of despotism heard, in Europe, of the 
 seizure of Pensacola, how did they chuckle, and 
 chide the admirers of our institutions, tauntingly 
 pointing to the demonstration of a spirit of in- 
 justice and aggrandizement made by our country 
 in the midst of an amicable negotiation. Behold, 
 said they, the conduct of those who are constantly 
 reproaching kings ! You saw how those admirers 
 were astounded, and hung their heads. You 
 saw, too, when that illustrious man who presides 
 over us adopted his pacific, moderate, and just 
 course, how they once more lifted up their heads, 
 with exultation and delight beaming in their 
 countenances. And you saw how those minions 
 themselves were fully compelled to unite in the 
 general praises bestowed upon our government. 
 Beware how you forfeit this exalted character. 
 Beware how you give a fatal sanction, in this 
 infant period of our republic, scarcely yet two 
 
166 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 score years old, to military insubordination. 
 Remember that Greece had her Alexander, Rome 
 her Csesar, England her Cromwell, France her 
 Bonaparte ; and that if we would escape the rock 
 on which they split, we must avoid their errors. 
 
 " I hope gentlemen will deliberately survey the 
 awful isthmus on which we stand. They may 
 bear down all opposition; they may even vote 
 the General the public thanks ; they may carry 
 him triumphantly through this House. But if 
 they do, in my humble judgment, it will be a 
 triumph of the principle of insubordination — a 
 triumph of the military over the civil authority 
 — a triumph over the powers of this House — a 
 triumph over the constitution of the land. And 
 I pray most devoutly to Heaven, that it may not 
 prove, in its ultimate effects and consequences, a 
 triumph over the liberties of the people." 
 
HENRY CLAY. 167 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE — RETIREMENT OF MR. CLAY 
 — HIS MISSION TO VIRGINIA — VISIT TO HANOVER — 
 SPEECH BEFORE THE VIRGINIA HOUSE OF DELEGATES. 
 
 The next important measure in which we find 
 Mr. Clay engaged, was the famous " Missouri 
 Compromise." Before the admission of a new 
 State into the Union, an Act of Congress is re- 
 quired to authorise a convention of the people to 
 form a constitution. In the session of 1818-19, 
 the House passed such an act for the State of 
 Missouri. But it contained a proviso forbidding 
 the farther introduction of slavery into the new 
 State, and providing that all slaves born in the 
 State after its admission into the Union, should 
 be free at the age of twenty-five. The Senate 
 refused to pass the bill with these provisions, and 
 the session went over with the appeal of Mis- 
 souri still unanswered. 
 
 At the next session, the matter came up again. 
 
 II 
 
168 LIFE OF 
 
 There was a long and very warm debate upon 
 the subject. As the " Missouri Compromise" is a 
 phrase which our young readers will often meet, 
 it may be well to make it intelligible to them. 
 In 1787, while the States were as yet united' 
 simply by articles of confederation, an ordinance- 
 was unanimously agreed to, for the government! 
 of the territory north-west of the Ohio. This 
 ordinance, among other provisions, declared that 
 " there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary 
 servitude in the said territory, otherwise than the 
 punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall 
 have been duly convicted." This provision had' 
 been strictly adhered to, up to the date of the 
 application of Missouri for admission. 
 
 Prior to 1820, when the Missouri question was 
 settled, ten States had been added to the original 
 thirteen. Among these were : Vermont, sepa- 
 rated from New York, and Maine from Massa- 
 chusetts, States in which slavery was not men- 
 tioned; Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, from the 
 territory north and west of the Ohio. By the 
 constitutions of the last three States, slavery was 
 expressly excluded, in accordance with the terms 
 of the ordinance above mentioned. To balance 
 these five free States, Tennessee, from North 
 
II 
 
 HENRY CLAY. 169 
 
 Carolina, Kentucky, from Virginia; Louisiana, 
 from the Louisiana purchase; and Mississippi 
 and Alabama from lands ceded to the United 
 States by Georgia, had been admitted into the 
 Union. In these States, slavery had not been 
 forbidden, as they formed portions of territory 
 formerly held by slave States ; and occupied, so 
 far as settled, by slave-holders. 
 
 The State of Missouri was formed out of part 
 of the Louisiana purchase ; and it was contended 
 that the new State should follow the precedents 
 of the other States which had been created out 
 of slave territory. Louisiana had slaves, and as 
 Missouri was another portion of the same pur- 
 chase, it was demanded that she should be 
 received on the same footing as a slave-holding 
 State. The argument had weight, independent 
 of any question as to slavery, from its merits or 
 demerits as a separate question. If any State, 
 under the Constitution and the precedents esta- 
 blished, was entitled to hold slaves, Missouri held 
 that right ; since the French province of Louisi- 
 ana, of which her territory formed a part, recog- 
 nised slavery. 
 
 The dispute was adjusted, at length, by admit- 
 ting Missouri as a slave State, with a proviso that 
 
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170 LIFE OF 
 
 in all the territory ceded to the United States by 
 France, north of latitude thirty six degrees, thirty 
 minutes, slavery shall not exist; the limits of 
 Missouri of course being excepted. This proviso 
 or compromise, together with the ordinance of 
 1787, includes the whole western territory. 
 Some of the thirteen States which ceded their 
 lands to the United States, claimed to hold to the 
 Pacific; but their limits were very vague. So 
 also were the limits of Louisiana, but the " Mis- 
 souri Compromise" renders it now unnecessary to 
 determine whether territory from which new 
 States may be formed, belonged to the Louisiana 
 grant, or was part of the domain of the "Old 
 Thirteen." The line of latitude defines the limit. 
 The accessions from Mexico open a new question; 
 but of these, Texas was certainly a part of the 
 tract sold to the United States by Napoleon. It 
 was ceded to Spain by the treaty of 1821, in 
 which Florida was acquired ; and perhaps some 
 of our readers may remember to have heard the 
 admission of Texas into the Union, termed a 
 "re-annexation." 
 
 To effect this compromise, Mr. Clay labored 
 with all his powers of argument and of concilia- 
 tion. But the matter was not here settled. At 
 
I 
 
 HENRY CLAY. 171 
 
 the next session, that of 1820-21, the difficulty 
 presented itself in a new form. Missouri had 
 adopted her Constitution, and came with it to 
 Washington, to be formally admitted. But the 
 instrument contained a provision which re-awa- 
 kened all the bitterness of the contest. It was in 
 
 I these words : "It shall be the duty of the General 
 Assembly, as soon as may be, to pass such laws 
 as may be necessary to prevent free negroes and 
 mulattoes from coming to, and settling in this 
 State, under any pretext whatever." The Senate 
 passed a resolution admitting the State of Mis- 
 souri — but the House refused to admit the new 
 
 ' State with such a provision in its Constitution. 
 Meanwhile, the ceremony of counting the electoral 
 votes, as directed by the Constitution of the 
 United States, must take place in the presence 
 of the Senate and House of Representatives. 
 
 I The expedient was resorted to of declaring the 
 vote first with that of Missouri, and then without 
 it, to show that the vote of the suspended state 
 
 I did not alter the result. But when the vote of 
 Missouri was reached, terrific confusion arose. 
 Some cried, " Missouri is a State !" and others, 
 "Missouri is not a State!" The Senate withdrew 
 from the disturbance; motion after motion was 
 
172 LIFE OF 
 
 made, and rejected. Mr. Clay, at last, persuaded 
 his fellow-members into a momentary calm, and "' 
 made a motion that the Senate be notified that 
 the House was now ready to complete the duty 
 of counting the votes. The Senate returned; 
 the rest of the States were counted, and it was 
 declared that President Monroe was re-elected, by 
 a vote of 231 with, and 228 without Missouri. 
 Mr. Kandolph, and others, attempted to throw 
 some doubts on the legality of the proceeding, 
 but that point was abandoned. 
 
 It was during this session that Mr. Clay re- 
 ceived the title of the Great Pacificator. He had 
 resigned his office as Speaker, on account of his 
 inability to attend at the opening of the session ; 
 and he reached "Washington when the House was 
 in the midst of confusion, and all public business 
 was defeated by this vexed question. Twice he 
 procured the appointment of a committee, to 
 which the resolution to admit Missouri was re- 
 ferred. The report of the first committee was 
 rejected. The second committee consisted of 
 twenty-three members — one from each State — 
 with Mr. Clay as chairman, to meet a joint-com- 
 mittee of the Senate. Their unanimous report 
 was a resolution by which Missouri was admitted, 
 
HENRY CLAY. 173 
 
 on condition of her removing the obnoxious 
 clause. It was carried in both Houses, and the 
 new State accepted the terms. Thus passed 
 away what had been a serious and alarming 
 cause of anxiety. This pacific result, as well as 
 others which he has accomplished, Mr. Clay pro- 
 duced as much by personal appeals, and indivi- 
 dual applications, as by his public speeches. He 
 left no mode or effort of conciliation untried, and 
 spared himself no labor. 
 
 At the close of this session of Congress, Mr. 
 Clay retired, as he supposed, from public life. 
 He had become embarrassed in his pecuniary 
 relations by the misfortunes of a friend for whom 
 he had endorsed ; and desired, by resuming the 
 practice of his profession, to retrieve his affairs. 
 There was now a season of repose in the national 
 councils. The House, at this session, approved 
 Mr. Clay's policy in reference to the South Ame- 
 rican republics, as developed in his frequent 
 speeches, by passing a resolution that they were 
 ready to second the President, whenever he 
 should deem it advisable to recognise their inde- 
 pendence. The treaty with Spain, now ratified, 
 removed all danger of collision with that power, 
 by the acquisition of Florida and the cession of 
 
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174 LIFE OF 
 
 Texas; thus cancelling all foreign governments 
 east of the Mississippi, and accurately defining 
 our limits on the west. 
 
 But although Mr. Clay resigned his seat in the 
 National Legislature with a view to private life, 
 his fellow-citizens could not forego his important 
 public services. He was appointed in 1821, in 
 connection with Mr. Bibb, to adjust certain con- 
 flicting land claims with the State of Virginia. 
 Through the loose manner in which Virginia had 
 disposed of her public lands before Kentucky was 
 erected into a State, land-titles in Kentucky were 
 often insecure. The Legislature of Kentucky 
 had passed a law by which, though a resident 
 was dispossessed by the proof of a prior title, the 
 claimant should pay for the permanent improve- 
 ments. The principle of this law was contested, 
 and the Supreme Court of the United States 
 decided against it. Mr. Clay's mission was to 
 procure, from the Legislature of Virginia, some 
 arrangement by which this difficulty could be 
 avoided. The result was the appointment of 
 commissioners — Hon. B. W. Leigh on the part of 
 Virginia, and Mr. Clay on the part of Kentucky. 
 Their labors were only in part successful; but 
 the service in which Mr. Clay was employed was 
 
HENRY CLAY. 175 
 
 one of the proudest rewards of his early applica- 
 tion and industry. 
 
 The poor boy, who left Virginia thirty years 
 before to seek his fortune, now returned to Rich- 
 mond, the scene of his early struggles, the 
 honored representative of a sister State. He 
 brought with him the character of a profound 
 lawyer, an accomplished legislator, an able diplo- 
 matist, and a powerful orator. His reputation 
 preceded him in all that he undertook, and the 
 prestige of his name was almost the assurance of 
 success. As may readily be supposed, his pre- 
 sence in Richmond, and the knowledge of his 
 mission, attracted a large concourse of people. 
 Mr. Clay found it one of the most trying occa- 
 sions of his life. On the way to Richmond he 
 had visited the ^^ Slashes" — the grave of his 
 father, the scenes of his childhood ; and the visit 
 had re-awakened in his mind the memories of 
 other years, and the feelings with which he had 
 left his home to become a pioneer in the com- 
 parative wilderness of Kentucky. 
 
 The hall of the delegates was crowded on the 
 day of the appearance of Mr. Clay before them. 
 There he saw all who survived of the old men 
 who were in their prime in his boyhood, and who 
 
176 LIFE OF 
 
 befriended his youth. He met on terms of more j 
 than equality, the representatives of the famihes 
 to association with whom the shop-boy could 
 hardly have dared to hope. He found himself 
 in the presence of an auditory distinguished for 
 culture and intellect ; and he was under the in- 
 fluence of emotions which must either entirely 
 enervate him, or raise him above himself. 
 
 But he was equal to the occasion. He de- 
 picted, in language flowing from a feeling heart, 
 the misfortunes of those — his neighbors and 
 friends — whose case he had come to plead. He 
 described the pioneer crossing the AUeghanies, 
 with no possession save his stout heart and strong 
 arm. He painted the perils from wild beasts and 
 savage men ; he described the reward, in the 
 results of fortitude, courage, and patient industry. 
 He brought forward the picture of the lord of 
 the soil, rich in the earnings of his own hands 
 — happy in his domestic relations — looking with 
 complacency on the inheritance he could devise 
 to his children — then suddenly reversing the 
 picture, described his ejectment that another 
 might reap the reward of his labors. The pic- 
 ture of disappointment and unhappiness which 
 
HENRY CLAY. 177 
 
 he drew moved his audience almost to tears — 
 nor was the speaker unaffected. Henry Clay 
 was no actor, and counterfeited no emotion 
 which he did not feel ; and he never was so elo- 
 quent as when advocating the cause of the 
 oppressed or the unfortunate. His old friends 
 heard with their own ears, the evidence that 
 their expectations relative to the Mill-Boy of the 
 Slashes, had not been disappointed. 
 
178 LIFE OF 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 MR. clay's re-election TO CONGRESS — CHOSEN SPEAKER 
 — GREECE — RECEPTION OF LAFAYETTE. 
 
 After nearly three years' absence from Con- 
 gress, Mr. Clay was persuaded to re-enter the 
 House. He was elected without opposition, and 
 was, as before, chosen to the Speakership; re- 
 ceiving 139 votes, against 40, which were cast 
 for Mr. Barbour, of Virginia, the late Speaker. 
 In taking the Chair, he made, as was his custom, 
 some pertinent remarks. 
 
 At this session, Mr. Clay's love of freedom had 
 a new channel for its exercise. The independ- 
 ence of the South American republics had been 
 formally acknowledged, at the suggestion of the 
 President, during Mr. Clay's absence from Con- 
 gress. Daniel Webster brought forward a resolu- 
 tion that provision should be made for the 
 appointment of a commissioner to Greece. Mr. 
 Clay heartily supported this resolution. Presi- 
 
HENRY CLAY. 179 
 
 dent Monroe had referred to the condition of 
 Greece, then struggling for liberty, in two annual 
 messages ; but had made no suggestion relative 
 to action. The following are extracts from the 
 speech of Mr. Clav, while the subject was under 
 debate : 
 
 " Mr. Chairman, is it not extraordinary that 
 for these two successive years, the President of 
 the United States should have been freely in- 
 dulged, not only without censure, but with uni- 
 versal approbation, to express the feelings which 
 the resolution proclaims, and yet, if this House 
 venture to unite with him, the most awful conse- 
 quences are to ensue ? From Maine to Georgia, 
 and from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf of 
 Mexico, the sentiment of approbation has blazed 
 with the rapidity of electricity. Everywhere the 
 interest in the Grecian cause is felt with the 
 deepest intensity, expressed in every form, and 
 increases with every new day and passing hour. 
 And are the representatives of the people alone 
 to be insulated from the common moral atmo- 
 sphere of the whole land ? Shall we shut our- 
 selves up in apathy, and separate ourselves from 
 our country, from our constituents, from our 
 Chief Magistrate, from our principles ? 
 
180 LIFE OF 
 
 "The measure has been mast unreasonably 
 magnified. Gentlemen speak of the watchful 
 jealousy of the Turk, and seem to think the 
 slightest movement of this body will be matter 
 of serious speculation at Constantinople. I 
 believe that neither the Sublime Porte, nor the 
 European allies, attach any such exaggerated 
 importance to the acts and deliberations of this 
 body. The Turk will, in all probability, never 
 hear the names of the gentlemen who either 
 espouse or oppose the resolution. It certainly is 
 not without a value; but that value is altogether 
 moral. 
 
 " Are we so mean, so base, so despicable, that 
 we may not attempt to express our horror, utter 
 our indignation, at the most brutal and atrocious 
 war that ever stained earth, or shocked high 
 Heaven ? at the ferocious deeds of a savage and 
 infuriated soldiery, stimulated and urged on by 
 the priests of a fanatical and inimical religion, 
 and rioting in all the extremes of blood and 
 butchery — at the mere details of which the heart 
 sickens and recoils ? 
 
 " If the great body of Christendom can look 
 on so calmly and coolly, while all this is perpe- 
 trated on a Christian people in its own immediate 
 

 I 
 
 - HENRY CLAY. 181 
 
 vicinity — in its very presence — let us at least 
 evince, that one of its remote extremities is sus- 
 ceptible of sensibility to Christian wrongs, and 
 capable of sympathy for Christian sufferings; 
 that in this remote quarter of the world, there 
 are hearts not yet closed against compassion for 
 human woes ; that can pour out their indignant 
 feelings at the oppression of a people endeared to 
 us by every ancient recollection, and by every 
 modern tie. Sir, attempts have been made to 
 alarm the committee by the dangers to our com- 
 merce in the Mediterranean; and a wretched 
 invoice of figs and opium has been spread before 
 us, to repress our sensibilities, and to eradicate 
 our humanity. Ah, Sir, Svhat shall it profit a 
 man if he gain the whole world, and lose his own 
 soul ?' or what shall it avail a nation to save the 
 whole of a miserable trade, and lose its liberties ? 
 The resolution, though moved by Mr. Webster, 
 and defended with so much zeal and eloquence by 
 Mr. Clay, did not pass. But we may add here, 
 to save future reference to the same theme, that 
 during the administration of John Q. Adams, 
 while Henry Clay was Secretary of State, the 
 independence of Greece was recognised, (the 
 United States being the first nation to render the 
 
 16 
 
182 LIFE OF 
 
 classic land this justice) and a Minister was sent: 
 to Greece. | 
 
 In 1824, General Lafayette arrived in this 
 country — the nation's guest. Congress had 
 passed a resolution placing a national vessel at 
 his service, but he, with characteristic modesty,' 
 preferred to come in a packet-ship. He landed' 
 at Castle Garden, New York, on the 16th of^ 
 August; and was received with demonstrations' 
 of respect, gratitude, and afifection, which wel- 
 comed and attended him wherever he appeared' 
 in the United States. It is not within our scope 
 to recount the incidents of his progress, but his 
 reception by the House of Representatives is a 
 part of the narrative of the life of Henry Clay. 
 Upon him, as Speaker of the House, devolved 
 the duty of welcoming the distinguished friend 
 of his country; and he performed that grateful 
 office in the following words : ' 
 
 " General — the House of Representatives of 
 the United States, impelled alike by its own 
 feelings, and by those of the whole American 
 people, could not have assigned to me a more' 
 pleasant duty, than that of being its organ to 
 present to you cordial congratulations upon the 
 occasion of your recent arrival in the United 
 
HENRY CLAY. 183 
 
 States, in compliance with the wishes of Congress, 
 and to assure you of the very high satisfaction 
 which your presence affords on this early theatre 
 of your glory and renown. Although but few of 
 the members which compose this body, shared 
 with you in the war of the Eevolution, all have 
 a knowledge — from impartial history or from 
 
 [faithful tradition — of the perils, the sufferings, 
 and the sacrifices which you have voluntarily 
 
 I encountered, and the signal services in America 
 and in Europe, which you performed for an in- 
 fant, a distant, and an alien people ; and all feel 
 and own the great extent of obligations under 
 which you have placed our country. But the 
 relations in which you have ever stood to the 
 United States, interesting and important as they 
 have ever been, do not constitute the only motive 
 of the respect and admiration w^hich this House 
 entertains for you. Your consistency of charac- 
 
 , ter, your uniform devotion to regulated liberty in 
 all the vicissitudes of a long and arduous life, 
 also command its highest admiration. During 
 
 I all the recent convulsions of Europe, amidst, as 
 
 , after the dispersion of every political storm, the 
 people of the United States have ever beheld you 
 true to your old principles, firm and erect, cheer- 
 
184 LIFE OF 
 
 ing and animating, with your well-known voice, 
 the votaries of liberty ; its faithful and fearless 
 champion, ready to shed the last drop of that 
 blood, which here you so freely and nobly shed 
 in the same holy cause. 
 
 " The vain wish has been sometimes indulged, 
 that Providence would allow the patriot, after 
 death, to return to his country, and to contem- 
 plate the intermediate changes which had taken 
 place — to view the forests felled, the cities built, 
 the mountains levelled, the canals cut, the high- 
 ways constructed, the progress of the arts, the 
 advancement of learning, and the increase of 
 population. General, your present visit to the 
 United States is the realisation of the consolins 
 object of that wish. You are in the midst of 
 posterity! Everywhere you must have been 
 struck with the great changes, physical and moral^ 
 which have occurred since you left us. Even this 
 very city, bearing a venerated name alike en- 
 deared to you and to us, has since emerged from 
 the forest which then covered its site. In one 
 respect you behold us unaltered, and that is in 
 this sentiment of continued devotion to liberty, 
 and of ardent affection and profound gratitude to 
 your departed friend, the father of his country, 
 
HENKY CLAY. 185 
 
 and to your illustrious associates in the field and 
 in the cabinet, fur the multiplied blessings which 
 surround us, and for the very privilege of address- 
 ing you, which I now exercise. This sentiment, 
 now fondly cherished by more than ten millions 
 of people, will be transmitted, with unabated 
 vigor, down the tide of time, through the count- 
 less millions who are destined to inhabit this 
 continent, to the latest posterity." 
 
 To this address, General Lafayette made a 
 graceful and grateful reply. He was afterward 
 Mr. Clay's guest at Ashland ; and while the dis- 
 tinguished Frenchman lived, he entertained for 
 the American statesman a respect which rose to 
 admiration, and a friendship which had the 
 warmth of affection. " That is the man whom I 
 hope to see President of the United States," said 
 Lafayette in 1832 — pointing to a portrait of 
 Henry Clay, which hung in his country-house. 
 But it w^as a hope in which thousands of the 
 admirers of the great statesman were disap- 
 pointed. 
 
 16 
 
 * 
 
186 LIFE OF 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 ELECTION OF J. Q. ADAMS — HIS TESTIMONY TO MR. CLAY 
 — MR. CLAY IN THE CABINET — THE PANAMA MISSION — 
 MR. RANDOLPH AND MR. CLAY — THEIR LAST INTERVIEW. 
 
 In 1825^ John Quincy Adams commenced his 
 administration, with Henry Clay as his Secretary 
 of State. There were four candidates for the 
 office of President — Andrew Jackson, who had 
 ninety-nine votes ; John Quincy Adams, eighty- 
 four ; William H. Crawford, forty-one ; and 
 Henry Clay, thirty-seven. By the Constitution 
 of the United States, when there is a failure to 
 elect a President by the votes of the electors, the 
 House of Kepresentatives designate one of the 
 three highest candidates. Mr. Clay was thus 
 ruled out, being the lowest in number, of four. 
 As a member of the House of Representatives, 
 he gave his vote to John Quincy Adams. The 
 mode of election in the House of Representatives 
 is by States. Adams received the votes of tbir- 
 
 ^ ~^ 
 
HENRY CLAY. 187 
 
 teen States^ Jackson of seven, and Crawford of 
 four. We shall not need here to disprove the 
 charge made against Mr. Clay, that there was a 
 bargain between him and Mr. Adams, by which 
 he gave Mr. Adams his support, and received in 
 return the ofl&ce of Secretary. It is sufficient to 
 say that the charge, having served its temporary 
 electioneering purposes, has been abundantly dis- 
 proved, and of late years forgotten. Mr. Adams 
 has, on more than one occasion, solemnly pro- 
 claimed the charge false ; and we find him in 
 reference to it using the following language, not 
 more emphatic than it is just : 
 
 " As to my motives for tendering to him the 
 department of State w^hen I did, let that man 
 who questions them come forward. Let him 
 look round among statesmen and legislators of 
 this nation, and of that day. Let him then select 
 and name the man whom, by his pre-eminent 
 talents, by his splendid services, by his ardent 
 patriotism, by his all-embracing public spirit, by 
 his fervid eloquence in behalf of the rights and 
 liberties of mankind, by his long experience in 
 the affairs of the Union, foreign and domestic, a 
 President of the United States, intent only upon 
 the honor and welfare of his country, ought to 
 
188 LIFE OF 
 
 have preferred to Henry Clay. Let him name 
 that man, and then judge you, fellow-citizens, of 
 my motives." 
 
 Mr. Clay justified the wisdom of Mr. Adams in 
 his choice. We may remark that Mr. Adams 
 also invited Mr. Crawford into his cabinet, but 
 that gentleman did not accept. Had he seen fit 
 to take place under Mr. Adams, the rare spec- 
 tacle would have been presented of three men, 
 whom citizens of the United States deemed com- 
 petent to sit in the Executive chair, occupying 
 the high places of the government together. Mr. 
 Adams's administration, so far as the distribution 
 of office was concerned, was eminently national, 
 and not partisan. He did nothing to procure his 
 re-nomination, or to continue himself in office. 
 His measures were marked by independence in 
 his domestic administration, and by manliness in 
 his foreign intercourse. The stamp of Mr. Clay's 
 policy was upon all the measures upon which he 
 was consulted, or which legitimately fell within 
 his department; and he proved no less efficient as 
 a Cabinet Minister, than he had been as a Eepre- 
 sentative of the people in Congress. Wherever 
 he was placed, he was always a leader ; for his 
 mighty mind commanded pre-eminence. He 
 
HENRY CLAY. 189 
 
 followed up in his new sphere the leading mea- 
 sures of his life ; preserving, in the treaties with 
 foreign nations which he negotiated, his princi- 
 ples respecting American industry and true in- 
 dependence. Through the foreign diplomatic 
 relations of the country, he found means to 
 forward the recognition, by other powers, of 
 South American and of Grecian independence. 
 
 In the year 1825, the Spanish- American Ke- 
 publics invited the United States to meet, at 
 Panama, delegates from those republics, to deli- 
 berate on measures for the promotion of union 
 and mutual assistance. Messrs. John Sergeant 
 and Eichard C. Anderson were appointed agents 
 on the part of the United States. Mr. Clay, as 
 Secretary of State, furnished them with a letter 
 of instructions. In this document, he defended 
 the most philanthropic national policy in war, 
 and the most liberal and enlightened measures in 
 peace. All his diplomatic correspondence was 
 worthy of the man and of the republic. 
 
 It is not to be supposed, however, that an 
 administration coming into power against such 
 exasperated opposition as Mr. Adams encountered, 
 could escape detraction. The measures of govern- 
 ment were freely canvassed in the Senate ; and 
 
190 LIFE OF 
 
 upon the Panama Mission, Mr. Kandolph, who had 
 now a seat in the Senate, commented with ex- 
 ceeding bitterness. His old exasperation against 
 Mr. Clay seemed to have increased in rancor, 
 and he used language in reference to the Presi- 
 dent and his Secretary of State, for which mental 
 infirmity could alone be urged in extenuation. 
 Unhappily, Mr. Clay was tempted to demand ex- 
 planation or retraction. Mr. Randolph refused, 
 and a hostile meeting followed. Thus a second 
 time was Mr. Clay betrayed into the criminal folly 
 of a duel. "It was a grievous fault," and Mr. 
 Clay was made " grievously to answer it." There 
 is no doubt, that more than anything else, the 
 charge of being a duellist was effective against 
 his hopes and prospects, in those portions of the 
 United States where duelling is held in its proper 
 detestation. The immediate cause of irritation in 
 this case, was the application of an epithet to Mr. 
 Clay by Randolph, which implied that he was a 
 gambler. It was one of a long series of premedi- 
 tated insults, intended, it is supposed, to provoke 
 a duel ; but which a man like Henry Clay should, 
 in any case, have been above resenting. 
 
 We may here take occasion to say, that, in the 
 manner in which Mr. Randolph applied the term 
 
HENRY CLAY. 191 
 
 used to Mr. Clay, it was unjust. There are in 
 some parts of our country — or have been, for we 
 hope the public mind is growing sounder upon 
 the subject — certain conventional rules of society, 
 which make games of chance a reputable amuse- 
 ment under certain circumstances. These rules 
 Mr. Clay never transgressed, even in the days of 
 his youth. He never played at a public table or 
 in a gambling-house. Before Mr. Randolph made 
 that charge, Mr. Clay had ceased to play at games 
 of hazard. Yet, his political enemies succeeded 
 at one time in producing an impression that he 
 was what Mr. Randolph termed him. No man is 
 perfect, and we claim no perfection for Henry 
 Clay. But now that the earth covers his re- 
 mains, we may defend his memory from unjust 
 aspersions, while we do not conceal the truth, or 
 deny the reader the warning which his example 
 affords, that we should not only avoid evil, but 
 "every appearance of evil." 
 
 The duel betw^een Mr. Clay and Mr. Randolph 
 was without any wound to either. As Mr. Ran- 
 dolph's name will not occur again in this book, 
 this is a proper place to mention these last inter- 
 views. In 1833, a few weeks before Mr. Ran- 
 dolph's death, he came to the Senate chamber, 
 
192 LIFE OF 
 
 being too ill to stand or walk without assistance. 
 Mr. Clay had just risen to make some remarks. 
 ^^Help me up," said Mr. Kandolph to his half- 
 brother, Mr. B. Tucker; '^ I have come to hear that 
 voiced Mr. Clay went to him as soon as he 
 had concluded his remarks, and exchanged salu- 
 tations. It is pleasant to hear that they were 
 thus reconciled ; the more especially that through 
 their long official life, there had been so many 
 causes of irritation between them. It was Mr. 
 Clay's practice to avoid Mr. Kandolph, when he 
 knew that the eccentric man meditated an affront. 
 But his situation as Speaker was one of peculiar 
 difficulty, since, in enforcing order, he was com- 
 pelled to cross the erratic gentleman's path, and 
 occasionally to compel him to sit down. Mr. 
 Clay, however, was always an impartial presiding 
 officer; and it is related of him, that though for 
 so many years Speaker of the House, there was 
 seldom an appeal against his decisions ; and 
 during the latter years of his Speakership, no 
 dispute with him upon points of order. Indeed, 
 he may be said to have established the usage of 
 the House in many particulars ; and to have 
 served his country as usefully in his sphere, as 
 any other of her statesmen, or any of her warriors. 
 
HENRY CLAY. 19 
 
 o 
 
 ^ CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 MR. clay's retirement — HIS ELECTION TO THE SENATE 
 — REMOVAL OF THE DEPOSITES — EXPUNGINa RESOLU- 
 TION — THE COMPROMISE TARIFF. 
 
 Mr. Clay's health had suffered very much 
 during his residence in Washington, and the close 
 of his official position as Secretary of State was 
 by no means unwelcome to him. A pleasant 
 anecdote is related of his homeward journey. 
 Twenty-five years ago there were none of the 
 railroad facilities which now make travelling a 
 pastime. It was a laborious and very fatiguing 
 task to make long journeys. Mr. Clay was 
 entering Uniontown, Pennsylvania, on an outside 
 seat of the stage-coach, a place he had taken in 
 preference to the inside. The citizens of Union- 
 town expressed some surprise at seeing the Ex- 
 Secretary in that high and exposed situation. 
 "Gentlemen," said Mr. Clay, "although I am 
 with the outs^ the ins behind me have much the 
 worst of it !" 
 
 17 
 
194 LIFE OF 
 
 For two years Mr. Clay remained in retire- 
 ment — if that life may be called retirement, the 
 quiet of which is frequently broken by the hospi- 
 talities of admiring friends. Wherever Mr. Clay 
 moved abroad, he met the warmest demonstra- 
 tions of popular affection. His friends were 
 anxious to show their estimate of the unfounded 
 allegation of '^ bargain," which had been so suc- 
 cessfully used against him ; and not a few, pro- 
 bably, of his political opponents, were willing 
 enough to compliment the man in a way which 
 did not commit their votes, or advance his politi- 
 cal prospects. He was pressed to accept a nomi- 
 nation to the Kentucky Legislature, and to the 
 House of Eepresentatives, but declined both. 
 
 In 1831 the Kentucky Legislature elected him 
 to the Senate of the United States ; and in the 
 same year Mr. Clay was a second time nominated 
 for the office of Presidency of the Union. We 
 may mention here the well-known result. Gene- 
 ral Jackson was in 1832 re-elected by a very 
 large majority, receiving 219 votes, and Henry 
 Clay 49. Eighteen votes were cast for John 
 Floyd and William Wirt. General Jackson was 
 at this time at the height of his prosperity. He 
 had refused his assent to the recharter of the 
 
HENRY CLAY. 195 
 
 Bank of the United States, and his course in this 
 respect proved eminently popular. Unfortunately 
 for themselves as a party, the Whigs, as the sup- 
 porters of Mr. Clay were called, made first the 
 re-charter of the old bank, and afterward the 
 establishment of a new one, a leading measure of 
 their policy. The unprejudiced observer cannot 
 do otherwise than confess, that among the conse- 
 quences of the defeat of the Bank of the United 
 States, and the failure of the State Bank, after- 
 ward chartered in Pennsylvania, and miscalled 
 by the name of the old National Institution, is to 
 be reckoned loss and defeat to the Whig party. 
 In a previous chapter we have said all that our 
 plan includes relative to the subject. We may 
 here observe, that some of the most brilliant 
 oratorical efforts of Mr. Clay during his later 
 services in the Senate, were in opposition to 
 President Jackson's financial measures. The 
 withdrawal of the public money from the custody 
 of the Bank of the United States, commonly 
 spoken of as " the removal of the deposites," was 
 an act the legality of which was strongly dis- 
 puted ; and the Senate, 26 to 20, passed, in 
 March, 1833, a resolution "that the President, 
 in the late executive proceedings in relation to 
 
196 LIFE OP 
 
 the public revenue, has assumed upon himself 
 authority and power not conferred by the consti- 
 tution and laws, but in derogation of both." This 
 resolution was introduced and supported by Mr. 
 Clay. The President sent a protest to the Senate 
 against the resolution, which that body, by a vote 
 of 27 to 16, refused to insert in the journal. By 
 the same vote they declared that the President 
 of the United States has no right to send a pro- 
 test to the Senate against any of its proceedings. 
 In January, 1836, a resolution was passed by the 
 efforts of Mr. Benton, a warm personal friend of 
 the President, by which this resolution of cen- 
 sure was cancelled or exchan2:ed. The cancellation 
 was done by drawling black lines around it, and 
 Mr. Benton carried away the pen as a trophy. 
 Through the whole of the debates to which Mr. 
 Benton's resolution gave rise, Mr. Clay main- 
 tained his ground ; but changes in the Senate had 
 produced an effective majority for the measure. 
 
 This term of Mr. Clay's service in the Senate, 
 from 1831 to 1837, was signalized by his great 
 Tariff Compromise, the second of the three lead- 
 ing efforts of patriotism which distinguished his 
 public career. The tariff of 1824, in support of 
 which Mr. Clay made one of his most celebrated 
 
HENRY CLAY. 197 
 
 sjjeeches, had now, as Mr. Clay and his friends 
 contended, established the soundness of the pro- 
 tective policy, and elevated the business interests 
 of the country and its general prosperity, to a 
 position almost unexampled. In 1828, while Mr. 
 Clay was Secretary of State, the tariff of 1824 
 was altered, and, against the judgment of Mr. 
 Clay, made exceedingly obnoxious to the oppo- 
 nents of protection. These difficulties were, 
 in some degree, afterward remedied, and the 
 amended and re-amended tariff continued a short 
 time longer. In 1831, the administration indica- 
 ted an intention to alter this tariff, in order to 
 reduce the revenue to the wants of government, 
 for which, it was found, the customs were more 
 than adequate. The opponents of the protective 
 system were ready to seize the occasion to reduce 
 the tariff, without regard to the principle of 
 protection — or rather with a view to the destruc- 
 tion of the protective policy. Mr. Clay antici- 
 pated them by introducing a resolution, the 
 purport of which was, that duties on articles 
 imported from foreign countries, not coming in 
 competition with American articles, ought forth- 
 with to be abolished. As the resolution did 
 not permit the leading principle of the system 
 
 17* 
 
198 LIFE OF 
 
 to be touched, it was vigorously opposed by the 
 opponents of protection, and ably defended by 
 Mr. Clay. A bill was reported in compliance 
 with this resolution, and passed at the close of a 
 long session. The act, as passed, was a triumph 
 for Mr. Clay, as it preserved the great principle 
 for which tie had all his life contended. 
 
 The enemies of the protective system were not 
 yet satisfied. The State of South Carolina, in 
 particular, was exceedingly discontented, and the 
 famous nullification measures of that State fol- 
 lowed upon the tariff of 1831. President Jack- 
 son, on the 10th of December, 1832, issued his 
 proclamation, announcing that the revenue laws 
 must be enforced. Governor Hayne of South 
 Carolina answered the President in a counter 
 proclamation. A bill was brought forward in the 
 United States House of Representatives, reducing 
 the duties on all protected articles; and in the 
 Senate, a bill to enforce the collection of the 
 revenue, wherever opposition was offered. 
 
 It was a stormy crisis. Civil war seemed im- 
 pending ; for the hot spirits in South Carolina, 
 who had threatened opposition to the Federal 
 Government, seemed in danger of being forced 
 by their own acts into collision ; and none who 
 
HENRY CLAY. 199 
 
 knew the stern character of the President, 
 doubted that he would employ all the means 
 within his reach to enforce the laws of the Union, 
 at whatever sacrifice. In this juncture, the 
 House Tariff Bill still being pending, Mr. Clay 
 brought forward his famous Compromise Tariff. 
 The main feature of the bill was, that it provided 
 for a gradual reduction of the Tariff until 1842, 
 when a twenty per centum should be the rate of 
 duties, until otherwise provided by law. It 
 passed both Houses by quite a large majority, 
 considering the state of parties, the vote being 
 120 to 84 in the House, and 29 to 16 in the 
 Senate. The storm subsided: the country was 
 quieted, and Mr. Clay stood proudly before his 
 countrymen, as the man who had averted col- 
 lision between a State and the Federal adminis- 
 tration, and still maintained the principle of 
 protection. There were not wanting some angry 
 spirits who would have been glad to find the 
 question of resistance brought to the test of 
 force. To such Mr. Clay said : 
 
 "If there be any who want civil war, who 
 want to see the blood of any portion of our coun- 
 tryinen spilt, I am not one of them. I wish to 
 see war of no kind ; but, above all, I do not de- 
 
200 LIFE OF 
 
 sire to see a civil war. When war begins, whe- 
 ther civil or foreign, no human sight is competent 
 to foresee when, or how, or where it is to termi- 
 nate. Bat when a civil war shall be lighted up 
 in the bosom of our own happy land, and enemies 
 are marching, and commanders are winning their 
 victories, and fleets are in motion on our coast, 
 tell me, if you can, tell me if any human being 
 can, tell its duration. God only knows where 
 such a war would end. In what a state will our 
 institutions be left? In what a state our liber- 
 ties ? I want no war ; above all, no war at home. 
 " Sir, I repeat that I think South Carolina has 
 been rash, intemperate and greatly in the wrong ; 
 but I do not want to disgrace her, or any other 
 member of the Union. No : I do not want to 
 see the lustre of one single star dimmed of our 
 glorious confederacy ; still less do I wish to see it 
 blotted out, and its light obliterated for ever. Has 
 not the State of South Carolina been one of the 
 members of this Union in ' the times that tried 
 men's souls?' Have not her ancestors fought 
 along-side our ancestors? Have we not conse- 
 quently won many a glorious battle ? If we had 
 to go into a civil war with such a State, ht)w 
 would it terminate? Whenever it should have 
 
HENRY CLAY. 201 
 
 terminated, what would be her condition? If 
 she should ever return to the Union, what would 
 be the condition of her feelings and affections ? — 
 what the state of the heart of her people ? She 
 has been with us before when her ancestors min- 
 gled in the throng of battle ; and as I hope our 
 posterity will mingle with hers, for centuries to 
 come, in the united defence of liberty, and for 
 the honor and glory of the Union, I do not wish 
 to see her degraded or defaced as a member of 
 this confederacy." 
 
 Such was Mr. Clay's policy — say rather, his 
 humanity — whenever unanimity could be gained 
 by concession and kindness. He was not the man 
 to force his point in an offensive manner, or heed- 
 lessly to exasperate. And in the sober light of 
 approaching age, his opinions of war were modi- 
 fied from the bold stand which he took in the 
 ardor of his youthful patriotism. The details of 
 his conciliatory plan were nurtured by consulta- 
 tion with practical men, as well as politicians; 
 and its passage was secured by personal inter- 
 views and private conversation, as much as by 
 public efforts. 
 
 Here was still another subject upon which Mr. 
 Clay proved himself entitled to the name of " The 
 
202 LIFE OF 
 
 great Pacificator." The government of France, 
 in 1831, agreed, by treaty, to pay the United 
 States Government twenty-five millions of francs 
 for aggressions upon American commerce, subse- 
 quent to 1800. The first instalment, by the terms 
 of the treaty, was to be paid in 1832. The draft 
 of the United States was dishonored by the 
 French Minister of France, no provision having 
 been made to meet it. The President recom- 
 mended to Congress to pass an act authorizing 
 reprisals upon French property, in case provision 
 should not be made by the French Chambers at 
 their next session, for the fulfilment of the 
 treaty. The subject was referred to the Commit- 
 tee of the Senate on Foreign Relations, of which 
 Mr. Clay was Chairman. Great anxiety had ex- 
 isted throughout the country at a posture of 
 afiairs so threatening ; but Mr. Clay's report, of 
 which the Senate ordered the printing of twenty 
 thousand copies, restored public confidence. It 
 concluded with a resolution that it was inexpe- 
 dient to vest authority in the Executive to make 
 reprisals. This resolution was amended to read 
 as follows : " That it is inexpedient, at present, 
 to adopt any legislative action in regard to the 
 state of affairs between the United States and 
 
HENRY CLAY. 203 
 
 France." The resolution as amended, the amend- 
 ments being cordially accepted by Mr. Clay, was 
 passed unanimously. The country was saved 
 from war, and the difficulty between France and 
 the United States was subsequently arrano-ed 
 through the mediation of England. 
 
204 LIFE OF 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS — MR. CLAY'S DEMEANOR UNDER 
 DISAPPOINTMENT — RESIGNATION OF HIS SEAT IN THE 
 SENATE. 
 
 Martin Yan Buren, of New York, succeeded 
 General Jackson in 1836, as President of the 
 United States. Mr. Clay was desired to accept the 
 nomination in competition with Mr. Yan Buren, 
 but declined. Mr. Yan Buren received 170 out 
 of 294 electoral votes, General Harrison receiving 
 73, the next highest number. The other votes 
 were divided among White, Webster, and Man- 
 gum. At the next election, in 1840, Mr. Clay 
 was not a candidate, the choice of the Whig Na- 
 tional Convention falling on General Harrison. 
 Harrison was elected by 234 votes, Mr. Yan 
 Buren receiving 60. It was a matter of deep 
 regret with a great portion of the American peo- 
 ple, that Mr. Clay did not receive the nomination ; 
 and, between the announcement of the name of 
 
 I 
 
HENRY CLAY. 205 
 
 the candidate and the time of the election, there 
 was quite a disposition to put Mr. Clay up, not- 
 withstanding the action of the Convention which 
 nominated Harrison. But Mr. Clay exerted his 
 influence promptly to check any such demonstra- 
 tion. His personal wishes were secondary to his 
 attachment to the principles of which he con- 
 sidered himself the representative ; and he cheer- 
 fully consented that those principles should 
 triumph under the name of the candidate who, 
 it was supposed, would promise more certainty of 
 victory. We cannot resist the impression now, 
 so triumphant was Harrison's election, that Clay 
 would have been chosen, had he been nominated. 
 Experience has, however, demonstrated that the 
 most able and active men in the civil service of 
 the country, by the conscientious performance of 
 duty, make opponents of fractions of the people, 
 while the nation as a whole may applaud ; and 
 the malcontents unite to defeat the election of 
 the man of note and power. 
 
 General Harrison died in a month from the 
 day of his inauguration, and Mr. Tyler, the Vice 
 President, filled his term of office. At the next 
 election, in 1844, Mr. Clay was put in nomina- 
 tion under greater disadvantages than any other 
 
 18 
 
206 LIFE OF 
 
 candidate ever encountered. He had the politi- 
 cal odium of two defeats to contend against; 
 though the first, in 1824, should hardly have 
 been counted ; and in the second he had to con- 
 tend against the unparalleled popularity of Presi- 
 dent Jackson. A worse discouragement than 
 either, was the doubt which his friends threw 
 over his prospects, by their abandonment of him 
 in 1840. Every effort was made to secure his 
 success in 1844, but all could not avail against 
 the discouraging circumstances which we have 
 mentioned, added to the fact that he had been 
 so long talked about, though only once regularly 
 nominated before. An undue confidence was, at 
 a late day, given to his friends by the unexpected 
 nomination of a candidate comparatively un- 
 known, James K. Polk, of Tennessee. The can- 
 vassing for Mr. Clay was, notwithstanding, con- 
 ducted with so much apparent enthusiasm, that 
 his defeat was heard with mingled surprise and 
 grief by those, who, had they suspected the need 
 of exertion, might have given a different result 
 to the contest. 
 
 Mr. Clay bore his misfortune — for a misfortune 
 it was — with great equanimity. It is not to be 
 supposed that he did not deeply feel the defeat. 
 
HENRY CLAY. 207 
 
 But there were many circumstances of relief in 
 the result. Though Mr. Polk received 170 elec- 
 toral votes, and Mr. Clay only 107, yet the popular 
 vote for Mr. Clay was larger by many thousands, 
 than General Harrison received in 1840. And 
 the expressions of attachment and of regret which 
 were conveyed to him, official and individual, and 
 the evidences of esteem which he received from 
 all sections of the Union, showed the singular 
 anomaly of one personally better beloved than 
 any other public man living, yet still unable to 
 carry the popular vote against party tactics. 
 
 In the canvass of 1848, many of Mr. Clay's 
 friends still adhered to their old friend and first 
 choice. Meanwhile, a new candidate for the 
 highest office in the gift of the people, had been 
 thrust upon public attention. Without seeking, 
 without as much as dreaming of the possibility 
 of a nomination to the Presidency, General Zach- 
 ary Taylor was spontaneously nominated in va- 
 rious sections of the country, as the popular 
 candidate for the Presidency. His brilliant mili- 
 tary successes, his amiable heartiness and sim- 
 plicity of character, his marked position as a hero 
 and popular idol, gave him a prestige of success, 
 which the Whig National Convention at Philadel- 
 
208 LIFE OF 
 
 phia did not feel at liberty to slight. After four 
 ballotings. General Taylor received the nomina- 
 tion. He was elected by 163 votes over General 
 Cass, who received 127. Mr. Clay must have 
 been more than human, not to have felt this 
 neglect; but, as on previous occasions, he dis- 
 played his true magnanimity; for if he did not 
 obtrude himself as the advocate of the nomina- 
 tion, he positively interdicted the putting forward 
 of his name as a candidate — a step which some 
 of his friends were on the eve of taking. Mr. 
 Clay never advocated the preference' of military 
 over civil claims for civil office. The honest op- 
 position which he made to General Jackson, and 
 his course in the election, which resulted in the 
 choice of Adams, show that he might not have 
 favored Taylor as President, even though he had 
 no personal interest in the matter. 
 
 Having now connectedly reviewed the later 
 Presidential elections, in which Mr. Clay was 
 interested, we resume the sketch of his Senato- 
 rial labors, and more immediate personal history. 
 During the twelve years preceding his death, Mr. 
 Clay labored as earnestly for the good of his 
 country, as if he had not been a comparatively 
 unrewarded public servant. We have preferred 
 
HENRY CLAY. 209 
 
 to dwell at most length upon his early life, since 
 it is chiefly for his young countrymen that we are 
 writing ; and to such, it is presumed that the ac- 
 count of his beginnings in life will be alike most 
 interesting and useful. 
 
 The death of General Harrison obstructed the 
 measures and the policy contemplated by the 
 leading statesmen in the party who had elected 
 him. The succession of Mr. Tyler exhibited 
 opinions held by that gentleman, for which Mr. 
 Clay and his friends were entirely unprepared. 
 Mr. Clay remained in the Senate until the close 
 of March, 1842, actively and earnestly employed 
 in the furtherance of the measures which he 
 deemed the exigencies of the country required, 
 and then, in pursuance of a resolution w^hich the 
 death of General Harrison had deferred, resigned 
 his seat, retiring, as he supposed, from the Senate 
 for ever. His farewell address was most impres- 
 sive and manly. He frankly acknowledged the 
 ardor and warmth of temperament, which might 
 have made him, in some cases, exceed the limits 
 of courtesy ; and while he tendered apologies to 
 all whom he might have offended, declared, with- 
 out exception and reserve, that he retired from 
 
 18* 
 
210 LIFE OF 
 
 the Senate without carrying with him a feeling 
 of resentment and dissatisfaction. 
 
 At the close of the address, Mr. Preston moved 
 an adjournment. He remarked that what had 
 just taken place, was an epoch in their legislative 
 history ; and from the feeling which was evinced, 
 he saw that there was little disposition to attend 
 to business. The adjournment was carried, but 
 still the members kept their seats. Mr. Clay rose 
 and moved towards the area, and slowly and 
 reluctantly the Senate dispersed, as if loth to 
 believe that the voice to v/hich they had so often 
 listened, was no longer to be the life of their 
 debates. 
 
 An affecting and pleasant incident marked the 
 occasion. For several years there had been an 
 estrangement between Clay and Calhoun. The 
 two old and early friends met. Their eyes filled, 
 recent differences were forgotten, and, with a cor- 
 dial grasp of the hand, and with a mutual inter- 
 change of good wishes, they departed. 
 
 L_ 
 
HENRY CLAY. 211 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 ME. clay's withdrawal FROM PUBLIC LIFE — ANNEXA- 
 TION OF TEXAS — THE TARIFF — LIBERALITY OF MR. 
 clay's friends — SPEECH ON THE IRISH FAMINE — 
 DEATH OF HENRY CLAY, JR. — MR. CLAY'S BAPTISM — 
 HIS JOURNEYS — SPEECH ON COLONIZATION. 
 
 For seven years from the time of his resigna- 
 tion, Mr. Clay lived in private life. One year 
 of his Senatorial term remained when he retired 
 to Kentucky. But of the life of such a man as 
 Mr. Clay, no part could be strictly said to be in 
 retirement ; for wherever he moved, the enthu- 
 siasm of the people and the warmth of friend- 
 ship followed him. In the recess which he took 
 from public labor, he made a journey through 
 several of the Southern States, arriving at Wash- 
 ington in the spring of 1844 — the first time, we 
 believe, that he ever visited that city as a private 
 citizen. His journey was one series of public 
 receptions ; and his opinions on topics of public 
 and national interest were very much sought, 
 and as freely given. 
 
212 LIFE OF 
 
 Mr. Clay returned in May, 1844, to Ashland, and 
 in connexion with his arrival in Kentucky, a 
 pleasant and characteristic anecdote is related. 
 He had just been nominated to the Presidency, 
 and a crowd met him at Lexington, resolved to 
 hear their favorite speak, and to give him a 
 Kentucky welcome. It w^as on Saturdaj^ evening, 
 and he told the multitude he was happy to see 
 them — happy to see every one of them — but 
 there was an excellent old lady in the neighbor- 
 hood whom he had rather see than any one else ! 
 So, bidding them good night, he pressed on for 
 his home. 
 
 Mr. Clay never was reserved in the expression 
 of his opinions. He was too frank to have any 
 concealments, and thus presented many assailable 
 points to opponents who perverted his words. 
 The annexation of Texas began at this time to 
 be mooted, and Mr. Clay, in letters, in speeches, 
 and in conversation, declared against it, predict- 
 ing, as a necessary consequence, the war with 
 Mexico which followed that measure. The an- 
 nexation was consummated under President Tjder. 
 The election came on, and Mr. Polk, as Mr. Ty- 
 ler's successor, inherited the war which Mr. Clay 
 had predicted. The tariff, which had been tern- 
 
HENRY CLAY. 213 
 
 porarily adjusted during Mr. Tyler's administra- 
 tion, was revised under Mr. Polk, and the present 
 system established, of which it is sufficient for us 
 to say that it is a departure from the system 
 which Mr. Clay had so long defended. These and 
 other measures which are at war with the policy 
 of Mr. Clay, were carried during his absence from 
 the Senate. His presence in that body would 
 not, perhaps, have averted the departure from his 
 line of policy. A strong majority was against 
 him ; but still it is a significant fact, that the 
 ^'^ black tariff" of 1828 and the tariff of 1846, 
 the two most objectionable enactments on the 
 subject, were both passed in his absence. 
 
 In rural and legal pursuits, and the restoration 
 of his pecuniary affairs, which attention to the 
 public weal, and too great confidence in others 
 had impaired, Mr. Clay passed the season of his 
 absence from public life. One of the most grate- 
 ful events of his life, was the unsought contribu- 
 tions on the part of his friends, to relieve his 
 estate from claims to which it had become liable 
 by endorsing for another. The amount was over 
 twenty thousand dollars. Well might he exclaim, 
 in view of the bitterness with which his opponents 
 pursued him, and the liberality and affection of 
 
214 LIFE OF 
 
 his friends, " Had ever man such enemies — had 
 ever nyin such friends, as I have !" 
 
 Our limits do not permit us to notice a tithe of 
 the testimonials of respect and affection which 
 Mr. Clay received from all classes. Some of these 
 were of great value ; as for instance, the medal 
 presented by his friends in New York, the work- 
 manship of which alone cost over two thousand 
 dollars. Others were significant from their par- 
 ticular occasion, as the testimony of the gratitude 
 of the sons of Ireland, for his eloquent speech in 
 behalf of their famine-stricken countrymen. Be- 
 ing in New Orleans early in 1847, he was invited 
 to attend a meeting held in behalf of Ireland ; 
 and his speech was worthy of the theme and of 
 the man. The effect of the speech was electric 
 on those who heard it, and on the public ear it 
 fell great among the many great appeals which 
 that occasion called forth. The honored of the 
 South American patriots became beloved among 
 the sufferers in Ireland. In the letter begging 
 his acceptance of their testimonial — a service of 
 splendid cutlery — the donors said, "It must be 
 an abiding joy to your generous heart, to know 
 that American benevolence is devoutly blessed in 
 parishes and cabins, where even your name, illus- 
 
HENRY CLAY. 215 
 
 trious as it is, had hardly been heard before the 
 famine ; and that thousands have been impelled, 
 by their deliverance from the worst effects of that 
 dire calamity, to invoke blessings on the head of 
 Henry Clay." 
 
 While ever ready to commiserate the woes of 
 others, Mr. Clay has had, in his own household, 
 many sorrows. Of eleven children, four only 
 survive him; and one of these, his eldest son, 
 has been for many years the inmate of a retreat 
 for the insane. One of his sons, Henry Clay, jr., 
 fell at Buena Yista, while gallantly leading his 
 men. He was a graduate of West Point, and the 
 highest testimony is borne to his character as a 
 soldier and a man. His loss was Mr. Clay's direct 
 share in the miseries of the war which he depre- 
 cated ; and on no occasion could he afterward 
 allude to it, without the deepest emotion. 
 
 Following the reception of the news of this 
 great affliction, we find Mr. Clay making a 
 public profession in baptism of his faith in the 
 Christian religion. His father, as we have noted, 
 was a clergyman — his brother is also ; and they 
 both are members of a denomination — the Bap- 
 tist — which does not recognize the validity of 
 the sacrament administered to infants. From 
 
216 LIFE OF 
 
 this circumstance arose the fact that the veteran 
 statesman, in his seventieth year, was, with his 
 daughter-in-law and four of his grand-children, 
 admitted by baptism into the church. It was a 
 touching testimony to the consolations, which 
 truly great minds find in the profession of Christ, 
 that Mr. Clay, the idol of a great nation, should 
 bow, in his age, like a little child, and with little 
 children, before Him who is no respecter of per- 
 sons. His life needed only this to give him the 
 highest claim to the love and veneration of his 
 compatriots. The sacrament was administered 
 by the "Rev. Edward F. Berkely, of Christ (Pro- 
 testant Episcopal) Church, Lexington, where for 
 many years Mr. Clay had been a w^orshipper. 
 
 In the winter of 1847-8, Mr. Clay was drawn 
 to Washington on professional business. The 
 amount of physical and mental labor of which he 
 was at this time capable, is wonderful, when we 
 consider his advanced age. He had, during the 
 season previous, visited New Orleans and returned 
 to Ashland, and thence gone to Cape May, and 
 returned, again to leave for Washington. His 
 journeys, it must be remembered, were not the 
 quiet passages of an unknown man ; but at every 
 
HENRY CLAY. 217 
 
 considerablepointhehad speeches to make — often 
 without previous notice. 
 
 Oratory was his element, and on fittino; occa- 
 sions he could not resist, though when necessity 
 exacted, he could dismiss thousands in good 
 humor with a word. In Baltimore, on one occa- 
 sion, when the house in which he was a guest 
 was besieged by his admirers, he offered them, in 
 playful terms, a '^compromised If they would 
 let him alone, he would let them alone. He dis- 
 missed a throng in Philadelphia with similar 
 badinage. Wit and humor were as ready with 
 him as pathos. An amusing instance occurred 
 during Jackson's administration. Mr. Yan Buren 
 as Vice-President, presided in the Senate. Mr. 
 Clay, in the most pathetic terms, depicted the 
 distress of the country, and begged Mr. Yan 
 Buren, since he had the President's ear, to make 
 the representation to General Jaekson. On the 
 next morning Mr. Clay gravely asked him, 
 "Well, Mr. Yan Buren, did you carry my mes- 
 sage?" At Mrs. Polk's table, in Washington, 
 Mr. Clay said, " No one complains of your ad- 
 ministration, madam — but I have heard some 
 complaint of your husband's." 
 
 While in Washington, in 1848, Mr. Clay made 
 one of his most splendid speeches in behalf of the 
 
 19 
 
218 LIFE OF 
 
 Colonization Society, at its anniversary meeting. 
 It was remarkable no less for its retrospective facts, 
 than for its eloquence. We may note here that 
 in 1849, when the subject of emancipation and 
 colonization was before the people of Kentucky, 
 in connexion with a revision of their Constitution, 
 Mr. Clay addressed a letter to them, advocating 
 the same policy which he had defended, on a 
 similar occasion, nearly fifty years before. He 
 wished the principle of gradual emancipation 
 incorporated in the new instrument. His appeal 
 was unsuccessful. This circumstance affords 
 another proof of the practical and broad philan- 
 thropy of the man. He never defended slavery 
 in the abstract, — and was therefore denounced, 
 by ultra pro-slavery men, as an abolitionist. He 
 knew the South, and understood what appeared 
 feasible, and what not, and declined to destroy 
 his general usefulness, by limited pursuit of one 
 idea. This caused the ultra opponents of slavery 
 to denounce him on the other hand. His broad 
 and statesmanlike views embraced the whole sub- 
 ject, in all its bearings and difficulties ; and by this 
 course, while the over-zealous condemned him, 
 the judicious admit, that with a majority of 
 statesmen like Mr. Clay, the evil of slavery would 
 be gradually, as thus only it can be safely, abated. 
 
HENRY CLAY. 219 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 MR. CLAY RETURNS TO THE SENATE — THE COMPROMISE 
 OF 1850 — THE RIVER AND HARBOR BILL OP 1851. 
 
 Mr. Clay was unanimously chosen a Senator 
 of the United States for the term commencing on 
 the 4th of March, 1849. He had previously been 
 offered the appointment to fill a vacancy, but de- 
 clined, though he did not feel at liberty to slight 
 the unanimous wish of his constituents, as ex- 
 pressed by their choice without a dissenting voice. 
 The peculiar position of public affairs, and the 
 indications of a new collision between the North 
 and South upon the slavery question, no doubt 
 influenced Mr. Clay's course ; and the service he 
 rendered in Congress gave him, at the close of 
 his life, a new title to the national gratitude. 
 
 Texas had been annexed in his absence from 
 Congress ; the Mexican war had closed with a 
 new and immense accession of territory, inclu- 
 ding the disputed boundaries of Texas, which 
 
220 LIFE OF 
 
 had led to the war between Mexico and the Uni- 
 ted States. And now came the same boundary 
 dispute between the United States and Texas, the 
 lands in question having been ceded to the Uni- 
 ted States by the Treaty with Mexico. The last 
 session of Congress under Mr. Polk's administra- 
 tion, was spent in a struggle relative to the 
 organization of Territorial governments in the 
 newly acquired country. The House of Repre- 
 sentatives, in 1848, passed a resolution, as pro- 
 posed by Mr. Wilmot, of Pennsylvania, and since 
 called by his name, declaring that no territory, 
 acquired from Mexico at the close of the war, 
 should be open to the introduction of slavery. 
 This " proviso" was rejected by the Senate. The 
 session of 1848-9 went by without the settle- 
 ment of the territorial government question, the 
 House insisting upon the interdiction of slavery, 
 and the Senate rejecting any such restriction. 
 
 On the 29th of January, 1850, Mr. Clay intro- 
 duced into the Senate of the United States a 
 series of resolutions, for the settlement of the 
 questions in controversy. The first provided for 
 the admission of Cahfornia into the Union. The 
 second declared that as slavery did not exist by 
 law, and was not likely to be introduced into any 
 
HENRY CLAY. 221 
 
 of the territory acquired from Mexico by treaty, 
 legislation on the subject was unnecessary. The 
 third and fourth resolutions fixed the boundary 
 of Texas, and provided for the payment to Texas 
 of a sum afterward to be fixed for the relinquish- 
 ment of New Mexico. The fifth resolution de- 
 clared the inexpediency of abolishing slavery in 
 the District of Columbia, while it still existed in 
 Maryland. The sixth resolution declared the 
 expediency of prohibiting the slave trade in the 
 District. The seventh declared the necessity of 
 providing, by law, for the delivery of fugitive 
 slaves; and the eighth denied the jurisdiction of 
 the United States over the slave trade between 
 slave States. 
 
 After several days' debate, Mr. Clay having 
 supported his propositions by a two days' speech, 
 the whole subject was referred to a committee of 
 thirteen, of which Mr. Clay was Chairman. The 
 committee reported on the 8th of May, and their 
 report was debated for nearly three months. The 
 leading Senators all spoke upon it. The bill ac- 
 companying the report was called, in familiar 
 language, " The Omnibus Bill," from the great 
 variety of subjects which it embraced. The ad- 
 mission of California; the boundary of Texas, the 
 
 19* 
 
222 LIFE OF 
 
 right of new States formed out of Texas to be 
 admitted without regard to slavery, and the 
 establishment of Territorial governments for 
 Utah and New Mexico, all were included in this 
 cumbrous bill. The only part left after three 
 months' debate, was the section establishing a 
 government for Utah. California was afterwards 
 admitted by a separate act. In separate bills, the 
 rest of the subjects were also disposed of. New 
 Mexico was organized, the limits of Texas were 
 defined, and acts were passed for the abolition of 
 the slave trade in the District of Columbia, and 
 for the arrest of fugitive slaves. 
 
 Mr. Clay labored as far as his health would 
 permit, in the business of this very laborious ses- 
 sion. But he was no longer the indefatigable 
 legislator. Physical debility, arising from in- 
 creasing age, impaired his powers, and lessened 
 his capacity for endurance. During the month 
 of August he was necessarily absent, endeavoring, 
 by repose and medical treatment, to restore his 
 exhausted energies. 
 
 The Compromise measures formed the last im- 
 portant public business in which Mr. Clay took an 
 active part. His sentiments upon the subject of 
 slavery, and his desire for its gradual abolition, we 
 
HENRY CLAY. 223 
 
 have already exhibited. He stood before Congress 
 in the Compromise debate, as a slaveholder, and 
 the representative of slaveholders ; and from his 
 speeches, we know that the concessions made by 
 the South in the matter, though less than Mr. 
 Clay desired, were more than any other states- 
 man could have procured. Mr. Clay believed in 
 the right of Congress to abolish slavery in the 
 District of Columbia, as he showed, by simply 
 denying its expediency — leaving the matter of 
 right out of the question. But his Southern 
 compatriots avoided any expression, by resolu- 
 tion, which could convey this sentiment, even by 
 implication. So far as slavery is touched in the 
 " Compromise," no new right is claimed for the 
 South ; the restoration of fugitives being guaran- 
 tied by the Constitution. The surrender of the 
 slave trade in the District, is a concession which 
 impliedly abandons the defence of the traffic — a 
 concession, the importance of which, in a moral 
 point of view, is much better understood and felt 
 at the South, than the North ; and to the South, 
 the North owes a much higher appreciation of 
 this concession, than it has received. And as to 
 slavery in the new territory, California has shown 
 what is likely to be the result of leaving its legal- 
 
224 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 ity, or illegality, un affirmed. Mr. Webster and 
 Mr. Clay, with other eminent men, coincided in 
 the opinion, that this point of slavery will adjust 
 itself. Mr. Clay said, in introducing the subject: 
 ^^ From all that I have heard or read, from the 
 testimony of all the witnesses I have seen or con- 
 versed with, from all that has transpired or is 
 transpiring, I do believe, that not within one foot 
 of the territory acquired by us from Mexico, will 
 slavery ever be planted ; and I believe it could 
 not be done, even by the force and power of 
 public authority." Such were Mr. Clay's opinions. 
 Such also were Mr. Webster's, who expressed them 
 in terms even more emphatic. 
 
 Mr. Clay returned to Kentucky during the 
 recess of Congress. He came again to Washing- 
 ton to attend the next session of Congress, but 
 did not appear in his seat until the 16th of De- 
 cember. He took little part in the proceedings 
 of the Senate, being drawn to Washington more, 
 probably, to watch the operation of the Compro- 
 mise policy, than from any other motive. Upon 
 the occasion of presenting some petitions for a 
 revision of the Tariff, Mr. Clay made some de- 
 "cided, but temperate remarks. But, on the pas- 
 sage of the River and Harbor Appropriation Bill, 
 the fire of old seemed to be reawakened. It was 
 
HENRY CLAY. 225 
 
 not taken up until the first day of March, three 
 days only before the close of the session ; and its 
 opponents defeated it by questions of amendment 
 and other party manoeuvres, consuming the time 
 till the session was closed. Mr. Clay spoke 
 earnestly, but in vain, and the bill was laid over, 
 unacted upon. 
 
 Among the first efforts of Mr. Clay in Congress, 
 as the reader will doubtless recollect, were speeches 
 in advocacy of " Internal Improvement." He first 
 procured the formal declaration of the principle, 
 by a resolution offered by him in February, 1807, 
 and passed almost unanimously. And in March, 
 1851, his voice was heard for the last time in 
 the Capitol, defending the policy of which he had 
 commenced the advocacy forty-five years before. 
 
 How had the times changed since then ! Many 
 of his early co-laborers had long been in their 
 graves ; and of those who continued a long politi- 
 cal life with him, the last survivors were dropping 
 away. J. Q. Adams, who shared with him labor 
 and undeserved obloquy, had but lately descended 
 to the tomb. Calhoun, his early friend, died du- 
 ring the discussion of the Compromise bill. Cal- 
 houn, Clay and Webster, all participated in the 
 labors of that famous session. All were members 
 of the Senate in 1850 — all are now in the grave. 
 
226 LIFE OF 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 MR. clay's last illness — INTERVIEW WITH KOSSUTH — 
 HIS DEMEANOR IN THE SICK-ROOM — HIS DEATH. 
 
 "We are now drawing to " the last scene of all." 
 Mr. Clay returned to Washington with the inten- 
 tion to resume his seat in the Senate, at the com- 
 mencement of the session of 1851-2. But the 
 condition of his health w^as such, that he was 
 unable to take any part in the public business. 
 The recess had been calmly passed at Ashland ; 
 and if Mr. Clay had been governed by motives 
 of selfish prudence, he would not have ventured 
 upon the journey to Washington. 
 
 While he was confined to his sick chamber, 
 Louis Kossuth, the Hungarian orator, visited 
 Washington, by invitation of Congress. His 
 speeches, wherever he had travelled in the Uni- 
 ted States, had awakened an enthusiasm in his 
 behalf, almost unprecedented ; and not a few of 
 the members of the national legislature partook 
 
HENRY CLAY. 227 
 
 of the feeling. During a previous session, Mr. 
 Clay had opposed a resolution offered by Senator 
 Cass, for suspending diplomatic intercourse with 
 Austria, and had indicated, as a much better 
 mode of showing sympathy for Hungary, the ex- 
 tension of relief to the exiles driven out by Aus- 
 trian oppression. He exposed the danger and 
 impolicy of becoming entangled in European 
 politics, and defended the settled policy of the 
 United States " non-intervention in the affairs of 
 other nations." And when Kossuth arrived in 
 Washington, Mr. Clay gracefully and eloquently 
 expressed the same opinions, at an interview to 
 which the illustrious Hungarian was admitted in 
 his apartment. This was the last act of Mr. 
 Clay's life which had any bearing upon public 
 measures, if we except his acquiescence in the 
 nomination of a Presidential candidate, made by 
 the Whig party. His own choice had been dif- 
 ferent ; but, as on previous occasions, he was ever 
 ready to waive his personal preferences, where no 
 sacrifice of principle was involved in the surren- 
 der. 
 
 Mr. Clay died on the morning of the 29th of 
 June, 1852, in the seventy-fifth year of his age. 
 His death was occasioned by a decay of his phys- 
 
228 LIFE OF 
 
 ical powers, precipitated by his intense labors 
 during the passage of the third great Compromise. 
 
 The following account of Mr. Clay's demeanor 
 in the sick room, is by Rev. C. M. Butler, of 
 Washington : 
 
 "At the time when he was very feeble, and 
 not expecting to survive but a few days, (though 
 he afterwards rallied,) I was in the habit of visit- 
 ing him every day. This visit was made in the 
 afternoon. At that time, although he was able 
 to be off his couch but about two hours, he was 
 in the habit of being dressed as carefully, even to 
 his boots and his watch, as if he were about to go 
 to the Senate Chamber — a habit which showed 
 his love of neatness and order, and which it re- 
 quired a vast amount of energy to sustain — and 
 then to see his friends before and after dinner. 
 It so happened that on one occasion when I 
 called, I found him so exhausted that he was in 
 haste to return to his bed, and was unable to join 
 with me in my usual religious service. For seve- 
 ral days after I was prevented from seeing him 
 by parish duty. Mr. Clay sent for me, and ex- 
 pressed the fear that I had not been to see him, 
 because he might have seemed irritable and im- 
 patient when I was last with him. I assured him 
 
HENRY CLAY. 229 
 
 that I had not observed the slightest evidence of 
 anything but excessive weariness, and had been 
 detained by unavoidable duty elsewhere. In the 
 kindest terms he enjoined me not to allow him to 
 become troublesome. So considerate — so kind — 
 so humble — so fearful of wounding and giving 
 trouble — how could it be otherwise, than that 
 the favored group who were permitted to minister 
 at his bed-side, learned to love him with singular 
 tenderness and tenacity of affection?'* 
 
 Rev. Dr. Butler was a frequent visiter at Mr. 
 Clay's bed-side, and, at his request, held religious 
 services in his apartment, at one time, as often as 
 once a day. The account of his last reception of 
 the Lord's Supper, has a mournful, yet delightful 
 interest. " Being extremely feeble, and desirous 
 of having his mind undiverted, no persons were 
 present but his son and servant. It was a scene 
 long to be remembered. There, in that still 
 chamber, at a weekday noon, — the tides of life 
 all flowing strong around us, — three disciples of 
 the Savior, — the minister of God, the dying 
 statesman, and his servant, a partaker of the like 
 precious faith, commemorated their Savior's dying 
 love. He joined in the blessed sacrament with 
 great feeling and solemnity, now pressing his 
 
 20 
 
230 LIFE OF 
 
 hands together, and now spreading them forth, 
 as words of the service expressed the feehngs, 
 desires, supplications and thanksgivings of his 
 heart. After this, he rallied, and again I was often 
 permitted to join with him in religious services, 
 conversation, and j)rayer. He grew in grace, and 
 in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus 
 Christ. Among the books that he read most, 
 were Jay's Morning and Evening Exercises, the 
 Life of Dr. Chalmers, and the Christian Philoso- 
 pher Triumphant in Death. His hope continued 
 to the end, though true and real, to be tremulous 
 with humility, rather than rapturous with as- 
 surance. When he felt most the weariness of his 
 protracted sufferings, it sufficed to suggest to him 
 that his Heavenly Father doubtless knew that, 
 after a life so long, stirring, and tempted, such a 
 , discipline of chastening and suffering was needful 
 to make him meet for the inheritance of the 
 saints ; and at once the words of meek and pa- 
 tient acquiescence escaped his lips. Exhausted 
 nature at length gave way. 
 
 " On the last occasion when I was permitted to 
 offer a brief prayer at his bedside, his last words 
 to me were, that he had hope only in Christ, and 
 that the prayer which I had offered for His par- 
 
 
HENRY CLAY. 231 
 
 doning love, and his sanctifying grace, included 
 everything which the dying need. On the even- 
 ing previous to his departure, sitting an hour in 
 silence by his side, I could not but realize, when 
 I heard him in the slight wanderings of his mind 
 to other days and other scenes, murmuring the 
 words, ^My mother, mother, mother;' and say- 
 ing, ' My dear wife,' as if she were present. I 
 could not but realize then, and rejoice to think 
 how near was the blessed reunion of his weary 
 heart with the loved dead, and with her. Our 
 dear Lord, gently smooth her passage to the tomb, 
 who must soon follow him to his rest, whose 
 spirits even then seemed to visit and to cheer his 
 memory and his hope. Gently he breathed his 
 soul away into the spirit world. 
 
 ^How blest the righteous when they diel 
 When holy souls retu-e to rest, 
 How mildly beams the closing eye 
 How gently heaves the expiring breast! 
 So fades a summer cloud away, 
 So sinks the gale when storms are o'er; 
 So gently shuts the eye of day, 
 So dies the wave upon the shore/ 
 
 ; )y 
 
232 LIFE OF 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 SPEECHES IN CONGRESS — FUNERAL HONORS — BURIAL AT 
 LEXINGTON — CONCLUSION. 
 
 The intelligence of the decease of Henry Clay 
 was instantly circulated, and both Houses of Con- 
 gress adjourned before any formal report was 
 communicated to them. His death — long as it 
 had been expected — was not so immediately anti- 
 cipated. On their way to the Capitol, the mem- 
 bers heard the rumor, and met only to adjourn. 
 
 On the next day, in the Senate, Mr. Under- 
 wood, Mr. Clay's colleague, formally announced 
 his death, and proceeded in a graceful eulogy. 
 Other Senators followed : Messrs. Lewis Cass, 
 K. M. T. Hunter, John P. Hale, Jeremiah Cle- 
 mens, James Cooper, WilHam H. Seward, G. W. 
 Jones, and Walter Brooke. Men of all parties 
 and shades of political opinion, and representing 
 various sections of the country, and different 
 interests, were unanimous in their award of high 
 honor to Henry Clay. In the House of Eepre- 
 
HENRY CLAY. 233 
 
 sentatives, Mr. Breckenridge announced the de- 
 cease of the illustrious Senator. From his speech 
 we extract one paragraph, which places Mr. Clay 
 in a truly noble light. His countrymen, of all 
 parties, w^ill endorse it : — 
 
 " The life of Henry Clay is a striking example 
 of the abiding fame which surely awaits the direct 
 and candid statesman. The entire absence of 
 equivocation or disguise in all his acts, was the 
 master-key to the popular heart; for while the 
 people will forgive the errors of a bold and open 
 nature, he sins past forgiveness who deliberately 
 deceives them. Hence Mr. Clay, though often 
 defeated in his measures of policy, always secured 
 the respect of his opponents, without losing the 
 confidence of his friends. He never paltered in 
 a double sense. The country never was in doubt 
 as to his opinions and his purposes. In all the 
 contests of his time, his position in great public 
 questions was as clear as the sun in a cloudless 
 sky. Standing by the grave of this great man, 
 and considering these things, how contemptible 
 appears the mere legerdemain of politics ! What 
 a reproach is his life on that false policy, which 
 would trifle with a great and upright people. If 
 I were to write his epitaph, I would inscribe, as 
 
234 LIFE OF 
 
 the highest eulogy, on the stone which shall mark 
 his resting place, ' Here lies a man who was in 
 the public service fifty years, and never attempted 
 to deceive his countrymen/ " 
 
 Twelve of the members of the House followed 
 Mr. Breckenridge — representing, as in the speeches 
 of the Senators, every class of the American peo- 
 ple. If we were to select honorable specimens 
 of Congressional oratory, we could find no fitter 
 speeches than those — honorable as they are to 
 the patriotism, the feeling, and the justice of Mr. 
 Clay's opponents, as well as his political friends. 
 The nation endorses the verdict on the Noble 
 Man whose declaration was^ " I would rather be 
 RIGHT than President." 
 
 On Thursday, July 1, the remains of Henry 
 Clay were removed from the National Hotel to 
 the Senate Chamber, attended by a long funeral 
 cortege, civil and military. The Rev. Dr. Butler 
 read the Burial Service of the Episcopal Church, 
 which includes the greater part of the XVth 
 Chapter of the 1st Epistle to the Corinthians. 
 He pronounced also a solemn and impressive dis- 
 course, founded on the seventeenth verse of the 
 forty-eighth chapter of Jeremiah : " How is the . 
 strong staJ0f broken and the beautiful rod !" We 
 
HENRY CLAY. 235 
 
 have already quoted from the discourse in a pre- 
 vious chapter, and here subjoin the closing words 
 — the religious life of the illustrious deceased 
 having just been reviewed by the reverend 
 orator : — 
 
 " Be it ours to follow him in the same humble 
 and submissive faith to heaven. Could he speak 
 to us the counsels of his latest human and of his 
 present heavenly experiences, sure I am that he 
 would not only admonish us to cling to the Savior, 
 in sickness and in death, bnt abjure us not to 
 delay — to act upon our first convictions, that we 
 might give our best power and full influence for 
 God, and go to the grave with a hope unshadowed 
 by the long worldliness of the past, and darkened 
 by no films of fear and doubt resting over the 
 future. The ^strong staff is broken,' and the 
 ' beautiful rod' despoiled of its grace and bloom, 
 but in the light of the eternal promise, and by 
 the power of Christ's resurrection, we joyfully 
 anticipate the prospect of seeing that broken 
 staff erect, and that beautiful rod clothed with 
 celestial grace, and blossoming with undying life 
 and blessedness in the paradise of God." 
 
 Soon after the close of the service, the remains 
 of Mr. Clay, suitably attended by Senators depu- 
 
236 LIFE OF 
 
 ted for that office of mournful honor, left Wash- 
 ington for Baltimore. Here for the night the 
 body lay in state, in the rotundo of the Exchange, 
 a military corps, the Independent Grays, being 
 its guard of honor. Thousands passed through 
 the building to look their last upon the remains 
 of the patriot ; and a feeling of the deepest sor- 
 row seemed to pervade the city. 
 
 On Friday evening the funeral cortege reached 
 Philadelphia. It was met, at the railroad depot, 
 by the marshals and other officers appointed by 
 the municipal authorities of Philadelphia and 
 the districts. The body was removed to a hearse 
 appropriately decorated, and drawn by six dark 
 horses, all the appointments intended, so far as 
 funeral magnificence can go, to testify the deep 
 grief of Philadelphians for his death, and their 
 respect for his memory. A procession two miles 
 in length followed the hearse. The Philadelphia 
 Washington Grays preceded the body as an escort, 
 and the First City Troop followed as a guard of 
 honor. The line was formed of municipal bodies, 
 delegations from other cities and States, societies 
 of various names, the clergy in carriages, citizens 
 mounted and on foot. Conspicuous, and most 
 imposing by their numbers and appearance, were 
 
 
THE TORCH-LIGHT PROCESSION. 
 
HENRY CLAY. 237 
 
 tlie Firemen of the city and county, who appeared 
 in citizen's dress, wearing uniform suits of black, 
 with white vests and gloves, and bearing torches 
 and appropriate transparencies and banners, which 
 much enhanced the solemn effect. Bands of music 
 played dirge-like airs, the bells tolled, minute-guns 
 were fired ; and, save these sounds and the heavy 
 fall of so many thousand feet, nothing broke the 
 silence of the night. No voice was heard — no 
 accident of any nature marred the deep solemnity 
 of the scene. 
 
 It was midnight when the head of the proces- 
 sion reached Independence Square. The coffin 
 was borne by the pall-bearers, preceded by the 
 Chief Marshal, and the Clergy in robes, and fol- 
 lowed by the Congressional and other Committees, 
 up the main avenue to the Hall of Independence, 
 where the corpse was laid in state, upon a bier, 
 adorned with natural flowers. And here in the 
 Hall, where a few years before Mr. Clay so touch- 
 ingly alluded to the death of Mr. Adams, and 
 where the remains of that distinguished patriot 
 rested, Mr. Clay's body lay in state. The body 
 was surrendered in a feeling speech, by the Chief 
 Marshal, Major Fritz, into the keeping of the 
 City Authorities. The Chairman of the Com- 
 
238 LIFE OF 
 
 mittee of Arrangements, Mr. Wetherill, was so 
 overcome by his feelings, that he could not reply. 
 As each one of the spectators admitted, passed 
 around the bier, and took a last look at the coffin, 
 then encircled in a wreath of green, and rare 
 flowers, the silence of death pervaded the room. 
 Tears were freely shed, and the deepest sorrow 
 was depicted in every countenance. 
 
 Again at New York the funeral train made a 
 pause, and on Monday moved again for Albany. 
 During the stay in New York, over thirty thou- 
 sand persons passed through the City Hall, look- 
 ing, as they moved, upon the sealed coffin which 
 contained all that remains on earth of the man 
 so deeply loved. Thence by Albany, Rochester, 
 Buffalo, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Louisville, to Lex- 
 ington the sad procession moved — ever calling 
 out from the heart of the people, the evidences 
 of love and respect. Once, through the long line 
 of his conquests, moved the remains of the con- 
 queror of the old world, whose military renown 
 rested on the ruins of a world laid waste. But 
 the conqueror of the new, the subduer of hearts, 
 won a greater victory in his death — the removal 
 of the last trace of political bitterness, the verdict 
 of a nation in his praise ; and wherever the train 
 
HENRY CLAY. 239 
 
 approached, all else was forgotten, and all other 
 men faded out of sight, before the memory of 
 Henry Clay. 
 
 On Friday the tenth of July, the remains of 
 Henry Clay were deposited in their resting place 
 in Lexington, a concourse of at least thirty thou- 
 sand people being present, and participating in 
 the ceremonies. The funeral services were per- 
 formed at Ashland, according to the rites of the 
 Episcopal Church, by Rev. E. F. Berkely, of Lex- 
 ington. A large platform draped with black cloth, 
 was placed in front of the main entrance to the 
 house where was placed the coffin, upon which 
 were strewn flowers of the choicest kind : on the 
 breast was placed the beautiful wreath made from 
 the " Immortelle," brought from France, and pre- 
 sented by Mrs. Ann S. Stephens, the poetess. 
 The civic wreath presented by the Clay Festival 
 Association of New York, with a similar request, 
 adorned the top, while the laurel wreath from 
 Philadelphia, and the bouquets from Baltimore 
 and Washington, were placed around it. 
 
 But we must cease the enumeration of the 
 posthumous honors which he received, whose 
 death revealed how deep was his hold upon the 
 American heart. The last fact we have to write 
 
240 LIFE OF HENRY CLAY. 
 
 is the evidence which Mr. Clay left in his will, 
 of his respect for his principle in relation to a 
 great public question — the principle which he 
 avowed in his youth, and re-affirmed in his age. 
 That instrument provides that the children of his 
 slaves, born after the 1st of January, 1850, are 
 to be liberated and sent to Liberia — the males at 
 the age of 28 years, and the females at the age 
 of 25. Three years' earnings prior to their 
 emancipation, are to be reserved for their benefit, 
 for the purpose of fitting them out; and prior 
 to the removal they are to be taught to read, 
 write, and cypher. The slaves in being before 
 1850, are bequeathed to his family. 
 
 Henry Clay is now no longer a disputed name ; 
 he is no more the partisan, for death has made 
 his fame the national legacy — the world's pos- 
 session. The grim conqueror has wrested from 
 'pa^iy what was meant for mankind ; and unborn 
 generations who shall share the benefits which he 
 aided to establish as unquestioned human rights, 
 will revere his memory. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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