^University Library

39002008470677

YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

FUBLTSHED BTA. S.KKSLBES fc Co BBWiyDIlKl,FClE I

THE

LIEE AID TIMES

OF

HENRY CLAY.

BY CALVIN COLTON,
AUTHOR OF THE " JUNIUS TRACTS" — " FOUR YEARS IN GREAT BRITAIN" — " TOUR OF
THE AMERICAN LAKES," ETC.

IN TWO VOLUMES,
VOL. I.

NE W YORK:
PUBLISHED BY A. S. BARNES & CO.,
51 JOHN STREET.
1846.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1845,
By CALVIN COLTON,
iu the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, in and for the Southern
District of New York.

STEREOTYPED BY REDFIELD & SAVAGE,
13 Chambers Street, N. Y.
C A. ALVOKD, PRINTER,
CORNER OF JOHN AND DUTCH STREETS.

DEDICATION.

TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE,
To whose service, welfare, and happiness, the subject of
this work,
HENEY CLAY,
has consecrated a long life of toil and self-saerifice, of which
they are competent witnesses, and will be honest judges, this
production, conscientiously composed, though not claiming to
be free from the imperfections which characterize all human
efforts, is most respectfully dedicated by the Author,
C. COLTON.
New Yoek, October, 1845.

INTRODUCTION.

The first thing to be encountered as a subject of criticism, in
the publication of this work, is the writing of a man's biography
before he has passed from the stage. This is easily disposed of
by the fact, that Mr. Clay's life has already been written more
times than any man living can tell. It is also answered by the
consideration, that having spent his life in the public service, Mr.
Clay's history is public property. His character, his principles,
his policy, his measures, and all his acts, as an American states
man, are identified with the history of the country, and with the
public and private interests of the people. Occupying this posi
tion, it is obvious, that they can not be too soon, or too well, or
too generally known. To say that they are known, is not strictly
true, for all the practical purposes required. His history, as a
public man, is scattered over a boundless field, which no one per
son, not expressly devoted to the task, will ever survey. Its en-
tireness is not available for use, except as it is brought together
and concentrated. The author has considered there was a de
mand for this, and this belief was the motive of his undertaking.
He has never asked Mr. Clay's leave, but only announced his pur
pose. It is due to Mr. Clay, to say, that so far from inviting the
task, or affording any encouragement, except that of politeness,
he has from the beginning and at all times, discouraged an early
publication. When the author wrote to him in the fall of 1 844, to
say, that he had concluded to enter without delay, on the com
pletion of his work — the project of which had been before an
nounced to him — and that he would soon be at Lexington, to
avail himself of the best and most indispensable aids, Mr. Clay

6 INTRODUCTION.
wrote to him to defer coming, which communication was on its
way east, while the author was going west, and passed him.
All the author desired was, that he might be permitted to exe
cute his own plan, and be favored with the necessary facilities,
which none but Mr. Clay could afford, by answering the author's
inquiries, by giving access to his papers and correspondence, and by
consenting to render such other aids as would insure correctness
in matters of fact. This the author deemed of the highest impor
tance. But the plan and execution of the work are the author's
alone. Mr. Clay did not believe that the demand for the work
would be sufficient to sustain the expense of it, and as his last ad
vice, the author received from him a letter, dated March 21, 1845,
of which the following is an extract : " I am afraid you are too
sanguine. So far as it [the work] relates to me, it will daily lose
its interest. I should be distressed, if it should involve you in
expense. You must acquit me of all charge of encouraging you."
The expression, " so far as relates to me," refers to the original
plan of the work, which contemplated more history, and four vol
umes, instead of two.
But the author never allowed himself to believe, that the diffi
dence of Mr. Clay upon this subject, was a rule to determine the
importance or propriety of his undertaking, however he might feel
constrained to defer to such authority on questions of state. On
the contrary, the author has felt, that a compilation of Mr. Clay's
public history was alike necessary and desirable for public pur
poses, and for private instruction.
The author has used Mr. Clay's papers and correspondence en
tirely at his own discretion, and Mr. Clay has been equally igno
rant, as the public, as to what parts of those documents were used
or for what purposes, till the work was stereotyped and submitted
to him in the printed form, with the request, that he would point
out any errors he might discover.
A man who has been for forty years constantly before the pubhc
eye, whose character and course in the minutest detail, have foi
most of that period, been a common topic of debate, scrutiny, and
criticism, occupies a very different position from that of ordinary

INTRODUCTION. 7
private individuals. The question is not, whether his character
and acts shall be publicly considered ; for that can not be pre
vented ; but whether his story shall be faithfully and truly told ?
It has been a question with the author, how far it would be suit
able and expedient for him to show his respect for Mr. Clay ;
whether he should write this work, as if he cared no more for its
subject, than for any other man ; whether he should appear as an
historian, or as a biographer, or whether he should combine the
two ; whether he should betray what he thinks, and how he feels,
not only in regard to his subject of biography, but on any or all
of the subjects brought under consideration, political questions,
measures, and so on ; or whether he should simply compose a
statement of facts, totally void of a sense of interest ? His rea
sonings on this comprehensive question resulted in the conclusion,
first, that the main subject is one that entitles to the exercise of a
feeling of some interest, and that, if not morally impossible, it
would be affectation, to attempt to conceal it ; next, that the de
fence of Mr. Clay against those who have done him wrong, and
the vindication of his character from aspersions, would necessarily
excite feeling to a considerable extent, because such defence in
volves fault in other quarters ; thirdly, that the great political ques
tions required to be handled, are, in their nature, matters of inter
est ; fourthly, and consequently, that there was no escape from the
imputation of unfairness, whatever course the author might pursue ;
fifthly, that, if it had been possible to be indifferent, indifference
would enervate the character of the work, divest it of interest, and
destroy its effect ; sixthly, that it is possible for a writer to be per
fectly fair and true, and yet not be indifferent ; and therefore the
author has allowed his respect for the subject of his work to ap
pear, and has neither taken pains to conceal, nor to utter his pri
vate opinion, on one subject or another. He has no reason to ex
pect, that this work will be read with satisfaction by those who en
tertain opinions opposed to his, and he has made up his mind to
acquiesce in this misfortune, if, indeed, it be one, in hope of the
good that may be accomplished in other quarters. He expects
and is willing, that his work should be scrutinized; he does not

8 INTRODUCTION.
anticipate that it will produce universal satisfaction ; the questions
involved render such a result hopeless ; but he cherishes a confi
dence, that all the important facts, stated or disclosed, will gener
ally be found correct, as he has sincerely endeavored to make
them so ; and if they are correct, then, so far as they go, they an
swer all the purposes of history.
The two-fold function of this work, as biography and history,
requires to be considered, to appreciate the position of the author
in his labors ; and it is due to himself to have it understood, that
he disclaims all attempt at history, except as it is connected with
the main topic. It will be seen, however, that the leading features
of the political history of the country, from the foundation of the
government, both in its foreign and domestic policy, are here.
That there should be a uniformity of views as to the reasoning
from facts, as they present the aspects of that history, was not to
be expected ; and the privilege of such disagreement, is, that any
one may have his own opinion, while the facts are common prop
erty, and abide.
Occasionally it will be found, that liberal citations are made
from Mr. Clay's speeches, and public addresses ; but itis believed
it will also be seen, that such extracts, when they appear, are not
only pertinent, but that they are more condensed forms of history
and argument, than could otherwise be given. It was not only in
cumbent on the author to narrate what Mr. Clay did, but some
times what he said. And who could say it better than himself?
He is made to speak, when it is believed it will be more welcome
to the reader, and more instructive, as to the matters under consid
eration, than anything else. When any one reflects upon it, he
will be surprised at the volumes of fact and argument, which roll
from the tongue of this orator, in a style peculiarly captivating 
often powerfully eloquent. It will also be found, that his speeches
can never be fully appreciated, except when viewed in their con
nexion with history, and that they are among the most interestino- o
parts of his life. The fact, that they have been multiplied in vari
ous forms, could not be regarded by the author as a sufficient reason
for not using portions of them, where they naturally fall in, to en-

INTRODUCTION. 9
rich and adorn his pages. They are parts of the history of the man,
and of the great occasions most worthy of note in his biography.
It is a just subject of regret, that many of Mr. Clay's speeches
are so imperfectly reported. Those which make him speak in
the first person, are, for the most part, better done; whereas,
those which represent him in the third person, not only present
defects of style, but not unfrequently violations of grammar, in the
use of oblique tenses, past for present, and other peculiarities in
the style of reporters, who give the thoughts, rather than the lan^
guage ofthe speaker. These defects the author, when citing pas
sages of reported speeches, could not remedy, being obliged to
take them as he found them.
In regard to the great conspiracy, the new light which
time and events have cast upon it, and the additional disclosures
of a remarkable character, can not but infuse into that complica
ted, stupendous, and hitherto ill-understood affair, some — and not
inconsiderable — new interest. The author has not hesitated to
give it the name which stands at the heads of the chapters on the
subject, believing that the case is fully made out, to show the pro
priety of that denomination. It has been with the author a subject
of some degree of wonder, that the documents furnished by the
principal actors in that transaction, had apparently never been thor
oughly analyzed, to show what they prove.
It will not, perhaps, be surprising, if an attempt should be
made to abate the effect of this part of the work, by alleging, that
it was not done till one of the principal parties was dead. To
this it may be replied, first, that the prospectus of the work, and
an accidental public disclosure which went the rounds of the jour
nals of all parties, in one form or another, will show, that it was
done during the lifetime of that individual, and when, for aught
that appeared, the supposed original accuser in this case, was as
likely to live as the accused. Besides, there are several living
witnesses, to whom the manuscript had been submitted. A few
alterations have since been made, in one of which will be found
a recognition of the event of death above alluded to. Sec
ondly, the charge, which was supposed to have gone by de-

10 INTRODUCTION.
fault — or which, at least, had passed measurably into oblivion —
was reaffirmed, and the issue reconstructed, in 1844, nearly
twenty years after it was originally brought forward, by this very
individual, thereby imposing on those who believed it to be un
just, the duty of showing it to be so, as an imperative demand,
6oth of public and private justice. In such a position of the mat
ter, forced by this new affirmation, the investigation could not be
made contingent on the life of the parties more immediately con
cerned. Justice can not pause for persons or events. And,
thirdly, it will be seen, that this part of the work was executed, as
soon as it could be, without any regard to the position, in life or
death, of the original parties. That it should occupy so much
space, was inevitable, from the variety and extent of things neces
sary to be considered.
It might, perhaps, have been expected, that more notice would
be taken of other prominent men of Mr. Clay's times, than will be
found in this work ; and to say truth, the author himself has been
disappointed in this particular. But it will be evident, that such
is not the professed object of the work, or necessary to its com
pleteness. The author found himself so perfectly absorbed in the
career of Mr. Clay, and such an abundance of matter relating to
it claiming attention, that he could not make room for a notice
of contemporaries, other than such of them as belong to the story
laid out. It was impossible to do justice to the many worthy of
notice, if such diversions were indulged in ; and it would seem to
be partial to notice only a few.
On account of the importance of the measures of public policy
advocated by Mr. Clay, the author has used his discretion, in re
gard to such as have been fortified by new facts, and brought into
clearer light by experience and public discussion, to bring down
the evidence to the present time, and to make such additional re
marks of his own, as the present state of the questions seemed to
require. Avoiding as much as possible all unnecessary offence to
the political opponents of Mr. Clay, the author has not found it
possible, in doing what he deemed justice to the subjects he has
been obliged to handle, to pursue a course which he could reason-

INTRODUCTION. 11
ably expect would be gratifying to them ; though he would fain
hope that even they may find some instruction in these volumes.
Though the author has endeavored to avoid errors, it would be
strange if some should not be detected in a work of this magni
tude, having to do with such a complicated variety and vast amount
of facts and events ; and none will be more ready than he to ac
knowledge and correct them, when they shall be made manifest.
That the author may not be held accountable for that which he
does not profess to do, he would distinctly state, that he does not
undertake to go further into history than as it is connected with
the life, career, and public services of Mr. Clay, which alone pre
sent a wider field than could be fully and minutely surveyed in a
work of this size. This is one rule by which the work is con
structed. To depart from it, would have opened an indefinite
range of topics ; and in adhering to it, the difficulty has not been
to find materials to fill the volumes, but to select from, and con
dense those which most claimed attention. If the author had
turned aside to notice contemporaneous events and characters,
however important and interesting in themselves, yet, having no
immediate connexion with the main subject, besides the violation of
his rule, this work would either have been swelled to an inconveni
ent size, or more appropriate topics would have been left un
touched. It will be found, that Mr. Clay's career draws into its
wake all the exciting and important political events of his time,
some of which have claimed such an amount of consideration, as
to exclude many items of his personal history of less importance.
Not only has the author been obliged, by his limits, to abstain
from history not connected with Mr. Clay's private and public ca
reer, but, for the same reason, he has been compelled to abridge
and condense the materials that fall within these limits. In the
selection of points and topics, he has chosen those which seemed
to him most important, interesting, and instructive. A work twice
as large as this would not fairly exhibit the whole of Mr. Clay's
life ; but that was thought too voluminous for the greatest benefit.
Chasms in the personal history of a man whb has lived so long,
and occupied such a vast field, were unavoidable ; and a few top-

12 INTRODUCTION.
ics of great importance have necessarily filled a larger space than
could be given to others, which, nevertheless, required notice.
In a few instances, more extended extracts, employed for one
purpose, will be found to comprehend other brief ones, used for
another. It was not thought best, merely to avoid repetition, to
diminish the force of the former, by suppressing the matter which
constitutes the latter.
It will also be found, that the author has adopted a course which
will perhaps be considered novel in biography and history, in dis
regarding chronological order, when any particular attributes of
Mr. Clay's character, or any specific class of his actions or pur
suits, are under consideration. For example : his professional ca
reer, from beginning to end, stands by itself. The specimens of
his wit and exemplifications of his brilliant qualities, are selected
from his whole life, and grouped in one assemblage. The facts
which illustrate and establish his character as an American patriot,
running through his life, are also brought together. His character
as a politician, statesman, and diplomatist, stands by itself, though
illustrated by facts far asunder in the order of time. So with all
points of his character, and with various subjects- of his history.
If the isolated facts under these various heads, were left to be no
ticed in their chronological order, they would lose much of their
force, and fail to show the character of the man. The work is
constructed on this general principle : — When any subject is up,
it is completed before it is laid aside, whether it runs through the
whole, or any part of Mr. Clay's life, though the general arrange
ment is chronological, as nearly as could be, without sacrificing
the advantages of this method. The design is, that the reader
should see and think of nothing else but the specific subject under
consideration, till it is done with, He will, however, find no diffi
culty, in determining dates, so far as they are of any importance,
though he may be frequently put forward, and frequently put back,
in the order of time.
The absorbing topics of this work, in their connexion with the
career of a man who has filled so large and so important a place in
the history of his country, have in fact produced the effect on the

introduction. 13
author's mind, in the execution of his task, to make him almost
entirely unmindful of style. Whether this is a misfortune, he
can not pretend to say. It must be obvious to those who can
appreciate the task of authors, that style is a habit, that ab
sorption in the theme will naturally detract from attention to
style, and that the study of it, simultaneously carried on, tends
to abate the spirit and vigor of composition. If it must be admit
ted that style gives character to thought and facts it can not be de
nied, that thought and fact are indispensable to style, and natu
rally enter into its structure. While the author will not deign to
deprecate criticism on this point, it is nevertheless due to his own
sense of the character of this work, to say, that it asserts ho highet
claim in literature, than a Business document — TO state
and DETERMINE MATTERS-OF-FAOT, within the shortest
COMPASS.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Page.
CHAPTER 1  17
Mb. Clay's Eably Histoby. — His Birth, Parentage, and Family History. —
Death of his Father. — The Widow's Cares. — Schoolmaster and Schoolhouse
of the Slashes. — The Mill-Boy of the Slashes. — Second Marriage of Henry
Clay's Mother. — Kindness of his Father-in-Law. — His Entrance on a Com
mercial Apprenticeship at Richmond. — Removal to a Clerkship in a Publie
Office. — First Impressions of Fellow-Clerks. — Change of their Opinion. —
Henry attracts the Attention of Chancellor Wythe. — Becomes his Amanuen
sis. — Advantages of this Position. — His Tastes and Intellectual Improve
ment. — His Fame in the Rhetorical Society. — Purity of his Character. — His
popularity. — Removal of his Mother and Family to Kentucky. — Letter from
*"'• his Mother. — Basis of his Character. — His Study of the Law. — Admission to
Practice. — Removal to Kentucky.
CHAPTER II  •  31
Mb. Clay's Domestic Histoby. — His Marriage. — His Children. — His Domes
tic Afflictions. — His Domestic Character. — His Character as a Master, Neigh
bor, Citizen, and Man of Feeling. — Ashland and its Hospitalities. — Mr.
Clay's Estate and Pecuniary Condition.
CHAPTER in  45
Mb. Clay's Moral Chabacteb and Religious Sentiments. — His Moral
Character Formed Independent of Common Rules. — High Tone of his Moral
Principles. — A Leader, not a Follower. — An Example, not a Copyist.  His
Pecuniary Morals. — Morals of his Domestic Relations. — Of his Social Rela
tions. — Of his Politics. — Wherein his Morals are above the Common Level —
His Religious Sentiments. — His Character admired by the Young.
CHAPTER IV  60
Mb. Clay's Pebsonal Qualities and Eloquence. — His Person  His Tern
perament. — His Manners. — His Voice. — Attributes of his Eloquence  Sn "
mens of his Eloquence. — Recollections of his Unpublished Speeches.
CHAPTER V  77
Mb. Clay's Pbofessional Cabeeb. — His School of Preparation.  Exa l
of his Success in Civil and Criminal Causes. — Colonel Burr's Applicaf S
him.— His Defence of Charles Wickliffe. 10U t0

table of contents. 15
CHAPTER VI  P^ej
Mb. Clay's Wit and Otheb Bbilliant Qualities.— Specimens as Exem
plified in his Private and Public Life.— In his Conversation and in his
Speeches.— In a Variety of Conditions and Relations.
CHAPTER VII  125
Mb. Clay as a Public Man.— As a Politician.— As a Statesman.— As a
Diplomatist. — His Congressional Career.
CHAPTER VIII  143
Mb. Clay as an Amebican Patbiot.— His own Definition of Patriotism 
Exemplifications of this Character in Himself.— Washington and Clay.— How
they Differ.
CHAPTER IX  159
Mb. Clay and the Wab of 1812.— His Position and Influence in the War.—
A Leader. — " Free Trade and Seamen's Rights." — Peace of Ghent.
CHAPTER X  186
Mb. Clay on Domestic Slaveby. — His Feelings as a Man, and his Principles
as a Statesman, on this Subject. — Mr. Clay an Emancipationist. — His Posi
tion. — Political Abolition in Free States. — Mr. Clay's Views of it.
CHAPTER XI  210
Mb. Clay the Advocate op Univebsal Fbeedom. — British Claims to Mo
nopoly in Philanthropy. — Letter of Richard Rush to Mr. Clay. — Mr. Clay
the First, and at last the Successful Advocate of South American Indepen
dence. — History of his Action on that Subject. — Greece.
CHAPTER XII  252
The Cause op Gbeat Effects. — Debate on the Seminole Campaign. — Position
of Mr. Monroe and his Cabinet on that Question. — An Attempt to defame
Mr. Monroe. — Mr. Clay's Denunciation of General Jackson's Conduct.
CHAPTER XIII  276
The Missoubi Question. — Its Nature and Importance. — Agitates the Coun
try. — Excitement in Congress. — Attempts to arrest the Extension of Slavery.
— Continuance and Danger of the Controversy. — Mr. Clay's Efforts for Com
promise. — His Sway in Congress. — His Success.
CHAPTER XIV  287
The Gbeat Conspibacy. — General Jackson's renewal of the Charge against
Mr. Clay in 1844. — Statement of the Charge. — Present Position of the Ques
tion. — Mr. Adams' Eighth-of-January Party in honor of General Jackson. —
Its Effect. — Nomination of General Jackson for the Presidency. — The Re
sult. — Examination of the Claims to Plurality of Votes. — Mr. Clay defrauded.
— Character of the Jackson Party. — Delicacy of Mr. Clay's Position in the
House of Representatives on the Presidential Question. — Menaces. — First
Opening of the Plot. — Mr. Kremer's Letter to the Columbian Observer.—
Mr. Clay's Card. — Mr. Kremer's Card. — Mr. Clay's Appeal to the House. —
Mr. Forsyth's Resolution for a Committee of Inquiry. — The Debate. — Report
of the Committee. — Mr. Kremer's Decline to answer.— Unexpected Position
of Affairs.— Who wrote Mr. Kremer's Letter of Decline. — Position of the Con
spirators and Mr. Clay at the End of the First Stage.

16 TABLE OF CONTENTS. Page.
CHAPTER XV  31*
The GbeAt Conspibacy.— General Jackson comes out as the Public Accuser
of Mr. Clay.— The Fayetteville Letter.— General Jackson's Letter to Carter
Beverley.— The Manner of its being made public.— Mr. Clay's Reply to it in
an Address to the Public— General Jackson's Address to the Public— These
Documents considered.
CHAPTER XVI  •¦¦-'  ••  351
The Great Conspiracy. — Mr. Buchanan's Answer to General Jackson. — Mr.
Markley's Reply to Mr. Buchanan. — Major Eaton's Letter on the same Sub
ject.  Letters of Mr. Buchanan to the United States Telegraph. — Extracts
from Mr. Clay's Address to the Public in December, 1827. — The Conspirators
Tried by their own Evidence.
CHAPTER XVII  374
The Great Conspiracy. — Mr. Clay's Position in the Case. — The Voice of
many Witnesses. — Proof of a Negative.
CHAPTER XVIII  404
The Great Conspiracy — Unit* of the PLOT.-^Another Question. — Wit-
nesses.^-Singular Result.— Truth of the Whole Matter. — Proposals of Bar
gain made to Mr. Clay. — One through Mr. Buchanan. — One through General
Houston. —Crime and Consequences of the Plot.
CHAPTER XIX  428
Mb. Clay's Internal Impbovement Policy. — The American System.— Ob
jects of Internal Improvement. — The Great Barrier between the East and
West. — Cumberland Road. — The Policy Modified by Opposition, but Tri
umphant.
CHAPTER XX  453
Mr. Clay's Public Land PoLicv.^-His Report in 1832. — Reasons of its Ref
erence to the Committee on Manufactures. — Statistical Tables. — Extracts
from Mr. Clay's Speeches. — General Jacksoii's Pocketing the Land Bill. 
The Argument.
CHAPTER XXI  t . >  485
Political Chabacteb of Mb. ClAy's Times. — Mr. Clay a Jeffersoniah Dem
ocrat. — Democratic and Regal Power of the Constitution. — Influence of
Names in Politics. — The Government of the United States a Democracy. 
Who are the True Democrats.— The Effect of the Alien and Sedition Laws
in rousing the Democracy .—Mr. Clay's Claims to Democracy  His Denial
of Democracy to his Opponents.— Jefferson not the Father 6f Democracy. 
Democracy the Genius of the American People.— Reign of Democracy from
Jefferson to J. Q. Adams, inclusive.— Regal Power rose with General Jack
son.— Mr. Clay's Great Struggle against Regal Power, and for the Defence
of Democracy.

THE

LIFE AND TIMES
OF
HEIEY CLAY.

CHAPTER I.
Mr. Clay's Early History. — His Birth, Parentage, and Family History. — Death of
his Father. — The Widow's Cares. — Schoolmaster and Schoolhouse of the Slashes.
— The Mill-Boy of the Slashes. — Second Marriage of Henry Clay's Mother. —
Kindness of his Father-in-Law. — His Entrance on a Commercial Apprenticeship
at Richmond. — Removal to a Clerkship in a Public Office. — First Impressions of
Fellow-Clerks. — Change of their Opinion. — Henry attracts the Attention of
Chancellor Wythe. — Becomes his Amanuensis. — Advantages of this Position. —
His Tastes and Intellectual Improvement. — His Fame in the Rhetorical Society. —
Purity of his Character. — His Popularity. — Removal of his Mother and Family
to Kentucky. — Letter from his Mother. — Basis of his Character. — His Study of
the Law. — Admission to Practice. — Removal to Kentucky.
The man who leaves his impress on a great nation, and
imparts character to the age in which he lives, not only merits
the regard of contemporaries, but will be a study for future gen
erations. That Henry Clay occupies this position in the social
state of mankind, by a consideration of the past, and in the pros
pects of the future, will scarcely be questioned. His name,
character, and history, are identified with the history of his coun
try ; and the student who makes himself acquainted with his life,
private, professional, and public, will not be ignorant of the
standing and career of the United States of North America, as
one of the family of nations.
Henry Clay was born April 12, 1777, in Hanover county,
Virginia, in a neighborhood commonly called the Slashes — a
term indicating a district of country that abounds in low swampy
grounds. His father, the Rev. John Clay, also' a native of Vir
ginia, and his mother, Elizabeth Hudson, the * younger of two
Vol. I.— 2

18 EARLY HISTORY
daughters and only children of George Hudson, of Hanover
county, had by this marriage eight children, three daughters and
five sons, of whom Henry was the seventh, bearing the name of
the second son, who had died. The daughters died in early wo
manhood, two after marriage. George, the eldest child, lived to
manhood, and died in Virginia. John, the sixth, removed to
New Orleans, and died on the Mississippi. The Rev. Porter
Clay, the youngest of the family, was living at Jacksonville, Il
linois, in 1844. v
The paternal ancestors of Henry Clay were English. Branches
of the family are still in the mother-country, of which Sir Wil
liam Clay, bart, and member of the British House of Commons,
is supposed to be one. The branch from which Henry Clay de
scended removed to America some time after the establishment of
the colony of Virginia, and settled on the south side of James
river. The descendants of the original Virginia stock, numer
ous and widely-dispersed, many of whom still reside in Virginia
and Kentucky, have branched so extensively, that their common
origin is scarcely recognised among themselves.
The Hudson family, on the maternal side of Mr. Clay's ances
try, also came from England, about the beginning of the eigh
teenth century, and settled in Hanover county, Virginia, where
they remained till the abovenamed alliance with the Clay family
was formed.
Tradition alleges, that the Rev. John Clay, the father of Hen
ry, was a man of great vigor of character, of exemplary virtue
and manners, and of a nice and high sense of the decorums and
proprieties of the social relations — not unlike the son, who has
made the world familiar with the name of Clay. It is also in
evidence, that the mother of Henry Clay was adorned with emi
nent female virtues, and that she continued to interest herself in
the fortunes of Henry to the last of a good old age. The father
died in 1781, bequeathing to his widow little else than an estate
of seven children, Henry being then four years old. Obliged by
her straitened circumstances to make the most of the ability of
her children to help her, Mrs. Clay did not, however, neglect to
send them to school. Henry's tuition, for the term of about
three years, was committed to the charge of one Peter Dea
con, an Englishman, who came to America under a cloud re
ceiving occasional remittances from home, while he' was employed
for several years as the schoolmaster of the " Slashes," in which

OF HENRY CLAY. 19
capacity he did himself credit, except that he would have done
better, if teetotalism had begun in his days, and comprehended
himself. His schoolhouse was made of a crib of logs, with no
floor but the earth, the entrance serving for door, Vindow, and
air, being always open. (See frontispiece, V0I.JL) Under these .
rather inauspicious advantages, Henry Clay was put forward by J
Peter Deacon, in reading, writing, and arithmetic ; in the latter,
to use Mr. Clay's own words, "as far as Practice." Mr. Clay's
reminiscences of Peter Deacon do the master much honor,.
though he says Peter once, in a fit of anger, gave him a magiste- ,
rial blow, the mark of which he carried a long time.
" The millboy of1 the Slashes," which has kindled so much
sentiment in the bosoms of the American people, the mimicry of
which constituted a part of every public political pageant of the
whig party in the presidential campaign of 1844, and which-will
still be poetic when the generation which first felt its power shall
have passed away — which, indeed, will never cease to be so,
while poetry is natural to man — had its foundation in the filial
and fraternal duty of Henry Clay, who, after he was big enough,
was seen, whenever the meal-barrel was low, going to and fro on
the road between his mother's house and Mrs. Darricott's million
the Pamunkey river, mounted on a bag that was thrown acros| a
pony that was guided by a rope-bridle ; and thus he became'ifa-
miliarly known, by the people living on the line of his travel, as
" The millboy of the Slashes." ^
Mrs. Clay, mother of Henry, was married a second time to
Captain Henry Watkins, a man not unworthy of her, who seems
to have taken a fatherly interest in the family. He was partial to
Henry, and doubtless perceived that he was a boy of uncommon
promise. In 1791, when Henry was fourteen years of age, he
was taken into Mr. Richard Denny's store, at Richmond, Va.,
for the usual functions of boys behind the counter. It does not
appear that his education at this time extended further than his
graduation at the log schoolhouse, under the respectable Peter
Deacon. It may be presumed, however, from what subsequently
appears of the boy's character, that he made the best of his
opportunities, while Peter was teaching his young ideas how to
shoot. But his stepfather was not satisfied with Henry's place in
Mr. Denny's store, judging him, very likely, to be worthy of a
higher destiny than that of a tradesman. It is remarkable by
what slight causes and apparently trivial agencies a man's course

20 EARLY HISTORY
of life is determined. Henry Clay would no doubt have made a
good merchant, and a respectable citizen of Richmond, or any
other town. But Captain Watkins had an intimate friend, Colonel
Thomas Tinsley, member of the Virginia House of Burgesses,
whose brother, Peter Tinsley, Esq., was clerk of the high court
of chancery of Virginia, at Richmond. A desk clerkship in the
office of this court was considered a very desirable place for a
youth. Nothing was more natural, or more easy, than for Cap
tain Watkins to make interest with his friend, Colonel Tinsley,
that he might apply to his brother to take Henry into his office.
Peter Tinsley replied that there was no opening for the lad.
"Nevermind," said the colonel, il you must take him;" and so
he did.
The account given by Roland Thomas, the senior clerk in this
office, of Henry's first entrance among them, is interesting. The
first impression of the other clerks was, that they were to have a
fine butt for ridicule, and that no little fun was in store for them.
The boy's face was not over handsome, whatever might lie under
the surface ; nor had his manners yet been transformed into the
urbanities of Richmond, though he had been in Mr. Denny's
store about a year. His mother had dressed him up in a new
suit of "Figginy" (Virginia) cloth, cotton and silk mixed, com
plexion of pepper and salt, with clean linen well starched, and the
tail of his coat standing out from his legs at an angle of forty-five de
grees, like that of a dragoon. The clerks looked askance at each
other, and were not a little amused at the apparently awkward chap
who had been thrust in upon them. Thus accoutred, and thus ob
served, the willing, ambitious, and somewhat proud boy, was first
put to the task of copying. It was not long, however, before
these laughers at first appearances came in contact with the mind
of this newcomer. He had a tongue, and could reply. Luckily
for them, they had not proceeded to any rudeness, nor given oc
casion of offence, before their first impressions were supplanted
by sentiments of respect. Whatever they said to him he was
always ready for, and they soon found that he was more than a
match for any one of them. Superior intellect easily acquires its
position in any society, whether of boys, youth, or men. Though
the youngest clerk, he was not long in gaining the highest place in
the regard of his fellows. Besides Henry's assiduous attention
to his duties in the office, Mr. Thomas, afterward clerk of Henry
county," Kentucky, has been accustomed to speak of his habits out

OF HENRY CLAY. 21
of the office, when in command of his own time, from which it
appears, that, while the other clerks habitually went out in pur
suit of amusement at night, Henry kept company with his
books ; that, when they came home, they found-him reading, and
that they left him reading when they went to bed. This habit,
certified to by Mr. Thomas during his life, is a material fact in
solving the problem of Mr. Clay's subsequent character and his
tory. The boy of fifteen, and the youth of eighteen, may easily
be seen, in imagination, as was the fact, at that table, with his
book and candle, night after night, the year out and the year in,
unseduced, and incapable of being seduced by his fellows to the
theatre or to the billiard-room, or to other haunts of dissipation.
His fellowship was of another kind, pure, elevated, instructive,
hallowed. He communed with the recorded wisdom of ages —
of all mankind. <
The agency of Captain Watkins, through his friend, Colonel
Tinsley, in obtaining a place for Henry in Peter Tinsley's office,
trivial as it might at first and in itself alone appear, was not more
fortunate for the boy than the habitual calls of the venerable Chan
cellor Wythe, whose occasions led him frequently to Mr. Tins-
ley's rooms, where young Henry attracted his attention, and in
duced the chancellor to inquire about him. As Henry was in
some degree a supernumerary clerk, Mr. Tinsley was easily per
suaded to loan a portion of his time to the chancellor, who solicit
ed his services as.an amanuensis in recording his decisions, and
in other functions of a private secretary. A connexion, thus ac
cidentally formed, continued four years, Henry being nominally in
the office of the clerk of the high court of chancery, but chiefly
employed in the office of the chancellor. It proved to be mutu
ally agreeable, and reciprocally beneficial. The chancellor's
hand was so affected with a trembling, that he could not do his
own writing. One of the fruits of this connexion between Chan
cellor Wythe and Henry Clay will be found in a folio volume in
the library of the supreme court of the United States, at Wash
ington, published at Richmond, Va. It evinces the habit of Chan
cellor Wythe in tracing law to the most remote sources of an
tiquity, and some of the notes are extracted from Roman author
ities, in the Latin tongue. As the joint production of these two
individuals, it can not but be regarded with interest; and it is not
less profound than curious. The chancellor presented this copy

22 EARLY HISTORY
to Mr. Jefferson, whose library was purchased by Congress,
which lodged the work in this place.
Henry Clay found a father in the chancellor, and the chancel
lor found a useful scribe and an apt scholar in Henry Clay. It
was in this connexion that Henry Clay's mind received its high
destination. The chancellor's society and guidance were to him
at the same time a school of the classics, of belles-lettres, of law,
of history, and of every useful department of learning to which
the taste and ambition of his young friend were inclined ; and the
habitual connexion between them was as that of father and son,
of master and pupil. The stages which led to this relation have
been observed; but the relation itself was the platform of Henry
Clay's fortunes. It introduced him to a new sphere of thought
and improvement. The chancellor not only became attached to
him, but, perceiving his uncommon capacities, prompted him to
aspire to the legal profession, gave him the use of his library, and
superintended his reading. For a youth of such slender attain
ments, the tasks of this untried position, in which his ambition
prompted him to desire approbation, were somewhat formidable.
A good clerk could easily perform the functions of an amanuen
sis; but technical law-phrases, in languages to him unknown,
were not easy for a boy to manage, who had never seen such
words before. But the chancellor knew his little man, had not
chosen him for his high attainments, but for his high promise, pa
tiently bore the inconveniences of his imperfect qualifications, and
soon began to realize his expectations in the rapid advances of his
secretary in the accomplishments of a scholar.
It has commonly been supposed that Mr. Clay's education was
not only deficient, but unfortunate. He himself speaks of his
"neglected education, improved by his own irregular exertions,
without the benefit of systematic instruction." The facts here
stated are undoubtedly true ; but the supposed defects, naturally
and usually resulting from imperfect culture, are not necessarily
implied. On the contrary, it may be true, that the very irregular
ities of Mr. Clay's early education were, in his case, fortunate.
For such a self-relying mind, impelled by the necessity of his
condition and circumstances, the promptings of his taste, the
stimulus of his aspirations, and the guidance he so fortunately met
with, were probably better than the best schools of "systematic
instruction." Genius does not so much require tuition as scope
and opportunity. Put it in possession of one element of science

OF HENRY CLAY. 23
and all affinities cluster around it by attraction. It catches knowl
edge as it flies, builds up accretions of thought on every simple
idea that comes within its reach, makes one a parent of a thou
sand others, and runs in quest of all their relations till ascertained.
The advantages which Henry Clay enjoyed under the peda
gogue of the " Slashes," were certainly not very great ; nor was
his year in the store of Mr. Denny very improving. But the mo
ment he entered the office of the clerk of the high court of chancery
of Virginia, he began to find his own element ; and from the hour
when Chancellor Wythe took him by the hand, his fortune was
decided, and he was made for life. He required nothing but
chance, opportunity, means, books, and the right books ; and no
man could have been a better guide than he into whose hands he
so happily fell. In the choice of an amanuensis, the chancellor
found a companion, though a stripling. He beheld in this youth the
genius of an aspiring, all-grasping mind — a mind which he could not
lead, himself before, but only guide and prompt, himself behind.
He had only to name a book to his pupil, and the next time he saw
liim he would find him not only possessed of its contents, but pro
foundly versed in them, and extending his thoughts far beyond his
instructors. The youth did not invoke the keepers of knowl
edge to let him into their secrets, but he marched straight into
their wide domains, as to the possession of his native rights. If
any one would know how and where Henry Clay laid the founda
tion of his greatness and fame, he is answered in the facts that he
was for years the pupil and companion of Chancellor Wythe, with
all the, advantages of his own aptitudes for improvement, and that
the chancellor, discovering the high promise of his protege, was
not less ambitious to fit him for his destiny than he himself was
to attain to it. Possibly Henry Clay might have done better un
der the " systematic instructions" of a university; but that is not
certain. There may be reasons for supposing that the school he
enjoyed was the best possible for his disposition and character,
and for the destination of his future hfe. It is even possible, that
without this course of training, he would have lived and died un
known to fame. Who ever discovered Mr. Clay's defects of
education? The only man who ever dared to taunt him on that
account, was the Hon. John Randolph, on the floor of Congress,
to which Mr. Clay replied: " The gentleman from Virginia was
pleased to say, that in one point, at least, he coincided with me,
in an humble estimate of my grammatical and philological ac-

24 EARLY HISTORY
quisitions. I know my deficiencies. I was born to no proud pat
rimonial estate. I inherited only infancy, ignorance, and indi
gence. I feel my defects. But, so far as my situation in early
life is concerned, I may, without presumption, say it was more
my misfortune than my fault. But, however I regret my want of
ability to furnish the gentleman with a better specimen of powers
of verbal criticism, I will venture to say, it is not greater than the
disappointment of this committee as to the strength of his argu
ment." It is easy to conceive that the pure and lofty ambition
of a modest, but self-relying mind, placed in such circumstances
as Henry Clay was under Chancellor Wythe, should far outstrip
the ordinary attainments of the students of universities, while it
escapes the contaminations and other impediments which too of
ten mar the character and prove fatal to the prospects of youth
enjoying such advantages. The society of the venerable chancel
lor, on such a mind as Henry Clay's, at that period of his life,
must have been not less hallowing and conservative in its influ
ence on the morals of his pupil, than inspiring to his best feelings.
The benefits of the private tuition of such a master, on such a
scholar, might, and probably did, far transcend the most select ad
vantages that could have been provided by an ample fortune.
It is apparent, from all that has transpired, directly and indi
rectly, in relation to this period of Mr. Clay's life, that, in con
sequence of his good conduct, and of his high intellectual prom
ise, he became a privileged youth soon after he entered Mr. Tins-
ley's office, enjoying the favor of those whose kindness was most
important to him ; and it also appears that he became and contin
ued a general favorite in the best society during his residence at
Richmond. Mr. Tinsley yielded at once to the request of Chan
cellor Wythe for the services of his clerk, and continued to grant
them for the space of four years, with indefinite extension as to
amount, without disturbing the original connexion ; and at the end
of that period, at the instance of the chancellor, Henry was re
leased altogether from his obligations to Mr. Tinsley, that he
might be entered as a regular student of law, in the office of At
torney-General Brooke, with a view to a license by the court. It
is not to be supposed, however, that his intimacy with Chancellor
Wythe was suspended by this new arrangement, which was
brought about by the chancellor's parental care. Ties, origina
ting in such circumstances, and strengthened by such intercourse,
are not easily dissolved. At no subsequent period of life has

OF HENRY CLAY. 25
Mr. Clay had any other feelings toward the chancellor than those
of a son toward a father ; and once, in Congress, having occasion
to refer to his authority in a matter of fact, a parenthesis involun
tarily fell in, touchingly expressive of his filial regard.
There is one item of Mr. Clay's history at Richmond ofa very
interesting and practical nature, and especially worthy of notice, as
constituting one of the primary impulses to that elevated career
through which he has passed, with so much splendor, as an Amer
ican orator. Ever prone to high aims and lofty pursuits, not less
in childhood and youth than in riper years, his example and habit
ual occupations had been the means of exciting a spirit of men
tal improvement among his associates ; and chiefly through his in
fluence, as is understood, a rhetorical society was formed, com
posed of young gentlemen of Richmond, for purposes of recita
tion and debate. Among the names of the members were Ed
win Burrell, Littleton W. Tazewell, Walter Jones, John C. Her
bert, Bennett Taylor, Philip N. Nicholas, Edmund W. Root,
Thomas B. Robinson, and others, most of whom have since risen
to eminence, and occupied distinguished stations. The existence
and reputation of this society constituted an era in the history of
the city of Richmond, and Henry Clay was its animating spirit,
and the star that gave it lustre. It was the pride of the commu
nity, and the gossip of all circles. Much and various talent was
there developed ; but it will easily be believed, by those who have
witnessed the ascendency of Henry Clay in the councils of the
nation, that he was not less prominent in this first theatre that was
opened for the development and display of his powers. His ex
ample, his success, and the enchantments of his eloquence, in
fused a spirit of young ambition among all the members, and at
tracted the attention of the whole city. It is natural to suppose
that the distinction he acquired in the recitations and debates of
this society, was generally regarded as the herald of his future
fame. It was there he first began to feel and know his own pow
ers. He was leader there, as he ever has been in all other places
and stations. The exquisite pleasure a youth must feel, occupy
ing such a position, and the dawning hopes clustering and spark
ling on his prospects, can be conceived only by those young
minds that have found themselves in similar circumstances.
It will have been seen that all the conditions of Henry Clay's.
early life were eminently favorable to the purity of his character;
Cradled in the lap of an exemplary clergyman's family; though

26 EARLY HISTORY
left fatherless at the age of five years, still watched over by the
tender cares of a mother of strong character and great discretion ;
spending his childhood in the unsophisticated condition of rural
life, and in the discharge of filial duties toward an affectionate pa
rent; earning the fame of "the millboy of the Slashes," by the
universal award of all who observed his little travels ; at fourteen,
established behind the counter at Richmond ; at fifteen, transferred
to the office of the high court of chancery ; and from that time,
most intimately associated with the purest minds and the best soci
ety. It will also have been observed, that his tastes and aspira
tions were not less favorable to the conservation of the simplicity
and purity of his character. No tongue ever sullied his name
while a resident of Richmond. The boy who always had a book
in hand, while other boys played, the youth who was delving af
ter knowledge, while other youths were dissipating time in ill-
chosen pleasures, could not easily be spoken against. But all'
this while, Henry Clay, by his occupations and good behavior,
and by the manifestation of his inclinations, was ingratiating him
self in the favor of superior minds, and of persons of high stand
ing. Though he left Richmond while yet a minor, his character
and reputation had introduced him to the notice and acquaintance
of Edmund Pendleton, Spencer Roane, Bushrod Washington,
John Marshall, Wickam, Call, Copeland, and other distinguished
men of Virginia, who deemed themselves honored then, as ever
since, by the relation. Gentlemen of this class, who were much
his seniors, and the members of the rhetorical society, who were
his equals, constituted a nucleus of that extended acquaintance
and elevated society which grew upon him, and by which he was
honored in after life. Henry Clay did not leave Richmond for
the great theatre of the west with a dubious reputation. Eyes
and hearts followed him> that knew what to expect; and they
were not disappointed.
In 1792, Mr. Clay's mother, with his stepfather, Captain Wat
kins, removed from Virginia to Woodford county, Kentucky,
thirteen miles from Lexington, taking all her family except George
and Henry. By Captain Watkins she had seven children, in all
fifteen, thus answering to Napoleon's definition of a great woman
given in answer to a question from the celebrated Madame de
Stael, who, fishing for a compliment, asked the emperor, " Sire
who is the greatest woman in France?" — "She," replied the em-

OF HENRY CLAY. 27
peror, "who presents her lord with the greatest number of chil
dren." Madame de Stael had no children.
Mrs. Watkins died in 1827, soon after the date of the follow
ing letter, addressed to her son Henry when secretary of state,
under the presidency of John Quincy Adams, which was the last
intercourse between them : —
" Woodford, Ky., September 13, 1827.
" My Dear Son : Your kind favor of the 14th of August came
to hand a few days ago. Rest assured, my son, I feel glad that you
have got again to the bosom of your family, and found them all well.
I have been a great deal worse than I was when I had the pleasure
of seeing you last. I can make out to walk across the room,
with the help of a staff or some one's arm. To-day I feel better,
having had a good night's rest. My cough is not so bad as it
was. Mr. Watkins still enjoys his usual health, and joins in love
to Lucretia [Mrs. Clay], and to the rest of the family. Pray
write me when convenient. That God may bless you, my son,
is the sincere prayer of your mother,
"Elizabeth Watkins.
"Mr. Henry Clay."
The interest of this letter consists in the fact that it came from
the mother of so great a statesman, written while bending over
the grave under the weight of fourscore years, and evincing, as it
does, the habitual correspondence and enduring affection subsist
ing between them to the last hour of life. She had lived within
a few miles of her son Henry's residence for the last thirty years,
occasionally enjoying his society, and had seen him rise to the
greatest distinction. Mr. Clay has always spoken of her as a
model of maternal character and female excellence, and it is said
he never met his constituents in Woodford county since her
death, without some allusion to her, which deeply affected both
him and his audience. It is difficult to say which is most
complimented, the mother or the son, in the following impromptu
sentiment, offered at a Fourth-of-July dinner, 1843, at Campbell
Courthouse, Virginia, by Mr. Robert Hughes: "Henry Clay. —
He and I were born close to the Slashes of old Hanover. He
worked barefooted, 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 love him like a brother." The manner of this remi
niscence of childhood, from a plain old country gentleman, will
be duly appreciated, when the occasion, the object, and the sub-

28 EARLY HISTORY
ject, are considered. It is a link that unites affections more than
fifty years asunder in the dates of their existence. It is natural
to feel that she must have been a good mother, that was loved
and so dutifully served by such a boy, and that neither could have
been wanting in rare virtues, that should be so remembered after
the lapse of half a century, by one who had been separated from
them not less by space than time. The spectacle of that boy,
working barefooted for his mother and her orphan children, an-
ticipating the duties of senior members of the family, and keep
ing his eye on the meal-barrel, to see that it fails not, touches all
hearts ; and when, in riper years, he is seen toiling through a like
career for his country, the common mother of a whole people, one
is not surprised, though he may be filled with admiration ; for the
two spheres are kindred to each other. In serving his country,
he only obeys the instincts and fulfils the high destiny of his filial
piety. After a year's study of the law with Attorney-General Brooke,
who had been governor of the state, Mr. Clay was admitted to
practice, in 1797, by the Virginia court of appeals. That high
finish of intellectual character, and those rich treasures of prac
tical information, for which-jMr. Clay has always been distinguish
ed, had their foundation, no doubt, in that course of culture and
discipline, and in those severe studies and patient researches, into
which he was put by Chancellor Wythe, and which were followed
up under Attorney-General Brooke. The rich fruits, however,
were indebted to the soil as well as to the hand that trained them.
A mind intent on knowledge, and loving knowledge, not only for
its own sake, but for its uses, needs but an index, £he key, and the
opportunity. It is true that the limits of Mr. Clay's education were
somewhat circumscribed as to time ; but the aids he enjoyed were
of the highest order, the resources abundant, and he was enticed to
effort and stimulated to application, not less by the seductive
kindness of those who took an interest in him, than by the strong
impulses of his own disposition. Time is a deceptive measure
of acquirements in knowledge. It is facility, motive, talent, and
help — the charm of the occupation, and the delights of circum
stances. In the case of Henry Clay, the pupil was a genius, and
the master a Mentor. It is rare that young men enter upon pro
fessional life with such rich and various information, and with so
fixed a habit of correct observation — Mr. Clay's own deprecatory
allusions, here and there, to the disadvantages and inadequacy of

OF HENRY CLAY. 29
his early education to the contrary notwithstanding. Though it
is natural to respect such modest pretensions, it is not incumbent
on the public to take the unpretending character of superior virtue
as the measure of its claims.
It is still remembered by those who knew Henry Clay at Rich
mond, that he became a universal favorite among his superiors,
for his respectful deportment and inquiring mind ; among equals,
because they loved and were proud of him ; among children, be
cause of his benevolent attentions ; and in general society, for the
purity of his character, and his excellent and fascinating manners.
He left behind him a name to be envied, and the highest expecta
tions of his future eminence. He removed to Lexington, Ken
tucky, in November, 1797, to establish himself in the profession
of the law, being then not quite twenty-one years of age.
His pecuniary circumstances at that time, as might be supposed'
from his previous history, were anything but comfortable. He
was pennyless. The following brief and touching review of his
early history was given by himself, in a speech at Lexington, June
6, 1842, at an entertainment in honor of him, by his old friends
and neighbors, on the occasion of his retirement 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, leav
ing 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 of
fice of the high court of chancery, in the city of Richmond, with
out guardian, without pecuniary means of support, to steer my
course as I might 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 Governor Brooke, then attorney-general of Vir
ginia, and also under the auspices of the venerable and lamented
Chancellor Wythe, for whom I had acted as amanuensis. I ob-
taineda license to practise the profession, from the judges of the
court of appeals of Virginia, and established myself in Lexing
ton, 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 uncommonly distinguished by
eminent members. I remember how comfortable 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 shillings

30 EARLY HISTORY OF HENRY CLAY.
fee. My hopes were more than realized. I immediately rushed
into a successful and lucrative practice."
"Some," says the bard of Avon, "are born great, some
achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them."
The first, certainly, was not the lot of Henry Clay. Neither
have his opponents been very eager to thrust greatness upon him,
however they may have contributed to that end. All the distinc
tion he has acquired, was achieved — achieved by his own lofty
aims, and by his single arm. Men are disposed to honor him
who, by his own inherent vigor and high aspirations, has success
fully encountered obstacles that would dispirit ordinary minds,
and who has baffled, in an honorable career, the adverse winds
of unhopeful birth and fortune. In the blood and on the graves
of the founders of the American republic, themselves martyrs to
freedom, was laid a platform for such endeavors. On this, their
descendants, though wanting the adventitious aids of a family
escutcheon and entailed estates, may build high hopes, and earn
an imperishable fame.
Born and cradled in the agonies of the American revolution,
Henry Clay seems to have been destined by Providence to sym
pathize with its great principles of freedom, and to be the leading
champion of human rights for the age in which he has lived. It
is natural and not unphilosophical to suppose, more especially as
it coincides with their reputed character, that the feelings of his
parents, in view of British despotism over the colonies at that pe
riod of strife and blood, were imparted to the temperament of a
son, who has ever shown himself so susceptible of hate to tyrants,
and so prone to the love of liberty.

MR. CLAY'S DOMESTIC HISTORY. 31

CHAPTER II.
Mr. Clay's Domestic Relations. — His Marriage. — His Children. — His Domestic
Afflictions. — His Domestic Character. — His Character as a Master, Neighbor,
Citizen, and Man of Feeling. — Ashland and its Hospitalities. — Mr. Clay's
Estate and Pecuniary Condition.
In April, 1799, about a year and a half after Mr. Clay re
moved to Kentucky, he married Lucretia Hart, daughter of
Colonel Thomas Hart, a gentleman of high standing in Lexing
ton, and famed for his enterprise, public spirit, and hospitality.
Another of Colonel Hart's daughters was married to James
Brown, Esq., at that time in the practice of law at Lexington, who
afterward removed to New Orleans, acquired a large fortune by
his profession, was elected to the senate of the United States, af
terward sent as minister to France by Mr. Monroe, and continued
under Mr. J. Q. Adams.
Mrs. Clay was born in 1781, at Hagerstown, Maryland, being
four years younger than her husband. They have had eleven
children, six daughters and five sons, and in 1845 had fifteen
grandchildren. Their first child, a daughter, born in 1800, and
their ninth, also a daughter, born in 1816, died in infancy. Two
other daughters, Lucretia Hart, born in 1809, and Eliza Hart,
born in 1813, died at the interesting age of fourteen, both heavy
domestic afflictions. The first of these died at Ashland, when
both parents were at home, and followed her to the grave. She
had been a feeble child, but much beloved, and was more tenderly
regarded on account of her frailty. But the circumstances of
Eliza's death were peculiarly distressing. She had been a blush
ing flower, of amiable and buoyant temper, captivating in her
ways, and was cherished with much fond hope. With every
prospect of life and happiness, she left Ashland with her parents,
in the spring of 1825, when Mr. Clay was proceeding with his
family, to his post at Washington, as secretary of state, under Mr.
Adams. Eliza was taken sick at Cincinnati. After a day or two,
however, she was pronounced able to proceed ; but at Lebanon

32 MR. CLAY'S DOMESTIC
they were arrested by new and alarming symptoms. Mr. Clay
was obliged to leave them behind, and proceed to Washington,
with the news of Eliza's sudden death following after him. This
painful intelligence reached him in nine days. " Woes love a
train." The next day after this shock, the post from the south,
announced the death of another much-loved daughter, Susan
Hart, then Mrs. Duralde, of New Orleans, at the age of twenty.
Ann Brown Clay, born in 1807, who married Mr. James Erwine,
of New Orleans, is represented to have been more like her father,
than any of the children, in the development of her intellectual,
moral, and social qualities. All agree, that she was a lady of
rare accomplishments and brilliancy — a model of female excel
lence, as a daughter, sister, wife, mother, and friend — admired
and loved, adorning society not less than the domestic circle.
Her husband had purchased an estate adjoining Ashland, as a
summer retreat for his family, establishing, when it was occupied,
a daily round of intercourse with her father and his family, till
death, in 1835, just ten years after the former bereavements, sud
denly dissolved the ties so strongly uniting parent and child, hus
band and wife, and a circle of endeared connexions. She ex
pired in the presence of her family, without notice or alarm, or
any sign of the approach of death. Her father was at Washing
ton. Senator Porter, of Louisiana, an intimate friend, was with
him, when he broke the seal of the letter conveying this intelli
gence. Mr. Clay fainted. No event of his life has ever affected
him so deeply, nor has time been able to heal the wound. Mr.
Clay kept his room many days, after the receipt of this intelli
gence, and when urgently called out by the demands of public
duty, the senate, aware of the cause of his absence, manifested
deep sympathy, when he rose, and opened his speech with the fol
lowing sentence : " Although I feel myself borne down by the
severest affliction, with which Providence has ever been pleased
to visit me, I have thought, that my private griefs ought not longer
to prevent me from attempting, ill as I feel qualified, to discharge
my public duties." Some time after this event, he had occasion,
while pleading a cause in court at Frankfort, Kentucky, incident
ally to use the expression, " the vicissitudes of human life," in
allusion to domestic afflictions, when he instantly stopped, over
powered with emotion, and sat down to give vent to his feelino-s.
The court, jury, and all present, were utterly unable to account
for it, till being composed, and rising to apologize, he was com-

HISTORY AND CHARACTER. 33
pelled to disclose the cause. But the apology was worse in its
effect than the expression above noticed, and drew along with it
the sympathy of the court and the audience. It was some time.
before he could proceed. He once had daughters. Now he had
none. One blooming flower, after another, had been blighted,
and last of all the one most cherished.
Theodore Wythe Clay, the eldest son, born in 1802, and
named after Chancellor Wythe — the reason of which will be ob
vious to those who may have read the previous chapter — in con
sequence of an accidental injury, manifested symptoms of insanity
in early manhood, and has been for many years the tenant of an
insane retreat, without hope of recovery. Thomas Hart Clay,
the second son, born in 1803, preferring the walks of business,
has been chiefly occupied in the manufacture of hemp, is mar
ried, and has a family. Henry Clay, jr., born in 1811, graduated
with high honors at West Point academy, afterward studied law,
married, travelled a while in Europe, and is practising law at
Louisville, Kentucky. James B- Clay, born in 1817, also married,
is practising law at Lexingtop', as a partner with his father. John
M. Clay, the youngest of the family, born in 1821, has also been
educated for the legal profession.
f:
Mr. Clay, in all his domestic relations, has sustained, through
life, an exemplary and spotless reputation, as a husband, father,
and master. During his long public career, himself the observed
of all observers, few, away from Lexington and the neighborhood,
have ever heard anything 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 altogether unknown. At the head of a
great household, her cares, in the absence of her husband, on pub
lic 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 quali
fied for the peculiar 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 opera
tions of a farm of between five and six hundred acres, were not
less constantly somewhat under her care. The feeding and cloth
ing of all the men and women on the farm and in the house, being
Vol. I.— 3

34 MR. CLAY S CHARACTER
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 butter,
nor any of the garden vegetables, went to market, without her per
sonal supervision ; and the extent of these duties may be partly
imagined from the fact, that the Phcenix hotel, in Lexington, is
supplied with thirty gallons of milk per day from Ashland in the
summer, and twenty in 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 activity and
system with which they were accomplished. The servants, in
doors and out, male and female, cared for in health and in sick
ness, in infancy and in old age, well housed, well clad, well fed,
exempt from the anxieties of life, and always treated with indul
gence, would never have known they were in a state of bondage,
if they had not been told. Aaron, an old body servant of Mr.
Clay, having been emancipated, would frequently return to Ash
land for the supply of his wants, and has been known to complain,
on these occasions, that he was not so well clothed as the rest
of the servants ! Charles^Aaron's son, who succeeded his father
as body servant, has also been emancipated, but prefers staying at
Ashland, to perform the same duties, on wages. When Charles
went to Canada with Mr. Clay, great efforts were made to get him
away from his master, till Charles, to put an end to these good
counsels, told his advisers, that he would not leave Mr. Clay for all
Canada. When Mr. Clay himself has been favored with the ad
vice of these benevolent persons, while travelling in the free states,
with his friend Charles, as he usually calls him, he has sometimes
replied: " There is Charles. You may have him, if you can get
him." The mother of Charles, who had nursed all Mr. Clay's
children, was previously emancipated. Mr. Clay's position and
views on the subject of slavery, claim a more extended notice
than would be suitable here, and are therefore reserved for another
place. In respect to Mr. Clay's character as a neighbor and a citi
zen, they can best speak among whom he has had his domicil
for nearly half a century. It is certainly remarkable, that in these
particulars his political opponents have never been able to say
aught against him. It is in these relations that men's faults are
first seen. The nearer men approach to Ashland, the brighter

AS A NEIGHBOR AND CITIZEN. 35
does the character of its illustrious proprietor shine. It is in Ken
tucky that people know how to honor him ; it is in Fayette coun
ty that they regard him as a patriarch of pure fame ; it is in
Lexington that men never dare to offer him offence ; it is within
sight of Ashland that all uncover in his presence, and youth and
children look up to him with veneration and love. He captivated
the public mind, when he first came among them, by the qualities
of his heart, by his manners, and by the fascinations of his elo
quence, and has held it under an unbroken charm, by the contin
ued display of those virtues and powers which first installed him
m their affections. Old men and young, matrons and maidens,
girls and hoys, all feel the power of his character and name. They
know him, though he can not know them, and it is only accident
that occasionally develops the extent of their regard. Some few
days after the result of the presidential election of 1844 was known,
Mr. Clay met a woman on horseback, as he was walking in the
public road near Ashland, who stopped to salute him, but imme
diately burst into tears. " Madam," inquired Mr. Clay, " pray,
what is the matter?" — " Sir," said she, in broken accents, "you
do not know me, but my father, once'your neighbor, always taught
me to revere you. I have lost my father, my husband, and my
children, and passed through other painful trials ; but all of them
together have not given me so much sorrow as the late disappoint
ment of your friends."
In all political contests in which Mr. Clay was personally before
the people, he never failed to receive a decided and overwhelming
majority, in Lexington, in Fayette county, in his own congressional
district, and in the state ; and the nearer home, the greater the
majority. It was never so great, when he was a candidate, as in
the presidential election of 1844. This reciprocal regard is well
illustrated in the following passage from his valedictory to the sen
ate of the United States, delivered March 31, 1842 : —
"Everywhere, throughout the extent of this great continent, I
have cordial, warm-hearted, and devoted friends, who have known
me, and justly appreciated my motives. To them, if language
were susceptible of fully expressing my acknowledgments, I would
now offer them, as all the return I can now make for their genu
ine, disinterested, and persevering fidelity, and devoted attachment.
But, if I fail in suitable language to express my gratitude to them,
for all the kindness they have shown me, what shall I say, what
can I say, at all commensurate with those feelings of gratitude
which I owe to the state whose humble representative and servant

36 MR. CLAY'S CHARACTER
I have been in this chamber ? [Here Mr. Clay's feelings appeared
to overpower him, and he proceeded with deep sensibility and dif
ficult utterance.] I emigrated from the state of Virginia to the
state of Kentucky, now nearly forty-five years ago. I went as an
orphan, who had not yet attained the age of majority, who had
never recognised a father's smile, nor felt his caresses — poor, pen
niless, without the favor of the great, with an imperfect and inad
equate education, limited to the ordinary business and common
pursuits of life. But scarce had I set my foot upon her generous
soil, when I was seized and embraced with parental fondness, ca
ressed as though I had been a favorite child, and patronised with
liberal and unbounded munificence. From that period, the high
est honors of the state have been freely bestowed upon me ; and
afterward, in the darkest hour of calumny and detraction, when I
seemed to be forsaken by all the rest of the world, she threw her
broad and impenetrable shield around me, and, bearing me up aloft
in her courageous arms, repelled the poisoned shafts that were
aimed at my destruction, and vindicated my good name from every
false and unfounded aspersion. I return with indescribable pleas
ure, to linger a while longer, and mingle with the warm-hearted
and whole-souled people of that state ; and, when the last scene
shall for ever close upon me, I hope that my earthly remains will
be laid under her green sod with those of her gallant and patriotic
sons." The long-standing relation of Mr. Clay to the people of Ken
tucky, as here described, was so well known ; the position which
he occupied at the moment, was so peculiar ; his own feelings and
those of his audience, were so completely masters of the occasion,
that no one could witness the retirement of such a patriarch from
public connexions of so responsible, high, and momentous a char
acter, which had run through two generations of a people who had
been served by him, in such an uninterrupted course, and with
such fidelity, ability, and success, without feeling that a great and
strong tie, such as is rarely formed in the social state, was being
dissolved ; and the recognition of his obligations to those who had
sustained him in all his career, when in truth the obligations were
on the other side, was not the least brilliant, ot least touching fea
ture of the spectacle. The commonwealth of Kentucky stood
forth on this occasion personified in the senate-chamber of the
Union, and was seen enacting the chivalrous part ascribed to her
by her adopted and favorite son — " bearing him aloft in her cour
ageous arms." It is not uncommon in history, to find the most
faithful and the purest men deserted by the people whom they had

AS A NEIGHBOR AND CITIZEN. 37
served. But, to the honor of Kentucky be it said, she never de
serted Henry Clay.
On the 5th of December, 1844, the electoral college of Ken
tucky, after having the day previous cast their suffrages for Henry
Clay as president of the United States, accompanied by the gov
ernor of the state, paid their respects in a body to Mr. Clay, at
Ashland, without notice, except by a message sent up in the morn
ing. Numerous citizens from Lexington formed in the procession,
which was escorted from the city by a company of artillery, sudden
ly mustered as volunteers for the occasion. Mr. Clay met them, un
covered, on the steps of his mansion, as they, being also uncovered,
drew up to exchange salutations. It was not to congratulate him,
nor to mingle rejoicings in the triumphs of right, or in the happy
prospects of the country ; but to show the steadfastness of their
regard, and their respect for his character. They wept — how could
they help it? — as the Hon. J. R. Underwood, their organ, gave
utterance to their sentiments, the conclusion of which was as fol
lows : —
" In the shades of Ashland, may you long continue to enjoy
peace, quiet, and the possession of those great faculties which ren
dered you the admiration of your friends, and the benefactor of your
country. And when, at last, death shall demand its victim, while
Kentucky will contain your ashes, rest assured, that old and faith
ful friends, those who, knowing you longest, loved you best, will
cherish your memory, and defend your reputation."
That it should have been a struggle, even for Mr. Clay, to re
ply to this address, may well be imagined. With a manly spirit,
however, though not without faltering, he enacted his part. It
was chiefly a neighborhood and commonwealth feeling which im
parted to this occasion its touching peculiarity, though it could not
be viewed altogether apart from its more extended relations.
As a man of feeling, many are the incidents and occasions,
in the history of Mr. Clay's life, which illustrate this part of his
character. His profound and lasting sensibilities, touching his do
mestic afflictions, already noticed, are evidences to this point. His
daughters were his idols, and when violently separated from them
by the rude hand of death, his affections were only strengthened,
to suffer without consolation. Who ever heard Mr. Clay speak
of his family, or of any of its members, but with respect -and ten
derness ? — or of a servant, but with kindness ? — or of a friend,

38 MR. CLAY'S CHARACTER
but with feelings of which that friend would be proud ? Who
ever heard a servant of his speak ill of him, or complain ? or a
neighbor say, he had found him unkind ?
General La Fayette had become sufficiently acquainted with
' Mr. Clay, to know how much he valued a sympathizing friend,
whether in the joys or sorrows of life, and when he heard through
Mr. Brown, the American minister at Paris, of the death of Mrs.
Duralde, whom he had known, he addressed Mr. Clay a letter of
condolence, of which the following is an extract : —
" Although no direct information from you, my friend, has con
firmed the fatal report communicated to me for the first time by
Mr. Brown and your sister, 1 but too well know I have again to
sympathize with you in a most heavy calamity. I have also to
mourn for myself. It was impossible to have formed an acquaint
ance with the most valuable daughter you have lost, to have been
favored with her friendly welcome and affectionate attentiorf, with
out feeling a deep and lively personal regret. I condole most ten
derly and mournfully with you, with Mrs. Clay, and the whole
family, so cruelly visited of late, and want words to express what
I feel on the lamentable occasion. I have no heart to talk to you
on other matters. You can not write to a more sympathizing
friend." Notes of this kind, written in the unreserved confidence of pri
vate friendship, often bring out features of character on both sides,
which do not appear so striking in the more public transactions of
life. The following extract from a letter to Mr. Clay, written in
London, November 27, 1844, on the result of the presidential
election, will be seen to be from one who was connected with the
American mission at Ghent. It was in the capacity of a secre
tary : —
" My heart is sad. I am weeping, as we both did, when com
paratively young men, on the 24th December, 18.1.4, the day we
signed the peace of Ghent. You threw your arms around my
neck, in bidding me adieu, seeing how sad I was, and exclaimed,
' What is the matter with you, my friend ? You seem to be un
happy.' I loved you, my excellent and kind-hearted friend, for
the kindness and tenderness of your conduct. You embraced me-
you wept like a child. You thought of your country. Your heart
was full of the pride, and pleasure, and comfort of having achieved
peace." It is by such accidents, and in such forms, that the heart of man
is laid open to the eye. None who know the strength of Mr.

AS A MAN OF FEELING. 39
Clay's mind, will pretend that these bursts of feeling, which have
not been rare in the progress of his life, on occasions naturally
touching, are anything other than the result of the action of corre
sponding moral qualities of a vigorous and sensitive kind. A feeling
heart, nicely susceptible to the sympathies of a common humanity,
will alone account for the facts. Such a character is quickly and easily
affected, in view of any ofthe diversified forms of human enjoyment or
suffering, of prosperity or adversity, as well as by its own participation
therein. Mr. Clay has ever shown himself capable of a lively sym
pathy for persons in distress, in all the varieties of misfortune, mental,
physical, social, or political. This character is displayed, accord
ing to the nature of the occasion. Many have been the instan
ces, when Mr. Clay has volunteered his services, in the legal pro
fession, in behalf of persons held in bondage, who in his opinion
were entitled to their freedom, and obtained it for them ; and of
others, whose actual freedom was endangered by illegal claims, to
rescue them from impending slavery. It was always a principle
with Mr. Clay, that no person, whom he could serve, should want
a professional advocate, because of poverty. The cases of needy
widows and orphans, requiring such aid, he would seek, not satis
fied with helping those whose misfortunes happened to come to
his knowledge ; and he would never take a fee from a family con
nexion. He once found a poor Irishman, one Russell, who had
been terribly whipped (lynched) by the Kentucky " Regulators,"
so called, being gangs of men in the backwoods, endeavoring to
keep beyond the reach of law, regulating their own affairs, in pri
mary assemblies, without a written code. Russell had the misfor
tune to live in the vicinity of one of these haunts, and gave some
offence, in his efforts to check their lawlessness. Their modes of
revenge compelled him to abandon his place, and sacrifice his prop
erty. Mr. Clay, after hearing Russell's story, and learning that
his wife and family were witnesses, at the hazard of his own safety,
not to say of his life, volunteered his services, obtained exemplary
damages for Russell, and broke up the gang.
In Mr. Clay's various positions as a public man, his sympathy
has never failed to appear on occasions naturally exciting it. The
distress of the country has always been his own. Take, for
example, his two short speeches in the senate, of March 7 and
14, 1834, on presenting some of those petitions, which poured
in from all parts. of the country, on account of the distress occa
sioned by the removal of the public deposites : —

40 MR. clay's character
"No one," said Mr. Clay, "who has not a heart of steel, can
listen to them, without feeling the deepest sympathy for the priva
tions and sufferings unnecessarily brought upon the laboring classes.
.... It is with subdued feelings of the profoundest humility and
mortification, that I am compelled to say, that, constituted as Con
gress now is, no relief will be afforded by it, unless its members
shall be enlightened and instructed by the people themselves. . . .
In twenty-four hours, the executive branch could adopt a measure,
which would afford an efficacious and substantial remedy."
Mr. Clay then addressed the vice-president (Mr. Van Buren),
in the chair, in terms of supplication : " To you, then, sir, in no
unfriendly spirit, but with feelings softened and subdued by the
deep distress, which pervades every class of our countrymen, I
make the appeal. By your official and personal relations with the
president [General Jackson], you maintain with him an inter
course, which I neither enjoy, nor covet. Go to him, and tell
him without exaggeration, but in the language of truth and sin
cerity, the actual condition of his bleeding country. Depict to
him, if you can find language to portray, the heart-rending wretch
edness of thousands of the working classes, thrown out of employ
ment. Tell him of the tears of helpless widows, of unclad and
unfed orphans. Entreat him to pause, and not drive this brave,
generous, and patriotic people to madness and despair."
The wrongs done to the aboriginal tribes of this continent,
roused Mr. Clay's sympathies. In his speech on the relations of
the United States to the Cherokees, February 4, 1835, he said : —
" I go into this subject with feelings, which no language at my
command, will enable me adequately to express. I assure the
senate, and in an especial manner I assure the honorable senators
from Georgia, that my wish and purpose are any other than to
excite the slightest possible irritation on the part of any human
being. Far from it. I am actuated only by feelings of grief,
feelings of sorrow, and of profound regret, irresistibly called forth
by the contemplation of the miserable condition to which these
unfortunate people have been reduced, by acts of legislation pro
ceeding from' one of the states of this confederacy  He
said, he was applied to by the unfortunate Cherokees, to present
their case to the senate. And he should have been false and
faithless to his own heart, and unworthy of human nature, if he
had declined to be their organ, however inadequate he feared he
had proved himself to be."
The state of Georgia had claimed, that the United States were
bound to extinguish the Indian land titles within her bounds
which, so long as the Cherokees refused their consent, conflicted
with the obligations of treaties between the Indians and the fed-

AS A MAN OF FEELING. 41
eral government ; and Georgia, on the alleged delinquency of the
United States, had extended her jurisdiction over the Cherokee
country. The object of the resolutions before the senate at this
time, was to remedy this difficulty, and if possible to shield and
indemnify the Cherokees against the wrongs they suffered by state
legislation. It is unnecessary to mention, what is known to all the world,
how Mr. Clay's sympathies have expanded to embrace the, op
pressed of all nations, or how effectively those feelings have been
exerted in the eminent and influential positions he has occupied,
to extend the domain of freedom, in South America, in Greece,
and elsewhere. The early, zealous, and solitary movement which
he made in Congress, in behalf of the South American states,
while struggling for independence, will stand for ever as a monu
ment of his active sympathy for suffering and oppressed humanity.
The gallantry, the chivalric character of his speeches in Congress,
in favor of those states, has been felt over the wide world. He
had freely expressed himself on this subject in 1S16 and 1817.
On the 24th of January, 1817, speaking in opposition to the bill
to enforce neutrality, the object of which was, in deference to the
Spanish government, to put a stop to the building of armed ves
sels in 'the ports of the United States, to be sold to the South
American states, and which added two new principles to the law
of 1794, Mr. Clay said :—
" From the inmost recesses of my heart, I wish them [the South
American states] independence. I may be accused of an impru
dent utterance of my feelings on this occasion. I, care not. When
the independence, the happiness, the liberty of a whole people is
at stake, and that people our neighbors, our brethren, occupying a
portion ofthe same continent, imitating our example, and partici
pating in the same sympathies with ourselves, I will boldly avow
my feelings, and my wishes in their behalf, even at the hazard of
such an imputation."
In his speech of May 10, 1820, he said : " This republic,
with the exception of the people of South America, constitutes the
sole depository of civil and religious freedom. And can it be pos
sible, that we should remain passive spectators of the struggle of
those people to break the same chains, which once bound us?
The opinion of the friends of freedom in Europe, is, that our
policy has been cold, heartless, and indifferent toward the great
est cause, which could possibly engage our affections, and enlist
our feelings in its behalf."
In supporting Mr. Webster's resolution to send an agent to

42 ASHLAND AND
5
Greece, in 1824, Mr. Clay said: "Go home, if you can— go
home, if you dare, and tell your constituents, that you voted it
down. Meet, if you can, the faces of those who sent you here,
and tell them, that you shrank from the declaration of your own
sentiments ; that the spectres of cimeters, and crowns, and cres
cents, gleamed before you, and alarmed you ; and that you sup
pressed all the noble feelings prompted by religion, by liberty, by
national independence, and by humanity."
In private and in public, in all social and political relations, Mr.
Clay has ever been found preeminently the man of feeling.
As if charged with a commission from above, it would seem to
have been his constant aim, his ruling passion, to discharge the
high duties of philanthropy, by multiplying in the greatest number,
and extending to the greatest limit, the largest benefactions to the
human race, his charity beginning at home, but finding no bounds.
Sentiment has been the pastime of his life, the luxury of his
existence. Ashland, the residence of Mr. Clay, comprising the house,
gardens, and park, is situated a mile and a half, southeast, from
the courthouse in Lexington, on the southwest side of the turn
pike road, leading to Richmond, but by the extension of the city,
seems only to lie alongside of it. The whole estate of Ashland
consists of between five and six hundred acres, of the best land in
Kentucky — which, for agricultural purposes, is one of the richest
states in the Union. Ashland proper, was projected for an ele
gant country-seat. The house is a spacious brick mansion, with
out much pretension in architecture, surrounded by lawns and
pleasure-grounds, interspersed with walks and groves, planted with
almost every variety of American shrubbery and forest trees,
executed under the direction. of Mr. and Mrs. Clay. Mr. Clay
appears to have delighted in gathering around him the plants and
trees of his own country, there being among them but few exotics.
As the domicil of the great American statesman, Ashland is one
of the household words of the American people. Having been
deeply lodged in their affections, so long as the memory of its pro
prietor is cherished, it can not fail t« have a place in history.
Lexington is one ofthe oldest towns in the state, containing about
eight thousand inhabitants, situated in the heart of a rich and beau
tiful country, itself a beautiful city. Its society is highly cultivated
and intellectual, doubtless owing some of its celebrity in these
particulars, to the vicinage of so distinguished a patriot, inspiring

its hospitalities. '-» 43

its inhabitants with an admiration and love of himself, and inciting
them to excellence in all the virtues of American citizens.
' The hospitalities of Ashland are sufficiently well known to
the many distinguished strangers, who have visited Lexington since
the beginning of the nineteenth century. Mr. Politica, Russian
minister, La Fayette, President Monroe, William Lowndes,
Martin Van Buren, Daniel Webster, Lord Morpeth, General
Bertrand, and many others known to fame, have been among the
guests of Ashland. For twelve years speaker of the house of
representatives, Mr. Clay was accustomed to entertain at dinner
once each session of Congress, in a series of parties, all the mem
bers of both houses, and the ambassadors of foreign countries.
While secretary of state, under Mr. Adams, the weekly levees
were held alternately at the president's and Mr. Clay's.
Mr. Clay is far from being opulent. His long service in public
life, during which he has been poorly remunerated, has prevented
his acquiring wealth, of. which he has not been desirous, farther
than to educate his children, maintain his family, and live like his
neighbors. His personal habits are not expensive, nor is there the
least parade, or ostentation, in his dress, in his house, in his furni
ture, or in his mode of living 5 but entire plainness in everything
visible. He has been always averse to contracting debts, keeping
but few servants, and paying as he goes. Never, for a moment,
has he been involved in any pecliniary difficulty on his own ac
count ; but he has been twice in his life seriously embarrassed by
responsibilities for others. On the first occasion, he quitted public
life, returned to the practice of his profession, and relieved him
self from his obligations. He was a second time, and recently,
involved, by engagements for one of his sons, who proved unfor
tunate in business. On that occasion, he displayed his character
istic generosity and disinterestedness. His son made a conveyance
of all his property, providing for an equal distribution of it among
all his creditors, of whom his father was the largest, the debt to
him amounting to as much as the aggregate of the debts to all the
others. He voluntarily relinquished his share in the common*
fund, to the other creditors, who were paid in full, while be received
nothing. Always anxious to acquit himself with honor of every
obligation, he felt the greatest sensibility under this weight of debt,
and would no doubt have parted with Ashland, to rid himself of
it, but for the relief mentioned in the following letter: —

}

44 mr. clay's pecuniary condition.
" Northern Bank of Kentucky,
"Lexington, May 21, 1845.
"Dear Sir: I am in receipt of your letter of the 12th inst.
Within the last two months, I have received from various sections
of the United States, letters to my address, containing money,
which I was requested to apply to the payment of the Hon. H.
Clay's debts, with no other information, than that it was a contri
bution by friends, who owed him a debt of gratitude for services
he had rendered his country in years past, and that they were
desirous of rendering his declining years free from pecuniary cares.
The amount so received amounted to twenty-five thousand seven
hundred and fifty dollars. This, with the exception of five hun
dred dollars used for the same purpose through another channel,
is the total. It was with some reluctance that Mr. Clay was
induced to accept this relief; and I am convinced, that the deli
cacy observed by the generous donors, had much influence in his
decision. " He is now measurably freed from debt, and his Ashland
cleared of mortgages. We trust it will continue to be the resi
dence of its noble owner, and that Providence will long spare his
life for his country and friends.
" I am, dear sir, respectfully yours,
"Jno. Tilford.
" C. Colton, Esq."
It was reported in the public press, that Mr. Clay asked Mr.
Tilford, with emotion, " Who did this ?" To which Mr. Tilford
replied : " Sir, I do not know. It is sufficient to say, that they
are not your enemies."
It is evident, from the frugal and exact habits of Mr. Clay, and
from his unparalleled success in his profession, whenever engaged,
that, if he had devoted his life to it, instead of the public, he could
have made himself one of the richest men in the land.
There is another fact, in the history of his estate, which can not
but be a subject of regret with all who take an interest in him 
one, indeed, which he would never mention, as the transaction was
voluntary on his part, though arising from his relations to the pub
lic. He once owned a tract of land, through which the canal at
Louisville (Ky.) runs, and which comprehends a part of the city.
Being unproductive at that time, the contingent prospects of him
self and family, resulting from his public engagements, induced him
to exchange it for other property ; and the sacrifice which he made,
in the chances of the future, by that transaction, is estimated at a
million of dollars !

MR. CLAY'S MORAL CHARACTER. 45

CHAPTER III.
Mr. Clay's Moral Character and Religious Sentiments.— Admiration of his Char
acter in Children and Youth.
Although every man's morals must be brought to a common
standard, it may nevertheless be true, that those of some men can
not be estimated by common rules. While one man acts cor
rectly in the social relations, because the influences of society
force him to do so, another does it spontaneously, from the pure
and elevated character of his own feelings. The latter does not
follow, but leads ; is not a copyist, but the author of examples. On
account of his high and independent career, he may possibly ex
hibit some deviations that will incur the criticisms of strict casuists.
Though a shining light, like as artificial aids reveal spots on the
sun, he may not be altogether without them.
There is a great and comprehensive fact in the history of Mr.
Clay's moral character, with the power of a controlling principle,
which would not, perhaps, occur to one of many minds, which
probably was never understood by himself, because thorough self*
knowledge is rarely attained, but which needs only to be men
tioned to be appreciated : Mr. Clay was always in advance of
those around him in the character of his moral feelings. He was
indeed, in the first place, indebted to that original and eternal
moral system established by the Creator, in alliance with the con
science of moral agents, as all men are ; he was, in the next
place, indebted to the favorable circumstances of his infantile ex
istence ; in the third place, he was indebted to the not less favor
able social relations, which befell him, at Richmond, in his youth,
till he launched forth into the loftier and more extended sphere of
his destiny; and in the fourth place, he was indebted to that per
fect system of morality, generally afloat, in numberless forms,
emanating from Christianity. But the original moral sense im
parted to him by creative energy, was purer than life in its ordi
nary forms, stronger than the best common agencies of society,

46 MR. clay's moral character
and always kept ahead of anything common. While a child and
boy at fome, he was better, even than his mother expected, and
sfehewas constantly surprised and delighted by the exuberant fruits
of This good conduct. He seemed to require neither her guid
ance, nor her promptings. In every position he occupied at
Richmond, till he graduated for the higher responsibilities of life,
and removed to Kentucky, it was precisely the same. He was
'ahead of all around him, in the tone of his morals, and in the
correctness of his conduct. It was he that shed light on others,
not others that shed light on him ; he was their example, not they
his. He indeed deferred to superiors, in the respectfulness of his
deportment ; but he was constantly seen starting up, and darting
forward, in some brilliant development of moral character, alto
gether independent and peculiar to himself. In whatever circle
he moved, in whatever company he appeared, in all his relations,
when unchecked by the just claims of his seniors, he was the
reigning star.
An ascendency and precedence of this kind, budding in infancy,
blossoming in childhood, conceded in youth, and maintained every
where, throughout the period of his early history, was not likely
to be resigned, or to disapppear in subsequent life ; but, like all
human talents, which acquire strength by use, and the claims of
which are universally conceded, when they can no longer be
rivalled, this character of Mr. Clay rapidly grew into manhood,
and obtained a standing, from which no social influences were ever
»able to thrust him. Since he entered the great theatre of life, as
an independent and responsible agent, he has never been found in
any society or relations, to which it could be said, that he was
indebted ; but all have acknowledged their indebtedness to him.
He was always a leader, never a follower. The tone of his mor
als was native to him, was cradled by the best care, was invigo
rated by the habits of childhood and youth, and was never relaxed.
To lofty aims and a dignified bearing, such as he ever manifested,
the ordinary vices of men could not easily attach themselves.
Nobody ever thought of bringing Henry Clay down ; they only
thought of rising to his level. Admiration of him was regarded by
others as a compliment to themselves, and they accorded to him a
position, which it was easy for him to maintain. Such was his
industry, and such the rapidity of his career, in acquiring reputa
tion, after he entered upon life, that there was not time for him to
be corrupted by the bad, even if they had desired or attempted to

AND RELIGIOUS SENTIMENTS. 47
do so. But his best security was, that nobody ever dared to make
to him a dishonorable ox degrading proposal.
Mixing, through life, chiefly with men, not professing to be goy»A
erned by religious principle, with whom good manners are maite
the standard or evidence of good morals, Mr. Clay was doubtless
in some degree influenced, though it is not necessary to suppose,.
that he was vitiated, by such associations. From the character
ascribed to him, and which is believed to be true, he was, never *a
man to imbibe, but rather a man to impart, influence.^ He may,
in some instances, have conformed to customs, which~he could
not, upon reflection, approve, as for example, the practice of play
ing at cards with money at stake — a well-known fault of gentlemen
in his sphere of society, and much more practised formerly than
of later years. But Mr. Clay never visited a gambling-house in
his life, and was never seen at a gaming-table, set up for that pur
pose. In the early periods of his public career, he played with
his equals in society for the excitements of the game; but he
never allowed a pack of cards to be in his own house, and no man,
ever saw one there. That he was once in the habit of yielding to
this seductive passion, is not more true than that he always con
demned the practice, and for many years has for the most part
abstained from it. Probably no man reprobates it more sincerely..
It is also known that Mr. Clay has twice in his life been engaged
in duels, the first with Humphrey Marshall, of Kentucky, and the
second with John Randolph, of Roanoke. The laws of the code
of honor, so called, can never be justified, and it is equally a vio-<
lation ofthe rights of society and of God. That these two things
are blemishes in Mr. Clay's brilliant career, can not be denied, and
that he regrets them more than any others can, is doubtless true.
As regards Mr. Clay's pecuniary transactions, which constitute
one of the severest tests of morals, there is not probably in the
country a person more careful to "owe no man anything," or who
would be more anxious while in that situation. He was never
embarrassed from this cause, by his own improvidence, or on his
own account. When he went abroad, in 1814, as commissioner
at Ghent, he loaned his credit to some friends in Kentucky, and
returned to find himself deeply involved by the use they had made
of it. But he afterward resigned the speakership of the house of
representatives, left Congress for a season, to work off this bur
den, in the use of his profession as a lawyer, in which he suc
ceeded. To. some of his friends, who expressed their regret, that

48 MR. clay's mowal character
hephould retire from the public service, he replied, " You can not
have a better guaranty for the fidelity of a public servant, than that
he should be independent."- '.It too often happens that public men
are not independent; and it is rare, that they retire into private life
' to make themselves so. Too many of them prefer the spoils of
official station. How can he who has neglected his own affairs, be
safely intrusted with the affairs of others — of the public ? In the
smallest affairs of trust, Mr. Clay is remarkably punctilious, and
as with all such persons, he expects and requires it from all others.
It would be morally impossible, that he should either forget, or
neglect a trust, however trivial it might be, whether accepted
by himself, or imposed without his consent. No client of his
ever had to complain of a suit neglected, of papers lost, or of a
settlement in his favor deferred. System, method has always been
a part of Mr. Clay's morals, and he could write from Washington
to say, in what parcel, in what pigeon-hole, of what bureau, at
Ashland, a specific paper might be found. Occasions have de
monstrated this fact, which is the reason of its being so stated.
Mr. Clay has been a second time embarrassed in his pecuniary
condition, the cause of which, and the relief, are stated in the pre
ceding chapter.
Mr. Clay's habitual care to be on the right side, in suits at law,
is an instance of his regard for sound morality. It was rare, that
he ever engaged on the wrong side. Nor would any devices, or
tricks, to evade law, escape his rebuke. A man once appealed to
him, with feeling, saying, that he was embarrassed, and wished to
secure something to his wife and children, before his failure, think
ing it a justifiable act. The manner of Mr. Clay's reply, showed,
that he regarded it as an immorality. He would engage in no
such transaction.
When Mr. Clay was secretary of state, in 1827, and his son
Henry at West Point academy, he was accidentally advised of
some improper conduct in one of the cadets. Fearing for his
son, who, as a member of the same institution, and an intimate of
this young man, might be injured by such society, and not less
desirous of benefiting the offender, he wrote him a letter of rebuke
which brought forth a reply, of which the following is an extract :
" It is possible, that when you wrote a letter which I have this mo
ment received, you pictured to yourself some of the effects which
it would leave on my feelings. Whatever idea you may have
formed of such feelings, it could not have come up, by far, to the

AND RELIGIOUS" SENTIMENTS. 49
reality." His reprover had the satisfaction of observing, that he
had not discharged his sense of duty in vain.
The laudable and successful ambition of Henry Clay, jr., while
a cadet at West Point, is not more evident, than his filial affection
and obedience to the counsels of a solicitous parent. The follow
ing brief items of a correspondence on one side, are copied as an
illustration of this part of the morality of the social state, showing
parental care and filial regard. In a letter to his father, dated
West Point, Feb. 1, 1829, Henry says: —
"I am but too well convinced of the truth of your remark, that
there is not a mistake, which a man commits with more ease, than
that of judging erroneously of the degree of his own merits, and
that none should be more carefully guarded against. The conclu
sion at which I arrived, and was thoughtless enough to mention to
you, was that of my own unassisted judgment. I agree with you,
that no man is so contemptible, as he who is ready to follow, and
to engage in any pursuit, without first consulting his own good
sense, and prudence." At another time, he, says : "In regard to
my going to Kentucky, I feel forcibly the obligations under which
I am to you, for your kind wish, that I should spend my vacation
as agreeably as possible. I know not, whether the transient pleas
ure I shall enjoy, will compensate for the inconvenience to which
you may be put." Again : " I have received your letter of the
14th inst. By it, all my fears are quieted. Feeling as I now do,
I can not but beseech you to forgive me for the uneasiness, which
my but half-suppressed discontent must have caused you."
These, certainly, are gems in such a relation.
But that high-toned morality, which made Mr. Clay so scrupu
lously nice in all the private relations of life, and which is not less
exact now than at any former period, has had a broader field for
its display, and been rendered more illustrious in his character as
a statesman : first, in his conscientious regard for the rights of the
people, and the rights of the states, as defined in fundamental law ;
and next, in his respect for the claims of international law, and*for
the opinion of mankind, based upon that platform. Here are
suggested three comprehensive rules of morality. With Mr. Clay,
as a statesman, the existing government, existing institutions, and
existing laws, rightly defined and interpreted, are authority, and
the only authority. Whatever rights they secure to the people,
Mr. Clay has ever considered himself conscientiously, religiously
bound to maintain. The rights of the states, being another class,
have also their claims. Mr. Clay, however his own personal feel-
Vol. I.— 4

50 MR. clay's moral character
ings or private judgment might differ from the rule, would no
more consider himself entitled to depart from it, in the discharge
of his public duties, than a Christian priest to violate the gospel.
In the matter of slavery, for example, the constitution has decided
on what basis it shall stand, and within what limits. That is the
rule for Mr. Clay, on this subject, as a public man. In all foreign
relations, the recognised public law is his only guide. Mr. Clay
thundered out his denunciations against the alienation of Texas,
when it was consummated in 1819 ; but being done, he would not
acquire it in violation of public law, however desirable it might be
to have it. Right for the people, right for the states, and right for
all nations, according to the rules, has ever been Mr. Clay's code
of morality, as a statesman ; and with him, it has been a principle
of morality, rather than a question of policy. With him, in such
matters, the law is the gospel. Morality has entered into Mr.
Clay's public character, with not less energy, than into his private
relations. In the former, it has displayed its greatest strength, on
account of the nature of the subjects, as being more important and
more momentous.
Nobody could ever find who had been Mr. Clay's preceptor in
moral lessons, because he never had one, except the tuition of the
Deity over the monitor within, aided by the providential circum
stances of his birth and education. For a mind so independent
in its action, marching to the discovery of its own superior pow
ers, which was unavoidable, it was fortunate, that Mr. Clay's
moral perceptions were always pure.
But there have been displayed in Mr. Clay's career other and
higher moral qualities, which do not come within the range of these
lower and more circumscribed views — qualities, which constitute
the most interesting developments of his. character, and which,
though impulsive in their nature, yet, in his case, have been uni
form in their modes of action, and beneficent in their tendencies.
They are not uncommon in isolated instances, each by itself, and
usually in a lower degree. It is the assemblage of so many in one
individual, and the vigor and effectiveness of their action, which
are remarkable. They are those higher attributes of moral char
acter, for which a man acquires the reputation of disinterested,
philanthropic, noble, generous, chivalric, patriotic, heroic.
No matter what human being may be in distress, or what kind
of misfortune may be his lot, a man endowed with these qualities,

AND RELIGIOUS SENTIMENTS. 51
is instantly roused by an impulse for his relief, and he will achieve
it, if it be within the limits of his ability. His eye and his heart
are upon it, because he is impelled by the powerful action of his
moral constitution, in view of the case. It would be impossible
for him to rest, till this desire is gratified. It takes hold of him
like a passion, and becomes a passion, putting in requisition all the
means within his reach, and all the powers of which he is pos
sessed. He may and doubtless will have rules of action pre
scribed to himself, in regard to such cases ; but he can no more
refrain from acting, than he can violate the laws of his being.
When such a man's social relations are enlarged, and he is
called to act for society on an extended scale, with more or less
of authority, this disposition, in all its energy, invigorated and
stimulated by exercise, is developed in comprehensive devices, to
embrace a larger number of the unfortunate, and a wider sphere
of suffering. If its influences are mediate, and its agencies sec
ondary, it is the result of his position, and is as much more effec
tive and useful in its operations, as the scale on which he acts is
larger. As an agent for others, he will, if possible, more than
satisfy those who have committed trusts to his hands, by his fidel
ity, zeal, and success. As an arbitrator between disputants, and
violent antagonists, all his benevolent energies are called forth in
the useful functions of a peace-maker. As a commissioner on a
philanthropic errand, delegated from one party to another, single
or associated, he engages in his mission with all his soul. As a
legislator, his ear and heart are open to all addresses, and he looks
abroad upon the community, to see how much suffering he can
relieve, and how much good he can do. As a magistrate, his
great aims are fidelity, justice, mercy. When human life is in his
hand, as an advocate or public functionary, all his powers are
directed to its preservation on just principles. As a state or na
tional counsellor, in whatever capacity, he is first a patriot, next a
philanthropist. It is not enough for him to do all possible good
to his own country, but, after taking care of that, he grasps the
general interests of humanity. Other states, and other nations, so
far as he can further their progress in freedom and happiness, are
sure to realize his effective sympathy.
But these powerful tendencies of his nature to beneficent acts,
on the smallest and on the largest scale, are not without regard to
personal honor when he acts for himself, or to the honor of his
client when he acts for another, or to public honor when he is a

52 MR. clay's moral character
public agent. That same powerful impulse, which prompts him
to do good, and to do it with energy and effect, on proper occa
sions, is intimately associated with a not less powerful sense of
wrong, and of dishonorable conduct, to keep himself right, and to
claim the same treatment from others — to have his country always
m the right, and to hold all opponents, private or public, always in
the wrong, if they choose to differ ; and the right he will maintain
to the death.
And, it will be observed, that there is always a disinterestedness
in these rare characters. It is impossible, in the nature of man,
and of moral being, that self-interest should consist with these great
qualities, developed in the various forms of nobleness of feeling,
of generosity, of chivalry, of patriotism, and of heroism, according
to the nature ofthe occasion, on which they are respectively called
forth. A regard to self would be a check, an effectual bar on the
action and current of such high feelings. A consideration of self
not only arrests their progress, but is death to them. It dries up
the fountain. Selfishness and these attributes can not coexist in a
uniform character. A man may do a great, and apparently, noble
action, from a selfish motive ; but a selfish man will not boldly
venture on such acts as a career of life, in all relations, in all cir
cumstances, and on all occasions. A man, ambitious of fame, may
make to himself a notable history as a military chieftain, or in any
other single pursuit, from motives chiefly selfish ; and for that rea
son, he will never be caught making a sacrifice of his own chances,
for the right?, and interests of others, or of the public, or for pri
vate honor. In some, if not in many of the diversified relations
and stages of his career, he will be found defective, so that his
reputation will be tarnished, if not for ever disgraced, and his fair
fame obscured, if not obliterated.
But the character now under consideration, the man who was
made and who lives for others, not for himself, who is constitu
tionally and invariably actuated by a regard for the good of others
and of the public ; who is habitually under the control of these
higher and nobler impulses, after the strictest scrutiny into the
nicest points of his social history, will come out pure, untarnished.
The more he is known, so much the more will the disinterested
ness of his conduct be established, and so much the more will his
honor be illustrated. It will be found, that he has never paused
in sacrificing his own chances, when honor, or public good required
it. Scrupulous in his principles and in his conduct, he has acted

AND RELIGIOUS SENTIMENTS. 53
under the impulses of a great and generous mind. If he deserves
less credit, because he was so constituted by nature, he can never
be fairly accused of the vices which are opposed to these eminent
virtues. It can not be denied, that an impression has gone widely abroad,
that Henry Clay is a character of this description. Thousands,
and tens of thousands of witnesses, and close observers of his life
and conduct, believe it, certify to it. A history of forty years, is
a severe test of a public man's character. It is at least remarkable,
that, after all the siftings through which Mr. Clay has passed, in
view of the multiplied social and public relations he has held, and
notwithstanding all the attempts of his enemies to defame him, this
impression of his disinterested, noble, generous, chivalric, patriotic,
heroic character, has spread wider, grown stronger, and obtained a
more profound, and firmer hold on the mind, not only of the
American people, but of the civilized world.
In regard to Mr. Clay's religious sentiments, it is a sub
ject of some interest, and not unworthy of notice. The position
he has occupied, in relation to the religious world, is perhaps as
well defined in his own remarks, made in the senate of the United
States, in 1832, when he moved a joint resolution, to request the
president to appoint and recommend a national fast, on account
of that terrible scourge, the Asiatic cholera, which had extended
its ravages to the American continent, and filled the public mind
with consternation and dismay. Very unexpectedly this motion
was opposed in the senate, and afterward in the house of repre
sentatives by the speaker, James K. Polk, and others, though it
passed ; but the president, General Jackson, refused to act with
them, and the proposal failed. In consequence of this opposition,
among other things, Mr. Clay said : —
" I am a member of no religious sect, and I am not a professor
of religion. I regret that I am not. I wish that I was, and I trust
that I shall be. I have, and always have had, a profound regard
for Christianity, the religion of my fathers, and for its rites, its
usages, and its observances. Among these, that which is proposed
in this resolution, has always commanded the respect of the good
and the devout ; and I hope it will obtain the concurrence of the
senate." No one would be able to perceive, that Mr. Clay's mind had
been tainted with the poisonous ingredients, in relation to Chris
tianity, with which the atmosphere of society has been charged for

54 mr. clay's moral character
the last half century, or more. It is remarkable, to say the least,
considering the circumstances in which he has been placed, and
the associations with which his various public functions have
brought him in contact, for so large a portion of his life, that he
should have passed through such an ordeal, and come out, with
such simplicity and purity of mind on the subject of religion. In
the use of that practical good sense, for which he was always
remarkable, knowing well, that he was too much occupied in other
things, to debate such profound matters, and believing that a hasty
judgment upon them would be very unwise, and might be fatal, he
seems never to have drawn in question the claims of Christianity,
or the verities of its Divine disclosures, and has apparently been
accustomed to entertain it as a great and suitable Fact.
Mr. Clay's belief in Divine Providence often appears, in his
public speeches, and in conversation. In the opening of a speech,
in the house of representatives, in March, 1824, on the great
interests of the country, as involved in the American system, ap
parently impressed with the weighty and religious responsibili
ties then devolving on that body, he said : —
" I would invoke the aid of the Most High. I would anxiously
and fervently implore his Divine assistance, that he would be gra
ciously pleased to shower on my country his richest blessings ; that
he would sustain, on this interesting occasion, the humble indi
vidual that stands before him, and lend him the power, moral and
physical, to perform the solemn duties which now belong to his
public station."
In Mr. Clay's speech before the Kentucky Colonization Soci
ety, at Frankfort, 1829, speaking of the time required for the
accomplishment of great and good ends, he said : —
" Eighteen hundred years have rolled away since the Son of
God, our Blessed Redeemer, offered himself on Mount Calvary,
for the salvation of our species ; and more than half of mankind
still continue to deny his Divine mission, and the truth of his sacred
word. Throughout the entire existence of Christianity, it has been
a favorite object of its ardent disciples, and pious professors, to dif
fuse its blessings by converting the heathen. This duty is enjoined
by its own sacred precepts, and prompted by considerations of
humanity. All Christendom is more or less employed in this ob
ject, at this moment, in some part or other of the earth. But it
must in candor be owned, that hitherto missionary efforts have not
had a success corresponding in extent with the piety and benevo
lence of their aims, or with the amount of means which have been
applied. Some new and more efficacious mode of accomplishing

AND RELIGIOUS SENTIMENTS. 55
the beneficent purpose, must be devised, which, by concentrating
energies and endeavors, and avoiding loss in their diffuse and un-
combined application, snail insure the attainment of more cheering
results." Mr. Clay concluded his speech on this occasion, as follows :
" We have reason to believe, that we have been hitherto favored,
and shall continue to be blessed, with the smiles of Providence.
. Confiding in his approving judgment, and conscious of the be
nevolence and purity of our intentions, we may fearlessly advance
in our great work. And when we shall, as soon we must, be
translated from this into another form of existence, is the hope
presumptuous, that we shall behold the common Father of whites
and blacks, the great Ruler of the universe, cast his all-seeing eye
upon civilized and regenerated Africa, its cultivated fields, its
coasts studded with numerous cities, adorned with towering tem
ples, dedicated to the pure religion of his redeeming Son ?"
In a speech, in the senate, 1832, when describing the social
and moral condition of factory-girls, in American establishments,
he alludes, with apparent religious and devout satisfaction, to their
Christian privileges and character, thus : —
" ' Six days shalt thou labor, and do all that thou hast to do ;
but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God.' Ac
cordingly we behold them [the factory-girls] on that sacred day,
assembling in his temples, and in devotional attitudes, and with
pious countenances, offering their prayers to Heaven for all its
blessings ; of which, it is not the least, that a system of policy
has been adopted by their country, which admits of their obtain
ing a comfortable subsistence."
Mr. Clay describes what he had witnessed. Hence the senti
ment and vividness of the picture.
In his speech in behalf of the Cherokees, 1835, he says : " If
they [Congress] were to fail to do this [justice], and if there was,
as reason and revelation declared there was, a tribunal of eternal
justice, to which all human power was amenable, how could they,
if they refused to perform their duties to this injured and oppres
sed, though civilized race, expect to escape the visitations of that
Divine vengeance, which none could avoid, who had committed
wrong, or done injustice to others ?" Here is morality as well
as religion.
" I have waited," said Mr. Clay, in his valedictory to the sen
ate, 1842, " in perfect and undoubting confidence, for the ulti
mate triumph of justice and truth, and in the entire persuasion,

56 MR. clay's moral character
that time would, in the. end, settle all things as they should be,
and that whatever wrong or injustice I might experience at the
hands of man, He, to whom all hearts are open and fully known,
would, in the end, by the inscrutable dispensations of his provi
dence, rectify all error, redress all wrong, and cause ample justice
to be done."
In the opening of Mr. Clay's speech at Lexington, June 6,
1S42, on his retirement to private life, he said : " I feel that it is
our first duty to express our obligations to a kind and bountiful
Providence, for the copious and genial showers with which he has
blessed our land — a refreshment of which it stood much in need.
For one, I offer to him my humble and dutiful thanks."
It has been the habit of Mr. Clay, through life, on proper oc
casions, in private and in public, to make a religious and reveren
tial recognition of Divine Providence, and to speak in the most
respectful manner of Christianity, its rites, and its institutions.
He has also been an habitual attendant on the public observances
of religion. On a Sunday evening, some time after the result of
the presidential election of 1844 was known, while sitting at his
own fireside, with two friends, the dark prospects of the country
being a topic of conversation, he said, pointing with his finger to
the Bible, which lay on the table — the only book there, showing
the use that had been made of it : " Gentlemen, I do not know
anything but that book, that can reconcile us to such events."
" Ashland, March 7, 1845.
"Dear Sir : I have received your obliging letter, informing
me, that, by the contribution of two ladies of Baltimore, of the
requisite sum for the purpose, I have been made a member for
life, of the Baltimore Sabbath Association. As you do not in
form me of the names of the ladies, I must request you to be my
organ to communicate to them my respectful acknowledgments for
this proof of their valued regard and esteem, and to assure them,
that I share with them in sentiments of profound reverence for
the sabbath, as a religious institution, and that I fervently hope,
that all laudable endeavors to inculcate the proper observance of
it, may be crowned with success.
" I have also to thank you for a copy of the pamphlet, con
taining the proceedings of the association, which you forwarded
to me."I am, with high respect, your friend and obedient servant,
" H. Clay.
" Charles W. Ridgely, Esq."

AND RELIGIOUS SENTIMENTS. 57
" Ashland, March 7, 1845.
" Dear Sir : I have received your favor, transmitting a testi
monial of my being made a member for life of the American
Home Missionary Society, in virtue of a contribution made for that
object by the ladies of the Durand Society of New Haven.
" I request you to communicate to them my grateful acknowl
edgments for this distinguished proof of their highly-appreciated
esteem and regard, and to assure them that I share with them
a profound sense of the surpassing importance of the Christian
religion, and believing, as I sincerely do, in its truth, I hope and
trust that their laudable endeavors to promote and advance its
cause may be crowned with signal success.
" I am obliged to you for your account of the operations of
the society. And from their great extent I should suppose that
the results of the labors of the society would fully correspond
with the pious and religious motives which prompted its establish
ment. " I am, with great respect, your friend and obedient servant,
" H. Clay.
" Charles Hall, Esq."
Since Mr. Clay's retirement from public life, he appears to be
more than ever impressed with the inestimable value of religion,
is often occupied with researches and studies connected with it,
regularly attends divine service, and probably will soon become a
communicant in the church.
The impression which the character of Mr. Clay has made
upon the children and youth of the land, is one of interest and
instruction. Doubtless it may be partly explained by his repu
tation, which, such as it is, always takes a strong hold of young
imaginations. A reverend gentleman, in Kentucky, became enthusiastically
attached to Mr. Clay, from impressions received in his youth.
In a letter to him, in 1828, speaking as one personally unknown
to him, he says : —
" When I was pursuing my education in Lexington, as a
student and a boy, I was much pleased with your oration at
the laying of the corner-stone of the hospitaj. Once, on Pop
lar Row, on the pavement, I met you.' There were none else
on the street, and you spoke to me so politely and friendly,
though a little thing, it made no small impression. The next
time I saw you, was when I was at college. You passed through
Princeton (N. J.), sitting by the driver, on the outside, and spoke
to Mr.  , who was with me. The way you spoke to

58 ADMIRED
him, as an acquaintance, impressed me, that, in no ordinary de
gree, you were a man of friendly feeling and urbanity. I have
named my firstborn son, Henry Clay, first, as a mark of
friendship and affection for you ; and next, that your character
might stimulate him to worthy deeds. I am in the habit of pray
ing for you, in secret and public. You are consecrated to your
country. Bear with me, for I love you."
The following letter has an interest of this kind : —
"  , August 11, 1832.
" My Dear Sir : The two little gentlemen, who are named
in this note, applied to me, in the most earnest manner, to introduce
them to your notice and acquaintance ; and I must say, that it
gratified me to comply with their request. My heart feels joy,
when I see little boys (they will soon be men), uncontaminated,
ardently desiring to know you. Both of them, little fellows, are
endeared to me, from the consideration of having labored long,
incessantly, carefully, and successfully, in the cultivation of the
minds of their mothers. The elder of these little gentleman, is
 , of  , whom I introduced to you at that place, on
your way to Kentucky, when I saw you last ; and the younger is
 , son of  . I pray God Almighty to look
down, and bless the rising generation, and thus prevent the awful
political and moral contagion, which has overspread and pervaded
our once happy country, so that our youth, at least, may escape
its baneful influence."
A student at college writes to Mr. Clay, December, 1844,
thus : —
"Honored Sir: Excuse the enthusiasm, which prompts a
young and ardent son of Rhode Island in addressing you, whose
genius and principles have won his admiration. It is among the
most pleasant recollections of my childhood, that when, many
years ago, you passed through my native city, I, too, among the
thousands who bade you welcome, had the honor of taking by
the hand, the statesman, whose name had become as household
words in the land of Roger Williams."
It is singular, that while writing this page, the author should
have received a letter, of which the following is an extract : —
" Strange that a man, w*hom I have seen but once or twice in my
life, and that in my boyhood, when he was surrounded by crowds
of friends, and too much engrossed with them, to notice the chil
dren with whom I was then ranked, should now be loved almost
as a father ! And yet half of the nation may say the same
thing."

BY THE YOUNG. 59
One evening at Maysville, Kentucky, 1842, after Mr. Clay
had made his entrance there on a public occasion, some matrons,
followed by their daughters, were observed to be importuning him.
Mr. Clay was obliged at last to sit down in a chair, and submit
to the scissors, till he cried out, " Please leave a little, or I shall
have to get a wig." The young damsels stood by, each waiting
her turn for a lock of his hair, while their mothers officiated as
barbers. On another occasion, in 1844, while Mr. Clay was sitting in
his office, at Lexington, a group of noisy, but lovely little girls,
rushed in, crying out, and emulating each other for the first salute,
" How do you do, Mr. Clay ?" all seizing his hands simultaneously.
Their gentle, captivating violence amounted almost to rudeness.
Mr. Clay did not know one of them ; but they were not slow to
tell him whose daughters they were, which they did not doubt
was a sufficient introduction. " Come and see me, Mr. Clay,"
each one insisted, on retiring, and each seized his hand some
half-dozen times, all being in controversy, who should have it
last, as they had been, who should get hold of it first.
In the last two cases above noticed, the author describes what
he himself witnessed, and was milch interested in observing, on
account of the moral of the facts. These are only a few exam
ples of the feelings of children and youth toward Mr. Clay, which
might be multiplied to an unlimited extent. There must be a
foundation for this admiration in young minds. Unknown to
most of them, his well-earned fame touches their hearts. Nor is
the effect less on the sterner feelings of manhood, and the more
gentle affections of female character.

CO mr. clay's person.

CHAPTER IV.
Mr. Clay's Person — Temperament — Manners — Voice — Attributes of Eloquence. —
Specimens of his Eloquence.
Mr. Clay is a tall man, six feet and one inch ; not stout,
but the opposite ; has long arms, and a small hand ; always erect
in standing, walking, or talking ; in debate, still more erect ; has a
well-shaped head, and a dauntless profile ; an uncommonly large
mouth, upper lip commanding, nose prominent, spare visage, and
blue eyes, electrical when kindled ; forehead high, sloping back
ward in a curvilinear line, that bespeaks the man; hair naturally
light, and slow to put on the frosts of age; withal, displaying a
well-formed person, and imposing aspect, with which, it is sup
posed, an amateur or connoisseur in human shape and counte
nance, would not be likely to find much fault. In regard to phren
ological developments, so far as any may have respect for that
science, so called, the following is a sketch of Mr. Clay, drawn
by a professor, whether from fact or theory, both being before him,
it is not deemed important to say: —
" There is a tall, light-haired, blue-eyed individual, sixty years
old or more, who occupies a seat in the senate, at the capitol.
He has not what would be called a handsome face, but one of the
liveliest, or, if we may so speak, one of the most looking faces
that ever fronted a head. It is because he has a looking organi
zation. You catch not him asleep or moping. He seems to see
everybody that comes in, or goes out, and besides, to have an eye
on, and an ear for, whatever honorable senator may occupy die
field of debate. If his own marked political game is on foot, he
is then Nimrod, a mighty hunter. He can see just what fissure
of inconsistency, nook of sophism, or covert of rhetoric, is made
a hiding-place. At the right moment, he aims a rifle pretty sure
to hit, if his powder is good ; and his friends say, that he uses
the best. Grand fun it is, to stand by, and see this keen sports
man crack off, and especially to hear him wind ' the mellow, mel
low horn,' which his mother gave him a long while ago. To leave
our hunting-ground metaphor, for the plain beaten way, this indi-

MR. clay's temperament. 61
vidual is the veteran statesman from Kentucky. Now, just come
and look at his head, or seek his portrait, at least. You will see
how his perceptives put themselves forth in front, just as if
they were reaching after their objects, as it were, for a long pull,
and a strong pull, to fetch .them into keeping. Then, in speech,
with what ease, grace, order, and effect, he can fling forth his
gatherings. His mind has been developed by the exciting circum
stances of active life, rather than by the speculations of quiet
books. Henry Clay is, therefore, a practical man. He is pre
eminently perceptive. He knows the whom, the what, the
where, the when, the which first, and the how many, as well, per
haps, as any public man living. A very long political life has put
him to the test. We do not 'aver, that he never made mistakes, or
that he is politically and positively right ; we intimate, more
over, nothing to the contrary. We would simply convey,
that of all the great statesmen of our country, he particularly illus
trates the faculties just had under review! !" — Uncle Sam's Letters.
The temperament of Mr. Clay is sanguineous and mercurial,
susceptible of quick, and in the presence of powerful causes, of
high excitement ; but it has been so well controlled by his judg
ment and moral feelings, that the condescension, affability, and
great kindness, which have usually characterized his manners,
have procured for him the most enthusiastic and ardent attach
ments among all classes, all ages, and both sexes. In less guarded
moments, however, the proneness of such a temperament to quick
action, has sometimes wounded friends and made enemies. But
he is magnanimous in his concessions, when convinced of a fault.
In 1816, when he and Mr. John Pope were opposing candi
dates for Congress, Mr. Clay took offence at something which- had
been said by one of Mr. Pope's friends, and attacked him in the
streets of Lexington, creating no inconsiderable disturbance. It
was generally thought, that Mr. Clay was in the wrong, and after
sleeping upon it, he himself came to the same opinion. The next
morning he made the amende honorable to the gentleman whom
he had attacked ; but it was not so easy to make his peace with
the people. The next day he was to meet Mr. Pope a few miles
from the city in public debate, where the people, when assembled,
evinced much excitement on account of this affair. Mr. Clay
rose, in presence of the multitude, and in a very feeling, but dig
nified manner, acknowledged his fault. The magnanimity of this
conduct, done with a grace and effect, which none but Mr. Clay
could throw into it, greatly enhanced his popularity, and he car-

62 mr. clay's temperament.
ried the district over Mr. Pope triumphantly, as he always did,
before and after, against every opposing candidate in the state,
whether before the people for the house of representatives, or in
the legislature for the senate of the United States.
This constitutional excitability in Mr. Clay, has always been
with him a severe test of the power of self-government, and it is
not a little to his credit that he has so generally been able to con
trol the strong tendencies of his ardent temper, and hold them
within the bounds of moderation. He who, like Mr. Clay, thinks
quick, and comes quick to his conclusions, is in danger of impa
tience at the movements of more sluggish minds; and a public
man, for ever absorbed, and sometimes vexed, by the cares of
office, has some apology for disposing of calls on business ab
ruptly, or for excusing himself to visiters, who do not appreciate
the preciousness of his time. When, however, it is considered,
that Mr. Clay's great powers were based on this very tempera
ment, which has exposed him to occasional faults, and that, under
the admirable self-discipline he has maintained, the public, the
world, are indebted to these strong impulsions of nature, for the in
valuable fruits and results of his lofty ambition and great exertions,
no one can reasonably regret, that Mr. Clay was just such a man,
and no other.
Mr. Clay himself seems to have been aware of this feature of
his own character. In his valedictory to the senate of the United
States, in 1842, he said : —
" That my nature is warm, my temper ardent, my disposition —
especially in relation to the public service — enthusiastic, I am fully
ready to own. During a long and arduous career of service, in
the public councils of my country — especially during the last
eleven years I have held a seat in the senate — from the same ardor
and enthusiasm of character, I have no doubt, in the heat of de
bate, and in an honest endeavor to maintain my opinions, against
adverse opinions equally honestly entertained, as to the best course
to be adopted for the public welfare, I may have often, inadvert
ently or unintentionally, in moments of excited debate, made use
of language that has been offensive, and susceptible of injurious
interpretation toward my brother senators. If there be any here,
who retain wounded feelings of injury or dissatisfaction produced
on such occasions, I beg to assure them, that I now offer the am
plest apology for any departure, on my part, from the established
rules of parliamentary decorum and courtesy. On the other hand,
I assure the senators, one and all, without exception, and without
reserve, that I retire from this senate-chamber without carrying

MR. CLAY'S MANNERS AND VOICE. 63
4
with me a single feeling of resentment or dissatisfaction to the
senate, or to any one of its members."
There was truth and reason in this, which was uttered in such
a feeling manner, that there was scarcely a dry eye in the senate.
When the speech was concluded, Mr. Calhoun walked across the
senate-chamber, and offered Mr. Clay his hand, which was cor
dially taken, and thus ended their hostility.
In manners, few men, if any, have been more happy, than
Mr. Clay. Naturally endowed with great self-possession and ease,
displaying a commanding person, an eloquent countenance, a con
descending mien, affability, dignity, deference, general courtesy,
and having a quick discernment of character, Mr. Clay has been
not less successful in captivating the plainest people than the more
cultivated ; in winning the populace, than being the centre of at
traction in the drawing-room. The common man, after an acquaint
ance, would naturally say, he is kind; the gentleman would say,
he is easy and without fault ; the lady, he is an example of polite
ness ; the opponent in debate, he is fair ; the diplomatist, he is
accomplished ; the client, he is attentive ; the friend, he is true and
faithful ; and youth and children, that have been noticed by him,
have given evidence, that he is fascinating. He is not less sus
ceptible of accommodation in manners to all persons and char
acters, than versatile in the capabilities of his intellectual powers —
a gentleman, by nature, culture, and habit.
The voice of Mr. Clay has been one of great melody, com
pass, and power. With a foundation of low bass, deep and
strong, it has been capable of rising to the sharp falsetto, every
note in the scale musical and far-reaching. Within this compass,
lies the power of expressing all human feelings and passions.
The penetrating character of Mr. Clay's voice, has been consid
ered remarkable, its common colloquial notes, being equal in their
effect, in the same circumstances, to that of the greatest physical
exertion of most men. Spectators in the galleries of the senate-
chamber, have often heard his private talk at his desk below, while
another senator was making a speech. In regard to the modula
tes of his voice for oratorical purposes, instructed by nature
rather than art, and employing his vocal powers chiefly for the
practical uses of society, of the forum, and of public debate, Mr.
Clay has always escaped the vices of tune or song. Hence his

64 ATTRIBUTES OF MR. CLAY'S ELOQUENCE.
elocution has been felt to be natural, and -has consequently been
effective. But the attributes of Mr. Clay's eloquence, extend to a wider
range than that of voice. His person, tall, erect, commanding ;
his countenance, as well as his voice, capable of expressing every
feeling and passion of the human soul, pleasure or pain, satisfac-
faction or discontent, hope or fear, desire or aversion, complacency
or contempt, love or hatred, joy or grief, ecstasy or anguish, valor
or cowardice, kindness or cruelty, pity or revenge, resolution or
despair; his large mouth, and swollen upper lip, working quietly or
in agony, as occasions require; his eye resting in calmness, or
beaming with lively emotion, or sparkling with strong feeling, or
flashing with high passion like the thunderbolts of heaven in the
darkness of the storm ; his arms, now hanging easy by his side,
now outstretched, now uplifted, now waving with grace, or striking
with the vehemence of passion; his finger pointing where his
piercing thoughts direct ; the easy, or quiet, or violent movements
of his whole frame ; the bending of his body forward, or sidewise,
or backward ; the downward or upward look ; the composed, or
suffused, or impassioned countenance ; the watchful, shifting
glances, taking in the field of vision, and making each one feel,
that he is seen and individually addressed ; the theme; himself;
his audience ; his fame ; his position on the subject in debate or
under discussion ; his relation to the assembly or body before him ;
the respect and esteem in which he is held by them ; his dignity,
courtesy, deference; his disinterestedness, his philanthropy, his
patriotism ; — all these, and many others that might be named, are
among the attributes of Mr. Clay's eloquence, and appertain to
that accumulation and concentration of influences, which have
given his popular harangues, his forensic efforts, his various public
addresses, and his parliamentary speeches, so much power over
the minds, the hearts, and the actions of his countrymen.
Purity of diction can not be separated from the attributes of
Mr. Clay's eloquence. It is not less true, that language, properly
selected and composed, is eloquent, than that sentiment and pas
sion are ; and the eloquence of passion depends on that of diction.
Passion may even be spoiled by its .dress, and lose all its force.
Purity of diction is to thought, sentiment, and passion, as the well-
made toilet of a lady is to her charms. It is a transparent medium,
through which the observer looks into the soul, and beholds all its
movements. When the diction is pure, all occasions of criticism,

ATTRIBUTES OF MR. CLAY'S ELOQUENCE. 65
as to dress, are absent, and what is in the mind and heart of the
speaker, passes directly into the mind and heart of the listener.
The effect of pure diction is the same on the clown, as on the
scholar. The former can not criticise, if he would ; the latter
rejects his prerogative ; and both are lost in satisfaction, if both
are interested in the subject, and otherwise equally attracted. But
if the language were not pure, both would feel it, though possibly
but one could point out the defect or blemish. Nature, in the
rudest state, however, is often endowed with the highest attributes
of criticism. A much-admired painting of a peasant-girl, feeding
the pigs, had sustained the severest scrutiny of connoisseurs, with
triumph ; but, when a negro slave; used to that business, looked at
the picture, and exclaimed, " Who ever saw pigs feeding, without
one foot in the trough ?" — the painting was thenceforth good for
nothing ! The best test of Mr. Clay's language, both in colloquial
and rhetorical applications, is, that it is suited to all classes of
persons. Faith in the validity and sincerity of Mr. Clay's own convic
tions, arising not less from faith in his general character, than from
the artless and feeling manner of his utterance, carries with it an
irresistible influence. All who hear him, are fully persuaded, from
what they know of him, and by his manner, that he himself believes
what he says. Their surrender of opinion and feeling, therefore,
or their acquiescence, is measured only by their will, or their in
terest, or their confidence in his judgment, or by a combination of
such influences. No small part of the eloquence of Mr. Clay lies
in this faith, which is a moral bond between him and those whom
he addresses, dissolving in a common crucible the feelings of the
two parties.
Clear and lucid reasoning claims great consideration, as a
controlling attribute of his eloquence. Other adventitious, and not
unimportant advantages, already noticed, have contributed to the
effect of his reasoning powers, but. have only been auxiliary to their
sway over private individuals, popular assemblies, courts, juries,
and the legislature ofthe nation. Sentiment, with Mr. Clay, though
he delights in it, is always subject to reason ; and the reasons are
in advance of the sentiments, sustaining the relation of cause to the
effect. Sentiment, with' him, is always under discipline, and is
often suppressed, to give more effect to the reasoning. In his
speeches on the emancipation of South America, in 181S, there
never was a finer field, or more provocation for sentiment ; but it
Vol. I.— I '

66 ATTRIBUTES OF MR. clay s eloquence.
only gleams out now and then, where it could not easily be sup
pressed. He had a task before him. As the champion of the rights
of man, he was, in this great enterprise, the leader before the world.
Not only were the advocates of freedom in Europe silent, with this
spectacle of the struggles of a continent for liberty before their eyes,
but the executive and the Congress of the United States were at
that time opposed to this philanthropic, chivalric movement of the
great American statesman. They were not in the mood to enter
tain the sentiments appropriate to the occasion. Mr. Clay, there
fore, put forward reason after reason, in thick array, piled fact upon
fact, and placed them in such relations, that each cast light on ev
ery other, presenting a concentration, a mountain of cumulative
evidence, irresistible to all but those who had made up their minds
another way. They were convinced, but the effect of persuasion
did not appear till two years afterward. Mr. Clay knew what
would be the fate of his motion at that time ; but he was reasoning
for the future. There are many places in these speeches, where
one would expect to see feeling, in such a man, burst through all
restraints. The manifesto of the congress of the United Provinces
of Rio del la Plata, published in 1817, and read by Mr. Clay on
this occasion as part of his argument, was a most seductive plat
form, from which to pour forth a torrent of sympathy and national
fellowship. Mr. Clay, however, left it to speak for itself, without
a word of comment. And he judged right, that it wks sufficiently
eloquent in its own terms. Onward, right onward, he pursued his
march of pure reasoning, and the development of facts. He was
sowing seed for a future harvest, and reaped it in 1820 and
1822. It would be impossible to point to any of Mr. Clay's speeches,
which are not examples of the eloquence of reasoning. But those
on the protective policy, particularly those delivered in the house
of representatives in 1824, and in the senate in 1832, are in the
front rank of his admirable and enduring fabrics of this description.
They ride the rolling deep of political agitation, like an armed
squadron, pouring forth their thunders on all sides, invulnerable to
opponents, and forcing all considerate foes to strike, or sinking
them in the abyss. As much as the questions involved in this
great branch of the American system, have been debated, since
those speeches were delivered, not a single idea, comprehending a
principle, has been started, which is not to be found there. So
mature, so comprehensive, were Mr. Clay's views, that he seems

ATTRIBUTES OF MR. CLAY'S ELOQUENCE. 67
to have exhausted the subject, and made the task easy for his suc
cessors. He entered the field a pioneer, and cleared it.
Mr. Clay's speech of March 15, 1818, on internal improvement,
touching the constitutional question, stands unrivalled as a speci
men of the captivating power of reasoning. The mind is led by a
charm, and wonders that there can be so much beauty in mere ra
tiocination. Courtesy to opponents is so blended with modest states
ments, in simple and pure language, and witfr an overwhelming
concatenation of argument, that one does not think of the perfect
confidence of the orator in his position. The strength of the mas
ter is entirely concealed. With an air of indifference,' he gains an
easy and certain victory. Without appearing to have any weapons
in hand, he scatters all opposition from his path, and clears the
field. Surrounded with light, he pours light upon all others, and
diffuses around him a captivating influence. An opponent,
charmed by the respect shown^him, might feel a delightful sensa
tion from the blow that lays him prostrate. President Madison,
President Monroe, and some others, had all the benefit of this kind
treatment. There is no burst, not a gleam of sentiment. It is
pure reasoning, in a path of light, that attracts all, and inclines
them to come and bask in its beams. The federal constitution,
which comes out of most hands an unsolved problem, in its bear
ings on these controverted questions, puzzling so many heads, is
so explained -and applied by this skilful master, that a child might
understand it.
But the most overwhelming parliamentary argument made by
Mr. Clay, extant, is, perhaps, his speech on the subtreasury scheme,
delivered February 19, 1838. Many are his powerful, gigantic
efforts, that will not die, and none of his speeches can be read with
out an impression of their logical, convincing force. But this one
stands like the tallest pyramid in the Egyptian sands, when regard
ed as an enduring structure, and like Atlas for its firmness and im
posing aspects. It is a novelty, on a novel occasion. History
never before demanded precisely such an argument, and will prob
ably never again furnish an exactly similar occasion. Things like
it have been, and will be. When the scheme was first brought
forward, at the extra session of 1837, Mr. Clay was, of course,
obliged to encounter it. But the weight of the subject, lying upon
his mind five months longer, fraught, as he believed the project to
be, with the most momentous consequences, brought forth this

68 ATTRIBUTES OF MR. CLAr's ELOQUENCE.
truly amazing effort. To describe it, would require powers equal
to those which produced it.
Mr. Clay's reasoning is, on all occasions, the foundation and
body of his eloquence. He takes his station under the sunlight
of a cloudless noon, and whatever he attempts to show, is seen.
It is also felt, so far as the occasion requires. If the will of his
audience is opposed, it may not be followed ; but he has done all
that eloquence could do. All Mr. Clay's public debates, and all
his colloquial engagements, are characterized by the same feature
of lucid reasoning — not a part, not a word, not a thought, appears,
that would obscure or embarrass other parts, other words, other
thoughts. Simplicity, completeness, perfection, are the character
istics of his reasoning — just enough to prove the point, and no
more. It is reasoning, chiefly — in other words, mind — that has
given Mr. Clay his reputation and influence, as an orator and de
bater, though it fortunately happened, that he was possessed of
nearly all other endowments, most required to give effect to this.
But there is another attribute of Mr. Clay's eloquence, which,
on occasions befitting its display — or when, with him, it is impos
sible it should not appear — which imparts potency to all others,
and is itself most potent of all — a total absorption, for the time
being, in the theme of discussion, when he is impassioned. In a
conversation between the author and Mr. Clay, about his reply to
Mr. Rives, of Virginia, August 10, 1841, touching Mr. Tyler's
veto of the bank bill, which was one of the impassioned class of
his speeches, Mr. Clay said : " I do not know how it is with oth
ers, but on such occasions, I seem to be unconscious of the exter
nal world. Wholly engrossed by the subject before me, I lose all
sense of personal identity, of time, or of surrounding objects."
This indicates a state of mind with Mr. Clay, when thus excited
which is very uncommon, if not altogether peculiar. It would
seem like a conversion of the animal into the spiritual — as if the
whole man, for the time being, were spiritualized — as if he were
all mind. He is for the moment unconscious of that external
world, with which the animal economy and its faculties are usually
conversant. It is absorption, mounting into abstraction — an iso
lated state for the occasion. It is not, therefore, strange, that a
man of .such endowments, when, all his powers and faculties cor
poreal as well as mental, are absorbed in a single theme  when his
mind takes possession of his body, and the whole man is spwitual-
ized — should produce a prodigious effect on an audience of fellow-

ATTRIBUTES OF MR. CLAY'S ELOQUENCE. 69
beings, who, sympathizing, are measurably carried into the same
field, and forced to have like feelings. It is a settled maxim, that
an orator must have feeling, to produce it. It is also known, that
the more he feels, so much the more will his audience sympathize.
But when he becomes all feeling, from the core of his heart to the
surface of his skin, from the crown of his head to the sole of his
foot, gushing out through every pore, and expressed through every
organ — when body and soul seem to be all soul — one spiritual es
sence — then is the sway of the orator complete. It is this species
of transient existence, commonly called absorption — but with Mr.
Clay, on such occasions, entire absorption — which seems to have
been the state of his feelings, in his greatest and happiest efforts.
With this explanation, it will not be a wonder, that, on a variety of
occasions, running through nearly half a century, Mr. Clay has
produced such great effects by his eloquence. Many may have
heard him, when he did not come up to this high pitch of absorp
tion and exertion. It could only be, when the occasions produced
the necessary amount of excitement in the speaker.
Many persons are Still living in Kentucky, who heard Mr. Clay's
early popular harangues in that state, when he was a stripling.
Some of them mention with pride, that they helped draw out the
cart, which he spoke from, in a street of Lexington, in denunciation
of the alien and sedition laws, at the early age of twenty-one years,
when his fame first burst forth upon the public, and attracted the
attention of the whole country. The admiration then felt, is rekin
dled by the rehearsal of the story. His forensic efforts in Kentucky,
especially in criminal causes, were often exceedingly effective.
The halls of Congress have, on many occasions, witnessed the
surpassing power of his eloquence. But some of his best efforts
there have been lost, by not having been reported, as is also the
fact in regard to numerous brilliant speeches in other places.
In 1822, a commission, composed of Mr. Clay and Mr. Bibb,
was appointed by the legislature of Kentucky, to confer with the
legislature of Virginia, for the adjustment of long-standing difficul
ties between the two states, in regard to land titles. When Ken
tucky was a part of Virginia, the mother commonwealth had
neglected to make suitable regulations for the first occupants of
her western domain. The consequence was, that emigrants,
moving over the mountains, and settling down on the vacant, wild,
and unsurveyed lands, after having established themselves well in

70 MR. CLAY'S ELOQUENCE.
the world, and got their families about them, were surprised by
other claimants of their farms, and driven from them by actions of
ejectment, when their vigor was too much exhausted to begin the
world anew. It was a hard lot.
Mr. Clay has always manifested great sympathy for the pioneer
of the wilderness. On this occasion, he represented his neighbors
and friends, many of whom, by this means, had been robbed of
their all, and he felt for them deeply. Besides this, on his way to
the capital of Virginia, he had visited his native "slashes," in
Hanover county, walked around the grave of his venerated father,
rekindled the feelings of his childhood, and felt, that he himself
had been a pioneer in the far west, and that he had advanced his
fortunes, such as they were, by his own prowess and enterprise.
When he appeared before the legislature of Virginia, he depicted,
with a glowing pencil, the hard fate of those, whose cause h§ came
to plead, and whose misfortunes were the result of neglect in the
parent state. He gave the history of the pioneer, from the time
of his emigration westward, till he had acquired a comfortable inde
pendence ; — that, as an enterprising, but poor man, he had gone
over the Alleganies, with nothing but his own stout heart and
strong arm ; — that he had encountered exposures to wild beasts,
and to the insidious wiles of the savage ; — that; in reliance on the
faith of the commonwealth of Virginia, he had chosen his lands,
cut away the forest, erected his cabin, married his wife, reared his
family, and imagined, that he was lord of his own domain ; and
that, sitting there, with all needful things about him, rich as his
heart desired, his flocks and herds grazing in his fields, his chil
dren joyous, and the wife of his bosom partaker of all his proud
satisfactions, in possession of an adequate inheritance for their off
spring, they are suddenly notified, that this estate is not theirs, but
another's! In this way, Mr. Clay painted in lively colors the
hardships and sufferings of the western pioneer; his separation
from the spot of his birth, from his early neighbors, his friends, his
relations, the graves of his ancestors ; his removal to a distant wil
derness, full of perils, and his privations. . The feelings of his
audience, and his own feelings, were deeply affected. In the
progress of this appeal, a faint reminiscence of some lines of the
bard and romancer of North Britain, struck his mind, and he be
gan to quote them : — " Lives there a man — "
But his memory, which rarely failed, was this time at fault.. He

MR. clay's eloquence. 71
paused a moment, closed his eyes, and pressed his forehead with
the palm of his hand, to aid his recollection. Fortunately for him,
his audience supposed that this pause and act were occasioned by
the depth and power of his emotions, which certainly were deep
and powerful, and so were theirs. The lines came to him in good
time, and when he pronounced the words in the most feeling
manner — " Lives there a man, so cold and dead,
Who never to himself hath said,
This is my own, my native land 1" —
there was a profound sensation pervading the assembly, which was
manifested in many instances by involuntary tears.
It is natural to suppose, that Mr. Clay's visit to the " slashes of
Hanover," and to his father's grave, after more than twenty years'
absence, had much to do with the feeling he manifested on this oc
casion. Fresh from that hallowed spot, and furnished with all the
recollections of an experience of a whole generation among the
western pioneers, he rose to discharge his errand, from the legis
lature of Kentucky, to that of Virginia. It is an instinct of nature,
a wise provision of the Creator, accommodated to man, in his nar
row sphere, that his earliest, most enduring, and controlling affec
tions should have a lodgment in and about the place of his nativity.
The home and the graves of his fathers give birth to the most
tenacious sentiment of his being. As the mind and heart of the
child expand, still clustering around his natal altars, and bound to
them by indissoluble ties, he takes in a wider range of society, of
man, and of things. The boy finds an interest in the little com
monwealth of his school-fellows ; the youth extends his views yet
further, and enlarges the circle of his affections ; and the man
launches forth on the broad field of the world, but never forgets
where he was born and cradled, nor the grave where his father
sleeps. In 1824, a, bill was pending in the house of representatives,
while Mr. Clay was speaker of that body, for pensioning the
mother of Commodore Perry. While it was under debate in
committee of the whole, it appeared as if it would pass by accla
mation. Some one of its supporters had urged, in its behalf, the
fact of national ingratitude toward military and naval commanders.
Struck by this charge, and impelled by a sense of duty, Mr. Clay
rose in opposition to the bill. It is to be regretted, that tradition

72 MR. clay's eloquence.
alone has preserved any account of the remarkable speech, which
he made on that occasion. It was doubtless one of the most effec
tive, as well as one of the most splendid efforts of his whole life.
From a gentleman, the Hon. Mr. Lee, of Maryland, who was a
member of that house, and present when this speech was delivered,
the author has been made acquainted with a few of its thoughts,
which were communicated by the narrator, as if he were still under
the thrilling power of the speech itself, although twenty years had
intervened. " What," said Mr. Clay, " is to be the rule or limit in grant
ing pensions ? For the first time, he believed, it is now proposed,
not to extend them to the wife or to the descendants, but to the
mother of a gallant officer. And we are pressed to do this upon
the ground of habitual national ingratitude toward those who en
gage in the defence of the country ! The annals of all countries
attest how destitute of foundation this imputation is. Look to
the ample endowments made by England to Marlborough, Nel
son, Wellington, and others; and to the honors bestowed, and
the sacrifices made, by France, to Napoleon, to say nothing of
less distinguished chiefs, or what has been done in the United
States. The successful military or naval commander is almost
the exclusive subject of story, of song, and of praise. Histo
rians, orators, poets, sculptors, and painters, vie with each other,
in their respective vocations, in recording, illustrating, proclaim
ing, and perpetuating his name, his person, and his deeds of re
nown. How different is the fate of fhe statesman ! In his quiet
and less brilliant career, after having advanced, by the wisdom of
his measures, the national prosperity to the highest point of ele
vation, and after having sacrificed his fortune, his time, and per
haps his health, in the public service, what, too often, are the re
wards that await him ? Who thinks of his family, impoverished
by the devotion of his attention to his country, instead of their ad
vancement? Who proposes to pension him — much less his
mother1? No, sir, while we ought, indeed, to be just, generous,
grateful to our defenders, they are not the only class of merito
rious public servants ; and all history is false, if there is not often
an excess,. rather than a defect of public gratitude, toward milita
ry and naval heroes."
Of course, this is but an imperfect sketch, even of the thoughts
here disinterred from the grave of time, by the reminiscences of
one who heard them. Doubtless there were other passages, not
less striking, and far more thrilling in their power, judging from
the effect produced by this burst of eloquence. It was electric.

MR. clay's eloquence. 73
Instead of an overwhelming majority for the bill, there appeared
now to be almost an unanimous feeling against it. A distinguish
ed member of the house, who had favored the bill, remarked, as
soon as Mr. Clay sat down, to the gentleman named above, as the
author of this information, " It was a thumper, such as I never
heard." An eloquent member from South Carolina, after Mr.
Clay had resumed the speaker's chair, and the bill was reported,
endeavored to rally the house in support of it, but his effort was
vain and fruitless.
The soldier's fame is usually acquired by the overthrow of
states and empires, by the pillage and conflagration of cities, by
the groans of the dying, by the sorrows of bereaved ones, and by
the impoverishment of mankind ; the statesman's, by the diffusion
and multiplication of blessings to all, of every kind, and in every
relation. The soldier's profession is a necessary evil. He may
be useful, and deserve praise. The sword of Washington was
drawn for his country, for freedom, and he is therefore honored ;
but his greatest honor, the foundation of his spotless reputation,
was his voluntary resignation of the position he had gained by his
military achievements. It is not as a soldier, that the world bows
before his name ; but as a patriot. The soldier is a obstruc
tionist ; the statesman's functions, properly exercised, approxi
mate to the beneficent labors of the Deity. If the patriot-soldier
deserves a statue, the patriot-statesman deserves a monument.
Washington was both, and the honorary rewards of each have
been accorded to him — though but poorly worthy of his great
name. It will yet be seen, that Mr. Clay has at least proved him
self a patriot-statesman. Nevertheless, it did not occur to him,
in the utterance of the speech above alluded to, that he was plead
ing his own cause. The act itself was one of the proofs of his
patriotism ; and in it was exhibited one of the most powerful at
tributes of his eloquence — absorption in his theme. It was one
of those impromptu effusions, called forth by a startling thought,
or by an unexpected and exciting occasion, in which the man ap
pears all soul, and which, if not Mr. Clay's sole patent, are rarely
exhibited by others with equal power and effect.
Among these lost speeches of Mr. Clay, the memory of which
lives while they who heard them live, and the thought of which
awakens to new life the feelings they produced, was one delivered
at Lexington, as late as May, 1843, the occasion and history of
which are as follows : After Mr. Clay had retired from the sen-

74 MR. clay's eloquence.
ate of the United States, in 1842, till the next year, during which
time it was expected that he would be nominated for president in
1844, great efforts were made in Kentucky, and throughout the
Union, by his political opponents, not only to vilify him, but to
bring into odium the twenty-seventh Congress, which was the last
in which Mr. Clay had had a seat as a senator, and the endeavors
of which were chiefly directed to establish the policy and meas
ures called for by the political revolution of 1840. Mr. Clay
was virulently traduced by some base persons in Lexington and
that neighborhood. As a perpetual dropping wears a stone, so
these incessant attacks, though false and foul, and known to be
such, if unnoticed and unrepelled, might produce injurious effects
on the common mind. He, therefore, resolved, and caused a no
tice to be published, that he would meet his fellow-citizens of
Fayette and the adjoining counties, at Lexington, on a day specified,
to repel these charges. His friends, whom, on this occasion, he
had not consulted, regretted the step, as being unnecessary.
They thought these attacks unworthy of notice. This difference
of opinion was painful to Mr. Clay, and no doubt contributed not
a little to that depth and power of feeling, which he manifested on
the occasion. The notice brought together a great concourse of
people, whom no place, but the public square, could accommo
date. The patriarch-statesman was to appear before his old
friends and neighbors, of forty years' standing, once more, and for
the last time, in that capacity, in which he had not been heard for
many years, and in which no one ever expected to hear him again.
And it was the vile tongue of calumny, that was to be encoun
tered. The following account of this address was furnished for the
author, by a highly-respected fellow-citizen of Mr. Clay, and the
words of the opening, as quoted, are exact. When Mr. Clay
rose, he was evidently much excited. He commenced by saying,
with marked emphasis — "Fellow-citizens : I am now an old man —
quite an old man." Here he bent himself downward. "But
yet, it will be found, I am not too old to vindicate my principles,
to stand by my friends, or to defend myself" — raising his voice,
louder and louder, at each successive member of the sentence,
and elevating his person in a most impressive manner. He then
proceeded : — ,v
" It so happens, that I have again located myself in the prac
tice of my profession, in an office within a few rods of the one

mr. clay's eloquence. 75
which I occupied, when, more than forty years ago, I first came
among you,, an orphan and a stranger, and your fathers took me
by the hand, and made me what I am. I feel like an old stag,
which has been long coursed by the hunters and the hounds,
through brakes and briers, and o'er distant plains, and has at last
returned to his ancient lair, to lay himself down and die. And
yet, the vile curs of party are barking at my heels, and the blood
hounds of personal malignity are aiming at my throat. I scorn
AND DEFY THEM, AS I EVER DID."
When he uttered these last words, he raised himself to his most
erect posture, and elevated his hands and arms, wide extended
above his head, seeming to have nearly doubled the height of his
tall person. The effect was overwhelming — indescribable.
To have any approximate idea of the effect of this speech, which
continued for hours, fully sustained throughout, in vindication of
the twenty-seventh Congress, of whig policy and principles, and
in defence of the orator himself, against his calumniators, one
should have a view„of all the attributes of eloquence ascribed to
Mr. Clay in this chapter, the use of scarcely one of which was
wanting on that occasion. Nor should it be forgotten, that he was
then sixty-six years old. It may be asked, if any orator can be
named in all history, who ever produced such an effect, in so few
words, and those the mere exordium of his oration ? They all
knew, that what he said was true. " I am an old man." Didn't"
they know that ? And the moment he said it, they began to weep.
When he pointed to his present office, and to the place of the old
one, a few rods distant, they all knew that. "I came here, more
than forty years ago, an orphan and a stranger." They knew
that. " Your fathers took me by the hand, and made me what I
am." It is impossible to conceive of the effect of this. They
wept like children, and only wished they could do as much.
They could at least stand by him. " I feel like an old stag."
Now he is speaking to Kentucky hunters. Their ears are all
erect for what is coming. And by the time he had gone through
with the figure, and its application, the struggle between the sym
pathy which streamed from the eyes of some, and the indignation
which clenched the fists of others, of that vast multitude — all
knowing it was all true, every word of it — was like the throes of
a mountain in agony. A part of the sublimity of the spectacle
consisted in a concern, what might be the fruit of such passion.
For some of his defamers were present. But when Mr. Clay

76 mr. clay's eloquence.
rose, in all the majesty of his own loftiness, threw his arms on
high, and his voice out into the heavens — he stood under its can
opy — and said, " I scorn and defy them, as I ever did," they
dashed away their tears, and resolved to be as stout of heart as
he, and to vindicate his honor. A reply was expected. But
prudence got the better of the purpose.
Many of the lost speeches of Mr. Clay are among the most ef
fective he ever delivered. None of those uttered by him during
the agitation of the Missouri question, are preserved ; and it said,
that 'he spoke between twenty and thirty times. He was the mas
ter-spirit of that exciting and thrilling debate, and was alone the
cause of the settlement of a question which shook the nation to
its foundations. Some of those addresses have been spoken of
as exceeding in power and effect anything Mr. Clay ever did.
All his speeches, social, popular, forensic, and parliamentary,
from the beginning to the end of his career as an orator and de
bater in these several spheres of action, if they had been preserved
and collected, would make a small library. The best compila
tion ever published, is that by Daniel Mallory, New York, 1843,
2 vols., containing eighty in all, beginning with his speech in
Congress, in senate, April 6, 1810, and ending with his address
to Mr. Mendenhall, October 1, 1842. The largest portion of
them were speeches delivered in Congress, on great public and
national questions.

1$
MR. CLAY'S PROFESSIONAL CAREER. 77"

CHAPTER V.
Mr. Clay's Professional Career.
It will have been observed, that Chancellor Wythe was chiefly
instrumental, in inciting his young protege to the study of the law ;
that he guided his studies for the term of four years ; and then so
arranged matters, as to bring his pupil under Attorney-General
Brooke, as an attorney's clerk and a candidate for admission to the
bar. These five years, in such relations and with such advan
tages, constituted Mr. Clay's academical and professional educa
tion. The concurring influences of the chancellor's paternal
promptings, his own ardor in a course of reading that suited his
genius, and the constant practical exercise of his pen in the most
profound legal investigations, as an amanuensis, could not have
been a bad school of preparation for his year of entire devotion toj
the study of law in the office of the attorney-general. From the
known character of his mind, it can not be doubted, that the attain
ments he made, both in academical and legal learning, during this-
period, were rather beyond, than short of, the acquisitfons, wjjhft
which young men usually enter upon the practice of law, after.
having graduated, first at an academical, and then at a law school.
The society, the example, the advice, and the kindness of those
distinguished individuals, with whose acquaintance, and to some
extent intimacy, young Henry Clay was honored, at Richmond,
were powerful incentives to his exertions.
Nevertheless, Mr. Clay devoted himself some months after his
arrival in Lexington, to the further prosecution of his legal studies,
before he asked for admission as a practitioner in the Fayette court
of quarter sessions. It was perhaps because of his diffidence in
coming to the same bar with George Nicholas, John Brackenridge,
James Hughes, James Brown, William Murray, and others, a
phalanx of formidable competitors, either of whom would havf,.
stood high at any bar in the country.

78 MR. CLAY'S PROFESSIONAL CAREER.
It was during this private pursuit of his studies, that he became
a member of a young men's debating club at Lexington, and of his
participation in the exercises of which, the following anecdote is
narrated : One evening, a question that was under discussion, was
about to be put, when Mr. Clay, who as yet had taken no part in
the debates since he joined them — had not indeed in any form
been known as a speaker in Lexington — was heard to say, in a
low voice, that he did not think the question was exhausted. The
slight acquaintance he had made, had gained him respect, and
raised expectation. To hear him speak, on such an occasion, was
the very thing that was desired. Immediately, several who heard
his remark, rose simultaneously to call on the chairman : " Don't
put the question yet. Mr. Clay will speak." Probably he had
not intended to speak, but now all eyes were turned to him, and
he was obliged to rise. " Gentlemen of the Jury," said Mr. Clay.
Perceiving his mistake, he became confused. But, encouraged
by the politeness of the chairman, and of his fellow-members, he
began again : " Gentlemen of the Jury." At last, however, he
became more self-possessed, spoke to the question, to the delight
and admiration of the club, and was cordially and loudly cheered.
James Hughes, Esq., above named as a member ofthe Lexington
bar, who was present on this occasion, always insisted, during his
life, that this was the best speech Mr. Clay ever made. It is cer
tainly remarkable, that, after having acquired such a reputation as
the leader and star of the rhetorical society at Richmond, he should
have been so embarrassed on rising to speak in this club at Lex
ington. But he had now entered a new field, where all his for
tunes for life were pending, and naturally diffident, as all know, who
are acquainted with him, even through life, he was for a moment
not himself. He trembled for his fate. It is manifest, however,
that, if he had not acquired the esprit du corps of the legal profes
sion, he had at least thought of a jury. As the stump orator
thinks of nothing but " Fellow-citizens," and as the parliamenta
rian, or M. C, naturally cries out, "Mr. Speaker," whatever
assembly they may ' happen to be addressing, so the ambitious
young barrister, who has been long time dreaming of the impor
tance of getting a verdict in his favor, rising unexpectedly and in
embarrassing circumstances, ihough he were speaking to a com
pany of ladies, or delivering a funeral oration, might be excused
for opening with — " Gentlemen of the Jury." They Tvho have
been acquainted with Mr. Clay's perfect self-command in after life

MR. CLAY'S PROFESSIONAL CAREER. 79
(which is not inconsistent with natural diffidence), in whatever po
sition he has been placed, private or public, on the stump or in a
court of justice, in the office of diplomacy or in the senate of the
nation, will be not a little amused at this betrayal of an innocent
human infirmity. And they who have quailed before his great
powers, envied his exalted gifts, and perhaps hated him for his
superiority, will not be very sorry to find one evidence of a com
mon humanity.
Allowing Mr. Clay to have been sincere — as doubtless he was —
in the brief review of his early history, cited in the first chapter,
from his speech at Lexington, in 1842, where he says, " I remem
ber how comfortable I thought I should be, if I could make one
one hundred pounds, Virginia money, per year, and with what
delight I received the first fifteen shillings' fee," it is convincing
evidence of his total unconsciousness, at that time, of his own
superior powers, and that his expectations were not only moderate,
but that he was even anxious how he should succeed in obtaining
a livelihood, in paying his " weekly board." It is not less evi
dent, by his next remark, on the same occasion, made in the pres
ence of thousands, who were themselves witnesses of the facts, that
he no sooner began his professional career, than he found as much
business as he wanted, or could do. " My hopes were more
than realized. I immediately rushed into a successful and lucra
tive practice."
Notwithstanding it may be assumed, that Mr. Clay had, by his
industry and application, acquired a good knowledge of law —
more, probably, than is common in an equal term of study — yet,
it was not legal attainments alone, nor chiefly, which put him so
suddenly forward, and gave him such reputation, at the bar. It
was not alone his client's case, as it involved questions of law — all
which were generally easily mastered by him — but it. was rather,
and more especially, his intuitive discernment of all its relations,
as allied to the sympathies of human nature, which gave him such
ascendency and power over courts, juries, and the common mind.
It was a quick apprehension of how men feel in given cases and
given circumstances, and how different characters view the same
facts, that enabled him to carry men's minds with himself. It was
not artifice, but honest judgment. Men's convictions are not usu
ally abiding, when carried by trick, nor are they satisfactory at the
moment of being entertained ; but they yield to the slightest inva
sion, throw back the captive to an opposite opinion, and create

80 MR. CLAY'S PROFESSIONAL CAREER.
disrespect for the deceiver. But the perfect honesty of Mr. Clay's
views was always evident to others, and for that reason, sympa
thetically and powerfully affected their minds. The convictions
he has produced, whether on individuals, or in the public mind,
have generally been abiding. This knowledge of the way into
men's minds, and into their hearts, may perhaps be regarded as
the secret of Mr. Clay's influence, though it can not be separated
from those extraordinary attributes of true eloquence, which are
vested in person, voice, countenance, and manner, in all of which,
for the purposes of conviction and persuasion, Mr. Clay has been
unrivalled, throughout his professional and political career.
As Mr. Clay's life has been chiefly devoted to the public, in the
offices of legislation and government, it will be apparent, that his
professional practice has not only been interrupted, but often, and
for protracted periods, entirely suspended. Of the hundreds of
cases, which have, been confided to his management, in the various
state and federal courts, during the progress of nearly half a cen
tury, the notice of a few will suffice to exhibit his character as a
jurist and an advocate. ¦ >
In regard to civil cases, one stands very prominent in the prac
tice of his early life, which is a striking example of his intuitive
recognition ofthe stronger points ofa legal question, in connexion
with facts involved in controversy. It was a case of great interest
to the parties, and was tried in Fayette circuit, the county of Mr.
Clay's domicil. It happened in the opening of the trial, that he
was obliged to be absent, and leave the case in the hands of his
associate counsel. Two days were occupied, after the evidence
was concluded, in the discussion of points of law between his col
league and his opponents, which were to govern the instructions
of the court to the jury, on each of which his colleague was foiled.
As a consequence, the case was about to be submitted for a ver
dict against Mr. Clay's client. At that moment Mr. Clay appeared
in court. He had heard nothing of the evidence, and knew
nothing of the discussion which had been had on the points of law,
which were to determine the case. Having solicited the indul
gence of the court for a few remarks, and consulted a moment
with his colleague, he exhibited a statement, as to the form of in
structions, in which he wished the case should be submitted, so
novel, and so entirely satisfactory to the court, as to destroy the
argument of the opposing counsel ; and in less than half an hour

MR. CLAY*S PROFESSIONAL CAREER. 81
after he entered the courthouse, the case was^decided in favor of
his client.
In 1819, the state of Ohio passed a law to tax the branches of
the bank of the United States within her limits, with a view to
expel the bank from the state. The tax was $50,000 annually on
each branch, making no difference between the branch at Cin
cinnati, with a capital of $1,500,000, and that at Chilicothe,
with a capital of $500,000. As the tax exceeded the profits
of business, it amounted to an act of confiscation. The demand
was of course resisted, and an injunction was obtained from the
circuit court of the United States, to arrest execution by the state
authorities. But the injunction was disregarded, and the first an
nual tax of $100,000 for the two branches, was forcibly obtained
from the vaults of the branch at ChffijBlhe./V.The case, having
been first heard and decided in thff'cGslrici court of the United

States, against the state of Ohio, wf!^afia€a%y appeal, in 1824,
to the supreme bench at Washington, "Mtt Clay counsel for the
respondents. It will be seen, that the question to be tried, was
the constitutionality of the bank of the United States. This was
Mr. Clay's appropriate field, equally as a lawyer and a statesman.
His legal acquirements, and his knowledge of the federal consti
tution, were tasked to their utmost, and the skill he displayed on
the occasion, was only equalled by his eloquence. It is needless
to say, he was triumphant. The argument, pro and con, and the
decision of the court, will be found in Wheaton's Reports, vol. ix.
page 738.
As a matter of history, the fact is sufficiently notorious, that the
lack of an adequate protective policy, after the war of 1812, for
many years operated to bring the United States in debt to foreign
parts, especially to Great Britain, by excessive imports. In the
same manner, and for the same reason, as the channels of domestic
trade then existed, there was a large balance against the west, in
favor of the east, of the United States, constantly draining the for
mer of its money. Europe drew from the Atlantic states, and
these drew from the western states, and the currency of the coun
try was almost annihilated. In this state of things, Kentucky, in
1820, attempted a great and hazardous experiment, in the estab
lishment of the Commonwealth bank, with a nominal capital of two
millions of dollars, based on the credit of the state,without a
penny of money. There was, however, a substantia^ it might
Vol. I.— 6

82 MR. CLAY'S PROFESSIONAL CAREER.
perhaps be called ample, security, in the pledge of the public lands
of the state, worth* from five to six millions of dollars. But there
was nothing wherewithal to redeem the notes, except in the circle
which brought them to the state treasury, where they were bound
to receive them for all dues, in which current, of course, this cur
rency ran, as there was no other open for it. The state was com
pelled to subsist on its own breeze of credit. It had sown the
wind, and must reap it. Fortunate, that it was not forced to reap
the whirlwind. The public lands, held liable for this currency,
were in fact a substantial capital. The money was at first in good
credit ; afterward, by a panic, it depreciated rapidly, to a low-price ;
but it rose again to par, was finally all redeemed, and the bank
wound up. The state was benefited forty thousand dollars by ac
cidents, which prevented,.the return of that amount.
It will not be- surprising, that an experiment of this kind should
have raised the question, whether the state «<of Kentucky had not
violated the federal constitution, by issuing "bills of credit." The
bank was a commonwealth institution, for the issues of which the
commonwealth was responsible. Was not every note a state "bill
of credit?" The supreme court of the United States, through
Chief Justice Marshall, had previously pronounced a decision, in
the case of Craig against the state of Missouri, which was sup
posed to involve the same principle, and it would be hard to show
that it did not. If so, and if that decision was correct, the state
of Kentucky was clearly in the wrong. The question was brought
to the supreme tribunal in 1837, in a way not very creditable to
the morality of the parties, Briscoe and others, inasmuch as they
sought to be released from an obligation, for which they had re
ceived a consideration in full. If, however, they aimed only to
try the question for public purposes, and not to avail themselves
of a benefit, their course might wear a different aspect. Mr. Clay
and B. Hardin, Esq., were employed for the bank of the common
wealth. Chief Justice Marshall, who had pronounced the former
decision, supposed to involve this principle, was now no more. To
expect to turn a court of such dignity and weight against itself,
might seem presumptuous. But Mr. Clay took up his position:
These notes were not bills of the state of Kentucky, but of a cor
poration created by it. If this could be maintained, there was an
end of the argument. Every one knows how much such a cause
depends on the ability of counsel. It was managed in masterly
style, and it is sufficient praise to say, that the court were compel-

MR. CLAY'S PROFESSIONAL CAREER. 83
[ed to decide in favor of the bank, apparently against its former
judgment. Mr. Justice Story dissented, and threw himself back
on the decision pronounced by Judge Marshall. See Peters's
Reports, vol. xi., p. 257.
In 1841, a case came up before the supreme bench, from Mis
sissippi, involving interests to the amount of three millions of dol
lars, Groves and others against Slaughter. The state constitution
of 1832 had prescribed, that slaves should not be brought into
the state as merchandise, after May 1, 1833, allowing immigrants,
however, to bring them in. As the constitution enacted no penal
ties, it was supposed to have only the effect of a mandate on the
legislature to provide for the execution of this policy, which was
neglected till 1837, except in the imposition of a fine. During
the period of this inaction of the legislature on this clause of the
constitution, vast numbers of slaves were brought into Mississippi
from other states, apparently in violation of this article of funda
mental law, supposed to amount in value to the sum above speci
fied. The traders paid the fine enacted by the state. The plain
tiffs in error, abovenamed, set up for repudiation of their debts for
slaves, on the ground, that they were introduced unconstitution
ally ! They still held the property, but were willing to be excused
from paying for it ! It is not stated, whether this was the first
example of repudiation in Mississippi, or whether it was the effect
of example. Mr. Clay, Mr. Webster, and Mr. Jones, were asso
ciated as counsel for the defendants in error. The question was
a complicated one, and in many of its aspects, seemed to open a
Way to the putting of three millions of property afloat, that nobody
could tell whose it was. In view of this incertitude, Mr. Clay
characteristically exclaimed, in the course of his argument, "Are
they [the negroes] free? If free, it would be some consola
tion. But there is no freedom for such persons in Mississippi ;
and those who purchased them, and seek now to escape from pay
ing for them, continue to hold them ; and against moral rectitude,
insist on their ownership, acquired in violation of the laws of
Mississippi ! It would be gratifying to those who love free
dom — and who does not love freedom? — if the negroes were free."
It will not be surprising, that, with the talents of Clay, Webster,
and Jones, enlisted against this species of repudiation, it should
have failed in <fie supreme court of the United States. This, too,
was one of the occasions, in civil practice, when Mr. Clay dis-

84 MR. CLAY'S PROFESSIONAL CAREER.
played his transcendant abilities, in the happiest and most effective
manner. See Peters's Reports, vol. xv., p. 449.
The first remarkable criminal case, in which Mr. Clay was en
gaged, was that of a Mrs. Phelps, wife of a respectable farmer, of
respectable parentage, and not otherwise notorious for offences ;
but in this she stood accused of the crime of murder, in having
killed her sister-in-law, Miss Phelps, with a musket, which, in a
moment of passion, she seized, and fired, aiming at her sister, who
instantly expired, after having exclaimed, " Sister, you have killed
me !" The evidence of the fact was established incontestably, and
no effort was made by Mr. Clay, acting in her defence, to invali
date it. The life of a woman, apparently forfeited to the law, was
pending. It has often been said of Mr. Clay, not without reason, by those
who have known him longest and best, that he never engaged in a
criminal cause for the sake of triumph, nor to disappoint- justice,
but to save life, or mitigate punishment — for the positive pleasure
of helping those in peril, after having satisfied himself, that they
had claims ; and that, when once he has enlisted in a cause of
such deep and profound sympathy, for reasons commending them
selves to his heart, he is in earnest. This may easily be believed,
from his character, before considered, as a man of feeling. He
could not deny, that Mrs. Phelps had killed Miss Phelps, in the
manner proved. But, the criminal was a woman. She was of a
respectable family, the wife of a respectable man, who stood by
her side. She had not before been accused of fault, so far as ap
peared. It was indeed a shocking crime. Peradventure, no one
had been more shocked, than the perpetrator. In theory and in
fact, passion is insanity — delirium. A dreadful crime had been
committed, when reason was dethroned, and all the vice of the
soul was in the ascendant. Penitence comes too late ; neverthe
less it comes. The wife and the husband are there, pleading for
mercy — the latter forced to forgive the death of his own sister, by
the hand of his own wife. Is there no exception to a general
rule — no rescue from a common law ? If the court and jury had
been moved by any such appeals, to make an exception, where
could they stop? They waver, by the pleadings of the advocate,
and the advocate prevails, not only to save life, but to obtain a
mitigated punishment, which contemplates the restoration of the
unhappy woman to her husband and family.

MR. CLAY'S PROFESSIONAL CAREER. 85
It has never been averred, that the court, or the jury, or the
public, were afterward dissatisfied with this decision. The advo
cate convinced all, that it was proper. What shall be said? That
he made and dictated law for the occasion ? It would seem to be
an anomalous verdict. Such is the power of man over man, in
the action of the machinery of the social state. It was the ma
chinery of the law; but the product was a novelty. Mr. Clay,
though young, had already acquired much fame in civil suits. It
is needless to say, that the result of this trial, which had so natu
rally and intensely interested the wide community, established his
reputation as a criminal lawyer.
Not long after this, Mr. Clay was engaged to defend two Ger
mans, father and son, in Harrison county, who were indicted for
murder in the first degree, and of very aggravated character. The
evidence of the fact, as in the case of Mrs. Phelps, left no room
for doubt. Not hoping to prevent a verdict against the prisoners,
Mr. Clay's first object was to save life. After five days' struggle
with the counsel for the prosecution, he obtained a verdict for man
slaughter. He then surprised the court with a motion for an ar
rest of judgment, and after an argument protracted for a whole
day, the court was forced to grant it, the consequence of which
was a discharge of the prisoners ! A remarkable incident of this
trial would have been sufficient to commemorate it, apart from its
extraordinary and unexpected result. The wife of one, and mother
of the other, of the two prisoners, had been a spectator of the
trial, in a retired part of the court-room, with an interest that may
more easily be conceived than described. When advised of the
final decision, she rushed through the crowd and over the bar, in
presence of the court, threw herself on the neck of the deliverer
— e£ her husband and son, and clung to him so earnestly and so long,
that he was forced to disengage himself with a degree of violence.
It was a touching scene of nature, well worth witnessing, though
not perhaps very much coveted by the object of these grateful ef
fusions. It was in fact a handsome young man, in the arms of a
not very handsome old woman ; but the moral of that spectacle
was an ample equivalent for the otherwise unnatural conjunction.
It is besides an evidence of the power of Mr. Clay's eloquence at
that period. The old lady had witnessed and heard all, knew to
whom and to what she was indebted, and therefore bounced upon
him with irrepressible emotion. In ordinary circumstances, the

86 MR. CLAY'S PROFESSIONAL CAREER.
scene would have been ludicrous; but, in such a case, it could
not be looked upon with other feelings than those of sympathy and
respect. The next case, in the history of Mr. Clay's defence of crimi
nals, is that of one Willis, of Fayette county, who was accused of
murder, also of peculiar atrocity. Mr. Clay succeeded in dividing
the jury, so that they could not agree. A motion for a new trial,
at the next session of the court, was heard and granted. Mr. Clay
did not object to this course, but at the second trial, he startled the
court, in his address to the jury, with the announcement of the
principle, that no man could be twice put in jeopardy of his life for
the same offence. The court interfered, and forbade the use of that
argument, whereupon, Mr. Clay, in a dignified and respectful man
ner, declared, that he could not proceed, unless he were permitted
to take that course — took up his bag and books, and retired.
This decisive step threw all the responsibility on the court, who,
apparently in doubt, or overawed by the character of Mr. Clay,
sent a messenger after him, inviting his return, and informing him
that he should be allowed to manage the defence in his own way.
He accordingly went back, pressed the point on which he had
been stopped, and on that ground, without any regard to the evi
dence, obtained from the jury a verdict of acquittal for the prisoner.
It is remarkable, that no person, put in peril of life, by process
of the criminal code, ever invoked the aid of Mr. Clay, without
being saved. The office of attorney for the commonwealth, had
been frequently urged upon him, and in one instance he was in
duced to accept it temporarily, until he could get a friend appoint
ed, who, he thought, merited it. But the first criminal case that fell
into his hands, as prosecuting attorney for the state, was that of a
poor, but high-minded slave, who had been respected and valued
by his master for his pride and ambition ; but, having been unfor
tunately left in charge of an overseer, a white man, in the master's
absence, he was treated harshly, and at last, when struck by the
overseer, he seized an axe, and killed him. In the case of a free
man, this would have been manslaughter ; but, being a slave
whose duty it was to submit to chastisement, it was murder and
the prosecuting attorney was obliged to treat it as such. The
slave was sentenced to be hung, and died with a spirit of heroism
and self-respect, that excited admiration. Mr. Clay resigned his
commission in disgust, though the result would doubtless have

MR. CLAY'S PROFESSIONAL CAREER. 87
been the same, in a case so clear, in the hands of any other man,
unless Mr. Clay himself had been the defender. That possibility,
perhaps, was one of the grounds of hi's regret. He never ceased
to reflect on the fate of this slave, but with sorrow.
The political misdemeanors of Col. Aaron Burr constitute a
subject, which, in the United States, will never cease to be of con
siderable historical interest. Before noticing Mr. Clay's agency
in defending him, on two several occasions, it may be proper* to
observe, that, some time previous to Col. Burr's first arrest, two
gentlemen, by the names of Street and Wood, had removed from
Virginia, to Frankfort, Ky., and established a paper, entitled " The
Western World," in which they had imputed to several distin
guished citizens of Kentucky a criminal design of alienating the
western states from the Union, and annexing them to the Spanish
dominions. There is not wanting evidence, that the Spanish
authorities in the southwest had desired this, and that they had
taken some improper steps. But the indiscriminate charges of
the " Western World" implicated men, who were not only per
fectly innocent, but eminently loyal to the Union, such as Judge
Innis, who afterward brought a libel suit against one of the con
ductors of this paper, Street, and obtained exemplary damages,
Mr. Clay having been engaged as counsel for the prosecution.
In 1806, Col. Burr was arrested in Kentucky, through the
agency of Col. Daviess, district attorney for the United States,
charged with criminal designs against the Union, and with getting
up a military expedition in the west, for purposes then unknown,
but in violation of federal laws forbidding such enterprises. The
people of Kentucky very naturally presumed, that this charge
against Col. Burr was equally unfounded, as that which had pre
viously been made against some of their own citizens, and were
predisposed to sympathize with him. Mr. Clay, after having
received from Col. Burr a plausible statement, and the most sol
emn assurances, of his innocence, and in view of what had before
occurred of a like character, in regard to men known to be inno
cent, could but feel, that Burr might be an injured man, arrested,
and to be tried, in a state remote from his own, and remote from
his friends, under a grave and weighty charge. Besides, that the
laws and institutions of the country guaranty to an accused per
son, a fair trial and all just aids, it was an appeal to sympathy, to
feelings of a high and chivalric character, and Mr. Clay generously

88 MR. CLAY'S PROFESSIONAL CAREER.
enlisted, assisted by Col. John Allen. Col. Burr sent them a
liberal retaining fee, which was declined, as they were merely dis
charging the duties of hospitality to a distinguished member of
their own profession, who had also been distinguished in the coun
cils of the nation. The case was brought in the federal court at
Frankfort. But the district attorney was unprepared with evi
dence, and no indictment was found.
Not long afterward Colonel Burr was arrested again in Ken
tucky, on the same charges, and again applied to Mr. Clay. It
was certainly no slender compliment, that a man of Colonel Burr's
sagacity and experience, should a second time request the aid of
so young an advocate, about thirty years old, in a cause so mo
mentous to himself, and involving questions that might puzzle the
heads of the oldest and most skilful jurists — .questions new and
untried in the juridical history of the country, connected with the
loftiest and most responsible department of federal jurisdiction.
But Mr. Clay, having been recently elected by the legislature of
Kentucky to the senate of the United States, to fill the place va
cated by the resignation of the Hon. John Adair, felt a delicacy in
complying with this second application of Colonel Burr, on account
of his. new and intimate relations to the general government, though
there was no law against it. But Colonel Burr pressed his appli
cation with importunity, in a letter to Mr. Clay, of December 1,
1806, of which the following is an extract : —
" I have no design, nor have I taken any measure, to promote
a dissolution of the Union, or the separation of any one or more
states from the residue. I have neither published a line on this
subject, nor has any one through my agency, or with my knowl
edge. I have no design to intermeddle with the government, or
to disturb the tranquillity of the United States, or of the territories,
or any part of them. I have neither issued, nor signed, nor prom
ised, any commission to any person, for any purpose. I do not
own a musket nor bayonet, nor any single article of military stores,
nor does any person for me, by my authority, or with my knowl
edge. My views have been fully explained to and approved by
several of the principal officers of government, and, I believe, are
well understood by the administration, and seen by it with com
placency ; they are such as every man of honor, and every good
citizen, must approve. Considering the high station you now fill
in our national councils, I have thought these explanations proper,
as well to counteract the chimerical tales, which malevolent per
sons have so industriously circulated, as to satisfy you, that you

MR. CLAY'S PROFESSIONAL CAREER. 89
have not espoused the cause of a man in any way unfriendly to the
laws, or the interests of the country."
To say, that Mr. Clay's regard for Colonel Burr had not been
disturbed by rumor, and this persistance of the government in re
newing accusations against him, would probably not be true. But
his well-known ingenuousness, and his easy susceptibility under an
appeal of this kind, prevailed over his reluctance to engage in this
cause a second time. An indictment was submitted to the grand
jury, who returned it not a true bill, stating, that nothing had ap
peared in the evidence submitted to them, to justify the charges,
or to excite further inquietude. This finding was received by the
crowds of people assembled in the capitol at Frankfort oil the oc
casion with great applause.
But when Mr. Clay went to Washington, to take his seat in the
senate, an interview with the president (Mr. Jefferson) put this
matter in a new light. Mr. Jefferson exhibited to Mr. Clay Col.
Burr's letter in cipher, which had been transmitted by Col. Swart
wout to jGeneral Wilkinson, commander of the army of the United
States, containing a partial disclosure of Burr's criminal designs.
It was doubtless mortifying to Mr. Clay, to be obliged to believe,
that he and the people of Kentucky had been deceived as to the
true character of Burr. He at the same time handed over to Mr.
Jefferson Colonel Burr's letter to him, soliciting his professional
aid, from which the above extract is taken.
In 1815, after the peace, Mr. Clay, on his return from Ghent,
was entertained in New York, by public and private demonstra
tions of respect, for the distinguished and patriotic part he had
acted, as one of the commissioners in the negotiation of the treaty,
and on that occasion he one day encountered Colonel Burr in a
court-room at the city-hall. Colonel Burr, doubtless, had taken
pains to meet him. Having greatly changed in persona^ appear
ance, Mr. Clay did not recognise him, till he approached, and
offered his hand. In view of what had transpired, in evidence of
Colonel Burr's guilt, since they had last met, Mr. Clay instinct
ively refused to give his hand, raising it to his bosom, and thrust
ing it under his waistcoat. Colonel Burr, affecting not to notice
the disrespect, said a few words, and then bowed himself out, after
having intimated to Mr. Clay, that he would like to see him in pri
vate. Mr. Clay politely gave his address, but Colonel Burr never
called. It is proper here to remark, that Colonel Burr had been
arrested a third time in the south, on the same charges, was brought

90 MR. CLAY'S PROFESSIONAL CAREER.
to Richmond, Virginia, for trial, acquitted for want of evidence,
or defect of jurisdiction in the court ; after which, he wandered
some years in Europe, and returned to New York, to live unno
ticed, and die unlamented. It is manifest, that he deceived Mr.
Clay. In the case of the commonwealth of Kentucky against Charles
Wickliffe, for killing Mr. Benning, editor of the Kentucky Gazette,
in Lexington, tried in 1829, Mr. Clay and the Hon. J. J. Crit
tenden were counsel for the defendant. The case arose from the
following facts : Robert Wickliffe, Esq., the father of Charles, had
been running for the legislature against John M. M'Calla, both of
Lexington, during which time the latter had published in the Ga
zette an article defamatory of his opponent, over the signature of
" Dentatus". which Charles proposed to resent for his father, but,
being a minor by a few days, his father forbade it. As soon, how
ever, as he came to his majority, he called on the editor, Mr. Ben
ning, and demanded the author of " Dentatus." Mr. Benning
asked time to consult the author, which was granted. M'Calla,
naturally preferring that Benning should be exposed, rather than
himself, told him, that he was not obliged to give up the author,
that he might fall back on the privileges of an editor, and treat the
demand with contempt. He advised Benning, however, to arm
himself against the interview. Accordingly, when young Wick
liffe called, Benning declined giving the author, advised Wickliffe
to be content, and endeavored to intimidate him by saying, that,
if he knew the author, he would be the last man he would wish to
see. Whereupon an altercation ensued, and Benning flourished
his cane over the head of Wickliffe in a menacing manner, when
the latter drew a pistol, and shot him. At this moment, Benning
was darting into an adjoining room, as Wickliffe supposed, to
seize a musket standing in the corner, which Wickliffe had seen.
When some persons rushed in to interfere, Wickliffe was standing
with another pistol in his hand, waiting for his opponent, and said :
" Keep back. Let him come with his gun." But Benning had
fallen from the first shot, and soon after died.
The defence set up was excusable homicide. Mr. Crittenden
preceded, adduced the law and precedents, and made an able and
eloquent defence, which the intelligent spectators supposed had
exhausted the argument, so as to leave nothing for Mr. Clay. To
their surprise, however, they saw Mr. Clay, when he rose, enter-

MR. CLAY S PROFESSIONAL CAREER. 91
ing a new field. After a brief exordium, alluding to the facts, that
it was a long time since he had been so engaged, and that nothing
but the peculiar interest of the case, and his regard for the family
of this unfortunate young man, would have induced him to appear
on the occasion, he left behind him the entire field of argument,
which had been so thoroughly explored by his colleague, and
planted himself on the natural right of self-preservation — a right,
he said, vested by the Creator in all animated being, on earth, in
the air, in the waters — which was given to the first of our race,
which all his posterity inherit, and which will abide to the last
generation ; and as a consequence of this right, that, whenever a
man had just cause to believe that his life was in jeopardy, he was
justified in slaying his antagonist, though it should afterward ap
pear, that the danger was not real.
It can not be denied, that imagination was set to work in an ar
gument of this kind ; but it was imagination hoverjrfg over the
nucleus of a sound principle, and lighting on a foundation as firm
as the base of the hills. It was tasking this faculty of the human
mind, given for use, with one of its legitimate functions — enticing
and prompting it, in an appropriate exigency, to dive deeper than
the organized forms of society, to rise higher, and to expatiate over
a wider field, still keeping company with a principle, which every
man finds in his own breast, as an ineradicable law of his being,
and which he feels, knows to be right — that he may defend his own
life against impending violence.
There was another point, on which Mr. Clay touched before
the jury, constituting rather an appeal, than an argument, which, it
has been represented, was overwhelming in its effect. It will be
seen, however, in view of the whole case, as made by the evidence,
that it was not only legitimate, but natural, and extremely forcible.
It was the 4th of July, the natal day of American freedom, when
Mr. Clay made this defence, and when the case was delivered over
to the jury. The main point, which Mr. Clay urged, as already
seen, was the right of self-defence ; and it was made on the evi
dence. Here, then, according to the testimony, was a young man,
who, most unfortunately, had killed an antagonist, to prevent being
himself killed, which he supposed was the intention of his, adver
sary, in his starting to seize a murderous weapon. This was pre
cisely the principle, on which the Declaration of American Inde
pendence was founded. From the 4th of July, 1776, this anni
versary had been a national jubilee — the joyous occasion of patri-

92 MR. CLAY'S PROFESSIONAL CAREER.
otic recollections — the day for every American to be glad in. The
sun was bright, and everywhere, throughout the bounds of this
happy Union, except in Lexington, a nation of freemen were cele
brating the achievements of their forefathers, who rose in self-de
fence, not to kill, but to assert a nation's rights, the rights of man.
Here was a, case : For asserting these rights, this young man was
in court, a prisoner — a prisoner on this blessed day — surrounded
and filled with the gloom of anxiety, his parents and friends anx
ious, all anxious, whether, on this birthday of a nation's freedom
— freedom, acquired at the peril of the honor, the fortune, and the
lives of a whole people — whether he, the prisoner at the bar, who
had only done the same thing, for the same object, should have a
verdict of acquittal from a jury of freemen ; whether he should go
out, to smile and rejoice, under this smiling and rejoicing day, or
whether he should be led, still a prisoner, and condemned, from
this court to the jail, and from the jail to the penitentiary ? " In
his veins, too, runs the blood of all the Howards." His mother
was a Howard, one of the best families in Kentucky.
The jury were absent but a few minutes, and by one o'clock
young Wickliffe was free !
Mr. Clay spoke two hours and a half, and it has been repre
sented by those who heard him, that he rose above himself, went
beyond himself, astonished the court, the jury, the audience, and
filled all with amazement.
Some of the graver passages of this effort of Mr. Clay, recited
from memory to the author, by one who was present, and though
doubtless imperfect, were certainly very striking, and not un
worthy of the distinguished advocate. It is to be regretted, that
such a labor of genius, prompted by the best, and addressed to the
best feelings, should have been for ever lost, except in its immedi
ate effect. One of the more humorous, sarcastic, ironical passa
ges, the author is tempted to give, represented as follows : " Who
is this redoubtable ' BentatusV One would suppose, from the
answer given to the just demand of my unfortunate client, that he
were a Hercules in prowess, and a Caesar in valor. Who is : Den
tatus?' " — the manner and intonations of Mr. Clay, in putting this
question, first in one way, and then in another, with unutterable
significance, are represented to have been withering, annihilating.
" Dentatus" himself was present, but, before the answer came out
— the pause was as terrible as the question — " Dentatus" had van
ished ! — " Who is ' Dentatus ?' Why, gentlemen of the jury"—

MR. CLAY'S PROFESSIONAL CAREER. 93
here Mr. Clay drew himself down from his erect posture, till half
bent, reducing himself to the smallest possible dimensions, looking
like a dwarf, bringing his palms together, and with a voice as di
minutive as he himself seemed to be, coming out from lips planted
in the focus of an indiscribably ironical countenance — "why, gen
tlemen, it is nobody but little Johnny M'Calla-. .'" A gentleman of
some prominence in Lexington, since that time a member of Con
gress, but then a youth, is represented to have said, that, during
the pendency of this question, " Who is ' Dentatus ?' " recollect
ing, that he had written something against the father of young
Wickliffe, begun to suspect himself, dodged behind another per
son, in fear of the eye and finger of Mr. Clay, and muttered to
himself, '*I am not 'Dentatus,' but, if he says so, I am a dead
man." When, however, to his great relief, "Little Johnny"
dropped from the lips of Mr. Clay, he breathed freely again, was
proud of his acquittal, rose and stretched his neck to see "Little
Johnny" — for whom all other eyes were also searching — " heard
the floor crack" where he had seen " Little Johnny" but a mo
ment before, and lo! " Little Johnny" was invisible !
Charles Wickliffe was killed in a duel, some time after his ac
quittal, by George I. Trotter, who succeeded the unfortunate Ben
ning as editor of the Gazette, and Trotter has since been an inmate
of the insane hospital !
It may be presumed, that it will not be thought necessary to
multiply examples of practice in Mr. Clay's professional life, be
yond those already presented, to give an adequate idea of his skill
and success in this career, or to establish his character as a jurist
of the highest order. Having had in charge cases of almost every
variety, both in civil and criminal practice, it can not be said, that
his talents as a man, and his acquirements in the law, have not
been severely tested; and having managed all these with consum
mate ability, and unexampled success, it is a natural and rather
unavoidable inference, that he would have managed any and all
other cases equally well. It may be said of him, that he has filled
up the measure, and ranged through the entire scope, of the re
quirements of the legal profession, with honor and success; and
that, too, while the greatest portion of his life has been consecrated
to the affairs' of state. The versatility of Mr. Clay's talents, and
their power of adaptation to the exigences of his position, in all
possible circumstances, will alone account for the fact, that he has

94 mr. clay's professional career.
never been found wanting in any demand made on his powers or
attainments, in his professional or public life. The clearness and
celerity of his thoughts, in scanning a subject of speculation, or
exploring the field of an argument, enable him to dispense with
much of that time and labor, which turbid and sluggish intellects
are compelled to avail themselves of, and his creative genius fishes
up from the deep, or draws in from remote regions, or brings down
from above, all necessary aids to his purposes. Not lacking in
dustry, the perfect symmetry of his intellectual, moral, and physi
cal organization, well and equally developed in all its parts, and
capable, from his constitutional vigor, of extraordinary exertions,
on all occasions putting in requisition his great powers, has left
him without a rival in the practical pursuits of life. •

mr. clay's wit. 95

CHAPTER VI.
Mr. Clay's Wit and other Brilliant Qualities.
It is said, that the effect of wit is the unexpected discovery
of a likeness in things unlike. Of course, wit itself is the faculty
of making and presenting this discovery. The more unlike the
subjects or things are, and the moge forced and unnatural the re
semblance, so much greater is the wit and ,ifa,effects. It can not
be wit, unless the likeness and unlikeness' are observed simulta
neously. It is a quick comparison of. the two, which tickles the
imagination, and produces the effect. Wit has an infinite variety
of forms, and scarcely less numberless degrees of power : — at
one time bursting the ribs with laughter, at another exciting less
boisterous merriment, and sometimes producing only agreeable
sensations. All sprightly and playful minds are more or less en
dowed with this faculty, and the general capability of appreciating
it, supposes it is common to the race, though dormant in most
minds, till roused by the more gifted to passive demonstrations.
All can laugh, but it is not every one that can make others laugh.
If wit commonly proves nothing in itself, it is yet a potent agent
in quickening the mind to useful exercise. '"But-in some cases, it
proves much, and is not unfrequently the only and most effective
mode of argument. The reasoning is not in its own display, but in
the action of other minds excited by its promptings. It is at times
conclusive, when the best reasoning would be all lost. It takes un
reasonable and perverse minds by surprise, without leaving a
chance of resistance or escape. All see and feel, that it is a con
quest. The sallies of this description, which- constitute one of the
prominent traits *of Mr. Clay's character, are not adducedjaere,
as being all of that precise denomination, commonly callecT wit,
as above described. They result, however, from various applica
tions of the same faculty. Sometimes they assume the more
grave character of sarcasm, irony, and satire ; at others, they ap-

96 MR. clay's wit
*?'
pear in the form of withering rebuke, or annihilating severity.
Mr. Clay's wit is chastened and refined, and pleases and delights,
more often than it astonishes. In his speeches and conversation,
it is always ready to be employed, when discretion dictates. It
is sometimes captivating, dazzling ; at others, it mingles with the
heavy artillery of argument, imparting to it a vividness and power
irresistible. When sharpness or hard blows are not required, its
illuminations, whether in debate or in the social circle, are almost
constantly flashing out, like the sports of summer-evening light
ning, which brings no thunder or storm. Its attractions claim and
secure attention, and are not less instructive, than charming.
Tradition alleges, that Mr. Clay, in the early history of his
professional career, was engaged for a client, who was extremely
slow in paying his# debts, and that a witness on the stand, who
knew his habits, was hardly pressed by the opposite counsel, to
answer on this point, so as to bring out the truth. Unwilling to
injure his neighbor, more than was necessary, he said, " He is
slow." Still pressed to say more, he still answered, " He is slow"
— " and sure," said Mr. Clay, putting the words in his mouth.
" Yes, sir," said the witness, taken by surprise. Of course, the
witness could not afterward contradict himself, and Mr. Clay's
client had the benefit of his evidence, according to the usual ac
ceptation of the terms, " slow and sure ;" though in fact, the man
was sure not to pay. It was not quite fair, manifestly. But it
may easily be conceived, that, to a mind like Mr. Clay's, the
temptation was strong, for the mere sport of it, without intending
unfairness, and that a moment's reflection would have repressed
so mischievous a pun, in such circumstances.
The culprit, Willis, whom Mr. Clay had defended successfully
from the charge of murder, as narrated in another chapter, was
far from being a good citizen afterward, and would get drunk.
Mr. Clay happened to meet him in this condition one day, when
Willis cried out, " Here comes Mr. Clay, who saved my life." —
" Ah, Willis, poor fellow," said Mr. Clay, " I fear I have saved
too many like you, who ought to be hanged."
When Mr. Clay was a member of the Kentucky legislature, in
I8O07 while advocating the removal of the seat of government,
then and still at Frankfort, he made a ludicrous comparison of
the geography of the place to an inverted hat, "the body of
which," he said, "was Frankfort, nature's penitentiary. Who

AND OTHER BRILLIANT QUALITIES. 97
v
that got in, could get out? And if any one would have a just
idea of its miserable tenants, look at those persons in the gallery !"
pointing in that direction, with a sweep of his hand, that took
diem all in. Every eye was instantly turned, as challenged, to
behold as ragged and forlorn a set of poor fellows, as could be
found in the darkest dens of a city, scampering off in the utmost
consternation, to escape the notice, which had been thus turned
upon them. The whole house burst into a laugh, and immedi
ately came to the conclusion, to scamper away from Frankfort,
taking the seat of government with them. But, it would seem,
they have never been able to get out of the hat. Nor could a
lover of nature conceive why they should desire it. The sur
rounding heights, cut through by the beautiful river, Kentucky,
are the just admiration of all strangers. Wit, however, is a dan
gerous weapon, and it was a long time before Mr. Clay himself
could get out of the hat — not till, many years afterward, he had
made a speech there, at a public dinner, put the hat right side up,
and shown it was very beautiful.
A year or two after this, he made his first speech in the senate
of the United States, on internal improvement, which did not ex
actly suit a certain member, who, being much Mr. Clay's senior,
thought he could prove his opponent guilty of the crime of being
a young man, and with affected airs of superior wisdom, fell on
him with that intent, advising him to modesty corresponding with
his years. In Mr. Clay's reply, he was tempted to quote the fol
lowing lines : — " Thus have I seen a magpie in the street,
A chattering bird we often meet,
With head awry, and cunning eye,
Peep knowingly into a marrow-bone."
The application of the manners of this sagacious bird, to those
of die reverend senator, was too forcibly just, not to be felt even
by himself, and it was a long time before he was disposed to dis
play them again before the senate. Of course, he was wise
enough afterward, to let the young man have his own way.
In the spring of 1815, after the signing of the treaty of Ghent,
Mr. Clay met die celebrated Madame de Stael in Paris, who, told
him, diat she had been doing battle for the Americans in London,
during die war. Mr. Clay replied, that "die Americans had
heard of her good offices, and were not ungrateful for them."
Madame de Stael also informed him, that the British, while the
Vol. I.— 7

' 98- ;.. MR. clay's wit
war Was- pending, talked of sending out the duke of Wellington
Lto command their forces against the Americans. " I am very sor-
1 ry, madam"," said Mr. Clay, " that they did not send his grace."
The 1'ady; a little suprised, asked, "And why, sir?" — "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, we should have added greatly to
the renown of our arms." The next time they met, was at Mad
ame de Stael's own house, when the duke was a guest. Like
mischief-loving, privileged woman, after having made the duke and
Mr. Clay acquainted, and on the instant, Madame de Stael re
hearsed to the duke the conversation above recited. The duke,
looking alternately at Mr. Clay and Madame de Stael, and ad
dressing himself to both, as the occasion demanded, very gallandy
said, " If I had been sent on that errand, and been so fortunate as
to be successful against so gallant a foe as the Americans, I should
have regarded it as the proudest feather in my cap."
Not long after this, Mr. Clay was dining at Lord Castlereagh's,
in London, with the other American commissioners of Ghent, the
British commissioners, and some of the British ministers, when
London was filled with rejoicings for the victory of Waterloo.
Nothing was yet heard of the whereabout of Napoleon ; but it
was suggested at table, that he might perhaps flee to America for
an asylum. " Will he not give you some trouble, if he goes
there?" said Lord Liverpool to Mr. Clay. "Not the least, my
lord," said 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."
Henry Goulbourn, Esq., one of the British commissioners at
Ghent, sent to Mr. Clay, at Brussels, a London paper, containing
the British official account of the capture of the city of Washing
ton, destruction of the capitol and other public buildings, with an
apology for this disagreeable intelligence, presuming that the latest
news from the United States would notwithstanding, be accepta
ble. Mr.Clay returned his compliments to Mr. Goulbourn, with a
Paris paper, containing the first intelligence of the destruction of
the British fleet on Lake Champlain, also apologizing for the disa
greeable part of the news, but presumed he would- like the latest.
After Mr. Clay's return from Ghent, a public dinner was given
him by his fellow-citizens of Lexington, when, of course, " the
negotiators of Ghent," were toasted, in whose behalf Mr. Clay

AND OTHER BRILLIANT QUALITIES
made a pertinent speech. But when the last toaj
" Our guest, Henry Clay — We welcome his
country, whose rights and interests he has so ably
home and abroad," his feelings were deeply affectasjfljnd _,
could but with difficulty make the following brief reply, wh
ends, as will be seen, with no vain attempt at playfulness : —
" My friends, I must again thank you, for your kind and affec
tionate attention. My reception has been more like that of a
brother, than a common friend or acquaintance, and I am utterly
incapable of finding words to express my gratitude. My sit
uation is like that of a Swedish gentleman, at a dinner given in
England by the Society of Friends of Foreigners in Distress.
A toast having been given, complimentary to his country, it
was expected, as is usual on such occasions, that he would rise
and address the company. The gentleman, not understanding the
English language, rose, under great embarrassment, and said,
' Sir, I wish you to consider me a foreigner in distress.' I wish
you, gentlemen, to consider me a friend in distress."
When the odious compensation bill was to be encountered, in
the congressional canvass of 1816, Mr. Clay met an old, and
once an ardent political friend, a Kentucky hunter, who expressed
dissatisfaction at his vote on the abovenamed bill. " Have you a
good rifle, my friend ?" asked Mr. Clay. " Yes." — " Did it ever
flash?" — "It did once." — "And did you throw it away?" —
" No, I picked the flint, tried it again, and it was true." — " Have
I ever flashed, except this once you complain of?" — " No." —
"And will you throw me away?" — "No, no," said the hunter,
with much emotion, grasping Mr. Clay's hand, " never. I will
pick the flint, and try it again." Mr. Clay passed on, met anoth
er hunter with his rifle in hand, which he called " Old Bess," and
solicited his vote. "Are. you a good shot?" asked the hunter.
Mr. Clay, supposing his friend spoke figuratively, promptly re
plied, " Try me, and see." — " Very well, here's Old Bess, try
her once." Mr. Clay had never shot a rifle in his life. But
there was no retreat.* The mark was set up, the distance taken,
and by mere chance, Mr. Clay made a hit in the centre. The
hunter and his friends insisted on his trying once more, as that
might be accident. " Beat that, and I will," said Mr. Clay, and
they let him off as a good shot, and engaged to vote for him.
These are instances of boldness, rather than of wit, showing
promptitude, readiness, and decision. Nevertheless, there is al
ways an affinity between these vigilant and active faculties. They

100 MR. CLAY'S WIT
all answer to the common classification of a man's " wits." " He
* has his wits about him."
In Mr. Clay's speech on the Seminole war, 1819, referring to
General Jackson's execution of Arbuthnot and Ambrister — the lat
ter especially — he said: "I know but little of military law, and
what has happened, has certainly not created in me a taste for
acquiring a knowledge of more."
~ While Mr. Clay was advocating the recognition of South Amer-
can independence, in 1818, and proposing the sending ofa minis
ter to Buenos Ayres, which was then opposed, and voted down,
he said : —
" Yes, sir, from Constantinople, or from the Brazils ; from
Turk, or Christian ; from black, or white ; from the dey of Al
giers, or the bey of Tunis ; from the devil himself, if he wore a
crown, we should receive a minister ! But let a minister come
from a poor republic, like that of La Plata, and we turn our back
upon him ?"
The startling effect of the diletnma, and its conclusiveness as a
mode of reasoning, is well exemplified in the following instance.
The opponents of the recognition of the independence of the
South American states, proposed to confer that power on the
president, and in their opposition to Mr. Clay's views for legisla
tive action, maintained, that recognition would be cause of war
with Spain. Whereupon, Mr. Clay sprung the dilemma upon
them : " The gentleman from Maryland, [Mr. Smith] and the
gentleman from Virginia, [Mr. Smyth] the great champions of
executive power, and the opponents of legislative authority, have
contended, that recognition would be cause of war. These gen
tlemen are reduced to this dilemma : — if it is cause of war, the
executive ought not to have the right to produce a war upon the
country, without consulting Congress. If it is no cause of war, it
is an act, which there is no danger in performing." The whole
argument lay in this nutshell.
When General Jackson went in, March 4, 1829, Mr. Adams,
and of course Mr. Clay, who had been secretary of state, went
out. On Mr. Clay's return to Kentucky, his friends at Union-
town, Pennsylvania, saw him enter their borough, on the box,
with the coachman. He had chosen that seat, as the most easy,
on account of the badness of the roads. " You see, my friends,"
said Mr. Clay, as they drove up to the hotel, " I am one of the

AND OTHER BRILElANT QUALITIES. 101
outs : but I can assure you, that the ins behind me, have the
worst of it."
Mr. Clay, on one occasion, finding his political opponents in
Congress trying to forget an argument, which they had used, but
too successfully, before the people, in a political campaign, reminded
them of Dr. Franklin's newly-invented fable of Piiss and the Eagle.
The eagle, by mistake, had pounced on puss, instead of a pig, and
soared away toward bis lofty habitation with his prey. But puss
stuck her claws into the eagle's body, and made a most uncom
fortable use of her teeth, till the eagle said to the supposed pig :
" If you will let me go, I will let you go." — " No," said puss,
" not up here in the clouds. Put me down where you took me
up, and it's a bargain."
When Mr. Clay argued against the constitutionality of the
United States bank, in ISH. he said to his opponents, who main
tained the doctrine of implied and incidental powers : " Like the
Virginia justice, you tell the man, whose turkey has been stolen,
that your books of precedent furnish no form for his case ; but that
you will give him a precept to search for a cow, and when looking
for a cow, he may possibly find his turkey." The point of this,
as will be seen, lies in the alleged position of the advocates of the
bank, that they find a power in the constitution to create a fiscal
agent of the government, and to accomplish this end, they" propose
a bank that shall support itself -by its own proper functions. Thus,
in looking for a cow, they find the turkey. This speech, of course,
was brought to answer Mr. Clay, when he stood up as the advo
cate of a national bank, in 1S16 : and ever since it has been used
against him. It was not a bad joke, that, in 1S16, it was gravely
read in the house, from beginning to end, as a reply to himself.
It was certain! v an able one. It is recorded of Patrick Henry,
that, in his professional practice, by mistake, he made a powerful
argument against his client, apparendy sufficient to decide the case,
till his client crept up in affright, and said to him: " Sir, you have
ruined me." " Don't fear," said Mr. Henry ; " you will see what
I am after." To the court and jury he then said: " Such is the
argument of the opposite counsel." He had said more than they
could say for themselves, and then went on to demolish it all, and
named bis cause. It was somewhat so with Mr. Clay, in his argu
ments of IS 11 and 1316, on the bank question. The first was the
best that could be made, and the last demolished the first.
The following specimen of rhetorical severity perpetrated on the

=

102 MR. clay's wit
federalists, in Mr. Clay's speech on the new army bill, 1813,
including a notice of Mr. Jefferson's red French breeches, is worth
reading : —
" If gentlemen would only reserve for their own government,
half the sensibility which is indulged for that of Great Britain, they
would find much less to condemn. Restriction after restriction
has been tried ; negotiation has been resorted to, until further nego
tiation would have been disgraceful. While these peaceful experi
ments are undergoing a trial, what is the conduct of the opposition ?
They are the champions of war — the proud — the spirited — the
sole repository of the nation's honor — the men of exclusive vigor
and energy. The administration, on the contrary, is weak, feeble,
and pusillanimous — ' incapable of being kicked into a war.' The
maxim, ' not a cent for tribute, millions for defence,' is loudly pro
claimed. Is the administration for negotiation ? The opposition
is tired, sick, disgusted with negotiation. They want to draw the
sword, and avenge the nation's wrongs. When, however, foreign
nations, perhaps emboldened by the very opposition here made,
refuse to listen to the amicable appeals, which have been repeated
and reiterated by the administration, to their justice and to their
interest — when, in fact, war with one of them has become identi
fied with our independence and our sovereignty, and to abstain from
it was no longer possible, behold the opposition veering round and
becoming the friends of peace and commerce. They tell you of
the calamities of war, its tragical events, the squandering away of
your resources, the waste of the public treasure, and the spilling
of innocent blood. ' Gorgons, hydras, and chimeras dire.' They
tell you, that honor is an illusion ! Now, we see them exhibiting
the terrific forms of the roaring king of the forest. Now, the
meekness and humility of the lamb ! They are for war and no
restrictions, when the administration is for peace. They are for
peace and restrictions, when the administration is for war. You
find them, sir, tacking with every gale, displaying the colors of
every party, and of all nations, steady only in one unalterable pur
pose — to steer, if possible, into the haven of power.
" During all this time, the parasites of opposition do not fail, by
cunning sarcasm, or sly inuendo, to throw out the idea of French
influence, which is known to be false, which ought to be met in
one manner only, and that is by the lie direct. The administra
tion of this country devoted to foreign influence ! The adminis
tration of this country subservient to France ! Great God ! what
a charge ! how is it so influenced ? By what ligament, on what
basis, on what possible foundation does it rest ? Is it similarity of
language ? No ! we speak different tongues, we speak the English
language. On the resemblance of our laws ? No ! the sources
of our jurisprudence spring from another and a different country.

AND OTHER BRILLIANT QUALITIES. 103
On commercial intercourse ? No ! we have comparatively none
with France. Is it from the correspondence in the genius of
the two governments ? No ! here alone is the liberty of man
secure from the inexorable despotism, which, /everywhere else,
tramples it under foot. Where, then, is the ground of such an
influence? But, sir, I am insulting you by arguing 'on such a
subject. Yet, preposterous and ridiculous as the insinuation is, it
is propagated with so much industry, that there are persons found
foolish and credulous enough to believe it. You will, no doubt,
think it incredible (but I have nevertheless been told it is a fact),
that an honorable member of this house, now in my eye, recently
lost his election by the circulation of a silly story in his district,
that he was the first cousin of the emperor Napoleon. The proof
of the charge rested on a statement of facts, which was undoubt
edly true. The gentleman in question, it was alleged, had mar
ried a connexion of the lady of the president of the United States,
who was the intimate friend of Thomas Jefferson, late president
of the United States, who some, years ago, was in the habit of
wearing red French breeches. Now, taking these premises as
established, you, Mr. Chairman, are too good a logician not to see
that the conclusion necessarily follows !  Really," said
Mr. Clay, " gentlemen remind me of an obscure lady, in a city
not very far off, who also took it into her head, in conversation
with an accomplished French gentleman, to talk of the affairs of
Europe. She, too, spoke of the destruction of the balance of
power; stormed and raged about the insatiable ambition of the
emperor ; called him the curse of mankind, the destroyer of Eu
rope. The Frenchman listened to her with perfect patience, and
when she had ceased, said to her, with ineffable politeness, ' Mad
ame, it would give my master, the emperor, infinite pain, if he
knew how hardly you thought of him.' "
One of Mr. Clay's colleagues, in 1816, attempted wit in the
house of representatives at the expense of Mr. Clay. Mr. Clay
retorted in the following terms : " Motives of delicacy, which the
committee would be able to understand and appreciate, prevent
ed him [Mr. Clay] from noticing some of his colleague's remarks ;
but he would take this occasion to give him one admonition — that,
when he next favored the house with an exhibition of his talents
for wit, with a display of those eloquent implements, for his pos
session of which the gentleman from Virginia had so handsomely
complimented him, he would recollect that it is bought, and not
borrowed wit, which the adage recommends as best." This was
a two-lidged sword, doing equal execution on the gentleman from
Virginia, who had not discovered the borrowed wares which had
so much delighted him.

104 MR. clay's wit
. Mr. Madison, going out of office in 1817, vetoed, the day be
fore his retirement, an internal improvement bill, on the ground of
unconstitutionality, notwithstanding he had, in his annual message
at the opening of that session of Congress, earnestly recommended
such a measure, and that too on an extended scale ; and Mr.
Monroe, stepping into his shoes the next day, was supposed to
have suddenly altered his inaugural address, from a conformity
with Mr. Madison's annual message, to a conformity with his
veto, by introducing the words "proceeding always with a consti
tutional sanction;" and in his first message, he declared his opin
ion against the constitutional power. The Hon. Mr. Nelson, of
Virginia was suspected, not altogether without grounds, to have
trimmed somewhat skilfully to these veerings of the two chief
magistrates. As Mr. Clay was compelled conscientiously to en
counter these executive movements, so hostile to one great branch
of his system of domestic policy, Mr. Nelson, in anticipation of a
notice of his own course, had gratuitously ," denied the operation
of executive influence on his mind, or that, from that quarter, he
had anything to expect, to hope, or to fear."
" I did not," said Mr. Clay, " impute to my honorable friend
any such motive. I knew his independence of mind and charac
ter too well to do so. But I entreat him to reflect, if he does not
expose himself to such an imputation by those less friendly
toward him than myself. Let us look a little at facts. The pres
ident recommends the establishment of a bank. If ever there was
a stretch of implied powers conveyed by the constitution, it has
been thought, that the grant of the charter of a national bank was
one. But the president recommends it. Where was then my
honorable friend, the friend of state-rights, who so pathetically
calls upon us to repent, in sackcloth and ashes, our meditated
violation of the constitution, and who kindly expresses the hope,
that we shall be made to feel the public indignation ? Where
was he at that awful epoch ? Where was that eloquent tongue,
which we have now heard with so much pleasure ? Silent ! Si
lent as the grave ! [Mr. Nelson said, across the house, that he
had voted against the bank bill when first recommended.] Alas !
my honorable friend had not the heart to withstand a second recom
mendation from the president ; but when it came, yielded, no doubt
most reluctantly, to the executive wishes, and voted for the bank.
At the last session of Congress, Mr. Madison recommended an
exercise of all the existing powers of the general government, to
establish a comprehensive system of internal improvement. Where
was my honorable friend on that occasion? Not silent as the
grave, but he gave a negative vote, almost as silent. No effort waa

AND OTHER BRILLIANT QUALITIES. 106
mado on his part, great as ho is, when he exerts the powers of $is
well-stored mind, to save tho commonwealth from that greatest of
all calamities, a system of internal improvement. No ; although
a war with all tho allies, ho vow thinks, would be loss terrible
than the adoption of tiiis report, not one word then dropped from
his hps against, tho measure. [Mr. Nelson said, he voted against
die bill.] That he whispered out an unwilling negative, I do not
deny ; but it was unsustained by that torrent of eloquence which
ho has poured out on the present occasion. Now, my honorable
friend rouses, thunders forth the danger in which the constitution
is, and sounds the tocsin of alarm."
It would be necessary for one to have a full view of all that was
bofore the committee on this occasion, of all that was referred to
by Mr. Clay's remarks, of the character and powers of Mr. Nel
son, so smoothly and murderously complimented, and of his foam
ing, vaulting, salient, but newborn zeal, fully to appreciate die wit,
dio sarcasm, the severity of diis notice.
At another time while pleading the cause of South America, in
181S, Mr. Clay had occasion to notice Mr. Nelson as follows : —
" Even my honorable friend near mo, has made a speech on our
side; and wo should not have found out, if he had not told
us, that ho would vote against us. Although his speech has been
distinguished by his accustomed eloquence, I should be glad to
agree on a cartel with the gentlemen on the odier side of the
house to give them his speech for his vote. The gentleman says
his heart is with us — that he ardently desires tho independence of
tho south. Will he excuse me for telling him, that if he will
give himself up to the honest feelings of his heart, he will have a
much surer guide, than by trusting to his head — to which, how
ever, 1 am far from ollering any disparagement."
Tt is remarkable, notwithstanding President Monroe had come
out in his message against internal improvement, that, on his tour
to dio north the next summer, he, of his sole magisterial will, set
the military to work on tho road from Plattsburg to the St. Law
rence, without authority of law. First, according to the doctrine
ho had taken his stand upon, it was an invasion of state-rights ;
next, by the same creed, there was no express authority in the
constitution ; but die worst of it was, expenses were incurred
witliout audiority of law. It was not enough to say, that the pres
ident had a right to employ tho troops under his command.
Theso facts wero nuts to Mr. Clay. He did not find fault with
what the president had done. On the contrary, he commended

106 mr. clay's wit
it ; and the torrent of wit and argument he poured forth, in re
ferring to it, was a treat. " If," said he, " the president has
power to cause those public improvements to be executed at his
pleasure, whence is it derived ? If any member will stand up in
his place, and say, that the President is clothed with this author
ity, and that it is denied to Congress, let us hear from him ; and
let him point to the clause in the constitution, which vests it in
the executive, and withholds it from the legislative branch."
Mr. Smith, of Maryland, had contended in reply to Mr. Clay,
that the recognition of the independence of the South American
states, was cause of war. Mr. Smith was a commercial gentle
man, and neither his knowledge, nor his experience, qualified him
to attempt an argument of this kind. Such presumption may at
least be some apology for the following severe notice by Mr.
Clay : " I recommend, without intending any disrespect, that the
honorable gentleman should confine himself to the operations of
commerce, rather than undertake to expound questions of public
law ; for I can assure the gentleman, that, although he may make
some figure, with his practical knowledge in one case, he will not
in the other." But, on another occasion, Mr. Clay seems to have
been touched with great commiseration for injustice done to this
same gentleman (Mr. Smith). " The honorable gentleman stated,
that he had .been accused of partiality for the manufacturing inter
est. Never was there a more groundless and malicious charge
preferred against a calumniated man. Since this question has been
agitated in the public councils, although I have often heard from
him professions of attachment to this branch of industry, I have
never known any member a more uniform, determined, and un
compromising opponent of it, than the honorable gentleman has
uniformly been. And if, hereafter, the calumny should be repeat
ed, of his friendship to the American system, I shall be ready to
furnish to him, in the most solemn manner, my testimony of his
innocence." Mr. Smyth, of Virginia — the notorious General Smyth, of
the war of 1812 — who made such a figure by his proclamation,
calling for volunteers for the invasion of Canada, and who at last
showed the white feather to the foe, said* in the house, that the
recognition of the independence of the South American states, by
Congress, was "usurpation!" — "Sir," said Mr. Clay, "the gen
tleman has mistaken his position here. He is a military chief
tain, and is an admirable defender of executive authority; but he

AND OTHER BRILLIANT QUALITIES. 107
has yet to learn his horn-book as to the power of this branch of the
government." General Smyth was remarkable for long, prosy, interminable
speeches, in the house of representatives. On one occasion, in
committee of the whole, after having wearied the patience of the
members more than usual, he said to Mr. Clay, who sat near him,
in a low voice, while he was pausing for a new start : •¦ You
speak for the present generation. I speak for posteritv." — " Yes,"
replied Mr. Clay, '¦ and you seem resolved to continue speaking,
till your audience arrives."
"W hen the resolution to disapprove of General Jackson's execu
tion of Ambrister and Arbuthnot, was under debate in the house,
General Smyth opposed it, and announced his purpose to offer
an amendment or substitute, to approve. This was exacdy the
thing desired by the advocates of the pending resolution, know
ing well that to approve would be impossible, and thus their ob
ject would be gained : while the resolution, as it stood, might
fail, as it did. While, therefore, one part of the house connived
at the general's proposal, the other part intimated to him that he
must retreat, or be lost. He therefore retreated. It was cruel in Mr.
Clay not to let him escape. But he could not help saying : " He
admired the achievement, but it was not the first time the general
had shown his skill in retreating." — It was a terrible blow. The
house roared with laughter, and as soon fell back to pity. Mr.
Clav had no apprehension of an affair of honor with the •• procla
mation general." He, therefore, wrote him a note of apology the
next morning.
Under Mr. Monroe's administration, it was made apparent, by
executive communications to Congress, that some very improper
efforts were in progress, by the Russian government, in behalf of
Spain, affecting the relations of the United States to the new states
of South America. Mr. Clay, who was the first, and a long time
the sole champion of South American freedom, said : —
" He must enter his solemn protest against this and every
other species of foreign interference in our matters with Spain.
What have they to do with them ? Would they not repel, as
officious and insulting intrusion, any interference on our part, in
their concerns with foreign states ? — Would bis imperial majesty
have listened with complacency, to our remonstrances against the
vast acquisitions he has recently made ? He has lately crammed
his enormous maw with Finland, and with the spoils of Poland, and
while the difficult process of digestion is going on, he throws him-

108 MR. clay's wit
self upon a couch, and cries out, ' Don't, don't disturb my repose !'
He charges his minister here to plead the cause of peace and
concord ! ' The American government is too enlightened' (ah ! sir,
how sweet this unction is, that is poured down our backs!) 'to
take such hasty steps !' and his imperial majesty's minister here is re
quired ' to engage the American government,' &c. ' Nevertheless,
the emperor does not interpose in this discussion !' No ! not he !
He makes, above all, ' no pretension to exercise influence in the
councils of a foreign power' — Not the slightest. . . If Count Nes-
selrode had never written another paragraph, the extract from his '
despatch to Mr. Politica, which has been transmitted to this
house, will demonstrate that he merited the confidence of his mas
ter." It was rumored, that even the "enormous maw" of his imperial
majesty, was insufficient to take in this wholesome repast of the
American statesman's raillery. It had at least the effect of putting
an end to such interference.
In the vote ofthe house of representatives, on the tariff of 1824,
it was expected that Mr. Foot, of Connecticut, and Mr. Foote,
of New York, would both support it ; but they voted against it.
After the bill had passed, and as Mr. Clay came down from the
Speaker's chair, at the time of adjournment, a friend said to him,
" We have done pretty well to day." — "Yes," said Mr. Clay, " we
made a good stand, considering we lost both our Feet."
Mr. Clay had been accused by General Jackson and his friends
of appealing to the public, to defend himself against the public
charge of bargain in the election of Mr. Adams — of forcing and
dragging those matters out. Of course, every one will see, that
it was a subject, which he could have had no motive in starting ;
and about which he could not be silent, when others had started
it, and seemed resolved to make the most of it. In a speech at
Cincinnati, 1828, Mr. Clay said : —
" My traducers have attributed to me great facility in making a
bargain. Whether I possess it, or not, there is one bargain,
which, for their accommodation, I am willing to enter into with
them. If they will prevail upon their chief, to acknowledge that
he has been in error, and has done me injustice, and if they will
cease to traduce and abuse me, I will no longer present myself
before public assemblies, or in public prints, in my own defence.
That is a bargain, however, which I have no expectation of being
able to conclude ; for men, who are in a long-established line of
business, will not voluntarily quit their accustomed trade, and ac
knowledge themselves bankrupts to honor, decency, and truth."

AND OTHER BRILLIANT QUALITIES. 109
Considering that Mr. Clay was secretary of state, under " the
late American administration" alluded, to in the following extract
from his speech of 1832, on the nomination of Mr. Van Buren to
the court of London, it will doubtless be regarded as some apol
ogy for its severity : —
" Now, sir, keeping in sight of the object which the late secretary
of state had in view — the opening of the trade with the British
colonies — which was the best mode to accomplish it? — To send
our minister to prostrate himself as a suppliant before the British
throne, and to say to the British king, we have offended your ma
jesty; the late American administration brought forward preten
sions which we can not sustain, and they too long and too tena
ciously adhered to them ; your majesty was always in the right ;
but we hope your majesty will be graciously pleased to recollect,
that it was not we who are now in possession of the American
government, but those who have been expelled from it, that
wronged your majesty; and that we, when out of power, were on
the side of your majesty; and we do humbly pray, that your ma- '
jesty, taking all mitigating circumstances into consideration, will
graciously condescend to extend to us the privileges of the British
act of Parliament of 1 825, and to grant us the boon, of a trade
with your majesty's West India colonies? Or, to have presented
himself before the British monarch, in the manly and dignified at
titude of a minister of this republic, and abstaining from all con
demnation or animadversion upon the past conduct of his own
government, to have placed the withdrawal of our former demand
upon the ground of concession, in a spirit of amity and com
promise ?'
Mr. Clay was dining with the vice-president, Mr. Van Buren,
during the second term of President Jackson, when it was prob
able, that the vice-president would succeed. The company con
sisted of Mr. Forsyth, secretary of state, Mr. Rives, of Virginia,
foreign ministers, judges of the supreme court, and others. The
conversation turned upon the topic of the favorable or unfavorable
dispositions of the French and English ministries toward Ameri
can interests. Several of the gentlemen having been abroad, it
was agreed between all of them, that American interests fared best
with tory ministers in England and France. Mr. Clay, addressing
himself to Mr. Van Buren, said " he would propose a toast, with
his permission." — " Certainly, we will receive it with pleasure."
"I propose," said Mr. Clay, "tory ministers for England and
France, and a whig ministry for the United States."
" What is that?" said Mr. Clay to Mr. Adams (J. Q.), pointing

110

MR. CLAY S WIT

to a large dish on the dinner-table of the latter gentleman, as the
covers were removed. — "A codfish, from my constituents of Mar-
blehead," said Mr. Adams ; " shall I send you a bit of it?" — " Not
the least bit of it," said Mr. Clay ; "the bones would stick in my
throat like a Mississippi snag." There are few who will not
remember the reputed controversy between those two gentlemen
at Ghent, in 1814, about the fisheries and the navigation of the
Mississippi. The South-Carolinians once had public meetings, and passed
resolutions not to trade with the Kentucky drovers any more, on
account of their attachment to the tariff. In 1832, when. Mr. Cal
houn was vice-president, and president ofthe senate, Mr. Clay, in
reference to these resolutions, said : —
" They [the South-Carolinians] must have supposed us as stu
pid as the sires of one of the descriptions of the stock [mules] of
which that trade consisted, if they imagined that their resolutions
would affect our principles. Our drovers cracked their whips,
blew their horns, and passed the Seleuda gap [the same old
route] to other markets, where better humors existed, and equal or
greater profits were made. I have heard of your successor in the
other house, Mr. President, this anecdote: that he joined in the
adoption of those resolutions ; but when, about Christmas, he ap
plied to one of his South Carolina neighbors to purchase the reg
ular supply of pork for the ensuing year, he found that he had to
pay two prices for it, and he declared, if that were the patriotism
on which the resolutions were based, he would not conform to
them." Mr. Clay, in one of his speeches, gives the following sketch of
office-seekers, on the advent of Andrew Jackson to power : —
"Recall to your recollection the 4th of March, 1829, when the
lank, lean, famished forms, from fen and forest, and the four quar
ters of the Union, gathered together in the halls of patronage, or
stealing by evening's twilight into the apartment of the president's
mansion, cried out with ghastly faces, and in sepulchral tones,
'Give us bread! give us treasury-pap! give us our reward!'
England's bard was mistaken. Ghosts will sometimes come,
called or uncalled."
On Mr. Benton's proposal to give away the "refuse lands" of
the public domain, Mr. Clay said: —
" The senator from Missouri was chanting most sweetly to the
tune, 'refuse lands,' 'refuse lands,' 'refuse lands,' on his side of
the Mississippi, and the soft strains of his music, having caught

AND OTHER BRILLIANT QUALITIES. HI
the ear of his excellency, on the Illinois side, he. [the governor of
Illinois] joined in chorus, and struck an octave higher.^ The sen
ator from Missouri wished only to pick up some crumbs which fell
from t ncle Sam's table : but the governor resolved to grasp the
whole loaf. The senator modesdy claimed only an old, smoked.
rejected joint; but the stomach of his excellency yearned after ¦ the
K.'.ole hog.* The governor peeped over the Mississippi into Mis
souri, and saw the senator leisurely roaming in some rich pasture.
on bits of « refuse lands.' He returned to Illinois, and springing
into the grand prairie, determined to claim and occupy it. in all its
boundless extent."
"V\ hen President Jackson had resolved on assuming the respon
sibihty, m removing the pubhc depositee, he read a paper to his
cabinet, not to consult them, but declaratory of his purpose.
That part, which was more especially addressed to the ear of Mr.
Duane, secretary of the treasury, was what Mr. Clay called,
"coaxing." It reads thus: "He [the president] frfc-O- the secre
tary of the treasury will see only the frank and respectful declara
tions, &-c. and not a spirit of dictation, which the president would
be as careful to avoid, as ready to resist." Are. : —
"Sir." said Mr. Clay, "how kind! how gentle! It reminds me
of an historical anecdote, related of one of the most remarkable
characters, which our species has ever produced. While Oliver
Cromwell was contending for the mastery of Great Britain, he be
sieged a catholic town. The place made a stout resistance ; but
at length the town being likely to be taken, the poor catholics pro
posed terms of capitulation, stipulating therein for the toleration
of their religion. The paper, containing tie terms, was brought
to Oliver, who, putting on his spectacles to read it. cried out,
•Oh, granted, granted, certainly.' He added, however, 'but. if
one of them shall dare to be found attending mass, he shall be
hanged.*" The fate of Mr. Duane. for disregarding the -coax
ing." was decapitation.
When Mr. Clay, while speaking on the removal of the depos-
ites. came to the fact of General Jacksons having been obliged to
send out an agent to find hon:sf sub-treasurers, if he could, for the
keeping of the public funds, he suddenly put in a parenthesis in
these five words {and vea such an agent), without deignir.g to
say rc.ore as to the suitableness of the appointment, or the q-.:£:2-
cations of the appointee. A Hentleman. who heard ii. says, th.-
the manner of Mr. Clay, in his change of voice, in his look, has
emphasis, and the toot ensemble of what addressed the eye. the

112 MR. CLAY'S WIT
ear, and the imagination, was infinitely amusing. This agent was
afterward postmaster-general.
Mr. Taney was attorney-general under President Jackson, in
1833, when Mr. Duane, secretary of the treasury, was removed
from office, for not feeling it right to do the bidding of the presi
dent in removing the deposites; and Mr. Taney was put in his
place, to do that work. At the next session of Congress, Mr.
Clay said : —
" We have, Mr. President, a most wonderful financier at the
head of our treasury department. He sits quietly by in the cabi
net, and witnesses the contest between his colleague and the presi
dent ; sees the conflict in the mind of that colleague, between his
personal attachment to the president, on the one hand, and his sol
emn duty to the public, on the other; beholds the triumph of con
scientious obligation ; contemplates the noble spectacle of an
honest man, preparing to surrender an exalted office, with all
its honors and emoluments, rather than betray the interests of the
people ; witnesses the contemptuous and insulting expulsion of that
colleague from office ; and then coolly enters the vacated place,
without the slightest sympathy or the smallest emotion .'"
In the annual report -of the secretary of the treasury (Mr. Taney),
he spoke of the press, as having been corrupted by the bank.
Mr. Clay, in one of his speeches on the removal of the deposites,
Dec. 30, 1833, said : —
" If the secretary wishes to purify the press, he has a most Her
culean duty before him. And when he sallies out on his Quix
otic expedition, he had better begin with the Augean stable, the
press nearest to him, his organ [the Globe], as most needing puri
fication." " Sir, the truth is, that the re-election of the president [Jack
son] proves as little an approbation by the people of all the opin
ions he holds, as it would prove that, if the president had a car
buncle or the king's evil, they meant, by re-electing him, to ap
prove of his carbuncle."
" When the secretary [Mr. Taney] treats of the power of the
president, he puts on corsets, and prostrates himself before the
executive, in the most graceful, courteous, and ladylike manner;
but when he treats of that of Congress, and of the treasurer, he
swells and expands himself, and flirts about, with all the airs of
high authority."
" One of the pleasures which I promised myself," said Mr.
Clay, in his speech at Nashville, 1840, " in making this visit to

AND OTHER BRILLIANT QUALITIES. 113
your beautiful town, was to meet my honorable friend, Felix
Grundy, and talk over matters with him. But, on my inquiry for
him, I learned that he was in East Tennessee, making speeches in
favor of the present administration. Ah ! said I, at his old occu
pation, defending criminals ! But there is this difference between
my distinguished friend's present and past defence of criminals :
He is now defending state criminals, not before a carefully packed
jury, but before a free, enlightened, virtuous, and patriotic peo
ple ; and, therefore, we may well hope, that his present efforts
will not be attended with his hitherto usual success."
When Mr. Clay spoke, at Nashville, of General Harrison, as
a soldier, and of his battles, some one from the crowd, cried out,
" Tell us of Van Buren's battles !"—" Ah !" said Mr. Clay, "I
shall have to use my colleague's language [Mr. Crittenden's], and
tell you of Mr. Van Buren's three great battles ! He [Mr. Crit
tenden] says, that he fought General Commerce, and conquered
him; that he fought General Currency, and conquered him; and
that, with his Cuba allies [the bloodhounds], he fought the Semi-
noles, and got conquered!"
" The complaint is, tha* they [the public lands] are not sold
fast enough, in other words, that people do not multiply rapidly
enough to buy them. Patience, gentlemen of the land commit
tee, patience ! If you will only acquiesce in the certain and quiet
operation of the laws of God and man, the wilderness will quickly
teem with people, and be filled with the monuments of civilization."
Mr. Lincoln, of Maine, in support of a pension-bill before the
house of representatives, broke out in a rhapsodical apostrophe —
indicative certainly of good feeling — and said : " Soldiers of the
revolution! live for ever!" Mr. Clay, not less zealous in so
good a cause, could not, however, resist the temptation to say :
" I hope my worthy friend will consent to a compromise of 'for
ever,' to nine hundred and ninety-nine years."
" If, as I think, fatally for the public interest, the bill [tariff of
1820] shall be defeated, what will be the character of the account
which we shall have to render to our constituents upon our return
among them ? We shall be asked, 'what have you done to reme
dy the disorders of the public currency V 'Why, Mr. Secretary
of the Treasury made us a long report on that matter, containing
much valuable information, and some very good reasoning, but,
upon the whole, we found that subject rather above our compre
hension, and we concluded that it was wisest to let it regulate
itself.' 'What have you done to supply the deficit in the treasury?'
Vol. I.—8

114
'We thought that, although you are all endeavoring to get out of
the banks, it was a very good time for us to go into them, and we
have authorized a loan.' ' You have done something then, certain
ly, on the subject of retrenchment. Here, at home, we are prac
tising the greatest economy, and our daughters, no longer able to
wear calico gowns, are obliged to put on homespun.' 'Why, we
have saved, by the indefatigable exertions of a member from Ten
nessee (General Cocke), fifty thousand dollars, which were wanted
for the Yellow Stone expedition. No, not quite so much ; for
thirty thousand dollars of that sum were still wanted, although we
stopped the expedition at the Council Bluffs. And we have
saved another sum, which we hope will give you great satisfac
tion. After nearly two days' debate, and a division between the
two houses, we struck off two hundred dollars from the salary of
the clerk of the attorney-general.' ' What have you done to pro
tect home industry from the effects of the contracted policy of
foreign powers?' 'We thought it best, after much deliberation, to
leave things alone at home, and to continue our encouragement
to foreign industry.' 'Well, surely you have passed some law to
reanimate and revive the hopes of the numerous bankrupts that
have been made by the extraordinary circumstances of the world,
and the ruinous tendency of our policy?' 'No ; the senate could
not agree on that subject, and the bankiupt-bill failed.' "
In 1834, when the dominant party were in great perplexity
Mr. Clay, in the senate, incidentally remarked, that " he verily-
believed they do not know what to do. They are afraid to stay
and afraid to return [adjourn] ; afraid of Jackson, if they remain
and of their constituents if they go home. Already," he said
" the whole party was crumbling away ; sinking, like the hanks
of the Mississippi undermined by the torrent, whole acres at a
time. Why," said Mr. Clay, " I am told that the whole regen
cy of New York, taking the alarm, has fled from Albany, and
sought refuge in this city. Whether they would or would not be
remanded by Governor Marcy, under the laws in such cases made
and provided, he could not say ; but, if they remained, he hoped
they would be allowed the benefit of all the rites of hospitality
due to such distinguished strangers. For himself, he condoled
with the gentlemen, in this the trying time of their misfortunes,
and trusted that they would be able to bear them with manly for
titude and Christian resignation." The editors of the National
Intelligencer remark upon this : *'If any one who heard this part
of Mr. Clay's speech, were able to look grave upon it, thank
Heaven, it was not we."

AND OTHER BRILLIANT QUALITIES. 115
Mr. Clay describes the expunging resolution thus : —
" It runs, whereas, and whereas, and whereas, and whereas, and
so forth, into a formidable array of nine several whereases. One
who should have the courage to begin to read them, unaware of
what was to be their termination, would think, that, at the end of
such a tremendous display, he must find the very d — 1. It is
like a kite, or a comet, except that the order of nature is inverted,
and the tail, instead of being behind, is before the body, to which
it is appended."
Notwithstanding Mr. Clay has been accused of a political
bargain, he could never have much patience with that kind of
traffic in others. The following is an extract from his speech of
September 25, 1S37, on the subtreasury-bill, and has respect to
George M. Dallas, who was elected vice-president in 1844 : —
" The memorial of the late bank of the United States, praying
for a recharter, was placed in his hands, and he presented it to
the senate. He carried the recharter through the senate. The
veto came ; and in two or three weeks afterward, we behold the
same senator at the head of an assembly of the people, in the
statehouse-yard, in Philadelphia, applauding the veto, and con
demning the bank — condemning his own act ! Motives lie beyond
the reach of the human eye, and it does not belong to me to say,
what they were, which prompted this self-castigation, and this
praise of the destruction of his owd work ; but it is impossible to
overlook the fact, that this same senator, in due time, received
from the author of the veto, the gift of a splendid foreign mission !"
— to the court of St. Petersburg.
Mr. Van Buren said, in his first annual message, that the bank-
question had been "twice and unequivocally" decided by the peo
ple, referring to the presidential elections of 1832 and 1836.
Mr. Clay said : —
" It is somewhat ungrateful to the people of the United States,
to suppose, that the particular opinion of Mr. Van Buren, in re
gard to a United States bank, constituted any, much less the chief
recommendation of him to their suffrages. It would be more
honorable to him and to them, to suppose, that it proceeded from
his eminent abilities, and his distinguished services, at home and
abroad ! If we are to look beyond them, and beyond him, many
believe, that the most influential cause of his election, was the en
dorsement of that illustrious predecessor, in whose footsteps he
stood pledged to folldw."
On another occasion, Mr. Clay, in the preliminaries »f a
speech, incidental thereunto, remarked :•—

116 mr. clay's wit
" I will now content myself with saying, that, on the fourth
day of March, 1829, Andrew Jackson — not by the blessing of
God — was made president of these United States." Again :
"Mr. Van Buren announces [in accepting his nomination of
1835], that he was the honored instrument, selected by the
friends of the present administration, to carry out its principles
and policy. 'Honored instrument!'" said Mr. Clay. "That
word, according to the most approved definition, means tool.
He was, then, the honored tool !"
" He [Mr. Van Buren] is too good a democrat, and the whole
tenor of his life shows, that, whatever other divorces he may
recommend, the last that he would desire, would be one between
him and the people."
Mr. Clay, speaking of the convenience of a national paper me
dium, said, "he did not doubt, that his honorable friend [Mr.
Grundy, who had denounced paper money] furnished himself with
United States bank-notes, to travel from Nashville to Washington."
" No, sir," said Mr. Grundy, "I always travel on spicie." — "Ah!"
replied Mr. Clay, "my old friend is always spicie-ous" — a quality
for which, in fact, he was very notorious. This being known, and
the peculiar and ludicrous significancy, which Mr. Clay gave to
the utterance of the word, by his manner and tone, excited no little
merriment. " Who, Mr. President," said Mr. Clay, " are the most conspic
uous of those who perseveringly pressed this bill [the sub-treasury
bill] upon Congress and the American people? Its drawer is the
distinguished gentleman in the White-House, not far off. Its en
dorser is the distinguished senator from South Carolina, here
present. What the drawer thinks of the endorser, his cautious
reserve and stifled enmity prevent us from knowing. But the
frankness of the endorser has not left us in the same ignorance of
his opinion of the drawer. He has often expressed it, upon the
floor of the senate. On an occasion, not very distant, denying to
him any of the nobler qualities of the royal beast of the forest, he
attributed to him those, which belong to the most crafty, most
skulking, and one of the meanest, of the quadruped tribe." It
was Mr. Calhoun, who fixed on Mr. Van Buren, on the occasion
here alluded to, the name of " the fox."
In recognition ofthe former amity and good fellowship between
himself and Mr. Calhoun, Mr. Clay says :— -
" We united, if, indeed, there were any alliance in the case, to
restrain the enormous expansion of executive power ; to arrest the
progress of corruption ; to rebuke usurpation ; to drive the Goths

AND OTHER BRILLIANT QUALITIES. 117
and Vandals from the capitol ; to expel Brennus and his horde
from Rome, who, when he threw his sword into the scale, to aug
ment the ransom demanded from the mistress of the world, showed
his preference for gold — that he was a hard-money chieftain. It
was by the much more valuable metal of iron, that he was driven
from her gates."
Again, speaking of the disruption : —
" The arduous contest in which we were so long engaged, was
about to terminate in a glorious victory. At this critical juncture,
the senator left us. He left us for the very purpose of preventing
the success of the common cause. He took up his musket, knap
sack, and shotpouch, and joined the other party. He went, horse,
foot, and dragoon, and he himself composed the whole corps. He
went, as his present most distinguished ally commenced with his
expunging resolution, ' solitary and alone.' "
Again, referring to the speech of Mr. Calhoun on the sub-
treasury : —
" It was plausible, ingenious, abstract, metaphysical, and general
izing. It did not appear to me to be adapted to the bosoms and
business of men. It was aerial, and not very high up in the air, Mr.
President, either — not quite as high up as Mr. Clayton was in his
last ascension, in his balloon."
There was a good deal of warmth between Mr. Clay and Mr.
Calhoun in 1840, while the land bill of the latter was under debate.
Mr. Calhoun alluded to the election of Mr. Adams to the presi
dency, in 1825, as if it were a just reproach to Mr. Clay. Mr.
Clay defied him ! Mr. Calhoun also spoke of Mr. Clay's having
been put " flat on his back" by the compromise act. " The sen
ator says, I was flat on my back, and that he was my master. Sir,
I would not own him as my slave !" In regard to the compro
mise act, Mr. Clay said : " I saw the condition of the senator from
South Carolina, and his friends." General Jackson had resolved
to hang them ; and the Hon. John M. Clayton, then senator from
Delaware, said to Mr. Clay : " These are fine fellows. It won't
do to let Old Jackson hang them." And they got up the com
promise act. In this view, the sentiment contained in the words
of Mr. Clay, " I saw the condition of the senator from South Car
olina," was too big for utterance ! It was heaping coals of fire
upon his head ! And it is well known, that Mr. Calhoun, as the
leader of nullification, was the chief object of General Jackson s
wrath. It was, therefore, supremely delicate in Mr. Clay, first, not

118 mr. clay's wit
to say all ; and next, to add, " and his friends," as if the obliga
tions of Mr. Calhoun, for that magnanimous interposition, were
lessened, by his being only one of a class, who were rescued from
the vengeance of General Jackson.
One of the prominent issues of the presidential election of 1840,
which resulted in a signal overthrow of the Jackson- Van-Buren
dynasty, was the subtreasury, or, as its authors and advocates styled
it, the independent treasury. It was generally allowed, that the
popular opinion pronounced on this scheme, was decisively dam
natory. Mr. Clay moved its repeal in the senate, before the de
feated party had retired, and was somewhat playful and severe in
his remarks.. After the result of the presidential election was
known, Senator Hubbard, of New Hampshire, of the Van Buren
party, had been rather ignobly thrust aside by the legislature of his
state, to give place to Levi Woodbury, secretary of the treasury
under Mr. Van Buren. Mr. Clay inquired into the practical op
eration of the subtreasury, and in his remarks on this point, could
not resist appealing to Mr. Hubbard, whose lease as senator was to
expire in a few weeks : —
" I am far from the receivers-general, and I wish I was much
farther ; but what is its operation ? Perhaps the honorable sena
tor from New Hampshire [Mr. Hubbard] can tell, who, on all occa
sions, has stood forth the ready protector and advocate of the sec
retary ofthe treasury [Mr. Woodbury], though I must say, it was
a most ungrateful return, for the secretary of the treasury to
beat him in the late senatorial election."
" While I am up," said Mr. Clay, "I will notice a few remarks of
the senator from New York [Mr. Wright]. He says this is a very
convenient party now coming into power, because it is without
avowed principles — a coonskin, log-cabin party. What sort of a
party must they be, who have been driven out of power by a party
whose residence is a log-cabin, and whose covering is coonskins ?
Sir, there must be something about it, or die defeated party would
have never met so hard a fate from a party which they hold so
much in contempt, and which is so contemptible, if the senator is
correct. . . . Sir, I hope he will relieve me of the necessity of
looking into that New Jersey affair, and of discovering the manner
in which that gallant state was stripped of her sacred rights, and
her authority trampled under foot, in a manner degrading to a de
liberative assembly, and disgraceful to the age in which we live."
Senator Allen, of Ohio, had voted for Mr. Calhoun's land bill,
which would nearly annihilate the vast interest of his state in the

AND OTHER BRILLIANT QUALITIES. 119
public domain ; and when hardly pressed by Mr. Clay, rose and
said : " He voted on the ground of substituting that in preference
to the plan of distribution among all the states." Of course he did.
The manner in which Mr. Clay brought out the following reply,
was worth witnessing : —
" Oh ! ho ! — ah ! Is that the ground of the senator's vote ?" —
Mr. Allen rose again, to say, " It was well known on his side of
the house, that he chose between two evils." — " Well," said Mr.
Clay, " all I will say is, that side of the house kept the secret re
markably well, and no one better than the senator himself. ....
If the vote of the other sixteen senators was also misunderstood, in
the same way as the senator's from Ohio, I shall be glad of it."
. . . . " There is an old adage," said Mr. Clay, " according to
which, charity should begin at home ; but, according to the doc
trines of the opponents of distribution, it neither begins nor ends at
home." Mr. Wright, of New York, attempted to show, that the distri
bution doctrine of Mr. Clay and his friends, was identical with
the right of reversion, and consequently was for the sole benefit of
the ceding states. Mr. Clay replied : —
" Neither the senator from Massachusetts, nor I, attempted to
erect any such windmill, as the senator from New York has im
agined ; and he might have spared himself the heavy blows, which,
like another famed hero, not less valorous than himself, he dealt
upon it." . . . . " These gentlemen will not consent to lay a tax
on the luxuries of the affluent, and by their votes, insist upon leav
ing the states under the necessity of imposing direct taxes on the
farmer, the laboring man, the poor, and all the while set up to be the
exclusive friends ofthe poor! Really, sir, the best friends appear
to be the worst enemies of the poor, and their greatest enemies
their best friends."
Mr. Clay continued : —
" Corruption, it seems, is to be the order of the day. If I did
not misunderstand the senator from South Carolina, he apprized us
of the precise sum — one million of dollars — which was adequate to
the corruption of his own state. He knows best about that ; but
I should be* sorry to think, that fifty millions of dollars would cor
rupt my state. What may be the condition of South Carolina at
this time, I know not ; there is so much fog enveloping the dom
inant party, that it is difficult to determine her present latitude and
longitude. What she was in her better days-^— the days' df^her
Rutledges, Pinckneys, Sumpters, Lowndses, Cheveses^— We all
know, and I will not inflict pain on the senator by dwelling on it.

120 MR. clay's wit
It is not for me to vindicate her from a charge so degrading and
humiliating. She has another senator here [Mr. Preston], far more
able and eloquent than I am, to defend her. Certainly I do not
believe, and should be most unwilling to think, that the senator has
made a correct' estimate.
" I will not detain the senate in dwelling long upon the idle and
ridiculous story about the correspondence between the London
bankers and some Missouri bankers  And what did it all
amount to ? These British bankers are really strange fellows.
They are foolish enough to look to the safety of their money ad
vanced to foreigners ! If they see a man going to ruin, they will
not lend him ; and if they see a nation pursuing the same road,
they are so unreasonable as to decline vesting their funds in its
bonds! Very strange! They have seen — all the world is too familiar
with — those embarrassments and distresses brought upon the people
of the United States, by the measures of Mr. Van Buren and his
illustrious predecessor. They conclude, if he be re-elected, there
will be no change of those measures, and no better times in the
United States. On the contrary, if General Harrison be elected,
they argue that a sound currency may be restored, confidence re
turn, and business once more be active and prosperous. They,
therefore, tell their Missouri banking correspondents, that Ameri
can bonds and stocks will continue to depreciate, if Mr. Van Bu
ren be re-elected ; but that, if his competitor should succeed, they
will rise in value, and sell more readily in the market. And these
opinions and speculations of English bankers, carefully concealed
from the vulgar gaze of the people, and locked up in the vaults of
a locofoco bank (what wonders they may have wrought there, have
not been disclosed), are dragged out and paraded, as full proof of
the corrupt exercise of a foreign influence, in the election of Gen
eral Harrison, as president of the United States ! Why, sir, the
amount of the whole of it is, that the gentlemen, calling themselves,
most erroneously, the democratic party, have administered the gov
ernment so badly, that they have lost all credit and confidence, at
home and abroad ; and because the people of the United States
have refused to trust them any longer, and foreign bankers will not
trust them either, they utter a whining cry, that their recent defeat has
been the work of foreign influence ! Democratic party ! They
'have not the slightest pretension to this denomination. Thank
God, true democracy, and true democrats, have not been run
down." (
In reference to General Jackson's revival of the charge of " bar
gain," in 1827, Mr. Clay said : " While he [Gen. Jackson] has
made 'no protest against any benefit that may accrue to himself,
from the dissemination of such a charge against me, he is extremely
desirous not to be considered as my public accuser. He has indeed

AND OTHER BRILLIANT QUALITIES. 121
not appeared before a grand jury to support a bill of indictment
against me. Neither did he arraign me, when, acting under the"
oath of a senator of the United States, he passed upon my nomi
nation," or let it pass. — " The public — as I certainly had — prior
to the last summer, supposed, that the charge had originated with
Mr. George Kremer's letter to the Columbian Observer. But
recent disclosures of General Jackson and his partisans, satisfacto
rily establish, that, although the sternness of Mr. Kremer's patriot
ism prompted him 'to cry aloud and spare not,' he must be
stripped of the borrowed merit of original invention, which impar
tial justice requires should now be transferred to a more distin
guished personage."
In his speech of July 12, 1832, on President Jackson's veto
of the bank bill, speaking of a charge on him and his friends, of
" a premature agitation, for electioneering purposes," Mr. Clay
says : " The other side understands perfectly, the policy of prefer
ring an unjust charge, in order to avoid a well-founded accusation."
In reply to Mr. Calhoun's notions of free trade, March 22, 1842,
in senate, Mr. Clay said : " Yet still he [Mr. Calhoun] clings to
his free-trade doctrine, though it has proved so ruinous to his own
state, and to southern interests, as well as to northern ; — to that
free trade, which has depressed the price of cotton to a point be
low what it has ever brought since the close of the last war. In
spite of all the teachings of experience, as well in his own, as in
all other nations, still he deafens us with the cry of 'free trade!'
Really, the case of the honorable gentleman is without any paral
lel, that I know or ever heard of, unless it be that, which we find
in the immortal work of Le Sage. Gil Bias was engaged in medi-r
cal practice with the far-famed Dr. Sangrado ; and after having
gone as far as his conscience and his feelings could at all endure,
he came at last, to the doctor, and said to him : ' Sir, your system
won't do. I have been bleeding and administering warm water
with unflinching resolution, and the consequence is — and I must tell
you frankly — all our patients — nobles, gentlemen, bourgeois, men,
women, and children — all, all are dying ! I propose to change
the system.' — 'What!' said the astonished Sangrado, 'change
our system ? change our system ? Why, sir, do you not know,
that I have written a book, and that I must preserve my consis
tency? Yes; and sooner than change my system, or write
another book to prove it false, let nobles, gentlemen, bourgeois,
men, women, and children, and all, go to — I will not say where.'
The honorable senator seems to act on the self same plan. In
stead of recommending hot water and bleeding, he recommends
free trade; and diough he sees, from year to year, that his pre
scriptions are killing all his patients, he spurns the idea of changing
his system, because he must preserve his consistency !"

122 mr. clay's wit
In the same speech of March 22, 1S42, Mr. Clay, in noticing
his opponents on the land distribution policy, said : " We are met
at every turn and corner, by these senators, with a demand for the
restoration 'of the proceeds of the public lands. They oppose loan
bills, duty bills, every scheme of finance, and would stop the
whole machinery of government, because a majority in the two
houses of Congress differ in opinion from them, as to the disposal
ofthe proceeds ofthe public lands. They cry aloud, in the high
est tones of plaintive and imploring eloquence : ' Give us back the
lands !' Really, Mr. President, their condition recalls to recollec
tion the degraded case of the dishonored widow, who held a title
to a certain description of copyhold estate in England, and had
forfeited her right by misconduct. To obtain the restoration of
her lands, she had to appear in open court, mounted on a black
ram, and to present an humble petition, couched in terms which I
will not exactly recite, lest they should offend the delicate sensi
bility of grave senators ; but of which the following is a slight para
phrase, and gentle expurgation, kindly furnished by a friend near
me : — " ' Here I am,
Riding on a black ram,
Weak woman that I am ;
And, in spite of worldly shame,
I have played this wicked game —
So, pray, Mr. Stewart,
Let me have my land again !'
" Now, sir, although I should not wish to see such elegant cava
liers, as the two senators from New York and New Hampshire
[Mr. Wright and Mr. Woodbury], appearing at the door of the
senate-chamber, so ill and so ungracefully mounted, as they would
be upon such an animal, may I not insist, before we let them have
their land again," &c.
The following laconic epistles are not less instructive than hu
morous : —
"New York, Dec. — , 1845.
"Dear Sir: Deprived, as we are doomed to be, ofthe pleas
ure of having yourself at our head for a few ensuing years, will you
allow us the minor pleasure of having ourself at yours, for a brief
period, by accepting this hat? and may it afford to you, sir, what
you have so zealously labored to secure to us — protection.
" Your obedient servant,
" Orlando ,Fish.
" Hon. Henry Clay." (reply.)
" Ashland, Jan. 29, 1845.
" My Dear Sir: I offer many and cordial thanks for the hat
which you have kindly presented to me, and for the note which

AND OTHER BRILLIANT QUALITIES. 123
accompanied it. The hat might have 'protected' a better and,
wiser head than mine, but no head was ever covered by a better
or more elegant hat. " Your friend and obedient servant,
" H. Clay.
" Orlando Fish, New York."
"In the name of wonder, what have we here?" exclaimed Mr.
Clay one day, during the extra session of 1841, as he was walking
with a friend near the White-House, and observed a troop of oppo
sition members of Congress marching to call on Mr? Tyler, and,
as afterward appeared, to congratulate that notorious worthy for
his veto on the bank. Mr. Clay looked volumes of mischief at
the spectacle.
On the 2d of September, Mr. Buchanan said in the senate :
" The president had shown himself a man of mettle." Mr. Clay
replied : —
" The senator, who belongs to a party, boastingly demo
cratic, is found defending prerogatives — regal prerogatives. He
would sustain the executive even in a whole shower of vetoes,
when he and his friends, if consistent, should be in opposition to
this monstrous principle of power. He [Mr. Buchanan] would
go over to the president, and invite the president to come over to
him and his party. Sir, the president is insulted. He is too
honorable a man to indulge in such perfidy. Such treachery
Would be inconceivable. The soil of Virginia never had given,
and never would give birth to treason. I believe in the purity of
blood ; and the father of John Tyler was one of the noblest and
most patriotic men of the ancient commonwealth of Virginia. It
is impossible that the son should be guilty of such treason. The
human mind could not conceive of greater turpitude.
" Rumor had said, that a party of the opposition had visited the
president's house, the night after the veto. He [Mr. Clay] did
not know as to the fact. But he would suppose a case. There,
he would imagine, among those gathered for the great congratula
tion, was the senator from South Carolina [Mr. Calhoun], looking
as if he were deducting the nicest abstraction that had ever issued
from his metaphysical brain. There, he presumed, was the sena
tor from Alabama [Mr. King], ready to settle, in the most positive
manner, any question of order that might arise. He supposed
many others were present. There, too, was the senator from
Pennsylvania [Mr. Buchanan], as their distinguished leader, ad
dressing the president in something like the following manner : —
" ' May it please your excellency : my political friends and my
self have come this afternoon, to deposite at your excellency's
feet, the evidences of our loyalty and devotion. We have come

124 MR. clay's wit.
more particularly to express to your excellency the congratulations
to which we think you are entitled, for having relieved the coun
try from the danger of a violation of its constitution, by the estab
lishment of a bank of the United States ; and we owe to your
excellency our special acknowledgments for the veto with which
you have favored the country to-day ; and for special reasons, we
struggled against your excellency's friends in both houses of Con
gress, for days and weeks together ; we exhausted all our powers
of logic and argument to defeat the alarming measure ; but, in
spite of that, the friends of your excellency, in both houses, proved
too strong for us, and carried it against our united exertions ; and
we come now to thank your excellency, that you have done that
against your friends, which we could not accomplish with all our
exertions.' "
Mr. Benton came in for his share, and while Mr. Clay was de
scribing his hypothetical part with graphic power, he rose, and denied
with great vehemence that he was there. " It is only a supposition,"
said Mr. Clay. Mr. Calhoun, too, denied. Mr. King colored, and
Mr. Buchanan betrayed much feeling, when he rose to rejoin. Mr.
Clay desired him to consider, that it was only an hypothesis. Mr.
Buehanan would not consent to be interrupted. " Go on, go
on, then," said Mr. Clay. It was reported that Mr. Buchanan
afterward complained, that he could not- convince his constituents,
that he did not make that speech to his " excellency."
Mr. Clay came up the Ohio, August, 1845, in the steamer Senate.
" I had hoped," said Mr. Clay, as he went on board, "that I had
done with public life. But I see I must go into the Senate again."
It will have been seen, that some graver thoughts have been
necessarily mixed up with these more sprightly demonstrations of
Mr. Clay's intellectual and moral powers. The selections might
have been greatly extended ; but these examples of brilliant, and
sometimes dazzling emanations of thought and feeling, not confined
to lighter matters, but often entering into the most solemn debate,
may suffice to show the versatility and prolific character of these
lofty and shining qualities, as developed in Mr. Clay's social inter
course and public hfe. If the- use of these weapons has occasion
ally offended, and sometimes made enemies, it has nevertheless
been greatly effective for the chastisement of vice, and for the
rebuke of political degeneracy. Happy the nation, which has
a pure and overawing spirit, whom the people can and must ob
serve, standing up in the midst of them, to see and urge the right,
to point out and denounce the wrong.

MR. CLAY AS A POLITICIAN. 125

CHAPTER VII.
Mr. Clay as a Politician — Statesman — and Diplomatist. — His Congressional Career.
There is a manifest distinction between a politician and states
man, though one character may often be blended with the other.
The term, politics, has a very wide and comprehensive scope.
At one time, it means party politics, or the arts, devices, and means
of promoting the interests of one party, in opposition to another,
or all others — one branch of which is a public or national policy,
advocated by one party against another. In this sense, he is a pol
itician, who applies himself to support and advance his own party.
In another application, the term indicates a national policy in rela
tion to the policies of other nations. This department blends
itself with the appropriate functions of a statesman. So also may^
a domestic policy. But the more common understanding of the
character of a politician, is that of a man who devotes himself to
party politics. In this view, a man may at the same time be a very
good politician, and a very bad statesman, and vice versa. He
may be an honest or a dishonest pohtician. He may be a politi
cian just so far as the duties of a pure and patriotic statesman go ;
or only as an unprincipled demagogue, all whose aims are selfish
and base. In short, politics are not, in themselves, inconsistent
with the the character of the best and purest men ; and inasmuch
as the most important, the most sacred, and the dearest interests
of society, are in the hands of politics, the only pity is, that the
best men are not the only politicians. Politics might be, and
ought to be, a high and sacred vocation. No country can be well
governed, where it is not so regarded, and where public opinion
does not make it so. No man's virtue, patriotism, or religion, can
be better, or more worthily employed, than in politics. There is
no necessity that politics should vitiate him ; but it is his duty to
purify politics.
If honest politicians are rare, it will be found that Mr. Clay has
a strong claim to rank in that class, if, indeed, he has any claim at

126 MR. CLAY AS A POLITICIAN.
all to the character of a politician. Of this last, without deroga
tion, there is good reason for saying, that he never was a politician
for himself. The history, exemplifications, and evidences of his
patriotism, presented in another chapter of this work, will evince,
that Mr. Clay has ever been as simple as a child, as to any anxiety
or devices for his own advancement; that, for the promotion and
' security of his great patriotic objects, he has many times prejudiced,
not unfrequently sacrificed, his chances of political promotion and
of personal aggrandizement; and that his zeal for the public good,
has been the greatest injury to himself. Who can doubt, that if
ambition for precedence of all others, in political preferment, had
been his passion, he could at almost any time for the twenty years
previous to 1844, and even in that year, have arrived at the goal?
It was for like reasons inconsistent with Mr. Clay's general
character, that he should be a consummate politician for his party,
in the practical tactics of its machinery — more especially in con
sideration of the character of his political opponents. He could
never — God be thanked — he could never depart from his rules of
uprightness and honor — and his opponents knew it. During his
whole political career, he has trusted to the intelligence and virtue
of the people, and from that rule he has never deviated. Under
the overwhelming persecutions he suffered from the great conspir
acy formed against him in 1824-'5, during the pendency of the
presidential election, by the house of representatives, which con
tinued for years, and have never altogether ceased, he still trusted
in the intelligence and virtue of the people; and in the hottest of
that conflict, in 1827, while on his way home from Washington to
Kentucky, with a copy of General Jackson's letter of the 6th of
June of that year, to Carter Beverley, in his pocket, just obtained
at Wheeling, he said in a note to a committee of his fellowlcit-
izehs of Maysville, who had invited him to a public dinner, re
spectfully declining it, " Although my enemies are resolved to
spare no exertion to destroy my public character, I will triumph
over all their machinations, because truth is triumphant, and public
justice is certain."
A few days after this, July 4th, in a letter of reply to a com
mittee from Madison county, Kentucky, who had also invited him
to a public dinner, and in their communication spoken in high
commendation of his views of public policy, as comprehended in
the American system, Mr. Clay said: —
"All who are opposed to the American system — all who are

MR. CLAY AS A STATESMAN. 127
opposed to internal improvements, are now united with others in
their endeavors to defeat the re-election of the present chief magis
trate [Mr. Adams], and to elevate another individual [Gen. Jack
son]. Should they succeed, there can not be a doubt, that the
most powerful element of this association would afterward prevail
in the conduct of public affairs. Against such inauspicious re
sults, the best security is the intelligence, candor, and virtue of the
people. A reliance upon this security has been the great maxim of
my public life. I have never heretofore been deceived by it. And
I am extremely glad to be authorized to assure you, that daily de
velopments of public sentiment justify the confident anticipation,
that the truth of the maxim will be again confirmed."
The result in that instance, and for the great controversy then
pending, as is well known, was a disappointment. But still Mr.
Clay has never abandoned his "maxim." The test of it may be
long protracted; Mr. Clay may even sink down into his grave,
before its truth, in regard to himself, will be fully realized ; never
theless, it is a good and a sound one. He who has reposed so
much confidence in the people, will not in the end — certainly not
in history and with posterity — lose his reward.
No good man, no American citizen, could desire, that Mr. Clay
should have been less honest, less generous, less confiding, less
magnanimous, if that were necessary to have made him a better politi
cian. That he has been able to see and tell the truth, and that, on
fit occasions, he has always been frank enough to do so, will be
unfading honor to his name, and though he may have suffered, his
country will reap the benefit. But Mr. Clay has not been a bad
politician ; and the reason why will be found in the fact, that the
public, the world, friends and foes, have believed he was an honest
one. That honesty is the best policy, has been most strikingly
illustrated in his public life. He may have made mistakes, as a
politician. Who has not? But a general conviction of his up
rightness, has done more for him, than he has lost by errors.
Even his alleged, mistakes have this relief, that, they are open to
question as facts of this description. He who is so generally right,
lends a sanction even to his defects.
But it is as a statesman, that Mr. Clay has been preeminent.
In another chapter his shining pathway as the parent, advocate,
and guardian of the American system, has been so far delineated,
as to supersede an extended notice of it here. That prolific ge
nius which begat such a progeny, that skill which fashioned its

128 MR. CLAY AS A STATESMAN.
various tranches and adjusted their relations, that science which
comprehended their nature and functions, that power of develop
ment and adaptation which the process evinced, that knowledge
of other nations as well as of this that was demonstrated, that dis
cernment of the new and peculiar position of the American peo
ple and their various interests indicated by the plan, that compre
hensive survey of the physical capabilities of this western world
which must have been taken, that thorough analysis made of the va
rious systems of political economy which had been propounded to the
world or reduced to practice, that practical view which every as
pect of this system manifests in relation to the moral, social, polit
ical, and physical peculiarities of the United States, and the per
fect construction of the whole as wanting nothing and requiring no
emendation, more resembles the work of a power superior to man,
than of man himself. The system is a fact, which all can see.
And who will say, that this is an extravagant picture? Nor will
any pretend, that the system is not an invention, or deny its au
thorship. It was not, indeed, a creation of the elements of which
it is composed ; but it was putting them in order.
The purchase of American, independence, was no blessing, but
would have proved a positive disadvantage, without this. Without
this, it was no independence at all, but an aggravated bondage.
The confederation was but a rope of sand, and contained in itself
the elements of certain dissolution. It was on the eve of dissolu
tion, when the federal constitution was framed, and that instrument
was made expressly to introduce and establish the American sys
tem, or that part of it which constituted its nucleus. But where
was the genius to find and bring out the several parts of that sys
tem, to fashion them, and to establish their relations ? And where
the eloquence adequate to commend them to the approbation of
the public mind, and to the sanction of the public authorities ? It
was the work of an age to do it. Providence sent Washington to
clear the field of tyrants, and Henry Clay to fill the treasury of the
temple of freedom.
But this is only one point of view — a very strong one certainly
— in which the sagacityand superior tact of Mr. Clay, as a states
man, appear. He seems to have been providentially endowed,
inspired for the high, important, and influential functions of a
statesman. The hunting up and putting together of the parts of
the American system, and the work of making it perfect, so that it
should have no defect, and require no addition, as to its elements,

I
MR. CLAY AS A STATESMAN. 129
was a- mission of unsurpassed beneficence to that portion of the
human family, for whose benefit it was devised. The moment that
Mr. Clay appeared upon the public stage, he began to unfold this
scheme, as if he were commissioned from above for that especial
errand. He opened it in the legislature of Kentucky, before he
took his seat in the national councils; it was the first demonstra
tion he made in the latter field ; and* it was his great theme for
half a century of public life, from the time when he first proposed
to the legislators of his adopted state to clothe themselves from
head to foot, in domestic fabrics and productions, till he bade fare
well to the senate of the United States the 31st of March, 1842.
It need not here be said, that he was opposed at the outset, and
through his whole career; that storms blew upon his face, and
tornadoes swept past him, and earthquakes rocked the land, while
he stood up, and marched onward, fighting his way to the goal of
his ambition, the establishment of Ins system of public policy. It
was in these conflicts, and in the gradual success that attended his
efforts, that his powers and superiority, as a statesman, were
evinced. It is not alone what he achieved, but what he had to
oppose, that claims to be considered, in the estimate of his powers.
One of the greatest feats of his life, as a statesman, in the man
agement of the domestic policy of the country, was in an ap
parent defeat. He was victor in the event of being beaten. The
compromise tariff of 1833 was an imagined triumph of his oppo
nents. They had the whole subject under their control, and could
do what they pleased with it. BuLthe great principle of the pro
tective policy was rescued and shielded in the very act, which was
conceded and sanctioned as the signal of its detraction. It was an
opportune advantage taken of General Jackson's personal position
in relation to Mr. Calhoun, that saved it. But for this, the whole
of this part of the American' system would have been swept by the
board on that momentous occasion.
To travel backward in the order of time; — such order being not
very material in these brief glances at the more prominent features
of Mr. Clay's career as a statesman — the adjustment of the Mis
souri question, by his sole influence, in 1820, is a memorable
instance of his consummate address in bringing order out of con
fusion, in throwing oil upon a troubled sea, appeasing the passions
of an agitated people, and reducing to lasting repose a republic on
the eve of dissolution, by determining a question, which, under
Vol. I.— 9

f
130 MR. CLAY AS A STATESMAN.
prudenf management, could never again be the occasion of dis
turbance. Still going back, who that is acquainted with the history of the
country, can be ignorant of the part enacted by Mr. Clay, in the
war of 1812 ? He was then comparatively a youthful statesman.
But if he had a young man's feelings, it can hardly be denied,
that he had ripe views. They were at least a match for opponents,
domestic or foreign. The facility with which he addressed himself
to every public exigency, the unerring certitude of his measures
for specific ends, the equal pace of his intellect and zeal, and the
apparent infallibility of his judgment, in dealing with friends and
foes, in malting* war and making peace, during such a crisis of
public affairs, while nations were the parties in strife, were no bad
certificates of those rare and high qualities, which constitute the
sternest proof of statesmanship.
It is not a purpose of this chapter to review in detail a long life
that has been chiefly devoted to affairs of state, in quiet and turbu
lent times, the history of which is almost as familiar to the children
of the land, as the lessons of their class-books. It is sufficient for
the present aim, so far to direct attention to this feature of Mr.
Clay's character, as simply to revive a common impression which
the country, the world has received of the extraordinary aptitude
and effectiveness of his talents as an American statesman of the
nineteenth century. It is in this capacity that the world has
ranked him among the prominent and leading men of the age, and
this is the mark by which he will be known in history. To have
originated, formed, propounded, and established a system of politi
cal economy for a young, but great nation ; to have watched over
and fostered that system, for nearly half a century, with the affec
tion of a parent, and the fidelity of a patriot ; to have fought for it
through evil report and good report, against foes abroad and foes
at home, putting it forward when he could, and saving it when in
jeopardy ; to have cheered the nation onward in prosperity, and
to have come to her rescue in adversity ; to have fought her battles
successfully in the public councils ; to have rebuked tyranny
abroad, and to have pacified alarming domestic strifes — never une
qual to any occasion of the nation's wants — these are qualities
which can not fail to be appreciated by those who observe them,
and which can not fail to be observed, as well by contemporaries,
as by future generations.

MR. CLAY AS A DIPLOMATIST. 131
The functions of a diplomatist are so nearly allied to those
of a statesman, that it might seem difficult to find the difference
between the two. They are properly but a department of a states
man's duty, in the management of foreign relations. But the
office puts in requisition talents of a peculiar, of the highest order.
The vast amount of duties of this class imposed on the British
government, requires a separate department of a secretary for
foreign affairs, and so of some other European governments.
Hitherto this function of the government of the United States has
been confided to the head of the state department, or secretary of
state. It is properly, however, a distinct office, and will probably
ere long require a separate department in the government of this
country, as in other great commercial nations. There is not a
more responsible position in the federal administration — none
having more delicate or more difficult relations in charge — none
on which such important and momentous consequences are always
pending. It is true, that the theory of the government of the
United States supposes, that the heads of the departments are
executive instruments, and makes the president responsible for the
discharge of their duties, and the secretary of state conducts his
foreign correspondence in the name of the president. Neverthe
less, it must be seen, that, in the practical operations of the execu
tive, the heads of the departments are generally, in fact heads.
The president is guided by them, not they by the president. If
the secretary of state is fit for the place, he is most fit to be the
real responsible agent of his department.
It can not but be seen, that the diplomatic department of the
federal government, in the management of foreign relations, always
holds in its hands the questions of peace and war— more even
than Congress. Though Congress alone has the constitutional
power to declare war, a secretary of state may breed war, and force
Congress into it. Congress has no control over the subject, except
to decide ultimately, whether the nation shall or shall not fight.
The foreign diplomacy of the government is virtually the leading
and controlling power ; and if the executive is disposed to war,
his secretary of state, in most controversies tiiat arise with foreign
powers, can easily manage them so as to force Congress into the
passive necessity of declaring it, and providing for it.
Not less potent and responsible' is the state department, in its
diplomacy with foreign powers, in regulating and controlling the
foreign commerce of the country. These vast interests, therefore,

132 MR. CLAY AS A DIPLOMATIST.
questions of war, and the foreign commerce of the whole people,
are very much in the hands, and at the disposal, of the secretary
of state. Though Congress may be jealous of the action of this
department, while they are sending for documents and calling for
information, these great and momentous questions may be so far
decided, that Congress can have no control, nor even a check.
There is yet a more important view of the powers of the state
department. It is not only capable of exercising an influence, as
above described, over pending questions, but it may lay out work
for the future, for good or for evil, the extent and importance of
which, to the great and vital interests of the country, can not be
estimated. While a sagacious and far-seeing statesman, at the
head of this department, uniting his diplomatic skill with his patri
otism, makes wealth, and peace, and prosperity, for the nation, for
generations to come, an incompetent man in this place, or a vicious
one, who has neither the ability, nor the heart, to do good — who
had rather breed war, than preserve peace — who has no just con
ception of the true interests of the country, or who is a mere em
piric in political economy — though the immediate effects of his
incompetency and viciousness may not be apparent, ages may pass
away, before remedies can be found for his mischief, or before that
mischief shall be fully developed.
As time advances, the evidences are accumulating on all sides,
that the administration of John Quincy Adams was one of the
most wise, patriotic, pacific, just, and wealth-producing, in the
history of the country; and no small part of that benefit may justly
be ascribed to the aid he received from his secretary of state. Mr.
Adams himself was a great statesman, bred in the school of states
men, and all his life exercised in the business of state, with recog
nised skill, and approved fidelity. The seven years immediately
preceding the administration of Mr. Adams, was a period of great
commercial embarrassment and distress ; and the seven years sub
sequent to his entrance on the duties of chief executive, was a pe
riod of great public and private prosperity.
Of course, the distress of the first of the abovenamed periods,
was chiefly owing to the want of protection, and the prosperity of
the second, to the fact of protection ; but it was the prevalence of
the counsels of Mr. Clay, and the beneficent administrative policy
of Mr. Adams, united, that brought the country into the latter con
dition, and so long kept it there. Mr. Clay and his friends sup
ported Mr. Adams for the presidency, because they believed he

MR. CLAY AS A DIPLOMATIST. 133
was friendly to this policy, which they knew was indispensable to
public prosperity. Mr. Adams as president, and Mr. Clay as sec
retary of state, occupied the positions, respectively, which enabled
them to carry out this policy at home and abroad, in domestic and
foreign commerce, and in. the management of foreign relations. It
might be difficult to say, which were more important, the home or
foreign functions of the state department, for the accomplishment
of these beneficent results. It is manifest, however, that the diplo
matic office of the secretary was indispensable, if not paramount ;
and the skill, energy, and efficiency, with which it was conducted,
during this administration, have no parallel in the history of the
government. The number of treaties negotiated by Mr. Clay at
the seat of government, in four years, exceeded the whole number
that had been concluded there since the adoption of the constitu
tion, or in thirty-five years — among which were new treaty arrange
ments with Denmark, Prussia, the Hanseatic republic, and Aus
tria ; original treaties with Colombia and Central America ; and a
settlement with Rrussia, for claims of American citizens. Impor
tant advances were made in diplomacy with the government of
Great Britain, for various political and commercial objects, while
Mr. Gallatin was minister there. The subject of commercial trea
ties was discussed with great ability, Mr. Clay advocating the prin
ciple as preferable to other modes of regulating international com
merce. The navigation of the St. Lawrence, and the northeastern
boundary, were topics of debate. The claims of American citizens
on Denmark for spoliations of commerce, were adjusted. The po
litical and commercial relations of the United States with the nu
merous European powers, with the South American states, with
the border republic of Mexico, and with other foreign parts, were
promptly taken in hand, so far as they required any new attentions,
and were managed with an adroitness, a vigor, a dignity, and a re
gard for American character and interests, which have usually
characterized the conduct of Mr. Clay in all other capacities of a
statesman. If in anything he has excelled, it has been in nothing
more than as a diplomatist. Not unknown to the world, his repu
tation gave him a commanding position ; and every foreign power,
in its diplomatic connexions and intercourse with Mr. Clay, felt,
that it was dealing with a man worthy of respect, who would no
more suffer indignity or wrong, on himself or his country, than he
would do it. No diplomatist ever knew better how to take up a
position, or how to maintain it, with opponents, than Mr. Clay.

134 MR. CLAY AS A DIPLOMATIST.
The reputation he acquired at the treaty of Ghent, in connexion
with his associates, which was his debut in this capacity, signalized
his diplomatic talents, not less in the eyes of Europe, than of his
own country. The British commissioners were routed in the field
by the American commissioners, and they felt the power of the
man, whom their own press in London was at that moment stig
matizing as "the furious orator, Clay," and as "the man who killed
Tecumseh, and cut several razor-strops out of his back after he
was dead!" Mr. Clay seems to have been born for triumph on
every stage, where intellect and high-toned feeling are put in requi
sition, where mind clashes with mind, where address encounters
address, knowledge vies with knowledge, and where intuitive per
ception of truth and right must needs have the mastery.
In the despatches of the American commissioners at Ghent, of
October 25, 1814, they speak discouragingly of the prospects of
peace. As, in fact, there were formidable obstacles interposed by
the British commissioners, in departing from the basis of negotia
tions proposed by Lord Castlereagh, in his letter ofthe 4th of No
vember, 1813, to the American secretary of state, and in setting
up unexpected pretensions and claims, altogether inadmissible, this
advice was proper and politic for its domestic influence in the Uni
ted States, that efforts for the prosecution of the war should not be
relaxed. Mr. Clay's private opinion, however, was more encour
aging, and he wrote a private, confidential note to Mr. Monroe,
secretary of state, to that effect, to be used at his discretion. This
is an evidence of Mr. Clay's sagacity. He was right. This pri
vate letter, no doubt, was of great service to the government, to
induce them to maintain their ground.
The reasons assigned by the American commissioners, in their
despatches of the above date, which were founded on facts, in the
then state of the negotiation, clearly put the faith of the British
government, pledged in Lord Castlereagh's note to Mr. Monroe,
on the defensive. The basis of negotiation, as proposed by his
lordship, was " upon principles of perfect reciprocity, not incon
sistent with the established maxims of public law, and the maritime
rights of the British empire." As " maritime rights" were the
chief cause of the war, it was, of course, the chief question in con
troversy, and it was open for negotiation, so far as the parties chose
to make it one ; but the new questions, about the Indian tribes,
boundaries, and the military condition of the border lines, in the
shape presented by the British commissioners, were in direct vio-

MR. CLAY AS A DIPLOMATIST. 135
lation of Lord Castlereagh's first two terms of the basis proposed
by himself, and not less inconsistent with the understanding entered
into at the first conference of the commissioners of the two govern
ments. But Mr. Clay saw, that the British commissioners had
taken untenable ground, from which they could easily be driven by
weapons drawn from the history of their own negotiations for cen
turies ; and hence his private note to Mr. Monroe.
The credit and final triumph of the American commissioners,
Messrs. Adams, Bayard, Clay, Russell, and Gallatin, in the joint
acts of this negotiation, are, of course, to be shared equally among'
them. Which of them may have been more influential and more
useful — as men acting in a collective capacity usually differ from
each other in their qualifications and fitness for specific duties —
may perhaps properly be a subject of private opinion, while it
would be invidious to give public expression to such comparisons.
It is sufficient to say, that the protracted diplomacy of this occa
sion, as the world has ever since acknowledged, was managed with
a truly American and patriotic spirit, and with consummate ability,
on the part of the American commissioners, and that Mr. Clay had
his share in it. He was taken from his position as speaker of the
house of representatives, where he had been a leader in the war,
and added to the commission after it was first appointed, in-,com-
pany with Mr. Russell, because it was judged, that he was equally
well fitted for the office of making peace.
It can not but be instructive, as well as amusing, to observe, in
the progress of this negotiation, that, at the very point where it
seemed to be drawing to a close without result, and in the very
note of the British commissioners in which they communicate their
ultimatum of a proposal to get over the great obstacle, to wit, the
inclusion of Indian tribes in the United States in the terms of paci
fication, they give up the point entirely, while — to preserve the
appearance of consistency and generosity — they put on the air of
conceding only a part of it. Of course the American commission
ers fell in with it, and the door was then opened for discussing the
other points.
It has been supposed by some, that the silence of the treaty of
Ghent, regarding the great question of maritime rights, for which
war was declared, was an abandonment of those rights on the part
of the United States, and that nothing was gained by the war. It
will be found, however, that the necessity of treating on that sub
ject was superseded by the general pacification of Europe, after the

136 MR. CLAY AS A DIPLOMATIST.
overthrow of Napoleon. Anticipating a possible change of this
nature, the instructions of the American government to their com
missioners, of the 15th of April, 1813, have in them the following
contingent clause: "It is possible that some difficulty may occur
in arranging this article [on maritime rights] respecting its duration.
To obviate this, the president is willing, that it be limited to the
present war in Europe. Resting as the United States do, on the
solid ground of right, it is not presumable that Great Britain, es
pecially after the advantage she may derive from the arrangement
proposed, would ever revive her pretensions. In forming any
stipulation. on this subject, you will be careful not to impair by it
the right of the United States, or to sanction the principle of the
British claim." The British commissioners, in their note of Oc
tober 21, 1814, say: "The undersigned conceive, that after the
pretensions asserted by the .government of the United States, a
more satisfactory proof of the conciliatory spirit of his majesty's
government, can not be given, than not requiring any stipulation on
these subjects, which, though most important in themselves, no
longer, in consequence of the maritime pacification of Europe,
produce the same practical' results." With this clearly implied
pledge from the British government, that no practical difficulties
were Jikely, thereafter to occur by their claims, and with the contin
gent instructions of the American government, above cited, it will
be seen, that the American commissioners were justified in waiving
the subject. No practical difficulties have since occurred in the
progress of thirty years.
In a short speech of Mr. Clay, at Vincennes (Ind.), June 6,
1817, he made the following remarks, touching this treaty: —
" The history of that negotiation [at Ghent] is short. Great
Britain having, in conjunction with her allies, overthrown the power
of Bonaparte, was freed from any European enemy. At liberty
to apply the immense force which she had accumulated, to the
prosecution of the American war, she sent her commissioners to
Ghent, vainly expecting to dictate the conditions of peace. The
terms which she proposed were rejected, and after much useless
consumption of time, others, in die outset substantially tendered
by the American commissioners, were ultimately agreed to, which
comprofnitted the honor of neither party. The rejection of her
extravagant propositions, was a duty so obvious, that it was im
possible for any one, partaking in the smallest degree of Amer
ican feelings, to pause in the discharge of it. No skill was requi
site in the management of such a negotiation ; and if its result was

MR. CLAY AS A DIPLOMATIST. 137
so widely different from what was indicated in its earlier stages, it
must be attributed to the knowledge which the enemy had acquired
of the American character and spirit, and to the conviction forced
upon him, that the people of this country were not prepared tamely
to assent to a violation of the integrity of their territory, nor to the
surrender of one single national right."
It was under Mr. Clay's administration of the state department,
that the famous and muclwlebated Panama congress of the South-
American republics, was convened, to which the United States
were invited to send representatives. At the time, it was regarded
as an event of importance. It was certainly calculated to excite
interest, as well in Europe, as in America. It was a fit occasion
to call forth sympathy in the people of the Unite.d States. Great
principles of freedom, and of international law, common in their
importance to North and South America, were involved in the
relative social and political position of the occidental world toward
the European. The holy league, or holy alliance, was then sup
posed to be concerting measures for the destruction of freedom
throughout the world. The forces of Spain had been driven from
the American continent; but the independence of her former pos
sessions in the south had not only not been recognised, but there
seemed a disposition in the European powers to encourage the,
efforts of Spain for a reconquest of her lost dependencies. It
was deemed of great political importance, that the colonial pos
sessions of Europe in America, should be maintained, and with
this doctrine was coupled the declaration of the right of European
powers to extend colonization in America, which must needs be
vindicated on the same platform with the right of maintaining old
possessions. Admitting these facts, which were extensively be
lieved, and not without foundation, it was impossible not to see,
that the United States were deeply concerned in this political atti
tude of Europe, in the holy alliance. It was the example of North
America, that had excited South America to rebellion, and where
was this train of revolution to end? All must be recovered, or
all lost, was the natural reasoning of European powers.
There is positive evidence, that this question was submitted to
the holy alliance, in the reply of Count Nesselrode to Mr. Mid-
dleton, found in the correspondence, expressed in the following
unambiguous form: "Whenever Spain has wished to discuss the
future condition of South America, she has addressed overtures to
all the allied powers of Europe." If that league was formed for

138 MR. CLAY AS A DIPLOMATIST.
any such purposes as have been ascribed to it — if it was not libel
led — the parties to it must have been very stupid in overlooking
this question. But Count Nesselrode has placed it beyond doubt.
Though the results of the congress of Panama, in respect to the
domestic condition of the South American republics, have not yet
proved so auspicious as could have been wished, it is impossible
not to observe, that the moral effect of the representation in that
body from the United States, may have been sufficient to discourage
the demonstration that was supposed to be hatching in Europe for-
the reconquest of South America, and for other and more ex
tended congenial operations. The instruction conveyed by this
hypothesis, is replete with interest, as furnishing probable evidence
of the importance of that movement — an importance which can
not be overestimated — a movement which was innocent in itself,
hazarding nothing, and in all probability throwing a shield' over a
whole continent against the machinations and advances of des
potism. It will be seen, indeed, by Mr. Clay's instructions to the Pana
ma mission, he generously allows, that the continental powers of
Europe had been somewhat discouraged in their scheme to support
Spain, by the fact, that Great Britain had followed the United
States in recognising the independence of South America. Mr.
Clay, however, adduces this apparent pause of the holy alliance,
for such a reason, rather as a ground of encouragement to the
course proposed by the United States, than as reliable evidence of
the future security of the American republics against such a con
spiracy. He proposes to take advantage of such a state of things,
to rescue and shield the free institutions of the western world for
ever from such perils.
Such, it may be supposed, were the views, and such the motives
of Mr. Adams and his cabinet, in consenting to and resolving on
the representation of the United States in the congress of Panama,
in connexion with other important political objects, such as an in
terchange of republican sympathies, and laying the foundation for
future commercial intercourse. The skill and tact with which Mr.
Clay managed the complicated diplomacy of this occasion, steer
ing his course, with infallible aim, between Scylla on the one side,
and Charybdis on the other, are unrivalled in the history of such
transactions. He saw it was necessary to make an impression on
the holy alliance. He therefore addressed himself to the emperor
of Russia, through Mr. Middleton, the minister of the United

MR. CLAY AS A DIPLOMATIST. 139
States, at St. Petersburg. With an eye on the occasion and the
object, a careful perusal of that document, can not fail to excite
sentiments of admiration. There is reason to believe, that it pro
duced its intended effect — certainly, that it was not without influ
ence. Considering that Count Nesselrode was one of the most
accomplished diplomatists of the age, his reply is a sufficient indi
cation of the impression that had been made.
But Mr. Clay's letter of instructions to the Panama mission is
not less comprehensive and perfect in its kind, than that system of
domestic policy devised by him, commonly called the American
system. This is an American system of foreign policy, gathering
up all the principles sanctioned by authority and experience in the
past, and adding, from the secretary's prolific genius, all that might
seem necessary for the future. It will be read with interest, and
can not be read with too much attention. No political opponent
has ever been able to find fault with it. The mission was violent
ly opposed, both in the senate and in the house of representatives,
and the most disastrous results were predicted. It was not be
lieved, that the secretary of state could give unexceptionable in
structions to so delicate and difficult an embassy, and the docu
ment-was afterward called fof in the confident expectation of game.
But it was no sooner seen, than they who called for it, wished it
out of sight. Instead of destroying its author, as was hoped, it
tended rather to immortalize him. It is a comprehensive Ameri
can code of foreign policy, equally applicable to South, as to
North, America — truly American, as opposed to the political sys
tems of Europe, put forth for the very purpose of opposing them,
as to all their defects, vices, and enormities.
It is remarkable, that Mr. Clay, in this document, should have
incidentally anticipated, twenty years in advance of any special in
terest felt on the subject, the whole of the Oregon question, not
only defining the bounds of the territory, to exclude the British
claims altogether, but denying all right in any European power to
make settlements there. The following is a part of his statements
and reasoning on the subject : —
" From the northeastern limits of the United States in North
America, to Cape Horn in South America, on the Atlantic ocean,
with one or two inconsiderable exceptions ; and from the same
cape to the fifty-first degree of north latitude, in North America, on
the Pacific ocean, without any exception, the whole coasts and
countries belong to sovereign resident American powers.
There is, therefore, no chasm within the prescribed limits, in

140 mr. clay's congressional career.
which a new European colony could be now introduced without
violating the territorial rights of some American
state. An ^attempt to acquire such a colony, and by its es
tablishment to acquire sovereign rights for any European power,
must be regarded as an inadmissible encroachment" (See the
document, Niles's Register, vol. 36.)
This language is not only unambiguous, but it is of especial
value, as the opinion of such a mind, at such a time ; and of so
much greater value as it was incidental. It will be seen by the
document itself, that the reasoning based on this opinion, and
sentiments allied to it, are presented with great force. It was
an argument made in advance, more powerful, and more irresisti
ble, than any other that ever can be made. For the other points
of these instructions, let the letter speak for itself. Besides the
great principles laid down in this document for the guidance of
future statesmen and diplomatists, so clearly stated and reasoned
out, that none can fail to appreciate them, and be convinced by
them, of whatever nation they may be, the country, the world,
will never know the extent of the benefit of that mission, because
it is impossible to know what evils, and what calamities, to whole
nations, and to a continent, it prevented by its moral influence on
European powers.*
Mr. Clay's first duties, as a legislator, were discharged as a
member of the general assembly of Kentucky, to which he was
elected in 1803, where he earned a reputation which lifted him to
the senate of the United States in 1806, by the choice of the
legislature of which he was a member, to fill up the unexpired
term of the Hon. John Adair, who had resigned his seat. This
term closed the 4th of March, 1807. In the summer following, Mr.
Clay was again sent to the state legislature, and made speaker of
the assembly. After a service of two years in that body, in this
capacity, he was again, in 1809, returned to the United States
senate, to fill up two years of the unexpired term of the Hon.
Buckner Thruston, resigned.
In 1811, the prospects of war with Great Britain induced him
to forego the higher dignity of a seat in the senate of the United
States, to which the legislature of Kentucky would gladly have
appointed him for a full term of six years, and to stand as a candi
date before the people for the house of representatives, to which
• For the documents referred to in this chapter, regarding the Panama mission,
see Niles's Register, vols. 35 and 36 ; and for the action of Congress on the sub
ject, see Gales & Seaton's Congressional Debates.

MR. CLAY'S CONGRESSIONAL CAREER. 141
he was elected, preferring that field hr consideration of the state
ofthe country. When Congress assembled, November 4th, 1811
(a called session), Mr. Clay was elected speaker of the house, on
the first ballot, by a majority of 31, out of 128 members present,
it being the first day he ever sat as a member of that body, which
honor was continuously conferred on him till 1825, when he was
appointed secretary of state by Mr. Adams, with the exceptions,
that, having been appointed one of the commissioners to negotiate
peace with Great Britain, in January, 1814, he resigned to enter
upon those duties, but was reappointed speaker at the opening of
the fourteenth Congress, 1815 ; and in 1820, being obliged to
retire from Congress, to repair his fortunes, which had been in
jured by loaning his credit, he again resigned the speakership,
and vacated his place in Congress, till 1823, when he was re
turned again to the house of representatives, and re-elected
speaker. The following lines were prompted by this return of
Mr. Clay to the house, and to the speaker's chair, and pub
lished in the National Intelligencer : —
" As near the Potomac's broad stream, t'other day,
Fair Liberty strolled in solicitous mood,
Deep pondering the future, unheeding her way,
She met goddess Nature beside a green wood.
' Good mother,' she cried, ' deign to help me at need;
I must make for my .guardians a speaker to-day.
The first in the world, I would give them.' — ' Indeed !
When I made the first speaker, I made him of CLAY.' "
Mr. Clay, therefore, was elected speaker of the house of repre
sentatives of the United States seven times, and occupied the
chair, in all, about thirteen years — each Congress being elected
for two years.
After the close of Mr. Adams's administration, and Mr. Clay's
retirement from the department of state, he remained in private
life two years, and was returned to the United States senate in
1831, where he held a seat uninterruptedly till the 31st of March,
1842, having spent thirty years of his life in the service of the
federal government, five or six in the domestic service of Ken
tucky — being thirty-nine years from the time he was first elected
to the legislature of his own state, till he resigned his seat in the
senate of the United States, in 1842.
The dignity with which Mr. Clay presided over the house of
representatives for the many years he occupied the chair, the order
he maintained, and the despatch of business under his hand, have
never been approached by any other speaker. He never hesi-

142 mr. clay's congressional career.
tated for a decision, and*; rarely was it appealed from. The tur
bulent members, such as John Randolph, were kept under a dis
cipline which they feared, and sometimes hated. Mr. Clay could
put on dignity like a cloak in the discharge of public duties, and
lay it aside as easily in the familiarities of social relaxation.
" How can you preside over that house to-day ?" asked a friend,
as he set Mr. Clay down at his own door, after sunrise in the
morning, from a party. " Come up," said Mr. Clay, " and you
shall see how I will throw the reins over their necks." He did
go up, watched Mr. Clay as he entered the house, stayed through
the sitting, and remarked the overawing power which he wielded
over the assembly, from the moment he entered till he retired — so
entirely different from the relaxations of the social board.
In the senate he was theoretically among his peers — -practically
he was a prince. The moral influence he exercised there can not
be estimated. His deference was exemplary, while his lofty bear
ing was commanding.

MR. CLAY AS AN AMERICAN PATRIOT. 143

CHAPTER VIII.
Mr. Clay as an American Patriot.
It will be obvious, that the evidences of this character are
rather incidents of history, running through a long line, and scat
tered over a wide field, than an assemblage of facts grouped at a
single point, and that such a character could not be fully appre
ciated by the isolated notices, in their chronological order, which
contribute to establish such a reputation. Without anticipating
history, in the proper amplitude and appropriate details of a work
of this kind, and while engaged in a consideration of those per
sonal attributes of Mr. Clay, which comprehend the numerous
and variegated phases of his character, it would be manifest injus-?:
tice to him, and a defect in biography, not to devote some special
and separate attention to a topic, which, in this case, will be found
to have one of the strongest claims.
In Mr. Clay's reply to Mr. Rives, of Virginia, August 19,
1841, touching Mr. Tyler's veto of the bank-bill, he incidentally
gave one of the finest sketches of the virtue of patriotism, that
can be found in the English language. In the earlier part of that
day, Mr. Clay had, very temperately and respectfully, reviewed
the veto-message, in a speech before the senate, to which Mr.
Rives replied, in vindication of Mr. Tyler. Mr. Clay thought
Mr. Rives had ascribed to him language which he had not used,
and imputed to him motives, of which he was not conscious.
On one of the points of rejoinder, Mr. Clay said : —
" The senator says, that, if placed in like circumstances, I
would have been the last man to avoid putting a direct veto upon
the bill, had it met my disapprobation ; and he does me the honor
to attribute to me high qualities of stern and unbending intrepidity.
I hope, that in all that relates to personal firmness, all that con
cerns a just appreciation of the insignificance of human life —
whatever may be attempted to threaten or alarm a soul not easily
swayed by opposition, or awed or intimidated by menace — a stout
heart and a steady eye, that can survey, unmoved and undaunted,

144 MR. CLAY AS AN
any mere personal perils that assail this poor, transient, perishing
frame, I may, without disparagement, compare with other men.
But, there is a sort of courage, which, I frankly confess, I do not
possess, a boldness to which I dare not aspire, a valor which I
can not covet. I can not lay myself down in the way of the wel
fare and happiness of my country. That I can not, I have not
the courage to do. I can not interpose the power with which I
may be invested, a power conferred, not for my personal benefit,
nor for my aggrandizement, but for my country's good, to check
her onward march to greatness and glory. I have not courage
enough, I am too cowardly for that. I would not, I dare not, in
ttie exercise of such a trust, lie down, and place my body across
the path that leads my country to prosperity and happiness. This
is a sort of courage widely different from that which a man may
display in his private conduct and personal relations. Personal or
private courage is totally distinct from that higher and nobler cour
age which prompts the patriot to offer himself a voluntary sacri
fice to his country's good." Again : " Apprehensions of the im
putation of the want of firmness sometimes impel us to perform
rash and inconsiderate acts. It is the greatest courage to be able
to bear the imputation of a want of courage. But pride, vanity,
egotism, so unamiable and offensive in private life, are vices which
partake of the character of crimes in the conduct of public af
fairs. The unfortunate victim of these passions can not see be
yond the little, petty, contemptible circle of his own personal in
terests. All his thoughts are withdrawn from his country, and
concentrated on his consistency, his firmness, himself. The
high, the exalted,, the sublime emotions of a patriotism, which,
soaring toward Heaven, rises far above all mean, low, or selfish
things, and is absorbed by one soul-transporting thought of the
good and the glory of one's country, are never felt in his. impene
trable bosom. That patriotism, which, catching its inspiration
from the immortal God, and leaving at an immeasurable distance
below, all lesser, grovelling, personal interests and feelings, ani
mates and prompts to deeds of self-sacrifice, of valor, of devotion,
and of death itself — that is public virtue — that is the
noblest, the sublimest of all public virtues."
It is manifest, that the passages above cited, were not designed
as a disquisition on the virtue of patriotism. The speech, of
which they are extracts, was extemporaneous, in reply to Mr.
Rives, who had just sat down. It was indeed an impromptu.
Mr. Clay had not intended to answer Mr. Rives, even to the
close of his speech, and of course had taken no notes, and digest
ed no plan. It was not till a senator at his elbow had prompted
him to reply, that he suddenly rose to do it. It was, therefore,

AMERICAN PATRIOT. 145
without one syllable of preparation, that he uttered those bunuW
thoughts, which can never be read without a deep and profound
sympathy. The effect on the senate and spectators, was electrical,
thrilling. Notwithstanding this want of forethought, who, even with time
and pains, in an oration or with the pen, could have presented
this virtue in a clearer, stronger, or more impressive point of
view ? The words marked, at the end of the first and second
passages, were not intended as a definition. Yet, who could have
given a better one, in a rhetorical form ? Nothing but a distinct
perception, apparently nothing but a deep and heartfelt sympathy
with this pure and exalted sentiment, could have qualified the
speaker, without premeditation, to describe it with such surpassing
eloquence. Mr. Clay, on this occasion, had been treated, as he thought,
unfairly. Certainly there had been no small provocation for se
verity on bis part toward Mr. Tyler. One of the great and lead
ing measures of the whig party, in the first (an extra) session of
the twenty-seventh Congress, convoked by proclamation of the
patriot Harrison — a measure which had been more distinctly recog
nised in that call, than any other, as claiming the earliest attention
of the new administration, for which the extra session was chiefly
summoned — had been vetoed by Mr. Tyler, notwithstanding great
pains had been taken, in the organic form of the law, to adapt it
to his allied scruples. It was in fact understood, that Mr. Tyler
had agreed to give it the required official sanction. Oppressed
with this disappointment, and laboring under the weight of a long-
protracted sympathy for a country suffering inconceivable evils
under a deranged and bad currency, and the bad management of
its financial afrairs. Mr. Clay rose in the senate, and with the ut
most forbearance toward the acting-president, reviewed his veto-
messaje. and respectfully defended both houses of Congress
against its unjust imputations. Mr. Rives, either from having
presumed that Mr. Clay would handle Mr. Tyler roughly, and
from having previously arranged his reply accordingly, without
bein<r able to adapt it — or. being resolved to show fight, without
a fit occasion, said thiiiirs which were not correct, and perverted
Mr. Clav's speech. " The senator." said Mr. Clay. " begins with
saving, that I charge the president with 'pmrJ' .' '' After Mr.
Ciav had risen, and begun to speak of this and other imputations.
Vol. L— 10

146 MR. CLAY AS AN
equally incorrect, he kindled into warmth, and acquitted himself
in a manner, which was pronounced, even by some of his politi
cal opponents, to be one of his happiest efforts. He certainly
did fall rather heavily on the acting-president in this rejoinder, as
will have been seen in the passages above quoted — not that he in
tended, that his contrast to a patriot should be applied in that di
rection. But the application was unavoidable. It would be
singular, if this accidental description of the virtue of patriotism
and its opposite vice, should in this way present to the world a
most striking example of each — the speaker for one and a chief
magistrate of the United States for the other. Nothing, it is sup
posed, was more remote from the design of the speaker himself
at the time, than that such an application should be made in either
case. " That patriotism, which, catching its inspirations from the im
mortal God, and leaving at an immeasurable distance below, all
lesser, grovelling, personal interests and feelings, animates and
prompts to deeds of self-sacrifice, of valor, of devotion, and of
death itself — that is public virtue."
Furnished by such authority with this definition, it is proposed
to see how it applies to the author himself — a high and stern test,
as can not be denied.
It has sometimes, and with much reason, been remarked, that
Providence raises up men for all great public exigences, and en
dows them with the required powers. It has also been remarked,
with not less reason, that such exigences seem to demand a lead
ing mind. Probably not a single individual in the wide world,
competently informed, would challenge the applicability of this
theory of Divine providence, to the history of the immortal Wash
ington. The admirable adaptation of his character to the positions
he occupied, and of his powers to the tasks imposed upon him,
showing him not less endowed with faculties for heroic deeds, than
with virtue to demean himself modestly after the most brilliant suc
cesses in the field, and in the chair of state, would furnish a diffi
cult problem for one who has no faith in the beneficent arrange
ments ofthe Deity.
The achievement of American Independence, and the erection
of the machinery of the American government, were accomplished
by a class of distinguished men, fitted for the time and the work.
But the organic structure was a mere skeleton of the body politic.

AMERICAN PATRIOT. 147
Time alone could make the body perfect in all its parts, and
healthful in the performance of its various functions. Political
society after die revolution was a chaos. But the materials of a
magnificent and beautiful creation were there ; they gradually came
to their places by the supervising intelligence tiiat had ordered
diem ; day and night came and went in regular succession ; the
stars found their places, and each constellation was grouped ; and
the earth began to bring forth her fruit in due season. Neverdie-
less, it was a young creation, and being the work of man, it had
its imperfections, admirable though it was. The great defect was
the want of a national policy, domestic and foreign, commercial
and financial, adapted to the position of the United States among
the family of nations, and to its moral and physical capabilities.
The nation struggled along for an age, under great disadvantages,
arising from this cause. First, the articles of confederation were
doomed to a failure, by an experimental demonstration of their in
competency, under an accumulating public debt, and the prospect
of national bankruptcy- The adoption of the federal constitution,
and the establishment of the first bank of the United States, put
the country in a new position, with cheering prospects. One of
the professed and grand objects of this new organization of the
government being to protect and foster American labor, tiiis policy
was immediately carried into effect by the first act of the first Con
gress, in die imposition of duties on imports, discriminating as far
as possible for protection, but not widiout regard to a revenue
commensurate with the expenses of government, and the prospective
dem ands of the public debt. But the common notions of a tariff
at that period, were most unripe. The nation was in its infancy,
and without experience in political economy. A system of inter
nal improvements, to promote and facilitate domestic commerce
and intercourse among the states and territories, was scarcely thought
of. The powers and capabilities of the country were in a state of
comparative inaction, not less in regard to the application of die
most productive means of national weahh, than of individual enter
prise. A system of national political economy, broad, compre
hensive, creative, and active, competent to evoke the energies of
the people, and to employ labor widi the greatest profit, was yet
in embryo. The country was a giant infant, fast growing up to
full powers, without knowing how to employ them for die best re
sults, and without the means of employment for that end. Indeed,
the necessities of the country, for want of a system of national pol-

148 MR. CLAY AS AN
icy, in all respects adapted to its internal resources and capabilities,
and its foreign relations, were scarcely less urgent, or less distres
sing, than at the period and during the time of the American revo
lution. It was at this juncture of American public affairs, that the young,
since called the great, statesman of the West, began to apply him
self to the study of this great national exigency. He appeared as
a senator in the national councils in 1806, during which term of
service — it being but the complement of the unexpired term of the
Hon. John Adair, resigned — he delivered his first speech on inter
nal improvement, as one of the branches of that system of national
policy, which at that time was being formed in his mind. The
speech was not reported, and is therefore not extant. The first
great practical application of this doctrine, for national purposes,
by the general government, was in the conception and commence
ment of the Cumberland road, which virtually reduces the Alle-
ganies to a plain, and wends its way toward the Rocky mountains,
connecting the East with the West, by a passage, on which the
traveller rolls as smoothly as on the Macadamized street of a city,
constituting a great social and political bond, as well as a channel
of domestic commerce. Nor can the more recent invention of
railroads supersede the importance and utility of this grand project.
It is still forcing its way over mountains, valleys, and rivers, to the
banks of the Mississippi, and will soon cross its channel for the
mouth of the Columbia, where it may appear in some other form,
but yet must appear. Thus will a continent have been traversed
by this political ploughshare, first struck in the ground by the fa
ther of the American system, in the beginning of the nineteenth
century, pointing to the waters of the Pacific. On the line of this
work, near Wheeling, a monument was erected, surmounted by
Genius and Liberty, inscribed to the statesman who sustained the
enterprise. But the work itself is, and, as it progresses, will re
main, its own best monument to the fame of its advocate. It is
not the fault of Mr. Clay, that the system of internal improvement,
conceived by him, and advocated with such persevering and in
domitable constancy, against obstacles sufficient to dishearten any
man, who has not faith in the future and in himself, has not al
ready interlocked and bound together the states of the Union by
indissoluble ties. The progress of events demonstrates, that this
great conception must be executed, in one way or another, though
tardy in its movement. The defect of duty in an unnatural parent,

AMERICAN PATRIOT. 149
will be supplied hy the members of the family, and by the single
efforts of individual enterprise.
In 1810, having been again returned to the senate of the United
States, by the legislature of Kentucky, Mr. Clay delivered his first
speech in Congress, on domestic manufactures. He had before
zealously advocated this policy in the legislature of Kentucky, and
moved a resolution there, that all the members of the body should
clothe themselves, from head to foot, with the products of domes
tic manufacture, as an example for the people. It was this patri
otic effort, which brought on the encounter, in 1S09, between Mr.
Clay and Humphrey Marshall, who were both members of the
legislature — the latter being a virulent opponent, and having availed
himself of this occasion, to apply to Mr. Clay degrading epithets,
and to impute to him unworthy motives.
It should be observed, that Mr. .Clay was but a young man,
when he had pretty much matured his American system. It
was a comprehensive, gigantic conception, opening a new era
in the political history of the country, not less important to the
nation as such, than was the establishment of American indepen
dence to the world, as the birth of a new race of freemen. It was,
indeed, a plan for the consummation of American independence,
in the practical application of its principles. Freedom in the first
instance was nothing worth, it was but a mockery — without the
real and substantial independence which this system of national
policy contemplated.
The peculiar position of the United States in the family of na
tions, the peculiar interests of the American people, and the yet
more peculiar frame of American political society, were all, in all
their ramifications and relations, necessary to be considered, in
devising a system of policy adapted to this new and wide field. It
was a gigantie enterprise, an herculean labor. None but a master
spirit, endowed with corresponding moral virtues, was equal to
the task. A more comprehensive, and more responsible demand
on intellectual powers, was perhaps never made. Genius alone,
balanced by the ripest judgment, could evoke the materials of his
tory, necessary for the composition of this work, and adjust their
new relations and forms to all future exigencies of the American
people. To originate, organize, and prepare it for use, so as to
sustain the test of the severest and longest trial, was the achieve
ment of no ordinary mind. Nor could the mind, that was capable
of conceiving sueh a system, for such a new state of society, placed

150 MR. CLAY AS AN
in new circumstances, governed in a new Way, and sustaining new
and untried relations, fail to perceive, that such a policy must en
counter new and formidable obstacles, and wait on years, perhaps
ages, before it would be appreciated ; — that his own gray hairs and
wornout energies might descend into the grave, under the incipient
labors of such an enterprise ; — that those most benefited, might be
ungrateful ; and that posterity alone could be relied on, to render
due honors to his genius and to his exertions. Faith, courage,
invincible purpose, and undying love of country, were alone suf
ficient to begin, and never to flag, in such labors.
That this high praise, for this great work, is due to Henry Clay,
it is supposed will not be denied. The American system, as
devised by him, can not be improved. It is perfect, enduring as
time, and will be honored by time. Its principles, parts, and
structure, were the product of intellect ; its advocacy, through a
long succession of years, in adversity as well as in prosperity,
without regard to self, against the fiercest, most overpowering oppo
sition, is due to the heart. Numerous have been the occasions, as
all know, when Mr. Clay might have taken the popular breeze,
and been wafted to the highest pinnacle of ambition — when, too,
as was thought and argued by his friends, he might have done it
without reproach — when, indeed, it was urged upon him as a duty
to his country, to his friends, to himself. But always judging for
himself, as every man must do in all cases of casuistry, which can
be settled only by the feelings of his own heart, his answer has
uniformly been, when compelled by the decisions of conscience,
to dissent from others, in such debate : " I had rather be right,
than be president." His magnanimity, has, on more occasions
than one, barred the door to his advancement. In the case of the
notorious charge of " bargain," for the election of Mr. Adams, in
1825, it has, for nearly a quarter of a century, been in the power
of Mr. Clay, at any moment, to prove by positive evidence, that
the dishonorable proposals were made by those who brought the
charge ; but who, having been spurned, and anticipating an arraign
ment on the same count, were first in court, with a gross fabrica
tion in their right hand. But magnanimity, and that to a political
opponent, who was himself the agent in this transaction, has hith
erto kept the key of the secret. In a future page of this work, it
will be unlocked.
Not even an enemy will deny, that Mr. Clay has always advo
cated those measures of national policy, which he thought to be

AMERICAN PATRIOT. 151
right and best, at all hazards. Knowing this to be his character,
his political opponents have been accustomed to take advantage
of it, when it answered their purpose. It is known, that for a large
portion of his public life, he has had to contend in the ranks of the
opposition, himself the chief. It is not less known, that, in this
position, he was always bgld and fearless. At the head of his own
system of public policy, he has ever stood, to put it forward when
he could, to shield it when stormed by assailants, to rescue it when
borne downward toward destruction, and to save and keep in ope
ration such parts of it as he might, never for himself, but always
for his country. Convinced alike of its beneficent tendencies, by
the clearness of his conceptions, by the results of his observation,
by the practical experiments that have been made of it, and by the
disastrous operation of opposing measures, he has stood by it in all
trials, under all discouragements, in all discomfitures, as a martyr
stands for the truth at the stake, and dies for it. As well could
Washington have been seduced to betray his country to foreign
and hostile armies, as Henry Clay to surrender the interests of his
country to foreign policy. Both, in their own convictions, fought
for the same great end — one with the sword, the other in the pub
lic councils — one to acquire, the other to maintain, national inde
pendence. The delivering up of the revolutionary armies to
British power, could not have been more disastrous to the country,
in the opinion of Washington, than would be the surrender of the
American system, in the opinion of Henry Clay. To do the last,
as Mr. Clay thinks, would place the country just where the doing
of the former would have done, to wit, in its ancient condition of
colonial bondage. Mr. Clay, therefore, has on all occasions, in
total disregard of consequences to himself, maintained and defended
these measures, with a self-sacrificing determination — a determina
tion to triumph or die with them.
The consequence of this persevering and disinterested course,
has been, that Mr. Clay's policy has prevailed, while he has been
made a victim to it. With a martyr spirit, he fought for the coun
try, and has reaped a martyr's reward.
In the management of our foreign relations, as a member of
Congress, in either branch, as secretary of state, and as commis
sioner at Ghent, while he never forgot what was just and liberal to
other powers, his own country has ever had the preeminent place
in his affections. All his aims as a public man — and he seems to
have been born for his country — all his thoughts, all his sacrifices,

152 MR. CLAY AS AN
which have not been few or small — have been directed to the ad
vancement, the growth, the greatness of the republic. While he
has constantly sought to protect the industry and develop the
resources of the country, he has zealously endeavored to cement
the union by the opening of internal communications, and to im
prove harbors and rivers for the benefit of commerce. He who
surmounts the Alleganies on the national road, as if no hills were
there, should never forget to whom he is indebted for this luxury
of travel.
The war of 1812 was a stern trial ofthe patriotism, institutions,
and government of the country ; and it need not be said, that the
position occupied by Mr. Clay in the origination, conduct, and
termination of that struggle, was one of great responsibility. No
man called louder, or did more, or was more influential, in bring
ing it about — not indeed for the love of war — for Mr. Clay has
ever been averse to it — but because of his sense of the wrongs
and insults of a haughty and imperious rival, who, believing her
self queen of the seas by her maritime force, seemed resolved to
disregard the maritime rights of the United States. She had
pursued her arrogance beyond endurance, harassed and destroyed
American commerce for many years, by her violations of neutral
rights, seized on American seamen by thousands, under the pre
text of claiming her own, and forced them to fight her battles.
The numerous and long-protracted outrages of this and other kinds,
had made it a question of submission or defence — of abandoning
or maintaining national sovereignty, on the part of the United
States. The speakership of the house of representatives, which was
assigned to Mr. Clay during the war of 1S12, was the most impor
tant post in the nation for such a time ; and it is a remarkable fact,
that, while it is generally regarded as depriving the incumbent of
the privilege of participation in its debates, and usually does so in
its practical operation, Mr. Clay was accustomed, during the many
years that he was at the head of that body, to mingle in its delib
erations, while in committee of the whole, and to perform the
double duty of speaker and member. It was expected, required
of him. No other man had so much to do with originating meas
ures and sustaining them, while at the same time he presided over
the body. But he was never more active, nor more influential in
this field, than during the preparations and progress of the war.

AMERICAN PATRIOT. 153
He was one of the chief counsellors of the president (Mr. Madi
son), inspired him with determination and boldness, and animated
both the executive and legislative branches of the government with
the spirit which actuated himself. The war to him was a time of
intense anxiety and intense exertion, from the moment it was
resolved on, till it was ended. Responsible, in a high degree, for
its beginning and conduct, he was called to participate in the duty
and responsibility of concluding the terms of peace, as arranged at
Ghent. His patriotic exertions in this struggle justly secured for
him the respect and gratitude of his countrymen, almost without
distinction of party. A small faction only, that denounced the
war to the last, refused to acknowledge their obligations to its
prominent and most influential agents.
When the darkest clouds hung over the country, during the
agitation of the Missouri question, and when they seemed about to
burst in all their fury over the republic, the last hope of those pacific
ally disposed, who had tried in vain to still the tempest, turned to Mr.
Clay, as he made his appearance at a late period of the session of
*1820-'21, having been unavoidably detained. It is sufficient
here to remark, for the object of the present notice, that to Mr.
Clay, and to him alone, has ever been attributed, without a dis
senting voice, the influence, almost superhuman, that quelled this
storm. Such was the demand on his faculties of mind and body
for this occasion, and such the responsibility of the position
awarded to him by common consent, it has been said, and may be
believed, that the month's agony and effort, by which his moral
and physical powers were tasked, to settle this question, could not
have been protracted many days longer, without proving fatal to
himself. The whole country appreciated his signal services, and
unanimously gave him the title of the Great Pacificator.
Again, when in 1833, South Carolina nullification burst forth
upon the Union, threatening its dissolution, and when General
Jackson had proclaimed war on the recusants, Mr. Clay made
peace, and carried the country safely through the trial, by means
of the compromise act. " I rise, sir, on this occasion," said Mr.
Clay, when he brought forward the bill, " actuated by no motives of
a private nature, by no personal feelings, and for no personal objects ;
but exclusively in obedience to a sense of the duty which I owe
to my country. . . I am anxious to find out some principle of mu
tual accommodation, to satisfy, as far as practicable, both parties. . .
As I stand before my God, I declare, I have looked beyond those

154 MR. CLAY AS AN
considerations [party feelings and party causes], and regarded only
the vast interests of this whole people. . . If I had thought of my
self, I should never have brought it [the bill] forward. I know
well the perils, to which I expose myself. . . I might have silently
gazed on the raging storm, enjoyed its thunders, and left those
who are charged with the vessel of state, to conduct it as they
could. . . Pass this bill, tranquilize the country, restore confidence and
affection in the Union, and I am willing to go home to Ashland, and
renounce public service for ever. . . I have been accused of ambi
tion. Yes, I have ambition ; but it is the ambition of being the
humble instrument in the hands of Providence to reconcile a di
vided people — once more to revive concord and harmony in a dis
tracted land— ^the pleasing ambition of contemplating the glorious
spectacle of a free, united, prosperous, and fraternal people. ... I
say, save the country — save the Union — save the
American system."
In 1834— '5, the French government and nation had taken of
fence at General Jackson's annual message to Congress, which
recommended reprisals on French commerce, on account of the*
neglect of the French government to pay an instalment, due by
the treaty of July 4, 1831, as an indemnity for spoliations of
American commerce, committed between 1800 and 1817. The
president was in favor of decisive and energetic measures, whereat
the French were greatly incensed. The lightest breath might have
kindled war, and the smallest drop might quench the spark. It
was a point of honor. The failure to pay resulted from a disa
greement between the French ministry and the chamber of depu
ties, the latter not having made the appropriation requisite for the
fulfilment of the treaty. The king and his ministers were willing,
but the deputies were unwilling. Both, however, were offended
at the tone of General Jackson's message. The senate of the
United States held in their hand the balances. Whereupon the
Great Pacificator (Henry Clay) was made chairman of a
committee to report on this critical affair, which was made and
read by him on the 6th of January, 1835. His report showed to
the satisfaction of the senate, that by a little forbearance, in defer
ence to the peculiar position of the executive department of the
French government toward the legislative branch, peace could prob
ably be preserved, with honor to both parties.
Mr. Clay, on this occasion, reported, in behalf of the commit
tee, the following resolution : —

AMERICAN PATRIOT. 155
"Resolved, That it is inexpedient, at this time, to pass any law
vesting in the president authority for making reprisals upon French
property, in the contingency of provision not being made for pay
ing to the United States the indemnity stipulated by the treaty of
1831, during the present session ofthe French chambers."
In Mr. Clay's speech on the report before the senate, he said : —
"In speculating upon the probabilities in regard to the course
of the French government, in reference to the treaty, four contin
gencies might be supposed to arise — first, that the French cham
bers may have made the appropriation to carry the treaty into ef
fect before the reception of the president's message ; second, the
chambers may make the appropriation after the reception of the
president's message, and notwithstanding the recommendation on
this subject contained in it ; third, the chambers may, in conse
quence of that recommendation, hearing of it before they shall
have acted finally on the subject, refuse to make any appropria
tion, until what they may consider a menace, shall have been
explained or withdrawn ; or, fourth, they may, either on that
ground, or on the ground of dissatisfaction with the provis
ions of the treaty, refuse to pass the bill of appropriation. Now,
in any of these contingencies, after what has passed, an expres
sion of the sense of Congress on the subject appears to be indis
pensable, either to the passage of the bill, or to the subsequent
payment of the money."
The resolution reported by Mr. Clay was unanimously adopt
ed by the senate, and the indemnity was paid, not, however, till —
to save the feelings of the French, who were a good deal excited
by President Jackson's course — the controversy was settled
through the intervention of William IV., king of England. The
country, on this occasion, was saved from war by the prudent
counsels of Mr. Clay.
None will deny, that Mr. Clay was the choice of the whig party
for the presidential campaign of 1840, or that his public services
had fairly entitled him to the nomination. But foreseeing that the
Harrisburg convention might be embarrassed in the selection of
the candidate for reasons which it is unnecessary here to notice,
Mr. Clay had written to the Kentucky delegates, in terms to dis
charge his friends from any such adherence to him as might tend
to disturb the harmony of that body, or mar general unanimity in
supporting its decision. When that decision was finally an
nounced, the reading of this letter, the existence of which was
known to a few, was called for. The following is an extract : —
" With a just and proper sense of the high honor of being
voluntarily called to the office of president of the United States,

156 MR. CLAY AS AN
by a great, free, and enlightened people, and profoundly grateful
to those of my fellow-citizens who are desirous to see me placed
in that exalted and responsible station, I must nevertheless say, in
entire truth and sincerity, that, if the deliberations' of the conven
tion shall lead them to the choice of another as the candidate of
the opposition, far from feeling any discontent, the nomination shall
have my best wishes, and receive my cordial support."
Considering the just claims of Mr. Clay, as universally ac
knowledged — but which he would be the last to put forward — and
what must necessarily have been his motive in his letter, none can
fail to be deeply impressed with a sense of his magnanimity and pa
triotism. Such was the preponderance and force of the popular
desire for the nomination of Mr. Clay, there is every reason to
believe, that the summons to the onset of 1840 would have
failed, if Mr. Clay had not so magnanimously stepped forward,
at the head of his own legions, to fight the great battle in favor of
the nominee who had been selected.
On another occasion Mr. Clay said : —
"If my name creates any obstacle to cordial union and harmony,
away with it, and concentrate upon some individual more accepta
ble to all branches of the opposition. What is a public man worth
who is not ready to sacrifice himself for the good of his country ?
I have unaffectedly desired retirement; I yet desire it, when, con
sistently with the duties and obligations which I owe, I can honor
ably retire. No veteran soldier, covered with scars and wounds,
inflicted in many severe battles and hard campaigns, ever received
his discharge with more pleasure, than I should mine. But I
think that like him, without presumption, I am entitled to an honor
able discharge."
Mr. Clay opened his great speech on the subtreasury scheme,
in 1838, as follows: —
" If you knew, sir, what sleepless hours reflection upon it has
cost me ; if you knew with what fervor and sincerity I have im
plored Divine assistance to strengthen and sustain me in my oppo
sition to it, I should have credit with you, at least for the sincerity
of my convictions, if I shall be so unfortunate as not to have your
concurrence as to the dangerous character of the measure. And
I have thanked my God, that he has prolonged my life until the
present time, to enable me to exert myself in the service of my
country, against a project far transcending in pernicious tendency
any that I have ever had occasion to consider. I thank him for
the health I am permitted to enjoy ; I thank him for the soft and
sweet repose which I experienced last night ; I thank him for the
bright and glorious sun which shines upon us this day."

AMERICAN PATRIOT. 157
In his speech on Mr. Calhoun's land bill, 1840, he said: —
" Sir, I am not one of those who are looking out for what may
ensue to themselves. My course is nearly run ; it is so by nature,
and so in the progress of political events. I have nothing to ask
of the senator of the south, nor of South Carolina, nor yet of the
country at large. But I will go, when I do go, or when I choose
to go, into retirement, with the undying conviction that, for a quar
ter of a century, I have endeavored to serve and to save the coun
try, faithfully and honorably, without a view to my own interest, or
my own aggrandizement ; and of that delightful conviction and con
sciousness, no human being, nor all mankind, can ever deprive me."
In his valedictory to the senate, 1842, he said : —
" Of the nature or the value of the services rendered during the
long and arduous period of my public life, it does not become me
to speak; but, whatever errors — and doubtless there have been
many — may be discovered in a review of them, I can, with unsha
ken confidence, appeal to the Searcher of hearts for the truth of
the declaration, that I have been influenced by no impure purpose,
no personal motive ; have sought no personal aggrandizement ; but
that, in all my public acts, I have had a sole and single eye, and
a warm and devoted heart, directed and dedicated to what, in my
best judgment, I believed to be the true interests of my country."
It is impossible but that history should institute a comparison
between Washington and Clay, as American patriots. It has al
ready been done. The former has found his niche in the temple
of fame, as " first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his
countrymen," and he can not be dislodged, nor have a rival. The
whole world have pronounced on the character of Washington as
one of the best and greatest men that have ever lived, and that de
cision will neither be revoked, nor modified. Henry Clay awaits
his place in the opinion and regard of his countrymen, and of man
kind. That he will not be less respected, or his character less es
teemed, by posterity than by contemporaries, is morally certain, in
consideration of the chastening influence of time, in the abatement
o.f enmities, and of the proneness of men to do justice to the vir
tues of distinguished individuals of the race, who have passed
through trials and been abused, and who are no longer in a field
of competition. It has been said, that, while men live, their faults
are written in brass, and their virtues in sand. But time throws faults
out of sight, and emblazons virtue. There were many that tried
to find fault with Washington. He was even defamed in his life
time, and it has been said, if he had lived a little longer, he would
have gone down to his grave broken-hearted — if so great a heart

158" MR. CLAY AS AN AMERICAN PATRIOT.
could be broken — for the ingratitude of his countrymen. History
shows, that a storm was gathering over his head, and his corre
spondence evinces, that he was himself advised, of the fact. But
he now rests in peace, and will have no more defainers.
The difference in character between the public exigencies of the
times of Washington, and of the times of Henry Clay, and be
tween the characters of the two men, is so marked, that a rival-
ship in fame between them, is hardly possible. Justice to each,*,
will detract from neither, as the' spheres of the two did not even
border on each other. It has been regretted by some, that Mr.
Madison's proposal to put Mr. Clay at the head of the American
army, in the war of 1812, was not carried into effect, as it is be
lieved, that Mr. Clay would have distinguished himself as much
in the field, as he has done in the senate, and that his prolific ge
nius, combined with his personal valor, energy, and command over
men, would have compelled the foe to terms of peace at an earlier
period, with less expense and greater honor to the country. It has
also been suggested, that an epaulet would have carried him into
the presidency by acclamation, whenever put forward, and thus
have saved the country from long misrule.
Speculations of this sort, however, aside, it will probably be
agreed, that, as in the eighteenth century Washington, by
his sword gave freedom to America, so in the nineteenth cen
tury, Henry Clay was summoned to fight anew the battles of
freedom, and to illustrate its practical operation in another, loftier,
and more comprehensive sphere of influence, without derogation
from the merits of "the father of his country." While the
sword, not less famed in civil, than in military command, asso
ciated with a peerless sagacity, with consummate prudence, and
with dauntless valor, in war and in peace, is girt to the side of the
one, to denote his functions ; a statesman's laurels, won in long
and high debate, for the weal of his country and of mankind, and
not less deserved for unrivalled tact in the management of men,
crown the head of the other. One cleared the field of tyrants,
and aided in erecting the temple of freedom ; the other furnished
it, and filled its storehouses with wealth. It may be allowed, that
both were actuated by "that patriotism, which, catching its inspi
rations from the immortal God, and leaving at an immeasurable
distance below, all lesser, grovelling, personal interests and feel
ings, animates and prompts to deeds of self-sacrifice, of valor, of
devotion, and of death itself." 4-

MR. CLAY AND THE WAR OF 1812. 159

CHAPTER IX.
Mr. Clay and the War of 1812.
It is remarkable, that the two great nations of western Europe,
Great Britain and France, while at war with each other, should
have presumed, that they could do any amount of injury to the
rights and commercial interests of the United States with impunity.
The British blockade of 1806 was followed by the Berlin edicts,
and the British orders in council by the edicts of Milan, and these
belligerent powers made war on the commerce of a friend, the better
to carry on war between themselves. The United States were made
the victim of their rapacity. From February 28 to May 20, 1811,
less than three months, twenty-seven American merchant-vessels were
sent into British ports, prizes to British cruisers, for violation of
the orders in council, and the British admiralty courts were con
stantly occupied in adjudicating on American property thus brought
under their jurisdiction, little of which escaped forfeiture for the
crime of a neutral commerce, and for attempting to enter ports
which had no other blockade than parchment orders. At the same
time that these outrages were committed on American commerce,
swelling up to millions annually, British manufactures were allowed
and encouraged to enter, in neutral bottoms, the very ports from
which American vessels, laden with American produce, were ex
cluded, and for having papers of that destination, were captured !
But Great Britain, having command of the seas, asserted another
offensive power, in relation to the United States, to maintain her
maritime ascendency, by seizing American seamen, on board Ameri
can merchantmen, and forcing them into the British navy, under the
pretence of searching for British subjects, and claiming their services,
while all parties knew the wrong that was done. The seizure of
the property of a neutral power as a belligerent right, and claiming
it as forfeited, though sufficiently atrocious, was a much less exas
perating offence, than that of forcing neutrals to fight the battles ofa
belligerent. France was wrong ; Great Britain was more so. The

160 MR. CLAY AND THE WAR OF 1812.
former had some magnanimity, when it was convenient to exercise
it ; while the latter seemed bent on wrong for the love of it. It is
true, that Great Britain pretended to be fighting for existence, and
her own vindicators asserted the law of necessity ; but that was
neither consolation, nor relief, to those whose rights she violated.
The truth undoubtedly was, that the United States had fallen
into contempt, and the time had arrived when it was necessary to
vindicate their rights. The mission of John Henry into New Eng
land, in 1809, acting under the instructions of Sir James Craig,
governor of Canada, with designs against the Union, as proved by
Mr. Madison's communications to Congress, March 9, 1812, is
sufficient evidence, that something more than contempt actuated
the British government in the repeated and aggravated insults and
injuries done to the government and people of the United States
for a series of years, naught abated by time and remonstrance, but
ever on the increase. The conclusion seemed to have been adopt
ed in Europe, that, though the United States" had fought once, and
gained their independence, there was no great danger of their fight
ing again, though insulted and wronged ; that they might be injured
to any extent with impunity. What else could account for the
treatment received from France and Great Britain, especially the
latter ? Such was the state of things which led to the war of 1812.
Congress was convoked a month before the regular time in the
fall of 1811, and the message of President Madison was decidedly
in the war tone. The winter was spent in notes of preparation,
and by the 20th of March, Congress had passed, and the presi
dent approved, bills of the following titles : To fill up the ranks
and prolong the enlistment of the army ; to raise an additional reg
ular force of 25,000 men; to raise six companies of mounted ran
gers for the defence of the western frontier ; to arm the militia ; to
authorize detachments of militia ; to fortify the maritime frontier ;
to repair and fit the entire naval force ; to procure camp-equipage,
baggage-wagons, &c. ; to purchase ordnance and military stores ;
to obtain supplies of sulphur and saltpetre ; to make further pro
visions for the corps of engineers ; to establish a quartermaster's
department, and create commissary-generals ; to provide for the
support of the army and navy ; and to authorize a loan of eleven
millions. In the meantime, there had been a vigorous opposition to these
measures ; but when, on the 1st of April, Mr. Madison sent in his
special message, with the documents respecting Henry's mission,

MR. CLAY AND THE WAR OF 1812. 161
there was a burst of indignant feeling from Congress, and from the
whole nation, well calculated to unite the country in hostile meas
ures. From this itime till the declaration of war, on the 19th of
June, the utmost spirit of preparation was manifested in the legis
lative and executive branches of the government, to begin the
contest. The well-known moderation of President Madison's character
demanded powerful influences, to bring him up to the required
temper for the responsibilities of this new position as the head of
the government ; and there was probably but one man who was
capable, by his extraordinary power over others, of imparting to
him the spirit that was needed for the time. It hardly need be
said, that he was the speaker of the house of representatives — Mr.
Clay. By the same cause, Congress was ready for the war before
the president was. He was still laboring in vain at the oar of ne
gotiation with Mr. Foster, the British minister, when an informal
deputation from the other branch of the government waited upon
him, with Mr. Clay at their head, and before they retired, the die
was cast. Nothing remained but the formal act of declaration.
It may be remarked, that Mr. Clay's feelings in relation to the
insults and wrongs suffered by the country from Great Britain,
had been for several years maturing for that course of action which
he pursued after the struggle commenced, and were on various oc
casions, and in sundry forms, publicly expressed — often incident
ally. In a speech in the senate, December 25, 1810, in vindica
tion of President Madison's occupation of the territory in dispute
between the United States and Spain, eastward from the Missis
sippi to the line of the Perdido, he said : —
" The gentleman [Mr. Horsey, of Delaware] reminds us, that
Great Britain, the ally of Spain, may be obliged, by her connexion
with that country, to take part with her against us, and to consider
this measure of the president as justifying an appeal to arms. Sir,
is the time never to arrive, when we may manage our own affairs,
without the fear of insulting his Britannic majesty ? Is the rod of
British power to be for ever suspended over our heads ? Does
Congress put on an embargo to shelter our rightful commerce
against the piratical depredations committed upon it on the ocean ?
We are immediately warned of the indignation of offended Eng
land. Is a law of non-intercourse proposed ? The whole navy of
the haughty mistress of the seas is made to thunder in our ears.
Does the president refuse to continue a correspondence with a
minister, who violates the decorum belonging to his diplomatic
Vol. L— 11

162 MR. CLAY AND THE WAR OF 1812.
character, by giving and deliberately repeating an affront to the
whole nation ? We are instantly menaced with the chastisement
which English pride will not fail to inflict. Whether we assert our
rights by sea, or attempt their maintenance by land — whithersoever
we turn ourselves, this phantom incessantly pursues us. Already
has it had too much influence on the councils of the nation. It
contributed to the repeal of the embargo — that dishonorable repeal,
which has so much tarnished the character of our government.
Mr. President, I have before said on this floor, and now take oc
casion to remark, that I most sincerely desire peace and amity with
England ; that I even prefer an adjustment of all differences with
her, before one with any other nation. But if she persists in a de
nial of justice to us, or if she avails herself of the occupation of
West Florida, to commence war upon us, I trust and hope that all
hearts will unite, in a bold and vigorous vindication of our rights."
Mr. Clay, foreseeing that war with Great Britain was inevitable,
had declined going into the senate again, and in 1811 was elected
to the house of representatives, as the more important branch of
the public service for the occasion. Having made up his mind,
that war was the only course to vindicate the national honor and
rights, all his efforts were directed to bring about the final measure,
from which there could be no retreat, till those rights should be
acknowledged and respected. Though speaker of the house, op
portunities were afforded him, in committee of the whole on the
state of the Union, to express his sentiments ; and it was in this
field that he wielded a paramount influence. His addresses in the
secret sessions, while the question of war was pending, which, as
represented, were most animating and stirring, are of course lost ;
and but a few of those delivered in public debate, are extant.
While the bill to raise an additional regular force of 25,000 men,
was pending, Mr. Clay addressed the house in committee, on the
31st of December, 1811. The following are extracts from this
speech : —
" Mr. Clay [the speaker] said, that when the subject of this bill
was before the house in the abstract form of a resolution, proposed
by the committee of foreign relations, it was the pleasure of the
house to discuss it while he was in the chair. He did not com
plain of this course of proceeding ; for he did not at any time wish
the house, from considerations personal to him, to depart from that
mode of transacting the public business which they thought best.
He merely adverted to the circumstance, as an apology for the
trouble he was about to give the committee. He was at all times
disposed to take his share of responsibility, and under this impres-

MR. CLAY AND THE WAR OF 1812. . 163
sion, he felt that he owed it to his constituents and to himself, be
fore the committee rose, to submit to their attention a few observa
tions. .4
******* *
" The difference between those who were for fifteen thousand,
and those who were for twenty-five thousand men, appeared to him
to resolve itself into the question, merely, of a short or protracted
war ; a war o£ vigor, or a war of languor and imbecility. If a com
petent force be raised in the first instance, the war on the continent
will be speedily terminated. He was aware that it might still rage
on the ocean. But where the nation could act with unquestion
able success, he was in favor of the display of an energy corre
spondent to the feelings and spirit of the country. Suppose one
third of the force he had mentioned (twenty-five thousand men)
could reduce the country, say in three years, and that the whole
could accomplish the same object in one year ; taking into view
the greater hazard of the repulsion and defeat of the small force,
and every other consideration, do not wisdom and true economy
equally decide in favor of the larger force, and thus prevent failure
in consequence of inadequate means ? He begged gentlemen to
recollect the immense extent of the United States : our vast mari
time frontier, vulnerable in almost all its parts to predatory incur
sions, and he was persuaded, they would see that a regular force,
of twenty-five thousand men, was not much too great during a pe
riod of war, if all designs of invading the provinces of the enemy
were abandoned. # *******
" The object ofthe force, he understood distinctly to be war, and
war with Great Britain. It had been supposed, by some gentle
men, improper to discuss publicly so delicate a question. He
did not feel the impropriety. It was a subject in its nature inca
pable of concealment. Even in countries where the powers of
government were conducted by a single ruler, it was almost im
possible for that ruler to conceal his intentions when he meditates
war. The assembling of armies, the strengthening of posts — all
the movements preparatory to war, and which it is impossible to
disguise, unfolded the intentions of the sovereign. Does Russia
or France intend war, the intention is almost invariably known
before the war is commenced. If Congress were to pass a law,
with closed doors, for raising an army for the purpose of war, its
enlistment and organization, which could not be done in secret,
would indicate the use to which it was to be applied ; and we
can not suppose England would be so blind, as not to see that she
was aimed at. Nor could she, did she apprehend, injure us more
by thus. knowing our purposes, than if she were kept in ignorance
of" them. She may, indeed, anticipate us, and commence the war.
But that is what she is in. fact doing, and she can add but little to

164 MR. CLAY AND THE WAR OF 1812.
the injury which she is inflicting. If she choose to declare war in
form, let her do so, the responsibility will be with her."
The purpose of this measure having been avowed, all the ques
tions of expediency in the nation's taking so momentous a step, of
course came up for consideration, and were required to be solved,
of which that of the public finances was not among the least. Was
the nation prepared for the cost ? Asa matter of fact, the foreign
commerce of the country, and as a consequence the public revenue,
were almost entirely ruined by the belligerents. The revenue
had fallen from sixteen millions to six, and it was scarcely possible
to be worse. The wrongs inflicted on the country by the operation
ofthe British orders in council and the French decrees, were not
only disastrous to the public revenue, but equally so to the interests
of private individuals, by the seizure, adjudication, and forfeiture
of their property afloat on the high seas, under plea of a violation
of those orders and decrees. The business of the country, and the
wheels of the government, were both in a fair way of being stopped.
Things, indeed, had come to such a pass, by the operation of these
causes, that, apart from peril of life and injury to public morals, and
as a simple question of finance, it was scarcely possible that war
should not make business, and pay for itself, so far as it respected
the nation at large, though it should run the government in debt.
In such a state of things, it could not be worse.
There was national character, too, honor, a nation's best treasure,
trampled under foot, and kicked about Europe, as a despicable
thing. There were thousands of American sailors, forced into the
British navy, and compelled to fight the battles of the British sov
ereign, without remedy, without hope. To the ruin of American
commerce, were added indignity to the nation by disregarding its
remonstrances, and the violation of the personal rights of American
citizens by depriving them of freedom, and forcing them into a ser
vice where they owed no allegiance, to the peril of their lives, and
the destruction of their fortunes — holding them in captivity from
country, home, and friends. And when the French decrees were
revoked, as respected American commerce, the British government
held the American government responsible for their revocation as
respected all other nations, before they would repeal the orders in
council ! In view of this state of things, Mr. Clay said : —
" England is said to be fighting for the world, and shall we, it
is asked, attempt to weaken her exertions ? If, indeed, the aim
of the French emperor be universal dominion (and he was willing

MR. CLAY AND THE WAR OF 1812. 165
to allow it to the argument), how much nobler a cause is presented
to British valor ! But how is her philanthropic purpose to be
achieved ? By a scrupulous observance of the rights of others,
by respecting that code of public law which she professes to vin
dicate, and by abstaining from self-aggrandizement. Then would
she command the sympathies of the world. What are we re
quired to do by those who would engage our feelings and wishes
in her behalf? To bear the actual cuffs of her arrogance, that we
may escape a chimerical French subjugation ! We are invited,
conjured, to drink the potion of British poison, actually presented
to our lips, that we may avoid the imperial dose prepared by per
turbed imaginations. We are called upon to submit to debase
ment, dishonor, and disgrace ; to bow the neck to royal insolence,
as a course of preparation for manly resistance to gallic invasion !
What nation, what individual, was ever taught, in the schools of
ignominious submission, these patriotic lessons of freedom and in
dependence ? Let those who contend for this humiliating doc
trine, read its refutation in the history of the very man against
whose insatiable thirst of dominion we are warned. The experi
ence of desolated Spain, for the last fifteen years, is worth vol
umes. Did she find her repose and safety in subserviency to the
will of that man ? Had she boldly stood forth and repelled the
first attempt to dictate to her councils, her monarch would not be
now a miserable captive in Marseilles. Let us come home to our
own history : it was not by submission that our fathers achieved
our independence. The patriotic wisdom that placed you, Mr.
Chairman, under that canopy, penetrated the designs of a corrupt
ministry, and nobly fronted encroachment on its first appearance.
It saw, beyond the petty taxes with which it commenced, a long
train of oppressive measures, terminating in the total annihilation
of liberty, and, contemptible as they were, it did not hesitate to
resist them. Take the experience of the last four or five years,
which he was sorry to say exhibited, in appearance, at least, a dif
ferent kind of spirit. He did not wish to view the past, further
than to guide us for the future. We were but yesterday contend
ing for the indirect trade — the right to export to Europe the cof
fee and sugar of the West Indies. To-day we are asserting our
claim to the direct trade — the right to export our cotton, tobacco,
and other domestic produce, to market. Yield this point, and to
morrow intercourse between New York and New Orleans, between
the planters on James river and Richmond, will be interdicted.
For, sir, the career of encroachment is never arrested by submis
sion. It will advance while there remains a single privilege on
which it can operate. Gentlemen say, that this government is
unfit for any war, but a war of invasion. What, is it not equiva
lent to invasion, if the mouths of our harbors and outlets are
blocked up, and we are denied egress from our own waters ? Or,

166 MR. CLAY AND THE WAR OF 1812.
when the burglar is at our door, shall we bravely sally forth and
repel his felonious entrance, or meanly skulk within the cells of
the castle ?
********
' " He [Mr. Clay] was one, who was prepared (and he would
not believe that he was more so than any other member of the
committee) to march on in the road of his duty, at all hazards
What ! shall it be said, that our amor patrice is located at these
desks ; that we pusillanimously cling to our seats here, rather than
boldly vindicate the most inestimable rights of the country ?
While the heroic Daviess, and his gallant associates, exposed to
all the dangers of treacherous savage warfare, are sacrificing them
selves for the good of their country, shall we shrink from our
duty?" When the army-bill was disposed of, a navy-bill came up,
which, among other objects, proposed to build a blank number of
frigates. The most important question was the filling up of this
blank. Mr. Cheves, of South Carolina, moved for the number
of ten. Mr. Rhea, of Tennessee, moved to strike out this sec
tion, which was negatived by a vote of 52 to 47 — a test vote. It
was during the pendency of Mr. Rhea's motion, that Mr. Clay
addressed the committee against it, and in favor of the proposal
of Mr. Cheves. After a brief introduction, Mr. Clay said : —
" The attention of Congress has been invited to this subject by
the president, in his message, delivered at the opening of the ses
sion. Indeed, had it been wholly neglected by the chief magis
trate, from the critical situation of the country, and the nature of
the rights proposed to be vindicated, it must have pressed itself
upon our attention. But, said Mr. Clay, the president, in his
message, observes : ' Your attention will, of course, be drawn to
such provisions on the subject of our naval force, as may be re
quired for the service to which it is best adapted. I submit to
Congress the reasonableness, also, of an authority to augment the
stock of such materials as are imperishable in their nature, or may
not, at once, be attainable ?' The president, by this recommen
dation, clearly intimates an opinion, that the naval force of this
country is capable of producing effect ; and the propriety of lay
ing up imperishable materials, was no doubt suggested for the pur
pose of making additions to the navy, as convenience and exi
gences might direct.
" It appeared to Mr. Clay a little extraordinary, that so much,
as it seemed to him, unreasonable jealousy, should exist against
the naval establishment. If, said he, we look back to the period
of the formation of the constitution, it will be found that no such

MR. CLAY AND THE WAR OF 1812. 167
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 ar
mies, than in that to provide a navy. In reference to the navy, Con
gress 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 comparative utility and safety of these two kinds of force.
He would, however, be indulged in saying, that he thought gen
tlemen had wholly failed in maintaining the position they had as
sumed, that the fall of maritime powers was attributable to
their navies. They have told you, indeed, that Carthage, Genoa,
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 mar
itime 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 ; in
ferences not authorized by historical facts are arbitrarily drawn ;
things wholly unconnected with each other are associated together ;
a very logical mode of reasoning, it must be admitted ! In the
same way he could demonstrate how idle and absurd our attach
ments are to freedom itself. He might say, for example, 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 satisfac
torily follow ! He demanded what there is in the nature and con
struction of maritime power, to excite the fears that have been in
dulged? Do gentlemen really apprehend, that a body of seamen
will abandon their proper element, and, placing themselves undfr
an aspiring chief, will erect a throne to his ambition ? Will tliey
deign to listen to the voice of history, and learn how chimerical
are their apprehensions ?
" But the source of alarm is in ourselves. Gentlemen fear,
that if we provide a marine, it will produce collisions with foreign
nations, plunge us into war, and ultimately overturn the constitu
tion of the country. Sir, if you wish to avoid 'foreign collision,
you had better abandon the ocean ; surrender all your commerce ;
give up all your prosperity. It is the thing protected, not the in
strument of protection, that involves you in war. Commerce en
genders collision, collision war, and war, the argument supposes,
leads to despotism. Would the counsels of that statesman be
deemed wise, who would recommend that the nation should be
unarmed ; that the art of war, the martial spirit, and martial exer
cises, should be prohibited ; who should declare, in the language

168 MR. CLAY AND THE WAR OF 1812.
of Othello, that the nation must bid farewell to the neighing steed,
and the shrill trump, the spirit-stirring drum, the ear-piercing fife,
and all the pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war ; and
that the great body of the people should be taught, that national
happiness was to be found in perpetual peace alone? No, sir.
And yet, every argument in favor of a power of protection on
land^ applies, in some degree, to a power of protection on the sea.
Undoubtedly a commerce void of naval protection is more ex
posed to rapacity than a guarded commerce ; and if we wish to
invite the continuance of the old, or the enactment of new edicts,
let us refrain from all exertion upon that element where we must
operate, and where, in the end, they must be resisted."
It can not but be seen, that this debate is greatly instructive, not
alone as it shows the position occupied by Mr. Clay, but as it
discloses the position of the country, at the time, the views of
public policy entertained, by existing parties, the untried condition
and ability of the naval force, the want of faith in that arm of the
public service, and the difficulties which were to be encountered
in raising it from infancy to manhood, and sending it out boldly to
assert the rights and exemplify the valor of the nation on the deep.
It is clear enough, that Mr. Clay, though speaker of the house
of representatives, and sufficiently tasked in that capacity, was also
a leader in debates, and leader of the party disposed to stir up the
nation to a trial of strength with at least one of the great trans
atlantic belligerents, both of which had done such wrongs, and
offered such insults, to the people and government of the United
States. The house was accustomed to go into committee — thus
relieving Mr. Clay from the duties of speaker — for the purpose of
giving him opportunities to express his views on any pending
measures, and of availing itself of the benefit of his counsels,
and of his stirring eloquence. Fresh from the bosom ofthe patri
otic and gallant people of the west, himself not behind in these
lofty sentiments, animated by the ardor and nerved with the vigor
of a young statesman, endowed with such faculties of persuasion as
few men ever possessed, sensitive, not less to public than to private
honor, thoroughly informed in the foreign relations of the govern
ment and the capabilities of the United States, Mr. Clay viewed
with mortification the position of the country, and looked* with
scorn and indignation at the wrongs and insults of Great Britain
and France which had placed it there. Unused to arms since the
national independence was acquired, and that great battle having
been fought for freedom — for the "lives, fortunes, and sacred honor"

MR. CLAY AND THE WAR OF 1812. 169
of the people — it was a great problem what might be the result of
a conflict waged on such grounds as were at this time presented,
and a great responsibility in pushing the nation into it. But the
alternatives were only two : commercial ruin and national debase
ment on the one hand, or bearding the British lion in his den on
the other. A young nation born into existence by agony: from
which there was no escape, was now to measure weapons with the
oldest and most powerful empire on earth in defence of its honor.
The responsibility of a leader in such an enterprise was great.
Having just come out of the debate on a measure for raising a
suitable land force, about which all reasonings could be based on
some tangible probabilities, the navy was a subject which could not
but be regarded with extreme concern, in a war with " the mistress
ofthe seas." And yet it was a subject that must be approached,
in a preparation for such a war ; and it presented a question that
must be disposed of. Should the sea be abandoned to the foe,
and its road to national wealth and greatness be surrendered to the
sole travel of an arrogant highwayman ? Or should a young na
tion, reduced by a visionary policy to gunboat tactics and garrison
defences, like a chicken on a dunghill defying the hawk that is
sailing downward on his prey, go out in such a field against such
odds ? ' It is no wonder that discouragement, and a feeling like
dismay, should have pervaded so many minds at the prospect. To
begin to build a navy, at the moment of going into war with the
greatest maritime power in the world, was indeed a bold proposal
— apparently bordering on presumption. But it was a necessity,
before the face of which patriotism could not flee — a doom which
national gallantry was forced to encounter.
Mr. Clay, after answering all objections, which seemed to van-v
ish as he touched them, suggested three hypothetical descriptions
of naval force for the exigency : One large enough to cope with
any antagonist, in any sea. That, manifestly, was impracticable.
Another, consisting "of a number, of ships, of proper classes, and
well appointed, sufficient to meet, in the American seas, any force
that could be spared from the British service at that time, with the
engagements which Great Britain then had on hand — it being sup
posed, that so distant a service as British ships hovering over the
American coast, would require three to one of a home squadron,
as not more than one third of the former could be kept constantly
on the station. This, too, was impracticable.
A third description of force, therefore, was the only one, which

170 MR. CLAY AND THE WAR OF 1812.
seemed to be within the power of the nation, at that time, to pro
vide, to wit, one adequate to afford some protection to the coasting
trade, defend the harbors and seaports, and occasionally venture
out to chastise the insolence of any single British ship that might
show itself. " If," said Mr. Clay, " we are not able to meet the
wolves of the forest, shall we put up with the barking impudence
of every petty cur that trips across our path ? Because we can
not guard against every possible danger, shall we provide against
none ? I hope not. I had hardly expected, that that instructing,
but humiliating lesson was so soon to be forgotten, which was
taught us in the murder of Pearce, the attack on the Chesapeake,
and the insult offered in the very harbor of Charleston, which the
brave old fellow who commanded the fort in vain endeavored to
chastise. It is a rule with me, when acting in a public or private
character, to attempt nothing more than what there is a prospect
of accomplishing. I am, therefore, not in favor of entering into
any mad projects on this subject, but for deliberately and reso
lutely pursuing what I believe to be within the power of govern
ment." The following remarks of Mr. Clay on the importance of foreign
commerce to the people and government of the country, and on the
intimate connexion between a commercial and military marine, are
not more forcibly stated than true : —
"He considered the prosperity of foreign commerce indissolubly
allied to marine power. Neglect to provide the one, and you must
abandon the other. Suppose the expected war with England is
commenced, you enter and subjugate Canada, and she still refuses
to do you justice; what other possible mode will remain to oper
ate on the enemy, but upon that element where alone you can
then come in contact with him? And if you do not prepare to
protect there your own commerce, and to assail his, will he not
sweep from the ocean every vessel bearing your flag, and destroy
even the coasting trade? But, from the arguments of gentlemen,
it would seem to be questioned, if foreign commerce is worth the
kind of protection insisted upon. What is this foreign commerce,
that has suddenly become so inconsiderable ? It has, with very
trifling aid from other sources, defrayed the expenses of govern
ment, ever since the adoption of the present constitution ; main
tained an expensive 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 extinguishing up
ward of forty-six millions of the public debt. In revenue, it has,
since the year 1789, yielded one hundred and ninety-one millions

MR. CLAY AND THE WAR OF 1812. 171
of dollars. During the first four years after the commencement
of the present government, the revenue averaged only about two
millions annually; during a subsequent period, of four years, it
rose to an average of fifteen millions, annually, or became equiv
alent 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 reestablished, it will, in the course of time, net a sum for which
we are scarcely furnished with figures, in arithmetic. 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 confi
dence that government would afford them that just protection
which is due to all. They will be driven into foreign employment,
for it is vain to expect that they will renounce their habits of life.
" The spirit of commercial enterprise, so strongly depicted by
the gentleman fron* New York [Mr. Mitchell], is diffused through
out the country. It is a passion as unconquerable as any with
which nature has endowed us. You may attempt, indeed, to reg
ulate, but you can not destroy it. It exhibits itself as well on the
waters of the western country, as on the waters and shores of the
Atlantic. Mr. Clay had heard of a vessel, built at Pittsburg, hav
ing crossed the Atlantic and entered a European port (he believed
that of Leghorn). The master of the vessel laid his papers before
the proper customhouse officer, which, of course, stated the place
of her departure. The officer boldly denied the existence of any
such American port as Pittsburg, and threatened a seizure of the
vessel, as being furnished with forged papers. The affrighted
master procured a map of the United States, and pointing out the
gulf of Mexico, took the officer to the mouth of the Mississippi,
traced the course of the Mississippi more than a thousand miles,
to the mouth of the Ohio, and conducting him still a thousand
miles higher, to the junction of the Allegany and Monongahela —
' There,' he exclaimed, ' stands Pittsburg, the port from which I
sailed!'" The efforts of Mr. Clay in Congress, and in all his private rela
tions, during this season of preparation for war, were unremitting,
desiring to go into it with unanimity and vigor, that it might end
with honor and the achievement of the objects of the conflict.
When war was declared, the manifest importance of having at
the head of the army a man of talents, decision, energy, and weight

172 MR. CLAY AND THE WAR OF 1812.
of character, notwithstanding Mr. Clay had been trained exclu
sively in the civil service, suggested to the mind of President
Madison, that he was the man, and he had made up his mind to
send in his name to the senate for the office of major-general.
Mr. Gallatin — though he and Mr. Clay have never been on the
best terms — is understood to have said, that he knew of no man so
prompt and fruitful in expedients for an exigency, as Mr. Clay — a
qualification, of all others, most important for a military captain.
This is the universal opinion of his character, and it has been suf
ficiently proved. Mr. Madison, doubtless, had made this discov
ery, and it is an interesting subject of hypothetical review, what
would probably have been the result, if Mr. Clay had been put in
this important and responsible position. None who know the
man can doubt, that the utmost activity and energy would have
been displayed in the military operations of the country, and that
the war might have been brought to a close in half the time and
at half the expense. What other consequences might have fol
lowed in Mr. Clay's civil history, after having worn an epaulet and
sword, with credit to himself and benefit to his countiy, is matter
of innocent conjecture. Mr. Madison, however, was dissuaded
from his purpose, on the ground, that Mr. Clay's services were
indispensable in the national councils. The president tendered to
him the mission to Russia, for important public purposes, after
the war, and afterward one of the executive departments, both of
which were declined — doubtless for the reasons which had induced
him to decline the more elevated and dignified position of a sena
tor, for the more useful one of a commoner. Mr. Monroe> after
ward offered Mr. Clay a secretaryship at home, and a carte blanche
of all the foreign missions ; but he preferred the house of repre
sentatives. It is well known, that the first year of the war was not very
creditable to the American arms, and that it was disheartening to
the spirit of the country. The opposition in Congress heaped
upon the administration reproachful censure for having engaged in
the war, which roused Mr. Clay, not only to its vindication, but
to some vehement expressions of patriotic indignation. . In Janu
ary, 1813, a bill was before Congress, to increase the army by
twenty additional regiments. On the Sth of this month, in com
mittee ofthe whole, Mr. Clay noticed these attacks on the govern
ment, and replied to some invectives on the merits of the war.
In recording the services of a statesman, in peace or war, he is

MR. CLAY AND THE WAR OF 1812. 173
to be represented in the field which he occupies, or in which he
enacts his part. The roar of artillery and the clash of steel are
not in the senate of a nation ; but there are battles even there.
The statesman who sways the councils of his country, by his wis
dom and eloquence, occupies a position more lofty and more com
manding, than any other public agent. Armies are raised and
moved, and fleets scour the seas, for pacific functions, or in search
of the foe, under his orders. He is forced to look on all at home,
and all abroad — to secure, protect, and vindicate domestic inter
ests and rights, against foreign policies and foreign aggressions.
His tent is the canopy of heaven, and his field the world. He
fights in war, and fights in peace. There is no repose for him
who guards with vigilance and fidelity the public weal.
The position which Mr. Clay occupied in the war of 1812, was
eminent. That he had been eminently influential in its inception,
and in committing the nation to the hazard, could not be unknown ;
and in view of the adverse events of its early history, the oppo
nents of the war and of the administration fell heavily upon him
who had been so active in bringing it about. He thus replies : —
" Sir, gentlemen appear to me to forget, that they stand on
American soil ; that they are not in the British house of commons,
but in the chamber of the house of representatives of the United
States ; that we have nothing to do with the affairs of Europe, the
partition of territory and sovereignty there, except so far as these
things affect the interests of our own country. Gentlemen trans
form themselves into the Burkes, Chathams, and Pitts, of another
country, and forgetting, from honest zeal, the interests of America,
engage with European sensibility in the discussion of European
interests. If gentlemen ask me, whether I do not view with
regret and horror the concentration of such vast power in the hands
of Bonaparte, I reply, that I do. I regret to see the emperor of
China holding such immense sway over the fortunes of millions
of our species. I regret to see Great Britain possessing so uncon
trolled a command over all the waters of our globe. If I had the
ability to distribute among the nations of Europe their several por
tions of power and of sovereignty, I would say, that Holland
should be resuscitated, and given the weight she enjoyed in the
days of her De Witts. I would confine France within her natural
boundaries, the Alps, Pyrenees, and the Rhine, and make her a
secondary naval power only. 1 would abridge the British mari
time power, raise Prussia and Austria to their original condition,
and preserve the integrity ofthe empire of Russia. But these are
speculations. I look at the political transactions of Europe, with
the single exception of their possible bearing upon us, as I do at the

174 MR. CLAY AND THE WAR OF 1812.
history of other countries, or other times. I do not survey them
with half the interest that I do the movements in South America.
Our political relation with them is much less important than it is
supposed to be. I have no fears of French or English subjuga
tion. If we are united we are too powerful for fhe mightiest nation
in Europe, or all Europe combined. If we are separated and torn
asunder, we shall become an easy prey to the weakest of them.
In the latter dreadful contingency, our country will not be worth
preserving. " Next to the notice which the opposition has found itself called
upon to bestow upon the French emperor, a distinguished citizen
of Virginia, formerly president of the United States, has never for
a moment failed to receive their kindest and most respectful atten
tion. An honorable gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Quincy],
of whom I am sorry to say, it becomes necessary for me, in the
course of my remarks, to take some notice, has alluded to him in
a remarkable manner. Neither his retirement from public office,
his eminent services, nor his advanced age, can exempt this patriot
from the coarse assaults of party malevolence. No, sir. In 1801,
he snatched from the rude hand of usurpation the violated consti
tution of his country, and that is his crime. He preserved that
instrument, in form, and substance, and spirit, a precious inheri
tance for generations to come, and for this he can never be for
given. How vain and impotent is party rage, directed against such
a man ! He is not more elevated by his lofty residence, upon the
summit of his own favorite mountain, than he is lifted, by the
serenity of his mind, and the consciousness of a well-spent life,
above the malignant passions and bitter feelings of the day. No !
his own beloved Monticello is not less moved by the storms that
beat against its sides, than is this illustrious man, by the howlings
of the whole British pack, set loose from the Essex kennel !
When the gentleman to whom I have been compelled to allude,
shall have mingled his dust with that of his abused ancestors,
when he shall have been consigned to oblivion, or, if he lives at
all, shall live only in the treasonable annals of a certain junto, the
name of Jefferson will be hailed with gratitude, his memory hon
ored and cherished as the second founder of the liberties of the
people, and the period of his administration will be looked back
to, as one of the happiest and brightest epochs of American his
tory — an oasis in the midst of a sandy desert. But I beg the
gentleman's pardon ; he has indeed secured to himself a more
imperishable fame than I had supposed : I think it was about four
years ago that he submitted to the house of representatives, an
initiative proposition for the impeachment of Mr. Jefferson. The
house condescended to consider it. The gentleman debated it with
his usual temper, moderation, and urbanity. The house decided
upon it in the most solemn manner, and, although the gentleman

MR. CLAY AND THE WAR OF 1812. 175
had some how obtained a second, the final vote stood, one for,
and one hundred and seventeen against, the proposition !
* * * # * # * *
"But, sir, I must speak of another subject, which I never think
of but with feelings of the deepest awe. The gentleman from
Massachusetts, in imitation of some of his predecessors of 1799,
has entertained us with a picture of cabinet plots, presidential
plots, and all sorts of plots, which have been engendered by the
diseased state of the gentleman's imagination. I wish, sir, that
another plot, of a much more serious and alarming character — a
plot that aims at the dismemberment of our Union — had only the
same imaginary existence. But no man, who has paid any atten
tion to the tone of certain prints, and to transactions in a particular
quarter of the Union, for several years past, can doubt the existence
of such a plot. It was far, very far from my intention to charge
the opposition with such a design. No, I believe them generally
incapable of it. But I can not say as much for some, who have
been unworthily associated with them in the quarter of the Union
to which I have referred. The gentleman can not have forgotten
his own sentiment, uttered even on the floor of this house, ' peace
ably if we can, forcibly if we must,' nearly at the very time
Henry's mission to Boston was undertaken. The flagitiousness
of that embassy had been attempted to be concealed, by directing
the public attention to the price which, the gentleman says, was
given for the disclosure. As if any price could change the atro-
ciousness of the attempt on the part of Great Britain, or could
extenuate, in the slightest degree, the offence of those citizens, who
entertained and deliberated upon a proposition so infamous and
unnatural ! There was a most remarkable coincidence between
some of the things which that man states, and certain events in the
quarter alluded to. In the contingency of war with Great Britain,
it will be recollected, that the neutrality and eventual separation
of that section of the Union was to be brought about. How, sir,
has it happened, since the declaration of war, that British officers
in Canada have asserted to American officers, that this very neu
trality would take place? That they have so asserted, can be
established beyond controversy. The project is not brought for
ward openly, with a direct avowal of the intention. No, the stock
of good sense and patriotism in that portion of the country is too
great to be undisguisedly encountered. It is assailed from the
masked batteries of friendship, of peace and commerce, on the one
side, and by the groundless imputation of opposite propensities on
the other. The affections of the people, there, are gradually to
be undermined. The project is suggested or withdrawn ; the dia
bolical dramatis personce, in this criminal tragedy, make their
appearance or exit, as the audience, to whom they address them
selves, applaud or condemn. I was astonished, sir, in reading lately

176 MR. CLAY AND THE WAR OF 1812.
a letter, or pretended letter, published in a prominent print in that
quarter, and written, not in the fervor of party zeal, but coolly and
dispassionately, to find that the writer affected to reason about a
separation, and attempted to demonstrate its advantages to the
different portions of the Union — deploring the existence now of
what he terms prejudices against it, but hoping for |he arrival of
the period when they shall be eradicated. But, sir, I will quit
this unpleasant subject.
******** " The war was declared, because Great Britain arrogated to
herself the pretension of regulating our foreign trade, under the
delusive name of retaliatory orders in council — a pretension by
which she undertook to proclaim to American enterprise, ' thus
far shalt thou go, and no further' — orders which she refused to
revoke, after the alleged cause of their enactment had ceased ;
because she persisted in the practice of impressing American
seamen ; because she had instigated the Indians to commit hostili
ties against us ; and because she refused indemnity for her past
injuries upon our commerce. I throw out ofthe question .other
wrongs. The war in fact was announced, on our part, to meet the
war which she was waging on her part. So undeniable were the
causes of the war, so powerfully did they address themselves to the
feelings of the whole American people, that when the bill was
pending before this house, gentlemen in the opposition, although
provoked to debate, would not, or could not, utter one syllable
against it. It is true, they wrapped themselves up in sullen silence,
pretending they did not choose to debate such a question in secret
session. While speaking of the proceedings on that occasion, I
beg to be admitted to advert to another fact which transpired —
an, important fact, material for the nation to know, and which I
have often regretted had not been spread upon our journals. My
honorable colleague [Mr. McKee] moved, in committee of the
whole, to comprehend France in the war ; and when the question
was taken upon the proposition, there appeared but ten votes in
support of it, of whom, seven belonged to this side of the house,
and three only to the other ! It is said, that we were inveigled into
the war by the perfidy of France ; and that, had she furnished the
document in time, which was first published in England, in May
last, it would have been prevented. I will concede to gentlemen
everything they ask about the injustice of France toward this
country. I wish to God that our ability was equal to our disposi
tion, to make her feel the sense that we entertain of that injustice.
The manner of the publication of the paper in question, was,
undoubtedly, extremely exceptionable. But I maintain, that, had
it made its appearance earlier it would not have had the effect sup
posed ; and the proof lies in the unequivocal declarations of the
British government. I will trouble you, sir, with going no further

\MR. CLAY AND THE WAR OF 1812. 177
back than to the letters of the British minister, addressed to the
secretary of state, just before the expiration of his diplomatic
functions. It will be recollected by the committee, that he exhib
ited to this government a despatch from Lord Castlereagh, in which
the principle was distinctly avowed that', to produce the effect of a
repeal of the orders in council, the French decrees must be ab
solutely and entirely revoked as to all the world, and not as to
America alone. A copy of that despatch was demanded of him,
and he very awkwardly evaded it. But on the tenth of June, after
the bill declaring war had actually passed this house, and was
pending before the senate (and which, I have no doubt, was
known to him), in a letter to Mr. Monroe, he says : ' I have no
hesitation, sir, in saying, that Great' Britain, as the case has hither-.
to stood, never did, and never could, engage, without the greatest
injustice to herself and her allies, as well as to other neutral nations,
to repeal her orders as affecting America alone, leaving them in
force against other states, upon condition that France would
except, singly and specially, America from the operation of her
decrees.' On the fourteenth of the same month, the bill still pend
ing before the senate, he repeats : ' I will now say, that I feel en
tirely authorized to assure you, that if you can, at any time, pro
duce a full and unconditional repeal ofthe French decrees, as you
have a right to demand it, in your character of a neutral nation,
and that it be disengaged from any question concerning our mari
time rights, we shall be ready to meet you with a revocation of the
orders in council. Previously to your producing such an instru
ment, which I am sorry to see you regard as unnecessary, you
can not expect of us to give up our orders in council.' Thus,
sir, you see, that the British government would not be content with
a repeal of the French decrees as to us only. But the French'
paper in question was such a repeal. It could not, therefore, sat
isfy the British government. It could not, therefore, have induced
that government, had it been earlier promulgated, to repeal the or
ders in council. It could not, therefore, have averted the war. The
withholding of it did not occasion the war, and the promulgation
of it would not have prevented the war. But gentlemen have
contended, that, in point of fact, it did produce a repeal of the
orders in council. This I deny. After it made its appearance in
England, it was declared by one of the British ministry in parlia
ment, not to be satisfactory. And all the world knows, that the
repeal of the orders in council resulted from the inquiry, reluctantly
acceded to by the ministry, into the effect upon their manufactur
ing establishments, of our non-importation law, or to the warlike
attitude assumed by this government, or to both.
#*###**# " It is not to the British principle [of allegiance], objectiona
ble as it is, that we are alone to look ; it is to her practice ; no
Vol. L— 12

178 MR. CLAY AND THE WAR OF 1812.
matter what guise she puts on. It is in vain to assert the invio
lability of the obligation of allegiance. It is in vain to set up the
plea of necessity, and to allege that she can not exist, without the
impressment of her seamen. The naked truth is, she comes, by
her press-gangs, on board of our vessels, seizes our native as well
as naturalized seamen, and drags them into her service. It is the
case, then, of the assertion of an erroneous principle, and of a
practice not conformable to the asserted principle — a principle,
which, if it were theoretically right, must be for ever practically
wrong — a practice which can obtain countenance from no princi
ple whatever, and to submit to which, on our part, would betray
the most abject degradation. We are told, by gentlemen in the
opposition, that government has not done all that was incumbent
on it to do, to avoid just cause of complaint on the part of Great
Britain ; that in particular the certificates of protection, authorized
by the act of 1796, are fraudulently used. Sir, government has
done too much in granting those paper protections. I can never
think of them without being shocked. They resemble the passes
which the master grants to his negro slave — 'Let the bearer, Mungo,
pass and repass without molestation.' What do they imply?
That Great Britain has a right to seize all who are not provided
with them. From their very nature, they must be liable to abuse
on both sides. If Great Britain desires a mark, by which she
can know her own subjects, let her give them an ear-mark. The
colors that float from the mast-head should be the credentials of
our seamen. There is no safety to us, and the gentlemen have
shown it, but in the rule, that all who sail under the flag (not be
ing enemies) are protected by the flag. It is impossible that this
country should ever abandon the gallant tars, who have won for
us such splendid trophies. Let me suppose that the genius of
Columbia should visit one of them in his oppressor's prison, and
attempt to reconcile him to his forlorn and wretched condition.
She would say to him, in the language of gentlemen on the other
side : ' Great Britain intends you no harm ; she did not mean to
impress you, but one of her own subjects; having taken you by
mistake, I will remonstrate, and try to prevail upon her, by peacea
ble means, to release you ; but 1 can not, my son, fight for you.'
If he did not consider this mere mockery, the poor tar would ad
dress her judgment, and say : ' You owe me, my country, protec
tion : I owe you, in return, obedience. I am no British subject ; I
am a native of old Massachusetts, where lived my aged father, my
wife, my children. I have faithfully discharged my duty. Will
you refuse to do yours ?' Appealing to her passions he would con
tinue : ' I lost this eye in fighting under Truxton, with the Insur
gente ; I got this scar before Tripoli ; I broke this leg on board
the Constitution, when the Guerriere struck.' If she remained

MR. CLAY AND THE WAR OF 1812. 179
still unmoved, he would break out in the accents of mingled dis
tress and despair,
" ' Hard, hard is my fate ! once I freedom enjoyed,
Was as happy as happy could be !
Oh ! how hard is my fate, how galling these chains !'
I will not imagine the dreadful catastrophe to which he would be
driven by an abandonment of him to his oppressor. It will not
be, it can not be, that his country will refuse him protection."
Having shown by documentary evidence, that there was notlw
ing in the alleged repeal of the British orders in council that I
could constitute a ground of pacification, Mr. Clay proceeded to \
the consideration of other points of attack from the opposition. \
The focus of the fires that were poured in, he sent back his scorch- j
ing flames on the assailants of the administration. When they
averred, that those most interested in impressment, were most op
posed to the war, he taunted this lack of humanity, and pointed to
the sympathy of the west, to shame them for such an avowal. He
could not believe they would so libel themselves, or that they had
done justice to their constituents. Did not the latter sympathize
with their western brethren exposed to the Indian tomahawk ?
No matter whether an American citizen seeks subsistence amid
the dangers of the deep, or draws it from the bowels of the earth,
or from agriculture, or from the humblest occupations of mechanic
life — whatever be his vocation — the rights of an American free
man are sacred, and when assailed, all hearts should unite, and
every arm be braced, to vindicate his cause. But the rights of sea
men, who brave the hardships and perils of the deep, in bold adven
ture for the common good as well as fortheirown personal advantage,
are especially sacred.
Continuing in this sarcastic vein, well provoked, Mr. .Clay said : —
" When the administration was striving, by the operation of
peaceful measures, to bring Great Britain back to a sense of jus
tice, they were for old-fashioned war. And now they have got
old-fashioned war, their sensibilities are cruelly shocked, and all
their sympathies lavished upon the harmless inhabitants of the ad
joining provinces. What does a state of war present? The uni
ted energies of one people arrayed against the combined energies
of another; a conflict in which each party aims to inflict all the
injury it can, by sea and land, upon the territories, property, and
citizens of the other — subject only to the rules of mitigated war,
practised by civilized nations. The gentleman would not touch
the continental provinces of the enemy, nor, I presume, for the
same reason, her possessions in the West Indies. The same hu-

180 MR. CLAY AND THE WAR OF 1812.
mane spirit would spare the seamen and soldiers of the eneniy.
The sacred person of his majesty must not be attacked ; for the
learned gentlemen, on the other side, are quite familiar with the
maxim, that the king can do no wrong. Indeed, sir, I know of no
person on whom we may make war, upon the principles of the
honorable gentleman, but Mr. Stephen, the celebrated author of
the orders in council, or the board of admiralty, who authorize and
regulate the practice of impressment !
" The disasters of the war admonish us, we are told, of the ne
cessity of terminating the contest. If our achievements by land
have been less splendid than those of our intrepid seamen by
water, it is not because the American soldier is less brave. On the
one element, organization, discipline, and a thorough knowledge
of their duties, exist, on the part of the officers and their men.
On the other, almost everything is yet to be acquired. We have,
however, the consolation that our country abounds with the richest
materials, and that in no instance, when engaged in action, have
our arms been tarnished. At Brownstown and at Queenstown,
the valor of veterans was displayed, and acts of the noblest hero
ism were performed. It is true, that the disgrace of Detroit re
mains to be wiped off. That is a subject on which I can not trust
my feelings ; it is not fitting I should speak. But this much I will
say, it was an event which no human foresight could have antici
pated, and for which the administration can not be justly censured.
It was the parent of all the misfortunes we have experienced on
land. But for it, the Indian war would have been, in a great
measure, prevented or terminated; the ascendency on Lake Erie
acquired, and the war pushed on, perhaps to Montreal. With the
exception of that event, the war, even upon the land, has been at
tended by a series of the most brilliant exploits."
Fortunately for the country, the labors of Mr. Clay and his co-'
adjutors, were not in vain. The navy, on the Atlantic and on the
lakes, earned for itself an imperishable fame, and demonstrated, to
the full conviction of the American people — a most desirable result
— the vast importance of sustaining and rendering efficient this arm
of the national strength. The army nobly retrieved its character,
and the war was ended in the full blaze of the victory of New Or
leans, January 8, 1815. The recital of military history, is another
function from that of recording the deeds of statesmen, and that of
the war of 1812 claims the attention of an able hand. It is under
stood, while the author is writing this chapter, to be in progress.
,\) The spirit of Mr. Clay, as cherished throughout that war, is
"\J [perhaps well exemplified in the following passage : —
" An honorable peace is attainable only by an efficient war.
My plan would be, to call out the ample resources of the country,

MR. CLAY AND THE WAR OF 1812. 181
give them a judicious direction, prosecute the war with the utmost
vigor, strike wherever we can reach the enemy, at sea or on land,
and negotiate the terms of a peace at Quebec or at Halifax. We
are told, that England is a proud and lofty nation, which, disdain
ing to wait for danger, meets it half way. Haughty as she is, we
once triumphed over her, and, if we do not listen to the counsels
of timidity and despair, we shall again prevail. In such a cause,
with the aid of Providence, we must come out crowned with suc
cess ; but if we fail, let us fail like men, lash ourselves to our gal
lant tars, and expire together in one common struggle, fighting for
FREE TRADE AND SEAMEN'S RIGHTS."
"Free trade and seamen's rights." — There can not,
perhaps, be a better place than this to intimate, what advantage
has been taken of this expression, "free trade," so deeply plant
ed in the passions, in the heart, of the American people, to
pervert it from its original meaning, and in applying it to an
other question. " Free trade and sailors' rights," was one of the
most powerful popular appeals, before and during the war of 1812 ;
and it will be seen, from the use of "free trade" in this place, by
Mr. Clay, that it related to the right of search and impressment,
as asserted by the British government, as it was at that time prac
tised on American seamen, and thus became one of the chief
causes of the war; and that "free trade" then meant the right to
sail on the great highway of nations, in the pursuits of commerce,
without question, without interruption, and without "visit," by a
foreign power. This was the kind of "free trade" contended for
in the war of 1812. But the expression has more recently been
used in the debates on the protective policy, to mean a very differ
ent thing ; and yet more than half the people, perhaps, think it
means the same thing, and are therefore attached to it. They
fought for it once — why not fight for it now? It is obviously un
fair to take advantage of such a feeling, when the people would as
soon fight against " free trade" as it is now used, if they under
stood, it, as they fought for it in the sense it was used thirty years
ago. This is one of the instances in which words are things. It
will probably take half a century to eradicate the original meaning
of this phrase from the American mind, and substitute the present.
By free trade most people still understands/air trade, whereas, as a
technical phrase in political economy, as now employed, it means
directly the opposite. Hence the undesirableness of converting
scientific technicalities into popular uses, it being so difficult, next

182 MR. CLAY AND THE WAR OF 1812.
to impossible, to make the people understand them. As in the
application of the word " democrat" to one party, that party has
all the advantage, and the other all the disadvantage.
The brief sketch of Mr. Clay's career, given in this chapter, is
a fair exhibit of the position which he occupied during the war
of 1812. The government embarked in the contest in the midst
of powerfully-conflicting opinions, as to the necessity, propriety,
or expediency of so momentous a step. The administration was
vigorously, not to say violently, assailed from where it had need
and some claims for encouragement and support. The first stages
of the war were disastrous, and gave great advantage, both to the
enemy and to domestic opposition. But the brilliant achievements
of its later stages, and the final result, put the whole matter in a
new and different light ; and the lapse of thirty years has served
only to impart additional validity to a general conviction enter
tained at the close of the war, that the nation acquired by that
struggle very important benefits and needful advantages. It was
rescued from contempt, and elevated to a proud position.
The part borne by Mr. Clay in that trying period, adds not less
to his claims on the gratitude of the country, than to the blaze of
his reputation. At one time portraying, in manly terms, and with
burning indignation, the insults and injuries of the foe ; at another
remonstrating with domestic opponents ; then addressing himself,
in the manner of the discharge of his patriotic duties, to the whole
American people, he disarmed opposition, chased away the fears
of the timid, imparted fresh courage to the strong, and stood by
the government, himself eminent and influential in its counsels,
both in the origination and conduct of the war. The influence he
wielded over the moral, and in that way, over the physical power
of the country, was commanding. His animating spirit, his stir
ring eloquence, his useful counsels, and his untiring agency, from
the position he occupied, were everywhere felt, and equally bene
ficial, in the army and navy, to incite them to deeds of valor and
of victory, as in the presiding magistracy of the nation, to give it
constancy, and nerve it with vigor. By his comprehensive states
manship,*^ his timely advice, and by his persuasions, the resour
ces of the country started from repose, were put in effective action,
and the nation, though it went into the contest under the greatest
disadvantages, and was sometimes disheartened, was in die end
victorious, and prepared to demand honorable peace.

MK. CLAY AND THE WAR OF 1812. 183
The part of duty assigned to Mr. Clay in the negotiations of
Ghent, and the manner of its discharge, has already been noticed.
On his return to the United States, and to Lexington, after the
peace, his fellow-citizens gave him a public dinner, where the fol
lowing sentiment, among others, was read: "Our able nego^
tiators at Ghent : Their talents and diplomacy have kept
pace with the valor of our arms, in demonstrating to the enemy
that these states will be free." —
To which Mr. Clay replied : —
" I feel myself called on, by the sentiment just expressed, to re
turn my thanks, in behalf of my colleagues and myself. I do not,
and am quite sure they do not, feel, that, in the service alluded to,
they are at all entitled to the compliment which has been paid
them. We could not do otherwise than reject the demand made
by the other party ; and if our labors finally terminated in an hon
orable peace, it was owing to causes on this side of the Atlantic,
and not to 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, -T-he
= fi£§LXglaJe^to_tiie time of jh.e conclusion of the ..peace. Had it
been made immediately after the treaty of Paris, we should have
retired humiliated from the contest, believing that we had escaped
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 magna
nimity 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 im
pression upon us. Our military character, then in the lowest state
of degradation, would have been unretrieved. Fortunately 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 con
solation, is, that we fought the most powerful nation, perhaps, in
existence, singlehanded and "alone, without~ahy sort of alliance.
More than thirtyyears had Great Britain been maturing her physi
cal means, which she had rendered as efficacious as possible, by
skill, by discipline, and by actual service. Proudly boasting of

184 MR.. CLAY and THE WAR OF 1812.
the conquest of Europe, she vainly flattered herself with the easy
conquest of America also. Her veterans were put to flight or de
feated, while all Europe — I mean the governments of Europe —
was gazing with cold indifference, or sentiments of positive hatred
of us, upon the arduous contest. Hereafter no monarch can as
sert claims of gratitude upon us, for assistance 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
its 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 sacri
fices. And what were those demands ? Here, in the immediate
neighborhood ofa sister state and territories, which were to be made
in part the victims, they must have been felt, and their enormity.
justly appreciated. They consisted of the erection of a. barrier be
tween 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 thousands of freemen, who were to
be abandoned to their fate, and creating a new power, totally un
known upon the continent of America; of_tije_.dismandjng_pjfo.ur
jflrlresses, and naval power on the lakes, with the surrender of the
military occupation of those waters to the enemy, and of an ar-
rondissement for two British provinces. These demands, boldly
asserted, and one of them declared to be a sine qua non, were
finally relinquished. 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 effect&-of _tfae war are highly satisfactory. ^hroad,\ our
character, which at the time of its declaration was intEe lowest
state of degradation, is raised to the highest point of elevation. It
is impossible for any American to visit Europe, without being sen
sible of this agreeable change, in the personal attentions which he
receives, in the praises which are bestowed on our past exertions,
and die predictions which are made as to our future prospects. At
[hgmj_£a government, which, at its formation, was apprehended by
its best friends, and pronounced by its enemies, to be incapable of
standing the shock, is found to answer all the purposes of its insti
tution. In spite of the errors which have been committed (and
errors ha\je undoubtedly 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. . Government Jjas thus acquired
sfisflgthand confidence. fTJurin prosp.ects.ib.r- A«Ifu.tiirp , are of the
brightest kind. With every reason to count on the permanence

MR. CLAY AND THE WAR OF 1812. 185
of peace, it remains only for the government to determine upon
military and naval establishments adapted to the growth and exten
sion of our country and its rising importance, keeping in view a
gradual, but not burdensome, increase.o£-the. navy ; to provide for
the payment of the interest, and the redemption of the public debt,
and' for the current expenses of government. For all these objects,
the existing sources of the revenue promise not only to be abun
dantly sufficient, but will probably leave ample scope to the exer
cise of the judgment of Congress, in selecting for repeal, modifica
tion, or abolition, those which may be found most oppressive, in
convenient, or unproductive."
It is not easy to estimate the importance of the public functions
discharged by Mr. Clay in that period of American history com
prehended in the war of 1812, and in bringing about an honorable
and lasting peace. He was then only a young man, but pre-emi
nent in influence — an influence earned by toil, and justly awarded
to talent. Devotion to country, worthy of a better age, seems to
have been the mainspring of his exertions. None can deny that
he was equal to every exigency that arose in the domestic condi
tion of the United States, and in the foreign relations of the gov
ernment. He enjoyed a pre-eminent share of the confidence of
Congress, of the executive branch of the government, and of the
whole country; nor has the bitterest of his enemies ever presumed
to say, that he abused it. Mr. Clay was never a man to abuse
faith, public or private ; but, when forced, in the discharge of his
duties, to avail himself of it, he has used it most charily. With
all the boldness of character that has sometimes been ascribed to
him, personal diffidence has always tempered his conduct, and
circumscribed the energy of his intellectual and moral powers within
the limits of a cautious prudence. For intrepidity of enterprise, no
man, naturally, ever exceeded him ; and for discretion, few have
ever rivalled him.

1S6 MR. CLAY ON DOMESTIC SLAVERY.

CHAPTER X.
Mr. Clay on Domestic Slavery.
It will be incumbent on those wno would correctly view
and rightly represent Mr. Clay, on domestic slavery, to distin
guish between his feelings as a man, and his principles as a
statesman. It is elsewhere remarked in these pages, that, with
Mr. Clay, acting in the capacity of a statesman, the law is the
gospel. He has doubtless ever been aware — as sensible men
must be — that all human institutions are imperfect ; as with sen
sible men, it may be presumed to have been a maxim with him,
that human institutions, such as they are, should generally be used,
to improve themselves, and to make better. Not that revolu
tion is in no case justifiable ; for the United States owe their
existence, as an independent nation, to an act of this kind ; but,
that revolution, in itself considered, is not only undesirable, but
perilous, and should be resorted to only in extremities, as in the
case of the declaration of American independence. The consti
tution and the laws are usually the only safe guide of a patri
otic statesman. In the United States, it is safe to say, they are
absolutely and unqualifiedly so. They may be, they are doubt
less, imperfect ; but they have cost too much, and are too valua
ble, too important, to be lightly dealt with ; and they contain the
elements, provisions, for their own emendation and improvement,
indefinitely, without a shaking, or disturbance, of the fabric.
It is believed, that Mr. Clay is not misrepresented, by the
assumption, that with him, as a statesman, the fundamental law of
the land is not less supreme in its importance, than in its authority ;
that it should be held supreme, however profoundly, and even
painfully, its imperfections may be felt, in certain applications and
directions, and over certain classes ; and that its maintenance is
necessary for the removal of such imperfections, by its own legiti
mate action. It is believed, that Mr. Clay can not be under
stood, either on the subject of slavery, or any other great political

MR. CLAY ON DOMESTIC SLAVERY. 187
question, agitating the general mind, without a distinct recognition
of this great principle. Bred in the school of statesmen, and most
of the action of his life having been in that field, that high moral
sense ascribed to him in another part of this work, has been devel
oped in nothing more eminently, than in his conscientious regard
for fundamental law. Believing in it, as the best that could have
been formed in the circumstances of its date, the best that civilization
has yet produced, and the best to harmonize the diverse interests
and feelings of the Union, and the best in its practical operation hith
erto, it may be supposed he has ever felt it worthy of great respect,
on account of its inherent and positive excellence, independent of
the sacred character of the instrument, which? would bind such a
conscience, as that of Mr. Clay, on a fit occasion, to the stake of
martyrdom, for its defence. In this view, Mr. Clay has very
justly realized the confidence of a great portion, of the people of
all parts- of the Union, as an advocate and defender of the constitu
tion, in respect to slavery, though, to some extent, that confidence,
by misrepresentation, has been wrongfully impaired.
Nevertheless, Mr. Clay has never suffered his respect for the
constitution: — supreme as it has ever been, in its binding force upon
him, in the discharge of his functions as a statesman — to oblit
erate, or even to modify, his feelings as a man. In common with
many eminent patriots of the slaveholding states — such as Wash
ington, Jefferson, Madison, Marshall, Mercer, and a host of others —
Mr. Clay has ever regarded slavery in the United States, not less
as a social wrong, than a great political evil — as a sore on the
body politic — demanding the gravest consideration of the wise and
good, for the discovery and application of a constitutional remedy.
His entrance on the theatre of public life, in Kentucky, was as an
emancipationist, in 1798, the year after he removed to that state,
where he appeared first, in a series of articles, published at Lex
ington, in the Kentucky Gazette, over the signature of Scevola ;
and soon afterward, he took the field more openly, and headed a
party of emancipationists, during the agitation of remodelling the
state constitution, proposing and advocating the introduction of an
article for the gradual and ultimate abolition of slavery in the com
monwealth. Though he and his coadjutors failed of their object,
they nevertheless made an earnest and bold push, leaving a lasting
impression on the public mind. Notwithstanding it exposed him
to obloquy, and from that period has been politically injurious to
him, in the state of his adoption, he has never retreated from the

188 MR. CLAY ON DOMESTIC SLAVERY.
ground he then occupied, otherwise than in the diversion of
labors, which could be no longer of use, to other public objects.
It is well known, and has often been repeated, that about twenty
years afterward, when advocating the compromise of the Missouri
question, he said on the floor of Congress, that, were he a citizen of
Missouri, he would contend for an article in her constitution, like
that he had supported in Kentucky, for gradual emancipation, with
a view to abolition, and that he earnestly recommended it to the
people of that state.
In a speech delivered at the annual meeting of the American
Colonization Society, at Washington, January 20, 1827, Mr. Clay
said : —
" Notwithstanding the vigilance of the powers now engaged to
suppress the slave-trade, I have received information, that in a
single year, in the single island of Cuba, slaves equal in amount to
one half of the above-named number of fifty-two thousand, have
been illicitly introduced. Is it possible, that those concerned in
an infamous traffic, can effect more than the states of this Union,
if they were seriously to engage in the good work [of coloniza
tion] ? Is it credible, is it not a libel upon human nature to
suppose, that the triumphs of fraud, and violence, and iniquity,
can surpass those of virtue, and benevolence, and humanity ?"
In this place, Mr. Clay propounded the following theory, which
was of interest then, and notwithstanding a transient check to col
onization which has resulted from the more recent political abolition
movement in the free states, it may yet become of practical impor
tance : —
" The population of the United States being, at this time [1827],
estimated at about ten millions of the European race, and two of
the African, on the supposition of the annual colonization of a
number of the latter, equal to the annual increase of both of its
classes (bond and free), during the whole period necessary to the
process of duplication of our numbers, they would, at the end of
that period, relatively stand twenty millions for the white and two
for the black portion. But an annual exportation of a number
equal to the annual increase, at the beginning of the term, and per
severed in to the end of it, would accomplish more than to keep
the parent stock stationary. The colonists would comprehend
more than an equal proportion of those of the prolific ages. Few
of those who had passed that age, would migrate. So that the
annual increase of those left behind, would continue gradually,
but at first insensibly, to diminish ; and by the expiration of the
period of duplication, it would be found to have materially' abated.
But it is not merely the greater relative safety and happiness,

MR. CLAY ON DOMESTIC SLAVERY. 189
which would, at the termination of that period, be the condition of
the whites. Their ability to give further stimulus to the cause of
colonization will have been doubled, while the subjects on which
it would have to operate, will have decreased, or remained station
ary. If the business of colonization should be regularly continued
during two periods of duplication, at the end of the second, the
whites would stand to the blacks, as forty millions to not more
than two, while the same ability will have quadrupled, Even if
colonization should then altogether cease, the proportion of the
African to the European race will be so small, that the most timid
may then for ever dismiss all ideas of danger from within or with
out, on account of that incongruous and perilous element in our
population. "Further: By the annual withdrawal of fifty-two thousand per
sons of color, there would be an annual space created for an equal
number of the white race. The period, therefore, of the duplica
tion of the whites, by the laws which govern population, would be
accelerated. "Such is the extension and use which maybe made of the
principle of colonization, in application to our slave population, by
those states which are alone competent to undertake and execute
it. All, or any one of the states, which tolerate slavery, may
adopt and execute it, by cooperation, or separate exertion."
The following extracts from this speech, stand out in strong re
lief, as a demonstration of Mr. Clay's feelings as a man, on the
subject of slavery : —
" If I could be instrumental in eradicating this deepest stain
[slavery] from the character of our country, and removing all
cause of reproach on account of it, by foreign nations ; if I could
only be instrumental in ridding of this foul blot that revered state
that gave me birth, or that not less beloved state which kindly
adopted me as her son ; I would not exchange the proud satisfac
tion which I should enjoy, for the honor of all the triumphs ever
decreed to the most successful conqueror.
*********
"We are reproached with doing mischief by the agitating of
this question [slavery]. Collateral consequences we are not re
sponsible for. It is not this society, which has produced the great
moral revolution, which the age exhibits. What would they, who
thus reproach us, have done ? If they would repress all tenden
cies toward liberty, and ultimate emancipation, they must do more
than put down the benevolent efforts of this society. They must
go back to the era of our liberty and independence, and muzzle
the cannon, which thunders its annual joyous return. They must
revive the slave-trade, with all its train of atrocities. They must
blow out the moral lights around us, and extinguish that greatest

190 MR. CLAY ON DOMESTIC SLAVERY.
torch of all, which America presents to a benighted world, point
ing the way to their rights, their liberties, and their happiness.
And when they have achieved all these purposes, their work will
yet be incomplete. They must penetrate the human soul, and
eradicate the light of reason, and the love of liberty. Then, and
not till then, when universal darkness and despair prevail, can you
perpetuate slavery, and repress all sympathies, and all humane and
benevolent efforts among freemen, in behalf of the unhappy por
tion of our race doomed to bondage."
In another speech, on the same subject, delivered at Frankfort,
Kentucky, December 17, 1829, at the anniversary of the Ken
tucky colonization society, Mr. Clay expressed the following sen
timents : —
"More than thirty years ago an attempt was made, in this com
monwealth, to adopt a system of gradual emancipation, similar to
that which the illustrious Franklin had mainly contributed to intro
duce, in 1780, in the state founded by the benevolent Penn. And
among the acts of my life, which I look back to with most satis
faction, is that of my having cooperated, with other 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 residence in the United
States. We were overpowered by numbers, but submitted to the
decision of the majority, with a grace which the minority, in a re
public, should ever yield to such a decision. I have, neverthe
less, never ceased, and never shall 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 prog
ress of manufactures, the advance of improvements, and the gen
eral prosperity of society."
In the same speech, speaking of the portentous aspects of sla
very in the United States, he asks : —
" Is there no remedy? Must we endure perpetually all the un
doubted mischiefs of a state of slavery, as it affects both the free
and bond portions of these states ? What mind is sufficiently ex
tensive in its reach, what nerves sufficiently strong, to contemplate
this vast and progressive augmentation [of the slave population]
without an awful foreboding of the tremendous consequences?
* # *¦* * * * * *
" When we consider the cruelty of the origin of negro-slavery,
its nature, the character of the free institutions of the whites, and
the irresistible progress of public opinion, throughout America, as

MR. CLAY ON DOMESTIC SLAVERY. 191
well as in Europe, it is impossible not to anticipate frequent insur
rections among the blacks in the United States ; they are rational
beings, like ourselves, capable of feeling, of reflection, and of
judging of what naturally belongs to them as a portion of the hu
man race. By the very condition of the relation which subsists
between us, we are enemies of each other. They know well the
wrongs which their ancestors suffered, at the hands of our ances
tors,! and the Wrongs which they believe they continue to endure,
although they may be unable to avenge them. They are kept in
subjection only by the superior intelligence and superior power of
the predominant race.
^"If we were to invoke the greatest blessing on earth, which
Heaven, in its mercy, could now bestow on this nation, it would
be the separation of the two most numerous races of its popula-
lation, and their comfortable establishment in distinct and distant
countries. To say nothing of the greatest difficulty in the forma
tion of our present happy constitution, which arose out of this
mixed condition of our people ; nothing of the distracting Missouri
question, which was so threatening; nothing of others springing
from the same fruitful source, which yet agitate us, who can con
template the future, without the most awful apprehensions ? Who,
if this promiscuous residence of whites and blacks, of freemen
and slaves, is for ever to continue, can imagine the servile wars, the
carnage and the crimes, which will be its probable consequences,
without shuddering with horror?
In presenting a memorial of the Kentucky colonization society
to the senate, March 28, 1832, among other things, Mr. Clay
said : —
" The general subject [slavery] was one, than which, perhaps,
no other had more seriously engaged the attention of the people
of this country. No man, he presumed, could fail to cherish the
hope, that, at some day or other, however distant, and in some
mode, the country would be rid of this, the darkest spot on its
mantle. How that was to be accomplished, it was, perhaps, not
allowable to the present generation to foresee. All, however, must
unite in the hope, that, at the proper time, the proper means would
be devised, to arrive at this most desirable end. With respect to
the constitutional question involved, he entertained not the slight
est doubt, that the subject of the abolition of slavery could not be
touched by the general government. It belonged exclusively to
the states where slavery existed." With regard to colonization,
"he sincerely entertained the hope, that the day was not far dis
tant when, forgetting all that now tended to distract and excite us,
and recollecting that we were a common people, alike interested
in the common prosperity, we could without any of these objec
tions, take this question into full consideration, and dispose of it,

192 ME. CLAY ON DOMESxiu siiAV jam.
in a manner, congenial widi the feelings, as well as the interest of
all. It was true, that the friends of the colonization society had
contended^that the right to remove the free blacks existed in the
general government ; and that, as this part of the black population
was moved off, the several states might deem it proper to intro
duce a system of gradual emancipation, such as was introduced by
Franklin, in Pennsylvania, in 1780."
It will be seen, therefore, that, for at least thirty years of Mr.
Clay's public life, he had but one feeling as a man, on the subject
of slavery, which he freely and frankly avowed, on all fit occasions,
public as well as private, in the halls of legislation, and at numer
ous public meetings, in the face of the nation and the world. He
began his career as an emancipationist, in 1798, first by articles in
the Kentucky Gazette, and then as a zealous supporter of the party
in that state, whose aim was to introduce an emancipation clause in
the new constitution. Thirty years afterward, he declares his ad
herence to the same opinion, in his speech before the Kentucky
colonization society, at Frankfort, as above cited, and says:
"Among the acts of my life, which I look back to with satisfac
tion, is that of my having cooperated, with other zealous and intel
ligent friends, to promote the establishment of that system in this
state." He gave distinct and emphatic expression to this feeling,
in 1820, in the debate on the Missouri question, and has never
been known to deviate from it. While advocating the political
emancipation of Spanish America, in 1820, he said : —
"Some gentlemen had intimated, that the people of the south
were unfit for freedom. Will gentlemen contend, said Mr. Clay,
because those people are not like us in all particulars, they are
therefore unfit for freedom ? In some particulars, he ventured to
say, that the people of South America were in advance of us. On
the point which had been so much discussed on this floor, during
the present session, they were greatly in advance of us. Grenada,
Venezuela, and Buenos Ayres, had all emancipated their slaves.
He did not say that we ought to do so, or that they ought to have
done so, under different circumstances ; but he rejoiced that the
circumstances were such as to permit them to do it.
But this feeling was not peculiar to Mr. Clay. It was common
to and equally decided and strong in the breasts of a host of the most
prominent and influential men, and leading statesmen, of the slave-
holding states, until they became alarmed by the violence of nor
thern political abolitionists. The feeling in favor of emancipation
in the slave states — where alone it can be effective, and in which

MR. CLAY ON DOMESTIC SLAVERY. 193
alone is vested a constitutional power over the subject — was ad
vancing, and becoming more and more influential, till a damper
was cast over it, by what was regarded — not without reason — as an
interference with their constitutional rights.^ As was a natural con
sequence of such an interference, these feelings and these efforts in
the slave states, in favor of emancipation, all at once ceased.
What many of the people of the slave states were disposed to do
of their own accord, they would not have forced upon them by
improper means. Ceasing from their labors in a benevolent cause,
they started up for the defence of their rights, as they viewed
them, and that is the position which the people of the slave states
have for several years occupied, so far as the question of slavery
is concerned. It is obvious, that this change of feeling, in the two great quar
ters of the Union, on the subject of slavery, must have had its in
fluence, positively or negatively, in some respects both, on the po
sition of public men; and that, on none could the duty of circum
spection and caution be more imperatively incumbent, in regard to
such a state of things, than upon those pure and devoted patriots,
who are charged with preserving the harmony and integrity of the
Union. They who might before freely and frankly express their
feelings as men — though of the same opinion still — are, in such a
change of circumstances, compelled to consider what is their duty
as statesmen and patriots. When a house is safe, the ten
ants may sport themselves in it, or luxuriate in sentiment, accord
ing to their pleasure ; but when a tornado is heard approaching, or
has burst upon it, or when the earthquake admonishes to the duty
of self-preservation, the scene is entirely changed.
There is no reason to suppose, that Mr. Clay's feelings, on the
subject of slavery, have undergone any change, or that they are
not truly expressed in the quotations already made from his
speeches ; but his position, as a public man, has doubtless been
affected by the events of the last few years, above alluded to.
Ever anxious for the harmony and integrity of the Union, he has
been compelled, in this agitation, to refer to "the law and the tes
timony" — to determine the relative rights of the states, in respect
to slavery, as defined in the federal constitution, and to plant his
foot on that platform, to stand while it stands, and to fall only when
that must fall.
It was in view of this new state of things, that Mr. Clay took
occasion, in the senate, February 7, 1839, to express his feelings
Vol. L— 13

194 MR. CLAY ON DOMESTIC SLAVERY.
and apprehensions, in regard to political abolition, as agitated in
the free states. He said : —
" I am,sMr. President, no friend of slavery. The Searcher of
all hearts knows, that every pulsation of mine beats high in the
cause of civil liberty. Wherever it is safe and practicable, I de
sire to see every portion.of the human family in the enjoyment of
it. But I prefer the liberty of my own country to that of any other
people, and the liberty of my own race to that of any other race."
He adverted, on this occasion, to the effort, in which .he was
engaged for emancipation, in the state of Kentucky, in 1798-9 : —
" Forty years ago, the question was agitated in Kentucky, of a
gradual emancipation of slaves within its limits. By gradual eman
cipation, I mean that slow, but safe and cautious liberation of
slaves, which was first adopted in Pennsylvania, at the instance of
Dr. Franklin [it was the Hon. George Bryan, as afterward cor
rected by Mr. Clay], in 1780, and according to which, the gen
eration in being were to remain in slavery, but all their offspring,
born after a specified period, were to be free at the age of twenty-
eight, and in the meantime were to receive preparatory instruction
to qualify them for the enjoyment of freedom. That was the spe
cies of emancipation, which, at the epoch to which I allude, was
discussed in Kentucky. No one was rash enough to think of
throwing loose upon the community, ignorant and unprepared, the
untutored slaves of the state. Many thought — and I among them
— that, as each of the slave states had a right exclusively to judge
for itself, in respect to the institution of domestic slavery, the pro
portion of slaves, compared with the white population in that state,
at that time, was so inconsiderable, that a system of gradual eman
cipation might have been safely adopted, without any hazard to the
security and interests of the commonwealth. And I still think,
that the question of such emancipation in the farming states, is one
whose solutiop depends upon the relative numbers of the two
races, in any given state. If I had been a citizen of the state of
Pennsylvania, when Franklin's plan was adopted, I should have
voted for it."
But Mr. Clay apparently thinks — and there are few, probably,
who think otherwise — that this northern political abolition has put
the country, the slave states, and all true patriots, in a new posi
tion. He says : —
" Instead of advancing that cause [of emancipation] by their ef
forts, they have thrown back for half a century, the prospect of any
Species of emancipation of the African race, gradual or immediate,
in any of the states. TJhe proposition in Kentucky for a gradual
emancipation, did not prevail ; but it was sustained by a large and

MR. CLAY OX DOMESTIC SLAVERY. 195
respectable minority. That minority had increased, and was in
creasing, until the abolitionists commenced their operations. The
effect has been, to dissipate all prospects whatever, for the present,
of any scheme oT gradual or other emancipation. The people of
that state have become shocked and alarmed by these abolition
movements, and the number, who would now favor a system even
of gradual emancipation, is probably less than it was in the years
1798-'9. But for the agitation of the question of abolition, in
states, whose population, in the opinion of the people of Kentucky,
had no right to interfere in the matter, the vote for a convention
[in 1838, to amend the constitution, for emancipation and other
objects] would have been much larger, if it had not been carried.
Only about one fourth of the people voted for it.
"Prior to the agitation of this question of abolition, there was
a progressive melioration in the condition of slaves throughout all
the slave states. In some of them, schools of instruction were
opened by humane and religious persons. These are all now
checked ; and a spirit of insubordination having shown itself in
some localities, traceable, it is believed, to abolition movements
and exertions, the legislative authorities have found it expedient to
infuse fresh vigor into the police, and laws which regulate the con
duct of the slaves.
" It is frequently asked, what is to become of the African race
among us? Are they for ever to remain in bondage? That ques
tion was asked more than a half century ago. The true answer is,
that the same Providence, that has hitherto guided and governed
us, and averted all serious evils from the existing relations between
the two races, will guide and govern our posterity. Sufficient
unto the day is the evil thereof. We have hitherto, with that
blessing, taken care of ourselves. Posterity will find the means
of its own preservation and prosperity. It is only in the most dire
ful event that could befall this people, that this great interest, and
all other of our great interests, could be put in jeopardy" — the dis
solution of the Union by such a cause. " If we "may attempt to
lift the veil, and contemplate what lies beyond it, I too have ven
tured upon a speculative theory, with which I will not now trouble
you, but which has been published to the world. According to
that, in the progress of time, some one hundred and fifty or two
hundred years hence, but few vestiges of the black race will remain
among our posterity."
Mr. Clay here refers to the theory, which is in part propounded
in one of the foregoing extracts from his speech before the Ameri
can Colonization Society, in 1827, and which was more fully de
veloped in his speech at Frankfort, in 1829. It is allied to the
scheme of colonization, in which Mr. Clay has always had faith,

196 MR. CLAY ON DOMESTIC SLAVERY.
and apparently still has. If the country should ever obtain repose
from the agitation of political abolition, before it be too late, this
scheme will not improbably be revived, and the hopes of Mr. Clay
may be realized. The project is a magnificent one. It is even
morally sublime. Nor is it, in a favorable state of the public mind,
less feasible, than captivating — alike captivating to the American
patriot, to the philanthropist, to the Christian. A little more than
a million of dollars annually — much less than a million and a half
— would transport, and establish in Africa, an amount of the col
ored population of fhe United States, free and emancipated for the
purpose, equal to the entire natural increase. Once undertaken,
with energy and in general harmony, the willingness of the emi
grants, and the ability of the public to sustain the work, would
grow together ; all interests would be harmonized ; the bosom of
the nation would be relieved of a frightful and oppressive incubus ;
and with this relief, the continent of Africa would be civilized and
Christianized by the descendants of those, who were forced into
bondage in the western world, by savage captivity, and through
the horrors of the "middle passage." Both continents would be
blessed, and Africa not the least.
Mr. Clay has frankly expressed his opinion against the feasibil
ity, and even against the safety, of a universal emancipation, un
connected with a system of colonization. He does not believe,
that the two races can ever live together in a state of equality.
" They [the abolitionists, he says] put themselves in direct op
position to any separation whatever between the two races. They
would keep them for ever pent up together within the same limits,
perpetuating their animosities and constantly endangering the peace
of the community. They proclaim, indeed, that color is nothing;
that the organic and characteristic differences between the two
races ought to be entirely overlooked and disregarded. And, el
evating themselves to a sublime but impracticable philosophy, they
would teach us to eradicate all the repugnances of our nature, and
to take to our bosoms and our boards, the black man as we do
the white, on the same footing of equal social condition. Do
they not perceive that in thus confounding all the distinctions
which God himself has made, they arraign the wisdom and good
ness of Providence itself? It has been his divine pleasure to
make the black man black, and the white man white, and to dis
tinguish them by other repulsive constitutional differences. It is
not necessary for me to maintain, nor shall I endeavor to prove,
that it was any part of his divine intention that the one race should
be held in perpetual bondage by the other ; but this I will say,

MR. CLAY ON DOMESTIC SLAVERY. 197
that those whom he has created different, and has declared, by
their physical structure and color, ought to be kept asunder,
should not be brought together by any process whatever of unnat
ural amalgamation.
" But if the dangers' of the civil contest which I have supposed
could be avoided, separation or amalgamation is the only peaceful
alternative, if it were possible to effectuate the project of abolition.
The abolitionists oppose all colonization, and it irresistibly follows,
whatever they may protest or declare, that they are in favor of
amalgamation. And who are to bring about this amalgamation ?
I have heard of none of these ultra-abolitionists furnishing in their
own families or persons examples of intermarriage. Who is to
begin it ? Is it their purpose, not only to create a pinching com
petition between black labor and white labor, but do they intend
also to contaminate the industrious and laborious classes of society
at the north by a revolting admixture of the black element ?"
In his answer to Mr. Mendenhall, at Richmond, Indiana, Octo
ber 1, 1842, Mr. Clay said : —
" I know the predominant sentiment in the free states is adverse
to slavery; but, happy in their own exemption from whatever
evils may attend it, the great mass of our fellow-citizens there do
not seek to violate the constitution, or to disturb the harmony of
these states. I desire no concealment of my opinions in regard
to the institution of slavery. I look upon it as a great evil, and
deeply lament that we have derived it from the parental govern
ment, and from our ancestors. I wish every slave in the United
States was in the country of his ancestors. But here they are,
and the question is, how can they be best dealt with ? If a state
of nature existed, and we were about to lay the foundations of so
ciety, no man would be more strongly opposed than I should be,
to incorporate the institution of slavery among its elements. But
there is an incalculable difference between the original formation
of society and a long-existing organized society, with its ancient
laws, institutions, and establishments. Now, great as I acknowl
edge, in my opinion, the evils of slavery are, they are nothing,
absolutely nothing, in comparison with the far greater evils which
would inevitably flow from a sudden, general, and indiscriminate
emancipation. In some of the states the number of slaves ap
proximates toward an equality with that of the whites ; in one or
two they surpass them. What would be the condition of the two
races in those states, upon the supposition of an immediate eman
cipation ? Does any man suppose that they would become blend
ed into one homogeneous mass ? Does any man recommend
amalgamation — that revolting admixture, alike offensive to God
and man ? for those whom He, by their physical properties, has
made unlike and put asunder, we may, without presumptuousness,

198 MR. CLAY ON DOMESTIC SLAVERY.
suppose were never intended to be joined together in one of the
holiest rites. And let me tell you, sir, if you do not already
know it, that such are the feelings — prejudice, if you please (and
what man, claiming to be a statesman, will overlook or disregard
the deep-seated and unconquerable prejudices of the people ?) —
in the slave states, that no human law could enforce a union be
tween the two races.
" What then would certainly happen? A struggle for political
ascendency ; the blacks seeking to acquire, and the whites to
maintain, possession of the government. Upon the supposition
of a general immediate emancipation in those states where the
blacks outnumber the whites, they would have nothing to do but
to insist upon another part of the same declaration of independence,
as Dorr and his deluded democratic followers recently did in
Rhode Island ; according to which, an undefined majority have
the right, at their pleasure, to subvert an existing government, and
institute a new one in its place ; and then the whites would be
brought in complete subjection to the blacks ! A contest would
inevitably ensue between the two races — civil war, carnage, pil
lage, conflagration, devastation, and the ultimate extermination or
expulsion of the blacks. Nothing is more certain. And are not
these evils far greater than the mild and continually improving
state of slavery which exists in this country ? I say continually
improving ; for if this gratifying progress in the amelioration of
the condition ofthe slaves has been checked in some ofthe states,
the responsibility must attach to the unfortunate agitation of the
subject of abolition. In consequence of it, increased rigor in the
police, and further restraints have been imposed; and I do believe
that gradual emancipation (the only method of liberation that has
ever been thought safe or wise by anybody in any of the slave
states) has been postponed half a century."
When the project of the political abolitionists in the free states
had made its undisguised demonstrations on the constitutional
rights of the slave states, Mr. Clay thought it incumbent upon
him, as a- responsible participant in the national councils, to waive,
all sentimental theories, in which any man in quiet times may in
nocently indulge, and to apply himself to this subject as a practical
statesman — not less, however, as a philanthropist and patriot.
In his speech in the senate, of February, 1839, he classifies the
opponents of slavery as follows : —
" There are three classes of persons opposed, or apparently
opposed, to the continued existence of slavery in the United
States. The first are those who, from sentiments of philanthropy
and humanity, are conscientiously opposed to the existence of
slavery, but who are no less opposed, at the same time, to any

MR. CLAY ON DOMESTIC SLAVERY. 199
disturbance of the peace and tranquillity of the union, or the in
fringement of the powers of the states composing the confederacy.
In this class may be comprehended that peaceful and exemplary
society of ' Friends,' one of whose established maxims is, an abhor
rence of war in all its forms, and the cultivation of peace and
goodwill among mankind. The next class consists of apparent
abolitionists ; that is, those who, having been persuaded that the
right of petition has been violated by Congress, co-operate with
the abolitionists for the sole purpose of asserting and vindicating
that right. And the third class are the real ultra-abolitionists, who
are resolved to persevere in the pursuit of their object at all haz
ards, and without regard to any consequences, however calamitous
they may be. With them the rights of property are nothing ; the
deficiency of die powers of the general government is nothing;
tlie acknowledged and incontestable powers of the states are
nothing ; civil war, a dissolution of the Union, and die overthrow
of a government in which are concentrated the fondest hopes of
the civilized world, are nothing. A single idea has taken posses
sion of dieir minds, and onward they pursue it, overlooking all
barriers, reckless and regardless of all consequences. With this
class, the immediate abolition of slavery in the District of Colum-%
bia, and in the territory of Florida, the prohibition of the removal
of slaves from state to state, and the refusal to admit any new
state, comprising within its limits the institution of domestic sla
very, are but so many means conducing to th^ accomplishment of
die ultimate but perilous end at which they avowedly and boldly
aim — are but so many short stages in the long and bloody road to
die distant goal at which they would finally arrive. Their pur
pose is abolition, universal abolition — peaceably if it can, forcibly
if it must be. Their object is no longer concealed by the thin
nest veil ; it is avowed and proclaimed. Utterly destitute of con
stitutional or other rightful power, living in totally distinct com
munities, as alien to the communities in which the subject on
which they would operate resides, so far as concerns political
power over that subject, as if they lived in Africa or Asia, they
nevertheless promulgate to the world their purpose to be, to man
umit forthwith, and widiout compensation, and without moral
preparation, three millions of negro slaves, under jurisdictions
altogether separated from those under which they live. I have
said, that immediate abolition of slavery in the District of Colum
bia and the territory of Florida, and the exclusion of new states,
were only means toward the attainment of a much more important
end. Unfortunately they are not the only means. Another, and
much more lamentable one, is that which this class is endeavor
ing to employ, of arraying one portion against another portion of
the Union. With that view, in all their leading prints and pub
lications, the alleged horrors of slavery are depicted in the most

200

MR. CLAY ON DOMESTIC SLAVERY.

glowing and exaggerated colors, to excite the imaginations and
stimulate the rage of the people in the free states, against the peo
ple in the slave states. The slaveholder is held up and repre
sented as the most atrocious of human beings. Advertisements
of fugitive-slaves and of slaves to be sold, are carefully collected
and blazoned forth, to infuse a spirit of detestation and hatred
against one entire and the largest section of the Union. And,
like a notorious agitator upon another theatre, they would hunt
down and proscribe from the pale of civilized society, the inhab
itants of that entire section. * * * *
"But the means to which I have already adverted are not the
only ones which this third class of ultra-abolitionists are employ
ing to effect their ultimate end. They began their operations by
professing to employ only persuasive means in appealing to the
humanity, and enlightening the understandings, of the slavehold
ing portion of the Union. If there were some kindness in this
avowed motive, it must be acknowledged that there was rather a
presumptuous display also of an assumed superiority in intelli
gence and knowledge. For some time they continued to make
these appeals to our duty and our interest ; but impatient with the
^low influence of their logic upon our stupid minds, they recently
resolved to change their system of action. To the agency of
their powers of persuasion, they now propose to substitute the
powers of the ballot-box ; and he must be blind to what is passing
before us, who does not perceive that the inevitable tendency of
their proceedings is, if these should be found insufficient, to in
voke, finally, the more potent powers of the bayonet.
"Mr. President, it is at this alarming stage of the proceedings
of the ultra-abolitionists, that I would seriously invite every con
siderate man in the country solemnly to pause, and deliberately
to reflect, not merely on our existing posture, but upon that
dreadful precipice down which they would hurry us. It is be
cause these ultra-abolitionists have ceased to employ the instru
ments of reason and persuasion, have made their cause political,
and have appealed to the ballot-box, that I am induced, upon this
occasion, to address you."
Mr. Clay next proceeds to designate the epochs in the history
of the United States, when the public mind has been agitated by
the question of slavery, as follows : —
" There have been three epochs in the history of our country,
at which the spirit of abolition displayed itself. The first was
immediately after the formation of the present federal government.
When the constitution was about going into operation, its powers
were not well understood by the community at large, and remained
to be accurately interpreted and defined. At that period numerous
Abolition societies were farmed, comprising not merely the society

MR. CLAY ON DOMESTIC SLAVERY. 201
of Friends, but many other good men. Petitions were presented
to Congress, praying for the abolition of slavery. They were
received without serious opposition, referred, and reported upon
by a committee. The report stated, that the general government
had no power to abolish slavery, as it existed in the several states,
and that these states themselves had exclusive jurisdiction over the
subject. The report was generally acquiesced in, and satisfaction
and tranquillity ensued ; the abolition societies thereafter limiting
their exertions, in respect to the black population, to offices of
humanity within the scope of existing' laws.
" The next period when the subject of slavery, and abolition
incidentally, was brought into notice and discussion, was that on
the memorable occasion of the admission of the state of Missouri
into the Union. The struggle was long, strenuous, and fearful.
It is too recent to make it necessary to do more than merely advert
to it, and to say, that it was finally composed by one of those com
promises characteristic of our institutions, and of which the consti
tution itself is the most signal instance.
" The third is that in which we now find ourselves. Various
causes, Mr. President, have contributed to produce the existing
excitement on the subject of abolition. The principal one, perhaps,
is the example of British emancipation of the slaves in the islands
adjacent to our country. Such is the similarity in laws, in language,
in institutions, and in common origin, between Great Britain and
the United States, that no great measure of national policy^an be
adopted in the one country, without producing a considerable
degree of influence in the other. Confounding the totally different
cases together, of the powers of the British parliament and those
ofthe Congress ofthe United States, and the totally different situ
ations of the British West India islands, and the slaves in the
sovereign and independent states of this confederacy, superficial.
men have inferred, from the undecided British experiment, the
practicability of the abolition of slavery in these states. The pow
ers of the British parliament are unlimited, and are often described
to be omnipotent. The powers of the American Congress, on the
contrary, are few, cautiously limited, scrupulously excluding all
that are not granted, and, above all, carefully and absolutely
excluding all power over the existence or continuance of slavery in
the several states. The slaves, too, upon which British legislation
operated, were not in the bosom of the kingdom, but in remote and
feeble colonies having no voice in parliament. The West India
slaveholder was neither represented, nor representative, in that
parliament. And while I most fervently wish complete success to
the British experiment of West India emancipation, I confess, that
I have fearful forebodings of a disastrous termination of it. What
ever it may be, I think it must be admitted, that, if the British
parliament treated the West India slaves as freemen, it also treated

202 MR. CLAY ON DOMESTIC SLAVERY.
the West India freemen as slaves. If, instead of these slaves being
separated by a wide ocean from the parent-country, three or four
millions of African negro-slaves had been dispersed over England,
Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, and their owners had been members
of the British parliament — a case which would have presented
some analogy to that of our own country — does any one believe
that it would have been expedient or practicable to have emanci
pated them, leaving them to remain, with all their embittered feel
ings, in the united kingdom, boundless as the powers of the British
parliament are ?
" Other causes have conspired with the British example to pro
duce the existing excitement from abolition. I say it with profound
regret, but with no intention to occasion irritation here or elsewhere,
that there are persons in both parts of the Union who have sought
to mingle abolition with politics, and to array one portion of the
Union against the other. It is the misfortune in free countries,
that, in high party times, a disposition too often prevails to seize
hold of everything which can strengthen the one side or weaken
the other. Charges of fostering abolition designs have been heed
lessly and unjustly made by one party against the other. Prior to
the late election of the present president of the United States, he
was charged with being an abolitionist, and abolition designs were
imputed to many of his supporters. Much as I was opposed to
his election, and am to his administration, I neither shared in
making nor believing the truth of the charge. He was scarcely
installed in office before the same charge was directed against those
who opposed his election.
" Mr. President, it is not true, and I rejoice that it is not true,
that either of the two great parties in this country has any designs
or aim at abolition. I should deeply lament if it were true. I
should consider, if it were true, that the danger to the stability of
our system would be infinitely greater than any which does, I hope,
actually exist. While neither party can be, I think, justly accused
of any abolition tendency or purpose, both have profited, and both
have been injured, in particular localities, by the accession or ab
straction of abolition support. If the account were fairly stated,
I believe the party to which I am opposed has profited much more,
and been injured much less, than that to which I belong. But I
am far, for that reason, from being disposed to accuse our adver
saries of being abolitionists."
As the occasion on which this speech in the senate was deliv
ered, was the presentation of a petition from the inhabitants of the
district of Columbia, adverse to the petitions for the abolition of
slavery in that district, and in the territories of the Union, Mr. Clay
was forced to express his opinion on the rights of Congress to
abolish slavery in the ten-miles-square under its jurisdiction, and

MR. CLAY ON DOMESTIC SLAVERY. 203
in the territory of Florida ; and with this question was involved
the domestic slave-trade, as one topic of the petitions discussed.
It will be observed, that Mr. Clay approaches these questions as
an interpreter of constitutional law, and not as a philanthropist.
He does not decide as to how he might personally, in his own
feelings, wish the case to be ; but as to what he conscientiously
believes to be the law. When Mr. John Quincy Adams freely
presented petitions for the abolition of slavery in the district of
Columbia, he at the same time declared his opinion, that Congress
had no power to do it. Mr. Clay declared the same opinion, and
gave his reasons, which were in substance, first, that the grant of
power " to exercise jurisdiction in all cases whatsoever over such
district," was a necessary form for the purposes of government.
But, secondly, the intention of the parties which ceded, and the
design of the party which accepted, were sacred and obligatory,
neither of which contemplated such a measure. It would there
fore be a violation of good faith, if done against the will of the
ceding parties, Maryland and Virginia. The grant must be under
stood, and should be always interpreted, as having relation to the
object of the cession as a seat of government of the United States.
Thirdly, the government of the people of the district, on republican
principles, would require, that the exercise of municipal jurisdic
tion, should be framed according to their will, and not according
to the will of a community, or communities, foreign to them.
In regard to the abolition of slavery in the territory of Florida —
it then being a territory — it was, in the first place, received into
the Union, by cession from Spain, with all its municipal rights,
slavery being one of them ; and in the next place, it was south of
the compromise line, as settled in the adjustment of the Missouri
question. Admitting that Congress had power to step over these
obstacles, it would be a violence to the feelings ofthe parties con
cerned, and a disturbance of the peace of the Union. It would
open afresh the wounds that were healed by the Missouri com
promise. As respects the domestic slave-trade, so called, however deplor
able in itself, the power given to Congress to regulate trade be
tween the states, was not a power to prohibit ; and even the power
to regulate, had never been used.
After these interpretations of law, Mr. Clay said : —
•' I will not detain the senate longer on the subject of slavery
within the district and in Florida, or of the right of Congress to

204 MR. CLAY ON DOMESTIC SLAVERY.
prohibit the removal of slaves from one state to another. These,
as I have already intimated, with ultra-abolitionists, are but so
¦ many masked batteries, concealing the real and ultimate point of
attack. That point of attack is the institution of domestic slavery,
as it exists in these states. It is to liberate three millions of slaves
held in bondage within them."
Mr. Clay's notice of "the insurmountable obstacles," which lie
in the path of these " ultra-abolitionists," was pertinent to the
occasion, and forcible in its array, though now familiar to all who
have given but small attention to this debate.
The tenth article of the amendments of the federal constitution,
to wit : " The powers not delegated to the United States, by the
constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the
states respectively, or to the people" — entirely bars the way of the
abolitionists, as to their political action in the free states toward the
slave states, and makes all such action an offensive interference.
Another obstacle is the annihilation, at a blow, of the existing rela
tions between three millions of slaves, to less than half the number
of masters of a different race, and forcing the former into a politi
cal, civil, and social equality with the latter, reckless of conse
quences. A third obstacle is the annihilation, by the same blow, of
twelve hundred millions of property, without indemnification. The
question is not as to the moral right of such property, but as to the
fact, as recognised and established by centuries of legislation, run
ning into all the forms, relations, and ramifications of such a state
of society, be it right or wrong, the best or the worst possible, or
only tolerable.
The following passage of the speech, now under review, is not
unworthy of a place here : —
" Mr. President, at the period of the formation of our constitu
tion, and afterward, our patriotic ancestors, apprehended danger to
the Union from two causes. One was, the Allegany mountains,
dividing the waters which flow into, the Atlantic ocean from those
which found their outlet in the gulf of Mexico. They seemed to
present a natural separation. That danger has vanished before
the noble achievements of the spirit of internal improvement, and
the immortal genius of Fulton. And now, nowhere is found a
more loyal attachment to the Union, than among those very
western people, who, it was apprehended, would be the first to
burst its ties.
" The other cause, domestic slavery, happily the sole remaining
cause which is likely to disturb our harmony, continues to exist.
It was this, which created the greatest obstacle, and the most anx-

w:*

MR. CLAY ON DOMESTIC SLAVERY. 205
ious solicitude, in the deliberations of the convention that adopted
the general constitution. And it is this subject that has ever been
regarded with the deepest anxiety by all who are sincerely desirous
of the permanency of our Union. The father of bis country, in
his last affecting and solemn appeal to his fellow-citizens, depre
cated, as a most calamitous event, the geographical divisions which
it might produce. The convention wisely left to the several states
the power over the institution of slavery, as a power not necessary
to the plan of union which it devised, and as one with which the
general government could not be invested, without planting the
seeds of certain destruction. There let it remain undisturbed by
any unhallowed hand.
" Sir, I am not in the habit of speaking lighdy of the possibility
of dissolving this happy Union. The senate knows that I have
deprecated allusions, on ordinary occasions, to that direful event.
The country will testify, that, if there be anything in the history
of my pubhc career worthy of recollection, it is the truth and sin
cerity of my ardent devotion to ife lasting preservation. But we
should be false in our allegiance to it, if we did not discriminate
between the imaginary and real dangers by which it may be as
sailed. Abohtion should no longer be regarded as an imaginary
danger. The abolitionists, let me suppose, succeed in their pres
ent" aim of uniting the inhabitants of the free states, as one man,
against the inhabitants of the slave states. Union on the one side
will beget union on the other. And this process of reciprocal con
solidation will be attended with all the violent prejudices, embit
tered passions, and implacable animosities, which ever degraded
or deformed human nature. A virtual dissolution of the Union
wdl have taken place, while the forms of its existence remain. The
most valuable element of union, mutual kindness, the feelings of
sympathy, the fraternal bonds, which now happdy unite us, will
have been extinguished for ever. One section will stand in mena
cing and hostile array against the other. The collision of opinion
will be quickly foUowed by the clash of arms. I will not attempt
to describe scenes which now happily lie concealed from our view.
Abolitionists themselves would shrink back in dismay and horror
at the contemplation of desolated fields, conflagrated cities, mur
dered inhabitants, and the overthrow of the fairest fabric of human
government that ever rose to animate the hopes of civilized man.
Nor should these abolitionists flatter themselves that, if they can
succeed in their object of uniting the people of the free states, they
will enter the contest with a numerical superiority that must insure
victory. All history and experience proves the hazard and uncer
tainty of war. And we are admonished by Holy Writ, that the
race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong. But if they
were to conquer, whom would they conquer? A foreign foe — one
who had insulted our flag, invaded our shores, and laid our coun-

206 MR. CLAY ON DOMESTIC SLAVERY.
try waste ? No, sir ; no, sir. It would be a conquest without
laurels, without glory ; a self, a suicidal conquest ; a conquest of
brothers over brothers, achieved by one over another portion of
the descendants of common ancestors, who, nobly pledging their
lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor, had fought and bled,
side by side, in many a hard battle on land and ocean, severed
our country from the British crown, and established our national
independence. " The inhabitants of the slave states are sometimes accused by
their northern brethren with displaying too much rashness and
sensibility to the operations and proceedings of abolitionists. But,
before they can be rightly judged, there should be a reversal of
conditions. Let me suppose that the people of the slave states
were to form societies, subsidize presses, make large pecuniary
contributions, send forth numerous missionaries throughout all
their own borders, and enter into machinations to burn the beauti
ful capitals, destroy the productive manufactories, and sink in the
ocean the gallant ships of the northern states. Would these in
cendiary proceedings be regarded as neighborly and friendly, and
consistent with the fraternal sentiments which should ever be cher
ished by one portion of the Union toward another ? Would they
excite no emotion ? occasion no manifestations of dissatisfaction ?
nor lead to any acts of retaliatory violence ? But the supposed
case falls far short of the actual one in a most essential circum
stance. In no contingency could these capitals, manufactories,
and ships, rise in rebellion, and massacre inhabitants of the north
ern states."
Mr. Clay concludes this speech as follows : — ¦
" If one dark spot exists on our political horizon, is it not ob
scured by the bright, and effulgent, and cheering light that beams
all around us ? Was ever a people before so blessed as we are,
if true to ourselves ? Did ever any other nation contain within its
bosom so many elements of prosperity, of greatness, and of glory?
Our only real danger lies ahead, conspicuous, elevated and visible.
It was clearly discerned at the commencement, and distinctly seen
throughout our whole career. Shall we wantonly run upon it, and
destroy all the glorious anticipations of the high destiny that awaits
us ? I beseech the abolitionists themselves, solemnly to pause in
their mad and fatal course. Amid the infinite variety of objects
of humanity and benevolence which invite the employment of their
energies, let them select some one more harmless, that does not
threaten to deluge our country in blood. I call upon that small
portion of the clergy, which has lent itself to these wild and ruinous
schemes, not to forget the holy nature of the divine mission of the
founder of our religion, and to profit by his peaceful examples. I
entreat that portion of my countrywomen, who have given their

MR. CLAY ON DOMESTIC SLAVERY. 207
countenance to abolition, to remember, that they are ever most
loved and honored when moving in their own appropriate and de
lightful sphere ; and to reflect that the ink which they shed in sub
scribing with their fair hands abolition petitions, may prove but the
prelude to the shedding of the blood of their brethren. I adjure all
the inhabitants of the free states to rebuke and discountenance, by
their opinion and their example, measures which must inevitably
lead to the most calamitous consequences. And let us all, as
countrymen, as friends, and as brothers, cherish, in unfading mem
ory, the motto which bore our ancestors triumphantly through all
the trials of the revolution, as, if adhered to, it will conduct their
posterity through all that may, in the dispensations of Providence,
be reserved for them."
It has been thought, that the best test of Mr. Clay's feelings, and
the^best definition of his position, on the question of slavery, would
be given, by such extracts, as have been made in this chapter, from
his own speeches on different occasions, and at remote periods, of
his life. His feelings are read, when he speaks of slavery in the
abstract — so far as a sensible man can so speak of it — unconnected
with the political fabric of the country. These, it is believed, are
such, as will be satisfactory to the strongest antislavery man in the
republic. No man has ever expressed himself in stronger terms
against slavery, than are found in some of the foregoing passages
of Mr. Clay's speeches. But when he is called, as a public man,
a statesman, and a patriot, to encounter the mad career and de
structive tendency of modern political abolition, he rushes to the
defence of the constitution, and throws his shield between the na
tion's charter and its assailants.
In reply to those, who may ask, why has not Mr. Clay liberated
his own slaves, if he is in heart opposed to slavery ? — it may be
said, that, as a public man, he could not disregard his position,
acting discreetly for the greatest good. Instead of separating from
society, by acts and reasons therefor assigned, which would rebuke
and offend, and thus destroy his influence, it may reasonably be
supposed, that his aim has been to act with society, and carry so
ciety along with him, in all his efforts for reform, social and politi
cal. The following remarks of Mr. Clay, to Mr. Mendenhall, are
pertinent to this point : —
" Without any knowledge of the relation in which I stand to my
slaves, or their individual condition, you, Mr. Mendenhall, and
your associates, who have been active in getting up this petition,
call upon me forthwith to liberate the whole of them. Now let me

208 MR. CLAY ON DOMESTIC SLAVERY.
tell you, that some half a dozen of them, from age, decreptitude,
or infirmity, are wholly unable to gain a livelihood for themselves,
and are a heavy charge upon me. Do you think that I should
conform to the dictates of humanity by ridding myself of that charge,
and sending them forth into the world, with the boon of liberty, to
end a wretched existence in starvation ? Another class is composed
of helpless infants, with or without improvident mothers. Do you
believe, as a Christian, that I should perform my duty toward them
by abandoning them to their fate? Then there is another class who
would not accept their freedom, if I would give it to them. I have
for many years owned a slave that I wished would leave me, but he
will not. What shall I do with that class ?
" What my treatment of my slaves is you may learn from Charles,
who accompanies me on this journey, and who has travelled with
me over the greater part of the United States, and in both the Can
adas, and has had a thousand opportunities, if he had chosen to
embrace them, to leave me. Excuse me, Mr. Mendenhall, for
saying, that my slaves are as well fed and clad, look as. sleek and
hearty, and are quite as civil and respectful in their demeanor, and
as little disposed to wound the feelings of any one, as^you are.
*******
" I shall, Mr. Mendenhall, take your petition into respectful and
deliberate 'consideration ; but, before I come to a final decision, I
should like to know what you and your associates are willing to do
for the slaves in my possession, if I should think proper to liberate
them. I own about fifty, who are probably worth fifteen thousand
dollars. To turn them loose upon society, without any means of
subsistence or support, would be an act of cruelty. Are you wil
ling to raise and secure the payment of fifteen thousand dollars for
their benefit, if I should be induced to free them ? The security
of the payment of that sum would materially lessen the obstacle in
the way of their emancipation."
Mr. Clay, manifestly, does not believe, that slavery can be easi
ly or soon removed from this country ; he does not believe, that
the European and African races can ever be amalgamated in blood,
or in society, or that such is the design of Providence ; but his
theory of relief from the evils of the present relations between the
white and black population of this country, seems to contemplate
a protracted period of patient endurance, wise legislation, humane
treatment, and the application of such discreet and healing reme
dies, as shall, from time to time, be disclosed. He believes, evi
dently, that a cure will be found — that the great solvent of the
problem will yet transpire. But he has no faith in the hasty and
rash proposals of inexperienced novices.

MR. CLAY ON DOMESTIC SLAVERY. 209
It is manifest, that the new movement, commonly, and with strict
propriety, called political abolition, has done infinite harm to the
cause of emancipation, and put it backward for a great length of
time. The federal constitution is an insuperable obstacle to such a
scheme ; or it must bend, break^nd fall before it. Both can not
stand and prosper. If the attachments of the people of the United
States to that sacred instrument, are sufficient to maintain it, this
storm that has been raised against it will die away, and those who
alone are entitled, by the terms of that charter, to take the subject
of emancipation in hand for political action, will doubtless return
to it again, when no longer assailed by foreign interference. But
they have been driven from that work in self-defence, and the known
principles of human nature clearly indicate, that they are not likely
to consent to emancipation in any form, till they are permitted to
do it of their own accord, and in their own way, as other of the
original states have done. Possibly it may be forced upon them ;
but not without evils infinitely more fearful than that which it is
designed to remedy ; not, probably, without disappointing its own
design, aggravating the bondage it would break — such has been
the effect already — overturning the government and institutions of
the country, and erecting a despotism over the white, as well as
over the black race. They who agitate for a revolution, instead
of reforming society by peaceable modes, know not what they do.
Vol. T. — 11

210 THE ADVOCATE OF

CHAPTER XI.
The,Advocate of Universal Freedom.
When Mr. Clay made a defence in the senate, in 1810, of
President Madison's act of extending the jurisdiction of the United
States, eastward from the Mississippi, to the river Perdido, against
the claims of Spain, France being implicated as a party, he said : —
" Believing, as I do, that our title against both powers is indis
putable, under the treaty of St. Ildefonso, between *Spain and
France, and the treaty between the French republic and the United
States, I shall not inquire into the treachery, by which the king of
Spain is alleged to have lost his crown ; nor shall I stop to discuss
the question involved in the overthrow of the Spanish monarchy,
and how far the power of Spain ought to be considered as merged
in that of France. I shall leave the honorable gentleman from
Delaware [Mr. Horsey] to mourn over the fortunes of the fallen
Charles. I have no commiseration for princes. My sympathies
are reserved for the great mass of mankind, and I own that the
people of Spain have them most sincerely."
Here, it will be observed, is an incidental utterance of a broad
and comprehensive sentiment: "I have no commiseration
for princes. My sympathies are reserved for the
great mass of mankind."
If the South American states, Greece, and other nations, that
have been struggling for freedom since Mr. Clay came upon the
public stage, have failed, as yet, to attain to all that was most de
sirable, this disappointment does not detract from the virtue of
those who sympathized with their condition under the despotism
to which they were subjected, and who made generous efforts in
their behalf. The South American states are most of them actu
ally free — all are free from European domination, and have made
approximations toward freedom in its most important sense. Since
the Spanish colonies acquired their independence, it has been a
subject of congratulation among all lovers of freedom throughout
the world ; and it is a characteristic of Great Britain, claiming, as

UNIVERSAL FREEDOM. 211
she usually does, a monopoly of credit for philanthropy, and after
having found it politic, for her own commercial objects, to acknowl
edge the independence of the revolted Spanish colonies, that the
members of her government should claim to have taken lead in
prompting and instrumentally securing that independenee. But
as it is not easy to revert the order of time, and make history read
backward, such pretensions may gain some credit for assurance,
but will be in an awkward position as regards truth. The order
of events, in these annals, stands thus : Mr. Clay's efforts prevailed
in 1S20, in the shape ofa resolution, to authorize the president to
send ministers "to any of the governments of South America,
which have established, and are maintaining their independence."
In 1822, their independence was formally recognised by Congress ;
and the first act of recognition of any of those states by the British
government, was in 1824. The fact was, that Great Britain never
did anything to promote the independence of the South American
states, and she acknowledged it only when it was necessary to
secure a market for her manufactures. The following letter will
place this question in its true light :—
" Washington, June 23, 1827.
" My dear Sir: I have just read Lord Grey's speech, and
can not resist the desire I feel to send it to you. You will recog
nise in it sentiments I have expressed as regards Mr. Canning and
the new South American states. If Earl Grey had been better
informed, he would have said, that it was you who did most to
call them into being. I say this in no idle spirit of praise, having
always, abroad and at home, expressed the opinion, that, next to
their own exertions, the South-Americans owe to you more than
to any other man in either hemisphere, their independence,
you having led the way to our acknowledgment of it. This is
truth ; this is history. Without our acknowledgment, England
would not have taken the step to this day. This is my belief. I
give Mr. Canning no credit for the part he acted. It was forced
upon him by our lead, which he never had the magnanimity to
avow, but strove to claim all the merit for England, or rather for
himself.
" Richard Rush.
" Mr. Clay."
In 1826, Mr. Canning said, in the British house of commons : —
" I admit that the entry of the French army into Spain, was a
disparagement to Great Britain. Do you think, that for this dis
paragement to England, we have not been compensated? I

212 the advocate of
looked, sir, at Spain, by another name than Spain. I looked upon
that power as Spain and the Indies. I looked at the Indies, and
there I have called a new world into existence !"
But the dates already cited cast a very strong light on this
assurance. The character of Mr. Rush as a resident minister of the United
States at the court of London, and in other respects, supersedes
the necessity of further evidence on this point, and presents Mr.
Clay in his true position, in relation to the earliest friendly efforts,
in any high and influential quarter of the civilized world, for the
extension of freedom over South America ; and the fact of his
having occupied this position in relation to those nations, and to
that quarter of the world, is exactly coincident with the uniform
character of his feelings toward all other nations and all other parts
of the world: "I have no commiseration for princes.
My sympathies are reserved for the great mass of
mankind."
It would have been unexpected, that the government of the
United States, as such, should have proved so dilatory in its
expressions of kind feeling toward the Spanish colonies in America,
in their early struggles for freedom ; much more, that it should
have been disposed so to interpret the duties of neutrality, as to be
willing to put impediments in their path, and prevent their pur
chasing vessels from private citizens of the United States, at the
instance of the Spanish minister at Washington, because he
imagined (it might be true) that they were designed for hostilities
against the mother-country. President Madison, it seems, was so
far influenced as to send a message to Congress, December 26,
1816, recommending a law to enable the executive to enforce neu
trality ; in other words, to prevent ships being built at Fell's Point,
Baltimore, as was supposed, to the order and for the use of the
rebellious Spanish colonies ; and a bill was accordingly reported
to that effect by Mr. Forsyth, of Georgia, chairman of the commit
tee of foreign relations in the house of representatives. While
this bill was under debate, January 24, 1817, Mr. Clay said : —
"As long as the government abstained from taking any part in
the contest now carrying on in the southern part of this continent,
it is unquestionably its duty to- maintain a strict neutrality. On
that point there was and could be no difference of opinion. It
ought not, however, to be overlooked, that the two parties stood
with this government on unequal ground. One of them had an
accredited minister here, to watch over its interests, and to remon-

universal freedom. 213
strate against any acts of which it might complain ; while the other,
beinj wholly unrepresented, had no organ through which to com
municate its grievances. This inequality of condition in the con
tending parties, imposed upon us die duty of great circumspection
and prudence in what we might do.
" W henever a war exists, whether between two independent
states, or between parts of a common empire, he knew of but two
relations in which other powers could stand toward the bellige
rents : the one was that of neutrality, and the other that of a bel
ligerent. •' Being then in a state of neutrality respecting the contest, and
bound to maintain it, the question was, whether the provisions of
the bill were necessary to the performance of that duty ? It will
be recollected that we have an existing law, directed against arma
ments, such as are described in the bill. That law was passed in
1794. It was intended to preserve our neutrality in the contest
between France and her enemies. The circumstances under
which it was passed, must be yet fresh in our recollection. The
French revolution had excited a universal enthusiasm in the cause
of liberty. The flame reached this country, and spread with elec
tric rapidity throughout the continent. There was not a state,
county, city, or vdlage, exempted from it. An ardent disposition
to enter into the conflict, on the side of France, was everywhere
felt. General Washinsrton thought it the interest of this countrv
to remain neutral, and the law of 1794 was enacted, to restrain our
citizens from taking part in the contest. If that law had been
effectual to preserve the neutrality of this country, during the
stormy period of the French revolution, we ought to pause before
we assent to the adoption of new penalties and provisions. If the
law did not reach the case (which he understood to be doubtful
from some judicial decisions), he was willing to legislate so far as
to make it comprehend it. Further than that, as at present ad
vised, he was not willing to go.
'• But the present bill not only went further, but, in his judgment,
contained provisions not demanded of us by our neutral duties.
It contained two principles not embraced by the law of 1794. The
first was, the requisition of a bond from the owners of armed ves
sels, that persons, to whom they might sell these vessels, should
not use them in the contest. The second was, the power vested
in the collectors to seize and detain, under certain circumstances,
any such vessels. Now, with regard to the first provision, it is not
denied that an armed vessel may be lawfully sold by an American
citizen to a foreign subject, other than a subject of Spain. But on
what ground is it possible, then, to maintain, that it is the duty of
die American citizen to become responsible for the subsequent use
which may be made of such vessel by the foreign subject ? We
are bound to take care that our own citizens do not violate our

.'214 THE ADVOCATE OF
neutrality, but we are under no such obligation as it respects the
subjects of foreign powers. It is the business of those foreign
powers to guard the conduct of their own subjects. If it be true,
as he had heard it asserted, that Fell's Point exhibits an activity in
hostile preparation, not surpassed during trie late war, we had
enough to do with our own citizens. It was not incumbent upon
us, as a neutral power, to provide, after a legal sale had been made
of an armed vessel to a foreign subject, against any illegal use of
the vessel.
" Gentlemen have contended, that this bill ought to be considered
as intended merely to enforce our own laws — as a municipal regu
lation, having no relation to the war now existing. It was impos
sible to deceive ourselves, as to the true character of the measure.
Bestow on it what denomination you please, disguise it as you
may, it is a law, and will be understood by the whole world as a
law, to discountenance any aid being given to the South American
colonies in a state of revolution against the parent-country. With
respect to the nature of that struggle, he had not now, for the first
time, to express his opinion and his wishes. An honorable gen
tleman from Virginia [Mr. Sheffey] had said, the people of South
America were incapable, from the ignorance and superstition which
prevail among them, of achieving independence or enjoying lib
erty. And to what cause is that ignorance and superstition owing ?
Was it not to the vices of their government? to the tyranny and
oppression, hierarchical and political, under which they groaned ?
if Spain succeeded in riveting their chains upon them, would not
that ignorance and superstition be perpetuated? In the event of
that success, he feared the time would never arrive, when the good
wishes of the honorable gentleman from Virginia would be con
ciliated in behalf of that oppressed and suffering people. For his
part, he wished their independence. It was the first step toward
improving their condition. Let them have free government, if they
be capable of enjoying it ; but let them have, at all events, inde
pendence. Yes, from the inmost recesses of my soul, I wish them
independence. I may be accused of an imprudent utterance of
my feelings, on this occasion. I care not : When the indepen
dence, 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 of the
same sympathies with ourselves, I will boldly avow my feelings
and my wishes in their behalf, even at the hazard of such an
imputation." It will be seen by the above citation, that this was not the first
time that Mr. Clay had " expressed his opinion and wishes widi
respect to the nature and object of that struggle."
In Mr. Monroe's first annual message, of December, 1817, he

UNIVERSAL FREEDOM. 215
said : " Through every stage of the conflict [between Spain and
her colonies], the United States have maintained an impartial
neutrality. They have regarded the contest, not in the light of
an ordinary insurrection or rebellion, but as a civil war between
parties nearly equal, having, as to neutral powers, equal rights."
This, obviously, was so far favorable to the colonies. When this
part of the message was to be referred, by resolution, Mr. Clay
moved the following amendment : —
" And that the said committee be instructed to inquire, whether
any, and, if any, what provisions of law are necessary to insure, to
the America)! colonies of Spain, a just observance of the duties
incident to the neutral relation in which the United States stand,
in the existing war between them and Spain." f
The reason of this amendment was stated by Mr. Clay, as fol
lows : —
" That nine or ten British disbanded officers had formed in Eu
rope the resolution to unite themselves with the Spanish patriots
in the contest existing between them and Spain ; that, to carry
into effect this intention, they had sailed from Europe, and in
their transit to South America, had touched at the port of Phila
delphia ; that during their residence in Philadelphia, wearing per
haps the arms and habiliments of military men, making no dis
guise of their intention to participate in the struggle, they took
passage in a vessel bound to some port in South America ; that a
knowledge of this fact having come to the ears of the public au
thorities, or, perhaps, at the instigation of some agent of the Span
ish government, a prosecution was commenced against these offi
cers, who, from their inability to procure bail, were confined in
prison. *******
" Other cases had occurred, in which it appeared to him it be
came the Congress to interpose its authority. Persons sailing un
der the flag of the provinces had been arraigned in our courts,
and tried for piracy ; in one case, after having been arraigned,
tried, and acquitted of piracy, the same individuals, on the insti
gation of a Spanish officer or agent, had been again arraigned for
the same offence.
********
"Let us recollect the condition ofthe patriots: no minister
here to spur on our government, as was said in an interesting, and,
it appeared to him, a very candid work, recently published in this
country, respecting the progress of the South American revolu
tion ; no minister here to be rewarded by noble honors, in conse
quence of the influence he is supposed to possess with the Ameri
can government. No ; their unfortunate case was what ours had

216 THE ADVOCATE OF
been, in the years 1778 and 1779 ; their ministers, like our Frank
lins 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 disparity between the parties demanded a
just attention to the interests of the party which was unrepresent
ed ; and if the facts which he had mentioned, and others which
had come to his knowledge, were correct, they loudly demanded
the interposition of Congress. He trusted the house would give
the subject their attention, and show that here, in this place, the
obligations of neutrality would be strictly regarded in respect to
South America."
This amendment was carried without opposition.
In the summer of 1817, President Monroe appointed three
commissioners, Messrs. Rodney, Graham, and Bland, to proceed
to South America, to obtain information of the actual condition
and political prospects of the Spanish provinces, which were con
tending for independence ; and when the appropriation to defray
the expenses of these missions came up for consideration at the
next session of Congress, the house being in committee, March
24, 1818, Mr. Clay moved to amend the bill by adding : " And
' for one year's salary and an outfit to a minister to the United
Provinces of Rio de La Plata, the salary to commence, and the
outfit to be paid, whenever the president shall deem it expedient
to send a minister to the said United Provinces, a sum not exceed
ing eighteen thousand dollars.' "
It will be perceived, that this amendment amounted to a recog
nition of the independence of those provinces, and went to pro
vide for the support of a minister there, being virtually a law of
instructions and authority for the president to act upon. It was a
step — a large step in advance, not only of the country and of the
government, but of the whole civilized world. The daring phi
lanthropy of this proposal presents a spectacle of moral sublimity,
which, the longer it stands in history, will be the more admired.
By his argument on this occasion, Mr. Clay brought friends to
his support ; but he was alone in originating the movement.
" I rise, said Mr. Clay, under feelings of deeper regret than I
have ever experienced on any former occasion, inspired, princi
pally, by the painful consideration, that I find myself, on the propo
sition which I meant to submit, differing from many highly-
esteemed friends, in and out of this house, for whose judgment I

UNIVERSAL FREEDOM. 217
entertained the greatest respect. A knowledge of this circum
stance has induced me to pause ; to subject my own convictions
to the severest scrutiny, and to revolve the question over and over
again. But all my reflections have conducted me to the same
clear result ; and, much as I value those friends, great as my def
erence is for their opinions, I can not hesitate, when reduced to
the distressing alternative of conforming my judgment to theirs, or
pursuing the deliberate and mature dictates of my own mind. I
enjoy some consolation, for the want of their co-operation, from
the persuasion that, if I err on this occasion, I err on the side of
the liberty and happiness of a large portion of the human family.
Another, and,,, if possible, indeed a greater source of the regret
to which I refer, is the utter incompetency, which I unfeignedly
feel, to do anything like adequate justice to the great cause of
American independence and freedom, whose interests I wish to
promote by my humble exertions in this instance. Exhausted
and worn down as I am, by the fatigue, confinement, and inces
sant application, incident to the arduous duties of the honorable
station I hold, during a four months' session, I shall need all that
kind indulgence which has been so often extended to me by the
house. " I beg, in the first place, to correct misconceptions, if any exist,
in regard to my opinions. I am averse to war with Spain, or with
any power. I would give no just cause of war to any power —
not to Spain herself. I have seen enough of war, and of its ca
lamities, even when successful. No country upon earth has more
interest than this in cultivating peace and avoiding war, as long as
it is possible honorably to avoid it. Gaining additional strength
every day ; our numbers doubling in periods of twenty-five
years ; with an income outstripping all our estimates, and so great,
as, after a war in some respects disastrous, to furnish results which
carry astonishment, if not dismay, into the bosom of states jealous
of our rising importance ; we have every motive for the love of
peace. I can not, however, approve, in all respects, of the man
ner in which our negotiations with Spain have been conducted.
If ever a favorable time existed for the demand, on the part of an
injured ' nation, of indemnity for past wrongs from the aggressor,
such is the present time. Impoverished and exhausted at home,
by the wars which have desolated the peninsula ; with a foreign
war, calling for infinitely more resources, in men and money, than
she can possibly command, this is the auspicious period for insist
ing upon justice at her hands, in a firm and decided tone. Time
is precisely what Spain now most wants. Yet what are we told
by the president, in his message at the commencement of Con
gress ? That Spain had procrastinated, and we acquiesced in her
procrastination. And the secretary of state, in a late communi
cation with Mr. Onis, after ably vindicating all our rights, tells the

218 THE ADVOCATE OF
Spanish minister, with a good deal of sang froid, that we had pa
tiently waited thirteen years for a redress of our injuries, and that
it required no great effort to wait longer ! I would have abstained
from thus exposing our intentions. Avoiding the use of the lan
guage of menace, I would have required, in temperate and deci
ded terms, indemnity for all our wrongs ; for the spoliations of
our commerce ; for the interruption of the right of depot at New
Orleans, guarantied by treaty ; for the insults repeatedly offered
to our flag ; for the Indian hostilities, which she was bound to
prevent ; for belligerent use made of her ports and territories, by
our enemy, during the late war ; and the instantaneous liberation
of the free citizens of the United States, now imprisoned in her
jails. Contemporaneous with that demand, without waiting for
her final answer, and with a view to the favorable operation on
her councils in regard to our own peculiar interests, as well as in
justice to the cause itself, I would recognise any established gov
ernment- in Spanish America. I would have left Spain to draw her
own inferences from these proceedings, as to the ultimate step
which this country might adopt, if she longer withheld justice
from us. And if she persevered in her iniquity, after we have
conducted the negotiation in the manner I have endeavored to de
scribe, I would then take up and decide the solemn question of
peace or war, with the advantage of all the light shed upon it, by
subsequent events, and the probable conduct of Europe."
The following sentiment, incidentally dropped in this debate,
deprecating war, is fit for any place : —
" War is one of those dreadful scourges, that so shakes the
foundations of society, overturns or changes the character of gov
ernments, interrupts or destroys the pursuits 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.
* *******
" If we are to be involved in a war with Spain, let us have the
credit of disinterestedness. Let us put her yet more in the wrong.
Let us command the respect which is never withheld from those
who act a noble and generous part. I hope to communicate to the
committee the conviction which I so strongly feel, that the adop
tion of the amendment which I intend to propose, would not hazard
in the slightest degree, the peace of the country. But if that peace
is to be endangered, I would infinitely rather it should be for our
exerting the right appertaining to every state, of acknowledging the
independence of another state, than for the seizure of a province
[Florida], which, sooner or later, we must certainly acquire.
" In contemplating the great struggle in which Spanish America
is now engaged, our attention is first fixed by the immensity and

universal freedom. 219
character of the country which Spain seeks again to subjugate.
Stretching on the Pacific ocean, from about the" fortieth degree of
north latitude to about the fifty-fifth degree of south latitude, and
extending from the mouth of the Rio del Norte (exclusive of East
Florida), around the gulf of Mexico, and along the South Atlantic
to near Cape Horn ; it is about five thousand miles in length, and
in some places near three thousand in breadth. Within this vast
region we behold the most sublime and interesting objects of crea
tion : the loftiest mountains, the most majestic rivers, in the world ;
the richest mines of the precious metals, and the choicest produc
tions of the earth. We behold there a spectacle still more inter
esting and sublime — the glorious spectacle of eighteen millions of
people, struggling to burst their chains and to be free. When we
take a little nearer and more detailed view, we perceive that nature
has, as it were, ordained that this people and this country shall ul
timately constitute several different nations. Leaving the United
States on the north, we come to New Spain, or the viceroyalty of
Mexico on the south ; passing by Guatemala, we reach the vice-
royalty of New Grenada, the late captain-generalship of Venezuela,
and Guiana, lying on the east side of the Andes. Stepping over
the Brazils, we arrive at the United Provinces of La Plata; and
crossing the Andes, we find Chili on their west side, and, further
north, the viceroyalty of Lima, or Peru. Each of these several
parts is sufficient in itself, in point of limits, to constitute a power
ful state ; and, in point of population, that which has the smallest,
contains enough to make it respectable. Throughout all the ex
tent of that great portion of the world, which I have attempted thus
hastily to describe, the spirit of revolt against the dominion of
Spain has manifested itself. The revolution has been attended
with various degrees of success in the several parts of Spanish
America. In some it has been already crowned, as I shall en
deavor to show, with complete success, and in all I am persuaded
that independence has struck such deep root, that the power of
Spain can never eradicate it. What are the causes of this great
movement ?
" Three hundred years ago, upon the ruins of the thrones of
Montezuma and the incas of Peru, Spain erected the most stupen
dous system of colonial despotism that the world has ever seen —
the most vigorous, the most exclusive. The great principle and
object of this system has been, to render one of the largest portions
of the world exclusively subservient, in all its faculties; to the in
terests of an inconsiderable spot in Europe. To effectuate this
aim of her policy, she locked up Spanish America from all the
rest of the world, and prohibited, under the severest penalties, any
foreigner from entering any part of it. To keep the natives them
selves ignorant of each other, and of the strength and resources of
the several parts of her American possessions, she next prohibited

220 THE ADVOCATE OF
the inhabitants of one viceroyalty or government from visiting those
of another ; so that the inhabitants of Mexico, for example, were
not allowed to enter the viceroyalty of New Grenada. The agri
culture of those vast regions was so regulated and restrained, as to
prevent all collision with the agriculture of the peninsula. Where
nature, by the character and composition of the soil, had com
manded, the abominable system of Spain has forbidden, the growth
of certain articles. * * * * * * , *
Wherever in America her sway extends, everything seems to
pine and wither beneath its baneful influence. The richest regions
of the earth : man, his happiness and his education, all the fine
faculties of his soul, are regulated, and modified, and moulded, to
suit the execrable purposes of an inexorable despotism.
\ " Such is a brief and imperfect picture of the state of things in
Spanish America, in 1808, when the famous transactions of Ba
yonne occurred. The king of Spain and the Indies (for Spanish
America has always constituted an integral part of the Spanish
empire) abdicated his throne and became a voluntary captive. Even
at this day, one does not know whether he should most condemn
the baseness and perfidy of the one party, or despise the meanness
and imbecility of the other. If the obligation of obedience and al
legiance existed on the part of the colonies to die king of Spain,
it was founded on the duty of protection which he owed them.
By disqualifying himself for the performance of this duty, they be
came released from that obligation. The monarchy was dissolved ;
and each integral part had a right to seek its own happiness, by
the institution of any new government adapted to its wants. Joseph
Bonaparte, the successor de facto of Ferdinand, recognised this
right on the part of the colonies, and recommended them to estab
lish their independence. Thus, upon the ground of strict right —
upon the footing of a mere legal question, governed by forensic
rules, the colonies, being absolved by the acts of the parent-coun
try from the duty of subjection to it, had an indisputable right to
set up for themselves. But I take a broader and bolder position.
I maintain, that an oppressed people are authorized, whenever they
can, to rise and break their fetters. This was the great principle
ofthe English revolution. It was the great principle of our own.
Vattel, if authority were wanting, expressly supports this right.
We must pass sentence of condemnation upon die founders of our
liberty, say that they were rebels, traitors, and that we are at this
moment legislating without competent powers, before we can con
demn Spanish America. Our revolution was mainly directed
against the mere theory of tyranny. We had suffered compara
tively but little ; we had, in some respects, been kindly treated ;
but our intrepid and intelligent fathers saw, in the usurpation of
the power to levy an inconsiderable tax, the long train of oppres
sive acts that were to follow. They rose ; they breasted the storm ;

UNIVERSAL FREEDOM. 221
they achieved our freedom. Spanish America for centuries has
been doomed to the practical effects of an odious tyranny. 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 estabhshed it ; we have
a right, as a sovereign power, to notice the fact, and to act as cir
cumstances and our interest require. I will say, in the language
of the venerated father of my country, ' born in a land of liberty,
my anxious recollections, my sympathetic feelings, and my best
wishes, are irresistibly excited, whensoever, in any country, 1 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 unnatural parent. And, when
I contemplate the glorious struggle which that country is now ma
king, I think I hehold that brother rising, by the power and energy
of his fine native genius, to the manly rank which nature, and na
ture's God, intended for him.
" If Spanish America be entitled to success from the justness
of her cause, we have no less reason to wish tiiat success, from the
horrible character which jhe royal arms have given to the war.
More atrocities, than those which have been perpetrated during its
existence, are not to he found, even in the annals of Spain herself.
And history, reserving some of her blackest pages for the name of
Morillo, is prepared to place him by the side of his great prototype,
the infamous desolator of the Netherlands. He who has looked
into the history of the conduct of this war, is constandy shocked
at the revolting scenes which it portrays ; at the refusal, on the
part ofthe commanders ofthe royal forces, to treat, on any terms,
widi the other side ; at the denial of quarters ; at the butchery, in
cold blood, of prisoners ; at the violation of flags in some cases,
after being received with religious ceremonies ; at the instigation
of slaves to rise against their owners ; and at acts of wanton and
useless harbarity. Neither the weakness of the other sex, nor the
imbecility of infants, nor the reverence due to the sacerdotal char
acter, can stay the arm of royal vengeance."
To support the right of his position, and the truth of his state
ments, Mr. Clay cites the manifesto ofthe United Provinces of
Rio de La Plata, published in October, 1817, a document pre
cisely the same in character with the declaration of American in
dependence of 1776 ; and the injuries and atrocities recited as

222 'THE ADVOCATE OF
grdund of action, are horrible to contemplate. Mr. Clay then
proceeds : —
" In the establishment of the independence of Spanish America,
the United States have the deepest interest. I have no hesitation
in asserting my firm belief, that there is no question in the foreign
policy of this country, which has ever arisen, or which I can
conceive as ever occurring, in the decision of which we have had
or can have so much at stake. This interest concerns our politics,
our commerce, our navigation. There can not be a doubt that
Spanish America, once independent, whatever may be the form of
the governments established in its several parts, these governments
will be animated by an American feeling and guided by an
American policy. They will obey the laws of the system of the
new world, of which they will compose a part, in contradistinc
tion to that of Europe. Without the influence of that vortex in
Europe, the balance of power between its several parts, the preser
vation of which has so often drenched Europe in blood, America is
sufficiently remote to contemplate the new wars which are to afflict
that quarter of the globe, as a calm, if not a cold and indifferent
spectator. In relation to those wars, the several parts of America
will generally stand neutral. And as, during the period when they
rage, it will be important that a liberal system of neutrality should
be adopted and observed, all America will be interested in main
taining and enforcing such a system. The independence of Span
ish America, then, is an interest of primary consideration. Next
to that, and highly important in itself, is the consideration of the
nature of their governments. That is a question, however, for
themselves. They will, no doubt, adopt those kinds of govern
ments which are best suited to their condition, best calculated for
their happiness. Anxious as I am that they should be free
governments, we have no right to prescribe for them. They are,
and ought to be, the sole judges for themselves. I am strongly
inclined to believe that they will in most, if not all parts of their
country, establish free governments. We are their great example.
Of us they constantly speak as of brothers, having a similar origin.
They adopt our principles, copy our institutions, and, in many
instances, employ the very language and sentiments of our revolu
tionary papers. * ******
"But it is sometimes said, that they are too ignorant and too
superstitious to admit of the existence of free government. This
charge of ignorance is often urged by persons themselves actually
ignorant of the real condition of that people. 1 deny the alleged
fact of ignorance ; I deny the inference from that fact, if it were
true, .that they want capacity for free government ; and I refuse
assent to the further conclusion, if the fact were true, and the
inference just, that we are to be indifferent to their fate. All the

UNIVERSAL FREEDOM. 223
writers of the most established authority, Depons, Humboldt, "and
others, concur in assigning to the people of Spanish America great
quickness, genius, and particular aptitude for the acquisition of the
exact sciences, and others which they have been allowed to culti
vate. In astronomy, geology, mineralogy, chymistry, botany, and
so forth, they are allowed to make distinguished proficiency. They
justly boast of their Abzate, Velasques, and Gama, and other
illustrious contributors to science. They have nine universities,
and in the city of Mexico, it is affirmed by Humboldt, that there
are more solid scientific establishments than in any city even of
North America. I would refer to die message of the supreme
director oi" La Plata, which 1 shall hereafter have occasion to use
for another purpose, as a model of fine composition of a state
paper, challenging a comparison with any, the most celebrated,
that ever issued from the pens of Jefferson or Madison. Gentle-
mon will egregiously err, if they form dieir opinions of the present
moral condition of Spanish America, from what it was under the
debasing system of Spain. The eight years' revolution in which
it has been engaged, has already produced a powerful effect.
Education has been attended to, and genius developed.
******** *
" It is die doctrine of dirones, tiiat man is too ignorant to govern
himself. Their partisans assert his incapacity, in reference to all
nations; if they can not command universal assent to the proposi
tion, 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 sup
pose that he has created beings incapable of governing themselves,
and to be trampled on by kings. Self-government is the natural
government of man, and for proof, 1 refer to the aborigines of our
own land. Were I to speculate in hypotheses unfavorable to hu
man liberty, my speculations should be founded rather upon the
vices, refinements, or density of population. Crowded together
in compact masses, even if tiiey were philosophers, die contagion
of the passions is communicated and caught, and the effect too
often, I admit, is die overthrow of liberty. Dispersed over such
an immense space as that on which die people of Spanish America
are spread, their physical, and 1 believe also dieir moral condition,
both favor their liberty.
" Widi regard to their superstition, they worship the same God
with tis. Their prayers are offered up in their temples to die same
Ucdoemer, whose intercession we expect to save us. Nor is diere
anything in the catholic religion unfavorable to freedom. All
religions united with government, are more or less inimical to lib
erty. All, separated from government, are compatible with liberty.
If tho people of Spanish America have not already gone as far in
religious toleration as we have, die difference in dieir condition

|J24 THE ADVOCATE OF
from ours should not be forgotten. Everything is progressive;
and in time, I hope to see thern imitating, in this respect, our
example. But grant that the people of Spanish America are
ignorant, and incompetent for free government, to whom is that
ignorance to be ascribed? Is it not. 'to the execrable system of
Spain, which she seeks again to establish and to perpetuate? So
far from chilling our hearts, it ought to increase our solicitude for
our unfortunate brethren. It ought to animate us to desire the
redemption of the minds and the bodies of unborn millions, from
the brutifying effects of a system, whose tendency is to stifle the
faculties of the soul, and to degrade man to the level of beasts, $
would invoke the spirits of our departed fathers. Was it for your
selves only that you nobly fought? No, no! It was the chains
that were forging for your posterity, that made you fly to arms, and
scattering the elements of these chains to the winds, you transmit
ted to us the rich inheritance of liberty."
Mr. Clay proceeds to show the vast commercial advantages that
would result to the United States, from the recognition of the in
dependence of Spanish America — not that he proposed to act on
this sordid principle — but to meet the argument of opponents based
upon it. It appears by official documents, that the foreign trade
of the United States with the American family of nations, states,
and colonies, for the year ending June 30, 1844, is at least one
quarter of the foreign trade with all the rest of the world.
Nevertheless, though the argument on this point was abun
dantly strong, with less information than can now be obtained, which
greatly strengthens it, to show how much Mr. Clay rose above the
influence of such considerations, he says : " There is something
so narrow, and selfish, and grovelling, in this argument, something
so unworthy the magnanimity of a great and a generous people,
that I confess I have scarcely patience to notice it." The follow
ing isolated statement, incidentally thrown in, is worthy of pro
found reflection, and will naturally lead to it: —
"I see, and I own it with infinite regret, a tone and a feeling in
the councils of the country, infinitely below that which belongs to
the country. It is, perhaps, the moral consequence of the exer
tions of the late war. We are alarmed at dangers, we know not
what; by spectres conjured up by our own vivid imaginations.
" The West India bill is brought up. We shrug our shoulders,
talk of restrictions, non-intercourse, embargo, commercial welfare,
make long faces, and — postpone the bill. The time will however
come, must come, when this country will not submit to a com
merce with the British colonies, upon the terms which England

UNIVERSAL FJflifRwHSk 225*
alone prescribes. And I repo^^j^i' uj^'ivVjs, Spanish America
will afford us an ample Htibsti|

Ii will not be out of placmfipauHo fierpir^jHj'contemplatc for a
moment tho spectacle prcscrnTof a^flsJ^firjK^mdividual, occupying
such a position, pleading1' sucnNtaMWffErin advance of his own
country, of his own government, of all around him, of the whole
civilized world, of tho age. "He looked upon Spain and the In
dies ;" jtnd what did he find to be their relations and condition ?
It is already told. " The Indies," numbering some twenty millions
of people, had declared for freedom against the most oppressive
and most inhuman despotism that the world ever knew; they had
succeeded, in nearly all quarters, in driving the forces of Spain
from their soil; they occupied a most favorable position, geograph
ically and politically, for maintaining independence and establish
ing free institutions ; they were compelled to do so, or fall back
under a government that would be a thousand times more aggra
vated in its character than the atrocities which had before been
committed ; thoy were poor (how could it be otherwise?), alleged
to bo ignorant (who could blame them for that?); and accused of
superstition (how could they get rid of it .under Spain?); they
wore remote from other portions of the civilized world, and few
cared for them ; thoy occupied nature's most fruitful garden, and
wero surrounded by her prodigal magnificence ; rich in the Crea
tor's best gifts, but most abused by man's worst vice, the lust of
empire ; invoking and requiring nothing but the costless aid of
sympathy, but stretching out their hands to Europe, whence they
camo, in vain for such a boon ; it was the interest of the govern
ments of Europe, in support ofthe claims ofa tottering legitimacy,
to see them rosubjugated ; and their only hope was turned to the
noiith — to their brethren of tho United States. And what did they
got there? The answer is found in a short speech of Mr. Clay,
at a dinner in Lexington, June 7, 1820 : —
" Tho executive had deemed it proper to pay some regard to
the views -and wishes of other nations, while his [Mr. Clay's] de
sire had been to pursue a course exclusively American, uninflu
enced by tho policy of my Lord Castlereagh, Count Nesselrodc, or
any other of tho great mon of Europe. The executive had been
endeavoring, by negotiation, to procure a simultaneous acknowl
edgment by the European powers and ourselves, of the independ
ence of South America, while he [Mr. Clay] had been anxious
that we should act without delay, and without concert with other
nations."
Vol. L— 15

2$6 %HE ADVOCATE OF
It will be seen, therefore, that in this great cause, Mr. Clay stood
alone, the advocate of freedom for twenty millions of the human
family, occupying about one third of the American continent,
the most beautiful, the most prolific, and the grandest, which the
sun ever shone upon. And he came boldly forward when they
had need of help — when the slightest aid, from such a quarter,
might be of the greatest importance. Europe paused ; the gov
ernment of the United States paused ; the world paused ; when
the liberties of a third of this western world were pending ; but
one man, sitting in the councils of the North American republic,
and presiding over one of the branches of its legislature, did not
pause.
It was maintained in this debate, in opposition to Mr. Clay, that
recognition is cause of war.. Mr. Clay acknowledged, that, " with
aid, it is — not because ofthe recognition, but because ofthe aid —
as aid, without recognition, is cause of war. The truth of these
propositions I will maintain upon principle, by the practice of other
states, and by the usage of our own. There is no common tribu
nal among nations, to pronounce upon the fact of the sovereignty
ofa new state. Each power does, and must judge for itself. It
is an attribute of sovereignty so to judge. A nation, in exercising
this incontestable right, in pronouncing upon the independence, in
fact, of a new state, takes no part in the war."
What was to be done ? Were the United States, was the world,
to wait for Spain to acknowledge the independence of hef revolted
provinces ? It was eighty years before she acknowledged the in
dependence ofthe " United Provinces," though they had been re
ceived into the family of nations by the rest of Europe^ Spain
did not declare war against England, under Queen Elizabeth, till
this princess had given aid to Holland. In the case of the Amer
ican revolution, it was not till France had given aid to the colonies,
that England declared war against France ; and it was solely on
account of such aid — not for diplomatic relations and intercourse.
It was not till Holland was about to enter into a treaty with the
North American colonies, during the revolution, that England
declared war. The United States had always acted on the princi
ple of recognising the government de facto, of any nation, without
regard to dejure claims from any quarter. Presidents Washing
ton, Jefferson, and Madison, acted on this principle. In the case
of the French republic, President Washington did not wait, as Mr.
Monroe proposed to do, in the case of the South American states,

UNIVKItSAT. FREEDOM. 227'
for the action of the crowned heads of Europe ; but he accredited
tho French minister at once — oven before the government of the
republic was considered us established. President Washington,
did not inquire, as a preliminary, into tho claims ofthe Bourbons;
but he recognised the actual government:, which had just overthrown
the Bourbon dynusty. " In all the phases of the French govern
ment," said Mr. Clay — "republic, directory, consuls, consul for
life, emperor, king, emperor again, king — our government has uni
formly received the minister." It followed, that the governments
dn facto of South America, should be acknowledged.
Mr. Clay went on to show, that tho United Provinces of Rio
do Lti Plata, had a valid claim to bo recognised, as his amend
ment proposed — more so, even, in many respects, than the thir
teen North American British colonies, during the war of the rev
olution, lie then cites the message ofthe supremo director of
those provinces to their Congress — one ofthe most dignified, elo
quent, and commanding state-papers to be found in the archives
of political history — upon which ho says : —
" There is a spirit of bold confidence running through this fine
state paper, which nothing hut conscious strength could commu
nicate. Their armies, their magazines, their finances, are ou the
most solid and respectable footing. And, amidst all the cares of
war, and those incident to the consolidation of their new institu
tions, leisure is found to promote tho interests of science, and the
education ofthe rising generation. It is true, the first part ofthe
message portrays scenes of difficulty ami commotion, the usual
attendants upon revolution. The very avowal of their troubles
manifests, however, that they are subdued. And what state,
passing through tho agitation of a great revolution, is free from
them ? We had our tories, our intrigues, our factions. More
than once were tho n flections of the countiy, and the confidence
of our councils, in the great father of our liberties, attempted to bo
shaken. Not a Spanish bayonet remains within tho immense ex
tent of tho territories of the La Plata, to contest, the authority of
tho actual government. It is free, it is independent, it is sover
eign. It manages the interests of tho society that submits to its
sway. It is capablo of maintaining the relations between that so
ciety and other nations.
"Are we not bound, then, upon our own principles, to acknowl
edge this new republic? If we do not, who will? Arc wo to
expect that kings will set us the example of acknowledging the
only republic on earth, except our own? We receive, promptly
receive, a minister, from whatever king- sends us one. From the
groat powers and tho little powers, wo accredit ministers. We

228 THE ADVOCATE OF
do more : we hasten to reciprocate the compliment ; and, anxious
to manifest our gratitude for royal civility, we send for a minister
(as in the case of Sweden and the Netherlands) of the lowest
grade, one of the highest rank recognised by our laws. We are
the natural head of the American family. I would not intermed
dle in the affairs of Europe. We wisely keep aloof from their
broils. I would not even intermeddle in those of other parts of
America, further than to exert the incontestable rights appertain
ing to us as a free, sovereign, and independent power ; and I
contend, that the accrediting of a minister from the new republic
is such a right. We are bound to receive their minister, if we
mean to be really neutral. If the royal belligerent is represented
and heard at our government, the republican belligerent ought also
to be heard. Otherwise, one party will be in the condition of the
poor patriots, who were tried ex-pa.rte the other day, in the su
preme court, without counsel, without friends. Give Mr. Onis his
conge, or receive the republican minister. Unless you do so,
your neutrality is nominal."
Mr. Clay next considers the probable consequences of the
measure he proposed — "first, that it could not lead to a war with
Spain, on account of her imbecility, though it would be dishonora
ble to take advantage of that fact, to do a wrong. But this was
right. Next : —
" Will the allies interfere ? If, by the exertion of an unques
tionable attribute of a sovereign power, we should give no just
cause of war to Spain herself, how can it be pretended that we
should furnish even a specious pretext to the allies for making war
upon us ? On what ground could they attempt to justify a rupture
with us, for the exercise of a right which we hold in common with
them, and with every other independent state ? But we have a
surer guarantee against their hostility, in their interests. That all
the allies, who have any foreign commerce, have an interest in the
independence of Spanish America, is perfectly evident. On what
ground, I ask, is it likely, then, that they would support Spain,
in opposition to their own decided interests ? To crush the spirit
of revolt, and prevent the progress of free principles ? Nations,
like individuals, do not sensibly feel, and seldom act upon dangers
which are remote, either in time or place. Of Spanish America,
but little is known by the great body of the population of Europe.
Even in this country, the most astonishing ignorance prevails
respecting it. Those European statesmen who are acquainted
with the .country, will reflect, that, tossed by a great revolution, it
will most probably constitute four or five several nations, and that
the ultimate modification of all their various governments is by no
means absolutely certain. But I entertain no doubt that the
principle of cohesion among the allies is gone. It was annihi-

UNIVERSAL FREEDOM. 229
lated in the memorable battle of Waterloo. When the question
was, whether one should engross all, a common danger united all.
How long was it, even with a clear perception of that danger, be
fore an effective coalition could be formed ? How often did one
power stand by unmoved and indifferent to the fate of its neighbor,
although the destruction of that neighbor removed the only bar
rier to an attack upon itself? No ; the consummation of the
cause of the allies was, and all history and all experience will
prove it, the destruction of the alliance. The principle is totally
changed. It is no longer a common struggle against the colossal
power of Bonaparte, but it has become a common scramble for
the spoils of his empire. There may, indeed, be one or two
points on which a common interest still exists, such as the con
venience of subsisting their armies on the vitals of poor suffering
France. But as for action, for new enterprises, there is no prin
ciple of unity, there can be no accordance of interests, or of
views, among them.
" What is the condition in which Europe is left, after all its ef
forts ? It is divided into two great powers, one having the undis
puted command of the land, the other of the water. Paris is
transferred to St. Petersburgh, and the navies of Europe are at
the bottom of the sea, or concentrated in the ports of England.
Russia — that huge land animal — awing by the dread of her vast
power all continental Europe, is seeking to encompass the Porte ;
and constituting herself the kraken of the ocean, is anxious to lave
her enormous sides in the more genial waters of the Mediterra
nean. It is said, I know, that she has indicated a disposition to
take part with Spain. No such thing. She has sold some old
worm-eaten, decayed fir-built ships to Spain, but the crews which
navigate them are to return from the port of delivery, and the
bonus she is to get, I believe to be the island of Minorca, in con
formity with the cardinal point of her policy. France is greatly
interested in whatever would extend her commerce, and regenerate
her marine, and consequently, more than any other power of Eu
rope, England alone excepted, is concerned in the independence
of Spanish America."
But Great Britain had a deep stake in the independence of
Spanish America, as a market for her manufactures. She could
not oppose it — would inevitably favor it. And so it has turned
out. On this point, Mr. Clay said : —
" In the case of the struggle between Spain and her colonies,
England, for once, at least, has manifested a degree of wisdom
highly deserving our imitation ; but, unfortunately, the very re
verse of her course has been pursued by us. She has so con
ducted, by operating upon the hopes of the two parties, as to
keep on the best terms with both ; to enjoy all the advantages of

230 THE ADVOCATE OF
the rich commerce of both. We have, by a neutrality bill con
taining unprecedented features, and still more by a late executive
measure, to say the least of it, of doubtful constitutional character,
contrived to dissatisfy both parties. We have the confidence
. neither of Spain, nor the colonies.
******** " If it be urged that, by avowing our willingness, in a legisla
tive act, to pay a minister not yet sent, and whom the president
may think it improper to send abroad, we operate upon the presi
dent by all the force of our opinion ; it may be retorted, that
when we are called upon to pay any minister, sent under similar
circumstances, we are operated upon by all the force of the presi
dent's opinion. * * * * * *
" I am disposed to give to the president all the confidence
which he must derive from the unequivocal expression of our will.
This expression, I know, may be given in the form of an abstract
resolution, declaratory of that will ; but I prefer at this time pro
posing an act of practical legislation. And if I have been so for
tunate as to communicate to the committee, in anything like that
degree of strength in which I entertain them, the convictions that
the cause of the patriots is just ; that the character of the war, as
waged by Spain, should induce us to wish them success ; that we
have a great interest in that success ; that this interest, as well as
our neutral attitude, requires us to acknowledge any established
government in Spanish America ; that the United Provinces of the
river Plate is such a government ; that we may safely acknowledge
its independence, without danger of war from Spain, from the al
lies, or from England ; and that without unconstitutional interfe
rence with the executive power, with peculiar fitness, we may ex
press, in an act of appropriation, our sentiments, leaving him to
the exercise of a just and responsible discretion ; I hope the commit
tee will adopt the proposition which I now have the honor of pre
senting to them, after a respectful tender of my acknowledgments
for their attention and kindness, during, I fear, the tedious period
I have been so unprofitably trespassing upon their patience."
On the 28th of March, four days afterward, his amendment be
ing still under debate in committee, Mr. Clay took occasion for a
rejoinder to the objections which, in the meantime, had been made
to his proposal by several eloquent and able opponents, Messrs.
Lowndes, of South Carolina; Forsyth, of Georgia; Smith, of
Maryland ; Smyth and Nelson, of Virginia ; and Poindexter, of
Mississippi : —
" But, sir, it seems that a division of the republican party is
about to be made by the proposition. Who is to furnish, in this
respect, the correct criterion^whose conduct is to be the standard

UNIVERSAL FREEDOM. 231
of orthodoxy ? What has been the great principle of the party to
which the gentleman from Virginia [Mr. Nelson] refers, from the
first existence of the government to the present day ? An attach
ment to liberty, a devotion to the great cause of humanity, of free
dom, of self-government, and of equal rights. If there is to be a
division, as the gentleman says ; if he is going to leave us, who are
following the old track, he may, in his new connexions, find a great
variety of company, which, perhaps, may indemnify him for the
loss of his old friends. What is the great principle that has dis
tinguished parties in all ages, and under all governments — demo
crats and federalists, whigs and tories, plebeians and patricians?
The one, distrustful of human nature, appreciates less the influence
of reason and of good dispositions, and appeals more to physical
force ; the other party, confiding in human nature, relies much
upon moral power, and applies to force as an auxiliary only to the
operations of reason. All the modifications and denominations
of political parties and sects may be traced to this fundamental
distinction. It is that which separated the two great parties in this
country. If there is to be a division in the republican party, I
glory that I, at least, am found among those who are anxious for
the advancement of human rights and of human liberty ; and the
honorable gentleman who spoke of appealing to the public senti
ment, will find, when he does so, or I am much mistaken, that
public sentiment is also on the side of public liberty and of human
happiness. " But the gentleman from South Carolina [Mr. Lowndes] has
told us, that the constitution has wisely confided to the executive
branch of the government, the administration of the foreign inter
ests of the country. Has the honorable gentleman attempted to
show, though his proposition be generally true, and will never be
controverted by me, that we also have not our participation in the
administration ofthe foreign concerns ofthe country, when we are
called upon, in our legislative* capacity, to defray the expenses of
foreign missions, or to regulate commerce? I stated, when up
before, and I have listened in vain for an answer to the argument,
that no part of the constitution says which shall have the prece
dence, the act of making the appropriation for paying a minister, or
the act of sending one. I have contended, and now repeat, that
either the acts of deputing and of paying a minister should be
simultaneous ; or, if either has the preference, the act of appropri
ating his pay should precede the sending of a minister. I chal
lenge gentlemen to show me anything in the constitution, which
directs tiiat a minister shall be sent before his payment is provided
fori * * * * # # *
" My theory of the constitution, on this particular subject, is,
that Congress has the right of appropriating money for foreign mis
sions, the president the power to use it. The president having

232 THE ADVOCATE OF
the power, I am willing to say to him, ' Here is the money, which
we alone have a right to appropriate, which will enable you to
carry your power into effect, if ifseems expedient to you.' "
Mr. Clay also adduced several precedents in the history of the
action of the government, to support this position. Though he
had anticipated, he nevertheless had to combat, his opponents on
the question in a commercial point of view, at the conclusion of
which, having well refuted them, he again gave vent to the ex
pression of a loftier sentiment : —
" It is too selfish, too mean a principle for this body to act on,
to refuse its sympathy for the patriots of the south, because some
little advantage of a commercial nature may be retained to us from
their remaining in the present condition — which, however, I totally
deny." In regard to a report from the state department on this subject,
Mr. Clay said : —
" I will pass over the report lately made to the house by the
department of state, respecting the state of South America, with
only one remark — that it appears to me to exhibit evidence of an
adroit and experienced diplomatist, negotiating, or rather confer
ring on a subject with a young and inexperienced minister, from a
young and inexperienced republic. From the manner in which
this report was communicated, after a call for information so long
made, and after a lapse of two months from the last date in the
correspondence on the subject, I was mortified at hearing the
report read. Why talk of the mode of recognition ! Why make
objections to the form of the commission ? If the minister has not
a formal power, why not tell him to send back for one ? Why
ask of him to enumerate the particular states whose independence
he wished acknowledged ? Suppose the French minister had
asked of Franklin what number of states he represented ? ' Thir
teen, if you please,' Franklin would have replied. ' But, Mr. Frank
lin, will you tell me if Pennsylvania, whose capital is in possession
of the British, be one of them ?' What would Dr. Franklin have
said ? It would have comported better with the frankness of the
American character, and of American diplomacy, if the secretary,
avoiding cavils about the form of the commission, had said to the
minister of Buenos Ayres : ' At the present moment we do not in
tend to recognise you, or to receive or to send a minister to you.' "
It had been said, that " factions prevailed at Buenos Ayres."
" Do not factions prevail everywhere ?" said Mr. Clay. The fol
lowing defence of the chaplain of Congress, will be regarded with
interest : —

UNIVERSAL FREEDOM. 233
" The honorable gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Forsyth] com
menced his remarks the other day by an animadversion which he
might well have spared, when he'told us, that even the prayers of
the chaplain of this house had been offered up in behalf of the
patriots. And was it reprehensible, that an American chaplain,
whose cheeks are furrowed by age, and his head as white as snow,
who has a thousand times, during our own revolution, implored
the smiles of Heaven on our exertions, should indulge in the pious
and patriotic feelings flowing from his recollections of our own
revolution ? Ought he to be subject to animadversion for so
doing, in a place where he can not be heard? Ought he to be
subject to animadversion for soliciting the favor of Heaven on the
same cause as that in which we fought the good fight, and acquired
our independence ? I trust not.
********
" The present state of facts, and not what has passed and gone
in South America, must be consulted. At the present moment,
the patriots of the south are fighting for liberty and independence —
for precisely what we fought. But their revolution, the gentleman
told the house, was stained by scenes which had not occurred in
ours. If so, it was because execrable outrages had been commit
ted upon them by troops of the mother-country, which were not
upon us. Can it be believed, if the slaves had been let loose upon
us in the south, as they have been let loose in Venezuela ; if
quarters had been refused ; capitulations violated — that General
Washington, at the head of the armies of the United States, would
not have resorted to retribution? Retaliation is sometimes mercy —
mercy to both parties. The only means by which the coward soul
that indulges in such enormities can be reached, is to show to him
that they will be visited by severe, but just retribution. There are
traits in the history of this revolution, which show what deep root
liberty has taken in South America. I will state an instance.
The only hope of a wealthy and reputable family was charged, at
the head of a small force, with the care of the magaziue of the
army. He saw that it was impossible to defend it. ' Go,' said he
to his companions in arms, ' I alone am sufficient for its defence.'
The assailants approached ; he applied a match and blew up the
magazine, with himself, scattering death and destruction on his
enemy. There is another instance of the intrepidity of a female
of the patriot party. A lady in New Granada had given informa
tion to the patriot forces, of plans and instructions by which the
capitol might be invaded. She was put upon the rack to divulge
her accomplices. She bore the torture with the greatest fortitude,
and died exclaiming : ' You shall not hear it from my mouth ; I
will die, and may those live who can free my country.'
" But the house has been asked, and asked with a triumph
worthy of a better cause, why recognise this republic ? Where is

234 THE ADVOCATE OF
the use of it ? And is it possible that gentlemen can see no use
in recognising this republic ? For what did this republic fight ?
To be admitted into the family of nations. Tell the nations of
the world, says Pueyrredon, in his speech, that we already belong
to their illustrious rank. What would be the powerful conse
quences 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 proposition, I fondly anticipate,
with what anxious solicitude, during our revolution, he and his
glorious compatriots turned their eyes to Europe and asked to be
recognised ? I ask him, the patriot of '76, how the heart re
bounded with joy, on the information that France had recognised
us ? The moral influence of such a recognition, on the patriot of
the south, will be irresistible. He will derive assurance from it,
of his not having fought in vain. In the constitution of our natures
there is a point, to which adversity may pursue us, without per
haps any worse effect than 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 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 to the patriots of La
Plata? Already enjoying independence for eight years, their
ministers are yet spurned from the courts of Europe, and rejected
by the government of a sister republic. Contrast this conduct of
ours with our conduct in other respects. No matter whence the
minister comes, be it from a despotic power, we receive him : and
even now, the gentleman from Maryland [Mr. Smith] would have
us send a minister to Constantinople, to beg a passage through the
Dardanelles to the Black sea, that, I suppose, we might get
some hemp and bread-stuffs there, of which we ourselves pro
duce none ; he, who can see no advantage to the country from
opening to its commerce the measureless resources of South
America, would send a minister to Constantinople for a little
trade. Nay, I have seen a project in the newspapers, and I
should not be surprised, after what we have already seen, at its
being carried into effect, for sending a minister to the Porte.
Yes, sir, from Constantinople, or from the Brazils ; from Turk
or Christian ; from black or white ; from the bey of Algiers or
the bey of Tunis ; from the devil himself, if he wore a crown
we should receive a minister. We even paid the expenses
of the minister of his sublime highness, the bey of Tunis and
thought ourselves highly honored by his visit. But, let the min
ister come from a poor republic, like that of La Plata, and we
turn our back on him. The brilliant costumes of the ministers of
the royal governments are seen glistening in the circles of our
drawing-rooms, and their splendid equipages rolling through the
avenues of the metropolis ; but the unaccredited minister of the

UNIVERSAL FREEDOM. 235
republic, if he visit our president or secretary of state at all, must
do it incognito, lest the eye of Don Onis should be offended by so
unseemly a sight ! I hope the gentleman from South Carolina,
who is so capable of estimating the effect of moral causes, will see
some use in recognising the independence of La Plata. I appeal
to the powerful effect of moral causes, manifested in the case of the
French revolution, when, by their influence, that nation swept from
about her the armies of the combined powers, by which she was
environed, and rose up the colossal power of Europe. There is
an example of the effect of moral power. All the patriots ask, all
they want at our hands, is, to be recognised as, what they have
been for the last, eight years, an independent power.
* *******
" We have exchanged ministers with the Brazils. The one,
however, is a kingdom, the other a republic ; and if any gentleman
can assign any other better reason why a minister should be sent
to one, and not to the other, of these powers, I shall be glad to
hear it disclosed, for I have not been able myself to discover it.
********
"But we are charged, on the present occasion, with treading on
sacred ground. Let me suppose, what I do not believe to be the
case, that the president has expressed an opinion one way and we
another. At so early a period of our government, because a
particular individual fills the presidential chair — an individual whom
I highly respect, more perhaps than some of those who would
be considered his exclusive friends — is the odious doctrine to
be preached here, that the chief magistrate can do no wrong? Is
the doctrine of passive obedience and non-resistance — are the
principles of the Stuarts, to be revived in this free government?
Is an opinion to be suppressed and scouted, because it is in oppo
sition to the opinion of the president? Sir, as long as I have a
seat on this floor, I shall not hesitate to exert the independence
which belongs to the representative character; I shall not hesitate
to express-my opinions, coincident or not with those of the execu
tive. But I can show that this cry has been raised on the present
occasion without reason. Suppose a case — that the president had
sent a minister to Buenos Ayres, and this house had been called
on to make an appropriation for the payment of his salary. I ask
of gentlemen, whether in that case they would not have voted an
appropriation? And has not the house a right to deliberate on the
propriety of doing so, as well before, as after a minister is sent?
Will gentlemen please to point out the difference ? I contend that
we are the true friends of the executive ; and that the title does not
belong to those who have taken it. We wish to extend his influ
ence, and give him patronage ; to give him means, as he has now
the power, to send another minister abroad. But, apart from this
view of the question, as regards the executive power, this house

236 THE ADVOCATE OF
has the incontestable right to recognise a foreign nation in the exer
cise of its power, to regulate commerce with foreign nations. Sup
pose, for example, we pass an act to regulate trade between the
United States and Buenos Ayres, the existence ofthe nation would
be thereby recognised, as we could not regulate trade with a nation
which does not exist."
It is not pleasant to be obliged to record, that the measure pro
posed and advocated by Mr. Clay, by such arguments, at this ses
sion of Congress, in behalf of the provinces of Rio de La Plata,
was rejected by a vote of 115 to 45.
At the opening of the next session, the president (Monroe) in
his annual message, after surveying the relations of the United
States to Spain, and the struggles and condition of the Spanish
provinces in South America, said: "There is good cause to be
satisfied with the course heretofore pursued by the United States
in regard to this contest, and to conclude that it is proper to adhere
to it, especially in the present state of affairs."
" The course heretofore pursued," was in substance the rejec
tion of the course proposed by Mr. Clay. As Mr. Monroe had
made up his mind virtually to sustain in this message General
Jackson's seizure of the Spanish posts, and to pass no censure
upon him for other acts in the Seminole campaign, which were by
many deemed improper — he himself having pronounced them so
in a private correspondence, and having even entertained the idea
of disapproving General Jackson's conduct in this very message.
as seen in another part of this work — there was perhaps some
apology, at least a species of political necessity, in abstaining from
any expressions of sympathy, and from positively kind acts,
toward the provinces of Spain, which would be unwelcome to the
mother-country. It was not till February 9th of this short session, 1S18— '19,
while a bill to increase the salaries of certain officers of govern
ment, was pending, that Mr. Clay had an opportunity to allude to
this unpleasant part of the president's message. He then said : —
"It had been his settled intention to renew, pending this bill, the
proposition which he had the honor of submitting at the last
session, having for its object the recognition of the independence
of the united provinces of South America. He was restrained
from executing that intention, by two considerations : one was his
personal indisposition, but another and more important one, was,
the small portion of the session yet remaining, to transact the
public business. While he was up, he would say, that so far

UNIVERSAL FREEDOM. 237
from his opinions, expressed on the former occasion, having under
gone any change, they had been strengthened and confirmed, by
all die occurrences which had subsequendy taken place. He had
been anxious, if time had permitted, to examine what appeared to
him very exceptionable reasons assigned for declining to recognise
our sister republic, in a paper entitled to the most profound respect,
the message of the president at the opening of Congress. He was
desirous, also, of noticing the still more exceptionable grounds
taken in a paper recently transmitted to the house, from the depart
ment of state. From that paper it appeared, tiiat even a consul
could not be received from the soudiern republic, because the
grant of an exequator implied recognition ! We receive her flag,
we admit her commerce, and yet refuse the consular protection
which that flag and commerce necessarily drew with them ! But
to submit his proposition would be to occasion, perhaps, a pro
tracted debate. And considering the few days yet left us, die pres
sing and urgent, though not more important business yet to be
done, he sliould not hold himself excusable to the house and to
the country, after having himself so materially contributed to the
consumption of time in debate, if he were even the unintentional
instrument of preventing the passage of what might be thought
essential laws. He would like exceedingly to contrast die objec
tions urged against the reception of the Venezueleau minister,
with the more forcible and stronger personal ones against the
present Spanish minister. But deep as the interest which he
heretofore had felt and still felt, in the success of that great strug
gle at the soudi, he must, for die reasons assigned, forbear to press
any proposition upon the house, at present. Should it be neces
sary at another session, and should he have die honor of a seat on
diis floor then, he pledged himself to bring up the subject, unless
adverse causes should render it highly inexpedient."
When the Spanish treaty of 1819, to purchase Florida and
give up Texas, was under consideration in 1S20, Mr. Clay took
an active part in opposing it, first, because Florida must inevitably
come into die hands of the United States, and it was unnecessar)- to
be in a hurry about it. "It must certainly come to us," said Mr.
Clay. " The ripened fruit will not more surely fall." Next, be
cause territory could not be constitutionally ceded by treaty;
and lastly, because it was giving too much for Florida — the con
sideration being variously estimated at from fifteen to twenty-five
mdlions of dollars. In the debate on the resolutions offered by
Mr. Clay, to prevent the consummation of the treaty, Mr. Clay
said: —
" There are two systems of policy, of which our government

238 THE ADVOCATE OF
had had the choice. The first was, by appealing to the justice
and affections of Spain, to employ all those persuasives which
could arise out of our abstinence from any direct countenance to
the cause of South America, and the observance of a strict neu
trality. The other was, by appealing to her justice also, and to
her fears, to prevail upon her to redress the injuries of which we
complain — her fears by a recognition of the independent govern
ments of South America, and leaving her in a state of uncertamty
as to the further step we might take in respect to those govern
ments. The unratified treaty was the result of the first system.
It could not be positively affirmed, what effect the other system
would have produced ; but he verily believed that, while it ren
dered justice to those governments, and would have better com
ported with that magnanimous policy which ought to have charac-
ized our own, it would have more successfully tended to an ami
cable and satisfactory arrangement of our differences with Spain.
" The first system has so far failed. At the commencement of the
session, the president recommended an enforcement of the provis
ions of the treaty. After three months' deliberation, the commit
tee of foreign affairs, not being able to concur with him, has made
us a report, recommending the seizure of Florida in the nature of
a reprisal. Now the president recommends our postponement of
the subject until the next session. It had been his intention, when
ever the committee of foreign affairs should engage the house to
act upon their bill, to offer, as a substitute for it, the system which
he thought it became this country to adopt, of which the occupa
tion of Texas, as our own, would have been a part, and die recog
nition of the independent governments of South America another.
If he did not now bring forward this system, it was because the
committee proposed to withdraw their bill, and because he knew
too much of the temper of the house and of the executive, to
think that it was advisable to bring it forward. He hoped that
some suitable opportunity might occur during the session, for con
sidering the propriety of recognising the independent governments
of SoutiVAmerica."
Mr. Clay maintained, that the title of the United States, in that
quarter, extended to the Rio del Norte on the west, and to the
Perdido on the east Texas was unencumbered, whereas Florida
was shingled over with Spanish titles, to be made good. Rather
than agree to this most unequal contract — which, as a treaty, he
regarded as unconstitutional — Mr. Clay preferred to recoo-nise the
independence of Spanish America, first, because it was right;
next, because it was fraternal and magnanimous ; and lastly, be
cause it was politic, and would tend to secure to the United States
better terms with Spain.

UNIVERSAL FREEDOM. 239
But President Monroe's annual message of December 7, 1819,
communicating the Spanish treaty above noticed, and the mortify
ing fact of its not having been ratified by Spain, although made in
conformity with the instructions of her minister at Washington,
was characterized by a very different tone toward South America,
from his previous messages and acts. The president seemed at
last to have discovered the bad faith of Spain, and he plainly said :
" By this proceeding Spain has done to the United States a new
and very serious injury." He began also to see the South Amer
ican republics in a new light, and spoke of their success and pros
pects in the most flattering terms.
Under these auspicious circumstances, Mr. Clay, on the 3d of
April, 1820, offered the following resolutions : —
"Resolved, That it is expedient to provide by law a suitable
outfit and salary for such minister or ministers as the president, by
and with the advice and consent of the senate, may send to any of
the governments of South America, which have established, and
are maintaining, their independence of Spain.
" Resolved, That provision ought to be made for requesting the
president of the United States to cause to be presented to the gen
eral, the most worthy and distinguished, in his opinion, in the ser
vice of any of the independent governments of South America, the
sword which was given by the viceroy of Lima to Captain Biddle
of the Ontario, during her late cruise in the Pacific, and which is
now in the office of the department of state, with the expression
of the wish of the* Congress of the United States, that it may be
employed in the support and preservation of the liberties and in
dependence of his country."
When they came up for consideration, on the 10th of May, he
withdrew the second, as, in the meantime, a bill had been passed,
to prevent the acceptance of presents from foreign governments by
officers and agents of the United States, anticipating the rebuke
which this resolution was intended to administer.
It will be apparent, that Mr. Clay now occupied high ground in
the advocacy of this great and philanthropic cause. Four years had
rolled on, since he commenced these labors. He had fought and
won, before the country, before the world — a pity to say, against
his own government — one of the most brilliant battles for humanity,
and for the rights of man, which history records. At last, in 1820,
the field was well nigh cleared of domestic opposition. The per
fidy of Spain had brought the national executive to Mr. Clay's side,
and it was said, that the president had started in a race with him,

240 THE ADVOCATE OF
to pluck the feather from his cap. But Mr. Monroe was a man
of better feelings, than to be capable of envying such success, even
though it had been apparently won over himself.
If Mr. Monroe had been influenced by improper counsels, he
was doubtless conscientious in the course he had pursued, and
yielded at last with grace and dignity. Mr. Clay said : —
" With regard to the form of his proposition, all he wanted was,
to obtain an expression of the opinion of the house on this sub
ject ; and whether a minister should be authorized to one or the
other of these governments, or whether he should be of one grade
or of another, he cared not. This republic, with the exception of
the people of South America, constituted the sole depository of
political and religious freedom; and can it be possible, said he,
that we can remain passive spectators of the struggle of those peo
ple to break the same chains which once bound us ? The opin
ions of the friends of freedom in Europe is, that our policy has
been cold, heartless, and indifferent, toward the greatest cause
which could possibly engage our affections and enlist our feelings
in its behalf.
" Mr. Clay concluded by saying that, whatever might be the
decision of this house on this question, proposing shortly to go into
retirement from public life, he should there have the consolation
of knowing that he had used his best exertions in favor of a people
inhabiting a territory calculated to contain as many souls as the
whole of Christendom besides, whose happiness was at stake, and
which it was in the power of this government to do so much tow
ard securing."
This resolution was carried by a vote of 80 to 75, against the
wishes and influence of the administration, as was understood.
The seed which had been sown by Mr. Clay for South American
emancipation took deep root in the public mind, and now began to
display the prospects of a fair and rich harvest.
In the summer of 1821, after Mr. Clay had retired from Con
gress, to labor at the oar of his profession as a lawyer, from the
necessities of his private affairs, to which he had been reduced by
endorsing for others, his fellow-citizens at Lexington gave him a
dinner, at which, of course, he, in return, gave them a speech.
Alluding to his disappointment in not having accomplished more
for South America, he said : —
" It would have given him much satisfaction, if, prior to the
close of his public career [it is singular that in 1821 he should
have been speaking as if his public life were ended], some sub
jects, in which his constituents had, with him, manifested a deep

UNIVERSAL FREEDOM. 241
concern, could have had a completely successful issue. One of
them was the recognition of the independent governments of South
America. He was happy to be able to tell them, that the popular
branch of the national legislature, in accordance with the senti
ments of the American people, had, at the last session of Congress,
proclaimed to the world, the wish of this country for that recog
nition, and the great interest which is felt here for the success of
the patriotic cause. And it might be reasonably hoped that the ex
ecutive branch of the government would not much longer delay
to conform to the known sentiments of the whole Union. Among
the motives which always appeared to him to recommend to this
country to countenance, by all means short of actual war, that
cause, one, and not the least considerable, was, that it t would
give additional tone, and hope, and confidence, to the friends of
liberty throughout the world. It was evident, after the overthrow
of Bonaparte, that the alliance, by which that event was unexpect
edly brought about, would push the principle of legitimacy —
a softer and covert name for despotism— to the uttermost extent.
Accordingly, the present generation bad seen, with painful feelings,
congress after congress assembling in Europe, to decide, without
ceremony, upon the destiny of foreign and independent states.
And if we, the "greatest offender of all against the principle of le
gitimacy, had not been brought under their jurisdiction, and sub
jected to their parental care, we owed the exemption to our dis
tance from Europe, and to the known bravery of our countrymen.
But who that has observed the giddiness and intoxication of power,
can say, how long this exemption will continue ? It had seemed
to him desirable_*that a sort of counterpoise of the Holy Alliance
should be formed in the two Americas, in favor of national inde
pendence and liberty, to operate by the force of example, and by
moral influence, that here a rallyfng-point and an asylum should
exist for freemen and for freedom."
The action of " the popular branch of the national legislature,"
above alluded to and commended by Mr. Clay, consisted in the
prompt passage of the following resolutions, which he himself
offered on the 10th of February preceding: —
" Resolved, That the house of representatives participate with
the people of the United States, in the deep interest which they
feel for the success of the Spanish provinces of South America,
which are struggling to establish theirJiberty and independence.
" Resolved, That this house will give its constitutional support
to the president of the United States, whenever he may deem it
expedient to recognise the sovereignty and independence of any
of said provinces."
The first resolution was carried with only twelve dissenting
voices : the vote on the second was 87 to 68.
Vol. I.— 16

242 THE ADVOCATE OF
After the passage of the resolution of 1820, as before noticed,
the triumph of Mr. Clay was signalized in the house of represen
tatives by adopting the unusual course of appointing a special com
mittee to wait on the president with a copy of the resolution, as a
mode of advising him of the result of their action in the case. The
usual mode was to transmit a certified copy of the journals by the
hand of an officer of the house. But on this occasion, in consid
eration of the importance of the transaction in the cause of freedom,
of the notoriety which the debates on the subject had obtained, of
the growing interest of the public mind, which had been raised to
an excitement, and, inasmuch as the whole transaction was avow
edly designed for moral effect — it could have no other — Mr. Clay
thought proper to move for this committee, which was promptly
granted, and himself, as mover, was of course placed at the head
of it.
It can not but be seen, that the position occupied for years by
Mr. Clay, on the question of recognising the independence of the
South American states, with all his fervor and earnestness, against
Mr. Monroe and his administration, was a quasi .opposition, in
which, and between the parties, there was, doubtless, more or less
of feeling. The whole movement of Mr. Clay, in this great enter
prise, operated aggressively on the position of the administration.
Although the president did not think best openly" to oppose, it is
quite probable he was not reluctant to put obstacles in Mr. Clay's
path. He might possibly have thought, that it was his own appn>
priate function to have charge of this business — to originate, as well
as to manage foreign relations — and that Mr. Clay's zeal and activity
bordered on interference. The whole aspect of the case, in its
progress, would seem at least to indicate, that there was more in
the bosoms of the parties concerned, than was made apparent to
the public.
Soon after the appointment of this special committee to wait on
the president, and announce the result to which they had come,
the house adjourned, and Mr. Nelson, the particular friend of Mr.
Monroe, in this and in all things else, left the capitol in great ex
citement, declaring, as he went to his lodgings, that such an insult
had never before been offered to any president. The committee
with Mr. Clay as their organ and chairman, waited upon the presi
dent, in the discharge of the duty which had been confided to
them ; but, of course, Mr. Clay performed his part with the great
est delicacy and courtesy toward the executive, though, after all

UNIVERSAL FREEDOM. 243
that had passed, it could hardly have been very desirable to that
functionary. As a parliamentary achievement, the final success of this meas
ure was a signal triumph. But it is more especially worthy of
notice in a moral point of view. The beginning, the progress, and
the end, are alike worthy of regard. In the outset, there was noth
ing but the cause, in the distance — not a solitary movement, in all
Christendom, in behalf of the South American patriots. For a
leading statesman, in any country, to rise up, in such circumstan
ces, and say, let us take them by the hand, was a bold step. To
move for and advocate the action of his own government, for a
recognition of their political existence? as independent sovereign
ties, might seem a hopeless task. To persevere in the prosecution
of this object, year after year, against opponents at home and op
ponents abroad, with all Europe and North America in a state of
indifference, if not of hostility, argued a deep and permanent con
viction of the right of the cause. And to have pushed it at last to
victory, causing it to be announced to all the world, that the first
repuhhc of modern times, was the first to extend her hand to a
cluster of sister republics in the same hemisphere, that had broken
the bands of despotism, and given promise of maintaining their
rights, makes an epoch in history.
The moral influence of this recognition answered all the purpo
ses "which Mr. Clay predicted, and disappointed all the forebodings
of the timid and irresolute. Spain could not make a case of it, for
just complaint — much less for war. It was in vain that Lord
Casdereagh held back, and Count Nesselrode sympathized with
legitimacy. The passage of this resolution, as the first stage of Mr.
Clay's triumph, made an impression throughout Europe — in all the
world. Doubts vanished, and each of the parties interested in
commerce, began to make its calculations and shape its policy
for what was likely to come to pass — Great Britain not among
the last.
" Did any man doubt the feelings of the South toward us ?"
said Mr. Clay, on this occasion. " In spite of our coldness toward
them, of the rigor of our laws, and of the conduct of our officers,
their hearts still turned toward us, as to their brethren ; and he had
no doubt, if our government would take the lead in recognising
them, they would become yet more anxious to imitate our institu
tions, and to secure to themselves and to their posterity the same
freedom which we enjoy."

244 THE ADVOCATE OF
On the 8th of March, 1822, the president, by a special mes
sage to Oongress, recommended the recognition of South Ameri
can independence ; and on the 28th of the same month, the meas
ure was carried in the house of representatives, with but one dis
senting voice ! — a moral victory, after a struggle of years,
achieved by a single arm — a victory, the equal of which is rarely
to be found in the annals of political society — a victory of vast
and inconceivable social results, in its checks on despotism, and
for the furtherance of liberty.
It was not unknown in South America, what the champion of
their rights was doing for them in North America. His speeches
in Congress were translated into Spanish, and read at the head of
the armies of the southern republics while fighting for freedom.
Doubtless, to his influence there, may in some measure be ascribed
their success. It may even be, that success hinged upon it. It
has been seen what that influence was at home.
" I HAVE NO COMMISERATION FOR PRINCES. My SYMPA
THIES ARE RESERVED FOR THE GREAT MASS OF MANKIND."
The following correspondence between Bolivar and Mr.
Clay, will exhibit the character ofthe North American republican,
in his frank rebuke of the ambitious designs of the South Amer
ican usurper : — "Bogota, November 21, 1827.
" Sir : I can not omit availing myself of the opportunity offered
me by the departure of Colonel Watts, charge d'affaires of the
United States, of taking the liberty of addressing your excellency.
This desire has long been entertained by me, for the purpose of
expressi*g my admiration of your excellency's brilliant talents
and ardent love of liberty. All America, Colombia, and myself,
owe your excellency our purest gratitude for the incomparable ser
vices you have rendered to us, by sustaining our course with a
sublime enthusiasm. Accept, therefore, this sincere and cordial
testimony, which I hasten to offer to your excellency, and to the
government of the United States, who have so greatly contributed
to the emancipation of your southern brethren.
" I have the honor to offer to your excellency my distinguished
consideration. Your excellency's obedient servant,
" Bolivar."
(reply.)
" Washington, October 27, 1828.
" Sir : It is very gratifying to me to be assured directly by
your excellency, that the course which the government of the
United States took, on this memorable occasion, and my humble

UNIVERSAL FREEDOM. 245
efforts, have excited the gratitude, and commanded the approba
tion, of your excellency. I am persuaded that I do not misinter
pret the feelings of the people of the United States, as I certainly
express my own, in saying, that the interest which was inspired
in this country by the arduous struggles of South America, arose
principally from the hope, that, along with its independence, would
be established free institutions, insuring all the blessings of civil lib
erty. To the accomplishment of that object we still anxiously look.
We are aware that great difficulties oppose it, among which not
the least is that which arises out of the existence of a large mili
tary force, raised for the purpose of resisting the power of Spain.
Standing armies, organized with the most patriotic intentions, are
dangerous instruments. They devour the substance, debauch the
morals, and too often destroy the liberties of the people. Nothing
can be more perilous or unwise than to retain them after the ne
cessity has ceased which led to their formation, especially if their
numbers are disproportionate to the revenues of the state.
" But, notwithstanding all these difficulties, we had fondly cher
ished, and still indulge the hope, that South America would add a
new triumph to the cause of human liberty ; and that Providence
would bless her, as he had her northern sister, with the genius of
some great and virtuous man, to conduct her securely through all
her trials. We had even flattered ourselves, that we beheld that
genius in your excellency. But I should be unworthy of the con
sideration with which your excellency honors me, and deviate from
the frankness which I have ever endeavored to practise, if I did
not on this occasion state, that ambitious designs have been attrib-,,
uted by your enemies to your excellency, which have created in my
mind great solicitude. They have cited late events in Colombia
as proofs of these designs. But, slow in the withdrawal of con
fidence which I have once given, I have been most unwilling to
credit the unfavorable accounts which have from time to time
reached me. I can not allow myself to believe, that your excel
lency will abandon the bright and glorious path which lies plainly
before you, for the bloody road passing over the liberties of the
human race, on which the vulgar crowds of tyrants and military
despots have so often trodden. I will not doubt, that your excel
lency will, in due time, render a satisfactory explanation to Colom
bia and the world, of the parts of your public conduct which have
excited any distrust; and that, preferring the true glory of our
immortal Washington to the ignoble fame of the destroyers of
liberty, you have formed the patriotic resolution of ultimately
placing the freedom of Colombia upon a firm and sure foundation.
That your efforts to that end may be crowned with complete suc
cess, I most fervently pray.
" I request that your excellency will accept assurances of my
sincere wishes for your happiness and prosperity.
" H. Clay."

246 THE ADVOCATE OF
These early, continued, and at last triumphant efforts in behalf
of South America, are only one direction of Mr. Clay's enlarged
philanthropy and love of universal freedom. In the struggles of
Greece, he displayed the same feeling. In 1824, Mr. Webster
offered the following resolution in the house of representatives : —
"Resolved, That provision ought to be made by law, for de
fraying the expense incident to the appointment of an agent or
commissioner to Greece, whenever the president shall deem it
expedient to make such appointment."
It was supported by Mr. Clay, on the 20th of January, 1824,
with the same zeal which he had before manifested for the oppressed
provinces of Spanish America. The following are extracts from
his remarks on this occasion : —
" Mr. Chairman, is it not extraordinary, that for these two suc
cessive years, the president of the United States should have been
freely indulged," not only without censure, but with universal ap
plause, to express the feelings which both the resolution and the
amendment proclaim, and yet, if this house venture to unite with
him, the most awful consequences are to ensue ? From Maine to
Georgia, from the Atlantic ocean to the gulf of Mexico, the sen
timent of approbation has blazed with the rapidity of electricity.
Everywhere the interest in the Grecian cause is felt with the deep
est 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 atmosphere
of the whole land ? Shall we shut ourselves up in apathy, and
separate ourselves from our country, from our constituents, from
our chief magistrate, from our principles ?
" The measure has been most unreasonably magnified. Gen
tlemen 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 im
portance to the acts and deliberations of this body. The Turk
will, in all probability, never hear of 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.
********
" There is reason to apprehend, that a tremendous storm is ready
to burst upon our happy country — one which may call into action
all our vigor, courage, and resources. Is it wise or prudent, in
preparing to breast the storm,- if it must come, to talk to this na
tion of its incompetency to repel European aggression  to lower
its spirit, to weaken its moral energy, and to qualify it for easy
conquest and base submission ? If there be any reality in the

UNIVERSAL FREEDOM. 247
dangers which are supposed to encompass us, should we not ani
mate the people, and adjure them to believe, as I do, that our re
sources are ample ; and that we can bring into the field a million
of freemen, ready to exhaust their last drop of blood, and to
spend the last cent in the defence of the country, its liberty, and
its^mstitutions ? Sir, are these, if united, to be conquered by all
Europe combined ? All the perils to which we can possibly be
exposed, are much less in reality, than the imagination is disposed
to paint them. And they are best averted by an habitual contem
plation of them, by reducing them to their true dimensions. If
combined Europe is to precipitate itself upon us, we can not too
soon begin to invigorate our strength, to teach our heads to think,
our hearts to conceive, and our arms to execute the high and no
ble deeds which belong to the character and glory of our country.
The experience of the world instructs us, that conquests are al
ready achieved, which are boldly and firmly resolved on ; and
that men only become slaves who have ceased to resolve to be
free. If we wish to cover ourselves with the best of all armor,
let us not discourage our people, let us stimulate their ardor, let
us sustain their resolution, let us proclaim to them that we feel as
they feel, and that, with them, we are determined to live or die
like freemen. .
" Surely, sir, we need no long or learned lectures about the
nature of government, and the influence of property or ranks- on
society. We may content ourselves with studying the true char
acter of our own people, and with knowing that the interests are
confided to us of a nation capable of doing and suffering all
things for its liberty. Such a nation, if its rulers be faithful, must
be invincible. I well remember an observation made to me by
the most illustrious female* of the age, if not of her sex. ' All
history showed,' she said, ' that a nation was never conquered.'
No, sir, no united nation, that resolves to be free, can be conquer
ed. And has it come to this ? Are we so humbled, so low, so
debased, that we dare not express our sympathy for suffering
Greece ? that we dare not articulate our detestation of the brutal
excesses of which she has been the bleeding victim, lest we might
offend some one or more of their imperial and royal majesties?
If gentleman are afraid to act rashly on such a subject, suppose,
Mr. Chairman, that we unite in an humble petition, addressed to
their majesties, beseeching them, that of their gracious condescen
sion, they would allow us to express our feelings and our sympa
thies. How shall it run ? ' We, the* representatives of the free
people of the United States of America, humbly approach the
thrones of your imperial and royal majesties, and supplicate that,
of your imperial and royal clemency — ' I can not go through the
disgusting recital ; my lips have not yet learned to pronounce the
* Madame de Stael.

248 THE ADVOCATE OF
sycophantic language of a degraded slave ! Are we so mean, so
base, so despicable, that we may not attempt to express our hor
ror, 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 clergy of a fanatical and inimical religion, and rioting
in all the excesses of blood and butchery, at the mere details of
which the heart sickens and recoils ?
"If the great body of Christendom can look on calmly and
coolly, while all this is perpetrated on a Christian people, in its own
immediate vicinity, in its very presence, let us at least evince, that
one of its remote extremities is susceptible 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 indig
nant feelings at the oppression of a people endeared to us by every
ancient recollection, and 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, ' what 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 ?
********
" Sir, it is not for Greece alone that I desire to see this measure
adopted. It will give to her biJt little support, and that purely of
a moral kind. It is principally for America, for the credit and
character of our common country, for our own unsullied name,
that I hope to see it pass. Mr. Chairman, what appearance on the
page of history would a record like this exhibit? — 'In the month
of January, in the year of our Lord and Savior, 1824, while all
European Christendom beheld, with cold and unfeeling indiffer
ence, the unexampled wrongs and inexpressible misery of Christian
Greece, a proposition was made in the Congress of the United
States, almost the sole, the last, the greatest depository of human
hope and human freedom, the representatives of a gallant nation,
containing a million of freemen ready to fly to arms, while the
people of that nation were spontaneously expressing its deep-toned
feeling, and the whole continent, by one simultaneous emotion
was rising, and solemnly and anxiously supplicating and invoking
high Heaven to spare and succor Greece, and to invigorate her
arms in her glorious cause, while temples and senate-houses were
alike resounding with one burst of generous and holy sympathy ;
in the year of our Lord and Savior — that Savior of Greece and
of us — a proposition was offered in the American Congress to send
a messenger to Greece, to inquire into her state and condition,

THE ADVOCATE OF UNIVERSAL FREEDOM. 249
with a kind expression of our good-wishes and our sympathies —
and it was rejected!' Go home, if you can; go home, if you
dare, to your constituents, and tell them that you voted it down ;
meet, if you can, the appalling countenances of those who sent
you here, and tell them that you shrank from the declaration of
your own sentiments ; that you can not tell how, but that some
unknown dread, some indescribable apprehension, some indefinable
danger, drove you from your purpose ; that the spectres of cime-
ters, and crowns, and crescents, gleamed before you and alarmed
you ; and that you suppressed all the noble feelings prompted by
religion, by liberty, by national independence, and by humanity !
I can not bring myself to believe, that such will be the feeling of a
majority of the committee. But, for myself, though every friend
of the cause should desert it, and I be left to stand alone with the
gentleman from Massachusetts, I will give to his resolution the
poor sanction of my unqualified approbation."
Though this resolution failed, as in the original movement of
Mr. Clay for Spanish America, it is pleasant to record the evi
dences of such enlarged and disinterested philanthropy, in the
thrilling and burning words of him who uttered them.
The efforts of Mr. Clay as disclosed in this chapter, lay open
a volume of history, which, in the rapid and absorbing career of
subsequent events, has for many years slept in repose ; but which
is in fact one of the most brilliant demonstrations in the character
of this American statesman. His position at this epoch of the
occidental world, is defined in the letter of Mr. Rush. It was
Henry Clay that stepped in between the struggling millions of
South America and their European oppressors, and spoke to them
words of encouragement. It was Henry Clay that threw his
shield over that wide field of suffering humanity, and gave it
breathing time, and hope, and courage. It was Henry Clay
that " looked at Spain and the Indies, and called a new world into
existence," and not Mr. Canning.
It has already been remarked, in substance, that a disappoint
ment which, to a considerable extent, may have been felt, in hav
ing witnessed the unsettled state, and frequent revolutions, of the
South American republics, since their severance from the parent
state, does not detract at all from the virtue of those who sympa
thized with them in their first efforts for emancipation, nor from
the merit of that moral aid which they derived from the gallant
labors of Mr. Clay in their behalf. But there are even more sub
stantial and more gratifying reflections arising from that quarter,

250 THE ADVOCATE OF
than the consideration of this effective sympathy which does so
much honor to human nature.
In the first place, it is obvious, that all the agitations, revolutions,
and calamitous vicissitudes, through which the South American
states have passed, since they achieved their independence, are
greatly less evils than would have resulted from their resubjuga
tion, if the treatment they had previously received, may be taken
as a criterion of that which would have been dealt out to them, in
the event of their having been reconquered. They had been sealed
up under a religioso-political despotism, unexampled for its sever
ity in the history of the world. It was the deliberate policy of
Spain, for fear that colonies so remote might some time assert their
just rights, to imprison that immense portion of the human mind
in the bands of ignorance and superstition ; to cut them off from
all intercourse with the rest of the world, and with each other ; to
send governors to rule with the bayonet, and priests to subdue with
the terrors of the inquisition ; to keep the people in perpetual and
hopeless servitude to the throne and to the church ; to draw from
them all the fruits of their labor, and all the wealth of their mines ;
to forbid all pursuits, and all products of labor, that would not en
rich the domestic empire ; and to maintain a subjection of mind
and body, that would never have a spirit to complain — much less
courage to rebel. If any state of things could be worse than such
a condition of twenty millions of the human family, let a freeman
rise, and tell what it is. But a resubjugation would have made
that condition as much worse as imagination can conceive. The
atrocities committed, in the partial advantages gained by the royal
arms during the contest, on men, women, and children, which
none but the most diabolical feelings could suggest or authorize,
were but foretastes of the rigor and inhumanity destined for all
those people, in case of their failure of final success.
Unless it be maintained, that it was right and best, that South
America should have remained for ever under Spain, with such
designs as history discloses, then clearly, the only better time to
assert their rights, must have been an earlier period, instead of a
later ; for they could never afterward have been so well prepared.
Every reasoning man, therefore, will naturally come to the conclu
sion, that such a people must necessarily pass through a protracted
and painful school of experience, in their attempts to establish a
free government and free institutions, before they will be likely to
accomplish all that is most desirable.

universal freedom. 251
One great thing has been obtained : they have cut loose from
the despotisms of the old world — in all probability for ever. It
would require much profound thought to appreciate all the advan
tages of such a step. But they are many and great. They have
taken rank in the American family of nations, with somewhat, at
least, of the American spirit, as distinctive from that of Europe.
Their model of political society has ever been the North American
republic. It may be ages before they will gain what they desire,
and what they set out for. But they are free — comparatively so.
They have chances, aspirations, hopes, energies, resources, capa
bilities. Every succeeding generation increases in knowledge, and
it may be hoped in virtue. If an oppressor rises to-day, he is put
down to-morrow. They are increasing in numbers, wealth, and
power«; opening intercourse with the wide world ; and every change
through which they pass, though it may seem disastrous for the
time being, operates as a fermentation to purify the masses, and as
a challenge to call better spirits into the field. If all has not been
realized that was hoped for, it is more because those expectations
were unreasonable, than that the freedom of states and the rights
of man have gained nothing. They have gained much, and a
foundation is laid for future and boundless acquisitions.
It was early, indeed, but not without a forecast of coming events
— not without a profound consideration of the mighty theme — that
Mr. Clay, in the former period of his life, took such ripe views of
the destiny of the South' American states. .. He saw that it was best
that their political connexion with Europe should be severed, and
he was right. He saw that it was natural they should copy after
the institutions of the north ; and they have aimed to do so. He
saw, that the social, political, and commercial connexions between
North and South America, were destined to be important to all
parties ; and they have proved so, and are becoming more and more
so. * The instructions which he prepared for the representatives^ ,
from the United States to the Panama congress, noticed , in a for-* „
me"r chapter, embodied a complete system of policy for all the
American states, north and south, itself truly American, as opposed
to those European dogmas, which are adverse to American inter
ests, and to American rights. Though the doctrines of that letter
are little tnown, they can not fail to attract the attention of future
statesmen, as well in South America as in North, and it need not
be surprising, if they should yet be adopted as a common creed
among the states of this western hemisphere.

252 THE CAUSE OF GREAT EFFECTS.

CHAPTER XII.
The Cause of Great Effects. — Mr. Clay's Speech on the Seminole Campaign.
The special interest of this speech arises from ,_tije_jact_ of its
having heen the probable cause of , important, and momentous
events in the history of the United States — a cause which~will
readily occur to Those who are acquainted with the temper— as who
is not? — of the eminent individual whose conduct in thaF cam
paign is made a subject of animadversion in this parliamentary
effort. What other causes might have arisen in the absence of
this, to prompt a vindictive and implacable mind to a course of
conduct like to that which apparently grew out of this, it is impos
sible to say; but few will doubt that this must have had its
influence. On the 12th of January, 1819, Mr. Nelson, of Virginia, from
the committee on military affairs in the house of representatives,
brought in a report to that body, based upon the documents which
had been laid before them respecting the events of the campaign
of 1818, against the Indians in Florida, under the conduct of
Major-General Andrew Jackson, and submitted the following
resolution : —
"Resolved, That the house of representatives of the United
States, disapproves the proceedings in the trial and execution of
Alexander Arbuthnot and Robert C. Ambrister."
The seizure and occupation of the Spanish posts by General
Jackson, under the circumstances of the case, were also disap
proved in the majority report of the committee, and defended by
Mr. Johnson, of Kentucky, in a report from a minority, which
also vindicated the trial and execution of Arbuthnot and Ambris
ter. The report of the majority says: "Your committee must
here, in justice to their own feelings, express their extreme regret,
that it has become their duty to disapprove the conduct of one,
who has, on a former occasion, so eminently contributed to the

THE cause of GREAT EFFECTS. 253
honor and defence of the nation, as has Major-General Jackson ;
but the mgre elevated the station, the more exalted the character
of the individual, the more necessary is it, by a reasonable, yet
temperate expression of public opinion, through the constitutional
organs, to prevent the recurrence of incidents at variance with the
principles of our government and laws."
As the administration was implicated in these transactions, in
having felt obliged, as the least of two evils, though with great re
luctance, to sustain General Jackson, all its influence in the house
was of course brought to bear against the report of the committee.
The executive was placed in an embarrassing position, in being
obliged to defend what it really disapproved.
The following are extracts from President Monroe's private cor
respondence with General Jackson on this subject, since pub
lished : — "Washington, July 19, 1818.
" Your attack of the Spanish posts, and occupancy of them, par
ticularly Pensacola, being an occurrence of the most delicate and
interesting nature, &c. * * * In calling you into active service
against the Seminoles, and communicating to you the orders which
had been given just before to General Gaines, the views and inten
tions, of the government were fully disclosed in respect to the op
erations in Florida. In transcending the limit prescribed by those
orders, you acted on your own responsibility."
In another letter, in answer to a private one from General Jack
son, replying to the above of July 19th, dated Washington, Octo
ber 20th, 1818, Mr. Monroe says: —
" I was sorry to find you understood your instructions relative
to operations in Florida, different from what we intended. I was
satisfied, however, that you had good reason for your conduct, and
have acted in all things on that principle."
In a letter of President Monroe, while absent from the seat of
government, to Mr. Calhoun, secretary of war, dated Highland,
Sept. 9, 1818, he says: —
rt,Our view of his [General Jackson's] powers, is decidedly
different from his, on which, too, we acted without entertaining a
suspicion that he would misunderstand it. I am inclined to think
I had better answer his letter immediately. [The answer is that
of October 20th, as above.] He may expect that his conception
of his orders should appear by document in- the department ; and
it seems to be proper, that fhe sense in which they were given, and
understood by the department, after what has passed, should be re
corded there. A communication between you and him, on this head,

254 THE CAUSE OF GREAT EFFECTS.
and in this stage, seems to be the more necessary, from the presump
tion, that it may be my duty to state to Congress, that he transcended
his orders, on his own responsibility ; or at least, to state the sense
in which they were understood by us. At present, nothing to this
effect exists in your correspondence with him. It is in mine only,
which is private."
The Hon. Wm. H. Crawford, who was a member of Mr. Mon
roe's cabinet at the time, says in a letter to Mr. Forsyth, dated at
Woodlawn, April 30, 1830 : —
"Mr. Calhoun's proposition in the cabinet, was, that General
Jackson should be punished in some form, or reprimanded in
some form."
From these incidental items of history, it will be seen, first, that
General Jackson had transcended his orders, and acted on his own
responsibility ; next, that President Monroe and his cabinet were
much embarrassed in their management of foreign relations with
Spain, on that account ; thirdly, that President Monroe, in a pri
vate correspondence, had plainly announced to General Jackson
the position he occupied in this matter; fourthly, that when Mr.
Monroe wrote to Mr. Calhoun, September 19th, as above, he
seriously entertained the feeling, that it might be his duty to repre
sent the case, as it was, to Congress ; but fifthly, it appears from
the result, that the administration, on the whole, concluded to as
sume the responsibility, and make the best of it.
But there have been some more recent, though as yet partial,
disclosures, on this subject, which are worthy of note. An at
tempt was made in the Washington Globe, in 1832 — of course
under the eye and sanction of General Jackson, as that paper was
his organ — to fasten the responsibility of all General Jackson's
transactions in Florida on Mr. Monroe, by claiming, that the gen
eral acted under Mr. Monroe's secret orders. If such were the
fact, Mr. Monroe's truthfulness, not less than his consistency, is at
stake, and an everlasting aspersion would attach itself to his hith
erto spotless fame. As the natural, and it is presumed, constituted
guardian of his father-in-law's reputation, S. L. Gouverneuf, Esq.,
addressed a letter on this occasion to Mr. Blair, editor of the
Globe, of which the following are extracts : —
"I can readily suppose, that transcendant obligations of feeling
and duty imposed upon me, under circumstances of the most
sacred nature, are yet unknown to you.
#******##

THE CAUSE OF GREAT EFFECTS. 255
"I have followed the progress of this discussion to a point,
where I had earnesdy hoped it would never reach— to a point
where it becomes imperative upon the representatives of Mr. Mon
roe, boldly to challenge the evidence on which insinuations agains|
his purity and honor are made and repeated, or to suffer, without
an effort to arrest it, that his character be shaded by imputations of
the most decided duplicity, and the most contemptible evasions.
********
" You distincdy charge, that in conducting the Seminole war,
General Jackson was in fact acting under the secret orders of the
government. It is impossible not to observe, that although not
personally named, it must be the undoubted inference, that he was
in possession of secret orders from Mr. Monroe, direcdy at
variance with those which were made known to the public ; that
while Mr. Monroe disavowed before the world his [General Jack
son's] conduct in Florida, as transcending his instructions, but the
merits of which he fully acknowledged, die motives of which he
never called in question, and which for good and sufficient reasons,
he chose to sustain — he had privately encouraged and promoted
the very acts which he subsequendy disapproved ; that he suffered
General Jackson to bear the brunt of an investigation of the most
painful character, for an alleged high offence against the constitu
tion and laws, when he himself had made him his own instrument
for ajjalpable violation of both, and withheld from him the means
. of a triumphant defence. It is a solemn charge and ougjit to be
gravely considered. If it is not your intention to make it clear,
die matter from which it inevitably springs, deserves your correc
tion. If, on the contrary, you intend and think you can sustain it,
I CHALLENGE THE INVESTIGATION. _
* * * * * *•* *
"Being myself possessed of many valuable documents, fully illus
trative of the facts in question, I shall feel it incumbent upon me,
upon a proper intimation, by a frank exposition of their contents,
to contribute to a fair distribution of justice to all."
This letter was signed, Samuel L. Gouvemeur, New York, June
15, 1S32, and was in answer to an article in the Globe, ofthe 9th
of the same month. Mr. Blair replied in a letter over his own
signature, dated Washington, June 20, 1832, of which the follow
ing is an extract: —
"But there is another circtunstance much more decisive on this
point. The individual who communicated to General Jackson
Mr. Monroe's purpose as to the mode of carrying into effect his
public orders, incited by Utter, as I have understood, the attention
of the latter [Mr. Monroe] to the fact alluded to in the article of
the Globe, and presented to him all the particulars of the transac-

256 THE CAUSE OF GREAT EFFECTS.
tion, with an inquiry as to his recollection on the subject. With
this gentleman, then, if there were any certainty of opinion, in re
gard to the fact stated by him, the issue should have been made,
and not with me, merely repeating what this individual, cognizant
of all the circumstances, had asserted, without contradiction."
Mr. Blair says : " This letter closes our correspondence." Mr.
Gouverneur, in a reply, of July 3, says : " I can not permit it. . . .
You may strike, but you must hear. ... I requested you to state,
whether it was your intention, that it should be inferred from the
words I had noted, that, in conducting the Seminole war, General
Jackson was in possession of secret orders from Mr. Monroe, at
variance with those which had issued from the department of war,
and were made known to the public ?
* * * * * * *
" In speaking of instructions, you will of course understand me
distinctly as referring to those which had issued from the war de
partment. I say there were none other. JDo you not observe, then,
the difficulty into which you would plunge ? In contending that
he was in fact acting under secret orders, do you not imply the
admission that he transcended his public instructions? If not,
why are they brought to their aid ?
********
" But you say there is another circumstance much more de
cisive, and refer me to a certain letter, written by a certain indi
vidual, calling the attention of Mr. Monroe to the fact alluded to —
and from the pointed manner in which you mark the fact [by
underscoring it] which you assume to be true — that it is ' without
contradiction' — you seem to infer that, because it is without con
tradiction, it may be made to sustain your position. Retaining the
• strong desire, to which I have adverted, not to refer, unless it be
comes my duty so to do, to anything private, I still owe to you a
candid reply to the remark which you have made : There is no
shape, in which the fact alluded to, has ever reached the eye, or ear,
of Mr. Monroe, that it has not been contradicted. It is as his
representative, and upon his authority, that I contradict it ; and
that you may at least do some justice to my motives and views, 1
do not hesitate to add, it is under circumstances of a sacred duty,
that I do contradict it. I have every personal motive to be silent.
I am bound to speak."
The New York Courier and Enquirer, of Oct. 1, 1832, in which
this correspondence appears, says : —
" Issue has been fearlessly joined upon this fearful question,
which on one side involves the official acts of Mr. Monroe, and
his memory as an honorable man — and on the other, the reputa
tion and character of Andrew Jackson."

THE CAUSE OF GREAT EFFECTS. 257
There are two points in this correspondence, connected with
facts yet unrevealed, which are of importance. Mr. Blair speaks
of a certain " individual," with a distinct intimation, that he was
the agent of " secret orders" between Mr. Monroe and General
Jackson, and that this individual "invited by letter the atten
tion of Mr. Monroe to the fact alluded to in the article of the
Globe," &c, concluding with another intimation, that this call of
Mr. Monroe's attention to the said fact, remains " without con
tradiction." The second point is, Mr. Gouverneur's averment,
in the most solemn form, that it does not remain without contra
diction. This intimation of Mr. Gouverneur of the existence of
evidence on this point, which he could not volunteer, and which
he holds in reserve for the vindication of Mr. Monroe, arrested the
movement, and there it stands.
The matters half disclosed in this correspondence, but yet in
fact unrevealed, involve denominations of offence, which belong to
the criminal* code. It will be for those concerned to show what
they are, on a fit occasion.
The fact was, that the Hon. John Q. Adams was the only man
in Mr. Monroe's cabinet, who vindicated General Jackson, as to
his Seminole operations, in the particulars in which he was alleged
to have " transcended his orders." His principle was, that hav
ing ordered the army over the line, In pursuit of the enemy, the
government was responsible to Spain for all the American general
did in that field, in the use of his best discretion, and that, to jus
tify the government toward Spain, it was necessary to sustain
General Jackson in toto. But in the cabinet meetings on this
subject, from the 13th to the 21st of July, 1818, inclusive of these
dates — those meetings having been seven in all — Mr. Adams stood
alone against the president and the other members, in support of
General Jackson. The argument was chiefly carried on between
Mr. Adams and the secretary of war, Mr. Calhoun, the rest assent
ing to Mr. Calhoun's reasonings. The cabinet were unanimous,
with the exception of Mr. Adams. Mr. Calhoun thought, that
General Jackson wanted war — that he had actually committed war
against Spain. Mr. Monroe proposed to'Mr. Adams to write an
article for the National Intelligencer, declaratory of his (the presi
dent's) views on this subject. Mr. Adams declined, on the ground,
that it was not his own position ; and Mr. Wirt prepared the arti
cle, which, after having been read to the cabinet, was published in
Vol. I.— 17

258 THE CAUSE OF GREAT EFFECTS.
i
the National Intelligencer, July 28, 1818, of whichthe following
are extracts : —
" The president of the United States has, we understand, de
cided, that Pensacola, and the other Spanish posts, which have
been taken by General Jackson, in the Floridas, shall be restored
to the Spanish authority." * # *
In speaking of the fourth order to enter the Floridas, after the
.ndian massacre, in pursuit of the enemy, it is added: " By the
same prder he [the general] was expressly commanded, if the In
drafts should take refuge under a Spanish fort, not to attack them
in" that situation, but to report the case to the department of war.
Such has been the delicacy observed by the United States toward
Spain ; and no subsequent order, it is understood, has been issued,
to enlarge the authority of the American general.
" In attacking the posts of St. Marks and Pensacola, with the
fort of Barrancas, General Jackson, it is understood, acted on
facts, which were, for the first time, brought to his knowledge, on
the immediate theatre of war — facts, which, in his estimation, im
plicated the Spanish authorities in that quarter, as the instigators
and auxiliaries of the war ; and he took those measures on his own
responsibility merely. That his operations^proceeded from motives
of the purest patriotism, and from his conviction, that, in seizing
and holding those posts, he was justified by the necessity of the
case, and was advancing the best interests of the country, the char
acter of General Jackson forbids a doubt. Of fhe important facts
alleged by him, satisfactory proof, it is understood, has been already
furnished to the president, and proof of the other facts is confi
dently expected."
It will be found, that this document, occupying two columns of
the paper, is an able and cautious exposition of the ground intended
to be occupied by the president toward Spain, as well as toward
General Jackson. He was apparently convinced, by the argument
of Mr. Adams, that the general must be sustained, for public and
national purposes toward Spain, though it was manifestly against
his own personal feelings on the subject. Mr. Monroe's subse
quent annual message corresponded with this paper published in
July, as may be supposed, for the eye of the Spanish minister, and
the public.
The position taken by General Jackson, on the question of
annexing Texas, in 1844, was supposed to reflect a disapprobation
of Mr. Monroe's treaty of cession in 1819, in consequence of
which, his son-in-law, Mr. Gouverneur, published an article in the
National Intelligencer, December 24, 1844, of which the follow
ing is a part : —

THE CAUSE OF* GREAT EFFECTS.' 259
" Its [the treaty's] provisions were the subjects of friendly con
sultation with Jefferson and Madison, names identified with no
concession unworthy of their country ; and the policy dictated,
especially as to boundaries, has the written approbation of Jackson,
well versed in the localities of a territory to which they refer, then
lately the scene of military services distinguished by high personal
responsibility, which gave him new claims to the grateful, recollec
tions of his country."
When Mr. Gouverheur was called on for this " written appro
bation," he produced the following letter from Andrew Jackson to
James Monroe : —
" Hermitage (near Nashville), June 20, 1820.
" Dear Sir : I returned from my tour to the south and south
east on the evening ofthe 18th instant, when 1 received your very
friendly and interesting letter of the 23d of May last, which I have
read with interest and attention. On its perusal and consideration
I have determined to remain in service until the situation of Europe
fully develops itself, and our affairs with Spain are brought to a
final close. $
" Although retirement has been and still is the first object of my
wishes, yet so long as it is believed that my military service may
conduce to the benefit of my country in any way, my exertions
belong to her. IJiave hitherto made, and it is still my duty as a
patriot to make, my private interest and views subservient to my
country's good. I have, therefore, upon due consideration and
reflection on the subject matter of your interesting letter, resolved
not to retire from service so long as my continuing may promote
the welfare, safety, and happiness of our country. I am well
aware, as soon as you believe the situation of our affairs will per
mit of my retiring without injury to our country, you will notify
me thereof, and permit me to retire. Until .thjin, my private
wishes and feelings must bend to what it may be conceived will
promote the public good.
" The view you have taken of the conduct pursued by our gov
ernment relative to South America, in my opinion, has been both
just and proper, and will be approved by nine tenths of the nation.
It is true, it has been attempted to be wielded by certain dema
gogues to the injury of the administration, but, like all*other base
attempts, has recoiled on its authors ; and I am clearly of your
opinion that, for" the present, we ought to be content with the Flori
das — fortify them, concentrate our population, confine our frontier
to proper limits, until our country, to fhose limits, is filled with a
dense population. It is the denseness of our population that gives
strength and security to our frontier. With the Floridas in our
possession, our fortifications completed, Orleans, the great empo-

260 THE CAUSE OF GREAT EFFECTS.
rium of the west, is secure. The Floridas in possession ofa for
eign power, you can be invaded, your fortifications turned, the
Mississippi reached, and the lower country reduced. 1 rom 1 exas,
an invading enemy will never attempt such an enterprise; if he
does, notwithstanding all that has been said and asserted on the
floor of Congress on this subject, I will vouch that the invader will
pay for his temerity.
" Present Mrs. Jackson and myself to Mrs. Monroe and your
daughters and Mr. Gouverneur affectionately, and receive for
yourself our best wishes for your happiness through this life, and
that of your amiable family;,,, and believe me to be, with high
respect and esteem, your most obedient servant,
" Andrew Jackson.
"James Monroe, President U. S."
So far as the questions arising out of the Seminole campaign
regarded Spain, inasmuch as Mr. Monroe had promptly ordered
the surrender of the Spanish posts, taken by General Jackson, to
the Spanish authorities, Congress, and Mr. Clay, were disposed to
sustain the administration. But the execution of two Indian
chiefs, who had been decoyed and taken by a false flag, and of
Arbuthnot and Ambrister, in connexion with the unauthorized
taking of the Spanish posts, were regarded by numerous members
of both houses of Congress, as worthy of reprehension. An ani
mated debate on the resolution reported by the committee on mili
tary affairs, above copied, was maintained about twenty days in
committee of the whole, in the house of representatives, in which
thirty-one members participated. Mr. Clay delivered two speeches,
only' one of which, the first, was reported. He opened this ad
dress, January 17, 1819, as follows : —
" Mr. Chairman : In rising to address you, sir, on the very
interesting subject which now engages the attention of Congress,
I must'be allowed to say, that all inferences drawn from the course
which it will be my painful duty to take in this discussion, of un
friendliness either to the chief magistrate of the country, or to the
illustrious military chieftain whose operations are under investiga
tion, will be wholly unfounded. Toward that distinguished cap
tain, who shed so much glory on our country, whose renown con
stitutes so great a portion of its moral property, I never had I
never can have, any other feelings than those of the most pro
found respect, and of the utmost kindness. With him my ac
quaintance is very limited ; but, so far as it has extended, it has
been of the most amicable kind. I know the motives which have
been, and which will again be, attributed to me, in regard to the

THE CAUSE OF GREAT EFFECTS. 261
other exalted personage alluded to. They have been and will be
unfounded. I have no interest, other than that of seeing the con
cerns of my country well and happily administered. It is infin
itely more gratifying to behold the prosperity of my country ad
vancing by the wisdom of the measures adopted to promote it,
than it would be to expose the errors which may be committed,
if there be any, in the conduct of its affairs. Little as has been
my experience in public life, it has been sufficient to teach me that
the most humble station is surrounded by difficulties and embar
rassments. Rather than throw obstructions in the way of the
president, I would precede him, and pick out those, if I could,
which might jostle him in his progress ; I would sympathize with
him in his embarrassments, and commiserate with him in his mis
fortunes. It is true that it has been my mortification to differ
from that gentleman on several occasions. I may be again reluc
tantly compelled to differ from him ; but I will, with the utmost
sincerity, assure the committee, that I have formed no resolution,
come under no engagements, and that I never will form any reso
lution, or contract any engagements, for systematic opposition to
his administration, or to that of any other chief magistrate.
" I beg leave further to premise, that the subject under consid
eration presents two distinct aspects, susceptible, in my judgment,
of the most clear and precise discrimination. The one I will call
its foreign, the other its domestic aspect. In regard to the first, I
will say, that I approve entirely of the conduct of our govern
ment, and that Spain has no cause of complaint. Having viola
ted an important stipulation of the treaty of 1795, that power has
justly subjected herself to all the consequences which ensued
upon the entry into her dominions, and it belongs not to her to
complain of those measures which resulted from her breach of
contract ; still less has she a right to examine into the considerations*
connected with the domestic aspect of the subject,
" What are the propositions before the committee? The first
in order, is that reported by the military committee, which asserts
the disapprobation of this house, of the proceedings in the trial
and execution of Arbuthnot and Ambrister. The second, being
the first contained in the proposed amendment, is the consequence
of that disapprobation, and contemplates the passage of a law to
prohibit the execution hereafter of any captive, taken by the army,
without the approbation of the president. The third proposition
is, that this house disapproves of the forcible seizure of the Span
ish posts, as contrary to orders, and in violation of the constitu
tion. The fourth proposition, as the result of the last, is, that a
law shall pass to prohibit the march of the army of the United
States, or any corps of it, into any foreign territory, without the pre
vious authorization of Congress, except it be in fresh pursuit ofa
defeated enemy. The first and third are general propositions,

262 THE CAUSE OF GREAT EFFECTS.
declaring the sense of the house in regard to the evils pointed out ;
and the second and fourth propose the legislative remedies against
the recurrence of those evils.
" It will be at once perceived, by this simple statement of the
propositions, that no other censure is proposed against General
Jackson himself, than what is merely consequential. His name
even does not appear in any of the resolutions. The legislature
of the country, in reviewing the state of the Union, and consider
ing the events which have transpired since its last meeting, finds
that particular occurrences, of the greatest moment, in many re
spects, have taken place near our southern border. I will add,
that the house has not sought, by any officious interference with
the doings of the executive, to gain jurisdiction over this matter.
The president, in his message at the opening of the session, com
municated the very information on which it was proposed to act.
I would ask, for what purpose ? That we should fold our arms
and yield a tacit acquiescence, even if we supposed that informa
tion disclosed alarming events, not merely as it regards the peace
of the country, but in respect to its constitution and character ?
Impossible. In communicating these papers, and voluntarily
calling the attention of Congress to the subject, the president must
himself have intended, that we should apply any remedy that we
might be able to devise. Having the subject thus regularly and
fairly before us, and proposing merely to collect the sense of the
house upon certain important transactions which it discloses, with
the view to the passage of such laws as may be demanded by the
public interest, I repeat, that there is no censure anywhere, except
such as is strictly consequential upon our legislative action. The
supposition of every new law, having for its object to prevent the
recurrence of evil, is, that something has happened which ought
not to have taken place, and no other than this indirect sort of
censure will flow from the resolutions before the committee.
" Having thus given my view of the nature and character of
the propositions under consideration, I am far from intimating
that it is not my purpose to go into a full, a free, and a thorough
investigation ofthe facts, and ofthe principles of law, public, mu
nicipal, and constitutional, involved in them. And, while I trust
I shall speak with the decorum due to the distinguished officers
of the government, whose proceedings are to be examined, I shall
exercise the independence which belongs to me as a representative
of the people, in freely and fully submitting my sentiments."
Mr. Clay first takes up the treaty of Fort Jackson, of August,
1814, which he regarded as the cause of the war. After reading
enough of it to show its character, he said : —
" I have never perused this instrument until within a few days
past, and I have read it with the deepest mortification and regret.

THE CAUSE OF GREAT EFFECTS. 263
A more dictatorial spirit I have never seen displayed in any in
strument. I would challenge an examination of all the records
of diplomacy, not excepting even those in the most haughty pe
riod of imperial Rome, when she was carrying her arms into the
barbarian nations that surrounded her, and I do not believe a sol
itary instance can be found of such an inexorable spirit of domi
nation pervading a compact purporting to be a treaty of peace.
It consists of the most severe and humiliating demands — of the
surrender of a large territory — of the privdege of making roads
through the remnant which was retained — of the right of estab
lishing trading-houses — of the obligation of delivering into our
hands their prophets ! And all this of a wretched people reduced
to the last extremity of distress, whose miserable existence we
have to preserve by a voluntary stipulation to furnish them with
bread ! When did all-conquering and desolating Rome ever fail
to respect the altars and the gods of those whom she subjugated ?
Let me not be told that these prophets were imposters, who de
ceived the Indians. They were their prophets ; the Indians be
lieved and venerated them, and it is not for us to dictate a re
ligious belief to them. It does not belong to the holy character
of the religion which we profess, to carry its precepts, by the force
of the bayonet, into the bosoms of other people. Mdd and gen-
de persuasion was the great instrument employed by the meek
founder of our religion. We leave to the humane and benevo
lent efforts of the reverend professors of Christianity to convert
from barbarism those unhappy nations yet immersed in its gloom.
But, sir, spare them their prophets ! spare their delusions ! spare
their prejudices and superstitions ! spare them even their religion,
such as it is, from open and cruel violence. When, sir, was that
treaty concluded ? On the very day after the protocol was sign
ed, of the first conference between the American and British com
missioners, treating of peace, at Ghent. In the course of that
negotiation, pretensions so enormous were set up by the other
party, that, when they were promulgated in this country, there was
one general burst of indignation throughout the continent. Fac
tion itself was sdenced, and the firm and unanimous determination
of all parties was, to fight until the last man fell in the ditch, rather
than submit to such ignominious terms. What a contrast is ex
hibited between the contemporaneous scenes of Ghent and of
Fort Jackson ! What a powerful voucher would the British com
missioners have been furnished with, if they could have got hold
of that treaty !"
It can not but be seen, that the materials of this debate had a
direct and powerful bearing on the commanding general, who had
assumed the responsibihty, and committed the acts which the reso
lution submitted to the house by the committee on mihtary affairs,

264 THE CAUSE OF GREAT EFFECTS.
aimed to disapprove. As already seen, the same conduct, or parts
of it, had been disapproved by the executive branch of the govern
ment, in its secret sessions, almost unanimously. It appears by
the private correspondence between the president and secretary of
war, that the former had seriously thought of expressing this dis
approbation in his message to Congress. It is also clearly con
veyed in the publication in the National Intelligencer, of July 28,
1818, which was prepared by Mr. Wirt at the request of the pres
ident, read at a cabinet meeting, and published under executive
sanction. But Mr. Adams's reasonings, not in positive vindication
ofthe general, but for the defence ofthe government ofthe United
States against that of Spain, prevailed, and the president was re
luctantly compelled, in his public and official acts, to connive at
that which he disapproved, in order to maintain his position in re
lation to the Spanish government. He had authorized the army
to enter Spanish territory under specific orders ; those orders had
been " transcended," to use his own language ; and Mr. Adams
maintained, that this overstepping of orders, in the commanding
general — however it might be a just ground of censure on the
agent, for the act, as between him and his government — could not
be pleaded, as between the government of the United States and
that of Spain, as an answer to the complaint of the latter ; that
Spain could, and probably would, hold the government of the Uni
ted States responsible for each and every act of its agents, whether
done in obedience to orders or not. Spain had been derelict of
duty, in not preventing her Indians from doing injury to citizens
of the United States, as bound by treaty ; the government of the
United States, in defence of its own jurisdiction, had assumed to
do that which Spain had engaged to do, but failed in fulfilling ; in
the accomplishment of this object of self-defence, the agent of the
United States had "transcended" his orders, which was a matter
between him and his own government ; but Mr. Adams, if the au
thor rightly apprehends his position on that occasion, maintained,
with apparently unanswerable reasons, that, as between the two
governments in controversy, no blame could be attached to the
United States ; that the neglect of fulfilling treaty stipulations on
the part of Spain, had compelled the United States, in self-defence,
to pass into her jurisdiction, in pursuit of a foe ; that any deviation
from orders on the part of agents of the United States, in execu
ting this duty, was incidental to the main question, and ought
not to affect it ; and that the government of the United States,

THE CAUSE OF GREAT EFFECTS. 265
having, for good and defensible reasons, ordered its forces into the
Spanish territory, was bound to defend the campaign in whole and
in part, as between itself and the Spanish government. All that
could be required of the president of the United States, in the way
of satisfaction to Spain, was to restore the Spanish posts, which had
been taken contrary to orders. This was immediately done.
It is evident, therefore, from this view of the case, that the re
sponsibility of the government of the United States to Spain, is
distinct and separate from that of General Jackson to the authority
under which he acted, and that the justification of his government
is not identical with his own justification ; but that the latter re
mained an open question for the consideration of the proper author
ities. It was on this ground, that the resolution cited at the head
of this chapter, was reported to the house, and came under debate.
The president, in his message, had communicated the facts to
Congress, and in that way, submitted them to such action of the
legislative department, as they, in their wisdom and sense of duty,
might think proper to institute. It was impossible they should
overlook them — for they were remarkable and unprecedented. " In
communicating these papers," said Mr. Clay, " and voluntarily
calling the attention of Congress to the subject, the president him
self must have intended, that we should apply any remedy that we
might be able to devise."
The earnest disavowal of Mr. Clay, in the opening of his speech
on this resolution, of all personal disrespect to the~president and
the general, was not uncalled for, in this place, as he professed to
feel, that he had a duty to perform to the constitution and to the
country, altogether paramount to these personal and minor rela
tions. He had differed, and was at this moment in the midst of a
difference, with the president, on the question of recognising the
independence of the South American states, as also on the question
of internal improvements — which was painful. But it can not,
with truth, be said, that Mr. Clay differed with Mr. Monroe in these
matters of the Seminole campaign. It has been seen that they
agreed, at least, on the point of restoring the Spanish posts ; and
doubtless they agreed on the other points. But the president, for
reasons already stated, had concluded not to make any communi
cation to Congress that would put General Jackson on his trial,
but to stop after defending the government of the United States
against Spain. He had, however, left all the facts in the hands of
Congress, to deal with them according to their sense of public

266 THE CAUSE OF GREAT EFFECTS.
duty. Both branches of Congress, in the reports of their commit
tees, agreed, that they were fit subjects of animadversion.
The treaty of Fort Jackson, itself dictated by General Jackson,
as commissioner, is fairly represented by Mr. Clay, in the passage
of his speech above cited. It can not be read but with feelings
of mortification and profound sympathy. A governor of the state
of Georgia declared it as his opinion, that it was the cause of the
Seminole war of that time. But when General Jackson was called
to the field, it was too late to remedy the faults of this treaty, or
its unfortunate consequences. " The fatal blow," said Mr. Clay,
" had been struck, in the destruction of Fowltown, and in the
dreadful massacre of Lieutenant Scott and his detachment; and the
only duty which remained to him [General Jackson], was to ter
minate this unhappy contest." Mr. Clay continued : —
" The first circumstance which, in the course of his perform
ing that duty, fixed our attention, has filled me with regret. It
was the execution of the Indian chiefs. How, I ask, did they
come into our possession? Was it in the course of fair, and
open, and honorable war ? No ; but by means of deception — by
hoisting foreign colors on the staff from which the stars and stripes
should alone have floated. Thus ensnared, the Indians were
taken on shore ; and without ceremony, and without delay, were
hung. Hang an Indian !
********
" But, sir, I have said that you have no right to practise, under
color of retaliation, enormities on the Indians. I will advance in
support of this position, as applicable to the origin of all law, the
principle, that whatever has been the custom, from the commence
ment of a subject, whatever has been the uniform usage, coeval
and coexistent with the subject to which it relates, becomes its
fixed law. Such is the foundation of all common law; and such,
I believe, is the principal foundation of all public or international
law. If, then, it can be shown that from the first settlement of the
colonies, on this part of the American continent, to the present
time, we have constantly abstained from retaliating upon the In
dians the excesses practised by them toward us, we are morally
bound by this invariable usage, and can not lawfully change it
without the most cogent reasons. So far as my knowledge ex
tends, from the first settlement at Plymouth or at Jamestown, it
has not been our practice to destroy Indian captives, combatants or
non-combatants. I know of but one deviation from the code which
regulates the warfare between civilized communities, and that was
the destruction of Indian towns, which was supposed to be author
ized upon the ground that we could not bring the war to a termi
nation but by destroying the means which nourished it. With this

THE CAUSE OF GREAT EFFECTS. 267
single exception, the other principles of the laws of civilized, nations
are extended to them, and are thus made law in regard to them.
When did this humane custom, by which, in consideration of their
ignorance, and our enlightened condition, the rigors of war were
mitigated, begin ? At a time when we were weak, and they com
paratively strong; when they were the lords of the soil, and we
were seeking, from the vices, from the corruptions, from the reli
gious intolerance, and from the oppressions of Europe, to gain an
asylum among them. And when is it proposed to change this
custom, to substitute for it the bloody maxims of barbarous ages,
and to interpolate the Indian public law with revolting cruelties?
At a time when the situation of the two parties is totally changed —
when we are powerful and they are weak — at a time when, to use a
figure drawn from their own sublime eloquence, the poor children
of the forest have been driven by the great wave which has flowed
in from the Atlantic ocean almost to the base of the Rocky moun
tains, and overwhelming them in its terrible progress, has left no
other remains of hundreds of tribes, now extinct, than those which
indicate the remote existence of their former companion, the mam
moth of the new world! Yes, sir, it is at this auspicious period
of our country, when we hold a proud and lofty station among the
first nations of the world, that We are called upon to sanction a de
parture from the established laws and usages which have regulated
our Indian hostilities. And does the honorable gentleman from
Massachusetts expect, in this august body, this enlightened assem
bly of Christians and Americans, by glowing appeals to our pas
sions, to make us forget our principles, our religion, our clemency,
and our humanity? Why is it that we have not practised toward
the Indian tribes the right of retaliation, now for the first time as
serted in regard to them ? It is because it is a principle proclaimed
by reason, and enforced by every respectable writer on the law of
nations, that retaliation is only justifiable as calculated to produce
effect in the war. Vengeance is a new motive for resorting to it.
If retaliation will produce no effect on the enemy, we are bound
to abstain from it by every consideration of humanity and of jus
tice. Will it then produce effect on the Indian tribes ? No ; they
care not about the execution of those of their warriors who are
taken captive. They are considered as disgraced by the very cir
cumstance of their captivity, and it is often mercy to the unhappy
captive to deprive him of his existenee. The poet evinced a pro
found knowledge of the Indian character, when he put into the
mouth of the son of a distinguished chief, about to be led to the
stake and tortured by his victorious enemy, the words : —
' Begin, ye tormentors ! your threats are in vain :
The son of Alknomook will never complain.' "
But the execution of Arbuthnot and Ambrister, whose case is
mentioned in the resolution of the committee reported to the house

268 THE CAUSE OF GREAT EFFECTS.
as a subject of disapprobation — and which is the only subject of
censure embodied in this resolution — is a case of peculiar atrocity,
in view of all existing law. These men claimed to be British sub
jects — probably they were. It is also understood, that they^were
traders with the Indiarls. For the question at issue, it may be
granted, that they identified themselves with the Seminoles, as en
emies of the United States, and did all they could, by their advice,
and by any means in their power, to aid and give the Indians suc
cor. The question is, whether they were lawfully, or unlawfully
executed ? It is obvious at first sight, from their position and re
lations, as identified with the enemy, that, having fallen into the
hands of the American general, they could only be held and treated
as prisoners-of-war, to be disposed of as the proper authorities
should afterward determine. There was no other existing or known
law for such a case. But the commanding general saw fit to cause
them to be arraigned before a court-martial, which was detailed for
that purpose, and to be tried on certain charges and specifications.
This, as can not fail to be seen, was an arrogation of unlawful power,
inasmuch as the prisoners, the moment they became such, were in
the hands, of the civil law, and could not be touched by the martial
code. The organization of this court, however, was a pretence of
proceeding according to the rules and articles of war. It is no
matter what the sentence of the court was. It must be unlawful,
since the prisoners were not amenable to it. But, in regard to one
of them, Ambrister, not being satisfactory to the commanding gen
eral, it was by him arbitrarily set aside, and Ambrister was ordered
to execution ! and was executed ! It would have been equally
lawful, if both. had been put to death without sentence.
In the orders given for the execution of these men, the general
said, that " it is an established principle of the law of nations, that
any individual of a nation making war against the citizens of any
other nation, they being at peace, forfeits his allegiance, and be
comes an outlaw and a pirate." This, then, being the general's
own interpretation of the law. of nations — a law, by-the-by, which
knows nothing of capital punishment for individuals — was the rule
under which these men suffered death ! — a law made for the occa
sion ! In his letter to the secretary of war, the general, says :
" These individuals were tried under my orders, legally convicted
as exciters of this savage and negro war, legally condemned, and
most justly punished for their iniquities." " The Lord deliver
us," says Mr. Clay, " from such legal conviction, and such legal

THE CAUSE OF GREAT EFFECTS. 269
condemnation ! I know but little of military law ; and what has
happened, has certainly not created in me a taste for acquiring a
knowledge of more !"
So far is the principle on which these unfortunate men suffered,
from being a correct one, it is a well-known practice for the sub
jects of one government to enter into the military service of 'an
other, and be found fighting against a nation with which their own
is at peace. If the law of nations applies to such cases at all, it
extends to them all the recognised rights of prisoners-of-war, if
they fall into the hands of their opponents in the field. When
Great Britain was at peace with Spain, troops composed of British
subjects were raised in England^ and sailed openly from London,
to join those held by the law as rebels, to fight against the govern
ment of Spain, and to dethrone legitimacy. Did they expect, if
taken prisoners, to be hung as " outlaws and pirates ?" On the
same principle, in case of war between the United States and any
nation with which Great Britain is at peace, every adopted citizen
of the United States, that was born a British subject, being always
claimed as such, could be lawfully hanged, if taken prisoner, on
land or water. This doctrine of perpetual allegiance, is not peculiar
to Great Britain, but is claimed by other natjpns of Europe, and
the operation of the principle, now undeJfLGipnsideration, would be
the same in all such cases. If every exciter of war in countries
foreign to his own, is to be held and treated " as an outlaw and a
pirate," by the third party, what is to become of American sym
pathisers with the southern republics, while they were in rebellion
against the parent state ? or what will be the fate of those who built
ships at Fell's Point, Baltimore, for the patriots, if they should hap
pen to be caught in Spain ? What, under this rule, will become
of those Americans who made speeches in Congress in favor of
Greece, and others who aided her, in rebellion against the Sublime
Porte, if they should happen to visit Constantinople ? On this
principle, Napoleon might have treated William Pitt, the prime
minister of England, " as an outlaw 'and a pirate," if the minister,
who had caused the emperor more tVouble, by stirring up wars in .
Europe against him, than any other man, had happened to fall into j
his hafds. Napoleon did indeed order the Duke d'Enghein to be
shot without law, and the world will never pardon him for it. Will
those American citizens, who aided the Texans in their struggles
against Mexico, consent to be treated " as outlaws and pirates,"
when they happen to be found beyond the Rio del Norte ? It will

270 THE CAUSE OF GREAT EFFECTS.
not, surely, be said, that the Indian tribes have no right to make
war, when every treaty between them and the United States recog
nises that prerogative. Who, then, can atone to the laws of the
civilized world, for the execution of Arbuthnot and Ambrister ?
Mr. Clay said :
" However guilty these men were, they should not have been
condemned or executed without the authority of the law. I will
not dwell, at this time, on the effect of these precedents in foreign
countries ; but I shall not pass unnoticed their dangerous influence
in our own country. Bad examples are generally set in the cases
of bad men, and often remote from the central government. It
was in the provinces that were laid the abuses and the seeds of the
ambitious projects which overturned the liberties of Rome. I be
seech the committee not, to be so captivated with the charms of
eloquence, and the appeals ma"dje to our passions and our sympa
thies, as to forget the fundamental principles of our government.
The influence of a bad example will often be felt, when its authors
and all the circumstances connected with it are no longer remem
bered. I know of but one analogous instance ofthe execution of
a prisoner, and that has brought more odium than almost any other
incident on the unhappy emperor of France. I allude to the in
stance ofthe execution ofthe unfortunate member of the Bourbon
house. He sought an asylum in the territories of Baden. Bona
parte despatched a corps of gen-d' armes to the place of his retreat,
seized him, and brought him to the dungeons of Vincennes. He
was there tried by a court-martial, condemned, and shot. There,
as here, was a violation of neutral territory ; there, the neutral
ground was not stained with the blood of him whom it should
have protected. And there is another most unfortunate difference
for the American people. The Duke d'Enghein was executed
according to his sentence. It is said by the defenders of Napoleon,
that the duke had been machinating, not merely to overturn the
French government, but against the life of its chief. IT that were
true, he might, if taken in France, have been legally executed.
Such was the odium brought upon the instruments of this transac
tion, that those persons who have been even sjaspected of partici
pation in it, have sought to vindicate themselves from what they
appear to have considered as an aspersion, before foreign courts." "
Surely, after the generous construction, which had been put by
Mr. Clay on the motives of General Jackson for acts of the kind
noticed by him on this occasion, in addition to that which was
comprehended in the resolution before the house, a not less gen
erous allowance should be extended to the discharge of that duty
to Which Mr. Clay professed to feel himself constrained, in vindi-

THE CAUSE OF GREAT EFFECTS. 271
cation of the rights of humanity, the usages of civilized society, the
laws of the land, and the constitution of the republic, all which he
considered had been violated. Could General Jackson expect,
that the responsibility assumed by him, should receive any other
sanction than an approval of his motives in the use of such extra
ordinary, unconstitutional, and dangerous powers, in hanging the
Indian chiefs, in the execution of Arbuthnot and Ambrister, and
in taking the Spanish posts — all in violation of law and precedent,
and a part in violation of positive orders ? He claimed to have
done it all for the good of the country, and it was generously ad
mitted he did. Some may have put a less charitable construction
upon it since that time, in view of other transactions of the life of the
same individual. But the constitution,;' the laws, and the usages
of civilized and mitigated war, could not be bartered with a com
pliment. There were at least some who felt, that these claimed a
vindication so much the more emphatic and decisive, when the
acts which vjolated them were sustained in consideration of the
motives and peculiar circumstances of the case. The committee
who reported the resolution, and Mr. Clay also, disavowed the
design of passing censure on the general ; they only proposed, as
a duty to the constitution, to the laws, and to the country, to dis
approve the acts, and to record this disapprobation as a bar to their
being drawn in precedent as authority for other public agents, or
captains, in future time. But the general and his friends vindica
ted the acts as lawful !
The acts of invading and reducing the Spanish posts, after Con
gress had been advised by a message from the president, that no
such thing would be done — another proof that no such orders were
given— *are then noticed by Mr. Clay, the last of which is recited
by him as follows : —
" On the 23d of May, on his way home, he receives a letter
from the commandant of Pensacola, intimating his surprise at ihe
invasion of the Spanish territory, and the acts of hostility per-
«> formed by the American army, and his determination, if persisted
in, to employ force to repel them. Let us pause and examine the
proceeding of the governor, so very hostile and affrontive in the
view of General Jackson. Recollect that he was governor of
Florida ; that he had received no orders from his superiors, to
allow a passage to the American army ; that he had heard of the
reduction of St. Marks ; and that General Jackson, at the head of
his army, was approaching in the direction of Pensacola. He had
seen the president's message of the 25th of March, and reminded

272 THE CAUSE OF GREAT EFFECTS.
General Jackson of it, to satisfy him that the American govern
ment could not have authorized all those measures. I can not
read the allusion made by the governor to that message, without
feeling that the charge of insincerity, which it implied, had at least
but too much the appearance of truth in it. Could the governor
have done less than write some such letter? We have only to reverse
situations, and to suppose him to have been an American governor.
General Jackson says, that when he received that letter, he no
longer hesitated. No, sir, he did no longer hesitate. He received
it on the 23d, he was in Pensacola on the 24th, and immediately
after set himself before the fortress of San Carlos de Barancas,
which he shortly reduced. Veni, vidi, vici. Wonderful energy!
Admirable promptitude ! Alas, that it had not been an energy
and a promptitude within the pale of the constitution, and accord
ing to the orders of the chief magistrate. It is impossible to give
any definition of war, that would not comprehend these acts. It
was open, undisguised, and unauthorized hostility."
In reply to Mr. Holmes, of Massachusetts, Mr. Clay said : —
" The gentleman from Massachusetts will pardon me for saying,
that he has undertaken what even his talents are not competent to
— the maintenance of directly contradictory propositions, that it
was right in General Jackson to take Pensacola, and wrong in the
president to keep it. The gentleman has made a greater mistake
than he supposes General Jackson to have done in attacking Pen
sacola for an Indian town, by attempting the defence both of the
president and General Jackson. If it were right in him to seize
the place, it is impossible that it should have been right in the
president immediately to surrender it. We, sir, are the support
ers of the president. We regret that we can not support General
Jackson also. The gentleman's liberality is more comprehensive
than ours. I approve with all my heart of the restoration of Pen
sacola. I think St. Marks ought, perhaps, to have been also
restored ; but I say this with doubt and diffidence. That fhe
president thought the seizure of the Spanish posts was an act of
war, is manifest from his opening message, in which he says, that
to have retained them, would have changed, our relations with
Spain, to do which the power of the executive was incompetent,
Congress alone possessing it. The president has, in this instance,
deserved well of his country. , He has taken the only course which
he could have pursued, consistent with the constitution of the land.
And I defy the gentleman to make good both his positions, that
the general was right in taking, and the president right in giving
up, the posts.
[Mr. Holmes explained. We took those posts, he said, to keep
them from the hands of the enemy, and, in restoring them, made
it a condition that Spain should not let our enemy have them.
We said to her, " Here is your dagger ; we found it in the hands of

THE CAUSE OF GREAT EFFECTS. 273
our enemy, and, having wrested it from him, we restore it to you,
in the hope that you will take better care of it for the future."]
" The gentleman from Massachusetts is truly unfortunate ; fact
or principle is always against him. The Spanish posts were not
in the possession of the enemy. One old Indian only was found
in the Barancas, none in Pensacola, none in StT Marks. There
was not even the color of a threat of Indian occupation as it regards
Pensacola and the Barancas. Pensacola was to be restored un
conditionally, and might, therefore, immediately have come into
the possession of the Indians, if they had the power and the will
to take it. The gentleman is in a dilemma from which there is
no escape. He gave up General Jackson when he supported the
president, and gave up the president when he supported General
Jackson. I rejoice to have seen the president manifesting, by the
restoration of Pensacola, his devotedness to the constitution. When
the whole country was ringing with plaudits for its capture, I said,
and I said alone, in the limited circle in which I moved, that the
president must surrender it ; that he could not hold it. It is not
my intention to inquire, whether the army was or was not constitu
tionally marched into Florida. It is not a clear question, and I
am inclined to think that the express authority of Congress ought
to have been asked. *****
But, if the president had the power to march an army into Flor
ida, without consulting Spain, and* without the authority of Con
gress, he had no power to authorize any act of hostility against her.
If the gentleman had even succeeded in showing that an authority
was conveyed by the executive to General Jackson to take the
Spanish posts, he would' only have established that unconstitutional
orders had been given, and thereby transferred the disapprobation
from the military officer to the executive. But no such orders
were, in truth, given. The president acted in conformity to the
constitution, when he forbade the attack of a Spanish fort, and
when, in the same spirit, he surrendered the posts themselves.
" I will riot trespass much longer upon the time of the committee ;
but I trust I shall be indulged with some few reflections upon the
danger of permitting the conduct on which it has been my painful
duty to animadvert, to pass without a solemn expression of the
disapprobation of this house. Recall to your recollection the free
nations which have gone before us. Where are they now ?
' Gone glimmering through the dream of things that were,
A school-boy's tale, the wonder of an hour.5 «
And how have they lost their liberties ? If we could transport
ourselves back to the ages when Greece and Rome 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
Vol. I.— 18

274 THE CAUSE OF GREAT EFFECTS.
Grecian would exclaim, ' No ! no ! we have nothing to fear from
our heroes ; our liberties will be eternal.' If a Roman citizen had
been asked, if he did not fear that the conqueror of Gaul might
establish a throne upon the ruins of public liberty, he would have
instantly repelled the unjust insinuation. Yet Greece fejl ; Caesar
passed the Rubicon, and the patriotic arm even 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,
that in the very year, almost 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 inti
mating that General Jackson cherishes any designs inimical to the
liberties of the country. I believe his intentions to be pure and
patriotic. I thank God that he would not, but I thank him still
more that he could not if he would, overturn the liberties of the
republic. But precedents, if bad, are fraught with the most dan
gerous consequences. Man has been described, by some of those
who have treated of his nature, as a bundle of habits. The defi
nition 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 habit and determines the direction of governments. Against
the alarming doctrine of unlimited discretion in our military com
manders when applied even to prisoners of war, I must enter my
protest. It begins upon them ; it will end on us. I hope our
happy form of government is to be perpetual.-'^ _ 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 ofthe public force.
" We are fighting a great moral battle, for the benefit, not only
of our country, but of all mankind. The eyes of the whole world
are in fixed attention upon us. One, and the largest portion of it
is gazing with contempt, with jealousy, and with envy ; the other
portion, with hope, with confidence, and with affection. Every
where the black cloud of legitimacy is suspended- over the world
save only one bright spot, which breaks out from the political
hemisphere of the west, to enlighten, 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, belongs the high privilege of transmitting.
unimpaired, to posterity, the fair character and liberty of our coun-

THE CAUSE OF GREAT EFFECTS. 275
try. Do you expect to execute this high trust, by trampling, or
suffering to be trampled 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,v and chide the admirers of our institutions, tauntingly
pointing to the demonstration of a spirit of injustice and aggran
dizement made by our country, in the midst of an amicable nego
tiation. 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 finally compelled to unite in the
general praises bestowed upon our government. Beware how you
forfeit this exalted character. Beware how you give a fatal sanc
tion, in this infant period of our republic, scarcely yet two-score
years old, to military insubordination. Remember that Greece
had her Alexander, Rome her Cssar, 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 ofthe people."
The several stages of action, through- which the resolution of
censure reported by the committee on military affairs passed, while
under debate, resulted in a majority against it, ranging from thirty
to forty-six, in a house of one hundred and seventy members pres
ent. So the conduct of General Jackson was not disapproved.
It can not but be observed, since the character of General
Jackson stands so strongly developed before the world, that the
part taken by Mr. Clay on this occasion, is sufficient to account
for all that afterward occurred of an unpleasant nature, in the rela
tions of these two individuals, as disclosed in other chapters of
this work. Could such a speech ever be forgiven by the subject
of it? Was it not the cause of great effects ?

276 THE MISSOURI QUESTION.

CHAPTER XIH.
The Missouri Question.
In the history of the United States, there has not, perhaps, been
a more critical moment, arising from the violence of domestic ex
citement, than in the agitation of the Missouri question, from
1S18 to 1821, unless it be the attempt at nullification bytSouth
Carolina, in 1832-'33. In case of the actual collision of force with
force, the latter, probably, in the circumstances of the case, could
have been quelled more easily than the former, simply because it
could not bring to its aid the whole southern section of the Union ;
whereas, that portion of the country was united on the Missouri
question. The arguments on both sides were forcible, in view of the re
spective parties, urged by their own feelings and interests. It was
maintained, on the one hand, that the compromise of the federal
constitution, regarding slavery, respected only its existing limits at
the time ; that it was most remote from the views of the parties to
this arrangement, to have the domain of slavery extended on that
basis ; that the fundamental principles of the American revolution,
and of the government and institutions erected upon it, were hos
tile to slavery ; that the compromise was simply a toleration of
things that were, and not a basis for things to be ; that these secu
rities of slavery as it existed, would be forfeited by an extension
of the system ; that the honor of the republic before the world,
and its moral influence with mankind in favor of freedom, were
identified with the advocacy of principles of universal emancipa
tion ; that the act of 1787, which established the territorial gov
ernment north and west of the river Ohio, prohibiting slavery for
ever therefrom, was a public recognition and avowal of the prin
ciples and designs of the people of the United States, in regard
to new states and territories, north and west ; and that the propo
sal to establish slavery in Missouri, was a violation of all these
great and fundamental principles.

THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 277
On the other hand, it was maintained, that slavery was incorpo
rated in the system of society as established in Louisiana, which
comprehended the territory of Missouri, when purchased from
France in 1803 ; that the faith of the United States was pledged
by treaty to all the inhabitants of that wide domain, to maintain
their rights and privileges on the same footing with the tenants of
the original federal jurisdiction ; and consequently, that, slavery
being a part of their state of society, it would be a violation of
federal engagements to abolish it without their consent. Nor
could the federal government — as they maintained — prescribe the
abolition of slavery to any part of said territory as a condition of
being erected into a state of the Union, if they were otherwise en
titled to it on the federal platform. It might as well, they' said, bp
required of them to abolish any other municipal regulation, or to
annihilate any other attribute of sovereignty. If the federal au
thorities had made an improper or ill-advised treaty in the pur
chase of Louisiana, they maintained, it would be manifest injus
tice to make the citizens of this newly-acquired portion of their
jurisdiction, suffer on that account. They claimed, that they
were received as a slaveholding community, on the same footing
with other slave states, and that the existence or non-existence of
slavery could not be made a question, when they presented
themselves at the door of the capitol of the republic for a state
charter. Such was the feeling, and such comprehensively were the argu
ments, in the two great sections of the Union, when the territory
of Missouri, in 1818, asserted its claim to be incorporated as a
state. The preparatory act of Congress, required to authorize a
convention of the people of the territory to form a state-constitu
tion, was taken up in the session of 1818-'] 9. In the house of
representatives, the following resolutions were inserted in the
bill :—
" That the further introduction of slavery, or involuntary servi
tude, be prohibited, except for the punishment of crimes, whereof
the party shall have been fully convicted." "Yeas 87 — nays 76.
" And that all children born within the said state, after the ad
mission thereof into the Union, shall be free at the age of twenty-
five years." Yeas 82 — nay's 78.
The final action of the house, to incorporate these restrictions
in die bill, was, yeas 91 — nays 82. >
But the senate rejected these conditions, and the house ad-

278 THE MISSOURI QUESTION.
hering, the bill failed. Consequently, this session of Congress
passed over, without conferring any authority on the people of
Missouri, to consummate their purpose of organizing as a state.
As may be imagined, it was the occasion of great excitement
among the people ofthe territory; and from this time to the meet
ing of the next Congress, the whole Union was agitated. The
legislatures of the states took up the subject, passed resolutions in
favor and against the restrictions, according to their respective lo
calities and feelings, and remitted copies to each other, and to the
general government. Popular assemblies were convened in all
parts of the country, to debate the question, adopt resolutions,
originate petitions to Congress, and for other demonstrations of
the kind. The press opened and kept up a continuous fire from
all quarters, and multitudes of pamphleteers were in the field, till
the whole land was in a blaze of excitement.
It was in this state of the public mind, that the sixteenth Con
gress was convened, in the fall of 1819, and the people of Mis
souri knocked again at its doors, demanding authority to organize
as a member of the Union — themselves in a state of feeling not
at all soothed by the course which had been pursued, in the sus
pension of their claims, and in the doubts which had been brought
over their prospects.
As early in the session, as December 14, Mr. Taylor, of New
York, brought forward, in the house, the following resolution:
" That a committee be appointed to inquire into the expediency
of prohibiting by law the introduction of slaves into the territories
of the United States west of the Mississippi ;" and the next day,
December 15, when it came up, he moved to postpone the bill to
authorize a convention of the people of Missouri to form a state
constitution, till the first Monday in February. Mr. Scott, dele
gate from Missouri, said he believed, if this postponement were
ordered, the people of Missouri would proceed to organize a state
government without waiting for authority from Congress. It was,
however, postponed to the second Monday in January, and Mr.
Taylor was placeCPat the head of a committee of inquiry raised
on his motion, above cited.
December 28, Mr. Taylor reported, that he was instructed by
his committee, to ask leave to be discharged, assigning as a rea
son, that they could not agree on anything calculated to harmon
ize opinion. The request was granted. Mr. Taylor then moved
the following resolution : " That a committee be appointed to

THE MISSOURI questkIn. 279
report a bill prohibiting the further introduction of slaves into the
territories of the United States west of the Mississippi."
In the debate on this motion, Mr. Mercer, of Virginia, is re
ported in Niles's Register, to have used the following expression :
" That, standing here, as the representative of the people west of
the Mississippi, he should record his vote against suffering the
dark cloud of inhumanity, which now darkened his country, from
rolling on beyond the peaceful shores of the Mississippi." Mr.
Taylor's motion was lost by 82 to 62.
The majority of the house of representatives, as appeared in
all test votes on this question, was in favor of a restriction on Mis
souri against slavery, while the majority in the senate was against
a restriction, and the results of repeated conferences between the
two houses, did not seem to approximate toward any agreement.
Advantage was taken by the senate, of the application of the dis
trict of Maine to become a state, to incorporate both claims- into
one bill, and in that way, force both upon the other house, with
out condition. But the house of representatives refused to unite
in it. The question, however, was at last settled in conference,
by the following compromise in the eighth section of the bill for
Missouri : " That in all the territory ceded by France to the Uni
ted States, under the name of Louisiana, which lies north of thirty-
six degrees and thirty minutes north latitude, not included within
the limits contemplated by this act, slavery and involuntary servi
tude, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the
parties shall have been duly convicted, shall be, and is hereby,
for ever prohibited— -provided always, that any person escaping
into the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in
any state or territory of the United States, such fugitive may be
lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her
labor or service as aforesaid."
The debates during this session, on this subject, were protract
ed, animated, and often' in a high degree acrimonious. The mem
bers of Congress brought with them the feelings which pervaded
the states and sections from which they came,^,nd gave utterance
to them with little restraint — not unfrequently with as little pru
dence. The speeches were for the most part characterized with
strong ingredients of sectional prejudice. There was, however,
in the midst of this arena of violent strife, oNe man of truly
national feeling, calm, but not indifferent, with lofty, but dignified,
and not less anxious porte, looking down upon the scene, as one

¦280 THE MISSOURI QUESTION.
of deep and unutterable concern. Often did he rise to hush the
tempest, and call back reason to its useful offices. He stood up
a mediator between the conflicting parties, imploring, entreating,
beseeching. On one occasion, during these debates, Mr. Clay
spoke four hours and a half, pouring forth an uninterrupted and
glowing torrent of his thoughts and feelings, with captivating and
convincing power.
On the authority now obtained, and during the recess of Con
gress, in the summer of 1820, the people of Missouriproceeded to
organize a state government, and to establish the authorities of an
independent commonwealth. As it was the year of the presiden
tial election, the duty of forming an electoral college was one of
the functions of franchise, which the people of the new state were
called to exercise, at the same time that they voted for their own
state officers.
The obstacles they had met with in obtaining authority to or
ganize a separate commonwealth, seemed to have driven them into
an offensive attitude. The constitution which they prepared to
be submitted to Congress, to obtain federal sanction, before Mis
souri could be admitted to all the privileges of a member, of the
family of states, contained a very unnecessary and obnoxious
clause, apparently aimed at those who had attempted to fasten
upon them a restriction in the matter of slavery, and which bore
the aspect of a defiance. It raised a new difficulty, and put
another bar in their path — a bar, indeed, more formidable than any
they had yet encountered. The offensive clause was regarded as
an insult, and roused an indignant feeling throughout the land. It
could hardly be defended in any quarter. They had apparently
disarmed, their own friends and advocates.
The obnoxious matter was in 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 or settling in this state, under any pretext whatso
ever." There was also a clause forbidding the general assembly
to pass any laws for emancipation, without the consent of the
owners of slaves. But this latter was scarcely made a point of
objection, in view of what was regarded as the enormity of the
former. The constitution of the United States ordains that " the
citizens of .each state shall be entitled to all privileges and immu
nities of citizens in the several states." It was well known, that
colored people, in the free states, were generally regarded as citi-

THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 281
zens, and in some states, they are, on prescribed conditions, ad
mitted to all the rights of citizenship. Consequently, as was con
tended, here was the constitution of a new state put forth in the
face of the Union, demanding a sanction of the federal authorities,
in direct violation of the federal constitution. It is true, the ob
noxious clause was open to revision and annulment by the su
preme court. The state which had adopted it might say, it was
their sovereign right to make their own constitution, subject al
ways to the/, authority of the judiciary ; that Congress was not
competent to act on this question ; that the duty imposed on
Congress was, to grant a " republican form of government" to
every new state ; but that they had no right to determine what
should or should not be its municipal regulations — this latter func
tion being an attribute of sovereignty, subject to correction only by
the federal judiciary. Nevertheless, it can not be denied, that, in
the circumstances of the case, the clause was offensive, and calcu
lated to rouse the violent opposition which actually followed.
The transmission of the constitution of Missouri to Congress,
by the president, was the signal of conflict. The committees of
both houses, to whom it was referred, reported in favor of its being
sanctioned, and the senate came to a final vote accordingly. But
it was impossible to accomplish this object in the house of repre
sentatives, where the excitement on the subject had become fla
grant, destructive alike of harmony and good order.
Mr. Clay's private affairs, as elsewhere remarked, had com
pelled him to forward his resignation of the office of speaker, at
the opening of the second session of the sixteenth Congress, 1S20;
though still retaining his seat as a member, on account of this
agitation. It was not convenient for him to go to Washington,
till late in the winter. It was the 16th of January, 1S21, when
he resumed his seat in the house of representatives. The whole
of that body seemed at the moment to be in a flame of pas
sion on the Missouri question. Fatigued by the contest, and ex
asperated with each other, all parties turned instinctivelv to Mr.
Clay, for counsel and direction. The position he occupied in
their affections, respect, and confidence, was favorable — command
ing. He talked with all, heard all, consulted with all ; and on the
2d of February, he moved for a select committee of thirteen — the
original number of the states — to consider the resolution of the
senate to admit Missouri into the Union, and to report thereon.
It was of course granted, and composed of Messrs. Clay, Eustis

282 THE MISSOURI QUESTION.
of Mass., Smith of Md., Sargeant of Pa., Lowndes ofS. C, Ford
of N. Y, Campbell of Ohio, Archer of Va., Hartley of N. Y., S.
Moore of Pa., Cobb of Ga., Tomlinson of Ct., and Butler of N.H.
On the 10th, Mr. Clay reported, and submitted, by order of the
committee, the following resolution, as an amendment to that ofthe
Senate : —
" Resolved, That the state of Missouri be admitted into the
Union on an equal footing with the original states, in all respects
whatever, upon the fundamental condition, that the said state shall
never pass any law preventing any description of persons from
coming to and settling in the said state, who now are, or may
hereafter become, citizens of any of the states of this Union ; and
provided, also, that the legislature of the said state, by a solemn
public act, shall declare the assent of the said state to the said fun
damental condition, and shall transmit to the president of the
United States, on or before the fourth Monday in November next,
an authentic copy of the said act, upon the receipt whereof the
president, by proclamation, shall announce the fact ; whereupon,
and without any further proceeding on the part of Congress, the
admission of said state into the Union shall be considered as com
plete ; and provided, further, that nothing herein contained shall
be construed to take from the state of Missouri, when admitted
into the Union, the exercise of any right or power which can now
be constitutionally exercised by any of the original states."
In support of this resolution, Mr. Clay addressed himself with
great feeling and power, to both parties, and not unfrequently drew
tears of sympathy from their hearts. He depicted the state of the
Union at that momentous crisis; portrayed the contingent pros
pects before them, as with a pencil of sunbeams, and as if giving
utterance to the oracles of prophecy; and besought each one to
consider what he owed to his country.
It will be seen by the resolution, that its author had carefully
consulted the feelings of both parties. But it was all in vain. It
was rejected in committee of the whole by a vote of 73 to 64, and in
the house by 83 to 80. It was reconsidered, and again lost. The
question and the country were now in a most critical condition.
The next day after the reconsideration of this vote, was the time
appointed for a public counting of the votes for president and vice-
president of the United States, and Missouri, not yet admitted into
the Union, would offer her vote, and qlaim that it should be
counted. It was an anxious moment, and the scene apprehended
was painful to contemplate.
The two houses had previously arranged as to the place and

THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 2S3
time of their joint meeting to count the electoral votes, and had
moreover ordered, in anticipation of the electoral vote of Missouri
being challenged, that the vice-president, who was chairman for
the occasion, should, in case of a challenge, announce the votes,
first, with that of Missouri, and next without it, to show, as known
beforehand, that, whether the vote of Missouri were counted or
not, it could not affect the result. This, however, was deemed an
Irregularity, which Mr. Randolph, of the house of representatives,
maintained, would vitiate the election, and render it invalid. He
said, while this was under consideration, that "he would rather see
an interregnum, than to adopt a principle that would destroy the
foundation on which the presidential office rested;" assuming, of
course, that the mere form of announcing the result, which the
constitution had not prescribed, was of such importance.
As was feared,,, the joint meeting ofthe two houses on the 14th,
to count the electoral votes, and proclaim the result, was one of
turbulent excitement. It was frequently interrupted by simulta
neous challenges of the Missouri vote, and calls for information,
whether it was to be counted ; till at last, when the vote of Mis
souri was announced, Mr. Livermore, of New Hampshire, rose
and said:, "Mr. President and Mr. Speaker, I object to receiving
any votes for president and vice-president from Missouri, as Mis
souri is not a state of this Union." This objection was numer
ously and clamorously seconded. Confusion and tumult being in
the ascendant, a senator rose, and with a voice above the wildness
of the scene, moved, that the senate withdraw, which was imme
diately obeyed ; and the house was left in sole possession of the
field, though far from being reduced to order. One cried, " Mis
souri is not a state;" and another, "Missouri is a state." Motion
after motion was made, and an hour of tumultuous wrangling con
sumed, when Mr. Clay succeeded in producing a momentary calm,
and in moving, that a message be sent to inform the senate, that
the house was waiting for their attendance to complete the duty
of counting the votes. The senate accordingly came in,- the vote
of Missouri, during the counting of which the interruption had
taken place, was again declared, and the whole being gone through,
the chairman announced the result, first with, and then without, the
vote of Missouri, stating that in either case it was the same : James
Monroe was elected president, and Daniel D. Tompkins vice-
president. >
While the result was being announced, two members of the

284 THE MISSOURI QUESTION-
house of representatives rose simultaneously, and demanded
whether the vote of Missouri was, or was not, counted? The
speaker of the house pronounced them out of order, and required
them to resume their seats.
When the senate had retired, Mr. Randolph, of Virginia, moved
the following resolutions: —
" Resolved, That the electoral votes of Missouri have this day
been counted, and do constitute a part of the majority of 231 votes
given for president, and of 218 votes given for vice-president.
"Resolved, That the whole number of electors appointed and
of votes given for president and vice-president, has not been an
nounced by the presiding officer of the senate and house of repre
sentatives, agreeably to the constitution of the United States, and
that therefore the proceeding has been irregular and illegal."
, The house was evidently somewhat startled at the principle in
volved in this motion. It seemed at first glance to shake the va
lidity of the solemn transaction through which they had just passed,
and to throw doubts over its binding force ! It was a question,
whether a vitiating element had been admitted, which corrupted
and nullified the whole? Evidently Missouri was not one of the
family of states, in full and complete fellowship. And yet she had
heen permitted to take part, and to have a voice, in this eventful
act, which was to determine the presiding magistracy of the re
public, and establish a head over the senate, for a term of four
years ! It was alarming to think, that a doubt could be raised as to
the validity of such a transaction ! Though there was a majority
of thirty against Mr. Randolph's motion, even that vote demon
strated, that there was at least a doubt in many minds. But it was
necessary, by common consent, to hold the transaction valid,
though no one could say, it was exactly as it should be.
By this time, almost the entire mind of Congress — not to say
that of the country — had become sore and morbid on this agita
ting question. Congress wanted to get rid of it; but how could it
be done? And who could now define the position and relations
of Missouri? Was she a state, or a territory? All knew, that
she would never submit to the jurisdiction of the United States as
the latter ; and what was she to do as a state, without being recog
nised in full? Was die vast public domain within her bounds to
be given up, and the federal jurisdiction to be withdrawn? Or
was the federal government to enforce its authority there ? These,
certainly, were grave questions. In this state of feeling, and du-

THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 2S5
'*
ring this interval of doubting and agonizing suspense, Mr. Clay
was most assiduous and active in his private appeals to the mem
bers of both houses. He respectfully demanded of them, " What
do you propose? We tell you frankly what we wish to do. It
will never do to leave this matter so. Propound your plan. You
must come to us ; or we must go to you. This business must
be setded, and settled now, or who can can tell what a year may
bring forth? We put it to your consciences. Give us a plan, or
come over to ours."
Appeals of this kind were not without effect. Mr. Clay watched
his opportunity, and imagining the time had come, on the 22d of
February, he moved the following resolution : —
"Resolved, That a committee be appointed, on the part of this
house, jointly, with such committee as may be appointed on the
part of the senate, to consider and to report to the senate and to
the house, respectively, whether it be expedient or not to make
provision for the admission of Missouri into the Union, on the
same footing as the original states; and for the due execution of
the laws of the United States, within Missouri; and if not,
whether any other, and what provision, adapted to her actual con
dition, ought to be made by law."
This resolution was promptly and gladly adopted by a vote of
two to one, and a similar resolution passed in the senate, with a
corresponding good-will.
Mr. Clay proposed that the committee from the house should
consist of twenty-three, the number of states at the time, and that
they should be appointed by ballot, (fce himself made out the
list, knowing whom he wanted, and the house conformed, putting
Mr. Clay at the head of it. The house was glad enough to give
him this work, and to let him have it all in his own way. It
was not only a part of his plan to pick his men, but after having
mustered them, he was resolved to put the question to every indi
vidual separately — will you support this plan, or not? To fail
again, would be fatal, and he resolved to risk nothing. The ques
tion must be decided, before it should be reported to the house.
If his own corps were under good discipline, he knew the result
with infallible certainty.
The two committees met in the senate-chamber on the 25th,
each maintaining its separate organization, Mr. Holmes at the head
of the »senate committee ; and before they retired, the Missouri
question was setded ! It was, however, an arduous session. Mr.

286 THE MISSOURI QUESTION.
Clay would consent to nothing, without unanimity, and without a
pledge from each, that he would support it. In the senate, there
would be no difficulty, and if the committee of the house would
go back pledged to support the resolution agreed on, it was known,
that the unanimous decision of the committee would be the decision
of the house ; and so it proved. The resolution was in substance
the same with that reported on the 10th, by the committee of thir
teen, and before cited, but more specific. It passed the house on
the 26th, by a vote of 87 to 81, and was concurred in by the sen
ate on the 28th. The conditions prescribed were afterward com
plied with by the state of Missouri, and her admission to the Union
was consummated.
The pacific adjustment of this question, when all its difficulties
are considered, was doubtless one of the most masterly achieve
ments of man over human society ; nor has there ever been a
doubt, to whom the country is indebted for such a beneficent
influence. A storm was raised, which all had despaired of quelling. After
six weeks of the toil and care of one man, there was a great calm.
Not the slightest breeze of disturbance, on the same account, has
ever risen from that quarter since ; and the whole nation fully ap
preciated its obligations. The people felt, that a mighty incubus
was removed, and breathing freely again, they fell back into repose,
and forgot the peril through which they had passed.

THE GREAT CONSPIRACY. 287

CHAPTER XIV.

THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
General Jackson's Renewal of the Charge against Mr. Clay in 1844. — Statement
ofthe Charge. — Present Position of the Question. — Mr. Adams' Eighth-of-Jan-
uary Party in honor of General Jackson. — Its Effect. — Nomination of General
Jackson for the Presidency. — The Result. — Examination of the Claims to Plu
rality of Votes. — Mr. Clay defrauded. — Character of the Jackson Party. — Deli
cacy of Mr. Clay's Position in the House of Representatives on the Presidential
Question. — Menaces. — First Opening of the Plot. — Mr. Kremer's Letter to the
Columhian Observer. — Mr. Clay's Card. — Mr. Kremer's Card. — Mr. Clay's
Appeal to the House. — Mr. Forsyth's Resolution for a Committee of Inquiry. —
The Debate. — Report of the Committee. — Mr. Kremer's Decline to answer. —
Unexpected Position of Affairs. — Who wrote Mr. Kremer's Letter of Decline. —
Position ofthe Conspirators and Mr. Clay at the End of the First Stage.
The heading of this chapter is given in anticipation of the evi
dence ; but that having been well considered, and being about to
be offered, the propriety of this denomination of this piece of
history, is assumed, in the belief that the facts will be a justifica
tion. That it was a great conspiracy, is determined, not only by
a consideration of its extent, but of its comprehensive influence on
the destinies of the parties concerned, and on the destiny of a na
tion. Though one of the greatest atrocities in the moral history
of mankind, yielded profit to the actoWfor a season, it would dis
appoint the ends of justice, human and divine, if it could for ever
purchase impunity. It is the doom of vice to come to judgment.
"A CARD. " Hermitage, May 3, 1844.
" Gentlemen-: My attention has been called to various news
paper articles, referring to a letter said to have been written by me
to General Hamilton, recanting the charge of bargain made against
Mr. Clay, when he voted for Mr. Adams in 1825.
" To put an end to all such rumors, I feel it to be due to my
self to state, that I have no recollection of ever having written such
a letter, and do not believe there is a letter from me to General
Hamilton, or any one else, that will bear such a^ construction. Of
the charges brought against both Mr. Adams and Mr. Clay, at that
time, I formed my opinion as the country at large did — from facts

¦0
288 THE GREAT conspiracy.
and circumstances that were indisputable and conclusive ; and I
may add, that this opinion has undergone no change.
" If General Hamilton, or any one else, has a letter from me
on this subject, all that they have to do, is to apply to him for it.
As for myself, I have no secrets, and do not fear the publication
of all that I have ever written on this or any other subject.
" Andrew Jackson.
"To the Editors ofthe Nashville Union."
It will be perceived, first, that this Card, dated May 3, 1844,
recognises the fact, that " Andrew Jackson" made this charge
against Mr. Clay : " My attention has been called to various news
paper articles, referring to a letter said to have been written by
me to General Hamilton, recanting the charge," &c. Secondly.
the card re-affirms the charge : " I formed my opinion from
facts and circumstances that were indisputable and conclusive ; and
I may add, that this opinion has undergone no change."
Thirdly, General Jackson, in this card, by implication, denies
that he has ever recanted, and challenges the proof: " I have no
recollection  1 do not believe  All they have to do,
is to apply for it" — the proof. The charge, therefore, being re
affirmed by General Jackson, on the 3d of May, 1844, puts the
whole matter again at issue, and compels to an examination of the
subject, not less as a demand of public, than of private, justice.
The charge, or charges, are briefly stated by Mr. Clay, in his
address to the public, of June 29, 1827, as he understood them
to be conveyed in General Jackson's letter to Mr. Carter Bever
ley, of June 6, 1827, as fj||pws : —
" First, that my friends in Congress, early in January, 1825,
proposed to him [Gen. Jackson], that, if he would say, or permit
any of his confidential friends to say, that, in case he was elected
president, Mr. Adams should not be continued secretary of state
by a complete union of myself and my friends, we would put an
end to the presidential contest in oneliour. Secondly, that the
above proposal was made to General'' Jackson through a distin
guished member of Congress, of high standing, with my privity
and consent."
In another part of this address, Mr. Clay says : " General Jack
son, having at last voluntarily placed himself in the attitude of my
public accuser, we are now fairly at issue. I rejoice, that a spe
cific accusation, by a responsible accuser, has at length appeared
though at the distance of near two years and a half since the charge
was first brought forth by Mr. George Kremer. It will be univer
sally admitted, that the accusation is of the most serious nature.

THE GREAT CONSPIRACY. 289
Hardly any more atrocious charge could be preferred against the
representative of the people in his official character. The charge
in substance, is, that deliberate propositions of bargain, were made
by my congressional friends collectively, through an authorized
and distinguished member of Congress, to General Jackson ; that
their object was, by these means of bargain and corruption, to
exclude Mr. Adams from the department of state, or to secure my
promotion to office ; and that I was privy and assented to those
propositions, and to the employment of those means.
" Such being the accusation, and the prosecutor, and the issue
between us, I have now a right to expect that he will substantiate
his charges by the exhibition of satisfactory evidence. In that
event, there is no punishment that would exceed the measure of
my offence. In the opposite event, what ought to be the judg
ment of the American people, is cheerfully submitted to their wis
dom and justice."
It will be seen, therefore, that this card of General Jackson,
of May 3, 1844, published by him in the Nashville Union, virtu
ally denying that he had recanted, and virtually re-affirming the
original charge, leaves it precisely where it was when he appeared
as the public accuser of Mr. Clay in 1827, and precisely where it
was when it was first brought forward by George Kremer in 1825.
It is an issue still pending, to be examined by common rules of
evidence, and submitted to the public of the present and future
generations. Private and public justice are equally concerned in
the investigation, and it is impossible to waive it.
With this . preliminary statement of the case, as it now stands,
it is proper to return to the origin. ^
On the Sth of January, 1824, the Hon. J. Q. Adams, then sec
retary of state, under Mr. Monroe, made a party, in honor of
General Andrew Jackson, as the hero of New Orleans, and in com
memoration of the victory which he achieved before that city over
the British forces, on the 8th of January, 1815. The party was
a brilliant one, attended by the president of the United States, the
foreign ambassadors, members of Congress, public functionaries in
the various departments of the government, and a host of distin
guished strangers. General Jackson, then a senator of the United
States from Tennessee, was, of course, the star of the evening,
"the observed of all observers," with Mrs. Adams on his arm,
who, with grace and dignity, did the honors of hostess, in present
ing the general to her various and numerous guests. General
Jackson, certainly, was not unknown before ; but this occasion
Vol. I.— 19

290 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
lifted him, from the comparatively vulgar place of a meteor, in the
atmosphere of earth, to the position of a fixed orb in the firmament
above. From that moment, he began to be thought of as a candi
date for the presidency of the United States. His first formal
nomination was made by the legislature of Tennessee, which was
quickly followed in other parts of the Union. He was now fairly
in the field, with John Quincy Adams, WUliam H. Crawford, and
Henry Clay, as competitors. The result of that election, was,
that, out of 261 electoral votes given (one failed by sickness) Mr.
Adams received S4, Mr. Crawford 41, General Jackson 99, and
Mr. Clay 37.
Inasmuch as a claim was • set up for General Jackson, as the
more popular candidate, and entitled to the presidency, on the
ground of his plurality of 99, it is proper to consider the validity
of that claim. In the first place, the principle of the claim, prop
erly applied — as it doubtless should be, if urged — would destroy
the claim for General Jackson, and transfer it to Mr. Adams.
" It is a poor rule that will not work both ways." If the principle
of plurality is adopted, it should prevail, not only for one stage of an
election, but for all its stages. To be applied in one, and rejected
in the others, would be the greatest injustice. If insisted on, when
the election, having failed in the states, passes to the house of
representatives of the United States, it should be credited in the
past, as well as in the present. Indeed, the true state of the pres
ent could not be determined, without a consideration of the past.
Although General Jackson had a plurality in the nominal returns
from the electoral college's, the question is, whether he had a plu
rality in the popular votes of the states ? In North Carolina, the
Crawford men had a great plurality over either of the Jackson and
Adams sections ; but the two latter, joining their forces, gave the
electoral vote of the state, it being fifteen, to General Jackson.
Deduct this from General Jackson's plurality — as it should be, if
the principle of plurality is to govern — and it leaves him 84, the
same as the vote for Mr. Adams. But Mr. Adams had a great
plurality of the popular vote of New York, and on this principle
should be credited the entire vote of that state, 36, whereas he
received only 26. This adjustment would carry Mr. Adams up
to 94, and leave General Jackson with 84. Besides, the popular
majorities for Mr. Adams in the six New England states, were
greatly in excess of the Jackson majorities of the tio-ht states
which gave their vote for him, which gready augments Mr. Adams'

THE GREAT CONSPIRACY. 291
aggregate plurality in the Union, over General Jackson's. Then
deduct the constitutional allowance for the slave vote in the slave
states, as given by their masters. It will not be pretended, that
this is a popular vote, though constitutional. General Jackson
obtained fifty-five electoral votes, more than half his entire vote,
and Mr. Adams only six, from slave states. It will therefore be
seen, that, on the principle of a popular plurality, carried out, and
carried through — (it ought not to stop for the advantage of one
party, if admitted) — Mr. Adams, in the election of 1824, was far
ahead of General Jackson.
But this claim of plurality is not only unconstitutional, in this
case, but anti-republican and anti-democratic, in all cases. Ad
mitting, that General Jackson's electoral vote of 1824, fairly rep
resented the popular vote — which, as shown above, was not the
fact — there was yet, in the returns to Congress, the great majority
of 162 electoral votes against General Jackson's 99. Is there any
principle of democracy, or of the fundamental law of the American
Union, that would require the states and the people, who returned
these 162 electoral votes to Congress, to give up their will to the
comparatively few states and few people, who returned the 99
votes ? The demand was preposterous. The election, having
failed of a majority for any one candidate, by the action of the
people, was transferred by the constitution to the house of repre
sentatives, to be decided by a majority of states, each state count
ing one, and its vote to be determined by the majority of its own
delegation in that body. It was still under control of the majority
principle — not indeed of a popular majority — for the people having
failed, the constitution gave it over to the states, acting in their
federal capacity, which erected new parties in the franchise, not on
the basis of popular representation, but on the platform of the fed
eral compact, each state, large or small, having an equal voice.
They were required to vote in the capacity of states, thirteen
of which — there being twenty-four — constituted a majority.
Although there was no legal or constitutional ground of com
plaint, that Mr. Clay was excluded from the house of representa
tives, by the result of this election, it was nevertheless true, that he
was entitled to the vote of Louisiana, and would have had it, but
for the fact, that the choice of the electors of president, by the
legislature, was unfairly brought on, in the absence of some two
or three of Mr. Clay's friends. The electoral votes of Louisiana,
hevagfiive, fairly given, would have carried Mr. Clay into the house

292 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
of representatives, over Mr. Crawford, by a plurality of one. Mr.
Clay was also entitled to share the electoral vote of New York,
with Mr. Adams, equally or nearly so, by an understanding be
tween two of the three parties in that state, which was broken up
by a sudden movement of Mr. Van Buren, in a nomination for
governor, disturbing and dissolving the arrangement. It is also
to be remarked, that before the electoral votes of New York were
cast, they had heard from Louisiana, and seeing that Mr. Clay's
chances of being returned to the house of representatives, were
slender, his friends among the electors went for Mr. Adams, as
their second choice. Mr. Clay's full strength in the electoral col
leges, but for these occurrences — one of which was a fraud, one a
trick, and the other an apparent necessity, resulting from the two
former — would have given him a very considerable plurality over
Mr. Crawford, which would not probably have been effaced, even
if Mr. Crawford had received the vote of North Carolina, to which
he was entitled on the plurality principle, but which was given to
General Jackson. It has never been doubted by anybody, that,
if Mr. Clay had been returned to the house of representatives, in
the election of 1824, he would have been chosen president of the
United States. The probable consequences of such an event, will
naturally occur to all minds. It would doubtless have been preg
nant with great and important results, affecting the destiny of the
country for ages — for ever.
' But it was not easy for the Jackson party, which had sprung
into existence so suddenly (it was entirely a new party), and which
partook of the vehement temper of their leader, to be reconciled
to any doubt as to the election of their candidate, in the house of
representatives. Mr. Crawford, though returned, was generally
considered out of the question, on account of his impaired state
of health. By common consent, Mr. Adams or General Jackson
was to be president. The Jackson men looked at the figures 99,
and could plainly see, that they counted more than 84. Whether
the conclusion they were pleased to deduce from these given arith
metical quantities, was a just one, is another matter. It is clear,
that General Jackson had 99 votes, and Mr. Adams only 84. The
supporters of the former were anxious, impatient, not to say, furi
ous. They had enlisted under a chieftain of imperious, indomita
ble will, whose principal, almost only capital, was a glorious battle,
the just fame of which, acquired by himself as victor, no one could
gainsay. He had marched at the head of his political legions, re-

THE GREAT CONSPIRACY. 293
cently mustered, with scarcely less energy and determination, than
he evinced at the head ofthe American troops, on the 8th of Jan
uary, 1815, in the face of the British foe. It was as a military
man they followed him ; for he had no other reputation of suffi
cient consequence to make a party.
The advent of General Jackson, as a candidate for the presi
dency, was not more unexpected, than his success in the first cam
paign. Against three competitors, each of them a distinguished
statesman, of long standing in the civil service, he was returned to
the house of representatives, as already noticed, with a plurality
over all. Flushed with a feeling natural to such an unexampled
career, he and his partisans were prepared to assert strong claims.
They set up the figures 99 against the figures 84, as the principle
and the rule'. Who could say the former did not count more than
the latter? Nevertheless, there were other principles and other
rules, in other men's minds. It was at least thought, that the
house of representatives was not bound by the figures 99 against
162. Mr. Clay's position, in these circumstances, was one of peculiar
delicacy. He had been a competitor in the field ; had failed to be
returned to the house; and, of course, had lost his chances for this
time. But none could deny, that he was a statesman, presenting
high and strong claims as a future candidate for the presidency.
It was not his fault, but altogether to his credit, that the use of his
extraordinary endowments, had earned for him such high consid
eration. He was then occupying the speaker's chair of the house
of representatives, which he had filled since 1811, except for one
Congress, when he was forced to be absent for private reasons ;
and none could fail to see, that the friends of the rival candidates
for the presidency, must naturally have looked, with anxious con
cern, to the tendency of his preference, though he should not say
a word, nor use an item of active influence, for one or another.
Even the knowledge of his preference, was unavoidable influence.
It was supposed, that he held in his hands the power to elect
either, though it was a mistake. That the friends of the candidates
returned, should address him on this subject, directly or indi
rectly, was natural enough, and perhaps proper, if done with a
discreet regard to the delicacy of his position. The following
extract from Mr, Clay's address to his constituents, after the
election, will throw some light on the practical operation of this
feeling : —

294 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
" During the month of December, and the greater part of Jan
uary, strong professions of high consideration, and of unbounded
admiration of me, were made to my friends, in the greatest profu
sion, by some of the active friends of all the returned candidates.
Everybody professed to regret, after I was excluded from the
house, that I had not been returned to it. I seemed to be the
favorite of everybody. Describing my situation to a distant friend,
I said to him : ' I am enjoying, while alive, the posthumous hon
ors which are usually awarded to the venerated dead.' A person
not acquainted with human nature would have been surprised, in
listening to these praises, that the object of them had not been
elected by general acclamation. None made more or warmer
manifestations of these sentiments of esteem and admiration, than
some ofthe friends of General Jackson. None were so reserved
as those of Mr. Adams ; under an opinion (as I have learned since
the election), which they early imbibed, that the western vote would
be only influenced by its own sense of public duty ; and that, if
its judgment pointed to any other than Mr. Adams, nothing which
they could do would secure it to him. These professions and
manifestations were taken by me for what they were worth. I
knew that the sunbeams would quickly disappear, after my opinion
should be ascertained, and that they would be succeeded by a
storm ; although I did not foresee exactly how it would burst upon
my poor head. I found myself transformed from a candidate be
fore the people, into an elector for the people. I deliberately ex
amined the duties incident to this new attitude, and weighed all the
facts before me, upon which my judgment was to be formed or
reviewed. If the eagerness of any of the heated partisans of the
respective candidates suggested a tardiness in the declaration of my
intention, I believed that the new relation in which I was placed
to the subject, imposed on me an obligation to pay some respect
to delicacy and decorum.
" Meanwhile, that very reserve supplied aliment to newspaper
criticism. The critics could not comprehend how a man, standing
as I had stood toward the other gentlemen, should be restrained,
by a sense of propriety, from instantly fighting under the banners
of one of them, against the others. Letters were issued from the
manufactory at Washington, to come back, after pefforming long
journeys, for Washington consumption. These letters imputed
to ' Mr. Clay and his friends a mysterious air, a portentous silence '
and so forth. From dark and distant hints, the progress was easy
to open and bitter denunciation. Anonymous letters, full of menace
and abuse, were almost daily poured in on me. Personal threats
were communicated to me, through friendly organs, and I was
kindly apprized of all the glories of village effigies which awaited
me. A systematic attack was simultaneously commenced upon
me from Boston to Charleston, with an object, present and future

THE' GREAT CONSPIRACY. 29|>
which it was impossible to mistake. No man but myself could
know the nature, extent, and variety, of means which were em
ployed to awe and influence me. I bore jhem, I trust, as your
representative ought to have borne them, and as became me."
Admitting these facts, as narrated by Mr. Clay — which will not
be denied, because they are susceptible of proof — the character
of the spirit that was roused on this occasion, as the time for the
choice of a president in the house of representatives, was drawing
near, is sufficiently manifest. The bounds of propriety had cer
tainly been transcended, in the employment of such means of in
fluence over Mr. Clay. But the atrocity of the last resort, which
is now to be considered, would have been much more becoming a
band of conspirators, in the most corrupt period of the Roman
empire, than the leaders of a party in a modern civilized and
Christian commonwealth. On the 28th of January, 1825, twelve
days previous to the time of election of president in the house of
representatives, the following letter, stated to be from a member
of Congress, but without the proper signature, was published in
the Columbian Observer, at Philadelphia : —
" Washington, Jan. 25, 1825.
"Dear Sir: I take up my pen to inform you of one of the
most disgraceful transactions that ever covered with infamy the re
publican ranks. Would you believe, that men, professing democ
racy, could be found base enough, to lay the axe at the very root
of the tree of liberty ! Yet, strange as it is, it is not less true.
To give you a full history of this transaction would far exceed the
limits of a letter. I shall, therefore, at once proceed to give yogf
a brief account of such a bargain, as can only be equalled by the
famous Burr conspiracy of '1801. For some time past, the friends
of Clay have hinted, that they, like the Swiss, would fight for those
who pay best. Overtures were said to have been made, by the
friends of Adams, to the friends of Clay, offering him the appoint
ment of secretary of state, for his aid to elect Adams, And the
friends of Clay gave the information to the friends of Jackson, and
hinted, that if the friends of Jackson would offer the sarnVprice,
they would close with them. But none of the friends of Jiackson
would descend to such mean barter and sale. It was not "believed
by any of the friends of Jackson, that this contract would be rati
fied, by the members from the states which had voted for Clay. I
was of opinion, when I first heard of this transaction, that men,
professing any honorable principles, could not, nor would not, be
transferred, like the planter does his negroes, or the farmer does
his team of horses. No alarm was excited. We believed the re-

296 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
public was safe. The nation having delivered Jackson into the
hands of Congress, backed by a large majority of their votes, there
was on my mind no doubt, that Congress would respond to the will
of the nation, by electing the individual they had declared to be
their choice. Contrary to this expectation, it is now ascertained
to a certainty, that Henry Clay has transferred his interest to John
Quincy Adams. As a consideration for this abandonment of duty
to his constituents, it is said and believed, should this unholy coa
lition prevail, Clay is to be appointed secretary of state. I have
no fear on my mind. I am clearly of opinion, we shall defeat
every combination. The force of public opinion must prevail, or
there is an end of liberty."
It is unnecessary, at this late day, after this foul conspiracy has
accomplished all its mischief, and when no sensible person, of any
party, having the least claim to respectability, yields the slightest
credence to the atrocious statements and infamous suggestions of
this letter, to treat it as worthy of refutation or reply. It is cited
here as the nucleus of a concerted scheme, which was sustained
for years, with too much effectiveness, to blast the reputation of a
great and pure patriot, for the political advancement of a rival.
No one will pretend, that it was the conception of him who was
made to father it. He himself said, he did not write it. He was
at least the copyist, and was doubtless the forwarder. It is not
unlikely, that it was expressed in his own terms, and that, being
told by those in whom he confided, he believed what he wrote ; for
he was a credulous and simple-minded man.
This letter was not written for the latitude and meridian of the
city of Washington, for home consumption there ; but to be thrown
broadcast over the land, to poison the general mind, to find a lodg
ment where such things would be likely to be entertained, to act as
a leaven in the political kneading-trough — as seed in a susceptible
soil, to take deep root, and spring up, and extend its branches,
and distil its upas venom everywhere. ' Once thrown out, it was
impossible to arrest it, or prevent its mischief. But it had not
the slightest credit in Washington, even with the party, in whose
bosom it was conceived, and by whose agency it was put forth.
Doubtless it aimed to frighten Mr. Clay, if possible, into the sup
port of General Jackson, as his only way of escape ; and that is
one of its most atrocious features. But if that should fail, it was
indeed a terrible engine for future operations. In the annals of
political warfare, a more diabolical scheme was probably never
conceived.

THE GREAT CONSPIRACY. 297
"Intimidation!" says Mr. Clay, in his address to the public,
from Washington, December, 1827, alluding to this transaction —
"intimidation! of a representative of the people, in the discharge
of a solemn trust! That is the last day of the republic, on which
such means shall be successfully employed and publicly sanc
tioned. Finding me immoveable by flattery or fear, the last resort
has been to crush me by steady and unprecedented calumny.
Whether this foul aim shall be crowned with success, or not, de
pends upon the intelligence of the American people. I make no
appeal to their sympathy. I invoke only stern justice. If truth
has not lost its force, reason its sway, and the fountains of justice
their purity, the decision must be auspicious. With a firm reli
ance upon "the enlightened judgment of the public, and conscious
of the zeal and uprightness, with which I have executed every
trust committed to my care, I await the event without alarm, or
apprehension. Whatever it may be, my anxious hopes will con
tinue for the success of the great cause of human liberty, and of
those high interests of national policy, to the promotion of which,
the best exertions of my life have been faithfully dedicated. And
my humble, but earnest prayers, will be unremitted, that all danger
may be averted from our common country ; and especially, that
OUR UnMNjIoUR LIBERTY, AND OUR INSTITUTIONS, may long
survive, alcheering exception from the operation of that fatal de
cree, which the voice of all history has hitherto uniformly pro
claimed." This, as will be perceived by the date, was penned when the cal
umny was nearly three years old, and when it was revived for the
presidential election of 1828. It is introduced here for the pur
pose of characterizing one important feature of the conspiracy —
"INTIMIDATION." On the first of February, 1825, the following card appeared in
the National Intelligencer: — "A CARD.
"I have seen, without any other emotion than that of ineffa
ble contempt, the abuse which has been poured upon me, by a
scurrilous paper issued in this city, and by other kindred prints
and persons, in regard to the presidential election. The editor of
one of these prints, ushered forth in Philadelphia, called the ' Co
lumbian Observer,' for which I do not subscribe, and which I have
never ordered, has had the impudence to transmit to me his vile
paper of the 28th instant. In that number is inserted a letter, pur
porting to have been written from this city, on the 25th instant, by
a member of the house of representatives, belonging to the Penm.
sylvania delegation. I believe it to be a forgery ; but if it be gen
uine, I pronounce the member, whoever he may be, a base and

298 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
infamous calumniator, a dastard, and liar ; and if he dare unved
himself, and avow his name, I will hold him responsible, as I here
admit myself to be, to all the laws which govern and regulate men
of honor. . "H. Clay.
"31st January, 1825."
In Mr. Clay's address to his constituents on this subject, a few
weeks afterward, he says, in reference to this card : —
" When I saw that letter, alleged to be written by a member of
the very house over which I was presiding, who was so far desig
nated as to be described as belonging to a particular delegation by
name, a member with whom I might be daily exchanging, at least
on my part, friendly salutations, and who was possibly receiving
from me constantly acts of courtesy and kindness, I felt that I
could no longer remain silent. A crisis appeared to me to have
arisen in my public life. I issued my card. I ought not to have
put in it the last paragraph, because, although it does not necessa
rily imply the resort to a personal combat, it admits of that con
struction ; nor will I conceal that such a possible issue was within
my contemplation. I owe it to the community to say, that what
ever heretofore I may have done, or, by inevitable circumstances,
might be forced to do, no man in it holds in deeper abhorrence
than I do, that pernicious practice. Condemned as it nfctst 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 can
not, although we should, reason. Its true corrective will be found
when all shall unite, as all ought to unite, in its unqualified pro
scription." Mr. Clay, in this matter, must be judged by the circumstances
in which he was placed. If ever a provocation justified strong
language, or might be pleaded in extenuation of excess of feeling,
this, doubtless, was of that character. There is no person, who
will not sympathize profoundly with his position on that occasion.
Two days afterward, the following card appeared in the Intelli
gencer : — "ANOTHER CARD.
" George Kremer, of the house of representatives, tenders
his respects to the Honorable ' H. Clay,' and informs him, that,
by reference to the editor of the ' Columbian Observer,' he may
ascertain the name of the writer of a letter of the 25th ult., which,
it seems, has afforded so much concern to ' H. Clay.' In the
meantime, George Kremer holds himself ready to prove, to
the satisfaction of unprejudiced minds, enough to satisfy them of
the accuracy of the statements, which are contained in that letter,
to the extent that they concern the course and conduct of ' H.

THE GREAT CONSPIRACY. 299
Clay.' Being a representative of the people, he will not fear to
' cry aloud and spare not,' when their rights and privileges are at
stake." Now that Mr. Kremer is on the stage, in so important a position,
it may be useful to place his character in its true light. Mr. Clay
has generously given him credit for '" native honesty," and ap
pears never to have entertained any personal illwill toward him.
He regarded him solely in the light of a dupe. Mr. Kremer told
Mr. Crowningshield, member from Massachusetts, and formerly
secretary of the navy, that he was not the author of the letter to
the Columbian Observer. He seems manifestly never to have un
derstood it, as will appear by the certificates below from the Hon.
Mr. Brent, member of Congress at that time from Louisiana, and
friend of Mr. Clay ; from the Hon. Mr. Little, of Maryland, also
a member, and friend of General Jackson ; and Mr. Digges, a
citizen of Washington ; who were all witnesses of the remarks to
which they severally certify.*
During the same debate, a paper, containing an explanation
tantamount to these certificates, was submitted to Mr. Clay, as one
that Mr. Kremer proposed to sign, if that would be satisfactory ;
but Mr. Clay replied, that the business was now in the hands of
the house, and beyond his control. It was understood, that Mr.
Ingham, of Pennsylvania, got hold of this paper, put it in his
pocket, and advised Mr. Kremer to take no step without the ap
probation of his friends. It is equally evident, that Mr. Kremer
neither wrote his card, nor clearly understood it. It is sufficient
* " I state, without hesitation, that, on the day on which the debate took place,
in the house of representatives, on the proposition to refer Mr. Clay's communi
cation respecting ' Mr. Kremer's card,' to a committee, I heard Mr. Kremer declare
at the fireplace, in the lobby of the house of representatives, in a manner and lan
guage, which I believed sincere, that he never intended to charge Mr. Clay with cor
ruption or dishonor, in his intended vote for Mr. Adams as president ; or that he had
transferred, or could transfer, the votes or interests of his friends ; that he (Mr.
Kremer) was among the last men in the nation, to make such a charge against
Mr. Clay ; and that his letter was never intended to convey the idea given to it.
The substance of the above conversation I immediately communicated to Mr.
Buchanan, and Mr. Hemphill, of Pennsylvania, and Mr. Dwight, of Massachu
setts, of the house of representatives. " Wm. Brent, of Louisiana.
" February 25, 1825."
" I was present, and heard the observation, as above stated, in a conversation
between Mr. Brent and Mr. Kremer. " Peter Little, of Maryland."
" In the National Journal, I perceive my name mentioned, as to a conversation
which took place in the lobby of the bouse of representatives, between Mr. Brent,
of Louisiana, .and Mr. Kremer, and I feel no hesitation in saying, that Mr.
Brent's statement, in the paper of this day, is substantially correct.
" Wm. Dubiet Digges.
« March 1, 1825."

300 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
to observe, that Mr. Eaton, the colleague of General Jackson in
the senate, and General Jackson's biographer, was closeted for
some time with Mr. Kremer the evening before his card was pub
lished. When Mr. Clay and Mr. Eaton afterward had some correspon
dence on this subject, the former said to the latter: "I did be
lieve, from your nocturnal interview with Mr. Kremer, referred to
in my address, that you prepared or advised the publication of his
card in the guarded terms in which it is expressed. I should be
happy, by a disavowal on your part of the fact of that interview,
or of its supposed object, to be able to declare — as in the event of
such disavowal, I would take pleasure in declaring — that I have
been mistaken in supposing, that you had an agency in the com
position and publication of that card." To which Mr. Eaton re
plied : " You will excuse me from making an attempt to remove
any belief, which you entertain upon this subject. It is a matter
which gives me no concern." Mr. Eaton also said : " Suppose
the fact to be, that I did visit him ; and suppose, too, that it was,
as you have termed it, ' a nocturnal visit ;' was there anything ex
isting, that should have denied me this privilege ?" Certainly not.
So, when Mr. Eaton had a fair opportunity, was challenged, and
had the strongest motive, he did not deny it. This answer can
hardly be regarded other than as tantamount to a confession of the
fact; inasmuch as the denial would have taken advantage from
Mr. Clay, and given it to Mr. Eaton.
The card was artfully worded, to separate Mr. Clay from his
friends, and only proposed to prove the charges of the letter so
far as they concerned Mr. Clay. The election was still pending,
and it was equally important to abstain from imputations on Mr.
Clay's friends, as it was politic to fix them on him.
The moment Mr. Clay saw who his accuser was, by the pub
lication of his card, he perceived, that his real enemies were still
under cover, and meant to stay there. To hold Mr. Kremer per
sonally responsible, as he afterward told his constituents, " he
would have exposed himself to universal ridicule." There was
no alternative left him, but to appeal to the house of representa
tives, and to demand an investigation. To prevent the evil al
ready done, was impossible ; but he could bare his breast to his
foes, and say : " Here I am. Do what you will, or can."
The same day on which Mr. Kremer published his card, Mr.
Clay rose in the house, and delivered the following speech :—

THE GREAT CONSPIRACY. 301
" The speaker [Mr. Clay] rose from his place, and requested
the indulgence of the house for a few moments, while he asked
its attention to a subject, in which he felt himself deeply concerned.
A note had appeared this morning in the National Intelligencer,
under the name, and with the authority, as he presumed, of a
member of this house from Pennsylvania, which adopted, as his
own, a previous letter, published in another print, containing seri
ous and injurious imputations against him, and which the author
avowed his readiness to substantiate by proof. These charges im
plicated his conduct, in regard to the pending presidential election.
The respectability of the station which the member holds, who thus
openly prefers them, and that of the people whom he represents,
entitled them to grave attention. It might be, indeed, worthy of
consideration, whether the character and dignity of the house
itself, did not require a full investigation of them, and an impar
tial decision on their truth. For, if they were true, if he were
capable, and base enough to betray the solemn trust, which the
constitution had confided to him ; if, yielding to personal views
and considerations, he could compromit the highest interests of
his country, the house would be scandalized by his continuing to
occupy the chair, with which he had been so long honored in pre
siding at its deliberations, and he merited instantaneous expulsion.
Without, however, presuming to indicate what the house might
conceive it ought to do, on account of its own purity and honor,
he hoped, that he should be allowed respectfully to solicit, in be
half of himself, an inquiry into the truth of the charges to which
he referred. Standing in the relations to the house, which both
the member from Pennsylvania and himself did, it appeared to
him, that here was the proper place to institute the inquiry, in or
der that, if guilty, here the proper punishment might be applied ;
and if innocent, here his character and conduct might be vindi
cated. He anxiously hoped, therefore, that the house would be
pleased to order ail investigation to be made into the truth of the
charges. Emanating from such a source as they did, this was the
only notice which he could take of them. If the house should
think proper to raise a committee, he trusted that some other than
the ordinary mode pursued by the practice and rules of the house,
would be adopted to appoint the committee."
It will be obvious, that none but an innocent man would have
taken this course, without advice, without consultation, promptly
on the instant. For, if guilty, he was lost. If guilty, by this
act he put himself altogether in the power of his accusers. Even
if they had found, in the casual conversations of such an election
eering strife (it would be remarkable if they had not, though no
impropriety had been committed), only the slender materials neces-

302 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
sary to make out a plausible case before a credulous public, espe
cially their own party, this appeal of Mr. Clay to the house was
the very thing for them. If there had been the slightest ground
for the charges of Mr. Kremer's letter, the facts were recent, with
in a few days ; they were all on the spot, and could be obtained
in an hour ; they were on the floor of the house, at the moment
this appeal was made. In this appeal, Mr. Clay anticipated the
judgment of his peers, in case he should be found guilty, and
pronounced his own sentence : " The house would be scandalized
by his continuing to occupy the chair, and he merited instanta
neous expulsion." Was not this enough for them ? What could
they desire more ?
But an investigation of this affair by that house, and a decision
thereupon corresponding with the evidence, publicly pronounced
— though it was the very course which the accusers, as honest and
true men, would have desired — though it was the only course
which could, in such circumstances, purge that body from a pub
lic scandal — was that, which, most of all, the accusers dreaded,
and which they would seek, by all possible means, to avoid.
There was not a member upon the floor, nor a man in Washing
ton, that gave the least credit to any one of the charges, nor was
there any available evidence there, to impart to one of them the
slightest shadow of support. Notwithstanding Mr. Kremer had
been made the instrument of the publication of the charges, it has
been seen, by the evidence of Messrs. Brent, Little, and Digges,
that even he did not believe them, in the sense ascribed to them,
and that " he was one of the last men in the nation to make such
a charge against Mr. Clay."
No : this infamous story had been fabricated to go forth upon
the country, as capital for future uses. It was already known
what would probably be the result of the pending election in the
house. It was known, too, that it was universally regarded as
suitable, that Mr. Clay should be secretary of state ; that all the
west, of all parties, would demand it ; and that he could not de
cline, without doing violence to his relations, and to his obligations
of duty. Foreseeing these inevitable results, it was only necessa
ry to predict them, in the shape of an accusation of crime, of
bargain, and for all popular purposes, among the less informed
and more susceptible masses, over the wide country, for all time
that might be necessary for the objects of this diabolical conspira-

THE GREAT CONSPIRACY. 303
cy, the fulfilment would be the proof ! An identical propo
sition is employed to establish a most flagitious crime !
Of what avail was it, that Mr. Clay demanded an investigation,
though justice cried aloud in his behalf, and though it was neces
sary to purify the house, by his degradation and expulsion, or by
his acquittal ? It was known, that he could but be acquitted, and
that the blow would fall back on the strikers; that the infamy
would attach to those, who had begun to blow its breath upon an
other, and who had resolved to stir that breath into a storm on the
head of their victim.
Mr. Forsyth, of Georgia, though a political opponent of Mr.
Clay, but always a gentleman of probity and honor, felt the justice
of the speaker's appeal — as indeed the whole house did — and rose
in his place, and moved, what was afterward modified and passed,
as follows : —
" Resolved, That the communication made by the speaker to
the house, and entered on the journal of the house, be referred to
a select committee."
After a debate of a day and a half, the committee was raised by
a vote of 125 to 69, and consisted of the following members :
Messrs. P. P. Barbour, Webster, McLane, Taylor, Forsyth,
Saunders, and Rankin, all political opponents of Mr. Clay in the
election of 1824.
Immediately as Mr. Forsyth sat down, Mr. Kremer, supposing
he had a duty to perform, and not having received instructions for
this new posture of affairs, was the first to rise, and said : " If,
upon investigation being instituted, it should appear, that he had
not sufficient reason to justify the statements he had made, he
trusted he should receive the marked reprobation, which had been
suggested by the speaker. Let it fall where it might, he was wil
ling to meet the inquiry, and abide the result." This poor man,
as has been seen, knew better how to do as he was bid, than how
to act in a new emergency. He had been told, that it was all just
so, and he believed it, so far as he understood it. It is not sur
prising, therefore, that he should adhere to it, till better informed,
or otherwise advised. His position at this moment added not a
little to the general excitement, as well with those who saw he was
ruining their plot, as with those who perceived its atrocity. Mr.
Kremer, as the organ, the tool, of a band of conspirators, had
snatched up the glove which Mr. Clay had thrown down in his
appeal to the house, before his masters had time to put -him in

304 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
check. But the protracted debate afforded time to modify the
plot, as circumstances might require, in the progress of an inves
tigation, which now seemed unavoidable, from the general sympa
thy of the house for a presiding officer, whom they had always
respected, whose honor was unsullied, and who was now the sub
ject, as no one doubted, of one of the grossest outrages ever com
mitted in civilized society.
The effect of the debate on the resolution now under considera
tion, was to call forth the feeling of the house, in these novel and
peculiar circumstances. It was impossible not to observe the
mustering, under the rival categories of the corrupt and the uncor-
rupt — of those who were steeped in the iniquity of this foul scheme,
and those who were shocked, not less by its audacity, than by its
malignity, and who were resolved to vindicate the honor of that
august body to which they belonged. The extracts, in the note*
* Mr. Forsyth, who moved the resolution, said : —
" If the charge is a true one, has not the bargain been made ? And if it has, is
it not corruption 1 And what then ? It ought to be punished. Has not this
house power, not merely to reprimand, but to expel any one of its members, who
shall have dared to be guilty of such conduct 1 If, on the contrary, it shall ap
pear, that any member of this house, governed by mere rumors, and under the in
fluence of jealousy or mere surmises, shall have presumed to hold up, as an infa
mous bargainer, as a contractor for votes and influence, a member or an officer
of this house, will it be contended, that we have no power to punish him ? Cer
tainly we have the power to reprimand, and if that is insufficient, we have the
power to expel him, as unworthy a seat in this house. If this is denied, what is a
member to do, who is publicly charged with an offence of this nature, or where is
he to go ? This is the proper, and the only place, where his reputation can be vin
dicated. This house alone is competent to examine into the charges. There can
be no doubt, as to the power of the house. An abused or calumniated member
must throw himself on the judgment of his peers, that, if falsely accused, the
guilt of the calumny may revert on its author. Suppose a person has a large claim
pending before this house, and he knows that a certain member, from his ability,
from hisjj unblemished reputation for integrity, from his long acquaintance with
the rules of business, and from general knowledge of the members, is possessed
of great influence over their minds ; and that claimant offers this member a bribe,
which the member accepts, and circumstances afterward transpire to bring the
transaction to light, between the time of accepting the bribe, and the time of de
ciding on the claim ; will any gentleman tell me, that we may not punish such a
transaction 1 Will any gentleman tell me, that we must wait till the crime is
consummated — till the vote is given ? The charge, in this case, is, that a mem
ber of this house intends to give his influence and vote in favor of a certain can
didate for the presidency, and on that consideration is to receive a place of profit
and honor. Is there any distinction between the two cases 1 Is not this bribery
to all intents and purposes 1 If the charge is made, it ought to be investigated.
If it is true, the member charged, ought to be expelled from this house. If it is
not true, the slanderer ought to be punished."
Mr. Wright, of Ohio, said :—
" The presiding officer of this house is directly and positively charged, by a
member in his place, with entering into a corrupt contract, by which, for the con
sideration of an office, dependent on success, he stipulates to transfer his own
vote, and those of the members from the states which had voted for him for the
presidency, to one of the three candidates presented to us to choose a president
from. If it be not a positive charge, I have no conception what idea gentlemen

THE GREAT CONSPIRACY. 305
below, are honorable examples of the feeling expressed on one
side, and may be taken as a specimen of the virtue of those who
voted with them.
Such, as' seen below, were the feelings of those, who, it can not
attach to a positive charge. We are told, sir, with this charge before us, that no
offence is imputed, that all rests on rumors ; nothing affecting, in the slightest de
gree, the dignity of the house ! — that your presiding officer, corruptly selling his
own vote, and those of his fellow members, is no offence to the dignity of the
house ! — that no ulterior measures can grow out of such a charge, if true ! — and
that it is beneath our dignity to notice such vague rumors ! Sir, will you go to
the election of a chief magistrate, while corruption fills your halls, and seeks to
find its way into, your ballot-boxes ? No, sir. Let us go to that work with pure
hands, and drive these corrupt bargainers from our presence. Let us investigate
these charges ; and if they are found true, I have no hesitation in saying, your
speaker is unworthy the station he fills, or a seat on this floor ; and I, for one,
will vote for his expulsion, as I would the member that should falsely make the
charge." Mr. Storrs, of New York, said : —
" He would not express an opinion on the matter now before the house, so far as
any one might be concerned as an individual ; for it had now assumed a charac
ter, which involved the honor and purity of the house. It is no less a question,
than, whether we shall vindicate the house itself from the imputation of direct
bribery 1 If the character of its presiding officer is concerned, and, if that
seat is even suspected to have been tarnished with dishonor, and we deny the
most rigid inquiry, the public confidence in us will be forfeited. What is the true
character of the matter, to which it is now proposed to extend the interposition of
the house ? It was stated, in a public print, that a base and corrupt bargain had
been made for the transfer of the votes of certain members of this body, to one of
the persons from whom the selection for the next president must constitutionally
be made. It is not alleged to have been done out of doors. The publication ex
pressly charges, that this corruption exists within these walls ! No essential part
of this letter, except the last paragraph, is stated to be founded on hearsay, or ru
mor. It boldly announces to the nation, that, however strange, base, or disgrace
ful, the transaction may be, it is nevertheless true ! This paper was laid before
the house by the member [the speaker] whose name was thus publicly given as
the party to this foul bribery ; and a member from Pennsylvania, rose in his
place, and avowed substantially to the house, his readiness to meet the inquiry
which was asked, and to prove the truth of the charges. After such an avowal,
in the presence of the house and from a member of the house, Mr. Storrs said,
that he felt bound to proceed, and vindicate the house from the charge, of punish
the guilty partakers of this corrupt conspiracy.
" Will any one [said Mr. Storrs] undertake to convince this house that, if its
presiding officer should be convicted of theft (if I may suppose a case so offen
sive), we have not the power to dethrone him from the seat which he had thus
dishonored ? If he is charged with bribery, and the mean barter and sale of his
vote, as a member, is it an offence less involving the purity of the place ? If the
charge were proved, is there one among us, who would not feel degraded in the
occupation of these seats ? Sir, the place of a representative here, is one of the
most transcendent trusts in the gift ofthe free people of these states. The charge
preferred against our presiding officer, strikes at the foundation of all public con
fidence in the purity of this house. If, sir, these charges can be proved, I would
not sit here for a moment, if I thought we must patiently bear the humiliation of
such a place. It becomes us, in my judgment, to act firmly and promptly — to
bring, if necessary, every member of the house to the scrutiny. If the honor of
our speaker is implicated by the inquiry, it is our solemn duty to purify the house
of the dishonor. If calumniated, we not only vindicate him, but ourselves. The
charge is too palpably made, to be evaded. The proof is offered, and if we now
deny the inquiry, the nation itself will inquire, and pass their judgment on him and
us, without proof . If tha speaker were my own kin, and were convicted, not of
crime, but even of dishonor, I would proceed to the last resort."
Vol. I.— 20

306 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
be doubted, rightly appreciated*the nature of this occasion. The
speaker of the house had made his appeal, and such was the re
sponse of 125 of its members against 69, who could not, or would
not, sympathize with these sentiments — who were in favor of sup
pressing inquiry, and leaving their presiding officer under the stain
of these detestable charges. But a committee of seven of the most
eminent members of the house — not one of them, however, a po
litical friend of Mr. Clay — was appointed, and sent forth to their
duty ; and the following is their report : —
"February 9, 1825. — Mr. P. P. Barbour, from the select com
mittee, on the speaker's appeal, &c, reported : That, upon their
first meeting, with a view to execute the duty imposed upon them
by the house, they directed their chairman to address a letter to
the Hon. George Kremer, informing him, that they would be
ready, at a particular time, therein stated, to receive any evidence
or explanation he might have to offer, touching the charges refer
red to in the communication of the speaker, of the 3d instant;
their chairman, in conformity with this instruction, did address
such a letter to Mr. Kremer, who replied, that he would make a
communication to the committee ; accordingly, he did send to
them, through their chairman, a communication, -which accompa
nies this report, marked A, in which he declines to appear before
them, for either ofthe purposes mentioned in their letter, alleging,
that he could not do so, without appearing, either as an accuser or
a witness, both of which he protested against. In this posture of
the case, the committee can take no further steps. They are
aware, that it is competent to the house, to invest them with power
to send for persons and papers, and by that means to enable them
to make any investigation, which might be thought necessary ; and
if they knew any reason for such investigation, they would have
asked to be clothed with the proper power ; but not having, them
selves, any such knowledge, they have felt it to be then; duty only
to lay before the house, the communication, which they have re
ceived." It can not be denied, that this is one of the most extraordinary
results recorded in the annals of parliamentary proceedings. That
Mr. Kremer, in obedience to instructions, should have acted in
this manner, considering the part he had already acted, is not sur
prising, notwithstanding the bold advances he had made, and the
confident airs he had assumed — notwithstanding he was bound by
honor and the most solemn engagements. He had pledged him
self: "If, upon investigation being instituted, it should appear,
that he had not sufficient reason to justify the statement he had
made, he trusted he should receive the marked reprobation which

THE GREAT CONSPIRACY. 307
fo
had been suggested by the speaker [referring to. the speaker's ap
peal]. Let it fall where it might, he was willing to meet the in
quiry, and abide the result." It was rightly foreseen, that the
result of an investigation, would not only defeat the aims of the
authors of this conspiracy, but cover them with everlasting reproach
and infamy. Better to retreat, under the guise of a protest, dis
graceful though it was, than to brave the inextricable difficulties
before them — than to fail of their end, and themselves swallow the
contents of the poisoned chalice, which they had mixed up for one
sole victim. Justice to Mr. Clay was the very thing they wished
to keep back, and what was the honor of the house of representa
tives of the United States, with members of that body, who could
concert and carry on such a scheme ?
The communication from Mr. Kremer, referred to in the report
of the committee, will be found in the note below.*
* " Gentlemen : I have received your note of yesterday, in which you inform
me, that you will meet at 10 o'clock this morning, and will there be ready to
receive any evidence, or explanation, I may have to offer, touching the charges
referred to in the communication of the speaker of the 3d inst. Placed under
circumstances unprecedented, and which I believe not only interesting to myself,
but important as connected with the fundamental principles of our government, I
have reflected with much deliberation, on the course, which duty to myself and
my constituents required me to adopt. The result of this reflection is, that I can
not, consistently with a proper regard to these duties, assent to place myself be
fore your committee, in either of the attitudes indicated in your note. The object
of the committee does not distinctly appear from your note ; but I may infer from
its contents, connected with the extraordinary and unprecedented proceedings in
the case, that it is to hold me responsible, through a committee of the house of rep
resentatives, for a letter, dated the 25th of January last, addressed to the editor
of the Columbian Observer, and published in his paper of the 28th, which was
intended to communicate^ through that channel, information which I deemed in
teresting to my constituents, and very important to be known to the whole Amer
ican people at this peculiar crisis. Thus viewing the subject, I can not perceive
any principle of power in the constitution, which can give the house of represen
tatives, and consequently a committee created by it, jurisdiction over me as the
writer of that letter. It neither involves a question of contempt of the house,
nor an impeachment of an officer of the government under the constitution ; and
I can discover no authority, by which the house can assume jurisdiction in the
case. If the authority of the house extended to acts of this kind, no limitation
could be prescribed to its power, and it may reach the publisher as well as the
writer, and extend to every member of the government, as well as the speaker of
the house of representatives. But it is not only the unconstitutionality of the
power that forbids me to appear before you. Placed as I am, I can not but per
ceive the dangerous consequences, as well as its unconstitutional character.
" Should I yield to such authority, I would be made amenable to a tribunal,
which, thus constituted, has no prescribed limitation to its rules of proceedings,
and which is alike unlimited in the nature and extent of the punishment it may
inflict. Nor can I be ignorant of the fact, that this body, thus unlimited in its
rules, and in the extent of its powers, is at all times, but more especially at a
crisis like the present, subject, by its very constitution, and the nature of its func
tions, to be acted upon by some of the most powerful passions that actuate the
human breast, which unfit it to perform, in that cool and deliberate manner, the
duties which properly belong to a court and jury. If it should be considered as
proper, that members be held responsible here for the communication of their

308 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
This document claims a place and notice, not on account of its
nominal author, but as emanating from the conspirators. _ The dis
honor and injustice of this, retreat are equalled only by the' false and
opinions out of the house, on public men and public affairs, it would be much
more safe, that they should be placed at once under the operation of the sedition
law; and so far as the members of this house are concerned, the repeal of that
famous law might be considered as a calamity, rather than a blessing. Thus re
garding the constitutional power of the house, and the nature of that which is
proposed to be exercised in my case, I have determined, under a deep sense of
duty to myself and my constituents, not to submit to a procedure fraught with
such dangerous consequences. I therefore protest most solemnly against the as
sumption of any jurisdiction, either by the committee or the house of representa
tives, that shall jeopard my right to communicate freely to my constituents
whatever I may beheve necessary for the public good. It is not my intention, in
the slightest degree, to impeach the character either of the committee or of the
house, for which I have the greatest respect, and the authority of which, within
its constitutional sphere, I regard it my pride and my duty to sustain. In refus
ing to submit to the authority of the house, as the writer of the letter before al
luded to, it may be proper to remark, in explanation of the admission, which I
may seem to have made of its jurisdiction : — Whatever assent I may have given,
was done hastily, relying on the conscious rectitude of my conduct, and regard
ing my own case, without having reflected duty on the dangerous principles in
volved in the proceedings, and can not therefore be considered as a waiver of
my rights. The committee will observe, that the honorable speaker, jn his card,
had chosen to make this matter a personal question with the then unknown writer
of the letter. After due reflection, I determined, at all hazards, not to conceal
the fact of being the author of the letter, and did not expect, by this disclosure,
to enable the honorable speaker to place me under the jurisdiction of the house.
His appeal was sudden and unexpected, and if my admission was made, without
due regard to all the circumstances and principles of the case, it could be no
matter of surprise. In deciding the jurisdiction ofthe committee and the house,
I feel the authority of another tribunal, before which I shall cheerfully appear,
and bring forward, forthwith, those facts and circumstances, which, in my opin
ion, fully authorize the statements contained in my letter. These I shall spread
before my constituents, to whom I am amenable for all my conduct, while I am
honored with a seat in this house, and I shall never hesitate, when the correct
ness of my conduct is brought in question, to attempt my vindication before them ;
and while sustained by them, and the conviction of my own conscience, I shall
never be deterred from the performance of my duty here or elsewhere. In pre
senting my protest, I have gone on the supposition, that it was the intention ofthe
house, in raising a committee, to hold me responsible to its jurisdiction, as the
writer of the letter, which has caused the present proceeding. There is, however,
another view of the subject, which deserves notice. It may be inferred, from the
note of the committee, that it is not so much its intention, in requesting my at
tendance, to take jurisdiction over me, as to avail themselves of my testimony,
which the speaker has requested to have investigated by the house. In this view,
my objection to attending, is no less decisive than the one already considered. It
would always afford me pleasure, when imperious duty did not forbid, to give all
the information in my power to an investigation, which may be deemed by the
house important to the character of any one of its members; but, circumstanced
as I am, it is manifest, if I should appear before the committee, I must be consid
ered not so much in the light of a mere witness, as that of an accuser, presenting
charges against the speaker to the house, and those charges not the specific state
ments contained in my letter, but the general and indefinite ones, into which the
speaker has sought an inquiry. It is manifest, that the difference will be great
between the attitude, in which I should then be placed, and the one in which I
now stand, and which duty to myself and to my constituents forbid me to aban
don. In coming to this determination, I am not governed by any disposition to
retract or modify anything contained in my letter, which was written under a con
viction of its being true, and important to be known. But there are many things
which we are bound to communicate tonhose we represent, which prudence and
J

THE GREAT CONSPIRACY. 309
4-
dishonorable reasoning ofthe paper. If Mr. Kremer was "placed
under circumstances unprecedented," as he avers, how came he
there, ana by whose fault? Can a man arraigned for an "unpre
cedented" crime, plead its enormity as a reason why the court
shall not try him? And will the court discharge him on that
ground ? The nonsense of its being " connected with the funda
mental principles of the government," answers itself. What of
fence is not so connected, mediately or immediately ? His reflec
tions " on the course which duty to himself and his constituents
required him to adopt," in this case, and the conclusion at which
he arrived, to wit, to fly from justice, were no doubt as wise as
similar acts of any breaker of law, who forces his way out of court,
or out of prison. The attempt to escape from the responsibility
of the charge made on the floor of the house, and to raise a spe
cial plea about the original publication in the Columbian Observer,
is in keeping with the dishonor of the whole transaction ; and the
justification on the ground that "he deemed it interesting to his
constituents, and important to be known to the whole American
people," would of course only aggravate the offence, as a calumny,
and was a most singular reason for withdrawing from an investiga
tion. Still turning away from his charge made in the house, and
falling back on his letter, "he can not perceive any principle of
power in the constitution which can give the house jurisdiction"
duty would both forbid being presented to the house, in the form of accusations.
This will be manifest, when we reflect, that even this house may not at all times
be free from the vice of passion, and the taint of corruption. Those who have
read the history of human frailty, will require no proof of this assertion. If this
view be just, which, I think, can not be questioned, it must be manifest, that a
member of this house may be placed under such circumstances, as to make it his
highest duty to speak freely and fully, even of the house itself, to' those he repre
sents, when it would be madness and folly to present charges for their investiga- ,
tion. If such be. the obligations of duty in extraordinary cases, the mere dictates
of prudence will, in many instances, compel him to abstain from presenting to
the house, for investigation, facts which might implicate the conduct or motives
of any of its members, when they ought to be freely communicated to his constit
uents. "In the present case, although I feel myself justified, as the writer of the letter,
I feel myself bound, both by prudence and duty, not to appear in the character of
an accuser of the speaker, upon charges not my own, but those which he has re
quested to be investigated. I need not advert to circumstances, which render it
peculiarly improper at the present time. The deep excitement, which the impor
tant crisis has produced, the unequal contest between an humble member on the
floor and the speaker of the house, are themselves circumstances, which can not
be overlooked, in coming to the conclusion, that the issue should be left before
the American people, or the ordinary tribunals of the country ; and I therefore
protest against the proceedings in this view, as well as against the power of the
house to exercise jurisdiction over me, as being equally calculated to restrain the
exercise of my just rights, in an unconstitutional manner.
" I have the honor to be, with great respect, vour obedient servant,
"George Kxemeb.
" Washington, February 8, 1825."

310 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY:
of the case. Then comes a homily on the danger of public lib
erty involved in this unconstitutional stretch of power. One rea
son assigned is, that, by acquiescing in the proceeding, he would
be submitting to " a tribunal of unlimited powers." But the con
stitution says: "Each house [of Congress] may determine the
rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly beha
vior, and, with concurrence of two thirds, expe^ a member." So
here is not only authority for action over members, in cases deter
mined by the rules to be offences, but the punishment is limited to
expulsion, and not unlimited, as Mr. Kremer says. He next
pleads the special "unfitness of that body to perform in a cool and
deliberate manner the duties of a court." On the same ground,
any criminal might escape from any court, and law should never
be administered, because the authorities are human, and may err ;
or may be guilty of the error apprehended in this case, to wit, they
may have a just sense of the nature of the offence. Next is
invoked the ghost of the old defunct sedition law, as an ad captan-
dum vulgus — "much more safe to be placed at once under it.'.'
The fact that the sedition law was dead, proves that this offence
could be tried nowhere else except in the house of representatives ;
and no doubt Mr. Kremer had good reason for desiring, that what
he had said and done as a member of that body, in relation to a
fellow-member — to the speaker — should come under the same li
cense which protected him as the author of the letter — that being
a transaction out of doors. The gravity with which he arrives at
his conclusion a second time, and the solemnity with which he pro
tests against the power of the house to act in the case, would be
a most befitting scene for the pencil of Hogarth, if the detestable
^trick of reasoning from the fact of the letter, instead of coming up
manfully to the charge he had made on the floor of the house, did
not rescue it from the province of a Hogarth, and assign die task
to the painter of diabolical plots. And what does this solemn prot
est propose to protect? Mr. Kremer's " right freely" to calum
niate the speaker of the house of representatives "to his constitu
ents;" and to do it with impunity, if he "believes it necessary
for the public good!" He will never consent to be held account
able anywhere for so worthy and patriotic a function. "In refusing
to submit to the authority of the house," says Mr. Kremer. This,
certainly, is very cool. He only refuses to submit to the au
thority of the body of which he is a member ! But he still assigns
a reason which can not be admitted — " as the writer of the letter."

THE GREAT CONSPIRACY. 311
It was his addon as a member of the house, where the letter was,'
fathered, that was under investigation, He says what he did in
the house, in consenting to' an investigation, "was done hastilyi"
No doubt it was. " Without having reflected duh/on the danger
ous principles involved in the proceeding." More properly, with
out having reflected on the danger to himself. He then flies off
to the card of the honorable speaker, as proposing to make this
business "a personal affair," though he does not, himself, insist
on that mode of settlement; but he "determined at all hazards"
to throw off the mask. He did not, however, "expect to be
placed under the jurisdiction of the house." How could the sim
ple man expect to get out from under this jurisdiction, so long as
he was a member, and for all his cc-nduct as a member? He
was taken by "surprise." Doubtless, And he, George Kre-,
mer, modestly took upon himself 'to decide the jurisdiction of the
house. "In deciding," &c. He then appeals to "another tri
bunal," meaning, doubtless, to challenge a libel suH in the common
courts. This would seem very fair to the people, to whom all this
was addressed, inasmuch as they would be very unlikely to think,
first, that a public man never prosecutes for libel on him, as such;
and next, that, without the aid of the sedition law, an action of this
kind could not be maintained. There was, therefore, a doubly-
false pretence in this, and a double security for the pretender.
Mr. Kremer stoutly reaffirms his charge, in the very act of repu
diating responsibility, and withdrawing from the investigation, and
announces his purpose to make it good before his constituents and
all the world ! *
Nearly the whole of Mr. Kremer's reasoning is based on the
false assumption, that he^is arraigned as the writer of the letter,
and he enters a plea against jurisdiction. He was not arraigned
at all. He had made his charge in the house, and offered to
prove it ; and the course proposed was to give him an opportunity.
It had become, by bis own aets, a question, not only of private,
but of public justice. He next declines as a witness; then as an
accuser. In this last character he certainly stood, and this was his
position. He had not been called as a witness; nor, as yet, had
he been required to substantiate his charges. It was his own pro
posal ; and the house was throwing open to him the door, and was
in the way of affording him facilities by resolving itself into a court
for the occasion, which was its undoubted prerogative. The rea
son assigned for declining the office of accuser, after having volun-

312 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
teered it, was, that he would be required to sustain other than "the
specific statements of his letter." This was false. Nothing else
was expected. He speaks of the different "attitudes" of an ac
cuser in this case, and a member ofthe house, and says, that duty
to himself and his constituents forbid, that he should abandon the
latter for the former. There could manifestly be no abandonment
of his " attitude" as a member, though it might chance to result
in his expulsion; and it was not less true that he had put himself
in the "attitude" of accuser, than that his constituents had made
him a member of Congress. He repeats, that he retracts nothing,
and believes the whole ; and maintains, that he may say one thing
in one place (to his constituents), and not be bound to maintain it
in another (the house of representatives). But he had said the
same things in the latter place. He seemed to think that the
house of representatives was a body of doubtful purity, and that it
would be most prudent for him to keep out of their hands. If this
" prudence haof began in good time, it might have been well ; but
a lecture on this subject ill-becomes one who stands convicted of
the most censurable rashness. He had already done the very thing
from which he proposes, by considerations of "prudence," to
abstain !
Again he reiterates the charge, and again declines supporting it !
He thinks it would be an unequal contest, because the speaker is
more powerful than he; and therefore concludes, that "the issue
should be left with the American people, or with the ordinary tri
bunals of the country." Without a sedition law, it could not be
brought before the latter. It was a singular inadvertence, that the
true secret of this conspiracy, viz., the design of bringing it
"before the American people," aiid leaving it there, unin
vestigated, to use as they might please, and as they could, then
and thereafter, should have been here confessed, and that this object
should have been assigned as one ground of protest against the
proceeding! "In this view, I therefore protest!"
It is a remarkable artifice of this document, that its absurd po
sition in relation to Mr. Kremer's charge in the house ; its absurd
reasonings ; its apparently unskilful structure, though well devised
for its great end ; its repetitions ; its diffuseness ; and its numer
ous weak and vulnerable points, should be so well calculated to
produce the impression, tha| none but George Kremer could have
written it; and though nobody believed that he was the author of
eitiier-of the papers ascribed to him in this affair, it is quite proba-

THE GREAT CONSPIRACY. 313
ble, that the thoughts being supplied, he worked them over in his
own dialect, and then submitted the product for correction and
sanction. That he had he% and superintendence in each of them,
no one ever doubted.
The apology for giving so conspicuous a place, and so much
notice, to this document, consists in the fact, that the position
which it occupied was taken up as a pivot for a great moral and
political lever to influence and control the whole country, from
that time henceforth — for that occasion, and for all occasions that
might arise in ^future national contests. Nothing could be more
true, than Mr. Storrs' remark in debate on the appointment of the
committee, before cited : " If we now deny the inquiry, the nation
itself will inquire, and pass their judgment on him [the honorable
speaker] and us, without proof." The masses of people, in
a democratic community, are naturally jealous of eminent and
influential men, slow to give them credit for virtue before they are
adopted in their affections, credulous toward all rumors of fault in
them, and are incapable of knowing what can and what can not
be true. The greater the improbability of an alleged fault, in the
judgment of discerning minds, so much more powerfully does it
impress the imagination of common persons, and so much stronger
is the disposition to entertain it, if they do not care about the per
son or persons accused ; and when once the story has obtained
credit, though utterly false, and surpassing all human probability,
it can never be eradicated from the mind of a generation that has
cherished it. Still more difficult is it to obtain a just verdict, when
slander is propagated and continuously supported by a chief that
is idolized by his adherents. Even when a case of slander has
been tried by the prop^F tribunal, and a full acquittal obtained,
the injured person is never indemnified in common opinion. A
man acquitted, can not be so pure, before all the world, as one
never accused. But when the only tribunal that can try his case,
lets the accuser go free, after justice has been invoked, the ac
cused is condemned in the judgment of mankind, till the error of
the court in denying justice, can be made manifest. The only
appeal is to the public, which inclines to respect constituted tribu
nals, more than pfivate individuals. This was the irresistible
element of power over Mr. Clay, which was the subject of delib
erate calculation by this conspiracy, when Mr. Kremer was in
structed and required (he appeared to be entirely under their con
trol) to decline an investigation.

314 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
It may, indeed, seem strange, that the house of representatives
should have consented to this injustice at the time, or that an
investigation was not afterward forced upon them. But the
expression of opinion, in the vote for the committee — 125 to 69 —
was regarded as a verdict ; the report of the committee was made
on the 9th of February, and the election of president by the house
was to be on that day ; all were absorbed in that eventful struggle ;
the position taken by the conspirators, in retreating from an inves
tigation, closed the door, except by a resort to forcible measures ;
there was no tangible force that could be applied ; nobody on the
spot gave the least credit to the charges, and they were commonly
pronounced unworthy of judicial inquiry ; and there never was a
time afterward, when the practicability of an investigation was not
further and further removed. From that day to this, no intelligent
person of either party, not interested in the conspiracy, has ever
pretended that the charges were worthy of respect, while the minds
of a great mass of the people of the United States have been poi
soned by them, and the conspirators have thereby controlled the
destinies of the parties concerned, and the destiny of the nation.
It is not improbable, that the conspirators were surprised at the
course into which their machinations conducted them, and that
they intended, or hoped, to force Mr. Clay into the support of
General Jackson, for fear of consequences to himself. He could
not fail to see at a glance the terrible ordeal through which he was
doomed to pass, if he should do the very thing which this charge
of bargain predicted. His appeal to the house, therefore, calling
for investigation, might have been unexpected. On this suppo
sition, they were ill prepared for the next step, and were obliged
to take counsel. The indiscretion into which Mr. Kremer imme
diately plunged, is at least some evidence of this. It involved
them in a difficulty, from which it was not easy to extricate them
selves, and the manner of their getting out of it, dooms them to
ineffaceable dishonor. If there had been the faintest shadow of
evidence to support the charge — if a single witness could have
been found to say he "had observed one act, or heard one word
from a friend of Mr. Adams or Mr. Clay, that had a squinting
toward bargain, the conspirators would have seized upon it, and
though Mr. Adams and Mr. Clay were perfectly innocent there
would have been no escape for them. It is singular, indeed, when
it is known to be customary to electioneer in such cases  to say
and do things, which, in an opponent's hands, might have been

THE GREAT CONSPIRACY. 315
tortured into an appearance of bargaining — that nothing of the kind
could bo found, or ever has been found.
The conspirators, having gone thus far, were compelled to go
farther, or be tiiemselves ruined. An investigation would have
established the innocence of the parties accused, would have set
them on the highest eminence, and would have plunged the plot
ters into hopeless perdition, as to their political prospects. Since
General Jackson could not be elected this time, by forcing Mr.
Clay to his support — disgraceful as it was to retreat from die
investigation — they resolved that he should be elected next time,
by keeping tins charge for ever over Mr. Clay's head ! And Mr.
Kremer was instructed accordingly.
It is of very little consequence who wrote this document of Mr.
Kremer ; but there is a remarkable coincidence of thought and
expression between it and the speech made by the Hon. S. D.
Ingham, of Pennsylvania, when die appointment of die committee
of investigation was under debate. For the gratification of the
curious, and not less for die instruction of all, a few of these twin
passages are offered for consideration : —
" Tho question," said Mr. Ingham, " had been represented on
all sides, as a question of privilege. He had had the honor to be
present some years ago, when the nature of tiiis prerogative under
went a full and solemn discussion, and he well remembered, tiiat
it was then determined, that the power of the home to punish, was
a power which had no limits."
A perusal of Mr. Kremer's letter to die committee, will show,
that this boundless power of the house — (not a fact, however) — is
a prominent and loading idea in tiiat document, frequently iterated.
Mr. Ingham says : " But may you not, on tiiis principle, follow
up all the printers in the United States ?" Mr. Kremer says :
"If the authority of the house extended to acts of this kind, no
limitation could be prescribed to its power, and it may reach the
publisher as well as the writer," &c. Mr. Ingham says: "Is
there any earthly difference between a newspaper article written by
a member out of tiiis house, and such an article written by any
other person?" Mr. Kremer says : " If it should be considered
as proper, that members be held responsible here for the commu
nication of their opinions out of the house, on public men and
public affairs." &e. Mr. Ingham says: "Did a gentleman, by
becoming a member of this house, deprive himself of the ordinary
iirivilegea which he would have had, had he remained out of the
liouso ?" Mr. Kremer says : " I can not perceive any principle of
power in the constitution, which can give the house of representa-

316 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
tives jurisdiction over me, as the writer of that letter." Mr. Ing
ham says : " Might he not write to his constituents, the same as
other gentlemen wrote to their friends?" — "If an attempt were
made to arraign me for writing a letter to my constituents, I would
not answer." Mr. Kremer says : " Information, which I deemed
interesting to my constituents" — " facts which might implicate the
conduct or motives of members, which ought to be communicated
to their constituents" — " I protest against the assumption of any
jurisdiction by the house, that shall jeopard my right to com
municate freely to my constituents, whatever I may believe neces
sary for the public good" — " the attitude which duty to myself and
my constituents, forbids me to abandon," &c. Mr. Ingham says :
" I would stand mute, and deny, and defy your power. You might
imprison, and manacle me with chains. But you should never com
pel me to become a voluntary instrument to violate the constitution
in my person." Mr. Kremer says : " It is not only the unconsti
tutionality of the power, which forbids me to appear before you ;
placed as I am, I can not but perceive the dangerous consequences,
as well as its unconstitutional character." — " Thus regarding the
constitutional power of the house, I have determined not to sub
mit to a proceeding fraught with such dangerous consequences."
Mr. Ingham says : " We all know there is already a great excite
ment existing, and that it is increasing every moment like the
rapidity of a descending body." Mr. Kremer says : " Nor can I
be ignorant of the fact, that this body is at all times, but more
especially at a crisis like the present, subject to be acted upon by
some of the most powerful passions that actuate the human breast"
— " The deep excitement which the important crisis has pro
duced," &c. Mr. Ingham says : " What are the respective con
ditions of the two individuals concerned ? The one occupies a
lofty station — he is placed high before the view of the country —
he possesses the just confidence of the members of this house, &c.
All these things create a great difference between him and the
member who has accused him." Mr. Kremer says : " I must be
considered as presenting charges against the speaker  It is
manifest, that the difference will be great  The unequal
contest between an humble member on the floor, and the speaker
of the house, are circumstances which can not be overlooked."
These resemblances of thought and expression, between Mr.
Ingham's speech and Mr. Kremer's reputed letter to the commit
tee, might be further cited. They are at least quite remarkable
for accidental coincidences. Excepting a few features peculiar to
each position, they might naturally enough be taken for so many
twins, for reflected images from the same original, the one an
echo of the other. Doubtless, the member, who pocketed the

THE GREAT CONSPIRACY. 317
paper, which Mr. Kremer proposed to sign to satisfy Mr. Clay,
and who advised Mr. Kremer to take no sfep without the appro
bation of his friends, would not be disinclined to render his ser
vices in preparing this communication to the committee.
The position of the conspirators and of Mr. Clay at the end of
this first stage, before the election for president had taken place,
may be defined as follows : " Now let Mr. Clay support Mr. Adams,
if he dare. Now let him accept the office of secretary of state,
if he dare. If he does either — especially if he does both — we
have him." If he had done the first, and not the last, the charge
would still have been maintained^ with this difference, that he had
only been frightened out of the secretaryship, by the justness of
the accusation.
No one can fail to be impressed with the atrocious character of
this plot. The frankness, fearlessness, and lofty dignity of the
accused, stand in striking contrast to the diabolical designs of his
accusers. Conscious of innocence, he throws himself on the
weapons of his assailants, and bids them strike. He appeals to
the only rightful court, and demands judgment. From the pres
ence of that tribunal, constituted ,for the occasion, and ready to
proceed, the accusers flee !

318 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.

CHAPTER XV.
THE GREAT CONSPIRACY. *;
General Jackson comes out as the Public Accuser of Mr. Clay. — The Fayette
ville Letter. — General Jackson's Letter to Carter Beverley. — The Manner of
its being made public. — Mr. Clay's Reply to it in an Address to the Public. —
General Jackson's Address to the Public. — These Documents considered.
It has been seen, in the preceding chapter, that the charge of
bargain between Mr. Adams and Mr. Clay, was got up, first to
frighten Mr. Clay into the support of General Jackson ; and fail
ing in that, the investigation was dishonorably declined, to keep
the charge pending for future use. It was only necessary, after
the first disappointment, to bar inquiry, and hang up the charge —
to lodge it in the public mind of the country, to work there as it
might and necessarily must, without a judicial verdict, without
check, and with the evidence before the people, that the facts
which the charge predicted, had come to pass. What did it pre
dict? That Mr. Clay and his friends would vote for Mr. Adams.
So they did. That Mr. Clay would be made secretary of state.
So he was. Was not, then, the charge proved by the events ?•
It was not enough to do away its force in the popular mind, to
say, that Mr. Clay and his friends had a right to vote for Mr. Ad
ams ; or that the claims of the west, of Jackson men and all,
forced Mr. Clay into the state department — both of which were
undoubtedly true. They who conceived and published the charge,
knew, that, if it did not accomplish its purpose in the first in
stance, by destroying Mr. Clay's freedom and that of his friends,
and by forcing them to vote for a man to fill the presidential chair,
to whom they were conscientiously opposed, it would answer all
their purposes another time. They foresaw, that the charge would
be identified with coming events, and that, with the mass of unre
flecting minds, it would require no other evidence of its truth.
When suspicion was thus roused, the people generally would not
think, that the very acts represented as criminal, might not only

THE GREAT CONSPIRACY. 319
be innocent, but virtuous — a high, conscientious, and sacred duty ;
that, with honorable men, they should b% presumed innocent;
that, in doing the same things, the accusers claimed to be inno
cent ; and that it would have been equally fair to hurl back the
charge on the aggressors.
When the conspirators had succeeded in arresting the investi
gation in the house of representatives, by such dishonorable
means, the field was all their own, and they had only to choose
their own time, and their own way, to accomplish their end. In
the meantime, the charge was kept before the country, and kept
moving, in connexion with the obvious facts, which were alleged
as proof: Mr. Adams as president, elected by Mr. Clay and his
friends ; and Mr. Clay as secretary of state, made secretary, as
averred, in reward for his services in making Mr. Adams presi
dent. Such was the charge, and such the facts. It need not be
said, that the people are naturally jealous of men in power, and
eagerly listen to accusations against them ; and that they easily
sympathize with men out of power, who allege that they are un
justly kept out. How much more with a popular favorite, sup
posed to be deprived of his rights ?
In evidence, that such was the prospective plan of this con
spiracy, it might be sufficient to call attention to the artful man
ner, in which Mr. Buchanan introduces the following paragraph,
in a letter to the editor of the United States Telegraph, dated Oc
tober 16, 1826 : " The facts are before the world, that Mr.
Clay and his particular friends made Mr. Adams president, and
Clay secretary of state. The people will draw their own infer
ence from such conduct, and the circumstances connected with it.
They will judge of the cause, from the effects."
Mr. Benton (Hon. T. H.), when asked by Mr. Wm. Eckert,
at St. Charles, Mo., in the fall of 1827, " if he believed, that Ad
ams and Clay were guilty of bargain and sale, or barter?" replied :
" Believe it? I am bound to believe it. 'I may say, I know it.
No man, in his common senses, at the public scene of action, as
I was, could Relieve otherwise. The fact was this : Clay says,
' I will make you president, if you will make me secretary.' What
was the result ? It was done."
The Hon. Lynn Boyd, of Kentucky, said on the floor of the
house of representatives, April 30, 1844 : " What was then ru
mor, became fact, on the organization of the administration.
Many thought they saw in that arrangement, both the cause and

320 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
f '
effect of Mr. Adams's election, and the confirmation of Mr. Kre
mer's charge."
In a preamble of the legislature of Tennessee, prefixed to reso
lutions on this subject, passed in 1827, they say : " Mr. Adams
desired the office of president. He went into the combination
without it, and came out with it. Mr. Clay desired that of secre
tary of state. He went into the combination without it, and came
out with it."
The notorious George Kremer, in a speech at Berlin, Pa.,
September 17, 1827, said: "Are the charges true? Can any
one doubt it, who considers, that he [Mr. Clay] has performed the
act, which the [my] letter charges him with intending to do, and
now holds the office, which was proclaimed as the consideration
for the service rendered ?" If Mr. Kremer did not know the in
justice of this, as a non sequitur, no one, probably, would make
such an apology for Mr. Buchanan, or Mr. Benton, or Mr. Boyd,
or the legislature of Tennessee.
In this state of things, and with these advantages, General
Jackson was a candidate for 1S2S. With the exception of the
common warfare of the newspapers, which never permitted the
subject to sleep, the charge against Mr. Adams and Mr. Clay, had
not, for more than two years, received any new shape, nor been
renewed by any responsible authority. In the spring, of 1827,
however, the following letter appeared anonymously, in the Fay
etteville Observer, North Carolina : —
"Nashville, March 8, 1827.
" I have just returned from General Jackson's. I found a
crowd of company with him. Seven Virginians were of the
number. He gave me a most friendly reception, and urged me
to stay some days longer with him. He told me this morning,
before all his company, in reply to a question I put to him con
cerning the election of J. Q. Adams to the presidency, that Mr.
Clay's friends made a proposition to his friends, that, if they
would promise, for him [General Jackson] not to put Mr. Adams
into the seat of secretary of state, Mr. Clay and his friends would,
in one hour, make him [Jackson] the president. He [General
Jackson] most indignantly rejected the proposition, and declared
he would not compromit himself; and unless most openly and
fairly made the president by Congress, he would never receive it.
He declared, that he said to them, he would see the whole earth
sink under them, before he would bargain or intrigue for it."
A letter of this character, from such a quarter, though anony
mous, could not fail to attract attention, and be circulated rapidly

the great conspiracy. 321
throughout the Union. It purported to be from Nashville, and
fresh from the Hermitage, of the truth of which there was no
reason to doubt. It was the first roar of the lion, after more than
two years of apparently quiet repose. And there was something
startling in the paraphernalia of the display. " A crowd of com
pany, and seven Virginians." The writer, a Virginian t was greet
ed with " a most friendly reception, and urged to stay longer."
It has the appearance of a grand council. It was so, doubt
less, and might have been a very innocent one. It was natural
enough, that a candidate for the presidency should have a good
deal of company, and perfectly proper, that the plan of the cam
paign, and the most effective modes of action, if honorable, should
be a subject of discussion. It is somewhat remarkable, however,
that the writer of this letter should have left the Hermitage the
very day when the old charge of bargain between Mr. Adams
and Mr. Clay had been a subject of consideration " before all the
company," to announce to the world, for the first time, that Gen
eral Jackson himself was prepared, and had made up his mind,
to renew the charge on his own responsibility ! It is true, this
announcement does not at first appear as authorized; but a subse
quent letter from General Jackson, invoked by the writer of this,
will show, that he was not only not disappointed, but that he be
trayed manifest satisfaction : " Your inquiries were answered/reefy
and frankly" — " having no concealment myself, nor any dread,"
&c. — " my feelings toward you are not the least changed, /al
ways intended," &c. It is moreover remarkable, that this writer
should have made his communication to the Fayetteville Observer
before he had started on his return, as if it were not only a thing
resolved on, but a thing that required despatch. He wrote from
Nashville the very day the precious morceau was put in his pos
session. It was the burden of his communication — apparently
his sole errand.
This was a new start of the ball. And whence was it thus
tossed on the wide theatre of the Union ? From the Hermit
age ! It was a matter confessedly talked of " before all the
company," and it was not a small company, nor were they unim
portant characters. General Jackson spoke "freely and frankly"
on the subject, " having no concealment, nor any dread — he al
ways intended." — " Always." How long ? From what time ?
" Always" is a good while. No one can suppose, that any less is
meant by this, than from the time when the charge was first
Vol. I.— 21

322 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY^
brought forward by George Kremer, in January, 1S2i§, a little
less than two years and a half, taking the date of these expressions.
"I always intended," clearly proves, that he always considered it his
own affair. It has been seen, in the preceding chapter, that Mr. Ea
ton did not deny, when he had the strongest motive for denying,
if he could, that he had to do with Mr. Kremer's card published
in the National Intelligencer, in answer to Mr. Clay's card. Is
it to be supposed, that General Jackson — than whom no person
could be more deeply interested, and who was on the spot — could
have been an indifferent spectator of the agitation occasioned by
the publication of Mr. Kremer's letter in the Columbian Observer,
January, 1825 ? Or that he and Mr. Eaton, for example — not to
speak of other intimate friends — should never have had any con
versations on the subject, while these events were passing ? It would
be very extraordinary if they had not. In Gen. Jackson's address
to the public, of the 18th of July, as will hereafter be seen, his inti
macy with Major Eaton at that time, and on this subject, is appa
rent by his own statement: "The evening before he [Mr. Bu
chanan] had communicated substantially the same proposition [of
bargain] to Major Eaton," &c. General Jackson, it would
seem, was every day, and if occasion required, every hour, in
formed as to the position and progress of the Kremer affair of
1825. Being on the ground as a member of the senate, and one
of the two principal parties interested, it could not be otherwise.
He was, indeed, the accuser, but did not appear publicly as such,
till 1827.
"He had his thoughts, and "always intended." It will be
seen by-and-by what he intended. But his evidence on the
subject, as announced in the letter published at Fayetteville, es
tablishes the fact, that there were communications between him and
others in relation to this affair, and that he showed a great deal
of feeling, as well he might, according to his account of it. It is
also evident, by his own statements, as will be seen, that, from the
first, he had "always" had a settled, though contingent plan, as to
how he would treat the matter publicly. But as that contingency
had not happened, down to the 8th March, 1827, a step was then
taken, in consequence of his own act, to which he never objected,
und which could be sustained only by bis authority, to force its
happening. One thing is certain, that he could not decently ap
pear upon the public stage, as an actor in this scene, until it did
happen. Hence, as may be supposed, the conversation " before

%
THE) GREAT CONSPIRACY. 393
¦V
nil tho company," at the Hermitage, on the 8th March, 1 827, as
reported in the letter of tho same date above cited, from Nashviflf
to Fayetteville. Thin was manifoMtly well calculated to make a
stir in the land. And ho it did. It was everywhere copied, and
remarked upon according to the fooling of parties. Mr. Duff
Green, tho editor of tho Washington Telegraph, a Jackson paper,
came out, and said, that he had heard General Jackson, in March,
1825, tnako tho name statement, as that contained in the letter pub
lished in the l^ayottovillo Observer. Here was a double echo. A
correspondent of tho " Democratic Press," under date of Wash
ington, I Sth April, 1827, having quoted the letter from Nashville,
of the Hth of March, said: —
"After rending thin extraordinary declaration of General Jack
son, 'before all Ids company,' 1 called on Mr. Clay, and inquired,
if he knew anything about it? He [Mr. Clay] replied without
hesitation, and with his accustomed frankness, that 'the statement,
that his friends had made such a proposition ns tho letter describes,
to the friends of Conoral Jackson, was, as far as he knew or be
lieved, utterly destitute of foundation; that he was unwilling to
believe, that General Jackson had made any such statement; but
that, no matter with whotti it originated, he was fully persuaded it
was a gross fabrication, of the same calumnious character with the
Kremer story.' "
This denial, as will be seen, was expressly authorized by Mr.
Clay, which ho himself afterward recognises.
The Washington "National Journal," ofthe 28th April, 1827,
speaking of tho Fayetteville letter, and Mr. Croon's (Telegraph's)
endorsement of its veracity, said: —
"lie [General Jackson] now stands before the nation as tho
direct public accuser of Mr. Clay and his friends, and by inference,
of Mr. Adams also. Tho accusation has boon deliberately denied.
And if General Jackson should not sustain it by competent and
credible proof, the American public will not be restrained by tho
grateful respect which thoy have hitherto cherished for him, from
characterizing the charge, as in that event, it will deserve to bo
considered." The common impression was, tiiat the unonynious letter from
Nashville, of tho 8lh March, was not altogether without authority,
and (hat some interesting and important, developments might soon
be expected. The author of the lotter, Mr. Carter Beverley, of
Virginia, gelling to be known as such, was compelled to call on
Genoral Jackson to support him, in answer to which he received
the following communication : —

324 THE GREAT CONSPIRAC^|f
"Hermitage, June 6th, 1827.
" Dear Sir : Your letter of the 15th ultimo, from Louisville,
Ky., is just received, and in conformity^with your request, I ad
dress my answer to Wheeling, Va. Your inquiries relative to the
proposition of bargain made through Mr. Clay's friends, to some
of mine, concerning the then pending presidential election, were
answered freely and frankly at the time, but without any calcula
tion that they would be thrown into the public journals [?]. But
facts can not be altered. And as your letter seems not to have
been written for publication [?], I can assure you, that, having no
concealment myself, nor any dread arising from what I may have
said on the occasion and subject alluded to, my feelings toward
you are not the least changed. I always intended, should Mr.
Clay come out over his own name, and deny having any knowl
edge of the communication made by his friends to my friends, and
to me, that I would give him the name of the gentleman, through
whom that communication came. I have not seen your letter al
luded to as having been published in the Telegraph. Although that
paper, as I am informed, is regularly mailed for me at Washington,
still 1 receive it irregularly, and that containing your letter has not
come to hand. Of course I can not say, whether your statement
is substantially correct or not. I will repeat, however,, again, the
occurrence, and to which my reply to you must have conformed,
and from which, if there has been any variation, you can correct
it. It is this: Early in January, 1825, a member of Congress,
of high respectability, visited me one morning, and observed, that
he had a communication he was desirous to make to me ; that he was
informed there was a great intrigue going on, and that it was right
I should be informed of it ; that he came as a friend, and let me re
ceive the communication as I might, the friendly motives though
which it was* made, he hoped would prevent any change of friend
ship or feeling in regard to him. To which I replied, from his
high standing as a gentleman and member of Congress, and from
his uniform friendly and gentlemanly conduct toward myself, I
could not suppose he would make any communication to me, which
he supposed was improper. Therefore, his motives being pure,
let me think as I might of the communication, _my feelings toward
him would remain unaltered. The gentleman proceeded : He
said he had been informed by the friends of Mr. Clay, that the
friends of Mr. Adams had made overtures to them, saying, if Mr.
Clay and his friends would unite in aid of Mr. Adams's election,
Mr. Clay should be secretary of state ; that the friends of Mr.
Adams were urging, as a reason to induce the friends of Mr. Clay
to accede to their proposition, that if I were elected president, Mr.
Adams would be continued secretary of state (inuendo, there would
be no room for Kentucky) ; that the friends of Mr. Clay stated,
the west did not wish to separate from the west, and if I would

THE GREAT CONSPIRACY. 325
say, or permit any of my confidential friends to say, that in case
I were elected president, Mr. Adams should not be continued sec
retary of state, by a complete union of Mr. Clay and his friends,
they would put an end to the presidential contest in one hour.
And he was of opinion it was right tof fight such intriguers with
their own weapons. To which, in substance, I replied — that in
politics, as in everything else, my guide was principle ; and con
trary to the expressed and unbiased will of the people, I never
would step into the presidential chair ; and requested him to say to
Mr. Clay and his friends (for I did suppose he had come from Mr.
Clay, although he used the term of ' Mr. Clay's friends'), that before
I would reach the presidential chair, by such means of bargain
and corruption, I would see the earth open and swallow both Mr.
Clay and his friends and myself with them. If they had not con
fidence in me to believe, if I were elected, that I would call to my
aid in the cabinet men of the first virtue, talent, and integrity, not
to vote for me. The second day after this communication and
reply, it was announced in the newspapers, that Mr. Clay had come
out openly and avowedly in favor of Mr. Adams. It may be
proper to observe, that, on the supposition that Mr. Clay was not
privy to the proposition stated, I may have done injustice to him.
If so, the- gentleman informing me can explain.
" I am, very respectfully, your most obedient servant,
"Andrew Jackson.
"Mr. Carter Beverley."
Ulterior events have contributed much to elucidate this letter of
General Jackson to Mr. Beverley. Itself, that of July 18th to the
public, Mr. , Buchanan's, in answer to the last, Mr. Markley's,
Major Eaton's, and other papers, growing out of these, in connex
ion with concurrent events, have proved, that the Kremer charges,
originally published in the Columbian Observer, January 28th,
1825, are identified in the same comprehensive plot with these
transactions of 1827 ; and that they originated in the same source.
They are traced to the communication alleged by General Jack
son, in this letter of June 6th, 1827, to have been made to him
self in January, 1825. Of course, everything said, written, pub
lished, and done, in this affair, by Mr. Kremer, and his coadju
tors, in 1825, grew out of this. General Jackson did not appear
then, but appeared afterward. This letter of June 6th, to Mr.
Beverley, is one part of the unmasking.
He says to Mr. Beverley, " Your inquiries relative to the propo
sition of bargain, made through Mr. Clay's friends, to some of
mine, concerning the then presidential election, were answered
freely and frankly, at the time, but without any calculation that they

326 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
would be thrown into the public journals", It would be improper
to say, that the conversation at the Hermitage, on the 8th of
March, "before all the company," was arranged, with a view to a
specific result ; because the motives can not be proved, though, as
General Jackson says, in the Calhoun correspondence, "motives
are fairly inferred from actions." When a plot is proved, as is
now the case, in regard to this whole affair, the conduct of the
agents, in all its parts, is justly viewed with suspicion. This
answer — which, as appears from this letter, was a very minute and
circumstantial detail, of a striking character, implicating absent
persons in great moral turpitude, crime — was made "freely and
frankly," in such circumstances, before such a company, without
injunction of confidence; "but, without any calculation that it
would be thrown into the public journals !" Who is so simple as
to take this? There was not a man there, believing it, and being
honest, that could discharge a good conscience, till he had blazed
it over the whole land. Mr. Beverley, like an honest man, sat
down to the task that very day. That no one else of the company
did it, proves, either that they had not sufficient honesty, or that it
was understood, that Mr. Beverley would see to it. It appears,
that he posted off without delay to Nashville, the nearest town, to
execute the function. Nor does the general rebuke him for a
breach of confidence ; he expresses no regret; but reconciles him
self to the event, by the reflection that " facts can not be altered."
What is this, but an iteration of the charge ? He goes on to con
sole his unfortunate friend : "As your letter seems [where is the
evidence?] not to have been written for publication, I can assure
you, that, having no concealment myself nor any dread, arising from
what I may have said on the occasion and subject alluded to, my
feelings toward you are not the least changed." This, Certainly,
ought to be satisfactory — "not the least changed." And the gen
eral, in this private and confidential communication, which Mr.
Beverley let slip through his hands to the public, could not help
disclosing his intention, and expressing his gratification — "having
ho concealment myself, nor any dread, I always intended, should
Mr. Clay come out over his own name, and deny having any
knowledge of the communication' made by his friends to my friends,
and to me, that I would give him the name of the gentleman
through whom that communication came." As if Mr. Clay had
not denied !- From the first appearance of Mr. Kremer's letter in
the Columbian Observer, in January, 1825, till General Jackson

THE GREAT CONSPIRACY. 3°_7
wrote this letter of the 6th June, 1827, from the Hermitage, to
Mr. Beverley, the denial|of Mr. Clay had been constantly ringing
in his ears! The denial ^n 1825 was invested with all the solemn
nity of the judicial action of the highest court in the nation, and
there it stood, and still stands. It has . never been disposed, of.
General Jackson (not in person, for he chose not to appear), and
his friends, through their organ, Mr. Kremer, were the party, who
refused to come to trial. In numerous other forms — in all forms,
proper for the different occasions — Mr. Clay's denial was before
the public. It was in his card, published in the National Intelli
gencer,, February 1, 1825; it was comprehended in his letter to
Judge Brooke, of January 28, 1825 ; in his circular to his con
stituents ; in his Lewisburg speech — everywhere and anywhere,
that it was proper for hirn to appear, in contradiction of such an
atrocious calumny. The moment the letter from an anonymous
correspondent (since recognised as Mr. Beverley), from Nashville,
appeared in the Fayetteville Observer, a denial, expressly authorized
by Mr. Clay, dated, at Washington, April 18th — before cited —
was published by a correspondent of the " Democratic Press."
And yet; General Jackson has the assurance to say, in this letter
of the 6th, of June, " I had always intended, should Mr. Clay
cc-me out, over his own name, and deny," &c. " Over his own
name." There was an apparent technical evasion here. But even
that, will not: do.. For he had " come out," many times, " over
his own name," as the above-cited facts, show.
" I have not, seen your letter- alluded to, as having been pub
lished in the Telegraph. Although that paper, as I am informed;
is regularly mailed for me at Washington, still I receive it irregu
larly, and that containing your letter, has not come to hand." It
is charitably supposed he meant to. say he had not seen it " in the
Telegraph." Possibly, he had not read it. It might be very un
necessary, since he could not be ignorant of its. contents. He had
at least heard of it,, and there was scarcely a paper of either party,
that, did not contain it— certainly none of his own party ; and it is
hardly to be supposed, that a man, occupying the position of a
candidate for the presidency, did, not look at the papers which
supported him !. But he affects to be ignorant of this letter, em
anating directly from the Hermitage, and making so much noise
in the world ! This is an apology for giving a full and, true copy
of the conversation— -the most recent version well conned. Mr.
Beverley wanted to know, whether he had said anything incorrect ;

328 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
but General Jackson desires to publish that, which is most cir
cumstantial, as well as correct. "I will," therefore, "repeat,"
&c. ; " from which, if there has been any variation, you can cor
rect it." Then comes the true copy, in which the general makes
it all out, according to his conscience ! The points of the state
ment are as follows : 1. " A member of Congress, of high respec
tability, visited" the general. 2. And " observed, he had a com
munication he was desirous to make." 3. " He was informed
there was a great intrigue going on, and that it was right I should
be informed of it." This was interesting. 4. " He came as a
friend." He was not, then, a friend of Mr. Clay. 5. " Let me
receive the communication as I might, the friendly motives, through
which it was made, he hoped, would prevent any change of friend
ship or feeling, in regard to him." There was, then, an under
stood " friendship." All he wanted was " no change." 6. " To
which, I replied, from his high standing as a gentleman, and mem
ber of Congress, and from his uniform, friendly, and gentlemanly
conduct toward myself, I could not suppose he would make any
communication to me, which he supposed was improper." Cer
tainly not. " Therefore, his motives being pure" — doubtless they
were very pure — " let me think as I might of the communication,
my feelings toward him would remain unaltered." This was an
excellent and convenient preliminary arrangement ; because, hor
rible as the communication proved to be, General Jackson was
pledged to receive it graciously, and dismiss the messenger with
undiminished confidence ! 7. " The gentleman proceeded," and
made the communication, which need not be recited. 8. "And
he was of opinion, it was right to fight such intriguers with their
own weapons." This is an important point. 9. The general
declines, and according to his own account, sends a message back
to Mr. Clay and his friends, that he would see them all sunk, and
sink with them, " before he would," &c. 10. General Jackson
admits, that, " if Mr. Clay was not privy to the proposition, I may
have done injustice to him." Not to have settled this question
first, was not only the greatest possible injustice to Mr. Clay, but
a violation of the usages of society.
The correspondence below, will show, that this letter was made
public sooner, and probably in a different mode, from what had
been planned.* * "Wheeling, Va., June 25, 1827.
" Sib : The public mind, having been for months extremely agitated, in conse
quence of a letter of mine to a friend in Fayetteville, N. C, in March last, pub-

THE GREAT CONSPIRACY. 329
Mr. Clay having possession of General Jackson's letter of June
6th, to Mr. Beverley, .obtained in the manner disclosed in the
lished in the paper of that place, I take pleasure indeed of gratifying them with a
full communication of all the circumstances developed to me by General Jackson,
which gave rise to the letter from me in reference to it. It will be seen, that this
communication embraces' infinitely more subject than was contained in my letter;
and, indeed, it goes more fundamentally into the whole train of matter, connected
with the subject. After being variously attacked by those detestable, hireling,
scurrilous printers of the west, in various directions, subservient as they are to
Mr. Clay and executive purposes, this letter from the general may be supposed a
relief to me. I feel, indeed, highly gratified in receiving it. And, although it
has not taken the course I exactly calculated upon, yet, as the public anxiety is
great to reach the truth of the case, I avail myself of the opportunity given me,
of drawing it, ere long, to both point and termination. I have written on to Gen.
Jackson, informing him precisely of the course and bearing of the subject. Mr.
Clay having peremptorily and positively denied the whole, both as regards himself
and his friends, will, of course, bring the circumstances fully and fairly out. I
can not, myself, have the smallest possible doubt about the issue. You will be
pleased to publish the short correspondence I had with Mr. Noah Zane, of this
place, and his note to me, with the certificate respecting Mr. Clay's denial. I beg
that the whole may be at once published. Mr. Clay having gotten a copy of Gen.
Jackson's letter to me, without my expectation or approbation at all, I deem it
proper that there should be no delay in its publication by me. The course pur
sued to obtain the copy taken by Mr. Clay with him, is, in my opinion, altogether
incorrect and improper, and I endeavored to arrest it before the copy was made
out. But, as will be seen, by the enclosed certificate, the letter was withheld,
and denied to me, until the whole was completed ; and not only one, but two
copies taken of it. " I am, respectfully, your o%edient servant,
" Carter Beverley.
" Gen. Duff Green." [Editor of the Telegraph, Washington.]
" Wheeling, June 24, 1827.
" Dear Sir : The very high respect I have for you, and your political charac
ter, added to the great zeal I feel for the honor and welfare of our country, in
duces me to announce to you the receipt, last night, from General Jackson, of a
letter, dated the 6th instant, from his residence in Tennessee. He most unequiv
ocally confirms all I have said regarding the overture made to him, pending the
last presidential election ; and asserts a great deal more than he told me, going most
circumstantially and minutely into the business. It was always his intention, he
says, that if Mr. Clay ever denied the facts, to give him up his authority. It is
of the first character and order, in our government and country. It only awaits
Mr. Clay's denial, when the whole subject will be brought to issue before thj
public. I make this communication to you on many accounts — but especially as
I understand Mr. Clay is to call on you this morning, and to pass an hour or two
with you, on his way down the river from Pittsburg. My friend, Mr. Hollings-
worth, of this place, has seen the general's letter. He will bear to me any com
munication from you, which, as it is all a public matter, I shall be glad may be
made in writing.
" I am, dear sir, most respectfully, your obedient servant,
" Carter Beverley.
" Noah Zane, Esq., Wheeling."
" To Carter Beverley, Esq. : I have received your note of this morning, by
Mr. John Hollingsworth. I request the favor of you to send me General Jack
son's letter. I pledge myself to return it to you.
"Noah Zane.
"June 24, 1827." " Wheeling, June 24, 1827.
" Dear Sir : From what my friend, Mr. Hollingsworth, told me, after bearing
my first letter to you of this morning, announcing to you the receipt last night of

330 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
correspondence below, sent it to the Reporter, published at Lex
ington, immediately on his arrival at Ashland, where it appeared
the 4th of July, with a communication of his own, as follows : —
"TO THE PUBLIC.
" On my arrival at Wheeling, on the 24th inst., I was informed,
that Mr. Carter Beverley, then at that place, had received, the
preceding night, by mail, a letter from General Jackson, which he
had exhibited to several persons, and left with my friend, Colonel
Noah Zane, for my perusal, and which, I was told, formed a sub
ject of general conversation, and had produced much excitement
in the town. The captain of the Raindeer, having kindly detained
his steamboat for my accommodation, and unwilling longer to delay
his departure, I had only time to obtain a hasty, but I believe a
correct copy, ofthe letter, and I now seize the first moment, after
my arrival at home, to present it to the public, together with a copy
of another letter addressed by Mr. Beverley to Col. Zane.
" I purposely forbear at this time, to make several comments,
which these documents authorize, and confine myself to a notice
General Jackson's letter to me, under dateof the 6th instant, and from your sub
sequent message by him to me, requesting a view of the letter, I fully calculated
upon a meeting with Mr. Clay sft your house. It appears, however, that he is
gone ; and, from what you since said to Mr. H., that he denies the whole of the
charges alleged in the general's letter against Mr. Adams and himself. It
did not at all occur to me, upon your application for the letter, that a copy would
be taken of it, without my special concurrence. It appears, however, that you
have taken one. I hope you do not purpose to make any use of it, contrary to the
usual and established custom in such cases. It is a document of my own, loaned
to you in the most perfect confidence; and therefore, I presume, ought to be sa
regarded. You will oblige me by returning the letter by Mr. Hollingsworth; and
agreeable to usage, I trust Mr. Clay's denial to you, will be communicated to me,
in writing, under your signature. The whole will now be made immediately pub
lic. This, I conceive is due to General Jackson and myself, and is called for by
the respect we all owe to the community.
" I am, dear sir, respectfully, your obedient servant,
" Carter Beverley,
" Noah Zane, Esq., Wheeling."
mr. hollingsworth's certificate.
" I do hereby certify, that Mr. Carter Beverley, now at this place, called upon
me, and asked the favor of me to wait upon Noah Zane, Esq., of this place, yes
terday morning, with a letter from him, announcing his having received, the night
before, a letter from General Andrew Jackson, of Tennessee, confirming the sub
stance of his letter published in Fayetteville, N. C. I accordingly waited on Mr.
Zane, and delivered Mr. Beverley's letter. Mr. Zane then wrote a note by me to
Mr. Beverley, requesting a loan of General Jackson's letter. Mi-. Beverley hesi
tated, but delivered me the letter, which I handed over to Mr. Zane. Mr. Zane
took the letter, and left his house. Mr. Beverley, after some time, knowing that
Mr. Clay was there, apprehended that they were copying the letter, as it had
been kept so long from him. He then requested me to go to Mr. Zane and avert
such a progress. I did so ; but Mr. Zane refused to restore the letter until he
had copied it. Two copies were taken, one of which Mr. Clay got, and'the other
was retained by Mr. Clay's friends in this place.
" Given under my hand, this 25th day of June, 1827, at Wheeling, Virginia.
" Jno. Hollingsworth."

X
THE GREAT CONSPIRACY. 331
of the charges which General Jackson has brought forward in his
letter. " These charges are 1st, that my friends in Congress, early in
January, 1825, proposed to him, that, if he would say, or permit
any of his confidential friends to say, that, in case he was elected
president, Mr. Adams should not be continued secretary of state,
by a complete union of myself and my friends, we would put an
end to the presidential contest in one hour — and 2d, that the
above proposal was made to General Jackson, through a dis
tinguished member of Congress, of high standing, with my privity
and consent.
" To the latter charge, I oppose a direct, unqualified, and in
dignant denial. I neither made,- nor authorized, nor knew of any
proposition whatever, to either of the three candidates, who were
returned to the house of representatives, at the last presidential
election, or to the friends of either of them, for the purpose of in
fluencing the result ofthe election, or for any other purpose. And
all allegations, intimations, and inuendoes, that my vote, on that
occasion, was offered to be given, or was in fact given, in consid
eration of any stipulation or understanding, express or implied,
direct or indirect, written or verbal ; that I was, or that any other
person was not, to be appointed secretary of state ; or that I was,
in any other manner, to be personally benefited, are devoid of all
truth, and destitute of any foundation whatever. And I firmly and
solemnly believe, that the first of the two above-mentioned charges,
is alike untrue and groundless. But if — contrary to my full belief
— my friends, or any of them, made any such proposition, or offer,
as is asserted in the first charge, it was without my knowledge,
and without my authority.
" The letter of General Jackson insinuates, rather than directly
makes the further charge, that an arrangement was proposed and
made between Mr. Adams's friends and mine, by which, in the
event of his election, I was to be appointed secretary of state. I
pronounce that charge also, as far as I know or believe, to be un
true, and without the least foundation.
" General Jackson, having at last voluntarily placed himself in
the attitude of my public accuser, we are now fairly at issue. I
rejoice that a specific accusation, by a responsible accuser, has at
length appeared, though at the distance of near two years and a
half since the charge was first put forth through Mr. George Kre
mer. It will be universally admitted, that the accusation is of the
most serious nature. Hardly any more atrocious could be pre
ferred against tiie representative of the people in his official char
acter. The charge in substance is, that deliberate " propositions
of bargaiu" were made by my congressional friends collectively,
through an authorized and distinguished member of Congress, to
General Jackson ; that their object was, by these ' means of bar-

332 THE GREAT CONSPIRACV.
gain and corruption,' to exclude Mr. Adams from the department
of state, or to secure fay promotion to office ; and that I was privy
and assented to those propositions, and to the employment of
those means. *
" Such being the accusation, and the prosecutor, and the issue
between us, I have now a right to expect, that he will substantiate
his charges, by the exhibition of satisfactory evidence. In that
event, there is no punishment that would exceed the measure of
my offence. In the opposite event, what ought to be the judgment
of the American public, is cheerfully submitted to their wisdom
and justice. ,(H Q
"Lexington, 29th June, 1827." v,l,ay.
In answer to this, General Jackson sent forth the following
address to the public : —
" A letter, addressed by me to Mr. Carter Beverley, of Vir
ginia, has lately, without any consent, agency, or wish, on my part,
found its way into the newspapers, accompanied by a statement
over the signature of ' H. Clay,' contradicting and denying, not
anything I have written, but that which he himself makes me to
to say. It is not the interpretation given by him to my letter, but
my own language, and my own statement, that I am called upon
to defend, and expect to vindicate.
" To explain the manner, in which my opinions have found
their way into the journals of the day, seems, in the first place, to
be due, both to the public and myself. Mr. Beverley, being on a
visit to my house, requested to know of me, other gentlemen being
present, whether the overtures, heretofore imputed to Mr. Clay,
were well founded, and if I had a knowledge of any of the facts
myself. I answered him candidly, being unable or unwilling, to
refuse telling things I had heard, and knew to be true. A letter,
detailing our conversation, shortly afterward obtained publicity, in
the North Carolina Journal, printed at Fayetteville. On the 15th
of May last, from Louisville, Kentucky, a communication was ad
dressed to me by Mr. Beverley, stating, what before I had not
known [l"], that he was the writer of this Fayetteville letter. He ex
plained the reasons for his having repeated the conversation, and
requested to be informed, if in anything he had misquoted, or mis
conceived my meaning.
" Under such circumstances, concealment and silence might
have seemed mere affectation, or indeed something of a different
and even worse character. Publicity having been given to the
conversation, and an appeal made to me for its accuracy, I felt it
to be due to Mr. Beverley, that nothing of fabrication should be
imputed to him, and to myself, that what I had stated should be
correctly understood. Accordingly, on the 6th of June, and in
reply to his ofthe 15th of May, I addressed him a letter, of which

THE GREAT CONSPIRACY. 333
the*sip,ublic are already possessed. How, and by. what means, it
found its way into the columns of a newspaper, Mr. Beverley has
explained. He states to me, that he gave it into the hands of Mr.
Noah Zane, of Wheeling, Virginia, at his own earnest request, for
perusal, under a pledge of honor, that it should be returned, and
with no expectation, that any copy of it was to he retained ; that,
on his applying for and demanding the letter, it was refused to be
restored, until two copies should be made. He proceeds to say :
'Mr. Zane, an old and most respectable gentleman, asked the loan
of your letter as a favor, and, contrary to all custom and propriety
in such matters, he, in conjunction with Mr. Clay and his friends,
took copies of it, without my knowledge or privity in any way,
and without asking my leave to .do so. Soon as I understood,
that such was the use they were making of it, I demanded of Mr.
Zane the letter, and remonstrated against the unprecedented coarse
they werp taking. He refused to restore it to me, most perempto
rily, until they had satisfied themselves by furnishing to Mr. Clay
one copy, and reserving another for their own use.'
" The original conversation referred to, and the above extract
of a letter from Mr. Beverley, at Wheeling, dated 26th June, 1827,
are presented to show, that I have not, as is charged, ' placed my
self in the attitude of a public accuser,' and that whatever publicity
has been given to this transaction, has arisen from no agency or
procurement of mine ; and that Mr. Clay has, in fact, himself held
the matter up to public gaze. In doing this, he should have quoted
what I have written accurately and fairly ; for then, the text and
his commentary would have suited together. At present, his con
tradiction is a something suggested by himself, and is not contained
in my letter.
. " The statement contained in my letter to Mr. Beverley, is this :
That, in January, 1S25, a member of Congress, of high respecta
bility, visited me, and observed, ' He had been informed by the
friends of Mr. Clay, that the friends of Mr. Adams had made
overtures to them, saying, if Mr. Clay and his friends would unite
in aid of the election of Mr. Adams, Mr. Clay should be secretary
of state ; that the friends of Mr. Adams were urging as a reason,
to induce the friends of Mr. Clay to accede to the proposition,
that, if I were elected president, Mr. Adams would be continued
secretary of state (inuendo, there would be no room for Kentucky) ;
that the friends of Mr. Clay stated, the west did not want to sep
arate from the west ; and if I would say, or permit one of my con
fidential friends to say, that, in case I were elected president, Mr.
Adams should not be continued secretary of state, by a complete
union of Mr. Clay and his friends, they would put an end to the
presidential contest in one hour ; and he was of opinion it was
right to fight such intriguers by their own weapons.'
" This disclosure was made to me by Mr. James Buchanan,

334 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
a member of Congress from Pennsylvania, a gentleman of the first
respectability and intelligence. The evening before, he had com
municated substantially the same proposition to Major Eaton, my
colleague in the senate, with a desire warmly manifested, that he
should communicate with me, and ascertain my views on the sub
ject. This he declined doing, suggesting to Mr. Buchanan, that
he, as well as himself, could converse with me, and ascertain my
opinion on the matter — though, from his knowledge of me,- he
thought he could conjecture my answer, that I would enter into no
engagement whatever. It was the morning succeeding this- inter
view, after Major Eaton had objected to converse with me on the
subject, and before I had set out from my lodgings to the capitol,
that Mr. Buchanan came to visit me, and where the conversation
I have stated took place. The answer returned has already been
published, and need not be here repeated.
" To be thus approached, by a gentleman of Mr. Buchanan's
high character and standing, with an apology proffered at the time
for what he was about to remark to me — one, who, as I under
stood, had always, to that moment, been on familiar and friendly
terms with Mr. Clay, assuring me, that on certain terms and con
ditions being assented to on my part, then, by a union of Mr. Clay
and his friends; they would put an end to the presidential contest
in one hour, what other conclusion or inference was to be made,
than that he spoke by authority, either of Mr. Clay himself, or
some of his confidential friends ? The character of Mr. Buchanan,
with me, forbids the idea, that he was acting on his own responsi
bility, or that, under any circumstances, he could have been in
duced to propose an arrangement, unless possessed of satisfactory
assurances, that, if accepted, it would be carried fully into effect.
A weak mind would seldom or ever be thus disposed to aci — an
intelligent one never.
" Under all the circumstances, appearing at the time, I did not
resist the impression, that Mr. Buchanan had approached me, on
the cautiously-submitted proposition of some authorized person ;
and therefore, in giving him my answer, did request, him, to say
to Mr. Clay and his friends, what that answer had been. Whether
the communication was made to Mr. Clay and his friends, I know
not. This, though, I do know, that, while the opinions and course
of Mr. Clay, as. to the election, were but matter of conjecture with
many, at and before this time, very, shortly after this conversation
took place, his and his friends' opinions became forthwith matter
of certainty and general knowledge. Still, I have not said, nor do
I now say, that the proposal made to me, was ' with the privity and
consent' of Mr. Clay; neither have I said, that his friends in Con
gress made propositions to me.
" These are Mr. Clay's interpretations of my letter to Mr. Bev
erley, and not what my letter itself contains. What I have stated

THE GREAT CONSPIRACY. 335
are the facts of a conversation between myself and a member of
Congress of high respectability. The conclusions and inferences
from that conversation — the time, manner, and all the circumstan
ces — satisfied my mind, that it was not unauthorized. So I have
thought, and so I still think. And yet, I again here repeat, that,
in this supposition, I have possibly done Mr. Clay injustice. If
he shall be able to sustain the averments he has made, and acquit
himself of any participation and agency in the matter, I beg leave
to assure him, that, so far from affording me pain, it will give me
pleasure. I certainly can have no desire, that the character of my
country, through the acts of a prominent citizen, shall rest under
any serious imputation. For the honor of that country, I should
greatly prefer, that any inference I have made, may turn out to be
ill founded.
" Mr. Clay declares his great satisfaction, thatthis matter has at
length been brought to light, and to public consideration. He feels
rejoiced, that a specific accusation, by a responsible accuser, has
at length appeared. To this a passing notice is due.
" It must be recollected, that, in consequence of a letter from
Mr. George Kremer, in January, 1825, an inquiry was set on foot
in Congress, upon the application of Mr. Clay himself.
" On this memorable occasion, of guilt imputed on the one
hand, and innocence maintained on the other, Mr. McDuffie, it
will be recollected, submitted for consideration to the house of
representatives, as matter of instruction to the committee, the fol
lowing RESOLUTION : 
" That the said committee be instructed to inquire, whether the
friends of Mr. Clay have hinted that they would fight for those who
would pay best, or anything to that effect; and whether overtures
were said to have been made by the friends of Adams, to the friends
of Clay, offering him the appointment of secretary of state for his
aid to elect Adams ; and whether the friends of Clay gave this in
formation to the friends of Jackson, and hinted that, if the friends
of Jackson would offer the same price, they would close with therrp ;
and whether it was said and believed, that, as a consideration for
this abandonment of duty to his constituents, Clay was to be ap
pointed secretary of state ; and that the said committee be authorized
to send for persons and papers, and to compel the persons so sent
for, to answer all questions, touching the subject referred, upon
oath." " Now, here is a resolution, officially submitted, covering
more than the ground of my communication to Mr. Beverley, and
resting in connexion with an accusation publicly charged in the
newspapers, and yet Mr. Clay, at this late period, professes to he t
rejoiced, 'that a specific accusation, by a responsible accuser, hag/
at length appeared.' Certainly, more than two years ago,. an ac-

336 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
cuser, highly respectable, and an accusation specific, were
both before him, were both within his reach, and might have been
met, had 'he been at all disposed to the interview, or rejoiced at
the prospect of meeting an accuser. Had Mr. McDuffie believed
the charge groundless and untrue, he is a man of too high a sense
of honor, to have pressed upon the consideration of the commit
tee, an instruction clothed in the" pointed phraseology that this is ;
nor can it be inferred, that, in a matter so serious, the friends of
Mr. Clay would have voted against this asked-for power to the
committee. An innocent man, before an impartial tribunal, fears
not to meet ^the exercise of any power, that competent authority
gives ; and far less should he distrust that exercise, when in the
hands of correct and honorable men.
" Innocence never seeks for safety, through covert ways, and
hidden ambuscades. She fights by day, and in the open plain,
and proud in her own strength, meets her enemy fearlessly. In
the proposition submitted by Mr. McDuffie, there was nothing to
alarm — nothing that innocence should have doubted about. It
was neither more, nor less, than a call of the attention of the com
mittee to particular inquiries, with an application for power to fer
ret out the truth, through an appeal to the oath of those, who
might be called upon to depose before them.
" Without documents, and unacquainted with the number of
Mr. Clay's friends in the house, I can not assert, that they were in
opposition to Mr. McDuffie's resolution. Yet, it is obvious,
that the influence which he possessed, would have been amply
sufficient to produce a different result, had Mr. Clay been at all
desirous that a different one should have been produced. The
resolution contained strong imputations, and serious charges.
Mr. Clay and his friends were both implicated. Can it be pre
sumed, under such a state of general excitement, that, if Mr. Clay
desired it, he could not have found, present and at hand, some
friend to ask, in his behalf, that the resolution should be
adopted, and full powers extended to the committee ? And more
over, can it be thought, that such an indulgence, if desired by Mr.
Clay, or any of his friends, could or would have been denied?
And yet it was denied, inasmuch as the resolution was rejected,
and the power asked for, refused to the committee.
" A solicitude to find ' a specific accusation, by a responsible
accuser,' could not have been so seriously entertained then, as it
is earnestly expressed now, or else so excellent an opportunity
being afforded, to encounter both, both could not have been so
earnestly regarded, so contemned, and so thrown away. A con
troversy with me, can no more disclose, or render apparent, Mr.
Clay's innocence, than could the controversy placed^ within his
reach two and a half years ago ; and yet, while the one was
avoided, or at any rate not embraced with the necessity of the

.*.$

THE GREAT CONSPIRACY. 337
occasion, at the prospects presented by the other exceeding joy
seems to be manifested. Then, as now, a specific accusation,
was before him.
" One further remark, and I am done, with a hope that, on this
subject, I may not be under thenecessity of again appearing in the
newspapers. In saying what I b^ave, all the circumstances con
sidered, I have felt, that it was due to myself, and to the public.
My wish would have been, to avoid having anything to say, or to
do in this matter, from an apprehension well conceived, that per
sons will not be wanting, who may charge whatever is done, to a
desire to injure others, and to benefit myself. My own feelings,
though, are of higher importance and value to me, than the opin
ion of those who impose censure where it is believed not to be
deserved. I have been actuated by no such designs, nor governed
by any such considerations.
" The origin, the beginning of this matter, was at my own house
and fireside — where, surely, a freeman may be permitted to speak
on public topics, without having ascribed to him improper designs.
I have not gone into the highways and market-places, to proclaim
my opinions, and in this, feel that I have differed from some, who,
even at public-dinner tables, have not scrupled to consider me a
legitimate subject for speech, and the entertainment of the com
pany. And yet, for this, who has heard me complain ? No one.
Trusting to the justice of an intelligent people, I have been con
tent to rely for security on their decision, against the countless
assaults and slanders, which are sought so repeatedly to be palmed
upon them, without seeking to present myself in my own defence ;
and still less to become the ' responsible accuser' of Mr. Clay, or
any other person.
" Andrew Jackson.
"Hermitage, July 18, 1827."
This address of General Jackson " to the public" claims
special attention for sundry weighty reasons. It opens with a
complaint, with an imputation of dishonor, that Mr. Clay, or his
friends — of course Mr. Clay — had obtained a copy of General
Jackson's letter to Mr. Beverley, of the 6th of June, 1S27, by
improper means, and published it, against the wishes of the author
and his correspondent. As Mr. Beverley's letter to General Jack
son, of the 15th May, asking for the one of the 6th June, is not
before the public, the reasons for the request are of course matter
of presumption, except as they are incidentally and accidentally
displosed. ^But,presumption alon might be sufficient. Who can
doubt, that it was designed for the public ? Then where is the
grievance or wrong? But Mr. Beverley publishes the letter him-
Vol. %— 22 '

338 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
self, with all haste, and says in his letter to the editor : " The
public mind having been extremely agitated," &c. — " I take pleas
ure in gratifying them with all the circumstances developed to me
by General Jackson," &c. He does not do this by compulsion —
" I take pleasure." That, it seems, was what he wanted the let
ter for. He says : " After being variously attacked," &c, " this
letter from the general may be supposed a relief to me. I feel,
indeed, highly gratified." For what reason ? Of course, in being
able to give it to the public. Why, then, complain ? He was
the first to publish it. But he says : " It has not taken the course
I exactly calculated upon," &c. " I have written to General
Jackson, informing him precisely of the course and bearing of the
subject." It would seem from this, that he had his instruc
tions from General Jackson how to manage it. It will
appear from Mr. Beverley's correspondence with Mr. Zane, that
" the whole subject was to be brought to issue before the public."
"As it is all a public matter," &c. They wanted "a certificate
of Mr. Clay's denial in writing," to manage the publication all in
their own way. It did not happen " exactly" as they " calculated
upon." They had contrived it well. " I understand Mr. Clay
is to call on you this morning, on his way down the river." They
despatch Mr. Hollingsworth, to let Mr. Clay know, through Mr.
Zane, what a treat they have got, and to obtain Mr. Clay's de
nial " in writing." They do not mean to show the letter ; but
they ask a denial "in writing!" Is not this cool — not to say,
impudent ? At last, discovering the awkwardness of their position,
they send the letter down. Of course, since they had had the
civility voluntarily to tender to Mr. Clay this agreeable intelligence
for their own purposes — it being rightfully in his hands — he had a
right to use it for his purposes. It was his properly, by a proffer
of the subject-matter that concerned him, and after the notice they
had served on him, he had a right to it in its exact shape and sub
stance, else the notice was an insult. They send for his denial "in
writing." Must he not know what he was to deny? And then,
knowing they were his enemies, seeking advantage, and having had
much experience of this conspiracy, might he not decide for him
self, whether he would put himself in their power — when and how
he would deny ? "I fully calculated," says Mr. Beverley in his
second note to Mr. Zane, " upon a meeting with Mr. Clay at
your house. It appears, however, that he is gone." Alas, gone !
And Mr. Beverley will have no chance to take down his words,

THE GREAT CONSPIRACY. 339
and publish them in his own way. " And not only one, but two
copies" of the letter were " taken" ! Having one, they might
multiply it to an indefinite extent. The offence as charged, there
fore, is very moderate.
Who will not smile at the puerility of this complaint, as if Mr.
Clay were not entitled to a copy of this letter, after having been
thus addressed ? It would have been very proper, if General
Jackson had sent an apology to Mr. Clay, for the insult done him,
on this occasion, by his agent. To complain of Mr. Clay, was
putting himself on a level with his employe, who doubtless tried
to obey his instructions, but did it very awkwardly. To affect,
that this " letter had found its way into the newspapers, without
his consent, agency, or wish," only shows, that when he wrote
this address " to the public," he did not know what his agent, Mr.
Beverley, had written to Mr. Zane, and to Mr. Green, editor of
the Washington Telegraph : " It is all for the public," and such
like. The evidence, that Mr. Beverley's first letter was published
in the Fayetteville Observer, by a similar misfortune, is not so
full. No doubt it was equally " without the consent and against
the wishes" of General Jackson.
Speaking of the original communication to Mr. Beverley, at the
Hermitage, on the 8th March, " before all his company," General
Jackson says : " I answered him candidly," (in the letter of the
fith June, it was " freely and frankly,") " being unable as unwil
ling, to refuse telling things I had heard, and knew to be true."
"Knew to be true." Does he mean, it was true that he heard
them? or that the things were true? The latter, doubtless.
What need, then, of any further controversy ? It is pretty strong,
certainly. It was unbecoming. It was using his authority, not
evidence. General Jackson says, he did not know, that Carter Beverley
was the author of the Fayetteville letter, till he received his letter
of the 15th of May. Did he not know, that Carter Beverley was
at his house on die 8th of March, asked him that question " be
fore all the company," and rode away to Nashville that very morn
ing ? All the world knew it, and Mr. Beverley, in his letter to
Duff Green, June 25, complains bitterly of the "attacks on him,
by those detestable, hireling, scurrilous printers of the west," on
account of that letter. Possibly General Jackson did not read the
western papers. It was unnecessary he should know it, to have
secured its publication. It was morally impossible, that such a

340 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
communication, as he " freely and frankly" made, " before all his
company," on the 8th of March, should not be published by some
one of them — no matter by which — nor was it important or neces
sary, that General Jackson should know which. To have it done,
was the important thing. .The end secured, it was well enough,
and might be very convenient, as in this instance, not to know
who did it. This "explanation," therefore, "of the manner, in
which his opinions found their way into the journals of the day,"
as if it were unexpected, was an uncalled-for display. Neverthe
less, it might answer his purpose, as it showed how innocent he
was. Mr. Beverley wanted to know of General Jackson, " if, in any
thing he had misquoted, or misconceived his meaning," in the
Fayetteville letter ; and " under such circumstances, concealment
and silence might have seemed mere affectation, or indeed some
thing of a different, and even of a worse character." It may not
be perfectly obvious what this " something of a different and worse
character," is. But that is no matter. It is this no " conceal
ment and silence," that challenges attention. No " concealment"
from whom, if his letter of the 6th June, was not to be published ?
But the next sentence shows, that it was designed for publication :
" Publicity having been given to the conversation;, and an appeal
made to me for its accuracy, I felt it to be due to Mr. Beverley —
that nothing of fabrication should be imputed to him and to my
self — that what I had stated, should be correctly understood" By
whom ? The public, of course. Very well. It is an error, then,
that it was published without General Jackson's " consent or wish."
But the general seems very solicitous to support Mr. Beverley's
veracity, as well as his own — " that nothing of fabrication should
be imputed to him, and to myself." What did he think of Mr.
Beverley's veracity, in his penitent letter to Mr. Clay, of February
8, 1842, when he said : " In the discharge of an act of con
science," &c, " I feel exceedingly desirous to relieve you, as fat-
as I can, from the slander, and my own feelings from the severe
compunction that is within me ?"
Therefore, since the "publicity given to this transaction, has
arisen from no agency or procurement of mine, I have not, as is
charged, placed myself in the attitude of a public accuser!"
But General Jackson complains of Mr. Clay, as liaving made a
" statement, contradicting and denying, not anything I have writ
ten, but that which he himself makes me to say. ... I have not

THE GREAT CONSPIRACY. 341
said, no* do I now say, that the proposal made to me, was with
the privity and consent of Mr. Clay. Neither have I said, ' that
his friends in Congress made propositions to me."
Mr. Clay's statement is as follows : " These charges are, 1,
that my friends in Congress, early in January, 1825, proposed to
him, that, if he would say, or permit any of his confidential friends
to say, that, in case he was elected president, Mr. Adams should
not be continued secretary of state, by a complete union of myself
and my friends, we would put an end to the presidential contest
in one hour. And, 2, that the above proposal was made to Gen
eral Jackson, through a distinguished member of Congress, of
high standing, with my privity and consent."
In the first place, it may be observed, that, when Mr. Clay pub
lished this statement, he, at the same time, published, side by side,
in the Kentucky Reporter, July 4th, General Jackson's letter, to
which his communication was a reply, and the two things went
together all over the country. There was, therefore, no unfairness.
If his statement was incorrect, everybody would see it, and he
only injured himself. In the next place, he did not profess to
quote General Jackson's language, in his statement. That stood *
by its side, in General Jackson's letter. But his object, doubtless,
was to give what he conceived to be the substance of the charges,
and the public, with both documents in their hands, would judge
for themselves. So the reader of these pages can judge, having
the same means. Doubtless, General Jackson was startled to see
what all would believe he meant, and what was undoubtedly con
veyed in his letter, brought out by Mr. Clay, in the plain terms of
his statement. The general seemed to think he was endowed with
the faculty, or. entitled to the privilege, of making these charges in
covert language, and then of escaping from the responsibility. It
will be seen, that his attempt to escape, was a mere cavil. Mr.
Clay's statement brought the matter to issue, and fastened the re
sponsibility where it belonged. Why should General Jackson
show this concern, and make this denial, if he was not alarmed ?
He went much further in this address to the public, than what he
here denies, and stated, that he " knew these things to be true."
Besides this, as will soon be seen, he elaborates an argument, from
false premises, to the length of one third of his address, to prove
them ! " Still," he says, " I have not said, nor do I now say"
it ! He calls them " Mr. Clay's interpretations of his letter to
Mr. Beverley !" Of course they are, and the question is, whether

342 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
they are true and fair? The general says, "His [Mr. Clay's]
contradiction is a something suggested by himself, and is not
contained in my letter." Who could say, that the contradiction
of the letter, was a part of tiie letter ? The absurdity owes its
origin to him, who so unnecessary denied it ! But General
Jackson himself, it seems, makes his own " interpretations."
" The conclusions and inferences from that conversation [with Mr.
Buchanan], the time, and all the circumstances, satisfied my
mind, that it was not unauthorized. So I have thought, and so I
still think." That a man who objects to interpretation in others,
should claim the right to use it as his sole evidence, is rather cool.
It was cruel in General Jackson, who had been so faithfully
served by Mr. Buchanan in this affair, after having borne testimony
to his being " a gentleman of the first respectability and intelli
gence" — " of high character and standing" — to speak of him, in
this address, as " one, who, as I understood, had always, to that
moment, been on familiar and friendly terms with Mr. Clay." It
is true, he might settle this offence privately with Mr. Buchanan ;
or, if necessary to his object, he might Sacrifice him. It was a
-perilous position to be thrust into, and Mr. Buchanan was not a
little surprised, as will appear from his letter to the public. There
was another loophole of escape, for Mr. Buchanan, and not less
for General Jackson. It was known from Mr. Buchanan's general
urbanity, that, " being on familiar and friendly terms with Mr.
Clay," did not necessarily imply, that he was Mr. Clay's political
friend. Mr. Buchanan has, down to this time, been on "familiar
and friendly terms," with many of his political opponents. It was
manifestly important, however, at this particular juncture, that Gen
eral' Jackson should be able to make an impression on the public
mind, that he thought Mr. Buchanan was a political friend of
Mr. Clay, at that time, though his devotion to the general was
doubtless as well known to him, as when he afterward sent him
minister to Russia. It was impossible, that the politics of so
prominent a member of Congress — of such " high character and
standing" — and so actively and efficiently engaged for the election
of General Jackson to the presidency, against the other candidates,
approaching the general, and proffering confidence and aid — should
be unknown to anybody — much less to General Jackson. Never
theless, when writing this address to the public, it was absolutely
necessary to put Mr. Buchanan in a very awkward position ; though.
Mr. Green, editor of the Washington Telegraph, and occupying

THE GREAT CONSPIRACY. 343 *
a mediate position, as a correspondent, between General Jackson
and Mr. Buchanan, was informed by the latter, that the general
was laboring under a mistake.
But General Jackson says : " If he [Mr. Clay] shall be able
to sustain the averments he has made, and acquit himself of
any participation and agency in the matter, I beg leave to assure
him, that, so far from affording me pain, it will give me pleasure."
Here is betrayed the principle of this whole conspiracy. By the
course of the conspirators, from beginning to end, Mr. Clay was
doomed to prove a negative ! They seemed to consider them
selves entitled to say all manner of evil about Mr. Clay, but never
regarded themselves as bound to prove it! Mr. Clay must " ac
quit himself!" If he would do that, it would " give them pleas
ure !" But how can he do that, so long as there is an unprinci
pled villain in the land, that will give positive evidence against him?
Though, as it happens, such a *witness has never been found.
One witness affirming to a fact, annihilates the evidence of ten
thousand witnesses, who could only say, they are ignorant of the
fact. Thus was the burden of proof constantly thrown on Mr.
Clay, when, by all rules of evidence, as recognised in any earthly
court, it was incumbent on his accusers. Mr. Clay congratulated
himself in the possession of General Jackson's letter of the 6th
of June, to^Mr. Beverley, on the principle, that he now had a
" responsible accuser," who was bound to establish his accusations.
But the general turns round, and coolly says, " If Mr. Clay shall
be able to sustain his averments, and acquit himself, it will give me
pleasure." What could surpass such effrontery ? The general
adds : " For the honor of the country, I should greatly prefer that
any inference [interpretation] I have made, may turn out to be
ill-founded." The fundamental, vital, and all-pervading principle of this con
spiracy, to wit, throwing the burden of proof on the accused, is a
most atrocious violation of law and justice, striking at the founda
tion of society, and putting every innocent man in the power of
bad men ! Accusation of crime tantamount to conviction till dis
proved ! The accuser not responsible ! Who, then, can be
saved ? With no little force did Mr. Clay say, in his speech at
Lexington, July 12th, 1S27, before this matter was all out : " This
compendious mode of administering justice, by first hanging, and
then trying a man, however justifiable it may be, according to the
precepts of the Jackson code, is sanctioned by no respectable sys-

344 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
tern of jurisprudence." Again, in his speech at Lewisburg, Va.,
August 30, 1S26 : " It is in vain that these revilers have been
called upon for their proofs — have been defied, and are again in
vited, to enter upon any mode of fair investigation and trial.
Shrinking from every impartial examination, they persevere, with
increased zeal, in the propagation of calumny, under the hope of
supplying, by the frequency and boldness of asseveration, the want
of truth and the deficiency of evidence." But the following rea
soning of Mr. Clay, places this point in its true light : —
" The extraordinary ground has been taken, that the accusers
were not bound to establish by proof the guilt of their designated
victim. In a civilized, Christian, and free community, the mon
strous principle has been assumed, that accusation and conviction
are synonymous : and that the persons who deliberately bring for
ward an atrocious charge, are exempted from all obligations to sub
stantiate it I And the pretext is, that the crime, being of a political
nature, is shrouded in darkness, and incapable of being substanti
ated. But is there any real difference, in this respect, between
political and other offences ? Do not all the perpetrators of crime
endeavor to conceal their guilt and to elude detection ? If the
accuser of a political offence is absolved from the duty of sup
porting his accusation, every other accuser of offence stands
equally absolved. Such a principle, practically carried into soci
ety, would subvert all harmony, peace, and tranquillity. None —
no age, nor sex, nor profession, nor calling — would be safe against
its baleful and overwhelming influence. It would amount to a
universal license to universal calumny !
" No one has ever contended that the proof should be exclu
sively that of eye-witnesses, testifying from their senses positively
and directly to the fact. Political, like other offences, may be
established by circumstantial as well as positive evidence. But 1
do contend that some evidence, be it what it may, ought to be
exhibited. K there be none, how do the accusers know that an
offence has been perpetrated ? If they do know it, let us have
the fact on which their conviction is based. I will not even assert,
that, in public affairs, a ciuJSen has not a right freely to express his
opinions of public men, and to speculate upon the motives of their
conduct. But if he chooses to promulgate opinions, let them be
given as opinions. The public will correctly judge of their value
and their grounds. No one has a right to put forth a positive
assertion, that a political offence has been committed, unless he
stands prepared to sustain, by satisfactory proof of some kind, its
actual existence.
" If he who exhibits a charge of political crime is, from its very
nature, disabled to establish it, how much more difficult is the

THE GREAT CONSPIRACY. 345
condition of the accused ? How can he exhibit negative proof
of his innocence, if no affirmative proof of his guilt is or can be
adduced?" But the greatest atrocity of this document remains to be noticed,
which, as it occupies the last third of it — full one third — will be
the last to claim attention. Noticing Mr. Clay's expression of sat
isfaction, in having at last " a responsible accuser" to encounter,
General Jackson, with manifest triumph, calls attention to Mr.
McDuffie's "resolution," as he calls it, which he offered in
the house of representatives, in 1825, as instructions to the com
mittee, then about to be appointed to inquire and report on the
Kremer charges : —
" Now, here is a resolution," says General Jackson, after
citing it, " covering more than the ground of my communication
to Mr. Beverley  More than two years ago, an accuser,
highly respectable [Mr. McDuffie], and an accusation specific,
were b.oth before him, were both within his reach, and might have
been met, had he been at all disposed to. the interview. Had Mr.
McDuffie believed the charge groundless and untrue, he is a man
of too high sense of honor, to have pressed upon the consideration
of the committee, an instruction clothed in the pointed phraseology
that this is ; nor can it be inferred, that, in a matter so serious, the
friends of Mr. Clay would have voted against this asked-for power
to the committee. An innocent man, before an impartial tribunal,
fears not the exercise of any power, that competent authority gives ;
and far less should he distrust that exercise, when in the hands of
correct and honorable men. Innocence never seeks for safety
through covert ways, and hidden ambuscades. She fights by day,
and in the open plains, and proud of her own strength, meets her
enemy fearlessly  The resolution contained strong im
putations, and serious charges. Mr. Clay and his friends were
both implicated," &c.
After concluding this statement in other like terms, and arguing
from it, in the most forcible and effective manner, the appeal is
then made to the public, in substance : " Why did not Mr. Clay
meet this accusation, from such an accuser? And why did his
friends reject Mr. McDuffie's resolution?" Inuendo: "Is this
the manner of innocence ? Why did not Mr. Clay, who affects
joy in finding an accuser in me, meet Mr. McDuffie ?"
Will it be believed, that every part, fact, and feature, of this
long, elaborate, and, in no small degree, effective argument, as such,
was false ? Not that the facts were untrue ; but the fraud con
sisted in misnomers. In the first place, it was not a " resolu-

346 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
tion," as stated, but an amendment. In the next place, Mr.
McDuffie did not occupy the position of an "accuser," as here
represented. In the third place, his amendment was superfluous,
and was, no doubt, rejected by the house for that reason.
To present the fraud in its true light, the false and the true
should be put in contrast. The " resolution," of " accusations spe
cific," which General Jackson represented as having been prefer
red by McDuffie, acting in the capacity of an "accuser," stands,
in his public address of July 18, 1827, as follows : —
" That the said committee be instructed to inquire, whether the
friends of Mr. Clay have hinted that they would fight for those
who would pay best, or anything to that effect ; and whether over
tures were said to have been made by the friends of Adams to the
friends of Clay, offering him the appointment of secretary of state,
for his aid to elect Adams ; and whether the friends of Clay gave
this information to the friends of Jackson, and hinted, that, if the
friends of Jackson would offer the same price, they would close
with them ; and whether it was said and believed, that, as a con
sideration for this abandonment of duty to his constituents, Clay
was to be appointed secretary of state ; and that the said commit
tee be authorized to send for persons and papers, and to compel
the persons so sent for, to answer all questions, touching the sub
ject referred to, upon oath."
It will be seen, that the character of this sentence is entirely
changed, when presented as an amendment to the resolution to raise
a committee of inquiry, by adding one monosyllable, "and," at
the beginning, and by using the quotation points where they be
long, to mark the extracts from Mr. Kremer's letter, which appear
as follows : —
— " and that the said committee be instructed to inquire, whether
the friends of Mr. Clay ' hinted that they would fight for those who
would pay best,' or anything to that effect; and whether '¦overtures
were said to have been made by the friends of Adams to the friends
of Clay, offering him the appointment of secretary of state for his aid
to elect Adams ;' and whether ' the friends of Clay gave this infor
mation to the friends of Jackson, and hinted that, if the friends of
Jackson would offer the same price, they would close with them ;'
and whether ' it was said and believed, that, as a. consideration for
this abandonment of duty to his constituents, Clay was to be appoint
ed secretary of state,' &c.
When the author carefully read this address of General Jack
son, with a view of noticing it in this work, being deceived by the
misnomers applied to this part of it, he was struck with the force
and effectiveness of the reasoning, and could not see how it was

THE GREAT CONSPIRACY. 347
possible to answer it ; and it was not till he discovered the fraud,
that it appeared in its true light. As it constitutes the important
point and part of the address — all tiie rest being as nothing — the
effect of it on the public mind is clearly explained by this discov
ery. The force of the reasoning vanishes entirely, when the true
names are applied, and the position of Mr. McDuffie, in offering
this amendment, is understood. All the "specifications of charge"
contained in it, are literal extracts from Mr. Kremer's letter to the
Columbian Observer, and the object of Mr. McDuffie, in propos
ing the amendment, as stated by himself, on the occasion, was
" merely to confine the charges against the honorable speaker to
the very words of the letter of the gentleman [Mr. Kremer] from
Pennsylvania." " Let me add one word [said Mr. McDuffie], to
the friends of Mr. Clay on this floor. And there are no members
on this floor, for whom, generally, I feel more respect I have
been informed, that some of his friends suppose, that the amend
ment I have offered, contains something which is intended to bear
harshly upon them. Not so; not so. My object is merely to
confine the charges," &c, as above cited. It should be observed,
that the above remarks are quoted from the speech which Mr.
McDuffie made at the time. Again, on the 31st March, 1826, more
than a year after the above was spoken, while an amendment of
the constitution was under debate, Mr. McDuffie said : " Now, I
have the greatest respect for those gentlemen, who were the per
sonal and politicaMriends of Mr. Clay in the late election of pres
ident. Next to my own personal friends, there are none whom I
estimate more highly."
Mr. McDuffie's amendment, therefore, was not a "resolu
tion," and he did not stand in the attitude of an "accuser,"
as represented by General Jackson ; but his object was merely to
confine the duties of tiie committee to the charges of Mr. Kremer's
letter. The reason why the amendment did not pass, is obvious :
It was superfluous. Every member of the house understood, that
Mr. Kremer's charges were the sole subject of inquiry, and that
the committee was to be raised for that purpose. There was,
therefore, no need of the amendment, and the house very properly
rejected it, without even taking the yeas and nays, which were
called for, but refused. It was not deemed of sufficient conse
quence, as it was a mere repetition of the charges in Mr. Kremer's
letter, which was the very thing proposed to be sent to the com
mittee. The only addition was, that the evidence should be taken

348 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
on oath, which was also superfluous, as that would be a matter of
course. But General Jackson, after having set up Mr. McDuffie as the
" accuser" of Mr. Clay — after having erected Mr. McDuffie's
amendment into the form of " a resolution," by dropping the
word " and" — and after having held up its "accusations specific"
as Mr. McDuffie's, by omitting the quotation points, which would
have shown them to be Mr. Kremer's — manifestly conveys the
idea — declares it — (that is the great point of his argument) — that
Mr. Clay sought to avoid, and did decline, this investigation ! So
the public understood it at the time, and so, apparently — the au
thor has never seen the fraud exposed — has it been understood
down to this moment ! So received, it was a most powerful ap
peal to the mind of the country ; and the impression was no doubt
made, and left to operate most unjustly, that, notwithstanding Mr.
Clay's formal demand for an inquiry, he shrank from it at last!
Who prevented the investigation? Ostensibly, Mr. Kremer,
by refusing to stand, either as accuser or witness, in the first of
which he had volunteered, and was bound to it, alike by honor and
duty. But really, it was the conspirators who prevented it. Mr.
Kremer only obeyed their instructions. And General Jackson,
there is reason to suppose, was at the bottom of the whole. He
prevented it, and yet accuses Mr. Clay of fleeing from it !
In this attempt of General Jackson — not unsuccessful — to fasten
upon the public, by misnomers, an argument, to the prejudice of
Mr. Clay, so utterly false and groundless, in all its parts and bear
ings, a very grave question arises, whether he knew it ? Whether
it can be supposed, that a man of such prominence and sagacity,
who had occupied so many public stations of great responsibility,
both in the military and civil service — who was once a lawyer, and
then a judge, in Tennessee — who was a senator of the United
States, and at Washington, during the first hatching of this con
spiracy — an observer of its progress, and the only party chiefly
interested in its success — whether, he could be ignorant, that
this argument, which he constructed out of Mr. McDuffie's super
fluous amendment, bringing it to bear so forcibly on Mr. Clay,
was utterly false, from beginning to end? If he was ignorant,
it would be strange. If he was not, it is unnecessary to say what it
proves. The fact that he changed the amendment into a " reso
lution," and called it such, and omitted those signs, marks of
quotation, which indicate its identity with Mr. Kremer's letter, as

THE GREAT CONSPIRACY. 349
already noticed, apparently establishes a design, which can not
be overlooked, and which is painful to contemplate. The yet fur
ther fact, that he repeatedly denominates this amendment, of such
an innocent and superfluous character, "aw accusation specific,"
coming from Mr. McDuffie, as the "accuser," and staring Mr.
Clay in the face — from which Mr. Clay is represented to have fled
in alarm — aggravates the atrocity ofthe fraud ! All this, when he
knew, that Mr. Clay demanded an investigation of these
very points, and sustained his demand to the last; when he
knew, that the house was disposed to prosecute it, as an act of
justice ; when he knew, that Mr. Kremer, alias the conspirators,
alias himself, alone prevented it ; and when (if he was attentive to
what was going on at the time, in the house of representatives —
and who can suppose he was inattentive?) he knew, that Mr.
McDuffie, in offering that amendment, did not present himself in a
hostile attitude, nor even in one of unkindness, toward Mr. Clay
and his friends !
Some of the contemporaneous frauds, practised for the same end,
are interesting and instructive items of history, one of which, of no
mean authority, and of great solemnity, is found in No. X., of a se
ries of letters published in the United States Telegraph, Extra,
Washington city, in 1828, signed by the following gentlemen, as
the Jackson committee of correspondence at Philadelphia : Joseph
Worrell, William Duncan, William Boyd, Henry Toland, John
Wurts, William J. Duane (afterward secretary ofthe treasury un
der General Jackson), William J. Leiper, Charles S. Coxe, and
Thomas M. Pettit. These letters, for the sake of form and effect,
were addressed to John Sergeant, Manuel Eyre, Lawrence Lewis,
C. C. Biddle, and Joseph Norris, Esquires, political opponents,
who had happened to be the authors of a public address on their
own side. The Telegraph, Extra, in which these letters were
published, was the weekly Jackson paper for the presidential cam
paign of 1828. In letter No. X., they assign, among the proofs of
Andrew Jackson's qualifications for civil office, the following fact,
copied in their own words : —
" Such was the reputation which he [Andrew Jackson] estab
lished, upon the organization of the territory of the United States
south of the Ohio, now called Tennessee, in May, 1790, Wash
ington appointed him district attorney, a station which Andrew
Jackson held, until elected to serve, in 1796, in the convention
for forming a constitution for Tennessee.

350 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
" The following," say they, " is the form of the commission
given by Washington to Andrew Jackson. We are not sure that-
the date is correct, but we believe it is so, and equally cor
rect in all other particulars. The district south of the Ohio
was organized under act of Congress, of May 25, 1790. Andrew
Jackson was appointed under it : —
" ' George Washington, president of the United States of Amer
ica : To all who shall see these presents, greeting : —
" 'Know ye, that, reposing special trust and confidence in the
integrity, ability, and learning of Andrew Jackson, of Nashville,
of the territory of the United States, south of the Ohio, I have
nominated, and by and with the advice of the senate, do appoint
him attorney of the said United States, for the district of the said
United States south of the river Ohio, and do authorize and em
power him to execute and fulfil the duties of that office, according
to law, and to have and hold the same, together with all the pow
er, privileges, and emoluments, thereto of right appertaining, unto
him, the said Andrew Jackson, during the pleasure of the presi
dent of the United States for the time being. In testimony
whereof, I have caused these letters to be made patent, and the
seal of the United States to be hereto affixed. Given under my
hand, at the city of New York, the twelfth day of August, in the
year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety.
" ' [L. S.] [Signed.] G. Washington.' "
When this document was shown to be a forgery, the apology
made for it, in letter XVIL, was, that John H. Eaton, the biogra
pher of General Jackson, had stated die fact; and taking it for
granted there must have been a commission, they made out one to
correspond, as near as they could guess, as to date and form : " We
gave the form of a commission, copied from the original commis
sion of 1789, from Washington to a district attorney, giving the
narhe, place, and date, as we believed they must be in the original."
The apparent imperfection of this document, which will doubtless
be observed by professional men, seems to indicate, that no certain
reliance can be placed on the above assertion, that it is even a copy
of an authorized form, though it is quite immaterial whether it be
so or not. One would think, that the hand which drew it, should
have paused at the words, " in the year of our Lord." It might
be supposed enough thus to employ the name of "G. Washing
ton," without bringing in that of the Divine Author of the Chris
tian dispensation, to sanction the deed !

THE GREAT CONSPIRACY. 351

CHAPTER XVI.

THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.

The Conspirators Tried by their own Evidence. — Mr. Buchanan's Answer to Gen
eral Jackson. — Mr. Markley's Reply to Mr. Buchanan. — Major Eaton's Letter
on same Subject. — Letters of Mr. Buchanan to the United States Telegraph. —
Extracts from Mr. Clay's Address to the Public in December, 1827. — Examina
tion of the Witnesses.
No doubt, General Jackson relied upon Mr. Buchanan, as a
political friend, to sustain him. He had named him as his only
witness. It is probable, that the result of Mr. Beverley's manage
ment, at Wheeling, had, in some degree, disconcerted the general
plan. In his letter to Duff Green, editor of the Telegraph,
from that place, he says: "It has not taken the course I ex
actly calculated upon. I have written on to General Jackson, in
forming him precisely of the course and bearing of the subject."
It has been seen, by the general's address to the public, of July
18th, that he was not a little vexed with the "course and bearing
of the subject," and that he complained loudly of Mr. Clay for
his manner of getting possession of his letter of June 6th, to Mr.
Beverley. How they would have managed, if Mr. Clay had not
obtained the letter, it is impossible to say; but there is sufficient
evidence, that a profound and comprehensive portion of the plot
was being developed. It was undoubtedly modified, and probably
precipitated, by this accident. Hitherto General Jackson himself
had kept behind the curtain. But this disclosure — if it may be
called such — brought out the chieftain in full view, and enabled
Mr. Clay to Ascend upon him as his accuser. Mr. Buchanan is
the only witness, and is appealed to as such. It is not perhaps
certain, ht»w he would have spoken, in answer to this appeal, if he
had not been influenced by a transaction yet undisclosed, in which
he was personally concerned. He stood between two fires — the
wrath of General Jackson, and another deposited in ashes, which,
might at any moment be raked up, and scorch him. Of this last,

352 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY
General Jackson possibly knew nothing, and therefore reckoned on
Mr. Buchani&'s aid too confidently; or, if he did know— which
is not improbable — he still reckoned falsely. Lideed, he had no
choice. He was compelled to invoke the aid of his friend. Mr.
Clay had pressed him hard, and unexpectedly. They had doubt
less intended to steer clear of such a difficulty; but that unfortu
nate management at Wheeling had deranged all, and Mr. Clay had
descended the Ohio river, with General Jackson's letter of the 6th
June, in his pocket, to give to the public, they knew not how, or
when. It came down upon the Hermitage like an avalanche.
Then followed General Jackson's address to the public, the merits
of which have been considered. It was impossible for Mr. Bu
chanan to avoid his. destiny, and on the 8th of August, he sent to
the Lancaster Journal the communication found in the lower mar
gin of this chapter,* with ojher documents belonging to this branch
of the subject, which are more or less employed here as ev
idence, and which, carefully perused, will be found replete with
instruction. The extracts from Mr. Clay's address to the public,
in December, 1827, are especially commended to consideration.
* " To the Editor of the Lancaster Journal : —
" The Cincinnati Journal was last night placed in my hands by a friend, con
taining an address from General Jackson to the public, in which he announces
me to be the member of Congress, to whom he had referred, in his letter to Mr.
Beverley, of the 6th of June last. The duty which I owe to the public, and to
myself, now .compels me to publish to the world the only conversation which I
ever held with General Jackson, upon the subject of the last presidential election,
prior to its termination.
" In the month of December, 1824, a short time after the commencement ofthe
session of Congress, I heard, among other rumors then in circulation, that Gen
eral Jackson had determined, should he be elected president, to continue Mr. Ad
ams secretary of state. Although I felt certain he had never intimated such an
intention, yet I was sensible, that nothing could be better calculated, both to cool
the ardor of his friends, and inspire his enemies with confidence, than the belief,
that he had already selected his chief competitor for the highest office within his
gift. I thought General Jackson owed it to himself, and to the causlfin which
his political friends were engaged, to contradict this report ; and to declare that
he would not appoint to'that office the man, however worthy he might be, who
stood at the head of the most formidable part of his political enemies. These
being my impressions, I addressed a letter to a confidential friend in Pennsylva
nia, then and still high in office, and exalted in character, and one who had ever
been the decided advocate of General Jackson's election, requesting his opinion
and advice upon the subject. I received his answer, dated then«27th of Decem
ber, 1824, upon the 29th, whjch is now before me, and which strengthened and
confirmed my previous opinion. I then finally determined, either that I would
ask General Jackson myself, or get another of his friends to ask him, whether he
had ever declared he would appoint Mr. Adams his secretary of stated In this
manner, I hoped a contradiction of the report might be obtained from himself
and that he might probably declare it was not his intention to appoint Mr.
Adams. " A short time previous to the receipt of the letter, to which I have referred
my friend, Mr. Markley, and myself, got into conversation, as we very often did'
both before and after, upon the subject of the presidential election, and concern-

AND THE WITNESSES. 353
In all that is essential as a witness to the support of General
Jackson — and he the only witness — Mr. Buchanan disappoints him
utterly. His evidence, so far as it goes — and it certainly goes
ing the person who would probably be selected by General Jackson, to fill the
office of secretary of state. IJeel sincerely sorry, that I am compelled thus to
introduce his name ; but I do so' with the less reluctance, because it has already,
without any agency of mine, found its way into the newspapers, in connexion
with this transaction.
" Mr. Markley adverted to the rumor, which I have mentioned, and said it was
calculated to injure the general. He observed that Mr. Clay's friends were
warmly attached to him, and that he thought they would endeavor to act in con
cert at the election ; that if they did so, they could either elect Mr. Adams or
General Jackson, at their pleasure ; but that many of them would never agree
to vote for the latter, if they knew he had predetermined to prefer another to
Mr. Clay for the first office in his gift ; and that some of the friends of Mr. Ad
ams had already been holding out the idea, that, in case he were elected, Mr.
Clay might probably be offered the situation of secretary of state.
" I told Mr. Markley, that I felt confident General Jackson had never said he
would appoint Mr. Adams secretary of state, because he was not in the habit of
conversing upon the subj ect of the election ; and if he were, whatever might be
his secret intention, he had more prudence than*'to make such a declaration. I
mentioned to him, that I had been thinking, either that I would call upon the
general myself, or get one of his other friends to do so, and thus endeavor to ob
tain from him a contradiction of the report, although I doubted whether he would
hold any conversation upon the subject.
" Mr. Markley urged me to do so ; and observed, if General Jackson had not
determined whom he would appoint secretary of state, and should say that it
would not be Mr. Adams, it might be of great advantage to our cause for us so
to declare, upon his own authority. We should then be placed upon the same
footing with the Adams men, and might fight them with their own weapons.
That the western members would naturally prefer voting for a western man, if
there were a probability that the claims of Mr. Clay to the second office in the
government should be fairly estimated ; and that, if they thought proper to vote
for General Jackson, they could soon decide the contest in his favor.
" A short time after this conversation, on the 30th of December, 1824 (I am
able to fix the time, not only from my own recollection, but from letters which I
wrote on that day, on the day following, and on the 2d of January, 1825), I
called upon General Jackson. After the company had left him, by which I found
him surrounded, he asked me to'^ake a walk with him; and, while we were
walking together upon the street, I introduced the subject. I told him I wished
to ask him a question in relation to the presidential election ; that I knew he was
unwjlling to converse upon the subject ; that, therefore, if he deemed the ques
tion improper, he might refuse to give it an answer; that my only motive in ask-
in? it, wa^s.friendship for him, and I trusted he would excuse me for thus intro
ducing a subject about which I knew he wished to be silent.
" His reply was complimentary to myself, and accompanied with a request, that
I would proceed. I then stated to him, there was a report in circulation, that he
had determined he would appoint Mr. Adams secretary of state, in case he were
elected president, and that I wished to ascertain from him, whether he had' ever
intimated such anintention; that he must at once perceive how injurious to liis
election such a_re|jort might be ; that no doubt there were several able and am
bitious men inWe country, am»ng whom I thought Mr. Clay might be included,
who were aspiring to that office; and, if it were believed he had already deter
mined to appoint his chief competitor, it might have a most unhappy effect upon
' their exertions, and those of their friends ; that, unless he had so determined, I
thought this 'report should be promptly contradicted under his own authority.
" I mentioned it had already probably done him some injury, and proceeded to
relate to Mm the substance of the conversation I had held with Mr. Markley.
I do not remember, whether I mentioned his name, or merely described him as a
friend of "Mr. Clay. After I had finished, the general declared, he had not the
least objection to answer my question; that he thought well of Mr. Adams, but
had never said, or intimated, that he would, or would not, appoint him secretary
Vol. I.— 23

354 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY*'
a good way, and proves not a little — establishes the fact, that it was
General Jackson's, and not Mr. Clay's friends, who were busy and
active in this sort of management, called bargaining. Nowhere
of state ; that these were secrets he would keep to himself — he would conceal
them from the very hairs of his. head ; that if he believed his right hand then
knew what his left would do on the subject of Appointments to office, he would
cut it off, and cast it into the fire ; that if he should ever be elected president, it
would be without solicitation, and without intrigue, on his part ; that he would
then go into office perfectly free and untrammelled, and would be left at per
fect liberty to fill the offices of the government with the men, whom, at the time,
he believed to be the ablest and the best in the country.
" I told him, that this answer to my question was such a one as I had expected
to receive, if he answered it at all ; and that I had not sought to obtain it for my
own satisfaction. I then asked him, if I were at liberty to repeat his answer 1
He said, I was at perfect liberty to do so, to any person I thought proper. I need
scarcely remark, that I afterward availed myself of the privilege. The conver
sation upon this topic here ended, and in all our intercourse since, whether per
sonally, or in the course of our correspondence, General Jackson never once ad
verted to the subject, prior to the date of his letter to Mr. Beverley.
" I do not recollect, that General Jackson told me I might repeat his answer to
Mr. Clay and his friends ; though I should be sorry to say, he did not. The
whole conversation being upon a public street, it might have escaped my observa
tion. " A few remarks, and I trust I shall have done with this disagreeable business
for ever.
" I called upon General Jackson, upon the occasion which I have mentioned,
solely as his friend, upon my individual responsibility, and not as the agent of
Mr. Clay, or any other person. I never have been the political friend of Mr.
Clay, since he became a candidate for the office of president, as you very well
know. Until I saw General Jackson's letter to Mr. Beverley, of the 6th ult., and
at the same time was informed by a letter from the editor of the United States
Telegraph, that I was the person to whom he alluded, the conception never once
entered my head, that he believed me to be the agent of Mr. Clay, or of his
friends, or that I had intended to propose to him terms of any kind from them, or
that he could have supposed me to be capable of expressing ' the opinion that it
was right to fight such intriguers, with their own weapons.' Such a supposition,
had I entertained it, would have rendered me exceedingly unhappy, as there is no
man upon earth, whose good opinion I more valued, than that of General Jack
son". He could not, I think, have received this impression, until after Mr. Clay
and his friends had actually elected Mr. Adams president, and Mr. Adams had
appointed Mr. Clay secretary of state. After these events had transpired, it may
be readily 'conjectured, in what manner my communication might have led him
into the mistake. I deeply deplore, that such has been the effect.
" I owe it to my own character to make another observation. Had I ever
known, or even suspected, that General Jackson believed I had been sent to him
by Mr. Clay or his friends, I should immediately have corrected his erroneous
impression ; and thus prevented the necessity for this most unpleasant explana
tion. When the editor of the United States Telegraph, on the 12th of October
last, asked me by letter for information upon this subject, I promptly informed
him by the returning mail, on the 16th of that month, that I had no authority
from Mr. Clay, or his friends, to propose any terms to General Jackson, in rela
tion to their votes, nor did I ever make any such proposition ; and that I trusted I
would be as incapable of becoming a messenger upon such an occasion, as it was
known General Jackson would be to receive such a message. I have deemed it
necessary to make this statement, in order to remove any misconception which
may have been occasioned by the publication in the Telegraph, of my letter to
the editor, dated the 11th ultimo.
" With another remark I shall close this communication. BeforeW held the
conversation with General Jackson, which I have detailed, I called*upon Major
Eaton, and requested him to ask General Jackson, whether he had ever declared
or intimated, that he would appoint Mr. Adams secretary of state, and expressed
a desire that the general should say, if consistent with the truth, that he did not

AXD THE WITNESSES. 355
does a friend of Mr. Clay appeal- on the stage, according to this
witoess. It is true, he drags in his own friend, Mr. Markley, and
tries to make him a Clay-man, for the occasion. But it will be
intend to appoint him to that office. I believed, that such a declaration would
have a happy influence upon the election, and I endeavored to convince him,
that such would be the effect. The conversation between us was not so full, as
that with General Jackson. The major politely declined to comply with my re
quest, and advised me to propound the question to the general myself, as I pos
sessed a full share of his confidence. " James Buchanan.
"Lancaster, 8th August, 1827."
EXTRACTS FROM MR. MARKLEY's LETTER TO THE PUBLIC.
* *•»*»*«
"That I was originally friendly to the election of General Jackson to the
presidency, I do not deny .... I voted for him in the democratic caucus of
1S24. I subsequently, not only gave him my vote, but used my best exertions, by
every fair and honorable means, to promote his election to the presidential chair.
. . . Because I had been defeated by a constitutional majority, in my desire to
have General Jackson elected, it did not seem to me, that I was called upon to
resist, embarrass, and overthrow, the new administration, whether it should be
right or wrong. . . . When I ascertained that he [Mr. Adams] had taken to his
aid such able and experienced advisers as Mr. Clay, Mr. Rush, Mr. Southard,
and Mr. Barbour, men identified with the republican institutions of the country,
in peace, and in war; men who had enjoyed the confidence of the republican ad
ministrations of Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Madison, and Mr. Monroe ; men who had
long acted, and were incorporated, with the great democratic family of the Union,
I did not feel at liberty to doubt what would be the character of Mr. Adams's ad
ministration. " The latter end of December, 1824, I believe — but can not with absolute cer
tainty say — it was on the 30lh, my friend, Mr. Buchanan, called to see me in the
evening, at my boarding-house. I happened to be alone in my room. Mr. B.
commenced by stating that he felt great solicitude for the election of General
Jackson, and that his friends should use every honorable means to promote it — to
which I replied, that I heartily united with him in opinion. Mr. B. adverted to
the rumors that were afloat, that the friends of Mr. Adams were holding out the
idea, that, in case he should be elected, Mr. Clay would probably be offered the
situation of secretary of state, and that, in case General Jackson should be elect
ed, he would appoint or continue Mr. Adams secretary of state. I told Mr. B. I
thought such a report was calculated to do General Jackson a great deal of inju
ry, and if it were not well founded, it ought to be contradicted, and mentioned
further, that there was great plausibility in such reports, and their receiving
credit, particularly that which represented General Jackson as having determined,
if he should be elected, that he would continue Mr. Adams secretary of state, in
asmuch as Mr. A. had been one of his ablest defenders and advocates in his
report sustaining General Jackson against the charges, which were preferred
against him in relation to the Seminole war.
" Mr. Buchanan stated, that he had written to, or received a letter from,
a mutual friend of ours in Pennsylvania, on the subject of the presidential
election, and cabinet appointments, and that he had determined to call upon the
general himself, or to get Major Eaton to mention to him the reports that were
in circulation, and obtain, if he could, a contradiction of them. Mr. B. also
asked, if I had seen Mr. Clay — and whether I had had any conversation with
him, touching the presidential election ? I replied, that I had seen him in the
house, but had had no conversation with him on that subject; but said, I was
anxious to get an opportunity to have a conversation with him, as I felt a great
anxiety, lhat he should vote with Pennsylvania. Mr. B. replied, that no ane felt
more anxious, for various reasons, than he did himself; that it was important,
not only for the success of General Jackson's election, that Mr. Clay should go
with Pennsylvania, but on account of his ulterior political prospects — declaring
that he [Mr. B.] hoped to see Mr. Clay president of the United-States, and that
was another reason why he should like to s,^e'ilr. Clay secretary of state, in

356 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY
seen, by his own evidence, that this function was as uncanonical,
as General Jackson's feigning, that he verily thought Mr. Buchanan
was a Clay-man. Both had equal reason, and the same motive.
case General Jackson was elected ; and that, if he were certain that Mr. Clay's
views were favorable to General Jackson's election, he would take an opportu
nity of talking with Genera] Jackson on the subject, or get Major Eaton to do
so ; that he thought, by doing so, he would confer a particular benefit on his
country, and that he could see nothing wrong in it. Mr. B. urged me to use no
delay in seeing Mr. Clay. I told him I would, and accordingly called upon Mr.
Clay, at his boarding-house, I think the evening after this conversation ; but he
was not at his lodgings. I called to see him again, but he had some of his
friends with him, and I had no opportunity of conversing with him, nor had I
ever any conversation with him, until the evening of the 1 Oth or 11th of January,
prior to my leaving Washington for Pennsylvania, to attend the courts in Mont
gomery county. The conversation I then had with him, was of a very general
character. No mention was made of cabinet appointments, and I did not ascer
tain which of the candidates Mr. Clay would support.
"I have no recollection of anything being said, in the conversation with Mr.
Buchanan, about the friends of Mr. Clay moving in concert at the election. I
however distinctly recollect, that we both expressed an anxious hope, that the
west would not separate from Pennsylvania. I have no recollection whatever
of having urged Mr. B. to see General Jackson, although I concurred in the pro
priety of his suggestion, that he should call to see him ; nor have I the faintest
recollection of anything being said about fighting Mr. Adams's friends with
their own weapons. If any such expressions were used, I am very certain, it
was not by me. From the recollection I have of the conversation, to which Mr.
Buchanan has reference, in his letter to the public, of the 8th of August last, mj-
impressions are, that the object of his visit that evening was to urge the propri
ety of my seeing Mr. Clay, and to give him my view as to the importance of his
identifying himself with Pennsylvania, in support of General Jackson. I enter
tained no doubt, that Mr. Buchanan was honestly determined, that no exertions,
on his part, should be wanting, and that he felt confident he could speak with
certainty, as to the great mass of General Jackson's friends, that, in case of the
election of General Jackson, they would press upon him the appointment of Mr.
Clay as secretary of state.
" Mr. Buchanan concurred with me, in opinion, that Pennsylvania would pre
fer Mr. Clay's "appointment, to that of any other person, as secretary of state, and
from the obligation the general was under to Pennsylvania, that he would go far
to gratify her wishes, and that, therefore, he believed the general, if elected,
would appoint Mr. Clay.
"I have thus given the conversation substantially, as it took place, as the one
Mr. B. has reference to, in his letter to the public, of the 8th of August last, lt
was a conversation of a general and promiscuous character, in which we both par
ticipated. It is upward of two years, since that conversation took place, and con
sidering it of a private and confidential character, I made no minute of it, nor did
I ever expect it would be given to the public. It is somewhat remarkable, that
two years ar.d more should have elapsed, Mr. Buchanan and myself boarding to
gether at the same house, during the last two sessions of Congress, during which
period we had many conversations on the subject of the presidential election, as
well as on public and private matters, yet, not once, in all that time, did my friend,
Mr. Buchanan, ever advert to the conversation, which he has recently thought
himself called upon to give to the public, as having taken place between us. I
can not avoid thinking it somewhat singular, that Mr. B. should have been so
reserved toward me, particularly as Duff Green had been furnished with a state
ment, in October, 1826, of what had passed between General Jackson and him
self; and that a statement had also been furnished to him, by Major Eaton, in
August, 1826, as to the purport of the conversation between himself and Mr.
Buchanan. That these movements should have taken place, and that there
should have been no concert improperly to drag me into this business, and vet
that, under all these circumstances, Mr. B. should have been silent toward me, and
tliit he, should think proper to introduce a detailed conversation, in which he
makes me say all, and himself little or nothing — a conversation totally unneces-

AND THE WITNESSES. 357
It is manifest, however, from these two notable documents, Gen
eral Jackson's and Mr. Buchanan's — not to speak of other evi
dences — that there was bargaining going on. These documents
sary for the purpose of sustaining an individual, acting, as he protests he always
acted, on his own authority — does, to me, and probably will to the public, seem
somewhat unaccountable. It gives me pain to think of these things, especially as
having emanated from a person, to whom I feel obligations of friendship, for acts
of kindness, and in whose friendship I reposed the most unlimited confidence.
* ***** * *
" It has repeatedly been stated, that I was the agent, or as Major Eaton is
pleased to say, ' the negotiator,' of Mr. Clay, authorized to make propositions, or
ask a pledge, of a conditional character, for the vote of Mr. Clay and his friends.
I do now solemnly and positively declare, that the charge and insinuation are
void of truth. I never did, either directly or indirectly, receive from Mr. Clay,
or his friends, any intimation, which could be construed, even by political rancor,
into such a commission, or anything even remotely approaching to it. Had any
such agency, by any one, been tendered, I should have indignantly rejected it. I
will go further, and state, that never did I, in the course of my conversation with
Mr. Clay, hear him say, or express a desire, that, in the event of the election of
General Jackson, Mr. Adams, or Mr. Crawford, he should wish to be secretary
of state, or hold any station in the cabinet. Further, I never have, to any one,
at any time, or on any occasion, represented myself, or wished it to be understood,
that I was authorized to receive, or to make, overtures on the part of Mr. Clay,
or his friends. I think proper to make this general and unqualified declaration,
that there may not be left a loophole on which to hang a doubt, on this subject.
I did rtfct know, until ten days after the election of Mr. Adams, that Mr. Clay
had been offered the appointment of secretary of state ; and it is a well-known
fact, that, after he had the offer, he consulted many of his friends, whether he
should, or should not, accept it. He told me, in a conversation he did me the
honor to hold with me, on the subject, that the acceptance of it would not only be
to him a sacrifice of domestic happiness, but a serious pecuniary loss. I know,
also, that not only his immediate personal and political friends, but many of those
who voted for other candidates, were desirous that he should accept the station,
and urged, that his country had claims upon him, and would never see him suffer
from devotion to her best interests.
" I am free to acknowledge, that, at the time of the conversation between Mr.
Buchanan and myself, my impression was, that General Jackson would be elect
ed ; and it was pretty generally talked of, as well as understood, among many of
his friends, that, in the event of his election, Mr. Clay would have the offer of
secretary of state ; and I doubt not, that I may, in common with others, have
mentioned my opinion to my political friends. These impressions were founded
on. the belief, that the western interest would unite in General Jackson's elec
tion, and that, with the aid of one or two of the states in favor of Mr. Crawford,
he would be elected. I mention these floating opinions of the day, to show, that
I have no reserve, and that all I said, or did, I am quite willing should be known.
" I left Washington for Pennsylvania, on the morning of the 11th or 12th of
January, 1825, and did not return till Tuesday, the 30th of the same month, the
day after Mr. Clay's card had appeared in the National Intelligencer. This ab
sence, at this critical juncture, is of itself sufficient to repel the idea, that I took
any peculiar interest as to the arrangements dependent on who might, or might
not, be elected president.
*********" All that appears from the showing of Mr. Buchanan and Mr. Isaacks, so far
as I was concerned, is, tiiat, in common with those gentlemen, I expressed myself
exceedingly anxious for the election of General Jackson, and, on my own personal
responsibility, said and did all I could to promote it.
*****»*•" I do not recollect, that Mr. Buchanan and myself had any conversation, from
the 30th of December, until after my return to Washington, on the 30th of Janu
ary, that is, for the whole month almost immediately preceding the election — du
ring the greater part of which time, I was more than a hundred miles from the
scene of action.

358 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY
prove, first, that General Jackson was upon the stage — suppose
merely passive. He was there. Next, they prove, that a Jack-
son-inan (Mr. Buchanan) had to do with General Jackson, on this
" In none of the conversations, of which I have any knowledge, was there any
thing said, which had the slightest tendency to fix or trace, cither corruption or
bargain, to Mr. Adams, to General Jackson, to Mr. Crawford, or to Mr. Clay.
All that I was able to discover among the friends of the respective candidates, was,
a fair and honorable anxiety and zeal to promote the election of their favorite
candidates. "Philip S. Markley.
" Philadelphia, October 30, 1827."
MAJOR EATON TO THE PUBLIC — AN EXTRACT.
********
" I can not precisely, and to a day, declare the time when Mr. Buchanan came to
see, and to converse with me ; but I do recollect it to have been during that week,
on the Saturday of which the reported meeting of Mr. Clay and his friends took
place, and when the determination was taken to support Mr. Adams. I feel quite
satisfied, that the meeting, to which I allude, was on Saturday, the 22d of Janu
ary. Early in that week, Tuesday or Wednesday evening, Mr. Buchanan visited
me. It was on the pavement, and in front of my own residence, where we con
versed together. A statement of our conversation, concisely drawn, was given to
General Green, editor of the United States Telegraph, at his request, in August,
1826, more than a year ago. It is as follows : —
"In January, 1825, a few days before it had been known, that Mr. Clay and
his friends had declared in favor of Mr. Adams, I was called upon by Jftr. Bu
chanan, of Pennsylvania. He said, it was pretty well ascertained, that overtures
were making, by the friends of Adams, on the subject of cabinet appointments ;
that Jackson should fight them with their own weapons. He said, the opinion
was, that Jackson would retain Adams, and that it was doing him injury ; that
the general should state whom he would make secretary of state, and desired that
I would name it to him. My reply was, that I was satisfied General Jackson
would say nothing on the subject. Mr. Buchanan then remarked : « Well, if he
will merely say, he will not retain Mr. Adams, that will answer.' I replied, I
was satisfied, General Jackson would neither say who should, nor who should
not, be secretary of state— but that he (Mr. B.) knew him well, and might talk
with him as well as I could. Mr. Buchanan then said, that, on the. next day, be
fore the general went to the senate, he would call. He did so, as I afterward
understood. " In this application and interview, I felt that Mr. Buchanan was acting on the
ground of anxious solicitude for the success of General Jackson, and from a de
sire that nothing of stratagem and management should interpose to prevent tfte
election of one for whom he felt more than common interest. I considered, that,
in his zeal, he felt it to be right to defend the citadel against unlooked-for assaults,
and believed, consequently, that the enemy should be met with their own weap
ons. He may have intended to present this as the idea and opinion of others, not
his own. Such, indeed, may have been the case, though I can not say I so un
derstood him at the time.
" I take occasion to repeat, that the conversation, as here given, at the request
of the editor of the United States Telegraph, was afforded him in August, 1826
while he was on a visit to Tennessee. I mention this fact, because the statement
being in his (Mr. B.'s) possession, he will be enabled to say, if the one he has
and that which is here submitted, be not the same. »
" John H. Eaton.
"Franklin Tennessee, September 12, 1827."
MR. BUCHANAN TO THE EDITOR Or THE UNITED STATES TELEGRAPH OCTOBER
16, 1826 — AN EXTRACT.
" At this distance of time, I could not, if I would, explain to you all the causes
which induced me to hold the only conversation I ever held with General Jack
son, on the subject of the presidential election. It will be sufficient, however

AND THE WITNESSES. 359
subject. Admit, that Mr. Buchanan was "on familiar and friendly
terms with Mr. Clay." That is his general character with politi
cal opponents. He was all the better qualified, on this account,
for your purpose, to know, that I had no authority from Mr. Clay, or his friends,
to propose any terms to General Jackson, in relation to their votes, nor did I make
any such proposition. I trust I would be as incapable of becoming a messenger
on such an occasion, as it is known General Jackson would be to receive such a
message. " I repeated the substance of this conversation to a few friends, at Washing
ton, one of whom must have communicated it to you. That person, whoever he
may be, is entirely mistaken, in supposing the subject of it to have been what
you allege in your letter. I must, therefore, protest against bringing that con
versation before the people, through the medium of the Telegraph, or any other
newspaper, " The facts are before the world, that Mr. Clay and his particular friends made
Mr. Adams president, and Clay secretary of state. The people will draw their
own inference from such conduct, and the circumstances connected with it. They
will judge of the cause from the effect."
FROM THE UNITED STATES TELEGRAPH, JULY, 1827.
" All that the public will require of General Jackson, is, that he shall give the
name of his distinguished friend, through whom the views of Mr. Clay's friends
were communicated to him. Immediately upon the receipt of General Jackson's
letter to Mr. Beverley, we enclosed a copy of it to that distinguished member of
Congress, and received the following reply : — " <  , July 16, 1827.
" ' Dear Sir : I received yours of the 30th ultimo, on the morning of the 5th
instant. In answer to it, I can only, at present, refer you to my answer to yours
of the 12th of October last. I have a very distinct recollection of the only con
versation I ever held with General Jackson, concerning the last presidential
election, prior to its termination, and when compelled to disclose it, I need not
say, that I will speak the truth.
" ' Everything in this state [Pennsylvania], at present, looks well for the general?
We have been making great exertions in his behalf. The character of the pro
posed convention of states at Harrisburg, seems now to be pretty well understood.
I hope that nothing may occur to mar his prospects here, as a doubt about the vote
of this state, might have a serious effect against him throughout the Union.
" ' From your friend,

MR. CLAY'S ADDRESS TO THE PUBLIC, DECEMBER, 1827 — EXTRACTS.
** ******
" It was the policy, with which the political campaign was conducted, in the
winter of 1824-'5, by the forces of the general, in the first instance, to practise
stratagem with my friends and me. Accordingly, the arts of persuasion and flat
tery were employed. But as I did not hasten to give in my adhesion, and re
mained most mysteriously silent, in other words, had not converted myself into a
zealous and boisterous partisan of General Jackson, it became necessary to
change that policy, and to substitute intimidations for blandishment. Mr. Kre
mer presented himself as a fit agent in this new work. He was ardent, impelled
by a blind and infuriate zeal, and irresponsible, and possessed at least the faculty
of clamorous vociferation. His letter to the Columbian Observer was prepared,
and he was instructed to sign and transmit it. That he was not the author of
the letter, he has deliberately admitted to Mr. Crowningshield, former secretary
of the navy. That he was not acquainted with its contents, that is, did not com
prehend the import of its terms, has been sufficiently established. To Governor
Kent, Col. Little (who voted in the house of representatives for Gen. Jackson),
Col. Brent, of Louisiana, and Mr. Digges, he disclaimed all intention of imputing
anything dishonorable to me. Who was the real author of the letter published
in the Columbian Observer, to which Mr. Kremer affixed his signature, I will not
undertake positively to assert. Circumstances render it highly probable, that it
was written by Mr. Eaton, and with the knowledge of General Jackson. In re-

360 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY
for any intermediate services. It is, moreover, proved by these
documents, that the principle of bargaining, or what they called
"fighting the Adams-men with their own weapons" — they having
lation to the card of Mr. Kremer, in answer to that which I had previously in
serted in the National Intelligencer, I remarked in my circular to my constituents,
that the night before the appearance of Mr. Kremer's, as I was voluntarily in
formed, Mr. Eaton, a senator from Tennessee, and the biographer of General
Jackson (who boarded in the end of this city opposite to that in which Mr. Kre
mer took up his abode, a distance of about two miles and a half), was closeted
for some time with him. This paragraph led to a correspondence between Mr.
Eaton and myself, in the course of which, in a letter from me to him, under date
the 31st March, 1825, I observe : ' It is proper for me to add, that I did believe,
from your nocturnal interview with Mr. Kremer, referred to in my address, that
you prepared or advised the publication of his card, in the guarded terms in
which it is expressed. I should be happy, by a disavowal on your part, of the
fact of that interview, or of its supposed object, to be able to declare, as in the
event of such disavowal, I would taBe* pleasure in declaring, that I have been
mistaken in supposing that you had any agency in the composition or publication
of that card.' No occasion can be conceived more fitting for an explicit denial of
any participation, on the part of Mr. Eaton, in the transaction referred to. It
was the subject of the correspondence between us, and I purposely afforded him
an honorable opportunity of avowing or disavowing any co-operation with Mr.
Kremer. Instead of embracing it, he does not deny the visit, nor my inference
from it. On the contrary, he says in his letter of the 31st March, 1825 : ' Sup
pose the fact to be, that I did visit him [Mr. Kremer] ; and suppose, too, that it
was, as you have termed it, a nocturnal visit; was there anything existing, that
should have denied me this privilege ? '
" As Mr. Kremer asserted, that he did not write the letter to the Columbian
Observer, and as Mr. Eaton does not deny that he wrote the card, published in
Mr. Kremer's name, the inference is not unfair, that, having been Mr. Kremer's
adviser and amanuensis on one occasion, he acted in the same character on the
other. It is quite clear, that the statements in the letter Io the Columbian Ob
server, are not made upon Mr. Kremer's own knowledge. He speaks of ' reports,'
'rumors,' &c. ' Overtures were said to have been made,' &c.
"It is most probable, that these statements are founded on General Jackson's
interpretation of the object of Mr. Buchanan's interview. How did he obtain
the information, which was communicated to the Columbian Observer ? Upon
the supposition, that the letter was prepared by Mr. Eaton, we can at once com
prehend it. He [Mr. Eaton] was perfectly apprized of all that had passed be
tween Mr. Buchanan and General Jackson. The coincidence of the language
employed in the letter to the Columbian Observer, with that of General Jackson
to Mr. Carter Beverley, is very striking, and proves, that it has a common origin.
Mr. Kremer says : ' Overtures were said to have been made to the friends of Clay,
offering him the appointment of secretary of state, for his aid to elect Mr. Ad
ams.' General Jackson says : 'He [Mr. Buchanan] said he had been informed,
by the friends of Mr. Clay, that the friends of Mr. Adams had made overtures to
them, saying, if Mr. Clay and his friends would unite in aid of the election of
Mr. Adams, Mr. Clay should be secretary of state.3 The variations between
other parts of the two letters, are not greater than often occur in different narra
tives of the same conversation. They are not so great as those which exist in the
accounts, which General Jackson has himself given, at different times, of the
same transaction. This will be manifest, from a comparison of Mr. Beverley's
report of the conversation at the Hermitage, contained in his Fayetteville letter
of the 8th March last, with General Jackson's statement of the same conversa
tion, in his letter to Mr. Beverley of the 6th of June. Speaking of this letter
Mr. Beverley says, in his letter to N. Zane, Esq., that ' General Jackson asserts
a great deal more than he told me.'
" From the intimacy, which existed between General Jackson and Mr. Eaton,
and from the fact, stated by them both, ofthe knowledge which each possessed of
Mr. Buchanan's communication, it can not be reasonably doubted, if Mr. Eaton
prepared Mr. Kremer's letter, that General Jackson was acquainted with this
fact. It is worthy of particular observation, that, up to this day, as far as I am

AND THE WITNESSES. 361
first charitably assumed, that the " Adams-men" were so employed —
was recognised as proper for the friends of General Jackson, in
such a case. It is true, that Mr. Buchanan tries to make his friend,
informed, Mr. Kremer has most carefully concealed the source, whence he derived
the statements contained in his famous letter.
******** "My personal acquaintance with General Jackson commenced in the fall of
1815, at the city of Washington. Prior to that time, I had never seen him.
Our intercourse was then friendly and cordial. He , engaged to pass a week of
the ensuing summer, at my residence in Kentucky. During that season, I received
a letter from him, communicating his regret, that he was prevented from visiting
me. I did not again see him, until the session of Congress, at which the e'vents
of the Seminole war were discussed. He arrived at Washington in the midst of
the debate, and after the delivery, but before the publication, of the first speech,
which I pronounced on that subject. Waiving all ceremony, I called to see him,
intending by the visit, to evince, on my part, that no opinion, which a sense of
duty had, compelled me to express of his pwblic conduct, ought to affect our per
sonal intercourse. My visit was not returned, and I was subsequently told, that
he was in the habit of indulging in the bitterest observations upon most of those —
myself among the number — who had called in question the propriety of his mili
tary conduct in the Seminole war. I saw no more of him, except possibly at a
distance, during the same winter, in this city, until the summer of the year 1819.
Being, in that summer, on my way from New Orleans to Lexington, and travel
ling the same road on which he was passing, in the opposite direction, from Lex
ington to Nashville, we met at Lebanon, Kentucky, where I had stopped at break
fast. I was sitting at the door, in the shade, reading a newspaper, when the
arrival of General Jackson and his suite, was announced. As he ascended the
steps, and approached me, I rose and saluted him, in the most respectful manner.
He darted by me, slightly inclining his head, and abruptly addressing me. He
was followed by some of his suite, who stopped and conversed with me some
time, giving mc the latest information of my family. I afterward learnt, that
General Jackson accompanied President Monroe, in a visit to my family, and par
took of some slight refreshment at my house. On leaving the tavern at Lebanon,
I had occasion to go into a room, where I found General Jackson seated, reading
a newspaper, and I retired, neither having spoken to the other, and pursued my
journey, in company with four or five travelling companions.
" Such was the state of our relations, at the commencement of the session of
Congress in 1823, the interval having passed without my seeing him. Soon after
his arrival here to attend that session, I collected from certain indications, that
he had resolved upon a general amnesty, the benefit of which was to be extended
to me. He became suddenly reconciled with some individuals, between whom
and himself there had been a long-existing enmity. The greater part of the Ten
nessee delegation — all, I believe, except Mr. Eaton and General Cocke — called
on me together, early in the session, for the express purpose, as I understood, of
producing a reconciliation between us. I related in substance all of the above
circumstances, including the meeting at Lebanon. By way of apology for this
conduct at Lebanon, some of the gentlemen remarked, that he did not intend any
disrespect to me, but that he was laboring under some indisposition. I stated,
that the opinions which I had expressed in the house of representatives, in regard
to General Jackson's military transactions, had been sincerely entertained, and
were still held, but that, being opinions in respect to public acts, they never had
been supposed by me to form any just occasion for private enmity between us, and
that none had been cherished on my part. Consequently, there was, on my side,
no obstacle to a meeting with him, and maintaining a respectful intercourse. For
the purpose of bringing us together, the Tennessee representatives, all of whom,
according to my recollection, boarded at Mrs. Claxton's, on Capitol Hill, gave a
dinner, to which we were both invited, and at which, I remember, Mr. Senator
White, then acting as a commissioner under the Florida treaty, and others, were
present. We there met, exchanged salutations, and dined together. I retired
from the table early, and was followed to the door by General Jackson and Mr.
Eaton, who insisted on my taking a seat in their carriage. I rode with them, and
was set down at my lodgings. I was afterward invited by General Jackson to

362 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
Mr. Markley, responsible for this sentiment; but, Mr. Markley de
nies it — "I am very certain it was not by me;" General Jackson
ascribes it to Mr. Buchanan; Major Eaton, in a copy of his con-
dine with him, where I met Mr. Adams, Mr. Calhoun, Mr. Southard, and many
other gentlemen, chiefly members of Congress. He also dined, in company with
fifteen or eighteen members of Congress, at my lodgings, and we frequently met,
in the course of the winter, always respectfully addressing each other.
"Just before I left Kentucky the succeeding fall, November, 1824, to proceed
to Washington, a report reached Lexington, that General Jackson, intended to
take that place in his route to the city. Our friendly intercourse having been
restored, in the manner stated, I was very desirous that he should arrive, prior to
my departure from home, that I might offer to him the hospitality of my house,
and lest he might misinterpret the motive cf my departure, if it preceded his arri
val. In this temper of mind, I think it quite possible, that I may have said, that,
if I had been aware of his intention to pass that way, I would have written to
him when I intended to set out, and urged him to reach Lexington before I started
on my journey. I certainly never contemplated travelling in company with him,
having some time before made all my arrangements for the journey with the gen
tleman who accompanied me, and having determined upon a route different from
the usual one, which was taken by General Jackson. It has been affirmed, that I
wrote to him, expressing a wish to accompany him to the city of Washington,
and his silence would seem to imply an acquiescence in the correctness of the
statement, if it were not put forward on his suggestion. I am quite sure, that I
did not, at that period, write him a letter of any description ; but, if I did, I here
express my entire assent to the publication of that or any other letter addressed to
him by me. I do not believe I did, because I do not think that there was time,
after I heard of his intention to come by Lexington, for a letter from me to reach
Nashville, and an answer to be. returned, before it was requisite to commence the
journey — a punctual attendance on my part being necessary as the presiding
officer of the house. If such a letter had been — as most undesignedly it might
have beep — written, can anything more strongly illustrate the spirit of hostility
against me, than the unwarrantable inferences, which have been drawn from
that assumed fact ? When I left home in November, I did not certainly know the
electoral vote of a solitary state in the Union. Although I did not doubt the
result of that in Kentucky, the returns had not come in, and the first authentic
information which I received of the vote of any state, was that of Ohio, which
reached me on the Kanawha, during the journey, more than two hundred miles
from my residence. Whether I would be one of the three returned to the house
of representatives, was not ascertained, until more than three weeks after I had
reached Washington. Is it not, then, most unreasonable to suppose, if I had
written such a letter, as has been imagined, proposing that we should travel
together, that I could have had any object connected with the presidential elec
tion ? I reached Washington several days before him. Shortly after his arrival,
he called to see me, but I was out. I returned the visit, considering it in both
instances one of mere ceremony. I met with him but rarely during that session,
and always, when I did see him, in company. I sought no opportunities to meet
him, for, having my mind unalterably fixed in its resolution not to vote for him, I
wished to inspire him with no hopes from me. The presidential election never
was a topic, to which the most distant allusion was made by me, in any conversa
tion with him, but once, and that happened at a dinner given by the Russian min
ister, the late Baron Tuyll, on the 24th of December, 1824. I recollect the
day, because it was the birthday of the late emperor, Alexander. About thirty
gentlemen composed the party, and among them, Mr. Adams, Mr. Calhoun, General
Jackson, and I think, Mr. Macon. Just before we passed from the drawing into
the dining-room, a group of some eight or ten gentlemen were standing together
of whom General Jackson and I were a part, and internal improvement  I do not
recollect how — became the subject of conversation. I observed to him in the
course of it, that, if he should be elected president, I hoped the cause would
prosper under his administration. He made some general remarks, which I will
not undertake to state, lest I should do him injustice.
* * *'* * * # #
" After our meeting at Lebanon, ages might have rolled away, and if we both
continued to live, I never would have sought the renewal of any intercourse with

AND THE WITNESSES. 363
versation with Mr. Buchanan, given to the editor of the U. S.
Telegraph, in August, 1826, makes Mr. B. say, " that Jackson
should fight them [the Adams men] with their own weapons ;" and
again, in his letter of September 12, 1 827, he apologizes for Mr.
Buchanan, for having said it. Anyhow, it was manifestly adopted,
as a recognised principle, to " fight the Adams-men with their own
weapons," it being understood to be bargaining. So that, it can
not be disrespectful to take them on their own word, especially if
their actions agree, whether "the Adams-men" did so or not.
They do not pretend to impute this to their opponents on any other
ground, than that of rumor; and so far as appears, by their own
showing, the rumor was started and circulated by themselves. No
evidence has ever yet been adduced, that this rumor was in
any mouths but their own, much less that the rumor was founded
on any facts. They have, therefore, the just credit, first, of rais
ing the wind, and then of spreading their own sails to the breeze.
There was much anxiety, and great activity, in these affairs; and
the only persons that appear on the stage are General Jackson and
his men. The general represents, that he was passive, in the over
tures made to him. and treated them with scorn and indignation;
and appeals to Mr. Buchanan as his witness. Mr. Buchanan tes
tifies, that no overtures were made, and that the general treated him
very politely. Mr. Buchanan gives a remarkable reason why, and
how, and when General Jackson adopted the " erroneous impres
sion" — as Mr. B. calls it — viz., that overtures were made to him.
He says: "He [General Jackson] could not, I think, have re
ceived this, impression, until after Mr. Clay and his friends had
actually elected Mr. Adams president, and Mr. Adams had ap
pointed Mr. Clay secretary of state. After these events had trans
pired, it may be readily conjectured, in what manner my communi
cation might have led him into the mistake. I deeply deplore,
that such has been the effect."
This is, surely, an unfortunate witness, who, being summoned
into court, to help a party, and being his only help, has not only
testified against him in every important particular, and broken
down the last prop of his cause, but turns round and tells him, in
open court: "Sir, you are demented. You have been made crazy
him. When he came to the senate, and at the commencement ofthe next session
of Congress, the system of operation decided on, in respect to my friends and me,
was one of courteous and assiduous attention. From that, the transition was, to
a scheme of intimidation, of which Mr. Kremer's letter is only a small part of
the evidence."

364 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY
by disappointment. 'I deeply deplore,' that the fact is so!"
What does the above statement amount to, less than a declaration
of dementation? "He could not have received this impression
till after," &c. When these events "had transpired, it may read
ily he conjectured, in what manner my communication might have
led him into this mistake!" "Conjectured — in what manner."
These are words big with meaning, and no one doubts what the
meaning is. Or, if it be equivocal, the only doubt can be, as to
which of two meanings is to be ascribed to them — dementation or
crime. Mr. Buchanan leaves it with the public, to determine
which. He dare not speak either. He only says : " It may read
ily be conjectured, in what manner." According to Mr. Buchan
an's evidence, there was no warrant for such an impression, arising
out of the conversation between himself and General Jackson.
The conclusion then is, that the result of the election had either
turned the general's head, or determined him to start an accusa
tion, which had neither warrant, nor evidence ; or rather, to repro
duce the Kremer charge, which doubtless had the same origin with
this — not to say, that it was under the same superintendence.
It is not supposed, that Mr. Buchanan really intended to
deal thus severely with General Jackson. But what could he
do? He must justify his contradiction, and give a plausible
reason for "this erroneous impression," "this mistake." He
certainly did hit upon a plausible, and doubtless the true rea
son, probably in the hope, that this covert mode of expres
sion, which requires some thought fully to apprehend it, would not
be seen through, either by the general, or by the public ; at least,
that much of its force would be abated. It is unquestionably the
greatest severity that could be invented — a killing, annihilating
blow. What of the general's position, in his address to the pub
lic, of the 18th July, remained after this?
But Mr. Buchanan's position, in this affair, claims attention.
General Jackson no doubt supposed he was not in error, as to his
recollection of Mr. Buchanan's having proposed to "fight such
intriguers with their own weapons." That circumstance, in his
view, might justly be taken, as a strong symptom, that he was not
altogether unqualified for the present emergency. It now became
necessary for him to support his letter to Carter Beverley, as it
was before the public ; there was no time to get up a new under
standing; would not the man, who had proposed "to fight such
intriguers with their own weapons," come up to the present crisis.

AND THE WITNESSES. 365
and answer all his purposes? He must risk it anyhow, and he did.
But Mr. Buchanan had something more to fear, than the contin
gent effects of disappointing General Jackson, or the simple sug
gestion of "fighting such intriguers with their own weapons." He
had more need of a shield against another quarter, and he was now
doomed to sail his bark between Scylla and Charybdis. The ad
dress to the public, from the Hermitage, of the 18th of July, was
no doubt an astounding one to him. His extreme nervousness is
betrayed throughout his answer. At one time, he crawls up, and
crouches, as at the foot of a despot, apparently deprecating his lot,
to say, "there is no man on earth, whose good opinion I more
valued, than that of General Jackson;" at another, "a few re
marks, and I trust, I shall have done with this disagreeable subject
for ever;" at another, he speaks of "this most unpleasant expla
nation;" and he solemnly avers, "I never have been the political
friend of Mr. Clay, since he became a candidate for the presi
dency." But this was too well known, to require protestation,
though there could be no harm in reminding the lord of the Hermit
age of the fact. But Mr. Buchanan understood his position too
well, in some personal relations to Mr. Clay, about these matters,
not to vindicate him before all the world, and rescue him, so far as
his own evidence was concerned, from this atrocious calumny.
He had himself made proof of Mr. Clay's virtue !
But the manner, in which Mr. Buchanan drags Mr. Markley
upon the stage, and the large space he makes him fill, are worthy
of notice. Why introduce him at all? There seems to be no
special demand for his appearance. He makes his entrance and
exit, with every demonstration of innocence toward all parties, and
seems not to have been very earnestly engaged, or very active,
about anything, appertaining to this affair. He was absent from
Washington, from the 11th or 12th of January till the 30th —
during the most exciting time — and "does not recollect, that Mr.
Buchanan and himself had any conversation, from the 30th De
cember, till after his return to Washington." It was indeed
thought, that, in case of need, they might possibly manufacture a
friend of Mr. Clay out of Mr. Markley, and make him the bearer
of dishonorable overtures from Mr. Clay's friends to General
Jackson's friends; and after Mr. Buchanan had disappointed
them, and since Mr. B. had made use of him for his own purpo
ses, Major Eaton actually pitched upon him, as "the negotiator."
But, though he might be better than nobody at all, for that impor-

366 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY
tant and indispensable function, yet it seemed rather ridiculous, to
foist a man into this position, who had voted for General Jackson
"in the democratic caucus of 1824;" who afterward, and to the
last, supported him, and voted for him in the house of represent
atives, February 9th, 1825. It was, in fact, a failure, and to this
day, th^-said bearer of overtures from Mr. Clay's friends to Gen
eral Jackson's friends, has never been found, unless it be in the
person of Mr. Buchanan, as alleged by General Jackson ! The
part which Mr. Buchanan imposes upon Mr. Markley, as his fel
low-laborer in the cause of General Jackson, was unfavorable to
the support of this pretension, notwithstanding that Mr. B. in one
rather equivocal expression, seems to squint that way. Still more
unfortunately for this project of making Mr. Markley a friend of
Mr. Clay, at that time, Mr. Buchanan makes him say : " Should
General Jackson say, that it would not be Mr. Adams" — whom
he would appoint secretary of state — "it might be of great advan
tage to our cause, for us so to declare, on his authority. We
should then be placed upon the same footing with the Adams-
men," &c. It would not do for Mr. Buchanan to say, that by
"our," Mr. Markley meant "your," and by "us" and "we,"
he meant "you," Jackson men; or that he (Mr. B.) meant to
make Mr. Markley mean this. For then comes the absurdity, that
a Clay-man is concerting with a Jackson-man, against Adams and
Clay! But Mr. Buchanan had a more important personal object, in
bringing forward Mr. Markley. He was justly annoyed with that
part of General Jackson's missive, of July 18, which put in his
mouth the words : " And he [Mr. Buchanan] was of opinion it
was right to fight such intriguers with their own weapons." It
was certainly an ingenious foil, to bring Mr. Markley into a long
conversation with himself, and make him say this. It is true, it
did not entirely get rid of the difficulty ; for he must at least ad
mit, that he quoted this expression to General Jackson, and in
doing so, sanctioned, if he did not adopt it. General Jackson
manifestly understood him to use the words as his own. At any
rate, they must have been so earnestly, and so impressively uttered,
that the general took them for his own. So Major Eaton under
stood him, as will be seen in the extract from his letter ; and the
major adduces the triple evidence of his own recollections, on
two several occasions, a year asunder, and an actual copy he made
of them for the editor of the United States Telegraph — a quad-

AND THE WITNESSES. 367
ruple evidence, indeed, for one copy was sent to Mr. Buchanan
himself, in 1826. Mr. Markley says : " If any such expressions
were used, I am very certain it was not by me." So that here
are three witnesses against one, two of them inclined and interested
to favor Mr. Buchanan, if they could, while Mr. Buchanan is a
party to the question. !*
The manner, in which Mr. Buchanan introduces Mr. Markley,
is remarkable. He seems to feel, that it requires apology. " I
feel sincerely sorry, that I am compelled thus to introduce his
name." By Mr. Markley's account, Mr. Buchanan "called at
his [Mr. M.'s] boarding-house, and commenced" this conversation,
" by stating, that he had great solicitude," &c. But Mr. Buchanan
does not choose to let it be known, that he called on Mr. Markley,
and " commenced." He says : " We got into conversation, as we
often did," on this subject, as if it were accidental. Mr. Markley
mentions circumstances; Mr. Buchanan avoids them. Mr. M.
states, that, after Mr. B. had "commenced," he "adverted to the
rumors." Mr. B. says, that Mr. M. " adverted to the rumor."
This is an important point, which of them " called," which "com
menced," which " adverted." Circumstances indicate this, other
things being equal. Circumstances show which is active, and
which passive. It is manifest, that Mr. Buchanan is chief agent
in these transactions — writes the letters, calls on Mr. Markley,
Major Eaton, and General Jackson. No other person appears to
be in motion on these errands. Mr. Buchanan does it all. It is
somewhat singular, therefore, that Mr. Buchanan should make Mr.
Markley chief speaker.; that he should put him forward in the
foreground of the picture, refer all things to him, make him utter
all the treason, consult him as an oracle, and force him to respond
like a prophet ; that he should make him say exactly what would
be expected from Mr. Buchanan, considering his position, zeal,
and activity, in this affair. According to Mr. Markley, Mr. Bu
chanan himself said that, which Mr. Buchanan ascribes to Mr.
Markley. Mr. Markley says with great force: "Itis somewhat
remarkable, that two years and more should have elapsed, Mr.
Buchanan and myself boarding together at the same house, during
the last two sessions of Congress," &c, " and yet, not once, in all
that time, did he ever advert to the conversation, which he has
recently thought himself called upon to give, as having taken place
between us  That he should think proper to introduce a de
tailed conversation, in which he makes me say all, and himself little

368 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
or nothing — a conversation totally unnecessary for the purpose of
sustaining an individual, acting, as he protests, he always acts, on
his own authority — does to me, and probably will to the public,
seem somewhat unaccountable." If, indeed, Mr. Buchanan did
introduce Mr. Markley, for the purpose of making him say, what
he himself said — to shuffle off from his own shoulders the respon
sibility of the proposal " to fight the intriguers with their own
weapons," to the shoulders of an innocent man — it was atrocious.
, But, whoever was accountable for these words, one thing is
clear, that they originated with the friends of General Jackson,
and were employed oxly by them ; and if Mr. Buchanan's state
ment is correct, General Jackson himself manifested no offence at
the proposal, when used for the right side. It was the sup
posed and alleged bargaining on the other side, that offended him.
Major Eaton apologizes for Mr. Buchanan's use of these terms :
" I considered, that, in his zeal, he felt it to be right to defend the
citadel against unlooked-for assaults, and believed consequently,
that the enemy should be met with their own weapons." The cu
rious reader may be further instructed, by a careful perusal of
these documents, as cited in the lower margin of this chapter.
Almost the entire subject-matter — certainly the structure — of Mr.
Buchanan's letter, indicates, that the business in hand, between him
and his friend, and between him and General Jackson, as parties
interested, acting in concert, is bargaining on their own account ;
and it is a singular fact, that the basis of action, proposed by Mr.
Buchanan, to the friends of General Jackson, as openly put forth
in this document, involves the principle of bargaining — is bargain
inchoate. " I thought General Jackson owed it to himself, and to
the cause in which his political friends were engaged, to contradict
this report," viz., "that General Jackson had determined, should
he be elected president, to continue Mr. Adams secretary of state ;
and to declare, that he would not appoint him to that office." He
wrote to " a confidential friend in Pennsylvania, high in office, and
exalted in character, and received an answer, which strengthened
and confirmed his previous opinion." Here it will be observed,
was concert, correspondence, plan — for what end ? A reference
to JMr. Markley's letter will show : —
" Mr. Buchanan stated, that he had written to, and received a
letter from, a mutual friend of ours, in Pennsylvania, on the subject
of the presidential election, and cabinet appointments. Mr. B.
asked, if I had seen Mr. Clay, and whether I had had any con-

AND TJHE WITNESSES. 369
versation with him, touching the presidential election. I replied,
that I had seen him in the house, but had had no conversation
with him on that subject ; but said, I was anxious to get an op
portunity to have a conversation with him, as I felt great anxiety,
that he should vote with Pennsylvania. Mr. B. replied, that no
one felt more anxious, for various reasons, than he did himself;
that it was important, not only for the success of General Jackson's
election, that Mr. Clay should go with Pennsylvania, but on account
of his ulterior political prospects — declaring, that he \Mr. B.~\ hoped
to see Mr. Clay president of the United States, and that was another
reason, why he should like to see Mr. Clay secretary of state, in
case General Jackson was elected; that, if he were certain, that
Mr. Clay's views were favorable to General Jackson's election,
he would take an opportunity of talking with General Jackson, or
get Major Eaton to do so ; that he thought, by doing so, he would
confer a particular benefit on the country ; and that he could see
nothing wrong in it."
What is the obvious thing here proposed? Why, manifestly,
first, to get Mr. Clay to go with Pennsylvania for General Jack
son ; next, as a motive, to insure to him the office of secretary of
state, as the most direct line to the presidency ; third, to arrange
the matter with General Jackson ; and lastly, as it " would confer
a particular benefit on the country, he could see nothing wrong in
it." Was there ever a more barefaced plan of bargaining1?
And it will be found, that Mr. Buchanan did not fail in his part
of duty : — that he tried General Jackson, and tried Mr. Clay !
But there is yet a still more remarkable disclosure, in this state
ment of Mr. Buchanan, in connexion with General Jackson's state
ments and conduct. In the general's letter to Mr. Beverley, of
June 6, he intimates clearly, that he and Mr. Buchanan were on
friendly terms, at the time of, and after the interview of so much
consequence : " Therefore, his motives being pure, let me think
as I might of the communication, my feelings toward him would
remain unaltered." In his address to the public, ofthe 18th July,
he speaks of Mr. B. as " a gentleman of the first respectability and
intelligence — of high character and standing." — " The character
of Mr. Buchanan with me, forbids the idea," &c. Mr. B. says:
" His reply was complimentary to myself" — the reply to the open
ing of Mr. B.'s errand ; and it does not appear, that General Jack
son was at all out of humor with Mr. B., after he had made his
communication in full : "After I had finished, the general declared,
he had not the least objection to answer my question ; that he
Vol. L— 24

370 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
thought well of Mr. Adams," &c. They seemed to part in mutual
good will : " I told him," says Mr. B., " that his answer to my
question, was such a one, as I expected to receive, if he answered
it all." Mr. Clay, in his speech at Lexington, July 12, 1827, on Gen
eral Jackson's letter of June 6, to Carter Beverley, and before he
knew, that the " distinguished member of Congress," was Mr. Bu
chanan, said :—
" If he [the^general] had rendered the ' distinguished member
of Congress,' a little more distinguished, by instantly ordering him
from his presence, and by forthwith denouncing him, and the infa
mous propositions he bore, to the American public, we should be
a little better prepared to admit the claims to untarnished integ
rity, which the general so modestly puts forward. But, according
to his own account, a corrupt and scandalous proposal is made to
him ; the person who conveyed it, advises him to accept it ; and
yet that person still retains the friendship of General Jackson, who
is so tender of his character^ that his name is carefully concealed,
and reserved to be hereafter brought forward as a witness ! A
man, who, if he is a member of the house of representatives, is
doubly infamous — infamous for the advice which he gave, and infa
mous for his willingness to connive at the corruption of the body,
of which he is a sworn member — is the credible witness, by whom
General Jackson stands ready to establish the corruption of men,
whose characters are never questioned !"
It is not material to the purpose now in view, that the general's
and Mr. B.*s accounts of this interview should agree — they do not
agree — but the general understood Mr. B. to propose to " fight
such intriguers with their own Weapons." This the general bore
apparently with good temper. " I then asked him," says Mr. B.,
"if I were at liberty to repeat his answer," viz., "that he had
never said, or intimated, that he would, or would not, appoint Mr.
Adams secretary of state. He said I was perfectly at liberty
to do so, to any person I thought proper. I need scarcely remark,
that I afterward availed myself of the privilege."
It should be observed, that Mr. Buchanan had now obtained
exactly what he wanted. He represents himself as having said to
Mr. Markley : " I have been thinking, either, that I would call
upon the general myself, or get one of his other friends to do so,
and thus endeavor to obtain from him a contradiction of the report."
He represents Mr. Markley as saying, that such a contradiction
" would be of great advantage to our cause ; that we should then
be placed upon the same footing with the Adams-men, and might

AND THE WITNESSES. 371
fight them with their own weapons." General Jackson had now
made the contradiction, " that he had not said, or intimated, that
he would appoint Mr. Adams," &c, and given leave to use it ;
and Mr. Buchanan distinctly intimates, that he did use it in good
earnest, and to good effect: "I need scarcely remark, that I after
ward availed myself of the privilege."
Here, then, is a bargain consummated, between General Jackson
and Mr. Buchanan, which the general has never, in any form,
repudiated, or denied— not even in the missive of July 18. It
was the fundamental, the most important, the vital element of Mr.
Buchanan's plan. He had not only obtained the authority of
General Jackson, that the rumor, which constituted such an im
pediment in the way of his election, was false ; but he had obtained
leave of the general, to use that information ; and he says, he did
use it. According to his own account — (and General Jackson
has never contradicted it)— he had used a long and forcible argu
ment with the general to obtaiu this information, and the consent
to use it. He told the general, that the rumor, that he had said
he would continue Mr. Adams secretary of state, " had already
probably done him some injury ; that he [the general] must at once
perceive how injurious to his election such a report might be ; that,
no doubt, there were several able and ambitious men in the coun
try—among whom, I thought, Mr. Clay might be included —
who were aspiring to that office ; that, if it were believed he had
already determined to appoint his chief competitor, it might have
a most unhappy effect upon their exertions, and those of their
friends ; and that, unless he had so determined, I thought this
report should be promptly contradicted under his own authority."
All this, according to Mr. Buchanan's evidence, was said by
him to General Jackson, for a declared object ; and as the general
has never contradicted it, it may and should be believed. The
object, as averred, was obtained. Neither has that been contra
dicted. Even Mr. Clay's name was mentioned, and no objec
tion to that, so long as it served to help the right side. The plan
was all fixed, and the bargain closed. " You are perfectly at liberty
to do so." The general, it seems, was convinced by the reason
ing ; and Mr. Buchanan confesses, that he did " do so."
It should be observed, that this bargain, and all the bargaining
it contemplated, by the agency of Mr. Buchanan and others, was
a different thing from that, of which General Jackson complains :
this was to work for his advantage ; that for the advantage of

372 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
others; and what is remarkable, this included Mr. Clay, as a
prospective party. Mr. Clay was named in it, and no objection.
And what is still more remarkable, Mr. Clay was actually
addressed ! General Jackson, who affects to be offended, hor
rified, at " a proposition of bargain" from Mr. Clay, which —
according to the evidence of his friend, and sole witness, Mr. Bu
chanan — existed only in his imagination, or heart and bad purpose,
and which, according to Mr. B., was never thought of, even by
the general, till after " the events had transpired," which it was
alleged to have controlled — manifests perfect complacency in this
arrangement between himself and Mr. Buchanan, which contem
plates a proposal, " a proposition of bargain," to Mr. Clay, and
lends it his cheerful sanction, his unqualified approbation ! "You
are perfectly at liberty to do so !"
Why the general afterward became so averse to bargaining,
and why he afterward imagined, that a different kind of bargain
was proposed at that time, has been solved by Mr. Buchanan, with
philosophic shrewdness, though, as before remarked, with some
severity : —
" He could not, I think, have received this impression, until
after Mr. Clay and his friends had actually elected Mr. Adams
president, and Mr. Adams had appointed Mr. Clay secretary
of state. After these events had transpired, it may be readily
conjectured, in what manner my communication might have led
him into the mistake."
But it would seem, that it was a good while after " these events,"
before General Jackson imbibed this "erroneous impression" — as
Mr. Buchanan calls it — and before he fell into this " mistake."
If that horrible "proposition of bargain" had been made to him,
which he alleges in his letter to Mr. Beverley, and afterward iter
ates in his missive of July 18, "for the honor ofthe country," of
which he appears to be so tender in that address, he should have
moved for an investigation in the senate, of which he was a mem
ber, when Mr. Clay's nomination to the state department came
under consideration, instead of giving it a silent negative. It was
his solemn duty. But General Jackson was among the first, who
eagerly pressed their congratulations on President Adams, his suc
cessful rival. If his charge of bargain against Messrs. Adams
and Clay were true, 'and he knew it to be true, how could he thus
play the hypocrite, knowing, as he did, that the heart and hands
of the president were steeped in such foul corruption ? General

AND THE witnesses. 373
Jackson attended the first levee of Mr. Adams as president elect,
while secretary of state, and told Mr. Niles, of the Register, that
" he was satisfied with the result." He even went so far, as to
confess to Mr. Niles, on that occasion, " that he was not fit for the
presidential chair ; that he could not get on ; that his proper place
was at the head of an army ;" and so on. — (See Mr. Niles's evi
dence, next chapter.) On the 10th of February, 1825, the day
after his defeat, in the election of Mr. Adams, he was invited, by
some of his political friends, to a public dinner at Washington,
and declined, giving as his reason, that " any evidence of kindness
and regard, such as you propose, might, by many, be viewed, as
conveying with it exception, murmurings, and feelings of com
plaint, which, I sincerely hope belong to none of my friends."
Are these, and other similar and contemporaneous acts, consistent
with a knowledge and conviction of the truth of the charge, which
he publicly brought against Messrs. Adams and Clay, in 1827 ?
It will be observed, from Mr. Buchanan's letter, that he betrays
no impression of that great passion, into which General Jackson
affects to have fallen, at the alleged offer of bargain, viz., that he
would see them all sunk, and sink himself, &c, before he would do
it. On the contrary, according to Mr. Buchanan's account, it all
went off smoothly, and most amiably. Why ? Because, accord
ing to Mr. Buchanan, there was no offer of bargain, and because
they together, were concerting bargain ! Nevertheless, it will not
do for Mr. Buchanan to deny what General Jackson asserts : " I
do not recollect, that General Jackson told me I might repeat
his answer to Mr. Clay and his friends ; though I should be very
sorry [afraid ?] to say, he did not." Does not every one see
the lurking disbelief of Mr. Buchanan, as to the matter of this pas
sion ? " The whole conversation," says he, " being upon a pub
lic street, it might have escaped my observation." What ! such
a storm ofthe soul, of such a man, pass over unregarded?

374 proof of a negative.

CHAPTER XVH.
THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
Proof of a Negative. — Mr. Clay's Position in the Case. — The Voice of many
Witnesses.
It can not but have been observed, that all that is proved on
this subject, in the preceding chapters — and it is not small or un
important — is proved by General Jackson and his friends. And
what is it ? Not a particle or shade of evidence, to support
their charge against Mr. Clay ! But something very unexpected
is proved. They are caught in their own trap ! Their own man
agement, their own talk, their own acts, their own documents, ad
duced against others, convict themselves ! And the more they are
examined, the worse they appear. The very crime they charge,
is proved to be their own, out of their own mouths ! Before a
single witness from the other side is called to the stand, not only
is the defendant justified, but the plaintiffs are arraigned on their
own declaration, and the parties have changed their relative posi
tions I The conspirators are henceforth doomed to act on the
defensive ; and it is not a little singular, that they have been
thrust into this predicament by their own acts, as accusers !
It may not, however, be amiss, though no rules of justice can
lawfully require it, to show what can be done in the proof of a
negative. Innocent persons have sometimes been saved from
unjust charges, by proof of an alibi, when they must otherwise
have fallen. But it is not always that innocence escapes by such
good fortune. The same is the effect of being able to prove a
negative, though neither law, nor justice, imposes the obligation.
It is sometimes, however, the doom of necessity. Happily, in the
case pf the conspiracy now under consideration, there is now no
necessity for it, inasmuch as the conspirators have so far disagreed,
and managed their several parts with so little skill, that it was im-

THE WITNESSES. 375
possible they should not be ultimately exposed, though successful
in accomplishing their main and original design.
The public have hitherto seemed to be satisfied with the result,
that General Jackson and his coadjutors entirely failed to prove
what they had alleged ; but it was not even thought, that they
had actually convicted themselves of the crime which they endeav
ored to fasten on innocent persons. Not anticipating these dis
closures — before, indeed, all these materials of evidence for the
conviction of tfee conspirators, had transpired — -the importance of
the subject, arising from the baseness and diabolical character of
the plot, as well as from the extent of its influence, seemed to
require the proof of a negative. Much of this species of evir
dence has, indeed, gradually transpired, from time to time, unin-
voked — enough, amply sufficient, for the purpose. It was obvious,
that nothing more was required, to establish a negative, than an
appeal to those members of the western delegations, in the house
of representatives, who voted with Mr. Clay for Mr. Adams, and
secured his election. When the accusers refused to face the wifc
nesses in court, . on whose evidence the proof of their charges
solely depended, it became necessary for Mr. Clay to bring them
forward. Their evidence must be credible, from three valid con
siderations, independent of each other. First, they were, individ
ually and collectively, men of honor, having not only the confidence
of the public, but of their political opponents, as witnesses on this,
or any other matter. The reader, probably, will not have forgot
ten the incidental evidence of Mr. McDuffie, in a former chapter,
as to the character of these gentlemen, his political opponents :
f There are no members on this floor, for whom, generally, I feel
more respect. . . . Next to my own personal friends, there are
none whom I estimate more highly ;" and this was said while the
charge was pending before the house. Second, it was not credible,
that they could have been induced, en masse, to barter their fidelity
as public servants, and their honor as individuals, for the sole ben
efit of Mr. Clay. Third, it was much more incredible, and utterly
inconsistent with the known principles of human nature, and all
the rules of moral evidence, that they should unanimously agree
in falsifying themselves. Such a thing was never known.
But, before proceeding to adduce this species of evidence, in
proof of a negative, it may be proper to put in front of the whole,
the position of Mr. Clay himself, which renders the charge per
fectly absurd. He was accused of aspiring to the office of secre*

376 PROOF OF A NEGATIVE.
tary of state, and of bargaining for it ! The statesman who had
declined a seat in the senate of the United States,' to be a com
moner in the lower house ; who, the first day that he took his seat
there, and at the first ballot, was placed at the head of that body ;
who continued at the head of it, by biennial election, from 1811
to 1825, without a rival, and was at that moment in the possession
of that high dignity ; who would have been placed by Mr. Madi
son at the head of the armies of the United States, in the war of
1S12, if he could have been spared from the councils of the na
tion ; who declined successively the mission to Russia, and the
war department, tendered to him by Mr. Madison ; who again de
clined the war department, the office of minister to the court of
St. James, and all other foreign missions, out of which he had his
choice, under Mr. Monroe ;— the statesman, who, as everybody
knew, and who could not himself but know, whoever came to
power, would have the first offer of the first place, or of any place
he might choose, if it were possible for him to choose one ; who
had been a candidate for the presidency, and who, if he had not
been defrauded in Louisiana, and cheated in New York, would
have been returned to the house of representatives in 1S24, and
elected president on the 9th of February, 3 825 ; — the statesman,
who was decidedly the favorite of the nation in any fair field, and
whose talents had acquired for him a world-wide fame ; who had
never sought office, but whom office always sought ; — such was
the man, who was accused of selling his own vote as a represent
ative of the people, and bargaining away the votes of other rep
resentatives, for the office of secretary of state ! — an office to
which he must descend, to fill it — which could not elevate him,
but which would be itself elevated by such an incumbent. A
man, whose honor was unsullied, accused of the foulest stain,
without a motive ! If a man would sell his soul, it must be sup
posed that he has an object, which he, at least, thinks worthy of
the sacrifice. If he is to be set bargaining for place, an offer
should be made that is equal to the price of his honor and fair
fame. Soon after the Fayetteville letter appeared, in the spring of
1827, a circular was addressed to all those members of the house
of representatives, who voted with Mr. Clay for Mr. Adams, in
1825, and who constituted the corps then designated " Mr. Clay's
friends," by General Jackson and his friends, and also to other wit-

THE WITNESSES. 377
nesses, at their respective residences, in different states of the
Union, requesting them to communicate all they knew and be
lieved in regard to this matter. The points of the circular, to '
which answers were requested, were expressed in the following
words : " If such a proposition [of bargain] were ever made by
the friends of Mr. Clay to those of General Jackson, it must have
been known to many persons, and the fact, therefore, may be as
certained. May I ask the favor of you to inform me, whether
you know, or Delieve, any such. proposition was ever made? Or,
whether conditions of any sort were made by the friends of Mr.
Clay to any person, on a compliance with which their vote was
made to depend?" These points of inquiry are important to be
observed, in reading the evidence, as the answers in full are not
given here ; but only extracts on these points.
The answers at length, together with other documents contain
ing evidence which transpired from time to time, will, with a few
exceptions, be found at length, in Niles' Register, vol. xxxiii., pp.
296 to 314, and vol. xxxiv., pp. 306 to 312. A sufficiency of
extracts from these documents, to answer all the purposes of truth,
and a conviction thereof, is placed in the lower margin, at the head
of which appear all the witnesses, who alone could establish the
charges of the conspirators, if there had been any foundation for
them. The request was unexpected, and they all wjote from their
own domicils, in different parts of the country, entirely inde
pendent of each other, and without any possibility of concert.
The harmony of their evidence, therefore, is the more remarkable
and convincing.*
*The Hon. Duncan McArtht/k, of the Ohio delegation, May 18, 1827, says:
" The fact is, that the Ohio delegation — at least a large majority of them — were
the first of Mr. Clay's friends, who came to the determination of voting for Mr.
Adams, and that too, without having ascertained Mr. Clay's views on the subject.
The language of some of the friends of the general, before the election, was, that
the friends of Mr.'Clay durst not vote for any man, other than General Jackson.
This was often repeated, in a menacing manner. But, it is also true, that others
of the general's friends used, what they no doubt conceived, more persuasive lan
guage. Indeed, they appeared to be willing to make any promises, which they
thought would induce the friends of Mr. Clay to vote for General Jackson."
The Hon. Joseph Vance, of the Ohio delegation, July 12, 1827, says: "As
one of the original friends of Mr. Clay, I was in the habit of free and unreserved
conversations, both with him and his other friends, relative to that election, and I
am bold to say, that I never heard a whisper of anything like a condition, on
which our vote was to be given, mentioned, either by Mr. Clay himself, or any of
his friends, at any time, or under any circumstances." Mr. Vance was out of the
state, when the circular was first received, and answered it immediately on his
return. The Hon. P. Beecher, of the Ohio delegation, May 21, 1827, says : " I do not
know, that a friend, or friends, of Mr. Clay, ever made any proposition to the
friends of General Jackson, respecting the election of Mr. Adams, as president, in

378 PROOF OF A NEGATIVE.
The statements below, as far as that of the Hon. Mr. Brent, of
Louisiana, include the names of all the members of the house of
^representatives, whose constituency, in their collective capacity,
- any way ; or as respecting General Jackson not putting Mr. Adams into the seat
of secretary of state, in case he, Jackson, should be elected president. Neither
am I acquainted with a friend of Mr. Clay, that would consent to be an agent in
such a degrading transaction. Nor can I admit, that the friends of Mr. Clay had
so contemptible an opinion of each other, or of Mr. Clay, as to suppose, that the
appointment or non-appointment of any man to any office, would influence them
in the discharge of an important public duty."
The Hon. J. Sloane, of the Ohio delegation, May 9, 1827 says :," That any of the
friends of Mr. Clay, in Congress, ever made any proposition "of conditions, on
which their votes would depend, to the friends of General Jackson, or any other
person, I do not believe. ... As to Mr, Clay's accepting any appointment under
him [General Jackson], they [the friends of Mr. Clay] would most certainly have
opposed it. It was not until some time after the choice of Mr. Adams, that they
agreed to advise Mr. Clay to accept ofthe ofiice he now holds. . . . If the disposi
tion of General Jackson could have been judged of by the importunity of some of his
congressional friends, I should have supposed, that a proposition of the kind men
tioned, would have been instantly closed with ; but no such propositions were ever
made by the friends of Mr. Clay, and none such would have been accepted by them.
I feel confident, that the whole is a vile and infamous falsehood, such as honors
able men would not resort to, more especially after Jiaving, upon full consultation
and deliberate consideration, declined an investigation ofthe whole matter, before
a committee of the house of representatives."
The Hon. J. C. Wkight, of the Ohio delegation, May 6, 1827, says: "I can
only say, sincerely and unequivocally, that I do not know or believe, that any
proposition of the kind mentioned, was ever made to the friends of General Jack
son, by the friends of Mr. Clay, or any of them ; and that I am wholly ignorant
of any conditions, of any sort, being proposed to any one, by the friends of Mr.
Clay, on a compliance with which their votes were made to depend."
The Hon. Samuel F. Vinton, of the Ohio delegation, May 27, 1827, says :
" Having been one of the friends of Mr. Clay, who voted for Mr. Adams, I cheer
fully avail myself of this opportunity to say, that I have no knowledge whatever
of the abovementioned proposition, or any other proposition, having been made to
General Jackson, or any of his friends, by Mr. Clay, or any of his friends, as a
condition upon which his or their vote was to be given to General Jackson for the
presidency. . . . It was well known to my constituents, for many months previous
to the late presidential election, that, after Mr. Clay, Mr. Adams was my next
choice." The Hon. Wm. McLean, of the Ohio delegation, May 18, 1827, says: "No
such proposition was ever made, within my knowledge, nor have I any cause to,
believe, that conditions, of any sort, were made, at any time, by the friends of Mr,
Clay, to any person, on a compliance with which their vote was made to depend."
The Hon. E. Whittlesey, of the Ohio delegation, May 12, 1827, says : " I do not
know, or believe, that any proposition was ever made by any of Mr. Clay's friends,
to those of General Jackson, on the morning of the presidential election, or any
other time, having any bearing on the candidate to be selected from the three
returned to the house ; nor do I know or believe, that any conditions, of any sort,
were proposed by the friends of Mr. Clay, to any person, ' on a compliance with
which their vote was made to depend ;' but I do believe, that the assertion made
by General Jackson, as reported by ' a highly-respectable Virginian,' and all the
charges of a like character, imputing, either to Mr. Adams or to Mr. Clay, or to
their friends, any improper, inconsistent, corrupt, or fraudulent conduct, on that
interesting and momentous occasion, are base slanders, known to be such, by those
who put them in circulation."
The Hon. M. Baktley, of the Ohio delegation, May 24, 1827, says : " In jus
tice to the general, I will say, that I do not believe he ever made the declaration
alluded to by the writer of said letter [the Fayetteville letter], for the general
was there when the election took place, and must inevitably have known, that
such a statement would carry falsehood on the very face of it. ... I was in the
house, I believe, every day of that session, at which the president was elected,

THE WITNESSES. 379
were the political friends of Mr. Clay, in the presidential campaign
of 1824, and who, with Mr. Clay, voted for Mr. Adams, the 9th
of February, 1825, for president of the United States. The en-
and have no hesitation in saying, that, so far from making any proposition, or
overture, were the friends of Mr. Clay, in favor of the general, that, had the
friends of the general made such a proposition, we would have considered it as an
indignity offered to our integrity and understanding."
The Hon. John Patterson, of the Ohio delegation, May 9, 1827, says : " I
frankly state to you, that, if any such proposition as you state, was made by the
friends of Clay, to those of General Jackson, I had no knowledge of it ; and I
was one of the friends of Clay. I therefore believe the report to be without an
honest foundation."
The Hon. David Trimble, of the Kentucky delegation, did not answer the cir-.«,
cular, till the 12th of August, 1827, having been absent. He says : " I do not
know, of my own knowledge, nor have I been informed by others, that offers,
propositions, or overtures, such as are spoken of by General Jackson, in his letter
to Mr. Beverley [or June 6th], or similar thereto, or of any kind whatever, were
made by Mr. Adams or his friends, to Mr. Clay or his friends ; or by Mr. Clay or
his friends, to General Jackson or his friends. I do not know, nor do I believe,
that Mr. Adams, or his friends, made overtures or offers, directly or indirectly, to ,
Mr. Clay or his friends, to make him secretary of state, if he and his friends ;
would unite in aid of the election of Mr. Adams ; nor do I know, or believe, that,-.,
any pledge, or promise, of any kind, was made by Mr. Adams or his friends, to
Mr. Clay or his friends, to procure his aid in the election. I never heard from
Mr. Clay, or any of his friends, or any one else, that he was willing to vote for
General Jackson, if the general would say, or any of his friends for him, that Mr.
Adams should not be continued secretary of state ; nor do I know or believe, that
Mr. Clay ever expressed a willingness, or any of his friends for him, to support or
vote for General Jackson, if he could obtain the office of secretary of state under
him. I do not know, nor do I believe, that any overtures or offers of any kind,
were made by Mr. Clay or his friends, to Mr. Adams or his friends, to vote for
him, or support him, if he would make Mr. Clay secretary of state ; or to General
Jackson or his friends, to vote for him or support him, if he could obtain the office
of secretary of state under him ; nor do I believe, that Mr Clay would have
taken office under him, if he had been elected."
The Hon. F. Johnson, of the Kentucky delegation, May 23, 1827, says: "I
have no hesitation in answering your inquiries. You say, ' If such a proposition
were ever made by the friends of Mr. Clay to those of Genera] Jackson, it must
have been known to many persons, and the fact, therefore, may be ascertained.
May I ask the favor of you to inform me, whether you know or believe any such
proposition was ever made 1 Or, whether conditions of any sort were made by
the friends of Mr. Clay to any person, on a compliance with which their vote was
made to depend ?' To the first branch of the inquiry, my answer is, that. I have
no knowledge of any such proposition, nor do I believe any such was ever made.
To the second, I answer that I neither, know, nor do I believe, that any ' condi
tions, of any sort, were made by the friends of Mr. Clay, to any person, on com
pliance with which their vote was made to depend.' "
The Hon. Thomas Metcalf, of the Kentucky delegation, having been absent
to Mississippi, returned to answer the letter to him, June 12, 1827. He says :
" I have to state, that I never heard or thought of such a proposition, until the letter
of the ' highly-respectable Virginian' appeared in the public prints. As one of the
friends of Mr. Clay, I enter the most solemn protest against the right of the gen
eral, through his organ, the ' highly respectable Virginian,' or otherwise, to say,
that I would have assisted in making him president, on the conditions stated. On
the contrary, if I could have been made to believe, that Genera] Jackson would
not have offered to Mr. Adams the place which he had filled with so much ability
under Mr. Monroe, that belief would have constituted in my mind a strong addi
tional objection to the general's success. If it is intended to impose the belief,
that Mr. Clay's friends were desirous of obtaining that appointment for him, to
the exclusion of Mr. Adams or otherwise, under General Jackson — as one of his
friends, I pronounce it a base and infamous assault upon the motives and honor, so
far as I am concerned or believe, of those who did not choose to support him for

3S0 PROOF OF A NEGATIVE.
tire corps of "the friends of Mr. Clay," who were cognizant of
all the facts of the case, have, therefore, here given in their evidence,
¦as men of honor. Will it be said, they were interested ? And
the presidency. In reply to your second inquiry, I have to say, that, if conditions
of any sort were ever made by the friends of Mr. Clay, 'to any person, on a com
pliance with which their vote was made to depend,' I know nothing of it."
The Hon. R. P. Letcher, of the Kentucky delegation, did not receive the letter,
to be able to answer it, till June 26, 1827. He says : "I know of no such propo
sition, or intimation, nor have I a knowledge of any fact or circumstance, which
would induce me to believe Mr. Clay's friends, or any one of them, ever made
such a proposition to the friends of General Jackson."
The Hon. Richard A. Buckner, of the Kentucky delegation, May 26, 1827,
H says : " In answer to your inquiries on this subject, I will remark, that I have no
reason to believe, that any such proposition was made. Indeed, no proposition,
of any description, relating to the election of president, was made, so far as I
know or believe, by Mr. Clay's friends to those of General Jackson, or of any
other person."
The Hon. David White, of the Kentucky delegation, in an address io the pub
lic, dated, February 17, 1828, comes out in support of General Jackson, though he
voted with Mr. Clay and his friends in February, 1825, for Mr. Adams. He says :
l* " Any opposition I may offer to the reelection of Mr. Adams, grows out of circum-
, stances foreign from, and entirely unconnected with, his late election by the house
* of representatives. ... So far as I have been implicated, in connexion with my
late colleagues, in the alleged management, bargain, sale, &c, I plead conscious
innocence. That my colleagues, or either of them, were guilty of the charge, can
not be established by me. I know of no impropriety of conduct, or impropriety
of motive, on the part of either of them, which would authorize me to attach to
either of them the 'least criminality." This, as will be seen, is from one of the
supporters of General Jackson in 1828.
¦The Hon. P. Thompson, of the Kentucky delegation, answered the inquiry,
June 19, 1827. He says : " I know of no proposition made by the friends of Mr.
Clay, to the friends of General Jackson, to make him president, if he would not.
select Mr. Adams for the seat of secretary, and I do not believe a proposition of
any kind was made, and I expect if the friend ofthe general should ever speak on
this subject, he would be a second Kremer."
The Hon. John Scott, of Missouri, under date of August 2, 1827, in answer
to the inquiry, says : " Neither Mr. Adams, nor his friends, ever made any prom
ises or overtures to me, nor did they hold out to me any inducements of any sort,
kind, or character whatever, to procure me to vote for Mr. Adams. Nor did Mr.
Adams, or any of his friends, ever say, or intimate, who would be placed at the
head of the department of state, or any other department, in the event, that Mr.
Adams should be elected, nor do I believe any propositions were made to Mr. Clay
or his friends, by Mr. Adams or his friends. If there were, I know it not. ... I
never made to General Jackson, or to any of his friends, any proposition, in refer
ence to the presidential election, either as regarded the appointment of Mr. Clay,
or any other person to office, or the exclusion of Mr. Adams, or any other person
from office. I was never spoken to by Mr. Clay, or any of his friends, about
making any proposition to General Jackson or his friends, of any kind whatever;
nor did I ever hear it insinuated, or .hinted, that any proposition was made, or in
tended to be made, by Mr. Clay, or his friends, to General Jackson, or his friends,
or to any other candidate or his friends, for or relating to the presidency, and I do
believe, had any proposition been made, or been intended to be made by Mr.
Clay, or his friends, from my intimacy and constant intercourse with them, I
should have known or heard thereof."
As the state of Missouri was at that time entitled to only one representative in
the house, Mr. Scott constituted the whole delegation, and spoke for it. Hence
the peculiar character of his evidence.
The Hon. H. H. Gurley, one of the delegates from Louisiana, in his answer of
July 17, 1827, says : " I have no knowledge of any propositions having been made
by the friends of Mr. Clay, or any of them, to the friends of General Jackson, or
to any other person, in relation to the election of president, or the proposition of

THE WITNESSES. 381
shall crime be permitted to triumph, by a concession of its right
to impeach witnesses, without evidence ? Shall the murderer be
dismissed from court, without sentence, because he chooses to say,
that they who saw him commit the deed, are guilty of the same
crime, and are therefore disqualified as witnesses? Such a mon
strous principle will doubtless be treated as it deserves.
But there is a great mass of other negative evidence, of an inciden
tal, yet important character, some parts of which claim a notice here.
They relate chiefly to Mr. Clay's permanent and uniform prefer
ence of Mr. Adams over General Jackson, as disclosed in conver- _
sations and letters, at sundry times, from and to sundry individuals.
They will be found below.*
conditions of any 'sort, ' on a compliance with which their vote was made to de
pend.' I believe the charge wholly destitute of truth."
The Hon. Wm. Brent, another delegate from Louisiana, in a letter of the 5th
June, 1827, says : "In allusion to the Fayetteville letter, I can not express the
indignant feelings it excited. It is the fabrication of a desperate man, who, to
obtain his object, dares to assert what he knows to be false. You ask me to say,
whether I know or believe, that such a proposition was ever made, or whether
conditions of any sort were proposed, by the friends of Mr. Clay, to any one,
'on the compliance with which their vote was made to depend.' No hon
orable man can believe for a moment, that such a proposition was ever made, or
such a condition stipulated. I was a friend of Mr. Clay throughout the contest ; I
was in the confidence of all his friends ; and I declare to God, that I never
heard of such things, until it was asserted by the disappointed adherents of Gen
eral Jackson. I am not only ignorant of any such arrangements, but do not be
lieve they ever existed."
* The Hon. David Trimble, in the same letter before quoted from, for his ev
idence as one of the Kentucky delegation in the house of representatives, says :
" I met with Mr. Clay at Frankfort, Kentucky, about the first of October, 1824.
He [Mr. Clay] said, that he could not, consistently with his principles, vote for
General Jackson, under any possible circumstances. ... I made some reference
to the supposed difference of opinion between himself and Mr. Adams, about the
treaty of Ghent. He said, in reply, that it had been greatly magnified by the
friends of his competitors, for electioneering purposes ; that it ought to have no
influence in the vote which he might be called upon to give; that, if he was weak
enough to allow his personal feelings to influence his public conduct, there would
be no change in his mind on that account, because he was then upon much worse
terms with General Jackson about the Seminole war, than he could ever be with
Mr. Adams about the treaty of Ghent; but that, in the selection ofa chief magis
trate for the Union, he would endeavor to disregard all private feelings, and
look entirely to the interests of the country, and the safety of its institutions. I
shbuld have thought strange of it, if Mr. Clay had voted for General Jackson, af
ter saying what he did."
Col. James Davidson, treasurer of the state of Kentucky, in a letter to Mr.
Clay, of October 20, 1827, among other things, says -. " During a visit you made
to this place [Frankfort], in the fall of 1824, you said : 'I can not conceive of any
event, that can possibly Jiappen, which would induce me to support the election of
General Jackson to the presidency. For, if I had no other objection, his want of the
necessary qualifications, would be sufficient.' Your remarks made a strong and
lasting impression on my mind ; and when the resolutions, instructing our sena
tors, and requesting our representatives, in Congress, to vote for General Jackson,
were under discussion in the house of representatives, I informed several of my
friends, that I had had a conversation with you, on the subject, to which the res
olutions referred, and that I was convinced you would not support the general ;
and to George Robertson, Esq., late speaker of the house of representatives of
this state, I gave the substance of your remarks to me, and he concurred with me

382 PROOF OF A NEGATIVE.
As time advances, and as the passions of those concerned in the
origination, and interested in the defence and support of this con
spiracy, die away, by their own exit from the stage of human life,
in opinion, that you Could not, consistently, under any circumstances, vote for the
general ; and when the resolutions, above mentioned, were before the senate (in
which I then had the honor of a seat), I opposed them, and among other views I
then took, I stated to that body, that all the resolutions we could pass during the
whole session, would not induce you to abandon what you conceived to be your
duty, and that I knew you could not concur with the majority ofthe legislature on
that subject."
The Hon. John J. Crittenden, in a letter to Mr. Clay, dated September 3,
1827, says : " Sometime in the fall of 1824, conversing upon the subject of the
then pending presidential election, and speaking in reference to your exclusion
from the contest, and to your being called upon to decide and vote between the
other candidates, who might be returned to the house of representatives, you de
clared, that you could not, or that it was impossible for you to, vote for General
Jackson, in any event. . . . My impression is, that this conversation took place
at Captain Weisiger's tavern, in this town [Frankfort], not very long before you
went on to Congress, in the fall preceding the last presidential election ; and that
the declaration made by you, was elicited by some intimation that fell from me, of
my preference for General Jackson over all other candidates except yourself."
The Hon. J. S. Johnston, senator from Louisiana, in a letter to Mr. Clay, da
ted Washington, November 17, 1827, says : " I met you, for the first time, on
your return to Washington, in December, 1824, on the Saturday or Sunday even
ing previous to the meeting of Congress, and at that time we had a long and
free conversation, on the approaching election. I said it was still uncertain,
whether you would receive the vote of Louisiana, and be returned as the third
candidate. I expressed to you some solicitude about the election ; . . . that for
the character, as well as the tranquillity, of the country, it was desirable that we
should pass through it safely. You replied, that you would not permit the coun
try to be disturbed a day on your account ; that you would not allow your name
to interfere with the prompt decision of the question by the house. I said, if it
becomes necessary, the country has a right to expect, and will expect, that of
you. ... I remarked to you, that, in all probability, the contest would be finally
reduced to Mr. Adams and General Jackson, and the conversation turned upon
their comparative merits and qualifications, and a long discussion ensued. You
drew a parallel between them, in a manner I thought very just and respectful to
both. You concluded by expressing a preference for Mr. Adams, which turned
principally on his talents, and experience in civil affairs. . . . No fact ever came
to my knowledge, that could, in the slightest degree, justify the charge, that has
been exhibited. On the contrary, I know, that your opinion did not undergo any
change, from the time I first saw you, on your return to Washington."
The Hon. D. Bouligny, senator from Louisiana, in a note to Mr. Clay, of
December 8, 1827, says : " I distinctly recollect, that, on the 20th of December,
1824, which was the day of my arrival here [at Washington], frqm the state of
Louisiana, to take my seat in the senate of the United States, I called on you the
same evening, and in the course of a conversation, in which I informed you that
you had lost the vote of Louisiana, I desired to know, who you intended to vote
for as president. You then told me, without any hesitation, that you would
vote for Mr. Adams, in preference to General Jackson."
The Hon. James Barbour, secretary of war, under Mr. Adams, gave the fol
lowing certificate, dated Washington, August 14, 1827 : " I certify, that, in the
early part of the session of Congress, '24-'5, 1 dined at the Columbia college,
with General Lafayette, Mr. Clay, and others. On returning from that dinner to
town, Mr. Clay and myself— there being no other person with us — came in the
same hack. During the ride, our conversation turned on the then pending pres
idential election. I expressed myself, in the event of the contest being narrowed
down to Mr. Adams and General Jackson, in favor of Mr. Adams ; and Mr. Clay
expressed a coincidence of opinion."
General Lafayette, in a letter to Mr. Clay, dated La Grange, October 10,
1827, says : "Blessed as I have lately been, with the welcome, and conscious, as
it is my happy lot to be, of the affection and confidence, of all parties, and all

THE WITNESSES. 383
the public, the world, will becbme more and more amazed, at the
anomalous position of the parties, judicially considered, during the
period 'comprehended in the inception, hatching, ripening, execu-
men in every party in the United States — feelings, which I most cordially recipro
cate — I ever have thought myself bound to avoid taking any part in local or per
sonal divisions. Indeed, if I thought, that, in these matters, my influence could
be of any avail, it should be solely exerted to deprecate — not, by far, the free re
publican, and full discussion of principles and candidates— but those invidious
slanders, which — although they are happily repelled by the good sense, the can
dor, and, in domestic instances, by the delicacy of the American people — tend to
give abroad incorrect and disparaging impressions. Yet, that line of conduct,
from which I must not deviate, except in eminent cases now out of the question,
does not imply a forgetfulness of facts, nor a refusal to state them occasionally. My
remembrance concurs with your own on this point ; — that, in the latter end of De
cember, either before or after, my visit to Annapolis, you being out of the presi
dential candidature, and after having expressed my abovementioned motives of for
bearance, I, by way of a confidential exception, allowed myself to put a simple,
unqualified question respecting your electioneering guess, and your intended vote.
Your answer was, that, in your opinion, the actual state of health of Mr. Craw
ford, had limited the contest to a choice between Mr. Adams and General Jack
son ; that a claim, founded on military achievements, did not meet your prefer
ence; and that you had concluded to vole for Mr. Mams. Such has been, if not
the literal wording, at least the precise sense, of a conversation, which it would
have been inconsistent for me to carry further, and not to keep a secret, while
a recollection of it, to assist your memory, I should not now deny, not only to you,
as my friend, but to any man in a similar situation."
By the National Intelligencer, it appears, that General Lafayette went to An
napolis on the 16th of December, and returned on the 21st. Mr. Bouligny, as
above, informed Mr. Clay, on the 20th, that he was " out of the presidential can
didature," as General Lafayette calls it. Mr. Clay called on General Lafayette
immediately after his return from Annapolis, and as the news from Louisiana had
just arrived, and was of great interest, it is supposed this conversation took place
at this time — a day or two before Christmas.
General Call, delegate to Congress from Florida, was an intimate and ardent
friend of General Jackson. They travelled together on their journey to Wash
ington, in the fall of 1824, as appears from a letter from General Jackson to Ma
jor Eaton (Niles's Register, vol. 28, p. 66). They made a stop at Rockville,
Maryland, about seventeen miles from Washington, where General Call engaged
in conversation with several gentlemen, on the approaching presidential election ;
of whom, John Braddock, Esq., the author of the following certificate, was one : —
" Rockville, Montgomery County [Md.], November 3, 1827.
" In the fall of the year 1824, I saw General Call, and several other gentle
men, members of Congress, on their way to Washington, at a tavern in Rockville.
They were conversing on the subject of the presidential election, and when the
vote, which Mr. Clay would probably give, was spoken of, General Call declared,
that the friends of General Jackson did not expect Mr. Clay to vote for them ;
and if he did so, it would be an act of duplicity on his part. "John Braddock.
"In stating the declaration of General Call, on the subject of Mr. Clay's vote,
I have omitted an expletive, which should have been introduced before the word
duplicity. Save that, the foregoing is literally his language. " J. B."
George Robertson, Esq., of Lexington, Kentucky, since chief justice of the
state, in a note to Colonel Davidson, dated December 17, 1827, says : " In frank
conversation with him [Mr. Clay], in September, 1824, I understood distinctly,
that nothing could ever induce him to aid in or approve the general's election."
C. S. Todd, Esq., of Shelby, Kentucky, in a note to Mr. Clay, of February 18,
1828, speaking of a conversation held early in November, 1824, between Mr.
Clay, himself, and his father, at Frankfort, says : " The whole conversation im
pressed on my mind the firm conviction, with which you seemed to be animated,
that you could not, nor ought to, vote for General Jackson, under any circum
stances whatever."

384 PROOF OF A NEGATIVE.
tion, and protracted sustentation, of this plot. That the accusing
party, occupying such a high social standing, in a great community,
professing to be governed by law and justice, should presume,
D. Vertner, Esq., in a letter to the Hon. J. S. Johnston, dated Fort Gibson,
January 10, 1828, says : " When on a visit to Kentucky, early in the month of
August, 1824, I dined at a friend's house, in company with Mr. Clay and several
other gentlemen. After dinner, the conversation turned on the then approaching
presidential election, which elicited from Mr. Clay the following remarks, in sub
stance — that, if the house of representatives had to decide the election, there was
very little' doubt in his mind as to the result. He pronounced his objections to
General Jackson with great decision and force. Had Mr. Clay afterward voted
for General Jackson, I should have been compelled to assign him some motive
other than the public good."
A. W. Wooley, Esq., also of Fort Gibson, in a letter to the Hon. J. S. Johns
ton, of January 9, 1828, says : " In the fall of the year 1824, sometime previous
to the departure of Mr. Clay from Lexington, 1 had 'the pleasure to dine with Mr.
Clay, at his own house, with a number of gentlemen. Various observations
were made in opposition to the pretensions of General Jackson. Mr. Clay re
marked, that he felt no apprehension whatever from the election of General Jack
son, as, beyond a doubt, it would be decided by the house of representatives, he
could not for a moment believe, they would elect the general in preference to Mr.
Adams." B. S. Forrest, Esq., of Rockville, Maryland, in a letter from that place, No
vember 4, 1827, says : " Late in the autumn of 1824, I met with Colonel Benton,
and General Beecher, members of Congress, at Dawson's tavern, in Rockville, on
their way to Washington. Colonel Benton declared, it was impossible, that Mr.
Clay should vote for General Jackson." "Washington City, December 7, 1827.
"Sir : Your letter of the 19th ultimo, covering the Lexington Virginia Intelli
gencer of that date, has been duly received, and in answer to the inquiries you
put to me, I have to state, that the article to which you invite my attention, is
substantially, not verbally, correct, so far as it represents me as saying, that t was
informed by Mr. Clay, in the fore part of December, 1824, that he intended to
vote for Mr. Adams. ... I left Washington about the 15th of December, and
had received the information from Mr. Clay before I set out. . . . No one ever
asked my leave to publish what I said. If any one had, the authors of the publi
cation in the Lexington paper, might have been spared an office, which must have
been inexpressibly painful to their honorable feelings, as I should not have refused
to the administration any testimony in my power to give, notwithstanding the
character of the war which the great body of their forces are carrying on
against me. " Thomas H. Benton."
The Hon. William Plumer, of New Hampshire, afterward governor of the
state, in a document, dated Epping, N. H., March, 18, 1828, says : "At the time
of the late presidential election, I had the honor of a seat in the house of repre
sentatives. With the friends of the several candidates, my intercourse was con
stant, intimate, and extensive. I can safely declare, that the results of all my
inquiries, in respect to Mr. Clay, was a conviction, that in this difficult and deli
cate juncture, his conduct was distinguished by purity of motive, by a deep sense
of public duty, and great prudence and discernment in the course proper to be
pursued. In his high office as speaker of the house, he seemed anxious to pre
serve his usual impartiality between the conflicting parties. . . . With respect
to his friends (by whom I mean the members of Congress from those states which
had voted for him as president), it appeared to me, that, generally speakine,
their attachment was not to Mr. Cliiy as an individual merely, but as a public
man — as a statesman, whose general views of policy were in accordance with
their own. ... I was told by one of the Ohio members [Mr. M'Arthur], that
they [the Ohio delegation] had come to the determination to vote for Mr. Adams,
before they had ascertained what would be Mr. Clay's course. ... It was my
practice, while a member of Congress, to note down, at the close of each session,
in a journal which I kept for that purpose, whatever occurred to me of an inter-

THE WITNESSES. 385
should dare, to bring such a charge, without a shadow of evidence,
without any expectation of being able, without even a design, to
support it — with a fixed plan to avoid supporting it — will be a sub-
esting nature, during the session that had just closed. The following extract
from this journal, is under date of June, 1824, and was written by me immedi
ately on my return from Washington : —
" ' I spo*ke but twice this session to Mr. .Clay, on this subject. The first was
on the caucus, against which he declared himself; but proposed to be governed,
in this whole matter, by his friends' advice. The other conversation related to
General Jackson. It was soon after Pennsylvania declared for the general, and
when he seemed, for the moment, to carry all before him. He spoke with equal
truth and feeling on this subject. He said it was truly discouraging to see the
people so intoxicated and deluded by a little military glory — that a man, totally un
known to the civil history of the country — who knew nothing of the constitution
or laws of the land — and who,, in short, had no other recommendation, than that
which grew out of his fortunate campaign at New Orleans — should be thought
of for president of the United States, and even preferred to all others ; at a time,
too, when some of the ablest men the country had ever produced — he did not
mean, he said, to include himself in the number — men, who had grown gray in the
civil departments of the government, in Congress, in diplomatic missions, and
in the cabinet — were before the public as candidates for that office — was, he
said, such a symptom of the diseased state of public sentiment, as must be
equally alarming and discouraging, whether viewed by those, who saw the highest
objects of laudable ambition snatched from them by a military chief, or by those
calm observers of passing events, who look with philosophical or prophetic eyes,
on the causes of the permanence or decay of our free institutions.'
" The above extract contains but an imperfect sketch of Mr. Clay's remarks to
me at that time. He declared, with great energy, his opinion, that, whatever
be General Jackson's other merits, he had no pretensions to the character of a
statesman ; and he painted, in lively colors, the dangers, to which the country
was exposed."
Alexander Robertson, Esq., in a letter, dated, Union Township, Ross Co.,
January 12, 1828, and addressed to R. Kercheval, Esq., Chilicothe, says, he
made a journey of six days in company with Mr. Clay and two other members of
Congress from Kentucky, in November, 1824, on their way to Washington, and
that, among other things, he heard Mr. Clay say : " There was little doubt, that
the choice [for president] would be ultimately restricted to either Mr. Adams or
General Jackson, in which event, he repeatedly stated, that it was his settled in
tention to vote for Mr. Adams." MR. CLAY TO JUDGE BROOKE.
" Washington, 28th January, 1825.
" My Dear Sir : My position, in regard to the presidential contest, is highly
critical, and such as to leave me no path, on which I can move without concern.
I have pursued, in regard to it, the rule which I always observe in regard to my
public duty. I have interrogated my conscience, as to what I ought to do, and
that faithful guide tells me, that I ought to vote for Mr. Adams. I shall fulfil its
injunctions. .Mr. Crawford's state of health, and the circumstances under which
he presents himself to the house, appear to me to be conclusive against him. As
a friend of liberty, and to the permanence of our institutions, I can not consent,
in this early stage of their existence, by contributing to the election of a military
chieftain, to give the strongest guaranty, that this republic will march in the
fatal road, which has conducted every other republic to ruin. I owe to our
friendship this frank expression of my intentions. I am, and shall continue to
be, assailed, by all the abuse, which partisan zeal, malignity, and rivalry, can in
vent. I shall view, without emotion, these effusions of malice, and remain un
shaken in my purpose. What is a public man worth, if he will not expose him
self, on fit occasions, for the good of his country ? As to the result of the election,
I can not speak with absolute certainty ; but there is every reason to believe, that
we shall avoid the dangerous precedent, to which I allude.
"H. Clay.
"Hon. F. Brooke."
Vol. I.— 25

386 PROOF OF A NEGATIVE.
ject of increasing amazement, as tire events recede in time, and
public judgment becomes tempered with sobriety. That the ac
cused party, also occupying an equally elevated standing — not to
" Washington, February 4, 1825.
" My Dear Sir : I received your obliging letter of the 1st instant. Although
my letter, to which it is an answer, was not intended for publication, I would
rather that it should be published, and speak for itself, than its contents should
appear through the medium of Mr. Ritchie's representations of them. With
regard to its publication, you will be pleased to do as you may think proper. All
that I feel anxious about, is, that the public should not receive an impression, that
it was my intention that it should be published. My condition at this moment is
most peculiar. The batteries of some of the friends of every man, who would
now be president — or who, four or eight years hence, would be president — are
directed against me, w h only the exception of those of Mr. Adams. Some of
the friends of General Jackson, Mr. Crawford, Mr. Calhoun, and Mr. Clinton,
with very different ultimate ends, agree, for the present, to unite in assailing me.
The object now is, on the part of Mr. Crawford and General Jackson, to drive
me from the course, which my deliberate judgment points out ; and for the future,
on the part of Mr. Clinton and Mr. Calhoun, to remove me, as an obstacle to
their elevation. They all have yet to learn my character, if they suppose it pos
sible to make me swerve from my duty, by any species of intimidation, or denun
ciation. But I did not suppose, that my old friend Ritchie would join in the gen
eral cry. He ought to recollect, that he is struggling for a man, I for the country ;
he, to elevate an unfortunate gentleman, worn down by disease [Mr. Crawford] ;
I, to preserve our youthful institutions from the bane, which has destrpyed all
the republics of the old world. I might have expected from the patriotism of
Thomas Ritchie, that he would have surrendered his personal predilections, and
joined with me, in the effort to save us from a precedent fraught with the most
pernicious consequences. I am so far disappointed. I say it with mortification
and regret. But all attempts to make me unite with him — to induce me to give
up the defence of our institutions, that we may elect a sick gentleman, who has
also been rejected by the great body of the nation, are vain, and utterly fruitless.
Mr. Ritchie ought to awake, should be himself again, and love Rome more than
Caesar. " I observe what you kindly tell me about the future cabinet. My dear sir, I
want no office. When have I shown an avidity for office ? In rejecting the mis
sion to Russia, and the department of war, under one administration ? In
rejecting the same department, the mission to England, or any other foreign mis
sion, under the succeeding administration ? If Mr. Adams is elected, I know not
who will be his cabinet. I know not whether I shall be offered a place in it, or not.
If there should be any offer, I shall decide upon it, when it may be made, accord
ing to my sense of duty. But, do you not perceive, that this denunciation of me,
by anticipation, is a part of the common system, betwe'en the discordant confed
erates, which I have above described 1 Most certainly, if an office should be
offered to me, under the new administration, and I should be induced to think,
that I ought to accept it, J shall not be deterred from accepting it, either by the de
nunciation of open or secret enemies, or the hypocrisy of pretended friends.
" With great respect, I am, faithfully, your friend, "H.Clay.
" Judge Brooke." "Genito, April 11, 1828.
" To the Editors of the Constitutional Whig : —
" Gentlemen : The annexed is a copy of a letter written by Mr. Clay, to a
member of the Virginia legislature, in answer to one written by that gentleman
to Mr. Clay, at the particular solicitation of several members, who knew the
friendship that existed between those two gentlemen. I have been endeavoring,
for the last eighteen months, to get Mr. Clay's letter, but in consequence of its
having been mislaid, I have been unable to do so until now. It goes — together
with numerous other letters written by him pending the election — to show the
high-minded and independent course adopted by him, throughout the contest. I
have the original now in my possession : —

the witnesses. 387
say more so — should be forced into such a position, and held
there — a position, from which common law, and common 'justice,
would instantly rescue the meanest citizen — will for ever be a sub-
" Washington, February 4, 1825.
" My Dear Sir : I have received, and read, with all the.,attention due to our
ancient and unbroken friendship, your letter of the 2d instant. You state, that
the conviction has been forced upon the Richmond public, by the papers which
are daily received from this city, that / have gone over to the party of Mr. Adams,
with a view to constitute a part of his cabinet. Do you believe it ? Then you
ought not to respect me. Do you wish me to deny it ? Then you can not respect
me. What do you desire 1 That I should vote for Mr. Crawford ? I can not
for General Jackson — I will not. I shall pursue the course, which my con
science dictates, regardless of all imputations, and all consequences. I love the
state which gave me birth, more than she loves me. Personally, I would make
any sacrifice to evince this attachment. But I have public duties to perform,
which comprehend a consideration of her peculiar interest and wishes, and those
of the rest of the confederacy. Those I shall perform. In doing so, I may in
cur, unfortunately, her displeasure. Be it so. I can not help it. The quiet
of my conscience is of more importance to me, than the good opinion of even
Virginia, highly as I do, and ever must, respect it.
" Your faithful friend, " H. Clay."
EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM JOSEPH KENT, GOVERNOR OF MARYLAND, TO A
GENTLEMAN OF FRANKFORT, KENTUCKY. " Rosemont, May 15, 1827.
" I have seen so little of late, from your state, upon the subject of politics, that
I do not know, whether the violence of the opposition to the present administra
tion, has extended itself among you, or not. Our friend, Mr. Clay, appears to
be the chief object of persecution, with the opposition. They are, with great
industry, conducting a systematical attack upon him, which commenced with the
Kremer story, an entire fabrication. At the time the plot opened, I was a mem
ber of the house of representatives, and heard Kremer declare, he never in his life
designed to charge Mr. Clay with anything dishonorable. The old man natu
rally honest, was imposed on at the time, by a powerful influence, and constrained
to act his part in an affair, which, from beginning to end, was as much a fiction,
as the ' Merry Wives of Windsor,' or the ' School for Scandal.' . . . Mr. Clay I
have known intimately for sixteen years. His public career is completely identi
fied with every event ofthe country, from that period to the present time, whether
in peace or war. During the late war, I have seen the house of representatives,
after having gone out of committee of the whole, return to it again, for the sole
purpose, of 'affording Mr. Clay (then speaker) an opportunity of putting down
the desperate and infuriated advocates of British tyranny, insult, and injury.
But his enemies say Mr. Adams bargained with him. This is assertion, without
proof, and is destitute of truth, as it is of manly frankness. His superior quali
fications placed him in the department of state, and history furnishes no instance,
when so superior a man had to bargain for a high station, for which his peculiar
fitness was evident to every one."
MR. CLAY TO GEORGE MCCLURE, ESQ.
" I have no hesitation in saying, that I have long since decided in favor of Mr.
Adams, in case the contest should be between him and General Jackson. What,
I would ask, should be the distinguishing characteristic of an American statesman ?
Should it not be a devotion to civil liberty ? Is it then compatible with that prin
ciple, to elect a man, whose sole recommendation rests on military pretensions 1
I, therefore, say to you unequivocally, that I can not, consistently with my own
principles, support a military man."
The above extract was sent by Mr. M'Clure, to the Hon. Robert S. Rose, at
his request, with a letter, dated Bath (N. Y.), September 1, 1827, of which the
following is a part : " After the electors of president and vice-president were cho
sen in 1824, it was ascertained, that the election would come before the house of

388 PROOF OF A NEGATIVE.
ject of just and increasing amazement! That this position of the
parties, and such parties, should not only be tolerated for the in
stant, but permitted to remain for years, for an age, for ever,
representatives, and that Mr. Clay would not be among the number returned.
Not knowing his sentiments in relation to the candidates, I addressed a letter to
him, stating, that in all probability, the contest would be confined to Mr. Adams
and General Jackson ; and in that case, wished to know which of them he would
prefer ? Mr. Clay answered me promptly, by letter, bearing date December 28,
1824, of which the following [above] is an extract."
" Lexington (Ky.), March 21, 1825.
" To the Editors of the National Intelligencer .- —
" Gentlemen : At different times before Mr. Clay left this place for Washing
ton, last fall, I had conversations with him on the subject of a choice of a presi
dent by the house of representatives. In all of them he expressed himself as
having, long before, decided in favor of Mr. Adams, in case the contest should
be between that gentleman and General Jackson. My last interview with him,
was, I think, the very day before his departure, when he was still more explicit,
as it was then certain, that the election would be transferred to that tribunal, and
highly probable, that he would not be among the number returned. In the course
of the conversation, I took occasion to express my sentiments, witli respect to the
delicate and difficult circumstances under which he would be placed ; on which
hre remarked, that I could not more fully apprehend them, than he did himself;
but that nothing should deter him from the duty of giving his vote, and that no
state of things could arise, that would justify him in preferring General Jackson
to Mr. Adams, or induce him to support the former. So decisive, indeed, were his
declarations on this subject, that, had he voted otherwise than he did, I should
have been compelled to regard him, as deserving that species of censure, which
has been cast upon him, for consistently adhering to an early and deliberate
resolution. "Daniel Drake."
The Hon. John McLean, afterward appointed by General Jackson to the supreme
bench, wrote a letter to the editor ofthe Illinois Gazette, from Washington, Feb.
3, 1825— he being at that time a senator of the United States, and a political
friend of General Jackson — of which the following is an extract : " No doubt
you have, with astonishment, seen the cards of Mr. Clay and Mr. Kremer, in
the Intelligencer. ... No man, I think, believes, that there is the least foun
dation for the accusation against Mr. Clay, and no man affects to credit it,
but Mr. Kremer. At any rate, I know of none who does."
MR. WM. u. NILES TO MR. CLAY. — EXTRACT.
. . " A short time after the election [of Mr. Adams], my father was at Wash
ington, and attended the first levee, or party, given by the president elect (and I
believe he held levees every fortnight while secretary of state) and there met
General Jackson, who, after greeting him with much cordiality, took him by the
arm, and, forcing his way through the crowd, led him to the passage, or hall
where he entered into a free discussion, of all the matters connected' with the
election, and again and again expressed himself satisfied with the result saying
among other things, that ' he was not fit for the presidential chair — that he could
not get on — that his proper place was at the head of an army,' &c. Durin" that
conversation, not one word escaped him, which betrayed the slightest suspicion
that he had been unfairly dealt with— ror that any improper influences had been
exerted in the election. About this interview I can not be mistaken, for I have
heard my father frequently describe it."
The father of the writer of the above letter, was Hezekiah Niles, Esq. editor
and proprietor of the Weekly Register.
LETTERS FROM CHIEF-JUSTICE MARSHALL TO MR. CLAY.
" Richmond, April 4. 1825
" Dear Sir : I have received your address to your former constituents • and
as it was franked by you, I presume I am indebted to you for it. I have read it
¦with great pleasure, as well as attention, and am gratified at the full and com
plete view you have given of some matters, which the busy world has been

THE WITNESSES.- 389
would in time be pronounced a faMe, if history should neglect to
register the facts !
What is that position ? One party, interested even to the high-
employing itself upon. I required no evidence respecting the charge made by Mr.
Kremer, nor should I have required any, had I been unacquainted with you, or
with the transaction — because I have long since ceased to credit charges destitute
of proof. I consider them as mere aspersions. The minuteness of detail, how
ever, will enable your friends to encounter any insinuations on that subject, which
may be thrown out in their hearing. More of this may be looked for, than any
hostility to you would produce. There is unquestionably a party determined to
oppose Mr. Adams at the next election, and this party will attack him through yon.
It is an old, and has been a successful stratagem. No part of your letter was more
necessary, than that which respects your former relations with that gentleman.
" I am, dear sir, with respect and esteem, your obedient servant, " J. Marshall."
" Richmond, January 5, 1828.
" Dear Sir : I thank you for the copy of your address on the charges made
against you respecting the election of president, which I have read with the more
pleasure, because it combines a body of testimony much stronger than I had sup
posed possible, which must, I think, silence even those who wish the charges to
be believed. ,
" With sincere wishes for the improvement of your health, and with real
esteem, " I am, dear sir, your obedient servant, "J. Marshall.
" Hon. H. Clay." " Richmond, May 1, 1828.
" Dear Sir : A visit to my friends in the upper country, from which I returned
yesterday, prevented my receiving your letter of the 8th of April, at an earlier
day. The note you mention, was drawn from me very unwillingly, and the opinion
it expressed, was the necessary result of evidence on a mind not predisposed to
condemn. If it draws upon me a portion of that scurrility, which has been lav
ished on others, I must console myself with the reflection, that I have not volun
tarily intruded myself upon a controversy, which has been carried on with such
unexampled virulence.
" Mr. Call looked in upon me yesterday afternoon, and showed me your two
letters to Mr. Blair. We have indeed ' fallen upon evil times,' if the seal of con
fidence is to be broken, and such letters to be shown, for the purpose of injuring
the writer. No fair mind can misunderstand them, or pervert their light and
sportive language into a confession of dishonorable views. I know not how Mr.
Blair can abstain from a public vindication of your conduct, so far as it is devel
oped in those letters.
" With great and respectful esteem, I am, dear sir, your obedient servant,
" J. Marshall.
"Hon. H. Clay."
CHIEF-JUSTICE MARSHALL TO THE EDITOR OF THE RICHMOND WHIG  PUBLISHED
APRIL 2, 1828. "March 29, 1828. '*
" Sir : I perceive in your paper of to-day, a quotation from the Marylander,
of certain expressions ascribed to me, respecting the pending election Tor the
presidency of the United States, which I think it my duty to disavow. Holding
the situation I do under the government of the United States, I have thought it
right to abstain from any public declarations on the election ; and were it other
wise, I should abstain, from the conviction, that my opinions would have no
weight. " I admit having said in private, that, though I had not voted since the estab
lishment of the general ticket system, and had believed that I never would vote du
ring its continuance, I might probably depart from my resolution in this instance,
from the strong sense I felt of the injustice of the charge of corruption against the
president and secretary of state.

390 PROOF OF A NEGATIVE.
est object of human ambition, is permitted, with impunity,
and without the responsibility of proof, to bring the gravest charges
— charges amounting to crime of the foulest and most atrocious
" I never did use the other expression ascribed to me. I request you to say,
that you are authorized to declare, that the Marylander has been misinformed.
" Very respectfully, your obedient servant, " J. Marshall.
" John H. Pleasants, Esq." MR. MADISON TO MR. CLAY.
" Montpelier, January 6, 1828.
"Dear Sir : I have duly received the copy of your address, politely forwarded
to me. Although I have taken no part in the depending contest, and have not
been led to place myself publicly on that ground, I could not peruse the appeal
you have made, without being sensible ofthe weight of testimony it exhibits, and
of the eloquence by which it is distinguished.
" With great esteem and friendly regards, "James Madison.
"Hon. H. Clay." " Boston, July 24, 1827.
"My Dear Sir : Your reply to General Jackson's letter is admirable, and has
been most favorably received everywhere, at least on this side of the AUeganies.
It places the general in a position where he can not remain. He must move in
some direction ; and whatever movement he makes, will either embarrass his
friends, or still more embarrass himself. I have a suspicion, that the ' respectable
member of Congress3 is Mr. Buchanan. If this should turn out so, it will place
him in an awkward situation, since, it seems, he did recommend a bargain with
your friends, on the suspicion, that such a bargain had been proposed to them, on
the part of friends of Mr. Adams. I am curious to see how this matter will de- ,
velop itself. " Yours always truly, "Daniel Webster.
" Hon. H. Clay." " Boston, August 22, 1827.
" My Dear Sir : You speak very modestly of recent events, in which you
have borne so distinguished and so successful a part. I can not think that General
Jackson will ever recover from the blow which he has received. Your speech at
Lexington, in point of merit, as a clear and well-stated argument, is entirely at
the hgad of all your efforts ; and its effects on public opinion have not been ex
ceeded by those of any political paper — I may almost say, within my recollection.
Buchanan is treated too gently. Many persons think his letter candid. I deem
it otherwise. It seems to me to be labored very hard to protect the general, as
far as he could, without injury to himself. Although the general's friends, this
way, however, affect to consider Buchanan's letter as supporting the charge, it is
possible the general himself, and the Nashville Commentator, may think other
wise, and complain of Buchanan. I should expect this with some confidence, if
they received the letter a little earlier than they may have seen the turn which
the Atlantic editors have attempted to give it. As these last have pretty gener
ally agreed to say, that the letter does support the general, the Nashville Com
mentator, if they see the example in season, may be disposed to follow it. I do
not yet learn what answer comes from that quarter to your speech, &c.
" Ever truly yours, " Daniel Webster.
"Hon. Mr. Clay." "January 1, 1828.
" My Dear Sir : After company went out last night, and I had packed up my
trunk, I sat down, and read your letter through. Probably, I should have voted
against any further publication ; but I am now fully satisfied this will do good.
The statement is clear, and the evidence irresistible. I am satisfied, upon mv
conscience, that the whole business originated with General Jackson himself;
whether through mistake, or.from intention, I do not say. Adieu.
" Yours always truly, « Daniel Webster.
"Mr. Clay."
This letter alludes to Mr. Clay's address to the public, of December, 1827.

THE WITNESSES, 391
character — against a supposed rival, to keep his rival back, and put
himself forward ! The other party — whose fair fame, hardly earned
in a long career of untarnished private honor, and of most scrupu-
In 1829, after Mr. Adams had retired from the presidential chair, in reply to a
letter from a committee of gentlemen in New Jersey, who had addressed him, he
spoke of Mr. Clay as follows : " Upon him the foulest slanders have been showered.
Long known and appreciated, as successively a member of both houses of your
national legislature, as the unrivalled speaker, and at the same time most efficient
leader of debates in one of them ; as an able and successful negotiator of your
interests, in war and peace, with foreign powers, and as a powerful candidate for
the highest of your trusts, the department of state itself was a station, which, by
its bestowal, could confer neither profit, nor honor, upon him, but upon which he
has shed unfading honor, by the manner in which he has discharged its duties.
Prejudice and passion have charged him with obtaining that office by bargain and
corruption. Before you, my fellow-citizens, in the presence of our country and
Heaven, I pronounce that charge totally unfounded. This tribute of justice is
due from me to him, and I seize, with pleasure, the opportunity afforded me by
your letter, of discharging the obligation. As to my motives for tendering to him
the department of state when I did, let that man who questions them, come for
ward ; let him look around among statesmen and legislators of this nation, and of
that day ; let him then select and name the man, whom, by his pre-eminent tal
ents, by his splendid seryices, by his ardent patriotism, by his all-embracing pub
lic spirit, by his fervid eloquence in behalf of the rights and liberties of mankind,
and 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 have preferred to Henry Clay. Let him name the man, and
then judge you, my fellow-citizens, of my motives."
When Mr. Adams was on a tour in the western states, in the fall of 1843, in
addressing the chairman of the committee of his reception, at Maysville, Ken
tucky, he said : " I thank you, sir, for the opportunity you have given me of
speaking of the great statesman, who was associated with me in the administra
tion of the general government, at my earnest solicitation ; who belongs not to
Kentucky alone, but to the whole Union; and who is not only an honor to this
state, and this nation, but to mankind. The charges to which you refer, aftea
my term. of service had expired, and it was proper for me to speak, I denied be
fore the whole country, and I here reiterate and reaffirm that denial ; and as I
expect shortly to appear before my God, to answer for the conduct of my whole
life, should those charges have found their way to the throne of eternal justice, I
will, in the presence of Omnipotence, pronounce them false."
In a public speech at Covington, Kentucky, during the same tour, as above,
Mr. Adams said : " Not only have I received invitations from public bodies and
cities, but also from individuals, among the first of whom was that great man,
your own citizen, who, during a very large portion of my public life, and in va
rious public capacities, in several instances on matters relating to your interests,
has been my associate and friend, and the recollection of whom brings me to the
acknowledgment, before this whole assembly, that in all the various capacities in
which I have known him to act, whether as associate, as assistant, or acting in
dependently of me, in his own individual character and capacity, I have ever
found him not only one of the ablest men with whom I have ever co-operated,
but also one of the most amiable and worthy."
A RESOLUTION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE.
" Resolved, by the general assembly of the state of Tennessee, That, so much of
the proceedings adopted by the legislature of Tennessee in 1827, as sustain the
allegation, either expressed or implied, of an improper and corrupt combination,
or, as it has been more generally denominated, ' corruption, bargain, and intrigue,'
between John Q. Adams and Henry Clay, is, in the opinion of this general as
sembly, unsupported by proof, and not believed.
" Adopted January 27, 1844. " D. L. Barringer,
" Speaker of the House of Representatives.
" J, M. Anderson,
" Speaker of the Senate.
" A true copy : Jno. S. Young, Secretary of State."

392 PROOF OF A NEGATIVE.
lous fidelity to the public, precious to himself, and momentously
important to the community — invokes proof, demands justice, and
is denied both ! While the accuser, thus interested, and thus
The following record is from the journal of the senate of Kentucky, January
25, 1828 : " The legislature view with deep concern, and feelings of just indigna
tion, the efforts that are now making throughout the United States, to blast the
reputation of the distinguished members of Congress from this state, who voted for
John Quincy Adams to be president of the United States. They have no hesita
tion in saying, that it is their confirmed opinion, from great deliberation and a full
examination of all the facts and evidence adduced, that the charges of bargain,
sale, and corruption, in the election of John Q. Adams, are utterly false and mali
cious ; that they are brought forward, and endeavored to be sustained, for party
purposes, and to elevate General Jackson to the office of president of the United
States." "Osuischu Bend, Russel County (Ala.), May 26, 1844.
"Dear Sir: I have had the honor to receive your favor of the I7th instant.
There is nothing in the nature of your communication, which requires an apology
for your addressing me.
" If I had in my possession such a letter from General Jackson, as has been
most erroneously supposed, I should, under his very emphatic card of the 3d in
stant, in the Nashville Union, have felt myself released from all reserve, as to its
publication. You will have perceived, ere this reaches you, from my reply to that
gentleman, that he never, in the confidence which once subsisted between us,
transmitted to me such a paper.
" Indeed, I have frequently heard him express opinions altogether at variance
with the alleged retraction. His belief, and that generally of the party to which
I was then attached, I did not share, in reference to the charge of bargain and
corruption, which, in 1825, was so freely preferred against Mr. Clay and Mr. Ad
ams, and which constituted the electioneering staple of our party, during the
four years' war, which ended in our triumph in 1829.
" It would, in my humble opinion, have been an act of supererogation on the
part of Mr. Clay, to have made a bargain for what, by the force and gravity of
political causes and geographical considerations, was inevitable, without either his
erime or his participation — an offer of a seat in ' Mr. Adams's cabinet. In ac
cepting it, / have always understood, he acted in conformity with the advice of
some of the most influential supporters of Mr. Crawford, whose friends then oc
cupied a position of neutrality between the two great parties of General Jackson
and Mr. Adams, although they soon after, it is true, became belligerents on our
side. J sincerely believe, that Mr. Clay's acceptance of the office, that subjected
him to such obloquy, was the result of a sense of duty which he owed to the coun
try, to aid by his counsels him whom he had assisted to place in power. He cer
tainly relinquished, for the department of state, a position in the house of represen
tatives, far more desirable, and of more influence and authority, which was much
better adapted to the peculiar and transcendent vein of his signal ability for dis
tinction in a popular assembly.
"I know that this view of the case runs counter to the opinions of my old
chief [General Jackson] — who, if he puts himself at the head of the annexation
movement, will be my chief again — and to those of many esteemed friends, with
whom I was proudly and victoriously associated in the struggle of 1828 and '29.
But they must pardon me for adhering to opinions — however valueless — long since
entertained and frequently expressed. And now, when I have no sort of connex
ion with any party in the country — except on one isolated question, associated, as
I believe, with the best interests of the whole Union, and the vital security of the
south — I hope I may be allowed, without any impeachment of my own motives —
and certainly with no adhesion, either expressed or implied, to the politics of Mr.
Clay — to do justice, as far as my humble opinions can afford it, to his public repu
tation, and to his unsullied personal honor.
" I remain, dear sir, with esteem, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
" J. Hamilton.
"Hon. John White, House of Representatives."
The above letter, it will be observed, was called for, on account of General
Jackson's card, of May 3, 1844, published in the Nashville Union, and copied at
the beginning of chapter xiv. of this volume.

THE WITNESSES. 393
shielded, marches on, unobstructed and triumphant, to his goal, in
contempt of all established principles of law and equity, the ac
cused, driven from the only tribunal where justice could possibly
" New York, September 1, 1845.
" Dear Sir : In compliance with your request, I submit in writing the follow
ing statement, which 1 made verbally to you a few days ago. You are at liberty
to make such use of it as may seem proper to you.
" In April, 1827, a gentleman of Virginia, then residing in Fayetteville, N. C,
received the celebrated letter from his friend Carter Beverley. Struck with the
strong language employed by General Jackson, in the conversation with Mr. Bev
erley and others, the recipient ofthe letter communicated it for publication in my
paper, the Fayetteville Observer, in which it appeared on the 5th of April, 1827.
" The statements and proofs which this publication called forth, will no doubt
be fully and fairly detailed in your forthcoming work. It is not my purpose here
to speak of them ; but merely, at your request, to state the fact, that though I
was then, in common with almost all southern men, opposed to Messrs. Adams
and Clay, and earnestly employed in advocating the election of General Jackson
(with a view more to their defeat than to his elevation), I could not, with all my
then existing prejudices against Mr. Clay, shut my eyes to a complete refutation
of General Jackson's charge of 'bargain and corruption,' which Mr. Clay was
enabled to present, even from General Jackson's own witnesses. After the evi
dence on both sides had been fully produced, I expressed my opinion of the whole
case, in the ' Observer' of December 20, 1827, as follows : —
" ' There is no duty more binding on an honorable man than the frank and prompt
acknowledgment, of and atonement for error, especially when an injury to another
has been the result of that error. It is in discharge of this duty that we feel
called upon to copy the two following articles, on a subject with which all our
readers are familiar, viz. : the alleged bargain between Mr. Adams and Mr. Clay.'
"[After giving those articles, the 'Observer' continued]: —
" 'It will be recollected that the first appearance of these charges in anything
like a tangible shape, and backed by a " responsible accuser," was caused by the
appearance in this paper ofa letter giving the substance of words spoken by Gen
eral Jackson ; which letter was soon after avowed by the author, and the language
attributed to General Jackson more than assumed by him. For the publication
of that letter we take no blame to ourselves ; because it was done in discharge
of a paramount obligation of public journalists to expose, on proper evidence,
the corruption of the public servants. We believed that we had such evidence.
" ' That we had not, and that the charges could not be sustained, after having
been made, is the fault of others. We feel bound to say, that in our opinion the
charge of bargain has not been sustained by proof.
" ' We can not for a moment suppose, however, that General Jackson has at
tempted to fix what he believes to be a false charge upon Mr. Clay. If we
thought so, he would be the last man who should receive any support of ours.'
" I need scarcely add, that time, which so essentially changed my opinion in
regard to General Jackson, has but served to strengthen and confirm my confi
dence in the disinterestedness, the patriotism, and the purity, of the long public
life of Henry Clay.
" Very respectfully and truly, your obedient servant, " E. J. Hale,
"Editor of the Fayetteville (N. C.) Observer.
" Calvin Colton, Esq." [CONFIDENTIAL.]
"House of Represf.ntatives, February M, 1825.
"Mv Dear Sir: Southard remains in the navy department. I nm offered that
of the state, but have not yet decided. The others not yet determined on. Craw
ford retires. What shall I do ? " In haste, your friend, « H. Clay.
"The Hon. F. Brooke."

394 PROOF OF A NEGATIVE.
be done, is compelled to go in search of evidence for the proof of a
negative, and use it, as best he can, without the sanction, with
out the solemnity of public justice ! The interested fiat of the
[CONFIDENTIAL.] " Washington, February 18, 1825.
" My Dear Sir : When the subject of the office of the department of state to
me was first opened to my congressional friends, there existed among them some
diversity of opinion, as to the propriety of my accepting it. On the one hand, it
was said that, if I took it, that fact would be treated as conclusive evidence of
the justice of the imputations which have been made against me ; that the house
of representatives was my theatre ; that the administration would want me there,
if it should prove itself worthy of support, more than in the cabinet; and that my
own section [of the country] would not like to see me translated from the legisla
tive hall to an executive department.
" On the other hand, it was urged that, whether I accepted or declined the of
fice, I should not escape severe animadversion ; that, in the latter contingency, it
would be said, that the patriotic Mr. Kremer, by an exposure of the corrupt ar
rangement, had prevented its consummation ; that the very object of propaga
ting the calumny would be accomplished ; that, conscious of my own purity of
intention, I ought not to give the weight ofa feather to the Kremer affair; that
there would be much difficulty in filling the administration without me; that ei
ther of the other candidates [for the presidency in 1824], if he had been elected,
would have made me the same offer ; that it would be said of me, that, after hav
ing contributed to the election ofa president, I thought so ill of him, that I would
not take the first place under him ; that he was now the constitutional head of
the government, and as such I ought to regard him, dismissing any personal ob
jections which I might have heretofore had to him ; that I had perhaps remained
long enough in the house of representatives ; and that my own section [of the
country] could not be dissatisfied with seeing me placed where, if I should prove
myself possessed of the requisite attainments, my services might have a more ex
tended usefulness.
" On mature consideration, those of my friends, who were originally averse
from my entering the office, changed their opinion, and I believe they were finally
unanimous in thinking, that I ought not to hesitate in taking upon myself its du
ties. Those of Mr. Adams, especially in New England, were alike unanimous,
and indeed, extremely urgent in their solicitations. Several of Mr. Crawford's
friends (Mr. McLane, of Delaware, Mr. Forsyth, Mr. Mangum, &c. &c), and
also some of those of General Jackson in Pennsylvania, expressed to me their
strong convictions, that I ought to accept. The opposition to my acceptance is
limited chiefly to the violent of Mr. Calhoun's friends, and to some of those of
Mr. Crawford and General Jackson.
" From the first, I determined to throw myself into the hands of my friends,
and if they advised me to decline the office, not to accept it; but, if they thought
it was my duty, and for the public interest, to go into it, to do so. I have an un
affected repugnance to any executive employment, and my rejection of the offer,
if it were in conformity with their deliberate judgment, would have been more
compatible with my feelings, than its acceptance.
* • * * * « • *
" This is not written for publication, in whole or in part. • * *
" I am, my dear sir, your affectionate friend,
" The Hon. F. Brooke." ' "H.Clay.
MR. CRAWFORD TO MR. CLAY — EXTRACT.
" Woodlawn, February 4, 1828.
" My Dear Sir :
" I hope you know me too well, to suppose, that I have countenanced the
charge of corruption, which has been reiterated against you. The truth is, I ap
proved of your. vote when it was given, and should have voted as you did between
Jackson and Adams. But candor compels me to say, that I disapproved of your
accepting an office under him.
«» • • * • • «
"Wm. H. Crawford."

THE WITNESSES. 395

accuser, is permitted to pass for the full value and effect of proof,
conviction, sentence, execution ! Dodging responsibility when
confronted by it, flying from court when justice calls him to her

"My Dear Sir:

EXTRACT FROM MR. CLAY S REPLY.
" Washington, February 10, 1828.

" I do, my dear sir, know you too well to suppose, that you ever countenanced
the charge of corruption against me. No man of sense and candor — at least none
that know me — ever could or did countenance it. Your frank admission, that you
would have voted as I did, between Mr. Adams and General Jackson, accords
with the estimate I have ever made of your intelligence, your independence, and
your patriotism. Nor am I at all surprised, or dissatisfied, with the expression of
your opinion, that I erred in accepting the place which I now hold. When two
courses present themselves in human affairs, and one only is pursued, experience
develops the errors of the selection which has been made. Those which would
have attended the opposite course, can only be matter of speculation. Thus it is
in the case referred to. We see, or think we see, distinctly, the errors of the
alternative which I embraced. But, are we sure, that, if I had chosen the other,
I should not have been liable to greater hazard, or more animadversion ? The
truth is, as I have often said, my condition was one full of embarrassments, what
ever way I might act. My own judgment was rather opposed to my acceptance
of the department of state ; but my friends — and let me add, two of your best
friends, Mr. McLane, of Delaware, and Mr. Forsyth, urged me strongly not to
decline it. It was represented by my friends, that I should get no credit for the
forbearance, but that, on the contrary, it would be said, that my forbearance was
evidence of my having made a bargain, though unwilling to execute it 
'Your enemies have sought, by previous denunciation, to frighten you. They do
not believe that you have acted otherwise than from motives ofthe purest patriot
ism ; but they wish to alarm you, and prevent you from entering the department
of state.' These, and other similar arguments were pressed on me, and after a
week's deliberation, I yielded to their force. It is quite possible, that I may
have erred. ... I shall at least have no cause of self-reproach. For, I will
undertake to affirm (and I appeal with confidence to Him, who knows best the
human heart for the truth of the affirmation), that, throughout my public life, in
the many trying situations in which I have been placed, I have been guided ex
clusively by the consideration of the good of my country. Is the measure right ?
Will it conduce to the general happiness, and to the elevation of the national
character ? These have been always my first, and most anxious inquiries.
Truth compels me to say, that I have heartily approved of the leading measures
of his [Mr. Adams's] administration. " Your faithful friend and obedient servant,
"H. Clay.
" Hon. Wm. 1K. Crawford."
It is proper to observe, that the author obtained copies ofthe above two letters,
independent of Mr. Clay. *:
carter Beverley's recantation.
" Virginia, Middlesex County, Urbana, February 8, 1842.
"Dear Sir: It will be no doubt a matter of some astonishment to you, in re
ceiving from me the present address. I will not preface it with any kind of
apology, because, in doing it, I justify my mind, in the discharge of an act of con
science, and a duty, that I feel the utmost pleasure in performing. Although the
time is quite far gone, since I became very innocently instrumental in circulating
throughout the country, a very great attack upon your character and virtue as a
gentleman, and certainly a very heavy one, as a public man, I feel exceedingly
desirous to relieve you, as far as I can, from the slander, and my own feelings
from the severe compunction that is within me, of having been, though neither
directly nor indirectly, your personal accuser ; yet, that I wa_s drawn indiscreetly
into the representation of an attack upon you.

396 PROOF OF- A NEGATIVE.
tribunal, the accuser is no sooner ^driven from one position, than
he takes up another, from which to iterate his charges !
All the world knew, that the witnesses were on the spot, whence
" It is altogether unnecessary to enter into the minute circumstances, at so dis
tant a period, of how it happened, and the particulars of it all. The public were,
at the time, sufficiently informed, why and wherefore, I became the relater of the
assault, to which I especially allude. I did not solicit the account, that gave the
gross, abominable scandal of you ; but merely asked, if it was, or could possibly
be, true ? I had long before heard of it, and was at the seat of government when
it was represented to have occurred. The reason of my having mentioned it,
upon which the answer was given to me, was, that I thought it an infinite scan
dal upon the country, if true ; and if not true, it would give you a fair opportu
nity of exculpating yourself. I had, therefore, two objects in view, which are
easily seen ; and from either, or both, I conceive that I ought to be exonerated, at
least from any design to do you injustice. Imagine j-ourself, what motive I could
possibly have had to injure you — a gentleman with whom I had no difference,
with whom I had been variously acquainted, and though never intimately so, yet
there was always an urbanity and an interchange of civilities between us, that
never failed to make quite a favorable impression upon me, and if it was not re
ciprocal, it was my misfortune. To strew difficulty in your way with design, was
utterly improbable at least. You, a distinguished man in the eyes of the nation,
what advantage could I have expected from a derision of you 1 Surely, it was
very improbable. I most assuredly and most certainly never entertained the
smallest prejudice or unfavorable idea of you, until the affair of the Fayetteville
letter, that appeared under my signature, upon which was founded, I am quite
sorry to say, the charge which galloped through the Union against you.
" Your memorable pamphlet, and some letters, that came out in your defence,
were entirely expressive of the whole transaction ; and although I thought at the
time, that you had not properly conceived me, I studiously forbore to say more
than had been expressed in my correspondence at Wheeling, with Mr. Noah Zane.
My entire object now is, a desire I have to be exonerated from the belief of any
special design to injure you. For, I again declare, that I never felt the smallest
degree of unkindness toward you, other than what was at the time impressed upon
me, by what had been communicated. I have never since the affair, fallen in
company with you but once, and that was for a moment only, and it took place in
the hall ofthe house of representatives, when a ballot was going on for a public.
printer. I was standing alongside of Gov. Branch, then a senator of the United
States, when you passed on at my back, and without perceiving who I was, before
you got up to us, you asked how the ballot had gone 1 Mr. Branch had not at
tended to it, and I had just taken it down with a pencil. I handed to you the
paper, and after looking at it, you returned it, bowed, and passed on. Mr. Branch
then asked me, if that was the first time you and I had met, since the affair ofthe
Fayetteville letter. I said, ' Yes.' The matter then vanished, and I have never
met with you since.
" This letter is intended to show you, that the long lapse of time, and the
many growing circumstances of the country and the government, have long ago
convinced me, that the very greatest injustice was done you in the charge made.
I had, too, an opportunity lately of reading over very calmly and dispassionately
a file of newspapers, containing the whole affair, and carefully dilated upon it.
Mr. Buchanan, who was represented to be your accuser, exhibited no proof what
ever against you ; and he even denied having ever made the charge upon you,
I have discharged my mind in addressing myself so fully to you, and can only add,
that if a publication of this letter can render you any essential service (though I
do not deserve it), you have full liberty from me, to let the public see it. One
circumstance I beg to assure you of, that, whatever my verbal and written expres
sions of you were (and I suppose I must have given much scope to both, though
I recollect now nothing of what I did say), I again say, that I am most thoroughly
convinced, that you were most untruthfully, and therefore unjustly treated; for I
have never seen any evidence to substantiate at all the charge.
" Before I take final leave of you — as it may be, and very likely will be, the
last intercourse betvseen us — I must be allowed to make a few more observations,
though I am quite sensible, that my letter has already exceeded the proper limit.

THE WITNESSES. 397
the specifications of charge first emanated. They were polled in
the charge itself: " the friends >bf Mr. Clay," "the friends of Mr.
Adams," and "the friends of General Jackson;" and so polled,
that it was impossible to mistake them. Their names were on the
journals ofthe house, as members* But the moment they were
being invoked, to appear in the capacity of witnesses, the accuser,
from behind the curtain, issues his mandate to his agents, to re
treat, under a plea of jurisdiction ! The thing, which he was
interested to prove, and could prove, if true — which he was chal
lenged to prove, and bound, in honor and justice, to prove — he
abandons instantly, as the chance of proof presents itself! It was
not for him to enter a plea of jurisdiction, to avoid investigation,
but for the other party, if either. For either to do it, was a con
fession of weakness, of wrong — of all the turpitude and crime in
volved in the case.
It happens, however, in the process of time, that the negative
of these specifications of charge, is completely, triumphantly estab
lished — not, indeed, with the forms of public justice, nor with its
sanctions, nor with its solemnity, as should have been done, for
the proper effect of the verdict. But the accused was denied this
justice. The first twenty witnesses, who give their evidence in
Yet I hazard, with a gentleman of liberality, nothing, I am sure, in asking a little
further indulgence. From the temper of the nation, and the peculiar state of
things, it is presumable, that you are to be the whig candidate for the next elec
tion of president of the United States. You have, I am sure, too high respect for
public opinion, as you have too much veneration for the high dignity of that sit
uation, to be negligent of it. The greatest objection that has been yet started
against you for that high post, I am concerned to say, hinges upon the old affair,
which has been the subject of this letter; and I am sure, as far as I have any in
fluence, the representation I made against you, I sincerely hope, will be per
fectly removed by what I have already expressed to you. I know a great many
most respectable, independent, high-minded politicians of the country, now ex
tending to a great distance of the Union, that would have supported you through
the thickest vapor that has hitherto cast a blind upon the nation, but for the cir
cumstances referred to. It can surely now no longer be matter of doubt upon
their minds ; for he who was generally believed to be the circulator of the egre
gious slander against you, hereby revokes his belief of it, and unequivocally de
clares, that it is unproved, and stands utterly unsupported, to this time — a period
of fifteen or sixteen years. But, like all spirited malevolfmce, it will be still said
by some, that, even in this explanation I have given you of the part I bore in it,
there is- an understanding between, us, and that it is all designed for political ef
fect. You and I can most readily meet the charge, 1 am sure. I have had no
intercourse, or interview — as is expressed in my letter — with you, for at least ten
or eleven years — and there has been no sort of interchange between us. But
you and I have become old enough to expect all such matters to arrive, and are
therefore prepared, I dare say, for the coming of them. Then, let it be so. I
am sure we shall neither of us regard it. I sincerely wish you health and hap
piness, and remain, dear sir, most respectfully, " Your obedient servant,
"Carter Beverley.
" To the Hon. Henry Clay."

398 PROOF OF^jA NEGATIVE.
the lower margin of this chapter, were members of the house of
representatives at the time, and are the very persons, who, more
than all others, must necessarily know — it was physically and
morally impossible they should be ignorant — if there was any truth
in these charges, or the least foundation for them whatever ; and
to suppose, that their evidence is not conclusive, is to allege, that
twenty such men, never impeached before or since, men of high
and pure character through life, in all its relations, have, indepen
dently of each other, without opportunity of concert, and without
any conceivable adequate motive, unanimously falsified themselves,
each for each, standing alone in his crime ! And prtrat is remark
able, one of them, the Hon. David White, of Kentucky, was
actually in the field, when he gave his evidence — as may be seen
in his own words — fighting against Mr. Adams, for General Jack
son ! The effect of this united, harmonious evidence, from the
very persons, who knew all about it, so far as there was anything
in it — more especially when viewed in connexion with the absence
of all conflicting evidence from the other side, not a particle of
which has ever been adduced or found — is to leave the accuser,
standing, like the baseless fabric of a vision, on nothing !
The evidence of these members ofthe house of representatives,
goes to the points of fact, as charged, and annihilates them, in the
absence of all positive proof. But there is another class of wit
nesses, brought forward in this chapter, still more numerous, and
not less respectable, nor less worthy of credit, who certify to facts,
which establish the moral impossibility of the truth of the charges
alleged against Mr. Clay. Here, too, are political opponents of
Mr. Clay, Gen. Call and Col. Benton, giving evidence of great
force — especially Col. Benton. His is conclusive. And Gen.
Call's is tantamount to evidence from General Jackson himself.
He and General Jackson were .then fellow-travellers, and he un
doubtedly spoke the general's sentiments, viz., that Mr. Clay could
not support Gen. Jackson, without being guilty of duplicity. Mr.
Clay's conscientious support, in 1819, in the house of representa
tives, of a resolution of censure on General Jackson, for his con
duct in the Seminole war, as everybody knew, had alienated the
general from him ;, and Mr. Clay's opinion of General Jackson
was not less notorious. Most of the witnesses here adduced,
prove, that, during the year, fall, and December of 1S24, at sun
dry times, and to a host of individuals, Mr. Clay had expressed
himself freely, emphatically, decidedly, that he never could, and

the witnesses. 399
never would, support General Jackson for the presidency, in any
event whatever — so decidedly, and so often, that he would have
lost all character and standing, if he had done so, or been known
even to have entertained the purpose. It vras*morally impossible,
that such a purpose should be entertained by him for a moment.
Such is the testimony of a host of witnesses, led off by such names,
as General Lafayette ; Governor Kent, of Maryland ; James Bar
bour, secretary of war ; the honorable senators, Johnston and
Bouligny, of Louisiana ; the Hon. J. J. Crittenden, and Chief-
Justice Robertson, of Kentucky — all of unimpeachable character ;
Mr. Clay's political opponents, Gen. Call and Mr. Benton ; and
so on.
Governor Kent's letter is an impressive proof of the absurd, the
morally impossible, and the false. Who will not feel the force of
the following remark : " History furnishes no instance, where so
superior a man had to bargain for a high station, for which his
peculiar fitness was evident to every one."
The extract from Mr. Niles's letter is one of great force, and
irresistibly instructive, as it exhibits, either a palpable absurdity,
or the most startling hypocrisy, on the supposition of the truth of
the charges against Messrs. Adams and Clay. The letters from
Chief-Justice Marshall will be read with profound interest,
not less on account of the source, from which they come, than the
eloquent opinion which they deliver, in the case. " I have long
since ceased to credit charges destitute of proof . I consider them
as mere aspersions." He speaks of Mr. Clay's address of
December, 1827, with its accompanying documents — extracts from
many of which are found in this chapter — as " combining a body
of evidence much stronger than he had supposed possible, which,
he thinks, must silence even those, who wish the charges to be
believed." In his letter of May 1, 1828, he says, that "the
opinion expressed," in his note of March 29, to the editor of the
Richmond Whig, " was the necessai-y result of evidence on a mind
not predisposed to condemn." He did then go so far as to
" condemn" General Jackson, by this evidence. It will also be
interesting to see, in this letter of May 1, Judge Marshall's opinion
concerning Mr. Clay's " two letters to Mr. Blair," which, till
finally published in 1844, were so much misrepresented. The
chief-justice's letter to the editor of the Richmond Whig, is a
strong one, drawing forth the inmost feelings of his soul, as they
regard this great crime : " From the strong sense I felt of the

4.00 ^ THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
injustice of the charge of corruption against the president and sec
retary of state." The deep sympathy manifested by the chief-
justice on this occasion, will be appreciated, as it evinces his
judgment on the enormity ofthe offence.
Mr. Madison's brief note, considering his position in retirement,
and his general character of coolness on all occasions, is even warm :
" Icould not peruse the appeal you have made, without being sensible
of the weight of testimony it exhibits." The substance of the same
documents is in this chapter and the preceding. The strong
opinion expressed by Mr. Webster, in his note of January 1, 1828,
is based on the same disclosures: "1 am satisfied,' upon my con
science, that the whole business originated with General Jackson
himself." Mr. Webster's shrewd guess about Mr. Buchanan,
soon proved him a true prophet.
Notwithstanding Mr. Adams was involved in the accusation, it
was chiefly aimed against Mr. Clay. It was never indeed pretend
ed, that Mr. Adams was personally concerned in the alleged nego
tiations. Even if it had been, his subsequent history would rescue
him from the implication. The weight of his letter to the New
Jersey committee, in 1829, will be felt by all; and when, as an
old man, trembling on the verge of the grave, in 1843, he makes
his appeal to the tribunal of "Eternal Justice," declaring that he
" will pronounce the charges false" in that place, " should they
have found their way to that throne," it is enough ! There is no
man living, that will presume to question the truth of such evi
dence. The certified copy of the action of the legislature of Tennessee
on this subject, in 1844, is entitled to special consideration. The
letter of General Hamilton to the Hon. John White, which was
occasioned by General Jackson's card of the 3d of May, 1844, to
the editor of the Nashville Union, reaffirming his charge against
Mr. Clay, besides that it is of.great force as an expression of his
opinion in exculpation of Mr. Clay, and as the evTdence of a Jack
son man through all that battle, has in it a most remarkable and
instructive confession, as to the motive of the charge against Mr.
Clay, in its origin and continuance : " Which constituted the
electioneering staple of our party, during the four years'
war, which ended in our triumph in 1829." How General Ham
ilton, believing in the innocence of Mr. Clay, and in his character
as a man of " unsullied personal honor," as he professes, could
lend his name, his influence, and his efforts, to sustain the credit

THE WITNESSES. 401
Of, and to give currency to, such an " electioneering staple," false
and foul as he knew it to be, and how he could rejoice in a triumph
purchased by such means, is a problem for himself to solve. The
remarks of General Hamilton, that " it would have been a work
of supererogation, on the part of Mr. Clay, to have made a bar
gain," and that, in going into the state department, "he relinquish
ed a position in the house of representatives, far more desirable,
and of more influence and authority," are not more forcible, than
sensible ; and his confession, that "the charge constituted the elec
tioneering staple," is as true, as it is astonishing !
The communication to the author from Mr. Hale, the editor of
the Fayetteville Observer — the same gentleman, who first gave to
the public Carter Beverley's letter of the 8th of March, 1827 — is
important evidence.
Mr. Clay's confidential letter to Judge Brooke, of February 18,
1825, is one of exciting interest. It was sacredly kept, till in
voked from its repose by the author, and having been submitted
by the judge, it'is used, as it ought to be, for the purposes of his
tory. All will see, that it sheds a flood of light on that interesting
and momentous point of time. Not designed for a political end,
but being a frank communication of private and confidential friend
ship, it has slept twenty years in the desk of Judge Brooke, though
the clearest exposition of that whole matter, that could possibly be
given. The extracts from the correspondence between Mr. Clay
and Mr. Crawford, will produce some surprise, considering the
relations of the two gentlemen. Besides that they bear very forci
bly on the subject under consideration, they are grateful proofs of
goodness of heart in each of the gentlemen.
lt will be seen, by the brevity and point of Mr. Clay's note of
the 14th of February, to Judge Brooke, that it was written ex
pressly and solely to ask counsel of a bosom friend : " I am offered
the state department. What shall I do?" That counsel was given ;
and the note of the 1 Sth is a statement of the grounds of decision.
These are singular, even marvellous facts, on the supposition of
the truth of the charge of bargain !
But* the most remarkable witness is poor, unfortunate Carter
Beverley ! No wonder that Mr. Clay, when interrupted in his
speech at Lexington, June 9, 1842, by a voice, which cried out,
and called attention to this recantation, turned away from it with
disgust and loathing, and said, with great earnestness and empha
sis : " I want no testimony — here, here, here — [repeatedly touch-
Vol. I.— 26

402 PROOF OF A NEGATIVE.
ing his heart] — here is the best of all witnesses of my inno
cence." One can not read Carter Beverley's letter of recantation to
Mr. Clay, but with sadness ! Sadness, to think ofthe mischief he was
employed to do ; sadness, to behold him coming so late, and with
such bad grace, to acknowledge his great offence, after having been
" long ago convinced ;" sadness, in view of the melancholy picture
of human frailty, exhibited in himself; and sadness, deep sadness,
at the thought, that the example of such a penitent, evincing, as it
does, the greatness and turpitude of the crime, in which he had
been a participant and leading agent, should have so little effect
for good on other offenders, and on the public mind ! Alas ! he
had done an irreparable mischief! A mischief, for, which his sor
row can never atone — which his retraction can never obliterate !
Doubtless, if he had not been thought fit to do it, another agent
would haVe been found. There is, therefore, this benefit accruing
from the selection : He, the first apostle, at last certifies to
the crime, and seeks to atone for it! «
Some may say, that evidence of this kind, and to the extent
given in this chapter, is superfluous. As a portion of history, it is
not so ; it is not so, in justice to Mr. Clay ; it is not so, for the
practical uses of political society. One of the greatest and most
complicated crimes, in the social and political history of mankind,
involving momentous, stupendous consequences, has been com
mitted ; and notwithstanding, that one generation has passed away,
the wrong is still maintained ; the moiety of a great nation have
never yet seen it in its true light ; hundreds of thousands believe
in the wrong, by authority ; one class of persons are influenced by
one set of facts, another by another ; and it therefore becomes ne
cessary, for the attainment of the ends of truth and justice, to ex
hibit this piece of history in all its essential parts. Setting aside
the great fact established in the preceding chapters, to wit, that the
conspirators have not only failed to exhibit a particle of evidence
in support of their charges, but have convicted themselves of the
crime they charge on others, it can not but be very striking to all
reflecting minds, that the negative of the charge, as it respects
Mr. Clay, is so fully and completely proved. Nothing within the
range of evidence is left, except to exhibit the different forms and
degrees of the crime of the conspirators.
It will perhaps be said : "De monuis nil, nisi bonum." Doubt-

THE witnesses. 40|l
less, this is a good, a charitable, a Christian, and a useful maxim,
where public and private justice are not concerned. But neither
charity, nor forbearance, can silence the claims of justice.
" It often falls, in course of common life,
That right long time is overborne of wrong,
Through av'rice, or power, or guile, or strife ;
But justice, though her doom she do prolong,
Yet, at the last, she will her own cause right." — Spenser.
Justice, with man or God, when it concerns the public, can not
yield to charity ; and the greater the wrong, so much greater the
importance, so much more imperative the duty, of exposure, and
of a suitable visitation. Wrong persisted in, is doubly, in a mani
fold degree, criminal ; and if it be a wrong to society, as well as
to individuals, it is for that reason still more aggravated. The
wrong now under consideration, regards not simply two parties as
individuals, but parties composed of numerous individuals. It is
a wrong in which society on a large scale, in which a nation, is
concerned ; and it is a wrong persisted in. If it had been
given up, or atoned for, in such ways as wrongdoers in society are,
required to atone, the case would have been different, and it would
be censurable to keep the subject alive. But justice still sits in
the seat of controversy, and demands, not only scrutiny, but her
award ; and she will never cease to call for it, till judgment is ren
dered. The aggressive party has made the issue, and sustains
it. So far as human judgment is concerned, therefore, it can only
be decided by the common rules of evidence. In such a case, so
important as respects the party assailed, and so momentous in its
bearings on society, it would not only be wrong, but criminal, to
let it go by default. It must necessarily be submitted to public
judgment, to the judgment of mankind, and of posterity.

404 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.

CHAPTER XVIII.
THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
Unity of the Plot.— Another Question.— Witnesses to it. — Singular Result. — The
Truth of the whole Matter. — Proposals of Bargain made to Mr. Clay. — One
through Mr. Buchanan. — One through Mr. Houstqp. — Crime and Consequences
of the Plot.
In General Jackson's address to the public, June 18th, 1827,
he says : " The origin — the beginning of this matter, was at
my own house and fireside — where, surely, a freeman may be per
mitted to speak on public topics, without having ascribed to him
improper designs. I have not gone into the highways and market
places, to proclaim my opinions." Without stopping to reflect,
that, of all places, a man's " own fireside" should be sacred to
truth, charity, and fairness ; or that, considering " the crowd of
company" present, representing all parts of the Union, it was in
fact, a scene of publicity somewhat broader than "highways and
market-places" — the following certificates and facts will show, that
" the origin — the beginning of this matter," was not at General
Jackson's " own house and fireside," on the 8th of March,
1827.* * "Philadelphia, October 2, 1827.
"Sir: In answer to yours of yesterday's date, requesting me to state to you the
particulars of some remarks, which you were informed I had heard General Jack
son use on the subject of the last presidential election, I have to state, that on
my way down the Ohio, from Wheeling to Cincinnati, in the month of March,
1825, on board the steamer General Neville, among many other passengers, were
?General Jackson, and a number of gentlemen from Pennsylvania, some of whom
remarked to the general that they regretted that he had not been elected president,
instead of Mr. Adams. General Jackson replied, that if he would have made the
same promises and offers to Mr. Clay, that Mr. Adams had done, he (General Jack
son) would then, in that case, have been in the presidential chair. But he would
make no promises to any ; that, if he went to the presidential chair, he would go
with clean hands, and uncontrolled by any one.
" These remarks of General Jackson were made in the hearing of Mr. James
Parker, of Chester county, Mr. Wm. Crowsdill, of this city, and myself, and a
number of other gentlemen unknown to me.
" I am most respectfully yours, &c, " Daniel Large,
" Sam'l Witherell, Esq."

ITS DEVELOPMENT. 405
When a witness on the stand begins to lose character, by con
tradiction of himself, or by manifest pains to conceal truth, or to
support error, he breaks down fast with the court, jury, and spec-
" Philadelphia, Oct. 5, 1827.
" The statement made by Mr. Daniel Large, in the prefixed letter, is a faithful
account of General Jackson's conversation, on the occasion alluded to.
"William Crowsdill."
" In the winter of 1826-'7, Mr. Thos. Sloan, of Brownsville, Pa., in a conver
sation in my barroom, respecting the election of the president of the United States,
and of the corrupt bargain and intrigue which procured his election, expressed his
opinion to be, that such practices had been resorted to by Mr. Clay and his friends,
and justified his belief by stating, that General Jackson had informed him so, in a con
versation with him at Brownsville, and which was in substance the same since com
municated to the public by General Jackson. I further state, that I lately wrote to
Mr. Sloan, requesting him to give a certificate of General Jackson's statement to
him, but have not received his answer. " Richard Simms.
" Wheeling, Dec. 19, 1827."
"In the winter of 1826-'7, Mr. Thos. Sloan, of Brownsville, in a conversation
in my presence, respecting the election of the present president of the United
States, and of the corrupt bargain and intrigue, which procured his election, ex
pressed his opinion to be, that such practices had been resorted to by Mr. Clay;
and justified his belief, by relating a conversation which he had had with General
Jackson on that subject at Brownsville, on his return home from Washington, after
the election. Mr. Sloan rehearsed at length the statement made to him by the gen
eral, and which was in substance the same since communicated to the public by Gen
eral Jackson. Mr. Sloan further said, that a company of which he was one, had
met the general near to Brownsville, and escorted him into town, which was the
occasion on which he had made the communication referred to.
"Alden H. Howe.
"Wheeling, Va., December 19, 1827."
£7*For the foregoing documents, see Niles's Register, vol. xxxiii.
STATEMENT Or WILLIAM SAMPLE, TRANSMITTED IN A LETTER TO MR. CLAT.
" On Tuesday, the 22d of March, 1825, when General Jackson was on his way
from Washington city, to his residence in Tennessee, he, with a number of citizens
of Washington, Pennsylvania, and of the county, were in the public house of Mr.
Chambers, innkeeper, West Alexandria, Pennsylvania. Mr. Edward McGlaugh-
lin was introduced to the general ; and after the common salutation of shaking
hands, Mr. E. McGlaughlin said : ' Well, genera], we did all we could for you
here ; but the rascals at Washington cheated you out of it.' To this expression
General Jackson made the following reply : ' Indeed, my old friend, there was
cheating, and corruption, and bribery, too. The editors of the National Intelli
gencer were bribed to suppress the publication of honest George Kremer's letter.'
Mr. McGlaughlin's introduction was at his own solicitation, in a public house, in
the presence of a room-full of gentlemen ; and the conversation also in the same
publie house, in the presence of a large and promiscuous company.
" Samuel Workman, Thomas Morgan, Joseph Henderson, Josiah Truesdall,
William Sample, and others." " Brownsville, February 28, 1828.
" Dear Sir : Your favor has been received, and in pursuance of your request,
I called on Mr. Sloan, to obtain a certificate of the conversation that took place
between him and General Jackson, which he peremptorily refused to give. There
fore, in conformity with your further request, that, in case of a non-compliance, I
would transmit to you the purport of that conversation delivered to me by Mr.
Sloan, that took place between him and the general, I therefore do certify, that I
have repeatedly heard him observe, in substance, as follows: That he, Mr,
Sloan, was one of a committee, that left Brownsville to meet General Jackson, on
his return from Washington city, in 1825 ; that, while in his company, he observed
to tne genera], that there had been much said, respecting a corrupt bargain and
intrigue, pending the presidential election ; that he wished to ascertain from him,

406 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
tators, and is doomed to severe handling by the opposing counsel.
After what has already been disclosed of the character of General
Jackson, in the progress of this conspiracy, no one will be sur-
if there was any foundation to justify the report. The general observed, that it
was a delicate matter for him to treat upon. The general then proceeded to state,
that, early one morning, Mr. Clay called on him, at his lodgings, which was quite
an unusual circumstance, and after a few compliments had passed, Mr. Clay ob
served : ' General, I have no doubt of your election now.' The general stated : ' I
read his heart, in a moment ;' but replied to Mr. Clay, that, ' if elected, h e would
exercise his best judgment in executing the duties of his office ;' that Mr. Clay,
meeting with no encouragement, politely bid him good morning, and left the room ;
and in a few days, he understood, that Mr. Clay had declared himself in favor of
John Q. Adams. ' This,' said the general, ' Mr. Clay will not have the hardihood to
stand before me and deny.' The general further stated, by way of comment, that
there was no doubt, had he observed to Mr. Clay, ' If I am elected, I will do some
thing for you,' that he, Jackson, would have been the president. "Isaac Bennet.
" R. McKee and Alexander Caldwell, Esqs."
FROM REV. A. WYLIE.
" Washington, February 15, 1828.
"Dear Sir: I received your note of the 12th ultimo, in which you inform me,
that, ' by a letter just received from H. Clay, h e expressed a wish to obtain a state
ment in writing from yourself [Mr. Wylie], giving in detail a substantial account
of that portion of the conversation of General Jackson, which related to himself
and Mr. Adams, or in other words, the bargain and sale story, and that this state
ment is intended for self-protection only.'
" Your note should have been answered sooner, but that I found myself unable
to bring up the conversation alluded to, so distinctly to my recollection, as to give
it in detail. The substance of it, even now, is all that I can pretend to give.
" When General Jackson arrived at Bunland's, on his return from Congress, in the
spring of 1825, the agitation of the public mind was extreme, from the belief, then
prevalent, that his elevation to the presidency had been prevented by intrigue and
management, on the part of Messrs. Adams and Clay. My own mind, I confess, was
not altogether undisturbed on this subject, feeling, as the head of a family — who, in
the common course of nature, must share after me, in the destinies of our beloved
country — a deep interest in the preservation of our liberties, which I believed,
from what I knew of the history of republics, were not likely to perish in any
popular convulsions, until the people themselves should first find their rights in
vaded by those in power. Feeling, from the force of such considerations, a sympa
thy for General Jackson, I was induced, though I had no previous personal ac
quaintance with him, to pay him my respects. The following dialogue took
place : —
" A. You return, general, from a boisterous campaign.
" B. Yes, sir.
" A. One in which you were not quite so successful, as in some former ones.
" JB. My success in those to which you allude, was owing to the firmness ofthe
brave men, whom I had the honor to command.
" A. It is more honorable, however, to lose than to win, in such a contest as
that lately concluded at the federal city, if, indeed, things were managed, as has
been reported.
" B. And who can doubt it ?
"A. Why, general, one would hardly suppose, that sueh men as J. Q. Adams
and H. Clay, would, in the face of the nation, engage in such a transaction.
" B. But let any man in his senses, take a view of the circumstances — let him
compare, for instance, the prediction of honest George Kremer, with its accom
plishment. " A. But were not the talents and local situation of Mr. Clay sufficient to justify
the confident expectation of his appointment ? There is, however, another cir
cumstance, which, if true, will settle the point.
" B. What is that 1
" A. The proposition that is said to have been made to you — is that a fact ?

ITS DEVELOPMENT. 407
prised at the glaring inconsistency of the statement above quoted
from his address to the public, of July 18th, 1827, with the facts
proved by the documents in the lower margin of this chapter.
" B. Yes, sir, such a proposition was made. I said to the bearer — ' Go, tell Mr
Clay, tell Mr. Adams, that, if I go into that chair, I go with clean hands, and a
pure heart, and that I had rather see them, together with myself, engulfed to the
earth's centre, than to compass it by such means.' The very next day or shortly
after (which of the expressions it was, is not now recollected), Mr. Clay and his
friends declared for Mr. Adams.
" Such was the" conversation, as nearly as can be recollected. It was rapid, and
carried on in such a tone of voice, as not to be heard by many in the room. The
Messrs. Murdocks, who, I believe, were present, must have heard a part of it.
Most of the sentences were not announced in full, but taken up and answered by
the parties, as soon as their drift and bearing were understood, except the last,
which was pronounced emphatically. Of this I am the more certain, as it made
an impression, which was, on my mind, deep and vivid.
"The foregoing statement is at the service of Mr. Clay. The allegations
which it contains against him and Mr. Adams, were believed by me at the time,
but have, in my view, been losing their evidence, in the course of public inquiry;
and now ought either to be sustained by additional proof, or magnanimously aban
doned. Otherwise, I should think a reaction in public sentiment maybe expected.
" Yours, with respect, "A. Wvlie.
" Thos. M. Griffin, Esq." " Bowling Green, February 23, 1828.
" Dear Sir : Your note of this day has been duly received, requesting me to
state, whether or not, I was present at a conversation held by General Jackson, at
the Washington Hall tavern, in this town, in the month of April, 1825, when on
his way from Washington, in which he made charges of bargain and intrigue
against Mr. Adams and Mr. Clay. In answer to the above inquiries, I must
state, that I was at the Washington Hall, on the evening after General Jackson's
arrival there, when on his way from Washington, in 1825, and heard him convers
ing freely respecting Mr. Adams, Mr. Clay, and the presidential election, in which
conversation I heard General Jackson say, that he would not have the ofiice of
president of the United States, if he had to obtain it by bargain, corruption, and
intrigue, as Mr. Adams had done. This was the first time I had ever heard the
celebrated bargain and intrigue mentioned, which has since made so much noise
throughout the United States. " Respectfully, your obedient servant, "John Keel.
" Col. R. Johnson." "Bowling Green, February 1, 1828.
"I think it was some time in the month of April, 1825, that General Jackson,
on his return from the city, with his family, put up at the Washington Hall tavern,
in this place, and remained until the next day, after breakfast. In the course of
the afternoon of the day of his arrival, many citizens of this place called to see
him. I then lived at the Washington Hall tavern. He appeared to converse
freely with the company, who were there, on the subject of the presidential elec
tion. I heard him repeatedly speaking of Mr. Adams and Mr. Clay ; and in
speaking of the presidential election, I understood him to say, that propositions had
been made to him [General Jackson], either by or through the friends of Mr. Clay —
I do not now distinctly recollect, whether it was by Mr. Clay's friends, or through
Mr. Clay's friends — that, if General Jackson would say he would make Mr. Clay
secretary of state, Mr. Clay and his friends would vote for him, and that they
would settle the presidential election in one hour ; and I further understood Gen
eral Jackson, that he told the messenger, that he might go back and tell Mr. Clay,
that he would rather see the earth open and swallow both himself, Mr. Clay, and
their friends, up together, than it should be said he got into the presidential chair
by bargain or intrigue, on his part. "Cuthbert T. Jones."

408 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
Apart from "the previous disclosures, it would be an astounding
development. But as the facts now stand, it is not so much so,
though it is a just occasion of wonder. That a man who had been
in the habit of going, not only " into highways and market-places,"
but into taverns and steamboats, into promiscuous gatherings and
crowds, in many parts, and several states of the Union, "to pro
claim" not only his "opinions," in regard to this matter, but to re
affirm and reiterate all the facts alleged to have taken place in
the " bargain," and occasionally adding thereunto some very im
portant allegations of fact, with new versions and new comments,
equally important — should deliberately and solemnly state, in an
address to the public, that he had never done so ; that " the origin
— the beginning of this matter, was at his own house and fire
side," some two years after the statements of the same kind, proved
to have been made by himself, at sundry times, in sundry places,
to a great number and variety of individuals, in the most public
manner — may well be regarded with some astonishment ! The
conclusion is natural, and will be believed — if the facts stated by
these witnesses are correct — that the habit of making these state
ments, was never suspended, from the spring of 1825, to the 8th
of March, 1827, when they were made by him at his " own house
" Frankfort, Kentucky, March 21, 1828.
"Dear Sir: »«**.*»*
" In your vindication, you refer to a conversation had by General Jackson, in
Bowling Green, upon his return from Congress, after the election of Mr. Adams
to the presidency. I was present at one of these conversations, when the general
observed, in speaking of the late election, that ' the people had been cheated; that,
the corruptions and intrigues of Washington had defeated the will of the people, in
the election of their president.' I waited till this branch of the conversation was
closed, and finding no palliative, Jeft the company, which was large, and composed
of ladies and gentlemen, of the first respectability, and at a public tavern. Sev
eral followed, and his remarks became the subject of street conversation, in which
I remarked, that, as highly as I was disposed to think ofthe general, particularly
for his military success, I could not approve such a course ; that, if corruption
existed, and that known to him, he surely should not have been the first to greet
Mr. Adams upon his elevation ; and that, if you had participated, it was his duty
to have exposed it when your nomination was before the senate.
" It may be well to remark, that the general may have thought, that he was
wholly surrounded by his political friends, as he had been well received there by
the citizens. " Respectfully, yours, "J. U. Waring.
" Hon. H. Clay.
" P. S. By a sense of duty to an injured and much-persecuted man, I have been
induced to address this letter to you, and you are at liberty to use it, as you may
think proper."
For the foregoing six documents see Niles's Register, vol. xxxiv.
" That General Jackson has spoken of such overtures, we personally know." —
U. S. Telegraph, April 26, 1827. " We stated expressly that General Jackson
spoke of these overtures, in March, 1825, before he was announced by the legis
lature of Tennessee as a candidate."— lb., April 28, 1827.

ITS DEVELOPMENT. 409
and fireside," in the presence of ¦"' a croicd of company,"' from
different parts of the Union. It is certain, they were constantly
made in the public press devoted to General Jackson's interests,
as the annals of the political warfare of that time, will show. It
is also certain, that more or less correspondence, in relation to this
affair, was, in the meantime, going on, a part of it resting on the
picot of the desk of Duff Green, editor of the United States Tel
egraph, at Washington, which was the central organ of General
Jackson. See. in the note, the extracts from that paper, of April
2t5th and 25th, 1527, in connexion with Mr. Green's correspon
dence with Mr. Buchanan, in 1526 and 1527, as recognised bv the
latter in his letter to the public, of August Sih, 1527, parts of
which have already been giren. Can it be supposed, that this
correspondence was limited to this narrow circle ? But even this
is enough to show that the subject was constantly, nninterruptedly,
from the spring of 152-5 to the spring of 1527, in agitation, by
correspondence among General Jackson's friends. And when ii is
seen that the editor of the Telegraph is in correspondence with
Mr. Buchanan, in 1526 and 1527, advising him that he is General
Jackson's witness, asking him what he will certify to, ire. can it
be imagined that there is no correspondence soing on, at the same
time, between the editor and General Jackson ? It is incontestable
that there mast have been such a correspondence, direct or indi
rect — it is no matter which — else how could Gen. Green know
that Mr. Buchanan was General Jackson's witness ? That the
correspondence was direct, is most probable. If it were indirect
and mediate, it would onlv prove a more extended ramification of
the conspiracy. There is reason to suppose — the evidence is
strong enough for a court and jury — that Dull Green was the
pitot of one, probably not a small, sphere of this correspondence.
Most persons will now believe, that General Jackson was in the
habit of communicating on this subject, with the editor of the
Telegraph, directly or indirectly. It was not, perhaps, necessary,
that it should be frequent ; but the evidence of the editor himself
is sufficient to show, that there was a permanent understanding be
tween them. In April. 1527, he says : '• That General Jackson
has spoken of such overtures, we personally hair." — " We stated
explicitly, that General Jackson spoke of these overtures in March,
152-5." '
All this leads to a very important practical inference, viz., that
this " crowd of company" at the Hermitage, March 5ih, 1527,

410 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
among whom were " seven Virginians," were not there for nothing
— more especially when it is considered, that the statement, pro
lific of such momentous results, which was at that time and place
made "before all the company," was that very day posted off by
Mr. Beverley, to be proclaimed publicly throughout the Union !
After what has been proved, even Charity, with all her heavenly
kindness, can hardly spread her mantle broad enough, to " hide"
such " a multitude of sins," as seem bundled up in this complica
ted affair.
Admitting for a moment — what a just ground of suspicion would
seem now to suggest — -that this " crowd of company," with " seven
Virginians," were at the Hermitage on more important business
than mere compliment ; that it was a common feeling of this de
liberative conclave, that the exigencies of the campaign before
them, demanded a rouser ; that the old charge of " bargain and
sale," against Messrs. Adams and Clay, on its old basis, without
any tangible responsibility, although it had done well, had become
rather stale ; that, though all the faithful, after the example of their
leader, had not ceased to proclaim it, in " highways and market
places," in taverns and steamboats, on their journeys, and through
the press, still there was nobody to say, " 1 will stand to it ;" that
a new edition, with improvements, and a responsible utterance,
was required ; and that, if General Jackson would now and hence
forth " take the responsibility," it would go like wildfire ! Would
not the party sustain him, and carry him through ? Ways had
been devised to manage it hitherto, under the old aspects of the
plan, and all responsibility had been successfully evaded. It was
a bold push at first ; it required nothing but boldness to carry it on
to a consummation.
It is not necessary to suppose, that a formal debate of this kind
was passed through, to establish the probability of such a new
organization of the conspiracy. Men, so disposed, may have such
thoughts, when they dare not give them an audible expression in
so many words. It was enough that the question should have
been asked General Jackson in the presence of that " crowd of
company," as is admitted, and as was published by themselves ; —
enough that he should have answered it, " freely and frankly, hav
ing no motive for concealment," as he acknowledges he did ; —
enough, that every man in that presence had common sense, to
see, at a glance, the scope, bearing, and tremendous energy, on the
public mind, of such an open declaration, from such authority,

ITS DEVELOPMENT. 411
and for public use. Nothing more was required ; and it would
have been a miracle, if it had not been published, when no restric
tion was imposed. It would have been next to a miracle, if every
one present had not understood, as distinctly as if it were an
nounced in set phrase, that it was intended to be published, as
coming from General Jackson himself . If it was not so understood,
why did Mr. Beverley go and publish it that very day? And
if it was not so intended, why was he never rebuked for it? If it
was not so intended, why did General Jackson so kindly reply to
Mr. Beverley's letter of the 15th of May, from Louisville, which
confessed what he had done, and give him a new and corrected
edition of the story, with minute and circumstantial detail, enjoining
him (Mr. Beverley) to " correct" his own version by this, as
appears in General Jackson's letter of the 6th of June, 1827 ?
In this view, the meeting of General Jackson's friends at the
Hermitage, in March, 1827, from all parts of the Union, was a
very important and momentous one. They had made a good
start of the " bargain and sale" story in the first place, and'a good
use of it for more than two years — if the certificates in this chap
ter may be taken in evidence. It had turned out a vastly produc
tive capital, gone abroad, and infected the entire mind ofthe nation.
Let it go forth in this new form, from this point, endorsed by such
authority, giving certainty to that which was before uncertain, and
what could stand before it, for the presidential campaign then about
to open ? There might be difficulties, but they must be braved.
The responsibility must be assumed. The advantages must ne
cessarily be a thousand to one of the disadvantages. Such were
the facts, and such are the supposed reasons. If anybody can
find better reasons, it is fair to propound them. The facts
abide. A word on the evidence contained in this chapter, as compared
with General Jackson's declaration of June 18th, 1827, that " the
origin — the beginning- of this matter [the controversy as it stood
at that time, himself the accuser], was at my own house and fire
side. ... J have not gone into highways and market-places to pro-'
claim my opinions." If this were a casual statement, made in-
conversation, where the notes of memory might be supposed to lie
hidden in the rubbish of the mind, it ought not, perhaps, to be
severely criticised, though it were not exactly true. But it is a
deliberate, solemn asseveration, carefully prepared for the public
eye, for important, not to say for momentous public purposes. It

412 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY^
is made with the air and apparent confidence of truth ; and the
author, after having taken up this position, turns round, and by al
lusion to facts of some notoriety, implicates Mr. Clay in the im
propriety, which he himself so openly disclaims : "In this, I feel,
that I have differed from some who, even at public dinner-tables,
have not scrupled to consider me a legitimate subject of speech,
for the entertainment of the company." There is, therefore, a
twofold responsibility here : first, for the correctness of the state
ment, and next, for the self-glorifying accusation, that is brought
forward, on the assumption, and in comparison of the statement as
a fact. But it is painful to observe how far the statement varies
from truth, according to the evidence of these witnesses. Duff
Green, editor of the Telegraph, most friendly to himself, would
seem to prove, in this and another place, that General Jackson had
not only uttered this charge, on his own responsibility, before he
left Washington, in the spring of 1825, but it may fairly be in
ferred, as before shown, that in the interval, down to the spring of
1827, he was in communication with the editor of that journal, on
the assumption of the truth of this charge, with a view to future
action ! The evidence is conclusive, that, when he made his pub
lic entry into Brownsville, Pa., on his return home, in the spring
of 1825, he was very open and unreserved, in representing these
charges as worthy of full credit ; and one of the witnesses, Isaac
Bennet, gives a very extraordinary version to one of these state
ments, by which the idea is clearly conveyed, that Mr. Clay him
self called on General Jackson early one morning, on the errand
of " bargain," and was repulsed ! The usual form of the story
is supported by several witnesses, as having been publicly rehearsed
by General Jackson, at Brownsville, at Washington, at East Alex
andria, all in Pennsylvania ; on the steamboat Neville, in descend
ing the Ohio ; at Bowling Green, Kentucky, and other places.
The dialogue " at Bunland's," between General Jackson and the
Rev. Mr. Wylie, who called on him as a friend, to express a sym
pathy and concern for the fraud practised on the general by the
"bargain," is remarkable and instructive, in which the general
commits himself most especially, decidedly, and emphatically, in
the charge on Messrs. Adams and Clay. At Bowling Green, so
much was said by General Jackson on this subject, and in the
presence of so many persons, that it became a topic of " street
conversation." It would seem, that he was full of the matter,
throughout his journey, from the city of Washington to the Her-

ITS DEVELOPMENT. 413
' *
mitage, in the spring of 1825. The evidence, circumstantial and
presumptive, of its having been in continual agitation, between
himself and others, by correspondence and otherwise, from that
time to the spring of 1827, can hardly be other than convincing.
And yet he solemnly avers, that " the origin — the beginning of
this matter, was at his own house and fireside," on the Sth of
March, 1827 !
The reasons of this new start of the accusation, in the spring of
1S27, in the manner, and under the circumstances, related, are
obvious. In the first place, the charge had not been regarded as
having a definite, tangible responsibility. Though a man talks
" in highways and market-places," in taverns and steamboats, and
thereby excites attention, makes an impression, and causes others
to talk, if he is a man of consequence, and his topic is interesting,
still it is not like coming out before the public, in a solemn docu
mentary form, supporting it by his name. Common gossip is
heard only by a few, and has comparatively a limited influence.
But public epistles, on political themes, from distinguished per
sons, go everywhere, and go quickly. On a subject of so much
interest, as that now under consideration, at such a time, the new
form, and definite responsibility, under which it was sent forth, at
tracted the attention of tiie whole nation at once, and was electri
fying in its effect. From the comparatively dull round, into which
the story had fallen, it was lifted and put in the circle ofthe winds ;
the clouds were charged with it ; and they swept over the land with
the roar of a tempest, discharging their fires in every direction, on
every hill and plain.
It is now placed beyond denial, by the evidence on record, that
the suggestion was made, and apparently entertained, in the inter
view between General Jackson and Mr. Buchanan, that " it was
right to fight the intriguers with their own weapons." There is
no evidence from any quarter, except his own statement, that Gen
eral Jackson was offended at this suggestion ; but, on the contra
ry, that it was not disagreeable to him. When he afterward im
bibed, or conceived, or began to cherish, what Mr. Buchanan calls
his " erroneous impression," his " mistake," to wit, that Mr. Clay,
or Mr. Clay's friends, or both, had made overtures — " a proposi
tion of bargain" — to him (General Jackson), this was very offen
sive ; and admitting its truth, it ought to have been so. It will be
observed, tiiat this is what he affects to quarrel with. But Mr.

414 the great conspiracy.
Buchanan, his only witness, says, it is all a "mistake," an "erro
neous impression ;" and he goes on to tell, how the general proba
bly came by it, as before seen.
Mr. Buchanan, doubtless willing to support the general, as well
as he could, having read the general's address, and not unnaturally
surveyed his own position, present and prospective, seems disposed
to indulge the general's taste for strong expressions in compliment
to himself, and recites one of them, used in this interview — a little
profane — but bearing on a very different point from that of an over
ture from Mr. Clay to General Jackson. Mr. Buchanan, as ap
pears by the evidence, had approached the general for two objects :
To ascertain, first, whether General Jackson had said, as was ru
mored, that he, if elected president, should continue Mr. Adams
secretary of state. This point was settled by the interview, ac
cording to Mr. Buchanan, that he had not said so. But Mr. Bu
chanan and Mr. Markley had agreed — and it was especially an
object with Mr. Buchanan, for his ulterior designs — that it was
important to gain one point more with the general, viz., to get him
to say, that he would not continue, or appoint, Mr. Adams. This,
it seems, according to Mr. Buchanan the general declined, and, in
doing so, is represented by Mr. B. as using the following strong
expressions : —
" These were secrets he would keep to himself; he would con
ceal them from the very hairs of his head ; if he believed his right
hand then knew what his left would do, on the subject of appoint
ments to office, he would cut it off, and cast it into the fire ; and
if he should ever be elected president, it would be without solici
tation, or intrigue, on his part."
This, in any other case, might naturally be a sweet little mor-
ceau to the general. But it is not a message to Mr. Clay and his
friends ; there is no fury in it ; no opening of the earth to swallow
up all parties ; but, what ought to be satisfactory to anybody, not
over-exacting, there is a martyr-spirit in it, and at least a high pre
tension to extraordinary virtue. Nor does this apply to an over
ture from Mr. Clay, or friends, to General Jackson ; but to one
part of a proposal coming from his own friends. He was not quite
prepared to go that far. It is, in short, a disclaimer of " intrigue,"
at the very moment, and in the act by which he consents to it !
His right hand does not know what his left is doing, and by his
own rule, he is entitled to save both. Has not Mr. Buchanan told
him what the plan is, and does he not consent to it all ?

ITS DEVELOPMENT. 415
It should be observed, that these witnesses are not giving evi
dence in court, under the solemn sanction, " to tell the truth, the
whole truth, and nothing but the truth;" but each one is telling a
story for his own personal end — an end in which his strongest
passions are concerned — in the case of General Jackson most es
pecially. Mr. Buchanan is telling a story to get out of a difficulty,
in which not only he, but his chief, is involved. It is not proposed
here to assail their evidence, any further than they have done it
among themselves ; but it is proper to suggest, that, not being
obliged to tell the whole truth, they have probably confined them
selves chiefly to that which suits their own purposes ; and it need
not be said, that a fact omitted, is sometimes essential to the truth.
It is not supposed, for example, that Mr. Buchanan has narrated
everything that took place between him and General Jackson. By
going back to Mr. Markley's story, much light is cast upon this
interview. Mr. Buchanan, however, has said enough to develop
the kernel ofthe treason, viewing it in connexion with what all of
them have said. Observe, with what caution he begins : —
" While we were walking together upon the street, I introduced
the subject. I told him, I wished to ask him a question, in rela
tion to the presidential election ; that I knew he was unwilling to
converse upon the subject ; that, therefore, if he deemed the ques
tion improper, he might refuse to give it an answer ; that my only
motive in asking it, was friendship for him ; and I trusted he would
excuse me, for thus introducing a subject, about which I knew he
wished to be silent."
This language suggests two thoughts : First, the unction of flat
tery is pretty copiously employed. It does not appear, from all
that has transpired, that the general was so reluctant to talk upon
this subject ; it does not appear, that he was a man of such exquis
ite delicacy of feeling. It is manifest, from the air of this story,
that Mr. Buchanan felt some solicitude about the result of his er
rand. Why? Had he a proposal to make, that would shock
General Jackson ? General Jackson avers, that a " proposition
of bargain" was made to him on that occasion, though Mr. Bu
chanan has very philosophically shown, how he [the general] fell
into an error.
Mr. Buchanan continues :—
" His reply was complimentary to myself, and accompanied
with a request, that I would proceed. I then stated to him, there
was a report in circulation, that he had determined he would ap
point Mr. Adams secretary of state, in case he were elected presi-

416 the great conspiracy.
dent, and that I wished to ascertain from him, whether he had
ever intimated such an intention ; that he must at once perceive how
injurious to his election such a report might be ; that no doubt there
were several able and ambitious men in the country — among whom
I thought Mr. Clay might be included — who were aspiring to that
office ; and, if it were believed, he had already determined to ap
point his chief competitor, it might have a most unhappy effect
upon their exertions, and those of their friends ; that, unless he
had determined, I thought this report should be promptly contra
dicted, under his own authority. I mentioned it had already done
him some injury, and proceeded to relate to him the substance of
the conversation I had held with Mr. Markley."
The above citation from Mr. Buchanan, will probably receive
some light by collateral citations from Mr. Markley and Major
Eaton. Mr. Markley says : —
" Mr. Buchanan asked, if I had seen Mr. Clay, and whether I
had had any conversation with him, touching the presidential elec
tion. I replied, that I had seen him in the house, but had had no
conversation with him on that subject ; but said, I was anxious to
get an opportunity to have a conversation with him, as I felt a
great anxiety, that he should vote with Pennsylvania. Mr. Bu
chanan replied, that no one felt more anxious, for various reasons,
than he did himself; that it was important, not only for the success
of General Jackson's election, that Mr. Clay should vote with Penn
sylvania, but on account of his ulterior political prospects,
declaring, that he [Mr. B.~\ hoped to see Mr. Clay president of the
United States ; and that was another reason why he should like to
see Mr. Clay secretary of slate, in case General Jackson were elected,
and that, if he were certain that Mr. Clay's views werefavorable to
General Jackson's election, he would take an opportunity of talking
with General Jackson on the subject, or get Major Eaton to do so ;
that he thought, by doing so, he would confer a. particular benefit on
the country, and that he could see nothing wrong in it."
Mr. Markley says further : —
" From the recollection I have of the conversation, my impres
sions are, that the object of his [Mr. B.'s] visit that evening, was
to urge the propriety of my seeing Mr. Clay, and to give him my
views as- to the importance of his identifying himself with Pennsyl
vania, in the support of General Jackson. I entertained no doubt,
that Mr. Buchanan was honestly determined, that no exertions on
his part should be wanting, and that he felt confident he could
speak with certainty, as to the great mass of General Jackson's
friends, that, in case of the election of General Jackson, they would
press upon him the appointment of Mr. Clay, as secretaiy of state.
Mr. Buchanan concurred with me in opinion, that Pennsylvania

ITS DEVELOPMENT. 417
would prefer Mr. Clay's appointment, to that of any other person,
as secretary of state ; and from the obligation the general was un
der to Pennsylvania, that he would go far to gratify her wishes, and
that, therefore, he believed, if the general were elected, he would ap
point Mr. Clay."
Major Eaton says : —
" In January, 1825, a few days before it had been known, that
Mr. Clay and his friends had declared in favor of Mr. Adams, I
was called upon by Mr. Buchanan, of Pennsylvania. He said, it
was pretty well ascertained, that overtures were making by the
friends of Adams, on the subject of cabinet appointments ; that
Jackson should fight them with their own weapons. He said, the
opinion was, that Jackson would retain Adams [who was then sec
retary of state under Mr. Monroe], and that it was doing him in
jury ; that the general should state whom he would make secre
tary of state, and desired, that I would name it to him. Mr.
Buchanan remarked, if he will merely say, he will not retain Mr.
Adams, that will answer. I replied, that he [Mr. B.] knew him
[Jackson] well, and might talk with him, as well as I could. Mr.
Buchanan then said, that on the next day, before the general went
to the capitol, he would call. He did so, as I afterward under
stood." Now, put that, and that, and that, together — Mr. Buchan
an's' talk with General Jackson, as represented by himself, and his
talk with Mr. Markley and Major Eaton, as represented by them
— and this matter stands in new and clear light. It was not to be
expected, that Mr. Buchanan would rehearse to the public, every
thing he had said in such a private, confidential conversation with
General Jackson. No man is bound to give evidence against him
self. But, from this programme, previously laid out, in conversa
tions with Mr. Markley and Major Eaton, the whole plan is opened
up to view, in detail.
From the three narratives, of Mr. Buchanan, Mr. Markley, and
Major Eaton, it may fairly be gathered : 1. That Mr. Buchanan
was intent on bringing Mr. Clay to the support of General Jackson.
2. That he felt the importance of opening a communication with
Mr. Clay on the subject. 3. That it was right to fight " bargain
and intrigue" with bargain and intrigue. 4. That a negotiation
was to be opened with Mr. Clay regarding the state department, and
the succession. 5. That it was necessary to have an interview
with General Jackson to consummate* the plan. 6. That this in
terview terminated auspiciously for the object in view.
Vol. I.— 27

418 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
In consideration of these facts, all of which clearly appear from
the documents published to the world by these parties, no one will
be surprised at the following occurrence : —
Some time in January, eighteen hundred and twenty-five,
and not long before the election of president of the United States by
the house of representatives, the Hon. James Buchanan, then a mem
ber of the house, and afterward many years a senator of the United
States, from Pennsylvania, who had been a zealous and influential
supporter of General Jackson in the preceding canvass, and was
supposed to enjoy his unbounded confidence, called at the lodgings of
Mr. Clay, in the city of Washington. Mr. Clay was at the time
in the room of his only messmate in the house, his. intimate and
confidential friend, the Hon. R. P. Letcher, since governor of
Kentucky, then also a member of the house. Shortly after Mr.
Buchanan's entry into the room, he introduced the subject of the
approaching presidential election, and spoke of the certainty of the
election of his favorite, adding, that " he would form the most
splendid cabinet, that the country had ever had." Mr. Letcher
asked, " How could he have one more distinguished than that of
Mr. Jefferson, in which were both Madison and Gallatin ? Where
would he be able to find equally eminent men ?" Mr. Buchanan
replied, that " he would not go out of this room for a
secretary of state," looking at Mr. Clay. This gen
tleman {Mr. Clay) playfully remarked, that "he thought there
was no timber there fit for a cabinet officer, unless it were Mr. Bu
chanan himself."
Mr. Clay, while he was so hotly assailed wiih the charge of bar
gain, intrigue, and corruption, during the administration of Mr.
Adams, notified Mr. Buchanan of his intention to publish the
above occurrence ; but, by the earnest entreaties of that gentleman,
he was induced to forbear doing so.
The author has understood, that several times in later years,
it has been intimated to Mr. Buchanan, that it might be his (Mr.
Clay's) duty to publish these facts, and that he was dissuaded from
it by Mr. Buchanan.
No one will doubt the character, purport, and aim of this errand ;
nor is it necessary to say what it proves. The long agony is
over, and the proposal is submitted: " He [General Jackson]
WOULD NOT GO OUT OF THIS ROOM FOR A SECRETARY OF
state," with his eye fixed on Mr. Clay.
It is very probable, that when this marked and indirect overture

ITS DEVELOPMENT. 419
was made to Mr. Clay, he did not suspect the design of Mr.
Buchanan to tamper with him. At that time he could not have
known of the' interview between General Jackson and Mr. Bu
chanan, nor of the opinion and advice of Mr. Buchanan, that the
intrigues which he imputed to the Adams party, should be met by
intrigues in behalf of General Jackson. But connecting that over
ture with the agency and conduct of Mr. Buchanan in the presi
dential election of 1825,- as now disclosed, no one can doubt the
design of this call on Mr. Clay.
Though Mr. Letcher, from the delicacy of his position in this
matter, could never volunteer his evidence, in regard to Mr. Bu
chanan's errand to Mr. Clay, as above narrated, it is clear, that
Mr. Clay had a right, at any time, in self-defence, to make a wit
ness of Mr. Letcher. It was a rare magnanimity to suffer injus
tice — and such injustice — so long, to spare the feelings of a political
opponent, who had slender claims for such a favor, after his letter
to the editor of the United States Telegraph, of October 16, 1827.
It is said, that time brings all things to light. It is not equally
true, however, that all things are brought to light in time. Had it
been known from the beginning of this controversy, as now it must
be known, that, so far as there was any intrigue, bargain, and cor
ruption, in the election of president by the house of representatives,
in 1825, it was all and exclusively with those who brought the
charge, how different would have been the destiny of numerous
individuals, and how different the destiny of the country !
There is a collateral witness to this disclosure, having respect to
what passed between him and a collateral agent of General Jack
son, showing very satisfactorily that the general had authorized
some of his friends, at an early period, to negotiate with Mr. Clay,
which corroborates the inference so naturally deduced, that Mr.
Buchanan was not unauthorized in the advance he made to Mr.
Clay. It is the Hon. S. Sloane', of the Ohio delegation, in the
house of representatives, which elected Mr. Adams to the presi
dency, who is one of the witnesses in proof of a negative, before
noticed. His evidence on this point, is as follows : —
" Wooster (Ohio), June 20, 1844.
"In December, 1824, about the same time that the choice of
president by the house of representatives, was beginning to attract
attention at Washington, I happened in company with General
Houston [Samuel, since president of Texas], then a member of
Congress from Tennessee, when the subject of that election was
introduced by him. Although the subject of the presidential elec-

420 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
tion, from the time ofthe commencement ofthe canvass before the
people, had been fully discussed between us, this was the first
time, after the people had failed to elect, that we had conversed in
relation to it. General Houston commenced by suggesting, that
he supposed the Ohio delegation were all going to vote for Gen
eral Jackson. To this, I answered, that I could not undertake to
speak for them, for, so far as I knew, no meeting or consultation
had taken place among them. The manner of General Houston
was anxious, and evinced much solicitude, and at this point of the
conversation, he exclaimed : ' What a splendid administration it
would make, with Old Hickory for president, and Mr. Clay sec
retary of state !' Having often before expressed to General Hous
ton my opinion of the several candidates, I did not, at that time,
think proper to repeat it, contenting myself with an implied acqui
escence in the correctness of his declaration.
" The conversation was continued for a considerable time, and
for the most part, had relation to western interests, as connected
with the presidency, and was concluded by General Houston's
observing : ' Well, I hope you, from Ohio, will aid us in electing
General Jackson, and then, your man — meaning Mr. Clay — can
HAVE ANYTHING HE PLEASES.'
" These expressions of General Houston made a strong impres
sion on my mind at that time, and from the relations known to
subsist between him and General Jackson, I had not then, nor at
any time since, a doubt, but that they embodied the feelings of that
personage, and that it was the object of both, that Mr. Clay and
his friends should so understand it. And I have ever thought,
that the slanderous charge of ' bargain, corruption, and intrigue,'
subsequently preferred by General Jackson against Mr. Clay and
his friends, had its origin in the utter neglect, with which every
advance made to them, by the friends of General Jackson, was
treated. "In a letter written by me, dated Wooster, May 9, 1827, and
appended to Mr. Clay's address to the public of that year, I
referred to the importunity of some of General Jackson's friends,
as indicative of a disposition to enter into a bargain. In that
remark, I had in my mind, among other things, these observations
of General Houston. Should it now be asked, why I did not then
divulge the whole, my answer is, that, although I held myself at
all times ready to do so, if called upon, 1 did not then consider
it necessary. The only question then before the public was, the
charge, that Mr. Clay's friends had made propositions to Jackson
for a bargain. It was to repel that charge, that my letter, above
mentioned, was written, and I chose to confine my statements to
the nature of the issue. General Jackson most signally failed,
being flatly contradicted by his only witness.
" S. Sloane."

ITS DEVELOPMENT. 421
The remarkable coincidence between General Houston's and Mr.
Buchanan's mode of managing this business, is too strong an indica
tion of concert and plan, not to make an impression. And admit
ting such concert, and with the concert, authority for such action,
the additional disclosure of this statement of Mr. Sloane, is not
simply remarkable, but startling ! Admitting these two things —
which, certainly, seem to have no slender claim for admission — every
reasonable man will be compelled to believe, that General Jackson
came to Washington city, at the opening of Congress, in Decem
ber, 1S24, with a determination to induce Mr. Clay to his sup
port, or to destroy him ! This advance of General Houston to
Mr. Sloane, was made in December, " about the same time that
the choice of president by the house of representatives, was begin
ning to attract attention at Washington." Of course, it was at a
very early period of the session, and could not be later than
Christmas, as it was then officially certified at the seat of govern
ment, that Mr. Clay was not returned to the house. At this early
period, one of the most intimate and confidential friends of Gen
eral Jackson, himself a member of the house from Tennessee,
approaches a member of the Ohio delegation, and in so many
words, makes an offer of bargain, obviously designed to be carried
to Mr. Clay ! Such was the manner of this overture, and such
" the relations subsisting between General Houston and General
Jackson," that Mr. Sloane says : " I had not then, nor at any
time since, a doubt, but that they [the words] embodied the feel
ings of that personage [General Jackson], and that it was the ob
ject of both, that Mr. Clay and his friends should so understand
it !" Having been prepared for action of this kind, as early at least
as Christmas, no one will be surprised at the zeal and system,
with which it was prosecuted, by other agents, as proved by their
own documents, until, more than a month afterward, on the eve
of the election, MrfBuchanan had the boldness to approach Mr.
Clay himself, in almost precisely the same terms, employed by
General Houston in his address to Mr. Sloane ! The beginning,
the middle, and the end, all agree !
The relative position of the conspirators in the outset
and in the end, is worthy of notice. In the outset— as will
have been seen, by the documents and evidence in the preceding
pages_they acted in concert — harmoniously. They had one
object, after they found that Mr. Clay could not be bought, viz :

422 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
to put him out of the path of General Jackson. They had in the
first place acted in harmony, in the conception and offer of in
ducements to Mr. Clay, to support General Jackson, by inti
mating to him, that, in that case, he might have the office of sec
retary of state. This was the plan of Mr. Buchanan, as appears
by his interviews with Major Eaton, Mr. Markley, and General
Jackson himself, when all that these four persons state respectively,
is collated, taking that only in which they do not come into conflict
with each other. And it will be found by a reference to Mr.
Markley's letter, that Mr. Buchanan's plan went further than this,
and proposed to open Mr. Clay's path to the presidency, as the
successor of General Jackson, on condition of his coming to the
support of the general at this time. " He [Mr. Buchanan] hoped
to see Mr. Clay president of the United States, and that was
another reason why he should like to see Mr. Clay secretary of
state, in case General Jackson were elected." But though this
was a part of the plan of inducements, to be offered to Mr. Clay,
it is not in evidence that Mr. Buchanan found any encouragement
to suggest to Mr. Clay this idea of his " ulterior political pros
pects," as he calls them, in his conversation with Mr. Markley.
The manner of his treatment, after he had ventured on the offer
of the secretaryship to Mr. Clay, was too chilling to follow it up
with the offer of the succession to the presidency. Nor does it
appear in the documents that this "ulterior" view was discussed
between General Jackson and Mr. Buchanan, though it might have
been. It is not proposed here to take any ground not supported
by the documents adduced. But Mr. Buchanan admits, that he
mentioned the name of Mr- Clay to General Jackson, as his pros
pective — of course, contingent — secretary of state ; and the man
ner in which he mentions it, evinces that it must have been well
considered, and the result of the interview shows, that the sugges
tion was at least tacitly connived at by General Jackson. It is
sufficiently manifest, by all that has been shown, that there was no
want of harmony in the outset of this plot.
But when, on the eve ofthe presidential campaign of 1S28, Gen
eral Jackson had made up his mind, to put the charge against Mr.
Adams and Mr. Clay on a new basis, to start it under a new flag,
himself the leader, in an open field, he and his friends immediately
got into difficulty — got each other in — and were obliged to write
letters to the public, to get themselves out. These documents,
unfortunately for the parties, having been written on the principle

its development. 423
of same qui peut' — save himself who can — each one, as has "been
seen, contained shots enough to kill the authors of the others more
than once. They were placed in new positions relative to each other
— not designedly hostile, but necessarily so. There is no evidence,
but that the general and Mr. Buchanan, till this period, had acted in
concert — harmoniously ; and Mr. B. intimates, in his letter,, that they
had uninterrupted correspondence : " In all our intercourse since,
whether personally, or in the course of our correspondence," &c.
But Carter Beverley's awkward management at Wheeling, had
put things out, and apparently precipitated a crisis. " It," the
business, says Mr. Beverley, in his letter to Duff Green, of June
25th, 1827, " has not taken the course I exactly calculated upon."
The consequence was, that Mr. Clay, in his address to the public,
of June 29th, 1827, came down upon General Jackson, in an un
expected moment, which brought forth the general's missive of
July 18th, 1827 — the most unfortunate document for history, that
he could possibly have written, however it might have availed him
for popular purposes at the time. As elsewhere remarked, he had
no time to consult with Mr. Buchanan for this new exigency, and
he literally immolated his " distinguished" friend of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Buchanan, in self-defence, is compelled to sacrifice General
Jackson, though he does it in the politest and most obsequious
style ; and in the course of his vindication, he calls out his old
friend, the Hon. P. S. Markley, in a complaint of injustice, whose
letter, take it all in all, as before seen, is another fatal battery opened
on Mr. Buchanan. Major Eaton also appears in the field to help the
parties in difficulty. Mr. Buchanan might well say, " Save me
from my friends, and I will take care of ray Joes." Major Eaton's
evidence is more unfortunate for Mr. Buchanan, Jjhan all the rest,
and leaves no door of escape. He came out ostensibly to answer
what he regarded as a reflection of Mr. Clay on himself, and kills
a friend in an endeavor to serve him !
All these documents were published by men in difficulty, to get
out, and it would be hard to show, whether they were more instru
ments of fratricide than of suicide. In both these function's they
have been most murderous. General Jackson kills Mr. Buchanan ,\
Mr. Buchanan kills General Jackson; and Major Eaton, in trying
to save Mr. Buchanan, kills him over again ! The major, too^
had been badly maimed, in an encounter with Mr. Clay, before he
came to the help of his friend. Having called Mr. Clay to account
for intimating that he (Major Eaton), wrote or dictated Mr. Kre-

424 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
mer's " card," Mr. Clay replied, that he would be most happy' to
do him the justice of publicly correcting the error, if he (Major
Eaton) would say it was an error. The major's conscience or
fears stopped him there.
While, therefore, these gentlemen were sufficiently harmonious
in counsel, for a common end, each seems to have been for him
self, in a change of relative position — in a strait.
One of the latest attempts to support the charge of " bargain"
against Mr. Clay, for political effect, was by the Hon. Lynn Boyd,
of Kentucky, on the floor of the house of Representatives, in Con
gress, April 30th, 1844. It grew out of General Jackson's card
of May 3, 1844, re-affirming the charge, though there were several
steps between the one event and the other. Mr. Boyd had
published a letter in the Richmond Enquirer, which occasioned
some strictures by the Hon. John White, in Congress, April 23,
and on the 30th, Mr. Boyd replied, and went over the whole ground
of the "bargain." He did the best1 he could, after the subject
had been for many years exhausted ; and the strongest point he
made, which he seemed much to rely upon, is what he calls " con
trolling the event." Mr. Clay's friends at Washington published
an address, in May, 1824, in which they said, " If, contrary to all
probability, Mr. Clay should not be returned to the house, his
friends, having done their duty, will be able, by concentration, to
control the event." This appeared to be the pivot of the argument.
But this was published to the world. The absurdity of proving a
secret bargain, on a public address, would seem to indicate great
poverty. It is well known, that such language is always used by
the stronger party : " We can control the event." Do they not
always know and say it, when they go into Congress, or any other
field of action, with a majority ?
Mr. Boyd was decidedly unfair and ungenerous, in citing Gov.
Metcalf 's remark, in this argument, which was made to the Hon.
R. M. Johnson, late vice-president, in a private conversation, to
wit, "Perhaps we have done too much for our friend" (Mr. Clay),
as if it were a confession of bargain, when Mr. Boyd could hardly
have been ignorant of the existence of a certificate relating to this
very remark, from under Mr. Johnson's own hand, of which the
following is an extract : —
" I did not consider, in any of his [Gov. Metcalf 's] remarks,
that he alluded to any bargain ; nor did I understand that he had

its development. 425
reference to any previous understanding on the subject of the pres
idential election. ,, t, ut t
" April 4th, 1828." Rh" M" J°hnson-
Mr. Boyd, after all, makes a confession, which is all that is re
quired : "Although impartial men may believe, as I do myself,
that there was no technical bargain entered into between Mr. Ad
ams and Mr. Clay, in their own proper persons, yet it does seem
to me, that no one free from prejudice, can carefully examine the
circumstances and evidences in the case, without the most thorough
conviction, that it was understood by the parties, that Mr. Clay's
appointment to the office of secretary of state would result from
the election of Mr. Adams."
Without conceding all that Mr. Boyd here claims — though there
is no harm even in that — he, certainly, has conceded enough. He
admits, that " impartial men," and himself — of course claiming
to be one — do not believe there was any " technical bargain" — by
which he doubtless means a criminal understanding — " between
Mr. Adams and Mr. Clay." He claims, indeed, that it was un
derstood, that Mr. Clay would be secretary of state. Is it not
always understood, among partisans, in such cases, who will occupy
this or that place ? General Hamilton, a Jackson man, says in his
letter on another page, it was " inevitable," that Mr. Clay should
be secretary of state, and justifies him throughout. Some Jack
son men, as is proved, insisted upon it.
It is very certain, after this effort of Mr. Boyd, in 1844, who
had the whole field before, him, who is a very able man, and who
wished to justify General Jackson's card of the same year, by
proving all he could, that the argument is pretty well exhausted ;
and the end of it, by his own confession, is an acquittal of
Mr. Clay ! !
The crime and consequences of this plot, claim a mo
ment's notice. That it has profoundly affected the destiny of the
parties, and of the country, no one can doubt. The first an
nouncement of the charge, was a shock to the whole American
mind, as well it might be. To that hour, Mr. Clay's reputation
had been pure, unsullied. His public services, great and unri
valled, were acknowledged and appreciated. High — and as re^
spects a well-earned influence, the highest — in the councils of
the nation, his private virtues and his undoubted patriotism were
not less esteemed. With a reputation at home untarnished, his

426 THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
fame as an advocate of human rights and of political freedom, and as
a statesman, had gone widely abroad, sounded over every continent,
and penetrated to the centres of vast spheres of despotism, to shake
the thrones of tyrants, and to give hope to the oppressed. It was
against a statesman, occupying such a position in the social state
of mankind, and enjoying such a reputation, earned by a life of
virtuous toil, that the charge of hargaining for an office, which
could not elevate him — which was a condescension for him to
accept — was concocted andsent.forth upon the world! Well, in
deed, might the nation be astounded ! But the author of this cal-
umny-^-the first to conceive and the last to maintain it — not only
claimed to be a rival, but was the head of a party ; and it was,
therefore, a moral certainty, however false, and infamous, and crim
inal, the accusation might be, that it would at once be received,
and entertained by his adherents, as a household word, an article
of creed. Under these circumstances, and by means of such an
auxiliary, it shot forth from the furnace of its fabrication, to obtain
an instantaneous lodgment in a large portion of the public mind,
from which, thenceforth, it was impossible to dislodge it. It was,
indeed, an audacious movement; and its very audacity served to
give it credence. After the first shock, every inquiring mind nat
urally asked : " Would responsible men originate and circulate
such a story, against such a man, without foundation ?" Investiga
tion being thwarted by such means as have been noticed, as a part
of the plot, it was impossible to settle the general mind. The
public neither saw, much less understood, the arts of such a con
spiration. There was the charge, and there the endorsers — the
latter, indeed, not visible at first, but well understood. It was
hard to shake the public faith in Henry Clay ; but these men were
worthy of some respect. The charge was kept afloat, without per
mitting investigation ; it was cherished by thousands, by tens of
thousands, as a thing most welcome ; it was not allowed to sleep,
either in time, or space ; and at last, by constant agitation, under
such circumstances, became an uncertainty! By such means,
the public faith in Mr. Clay was first shaken, then permanently
impaired. Then who — what power — could reestablish it ?
The same has been the effect on the destiny of the country,
whether for good, or for evil. If Mr. Clay's patriotism was true,
the pretensions of the conspirators were false ; if his principles
were sound, theirs were unsound ; if his policy was conserva
tive of, and calculated to promote, the best interests of the

its development. 427
country, theirs was destructive ; and hence the public conflicts,
and the public calamities, that have befallen the country, since this
conspiracy began to triumph. It hardly need be said, that it has
been an uninterrupted scene of domestic strife and public disaster.
But the most fearful lesson inculcated, in the results of this
plot, is, that crime, in a republic, may triumph over virtue, and be
rewarded. That the judgment of mankind, and of history, in
regard to these transactions, will be right, there is no room for
doubt ; it is even possible, that the present generation of the peo
ple of the United States, should see the injustice they have done
to one of the greatest and purest men, that was ever born on
American soil ; nevertheless, this experience of the past is dis
heartening to the aspirations of patriotism, and throws a gloom
over the hopes of good men. It has been proved that the purest
reputation of a patriot and statesman, who may have gained his
eminence by a life of constant self-sacrifice to his country, may be
blasted in one hour, by the breath of calumny ! In history, he
may indeed rely on his verdict of acquittal. But what living man
covets such an ordeal, for the sake of such a justification ? Who
ever considered himself better off, for having been on trial for a
criminal offence, though he were vindicated at last, and the wrong
doer punished ? All he has to console himself with, in the end,
is that Justice, as between him and his persecutors, has pronounced
her decision. But who will restore to him what he has lost by
injustice? / In this light, the results of this plot are inauspicious,
not only for the encouragement of political virtue, not only for the
welfare of the country, but for the liberties of the republic ! If
success in politics, by whatever means, is to pass for justification,
and might, so acquired, for right, the nation that adopts the prin
ciple, is doomed to perdition !
But for this diabolical plot, no man could have commanded more
of the respect, confidence, and affection of the American people,
than Henry Clay. But for this " electioneering staple," Mr. Ad
ams would have been re-elected in 1S28, and Mr. Clay would
have been president in 1833. The effect of this, doubtless, pre
vented his being the candidate, and being elected, in 1840. But
for this, who could have stood before him in 1S44 ? But for this,
Andrew Jackson— justly lauded for his military services— would
have died, unknown as a statesman. And but for this, who can
doubt, that the destiny of the country would have been glorious
AND HAPPY ?

428 internal improvements.

CHAPTER. XIX.
The American System.^Mr. Clay's Internal Improvement Policy. ,
The measures of public policy chiefly embraced in the Ameri
can System — appropriately so called, as will appear — are internal
improvements and the protective policy. There are, undoubted
ly, various ramifications of these two great doctrines. There are
eoila-teral- measures, and measures of affinity j'havin-g-m-oi'e-Gr— less
of an intimate connexion. T-her-e-are numerous measures of re
sult,, emanating from this system. But internal improvement, and
protection of American interests, labor, industry, and arts, are
commonly understood to be the leading measures, which consti
tute the American System.
The validity and importance of internal improvements, are sug
gested and established by four prime considerations : First, the
physical rudeness of the face of the country, and the imperfect
water-channels — a lake being" a channel, as well aTOiver^inter-
po^mg___obstaGles-- to -«©eial-eomm-H-n-ieation- and TUnTnrercial opera
tion*-; next, and as a consequence, the removal of these obstacles,
to facilitate intercourse, and the internal trade ofthe country; third,
as a social and political bond of the Union ; and last, as a system
of national economy in preparation for war, and for the advantages
to be derived therefrom in a time of war.
In the physical structure and condition ofthe country, there was
a natural barrier and separation between the Atlantic states and
the valley of the Mississippi, constituted by the Allegany ridge
and the extensive, crude regions, comprehended in its eastern and
western declivities. It was a barrier in itself sufficient to mark out
and decree an eastern and western empire. The slow and painful
progress,- and the calamitous defeat, of Braddock and his army,
in the French war, marching to Fort Pitt, a^3 a striking exempli
fication of the formidable character of that great natural obstacle.

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 429
The long, expensive, and hazardous journeys of the early emi
grants from east to west, are another example. Rude, mountain
ous, and savage regions, without roads, and of vast extent, and
thousand-mile rivers, with scarcely a civilized tenant on their
banks, whose rapids and shoals were unknown, and wanting navi
gable craft, intervened between the start of emigrants, with the cry
of " Westward, ho !" in their mouths, and the place of their des
tination. -^ The public law of nations, and the royal charters, under
the auspices of which the American shores of the Atlantic were
peopled from the continent of Europe, had secured to those pil
grim settlers, in the north and south, a western jurisdiction unlim
ited, except by the waters which lave the shores of the Pacific and
" the great south sea," so called, in the ignorance of those times,
but not now in use. But of what avail was jurisdiction, while such
insurmountable obstacles lay in the pathway to assert and maintain
it?^" In the progress of time, floods of population were rolling
westward, and it was easy to see, that a balance-power would soon
start up in those regions, to divide empire with the east, unless
some permanent and indissoluble bond could be formed, to reduce
and subdue the rough barrier between them, and cement the two
.sections by moral, social, and political ties.
"N Fortunately for the destinies of the country, a future statesman.;,
fittett"t>y nature and circumstance for this great exigency, had gone
over this barrier, and planted himself in the heart of that vale of
the west, to grow up in the midst of that population, to have all
his fortunes cast with them, to rise in their esteem and confidence,
and at an^garly period to represent them in the capitol of the re
public:" Still more fortunately, he was disposed to cherish and
cultivate those enlarged and liberal views, which, loving a part,
embraced the whole with the same affection, and while he evinced
a care for the west, he,_wais not less careful for the east, and the
north, and the south. : Fortunately 'yet further, in passing from the
west to the east, and from the east to the west, in the discharge of
his public duties,- those long and painful journeys, and the physi
cal inconvenience and suffering which unavoidably attended them,
were probably among the most powerful incentives to his genius
in the conception of ti*at system of internal improvements, which
he afterward propourrded'so-'kicidlj^ advocated so eloquently and
so successfully,- and' for the advancement of "which, among other
great national objects, he has devoted a long life, consecrated his
great abilities, and.evineed to -the- 'last an untiring, unabated zeal.

430 INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.
Not all has been done that he wished. He has been opposed. But
much has been achieved. The spirit of internal improvement
which he excited in the country, could not be quenched. Though
arbitrary and despotic executive vetoes have intervened ; though
affected " constitutional scruples" have planted themselves in the
pathway of this great and beneficent national policy; it has all
proved only a diversion of the momentum given to the cause, to
appear and act efficiently in other forms, by other agencies, of
states, corporations, and individual enterprise. One great branch
of this policy, started by the federal government, always advo
cated by Mr. Clay, could not be arrested, is still in progress, and
will probably go on to consummation : The Alleganies have been
levelled to a plain by the great national, commonly called the
Cumberland road, and may be surmounted with all the ease and
safety, which characterize travel on the Macadamized roads in the
vicinity of cities and large towns, in America and in Europe. This
road alone has been, and will remain, not less effective as a pow
erful bond of the Union, than as a facility for travel, and for trans
portation of merchandise.
Stimulated' by this spirit of internal improvement, which was
kindled in the land by the fires of one genius, two other great
openings between the east and the west have been effected by the
states of New York and Pennsylvania, in the creation of gigantic
artificial channels, connecting the rivers and harbors of the At
lantic border, with the lakes which disembogue by the St. Law
rence, and the rivers which descend into the Mexican gulf. For
the bulk of travel and transportation, these have hitherto, since
their completion, taken the lead of all other channels of communi
cation between the east and west, which are thus brought together,
and planted at the doors of each other. But new and independent
projects, and various ramifications of older ones, by canals and
railroads, are continually multiplying, and vying with each other,
in the facilities they afford to the internal travel and trade of the
country, and in the activity and celerity of their modes and means
of conveyance and transportation. The Chesapeake and Ohio
canal, from Alexandria to Cumberland, is a magnificent work •
and the extension of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, to the Ohio
river, would seem to place the communications, between the east
and west, in a northern and southern latitude, as near perfection as
can well be conceived. The physical obstacles of distance, of
mountain barriers, of vast and trackless wilds; and of unsurveyed

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 431
waters, have vanished, and the passenger, who formerly required
months, with great pains and risks, to reach a given destination,
from a given point, east or west, now smoothly glides along to the
end of his journey in so many days, sleeping or reading, with the
speed of winds and of tiie flight of birds, and may order his goods
and chattels, his merchandise or produce, to go before, or come
after him, without his care, and be sure to find them where and
when ho wants them. Such is the enchantment of the revolution
which art and enterprise have achieved over nature. By the space-
annihilating power of internal improvement, Boston and St. Louis,
New York and New Orleans, are now brought as near together,
across the Alleganies, as were Boston and tiie city of Baltimore
fifty years ago. The remotest parts of the Union have been made
neighbors of each other, and the social and political bonds have
been strengthened in proportion as these obstacles to intercourse
and trade have been removed. The mind that conceived this stu
pendous scheme, can be estimated only by the history of its progress,
and the results of its execution. That there have been co-workers,
is true ; but the leader, the pioneer, the eloquent mover of tiie
general mind, is seen and recognised by all. The perfect form
and matchless beauty of the most admired statue, was in die mind
of the artist, when the rude block of marble was a component part
of the mountain quarry, and when it was brought and laid at the
artist's feet. But it was his chisel tiiat carefully knocked off tiie
chips which first began to develop tiie forms of his model ; it was
his skill and workmanship which at last brought forth and presented
to an admiring world tiie permanent, imperishable fruit of his ge
nius. It stands, it speaks, and will eloquently entertain generation
after generation, commemorating^the name of its author, while his
tory and art abide to instruct mankind.
' "' The early plan of internal improvement, advocated by Mr. Clay,
l!5s undcrg<9&e\arious modifications, from the influence of two
causes — opposition and tiie improved modes of works of tiiis de
sign. Contemporaneously with the erection of the great national
road, from east to west, it was also designed, that a national road
sliould be built parallel with the Atlantic coast, from the northeast
ern to the southern boundary of the Union. The failure of this
part of theplan — magnificent and seductive as it was for the time
being— ^not so much to be regretted, since tiie more recent in
vention of railroads hasat least in part, if not entirely, super-

432 INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. »
seded its necessity, and would in a great degree have supplanted
its use.
After Mr. Clay's plan of internal improvement was brought for
ward, and began to invoke the attention and aid ofthe general gov
ernment — whether from jealousy or other cause, it is not' perhaps"
material to decide — a constitutional question was raise'd, and made
to embarrass the minds, successively, of Presidents Madisonj Mon
etae, and Jackson, whose sanction, as chief executive officers* for
the rime being, was indispensable to give effect to the policy. The
fourteenth Congress, the last under Mr. Madison, had renewed'
the charter of the United States bank — more properly, perhaps,
granted a new one, as the old bank was defunct — and a bill was
brought into that Congress, and passed, to set apart *and. pledge,
as a fund for internal improvement, the bonus required of the bank,
and the United States' share of the dividends on the national stock.
The republican, or democratic party, who were chiefly influential
in the recharter of the bank — a measure which had been rejected
by them in 1811, but was now earnestly advocated, after the sad
experience of a deranged currency for four years — were also ear- ¦
nest advocates of this internal improvement bill. Mr-r-Cal-hcruTrof
the- -seuthy- M-iv-Glay-ofth^-w^stj-Mih-^^
of Virginia, and-o-t-he^r^uhlicjanj^sto©d-,~side-by ^ide,-i«-vitTtlTca-
ti©a-of-the-«onstitutionality, and iff "advoeaey-of the ¦erperjxenuy-, of
this measure. Very unexpectedly, however, Mr. Madison sent in
his objections to this bill, the day before he retired from office,
March 3, 1817 ; and Mr. Monroe came out, in his first message
to Congress, coinciding, on this point, with Mr. Madison's veto.
It is due to both of them, however, to say, that they were the ad
vocates of internal improvement, and recommended an amendment
of the constitution with that view. Nevertheless, Mr. Madison,
by his veto, had dashed the cup from the lips to the ground, as he
went out of office ; and Mr. Monroe coming in, at 'least~fbr"four
years, "pmbably-for eight — it proved to be -eight — broke the cup
in advance, so that it could not be used during his term of office,
without an amendment of the constitution. ^A ¦-
On the 4th of February, 1817, while this bill was pending, Mr.
Clay made the following remarks, in committee of the whole
house : —
" As to the constitutional point which had been made, he had
not a doubt on his mind ; but it was not necessary, in his judg
ment, to embarrass the . passage of the bill with the argument of

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 433
that point at this time. It was a sufficient answer to say, that the
, power was not now to be exercised. It was proposed merely to
, designate the fund, and, from time to time, as the proceeds of it
I came in, to invest them in the funded debt of the United States.
It would' thus be accumulating; and Congress could, at some
^future day, examine into the constitutionality of the question, and
if it has the power, it would exercise it ; if it has not, the consti
tution, there could be very little doubt, would be so amended as
•<4b confer it. It was quite obvious, however, that Congress might
so direct the application of the fund, as not to interfere with" the
jurisdiction of the several states, and thus avoid the difficulty
which had been started. It might distribute it among those objects
of private enterprise which called for national patronage in the
form of subscriptions to the capital stock of incorporated compa
nies, such as that of the Delaware and Chesapeake canal, and
other similar institutions. Perhaps that might be the best way to
employ the fund ; but, he repeated, this was not the time to go
¦ into this inquiry.
" With regard to the general importance ofthe proposition — the
effect of internal improvements in cementing the Union, in facili
tating internal trade, in augmenting the wealth and the population
of the country, he would not consume the time of the committee
in discussing those interesting topics, after the able manner in
which they had been treated by his friend from South Carolina
[Mr. Calhoun]. In reply to those who thought that internal im
provements had better be left to the several states, he would ask —
he would put it to the candor of every one — if there were not
various objects in which many states were interested, and which,
requiring therefore their joint cooperation, would, if not taken up
by the general government, be neglected, either for the want of
resources, or from the difficulty of regulating their respective con
tributions ?
" Mr. Clay owned that he felt anxiously desirous /or the success
of this measure. He was anxious, from its intrinsic merits — from
his sincere conviction of its tendency greatly to promote the welfare
of our common country. He was anxious from other, perhaps
more selfish considerations. He wished the fourteenth Congress
to have the merit of laying the foundations of this great work. He
wished this Congress, which, in his opinion, had so many other just
grounds for the national approbation, notwithstanding the obloquy
which had attended a single unfortunate measure, to add this new
claim to the public gratitude."
This bill passed, and as before recognised, was vetoed by Mr.
Madison. It will be observed, that Mr. Calhoun was an earnest
advocate of this measure, as he had been of the bank of 1816. lt
Vol. I.— 28

434 INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.
is remarkable, that, during the republican or democratic era, or for
the most of it, Mr. Clay and Mr. Calhoun should have been coad
jutors, advocates of the same principles, of the same measures, and
working shoulder to shoulder in a common cause, for a common
country ; and that afterward, when the character ofthe government
had so essentially changed, and the federal executive began to as
sert regal pretensions, and exercise regal powers, these two states
men should have been so far asunder ! Who had changed ? It
does not appear that Mr. Clay ever changed his opinion on a great
national question, except in the case of the United States bank, and
when he took up his ground on that in 1816, Mr. Calhoun was
with him. In alluding to this change, Mr. Clay, in his speech at
Lexington; June 9, 1842, said : " I do not advert to the fact of
this solitary instance of change of opinion, as implying any personal
merit, but because it is a fact. I will, however, say, that I think
it is very perilous to the usefulness of any public man to make fre
quent changes of opinion. * * * It draws around him distrust,
impairs the public confidence, and lessens his capacity to serve his
country." Three presidents successively, Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Madison, and
Mr. Monroe, had officially expressed their opinion adverse to a
power vested in Congress by the constitution for projects of inter
nal improvement, as contemplated by the measures proposed.
Not satisfied with these decisions, Mr. Clay and his friends were
instrumental in' having a resolution brought forward, in the fifteenth
Congress, declaring that Congress had power, under the constitu
tion, to make appropriations for the construction of military roads,
post-roads, and canals ; and the following extract is from his
speech of March 13, 1818, in favor of this resolution: —
"When I feel what a deep interest the Union at large, and par
ticularly that quarter of it whence I come, has, in the decision of
the present question, I can not omit any opportunity of earnestly
urging upon the house the propriety of retaining the important
power which this question involves. It will be recollected, that
if unfortunately there should be_ja. -majority both against the ab
stract proposition asserting the power, and against its practical
execution, the power js_gDn_j, for ever — the question is put at rest,
so long as the constitution remains as it is ; and with respect to
any amendment, in this particular, . I confess I utterly despair. It
will be borne in mind, that the billjvvhich passed Congress on this
subject, at the last session, was rejected by the late president of

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 435
the United States ; that at the commencement of the present ses
sion, the. presidentj communicated his clear opinion, after every
effort to come to a different conclusion, that Congress does not
possess the power contended for, and called upon us to take up
the subject, in the shape of an amendment to the constitution ;
and, moreover, that the predecessor of the present and late presi
dents, also intimated his opinion, that Congress does not pos
sess the powerj^ga&Vrth the great weigljl and authority ofthe opin
ions of these distinguished men against the power, and with the
fact, solemnly entered upon the record, that this house, after a
deliberate review of the ground taken by it at the last session, has
decided against the existence of it (if such, fatally, shall be the
decision), the power, I repeat, is gone — gone for ever, unless
restored by an amendment of the constitution. With regard to
the practicability of obtaining such an amendment, I think it alto
gether out of the question. Two different descriptions of persons,
entertaining sentiments ,directly opposed, will unite and defeat such
_jyLamendment : one embracing those who believe that the consti-
tion, fairly interpreted, already conveys the power ; and the other,
those who think that Congress has not and ought not to have it.
As a large portion of Congress, and probably a majority, believes
the power to exist, it must be evident, if I am right in supposing
that any considerable number of that majority would vote against
an amendment/ which they do not believe necessary, that any
atte/npt to amend would fail. Considering, as I do, the existence
cj'the power as of the first importance, not merely to the preserva
tion of the union of the states, petf-amount as that consideration
ever should be over all others, but to the prosperity of every great
interest of the country, agriculture, manufactures, commerce, in
peace and in war, it becomes us solemnly, and deliberately, and
anxiously, to examine the constitution, and not to surrender it, if
fairly to be collected from a just interpretation of that instrument."
There was a time, in the history ofthe country, when proposals
to amend the constitution were thought easy of attainment— at least
not very difficult. It was for a long time a custom with the presi
dent, in his official communications to Congress, to speak on the
subject, and sometimes to recommend it for specific objects, as
though it ought to be entertained, and might be accomplished.
Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe, were of this number — the last
two recommended it for the object of internal improvement, after
having expressed their opinion adverse to the constitutional power.
In 1817, Mr. Clay once expressed himself as if this might be hoped
for, in this difference of opinion. But at this time, 1818, he
seemed to have come to the conclusion, that an amendment of the
constitution was impracticable, and give?, his reasons ,for it, as

436 INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.
above. It was, therefore, a subject of profound concern with im,
to find the national executive, at the opening of his administration,
which might and would probably be extended to eight years, in
this position, inasmuch as no objects of internal improvement, how
ever important and desirable, could be consummated without his
official sanction. This, as is well known, was a favorite policy
with Mr. Clay — one that he had long cherished, and eonsciuntiously -
believed to lie within the pale of the constitution. He saw that it
was vital to the Union, for its conservation and stability ; to com
mercial intercourse within the circle of the Union, and not less to
foreign trade ; to tiie social and political welfare of "the republic.
The policy comprehended not only all the veins and arteries of the
body, as one, but those members and faculties which connected it
with foreign bodies. All the outlets of the Union to the highway
of nations, and all passages to foreign jurisdictions over a many-
thousand-mile line of inland border, came within the scope of this
policy. The lakes, the Mississippi and its tributaries, the Atlantic
rivers, bays, inlets, and harbors, with all their countless imperfec
tions and. obstructions, and with all their capabilities of improve
ment, invoked the wisdom and patriotism of every American states
man, to/come to their aid for " the general welfare." Nature's
mighty carrier between the east and west, was yet unsubdued —
scarcer! an impression was made upon it. The whole country, as
compared with what might be, was, by this means, literally bound
in chains, ^n^-im^hnvi] -w^lM^.rglaypti^n, £«»<*dTrm. Its vital cur
rents could not circulate as they ought ; its limbs had no ample
scope for action ; its capacities were cramped ; and its very intelli
gence was limited and compressed. -^ G\
But Mr. Madison had delivered his opinion, destroyed the
measure which /ne had recommended, and retired. Mr. Monroe
had also pronounced his decision in advance ; and it now seemed
a settled question, that the difficulty could not be got over by an
amendment of the constitution. What was to be done ? "I re
peat," said Mr. Clay, " the power is gone — gone for ever," if the
resolution before the house should fail — a resolution declaratory of
the existence of the constitutional power for internal improvements.
In reference to the Virginia resolutions of 1798, of which Mr.
Madison was the author, Mr. Clay said : —
" It will be remarked, that Mr. Madison, in his reasoning on the
constitution, has not employed the language fashionable during
this debate ; he has not said, that an implied power must be abso-

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 437
Itttely necessary to carry into effect the specified power, to which it
is appurtenant, to enable the general government to exercise it.
No ! This is a modern interpretation of the constitution. Mr.
Madison has employed the language of the instrument itself, and
has only contended that the implied power must be necessarv and
proper to carry into effect the specified power. He has only
insisted, that when Congress applied its sound judgment to the
constitution in relation to implied powers, it should be clearly seen
that they were necessary and proper to effectuate the specified
powers. These are my principles ; but they are not those of the
gentleman from Virginia and his friends on this occasion. They
contend for a degree of necessity absolute and indispensable ; that
by no possibility can the power be otherwise executed.
" That there are two classes of powers in the constitution, I
believe has never been controverted by an American statesman.
We can not foresee and provide specifically for all contingences.
Man and his language are both imperfecr. Hence the existence
of construction, and of constructive powers. Hence also the rule,
that a grant of the end is a grant of the means. If you amend
the constitution a thousand times, the same imperfection of our
nature and our language will attend our new works. There are
two dangers to which we are exposed. The one is, that the gen
eral government mar relapse into the debility which existed in the
old confederation, and finallv dissolve from the want of cohesion.
The denial to it of powers plainly conferred, or clearly necessary and
proper to execute the conferred powers, may produce this effect.
And I think, with great deference to the gentlemen on the other
side, this is the danger to which their principles directly tend. The
other danger, that of consolidation, is. by the assumption of powers
not granted, nor incident to granted powers, or the assumption of
powers which have been withheld, or expressly prohibited. This
was the danger of the period of 17 95-*9. For instance, that, in
direct contradiction to a prohibitory clause of the constitution, a
sedition act was passed : and an alien law was also passed, in equal
violation of the spirit, if not ofthe express provisions, ofthe con
stitution. It was by such measures that the federal party (if par
ties mar be named), throwing off the veil, furnished to their ad
versaries the most effectual ground of opposition. If they had
not passed those acts, I think it highly probable that the current of
power would hare continued to flow in the same channel : and the
change of parties in 1501. so auspicious to the best interests of
the eountnyas I beliere, would never have occurred.
"I beg the comminee — I entreat the true friends of the confeder
ated union of these states — to examine tiiis doctrine of state rights,
and see to what abusive, if not dangerous consequences, it may
lead, to what extent it has been carried, and how it has varied in
the same state at different times."

43S INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.
#
" The gentleman from Virginia," to whom Mr. Clay was more
especially responding in the foregoing, remarks, was Mr. Nelson,
who. had professedly taken refuge under the resolutions of '98, and
arraigned Mr. Clay's orthodoxy. Mr. Clay avowed adherence to the
same creed, and attempted to prove — apparently succeeded — that
he was a true disciple. He was, perhaps, more properly a master.
It is remarkable, that it should prove so difficult to find, or rather
to agree on, the line of demarcation between federal and state rights,
defined so precisely as they are by the constitution : " The powers
not delegated to the United States by the constitution, nor prohib
ited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to
the people." Among the several legislative powers conferred on
Congress, is, first, the general " power to lay and collect taxes,
duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the
common defence and general welfare ofthe United States." After
enumerating about thirty specific grants of power, the whole is
covered by the following discigtianaEy power: " And to make all
laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execu
tion the foregoing powers^ and all other powers vested by this con
stitution in the government of the United States, or in any depart
ment or officer thereof." Among the specific grants is one " to
establish postonices and postroads," which, besides the power
" to provide for the common defence and general welfare" — about
v/hich some question -fits arisen, whether it ts intended for more
than an announcement ofthe specific grants — le-claifned to involve
the^principle of internal improvements, and to authorize at least
one form. And the concluding general and-tlisc^etiewafy" power,
which covers all the rest, "no make all laws which shall be neces-
i \gary and proper," &c, may extend the application of this principle
of " postroads," as far as Congress nw^tWftik " necessary and
proper" " for the general welfare," to roads of any description, on
land or water. ^& ^
The great question apparently is, whether the people, in their
representative capacity in Congress, shall avail themselves of the
design and benefits of the constitution ; or whether, by yielding to
' ' the claims of some of the states, they shall sacrifice those benefits,
surrender the great objects of the constitution, and fall back into
•all the evils to /which the country was subjected under the old ar
ticles of confederation. It will not be denied, that the constitution
was formed for the express purpose of conferring higher and more
comprehensive powers on the general government, and that " post-

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 439
I
roads" was one of the additional and specific grants. To say, that
the use of these powers is a usurpation of state-rights, and an aim
at consolidation, is to bring the charge, not only on the framers
of the constitution, but on the necessity and distress of the country
which led to the formation of that instrument, and the establish
ment of the government which it authorized and required.
,/J The phrases, " all laws necessary and proper," and " all other
Dowers," were construed ia->*hi&~dehata, by some, as requiring a
case of absolute necessitv/to authorize the use of these powers,
instead of justifying thje^tise of a reasonable discretion. But it i#-
evident, that as much difficulty would arise in determining what
J-i$-iabsolutely necessary,, as what"**liecessary, and that the latter
form of expressroff^mly be as strongAas ftne former, — must be as
strong, if applied to a case of necessity^ W^at-ean-add to the force
of ^.necessity? Discretion, judgment, is put in requisition, in
eithet-ease-; and- tire~tertter-is -theJanguage of the constitution. -Mr.
Madison "stopped there, and Mr. Clay went-no further;
jJ& After showing -that necessity and absolute necessity amounted to
the same thing, Mr. Clay said : — i '
"If, then, the gentlemen on the other side and myself differ so
little in our general principles, as I think I have shown, I will pro
ceed, for a few moments, to look at the constitution a tittle, more in
detail. I have contended, that the power to construct post-roads
is expressly granted in the power to establish post-roads. If it be,
there is an end of the controversy ; but if not, the next inquiry is,
whether that power may be fairly deduced, by implication, from
any of the special grants of power. To show that the power is
expressly granted, I might safely>appeal to the arguments already
used, to prove that the word establish, in this case, can mean only
one thing — the right of making. Several gentlemen have con
tended,- that the word has a different sense ; and one has resorted to
the preamble of the constitution, to show that the phrase 'to es
tablish justice,' there used, does not convey the power of creation.
If-t-he-w-o-rd-^establish'is there to be taken in the sense which gen-
tiemen~elaimJar-.it, that of adoption or designation, Congress could
have .a_choice^ only of systems of justiee preexisting. Will-any
gentleman_c.ontend, that we are obliged to -take the Justinian code,
theJiapoleon code, the-.code of civil, or the code of- common or
canon law? Establishment means in the preamble, as in other
cases, construction, formation, creation. Let me ask, in all cases
of crime, which are merely malum prohibitum, if you do not re
sort to construction, to creating, when you make the offence?.' By
your laws denouncing eertain acts as criminal offences, laws which
the good of society requires you to pass, and to adapt to our pe-

440 INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.
culiar condition, you do construct and create a system of rules, to
be administered by the judiciary. But gentlemen say, that the
word can not mean-make; that you would not say, for example, to
establish a ship, to establish a chair. In the application of this, as
of all other terms, you must be guided by the nature of the sub
ject ; and if it can not properly be used in aircases, it does not
follow that it can not be in any. And when we take into consid
eration that, under the old articles of confederation, Congress had
over the subject of post-roads just as much power as gentlemen
allow to the existing government, that it was the general scope and
spirit of the new constitution to enlarge the powersjrf the general
government, and that, in fact, in this very clauseyme power to es
tablish postoffices,. which was alone possessed vy the former gov
ernment, I think that I may safely consider the argument, on this
part of the subject, as successfully maintained. With respect to
military roads^the concession that they may be made when called
for by the emergent^; is admitting that the constitution conveys
the power/ And we may safely appeal to the judgment of the
candid' and enlightened, to decide between the wisdom of these
two constructions, of which one requires you to wait for the exer
cise of your power until the arrival of an emergency, which may
not allow you to exert it, and the other, without denying you the
power, if you can exercise it during the emergency, claims the
right of providing beforehand against the emergency. , .., .r-
* # # * #"#-*-•.
" Is there not a direct and intimate relation between the power
to make war, and military roads and canals ? It is in vain that the
convention have confided to the general government the tremen
dous power of declaring war — have imposed upon it the duty to
employ the whole physical means of the nation to render the war,
whatever may be its character, successful and glorious — if the
power is withheld of transporting and distributing those means.
Let us appeal to facts, which are sometimes worth volumes of the
ory. We have recently had a war raging on all the four quarters
ofthe Union. The only circumstance which gave me pain at the
close of that war, the detention of Moose island, would not have
occurred, if we had possessed military roads. Why did not the
Union, why did not Massachusetts, make a struggle to re-conquer
the island ? Not for the want of men ; not for the want of patriot
ism, I hope ; but from the want of physical ability to march a
force sufficient to dislodge the enemy. On the northwestern fron
tier, millions of money, and some of the most precious blood of
the state from which I have the honor to come, was wastefully ex
pended for the want of such roads. My honorable friend from
Ohio [General Harrison], who commanded the army in that quar
ter, could furnish' a volume of evidence on this subject. What
now paralyzes our arms on the southern frontier, and occasioned

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 441
the recent massacre of fifty of our brave soldiers ? What, but
the want of proper means for the communication of intelligence,
and for the transportation of our *resources from point to point ?
Whether we refer to our own experience, or that of other coun
tries, we can not fail to perceive the great value of military roads.
Those great masters of the world, the Romans, how did they sus
tain their power so many centuries, diffusing law and liberty, and
intelligence, all around them? They made permanent military
roads ; and among the objects of interest which Europe now pre
sents are the remains of those Roman roads, which are shown to
the curious inquirer. If there were no other monument remain
ing of the sagacity and of the illustrious deeds of the unfortunate
captive of St. Helena, the internal improvements which he made,
the road from Hamburgh to Basle, would perpetuate his memory
to future ages. In making these allusions, let me not be misun
derstood. I do not desire to see military roads established for
the purpose of conquest, but of defence ; and as a part of that
preparation which should be made in a season of peace for a sea
son of war. I do not wish to see this ^ountry ever in that com
plete state of preparation for war, for vtthich some contend ; that
is, that we should constantly have a large standing army, well dis
ciplined, and always ready to act. I want to see the bill reported
by my friend from Ohio, or some other, embracingtan effective
militia system, passed into a law ; and a chain of roads and canals,
by the aid of which our physical means can be promptly trans
ported to any required point. These, connected with a small
military establishment to keep up our forts and garrisons, consti
tute the kind of preparation for war, which, it appears to me, this
country ought to make. No man, who has paid the least, atten
tion to the operations of modern war, can have failed to remark,
how essential good roads and canals are to the success of those
operations. How often have battles been won by celerity and
rapidity of movement? It is one of the most essential Circum
stances in war. But, without good roads, it is impossible. Mem
bers will recall to their recollection the fact, that, in the senate,
several years ago, an honorable friend of mine |TVfr. Bayard],
whose premature death I shall ever deplore, who was an ornament
to the councils of his country, and who, when abroad, was the
able and fearless advocate of her rights, did, in supporting a sub
scription which he proposed the United States bank should make
to the stock of the Delaware and Chesapeake canal company,
earnestly recommend the measure as connected with our opera
tions in war. I listened to my friend with some incredulity, and
thought he pushed his argument too far. I had, soon after, a
practical evidence of its justness. For, in travelling from Phila
delphia, in tiie fall of 1813, I saw transporting, by government,
from Elk river to the Delaware, large quantities of massy timbers

442 INTERNAL IMPEOVEMENTS.
for the construction of the Guerriere, or the Franklin, or both ;
arid, judging from the number of wagons and horses, and the num
ber of days employed, I believe the additional expense of that
single operation would have gone very far to complete that canal,
whose cause was espoused with so much eloquence jn the senate,
and with so much effect, too — bills having passed that body more
than once to give aid, in some shape or other, to that canal.
With notorious facts like this, is it not obvious, that a line of mil
itary canals is not only necessary and proper, but almost indis
pensable to the war-making power?"
Nothing can be more evident, than that the constitution was
formed for common and general purposes of the Union, and that,
to accomplish such comprehensive objects, the entire Union is the
theatre — the range of jurisdiction. It is absurd, therefore, to al
lege an encroachment on state-rights, when the general government
passes into their respective bounds to erect national works, or dis
charge any other federal functions, such as in its judgment are
'¦' necessary and proper for carrying' into execution" its specific
powers. It is obliged to go there, or do nothing. The tenth article
of the amendments of the constitution has clearly defined the joint
action of the federal and state authorities on the same ground — the
first to use all the powers granted, and the second to use those
which are neither resigned nor prohibited, by the compact.
The importance of internal improvements for purposes of war,
is most emphatically inculcated in the facts of the disadvantages
suffered in the war of 1812, for want of them. The cost of that
war was one hundred and sixty millions of dollars ; and irts^sta-
ted by a " Southern,Planter," in his " Notes on Political Econo
my," that eighty millions, or one half of this debt, was incurred
for transportation ; that in supplying the forces on the Canada
frontier, " every barrel of flour cost fifty dollars, every barrel of
pork eighty dollars, and every cannon used there twice as much in
the transportation, as the cost of making'' it!" The disasters
in that quarter may be supposed, to hav0^resulted from this great
and-insuperable impediment — the wantrof i oads and canals. The
war was far less effective, and no doubt^rotracted, by this cause ;
and th!Tc^rnT3equejji_addltion^ would have created the
desired facilities, to all the important points, twice over. The
slow progress of the mail has been a detriment to the business and
trade of the country more than equal to die cost of transportation
by adequate internal improvements f and the Titter-impossibility,
to -a- great extent, and in -large distriets_-of- nsov4»g--Gff— tho heavy

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 443
products of the soil and forests, added to the great expense of
those which have found their way to market, thus diminishing
their value to the producers, must have been another aggregate
loss, even in a few years, more than sufficient! ^/ftav§ created the
means of saving it by internal improvements^3 Mr. Clay says :—
" It was the opinion of Mr. Jefferson, that, although there was
no general power vested by the constitution in Congress, to con
struct roads and canals, without the consent of the states, yet such
a power might be exercised with their assent. Mr. Jefferson not
only held this Opinion in the abstract, but he practically executed
it in the instance of the Cumberland road ; and how ? First, by
a compact made with the state of Ohio, for the application of a
specified fund, and then by compacts with Virginia, Pennsylvania,
and Maryland, to apply the fund so set apart within their respect
ive limits." ..;¦.,.;¦-<
It must be confessed, that this was an ingenious resort, to get
over or around the constitution as interpreted — the same in princi
ple as the project of -one of the bank bills of 1841, which proposed
to establish branches in those slates that should not object. The
difference, if there be any, is, that Mr. Jefferson professed to be
lieve in the paramount right of the states, where'as, the bank project,
without acting openly on an avowed fundamental principle, came
somewhat nearer to what is commonly denominated a trick. It-
was at least a tacit proposal to waive the question of right, and di
vide jurisdiction — the natural effect of which would be to confound
rights, and leave them in a state of incertitude, more embarrassing
for after use, than. not to have touched the subject. Mr. Clay was
opposed to this, as being not less unmanly, than unstatesmanlike,
though he was, notwithstanding, compelled to a mortifying com
promise, for the good of the country, all which availed nothing,
but to furnish occasion for insult from the very quarter, toward
which the compromise, by so much sacrifice of feeling, was gen
erously tendered.
Mr. Clay proceeded to say : —
"I am entirely at a loss to comprehend how gentlemen, consist
ently with their own principles, can justify the erection of the Cum
berland road. No man is prouder than I am of that noble mon
ument of the provident care of the nation, and of the public spirit
of its projectors ; and I trust that, in spite of all constitutional and
other scruples, here or elsewhere, an appropriation will be made to
complete that road. I confess, however, freely, that I am en
tirely unable to conceive of any principle on which that road can

444 INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.
be supported, that would not uphold the general power contend
ed for.
" I will now examine the opinion of Mr. Madison. Of all the
acts of that pure, virtuous, and illustrious statesman, whose ad
ministration has so powerfully tended to advance the glory, honor,
and prosperity of this country, I most regret, for his sake, and for
the sake of the country, the rejection of the bill of the last ses
sion. I think it irreconcilable with Mr. Madison's own principles
— those great, broad, and liberal principles, on which he so ably
administered the government. And, sir, when I appeal to the
members of the last Congress, who are now in my hearing, I am
authorized to say, with regard to the majority of them, that no cir
cumstance, not even an earthquake, that should have swallowed up
one half of this city, could have excited more surprise than when
it was first communicated to this house, that Mr. Madison had re
jected his own bill — I say his own bill, for his message at the
opening of the session meant nothing, if it did not recommend
such an exercise of power as was contained in that bill. My friend,
who is near me [Mr. Johnson, of Virginia]«the operations of whose
vigorous and independent mind depend upon his own internal per
ceptions, has expressed himself with becoming manliness, and
thrown aside the authority of names, as having no bearing with him
on the question. But their authority has been referred to, and will
have influence with others. It is impossible, moreover, to disguise
the fact, that the question is now a question between the executive
on the one side, and the representatives of the people on the other.
So it is understood in the country, and such is the fact. Mr.
Madison enjoys, in his retreat at Montpelier, the repose and the
honors due to his eminent and laborious services ; and I would be
among the last to disturb it. However painful it is to me to ani
madvert upon any of his opinions, I feel perfectly sure that the
circumstance can only be viewed by him with an enlightened lib
erality. What are the opinions which have been expressed by
Mr. Madison on this subject ? I will not refer to all the messages
wherein he has recommended internal improvements ; but to that
alone which he addressed to Congress, at the commencement of
the last session, which contains this passage : —
" ' I particularly invite again the attention of Congress to the ex
pediency of exercising their existing powers, and where necessary,
of resorting to the prescribed mode of enlarging them, in order to
effectuate a comprehensive system of roads and canals, such as will
have the effect of drawing more closely together every part of our
country, by promoting intercourse and improvements, and by in
creasing the- share of every part in the common stock of national
prosperity.' " In the examination of this passage, two positions force them
selves upon our attention. The first is, the assertion that there are

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 445
existing powers in Congress to effectuate a comprehensive system
of roads and canals, the effect of which would be to draw the
different parts of the country more closely together. And I would
candidly admit, in the second place, that it was intimated, that, in
the exercise of those existing powers, some defect might be dis
covered which would render an amendment of the constitution
necessary. Nothing could be more clearly affirmed than the first
position ; but in the message of Mr. Madison returning the bill,
passed in consequence of his recommendation, he has not specified
a solitary case to which those existing powers are applicable ; he
has not told us what he meant by those existing powers ; and the
general scope of his reasoning, in that message, if well founded,
proves that there are no existing powers whatever. It is apparent,
that Mr. Madison himself has not examined some of those princi
pal sources of the constitution from which, during this debate, the
power has been derived. I deeply regret, and I know that Mr.
Madison regretted, that the circumstances under which the bill was
presented to him (the last day but one of a most busy session) de
prived him of an opportunity of that thorough investigation of
which no man is more capable. It is certain, that, taking his two
messages at the same session together, they are perfectly irrecon
cilable. What, moreover, was the nature of that bill? It did not
apply the money to any specific object of internal improvement,
nor designate any particular mode in which it should be "applied;
but merely set apart and pledged the fund to the general purpose,
subject to the future disposition of Congress. If, then, there were
any supposable case whatever, to which Congress might apply
money in the erection of a road, or cutting a canal, the bill did
not violate the constitution. And it ought not to have been antici
pated, that money constitutionally appropriated by one Congress,
would be unconstitutionally expended by another.
" I come now to the message of Mr. Monroe ; and if, by the
communication of his opinion to Congress, he intended to prevent
discussion, he has most wofully failed. I know that, according to
a most venerable and excellent usage, the opinion, neither of the
president nor ofthe senate, upon any proposition depending in this
house, ought to be adverted to. Even in the parliament of Great
Britain, a member who would refer to the opinion ofthe sovereign,
in such a case, would be instantly called to order ; but under the
extraordinary circumstances of the president having, with, I have
no doubt, the best motives, volunteered his opinion on this head,
and inverted the order of legislation by beginning where it should
end, I am compelled, most reluctantly, to refer to that opinion. I
can not but deprecate the practice of which the president has, in
this instance, set the example to his successors. The constitutional
order of legislation supposes that every bill originating in one
house, shall be there deliberately investigated, without influence

446 INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.
from any other branch of the legislature; and then remitted to the
other house for a like free and unbiased consideration. Having
passed both houses, it is to be laid before the president ; signed if
approved, and if disapproved, to be returned, with his objections,
to the originating house. In this manner, entire freedom of thought
and of action is secured, and the president finally sees the propo
sition in the most matured form which Congress can give to it.
The practical effect, to say no more, of forestalling the legislative
opinion, and telling us what we may or may not do, will be to de
prive the president himself of the opportunity of considering a
proposition so matured, and us of the benefit of his reasoning ap
plied specifically to such proposition. For the constitution further
enjoins it upon him, to state his objections upon returning the bill.
- The originating house is then to reconsider it, and deliberately to
weigh those objections ; and it is .further required, when the ques
tion is again taken, ' Shall the bill pass, those objections notwith
standing?' that the votes shall be solemnly spread, by ayes and
noes, upon the record. Of this opportunity of thus recording our
opinions, in matters of great public concern, we are deprived if
we submit to the innovation of the president. I will not press this
part of the subject further. I repeat, again and again, that I have
no doubt but that the president was actuated by the purest motives.
I am compelled, however, in the exercise of that freedom of opin
ion which, so long as I exist I will maintain, to say that the pro
ceeding is irregular and unconstitutional. Let us, however, ex
amine the reasoning and opinion of the president.
" 'A difference of opinion has existed from the first formation
of our constitution to the present time, among our most enlightened
and virtuous citizens respecting the right of Congress to establish
a system of internal improvement. Taking into view the trust
with which I am now honored, it would be improper, after what
has passed, that this discussion should be revived, with an uncer
tainty of my opinion respecting the right. Disregarding early im
pressions, I have bestowed on the subject all the deliberation which
its great importance and a just sense of my duty required and the
result is, a settled conviction in my mind, that Congress does not
possess the right. It is not contained in any of the specified
powers granted to Congress ; nor can I consider it incidental to,
or a necessary mean, viewed on the most liberal scale, for carrying
into effect any of the powers which are specifically granted. In
communicating this result, I can not resist the obligation which I
feel, to suggest to Congress the propriety of recommending to the
states the adoption of an amendment to the constitution, which
shall give the right in question. In cases of doubtful construction,
especially of such vital interest, it comports with the nature and
origin of our institutions, and will contribute much to preserve
them, to apply to our constituents for an explicit grant of power.

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 447
We may confidently rely, that, if it appears to their satisfaction
that the power is necessary, it will always be granted.'
"In this passage, the president has furnished us with no reason
ing, no argument in support of his opinion — nothing addressed to
the understanding. He gives us, indeed, an historical account of
the operations of his own mind, and he asserts that he has made a
laborious effort to conquer his early impressions, but that the result
is a settled conviction against the power, without a single reason.
In his position, that the power must be specifically granted, or in
cident to a power so granted, it has been seen_> that I have the
honor to entirely concur with him ; but, he says, the power is not
among the specified powers. Has he taken into consideration the
clause respecting post-roads, and told us how and why that does
not convey the power ? If he had acted within what I conceive to
be his constitutional sphere of rejecting the bill, after it had passed
both houses, he must have learned that great stress was placed on
that clause, and we should have been enlightened by his comments
upon it. As to his denial of the power, as an incident to any of
the express grants, I would have thought that we might have safely
appealed to the experience of the president, during the late war,
when the country derived so much benefit from his judicious ad
ministration of the duties of the war department, whether roads
and canals for military purposes were not essential to celerity and
successful result in the operations of armies. This part- of the
message is all assertion, and contains no argument which I can
comprehend, or which meets the points contended for during this
debate. Allow me here to say, and I do it without the least disre
spect to that branch of the government, on whose opinions and acts
it has been rendered my painful duty to comment ; — let me say, in
reference to any man, however elevated his station, even if he be
endowed with the power and prerogatives of a sovereign, that his
acts are worth infinitely more, and are more intelligible, than mere
paper sentiments or declarations. And what have been the acts
of the president? During his tour of the last summer, did he
not order a road to be cut or repaired from near Plattsburgh to the
St. J^wrence ?"
'^It is remarkable how a public man, acting, either in the capacity
of legislation or magistracy, is liable to be tripped on his own
ground, when he takes up his position on an untenable principle.
No doubt Mr. Monroe thought he was doing very right — he indeed
was — and Mr. Clay approved of it — when he set those soldiers to
work on the Plattsburgh and St. Lawrence road. The common
wealth of New York did not complain. There was no alarm raised
about the monopolizing stretch of central power.
" The president, then [said Mr. Clay, referring to this fact], ordered

448 INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.
a road of considerable extent to be constructed or repaired, on his
sole authority, in a time of profound peace, when no enemy threat
ened the country, and when, in relation to the power as to which
alone that road could be useful in time of war, there exists the
best understanding, and a prospect of lasting friendship, greater
than at any other period. On his sole authority the president
acted, and we are already called upon by the chairman of the
committee of_w__ys_a»d-means to sanction the act by an appropria
tion. This measure has been taken, too, without the consent of
the state of New York ; and what is wonderful, when we consider
the magnitude of the state-rights which are said to be violated,
without even a protest on the part of that state against it. On the
contrary, I understand, from some of the military officers who are
charged with the execution of the work, what is very extraordinary,
that the people through whose quarter of the country the road
passes, do not view it as a national calamity; that they would be
very glad that the president would visit them often, and that he
would order a road to be cut and improved, at the national expense,
every time he sliould visit them. Other roads, in other parts of
the Union, have, it seems, been likewise ordered, or their execu
tion, at the public expense, sanctioned,by the executive, without
. the concurrence of Congress. If the/president has the power to
^jcyiujgjhese-puMie^ executed at his pleasure,
whence is it derivedj^lf any member will stand up in this place
and say the president is clothed with this authority, and that it is
denied to Congress, let us hear from him ; and let him point to
the clause of the constitution which vests it in the executive and
withholds it from the legislative branch.
" There is no such clause ; there is no such exclusive execu
tive power. The power is derivable by the executive only from
those provisions of the constitution which charge him with the
duties of commanding the physical force of the country, and the
employment of that force in war, and the preservation, of the
public tranquillity, and in the execution of the laws. But
Congress has paramount powers to the president. It alone can
declare war, can raise armies, can provide for calling out the mi
litia, in the specified instances, and can raise and appropriate the
ways and means necessary to those objects. Or is it come to this,
that there are to be two rules of construction for the constitution —
one, an enlarged rule, for the executive, and another, a restricted
rule, for the legislature ? Is it alrgady to.be -he!d,jthat__jccqrding to
the genius and nature of our"^o7istitution, powers of this kind may
be safely intrusted to the executive, but, when attempted to be
exercised by the legislature, are so alarming and dangerous, that a
war with all the allied powers would be less terrible, and that the
nation should clothe itself straightway in sackcloth and ashes !
.No, sir ; if the power belongs only by implication to the chief

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 449
magistrate, it is placed both by implication and express grant in
the hands of Congress. I am so far from condemning the act of
the president, to which I have referred, that I think it deserving
of high approbation. That it was within the scope of his consti
tutional authority, I have no doubt ; and I sincerely trust, that the
secretary at war will, in time of peace, constantly employ in that
way the military force. It will at the same time guard that force
against the vices incident to indolence and inaction, and correct
the evil of subtracting frorn^the mass of the labof~of society, where™
labor is more valuable lhah in any other country, that portion of it
which enters into the^ftmposition of the army. But I most sol
emnly protest agajgjk any exercise of powers of this kind by the
president, which jlfe denied to Congress. And, if the opinions
expressed by him, in his message, were communicated, or are to be V)
used here, to influence the judgment of the houserthdr-airthorrtyv"'.p .
is more than countervailed by the authority of his deliberate acts.^'^ i
# # # * * # # #
" Of all the modes in which a government can employ its sur
plus revenue, 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 anima
tion, on all sides. The first direct effect is on the agricultural
community, 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 ofthe Cumberland '
turnpike should be lessened two dollars, the producer of the arti
cle would receive that two dollars more now than formerly.
" But, putting aside all pecuniary considerations, there may be
political motives sufficiently powerful alone to justify certain in
ternal improvements. Does not our country present such ? How
are they to be effected, if things are left to themselves ? I will
not press the subject further. I am but too sensible how much I
have abused the patience of the committee by trespassing so long
upon its attention. The magnitude of the question, and the deep
interest I feel in its rightful decision, must be my apology. We
are now making-the last effort to establish our power, and I call
on the friends of Congress, of this house, or the true friends of
state rights (not charging others with intending to oppose them),
to rally round the constitution, and to support by their votes, on
this occasion, the legitimate powers of the legislature. If we do
nothing this session but pass an abstract resolution on the subject,
I shall, under all circumstances, consider it a triumph for the best
interests of the country, of which posterity will, if we do not, reap
the benefit. I trust, that by the decision which shall be given, we
shall assert, uphold, and maintain, the authority of Congress, not
withstanding all that has been or may be said against it."
Vol. I.— 29

450 INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.
The resolution declaring the power to be vested in Congress by the
constitution, to make appropriations for the construction of military
roads, post-roads, and canals, was^ adopted by a vote of 90 to 75 ;
and the principle involved hasSeen practically applied by acts of
Congress, from -that-time tojthe .present, in appropriations for the
continuance of the Cumberland raad, and various other objects of
internal improvement, by roads/€anals, improving river navigation,
harbors, &c, nptwithsjandji*g it has been occasionally checked by
^xecuXive' vetoes, and almost constantly discouraged by executive
influence. The argument made by Mr. Clay on this occasion,
will stand as a just tribute to his ability as a constitutional law
yer ; and from its aspects and bearings, in relation to the great and
various interests of the country, it is not a less creditable monu
ment to his fame as a patriot. By the stand he took at this time,
the tide of executive influence, which seemed to menace the policy
of internal improvement with subversion and final overthrow, was
rolled backward ; and though if has again and again rushed to the
onset, in the hands of General Jackson, Mr. Van Buren, and Mr.
Tyler, the policy has nevertheless been kept alive, though it has, in
a great measure, been forced to change hands, from the federal to
the state authorities. -^ ^ ^ ®x-jNr^xr- ^ s;-"^ p
Notwithstanding all the opposition which appropriations for in
ternal improvement have met with, by the federal executives, from
professed scruples as to constitutional power, it has been Seen, that
Mr. Madison and Mr. Monroe were in favor of the policy, and
recommended an amendment of the constitution with that view.
So also Mr. Jefferson, as will appear from the following passage
in his annual message of 1806 : —
" The question now comes forward — To what other object shall
these surpluses [anticipated] be appropriated, and the whole sur
plus of imposts, after the entire discharge of the public debt, and
during those intervals when the purposes of war shall not call for
them'? Shall we suppress imposts, and give that advantage to
foreign over domestic manufactures'? On a few articles of more
general and more necessary use, the suppression will doubtless be
right ; but the great mass of the articles on which impost is paid,
are foreign luxuries, purchased by those only who are rich enough
to afford themselves the use of them. Their patriotism would cer
tainly prefer its continuance and application to the great purposes
of public education, roads, rivers, canals, and such other objects of
public improvement, as it may be thought proper to add to the con
stitutional enumeration of federal powers. By these operations,

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 451
new channels of communication will be opened between the states,
' the lines of separation will disappear, their interests will be identi
fied, and their union cemented by new and indissoluble ties."
Mr. Jefferson's views, as here presented-, were most enlarged
and comprehensive, embracing not only internal improvements,
but education, and the protective policy.
General Jackson also, in his annual message of 1830, contem
plating the states as agents for using the surplus funds of the na
tional treasury in projects of internal improvement, enters into the
following argument : —
" It may sometimes happen that thepnterests of particular states
would not be deemed to coincide with the general interest, in rela
tion to improvement within such states. But if the danger to be
apprehended from this source is sufficient to require it, a discretion
might be reserved to Congress to direct to such improvements of
a general character as the states concerned might not be disposed
to unite in, and the application ofthe quotas of those states, under
the restriction of confining to ejach state the expenditure of its ap
propriate quota. It may, however, be assumed as a safe general
rule, that such improvements as serve to increase the prosperity
of the respective states in which they are madeTby giving new.
facilities to trade, and thereby augmenting the wealth and comfort
of their inhabitants, constitute the surest mode of conferring perma
nent and substantial advantages upon the whole. The strength as
well as the true glory of the_ confederacy are founded on the pros
perity and power of the several independent sovereignties of which
it is composed, and on the certainty with which they can be brought
into successful active cooperation through the agency of the fed
eral government."
So obvious, comprehensive, and vast, are the benefits of this
policy, and so favorably has it ever been entertained by the people,
that no chief magistrate of the nation, however much disposed,
has ever dared to come out openly against it. However reluc
tantly, all of them have been forced to recommend it in some form.
An unwilling sanction, in such a case, is perhaps more forcible, in
view of the reasons by which it is extorted, than a voluntary one.
It demonstrates the judgment of the general mind — the common
sense of the great commonwealth.
In view of the citations on this subject, made from Mr. Clay's
speeches, comprehending, as they do, the main points, and present
ing- them in the strongest light, it can hardly be deemed necessary,
and might seem superfluous, to attempt any further elucidation of
the theme. In the midst of fiery trials, and against powerful

452 INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.
machinations, combined and single — -in the face of executive ve
toes, and in spite of executive oppugnancy in a variety of other
forms — the policy of internal improvement, as originated and ad
vocated by Mr. Clay, has in a good degree triumphed. It has at
least so far succeeded, as to give the nation a taste of its blessings,
and it can not now be arrested. The great obstacles of nature over
the face of the country, and under the surface of the waters, have
been surmounted, and are constantly yielding to art and toil, skil
fully and vigorously applied, creating more intimate relations be
tween all parts of the republic, and cementing the Union with
stronger social, political, and commercial ties. Intelligence circu
lates on the wings of the elements, lashed to supernatural speed
by the appliances of science and art ; travel treads upon its heels ;
and the trade of the whole country is worked more and more vig
orously by the vast machinery and newly-created powers of inter
nal improvements.

MR. CLAY'S PUBLIC LAND POLICY. 453

CHAPTER XX.
Mf ' £LA%'a ^AND Polict-— His R^POrt ii 1832.— Reasons of its Reference
to the Committee on Manufactures.— Statistical Tables.— Extracts from Mr.
Clay s Speeches.— General Jackson's Pocketing the Land Bill.— The Argument.
It is deemed economical in all respects of space and argument,
in executing the task, and in accomplishing the object, of these
pages, so far as they respect the subject here propounded, to throw
into a note below, some extracts from Mr. Clay's report on the
public lands, presented to the senate, April 16, 1832.* They
* EXTRACTS FROM MR. CLAY'S REPORT ON THE PUBLIC LANDS  IN SENATE,
APRIL 16, 1832.
" The public lands belonging to the general government, are situated, first,
within the limits of the United States, as defined by the treaty of peace -which ter
minated the revolutionary war; and secondly, within the boundaries of Louisi
ana and Florida, as ceded by France and Spain, respectively, to the United States.
I. At the commencement of the revolutionary war, there were, in some of the
states, large bodies of waste and unappropriated lands, principally west of the
Allegany mountains, and in the southern or southwestern quarters of the Union ;
while, in others, of more circumscribed, or better defined limits, no such resource
existed. During the progress of that war, the question was agitated, what should
be done with these lands, in the event of its successful termination ? That ques
tion was likely to lead to paralyzing divisions and jealousies. The states not
containing any considerable quantity of waste lands, contended that, as the war
was waged with united means, with equal sacrifices, and at the common expense,
the waste lands ought to be considered as a common property, and not be exclu
sively appropriated to the benefit of the particular states within which they hap
pened to be situated. These, however, resisted the claim, upon the ground that
each state was entitled to the whole of the territory, whether waste or cultivated,
included within its chartered limits. To check the progress of discontent, and ar
rest the serious consequences to which the agitation of this question might lead,
Congress recommended to the states to make liberal cessions of the waste and un-
ceded lands to the United States, and on the 10th day of October, 1780, 'Resolved,
that the unappropriated lands that may be ceded or relinquished to the United
States, by any particular state, pursuant to the recommendation of Congress of
the 6th of September last, shall be disposed of for the common benefit of the Uni
ted States,' &c.
"In conformity with the recommendation of Congress, the several states con
taining waste and uncultivated lands, made cessions of them to the United States.
The declared object having been substantially the same in all of these cessions, it
is only necessary to advert to the terms of some of them. The first, in order of
time, was that of New York, made on the first day of March, 1781, by its delega
tion in Congress, in pursuance of an act of the legislature of the state ; and the
terms of the deed of cession expressly provide, that the ceded lands and territo
ries were to be held cto and for the only use and benefit of such of the states as
are, or shall become, parties to the articles of confederation.' That of Virginia
was the next in date, but by far the most important of all the cessions made by

454 MR. CLAV'S PUBLIC LAND POLICY.
who wish to understand Mr. Clay's public land policy, will read
this document attentively, making due allowances for the growth
of the country since that time, and the greater changes in some
the different states, both as respects the extent and value of the country ceded.
It comprehended the right of that commonwealth to the vast territory northwest
of the river Ohio, embracing but not confined to the limits of the present states
of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. The deed of cession was executed by the delega
tion of Virginia in Congress, in 1784, agreeably to an act of the legislature, passed
in 1783 ; and among other conditions, the deed explicitly declares, ' that all the
lands within the territory so ceded to the United States, and not reserved for or ap
propriated to any of the beforementioned purposes, or disposed of in bounties to
the officers and soldiers of the American army, shall be considered a common
fund; for the use and benefit of such of the United States as have become, or
shall become, members of the confederation or federal alliance of the said states,
Virginia inclusive, according to their usual respective proportions, in the general
charge and expenditure, and shall be faithfully and bona fide disposed of for that
purpose, and for no other purpose or use whatever.' Passing by the cessions
with other states, prompted by a magnanimous spirit of union and patriotism,
successively made, we come to the last in the series, that of the state of Geor
gia, in 1802. The articles of agreement and cession entered into between that
state and the United States, among various other conditions, contain the une
quivocal declaration, ' that all the lands ceded by this agreement to the United
States, shall, after satisfying the abovementioned payment of one million two
hundred and fifty thousand dollars to the state of Georgia, and the grants rec
ognised by the preceding conditions, be considered as a common fund for the use
and benefit of the United States, Georgia included, and shall be faithfully disposed
of for that purpose, and for no other use or purpose whatever.'
"Thus, by the clear and positive terms of these acts of cession, was a great
public and national trust created and assumed by the general government. It be
came solemnly bound to hold and administer the lands ceded, as a common fund
for the use and benefit of all the states, and for no other use or purpose whatever.
To waste or misapply this fund, or to divert it from the common benefit for which
it was conveyed, would be a violation of the trust. The general government has
no mbre power, rightfully, to cede the lands thus acquired to one of the new
states, without a fair equivalent, than it could retrocede them to the state or
states from which they were originally obtained. There would indeed be much
more equity in the latter than in the former case. Nor is the moral responsibility
of the general government at all weakened by the consideration that, if it were
so unmindful of its duty as to disregard the sacred character of the trust, there
might be no competent power, peacefully applied, which could coerce its faithful
execution. " 2d. The other source whence the public lands of the United States have been
acquired, are, first, the treaty of Louisiana concluded in 1802 ; and secondly, the
treaty of Florida, signed in 1819. By the first, all the country west of the Missis
sippi, and extending to the Pacific ocean, known as Louisiana, which had succes
sively belonged to France, Spain, and France again, including the island of New
Orleans, and stretching east of the Mississippi to the Perdido, was transferred to
the United States, in consideration of the sum of fifteen millions of dollars, which
they stipulated to pay, and have since punctually paid, to France, besides other
conditions deemed favorable and important to her interests. By the treaty of
Florida, both the provinces of East and West Florida, whether any portion of
them was or was not comprehended within the limits of Louisiana, were ceded to
the United States in consideration, besides othler things, of the payment of five
millions of dollars, which they agreed to pay, and have since accordingly paid.
" The large pecuniary considerations thus paid to these two foreign powers,
were drawn from the treasury of the people of the United States, and, conse
quently, the countries for which they formed the equivalents, ought to be held
and deemed for the common benefit ofthe people ofthe United States. To divert
the lands from that general object ; to misapply or sacrifice them ; to squander or
improvidently cast them away, would be alike subversive of the interests of the
people of the United States, and contrary to the plain dictates of the duty by
which the general government stands bound to the states and to the whole people.

MR. CLAY'S PUBLIC LAND POLICY. 455
states than in others, as they affect the several classes of statistical
information. There are the principles, and the full development
ofthe scheme.
" It appears (from a report of the secretary of the treasury to the house of rep
resentatives, of the 6th of April, 1832) that the aggregate of all sums of money
which have been expended by the United States, in the acquisition ofthe public lands,
including interest on account of the purchases of Louisiana and Florida, down to
the 30th of September, 1831, and including also expenses in their sale and man
agement, is $48,077,551 40 ; and that the amount of money received at the treas
ury for proceeds of the sales of the public lands, down to the 30th of September,
1831, is $37,272,713 31. The government, therefore, has not been reimbursed by
$10,804,838 90. According to the same report, it appears, that the estimated
amount of unsold lands, on which the foreign and Indian titles have been extin
guished, is 227,293,884 acres, within the limits of the new states and territo
ries ; and that the Indian title remains on 113,577,869 acres within the same lim
its ; that there have been granted to Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Alabama, for in
ternal improvements, 2,187,665 acres; for colleges, academies, and universities,
in the new states and territories, the quantity of 508,009 acres ; for education, be
ing the thirty-sixth part of the public lands appropriated for common schools, the
amount of 7,952,538 acres ; and for seats of government in some of the new
states and territories, 21,589 acres. By a report of the commissioner of the gen
eral land office, communicated to Congress with the annual message of the presi
dent of the United States, in December, 1827, the total quantity of the public
lands beyond the boundaries of the new states and territories, was estimated to be
750,000,000 of acres. The aggregate, therefore, of all the unsold and unappro
priated public lands of the United States, surveyed and unsurveyed, on which the
Indian title remains or has been extinguished, lying within or without the bounda
ries of the new states and territories, agreeably to the two reports now referred
to, is 1,090,871,753 acres. There had been 138,988,224 acres surveyed, and the
quantity of only 19,239,412 acres sold down to the 1st of January, 1826. When
the information called for shall be received, the subsequent surveys and sales,
down to the present period, will be ascertained.
" The committee are instructed by the senate, to inquire into the expediency of
reducing the price of the public lands, and also of ceding them to the several
states in which they are situated, on reasonable terms. The committee will pro
ceed to examine these two subjects of inquiry distinctly, beginning with that which
relates to a reduction of price.
" 1. According to the existing mode of selling the public lands, they are first
offered at public auction for what they will bring, in a free and fair competi
tion among the purchasers. When the public sales cease, the lands remaining
unsold may be bought, from time to time, at the established rate of one dollar and
a quarter per acre. The price was reduced to that sum in 1820, from two dollars
per acre, at which it had previously stood from the first establishment ofthe pres
ent system of selling the public lands. A leading consideration with Congress in
the reduction of the price, was that of substituting cash sales for the credits which
had been before allowed, and which, on many accounts, it was deemed expedient
to abolish. A further reduction of price, if called for by the public interests,
must be required, either, first, because the government now demands more than a
fair price for the public lands ; or, secondly, because the existing price retards in
juriously the settlement and population of the new states and territories. These
suggestions deserve separate and serious consideration.
" First, the committee possess no means of determining the exact value of all the
public lands now in market; nor is it material, at the present time, that the pre
cise worth of each township or section should be accurately known. It is pre
sumable that a considerable portion of the immense quantity offered for sale, or
held by the United States, would not now command, and may not be intrinsically
worth, the minimum price fixed by the law; on the other hand, it is certain that
a large part is worth more. If there could be a discrimination made, and the
government had any motives to hasten the sales beyond the regular demands of
the population, it might be proper to establish different rates, according to the
classes of land ; but the government having no inducement to such acceleration,
has hitherto proceeded on the liberal policy of establishing a moderate price, and

456 MR. CLAY'S PUBLIC LAND POLTCY.
The importance of this subject is briefly represented by Mr.
Clay, in his speech when the bill brought in with this report was
under debate, as follows : —
" No subject which had presented itself to the present, or per
haps any preceding Congress, was of greater magnitude than that
by subdivision of the sections, so as to accommodate the poorer citizens, has
placed the acquisition of a home within the reach of every industrious man. For
one hundred dollars any one may now purchase eighty, and for fifty dollars, forty
acres of first-rate land, yielding, with proper cultivation, from fifty to eighty bush
els of Indian corn per acre, or other equivalent crops.
" There is no more satisfactory criterion of the fairness of the price of an arti
cle, than that arising from the briskness of the sales when it is offered in the
market. On applying this rule, the conclusion would seem to be irresistible, that
the established price is not too high. The amount of the sales in the year 1828,
was $1,018,308 75; in 1829, $1>17,175 13; in 1830, $2,329,356 14; and du
ringthe year 1831, $3,000,000. And the secretary ofthe treasury observes, in
his annual report, at the commencement of this session, that ' the receipts from the
public lands, during the present year, it will be perceived, have likewise exceeded
the estimates, and indeed have gone beyond all former example. It is believed
that, notwithstanding the large amount of scrip and forfeited land stock that may
still be absorbed in payment for lands, yet, if the surveys now projected be com
pleted, the receipts from this source of revenue, will not fall greatly below those
of the present year.' And he estimates the receipts, during the current year,
from this source, at three millions of dollars. It is incredible to suppose that the
amount of sales would have risen to so large a sum, if the price had been un
reasonably high. The committee are aware that the annual receipts may be ex
pected to fluctuate, as fresh lands, in favorite districts, are brought into market,
and according to the activity or sluggishness of emigration in different years.
"Against any considerable reduction in the price of the public lands, unless it
be necessary to a more rapid population of the new states, which wil. be hereaf
ter examined, there are weighty, if not decisive considerations.
" First, the government is the proprietor of much the largest quantity of the un
seated lands of the United States. What it has in market, bears a large propor
tion to the whole of the unoccupied lands within their limits. If a considerable
quantity of any article, land, or any commodity whatever, is in market, the price
at which it is sold, will affect, in some degree, the value of the whole of that ar
ticle, whether exposed to sale or not. The influence of the reduction of the price
of the public lands, would probably be felt throughout the Union ; certainly in
all the western states, and most in those which contain, or are nearest to, the
public lands. There ought to ,be the most cogent and conclusive reasons for
adopting a measure which might seriously impair the value of the property of the
yeomanry of the country. While they are decidedly the most important class in
the community, most patient, patriotic, and acquiescent in whatever public policy
is pursued, they are unable or unwilling to resort to those means of union and
concert which other interests employ to make themselves heard and respected.
Government should, therefore, feel itself constantly bound to guard, with sedu
lous care, the rights and welfare of the great body of our yeomanry. Would it
be just toward those who have heretofore purchased public lands, at high prices —
to say nothing as to the residue of the agricultural interests ofthe United States —
to make such a reduction, and thereby impair the value of their property ? Ought
not any such plan of reduction, if adopted, to be accompanied with compensation
for the injury which they would inevitably sustain 1
" Secondly, a material reduction of price would excite the spirit of speculation,
now dormant, and probably lead to a transfer of large quantities of the public
domain, from the control of government to the hands of the speculator. At the
existing price, and with such extensive districts as the public constantly offers in
the market, there is no great temptation to speculation. The demand is regular,
keeping pace with the progress of emigration, and is supplied on known and mod
erate terms. If the price were much reduced, the strongest incentives to the en
grossment of better lands would be presented to large capitalists, and the emi
grant, instead of being able to purchase from his own government, upon uniform

MR. CLAY S PUBLIC LAND POLICY. 457
ofthe public lands. There was another, indeed, which possessed
a more exciting and absorbing interest; but the excitement was
happily but temporary in its nature. Long after we shall cease to
be agitated by the tariff, ages after our manufactures shall have
acquired a stability and perfection which will enable them success-
and established conditions, might be compelled to give much higher and more
fluctuating prices to the speculator. An illustration of this effect is afforded by
the military bounty lands granted during the late war. Thrown into the market
at prices below the government rate, they notoriously became an object of specu
lation, and have principally fallen into the hands of speculators, retarding the set
tlement of the districts which include them.
" Thirdly, the greatest emigration that is believed now to take place, from any
of the states, is from Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee. The effects of a material
reduction in the price of the public lands, would be, first, to lessen the value of
real estate in those three states ; secondly, to diminish their interest in the public
domain, as a common fund for the benefit of all the states ; and thirdly, to offer
what would operate as a bounty to further emigration from those states, occasion
ing more and more lands situated within them to be thrown into the market,
thereby not only lessening the value of their lands, but draining them of both
their population and currency.
" And, lastly, Congress has, within a few years, made large and liberal grants
ofthe public lands to several states. To Ohio, 922,937 acres ; to Indiana, 384,728
acres ; to Illinois, 480,000 acres ; and to Alabama, 400,000 acres ; — amounting
together to 2,187,665 acres. Considerable portions of these lands yet remain un
sold. The reduction ofthe price of the public lands, generally, would impair the
value of these grants, as well as injuriously affect that of the lands which have
been sold in virtue of them."
The report proceeds to answer the objections, first, that the price retards the
sale; and next, that the price is a tax; both of which are well refuted. It was
shown, that in the increase of population in the United States, from 1820 to 1830,
as declared by the census, being from 9,579,873 to 12,716,697, the average increase
of the seven new states, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Alabama, Mississippi,
and Louisiana, was eighty-five per cent., while the average increase of the seventeen
states, containing no part of the public lands, was only twenty-fire per cent., and
that of the thirteen original states only seventeen per cent. To the objection, that
the public lands were not taxable for the expenses of the states in which they lie,
it was answered, first, that, in lieu thereof, those states received five per cent.
of the proceeds of the sales ; next, that one section in every township, or one
thirty-sixth part of the whole, was reserved to those states for purposes of educa
tion ; and that other liberal grants of land for special and local purposes, were
made to those states. In addition to all this, the committee recommended, that
ten per cent, more ofthe then future proceeds of the sales be granted to the states
within which they should be made, for purposes of internal improvement. The
report then proceeds : —
" 2. The committee have now to proceed to the other branch of the inquiry,
which they were required to make, that of the expediency of ceding the public
lands to the several states in which they are situated, on reasonable terms. The
inquiry comprehends, in its consequences, a cession of the whole public domain
of the United States, whether lying within or beyond the limits of the present
states and territories. For, although, in the terms of the inquiry, it is limited to
the new states, cessions to them would certainly be followed by similar cessions to
other new states, as they may, from time to time, be admitted into the Union.
Three of the present territories [Michigan, Iowa, and Florida] have nearly at
tained to the requisite population entitling them to be received as members ofthe
confederacy, and they shortly will be admitted. Congress could not consistently
avoid ceding to them the public lands within their limits, after having made such
cessions to the other states. The compact with the state of Ohio formed

458 mr. clay's public land policy.
fully to cope with the manufactures of any other countiy, the pub
lic lands will remain a subject of deep and enduring interest. In
whatever view we contemplate them, there is no question of such
vast importance. As to their extent, there is public land enough
to found an empire. Stretching across the immense continent, from
the model of compacts with all the other new states as they were successively
admitted. " Whether the question of a transfer of the public lands be considered in the
limited or more extensive view of it which has been stated, it is one of the high
est importance, and demanding the most deliberate consideration. From the
statements founded on official reports, made in the preceding part of this report,
that the quantity of unsold and unappropriated lands, lying within the limits of
the new states and territories, is 340,871,753 acres, and the quantity beyond those
limits, is 750,000,000 of acres, presenting an aggregate of 1,090,871,753 acres.
It is difficult to conceive a question of greater magnitude than that of relinquish
ing this immense amount of national property. Estimating its value according to
the minimum price, it presents the enormous sum of $1,363,589,691. If it be
said, that a large portion of it will never command that price, it is to be observed,
on the other hand, that, as fresh lands are brought into market, and exposed to
sale at public auction, many of them sell at prices exceeding one dollar and a
quarter per acre. Supposing the public lands to be worth, on an average, one
half of the minimum price, they would still present the immense sum of $681,-
794,843. The least favorable view which can be taken of them, is, that of con
sidering them a capital yielding at present an income of three millions of dollars
annually. Assuming the ordinary rate of six per cent, interest per annum as the
standard to ascertain the amount of that capital, it would be fifty millions of dol
lars. But this income has been progressively increasing. The average increase
during the six last years has been at the rate of twenty-three per cent, per annum.
Supposing it to continue in the same ratio, at the end of a little more than four
years, the income would be doubled, and make the capital one hundred millions
of dollars. While the population of the United States increases only three per
cent per annum, the increase of the demand for the public lands is at the rate of
twenty-three per cent., furnishing another evidence that the progress of emigra
tion, and the activity of sales, have not been checked by the price demanded by
the government.
" In whatever light, therefore, this great subject is viewed, the transfer of the
public lands from the whole people of the United States, for whose benefit they
are now held, to the people inhabiting the new states, must be regarded as the
most momentous measure ever presented to the consideration of Congress. If
such a measure could find any justification, it must arise out of some radical and
incurable defect in the construction of the general government properly to admin
ister the public domain. But the existence of any such defect is contradicted by
the most successful experience. No branch ofthe public service has evinced
more system, uniformity, and wisdom, or given more general satisfaction, than that
of the administration of the public lands.
" If the proposed cession to the new states were to be made at a fair price, such
as the general government could obtain from individual purchasers, under the
present system, there would be no motive for it, unless the new states are more
competent to dispose ofthe public lands than the common government. They are
now sold under one uniform plan, regulated and controlled by a single legislative
authority, and the practical operation is perfectly understood. If they were
transferred to the new states, the subsequent disposition would be according to
laws emanating from various legislative sources. Competition would probably
arise between the new states, in the terms which they would offer to purchasers.
Each state would be desirous of inviting the greatest number of emigrants, not
only for the laudable purpose of populating rapidly its own territories, but with a
view to the acquisition of funds to enable it to fulfil its engagements to the general
government. Collisions between the states would probably arise, and thcir'inju-
rious consequences may be imagined. A spirit of hazardous speculation would
be engendered. Various schemes of the new states would be put afloat to sell or
divide the public lands. Companies and combinations would be formed in this
country, if not in foreign countries, presenting gigantic and tempting, but delu-

MR. CLAY S PUBLIC LAND POLICY. 459
the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean, from the gulf of Mexico to the
northwestern lakes, the quantity, according to official surveys and
estimates, amounting to the prodigious sum of one billion and
eighty millions of acres !"

sive projects, and the history of legislation, in some of the states of the Union,
admonishes us, that a too ready ear is sometimes given by a majority in a legis
lative assembly, to such projects.
"A decisive objection to such a transfer for a fair equivalent, is, that it would
establish a new and dangerous relation between the general government and the
new states. In abolishing the credit which had been allowed to purchasers of
the public lands prior to the year 1820, Congress was principally governed by the
consideration of the inexpediency and hazard of accumulating a large amount of
debt in the new states, all bordering on each other. Such an accumulation was
deemed unwise and unsafe. It presented a new bond of interest, of sympathy,
and of union, partially operating to the possible prejudice ofthe common bond of
the whole Union. But that debt was a debt due from individuals, and it was
attended with this encouraging security, that purchasers, as they successively com
pleted the payments for their lands, would naturally be disposed to aid the govern
ment in enforcing payment from delinquents. The project which the committee
are now considering, is, to sell to the states, in their sovereign character, and con
sequently to render them public debtors to the general government to an immense
amount. This would inevitably create among the debtor states a common feeling,
and a common interest, distinct from the rest of the Union. These states are all
in the western and southwestern quarter of the Union, remotest from the centre of
federal power. The debt would be felt as a load, from which they would con
stantly be desirous to relieve themselves, and it would operate as a strong temp
tation, weakening, if not dangerous to the existing confederacy. The committee
have the most animating hopes, and the greatest confidence in the strength and
power and durability of our happy Union, and the attachment and warm affection
of every member of the confederacy can not be doubted ; but we have authority
higher than human, for the instruction, that it is wise to avoid all temptation.
"In the state of Illinois, with a population at the last census, of 157,445, there
are 31,395,969 acres of public land, including that part on which the Indian title
remains to be extinguished. If we suppose it to be worth only half the minimum
price, it would amount to $19,622,480. How would that state be able to pay
such an enormous debt ? How could it pay even the annual interest upon it ?
"Supposing the debtor states to fail to comply with their engagements, in
what mode could they be enforced by the general government? In treaties
between independent nations, the ultimate remedy is well known. The apprehen
sion of an appeal to that remedy, seconding the sense of justice, and the regard
for character, which prevail among Christian and civilized nations, constitutes,
generally, adequate security for the performance of national compacts. But this
last remedy would be totally inadmissible in case of delinquency on the port of
the debtor states. The relations between the general government and the mem
bers of the confederacy, are happily those of peace, friendship, and paternity, and
exclude all idea of force and war. Could the judiciary coerce the debtor states ?
On what could process operate? Could the property of innocent persons residing
within the limits of those states, be justly seized by the general government, and
held responsible for debts contracted by the states themselves in their sovereign
character 1 If a mortgage upon the lands ceded were retained, that mortgage
would prevent or retard subsequent sales by the states, and if individuals bought
subject to the incumbrance, a parental government could never resort to the pain
ful measure of disturbing them in their possessions.
" Delinquency on the part of the debtor states would be inevitable, and there
would be no effectual remedy for the delinquency. They would come again and
a«oin to Congress, soliciting time and indulgence, until, finding the weight of the
debt intolerable, Congress, wearied by reiterated applications for relief, would finally
resolve to spunge the debt; or, if Congress attempted to enforce its payment,
another and a worse alternative would be embraced.
" If the proposed cession be made for a price merely nominal, it would be con
trary to the express conditions of the original cessions from primitive states to

460 MR. CLAY'S PUBLIC LAND - BOLICY.
" Whatever may be the fate of the particular proposition now
under consideration, I sincerely hope that the attention of the na
tion may be attracted to this most interesting subject ; that it may
justly appreciate the value of this immense national property : and
that, preserving the regulation of it by the will of the whole, for
the advantage of the whole, it may be transmitted, as a sacred and
inestimable succession, to posterity, for its benefit and blessing for
ages to come."
The historical origin of this report is worthy of notice. Mr.
Clay being a candidate for the presidency in 1832, it was thought
by his political opponents, that, by imposing on him the duty of
making a report on the land question, he would injure his pros
pects in the western and new states. They believed, that he could
not make a report on that subject, consistent with his known prin
ciples, without destroying himself as a candidate before the peo
ple ; and liaving a majority in the senate, they conspired to impose
on him this duty, by referring the subject to the committee on
manufactures, of which Mr. Clay was chairman. Nothing could
be more obviously improper, than such a reference, when there
was a standing committee in the senate on the public lands. Mr.
Clay and his friends protested against it ; but it was of no avail.
The subject was imposed upon the committee on manufactures,
and, being forced into the service, they were obliged to take it up.
The duty of preparing the report, as was expected and intended,
devolved on Mr. Clay. Such is its origin.
The following extract from a private letter to Judge Brooke,
written at this time, sheds some light on this subject : —
" Washington, March 28, 1832.
" My dear sir : You will have seen the disposition made on
Congress, and contrary to the obligations which the general government stands
under to the whole people of the United States, arising out of the fact, that the
acquisitions of Louisiana and Florida, and from Georgia, were obtained at a great
expense, borne from the common treasure, and incurred for the common benefit.
Such a gratuitous cession could not be made, without a positive violation of a sol
emn trust, and without manifest injustice to the old states. And its inequality
among the new states would be as marked as its injustice to the old would be in
defensible. Thus, Missouri, with a population of 140,455, would acquire 38,291,-
152 acres ; and the state of Ohio, with a population of 935,884, would obtain
only 5,586,834 acres. Supposing a division of the land among the citizens of
these two states respectively, the citizen of Ohio would obtain less than six acres
for his share, and the citizen of Missouri upward of two hundred and seventy-
two acres as his proportion !
" Upon full and mature consideration, the committee have come to the conclu
sion, that it is inexpedient, either to reduce the price of the public lands, or to
cede them to the new states."
A bill was reported, entitled, " An act to appropriate, for a limited time, the
proceeds of the sales of the public lands," embracing Mr. Clay's well-known
views, as developed in this chapter.

MR. CLAY'S PUBLIC LAND POLICY. 461
Thursday last of my resolution respecting the tariff. On that oc
casion some developments were made of a scheme which I have
long since suspected — that certain portions of the south were dis
posed to purchase support to the anti-tariff doctrines by a total
sacrifice of the public lands to states within which they are situ
ated ! A more stupendous, and a more flagitious project was
never conceived ! It will fail in its object ; but it ought to be de
nounced. A majority of the senate (composed of all tiie anti-tariff
senators, and some of the Jackson tariff senators) referred a reso
lution concerning the public lands to the committee on manufac
tures ! Can you conceive a more incongruous association of
subjects ? There were two objects : the first I have suggested ;
the second was to affect me personally, by placing me in a situa
tion in which I must report unfavorably to the western and south
western states, which are desirous of possessing themselves of the
public lands. I think I shall disappoint the design, by presenting
such views of that great interest as will be sustained by the nation.
Meantime, I should be glad if you would give some hints to our
friend  , and let him sound the tocsin. In Illinois there are
about forty millions of acres of public lands, and about one hun
dred and fifty or one hundred and sixty thousand people. What
think you of giving that large amount of lands to this comparatively
small number of people ? If it were nominally sold to them, it
would in the end amount to a mere donation.
# * # # # 6 * # # * *
" Truly your friend,
"H. Clay.
" The Hon. F. T. Brooke."
But they who had forced on Mr. Clay the duty of making this
report, at this critical time, intending it for his political ruin, were
astounded when it was introduced. They could not complain,
that he had desired that function. He had protested against it, and
most reluctantly acquiesced in the decision of the senate. He
knew their motive, and perhaps thought, that the execution of the
task would be politically injurious to him. But they who under
stand Mr. Clay's character, know very well, that he was never
known to shrink from a public duty for such a reason. He sat
himself down to the work, surveyed the field with the object in
view, collected and collated the facts, and the report is the product
of his labors on that occasion. Thanks to his enemies. Doubt
less the country would have had this policy laid out in some other
form, by the same hand. It is indeed to be found in Mr. Clay's
speeches on this subject. But it was better to have it in this form,
as a permanent public document — being, as it is, a succinct, com-

462 MR. clay's public land policy.
pact, comprehensive, matter-of-fact, unanswerable development of
the system, done to the hand of all who may have occasion to be
come acquainted with it, whether from curiosity, or interest, or the
practical uses of statesmen.
The legislatures of six of the new states, Indiana, Illinois, Mis
souri, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, had memorialized
Congress in favor of the policy directly opposed to that advanced
and advocated by Mr. Clay in this report, that is, to reduce the
price of the public lands, and cede them to the states in which
they lie ; and it was confidently expected by those who thrust
upon Mr. Clay -this duty, that, in the discharge of it, he would
render himself obnoxious to those states. But what was their sur
prise, and consternation, when they found the report proved, that
a new state almost immediately on its organization becomes an old
state, quo ad hoc, in its interest in the public domain as a common
stock of the entire Union ? Even if one or two of the new states
at that time might have been allured by the temptation of acquiring
immediate possession and control of the public lands within their
own bounds, a second thought, in view of Mr. Clay's report, would
teach them, that it was even wiser to remain fellow-heirs of- the
magnificent estate of the whole family, than, by snatching their por
tions now, be cut off from all the chances of the future.
Mr. Clay, in his speech- on the bill accompanying this report,
expressed himself on this point as follows : —
" The equality contended for between all the states, now exists.
The public lands are now held, and ought to be held and admin
istered, for the common benefit of all. I hope our fellow-citizens
of Illinois, Indiana, and Missouri, will reconsider the matter ; that
they will cease to take counsel from demagogues who would de
ceive them, and instil erroneous principles into their ears ; and that
they will feel and acknowledge that their brethren of Kentucky, and
of Ohio, and of all the states in the Union, have an equal right
with the citizens of those three states, in the public lands. If the
possibility of an event so direful as a severance of this Union were
for a moment contemplated, what would be the probable conse
quence of such an unspeakable calamity ? If three confederacies
were formed out of its fragments, do you imagine that the western
confederacy would consent to have the states including the public
lands hold them exclusively for themselves? Can you imagine
that the states of Ohio, "Kentucky, and Tennessee, would quietly
renounce their right in all the public lands west of them ? No, sir !
No, sir! They would wade to their knees, in blood, before they
would make such an unjust and ignominious surrender.

MR. CLAY'S PUBLIC LAND POLICY. 463
" But this pretension, unjust to the old states, unequal as to all,
would be injurious to the new states themselves, in whose behalf
it has been put forth, if it were recognised. The interest of the
new states is not confined to the lands within their limits, but ex
tends to the whole billion and eighty millions of acres. Sanction
the claims, however, and they are cut down and restricted to that
which is included in their own boundaries. Is it not better for
Ohio, instead of the five millions and a half, or Indiana, instead
of the fifteen millions, or even for Illinois, instead of the thirty-one
or thirty-two millions, or Missouri, instead of the thirty-eight mil
lions, within1 their respective limits, to retain their interest in these
several quantities, and also to retain their interest, in common with
the other members of the Union, in the countless millions of acres
that lie west, or northwest, beyond them ?"
To the utter disappointment of Mr. Clay's political opponents
in the senate, contrary most probably to the expectations of his
own friends, and not unlikely beyond his own hopes, his report
was a decided triumph. The senate refused to take up the bill
that was brought in with it, and immediately turned round, and
recommitted the subject to the committee on public lands, for a
counter report ! Mr. Clay remonstrated, as justly he might. It
was an indignity. They had forced him to this task, with the hope
of destroying him ; and now, finding that they had only injured
themselves, and apparently laid the foundation of Mr. Clay's for
tunes, it behooved them to do all they could to undo Mr. Clay's
work, and in one month thereafter, an elaborate counter-report
was submitted to the senate by Mr. King, of Alabama, chairman of
the committee on public lands !
This singular procedure, and its result, were described by Mr.
Clay, when he brought forward his land bill a second time, in
1835, as follows : —
" The affair of the public lands was forced upon me. In the
session of 1831 and 1832, a motion from a quarter politically
unfriendly to me, was made to refer it to the committee of manu
factures, of which 1 was a member. I strenuously opposed the
reference. I remonstrated, I protested, I entreated, I implored. It
was in vain that I insisted that the committee on the public lands
was the regular standing committee to which the reference should
be made. It was in vain that I contended that the public lands
and domestic manufactures were subjects absolutely incongruous.
The unnatural alliance was ordered by the vote of a majority of
the senate. I felt that a personal embarrassment was intended me.
I felt that the design was to place in my hands a many-edged
instrument, which I could not touch without being wounded.

464 MR. CLAY'S PUBLIC LAND POLICY.
Nevertheless I subdued all my repugnance, and I engaged assidu
ously in the task which had been so unkindly assigned me. This,
or a similar bill, was the offspring of my deliberations. When
reported, the report accompanying it was referred by the same
majority ofthe senate to the very committee on the public lands to
which I had unsuccessfully sought to have the subject originally
assigned, for the avowed purpose of obtaining a counteracting
report. But, in spite of all opposition, it passed the senate at that
session. At the next, both houses of Congress."
It is not averred, that none of the reasoning of this counter
report is better than the following specimen, adduced as one of
several, to show " why the price of the public lands should be
reduced, the sales of them accelerated, and" the federal title speed
ily extinguished in the new states." Nevertheless, its glaring fal
lacy is a tolerably fair illustration of the general argument : —
" Because [the report says] the sum of four hundred and twen
ty-five millions of dollars, proposed to be drawn from the new
states and territories, by the sale of their soil at one dollar and
twenty cents an acre, is unconscionable and impracticable — such
as never can be paid — and the bare attempt to raise which, must
drain, exhaust, and impoverish those states, and give birth to the
feelings which a sense of injustice and oppression never fail to
excite." Without noticing the borrowed or fictitious subject of this argu
ment, to wit, the four hundred and twenty-five millions of dollars
proposed to be drawn away from the new states, its fallacy, as will
be seen, consists in the assumption, that the payments for new and
wild lands, withdraw so much money from regions where no
money was ; whereas, the money is withdrawn from other states,
and other countries, whence the immigrants come. It is these lat
ter states and countries, which are impoverished, not only by the
moneyed capital withdrawn, but by the withdrawal of all the capi
tal of labor, which the emigrants carry with them ; and the new
and wild districts, to which they go, are enriched, first, by the
amount of the capital of labor introduced by the settlers ; next, by
the money, goods, and chattels, which they have left, after paying
for their lands ; thirdly, by their share in the common fund, to
which their payments have contributed ; and lastly, the immigrants
themselves have a quid pro quo. It can not but be seen, that an
argument made up tof such reasoning, must be a very frail one.
Let those who wish to see it demolished in detail, read Mr. Clay's
speech of June 20, 1832.

MK. CHAT'S PUBLIC LAND POLICY. 465
This counter report received the consideration it deserved.
Not only was Mr. Clay's report triumphant, but his bill triumphed,
having twice passed the senate, once at the first session of the
twenty-second Congress ; again at the Second session, by a vote
of 24 to, 20 ; and then it was passed in the house of representa
tives, by the strong vote of 96 to 40. It happened, however, that
the final action of the house on the bill, was not till Saturday, the
2d of March, the last but one of the constitutional term of that
Congress, and as Sunday was not a working day, it required the
immediate attention of the president, to become a law. He
retained the bill till the opening of the next Congress, and returned
it with his objections, on which occasion, December 5, 1833, Mr.
Clay expressed himself as follows : —
" This measure had been first introduced into Congress at the
session before the last, under circumstances which must be within
the recollection of every member of the senate. Its object was, to
dispose of the proceeds of the public lands for a limited time. The
subject had been greatly discussed, not only in Congress, but
throughout the country. The principles and provisions of the bill
were well and generally understood. The subject had attracted
the attention of the chief magistrate himself, and this bill was
made the subject of commentary in his message at the commence
ment of the last session of Congress. It must, therefore, be con
sidered as a subject perfectly well understood by the president,
for' it was not to be supposed that he would have commented upon
it, and recommended it to the attention of Congress, if it had not
been understood. During the last session, this bill, which had
previously been before the house, was introduced in this body, and
was passed, and sent to the other house, whence it was returned
with a slight amendment, taking away the discretion which had
been vested in the state legislatures as to the disposal of the pro
ceeds. This bill, which had been before Congress the session
before the last, which had passed at the last session, having been
before the country for a whole year, when it passed the two
houses, was placed before the executive, with a number of other
measures, just before the close of ihe last Congress. As the
subject had been before the president for consideration so long
previously to the passage of the bill, and he had reflected upon
it, it was not to have been expected that he would take ad
vantage of the shortness of the session to retain the bill until
this time. Yet such had been the fact, and a proceeding had
taken place which was unprecedented and alarming, and which,
unless the people of this country were lost to all sense of what
was due to the legislative branch of the government, to themselves,
and to those principles of liberty which had been transmitted to
Vol. I.— 30

466 MR. CLAY'S PUBLIC LAND POLICY.
them from the revolution, they would not tolerate. It was at least
due to the legislature, that the president should have sent a few
lines, courteously informing them, that when his own mind was
made up he would communicate the result. But, without deign
ing to make known his intention, or to impart the reasons which
influenced him, he despotically/ kept silence, and retained the bill.
He begged leave to congratulate the senate on the retwn of the
bill. The question which how presented itself was, whether the
bill was dead, in consequence of the non-action of the president,
or whether it had become an existing law ? He was not now about
to discuss that question ; but he had felt himself called on to make
a few observations on the extraordinary course, and to say that
it was due to Congress, to the people, and to the executive him
self, to have informed the last Congress in reference to this sub
ject, concerning which he must have made up his mind 
He must repeat, that the withholding of the land bill, at the last
session, under the circumstances of the case, was a violation of
the constitution, and disrespectful to the senate 
" It may be true, that there was a great press of business on the
president on the second of March, and that he may have acted upon
some ninety or one hundred bills. But this is what occurs with
every president on the day before the termination ofthe short session
of Congress. With most of those bills the president must have been
less acquainted than he was with the land bill. Of some of them
he probably had never heard at all. Not one of them possessed
the importance of the land bill. How did it happen that the presi
dent could find time to decide on so many new bills, and yet had
not time to examine and dispose of one which had long been be
fore him and the public ; one embracing a subject which he
thought the union, harmony, and interests of the states required
should be speedily adjusted; one which he himself had pro
nounced his judgment upon at the commencement ofthe session?
By withholding the bill, the president took upon himself a respon
sibility beyond the exercise of the veto : He deprived Congress
altogether of its constitutional right to act upon the bill, and to
pass it, his negative notwithstanding.
" The president is, by the constitution, secured time to consider
bills which shall have passed both branches of Congress. But so
is Congress equally secured the right to act upon bills which they
have passed, and which the president may have thought proper to
reject. If he exercises his veto, and returns the bill, two thirds
may pass it. But if he withholds the bill, it can not become a
law, even although the two houses should be unanimously in its
favor. i
" Mr. Clay denied that the constitution gave to the president ten
days to consider bills, except at the long session. At that ses
sion, the period of its termination is uncertain, and dependent

MR. CLAY S PUBLIC LAND POLICY. 467
upon the will of Congress. To guard against a sudden adjourn
ment, by which the president might be deprived of due time to
deliberate on an important bill, the constitution provides for ten
days at that session. But, at the short session, it is not an ad
journment but a dissolution of Congress, on the third of March,
and the day of that dissolution is fixed in the constitution itself,
and known to all.
" Mr. Clay contended, therefore, that the act of withholding the
bill was arbitrary and unconstitutional, by which Congress, and
the senate especially, in which the bill originated, were deprived
of their constitutional right of passing on the bill, after tiie presi
dent had exercised his powers. Respect to Congress required of
the president, if he really had not time to form a judgment on the
bill, or, having formed it, had not time to lay his reasons before
the body, a communication to that effect. But, without conde
scending to transmit one word upon the subject to Congress, he
suffered the session to terminate, and the members to go home
destitute of all information, until this day, of his intentions."
It was believed, that this bill would have passed the twenty-
second Congress by a vote of two thirds, if it had been returned
to them under a veto. It only required a change of two votes in
the senate.
In December, 1S35, soon after the opening of the twenty-fourth
Congress, Mr. Clay again brought forward his land bill, and the
following is an extract from his speech on the occasion : —
" Mr. President : I have ever regarded with feelings of the pro-
foundest regret, the decision which the president of the United
States felt himself induced to make on the bill of 1833. If it had
been his pleasure to approve it, the heads of departments would
not now be taxing their ingenuity to find out useless objects of
expenditures, or objects which may be well postponed to a more
distant day. If the bill had passed, about twenty millions of dol
lars would have been, during the three last years, in the hands of
the several states, applicable by them to the beneficent purposes of
internal improvement, education, or colonization. What immense
benefits might not have been diffused throughout the land by the
active employment of that large sum ? What new channels of
commerce and communication might not have been opened?
What industry stimulated, what labor rewarded? How many
youthful minds might have received the blessings of education
and knowledge, and been rescued from ignorance, vice, and ruin ?
How many descendants of Africa might have been transported
from a country where they never can enjoy political or social
equality, to the native land of their fathers, where no impediment
exists to their attainment of the highest degree of elevation, intel-

468 MR. CLAY'S PUBLIC LAND POLICY.
lectual, social, and political ? Where they might have been suc
cessful instruments, in the hands of God, to spread the religion of
his Son, and to lay the foundations of civil liberty !
" Placing this exhaustless fund in the hands of the several mem
bers of the confederacy, their common federal head might address
them in the glowing language of the British bard : —
'¦¦ Bid harbors open, public ways extend,
Bid temples worthier of the God ascend.
Bid the broad arch the dangerous flood contain,
The mole projecting break the roaring main.
Back to his bounds their subject sea command,
And' roll obedient rivers through the land.' "
The bill passed the senate, with an increased majority over that
of the twenty-second Congress, it being 25 to 20, and was believed
to be equally desired by the nation. But the house of represen
tatives was at this time so much under executive (General Jack
son's) influence, that it was lost there by a vote of 104 to 85.
From that time to the present, the people have desired it. It has
ever been a popular measure, as proposed and: explained in Mr.
Clay's report of 1832. When there were only twenty-six states,
twenty of them, by the action of their respective legislatures, had
memorialized Congress in favor of the distribution policy, as ad-r
vocated by Mr. Clay. But the monarchical, regal power of the
veto, has prevented the attainment of the public will. It was
strangled again by Mr. Tyler in 1842.
Apart from the political aspects of this controversy, either for
party purposes, or general good, the first question that arises, is, as
to the power of Congress over the subject. This is determined
by the following clause in the third section of the fourth article of
the federal constitution : " The Congress shall have power to dis
pose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the
territory or other property belonging to the United States ;
and nothing in this constitution shall be so construed as to preju
dice any claims of the United States, or of any particular state."
As this power is plenary and unqualified, it requires no comment.
The next question is one of judicial right, and may be stated
as follows : What were the conditions of the deeds of cession of
the public domain from the states to the United States ; what were
the purposes of those acts as understood by the parties ; and what
practical rule or rules will result from them, for the administration
of this great estate, and for the disposition of its proceeds ?

MR. CLAY'S PUBLIC LAND POLICY. 469
It should be understood, that while the colonies were parts of
the British empire, the public lands were chiefly owned, under
charter rights from the crown, by Massachusetts, Connecticut,
New York, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia,
while the other of the thirteen original states had no interest in
them. It will be apparent, however, that the perils, toils, cost of
blood and treasure, and other sacrifices of the revolutionary strug
gle, fell equally upon all the states, while the debts were rapidly
accumulating, and in the end rose to a great and oppressive mag
nitude. It was impossible, in these circumstances, to repress the
question, whether it was fair, that the states which had no interest
in the titles of the public lands, should be obliged to fight, shed
their blood, and pour out their treasures equally, in defence of this
vast territorial domain, and finally be excluded from all participa
tion in the benefits ? More than this, whether they should be left
in the end, with a debt upon their shoulders, without means or
power to meet it, while the other states, which would have done
no more, would have an estate large enough for an empire, and
valuable beyond estimation ? No one can deny the pertinence of
such a question. It was unanswerable.
It is also important to observe, that the original confedera
tion of the states, was a mere association of separate sovereign
ties, for common good, and for a common end. The states were
not a nation, in the common sense of the term, till the adoption
of the constitution. The confederation was capable of dissolution ;
the Union is not, except by violence. The question about the
public lands, as it existed among the states, was started, agitated.
and settled by them, in their capacity and character as confederated
states, not as integral portions of a republican empire. For a
right understanding of the case, it is necessary, that this state of
things should be kept in view.
Contemporaneously with the agitation of this question among
the states, the old Congress, for several years, sympathized, and
formally expressed their views and purposes. To check the prog
ress of discontent, and suppress controversy between the parties to
this question, they had recommended a cession of these territories
to the United States for common use and benefit, and in October,
1780, " Resolved, that the unappropriated land that may be ceded
or relinquished to the United States, by any particular state, pur
suant to the recommendation of Congress of the 6th of September
last, shall be disposed of for the common benefit of the United

470 MR. cla'y's public land policy.
States," that is of the confederated states, such being thjeir
position at the time, before the Union, under the constitution, was
conceived. The recommendation alluded to and this resolution
were held out as a lure to the states, and as a security of their
rights in the public domain. Considering the character of the
government at that time, under the confederation, it was precisely
the same as saying to the states, in order to remove all grounds of
jealousy and concern — You shall in no wise lose your rights in this
property, as states. It was to rescue the lands from controversy
between the states, that this arrangement was recommended and
consummated, and not to invalidate their rights as parties. It is
obvious, if the states, which owned the lands were unwilling to give
a part interest in them to the other states, that they would never
entertain the idea of making over the whole to a third party, and
all for the benefit of that party. It would be absurd to suppose,
that such was the case. But the term " United States," at that
time, was synonymous with confederated states, and that set
tles the point.
It is to be observed, that the states, which owned the public
lands by charter rights, were slow and reluctant to part with them,
and it was only a sense of justice to the other states, and of the
necessities of the country, that finally prevailed. New York came
first into the arrangement, in 1780. Virginia, whose domain was
vast, held the question in suspense, till 1783, and although the
resolution of Congress, as above represented, was couched in
terms expressly to guaranty the ultimate destination of the avails
or proceeds of the lands to the states, in their state capacity,
yet, to make the security doubly secure against any possible future
interpretation of the cession into a quitclaim, the legislature of
Virginia selected the most explicit terms to guard and defend this
point, in their act of cession, as follows : " That all the lands
within the territory so ceded, and not reserved," &c, " shall be
considered a common fund for the use and benefit of such of the
United [confederated] States as have become, or shall become, mem
bers of the confederation, or federal alliance of the said slates, Vir
ginia inclusive, according to their usual respective
proportions in the general charge and expenditure, and shall be
faithfully and bona fide disposed of for that purpose, and
FOR NO OTHER USE OR PURPOSE WHATEVER."
Massachusetts followed in 1784, and having the law of Virginia
before them, must have intended the same thing. In 1786, Con-

MR. CLAY'S PUBLIC LAND POLICY. 471
¦» .
ngcticut passed her act of cession " to the United [confederated]
States, in Congress assembled, for the common use and benefit of
the said states, Connecticut inclusive." In 1787, South Carolina
ceded her vacant territory " to the United States in Congress as
sembled, for the benefit of said states." In 1789, North Carolina
ceded in terms as follows : " All the lands intended to be ceded
by virtue of this act, shall be considered as a common fund for ,
the use and benefit of the United [confederated] States of America,
North Carolina inclusive, according to their respective
and usual proportion in the general charge and expenditure,
and shall be faithfully disposed of for that purpose, and for
no other use or purpose whatever." The cession from
the state of Georgia was made in 1802, the conditions of which
are as follows : " That all the lands ceded by this agreement to
the United States, shall be considered as a common fund, for the
use and benefit of the United States, Georgia included, and shall
be fait/fully disposed of for that purpose, and for no other use or
purpose whatever."
First, it is to be considered, that the deeds of cession originated
and were matured under the confederation, when the states
existed under their separate systems of political economy. The
agitation of the question commenced early in the history of the
revolutionary war, and the principles of cession were settled before*
1780, in which year the old Congress, as seen, acted formally on
the subject, first, by recommending this course to the states, and
next, by adopting a resolution to secure the rights of the states.
The acts of cession by six of the seven ceding states, bear the fol
lowing dates : That of New York, 1780 ; of Virginia, 1783 ; of
Massachusetts, 17S4 ; of Connecticut, 1786 ; of South Carolina,
1787 ; of North Carolina, 1789 ; and the constitution was adopted
in 1789. Thus it appears, that the whole plan was fixed in that
state of things, which existed under the confederation. This is
an important fact in the question of interpretation, as it goes to
show in what sense the terms and phraseologies of the deeds of
cession were used. The states at that time had no idea of the
union, as embodied in the constitution of the United States, and
as entertained since its adoption ; but they all looked to their sep
arate interests as paramount with them to all other considerations.
In this view, let the terms and phraseologies of the deeds be con
sidered : 1. " Shall be considered a common fund for the use and
benefit of such ofthe United [confederated] States, as have become,

472 MR. clay's public land policy.
or shall become, members of the confederation, or federal alliance
of the said states.''* The words " common fund," and " such of the
United States," in connexion with what follows, most clearly con
stituted the states, in distinction from the confederation, as the par
ties to be benefited by this arrangement. Every one will see, that
* such language was not required in a cession to the nation, for the
iuse and benefit of the nation, and fhat it is incredible it should have
been employed for that object. 2. "Virginia inclusive," " Con
necticut inclusive" " North Carolina inclusive," " Georgia inclu
ded." This, it will be observed, is a legal technicality, arising
from the principle of law, that when one party of two or more par
ties, makes a conveyance to the others, as in this case, the party
executing the deed retains no right, but conveys all title, except
by the introduction of this saving clause, as " Virginia inclusive,"
which leaves Virginia her right, according to the terms specified.
If the cession had been made for the use and benefit of the United
States as one nation, Virginia of course would have been included,
and there would .have been no need of this phrase ; but, as it was
manifestly made for the use and benefit of the states, in their sep
arate capacities, jt was necessary in law to introduce this phrase,
to save the right of Virginia, else she would have retained none.
If there were no other evidence of the intent of this instrument, as
i:being for the States, and not for the nation, this alone would be
conclusive, 3. " According to their usual respective proportions
in the general charge and expenditure." Here is the rule of dis
tribution.' It would be strange, indeed, that it should be possible
to suppose that no distribution was intended, when the rule is
given! Can anything be more clear? 4. "Shall be faithfully
and bona fide disposed of for that purpose." '< Bona fide," in
good faith. But what faith is required for a party to manage its
own for itself1? If the public domain is the property of the United
States as a nation, there is no faith with the states concerned in its
administration. 5. " And for no other use or purpose whatsoever."
If these lands were not given in trust for the use and benefit of the
states as such, then the contracting parties are chargeable with the
absurdity of agreeing, that they shall* not be disposed of for the
use and benefit of foreign powers ! Was there any apprehension
of that ?
With these express and explained conditions (it is remarkable
that they were explained by expletive phraseology), the general
government accepted the trust, and became a party to the covenant.

MR. CLAY'S PUBLIC LAND j POLICY. 473
It was to settle a most serious difference, an alarming controversy
among the states — a controversy which had well nigh sacrificed
independence, and which, if continued, would have rendered in
dependence of little avail. It was a great compromise, such as has
frequently characterized the history of the country in critical emer
gencies. But the states took care not to surrender their rights.
It is manifest from these facts and terms, that the articles of
cession were deeds of trust. In all cases of trust, the trustee
is not proprietor of _ihat which is put into his hands, but an agent
bound by the instructions of the instrument that invests him with
his functions. This is a principle which is perfectly understood,
because it is one constantly practised in society, in the administra
tion of common law and statute regulations. In the case of Jack
son vs. Clark, supreme court, United States, 1 Peters, 635, Chief-
Justice Marshall, after having cited the terms and conditions of the
Virginia cession, says : " The government of the United States,
then, received this territory in trust, not only for the Virginia
troops on the continental establishment, but also for the use and
benefit of the members of the confederation : and this trust
is to be executed, by a faithful and bona fide disposition of the
land for that purpose. We can not," says the chief-justice, " take
a retrospective view of the then situation of the United States,
without perceiving the importance which must have been attached
to this part of the trust," &c. Throughout his argument, in
this decision, the chief-justice uniformly calls .these deeds of cession
" a trust ;" and there is probably no man who would presume to
call this authority in question.
In 1825, the Hon. Rufus King, of New York, introduced a
resolution into the senate of the United States, having in view the
appropriation of the proceeds of the public lands, by the states,
to the emancipation and colonization of slaves, with the consent
of parties, which began thus : "Resolved, That as soon as the por
tion of the existing funded debt of the United States, for the pay
ment of which the public land is pledged, shall have been paid
off," &c. Of this resolution, Chief-Justice Marshall, in a letter
of December 14, 1831, to the Rev. R. R. Gurley, secretary of
the American Colonization Society, says : " I have-always thought,
and still think, that the proposition made by Mr. King, in the sen
ate, is the most unexceptionable," &c. This term, "unex
ceptionable," it is supposed, refers to the right of the states to

474 mr. clay's public land policy.
the proceeds of the public lands, as the recognised ground of Mr.
King's resolution. *, >*•
Mr. Madison, in a letter to the same gentleman, on the same
subject, December 29, 1831, says : " My thoughts and hopes [for
the aid of colonization] have long been turned to the rich fund
presented in the western lands of the nation, which will soon entirely
cease to be under a pledge for another object!" General Jackson,
in his message of December, 1832, says : " As the lands may now
be considered as relieved from the pledge, the object for which
they were ceded having been accomplished," &c.
These several authorities, in view of the language of the deeds
of cession, will doubtless be regarded as sufficient to establish the
" TRUST." It is also to be observed, that the principle of distribution is
recognised in this trust : " According to their usual re
spective proportions in the general charge and ex
penditure." Here, as will be seen, is at the same time the
principle and the rule. That such was the understanding of
the compact between the states on one side and the United States
on the other, is evident, first from the fact that the deeds of ces
sion were familiar to all the parties before they were finally ratified,
and next from the fact, that the United States accepted the trust
on this condition, and with these instructions. If there had been
nothing else, either in the history ofthe time, or in the deeds of
conveyance, to settle and determine the principle of distribution,
this alone would fix it. But it appears, that these cessions were
made under the confederation, as the date and terms of them
show, when each state looked after its own interests with a jealous
eye. Hence the reason, why these deeds are so carefully guarded
against acts of usurpation and fraud on the part of the general
government, which, it was justly apprehended, might be commit
ted on this immense estate. No one can read the history of that
time and these documents, and not be convinced, that such was
their aim ; and if it was, and if it was so understood by all the
parties, that is enough.
As all the states, in their united capacity, had fought the bat
tles of the revolution, and as one of the great advantages of inde
pendence acquired, would be the possession of the wealth of the
public lands, it was only fair, that the states should be interested
in these lands, " according to their usual respective proportions in
the general charge and expenditure." After long delays, and with

MR. CLAY'S PUBLIC LAND POLICY. 475
great difficulty, this question was finally and equitably adjusted,
and the general government was made the trustee of the public
domain, for and in behalf of the parties, proprietors, that is the
states, as shown. But both the nation and the states were left
under the burden of heavy debts at the close 'of the war. In
1790, with a population of rabout 3,000,000, and a gross national
revenue of only $2,382,617, the debts of the states were over
$20,000,000, and those of the United States, $56,000,000. (See
house document No. 296, 3d session, 27th Congress, page 470.)
As the general government had in charge the public lands, the
property of the states, as security, it was required by the states,
that the United States should assume the state debts, chiefly in
curred by the war, which was done in 1790, as follows : For New
Hampshire, $300,000 ; for Massachusetts, $4,000,000 ; for Rhode
Island, $200,000 ; for Connecticut, $1,600,000 ; for New York,
$1,200,000; for New Jersey, $800,000; for Pennsylvania,
$2,200,000 ; for Delaware, $200,000 ; for Maryland, $800,000 ;
for Virginia, $3,500,000 ; for North Carolina, $2,400,000 ; for
South Carolina, $4,000,000 ; for Georgia, $300,000. (See doc
ument as above.)
To show the grounds of this assumption, and the consideration
held in charge therefor, it is only necessary to cite the 22d section
of the act, as follows : " And be it further enacted, That the pro
ceeds of the sales, which shall be "made of lands in the western ter
ritory, now belonging, or that may hereafter belong, to the United
States, shall be, and are hereby, appropriated toward sinking or
discharging the debts, for the payment whereof the United States
now are, or by virtue of this act, may be, holden, and shall be
applied solely to that' use, until the said debts shall be fully satis
fied." Here is a distinct recognition of the " trust," and a willing
discharge of its obligations, out of its avails, or holding its avails
in mortgagee As this debt could not be immediately paid, but
must be necessarily funded, the transaction was in effect and sim
ply a loan of the credit of the United States to the states, for their
relief, the former holding the property of the latter as security, and
being at the same time the trustee and agent of that property. It
is called assumption. But so far from being a gratuitous assump
tion, it was a fair commercial transaction — a bargain to pay, for a
valuable consideration — in this case, a full and safe consideration.
The gratuity was rather from the states to the United States, in

476 MR. CLAY'S PUBLIC LAND POLICY.
consenting to mortgage their property, to pay debts which had been
contracted for the party that was made the agent and trustee of
the public domain, if, indeed, it is proper to erect two such parties
in the case. But, in many important respects, regarding public
policy, the states are merged in the United States, as parts of a
whole, and the interests of the former can not be easily separated
from those of the latter, nor those of the latter from those of the
former. The states were magnanimous, and consulted the gen
eral welfare, in putting the public domain in charge of the United
States, when the country was in need ; and for these reasons of a
generous and noble character, they were and are entitled to equally
generous, certainly to fair treatment from the other side.
The articles of confederation proved totally inadequate for the
necessities of the country, especially in regard to the power of
raising revenue, which is the life of any government. With a
public debt of nearly eighty millions, and a revenue of less than
two millions and. a half, what was to be done ? It was in these
straits that the reorganization of the general government -was con
ceived, and the constitution of the United States was adopted, to
get out of them. In the consummation of this great work, the
states were called upon to sacrifice all their power of raising rev
enue by imposts, and to fall back on their internal resources and
direct taxation, for all the necessities of their respective common
wealths. It was a great demand,' certainly ; but they generously
made the sacrifice, for the general good, and deprived themselves
for ever of this important, it might be called indispensable power
of political sovereignties. Had they not known, that the public
lands were theirs, subject only to the debts of the United States
then existing, would they, could they, in safety and common pru
dence, have done this ? But it was done — done in good faith —
done for the public weal, from the most patriotic motives, and the
states were left to get along as they could, till the lien of the pub
lic debt on the public lands should be worked off through the
agency of the general government. Give back to the states this
power of raising revenue by imposts, which Was so nobly resigned
by them to the United States, and Pennsylvania, with the customs
of Philadelphia, and of her other entrepots, in her hand, might
laugh at her debt of forty millions. Every indebted state of the
Union could relieve itself at once, and the non-indebted states
might enter on magnificent schemes of internal improvement.
But what would become of the United States ? The Union would

MR. CLAY'S PUBLIC LAND POLICY. 477
he, dissolved, because it could not subsist without. this power. The
states might justly claim a consideration for the resignation of it ;
but they modestly ask only that which was their own, and is their
own. Patiently the states waited for the liquidation of the public debt,
when, in 1812, while the debt was yet considerable, the nation
was overtaken with the second war with Great Britain, and came
out of it with a debt of $168,000,000. Though it might be a
question, whether the public lands were liable for this new debt,
still the states allowed the proceeds of their own property to be
applied to its extinguishment, and it was not till 1836, that the
first dividend was awarded in the shape of a deposite of surplus
revenue from the national treasury, the states being held liable to
treasury warrants at any time for its repayment !
It will be found by an examination of the journals of the old
Congress, while the deeds of cession of the public lands from the
states were going on, that the lands: were not looked to as. a source
of revenue for the ordinary purposes of the government, but that
the most strenuous efforts were made to mature and establish a
revenue system by imposts, adequate, not only for current ex
penses, but to pay the interest and principal of the public debt.
(See House Document 296, 3d session, 27th Congress, p. 177,
and onward.) These efforts were continued, till the consumma
tion of the plan in the adoption of the constitution, the powers of
which were supposed and intended to answer this purpose. They
are doubtless ample. Nothing is said, in this early history of the
government — burdened as it was with debt, slender as was' its rev-
•enue — of reliance on the public lands to answer the permanent
necessities of the federal authorities. This negative evidence
shows the true position which the public lands occupied in the
public mind of that period — that they were not regarded as the
property of the nation, and could never be legitimately relied upon
for the ordinary purposes of federal revenue.
General Jackson, in his first message to Congress, 1829, after
alluding to the different opinions on internal improvement by the
general government, but acknowledging its- importance, says : —
" To avoid these evils, it appears to me, that the most safe,
lust, and federal disposition which could be made of the surplus
revenue, would be its apportionment among the several states,
according to their ratio of representation."

478 MR. CLAY'S PUBLIC LAND POLICY.
In his annual message of 1830, speaking of internal improve
ment, and of distributing surplus funds among the states for that
object, he says : —
" That the plan under consideration would derive important
advantages from its certainty, and that the moneys set apart for
these purposes would be more judiciously applied, and econom
ically expended, under the direction of the state legislatures, in
which every part of each state is immediately represented, can not,
I think, be doubted." Again : " Each state would receive its
quota of the national revenue from a fixed principle, as a matter
of right, and from a fund to which it had itself contributed its
fair proportion."
In the message of December, 1832, he says : —
"Among the interests which merit the c6nsideration of Con
gress, after the payment of the public debt, one of the most im
portant, in my view, is that of the public lands. Previous to the
formation of our present constitution, it was recommended by
Congress, that a portion of the waste land owned by the states,
should be ceded to the United States, for the purposes of general
harmony, and as a fund to meet the expenses of the war. The rec
ommendation was adopted, and at different periods of time, the
states of Massachusetts, New York, Virginia, North and South
Carolina, and Georgia, granted their vacant soil for the uses for
which they had been asked. As the lands may now be considered as
relieved from this pledge, the object for which they were ceded
having been accomplished, it is in the discretion of Congress to dis
pose of them in such way as best to conduce to the quiet, har
mony, and general interest of the American people  It
seems to me to be our true policy, that the public lands shall
cease, as soon as practi6able, to be a source of revenue."
General Jackson has evidently hit the main and most important
historical points in the above cited passages, although he may have
avoided the conclusion to which they tend. Inadvertently, or
otherwise, he has, with equal simplicity and truth, recognised the
facts, that these lands were "owned by the states," when the ces
sion was proposed by the United States ; that the object of the
recommendation was "for general harmony, and as a fund to meet
the expenses of the war;" that the cessions were made "for the
uses for which they had been asked;" that a time had arrived,
when these lands were "relieved from the pledge" of cession,
" the object for which they were ceded having been accomplished;"
that the states would receive their respective " quotas of national
revenue, as a matter of right," &c. It was difficult to go into

MR. CLAY'S PUBLIC LAND POLICY.

479

this subject historically, and not bring out the truth — difficult not
to have some sound reflections upon it, if it were touched at all.

The tables in the note,* exhibit, in a bird's-eye view, certain
contingent operations and results of Mr. Clay's public land policy,
of an instructive and practical character. The introduction to the
tables exhibits the quantity of unsold lands in 1843, from an official
statement, being 1,042,731,765 acres, which, at the price fixed
by law, would amount to $1,303,414,706. Table 1 exhibits
the prospective, not present, value of the public domain, appor
tioned to the states and territories, on the basis of federal repre
sentation. The aggregate value will of course be permanently
* The public lands unsold on the 31st of October, 1843, as certified by the com
missioner of the general land office (see house document 296, 3d session, 27th
Congress), were 1,042,731,765 acres, which, at the minimum price fixed by law,
would amount to $1,303,414,706; or one billion, three hundred and three millions,
four hundred and fourteen thousand, seven hundred and six dollars. The prospec
tive value, at this price, apportioned to the several states and territories, accord
ing to their federal representation, is exhibited in the following table : —
(10

Maine will be entitled to. . .$42,045,635
New Hampshire  28,030,423
Massachusetts  56,060,847
Rhode Island  18,686,949
Connecticut  28,030,423
Vermont  28,030,423
New York  168,182,542
New Jersey  32,702,161
Pennsylvania,  121,465,169
Delaware  14,015,211
Maryland  37,373,898
Virginia  79,419,534
North Carolina  51,389,110
South Carolina  42,045,635
Georgia  46,717,372

Kentucky  $56,060,847
Tennessee  60,732,584
Ohio  107,449,967
Louisiana  28,030,423
Indiana  56,060,847
Mississippi  28,030,423
Illinois  42,045,635
Alabama  42,045,635
Missouri  32,702,161
Arkansas  14,015,211
Michigan  23,358,686
Florida  4,671,737
Wisconsin Territory  4,671,737
Iowa «  4,671,737
District of Columbia  4,67 1,737

(2.)
The following table is from the National Intelligencer, September 24, 1844, show
ing the number of acres of the public lands now subject to private entry, to the
proceeds of which, when sold, each state and territory would be entitled, according
to the principles of the distribution law of 1841 :

Maine  Acres 3,945,258
New Hampshire  2,237,204
Massachusetts  5,800,023
Rhode Island  855,648
Connecticut  2,437,386
Vermont  2,295,393
New York  19,096,907
New Jersey.  2,932,931
Pennsylvania  13,554,675

Alabama  Acres 5,557,372
Mississippi  3,499,571
Louisiana  3,541,002
Tennessee  5,943,801
Kentucky  5,558,068
Ohio....  12,031,512
Indiana  5,852,488
Illinois  5'4!2'!f
Missouri  4'.'.ll

Delaware  605,745 Arkansas  I'^t'ill

Maryland  3,413,224
Virginia  8,335,639
North Carolina  5,150,541
South Carolina  3,644,840
Georgia  4,552,393

Michigan'  3'oI?'«?
Florida  347,437
Wisconsin Territory  *„„'„,,
jowa «  338,914
District of Columbia  328,912

480 MR CLAY'S PUBLIC LAND POLICY.
uniform under a given policy ; but the comparative interest of the
states will always correspond with the federal representation, as
determined by every new census. The main purpose of this table
is to demonstrate the joint inheritance of the whole family of states
in parts, as it lies in abeyance to them, under a given comparative
population, and to show what it is likely to yield under the system
of policy proposed by Mr. Clay. It may be less or more in its
actual productiveness, according as this great estate may be well
or ill administered, and according as the country shall prosper. It
is manifestly the richest inheritance that a nation was ever born to.
(3.)
The following table, transmitted to the senate, in 1839, by the secretary of
the treasury, exhibits the proportion of the net proceeds of the sale of the pub
lic lands, which each state would have received, up to and including the 30th of
September, 1838, under the bill of 1833, entitled, "An act to appropriate, for a lim
ited time, the proceeds of the sales of the public lands of the United States, and for
granting lands to certain states;" the expenses incident to the sale of the lands,
and the amount ofthe two, three, and five per cent, funds, accruing to the several
states under compacts entered into with them on their admission into the Union,
being first deducted : — Twelve and a half per ct. on Total amount of
the net proceeds. the net proceeds.
Ohio  $554,182  $4,557,932
Indiana  1,182,404  2,646,744
Illinois  1,126,724  1,797,554
Missouri  559,793  1,116,530
Alabama  845,334  1,965,934
Mississippi  1,201,198  1,672,294
Louisiana  248,319  982,149
Michigan  401,016  443,196
Arkansas  96,818  134,905
Maine  ,  1,705,206
New Hampshire  1,149,714
Massachusetts  2,605,734
Rhode Island  414,897
Connecticut  1,270,683
Vermont  ¦.  1,198,058
New York  ' 8,190,102
New Jersey  1,365,691
Pennsylvania  •  5,754,697
Delaware  322,003
Maryland  1,732,475
Virginia  4,369,167
North Carolina  .'  2,730,979
South Carolina  1,942,432
Georgia  1,834,794
Tennessee  2,669,148
Kentucky  2,654,502

$6,215,788 $57,227,520

Twelve and a half per cent, on the net proceeds to the states in
which the public lands are situated  $6,215,788
Net proceeds that would have been divided among all the states.. .. 51,011,732

Total  $57,227,520

MR. CLAY'S PUBLIC LAND POLICY. 481
The political problem to be solved, is, whether it shall be squan
dered by the profligacy of demagogues, and scattered to the winds
of heaven, without yielding anything to the rightful heirs; or
whether it shall be faithfully administered for the benefit of the
members of the family ?
Table 2 exhibits a territorial division and hypothetical dis
tribution of that part of the public domain, lying within the con
stituted states and territories, which has been actually surveyed
and booked in the public land offices, is exposed for sale, and the
avails of which, when sold, would have fallen to the states and ter
ritories, in the respective proportions there represented, under the
operation of the land bill of 1841, if it had not been quashed by
Mr. Tyler's veto ofthe first tariff bill of 1842.
Table 3 is an official report of great interest, as it shows, with
minute accuracy, from the actual income of the public land office,
what each state would have been entitled to, under the operation
of Mr. Clay's land bill of 1833, which was pocketed and strangled
by General Jackson.
The National Intelligencer, of September 24, 1844, from which
table number 2 is taken, exhibits a variety of statistical displays,
enlarging the bounds, and multiplying the details of information on
this subject, well worthy of attention. The calculations are ex
tended from states to counties, and from counties to individual per
sons. For example, the benefit of Mr. Clay's bill of 1833, to
every free white male of 20 years old and upward, in the state of
Pennsylvania, for the term of six years, would have been nineteen
dollars ; and in the state of Maryland, twenty-four dollars. What
was lost to each state, in two years, by Mr. Tyler's, veto of 1842,
is also presented. But, for the purposes of this work, the author
has thought, that the tables in the note are sufficient, and that the
radiations of light beaming out from these three points, may be
more effective than multiplied statements, which tend to confusion,
as out of these materials, every one, by a little pains, can find such
details as he may want ; and they who do not want them, would
only be embarrassed, if they were given.
Some practical reflections of great interest and moment belong
to this place. It is evident, that, if Mr. Clay's land policy had
been adopted, the credit of the states would never have suffered ;
and that, if it should now be adopted, the credit of the states would
be instantly revived : first, because the inheritance thus settled on
Vol. I.— 31

482 MR. CLAY'S PUBLIC LAND POLICY.
the members of the family, is ample for any necessary credit;
and next, because it would show to the world, that the head of this
family is kind to the members, and disposed to respect their claims
to this inheritance. Nothing else is required for the instantaneous,
full, and complete restoration of the credit of the states, and the
honor of the country. Capitalists do not want the money ; it is
their interest and business to loan it ; they only want to know
that it is safe, and that they can depend on the regular payment
of interest. It is therefore equally evident — a necessary deduc
tion — that, on the rejection of Mr. Clay's public land policy, rests
all the responsibility of the loss of credit to the states, of repudia
tion, and of all the public calamities, and public dishonor, which
have resulted from such a state of things. Doubtless, there have
been collateral and kindred causes, which, in the proper place, will
deserve attention. But this cause alone was adequate to the com
prehensive and disastrous result. In the absence of this cause, or
in the prevalence of Mr. Clay's policy, such a result could never
have transpired.
Since the official statement of the debts of the states, exhibited '
below,* was communicated to Congress, some of them have been
more correctly ascertained, some have been augmented, and some
diminished ; but the common estimate of the aggregate is still
about two hundred millions of dollars. These debts were con
tracted chiefly for internal improvements, undertaken when the
credit of the country, and of the states, was good, under a system
of encouragement — rather a fit, for it did not last long — held
out by the administration of General Jackson, arising partly from
an order to loan the public deposites, and partly from an un
derstanding that the general government would favor a policy
for the distribution of the surplus funds of the national treasury
* DEBTS OF THE STATES.
The following table of state debts, is from a report of the secretary of the
treasury to Congress, 1842, compiled from official returns he had been instructed
to invite : —
Maine (indebted)  $ 1,734,86 1
Massachusetts  5,424,137
Pennsylvania  36,336,044
New York  21,797,267
Maryland  15,214,761
Virginia  6,994,307
South Carolina  5,691,234
Georgia  1,309,750
Alabama.  15,400,060
Louisiana  23,985,000
Mississippi  7,000,000
Arkansas  2,676,000

Florida  $4,000,000
Tennessee  3,189,166
Kentucky  3,085,500
Michigan  5,611,000
Ohio  10,924,123
Indiana  12,751,000
Illinois  13,527,292
Missouri  842,261
District of Columbia  1,3 16,030
To these may be added —
North Carolina  1,050,000

MR. CLAY S PUBLIC LAND POLICY. 483
among the states. Many of these improvements are a full quid
pro quo for the debts. Those of New York are sufficiently valu
able for a liquidation of tiie costs ; those of Pennsylvania, properly
managed, will pay part of the interest, and the benefit to the state
will more than make up the complement of interest, so that, under
a proper administration, they ought to be regarded as good stock.
The state stocks of Ohio are undoubtedly good ; those of Mary
land, in the prospect of completing the canal to Cumberland, will
also be good. There are few of the states, if any, which could
not preserve the credit of their stocks with tolerable ease, apart
from the baleful influence of party politics, which too often, almost
universally, make a hobby of a financial policy, and keep public
credit in a state of constant fluctuation.
The adoption of Mr. Clay's land policy, as a permanent system,
would rescue and shield the states from these hazards. By that
the public domain would be pledged for the state debts, the quota
of each state for its own debts severally so long and so far as there
should be any ; or such a pledge might be made a condition of
distribution. It would at least be naturally adopted as the policy
of each state, if such a condition should be deemed inconsistent
with sovereignty. The public lands, worth a billion of money,
are an abundant security for two hundred millions. The history of
the Commonwealth Bank of Kentucky, the credit of which rested
chiefly on the public lands of the states, shows that such a basis
can not easily be shaken. Not that lands are a proper foundation
for banking. The operation and result in Kentucky, prove that
they are not. But they are a firm basis of credit, and it was that
alone, apparently, which saved the Commonwealth Bank of Ken
tucky from a total wreck, and enabled it to wind up with a paper
nearly or quite at par, though it had been depressed some fifty per
cent, by a panic.
The evidence given in this chapter of the judicial right of the
states to the avails of the public lands, must be left to speak for
itself. That they were never designed for the ordinary purposes
of national revenue, seems to be admitted on all sides. Such is
the undoubted import of the passages before cited from General
Jackson's messages, and he appears to have been in favor of dis
tribution. Mr. Van Buren also, in 1826, expressed himself in
favor of distribution : " He believed if these lands were disposed
of at once to the several states, it would be satisfactory to all."
In his letter to Sherrod Williams, 1836, notwithstanding he affected

484 MR. CLAY'S PUBLIC LAND POLICY.
opposition to a specific plan of distribution, he said : " I need only
observe, that I regard the public domain as a trust fund, belong
ing to all the states, to be disposed of for their common benefit."
This expression is part of a quotation from a former letter to his
constituents in the state of New York, without repudiation in this
place — of course with sanction by its iteration. These authorities
ought reasonably to have weight with all the supporters of these
two men while at the head of the government. The principle of
distribution seems to have been clearly advocated by them, and
the first act of distribution was passed in the last year of General
Jackson's administration, and sanctioned by his official signature.
The difficulty on this subject between the two great parties of
the country, seems to have been in their antagonistical views regard
ing the protective policy. The advocates of free trade go for de
priving the states of the proceeds of the public lands, because,
while flowing into the national treasury, and employed for federal
objects, they constitute a considerable fraction of the federal ex
penditures, and consequently relieve a revenue tariff so far as it is
protective, and diminish the amount of protection. Admitting that
the advocates of free trade are right in their theory, they are unjust
in practice, when, to accomplish their end, they deprive the states
of their right to the proceeds of the public lands. They want these
proceeds for federal purposes, in order to reduce and keep down
a protective tariff; whereas, their opponents not only assert the
right of the states to these proceeds, but they maintain the right
of the people to that amount of protection, which alone would
raise a sufficient revenue for the ordinary purposes of the general
government. There can be no question as to the right of the
states to the proceeds of the lands ; and admitting that the object
of the free trade party is legitimate, it can "not be right to do a
wrong, to accomplish that object. But there is a question as to
the justice of the free-trade system, and its opponents believe it is
unjust in its operations on the people of the country — that the
people are entitled to protection. If this difficulty were out of the
way, there would be no controversy about the public lands. It all
turns on the discordant views about a protective policy. One party
will not consent to distribution, although it is proved to be a right,
because it tends to increase protection. The other party claim
distribution as a right, and protection as a right.

POLITICAL CHARACTER OF MR. CLAY'S TIMES.

485

CHAPTER XXI.
Political Character op Mr.Clay's Times.— Mr. Clay a Jeffersonian Democrat —
Democratic and Regal Power ofthe Constitution.— Influence of Names in Poli
tics. — The Government of the United States a Democracy. — Who are the True
Democrats.— The effect of the Alien and Sedition Laws in rousing the Democ
racy.— Mr. Clay's Claims to Democracy.— His Denial of Democracy to his Op
ponents. — Jefferson not the Father of Democracy.— Democracy the Genius of
the American People.— Reign of Democracy from Jefferson to J. Q. Adams,
inclusive. — Regal Power rose with General Jackson. — Mr. Clay's Great Strug
gles against Regal Power, and for the Defence of Democracy.
Mr. Clay opened his political career in the ascendency of the
star of Thomas Jefferson, and was a Jeffersonian democrat ;
and the most remarkable feature of the political character of the
times in which he has lived, has been a struggle between the
democratic and regal powers of the constitution. That there are
two such elements in the constitution of the United States, it is not
supposed there can be any question. But to avoid misapprehension,
it is here stated, that, by the democratic power of the constitution,
is meant popular influence, and by the regal power, executive in
fluence. The measure of the former is that amount of influence
which the constitution intended should be wielded by the legisla
tive branch of the government, as the immediate and direct repre
sentative of the people, speaking and acting in their behalf; and
the measure of the latter is that power which the constitution has
given to the president.
As names in politics are substantive powers, in their social
and moral influence, it is of no small importance that they should
be properly applied. The question has been often mooted, and
among grammarians will probably be always debatable, whether
the 'government of the United States is a democracy? With
those who choose to make it a question, it should be regarded as
merely a grammatical one ; but for the practical objects of poli
ticians and statesmen, the gravity ofthe issues depending, requires,
that they should take far higher ground, and not hold this question

4S6 POLITICAL CHARACTER OF
in debate for a moment. If it be allowed — as doubtless it will be
 that the design of the framers of the federal and of the state
constitutions, was, that the will of the people should prevail ; and
if it be an admitted principle, that all the powers of government
originate with the people, and revert to them in the provisions of
fundamental law ; then the government of the United States, and
of the states respectively, is a democracy, in the most common,
and in the historical, sense of the term. For all practical pur
poses, this question can not profitably be extended further, than to
arrive at the distinction between monarchy and democracy — be
tween a government, which in its origin and structure, is independ
ent of the people, and one which is dependent upon them. That
being settled, it is also determined, whether any particular govern
ment be democratic or not. The government of the United States,
by this rule, is a democracy. Notwithstanding, it is not the less
true, that there is a regal power in the constitution, than that there
is a democratic power. Regal power is essential to all govern
ments wielded by a head, or chief magistrate. In other words, the
proposition is a mere truism.
The rise, progress, and triumph of Jeffersonian democracy, de
rived its impulse and vitality immediately from the alien and sedi
tion laws of 1799 ; though the democratic feeling, which started
so suddenly into powerful activity, and so soon wielded an ener
getic sway over the mind of the country, was pre-existent, and only
waited to be invoked. It is the prevalent feeling of the American
people, and always has been, since the achievement of their inde
pendence. It is even older than that, and was the parent of inde
pendence. A charitable view of the designs of the alien and sedition laws,
founded on the history which suggested and prompted them, would
probably allow, that they were misinterpreted by opponents. But
they were alarming, and in the hands of worse men than those who
originated and enacted them, might have proved destructive of
freedom. The design of the government ofthe United States was
not to bestow dangerous powers, and these were of that class.
The feeling of the country took alarm ; they were denounced ;
Thomas Jefferson was at the head of the opposition ; and Henry
Clay, in the west, then a youth of twenty-two or three, rose on the
tide, and spread his sails to. the breeze, for the first time, on the
ocean of political strife, except, perhaps, he had commenced his
labors in the cause of emancipation for the prospective revision of

THE TIMES OF MR. CLAY. 487
the constitution of Kentucky. But he thundered forth, in eloquent
and indignant tones, bis denunciations of the alien and sedition
laws, and was the leading democrat of the west, in that sudden
and energetic popular movement, which ushered in the adminis
tration of Thomas Jefferson.
From that day to this, it will be found, not only that Mr. Clay
has been a democrat of the same school, but that he has claimed
it for himself. In a speech delivered at Lexington, May 1 6, 1829,
after Mr. Clay's retirement from the department of state, under-
Mr. Adams, he says : " In a republic all power and authority, and
all public offices and honors, emanate from the people, and are
exercised and held for their benefit. In a monarchy, all power and
authority, all offices and honors, proceed from the monarch. His
interests, his caprices, and his passions, influence and control the
destinies of the kingdom. In a republic, the people are everything,
and a particular individual nothing. In a monarchy, the monarch
is everything, and the people nothing."
While the sub-treasury bill was under debate in the senate, Mr.
Calhoun cast some reflection on Mr. Clay, as having on his side
members of the federal party.
" Sir," said Mr. Clay, addressing the president of that body,
" I am ready to go into an examination with the honorable sena
tor at any time, and then we shall see if there be not more mem
bers of that same old federal party among those whom the senator
has recently joined, than on our side of the house. The plain
truth is, that it is the old federal party with whom he is now acting.
For all the former grounds of difference, which distinguished that
party, and were the subjects of contention between them and the
republicans, have ceased, from lapse of time and change of circum
stances, with the exception of one, and that is the maintenance and
increase of executive power. This was a leading policy of the federal
party. A strong, powerful, and energetic executive, was its favorite
tenet. ... I can tell the gentleman, that he will find the true old
democratic party, who were for resisting the encroachments of
power, and limiting executive patronage, on our side ofthe senate,
and not with his new allies, the Jackson-Van-Buren democratic
party, whose leading principle is to sustain the executive, and deny
all power to the legislature, and which does not hold a solitary
principle in common with the republican party of 1798."
In a speech delivered in Hanover county, Virginia, June 27,
1840, on the state of the country, speaking of the enormous in
crease of executive power, Mr. Clay says : —
" And yet the partisans of this tremendous executive power ar-

488 POLITICAL CHARACTER OF
rogate to themselves the name of democrats, and bestow upon us,
who are opposed to it, the denomination of federalists ! In the
senate of the United States, there are five gentlemen who were
members of the federal party, and four of them have been suddenly
transformed into democrats, and are now warm supporters of this
administration, while I, who had exerted the utmost of my humble
abilities to arouse the nation to a vindication of its insulted honor,
„and its violated rights, and to the vigorous prosecution of the war
against Great Britain, to which they were violently opposed, find
myself, by a sort of magical influence, converted into a federalist !
The only American citizen that I ever met with, who was an
avowed monarchist, was a supporter of the administration of Gen
eral Jackson ; and he acknowledged to me, that his motive was
to bring about the system of monarchy, which his judgment pre
ferred. * * * * ' *
" What are the positions of the two great parties of the present
day ? Modern democracy has reduced the federal theory of a
strong and energetic executive to practical operation. It has turned
from the people, the natural ally of genuine democracy, to the ex
ecutive, and, instead of vigilance, jealousy, and distrust, has given
to that department all its confidence, and made to it a virtually sur
render of all the powers of government. The recognised maxim
of royal infallibility is transplanted from the British monarchy into
modern American democracy, and the president can do no wrong !
This new school adopts, modifies, changes, renounces, renews,
opinions at the pleasure of the executive. Is the bank of the
United States a useful and valuable institution ? Yes, unanimously
pronounces the democratic legislature of Pennsylvania. The pres
ident vetoes it as a pernicious and dangerous establishment. The
democratic majority in the same legislature pronounce it to be
pernicious and dangerous. The democratic majority of the house
of representatives of the United States, declare the deposites of the
public money in the bank of the United States to be safe. The
president says they are unsafe, and removes them. The democ
racy say they are unsafe, and approve the removal. The presi
dent says that a scheme of a sub-treasury is revolutionary and dis
organizing. The democracy say it is revolutionary and disorgani
zing. The president says it is wise and salutary. The democracy
say it is wise and salutary.
" The whigs of 1840 stand where the republicans of 1798 stood,
and where the whigs of the revolution were, battling for liberty, for
the people, for free institutions, against power, against corruption,
against executive encroachments, against monarchy.
" They [our opponents] count upon success by the use of
two words, democracy and federalism — democracy, which, in vio
lation of all truth, they appropriate to themselves,, and federalism,
which, in violation of all justice, they apply to us."

THE TIMES OF MR. CLAY. 489
In a speech at Nashville, Tennessee, August 17, 1840, Mr.
Clay said : —
" The party in power profess to be democrats par excellence !
Among all their usurpations, he knew of none more absurd than
the usurpation of this name. He professed himself to be a true
democrat. He learned his democracy in the school of '98 and
'99. It was very different, he confessed, from the democracy
taught now-a-days, in high places. It did not say, in the language
ofthe motto upon the Bedford county banner, which he just read,
' The people expect too much from the government ;' ' Let the gov
ernment take care of itself, and the people of themselves.' No !
the democracy that he had learned was the reverse of this lan
guage of the present democratic president. But the new de
mocracy does not stop here. It asks for allegiance to the powers
that be. The democracy of Jefferson asked a candidate for office
if he was capable, and honest, and would support the constitution ?
But the new democracy asks very different questions. It asks,
how many votes can you bring to the polls ? What's your influ
ence? Are you boisterous partisans? It also holds out induce
ments, or bribes, which Jefferson's democracy did not. It says,
if you labor in my cause, and the people reject you, I will take
care that your reward shall be certain. He instanced the appoint
ment of Mr. Grundy, and then referred to the appointment of
John M. Niles, as postmaster-general, who, not four months pre
vious, was rejected by the people by four thousand five hundred
votes. To be thus beaten, was a sure passport to an executive
office. * * * Mr. Clay said he claimed to be a democrat
in the true sense of the word — a democrat ready to stand by or
die for his country."
In a speech in the senate, January 28, 1841, Mr. Clay said : —
" Why, sir, the amount of the whole of it is, that the gentle
men, calling themselves, most erroneously, the democratic party,
have administered the government so badly, that they have lost all
credit and confidence at home and abroad, and because the people
of the United States have refused to trust them any longer, and
foreign bankers will not trust them either, they utter a whining cry
that their recent signal defeat has been the work of foreign influ
ence ! Democratic party ! They have not the slightest pretension
to this denomination. They have run it down. But, thank God,
true democracy and true democrats have not been run down."
In bis speech at Lexington, June 6, 1842, he said : "In all of
these examples, the democratic party, as it calls itself— a denom
ination to which I respectfully think it has not the least just pre
tension," &c
*' The political opponents of the party to which I belong — dent-

490 POLITICAL CHARACTER OF
ocrats, as they most undeservedly call themselves," said Mr. Clay
to Mr. Mendenhall, October 1, 1842.
Though these citations convey many more thoughts than that
for which they are adduced, partly in anticipation of the main de
sign of this chapter, they will doubtless be regarded as sufficient
to prove Mr. Clay's habit of claiming for himself the title of a
democrat of the old Jeffersonian school, and of denying the
right of his political opponents to this name. Because it has been
thus stolen and misapplied, as the sacred name of Christian often
is, for the sake of appearing under a false garb, the better to im
pose on the world, those to whom it properly belongs, have, to a
great extent, and very unwisely, eschewed it, and thereby lost the
influence which it always carries, and must carry, with it. De
mocracy is the talisman that governs the world, and will govern
it. It would be equally wise for sincere ..Christians to give up
their name to false pretenders. The fate of the country is sealed
up in this single word, and there is no escape from its influence.
It is dear to the native born of the land, and every immigrant comes
here for the sake of democracy. Democracy, all the world
over, is the proud name of the people's sovereignty ; and so it is
destined to be. Who can desire, that the exultant feeling —
" We are lords and kings, and there is no lord, no king, above
us, Him that made us only excepted" — should be uprooted from
its deep hold in the mind of American freemen ? And democ
racy is the only universal symbol of that sentiment.
There may be many who would take exception to the char
acter of Thomas Jefferson as a man, and in the social relations,
who must, nevertheless, acknowledge, that the school of democ
racy, of which he was the reputed father — but very erroneously —
was the spontaneous growth of the American mind. It was a
mere accident, that Jefferson was the leader at a time when it rose
in the ascendant. He did not produce it, but was only an expo
nent — an accredited or received interpreter. It started into an im
posing development, to arrest executive pretensions, and to assert
popular rights believed to be in danger ; and it will be found, that
these are the rights which Mr. Clay has been advocating, vindica
ting, and defending, all his life, more especially the latter part of
it, against executive encroachment and usurpation ; in other words,
that he has been the defender of democratic power against unau
thorized regal pretensions. That, as a statesman, he has extended
his sphere far beyond this specific function, and comprehended all

THE TIMES OF MR. CLAY. 491
the great interests of the country, as well as of humanity the world
over, other parts of this work will sufficiently evince ; but, if the
liberties of the people of the United States should be preserved,
and handed down to future generations, there will not be wanting
evidence of their obligations to him who breasted the fierce assaults
of executive power on the rights of the representatives of the peo
ple, and who, although he could not save the constitution from vi
olation, shielded it from destruction.
The alien and sedition law movement met with its fate, as soon
as it made its appearance. There was nothing in the administra
tion to sustain it. The indignant voice of the nation changed the
whole current of affairs, the moment it had time for utterance.
The reaction was powerful and protracted, not perhaps without its
attendant evils, as in all such cases of popular fermentation. It
gave more influence to the reputed leader, than he was fairly en
titled to ; and but for*nis good sense — and it may be supposed
patriotism — he might have done mischief. Even as it was, some
thought that mischief was mixed up with his usefulness, and in
part neutralized it. While president of the United States, he was
able to carry almost everything he proposed — a dangerous power
in the chief magistrate of a republic — and some of the measures
he did carry, are at least doubtful as to their effectiveness for good.
The great majority of the people, however, continued their confi
dence in him, bore patiently the burdens of the time, till the na
tion glided quietly into the Madisonian era of twenty years dura
tion, including the administrations of Monroe and J. Q. Adams.
With the exception of the war with Great Britain, this was a quiet
era,. Each department of the government occupied its appropri
ate sphere. There was no collision — no complaint — worthy of
remark. Jeffersonian democracy was supposed to be the ruling
spirit of this time, and doubtless was. Merging the Madisonian
into the Jeffersonian era, both included a period of twenty-eight
years, during which time, no disposition was manifested in the
executive branch of the government, to encroach on the demo
cratic powers of the constitution.
But the commencement of General Jackson's administration
was the opening of a new era, entirely different from anything
that had been known in the history Of the country. The manner
in which he gained his ascendency, as disclosed in another part
of this work, will be judged of by impartial posterity, and the
materials of that judgment are perhaps even now tolerably suffi-

492 POLITICAL CHARACTER OF
cient. He came with a rush — with the violence of a tornado — on
the popular mind of the country, and took it by storm. The ground
of his popularity was the alleged deprivation of his rights in 1825.
The judgment of the common mind was surrendered, and ab
sorbed in his will. The instance of the surrender of the Tam
many Society, on the protective policy, which they espoused so
boldly, and advocated so stoutly, in 1819, as shown in another
chapter, is a remarkable case in point. It was in the hands of
President Jackson, that the regal power of the constitution marched
into the halls of Congress, and by interference with legislation,
initiating laws, dismissing official incumbents, and forcing others
upon the senate, wresting the public purse from the custody of
Congress and taking it into his own, and sending back bills passed
by the representatives of the people with his veto upon them, vir
tually took possession of the democratic platform erected there by
the same instrument. That was, and rs^ever, the people's
ground. That was set up for the defence of their liberties. That
is the democratic power of the constitution, as opposed to the
regal power vested in the president — the latter being admin
istrative, and the former legislative — both designed to act
in their own appropriate spheres, independent of each other.
The instances in which these encroachments were made, are dis
closed elsewhere. It was the task of Mr. Clay to expose, to de
nounce, and, as far as he could, to thwart and defeat them ; and for
the last twelve years of his public life, he had little else to engage
his attention, and employ his powers.
Impressed with the alarming tendency of this great change in
the political character of the times, while the regal power of the
constitution was apparently marching to the possession of the last
remnant of its democratic prerogatives — a power, in such a case,
so utterly at variance with the former history of the government
and the country, as well as with the obvious design of the consti
tution itself — Mr. Clay, before he retired from public life in 1842,
brought forward in the senate three resolutions for the abridgment
and restriction of this regal sway by an amendment of the federal
constitution, first, in regard to the veto; next, in regard to the
appointment of members of Congress to office ; and lastly, to take
from the president all power over the public purse, by giving the
appointment of the officers of the treasury to Congress alone, by
election in that body. He felt there was doubt over the pros
pect of accomplishing the object; but "still it was the duty of

THE TIMES OF MR. CLAY. 493
every friend of his country to use proper efforts." Mr. Clay had
been for years meditating this purpose, and had in various forms
announced it publicly. He was also in favor of making the in
cumbent of the presidential office ineligible for a second term.
The following description of these regal pretensions, and of this
regal power stretched beyond the limits of the constitution, is con
tained in Mr. Clay's Hanover county (Va.) speech, of June 27,
1840:— " In my deliberate opinion, the present distressed and distracted
state of the country may be traced to the single cause of the action,
the'encroachments, and the usurpations ofthe executive branch of
the government. I have not time here to exhibit and to dwell upon
all the instances of these, as they have occurred in succession,
during the last twelve years. They have been again and again
exposed, on other more fit occasions. But I have thought this
a proper opportunity to point out the enormity of the pretensions,
principles, and practij§.s of that department, as they have been,
from time to time, disclosed, in these late years, and to show the
rapid progress which has been made in the fulfilment of the remark
able language of our illustrious countryman, that the federal exec
utive had an awful squinting toward monarchy. * * * * *
" The late president of the United States advanced certain new
and alarming pretensions for the executive department of the
government, the effect of which, if established and recognised by
the people, must inevitably convert it into a monarchy. The first
of these, and it was a favorite principle with him, was, that the
executive department should be regarded as a unit. By this
principle of unity, he meant and intended, that all the executive
officers of government should be bound to obey the commands and
execute the orders of the president of the United States, and that
they should be amenable to him, and he be responsible for them.
Prior to his administration, it had been considered that they were
bound to observe and obey the constitution and laws, subject only
to the general superintendence of the president, and responsible by
impeachment, and to the tribunals of justice, for injuries inflicted
on private citizens.
"Now, if the whole official corps, subordinate to the president
of the United States, are made to know and to feel that they hold
their respective offices by the tenure of conformity and obedience
to his will, it is manifest, that they must look to that will, and not
to the constitution and laws, as the guide of their official conduct.
The weakness of human nature, the love and emoluments of office,
perhaps the bread necessary to the support of their families, would
make this result absolutely certain. . . . The new and monstrous
pretension has been advanced, that, although the concurrence of the

494 political character of
senate is necessary by the constitution, to the confirmation of an ap
pointment, the president may subsequently dismiss the person ap
pointed, not only without communicating the grounds on which he
has acted to the senate, but without any such communication to the
people themselves, for whose benefit all offices are created ! And
so bold and daring has the executive branch of the government
become, that one of its cabinet ministers, himself a subordinate
officer, has contemptuously refused, to members of the house of
representatives, to disclose the grounds on which he has under
taken to dismiss from office persons acting as deputy postmasters
in his department !
" To concentrate all responsibility in the president, is to annihi
late all responsibility. For who ever expects to see the day arrive
when a president of the United States will be impeached; or, if
impeached, when he can not command more than one third of the
senate to defeat the impeachment?
"But to construct the scheme of practical despotism, while all
the forms of free government remained, it was necessary to take one
further step. By the constitution, the president is enjoined to take
care that the laws be executed. This injunction was merely in
tended to impose on him the duty of a general superintendence ;
to see that offices were filled; officers at their respective posts, in
the discharge of their official functions ; and that all obstructions to
the enforcement of the laws were removed, and when necessary for
that purpose, to call out the militia. No one ever imagined, prior
to the administration of President Jackson, that a president of the
United States was to occupy himself with supervising and attend
ing to the execution of all the minute details of every one of the
hosts of offices in the United States.
"Under the constitutional injunction just mentioned, the late
president [General Jackson] put forward that most extraordinary
pretension that the constitution and laws of the United States were
to be executed as he understood them; and this pretension was at
tempted to be sustained, by an argument equally extraordinary,
that the president, being a sworn officer, must carry them into
effect, according to his sense of their meaning. The constitution
and laws were to be executed, not according to their import, as
handed down to us by our ancestors, as interpreted by contempo
raneous expositions, as expounded by concurrent judicial decis
ions, as fixed by an uninterrupted course of congressional legis
lation, but in that sense in which a president of the United States
happened to understand them !
" To complete this executive usurpation, one further object re
mained. By the constitution, the command of the army and the
navy is conferred on the president. If he could unite the purse
with the sword, nothing would be left to gratify the insatiable thirst

THE TIMES OF MR. CLAY. 495
for power. In 1833 the president seized the treasury of the United
States, and from that day to this, it' has continued substantially
under his control. The seizure was effected by the removal of
one secretary ofthe treasury, understood to be opposed to the meas
ure, and by the dismissal of another, who refused to violate the
law of the land upon the orders of the president.
* ¦* # # # * # #
" Do not mock us with the vain assurance of the honor and probity
of a president, nor remind us of the confidence which we ought
to repose in his imagined virtues. The pervading principles of
our system of government — of all free government — is not merely
the possibility, but the absolute certainty of infidelity and treachery,
with even the highest functionary of the state ; and hence all the
restrictions, securities, and guarantees, which the wisdom of our
ancestors or the sad experience of history had inculcated, have
been devised and thrown around the chief magistrate.
" Here, friends and fellow-citizens, let us pause and contemplate
this stupendous structure of executive machinery and despotism,
which has been reared in oui1 young republic. The executive
branch of the government is a unit : throughout all its arteries
and veins, there is to be but one heart, one head, one will. The
number ofthe subordinate executive officers and dependants in the
United States has been estimated, in an official report, founded on
public documents, made by a senator from South Carolina [Mr.
Calhoun], at one hundred thousand. Whatever it may be, all of
them, wherever they are situated, are bound implicitly to obey the
orders of the president. And absolute obedience to his will is se
cured and enforced, by the power of dismissing them, at his pleas
ure, from their respective places. To make this terrible power of
dismission more certain and efficacious, its exercise is covered up
in mysterious secrecy, without exposure, without the smallest re
sponsibility. The constitution and laws of the United States are
to be executed in the sense in which the president understands
them, although that sense may be at variance with the understand
ing of every other man in the United States. It follows, as a
necessary consequence, from the principles deduced by the presi
dent from the constitutional injunction as to the execution of the
laws, that, if an act of Congress be passed, in his opinion, contrary
to the constitution, or if a decision be pronounced by the courts, in
his opinion, contrary to the constitution or the laws, that act or
that decision the president is not obliged to enforce, and he could
not cause it to be enforced, without a violation, as is pretended, of
his official oath. * * ******
The march of power is ever onward. As times and seasons ad
monished, it openly and boldly, in broad day, makes its progress ;
or, if alarm be excited by the enormity of its pretensions, it silently
and secretly, in the shades of night, steals its devious way. It

496 POLITICAL CHARACTER OF
now storms and mounts the ramparts of the fortress of liberty ; it
now saps and undermines its foundations. Finally, the command
of the army and navy being already in the president, and having
acquired a perfect control over the treasury of the United States,
he has consummated that frightful union of purse and sword, so
long, so much, so earnestly deprecated by all true lovers of civil
liberty. And our present chief magistrate stands solemnly and
voluntarily pledged, in the face of the whole world, to follow in the
footsteps, and to carry out the measures and the principles of his
illustrious predecessor!
" The sum of the whole is, that there is but one power, one
control, one will, in the state. All is concentrated in the president.
He directs, orders, commands, the whole machinery of the state.
Through the official agencies scattered throughout the land, and
absolutely subjected to his will, he executes, according to bis
pleasure or caprice, the whole power of the commonwealth, which
has been absorbed and engrossed by him. And one sole will pre
dominates in, and animates the whole of this vast community. If
this be not practical despotism, I am incapable of conceiving or
defining it. Names are nothing. The existence or non-existence
of arbitrary government does not depend upon the title or denom
ination bestowed on the chief of the state, but upon the quantum
of power which he possesses and wields. Autocrat, sultan, em
peror, dictator, king, doge, president, are all mere names, in which
the power respectively possessed by them is not to be found, but is
to be looked for in the constitution, or the established usages and
practices ofthe several states which they govern and control."
On the 24th of January, 1842, Mr. Clay brought forward his
resolutions for the amendment of the constitution, to suppress the
excesses and prevent the growth of this regal power, and to restrict
and regulate its action within safe bounds ; and his remarks on this
occasion were chiefly confined to the subject of the veto. The
following are some of them : —
"It [the veto] was known to all to have originated in the insti
tution of the tribunitian power in ancient Rome ; that it was seized
upon, and perverted to purposes of ambition, when the empire
was established under Augustus ; and that it bad not been finally
abolished until the reign of Constantine. There could be no
doubt that it had been introduced from the practice under the em
pire, into the monarchies of Europe, in most of which, in some
form, and unfler some modification or other, it was now to be
found. But, although it existed in the national codes, the power
had not, in the case of Great Britain, been exercise*d for a century
and a half past ; and, if he was correctly informed on the subject,
it had, in the French monarchy, never been exercised at all. During
the memorable period of the French revolution, when a new con-

THE TIMES OF M*R. CLAY. 497
stitution was under consideration, this subject of the veto power
had been largely discussed, and had agitated the whole country.
Every one must recollect how it had been turned against the un
fortunate Louis XIV., who had been held up to the ridicule of
the populace, under the title of ' Monsieur Veto,' as his wife, the
queen, had been called " Madame Veto ;' and, although after
much difficulty, the power had finally found a place in the consti
tution, not a solitary instance had occurred of its actual exercise.
Under the colonial state of this country, the power was transplanted,
from the experience which had been had of it in Europe, to the
laws relating to the colonies, and that in a double form ; for there
was a veto of the colonial governor, and also a veto ofthe crown.
But what was thought of this power by the inhabitants of these
states, when rising to assert their freedom, might be seen in the
words ofthe instrument in which they asserted their independence.
At the head of all the grievances stated in that paper, as reasons
for our separation from Great Britain, was placed the exercise of
this very power of the royal veto. Speaking of the king, the
declaration of independence employed this language : —
" ' He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and
necessary for the public good. He has forbidden his governors to
pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended
in their operations, till his assent should be obtained ; and, when
so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.'
* * # * * * *
" While there had been no such thing in practice as an encroach
ment by the federal upon the state governments, there had been,
within the federal government itself, a constant encroachment by
he executive upon the legislative department.
"First, it attacked the treaty-making power. None could now
read the language of the constitution, without at once coming to
the conclusion, that the intention of the authors of that instrument
was, that the senate should be consulted by the president, not
merely in the ratification, but in the inception, of all treaties : that,
in the commencement of the negotiations, the instructions of the
ministers appointed to treat, the character and provisions of the
treaty, the senate should be consulted, and should first yield its
assent. And such had, in fact, been the interpretation put upon
the treaty-making power, in the first and purest years of our gov
ernment. Every one must recollect the early history of the exer
cise of the power, and the high sanction for such a usage. The
first president had been wont to come to the senate, there to pro
pose a foreign mission, and to consult with his constitutional ad
visers, the members of the senate, on the instructions to be given
to the minister who should be sent. But this practice had since
been abandoned. The president now, without a word of consul
tation with the senate, on his own mere personal sense of propriety,
Vol. I.— 32

498 POLITICAL CHARACTER OF
concluded a treaty, and promised to the foreign power its ratifica
tion ; and then after all this had been done, and the terms of the
treaty agreed upon, he, for the first time, submitted it to the senate
for ratification. Now, every one must see, that there was a great
difference between rejecting what had been already actually done,
and refusing to do. that thing if asked beforehand. All must feel,
that they often gave their official assent to what they never would
have sanctioned, but for the consideration that the treaty was
already concluded, and that the faith of the nation was in some
sort pledged for its ratification. ******
" The next executive encroachment he should notice was that
which occurred in the dismissal from office of persons appointed
by and with the consent of the senate. The effect of this practice
was virtually to destroy all agency and cooperation of the senate
in such appointments. Of what avail was it that the senate should
to-day solemnly ratify and confirm the appointment of an individual
to an office under the government, when the president could to
morrow reverse the effect of their act by his mere breath ? Every
one knew that the power of removal had been grossly perverted.
In the early days of the constitution, it had been maintained, that
that power could be exercised only in case of malfeasance or mis
feasance in office ; and that the president who should dare to em
ploy it for any other end, would subject himself to impeachment.
But our history and experience has gone to show, that this liability
to impeachment was a mere scarecrow, and that it could never
have any practical effect in a popular government, constituted as
ours is, and in a country politically divided as ours is ever «like
to be. By the free exercise of this power of removal, the senate
had lost its practical influence on the whole subject of appointment
to office. Instance after instance had occurred, where an individ
ual had been dismissed by the executive, whdm the senate would
gladly have replaced in office, but whom they were unable to retain
there, and were therefore compelled to sanction the nomination of
a successor. The actual result of such a state of things was, he
repeated it, that the cooperation of the senate with the president,
in the matter of appointments, had been almost completely nullified
for years past. *** *****
" Mr. Clay said, it was not his purpose to go into all the details
of these encroachments by the executive, upon the constitutional
powers and prerogatives of a single legislative branch of the
government. He would now pass to its attacks on the powers of
the Congress of the United States.
"And the first instance of this to which he should refer, was the
creation of officers and the designation of their salaries, without
the consent of Congress, or any consultation with it. Another, and
a more formidable instance, was to be found in the assumption,
within the last few years, of the purse of the nation. * * *

THE TIMES OF MR. CLAY. 499
This seizure of the public deposites had yet been unprovided
against ; the congressional power to control them had' been unre-
sumed, and thus a state of things was permitted to continue, by
which the nation was virtually placed at the feet of the executive.
" Let not gentlemen mofck- him, by talking about the impossibility
of the president's drawing money out of the treasury, except under
an appropriation by Congress. Let them not tell him of the re
sponsibility of public officers ; let them look at facts ; let them look
at what had actually occurred, on the removal of two or three sec
retaries of the treasury, in order to accomplish this very seizure
of the public treasure ; and then let them look at the dismissal of a
countless host of subordinate officers, because they did not happen
to hold the same political opinions that were held by the president.
Of what avail were laws? The president had nothing to do but
say to his secretary, ' Issue your warrant for such a sum of money,
and direct the register and comptroller to sign it ;' and if they should
talk about a regard for their oaths, and boggle at obeying, ' Tell
them to do what I command them, and if not, I will find men who
will.' * * * There was a third instance of this encroach
ment ; which he was authorized by facts to state, but on which he
should not at this time dwell. Not only had the purse of the na
tion been seized; not only did it still remain in the hands of the
president; but the; nation had seen armies raised, by executive man
date, not only without authority or shadow of authority of law, but,
as in the case of the Florida volunteers, after a law had been asked
for, and positively refused. Other instances might be cited, in which
a military force had been raised, without the sanction of Congress.
" The executive branch of the government was eternally in ac
tion ; it was ever awake ; it never slept ; its action was continuous
and unceasing, like the tides of some mighty river, which contin
ued flowing and flowing on, swelling, and deepening, and widen
ing, in its onward progress, till it swept away every impediment,
and broke down and removed every frail obstacle which might be
set up to impede its course. Let gentlemen look .at all history,
and they would find that it had ever been so. The legislative
branch of government met only periodically ; its power lay in its
assembling and acting ; the moment it adjourned, its power disap
peared ; it was dissipated, gone ; but there stood the president at
the head of the executive department, ever ready to enforce the
law, and to seize upon every advantage which presented itself, for
the extension and augmentation of its power.
* * # * * * *
" Mr. Clay had taken the pains to look into the provisions of
twenty-six state constitutions, in relation to this matter of the veto,
and the result was highly curious and interesting. The states
were in this respect divided, as equally as their number would
admit, into three distinct classes. Nine of them gave to the exec

500 POLITICAL CHARACTER OF
utive the veto power, unless controlled by two thirds of the legis
lature. Eight other states conferred the veto, but controlled it
by a second veto of a majority, as was proposed in the amend
ment now under consideration. While the nine remaining states
had not inserted the veto at all ; and at the head of these stood one
which had been called the mother of states — Virginia. Now some of
these state constitutions were of a date anterior to that of the con
stitution of the United States itself. If there had been this very
great danger of executive encroachment and of hasty legislation,
one would suppose it would have been heard of in these nine
states. Had any instance yet occurred to show that such a
danger did exist ? Mr. Clay had heard of none, read of none ;
and he put it to the advocates of this arbitrary and monarchical
power, he put it especially to democrats, who, while they professed
themselves, and, he doubted not, honestly and conscientiously pro
fessed themselves friends of the people, came out in the contest
between monarchical prerogative on the one hand, and civil free
dom on the other, as the avowed advocates of prerogative ; — he
put it to all of them to tell, if such dangers both of encroachment
and rashness as were pretended as a pretext for the veto did actu
ally exist, how it happened that in the nine states he had named,
during so long a period as had elapsed since their constitutions
were formed, no instances had occurred, either of encroachment by
the legislature on the powers of the executive, or of such rash
and hasty legislation as called for the restraint and safeguard of a
single sovereign will ?*******
" The senate at present consisted of fifty-two members ; of
that number a majority consisted of twenty-seven ; two thirds
amounted to thirty-six. Supposing a law to be passed by a bare
majority (and in all great and contested questions bills were wont
to be passed by very small majorities), then there would be in its
favor twenty-seven votes. The bill was submitted to the presi
dent, and returned by him with his veto. The force of the presi
dential veto could not be overturned but by thirty-six votes. Here,
then, the veto in the hands of the president was equal in its effect
upon legislation to nine senatorial votes. Mr. Clay dismissed all
considerations of influence derived from his office, all the glitter
and eclat of the president's high station, and all the persuasion
directed to the interests of men by his vast patronage ; all this he
laid out of view, and looked merely at the numerical fact, that in
the senate the veto was equal to nine votes. And now in regard
to the other branch. The house of representatives consisted of
two hundred and forty-two members ; to constitute a majority re
quired one hundred and twenty-two ; two thirds amounted to one
hundred and sixty-two. By looking at this difference, it would
be seen, as in the case of the senate, that the executive veto
amounted in effect to forty representative votes.

THE TIMES OF MR. CLAY. 501
********
" We had had six presidents who had previously been sena
tors. They were able and eminent men ; but he wished to in
quire, whether any gentleman could show that their wisdom and
other distinguished qualities had been so great as to be equal to
the wisdom of nine other senators ? Could it be shown that their
patriotism, and intelligence, and integrity, were equal to those of
forty members of the house of representatives ? If not, how did
it happen that a man who, when in that chamber, and acting with
his fellow-senators, had been considered upon a par with them,
was no sooner transferred to the other end of the avenue, than his
will became equal to that of nine senators and forty representa
tives? How, he asked, did this happen, and wherein was it just
and right? Was it not sufficient, that this man, after his political
apotheosis, should enjoy all the glitter, and distinction, and glory
attached to his office ? Was it not enough that he wielded so vast
and formidable an amount of patronage, and thereby exerted an
influence so potent and so extensive ? Must there be superadded
to all, a legislative force equal to nine senators and forty members
of the house of representatives ?****#
"Mr. Clay had hitherto viewed the veto power simply in its
numerical weight, in the aggregate votes of the two houses ; but
there was another and far more important point of view in which
it ought to be considered. He contended, that practically, and in
effect, tb.e veto, armed with sUch a qualification as now accompa
nied it in the constitution, was neither more nor less than an abso
lute power. It was virtually an unqualified negative on the legis
lation of Congress. Not a solitary instance had yet occurred in
which the veto once exerted had ever been overruled, nor was such
a case likely to happen. In most questions where the veto could
be exerted, there was always a considerable difference of opinion
both in the country and in Congress as to the bill which had been
passed. In such circumstances, when all the personal influence,
the official patronage, and the reasoning which accompanied the
veto, were added to the substantial weight of the veto itself, every
man acquainted with human nature would be ready to admit, that
if nothing could set it aside but a vote of two thirds in both houses,
it might as well have been made absolute at once.
"He now approached another view of it, to which he would
ask the serious and undivided attention of the senate. The veto
power professed to act only while the legislature acted ; then it
was to terminate. Its effect was to be, to consummate legislation.
The officer of government, in whose hands the constitution placed
a power so formidable, was supposed in theory to remain profoundly
silent as to the passage of great measures of public policy, until
they were presented to him in a finished form for his approbation
and sanction.

502 POLITICAL CHARACTER OF
" This was the theory ; but Mr. Clay contended, that really and
in practice this veto power drew after it the power of initiating
laws, and in its effect must ultimately amount to conferring on the
executive the entire legislative power of the government. With
the power to initiate and the power to consummate legislation, to
give vitality and vigor to every law, or to strike it dead at his pleas
ure, the president must ultimately become the ruler of the nation.
* * * * * * .* *
" Did not gentlemen recollect, how often, during the administra
tion of an eminent individual, now in private life [General Jack
son], intimations had been given beforehand, that a certain bill
would be vetoed, if it were passed? And did they not remember
various instances, in which the threat had been fulfilled ? Take
the experience of the last six months. Congress have passed two
bills to establish a bank of the United States — bills, in all the pro
visions of which neither party concurred, and which would not
have had the concurrence of twenty men in either house, had their
minds been left uninfluenced by the expected action of the execu
tive. Take, as a special instance, the famous sixteenth section of
one of those bills. Mr. Clay was free to declare, that he did not
know a solitary man among those who voted for the bill, who
would have voted for that section, but as a measure of conciliation,
and in the hope that, so modified, the bill would receive the sanc
tion of the president. True, that expectation was not realized ;
the sacrifice was vainly made, but it had been made with a view to
that end, and that alone. And so in regard to the second of those
bills. That bill, as he was informed, came to Congress, precisely
as it had left the president's hand. So anxious had Congress been,
to secure the approbation of the president, that, although almost
everything in the bill would either have been omitted, or amended
by a majority, they took it as it came from the presidential hand,
and passed it, letter for letter, as they received it. Without going
further, did not this fact prove, that the possession of the veto
power drew after it the power of initiating laws ?
" Take another case, in the bill now before the judiciary com
mittee. Was there one man to be found, in either house of
Congress, who would ever have proposed such a measure as the
exchequer board provided in that bill ? Yet, what had been the
feeling ? Had it not been this : must we go home without doing
something ? Had not the feeling been, we are bound by the veto
power, we can not do what we would ? Had not the feeling been,
we must take what the executive offers, or get nothing ? Yes.
Already the idea was becoming familiarized to the minds of free
men, to men of only the second generation after the days of the
revolution, of submitting to the dictation of the executive, because
without his assent they could do nothing. Mr. Clay warned the
nation, that if this veto power was not arrested, if it were not either

THE TIMES OF MR. CLAY. 503
abolished, or at least limited and circumscribed, in process of
time, and that before another such period had elapsed as had
intervened since the revolution, the whole legislation of this coun
try would come to be prepared at the White House, or in one or
other of the executive departments, and would come down to Con
gress in the shape of bills for them to register, and pass through
the forms of legislation, just as had once been done in the ancient
courts of France.
" Then, to enable a nation of freemen to carry out their will, to
set Congress free to speak that will, to redress the wrongs, and to
supply the wants, of those that sent them, Mr. Clay again declared,
that the veto power must be modified and restrained. If not, the
question which Congress would have to decide would be, not what
is the proper remedy for the existing grievances of the country,
not what will restore the national prosperity ; — no ; but what meas
ure will be sanctioned by the chief magistrate ?
* * * * '" * * *
" The question was the old question, whether we should have,
in this country, a power tyrannical, despotic, absolute, the exercise
of which must, sooner or later, produce an absolute despotism ; or
a free representative government, with powers clearly defined and
carefully separated ? That was the true question to be decided."
It can hardly be believed, that the descendants of Americans of
1776, versed in the history of the causes and events of the Ameri
can revolution, will listen to the recital of the facts disclosed in the
foregoing extracts, and not feel their blood coursing with acceler
ated speed through nature's channels, and the pulsations of their
bosoms knocking loudly in the hidden recesses whence their mo
nitions are sounded ! That this recital should be forced, in the
discharge of a last, high, and solemn duty, frorii the lips of a pub
lic servant, who had stood first and highest in the councils of the
nation for nearly half a century, being about to retire to the scenes
of private life-^-who had seen it all, and fought the battles of
democracy, in a long and painful struggle against theste bold ad
vances of regal power — imparts to it a just demand for intense and
profound attention ! The facts are notable, and can not be denied.
They are fresh in the memory of every living man.
That the chief executive of the nation, in the discharge of his
high functions, should have departed so much from the primitive
simplicity of President Washington, who was accustomed to min
gle his official responsibility with the coordinate authority as with
compeers ; that treaties with foreign powers, of the greatest mo
ment, should be originated and made without a word of advice

504 THE< TIMES OF MR. CLAY.
with the senate of the nation, and imposed upon that body?* under
circumstances which allow them no voice or influence in the terms ;
that the executive officers of the government, in all their classes,
at home and abroad, should be so appointed, and so controlled by
the will of the president, that "the advice and consent" of the
senate, prescribed by the constitution, and which was designed to
confer coordinate authority over all such public agents, should
have been reduced to a mere formal nullity ; that the united wis
dom, the experience, and the sovereign will of the democratic
branch of the government, should be obliged to consult the will of
the executive for purposes of legislation, and go begging at the
feet of one-man power for what the people want, and then perad-
venture be turned off with a veto ; that the purse of the nation
should be wrested from its lawful keepers, and kept out of their
hands in perpetuity ; — these are facts, which, to say the least, were
never expected, when, in the eighteenth century, the people poured
out their blood like water, in hope of freedom, and when, sup
posing they had acquired it, they established the government and
institutions of the United States!'
It will be seen, therefore, that Mr. Clay rose with democracy,
when Jefferson rose ; that he stood' shpulder to shoulder with the
democrats, himself a democrat — more commonly called repub
licans in the earlier periods of the republic — and fought with them
under Jefferson ; under Madison through the war of 1812 ; under
Monroe, and under J. Q. Adams ; that the democratic or repub
lican era ended with the retirement of Mr. Adams ; that Mr. Clay
has always claimed to be a democrat ; that an alarming regal pow
er was asserted and assumed by General Jackson, and has main
tained the ascendency, with but little interval ; and that Mr. Clay's
great efforts, since the rise of these dangerous pretensions, have
been directed to limit, restrict, and suppress them, for the purpose
of re-establishing the democratic power of the constitution.
END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.

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