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THE
LIFE AND TIMES
HENRY CLAY.
BT
SAMUEL M. SCHMUCKEB, LL.D.
OF "PUBLIC AKD rUTATB HISTORT 0V XAFOLKOX in.," " UTI in
V AUXAJron KAMILTOX." " urc AMD TIMES OP THOKA* micuo*,'
M BUTOZ or tiu roo* atonais," nc.
PHILADELPHIA :
JOHN E. POTTER AND COMPANY*
617 SANSOM STREET.
XnUrad, according to Act of (JongrcM, in the year 1860, by
SAMUEL M SCH MUCK Eli,
to the Clerk'i Office of th District Court of the United SUtti for th lUstcrn Diftrtft
of PennylTui.
PREFACE.
A GREAT orator lives in his speeches ; an eminent
statesman, in the wise and patriotic measures which
he may have devised and advocated. That record
of the career of these individuals is most complete,
which combines together such a proportion of both
these kinds of achievement, as will reproduce most
successfully the peculiar individuality of the man.
The present writer has been guided by this prin-
ciple in the preparation of the following work. His
endeavor has been to comprise within a compass
more portable and convenient than that of any other
work now existing on the subject, a narrative of the
most interesting and important events of Henry Clay's
life; at the same time also demonstrating to the
reader what manner of man he was, and how noble
the actions were which he performed, by furnishing
appropriate extracts from his orations, at those precise
stages of the narrative to which they respectively be-
(Hi)
W PREFACE.
longed ; as well as by adding some of his most re-
markable master-pieces, unabridged, in the concluding
portion of the volume.
The following b'iography claims to be impartial in
its statements. The writer, although he entertains a
due appreciation of Mr. Clay's extraordinary merits,
is not his idolater ; and, consequent^, the reader will
not find in these pages a repetition of those undis-
cerning and extravagant eulogies of their subject,
which have characterized the productions of some of
his biographers ; nor, on the other hand, any of those
implacable and bitter invectives which have deformed
the pages of others. Summary as the work com-
paratively is, and was intended to be, it was the effort
of the writer, by a few bold and simple strokes of
the historic pencil, to furnish a portraiture of the il-
lustrious theme, which would perhaps prove as satis-
factory to the popular reader, as a more extended, ela-
borate, and artificial representation might have been.
S. M. S.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Birth of Henry Clay His Family He attends School " Millhoy of the
Slashes" Is placed in Denny's Store His Early Habits Obtains a Desk
in the Office of the Clerk of the Virginia Court of Chancery His Indus-
try Chancellor Wythe His Studies Prepares for the Bar Is admitted
His Removal to Lexington, Kentucky His Limited Resources His
Further Studies in Lexington Admitted to the Bar in Fayette County
His First Speech in the Debating Club PACK 9
CHAPTER II.
Mr. Clay's Professional Success Case of Mrs. Phelps Of the Two Germans
Of Willis The New Constitution of Kentucky Mr. Clay's Opinions on
the Abolition of Slavery His Speeches on the Subject Consequent Un-
popularity Elected to the General Assembly of Kentucky Alien and
Sedition Laws He advocates the Removal of the State Capital The
Result His Marriage and Family 18
CHAPTER III.
Mr. Clay's Defence of Aaron Burr His Election to the United States Semite
Announces his System cf "Internal Improvement" His Subsequent
Election to the Kentucky Legislature His Duel with Mr. Humphrey
Marshall His Services in the Legislature His Re-election to the U. S.
Senate His Speech on the Perdido Tract 30
CHAPTER IV.
Proposal to Recharter the United States Bank Mr. Clay opposes it Sub-
sequent Change in His Opinions Reasons for that Change Mr. Clay
elected to the House of Representatives Is chosen Speaker English and
French Hostilities against the United States Mr. Clay in Favor of War
with England Hostilities commenced Events of the War Mr. Clny
appointed Commissioner to Ghent Treaty of Peace Mr. Clay's Return
to Kentucky 42
1* (V)
VI CONTENTS.
CHAPTER V.
Establishment of a National Bank Mr. Clay's Advocacy of it Proposal to
increase the Salary of Representatives Mr. Clay's Vote on this Subject
The South American Republics Mr. Clay's Proposition to sympathize
with Them Ilia Eloquence on this Subject Its Final Results Resolu-
tions censuring QeneralJackson The Admission of Missouri to the Union
The Missouri Compromise Mr. Clay's Retirement to Professional Life
His Ill-Health Return to Congress 53
CHAPTER VI.
Recognition of the Freedom of Greece The Subject of Protection of Ame-
rican Industry Mr. Clay's Speech respecting it Visit of Lafaj'elte to
U. S. Is received by Mr. Clay in the House of Representatives Presi-
dential Campaign of 1S24 Rival Candidates Mr. Adams elected Presi-
dent Mr. Clay appointed Secretary of State Charge of "Bargain and
Sale" Its Falsehood and Malignity Mr. Clay's Self-Vindication... 71
CHAPTER VIL
Mr. Clay as Secretary of State His Official Activity General Jackson re-
yives the Charge of Bargain nnd Sale Unpopularity of the Adams Ad-
ministration John Randolph His Assault on Mr. Clay Duel between
Clay and Randolph Its Incidents and Result Election of General Jack-
Bon to the Presidency Return of Mr. Clay to Kentucky Malignity and
Persecution of his Enenves His Re-election to the United States Senate
Is nominated for the Presidency 84
CHAPTER VIII.
The Tariff of 1832 Mr. Clay's Bill His Argument in Defence of it Dis-
content in South Carolina The Proclamation of President Jackson
Counter Proclamation of Governor Hayne Mr. Clay's Compromise Bill
His Argument in Support of it Mr. Webster's Opposition Its Final
Passage Peace of the Union preserved Mr. Clay's Journey thrnngh the
Northern and Eastern States Exhibitions of Popular Enthusiasm Hit
Return to Washington 101
CHAPTER IX.
Disposal of the Public Lnnds Policy of Mr. Clay respecting them His
Report on the Subject President Jackson's Opposition to it The Bunk
of the United States The President resolves to remove the Deposits
Changes produced thereby in his Cabinet The Opposition of Congress to
the Measure The Deposits removed Mr. Clay's Speeches on the Subject
The Expunging Resolution Extracts 118
CONTENTS. Til
CHAPTER X.
Mr. Clay's Opposition to President Jackson His Visit to Kentucky Ame-
rican Claims on France Their Adjustment Mr. Clay's Report on the
Subject Election of Mr. Van Buren to the Presidency The Sub-Treasury
System Mr. Clay's Opposition to it His Speeches on the Subject
Defeat of the Bill proposing it Its Subsequent Revival Continued Op-
position to it by Mr. Clay 134
CHAPTER XI.
The Campaign of 1840 Nomination of Gen. Harrison to the Presidency
His Election His Death Accession of Mr. Tyler Mr. Clay's Bill on the
U. S. Bank Its Veto by Pres. Tyler Mr. Clay's Speech on the Veto
Mr. Clay's Visit to his Birthplace Incidents of that Occasion Mr. Clay
resigns his Seat in the Senate His Letter to the Legislature of Kentucky
His Address to the Senate on his Resignation- Impression produced by
its Delivery 151
CHAPTER XII.
Mr. Clay's Return to Private Life The Lexington Barbecue His Speech
on this Occasion His Visit to Richmond, Indiana Incident in Reference
to the Slavery Question His Speech on this Occasion His Visit to Day-
ton, Ohio His Journey to the South-Eastern States Enthusiastic Recep-
tions during the Progress of his Journey He sojourns at Washington
Is nominated for the Presidency by the Whig Convention at Baltimore
He returns to Ashland 176
CHAPTER XIII.
The Presidential Campaign of 1844 Revival of the "Bargain and Sale"
Slander Characteristics of the Contest Its Unexpected Result Defeat
of the Whigs Disappointment of Mr. Clay's Friends Various Proofs of
their Attachment to him The Mexican War Death of Henry Clay, Jr.
Mr. Clay joins the Church His Speech on the Mexican War Hi
Views on Slavery His Visit to the North His Reception 188
CHAPTER XIV.
Ihe Political Campaign of 1848 Wishes of Mr. Clay's Friends Nomination
of General Taylor for the Presidency His Election Mr. Clay re-elected
to the U. S. Senate His Letter in Reference to the Abolition of Slavery
in Kentucky Its Results Compromise Measures of I860 Their Import
Mr. Clay's Efforts in Favor of Them Opposition of both Northern and
Southern Senators Their Ultimate Defeat .. 203
Till CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XV.
Mr. Clay's Views of the Tariff of 1846 The Harbor And Rirer BUI Mr.
Clay's Interest in its Passage Tactics of the Opposition Mr. Clny'i
Appeal* on the Subject Ultimate Defeat of the Bill Mr. Clay's last Visit
to Ashland His Return to Washington His Interview with KoMutb
His Last Sickneis His Death That Event announced in Congress.. 229
CHAPTER XVI.
Henry Clay's Obsequies at Washington Remarks of Mr. Underwood
Eulogy pronounced by Mr. Seward The Address of Mr. Breckenridge
Religions Services in the Senate Chamber The Remains conveyed to
Lexington Their Reception there Intense Popular Peeling Addresses
Masterly Eulogy by Mr. Crittenden 237
APPENDIX.
SELECT SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAY.
I.
OB the Oreek Revolution. Delivered in the House of Representative*,
Jan. 20, 1824 31ft
II.
Onr Treatment of the Cherokee*. Delivered in the Senate of the United
States, Feb. 14, 1835 321
III.
On the Public Lands. Delivered in the Senate of the United States,
1832 .. 355
IV.
On African Colonisation. Delivered in the House of Representatives, Jan
20, 1827, before the American Colonixation Society 401
HENRY CLAY.
CHAPTER I.
BIRTH OF HENRY CLAT HIS FAMILY HE ATTENDS SCHOOL " MILLBOT
OF THE SLASHES" is PLACED IN DENNY'S STORE HIS EARLT
HABITS OBTAINS A DESK IN THE OFFICE OF THE CLERK OF THE VIR-
GINIA COURT OF CHANCERY HIS INDUSTRY CHANCELLOR WYTHE
HIS STUDIES PREPARES FOR THE BAR IS ADMITTED HIS REMOVAL
TO LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY HIS LIMITED RESOURCES FURTHER
STUDIES IN LEXINGTON ADMITTED TO THE BAR IN FAYETTE COUNTT
HIS FIRST SPEECH IN THE DEBATING CLUB.
HENRY CLAY, who may justly be denominated the
most versatile and eloquent of American statesmen,
was born in Hanover county, Virginia, on the 12th
of April, 1777. He first saw the light at a period
when his native land was involved in the desperate
struggles of the Revolution by which she achieved
her liberties; and his infancy was nursed amid its
lowering storms and thrilling vicissitudes. His father
was an esteemed Baptist clergyman, who officiated in
that neighborhood ; a region of country to which the
epithet "Slashes" was applied, as significant of the
low and marshy nature of the soil. Henry was one
of a family of eight children, consisting of five sons
(9)
10 THELIFEANDTIMES
and three daughters. The latter all died at an early
period ; of the sons, the Rev. Porter Clay, who lived
subsequently at Jacksonville, Illinois, alone attained,
with his illustrious brother, a maturer age.
The future statesman lost his father by death in
1781, when he was in his fifth year. The family were
left in very dependent circumstances ; yet the mother
of Henry, who was a person of superior intellect and
resolution, secured for him the best mental cultivation
which was then within her reach. He was sent to the
nearest school in the neighborhood, where an English-
man of more than ordinary attainments, named Dea-
con, taught the usual branches of rudimental know-
ledge. This seat of the muses, thus destined to so
unexpected a posthumous fame, was an humble log
cabin, with no floor but the naked earth, the door and
windows being always open to the free airs of heaven.
In that ungenial spot this boy of such extraordinary
gifts, and destined to so wide a celebrity, acquired a
knowledge of reading, writing, and arithmetic. In
the vicinity of this school, the widowed mother con-
tinued to reside for some years ; during which period
Henry, when not engaged with his books, was called
upon to assist in various household offices. One of
these, was to procure from a mill in the Slashes the
necessary flour for the use of the family; which duty
he usually accomplished by riding on horseback
thither with a bag; and thus arose that phrase which
afterward became familiar to millions of American
ears, as applied to him : " the Mill-boy of the Slashes."
Several years after the death of her first husband,
Airs. Clay married Captain Henry Watkins, a resident
OF HENRY CLAY. 11
of Richmond. By his means, Henry was placed in
1791, when fourteen years of age, in the store of
Richard Denn}-, in that city; and there he remained
for the period of a year. During this interval the
boy was remarked for his industry, his amiability of
temper, and propriety of behaviour; but at the same
time, he exhibited a rarer and equally commendable
quality. He evinced a desire to improve himself in-
tellectually, and the hours of leisure which other
youths of the same age devoted to amusement or to
folly, he employed in reading such interesting and
useful books as came within his reach. His step-
father seems to have discerned the remarkable pro-
mise of the boy, and to have taken a more than ordi-
nary interest in his welfare. Accordingly he applied
to his friend Peter Tinsley, the clerk of the high
Court of Chancery of Virginia, at Richmond, to
admit young Clay into his office as one of his subor-
dinates and assistants. A situation in this office was
much prized, was with much difficulty attained, and at
that time no vacancy existed in the usual number of
clerks ; nevertheless, the influence and assiduities of
Captain Watkins prevailed, and Henry was promoted
to the envied post.
The appearance of young Clay in this office was at
first the signal for considerable amusement among his
more polished and advanced associates. His personal
characteristics might have excused a little merriment
on the occasion, for he was a tall, gaunt, awkward
youth, whose confusion at the novelty of his situation
was apparent; and his attire, consisting of a suit of
Virginia cloth, resembling in color a mixture of pep-
12 THE LIFE AND TIMES
per and salt, seemed equally singular and anomalous
But the associates of the young clerk soon discovered
the better and higher qualities which he possessed;
his manliness, independence and amiability ; and soon
he srained their favor and admiration. His excellent
O
habits of industry also won their regard and that of
his employer ; for he exhibited an insatiable desire for
mental improvement, and his leisure time was still
devoted to the increase of his knowledge, by the
perusal of all the works of value and entertainment
which he could secure. Like all intellects of a high
order, his mind felt a natural attraction, an instinc-
tive, elective affinity towards those beauties and mental
achievements which other minds of similar gifts and
capacities have produced and elaborated, and which
are preserved on the printed page for the gratification
and improvement of mankind.
Henry Clay's connection with the clerk's office of
the Court of Chancery, placed him within the reach
of influences which produced a decisive effect upon
his future destiny through life, and moulded it in a
new and more attractive form. He was there brought
in contact with Chancellor Wythe, one of the ablest
and most eminent men whom Virginia has produced.
The Chancellor soon discerned the superior gifts of the
young clerk; and being in want of an amanuensis in
recording his decisions, as well as preparing other ne-
cessary writings, he requested the chief clerk to allow
him the assistance and the service of young Clay.
This request was complied with; and the result was,
that during the period of four years he served the
Chancellor in the capacity of clerk, at the same time
OFHENRTCLAT. IS
enjoying the benefits of his society, his advice, and his
patronage.
Nothing could have heen more fortunate for young
Clay than his propitious relation. His patron soon
began to entertain a high admiration for his character,
and to feel an interest in his future destiny, lie
readily discerned that his clerk possessed talents of a
high order; and these he resolved to nurture, to de-
velop and encourage, that they might fully achieve
their legitimate destiny. He gave him directions as
to the course of his studies; pointed out what depart-
ments of knowledge should be explored ; designated
what books should be studied ; and stimulated him
in the pursuit of information. The apt and ambitious
pupil of the Chancellor made the utmost of these for-
tunate influences, and his industry was as remarkable
as his progress in knowledge was extraordinarj'. His
capacious mind, developing and ripening now into the
full stature and capacity of manhood, advanced with
the facility of a giant, through the realms of know-
ledge ; and although his acquisitions were not syste-
matic, nor pursued according to the symmetrical ar-
rangements which exist in institutions professedly
devoted to the pursuit of science, they were diversified,
and extensive, and practical.
Young Clay enjoyed one great advantage from this
peculiarity of his early studies ; he was thrown in an
unusual degree upon his own resources ; he used no
props or stilts ; and thus his mind attained one of the
chief essentials and attributes of greatness perfect
self-dependence arid reliance. After he had spent
several years in the services of Chancellor Wythe, he
2
14 THE LIFE AND TIMES
followed his suggestion, and was enrolled in the office
of Attorney-General Brooke as a regular student of law.
The Chancellor had directed his aspirations to the bar,
ns the future arena of his life and labors; he followed
the suggestion ; and for a year devoted himself indus-
triously to the specific studies which were requisite to
fit him for admission to the profession. During this
interval, another influence was brought to bear upon
young Clay, which was of the most useful character,
and helped to develop his intellectual energies by
drawing them forth to the light of day, and assuring
him of the till then unkown powers which Nature had
placed within him. While a student in Mr. Brooke's
office, he established a debating society, for the pur-
pose of practice in public speaking. Among the
young persons who were associated with him in this
enterprise, there were several who afterward attained
distinction. But the debates and orations in which
Clay took part in this association, first elicited and
displayed his remarkable gifts as a natural orator;
they surprised and delighted himself with the first
consciousness of his latent gifts; while they furnished
to his associates abundant and convincing proof of
what his future distinction would be. The fame of
the young orator even went abroad among the citi-
zens of Richmond, and caused the hopes and admira-
tion of the public to be associated with his name.
In 1792 Clay's mother, her husband, and family,
removed to the vicinity of Lexington, Kentucky.
He remained in Richmond to continue his Etudies;
and one year after his entrance into the office of Mr.
Brooke, he wag examined, and admitted to practice,
OFHENRTCLAY. 15
by the Virginia Court of Appeals. This event oc-
curred in 1797, in his twenty-first year. "With his
license in his pocket, as his only possession, except
the rare gifts and capabilities which he carried in his
head, the young adventurer then left Richmond,
where no opening seemed to invite him ; and he jour-
neyed to Lexington, in Kentucky, for the purpose of
commencing the practice of his profession. He him-
self afterward described the state of his finances, and
the moderation of his hopes at this period, in the fol-
lowing graphic language, which was uttered in Lex-
ington, in June, 1842, at a public entertainment given
him by the citizens :
"In looking back upon my origin and progress
through life, I have great reason to be thankful. My
father died in 1781, leaving me an infant of too tender
years to retain any recollection of his smiles or en-
dearments. My surviving parent removed to this
State in 1792, leaving me, a boy of fifteen years of
age, in the office of the high court of chancery, in the
city of Richmond, without guardian, without pecu-
niary 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 Virginia, and also
under the auspices of the venerable and lamented
Chancellor Wythe, for whom I had acted as amanuen-
sis. I obtained a license to practise tho profession,
from the judges of the court of appeals of Virginia,
and established myself in Lexington, in 1797, without
16 THE LIFE AND TIMES
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 distin-
guished by eminent members. I remember how com-
fortable 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 fee.
My hopes were more than realized ; I immediately
rushed into a successful and lucrative practice."
On his arrival in Lexington, in 1797, he did not
apply at once for admission to practice, but spent a
few months in prosecuting his legal studies; doubt-
less from the necessity which existed, that he should
make himself familiar with the differences which pre-
vailed between the laws of the State which he had left,
and those of the State to which he had removed. At
length his application was made, and he was admitted ;
thus becoming the member of a bar which already in-
cluded among its ornaments several men of distin-
guished abilities, such as John Breckenridge, James
Hughes, and George Nicholas.
An incident occurred during the short period spent
by Henry Clay in preparatory studies before his ad-
mission to the Lexington bar, which deserves to be
narrated, inasmuch as, in the case of so gifted a man,
it furnishes an evidence that much diffidence and
modesty may often be combined with vast intellectual
gifts. A debating club existed among the young men
of Lexington, of which Mr. Clay soon became a
member. He had attended several meetings without
taking any part in the proceedings. On a certain
eveuing, just as the debate was about to be termi
OF HEN BY CLAY. 17
nated, and the usual vote to be taken, he was heard
to remark, in an under-tone, that he did not think
the subject had been fully exhausted. Several of the
members then urged him to speak, and their importu-
nities at length prevailed. Mr. Clay rose, but in the ut-
most confusion. He stam mered out the words, *' Gentle-
men of the jury," to the surprise and amusement of
the assembly, and his trepidation increased. He re-
peated the same words a second time, with a still
more aggravated result. At length, by a vigorous
effort, probably stung by the illy-suppressed ridicule
of his audience, he mastered his fears, and com-
menced his speech. As he progressed he gained con-
fidence ; he warmed with the subject ; his fine powers
came into full play; and before he concluded, he con-
vinced all who heard him that he was one of Nature's
noblemen, an orator of high gifts, and of brilliant
promise. Mr. James Hughes, who was present, after
ward a distinguished member of the Lexington bar,
asserted repeatedly on subsequent occasions, that that
was the best speech Mr. Clay ever delivered ; a judg-
ment indeed of doubtful accuracj*, but indicative of
the high admiration with which this virgin eftbrf of
Mr. Clay inspired him and his associates.
18 THE LIFE AND TIMES
CHAPTER II.
. CLAT'S PROFESSIONAL SUCCESS CASE OF MRS. PHELPS OF ins
TWO GERMANS OF WILLIS THE NEW CONSTITUTION OF KENTUCKY
MR. CLAY'S OPINIONS ON THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY in?
SPEECHES ON THE SUBJECT CONSEQUENT UNPOPULARITY ELECTED
TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF KENTUCKY ALIEN AND SEDITION
LAWS HE ADVOCATES THE REMOVAL OF THE STATE CAPITAL TUB
RESULT HIS MARRIAGE AND FAMILY.
THE early experience of Mr. Clay in the practice
of his profession, was such as might have been antici-
pated from the superiority of his talents. Very full
details of events which occurred at so distant a period,
do not now exist ; but such as do remain, clearly de-
monstrate that he soon attained a high rank as a
popular and eloquent advocate. A few incidents ap-
pertaining to this portion of his career, may here be
appropriately introduced.
One of the first cases in which he was retained, was
that of a Mrs. Phelps, who was charged with the
crime of murder. She was the wife of a respectable
farmer, who, previous to the act for which she was
arrested and arraigned, had been esteemed as an ex-
emplary woman. In a moment of passion, when
quarrelling with her husband's sister, she seized a
loaded musket which happened to be at hand, and
discharged it at her, producing immediate death. The
OF HENRY CLAY. 19
crime was not denied; the only possible plea was,
that, the act being committed in the heat of passion,
without any malice prepense, the defendant should
not suffer death, but merely a punishment which,
while it vindicated the majesty of the law, would not
ruin the happiness and blast the reputation of the
accused. In addressing the jury on behalf of this
client, Mr. Clay dwelt with much eloquence, as is re-
ported, upon the fact that the defendant was a woman
of good reputation, who acknowledged her fault, and
felt the utmost regret for it ; that her husband, the
brother of the deceased, pitied and forgave her crime,
and interceded in her behalf; while it was evident
that the sudden gust of passion under which she had
committed the deed, amounted in realit}* to tempo-
rary delirium, during the existence of which her reason
had been dethroned. In taking this position, Mr.
Clay may be said to have invented or introduced that
plea of insanity in cases of sudden crime, which haa
been urged so frequently since in defence of many
similar acts of unpremeditated violence.
Another trial in which the popular talents of the
young advocate were displayed, was that of two Ger-
mans, the father and son, who were charged with
murder in the first degree. The circumstances of the
case were aggravated, and the general expectation of
the commuuity was, that nothing could save the necks
of the culprits from the halter. Mr. Clay, never-
theless, undertook their defence. The fact of tho
commission of the deed was clearly proved, and the
only resource of the advocate was, to endeavor to
dimmish the grade of the crime in the estimation of
20 THE LIFE AND TIMES
the court and jury. After a laborious contest of five
days, the verdict of the jury was manslaughter. But
the resources of the young counsellor were not yet
exhausted ; and he immediately moved for an arrest
of judgment, supporting the motion with such plau-
eible and conclusive arguments, that the court wa8
compelled to grant it. The result was, that the de-
fendants were eventually discharged; but the conclusion
of the scene was as singular as were the ability and suc-
cess of the advocate. The wife and mother of the ac-
cused, who had been present in the court during the
trial, watching every step and vicissitude of its progress
with the most anxious attention, as soon as she learned
that her husband and son were set at liberty, rushed
forward to the bar, and in the presence of the crowd,
threw her arms around the neck of their deliverer,
and overwhelmed him with caresses. Such a demon-
stration was doubtless much more complimentary to
the talents than agreeable to the feelings of the youth-
ful and blushing advocate.
Another case of similar character which may be
mentioned, was that of a person named Willis, who
had committed a murder under circumstances of atro-
cious guilt. Mr. Clay defended him, and after a pro-
tracted trial, the jury were unable to agree upon a
verdict. The result was, that a new trial was ordered,
and Mr. Clay again appeared for the defendant. He
immediately put in the plea, well known to the com-
mon law, that no person can be twice put in jeopardy
of his life upon the same charge. The court replied,
that such a plea could not be received, and forbade
the clerk to enter it. Mr. Clay thereupon informed
OF HENRY CLAY. 21
the judges, that he would abandon the case if such a
decision was insisted on, and immediately withdrew
from the court. By this decisive step, the wljole re-
sponsibility of violating what seemed to be an acknow-
ledged principle of law, was thrown upon the judges;
and either their ignorance or their fears counselled
them not to assume it. They consequently sent a
messenger after the retreating lawyer, requesting him
to return. He complied, and was then informed that
he might proceed in the conduct of the case as he
pleased. Mr. Clay then argued the point more at
length, insisting that a previous trial was equiva-
lent in effect to a plea of autrefoits acquit, or a former
acquittal ; and that on that ground, his client was en-
titled to his discharge. The resolution and ingenuity
of the advocate prevailed, and a verdict of not guilty
was ultimately rendered.
It is doubtless true that cases of ability and success
similar to these, occur in the early career of all law-
yers of superior capacities, and are in themselves
nothing miraculous; nevertheless, they were appro-
priate to the character and talents of Mr. Clay, and
deserve to be recorded, as forming part of the first
professional triumphs of a man who afterward achieved
so very distinguished a destiny.
The transition from the pursuits of the legal pro-
fession to those of a political life was very natural,
and almost inevitable in the case of a young aspirant
after fame and fortune as gifted as Mr. Clay; and ac-
cordingly we find, that as early as 1798, when the
inhabitants of Kentucky were about to elect the dele-
gates to a Convention to frame a new State Constitu-
22 THE LIFE AND TIMES
lion, Mr. Clay took a part in the discussions which
accompanied that movement. The most remarkable
feature in the new Constitution which was proposed,
was the gradual abolition of slavery in the State.
The plan which he favored was, that the generation
of slaves then living should remain in bondage; but
that all negroes born in the State after a certain period,
should be free. He published a series of articles in
the Kentucky Gazette at Lexington, over the signa-
ture of Scaevola, defending this policy; arid he advo-
cated it in his public speeches. But the step was un-
acceptable to the people ; he and those who approved
of his views were greatly in the minority; the mea-
sure was completely crushed at the time; and Mr.
Clay lost thereby much of his popularity. Neverthe-
less, he adhered consistently to the opinions on the
the subject of slavery which he then defended, through-
out his whole subsequent career. He reiterated the
same sentiments on many occasions with great bold-
ness. Thus when addressing the American Coloni-
zation Society at Washington, in January, 1827, he
thus expressed himself:
" The population of the United States being, at
this time, estimated at about ten millions of the Euro-
pean 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.
Dut an annual exportation of a number equal to the
OF HENRY CLAY. 23
annual increase, at the beginning of the term, and
persevered in to the end of it, would accomplish more
than to keep the parent stock stationary. The colo-
nists would comprehend more than an equal propor-
tion of those of the prolific ages. Few of those who
had passed that age, would migrate. So that the an-
nual 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,
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 sta-
tionary. 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 fort}' millions to not more than two,
while the same ability will have quadrupled. Even
if colonization should then altogether cease, the pro-
portion 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 without, on nc-
2ount of that incongruous and perilous element in our
population.
"Further: by the annual withdrawal of fifty-two
thousand persons of color, there would be an annual
space created for an equal number of the white race.
The period, therefore, of the duplication of the whites,
2i THE LIFE AI?D TIMES
(>y the laws which govern population, would be ao
celerated.
" Such is the extension and use which may be made
of the principle of colonization, in application to our
slave population, by those states which are alone com-
petent to undertake and execute it. All, or any one
of the states, which tolerate slaver}', may adopt and
execute it, by co-operation, or separate exertion.
"If I could be instrumental in eradicating this
deepest stain 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 satisfaction which I should enjoy, for the honor
of all the triumphs ever decreed to the most success-
ful conqueror.
" We are reproached witli doing mischief by the
agitating of this question. Collateral consequences
we are not responsible for. It is not this society,
which has produced the great moral revolution, which
the age exhibits. What would they, who thus re-
proach us, have done? If they would repress all
tendencies 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.
The.y must revive the slave-trade, with all its train of
atrocities. They must blow out the moral lights around
us, and extinguish that greatest torch of all, whicb
0* HEX TIT CLAY. 25
America presents to a benighted world, pointing
way to their rights, their liberties, and their happi-
ness. And when they have achieved all these pur-
poses, 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 sympa-
thies, and all humane and benevolent efforts among
freemen, in behalf of the unhappy portion 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 Kentucky Colonization Society,
Mr. Clay uttered the following sentiments:
" More than thirty years ago an attempt was made,
in this commonwealth, to adopt a system of gradual
emancipation, similar to that which the illustrious
Franklin had mainly contributed to introduce, in
1780, in the State founded by the benevolent Penn.
And among the acts of my life, which I look back to
with most satisfaction, is that of my having co-ope-
rated, with other zealous and intelligent friend?, 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 trans-
scend 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 num-
bers, but submitted to the decision of the majority,
3
26 THE LIFE AND TIMES
with a grace which the minority, in a republic, should
ever yield to such a decision. I have, nevertheless,
never ceased, and never shall cease, to regret a deci-
sion, tho effects of which have been to place us in the
rear of our neighbors who are exempt from slavery,
in the state of agriculture, the progress of manufac-
tures, the advance of improvements, and the general
piosperity of society. Is there no remedy? Must
we endure perpetually all the undoubted mischiefs of
a 81,'ite of slaver}', as it affects both the free and bond
ponions of these States ? "What mind is sufficiently
extensive 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 in-
stitutions of the whites, and the irresistible progress
of public opinion, throughout America, as well as in
Europe, it is impossible not to anticipate frequent in-
surrections 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 human race. By
the very condition of the relation which subsists be-
tween us, we are enemies of each other. They know
well the wrongs which their ancestors suffered, at the
hands of our ancestors, and the wrongs which they
believe they continue to endure, although they may
be unable to avenge them. They are kept in subjec-
tion only by the superior intelligence and superior
power of the predominant race.
OF HENRY SLAT. 27
"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 population, and their com-
fortable establishment in distinct and distalit coun-
tries. To say nothing of the greatest difficulty in the
formation 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 contemplate 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?"
Notwithstanding the temporary unpopularity which
the utterance of sentiments such as these, or of simi-
lar import, threw upon him, Mr. Clay soon regained
the favor of the people of Kentucky, to whom he had
by this time become known as a rising young lawyer
and politician of unequalled abilities; and four years
after, in 1803, while he was absent at the Olympian
Springs, he was nominated and elected a member of
the General Assembly of his adopted State. One
means by which he had regained the popular favor,
was the energy and zeal with which he had con-
demned the alien and sedition laws which were passed
during the administration of John Adams. The
alien law authorized the President to order any alien
or foreigner whom he chose to consider dangerous to
28 THE LIFE AND TIMES
tlie peace and safety of the country, to leave it, or be
imprisoned for three years. By the sedition law, he
was invested with full power to punish till oflences of
speech and of the press. These measures, which Mr.
Clay regarded as anti-repuhlican, he opposed with
his utmost ability; and such opposition was consist-
ent with the doctrines which he held as a Jefferso-
nian Democrat. It was under this banner, and in
conjunction with this party, that he commenced his
political career, and whatever measures promoted the
enjoyment of the largest degree of freedom, consist-
ent with the stability of society, the administration
of law, and the rights of others, he was disposed to
advocate. In this instance he was on the popular
side, and the result was, his first election to an office
in the gift of the people.
The most important measure which Mr. Clay ad-
vocated during his term of service in the Legislatn^
was the removal of the State capital from Frankfort.
In his speech on that occasion he is said to have com-
pared in a humorous vein the unfitness of the loca-
tion of that city to an inverted hat. Frankfort was
the body of the hat, the surrounding high lands and
bluffs were the brim. The place resembled Nature's
great penitentiary ; and was in no respect suited to
the distinction of being the capital of the Common-
wealth. The Legislature finally resolved to make
the proposed removal ; but as no suitable locality was
ever afterward chosen, Frankfort still remained the
seat of government.
Mr. Clay was married in April, 1797, a year and a
half after his removal to Kentucky, to Mies Lucretia
OF HENRY CLAT. 29
Hart, daughter of Colonel Hart, one of the most es-
teemed and respectable citizens of Lexington. Mrs.
Clay was a native of Hagerstown, Maryland, and
four years younger than her distinguished husband.
A long life of domestic felicity afterward crowned
their union ; and a family of eleven children succes-
sively graced their family circle ; of whom a large
proportion died in early life. One of his surviving
sons fell with honor in his country's service, on the
blood-stained field of Buena Vista, in 1847.
3*
80 THE LIPS AND TIMES
CHAPTER III.
MR. CLAT'S DEFENCE OF AARON BURR nis ELECTION TO TITE UNITED
STATES SENATE ANNOUNCING HIS SYSTEM OF " INTERNAL IMPROVE-
MENT" HIS SUBSEQUENT ELECTION TO THE KENTUCKY* LEGISLA-
TURE HIS DCEL WITH MR. HUMPHREY MARSHALL HIS SERVICES
IN THE LEGISLATURE HIS RE-ELECTION TO THE U. S. SENATE HIS
SPEECH ON THE PERDIDO TRACT.
Ix the year 1806 Mr. Clay became engaged in pro-
fessional duties which brought him into intimate rela-
tions with the celebrated Aaron Burr. A short time
previous to this event, two men named \\ r ood and
Street, had removed from Virginia to Frankfort, in
Kentucky, and had established a newspaper under the
title of the "The Western World," in which they
charged several prominent persons in that State with
being engaged in projects and conspiracies having for
their object the separation of some of the Southwest-
ern States from the Confederacy. Among those thus
charged was Judge Innis, whose high character should
have protected him from such an imputation. He
prosecuted the editors of this paper for libel, and re-
covered exemplary damages. Mr. Clay represented
the Judge in this suit, and displayed his usual skill
and ability in its conduct.
Shortly afterward public rumor charged Aaron Burr
with treasonable designs against the Federal Govern-
OF HENRY CLAf. 81
ment; and he was arrested when passing through
Kentucky at the instance of Colonel Daviess, then
the United States District Attorney for that district.
As Mr. Clay's reputation was already very great as an
advocate, Burr's first step was to retain him for his
defence; and as all the other rumors and charges of
treason which had been prevalent had been proven to
be false and groundless, Mr. Clay inferred that Mr.
Burr was also an innocent victim of public and wan-
ton slander. He agreed to defend Burr on the trial ;
but when the indictment was sent in to the Grand
Jury, they deemed the .evidence insufficient, and ig-
nored the bill. Burr was soon afterward arrested
again, and again retained Mr. Clay; but as the latter
had recently been elected to a high office in the Fede-
ral Government, he declined to accept the trust unless
Mr. Burr would give him a written assurance of his
entire innocence. This assurance Burr gave in the
following language:
"I have no design, nor have I taken any measure,
to promote a dissolution of the Union, or the separa-
tion 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 knowledge.
I have no design to intermeddle with the Govern-
ment, 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 promised, 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
ine, by my authority, or with my knowledge. My
82 THE LIFE AND TIMES
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 complacency ; 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 expla-
nations proper, as well to counteract the chimerical
tales which malevolent persons have so industriously
circulated, as to satisfy you that you have not espoused
the cause of a man in any way unfriendly to the laws
or the interests of the country."
The Grand Jury, however, ignored the bill a second
time, and again Mr. Clay escaped the necessity of
defending a traitor; but subsequently, in 1815, when
he returned from Ghent, and visited Mr. Jefferson at
"Washington, the latter placed before him such indis-
putable proofs of Burr's guilt, that he was convinced
of the falsehood of his protestations of innocence.
Accordingly, when Clay and Burr accidentally met
in New York soon after, and when the latter wished
to renew their friendly relations, Mr. Clay declined
the proffer, and repulsed his advances.
In 1806 Mr. Clay was elected by the Legislature of
Kentucky to fill a vacancy in the Senate of the United
States, occasioned by the resignation of Hon. John
Adair. It was certainly a rare and singular honor for
it young man of thirty years of age, to be chosen to
occupy so high and responsible a post. The ability
and industry which he exhibited in his new office,
however, soon convinced the public that the trust had
not been misplaced. He took an active part in the
OF HENRY CLAY. 85
discussions which occupied the attention of the Sen-
ate ; and among other things offered and advocated a
resolution which proposed the appropriation of a
quantity of land for the opening of a canal, to be cut
around the rapids of the Ohio River, on the Kentucky
shore. The merit of this movement on the part of
Mr. Clay consisted in the fact that appropriations for
internal improvements were, at that early period, a
novelty in Federal legislation, and this proposition
possessed the nature and aspect of a pioneer in that
commendable policy. This was also the first illus-
tration of the great system of Internal Improvements
to which Mr. Clay was attached through life, and in
the promotion of which many of his ablest and most
successful efforts were made. This is the policy to
which the term "American System" has been so ap-
propriately applied, as tending to promote the interests
of this country, in opposition to that of foreign gov-
ernments and communities. This great doctrine was
embodied and expressed in the following resolution,
which he proposed and advocated at this period, and
which was passed with but three opposing votes :
"Resolved, That the Secretary of the Treasury be
directed to prepare and report to the Senate, at their
next session, a plan for the application of such means
as are within the power of Congress, to the purposes
of opening roads and making canals; together with
a statement of undertakings of that nature, which, as
objects of public improvement, may require and de-
eerve the aid of Government; and, also, a statement
of works, of the nature mentioned, which have been,
commenced, the progress which has been made in
c
84 THE LIFE AND TIMES
them, and the means and prospect of their being com-
pleted ; and all such information as, in the opinion
of the Secretary, shall be material in relation to tha
objects of this resolution."
The office to fill which Mr. Clay had been chosen,
expired at the end of the first session of his incum-
bency. In the summer of 1807, he was elected to
represent the citizens of Fayette County in the Ken-
tucky Legislature. He displayed his usual ability
and zeal in this important post; and among the most
effective speeches which he delivered, was one in op-
position to a proposition to exclude all references to
English decisions and law reports, or elementary
works on British law, in the trial of causes in the
courts of Kentucky. Before he addressed the House
on this subject, a large majority of the members were
in favor of it. So strong was the prejudice which
then existed against English despotism, either politi-
cal or juridical, that it was deemed a step toward the
more complete removal of the yoke which had once
been worn by Americans, to overturn the authority
which English jurisprudence still exercised over the
minds of American lawyers, and over the decisions
of American courts. The sagacious mind of Mr.
Clay r3adily discerned the falsehood and folly of this
doctrine, and he opposed it with all his abilities. He
depicted the absurdity of depriving ourselves of those
great and invaluable stores of legal learning which
had been elaborated during the lapse of several ages,
by the patient toils of the most gifted and powerful
intellects which the world had ever seen, simply be-
cause they were identified with British institutions
OF HENRY CLAY. 85
and interests. He amended the motion so that it re-
lated only to the exclusion of those decisions which
had been made subsequent to the 4th of July, 1776,
and carried his proposition by a very large majority.
It was during this term of service in the Legislature
of Kentucky, in December, 1808, that he introduced
a series of resolutions approving the Embargo, con-
demning the British Orders in Council, and asserting
that Mr. Jefferson deserved the thanks of his country
for the ability, energy, and patriotism which he had
displayed during his administration of public affairs.
These resolutions were opposed with great bitterness
by Humphrey Marshall ; and when afterward Mr. Clay
proposed that the members of the Legislature should
wear no clothing except such as was of domestic
manufacture, Mr. Marshall denounced the proposition
as the expedient of a demagogue, and held it up to
ridicule. The result of such displays of personal
animosity, which Mr. Clay resented with much spirit,
was, that a hostile meeting subsequently took place
between the rival statesmen. Both parties were
slightly wounded, and the quarrel was then settled
by the interposition of mutual friends.
Mr. Clay still continued to be the recipient of pub-
lic offices of trust from the Legislature of his adopted
State. He was chosen to fill the vacancy occasioned
in the Senate of the "United States by the resignation
of Mr. Thurston ; and in the winter term of 1809-10,
he represented Kentucky in the Senate. The period
for which he was elected to serve was t\vo years; and
during that interval he took a prominent part in all
the important discussions which -engaged the atteu
30 THE LIFE AND TIMES
tion of the Federal Government. His ablest speech,
at this period of his career, was delivered in the dis-
cussion of the validity of the claim of the United
States to the territory lying between the Mississippi
and Perdido rivers, which comprised the larger por-
tion of Western Florida. This territory was claimed
by Spain as a part of her Florida possessions. Mr.
Madison, who was then President, had issued a pro-
clamation, asserting that this tract belonged to the
Orleans territory, and therefore subject to the jurisdic-
tion of the United States. The party in the nation,
and in Congress opposed to Mr. Madison's administra-
tion, usually termed the Federalist, condemned this
position, and asserted that the territory belonged to
Spain, and that England, as her ally, should assist
her in defending her pretensions and her prerogatives
over it. Mr. Clay vehemently and eloquently de-
fended Mr. Madison and his positions. The speech
which lie delivered on this occasion was the ablest
which had }-et proceeded from him in the National
Legislature. The spirit and tone which characterized
it may be inferred from the following extracts:
"What, then, is the true construction of the Trea-
ties of St. Ildefonso, and of April, 1803, whence our
title is derived ? If any ambiguity exist in a grant,
the interpretation most favorable to the grantee is pre-
ferred. It was the duty of the grantor to express
himself in plain and intelligible terms. This is the
doctrine, not of Coke only (whose dicta, I admit, have
nothing to do with the question), but of the code of
universal law. The doctrine is entitled to augmented
Ibroe, when a clause only of the instrument is ex
OF HENRY CLAY. 37
Tii.iiW., in which clause the ambiguity lurks, and tho
residue of the instrument is kept back by the grantor.
The entire Convention of 1762, by which France
transferred Louisiana to Spain, is concealed, and the
whole of the Treaty of St. Ildefonso, except a solitary
clause. We are thus deprived of the aid which a full
view ^f both of those instruments would aftbrd. But
we h&ve no occasion to resort to any rules of construc-
tion, "lowever reasonable in themselves, to establish
our ttle. A competent knowledge of the facts con-
necte 1 with the case, and a candid appeal to the Trea-
ties, s re alone sufficient to manifest our right. The
negotiators of the Treaty of 1803 having signed, with
the SMine ceremony, two copies, one in English and
the olher in the French language, it has been con-
tended that in the English version, the term * cede*
has been erroneously used instead of 'retrocede,'
which is the expression in the French copy. And it
is argued that we are bound by the phraseology of the
French copy, because it is declared that the Treaty
was agreed to in that language. It would not be
very unfair to inquire if this is not like the common
case in private life, where individuals enter into a
contract, of which each party retains a copy, duly
executed. In such case, neither has the preference.
AVe might as well say to France, we will cling by the
English copy, as she could insist upon an adherence
to the French copy ; and if she urged ignorance on
the part of M. Marbois, her negotiator, of our Ian-
guage, we might with equal propriety plead ignor-
ance on the part of our negotiators of her lanoruasre.
* o * o
As this, however, is a disputable point, I do not avail
4
88 THELIFEANDTIMES
myself of it; gentlemen shall have the full benefit of
the expressions in the French copy. According to
this, then, in reciting the Treaty of St. Ildefonso, it is
declared by Spain, in 1800, that she retrocedes to
France the Colony or Province of Louisiana, with the
same extent which it then had in the hands of Spain,
and which it had when France possessed it, and such
as it should be after the Treaties subsequently entered
into between Spain and other States. This latter
member of the description has been sufficiently ex-
plained by my colleague.
"It is said that since France, in 1762, ceded to
Spain only Louisiana west of the Mississippi, and the
Island of New Orleans, the retrocession comprehended
no more that the retrocession ex vi termini was com-
mensurate with, and limited by, the direct cession
from France to Spain. If this were true, then the
description, such as Spain held it, that is in 1800,
comprising West Florida, and such as France pos-
sessed it, that is in 1762, prior to the several cessions,
comprising also "West Florida, would be totally in-
operative. But the definition of the term retrocession
contended for by the other side, is denied. It does
not exclude the instrumentality of a third par.ty. It
means restoration, or re-conveyance of a thing origin-
ally ceded, and so the gentleman from Delaware ac-
knowledged. I admit that the thing restored must
have come to the restoring party from the party to
whom it is retroceded: whether directly, or indirectly,
is wholly immaterial. In its passage it may have
come through a dozen hands. The retroceding party
must claim under and in virtue of the right originally
OF HENRY CLAY. 89
possessed by the party to whom the retrocession takes
place. Allow me to put a case: You own an estate
called Louisiana. You convey one moiety of it to
the gentleman from Delaware, and the other to me ;
he conveys his moiety to me, and I thus become enti-
tled to the whole. By a suitable instrument I re-
convey, or retrocede, the estate called Louisiana to
you as I now hold it, and as you held it; what passes
to you ? The whole estate, or my moiety only ? Let
me indulge another supposition that the gentleman
from Delaware, after he received from you his moiety,
bestowed a new denomination upon it, and called it
"West Florida, would that circumstance vary the
operation of my act of retrocession to you ? The case
supposed is, in truth, the real one between the United
States and Spain. France, in 17C2, transfers Louis-
iana., west of the Mississippi, to Spain, and at the
same time conveys the eastern portion of it, exclusive
of Xew Orleans, to Great Britain. Twenty-one yeara
after, that is, in 1783, Great Britain cedes her part
to Spain, who thus becomes possessed of the entire
province one portion by direct cession from France,
and the residue by indirect cession. Spain then held
the whole of Louisiana under France, and in virtue
of the title of France. The whole moved or passed
from France to her. When, therefore, in this state
of things, she says, in the Treaty of St. Ildefonso,
that she retrocedes the province to France, can a
doubt exist that she parts with, and gives back to
France, the entire colony? To preclude the possi-
bility of such a doubt, she adds, that she restores it,
not in a mutilated condition, but in that precise coa
40 THE LIFE AND TIMES
dition in which France had, and she herself, pos
sessed it.
" Having thus shown, as I conceive, a clear right
in the United States to West Florida, I proceed to
inquire if the proclamation of the President, direct-
ing the occupation of property which is thus fairly
acquired by solemn treaty, be an unauthorized mea-
sure of war, and of legislation, as has been contended?
"The Act of October, 1803, contains two sections,
by one of which the President is authorized to occupy
the territories ceded to us by France in the April pre-
ceding. The other empowers the President to esta-
blish a provisional government there. The first sec-
tion is unlimited in its duration; the other is restricted
to the expiration of the then session of Congress. The
Act, therefore, of March, 1804, declaring that the pre-
vious Act of October should continue in force until
the 1st of October, 1804, is applicable to the second,
and not the first section, and was intended to con-
tinue the provisional government of the President.
By the Act of 24th February, 1804, for laying duties
on goods imported into the ceded territories, the Pre-
sident is empowered, whenever he deems it expedient,
to erect the Bay and River Mobile, &c., into a sepa-
rate district, and to establish therein a port of entry
and delivery. By this same act the Orleans Territory
is laid off, and its boundaries are so defined as to com-
prehend West Florida. By other acts, the President
is authorized to remove by force, under certain cir-
cumstances, persons settling on or taking possession
of lands ceded to the United States.
" These laws furnish a legislative construction of
OP HENRY CLAY. 41
the treaty, corresponding with that given \)y the Exe-
cirtive; and they indisputably vest, in this branch of
the General Government, the power to take posses-
sion of the country, whenever it might be proper, in
his discretion. The President has not, therefore,
violated the Constitution, and usurped the war-making
power; but he would have violated that provision
which requires him to see that the laws are faithfully
executed, if he had longer forborne to act. It is urged
that he has assumed powers belonging to Congress,
in undertaking to annex the portion of West Florida,
between the Mississippi and the Perdido, to the Or-
leans Territory. But Congress, as has been shown,
has already made this annexation, the limits of the
Orleans Territory, as prescribed by Congress, compre-
hending the country in question. The President, by
his proclamation, has not made law, but has merely
declared to the people of West Florida what the law
is. This is the office of a proclamation, and it was
highly proper that the people of that Territory should
be thus notified. By the act of occupying the coun-
try, the government de. facto, whether of Spain or the
revolutionists, ceased to exist; and the laws of the
Orleans Territory, applicable to the country, by the
operation and force of law attached to it. But this
was a state of things which the people might not
know, and which every dictate of justice and humanity
therefore required should be proclaimed. I consider
the bill before us merely in the light of a declaratory
law."
4*
12 THE LIFE AND TIMES
CHAPTER IV.
PROPOSAL TO RECHARTER THE UNITED STATES BANK MR. CLAY OP-
POSES IT SUBSEQUENT CHANGE IN HIS OPINIONS REASONS FOR
THAT CHANGE MR. CLAY ELECTED TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESEN-
TATIVES IS CHOSEN SPEAKER ENGLISH AND FRENCH HOSTILITIES
AGAINST THE UNITED STATES MR. CLAY IN FAVOR OF WAR WITH
ENGLAND HOSTILITIES COMMENCED EVENTS OF THE WAR MR.
CLAY APPOINTED COMMISSIONER TO GHENT TREATY OF PEACE
MR. CLAY'S RETURN HOME.
DURING the session of Congress which was held in
the winter of 1811, the most exciting and important
subject which demanded the attention of the Federal
Representatives, was the proposition to renew the
charter of the United States Bank. The Legislature
of Kentucky had instructed Mr. Clay to oppose that
measure ; and this suggestion corresponded with the
sentiments which he himself entertained at that time.
It is well known that lie subsequently changed his
opinions on this subject, and the reasons which he
gave for this apparent inconsistency, the only one of
a theoretical kind which his political and personal
opponents were ever able to allege against him, de-
serve to be stated.
The arguments which had convinced him of the
impropriety of rechartering the bank in 1811 were
three : 1. He believed that the corporation had abused
OF HENRY CLAY. 43
their powers during the previous period of their exist-
ence. 2. The authority to create a corporation like
that of the United States Bank, was not specifically
granted in the Federal Constitution. 3. His consti-
tuents had expressly instructed him to vote against
the measure. At a subsequent period he became con-
vinced of the fallacy of the arguments which were
urged in opposition to the Bank; and in a speech de-
livered in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1816, he stated at
length the considerations which had altered his con-
victions on the subject. These are so important, and
the question is in itself of so grave a nature, that we
may appropriately quote an extract from his speech
on that occasion :
" How stood the case in 1816, when he was called
upon again to examine the power of the general
government to incorporate a National Bank? A
total change of circumstances was presented events
of the utmost magnitude had intervened. A gene-
ral suspension of specie payments had taken place,
and this had led to a train of consequences of the
most alarming nature. He beheld, dispersed over
the immense extent of the United States, about three
hundred banking institutions, enjoying in different
degrees the confidence of the public, shaken us to
them all, under no direct control of the General
Government, and subject to no actual responsibility
to the State authorities. These institutions were
emitting the actual currency of the United States a
currency consisting of a paper on which they neither
paid interest nor principal, while it was exchanged
for the paper of the community on which both were
44 THE LIFE AND TIMES
paid. He sav; these institutions in fact exercising
what had been considered, at all times and in all
countries, one of the highest attributes of sove-
reignty, the regulation of the current medium of the
country. They were no longer competent to assist
the treasury in either of the great operations of col-
lection, deposite, or distribution, of the public reve-
nues. In fact, the poper which they emitted, and
which the treasury, from the force of events, found
itself constrained to receive, was constantly obstruct-
ing the operations of that department. For it would
accumulate where it was not wanted, and could riot
be used where it was wanted for the purposes of
government, without a ruinous imd arbitrary broker-
age. Every man who paid oi* received from the
government, paid or received as much less than he
ought to have done, as was the difference between the
medium in which the payment was effected and
specie. Taxes were no longer uniform. In New
England, where specie payments have not been sus-
pended, the people were called upon to pay larger
contributions than where they were suspended. In
Kentucky as much more was paid by the people in
their taxes than was paid, for example, in the State
of Ohio, as Kentucky paper was worth more than
Ohio paper. Air. Clay said, he determined to examine
the question with as little prejudice as possible arising
from his former opinion. lie knew that the safest
course to him, if he pursued a cold, calculating pru-
dence, was to adhere to that opinion, right or wrong.
He was perfectly aware, that it' he changed, or seemed
to change it, he should expose himself to some cen-
OF HENRY CLAY. 45
sure. But, looking at the subject with the light shed
upon it by events happening since the commencement
of the war, he could no longer doubt. A bank ap-
peared to him not only necessary, hut indispensably
necessary, in connection with another measure, to
remedy the evils of which all were but too sensible.
He preferred to the suggestions of the pride of con-
sistency, the evident interests of the community, and
determined to throw himself upon their candor and
justice. That which appeared to him in 1811, under the
state of tilings then existing, not to be necessary to the
General Government, seemed now to be necessary,
under the present state of things. Had he then foreseen
what now exists, and no objection had lain against the
renewal of the charter other than that derived from
the Constitution, he should have voted for the removal.
" Other provisions of the Constitution, but little
noticed, if noticed at all, in the discussions in Con-
gress in 1811, would seem to urge that body to exert
all its powers to restore to a sound state the money
of the country. That instrument confers upon Con-
gress the power to coin money, and to regulate the
value of foreign coins; and the States are prohibited
to coin money, to emit bills of credit, or to make any-
thing but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of
debts. The plain inference is, that the subject of the
general currency was intended to be submitted exclu-
sively to the General Government. In point of fact,
however, the regulation of the general currency is in
the hands of the State governments, or, which is the
same thing, of the banks created by them. Their
paper has every quality of money, except that )f
46 THE LIFE AND TIMES
being made a tender, and even tins is imparted to it
by some States, in the law by which a creditor must
receive it, or submit to a ruinous suspension of the
payment of his debt. It was incumbent upon Con-
gress to recover the control which it had lost over the
general currency."
During the period of Mr. Clay's second term of
service in the Senate of the United States, a variety
of important subjects came up for discussion in that
body ; in all of which he took a prominent part. As
a reward for his services, and as a proof of their
proper appreciation by his constituents, he was
elected by a large majority on the 4th of November,
1811, to represent them in the Lower House at AVash-
ington. On entering this branch of the Nationa.
Legislature, Mr. Clay received the rare compliment
of being chosen Speaker, by a majority of thirty-one.
It may be proper to remark here that this honor was
conferred upon him continuously from 1811 till 1825,
except during his absence from the country as one of
the Commissioners of the United States Government
at Ghent, and at a subsequent period when he volun-
tarily withdrew himself from public affairs. Seven
terms successively was he selected to fill that difficult
and important post, a distinction which we believe
has fallen to the lot of no other American statesman.
Nor is this phenomenon difficult of solution, when
we remember the remarkable qualifications which
Mr. Clay possessed for that high office. No man
ever presided over the deliberations of a public as-
sembly with more dignit}*, courtesy, and decision ;
none with a more familiar acquaintance with all the
OFHENRYCLAY. 47
rules of parliamentary usage, and of the proprieties
of debate, than he.
That was an important and critical period in tho
history of the United States. England and Franco
had been perpetrating a long series of outrages on
our commerce, and innumerable insults had been,
heaped on the national honor. The pretext by which
the French Government excused the offensive acts
of its citizens, was the legitimate operation of the
Berlin and Milan Decrees of Napoleon. The English
Government pretended to excuse the seizure of Ame-
rican ships, and the confiscation of American pro-
perty, on the ground that, as the United States had
been the ally of France, they were justified in inclu-
ding them in the operation of their retaliatory mea-
sures. Serious and earnest remonstrances from the
Federal Government, addressed to the French Empe-
ror, resulted in the termination of the aggressive acts
of his subjects toward us; but England turned a deaf
ear to every appeal, and treated every expostulation
with contempt.
This state of affairs continued during a year after
the repeal of the decrees of Napoleon. In addition
to the seizure of American vessels on the hiorh seas,
o *
the impressment of American sailors in British ports
was practised ; and the insults which were offered to
the flag of the United States became so extreme and
glaring, that further forbearance not only ceased to
be a virtue, but had degenerated into a craven vice.
Nevertheless, two parties then existed among Ameri-
can statesmen as to the policy and propriety of de-
claring war against England. Mr Clay became the
48 THELIFEANDTIMES
bold and enthusiastic leader of the party in favor of
declaring war. In appointing the committees of the
House, he selected those whose views sympathized
with his own on this subject. A resolution was offered,
to the effect that the United States be immediately
put into the attitude of defence demanded by the
crisis. Mr. Clay advocated it, and another of similar
tendency, providing for the raising of twenty-live
thousand troops. He also advocated the increase of
the navy, by the immediate construction of ten fri-
gates. This bill was passed in the House in January,
1812. On the 1st day of the succeeding April, the
President, Mr. Madison, sent a message to Congress
recommending that a general embargo be laid on all
foreign vessels then in port. Mr. Clay declared in an
able speech that he heartily approved of the measure,
because he regarded it as a direct precursor to the
proclamation of war. He became one of the most
potent causes which eventually brought about that
result. The law imposing an embargo was passed.
On the 3rd day of June, 1812, a bill was reported by
the Committee on Foreign Affairs, declaring war he-
tvveen Great Britain and the United States. On the
18th of that month it passed both Houses of Con-
gress, and immediately received the sanction of the
President. The advocates of the war were necessarily
called upon to suggest the measures which were es-
sential to increase the military resources of the coun-
try ; and in the performance of this duty Mr. Clay
exhibited his usual energy and ability. He urged the
President to more active measures. He inspired the
Cabinet with bis owu enthusiasm. He infused in-
OP HENRY CLAY. 49
tenser patriotism and martial ardor into the generals
of the Republic.
At length the war began. It was a bold under-
taking for the United States, which had just begun
their national existence, and were the youngest among
the nations, to cope with the colossal and veteran
power of the Mistress of the Seas, the only empire
which could resist and def}' the mighty Corsican.
The first events of the war were not such as to in-
crease the enthusiasm of its advocates. Among the
disasters which occurred were the surrender of the fort
and town of Detroit by General Hull, and the defeat
of General Van Rensselaer near Niagara. But soon
these and other adverse events were compensated for,
by the brilliant victories achieved by American sea-
men over the boasted navy of England. The frigate
Constitution, commanded by Captain Hull, van-
quished the British frigate Guerriere; and other
equally significant triumphs followed. It was not
without opposition and difficulty that Mr. Clay suc-
ceeded in carrying through Congress those measures
which were necessary to provide the country with
sufficient military and naval resources to meet the
exigencies of the crisis. In January, 1813, a new
army bill was proposed, and advocated by him with
great eloquence. The following extract from his
speech on that occasion will illustrate the spirit which
actuated him, and the ability with which he spoke:
" 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
5 D
50 TIIELIFEANDTIMES
tried; negotiation has been resorted to, until further
negotiation would have been disgraceful. While
these peaceful experiments 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 exclu-
sive vigor and energy. The Administration, on the
contrary, is weak, feeble, and pusillanimous 'inca-
pable 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
repented and reiterated by the Administration, to
their justice and to their interest when, in fact, war
\\illi one of them has become identified with our in-
dependence and our sovereignty, and to abstain from
it was no longer possible, behold the opposition veer-
ing 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 re-
sources, the waste of the public treasure, and the
spilling of innocent blood. 'Gorgons, hydras, and
chimeras dire.' They tell you, that honor is an illu-
sion ! Now, we see them exhibiting the terrific forms
of the roaring king of the forest. Now, the meek-
ness 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 ike
OF HENRY CLAY. 51
Administration is for war. You find them, sir, tack'
ing with every gale, displaying the colors of every
party, and of all nations, steady only in one unalter-
able purpose 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 Ad-,
ministratipn of this country devoted to foreign influ-
ence ! The Administration of this country subser-
vient 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 simi-
larity of language? ISTo! we speak different tongues,
we speak the English language. On the resemblance
X O . O O
of our laws? No! the sources of our jurisprudence
spring from another and a different country. 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 des-
potism which everywhere else tramples it under foot.
Where, then, is the ground of sucn an influence?
But, sir, I am insulting you by arguing on such a
subject. Yet, preposterous and ridiculous as the in-
sinuation IB 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
52 THE LIFE AND TIMES
in my eye, recent!}' lost his election by the circulation
of a silly story in his district, that he was the first
cousin of the Emperor Xapoleon."
At length the tide of victory turned, and the colo-
nial power of old England quailed before the prowess
and heroism of the Doling Republic. The Hornet,
commanded by Captain Lawrence, vanquished the
British sloop-of-war Peacock. York, the capital of
Upper Canada, fell before the assaults of General
Dearborn. General Harrison was triumphant at Fort
Meigs. The Emperor Alexander, of Russia, oppor-
tunely tendered his services as mediator between the
conflicting parties, which offer was accepted by both. In
consequence of this arrangement, Messrs. Clay, Galla-
tin, Bayard, Adams and Russell, were chosen to repre-
sent the United States at the conference which was ap-
pointed to be held at Gottingen, to adjust the con-
ditions of peace. The deliberations were afterwards
transferred to Ghent. On the 14th of January, 1814,
Mr. Clay resigned the office of Speaker in the House
of Representatives, and soon afterward embarked on
his distant mission. It was after his arrival in Brussels
that he learned the disastrous news, that Washington
had been sacked, and the public buildings burned by
the British. He received the first intelligence of these
events through the excessive and exultant courtesy
of the English plenipotentiaries. It was his privi-
lege, however, soon afterward to reciprocate the
compliment, by sending them the fiivt information
of the splendid naval triumph of the Americans ca
Lake Champlain.
During the deliberations which ensued, Mr. Clay
OF HENRY CLAY. 63
took a distinguished part. His bearing toward tho
representatives of England was bold, fearless, am]
defiant. This policy, so unusual among the cautious
and cringing agents of tyrants and monarchs, accom-
plished much more than any other policy could have
effected. The impression which he produced upon
them may be inferred from the manner in which he
was described, at that time, in the London journals;
which, when speaking of the transactions transpiring
at Ghent, referred to him as "that furious orator,
Clay; the man who had killed the terrible TecumseK
with his own hand, and cut several razor-strops out
of his back after he was dead !"
The terms of the treaty were at length successfully
adjusted. Mr. Clay was in London when the decisive
battle of Waterloo was fought, and witnessed the ex-
ultation and joy which the English people very natu-
rally displayed on that occasion. He there met the
Duke of Wellington, Lord Castlereagh, and other
distinguished personages visited some of the no-
bility at their palaces and country-seats by invitation
and returned to the United States in September,
1815. On disembarking at !N"ew York, he was com-
plimented with a public dinner; and on arriving at
Lexington, in Kentucky, was greeted by a large ont-
pouring of the populace to welcome him to his home.
A few days afterward a public dinner was tendered
him by the leading inhabitants of that city. The
sixth toast which was offered was as follows : " Our
able negotiators at Ghent: their talents for diplo-
macy have kept pace with the valor of our armies in
demonstrating to the enemy that these States will bo
5*
54 THB LIFE AND TIMES
free." In reply to this well-deserved compliment,
Mr. Clay made the following remarks:
" I feel myself called on, by the sentiment just ex-
pressed, to return my thanks, in behalf of my col-
leagues 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 thorn. We could not do otherwise than reject
the demand made by the other party; and if our
labors finally terminated in an honorable peace, it
was owing to causes on this side of the Atlantic, and
not to any exertions of ours. Whatever diversity of
opinion may have existed as to the declaration of the
war, there are some points on which all may look
back with proud satisfaction. The first relates to the
time of the conclusion of the peace. Had it been
made immediately after the Treaty of Paris, we
should have retired humiliated from the contest, be-
lieving 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 magnanimity would have been the theme of
every tongue, and of every press, abroad and at home.
We should have retired unconscious of our own
strength, and unconscious of the utter inability of the
enemy, with his whole undivided force, to make any
serious impression upon us. Our military character,
then in the lowest state of degradation, would have
been un retrieved. Fortunately for us, Great Britain,
chose to try the issue of the last campaign. And the
of the last campaign has demonstrated, in the
OF HENRY CLAY. 65
repulse before Baltimore, the retreat from Platts-
burgh, the hard-fought action on the aSTiagara frontier,
and in that most glorious day, the 8th of January,
that we have always possessed the finest elements of
military composition, and that a proper use of them
only was necessary to ensure for the army and militia
a fame as imperishable as that which the navy had
previously acquired.
" Another point which appears to me to afford the
highest consolation is, that we fought the most power-
ful nation, perhaps, in existence, single-handed and
alone, without any sort of alliance. More than thirty
years has Great Britain been maturing her physical
means, which she had rendered as efficacious as pos-
sible, by skill, by discipline, and by actual service.
Proudly boasting of the conquest of Europe, she vainly
flattered herself with the easy conquest of America
also. Her veterans were put to flight, or defeated,
while all Europe 1 mean the government of Europe
was gazing with cold indifference, or sentiments
of positive hatred of us, upon the arduous contest.
Hereafter no monarch can assert claims of grati-
tude 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 extra-
vagant demands, the war totally 'changed its charac-
ter. It became, as it were, a new war.- It wa.-* no
longer an American war, prosecuted for redress of
British aggressions upon American rights, but be-
came a British war, prosecuted for objects of British
66 THE LIFE AND TIMES
ambifion, to be accompanied by American sacrifices.
And what were those demands? Here, in the imme-
diate neighborhood of a sister State and Territories,
which were to be made, in part, the victims, they
must have been felt, and their enormity justly appre-
ciated. They consisted of the erection of a barrier
between Canada and the United States, to be formed
by cutting off from Ohio, and some of the Territories,
a country more extensive than Great Britain, con-
taining thousands of freemen, who were to be aban-
doned to their fate, and creating a new power, totally
unknown, upon the continent of America: of the dis-
mantling of our fortresses, and naval power on the
lakes, with the surrender of the military occupation
of those waters to the enemy, and of an arrondixse-
ment for two British provinces. These demands,
boldly asserted, and one of them declared to be a
tine qua won, were finally relinquished. Taking this
view of the subject, if there be a loss of reputation
by either party, in the terms of the peace, who has
sustained it?
"The effects of the war are highly satisfactory.
Abroad our character, which, at the time of its decla-
ration, was in the lowest state of degradation, ia
raised to the highest point of elevation. It is impos-
sible for any American to visit Europe, without being
sensible of this agreeable change, in the personal
attentions which he receives, in the praises which are
bestowed on our past exertions, and the predictions
which are made as to our future prospects. At home,
a government, which, at its formation, was appre-
hended by its best friends, and pronounced by it?
OP HENRY CLAY. 5T
enemies, to be incapable of standing the shock, ia
found to answer all the purposes of its institution.
In spite of the errors which have been committed
(and errors have undoubtedly been committed), aided
by the spirit and patriotism of the people, it is demon-
strated to be as competent to the objects of effective
war, as it has been before proven to be to the con-
cerns of a season of peace. Government has thus
acquired strength and confidence. Our prospects for
the future are of the brightest kind. With every
reason to count on the permanence of peace, it re-
mains only for the government to determine upon,
military and naval establishments adapted to the
growth and extension of our country, and its rising
importance keeping in view a gradual, but not
burdensome, increase of the navy: to provide for the
payment of the interest, and the redemption of the
public debt, and for the current expenses of govern-
ment. For all these objects, the existing sources of
the revenue promises not only to be abundantly suffi-
cient, but will probably leave ample scope to the ex-
ercise of the judgment of Congress, in selecting for
repeal, modification, or abolition, those which may
be found most oppressive and inconvenient."
68 THELIFEANDTIMES
CHAPTER V.
ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIONAL BANK MR. CLAY'S ADVOCACY or
IT PROPOSAL TO INCREASE THE SALARY OF REPRESENTATIVES
MR. CLAY'S TOTE ON THIS SUBJECT THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUB-
LICS MR. CLAY'S PROPOSITION TO SYMPATHIZE WITH THEM
HIS ELOQUENCE ON THIS SUBJECT ITS FINAL RESULTS RESOLU-
TIONS CENSURING GENERAL JACKSON THE ADMISSION OF MISSOURI
TO THE UNION THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE MR. CLAY's RE-
TIREMENT TO PROFESSIONAL LIFE HIS ILL-HEALTH RETURN
TO CONGRESS.
AT the commencement of the session of Congress
of 1815-16, President Madison recommended in his
message the establishment of a national bank, and a
high protective tariff, as the most efficacious means
of remedying the financial evils which afflicted the
country immediately after the termination of the war.
Air. Clay, on this occasion, surprised the public by
the {Viinouncement of that change in his opinions to
which we have already adverted; and defended both
of the measures proposed by Mr. Madison, with great
zeal and eloquence. The reasons which he assigned
for his sudden conversion to a new policy were as
follows: Since 1811 an entire change of circum-
stances had supervened. A suspension of specie
payment had taken place. The paper money issued
by the United States Government was selling at a
heavy discount. As to the power of Congress to
OF HENRY CLAY. 69
establish a bank, he no longer hesitated; for, inas-
much as the Constitution confers on the National
Legislature the right to coin money, and regulate the
value of foreign coins; and as the States are forbidden
O t
to exercise that ris:ht, or emit bills of credit, he drew
O ' *
the inference that Congress possessed exclusive juris-
diction over the whole question of the currency of
the country. In the exercise of that jurisdiction, the
establishment of a national bank was an obvious and
legitimate measure.
The bill to re-charter the bank was discussed with
great zeal and ability in both Houses of Congress.
It was eventually passed by both, and then received
the approval of the President. Mr. Clay's agency in
this measure was severely reprehended by his poli-
tical opponents, but he had evidently been guided by
considerations which he believed to be promotive of
the welfare of the country.
During the same session of Congress, a bill was in-
troduced by which the mode of paying the salaries of
the members was changed. It proposed that instead
of receiving the sum of six dollars per day, as was
then the rule, they should be paid fifteen hundred
dollars'per annum. Mr. Clay was personally in favor
of a different arrangement from either of these ; but
as a large majority of both Houses were in favor of
the proposition, he agreed to it, and voted for its pas-
sage. He incurred not a little opprobrium in conse-
quence of this step, from some of his constituents,
and several anecdotes are still extant, illustrative of
the manner in which, in those primitive times in Ken-
tucky, he was assailed by the objections of the dia-
60 THE LIFE AND TIMES
a fleeted, and how lie answered and repelled them.
One of these is :is follows. During the next canvass,
when the question of his re-election was discussed, he
met an old hunter who had always been his staunch
admirer and partizan, and who had then become
alienated from him in consequence of his voting in
favor of the compensation bill.
"Have you a good rifle, my friend?" asked Mr.
Clay. "Yes." "Does it ever flash?" "Once only,"
he replied. "What did you do with it throw it
away?" "No, I picked the flint, tried it again, and
brought down the game." "Have I ever flashed but
upon the compensation bill?" "No." "Will 3-00,
throw me away?" "No, no!" exclaimed the hunter,
with enthusiasm, nearly overpowered by his feelings;
"I will pick the flint, and try you again!"
On the 5th of December, 1817, the first session of
the Fifteenth Congress commenced, to which body
Mr. Clay had been elected by a triumphant majority.
He was again chosen Speaker of the House. During
this session he took an active part in the most
important discussions which occurred. Prominent
among these was the question of sympathy and aid,
which some members were in favor of extending, from
the government and people of the United States to
several of the republics of South America which were
then struggling for the achievement of their liberties;
to which they had been incited by the glorious ex-
ample and the splendid success of our own revolution.
Mr. Clay was enthusiastic in favor of this proposition.
Many distinguished representatives opposed it; pro-
minent among whom was Mr. Randolph of Virginia.
OFHENRYCLAY. 61
He ridiculed the idea of increasing our standing
arrny, and taxing our citizens to assist the inhabitants
of South America, who, as he contended, came not
to our aid in the clay of our necessity, and who he
declared were not only unworthy of the enjoyment
of political freedom, but did not even understand or
comprehend its nature. Several sharp collisions
passed between Messrs. Clay and Randolph on this
occasion, which however then led to no serious result.
A proposition was made in Congress to send com-
missioners to South America, to ascertain the con-
dition of the country. Subsequently Mr. Clay ad-
vocated the passage of a bill, deputing a minister
from the United States to the Provinces situated on
the River La Plata in South America; and to appro-
priate eighteen thousand dollars as an outfit for him.
The measure at that time failed ; but Mr. Clay's
speech in favor of it was one of the ablest and most
eloquent of his efforts; the following extracts from
which possess the deepest interest:
"In contemplating the great struggle in which
Spanish America is now engaged, our attention is
first fixed by the immensity and character of the coun-
try which Spain seeks again to subjugate. Stretching
on the Pacific Ocean, from about the fortieth decree of
north latitude to about the fifty-fifth degree of south
latitude, and extending from the mouth of the Rio
del ISTorte (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 iu-
6
62 THE LIFE AND TIMES
teresting objects of creation : the loftiest mountains,
the most majestic rivers, in the world; the richest
mines of the precious metals, and the choicest pro-
ductions of the earth. We behold there a spectacle
still more interesting and sublime the glorious spec-
tacle 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 ultimately constitute several dif-
ferent 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 viceroyalty 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 powerful State; and,
in point of population, that which has the smallest
contains enough to make it respectable. Throughout
all the extent 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 endeavor to show, with complete
success, and in all I am persuaded that independence
has struck such deep root, that the power of Spain
OP HENRY CLAY. 63
can never eradicate it. "What are the causes of this
great movement ?
'In the establishment of the independence of Spa-
ir.ch America, the United States have the deepest in-
terest. 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 in-
terest concerns our politics, our commerce, our navi-
gation. There can not be a doubt that Spanish Ame-
rica, once independent, whatever may be the form of
the governments established in its several parts, these
governments will be animated by an American feel-
ing' 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 contradistinction
to that of Europe. Without the influence of that
vortex in Europe, the balance of power between itrf
several parts, the preservation of which has so often
drenched Europe in blood, America is sufficiently re-
mote to contemplate the new wars which are to affiict
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 inte-
rested in maintaining and enforcing such a system.
The independence of Spanish America, then, is an
interest of primary consideration. Next to that, and
highly important in itself, is the consideration of the
64 THELIFEANDTIMES
nature of their governments. That is a question,
however, for themselves. They will, no doubt, adopt
those kinds of governments which are best suited to
their condition, best calculated for their happiness.
Anxious as I am that they should be free govern-
ments, 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 npt all parts of their country, establish free
governments. We are their great example. Of us
the} r constantly speak as of brothers, having a similar
origin. They adopt our principles, copy our institu-
tions, and, in many instances, employ the very lan-
guage and sentiments of our revolutionary papers.
"But it is sometimes said, that they are too igno-
rant and too superstitions 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. I deny the al-
leged 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 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
cultivate. In astronomy, geolog}*, mineralogy, che-
mistry, botany, and so forth, they are allowed to make
distinguished proficiency. They justly boast of their
OFHENRYCLAY. 65
Abzaie, Yelasques, and Gama, and other illustrious
contributors to science. They have nine universities,
and in the City of Mexico, it is affirmed by Hum-
boldt, that there are more solid scientific establish-
ments than iu any city even of North America. I
would refer to the message of the supreme director
of La Plata, which I shall hereafter have occasion to
use for another purpose, as a model of fine composi-
tion of a State paper, challenging a comparison with
any, the most celebrated, that ever issued from tho
pens of Jefferson or Madison. Gentlemen will egre-
giously err, if they form their 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 the
doctrine of thrones, that man is too ignorant to govern
himself. Their partizans assert his incapacity, iu re-
ference to all nations ; if they cannot command uni-
versal assent to the proposition, it is then demanded as
to particular nations; and our pride and 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, I refer to the aborigines of our own land.
Were I to speculate in hypotheses unfavorable to
human liberty, my speculations should be founded
rather upon the vices, refinements, or density of popu-
lation. Crowded together in compact masses,
6* B
66 THELIFEANDTIMES
if they -were philosophers, the contagion of the pas.
sions is communicated and caught, and the effect too
often, I admit, is the overthrow of liberty. Dispersed
over such an immense space as that on which the
people of Spanish America are spread, their physical,
and I believe also their moral condition, both favor
their liberty."
Although the efforts of Mr. Clay on this occasion
were not successful, he accomplished his noble pur-
pose at a later day. In February, 1821, he offered a
resolution to the effect, that the American Congress
regarded the struggles of the South American
republics for the establishment of their liberties
with great interest; and suggesting that the Pre-
sident of the United States should recognize the
national independence. The motion eventually pre-
vailed; and in March, 1822, the President sent in a
message recommending that Congress should then
recognize the South American republics as free and
independent sovereignties. The suggestion was ap-
proved after a full discussion, and passed with but a
single dissenting voice. In the accomplishment of
this propitious result, the agency of Mr. Clay was
prominent and decisive. It was he who had brought it
to pass. His exertions in behalf of the Republics of
South America were duly appreciated, and their obliga-
tions to him were acknowledged by them. The illus-
trious Bolivar addressed a letter to Mr. Clay, in which
he gave expression to the feelings of gratitude and
admiration which he and all his compatriots felt for
the heroic position which Mr. Clay had taken, and
for the honorable results which he had achieved, in
OF HENRY CLAY. 67
their behalf, and through them, for the cause of uni-
versal liberty.
An exciting topic of discussion which arose in Con-
gress during the term of 1819, was a proposition which
was introduced to censure the conduct of General
Jackson during his campaign in Florida, where he had
imposed the most cruel conditions upon the Indians,
and had punished some of them with the most un-
paralled rigor. Mr. Clay was in favor of the passage
of the bill ; for although he was willing to excuse the
intentions of the General as being pure and innocent,
his acts he stigmatized as outrageous and unjustifiable.
Both Houses afterward passed resolutions which con-
tained qualified censures of the extreme measures of
the Hero of New Orleans ; to which result Mr. Clay
effectually contributed.
It was soon after this event, during the session of
182021, that the subject of slavery first assumed an
important and threatening aspect in the deliberations
of the National Legislature. A proposition was then
made to admit Missouri into the Union ; and the
point of controversy was, whether she should be re-
ceived as a free or as a slave State. When Ohio,
Indiana and Illinois were admitted, in which slavery
did not then exist, Congress expressly excluded
slavery in future from their limits. Missouri was a
part of the territory of Louisiana, which had been
purchased from France in 1803; and in it slavery al-
ready prevailed, and had been long established. The
States of Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, and
Alabama, had also been received; but as slavery
existed in them at the period of their admission,
68 THELIFEANDTIMES
nothing was said against the continuance of the in-
stitution. It was alleged that Missouri was placed
precisely in the same situation, and that she should
be received on precisely the same conditions, and her
domestic institutions be not interfered with. On the
other hand it was urged, that Congress possessed the
right to impose whatever conditions they chose on
new States and Territories ; that the evident intention
of the Federal Government was not to extend slavery,
having prohibited its introduction into new States
which were formed, or to be formed, out of the North-
western Territory; and that slavery was in itself so
infamous a thing, that it ought to be crushed and ex-
tirpated wherever an opportunity for so doing was
presented.
This question was discussed with greaf zeal ; and
the excitement respecting it became intense, not
merely in Congress but throughout the Union. In
1820 the inhabitants of Missouri proceeded to adopt
a Constitution ; and in it there was a clause which
forbade free negroes and mulattoes from coming into
the Territory, or settling in it, on any pretext. This
measure tended to increase the existing excitement,
and to complicate the difficulty. The discussions in
Congress in reference to the admission of Missouri
continued to be animated and bitter. On the 10th
of February Mr. Clay introduced a resolution with the
view to adjust the difficulty, and calm the popular
commotion, which had assumed a portentous aspect.
This resolution embodied the famous Missouri Com-
promise. After a full and protracted discussion, it
was rejected in a Committee of the Whole, by a vote
OF HENRY CLAY. 69
df seventy-three to sixty-four. Nevertheless he was
not disheartened; and at a subsequent period, on the
2oth of the month, the same measure was proposed a
second time by Mr. Clay, and supported by the most
remarkable displays of his eloquence. His efforts in
this instance were successful. The resolution which
was thus carried was as follows :
" It is provided 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 hereafter may 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 fundamental
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 procla-
mation, shall announce the fact; whereupon, and
without any further proceedings on the part of Con-
gress, the admission of the said State into the Union
shall be considered as complete : And provided, fur-
ther, 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."
By obtaining the passage of this law, and the adop-
tion of this famous Compromise, Mr. Clay averted
the evils of anarchy and disunion which then threat-
ened the Confederacy in a more imminent and appal-
ling manner than has ever since been the case; and
7(T THE LIFE AND TIMES
thereby earned a permanent and potent claim to the
gratitude of his countrymen.
After the attainment of this propitious result, Mr.
Clay determined to retire for a time from the public
councils of the nation. His private affairs had be-
come embarrassed, by endorsing largely for a friend ;
and it became necessary for him to retrieve his pecu-
niary fortunes by devotion to his professional pur-
suits. Accordingly he withdrew from the public ser-
vice in 1821, and remained in Kentucky during nearly
three years. In the summer of 1823 he accepted a
renomination to Congress, and was elected almost
without opposition. During the period of his retire-
ment he had been industriously engaged in the prac-
tice of the law, until he was arrested by ill health.
During the early part of 1823 he became so much
reduced that his life was despaired of, and he himself
anticipated death. He visited the Olympian Springs,
in Kentucky; but notwithstanding this expedient, and
the best medical treatment, he declined still more.
"\Vhen chosen to represent his old constituents in Con-
gress in 1823, he scarcely expected to live to assume
the duties of his post. Nevertheless he journeyed by
slow stages to Washington ; and that journey, part
of which he purposely made on foot, exerted a magic
effect upon his constitution, and restored him to his
usual vigor and health. At the opening of the first
session of the Eighteenth Congress in December,
1823, he was again elected Speaker on the first ballot.
OFHENRYCLAT. 71
CHAPTER VI.
RECOGNITION OF THE FREEDOM OF GREECE THE SUBJECT OF PROTEC-
TION OF AMERICAN INDUSTRY MR. CLAY'S SPEECH RESPECTING IT
VISIT OF LAFAYETTE TO U. S. IS RECEIVED BY MR. CLAY IN THE
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1824
RIVAL CANDIDATES MR. ADAMS ELECTED PRESIDENT MR. CLAT
APPOINTED SECRETARY OF STATE CHARGE OF "BARGAIN AND SALE"
ITS FALSEHOOD AND MALIGNITY MR. CLAY'S SELF-VINDICATION.
DURING the winter term of 1824 of Congress, Mr.
Clay took an active part in inducing the Government
of the United States to recognize the freedom of
Greece, and to send thither a commissioner instructed
to express the sympathy of this nation with the
Greeks, in the heroic struggles which they were then
making against the debasing tyranny of the Turks.
Daniel Webster introduced the resolution to that
effect; Mr. Clay advocated it with unrivalled elo-
quence. Nevertheless, the measure was not then,
adopted, in consequence of prudential reasons; but
Mr. Clay consummated his hopes on this subject at a
subsequent period, while Secretary of State.
In January, 1824, the subject of American indus-
try, and the protection of American manufactures,
occupied the attention of Congress. Mr. Clay took
a prominent part in the discussion, and on the 30tL
of March delivered his celebrated oration on the sub-
,-*2 THE LIFE AND TIMES
ject, which is justly regarded as a master-piece of elo-
quence and argument. In the exordium he depicted
with thrilling power the then desperate condition of
the country, and afterward proceeded to discuss the
causes which produced it, and the remedies which
alone could cure the evil. In this debate Mr. Webster
exerted his utmost to overthrow the positions defended
by Mr. Clay, who replied to the profound arguments
of that statesman with ability equal to his own ; and
on no occasion during the progress of their eventful
lives, were the remarkable and very dissimilar talents
of these great men more prominently drawn out, or
exhibited in clearer and more striking contrast. The
tariff bill which Mr. Clay advocated passed the
House on the 16th of April, 1824, and soon afterward
obtained all the necessary sanctions of law.
In August, 1824, General Lafayette visited the
United States, and was received by Congress. It be-
came the duty of Mr. Clay, as Speaker of the House,
to address the illustrious visitor; which he did with
great appropriateness and success. The General re-
tained through life a grateful remembrance of the
agency of Mr. Clay on that occasion, and of the
ability with which he discharged the function assigned
him. His subsequent sentiments toward Mr. Clay
may be inferred from the fact that, in 1832, he de-
clared to an officer of the United States Navy who
was his guest, when pointing to a portrait of Mr. Clay :
" That is the man whom I hope to see President of
the United States."
Mr. Clay felt it his duty to differ from President
Monroe on many important questions of public policy;
OF HENRY CLAY. 73
yet the feelings which existed between them were the
most friendly. Mr. Clay was offered a seat in the
Cabinet, and the liberty to select all the foreign ap-
pointments. But he declined the offer, being more
desirous to serve his country in the less distinguished
and more difficult post which he then occupied.
The Presidential campaign of 1824 was one of
great excitement and virulence. Mr. Clay had been
nominated by a meeting of the members of the Legis-
lature of Kentucky, as a suitable person to succeed
Mr. Monroe as President of the United States; and
that event placed him in a prominent position as a
candidate before the country. The proposal was en-
dorsed by similar recommendations in Missouri, Lou-
isiana, and Ohio, which increased its importance.
The rival candidates for that high post were John
Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts, William H. Craw-
ford, of Georgia, and Andrew Jackson, of Tennessee.
It soon became evident that the election would not
be made by the people, but that, according to the
provisions of the Constitution, it would pass into the
House of Representatives. It soon became evident,
also, that in consequence of the relative strength of
the four candidates already named, the ultimate power
of determining who should be chosen, would fall into
the hands of Mr. Clay's electors, which was equivalent
to placing it in his own. His conduct and preferences
under these delicate and critical circumstances, as-
sumed the highest importance, and attracted the
closest scrutiny. Until this date Mr. Clay had been
recognized by the nation as a Jeffersonian Democrat.
Mr. Adams was well known as ' a Whig and Federal-
74 THE LIFE AND TIMES
ist ; General Jackson as a staunch and ultra Demo-
crat; Mr. Crawford's extreme ill health rendered
him almost a nominal candidate, and unfit for the
performance of the duties of the office, to which he
had been named chiefly as a testimony of apprecia-
tion of his previous and valuable services to the
country.
Mr. Clay had never been an admirer of the hero of
New Orleans, and entertained serious apprehensions
as to the soundness of his views, and the safety and
wisdom of his policy in public affairs. Yet as both
were Democrats, it was confidently anticipated by the
nation at large, that ultimately Mr. Clay would be
constrained to accord him his support, and place him
in the Presidential chair. Soon indications began to
be apparent, that such an expectation would be dis-
appointed; and the first note of alarm at his threat-
ened disaffection to the party with which he had pre-
viously acted, was a letter which appeared in the
"Columbian Observer," a party paper then published
in Philadelphia, in which it was boldly charged that
Mr. Clay was about to sell himself for office to the
successful candidate, whoever that might be. The
implication was, that Mr. Adams and Mr. Clay had
formed a compact, by which the votes of the parti-
sans of the latter were to be given for Mr. Adams.
The authorship of this letter was afterward acknowl-
edged by Mr. George Kremer, an obscure representa-
tive from Pennsylvania. Afterward, when Mr. Adams
was elected President, and Mr. Clay was appointed
by him Secretary of State, the evidence seemed to be
conclusive, that there was some truth in the charge;
OF HENRY CLAY. lO
and thus began the malignant and groundless impu-
tation of "bargain and sale" which afterward haunted
the ears of Mr. Clay through the remainder of his
lite, and became the most effective weapon in the
hands of his enemies, in thwarting his upward path-
way to the highest office in the nation.
Even at that period, so loud was the clamor raised
in reference to this infamous charge, in support of
which not the slightest proof was ever adduced, that
Mr. Clay was compelled to call the attention of the
House to the matter, and he demanded an inves-
tigation in reference to it. A committee was there-
fore appointed in February, 1825, composed of the
leading members of the House. Mr. Kremer was
summoned before them, for the purpose of furnishing
proofs in support of the charge which he had preferred
against Mr. Clay. Previous to this summons, Mr.
Kremer had boldly declared his readiness and ability
to furnish conclusive proofs of the truth of the allega-
tions which he had made; when, however,- he was
required by the committee to fulfil his promises and
pretensions, he evaded them by declaring that he
could not appear before the committee, except either
as an accuser or a witness, neither of which charac-
ters he was willing to assume. The committee re-
ported to this effect, and thus the official aspects of
the proceeding terminated. But so deep an impression
was subsequently produced upon the public mind by
Mr. Clay's presence in the cabinet of Mr. Adams,
that the calumny obtained the credence of a large
portion of the community. That it was a calumny is
evident from two conclusive reasons : Mr. Adams, as
76 THE LIFE AND TIMES
well as Mr. Clay, both denied the truth of the charge
eubsequently in the most solemn manner; and not
the slightest proof was ever adduced to sustain it,
either by Kremer, or by any of his most desperate
and malignant confederates.
On the 12th of July, 1827, Mr. Clay visited Ken-
tucky, while still Secretary of State under Mr. Adams.
He addressed large assemblages of his former con
stituents; and at a public dinner embraced a favor-
able opportunity to advert at length to the oft-repeated
and loudly-asserted charge of corruption, in reference
to this subject. In the progress of his remarks on
that occasion, he thus expressed himself:
" In February, 1825, it was my duty, as the repre-
sentative of this district, to vote for some one of the
three candidates for the Presidency who were returned,
to the House of Representatives. It has been esta-
blished, and can be further proved, that, before I left
this State the preceding fall, I communicated to seve-
ral gentlemen of the highest respectability, my fixed
determination not to vote for General Jackson. The
friends of Mr. Crawford asserted to the last, that the
condition of his health was such as to enable him to
administer the duties of the office. I thought other-
wise, after I reached Washington city, and visited
him to satisfy myself ; and thought that physical im-
pediment, if there were no other objections, ought to
prevent his election. Although, the delegations from
four States voted for him, and his pretensions were
zealously pressed to the very last moment, it has been
of late asserted, and I believe by some of the very
persons who then warmly espoused his cause, that
Or HENRY CLAY. 77
his incompetency was so palpable as clearly to limit
the choice to two of the three returned candidates.
In my view of my duty, there was no alternative but
that which I embraced. That I had some objections
to Mr. Adams, I am ready freely to admit; but these
did not weigh a feather in comparison with the
greater and insurmountable objections, long and de-
liberately entertained against his competitor. I take
this occasion, with great satisfaction, to state, that my
objections to Mr. Adams arose chiefly from apprehen-
sions which have not been realized. I have found
him, at the head of the government, able, enlightened,
patient of investigation, and ever ready to receive
with respect, and, when approved by his judgment,
to act upon the counsels of his official advisers. 1
add, with unmixed pleasure, that, from the commence-
ment of the government, with the exception of Mr.
Jefferson's administration, no chief magistrate has
found the members of his Cabinet so united on all
public measures, and so cordial and friendly in all
their intercourse, private and official, as these are of
the present President.
"Had I voted for General Jackson, in opposition
to the well-known opinions which I entertained of
him, one-tenth part of the ingenuity and zeal which
have been employed to excite prejudices against me,
would have held me up to universal contempt ; and
what would have been worse, / should have felt that
I really deserved it.
"Before the election, an attempt was made, by an
abusive letter, published in the Columbian Observer,
at Philadelphia, a paper which, as has since trans
7*
78 THE LIFE AND TIMES
pi red, was sustained by Mr. Senator Eaton, the col-
league, the friend, and the biographer of General
Jackson, to assail my motives, and to deter me in the
exercise of my duty. This letter being avowed by
Mr. George Kremer, I instantly demanded from the
House of Representatives an investigation. A com-
mittee was accordingly, on the 5th day of February,
1825, appointed in the rare mode of balloting by the
House, instead of by selection of the Speaker. It was
composed of some of the leading members of that
body, not one of whom was rny political friend in the
preceding Presidential canvass. Although Mr. Kre-
mer, in addressing the House, had declared his wil-
lingness to bring forward his proofs, and his readiness
to abide the issue of the inquiry, his fears, or other
counsels than his own, prevailed upon him to take
refuge in a miserable subterfuge. Of all possible pe-
riods, that was the most fitting to substantiate the
charge, if it was true. Every circumstance was then
fresh ; the witnesses all living and present; the elec-
tion not yet complete; and therefore the imputed
corrupt bargain not fulfilled. All these powerful
considerations had no weight with the conspirators
and their accessories, and they meanly shrunk from
even an attempt to prove their charge, for the best of
all possible reasons because, being false and fabri-
cated, they could adduce no proof which was not
false and fabricated.
"During two years and a half which have now in-
tervened, a portion of the press devoted to the cause
of General Jackson, has been teeming with the vilest
calumnies against me; and the charge, under every
OF HENRY CLAY. 79
chameleon form, has been a thousand times repeated.
Up to this this time, I have in vain invited investiga-
tion, and demanded evidence. None, not a particle,
has been adduced.
"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, Chris-
tian, and free community, the monstrous principle
has been assumed, that accusation and conviction are
synonymous ; and that the persons who deliberately
bring forward an atrocious charge are exempt from
all obligations to substantiate it! And the pretext
is, that the crime, being of a political nature, is
shrouded in darkness, and incapable of being sub-
stantiated. 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 po-
litical offence is absolved from the duty of supporting
his accusation, every other accuser of offence stands
equally absolved. Such a principle, practically car-
ried into society, would subvert all harmony, peace,
and tranquillity. None no age, nor sex, nor pro-
fession, nor calling, would be safe against its baleful
and overwhelming influence. It would amount to a
universal license to universal calumny !
"Xo one has ever contended that the proof shculd
be exclusively that of eye-witnesses, testifying from
their senses positively and directly to the fact. Po-
litical, like other offences, may be established by cir-
cumstantial as well as positive evidence. But I do
contend, that some evidence, be it what it may, ought
80 THELIFEANDTIMES
to be exhibited. If 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 con-
viction is based. I will not even assert, that, in pub-
lic affairs, a citizen 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 pro-
mulgate 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 satistactory proof of some kind, its actual exist-
ence.
" If he who exhibits a charge of political crime is,
from its very nature, disabled to establish it, how
much more difficult is the condition of the accused ?
How can he exhibit negative proof of his innocence,
if no affirmative proof of his guilt is, or can be, ad-
ddced?
"It must have been a conviction that the justice
of the public required a definite charge, by a re-
sponsible accuser, that has, at last, extorted from
General Jackson his letter of the 6th of June, lately
published. I approach that letter with great reluct-
ance, not on my own account, for on that, I do
most heartily and sincerely rejoice that it has made
its appearance. But it is reluctance excited by the
feelings of respect which I would anxiously have cul-
tivated towards its author. lie has, however, by that
letter, created such relations between us, that, in any
language which I may employ, in examining its con-
OF HENRY CL, AT. 81
tents, I feel myself bound by no other obligations
than those which belong to truth, to public decorum,
and to myself.
" The first consideration which must, on the peru-
sal of the letter, force itself upon every reflecting
mind, is that which arises out of the delicate posture
in which General Jackson stands before the Ameri-
can public. He is a candidate for the Presidency,
avowed and proclaimed. He has no competitor at
present, and there is no probability of his having any,
but one. The charges which he has allowed himself
to be the organ of communicating to the very public
who is to decide the question of the Presidency,
though directly aimed at me, necessarily implicate
his only competitor. Mr. Adams and myself are
both guilty, or we are both innocent of the imputed
arrangement between us. His innocence is abso-
lutely irreconcilable with my guilt. If General Jack-
son, therefore, can establish my guilt, and, by infer-
ence, or by insinuation, that of his sole rival, he will
have removed a great obstacle to the consummation
of the object of his ambition. And if he can, at the
same time, make out his own purit}' of conduct, and
impress the American people with the belief that hi*
purity and integrity alone prevented his success be-
fore the House of Kepresentatives, his claims will be-
come absolutely irresistible. Were there ever more
powerful motives to propagate was there ever greater
interest, at all hazards, to prove the truth of charges?
44 The issue is fairly joined. The imputed oftenco
doea not comprehend a single friend, but the col-
lective body of my friends iii Congress; and it ao
I
82 THE LIFE AND TIMES
cuses them of offering, and me with sanctioning, cor
nipt propositions, derogating from honor, and in viola-
tion of the most sacred of duties. The charge has
been made after two years' deliberation. v General
Jackson has voluntarily taken his position, and vith-
out provocation. In voting against him as President
of the United States, I gave him no just cause of
offence. I exercised no more than my indisputable
privilege, as, on a subsequent occasion, of which I
have never complained, he exercised his in voting
against me as Secretary of State. Had I voted for
him, I must have gone counter to every fixed princi-
ple of my public life. I believed him incompetent,
and his election fraught with danger. At this early
period of the Republic, keeping steadily in view the
clangers which had overturned every other free State,
I believed it to be essential to the lasting preserva-
tion of our liberties, that a man, devoid of civil
talents, and offering no recommendation but one
founded on military service, should not be selected to
administer the government. I believe so yet; and 1
shall consider the days of the Commonwealth num-
bered when an opposite principle is established." *
* The same sentiments were expressed by Mr. Clay, and the
same reasons were assigned by him, for his conduct on the memo-
rable occasion referred to, in the following letter addressed by him
to his friend, Judge Brooke :
" WASHINGTON, 2Sth January, 1325.
My DEAR SIR: My position, in relation to the Presidential
conte-st, is highly critical, and such as to leave me no path on
which I can move without censure. I have pursued, in regard to
it, the rule which I always observe in the discharge of my publio
duty. I have interrogated my conscience as to what I ought to
OF HENRY CLAT. 83
do, and that faithful guide tells me that I ought to rote 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 to 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 gua-
rantee that this Republic will march in the fatal road which has
conducted every other republic to ruin. I owe to your friendsnip
this frank exposition of my intentions. I am, and shall continue
to be, assailed by all the abuse which partizan zeal, malignity,
and rivalry, can invent. I shall view, without emotion, these
effusions of malice, and remain unshaken in my purpose. What
is a public man worth, if he will not expose himself, on fit occa-
sions, for the good of his country ?
" As to the result of the election, I cannot speak with al somte
certainty ; but there is every reason to believe that we shall avoid
the dangerous precedent to which I allude.
II. CUT
The Hon. F. BROOKB."
84 THE LIFE AND TIMES
CHAPTER VII.
MR. CLAT AS SECRETARY OF STATE HIS OFFICIAL ACTIVITY GENS
BAL JACKSON REVIVES THE CIIARGE OF BARGAIN AND SALE UN-
POPULARITY OF THE ADAMS ADMINISTRATION JOHN RANDOLPH
HIS ASSAULT ON MR. CLAY DUEL BETWEEN CLAY AND RANDOLPH
ITS INCIDENTS AND RESULT ELECTION OF GENERAL JACKSON TO
THE PRESIDENCY RETURN OF MR. CLAY TO KENTUCKY MALIG-
NITY AND PERSECUTION OF HIS ENEMIES HIS RE-ELECTION TO
THE UNITED STATES SENATE IS NOMINATED FOR THE 1 AESI-
DE\CY.
MR. CLAY entered upon the performance of his im-
portant duties, as Secretary of State, on March 5th,
1825. His term of service was characterized chiefly
by two things the ability with which he performed
the functions of his office, and the malignity with
which he was pursued by his political and personal
enemies, with the repeated charge of " bargain and
sale" in reference to the election of Mr. Adams. As
Secretary of State, his superior diplomatic capacities
were repeatedly and clearly evinced. The number
of treaties negotiated and concluded by him during
four years, exceeded the whole number that had been
consummated by the United States Government,
during the thirty-five preceding years which had
elapsed since the adoption of the Federal Constitu-
tion. Prominent among these were compacts made
with Prussia, Denmark, Austria, Russia, Columbia,
OFHENRYCLAY. 85
and Great Britain. The claims of American citizens
on foreign governments were all adjusted; and the
political and commercial relations of the United
States with the various countries of Europe and South
America were arranged in a satisfactory and com-
mendable manner. His superior tact, penetration
and skill in managing the intricate and difficult de-
CJ O
tails of diplomatic affairs, were pre-eminent, and
elicited the applause of the representatives of foreign
powers with whom he thus came officially in con-
tact. His letter of instructions to the American
Commissioner to the Congress composed of dele-
gates from the Republics of Central America, which
was to have convened at Panama, was a State paper
of remarkable ability ; as was also his letter to the
American Minister at St. Petersburg, in reference to
the interposition of the Russian Government in ter-
minating the contest then existing between Spain
and her colonies.
But if thus honored in one department of his
public character and service, Mr. Clay was over-
shadowed at this period by a cloud of opprobrium
and detraction in another. In June, 1827, General
Jackson addressed a letter to Mr. Carter Beverly, from
his residence in Tennessee, repeating the charge of
corruption against Mr. Clay, and asserting that, pre-
vious to the election of Mr. Adams to the Presidency,
the friends of Mr. Clay had tendered him their sup-
port, on condition that Mr. Clay should receive the
first seat in the Cabinet. The following extract from
this memorable letter, will explain the nature of the
S
86 THE LIFE AND TIMES
accusation as presented on the part of General
Jackson :
" I will repeat, again, the occurrence, and to which
my reply to you must have conformed, and from
which, if there has been any variation, you can cor-
rect 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 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. To which I replied,
from his high. standing as a gentleman and member
of Congress, and from his uniform friendly and gen-
tlemanly 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,
rny feelings toward him would remain unaltered.
The gentleman proceeded : He said he had been in-
formed by the friends of Mr. Clay, that the friends
of Mr. Adams had made overtures to them, paying,
if Mr. Clay and his friends would unite in aid of Mr.
Adar.is'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) ;
OF HENRY CLAY. 87
t\.A rhe friends of Mr. Clay stated, the west did not
wish- to separate from the west, and if I would say, or
permit any of my confidential 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 with
their own weapons. To which, in substance, I re-
plied that in politics, as in everything else, my guide
was principle ; and contrary to the expressed and un-
biased 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 Presi-
dential chair by such means of bargain and corrup-
tion, I would see the earth open and swallow both
Mr. Clay and his friends and myself with them. If
thev had not confidence 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 communica-
tion 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 propo-ition stated, I may have done injustice
to him. If so, the gentleman informing me can
explain."
The person alluded to by the writer of the preceding
letter, as having been the agent and spokesman of
88 THE LIFE AI?D TIMES
Mr. Clay and his friends, was the Hon. James Bucha-
nan. Being thus dragged into the controversy, Mr.
Buchanan made a puhlic statement of his connection
with the matter; asserting that he had called on Gene-
ral Jackson and spoken to him in reference to this
subject; that he informed the General, that a rumor
prevailed that he would retain Mr. Adams as Secre-
tary of State if he were elected President; that such
a rumor was operating injuriously to his interests;
that he called upon him as his friend, to obtain a
denial of the fact from him ; that he (Mr. Buchanan)
had never been the personal or political friend of Mr.
Clay ; and that he not only had no authority from
Mr. Clay to make any proposition whatever to Gene-
ral Jackson, but that he had no idea that the General
ever entertained the impression that he was deputed
by Mr. Clay for that purpose.
No evidence was ever adduced to prove that the
friends of Mr. Clay had made overtures to the parti-
zans either of Mr. Adams or of General Jackson;
much less, that Mr. Clay was himself privy to any
such overtures, if they had been made; while Mr.
Adams, on his side, expressly denied the charge, as
far as it referred to him, in the most positive manner,
and in the following language :
" Upon him (Mr. Clay) the foulest slanders have
been showered. Long known and appreciated, as
successively a member of both Houses of your Na-
tional Legislature, as the unrivaled speaker, and, at
the same time, most efficient leader of debates in one
of them ; as an able and successful negotiator for
your interests in war and peace with foreign powers,
OP HENRY CLAT. 89
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 un-
founded. This tribute of justice is due from me to
hiti>, and I seize, with pleasure, the opportunity
afforded me by your letter, of discharging the ob-
ligation."
The administration of Mr. Adams was assailed
during its entire progress with the most extraordinary
bitterness and hostility. Various causes led to this
result, which need riot here be detailed. Prominent
among the statesmen who were inimical to the mea-
stireg which the President and his Cabinet com-
mended and approved, was John Randolph of Vir-
ginia. The spirit which characterized his speeches at
this period, will appear from the following remarkable
extract from one of them, referring to Mr. Adams:
"Who made him a judge of our usages? Who
constituted him? He has been a professor, I under-
stand. I wish he had left off the pedagogue when lie
got into the Executive chair. Who made him the censor
morum of this body ? Will any one answer this ques-
tion? Yes or no? Who? Name the person. Above
all, who made him the searcher of hearts, and gave
him the right, by an inuendo black as hell, to blacken
our motives? Blacken our motives! I did not say
8*
90 THE LIFE AND TIMES
that then. I was more under self-command ; I did
not use such strong language. I said, if he could
borrow the eye of Omniscience himself, and look into
every bosom here ; if he could look into that most
awful, calamitous, and tremendous of all possible
gulfs, the naked unveiled human heart, stripped of all
its covering of self-love, exposed naked, as to the eye
of God I said if he could do that, he was not, as
President of the United States, entitled to pass upon
our motives, although he saw and knew them to be
bad. I said, if he had converted us to the Catholic
religion, and was our father confessor, and every man
in this House at the footstool of the confessional had
confessed a bad motive to him by the laws of his
church, as by this Constitution, above the law and
above the church, he, as President of the United
States, could not pass on our motives, though we had
told him with our own lips our motives, and confessed
they were bad. I said this then, and I say it now. Here
I plant my foot; here I fling defiance right into his
teeth before the American people; here I throw the
% gauntlet to him and the bravest of his compeers, to
come forward and defend these miserable lines: 'In-
volving a departure, hitherto, so far as I am informed,
without example, from that usage, and upon the
motives for which, not being informed of them, I do
not feel myself competent to decide.' Amiable mo-
desty ! I wonder we did not, all at once, fall in lova
with him, and agree una voce to publish our proceed-
ings, except myself, for I quitted the Senate ten
minutes before the vote was taken. I saw what was
to follow ; I knew the thing would not be done at all,
OF HENRY CLAY. 91
rtr would be done unanimously. Therefore, in spite
of the remonstrances of friends, I went away, not
fearing that any one would doubt what my vote would
have been, if I had staid. After twenty-six hours'
exertion, it was time to give in. I was defeated,
horse, foot, and dragoons cut up, and clean broke
down by the coalition of Blifil and Black George
ly the combination, unheard of till then, of the puritan
with the blackleg.''
The last expression contained in this speech, which
applied the epithet of "puritan" to Mr. Adams, and
that of "blackleg" to the Secretary of State, thereby
alluding to the prevalent report that Mr. Clay was
addicted to the gaming-table, led to the memorable
duel which took place between him and the repre-
sentative from Roanoke. These two celebrated men
had been born within a few miles of each other
Mr. Clay on the low marshes of Hanover, Mr. Ran-
dolph on the high bluffs of the Appomattox. Their
characters were as different as their positions and
careers in life; the one genial, eloquent, graceful; the
other, sarcastic, repulsive, and hated by all, save his
few personal friends, with whom he came in contact.
Each was the acknowledged champion of a great
party, which fact gave greater significance and im-
portance to their conduct. After the utterance of the
insult contained in his last speech, Mr. Clay demanded
an apology from his antagonist, which was refused.
Mr. Clay then placed a challenge in the hands of his
friend, General Jessup, to be conveyed to Mr. Ran-
dolph. The General and Colonel Tattnall, the friend
of Mr. Randolph, agreed to suspend the delivery of
92 THE LIFE AND TIMES
the hostile message, with the hope that some expla-
nation or accommodation might be effected between
the parties. Jessup stated that the injury of which Mr.
Clay complained was two-fold ; that he had charged
him with having forged or manufactured a paper cor.-
nected with the Panama Mission, and that he had
applied to him the opprobrious epithet of "blackleg."
Jessup demanded that Mr. Randolph should declare
that he had no intention of charging Mr. Clay with
falsifying any paper or mis-stating any fact whatever;
and that the word " blackleg," as used by Mr. Ran-
dolph, was intended to apply to some other individual.
Mr. Tattnall communicated this demand to Mr.
Randolph. His reply was as follows, and at once put
an end to all prospect of accommodation :
"I have gone as far as I could in waiving my pri-
vilege to accept a peremptory challenge from a minis-
ter of the Executive Government, under any circum-
stances, and especially under such circumstances. The
words used by me were, that I thought it would be
in my power to show evidence, sufficiently presump-
tive to satisfy a Charlotte jur} r , that this invitation
was "manufactured" here that Salagar's letter struck
me as being a strong likeness in point of style, &c.,
to the other papers. I did not undertake to prove
this, but expressed my suspicion that the fact was so.
I applied to the Administration the epithet, "puri-
tanic, diplomatic, blacklegged Administration.
"I have no explanations to give I will not give
any I am called to the field I have agreed to go
and am ready to go."
The seconds proceeded to make the necessary pre
OFHENRYCLAY. 93
parations. During the night preceding the duel, Mr.
Randolph was found by his friend James Hamilton,
in a ;alm and kindly humor. He communicated to
General Hamilton the determination which he had
adopted, not to return Mr. Clay's fire: "Nothing
shall induce me to harm a hair of his head. I will
not make his wife a widow, and his children orphans.
Their tears would be shed over his grave ; but when
the sod of Virginia rests on my bosom, there is not in
this wide world one individual to pay this tribute upon
mine." Tears then began to flow from those basilisk
eyes, so long unused to the melting mood. Hamilton
replied that such a resolution was extraordinary, and
that it amounted in substance to a determination on
his part to go to the field with an intention to throw
his life away. No appeals, however, could induce
him then to alter his purpose ; but at a subsequent
hour of the night, when Gen. Hamilton called upon
him again, in company with Col. Tattnall, they found
him reading Milton's Paradise Lost; upon the beau-
ties of winch he dwelt with his usual discrimination
and sagacity. At length he adverted to his intention
not to return Mr. Clay's fire. His friends once more
expostulated with him upon such a purpose of F elf-
sacrifice; arid at length he modified his design by
saying: "Well, I promise you one thing; if I see the
devil in Clay's eye, and that with malice prepense he
means to take my life, I will change my mind."
During the interval which preceded the duel, Mr.
Clay adjusted his private affairs, but carefully kept
the approaching interview concealed from his family.
The combatants met the next day at four o'clock, OD
94 THE LIFE AND TIMES
the banks of the Potomac. The sun was just declining
in mellowed beauty behind the blue hills of Virginia,
when these two men, among the most remarkable and
gifted of her children, met apparently in mortal con-
ilict. Both seemed to be calm and self-possessed, in
the near view of possible death which they both en-
tertained. Randolph again repeated to Gen. Hamil-
ton his determination not to return Mr. Clay's fire,
lie well knew that he was one of the best shots of
the day, and that Clay's life was in his hands. When
taking their respective positions, and in handling the
weapon assigned him, Mr. Randolph accidentally
sprang the trigger, with the muzzle of the pistol
down. General Jessup instantly exclaimed, that if
that incident occurred again he would instantly leave
the ground. Mr. Clay replied that it was doubtless
an accident, and begged that the gentlemen would
proceed. The positions were again taken, the word
was given, Mr. Clay fired, missing his adversary, and
Mr. Randolph then discharged his pistol in the air.
As soon as Mr. Clay perceived this act of Randolph,
he instantly approached the latter, and exclaimed: "I
trust in God, my dear sir, that you are unhurt; after
what has occurred, I would not have harmed you for
a thousand worlds." Thus ended this famous duel ;
presenting on both sides, and in the conduct of each
of these remarkable men, that combination of ab-
surdity and contradiction of principle and action,
in which the so-called code of honor inevitably in-
volves even the most gifted and eminent of those who
practise its usages, and defer to its authority.
The last interview which ever took placo between
OP HENRY CLAY. 95
Messrs. Clay and Randolph occurred in March, 1833,
a short time before the death of the latter. He was
then on his way to Philadelphia, where he afterward
expired. The Senate was holding a night session,
and Mr. Clay was speaking when Randolph was car-
ried into the Senate Chamber, and placed in a chair.
"Hold me up," said he to his attendants: "7 have
come to hear that voice." When Mr. Clay concluded
his remarks, ho approached Mr. Randolph, and they
cordially saluted each other. Such was the termina-
tion of an acquaintance which had continued during
the quarter of a century, and which had been to each
party the source of the utmost bitterness, anxiety,
and malignity, during the greater portion of its du-
ration.
In the autumn of 1828 the general election took
place, which resulted in the elevation of Andrew
Jackson to the Presidency. John C. Calhoun was
chosen Vice-President. With the conclusion of the
administration of John Quincy Adams, Mr. Clay's
official duties terminated. The triumph of the Demo-
cratic party in the person of the Hero of Kew Orleans,
and his immense popularity with the nation, tended
to increase the odium which had already been accu-
mulated on the head of Mr. Clay, as his ablest oppo-
nent, in consequence of the charges of corruption
which had previously been urged against him. The
latter at once prepared to remove his family to Ken-
tucky. Previous to his departure from Washington,
a number of his friends invited him to a public
dinner; on which occasion he delivered a speech in
which he vindicated himself from the slanders and
96 THELIFEANDTIMES
charges of his enemies, and stated his opinions of
public affairs. Said he :
" I should be glad to feel that I could with any pro-
priety abstain from any allusion, at this time and at this
place, to public affairs. But considering the occasion
which has brought us together, the events which have
preceded it, and the influence which they may exert
upon the destinies of our country, my silence might
be misinterpreted, and I think it therefore proper that
I should embrace this first public opportunity which I
have bad of saying a few words, since the termination
of the late memorable and embittered contest. It is
far from my wish to continue or to revive the agita-
tion with which that contest was attended. It is ended,
for good or for evil. The nation wants repose. A ma-
jority of the people has decided, and from their deci-
sion there can and ought to be no appeal. Bowing,
as I do, with profound respect to them, and to this exer-
cise of their sovereign authority, I may nevertheless
be allowed to retain and to express my own unchanged
sentiments, even if they should not be in perfect co-
incidence with theirs. It is a source of high gratifi-
cation to me to believe that I share these sentiments
in common, with more than half-a-million of freemen,
possessing a degree of virtue, of intelligence, of reli-
gion, and of genuine patriotism, which, without dis-
paragement to others, is unsurpassed, in the same
number of men in this or any other country, in this
or any other age.
u I deprecated the election of the present President
of the United States, because I believed he had nei-
ther the temper, the experience, nor the attainments
OF HENRY CLAY. 97
requisite to discharge the complicated and arduous
duties of chief magistrate. I deprecated it still more,
because his elevation, I believe, would be the result
exclusively of admiration and gratitude for military
service, without regard to indispensable civil qualifi-
cations. I can neither retract, nor alter, nor modify
any opinion which, on these subjects, I have at any
time heretofore expressed. I thought I beheld in his
election an awful foreboding of the fate which, at
some future (I pray to God that, if it ever arrive, it
may be some far distant) day was to befall this infant
republic. All past history has impressed on my mind
this solemn apprehension. Nor is it effaced or weak-
ened by contemporaneous events passing upon our
own favored continent. It is remarkable that, at
this epoch, at the head of eight of the nine inde-
pendent governments established in both Americas,
military officers have been placed, or have placed
themselves. General Lavalle has, by military force,
subverted the republic of La Plata. General Santa
Cruz is the chief magistrate of Bolivia; Colonel
Pinto of Chili; General Lamar of Peru, and General
Bolivar of Colombia. Central America, rent in
pieces, and bleeding at every pore from wounds in-
flicted by contending military factions, is under the
alternate sway of their chiefs. In the government of
our nearest neighbor, an election, conducted accord -
ing'to all the requirements of their Constitution, has
terminated with a majority of the States in favor of
Pedrazza, the civil candidate. An insurrection was
raised in behalf of his military rival; the cry, not
exactly of a bargain, but of corruption, was sounded ;
9 o
98 THE LIFE AND TIMES
the election was annulled, and a reform effected by
proclaiming General Guerrero, having only a minority
of the States, duly elected President. The thunders
from the surrounding forts, and the acclamations of
the assembled multitude, on the fourth, told us what
General was at the head of our affairs. It is true,
and in this respect we are happier than some of the
American States, that his election has not been
brought about by military violence. The forms of
the Constitution have yet remained inviolate. In re-
asserting the opinions which I hold, nothing is fur-
ther from my purpose than to treat with the slightest
disrespect those of my fellow-citizens, here or else-
where, who may entertain opposite sentiments. The
fact of claiming and exercising the free and inde-
pendent expression of the dictates of my own delibe-
rate judgment, affords the strongest guarantee of my
full recognition of their corresponding privilege. A
majority of my fellow-citizens, it would seem, do not
perceive the dangers which I apprehended from the
example. Believing that they are not real, or that
we have some security against their effect, which
ancient and modern republics have not found, that
majority, in the exercise of their incontestable right
of suffrage, have chosen for chief magistrate a citizen
who brings into that high trust no qualification other
than military triumph."
This was the darkest period of Mr. Clay's career
the crisis when the malignity of his triumphant ene-
mies flooded the country with calumnies of every de-
scription against him, and endeavored to crush him
beneath the weight of their detractions. Neyerthe-
OP HENRY CLAY. 99
less, his former constituents in Kentucky continued
to regard him with the same admiration and par-
tiality. He remained in retirement nearly three
years, engaged in the duties of his profession. He
duly appreciated the firmness with which the inhabi-
tants of Kentucky adhered to him through evil as
well as through good report, and thus expressed him-
self on the subject on a public occasion :
" When I felt as if I should sink beneath the storm
of abuse and detraction which was violently raging
around me, I have found myself upheld and sus-
tained by your encouraging voice and your approving
smiles. I have, doubtless, committed many faults
and indiscretions, over which you have thrown the
broad mantle of your charity. But I can say, and
in the presence of my God and of this assembled
multitude I will say, that I have honestly and faith-
|6lly served my country; that I have never wronged
it ; and that, however unprepared I lament that I am,
to appear in the Divine Presence on other accounts,
I invoke the stern justice of His judgment on my
public conduct, without the smallest apprehension of
His displeasure."
During the period of his retirement Mr. Clay
visited New Orleans, Columbus, Cincinnati, and
other places in the South and "West, where his friends
complimented him with public receptions. At length,
in the autumn of 1831, he was recalled to public life
by being again chosen by the Legislature of Ken-
tucky, to represent that Commonwealth in the Senate
of the United States. He accordingly resumed his
seat in that body, at the opening of the first session
100 THE LIFE AND TIMES
of the Twenty-second Congress. It was about tho
same period that he was nominated for the Presi-
dency by the National Republican Convention,
which convened at Baltimore in December, 1831.
John Sergeant of Pennsylvania was proposed by
that assembly for the office of Vice-president. The
result of the conflict which ensued was the election
of General Jackson to a second term of the chief
magistracy.
OF HENRY CLAY. 101
CHAPTER VIII.
TOl TARIFF OF 1832 MR. CLAY'S BILL HIS ARGUMENT IN DEFEXCI
OF IT DISCONTENT IN SOUTH CAROLINA THE PROCLAMATION OF
PRESIDENT JACKSON COUNTER PROCLAMATION OF GOVERNOR HAYNE
MR. CLAY'S COMPROMISE BILL HIS ARGUMENT IN SUPPORT OF IT
MR. WEBSTER'S OPPOSITION ITS FINAL PASSAGE PEACE OF THE
UNION PRESERVED MR. CLAY'S JOURNEY THROUGH THE NORTHERN
AND EASTERN STATES EXHIBITIONS OF POPULAR ENTHUSIASM
HIS RETURN.TO WASHINGTON.
THE subject of the Tariff was the most important
which engaged the attention of Congress in the ses-
sion of 1831-32. South Carolina had already at that
period commenced to exhibit a spirit of discontent,
and of insubordination to the revenue laws of the
United States, which afterward culminated in the
most serious results. For the purpose of producing
harmony, Mr. Clay introduced a resolution in the
Senate on the 9th of January, 1832, providing for
the abolition of the existing duties upon articles im-
ported from foreign countries, not coming into com-
petition with similar articles made or produced in the
United States, except the duties on wines and silks,
and that these ought to be reduced ; and also that
the Committee on Finance be instructed to report ac-
cordingly. He supported this resolution by an able
speech, to which Mr. Hayne of South Carolina re-
9*
102 THE LIFE AND TIMES
sponded. The subject underwent a protracted debate,
and was still before the Senate on the second of Feb-
ruary, when Mr. Clay commenced the delivery of
his famous oration in defence of the American system,
and in opposition to the British colonial system. The
delivery of this speech occupied that day, the whole
of the next, and was at length concluded on the sixth
of that mqnth. It was one of his master-pieces;
and on no other occasion did his remarkable abilities
shine forth with greater lustre, or more astounding
effect. As an illustration of the method with which
Mr. Clay treated the dry details of an argument on
commercial affairs, we may adduce the following
extracts from this oration :
" Such are some of the items of this vast system
of protection which it is now proposed to abandon.
We might well pause and contemplate, if human
imagination could conceive the extent of mischief and
ruin from its total overthrow, before we proceed to
the work of destruction. Its duration is worthy also
of serious consideration. Not to go behind the Con-
stitution, its date is coeval with that instrument. It
began on the ever-memorable fourth day of July
the fourth day of July, 1789. The second. act which
stands recorded in the statute-book, bearing the illus-
trious signature of George Washington, laid the cor-
ner-stone of the whole system. That there might be
no mistake about the matter, it was then solemnly
proclaimed to the American people and to the world,
that it was necessary for 'the encouragement and pro-
tection of manufactures,' that duties should be laid.
It is iu vain to urge the small amount of the measure
OP HENRY CLAT. 103
of the protection then extended. The great principle
was then established by the fathers of the Constitu-
tion, with the father of his country at their head.
And it cannot now be questioned, that, if the govern-
ment had not then been new and the subject untried,
a greater measure of protection would have been
applied, if it had been supposed necessary. Shortly
after, the master-minds of Jefferson and Hamilton
were brought to act on this interesting subject. Tak-
ing views of it appertaining to the departments of
Foreign Affairs and of the Treasury, which they re-
spectively filled, they presented, severally, reports
which yet remain monuments of their profound wis-
dom, and came to the same conclusion of protection,
to American industry. Mr. Jefferson argued that
foreign restrictions, foreign prohibitions, and foreign
high duties, ought to be met at home by American
restrictions, American prohibitions, and American
high duties. Mr. Hamilton, surveying the entire
ground, and looking at the inherent nature of the
subject, treated it with an ability which, if ever
equalled, has not been surpassed, and earnestly recom-
mended protection.
"If we purchased still less from Great Britain than
we do, and our conditions were reversed, so that the
value of her imports from this country exceeded that
of her exports to it, she would only then be compelled
to do what we have so long done, and what South
Carolina does, in her trade with Kentucky, make up
for the unfavorable balance by trade with other places
and countries. How does she now dispose of the one
hundred and sixty millions of dollars' worth of cotton
104 THE LIFE AND TIMES
fabrics which she annually sells? Of that amount
the United States do not purchase five per centum.
What becomes of the other ninety-five per centum?
Is it not sold to other powers, and would not their
markets remain, if ours were totally shut? Would
she not continue, as she now finds it her interest, to
purchase the raw material from us, to supply those
markets? Would she be guilty of the folly of de-
priving herself of markets to the amount of upward
of one hundred and fifty millions of dollars, because
we refused her a market for some eight or ten mil-
lions?
"But if there were a diminution of the British
demand for cotton equal to the loss of a market for
the few British fabrics which are within the scope of
our protective policy, the question would still remain,
whether the cotton-planter is not amply indemnified
by the creation of additional demand elsewhere?
With respect to the cotton-grower, it is the totality of
the demand, and not its distribution, which affects hia
interests. If any system of policy will augment the
aggregate of the demand, that system is favorable to
his interests, although its tendency may be to vary
the theatre of the demand. It could not, for exam-
ple, be injurious to him, if, instead of Great Britain
continuing to receive the entire quantity of cotton
which she now does, two or three hundred thousand
bales of it were taken to the other side of the chan-
nel, and increased to that extent the French demand.
It would be better for him, because it is always better
to have several markets than one. Now if, instead
of a transfer to the opposite side of the channel, of
OF HENRY CLAY. 105
those two or three hundred thousand bales, they are
transported to the Northern States, can that be inju-
rious to the cotton-grower? Is it not better for him ?
Is it not better to have a market at home, unaffected
by war, or other foreign causes, for that amount of
his staple ?
"If the establishment of American manufactures,
therefore, had the sole effect of creating a new and
an American demand for cotton, exactly to the same
extent in which it lessened the British demand, there
would be no just cause of complaint against the tariff.
The gain in one place would precisely equal the loss
in the other. But the true state of the matter is
much more favorable to the cotton-grower. It is cal-
culated that the cotton manufactories of the United
States absorb at least two hundred thousand bales of
cotton annually. I believe it to be more. The two
ports of Boston and Providence alone received during
the last year near one hundred and ten thousand
bales. The amount is annually increasing. The raw
material of that two hundred thousand bales is worth
Bix millions, and there is an additional value conferred
by the manufacturer of eighteen millions; it being
generally calculated that, in such cotton fabrics as we
are in the habit of making, the manufacture consti-
tutes three-fourths of the value of the article. If,
therefore, these twenty-four millions' worth of cotton
fabrics were not made in the United States, but were
manufactured in Great Britain, in order to obtain
them, we should have to add to the already enormous
disproportion between the amount of our imports and
exports, in the trade with Great Britain, the further
106 THELIFEANDTIME8
sum of twenty-four millions, or, deducting the price
of the raw material, eighteen millions ! And will
gentlemen tell me how it would be possible for this
country to sustain such a ruinous trade? From all
H
that portion of the United States lying north and
east of James River, and west of the mountains,
Great Britain receives comparatively nothing. How
would it be possible for the inhabitants of that largest
portion of our territory, to supply themselves with
cotton fabrics, if they were brought from England
exclusivel}'? They could not do it. But for the ex-
istence of the American manufacture, they would be
compelled greatly to curtail their supplies, if not ab-
solutely to suffer in their comforts. By its existence
at home, the circle of those exchanges is created,
which reciprocally diffuses among all who are em-
braced within it the productions of their respective
industry. The cotton-grower sells the raw material
to the manufacturer; he buys the iron, the bread, the
meal, the coal, and the countless number of objects
of his consumption from his fellow-citizens, and they
in turn purchase his fabrics. Putting it upon the
ground merely of supplying those with necessary
articles who could not otherwise obtain them, ought
there to be from any quarter an objection to the only
system by which that object can be accomplished?
But can there be any doubt, with those who will re-
flect, that the actual amount of cotton consumed is
increased by the home manufacture? The main ar-
gument of gentlemen is founded upon the idea of
mutual ability resulting from mutual exchanges.
They would furnish an ability to foreign nations by
OP HENRY CLAT. 107
purchasing from them, and I, to our own people, by
exchanges at home. If the American manufacture
were discontinued, and that of England were to take
its place, how would she sell the additional quantity
of twenty -four millions of cotton goods, which wo
now make? To us? That has been shown to be
impracticable. To other foreign nations ? She has
already pushed her supplies to them to the utmost
extent. The ultimate consequence would then be, to
diminish the total consumption of cotton, to say no-
thing of the reduction of price that would take place
by throwing into the ports of England the two hun-
dred thousand bales which would go thither."
On the 13th of March, 1832, a bill was reported
according to the suggestion of Mr. Clay, embodying
his views, which afterward passed both Houses with
some modification in July. The revenue was reduced
by its operation, but the Protective System was pre-
served. The law was received with different senti-
ments in different portions of the Union. The dis-
content was greatest and fiercest in South Carolina.
The tariff of 1832 was made the subject of popular
opprobrium; and a Convention was held in that
State which enacted a nullifying ordinance, and
became a part of its fundamental law. This event
took place on the 24th of November. The ordinance
was signed by James Hamilton as chairman, and one
hundred and forty members, including many of the
leading citizens of South Carolina. The Convention
prepared and issued an address to the people of the
United States, in which the following language occurs:
*' Uiider a system of free trade, the aggregate crop
108 THE LIFE AND TIMES
of South Carolina would be exchanged for a larger
quantity of manufactures, by at least one-third, than
it can be exchanged for under the protecting system.
It is no less evident, that the value of the crop is di-
minished by the protecting system very nearly, if not
precisely, to the extent that the aggregate quantity of
manufactures that is obtained for it, is diminished.
It is indeed strictly and philosophically true, that the
quantity of consumable commodities which can be
obtained for the cotton and rice, annually produced
by the industry of the State, is the precise measure
of their aggregate value. But for the prevalent and
habitual error of confounding the money price with
the exchangeable value of our agricultural staples,
these propositions would be regarded as self-evident.
If the protecting duties were repealed, one hundred
bales of cotton, or one hundred barrels of rice, would
purchase as large a quantity of manufactures as one
hundred and fifty will now purchase. The annual
income of the State, its means of purchasing and
consuming the necessaries and comforts and luxuries
of life, would be increased in a corresponding degree.
Almost the entire crop of South Carolina, amounting
annually to more than six millions of dollars, is ulti-
mately exchanged either for foreign manufactures
subject to protecting duties, or for similar domestic
manufactures. The natural value of that crop would
be all the manufactures which we could obtain for it
under a system of unrestricted commerce. The arti-
ficial value produced by the unjust and unconstitu-
tional legislation of Congress, is only such part of
these manufactures as will remain after paying a duty
OP HENRY CLAY. 109
of fifty per cent, to the government ; or, to speak with
more precision, to the Northern manufacturers. . . .
The inevitable result is, that the manufactures thus
lawfully acquired by the honest industry of South
Carolina, are worth annually three millions of dollars
less to her citizens, than the very same quantity, of
the very same description, of manufactures is worth
to the citizens of a manufacturing State a difference
of value produced exclusively by the operation of the
protecting system. No ingenuity can either evade or
refute this proposition. The very axioms of geometry
are not more self-evident We confidently ap-
peal to our confederated States, and to the whole
world, to decide whether the annals of human legis-
lation furnish a parallel instance of injustice and op-
pression perpetrated in the form of free government.
However it may be disguised by the complexity of
the process by which it is effected, it is nothing less
than the monstrous outrage of taking three millions
of dollars annually from the value of the productions
of South Carolina, and transferring it to the people
of other and distant communities."
Irritated by these exhibitions of hostility to a law
which he had approved, General Jackson issued his
proclamation on the 10th of December, 1832, de-
nouncing the proceedings which had taken place in
South Carolina as treasonable, and insisting that they
should be immediately abandoned. Ten days after-
ward Governor Hayne issued a counter proclamation,
urging all patriotic citizens of the State to obey tho
ordinance of nullification. When the second session
of the twenty-second Congress opened, the presence
10
110 THE LIFE AND TIMES
and influence of Mr. Calhoun, who had resigned the
Vice-Presidency, and accepted a seat in the Senate,
and whom General Jackson had at one time threat-
ened to arrest on his arrival at Washington, became
invested with immense importance, as the leader and
originator of the project of nullification, and as the
great representative, pro hoc vice, of State rights, in
opposition to those of Federal law and government.
A collision of the most dangerous and desperate
character between the President and the State of
South Carolina, seemed inevitable; but just in the
most critical moment, Mr. Clay came forward in the
Senate with his celebrated "Compromise Bill," which
provided for a gradual reduction of duties till the
year 1842, when twenty per cent, at a home valuation,
should become the rate, until some other proportion
should be established by the authority of law. This
Compromise Bill was the product of much study and
reflection on the part of its author. When passing
through Philadelphia, previous to the opening of the
session, Mr. Clay had held conferences with the lead-
ing manufacturers of that city, then, as now, the
centre of the manufacturing enterprise and resources
of the Union, to ascertain the opinions which they
had derived from their practical knowledge and ex-
perience of the subject. On arriving at Washington,
he conferred with Mr. Calhoun upon the existing
difficulties, and compared views with him in refer-
ence to the necessary and practicable changes in the
tariff. His rare powers of persuasion and concilia-
tion were used to the utmost, in producing a spirit
of harmony among Southern Representatives, who
OF HENRY CLAY. 11}
had been most disposed to refractory measures. He
prevailed so far, that at last they generally expressed
the feeling, that they much preferred that the diffi-
culty should be settled by Mr. Clay, than by the
arbitrary measures threatened by the Federal Gov-
ernment.
The Compromise Act was discussed with much
zeal and ability in both Houses of Congress. Its
chief opponent was Daniel Webster, who threw into
the scale against it the ponderous weight of his talents
and influence. Mr. Clay met the arguments which
he advanced with great boldness and skill. He thus
replied to the chief considerations advanced by the
Colossus of the North against the bill:
"The Senator from Massachusetts objects to the
bill under consideration, on various grounds. He
argues, that it imposes unjustifiable restraints on the
power of future legislation ; that it abandons the pro-
tective policy; and that the details of the bill are
practically defective. He does not object to the gra-
dual, but very inconsiderable, reduction of duties
which is made prior to 1842. To that he could not
object, because it is a species of prospective provision,
as he admits, in conformity with numerous prece-
dents on our statute-book. He does not object so
much to the state of the proposed law prior to 1842,
during a period of nine years ; but, throwing himself
forward to the termination of that period, he contends
that Congress will then find itself under inconvenient
shackles, imposed by our indiscretion. In the first
place, I would remark, that the bill contains no obli-
gatory pledges it could make noue none are at-
112 THE LIFE AND TIMES
tempted. The power over the subject is in the Con-
stitution, put there by those who formed it, and liable
to be taken out only by an amendment of the instru-
ment. The next Congress, and every succeeding
Congress, will undoubtedly have the power to repeal
the law whenever they may think proper. Whether
they will exercise it, or not, will depend upon a sound
discretion, applied to the state of the whole country,
and estimating fairly the consequences of the repeal,
both upon the general harmony and the common in-
terests. Then the bill is founded in a spirit of com-
promise. Now, in all compromises there must be
mutual concessions. The friends of free-trade insist,
that duties should be laid in reference to revenue
alone. The friends of American industry say, that
another, if not paramount object in laying them,
should be, to diminish the consumption of foreign,
and increase that of domestic products. On this point
the parties divide, and between these two opposite
opinions a reconciliation is to be effected, if it can be
accomplished. The bill assumes as a basis adequate
protection for nine years, and less beyond that term.
The friends of protection say to their opponents, wo
are willing to take a lease of nine years, with the
long chapter of accidents beyond that period, includ-
ing the chance of war, the restoration of concord, and
along with it a conviction common to all, of the utility
of protection ; and in consideration of it, if, in 1842,
none of these contingencies shall have been realized,
we are willing to submit, as long as Congress may
think proper, to a maximum rate of twenty per
centum, with the power of discrimination below it,
OF HENRY CLAY. 113
cash duties, home valuations, and a liberal list of free
articles, for the benefit of the manufacturing interest.
To these conditions the opponents of protection are
ready to accede. The measure is what it professes to
be, a compromise ; but it imposes, and could impose,
no restriction upon the will or power of a future Con-
gress. Doubtless great respect will be paid, as it
ought to be paid, to the serious condition of the
country that has prompted the passage of this bill.
Any future Congress that might disturb this adjust-
ment, would act under a high responsibility ; but it
would be entirely within its competency to repeal, if
it thought proper, the whole bill. It is far from the
object of those who support this bill, to abandon or
surrender the policy of protecting American industry.
Its protection or encouragement may be accomplished
in various ways first, by bounties, as far as they
are within the constitutional power of Congress to
otter them ; second, by prohibitions, totally excluding
the foreign rival article; third, by high duties, with-
out regard to the aggregate amount of revenue which
they produce; fourth, by discriminating duties, so
adjusted as to limit the revenue to the economical
wants of government; and, fifth, by the admission of
the raw material, and articles essential to manufac-
tures, free of duty; to which may be added, cash du-
ties, home valuations, and the regulation of auctions.
A perfect system of protection would comprehend
most, if not all these modes of affording it. There
* o
might be, at this time, a prohibition of certain arti-
cles (ardent spirits and coarse cottons, for example)
to public advantage. If there were not inveterate
10* H
114 THK LIFE AND TIMES
prejudices and conflicting opinions prevailing (and
what statesman can totally disregard impediments ?),
such a compound system might be established.
"Now, Mr. President, before the assertion is made,
that the bill surrenders the protective policy, gentle-
men should understand perfectly what it does not, as
well as what it does propose. It impairs no power
of Congress over the whole subject; it contains no
promise or pledge whatever, express or implied, as to
bounties, prohibitions, or auctions; it does not touch
the power of Congress in regard to them, and Con-
gress is perfectly free to exercise that power at any
time; it expressly recognizes discriminating duties
within a prescribed limit; it provides for cash duties
and home valuations ; and it secures a free list, em-
bracing numerous articles, some of high importance
to the manufacturing arts. Of all the modes of pro-
tection which I have enumerated, it aftects only the
third; that is to say, the imposition of high duties,
producing a revenue beyond the wants of government.
The Senator from Massachusetts contends that the
policy of protection was settled in 1816, and that it
has ever since been maintained. Sir, it was settled
long before 1816. It is coeval with the present Con-
stitution, and it will continue, under some of its va-
rious aspects, during the existence of the government.
No nation can exist, no nation perhaps ever existed,
without protection in some form, and to some extent,
being applied to its own industry. The direct and
necessary consequence of abandoning the protection
of its own industry, would be to subject it to the
restrictions and prohibitions of foreign Powers ; and
OF HENRY CLAY. 115
no nation, for any length of time, can endure an alien
legislation, in which it has no will. The discontents
which prevail, and the safety of the Republic, may
require the modification of a specific mode of protec-
tion, but it must be preserved in some other more
acceptable shape.
"All that was settled in 1816, in 1824, and in 1828,
was, that protection should be afforded by high du-
ties, without regard to the amount of the revenue which
they might yield. During that whole period, we had
a public debt which absorbed all the surpluses be-
yond the ordinary wants of government. Between
1816 and 1824, the revenue was liable to the greatest
fluctuations, vibrating between the extremes of about
nineteen and thirty-six millions of dollars. If there
were more revenue, more debt was paid ; if less, a
smaller amount was reimbursed. Such was some-
times the deficiency of the revenue, that it became
necessary to the ordinary expenses of government,
to trench upon the ten millions annually set apart as
a sinking fund, to extinguish the public debt. If
the public debt remained undischarged, or we had
any other practical mode of appropriating the surplus
revenue, the form of protection, by high duties, might
be continued without public detriment. It is the pay-
ment of the public debt, then, and the arrest of in-
ternal improvements by the exercise of the veto, that
unsettles that specific form of protection. Nobody sujh.
poses, or proposes, that we should continue to levy,
by means of high duties, a large annual surplus, of
which no practical use can be made, for the sake of
the incidental protection which they afford. The
116 THE LIFE AND TIMES
Secretary of the Treasury estimates that surplus on
the existing scale of duties, and with the other sources
of revenue, at six millions annuallj r . An annual
accumulation at that rate would, in a few years, bring
into the treasury the whole currency of the country,
to lie there inactive and dormant."
The Compromise Bill, in consequence of the unwea-
ried exertions of Mr. Clay, passed the House on tho
26th of February, 1833, by a vote of one hundred and
twenty to eighty-four; and the Senate, on the 1st of
March following, by a vote of twenty-nine to sixteen.
This result was most propitious to the interests of
the whole Confederacy, restoring concord, preserving
unity, and averting civil war and bloodshed, the pro-
bable horrors of which it would be impossible for the
mind to conjecture, or adequately estimate; while,
at the same time, it placed Mr. Clay on an exalted
and honorable eminence, as the preserver of the
unity and prosperity of the nation. He regarded
the glorious work which he had been able to achieve
with that particular pride and jo}% which were so
natural to the breast of a true patriot, whose feli-
citous destiny it had been, to merit the gratitude
of his country by the importance and value of his
services.
In the autumn of 1833 Mr. Clay complied with
repeated invitations which had been extended to
him, to visit the Northern and Eastern States of the
Union. The reception with which he was greeted,
during the progress of his journey, indicated the im-
mense popularity which he had attained, in the esti-
mation of his countrvmen. Immense and enthusias-
OP HENRY CLAY. 117
tic crowds greeted his arrival at Baltimore, Philadel-
phia, New York, Providence, Boston, Charlestown,
Lowell, Sulem, Albany, and many other places of
importance on his route. He declined the frequent
invitations which he received to public dinners. The
manufacturing population of New England, espe-
cially, hailed his presence as that of a public bene-
factor and national favorite. He visited many insti-
tutions of interest in the leading cities through which
he passed ; and no conqueror, loaded with the spoils
of blood-bought victories, ever received such genuine
homage and applause from his countrymen, as this
triumphant hero of peace, conciliation, and union.
He visited ex-President Adams at Quincy, and as-
cended the historic heights of Bunker Hill ; on
which a platform having been erected, he was ad-
dressed, in the presence of a great multitude, by
Edward Everett, as chairman of the committee, in a
complimentary speech. The recipient of these, and
many other demonstrations of popular applause, re-
turned to Washington at the opening of Congress.
During the entire tour he was accompanied by Mrs.
Clay, and by a portion of his family, who were thus
the gratiiied witnesses of this extraordinary exhibi-
tion of a nation's esteem and admiration.
118 THE LITE AND TIMES
CHAPTER IX.
DISPOSAL OF THE PUBLIC LANDS POLICY OF MR. CLAT RESPECTING
THEM HIS REPORT ON THE SUBJECT PRESIDENT JACKSON'S OP-
POSITION TO IT THE BANK OF THE UNITED STATES THE PRE-
SIDENT RESOLVES TO REMOVE THE DEPOSITS CHANGES PRODUCED
THEREBY IN HIS CABINET THE OPPOSITION OF CONGRESS TO THE
MEASURE THE DEPOSITS REMOVED MR. CLAY's SPEECHES OK
THE SUBJECT THE EXPUNGING RESOLUTION EXTRACTS.
Ix March, 1832, the subject of the disposal of the
public lands was introduced into the deliberations of
Congress. A proposition was made by Mr. Bibb, of
Kentucky, to reduce their price ; while other Repre-
sentatives urged that the public territory, which be-
longed to the United States, should be sold to the
respective States within which they were located, at
a moderate price. These propositions were referred
to the committee of which Mr. Clay was a member ;
and the supposition was, that he might be tempted to
advocate the sale of the public lands on those terms,
in order to acquire popularity in the Western States,
thereby defending a policy inconsistent with his pre-
vious position.
Mr. Clay detected the trap with his usual sagacity,
and evaded it. The position which he assumed and
advocated was not only independent of any selfish con-
sideration, but was just and equitable in itself. He
contended that the public lands were a national do-
OF HENRY CLAY. 119
main, belonging in common to the Federal Govern-
ment. Ito right to this territory was based both on
conquest and compact. It had been obtained by the
blood and the money of the original thirteen colonies.
The triurr.ph at Yorktown, and the treaty of peace
made by discomfited England, acknowledging the
freedom and independent sovereignty of the revolted
colonies, completed and perfected their indefeasible
title. The thirteen States, the original foeftees of
those dom&ins, then conveyed their right, title, and
interest therein to the Federal Government, to be ad-
ministered for the common good, and to serve as
sources from which to replenish the common trea-
sury. In return, the Federal Government had pledged
itself to administer the trust according to the wishes
of the grantors, for the interests of the original pos-
sessors, and of those new States which might after-
ward become incorporated into the Union.
Mr. Clay made an able report from the Committee
on Public Lands. The positions which he assumed
and advocated on this subject will be understood
most clearly from the following provisions of hia
bill:
I. That after the thirty-first day of December,
1832, twelve and a half per cent, of the net proceeds
of the public lands sold within their limits, should be
paid to Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Alabama, Missouri,
and Mississippi, over and above what these States
were severally entitled to by the compacts of their
admission into the Union ; to be applied to internal
improvements and purposes of education within those
States, under the direction of their Legislatures in-
120 THELIFE" AND TIMES
Uepenclently of the provisions for the construction and
maintenance of the Cumberland road.
II. After this deduction, the net proceeds were to
bo distributed among the (then) twenty-four States,
according to their respective federal representative
population ; to be applied to such objects of internal
improvement, education, or colonization, as might be
designated by their respective Legislatures, or the
reimbursement of any previous debt contracted for
internal improvements.
III. The act to continue in force for five years,
except in the event of a war with any foreign Power;
and additional provisions to be made for any new
State that might be meanwhile admitted to the
Union.
IV. The minimum price of the public lands not to
be increased; and not less than eighty thousand dol-
lars per annum to be applied to complete the public
surveys.
V. Land offices to oe discontinued in districts
where, for two successive years, the proceeds of sales
should be insufficient to pay the salaries of the officers
employed.
VI. That certain designated quantities of land
should be granted to six of the new States, not to be
sold at a less price than the minimum price of lands
sold by the United States, to be applied to internal
improvements.
General Jackson had previously advocated a simi-
lar arrangement; nevertheless, when the bill passed
both Houses, and was laid before him for his ap-
proval, he could not sacrifice his personal hostility
OF HENRY CLAY. 121
against the author of the bill to his consistency, but
vetoed it. Subsequently, on the 2d of May, 1834,
Mr. Clay introduced his propositions again into Con-
gress, and after a vigorous struggle, obtained the
establishment of those principles and measures, in
reference to the public lands, which he had always
advocated, and which have remained the equitable
and beneficent law of the land.
The most important event connected with this
period of Mr. Clay's career, was the struggle between
the Bank of the United States and President Jack-
son. In 1830 the financial condition of the country
was prosperous ; yet at that period, the President
commenced his attacks upon the " monster," which
eventually led to the most serious results. In his
message of that year he recommended the establish-
ment of a Treasury Bank, on the ground that the de-
posits of the national funds were not safe in the
vaults of the United States Bank ; and for the pur-
pose of "strengthening the States" by giving them
the means of furnishing the local paper currency
through their own banks." In 1831 Congress passed
a bill for the recharter of the Bank of the United
States, which the President immediately vetoed ; at
the same time intimating that if he had been invited
to furnish the plan of " such an institution as would
be constitutional," he would willingly have done so.
Mr. Clay condemned the positions contained in the
vetoing message with great earnestness, and assailed
them with much ability, in July, 1832. He also in-
sisted that the President had mistaken his oath to
.support the Constitution of the United States, when
11
122 THE LIFE AND TIMES
he claimed the right, to put upon it whatever inter-
pretation of its meaning he pleased. He was bound
to obey it as he found it, and as it was understood
in the general comprehension of the nation. These
positions of the President were preparatory to his
subsequent attacks on the Bank. In the autumn
of 1833 he determined to stretch his power to the
utmost, and effect a removal of the deposits from the
Bank, as the most effectual blow which could possibly
be struck at its prosperity.
It was not without difficulty that the President
obtained a public officer who was sufficiently pliable
to his will, as to serve as his agent in accomplishing
this important and decisive step. It seems to be an
admitted doctrine of constitutional law, that the
treasury of the United States was never intended to be
placed under the authority of the Executive branch
of the Federal Government; but, on the contrary,
that it is of essential importance that they should
always remain entirely distinct; and that the House
of Representatives, the Democratic branch of the
government, should exercise complete control over
the funds of the Confederac} 7 . Hence, the "Trea-
surer of the United States," and not the "Secretary
of the Treasury," is the person to whom the pub-
lic moneys are entrusted ; and hence it is further
enacted, that the Treasurer of the United States
shall receive and keep the moneys of the United
States, and disburse the same, upon warrants drawn
by the Secretary of the Treasury, countersigned by
the Controller, recorded by the Register, and not
otherwise. It is also provided that no money shall
OF HENRY CLAT. 128
be drawn from the treasury but in consequence of
"appropriations made by law" a function which
lies within the jurisdiction of Congress alone. Hence
it was contended by Mr. Clay, that the order of the
President to withdraw the deposits from the IBank,
where they had been placed by the action of Con-
gress, was unconstitutional, and exceeded his autho-
rity. Nineteen million dollars was the amount then
deposited and subject to the drafts of the govern-
ment, in the vaults of the Bank. Congress, as if to
avert the purpose of the President by a significant
hint, passed a resolution that the public funds were
safe while in the Bank ; but the President proceeded
to the accomplishment of his determination. When
he proposed the removal of the deposits, and their
distribution among certain favorite State banks, to
his Cabinet, they all expressed their conviction of
the unconstitutionality of the measure. He then
read to them a paper, in which he declared that he
wished his Cabinet to consider the proposed mea-
sure as entirely his own ; in support of which he
would not require any of them to make a sacrifice of
opinion or of principle, and that he himself assumed
its entire responsibility.
In September, 1833, the President proceeded in the
execution of his purpose, and directed Mr. McClain,
the Secretary of the Treasury, to order the removal
of the deposits. He declined, and was dismissed
from his office. William J. Duane, of Philadelphia,
was then chosen in his place ; but Mr. Duane also
refused to become the agent in accomplishing the
President's purpose, and was also dismissed. Roger
124 THE LIFE AND TIMES
B. Tauey, of Maryland, was then called to the vacant
post. lie accepted it, and readily obeyed the injunc-
tion of the President to withdraw the public moneys
from the bank.
It may naturally be supposed that this summary
method of proceeding excited the utmost hostility of
the opponents and enemies of the President. They
regarded his measures as arbitrary, tyrannical, and
dangerous to the liberties of the country. Bold and
confident statesmen, among whom Mr. Clay was
foremost, considered the condition of the nation as
perilous. On the 26th of December, 1833, he accord-
ingly introduced resolutions in the Senate to the
following effect :
" Resolved, That by dismissing the late Secretary
of the Treasury, because he would not, contrary to
his sense of his own duty, remove the money of the
United States in deposite with the Bank of the United
States and its branches, in conformity with the Presi-
dent's opinion, and by appointing his successor to
effect such removal, which has been done, the Presi-
dent has assumed the exercise of a power over the
treasury of the United States not granted to him by
the Constitution and laws, and dangerous to the liber-
ties of the people.
" Resolved, That the reasons assigned by the Secre-
tary of the Treasury for the removal of the money
of the United States, deposited in the Bank of the
United States and its branches, communicated to
Congress on the third of December, 1833, are unsatis-
factory and insufficient."
Mr. Taney had been called upon by a previous re-
OF HENRY CLAY. 125
solution of Congress to furnish the Houses vith a
ropy of the letter containing the reasons by which
his action as Secreiary of the Treasury was defended.
The resolutions of Mr. Clay were discussed with great
zeal and ability, he himself taking a prominent part
in the debate. During the course of his remarks on
this occasion, he uttered the following attack upon the
prominent actors in this event:
" The report of the Secretary of the Treasury, in
the first paragraph, commences with a mis-statement
of the fact. He says, * I have directed' that the de-
posifs of the money of the United States shall not
be made in the Bank of the United Slates. If this
assertion is regarded in any other than a mere formal
eense, it is not true. The Secretary may have been
the instrument, the clerk, the automaton, in whose
name the order was issued ; but the measure was that
of the President, by whose authority or command the
order was given ; and of this we have the highest and
most authentic evidence. The President has told the
world that the measure was his own, and that he took
it upon his own responsibility. And he has exone-
rated his Cabinet from all responsibility about it.
The Secretary ought to have frankly disclosed all the
circumstances of the case, and told the truth, the
whole truth, and nothing but the truth. If he had
done so, he would have informed Congress that the
removal had been decided by the President on tho
eighteenth of September last; that it had been an
nounced to the public on the twentieth; and that Mr.
Duane remained in office until the twenty-third. He
would have informed Congress that this important
126 THE LIFE AND TIMES
measure was decided before he entered into his new
office, and was the cause of his appointment. Yes,
sir, the present secretary stood by, a witness to the
struggle in the mind of his predecessor, between his
attachment to the President and his duty to the coun-
try ; saw him dismissed from office, because he would
not violate his conscientious obligations, and came
into his place, to do what he could not, honorably,
and would not perform. A son of one of the fathers
of Democracy, by an administration professing to be
Democratic, was expelled from office, and his place
supplied by a gentleman, who, throughout his whole
career, has been uniformly opposed to Democracy !
a gentleman who, at another epoch of the republic,
when it was threatened with civil war, and a dissolu-
tion of- the Union, voted (although a resident of a
slave State), in the Legislature of Maryland, against
the admission of Missouri into the Union without a
restriction incompatible with her rights as a member
of the confederacy ! Mr. Duane was dismissed be-
cause the solemn convictions of his dut}' would not
allow him to conform to the President's will because
his logic did not bring his mind to the same conclu-
sions with those of the logic of a venerable old gen-
tleman, inhabiting a white house not distant from the
capitol because his watch [here Mr. Clay held up
his own] did not keep time with that of the Presi-
aident. He was dismissed under that detestable
system of proscription for opinion's sake, which has
finally dared to intrude itself into the halls of Con-
gress a system under which three unoffending
clerks, the husbands of wives, the fathers of families,
OF HENRY CLAY. 127
dependent on them for support, without the slightest
imputation of delinquency, have been recently un-
ceremoniously discharged, and driven out to beggary,
by a man, himself the substitute of a meritorious
officer, who has not been in this city a period equal
to one monthly revolution of the moon ! I tell our
secretary [said Mr. Clay, raising his voice], that, if he
touch a single hair of the head of any one of the
clerks of the Senate (I am sure he is not disposed to
do it), on account of his opinions, political or reli-
gious, if no other member of the Senate does it, I
will instantly submit a resolution for his own dis-
mission.
" The secretary ought to have communicated all
these things he ought to have stated that the Cabi-
net was divided two and two, and one of the mem-
bers [Mr. Cass, Secretary of War] equally divided
with himself on the question, willing to be put into
either scale. He ought to have given a full account
of this, the most important act of executive authority
since the origin of the government he should have
stated with what unsullied honor his predecessor re-
tired from office, and on what degrading conditions
he accepted his vacant place. When a momentous
proceeding like this, varying the constitutional dis-
tribution of the powers of the legislative and execu-
tive departments, was resolved on, the ministers
against whose advice it was determined, should have
resigned their stations. No ministers of any monarch
in Europe, under similar circumstances, would have
retained the seals of office. And if, as nobody doubts,
there is a cabal behind the curtain, without character
128 THE LIFE AND TIMES
and without responsibility, feeding the passions, stimu-
lating the prejudices, and moulding the actions of the
incumbent of the Presidential office, it was an addi-
tional reason for their resignations. There is not a
mattre d' hotel in Christendom, who, if the scullions
were put into command into the parlor and dining-
room, would not scorn to hold his place, and fling it
up in disgust with indignant pride!"
After a protracted discussion the substance of Mr.
Clay's resolutions was passed in the Senate on the
28th of March, 1834, by a vote of twenty to twenty-
six. On the 23d of June Mr. Taney's nomination as
Secretary of the Treasury was sent in, and rejected
by a vote of eighteen to twenty-eight. Subsequently
he was rewarded for his zeal in the service of the
President, by his appointment tc the office of the
Chief Justice of the United States.
The popularity and power of the Hero of New Or-
leans culminated in February, 1835, when a resolu-
tion was introduced into the Senate by Mr. Benton,
of Missouri, to expunge from the minutes of that
body the resolution of March, 1834, condemning the
removal of the deposits. The motion was defeated
on this occasion; but it was subsequently renewed in
January, 1837, and passed. On both of these occa-
sions Mr. Clay opposed the measure with his usual
eloquence, but in vain. It was ordered that the
manuscript journal of the minutes should be brought
into the Senate ; that the clerk should draw black
lines around the resolution ; and that over it should
be written in large letters the words: "Expunged by
order of the Senate, this IQth day of January, in the
OF HENRY CLAY. 129
year of our Lord eighteen hundred and thirty -seven"
In opposition to this resolution Mr. Clay uttered tho
following earnest appeal :
' Mr. President, what patriotic purpose is to be
accomplished by this expunging resolution? What
new honor or fresh laurels will it win for our common
country ? Is the power of the Senate so vast that it
ought to be circumscribed, and that of the President
so restricted that it ought to be extended? What
power has the Senate ? Kone, separately. It can
only act jointly with the other House, or jointly with
the Executive. And although the theory of the Con-
stitution supposes, when consulted by him, it may
freely give an affirmative or negative response, ac-
cording to the practice, as it now exists, it has lost
the faculty of pronouncing the negative monosylla-
ble. When the Senate expresses its deliberate judg-
ment, in the form of resolution, that resolution has
no compulsory force, but appeals only to the dispas-
sionate intelligence, the calm reason, and the sober
judgment of the community. The Senate has no
army, no navy, no patronage, no lucrative offices nor
glittering honors to bestow. Around us there is no
swarm of greedy expectants, rendering us homage,
anticipating our wishes, and ready to execute our
commands.
" How is it with the President ? Is he powerless ?
He is felt from one extremity to the other of this vast
republic. By means of principles which he has in-
troduced, and innovations which he has made in ouf
institutions, alas! but too much countenanced by
Congress and a confiding people, he exercises uncon-
I
130 THE LIFE AND TIMES
trolled the power of the State. In one hand he hold**
the purse, and in the other brandishes the sword of
the country. Myriads of dependents and partisans,
scattered over the land, are ever ready to sing hosan-
nalis to him, and to laud to the skies whatever he
does. He has swept over the Government, during
the last eight years, like & tropical tornado. Every
department exhibits traces of the ravages of the
storm. Take, as one example, the Bank of the United
States. No institution could have been more popular
with the people, with Congress, and with State Legis-
latures. None ever better fulfilled the great purposes
of its establishment. But it unfortunately incurred
the displeasure of the President. He spoke, and the
bank lies prostrate. And those who were loudest in
its praise are now loudest in its condemnation. What
object of his ambition is unsatisfied? When disabled
from age any longer to hold the sceptre of power, he
designates his successor, and transmits it to his favor-
ite. What more does he want? Must we blot, de-
face, and mutilate the records of the country to
punish the presumptuousness of expressing an opi-
nion contrary to his own ?
" What patriotic purpose is to be accomplished by
this expunging resolution ? Can you make that not
to be which has been ? Can you eradicate from
memory and from history the fact, that in March,
1834, a majority of the Senate of the United States
passed the resolution which excites your enmity? Is
it your vain and wicked object to arrogate to your-
selves that power of annihilating the past which has
been denied to Omnipotence itself? Do you intend
OF HENRY CLAY. 131
to thrust your hands into our hearts, and to pluck out
the deeply-rooted convictions which are there ? or ia
it your design merely to stigmatize us? You cannot
stigmatize us.
" ' Ne'er yet did base dishonor blur our name.'
" Standing securely upon our conscious rectitude,
and bearing aloft the shield of the Constitution of
our country, your puny efforts are impotent, and we
defy all your power. Put the majority of 1834 in one
scale, and that by which this expunging resolution is
to be carried, in the other, and let truth and justice,
in heaven above and on the earth below, and liberty
and patriotism, decide the preponderance.
" What patriotic purpose is to be accomplished by
this expunging? Is it to appease the wrath, and to
heal the wounded pride, of the Chief Magistrate? If
lie be really the hero that his friends represent him,
he must despise all mean condescension, all grovel-
ling sycophancy, all self-degradation and self-abase-
ment. He would reject with scorn and contempt, as
unworthy of his fame, your black scratches, and your
baby lines in the fair records of his country. Black
lines ! Black lines ! Sir, I hope the secretary of the
Senate will preserve the pen with which he may in-
scribe them, and present it to that senator of the
majority whom he may select, as A proud trophy to
be transmitted to his descendants. And hereafter,
when we shall lose the forms of our free institutions,
all that now remain to us, some future American
monarch in gratitude to those by whose means he
132 THE LIFE AND TIMES
has been enabled, upon the ruins of civil liberty, to
erect a throne, and to commemorate especially thia
expunging resolution, may institute a new order of
knighthood, and confer on it the appropriate name
of THE KNIGHT OF THE BLACK LINES.
"But why should I detain the Senate, or needlessly
waste my breath in fruitless exertions? The decree
has gone forth. It is one of urgency, too. The deed
is to be done that foul deed, like the blood-stained
hands of the guilty Macbeth, all ocean's waters will
never wash out. Proceed, then, to the noble work
which lies before you, and like other skilful execu-
tioners, do it quickly. And when yon have perpe-
trated it, go home to the people, and tell them what
glorious honors you have achieved for our common
country. Tell them that you have extinguished one
of the brightest and purest lights that ever burned at
the altar of civil liberty. Tell them that you have
silenced one of the noblest batteries that ever thun-
dered in defence of the Constitution, and bravely
spiked the cannon. Tell them that, henceforward,
no matter what daring or outrageous act any Presi-
dent may perform, you have forever hermetically
sealed the mouth of the Senate. Tell them that he
may fearlessly assume what power he pleases, snatch
from its lawful custody the public purse, command a
military detachment to enter the halls of the capitol,
overawe Congress, trample down the Constitution,
and raze every bulwark of freedom ; but that the
Senate must stand mute, in silent submission, and
not dare to raise its opposing voice ; that it must wait
OF HENKY CLAY. 133
until a House of Representatives, humbled and sub-
dued like itself, and a majority of it composed of the
partisans of the President, shall prefer articles of im-
peachment. Tell them, finally, that you have restored
the glorious doctrine of passive obedience and non-
resistance; and, if the people do not pour out their
indignation and imprecations, I have yet to learii the
character of American freemen."
131 THE LIFE AND TIME!
CHAPTER X.
MR. CLAY'S OPPOSITION TO PRESIDENT JACKSON HIS VISIT TO KKW-
TUCKY AMERICAN CLAIMS ON FRANCE THEIR ADJUSTMENT
MR. CLAY'S REPORT ON THE SUBJECT ELECTION OF MR. TAN BUREN
TO THE PRESIDENCY THE SUB-TREASURY SYSTEM MR. CLAY*3
OPPOSITION TO IT HIS SPEECHES ON THE SUBJECT DEFEAT OF THK
BILL PROPOSING IT ITS SUBSEQUENT REVIVAL CONTINUED OPPO-
SITION TO IT BY MR. CLAY.
MR. CLAY took a prominent part in all the discussions
which were held in the session of Congress of 1833-34,
and proved himself to be the most energetic and for-
midable antagonist who ever assailed the administra-
tion and the authority of General Jackson, lie resisted
and embarrassed his policy at every step; for in re-
gnrd to all his leading measures, Mr. Clay sincerely
thought that they were prejudicial to the welfare of
the country. The removal of the deposits had pro-
duced great confusion and distress in the financial
affairs of the community ; and an immense number
of memorials were sent to Congress on the subject,
demanding a change in the policy of the Government.
Mr. Clay was selected by the petitioners to present a
large proportion of these appeals; and in performing
this welcome duty, lie accompanied the memorials
with several speeches of immense power and ability.
This remark applies particularly to those memorable
OF HENRY CLAY. 135
arguments which he delivered on the 26th of Febru-
ary, 1834, when ottering a memorial from Kentucky;
and to that of the 15th of the ensuing April, when
presenting another from Troy, New York.
After the termination of the first session of the
twenty-third Congress, on the 30th of June, Mr. Clay
commenced his journey to Kentucky, anxious to re-
visit his home and family after his long and arduous
labors. During this journey he made a very narrow
escape from death, or at least from serious injury,
when journeying in the public stage-coach from
Charlestown to Winchester, in Virginia. The coach
was overturned while descending a steep hill, and one
of the passengers was instantly killed. Mr. Clay re-
ceived some bruises, though not of a very severe na-
ture. At the opening of the following session of
Congress he was at his post again with his usual
promptitude and zeal in the public service. A subject
was soon presented for discussion which elicited his
efforts in opposition to the warlike tendencies of Pre-
sident Jackson. Between the years 1800 and 1817,
the cruisers of France had made repeated aggressions
on American commerce. In July, 1831, a treaty had
been made between the two countries, by which the
French Government agreed to indemnify the Ameri-
can claimants for their losses by the payment of
tuenty-tive million francs. The payment of the first
instalment of this sum fell due twelve months after
the date of the treaty ; but that period had elapsed,
and the draft of the American Government on the
French Minister of Finance for the amount, had been
dishonored. General Jackson recommended that a
136 THE LIFE AND TIMES
Ia\v be immediately passed, allowing reprisals to be
made by American citizens on French property.
This matter, so pregnant with important and peril-
ous results, was referred to the Committee on Foreign
Relations, of which Mr. Clay was chairman. On the
6th of January, 1835, he read his report on the sub-
ject in the Senate, occupying an hour and a half in
the delivery of it. It was an able and profound docu-
ment, clearly demonstrating the impolicy and injus-
tice of the measure recommended by the President,
and advising an opposite course. While maintaining
the national honor by a high and chivalrous tone
while contending for the justice and equity of the
American claims he demonstrated that it was just
to allow further time and opportunity to the French
Government to execute the terms of the existing
treaty. His efforts on this occasion prevailed ; and a
resolution was finally adopted to the effect, that " it
was inexpedient at that time to adopt any legislative
measures in regard to the state of affairs between the
United States and France." This result, which was
chiefly due to the influence and exertions of Mr.
Clay, may with truth be said to have averted from the
country the evils and calamities involved in a war
with France. The important and delicate interests
involved in this subject were finally and satisfactorily
adjusted in 1836. In that year Mr. Clay was again
appointed Chairman of the Committee on Foreign
Relations, and he introduced a resolution in the Se-
nate calling upon the President to furnish Congress
with further information in regard to the state of
affairs as they then existed between the two govern-
OF HENRY CLAY. 137
ments. The resolution was adopted; and accordingly,
in February, 1836, the President sent in a message
communicating the fact that the British Government
had tendered its mediation for the purpose of settling
the differences between the United States and France.
This message was submitted to a committee, who after-
ward reported that the proffered mediation had been
accepted, and that the matters in litigation between
the two governments had been satisfactorily settled.
Congress adjourned on the 4th of July, 1836, after
which Mr. Clay returned to Kentucky. He was received
by his neighbors and constituents with great enthu-
siasm, and with every possible display of admiration
and applause. The voice of calumny and of enmity
was now dumb. The peerless statesman had regained
the popularity of which he had been temporarily de-
prived by the efforts of his enemies and assailants.
It was at this period that he first announced his de-
termination soon to retire from the toils and respon-
sibilities of public life. But in the following winter
he was again elected by the Legislature of Kentucky
to represent that Commonwealth in the United States
Senate. The vote stood seventy-six for Mr. Clay,
fifty-four for Mr. Guthrie, the candidate of the Ad-
ministration. Mr. Clay once more accepted the high
trust, and was present in the Senate at the opening
of the ensuing session.
The result of the Presidential campaign of 1836
was the election of Martin Van Buren, who was
chosen as the representative of the policy of General
Jackson. On the 15th of May, 1837, he issued hia
proclamation, summoning an extraordinary session
12*
138 THE LIFE AND TIMES
of Congress to convene on the first Monday of Sep*
tcmber. When that body assembled at the appointed
time, Mr. Van Buren transmitted a message to both
Houses, in which he recommended the Sub-treasury
system for the deposit and disbursement of the pub-
lic funds. This topic at once became the all-absorb-
ing theme of discussion in Congress. The measures
which he commended involved the following arrange-
ments: the revenues of the United States, the trea-
sures deposited in the Mint and its branches, the col-
lectors, receivers, and all other office-holders were
ordered to receive in specie; and they were to keep
subject to the drafts of the government, all public
moneys coming into their possession, instead of de-
positing them, as formerly, in banks. The bill em-
bodying these provisions was presented in the Senate
on the 20th of September. On the 25th ensuing,
Mr. Clay addressed that body in opposition to it. lu
the course of this argument he spoke as follows:
"No period has ever existed in this country, in
which the future was covered by a darker, denser, or
more impenetrable gloom. None, in which the duty
was more imperative to discard all passion and preju-
dice, all party ties and previous bias, and look exclu-
sively to the good of our afflicted country. In one
respect, and I think it a fortunate one, our present
difficulties are distinguishable from former domestic
trouble, and that is their universality. They are felt,
it is true, in different degrees, but they reach every
section, every State, every interest, almost every man
in the Union. All feel, see, hear, know their exist-
ence. As they do not array, like our former divisions,
OF HENRY CLAY. 13&
one portion of the Confederacy against another, it is
to be hoped that common sufferings may lead to com-
mon sympathies and common counsels, and that we
shall, at no distant day, be able to see a clear way of
deliverance. If the present state of the country were
produced by the fault of the people; if it proceeded
from their wasteful extravagance, and their indulg-
ence of a reckless spirit of ruinous speculation ; if
public measures had no agency whatever in bringing
it about, it would, nevertheless, be the duty of Gov-
ernment to exert all its energies, and to employ all
its legitimate powers, to devise an efficacious remedy.
But if our present deplorable condition has sprung
from our rulers ; if it is to be clearly traced to their
acts and operations, that duty becomes infinitely
more obligatory; and Government would be faith-
less to the highest and most solemn of human trusts
should it neglect to perform it. And is it not too
true, that the evils which surround us are to be
ascribed to those who have had the conduct of our
public affairs?
"In glancing at the past, nothing can be further
from my intention than to excite angry feelings, or
to find grounds of reproach. It would be far more
congenial to my wishes that, on this occasion, we
should forget all former unhappy divisions and ani-
mosities. But in order to discover how to get out of
our difficulties, we must ascertain, if we can, how we
got into them.
"Prior to that series of unfortunate measures which
had for its object the overthrow of the Bank of the
United States, and the discontinuance of its fiscal
140 THE LIFE AND TIMES
ngency for the Government, no people upon earth
ever enjoyed a better currency, or had exchanges
better regulated, than the people of the United States.
Our monetary system appeared to have attained as
great perfection as anything human can possibly
reach. The combination of United States and local
banks presented a true image of our system of Gene-
ral and State Governments, and worked quite as
well. Not only within the country had we a local
and general currency perfectly sound, but in what-
ever quarter of the globe American commerce had
penetrated, there also did the bills of the United
States Bank command unbounded credit and confi-
dence. Now we are in danger of having fixed upon
us, indefinitely as to time, that medium, an irredeem-
able paper currency, which, by the universal consent
of the commercial world, is regarded as the worst.
How has this reverse come upon us? Can it be
doubted that it is the result of those measures to
which I have adverted? When, at the very moment
of adopting them, the very consequences which have
happened were foretold as inevitable, is it necessary
to look elsewhere for their cause? Never was pre-
diction more distinctly made; never was fulfilment
more literal and exact.
" Let us suppose that those measures had not been
adopted; that the Bank of the United States hud
been rechartered ; that the public deposits had re-
mained undisturbed; and that the treasury order had
never issued ; is there not every reason to believe that
we should be now in the enjoyment of a sound cur-
rency ; that the public deposits would be now safe
OF HENRY CLAY. 141
and forthcoming, and that the suspension of specie
payments in May last would not have happened?
** The President's message asserts that the suspen-
sion has proceeded from over-action, over-trading, the
indulgence of a spirit of speculation, produced by
bank and other facilities. I think this is a view of
the case entirely too superficial. It would be quite
as correct and just, in the instance of a homicide per-
petrated by the discharge of a gun, to allege that the
leaden ball, and not the man who levelled the piece,
was responsible for the murder. The true inquiry is,
how came that excessive over-trading, and those ex-
tensive bank facilities, which the message describes?
Were they not the necessary and immediate conse-
quences of the overthrow of the bank, and the re-
moval from its custody of the public deposits? And
is not this proved by the vast multiplication of banks,
the increase of the line of their discounts and accom-
modations, prompted and stimulated by Secretary
Taney, and the great augmentation of their circula-
tion which ensued?"
The Sub-treasury bill, after undergoing some
changes, was passed in the Senate on the 4th of Oc-
tober, but afterward defeated in the House on the
10th. Congress adjourned on the 16th of the month,
and the administration was thus successfully resisted,
chiefly through the agency of Mr. Clay, in the accom-
plishment of the main purpose for which the extra
session had been summoned.
During the second term of the Twenty-fifth Con-
gress, the subject of the Sub-treasury was again in-
troduced into the discussions of that body. Mr. Clay
142 THE LIFE AND TIMES
displayed his usual zeal and ability against the mea-
sure. On the 19th of Februar}-, 1838, he delivered a
lengthy argument against the project, in which the
following passage occurs as the exordium:
" I have seen some public service, passed through
many troubled times, and often addressed public as-
semblies, in this capitol and elsewhere ; but never
before have I risen in a deliberative body, under more
oppressed feelings, or with a deeper sense of awful re-
sponsibility. Never before have I risen to express my
opinions upon any public measure, fraught with such
tremendous consequences to the welfare and pros-
perity of the country, and so perilous to the liberties
of the people, as I solemnly believe the bill under
consideration will be. If you knew, sir, what sleep-
less hours reflection upon it has cost me; if you knew
with what fervor and sincerity I have implored .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 un-
fortunate 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 transcend-
ing in pernicious tendency any that I have ever had
occasion to consider. I thank Him for the health 1
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.
"It is uot my purpose at this time, Mr. President,
OF HENRY CLAY. 143
to go at large into a consideration of the causes which
have led to the present most disastrous state of public
affairs. That duty was performed by others, and
myself, at the extra session of Congress. It was then
clearly shown that it sprung from the ill-advised and
unfortunate measures of executive administration. 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; that the country was then eminently
prosperous ; that its currency was as sound and safe
as any that a people were ever blessed with ; that,
throughout the wide extent of this whole Union, it
possessed a uniform value; and that exchanges were
conducted with such regularity and perfection, that
funds could be transmitted from one extremity of the
Union to the other, with the least possible risk or loss.
In this encouraging condition of the business of the
O O
country, it remained for several years, until after the
war wantonly waged against the late Bank of the
United States was completely successful, by the over-
throw of that invaluable institution. What our pre-
sent situation is, is as needless to describe as it is
painful to contemplate. First felt in our great com-
mercial marts, distress and embarrassment have pene-
trated into the interior, arid now pervade almost the
entire Union. It has been justly remarked by one
of the soundest and most practical writers that I have
had occasion to consult, that ' all convulsions in the
circulation and commerce of every country must ori-
ginate in the operations of the Government, or in the
mistaken views and erroneous measures of those pos-
144 THE LIFE AND TIMES
sessing the power of influencing credit and circula-
tion ; for they are not otherwise susceptible of con-
vulsion; and if left to themselves, they will find their
own level, and flow nearly in one uniform stream.'
"Yes, Mr. President, we all have but too melan
choly a consciousness of the unhappy condition of
our country. We all too well know that our noble
and gallant ship lies helpless and immovable upon
breakers, dismasted, the surge beating over her vene-
rable sides, and the crew threatened with instanta-
neous destruction. How came she there? Who was
the pilot at the helm when she was stranded ? The
party in power! The pilot was aided by all the
science and skill, by all the charts and instruments,
of such distinguished navigators as Washington, the
Adamses, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe; and yet
he did not, or could not, save the public vessel. She
was placed in her present miserable condition by his
bungling navigation, or by his want of skill and judg-
ment. It is impossible for him to escape from one or
the other horn of that dilemma. I leave him at
liberty to choose between them."
The plan of this speech is laid out as follows :
"I shall endeavor, Mr. President, in the course of
the address I am about making, to establish certain
propositions which I believe to be incontestable; and
for the sake of perspicuity, I will state them severally
to the Senate. I shall contend:
"First, that it was the deliberate purpose and fixed
design of the late administration to establish a Govern-
ment bank a treasury bank to be administered and
controlled by the executive department.
OF HENRY CLAY. 145
" Secondly, that, with that view, and to that end,
it was its aim and intention to overthrow the whole
banking system, as existing in the United States when
that administration came into power, beginning with
the Bank of the United States and ending with the
State banks.
" Thirdly, that the attack was first confined, from
considerations of policy, to the Bank of the United
States ; but that, after its overthrow was accomplished,
it was then directed, and has since been continued,
against the State banks.
"Fourthly, that the present administration, by its
acknowledgments, emanating from the highest and
most authentic source, has succeeded to the prin-
ciples, plans, and policy of the preceding administra-
tion, and stands solemnly pledged to complete and
perfect them.
"And, fifthly, that the bill under consideration is
intended to execute the pledge, by establishing, upon
the ruins of the late Bank of the United States and
the State banks, a Government bank, to be managed
and controlled by the Treasury Department, acting
under the commands of the President of the United
States.
"I believe, solemnly believe, the truth of every one
of these five propositions. In the support of them, I
shall not rely upon any gratuitous surmises or vague
conjectures, but upon proofs, clear, positive, unde-
niable, arid demonstrative. To establish the first
four, I shall adduce evidence of the highest possible
authenticity, of facts admitted or undeniable, and fair
reasoning founded on them. And as to the last, the
13 K
146 THE LIFE AND TIMES
measure under consideration, I think the testimony,
intrinsic and extrinsic, on which I depend, stamps,
beyond all doubt, its true character as a Government
bank, and ought to carry to the mind of the Senate
the conviction which I entertain, and in which I feel
perfectly confident the whole country will share."
Mr. Clay demonstrated the truth of each of these
propositions at considerable length, and with remark-
able conclusiveness and force of reasoning. His
views on the subject of the relation of specie to paper
currency:
"All experience [said Mr. Clay] has demonstrated
that in banking operations, a much larger amount of
paper can be kept out in circulation than the specie
which it is necessary to retain in the vaults to meet it
when presented for payment. The proportions which
the same experience has ascertained to be entirely
safe, are one of specie to three of paper. If, there-
fore, the Executive Government had sixty millions of
dollars accumulated at the port of New York, in the
hands of the receiver-general, represented by sixty
millions of Government drafts in circulation, it would
be known that twenty of that sixty millions would be
sufficient to retain to meet any amount of drafts
which, in ordinary times, would be presented for
payment. There would then remain forty millions
in the vaults, idle and unproductive, and of which no
practical use could be made. Well ; a great election
is at hand in the State of New York, the result of
which will seal the fate of an existing Administration.
If the application of ten millions of that dormant
capital could save, at some future day, a corrupt Ex-
OF HENRY CLAY. 147
ecutive from overthrow, can it be doubted that the
ten millions would be applied to preserve it in power?
Again, let us suppose some great exigency to arise:
a season of war, creating severe financial pressure
and embarrassment. Would not an issue of paper,
founded upon and exceeding the specie in the vaults,
in some such proportions as experience had demon-
strated might be safely emitted, be authorized ? Fi-
nally, the whole amount of specie might be exhausted,
and then, as it is easier to engrave and issue bank-
notes than to perform the unpopular office of imposing
taxes and burdens, the discovery would be made that
the credit of the Government was a sufficient basis
whereupon to make emissions of paper money, to be
redeemed when peace and prosperity returned. Then
we should have the days of continental money, and
of assignats, restored !
" The system would control YOU. You could not
control the system. Assuming the downfall of the
local banks the inevitable consequence of the ope-
rations of this great Government bank; assuming, as
I have shown would be the case, that the Government
would monopolize the paper issues of the country,
and obtain the possession of a great portion of the
specie of the country, we should then behold a com-
bined and concentrated moneyed power equal to that
of all the existing banks of the United States, with
that of the late Bank of the United States superadded.
This tremendous power would be wielded by the
Secretary of the Treasury, acting under the immediate
commands of the President of the United States.
Here would be a perfect union pf the sword and tho
148 THE LIFE AND TIMES
purse; here would be no imaginary, but an actual,
visible, tangible consolidation of the moneyed power.
"Who or what could withstand it? The States them-
selves would become suppliants at the feet of the
Executive for a portion of those paper emissions, of
the power to issue which they had been stripped, and
which he now exclusively possessed.
"How admirably did the whole system, during the
forty years of its existence [Bank of the United
States], move and work! And on the two unfortu-
nate occasions of its ceasing to exist, how quickly did
the business and transactions of the country run into
wild disorder and utter confusion !
" I have been curious, Mr. President, to know
whence this idea of receivers-general was derived. It
has been supposed to have been borrowed from
France. It required all the power of that most extra-
ordinary man that ever lived, Napoleon Bonaparte,
when he was in his meridian greatness, to displace
the farmers-general, and to substitute in their place
the receivers-general. The new pystem requires, I
think I have heard it stated, something like one hun-
dred thousand employees to have it executed. And,
notwithstanding the modesty of the infant promises
of this new r project, I have no doubt that ultimately
we shall have to employ a number of persons approx-
imating to that which is retained in France. That
will undoubtedly be the case whenever we shall revive
the system of internal taxation. In France, what
reconciled them to the system was, that Kapoleon
first, and the Bourbons afterward, were pleased with
the immense patronage which it gave them, They
OF HENRY CLAY. 149
liked to have one hundred thousand dependents to
add strength to the throne, which had been recently
constructed or reascended. I thought, however, that
the learned Chairman of the Committee of Finance
must have had some other besides the French model
for his receivers-general ; and, accordingly, looking
into Smith's history of his own State, I found that,
when it was yet a colony, some century and a half
ago, and when its present noble capital still retained
the name of New Amsterdam, the historian says:
* Among the principal laws enacted at this session, we
may mention that for establishing the revenue, which
was drawn into precedent. The sums raised by it
were made payable into the hands of receivers-gene-
ral, and issued by the governor's warrant. By this
means the governor became, for a season, independent
of the people, and hence we find frequent instances
of the assemblies contending with him for the dis-
charge of debts to private persons, contracted on the
faith of the government.' The then governor of the
colony was a man of great violence of temper, and
arbitrary in his conduct. How the Sub-treasury sys-
tem of that day operated, the same historian informs
us in a subsequent part of his work: 'The revenue,'
he says, * established the last year, was at this session
continued five years longer than was originally in-
tended. This was rendering the governor independ-
ent of the people. For, at that day, the assembly
had no treasure, but the amount of all taxes went, of
course, into the hands of the receiver-general, who
was appointed by the crown. Out of this fund, mo-
neys were only issuable by the governor's warrant, so
13*
150 THE LIFE AND TIMES
that every officer in the government, from Mr. Blaith-
wait, who drew annual!}' five per centum out of the
revenue, as auditor-general, down to the meanest ser
vant of the public, became dependent solely on the
governor. -And hence we find the House, at the close
of every session, humbly addressing his excellency
for the trifling wages of their own clerk.' And, Mr.
President, if this measure should unhappily pass, the
day may come when the Senate of the United States
will have humbly to implore some future President
of the United States to grant it money to pay the
wages of its own sergeant-at-arms, and doorkeeper."
OF HENRY CLAY. 151
CHAPTER XI.
Tire CAMt* <JN or 1840 NOMINATION* or CBN. HARRISON TO THK P-
SIDENCT- -HIS ELECTION HIS DEATH ACCESSION OF MR. TYLER
MR. CLAT X BILL ON THK C. S. BANK ITS VETO BY PRES. TYLER -
MR. CLAY S SPEECH ON THE VETO MR. CLAY*S VISIT TO HIS BIRTH-
PLACE INCIDENTS OF THAT OCCASION MR. CLAY RESIGNS HIS SEAT
IN THE SENATE HIS LETTER TO THE LEGISLATURE OF KENTUCKY
HIS ADDRESS TO THE SENATE ON HIS RESIGNATION IMPRESSION
PRODUCED BY IT.
As the political campaign of 1840 approached, the
position and prospects of Mr. Clay were regarded with
intense interest by the American people. None could
deny that, in point of talents and experience in con-
ducting the affairs of Government, he had no equal,
much less a superior, among the rival statesmen and
heroes of the time. The only objection against him.
which seemed to possess any weight, was the fact that
he had twice before been nominated for the Presidency,
and had twice been defeated; and it was thought that
some novus homo, unsullied by the dust and sweat of
an adverse conflict, would be more available in con-
ducting the party to victor}'. How much force or
reason there might be in such a consideration, we
shall not undertake to determine; but it unquestion-
ably had an important influence with the members
of the Democratic Whig Convention, which met in
Harrisburg on the 4th of December, 1839.
152 THE LIFE AND TIMES
When that body assembled, a plurality of the dele-
gates were personally in favor of Mr. Clay as their
nominee for the Presidency. But after a full compa-
rison of views, it was ascertained that his strength
was not sufficient to secure the requisite number of
votes; and Gen. "W. H. Harrison, the hero of Tippe-
canoe, was finally chosen. When the decision of tho
Convention became known, it excited much disap-
pointment among many of the friends of Mr. Clay
throughout the nation; but he himself, with his usual
tact and spirit of conciliation, declared his full acqui-
escence in the will of those who had been chosen to
represent the party. Said he: "Far from feeling any
discontent, the nomination will have my best wishes,
and receive my cordial support." His promise was
fulfilled, and he exerted himself during the campaign
which followed, and which was one of the most ani-
mated which has occurred in the national history, to
insure the victory of the "Whigs. General Harrison
was elected President, John Tyler, of Virginia, Viee-
President; and they entered upon the performance
of their official duties on March 4th, 1841.
During the preceding summer Mr. Clay visited the
scene of his birth and boyhood, in Hanover County,
Virginia. Forty-five years had elapsed since he saw
the spot with which his earliest recollections were
associated. Then he had quitted it, a poor, depend-
ent, obscure youth. Now he returned to it, an illus-
trious statesman, whose fame extended over two
hemispheres. Then his future fate was uncertain ;
misfortune had already befallen him ; and he left be-
hind him the grave of his father. Now he could
OF nESRT CLAY. 153
recur to a long series of years, during which he had
held the most brilliant positions, had wielded import-
ant power in guiding the destiny of a great nation,
and had achieved a series of intellectual exploits
which attracted the warmest admiration of millions.
We may imagine, but cannot describe, the intense emo-
tions which filled his breast while he surveyed the
well-remembered spot; while he visited the graves
of his father and grandfather, into which, during hia
boyhood, he had seen some of Tarleton's soldiers
running their swords, under the suspicion that money
was hidden therein. He found everything changed
except the house in which he was born. Orchards
and forests which were vigorous and flourishing when
last he saw them, had wholly disappeared. A favor-
ite hickory tree, of whose fruit he had so often eaten,
and whose topmost branches he had so often scaled,
in the adventurous spirit of boyhood, had Jong since
passed away. All reminded him of the transitory
nature of human things. At Taylorsville his friends
entertained him at a public dinner, and he there ad-
dressed the vast multitude who thronged to see and hear
the distinguished visitor. He departed from those
scenes, which were hallowed by such associations as no
other spot except the place of a great man's birth pos-
sesses, highly gratified with his reception, and with the
sensations excited by the scenes presented to his view.
During the session of Congress which preceded the
installation of General Harrison, Mr. Clay was present
in the Senate, and took part in the debates which
occurred in reference to the land bill, the repeal of
the Sub-treasury, the Treasury note bill, the subject of
154 THE LIFE AND TIMES
bankruptcy, and other important measures. Imme-
diately after the adjournment of Congress on the 3d
of March, 1841, and the inauguration of the new
President, the latter issued a proclamation summon-
ing an extra session to convene on the last Monday
of May. Before the arrival of that period, and after
he had endured the dignities and toils of office for a
month, the President expired on the 4th of April ;
and John Tyler of Virginia, according to the provi-
sions of the Constitution, assumed the office thus va-
cated. Congress convened in accordance with the
summons of the late President, and entered upon the
discussion of several important measures of public
policy. The most prominent of these was the incor-
poration of a national bank adapted to the wants of
the people and of the Government.
Mr. Clay had been appointed Chairman of the Com-
mittee of Finance ; and he proceeded to draw up a
report on the subject which thus came within the
legitimate range of his duties, fh the beginning of
June he presented his report containing a plan for a
national bank, which he thought unobjectionable.
As this subject is one of great and permanent interest
to every American citizen, and as the deliberate and
mature views of such a man in reference to it possess
the utmost value, it will be well to introduce here
that plan of a national bank which Mr. Clay regarded
as most perfect, and as adapted to produce the most
beneficial results upon the financial affairs and inte-
rests of the nation. It was as follows:
I. The capital not to be extravagantly large, but,
at the same time, amply sufficient to enable it to per-
OF HEXfcY CLAY. 155
form the needful financial duties for the Government;
to supply a general currency of uniform value through-
out the Union ; and to facilitate, as nigh as practica-
ble, the equalization of domestic exchange. He sup-
posed that about fifty millions would answer all those
purposes. The stock might be divided between the
General Government, the States, according to their
Federal population, and individual subscribers the
portion assigned to the latter to be distributed at auc-
tion, or by private subscription.
II. The corporation to receive such an organization
as to blend, in fair proportions, public and private
control, and combining public and private interests ;
and, in order to exclude the possibility of the exer-
cise of any foreign influence, non-resident foreigners
to be prohibited riot only from any share in the ad-
ministration -of the corporation, but from holding,
directly or indirectly, any portion of its stock. The
bank would thus be in its origin, and continue
throughout its whole existence, a genuine American
institution.
III. An adequate portion of the capital to be set
apart in productive stocks, and placed in permanent
security, beyond the reach of the corporation (with
the exception of the accruing profits on those stocks)
sufficient to pay promptly, in any contingency, the
amount of all such paper, under whatever form, that
the bank shall put forth as a part of the general cir-
culation. The bill or note-holders, in other words, the
mass of the community, ought to be protected against
the possibility of the failure or the suspension of the
bank. The supply of the circulating medium of a
156 THE LIFE A?*!) TIMES
country is that faculty of a bank, the propriety of the
exercise of which may be most controverted. Tlio
dealings with a bank of those who obtain discounts
or make deposits, are voluntary and mutually ad-
vantageous; and they are comparatively few in num-
ber. But the reception of what is issued and used as
a part of the circulating medium of the country, is
scarcely a voluntary act; and thousands take it who
have no other concern whatever with the bank. The
many ought to be guarded and secured by the care
of the legislative authority ; the vigilance of the few
will secure themselves against loss.
IV. Perfect publicity as to the state of the bank at
all times, including, besides the usual heads of infor-
mation, the names of every debtor to the bank, whe-
ther as drawer, endorser, or surety, periodically ex-
bited, and open to public inspection ; or, if that
should be found inconvenient, the right to be secured
to any citizen to ascertain at the bank the nature and
extent of the responsibility of any of its customers.
There is no necessity to throw any veil of secrecy
around the ordinary transactions of a bank. Pub-
licity will increase responsibility, repress favoritism,
insure the negotiation of good paper, and, when in-
dividual insolvency unfortunately occurs, \\ill deprive
the bank of undue advantages now enjoyed by banks
practically in the distribution of the effects of the in-
solvent.
V. A limitation of the dividends so as not to au-
thorize more than per cent, to be struck. This
will check undue expansions in the medium, and re-
OF HKNRT CLAY. 157
strain improper extension of business in the adminis-
tration of the bank.
VI. A prospective reduction in the rate of interest,
BO as to restrict the bank to six per cent, simply, or,
if practicable, to only five per cent. The reduction
may be effected by forbearing to exact any bonus, or,
when the profits are likely to exceed the prescribed
limit of the dividends, by requiring the rates of inte-
rest shall be so lowered as that they shall not pass
that limit.
VII. A restriction upon the premium demanded
upon post-notes and checks used for remittances, so
that the maximum should not be more than say one
and a half per cent between any two of the remotest
points in the Union. Although it may not be prac-
ticable to regulate foreign exchange, depending as it
does upon commercial causes not within the control
of any one Government, it is otherwise with regard
to domestic exchange.
VIII. Every practicable provision against the exer-
cise of improper influence, on the part of the Execu-
tive, upon the bank, and, on the part of the bank,
upon the elections of the country. The people enter-
tain a just jealousy against the danger of any inter-
ference of a bank with the elections of a country,
and every precaution ought to be taken strictly to
guard against it.
The bill presented by Mr. Clay was passed, after a
thorough discussion, and sent to the President for his
approval. He returned it immediately with his veto.
This act of the Chief Magistrate then became the
legitimate subject of discussion, in the Senate ; and
14
THE LIFE AND TIMES
on it Mr. Clay delivered one of his ablest speeches.
It wa* a memorable display of cogent argument and
indignant eloquence the spirit and power of which
the following extracts will furnish an exhibition :
"If it were possible to disinter the venerated re-
mains of James Madison, reanimate his perishing
form, and place him once more in that chair of state
which he so much adorned, what would have been
his course, if this bill had been presented to him,
even supposing him never to have announced his ac-
quiescence in the settled judgment of the nation ?
He would have said, that human controversy, in re-
gard to a single question, should not be perpetual,
and ought to have a termination. This, about the
power to establish a Bank of the United States, baa
been long enough continued. The nation, under all
the forms of its public action, has often and delibe-
rately decided it. A bank, and associated financial
and currency questions which had long slept, were
revived, and have divided the nation during the last
ten years of arduous and bitter struggle ; and the
party which put down the bank, and which occa-
sioned all the disorders in our currency and finances,
lias itself been signally put down by one of those
great moral and political revolutions which a free, a
patriotic people, can but seldom arouse itself to make.
Human infallibility has not been granted by God;
and the chances of error are much greater on the
side of one man, than on that of the majority of a
whole people and their successive Legislatures, dur-
ing a long period of time. I yield to the irresistible
force of authority. I will not put myself in opposi-
OF HENRY CLAY. 159
tion to a measure so imperatively demanded by the
public voice, and so essential to elevate my depressed
and suffering countrymen.
"And why should not President Tyler have suf-
fered the bill to become a law without his signature?
Without meaning the slightest possible disrespect to
him (nothing is further from my heart than the exhi-
bition of any such feeling toward that distinguished
citizen, long my personal friend), it cannot be for-
gotten that he came into his present office under
peculiar circumstances. The people did not foresee
the contingency which has happened. They voted
for him as Vice-President. They did not, therefore,
scrutinize his. opinions with the care which they
probably ought to have done, and would have done,
if they could have looked into futurity. If the pre-
sent state of the fact could have been anticipated
if at Harrisburg, or at the polls, it had been fore-
seen that General Harrison would die in one short
month after the commencement of his administra-
tion ; that Vice-President Tyler would be elevated
to the Presidential chair; that a bill, passed by deci-
sive majorities of the first Whig Congress, chartering
a national bank, would be presented for his sanction,
and that he would veto the bill, do I hazard any-
thing when I express the conviction, that he would
not have received a solitary vote in the nominating
convention, nor one solitary electoral vote in any
State in the Union ?
" Shall I be told that the honor, the firmness, the in-
dependence of the chief magistrate might have been
drawn in question if he had remained passive, aud so
160 THE LIFE AND TIMES
permitted the bill to become a law? I answer, that
the office of chief magistrate is a sacred and exalted
trust, created and conferred for the benefit of the
nation, and not for the private advantage of the
person who fills it. Can any man's reputation for
firmness, independence, and honor, be of more im-
portance than the welfare of a great people ? There
is nothing, in my humble judgment, in such a course,
incompatible with honor, with firmness, with inde-
pendence, properly understood. Certainly, I most
respectfully think, in reference to a measure like this,
recommended by such high sanctions by five Con-
gresses, by the authority of four Presidents, by re-
peated decisions of the Supreme Court, by the ac-
quiescence and judgment of the people of the United
States during long periods of time, by its salutary
operation on the interests of the community for a
space of forty years, and demanded by the people
whose suffrages placed President Tyler in that second
office, whence he was translated to the first, that he
might have suppressed the promptings of all personal
pride of private opinion, if any arose in his bosom,
and yielded to the wishes and wants of his country.
Nor do I believe that, in such a course, lie would have
made the smallest sacrifice, in a just sense, of personal
honor, firmness, or independence.
"But, sir, there was still a third alternative, to
which I allude, not because I mean to intimate that
it should be embraced, but because I am reminded of
it by a memorable event in the life of President
Tyler. It will be recollected that, after the Senate
had passed the resolutions declaring the removal of
OF HENRY CLAY. 161
the public deposits from the late Bank of the United
States to have been derogatory to the Constitution
and laws of the United States, for which resolution
President, then Senator Tyler, had voted, the General
Assembly of Virginia instructed the Senators from
that State to vote for the expunging of that resolution.
Senator Tyler declined voting in conformity with that
instruction, and resigned his seat in the Senate oi the
United States. This he did because he could not
conform, and did not think it right to go counter to
the wishes of those who had placed him in the Senate.
If, when the people of Virginia, or the General As-
sembly of Virginia, were his only constituency, he
would not set up his own particular opinion, in oppo-
sition to theirs, what ought to be the rule of his con-
duct when the people of twenty-six States a whole
nation compose his constituency? Is the will of the
constituency of one State to be respected, and that of
twenty-six to be wholly disregarded ? Is obedience
due only to the single State of Virginia? The Presi-
dent admits that the bank question deeply agitated,
and continues to agitate the nation. It is incontest-
able that it was the great, absorbing, and controlling
question in all our recent divisions and exertions. I
arn firmly convinced, and it is my deliberate judg-
ment, that an immense majority, not less than two-
thirds of the nation, desire such an institution. All
doubts in this respect ought to be dispelled by the
recent decisions of the two Houses of Congress. I
speuk of them as evidence of popular opinion. In
the House of Representatives the majority was one
hundred and thirty-one to one hundred. If the House
14* L
162 THE LIFE AND TIMES
had been full, and but for the modification of the six-
teenth fundamental condition, there would have been
a probable majority of forty-seven. Is it to be be-
lieved that this large majority of the immediate re-
presentatives of the people, fresh from among them,
and to whom the President seemed inclined, in his
opening message, to refer this very question, havo
mistaken the wishes of their constituents?"
Mr. Rives of Virginia undertook to reply to this
argument of Mr. Clay. After the conclusion of his
speech, it was not the purpose of the Kentucky sena-
tor to respond, as he had already given utterance to
all he had intended to say on the subject, and had
taken no notes of the remarks of Mr. Rives. Mr.
Clay was, however, requested to address the Senate
again ; he complied ; and in doing so delivered one*
of the most eloquent outbursts ever heard in that
chamber. Its concluding torrent, worthy of the best
days and the noblest efforts of Cicero, was as follows:
"I have no desire," said Mr. Clay, "to prolong
this unpleasant discussion ; but I must say that I
heard with great surprise and regret the closing re-
mark, especially, of the honorable gentleman from
Virginia, as, indeed, I did many of those which pre-
ceded it. That gentleman stands in a peculiar situa-
tion. I found him several years ago in the half-way
house, where he seems afraid to remain, and from
which he is yet unwilling to go. I had thought, after
the thorough riddling which the roof of the house
had received in the breaking up of the pet-bank
Bystem, lie would have fled somewhere else for refuge;
but there he still stands, solitary and alone, shivering
OF HENRY CLAY. 163
and pelted by the pitiless storm. The Sub-treasury
is repealed; the pet-bank system is abandoned; the
United States Bank bill is vetoed; and now, when
there is as complete and perfect a reunion of the purso
and the sword in the hands of the executive as ever
there was under General Jackson or Mr. Van Buren,
the Senator is for doing nothing! The Senator is for
going home, leaving the Treasury and the country in
their lawless condition ! Yet no man has heretofore,
more than he has, deplored arid deprecated a state of
things so utterly unsafe, and repugnant to all just
precautions, indicated alike by sound theory and ex-
perience in free governments. And the Senator talks
to us about applying to the wisdom of practical men,
in respect to banking, and advises further delibera-
tion ! Why, I should suppose that we are at present
in the very best situation to act upon the subject.
Besides the many painful years we have had for de-
liberation, we have been near three months almost ex-
clusively engrossed with the very subject itself. We
have heard all manner of facts, statements, and argu
ments, in any way connected with it. We under-
stand, it seems to me, all we ever can learn or com-
prehend about a national bank. And we have, at
least, some conception too of what sort of one will be
acceptable at the other end of the avenue. Yet now,
with a vast majority of the people of the entire coun-
try crying out to us for a bank ; with the people
throughout the whole valley of the Mississippi rising
in their majesty, and demanding it as indispensable
to their well-being, and pointing to their losses, their
sacrifices, and their sufferings, for the want of such
164 THE LIFE AND TIMER
an institution : in such a state of things, we nre
gravely and coldly told l>y the honorable Senator from
Virginia, that we had best go home, leaving the purse
and the sword in the uncontrolled possession of the
President, and, above all things, never to make a
party bank! Why, sir, does he, with all his know-
ledge of the conflicting opinions which prevail here,
and have prevailed, believe that we ever can make a
bank but by the votes of one party who are in favor
of it, in opposition to the votes of another party
against it? I deprecate this expression of opinion
from that gentleman the more, because, although the
honorable Senator professes not to know the opinions
of the President, it certainly does turn out in the
sequel, that there is a most remarkable coincidence
between those opinions and his own ; and he has, on
the present occasion, defended the motives and the
course of the President with all the solicitude and all
the fervent zeal of a member of his privy council.
There is a rumor abroad, that a cabal exists a new
sort of kitchen cabinet whose object is the dissolu-
tion of the regular cabinet, the dissolution of the
Whig party, the dispersion of Congress without ac-
complishing any of the great purposes of the extra
session, and a total change, in fact, in the whole face
of our political affairs. I hope, and I persuade my-
self, that the honorable Senator is not, can not be, one
of the component members of such a cabal; but I
must say, that there has been displayed by the honor-
able Senator to-day, a predisposition, astonishing and
inexplicable, to misconceive almost all of what I have
Baid, and a perseverance, after repeated corrections,
OF HENRY CLAT. 165
in misunderstanding for I will not charge him with
wilfully and intentionally misrepresenting the whole
spirit and character of the address which, as a man
of honor and as a Senator, I felt myself bound in
duty to make to this body.
"The Senator begins with saying that I charge the
President with 'perfidy?' Did I use any such lan-
guage ? I appeal to every gentleman who heard me,
to say whether I have, in a single instance, gone be-
yond a fair and legitimate examination of the Execu-
tive objections to the bill. Yet he has charged me
with 'arraigning' the President, with indicting him
in various counts, and with imputing to him motives
such as I never even intimated or dreamed ; and that,
when I was constantly expressing, over and over, my
personal respect and regard for President Tyler, for
whom I have cherished an intimate personal friend-
ship of twenty years' standing, and while I expressly
said, that if that friendship should now be inter-
rupted, it should not be my fault ! Why, sir, what
possible, what conceivable motive can I have to quar-
rel with the President, or to break up the Whig
party ? What earthly motive can impel me to wish
for any other result than that that party shall remain
in perfect harmony, undivided, and shall move undis-
mayed, boldly and unitedly forward to the accom-
plishment of the all-important public objects which it
has avowed to be its aim ? What imaginable interest
ty
or feeling can I have other than the success, the
triumph, the glory of the Whig party? But that
there may be designs and purposes on the part of cer-
tain other individuals to place me in inimical rela-
166 THE LIFE AND TIMES
tions with the President, and to represent me as per-
son ally opposed to him, I can well imagine indi-
viduals who are heating up for recruits, and endea-
voring to form a third party, with materials so scanty
as to be wholly insufficient to compose a decent cor-
poral's guard."
Mr. Clay had expressed his intention to resign his
seat in the Senate, and to retire from public life, as
early as November, 1840. After the death of Gene-
ral Harrison, and the accession of Mr. Tyler, he had
deferred the execution of his purpose, in order to
carry through the several measures to which we have
already adverted. He had been entirely disappointed
in the policy pursued by President Tyler, with whom,
at the commencement of his administration, he had
been on the most friendly terms. He frequently
visited him at the "White House," dined with him,
and held consultations with him on public affairs.
On these occasions Mr. Tyler assured him that he had
formed no opinions adverse to a national bank; and
therefore when the bill to establish such an institu-
tion was vetoed by the President, the blow was un-
expected by Nr. Clay, and very naturally alienated
him from his former friend. He now determined to
execute his purpose of withdrawing from the Senate.
On the 16th of February, 1842, he sent the following
letter of resignation to the Legislature of Kentucky :
u When I last had the honor of an appointment as
one of the United States Senators from Kentucky, I
intimated, in my letter of acceptance, the probability
of my not serving out the whole term of six years.
In consequence of there having been two extra sea-
OF HENRY CLAY. 167
gions of Congress, I have already attended, since that
appointment, as many sessions of Congress as ordi-
narily happen during a Senatorial term, without esti-
mating my services at the present session.
" I have for several years desired to retire to pri-
vate life, but have been hitherto prevented from
executing my wish from considerations of public
duty. I should have resigned my seat in the Senate
at the commencement of the present session, but for
several reasons, one of which was, that the General
Assembly did not meet until near a month after
Congress, during which time the State would not
have been full}- represented, or my successor would
have had only the uncertain title of an- Executive ap-
pointment.
" The time has now arrived when I think that,
without any just reproach, I may quit the public ser-
vice, and bestow some attention on my private affairs,
which have suffered much by the occupation of the
largest portion of my life in the public councils. If
the Roman veteran had title to discharge after thirty
years' service, I, who have served a much longer pe-
riod, may justly claim mine.
"I beg leave, therefore, to tender to the General
Assembly, and do now hereby tender, my resigna-
tion of the office which I hold, of Senator in the
Senate of the United States, from the State of Ken-
tucky, to take effect on the 31st of March, 1842 ; and
1 request that the General Assembly will appoint my
successor to take his seat on that day. I have fixed
that duy to allow me an opportunity of assisting in
i 48 THE LIFE AND TIMES
tne ompletion of some measures which have been
originated by me.
"I embrace this opportunity to offer to the Gene-
rnl Assembly my most profound and grateful ac-
knowledgments for the numerous and distinguished
proofs by which I have been honored, of its warm
attachment and generous confidence, during a long
series of years."
On the 31st of March, 1842, Mr. Clay formally an-
nounced to the Senate the resignation of his seat, and
took leave of that body in a speech of great beauty
and pathos. He thought the withdrawal was his
last, and that he should never more appear in that
chamber which had been the scene of so many
triumphs and forensic splendors on his part. His
purpose had become known to the public; and the
hall and adjacent passages were crowded on the occa-
sion with an audience of both sexes, such as rarely
graced the efforts of an orator, even at the seat of the
Federal Government. He arose for the purpose
ostensibly of presenting the credentials of Mr. Crit-
tenden, his successor, as Senator from Kentucky.
On no occasion, during his long public career, did he
acquit himself with more ability and success than in
the execution of this difficult and delicate task. Dur-
ing the delivery of the remarks which followed the
presentation of the credentials, the sympathies of his
hearers became deeply affected ; and many eyes, un-
used to melting moods, were suffused with tears,
while the aged and eloquent statesman described,
with that graceful easy dignity, and with that melli-
fluous sweetness of tone, which have been equalled
OF HENRY CLAT. 169
by no orator ancient or modern, his long and ardu-
ous career, the memorable scenes he had witnessed,
and in which he had participated, connected with the
nation's history ; and then expressed his intention to
withdraw from that arena to private life, and uttered
his best wishes for the welfare of his late associates,
his hearers and his countrymen. The conclusion of
this remarkable oration was as follows :
"During that long period, however, I have not
escaped the fate of other public men, nor failed to in-
cur censure and detraction of the bitterest, most un-
relenting, and most malignant character; and though
not always insensible to the pain it was meant to in-
flict, I have borne it in general with composure, and
without disturbance here [pointing to his breast],
waiting aa I have done, in perfect and undoubting
confidence, for the ultimate triumph of justice and of
truth, and in the entire persuasion that time would
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, by the inscrutable dispensations of His
providence, rectify all error, redress all wrong, and
cause ample justice to be done.
"But I have not meanwhile been unsustained.
Everywhere throughout the extent of this great con
tinent I have had cordial, warm-hearted, faithful, and
devoted friends, who have known me, loved me, and
appreciated my motives. To them, if language were
capable of fully expressing my acknowledgments, I
would now oft'er all the return I have the power to
make for their genuine, disinterested, and persevering
15
170 THE LIFE AND TIMES
fidelit} 1 and devoted attachment, the feelings and sen-
timents of a heart overflowing with never-ceasing
gratitude. If, however, I fail in suitable language to
express my gratitude to them for all the kindness they
have shown to me, what shall I say, what can I say
at all commensurate with those feelings of gratitude
with which I have been inspired by the State whose
humble representative and servant I have been in this
chamber? [Here Mr. Clay's feelings overpowered
him, and he proceeded with deep sensibility and diffi-
cult utterance.]
" I emigrated from Virginia to the State of Ken-
tucky now nearly forty-five years ago; I went as an
orphan boy who had not yet attained the age of ma-
jority who had never recognized a father's smile,
nor felt his warm caresses poor, penniless, without
the favor of the great with an imperfect and ne-
glected education, hardly sufficient for the ordinary
business and common pursuits of life; but scarce had
I set my foot upon her generous soil, when I was em-
braced with parental fondness, caressed as though I
had been a favorite child, and patronized with liberal
and unbounded munificence. From that period the
highest honors of the State have been freely bestowed
upon me; and when, in the darkest hour of calumny
and detraction, I seemed to be assailed by all the rest
of the world, she interposed her broad and impene-
trable shield, repelled the poisoned shafts that were
aimed for my destruction, and vindicated my good
name from every malignant and unfounded asper-
sion. I return w T ith indescribable pleasure to linger
awhile longer, and mingle with the warm-hearted and
OF HENRY CLAY. 171
whole-souled people of that State ; and, when the last
scene shall forever close upon me, I hope that my
earthly remains will be laid under her green sod with
those of her gallant and patriotic sons.
'' But the ingenuity of my assailants is never ex-
hausted. It seems I have subjected myself to a new
epithet, which I do not know whether to take in
honor or derogation ; I am held up to the country as
a ' dictator.' A dictator ! The idea of a dictatorship
is drawn from Roman institutions ; and at the time
the office was created, the person who wielded the
tremendous weight of authority it conferred, concen-
trated in his own person an absolute power over the
lives and property of all his fellow-citizens; he could
levy armies ; he could build and man navies ; he
could raise any amount of revenue he might choose
to demand ; and life and death rested on his fiat. If
I were a dictator, as I am said to be, where is the
power with which I am clothed? Have I any army ?
any navy? any revenue? any patronage? in a word,
any power whatever? If I had been a dictator, I
think that even those who have the most freely ap-
plied to me the appellation, must be compelled to
make two admissions : first, that my dictatorship has
been distinguished by no cruel executions, stained by
no blood, sullied by no act of dishonor; and I think
they must also own (though I do not exactly know
what date my commission of dictator bears I sup-
pose, however, it must have commenced with the ex-
tra session), that if I did usurp the power of a dictator,
I at least voluntarily surrendered it within a shorter
172 THE LIFE AND TIMES
period than was allotted for the duration of the dic-
tatorship of the Roman con im on wealth.
"If to have sought at the extra session and at the
present, by the co-operation of rny friends, to carry
out the great measures intended by the popular ma-
jority of 1840, and to have earnestly wished that they
should all have been adopted and executed; if to
have ardently desired to see a disordered currency
regulated and restored, and irregular exchanges equal-
ized and adjusted ; if to have labored to replenish the
empty coffers of the treasury by suitable duties; if to
have endeavored to extend relief to the unfortunate
bankrupts of the country, who had been ruined in a
great measure by the erroneous policy, as we be-
lieved, of this Government; to limit, circumscribe,
and reduce Executive authority; to retrench unne-
cessary expenditure and abolish useless offices and
institutions, and to preserve the public honor untar-
nished by supplying a revenue adequate to meet the
national engagements, and incidental protection to
the national industry; if to have entertained an anx-
ious solicitude to redeem every pledge, and execute
every promise fairly made by my political friends,
with a view to the acquisition of power from the
hands of an honest and confiding people ; if these
constitute a man a DICTATOR, why, then, I must be
content to bear, although I still ought only to share
with my friends the odium or the honor of the epi-
thet, as it may be considered ou the one hand or the
other.
"That my nature is warm, my temper ardent, my
disposition, especially in relation to the public ser-
OF IIEXK'T CLAY. 173
vice, enthusiastic, I am ready to own ; and those who
suppose that I have been assuming the dictatorship,
have only mistaken for arrogance or assumption that
ardor and devotion which are natural to my constitu-
tion, and which I may have displayed with too little
regard to cold, calculating, and cautious prudence, iu.
sustaining and zealously supporting important na-
tional measures of policy which I have presented and
espoused.
" In the course of a long and arduous public ser-
vice, especially during the last eleven years in which
I have held a seat in the Senate, from the same ardor
and enthusiasm of character, I have no doubt, in the
heat of debate, and in an honest endeavor to main-
tain my opinions against adverse opinions alike
honestly entertained, as to the best course to be
adopted for the public welfare, I may have often in-
advertently and unintentionally, in moments of ex-
cited 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 dissatisfac-
tion produced on such occasions, I beg to assure them
that I now offer the most ample apology for any de-
parture on my part from the established rules of par-
liamentary decorum and courtesy. On the other
hand, I assure Senators, one and all, without excep-
tion and without reserve, that I retire from this cham-
ber without carrying with me a single feeling of re-
sentment or dissatisfaction to the Senate or any one
of its members.
"I go from this place under the hope that we shall,
15*
174 THE LIFE AND TIMES
mutually, consign to perpetual oblivion whatever per-
sonal collisions may at any time unfortunately have
occurred between us; and that our recollections shall
dwell in future only on those conflicts of mind with
mind, those intellectual struggles, those noble exhi-
bitions of the powers of logic, argument, and elo-
quence, honorable to the Senate and to the nation, in
which each has sought and contended for what he
deemed the best mode of accomplishing one common
object, the interest and the most happiness of our
beloved country. To these thrilling and delightful
scenes it will be my pleasure and my pride to look
back in my retirement with unmeasured satisfaction.
"And now, Mr. President, allow me to make the
motion which it was my object to submit when I rose
to address you. I present the credentials of my friend
and successor [Hon. J. J. Crittenden]. If any void
has been created by my withdrawal from the Senate,
it will be amply filled by him, whose urbanity, whose
gallant and gentlemanly bearing, whose steady ad-
herence to principle, and whose rare and accom-
plished powers in debate, are known to the Senate
and to the country. I move that his credentials be
received, and that the oath of office be now admin-
istered to him.
" In retiring, as I am about to do, for ever, from the
Senate, suffer me to express my heartfelt wishes that
all the great and patriotic objects of the wise framers
of our Constitution may be fulfilled ; that the high
destiny designed for it may be fully answered ; and
that its deliberations, now and hereafter, may even-
tuate in securing the prosperity of our beloved coun-
OF HENRY CLAY. 175
try, in maintaining its rights and honor abroad, and
upholding its interests at home. I retire, I know, at
a period of infinite distress and embarrassment. I
wish I could take my leave of you under more favor-
able auspices ; but, without meaning at this time to
say whether on any or on whom reproaches for the
ead condition of the country should fall, I appeal to
the Senate and to the world to bear testimony to my
earnest and continued exertions to avert it, and to the
truth that no blame can justly attach to me.
" May the most precious blessings of Heaven rest
upon the whole Senate and each member of it, and
may the labors of every one redound to the benefit
of the nation and the advancement of his own fame
and renown. And when you shall retire to the bosom
of your constituents, may you receive that most
cheering and gratifying of all human rewards their
cordial greeting of 'Well done, good and faithful
servant.'
"And now, Mr. President, and Senators, I bid you
all a long, a lasting, and a friendly farewell."
176 THE LIFE AND TIMES
CHAPTER XII.
MR. CLAY'S RETURN TO PRIVATE LIFE THE LEXINGTON BARBECUE
HIS SPEECH ON THIS OCCASION HIS TISIT TO RICHMOND, INDIANA
INCIDENT IN REFERENCE TO THE SLAVERY QUESTION HIS SPEECH
ON THIS OCCASION HIS A r ISIT TO DAYTON, OHIO HIS JOURNEY TO
THE SOUTH-EASTERN STATES ENTHUSIASTIC RECEPTIONS DURING
THE PROGRESS OF HIS JOURNEY HE SOJOURNS AT WASHINGTON IS
NOMINATED FOR THE PRESIDENCY BY THE WHIG CONVENTION AT
BALTIMORE HE RETURNS TO ASHLAND.
AFTER withdrawing from public life Mr. Clay re-
turned to Kentuck}\ But though no longer engaged
in the official service of his country, he was still the
object of general interest; and he received many
proofs of the continued admiration with which he
was regarded by those whom he had so long and ubiy
represented in the councils of the nation. On the
9th of June, 1842, a public entertainment, known by
the name of Barbecue, was prepared for him at Lex-
ington, and an immense assemblage of persons, not
only from that vicinity, but also from neighboring
States, convened to increase the interest of the occa-
sion, and to gratify the laudable curiosity which they
felt to see and hear the man whose fame already ex-
tended so widely and soared so loftily.
On this occasion he delivered a speech two hours
in length. It was of a purely popular character, em-
OF HENRY CLAY. 177
bracinjr a variety of subjects, and was received with
the utmost enthusiasm. Chief-Justice Robertson of
Kentucky presided ; and having* opened the proceed
ings, concluded his speech by offering the following
enthusiastic sentiment:
''Henry Clay farmer of Ashland, patriot and phi-
lanthropist the American statesman, and unrivalled
orator of the age illustrious abroad, beloved at home:
in a long career of eminent public service, often, like
Aristides, he breasted the raging storm of passion and
delusion, and by offering himself a sacrifice, saved
the republic ; and now, like Cincinnatus and Wash-
ington, having voluntarily retired to the tranquil
walks of private life, the grateful hearts of his coun-
trymen will do him ample justice ; but come what
may, Kentucky will stand by him, and still continue to
cherish and defend, as her own, the fame of a son,
who has emblazoned her escutcheon with immortal
renown."
After the adoption of this sentiment by the ap-
proving plaudits of myriads, Mr. Clay commenced
his speech. He embraced the occasion to review the
history and some of the events of his own public life;
and in the course of it made the following remarks
in reference to the charge of bribery and corruption
which had so long and so repeatedly been urged
against him:
" I will take this occasion now to say that I am,
and have been long satisfied, that it would have been
wiser and more politic in me to have declined ac-
cepting the office of Secretary of State in 1825.
that my motives were not a* pure and as patriotic
M
178 THE LIFE AND TIMES
ever carried any man into public office. "Not .that the
calumny which was applied to the fact was not as
gross and as unfounded as any that was ever propa-
gated. [Here somebody cried out that Mr. Carter
Beverley, who had been made the organ of announc-
ing it, had recently borne testimony to its being un-
founded.] Mr. Clay said it was true that he had
voluntarily borne such testimony. But, with great
earnestness and emphasis Mr. Clay said, I want no
testimony here, here, HERE [repeatedly touching his
heart, amid tremendous cheers], HERE is the best of
all witnesses of my innocence. Not that valued
friends and highly-esteemed opponents did not unite
in urging my acceptance of the office. Not that the
administration of Mr. Adams will not, I sincerely
believe, advantageously compare with any of his pre-
decessors in economy, purity, prudence, and wisdom.
Not that Mr. Adams was himself wanting in any of
those high qualifications and upright and patriotic
intentions which were suited to the office. Of that
extraordinary man, of rare and varied attainments,
whatever diversity of opinion may exist as to his re-
cent course in the House of Representatives (and
candor obliges me to say that there are some things
in it which I deeply regret), it is with no less truth
than pleasure I declare that, during the whole period
of his administration, annoyed, assailed, and assaulted
as it was, no man could ha.ve shown a more devoted
attachment to the Union and all its great interests, a
more ardent desire faithfully to discharge his whole
duty, or brought to his aid more useful experience
and knowledge, than he did. I never transacted
OF HENRY CLAY. 179
business with any man, in my life, with more ease,
satisfaction, and advantage, than I did with that most
able and indefatigable gentleman, as President of the
United States. And I will add, that more harmony '
uever prevailed in any Cabinet than in his.
"But my error in accepting the office, arose out of
my underrating the power of detraction and the force
of ignorance, and abiding with too sure a confidence
in the conscious integrity and uprightness of my own
motives. Of that ignorance I had a remarkable and
laughable example on an occasion which I will relate.
I was travelling, in 1828, through I believe it was
Spottsylvania County, in Virginia, on my return to
Washington, in company with some young friends.
We halted at night at a tavern, kept by an aged gen-
tleman who, I quickly perceived, from the disorder
and confusion which reigned, had not the happiness
to have a wife. After a hurried and bad supper, the
old gentleman sat down by me, and without hearing
my name, but understanding that I was from Ken-
tucky, remarked that he had four sons in that State,
and that he was very sorry they were divided in poli-
tics, two being for Adams, and two for Jackson ; he
wished they were all for Jackson. 'Why?' I asked
him. 'Because,' he said, 'that fellow Clay, and
Adams, had cheated Jackson out of the Presidency.'
'Have you ever seen any evidence, my old friend,'
said I, 'of that?' 'No,' he replied, 'none, and I
want to see none.' 'But,' I observed, looking him
directly and steadily in the face, 'suppose Mr. Clay
were to come here and assure you, upon his honor,
that it was all a vile calumny, and not a word of truth
180 THE LIFE AND TIMES
in it, would you believe him?' '!N"o,' replied the old
gentleman, promptly and emphatically. I said to
him, in conclusion, 'Will you be good enough to
show me to bed?' and bade him good night. The
next morning, having in the interval learned my
name, he came to me full of apologies ; but I at once
put him at his ease by assuring him that I did not
feel in the slightest degree hurt or offended with him.
"Mr. President, I have been accused of ambition,
often accused of ambition. If to have served my
country during a long series of years with fervent
zeal and unshaken fidelity, in seasons of peace and
war, at home and abroad, in the legislative halls and
in an executive department ; if to have labored most
sedulously to avert the embarrassment and distress
which now overspread this Union, and when they
came, to have exerted myself anxiously, at the extra
session and at this, to devise healing remedies ; if to
have desired to introduce economy and reform in the
general administration, curtail enormous executive
power, and amply provide, at the same time, for the
wants of the Government and the wants of the people,
by a tariff which would give it revenue and them
protection ; if to have earnestly sought to establish
the bright but too rare example of a party in power
faithful to its promises and pledges made when out
of power; if these services, , exertions, and endeavors,
justify the accusation of ambition, I must plead
guilty to the charge.
"I have wished the good opinion of the world; but
I defy the most malignant of my enemies to show
that I have attempted to gain it by any low or grovel-
OF HENRY CLAY. 181
ling arts, "by any mean or unworthy sacrifices, by the
violation of any of the obligations of honor, or by a
breach of any of the duties which I owed to my
country.
"I turn, sir, from these personal allusions and
reminiscences, to the vastly more important subject
of the present actual condition of this country. If
they could ever be justifiable or excusable, it would
be on such an occasion as this, when I am addressing
those to whom I am bound by so many intimate and
friendly ties."
Several months after this occasion, on the 1st of Oc-
tober, 1842, Mr. Clay visited Richmond, Indiana, and
addressed a large assembly which was attracted to the
place by the rumor that the illustrious statesman was
present. On this occasion an incident of some import-
ance and significance occurred, which deserves to be
narrated. Anumberof hispolitical opponents, together
with a few Abolitionists of extreme views, embraced
the opportunity to elicit his opinions in reference to
slavery, and perhaps to embarrass him by a direct
petition that he would, as the advocate of human
rights and universal liberty, immediately manumit
his own slaves. A person named Mendenhall was
selected to perform the chief rdle on this occasion.
While engaged in delivering his speech, Mr. Menden-
hall approached the platform, at the head of the com-
mittee, holding the petition in his hand. Mr. Clay
immediately paused, and ascertained the import of
the document. When the facts became known to the
assembly, they were exceedingly indignant at the
insult which they thought was thus offered to their
16
182 THE LI I a AND TIMES
distinguished visitor; and it is probable that the in*
trader would have received some personal violence,
had not Mr. Clay himself interposed. He addressed
the multitude, and said earnestly:
" I hope that Mr. Mendenhall may be treated with
the greatest forbearance and respect. I assure my
fellow-citizens, here collected, that the presentation
of the petition has not occasioned the slightest pain,
nor excited one solitary disagreeable emotion. If it
were to be presented to me, I prefer that it should be
done in the face of this vast assemblage. I think I
can give it such an answer as becomes me and the
subject of which it treats. At all events, I entreat
and beseech my fellow-citizens, for their sake, for my
sake, to offer no disrespect, no indignity, no violence,
in word or deed, to Mr. Mendenhall." Then, turning
to Mr. Mendenhall: "Allow me t6 say, that I think
you have not conformed to the independent character
of an American citizen in presenting & petition to me.
A petition, as the term implies, generally proceeds
from an inferior in power or station to a superior;
but between us there is entire equality."
When order was restored, Mr. Clay proceeded to
answer the appeal thus made to him ; and he acquitted
himself in this rather novel and perplexing dilemma
with his usual tact and ability. He proceeded to ex-
press his views in reference to the institution of sla-
very, and the difficulties which inevitably surrounded
the subject. Said he :
"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
OF HENRY CLAY. 188
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 opi-
nions 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 Government, 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. society, no man would
be more strongly opposed than I should be to incor-
porate the institution of slavery among its elements.
But there is an incalculable difference between the
original formation of society and a long-existing or-
ganized society, with its ancient laws, institutions,
and establishments. Now, great as I acknowledge,
in my opinion, the evils of slavery are, they are no-
thing, absolutely nothing, in comparison with the far
greater evils which would inevitably flow from a sud-
den, general, and indiscriminate emancipation. In
some of the States the number of slaves approximates
toward an equality with that of the whites ; in one
or two they surpass them. What would be the con-
dition of the two races in those States, upon the sup-
position of an immediate emancipation ? Does any
man suppose that they would become blended into
one homogeneous mass? Does any man recommend
amalgamation that revolting admixture, alike offen-
sive to God and man ? for those whom He, by their
physical properties, has made unlike and put asun-
der, we may, without presumptuousiiess, suppose
)/4 THE LIFE AND TIMES
wore 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 pre-
judice, 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 en-
force a union between the two races.
"What then would certainly happen? A struggle
for political ascendency ; the blacks seeking to ac
quire, and the whites to maintain, possession of the
government. Upon the supposition of a general im-
mediate emancipation in those States where the
blacks outnumber the whites, they would have no-
thing 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 exist-
ing 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 sla-
very which exists in this country? I say continually
improving; for if this gratifying progress in the ame-
lioration of the condition of the slaves has been
checked in some of the States, the responsibility
must attach to the unfortunate agitation of the sub-
OF HENR-X CLAY. 185
ject 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."
In concluding this portion of his speech Mr. Clay
remarked : " I shall, Mr. Meudenhall, take your peti-
tion 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 libe-
rate 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 willing 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 ma-
terially lessen the obstacle in the way of their eman-
cipation."
Soon after this incident, and during the progress
of the same journey, Mr. Clay visited Dayton, Ohio,
where he addressed one of the largest multitudes
ever convened in this country, consisting probably of
a hundred thousand persons. A procession was
formed which marched by the spot at which Mr. Clay
stood, and greeted him with repeated and protracted
applause. He himself declared that he had never
beheld during his long and adventurous life, so vast
and so enthusiastic an assembly. Similar scenes oc-
curred afterward in December at New Orleans, at
10*
186 THE LIFE AKD TIMES
Natchez in February, 1843, at Mobile and Vicks
burg, at Jackson, in Mississippi, and at Memphis,
Tennessee. This journey, which was undertaken
partly on business, and partly to gratify the solicita-
tion of friends in various parts of the country, was a
continual and unparalleled ovation of public admira-
tion and applause, which could not but be highly
gratifying to the illustrious recipient of it.
The year 1843 was spent by Mr. Clay partly in the
welcome retirement of his home at Ashland, partly
in making several journeys of business and recreation
to the Southern and South-eastern States. On the
10th of July he was present and spoke at Raleigh,
North Carolina; in December he again visited New
Orleans; in March, 1844, Columbus and Macon in
Georgia. On the 1st of April, he arrived at Colum-
bia, South Carolina, on the 6th he reached Charles-
ton, and on the 12th he stopped at Raleigh. He then
continued his journey northward to Norfolk, and
through Virginia to Washington.
During his sojourn at the seat of Government, one
of the most important incidents of Mr. Clay's event-
ful life occurred. Twice already had he been nomi
nated to the highest office in the gift of the nation,
and twice had he been defeated. The administration
of Mr. Tyler was now approaching its termination,
and his successor was to be nominated. The Whig
party was then a powerful organization, which, in the
last contest, had placed General Harrison trium-
phantly in the Presidency ; and it was reasonably in-
ferred that the same success would attend their efforts
in the struggle which was about to ensue. No man
OF HENRY CLAY. 187
then living in the United States was regarded by the
Whigs with such unqualified admiration, and none
seemed to enjoy such general popularity with the mass
of the nation, hostile politicians alone excepted, as
Henry Clay. Hence it was that, when he was nominated
unanimously and by acclamation for the Presidency
by the National Whig Convention which convened at
Baltimore on the 12th of May, 1844, the nomination
was received with the most extraordinary enthusiasm;
inevitable success was prognosticated by his partisans,
and hopelessly deprecated by his opponents. This
feeling was, if possible, increased, when the Demo-
cratic National Convention assembled in Baltimore,
selected James K. Polk, of Tennessee, the friend and
protege of General Jackson, as the rival of Mr. Clay;
whose inferior he seemed to be in all the qualities
favorable to the attainment of success. The Whigs
nominated Theodore Frelinghuysen, the Democrats,
George M. Dallas, for the Vice-Presidency. On the
18th of May Mr. Clay left Washington, and returned
to his home in Kentucky.
188 THE LIFE AND TIMES
CHAPTER XIII.
THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1844 REVIVAL OF THE "BARGAIX
AND SALE" SLANDER CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CONTEST ITS UN
EXPECTED RESULT DEFEAT OF THE WHIGS DISAPPOINTMENT OT
MR. CLAY'S FRIENDS VARIOUS PROOFS OF THEIR ATTACHMENT TO
HIM THE MEXICAN WAR DEATH OF HENRY CLAY, JR. MR. CLAY
JOINS THE CHURCH HIS SPEECH ON THE MEXICAN WAR HIS VIEWS
ON SLAVERY HIS VISIT TO THE NORTH HIS RECEPTION.
THE Presidential contest of the year 1844 was one
of the most excited and animated which has occurred
in the history of the nation. The enthusiasm of hope
on the one hand, and the energy of despair on the
other, induced both parties to put forth the most
vigorous efforts to attain success. Intense bitterness
was infused into the contest by the revival of the old
slander in reference to Mr. Clay's bargain and sale
witli Mr. Adams; the key-note of which was given
by General Jackson, who, from the calm retirement
of the Hermitage, on the 3d of May, published a card
in the "Nashville Union" reaffirming the accusation.
It was as follows :
"GENTLEMEN: My attention has been called to
various newspapers 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.
OF HENRY CLAY. 189
" To put an end to all such rumors, I feel it to be
due to myself 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 coun-
try at large did from facts 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 an}' other subject."
It is probable that the revival of this calumny had
its effect on the minds of many, especially of those
whose former political preferences and animosities
were recalled to life by it. Beside all the usual legi-
timate methods and contrivances which are used
during Presidential campaigns by all parties, there
were other expedients resorted to on this occasion
which were not so commendable. The private life
of Mr. Clay was dragged into disagreeable promi-
nence, and unwarrantable liberties were taken with
it. Old reports respecting indulgences and vices of
which he was said to have been guilty during the
years of his early manhood, were reproduced and
widely disseminated as appertaining to later and
more recent periods of his life ; and the epithets of
gambler, profane swearer, sab bath- breaker, debauchee,
were freely and unblushingly applied to him. The
190 THE LIFE AND TIMRS
cry of Native Americanism was raised against Mr.
Frelinghuysen, the AVhig nominee for the Vice-Pre-
sidency ; and the utmost efforts were made to defeat
the ticket by convincing the foreign population of the
United States that the triumph of the Whigs would
result in the downfall of their liberties, in the burn-
ing of their churches, in the murder of their wives
and children, in untold horrors and indescribable ca-
lamities all which results could be averted only by
the success of the Democratic party.
In regard to the slavery question, many of Mr.
Clay's opponents represented him in a twofold and
equally false position. At the North he \vas described
as an ultra partisan of slavery, obstinately and reso-
lutely bent upon its protection and extension. At
the South he was depicted as a rabid Abolitionist,
who had already made several efforts to exterminate
the institution within the limits of Kentucky, and
who in future would continue to wage a war of exter-
mination against it. Often the language used by
Mr. Cassius M. Clay was knowingly and intentionally
applied to his illustrious namesake; who was thus
made to bear the consequences of his irresponsible
acts and speeches. On the other hand, Mr. Folk's
views and policy were variously represented ; at the
North as a devoted friend of the tariff, and a deter-
mined opponent of the annexation of Texas. At the
South he was depicted and applauded as the mortal
foe ot the tariff, and as resolutely bent on immediate
and unconditional annexation. While these opera-
tions were going forward, a third party was skilfully
brought into the field, whose only effect would iuevi-
OF HENRY CLAY. 191
tably be, to weaken the forces of the "Whigs, while
they were utterly impotent in securing the triumph
of their own organization. This was the Abolition
party, who nominated James G. Birney for the Pre-
sidency, and gave him their ballots; which, under
such circumstances, were equivalent to so man} 7 votes
abstracted from the aggregate number polled by the
supporters and partisans of Mr. Clay.
Notwithstanding these adverse influences, the lat-
ter confidently expected to achieve a victory ; and in
this feeling the nation at large participated. The
disappointment, therefore, which ensued when, after
the day of the election, it was ascertained that James
JL Polk had obtained a majority of the Electors, and
would be chosen President by the Electoral College,
was extreme and almost universal. Mr. Clay bore
his defeat with heroic fortitude ; but myriads of his
admirers and friends felt a dejection such as a great
personal calamity might alone be supposed to be ca-
pable of producing. The numerical result of the elec-
tion was as follows :
For CLAY Massachusetts, 12; Rhode Island, 4;
Connecticut, 6 ; Vermont, 6 ; New Jersey, 7 ; Dela-
ware, 3 ; Maryland, 8 ; North Carolina, 11 ; Tennes-
see, 13; Kentucky,- 12; Ohio, 23. Total, 105.
For POLK Maine, 9; New Hampshire, 6; New
York, 36 ; Pennsylvania, 26 ; Virginia, 17 ; South
Carolina, 9; Georgia, 10; Alabama, 9; Mississippi,
6; Louisiana, 6; Indiana, 12; Illinois, 9; Missouri,
7; Michigan, 5; Arkansas, 3. Total, 170.
The official popular vote numbered for CLAY,
1,297,912; for POLK, 1,336,196; forUiRNEY, the cai>-
192 THE LIFE AND TIMES
didate of the "Liberal Party," 62,127. Mr. Folk's
majority over Mr. Clay, exclusive of South Carolina,
where the Presidential Electors were chosen by the
Legislature, was 32,284.
From this statement it is evident that the loss of
the votes given to Mr. Birney produced the defeat of
Mr. Clay, who would otherwise have had a clear ma-
jority over the Democratic nominee. This circum-
stance naturally increased the regret which was felt
by Mr. Clay's friends, that what they regarded as a
most glorious result should have been defeated by the
obstinacy of those who persisted in following out a
policy which led to no consequences favorable to them-
selves. The despair of many persons at the result
was extravagant, and sometimes even absurd; as will
appear from the following extracts from a few of the
hundreds of letters which Mr. Clay received at Ash-
land, deprecating the issue, and tendering him sym-
pathy :
" What a wound has been inflicted upon the honor
and interests of the country ! I pray God, that truth
may yet prevail, and our republican institutions be
saved. It affords me some satisfaction, under the ad-
verse state of things that exist, to assure you of my
abiding esteem and cordial friendship."
"I write with an aching heart, and ache it must.
God Almighty save us ! Although our hearts are
broken and bleeding, and our bright hopes are
crushed, we feel proud of our candidate. God bless
you! Your countrymen do bless you. All know
how to appreciate the man who has stood in the first
OF HENRY CLAY. 193
rank of American patriots. Though unknown to you,
you are by no means a stranger to me."
" Sir, we love you now better than ever. '
U I have hardly ventured to touch my pen to paper,
dear and honored sir, to speak of the catastrophe
which has befallen our country. Its effects are be-
ginning to develop themselves with frightful rapidity.
In the midst of its anguish, the public heart heaves
with an oppressive sense of gratitude toward your-
self."
" I do not write to you, my dear sir, to offer con
dolence, which, I know, would be misplaced and
presumptuous. It is my solemn belief that, of all
men, you have the least real cause to regret the re-
sult."
"The result of the late election, although disas-
trous to the country, furnishes a proud vindication
of your principles and fame. No man ever before
received so glorious a testimonial. The defeat is
nothing to you. It is the people who are to be tho
sufferers."
"I have buried a revolutionary father, who poured
out his blood for his country ; I have followed a mo-
ther, brothers, sisters, and children, to the grave; and
although I hope I have felt, under all these afflic-
tions, as a son, a brother, and a father should feel,
yet nothing has so crushed me to the earth, and de-
pressed my spirits, as the result of our late political
contest."
"I have thought for three or four days I would
write you, but really I am unmanned. All is gone!
I see nothing but despair depicted in every couute-
17 N
194 THE LIFE AND TIMES
nance. I confess that nothing has happened to shake
rny confidence in our ability to sustain a free govern-
ment, so mucli as this. A cloud of gloom hangs over
the future. May God save the country!"
"Could you behold the depression of spirit and
sinking of heart that pervade the community, I am
sure you would feel, 'Well, in very truth, my defeat
has been the occasion of a more precious tribute and
vindication than the majority of numbers.''
"I feel as if it would be some relief to express to
you the deep grief with which my heart is penetrated.
Never was interest so intense manifested in behalf of
any public man. Your reputation as a statesman and
a patriot remains untouched, or is rendered more
brilliant, still commanding, as it long has commanded,
the admiration of the world." *
The most serious circumstance which attended the
campaign of 1844, was the fact that extensive frauds
were charged, and in some instances demonstrated,
to have taken place, for the purpose of defeating Mr.
Clay. It is unnecessary at this late period to specify
the details connected with this subject; but they were
sufficient at the time to convince a large proportion
of the public that Mr. Clay had in fact received a
majority of the legal votes which had been polled
throughout the nation : and that he had been made
C* '
a victim of the implacable hate of his poliuoal and
personal enemies, who were determined at all hazards
to forbid and prevent his attainment of the Presi-
dency.
* The preceding extracts are taken from Colton's Life of Henry
Clay, vol. ii. p. 446.
OF HENRY CLAY. 19/)
"He who ascends the mountain-top shall find
Its loftiest peaks most wrapt in clouds and snow;
He who surpasses or subdues mankind,
Must look down on the hate of those below,
Though far above the sun of glory glow,
And far beneath the earth and ocean spread:
Round him are icy rocks, and loudly blow
Contending tempests on his naked head,
And thus reward the toils which to those summits led."
After the termination of this struggle, and the elec-
tion of Mr. Polk, Mr. Clay received many substantial
testimonials of the undiminished regard and sympa-
thy of his friends. In December, 1844, a public
meeting was held in Richmond, Virginia, which
adopted measures for the erection of a statue to his
honor, which was to be accomplished solely through
the agency of the ladies of Virginia. The widow of
Governor Barbour accepted the presidency of the
association. Addresses were sent to him containing
sentiments of the profoundest regard and esteem,
from public meetings convened in New York, New
Haven, and other leading cities. But the most re-
markable demonstration of this kind was one which
was least expected by him. During the campaign,
and by various means, his estate had become involved
to the amount of fifty thousand dollars. He had
mortgaged his lands at Ashland for the payment of
this sum ; and as the day of payment approached, ho
found himself utterly unable to liquidate his enor-
mous obligations. A number of his friends had as-
certained these facts, contributed the sum privately
among themselves, and satisfied the mortgage. Ilia
first knowledge of the affair was his receipt of the
106 THE LIFE AND TIMES
cancelled obligation ; he was quite overcome by so
touching a proof of the devotion of his friends, and
exclaimed : "Had ever any man such friends or ene
inies as Henry Clay !" Several months afterward he
was presented by the gold and silver artificers of the
city of New York with a silver vase, three feet in
height, beautifully chased, and appropriately in-
scribed ; and in November, 1846, a similar compli-
ment was tendered him by an association of ladies in
Tennessee.
Mr. Clay spent the two years which followed this
memorable campaign in retirement at Ashland. The
winter months he usually passed at New Orleans, the
climate of which was propitious to his health. Du
ring this period of retirement, he watched with the
solicitude of a true patriot the progress of public
affairs; and regarded with intense concern the tri-
umphs and vicissitudes of the American arms then
invading Mexico. Mr. Clay's son Henry had aban-
doned the practice of law, and had taken a commis-
sion under General Taylor. At length the news
reached the aged patriot that his son had fallen with
honor, on the blood-stained field of Buena Vista.
Soon afterward he received from the commander him-
self the following letter, officially communicating to
him the sad intelligence. It was dated March 1st,
1847:
"Mv DEAR SIR: You will no doubt have received,
before this can reach you, the deeply distressing in-
telligence of the death of your son in the battle of
Buena Vista. It is with no wish of intruding upon
the sauctuary of parental sorrow, and with no hope
OF HENRY CLAY. 197
of administering any consolation to your wounded
heart, that I have taken the liberty of addressing you
these few lines; but I have felt it a duty which I owe
to the memory of the distinguished dead, to pay a
willing tribute to his many excellent qualities, and
while my feelings are still fresh, to express the deso-
lation which his untimely loss, and that of other kin-
dred spirits, have occasioned.
"I had but a casual acquaintance with your son,
until he became for a time a member of my military
family ; and I can truly say that no one ever won,
more rapidly upon my regard, or established a more
lasting claim to my respect and esteem. Manly and
honorable in every impulse, with no feeling but for
the honor of the service and of the country, he gave
every assurance that in the hour of need I could lean
with confidence upon his support. Nor was I disap-
pointed. Under the guidance of himself and the
lamented M'Kee, gallantly did the sons of Kentucky,
in the thickest of the strife, uphold the honor of the
State and of the country.
"A grateful people will do justice to the memory
of those who fell on that eventful day. But I may
be permitted to express the bereavement which I feel
in the loss of valued friends. To your son I felt
bound by the strongest ties of private regard; and
when I miss his familiar face, and those of M'Kee
and Hardin, I can say with truth that I feel no exul-
tation in our success.
"With the expression of my deepest and most
heartfelt sympathies for your irreparable loss, I re-
main your friend."
17*
'198 THE LIFE AND TIMES
One of the grounds on which Mr. Clay had opposed
the annexation of Texas, was, that an expensive and
profitless war with Mexico would he the inevitable
consequence. His prophecy had been fulfilled ; arid
although victory attended the American arms in every
stage of their progress, we may readily excuse the
earnestness with which Mr. Clay condemned a policy
which, being of so little real benefit to his country,
had resulted in so serious a calamity to himself.
During the summer of 1847 Mr. Clay, after solemn
deliberation, united himself with the Protestant Epis-
copal Church. This event, so full of interest under
the peculiar circumstances of the case, and consider-
ing the chief actor in it, can be best described in the
language of one whose privilege it was to be present
on the occasion :
" Mr. Clay was baptized in the little parlor at Ash-
land, on Tuesday, the 22d instant, together with one
of his daughters-in-law (the other being already a
member of the church) and her four children, by the
Rev. Edward F. Berkley, rector of Christ Church,
Lexington. The baptism was administered privately,
for the reason that the congregation of Christ Church
are replacing their old church with a new edifice,
now in rapid progress of erection, and are not suita-
bly situated for the most solemn and decent adminis-
tration of this rite in public.
"When the minister entered the room on this
deeply solemn and interesting occasion, the small
assembly, consisting of the immediate family, a few
family connections, and the clergyman's wife, rose
OF HENRY CLAY. 199
up. In the middle of the room stood a large centre-
table, on which was placed, filled with water, the
magnificent cut-glass vase presented to Mr. Clay by
some gentlemen of Pittsburg. On one side of the
room hung the large picture of the family of Wash-
ington, himself an Episcopalian by birth, by educa-
tion, and a devout communicant of the Church; and
immediately opposite, on a side-table, stood the bust
of the lamented Harrison, with a chaplet of withered
flowers hung upon his head, who was to have been
confirmed in the Church the Sabbath after he died
fit witnesses of such a scene. Around the room were
suspended a number of family pictures, and among
them the portrait of a beloved daughter, who died
some years ago, in the triumphs of that faith which
her noble father was now about to embrace ; and the
picture of the late lost son, who fell at the battle of
Buena Vista. Could these silent lookers-on at the
scene about transpiring have spoken from the marble
and the canvas, they would heartily have approved
the act which dedicated the great man to God."
During the summer which ensued Mr. Clay visited
the North, spending some weeks at Cape May for the
purpose of invigorating his health. He was attended,
at every stage of his progress, by the enthusiastic
plaudits of his countrymen, which could not fail to
be highly gratifying to him. After his return to Ash-
.and, he delivered a speech at Lexington, on the 13th
of November, in reference to the Mexican War, which
was regarded as one of his ablest efforts. An im-
mense assemblage of ladies and gentlemen were pre-
200 THE LIFE AND TIMES
sent to hear it. Burin*? its progress he re-stated his
mature opinions in reference to the institution of
plavery, in the following language:
"It may be argued that, in admitting the injustice
*>f slavery, I admit the necessity of an instantaneous
reparation of that injustice. Unfortunately, how-
ever, it is not always safe, practicable, or possible, in
the great movements of States and public aftairs of
nations, to remedy or repair the infliction of previous
injustice. In the inception of it, we may oppose and
denounce it, by our most strenuous exertions, but,
after its consummation, there is often no other alter-
native left us but to deplore its perpetration, and to
acquiesce, as the only alternative, in its existence, as
a less evil than the frightful consequences which
might ensue from the vain endeavor to repair it.
Slavery is one of those unfortunate instances. The
evil of it was inflicted upon us by the parent-country
of Great Britain, against all the entreaties and re-
monstrances of the colonies. And here it is among
and amid us, and we must dispose of il as be*st we
can under all the circumstances which sunound us.
It continued, by the importation of slaves from
Africa, in spite of colonial resistance, for a period of
more than a century and a half, and it may require
an equal or longer lapse of time before our country
is entirely rid of the evil. And, in the meantime,
moderation, prudence, and discretion, among our-
selves, and the blessings of Providence, may be all
necessary to accomplish our ultimate deliverance from
it. Examples of similar infliction of irreparable na-
OF HENRY CLAY. 201
tional evil and injustice might be multiplied to an
indefinite extent. The case of the- annexation of
Texas to the United States is a recent and an obvious
one, which, if it were wrong, can not now be re-
paired. Texas is now an integral part of our Union,
with its own voluntary consent. Many of us opposed
the annexation with honest zeal and most earnest
exertions. But who would now think of perpetrating
the folly of easting Texas out of the confederacy, and
throwing her back upon her own independence, or
into the arms of Mexico? Who would now seek to
divorce her from this Union ? The Creeks and the
Cherokee Indians were, by the most exceptionable
means, driven from their country, and transported
beyond the Mississippi river. Their lands have been
fairly purchased and occupied by inhabitants of
Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Who
would now conceive the flagrant injustice of expel-
ling those inhabitants and restoring the Indian coun-
try to the Cherokees and the Creeks, under color of
repairing the original injustice?"
During the winter of 1847-48, Mr. Clay was in-
duced to visit Washington, at the calls of professional
business ; and it was on this occasion that he made
his memorable speech before the American Coloniza-
tion Society. He also argued an important lawsuit ill
the Supreme Court of the United States, that of
William Houston vs. the Bank of New Orleans. In
both of these efforts he displayed his usual and pris-
tine ability, and though seven t}--one years of *^e, ex-
hibited no diminution of his intellectual vigor 8ib-
: 202 THE LIFE AND TIMES
sequently he extended his journey to Baltimore,
Philadelphia, and New York, hy special request and
invitation ; and was everywhere greeted as a national
favorite and benefactor. In all these cities immense
multitudes crowded the streets to behold and applaud
the veteran statesman ; while public banquets and
receptions without number were tendered to him.
OF HENRY CLAY. 203
CHAPTER XIY.
Tf ' POLITICAL CAMPAIGN' OF 1848 WISHES OF MR. CLAY'S FRIENDS
NOMINATION OF GENERAL TAYLOR FOR THE PRESIDENCY HIS ELEC-
TION MR. CLAY RE-ELECTED TO THE U. S. SENATE HIS LETTER IN
REFERENCE TO THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY IN KENTUCKY ITS RE-
SULTS COMPROMISE MEASURES OF 1850 THEIR IMPORT MR.
CLAY'S EFFORTS IN FAVOR OF THEM OPPOSITION OF BOTH NORTH-
ERN AND SOUTHERN SENATORS THEIR ULTIMATE DEFEAT.
IN June, 1848, the Whig National Convention eon-
v ned in Philadelphia for the purpose of nominating
a candidate for the Presidency. So strong was the
h Id which Mr. Clay had secured upon the admiration
o/ the nation, and on the partiality of the party to
w lich he belonged, that, notwithstanding the repeated
d-jfeats which he had experienced in the preceding
Presidential campaigns, there was a large proportion
of the party in favor of his renomination ; who were
disposed to enter for the fourth time upon the struggle
to elevate him to that exalted post of which he was
more worthy, and for the performance of the duties
of which he was more competent, than any other
man then living in the nation. His only rival on this
occasion was General Zachary Taylor, the hero of the
Mexican "War; who had gained great popularity by
his several victories in that contest, which had been
achieved under the most disadvantageous circum-
stances.
204 THE LIFE AND TIMES
It soon became apparent that General Taylor was
regarded l>v the Convention as the more available
r* /
candidate of the two; and when the Kentucky dele-
gation gave a majority of their votes in favor of the
military hero, the friends of Mr. Clay at once aban-
doned all hope of his nomination. At the first ballot
the vote stood, for Mr. Clay, ninety-seven, for Gene-
ral Taylor, a hundred and eleven, for General Scott,
forty-three. Succeeding ballots followed with vary-
ing numbers, until upon the fourth, General Taylor
received a hundred and seventy-one, which gave him
the nomination. The conqueror of Buena Vista became
President of the United States, and Millard Fillmore,
Vice-President. When the Legislature of Kentucky
convened in December, 1848, Mr. Clay was again
chosen unanimously to represent that Commonwealth
in the Senate of the United States, to serve six years
from the 4th of March, 1849. On that day the new-
President entered upon his term of office, and lived
to perform its functions only during a few months.
It must have been with singular and perhaps
mingled emotions, that Mr. Clay resumed his seat in
that body, of which he had taken his solemn farewell
seven years before; then confidently expecting never to
return to it. Forty-three years had elapsed since the
day when, in the strength and vigor of his majestic
manhood, he had first entered it; and in all the groat
scenes of intellectual conflict and glory which had
transpired there during the interval, he had taken a
prominent and distinguished part. lie returned to the
arena of his triumphs with powers still undimmcd by
the lapse of years ; and gave proofs during the pro-
OF HENRY CLAY. 205
gress of this, his last term of public service, that his
was still the same gigantic mind and consummate
powers which had, during so many years, elicited the
applause and promoted the interests of his coun-
trymen.
In 1849 the citizens of Kentucky held a Conven-
tion for the purpose of revising their State Constitu-
tion. One of the most important subjects which
engaged their attention was that of domestic slavery.
There was a large party in the State who were in
favor of adopting some plan for the gradual removal
of an institution which they regarded either as unjust
and repugnant to the natural rights of man, or as
injurious to the interests of the white population.
Mr. Clay was one of those who was in favor of the
gradual abolition of slavery, in view of both conside-
rations. He thought that the time had arrived when,
by the proposed amendment of the State Constitution,
an opportunity was given for that purpose, to intro-
duce provisions in it which would prevent slavery
from being perpetual in the State, and which would
result in its gradual, safe, and effectual suppression.
He therefore determined to embrace the opportunity
to aid in attaining that great and beneficent result;
and he set forth his views in a letter which he acl-
drt-ssed to a relative and friend, Mr. Pindell of Lex-
ington, with the design that it should be made public,
and thus influence the deliberations of the Constitu-
tional Convention then in session. This document
is one of the most remarkable which Mr. Clay ever
produced, displaying the profoundest reflection, tho
most ardent patriotism, the utmost sagacity as a
18
THE LIFE AND TIMES
statesman, and, we may add, the most commendable
chanty and benevolence. The following extracts
from this celebrated production cannot fail to be ac-
ceptable to the admirer of the genius and patriotism
of Mr. Clay.
" When, on the occasion of the formation of our
present Constitution of Kentucky, in 1799, the ques-
tion of the gradual emancipation of slavery in the
State was agitated, its friends had to encounter a
great obstacle in the fact, that there then existed no
established colony to which they could be trans
ported. Now, by the successful establishment of
flourishing colonies on the western coast of Africa,
that difficulty has been obviated. And I confess that,
without indulging in any undue feelings of supersti-
tion, it does seem to me that it may have been among
the dispensations of Providence to permit the wrongs
under which Africa has suffered, to be inflicted that.
her children might be returned to their original home
civilized and imbued with the benign spirit of Chris-
tianity, and prepared ultimately to redeem that, great
continent from barbarism and idolatry.
"Without undertaking to judge for any other
State, it was, in my opinion, in 1799, that Kentucky
was in a condition to admit of the gradual emanci-
pation of her slaves ; and how deeply do I lament
that a system, with that object, had not been then
established ! If it had been, the State would now
be nearly rid of all slaves. My opinion has never
changed, and I have frequently publicly expressed it.
I should be most happy if what was impracticable at
that epoch could iiow be accomplished
OF HENRY CLAY. 207
"After full and deliberate consideration of the
subject, it appears to me three principles should regu-
late the establishment of a system of gradual emanci-
pation. The first is, that it should be slow in its
operation, cautious, and gradual, so as to occasion no
convulsion, nor any rash or sudden disturbance in the
existing habits of society. Second, that, as an indis-
pensable condition, the emancipated slaves should be
removed from the State to some colony. And thirdly,
that the expenses of their transportation to such
colony, including an outfit for six months after their
arrival at it, should be defrayed b}- a fund to be raised
from the labor of each freed slave.
"Nothing could be more unwise than the imme-
diate liberation of all the slaves in the State, compre-
hending both sexes and all ages, from that of tender
infancy to extreme old age. It would lead to the
most frightful and fatal consequences. Any great
change in the condition of society should be marked
by extreme care and circumspection. The introduc-
tion of slaves into the colonies was an operation of
many years' duration ; and the work of their removal
from the United States can only be effected after the
lapse of a great length of time.
"I think that a period should be fixed when all
born after it should be free at a specified age, all born
before it remaining slaves for life. That period I
would suggest should be 1855, or even 1860 ; for on
this and other arrangements of the system, if adopted,
I incline to a liberal margin, so as to obviate as many
objections, and to unite as many opinions as possi-
ble. "Whether the commencement of the operation
208 THE LIFE AND TIMES
of the system be a little earlier or later, is not so im-
portant as that a day should be permanently fixed,
from which we could look forward, with coniidence,
to the final termination of slavery within the limits
of the Commonwealth.
" Whatever may be the day fixed, whether 1855 or
1860, or any other day, all born after it, I suggest,
should be free at the age of twenty-five, but be liable
afterward to be hired out, under the authority of the
State, for a term not exceeding three years, in order
to raise a sum sufficient to pay the expenses of their
transportation to the colony, and to provide them an
outfit for six months after their arrival there.
"If the descendants of those who were themselves
to be free, at the age of twenty-five, were also to be
considered as slaves until they attained the same age,
and this rule were continued indefinitely as to time,
it is manifest that slavery would be perpetuated in-
stead of being terminated. To guard against this
consequence, provisions might be made that the off-
spring of those who were to be free at twenty-five,
should be free from their births, but upon the condi-
tion that they should be apprenticed until they were
twenty-one, and be also afterward liable to be hired
out, a period not exceeding thee years, for the pur-
pose of raising funds to meet the expenses to tho
colony and their subsistence fo- the first six months.
"The Pennsylvania system ol emancipation fixed
the period of twenty-eight for the liberation of the
slaves, and provided, or her courts have since inter-
preted the system to mean, that the issue of all who
were to be free at the limited age, were from their
OF HENRY CLAY. 20J
births free. The Pennsylvania system made no pro-
vision for colonization.
" Until the commencement of the system which I
am endeavoring to sketch, I think all the legal righ ;s
of the proprietors of slaves, in their fullest extent,
ought to remain unimpaired and unrestricted. Coi-
sequently, they would have the right to sell, device,
or remove them from the State, and, in the latter
case, without their offspring being entitled to the
benefit of emancipation, for which the system pro-
vides.
'* The colonization of the free blacks, as they suc-
cessively arrived, from year to year, at the age enti-
tling them to freedom, I consider a condition abso-
lutely indispensable. Without it I should be utterly
opposed to any scheme of emancipation. One hun-
dred and ninety odd thousand blacks, composing
about one-fourth of the entire population of the State,
with their descendants, could never live in peace,
harmony, and equality, with the residue of the popu-
lation. The color, passions, and prejudices would
forever prevent the two races from living together in
in a state of cordial union. Social, moral, and politi-
cal degradation would be the inevitable lot of the
colored race. Even in the free States (I use the
terms free and slave States not in any sense deroga-
tory from one class, or implying any superiority in
the other, but for the sake of brevity) that is their
present condition. In some of those free States the
penal legislation against the people of color is quite
as severe, if not harsher, than it is in some of the
slave States. And nowhere in the United States are
18* o
210 THE LIFE AND TIMES
amalgamation and equality between the two races
possible it is better that there should be a separa-
tion, and that the African descendants should be re-
turned to the native land of their fathers.
"It would have been seen that the plan I have
suggested proposes the annual transportation of all
born after a specified day, upon their arrival at the
prescribed age, to the colony which may be selected
for their destination, and that this process of trans-
portation is to be continued until the separation of
the two races is completed. If the emancipated
slaves were to remain in Kentucky until they attained
the age of twenty-eight, it would be about thirty-four
years before the first annual transportation begins, if
the system commence in 1855, and about thirty-nine
years, if its operation begin in 18GO.
"What the number thus to be annually transported
would be. cannot be precisely ascertained. I observe
it stated by the auditor, that the increase of slaves in
Kentucky last year was between three and four thou-
sand. But as that statement was made upon a com-
parison of the aggregate number of all the slaves in
the State, without regard to births, it does not, I pre-
sume, exhibit truly the natural increase, which was
probably larger. The aggregate was effected by the
introduction, and still more by the exportation, of
slaves. I suppose there would not be less, probably
more, than fiv^ thousand to be transported the first
year of the operation of the system ; but after it was
in progress some years, there would be a constant
diminution of the number.
Would it be practicable annually to transport five
OF HENRY CLAY. 211
thousand persons from Kentucky? There cannot, bo
a doubt of it or even a much larger number. We
receive from Europe annually emigrants to an amount
exceeding two hundred and fifty thousand, at a cost
for the passage ot about ten dollars per head, and they
embark at European ports more distant from the
United States than the western coast of Africa. It
is true that the commercial marine employed between
Europe and the United States affords facilities in the
transportation of emigrants at that low rate, which
that engaged in the commerce between Liberia and
this country does not now supply. But that com-
merce is increasing, and by the time the proposed
system, if adopted, would go into operation, it will
have greatly augmented. If there were a certainty
of the annual transportation of not less than five
thousand persons to Africa, it would create a demand
for transports, and the spirit of competition would, I
have no doubt, greatly diminish the present cost of
the passage. That cost has been stated, including
the passage and six months' outfit after the arrival
of the emigrant in Africa. Whatever may be the
cost, and whatever the number to be transported, the
fund to be raised by the hire of the liberated slaves,
for a period not exceeding three years,., will be amply
sufficient. The annual hire on the average may be
estimated at fifty dollars, or one hundred and fifty
dollars for the whole term.
"Colonization will be attended with the painful
effect of the separation of the colonists from their
parents, and in some instances from their children ;
but from the latter it will be only temporary, as they
212 THE LIFE AND TIMES
will follow and be again reunited. Their sepnrntion
from their parents will not be until after they have
attained a mature age, nor greater than voluntarily
takes place with emigrants from Europe, who k-ave
their parents behind. It will be far less distressing
than what frequently occurs in the state of slavery,
and will be attended with the animating encourage-
o o
ment that the colonists are transferred from a land
of bondage and degradation, for them, to a land of
liberty and equality.
"And the expense of transporting the liberated
slave to the colony, and of maintaining him there for
six months, I think ought to be provided for by a
fund derived from his labor in the manner already
indicated. He is the party most benefited by eman-
cipation. It would not be right to subject the non-
slaveholder to any part of that expense ; and the
slaveholder will have made sufficient sacrifices, with-
out being exclusively burdened with taxes to raise
that fund. The emancipated slaves could be hired
out for the time proposed, by the sheriff or other pub-
lic agent in each county, who should be subject to
strict accountability. And it would be requisite that
there should be kept a register of all the births of all
children of color, after the day fixed for the com-
mencement of the system, enforced by appropriate
sanctions. It would be a very desirable regulation of
law to have births, deaths, and marriages, of the whole
population of the State, registered and preserved, as
is done in 'most well-governed States.
" Among other considerations which unite in re-
commending to the State of Kentucky a system for
OF HENRY CLAY. 213
the gradual abolition of slavery, is that arising out
of her exposed condition affording great facilities to
the escape of her slaves into the free States and into
Canada. She does not enjoy the security which some
of the slave States have, by being covered in depth
by two or three slave States intervening between
them and free States. She has a greater length of
border on free States than any other slave State in
the Union. That border is the Ohio River, extend-
ing from the mouth of Big Sandy to the mouth of the
Ohio, a distance of near six hundred miles, separating
her from the already powerful and growing States of
Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. Vast numbers of slaves
have fled from most of the counties in Kentucky,
from the mouth of Big Sandy to the mouth of Miami,
and the evil has increased and is increasing. At-
tempts to recover the fugitives lead to most painful
and irritating collisions. Hitherto countenance and
assistance to the fugitives have been chiefly afforded
by persons in the State of Ohio; but it is to be ap-
prehended, from the progressive opposition to slavery,
that, in process of time, similar facilities to the escape
of slaves would be found in the States of Indiana and
Illinois. By means of railroads, Canada can be
reached from Cincinnati in a little more than twenty-
four hours.
"In the event of a civil war breaking out, or in the
more dreadful event of a dissolution of the Union in
consequence of the existence of slavery, Kentucky
would become the theatre and bear the brunt of the
war. She would doubtless defend herself with her
known valor and gallantry ; but the superiority of
214 THE LIFE AND TIMES
the numbers by which she would be opposed would
lay waste and devastate her fair fields. Her sister
slave States would fly to her succor; but even if
they should be successful in the unequal conflict, she
never could obtain any indemnity for the inevitable
ravages of the war.
"It may be urged that we ought not, by the gra-
dual abolition of slavery, to separate ourselves from
the other slave States, but continue to share with
them in all their future fortunes. The power of each
slave State, within its limits, over the institution of
slavery, is absolute, supreme, atid exclusive exclu-
sive of that of Congress or that of any other State.
The government of each slave State is bound by the
highest and most solemn obligation to dispose of the
question of slavery, so as best to promote the peace,
happiness, and prosperity of the people of the State.
Kentucky being essentially a farming State, slave
labor is less profitable. If, in most of the other slave
States, they find that labor more profitable, in the
culture of the staples of cotton and sugar, they may
perceive a reason in that feeling for continuing slavery
which cannot be expected should control the judg-
ment of Kentucky, as to what may be fitting and
proper for her interests. If she should abolish sla-
very, it would be her duty, and I trust that she would
be as ready, as she now is, to defend the slave States
in the enjoyment of all their lawful and constitutional
rights. Her power, political and physical, would be
greatly increased ; for one hundred and ninety odd
thousand slaves and their descendants would be gra-
dually superseded by an equal number of white in-
OF HENRY CLAY. 215
habitants, who would be estimated per capita, and
not by the Federal rule of three-fifths prescribed for
the colored race in the Constitution of the United
States.
" I have thus, without reserve, freely expressed my
opinion and presented my views. The interesting
subject of which I have treated would have admitted
of much enlargement, but I have desired to consult
brevity. The plan which I have proposed will
hardly be accused of being too early in its commence-
ment, or too rapid in its operation. It will be more
likely to meet with contrary reproaches. If adopted,
it is to begin thirty -four or thirty-nine years from the
time of its adoption, as the one period or the other
shall be selected for its commencement. How long
a time it will take to remove all the colored race from
the State, by the annual transportation of each year's
natural increase, cannot be exactly ascertained. After
the system had been in operation some years, I think
it probable, from the manifest blessings that would
flow from it, from the diminished value of slave labor,
and from the humanity and benevolence of private
individuals prompting a liberation of their slaves and
their transportation, a general disposition would exist
to accelerate and complete the work of colonization."
The prudent and mature opinions thus expressed
by Mr. Clay in reference to the subject of slavery,
proved to be too radical and precipitate for the ma-
jority of the delegates in the Convention ; and they
were not adopted and realized. The utterance of
them, however, on his part, demonstrated the interest
which he took in the subject, and his desire to ad-
216 THE LIFE AND TIMES
vnnce the interests of his constituents. It was a
worthy prelude to his last, and one of his greatest
efforts in the United States Senate, to promote the
glorious cause of rational liberty, by his memorable
Compromise Measures of 1850.
In January of that year Mr. Clay rose in the
Senate, and introduced his plan for the adjustment of
the differences which existed, and which then already
agitated the whole nation, in reference to the organi-
zation of the Territories, and the future prohibition
of slavery in them. His immediate purpose was to
exclude slavery from all the Territories acquired by
the United States by the treaty with Mexico; and also
to exclude it from New Mexico, should the jurisdic-
tion of Texas over that Territory ever afterward
tend to its introduction there. In introducing his
resolutions Mr. Clay accompanied them by an able
speech, the tenor and spirit of which may be inferred
from the ensuing extracts. The preamble and first
resolution were as follows:
"It being desirable for the peace, concord, and
harmony of the union of these States, to settle and
adjust amicably all existing questions of controversy
between them arising out of Xhe institution of sla-
very, upon a fair, equitable, and just basis : Therefore,
"1st. Resolved, That California, with suitable
boundaries, ought, upon her application, to be ad-
mitted as one of the States of this Union, without the
imposition by Congress of any restriction in any re-
spect to the exclusion or introduction of slavery
within those boundaries.
"Mr. President, it must be acknowledged that
OF II K S U T CLAY. 217
e lias been some irregularity in the movements
which have terminated in the adoption of a Constitu-
tion by California, and in the expression of her wish,
not y-it formally communicated to Congress, it is true,
but which may be anticipated in a few days, to be ad-
mitted into the Union as a State. There has been some
irregularity in the manner in which they have framed
that Constitution. It was not preceded by any act
of Congress authorizing the Convention, and desig-
nating the boundaries of the proposed State, accord-
ing to all the early practice of this Government, ac-
cording to all the cases of the admission of new States
into this Union, which occurred, I think, prior to that
of Michigan. Michigan, if I am not mistaken, was
the first State which, unbidden, unauthorized by any
previous act of Congress, undertook to form for her-
self a Constitution, and to knock at the door of Con-
gress, for admission into the Union. I recollect that
at the time when .Michigan thus presented herself, I
was opposed, in consequence of that deviation from
the early practice of the Government, to the admis-
sion. The majority determined otherwise ; and it
must be in candor admitted by all men, that Cali-
fornia has much more reason to do what she has
done, unsanctioued and unauthorized by a previous
act of Congress, than Michigan had to do what she did.
"Sir, notwithstanding the irregularity of the ad-
mission of Michigan into the Union, it has been a
happy event. She forms now one of the bright stars
of this glorious confederacy. She has sent here to
mingle in our councils Senators and Representatives
. men eminently distinguished, with whom we may
19
218 THE LIFE AND TIMES
all associate with pride, with pleasure, and with sat-
isfaction. And I trust that if California, irregular as
ner previous action may have been in the adoption
of a Constitution, but more justifiable than was the
action of Michigan if she also shall be admitted, as
is proposed by this first resolution, with suitable
limits, that she, too, will make her contribution of
wisdom, of patriotism, and of good feeling to this
body, in order to conduct the affairs of this great and
boundless empire.
" The resolution proposes her admission when she
applies for it. There is no intention on my part to
anticipate such an application, but I thought it right
to present this resolution as a part of the general
plan which I propose for the adjustment of these un-
happy difficulties.
"The second resolution, sir, is as follows:
" 2d. Resolved, That as slavery does not exist by
law, and is not likely to be introduced into any of
the territory acquired by the United States from the
Republic of Mexico, it is inexpedient for Congress to
provide by law either for its introduction into or ex-
clusion from any part of the said territory; and that
appropriate territorial governments ought to be esta-
blished by Congress in all of the said territory, not
assigned as the boundaries of the proposed State of
California, without the adoption of any restriction or
condition on the subject of slavery.
"This resolution, sir, proposes, in the first instance,
a declaration of two truths, one of law and the other
of fact. The truth of law which it declares is, that
there does not exist at this time, slavery within any
01? HENRY CLAY. 219
portion of the territory acquired by the United States
from Mexico. When I sa}*, sir, it is a truth, I speak
my own solemn and deliberate conviction. I am
aware that some gentlemen have held a different
doctrine; but I persuade myself that they themselves,
when they come to review the whole ground, will see
sufficient reasons for a change, or at least a modifica-
tion of their opinions; but that, at all events, if they
adhere to that doctrine, they will be found to compose
a very small minority of the whole mass of the peo-
ple of the United States.
"The next truth which the resolution asserts is.
that slavery is not likely to be introduced into any
portion of that territory. That is a matter of fact ;
and all the evidence upon which the fact rests, is per-
haps as accessible to other Senators as it is to me;
but I must say that, from all I have heard or read,
from the testimony of all the witnesses I have seen
and conversed with, from all that has transpired and
is transpiring, I do believe that not within one foot
of the territory acquired by us from Mexico will sla-
very ever be planted, and I believe it could not be
done even by the force and power of public authority.
" Sir, facts are daily occurring to justify me in this
opinion. Sir, what has occurred ? And upon that
subject, and indeed upon this whole subject, I invite
Senators from the free States especially to consider
what has occurred even since the last session even
since the commencement of this session since they
left their respective constituencies, without an oppor-
tunity of consulting with them upon that great and
momentous fact the fact that California herself, of
-*20 THE LIFE AND TIMES
which it was asserted and predicted that she never
would establish slaver}' within her limits when she
came to be admitted as a State; that California her-
self, embracing, of all other portions of the country
acquired by us from Mexico, that country into which
it would have been most likely that slavery should
have been introduced; that California herself has met
in convention, and by a unanimous vote, embracing
in that body slaveholders from the State of Missis-
sippi, as well as from other parts, who concurred in
the resolution that California by a unanimous vote,
has declared against the introduction of slavery within
her limits. I think, then, that taking this leading
fact in connection with all the evidence we have from
other sources on the subject, I am warranted in the
conclusion which constitutes the second truth which
I have stated in this resolution, that slavery is ' not
likely to be introduced into any of the territory ac-
quired by us from Mexico.'
"Sir, the latter part of the resolution asserts that
it is the duty of Congress to establish appropriate
territorial governments within all the country acquired
from Mexico, exclusive of California, not embracing
in the acts by which these governments shall be con-
stituted, either a prohibition or an admission of slavery.
"Sir, much as I am disposed to defer to high au-
thority, anxious as I really am to find myself in a
position that would enable me to co-operate heartily
with the other departments of the Government in
conducting the affairs of this great people, I must say
that I cannot without a dereliction of duty consent to
an abandonment of them without government, leav-
OF HENRY CLAY. 221
ing them to all those scenes of disorder, confusion,
and anarchy, which, I apprehend, in respect of some
of them, there is too much reason to anticipate will
arise. Itjs the duty, the solemn I was going to add
the most sacred duty of Congress to legislate for
their government, if they can, and, at all events, to
legislate for them, and to give them the benefit of
law, and order, and security.
"The next resolutions are the third and fourth,
which, having an immediate connection with each
other, should be read and considered together. They
are as follows:
" 3d. Resolved, That the western boundary of the
State of Texas ought to be fixed on the Rio del Norte,
commencing one marine league from its mouth, and
running up that river to the southern line of New
Mexico ; thence with that line eastwardly, and so
continuing in the same direction to the line established
between the United States and Spain, excluding any
portion of Xew Mexico, whether lying on the east or
west of that river.
" 4th. Resolved, That it be proposed to the State
of Texas, that the United States will provide for the
payment of all that portion of the legitimate and bona
fide public debt of that State, contracted prior to its
annexation to the United States, and for which the
duties on foreign imports were pledged by the said
State to its creditors, not exceeding the sum of
$- , in consideration of the said dues so pledged
having been no longer applicable to that object after
the said annexation, but having thenceforward become
payable to the United States; and upon the condition.
19*
222 THE LIFE AND TIMES
also, that the said State of Texas shall, by some so-
lemn and authentic act of her Legislature, or of a
Convention, relinquish to the United States any claim
which it has to any part of New Mexico.
"Mr. President, I do not mean now, I do not know
that I shall at any time (it is a very complex subject,
and one not free from difficulty) to go into the ques-
tion of what are the true limits of Texas. My own
opinion is, I must say, without intending by the re-
mark to go into any argument, that Texas has not a
good title to any portion of what is called New Mex-
ico. And yet, sir, I am free to admit that, looking at
the grounds which her representatives assumed, first
in the war with Santa Anna in 1836, then at what trans-
pired between Mr. Trist and the Mexican negotiators
when the treaty of peace was negotiated, and then the
fact that the United States have acquired all the coun-
try which Texas claimed as constituting a portion of
her territory ; looking at all these facts, but without
attaching to them, either together or separately, the
same degree of force which gentlemen who think that
Texas has a right to New Mexico do, I must say that
there is plausibility, to say the least of it, in the pre-
tensions that she sets up to New Mexico. I do not
think that they constitute or demonstrate the existence
of a good title, but a plausible one. Well, then, sir,
what do I propose? Without entering into any in-
quiry whether the Nueces or the Rio Grande was the
true boundary of Texas, I propose, by the first of
these two resolutions, that its western limits shall be
fixed on the Rio del Norte, extending west from the
Sabiiie to the mouth of the liio del Norte, and that
OP HENRY CLAY. 223
it shall follow up the Bravo or the Rio del Xorte, to
where it strikes the southern line of New Mexico,
and then, diverging from that line, follow on in that
direction until it reaches the line as fixed hy the
United States and Spain, by their treaty of 1819; and
thua embracing a vast country, abundantly competent
to form two or three States a country which I think
the highest ambition of her greatest men ought to be
satisfied with as a State and member of this Union.
" The fifth resolution, sir, and the sixth, like the
third and fourth, are somewhat connected together.
They are as follows :
"5th. Resolved, That it is inexpedient to abolish
slavery in the District of Columbia, whilst that insti-
tution continues to exist in the State of Maryland,
without the consent of that State, without the consent
' of the people of the District, and without just com-
pensation to the owners of slaves within the District.
"6th. But Resolved, That it is expedient to pro-
hibit within the District the slave-trade, in slaves
brought into it from States or places beyond the limits
of the District, either to be sold therein as merchan-
dise, or to be transported to other markets, without
the District of Columbia.
"The first of these resolutions, Mr. President, in
somewhat different language, asserts substantially no
other principle than that which was asserted by the
Senate of the United States twelve years ago, upon
resolutions which I then offered, and which passed
at least the particular resolution passed by a majo-
rity of four-fifths of the Senate. I allude to the reso-
lution presented by me in 1838. I shall not enlarge
224 THE LIFE AND TIMES
on that resolution ; it speaks for itself; it declares
that the institution of slavery should not be abolished
in the District of Columbia without the concurrence
of three conditions; first, the assent of Maryland ;
second, the assent of the people within the District :
and third, compensation to the owners of the slaves
within the District for their property.
"The next resolution proposed deserves a passing
remark. It is that the slave-trade within the District
ought to be abolished, prohibited. I do not mean by
that the alienation and transfer of slaves from the in-
habitants within this District the sale by one neigh-
bor to another of a slave which the one owns and the
other wants, that a husband may perhaps be put
along with his wife, or a wife with her husband. I
do not mean to touch at all the question of the right
of property in slaves among persons living within the
District ; but the slave-trade to which I refer was, I
think, pronounced an abomination more than forty
years ago, by one of the most gifted and distinguished
sons of Virginia, the late Mr. Randolph. And who
is there who is not shocked at its enormity? Sir, it
is a great mistake at the North, if they suppose that
gentlemen living in the slave States look upon one
who is a regular trader in slaves with any particular
favor or kindness. They are often sometimes un-
justly, perhaps excluded from social intercourse. I
have known some memorable instances of this sort.
But, then, what is this trade? It is a good deal
limited since the retrocession of that portion of the
District formerly belonging to Virginia. There are
Alexandria, Richmond, Petersburg, and Norfolk,
OF HENRY CLAY. 225
south of the Potomac, and Baltimore, Annapolis,
and perhaps other ports, north of the Potomac. Let
the slave-dealer, who chooses to collect his slaves in
Virginia and Maryland, go to these places; let him
not come here and establish his jails, and put on his
chains, and sometimes shock the sensibilities of our
nature by a long train of slaves passing through that
avenue leading from this Capitol to the house of the
Chief Magistrate of one of the most glorious repub-
lics that ever existed. Why should he not do it ?
Sir, I am sure I speak the sentiments of every South-
ern man, and every man coming from the slave State?,
when I say let it terminate, and that it is an abomi-
nation ; and there is no occasion for it; it ought no
longer to be tolerated.
"The seventh resolution relates to a subject em-
braced in a bill now under consideration by the Sen-
ate. It is as follows :
"7th. Resolved, That more effectual provision
ought to be made by law, according to the require-
ment of the Constitution, for the restitution and de-
livery of persons bound to service or labor in any
State who may escape into any other State or Terri-
tory in the Union.
"Sir, that is so evident, and has been so clearly
shown by the debate which has already taken place
on the subject, that I have not now occasion to add
another word.
" The last resolution of the series of eight is as
follows:
"And 8th. Resolved, That Congress has no power
to prohibit or obstruct the trade in slaves between the
P
226 THE LIFE AND TIMES
slaveholding States; but that the admission or exclu-
Bion of slaves brought from one into another of them,
depends exclusively upon their own particular laws.
"It is obvious that no legislation is necessary or
intended to follow that resolution. It merely asserts
a truth, established by the highest authority of law in
this country ; and, in conformity with that decision, I
trust there will be one universal acquiescence.
"I should not have thought it necessary to embrace
in that resolution the declaration which is embraced
in it, but that I thought it might be useful in treating
of the whole subject, and in accordance wiih the
practice of our British and American ancestors, occa-
sionally to resort to great fundamental principles,
and bring them freshly and manifestly before our
eyes, from time to time, to avoid their being violated
upon any occasion.
"Mr. President, you have before you the whole
Beries of resolutions, the whole scheme of arrange-
ment and accommodation of these distracting ques-
tions, which I have to offer, after having bestowed on
these subjects the most anxious, intensely anxious,
consideration ever since I have been in this body.
How far it may prove acceptable to both or either of
the parties on these great questions, it is not for me
to say. I think it ought to be acceptable to both.
There is no sacrifice of any principle proposed in any
of them, by either part}*. The plan is founded upon
mutual forbearance, originating in a spirit of concili-
ation and concession ; not of principles, but of mat-
ters of feeling. At the North, sir, I know that from
feeling, by many at least cherished as beiug dictated
OF HENRY CLAY. 227
by considerations of humanity and philanthropy,
there exists a sentiment adverse to the institution of
slavery."
The Compromise Measures thus proposed and de-
fended by Mr. Clay, were discussed with great ability
and zeal by the leading members of the Senate.
They were opposed both by Northern and Southern
Senators, on different grounds, but with equal ear-
nestness. Mr. Clay replied to all their arguments
with much ability ; the splendors of his mellifluous
eloquence still shone forth, as iii the olden time, and
charmed and delighted those unbending opponents
whose opinions he could not change, whose votes he
could not control. A committee was at length ap-
pointed, on the 14th of February, for the purpose of
maturing some plan of compromise more acceptable
to the majority than Mr. Clay's resolutions; and he
was appointed Chairman. On the 8th of May he
offered an elaborate report from the majority of the
committee, which differed in some essential respects
from those originally offered by him. Its propositions
were as follows :
"1. The admission of any new State or States
formed out of Texas to be postponed until they shall
hereafter present themselves to be received into the
Union, when it will be the duty of Congress fairly
and faithfully to execute the compact with Texas, by
admitting such new State or States with or without
slavery, as they shall by their Constitutions determine.
"2. The admission forthwith of California into the
Union, with the boundaries which she has proposed.
"3. The establishment of territorial government!
228 THE LIFE AND TIMES
without the "VVilmot Proviso for New Mexico . id
Utah, embracing all the Territory recently acquired
by the United States from Mexico, not contained in
the boundaries of California.
"4. The combination of these two last-mentioned
measures in the same bill.
"5. The establishment of the western and north
ern boundary of Texas, and the exclusion from her
jurisdiction of all New Mexico, with the grant to
Texas of a pecuniary equivalent; and the section for
that purpose to be incorporated into the bill admit-
ting California, and establishing territorial govern-
ments for Utah and New Mexico.
" 6. More effectual enactments to secure the prompt
delivery of persons bound to service or labor in one
State, under the laws thereof, who escape into an-
other State. And,
" 7. Abstaining from abolishing slavery; but, under
a heavy penalty, prohibiting the slave-trade in the
District of Columbia."
The debate which ensued in the discusion of these
measures, was one of the longest and fiercest which
lias ever occurred in the annals of Federal legislation.
It continued during nearly three months. Till the
last, Mr. Clay defended his policy with heroic reso-
lution ; but all was in vain. Various amendments
were successively introduced, and passed, which
stripped the bill of nearly all its original features;
and the only clause which remained unaltered was
one providing for the organization of the territory of
Utah. Thus ended the celebrated Compromise Mea-
sures proposed by Mr. Clay in 1850
OF HENRY CLAY. 229
CHAPTER XT.
H. CLAY'S TIEWS OF THE TARIFF OF 1846 THE HARBOR AND RIVRR
BILL MR. CLAY'S INTEREST IN ITS PASSAGE TACTICS OF THE OPPO-
SITION MR. CLAY'S APPEALS ON THE SUBJECT ULTIMATE DEFEAT
OF THE BILL MR. CLAY'S LAST VISIT TO ASHLAND HIS RETURN TO
WASHINGTON HIS INTERVIEW WITH KOSSUTH HIS LAST SICKNESS
HIS DEATH THAT EVENT ANNOUNCED IN CONGRESS.
THOUGH the burden of years had now accumulated
heavily on the shoulders of Mr. Clay, he nevertheless
exhibited his usual energy and interest in public
affairs. After the defeat of his Compromise Mea-
sures in 1850, he visited his home and family in Ken-
tucky ; and returned to Washington on the 15th of
December, a few days after the opening of the second
session of the Thirty-first Congress. At this period
he felt an earnest desire to have the Tariff of 1846
revised and amended, in order that greater protection
might thereby be given to American manufactures.
On the 23d of that month he presented some petitions
on the subject to the Senate, and accompanied them
with an earnest and practical argument.
But the last, measure of importance in which the
veteran statesman took an active part, was the bill
making appropriations for the improvement of cer-
tain harbors and rivers, which had passed the House
ot Representatives, and was sent into the Senate for
20
230 THE LIFE AND TIMES
its approval. The bill was referred to the Committee
on Commerce, and reported back without any amend-
ment. It was on the 1st of March, 1851, and only
three days of the session remained. It was therefore
necessary that it should pass at once, if passed at all ;
inasmuch as the appropriations for the civil and diplo
mntic service, and other necessary measures, would
occupy nearly all the remaining short interval. The
river and harbor bill was regarded as a party measure,
introduced, supported, and approved by the Whigs;
the Democratic Senators, therefore, resolved to defeat
it, by that species of tactics well known to delibera-
tive assemblies under such circumstances; to wit, the
wasting of all the time of the session in protracted
speeches, innumerable amendments, and reiterated
and endless debate, by the party in the minority.
Mr. Clay felt a deep interest in the passage of this
bill, which seemed to him highly promotive of the
interests of the country. The motion to discuss the
bill having passed, Mr. Davis of Massachusetts com-
menced the argument by a brief speech in its favor.
Mr. Clemens of Alabama responded, and the purpose
of the opposition members at once became apparent.
Mr. Clay arose and earnestly protested against such a
policy, and proceeded to demonstrate the advantage
and necessity of passing the bill. Said he:
"Sir, I have risen to say to the friends of this hill,
that if they desire it to pass, I trust the} 1 will vote
with me against all amendments, and come to as
speedy and rapid action as possible. Under the idea
of an amendment, you will gain nothing. I think it
likelv there are some items that should not be in the
OP HENRY CLAY. 231
bill ; and can you expect in any human -work, \vhe r e
fhere are forty or fifty items to be passed upon, to
find perfection ? If you do, you expect what never
was done, and what you will never see. I shall vote
for the bill for the sake of the good that is in it, and
not against it on account of the bad it happens to
contain. I am willing to take it as a man takes his
wife, 'for better, for worse,' believing we shall be
much more happy with it than without it.
"An honorable Senator has gotten up and told us
that here is an appropriation of $2,800,000. Do you
not recollect that for the last four or five years there
have been no appropriations at all upon this subject?
Look at the ordinary appropriation in 1837 of
1,307,000; for it is a most remarkable fact that
those administrations most hostile to the doctrine of
internal improvements, have been precisely those in
which the most lavish expenditures have been made.
Thus we are told, this morning, that there were five,
six, or eisrht hundred thousand dollars during Gene-
* O O
ral Jackoon's administration, and 1,300,000 during
the firpt year of Mr. Van Buren's. Now, there has
been no appropriation during the last three or four
years, and, in consequence of this delinquency and
neglect on the part of Congress heretofore, because
some 2,300,000 are to be appropriated by this bill,
we are t:> be startled by the financial horrors and dif-
ficulties which have been presented, and driven from
the duly which we ought to pursue. With regard to
the appropriations made for that portion of the coun-
try from which I come the great Valley of the Mis-
sissippi I will say that we are a reasoning people, a
232 THE LIFE AND TIMES
feeling people, and a contrasting people ; and how
long will it be before the people of this vast valley
will rise en masse and trample down your little hair-
splitting distinctions about what is national, and
demand what is just and fair, on the part of this
Government, in relation to their great interests?
The Mississippi, with all its tributaries the Red,
Wabash, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Ohio rivers
constitute a part of a great system, and if that system
be not national, I should like to know one that ia
national. We are told here that a little work, great
in its value, one for which I shall vote with great
pleasure the breakwater in the little State of Dela-
ware is a great national work, while a work which
has for its object the improvement of that vast system
of rivers which constitute the Valley of the ^lissis-
sippi, which is to save millions and millions of pro-
perty and many human lives, is not a work to be
done, because it is not national ! Why, look at the
appropriations. Here was our young sister, Cali-
fornia, admitted but the other day ; 1,500,000 for a
basin there to improve her facilities, and how much
more for custom houses? Four or five hundred
thousand dollars more in that single State for two
objects than the totality of the sum proposed to be
appropriated here. Around the margin of the coast
of the Atlantic, the Mexican Gulf, and the Pacing
coast, everywhere we pour out, in boundless and mi
measured streams, the treasure of the United States,
but none to the interior of the West, the Valley of the
Mississippi every cent is contested and denied for
that object. Will not our people draw the contrast /
OF HENRY CLAY. 233
Talk about commerce ! we have all sorts of com-
merce. I have no hesitation in saying that the do-
mestic commerce of the Lakes and the Valley of the
Mississippi, is greatly superior in magnitude and im-
portance to all the foreign commerce of the country,
for which these vast expenditures are made. Sir, I
call upon the Northwestern Senators, upon Western
Senators, upon Eastern Senators, upon Senators from
all quarters of the Union, to recollect that we are
parts of one common country, and that we cannot
endure to see, from month to month, from day to day,
in consequence of the existence of snags in the Mis-
sissippi, which can be removed at a trifling expense,
hundreds of lives and millions of property destroyed,
in consequence of the destruction of the boats navi-
gating these rivers, for the want of some little appli-
cation of the means of our common Government."
Notwithstanding Mr. Clay's earnest appeal to the
opposing Senators to permit the bill to be voted
upon, they persisted in the policy which they had
begun. Messrs. Foote, Gwin, Butler, Bradbury, Hun-
ter, Soule, and others, were delivered of protracted
arguments on the subject; a number of amendments
were offered, discussed, and then withdrawn; the
yeas and nays were repeatedly called for and 'reca-
pitulated ; until at length the session expired, with-
out a final vote having been reached. This was, in
fact, the virtual death and defeat of the measure.
After the adjournment of Congress, Mr. Clay again
returned to Kentucky. He spent the summer at
Ashland, surrounded by his friends and relatives.
His health still remained good, although the general
20*
THE LIFE AND TIMES
vigor of his constitution was evidently failing. The
aged patriot nevertheless prepared, as the opening of
the ensuing session approached, to return to Wash-
ington, and resume his duties as Senator from Ken-
tucky. He bade adieu to his home and family it
proved to be his last farewell and reached the
Federal capital at the commencement of the second
term of the Thirty-second Congress. But the fatigues
of the journey had proved too much for his strength,
and he was unable to appear in the Senate. His end
was at length approaching. Several weeks after his
arrival, an interesting interview took place between
Mr. Clay, who was closely confined to his room, and
Louis Kossuth, the Hungarian patriot. Mr. Clay
fully appreciated the superior merits and exalted
abilities of that distinguished personage, and received
him with that consideration which he deserved. Dur-
ing this interview he expressed the sympathy which
he felt with Hungary in her efforts to attain her liber-
ties; but at the same time stated his objections to
furnishing that material aid which Gov. Kossuth
urged that the United States Government should
afford against the detestable tyrants of Austria and
Russia. He explained how the policj- of our Govern-
ment, from the administration of Washington down-
ward, had invariably been, not to interfere with the
tangled and intricate web of European affairs; and
he counselled that, even in this instance, we should
not depart from it. Though much disappointed, in
this respect, with the views of Mr. Clay, the Hunga-
rian hero failed not to appreciate the earnestness,
OF HENRY CLAY. 235
arid patriotism which characterized his
opinions on this subject, and his utterance of them.
But the end of this wonderful man had at last
arrived his long and memorable career had reached
its calm and peaceful termination. His strength
rapidly diminished, and at length he was confined to
his bed. He was harassed by a distressing and pain-
ful cough, and he became much emaciated. During
the progress of his disease he held frequent inter-
views with the chaplain of the Senate; and his mind
seemed to be fully prepared for the solemn and mys-
terious change which he was so soon to experience.
He was attended by the prompt and assiduous care
of devoted friends, one of his sons being almost con-
tinually at his bedside. At length, on the 29th of
June, 1852, at 11 o'clock in the forenoon, his breath-
ing became fainter and fainter, till it ceased entirely;
but so gradually and gently, that the moment of his
departure was scarcely known. That eloquent voice
was then hushed forever. That gigantic intellect and
noble soul had quitted its tenement of clay, and
soared to other worlds to explore the mysteries of a
future and eternal state of being.
The two Houses of Congress convened at 12
o'clock, but already the news of Mr. Clay's death had
been communicated through the capital ; and before
the clerk of the Senate began the reading of the jour-
nal, Mr. Hunter of Virginia rose and sajd, that the
report of Mr. Clay's death had been circulated, and
lie moved that the House should adjourn. A similar
motion was made and carried in the House of Repre-
sentatives. These were but mere matters of form
286 THE LIFE AND TIMES
and ceremony. The death of Henry Clay produced
a profound impression of regret throughout the whole
Confederacy, from the Atlantic to the Koeky Moun-
tains, from the bleak hills of Maine to the balmy cot-
ton-fields of Louisiana. No statesman ever departed,
in this country, since the death of Washington, whose
decease was so universally regretted ; for it may
without exaggeration be asserted, that no other pub-
lic man in the nation, save "the Father of his Coun-
try," ever possessed so strong a hold upon the sym-
pathies and admiration of so large a proportion of
the community, of various parties, sects and creeds.
OF HENBY CLAY. 237
CHAPTER XVI.
HENRY CLAY'S OBSEQUIES AT WASHINGTON REMARKS OP MR. UN-
DERWOOD EULOGY PRONOUNCED BY MR. SEWARD THE ADDRESS
OF MR. BRECKENRIDGE RELIGIOUS SERVICES IN THE SENATE
CHAMBER THE REMAlSi CONVEYED TO LEXINGTON THEIR RE-
CEPTION THERE INTENSE POPULAR FEELING ADDRESSES MAS-
TERLY EULOGY BY MR. CRITTENDEN.
ON the 30th of June, 1852, a solemn and imposing
scene was presented in the Senate chamber at Wash-
ington. In it was assembled all that was great and
illustrious in the Federal capital; the members
of both Houses, the Cabinet Ministers, the heads of
bureaux, Judges of the Supreme Court, and many
eminent private persons crowded the apartment. The
chaplain of the Senate commenced the proceedings
with prayer. Afterward the journal was read ; and
then the theme which engrossed and saddened all
hearts, called forth the eloquent utterances and eulo-
gies of many of the most gifted Representatives in
the land. The American people, bereaved by death
of their favorite patriot and statesman, were about to
utter their griefs, and at the same "time to bestow their
benedictions upon his memory, through the lips of
those who had been his honored associates.
Mr. Underwood of Kentucky, the colleague of Mr.
238 THE LIFE AND TIMES
Clay, first arose, and formally announced the fact of
his death. He then proceeded to dwell upon the
character and merits of the deceased. His remarks
were a fitting tribute to the departed patriot, and con-
cluded with the offering of appropriate resolutions.
He was followed by Mr. Cass, whose impressive and
eloquent address was as follows:
"Mr. President: Again has an impressive warning
come to teach us that in the midst of life we are in
death. The ordinary labors of this Hall are sus-
pended, and its contentions hushed, before the power
of Him who says to the storm of human passions, as
He said of old to the waves of Galilee, 'PEACE, BE
STILL.' The lessons of His Providence, severe as they
may be, often become merciful dispensations, like
that which is now spreading sorrow through the land,
and which Is reminding us that we have higher du-
ties to fulfil, and graver responsibilities to encounter,
than those that meet us here, when we lay our handj
upon His holy word, and invoke His holy name, pro-
mising to be faithful to that Constitution which He
gave us in His mercy, and will withdraw only in the
hour of our blindness and disobedience, and of Ilia
own wrath.
"Another great man has fallen in our land, ripe
indeed in years and in honors, but never dearer to
the American people than when called from the thea-
tre of his services and renown, to that final bar where
the lot'tj and the lowly must all meet at last.
"I do not rise upon this mournful occasion to in-
dulge in the language of panegyric. My regard for
the memory of the dead, and for the obligations of
OF HENRY CLAY. 239
the living, would equally rebuke such, a course. The
severity of truth is at once our proper duty and our
best consolation. Born during the Revolutionary
struggle, our deceased associate was one of the few
remaining public men who connect the present gene-
ration with the actors in the trying scenes of that
eventful period, and whose names and deeds will soon
be known only in the history of their country. Ho
was another illustration, and a noble one, too, of the
glorious equality of our institutions, which freely oifer
all their rewards to all who justly seek them ; for he
was the architect of his own fortune, having made his
way in life by self-exertion ; and he was an early
adventurer in the great forest of the West, then a
world of primitive vegetation, but now the abode of
intelligence and religion, of prosperity and civiliza-
tion.
"But he possessed that intellectual superiority
which overcomes surrounding obstacles, and which
local seclusion cannot long withhold from general
knowledge and appreciation. It is almost half a cen-
tury since he passed through Chilicothe, then the seat
of government of Ohio, where I was a member of the
Legislature, on his way to take his place in this very
body, which is now listening to this reminiscence, and
to a feeble tribute of regard from one who then saw
him for the first time, but who can never forget the
impression he produced by the charms of his conver-
sation, the frankness of his manner, and the high
qualities with which he was endowed. Since then he
has belonged to his country, and has taken a part,
and a prominent part, both in peace and war, in all
240 THE LIFE AND TIMES
the great questions affecting her interests and her
honor ; and though it has been my fortune often to
differ from him, yet I believe he was as pure a patriot
as ever participated in the councils of a nation, anx-
ious for the public good, and seeking to promote it
during all the vicissitudes of a long and eventful life.
That he exercised a powerful influence within the
sphere of his action, through the whole country, in-
deed we all feel and know ; and we know, too, the
eminent endowments which gave him this high dis-
tinction. Frank and fearless in the expression of his
opinions, and in the performance of his duties with
rare powers of eloquence, which never failed to rivet
the attention of his auditory, and which always com-
manded admiration, even when they did not carry
conviction prompt in decision and firm in action,
and with a vigorous intellect, trained in the contests
of a stirring life, and strengthened by enlarged expe-
rience and observation, joined withal to an ardent
love of country, and to great purity of purpose these
were the elements of his power and success. And we
dwell upon them with mournful gratification, now
when we shall soon follow him to the cold and silent
tomb, where we shall commit earth to earth, ashes to
ashes, dust to dust, but with the blessed conviction of
the truth of that Divine revelation, which teaches us
that there is life and hope bey-nd the narrow house,
where we shall leave him alone to the mercy of his
God and of ours.
"He has passed beyond the iea<^h of human praise
or censure; but the judgment of his contemporaries
Las preceded and pronounced the judgment of his-
CF HENRY CLAY. 241
tory, and his name and fame will shed lustre upon his
country, and will be proudly cherished in the hearts
of his countrymen for long ages to come. Yes, they
will be cherished and freshly remembered when these
marble columns that surround us, so often the wit-
nesses of his triumphs, but in a few brief hours, when
his mortal frame, despoiled of the immortal spirit,
shall rest under this dome for the last time, to become
the witnesses of his defeat in that final contest where
the mightiest fall before the great destroyer when
these marble columns shall themselves have fallen,
like all the \vorks of man, leaving their broken frag-
ments to tell the story of former magnificence, amid
the very ruins which announce decay and desolation.
" I was often with him during his last illness, when
the world, and the things of the world, were fast fad-
ing away before him. He knew that the silver cord
was almost loosed, and that the golden bowl was
breaking at the fountain : but he was resigned to the
will of Providence, feeling that He who gave has the
right to take away in His own good time and man-
ner. After his duty to his Creator, and his anxiety
for his family, his first care was for his country, and
his first wish for the preservation and perpetuation
of the Constitution and the Union, dear to him in the
hour of death, as they had ever been in the vigor of
life. Of that Constitution and Union whose defence,
in the last and greatest crisis of their peril, had called
forth all his energies, and had stimulated those me-
morable and powerful exertions, which he who wit-
nessed can never forget, and which no doubt hastened
the fiaal catastrophe, a nation now deplores with a
21 Q
242 THE LIFE AND TIMES
sincerity and unanimity not less honorable to them-
selves than to the memory of the object of their affec-
tions. And when we shall enter that narrow valley
through which he has passed before us, and which
leads to the judgment-seat of God, may we be able
to say, through faith in His Son, our Saviour, and in
the beautiful language of the hymn of the dying
Christian dying, but ever living and triumphant:
" ' The world recedes, it disappears !
Heaven opens on my eyes ! my ears
With sounds seraphic ring:
Lend, lend your wings ! I mount, I fly I
Oh grave, where is thy victory ?
Oh death, where is thy sting?'
" Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my
last end be like his."
From.among the many other eloquent tributes which
wore paid, on this occasion, to the virtues of Mr.
Clay, with which we might fitly conclude this narra-
tive of his career, we select the two which follow, as
most appropriate and impressive. Mr. Seward, of
New York, addressed the Senate as follows :
" Mr. President, fifty years ago, Henry Cla}*, of Vir-
ginia, already adopted by Kentucky, then as youth-
ful as himself, entered the service of his country, a
Representative in the unpretending Legislature of
that rising State ; and having thenceforward pursued,
with ardor and constancy, the gradual paths of au
aspiring change through halls of Congress, foreign
courts, and Executive councils, he has now, with the
cheerfulness of a patriot, and the serenity of a Chris-
tian, fitly closed his long and arduous career, here in
OF HENRY CLAY. 243
the Senate, in the full presence of the Republic, look-
ing down upon the scene with anxiety and alarm
not merely a Senator like one of us who yet remain
in the Senate-House, but filling that character which,
though it had no authority of law, and was assigned
without suffrage, Augustus Caesar nevertheless de-
clared was above the title of Emperor, Primus inter
JUustres the Prince of the Senate.
" Generals are tried, Mr. President, by examining
the campaigns they 'have lost or won, and statesmen
by reviewing the transactions in which they have
been engaged. Hamilton would have been unknown
to us had there been no Constitution to be created,
as Brutus would have died in obscurity had there
been no Caesar to be slain.
"Colonization, revolution, and organization three
great acts in the drama of our national progress had
already passed when the western patriot appeared on
the public stage. He entered in that next division of
the majestic scenes which was marked by an inevita-
ble reaction of political forces, a wild strife of factions,
and ruinous embarrassments in our foreign relations.
This transition stage is always more perilous than
any other in the career of nations, and especially in
the career of republics. It proved fatal to the Com-
monwealth of England. Scarcely any of the Spanish-
American States has yet emerged from it; and it has
more than once been sadly signalized by the ruin of
the republican cause in France.
"The continuous administration of Washington
and John Adams had closed under a cloud which
had thrown a broad, dark shadow -over the future;
244 THE LIFE AND TIMES
the nation was deeply indebted at home and abroad,
and its credit was prostrate. The revolutionary fac-
tions had given place to two inveterate parties, divided
by a gulf which had been worn by the conflict in
which the Constitution was adopted, and made broader
and deeper by a war of prejudices concerning the
merits of the belligerents in the great European
struggle that then convulsed the civilized world.
Our extraordinary political system was little more
than an ingenious theory, not yet practically esta-
blished. The Union of the States was as yet only
one of compact; for the political, social, and com-
mercial necessities to which it was so marvellously
adapted, and which, clustering thickly upon it, now
render it indissoluble, had not then been broadly dis-
closed, nor had the habits of acquiescence, and the
sentiments of loyalty, always slow of growth, fully
ripened. The bark that had gone to sea, thus unfur-
nished and untried, seemed quite certain to founder
by reason of its own inherent frailty, even if it should
escape unharmed in the great conflict of nations,
which acknowledged no claims of justice, and tole-
rated no pretensions of neutrality. Moreover, the
territory possessed by the nation was inadequate to
commercial exigencies, and indispensable social ex-
pansion ; and yet no provision had been made for en-
largement, nor for extending the political system over
distant regions, inhabited or otherwise, which must
inevitably be acquired. Nor could any such acqui-
sition be made without disturbing the carefully-ad-
justed balance of powers among the members of the
Confederacy.
OF HENRY CLAY. 245
"These difficulties, Mr. President, although they
grew less with time and by slow degrees, continued
throughout the whole life of the statesman whose ob-
sequies we are celebrating. Be it known, then and
I am sure that history will confirm the instruction
that conservatism was the interest of the nation, and
the responsibility of its rulers, during the period in
which he flourished. He was ardent, bold, generous,
and even ambitious ; and yet, with a profound con-
viction of the true exigencies of the country, like
Alexander Hamilton, he disciplined himself, and
trained a restless nation, that knew on'.y self-control,
to the rigorous practice of that often humiliating
conservatism which its welfare and security in that
peculiar crisis so imperiously demanded.
"It could not have happened, sir, to any citizen to
nave acted alone, nor even to have acted always the
most conspicuous part in a trying period so long pro-
tracted. Henry Clay, therefore, shared the responsi-
bilities of Government with not only his proper con-
temporaries, but also survivors of the Revolution, as
well as also many who will now succeed himself. Deli-
cacy forbids my naming those who retain their places
here ; but we may, without impropriety, recall among
his compeers a Senator of vast resources and inflexi-
ble resolve, who has recently withdrawn from this
chamber, but I trust not altogether from public life
(Mr. Benton); and another, who, surpassing all his
contemporaries within his country, and even through-
out the world, in the proper eloquence of the forurn,
now, in autumnal years, for a second time dignifies
and adorns the highest seat in the Executive Council
21*
246 THE LIFE AKD TIMES
(Mr. "Webster). Passing by these eminent and noble
men, the shades of Calhoun, John Quiricy Adams,
Jackson, Monroe, Madison, and Jefferson, rise up before
us statesmen whose living and local fame has ripened
already into historical and world-wide renown.
"Among geniuses so lofty as these, Henry Clay
bore a part in regulating the constitutional freedom
of political debate; establishing that long-contested
and most important line which divides the sove-
reignty of the several States from that of the States
confederated ; asserting the right of neutrality, and
vindicating it by a war against Great Britain, when
that just but extreme measure became necessary;
adjusting the terms on which that perilous, yet hono-
rable contest, was brought to a peaceful close; per-
fecting the Army, and the Navy, and national fortifi-
cations: settling the fiscal and financial policy of the
Government in more than one crisis of apparently-
threatened revolution ; asserting and calling into
exercise the powers of the Government for making
and improving internal communications between the
States ; arousing and encouraging the Spanish-Ame-
rican colonies on this continent to throw oft' the for-
eign yoke, and to organize governments on principles
congenial to our own, and thus creating external bul-
warks for our own national defence; establishing
equal and impartial peace and amity with all existing
maritime powers; and extending the constitutional
organization of Government over vast regions, all
secured in his lifetime by purchase or by conquest,
whereby the pillars of the Republic have been removed
from the banks of the St. Mary's to the borders of the
OF HENRY CLAY. 247
Rio Grande, and from the margin of the Mississippi
to the Pacific coast. We may not yet discuss the
wisdom of the several measures which have thus
passed in review before us, nor of the positions which
the deceased statesman assumed in regard to them ;
but we may, without offence, dwell upon the compre-
hensive results of them all.
" The Union exists in absolute integrity, and the
Republic in complete and triumphant development.
Without having relinquished any part of their indi-
viduality, the States have more than doubled already,
and are increasing in numbers and growing in politi-
cal strength and expansion more rapidly than ever
before. Without having absorbed any State, or hav-
ing even encroached on any State, the Confederation,
lias opened itself so as to embrace all the new mem-
bers who have come ; and now, with capacity for fur-
ther and indefinite enlargement, has become fixed,
enduring, and perpetual. Although it was doubted,
only half a century ago, whether our political system
could be maintained at all, and whether, if main-
tained, it could guarantee the peace and happiness of
society, it stands now confessed by the world the form
of government not only most adapted to empire, but
also most congenial with the constitution of human
nature.
'* When we consider that the nation has been con-
ducted to this haven, not only through stormy seas,
but altogether also without a course and without a
star ; and when we consider, moreover, the sum of
happiness that has already been enjoyed by the Ame-
rican people, and still more the influence which the
248 THE LIFE AND TIMES
great achievements is exerting on the advancement
and melioration of the condition of mankind, we see
at once that it might have satisfied the highest ambi-
ticn to have been, no matter how humbly, concerned
in BO great a transaction.
" Certainly, sir, no one will assert that Henry Clay
in that transaction performed an obscure or even a
common part. On the contrary, from the day on
which he entered the public service, until that on
which he passed the gates of death, he was never a
follower, but always a leader; and he marshalled
either the party which sustained, or that which re-
sisted, every great measure, equally in the Senate
and in the popular canvass. And he led where duty
seemed to him to indicate, reckless whether he en-
countered one President or twenty Presidents, whe-
ther he was opposed by factions or even by the whole
people. Hence it has happened that, although that
people are not yet agreed among themselves on the
wisdom of all or perhaps of even any of his great
measures, yet they are nevertheless unanimous in
acknowledging that he was at once the greatest, the
most faithful, and the most reliable of their states-
men. Here the effort at discriminating praise of
Henry Clay in regard to his public policy must stop,
even on this sad occasion, which awakens the ardent
liberality of his generous survivors.
"But his personal qualities maybe discussed with
out apprehension. What were the elements of the
success of that extraordinary man ? You, sir, knew
him longer and better than I, and I would prefer to
hear you speak of them. He was indeed eloquent
OF HENRY CLAY. 249
all the world knows that. lie held the keys to the
hearts of his countrymen, and he turned the wards
within them with a skill attained by no other master.
"But eloquence was nevertheless only an instru-
ment, and one of many that he used. His conversa-
tion, his gestures, his very look, was magisterial, per-
suasive, seductive, irresistible. And his appliance
of all these was courteous, patient, and indefatigable.
Defeat only inspired him with new resolution. He
divided opposition by his assiduity of address, while
he rallied and strengthened his own bands of sup-
porters by the confidence of success which, feeling
himself, he easily inspired among his followers. His
affections were high, and pure, and generous, and the
chiefest among them was that one which the great
Italian poet designated as the charity of native land.
In him that charity was an enduring and overpower-
ing enthusiasm, and it influenced all his sentiments
and conduct, rendering him more impartial between
conflicting interests and sections, than any other
statesman who has lived since the Revolution. Thus
with great versatility of talent, and the most catholic
equality of favor, he identified every question, Avhe-
ther of domestic administration or foreign policy,
with his own great name, and so became a perpetual
Tribune of the people. He needed only to pronounce
in favor of a measure or against it, here, and imme-
diately popular enthusiasm, excited as by a magic
wand, was felt, overcoming and -dissolving all oppo-
sition in the Senate Chamber.
"In this way he wrought a change in our political
system, that I think was not foreseen by its founders.
250 THE LIFE AND TIMES
He converted this branch of the Legislature from a
negative position, or one of equilibrium between the
Executive and the House of Representatives, into
the active ruling power of the Republic. Only tirno
can disclose whether this great innovation shall be
beneficent, or even permanent.
"Certainly, sir, the great lights of the Senate havo
eet. The obscuration is not less palpable to the
country than to us, who are left to grope our uncer-
tain way here, as in a labyrinth, oppressed with self-
distrust. The time, too, presents new embarrass-
ments. We are rising to another and more sublime
stage of national progress that of expanding wealth
and rapid territorial aggrandizement."
At a later hour of Jthe day John C. Breckenridge,
of Kentucky, rose and said :
"Mr. Speaker: I rise to perform the melancholy
duty of announcing to this body the death of Henry
Clay, late a Senator in Congress from the Common-
wealth of Kentucky.
" Mr. Clay expired at his lodgings in this city yes-
terday morning, at seventeen minutes past eleven
o'clock, in the seventy-sixth year of his age. Jlis
noble intellect was unclouded to the last. After pro-
tracted sufferings, he passed away without pain ; and
BO gently did the spirit leave his frame, that the mo-
ment of departure was not observed by the friends
who watched at his bedside. His last hours were
cheered by the presence of an affectionate son, and
he died surrounded by friends who, during his long
illness, had done all that affection could suggest to
soothe his sufferings.
OF HENRY CLAT. 251
"Although this sad event has been expected for
many weeks, the shock it produced, and the innume-
rable tributes of respect to his memory exhibited on
every side, and in every form, prove the depth of the
public sorrow and the greatness of the public Joss.
"Imperishably associated as his name has been for
fifty years with every great event affecting the for-
tunes of our country, it is difficult to realize that he
is indeed gone forever. It is difficult to feel that we
shall see no more his noble form within these walls
that we shall hear no more his patriot tones, now
rousing his countrymen to vindicate their rights
against a foreign foe, now imploring them to preserve
concord among themselves. We shall see him no
more. The memory and the fruits of his services
alone remain to us. Amidst the general gloom, the
Capitol itself looks desolate, as if the genius of the
place had departed. Already the intelligence has
reached almost every quarter of the Republic, and a
great people mourn with us, to-day, the death of their
most illustrious citizen. Sympathizing, as we do,
deeply, with his family and friends, yet private afflic-
tion is absorbed in the general sorrow. The spectacle
of a whole community lamenting the loss of a great
man, is far more touching than any manifestation of
private grief. In speaking of a loss which is na-
tional, I will not attempt to describe the universal
burst of grief with which Kentucky will receive these
tidings. The attempt would be vain to depict the
gloom that will cover her people, when they know
that the pillar of fire has been removed which has
guided their footsteps for the life of a generation.
252 THE LIFE AND TIMES
"It is known to the country that, from the memo-
rable session of 1849-50, Mr. Clay's health gradually
declined. Although several years of his senatorial
term remained, he did not propose to continue in the
public service longer than the present session. He
came to Washington chiefly to defend, if it should
become necessary, the measures of adjustment, to
the adoption of which he so largely contributed ; but
the condition of his health did not allow him, at any
time, to participate in the discussions of the Senate.
During the winter he was confined almost wholly to
his room, with slight changes in his condition, but
gradually losing the remnant of his strength. During
the long and dreary winter, he conversed much and
cheerfully with his friends, and expressed a deep in-
terest in public affairs. Although he did not expect
a restoration to health, he cherished the hope that
the mild season of spring would bring to him strength
enough to return to Ashland, and die in the bosom
of his family. But alas! spring that brings life to all
nature, brought no life nor hope to him. After the
month of March, his vital powers rapidly wasted, and
for weeks he lay patiently awaiting the stroke of
death. But the approach of the destroyer had no
terrors for him. No clouds overhung his future. Ho
met the end with composure, and his pathway to the
grave was brightened by the immortal hopes which
spring from the Christian faith.
"Not long before his death, having just returned
from Kentucky, I bore to him a token of affection
from his excellent wife. Never can I forget his ap-
pearance, his manner, or his words. After speaking
OP HENRY CLAY.
253
of his family, his friends, and his country, he changed
the conversation to his own future, and looking on
me with his fine eye undimmed, and his voice full of
its original compass and melody, he said, ' I am not
afraid to die, sir. I have hope, faith, and some con-
fidence. I do not think any man can be entirely cer-
tain in regard to his future state, but I have an abid-
ing trust in the merits and mediation of our Saviour.'
It will assuage the grief of his family to know that
he looked hopefully beyond the tomb ; and a Chris-
tian people will rejoice to hear that such a man, in
his last hours, reposed with simplicity and confidence
on the promises of the gospel.
"It is the custom, on occasions like this, to speak
of the parentage and childhood of the deceased, and
to follow him, step by step, through life. I will not
attempt to relate even all the great events of Mr.
Clay's life, because they are familiar to the whole
country, and it would be needless to enumerate a long
list of public services which form a part of American
history.
"Beginning life as a friendless boy, with few ad-
vantages save those conferred by nature, while yet a
minor he left Virginia, the State of his birth, and
commenced the practice of law at Lexington, in Ken-
tucky. At a bar remarkable for its numbers and
talent, Mr. Clay soon rose to the first rank. At a
very early age he was elected from the county of
Fayette to the General Assembly of Kentucky, and
was the Speaker of that bod\*. Corning into tho
Senate of the United States, for the first time, in
1806, he entered upon a parliamentary career, th
22
254 THE LIFE AND TIMES
most brilliant and successful in our annals. From
that time lie remained habitually in the public eye.
As a Senator, as a member of this House, and its
Speaker, as a representative of his country abroad,
and as a high officer in the executive department of
the Government, he was intimately connected for
fifty years with every great measure of American
policy. Of the mere party measures of this period, I
do not propose to speak. Many of them have passed
away, and are remembered only as the occasion for
the great intellectual efforts which marked their dis-
cussion. Concerning others, opinions are still di-
vided. They will go into history, with the reasons
on either side rendered by the greatest intellects of
the time.
"As a leader in a deliberative body, Mr. Clay had
no equal in America. In him, intellect, person, elo-
quence, and courage, united to form a character fit to
command. He fired with his own enthusiasm, and
controlled by his amazing will, individuals and
masses. Ko reverse could crush his spirit, nor defeat
reduce him to despair. Equally erect and dauntless
in prosperity and adversity, when successful he moved
to the accomplishment of his purposes with severe
resolution ; when defeated, he rallied his broken
bands around him, and from his eagle eye shot along
their ranks the contagion of his own courage. DOS-
~ O
fined for a leader, lie everywhere asserted his destiny.
lu his long and eventful life, lie came in contact with
men of all ranks and professions, but he never felt
that he was in the presence of a man superior to him-
self. In the assemblies of the people, at the bar, in
OF HENRY CLAY. 255
the Senate everywhere within the circle of his per-
sonal presence, he assumed and maintained a position
of pre-eminence.
"But the supremacy of Mr. Clay as a party leader,
was not his only nor his highest title to renown.
That title is to be found in the purely patriotic spirit
which, on great occasions, always signalized his con-
duct. We have had no statesman who, in periods of
real and imminent public peril, has exhibited a more
genuine and enlarged patriotism than Henry Clay.
Whenever a question presented itself actually threat-
ening the existence of the Union, Mr. Clay, rising
above the passions of the hour, always exerted his
powers to solve it peacefully and honorably. Al-
though more liable than most men, from his im-
petuous and ardent nature, to feel strongly the pas-
sions common to us all, it was his rare faculty to be
able to subdue them in a great crisis, and to hold
toward all sections of the Confederacy the language
of concord and brotherhood.
*' Sir, it will be a proud pleasure to every true Ame-
rican heart to remember the great occasions when
Mr. Clay has displayed a sublime patriotism when
the ill-temper engendered by the times, and the
miserable jealousies of the day, seemed to have been
driven from his bosom by the expulsive power of
nobler feelings when every throb of his heart was
given to his country, every effort of his intellect dedi-
cated to her service. Who does not remember the
three periods when the American system of govern-
ment was exposed to its severest trials ; and who does
not know that when History shall relate the struggles
256 THE LIFE AND TIMES
which preceded the dangers which wert L- *(.*> by
the Missouri Coin promise, the Tariff' Compromise of
1833, and the adjustment of 1850, the same pages
will record the genius, the eloquence, and the patriot-
ism of Henry Clay?
"Nor was it in Mr. Clay's nature to lag behind
until measures of adjustment were matured, and then
come forward to swell a majority. On the contrary,
like a bold and real statesman, he was ever among
the first to meet the peril, arid hazard his fame upon
the remedy. It is fresh in the memory of us all that,
when lately the fury of sectional discord threatened
to sever the Confederacy, Mr. Clay, though with-
drawn from public life, and oppressed by the burden
of years, came back to the Senate, the theatre of his
glory, and devoted the remnant of his strength to
the sacred duty of preserving the union of the States.
"With characteristic courage, he took the lead in
proposing a scheme of settlement. But, while he
was willing to assume the responsibility of proposing
a plan, he did not, with petty ambition, insist upon
its adoption to the exclusion of other modes; but,
taking his own as a starting-point for discussion and
practical action, he nobly labored with his compatriots
to change and improve it in such form as to make it
an acceptable adjustment. Throughout the long and
arduous struggle, the love of country expelled from
his bosom the spirit of selfishness; and Mr. Clay
proved, for the third time, that though he \vas am-
bitious, and loved glory, he had no ambition to mount
to fame on the confusions of his country. And thia
conviction is lodged in the hearts of the people; the
OF HENRY CLAY. 257
party measures and the party passions of former times
have not, for several years, interposed between Mr.
Clay and the masses of his countrymen. After 1850,
he seemed to feel that his mission was accomplished,
and during 1 the same period, the regards and affec-
tions of the American people have been attracted to
him in a remarkable degree. For many months the
warmest feelings, the deepest anxieties of all parties,
centered upon the dying statesman ; the glory of his
great actions shed a mellow lustre on his declining
years, and to fill the measure of his fame, his coun-
trymen, weaving for him the laurel wreath, with
common hands, did bind it about his venerable brow,
and send him, crowned, to history.
" The life of Mr. Clay, sir, is a striking example
of the abiding fame which surely awaits the direct
and candid statesman. The entire absence of equi-
vocation or disguise in all his acts, was his master-
key to the popular heart; for while the people will
forgive the errors of a bold and open nature, he sins
past forgiveness who deliberately deceives them.
Hence Mr. Clay, though often defeated in his mea-
sures of policy, always secured the respect of his op-
ponents without losing the confidence of his friends.
He never paltered in a double sense. The country
never was in doubt as to his opinions or his purposes.
In all the contests of his time, his position on great
public questions was as clear as the sun in the cloud-
.ess sky. Sir, standing by the grave of this great
man. and considering these things, how contemptible
does appear the mere legerdemain of politics ! What
a reproach is his life on that false policy which would
22* B
258 THE L.IFE AND TIMES
trifle with a great and upright people! If I were to
write his epitaph, I would inscribe as the highest
eulogy, on the stone which shall mark his resting-
place, ' Here lies a man who was in the public service
for fifty years, and never attempted to deceive his
counts-men.'
"While the youth of America should imitate his
noble qualities, they may take courage from his
career, and note the high proof it affords that, under
our equal institutions, the avenues to honor are open
to all. Mr. Clay rose by the force of his own genius,
unaided by power, patronage, or wealth. At an age
when our young men are usually advanced to the
higher schools of learning, provided only with the
rudiments of an English education, he turned his
steps to the West, and, amidst the rude collisions of
a border lite, matured a character whose highest ex
hibitions were destined to mark eras in his county's
history. Beginning on the frontiers of American
civilization, the orphan boy, supported only by the
consciousness of his own powers, and by the confi-
dence of the people, surmounted all the barriers of
adverse fortune, and won a glorious name in the
annals of his country. Let the generous youth, fired
with honorable ambition, remember that the Ameri-
can system of government offers on every hand boun-
ties to merit. If, like Clay, orphanage, obscurity,
poverty, shall oppress him ; yet if, like Clay, he feels
the Promethean spark within, let him remember that
his country, like a generous mother, extends her arms
tc welcome and to cherish every one of her children
whose genius and worth may promote her prosperity
or increase her renown.
OF HENRY CLAY. 25D
"Mr. Speaker, the signs of woe around us, and the
general voice, announce that another great man has
fallen. Our consolation is that he was not taken in
the vigor of his manhood, but sunk into the grave at
the close of a long and illustrious career. The great
statesmen who have filled the largest space in the
public eye, one by one are passing away. Of the
three great leaders of the Senate, one alone remains,
and he must follow soon. We shall witness no more
their intellectual struggles in the American forum ;
but the monuments of their genius will be cherished
as the common property of the people, and their
names will continue to confer dignity and renown
upon their country.
" Not less illustrious than the greatest of these will
be the name of Clay a name pronounced with pride
by Americans in every quarter of the globe ; a name
to be remembered while history shall record the
struggles of modern Greece for freedom, or the spirit
of liberty burn in the South American bosom; a
living and immortal name a name that would de-
scend to posterity without the aid of letters, borne by
tradition from generation to generation. Every me-
morial of such a man will possess a meaning and a
value to his countrymen. His tomb will be a hal-
lowed spot. Great memories will cluster there,
and his countrymen, as they visit it, may well
exclaim :
' Such graves as his are pilgrim shrines
Shrines to no creed confined ;
The Delphian vales, the Palestine,
The Meccas of the mind.'
260 THE LIFE AND TIMES
"Mr. Speaker, I offer the following resolutions :
"Resolved, That the House of Representatives of
the United States has received, with the deepest sen-
sibility, intelligence of the death of Henry Clay.
"Resolved, That the officers and members of the
House of Representatives will wear the usual badge
of mourning for thirty days, as a testimony of the
profound respect this House entertains for the memory
of the deceased.
" Resolved^ That the officers and members of the
House of Representatives, in a body, will attend the
funeral of Henry Clay, on the day appointed for that
purpose by the Senate of the United States.
"Resolved, That the proceedings of this House, in
relation to the death of Henry Clay, be communicated
to the family of the deceased by the clerk.
"Resolved, That as a further mark of respect for
the memory of the deceased, this House do now
adjourn."
On the 1st of July the funeral ceremonies took
place in the Senate Chamber. The service of the
Protestant Episcopal Church was read by the Rev.
Mr. Butler, the Chaplain. The same assemblage of
distinguished officials of all descriptions, who had
been present on the preceding day, during the de-
liver}' of the eulogies, now also adorned and imparted
dignity to the scene. The body of the deceased was
carried to the centre of the Chamber, having been
placed in a superb sarcophagus, the form of which
resembled the outlines of the human body. A dis-
course was then delivered by the chaplain appropriate
to the occasion. It was solemn, eloquent, and im-
OF HENRY CLAY. 261
pressive. At its conclusion the body was removed to
the Rotunda, and the assembly permitted to behold
the features of the departed statesman. The remains
were afterward taken, followed by the funeral proces-
sion, to the depot of the Baltimore railroad, whence
they were conveyed toward their final resting-place
at Lexington, in Kentucky.
The mournful cortege arrived at that city about
sunset, on Friday, July the 9th. A vast and silent
multitude awaited its approach. A committee ap-
pointed by the citizens of Lexington, were in readi-
ness to receive them. Upon delivering the remains
into their keeping, Mr. Underwood addressed them as
follows :
" MR. CHAIRMAN, and gentlemen of the Lexington
Committee:
"Mr. Clay desired to be buried in the cemetery of
your city. I made known his wish to the Senate,
after he was dead. That body, in consideration of
the respect entertained for him, and his long and
eminent public services, appointed a committee of
six Senators to attend his remains to this place.
My relations to Mr. Clay, as his colleague, and as
the mover of the resolution, induced the Presi-
dent of the Senate to appoint me the chairman of
the committee. The other gentlemen comprising the
committee are distinguished, all of them, for eminent
civil services, each having been the executive head of
a State or Territory, and some of them no less dis-
tinguished for brilliant military achievements. I
cannot permit this occasion to pass without an ex-
pression of my gratitude to each member of the
262 THE LIFE AND TIMES
Senate's committee. They have, to testify their per-
sonal respect and appreciation of the character, pri-
vate and public, of Mr. Clay, left their seats in the
Senate, for a time, and honored his remains by con-
ducting them to their last resting-place. I am sure
that you, gentlemen of the Lexington committee,
and the people of Kentucky, will ever bear my asso-
ciates in grateful remembrance.
"Our journey, since we left Washington, has been
a continued procession. Everywhere the people have
pressed forward to manifest their feelings toward
the illustrious dead. Delegates from cities, towns,
and villages, have waited on us. The pure and the
lovely, the mothers and daughters of the land, as we
passed, covered the coffin with garlands of flowers,
and bedewed it with tears. It has been no trium-
phal procession in honor of a living man, stimulated
by hopes of reward. It has been the voluntary tribute
of a free and grateful people to the glorious dead.
We have brought with us, to witness the last sad
ceremony, a delegation from the Clay Association of
the city of New York, and delegations from the cities
of Cincinnati and Dayton, in Ohio. Much as we
have seen on our way, it is small compared with the
great movement of popular sympathy and admiration
which everywhere burst forth in honor of the departed
statesman. The rivulets we have witnessed are con-
centrating; and in their union will form the ocean
tide that shall lave the base of the pyramid of Mr.
Clay's fume forever.
"Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the Lexington
Committee, I have but one remaining duty to peform,
OF HENRY CLAY. 263
and that is, to deliver to you, the neighbors and
friends of Mr. Clay when living, his dead body for
interment. From my acquaintance with your charac-
ters, and especially with your Chairman, who was my
schoolmate in boyhood, my associate in the Legisla-
ture in early manhood, and afterward a co-laborer,
for many years, on the bench of the Appellate Court,
I know that you will do all that duty and propriety
require, in burying him, whose last great services to
his country were performed from Christian motives,
without hopes of office or earthly reward."
The Chairman of the Lexington committee, Chief-
Justice Robertson, deeply affected, replied as follows:
" Senator Underwood, Chairman, and Associate
Senators of the Committee of Conveyance :
"Here your long and mournful cortege at last enda
your melancholy mission is now fulfilled and, this
solemn moment, you dissolve forever your official
connection with your late distinguished colleague of
Kentucky.
" With mingled emotions of sorrow and gratitude,
we receive from your hands, into the arms of his de-
voted State and the bosom of his beloved city, all
that now remains on earth of Henry Clay. Having
attained, with signal honor, the patriarchal age of
seventy-six, and hallowed his setting sun by the
crowning act of his eventful drama, a wise and bene-
volent Providence has seen fit to close his pilgrimage,
and to allow him to act as we trust he was prepared
to act a still nobler and better part in a purer world,
where life is deathless. This was, doubtless, best for
him, and, in the inscrutable dispensations of a benig-
2bt THE LIFE AND TIMES
nnut Almighty, best for his country. Still, it is but
natural that his countrymen, and his neighbors espe-
cially, should feel and exhibit sorrow at the loss of a
citizen so useful, so eminent, and so loved. And not
as his associates only, but as Kentuckians and Ame-
ricans, we of Lexington and Fayette feel grateful for
the unexampled manifestations of respect for his me-
mory, to which you have so eloquently alluded, as
having everywhere graced the more than triumphal
procesdon of his dead body homeward from the
national capital, where, in the public service, he fell
with hiu armor on and untarnished. "We feel, Mr.
Chairman, especially grateful to yourself and your
colleagues here present, for the honor of your kind
accompaniment of your precious deposit to his last
home. Equally divided in your party names, equally
the personal friends of the deceased, equally sympa-
thizing with a whole nation in the Providential be-
reavement, and all distinguished for your public ser-
vices and the confidence of constituents, you were
peculiarly suited to the sacred trust of escorting his
remains to the spot chosen by himself for their re-
pose. Having performed that solemn service in a
manner creditable to yourselves and honorable to his
memory, Kentucky thanks you for your patriotic
magnanimity. And allow me, as her organ on this
valedictory occasion, to express for her, as well as for
myself and committee, the hope that your last days
may be far distant, and that, come when they may,
as they certainly must come, sooner or later, to all
of you, the death of each of you may deserve to be
honored by the grateful outpourings of national re-
OF HENRY CLAY. 265
epect which signalize the death of our universally
lamented Clay.
"Unlike Burke, he never 'gave up to the party
what was meant for mankind.' His intrepid nation-
ality, his lofty patriotism, and his comprehensive phi-
lanthropy, illustrated by his country's annals for half
a century, magnified him among statesmen, and en-
deared him to all classes, and ages, and sexes of his
countrymen. And therefore his name, like Wash-
ington's, will belong to no party, or section, or time.
"Your kind allusion, Mr. Chairman, to reminis-
cences of our personal associations, is cordially re-
ciprocated, the longer we have known, the more
we have respected each other. Be assured that the
duty you have devolved on our committee shall be
faithfully performed. The body you commit to ns
shall be properly interred in a spot of its mother
earth, which, as 'THE GRAVE OF CLAY,' will be more
and more consecrated by time to the affections of
mankind.
"How different, however, would have been the
feelings of us all, if, instead of the pulseless, speech-
less, breathless Clay, now in cold and solemn silence
before us, you had brought with you to his family
and neighbors, the living man, in all the majesty of
his transcendent moral power, as we once knew, and
often saw and heard him. But with becoming resig-
nation, we bow to a dispensation which was doubt-
less as wise and beneficent as it was melancholy and
inevitable.
" To the accompanying committees from New
York, Dayton, and Cincinnati, we tender our pro-
23
266 THE LIFE AND TIMES
found acknowledgments for their voluntary sacrifice
of time and comfort to honor the obsequies of our
illustrious countryman.
" In the sacred and august presence of the illus-
trious dead, were a eulogistic speech befitting the
occasion, it could not be made by me. / could not
thus speak over the dead body of Henry Clay. Ken-
tucky expects not me, nor any other of her sons, to
speak his eulogy now, if ever. She would leave that
grateful task to other States, and to other times.
His name needs not our panegyric. The carver of
his own fortune, the founder of his own name with
his own hands he has built his own monument, and
with his own tongue and his own pen he has stereo-
typed his autobiography. With hopeful trust his
maternal Commonwealth consigns his fame to the
justice of history, and to the judgment of ages to
come. His ashes he bequeathed to her, and they
will rest in her bosom until the judgment day ; his
fame will descend, as the common heritage of his
countiy, to every citizen of that Union of which he
was thrice the triumphant champion, and whose
genius and value are so beautifully illustrated by his
model life.
"But though we feel assured that his renown will
survive. the ruins of the Capitol he so long and so ad-
mirably graced, yet Kentucky will rear to his me-
mory a magnificent mausoleum, a votive monu-
ment, to mark the spot where his relics shall sleep,
and to testify to succeeding generations that our Re-
public, however unjust it may too often be to living
merit, will ever cherish a grateful remembrance of
OF HENRY CLAY. 267
the dead patriot, who dedicated his life to his coun-
try ; and with rare ability, heroic firmness, and self-
sacrificing constancy, devoted his talents and his time
to the cause of Patriotism, of Liberty, and of Truth.''
" At the close of this address, the procession was
formed, headed by a cavalcade of horsemen, prece-
ding the hearse, which was followed by the Senate
committee, and the deputation from New York, in
carriages, as mourners ; the Clay Guard, of Cincin-
nati ; the deputation of fourteen from Dayton, Ohio;
the seventy-six from Louisville, and the citizens ir
the rear, their march being under the funeral arches,
and through the sombre street, lined by the silent
multitude, toward that place known to ever}* inha-
bitant of the Republic, and throughout the civilized
world, as the home of the great commoner.
" Who can fittingly speak of the agonized group
awaiting at Ashland the arrival of the remains of
him who had been husband, father, and the beloved
master? That wife, who, for fifty-three years and
upward, had been his faithful partner sharer of
his triumphs and of his many trials; whose saint-
like virtues had secured to her the affection and
veneration of all classes in the place where she was
so well known ; herself more than threescore years
a sojourner on earth, having survived her parents
and all her daughters, with gallant sons mouldering
in the tomb, bending beneath the weight of this, her
speechless sorrow; bowing with years, and broken in
health, amid surviving children, grandchildren, and
kindred; and gathering around them, the old and
268 THE LIFE AND TIMES
young of their servants, awaited there the remains
of her husband.
"Guided by the many torches, the train moved
through the grounds designed and laid out under his
(Supervision. It was in truth a solemn, a holy scene.
Under the dark shadows of the spreading grove,
treading on a lawn where the wild flower, the myrtle,
and the laurel were strangely mingled, they bore him
toward that portal which had last seen him depart
near the close of the preceding year, impelled again
to cross the mountains, and to tread the Halls of
Congress, because there had come to him a rumor of
a threatened resumption of sectional controversies.
"They gently laid him beneath his own roof, and
in that room where he had, for half a century, re-
ceived the homage of countless thousands, represent-
ing all classes and callings, the gifted and the great
of either sex, coming from every country, and tra-
velling from all directions, to Lexington, that tney
might thus, in person, pay tribute to the worth, the
genius, the patriotism, and surpassing excellence of
the public and private character of the illustrious
host.
"Beside the bier were gathered his sons, some of
his grandsons, and nephews ; behind these the family
servants.
" The Clay Guard, of Cincinnati, solicited the honor
of watching over his remains this, the last night
before sepulture.
"For the deep hours of the night, alone with him
and her God, the widow knelt beside her husband's
corpse. For that hour it was directed that she should
OF HENRY CLAY. 269
not be disturbed. In that hour what other heart
knew her thronging memories of joys and sorrows,
save the spirit of the dead she longed to join. They
had commenced together the struggles of life. To-
gether they had planned their home, together they
had arranged their grounds, and with their own hands
had planted the young shoots of what now were the
stately trees of Ashland. Life had opened to them
full of bright hope and promise that belong to youth,
energy, and commanding abilities. She had seen
him leap into a dazzling greatness, reflecting honor
and dignity upon his native land, lifting his young
State to the front rank of her compeers, and confer-
ring prosperity upon his country and her citizens,
while he gave stability and permanence to the insti-
tutions and laws of the laud, and cemented together
the Union, as he ardently desired, prayed for, and
labored ceaselessly to accomplish, from end to end,
from centre to circumference. There were born to
them, in this happy home, eleven children six
daughters and five sons. Where are they now ? No
daughter survived on whose breast that aged head
could rest. Four sons only remained, and one a
lunatic.
"In that dread hour, through her thronging mind
passed the remembrance of a lifetime. She had the
sympathy and regard of millions, and in that watch
of the dead she was accompanied by the thoughts of
countless thousands, who remembered what event the
morrow was to commemorate in history.
" Long before the day had fairly broke (Saturday,
July 10), every avenue of approach to the city was
23*
270 THE LIFE AND TIMES
crowded by those who came to Lexington to render
their last tribute to him who had always, living, re-
ceived their measureless devotion. It was computed
that nearly one hundred thousand persons, of all
classes and sexes, had come together on that memo-
rable occasion.
" At an early hour, those appointed to meet at
Ashland had gathered together within the house: the
pall-bearers, his oldest and most distinguished friends
in Kentucky, the Senate Committee, and the depu-
tation from New York, his family and kindred. In
front were arranged the deputations from other States
from the Masonic fraternity, and a dense crowd were
in a semi-circular array before the porch. Upon a
bier, cushioned with flowers, and immediately in
front of the door, they laid the iron coffin that in-
closed the body of Henry Clay. Upon it shone a
clear, cloudless sky. Upon the breast of it reposed
the civic wreaths, while strewed around were the
floral offerings of every principal place from the Na-
tional Capitol to the grave.
"From Washington to the tomb was one votive
offering of wreaths of oak, immortelles, the cypress,
the ivy, and the laurel, bouquets of flowers of every
species, and in wondrous profusion. It was no un-
frequent sight to witness youth and beauty bend and
press their lips upon his sable shroud. Old men
would pause beside his iron case, and burst into un-
controllable sobs. Early manhood and middle age,
that had banked their hopes in him, and clung to him
as their chieftain and their leader, to the last moment
resisting the assured certainty that they were no more
OF HENRY CLAT. 271
to listen to that silver voice, nor hang upon its tones,
with speechless woe at length realized, that for the
future, his memory and the preservation of his pa-
triotic principles were their future charge.
"His late colleagues in the Senate, that reverend
band of chosen intimates, who were honored as his
pall-hearers, the New York delegation, and his family
kindred, grouped near the porch and within his
dwelling; on the porch stood the minister of God, at
whose hand he had received the sacrament, when last
he was alive, within those halls, the same minister
who had baptized him, his children that were left to
him, and the children of his dead son, Colonel Clay,
while all around the eye rested on his near friends
and neighbors, who were there assembled, and yet
without these, lines of people from many States, and
the far-off counties of his own.
"The funeral services were performed by the Rev.
Edward F. Berkley, Rector of Christ Church, Lex-
ington, who delivered the following address before
the procession moved from Ashland :
" MY FRIENDS: A nation's griefs are bursting forth
at the fall of one of her noblest sons.
"A mighty man in wisdom, in intellect, in
truth, lies in our presence to-day, insensible, inani-
mate, and cold. The heart which once beat with a
pure and lofty patriotism, shall beat no more. The
renowned statesman, who was learned in the laws of
diplomacy and government, will never again give his
counsel in affairs of State. And the voice which was
ever raised in behalf of truth and liberty, is silenced
forever !
272 THE LIFE AND TIMES
"Indulge me in a remark or two, while I speak of
him ; and in consideration of the personal comfort
of this immense assembly, my words shall be few
"This is neither a proper place nor a fit occasion
to dwell on the peculiar and striking incidents of his
public life ; and I mean to say a few words only of
his character as viewed in connection with religion.
"We have not come here to weave a garland of
praises for the brow of the fallen statesman, nor to
throw the incense of adulation upon the urn which
incloses his ashes; but we have come here to pay the
last offices of respect and affection to a neighbor and
a friend ; and to draw, from the visitation which has
stricken down one of the mightiest of our mighty
men, such lessons as are calculated to teach us * what
shadows we are, and what shadows we pursue.'
" Our venerated friend has been before the public
eye for half a century ; and for nearly the whole of
that period in the occupancy of high public places.
He has done the State great service. He combined
in his character such elements as could make him no
other man than he was, except that he might have
been as great a soldier as he was a statesman and
orator. But the crowning excellence of all his vir-
tues was this he was a Christian.
"As he was eminently open, candid, and honest,
in his long public career, so was he deeply sincere in
his adoption, as the rule of his life, of the principles
ot our holv religion.
* O
"Although the suns of seventy summers had nhone
down upon him before he made a public profession
of Christ, yet, when he did make it, he did it, not
OP HENRY CLAY. 273
mechanically, and as a matter of course, because he
was an old man, he did it heartily, and upon con-
viction, because he felt himself to be a sinner, and
because he felt the need of a Saviour! And when he
came to make inquiry, What shall I do? and it was
told him what he ought to do, he did it gladly, he
made haste to fulfil the purposes of his heart ! And
his great mind being brought to the investigation of
the pure and simple doctrines of the Cross, new
beauties, in a new world, broke in upon him, of the
existence of which, to their full extent, he had never
dreamed before. And I know that in times when
he lay under the hand of disease, and of great bodily
infirmity, here at home, he clung to those doctrines,
by a lively faith, as the highest consolation of his
BO ul.
<l Although he had his Church preferences, yet tho
power and influence of the teachings of Christianity,
rightly understood, gave rise to sympathies in his
nature which extended to all Christian people.
" Surrounded as he was by the allurements and fas-
cination of a high public place, nevertheless, he strove
to walk in the pure and perfect way ; and by a steady
maintenance of the principles which bound him to
religion and to God, like the eagle, with his eye fix^d
upon the sun, his course was onward and upward f
"And these principles, which our illustrious friend
found so comforting and consoling in life, did not
forsake him when he had nothing else on earth to
cling to.
" In reference to some of his last hours, a lady con-
nected with him by family, who rece itly spent sove-
8
274 THE LIFE AND TIMES
ral days at his bedside, writes: 'He is longing to be
gone, and said something of this kind to me, which
caused me to ask him if he did not feel perfectly will-
ing to wait until the Almighty called him. He re-
plied, O, my dear child, do not misunderstand me,
I supplicate Him continually for patience to do so. I
am ready to go, no, not ready, but willing. "We are
none of us ready. We cannot trust in our own
merits, but must look to Him entirely.'
" The writer adds : 'He is the most gentle, patient,
and affectionate sick person I almost ever saw,
thanks you for everything, and is as little trouble as
he can possibly be.'
"And this is the power of religion upon a vigorous
and discriminating mind a mind fully capable of
meeting all the great emergencies which have ever
arisen in its collisions with other great minds, at the
bar, in the Senate, and in the forum.
"And oh! the recollection to mourning friends,
and to a mourning country, is of the most consoling
interest, that as in his life, by his genius and wisdom,
he threw light, and peace, and blessing upon his
country, so, in his death, the glorious Giver of grace
and wisdom threw light, and peace, and blessing
upon him, borne upward, as he was, by the aspira-
tions to heaven of a million hearts.
"But his earthly career is run. Full of age and
full of honors, lie goes down to earth, to ashes, and
to dust. A man of extraordinary genius; a man of
the highest practical wisdom, possessing the largest
powers of true eloquence a pure patriot, a sincere
Christian, and a friend of his race.
OF HENRY CLAY.
"His friends will grieve for him the Church has
lost him his country will hewail him; and hereafter,
when the passing traveller shall come to Ashland,
and look for the bland, agreeable, and hospitable
host, he will not find him here ! His aged wife, who,
for more than fifty years, has grieved with him in hia
sorrows, and rejoiced with him in his public success,
shall go down unto the grave, mourning; and men
in every civilized nation of the earth will shed a tear
at the fall of such a man. But he has gone to a
brighter and a better world ; while this memorial
shall remain of him here, that he was as simple and
sincere in his religion, as he was great in wisdom and
mighty in intellect.
" God is no respecter of persons. Neither genius,
nor wisdom, nor power, nor greatness can avert the
fatal darts which fly thick and fast around us. If
public services of the highest value, a fair fame which
reaches to the utmost habitations of civilized man,
and integrity as stern as steel, could have done this,
a nation had not been in tears to-day.
"But the great and the humble, the useful and the
useless, the learned and the ignorant, the mighty and
the mean, the public and the private man, must all
alike lie down in the cold chambers of the grave!
Death is the common leveller of men and of nations.
Temples and monuments, which have been erected
to perpetuate the achievements of statesmen and of
heroes in past ages, have been ruined and robbed of
their grandeur by the insatiate tooth of time, not u
vestige remains of the glory that once covered vhe
276 THE LIFE AND TIMES
earth, and not a stone to mark the spot where the
master of the world was laid.
"And this is the end of man ! This the obscurity
and oblivion to which he shall come at last ! But his
end may be worse than this, if he has no hope in the
blessed SAVIOUR'S death. For whoever confides in
the world for the bestowment of true happiness
whoever trusts to its gains, its pleasures, or its honors,
to bring him peace at the last, will find himself mise-
rably imposed upon, and grievously deluded. lie
will find that this misplaced confidence will involve
him in ruin, as inevitable as it will be eternal !
"'Lean not on earth! 'twill pierce thee to the heart ;
A broken reed at best, but oft a spear!
On its sharp point, peace bleeds and hope expires.'
"If we aspire to a true, a deathless immortality, let
us not seek it in the praises of men, or in the enrol-
ment of our name upon the page of history; for these
all shall perish ! But let us seek, by obedience to
God and a recognition of the claims of religion, to
have our names written in the Lamb's Book of Life.
This, and this only, will guarantee an immortality as
imperishable as the heavens, and as certain as the
Life of God.
"The observation is almost universal, that 'all
men think all men mortal but themselves.' And yet
there is nothing more surely reserved for us in the
future than disease and dissolution. And these, loo,
may, and very often do, come when we are least ex-
pecting a disturbance of our plans.
" The statesman falls with plans of future glory yet
OF HENRY CLAY. 277
nnaccomplished ; the poet expires in the midst of his
Bong, and the magic of his muse lingers on his dying
lips; the sculptor drops his chisel before he has
taught the marble to breathe, and the painter his
pencil, while the living figures on his canvas are yet
unfinished ; the sword slips from the hand of the
warrior before the battle is won ; and the orator is
silenced while the words of wisdom are yet dropping
in sweetest accents from his lips.
" * I said, Ye are gods, and children of the Most
High, but ye shall die like men.'
"No consideration can purchase a moment's respite
when the decree shall go forth, 'This night thy soul
shall be required of thee!' whether it be uttered at
the doors of the stately mansion, or at the cot of the
lowly poor. And not to be wisely and well prepared
to hear this summons, is destructive of the best inte-
rests of the soul. Happy they who have made a friend
in God. Happy they who have done, and they who
do, this in early life the failing of which, in his case,
our revered friend so often himself regretted -thrice
happy they in whom greatness and goodness meet
together. Imperishable joys shall be awarded to
them. They shall shine as stars in the firmament
forever and ever. In each successive generation their
* memory shall be blessed,' and their ' name be had
in everlasting remembrance;' and, 'their conflicts
o'er, their labors done,' the ransomed spirit shall
escape from the prison that confines it to the earth,
and the King of kings shall bind upon their victorious
brow wreaths of unfading glory in that blessed place,
24
278 T II E LIFE AND TIMES
" ' "Where pain, and weariness, and sorrow ceaae,
And cloudless sunshine fills the land of peace.'
" Our great friend and countryman is dead ! lie has
no more connection with the living world, and we are
about to bear his honored remains to the beautiful spot
where our own dead lie, and around which our me-
mories love to linger. What to him, I ask you, arc
now the policy or the politics of the country? What
to him, now, are the nice points upon which turns
the honor of the State? What to him, now, is the
extension of empire? the rise or fall of nations? the
dethronement or the establishment of kings? His
work is done, and well done. As it is with him, so
shall it shortly be with every one of us. Then,
" ' So live, that when thy summons comes to join
The innumerable caravan that moves
To the pale realm of shade, where each shall take
His chamber in the silent halls of death,
Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night,
Scourged to his dungeon ; but sustained and soothed
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.'
" One word more. The distinguished subject of
our present attention has fallen a martyr to hfe coun-
try. The cause of his sickness and his death origin-
ate.! in his last great efforts in securing the passage,
through Congress, of certain measures, known as THK
COMPROMISE. In more senses than one may he receive
the heavenly welcome, 'Well done, good and faith-
ful servant.' His love of country his enthusiasm in
any cause in which her interests were involved his
OF HENRY CLAY. 279
great and singular powers his wonderful and con-
trolling influence over even great minds, marked him
as the man of the age, and adapted him, in a pecu-
liar manner, to act and lead in grave matters of Gov-
ernment.
" And if, in the future, an}- one section of this great
Republic should be arrayed in hostility against an-
other, and any cruel hand shall be uplifted to sever
the bonds which unite us together as a common
people the Genius of Liberty shall come down in
anguish and in tears, and throwing herself prostrate
before his tomb, implore the Mighty Ruler of nations
for the preservation of our institutions, and the
protection of our liberty and of our Union to raise
up from his ashes, another Clay.
" The marshals of the day then formed the long
procession, which moved from Ashland, through Lex-
ington, to the cemetery at the north of the city, where
were deposited the remains of HEXRY CLAY, TO REST
UNTIL THE MORNING OF THE RESURRECTION."
The life and career of Henry Clay, when taken as
a whole-, notwithstanding his several defeats and dis-
appointments, was a grand and magnificent success.
He, more emphatically than any other man, was, and
will continue to be, the great representative of Ame-
rican ecatesrnen and orators. Inferior he may have
been to Webster as a jurist, to Van Buren as a tac-
tician, to Calhoun as a logician, to John Quincy Adams
as a man of letters ; but he was superior to them all
when regarded as a single intellectual entity; the ag-
gregate mass of his faculties was more varied and im-
posing, and the incidents of his public career were
280 THE LIFE AND TIMES
more remarkable and striking, than those of any of
his contemporaries. Let us, in conclusion, take a very
brief survey of his whole personality, and glance at
those qualities and characteristics which gave him
so marvellous a hold upon the admiration of hia
countrymen.
In person, Mr. Clay was tall and well-proportioned;
possessing all those physical advantages which are
desirable for the orator, and which contribute to his
supremacy and success. Among these peculiarities
there was one in which he excelled all his rivals and as-
eociates, and which was one of the most effectual agents
of his power. He possessed a voice of the most me-
lodious tone, of the greatest flexibility, and of the
widest compass; and so remarkable was his skill in
using it, that by its witchery he often succeeded in
gaining the co-operation of adverse Senators and
lukewarm partisans, when the case seemed otherwise
hopeless, and far beyond the reach of any ordinary
influence. His natural talents were of the highest
order, of the class to which they belon'ged. These
were the peculiar faculties which rendered him a
natural orator; but it must not be inferred, from this
fact, that he had not cultivated these gifts with as-
siduous care. The contrary was the fact; and few
actors on the scenic stage ever attained greater skill
than he, in all the arts of declamation, and the graces
of delivery. His eloquence was admirably adapted
both to the popular assembly, to the halls of legisla-
tion, and to the bar. As a lawyer, his chief supe-
riority consisted in the prodigious influence Mid
power which he exercised over a jury. He could
or HE NUT CLAT. 281
touch all the springs of human feeling and emotion
with masterly skill ; and cause them to flow forth, at
his will, in an abundant and obedient torrent. His
legal knowledge was sufficient for all the exigencies
of hia practice ; and his natural powers of compre-
hension and acquisition were so great, that even a
little learning became much more available with
him, than a much profounder and richer store, in the
minds and mouths of other less gifted competitors ;
while also, his superior mental grasp enabled him
easily and quickly to master the law involved in all
the particular cases which came within the range of
his professional duties.
But the scene of Mr. Clay's greatest glory was the
Senate chamber of the Federal Government, and that
especially on great and perilous crises in his country's
history. No man understood better than he how to
lead on and to marshal, to the best advantage, the
forces of his own party ; and how to assail, confound,
and conquer the leaders of the adverse faction. Every
species of oratory was at his command, and read} 7 for
use, as occasion might demand ; and argument, ridi-
cule, illustration, narrative, wit, repartee, sarcasm, in-
vective all were within his reach, at a moment's
warning. And when mere eloquence, when the art
of the consummate rhetorician failed, in some mo-
ment of real peril to the interests and welfare of his
country ; and when deeds and not words became the
only essential and indispensable means of averting
disaster, and perpetuating the liberties which were so
inestimable then Henry Clay ascended in the scale
of intellectual power and grandeur, and expanded
24*
282 THE LIFE AND TIMES
from the simple orator to tlie sublime proportions of
the statesman. It was he who, in such crises, was
unrivalled in the fertility with which he devised, the
promptitude with which he proposed, and the hero-
ism with which he advocated, those resolute and
honorable measures which were calculated to avert
danger, to secure unity, and to perpetuate the pros-
perity and glory of the nation. In this high and
noble function, this vast Confederacy, prolific as it
has been, and is, in talented and capable men, has
never yet produced the equal of Henry Clay; who
seemed to have been adapted by ever}' physical,
mental, and social qualification which he possessed,
to win and forever retain the first place among the
statesmen and orators of the land of his birth. What
Demosthenes was to Athens, what Cicero became to
Rome, what William Pitt was to England, such was
Henry Clay to the great Republic of the Western
World ; and as such, he will be enshrined in the
memory and affections of the millions yet unborn,
who shall successively rise and figure on this grand
stage of action, till the latest period of recorded time.
Subsequent to the burial of Henry Clay, John J.
Crittenden was requested by the citizens of Louisville,
Kentucky, to pronounce a eulogy upon his life and
character. He complied with the invitation ; and on
the 29th of September, 1852, delivered the following
elaborate and masterly address to an immense assem-
blage in that city; which we here insert, as furnish-
ing an appropriate conclusion of this record of Mr.
Clay's memorable career:
" LADIES AND GENTLEMEN : I am very sensible
OF HENRY CLAY. 283
of the difficulty and magnitude of the task which I
have undertaken. I am to address you in comme-
moration of the public services of Henry Clay, and
in celebration of his obsequies. His death filled hia
whole country with mourning; and the loss of no
citizen, save the Father of his Country, has ever pro-
duced such manifestations of the grief and homage
of the public heart. His history has indeed been read
*in a nation's eyes.' A nation's tears proclaim, with
their silent eloquence, its sense of the national loss.
Kentucky lias more than a common share in this
national bereavement. To her it is a domestic grief
to her belongs the sad privilege of being the chief
mourner. He was her favorite son, her pride, and
her glory. She mourns for him as a mother. But
let her not mourn as those who have no hope of con-
solation. She can find the richest and the noblest
solace in the memory of her son, and of his great
and good actions; and his fame will come back, like
a comforter from his grave, to wipe away her tears.
Even while she weeps for him, her tears shall be min-
gled with the proud feelings of triumph which hia
name will inspire; and Old Kentucky, from the
depths of her affectionate and heroic heart, shall ex-
claim, like the Duke of Ormond, when informed that
his brave sou had fallen in battle, ' I would not ex-
change my dead sou for any living son in Christen-
dom.'
"From these same abundant sources we may hope
that the widowed partner of his life, who now sits in
sadness at Ashland, will derive some pleasing conso-
lation. I presume not to offer any words of comfort
284 THE LIFE AND TIMES
of my own. Her grief is too sacred to permit me to
use that privilege.
"You, sons and daughters of Kentucky, have as-
sembled here to commemorate his life and death.
How can I address you suitably on such a theme?
I feel the oppressive consciousness that I cannot do
it in terms adequate to the subject, or to your excited
feelings. I am no orator, nor have I come here to
attempt any idle or vainglorious display of words;
I come as a plain Kentuckian, who, s} r mpathizing in
all your feelings, presents you with this address, as
his poor offering, to be laid upon that altar which
you are here erecting to the memory of Henry Clay.
Let it not be judged according to its own value, but
according to the spirit in which it is offered.
" It would be no difficult task to address you, on
this occasion, in the extravagant and rhetorical lan-
guage that is usual in funeral orations. But my sub-
ject deserves a different treatment. The monumental
name of Henry Clay rises above all mere personal
favor and flattery ; it rejects them, and challenges the
scrutiny and the judgment of the world. The noble
use to which his name should be applied, is to teach
his country, by his example, lessons of public virtue
and political wisdom ; to teach patriots and states-
men how to act, how to live, and how to die. I can
but glance at a subject that spreads out in such bright
and boundless expanse before me.
"Henry Clay lived in a most eventful period, and
the history of his life for forty years has been literally
that of his country. He was so identified with the
Government for more than two-thirds of its exist-
OF HENRY CLAY. 285
ence, that during that time hardly any act, which has
redounded to its honor, its prosperity, its present
rank among the nations of the earth, can be spoken
of without calling to mind, involuntarily, the linea-
ments of his. noble person. It would be difficult to
determine whether in peace or in war; in the field
of legislation or of diplomacy; in the spring-tide of
his life, or in its golden ebb, he won the highest
honor. It can be no disparagement to anyone of his
contemporaries to say, that, in all the points of practi-
cal statesmanship, he encountered no superior in any
of the employments which his constituents or his
country conferred upon him.
" For the reason that he had been so much and so
constantly in the public eye, an elaborate review of
his life will not be expected of me. All that I shall
attempt will be to sketch a few leading traits, which
may serve to give those who have had fewer opportu-
nities of observation than I had, something like a
just idea of his public character and services. If, in
doing this, I speak more at large of the earlier than
of the later period of his life, it is because, in regard
to the former, though of vast consequence, inter-
vening years have thrown them somewhat in the back-
ground.
"Passing by, therefore, the prior service of Mr. Clay
in the Senate for brief periods in 1806 and '10-'ll, I
come at once to his Speakership in the House of Re-
presentatives, and his consequent agencv in the war
of 1812.
"To that war our country is indebted for much of
the security, freedom, prosperity, and reputation
286 THE LIFE AND TIMES
which it now enjoys. It has been truly said by one
of the living actors in that perilous era [Hon. Mr.
Rush], that the very act of going to war was heroic.
By the supremacy of the naval power of England,
the fleets of all Europe had been swept from the sons;
the banner of the United States alone floated in soli-
tary fearlessness. England seemed to encircle the
earth with her navies, and to be the undisputed mis-
tress of the ocean. We went out upon the deep with
a sling in our hands. When, in all time, were such
fearful odds seen as we had against us?
" The events of the war with England, so memo-
rable, and even wonderful, are too familiar to all to
require any particular recital on that occasion. Of
that war of its causes and consequences of its dis-
asters, its bloody battles, and its glorious victories by
land and sea, history and our own official records have
given a faithful narrative. A just national pride has
engraven that narrative upon our hearts. But even
in the fiercest conflicts of that war, there was nothing
more truly heroic than the declaration of it by
Congress.
"Of that declaration of the incidents, personal
influences, and anxious deliberations which preceded
and led to it the history is not so well or general!} 7
known. The more it is known, the more it will
appear how important was the part that Mr. Clay
acted, and how much we are indebted to him for all
the glorious and beneficial issues of the declaration
of that war, which has not inappropriately been called
the Second War of Independence.
"The public grounds of the war were the injustice,
OP HENRY CLAY. 28T
injury, and insults inflicted on the United States by
the Government of Great Britain, then engaged in a
war of maritime edicts with France, of which the
commerce of the United States was the victim ; our
merchant ships being captured by British cruisers on
every sea, and confiscated by her courts, in utter con-
tempt of the rights of this nation as an independent
power. Added to this, and more offensive than even
these outrages, was the arrogation by the same power
of a right to search American vessels, for the purpose
of impressing seamen from vessels sailing under the
American flag. These aggressions upon our national
rights constituted, undoubtedly, justifiable cause of
war. With equal justice on our part, and on the same
grounds (impressment of seamen excepted), we should
have been warranted in declaring war against France
o o
also ; but common sense (not to speak of policy) for-
bade our engaging with two nations at once, and dic-
x tated the selection, as an adversary, of the one that
had power, which the other had not, to carry its ar-
bitrary edicts into full effect. The war was really, on
our part, a war for national existence.
"When Congress assembled in November, 1811,
the crisis was upon us. But, as may be readily ima-
gined, it could be no easy matter to nerve the heart
of Congress, all unprepared for the dread encounter,
to take the step, which there could be no retracing,
of a declaration of war.
"Nor could that task, in all probability, ever have
been accomplished, but for the concurrence, purely
accidental, of two circumstances ; the one, the pre-
sence of Heury Clay in the Chair of the popular
288 THE LIFE AND TIMES
branch of the National Legislature, and the other,
that of James Monroe, as Secretary of State, in the
Executive Administration of the Government.
" Mr. Monroe had returned but a year or two before
from a course of public service abroad, in \\hich, aa
Minister Plenipotentiary, he had represented the
United States at the several courts, in succesbion, of
France, Spain, and Great Britain. From the last of
these missions he had come home thoroughly dis-
gusted with the contemptuous manner in which the
rights of the United States were treated by the bel-
ligerent Powers, and especially by England. This
treatment, which even extended to the personal inter-
course between their Ministers and the Representative?
of this country, he considered as indicative of a set-
tled determination on their parts presuming upon
the supposed incapacity of tliis Government for war
to reduce to at/stem a course of conduct calculated
to debase and prostrate us in the eyes of the world.
Reasoning thus, he had brought his mind to a serious
and firm conviction, that the rights of the United
States, as a nation, would never be respected by the
Powers of the Old World, until this Government sum-
moned up resolution to resist such usage, not by ar-
guments and protests merely, but by an appeal to
arms. Full of this sentiment, Mr. Monroe was called,
upon a casual vacaiic\', when it was least expected by
himself or the country, to the head of the Depart-
ment of State. That sentiment, and the feelings
which we have thus accounted for, Mr. Monroe soon
communicated to his associates in the Cabinet,
and, in some degree, it might well be supposed, to
OF HENRY CLAY. 289
the great statesman then at the head of the Gov-
ernment.
" The tone of President Madison's first message to
Congress (November 5, 1811), a few months only
after Mr. Monroe's accession to the Cabinet, can leave
hardly a doubt in any mind of such having been the
case. That message was throughout of the gravest
cast, reciting the aggressions and aggravations of
Great Britain, as demanding resistance, and urging
upon Congress the duty of putting the country 'into
an armor and an attitude demanded by the crisis, and
corresponding with the national spirit and expec-
tations.'
"It was precisely at this point of time that Mr.
Clay, having resigned his seat in the Senate, ap-
peared on the floor of the House of Representatives,
and was chosen, almost by acclamation, Speaker of
that body. From that moment he exercised an in-
fluence in a great degree personal, which materially
affected, if it did not control, the judgment of the
House. Among the very first acts which devolved
upon him, by virtue of his office, was the appointment
of the committees raised upon the President's mes-
sage. Upon the Select Committee of nine members,
to which was referred 'so much of the message as
relates to our foreign relations,' he appointed a large
proportion from among the fast friends of the Ad-
ministration, nearly all of them being new members,
and younger than himself, though he was not then
more than thirty-five years of age. It is impossible,
at this day, to call to mind the names of which this
committee was composed (Porter, Calhoun, and
25 T
THE L I * K AND TIMES
Grundy being the first named among them), without
coming to the conclusion that the committee wae con-
stituted with a view to the event predetermined in
the mind of the Speaker. There can be no quw' ; on
that when, quitting the Senate, Mr. Clay entered thb
Representative body, he had become satisfied that,
by the continued encroachments of Great Britain on
our national rights, the choice of the country was
narrowed down to war or submission. Between these
there could be no hesitation, in such a mind as that
of Mr. Clay, which to choose. In this emergency he
acted for his country, as he would, in a like case, have
acted for himself. Desiring and cultivating the good
will of all, he never shrank from any personal re-
sponsibility, nor cowered before any danger. More
than a year before his accession to the House of Re-
presentatives he had, in a debate in the Senate, taken
occasion to say, that 'he most sincerely desired peace
and amity with England ; that he even preferred an
adjustment of all differences with her, to one with
any. other nation; but, if she persisted in a denial of
justice to us, he trusted and hoped that all hearts
would unite in a bold and vigorous vindication of
our rights.' It was in this brave spirit, animated to
increased fervency by intervening aggressions from
the same quarter, that Mr. Clay entered into the
House of Representatives.
"Early in the second month of the session, availing
himself of the right then freely used by the Speaker
to engage in discussions while the House was in
Committee of the Whole, he dashed into the debates
upon the measures of military and naval preparation
OF-HENRYCLAY, 291
recommended by the President, and reported upon
favorably by the committee. He avowed, without
reserve, that the object of this preparation was war,
and war with Great Britain.
In these debates he showed his familiarity with
all the weapons of popular oratory. In a tempest of
eloquence, in which he wielded alternately argument,
persuasion, remonstrance, ridicule, and reproach, he
swept before him all opposition to the high resolve to
which he exhorted Congress. To the argument (for
example) against preparing for a war with England,
founded upon the idea of her being engaged, in her
conflict with France, in fighting the battles of the
world, he replied that such a purpose would be best
achieved by a scrupulous observance of the rights of
others, and by respecting that public law which she
professed to vindicate. " Then" said he, "she would
command the sympathies of the world. But what
are we required 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 called upon
to submit to debasement, dishonor, and disgrace ; to
bow the neck to royal insolence, as a course of pre-
paration 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 independence ! " And to the argu-
ment that this Government was unfit for any war but
a war against invasion so signally since disproved
by actual events he exclaimed, with characteristic
vehemence, " What ! is it not equivalent to invasion,
292 THE LIFE AND TIMES
if the mouth of our harbors and outlets are blocked
up, and we are denied egress from our own waters?
Or, 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? "What ! shall it
be said that our amor patrise is located at these desks;
that we pmillanimously cling to our seats here, rather
than boldly vindicate the most inestimable rights of
our country?"
"While in debate upon other occasions, at nearly
the same time, he showed how well he could reason
upon a question which demanded argument rather
than declamation. To his able support of the propo-
sition of Mr. Cheves to add to our then small but
gallant navy ten frigates, may be ascribed the success,
though by a lean majority, of that proposition. Re-
ptying to the objection urged with zeal by certain
members, that navies were dangerous to liberty, he
argued that the source of this alarm was in themselves.
"Gentlemen fear," said he, "that if we provide a
marine, it will produce collision with foreign nations,
plunge us into war, and ultimately overturn the Con-
stitution 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 pros-
perity. It is the thing protected, not the instrument
of protection, that involves you in war. Commerce
engenders collision, collision war, and war, the argu-
ment supposes, leads to despotism. Would the coun-
sels 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 exercises,
OF HENRY CLAY. 293
shcnld be prohibited; who should declare, in a word,
that the great bod}- of the people should be taught
that national happiness was to be found in perpetual
peace alone?"
While Mr. Clay, in the Capitol, was with his
trumpet tongue rousing Congress to prepare for war,
Mr. Monroe, the Secretary of State, gave his powerful
co-operation, and lent the Nestor-like sanction of his
age and experience to the bold measures of his young
and more ardent compatriot. It was chiefly through
their fearless influence that Congress was gradually
warmed up to a war spirit, and to the adoption of
some preparatory measures. But no actual declara-
tion of war had }*et been proposed. There was a
strong opposition in Congress, and the President,
Mr. Madison, hesitated to recommend it, only because
he doubted whether^ Congress was yet sufficiently
determined and resolved to maintain such a declara-
tion, and to maintain it to all the extremities of war.
The influence and counsel of Mr. Clay again pre-
vailed. He waited upon the President, at the head
of a deputation of members of Congress, and assured
him of the readiness of a majority of Congress to
vote the war if recommended by him. Upon this the
President immediately recommended it by his mes-
sage to Congress of the first Monday of June, 1812.
A bill declaring war with Great Britain soon followed
in Congress, and, after a discussion in secret session
for a few days, became a law. Then began the war.
When the doors of the House of Representatives
were opened, the debates which had taken place in
secret session were spoken of and repeated; and it
25*
294 THE LIFE AND TIMES
appeared, as must have been expected by all, that
Mr. Clay had heen the great defender and champion
of the declaration of war.
Mr. Clay continued in the House of Representa-
tives for some time after the commencement of the
war, and having assisted in doing all that could be
done for it in the way of legislation, was withdrawn
from his position in Congress to share in the delibe-
rations of the great conference of American and Bri-
tish Commissioners held at Ghent. His part in that
convention was such as might have been expected
from his course in Congress high-toned and high-
Bpirited, despairing of nothing.
I need not add, but for form, that acting in this
spirit, Mr. Clay and his patriotic and able associates
succeeded beyond all the hopes at that time enter-
tained at home, in making a treaty which, in putting
a stop to the war, if it did not accomplish everything
contended for, saved and secured at all points the
honor of the United States.
Thus began and ended the war of 1812. On our
part it was just and necessary, and, in its results,
eminently beneficial and honorable.
The benefits of it have extended to all the w 5rld ;
for in vindicating our own maritime rights, we ^sta-
blished the freedom of the seas to all nations, and
since then no one of them has arrogated or exei .-ised
any supremacy upon that ocean, given by the. Al-
mighty as the common arid equal inheritance of all.
To Henry Clay, as its chief mover and author,
belongs the statesman's portion of the glory of that
war; and to the same Henry Clay, as one of the
OF HKNRY CLAY. 295
makers and signers of the treaty by which it was ter-
minated, belong the blessings of the peacemaker.
His crown is made up of the jewels of peace and of
war.
Prompt to take up arms to resent our wrongs and
vindicate our national rights, the return of peace was
yet gladly hailed by the whole country. And well it
might be. Our military character, at the lowest
point of degradation when we dared the fight, had
been retrieved ; the national honor, insulted at all
the courts of Europe, had been redeemed ; the free-
dom of the seas secured to our flag and all who sail
under it; and, what was most influential in inspiring
confidence at home and assuring respect abroad, was
the demonstration, by the result of the late conflict,
of the competency of this Government for effective
war, as it had before proved itself for all the duties
of a season of peace.
The Congress which succeeded the war, to a seat
in which Mr. Clay was elected while yet abroad, ex-
hibited the features of a national jubilee, in place of
the gravity and almost gloom which had settled on.
the countenance of the same body during the latter
part of the war and of the conferences of Ghent. Joy
shone on every face. Justly has that period been
termed "the era of good feeling." Again placed in
the chair of the House of Representatives, and all-
important questions being then considered as in Com-
mittee of the Whole, in which the Speaker descends
to the floor of the House, Mr. Clay distinguished
himself in the debates upon every question of interest
that came up, and was the author, during that aud
296 THE LIFE AND TIMES
following Congresses, of more important measures
than it has been the fortune of any other member,
either then or since, to have his name identified with.
It would exceed the proper limits of this discourse
to particularize all those measures. I can do no more
than refer to a very few of them which have become
landmarks in the history of our country.
First in order of these was his origination of the
first proposition for a recognition of the independence
of the States of South America, then struggling for
liberty. This was on the 24th of MarctCl818. It
was on that day that he first formally presented the
proposition to the House of Representatives. But
neither the President nor Congress was then prepared
for a measure so bold and decisive ; and it was re-
jected by a large majority of the House, though advo-
cated and urged by him with all the vehemence and
power of his unsurpassed ability and eloquence. Un-
daunted by this defeat, he continued to pursue the
subject with all the inflexible energy of his character.
On the 3d of April, 1820, he renewed his proposition
for the recognition of South American independence,
and finally succeeded, against strong opposition, not
only in passing it through the House of Representa-
tives, but in inducing that body to adopt the em-
phatic and extraordinary course of sending it to the
President by a committee, specially appointed for the
purpose. Of that committee Mr. Clay was the chair-
man, and, at its head, performed the duty assigned
them. In the year 1822 Mr. Clay's noble exertions
on this great subject were crowned with complete
success, by the President's formal recognition of
OF HENRY CLAY. 297
fev , th American independence, with the sanction of
Cou ^ress.
It requires some little exertion, at this day, to
turn our minds back, and contemplate the vast im-
portance of the revolutions then in progress in South
America, as the subject was then presented, with all
the uncertainties and perils that surrounded it. Those
revolutions constituted a great movement in the moral
and political world. By their results great interests
and gteat principles throughout the civilized world,
and especially in our own country, might and proba-
bly would be materially affected.
Mr. Clay comprehended the crisis. Its magnitude
and iU character were suited to his temper, and to
his gr^at intellect. He saw before him, throughout
the vant continent of South America, the people of
its various States, or provinces, struggling to cast off
that Spanish oppression and tyranny which for three
hundred years had weighed them down, and seeking
to reclaim and re-establish their long-lost liberty and
independence. He saw them not only struggling, but
succeeding: and with their naked hands breaking
a 9 o
their chains, and driving their oppressors before them.
But the conflict was not yet over; Spain still conti-
nued to wage formidable and desperate hostilities
against her colonies, to reduce them to submission.
They were still struggling and bleeding, and the re-
sult yet depended on the uncertain issue of war.
What a spectacle was there presented to the con-
templation of the world ! The prime object of atten-
tion and interest there to be seen was man bravely
struggling for liberty. That was enough for Henry
298 THE LIFE AND TIMES
Clay. His generous soul overflowed with sympathy.
But this was not all ; there were graver and higher
considerations that belonged to the subject, and theso
were all felt and appreciated by Mr. Clay.
If South America was resnbjugated by Spain,
she would, in effect, become European, and relapse
into the system of European policy the system of
legitimacy, monarch}-, and absolutism ; on the other
hand, if she succeeded in establishing her independ-
ence, the principle of free institutions would be esta-
blished with it, and republics kindred to our own.
would rise up to protect, extend, and defend the
rights and liberties of mankind.
It was not, then, a mere struggle between Spain
and her colonies. In its consequences, at least, it
went much further, and, in effect, was a contest be-
tween the great antagonist principles and systems of
arbitrary European governments and of free Ameri-
can governments. Whether the millions of people
who inhabited or were to inhabit, South America,
were to become the victims and the instruments of
the arbitrary principle, or the supporters of the free
principle, was a question of momentous consequence
now and in all time to come.
With these views Mr. Clay, from sympath} 7 and
policy, embraced the cause of South American inde-
pendence. He proposed no actual intervention in
her behalf, but he wished to aid her with all the
moral power and encouragement that could be given
by a welcome recognition of her by the Government
of the United States.
To him belongs the distinguished honor of being
OF HENRY CLAY. 299
first among the statesmen of the world to espouse and
plead the cause of South America, and to propose and
urge the recognition of her independence. And his
own country is indebted to him for the honor of being
the first nation to offer that recognition.
When the magnitude of the subject, and the
weighty interest and consequences attached to it, are
considered, it seems to me that there is no more
palmy day in the life of Mr. Clay than that in which,
at the head of his committee, he presented to the Pre-
sident the resolution of the House of Representatives
in favor of the recognition of South American inde-
pendence. On that occasion he appears in all the
sublimity of his nature; and the statesman, invested
with all the sympathies and feelings of humanity, is
enlarged and elevated into the character of the friend
and guardian of universal liberty.
How far South America may have been aided
or influenced in her struggles by the recognition of
our Government, or by the noble appeals which Mr.
Clay had previously addressed, in her behalf, to Con-
gress and to the world, I cannot say ; but it is known
that those speeches were read at the head of her
armies, and that grateful thanks were returned. It
ii not too much to suppose that he exercised great in-
fluence in her affairs and destinies.
Years after the first of Mr. Clay's noble exertions
in the cause of South America, and some time after
those exertions had led the Government of the United
States to recognize the new States of South America,
they were also recognized by the Government of
Great Britain ; and Mr. Canning, her minister, there-
300 THE LIFE AND TIMES
upon took occasion to say. in the House of Com-
mons, "there (alluding to South America), I have
called a new world into existence!" That was a vain
boast. If it can be said of any man, it must be said
of Henry Clay that he called that "new world into
existence ! " *
Mr. Clay was the Father of the policy of internal
improvement by the General Government. The ex-
pediency of such legislation had indeed been sug-
gested, in one of his later annual messages to Con-
gress, by President Jefferson, and that suggestion
was revived by President Madison in the last of his
annual messages. The late Bank of the United
States having been then just established, a bill passed
in supposed conformity to Mr. Madison's recommen-
dation, for setting aside the annual bonus to be paid
by the Bank, as a fund for the purposes of internal
improvement. This bill Mr. Madison very unexpect-
edly, on the last day of the term of his office, returned
to the House of Representatives without his signa-
ture, assigning the reasons for his withholding it rea-
sons which related rather to the form than the sub-
stance and recommending an amendment to the
Constitution to confer upon Congress the necessary
power to carry out that policy. This bill, of course,
fell through for that session. While this bill was on
its passage, Mr. Clay had spoken in favor of it, de-
claring his own decided opinion in favor of the con-
stitutionality and expediency of the measure. Mr.
* See Mr. Rush's letter to Mr. Clay, 1st vol. Colton's Life of
llnry Clay.
OF HENRY CLAY. 801
Monroe, immediately succeeding Mr. Madison in tho
Presidency, introduced into his first annual message
a declaration, in advance of any proposition on the
subject, of a settled conviction on his mind that Con-
gress did not possess the right to enter upon a system
of internal improvement. But for this declaration,
it may be doubled that the subject would have been,
again agitated so soon after Mr. Madison's veto.
The threat of a recurrence to that resort by the new
President, roused up a spirit of defiance in the popu-
lar brunch of Congress, and especially in the lion
heart of Mr. Clay; and, by his advice and counsel, a
resolution was introduced, declaring that Congress
has power, under the Constitution, to make appro-
priations for the construction of military roads, post
roads, and canals. Upon this proposition, in com-
mittee of the \vhole House, Mr. Clay attacked, with
all his powers of argument, wit, and raillerj*, the in-
terdiction in the message. He considered that thft
question was now one between the Executive, on the
one hand, and the Representatives of the people on
the other, and that it was so understood by the coun-
try ; that if, by the communication of his opinion to
Congress, the President intended to prevent discus-
sion, he had l - most wofully failed;" that in having
(Mr. Clay had no doubt with the best motives) volun-
teered his opinions upon the subject, he had " inverted
the order of legislation, by beginning where it should
end;" and, after an able and unanswerable argument
on the question of the power, concluded by saying:
" If we do nothing this session but pass an abstract reso~
lution on the subject, I shall, under all circumstances,
26
502 THE LIFE AND TIMES
consider it a triumph for the best interests of the
country, of which posterity will, if we do not, reap
the benefit." And the abstract resolution did pass,
by a vote of ninety to seventy-five ; and a triumph it
was which Mr. Clay had every right to consider as
his own, and all the more grateful to his feelings, be-
cause he had hardly hoped for it.
Referring to the final success, at a distance of
thirty-five years, of the principle thus established, in
the recent passage by Congress of the act for the im-
provement of certain of the ports and harbors and
navigable rivers of the country, let "Posterity" not
forget, on this occasion, to what honored name is un-
doubtedly due the credit of the first legislative asser-
tion of the power.
Mr. Clay was, perhaps, the only man since Wash-
ington who could have said, with entire truth, as he
did, " I had rather be right than be President." Honor
and patriotism were his great and distinguishing
traits. The first had its spring and support in his
fearless spirit; the second, in his peculiar American-
ism of sentiment. It was those two principles which
ever threw his whole soul into every contest where
the public interest was deeply involved, and, above
all, into every question which in the least menaced
the integrity of the Union. This last was, with him,
the ark of the covenant ; and he was ever as ready to
peril his own life in its defence, as he was to pro-
nounce the doom of a traitor on any one who would
dare to touch it with hostile hands. It was the ardor
of this devotion to his country, and to the sheet-
anchor of its liberty aud safety, the Union of the
OF HENRY CLAY. 80S
States, that rendered him so conspicuous in every
conflict that threatened either the one or the other
with harm. All are familiar with his more recent,
indeed his last great struggle for his country, when
the foundation of the Union trembled under the
fierce sectional agitation, so happily adjusted and
pacified by the wise measures of compromise which
he proposed in the Senate, arid which were, in the
end, in substance adopted. That brilliant epoch in
his history is fresh in the memory of all who hear
me, and will never be forgotten by them. An equally
glorious success achieved by his patriotism, his reso-
luteness, and the great power of his oratory, was one
which few of this assembly are old enough vividly to
remember, but which, in the memory of those who
witnessed the effort, and the success of that greatest
triumph of his master-spirit, will ever live the most
interesting in the life of the great statesmen. I
mean the Missouri controversy. Then, indeed, did
common courage quail, and hope seem to shrink be-
fore the storm that burst upon and threatened to
overwhelm the Union.
Into the history of what is still familiarly known
as the " Missouri question," it is not necessary, if time
would allow, that I should enter at any length. The
subject of the controversy, as all my hearers know,
was the disposition of the House of Representatives,
manifested on more than one occasion, and by re-
peated votes, to require, as a condition of the admis-
sion of the Territory of Missouri into the Union as a
State, the perpetual prohibition of the introduction
of slavery into the Territories of the United States
804 THE LIFE AND TIMES
west of the Mississippi. During the conflict to which
this proposition crave rise in 1820, the debates were
from the beginning earnest, prolonged, and excited.
In the earlier stages of them Mr. Clay exerted, to the
utmost, his powers of argument, conciliation, and per-
suasion, speaking, on one occasion, it is stated, for
four and a half hours without intermission. A bill
finally passed both Houses, authorizing the people
of the Territory of Missouri to form a Constitution
of State Government, with the prohibition of slavery
restricted to the territory lying north of thirty-six de-
grees thirty minutes of north latitude.
This was in the first session of the Sixteenth Con-
gress, Mr. Clay still being Speaker of the House. On
the approach of the second session of this Congress,
Mr. Clay being compelled by his private affairs to
remain at home, forwarded his resignation as Speaker,
but retained his seat as a member, in view of the
pendency of this question. Mr. Taylor of New York,
the zealoun advocate of the prohibition of slavery in
Missouri and elsewhere in the "West, was chosen
Speaker to succeed Mr. Clay. This fact, of itself,
under all thi circumstances, was ominous of what waa
to follow. Alarmed, apparently, at this aspect of
things, Mi Clay resumed his seat in the House on
the 16th of January, 1821. The Constitution formed
by Missour. and transmitted to Congress, under the
authority of the act passed in the preceding session,
contained n provision (superfluous even for its own
object) making it the duty of the General Assembly,
as soon as might be, to pass an act to prevent free ne-
groes and mulattoes from coming to, or settling in, tho
OP HENRY CLAT. 305
State of Missouri, 'upon any pretext whatever.' The
reception of the Constitution, with this offensive pro-
vision in it, was the signal of discord, apparently ir-
reconcilable ; when, just as it had risen to its height,
Mr. Clay, on the 16th of January, 1821, resumed his
seat in the House of Representatives. Less than six
weeks of the term of Congress then remained. The
great hold which he had upon the affections, as well
as the respect, of all parties, induced upon his arrival
a momentary lull in the tempest. He at once en-
gaged earnestly and solicitously in counsel with all
parties in this alarming controversy, and, on the
second of February, moved the appointment of a com-
mittee of thirteen members to consider the subject.
The report of that committee, after four days of con-
ference, in which the feelings of all parties had clearly
been consulted, notwithstanding it was most earnestly
supported by Mr. Clay in a speech of such power and
pathos as to draw tears from many hearers, was re-
jected by a vote of eighty-three nays to eighty yeas.
No one, not a witness, can conceive the intense ex-
citement which existed at this moment within and
without the walls of Congress, aggravated as it was
by the arrival of the day for counting the electoral
votes for President and Vice-P resident, among which
was tendered the vote of Missouri as a State, though
' C 1
not yet admitted as such. Her vote was disposed of
by being counted hypothetical!}' that is to say, that
with the vote of Missouri, the then state of the jjene-
7 t<
ral vote would be so and so ; without it, so and so.
If her vote, admitted, would have changed the result,
26* u
806 THE LIFE AND TIMES
no one can pretend to say how disastrous the conse-
quences might not have been.
On Mr. Clay alone now rested the hopes of all
rational and dispassionate men for a final adjustment
of this question ; and one week only, with three days
of grace, remained of the existence of that Congress.
On the twenty-second of the month, Mr. Clay made
a last effort, by moving the appointment of a joint
committee of the two Houses, to consider and report
whether it was expedient or not to make provision
for the admission of Missouri into the Union, on the
same footing with the original States; and if not,
whether any other provision, adapted to her actual
condition, ought to be made by law. The motion
was agreed to, and a committee of twenty -three mem-
bers appointed by ballot under it. The report by that
committee (a modification of the previously rejected
report) was ratified by the House, but by the close
vote, eighty-seven to eighty-one. The Senate con-
curred, and so this distracting question was at last
Bottled, with an acquiescence in it by all parties,
which has never been since disturbed.
I have already spoken of this as the great triumph
of Mr. Clay ; I might have said, the greatest civil tri-
umph ever achieved by mortal man. It was one
toward which the combination of the highest ability,
and the most commanding eloquence, would have
labored in vain. There would still have been want-
ing the ardor, the vehemence, the impetuousness of
character of Henry Clay, under the influence of which
he sometimes overleaped all barriers, and carried hia
point literally by storm. Oue incident of this kind
OF HENRY CLAY. 307
is well remembered in connection with the Missouri
question. It was in an evening sitting, while this
question was yet in suspense, Mr. Clay had made a
motion to allow one or two members to vote who had
been absent when their names were called. The
Speaker (Mr. Taylor), who, to a naturally equable
temperament, added a most provoking calmness of
manner when all around him was excitement, blandly
stated, for the information of the gentleman, that the
motion " was not in order." Mr. Clay then moved to
suspend the rule forbidding it, so as to allow him to
make the motion ; but the Speaker, with impertur-
bable serenity, informed him that, according to the
Rules and Orders, such a motion could not be received
without the unanimous consent of the House. " Then"
said Mr. Clay, exerting his voice even beyond it3
highest wont, 1/> I move to suspend ALL the rules of the
House. Away with them! Is it to be endured that
we shall be trammeled in our action b} 7 mere forms
and technicalities in a moment like this, when the
peace, and perhaps the existence, of this UNION is at
stake?"
Besides those to which I have alluded, Mr. Clay
performed many other signal public services, any one
of which would have illustrated the character of any
other American statesman. Among these we cannot
refrain from mentioning his measures for the protec-
tion of American industry, and his Compromise
Measures of 1833, by which the country was relieved
from the dangers and agitations produced by the doc-
trine and spirit of 'nullification.' Indeed, his nuiue
308 THELIFE AND TIMES
is identified with all the great measures of Goven*
ment during the long period of his public life.
But the occasion does not permit me to proceed
further with the review of his public services. His-
tory will record them to his honor.
Henry Clay was indebted to no adventitious cir-
cumstances for the success and glory of his life.
Sprung from an humble stock, he "was fashioned to
much honor from his cradle ;" and he achieved it by
the noble use of the means which God and nature
had given him. He was no scholar, and had none of
the advantages of collegiate education. But there
was a "divinity that stirred within him." He was a
man of genius mighty enough to supply all the de-
fects of education. By its keen, penetrating obser-
vation, its quick apprehension, its comprehensive and
clear conception, he gathered knowledge without the
study of books; he could draw it from the fountain-
head, pure and undefiled. It was unborrowed the
acquisition of his own observation, reflection, and ex-
perience, and all his own. It entered into the com-
position of the man, forming part of his mind, and
strengthening and preparing him for all those great
scenes of intellectual exertion or controversy in which
his life was spent. His armor was always on, and he
was ever ready for the battle.
This mighty genius was accompanied, in him, by
all the qualities necessary to sustain its action, and to
make it irresistible. His person was tall, and com-
manding, and his demeanor
" Lofty and sour to them that loved him not ;
But to thu.se men that sought him, sweet as summer."
OF HENRY CLAY. 809
He was direct and honest, ardent and fearless,
prompt to form his opinions, always bold in their
avowal, and sometimes impetuous, or even rash, in
their vindication. In the performance of his duties
he feared no responsibility. He scorned all evasion
or untruth. No pale thoughts ever troubled his deci-
sive mind. "Be just and fear not," was the sentiment
of his heart and the principle of his action. It regu-
lated his conduct in private and public life ; all the
ends he aimed at were his country's, his God's, and
truth's.
Such was Henry Clay, and such were his talents,
qualities, and objects. Nothing but success and honor
could attend such a character. I have adverted briefly
to some portions of his public life. For nearly half
a century he was an informing spirit, a brilliant and
heroic figure in our political sphere, marshalling our
country in the way she ought to go. The " bright
track of his fiery car" may be traced through the
whole space over which, in his day, his country and
its Government have passed in the way to greatness
and renown. It will still point the way to further
greatness and renown.
The great objects of his public life were to pre-
serve and strengthen the Union ; to maintain the
Constitution and laws of the United States ; to che-
rish industry; to protect labor; and facilitate, by all
proper national improvements, the communication
between all parts of our widely-extended country.
This was his American system of policy. With in-
flexible patriotism he pursued and advocated it to
hia end. He was every inch an American. His
310 THE LIFE AND TIMES
heart, and all that there was of him, were devoted to
his country, to its liberty, and its free institutions.
He inherited the spirit of the Revolution, in the
midst of which he was born ; and the love of liberty,
and the pride of freedom, were in him principles of
action.
A remarkable trait in his character was his in-
flexibility in defending the public interest against all
Bchemes for its detriment. His exertions were, in-
deed, so steadily employed and so often successful in
protecting the public against the injurious designs of
visionary politicians or party demagogues, that he
may be almost said to have been, during forty years,
the guardian angel of the country. He never would
compromise the public interest for any body, or for
any personal advantage to himself.
He was the advocate of liberty throughout the
world, and his voice of cheering was raised in behalf
of every people who struggled for freedom. Greece,
awakened from a long sleep of servitude, heard his
voice, and was reminded of her own Demosthenes.
South America, too, in her struggle for independ-
ence, heard his brave words of encouragement, and
her fainting heart was animated, and her arm made
strong.
Henry Clay was the fair representative of the age
in which he lived ; an age which forms the great and
brightest era in the history of man ; an age teeming
with new discoveries and developments, extending
in all directions the limits of human knowledge, ex-
ploring the agencies and elements of the physical
world, and turning and subjugating them to the use
OF HENRY CLAY. 811
of man ; unfolding and establishing practically the
great principles of popular rights and free govern-
ments, and which, nothing doubting, nothing fear-
ing, still advances in majesty, aspiring to and de-
manding further improvement and further ameliora-
tion of the condition of mankind.
With the chivalrous and benignant spirit of this
great era Henry Clay was thoroughly imbued. He
was, indeed, moulded by it, and made in its own
image. That spirit, be it remembered, was not one
of licentiousness, or turbulence, or blind innovation.
It was a wise spirit, good and honest as it was reso-
lute and brave; and truth and justice were its com-
panions and guides.
These noble qualities of truth and justice were
conspicuous in the whole public life of Mr. Clay.
On that solid foundation he stood, erect and fearless;
and when the storms of State beat around and
threatened to overwhelm him, his exclamation was
still heard, "truth is mighty, and public justice cer-
tain." What a magnificent and heroic figure does
Henry Clay here present to the world ! We can
bn.t stand before and look upon it in silent reverence.
His appeal was not in vain ; the passion of party
subsided; truth and justice resumed their sway, and
his generous countrymen repaid him, for all the
wrong they had done, with gratitude, affection, and
admiration in his life, and with tears for his death.
It has been objected to Henry Clay that he waa
ambitious. So he was. But in him ambition was a
virtue. It sought only the proper, fair objects of
honorable ambition, and it sought these by honorable
812 THE LIFE AND TIMES
means only by so serving the country as to deserve
its favors and its honors. If he sought office, it was
for the purpose of enabling him, by the power it
would give, to serve his country more effectually and
pre-eminently ; and, if he expected and desired there-
by to advance his own fame, who will say that was a
fault? "Who will say that it was a fault to seek and
to desire office for any of the personal gratifications
it may afford, so long as those gratifications are made
subordinate to the public good ?
That Henry Clay's object in desiring office was
to serve his country, and that he would have made
all other considerations subservient, I have no doubt.
I knew him well ; I had full opportunity of observ-
ing him in his most unguarded moments and conver-
sations, and I can say that I have never known a
more unselfish, a more faithful or intrepid represen-
tative of the people, of the people's rights, and the
people's interests, than Henry Clay. It was most
fortunate for Kentucky to have such a representative,
and most fortunate for him to have such a constituent
as Kentucky fortunate for him to have been thrown,
in the early and susceptible period of his life, into
the primitive society of her bold and free people.
As one of her children, I am pleased to think that
from that source he derived some of the magnani-
mity and energy which his after-life so signally dis-
played. I am pleased to think that, mingling with
all his great qualities, there was a sort of Kentucky-
ism (I shall not undertake to define it), which, though
it may not have polished or refined, gave to them ad-
ditional point and power, and a freer scope of action.
OF HENRY CLAT. 813
Mr. Clay was a man of profound judgment and
strong will. He never doubted or faltered ; all his
qualities were positive and peremptory ; and to his
convictions of public duty he sacrificed every per
sonal consideration.
"With but little knowledge of the rules of logic or
of rhetoric, he was a great debater and orator. There
was no art in his eloquence, no studied contrivances
of language. It was the natural outpouring of a
great and ardent intellect. In his speeches there
were none of the trifles of mere fancy and imagina-
tion ; all was to the subject in hand, and to the pur-
pose ; and they may be regarded as great actions of
the mind rather than fine displays of words. I doubt
whether the eloquence of Demosthenes or Cicero ever
exercised a greater influence over the minds and pas-
sions of the people of Athens and of Rome, than did
Mr. Clay's over the minds and passions of the people
of the United States.
You all knew Mr. Clay ; your knowledge and
recollection of him will present him more vividly to
your minds than any picture I can draw of him. This
I will add: he was, in the highest, truest sense of the
term, a great man, and we ne'er shall look upon his
like again. He has gone to join the mighty dead in.
another and better world. How little is there of such
a man that can die ! His fame, the memory of his
benefactions, the lessons of his wisdom, all remain
with us ; over these death has no power.
How few of the great of this world have been so
fortunate as he ! How few of them have lived to see
their labors so rewarded! He lived to see the country
27
814 THE LIFE OF HENRY CLAY.
that he loved and served advanced to great prosperity
and renown, and still advancing. He lived till every
prejudice which, at any period of his life, had existed
against him, was removed; and until he had become
the object of the reverence, gratitude, and love of his
whole country. His work seemed then to be com-
pleted, and fate could not have selected a happier
moment to remove him from the troubles and vicis-
situdes of his life.
Glorious as his life was, there was nothing that
became him like the leaving of it. I saw him fre-
quently during the slow and lingering disease which
terminated his life. He was conscious of his ap-
proaching end, and prepared to meet it with all the
resignation and fortitude of a Christian hero. He
was all patience, meekness, and gentleness ; these
shone around him like a mild, celestial light, break-
ing upon him from another world.
"And, to add greater honors to his age
Thau man could give, he died fearing God."
APPENDIX.
SELECT SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAY.
I.
OX THE GREEK REVOLUTION.
Delivered in the House of Repretentativet, Jan. 20, 1824.
IN rising, let me state distinctly the substance of
the original proposition of the gentleman from Mas-
sachusetts (Mr. Webster), with that of the amend-
ment of the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr.
Poinsett). The resolution proposes a provision of the
mealis to defray the expense of deputing a commis-
sioner or agent to Greece, whenever the President,
who knows, or ought to know, the disposition of all
the European powers, Turkish or Christian, shall
deem it proper. The amendment goes to withhold
any appropriation to that object, but to make a public
declaration of our sympathy with the Greeks, and of
our good wishes for the success of their cause. And
ho\v has this simple, unpretending, unambitious, this
harmless proposition, been treated in debate ? It
has been argued as if it offered aid to the Greeks ; as
if it proposed the recognition of the independence of
(315)
816 SPEECHES OP HENRY CLAY.
tlieir government; as a measure of unjustifiable in-
terference in the internal affairs of a foreign State,
nnd finally, as Avar. And they who thus argue the
question, while they absolutely surrender themselves
to the illusions of their own fervid imaginations, and
depict, in glowing terms, the monstrous and alarm-
ing consequences which are to spring out of a propo-
fiition so simple, impute to us, who are its humblest
advocates, Quixotism ! Quixotism ! While they are
taking the most extravagant and boundless range, and
arguing anything and everything but the question
before the Committee, they accuse us of enthusiasm,
of giving the reins to excited feeling, of being trans-
ported by our imaginations. No, sir, the resolution
is no proposition for aid, nor for recognition, nor for
interference, nor for war.
I know that there are some who object to the reso-
lution on account of the source from which it has
sprung who except to its mover, as if its value or
importance were to be estimated by personal conside-
rations. I have long had the pleasure of knowing
the honorable gentleman from Massachusetts, and
sometimes that of acting with him ; and I have much
satisfaction in expressing my high admiration of hia
great talents. But I would appeal to my republican
friends, those faithful sentinels of civil liberty with
whom I have overacted, shall we reject a proposition,
consonant to our principles, favoring the good and
great cause, on account of the political character of
its mover? Shall we not rather look to the intrinsic
merits of the measure, and seek every fit occasion to
strengthen and perpetuate liberal principles and noble
ON THE GREEK REVOLUTION. 317
sentiments? If it were possible for republicans to
cease to be the champions of human freedom, and if
federalists became its only supporters, I would cease
to be a republican ; I would become a federalist. The
preservation of the public confidence can only be
secured, or merited, by a faithful adherence to the
principles by which it has been acquired.
Mr. Chairman, is it not extraordinary that for these
two successive years the President of the United States
should have been freely indulged, not only without
censure, but with universal applause, to express the
feelings which both the resolution and the amend-
ment 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 sentiment of appro-
bation has blazed with the rapidity of electricity.
Everywhere the interest in the Greek cause is felt
with the deepest intensity, expressed in every form,
and increases with every new day and passing hour.
And are the representatives of the people alone to be
insulated from the common moral 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 ?
This measure has been most unreasonably magni-
fied. Gentlemen speak of the watchful jealousy of
the Turk, and seem to think the slightest movement
of this body will be matter of serious speculation at
Constantinople. I believe that neither the Sublime
Porte, nor the European allies, attach any such *
27*
318 SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAY.
aggerated importance to the acts and deliberations
of this body. The Turk will, in all probability, never
hear the names of the gentlemen who either espouse
or oppose the resolution. It certainly is not without
a value ; but that value is altogether moral ; it throws
our little tribute into the vast stream of public opi-
nion, which, sooner or later, must regulate physical
action upon the great interests of the civilized world.
But, rely upon it, the Ottoman is not about to declare
war against us because this unoffending proposition
has been offered by rny honorable friend from Massa-
chusetts, whose name, however distinguished and
eminent he may be in our own country, has probably
never reached the ears of the Sublime Porte. The
allied powers are not going to be thrown into a state
of consternation, because we appropriate some two
or three thousand dollars to send an agent to Greece.
The question has been argued as if the Greeks
would be exposed to still more shocking' enormities
by its passage; as if the Turkish cimeter would be
rendered still keener, and dyed deeper and yet deeper
in Christian blood. Sir, if such is to be the effect of
the declaration of our sympathy, the evil has been
already produced. That declaration has been already
publicly and solemnly made by the Chief Magistrate
of the United States, in two distinct messages. It is
this document which commands at home and abroad
the most tixed and universal attention ; which IP.
translated into all the foreign journals; rend by sove-
reigns and their ministers; and, possibly, in the divan
itself. But our resolutions are domestic, for homo
consumption, and rarely, if ever, meet imperial or
ON THE GREEK REVOLUTION. 31t>
royal eyes. The President, in his messages, after a
most touching representation of the feelings excited
by the Greek insurrection, tells you that the dominion
of the Turk is gone forever; and that the most san-
guine hope is entertained that Greece will achieve
her independence. Well, sir, if this be the fact, if
the Allied Powers themselves may, possibly, before
we again assemble in this hall, acknowledge that in-
dependence, is it not fit and becoming in this House
to make provision that our President shall be among
the foremost, or at least not among the last, in that
acknowledgment? So far from this resolution being
likely to whet the vengeance of the Turk against his
Grecian victims, I believe its tendency will be directly
the reverse. Sir, with all his unlimited power, and
in all the elevation of his despotic throne, he is at last
but man, made as we are, of flesh, of muscle, of bone
and sinew. He is susceptible of pain, and can feel,
and has felt, the uncalculating valor of American
freemen in some of his dominions. And when he is
made to understand that the Executive of this Gov-
ernment is sustained by the representatives of the
people; that our entire political fabric, base, column,
and entablature, rulers and people, with heart, soul,
mind, and strength, are all on the side of the gallant
people whom he would crush, he will be more likely
to restrain than to increase his atrocities upon suffer-
ing, bleeding Greece.
The gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr. Bartlett)
has made, on this occasion, a very ingenious, sensible,
and ironical speech an admirable debut for a new
member, arid such as I hope we shall often have re-
620 SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAY.
peated on tl/.j floor. But, permit me to advise my
young friend to remember the maxim that "sufficient
unto the day is the evil thereof;" and when the rcso
lution* on another subject, which I had the honor to
submit, shall come up to be discussed, I hope he will
not content himself with saying, as he has now done,
that it is a very extraordinary one; but that he will
then favor the House with an argumentative speech,
proving that it is our duty quietly to see laid prostrate
every fortress of human hope, and to behold with in-
difference the last outwork of liberty taken and de-
stroyed.
It has been said that the proposed measure will be
a departure from our uniform policy with respect to
foreign nations; that it will provoke the wrath of the
Holy Alliance; and that it will, in effect, be a repe-
tition of their own offence, by an unjustifiable inter-
position in the domestic concerns of other powers.
No, sir, not even if it authorized, which it does no*,
an immediate recognition of Grecian independence.
What has been the settled and steady policy and
practice of this Government, from the days of Wash-
ington to the present moment? In the case of France,
the Father of his country and his successors received
Genet, Fouchet, and all the French ministers who
followed them, whether sent from king, convention,
anarchy, emperor, or king aain. The rule we have
ever followed has been this: to look at the state of
the fact, and to recognize that government, be it what
* The resolution, offered by Mr. Clay, declaring that the United
States would not see with indifference any interference of the Holy
Alliance iu behalf of Spain against the new American republics.
ON THE GREEK REVOLUTION. 321
it might, which was in actual possession of sovereign
power. 'When one government is overthrown, and
another is established on its ruins, without embarras-
sing ourselves with any of the principles involved in
the contest, we have ever acknowledged the new and
actual government as soon as it had undisputed exist-
ence. Our simple inquiry has been, "Is there a
government de facto?' 1 We have had a recent and
memorable example. "When the allied ministers re-
tired from Madrid, and refused to accompany Ferdi-
nand to Cadiz, ours remained, and we sent out a new
minister who sought at that port to present himself
to the constitutional king. Why ? Because it was
the government of Spain in fact. Did the Allies de-
clare war against us for the exercise of this incontest-
able attribute of sovereignty ? Did they even trans-
mit any diplomatic note, complaining of our conduct?
The line of our European policy has been so plainly
described, that it is impossible to mistake it. We are
to abstain from all interference in their disputes, to
take no part in their contests, to make no entangling
alliances with any of them ; but to assert and exercise
our indisputable right of opening and maintaining
diplomatic intercourse with any actual sovereignty.
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 our-
selves with studying the true character of our own
people, and with knowing that the interests are con-
fided 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
v
322 SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAY.
observation made to me by the most illustrious fe-
male* 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 conquered. 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
daro not articulate our detestation of the brutal ex-
cesses of which she has been the bleeding victim, lest
we might offend some one or more of their imperial
and royal majesties? If gentlemen 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
condescenscion, they would allow us to express our
feelings and our sympathies? 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 cannot go through the disgusting recital my
lips have not yet learned to pronounce the sycophan-
tic language of a degraded slave ! Are we so mean,
BO base, so despicable, that we may not attempt to
express our horror, utter our indignation, at. the most
brutal and atrocious war that ever stained earth or
shocked high Heaven ; at the ferocious deeds of a
savnge and infuriated soldiery, stimulated and urged
on by the clergy of a fanatical and inimical religion,
nnd rioting in all the excesses of blood and butchery,
* Madam* de Stuel.
ON THE GREEK REVOLUTION.
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 itu
very presence, let us at least evince that one of its re-
mote extremities is susceptible of sensibility to Chris-
tian wrongs, and capable of sympathy for Christian
Bufferings ; that in this remote quarter of the world
there are hearts not yet closed against compassion for
human woes, that can pour out their indignant feel-
ings at the oppression of a people endeared to us by
every ancient recollection and every modern tie.
Sir, the committee has been attempted to be alarmed
by the dangers to our commerce in the Mediterra-
nean ; 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 ?
On the subject of the other independent American
States, hitherto it has not been necessary to depart
from the rule of our foreign relations observed in re-
gard to Europe. Whether it will become us to do
so or not, will be considered when we take up an-
other resolution, lying on the table. But we may
not only adopt this measure, we may go further: we
may recognize the government in the Morea, if ac-
tually independent, and it will be neither war noi
came of war, nor any violation of our neutrality
824 SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAY.
Besides, sir, what is Greece to the Allies? a part of
the dominions of an}" of them ? By no means. Sup-
pose the people in one of the Philippine Isles, or any
other spot still more insulated and remote, in Asia
or Africa, were to resist their former rulers, and set
up and establish a new government, are we not to
recognize them in dread of the Holy Allies? If they
are going to interfere, from the danger of the conta-
gion of the example, here is the spot, our own favored
land, where they must strike. This Government
you, Mr. Chairman, and the body over which you
preside, are the living and cutting reproach to allied
despotism. If we are to offend them, it is not by
passing this resolution. We are daily and hourly
giving them cause of war. It is here, and in our free
institutions, that they will assail us. They will at-
tack us because you sit beneath that canopy, and we
are freely debating and deliberating upon the great
interests of freemen, and dispensing the blessings
of free government. They will strike because we
pass one of those bills on your table. The passage
of the least of them, by our free authority, is more
galling to despotic powers than would be the adop-
tion of this so-much dreaded resolution. Pass it, and
what do you do? You exercise an indisputable
attribute of sovereignty, for which you are responsi-
ble to none of them. You do the same when you
perform an\ r other legislative function ; no less. If
the Allies object to this measure, let them forbid us
to take a vote in this House ; let them strip us of
every attribute of independent government; let them
disperse us.
ON THE GREEK BE VOLUTION. 325
Will gentlemen attempt to maintain that, on the
{,/nciples of the law of nations, those Allies would
have cause of war? If there be any principle which
has been settled for ages, any which is founded in
the very nature of things, it is that eve/y independent
State has the clear right to judge of the fact of the
existence of other sovereign powers. I admit there
may be a state of inchoate, initiative sovereignty, in
which a new government, just struggling into being,
cannot be said yet perfectly to exist. But the prema-
ture recognition of such new government can give
offence justly to no other than its ancient sovereign.
The right of recognition comprehends the right to bo
informed; and the means of information must, of ne-
cessity, depend upon the sound discretion of the party
seeking it. You may send out a commission of in-
quiry, and charge it with a provident attention to
your own people and your own interests. Such will
will be the character of the proposed agency. It will
not necessarily follow that any public functionary
will be appointed by the President. You merely
grant the means by which the Executive may act
when he thinks proper. What does he tell you in
his message? That Greece is contending for her in-
dependence; that all sympathize with her ; and that
no Power has declared against her. Pass this reso-
lution, and what is the reply which it conveys to
him? "You have sent us grateful intelligence; we
feel warmly for Greece, and we grant you money,
that, when you shall think it proper, when the inte-
rests of this nation shall not be jeoparded, you may
depute a commissioner or public agent to Greece."
28
326 SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAY.
The ./hole responsibility is then left where the Gon-
etitut'on puts it. A member in his place may make
a ^speoeh or proposition, the House may even pass a
vote, ia respect to our foreign affairs, which the Pre-
sident, with the whole field lying full before him,
would not deem it expedient to effectuate.
But, sir, it is not for Greece alone that I desire to
see this measure adopted. It will give to her but
little support, and that purely of a moral kind. It is
principal!/ for America, for the credit and character
of our common country, for our unsullied name, that
I hope to tiee it pass. Mr. Chairman, what appear-
ance on the page of history would a record like this
exhibit? " In the month of January, in the year of
our Lord arid Saviour, 1824, while all European
Christendom beheld, with cold and unfeeling indif-
ference, the unexampled wrongs and inexpressible
misery of Christian Greece, a proposition was made
in the Congress oi*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 spon-
taneously 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 resound-
ing with one burst of generous and hoi}* sympathy
in the year of our Lord and Saviour, that Saviour of
Greece and of ua a proposition was offered in the
ON THE GREEK REVOLUTION. 327
American Congress to send a messenger to Greece,
to inquire into her state and condition, 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 appal-
ling countenances of those who sent you here, and
tell them that you shrank from the declaration of
your own sentiments that you cannot tell how, but
that some unknown dread, some indescribable appre-
hension, some indefinable danger, drove you from
your purpose that the spectres of cirneters, 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 Inde-
pendence, and by Humanity. I cannot 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 un-
qualified approbation.
828 SPEECHES OP HENRY CLAY.
II.
OUR TREATMENT OF THE CHEROKEES.
Delivered in the Senate of the United States, Feb. 11, 1835.
I HOLD in my hands, and beg leave to present to
the Senate, certain resolutions and a memorial to the
Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States, of a council met at Running "Waters, consist-
ing of a portion of the Cherokee Indians. The Che-
rokees have a country if, indeed, it can be any
longer called their country which is comprised
within the limits of Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee,
and South Carolina. They have a population which
is variously estimated, but which, according to the
best information which I possess, amounts to about
fifteen thousand souls. Of this population, a portion,
believed to be much the greater part amounting, as
is estimated, to between nine and ten thousand souls
reside within the limits of the State of Georgia.
The Senate is well aware, that for several years past
it had been the policy of the General Government to
transfer the Indians to the west of the Mississippi
river, and that a portion of the Cherokees have al-
ready availed themselves of this policy of the Gov-
ernment, and emigrated beyond the Mississippi. Of
those who remain, a portion a respectable but also
an inconsiderable portion are desirous of emigrating
to the West, and a much larger portion desire f r*-
TREATMENT OF THE CHEROKEES. 329
main on their lands, and lay their bones where rest
those of their ancestors. The papers which I now
present emanate from the minor portion of the Che-
rokees ; from those who are in favor of emigration.
They present a case which appeals strongly to the
sympathies of Congress. They say that it is impos-
sible for them to continue to live under laws which
they do not understand, passed by authority in which
they have no share, promulgated in language of
which nothing is known to the greater portion of
them, and establishing rules for their government
entirely unadapted to their nature, education, and
habits. They say that destruction is hanging over
them if they remain ; that, their right of self-govern-
ment being destroyed, though they are sensible of all
the privations, and hardships, and sufferings of banish-
ment from their native homes, they prefer exile with
liberty, to residence in their homes with slavery.
They implore, therefore, the intervention of the Gene-
ral Government to provide for their removal west of
the Mississippi, and to establish guarantees, never
hereafter to be violated, of the possession of the lands
to be acquired by them west of the Mississippi, and
of the perpetual right of self-government. This is
the object of the resolutions and petition which I am
about to offer to the Senate.
But I have thought that this occasion was one
which called upon me to express the opinions and
sentiments which I hold in relation to this entire sub-
ject, as respects not only the emigrating Indians, but
those also who are desirous to remain at home ; in
short, to express in concise terms my views of the
28*
330 SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAY
relations between the Indian tribes and the people of
the United States, the rights of both parties, and the
duties of this Government in regard to them.
The rights of the Indians are to be ascertained, in
the first place, by the solemn stipulations of numerous
treaties made with them by the United States. It ia
not my purpose to call the attention of the Senate to
all the treaties which have been made with Indian
tribes bearing on this particular topic; but I feel con-
strained to ask the attention of the Senate to some
portions of those treaties which have been made with
the Cherokees, and to the memorable treaty of Green-
ville, which has terminated the war that previously
thereto, for many years, raged between the United
States and the northwestern Indian tribes. I find,
upon consulting the collection of Indian treaties in
my hand, that within the last half-century, fourteen
different treaties have been concluded with the Chero-
kees, the first of which bore date in the year 1775.
and some one or more of which have been concluded
under every administration of the General Govern-
ment, from the beginning of it to the present time,
except the present Administration, and that which
immediately preceded it. The treaty of Hopewell,
the first in the series, was concluded in 1775; in the
third article of which "the said Indians for them-
selves, and their respective tribes and towns, do ac-
knowledge all the Cherokees to be under the protec-
tion of the United States of America, and of no other
tovereign whatsoever" The fifth article of the same
treaty provides that
" If any citizen of the United States, or other per-
TREATMENT OF THE CHEROKEES. 331
son, not being an Indian, shall attempt to settle on
any of the lands westward or southward of the said
boundary, which are hereby allotted to the Indians
for their hunting-grounds, or, having already settled,
and will not remove from the same within six months
after the ratification, of this treaty, such person shall
forfeit the protection of the United States, and the
Indians may punish him or not, as they please: pro-
vided, nevertheless, that this article shall not extend
to the people settled between the fork of French,
Broad, and Holston rivers," &c.
The next treaty in the series, which was concluded
after the establishment of the Government of the
United States, under the auspices of the Father of
his Country, was in the year 1791, on the banks of
the Ilolston, and contains the following provision :
"ART. 7. The United States solemnly guarantee to
the Cherokee nation all their lands not hereby ceded."
This is not an ordinary assurance of protection,
&c., but a solemn guarantee of the rights of the Chero-
kees to the lands in question. The next treaty to
which I will call the attention of the Senate, was
concluded in 1793, also under the auspices of General
Washington, and declares as follows :
"The undersigned, Henry Knox, Secretary for the
department of war, being authorized thereto by the
President of the United States, in behalf of the said
United States, and the undersigned chiefs and war-
riors, in their own names, and in behalf of the whole
Cherokee nation, are desirous of re-establishing peace
and friendship between the said parties in a perma-
nent manner, do hereby declare that the said treaty
832 SPEECHES OF HEN. -IT CLAY.
of Ilolston is, to all intents and purposes, in full force
and binding upon the said parties, as well in respect
to boundaries therein mentioned, as in all other re-
spects whatever."
This treaty, it is seen, renews the solemn guarantee
contained in the preceding treaty, and declares it to
be binding and obligatory upon the parties in all re-
spects whatever.
Again: in another treat}', concluded in 1798, under
the second Chief Magistrate of the United States, wo
find the following stipulations :
"ART. 2. The treaties subsisting between the pre-
sent contracting parties are acknowledged to be of
full and operating force ; together with the construc-
tion and usage under their respective articles, and so
to continue.
"ART. 3. The limits and boundaries of the Chero-
kee nation, as stipulated and marked by the existing
treaties between the parties, shall be and remain the
same, where not altered by the present treaty."
There were other provisions, in other treaties, to
which, if I did not intend to take up as little time as
possible of the Senate, I might advantageously call
their attention. I will, however, pass on to one of
the last treaties with the Cherokees, which was con-
cluded in the year 1817. That treaty recognized the
difference existing between the t\vo portions of the
Cherokees, one of which was desirous to remain at
home and prosecute the good work of civilization, in
which they had made some progress, and the other
portion was desirous to go beyond the Mississippi.
TREATMENT OF THE CHEROKEES. 333
In that treat}', the fifth article, after several other
stipulations, concludes as follows:
"And it is further stipulated, that the treaties here-
tofore made between the Cherokee nation and the
United States are to continue in full force with both
parts of the nation, and both parts thereof are enti-
tled to all the privileges and immunities which the
old nation enjoyed under the aforesaid treaties; the
United States reserving the right of establishing fac-
tories, a military post, and roads, within the bounda-
ries above defined."
And to this treaty, thus emphatically renewing the
recognition of the rights of the Indians, is signed the
name, as one of the Commissioners of the United
States who negotiated it, of the present Chief Magis-
trate of the United States.
These were the stipulations in treaties with tho
Cherokee nation, to which I thought proper to call
the attention of the Senate. I will now turn to the
treaty of Greenville, concluded about forty years ago,
recognizing some general principles applicable to this
subject. The fifth article of that treaty reads as fol-
lows :
"To prevent any misunderstanding about the In-
dian lands relinquished by the United States in the
fourth article, it is now explicitly declared, that the
meaning of that relinquishment is this : the Indian
tribes who have a right to those lauds are quietly to
enjoy them, hunting, planting, and dwelling thereon
so long as they please, without any molestation from
the United States; but when these tribes, or any of
them, shall be disposed to sell their lands, or any part
834 SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAY.
of them, they are to be sold only to the United States;
and, until such sale, the United States will protect all
the said Indian tribes in the quiet enjoyment of their
lands against all citizens of the United States, and all
other white persons who intrude upon the same.
And the said Indian tribes again acknowledge them-
selves to be under the protection of the said United
States, and no other Power whatever."
Such, sir, are the rights of the Indian tribes. And
what are those rights? They are, that the Indians
shall live under their own customs and laws; that
they shall live upon their own lands, hunting, plant-
ing, and dwelling thereon so long as they please, with-
out interruption or molestation of any sort from the
white people of the United States, acknowledging
themselves under the protection of the United States,
and of no other Power whatever; that when they no
longer wish to keep the lands, they shall sell them
only to the United States, whose Government thus
secures to itself the pre-emptive right of purchase in
them. These rights, so secured by successive trea-
ties and guarantees, have also been recognized, on
several occasions, by the highest judicial tribunals.
But it is not at home alone that the rights of the
Indians within the limits of the United States have
been recognized. Not only has the Executive, the
Congress of the United States, and the Supreme
Court, recognized these rights, but in one of the most
important epochs of this Government, and on one of
the most solemn occasions in our intercourse with
foreign Powers, these rights of the Indian tribes have
been acknowledged. You, sir, will understand me
TREATMENT OF THE CHEROKEES. 335
at once to refer to the negotiation between the Govern-
ment of Great Britain and that of the United States,
which had for its object the termination of the late
war between the two countries. Sir, it must be within
your recollection, and that of every member of the
Senate, that the hinge upon which that negotiation
turned the ground upon which it was for a long
time apprehended that the conference between the
commissioners would terminate in a rupture of the
negotiation between the two countries was, the
claim brought forward on that memorable occasion
by Great Britain in behalf of the Indians within the
limits of the United States. It will be recollected
that she advanced, as a principle from which she
would not recede, as a sina qua non, again and again,
during the progress of the negotiation, that the In-
dians, as her allies, should be included in the treaty
of peace which the negotiators were about forming;
that they should have a permanent boundary assigned
them, and that neither Great Britain nor the United
States should be at liberty to purchase their lands.
Such were the pretensions urged on that occasion,
which the commissioners of the United States felt it
to be their imperative duty to resist. To establish as
the boundary the line of the treaty of Greenville, as
proposed, which would have excluded from the bene-
fit of American laws and privileges a population of
not less than a hundred thousand of the inhabitants
of Ohio American citizens, entitled to the protec-
tion of the Government was a proposition which
the American negotiators could not for a moment en-
tertain : they would not "even refer it to their Govern-
33G SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAY.
ment, though assured that it would there meet the
same unanimous rejection that it did from them.
But it became a matter of some importance that a
satisfactory assurance should be given to Great Britain
that the war, which we were about to bring to a con-
clusion with her, should close also with her allies:
and what was that assurance? I will not trouble the
Senate with tracing the whole account of that nego-
tiation, but I beg leave to call your attention to one
of the passages of it. You will find, on examining
the history of the negotiation, that the demand
brought forward by the British Government, through
their minister, on this occasion, was the subject of
several argumentative papers. Toward the close of
this correspondence, reviewing the course pursued
toward the aborigines by the several European Powera
which had planted colonies in America, comparing
it with that of the United States, and contrasting
the lenity, kindness, and forbearance of the United
States, with the rigor and severity of other Powers,
the American negotiators expressed themselves aa
follows :
" From the rigor of this system, however, as prac-
tised by Great Britain, and all the other European
Powers in America, the humane and liberal policy of
the United States has voluntarily relaxed. A cele-
brated writer on the law of nations, to whose autho-
rity British jurists have taken particular satisfac-
tion in appealing, after stating, in the most explicit
manner, the legitimacy of colonial settlements in
America, to the exclusion of all rights of uncivilized
Indian tribes, has taken occasion to praise the justice
TREATMENT OP THE CHEROKEES. 331
and humanity of the first settlers of New England,
and of the founder of Pennsylvania, in having pur-
chased of the Indians the lands they resolved to cul-
tivate, notwithstanding their being furnished with a
charter from their sovereign. It is this example which
the United States, since they became by their inde-
pendence the sovereigns of the territory, have adopted
and organized into a political system. Under that si/a*
tern, the Indians residing in the United States are so
far independent, that they live under their own customs,
and not under the laws of the United States : that their
rights upon the lands where they inhabit or hunt are
secured to them by boundaries defined in amicable trea-
ties between the United States and themselves ; and
that whenever those boundaries are varied, it is also
by amicable and voluntary treaties, by which they
receive from the United States ample compensation
for every right they have to the lands ceded by
them," &c.
The correspondence was further continued ; and
finally the commissioners on the part of Great Britain
proposed an article to which the American commis-
sioners assented, the basis of which is a declaration
of what is the state of the law between the Indian
tribes and the people of the United States. They
then proposed a further article, which declared that
the United States should endeavor to restore peace
to the Indians who hud acted on the side of Great
Britain, together with all the rights, possessions, pri-
vileges, and immunities, which they possessed prior to
the year 1811, that is, antecedent to the war between
England and the United States ; in consideration that
29 w
838 SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAY.
Great Britain would terminate the war so far as re-
spected the Indians who had been allies of the United
States, and restore to them all the rights, privileges,
possessions, and immunities, which these also had
enjoyed previously to the same period. Mr. Presi-
dent, I here state my solemn belief, that if the Ame-
rican commissioners had not declared the laws be-
tween the Indians and the people of this country,
and the rights of the Indians to be such as they are
stated to be in the extracts I have read to the Se-
nate ; if they had then stated that any one State of
this Union, which happened to have Indians residing
within its limits, possessed the right of extending
over them the laws of such State, and of taking their
lands when and how it pleased, that the eft'eet would
have been a prolongation of the war. I again declare
my most solemn belief that Great Britain, which as-
sented witli great reluctance to this mutual stipula-
tion with respect to the Indians, never would have
done it at all, but under a conviction of the corre-
spondence of -those principles of Indian international
law (if I may use such a phrase), with those which the
United States Government, had respected ever since
the period of our independence.
Sir, if I am right in this, let me ask whether, in
adopting the new code which now prevails, and by
which the rights of the Indians have been trampled
on, and the most solemn obligations of treaties have
been disregarded, we are not chargeable with having
induced that power to conclude a peace with us by
suggestions utterly unfounded and erroneous ?
Most of the treaties between the Cherokee nation
TREATMENT OF THE CHEROKEES. 3oO
of Indians and the United States have been submitted
to the Seriate for ratification, and the Senate have
acted upon them in conformity with their constitu-
tional power. Beside the action of the Senate, as a
legislative body, in the enactment of laws in conform-
ity with their stipulations, regulating the intercourse
of our citizens with that nation, it has acted in its
separate character, and confirmed the treaties them-
selves by the constitutional majority of two-thirds of
its members. Thus have those treaties been sanc-
tioned l>y the Government of the United States and by
every branch^of this Government; by the Senate, the
Executive, and the Supreme Court ; both at home and
abroad. But not only have the rights of the Cherokees
received all these recognitions; they have been, by im-
plication, recognized by the State of Georgia itself, in
the act of 1802, in which she stipulated that the Gov-
ernment of the United States, and not the State of
Georgia, should extinguish the Indian title to the
land within her limits; and the General Government
has been, from time to time, urged by Georgia to
comply with its engagements, from that period until
the adoption of the late new policy upon this subject.
Having thus, Mr. President, stated, as I hope with
clearness, the RIGHTS of the Indian tribes, as recog-
nized by the most solemn acts that can be entered
into by any Government, let me in the next place in-
quire into the nature of tho injuries which have been
inflicted upon them; in other words, into the present
condition of the Cherokees, to whom protection has
been assured as well by solemn treaties as by the laws
and guarantees of the United States Government.
840 SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAY.
And here let me be permitted to say, that 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 do I
assure the honorable Senators from Georgia, that my
wish and purpose is 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 a contemplation of the
miserable condition to which these unfortunate people
have been reduced by acts of legislation proceeding
from one of the States of this confederacy. I again
assure the honorable Senators from Georgia that, if
it has become my painful duty to comment upon some
of these acts, I do it not with any desire to place
them, or the State they represent, in an invidious
position ; but because Georgia was, I believe, the first
in the career, the object of which seems to he the
utter annihilation of every Indian right, and because
she has certainly, in the promotion of it, far out-
stripped every other State in the Union.
I have not before me the various acts of the State
in reference to the Indians within her bounds; and
it is possible I may be under some mistake in refer-
ence to them ; and if I am, no one will correct the
error more readily or with greater pleasure.
If, however, I had all those laws in my hands, I
should not now attempt to read them. Instead of
this, it will be sufficient for me to state the effects
which have been produced by them upon the con-
dition of the Cherokee Indians residing in that State.
TREATMENT OF THE CHEROKEES. 84t
And here follows a list of what has been done by her
Legislature. Her first act was to abolish the govern-
ment of these Cherokees. No human community can
exist without a government of some kind; and the
Cherokees, imitatingour example, and having learned
from us something of the principles of a free Consti-
tution, established for themselves a government some-
what resembling our own. It is quite immaterial to
us what its form was. They always had had some
government among them ; and we guaranteed to them
the right of living under their own laws and customs,
unmolested by any one; insomuch that our own citi-
zens were outlawed, should they presume to interfere
with them. What particular regulations they adopted
in the management of their humble and limited con-
cerns, is a matter with which we have no concern.
However, the very first act of the Georgia Legislature
was to abolish all governments of every sort among
these people, and to extend the laws and government
of the State of Georgia over them. The next step
was to divide their territory into counties; the next,
to survey the Cherokee lands ; and the last, to dis-
tribute this land among the citizens of Georgia by
lottery, giving to every head of a family one ticket,
and the prize in land that should be drawn against it.
To be sure, there were many reservations for the heads
of Indian families and of how much did gentlemen
suppose? of one hundred and sixty acres only, and
this to include their improvements. But even to this
limited possession, the poor Indian was to have no
fee-simple title; he was to hold as a mere occupant,
at the will of the State of Georgia, for just so long
29*
842 SPEECHES OT ffENRY CLAY.
or so short a time as she might think proper. The
laws at the same time gave him no one particular right
whatever. He could not become a member of tho
State Legislature, nor could he hold any office under
State authority, nor could he vote as an elector. He
possessed not one single right of a freeman. No, not
even the poor privilege of testifying to his wrongs in
the character of a witness in the courts of Georgia,
or in any matter of controversy whatever.
These, Mr. President, are the acts of the Legisla-
ture of the State of Georgia in relation to the Indians.
They were not all passed at one session ; they were
enacted, time after time, as the State advanced fur-
ther and further in her steps to the acquisition of the
Indian country, and the destruction and annihilation
of all Indian rights, until, by a recent act of the same
body, the courts of the State itself are occluded
against the Indian sufferer, and he is actually denied
an appeal even to foreign tribunals, in the erection
and in the laws of which he had no voice, there to
complain of his wrongs. If he enters the hall of
Georgia's justice, it is upon a surrender at the thresh-
old of all his rights. The history of this law to which
I have alluded, is this: When the previous law of the
State, dividing the Indian lands by lottery was passed,
some Indians made an appeal to one of the judges of
the State, and applied for an injunction against the
proceeding; and such was the undeniable justice of
their plea, that the judge found himself unable to
refuse it, and he granted the injunction sought. It
was the injunction which led to the passage of this
act, to some of the provisions of which I now invite
TREATMENT OF THE CHEROKEES. 843
the attention of the Senate. And first, to the title
of the act :
"A bill to amend an act entitled an act more effect-
ually to provide for the government and protection
of the Cherokee Indians residing within the limits
of Georgia: and to prescribe the bounds of their
occupant claims: and also to authorize grants to issue
for lots drawn in the late land and gold lotteries."
Ah, sir, it was the pursuit of gold which led the
Spanish invader to desolate the fair fields of Mexico
and Peru
"And to provide for the appointment of an agent
to carry certain parts thereof into execution ; and to
fix the salary of such agent, and to punish those per-
sons who may deter Indians from enrolling for emi-
gration, passed 20th December, 1833."
Well, sir, this bill goes on to provide,
"That it shall be the duty of the agent or agents
appointed by his excellency the Governor, under the
authority of this or the act of which it is amendatory,
to report to him the number, district, and section of
all lots of land subject to be granted by the provisions
of said act, which he may be required to do by the
drawer, or his agent, or the person claiming the
earne ; and it shall be the duty of his excellency the
Governor, upon the application of the drawer of any
of the aforesaid lots, his or her special agents, or the
person to whom the drawer may have bona-fide con-
veyed the same, his agent or assigns, to issue a grant
therefor; and it shall be the duty of the said agent
or agents, upon the production of the grant so issued
as aforesaid by the grantor, his or her agent, or the
844 SPEECH ES OF HENRY CLAT.
person, or his JT her agent to whom the said land so
granted as aforesaid may have been bona-fide con-
veyed, to deliver possession of said granted lot to the
said grantee or person entitled to the possession of
the same under the provisions of this act, or the act
of which this is amendatory, and his excellency the
Governor is hereby authorized, upon satisfactory evi-
dence that the said agent is impeded or resisted in
delivering such possession, by a force which he cannot
overcome, to order out a sufficient force to carry the
power of said agent or agents fully into effect, and to
pay the expenses of the same out of the contingent
fund: Provided, nothing in this act shall be so con-
strued as to require the interference of the said agent
between two or more individuals claiming possession,
by virtue of titles derived from a grant from the State,
to any lot."
Thus, after the State of Georgia had distributed the
lands of the Indians by lottery, and the drawers of
prizes were authorized to receive grants of the land
drawn, and with these grants in their hand, were
authorized to demand of the agent of the State, ap-
pointed for the purpose, to be put in possession of the
soil thus obtained. If any resistance to their entry
should be made and who was to make it but a poor
Indian ? the Governor was empowered to turn out
the military force of the State, and enable the agent
to take possession by force, without trial, without
judgment, and without investigation.
But, should there be two claimants of the prize,
should two of the ticket-holders dispute their claim
to the game lot, then no military force was to be used.
TREATMENT OF THE CHEROKEE 9. 845
It was only when the resistance was by an Indian
it was only when Indian rights should come into col-
lision with the alleged rights of the State of Georgia
that the strong hand of military power was instantly
to interpose.
The next section of the act is in these words:
"And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid,
That if any person dispossessed of a lot of land under
this act, or the act of which it is amendatory, shall
go before a justice of the peace or of the inferior
court, and make affidavit that he or she was not liable
to be dispossessed under or by any of the provisions
of this or the aforesaid act, and tile said affidavit in
the clerk's office of the superior court of the county
in which said land shall lie, such person, upon giving
bond and security in the clerk's office for the costs to
accrue on the trial, shall be permitted, within ten
days from such dispossessing, to enter an appeal to
said superior court, and at said court the judge shall
cause an issue to be made up between the appellant
and the person to whom possession of said land was
delivered by either of said agents, which said issue
shall be in the following form."
[Mr. Cuthbert, of Georgia, here interposed; and,
having obtained Mr. Clay's consent to explain, stated
that he had unfortunately not been in the Senate
when the honorable Senator commenced his speech ;
but had learned that it was in support of a memorial
from certain Cherokee Indians in the State of
Georgia, who desired to emigrate. He must be per
mitted to say, that the current of the honorable Sena
tor's remarks did not suit remarkably well the subject
840 SPEECHES OP HENRY CLA1.
of such a memorial. A memorial of a different kind
had been presented, and which the Committee on
Indian Affairs had before it, to which the Senator's
remarks would better apply. The present discussion
was wholly unexpected, and it seemed to him not in
consistency with the object of the memorial he had
presented.]
MR. CLAY. I am truly sorry the honorable gentle-
man was absent when I commenced speaking. I
delayed presenting the memorial because I observed
that neither of the Senators from Georgia were in
their seats, until the hour when they might be ex-
pected to be present, and when one of them (Mr. King)
had actually taken his seat. If the honorable Senator
had been present, he would have heard me say that I
thought the presentation of the memorial a fit occa-
sion to express my sentiments, not only touching the
rights of these individual petitioners, but on the
rights of all the Indian tribes, and their relations to
this Government. And if he will have but a little
patience, he will find that it is my intention to present
propositions which go to embrace both resolutions.
And here, Mr. President, let me pause and invite
the attention of the Senate to the provision in the act
of Georgia which I was reading that is, that he may
have the privilege of an appeal to a tribunal of jus-
tice, by forms and by a bond with the nature and
force of which he is unacquainted; and that then he
may have what besides? I invoke the attention of
the Senate to this part of the law. What, I ask, doei
it secure to the Indian? His rights? The rights re-
cognized by treaties? The rights guaranteed to him.
Ttit. ATMElf T OF THE CHEROKEES. 347
by Jb.e most solemn acts which human governments
eati perform. No. It allows him to come into the
courts of the State, and there to enjoy the benefit of
the summary proceeding called in the act "an appeal !"
but which can never be continued beyond a second
term; and when he comes there, what then? lie
shall be permitted to come into court and enter an.
appeal, which shall be in the following form:
"A. B., who was dispossessed of a lot of land by
an agent of the State of Georgia, comes into court,
and admitting the right of the State of Georgia to pass
the law under which said agent acted, avers that he was
not liable to be dispossessed of said land, by or under
any one of the provisions of the act of the General
Assembly of Georgia, passed 20th December, 1833,
'more effectually to provide for the protection of the
Cherokee Indians residing within the limits of Geor-
gia, and to prescribe the bounds of their occupant
claims, and also to authorize grants to issue for lots
drawn in the land and gold lotteries in certain cases,
and to provide for the appointment of an agent to
carry certain parts thereof into execution, and fix the
salary of such agent, and to punish those persons who
may deter Indians from enrolling for emigration,' or
the act amendatory thereof, passed at the session of
the Legislature of 1834 : ' in which issue the person to
whom possession of said land was delivered shall
join; and which issue shall constitute the entire
pleadings between the parties ; nor shall the court
allow any matter other than is contained in said issue
to be placed upon the record or files of said court;
and said cause shall be tried at the first term of the
SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAY.
court, unless good cause shall be shown for a continu-
ance, and the same party shall not be permitted to
continue said cause more than once, except for un-
avoidable providential cause: nor shall said court, at
the instance of either party, pass any order or grant
at.y injunction to stay said cause, nor permit to bo
engrafted on said cause any other proceedings what-
ever."
At the same time we find, by another enactment, the
judges of the courts of Georgia are restrained from
granting injunctions, so that the only form in which
the Indian can come before them, is in the form of
an appeal ; and in this, the very first step is an abso-
lute renunciation of the rights he holds by treaty, and
the unqualified admission of the rights of his antago-
nist, as conferred by the laws of Georgia; and the
court is expressly prohibited from putting anything
else upon the record. "Why? Do we not all know
the reason? If the poor Indian was allowed to put
in a plea stating his rights, and the court should then
decide against him, the cause would go upon an
appeal to the Supreme Court; the decision could be
re-examined, could be annulled, and the authority of
treaties vindicated. But, to prevent this, to make it
impossible, he is compelled, on entering the court, to
renounce his Indian rights, and the court is forbidden
to put anything on record which can bring up a deci-
sion upon them.
Mr. President, I have already stated that, in the
observations I have made, I am actuated by no other
feeling than such as ought to be in the breast of
every honest mail the feeling of common justice.
TREATMENT OF THE C1IEROKEES. 349
I would say nothing, I would whisper nothing, I
would insinuate nothing, I would think nothing,
which can, in the remotest degree, cause irritation in
the mind of any one, of any Senator here, of any
State in this Union. I have too much respect for
every member of the confederacy. I feel nothing but
grief for the wretched condition of these most unfor-
tunate people, and every emotion of my bosom dis-
suades me from the use of epithets that might raise
emotions which should draw the attention of the
Senate from the justice of their claims. I forbear to
apply to this law any epithet of any kind. Sir, no
epithet is needed. The features of the law itself; its
warrants for the interposition of military power, when
no trial and no judgment has been allowed; its denial
of any appeal, unless the unhappy Indian shall first
renounce his own rights, and admit the rights of his
opponent features such as these, are enough to show
what the true character of the act is, and supersede
the necessity of all epithets, were I even capable of
applying them.
The Senate will thus perceive that the whole power
of the State of Georgia, military as well as civil, has
been made to bear upon these Indians, without their
having any voice in forming, judging upon, or exe-
cuting the laws under which they are placed, and
without even the poor privilege of establishing the
injury they may have suffered by Indian evidence;
nay, worse still, not even by the evidence of a white
man ! Because the renunciation by each of his rights
precludes all evidence, white or black, civilized or
eavage. There, then, he lies, with his property, hi8
30
350 SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAY.
rights, and every privilege which makes human exist-
ence desirable, at the mercy of the State of Georgia;
a State in whose government or laws he has no voice.
Sir, it is impossible for the most active imagination to
conceive a condition of human society more perfectly
wretched. Shall I be told that the condition of the
African slave is worse? No, sir; no, sir. It is not
worse. The interest of the master makes it at onco
his duty and his inclination to provide for the comfort
and the health of his slave: for without these he
would he unprofitable. Both pride and interest ren-
der the master prompt in vindicating the rights of
his slave, and protecting him from the oppression of
others, and the laws secure to him the amplest means
to do so. But who, what human being, stands in
the relation of master, or any other relation, which
makes him interested in the preservation and protec-
tion of the poor Indian, thus degraded and miserable?
Thrust out from human society, without the sympa-
thies of any, and placed without the pale of common
justice, who is there to protect him, or to defend hia
rights?
Such, Mr. President, is the present condition of
these Cherokee memorialists, whose case it is rny
duty to submit to the consideration of the Senate.
There remains but one more inquiry before I con-
clude. Is there any remedy within the scope of the
powers of the Federal Government as given by tho
Constitution ? If we are without the power, if wo
have no constitutional authority, then we are also
without responsibility. Our regrets may be excited,
our sympathies may be moved, our humanity may be
TREATMENT OF THE CHEROKEES. 351
shocked, our hearts may be grieved, but if our hands
are tied, we can only unite with all the good, the
Christian, the benevolent portion of the human family,
in deploring what we cannot prevent.
But, sir, we are not thus powerless. I stated to
the Senate, when I began, that there are two classes
of the Cherokees; one of these classes desire to emi-
grate, and it was their petition I presented this morn-
ing; and with respect to these, our powers are ample
to afford them the most liberal and effectual relief.
They wish to go beyond the Mississippi, and to be
guaranteed in the possession of the country which
may be there assigned to them. As the Congress of
the United States have full powers over the territo-
tories, we may give them all the guarantee which
Congress can express for the undisturbed possession
of their lands. With respect to their case there can
be no question as to our powers.
And then, as to those who desire to remain on this
side the river, I ask again, are we powerless ? Can
we afford them no redress ? Must we sit still and see
the injury they suffer, and extend no hand to relieve
them ? It were strange, indeed, were such the case.
Why have we guaranteed to them the enjoyment of
their own laws ? Why have we pledged to them
protection ? Why have we assigned them limits of
territory ? Why have we declared that they shall
enjoy their homes in peace, without molestation from
any? If the United States Government has con-
tracted these serious obligations, it ought, before the
Indians were induced by our assurances to rely upon
our engagement, to have explained to them its want
852 SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAT.
of authority to make the contract. Before we pre-
tend to Great Britain, to Europe, to the civilized
world, that such were the rights we would secure to
the Indians, we ought to have examined the extent
and the grounds of our own right to do so. But is
such, indeed, our situation ? Xo, sir. Georgia has
shut her courts against these Indians. What is the
remedy? To open ours. Have we not the right?
What 883*8 the Constitution ?
" The judicial power shall extend to all cases in
law and equity, arising under this Constitution, the
laws of the United States, arid treaties made, or which
shall be made, under their authority."
But here is a case of conflict betvveen the rights of
the proprietors and the local laws; and here is the
very case which the Constitution contemplated, when
it declared that the power of the Federal Judiciary
should extend to all cases arising under the authority
of the United States. Therefore it is fully within the
competence of Congress, under the provisions of the
Constitution, to provide the manner in which the
Cherokees may have their rights decided, because a
grant of the means is included in the grant of juris-
diction. It is competent, then, for Congress to de-
cide whether the Cherokees have a right to come into
a court of justice, and to make an appeal to the
highest authority to sustain the solemn treaties under
which their rights have been guaranteed, and in the
sacred character of which they have reposed their
confidence. And if Congress possesses the power
to extend relief to the Indians, are they riot bound
by the most sacred of human considerations, the obli-
TREATMENT OP THE CHEROKEES. 353
gations of treaties, the protection assured them, by
every Christian tie, every benevolent feeling, every
humane impulse of the human heart, to extend it'f
If they were to fail to do this, and there is, as rea-
son and revelation declare there is, a tribunal of
eternal justice to which all human power is amena-
ble, how could the}-, if they refused to perform their
duties to this injured and oppressed, though civilized
race, expect to escape the visitations of that Divine
vengeance which none will be permitted to avoid
who have committed wrong, or done injustice to
others?
At this moment, when the United States are urg
ing on the Government of France the fulfilment of
the obligations of the treaty concluded with that
country, to the execution of which it is contended
that France has plighted her sacred faith, what
strength, what an irresistible force would be given
to our plea, if we could say to France that, in all in-
stances, we had completely fulfilled all our engage-
ments, and that we had adhered faithfully to every
obligation which we had contracted, no matter whe-
ther it was entered into with a powerful or a weak
people ; if we could say to her that we had complied
with all our engagements to others, that we now
came before her, always acting right as we had done,
to induce her also to fulfil her obligations with us.
IIow shall we stand in the eyes of France and of the
civilized world, if, in spite of the most solemn trea-
ties, which have existed for half a century, and have
b^en recognized in every form, and by every brunch
of the Government, how shall we be justified if we
30* X
354 SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAY.
suffer these treaties to be trampled under foot, and
tiie rights which they were given to secure trodden
in the dnst? How would Great Britain, after the
solemn understanding entered into with her at Ghent,
feel after such a breach of faith ? And how could I,
as a commissioner in the negotiation of that treaty,
hold up my head before Great Britain, after being
thus made an instrument of fraud and deception, as
1 assuredly shall be, if the rights of the Indians are
to be thus outraged, and the treaties by which they
were secured violated ? How could I hold up my head,
after such a violation of rights, and say that I am
proud of my country, of which we must all wish to be
proud ?
For myself, I rejoice that I have been spared, and
allowed a suitable opportunity to present my views
and opinions on this great national subject, so inte-
resting to the character of the country for justice and
equity. I rejoice that the voice which, without chargo
of presumption or arrogance, I may say, lias ever
been raised in defence of the oppressed of the human
species, has been heard in defence of this most op-
pressed of all. To me, in that awful hour of death,
to which all must come, and which, with respect to
myself, cannot be very far distant, it will be a source
of the highest consolation that an opportunity has
l>een found by rne, on the floor of the Senate, in the
discharge of my official duty, to pronounce my views
on a course of policy marked by such wrongs as are
calculated to arrest the attention of every one, and
that 1 have raised my humble voice, and pronounced
my solemn protest against such wrongs.
ON THE PUBLIC LANDS. 855
III.
ON THE PUBLIC LANDS.
Delivered in the Senate of the United States, 1832.
IN T rising to address the Senate, I owe, in tr.e first
place, the expression of my hearty thanks to the ma-
jority, by whose vote, just given, I am indulged in
occupying the floor on this most important question.
I am happy to see that the days when the sedition
acts and gag laws were in force, and when screws
were applied for the suppression of the freedom of
speech and debate, are not yet to return ; and that,
when the consideration of a great question has been
specially assigned to a particular day, it is not allowed
to be arrested and thrust aside by any unexpected
and unprecedented parliamentary manoeuvre. The
decision of the majority demonstrates that feelings
of liberality, and courtesy, and kindness, still prevail
iu the Senate ; and that t\\ey will be extended even
to one of the humblest members of the body ; for
Buch, I assure the Senate, I feel myself to be.
It may not be amiss again to allude to the extraor-
dinary reference of the subject of the public lands to
the Committee of Manufactures. I have nothing to
do with the motives of honorable Senators who com-
posed the majority by which that reference was or-
dered. The decorum proper in this hall obliges me
to consider their motives to have been pure and pa-
triotic. But still I must be permitted to regard the
85G SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAT.
proceeding as very unusual. Tlie Senate has a stand-
ing Committee on the Public Lands, appointed under
long established rules. The members of that Com-
mittee are presumed to be well acquainted with the
subject ; they have some of them occupied the same
station for many years, are well versed in the whole
legislation on the public lands, and familiar with
every branch of it; and four out of five of them come
from the new States. Yet, with a full knowledge of
all these circumstances, a reference was ordered, by a
majority of the Senate, to the Committee on Manu-
factures a Committee than which there is not an-
other standing committee of the Senate whose pre-
scribed duties are more incongruous with the public
domain. It happened, in the constitution of the
Committee of Manufactures, that there was not a
solitary Senator from the new States, and but one
from any "Western State. We earnestly protested
against the reference, and insisted upon its impro-
priety ; but we were overruled by the majority, in-
cluding a majority of Senators from the new States.
I will not attempt an expression of the feelings ex-
cited in my mind on that occasion. Whatever may
have been the intention of honorable Senators, I
could not be insensible to the embarrassment in which
the Committee of Manufactures was placed, and espe-
cially myself. Although any other member of that
Committee could have rendered himself, with appro-
priate researches and proper time, more competent
than I was to understand the subject of the Public
Lauds, it was known that, from my local position, I
aluiie was supposed to have any particular knowledge
ON THE PUBLIC LAXDS. 357
of them. "Whatever emanated from the Committee
was likely, therefore, to be ascribed to me. If the
Committee should propose a measure of great libe-
rality toward the new States, the old States might
complain If the measure should seem to lean to-
ward the old States, the new might be dissatisfied.
And, if it inclined to neither class of States, but
recommended a plan according to which there would
be distributed impartial justice among all the States,
it was far from certain that any would be pleased.
Without venturing to attribute to honorable Sena-
tors the purpose of producing this personal embar-
rassment I felt it as a necessary consequence of their
act, ju^ as much as if it had been in their contempla-
tion. Nevertheless, the Committee of Manufactures
cheerfully entered upon the dury which, against its
will, was thus assigned to it by the Senate. And for
the causes already noticed, that of preparing a report
and suggesting some measure embracing the whole
subject, devolved in the committee upon me. The
general features of our land system were strongly im-
pressed upon rny memory; but I found it necessary
to re-examine some of the treaties, deeds of cession,
and laws, which related to the acquisition and admin-
istration of the public lands; and then to think of,
and if possible strike out some project, which, with-
out inflicting injury upon any of the States, might
deal equally and justly with all of them. The report
and bill, submitted to the Senate, after having been
previously sanctioned by a majority of the Commit-
tee, were the results of this consideration. The re-
port, with the exception of the principle of distribu-
358 SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAY.
tion which concludes it, obtained the unanimous
concurrence of the Committee of Manufactures.
This report and bill were hardly read in the Senate
before they were violently denounced. And they
were not considered by the Senate before a proposi-
tion was made to refer the report to that very Com-
mittee of the Public Lands to which, in the first in-
stance, I contended the subject ought to have been
assigned. It was in vain that we remonstrated against
such a proceeding, as unprecedented; as implying
unmerited censure on the Committee of Manufac-
ture's; as leading to interminable references: for what
more reason could there be to refer the report of the
Committee of Manufactures to the Land Committee
than would exist for a subsequent reference of the
report of this Committee, when made, to some third
committee, and so on in an endless circle? In spite
of all our remonstrances, the same majority, with but
little if any variation, which had originally resolved
to refer the subject to the Committee of Manufac-
tures, now determined to commit its bill to the Land
Committee. And this not only without particular
examination into the merits of the bill, but without
the avowal of any specific amendment which was
deemed necessary! The Committee of Public Lands,
after the lapse of some days, presented a report, and
recommended a reduction of the price of the p iblic
lands immediately to one dollar per acre, and eventu-
ally to fifty cents per acre ; and the grant to the new
States of fifteen per cent, on the nett proceeds of the
sales, instead of ten, as proposed by the Committee
of Manufactures, and nothing to the old States.
ON THE PUBLIC LANDS.
And now, Mr. President, I desire at this time to
make a few observations in illustration of the origi-
nal report; to supply some omissions in its composi-
tion ; to say something as to the power and rights of
the General Government over the public domain ; to
submit a few remarks on the counter-report; and to
examine the assumptions which it contains, and the
principles on which it is founded.
No subject which had presented itself to the pre-
sent, or perhaps any preceding Congress, was of
greater magnitude than that of the 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 successfully to
cope with the manufactures of any other country, the
public lands will remain a subject of deep and endu-
ring 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 Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, from the
Gulf of Mexico to the northwestern lakes, the quan-
tity, according to official surveys and estimates,
amounting to the prodigious sum of one billion and
eighty millions of acres! As to the duration of the
interest regarded as a source of comfort to our people,
and of public income during the last year, when
a greater quantity was sold than ever in one year had
been previously sold, it amounted to less than three
360 SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAY.
millions of acres, producing three and a half millions
of dollars. Assuming that year as affording the
standard rate at which the lands will be annually
sold, it would require three hundred years to dis-
pose of them. But the sales will probably be acce-
lerated from increased population and other causes.
We may safely, however, anticipate that long, if
not centuries after the present day, the representa-
tives of our children's children may be deliberating
in the halls of Congress on laws relating to the pub-
lic lands.
The subject, on other points of view, challenged
the fullest attention of an American statesman. If
there were anyone circumstance more than all others
which distinguished our happy condition from that
of the nations of the Old World, it was the possession
of this vast national property, and the resources which
it afforded to our people and our Government. No
European nation (possibly with the exception of Rus-
sia) commanded such an ample resource. With re-
epeet to the other Republics of this continent, we
have no information that any of them have yet adopted
a regular system of previous survey and subsequent
sale of their wild lands, in convenient tracts, well de-
fined, and adapted to the wants of all. On the con-
trary, the probability is that they adhere to the ruin-
ous and mad system of old Spain, according to which
large, unsurveyed districts are granted to favorite in-
dividuals, prejudicial to them, who often sink under
the incumbrance, and die in poverty, while the regu-
lar current of immigration is checked and diverted
from its legitimate channels.
ON THE PUBLIC LAXDS. 361
And if there be, in the operations of this Govern-
ment, one which more than any other displays con-
summate wisdom and statesmanship, it is that system
hy which the pnhlic lands have been eo successfully
administered. We should pause, solemnly pause,
before we subvert it. We should touch it hesita-
tingly, and with the gentlest hand. The prudent
management of the puhlic lands, in the hands of the
General Government, will be more manifest by con-
trasting it with that of several of the States, which
had the disposal of large bodies of waste "lands. Vir-
ginia possessed an ample domain west of the moun-
tains, and in the present State of Kentucky, over and
above her munificent cession to the General Govern-
ment. Pressed for pecuniary means, by the Revolu-
tionary war, she brought her wild lands, during its
progress, into market, receiving payment in paper-
money. There were no previous surveys of the waste
lands no townships, no sections, no official defini-
tion or description of tracts. Each purchaser made
his own location, describing the land bought as he
thought proper. These locations or descriptions were
often vague and uncertain. The consequence was>
that the same tract was not unfrequently entered va-
rious times by different purchasers, so as to be lite-
rally shingled over with conflicting claims. The
Srate perhaps sold in this way more than it was enti-
tled to, but then it received nothing in return that
was valuable; while the purchasers, in consequence
of the clashing and interference between their rights,
were exposed to tedious, vexatious, and ruinous liti-
gation. Kentucky long and severely suffered from
31
62 SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAY.
this cnnso, and is just emerging 1 from the troubles
brought upon her by improvident land legislation.
Western Virginia has also suffered greatly, though
not to the same extent.
The State of Georgia had large bodies of waste
lands, which she disposed of in a manner satisfactory,
no doubt, to herself, but astonishing to every one out
of that commonwealth. Accord! nar to her system,
o *t
waste lands are distributed in lotteries among the
people of the State, in conformity with the cnsict-
nients of the Legislature. And when one district of
country is disposed of, as there are many who do not
draw prizes, the unsuccessful call out for fresh distri-
butions. These are made from time to time, as land?,
are acquired from the Indians; and hence one of the
causes of the avidity with which the Indian lands are
sought. It is manifest that neither the present gene-
ration nor posterity can derive much advantage from
this mode of alienating public lands. On the con-
trary, I should think, it cannot fail to engender spe-
culation and a spirit of gambling.
The State of Kentucky, in virtue of a compact with
Virginia, acquired a right to a quantity of public
lands south of Green river. Neglecting to profit by
the unfortunate example of the parent State, she did
not order the country to be surveyed previous to its
being offered to purchasers. Seduced by some of
those wild land projects, of which at all times there
have been some afloat, and which hitherto the Gene-
ral Government alone has firmly resisted, she was
tempted to ofier her waste lands to settlers, at difi'er
eut prices, under the name of head-rights or pro-
ON THE PUBLIC LANDS. 362
emptions. As the laws, like most legislation :ipou
such subject?, were somewhat loosely worded, the
keen eye of the speculator soon discerned the defects,
and he took advantage of them. Instances had oc-
curred of masters obtaining certificates of head-rights
in the name of their slaves, and thus securing the
land, in contravention of the intention of the Legis-
lature. Slaves generally have but one name, being
called Tom, Jack, Dick, or Harry. To conceal the
fraud, the owner would add Black, or some other cog-
nomination, so that the certificate would read Tom
Black, Jack Black, &c. The gentleman from Ten-
nessee (Mr. Grundy) will remember, some twenty-odd
years ago, when we were both members of the Ken-
tucky Legislature, that I took occasion to animadvert
upon these fraudulent practices, and observed that
when the names came to be alphabeted, the truth
would be told, whatever might be the language of
the record; for the alphabet would read Black Torn,
Black Harry, &c. Kentucky realized more in her
treasury than the parent State had done, considering
that she had but a remnant of public lands, and she
added somewhat to her population. But her lands
were far less available than they would have been
under a system of previous survey and regular sale.
These observations in respect to the course of the
respectable States referred to, in relation to their
public lands, are not prompted by any unkind feelings
toward them, but to show the superiority of the land
system of the United States.
Under the system of the General Government, the
v 'tsdoin of which, in some respects, is admitted even
3G4 SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAY.
by the report of tlie land committee, the country sub-
ject to its operation, beyond the Alleghany Moun-
tains, has rapidly advanced in population, improve-
ment, and prosperity. The example of the State of
Ohio was emphatically relied on by the report of the
committee of manufactures its million of people, its
canals and other improvements, its flourishing towns,
its highly-cultivated fields, all put there within le>s
than forty years. To weaken the force of this ex-
ample, the land committee deny that the population
of that State is principally settled upon public lands
derived from the General Government. But, Mr.
President, with great deference to that committee, I
must say that it labors under misapprehension. Three-
fourths, if not four-fifths, of the population of that
State are settled upon public lands purchased from
the United States, and they are the most flourishing
parts of the State. For the correctness of this state-
ment, I appeal to my friend from Ohio (Mr. Ewinjr),
near me. He knows, as well as I do, that the rich
valleys of the Miami of Ohio, and the Maurnee of tl'O
.ake, the Scioto and the Mu.-kingum, are principally
settled by persons deriving titles to their lands from
the United States.
In a national point of view, one of the greatest ad-
vantages which these public lands in the West, and
this system of selling them, affords, is the resource
which they present against pressure and want, in other
parts of the Union, from the vocations of society
being too closely filled and too much crowded. They
constantly tend to sustain the price of labor, by the
opportunity which they offer for the acquisition of
ON THE PUBLIC LANDS. 865
fertile land at a moderate price, and the consequent
temptation to emigrate from those parts of the Uiiion
where labor may be badly rewarded.
The progress of settlement, and the improvement
in the fortunes and condition of individuals, under
the operation of this benelicent system, are as simple
as they are manifest. Pioneers of a more adven-
turous character, advancing before the tide of emi-
gration, penetrate into the uninhabited regions of the
West. They apply the axe to the forest, which falls
before them, or the plough to the prairie, deeply sink-
ing its share in the unbroken wild grasses in which it
abounds. They build houses, plant orchards, inclose
fields, cultivate the earth, and rear up families around
them. Meantime, the tide of emigration flows upon
them, their improved farms rise in value, a demand
for them takes place, they sell to the new-comers at a
great advance, and proceed farther West, with ample
means to purchase from government, at reasonable
prices, sufficient laud for all the members of their
families. Another and another succeeds, the lirst
pushing on westwardly the previous settlers, who in
their turn -sell out their farms, constantly augmenting
in price, until they arrive at a fixed and stationary
value. In this way, thousands and tens of thousands
are daily improving their circumstances and bettering
their condition. I have often witnessed this grati-
fying progress. On the same farm you may some-
times behold, standing together, the first rude cabin
of round and unhewn logs, and wooden chimneys;
the hewed-log house, chinked and shingled, with
stone or brick chimneys ; and lastly, the comfortable
31*
366 SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAT.
brick or stone dwelling; each denoting the different
occupants of the farm, OF the several stages in the
condition of the same occupant. What other nation
can hoast of such an outlet for its increasing popu-
lation, such bountiful means of promoting their pros-
perity, and sccu.ring their independence?
To the public lands of the United States, and espe-
cially to the existing system by which they are dis-
tributed with so much regularity and equity, are we
indebted for these signal benefits in our national con-
dition. And every consideration of duty, to our-
selves and to posterity, enjoins that we should abstain
from the adoption of any wild project that would cast
away this vast national property, holden by the Gene-
ral Government in sacred trust for the whole people
of the United States, and forbids that we should
rashly touch a system which has been so successfully
tested by experience.
It has been only within a few years that restless
men have thrown before the public their visionary
plans for squandering the public domain. With the
existing laws the great State of the West is satisfied
and contented. She has felt their benefit, and grown
great and powerful under their sway. She knows
and testifies to the liberality of the General Govern-
ment in the administration of the public lands, ex-
tended alike to her and to the other new States.
There are no petitions from, no movements in Ohio,
proposing vital and radical changes in the system.
During the long period, in the House of Eepresenta-
tives and in the Senate, that her upright and unam-
bitious citizen, the first representative of that State,
ON THE PUBLIC LANDS. 867
and afterward successively Senator and Governor,
presided over the Committee of Public Lands, wo
heard of none of these chimerical schemes. All went
on smoothly, and quie'.y, and safely. No man, in
the sphere within which he has acted, ever com-
manded or deserved the implicit confidence of Con-
gress more than Jeremiah Morrow. There existed a
perfect persuasion of his entire impartiality and justice
between the old States and the new. A few artless
but sensible words, pronounced in his plain Scotch-
Irish dialect, were always sufficient to insure the pas-
sage of any bill or resolution which he reported. For
about twenty-five years there was no essential change
in. the system ; and that which was at last made,
varying the price of the public lands from two dollars,
at which it had all that time remained, to one dollar
and a quarter, at which it has been fixed only about
ten or twelve }-ears, was founded mainly on the con-
sideration of abolishing the previous credits.
Assuming the duplication of our population in
terms of twenty -five years, the demand for waste
land, at the end of every term, will at least be double
what it was at the commencement. But the ratio of
the increased demand will be much greater than the
increase of the whole population of the United States,
because the Western States nearest to, or including
the public lands, populate much more rapidly than
other parts of the Union ; and it will be from them
that the greatest current of emigration will flow. At
this moment Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee, are the
most migrating States in the Union.
To supply this constantly -augmenting .demand, the
868 SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAY.
policy wbicli lias hitherto characterized the General
Government has heen highly liberal toward hoth in-
dividuals and the new States. Large tracts, far sur
passing the demand of purchasers, in every climate
and situation, adapted to the wants of all parts ot'tlie
Union, are brought into market at moderate prices,
the Government having sustained all the expense of
the original purchase, and of surveying, narking,
and dividing the land. For fifty dollars any poor
man may purchase forty acres of tir.-t-rate land ; and
for less than the wages of one year's labor, he may
buy eighty acres. To the new States, also, has the
Government been liberal and generous in the grants
for schools and for internal improvements, as well as
in reducing the debt contracted for the purchase of
lands, by the citizens of those States, who were
tempted, in a spirit of inordinate speculation, to pur-
chase too much, or at too high prices.
Such is a rapid outline of this invaluable national
property of the system which regulates its manage-
ment and distribution, and of the effects of that sys-
tem. We might here pause, and wonder that there
should be a disposition with any to waste or throw
away this great resource, or to abolish a system which
has been fraught with so many manifest advantages.
Nevertheless, there are such who, impatient with the
slow and natural operation of wise laws, have put
forth various pretensions and projects concerning the
public lands, within a few years past. One of these
pretensions is an assumption of the sovereign right
of the new States to all the lands within their respec-
tive limits, to the exclusion of the General Govern-
ON THE PUBLIC LANDS. 369
ment, and to the exclusion of all the people of the
United States, those in the new States only excepted.
It is my purpose now to trace the origin, examine the
nature, and expose the injustice of this pretension.
This pretension may be fairly ascribed to the pro-
positions of the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Benton)
to graduate the public lands, to reduce the price, and
cede the " refuse" lands (a term which I believe ori-
ginated with him) to the States within which they
lie. Prompted probably by these propositions, a late
Governor of Illinois, unwilling to be outdone, pre-
sented an elaborate message to the Legislature of that
State, in which he gravely and formally asserted the
right of that State to all the land of the United States
comprehended within its limits. It must be allowed
that the Governor was a most impartial judge, and
the Legislature a most disinterested tribunal, to decide
such a question !
The Senator from Missouri was chanting most
sweetly to the tune "refuse lands," " refuse lands,"
"refuse lands," on the Missouri side of the Missis-
sippi, and the eoft strains of his music having caught
the ear of his excellency on the Illinois side, he joined
in chorus and struck an octave higher. The Senator
from Missouri wished only to pick up some crumbs
which fell from Uncle Sam's table; but the Governor
resolved to grasp the whole loaf. The Senator mod-
estly claimed only an old, smoked, rejected joint; but
the stomach of his excellency yearned after the whole
hog! The Governor peeped over the Mississippi into
Missouri, and saw the Senator leisurely roaming in
some rich pastures, on bits of refuse lands. lie re-
Y
370 ' SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAY.
turned to Illinois, and, springing into the grand
prairie, determined to claim and occupy it in all ita
boundless extent.
Then came the resolution of the Senator from Vir-
ginia (Mr. Tazewell) in May, 182G, in the following
words :
" Resolved* That it is expedient for the United
States to cede and surrender to the several States,
within whose limits the same may he situated, all the
right, title, and interest of the United States, to any
lands lying and being within the boundaries of puch
States, respectively, upon such terms and conditions
as may be consistent with the due observance of the
public faith, and with the general interest of the
United States."
The latter words rendered the resolution somewhat
ambiguous; but still it contemplated a cession and
surrender. Subsequently, the Senator from Virginia
proposed, after a certain time, a gratuitous surrender
of all unsold lands, to be applied by the Legislature.
in support of education and the internal improvement of
the State.
[Here Mr. Tazewell controverted the statement.
Mr. Clay called to the Secretary to hand him the
journal of April, 1828, which he held up to the Sen-
ate, and read from it the following:
"The bill to graduate the price of the public lands,
to make donations thereof to actual settlers, and to
cede the refuse to the States in which they lie, being
under consideration
Mr. Tazewell moved to insert the following as a
substitute :
ON THE PUBLIC LANDS. 871
"That the lands which shall have been subject to
Bale under the provisions of this act, and shall remain
unsold for two years, after having been offered at
twenty-five cents per acre, shall be, and the same are
ceded to the State in which the same may lie, to be
applied by the Legislature thereof in support of edu-
cation, and the internal improvement of the State."]
Thus it^appears not only that the honorable Sena-
tor proposed the cession, but showed himself the
friend of education and internal improvements, by
means derived from the General Government. For
this liberal disposition on his part, I believe it was,
that the State of Missouri honored a new county with
his name. If he had carried his proposition, that
State might well have granted a principality to him.
The memorial of the Legislature of Illinois, pro-
bably produced by the message of the Governor al-
ready noticed, had been presented, asserting a claim
to the public lands. And it seems although the
fact had escaped my recollection until I was reminded
of it by one of her Senators (Mr. Ilendncks) the
other day that the Legislature of Indiana had in-
structed her Senators to bring forward a sir.iilar claim.
At the last session, however, of the Legislature of
that State, resolutions had passed, instructing her
delegation to obtain from the General Government
cessions of the unappropriated public kinds, on the
most favorable terms. It is clear from this last ex-
pression of the will of that Legislature, that, on re-
consideration, it believed the right of the public hinds
to be in the General Government, and not in tho
State of Indiana. For, if they did not belong to tho
372 SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAY.
General Government, it had nothing to cede; if they
belonged already to the State, no cession was neces-
sary to the perfection of the right of the State.
I will here suhrnit a passing observation. If the
General Government had the power to cede the public
lauds to the new States for particular purposes, and
on prescribed conditions, its power must be unques-
tionable to make some reservations for similar pur-
poses in behalf of the old States. Its power cannot
be without limit as to the new States, and circum-
scribed and restricted as to the old. Its capacity to
bestow benefits or dispense justice is not coniined to
the new States, but is co-extensive with the whole
Union. It may grant to all, or it can grant to none.
And this comprehensive equity is not only in con-
formity with the spirit of the cessions in the deeds
from the ceding States, but is expressly enjoined by
the terms of those deeds.
Such is the probable origin of the pretension which
I have been tracing; and now let us examine its
nature and foundation. The argument in behalf of
the new States, is founded on the notion, 'that as the
old States, upon coming out of the Revolutionary
War, had or churned a right to all the lands within
their respective limits, and as the new States have
been admitted into the Union on the same footing
and condition in all respects with the old, therefore
they are entitled to all the waste lands embraced
within their boundaries. But the argument forgets
that all the revolutionary States had not wastelands;
that some had very little, and others none. It for-
gets that the right of the States to the waste lauds
ON THE PUBLIC LANDS. 373
within their limits was controverted ; and that it was
insisted that, as they hud been conquered in a common
war, waged with common means, and attended with
general sacrifices, the public lands should be held for
the common benefit of all the States. It forgets that
in consequence of this right asserted in behalf of the
whole Union, the States that contained any large
bodies of waste lands (and Virginia, particularly, that
had the most) ceded them to the Union for the equal
benefit of all the States. It forgets that the very
equality, which is the basis of the argument, would
be totally subverted by the admission of the validity
of the pretension. For how would the matter then
stand? The revolutionary States will have divested
themselves of the large districts of vacant lands which
they contained, for the common benefit of all the
States; and those same lands will enure to the benefit
of the new States exclusively. There will be, on the
supposition of the validity of the pretension, a rever-
sal of the condition of the two classes of States. In-
stead of the old having, as is alleged, the wild lands
which they included at the epoch of the Revolution,
they will have none, and the new States all. And
this in the name and for the purpose of equality
among all the members of the confederacy! What,
especially, would be the situation of Virginia? She
magnanimously ceded an empire in extent for the
common benefit. And now it is proposed, not only to
withdraw that empire from the object of its solemn
dedication, to the use of all the States, but to deny
her any participation in it, and appropriate it exclu-
sively to the benefit of the new States carved out of itl
32
374 SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAT.
If the new States had any right to the public lands,
in order to produce the very equality contended for,
they ought forthwith to cede that right to the Union,
for the common benefit of all the States. Having
no such right, they ought to acquiesce cheerfully in
an equality which does, in fact, now exist between
them and the old States.
The Committee of Manufactures has clearly shown,
that if the right were recognized in the new States
now existing, to the public lands within their limits,
each of the new States, as they might hereafter be
successively admitted into the Union, would have
the same right ; and consequently that the pietensioiv
under examination embraces, in effect, the whole
public domain, that is, a billion and eighty millions
of acres of land.
The right of the Union to the public lands is in-
contestable. It ought not to be considered debate-
able. It never was questioned but by a few, whose
monstrous heresy, it was probably supposed, would
escape animadversion from the enormity of the ab-
surdity, and the utter impracticability of the success
of the claim. The right of the whole is sealed by
the blood of the Revolution, founded upon solemn
deeds of cession from sovereign States, deliberately
executed in the face of the world, or resting upon na-
tional treaties concluded with foreign Powers, on am-
ple equivalents contributed from the common treasury
of the people of the United States.
This right of the whole was stamped upon the face
of the new States at the very instant of their parturi-
tion. They admitted and recognized it with their
ON THE PUBLIC LANDS. 375
first breath. They hold their stations, as members
of the Confederacy in virtue of that admission. The
Senators who sit here, and the members in the Ilonse
of Representatives from the new States, deliberate in
Congress with other Senators and Representatives,
under that admission. And, since the new States
came into being, they have recognized this right of
the General Government by innumerable acts:
By their concurrence in the passage of hundreds of
laws respecting the public domain, founded upon the
incontestable right of the whole of the States;
By repeated applications to extinguish Indian titles,
and to survey the lands which they covered;
And by solicitation and acceptance of extensive
grants from the General Government, of the public
lands.
The existence of the new States is a falsehood, or
the right of all the States to the public domain is an
undeniable truth. They have no more right to the
public lands, within their particular jurisdiction, than
otuer States have to the mint, the forts and arsenals,
or public ships within theirs, or than the people of
the District of Columbia have to this magniticent
Capitol, in whose splendid halls we now deliberate.
The equality contended for between all the States
now exists. The public lands are now held, and
ought to be held and administered, 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 deceive them, and instil erroneous princi-
ples into their ears; and that they will feel and ao
376 SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAY.
knowledge that their brethren of TCentnck}* 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 mo-
ment contemplated, what would he the probable con-
sequence of such an unspeakable calamity ; if three
confederacies were formed out of its fragments, do
you imagine that the western confederacy would con-
sent to the States including the public lands, holding
them exclusively for themselves ? Canyon imagine
that the States of Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee,
\vould 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.
But this pretension, unjust to the old States, un-
equal as to all, would be injurious to the new States
themselves, in whose behalf it has been put forth, if
it were recognized. The interest of the new Statr-e
is not confined to the lands within their limits, but
extends 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, in-
stead of the five millions and a half for Indiana, in-
stead of the fifteen millions or even for Illinois,
instead of the thirty-one or thirty-two millions or
Missouri, instead of the thirty-eight millions within
their respective limits, to retain their interest in those
beveral quantities, and also retain their interest, in
common with the other members of the Union, in the
OX THE PUBLIC LANDS. 377
countless millions of acres that lie west, or north-west,
beyond them !
I will now proceed, Mr. President, to consider the
expediency of a reduction of the price of the public
lands,, and the reasons assigned by the Land Com-
mittee, in their report, in favor of that measure.
They are presented there in formidable detail, and
spread out under seven different heads. Let ns exa-
mine them: the first is, "because the new States
have a clear right to participate in the benefits of a
reduction of the revenue to the wants of the Govern-
ment, by getting the reduction extended to the article
of revenue chiefly used by them." Here is a renewal
of the attempt made early in the session to confound
the public lands with foreign imports, which was so
successfully exposed and refuted by the report of the
Committee of Manufactures. Will not the new StJiK-s
participate in any reduction of the revenue, in com-
mon with the old States, without touching the pub-
lic lands? As far as they are consumers of objects
of foreign imports, will they not equally share the
benefit with the old States? "What right, over and
a':>ove that equal participation, have the new States
to a reduction of the price of the public lands? As
/States, what right, much less what " clear right,"
have they to any such reduction ? In their sovereign
or corporate capacities, what right? Have not all
the stipulations between them, a* State*, and the
General Government, been fully complied with ?
Have the people within the new States, considered
distinct from the States themselves, any right to such
reduction ? Whence is it derived ? They went there
32*
378 SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAY.
in pursuit of their own happiness. They bought
hinds from the public because it was their interest to
make the purchase, and they enjoy them. Did they,
because they purchased some land, which they pos-
sess peacefully, acquire any, and what right, in tho
land which they did not buy ? But it may be argued
that, by settling and improving these lands, the adja-
cent public lands are enhanced in value. True; and
so are their own. The enhanced value of the public
lands was not a consequence which they went there
to produce, but was a collateral effect, as to which
the}' were passive. The public does not seek to avail
itself of this augmentation in value, by augmenting
the price. It leaves that where it was; and the de-
mand for reduction is made in behalf of those who
say their labor has increased the value of the public
lands, and the claim to reduction is founded upon
the fact of enhanced value! The public, like all
other landholders, had a right to anticipate that the
sale of a part would communicate, incidentally, greater
value to the residue. And, like all other land "pro-
prietors, it has the right to ask more for that residue,
but it does not ; and for one, I should be as unwill-
ing to disturb the existing price by augmentation as
by reduction. But the public lands is the article of
revenue which the people of the new States chieiiy
consume. In another part of this report liberal grants
of the public lands are recommended, and the idea
of holding the public lands as a source of revenue is
scouted, because it is said that more revenue could be
collected from the settlers as consumers, than from
the lauds, llere it seems that the public lauds are
ON THE PUBLIC LANDS. 879
the articles of revenue chiefly consumed by the new
States.
With respect to lands yet to be sold, they arc open
to the purchase alike of emigrants from the old States,
and settlers in the new. As the latter have riune
generally supplied themselves with lands, the proba-
bility is, that the emigrants are more interested in the
question of reduction than the settlers. At all
events, there can be no peculiar right to such reduc-
tion existing in the new States. It is a question
common to all, and to be decided with reference to
the interest of the whole Union.
"2. Because, the public debt being now paid, the
public lands are entirely released from the pledge
they were under to that object, and are free to receive
a new and liberal destination, for the relief of the States
in which they lie."
The payment of the public debt is conceded to be
near at hand ; and it is admitted that the public lands,
being liberated, may now receive a new and liberal
destination. Such an appropriation of their proceeds
is proposed by the bill reported by the Committee of
Manufactures, and which I shall hereafter call the at-
tention of the Senate more particularly to. But it
did not seem just to that committee, that this new
and liberal destination of them should be restricted
"for the relief of the States in which they lie" ex-
clusively, but should extend to all the States indis-
criminatety, upon principles of equitable distribution.
"3. Because, nearly one hundred millions of acrea
of the land now in market are the refuse of sales and
donations, through a long series of years, and are of
880 SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAY.
very little actnnl value, ond only lit to be given to
settlors, or abandoned to the States in which tbey lie."
According to an official statement, the total quan-
tity of public land \vbieli lias been surveyed up to tbe
81st of December last, was a little upward of one
hundred and sixty-two millions of acres. Of this a
large proportion perhaps even more than the one
hundred millions of acres stated in the land report
has been a long time in market. The entire quan-
tity which has ever been sold by the United States,
up to the same day, after deducting lands relinquished
and lands reverted to the United States, according to
an official statement also, is twenty-five millions, two
hundred forty-two thousand, five hundred and ninety
acres. Thus, after the lapse of thirty-six years,
during which the present land system has been in
operation, a little more than twenty-five millions of
acres have been sold, not averaging a million per
annum, and upward of one hundred millions of the
surveyed lands remain to be sold. The argument of
the report of the land committee assumes that " nearly
one hundred millions are the refuse of sales and dona-
tions." are of very little actual value, and only fit to
be given to settlers, or abandoned to the States iu
which they lie.
Mr. President, let us define as we go let us ana-
lyze. What do the land committee mean by " refuse
land"? Do they mean worthless, inferior, rejected
land, which nobody will buy at the present govern-
ment, price ? Let us look at facts, and make them our
guide. The government is constantly pressed by the
new States to briug more and more lands into the
ON THE PUBLIC LANDS. 381
market; to extinguish more Indian titles; to survey
more. The new States themselves are probably urged
to operate upon the General Government by immi-
grants and settlers, who see still before them, in their
progress west, other new lands which they desire.
The General Government yields to the solicitation.
It throws more land into the market, and it is an-
nually and daily preparing additional surveys of fresh
lands. It has thrown, and is preparing to throw, open
to purchasers already, one hundred and sixty-two
millions of acres. And now, because the capacity to
purchase, in its nature limited by the growth of our
population, is totally incompetent to absorb this im-
mense quantity, the Government is called upon, by
some of the very persons who urged the exposition
of this vast amount to sale, to consider all that re-
mains unsold as refuse! Twenty -five millions in
thirty-six years only are sold, and all the rest is to be
looked upon as refuse. Is this right? If there had
been live hundred millions in market, there probably
would not have been more, or much more, sold. But
I deny the correctness of the conclusion that it is
worthless because not sold. It is not sold because
there were not people to buy it. You must have gone
to other countries, to other worlds, to the moon, and
drawn thence people to buy the prodigious quantity
which you offered to sell.
liefuse land ! A purchaser goes to a district of
country and buys out of a township a section which
strikes his fancy, lie exhausts his money. Others
might have pieferred other sections. Other sections
may even be better than his. He can with 110 more
382 SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAY.
propriety be said to have "refused" or rejected all
the other sections, than a man who, attracted by the
beauty, charms, and accomplishments of a particular
lady, marries her, can be said to have rejected or re-
fused all the rest of the sex.
Is it credible that out of one hundred and fifty or
one hundred and sixty millions of acres of land in a
valley celebrated for its fertility, there are only about
twenty-five millions of acres of good hind, and that
all the rest is refuse? Take the State of Illinois as
nn example. Of all the States in the Union, that
State probably contains the greatest proportion of
rich, fertile lands more than Ohio, more than Indi-
ana, abounding as they both do in fine lands. Of the
thirty-three and a half millions of public lands in
Illinois, a little more than two millions have been
sold. Is the residue of thirty-one millions all refuse
land? "Who, that is acquainted in the West, can
assert or believe it? No, sir; there is no such thing.
The unsold lands are unsold because of the reason*
already assigned. Doubtless there is much inferioi
land remaining, but a vast quantity of the best of
lands also. For its timber, soil, water-power, grazing,
minerals, almost all land possesses a certain value.
If the lands unsold are refuse and worthless in the
hands of the General Government, why are they
sought after with so much avidity? If in our hands
tli'Ov aie good for nothing, what more would they be
worth in the hands of the new States? "Only fit to
be given to settlers!" What settlers would thank
yon ? what settlers would not scorn a gift of refuse*
ON THE PUBLIC LANDS. 383
worthless land? If you mean to be generous, give
them what is valuable; be manly in your generosity.
But let us examine a little closer this idea of refuse
land. If there be any State in which it is found in
large quantities, that State would be Ohio. It is the
oldest of the new States. There the public lands
have remained longer exposed in the market. But
there we find only five and a half millions to be sold.
And I hold in my hand an account of sales in the
Zanesville district, one of the oldest in that State,
made during the present year. It is in a paper enti-
tled the "Ohio Republican," published at Zanesville,
the 26th May, 1832. The article is headed " Refuse
Land," and it states:
"It has suited the interest of some to represent the
lands of the United States which have remained in
market for many years, as mere ' refuse' which can-
not be sold ; and to urge a rapid reduction of price,
and the cession of the residue in a short period to the
States in which they are situated. It is strongly
urged against this plan that it is a speculating project,
which, by alienating a large quantity of land from
the United States, will cause a great increase of price
to actual settlers in a few years instead of their
being able for ever, as it may be said in the case
under the present system of land sales, to obtain a
farm at a reasonable price. To show how far the
lands unsold are from being worthless, we copy from
the 'Gazette' the following statement of recent sales
in the Zanesville district, one of the oldest districts
in the West. The sales at the Zanesville land-office
since the commencement of the present year have
384 S P E E C II E ? OF HENRY C L A T.
been as follows: January, $7.120 80; February,
8,642 67; March, f 11,744 75; April, $9,209 19; and
since the first of tli present month about $9,000
worth have been sold, more than half of which were
in forty-acre lots."
And there cannot be a doubt that the act passed at
this season, authorizing sales of forty acres, will, from
the desire to make additions to farms, and to settle
young members of families, increase the sales very
much, at least during this year.
A friend of mine in this city bought in Illinois, last
fall, about two thousand acres of this refuse land, at
the minimum price, for which he has lately refused
six dollars per acre. An officer of this body, now in
my eye, purchased a small tract of this same refuse
land of one hundred and sixty acres, at second or
third hand, entered a few years ago, and which is now
estimated at nineteen hundred dollars. It is a busi-
ness, a very profitable business, at which fortunes arc
made in the new States, to purchase these refuse
lands, and, without improving them, to sell them at
large advances.
Far from being discouraged by the fact of so much
surveyed public land remaining unsold, we should
rejoice that this bountiful resource, possessed by our
country, remains in almost undirninished quantity,
notwithstanding so many new and flourishing States
have sprung up in the wilderness, and so many thou-
sands of families have been accommodated. It might
be otherwise if the public lands were dealt out by
Government with a sparing, grudging, griping hand.
But they are liberally ottered, in exhuustlcss quunti-
ON THE PUBLIC LANDS. 885
ties, and at moderate prices, enriching individuals,
and tending to the rapid improvement of the country.
The two important foots brought forward and em-
phatically dwelt on by the Committee of Manufac-
tures stand in their full force, unaffected by anything
stated in the report of the Land Committee. These
facts must carry conviction to every unbiased mind
that will deliberately consider them. The iirst is, the
rapid increase of the new States, far outstripping tho
old, averaging annually an increase of eight and a
half per cent., and doubling, of course, in twelve
years. One of these States, Illinois, full of refuse
land, increasing at the rate of eighteen and a half
percent! Would this astonishing growth take place
if the lands were too high, or all the good land sold?
The other fact is, the vast increase in the annual sales:
in 1830, rising of three millions. Since the report of
the Committee of Manufactures, the returns have
come in of the sales of last year, which had been
estimated at three millions. They were, in fact,
$3,566,127 94! Their progressive increase baffles all
calculation. Would this happen if the price were too
high ?
It is argued that the value of different townships
and sections is various, and that it is there-fore wrong
to fix the same price for all. The variety in the qua-
lity, situation, and advantages of different tracts, is
no doubt great. After the adoption of any system
of classification, there would still remain very great
diversity in the tracts belonging to the same class.
This is the law of nature. The presumption of infe-
riority, and of refuse land, founded upon the length
33 z' "
886 SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAT.
of time that the land lias been in market, is denied,
for reasons already stated. The oft'er, at public auc-
tion, of all lands to the highest bidder, previous to
their being sold at private sale, provides in some de-
gree for the variety in the value, since each purchaser
pushes the land up to the price which, according to
his opinion, it ought to command. But if the price
demanded by Government is not too high for the
good land (and no one can believe it), why not wait
until that is sold before an}- reduction in the price of
the bad? And that will not be sold for many years
to come. It would be quite as wrong to bring the
price of good land down to the standard of the bad,
as it is alleged to be to carry the latter up to that of
the former. Until the good land is sold there will be
no purchasers of the bad ; for, as has been stated in
the report of the Committee of Manufactures, a dis-
creet farmer would rather give a dollar and a quarter
per acre for tirst-rate land than accept refuse and
worthless land as a present.
"4. Because the speedy extinction of the Federal
title within their limits is necessary to the independ-
ence of the new States, to their equality with the elder
States; to the development of their resources; to the
subjection of their soil to taxation, cultivation, and set-
tlement, and to the proper enjoyment of their jurisdic-
tion and sovereignty."
All this is mere assertion and declamation. The
General Government, at a moderate price, is selling
the public land as fast as it can find purchasers. The
new States are populating with unexampled rapidity;
their condition is now much more eligible than that
ON THE PUBLIC LANDS. 837
of some of the old States. Ohio, I am sorry to be
obliged to confess, is, in internal improvement and
some other respects, fifty years in advance of her
elder sister and neighbor, Kentucky. How have her
growth and prosperity, her independence, her equality
with the elder States, the development of her resour-
ces, the taxation, cultivation, and settlement of her
soil, or the proper enjoyment of her jurisdiction and
sovereignly, been affected or impaired by the Federal
title within her limits? The Federal title? It has
been a source of blessings and of bounties, but not
one of real grievance. As to the exemption from
taxation of the public lands, and the exemption for
five years of those sold to individuals, if the public
land belonged to the new States, would they tax it?
And as to the latter exemption, it is paid for by the
General Government, as may be seen by reference to
the compacts; and it is, moreover, beneficial to the
new States themselves, by holding out a motive to
emigrants to purchase and settle within their limits.
''6. Because the ramified machinery of the land
oflice department, and the ownership of so much soil,
extends the patronage and authority of the Generaj
Government into the heart and corners of the ne\
States, and subjects their policy to the danger of a
foreign and powerful influence."
A foreign and powerful influence! The Federal
Government a foreign government! And the exer-
cise of a legitimate control over the national property,
for the benefit of the whole people of the United
States, a deprecated penetration into the heart and
corners of the new States 1 As to the calamity of the
SPEECHES OF IIEKHT CLAT.
land offices which are held within them, I helicve that
is not regarded by the people of those States with
quite as much horror as it is by the land committee.
They justly consider that they ought to hold those
offices themselves, and that no persons ought to be
sent from the other foreign States of this Union to
fill them. And if the number of the offices were in-
creased, it would not be looked upon by them as a
grievous addition to the calamity.
But what do the land committee mean l>\ the au-
thority of this foreign, Federal Government? Surely
they do not desire to get rid of the Federal Govern-
ment. And yet the final settlement of the land ques-
tion will have effected but little in expelling its au-
thority from the bosoms of the new States. Its action
will still remain in a thousand forms, and the heart
and corners of the new States will still be invaded by
post-offices and postmasters, and post-roads, and the
Cumberland road, and various other modifications of
its power.
"Because the sum of $425,000,000 proposed to be
drawn from the new States and Territories, by the
sale of their soil, at $1 25 per acre, is unconscionable
and impracticable such as never can be paid and
the bare attempt to raise which, must drain, exhaust,
and impoverish these States, and give birth to the
feelings which a sense of injustice and oppression
never fail to excite, and the excitement of which
should be so carefully avoided in a confederacy of
free States."
In another part of their report, the committee say,
speaking of the immense revenue alleged to be do
ON THE PUBLIC LANDS. 389
rivable from the public lands : " This ideal revenue is
estimated at $425,000,000 for the lands now within
the limits of the States and Territories, and at
$1, 362,589,691 for the whole Federal domain. Such
chimerical calculations preclude the propriety of ar-
gumentative answers." Well, if these calculations
are all chimerical, there is no danger, from the pre-
servation of the existing land system, of draining,
exhausting, and impoverishing the new States, and
of exciting them to rebellion.
The Manufacturing Committee did not state what
the public lands would, in fact, produce. They could
not state it. It is hardly a subject of approximate
estimate. The committee stated what would be the
proceeds, estimated by the minimum price of the
public lands; what, at one-half of that price; and
added that, although there might be much land that
would never sell at one dollar and a quarter per acre,
"as fresh lands are brought into market and exposed
to sale at auction, many of them sell at prices exceed-
ing one dollar and a quarter per acre." They con-
cluded by remarking that the least, favorable view of
regarding them was to consider them a capital yield-
ing an annuity of three millions of dollars at this
time; that in a few years that annuity would pro-
bably be doubled, and that the capital might then be
assumed as equal to one hundred millions of dollars.
Whatever may be the sum drawn from the sales of
the public lands, it will be contributed, not by citi-
zens of the States alone in which they are situated,
but by emigrants from all the States. And it will be
raised, not in a single year, but in a long series of
33*
890 SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAY.
years. It would have been impossible for the State
of Ohio to have paid, in one year, the millions that
have been raised in that State by the sale of public
lands ; but in a period of upward of thirty years the
payment has been made, not only without impoverish-
ing, but with constantly increasing prosperity to the
State.
Such, Mr. President, are the reasons of the land
committee for the reduction of the price of the public
lands. Some of them had been anticipated and re-
futed in the report of the Manufacturing Committee;
and I hope that I have now shown the insolidity of
the residue.
I will not dwell upon the consideration urged in
that report against any large reduction, founded upon
its inevitable tendency to lessen the value of the
landed property throughout the Union, and that in
the Western States especially. That such would be the
necessary consequence, no man can doubt who will
seriously reflect upon such a measure as that of throw-
ing into market, immediate!}', upward of one hundred
and thirty millions of acres, and at no distant period
upward of two hundred millions more, at greatly-re-
duced rates.
If the honorable Chairman of the Land Committee
(Mr. King) had relied upon his own sound practical
sense, he would have presented a report far less ob-
jectionable than that which he has made. He has
availed himself of another's aid, and the hand of the
Senator from Missouri (Mr. Benton) is as visible in
the composition as if his name had been subscribed
to the instrument. We hear, again, in this paper, of
ON THE PUBLIC LANDS. 391
that which \vc have so often heard repeated before in
debate by the Senator from Missouri the senti-
ments of Edmund Burke. And what was the state
of things iu England to which these sentiments were
applied?
England has too little land and too man}- people.
America has too much land, for the present popula-
tion of the country, and wants people. The British
Crown had owned, for many generations, large bodies
of land, preserved for game and forest, from which
but small revenues were derived. It was pro-
posed to sell out the Crown lands, that they might
be peopled and cultivated, and that the royal family
should be placed on the civil list. Mr. Burke sup-
ported the proposition by convincing arguments.
But what analogy is there between the Crown lands
of the British sovereign and the public lands of the
United States ? Are the}' here locked up from the
people, and, for the sake of their game or timber, ex-
cluded from sale? Are not they freely exposed in
market, to all who want them, at moderate prices ?
The complaint is that they are not sold fast enough
in other words, that people are not multiplied
rapidly enough to buy them. Patience, gentlemen
of the Laud Committee, patience ! The new States
are daily rising in power and fmportance. Some of
them are already great and nourishing members of
the Confederacy. And, 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 tilled with the monuments of civiliza-
tion.
892 SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAY.
The report of the Land Committee proceeds to no-
tice, and to animadvert upon, certain opinions of a
lute Secretary of the Treasury, contained in his an-
nual report, and endeavors to connect them with
some sentiments expressed in the report of the Com-
mittee of Manufactures. That report has before been
the subject of repeated commentary in the Senate, by
the Senator from Missouri, and of much misrepresen-
tation and vituperation in the public press. Mr.
Rush showed me the rough draught of that report,
and I advised him to expunge the paragraphs in
question, because I foresaw that they would be mis-
represented, and that he would be exposed to unjust
accusations. But, knowing the purity of his inten-
tions, believing in the soundness of the views which
he presented, and confiding in the candor of a just
public, lie resolved to retain the paragraphs. I can-
not suppose the Senator from Missouri ignorant of
what passed between Mr. Rush and me, and of his
having, against my suggestions, retained the para-
graphs in question, because these facts were all
stated by Mr. Rush himself, in a letter addressed to
a late member of the House of Representatives, re
presenting the district in which I reside, which letter,
more than a year ago, was published in the Western
papers.
I shall say nothing in defence of myself nothing
to disprove the charge of my cherishing unfriendly
feelings and sentiments toward any part of the West.
If the public acts in which I have participated, if the
uniform tenor of my whole life, will not refute such
ON THE PUBLIC LANDS. 393
fn imputation, nothing that I could here say would
refute it
But I ic ill say something in defence of the opinions
of my late patriotic and enlightened colleague, not
here to speak for himself; and I will vindicate hia
official opinions from the erroneous glosses and inter-
pretations which have been put upon them.
Mr. Hush, in an official report which will long re-
main a monument of his ability, was surveying, with
a statesman's eye, the condition of America. He was
arguing in favor of the Protective Policy the Ame-
rican System. He spoke of the limited vocations of
our society, and the expediency of multiplying the
means of increasing subsistence, comfort, and wealth.
He noticed the great and the constatit tendency of
our fellow-citizens to the cultivation of the soil, the
want of a market for their surplus produce, the inex-
pediency of all blindly rushing to the same universal
employment, and the policy of dividing ourselves into
various pursuits. He says :
"The manner in which the remote lands of the
United States are selling and settling, while it possi-
bly may tend to increase more quickly the aggregate
population of the country, and the mere means of
subsistence, does not increase capital in the same pro-
portion. . . . Anything that may serve to hold
back this tendency to diffusion from running too far
and too long into an extreme, can scarcely prove other-
wise than sal titan-. ... If the population of
these (a majority of the States, including some West-
ern States), not yet redundant in fact, though appear-
ing to be so, under this legislative incitement to emi-
394 SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAT.
grate, remain fixed in more instances, as it probably
would be by extending tbe motives to manufacturing
labor, it is believed tliat tbe nation would gain in
two ways: first, by tbe more rapid accumulation of
capital ; and next, by tbe gradual reduction of tbe
excess of its agricultural population over tbat engaged
in otber vocations. It is not imagined tbat it evei
would be practicable, even if it were desirable, to turn
tbis stream of emigration aside; but resources, opened
tb rough tbe influence of tbe laws, in new fields of in-
dustry, to tbe inhabitants of the States already suffi-
ciently peopled to enter upon them, might operate to
lessen in some degree, and usefully lessen, its absorb-
ing force."
Now, Mr. President, what is there in this view ad-
verse to the West, or unfavorable to its interests?
Mr. Rush is arguing on tbe tendency of the people to
engage in agriculture, and the incitement to emigra-
tion produced by our laws. Does he propose to
change those la\vs in that particular? Does he pro-
pose any new measure? So far from suggesting any
alteration of the conditions on which tbe public lands
are sold, lie expressly says that it is not desirable, if
it were practicable, to turn this stream of emigration
aside. Leaving all the la\vs in full force, and all the
motives to emigration, arising from fertile and cheap
lands, untouched, he recommends the encouragement
of a new branch of business, in which all the U:iion,
the West as well as the rest, is interested ; thus pre-
senting an option to population to engage in manu-
factures or in agriculture, at its own discretion. And
o *
d w iuch an option afford just ground of complaint
ON THE PUBLIC LANDS. 395
to any one? Is it not an advantage to all ? Do the
Land Committee desire (I am sure they do not) to
create starvation in one part of the Union, that emi-
grants may be forced into another? If they do not,
they ought not to condemn a multiplication of hu-
man employments, by which, as its certain conse-
quence, there will be an increase in the means of sub-
sistence and comfort. The objection to Mr. Rush,
then, is, that he looked at his whole country, and at
all parts of it; and that, while he desired the prospe-
rity and growth of the West to advance undisturbed,
he wished to build up, on deep foundations, the wel-
fare of all the people.
Mr. Rush knew that there were thousands of the
poorer classes who never would emigrate; and that
emigration, under the best auspices, was far from
being unattended with evil. There are moral, phy-
sical, pecuniary obstacles to all emigration ; and these
will increase as the good vacant lands of the West
are removed, by intervening settlements, further ami
further from society, as it is now located. It is, I
believe, Dr. Johnson, who pronounces that of all
vegetable and animal creation, man is the most diffi-
cult to be uprooted and transferred to a distant coun
try ; and he was right. Space itself, mountains, and
seas, and rivers, are impediments. The want of pecu-
niary means the expenses of the outtit. subsistence,
and transportation of a family is no slight circum-
stance. When all these difficulties are overcome
(and how few, comparatively, can surmount them !)
the greatest of all remains that of being torn from
one's natal spot, separated forever from the roof undei
SPEECHES OF IIEXRT CLAY.
which the companions of his childhood were shel-
tered, from the trees which have shaded him from
summer's heats, the spring from whose jrushing foun-
tain lie drank in his youth, the tomhs that hold the
precious relic of his venerated ancestors!
But I have said that the Land Committee had at-
tempted to confound the sentiments of Mr. 'Rush
with some of the reasoning employed \>y the Com-
mittee of Manufactures against the proposed reduc-
tion of the price of the puhlic lands. What is that
reasoning? Here it is; it will speak for itself, and,
without a single comment, will demonstrate how dif-
ferent it is from that of the late Secretary of the
Treasury, unexceptionable as that has been shown
to he.
" The greatest emigration," says the Manufacturing
Committee, "that is believed now to take place from
any of the States, is from Ohio, Kentucky, and Ten-
nessee. The effects of a material reduction in the
price of the public lands would be 1st, to lessen the
value of real estate in those three States; 2d, to
diminish their interest in the public domain as a
common fund for the benefit of all the States; and,
3d, to offer what would operate as a bounty to further
emigration from those States, occasioning more and
more lands, situated within thorn, to be thrown into
the market, thereby not only lessening the value of
their lands, but draining them of both their popula-
tion and labor."
There are good men in different parts, but especially
in the Atlantic portion of the Union, who have been
induced to regard lightly this vast national property ;
ON THE PUBLIC LANDS. 397
who have been persuaded that the people of the "West
are dissatisfied with the administration of it; and
who bt-lieve that it will, in the end, he lost to the
nation, and that it is not worth present care and pre-
servation. But these are radical mistakes. The great
body of the West are satisfied, perfectly satisfied,
with the general administration of the public lands.
They would indeed like, and are entitled to, a more
liberal expenditure among them of the proceeds of
the sales. For this, provision is made by the bill to
which I will hereafter call the attention of the Senate.
But the great body of the West have not called for,
and understand too well their real interest to desire,
any essential change in the system of survey, sale, or
price of the lands. There may be a few, stimulated
by demagogues, who desire change ; and what system
is there, what government, what order of human so-
ciety, that u few do not desire to change ?
It is one of the admirable properties of the existing
svstem, that it contains within itself and carries along
*> c?
principles of conservation and safety. In the pro-
gress of its operation, new States become identified
with the old, in feeling, in thinking, and in interest.
Now, Ohio is as sound as any old State in the Union
in all her views relating to the public lands. She
feels that her share in the exterior domain is much
more important than would be an exclusive right to
the tew millions of acres left unsold within the limits,
accompanied by a virtual surrender of her interest in
all the other public lands of the United States. And
I have no doubt that now the people of the other new
States, left to their own unbiased sense of equity and
34
898 SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAY.
justice, would form the same judgment. They ean
not believe that what they have not bought, what re-
mains the property of themselves and all their breth-
ren of the United States in common, belongs to them
exclusively. But if I am mistaken if they have
be-on deceived by erroneous impressions on their mind,
made by artful men as the sales proceed, and the
land is exhausted, and their population .increased, like
the State of Ohio, they will feel that their true inte-
rest points to their remaining copartners in the whole
national domain, instead of bringing forward an un-
founded pretension to the inconsiderable remnant
which will then be left within their own limits.
And now, Mr. President, I have to say something
in respect to the particular plan brought forward by
the Committee of Manufactures for a temporary ap-
propriation of the proceeds of the sales of the public
lands.
The Committee say that this fund is not wanted bj
the General Government; that the peace of the coun
try is not likely, from present appearances, to IK
speedily disturbed ; and that the General Government
is absolutely embarrassed in providing against an
enormous surplus in the treasury. While this is the
condition of the Federal Government, the States are
in want of, and can most beneficially use, that very
surplus with which we do not know what to do. The
powers of the General Government are limited; those
of the States are ample. If those limited powers au-
thorized an application of the fund to some objects,
perhaps there are some others, of more importance,
to which the powers of the States, would be more
ON THE r u n i, i c LANDS. 39V*
competent, or to which they may apply a more provi-
dent care.
But the government of the whole and of the parts
at last is but one government of the same people.
In form they are two, in substance one. They both
stand under the same solemn obligation to promote,
by all the powers with which they are respectively
intrusted, the happiness of the people; and the peo-
ple, in their turn, owe respect and allegiance to both.
Maintaining these relations, there should be mutual
assistance to each other afforded by these two sys-
tems. When the States are full-handed, and the cof-
fers of the General Government are empty, the States
should come to the relief of the General Government,
as many of them did, most promptly and patriotically,
during the late war. When the conditions of the
parties are reversed, as is now the case the States
wanting what is almost a burden to the General
Government 'the duty of this Government is to go
to the relief of the States.
They were views like these which induced a majo-
rity of the Committee to propose the plan of distribu-
tion contained in the bill now under consideration.
For one, however, I will again repeat the declara-
tion, which I made early in the session, that I unite
cordially with those who condemn the application of
any principle of distribution among the several States,
to surplus revenue derived from taxation. I think
income derived from taxation stands upon ground
totally distinct from that which is received from the
public lauds. Congress can prevent the accumula-
tion, at least fur any considerable time, of revenue
400 SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAY.
from duties, by suitable legislation, lowering or aug.
menting the imposts; but it cannot stop tbe sales of
tlie public lands without tbe exercise of arbitrary and
intolerable power. Tbe powers of Congress over the
public lands are broader and more comprehensive
than those which they possess over taxation and the
money produced by it.
This brings me to consider first, tbe power of
Congress to make the distribution. By the second
part of the third section of the fourth article of the
Constitution, Congress " have power to dispose o/and
make all needful rules and regulations respecting the
territory or other property of the United States."
The power of disposition is plenary, unrestrained, un-
qualified. It is not limited to a specified object or to
a defined purpose, but left applicable to any object or
purpose which the wisdom of Congress shall deem fit,
acting under its high responsibility.
The Government purchased Louisiana and Florida.
May it not apply the proceeds of lands within those
countries to any object which the good of the Union
ma}- seem to indicate. If there be a restraint in the
Constitution, where is it what is it?
The uniform practice of the Government has con-
formed to tbe idea of its possessing full powers over
the public lands. They have been freely granted,
from time to time, to communities and individuals,
for a great variety of purposes: to States for educa-
tion, internal improvements, public buildings; to cor-
porations for education; to the deaf and dumb; to
the cultivators of the olive and the vine ; to pre-emp-
tiouers j to General Lafayette, &c.
ON THE PUBLIC LANDS. 401
The deeds from the ceding States, far from oppo-
sing, fully warrant the distribution. That of Vir-
ginia ceded the land as <w a common fund for the use
and benefit of such of the United. States as have be-
come, or shall become, members of the Confedera-
tion or Federal alliance of the said States, Virginia
inclusive." The cession was for the benefit of all the
States. It may be argued that the fund must be re-
tained in the common treasury, and thence paid out.
But, by the bill reported, it will come into the com-
mon treasury, and then the question how it shall be
subsequently applied for the use and benefit of such
of the United States as compose the Confederacy, is
one of modus only. Whether the money is disbursed
by the General Government directly, or is paid out
upon some equal and just principle to the States, to
be disbursed by them, cannot affect the right of dis-
tribution. If the General Government retained the
power of ultimate disbursement, it could execute it
only by suitable agents; and what agency is more
suitable than that of the States themselves ? If the
States expend the money, as the bill contemplates,
the expenditure will, in effect, be a disbursement for
the benefit of the whole, although the several States
are organs of the expenditure ; for the whole and all
the parts are idemical. And whatever redounds to
the benefit of all the parts, necessarily contributes in
the same measure to the benefit of the whole. The
great question should be, "Is the distribution upon
equal and just principles?" And this brings me to
consider:
Second. The terms of the distribution proposed by
34* 2 A
402 SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAY.
the bill of the Committee of Manufactures. The bill
proposes a division of the net proceeds of the sales
of the public lands among the several States com-
posing the Union, according to their Federal repre-
sentative population, as ascertained by the last cen-
eus; and it provides for new States that may hereafter
be admitted into the Union. The basis of the distri-
bution, therefore, is derived from the Constitution
itself, which has adopted the same rule in respect to
representation and direct taxes." Xone could be more
just and equitable.
But it has been contended, in the land report, that
the Revolutionary States which did not cede their
public lands ought not to be allowed to come into
the distribution. This objection does not apply to
the purchases of Louisiana and Florida, because the
consideration for them was paid out of the common
treasury, and was consequently contributed by all the
States. IS'or has the objection any just foundation
when applied to the public lands derived from Vir-
ginia and the other ceding States; because, by the
terms of the deeds, the cessions were made for the
use and benefit of all the States. The ceding States
having made no exception of any State, what right
has the General Government to interpolate in the
deeds, and now create an exception ? The General
Government is a mere trustee, holding the domain
in virtue of those deeds, according to the terms and
conditions which they expressly describe; and -it is
bound to execute the trust accordingly. But how
is the fund produced by the public lands now ex-
pended? It comes into the common treasury, and is
ON THE PUBLIC LANDS. 403
disbursed for the common benefit, without exception
of any State. The bill only proposes to substitute
to that object, now no longer necessary, another and
more useful common object. The general applica-
tion of the fund will continue, under the operation
of the bill, although the particular purposes may be
varied.
The equity of the proposed distribution, as it re-
spects the two classes of States, the old and the new,
must be manifest to the Senate. It proposes to assign
to the new States, besides the five per cent, stipulated
for in their several compacts with the General Gov-
ernment, the further sum of ten per cent, upon the
net proceeds. Assuming the proceeds of the last
year, amounting to 3, 566,127 94, as the basis of the
calculation, I hold in my hand a paper which shows
the sum that each of the seven new States would re-
ceive. They have complained of the exemption from
taxation of the public lands sold by the General Gov-
ernment for five years after the sale. If that exemp-
tion did not exist, and they were to exercise the power
of taxing those lands, as the average increase of their
population is only eight and a half per cent, per
annum, the additional revenue which they would
save would be only eight and a half per cent, per
annum ; that is to say, a State now collecting a reve-
nue of $100,000 per annum, would collect only $108,-
500 if it were to tax the lands recently sold. But, by
the bill under consideration, each of the seven new
States will annually receive, as its distributive share,
more than the whole amount of its annual revenue.
404 SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAY.
It may be thought that to set apart ten per cent, to
the new States, in the first instance, is too great a
proportion, and is unjust toward the old States. Hut
it will be recollected that, as they populate much
faster than the old States, and as the last census is to
govern in the apportionment, they ought to receive
more than the old States. If they receive too much
nt the commencement of the term, it may be neutral-
ized by the end of it.
After the deduction shall have been made of the
fifteen per cent, allotted to the new States, the residue
is to be divided among the twenty-four States, old
and new, composing the Union. "What each of the
States would receive, is shown by a table annexed to
the report. Taking the proceeds of the last year as
the standard, there must be added one-sixth to what
is set down in that table as the proportion of the
several States.
If the power and the principle of the proposed dis-
tribution be satisfactory to the Senate, I think the
objects cannot fail to be equally so. They are Edu-
cation, Internal Improvements, and Colonization all
great and beneficent objects all national in their
nature. No mind can be cultivated and improved,
no work of internal improvement can be executed in
any part of the Union, nor any person of color trans-
ported from any of its ports, in which the whole
Union is not interested. The prosperity of the whole
is an aggregate of the prosperity of the parts.
The States, each judging for itself, will select,
among the objects enumerated in the bill, that which
ON THE PUBLIC LANDS. 405
comports best with its own policy. There is no com-
pulsion in the choice. Some will prefer, perhaps, to
apply the fund to the extinction of debt, now burden-
some, created for Internal Improvement; some to
new objects of Internal Improvement; others to Edu-
cation ; and others, again, to Colonization. It may
be supposed possible that the States will divert the
fund from the specified purposes; but against such a
misapplication we have, in the first place, the security
which arises out of their presumed good faith ; and,
in the second, the power to withhold subsequent, if
there has been any abuse in previous appropriations.
It has been argued that the General Government
has no power in respect to Colonization. Waiving
that, as not being a question at this time, the real
inquiry is, "Have the States themselves any such
power?" far it is to the States that the subject is
referred. The evil of a free black population is not
restricted to particular States, but extends to and is
felt by all. It is not, therefore, the slave question,
but totally c'.istinet from and unconnected with it. I
have heretofore often expressed my perfect conviction
that the General Government has no constitutional
power which it can exercise in regard to African sla-
very. That conviction remains unchanged. The
States in which slavery is tolerated have exclusively
in their own hands the entire regulation of the sub-
ject. But the slave States differ in opinion as to the
expediency of African colonization. Several of them
have signified their approbation of it. The Legisla-
ture of Kentucky, I believe unanimously, r<ecom-
406 SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAY,
mended the encouragement of Colonization to Con-
gress.
Should a war break out during the term uf five
years that the operation of the hill is limited to, tho
fund is to be withdrawn and applied to the vigorous
prosecution of the war. If there he no war, Congress,
at the end of the term, will be able to ascertain whe-
ther the money has been beneficially expended, and
to judge of the propriety of continuing the distribu-
tion.
Three reports have been made, on this great sub-
ject of the public lands, during the present session
of Congress, besides that of the Secretary of the
Treasury at its commencement two in the Senate
and one in the House. All three of them agree 1st,
in the preservation of the control of the General Gov-
ernment over the public lands; and, 2d, they concur
in rejecting the plan of a cession of the public lands
to the States in which they are situated, recommended
by the Secretary. The land committee of the Senate
propose an assignment of fifteen per cent, of the net
proceeds, besides the five per cent, stipulated in the
compacts (making together twenty per cent.), to the
new States, and nothing to the old.
The Committee of Manufactures of tTte Senate,
after an allotment of an additional sum of ten per
cent, to the new States, propose an equal distribution
of the residue among all the States, old and new,
upon equitable principles.
The Senate's land committee, besides the proposal
of a distribution restricted to the new States, recom-
ON THE PUBLIC LANDS. 407
mends an immediate reduction of the price of "fresh
lands" to a minimum of one dollar per acre, and to
fifty cents per acre for lands which have been five
years or upward in market.
The land committee of the House is opposed to Ml
distribution, general or partial, and recommends a
reduction of the price to one dollar per acre.
And now, Mr. President, I have a few more words
to say, and shall be done. We are admonished by
all our reflections, and by existing signs, of the duty
of communicating strength and energy to the glo-
rious Union which now encircles our favored conn-
try. Among the ties which bind us together, the
public domain merits high consideration. And if we
distribute, for a limited time, the proceeds of that
gr at resource among the several States, for the irn-
po t.mt objects which have been enumerated, a new
and powerful bond of affection and of interest will
be added. The States will feel and recognize the
operation of the General Government, not merely in
power and burdens, but in benefactions and bless-
ings. And the General Government in its turn will
feel, from the expenditure of the money which it dis-
penses to the States, the benefits of moral and intel-
lectual improvement of the people, of greater facility
in social and commercial intercourse, and of the puri-
ikation of the population of our country, themselves
the be.-t parental sources of national character, na
tional union, and national greatness. Whatever maj
be the fate of the particular proposition now under
consideration, I sincerely hope that the attention of
408 SPEECHES or HENRY CLAY.
the nation 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, ioi
its benefit and blessing for ages to come.
ON AFRICAN COLONIZATION. 409
IV.
ON AFRICAN COLONIZATION.
Delivered in the House of Representative!, Jan. 20, 1827.
BEFORE THE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY.
I CANNOT withhold the expression of my congratu-
lations to the Society on account of the very valuable
acquisition which we have obtained in the eloquent
gentleman from Boston (Mr. Knapp), who has just
favored us with an address. He has told us of hia
original impressions, unfavorable to the object of the
Society, and of his subsequent conversion. If the
same industry, investigation, and unbiased judgment,
which he and another gentleman (Mr. Powell), who
avowed at the last meeting of the Society a similar
change wrought in his mind, were carried by the
public at large into the consideration of the plan of
the Society, the conviction of its utility would be
universal.
I have risen to submit a resolution, in behalf of
which I would bespeak the favor of the Society. But
before I offer any observations in its support, I must
say that, whatever part I may take in the proceedings
of this Society, whatever opinions or sentiments I
may utter, they are exclusively my own. "Whether
they are worth anything or not, no one but myself is
at all responsible for them. I have consulted with
no person out of this Society ; and I have especially
35
110 SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAY.
from all communication or consultation
with any one to whom I stand in any official relation.
My judgment on the ohject of this Society has been
long since deliberately formed. The conclusions to
which, after much and anxious consideration, my
mind has been brought, have been neither produced
nor refuted by the official station, the duties of which
have been confided to me.
From the origin of this Society, every member of
it has, I believe, looked forward to the arrival of a
period when it would be necessary to invoke the
public aid in the execution of the great scheme which
it was instituted to promote. Considering itself as
the mere pioneer in the cause which it had under-
taken, it was well aware that it could do no more
than remove preliminary difficulties, and point out a
sure road to ultimate success; and that the public
only could supply that regular, steady, and efficient
support, to which the gratuitous means of benevolent
individuals would be found incompetent. My sur-
prise has been that the Society has been able so long
to sustain itself, and to do so much upon the chari-
table contributions of good, and pious, and enlight-
ened men, whom it has happily found in all parts of
our country. But our work has so prospered and
grown under our hands, that the appeal to the power
and resources of the public should be no longer de-
ferred. The resolution which I have risen to propose
contemplates this appeal. It is in the following
words :
"Resolved, That the board of managers be era-
powered and directed, at such time or times as
OX AFRICAN COLONIZATION. 411
seem to them expedient, to make respectful applica-
tion to the Congress of the United States, and to the
Legislatures of the different States, for such pecu-
niary aid, in furtherance of the object of this Society,
as they may respectively be pleased to grant."
In soliciting the countenance and support of the
Legislatures of the Union and the States, it is incum-
bent on the Society, iu making out its case, to show :
first, that it offers to their consideration a scheme
which is practicable; and, second, that the execution
of a practicable scheme, partial or entire, will be
fraught with such beneficial consequences as to merit
the support which is solicited. I believe both points
to be maintainable. First: it is now little upward
of ten years since a religious, amiable, and benevo-
lent resident of this city first conceived the idea of
planting a colony, from the United States, of free
people of color, on the western shores of Africa. lie
is no more; and the noblest eulogy which could be
pronounced on him would be to inscribe on his tomb
the merited epitaph: "Here lies the projector of the
American Colonization Society." Among others to
whom he communicated the project, was the person
who now lias the honor of addressing you. My first
impressions, like those of all who have not fully in-
vestigated the subject, were against it. They yielded
to his earnest persuasions and my own reflections,
and I finally agreed with him that the experiment
was worthv of a fair trial. A meeting of its friends
/ O
was called, organized as a deliberative body, and a
Constitution was formed. The Society went into ope
ration. He lived to see the most encouraging pro-
412 SPEECHES OF HENttY CLAT.
gross in its exertions, and died in full confidence of
its complete success. The Society was scarcely formed
before it was exposed to the derision of the unthink-
ing; pronounced to be visionary and chimerical by
those who were capable of adopting wiser opinions;
and the most confident predictions of its entire fail-
ure were put forth. It found itself equally assailed
by the two extremes of public sentiment in regard
to our African population. According to one (that
rash class which, without a due estimate of the fatal
consequence, would forthwith issue a decree of gene-
ral, immediate, and indiscriminate emancipation), it
was a scheme of the slaveholder to perpetuate slavery.
The other (that class which believes slavery a bless-
ing, and which trembles with aspen sensibility at the
appearance of the most distant and ideal danger to
the tenure by which that description of property is
held) declared it a contrivance to let loose on society
all the slaves of the country, ignorant, uneducated,
and incapable of appreciating the value or enjoying
the privileges of freedom. The Society saw itself
surrounded b}- every sort of embarrassment. What
great human enterprise was ever undertaken without
difficulty? What ever failed, within the compass of
human power, when pursued wiih perseverance and
blessed by the smiles of Providence? The Society
prosecuted undismayed its great work, appealing for
succor to the moderate, the reasonable, the virtuous,
nnd religious portions of the public. It protested
from the commencement, and throughout all its pro-
gress, and it now protests, that it entertains no pur-
pose, on its own authority or by its own means, to
ON AFRICAN COLONIZATION". 413
attempt emancipation, partial or general ; that it
knows the General Government has no constitutional
power to achieve such an object; that it believes that
the States, and the States only, which tolerate sla-
very, can accomplish the work of emancipation ; and
that it ought to be left to them, exclusively, abso-
lutely, and voluntarily, to decide the question.
The object of the Society was the colonization of
the free colored people, not the slaves, of the coun-
try. Voluntary in its institution, voluntary in its
continuance, voluntary in all its ramifications, all its
means, purposes, and instruments, are also voluntary.
But it was said that no free colored persons could be
prevailed upon to abandon the comforts of civilized
life, and expose themselves to all the perils of a set-
tlement in a distant, inhospitable, and savage coun-
try ; that, if they could be induced to go on such a
Quixotic expedition, no territory could be procured
for their establishment as a colony ; that the plan
was altogether incompetent to ett'ect its professed ob-
ject; and that it ought to be rejected as the idle
dream of visionary enthusiasts. The Society has out-
lived, thank God, all these disastrous predictions. It
has survived to swell the list of false prophets. It is
no longer a question of speculation whether a colony
can or cannot be planted, from the United States, of
free persons of color on the shores of Africa. It is a
matter demonstrated; such a colony, in fact, exists,
prospers, has made successful war and honorable
peace, and transacts all the multiplied business of a
civilized and Christian community. It now has about
five hundred souls, disciplined troops, forts, and other
35*
414 SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAY.
means of defence, sovereignty over an extensive ter-
ritory, and exerts a powerful and salutary influence
over the neighboring clans.
Numbers of the free African race among ns are
willing to go to Africa. The Society has never ex
perieneed any difficulty on that subject, except that
its means of comfortable transportation have been in-
adequate to accommodate all who have been anxious
to migrate. "Why should they not go ? Here they
are in the lowest state of social gradation aliens
poli;ical moral social aliens, strangers, though
natives. There, they would be in the midst of their
friends and their kindred, at home, though born in a
foreign land, and elevated above the natives of the
country, as much as they are degraded here below the
other classes of the community. I3ut on this matter,
I am happy to have it in my power to furnish indis-
putable evidence from the most authentic source, that
of large numbers of free persons of color themselves.
Numerous meetings have been held in several churches
in Baltimore, of the free people of color, in which,
after being organized as deliberative assemblies, by
the appointment of a chairman (if not of the same
complexion) presiding as you, Mr. Vice-President, do,
and secretaries, they have voted memorials addressed
to the white people, in which they have argued the
question with an ability, moderation, and temper,
surpassing anything I can command, and emphati-
cally recommended the colony of Liberia to favorable
consideration, as the most desirable and practicable
scheme ever yet presented ou this interesting subject.
ON AFRICAN COLONIZATION. 415
I ask permission of the Society to read a portion of
this hiiflilv creditable document:
O **
" The system of government established with the
full consent of the colonists, in the autumn of 1824,
and which the managers had the happiness to repre-
sent in their last report, as having thus far fulfilled
all the purposes of its institution, has continued its
operations during the year without the least irregu-
larity, and with undiminished success. The repub-
lican principle is introduced as far as is consistent
with the youthful and unformed character of the set-
tlement, and in the election of their officers the colo-
nists have evinced such integrity and judgment, as
affbrd promfse of early preparation for all the duties
of self-government. ' The civil prerogatives and gov-
ernment of the colony, and the body of the laws by
which they are sustained,' says the colonial agent,
*are the pride of all. I am happy in the persuasion
I have, that I hold the balance of the laws, in the
midst of a people, with whom the first perceptible in-
clination of the sacred scale determines authorita-
tively their sentiments and their conduct. There are
individual exceptions, hut these remarks extend to
the body of the settlers.'
" The moral and religious character of the colony
exerts a powerful influence on its social and civil
condition. That piety which had guided most of the
early emigrants to Liberia, even before they left this
country, to respectability and usefulness among their
associates, prepared them, in laying the foundation
of a colony, to act with a degree of wisdom and energy
which no earthly motives could inspire. Ilurnble,
416 SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAY.
nncl for the most part unlettered men ; born and bred
in circumstances the most unfavorable to mental cul-
ture ; unsustained by the hope of renown, and unfa-
miliar with the history of great achievements and
heroic virtues, theirs was, nevertheless, a spirit un-
moved by dangers or by Bufferings, which misfortunes
could not darken, nor death dismay. They left Aine-
lica, and felt that it was forever: they landed in
Africa, possibly to find a home, but certainly a grave.
Strange would it have been had the religion of every
individual of these early settlers proved genuine ; but.
immensely changed as have been their circumstances,
and severely tried their faith, most have preserved
untarnished the honors of their profession, and to the
purity of their morals, and the consistency of their
conduct, is, in a great measure, to be attributed
the social order and general prosperity of the colony
of Liberia."
In respect to the alleged incompetency of the
scheme to accomplish its professed object, the Society
asks that the object should be taken to be, not what
the imaginations of its enemies represent it to be,
but what it really proposes. They represent that the
purpose of the Society is to export the whole African
population of the United States, bond and free; and
they pronounce this design to be unattainable. They
declare that the means of the whole country are in-
eufficient to effect the transportation to Africa of a
mass of population approximating to two millions <>f
Bouia. Agreed ; but that is not what the Society
contemplates. They have substituted their own no-
tion fur that of the Society. What is the true nature
ON AFRICAN COLONIZATION. 417
of the evil 'of the existence of a portion of the African
race in our population ? It is not that there am
some, but that there are so many among us of a dif-
ferent caste, of a different physical, if not moral,
constitution, who never can amalgamate with the
great body of our population. In every country, per-
sons are to be found varying in their color, origin,
and character, from the native mass. But this ano-
maly creates no inquietude or apprehension, because
the exotics, from the smallness of their number, are
known to be utterly incapable of disturbing the ge-
neral tranquillity. Here, on the contrary, the African
part of our population bears so large a proportion to
the residue, of European origin, as to create the most
lively apprehension, especially in some quarters of
the Union. Any project, therefore, by which, in a
material degree, the dangerous element in the general
mass can be diminished or rendered stationary, de-
serves deliberate consideration.
The Colonization Society has never imagined it to
be practicable, or within the reach of any means
which the several Governments of the Union could
bring to bear on the subject, to transport the whole
of the African race within the limits of the United
States. !NY>r is that necessary to accomplish the de-
sirable object of domestic tranquillity, and render us
one homogeneous people. The population of the
United States has been supposed to duplicate in pe-
riods of twenty-live years. That may have been the
case heretofore, but the terms of duplication will bo
more and more protracted as we advance in national
age ; and I do not believe that it will be fouud, iu
2s
418 SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAY.
any period to come, that our numbers will be dou-
bled in a less term than one of about thirty-three and
a third years. I have not time to enter now into de-
tails in support of this opinion. They would consist
of those checks which experience lias shown to ob-
struct the progress of population, arising out of ita
actual augmentation and density, the settlement of
waste lands, etc. Assuming the period of thirty-three
and a third, or any other number of years, to be that
in which our population will hereafter be doubled,
if during that whole term the capital of the African
stock could be kept down, or stationary, while that
of European origin should be left to an unobstructed
increase, the result, at the end of the term, would be
most propitious. Let us suppose, for example, that
the whole population at present of the United States
is twelve millions, of which ten may be estimated of
the Anglo-Saxon, and two of the African race. If
there could be annually transported from the United
States an amount of the African portion equal to the
annual increase of the whole of that caste, while the
European race should be left to multiply, we should
find, at the termination of the period of duplication,
whatever it may be, that the relative proportions
would be as twenty to two. And if the process were
continued, during a second term of duplication, the
proportion would be as forty to two one which
would eradicate every cause of alarm or solicitude
from the breasts of the most timid. But the trans-
portation of Africans, by creating, to the extent to
which it might be carried, a vacuum in society, would
tend to accelerate the duplication of the European
ON AFRICAN COLONIZATION. 419
race, who, by all the laws of population, would fill
up the void space.
This Society is well aware, I repeat, that they can-
not touch the subject of slavery. But it is no objec-
tion to their scheme, limited as it is exclusively to
those free people of color who are willing to migrate,
that it admits of indefinite extension and application,
by those who alone, having the competent authority,
may choose to adopt and apply it. Our object has
been to point out the wa}-, to show that colonization
is practicable, and to leave it to those States or indi-
viduals who may be pleased to engage in the object,
to prosecute it. We have demonstrated that a colony
may be planted in Africa, by the fact that an Ameri-
can colony there exists. The problem which has so
long and so deeply interested the thoughts of good
and patriotic men is solved. A country and a home
have been found, to which the African race may be
sent, to the promotion of their happiness and our
own.
But, Mr. President, I shall not rest contented with
the fact of the establishment of the colony, conclu-
sive as it ought to be deemed, of the practicability
of our purpose. I shall proceed to show, by refer-
ence to indisputable statistical details and calcula-
tions, that it is within the compass of reasonable
human means. I am sensible of the tediousness of
all arithmetical data, but I will endeavor to simplify
them as much as possible. It will be borne in mind
that the Society is to establish in Africa a colony of
the free African population of the United States, to
aii exteut which shall be beneficial both to Africa
420 SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAY.
and America. The whole free colored population
of the United States amounted, in 1790, to lifty-nino
thousand four hundred and eighty-one; in 1800, to
one hundred and ten thousand and seventy-two ; in
1810, to one hundred and eighty-six thousand four
hundred and forty-six; and in 1820, to two hundred
and thirty-three thousand five hundred and thirty.
The ratio of annual increase during the iirst term of
ten years was about eight and a half per cent, per
annum ; during the second about seven per cent, per
annunj : and during the third, a little more than
two and a half. The very great difference in the
rate of annual increase, during those several terms,
may probably be accounted for by the effect of the
number of voluntary emancipations operating with
more influence upon the total smaller amount of
free colored persons at the first of those periods, and
by the facts of the insurrection in St. Domingo, and
the acquisition of Louisiana, both of which, occur-
ring during the first and second terms, added con-
siderably to the number of our free colored popula-
tion.
Of all descriptions of our population, that of the
free colored, taken in the aggregate, is the least pro-
lific, because of the checks arising from vice and
want. During the ten years between 1810 and 1820,
\\hen no extraneous causes existed to prevent a fair
competition in the increase between the slave and the
free African race, the former increased at the rate of
nearly three per cent, per annum, while the hitter did
not much exceed two and a half. Hereafter it may
be safely assumed, and I venture to predict will not
OX AFRICAN COLO^IZ AT I "Off. 421
be contradicted by tlic return of the next census, that
the increase of the free black population will not sur-
pass two and a half per cent, per annum. Their
amount at the last census being two hundred and
thirty-three thousand five hundred and thirty, for the
sake of round numbers, their annual increase may
be assumed to be six thousand at the present time.
Now, if this number could be annually transported
from the United States during a term of years, it is
evident that, at the end of that term, the parent capi-
tal will not have increased, but will have been kept
down, at least to what it was at the commencement
of the term. Is it practicable, then, to colonize annu-
ally six thousand persons from the United States,
without materially impairing or affecting any of the
great interests of the United States ? This is the
question presented to the judgments of the legislative
authorities of our country. This is the whole scheme
of the Society. From its actual experience, derived
from the expenses which have been incurred in trans-
porting the persons already sent to Africa, the entire
average expense of each colonist, young and old, in-
cluding passage-money and subsistence, may be stated
at twenty dollars per head. There is reason to believe
that it may be reduced considerably below that sum.
Estimating that to be the expense, the total cost of
transporting six thousand souls annually to Africa
would be one hundred and twenty thousand dollars.
The tonnage, requisite to effect the object, calculating
two persons to every five tons (which is the provision
of existing law), would be fifteen thousand tons. But,
as each vessel could probably make two voyages in
36
4^2 SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAY.
the year, it may be reduced to seven thousand five
hundred. And as both our mercantile and military
marine might be occasionally employed on this col-
lateral service, without injury to the main object of
the voyage, a further abatement may be safely made
in the aggregate amount of the necessary tonnage.
The navigation concerned in the commerce between
the colony and the United States (and it already be-
gins to supply subjects of an interesting trade), might
be incidentally employed to the same end. Is the
annual expenditure of a sum no larger than one hun-
dred and twenty thousand dollars, and the annuat
employment of seven thousand five hundred tons of
shipping, too much for reasonable exertion, consider-
ing the magnitude of the object in view? Are they
not, on the contrary, within the compass of moderate
efforts ?
Here is the whole scheme of the Society a project
which has been pronounced visionary by those who
have never given themselves the trouble to examine
it, but to which I believe most unbiased men will
yield their cordial assent, after they have investi-
gated it.
Limited as the project is, by the Society, to a
colony to be formed by the free and unconstrained
consent of free persons of color, it is no objection,
I ut, on the contrary, a great recommendation of the
plan, that it admits of being taken up and applied on
a scale of much more comprehensive utility. The
Society knows, and it affords just cause of felicitation,
that all or any one of the States which tolerate slavery
may carry the scheme of colonization into effect, in
ON AFRICAN COLONIZATION. 423
regard to the slaves within their respective limits, and
thus ultimately rid themselves of a universally-ac-
knowledged curse. A reference to the results of the
several enumerations of the population of the United
States, will incontestably prove the practicability of
its application on the more extensive scale. Tho
slave population of the United States amounted, in
1790, to six hundred and ninety-seven thousand six
hundred and ninety-seven; in 1800, to eight hundred
and ninety-six thousand eight hundred and forty-
nine; in 1810, to eleven hundred and ninety-one
thousand three hundred and sixty-four; and in 1820,
to fifteen hundred and thirty-eight thousand one hun-
dred and twenty-eight. The rate of annual increase
(rejecting fractions, and taking the integer to which
they make the nearest approach), during the first
term often years, was not quite three per centum per
annum, during the second a little more than three
per centum per annum, and during the third a little
less than three per centum. The mean ratio of in-
crease for the whole period of thirty years was very
little more than three per centum per annum. Dur-
ing the first two periods, the native stock was aug-
mented by importations from Africa, in those States
which continued to tolerate them, and by the acqui-
sition of Louisiana. Virginia, to her eternal honor,
abolished the abominable traffic among the earliest
acts of her self-government. The last ti-nn alone
presents the natural increase of the capital, unaffected
by any extraneous causes. That authorizes, as a safe
assumption, that the future increase will not exceed
three per centum per annum. As our population
424 SPEECHES OF HENRY C L A T.
increases, the value of slave labor will diminisli, in
consequence of the superior advantages in the em-
ployment of free labor. And when the value of slave
labor shall be materially lessened, either by the mul-
tiplication of the supply of slaves beyond the demand,
or by the competition between slave and free labor,
the annual increase of slaves will be reduced, in : on-
gequence of the abatement of the motives to provide
for and rear the offspring.
Assuming the future increase to be at the rate of
three per centum per annum, the annual addition to
the number of slaves in the United States, calculated
upon the return of the last census (one million five
hundred and thirty-eight thousand one hundred and
twenty-eight) is forty-six thousand. Applying the
dafa which have been already stated and explained,
in relation to the colonization of free persons of color
from the United States to Africa, to the aggregate
annual increase, both bond and free, of the African
race, and the result will be found most encouraging.
The total number of the annual increase of both de-
Bcriptiona is fifty-two thousand. The total expense
of transporting that number to Africa, supposing no
reduction of present prices, would be one million and
forty thousand dollars, and the requisite amount of
tonnage would be only one hundred and thirty thou-
sand tons of shipping, about one-ninth part of the
mercantile marine of the United States. Upon the
supposition of a vessel's making two voyages in the
year, it would be reduced to one half, sixty-five thou-
sand. And this quantity would be still further re
duccd, by embracing opportunities of incidental em
ON AFRICAN. COLONIZATION. 425
ployment of vessels belonging to both the mercantile
and military marines.
But is the annual application of one million and
forty thousand dollars, and the employment of sixty-
five or even one hundred and thirty thousand tons of
shipping, considering the magnitude of the object,
beyond the ability of this country? Is there a patriot
looking forward to its domestic quiet, its happiness,
and its glory, that would not cheerfully contribute his
proportion of the burden to accomplish a purpose so
great and so humane ? During the general continu-
ance of the African slave-trade, hundreds of thou-
sands of slaves have been, in a single year, imported
into the several countries whose laws authorized their
admission. 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 number of fifty-two thousand,
have been illicitly introduced. Is it possible that
those who are concerned in an infamous traffic can
eft'ect more than the States of this Union, if they were
seriously to engage in the good work ? 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, auj
humanity ?
The population of the United States being, at this
time, 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 clastcs
30*
426 SPEECHES or HENRY CLAY.
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 perse-
vered in to the end of it, would accomplish more
than to keep the parent stock stationary. The colo-
nists would comprehend more than an equal propor-
tion of those of the prolific ages. Few of those who
had passed that age would migrate. So that the an-
nual 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 which
would, at the termination of that period, be the con-
dition 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 stationary.
If tiie 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 been quadrupled. Even
if colonization should then altogether cease, the pro-
portion of the African, to the European race will be
so small, that the most timid may then forever dis-
miss all ideas of danger from within or without, on
account of that iucongrjous and perilous clement in
our population.
Oy AFRICAN COLONIZATION 427
Further: r>y the annual withdrawal of fifty-two
thousand persons of color, there would be annual
space created tor an equal number of the white nice.
The period, therefore, of the duplication of the whites,
by the laws which govern population, would be ac-
celerated.
Such, Mr. President, is the project of the Society;
and 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 com-
petent to undertake and execute it. All. or any one
of those States which tolerate slavery may adopt and
execute it, by co-operation or separate exertion. If I
could be instrumental in eradicating this deepest
stain upon the character of our country, and removing
all cause of reproach on account of it, by foreign
nations if I could only be instrumental in ridding
of 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 sat-
isfaction which I should enjoy, for the honor of all
the triumphs ever decreed to the most successful con-
queror.
Having, I hope, shown that the plan of the Society
is not visionary, but rational and practicable ; that a
colony does in fact exist, planted under its auspices;
that free people are willing and anxious to go; and
that the right of soil as well as of sovereignty may
be acquired in vast tracts of country in Africa, abun-
dantly sufficient for all the purposes of the most
ample colony, and at prices almost only nominal, the
task which remains to me of showing the beuelicial
428 SPEECHES P II E X R-Y CLAY.
consequences which would attend the execution of
the scheme, is comparatively easy.
Of the utility of ti total separation of the t\vo in-
congruous portions of our population, supposing it
to he practicable, none have ever doubted. The
mode of accomplishing that most, desirable object,
has alone divided public opinion. Colonization iu
llayti for a time had its partisans. Without throw
ing any impediments in th way of executing that
scheme, the American Colonization Society lias
steadily adhered to its own. The Haytien project
lias passed away. Colonization beyond the Stony
Mountains has sometimes been proposed ; but il
would be attended with an expense and difficulties
far surpassing the African project, while it would not
unite the same animating motives. There is a moral
fitness in the idea of returning to Africa her children,
whose ancestors have been torn from her by the ruth-
less hand of fraud and violence. Transplanted in a
foreign land, they will carry back to their native soil
the rich fruits of religion, civilization, law, and lib-
erty. May it not be one of the great designs of the
Ruler of the universe (whose ways are often inscru-
table by short-sighted mortals), thus to transform
original crime into a signal blessing, to that most un-
fortunate portion of the globe. Of all classes of our
population, the most vicious is that of the free
colored. It is the inevitable result of their moral,
political, and civil degradation. Contaminated them-
selves, they extend their vices to all around them, to
the slaves and to the whites. If the principle of oo-
lonizatiou should be confined to them ; if a colony
ON AFRICAN COLONIZATION. 429
can be firmly established, and successfully continued
in Africa, which should draw off annually an amount
of that portion of our population equal to its annual
increase, much good will be done. If the principle
be adopted and applied by the States, whose laws
sanction the existence of slavery to an extent equal
to the annual increase of slaves, still greater good will
be done. This good will be felt by the Africans who
go, by the Africans who remain, by the white popu-
lation of our country, by Africa and by America.
It is a project which recommends itself to favor in
all the aspects in which it can be contemplated. It
will do good in every and any extent in which it may
be executed. It is a circle of philanthropy, every
segment of which telh and testifies to the beneficence
of the whole.
Every emigrant to Africa is a missionary carrying
\vith him credentials in the holy cause of civilization,
religion, and free institutions. Why is it that the
degree of success of missionary exertions is so limited,
and so discouraging to those whose piety and bene-
volence prompt them ? Is i f . not because the mis-
sionary is generally an alien and a stranger, perhaps
of a different color, and from a different tribe?
There is a sort of instinctive feeling of jealousy and
distrust towards foreigners, which repels and rejects
them in all countries: and this^feeling is in propor-
tion to the degree of ignorance and barbarism which
prevail. But the African colonists, whom we send
to convert the heathen, are of the same color, the
same family, the same physical constitution. When
the purposes of the colony shall be fully understood,
430 SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAT.
they will be received as long-lost brethren, restored to
the embraces of their friends and their kindred by the
dispensations of a wise Providence.
The Society is reproached for agitating this ques-
tion. It should be recollected that the existence of
free people of color is not limited to the States only
which tolerate slavery. The evil extends itself to all
the States; and some of those which do not allow of
slavery, their cities especially, experience the evil in
an extent even greater than it exists in the slave
States. A common evil confers a right to consider
and apply a common remedy. Nor is it a valid ob-
jection that this remedy is partial in its operation or
distant in its efficacy. A patient, wri tiling under the
tortures of excruciating disease, asks of his physician
to cure him if lie can. and, if he cannot, to mitigate
his sufferings. But the remedy proposed, if gene-
rally adopted and perseveringly applied for a suffi-
cient length of time, should it not entirely eradicate
the disease, will enable the body politic to bear it
without danger and without suffering.
We are reproached with doing mischief by the
agitation of this question. The Society goes into no
household to disturb its domestic tranquillity; it ad-
dresses itself to no slaves to weaken their obligations
O
of obedience. It seeks to affect no man's property.
It neither has the power nor the will to affect the
property of any one contrary to his consent. The
execution of its scheme would augment instead of
diminishing the value of the property left behind.
The Society, composed of free men, concerns itself
only with the free. Collateral consequences we are
ON AFRICAN COLONIZATION. 431
responsible 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 tendencies to-
ward liberty and ultimate emancipation, they must
do more than put down the benevolent efforts of this
Societv. They must sro back to the era of our liberty
J / ^ v
and independence, and muzzle the cannon which
thunders its annual joyous return. They must re-
vive the slave-trade, with all its train of atrocities.
They must suppress the workings of British philan-
thropy, seeking to meliorate the condition of the un-
fortunate West Indian slaves. They must arrest the
career of South American deliverance from thraldom.
They must blow out the moral lights around us, and
extinguish that greatest torch of all which America
points to a benighted world pointing the way to
their rights, their liberties, and their happiness. And
when they have achieved all these purposes, their
work will be yet 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 portion of our race doomed to
bondage.
Our friends, who are cursed with this greatest of
human evils, deserve the kindest attention and con-
sideration. Their property and their safety are both
involved. But the liberal and candid among them
will not, cannot, expect that every project to deliver
432 SPEECHES OF IIEXKY CLAY.
our country from it is to be crushed because or a pos-
sible and ideal danger.
Animated by the encouragement of the past, let
us proceed under the cheering prospects which lie
before ns. Let us continue to appeal to the pious,
the Hheral, and the wise. Let us bear in mind 4he
condition of our forefathers, when, collected on the
beach of England, they embarked, amidst the scof-
fings and the false predictions of the assembled
multitude, for this distant land; and here, in spite of
all the perils of forest and ocean which they encoun-
tered, successfully laid the foundations of this glo-
rious Republic. Undismayed by the prophecies of
the presumptuous, let us supplicate the aid of the
American representatives of the people, and redou-
bling our labors, and invoking the blessings of an
.all-wise Providence, I boldly and confidently antici-
pate success. I hope the resolution which I offer will
be unanimously adopted.
THE END.
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