Mr. Clay replied to him in a speech of most pointed yet merited rebuke, and couched in language that stung like a scorpion. During the course of his remarks, Mr. Quincy took occasion to travel out of his way to attack the character of Mr. Jefferson. This uncalled for and unexpected abuse of an aged ex-president, a patriot living in retirement, Mr. Clay thus notices.
‘Neither his retirement from public office, his eminent services,nor his advanced age, can exempt this patriot from the coarse assaults of party malevolence. In 1801, he snatched from the rude hand of usurpation the violated constitution of his country, and that is his crime. He preserved that instrument, in form, and substance, and spirit, a precious inheritance for generations to come, and for this, he can never be forgiven. How vain and impotent is party rage directed against such a man! He is not more elevated by his lofty residence on the summit of his own favorite mountain, than he is lifted by the serenity of his mind, and the consciousness of a well-spent life, above the malignant passions and bitter feelings of the day. No! his own beloved Monticello is not less moved by the storms that beat against its sides, than is this illustrious man by the howlings of the whole British pack set loose from the Essex kennel.’
Speaking of the notoriety Mr. Quincy had gained by attempting to impeach Mr. Jefferson a few years previous, he said, ‘the final vote stood one for, and one hundred and seventeen against the proposition!’ (of impeachment.) ‘The same historic page that transmitted to posterity the virtue and the glory of Henry the Great of France, for their admiration and example, has preserved the infamous name of the frantic assassin of that excellent monarch.’ Mr. Clay vindicated most ably the character of that exalted patriot, from the foul aspersions thus attempted to be cast upon it; after which, he alluded to the vacillating course pursued by those opposed to the administration party, in the following language. ‘The course of that opposition by which the administration of the government has been unremittingly impeded for the last twelve years, is singular, and I believe unexampled in the history of any country. The administration has not been forgetful of its solemn obligations. No art has been left unessayed, no experiment promising a favorable result left untried, to maintain the peaceful relations of the country. When some six or seven years ago, the affairs of the nation assumed a threatening aspect, a partial non-importation was adopted. As they grew more alarming an embargo was imposed. It would have accomplished its purport, but it was sacrificed on the altar of conciliation. Vain and fruitless attempt to propitiate! Then came along the non-intercourse, and a general non-importation followed in the train. In the mean time, any indications of a return to the public law and the path of justice on the part of either belligerent, are seized upon with avidity by the administration. The arrangement with Mr. Erskine is concluded. It is first applauded, and then censured by the opposition. No matter with what unfeigned sincerity, with what real effort the administration cultivates peace, the opposition insist that it alone is culpable for every breach that is made between the two countries. Restriction after restriction has been tried. Negotiation has been resorted to until further negotiation would have been disgraceful.Whilst 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 exclusive vigor and energy. The administration, on the contrary, is weak, feeble, and pusillanimous—incapable of being kicked into a war. The maxim, ‘not a cent for tribute, millions for defence,’ is loudly proclaimed. The opposition is tired, sick, disgusted with negotiation. They want to draw the sword and avenge the nation’s wrongs. When, however, foreign nations, perhaps emboldened by the very opposition here made, refuse to listen to the amicable appeals, which have been repeated and reiterated by the administration, to their justice and their interests—when, in fact, war with one of them has become identified with our existence and our sovereignty, and to abstain from it was no longer possible, behold the opposition veering round and becoming the friends of peace and commerce. They tell you of the calamities of war—its tragical events—the squandering away of your resources—the waste of the public treasure, and the spilling of innocent blood. Now we see them exhibiting the terrific forms of the roaring king of the forest. Now the meekness and humility of the lamb. They are for war and no restriction when the administration is for peace. They are for peace and restrictions when the administration is for war. You find them tacking with every gale, displaying the colors of every party and of all nations, steady only in one unalterable purpose, to steer if possible into the haven of power.’
Mr. Clay’s sentiments in relation to the British system of impressment were of the most affecting description, drawing tears from the eyes of almost every individual present, and concluded by saying, that ‘My plan would be to call out the ample resources of the country, give them a judicious direction, prosecute the war with the utmost vigor, strike wherever we can reach the enemy at sea or on land, and negotiate the terms of a peace at Quebec or Halifax. We are told that England is a proud and lofty nation, which, disdaining to wait for danger, meets it half way. Haughty as she is, we once triumphed over her, and if we do not listen to the counsels of timidity and despair, we shall again prevail. In such a cause, with the aid of Providence, we must come out crowned with success; but if we fail, let us fail like men—lash ourselves to our gallant tars, and expire together in one common struggle, fighting for free trade and seamen’s rights.’
A correct idea of the effect produced it is impossible to gather from his reported speech, though in general accurately given. Look, tone, gesture, and manner contributed largely to its greatness,—perhaps as much as the ‘thoughts that breathe and words that burn,’ which in one continuous stream fell from his eloquent lips, causing the hearts of his hearers to thrill alternately withpleasure and pain. It is represented as having been an exquisite specimen of grand eloquence—a felicitous blending of the beautiful, pathetic and sublime. He seemed to wave the enchanted wand of the fabled magician, now spreading peace and quiet, and now causing the most stormy emotions to swell the hearts of those who listened to him. The editor of the National Intelligencer says that the pathetic effect produced by the appeal admits not of description. Although the day was extremely cold, so cold that Mr. Clay, for the only time in his life, was unable to keep himself warm by the exercise of speaking, there were few individuals in the house who did not bear witness by their streaming eyes to the orator’s control over their sensibilities. Members of both political parties—men whose patriotic souls had been sustained by his eloquence, and those who had been writhing and agonizing under his indignation, forgot their antipathies and wept together.
Mr. Clay had the pleasure of seeing the bill, as advocated by him, pass the house, on the fourteenth of January, 1813, by a vote of seventy-seven to forty-two. On the sixteenth (having passed the senate,) it received the signature of the president; and thus was taken another and very important step in carrying out that system of manly and bold resistance devised and introduced by him, and which was destined to redress all our grievances and restore our violated rights.
On the eighteenth of February, congress proceeded to ascertain the result of an election for president and vice president, which was as follows. For president, James Madison, one hundred and twenty-eight, De Witt Clinton, eighty-nine. For vice president, Elbridge Gerry, one hundred and thirty-one, Jared Ingersoll, eighty-six. Thus the re-election of Mr. Madison furnished undoubted evidence that the people, from whom there is no appeal, sustained the measures of war.
On the twenty-fourth of May, Mr. Clay was elected speaker to the house again, over Mr. Pitkin, by a majority of thirty-five, and whenever an opportunity was afforded him, he mingled in the discussions that were almost constantly agitating the house, in reference to prosecuting the war. At the commencement of this, the first session of the thirteenth congress, he called the attention of the house to that portion of the president’s message which describes the manner in which the British had been waging war: which characterized it as ‘adding to the savage fury of it on one frontier, a system of plunder and conflagration on the other, equally forbidden by respect for national character, and by the established rules of civilized warfare.’ In a few pertinent remarks, he adverted to this description embodied by the message, censuring somewhat severely the nation guilty of such enormities, and said, ‘if they should be found to be as public report had stated them, they called for the indignation of all christendom, and ought to be embodiedin an authentic document which might perpetuate them on the page of history.’ An investigation instituted on a motion of Mr. Clay, in reference to these, developed the astounding fact that the most barbaric outrages were committed repeatedly, on American prisoners, by the savage allies of the British, with their approval. The indignation of the house was aroused to a high pitch, on learning the truth of the report, which took immediate measures for causing to be laid before it every instance of such flagrant violation of the rules of warfare recognized by all civilized nations.
War had now become the settled policy and regular business of the nation; a business which though at first she performed rather bunglingly, was now despatched in a more workmanlike manner. The plough, the spade, and the various implements of husbandry and mechanism, had become partially forgotten, by the familiarity which had been effected with the musket and the sword, so that greater skill was manifested in the use of the latter, which resulted in greater success than accompanied the first attempts at their use. York, the capital of Upper Canada, had fallen into our hands, and five naval victories had been achieved. Indecision and timidity had to a great extent disappeared, and a spirit of indomitable determination had been made to take their place, mainly through the irresistible influence of Mr. Clay’s eloquent appeals. These were all-powerful, agitating the whole nation, paralyzing opposition, and organizing and arraying the talent, influence, and means of all classes, to do battle to death, if necessary, in defence of our precious liberties. A noble and enthusiastic feeling was diffused throughout the country. Public opinion was far and wide aroused in favor of the war, and its majestic roar shook down the unconsecrated temples of treason, and bared their secrets to the light of heaven. Patriot answered aloud to patriot—the sentinels of freedom caught up the watchword—from town to town the signal fires flashed free, and all things proclaimed that the spirit of the country was up for glory.
Both the friends and foes of Mr. Clay agree that at this period the control he had acquired was almost unlimited. In the house it was probably equal to that which he had acquired a few years previous in the legislature of Kentucky. This was always exercised in the spirit of the greatest liberality, and in such a manner as to promote the public interests. Towards the close of 1813, negotiations for peace commenced, at the suggestion of Alexander, the emperor of Russia, who proffered his mediation between the two belligerent nations. On the part of the United States, his proffer was favorably received, and a willingness manifested to accede to it, accompanied with expressions of regret that the commercial interests of Russia should be infringed or endangered in any way by her collision with Great Britain. This was first formally made at Washington, by the Russian minister, M. Daschkoff,as early as March of the same year, and eagerly embraced by the president. It had, however, several months previous, been hinted to Mr. Adams, our minister at St. Petersburg, by the emperor himself, who manifested great desire that hostilities should cease. On the part of Great Britain his pacific proposition was rejected, who alleged that the peculiar nature of her domestic and naval regulations rendered incompatible its acceptance, but declared her perfect willingness to treat with the American envoys, either at London, or Paris, or indeed at any convenient place selected by the two powers. This proposal was accepted, and the preliminary steps taken to accomplish the object proposed. Messrs. Albert Gallatin and James A. Bayard were selected as two of the commissioners for the United States, and directed to repair without delay and join Mr. J. Q. Adams, at St. Petersburg, there to await the further action of government.