‘Resolved, that a committee be appointed on the part of the house, jointly with such committee as may be appointed on the part of the senate, to consider and report to the senate and house of representatives respectively, whether it be expedient or not, to make provision for the admission of Missouri into the union, on the same footing as the original states, and for the due execution of the laws of the United States within Missouri, and if not, whether any other, and what provision adapted to her actual condition ought to be made a law.’
This resolution was adopted in the house by a majority of nearly two-thirds, and in the senate by a much larger one. The committee, Mr. Clay proposed, should consist of twenty-three, a number answering to all the states in the union, and so exerted his influence in their selection, as to secure a majority favorable to the settlement of the whole matter, in the manner and form proposed.
The joint committees met on the twenty-fifth of February, 1821, and proceeded to consider and discuss the question of admission. Mr. Clay, with a vigilance that did not slumber for an instant, exerted himself to infuse into the members of the committees a portion of his own conciliatory spirit, exhorting them to mutual concession, and declared that it would be utterly futile to report any plan of adjustment in which they could not unanimously concur, when it should be submitted to the final test. So firmly convinced was he, that the effort which they were then making, was the last feasible one that could be made for the settlement of the question on which they were deliberating, as to cause him to address individually the members of the committees, in order to make such thorough preparation as to preclude the possibility of defeat. And it was found on the next day that such preparation had been made; the resolution was adopted by a vote of eighty-seven to eighty-one in the house, and despatched to the senate, which unhesitatingly agreed to it, and thus the question which had convulsed congress for three sessions, and nearly distracted the land, was at last settled, and mainly through the influence of Mr. Clay. The proclamation of the president was issued, and Missouritook her place among her sisters of the confederacy. This event was greeted with the highest demonstrations of joy, and Missouri, beautiful Missouri, from her majestic forests and broad prairies, from her ancient mounds and mighty rivers, pealed her loud anthems of grateful praise to her and her country’s deliverer, hailing him as the second Washington, as one who had plucked the brand of discord from the hands of ten millions of enraged and exasperated people, and put in its place the olive branch of peace. The incense of exulting hearts was lavished on Mr. Clay like rain. His agency in settling one of the most difficult and dangerous questions that ever has arisen since the adoption of our present constitution, was clearly seen, deeply and gratefully felt, and thus publicly acknowledged. No one then was so blind as not to see that it was his hand that rent the pall of gloom, which enshrouded the whole land. His labors and his incessant and health-destroying toils to bring this question to a happy consummation, constituted a topic of conversation which was in the mouth of every one. Although the journals of the day do not record the many speeches made by him on the occasion, yet it is reported that his exertions in speaking and acting were almost superhuman. If a stranger arrived in Washington, whose influence he thought could be made to bear favorably on the settlement of the question, he instantly endeavored to enlist it. Mr. Clay himself was heard to say, that so intense had become his excitement, and so exhausting his efforts, his life would in all probability have been sacrificed to them, if the admission of Missouri had been delayed a fortnight longer. There is no doubt, that he taxed his patriotism, his eloquence, his philanthropy, his intellect, and his every attribute of mind and body, to the utmost, and strained the bow of life almost to breaking, to accomplish this, and it is saying very little to observe, that a nation’s thanks are his due, and that his signal service, in allaying the most tremendous storm that passion, prejudice, and sectional feeling ever raised, has imposed a debt of gratitude upon her, which posterity alone can pay.
At the time of the greatest turbulence over the Missouri question, when the fury of the contending parties in congress had broken down every barrier of order and decency, and was rushing rampant over the field of debate, certain southern gentlemen in the house, headed by Mr. Randolph, concocted a plan for withdrawing the entire body of members from the slaveholding states, from its deliberations, and abandon the business to the representatives of the other states. Had this been carried out, anarchy, civil war, and the effusion of blood would have followed inevitably. About this time, when an amicable settlement was nearly despaired of, and when the house was in session one evening, Mr. Randolph approached Mr. Clay and said, ‘Mr. speaker, I wish you wouldleave the house. I will follow you to Kentucky, or any where else in the world.’ Mr. Clay, regarding him with one of his most searching looks for an instant, replied, in an under tone, ‘Mr. Randolph, your proposition is an exceedingly serious one, and demands most serious consideration; be kind enough to call at my room to-morrow morning, and we will deliberate over it together.’ Punctual to a minute, Mr. Randolph was there, and closeted with Mr. Clay, discussed for some time the then all absorbing question connected with the admission of Missouri. Mr. Clay maintained, with all the force of his fine colloquial powers, the plan of compromise, as the wisest and best which he could suggest, and, in his opinion, that could be suggested, declaring his sincere conviction that the slaveholding states might adopt it, without any sacrifice of principle or interest. On the other hand, Mr. Randolph contended that it could not and would not be adopted; that the slave states occupied a correct position, and would maintain it at all hazards, and would not proceed an inch towards a compromise. They finally separated without agreeing on any thing that was calculated to harmonize their action in congress. ‘Oh! Mr. Randolph,’ said Mr. Clay, as the former was about stepping from the house, ‘Mr. Randolph, with your permission I will embrace the present occasion to observe, that your language and deportment on the floor of the house, it has occurred to me, were rather indecorous and ungentlemanly on several occasions, and very annoying indeed to me, for, being in the chair, I had no opportunity of replying.’ Admitting that such, perhaps, might be the case, Mr. Randolph replied that he too had often been much vexed at witnessing Mr. Clay’s neglect to attend to him when speaking. Said he, ‘I have seen you often, when I have been addressing the chair, I have seen you often turn away your head and ask for a pinch of snuff.’ ‘Oh! you are certainly mistaken, Mr. Randolph, you are mistaken if you think I do not listen to you; although I frequently turn away my head, it is true, and ask for a pinch of snuff, still I hear every thing you say, when seeming to hear nothing, and I will wager, retentive as I know your memory to be, Mr. Randolph, that I can repeat as much of any of your recent speeches as you yourself can.’ ‘Well, I do not know but I am mistaken,’ he replied, ‘and suppose we drop the matter, shake hands, and become good friends again.’ ‘Agreed,’ said Mr. Clay, and extended his hand, which was cordially embraced by Mr. Randolph. They never spoke to each other, however, during the remainder of the session.
Soon after this meeting, Mr. Clay was successively, and without concert, informed by the late governor Edwards and general C. F. Mercer, the one a senator and the other a member of the house, that Mr. Randolph was present at and witnessed the death scene of the gallant and lamented commodore Decatur, that he remained gazing a long time upon his corpse, agitated with deep emotions,and that he had been heard to express a desire to have, and with Mr. Clay, an affair of honor similar to that which brought Decatur to his untimely end. This information naturally put Mr. Clay upon his guard, and ever after during the session, whenever he met Mr. Randolph, he refrained from addressing him.
It is said that Mr. Randolph used all his influence in trying to induce one of the gentlemen above mentioned not to agree to a settlement of the Missouri question, as he (Mr. Randolph) feared that this, if accomplished as it was desired, would secure Mr. Clay’s election to the presidency.
During the same session, and some time previous to their interview, Mr. Randolph accosted Mr. Clay with a look and manner betokening the deepest concern, exhibiting to him a letter couched in very abusive and insulting terms, threatening to cow-hide him, and asked Mr. Clay’s advice as to the course he should pursue in relation to it. ‘What caused the writer to send you such an insulting epistle, Mr. Randolph?’ said Mr. Clay. ‘Why, I suppose,’ said he, ‘it was in consequence of what I said to him the other day.’ ‘What did you say?’ ‘Why, sir, I was standing in the vestibule of the house, when the writer came up and introduced to me a gentleman who accompanied him, and I asked him what right he had to introduce that man to me, and told him that the man had just as good a right to introduce him to me, whereat he was very indignant, and said I had treated him scandalously, and turning on his heel went away. I expect that made him write the letter.’ ‘Do you not think that he was a little out of his head to talk in that way?’ replied Mr. Clay. ‘Why, I have been thinking about that,’ said Mr. Randolph, ‘I have my doubts respecting his sanity.’ ‘Well, that being the case, would it not be the wisest course not to bring the matter before the house? I will direct the sergeant-at-arms to keep a sharp look out for the man, and to cause him to be arrested, should he attempt any thing improper.’ Mr. Randolph expressed his acquiescence in the speaker’s opinion, and nothing more was heard of the subject.
On another occasion, when the same question was before the house, Mr. Randolph informed Mr. Clay that he had come to the conclusion to abandon his invective and caustic irony in debate, and in future to confine himself to pure argument; that he had come to this conclusion in consequence of the advice of chief justice Marshall. He tried pure argument, but was unsuccessful, not awakening any interest in those who listened to him. He finally fell back into his old eccentric, sarcastic track, where he was at home, and crowds flocked to hear him, as usual. In Mr. Randolph’s hands ridicule was a powerful weapon, and one which no member knew how to use better than he, but sound reasoning and logical disquisition he wielded awkwardly—they were untempered weapons when used by him, about as effective as a rush inthe hands of a child. One day he came in contact with a very able debater, Mr. Sheffey, one of his colleagues from Virginia, who, in a playful sally, had made some remarks which aroused the irascible temper of Mr. Randolph, who replied to him and concluded by offering him the following morceau of advice. ‘My worthy colleague possesses talents of a high order, but they are not very versatile. They qualify him for a particular sphere only, beyond the limits of which nature never designed him to travel. That sphere is logic. In this he can do battle with the boldest, but when he transcends it, he has less power than a pigmy. Therefore, as a friend, I would in the spirit of kindness, advise him never to leave it for any other; but especially would I caution him, as he values his reputation and safety, never to venture within the unexplored and unsubjugated regions of wit, for whose labyrinths and intricacies he has neither taste nor talent. As no other motive but a tender solicitude for the gentleman’s welfare, has prompted this advice, I hope it will be received and appreciated accordingly.’ Mr. Sheffey, in reply, remarked that he did not like to remain in Mr. Randolph’s debt, and would therefore cancel the heavy demand which he owed the gentleman, for his exceedingly valuable advice, by returning the compliment. He accordingly advised him never to aspire after logic, as it was an instrument of whose use his ignorance was more than sophomoric, and that in his hand it was like a knife in the hands of a child. ‘In my opinion, from the armory of wit the facetious member may draw weapons every way adapted to his capacity, and I would therefore advise him never to resort to any other.’ When he concluded, Mr. Randolph sprang to his feet, and in his quick, off-hand way, said, ‘I will take back all that I have said, by way of advice, to my colleague, for he has given satisfactory evidence that he is a man both of logic and wit.’ The incident furnished much mirth to the house. The next day, Mr. Randolph recommenced the attack with increased bitterness, and was called to order several times by Mr. Clay, who, after repeated trials, succeeded in checking him. Mr. Sheffey was much excited, and was called to order also, when Mr. Clay observed that he would be out of order in replying, as he was, to any other member, except Mr. Randolph.
At one time, Mr. Randolph, in a strain of most scorching irony, had indulged in some personal taunts towards Mr. Clay, commiserating his ignorance and limited education, to whom Mr. Clay replied by saying, ‘sir, the gentleman from Virginia was pleased to say, that in one point, at least, he coincided with me—in an humble estimate of my grammatical and philological acquirements. I know my deficiences. I was born to no proud patrimonial estate from my father. I inherited only infancy, ignorance, and indigence; I feel my defects; but so far as my situation in early life is concerned, I may without presumption say, they are more my misfortunethan my fault. But, however I deplore my inability to furnish to the gentleman a better specimen of powers of verbal criticism, I will venture to say my regret is not greater than the disappointment of this committee, as to the strength of his argument.’
The following incident aptly illustrates Mr. Clay’s readiness at repartee. At the time of the passage of the tariff bill, April sixteenth, 1824, as the house was about adjourning, a friend of the bill observed to Mr. Clay, ‘we have done pretty well to-day.’ ‘Very well, indeed,’ rejoined Mr. Clay, instantly, ‘very well; we made a good stand, considering we lost both our FEET;’ alluding to Mr. Foote, of New York, and Mr. Foot, of Connecticut, both having opposed the bill, who it was confidently expected but a short time previous would support it.