‘As to my motives for tendering to him the department of state when I did, let that man who questions them come forward. Let him look around among statesmen and legislators of this nation, and of that day. Let him then select and name the man, whom, by his preëminent talents, by his splendid services, by his ardent patriotism, by his all-embracing public spirit, by his fervid eloquence in behalf of the rights and liberties of mankind, by his long experience in the affairs of the union, foreign and domestic, a president of the United States, intent only upon the honor and welfare of his country, ought to have preferred to Henry Clay. Let him name the man, and then judge you, my fellow citizens, of my motives.’
Five years subsequent to his election, in a letter to a friend, Mr. Adams referred to the above testimonial of Mr. Clay’s talents and character, as one from which he could deduct nothing, but to which he could add much. He also said, that such was his opinion of Mr. Clay’s abilities, that he had expressed to him his candid intention, at the time he resigned the speakership, in 1820, if a vacancy should occur in the mission to Great Britain, he should deem it his duty to recommend the nomination of him to that office. He also speaks of the great despatch and facility, with which Mr. Clay transacted business, notwithstanding the feebleness of his health during the whole time. Indeed, he regarded him as a perfect model of fitness for the office to which he called him, and as having honored and adorned it with the intellectual wealth of his fertile mind. No station in which he was placed, suffered, either through remissness, or deficiency. The fact that his entrance to office was always hailed with general joy, and his departure witnessed with regret, furnished the highest possible compliment to his ability and eminence. Had we space, and felt disposed, we could multiply individual complimentary expressions to almost any extent, but this is not necessary, for his fame and praise are in the mouth of the world. The period of Mr. Clay’s speakership may be adduced as one of the most brilliant of his public life. He illustrated it by all the lofty attainments of one profoundly versed in the arts of government, under the guidance of patriotism, that subordinated every thing to its ardor and devotion. During his occupancy of the chair, from 1811 to 1825, except two years of voluntary absence, his decisions, though prompt, were rarely reversed. Though a warm partisan, he never allowed hisown particular views to influence them in the least, and both friends and foes unite in declaring, that their rendition was far removed from all suspicion of party or venal considerations, in short; that on them all was stamped impartiality, in everduring characters. But Mr. Clay, besides rendering himself conspicuous for the correctness of his decisions, won also the regard and confidence of the house for the courteously stern manner in which he governed and guided its deliberations. He combined, in a preëminent degree, the suaviter in modo with the fortiter in re. There was an indescribable something in his look, gesture, and tone of voice, added to his dignity and self-possession, that always restrained and conciliated the turbulent and inimical, and bound to him, with the silken ligaments of love, the peaceable and friendly. At no period of our political history, were subjects so momentous and dangerous in their nature, and so difficult to adjust, brought before congress, as during that of which we are speaking. The political heavens had never been so black, nor the political ocean heaved his surges so high, before, and had not he been there to spread the bow of serenity upon the one, and calm the wild fury of the other, it is hardly too much to say, that our liberties, our institutions, and our every thing nationally valuable, would have been swept by the besom of their rage into the tomb of chaos, if not into oblivion. But he was there, ruling, tempering, guiding, and blessing. He seemed to act as though he were conscious that his country stood at his side, with her piercing eyes fixed full upon him, reading the secrets of his heart,—as though he heard her voice sounding in his ears, imploring and beseeching him to guard and watch over, faithfully, those interests which she had so unreservedly placed in his hands, and whenever he lifted his arm, or opened his mouth, it seemed to be for the single purpose of executing her revealed will. No wonder that in view of such unparalleled patriotism and disinterestedness, applause should be extorted from the mouth of enmity itself. No wonder that it should be heard saying, ‘Mr. Clay accomplished what no other man could have performed.’
Many incidents occurred during his speakership, highly illustrative of his playfulness, wit, and readiness, of which the following may serve as a specimen.
On one occasion, the late general Alexander Smyth, of Virginia, a gentleman of unusual ability and erudition, had been speaking a long time, fatiguing and vexing the house with the length and number of his quotations, and citations of authorities, and justified his unbearable prolixity by saying to Mr. Clay, who was seated near him, ‘you, sir, speak for the present generation, but I speak for posterity.’ ‘Yes,’ he immediately replied, ‘and you seem resolved to speak until the arrival of your audience!’
On another, the house was harangued by the late governorLincoln, of Maine, in his usual eloquent, but verbose and declamatory manner. He was considering the revolutionary pension bill, and replying to an argument which opposed it on the ground that those to whom it proposed to extend pecuniary aid, might perhaps live a long time, and thus cause heavy drafts to be made upon the treasury. In one of his elevated flights of patriotic enthusiasm, he burst out with the exclamation, ‘soldiers of the revolution, live forever!’ Mr. Clay succeeded him, in favor also of the humane provision, but did not respond to his desire relative to the length of the lives of those worthies for whose benefit it was devised, and when he closed, turned suddenly towards Mr. Lincoln, and, with a smile upon his countenance, observed, ‘I hope my worthy friend will not insist upon the very great duration of these pensions which he has suggested. Will he not consent, by way of a compromise, to a term of nine hundred and ninety-nine years, instead of eternity?’
We have seen, that the contest which resulted in placing Mr. Adams at the head of the nation, was one of unusual violence, and in waging which, the most unscrupulous means were employed; and that one of its most unredeeming features was the unmitigated calumny and abuse, which they heaped upon Mr. Clay. But soon after the combatants had retired from the field of conflict, and resumed their various avocations, the jarring elements of political faction became quiescent, the blood of the ambitious demagogue fell from its fever heat to its ordinary temperature, and the foul slanderer, fearing exposure, had slunk away to his dark retreat, to deplore his discomfiture, and concoct new materials. Every thing gave omen that a season of peace and grateful repose would be enjoyed. It was thought that no lover of these and of good order, much less a patriot, could be found, who would be base and foolhardy enough to stir up the expiring embers of strife, and add fresh fuel to their flames. Those who entertained this belief, however, found themselves mistaken. They saw one coming forth, one who boasted long and loud of patriotism and devotion to country, and, stooping from his supposed lofty eminence of political virtue, pick up the relaxed bow of slander, and discharge the most envenomed arrows of malice and detraction, at one of the fairest ornaments of that very country, to whose interests he professed himself so strongly attached. To their utter astonishment, they beheld, in that individual, thus anomalously engaged, no less a personage than that of ‘the hero of New Orleans.’ General Jackson had the distinguished honor of reviving the thousand times refuted report of ‘bargain and corruption,’ in relation to Mr. Clay’s acceptance of the department of state. A letter, dated March eighth, 1825, went the rounds of the newspapers, pretending to give the substance of a conversation which passed between the writer and general Jackson, to the effect that Mr. Clay’s friends incongress had proposed to his friends, that if they would agree that Mr. Adams should not be retained in the department of state, that then their (Mr. Clay and his supporters) influence should be immediately used to elect general Jackson, who, it affirmed, rejected the proposal with becoming indignation.Soon after the appearance of this communication, the author, Mr. Carter Beverley, addressed general Jackson, requesting him to confirm it, who replied, June fifth, 1827, by a letter directly charging the friends of Mr. Clay with having proposed to him, through a member of congress, to give him their support in case he (general Jackson) would pledge himself not to retain Mr. Adams as aforesaid, and who intimated that the proposition originated with Mr. Clay; and, to give the last finishing stroke, and one which should ensure it credence, he went so far in that reply as to state, that immediately after the rejection of the proposition, Mr. Clay came out openly for Mr. Adams. He also declared, that, in reply to this proposition, he stated, that before he would reach the presidential chair by such ignoble means, ‘he would see the earth open and swallow both Mr. Clay and his friends, and himself with them!’ The name of the member of congress was demanded by Mr. Clay, and that of Mr. Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, was given, a warm personal friend of general Jackson’s. His version of the matter proved the assertion of the latter a barefaced falsehood, unsupported by even the semblance of truth. Mr. Buchanan flatly and promptly denied, that such a proposition had been made through him as had been alleged, and entirely exonerated Mr. Clay and his adherents from all connection with it. He stated, that, during the month of December, 1824, hearing it currently reported in Washington, that general Jackson, in case he was elected president, designed to continue Mr. Adams as secretary of state, and thinking that such a report, if not properly contradicted, would operate detrimentally to his interests, he called on him, and expressed his opinion in relation thereto, and that the general declared, that he entertained a high opinion of Mr. Adams, but had never said any thing in relation to retaining or rejecting him as secretary of state, and that he (Mr. Buchanan) was authorized to state, that such was the result of the interview. Mr. Buchanan also declared his honest and sincere conviction, that ‘general Jackson did not believe or entertain the most distant idea that he came on behalf of Mr. Clay or of his friends, until the publication of the letter making that accusation.’
Thus the burden of proof of the vile calumny, which had been placed upon the shoulders of the calumniator himself, remained unmoved. The united efforts of himself and friends, instead of disengaging it, only rendered its magnitude more visible, and its deformity more gross. The eyes of the nation have been directed to it, and many pure patriots, of all parties, in view of it, with saddenedhearts, have exclaimed, ‘alas, alas, for the all-absorbing prevalence of party spirit—for the frailty of human nature!’
Though no substantiating evidence was, or could be, produced, by those who sought to produce it, a mass of refuting testimony was obtained by Mr. Clay and his friends, perfectly overwhelming. A circular letter was addressed to the western delegation of 1825, who were the principal individuals implicated in the charges against Mr. Clay, soliciting their views respecting them, who unhesitatingly pronounced them false; and many stated, that their determination to vote for Mr. Adams was formed previous to knowing Mr. Clay’s intention. This testimony Mr. Clay embodied in a pamphlet, which he published in January, 1828, containing evidence more than sufficient to convince any unprejudiced mind, that he had repeatedly and unambiguously declared his intention to vote for Mr. Adams, long before the alleged proposition was said to have been made. In this he says, ‘I make no appeal to public sympathy. I invoke only stern justice. If truth has not lost its force, reason its sway, and the fountains of justice their purity, the decision must be auspicious. With a firm reliance upon the enlightened judgment of the public, and conscious of the zeal and uprightness with which I have executed every trust committed to my care, I await the event without alarm or apprehension. Whatever it may be, my anxious hopes will continue for the success of the great cause of human liberty, and of those high interests of national policy, to the promotion of which, the best exertions of my life have been faithfully dedicated. And my humble, but earnest prayers will be unremitted, that all danger may be averted from our common country, and especially that our union, our liberty, and our institutions, may long survive, a cheering exception from the operations of that fatal decree, which the voice of all history has hitherto uniformly proclaimed.’
Though utterly abortive were all the attempts of the enemies of Mr. Clay, to injure him in the estimation of the unprejudiced and the good, still, they managed to make political capital out of the charges of bargain and corruption. Notwithstanding this final appeal to the people, embraced, substantially, the numerous evidences of their falsehood, evidences that had been repeated again and again, still, there were found thousands who believed these charges, and many servile partisan presses to circulate them, and carefully suppress the proofs of their untruth. These labored unremittingly, to make the community believe, that general Jackson was absolutely cheated out of his election by Mr. Clay, and multitudes settled down on this belief, and clung to it with an obstinacy, that would not have been moved, had he sealed his protestation of their falsehood with his blood. This belief was so congenial to the feelings of many, as to cause them to turn a deaf ear to any statement calculated to weaken it. A specimen of thisclass of individuals fell under the personal observation of Mr. Clay, while, in 1828, he was travelling in Virginia, accompanied by some friends. ‘We halted,’ said he, ‘at night, at a tavern kept by an aged gentleman, who, after supper, sat down by me, and, without hearing my name, but understanding that I was from Kentucky, remarked, that he had four sons in that state, and that he was very sorry they were divided in politics, 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 he wanted 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 in it, would you believe him? No, replied the old man, 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 learnt 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.’
These calumnious allegations have expended their strength, and are now remembered and denominated only as the vilest fabrication of the most unscrupulous political malice, to destroy the most exalted patriotism and unsullied political virtue, that ever adorned this or any other country. The individual against whom they were directed, not merely outlived them, but also secured the civic wreath of honor, in which flashes, in everduring brilliancy, many a gem of public favor. It was a sublime sight, for a mighty nation to see her most distinguished son, single-handed, holding on his patriotic course, now breasting the ungovernable waves of faction, and now making his way through the serried ranks of vindictive assailants, casting their weapons from him as the lion shakes the dewdrops from his mane, or, seated in the unmoved majesty of his integrity, regarding them as the ocean rock looks down and laughs at the impotency of surge and storm, breaking harmlessly against his feet. Through all, he passed to the chair of state, unshorn of a lock of his might. The duties of that arduous station he discharged with a zeal and fidelity, which may be equalled, but not surpassed. These had become greatly multiplied when Mr. Clay entered upon it, in consequence of the extension of our foreign relations, which required the preparation of many documents that devolved upon it. It would be impracticable to give even a list of these. His health was so feeble, that he intimated to the president his intention of resigning his office in 1828, but, through the persuasion of his friends, consented to remain. It is surprising, that, under such circumstances, the official records, during his term of service, show a greater amount of labor performed than wasaccomplished by any of his predecessors, who enjoyed those collateral aids which it was impracticable for him to obtain. In the single article of treaties, his incumbency was illustrious. The number negotiated and concluded by him, at Washington, is greater than that of all which had ever been previously concluded there, from the first adoption of the constitution. These relate chiefly to commerce, navigation, and neutral rights, and were entered into between the United States, Central America, Prussia, Denmark and the Hanseatic Republic, and Austria, though he vacated his office previous to the ensealing of the treaty with the latter. With foreign ministers at Washington, he was a great favorite, and on terms of salutary intimacy, which enabled him to consult most advantageously the best interests of his country, in negotiating with them. In devising and framing these instruments, Mr. Clay not only found ample scope for the exercise of his mental faculties, but also for those amiable qualities of his character which enhanced the pleasure of his personal intercourse, and which contributed not a little in obtaining liberal terms for his country. He laid the foundation of an arrangement with Russia, for the settlement of certain claims of American citizens. These treaties furnish a full refutation of the charge often preferred against him, of being indifferent to, and unmindful of our foreign commercial interests, and as being willing to sacrifice them in fostering domestic trade and manufactures. A perusal of these is sufficient to convince the most skeptical, that our foreign commercial interests lay as near his heart as any other subject of diplomatic action. He abrogated in them a clause introduced into the London treaty of 1815, by which English and American vessels were restricted, in their commercial intercourse with one another, to articles of the growth or manufacture of each, and inserted one in its place, permitting them to enter their ports, without any regard being had to the place of growth and manufacture of their cargoes. This removed what experience had proved to be a most serious impediment to our navigation, and seemed so just and proper in Mr. Clay’s estimation, that, in speaking of it, he says, ‘its reciprocity is perfect; and when it comes to be adopted by all nations, we can scarcely see any thing beyond it, in the way of improvement to the freedom and interests of their mutual navigation. The devices of maritime nations have been various, to augment their marine, at the expense of other powers. When there has been a passive acquiescence in the operation of these devices, without any resort to countervailing regulations, their success has sometimes been very great. But nations are now too enlightened to submit quietly to the selfish efforts of any one power to engross, by its own separate legislation, a disproportionate share of navigation in their mutual intercourse. These efforts are now met by opposite efforts, restriction begets restriction, until the discovery is at last made, after a long train ofvexatious and irritating acts and manœuvres on both sides, that the course of selfish legislation, ultimately, does not effect the distribution of maritime power, whilst it is attended with the certain evil of putting nations into an ill humor with each other. Experience at last teaches, that, in every view, it is better to begin and continue in the career of liberality.’