Chapter VIII: Preface (6)

The first public expression of Mr. Clay’s feelings in relation to South American independence, was made in connection with a proposition to reduce the direct taxes of the United States, which he thought too high for a state of peace. The aspect of our foreign relations at that time was peculiarly amicable, although, from a report that the Spanish minister had made an informal demand for a portion of Florida, seemed to indicate that a rupture with Spain was by no means improbable, and he expressed himself in favor of husbanding our means as much as practicable, in anticipation of such an event. At the same time, he hinted the propriety of assisting her colonial dependents in their endeavors to establish a free government. His remarks caused Mr. Randolph to express his sentiments concerning the same subject, which among other things charged Mr. Clay with entertaining a desire for conquest, indeed as being influenced by unworthy motives. He said he was not ‘going a tilting for the liberties of South America.’ She came not to our aid; let us mind our own business, and not tax our people for the liberties of the people of Spanish America. He declared that her inhabitants were incapable of appreciating or enjoying liberty. He thought Mr. Clay had imbibed the war-spirit of Europe. ‘The honorable gentleman has been sent on a late occasion to Europe; he had been near the field of Waterloo, and he was apprehensive had snuffed the carnage and caught the infection.’ He intimated that Mr. Clay advocated an increase of the army for the purpose of marching them to the scene of action. ‘What! increase our standing army in time of peace on the suggestion that we are to go on a crusade to South America?’ Mr. Clay denied having made the most remote suggestions to that effect,――that his remarks were incapable of being so construed. ‘Do I not understand the gentleman?’――‘I am sorry I do not. I labor under two great misfortunes――I can never understand the honorable speaker, and he can never understand me.’ Such being the case, Mr. Randolph remarked, he should be under the necessity of abandoning the argument with him, since it would be impossible to proceed.

Mr. Clay again alluded to the same subject a few days after, in a most feeling manner. A bill was brought forward to prohibit ‘our citizens from selling vessels of war to subjects of a foreign power,’ which he vigorously opposed because of its evident bearing upon the belligerent state of South America. He said it was impossible to conceal the true character of that bill. ‘Bestow upon it what denomination you will, disguise it as you may, it will be understood by the world as a law to discountenance any aid being given to the South American patriots, now in a state of revolution against the parent country. With respect to the nature of that struggle, I have not now for the first time to express my opinion and wishes. I wish them independence. It is the first step towards improving their condition. Let them have a free government, if they are capable of enjoying it. At any rate let them have independence. _Yes, from the inmost recesses of my soul I wish them independence._ In this I may be accused of imprudence in the utterance of my feelings on this occasion. I care not, when the independence, the happiness, the liberty of a whole people is at stake, and that people our neighbors, our brethren occupying a portion of the same continent, imitating our example, and participating of the same sympathies with ourselves.’

During the following month an attempt was made to appropriate and pledge the bonus paid by the United States bank into the public treasury, as a permanent fund to be employed in constructing works of internal improvement. Mr. Clay gave his hearty concurrence to this measure, declaring his belief that ‘there were no two subjects which could engage the attention of the national legislature, more worthy of its deliberate consideration, than those of internal improvements and domestic manufactures.’ A bill was passed constituting such fund, but the president vetoed it on alleged constitutional grounds.

Mr. Clay’s remarks caused great interest to be felt in behalf of South American liberty, and during the summer following, the president appointed three commissioners, Messrs. Rodney, Graham, and Bland, to proceed to South America, and examine her political, civil and social condition as preliminary to rendering them any assistance. Mr. Clay regarded the appointment as impolitic, and when a bill came before the house in March 1818, providing for the support of government, objected to having it embrace a clause appropriating thirty thousand dollars for their compensation, for constitutional reasons. For it he proposed to substitute an amendment, appropriating eighteen thousand dollars as the outfit and one year’s salary of a minister from the United States to the Independent Provinces of the river La Plata in South America. He accompanied the presentation of the amendment with a speech of great power, evincing great geographical and historical knowledge, and setting forth clearly the condition of the people. The amendment, however, was not adopted.

Many members of prominence differed with Mr. Clay, for whose opinions he expressed his respect, and regretted that his own convictions of expediency and duty led him to take a different view of the subject. He directly avowed that considerations of liberty and humanity had no little weight with him in advocating their cause, but at the same time his belief, that the adoption of the measure under consideration, while it would add to the renown of the republic, would render material assistance to those who were greatly in need of it. He vindicated himself from the charge which had been made, that he was desirous of fomenting a war between the states and Spain. He indulged in animating anticipations of the number and importance of the governments which might be formed in those vast, fertile, and beautiful provinces. To attempts at proving the movements of the colonists as rebellious, opposing the lawful government of Spain, he replied by clearly showing that if that power had possessed a legal claim to their allegiance, she had forfeited it by withholding that protection requisite to entitle her to it, and that consequently the people of Spanish America were contending for nothing more than their legal and natural rights. ‘But’ said Mr. Clay, ‘I take a broader, bolder position. I maintain that an oppressed people are authorized, whenever they can, to rise and break their fetters. This was the great principle of the English revolution. It was the great principle of our own. We must therefore pass sentence of condemnation upon the founders of our liberty, say that they were rebels and traitors, and that we are at this moment legislating without competent powers, before we can condemn the course of Spanish America.’ He contended that if we were justified in our attempts at independence, much more was she, who had writhed beneath the scourge of oppression so long, so much longer than we; that if they were worthy of success, if they were entitled to succeed from the justness of their cause, then surely we ought to wish it, especially when we consider the barbarous character of the war. He maintained that we were deeply interested, in recognizing their independence. Even then our commerce with those provinces was considerable, and would greatly increase after they should become permanently settled as free and independent nations. The act would attach them to us, nay, it would bind them to us by relations as intimate as those of kindred; they would become our powerful allies. Mr. Clay said he took this ground, not because he desired to force our principles where they were not wished, but simply from feelings of sympathy. We knew by experience how sweet it was to receive that when we were in circumstances that tried men’s souls. There could be no danger, nor objection to stretch out towards their people the hand of friendly sympathy, to present to those abused and oppressed communities an expression of our good will, to make them a tender of those great principles which we have adopted as the basis of our institutions. Their ignorance and inability had been brought forward, by those opposing the measure, as completely incapacitating them for self-government. These, he contended, had been greatly magnified, but admitting them to be as unqualifying as they had been represented to be, the fact ought rather to increase our pity for them, and to urge us to seek the more earnestly, by all reasonable and just means within our reach, their liberation from that detestable system which chained them to such a servile state. He ridiculed the idea that recognition could be made a just pretext for war. ‘Recognition’ said he, ‘without aid is no just cause of war; with aid, it is not because of the recognition, but because of the aid, as aid without recognition is cause of war.’ Mr. Clay’s efforts were not successful at this time; no minister was despatched to South America; the friendly mission was deferred until 1821, when he submitted, on the tenth of February, a resolution to the house, ‘declaring that the house of representatives participated with the people of the United States in the deep interest which they felt for the success of the Spanish provinces of South America, which were struggling to establish their liberty and independence, and that it would give its constitutional support to the president of the United States, whenever he might deem it expedient to recognize the sovereignty and independence of those provinces.’

On this resolution, a warm and protracted debate ensued, which was finally adopted, by a vote of eighty-seven to sixty-eight, and Mr. Clay was appointed chairman of a committee to communicate to the president the action of the house.

On the eighth day of March, 1822, the president transmitted to the house of representatives a message recommending the recognition, which Mr. Clay had so long struggled for. On the twenty-eighth the vote of recognition was taken, when it appeared that there was but one dissenting voice.

Thus at last were the noble and generous efforts of the patriot statesman crowned with success as complete as they had been persevering. Years had elapsed between their commencement and glorious consummation; years of toil, anxiety, and hope, but now the harvest time had come. The president and congress, from vehemently opposing his views in relation to their independence, by his persuasive arguments were brought over to them, who officially stretched out the hand of the nation, to clasp with friendly pressure those of the infant republics of the south. As a matter of course, the act was denounced as one of folly and fraught with danger, by the personal and political enemies of Mr. Clay, but the truly philanthropic, throughout the land, regarded it with approbation, and described it as just what the greatest free nation on the globe should do towards those who were worthy of it. It was applauded throughout the world, but particularly by those towards whom it was directed, with enthusiastic expressions of gratitude. The supreme congress of Mexico voted him the thanks of the nation, for his zeal and efficient labors in their behalf.

During the struggle, his speeches were frequently read at the head of the patriot army, and the effect was always to increase their intrepidity and valor. The name of Clay became associated with every thing dear and valuable in freedom, and was pronounced by both officer and soldier with reverence; and many were the epistolary notices which he received, of the high estimation in which his services were held, by that suffering, but successfully struggling people. The following is a specimen.

BOGOTA, _21st November, 1827_.

SIR,――I cannot omit availing myself of the opportunity afforded
me by the departure of colonel Watts, _chargé d’affaires_ of the
United States, of taking the liberty to address your excellency.
This desire has long been entertained by me, for the purpose of
expressing my admiration of your excellency’s brilliant talents
and ardent love of liberty. All America, Colombia, and myself,
owe your excellency our purest gratitude, for the incomparable
services you have rendered to us, by sustaining our course with
a sublime enthusiasm. Accept, therefore, this sincere and
cordial testimony, which I hasten to offer to your excellency
and to the government of the United States, who have so greatly
contributed to the emancipation of your southern brethren.

‘I have the honor to offer to your excellency my distinguished
consideration.

‘Your excellency’s obedient servant,

‘BOLIVAR.’

To the above, Mr. Clay replied, of which the following is an extract.

WASHINGTON, _27th October, 1828_.

‘SIR,――It is very gratifying to me to be assured directly
by your excellency, that the course which the government of
the United States took on this memorable occasion, and my
humble efforts, have excited the gratitude and commanded the
approbation of your excellency. I am persuaded that I do not
misinterpret the feelings of the people of the United States,
as I certainly express my own, in saying that the interest which
was inspired in this country by the arduous struggles of South
America, arose principally from the hope that along with its
independence would be established free institutions, insuring
all the blessings of civil liberty. To the accomplishing of
that object we still anxiously look. We are aware that great
difficulties oppose it, among which not the least is that which
arises out of the existence of a large military force, raised
for the purpose of resisting the power of Spain. Standing armies,
organized with the most patriotic intentions, are dangerous
instruments. They devour the substance, debauch the morals, and
too often destroy the liberties of a people. Nothing can be more
perilous or unwise, than to retain them after the necessity has
ceased which led to their formation, especially if their numbers
are disproportioned to the revenues of the state.

‘But notwithstanding all these difficulties, we had fondly
cherished and still indulge the hope that South America would
add a new triumph to the cause of human liberty, and that
Providence would bless her as he had her northern sister,
with the genius of some great and virtuous man, to conduct her
securely through all her trials. We had even flattered ourselves
that we beheld that genius in your excellency. But I should be
unworthy the consideration with which your excellency honors me,
and deviate from the frankness which I have ever endeavored to
practice, if I did not on this occasion state that ambitious
designs have been attributed by your enemies, to your excellency,
which have created in my mind great solicitude. They have cited
late events in Colombia as proofs of these designs. But slow
in the withdrawal of confidence which I have once given, I have
been most unwilling to credit the unfavorable accounts which
have from time to time reached me.

‘I cannot allow myself to believe that your excellency will
abandon the bright and glorious path which lies plainly before
you, for the bloody road passing over the liberties of the human
race, on which the vulgar crowd of tyrants and military despots
have so often trodden. I will not doubt that your excellency
will in due time render a satisfactory explanation to Colombia,
and to the world, of the parts of your public conduct which have
excited any distrust, and that preferring the true glory of our
immortal Washington to the ignoble fame of the destroyers of
liberty, you have formed the patriotic resolution of ultimately
placing the freedom of Colombia upon a firm and sure foundation.
That your efforts to that end may be crowned with complete
success, I most fervently pray.

‘I request that your excellency will accept assurances of my
sincere wishes for your happiness and prosperity.

‘H. CLAY.’

His magnanimity, his disinterestedness, and his philanthropy, stand out in bold relief, in the above extract from his appeal to Bolivar. It evinces the same spirit of kind regard for the welfare of the South American republics which he invariably manifested towards that of his own. Its tone, the nature of its sentiments, and its more than open frankness, utterly preclude the belief that selfishness had any agency in its dictation. It exhibits him, cherishing as strong a desire that the happy institutions, immunities, and privileges of liberty should be established and enjoyed in them, as he felt in supporting and perpetuating those of his own. No one can rise up from its perusal and candidly question the purity of his motives, nor charge him with an overweening ambition. In short, no one unblinded by prejudice can fail of beholding in it, his generous, uncalculating attitude.

During Mr. Madison’s administration, Mr. Clay was twice offered a seat in his cabinet by him, or the mission to Russia. The president reposed in him most unbounded confidence, and correctly appreciated his preëminent abilities. At the breaking out of hostilities, Mr. Madison selected him as commander-in-chief of the army. But Mr. Clay, thinking that he could render his country more efficient service in her public councils, declined all attempts at removing him from them, though he well knew that he did so at the expense of his private interests. These, however, never appear to have entered into or influenced in the least his calculations. ‘My country first, myself afterwards,’ is legibly written on every part of his public career.

After the accomplishment of his desires in relation to South America, he again reverted to his favorite policy; favorite, because he saw its intimate connection with the growth and prosperity of his country, as calculated to develope her vast resources, and to pour into her lap the blessings of a virtuous and free people. The formation of Mr. Clay’s attachment to internal improvements and domestic manufactures, is coeval with his entrance into congress; and when matters demanding immediate attention had been disposed of, he would bring them forward, and labor to make the conviction of their importance sink deep into the heart of the nation. When Mr. Madison returned, with his objections, the bill appropriating the bonus of the United States bank for purposes of internal improvements, Mr. Clay expressed his astonishment. He had confidently calculated on its receiving the signature of the president; for he had particularly invited the attention of congress, in his message, ‘to the expediency of exercising their existing powers, and where necessary, of resorting to the prescribed mode of enlarging them, in order to effectuate a comprehensive system of roads and canals, such as will have the effect of drawing more closely together every part of our country, by promoting intercourse and improvements, and by increasing the share of every part in the common stock of national prosperity.’ Mr. Clay had heard, through the medium of uncertain rumor, that Mr. Madison designed to veto the bill, whereupon he sent him a communication, requesting him, if he entertained any constitutional scruples about signing it to let the whole matter rest and pass over to his successor for action. The president, however, took a different view of the subject, and on the third of March, returned the bill. On the following day, Mr. Monroe was inducted into his office, who, it was conjectured, prior to seeing Mr. Madison’s veto-message, had prepared his inaugural address in such a manner as to recommend, in strong terms, the policy of promoting internal improvements, but that, on reading Mr. Madison’s objections to the bill, he changed his opinion. It was thought he was led to do so partly from fear, and partly from a desire to conform his views with those of his predecessor. Subsequently he stated that a careful investigation had conducted him to the conclusion, that the power of making internal improvements was not vested in congress, and that to clothe that body with it, an amendment of the constitution was requisite. Opposition such as this policy had encountered, from so exalted a source as that of three chief magistrates, (Messrs. Jefferson, Madison and Monroe,) would have appalled a mind of ordinary strength and perseverance; but Mr. Clay was one who never formed an opinion with precipitancy, but only when, by the most diligent inquiry, he had established a foundation for it in reason and philosophy. Erected upon this basis, he would adhere to it, though confronted by the combined opposition of the world. A compromise of principle he was a stranger to. Nothing disheartened, therefore, by the magnitude of the obstacles opposed to his progress in advocating his favorite measures, by those high in authority, he seemed to gather fresh energy from every new one that he encountered. In March, 1818, a resolution was submitted to the house, declaring that congress had power to construct military post-roads and canals, and also to appropriate money for that object. The opposition to this presented a formidable array of strength, and brought forward every objection that political ingenuity could devise. Mr. Clay did not deem it advisable to consume the time of the house in examining in detail any except those denominated _constitutional_. His whole aim, therefore, was to prove that the power alleged in the resolution, was derivable from the constitution; and this he accomplished in the most convincing manner. In construing this instrument, he observed the same rules which governed his action in relation to the bank bill of 1816. He maintained that every power, which _appeared necessary and proper_, to secure the lawful exercise of constitutional rights, _was fairly impliable_, and that this _necessity and propriety_ must be determined by the discretion of those who exercised it, ‘under all the responsibility of a solemn oath,’ and the knowledge that they were the subjects of those laws that they passed, and that they were amenable to the _people_, who held in reserve the right to resist tyrannic usurpation. Mr. Clay argued that the power to _establish_ post-roads, expressly specified in the constitution, involved the power to _construct_ them. This position he illustrated with the clearness of demonstration, by referring to that clause which gives congress the power of making war, and employing the resources of the country in prosecuting it. He declared that, from the same provision, the power of transporting those means was derived by implication; and that therefore, to secure such transportation, congress might legally construct military roads, &c. His adversaries, compelled to yield before his powerful reasoning, fell back, and intrenched themselves behind the _concession_ that peculiar emergencies might justify the exercise of the power in question. From this he drove them, by proving that this _concession contained the admission_ that the constitution conveyed ‘the power; and,’ said Mr. Clay, ‘we may safely appeal to the judgment of the candid and enlightened to decide between the wisdom of these two constructions, of which one requires you to wait for the exercise of your power until the arrival of an emergency, which may not allow you to exert it, and the other, without denying the power if you can exercise it during the emergency, claims the right of providing beforehand against the emergency.’ They finally fortified themselves behind the position, that it was not requisite for the general government to construct such works, because individual enterprise would do it as soon as sectional interests should demand their construction. Here he hemmed in and captured them. His motion was adopted by a vote of ninety to seventy-five. It was a triumph, and a signal one, over opposition that had been accumulating and strengthening during two previous administrations; and which in the then existing one, was directed against him with all the violence and impetuosity that reserved energies could impart to it. It must have been a moment of proud satisfaction to the indefatigable statesman, as he beheld the last vestige of opposition disappear beneath his feet, and himself the sole occupant of the place on which he had so happily succeeded in founding a basis for that noble, incomparably noble system, fraught with every good and every immunity which a virtuous people could desire. This system has since been erected so much under his supervision, and through his direct instrumentality, as to give him the title of ‘its father.’

Mr. Clay advocated the policy of carrying forward the construction of the Cumberland road, as rapidly as possible, and exerted himself from time to time, to procure appropriations for that purpose; with what earnestness, we may learn from his own language, declaring that ‘he had to _beg, entreat, and supplicate_ congress, session after session, to grant the necessary appropriations to complete the road.’ Said he, ‘I have myself _toiled until my powers have been exhausted and prostrated_ to prevail on you to make the grant.’ A monument of stone has been erected on the road, surmounted by the genius of liberty, and bearing as an inscription, the name of ‘Henry Clay.’ The importance of this road to the public may be learned from some remarks made by Mr. Clay, on the occasion of a dinner given him by the mechanics of Wheeling, Virginia, in which he declared the great interest that work had awakened in his breast, and expressed his ardent desire that it might be prosecuted to a speedy completion. He said that a few years since, he and his family had employed the whole or greater part of a day, in travelling the distance of about nine miles, from Uniontown to Freeman’s on Laurel Hill, which now, since the construction of the Cumberland road over the mountains, could be accomplished, together with seventy more, in the same time. He considered its importance so great to the union, that he would not consent to give it up to the keeping of the several states through which it passed.

Mr. Clay’s latest congressional efforts in behalf of internal improvements, were made on the sixteenth of January, 1824, when he made a speech before the house, on a bill authorizing the president to cause certain surveys and estimates of roads and canals to be made. Mr. Monroe and a strong party of supporters assumed the ground, that congress had no control over the post roads, other than to use such as had been established by the states individually, and that their construction and repair (and consequent alteration and closure) did not belong to the general government. To this doctrine Mr. Clay replied, by saying, ‘is it possible that this construction of the constitution can be correct――a construction which allows a law of the United States, enacted for the good of the whole, to be obstructed or defeated in its operations by a county court in any one of the twenty-four sovereignties? Suppose a state, no longer having occasion to use a post-road for its own separate and peculiar purposes, withdraws all care and attention from its preservation. Can the state be compelled to repair it? No! Then may not the general government repair this road, which is abandoned by the state power? And may it not protect and defend that which it has thus repaired, and which there is no longer an interest or inclination in the state to protect and defend? Is it contended that a road may exist in the statute book, which the state will not, and the general government cannot repair and improve? What sort of an account should we render to the people of the United States, of the execution of the high trust committed to us for their benefit, if we were to tell them, that we had failed to execute it because a state would not make a road for us? The same clause of the constitution which authorizes congress to establish post roads, authorizes it also to establish post offices. Will it be contended that congress, in the exercise of the power to establish post offices, can do no more than adopt or designate some preëxisting office, enacted and kept in repair by state authority? There is none such. It may then fix, build, create and repair offices of its own, and its power over the post roads, is by the constitution equally extensive.’ Mr. Barbour, of Virginia, was among the most vigorous assailants of the policy advocated by Mr. Clay. He contended, that if it were carried out, an encroachment on the rights of the states would be the inevitable consequence; that their jurisdiction would be abridged. He was answered in such a manner as to show that there was no ground of alarm to be apprehended from that source; that all the control which the general government sought to exercise, related simply to constructing and preserving the road, and the maintenance of the necessary measures of its defence, and that all illegal acts committed upon it would be left for adjudication by the state through which it passed. Mr. Clay contended that the general government derived the right of constructing canals, from the specified rights of making war and regulating domestic and foreign commerce. His reasoning was clear and conclusive, and when the final vote was taken, the majority was much greater than the most sanguine supporters of the measure had anticipated, showing a great increase since 1818, when he discussed the same subject. The opposition were now prostrated, indeed they had on this occasion brought out their whole strength, and many were heard to say, that if defeated now, they should regard the policy of internal improvements permanently settled. Many, therefore, who had formerly opposed it, on witnessing Mr. Clay’s complete triumph, adopted his views, and came over to his aid.

It has always been a prominent principle with Mr. Clay, in his legislative career, to give a judicious direction to his exertions, so that if they were successful, his country would be benefited, but if unsuccessful, that she should not sustain any harm. In this one feature of his action, is seen, as in a mirror, the purity of his patriotism. His exertions, as directed towards the subject of internal improvements, have been productive of incalculable benefit to the nation, and to individuals. They have awakened, and employed, and given an impetus to an amount of enterprise unmeasured, the salutary effects of which, every hill and vale of our vast country has felt. And the sea has felt them too; the sails of commerce have been multiplied by them, and foreign shores have groaned beneath the burdens of rich freights, which they have heaped upon them. But who, in imagination, even, can enumerate the number and the depth of the new channels of enterprise which they are destined yet to create, where industry may roll her golden tide, and build by their sides the abodes of a mighty, free, and happy people. Through the long vista of years to come, it needs no prophetic ken to look, and read, on many a monument of adamant, interspersed among them, in characters of imperishable fame, inscribed the name of HENRY CLAY.

Near the commencement of 1817, efforts were made by the friends of the free colored population in the United States, to ameliorate their condition. For this purpose, a meeting was convened at Washington, on the twenty-first of December, 1816, over which Mr. Clay was called to preside. On taking the chair, he stated the object of the meeting to be, to consider the propriety and practicability of colonizing the free people of color of the United States, and of forming an association relative to that object. In regard to the various schemes of colonization which had been suggested, that appeared the most feasible, which contemplated some portion of the coast of Africa. _There_, he said, ample provision might be made for the colony itself, and it might be rendered instrumental in introducing into that extensive portion of the globe, the arts of civilization and christianity. He said there was a peculiar and moral fitness in restoring them to the land of their fathers. He went on to state, that he had understood it constituted no part of the object of the meeting to touch or agitate in the ♦slightest degree, a delicate question connected with another portion of the colored population of our country. It was not proposed to deliberate on or consider at all, any question of emancipation, or that was connected with the abolition of slavery. It was upon that condition alone, he was sure that many gentlemen from the south and west, whom he saw present, had attended, or could be expected to coöperate. The meeting resulted in the formation of the Colonization Society, of which Bushrod Washington was chosen president.

In March previous, Mr. Clay expressed his views relative to holding congressional caucuses, for the purpose of making nominations. He thought them not compatible with the nature of the powers delegated to them by the people, as calculated to meet their disapprobation, and establish a precedent which might prove dangerous to their liberties.

When congress adjourned, in March, 1817, the house unanimously voted Mr. Clay their thanks, for the ability and impartiality with which he had presided over their deliberations, and the correctness of his decisions on all questions referred to the chair. He replied in an apposite and beautiful manner, saying that next to the approbation of one’s own conscience, and one’s own country, was that of the immediate representatives of the people. He spoke of the difficulties of legislation; said there were three periods that might be denominated difficult; the first was that which immediately preceded a state of war; the second was that which existed during its continuance; and the third was that which immediately succeeded it. The last was the one through which they had just passed――the most difficult of the three, when every thing pertaining to the general and state governments was unsettled, and when disorganization to a greater or less extent prevailed; when the task of supplying deficiences, strengthening weaknesses, and correcting abuses, was by no means light or pleasant. He congratulated them on the efficient manner in which they had discharged that task, to which the records of the house bore ample testimony. He closed by tendering them his thanks, for the flattering expression of good feeling with which they had honored him, presuming that it was prompted more by a spirit of kindness, than by a sense of justice to him, as he was sure he did not merit it, and by pledging their united efforts, as an offering to their common country, in advancing their best interests.

When he reached Lexington, its citizens gave him a dinner, and as heretofore, showered on him their enthusiastic approbation and applause.

In January, 1817, the subject of the well known Seminole war was brought before the house for its consideration. Several features relating to the mode in which it had been conducted, demanded, in the opinion of many humane members, a critical investigation. The character which had been given to that war, by the chieftain to whose management it was intrusted, was reflecting strongly on the honor and justice of our country. She had sustained a grievous injury from a portion of the Seminole Indians, who, during the last war, aided the British arms against her, and feeling that she had just cause for seeking redress, despatched general Andrew Jackson, at the head of a strong military force, to obtain it. He marched into their territory, and in a short time so reduced them, that a portion sued for peace. A treaty was accordingly prepared, in August, 1814, but which was not signed by many of the chiefs, except those previously friendly to our country, who constituted only about one third of the nation. This misnomered treaty, from its cruel and unheard-of tyrannical exactions, had found a much more appropriate resting place by the side of the ruthless interdicts of a Nero, or a Trajan, than in the archives of a christian nation. The poor natives, reduced to actual starvation, their wigwams and villages in ashes, withering in the dust beneath the feet of the conqueror, had no alternative but to submit to death, or just such terms as he chose to dictate. They preferred the latter, which was meted out with a hand nerved with all the unrelenting sternness of patriotism, without any of its mercy. The Indians obtained what they sought, but they paid dearly for it. The instrument granted them peace, on condition that they would cede a large portion of their territory to the United States, and yield them important powers and privileges over the remainder, and deliver into the hands of the conqueror the prophets of their nation. It needed only a superficial knowledge of the Indian character, to perceive that their proud and haughty spirit would not long brook a compliance with terms so abjectly humiliating. Not many months elapsed before they began to renew their depredations on our frontiers. Though acts of cruelty, on the part of the Seminoles, were of frequent occurrence, apparently calling loudly for vengeance, still they were greatly palliated by a letter from ten of the Seminole towns, addressed to the commanding officer of fort Hawkins, on the eleventh of September, 1817, in which it was stated that not a solitary white man had been butchered by them, except in revenge for the unprovoked murder of an Indian. ‘The white people,’ it declared, ‘killed our people first, the Indians then took satisfaction. There are yet _three men_ that the red people have never taken satisfaction for.’ The governor of Georgia, accurately acquainted with all the facts, declared his honest and sincere conviction that they were not in fault. But supposing the whites had _not_ been guilty of outrages on the Seminoles, subsequent to the date of the treaty, yet its unjustly oppressive character, the paucity of their chieftains’ signatures attached to it, and the obligations imposed on the United States, by the ninth article of the treaty of Ghent, towards the Indian tribes, to say nothing of the law of nature, justified, in our humble opinion, the attempts of the Seminoles to shake off the insupportably heavy burden which military despotism had bound upon them. In view of these facts, in relation to general Jackson’s treatment of the Seminoles, it is unnecessary to say, that his second expedition against them was not marked by _one mitigating or lenient feature_; that they were treated more like _dogs_ than men; that their chiefs were decoyed by him into his camp, and there seized and instantly put to death. In short, that every principle of honor, humanity, and justice, which ought to accompany the operations of a civilized army, was _utterly disregarded_. It is not surprising, therefore, that the patriotically disposed, in congress, on beholding the dark spot gathering on the escutcheon of their country’s fame, in consequence of such high-handed proceedings, should rise up and attempt to efface it. General Jackson’s conduct in the Florida war, was made the subject of special investigation, during the session of 1818–19. A series of resolutions were offered to congress, severely censuring it, which Mr. Clay sustained in a speech of unparalleled ability. Although on terms of personal intimacy with the general, although he accorded to him his just meed of praise, for the distinguished service he had rendered his country in the battle of New Orleans, still Mr. Clay thought he had transcended the limits of both law and equity, and did not allow his feelings of friendship for him to interpose any obstacle to the frank and fearless avowal of his sentiments. He commented very severely upon his treatment of _Indian prisoners, in ordering their inhuman massacre_, after obtaining possession of them, by the artifice of a ‘_false flag_,’ not hesitating to pronounce it wanton, barbaric, and uncalled for. But his flagrant violations of the rights of neutrality called forth his sharpest animadversions. During the campaign, two Indian traders, Messrs. Arbuthnot and Ambrister, the former a Scotchman, the latter an Englishman, had fallen into the hands of general Jackson. Ambrister was found in the Indian camp, Arbuthnot within the limits of Spanish jurisdiction. The Englishman was suspected of having instigated the savages to make war upon the whites, and the Scotchman was charged with informing the Indians of their rights, as secured to them by the treaty of Ghent, and of having advised them to maintain them by force of arms. These unfortunate men, he ordered the one to be shot and the other hung, in direct opposition to the decision of a court martial of his own choosing. The turpitude of this act, Mr. Clay exhibited in its true colors. He contrasted the execution of Arbuthnot with the blackest act of Napoleon, the execution of Louis of France, and showed that for atrocity, and disregard for justice and clemency, it cast the latter far into the back-ground. His aggression committed upon the Spanish authorities, in seizing upon St. Marks and Pensacola, fell under the rod of his reprobation. Mr. Clay denounced these acts as falling little short of tyrannic usurpation, and which could not be justified on any ground of justice or reason. His speech on this occasion, has been compared to the polished orations of Sheridan, in the case of Hastings, but as exhibiting a much milder spirit, one of sincere sorrow, instead of revenge.

The resolutions were rejected by a small majority, which is not surprising, on considering that Mr. Monroe, his cabinet, and nearly all the house, were disinclined to arraign the conduct of general Jackson in the Seminole war, and when we reflect that Mr. Clay did not repeat his efforts, as he usually did. The general, who soon after visited Washington, took umbrage at Mr. Clay’s speech, and carried his animosity so far as to refuse to have any intercourse with him, although he called on him directly after his arrival, thus evincing an unabatement of friendship.

To whatever part of Mr. Clay’s congressional career we turn our eyes, we invariably find him actively engaged in building up that magnificent system of domestic utility, whenever circumstances admitted. This he commenced, as we have seen, previous to the war, and his attachment to it had been increasing ever since, until the conviction of its indispensable importance to the country had sunk so deep into his mind, as to cause him to toil unremittingly, in order that the beneficial influences of that system might be diffused over it as soon as possible. For these, the farmer at his plough and the mechanic in his shop were stretching out their hands. These, our infant manufactories, which sprang up to supply the demands caused by the war, demanded, and these were requisite to make the union (what Mr. Clay never lost sight of,) independent in _reality_, as she was in _name_, of all foreign powers.

It was obvious to both parties in congress, that in order to accomplish an object so essential to the welfare of the nation, a _protective tariff_ was necessary. Accordingly, on the twelfth of March, 1816, Mr. Lowndes, of South Carolina, one of the committee of ways and means, made a report relative to the policy of protection. He sustained the policy by an able speech, and was followed by Mr. Calhoun, who also advocated it. Mr. Clay yielded his unqualified assent and vindication, and sought to cause the bill to be so formed as to secure efficient protection for woollen fabrics. It was finally adopted.

In April, 1820, the subject of a protective tariff came again before congress. The distress which the country had experienced since 1816, was seen to have originated, in a great degree, from inadequate protection, particularly that which had fallen upon the manufacturing districts. To a bill revising and improving the tariff of 1816, Mr. Clay gave his ardent support. As on former similar occasions, he urged its adoption on the high ground of national utility. ‘I frankly own,’ said he, ‘that I feel great solicitude for the success of this bill. The entire independence of my country of all foreign states, as it respects a supply of our essential wants, has ever been with me a favorite object. The war of our revolution effected our political emancipation. The last war contributed greatly towards accomplishing our commercial freedom. But our complete independence will only be consummated after the policy of this bill shall be recognized and adopted.’ The bill, though passed by the house, was defeated in the senate.

In 1824, the distress of the country had increased to such an enormous extent, that the most serious apprehensions began to be entertained, lest the productive energies of the land would be completely annihilated, unless some remedy should be devised. There was no department which did not feel its blighting influence; navigation and commerce, no less than agriculture and manufactures, tottered beneath the tremendous weight of gloom, which, like a dense cloud of ruin, overshadowed the whole nation. Our vessels were either lying idle at their moorings, or mostly going in ballast; all encouragement for enterprise was taken away; produce was plenty, but purchasers few; our granaries and store houses were full to overflowing, and in many instances, their contents were going to decay; to obtain money, except at ruinous rates, was out of the question, consequently labor was in little demand and poorly rewarded; the depreciation of property of all kinds was unparalleled, and disorder and embarrassment pervaded every rank and condition of every industrial department. It was under such circumstances, that a farther revision and enlargement of the tariff of 1816 was proposed. In the house, the committee on manufactures reported a bill to that effect, at the same time expressing their opinion, that the evils which then existed, were clearly traceable to inefficient protection of domestic industry, and of relying too much on foreign producers, thereby allowing the specie, the life-blood of the country, to be drained out of it. This defect the bill proposed to remedy. Mr. Clay came forward in its support, under the most solemn impressions of the exceedingly lamentable condition which his country was in, and evinced, by every tone of his voice and look of his countenance, his deep anxiety to extend to her the hand of speedy relief. ‘If it were allowable for us at the present day,’ said he, ‘to imitate ancient examples, I would invoke the aid of the Most High. I would anxiously and fervently implore his divine assistance, that he would be graciously pleased to shower on my country his richest blessings, and that he would sustain, on this interesting occasion, the individual who stands before him, and lend him the power, moral and physical, to perform the solemn duties which now belong to his public station.’ He felt that it was indeed a sad sight, to behold a free and mighty nation sitting in sackcloth and ashes, with her hands shackled by a policy as unwise as it was foreign to her interests, with which, had they been free, she could have clothed herself with beautiful garments, excited the envy and admiration of the world, and brushed like chaff every vestige of depression and distress from her borders. He contended that the causes of these were easily discoverable, and as easily removable; that they were entirely within our control, and that we had but to will it and the work was done, and it was high time, he said, to set about it. Evils of every description had been accumulating during the last ten years, until they had become so numerous and great as to be no longer patible. But it was a source of satisfaction to know that they _need not be endured_――that they were medicable――that with a change of policy they would disappear, as certainly as darkness disappears before light. A cultivation of her own resources, he said, would relieve the country. If she would break away from that state of foreign vassalage, into which she had voluntarily entered, the streams of commerce would again fertilize her fair fields. If she would but ♦extend her hand and pluck from her breast the thorn, which her own suicidal policy had planted there, he avowed his belief that the rose of industry would spring up in its place. This change of policy, he believed, would accomplish all that would be requisite to her peace and prosperity. In supporting the bill, however, he had to encounter much and strong opposition, at the head of which stood Daniel Webster. The collision of these eloquent and intellectual giants, is said to have been inconceivably grand. Says a gentleman who witnessed it, ‘the eloquence of Mr. Webster was the majestic roar of a strong and steady blast, pealing through the forest; but that of Mr. Clay was the tone of a god-like instrument, sometimes visited by an angel touch, and swept anon by all the fury of the raging elements.’ Mr. Clay, aware that he was contending for the very vitality of his country, had nerved himself up to one of his mightiest efforts, one which would demolish every opposing obstacle, and plant his foot in complete triumph on the ruins of the strongest holds of his assailants. He turned aside every weapon directed against his system, and entirely disarmed all opposition. The bill passed the house on the sixteenth of April, by a vote of one hundred and seven to one hundred and two, and shortly after became a law, and its beneficial effects were felt throughout the country. The operations of this system, in connection with the United States bank, which was now rapidly correcting the derangements in the currency, filled the land with gladness and prosperity. Enterprise came forth from his retiracy, to which the previous embarrassment had driven him, and shaking the dust of sloth from his garments, cast his eyes about over the vast and beautiful field which invited his occupancy. Encouraged by the loud and united voices of this wisely regulated institution, and the American system, he took immediate possession. The desert bloomed, the forest fell, the mill arose, and the wheel of industry, which before was slumbering on its rusting axle, under the guidance of his potent hand began again its healthful revolutions, and soon the land was belted by her green and golden tracks. He hushed the voice of woe, and caused the loud shout of joy to go up from every hill and vale throughout the nation. After she had enjoyed his life-imparting influence eight years, Mr. Clay thus describes her appearance. ‘We have the agreeable contemplation of a people out of debt, innumerable flocks and herds browsing on ten thousand hills and plains covered with rich and verdant grasses, our cities expanded, and whole villages springing up as it were by enchantment, our exports and imports increased and increasing, our tonnage, foreign and coastwise, fully occupied, the rivers of our interior animated by countless steamboats, the currency sound and abundant, the public debt of two wars nearly redeemed, and, to crown all, the public treasury overflowing, embarrassing congress, not to find subjects of taxation, but to select the objects which shall be relieved from the imposts. If the term of seven years were to be selected, of the greatest prosperity which this people have enjoyed since the establishment of their present constitution, it would be exactly the period of seven years which immediately followed the passage of the tariff of 1824.’ Who can doubt, after an impartial survey of the whole ground, (and a superficial one is sufficient,) who can doubt that the materials for limning the above strong, but correct picture, were furnished by a _sound currency_, and a _judicious tariff_. As long as the term _tariff_ shall remain in the English vocabulary, will the memory of Henry Clay, in all the verdancy of spring, abide in the heart of the nation.

Notwithstanding the sturdy opposition which Mr. Webster arrayed against this system, as advocated by Mr. Clay, he became its ardent supporter when time had tested and proved its importance. Many other public functionaries also, who had assailed it in the most vindictive manner, laid down their weapons, and cordially embraced, with strong protecting arms, its salutary provisions. Even bigotry and prejudice were forced into an unwilling acknowledgement of its utility, and were soon seen placing themselves in a situation where its benign influences would fall upon them.