xt72542j6s6p https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt72542j6s6p/data/mets.xml Littell, John S. (John Stockton), 1806-1875. 1844  books b92-114-27695018 English Greeley & M'Elrath ; Thomas, Cowperthwait, : New York : Philadelphia : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Clay, Henry, 1777-1852. Campaign literature. Clay minstrel  : or, National songster, to which is prefixed a sketch of the life, public services, and character of Henry Clay / by John S. Littell. text Clay minstrel  : or, National songster, to which is prefixed a sketch of the life, public services, and character of Henry Clay / by John S. Littell. 1844 2002 true xt72542j6s6p section xt72542j6s6p 






































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CLAY MINSTREL;

         OR,



N A T I O N A L



SONGSTER



  TO WHICH IS PREFIXED

    A SKETCH

       OF THE

'PUBLIC SERVICES, AND CHARACTER

         OF

HENRY CLAY,



     BY JOHN S. LITTELL.
Faesident of the Clay GlCb of Germantwrt.

    SECOND EDITION; ENLARGED,


          NEW YORK:
GREELEY  M'ELRATH, TRIBUNE BUUMINGS.
        PHI LADE LPHIA:
   THOMAS, COWPERTHWAIT -A" CO.



1844.

 

























Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year
1843, by THOMAS, COWPERTHWAIT AND Co., in the
clerics office of the district court of the United States
in and for the eastern district of Pennsylvania..



J. Fagan, Stereotyper.
J. Kay, Jun.  IBTother, Printers.



(4)

 












ADVERTISEMENT



         TO THE FIRST EDITIO N.


  It occurred to the Editor of the .Minstrel, that a publi-
cation upon the plan of that now offered to the public
would be acceptable, and might be useful at the present
juncture; and finding that his design was approved by
friends whose political experience gave increased value to
their opinions, he prepared the brief and unpretending
Sketch that follows, of the life of Mr. Clay. He takes
pleasure in stating that he is much indebted to the re-
searches of Mr. Prentice and of Mr. E. Sargent, whose.
comprehensive and interesting biographies are alike cred-
itable to their talents and worthy of their subject; and al;
whose curiosity may be sharpened and excited by the im-
perfect glimpses of the illustrious Statesman, afforded
through the following pages, will find in them more full and
circumstantial information than could be embraced within
the narrow limits and unambitious design of this publica-
tion. From their works, and from such other public
sources as were immediately at hand, the torch of the
Editor has received its feeble light, and he holds it aloft in
the hope that it also may be instrumental, althou;1h in
humble degree, in scattering the mists of prejudice with
which ignorance and party rage have so long enveloped
the subject, but which, even now, are gradually rising and
rolling away beneath the influence of revealing light, and
of that " truth which is mighty and will prevail."
The Songs are by various authors. Some of them have
been written expressly for the Minstrel; others have been
gleaned from the public journals, and other publications
of the day.                                  JS. L .
Germantown, Oct. 1842.



(5)

 









ADVERTISEMErNT



       TO THE SECOND EDITION.

                .       .

  THE booksellers having called for a second
edition of the "MINSTREL," the "SKETCH"'
which preceded it, in the first, has, in this, for
the convenience of reference, been arranged
into chapters; and advantage has been taken
of the opportunity thus afforded, both to add
some new matter, and to correct many of the
errors that before disfigured it. A few songs,
of very inferior merit, have been made to give
place to others, possessing higher claims to
preservation; and several poetical effusions
have been added at the close of the volume.
The Editor regrets that it is not more worthy
of its object, and of the old Revolutionary
Battle Ground, whence it emanates; it is in-
tended, however, for popular use: and he
cherishes the hope that it may contribute to
the success of the great cause, which again
seriously challenges the enlightened attention
of the American people.
                                 J. S. L.
 Germantown, Penn. Nov. 1843.



(6)

 
















TO



    THE CLAY CLUBS


THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES,


      THIS VOLUME


  Xs 3Uze pectfulla Debfcateb,

            BY

       THE EDIT OR.



MDCCCXLIIL



(7)



 


















































BIRTH-PLACE OF HENRY CLAY.



1(3



- -7=- -   - L ,


 








SKETCH



                 O TEE

 LIFE, PUBLIC SERVICES, AND CHARACTER
                   OF

      HENRY CLAY.



           CHAPTER I.
Brth of Mr. Clay-Death of his Father-His Mother, her
energy and powers of mind-,Her marriage with Mr.
Watkins - Early employments of Mr. Clay-Ilia exam-
ple-Clerk in a store - Enters the office of Mr. Tinsley
- Chancellor Wythe - Studies law under Governor
Brooke.
  HENRY CLAY, who is, at this moment,
confessedly the first Statesman of the
Nation, and whom posterity will place
by the side of the Father of his Coun-
try, when recounting the deeds of her
purest benefactors, is, emphatically, the
architect of his own fortune and fame.
While his instructive history presents
a splendid illustration of the beauty of
our republican system, which throws
                               (9)

 






10     SKETCH OF THE LIFE
wide open the door to political ad.
vancement to all degrees of men, he
furnishes also, an extraordinary exam-
ple of the combination of the highest
powers of the mind, as various as they
are rarely found united in the character
of a single person.
  With an eloquence which challenges
comparison with the noblest of the
olden time, and a gracefulness and
impressiveness of mariner, which, in
beautiful keeping with his rich and
overflowing periods, enchants and cap-
tivates the hearer, he possesses indomi-
table perseverance, and an industry
that never flags,-a rare facility in the
transaction of business,-unshrinking
courage, an ardent and lofty patriotism,
long-tried, self-sacrificing, and without
reproach, -a judgment, mature and
unerring,-profound sagacity, and an
enlightened forecast; all of which, with
long experience in affairs of state, unite
in the character of this extraordinary
and illustrious man, and seem to point
him out as the chosen instrument of

 





OF HENRY CLAY.



Providence for restoring the lost pros-
perity of his hitherto favoured people,
and in redeeming their country from
the stains of treachery and misrule,
from the disgrace of violated faith, and
the degradation of national honour.
  HENRY CLAY is also remarkable for
simplicity of life, character, and man-
ners, and for an earnest and devoted
attachment to purely republican prin-
ciples, whether in the great business
of government, or in social intercourse
with his fellow men, among whom,
wherever he meets them, he inspires a
veneration and an enthusiasm seldom
equalled. His position at the present
time is as truly enviable, as it is unpre-
cedented; and to his generous mind
mnust be far more gratifying, than
would be the actual possession of the
attractions and the trappings of any
station, however exalted, within the
gift of a grateful and admiring people.
Without patronage to bestow, or inte-
rest with those who temporarily and
through sufferance, hold the reins of



11

 






12    SKETCH OF THE LIFE



government; a retired statesman, a
plain, practical farmer, he is, neverthe-
less, the MAN OF THE PEOPLE, and pos-
sesses far more influence and conside-
ration with the nation at large, than
they enjoy who have the bestowal of all
the emoluments and dignities of office.
   Mr. CLAY was born in Hanover
 County, Virginia, on the 12th of April,
 1777, and was the fifth among seven
 children. His father was a preacher of
 piety and zeal, of the Baptist denomi-
 nation, who died during the war of the
 revolution, leaving his large family with
 little besides, to the care of his wife,
 who was distinguished amongf her sex
 for strong natural powers of mind, but
 who was thus left entirely destitute of
 the requisite means to afford to her
 children any higher instruction than
 could be obtained in the LOG CABIN
 schools of the country in which she
 dwelt.
 It was at the early age of five years
 that the subject of our sketch was de-
prived of the care of his good and

 





OF HENRY CLAY.



affectionate father; and as his mother,
some years later, formed a second mat-
rimonial connexion, and removed with
her husband, Mr. Henry Watkins, into
Kentucky, Henry and his eldest brother
who remained in Virginia, were left
in circumstances requiring from them
severe manual labour.
  Frequently, has HENRY CLAY, clad in
the coarsest apparel, and with bare
feet, ploughed the live-long summer
day, with no other companions than
his plodding team, and his own high
thoughts, which, even in the midst of
his humble but honourable toil, must
have soared above the lowly circum-
stances of his condition to hold com-
munings with the loftier things of life.
If we had space for the purpose, we
might here pause to attempt a parallel
between the early lives of Mr. Clay,
and the "eforest born Demosthenes,"
Patrick Henry, whose earliest years
were passed in the laborious, but inde-
pendent employment of cultivators of
the soil. While those more favoured



13

 






SKETCH OF THE LIFE



by fortune-the wealthy sons of the
land, with splendid equipage and luxu-
rious ease, were rolling onward, the
listless witnesses of the humble employ-
ments of those "a-field," little could
they have suspected that the dust from
their chariot-wheels wxas scattered. upon
the homely garments of those who
were destined to take exalted rank
among the greatest of our own proud
land!
  The career of HENRY CLAY is rich in
instruction and encouragement to all
upon whom adverse fortune has laid
her depressing hand. From indigent
infancy to the present period of his
illustrious life, he affords a sublime
illustration of the results of aspiring
perseverance. With such an example
before him, no American youth, how-
ever unpropitious the circumstances
of his position may be, need despair
of ultimate success; that success which
is the almost certain result of well.
directed, steady and laborious effort,
but which the labour, and the constant



14

 






OF HENRY CLAY.



self-dependence of the mind can alope
achieve.
"s Ah! who can tell how hard it is to climb
The steep where Fame's proud temple shines afar;
AM! who can tell how many a soul sublime
Has felt the influence of malignant star,
And waged with fortune an eternal war;
Check'd by the scoffs of Pride and Envy's frown,
And Poverty's unconquerable bar,
In life's low vale remote has pined alone,
Then dropp'd into the grave, unpitied and unknown.',
  With CLAY, the " bar of poverty" so
touchingly alluded to by the poet, was
regarded merely as a difficulty over
which he was, OF COURSE, to achieve a
triumph; it reared its discouraging and
depressing front before his unflinching
eye and unshrinking heart, but was
not deemed "unconquerable," by one
who, in believing he should triumph,
had already secured to himself the cer-
tainty of victory.
  In the performance of his multifa-
rious labours as a farmer's-boy, he has
often ridden to the mill with grain, his
sole equipment in harmony with his
own humble appearance, being a rope



15

 






SKETCH OF THE LIFE



bridle, and his seat, in lieu of a saddle,
the bag containing the grist or the
flour, which he brought upon his re-
turn.
   In such employments, and with none
 of the advantages of education, or of so-
 cial intercourse with cultivated minds,
 did our country's future statesman and
 benefactor, pass the first thirteen years
 of his active and useful life. At the
 age of fourteen he was placed in a
 small retail store at Richmond, where
 he remained, attentive to the duties of
 -the counter until the following year,
 (1792) when he was transferred, but by
 whom does not appear, to the office of
 Mr. Peter Tinsley, who was, at that
 time, Clerk of the High Court of Chan-
 cery. It was here- that he had the good
 fortune to attract the attention of the
 celebrated George Wythe, a Signer of
 the Declaration of Independence, and
 one of the most eminent jurists of that
 day, and it certainly forms not the least
 of the claims of that distinguished man
to the veneration and gratitude of pos-

 





OF HENRY CLAY.



terity that he had the sagacity to dis-
cover the merit of young Clay, and the
inclination also to afford him the bene-
fit of his counsel and conversation. If
the generous example of Chancellor
Wythe were more frequently followed
by those who possess the opportunity
and means, how often would the sun-
shine of hope illumine the paths of un-
protected genius, and save from -despair
those who, under more favourable cir-
cumstances, might become the orna-
ments and the benefactors of mankind!
  The encouragement and coansel re-
ceived by Henry Clay during the strug-
gles of this period of his career, from
his distinguished friend, were certainly
of great advantage to him, and have
ever been gratefully remembered; but
his was of that order of mind which
derives strength and renewed courage
from difficulties and opposition, and he
is one of that class of men of which
our country has furnished many bright
examples, and for which the cause of
liberty, literature, and science, is in-



17"

 






SKETCH OF THE LIFE



debted to the fostering care and equal-
izing influences of her admirable insti-
tutions,-who have by strong native
genius, unshaken fortitude, and un-
wavering courage, overcome the stern
barrier which separates poverty and
its attendant evils from the hopes and
sacred influences which the lights of
education and knowledge impart to
those who are the favoured and happy
recipients of her elevating and inappre-
ciable privileges. In the achievement
of triumphs like these, and under cir-
cumstances most disheartening, the
obstacle of mere poverty is, perhaps
not always the greatest. Mankind are
generally slow in perceiving the merits,
and in admitting the claims of the
friendless and the indigent, and a!I-
powerful prejudice is among the most
formidable impediments, wlhich he who
stands alone, uncheered and unsup-
ported, is forced to encounter and to
vanquish as the hard condition of ulti-
mate success.
  Towards the close of the year 1796,



 






OF HENRY CLAY.



young Clay entered the family of Mr.
Robert Brooke, an eminent lawyer, and
formerly governor of Virginia, and his
only regular study of his profession
was during the year that he resided
with this gentleman,



           CHAPTER II.
Mr. Clay's introduction to Chief Justice Marshall-Bush-
rod Washington-Death of his Brother-Is admitted to
the Bar-Removes to Kentucky-His early struggles-
Anecdote-Commencement of his political career-New
State Constitution-Alien and Sedition laws opposed by
Mr. Clay-Elected to the Legislature-Appointed Sena-
tor in Congress.
  THE business and social relations of
Mr. Clay, during a residence at Rich.
mond, of a little more than six years.
introduced him to the notice of most
of the leading members of the bar of
a city which has always been distin-
guished for legal talent and learning.
Chief Justice Marshall, and Mr. Bush-
rod Washington, were also among the
number of his early friends. During
his residence at Richmond, his eldest



19

 






SKETCH OF THE LIFE



brother died, and in the year 1797,
with a license to practise law, which
he had received from the judges of the
Virginia Court of Appeals, he removed
to Lexington, Kentucky, where, at the
age of twenty years, friendless and a
stranger, and destitute of the means
wherewith to pay the small sum de-
manded for his board, he made his
brief preparations to enter upon the
busy stage of life in the society of men,
and in honourable contention with
those who had advanced far up the hill
of fame, arid who were already in the
full enjoyment of high professional
influence.
  It was a bold, but characteristic ven-
ture for one so young, thus to launch
his frail bark into the stormy sea, to
unfurl its virgin sails upon the bosom
of its trackless waters, and he its soli-
tary and inexperienced guide! Truly
has it been said, that no sublimer spec-
tacle can be presented for the admira-
tion and instruction of mankind, than
that of a great and good man strug-

 






OF HENRY CLAY.



gling with adversity. But it was not
the fate of Mr. Clay to struggle long,
either for practice as a means of sup-
port, or for reputation. Wherever his
destiny called him, he carried that with-
in which prompted those exertions and
studies in which he soon excelled his
contemporaries.
  He early acquired a profound ac-
quaintance with the principles of law,
and commanded the respect and confi-
dence of his veteran rivals and asso-
ciates at the bar. "4 I remember," says
he, in his speech at Lexington, in June
1842, "how comfortable I thought I
should be, if I could make pound;100 Vir-
ginia money per year; and with what
delight I received the first fifteen shil-
lings fee. My hopes were more than
realized. I immediately rushed into a
lucrative practice."
  An anecdote is recorded of this pe-
riod of his life which proves that he is
indebted to practice for the extraordi-
nary readiness which he always mani.
fests in debate or repartee. He had



21

 






SKETCH OF THE LIFE



joined a debating society,. and at one
of the meetings, just as the vote was
about to be taken, he remarked, in a
whisper to a person near him, that the
subject did not appear to him to have
been exhausted. The member to whom
the observation was made, exclaimed,
"1 do not put the question yet, Mr. Clay
will speak." The chairman nodded to
Clay in token of attention, who rose
with extreme embarrassment, and fal-
tering out. " Gentlemen of the Jury,"
paused as if endeavouring to recover
his scattered thoughts. His audience
with commendable forbearance kindly
affected not to notice this extraordinary
commencement, or the agitation of the
new speaker, who, after much hesita-
tion and confusion repeated the words,
but they were scarcely uttered, when
rising above the distress and difficulties
of his novel position, he acquitted him-
self in the debate in a manner that
excited general surprise and admira-
tion.
  An amusing anecdote is also record-



22

 






OF HENRY CLAY.



ed of his early practice which we are
tempted to repeat. He had success-
fully defended two Germans, a father
and son, who had been indicted for
murder; and an old, withered, and ex-
t reinely ill-favoured woman, wife of the
elder, and mother of the younger pri-
soner, learning the result of the trial,
rushed into court, and throwing her
arms around the neck of the young
advocate, almost suffocated him with
caresses and kisses in the presence of
the assembled crowd!
  Although Mr. Clay was now profita-
ably engaged in the prosecution of his
professional avocations, he was not an
indifferent observer of passing events.
His political career commenced, indeed,
almost as early as his professional; and
in the exciting scenes which imme-
diately followed the determination of
the people of Kentucky to form for
themselves a new constitution, he was
a prominent actor, and a fearless and
able champion of popular rights.
  The prominent feature of the new



23

 





SKETCH OF THE LIFE



constitution, was a provision for the
prospective eradication of slavery from
within the jurisdiction of Kentucky by
gradual emancipation. A majority of
the people were decidedly hostile to the
measure, but the violence of popular
opposition did not deter the young
lawyer from taking a bold stand by the
side of those who were friendly to it,
although he knew that by so doing he
was placing at hazard the splendid
prospects of wealth and fame, which
had so early, unexpectedly, and so
auspiciously opened upon him.  He
did not hesitate for a moment, but with
that noble and self-sacrificing spirit
which has since so strongly endeared
him to his countrymen, and which has
made his name illustrous among the
patriotic of mankind, devoted himself
with fervent zeal to a cause which for-
cibly appealed to the best feelings of his
generous nature. The views of Mr.
Clay upon this momentous question,
have, as is well known, undergone no
change, but time has made clearly



24

 






OP HENRY CLAY.



manifest the wisdom and purity of his
early course in relation to the matter.
He entertains, however, no sympathy
with those who have raised the hue
and cry of unconditional abolition, and
who, in the accomplishment of their
mistaken and injurious design, appear
to be regardless alike of the tranquillity
of the country, and the preservation of
that union, in the strength of which we
achieved our independence, and have
attained our present exalted degree of
national greatness and prosperity.
  The institution of slavery deplored
by none more sincerely than by Mr.
Clay, and the abolition of which had in
him an early devoted and manly advo-
cate of its gradual accomplishment
by strictly Constitutional means, was
founded by our English predecessors in
possession of the soil. It is an evil
which requires time and skill to eradi-
cate and heal, and the incendiary spirit
which has gone abroad among those
who are ignorant of the principles in-
volved in its present toleration, or are



25

 






SKETCH OF THE LIFE



culpably reckless of the consequences
of their unwise proceedings, only serve
to retard a consummation devoutly
wished by all good and patriotic cit-
izens.
  To the Alien and Sedition laws,
passed by Congress in 1798, during the
administration of the elder President
Adams, Mr. Clay was heartily and per-
severingly opposed.
  The first of these celebrated acts
jointly productive of an excitement
which agitated the very foundations of
the infant Republic, provided the man-
ner in which aliens were to become
citizens of the United States, and re-
stricted the facility with which citizen-
ship had previously been acquired. It
authorised the President, at his discre-
tion, to order all aliens whom he might
consider dangerous to the national
peace and safety, or who were con-
cerned in treasonable practices or mea-
sures, to leave the country. It also
gave a power to the President to grant
licenses to aliens to remain during his



26

 






OF HENRY CLAY.



own good pleasure. It further pro-
vided imprisonment not exceeding three
years to all aliens remaining without
license, and perpetual disqualification
for citizenship. It also authorised the
President to require of aliens bonds
for their good behaviour, and all com-
manders were required to report the
names of such persons arriving in their
vessels under a penalty of three hun-
dred dollars.
  The following were the offences made
punishable by the Sedition law, popu-
larly denominated the "1 gag law :"
  Defaming or bringing into contempt,
the Congress or President. Exciting
the hatred of the people against them.
Stirring up sedition in the country,
raising unlawful combinations for re-
sisting the laws and legal authorities-
aiding and abetting foreign nations
against the country, the people or their
government.
  Many of these were certainly very
grave offences; but for some, adequate
penalties had already been provided,



27

 






SKETCH OF THE LIFE



and with respect to others, it may be
remarked, that the law prohibiting
them was a restriction of the liberty of
expression, not the less intolerable that
the truth of the libel might be pleaded
in justification of the accused.
  The following case illustrates the
practical operation of the Sedition law,
and is one only among many of the
oppressive, vexatious and frivolous
prosecutions to which it gave rise.
President Adams, on his return from
the seat of government, passing through
Newark, was complimented with a dis-
charge of artillery by the citizens of
the town in honour of his arrival. A
Mr. Baldwin, who, it would appear, was
not very remarkable for the delicacy
of his sentiments, expressed much re-
gret that the wadding discharged from
the cannon had not lodged in a par-
ticular part of the President's person,
and for this humorous exhibition of
known dislike, he was actually tried,
convicted, and fined one hundred dol-
lars! It was the abuse of this law, ill



28

 






OF HENRY CLAY.



adapted, under any circumstances, for
the meridian of a people who had so
recently waged a seven years' war, in
maintenance of their independence
from foreign oppression, which ren-
dered it odious to the country; and Mr.
Clay, who has always been a consistent
advocate of the amplest freedom of
speech and of the press, launched
against it the mighty thunders of his
indignant eloquence.
  Mr. CLAY was elected to the Legis-
lature of his adopted state in the year
1801, and immediately participated in
all the leading questions of interest
which were discussed in that body.
  In December, 1806, when only in his
twenty-ninth year, he was elected by
the legislature of Kentucky, a Senator
in Congress, to fill a vacancy which
had just occurred in that body by the
resignation of the honourable John
Adair, and, as the journals will prove,
he entered at once, and with character-
istic activity and zeal, upon the ex-
alted and untried duties of the station.



29



 






SKETCH OF THE LIFE



Here was made his earliest manifesta-
tion of devotion to the cause of inter-
nal improvement, and he was imme-
diately distinguished among the ablest
legislators of his country. We shall
be pardoned for a momentary trespass
upon our limits in pausing here, to con-
trast the position held, at this time by
this remarkable man, with the friendless
destitution of that which he occupied.
but nine years before!


          CHAPTER III.
Mr. Clay's election a second time to the Legislature-Ap-
pointed Speaker of Assembly-Re-elected to the Senate
of the United States-Madison's Proclamation-Origin
of the title of "The Great Commoner "-Is elected
Representative in Congress- Chosen Speaker-War
Declared, c., c.
  THE period for which Mr. Clay had
been chosen Senator was but for a
single session, and upon the adjourn-
ment of Congress he was again elected
to the Kentucky Legislature, and was
soon after appointed speaker of the
Assembly. He not only performed,



30

 






OF HENRY CLAY.



with unsurpassed ability, the duties of
this new position, but, entering upon
the arena of debate, actively and elo-
quently participated in the discussion
of all the leading questions before the
house.
  In the winter of 1809-10, Mr. Clay
was a second time elected by a large
majority to the Senate of the United
States, again to fill a vacancy which
had occurred by the resignation of Mr.
Buckner, and it was during this session
of Congress that Mr. Clay proclaimed
his early and cherished predilection for
that truly American System of which
he is the Father, and which, by encou-
raging domestic industry, and manu-
facture, would render us independent
of the pauper labour of other nations,
and thus lay broad and deep, the foun-
dations of real independence, and of
permanent national prosperity.
  The limited space allotted to this
sketch, will not permit us to d well upon
any of the great measures with which
Mr. Clay is identified. To many of



31

 






SKETCH OF THE LIFE



them, indeed, we cannot even allude.
From the period of his second entrance
into the Senate of the United States,
his life has been spent in the service
of his country, and his country's his-
tory, down to his recent, final, and
voluntary retirement from public life,
is the noblest monument to his fame.
  When President Madison issued his
proclamation, declaring that the terri-
tory between the Mississippi and Per-
dido rivers, and comprising a large
portion of Western Florida, was subject
to the laws of the United States, and
upon which it was contended that we
had no legal claim, Mr. Clay boldly
and eloquently defended the President
from the fierce assaults of opposition,
and triumphantly vindicated the na-
tional title to the land.
  One of the Senators had expressed
the deep interest he felt in the fate of
the Spanish King. Mr. Clay, in reply,
exclaimed, " I shall leave the honoura.
ble gentleman from Delaware to mourn
over the fate of the fallen Charles. I

 






OF HENRY CLAY.



have no commiseration for Princes.
MIy sympathies are all reserved for the,
great mass of mankind; and I own
that the people of Spain have them
mhost sincerely."
  It was the eloquent and overpower-
ing expression of this generous sym-
kpathy for the people, and of honest
devotion to their great interests, both
in the speeches he delivered at home
and in the Senate, that procured for
hirri about this time, the title of the
"s GREAT COMMONER." Preferring a seat
in the House of Representatives, to a
re-election to the Senate, Mr. Clay was
returned a member of the popular
branch of the national legislature, and
was chosen Speaker in 1812. He was
an earnest friend of the patriotic ad-
ministration of Madison, and gave to
his prominent measures a hearty sup-
port. In April of this year, Mr. Madi-
son recommended that a "; general em-
bargo be laid on all vessels now in
port, or hereafter arriving, for the
period of sixty days." In the discus-



33

 






SKETCH OF THE LIFE



sion of this measure Mr. Clay- largely
shared and advocated it with his ac-
customed zeal and ability. He declared
that he "1 approved of it because it is
to be viewed as a direct precursor to
war."  John Randolph and Josiah
Quincy were foremost in strenuous
opposition, and they were among the
intellectual giants of those days. Mr.
Clay, however, did not hesitate to meet
them, and it has been said that he was
a "1 flame of fire," upon this occasion.
"1 He had now brought Congress to the
verge of what he conceived to be a
war for liberty and honour, and his
voice rang through the capitol like a
trumpet tone sounding for the onset.
On the subject of the policy of the
embargo, his eloquence, like a Roman
phalanx, bore down all opposition, and
he put to shame those of his oppo-
nents, who flouted the government as
being unprepared for war." As had
been anticipated and predicted by Mr.
Clay, the Declaration of War against
Great Britain immediately followed,



34

 






OF HENRY CLAY.



and received from him that warm and
powerful support without which it
could hardly have been prosecuted to
a successful and honourable close.
  The dignity and commercial inde-
pendence of the nation had been, for a
long series of years, arrogantly assailed
by the British, and the time had at
length arrived, when a decisive demon-
stration of resentment was essential to
the preservation of the national honour.
Under such circumstances, and urged
by such considerations, it was charac-
teristic of this noblest champion of
American liberty to give to the war
upon which his country had entered,
all the support of his transcendant abili-
ties. "o My plan," said he, "d would he
to call out the amplest resources of the
country, give them a judicious direc-
tion, prosecute the war with the ut-
most vigour, strike wherever we can
reach the enemy, at sea or on land, and
negociate the terms of a peace at Que-
bec or at Halifax. We are told that
England is a proud and lofty nation,



35

 






SKETCH OF THE LIFE



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 Provi-
dence, we must be crowned with suc-
cess; but if we fail, let us fail like
men,-lash ourselves to our gallant
tars, and expire together in one com-
mon struggle, fighting for free trade
and seamen's rights."
  The Presidential election occurred at
this time, and Mr. Madison was re-
elected by a majority of thirty-nine
votes over De Witt Clinton, in the
electoral colleges.
  The war-party, of which Mr. Clay
was at once the ruling spirit and the
head, was thus sustained by the people.
  In 1813, Mr. Clay was again chosen
Speaker of the House of Representa-
tives by a large majority. Many, of
those who most ably and strenuously
opposed the war, did so without doubt,
from the purest motives,-others, how-



36

 






OF HENRY CLAY.



ever, opposed it through fear of the
power and avenging wrath of our
haughty mother; but this pusillanimous
objection was met at its threshold by
Mr. Clay, with a sublimity of