A Biography of Henry Clay, the Senator from Kentucky: Containing Also, a Complete Report of All His Speeches; Selections From His Private Correspondence; Eulogies in the Senate and House; and a Poem, by George D. Prentice, Esq.
History
A Biography of Henry Clay, the Senator from Kentucky: Containing Also, a Complete Report of All His Speeches; Selections From His Private Correspondence; Eulogies in the Senate and House; and a Poem, by George D. Prentice, Esq.
Clay, Henry, 1777-1852; Speeches, addresses, etc., American
On another, the house was harangued by the late governor Lincoln, 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
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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