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 saddened hearts, 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.’