Democratic Sentinel, Volume 8, Number 46, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 December 1884 — Clay's Fareweii to the Senate. [ARTICLE]

Clay's Fareweii to the Senate.

Henry Clay’s farewell to the. Senate, on the 31st of March, 1842, attracted a large crowd, and every available place was occupied, the ladies having not only filled their gallery, but invaded the floor. When Mr. Clay rose between 1 and 2 o’clock, to make his farewell speech in the chamber which he had entered nearly thirty-six years before, all eyes were upon him. Senators of all parties took their seats and gave the most respectful attention. Members from the House flocked in and occupied the privileged seats round about the chamber. Then came the address, for it was more of an address than a speech, the report of which was only the body of a beautiful oration without the souL The picture presented in such a congregation of people was not only fair enough and perfect enough in all its proportions to charm the eye, but it was a scene which might have given, either in the sympathy created or in the pride excited, a feeling but little less than one inspired.

The ladies, who were all hope and buoyancy a moment before, were now “lik6 Niobe, all tears.” Mr. Clay, in speaking of himself, of his friends, and of the noble State of Kentucky, where he had been received as a son forty-five years before, was himself quite unmanned. Others were much more affected, and many of the oldest Senators were in tears many times while Mr. Clay was speaking. He retired from the storm and turmoil of public life to the bosom of his family, in the State which he loved, and which had honored him for nearly forty years. To leave the councils of the nation for one’s own altar and home, was next to leaving this world itself, in the hope of enjoying another brighter and better, a consummation which almost every public man might covet. The wildest ambition of Mr. Clay’s case must have been fully satiated. He had been at the head of a great and triumphant party. He had shared its confidence in prosperity and adversity. He had admiration such as has rarely been given to any man in any age. His friends were legion, and they clung to him to the last with all the tenacity of holy affection. He left the Senate with a reputation for statesmanship, for patriotism and for eloquence which any man might covet. He left public life, too, at peace with all mankind, and with a conscience void of offense. In his retirement he carried with him the best wishes of all men. There he could have no foes, and those who had been foremost to denounce were among the first to speak his praises. The last act of Mr. Clay was to present the credentials of Mr. Crittenden, whom he spoke of in the most exalted terms, and to whose hands he expressed a willingness to yield the interests of his State and country. The Senate adjourned as soon as Mr. Crittenden had taken his seat, though the hour was early. The crowd scattered, and the late Senator from Kentucky was surrounded by hosts of friends.— Ben: Perley Poore, in Boston Budget.