Indiana Palladium, Volume 4, Number 3, Lawrenceburg, Dearborn County, 26 January 1828 — Page 1

EQUALITY OF RIG FITS IS NATURES PLAN AND FOLLOWING! NATURE IS THE MARCH OF MAN. Barlow m Volume IV. LAWRENCEBURGH, INDIANA: SATURDAY, JANUARY 26, 1823. Number o

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MR. CLAY'S ADDRESS. An address of Henry Clay, to the public containing certain testimonials in refu

tation of the charges against him, made by general Andrew Jackson. touching the last presidential election. Memo. It was my intention to have published the testimony, now laid before the public, at an earlier period ; but unavoidable delay, in the collection of it has retarded the execution of that inten tion. The letter of general Lafayette, una ottier important documents, have been hut- lately received; and others, which I had just reason to expect, have not vet been obtained. H. C. ADDRESS. I hope no apology to the public is necessary for presenting to ittbese pages. I am deceived if an ample justification of the act will not be found in the breast of every just and honorable man. If an officer of government shoujhl not be too sensitive, neither should he be too cah Ious, to assaults upon his character. When they relate to the wisdom or expediency of measures which he may have originated or supported, he should silently repose in the candor and good sense of the community, and patieutly await the developments of time and experience. But if his integrity be vitally assailed; if the basct and most dishonorabls motives for his public conduct be ascribed to hint, iie owes it to the country, his friends, his family a?:d himself, to vindicate his caluani ited reputation. Few men are so elevated that the shafts of calumny cannot reach them. These may securely trust to the invulnerable position which they have attained. The United States have perhaps hitherto produced but ore man who could look down from his lofty height without emotion, upon the missiles and the mala.ee of his enemies; for even he had his enemies. If the malignant character of charges, the acrimony with which they , have been asserted and repeated, or the perseverance which has marked their propagation, could ever authorise ail appeal" to the public I think I m:JrTr truely say, that I have this authority. For three years I have been the object of incessant abuse; every art, every species of misrepresentation, has been employed against me. The most innocent acts acts of ordinary social intercourse, and of common civility oiTi ces of hospitality, even a passing saluta tion, has been misrepresented and perverted, to my prejudice, with an unfairness unprecedented. Circumstances have been assumed, which had no existence, and inferences have been drawn from them which, had they been real, they would not have warranted. Besides, my enemies' have themselves appealed to the public, exhibited their charges, and summoned their witnesses to its bar. Ready now and anxious as I am, and al ways have been, to submit any act of my puidb life to a full examination before tiny impartial and respectable tribunal whatever, I surely may expect, at least, that I shall be patiently heard by that which mv accusers have themselves sc-! Iccted. I assure them that I will present no plea to the jurisdiction. But desirous as I naturally am to repel the calumnies which have been directed against me, the public would have been spared the trouble of perusing this address, if general Ja-kson had not, in the course of the last spring and summer,!

ffiven to them the open sanction of hisition. and declared he would not eomnro-

V.7 1

name, in-r.is letter to lur. cvcny otjmisc himselt; and unless most onenh

the 6th of June lasf he admits that, in inferring my privity to the proposition which he describes as borne by Mr. Buchanan, lie may have done me injustice; and, in his address to the public of the 18th July last, giving up the name of this gentleman, as his oidy witness, he repeats that hq possibly may have done me injustice in assuming my authority for that proposition. He even deigns to honor me with the declaration ol the! pleasure which he will experience, if Ij should be able to acquit myself! Mr. Buchanan has been heard by the public; a .d I feel justified in asserting that the first impression of the whole nation was, as it is yet that of every intelligent mind unbiassed by party prejudice, that his testimony fully exonerated me, and demonstrated that gen. Jackson, to say no more, had greatly misconceived the purport of the interview between them. And further, that so far as any thing improper disclosed by Mr. B. touching the late presidential election, it affected general Jackson and has friends, exclusively. He having manifestly injured me, specula tion was busy, when Mr. buchanairs statement appeared, as to the course which the general would pursue, after

his gratuitous expressions of sympathy)

witi me. there were not wantincr ma ny persons, who believed that his magnanimity would immediately prompt him publicly to retract his charge, and to repair the wrong which he had done me. I did not participate in that just expectation, and, therefore felt no disappointment that it was not realized. What ever other merits he may possess, I have not found among them, in the course of my relations with him, that of forbear ing to indulge vindictive passions. His silent contemplation of, if not his positive acquiescence in, the most extraordinary interpretation of Mr. Buchanan's statement, that ever was given to human language, has not surprised me. If it had been possible for him to render me an act of spontaneous justice, by a frank and manly avowal of his error, the tes i mony now submitted to the public might have been unnecessary. Although I feel fully persuaded that the community, under my peculiar circumstances, will see, without dissatisfaction, if not with cordial approbation, this further effect to rescue my character from unmerited imputations, 1 should nevertheless, have remained silent, and cheerfully abided its decision, on the dis closures and explanations heretofore made, if I had no additional facts to oiler to its considerafon. But a body of highly important evidence has been collected, establishing some material circumstances, not before generally known, and confirming others of which the public is already in possession; and I have tho't it due to the occasion not to withhold it. Gen. Jackson having entirely failed to establish, by any affirmative evidence, cither positive or . presumptive, the charge which lie thought proper to promulgate against me, it occurred to me ihat it might be possible, difficult as the task generally is to substantiate a negative, to adduce proof of that character, which would establish the groundless nature of his accusation. Prior to the appearance in the public prints of the letter from Mr. Carter Beverly to his friend in Fayctteville,' dated the 8th of March last, I had never believed that gen. Jackson had countenanced the truth, or lent himself to the circulation of the charge. I had indeed, long before, seen in one of the Nashville papers, assertions, injurious to me, which rented some suspicion that they had emanated from him; but I dismissed these suspicions as being altogether incompatible with the lofty character which I wished to believe that he possessed. When, however, I saw that letter, and the uncontradicted corroboration of its contents by the editor of the Washington Telegraph, I was reluctantly compelled to believe that he had giv en currency to the charges against me. In that letter Mr. Beverly savs: have just returned from general Jackson's I found a crowd of company with him. Seven Virginians were of the number. He gave me a most friendly reception, and urn;

cd me to stay some days loncnGeneral Vance, General Beecher, Mr. im. lie told me this morning,! Sloane, Mr. Wright, Mr. Vinton, Mr.

with him before all his company, in reply to a j question I put to him concerning the election of John Q.uincy Adam to the presidency, that Mr. Clay's friends madn a proposition to his friends that, if thev would promise for him not to nut Mr.

Adams into the seat of secretary of state,11-" McArthur declares them to be Clay and his friends would in one hour!taHv destitute of foundation." He

make him (Jackson) the president, lie most indignantly rejected the pronosi-! I I and fairly made the president, by congress, he never would receive it. lie de lares that he said to them that he

would see the whole earth sink undcrM;,c,on llseJ l!ie language of menace,'

him before he would bargain or intrigue .for it. In the Washington city Tele graph of the 2Gth of April last, the edi tor states: "In the Journal of this morning we have another quotation from the ) Democratic Press, purporting to be the ofheial contradiction by Mr. Clay of the statement of gen. Jackson relative to the overtures made to him as to the forma tion of his cabinet, previous to the late election of president. That gen. Jack son has spoken of such overtures 7ve personally Ariorr. In the same paper of the 28th of April is the following paragraph: "Thc Journal is out this morning in re ply to our remarks of Thursday, in which they atfect to consider it highly improper in gen. Jackson to speak of the overtures made by Mr. Clay's friends and whv? because savs the Journal he is a candidate against Mr. Adams. Now we stated explicitly that gen. Jackson spoke of these overtures in March 1 825, before he was announced by the legislature of 1 enncssee as a candidate. The charge, if it did not originate

with, having been thus sanctioned andl

circulated by gen. Jackson, and implica ting as well my friends as me, I thought it proper, having myself repeatedly and positively denied its truth, to resort to the testimony of those gentlemen from the west who had voted with me for Mr. Adams. Accordingly a friend of mine, Dr. Watkins, at my instance, addressed a circular to those gentlemen, during the last spring, inviting their attention to the Fayctteville letter, and inquiring if there were any truth in its averments. And he obtained from all of them hut two, answers which arc now presented to the public. These answers will be found in the appendix, (see A) arranged according to their respective delegations from which they proceed. The writers of them are men of as high respectability as any in this union. Where they are known, (and several of them are well known in various parts of the country.) their statements will ommand unqualified belief. The excellence of their char-, acters is so well established, that a member of the house of representatives, who will not be presumed to be disposed to bestow on them undeserved encomium, felt himself constrained to bear his testimony to it. Mr. McDuffie said in the house of representatives, on the debate of the proposition to refer to a committee the appeal which I made on the occasion of Mr. Krcmer's card: "Let me add one word to the friends of Mr. Clay on this lloor, (and there are no members on tills floor, for whom generally I feel move respect,) I have been informed that some of his friends suppose that the amendment I have oifercd contains something which is intended to bear harshly upon them. Not so; not so. My object is merely to confine the charges made against the honorable speaker to the very words of the letter from the gentleman from PennsA Ivania."' This just but voluntary tribute was expressed on the 4th of February, 1 8?5, (see National Intelligencer, 5th of the same, month.) On the 31st of March 182G, more than thirteen months after, when the amendment to the constitution was under discussion, proposing a new mode of electing a president, the same gentleman is reported to have said: 4,Xow I have the greatest respect for thoe gentlemen who were the personal and political frier.ds of Mr. Clay in the late election of president. Jpxt to my own persona friend? there art none whom J atimtile. more highly." (See Nat. Intelligencer, ed May, 1 82G.) These answers are not only entitled to the fullest credit, from the high respectability of the characters of those gentlemen, but deserve great confidence from the fact that they have been respectively prepared by themselves, without any concert whatever, so far as I know or believe, 'and when they were at their "several r sniences, wutciy scparateu irom eact) other. The members from Ohio who voted for Mr. Adams were Gen. McArthur, McLean, (brother to the Post Master General) .Mr. Whittlesey, Mr. Bartley, ;infl Mr- Patterson. From each of these gentlemen it will bo seen that an exnli-

cit and unqualified negative is given tojMr. Adams was my next choice among the statements of the Fayctteville letter.; the distinguished individuals who were

?cs tn- act to have been that "the Ohio; delegation (or at leasta majority of them) were the lust of Mr. Clay's friends who came to the determination of voting for

Mr. Adams; and that too zcithout having ,lieve that coaditions of any sort were ascertained JJr. Claysvincs on the $u(ij"d". made, at anv time, by the friends of Mr.

! Fie states that some of the friends of Gen.;Clay ? any person, on a compliance with

w.m.,1 ouiers oi mem empioyca mat on 1 : I l r a i.i

persn.iMon to prevail on my inends to,kn(UV or j)rjjt ve tj)at anv proposition wasj vote tor the General; and that they ap-t;ver maue )V anv 0f Mr. Clay's friends pearedto be willing to make any promi-jto those 0f Gen." Jackson, on the mornses winch they thought -would induce of thc. Presidential election,or at anv the fi lends of Mr. Clay to vote for Gen. ot)er time, having anv bearing on the

jaCksOn. I T I - Gen. Vance states, "I say without hes-j itation, that I never heard of those or any other terms being thought of, as an equiv dent for the vote we were about to give;! nor

mr do I believe that the friends of Mr.ltheir vote was made to depend, ''but !

Clav, or Mr. Clay himself, ever thought of making or suggesting any terms to any one of the parties, as the grounds of our acceptance or rejection of either of the three candidates returned to the House of Representatives.- He continues: "as one of the original friends of Mr. Clay, I was in the habit of free and unreserved conversation both with him and his other friends, relative to that election, and I am bold to say that I never heard a whisper of any tiling like a condition on which our vote w as to be given, mentioned ei-

ther by Mr. Clay himself, or any cf hiiiorly, "For the General was thero when

friends, at any time or under any cir

cumstances. Gen. Beecher testifies that he did not "know that a friend or the friends of Mr. Clay ever made any proposition to the friends of General Jackson, respecting the election of Mr. Adams as President in any way, or as respecting Gen. Jackson not putting Mr. Adams into the seat of Secretary of State in case he (Jackson) should be elected President. Neither am I acquainted with a friend of Mr. Clay that would consent to be an agent in such a degrading transaction. Nor can I admit that the friends of Mr. Clay had so contemptible an opinion of each ether or of Mr. Clay, as to suppose that the appointment or non appointment of any man to any other would influence them in the discharge of an important public duty.' Mr. Sloar.e declares, c(that I have always supposed myself in the entire confidence of all Mr. Cla)"s supporters and friends, who were members of Congress at the time of the Presidential election; and that I have no hesitation in saying that 1 never heard the most distant insinuation from any of them that they would vote for Gen. Jackson, if there was anv prospect of choosing cither of the other candidates. That any of the friends of Mr. Clay in Congress ever made any proposition of conditions, on which their votes would depend, to the friends of Gen. Jackson or any other person, 1 do not believe.5' 'And as to Mr. Clay's accepting an appointment under him, they would to a man most certainlj have oppotcd it. I judge of this from the opinion which I know they entertained of Gen. Jackson's want of capacity, and the fact that it Wcs not until some time after the choice of Mr. Adamthat they agreed to advise Mr. Clay to accept the office he now holds." ,In rhort I feel confident that the whole is a vile and infarr.uus falsehood, such as honorable men would not resort to, more especially after having upon full consultation and deliberate consideration dfclicd an investigation of the whole mat ter before a Committee of the lluse of Representatives' Mr. Wright states, "I can only say sincerely and unequivocally, that I do not know or believe that an proposition of the kind mentioned as from Gen. Jackson, va.s ever made to the friends of Gen. Jackson by the friends of Mr. Clay or any of them; and that 1 am wholly ignor ant of any conditions of any sort being

proposed to anv one by the friends 0i'j,;iml wa3 maae Dy mr- 'ams or S Mr. Clav, on a ccmnhar.ee with which, friends to Mr. Clay or his friends, to pro-

their veto wa3 made to depend' Mr. V niton i equally explicit, lie savs, "having been one of the friends of Mr.. Clav who voted Air Mr. Adams. l heerfullv avail myself of tins onnortn . 1 I nitv to sav, that I have a knowledge w hatever of the above mentioned propositlon. or anv othe.r nronoiiion havinr been made, to General Jackson or anv of ' his friends, by Mr. Clay or any of his friends as a condition upon winch his or their vote was to be given to Gen. Jackson for the Presidency.' He subjoins

that "It was well known to my constitu-Mures

ents for many months previous to the late Presidential election that, a ft or Mr. Clay,

"to-jthen before the people of the United allc-iStates as candidates for that exalted sta-

tion.1 Mr. McLean declares, "that no such 'proposition was ever made within my knowledge, nor have I any cause to bf which their vote was made to depend.": r. Whittlesey avers that "I da . not ril i rl i f tti n cninrtnfl !- r -v-y K returned to the House, nor do I "know or believe that any condition? of anv sort were proposed by ihe friondjofMr. Clav to any person on a compliance with w hich do believe that the assertion made? by General Jackson as reported by a highly respectable Virginian, and all cf the charges of a like character, imputing either to Mr. Adams or to Mr. Clay, or, to their friends, any improper, inconsistent, corrupt, or fraudulent conduct, on thai interesting and momentous occasion, are base slanders, known to be such by those; who put them in circulation." Mr. Hartley expresses the belief in justice to Gen. Jackson, that he never made thc declaration -alluded to by Mr. Bev-

the election took place, and must inevitably have known that such a statement would carry falsehood on the very face of it." He adds, "I was in the House, 1 believe every day of that session,, at which the President was elected; and have no hesitation in saying .that so far from making any proposition or overture, were the friends of Mr. Clay, in favour of the General, that had the friends of the General made such a propositioa we should have considered it an indignity offered to our integrity and understanding' Mr. Patterson is brief but pointed. He sas: "1 frankly state to you that if any such proposition as you state was made by the friends of Clay to those of Gen Jackson, I had no knowledge of it, and I was one of the friends of Clav. I therefore believe the report to be without an honest foundation' 3n passing from the testimony of the delegation from Ohio, to that of Kentucky, we shall find it to be not less irresistible and decisive in negativing the declaration of Gen, Jackson, communicated to the public through Mr. Beverly. The Kentucky delegation consisted of twelve members; eight of whom, Mr. Trimble, Mr. F. Johnson, Gen. Metcalfe, Mr. Letcher, Mr. Buckner, Mr. M. Thompson, Mr. White, and myself, voted for Mr. Adams. From six of them, statements have been received. That from Mr. White has not reached this city; but 1 am justified in stating that he has repeatedly, within his district after hia return to Kentucky, borne unqualified testimony to the falsehood of all charges of corruption in the election, and especially to the propriety of my conduct; and j have no doubt that he will whenever called upon repeat the same testimony. Mr. Trimble says, "I do not know cf my own knowledge, nor have I been informed by otheis, that offers, propositions, or overtures such as are spoken of by Gen. Jackson in his letter to Bcverty, or similar thereto,- or of any kind whatever, were made by Mr. Adams or his friends, to Mr. Clay or his friends; or by Mr. Clay or his friends, to Gen. Jackson or his friends. I do not know, nor do 1 believe that Mr. Adams or his friends made overtures or offers, directly or indirectly, to Mr. Clay or his friends to make him Secretary of State, if he and his friends would unitein aid of the election of Mr. Adams. Nor do I know or believe that any pledge or promise of any

kind was made by Mr. Adams or hie lcun hls ald ln he election. m never nearu iromjir. iay, or any of his friends, or any one else that he was willing to vote for Gen. Jackson, if the -"tr5U vvou.u say, or any oi ms inencis J" I a i a n t 4 1 1 i i r . . for him, that Mr. Adams should be continued Secretary of State. Nor do I know or believe that Mr. Clay ever ex i r i presseu a willingness, or any oi m& friends for him, to support or vote for Gen. Jackson, if he could obtain the office of Secretary of State under him." I do n-ot know or believe that any overor offers of any kind were made by Mr. Clay or his friends to Mr. Adams or his friends to vote for him or support him if he would make Mr. Clay Secretary of State; or to General Jackson or bis friends to vote for him or support him, if he could obtain the effice of Secretary of State under him; nor do I believe Mr Clay would have taken office under him if he had been elected.' 1 shall hereafter have occasion to notice other parts of the letter of Mr. Trimble from which the preceding extract has been taken. Mr. F. Johnson states in his answer to Dr. Watkins, "I have no hesitation however m answering your inquiries. After writing the above extract, you say to me,' "If such a proposition were ever made by the friends of Mr. Clay to those cf General Jackson, it mu?t have been known to many persons, and the fact" therefore may be ascertained. Mav I ask the favor of you to inform me whether you know or believe any such proposition was ever made, or w hether condilons 01 an? sort were made by the friends - nf Mr. Clay to any person on c compliance with which their vole was to depend. 4iTo the first branch of the enquiry, my answer is that I have no knowledge of arv such proposition, nor do F believe any such was ever made. To the second 1 answer that I neither know of, r.or do I believe that any conditions of any sort were made by the friends of Mr. Clay to any person, on compliance with which their vote was to depend. Gen. Metcalfe, w ith his characteristic firmness and frankness, sajs: "I have to state that I never heard or thought of such a proposition until the letter of the