Western Sun & General Advertiser, Volume 18, Number 31, Vincennes, Knox County, 8 September 1827 — Page 1

WESTERN SUN & (KENEKAIL ABYE3RTISE1R

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BY ELIIIU STOUT. VINCENNES, (IND.) SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1827. Vol. 18. No. 31

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THE WESTERN SULY,

IS pubishcd at Two Dollars and ;

VltTt cents lor Fifty-I wo .v umbers which may be discharged by the payment of TWO DOLLARS at the time of subscription. Payment in advance being the mutual interest of both parties, that mode is soHctcd. A failure to notify a wish to discontinue at the expiration of the time subscribed for, will be considered a new engagement. No subscriber at liberty to discontinue unti jail arrearages are paid. Subscribers must pay the postage of their papers sent by mail. Letters by mail to the Editor on business must be paid, or they will not be attended to. Advertisements inserted on the customary terms. gCT Persons sending Advertisements, must specify the number of times they wish them inserted, or they will be continued until ordered out, and must be paid for accordingly. Mr. CLAY'S SPEECH, at the Dinner at Mr. AbbU'a Inn, Mr. President Friends and Feiioiv Citizeris 1 beg permission to offer my hearty thanks, and to make my respectful acknowledgments for the affectionate recepv lion, which has been given me during my present visit to my old congressional (lis trict, and for this hospitable and honorable testimony of your esteem and confidence. And I thank you especially for the friendly sentiments and feelings expressed in the toast which you have just done me the honor to drink. I always had ihe happiness of knowing that 1 enjoyed in a high degree, the attachment of that portion ot my fellow citizens whom I formerly represented ; but I should never have been sensibleof the strength & ardor ol their affection, except for the extraordinary character of the timesi For near two years &a half I have been assailed with a rancor and bitterness which have few examples. I have found myself the particular object of concerted Sc concentrated abuse ; and others, thrusting themselves between you and me, have dared to arraign me for treachery to your intercuts. But my former Constituents, unaffected by the calumnies which have been so persevc; ingly circulated to my prejudice, have stood by me with a generous constancy and a noble magnanimity. The measure of their regard and confidence lias risen with, and even surpassed that of the malevolence, great a it is, of my personal and political foes. I thank you, gentlemen, who are a large portion of my late constituents. I thank you, and everoneof them, with all my heart, for the manly support which 1 have uniformly received. It has cheered and consoled me amidst all my severe trials ; and may I not add that it is honorable to the generous hearts and enlightened hcad3 who have resolved to picteci the character of an old friend and a faithful servant ? The numerous manifestations of your confidence and attachment will be among the latest and most treasured recollections of my life. They impose on me obligations which can never be weakened or cancelled. One of these obligations is, that I should embrace every fan opportunity to vindicate that character which you have so generously sustained, and to evincc to you and to the . world, that you have not yielded to the impulse ul a biiad and enthusiastic sentiment. I feel that I am, on all fit occasions, especially bofmd to vindicate myself to my former constituents. It was as their representative ; it was in the fulfilment of a high trust which they confided to me, that 1 have been accused of violating the most sacred of duties, of treating their wishes with contempt, and their interests with treachery. Nor is this obligation, in my conception of its import, at all weakened by the dessolution of the relations which heretofore existed between us, I would instantly resign the place I hold in the councils of the nation, and directly appeal to the suffrages of my late constituents, as a candidate for re election, if I did not know, that my foes were of that class whom one rising from the dead could not convince, whom noth ing can silence, and who wage a war of extermination. On the issue of such an appeal, they would redouble their abuse of mc and you; for their hatred is com- ; montousboth. They have compelled me so often to be the theme of my addresses to the people thit I should have w illingly abstained on this festive occasion, from any allusion to

this subject, but for a new and imposing J form which the calumny has recently as- J surried. I am again put on my defence, -not of any new charge nor by any new adversary, but of the old charges, clad in a new dress, and exhibited by an open and undisguised enemy. The fictitious names have been stiicken from the indictment and that of a known and substantial prosecutor has been voluntarily offered. Undaunted by the formidable name of that prosecutor, I will avail myself, with your indulgence, of this fit opportunity of free and unreserved intercourse with you, as a large number of my late constituents, to make some observations on the past and present state of the question. When evidence shall be produced, as I have now a clear right to demand in support of the accusation, it will be the proper time forme to take such notice of it as its natute may require. In February, 1825, it was my dutyas the Representative of this district, to vote for some one of the three candidates for the Presidency, who were returned to the House of Representatives It has been established, and can be further proved that, before I left this slate the preceding :

fall, I communicated to several gentle- , men of the highest respectability, my fix- . ed determination not to vote for General Jackson. The friends of Mr. Crawford asserted to the last, that the condition of his health was such as to enable him to ' administer the duties of the office. I tho't j otherwise, after I had reached Washing- j ton City, and visited him to satisfy myself, ; and that, that physical impediment, if j there were no other objections, ought to j prevent his election. Although the dele- J

gation from tour ol the states voted for him, and his ptetensions were zealouy pressed to the veiy last moment, it his

been of late asserted, and t believe' by some of the very persons who then warm-'-ly espoused his cause, that hisincumpc- j tency was so palpable as clearly to limit ! the choice to two of the thtee returned candidates. In my vie w of my duty, ineie ! was no alternative but that which I an- ! braced, i'hat I had some objection::, to j Mr. Adams; I am ready freely to admit, i but these did not wcirrh a feuhei i.i t.om- j parison with the g. eat and mm: moimuddc ; objections, long and deliberately cute; tain ed against his competitor. I take thi -. c- , casioi, with great satisfaction, to stale, that my objections to Mr. "Adams arose chiefly from apprehension! which have j not been realized. I have lound him at j the head of the government, able, enlight- j encd, patient of investigation, and ever j ready to receive with respect, and when

approved by his judgment, to act upon the councils of Ids official advisers. I add, with unmixt pleasure, that, from the com

mencement of the government with the I

exception of Mr Jefferson's Administration, no Chief Magistrate has found the members of his Cabinet so united on all public measures, and so cordial and friendly in all their intercourse private and official, as those are of the present President. Had I voted for General Jackson, in opposition to the well known opinions which I entertained of him, one tenth part of the ingenuity and zeal which have been employed to e:;cite prejudices against me would have held mc up to universal contempt : and what would have been worse, I should have felt that I really deserved Before the election, an attempt was made by an abusive letter, published in the Columbian Observer, at Philadelphia, a paper which, as has since transpiicd, wa sustained by Mr. Senator Eaton, the colleague, the friend and tho biographer of General Jackson, to assail my motives and to deter me in the exercise of my duty. This letter being avowed by Mr. George Kremer, I instantly demanded from the House of Representatives an investigation. A committee was accordingly, on the 5th day of February, IS25, appointed in the rat e nio:'.c of b:lioling bv the f iouse. instead of bv the selection of the Speaker. It was composed of some of the leading members of that body, not ore of whom was my political friend, in the preceding Presidential canvass. Although Mr. Kremer, in addressing the House had declared his willingness to bring forward his proofs, and his readi ness to abide the issue of the inquiry, his fears, or other counsels than Ids own, pre vailed upon him to take refuge in a miserable subterfuge. Of all possible periods that was the most fitting to substantiate the charge if it was true. Every cir cumstance was then fresh; the witnesses all living and present ; the election not yet complete : and therefore the imputed

corrupt bargain not. fulfilled. All these powerful considerations had no weight with the conspirators and their accessaries, and they meanly shrunk from even the attempt to prove the charge, lor the best of all reasons because, being false and fabricated, they could adduce no proof which was not false and fabricated. During two years c a half, which have now intervened, a pot tion of the press, devoted to General Jackson, has been teeming with the vilest calumnies against me, and the charge, und'er every cameleon form, has been a thousand times repeated. Up to this time, I have in viin invited investigation, and demanded evidence. None, not a particle as been adduced.

and, by inference or by insinuation, that of his sole rival, he will have removed a great obstacle to the consummation of the object ot his ambition. And if he can at the same time, make out his own purity of conduct, and impress the American people with the belief that his purity and integrity alone prevented his success before the House and Representatives, his claims will become absolutely irresistible. Were there ever more powerful motives to propagate, was there ever greater interest, at all hazards, to prove the truth of charges ? I state this case I hope fairly ; I mean to slate it fairly and fearlessly. If the position be one which exposed Gen. Jack-

The extraordinary ground has been ta I fon 10 .un,ayorable suspicions, it must be

ken, that the accusers were rot bound to : " . In "unU Uiat he " voluntarily taestablish by proot the gui:t ut their desig ken ,t.and nc mu8t ab,de the consequennated victim. In a civilized, christian and "s 1 am actn on the defensive, and it tree community, the monstrous mu triple i Is y.e who assails me, and who has called has been assumed, that accusation and I t?rlh the external laws of self protec-

con iction aie synonymous ; and that the i 7" "K"1 lo use legitimate means

persons whodeubciatt . bring forward an

General Jackson. has shown, in his let.

'At !'! I f 1 I I'il'il'iro ..., r.t.., (.,.... ..II

obligations to Mibsiantiate it ! And the : ter lha..1 he J? 1101 exc"'Pt from the influ-

pretext is, tbat tbe crime being of a political nature, is shrouded in darkness and

incapable ot being substantiated. But is there any real difference, in this respect, between political and other offences ? Do not all perpetrators ot crime nth avor to conceal their guilt andto elude detection ? -If the accuser of a political offi nee is absolved horn the duty ol supporting his accusation, every other accuser of offence stands equally absolved. Such a principle, practically carried into society would subvert all harmony, peace and tranquility None no age, nor sex, nor prokssion, nor railing would be safe auainM its baneful and overwhelming inlbicncc. It would amount to an universal license to uni ersal calumr.y. No one has ever contended, that the proof should bo exclusively that ol eyewitnesses, le.stifying bum tiitir senses positively and directly to the fact. Political, like all other offences, mav be cstabiiid by ci; cuiiiMiantial as well a: positive evident lint I d contend that s )iiie. evidence, be it what it may, ought to b exhibited II t hci c be one how do the accuse: s k n o that an lien has been perpetrate. I ? If they do k?vvv U, let us I) ie tiie ar.'.y on which their conviction is b s.:d I v. ill not evoM assert that in public aifairs. a citizen has not a light, frecy to exp. ess bis s!iu:io-y f public men, and to speculate upon the n tiv es of their conduct. Hut u no cho is s to promulgate opinions, let them be ;iven as onnions. The public wui corre tiy judge of their value and their gioun U. No one has a right to put forth the positive assertion, that a political offence has been commit ted, unless he stands prepared to sustain, by satisfactory proof of some kind, its actual existence. If he who exhibits a charge of a poltical crime is, fiom its very nature, disabled to establish it, how much more difficult is the condition of the accused ? How can he exhibit negative proofof his innocence, if no affirmative proof of his guilt is or can be adduced ? It must have been a conviction that the justice of the public required a deflinire charge, by a responsible accuser, that has at last extorted trom General Jackson his letter of the 6th of June, lately published. I approach that letter with great reluctance, not on my own account, for on that I do most heartily and sincerely rejoice

that it has made its appearance. But it j

ence of that bias towards one's own inter

ests, which is unfortunately the too common lot of human nature. It is his interest to make out that he is a person of spotless innocence and of unsullied integrity and to establish, by direct charge, or by necessary inference, the want of thosequalities in his rival. Accordingly wo find, through ut the letter a labored attempt to set forth his own immaculate purity in striking contrast with the corruption which is attributed to others . We would imagine from his letter that ho very seldom touches a newspaper. The Telegraph is mailed regularly for him at V ashington, but it arrives at the Hermitage very irregularly. He would have tho public to inter that the post master at Nashville, whose appointment happened not to be upon his recommendation, obstructed his recception of it In consequence of his not receiving the Telegraph, he had not on the 6th June, 1827 seen Carter Beverly's famous Fayetteville lettct, dated the 8th of the preceding March, published in numerous gazettes, and published, I have very little doubt, although I have not the means of ascertaining the fact, in the gazettes of Nashville. I will not say, contrary to General Jackson's assertion, that he had never read that letter, when he wrote that of the 6th of June, but I must think that it is very strange that lie should not have seen it; and tiiat I doubt whether there is another man of any political eminence in the United States who had not read it. Theic is a rcmaikable coincidence be-, tween General Jackson nd certain editors who espouse his interest, in relation to Mr. Beverly's letter They very CAily took the ground, in respect to it, that I ought, under my own signature to come out and deny the statements. And General Jackson now saysin his letter of the 6th June, that he "always intended should Mr. Clay come out, over his own name, and deny having any knowledge of the communication made by his friends to my friends and to me, that I would give him the name of the gentle

man tniougn whom that communication

came.

(To be continued. J

Mr. M'DUFFIE'S SPEECH. The 2d of July was celebrated at Ham burg, S. C. by a d nner party consisting of fiom 800 to 1000 citizens, Mr. Mc-

Uufheand several other eminent individ-

uiai lido may v ajj jv.ai anv. uui 11 j --- is a reluctance excited by feelings of re- i u,a's being present.

spect which I would anxiously have culti- 1 ne following was the 4th regular toast :

our incuu oeorge iUCJJume The

vated towards its author. He has, how

ever, by that letter, created such relations between us that, in any language which I may employ, in examining its contents, I feel myself bound by no ohcr obligations than those of truth, to public decorum, and to mvself.

The iirst consideration which must on

W first to expose and denounce the princi.

pies and plans ol the Coalition. The in dignant voice of an injured and insulted people re-echoes the correctness of his opinions and sentiments. Mr. McDuffie here arose, after tho music had ceased, and addressed the

. , j tlje perusal of the letter, force itself un- i company as follows:

on every reflecting mind is, that which a- In rising, on an occasion like this, Felrise.sout of the delicate posture in which low-Citizens, to offer you the poor hornGeneral Jackson stands before the Amer- age of my sincere thanks for the distin ican public. He is a candidate for the guished honor you now do mc, 1 cannot Presidency, avowed and proclaimed. He but recur, with a sense of gratitude which has n competitor at present, and there is . I have no language to express, to tho no probability of his having any, but one. manifold proofs I have heretofore rcceirThe charges which he has allowed him- ed of your strong attachment and indulsclf to be the organ of communicating to gent kindness : and I should do equal iothe very public, who is to decide the justice to my own feelings and to your question of the Presidency, though di- claims upon my gratitude, if I did not arectly aimed at me necessarily implicate vail ray self of this first opportunity of adhis only competitor. Mr. Adams and dressing you publicly and collectively, to myself are both guilty or we are both in- tender my warmest acknowledgements nocent of the imputed arrangement be- for that signal manifestation of your tween us. His innocence is absolutely ir- affectionate attachment, which secured to reconcilable with my guilt If General mc, in the midst of a strong popular Jackson, therefore, can establish my guilt, excitement and an amimated canvass