TOAST.

Seventh. _Our distinguished guest, Henry Clay_――the statesman,

orator, patriot, and philanthropist; his splendid talents shed

lustre on his native state, his eloquence is an ornament to his

country.

WHEN this toast was drunk, Mr. Clay rose, and addressed the company in

a speech, which occupied nearly an hour in the delivery, of which we

can only attempt an imperfect sketch.

He said, that he had never before felt so intensely the want of those

powers of eloquence which had been just erroneously ascribed to him.

He hoped, however, that in his plain and unaffected language, he might

be allowed, without violating any established usage which prevails

here, to express his grateful sensibility, excited by the sentiment

with which he had been honored, and for the kind and respectful

consideration of him manifested on the occasion which had brought them

together. In passing through my native state, said he, towards which

I have ever borne, and shall continue, in all vicissitudes, to cherish,

the greatest respect and affection, I expected to be treated with its

accustomed courtesy and private hospitality. But I did not anticipate

that I should be the object of such public, distinguished, and cordial

manifestations of regard. In offering you the poor and inadequate

return of my warm and respectful thanks, I pray you to believe that

I shall treasure up these testimonies among the most gratifying

reminiscences of my life. The public service which I have rendered

my country, your too favorable opinion of which has prompted you to

exhibit these demonstrations of your esteem, has fallen far below the

measure of usefulness, which I should have been happy to have filled.

I claim for it only the humble merit of pure and patriotic intention.

Such as it has been, I have not always been fortunate enough to give

satisfaction to every section and to all the great interests of our

country.

When an attempt was made to impose upon a new state, about to be

admitted into the union, restrictions incompatible as I thought with

her coequal sovereign power, I was charged in the north with being

too partial to the south, and as being friendly to that unfortunate

condition of slavery, of the evils of which none are more sensible

than I am.

At another period, when I believed that the industry of this country

required some protection against the selfish and contracted legislation

of foreign powers, and to constitute it a certain and safe source of

supply, in all exigencies; the charge against me was transposed, and

I was converted into a foe of southern, and an infatuated friend of

northern and western interests.

There were not wanting persons, in every section of the union, in

another stage of our history, to accuse me with rashly contributing

to the support of a war, the only alternative left to our honor by the

persevering injustice of a foreign nation. These contradictory charges

and perverted views gave me no concern, because I was confident that

time and truth would prevail over all misconceptions; and because they

did not impeach my public integrity. But I confess I was not prepared

to expect the aspersions which I have experienced on account of a

more recent discharge of public duty. My situation on the occasion to

which I refer, was most peculiar and extraordinary, unlike that of any

other American citizen. One of the three candidates for the presidency,

presented to the choice of the house of representatives, was out of

the question for notorious reasons now admitted by all. Limited as the

competition was to the other two, I had to choose between a statesman

long experienced at home and abroad in numerous civil situations, and

a soldier, brave, gallant, and successful, but a mere soldier, who,

although he had also filled several civil offices, had quickly resigned

them all, frankly acknowledging, in some instances, his incompetency to

discharge their duties.

It has been said that I had some differences with the present chief

magistrate, at Ghent. It is true that we did not agree on one of the

many important questions which arose during the negotiations in that

city, but the difference equally applied to our present minister at

London and to the lamented Bayard, between whom and myself, although we

belonged to opposite political parties, there existed a warm friendship

to the hour of his death. It was not of a nature to prevent our

coöperation together in the public service, as is demonstrated by the

convention at London subsequently negotiated by Messrs. Adams, Gallatin,

and myself. It was a difference of opinion on a point of expediency,

and did not relate to any constitutional or fundamental principle. But

with respect to the conduct of the distinguished citizen of Tennessee,

I had solemnly expressed, under the highest obligations, opinions,

which, whether right or wrong, were sincerely and honestly entertained,

and are still held. These opinions related to a military exercise of

power believed to be arbitrary and unconstitutional. I should have

justly subjected myself to the grossest inconsistency, if I had given

him my suffrage. I thought if he were elected, the sword and the

constitution, bad companions, would be brought too near together. I

could not have foreseen that, fully justified as I have been by those

very constituents, in virtue of whose authority I exerted the right of

free suffrage, I should nevertheless be charged with a breach of duty

and corruption by strangers to them, standing in no relation to them

but that of being citizens of other states, members of the confederacy.

It is in vain that these revilers have been called upon for their

proofs; have been defied, and are again invited, to enter upon any

mode of fair investigation and trial; shrinking from every impartial

examination, they persevere, with increased zeal, in the propagation of

calumny, under the hope of supplying by the frequency and boldness of

asseveration, the want of truth and the deficiency of evidence; until

we have seen the spectacle exhibited of converting the hall of the

first legislative assembly upon earth, on the occasion of discussions

which above all others should have been characterized by dignity,

calmness, and temperance, into a theatre for spreading suspicions and

groundless imputations against an absent and innocent individual.

Driven from every other hold, they have seized on the only plank left

within their grasp, that of my acceptance of the office of secretary

of state, which has been asserted to be the consummation of a previous

corrupt arrangement. What can I oppose to such an assertion, but

positive, peremptory, and unqualified denial, and a repetition of the

demand for proof and trial? The office to which I have been appointed

is that of the country, created by it, and administered for its benefit.

In deciding whether I should accept it or not, I did not take counsel

from those who, foreseeing the probability of my designation for it,

sought to deter me from its acceptance by fabricating anticipated

charges, which would have been preferred with the same zeal and

alacrity, however I might have decided. I took counsel from my friends,

from my duty, from my conscious innocence of unworthy and false

imputations. I was not left at liberty by either my enemies or my

friends to decline the office. I would willingly have declined it

from an unaffected distrust of my ability to perform its high duties,

if I could have honorably declined it. I hope the uniform tenor of

my whole public life will protect me against the supposition of any

unreasonable avidity for public employment. During the administration

of that illustrious man, to whose civil services more than to those of

any other American patriot, living or dead, this country is indebted

for the blessings of its present constitution, now more than ten

years ago, the mission to Russia, and a place in his cabinet, were

successively offered me. A place in _his_ cabinet, at that period of

my life, was more than equivalent to any place under any administration,

at my present more advanced age. His immediate successor tendered to me

the same place in his cabinet, which he anxiously urged me to accept,

and the mission to England. Gentlemen, I hope you will believe that far

from being impelled by any vain or boastful spirit, to mention these

things, I do it with humiliation and mortification.

If I had refused the department of state, the same individuals who

now, in the absence of all proof, against all probability, and in

utter disregard of all truth, proclaim the existence of a corrupt

previous arrangement, would have propagated the same charge with the

same affected confidence which they now unblushingly assume. And it

would have been said, with at least much plausibility, that I had

contributed to the election of a chief magistrate, of whom I thought so

unfavorably that I would not accept that place in his cabinet which is

generally regarded as the first. I thought it my duty, unawed by their

denunciations, to proceed in the office assigned me by the president

and senate, to render the country the best service of which my poor

abilities are capable. If this administration should show itself

unfriendly to American liberty and to free and liberal institutions;

if it should be conducted upon a system adverse to those principles of

public policy, which I have ever endeavored to sustain, and I should

be found still clinging to office; then nothing which could be said by

those who are inimical to me, would be undeserved.

But the president ought not to have appointed one who had voted

for him. Mr. Jefferson did not think so, who called to his cabinet a

gentleman who had voted for him, in the most warmly contested election

that has ever occurred in the house of representatives, and who

appointed to other highly important offices other members of the

same house, who voted for him. Mr. Madison did not think so, who did

not feel himself restrained from sending me on a foreign service,

because I had supported his election. Mr. Monroe did not think so, who

appointed in his cabinet a gentleman, now filling the second office in

the government, who attended the caucus that nominated and warmly and

efficiently espoused his election. But, suppose the president acted

upon the most disinterested doctrine which is now contended for by

those who opposed his election, and were to appoint to public office

from _their_ ranks only, to the entire exclusion of those who voted for

him, would he then escape their censure? No! we have seen him charged,

for that equal distribution of the public service among every class of

citizens, which has hitherto characterized his administration, with the

nefarious purpose of buying up portions of the community. A spirit of

denunciation is abroad. With some, condemnation, right or wrong, is

the order of the day. No matter what prudence and wisdom may stamp the

measures of the administration, no matter how much the prosperity of

the country may be advanced, or what public evils may be averted, under

its guidance, there are persons who would make general, indiscriminate,

and interminable opposition. This is not a fit occasion, nor perhaps

am I a fit person, to enter upon a vindication of its measures. But I

hope I shall be excused for asking what measure of domestic policy has

been proposed or recommended by the present executive, which has not

its prototype in previous acts or recommendations of administrations

at the head of which was a citizen of Virginia? Can the liberal and

high-minded people of this state, condemn measures emanating from

a citizen of Massachusetts, which, when proposed by a Virginian,

commanded their express assent or silent acquiescence, or to which,

if in any instance they made opposition, it was respectful, limited,

and qualified? The present administration desires only to be judged by

its measures, and invites the strictest scrutiny and the most watchful

vigilance on the part of the public.

With respect to the Panama mission, it is true that it was not

recommended by any preceding administration, because the circumstances

of the world were not then such as to present it as a subject for

discussion. But during that of Mr. Monroe, it has been seen that it

was a matter of consideration, and there is every reason to believe, if

he were now at the head of affairs, his determination would correspond

with that of his successor. Let me suppose that it was the resolution

of this country, under no circumstances, to contract with foreign

powers intimate public engagements, and to remain altogether unbound by

any treaties of alliance; what should have been the course taken with

the very respectful invitation which was given to the United States to

be represented at Panama? Haughtily folding your arms, would you have

given it a cold and abrupt refusal? Or would you not rather accept

it, send ministers, and, in a friendly and respectful manner, endeavor

to satisfy those who are looking to us for counsel and example, and

imitating our free institutions, that there is no necessity for such an

alliance; that the dangers which alone could, in the opinion of any one,

have justified it, have vanished, and that it is not good for them or

for us?

What may be the nature of the instructions with which our ministers may

be charged, it is not proper that I should state; but all candid and

reflecting men must admit, that we have great interests in connection

with the southern republics, independent of any compacts of alliance.

Those republics, now containing a population of upwards of twenty

millions, duplicating their numbers probably in periods still shorter

than we do, comprising within their limits the most abundant sources

of the precious metals, offer to our commerce, to our manufactures, to

our navigation, so many advantages, that none can doubt the expediency

of cultivating the most friendly relations with them. If treaties

of commerce and friendship, and liberal stipulations in respect to

neutral and belligerent rights, could be negotiated with each of them

at its separate seat of government, there is no doubt that much greater

facilities for the conclusion of such treaties present themselves

at a point where, all being represented, the way may be smoothed and

all obstacles removed by a disclosure of the views and wishes of all,

and by mutual and friendly explanations. There was one consideration

which had much weight with the executive, in the decision to accept

the mission; and that was the interest which this country has, and

especially the southern states, in the fate and fortunes of the island

of Cuba. No subject of our foreign relations has created with the

executive government more anxious concern, than that of the condition

of that island and the possibility of prejudice to the southern states,

from the convulsions to which it might be exposed. It was believed,

and is yet believed, that the dangers which, in certain contingencies,

might threaten our quiet and safety, may be more successfully averted

at a place at which all the American powers should be represented

than any where else. And I have no hesitation in expressing the firm

conviction, that, if there be one section of this union more than

all others interested in the Panama mission, and the benefits which

may flow from it, that section is the south. It was, therefore, with

great and unaffected surprise, that I witnessed the obliquity of

those political views which led some gentlemen from that quarter to

regard the measure, as it might operate on the southern states, in an

unfavorable light. Whatever may be the result of the mission, its moral

effect in Europe will be considerable, and it cannot fail to make the

most friendly impressions upon our southern neighbors. It is one of

which it is difficult, in sober imagination, to conceive any possible

mischievous consequences, and which the executive could not have

declined, in my opinion, without culpable neglect of the interests

of this country, and without giving dissatisfaction to nations whose

friendship we are called upon by every dictate of policy to conciliate.

There are persons who would impress on the southern states the

belief that they have just cause of apprehending danger to a certain

portion of their property from the present administration. It is not

difficult to comprehend the object and the motive of these idle alarms.

What measure of the present administration gives any just occasion

for the smallest apprehension to the tenure by which that species of

property is held? However much the president and the members of his

administration may deprecate the existence of slavery among us, as the

greatest evil with which we are afflicted, there is not one of them

that does not believe that the constitution of the general government

confers no authority to interpose between the master and his slave,

none to apply an adequate remedy, if indeed there be any remedy

within the scope of human power. Suppose an object of these alarmists

were accomplished, and the slave-holding states were united in the

sentiment, that the policy of this government in all time to come,

should be regulated on the basis of the fact of slavery, would not

union on the one side lead to union on the other? And would not such

a fatal division of the people and states of this confederacy, produce

perpetual mutual irritation and exasperation, and ultimately disunion

itself? The slave-holding states cannot forget that they are now in

a minority, which is in a constant relative diminution, and should

certainly not be the first to put forth a principle of public action

by which they would be the greatest losers.

I am but too sensible of the unreasonable trespass on your time which I

have committed, and of the egotism of which my discourse has partaken.

I must depend for my apology upon the character of the times, on the

venom of the attacks which have been made upon my character and conduct,

and upon the generous sympathy of the gentlemen here assembled. During

this very journey a paper has been put into my hands, in which a member

of the house of representatives is represented to have said that the

distinguished individual at the head of the government, and myself,

have been indicted by the people. If that is the case, I presume that

some defence is lawful. By the bye, if the honorable member is to have

the sole conduct of the prosecution without the aid of other counsel,

I think that it is not difficult to predict that his clients will be

nonsuited, and that they will be driven out of court with the usual

judgment pronounced in such cases.

In conclusion, I beg leave to offer a toast which, if you are as dry as

I am, will, I hope, be acceptable for the sake of the wine, if not the

sentiment.

‘The continuation of the turnpike road which passes through Lewisburg,

and success to the cause of internal improvement, under every auspice.’

He then took his seat amid the repeated cheers of the whole company.