“My chief motive in writing is to thank you for your
magnificent speech, which met the requirements of the time
with so much intellectual strength and moral heroism. Some
‘patriots’ called it ‘Un-American.’ It recalled to my mind
the words of Aristophanes:--
“‘Sparta shall find
An _honest_ chronicler, though Fear may try
The prize with Truth. Yes, I have fears, and those
In no small brood. I know the people well,
Their temper’s edge and humor. Does some tongue
Link cunning commendation with their own
And country’s name? Their joy o’erflows the measure;
It matters not the praise be wrong, nor that
Their freedom pays the tickling of their ears.’
“Your political adversaries made such an outcry about your
imprudent severity and unjustifiable personalities, that
I cautiously examined whether there was any ground for
such an allegation. Few persons have stronger aversion
to harsh epithets and personal vituperation than I have,
but I confess I could find nothing in your Kansas Speech
which offended either my taste or my judgment. You rebuked
States and individuals merely as the representatives of
that ever-encroaching Slave Power, whose characteristic
artifice, arrogance, and despotism it was necessary for you
to portray in connection with the subject under debate.”
These testimonies, which reveal the feelings of the time, might
be multiplied indefinitely. The “sequel,” to which Mr. Clay
refers, and to which allusion is made by other correspondents,
will be found at the end of the speech in an Appendix.