Henry Clay must not be judged as an orator by his reported speeches,
which are but skeletons of the masterly originals, but by the lasting
effect of these speeches on those who heard them, and by his ability as
an originator of important measures and his success in carrying these
measures to a conclusion by convincing and powerful oratory. Judged by
his achievements and by his wide-spread influence, he must take rank as
a statesman and orator of pre-eminent ability. The son of a poor Baptist
clergyman, with but scant advantages for acquiring an education; leaving
home at an early age and going among strangers to a community where
family ties and social connections were a controlling element;--this
poor boy, with no family influence, assumed at once, by sheer force of
character and ability, a leadership which he held undisputed until his
death. And years after he had passed away, it was the "followers of
Henry Clay" who kept Kentucky from joining the States of the South in
their unsuccessful efforts to withdraw from the Union.
Of his oratory Robert C. Winthrop wrote after a lapse of years: "I can
only bear witness to an impressiveness of speech never exceeded, if ever
equaled, within an experience of half a century, during which I have
listened to many of the greatest orators on both sides of the Atlantic."
As a parliamentary leader, Rhodes calls him the greatest in our history.
"His leadership," says Mr. Schurz, "was not of that mean order which
merely contrives to organize a personal following; it was the leadership
of a statesman zealously striving to promote great public interests."
As a presiding officer he was the most commanding Speaker the National
House of Representatives has ever had. Winthrop, who served long with
him in Congress, said of him:--"No abler or more commanding presiding
officer ever sat in the Speaker's chair on either side of the Atlantic.
Prompt, dignified, resolute, fearless, he had a combination of
intellectual and physical qualities which made him a natural ruler over
men." He was six times elected Speaker, sometimes almost by acclamation;
and during the many years which he presided over the House not one of
his decisions was ever reversed.
As a Secretary of State, during his term of four years the treaties with
foreign countries negotiated by him exceeded in numbers all that had
been negotiated by other secretaries, during the previous thirty-five
years of our constitutional history. As a diplomat, he showed himself at
Ghent more than a match for the trained diplomatists of the old world.
And with all these he was--at his ideal country home, Ashland,
surrounded by wooded lawns and fertile acres of beautiful blue-grass
land--a most successful farmer and breeder of thoroughbred stock, from
the Scotch collie to the thoroughbred race-horse. I have been told by
one who knew him as a farmer that no one could guess nearer to the
weight of a Shorthorn bullock than he. He was as much at home with
horses and horsemen as with senators and diplomats. I have known many
men who were friends and followers of Mr. Clay, and from the love and
veneration these men had for his memory, I can well understand why the
historian Rhodes says, "No man has been loved as the people of the
United States loved Henry Clay."
Clay seemed to have had honors and leadership thrust upon him. Arriving
in Kentucky in 1797, he at once advocated the gradual emancipation of
slaves, regardless of the strong prejudices to the contrary of the rich
slaveholding community in which he had cast his lot; yet, unsolicited on
his part, this community elected him to the State Legislature by a large
majority in 1803, and before three years of service he was chosen by his
fellow members to fill a vacancy in the United States Senate. And until
his death in 1852, his constituents in Kentucky vied with each other in
their desires to keep him as their representative in either the national
Senate or House of Representatives. He entered the latter in 1811, and
was selected as Speaker of that body almost by acclamation on the first
day of his taking his seat. After a long life spent in his country's
service he was elected _unanimously_ to the Senate in 1848, despite
party strife and the fact that the two parties were almost evenly
divided in Kentucky.
No attempt can here be made to even recapitulate the events of
importance connected with his long public services. I will call
attention only to some of the most important measures which he carried
by his magnificent leadership.
[Illustration: HENRY CLAY.]