which have not been few or small-have been directed to the advancement, the growth, the greatness of the republic. While he has constantly sought to protect the industry and develop the resources of the country, he has zealously endeavored to cement the union by the opening of internal communications, and to improve harbors and rivers for the benefit of commerce. He who surmounts the Alleganies on the national road, as if no hills were there, should never forget to whom he is indebted for this luxury of travel.

The war of 1812 was a stern trial of the patriotism, institutions, and government of the country; and it need not be said, that the position occupied by Mr. Clay in the origination, conduct, and termination of that struggle, was one of great responsibility. No man called louder, or did more, or was more influential, in bringing it about-not indeed for the love of war-for Mr. Clay has ever been averse to it-but because of his sense of the wrongs and insults of a haughty and imperious rival, who, believing herself queen of the seas by her maritime force, seemed resolved to disregard the maritime rights of the United States. She had pursued her arrogance beyond endurance, harassed and destroyed American commerce for many years, by her violations of neutral rights, seized on American seamen by thousands, under the pretext of claiming her own, and forced them to fight her battles. The numerous and long-protracted outrages of this and other kinds, had made it a question of submission or defence of abandoning or maintaining national sovereignty, on the part of the United States.

The speakership of the house of representatives, which was assigned to Mr. Clay during the war of 1812, was the most important post in the nation for such a time; and it is a remarkable fact, that, while it is generally regarded as depriving the incumbent of the privilege of participation in its debates, and usually does so in its practical operation, Mr. Clay was accustomed, during the many years that he was at the head of that body, to mingle in its deliberations, while in committee of the whole, and to perform the double duty of speaker and member. It was expected, required of him. No other man had so much to do with originating measures and sustaining them, while at the same time he presided over the body. But he was never more active, nor more influential in this field, than during the preparations and progress of the war He was one of the chief counsellors of the president (Mr. Madison), inspired him with determination and boldness, and animated both the executive and legislative branches of the government with the spirit which actuated himself. The war to him was a time of intense anxiety and intense exertion, from the moment it was resolved on, till it was ended. Responsible, in a high degree, for its beginning and conduct, he was called to participate in the duty and responsibility of concluding the terms of peace, as arranged at Ghent. His patriotic exertions in this struggle justly secured for him the respect and gratitude of his countrymen, almost without distinction of party. A small faction only, that denounced the war to the last, refused to acknowledge their obligations to its prominent and most influential agents.

When the darkest clouds hung over the country, during the agitation of the Missouri question, and when they seemed about to burst in all their fury over the republic, the last hope of those pacifically disposed, who had tried in vain to still the tempest, turned to Mr. Clay, as he made his appearance at a late period of the session of 1820-'21, having been unavoidably detained. It is sufficient here to remark, for the object of the present notice, that to Mr. Clay, and to him alone, has ever been attributed, without a dissenting voice, the influence, almost superhuman, that quelled this

storm.

Such was the demand on his faculties of mind and body for this occasion, and such the responsibility of the position awarded to him by common consent, it has been said, and may be believed, that the month's agony and effort, by which his moral and physical powers were tasked, to settle this question, could not have been protracted many days longer, without proving fatal to himself. The whole country appreciated his signal services, and unanimously gave him the title of the GREAT PACIFICATOR.

Again, when in 1833, South Carolina nullification burst forth upon the Union, threatening its dissolution, and when General Jackson had proclaimed war on the recusants, Mr. Clay made peace, and carried the country safely through the trial, by means of the compromise act. "I rise, sir, on this occasion," said Mr. Clay, when he brought forward the bill, "actuated by no motives of a private nature, by no personal feelings, and for no personal objects; but exclusively in obedience to a sense of the duty which I owe to my country.. I am anxious to find out some principle of mutual accommodation, to satisfy, as far as practicable, both parties... As I stand before my God, I declare, I have looked beyond those

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considerations [party feelings and party causes], and regarded only the vast interests of this whole people. If I had thought of myself, I should never have brought it (the bill] forward. I know well the perils, to which I expose myself. I might have silently gazed on the raging storm, enjoyed its thunders, and left those who are charged with the vessel of state, to conduct it as they could... Pass this bill, tranquilize the country, restore confidence and affection in the Union, and I am willing to go home to Ashland, and renounce public service for ever. I have been accused of ambition. Yes, I have ambition; but it is the ambition of being the humble instrument in the hands of Providence to reconcile a divided people-once more to revive concord and harmony in a distracted land-the pleasing ambition of contemplating the glorious spectacle of a free, united, prosperous, and fraternal people.... I say, SAVE THE COUNTRY-SAVE THE UNION-SAVE THE AMERICAN SYSTEM."

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In 1834-'5, the French government and nation had taken offence at General Jackson's annual message to Congress, which recommended reprisals on French commerce, on account of the neglect of the French government to pay an instalment, due by the treaty of July 4, 1831, as an indemnity for spoliations of American commerce, committed between 1800 and 1817. The president was in favor of decisive and energetic measures, whereat the French were greatly incensed. The lightest breath might have kindled war, and the smallest drop might quench the spark. It was a point of honor. The failure to pay resulted from a disagreement between the French ministry and the chamber of deputies, the latter not having made the appropriation requisite for the fulfilment of the treaty. The king and his ministers were willing, but the deputies were unwilling. Both, however, were offended at the tone of General Jackson's message. The senate of the United States held in their hand the balances. Whereupon the GREAT PACIFICATOR (Henry Clay) was made chairman of a committee to report on this critical affair, which was made and read by him on the 6th of January, 1835. His report showed to the satisfaction of the senate, that by a little forbearance, in deference to the peculiar position of the executive department of the French government toward the legislative branch, peace could probably be preserved, with honor to both parties.

Mr. Clay, on this occasion, reported, in behalf of the committee, the following resolution :

"Resolved, That it is inexpedient, at this time, to pass any law vesting in the president authority for making reprisals upon French property, in the contingency of provision not being made for paying to the United States the indemnity stipulated by the treaty of 1831, during the present session of the French chambers."

In Mr. Clay's speech on the report before the senate, he said : "In speculating upon the probabilities in regard to the course of the French government, in reference to the treaty, four contingencies might be supposed to arise-first, that the French chambers may have made the appropriation to carry the treaty into effect before the reception of the president's message; second, the chambers may make the appropriation after the reception of the president's message, and notwithstanding the recommendation on this subject contained in it; third, the chambers may, in consequence of that recommendation, hearing of it before they shall have acted finally on the subject, refuse to make any appropriation, until what they may consider a menace, shall have been explained or withdrawn; or, fourth, they may, either on that ground, or on the ground of dissatisfaction with the provisions of the treaty, refuse to pass the bill of appropriation. Now, in any of these contingencies, after what has passed, an expression of the sense of Congress on the subject appears to be indispensable, either to the passage of the bill, or to the subsequent payment of the money."

The resolution reported by Mr. Clay was unanimously adopted by the senate, and the indemnity was paid, not, however, tillto save the feelings of the French, who were a good deal excited by President Jackson's course-the controversy was settled through the intervention of William IV., king of England. The country, on this occasion, was saved from war by the prudent counsels of Mr. Clay.

None will deny, that Mr. Clay was the choice of the whig party for the presidential campaign of 1840, or that his public services had fairly entitled him to the nomination. But foreseeing that the Harrisburg convention might be embarrassed in the selection of the candidate for reasons which it is unnecessary here to notice, Mr. Clay had written to the Kentucky delegates, in terms to discharge his friends from any such adherence to him as might tend to disturb the harmony of that body, or mar general unanimity in supporting its decision. When that decision was finally announced, the reading of this letter, the existence of which was known to a few, was called for. The following is an extract:"With a just and proper sense of the high honor of being voluntarily called to the office of president of the United States,

icy, in all respects adapted to its internal resources and capabilities, and its foreign relations, were scarcely less urgent, or less distressing, than at the period and during the time of the American revolution.

It was at this juncture of American public affairs, that the young, since called the great, statesman of the West, began to apply himself to the study of this great national exigency. He appeared as a senator in the national councils in 1806, during which term of service-it being but the complement of the unexpired term of the Hon. John Adair, resigned-he delivered his first speech on internal improvement, as one of the branches of that system of national policy, which at that time was being formed in his mind. The speech was not reported, and is therefore not extant. The first great practical application of this doctrine, for national purposes, by the general government, was in the conception and commencement of the Cumberland road, which virtually reduces the Alleganies to a plain, and wends its way toward the Rocky mountains, connecting the East with the West, by a passage, on which the traveller rolls as smoothly as on the Macadamized street of a city, constituting a great social and political bond, as well as a channel of domestic commerce. Nor can the more recent invention of railroads supersede the importance and utility of this grand project. It is still forcing its way over mountains, valleys, and rivers, to the banks of the Mississippi, and will soon cross its channel for the mouth of the Columbia, where it may appear in some other form, but yet must appear. Thus will a continent have been traversed by this political ploughshare, first struck in the ground by the father of the American system, in the beginning of the nineteenth century, pointing to the waters of the Pacific. On the line of this work, near Wheeling, a monument was erected, surmounted by Genius and Liberty, inscribed to the statesman who sustained the enterprise. But the work itself is, and, as it progresses, will remain, its own best monument to the fame of its advocate. It is not the fault of Mr. Clay, that the system of internal improvement, conceived by him, and advocated with such persevering and indomitable constancy, against obstacles sufficient to dishearten any man, who has not faith in the future and in himself, has not already interlocked and bound together the states of the Union by indissoluble ties. The progress of events demonstrates, that this great conception must be executed, in one way or another, though tardy in its movement. The defect of duty in an unnatural parent,