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SPEECHES 
 
 HENRY pLAY, 
 
 DELIVERED IN THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES; 
 
 TO AVHICH IS PREFIXED 
 
 A BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR; 
 
 WITH AN APPENDIX 
 
 CONTAINING HIS SPEECHES AT LEXINGTON AND LEWISBURGH, AND 
 BEFORE THE COLONIZATION SOCIETY AT WASHINGTON; TOGETH- 
 ER WITH HIS ADDRESS TO HIS CONSTITUENTS, ON THE SUBJECT 
 OF THE LATE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION; 
 
 WITH A PORTRAIT. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY H. C. CAREY, & I. LEA, PHILADELPHIA: — G. & C. 
 CARVILL, NEW YORK:— JAMES W. PALMER, & W. W. WORSLEY, 
 LEXINGTON, K. — J. P. MORTON, LOUISVILLE, K. AND DRAKE & 
 OONCLIN, CINCINNATr. 
 
 PRINTED BY JAMES MAXWELL. 
 
 1827. 
 

 EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNYLVANIA, to wit: 
 
 BE IT Remembered, that on the twenty-seventh day of March, in 
 the fifty-first year of the independence of the United States of America, 
 A. D. 1827, H. C. Carey, and I. Lea, of the said district, hath deposited 
 in this office the title of a book, the right whereof they claim as proprie- 
 tors, in the words following, to wit: 
 
 The Speeches of Henry Clay, delivered in the Congress of the United Slates; to 
 which is prefixed a Biographical Memoir; With an appendix, containing his 
 speeches at Lexington, and Lewisburgh, and before the Colonization Society at 
 Washington; together loilh his address to his Constitttents, on the subject of the 
 late Presidential election. With a Portrait. 
 
 In conformity to the act of the congress of the United States, inti- 
 tuled " An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the 
 copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such 
 copies, during the times therein mentioned." — And also to the act, 
 entitled, " An act supplementary to an act entitled, " An act for the 
 encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and 
 books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the times 
 therein mentioned," and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of 
 designing, engraving, and etching historical and other prints." 
 
 D. CALDWELL, 
 Clerk of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 
 
^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH of Mr. Clay, - 
 
 vii 
 
 SPEECH on Manufactures, 
 
 - 1 
 
 The line of the Perdido, 
 
 6 
 
 The Bank Charter, - 
 
 - 18 
 
 Augmentation of Military Force, 
 
 32 
 
 Increase of the Navy, 
 
 - 40 
 
 The new Army Bill, 
 
 51 
 
 The Emancipation of South America, 
 
 - 74 
 
 Internal Improvement, 
 
 107 
 
 The Seminole War, 
 
 - 132 
 
 Mission to South America, 
 
 162 
 
 The Tariff, 
 
 - 182 
 
 The Spanish Treaty, - 
 
 206 
 
 Mission to South Ameiica, 
 
 - 222 
 
 Internal Improvement, 
 
 230 
 
 The Greek Revolution, - 
 
 254 
 
 American Industry, - - . 
 
 - 263 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 
 The Colonization of the Negroes, 
 
 315 
 
 The Bank Question, 
 
 - 340 
 
 Address to Constituents, 
 
 347 
 
 Speech at Lewisburgh, _ . . 
 
 - 372 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF MR. CLAY. 
 
 The lives of distinguished men are so naturally subjects of 
 curiosity, that the reader of this volume will probably expect 
 such biographical information in regard to Mr. Clay, as it is in 
 our power to communicate. His public career is so closely inter- 
 woven with the annals of his country for the last twenty years, 
 that we resign to history her appropriate task of recording it; 
 and chiefly propose, in the ensuing sketch, to narrate those inci- 
 dents of his life which are not generally known, and which we 
 believe, on sufficient authority, to be authentic. 
 
 Henry Clay was born on the 1 2th of April, 1777, in Hanover 
 county, in the state of Virginia. He was very young when his 
 father, a respectable clergyman, died. His mother became united, 
 in a second marriage, with Mr. Henry Watkins; who removed 
 with his family to Woodford county, Kentucky, where they still 
 reside, highly esteemed by all to whom they are known. At an 
 early age, Henry was placed in the office of the late Mr. Tins- 
 ley, clerk of the high court of chancery, at Richmond, Virginia, 
 and while in that situation, he attracted, by his striking intellec- 
 tual powers and discreet deportment, the attention, first of 
 chancellor Wythe, and afterwards of governor Brooke. The 
 advice of these distinguished men, coinciding, perhaps, with his 
 own secret aspirations, determined him to study law. The en- 
 ergy of his mind, and the assiduity of his studies enabled him, 
 at the age of twenty, to obtain a license to practice. He im- 
 mediately went to Lexington, Kentucky, but did not, for some 
 months afterwards, commence his professional career. During 
 the interval, he was closely employed in continuing his legal stu- 
 dies, and he also became a member of a society instituted for 
 the purpose of improvement in public speaking. 
 
 From a gentleman who became acquainted with Mr. Clay on 
 
viii BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 
 
 his arrival at Lexington, we learn that he was then very slender 
 in make, thin, and apparently feeble in constitution; that his 
 walk seemed to want vigour, and that the niovement of his 
 limbs was slow and spiritless. The same gentleman mentions 
 that about this period, a distinguished literary resident of Lex- 
 ington remarked, that Mr. Clay's colloquial style was more ha- 
 bitually elegant and correct than that of any young man of the 
 same age, whom he had ever known. 
 
 For a long time, Mr. Clay's province in the society seemed 
 that of a listener only; and he was first induced to participate 
 in its discussions by a circumstance of which, as every incident 
 in the progress of genius is interesting, it may gratify the reader 
 to be informed. At one of its meetings the vote was about to 
 be taken on the question which had been debated, when Mr. 
 Clay observed in an audible whisper, that the subject did not 
 appear to him to have been exhausted. Several members who 
 were desirous to hear him, immediately exclaimed, " do not put 
 the question yet — Mr. Clay is going to speak." The chairman 
 paused, and looked towards Mr. Clay, who, thus called on, rose 
 in evident embarrassment. Instead of addressing the chair, he 
 began by saying — " Gentlemen of the jury," forgetting in his 
 agitation, where he was, and thinking of the tribunal which he 
 had probably, in imagination, often addressed; for he had not 
 then, as our informant believes, ever spoken at the bar. The 
 members, fearing to increase his agitation, endeavoured to con- 
 ceal their perception of his mistake; and proceeding through oc- 
 casional repetitions of it, and frequent blushes, he at length ac- 
 quired confidence, and astonished his hearers by an argument 
 of convincing force, clothed in the most appropriate language, 
 and uttered in the same firm and finely modulated voice, which 
 has since, in graver assemblies, rendered his eloquence the " sove- 
 reign of the willing soul." It is difficult to restrain the fancy 
 which sees in this youthful effort, the germ of the future orator 
 of South American independence, and the champion of his coun- 
 try's insulted lionour. 
 
 From the date of tlie anecdote just related, Mr. Clay became 
 
OF MR. CLAY. ix 
 
 a frequent and conspicuous speaker in the debating society at 
 Lexington. It was observed that his attendance was regular; 
 and that he always came provided with the learning necessary 
 for the subjects of discussion; that his arguments were remark- 
 able for strength and perspicuity, and that his appeals to the 
 passions were so earnest and so skilful that they seldom failed 
 to persuade. Shortly after this time, he was admitted to the 
 bar, as a practitioner in the quarter session court of Fayette 
 county, a court of general jurisdiction, and at the first term 
 got into full practice. This early success, though mainly attri- 
 butable to the superiority of his genius, and to the solidity of his 
 information on the principles of law, was no doubt promoted 
 by the familiarity with the practical learning of the profession 
 which his connexion with Mr. Tinsley had enabled him to ac- 
 quire. His reputation as a lawyer, and as a forensic orator, con- 
 tinually increased; and his profits were commensurate with it, 
 until his entrance on the theatre of politics suspended his pro- 
 fessional pursuits. 
 
 His political career may be said to have commenced, when 
 the people of Kentucky were about electing a convention to 
 form a new constitution for that state. An interesting feature 
 of the proposed plan was a provision for the gradual eradication 
 of slavery. In the canvass preceding the election of members 
 of the convention, the voice and pen of Mr. Clay were exerted 
 in promoting the choice of delegates favourable to this just and 
 beneficent provision; but unfortunately without effect. The op- 
 posite party prevailed; but time and reflection are constantly 
 swelling the list of converts to the measure devised by the ear- 
 ly wisdom of Mr. Clay; a measure recommended as well by ex- 
 pediency as by humanity. In asserting the principle of eman- 
 cipation, he has ever been as fearless, as he has been uniform in 
 recommending only gradual means for reducing it to practice; 
 and it will please the admirers of this great statesman, to find 
 an additional illustration, in the anecdote we have related, of 
 the consistency which is so striking a beauty of his character. 
 
 Kentucky was among the first of the states which raised their 
 
X BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 
 
 voices against the sedition law, and other acts of the dominant 
 party in 1798 — 99. The important aid which on every public oc- 
 casion, Mr. Clay gave to Mr. George Nicholas in denouncing 
 this law, his eloquent vindications of the freedom of the press, 
 the graces of his elocution, his fervid devotion to the cause of 
 liberty, and the unassuming simplicity of his manners, seemed 
 already to justify the title of " The great Commoner," which 
 was afterwards bestowed on him. So early were the people just 
 to his merits, that about the period to which we have adverted, 
 he was elected to represent Fayette county in the more nume- 
 rous branch of the state legislature; having been brought for- 
 ward as a candidate without his knowledge, and during his ab- 
 sence from the county. Very shortly after his appearance on 
 this more extended theatre, he became a prominent member; 
 and in the course of a few sessions was chosen to the office of 
 speaker, the duties of which he discharged with the same dig- 
 nity and impartiality that subsequently characterized his ad- 
 ministration of a similar office on another tloor. On occasions 
 when that officer was allowed to join in debate, he exerted, often 
 in conflict with the ablest men in the state, all the energies of 
 commanding and resistless eloquence. During this time, he was 
 also engaged in a laborious and lucrative practice; and was con- 
 spicuous for the exact preparation of his causes, which, when 
 called for trial, were always, so far as depended on himself, 
 ready. Whenever circumstances permitted the advantage, he 
 examined the subject minutely, before s^jeaking. Such were the 
 rapidity and intuitive powers of his mind, that he was often sus- 
 pected of arguing a cause without previous investigation. But 
 when, as often occurs at the bar, he was called by some immedi- 
 ate exigency to speak, he applied himself, during the few mo- 
 ments that could be snatched for reflection with intense and ex- 
 clusive devotion to the subject, and being endued with a degree 
 of self possession seldom associated with ardent genius, he em- 
 ployed the interval, without apparent hurry or bustle, in metho- 
 dizing his intended address. He might, perhaps, have explain- 
 ed the symmetry of his movements through crowded and per- 
 
OF MR. CLAY. xi 
 
 plexing engagements, by saying, as another distinguished man 
 once answered the inquiry, " how he could accomplish so much 
 businesss so soon," " that he did only one thing at a time." 
 
 The gentleman to whom we are already so much indebted, 
 relates an incident of Mr. Clay's professional life, which illus- 
 trates his remarkable faculty of abstracting his mind from every 
 thing but the direct object of its meditation, a faculty peculiar- 
 ly useful at the bar. Mr. Clay was engaged with another gen- 
 tleman of high professional standing, to defend an action, of 
 great interest to the litigants, in the Fayette circuit court. Some- 
 thing occurred which obliged him to leave the court house at 
 the moment when the cause was called, and it was managed by 
 his colleague. Nearly two days were exhausted in arguing the 
 points of law, of which the case was fruitful, according to the 
 practice common in Kentucky, of praying the instructions of 
 the court to the jury, in all of which his colleague was foiled by 
 the opposite counsel. On the evening of the second day, Mr. 
 Clay was enabled to return to court. He was unacquainted with 
 the facts of the case, and had heard nothing of the testimony 
 which had been given by the numerous witnesses. But, after con- 
 ferring for a few moments with his colleague, he prepared a short 
 statement of the form in which he desired the instruction of the 
 court; accompanying his application with a few remarks, which 
 threw so strong a light upon the subject, that the judge could not 
 avoid perceiving the propriety of the prayer. It was granted; the 
 verdict of the jury was in accordance with it; and Mr. Clay 
 thus in half an hour, terminated the controversy favourably to 
 his client. 
 
 With the events of Mr. Clay's political life, the public are 
 too familiar, to justify us in yielding to the temptation of des- 
 cribing them with a minuteness which would be disproportionate 
 to the design and limits of this sketch. At an unusually early 
 age, he was twice chosen by the general assembly of Kentucky 
 to servft in the senate of the United States, during the residue 
 of terms which had become vacant by the resignation of his 
 predecesEors. At the expiration of his second term of service 
 
xii BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 
 
 in the senate, he oiFered himself as a candidate for a seat in the 
 other house, and was elected without diiSiculty. At the first 
 session which he attended, he was chosen speaker of the house 
 of representatives of the United States. Of his dignity and im- 
 partiality in discharging the duties of that station, it is unneces- 
 sary that we should speak. They form one of the brightest pa- 
 ges in our history; and eulogy is prevented by the eloquent fact, 
 that during the many years of his presidency over the house of 
 representatives, not one of his decisions, as speaker, was re- 
 versed by that enlightened body. 
 
 To enumerate the various measures for advancing the inter- 
 ests and upholding the honour of his country, of which Mr. 
 Clay was the projector or the most conspicuous advocate, would 
 be not merely to obtrude on the historian's walk — it would be 
 to write the annals of the United States for twenty years. His 
 early perception of the necessity of a war with Great Britain; 
 the intrepidity with which " he stood for his country's glory fast;" 
 his sagacity in devising and his eloquence in vindicating plans 
 for her successful progress through an inevitable contest; and 
 his agency in procuring from her proud enemy an honorable 
 peace; are facts yet fresh in her grateful lecollection. The par- 
 ticulars of his mission to Ghent, are, from the nature of the sub- 
 ject, less generally' known than his other efforts connected with 
 the war. But we have often heard, what the magnanimity of 
 his colleagues will doubtless be prompt to acknowledge, that 
 during the frequent verbal discussions among themselves, as well 
 as between the representatives of the two governments, Mr. 
 Clav always performed a distinguished part. 
 
 While absent in Europe, he was again elected to congress; 
 a theatre which, probably from his characteristic fondness for 
 whatever is immediately connected with the people, he seems 
 always to have preferred. Influenced by this inclination, he re- 
 sisted invitations from president Madison, of whose policy he 
 ■was the champion, and whose personal character he warmly es- 
 teemed, to accept a mission to Russia, and a place in the cabi- 
 net of that illustrious magistrate. He was also solicited, strenu- 
 
OF MR. CLAY. xiii 
 
 ously, but unavailingly, by president Monroe, to preside over 
 the department of war, and subsequently to accept a mission to 
 England. During the greater part of Mr. Monroe's administra- 
 tion, different opinions were entertained by himself and Mr. 
 Clay, on some subjects of important concern to the Union. Of 
 these one of the most conspicuous, was the constitutional power 
 of congress to effect internal improvements. Doubts as to this 
 power were by no means confined to the president; and to Mr. 
 Clay's able, persevering efforts to remove them, is generally, 
 and we believe, justly ascribed the opinion in favor of the power 
 which may now be considered as legislatively settled. While 
 urging, with untiring energy, the employment of the resources 
 of his own country in advancing her prosperity, he was not un- 
 mindful of the cause of freedom throughout the world, nor of 
 its claims on the sympathy of an American statesman. Believ- 
 ing that the recognition by the United States of the independ- 
 ence which the South American colonies had declared, would 
 encourage their struggle for emancipation without jeopardizing 
 our neutrality, and aware of the commercial advantages to our- 
 selves of that measure, he proposed it to the house of representa- 
 tives. He found himself, however, unexpectedly opposed by the 
 whole strength of the administration; and the most eloquent 
 oration which was, perhaps, ever pronounced in congress, 
 failed to convince. But time was not slow in confirming its ar- 
 guments, and South American independence was, through his 
 persevering exertions, acknowledged by the United States at a 
 subsequent period, when the historian will find but few reasons 
 in favour of the measure which did not exist when Mr. Clay 
 originally urged its adoption. This act of our government may 
 be regarded as the triumph of its first proposer over misconcep- 
 tion and prejudice, and as an honorable evidence of his forecast 
 and sagacity. 
 
 On another occasion, when dilatory acquiescence in his coun- 
 sels might have been more dangerous, it was his good fortune to 
 preserve the peace of the Union, by reconciling parties between 
 whom both principle and passion had interposed an alarming 
 
xiv BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 
 
 gulf. The advocates and the opponents of the unconditional re- 
 ception of Missouri into the Union, were both strong in numbers 
 and in talent; each professed to range itself under the banners 
 of the constitution; and their angry contention had become 
 menacing to all that Americans held dear. The circumstances 
 attending this controversy are too recent in the history of this 
 nation, to permit any abatement of the liveliness of its gratitude 
 to the master spirit who dispelled the gathering storm. It is 
 generally admitted that Mr. Clay was the only public man who 
 could have succeeded in the patriotic mediation which he ef- 
 fected. 
 
 Of other conspicuous features of Mr. Clay's congressional ca- 
 reer, his plan for employing the industry of the country in ren- 
 dering her independent on foreign nations for the necessities 
 and ordinary comforts of life, is remarkable for the vigor with 
 ■which it was opposed, and for the benefits which have resulted 
 from its adoption. They fully realize the predictions he uttered, 
 when anouncing his American system for encouraging domestic 
 manufactures, and there seems no reason to doubt that the far- 
 ther development of that system will evince it to be the true 
 policy of our country. 
 
 After many previous favours from the people, a farther and 
 highly honorable testimony of their esteem for Mr. Clay was af- 
 forded in his nomination by the states of Ohio, Kentucky, Lou- 
 isiana and Missouri, as their candidate for the presidency. With 
 the events succeeding that nomination, every reader is so fami- 
 liar, that it is scarcely necessary for us to advert even to the 
 calumnies which disappointed factions strove to accumulate on 
 his fame; to his promptitude in repelling them, and in challeng- 
 ing inquiry: to the evasions by his enemies of this inquiry; nor 
 to the repetition of these slanders, with an obstinacy which is 
 made rancorous by refutation. The friends of their country's 
 honor may regret that it has been assailed in the person of her 
 faithful and favourite servant; and the personal friends of Mr. 
 Clay may expect, with undoubting confidence, that the impar- 
 tial historian will refer to the acts of his life which political 
 
OF MR. CLAY. xv 
 
 envy has most loudly blamed, as signal examples of his inde- 
 pendence, firmness, and patriotism. 
 
 The Speeches contained in this volume were delivered prin- 
 cipally in the house of representatives, and most of them on the 
 highest questions of national policy. Though imperfectly report- 
 ed, they will give the reader some idea of all the characteristics 
 of Mr. Clay's eloquence, except his elocution. Of this, as in the 
 case of most orators, only the hearer can form an adequate con- 
 ception. 
 
 Mr. Clay is tall, and thin, but muscular: his appearance dig- 
 nified, and rather stately: his eyes are of a blue, or dark gray 
 colour, and not very large, and when he is warmed by his sub- 
 ject, beam with peculiar animation and fire. His forehead is 
 high, and his mouth, the feature on which Lavater lays such 
 stress, strongly indicates genius and firmness. The expression 
 of his countenance is commanding: his voice clear, deep-toned, 
 and exquisitely modulated. In this respect, as well as in figure 
 and manner, he is said by those who have heard the younger Pitt 
 speak, to resemble very much that celebrated orator; and the 
 parallel might be extended to many points of their characters. 
 His deportment is deliberate, grave, and courteous; and in speak- 
 ing, a sincerity and earnestness mark his whole manner, which 
 at once enlist the sympathies of his audience in his favor, and 
 his whole soul seems to be thrown into his subject. His intel- 
 lellectual march is rapid and imposing. Disdaining rhetorical 
 artifxe, he pours out masses of thought with wonderful celerity, 
 and in magnificent succession. Though his logic, like that of De- 
 mosthenes, is severe, his speeches are never dry, because, he re- 
 sorts to every topic of moral illustration which is appropriate to 
 the subject. He rarely leaves any thing for the understanding 
 or sensibilities of his hearer to desire; but his style is, neverthe- 
 less, concise. It is indeed characteristic both of his eloquence 
 and of his conversation, that he employs as few words in cloth- 
 ing an idea, as are consistent with its graceful expression; and 
 that these words can seldom be changed without injury to the 
 thought. In the use of the pathetic he has, we think, never 
 
xvi BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 
 
 been excelled on the floor of congress; and the edge of his satire 
 is keen and resistless. Among the cardinal qualities of his mind, 
 are its originality, its reliance on its own resources, and its 
 " undeceivableand undeceiving sagacity." His temper is warm 
 and generous; and his manners so plainly indicate a high-mind- 
 ed, frank, and honourable spirit, that few men, (however awed 
 by his fame,) have ever been admitted to his acquaintance, with- 
 out imbibing an attachment to his person, which politicians very 
 rarely inspire. Elevated by the people, he is essentially a re- 
 publican, and his high endowments have been devoted to their 
 cause. But he has never hesitated to risk even their favor, in 
 support of what he considered principle; and the people have 
 never deserted him. 
 
 The department of state, over which Mr. Clay now presides, 
 is known to be, in consequence of the gradual increase of its 
 ordinary business, and of the addition to its diplomatic labor, 
 produced by our new relations to South America, twofold as 
 onerous as it was during the incumbency of his predecessors. 
 The ability with which he administers it is universally admitted; 
 and corroborates an opinion we have always entertained, that 
 if he is admirable for political consistency, he is not less so for 
 intellectual versatility. In England, where the human mind 
 flourishes under the protection of literary institutions, and of a 
 government in whicli the popular principle is, though slightly, 
 infused, it is uncommon for an individual who has attained emi- 
 nence in one path of mind, to attempt another with success. 
 Even Erskine, who, as a forensic orator, was unrivalled among 
 his countrymen, sunk into relative insignificance, when i)rought 
 into collision with the master-spirits of the British parliament. 
 In our own country, examples have indeed existed, and still 
 exist, of men distinguished at the bar, who could engage in po- 
 litical life without a material decrease of reputation. But the 
 instance of Mr. Clay is, we apprehend, the only one presented 
 by the history either of England, or the United States, where 
 the highest fame at the b;ir, in the senate, and in the cabinet, 
 distinguishes the same individual. 
 
OF MR. CLAY. xvii 
 
 The outlines of Mr. Clay's public life have been sketched in 
 the foregoing memoir with a pen necessarily rapid. It may not be 
 amiss, in conclusion, to point out to public attention with some- 
 what more distinctness and emphasis, the striking consistency 
 and yalue of his political services. Great orators are not always 
 useful public men. The laws which govern the motion of genius 
 are not easily discernible; and it too often happens that a mis- 
 taken ambition of shining seduces from the sober path of public 
 duty, menwhohave the capacity of being public benefactors. Such 
 has not been the case with Mr. Clay. It is impossible to look, 
 however superficially, at his political career, without being sa- 
 tisfied, that possessing talents to soar and dazzle, he has always 
 preferred the honest ambition of serving the best interests of his 
 country. From the outset of his life, he appears to have had his 
 eye steadily fixed on principle; and, though never regardless of 
 popular favor, the excitement of the moment seems not to have 
 impeded his course for an instant. In his opposition to the alien 
 and sedition laws, we perceive the first evidence of that sedu- 
 lous regard for public liberty which has uniformly governed him. 
 He had scarcely taken his seat in congress, when we find him es- 
 pousing the cause of domestic industry — then but a feeble and 
 sickly infant — but which through his nursing care, with a zeal 
 and constancy which, in earlier times and other countries, would 
 have won for him civic crowns and grateful laurels, has ripened 
 into a broad and successful system, and is destined to enrich 
 and strengthen the country when its opponents are forgotten. 
 Closely connected with this great cause, is that of internal im- 
 provement, in which Mr. Clay's exertions have been no less sig- 
 nal and beneficial. He vindicated and established the constitu- 
 tional right of congress to do this public good; and not content with 
 proving the right, he laboured to direct the practical exercise of it 
 into the safest channels. When foreign outrage left us no alterna- 
 tive than a resort to arms, Mr. Clay was one of the foremost to 
 maintain the dignity and honour of the country. Possessing that 
 " courage of the cabinet" — political intrepidity — which is truly 
 
xviii BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 
 
 said to be far nobler and more rare than the courage of the field, 
 he adhered with unabated spirit to the principles with which the 
 contest was begun, through all the vicissitudes of that eventful pe- 
 riod, and finally rendered his country the most valuable services in 
 finishing the war, when its causes were withdrawn. The same ho- 
 nest and fearless devotion to his country's true interests, is visible 
 in his public conduct, when the subject of general Jackson's 
 high-handed career in Florida was brought before the house of 
 representatives. Military renown had neither charms nor terror 
 for Mr, Clay. He thought that the constitution of the United 
 States was violated, and the laws of nations and of humanity 
 insulted by the proceedings towards the Spaniards and Indians, 
 and he made manifest the soundness of that opinion, in the speech 
 which forms part of the present collection. It is worthy of re- 
 mark, that the judgment pronounced by Mr. Clay in 1818, upon 
 general Jackson, was fully sustained and vindicated by him 
 and by congress six years afterwards, when it became neces- 
 sary to decide between Mr. Adams and the invader of Florida, 
 as candidates for the presidency of the United States. 
 
 Mr. Clay's exertions in favor of acknowledging the inde- 
 pendence of South America, have been noticed in the preced- 
 ing sketch. They form one of the brightest pages of his his- 
 tory, and even his political opponents have been forced to admit 
 the purity of his motives, the vigor of his argument, the power 
 of his eloquence, and the sagacity of his counsel. Disdaining to 
 wait for the co-operation of any other power, he was for a mag- 
 nanimous recognition of a free people so soon as they proved 
 themselves capable of sustaining the burden of government; 
 and in this, and his more recent official labours in respect to 
 the congress of American states at Panama, the reader will 
 perceive another evidence of the admirable consistency of his 
 devotion to public freedom, which shed its first gleams on the 
 cause of emancipation in Kentucky, and by degrees rose into 
 that broad and ardent light which shone out upon surrounding 
 nations, and still continues to animate and guide them. 
 
 In a review of Mr. Clay's political, or congressional history, we 
 
OF MR. CLAY. xix 
 
 ought not to overlook his exertions in support of the great de- 
 fences of the country. For one of these — the navy — the people 
 of the Atlantic states are under obligations to him — of the ex- 
 tent of which, they are perhaps ignorant. The glory of the navy 
 is national property, but its services are confparatively sec- 
 tional. It is seen only on the sea-board — with the exception of 
 the country on the lakes — the expenditures for its support are 
 made in the Atlantic cities, and the honors and emoluments be- 
 longing to it, fall chietly on that section of the Union. Hence it 
 has happened, that, although the hearts of the people of the west 
 echoed the plaudits bestowed upon our naval heroes, the popu- 
 larity of the navy was naturally less decided there than in 
 other parts of the Union. To Mr. Clay's eloquent and earnest 
 exertions, it is mainly owing that the west has lent its united 
 support to the navy. We may refer to his speech on that subject, 
 as one of the manliest and most honorable proceedings of his 
 congressional career. 
 
 To conclude this very hasty summary, in which we have 
 been obliged to overlook some important topics — the admirers 
 of Mr. Clay may safely challenge a comparison of that eminent 
 orator and statesman, with any other public man of the age. 
 Powerful talents and commanding eloquence, which distinguish 
 him with many others, are not the features of Mr. Clay's cha- 
 racter, upon which posterity will dwell with the most respect. 
 "When the factions and the calumnies of the present day are 
 past by, succeeding generations will pronounce a grateful eulo- 
 gy upon his public services, and rank him among the most dis- 
 tinguished public benefactors. Posterity will then pronounce 
 with equal truth and justice, " During the course of a long and 
 arduous public life, he made his country's interests the end and 
 aim of his exertions. He never sacrificed a principle to secure 
 the favor of a party, or yielded an opinion from the fear of its un- 
 popularity. He sought first and principally the extension of 
 republican freedom, and as the best means of securing it, la- 
 bored with all the energy of his eloquence, to maintain unim- 
 paired the union of the states. He incorporated himself with no 
 
XX BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF MR. CLAY. 
 
 party that regarded the general government in the light of an un- 
 wieldy and inert mass powerless of good, but supported the true 
 theory which regards the union as an active and vivifying prin- 
 ciple, pervading all sections, cementing them together by the 
 ties of mutual interest and convenience, and availing itself of 
 its great resources to produce the most certain and expeditious 
 communication between them. Finally, and above all, he posses- 
 sed the firmness to resist the attractions of military glory, and 
 the talent to dispel its delusions, and thus in all human probabi- 
 lity, saved the republic from the gulf of a military despotism." 
 
SPEECHES, &c, 
 
 ON MANUFACTURES. 
 
 Speech in the Senate^ upon an amendment proposed to the 
 Bill appropriating a sum of money for procuring muni- 
 tions of War^ and for other purposes ^ delivered the 6th 
 of Aprils 1810. 
 
 Mr. President, 
 
 The local interest of the quarter of the country, which 
 I have the honour to represent, will apologize for the trouble 
 I may give you on this occasion. My colleague has pro- 
 posed an amendment to the bill before you, instructing the 
 secretary of the navy, to provide supplies of cordage, sail- 
 cloth, hemp, &c. and to give a preference to those of Ame- 
 rican growth and manufacture. It has been moved by the 
 gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Lloyd) to strike out this 
 part of the amendment; and in the course of the discussion 
 which has arisen, remarks have been made on the general 
 policy of promoting manufactures. The propriety of this 
 policy is, perhaps, not very intimately connected with the 
 subject before us; but it is, nevertheless, within the legiti- 
 mate and admissible scope of debate. Under this impres- 
 sion I oifer my sentiments. 
 
 In inculcating the advantages of domestic manufactures, 
 it never entered the head, I presume, of any one, to change 
 the habits of the nation from an agricultural to a manufac- 
 turing community. No one, I am persuaded, ever thought 
 of converting the plough-share and the sickle into the spin- 
 dle and the shuttle. And yet this is the delusive and erro- 
 neous view too often taken of the subject. The opponents 
 of the manufacturing system transport themselves to the es- 
 tablishments of Manchester and Birmingham, and dwell- 
 ing on the indigence, vice, and wretchedness prevailing 
 there, by pushing it to an extreme^ argue that its introduc- 
 tion into this country will necessarily be attended by the 
 6 
 
2 ON MANUFACTURES. 
 
 same mischievous and dreadful consequences. But what is 
 the fact? That England is the manufacturer of a great part 
 of the world; and that, even there, the numbers thus em- 
 ployed bear an inconsiderable proportion to the whole mass 
 of population. Were we to become the manufacturers of 
 other nations, effects of the same kind might result. But if 
 we limit our efforts, by our own wants, the evils apprehend- 
 ed would be found to be chimerical. The invention and im- 
 provement of machinery, for which the present age is so re- 
 markable, dispensing in a great degree with manual labour^ 
 and the employment of those persons, who, if we were 
 engaged in the pursuit of agriculture alone, would be either 
 unproductive, or exposed to indolence and immorality, will 
 enable us to supply our wants without withdrawing our at- 
 tention from agriculture; that first and greatest source of 
 national wealth and happiness. A judicious American farm- 
 er, in the household way, manufactures whatever is re- 
 quisite for his family. He squanders but little in the gew- 
 gaws of Europe. He presents in epitome what the nation 
 ought to be in extenso. Their manufactories should bear the 
 same proportion, and effect the same object in relation to 
 the whole community, which the part of his household em- 
 ployed in domestic manufacturing, bears to the whole fam- 
 ily. It is certainly desirable that the exports of the country 
 should continue to be the surplus production of tillage, and 
 not become those of manufacturing establishments. But it 
 is important to diminish our imports — to furnish ourselves 
 with clothing, made by our own industry — and to cease to 
 be dependent, for the very coats we wear, upon a foreign 
 and perhaps inimical country. The nation that imports its 
 clothing from abroad is but little less dependent than if it 
 imported its bread. 
 
 The fallacious course of reasoning urged against domestic 
 manufactures, namely, the distress and servitude produced 
 by those of England, would equally indicate the propriety 
 of abandoning agriculture itself. Were you to cast your 
 eyes upon the miserable peasantry of Poland, and revert to 
 the days of feudal vassalage, you might thence draw nu- 
 merous arguments of the kind now under consideration 
 against the pursuits of the husbandman! What would be- 
 come of commerce, the favorite theme of some gentlemen, 
 if assailed with this sort of weapon? The fraud, perjury, 
 cupidity and corruption with which it is unhappily too often 
 
ON MANUFACTURES. 5 
 
 attended, would at once produce its overthrow. In short, 
 sir, take the black side of the picture and every human oc- 
 cupation will be found pregnant with fatal objections. 
 
 The opposition to manufacturing institutions recalls to 
 my recollection the case of a gentleman, of whom I have 
 heard. He had been in the habit of supplying his table from 
 a neighbouring cook, and confectioner's shop, and proposed 
 to his wife a reform, in this particular. She revolted at the 
 idea. The sight of a scullion was dreadful, and her delicate 
 nerves could not bear the clattering of kitchen furniture.— 
 The gentleman persisted in his design; his table was thence- 
 forth cheaper and better supplied, and his neighbour, the 
 confectioner, lost one of his best customers. In like man- 
 ner Dame Commerce will oppose domestic manufactures. 
 She is a flirting, flippant, noisy jade, and if we are governed 
 by her fantasies, we shall never put off the muslins of India 
 and the cloths of Europe. But I trust that the yeomanry of 
 the country, the true and genuine landlords of this tenement, 
 called the United States, disregarding her freaks, will per- 
 severe in reform, until the whole national family is furnish- 
 ed by itself with the clothing necessary for its own use. 
 
 It is a subject, no less of curiosity than of interest, to 
 trace the prejudices in favour of foreign fabrics. In our 
 colonial condition, we were in a complete state of depen- 
 dence on the parent country, as it respected manufactures, 
 as well as commerce. For many years after the war, such 
 was the partiality for her productions, in this country, that 
 a gentleman's head could not withstand the influence of 
 solar heat, unless covered with a London hat — his feet could 
 not bear the pebbles, or frost, unless protected by London 
 shoes — and the comfort or ornament of his person was 
 only consulted when his coat was cut out by the shears of 
 a tailor "just from London." At length, however, the 
 wonderful discovery has been made, that it is not absolutely 
 beyond the reach of American skill and ingenuity, to pro- 
 vide these articles, combining with equal elegance, greater 
 durability. And I entertain no doubt, that in a short time, 
 the no less important fact will be developed, that the do- 
 mestic manufactories of the United States, fostered by 
 government, and aided by household exertions, are fully 
 competent to supply us with at least every necessary ar- 
 ticle of clothing. I therefore, sir, for one (to use the fash- 
 ionable cant of the day) am in favour of encouraging them, 
 
4 ON MANUFACTURES. 
 
 not to the extent to which they are carried in England, but 
 to such an extent as will redeem us entirely from all de- 
 pendence on foreign countries. There is a pleasure — a 
 pride, (if I may be allowed the expression, and I pity those 
 who cannot feel the sentimentj in being clad in the pro- 
 ductions of our own families. Others may prefer the cloths 
 of Leeds and of London, but give me those of Humphreys- 
 ville. 
 
 Aid may be given to native institutions in the form of 
 bounties and of protecting duties. But against bounties, it 
 is urged that you tax the -tvhole for the benefit of a part 
 only, of the community; and in opposition to duties it is 
 alleged, that you make the interest of one part, the con- 
 sumer, bend to the interest of another part, the manufac- 
 turer. The sufficiency of the answer is not always admitted, 
 that the sacrifice is merely temporary, being ultimately 
 compensated by the greater abundance and superiority of 
 the article produced by the stimulus. But, of all practi- 
 cable forms of encouragement, it might have been expected 
 that the one under consideration would escape opposition, 
 if every thing proposed in Congress were not doomed to 
 experience it. What is it? The bill contains two provi- 
 sions — one prospective, anticipating the appropriation for 
 clothing for the army, and the amendment proposes extend- 
 ing it to naval supplies, for the year 1811 — and the other, 
 directing a preference to be given to home manufactures, 
 and productions, whenever it can be done xvithout material 
 detriment to the public service. The object of the first is to 
 authorize contracts to be made beforehand, with manufac- 
 turers, and by making advances to them, under proper se- 
 curity, to enable them to supply the articles wanted, in suf- 
 ficient quantity. When it is recollected that they are fre- 
 quently men of limited capitals, it will be acknowledged 
 that this kind of assistance, bestowed with prudence, will 
 be productive of the best results. It is in fact, only pur- 
 suing a principle long acted upon, of advancing to contrac- 
 tors with government, on account of the magnitude of their 
 engagements. The appropriation contemplated to be made 
 for the year 1811, may be restricted to such a sum as, 
 whether we have peace or war, we must necessarily expend. 
 The discretion is proposed to be vested in officers of high 
 confidence, who will be responsible for its abuse, and who 
 are enjoined to see that the public service receives no ma- 
 terial detriment. It is stated that hemp is now very high, 
 
ON MANUFACTURES. 5 
 
 and that contracts, made under existing circumstances, will 
 be injurious to government. But the amendment creates 
 no obligation upon the secretary of the navy, to go into 
 market at this precise moment. In fact, by enlarging his 
 sphere of action, it admits of his taking advantage of a fa- 
 vourable fluctuation, and getting a supply below the accus- 
 tomed price, if such a fall should occur prior to the usual 
 annual appropriation. 
 
 I consider the amendment, under consideration, of the 
 first importance, in point of principle. It is evident that 
 whatever doubt may be entertained, as to the general policy 
 of the manufacturing system, none can exist, as to the pro- 
 priety of our being able to furnish ourselves with articles of 
 the first necessity, in time of war. Our maritime operations 
 ought not, in such a state, to depend upon the casualties of 
 foreign supply. It is not necessary that they should. With 
 very little encouragement from government, I believe we 
 shall not want a pound of Russia hemp. The increase of 
 the article in Kentucky has been rapidly great. Ten years 
 ago there were but two rope manufactories in the state. Now 
 there are about twenty, and between ten and fifteen of cot- 
 ton bagging; and the erection of new ones keeps pace with 
 the annual augmentation of the quantity of hemp. Indeed 
 the western country, alone, is not only adequate to the sup- 
 ply of whatever of this article is requisite for our own con- 
 sumption, but is capable of affording a surplus for foreign 
 markets. The amendment proposed possesses the double 
 recommendation of encouraging, at the same time both the 
 manufacture and the growth of hemp. For by increasing 
 the demand for the wrought article, you also increase the 
 demand for the raw material, and consequently present new 
 incentives to its cultivator. 
 
 The three great subjects that claim the attention of the 
 national legislature, are the interests of agriculture, com- 
 merce, and manufactures. We have had before us, a pro- 
 position to afford a manly protection to the rights of com- 
 merce, and how has it been treated? Rejectedl You have 
 been solicited to promote agriculture, by increasing the 
 facilities of internal communication, through the means of 
 canals and roads, and what has been done? Postponed! — 
 We are now called upon to give a trifling support to our do- 
 mestic manufactures, and shall we close the circle of con- 
 gressional inefficiency, by adding this also to the catalogue? 
 
ON THE LINE OF THE PERDIDO. 
 
 Speech in the Senate of the United States^ on the subject of the 
 Territory west of the Perdido^ delivered 25th December, 
 1810. 
 
 Mr. President, 
 
 It would have gratified me if some other gentleman had 
 undertaken to reply to the ingenious argument, which you 
 have just heard. (Speech of Mr. Horsey.) But not per- 
 ceiving any one disposed to do so, a sense of duty obliges 
 me, though very unwell, to claim your indulgence, whilst 
 I offer my sentiments on this subject, so interesting to the 
 union at large, but especially to the western portion of it. 
 Allow me, sir, to express my admiration at the more than 
 Aristidean justice, which in a question of territorial title., 
 between the United States and a foreign nation, induces 
 certain gentlemen to espouse the pretensions of the foreign 
 nation. Doubtless in any future negociations, she will have 
 too much magnanimity to availherself of these spontaneous 
 concessions in her favour, made on the floor of the Senate 
 of the United States. 
 
 It was to have been expected that in a question like the 
 present, gentlemen, even on the same side, would have dif- 
 ferent views, and although arriving at a common conclu- 
 sion would do so by various arguments. And hence thr 
 honourable gentleman from Vermont, entertains doubt with 
 regard to our title against Spain, whilst he feels entirely 
 satisfied of it against France. Believing, as I do, that our 
 title against both powers is indisputable, under the treaty of 
 St. Ildefonso, between Spain and France, and the treaty be- 
 tween the French Republic and the United States, I shall 
 not inquire into the treachery, by which the king of Spain 
 is alleged to have lost his crown; nor shall I stop to discuss 
 the question involved in the overthrow of the Spanish mon- 
 archy, and how far the power of Spain ought to be con- 
 sidered as merged in that of France. I shall leave the hon- 
 ourable gentleman from Delaware to mourn over the for- 
 tunes of the fallen Charles. I have no commiseration for 
 princes. My sympathies are reserved for the great mass of 
 mankind, and I own that the people of Spain have them 
 most sincerely. 
 
ON THE LINE OF THE PERDIDO. 7 
 
 I will adopt the course suggested by the nature of the 
 subject and pursued by other gentlemen, of examining into 
 our title to the country lying between the Mississippi and 
 the Rio Perdido, (which to avoid circumlocution, I will call 
 West Florida, although it is not the whole of it — ) and the 
 propriety of the recent measures taken for the occupation of 
 that territory. Our title then depends, first, upon the 
 limits of the province, or colony of Louisiana, and secondly, 
 upon a just exposition of the treaties before mentioned. 
 
 On this occasion it is only necessary to fix the eastern 
 boundary. In order to ascertain this, it will be proper to 
 take a cursory view of the settlement of the country, be- 
 cause the basis of European title to colonies in America, is 
 prior discovery, or prior occupancy. In 1682, La Salle mi- 
 grated from Canada, then owned by France, descended the 
 Mississippi, and named the country which it waters, Louis- 
 iana. About 1698, D'Iberville discovered by sea, the mouth 
 of the Mississippi, established a colony at the Isle Dau- 
 phine, or Massacre, which lies at the mouth of the bay of 
 Mobile, and one at the mouth of the river Mobile, and was 
 appointed by France, governor of the country. In the year 
 1717, the famous West India company sent inhabitants to 
 the Isle Dauphine, and found some of those who had been 
 settled there under the auspices of D'Iberville. About the 
 same period, Baloxi, near the Pascagoula, was settled. In 
 1719, the city of New Orleans was laid off, and the seat of 
 .government of I^ouisiana was established there; and in 
 1736, the French erected a fort on Tombigbee. These facts 
 prove that France had the actual possession of the country 
 as far east as the Mobile at least. But the great instrument 
 which ascertains, beyond all doubt, that the country in 
 question is comprehended within the limits of Louisiana, is 
 one of the most authentic and solemn character which the 
 archives of a nation can furnish: I mean the patent granted 
 in 1712, by Louis XIV, to Crozat-^[Here Mr. C. read 
 such parts of the patent as were applicable to the subject.*] 
 
 * Extract from the Grant to Crozat, dated at 
 
 " Fo7\tainbieau, Sept. 14, 1712. 
 " Louis, By the grace of God, &c. 
 
 " The care we have always had to procure the welfare and advantage 
 of our subjects, having induced us, &c. to seek for all possible opportu- 
 nities of enlarging- and extending the trade of our American colonies, 
 we did, in the year 1683, give our orders to undertake a discovery of the 
 
8 ON THE LINE OF THE PERDIDO. 
 
 According to this document, in describing the province, or 
 colony of Louisiana, it is declared to be bounded by Carolina 
 on the east, and Old and New Mexico on the West. Un- 
 der this high record evidence, it might be insisted that we 
 have a fair claim to East as well as West Florida, against 
 France at least, unless she has by some convention, or other 
 obligatory act, restricted the Eastern limit of the province. 
 It has, indeed, been asserted that by a treaty between France 
 and Spain, concluded in the year 1719, the Perdido was ex- 
 pressly stipulated to be the boundary between their respec- 
 tive provinces of Florida on the East, and Louisiana on the 
 "West: but as I have been unable to find any such treaty, I 
 am induced to doubt its existence. 
 
 countries and lands which are situated in the northern part of America, 
 between New France and New IMexico; and the Sieur de la Salle, to 
 whom we committed that enterprise, having had success, enough to con- 
 firm a belief that a communication might be settledyVom J^ew France to 
 the Gulf of Mexico, by means of large rivers, this obliged us, imme- 
 diately after the peace of Ryswic, to give orders for establishing a colony 
 there, and maintaining a garrison, which his kept and preserved the pos- 
 session we had taken in the very year 1683, of the lands, coasts, and islands 
 which are situated in the Gulf of Mexico between Carolina on the east, 
 and old and new Mexico on the west. But a new war having broke 
 out in Europe shortly after, there was no possibility, till now, of reaping 
 from that colony the advantages that might have been expected from 
 thence, &c. And, whereas, upon the information we have received con- 
 cerning the disposition and situation of the said countries, known at pre- 
 sent by the name of the Province of Louisiana, we are of opinion, that 
 there may be established therein considerable commerce, &c. we have 
 resolved to grant the commerce of the country of Louisiana to the Sieur 
 Anthony Crozat, &c. For these reasons, &c. we, by these presents, 
 signed by our hand, have appointed and do appoint the said Sieur Cro- 
 zat, to carry on a trade in all the lands possessed by us, and bounded by 
 New Mexico and by the lands of the English of Carolina, all the estab- 
 lishments, ports, havens, rivers, and principally the port and haven of 
 the Isle Dauphine, heretofore called Massacre; the river of St. Louis, 
 heretofore called Mississippi, from the edge of the sea as far as the Illi- 
 nois, together with the river St Philip, heretofore called the Missouri, 
 and of St. Jerome, heretofore called Ooabache, with all the countries, 
 territories, and lakes within land, and the rivers which fall directly or 
 indirectly into that part of the river St. Louis. 
 
 The Articles — 1. Our pleasure is, that all the aforesaid lands, coun- 
 tries, streams, rivers, and islands be, and remain comprised under the 
 name tf the government of Louisiana, which shall be dependent upon the 
 general government of New France, to which it is subordinate; and fur- 
 ther, that all the lands which we possess from the Illinois, be united, &c. 
 to the general government of New^ France, and become part there- 
 of, &c." 
 
ON THE LINE OF THE PERDIDO. 9 
 
 About the same period; to wit, towards the close of the 
 seventeenth century, when France settled the Isle Dauphine, 
 and the Mobile, Spain erected a fort at Pensacola. But 
 Spain never pushed her actual settlements, or conquests, 
 farther west than the bay of Pensacola, whilst those of the 
 French were bounded on the east by the Mobile. Between 
 those two points, a space ot about thirteen or fourteen 
 leagues, neither nation had the exclusive possession. The 
 Rio Perdido, forming the bay of the same name, discharges 
 itself into the gulf of Mexico, between the Mobile and 
 Pensacola, and, being a natural and the most notorious ob- 
 ject between them, presented itself as a suitable boundary 
 between the possessions of the two nations. It accordingly, 
 appears very early to have been adopted as the boundary 
 by tacit, if not expressed, consent. The ancient charts and 
 historians, therefore, of the country, so represent it. Du- 
 pratz, one of the most accurate historians of the time, in 
 point of fact and detail, whose work was published as early 
 as 1758, describes the coast as being bounded on the east 
 by the Rio Perdido. In truth, sir, no European nation 
 whatever, except France, ever occupied any portioti of west 
 Florida, prior to her cession of it to England in 1762. The 
 gentlemen on the other side do not, indeed, strongly con- 
 trovert, if they do not expressly admit, that Louisiana, as 
 held by the French anterior to her cessions of it in 1762, 
 extended to the Perdido. The only observation made by 
 the gentleman from Delaware to the contrary, to wit, that 
 the island of New Orleans being particularly mentioned, 
 could not, for that reason, constitute a part of Louisiana; is 
 susceptible of a very satisfactory answer. That island was 
 excepted out of the grant to England, and was the only part 
 of the province east of the river that was so excepted. It 
 formed in itself one of the most prominent and important 
 objects of the cession to Spain originally, and was transfer- 
 red to her with the portion of the province west of the Mis^ 
 sissippi. It might with equal propriety, be urged that St. 
 Augustine is not in East Florida, because St. Augustine is 
 expressly mentioned by Spain in her cession of that province 
 to England: From this view of the subject, I think it re- 
 sults that the province of Louisiana comprised West Flori- 
 da previous to the year, 176^. 
 
 What was done with it at this epoch? By a secret con- 
 vention of the 3d of November, of that year, France ceded 
 C 
 
10 ON THE LINE OF THE PERDIDO. 
 
 the country lying west of the Mississippi, and the island of 
 New Orleans, to Spain; and by a contemporaneous act, the 
 articles preliminary to the definitive treaty of 1763, she 
 transferred West Florida to England. Thus at the same 
 instant of time, she alienated the whole province. Posterior 
 to this grant, Great Britain having also acquired from Spain 
 her possessions east of the Mississippi, erected the country 
 into two provinces. East and West Florida. In this state 
 of things it continued until the peace of 1783,. when Great 
 Britain, in consequence of the events of the war, surren- 
 dered the country to Spain, who for the first time came in- 
 to actual possession of West Florida. Well, sir, how does 
 she dispose of it? She re- annexes it to the residue of Louis- 
 iana — extends the jurisdiction of that government to it, and 
 subjects the governors, or commandants, of the districts of 
 Baton Rouge, Feliciana, Mobile and Pensacola, to the au- 
 thority of the governor of Louisiana, residing at New Or- 
 leans; while the governor of East Florida is placed wholly 
 without his control, and is made amenable directly to the 
 governor of the Havannah. Indeed, sir, I have been credi- 
 bly informed that all the concessions, or grants of land, made 
 in West Florida, under the authority of Spain, run in the 
 name of the governme7it of Louisiana. You cannot have 
 forgotten that, about the period when we took possession of 
 New Orleans, under the treaty of cession from France, the 
 whole country resounded with the nefarious speculations 
 which were alleged to be making in that city with the con- 
 nivance, if not actual participation of the Spanish authori- 
 ties, by the procurement of surreptitious grants of land, 
 particularly in the district of Feliciana. West Florida, then, 
 not only as France had held it, but as it was in the hands 
 of Spain, made a part of the province of Louisiana; as much 
 so as the jurisdiction, or district of Baton Rouge consti- 
 tuted a part of West Florida. 
 
 What then is the true construction of the treaties of St. 
 Ildefonso, and of April, 1803, from whence our title is de- 
 rived? If an ambiguity exist in a grant, the interpretation 
 most favoural)le to the grantee is preferred. It was the duty 
 of the grantor to have expressed himself in plain and in- 
 telligible terms. This is the doctrine, not of Coke only, 
 (whose dicta I admit have nothing to ilo with the question) 
 but of the code of universal law. The doctrine is entitled 
 to augmented force, when a clause only of the instrument 
 
ON THE LINE OF THE PERDIDO. n 
 
 is exhibited, in which clause the ambiguity lurks, and the 
 residue of the instrument is kept back by the grantor. The 
 entire convention of 1762, by which France transferred 
 Louisiana to Spain, is concealed, and the whole of the treaty 
 of St. Ildefonso, except a solitary clause. We are thus de- 
 prived of the aid which a full view of both of those instru- 
 ments would afford. But we have no occasion to resort to 
 any rules of construction, however reasonable in themselves, 
 to establish our title. A competent knowledge of the facts, 
 connected with the case, and a candid appeal to the treaties, 
 are alone sufficient to manifest our right. The negociators 
 of the treaty of 1803, having signed with the same ceremo- 
 ny, two copies, one in English and the other in the French 
 language, it has been contended that in the English version, 
 the term " cede" has been erroneously used instead of " re- 
 trocede," which is the expression in the French copy. And 
 it is argued that we are bound by the phraseology of the 
 French copy, because, it is declared that the treaty was 
 agreed to in that language. It would not be very unfair to 
 inquire if this is not like the common case in private life, 
 where individuals enter into a contract of which each party 
 retains a copy, duly executed. In such case, neither has 
 the preference. We might as well say to France, we will 
 cling by the English copy, as she could insist upon an ad- 
 herence to the French copy; and if she urged ignorance on 
 the part of Mr. Marbois, her negociator, of our language, 
 we might with equal propriety plead ignorance on the part 
 of our negociators of her language. As this, however, is a 
 disputable point, I do not avail myself of it; gentlemen shall 
 have the full benefit of the expressions in the French copy. 
 According to this, then, in reciting the treaty of St. Ilde- 
 fonso, it is declared by Spain in 1800, that she retrocedes 
 to France, the colony, or province of Loiiisiana, with the 
 same extent which it then had in the hands of Spain, and 
 which it had when France possessed it, and such as it 
 should be after the treaties subsequently entered into be- 
 tween Spain and other states. This latter member of the 
 description has been sufficiently explained by my colleague. 
 It is said that since France, in 1762, ceded to Spain only 
 Louisiana west of the Mississippi, and the Island of New- 
 Orleans, the retrocession comprehended no more — that the 
 retrocession ex vi termini was coinmensurate with and limi- 
 ted by the direct cession from France to Spain. If this 
 
12 ON THE LINE OF THE PERDIDO. 
 
 were true, then the description, such as Spain held it, that 
 is in 1800, comprising West Florida, and such as France 
 possessed it, that is in 1 762, prior to the several cessions, 
 comprising also West Florida, would be totally inoperative. 
 But the definition of the term retrocession, contended for by 
 the other side is denied. It does not exclude the instru- 
 mentality of a third party. It means restoration, or re-con- 
 veyance of a thing originally ceded, and so the gentleman 
 from Delaware acknowledged. I admit that the thing 
 restored must have come to the restoring party from the 
 party to whom it is retroceded; whether directly or indi- 
 rectly is wholly immaterial. In its passage it may have 
 come through a dozen hands. The retroceding party must 
 claim under and in virtue of the right originally possessed 
 by the party to whom the retrocession takes place. Allow 
 'me to put a case: You own an estate called Louisiana. You 
 convey one moiety of it to the gentleman from Delaware, 
 and the other to me; he conveys his moiety to me, and I 
 thus become entitled to the whole. By a suitable instrument 
 I re-convey, or retrocede the estate called Louisiana to 
 you as I now hold it, and as you held it; what passes to 
 you? The whole estate or my moiety only? Let me in- 
 dulge another supposition — that the gentleman from Dela- 
 ware, after he received from you his moiety, bestowed a 
 new denomination upon it and called it West Florida- 
 would that circumstance vary the operation of my act of 
 retrocession to you? The case supposed is in truth the real 
 one between the United States and Spain. France in 1762, 
 transfers Louisiana, west of the Mississippi to Spain, and 
 at the same time conveys the eastern portion of it, exclusive 
 of New Orleans, to Great Britain. Twenty-one years after, 
 that is in 1783, Great Britain cedes her part to Spain, who 
 thus becomes possessed of the entire province; one portion 
 by direct cession from France, and the residue by indirect 
 cession. Spain then held the whole of Louisiana under 
 France and in virtue of the title of France. The whole 
 moved or passed from France to her. When therefore, in 
 this state of things, she says, in the treaty of St. Ildefonso, 
 that she retrocedes the province to France, can a doubt 
 exist that she parts with, and gives back to France the en- 
 tire colony? To preclude the possibility of such a doubt, 
 she adds, that she restores it, not in a mutilated condition, 
 but in that precise condition in which France had and she 
 herself possessed it. 
 
ON THE LINE OP THE PERDIDO. 13 
 
 Having thus shown, as I conceive, a clear right in the 
 United States to West Florida, I proceed to inquire if the 
 proclamation of the President directing the occupation of 
 property, which is thus fairly acquired by solemn treaty, be 
 an unauthorized measure of war and of legislation, as has 
 been contended? 
 
 The act of October, 1803, contains two sections, by one of 
 which the President is authorized to occupy the territories 
 ceded to us by France in the April preceding. The other 
 empowers the President to establish a provisional govern- 
 ment there. The first section is unlimited in its duration; 
 the other is restricted to the expiration of the then session 
 of Congress. The act therefore of March, 1804, declaring 
 that the previous act of October should continue in force 
 until the 1st of October, 1804, is applicable to the second 
 and not the first section, and was intended to continue the 
 provisional government of the President. By the act of 
 24th February, 1804, for laying duties on goods imported 
 into the ceded territories, the President is empowered when- 
 ever he deems it expedient to erect the bay and river Mo- 
 bile, &c. into a separate district, and to establish therein a 
 port of entry and delivery. By this same act the Orleans 
 territory is laid off, and its boundaries are so defined as to 
 comprehend West Florida. By other acts the President is 
 authorized to remove by force, under certain circumstances, 
 persons settling on, or taking Dossession of lands ceded to 
 the United States. 
 
 These laws furnish a legislative construction of the treaty, 
 corresponding with that given by the Executive, and they 
 indisputably vest in this branch of the general government 
 the power to take possession of the country, whenever it 
 might be proper in his discretion. The President has not 
 therefore violated the constitution and usurped the war- 
 making power, but he would have violated that provision 
 which requires him to see that the laws are faithfully exe- 
 cuted, if he had longer forborn to act. It is urged that he 
 has assumed powers belonging to congress in undertaking 
 to annex the portion of West Florida, between the Missis- 
 sippi and the Perdido, to the Orleans territory. But t^m 
 gress, as has been shown, has already made this annexati^ 
 the limits of the Orleans territory, as prescribed by con- 
 gress, comprehending the country in question. The Presi- 
 dent by his proclamation, has not made law, but has merely 
 
 /O 
 
14 ON THE LINE OF THE PERDIDO. 
 
 declared to the people of West Florida, what the law is. 
 This is the office of a proclamation, and it was highly pro- 
 per that the people of that territory should be thus notified. 
 By the act of occupying the country, the government de 
 JactOy whether of Spain, or the revolutionists ceased to ex- 
 ist; and the laws of the Orleans territory, applicable to the 
 country, by the operation and force of law attached to it. 
 But this was a state of things which the people might not 
 know, and which every dictate of justice and humanity 
 therefore required, should be proclaimed. I consider the 
 bill before us merely in the light of a declaratory law. 
 
 Never could a more propitious moment present itself for 
 the exercise of the discretionary power placed in the Presi- 
 dent, and had he failed to embrace it, he would have been 
 criminally inattentive to the dearest interests of this country. 
 It cannot be too often repeated, that if Cuba on the one 
 hand, and Florida on the other, are in the possession of a 
 foreign maritime power, the immense extent of country be- 
 longing to the United States, and watered by streams dis- 
 charging themselves into the gulf of Mexico — that is one- 
 third, nay, more than two-thirds of the United States, com- 
 prehending Louisiana, are placed at the mercy of that 
 power. The possession of Florida is a guarantee absolute- 
 ly necessary to the enjoyment of the navigation of those 
 streams. The gentleman from Delaware anticipates the 
 most direful consequences from the occupation of the coun- 
 try. He supposes a sally from a Spanish garrison upon the 
 American forces, and asks what is to be done? We attempt 
 a peaceful possession of the country to which we are fairly- 
 entitled. If the wrongful occupants under the authority of 
 Spain assail our troops, I trust they will retrieve the lost 
 honour of the nation in the case of the Chesapeake. Sup- 
 pose an attack upon any portion of the American army with- 
 in the acknowledged limits of the United States by a Spanish 
 force? In such event there would exist but a single honour- 
 able and manly course. The genUeman conceives it unge- 
 nerous, that we should at this moment, when Spain is en- 
 compassed and pressed on all sides by the immense power 
 of her enemy, occupy West Florida. Shall we sit by pas- 
 sive spectators, and witness the interesting transactions of 
 that country — transactions which tend in the most imminent 
 degree, to jeopardize our rights; without attempting to in- 
 terfere? Are you prepared to see a foreign power seize 
 
ON THE LINE OF THE PERDIDO. 15 
 
 what belongs to us? I have heard in the most credible manner 
 that, about the period when the President took his measures 
 in relation to that country, agents of a foreign power were 
 intriguing with the people there, to induce them to come 
 under his dominion: but whether this be the fact or not, it 
 cannot be doubted, that if you neglect the present auspicious 
 moment — if you reject the proffered boon, some other na- 
 tion, profiting by your errors, will seize the occasion to get 
 a fatal tooting in your southern frontier. I have no hesita- 
 tion in saying, that if a parent country will not or cannot 
 maintain its authority in a colony adjacent to us, and there 
 exists in it a state of misrule and disorder, menacing our 
 peace, and if morover such colony, by passing into the 
 hands of any other power, would become dangerous to the 
 integrity of the union, and manifestly tend to the subversion 
 of our laws; we have a right upon the eternal principles of 
 self-preservation, to lay hold upon it. This principle alone, 
 independent of any title, would warrant our occupation of 
 West Florida. But it is not necessary to resort to it, our 
 title being in my judgment incontestibly good. We are told 
 of the vengeance of resuscitated Spain. If Spain, under any 
 modification of her government, choose to make war upon 
 us, for the act under consideration, the nation, I have no 
 doubt, will be willing to embark in such a contest. But the 
 gentleman reminds us that Great Britain, the ally of Spain, 
 may be obliged by her connexion with that country, to take 
 part with her against us, and to consider this measure of the 
 President as justifying an appeal to arms. Sir, is the time 
 never to arrive when we may manage our own affairs with- 
 out the fear of insulting His Brittanic Majesty? Is the rod 
 of British power to be forever suspended over our heads? 
 Does congress put on an embargo to shelter our rightful 
 commerce against the piratical depredations committed up- 
 on it on the ocean? We are immediately warned of the in- 
 dignation of offended England. Is a law of non-intercourse 
 proposed? The whole navy of the haughty mistress of the 
 seas is made to thunder in our ears. Does the President 
 refuse to continue a correspondence with a minister who 
 violates the decorum belonging to his diplomatic character, 
 by giving and deliberately repeating an affront to the whole 
 nation? We are instantly menaced with the chastisement 
 which English pride will not fail to inflict. Whether we 
 assert our rights by sea or attempt their maintenance by 
 
It) ON THE LINE OF THE PERDIDO. 
 
 land — whethersoever we turn ourselves, this phantom in» 
 cessantly pursues us. Already has it had too much influence 
 on the councils of the nation. It contributed to the repeal of 
 the embargo — that dishonourable repeal which has so much 
 tarnished the character of our government. Mr. President, 
 I have before said on this floor, and now take occasion to 
 remark, that I most sincerely desire peace and amity with 
 England; that I even prefer an adjustment of all differences 
 with her, before one with any other nation. But if she per- 
 sists in a denial of justice to us, or if she avails herself of 
 the occupation of West Florida to commence war upon us, 
 I trust and hope that all hearts will unite in a bold and vi- 
 gorous vindication of our rights. I do not believe, however, 
 in the prediction, that war will be the effect of the measure 
 in question. 
 
 It is asked, why, some years ago, when the interruption 
 of the right of deposit took place at New Orleans, the gov- 
 ernment did not declare war against Spain, and how it has 
 happened that there has been this long acquiescence in the 
 Spanish possession of West Florida? The answer is obvious. 
 It consists in the genius of the nation which is prone to 
 peace, in that desire to arrange, by friendly negociation, our 
 disputes, with all nations; which has constantly influenced 
 the present and preceding administration; and in the jealousy 
 of armies, with which we have been inspired by the melan- 
 choly experience of free estates. But a new state of things 
 has arisen: negociation has become hopeless. The power 
 with whom it was to be conducted, if not annihilated, is in a 
 situation that precludes it; and the subject matter of it is in 
 danger of being snatched forever from our power. Longer 
 delay would be construed into a dereliction of our right, and 
 would amount to treachery to ourselves. May I ask, in my 
 turn, why certain gentlemen, now so fearful of war, were so 
 urgent for it with Spain when she withheld the right of de- 
 posit? and still later, when in 1805 or 6 this very subject of 
 the actual limits of Louisiana, was before congress? I will 
 not say, because I do not know that I am authorised to say, 
 that the motive is to be found in the change of relation 
 between Spain and other European powers, since those pe- 
 riods. 
 
 Does the honourable gentleman from Delaware really be- 
 lieve that he finds in St. Domingo a case parallel with that 
 of West Florida? and that our government, having inter*- 
 
ON THE LINE OF THE PERDIDO- 17 
 
 dieted an illicit commerce with the former, ought not to have 
 interposed in relation to the latter? It is scarcely necessary 
 to consume your time by remarking that we had no preten- 
 sions to that island; that it did not menace our repose, nor 
 did the safety of the United States require that they should 
 occupy it. It became, therefore, our duty to attend to the 
 just remonstrance of France against American citizens, sup= 
 plying the rebels with the means of resisting her power. 
 
 I am not, sir, in favour of cherishing the passion of con- 
 quest. But I must be permitted, in conclusion, to indulge 
 the hope of seeing, ere long, the nexv United States (if you 
 will allow me the expression) embracing, not only the old 
 thirteen States, but the entire country east of the Missis- 
 sippi, including East Florida, and some of the territories of 
 the north of us also. 
 
 U 
 
18 
 
 ON THE BANK CHARTER. 
 
 Speech on the question of renewing the charter of the Bank 
 of the United States^ delivered in the Senate^ 1811. 
 
 Mr. President, /^^' f5 ^^^^ 
 
 When the subject involved in the motion now under con- 
 sideration was depending before the other branch of the 
 legislature a disposition to acquiesce in their decision was 
 evinced. P'or although the committee who reported this 
 bill had been raised many weeks prior to the determina- 
 tion of that house on the proposition to re-charter the bank, 
 except the occasional reference to it of memorials and peti- 
 tions, we scarcely ever heard of it. The rejection, it is 
 true, of a measure brought before either branch of congress 
 does not absolutely preclude the other from taking up the 
 same proposition; but the economy of our time, and a just 
 deference for the opinion of others, would seem to recom- 
 mend a delicate and cautious exercise of this power. As 
 this subject, at the memorable period when the charter was 
 granted, called forth the best talents of the nation — as it 
 has, on various occasions, undergone the most thorough 
 investigation, and as we can hardly expect that it is suscep- 
 tible of receiving any further elucidation, it was to be hoped 
 that we should have been spared useless debate. This was 
 the more desirable because there are, I conceive, much su- 
 perior claims upon us for every hour of the small portion 
 of the session yet remaining to us. Under the operation of 
 these motives, I had resolved to give a silent vote, until I 
 felt myself bound, by the defying manner of the arguments 
 advanced in support of the renewal, to obey the paramount 
 duties I owe my country and its constitution; to make one 
 effort, however feeble, to avert the passage of what appears 
 to me a most unjustifiable law. After my honourable friend 
 from Virginia (Mr. Giles) had instructed and amused us 
 with the very able and ingenious argument which he deliv- 
 ered on yesterday I should have still forborne to trespass 
 on the senate but for the extraordmary character of his 
 speech. He discussed both sides of the question with great 
 ability and eloquence and certainly demonstrated to the 
 satisfaction of all who heard him both that it was constitu- 
 tional and unconstitutional, highly proper and improper to 
 
ON THE BANK CHARTER. 19 
 
 prolong the charter of the bank. The honourable gentle- 
 man appeared to me in the predicament in which the cele- 
 brated orator of Virginia, Patrick Henry, is said to have 
 been once placed. Engaged in a most extensive and lucra- 
 tive practice of the law, he mistook in one instance the side 
 of the cause in which he was retained, and addressed the 
 court and jury in a very masterly and convincing speech in 
 behalf of his antagonist. His distracted client came up to 
 him whilst he was thus employed, and interrupting him, 
 bitterly exclaimed, " you have undone me! You have ruin- 
 ed me!" — " Never mind, give yourself no concern," said 
 the adroit advocate; and turning to the court and jury, con- 
 tinued his argument by observing, " may it please your hon- 
 ors, and you, gentlemen of the jury, I have been stating to 
 you what I presume my adversary may urge on his side. I 
 will now show you how fallacious his reasoning and ground- 
 less his pretensions are." The skilful orator proceeded, 
 satisfactorily refuted every argument he had advanced, and 
 gained his cause! A success with which I trust the exertion 
 of my honourable friend will on this occasion be crowned. 
 It has been said by the honourable gentleman from Geor- 
 gia (Mr. Crawford) that this has been made a party ques- 
 tion although the law incorporating the bank was passed 
 prior to the formation of parties and when congress was 
 not biassed by party prejudices. (Mr. Crawford explained. 
 He did not mean that it had been made a party question in 
 the senate. His allusion was elsewhere.) I do not think it 
 altogether fair to refer to the discussions in the house of 
 representatives, as gentlemen belonging to that body have 
 no opportunity of defending themselves here. It is true that 
 this law was not the effect, but it is no less true that it was 
 one of the causes of the political divisions in this country. 
 And, if, during the agitation of the present question, the 
 renewal has, on one side, been opposed on party principles, 
 let me ask if, on the other, it has not been advocated on 
 similar principles? Where is the Macedonian phalanx, the 
 opposition in congress? I believe, sir, I shall not incur the 
 charge of presumptuous prophecy, when I predict we shall 
 not pick up from its ranks one single straggler! And if, on 
 this occasion, my worthy friend from Georgia has gone over 
 into the camp of the enemy, is it kind in him to look back 
 upon his former friends, and rebuke them for the fidelity 
 with which they adhere to their old principles? 
 
20 OK THE BANK CHARTER. 
 
 I shall not stop to examine how far a representative is 
 bound by the instructions of his constituents. That is a 
 question between the giver and receiver of the instructions. 
 But I must be permitted to express my surprise at the point- 
 ed difference which has been made between the opinions and 
 instructions of state legislatures, and the opinions and de- 
 tails of the deputations with which we have been surround- 
 ed from Philadelphia. Whilst the resolutions of those le- 
 gislatures-- known, legitimate, constitutional and deliberative 
 bodies — have been thrown into the back ground, and their 
 interference regarded as officious, these delegations from 
 self-created societies, composed of nobody knows whom, 
 have been received by the committee with the utmost com- 
 plaisance. Their communications have been treasured up 
 with the greatest diligence. Never did the Delphic priests 
 collect with more holy care the frantic expressions of the 
 agitated Pythia, or expound them with more solemnity to 
 the astonished Grecians, than has the committee gathered 
 the opinions and testimonies of these deputies, and, through 
 the gentleman from Massachusetts, pompously detailed them 
 to the senate! Philadelphia has her immediate representa- 
 tives, capable of expressing her wishes upon the floor of the 
 other house. If it be improper for states to obtrude upon 
 congress their sentiments, it is much more highly so for the 
 unauthorized deputies of fortuitous congregations. 
 
 The first singular feature that attracts attention in this 
 bill is the new and unconstitutional veto which it establish- 
 es. The constitution has required only, that after bills 
 have passed the house of representatives and the senate, 
 they shall be presented to the president for his approval or 
 rejection, and his determination is to be made known in ten 
 days. But this bill provides, that when all the constitutional 
 sanctions are obtained, and when according to the usual 
 routine of legislation it ought to be considered as a law, it 
 is to be submitted to a new branch of the legislature, con- 
 sisting of the president and twenty-four directors of the 
 bank of the United States, holding their sessions in Phila- 
 delphia, and if they please to approve it, why then is it to 
 become a law! And three months (the term allowed by our 
 law of May last, to one of the great belligerents for revok- 
 ing his edicts, after the other shall have repealed hisj are 
 granted them to decide whether an act of congress shall be 
 the law of the land or not! An act which is said to be in- 
 
ON THE BANK CHARTER. 21 
 
 dispensibly necessary to our salvation, and without the pas- 
 sage, of which universal distress and bankruptcy are to per- 
 vade the country. Remember, sir, that the honourable gen- 
 tleman from Georgia has contended that this charter is no 
 contract. Does it then become the representatives of the 
 nation to leave the nation at the mercy of a corporation? 
 Ought the impending calamities to be left to the hazard of 
 a contingent remedy? 
 
 This vagrant power to erect a bank, after having wander- 
 ed throughout the whole constitution in quest of some con- 
 genial spot to fasten upon, has been at length located by the 
 gentleman from Georgia on that provision which authorizes 
 congress to lay and collect taxes, &c. In 1791, the power 
 is referred to one part of the instrument; in 1811, to another. 
 Sometimes it is alleged to be deducible from the power to 
 regulate commerce. Hard pressed here it disappears, and 
 shows itself under the grant to coin money. The sagacious 
 secretary of the treasury in 1791 pursued the wisest course 
 — he has taken shelter behind general high sounding and 
 imposing terms. He has declared, in the preamble to the 
 act establishing the bank that it will be very conducive to 
 the successful conducting^ of the national finances; will tend 
 to give facility to the obtaining of loans, and will be pro- 
 ductive of considerable advantage to trade and industry in 
 general. No allusion is made to the collection of taxes. 
 What is the nature of this government? It is emphatically 
 federal, vested with an aggregate of specified powers for 
 general purposes, conceded by existing sovereignties, who 
 have themselves retained what is not so conceded. It is said 
 that there are cases in which it must act on implied powers. 
 This is not controverted, but the implication must be ne- 
 cessary, and obviously flow from the enumerated power 
 with which it is allied. The power to charter companies is 
 not specified in the grant, and I contend is of a nature not 
 transferrable by mere implication. It is one of the most 
 exalted attributes of sovereignty. In the exercise of this 
 gigantic power we have seen an East India company crea- 
 ted, which has carried dismay, desolation and death, through- 
 out one of the largest portions of the habitable world. A 
 company which is in itself, a sovereignty — which has sub- 
 verted empires and set up new dynasties — and has not only 
 made war, but war against its legitimate sovereign! Under 
 the influence of this power, we have seen arise a South Sea 
 
22 ON THE BANK CHARTER. 
 
 company and a Mississippi company, that distracted and 
 convulsed all Europe, and menaced a total overthrow of all 
 credit and confidence, and universal bankruptcy. Is it to be 
 imagined that a power so vast would have been left by the 
 wisdom of the constitution to doubtful inference? It has 
 been alleged that there are many instances, in the constitu- 
 tion, where powers in their nature incidental, and which 
 would have necessarily been vested along with the princi- 
 pal, are nevertheless expressly enumerated; and the power 
 "to make rules and regulations for the government of the 
 land and naval forces," which it is said is incidental to the 
 power to raise armies and provide a navy, is given as an ex- 
 ample. What does this prove? How extremely cautious 
 the convention were to leave as little as possible to impli- 
 cation. In all cases where incidental powers are acted upon, 
 the principal and incidental ought to be congenial with each 
 other, and partake of a common nature. The incidental 
 power ought to be strictly subordinate and limited to the 
 end proposed to be attained by the specified power. In other 
 words, under the name of accomplishing one object which 
 is specified, the power implied ought not to be made to em- 
 brace other objects, which are not specified in the constitu- 
 tion. If then you could establish a bank to collect and dis- 
 tribute the revenue, it ought to be expressly restricted to 
 the purpose of such collection and distribution. It is mock- 
 ery, worse than usurpation, to establish it for a lawful object, 
 and then to extend it to other objects which are not lawful- 
 In deducing the power to create corporations, such as I 
 have described it, from the power to collect taxes, the rela- 
 tion and condition of principal and incident are prostrated 
 and destroyed. The accessory is exalted above the princi- 
 pal. As well might it be said that the great luminary of 
 day is an accessory, a satellite to the humblest star that 
 twinkles forth its feeble light in the firmament of Heaven! 
 Suppose the constitution had been silent as to an individu- 
 al department of this government, could you under the 
 power to lay and collect taxes establish a judiciary? I pre- 
 sume not; but if you could derive the power by mere im- 
 plication could you vest it with any other authority than to 
 enforce the collection of the revenue? A bank is made for 
 the ostensible purpose of aiding in the collection of the rev- 
 enue, and whilst it is engaged in this, the most inferior and 
 subordinate of all its functions, it is made to diffuse itself 
 
ON THE BANK CHARTER. 23 
 
 throughout society, and to influence all the great operations 
 of credit, circulation and commerce. Like the Virginia jus- 
 tice, you tell the man, whose turkey had been stolen, that 
 your books of precedents furnish no form for his case, but 
 then you will grant him a precept to search for a cow, and 
 when looking for that he may possibly find his turkey! You 
 say to this corporation, we cannot authorize you to discount 
 — to emit paper — to regulate commerce, &c. No! Our book 
 has no precedents of that kind. But then we can authorize 
 you to collect the revenue, and, whilst occupied with that 
 you may do whatever else you please! 
 
 What is a corporation such as the bill contemplates? It is 
 a splendid association of favored individuals, taken from the 
 mass of society, and invested with exemptions and surround- 
 ed by immunities and privileges. The honorable gentle- 
 man from Massachusetts (Mr. Lloyd) has said that the 
 original law, establishing the bank, was justly liable to the 
 objection of vesting in that institution an exclusive privi- 
 lege, the faith of the government being pledged that no 
 other bank should be authorized during its existence. This 
 objection he supposes is obviated by the bill under conside- 
 ration; but all corporations enjoy exclusive privileges — that 
 is, the corporators have privileges which no others possess; 
 if you create fifty corporations instead of one, you have 
 only fifty privileged bodies instead of one. I contend that 
 the states have the exclusive power to regulate contracts, to 
 declare the capacities and incapacities to contract, and to 
 provide as to the extent of responsibility of debtors to their 
 creditors. If congress have the power to erect an artificial 
 body and say it shall be endowed with the attributes of an 
 individual — if you can bestow on this object of your own 
 creation the ability to contract, may you not, in contraven- 
 tion of state rights, confer upon slaves, infants and femes 
 covert the ability to contract? And if you have the power 
 to say that an association of individuals shall be responsi- 
 ble for their debts only in a certain limited degree, what is 
 to prevent an extension of a similar exemption to individu- 
 als? Where is the limitation upon this power to set up cor- 
 porations. You establish one in the heart of a state, the ba- 
 sis of whose capital is money. You may erect others whose 
 capital shall consist of land, slaves and personal estates, and 
 thus the whole property within the jurisdiction of a state 
 might be absorbed by these political bodies. The existing 
 
24 Oi\ THE BANK CHARTER. 
 
 bank contends that it is beyond the power of a state to tax 
 it, and if this pretension be well founded, it is in the pow- 
 er of congress, by chartering companies to dry up ail the 
 sources of state revenue. Georgia has undertaken, it is true, 
 to levy a tax on the branch within her jurisdiction, but this 
 law, now under a course of litigation, is considered as in- 
 valid. The United States own a great deal of land in the 
 state of Ohio; can this government, for the purpose of cre- 
 ating an ability to purchase it, charter a company? Aliens 
 are forbidden, I believe, in that state, to hold real estate — 
 could you, in order to multiply purchasers, confer upon 
 them the capacity to hold land, in derogation of the local 
 law? I imagine this will hardly be insisted upon; and )et 
 there exists a more obvious connexion between the undoubt- 
 ed power, which is possessed by this government, to sell its 
 land, and the means of executing that power by increasing 
 the demand in the market, than there is between this bank 
 and the collection of a tax. This government has the power 
 to levy taxes — to raise armies — provide a navy — make war 
 — regulate commerce, coin money, &c. &c. It would not 
 be difficult to show as intimate a connexion letween a cor- 
 poration, established for any purpose whatever, and some 
 one or other of those great powers, as there is between the 
 revenue and the bank of the United States. 
 
 Let us inquire into the actual participation of this bank 
 in the collection of the revenue. Prior to the passage of 
 the act of 1800, requiring the collectors of those ports of 
 entry at which the principal bank, or any of its offices are 
 situated, to deposit with them the custom-house bonds, it 
 had not the smallest agency in the collection of the duties. 
 During almost one moiety of the period to which the exis- 
 tence of this institution was limited, it was nowise instru- 
 mental in the collection of that revenue, to which it is now 
 become indispensable! The collection previous to 1800, was 
 made entirely by the collectors; and even at present, where 
 there is one port of entry, at which this bank is employed, 
 there are eight or ten at which the collection is made as it 
 was before 1800. And sir, what does this bank or its branch- 
 es where resort is had to it? It does not adjust with the mer- 
 chant the amount of duty, nor take his bond, nor, if the 
 bond is not paid, coerce the payment by distress or other- 
 wise. In fact it has no active agency whatever in the 
 collection. Its operation is merely passive; that is, if the 
 
 ^/'l^ 
 
ON THE BANK CHARTER. 25 
 
 obligor, after his bond is placed in the bank, discharges it, 
 all is very well. Such is the mighty aid afforded by this 
 tax-gatherer, without which the government cannot get 
 along! Again, it is not pretended that the very limited as- 
 sistance which this institution does in truth render, extends 
 to any other than a single species of tax, that is, duties. In 
 the collection of the excise, the direct and other internal 
 taxes, no aid was derived from any bank. It is true, in the 
 collection of those taxes, the former did not obtain the same 
 indulgence which the merchant receives in paying duties. 
 But what obliges congress to give credit at all? Could it not 
 demand prompt payment of the duties? And, in fact, does 
 it not so demand in many instances? Whether credit is given 
 or not is a matter merely of discretion. If it be a facility 
 to mercantile operations, (as I presume it is) it ought to be 
 granted. But I deny the right to engraft upon it a bank, 
 which you would not otherwise have the power to erect. 
 You cannot create the necessity of a bank, and then plead 
 that necessity for its establishment. In the administration 
 of the finances, the bank acts simply as a payer and receiv- 
 er. The secretary of the treasury has money in New York, 
 and wants it in Charlestonj the bank will furnish him with 
 a check, or bill, to make the remittance, which any merchant 
 would do just as well. 
 
 I v/ill now proceed to show by fact, actual experience, 
 not theoretic reasoning, but by the records themselves of 
 the treasury, that the operations of that department may 
 be as well conducted without as with this bank. The delu- 
 sion has consisted in the use of certain high sounding phra- 
 ses, dexterously used on the occasion — " the collection of 
 the revenue" — " the administration of the finance" — " the 
 conducting of the fiscal affairs of the government," the usual 
 language of the advocates of the bank, extort express as- 
 sent, or awe into acquiescence, without inquiry or examina- 
 tion into its necessity. About the commencement, of this 
 year there appears, by the report of the secretary of the 
 treasury, of the 7th of January, to have been a little up- 
 wards of two millions and four hundred thousand dollars 
 in the treasury of the United Statesj and more than one- 
 third of this whole sum was in the vaults of local banks. In 
 several instances where opportunities existed of selecting the 
 bank, a preference has been given to the state bank, or at 
 least a portion of the deposits has been made with it. In 
 E 
 
26 ON THE BANK CHARTER. 
 
 New York, for example, there was deposited with the Man- 
 hattan bank Si 88,670, although a branch bank is in that 
 city. In this district, §115,080 were deposited with the 
 bank of Columbia, although here also is a branch bank, and 
 yet the slate banks are utterly unsafe to be trusted! If the 
 money, after the bonds are collected is thus placed with these 
 banks, I presume there can be no difficulty, in placing the 
 bonds themselves there, if they must be deposited with 
 some bank for collection, which I deny. 
 
 Again, one of the most important and complicated branch- 
 es of the treasury department, is the management of our 
 landed system. The sales have in some years, amounted to 
 upwards of half a million of dollars, are generally made 
 upon credit, and yet no bank whatever is made use of to 
 facilitate the collection. After it is made, the amount in 
 some instances, has been deposited with banks, and, accord- 
 ing to the secretary's report which I have before adverted 
 to, the amount so deposited, was in January, upwards of 
 three hundred thousand dollars, not one cent of which was 
 in the vaults of the bank of the United States, or in any of 
 its branches, but in the bank of Pennsylvania, its branch at 
 Pittsburgh, the Marietta bank, and the Kentucky bank. Upon 
 the point of responsibility, I cannot subscribe to the opinion 
 of the secretary of the treasury, if it is meant that the abili- 
 ty to pay the amount of any deposits which the government 
 may make, under any exigency, is greater than that of the 
 state banks; that the accountability of a ramified institution, 
 whose affairs are managed by a single head, responsible for 
 all its members, is more simple than that of a number of 
 independent and unconnected establishments, I shall not de- 
 ny; but, with regard to safety, I am strongly inclined to 
 think it is on the side of the local banks. The corruption or 
 misconduct of the parent, or any of its branches, may bank- 
 rupt or destroy the whole system, and the loss of the gov- 
 ernment in that event, will be of the deposits made with 
 each; whereas, in the failure of one state bank the loss will 
 be confined to the deposit in the vault of that bank. It is 
 said to have been a part of Burr's plan to seize on the branch 
 bank at New Orleans. At that period large sums, imported 
 from La Vera Cruz, are alledged to have been deposited 
 ■with it, and if the traitor had accomplished the design, the 
 bank of the United States, if not actually bankrupt, might 
 have been constrained to stop payment. 
 
Or^ THE BANK CHARTER. ST* 
 
 It is urged by the gentleman from Massachusetts, (Mr. 
 Lloyd,) that as this nation advances in commerce, wealth, 
 and population, new energies will be unfolded, new wants 
 and exigences will arise, and hence he infers that powers 
 must be implied from the constitution. But, sir, the ques- 
 tion is, shall we stretch the instrument to embrace cases not 
 fairly within its scope, or shall we resort to that remedy, 
 by amendment, which the constitution prescribes? 
 
 Gentlemen contend that the construction which they give 
 to the constitution has been acquiesced in by all parties and 
 under all administrations; and they rely particularly on an 
 act which passed in 1804, for extending a branch to New 
 Orleans; and another act of 1807, for punishing those who 
 should forge or utter forged paper of the bank. With re- 
 gard to the first law, passed no doubt upon the recommen- 
 dation of the treasury department, I would remark, that it 
 was the extension of a branch to a territory over which con- C 
 gress possesses the power of legislation almost uncontrolled, / 
 and where, without any constitutional impediment, charters i 
 of incorporation may be granted. As to the other act, it^ 
 was passed no less for the benefit of the community than / 
 the bank — to protect the ignorant and unwary from counter- 
 feit paper, purporting to have been emitted by the bank. 
 When gentlemen are claiming the advantage supposed to 
 be deducible from acquiescence, let me inquire what they 
 would have had those to do, who believed the establishment 
 of a bank an encroachment upon state rights? Were they 
 to have resisted, and how? By force? Upon the change of 
 parties in 1800, it must be well recollected that the greatest 
 calamities were predicted as a consequence of that event. In- 
 tentions were ascribed to the new occupants of power, of 
 violating the public faith, and prostrating national credit. 
 Under such circumstances that they should act with great 
 circumspection, was quite natural. They saw in full opera- 
 tion a bank, chartered by a congress who had as much right 
 to judge of their constitutional powers as their successors. 
 Had they revoked the lavv^ which gave it existence, the in- 
 stitution would, in all probability, continued to transact 
 business notwithstanding. The judiciary would have been 
 appealed to, and from the known opinions and predilections 
 of the judges then composing it, they would have pronounc- 
 ed the act oi incorporation, as in the nature of a contract, 
 beyond the repealing power of any succeeding legislature. 
 
28 ON THE BANK CHARTER, 
 
 And, sir, what a scene of confusion would such a state of 
 things have presented — an act of congress, which was law 
 in the statute book, and a nullity on the judicial records! 
 was it not the wisest to wait the natural dissolution of the 
 corporation rather than accelerate that event by a repealing 
 law involving so many delicate considerations? 
 
 When gentlemen attempt to carry this measure upon the 
 ground of acquiescence or precedent, do they forget that 
 we are not in Westminster Hall? In courts of justice, the 
 utility of uniform decision exacts of the judge a conformi- 
 ty to the adjudication of his predecessor. In the interpre- 
 tation and administration of the law this practice is wise 
 and proper, and without it, every thing depending upon 
 the caprice of the judge, we should have no security for 
 our dearest rights. It is far otherwise when applied to the 
 source of legislation. Here no rule exists but the constitu- 
 tion, and to legislate upon the ground merely that our pre- 
 decessors thought themselves authorized, under similar cir- 
 cumstances to legislate, is to sanctify error and perpetuate 
 ilsurpation. But if we are to be subjected to the trammels 
 of precedent, I claim on the other hand, the benefit of the 
 restrictions under which the intelligent judge cautiously re- 
 ceives them. It is an established rule that to give to a pre- 
 vious adjudication any effect, the mind of the judge who 
 pronounced it must have been awakened to the subject, and 
 it must have been a deliberate opinion formed after full ar- 
 gument. In technical language, it must not have been sub 
 silentio. Now the acts of 1804 and 1807, relied upon as 
 pledges for the rechartering this company, passed not only 
 without any discussions whatever of the constitutional pow- 
 er of congress to establish a bank, but, I venture to say, 
 without a single member having had his attention drawn to 
 this question. I had the honor of a seat in the senate when 
 the latter law passed, probably voted for it, and I declare 
 with the utmost sincerity that I never once thought of that 
 point, and I appeal confidently to every honorable member 
 who was then present, to say if that was not his situation. 
 
 This doctrine of precedents, applied to the legislature, 
 appears to me to be fraught with the most mischievous con- 
 sequences. The great advantage of our system of govern- 
 ment over all others, is, that we have a zvritten constitution 
 defining its limits, and prescribing its authorities; and that, 
 liOwever, for a time, faction may convulse the nation, and 
 
ON THE BANK CHARTER. . 29 
 
 passion and party prejudice sway its functionaries, the sea- 
 son of reflection will recur, when calmly retracing their 
 deeds, all aberrations from fundamental principle will be cor- 
 rected. But once substitute practice for principle — the ex- 
 position of the constitution for the text of the constitution, 
 and in vain shall we look for the instrument in the instru- 
 ment itself! It will be as diffused and intangible as the pre- 
 tended constitution of England: — and must be sought for 
 in the statute book, in the fugitive journals of congress, and 
 in reports of the secretary of the treasury! What would be 
 our condition if we were to take the interpretations given to 
 that sacred book, which is, or ought to be, the criterion of 
 our faith, for the book itself? We should find the Holy Bi- 
 ble buried beneath the interpretations, glosses, and com- 
 ments of councils, synods, and learned divines, which have 
 produced swarms of intolerant and furious sects, partaking 
 less of the mildness and meekness of their origin, than of 
 a vindictive spirit of hostility towards each other! They 
 ought to afford us a solemn warning to make that constitu- 
 tion which we have sworn to support, our invariable guide. 
 
 I conceive then, sir, that we were not empowered by the 
 constitution, nor bound by any practice under it, to renew 
 the charter of this bank, and I might here rest the argu- 
 ment. But as there are strong objections to the renewal 
 on the score of expediency, and as the distresses which will 
 attend the dissolution of the bank, have been greatly exag- 
 gerated, I will ask for your indulgence for a few moments 
 longer. That some temporary inconvenience will arise, I 
 shall not deny; but most groundlessly have the recent fail- 
 ures in New York been attributed to the discontinuance of 
 this bank. As well might you ascribe to that cause the 
 failures of Amsterdam and Hamburg, of London and Liv- 
 erpool. The embarrassments of commerce — the sequestra- 
 tions in France — the Danish captures — in fine, the bellige- 
 rent edicts are the obvious sources of these failures. Their 
 immediate cause is the return of bills upon London, drawn 
 upon the faith of unproductive or unprofitable shipments. 
 Yes, sir, the protests of the notaries of London, not those 
 of New York, have occasioned these bankruptcies. 
 
 The power of a nation is said to consist in the sword and 
 the purse. Perhaps at last all power is resolvable into that 
 of the parse, for with it you may command almost every 
 thing else. The specie circulation of the LTnited States is 
 
30 ON THE BANK CHARTER, 
 
 estimated by some calculators at ten millions of dollars, and 
 if it be no more, one moiety is in the vaults of this bank. 
 May not the time arrive when the concentration of such a 
 vast portion of the circulating medium of the country in 
 the hands of any corporation, will be dangerous to our lib- 
 erties? By whom is this immense power wieldedf By a bo- 
 dy, who, in derogation of the great principle of all our in- 
 stitutions, responsibility to the people, is amenable only to 
 a few stockholders, and they chiefly foreigners. Suppose an 
 attempt to subvert this government — would not the traitor 
 first aim by force or corruption to acquire the treasure of 
 this company? Look at it in another aspect. Seven-tenths 
 of its capital are in the hands of foreigners, and these for- 
 eigners chiefly English subjects. We are possibly on the 
 eve of a rupture with that nation. Should such an event 
 occur, do you apprehend that the English premier would 
 experience any difficulty in obtaining the entire control of 
 this institution? Republics, above all other governments, 
 ought most seriously to guard against foreign influence. All 
 history proves that the internal dissentions excited by for- 
 eign intrigue, have produced the downfall of almost every 
 free government that has hitherto existed; and yet, gentle- 
 men contend that we are benefited by the possession of this 
 foreign capital! If we could have its use, without its attend- 
 ing abuse, I should be gratified also. But it is in vain to 
 expect the one without the other. Wealth is power, and, 
 under whatsoever form it exists, its proprietor, whether he 
 lives on this or the other side of the Atlantic, will have a 
 proportionate influence. It is argued, that our possession 
 of this English capital gives us a great influence over the 
 British government. If this reasoning be sound, we had bet- 
 ter revoke the interdiction as to aliens holding land, and in- 
 vite foreigners to engross the whole property, real and per- 
 sonal, of the country. We had better at once exchange the 
 condition of independent proprietors for that of stewards. 
 We should then be able to govern foreign nations, accord- 
 ing to the reasoning of the gentlemen on the other side. 
 But let us put aside this theory and appeal to the decisions 
 of experience. Go to the other side of the Atlantic and see 
 what has been achieved for us there by Englishmen hold- 
 ing seven-tenths of the capital of this bank. Has it released 
 from galfing and ignominious bondage one solitary Ameri- 
 can seaman bleeding under British oppression? Did it pre- 
 
ON THE BANK CHARTER. 31 
 
 vent the unmanly attack upon the Chesapeake? Did it arrest 
 the promulgation, or has it abrogated the orders in council 
 "—those orders which have given birth to a new era in com- 
 merce? In spite of all its boasted effect, are not the two na- 
 tions brought to the very brink of war? Are we quite sure, 
 that on this side of the water, it has had no effect favoura- 
 ble to British interests. It has often been stated, and al- 
 though I do not know that it is susceptible of strict proof, 
 I believe it to be a fact^ that this bank exercised its influ- 
 ence in support of Jay's treaty — and may it not have con- 
 tributed to blunt the public sentiment, or paralise the efforts 
 of this nation against British aggression. 
 
 The duke of Northumberland is said to be the most con- 
 siderable stockholder in the bank of the United States. A 
 late lord chancellor of England, besides other noblemen, 
 was a large stockholder. Suppose the prince of Essling, the 
 duke of Cadore and other French dignitaries owned seven- 
 eights of the capital of this bank, should we witness the 
 same exertions (I allude not to any made in the senate^ to 
 recharter it? So far from it, would not the danger of French 
 influence be resounded throughout the nation? 
 
 I shall therefore give my most hearty assent to th^ mo- 
 tion for striking out the first section of the bill. , ^ 
 
32 
 
 AUGMENTATION OF MILITARY FORCE. 
 
 Speech on the bill for raising an additional Military Force, 
 delivered in the House of Representatives^ in committee of 
 the whole^ 3lst December, 1811. 
 
 Mr. Clay (the speaker) said, that when the subject of this 
 bill was before the house in the abstract form of a resolu- 
 tion proposed by the committee of foreign relations, it was 
 the pleasure of the House to discuss it whilst he was in the 
 chair. He did not complain of this course of proceeding; for 
 he did not at any time wish the house, from considerations 
 personal to him, to depart from that mode of transacting the 
 public business which they thought best. He merely adverted 
 to the circumstance as an apology for the trouble he was 
 about to give the committee. He was at all times disposed 
 to take his share of responsibility, and under this impression 
 he felt that he owed it to his constituents and to himself, be- 
 fore the committee rose, to submit to their attention a few 
 observations. 
 
 He saw with regret a diversity of opinion amongst those 
 who had the happiness generally to act together, in relation 
 to the quantum of force proposed to be raised. For his part, 
 he thought it was too great for peace, and he feared too 
 small for war. He had been in favor of the number recom- 
 mended by the Senate, and he would ask gentlemen, who 
 had preferred 15,000, to take a candid and dispassionate 
 view of the subject. It was admitted, on all hands, that it 
 was a force to be raised for the purposes of war, and to be 
 kept up and used only in the event of war. It was further 
 conceded, that its principal destination would be the provin- 
 ces of our enemy. By the bill which had been passed, to com- 
 plete the peace establishment, we had authorized the collec- 
 tion of a force of about 6000 men, exclusive of those now in 
 service, which, with the 25,000 provided for bv this bill, 
 will give an aggregate of new troops of 31,000 men. Expe- 
 rience, in military affairs, has shown, that when any given 
 number of men is authorized to be raised, you must, in 
 counting upon the effective men which it will produce, de- 
 duct one-fourth or one-third for desertion, sickness and other 
 incidents to which raw troops are peculiarly exposed. 
 
AUGMENTATION OF MILITARY FORCE. 33 
 
 In measures relating to war, it is wisest, if you err at all, 
 to err on the side of the largest force, and you will conse- 
 quently put do wn your 3 1 ,000 men at not more than an effective 
 force in the field of about 21,000. This with the 4,000 now 
 in service, will amount to 25,000 effective men. The secre- 
 tary of war has stated, in his report, that for the single pur- 
 pose of manning your forts and garrisons on the sea-board 
 12,600 men are necessary. Although the whole of that 
 number will not be taken from the 25,000, a portion of it, 
 probably, will be. We are told that in Canada there are 
 between 7 and 8000 regular troops. If it is invaded the 
 whole of that force will be concentrated in Quebec, and 
 would you attempt that almost impregnable fortress with 
 less than double the force of the besieged. Gentlemen who 
 calculate upon volunteers as a substitute for regulars, ought 
 not to deceive themselves. No man appreciated higher than 
 he did the spirit of the country. But, although volunteers 
 were admirably adapted to the first operations of the war, to 
 the making of a first impression, he doubted their fitness for a 
 regular siege, or for the manning and garrisoning of forts. 
 He understood it was a rule, in military affairs, never to leave 
 in the rear a place of any strength undefended. Canada is 
 invaded; the upper part falls, and you proceed to Quebec, 
 It is true there would be no European army behind to be ap- 
 prehended; but the people of the country might rise: and he 
 warned gentlemen who imagined that the affections of the 
 Canadians were with us against trusting too confidently on 
 such a calculation, the basis of which was treason. He con- 
 cluded, therefore, that a portion of the invading army would 
 be distributed in the upper country, after its conquest, 
 amongst the places susceptible of military strength and de- 
 fence. The army, considerably reduced, sets itself down be- 
 fore Quebec. Suppose it falls. Here again will be required 
 a number of men to hold and defend it. And if the war be 
 prosecuted still farther, and the lower country and Halifax 
 be assailed, he conceived it obvious that the whole force of 
 25,000 men would not be too great. 
 
 The difference between those who were for 15,000, and 
 those who were for 25,000 men, appeared to him to resolve 
 itself into the question merely of a short or protracted war 
 — a war of vigor — or a war of languor and imbecility. If a 
 competent force be raised in the first instance, the war on 
 the continent will be speedily terminated. He was aware 
 F 
 
34 AUGMENTATION OF MILITARY FORCE. 
 
 that it might still rage on the ocean. But where the nation 
 could act with unquestionable success he was in favour of 
 the display of an energy correspondent to the feelings and 
 spirit of the country. Suppose one-third of the force he 
 had mentioned (25,000 men,) could reduce the country, say 
 in three years, and that the whole could accomplish the same 
 object in one year; taking into view the greater hazard of 
 the repulsion and defeat of the small force, and every other 
 consideration, do not wisdom and true economy equally de- 
 cide in favor of the larger force, and thus prevent failure in 
 consequence of inadequate means? He begged gentlemen 
 to recolU ct the immense extent of the United States; our vast 
 maritime frontier, vulnerable in almost all its parts to pre- 
 datory incursions, and he was persuaded they would see 
 that a regular force of 25,000 men was not much too great 
 during a period of war, if all designs of invading the provin- 
 ces of the enemy were abandoned. 
 
 Mr. C. proceeded next to examine the nature of the force 
 contemplated by the bill. It was a regular army, enlisted 
 for a limited time, raised for the sole purpose of war, and to 
 be disbanded on the return of peace. Against this army all 
 our republican jealousies and apprehensions are attempted to 
 be excited. He was not the advocate of standing armies; 
 but the standing armies which excite most his fears, are those 
 which are kept up in time of peace. He confessed he did 
 not perceive any real source of danger in a military force of 
 25,000 men in the United States, provided only for a state 
 of war, even supposing it to be corrupted and its arms turn- 
 ed by the ambition of its leaders against the freedom of the 
 country. He saw abundant security against the success of 
 any such treasonable attempt. The diffusion of political 
 information amongst the great body of the people constituted 
 a powerful safeguard. The American character has been 
 much abusedby Europeans, whose tourists, whether on horse 
 or foot, in verse and prose have united in depreciating it. 
 It is true that we do not exhibit as many signal instances of 
 scientific acquirement in this country as are furnished in the 
 world; but he believed it undeniable that the great mass 
 
 the people possessed more intelligence than any other 
 people on the globe. Such a people consisting of upwards 
 of seven millions, affording a physical power of about a mil- 
 lion of men, capable of bearing arms, and ardently devoted 
 to liberty, could not be subdued by an army of 25,000 men. 
 
AUGMENTATION OP MILITARY FORCE. 35 
 
 The wide extent of country over which we are spread was 
 another security. In other countries, France and England 
 for example, the fall of Paris or London is the fall ol the 
 nation. Her e are no such dangerous aggregations of people. 
 New York, and Philadelphia, and Boston, and every city on 
 the Atlantic, might be subdued by an usurper, and he would 
 have made but a small advance in the accomplishment of his 
 purpose. He would add a still more improbable supposition, 
 that the country east of the Allegany was to submit to the 
 ambition of some daring chief, and, he insisted, that the lib- 
 erty of the Union would be still unconquered. It would 
 find successful support from the west. We are not only in 
 the situation just described, but a great portion of the mili- 
 tia — nearly the whole, he understood, ofthatot Massachusetts 
 — have arms in their hands; and he trusted in God that that 
 great object would be persevered in until every man in the 
 nation could proudly shoulder the musket which was to de- 
 fend his country and himself. A people having, besides the 
 benefit of one general government, other local governments 
 in full operation, capable of exerting and commanding great 
 portions of the physical power, all of which must be pros- 
 trated before our constitution is subverted. Such a people 
 have nothing to fear from a petty contemptible force of 25, 
 000 regulars. 
 
 Mr. C. proceeded more particularly to inquire into the ob- 
 ject of the force. That object, he understood distinctly to 
 be war, and war with Great Britain. It had been supposed 
 by some gentlemen improper to discuss publicly so delicate 
 a question. He did not feel the impropriety. It was a sub- 
 ject in its nature incapable of concealment. Even in coun- 
 tries where the powers of government were conducted by a 
 single ruler, it was almost impossible for that ruler to conceal 
 his intentions when he meditates war. The assembling of 
 armies — the strengthening of posts — all the movements pre- 
 paratory to war, and which it is impossible to disguise, un- 
 folded the intentions of the sovereign. Does Russia or Francq 
 intend war, the intention is almost invariably known be- 
 fore the war is commenced. If congress were to pass a 
 law, with closed doors, for raising an army for the purpose 
 of war, its enlistment and organization, which could not be 
 done in secret, would indicate the use to which it was to be 
 applied; and we cannot suppose England would be so blind 
 as not to see that she was aimed at. Nor could she, did 
 
36 AUGMENTATION OF MILITARY FORCE- 
 
 he apprehend, injure us more by thus knowing our purposes 
 than if she were kept in ignorance of them. She may, indeed, 
 anticipate us, and commence the war. But that is what she 
 is in fact doing, and she can add but little to the injury 
 which she is inflicting. If she choose to declare war in form, 
 let her do so, the responsibility will be with her. 
 
 What are we to gain by the war, has been emphatically 
 asked In reply, he would ask, what are we not to lose by peace? 
 Commerce, character, a nation's best treasure, honor! If pe- 
 cuniary considerations alone are to govern, there is sufficient 
 motive for the war. Our revenue is reduced by the opera- 
 tion of the belligerent edicts to about six millions of dollars, 
 according to the secretary of the treasury's report. The 
 year preceding the embargo it was sixteen. Take away 
 the orders in council, it will again mount up to sixteen mil- 
 lions. By continuing therefore in peace, (if the mongrel state 
 in which we are deserve that denomination,) we lose annu- 
 ally in revenue alone, ten millions of dollars. Gentlemen will 
 say, repeal the law of non-importation. He contended that 
 if the United States were capable of that perfidy, the re- 
 venue would not be restored to its former state, the orders 
 in council continuing. Without an export trade, which those 
 orders prevent, inevitable ruin would ensue, if we imported 
 as freely as we did prior to the embargo. A nation that car- 
 ries on an import trade without an export trade to support it 
 must, in the end, be as certainly bankrupt, as the individual 
 would be, who incurred an annual expenditure without an in- 
 come. 
 
 He had no disposition to magnify, or dwell upon the ca- 
 talogue of injuries we had received from England. He could 
 not, however, overlook the impressment of our seamen; 
 an aggression upon which he never reflected without feel- 
 ings of indignation, which would not allow him appropriate 
 language to describe its enormity. Not content with seiz- 
 ing upon all our property which falls within her rapacious 
 grasp, the personal rights of our countrymen — rights which 
 forever ought to be sacred, are trampled upon and violated. 
 The orders in council were pretended to have been reluc- 
 tantly adopted as a measure of retaliation. The French de- 
 crees, their alleged basis, are revoked. England resorts to 
 the expttdient of denying the fact of the revocation, and Sir 
 William Scott, in the celebrated case of Fox and others, 
 suspends judgment that proof may be adduced of it. At 
 
AUGMENTATION OF MILITARY FORCE. 37 
 
 the same moment when the British ministry, through that 
 judge, is thus affecting to controvert that fact, and to place 
 the release of our property upon its establishment, instruc- 
 tions are prepared for Mr. Foster to meet at Washington the 
 very revocation which they were contesting. And how does 
 he meet it? By fulfilling the engagement solemnly made to 
 rescind the orders? No, sir, but by demanding that we shall 
 secure the introduction into the continent of British manu- 
 factures? 
 
 England is said to be fighting for the world, and shall we, 
 it is asked, attempt to weaken her exertions? If indeed the 
 aim of the French emperor be universal dominion (and he was 
 willing to allow it to the argument) how much nobler a cause 
 is presented to British valor! But how is her philanthropic 
 purpose to be achieved? By a scrupulous observance of the 
 rights of others; by respecting that code of public law 
 which she professes to vindicate — and by abstaining from 
 self-aggrandizement. Then would she command the sympa- 
 thies of the world. What are we required to do by those who 
 would engage our feelings and wishes in her behalf? To bear 
 the actual cuffs of her arrogance, that we may escape a chi- 
 merical French subjugation! We are invited — conjured to 
 drink the portion of British poison actually presented to our 
 lips, that we may avoid the imperial dose prepared by per- 
 turbed imaginations. We are called upon to submit to de- 
 basement, dishonor and disgrace — to bow the neck to roy- 
 al insolence, as a course of preparation for manly resistance 
 to gallic invasion! What nation, what individual was ever 
 taught, in the schools of ignominious submission, these pa- 
 triotic lessons of freedom and independence? Let those who 
 contend for this humiliating doctrine read its refutation in 
 the history of the very man against whose insatiable thirst ot 
 dominion we are warned. The experience of desolated 
 Spain, for the last fifteen years, is worth volumes. Did 
 she find her repose and safety in subserviency to the will 
 of that man? Had she boldly stood forth and repelled the first 
 attempt to dictate to her councils, her monarch would not be 
 now a miserable captive in Marseilles. Let us come home 
 to our own history; it was not by submission that our fathers 
 achieved our independence. The patriotic wisdom that 
 placed you, Mr. Chairman, under that canopy, penetrated the 
 designs of a corrupt ministry, and nobly fronted encroachment 
 on its first appearance. It saw, beyond the petty taxes with 
 
38 AUGMENTATION OF MILITARY FORCE, 
 
 which it commenced, a long train of oppressive mea- 
 sures terminating in the total annihilation of liberty, and 
 contemptible as they were, it did not hesitate to resist them. 
 Take the experience of the last four or five years, which he 
 was sorry to say exhibited, in appearance at least, a 
 different kind of spirit. He did not wish to view the past 
 further than to guide us for the future. We were but yes- 
 terday contending for the indirect trade — the right to export 
 to Europe the coffee and sugar of the West Indies. To-day 
 we are asserting our claim to the direct trade — the right to 
 export our cotton, tobacco and other domestic produce to 
 market. Yield this point, and to-morrow intercourse between 
 New York and New Orleans — between the planters on James 
 river and Richmond will be interdicted. For, sir, the ca- 
 reer of encroachment is never arrested by submission. It 
 will advance while there remains a single privilege on which 
 it can operate. Gentlemen say that this government is unfit 
 forany war, butawarof invasion. What,isit not equivalent to 
 invasion if the mouths of our harbours and outlets are blocked 
 up, and we are denied egress from our own waters? Or, 
 when the burglar is at our door, shall we bravely sally forth 
 and repel his felonious entrance, or meanly sculk within the 
 cells of the castle. 
 
 He contended that the real cause of British aggression, 
 was not to distress an enemy, but to destroy a rival. A 
 comparative view of our commerce with England and the 
 continent, would satisfy anyone of the truth of this remark. 
 Prior to the embargo, the balance of trade between this 
 country and England was between eleven and fifteen millions 
 of dollars in favour of England. Our consumption of her 
 manufactures was annually increasing, and had risen to near- 
 ly fifty millions of dollars. We exported to her what she 
 most wanted, provisions and raw materials for her manufac- 
 tures, and received in return what she was most desirous to 
 sell. Our exports to France, Holland, Spain and Italy, ta- 
 king an average of the years, 1802, 3, and 4, amounted to 
 about Si 2,000,000 of domestic, and about 818,000,000 of 
 foreign produce. Our imports from the same countries 
 amounted to about §25,000,000. The foreign produce ex- 
 ported consisted chiefly of luxuries from the West Indies. 
 It is apparent that this trade, the balance of which was in 
 favor not of France but of the United States, was not of very 
 vital consequence to the enemy of England* Would she. 
 
AUGMENTATION OF MILITiiRY FORCE. 39 
 
 therefore, for the sole purpose of depriving her adversary 
 of this commerce, relinquish her valuable trade with this 
 country, exhibiting the essential balance in her favor — nay 
 more, hazard the peace of the country? No, sir, you must 
 look for an explanation of her conduct in the jealousies of a 
 rival. She sickens at your prosperity, and beholds in your 
 growth — your sails spread on every ocean, and your nume- 
 rous seamen, the foundations of apowerwhich,at novery dis- 
 tant day, is to make her tremble for her naval superiority. 
 He had omitted before to notice the loss of our seamen, if 
 we continued in our present situation. What would become 
 of the 100,000 (for he understood there was about that num- 
 ber) in the American service? Would they not leave us and 
 seek employment abroad, perhaps in the very country that 
 injures us? 
 
 It is said that the effect of the war at home, will be a 
 change of those who administer the government, who will 
 be replaced by others that will make a disgraceful peace. 
 He did not believe it. Not a man in the nation could really 
 doubt the sincerity with which those in power have sought, 
 by all honorable and pacific means, to protect the interests of 
 the country. When the people saw exercised towards both 
 belligerents the utmost impartiality, witnessed the same equal 
 terms tendered to both; andbcheldthegovernmentsuccessive- 
 ly embracing an accommodation with each in exactly the 
 same spirit of amity, he was fully persuaded, now that war 
 was the only alternative left to us by the injustice of one of 
 the powers, that the support and confidence of the people 
 would remain undiminished. He was one, however, who 
 was prepared (and he would not believe that he was more 
 so than any other member of the committee) to march on 
 in the road of his duty at all hazards. What! shall it be 
 said that our amor patriae is located at these desks — that we 
 pusillanimously cling to our seats here, rather than boldly vin- 
 dicate the most inestimable rights of the country? Whilst 
 the heroic Daviess and his gallant associates, exposed to all 
 the dangers of treacherous savage warfare, are sacrificing 
 themselves for the good of their country, shall we shrink 
 from our duty? 
 
 He concluded, by hoping that his remarks had tended to 
 prove that the quantum of the force required was not too 
 great — that in its nature it was free from the objections 
 urged against it, and that the object of its application was 
 one imperiously called for by the present peculiar crisis. 
 
40 
 
 INCREASE OF THE NAVY. 
 
 Speech on the Navy Bill, delivered in the House of /Represen- 
 tatives, January 22, 1812. 
 
 Mr. Clay (the speaker,) rose to present his views on the 
 bill before the committee. He said as he did not precisely 
 agree in opinion with any gentleman who had spoken, he 
 should take the liberty of detaining the committee a few 
 moments, while he offered to their attention some observa- 
 tions. He was highly gratified with the temper and ability 
 with which the discussion had hitherto been conducted. It 
 was honourable to the house, and, he trusted, would conti- 
 nue to be manifested on many future occasions. 
 
 On this interesting topic a diversity of opinion has exist- 
 ed almost ever since the adoption of the present govern- 
 ment. On the one hand, there appeared to him to have been 
 attempts made to precipitate the nation into all the evils of 
 naval extravagance, which had been productive of so much 
 mischief in other countries; and, on the other, strongly feel- 
 ing this mischief, there has existed an unreasonable preju- 
 dice against providing such a competent naval protection 
 for our commercial and maritime rights as is demanded by 
 their importance, and as the increased resources of the coun- 
 try amply justify. 
 
 The attention of congress has been invited to this subject 
 by the president, in his message delivered at the opening 
 of the session. Indeed, had it been wholly neglected by the 
 chief magistrate, from the critical situation of the country, 
 and the nature of the rights proposed to be vindicated, it 
 must have pressed itself upon our attention. But, said Mr. 
 Clay, the president in his message observes: " Your atten- 
 tion will, of course, be drawn to such provisions on the sub- 
 ject of our naval force as may be required for the service 
 to which it is best adapted. 1 submit to congress the sea- 
 sonableness also of an authority to augment the stock of 
 such materials as are imperishable in their nature or may 
 not at once be attainable?" The president, by this recom- 
 mendation, clearly intimates an opinion that the naval force 
 of this country is capable of producing effect; and the pro- 
 
ON THE INCREASE OF THE NAVY. 41 
 
 pTiety of laying up imperishable materials, was no doubt 
 suggested lor the purpose of making additions to the navy, 
 as convenience and exigences might direct. 
 
 It appeared to Mr. C. a little extraordinary that so much, 
 as it seemed to him, unreasonable jealousy should exist 
 against the naval establishment. If, said he, we look back 
 to the period of the formation of the constitution, it will be 
 found that no such jealousy was then excited. In placing 
 the physical force of the nation at the disposal of congress, 
 the convention manifested much greater apprehension of 
 abuse in the power given to ^ aise armies, than in that to pro- 
 vide a navy. In reference to the navy, congress is put 
 under no restrictions; but with respect to the army — that 
 description of force which has been so often employed to 
 subvert the liberties of mankind— they are subjected to lim- 
 itations designed to prevent the abuse of this dangerous 
 power. But it was not his intention to detain the committee 
 by a discussion on the comparative utility and safety of 
 these two kinds of force. He would, however, be in- 
 dulged in saying, that he thought gentlemen had wholly 
 failed in maintaining the position they had assumed, that 
 the fall of maritime powers was attributable to their navies. 
 They have told you, indeed, that Carthage, Genoa, Venice, 
 and other nations had navies, and notwithstanding were 
 finally destroyed. But have they shown by a train of 
 argument, that their overthrow was, in any degree, attribu- 
 table to their maritime greatness? Have they attempted even 
 to show that there exists in the nature of this power a ne- 
 cessary tendency to destroy the nation using it? Assertion 
 is substituted for argument; inferences not authorized by 
 historical facts are arbitrarily drawn; things wholly uncon- 
 nected with each other are associated together — a very logi- 
 cal mode of reasoning, it must be admitted! In the same 
 way he could demonstrate how idle and absurd our attach- 
 ments are to freedom itself He might say for example, that 
 Greece and Rome had forms of free government, and that 
 they no longer exist; and, deducing their fall from their de- 
 votion to liberty, the conclusion, in favor of despotism, 
 would very satisfactorily follow! He demanded what there is 
 in the nature and construction of maritime power to excite 
 the fears that have been indulged? Do gentlemen really ap- 
 prehend that a body of seamen will abandon their proper 
 element, and, placing themselves under an aspiring chiefs 
 G 
 
42 ON THE rNCREASE OF THE NAVY. 
 
 will erect a throne to his ambition? Will they deign to listen 
 to the voice of history, and learn how chimerical are their 
 apprehensions? 
 
 But the source of alarm is in ourselves. Gentlemen fear 
 that if we provide a marine it will produce collisions with 
 foreign nations — plunge us into war, and ultimately over- 
 turn the constitution of the country. Sir, if you wish to 
 avoid foreign collision you had better abandon the ocean — 
 surrender all your commerce; give up all your prosperity. It 
 is the thing protected, not the instrument of protection, that 
 involves you in war. Commerce engenders collision, colli- 
 sion war, and war, the argument supposes, leads to despo- 
 tism. Would the councils of that statesman be deemed wise 
 who would recommend that the nation should be unarmed — 
 that the art of war, the martial spirit, and martial exercises, 
 should be prohibited — who should declare in the language of 
 Oihelio that the nation must bid farewell to the neighing 
 steed, and the shrill trump, the spirit stirring drum, the ear 
 piercing fife, and all the pride, pomp and circumstance 
 of glorious war — and that the great body of the people 
 should be taught that national happiness was to be found in 
 perpetual peace alone? No, Sir. And yet every argument 
 in favor of a power of protection on land applies, in some 
 degree, to a power of protection on the sea. Undoubtedly 
 a commerce void of naval protection is more exposed to 
 rapacity than a guarded commerce; and if we wish to invite 
 the continuance of the old or the enactment o; new edicts, let 
 us refrain from all exertion upon that element where we must 
 operate, and where, in the end, they must be resisted. 
 
 For his part (Mr. C. said) he did not allow himself to be 
 alarmed by those apprehensions of maritime power which 
 appeared to agitate other gentlemen. In the nature of our 
 government he beheld abundant security against abuse. He 
 would be unwilling to tax the land to support the rights of the 
 sea, and was for drawing from the sea itself the resources 
 with which its violated freedom should at all times be vin- 
 dicated. Whilst this principle is adhered to there will be 
 no danger of running into the folly and extravagance which 
 so much alarms gentlemen; and whenever it is abandoned — • 
 whenever congress shall lay burthensome taxes to augment 
 the navy beyond what may be authorized by the increased 
 wealth, and demanded by the exigences of the country, the 
 people will interpose, and removing their unworthy repre- 
 
ON THE INCREASE OF THE NAVY. 43 
 
 sentatives, apply the appropriate corrective. Mr. C. then 
 could not see any just ground of dread in the nature of na- 
 val power. It was on the contrary free from the evils attend- 
 ant upon standing armies. And the genius of our institutions, 
 — the great representative principle, in the practical enjoy- 
 ment of which we are so eminently distinguished, afforded 
 the best guarantee against the ambition and wasteful extra- 
 vagance of government. — What maritime strength is it ex- 
 pedient to provide for the United States? In considering this 
 subject three different degrees of naval power present them- 
 selves. In the first place, such a force as would be capable 
 of contending with that which any other nation is able to 
 bring on the ocean — a force that, boldly scouring every sea, 
 would challenge to combat the fleets of other powers how- 
 ever great. He admitted it was impossible at this time, per- 
 haps it never would be desirable, for this country to establish 
 so extensive a navy. Indeed he should consider it as mad- 
 ness in the extreme in this government to attempt to provide 
 a navy able to cope with the fleets of Great Britain, wherev- 
 er they might be met. 
 
 The next species of naval power, to which he would ad- 
 vert, is that which, without adventuring into distant seas, 
 and keeping generally in our own harbours, and on our 
 coasts, would be competent to beat off any squadron which 
 might be attempted to be permanently stationed in our wa- 
 ters. His friends from South Carolina, (^Messers Cheves and 
 Lowndes) had satisfactorily shown that to effect this object, 
 a force equivalent only to one-third ol that which the main- 
 tenance of such a squadron must require, would be sufficient 
 ' — that if, for example, England should determine to station 
 permanently upon our coast a squadron of twelve ships of the 
 line, it would require for this service thirty-six ships of the 
 line, one-third in port repairing, one-third on the passage, 
 and one third on the station. But that is a force which it 
 has been shown that even England, with her boasted navy, 
 could not spare for the American service, whilst she is en- 
 gaged in the presentcontest. Mr. C. said, that he was desirous 
 of seeing such a force as he had described, that is iwelv e ships 
 of the line and fifteen or twenty frigates provided forthe Unit- 
 ed States; but he admitted that it was unattainable in the pre- 
 sent situation of the finances of the country. He contended, 
 however, that it was such as congress ought to set about 
 providing, and he hoped in less than ten years to see it ac- 
 
44. ON THE INCREASE OF THE NAVY. 
 
 tually established. He was far from surveying the vast mar- 
 itime power of Great Britain with the desponding eye with 
 which other gentlemen beheld it. He could not allow himself 
 to be discouraged at a prospect of even her thousand ships. 
 This country only required resolution and a proper exer- 
 tion of its immense resources to command respect, and to 
 vindicate every essential right. When we consider our re- 
 moteness from Europe, the expense, difficulty, and perils to 
 which any squadron would be exposed while stationed off our 
 coasts, he entertained no doubt that the force to which he 
 referred would ensure the command of our own seas. Such 
 a force would avail itself of our extensive sea board and 
 numerous harbours, every where affording asylums, to which 
 it could safely retire from a superior fleet, or from which it 
 could issue for the purpose of annoyance. To the opinion 
 of his colleague (Mr. M'Kee) who appeared to think that 
 it was in vain for us to make any struggle on the ocean, he 
 would oppose the sentiments of his distinguished connexion, 
 the heroic Daviess, who fell in the batde of Tippecanoe. 
 [ Here Mr. C. read certain parts of a work written by Col. 
 Daviess, in which the author attempts to show, that as the 
 aggressions upon our commerce were not committed by fleets, 
 but by single vessels, they could in the same manner be best 
 retaliated: that the force of about twenty or thirty frigates 
 would be capable of inflicting great injury on English com- 
 merce by picking up stragglers, cutting off" convoys, and seiz- 
 ing upon every moment of supineness; and that such a force, 
 with our seaports and harbours well fortified, and aided by 
 privateers, would be really formidable, and would annoy 
 the British navy and commerce, just as the French army was 
 assailed in Egypt, the Persian army in Scythia, and the Ro- 
 man army in Parthia.3 
 
 The third description of force, worthy of consideration, 
 is that which would be able to prevent any single vessel, of 
 whatever metal, from endangering our whole coasting trade, 
 blocking up our harbours, and laying under contribution our 
 cities — a force competent to punish the insolence of the 
 commander of any single ship, and to preserve in our own 
 jurisdiction the inviolability of our peace and our laws. A 
 force of this kind is entirely within the compass of our 
 means, at this time. Is there a reflecting man in the nation 
 who would not charge congress with a culpable neglect of 
 its duty, if, for the want of such a force, a single ship were 
 
ON THE INCREASE OF THE NAVY. 45 
 
 to bombard one of our cities! Would not every honourable 
 member of the committee inflict on himself the bitterest re- 
 proaches, if,gby failing to make an inconsiderable addition 
 to our little gallant navy, a single British vessel should place 
 New York under contribution! Yes, Sir, when the city is in 
 flames, its wretched inhabitants begin to repent of their ne- 
 glect, in not providing engines and water buckets. If, said 
 Mr. C. we are not able to meet the wolves of the forest, 
 shall we put up with the barking impudence of every petty 
 cur that trips across our way? Because we cannot guard 
 against every possible danger shall we provide against none? 
 He hoped not. He had hardly expected that the instruct- 
 ing, but humiliating lesson was so soon to be forgotten which 
 was taught us in the murder of Pierce — the attack on the 
 Chesapeake — and the insult offered in the very harbour of 
 Charleston, which the brave old fellow who commanded the 
 fort in vain endeavored to chastise. It was a rule with Mr. 
 C. when acting either in a public or private character, to 
 attempt nothing more than what there existed a prospect of 
 accomplishing. He was therefore not in favor of entering 
 into any mad projects on this subject; but for deliberately 
 and resolutely pursuing what he believed to be within the 
 power of government. Gentlemen refer to the period of 
 1798, and we are reminded of the principles maintained by 
 the opposition at that time. He had no doubt of the cor- 
 rectness of that opposition. The naval schemes of that day 
 were premature, not warranted by the resources of the 
 country, and were contemplated for an unnecessary war into 
 which the nation was about to be plunged. He always ad- 
 mired and approved the zeal and ability with which that 
 opposition was conducted by the distinguished gentleman 
 now at the head of the treasury. But the state of things is 
 totally altered. What was folly in 1798 may be wisdom now. 
 At that time we had a revenue only of about six millions. 
 Our revenue now upon a supposition that commerce is re- 
 stored, is about sixteen millions. The population of the 
 country too is greatly increased, nearly doubled, and the 
 wealth of the nation is perhaps tripled. Whilst our ability 
 to construct a navy is thus enhanced, the necessary maritime 
 protection is proportionably augniented. Independent of the 
 extension of our commerce, since the year 1798, we have 
 had an addition of more than five hundred miles to our 
 coast, from the bay of Perdido to the mouth of the Sabine — 
 
46 ON THE INCREASE OF THE NAVY. 
 
 a weak and defenceless accession, requiring more than any 
 other part of our maritime frontier, the protecting arm of 
 government. 
 
 The groundless imputation, that those who were friendly 
 to a navy were espousing a principle inimical to freedom, 
 should not terrify him. He was not ashamed when in such 
 company as the illustrious author of the notes on Virginia, 
 whose opinion on the subject of a navy, contained in that 
 work, contributed to the formation of his own. But the prin- 
 ciple of a navv, Mr. C. contended, was no longer open to 
 controversy. It was decided when Mr. Jefferson came into 
 power. With all the prejudices against a navy which are al- 
 leged by some to have been then brought into the adminis- 
 tration — with many honest prejudices he admitted — the 
 rash attempt was not made to destroy the establishment. It 
 was reduced to only what was supposed to be within the 
 financial capacity of the country. If, ten years ago, when 
 all those prejudices were to be combatted, even in time of 
 peace, it was deemed proper, by the then administration to 
 retain in service ten frigates, he put it to the candor of gen- 
 tlemen to say, if now, when we are on the eve of a war, and 
 taking into view the actual growth of the country, and the 
 acquisition of our coast on the Gulf of Mexico, we ought not 
 to add to the establishment. 
 
 Mr. C. said he had hitherto alluded more particularly to 
 the exposed situation of certain parts of the Atlantic fron- 
 tier Whilst he felt the deepest solicitude for the safety of 
 New York and other cities on the coast, he would be par- 
 doned by the committee for referring to the interests of that 
 section ot the union from which he came. If, said he, there 
 be a point more than any other in the United States, demand- 
 ing the aid of naval protection, that point is the mouth of the 
 Mississippi. What is the population of the western country, 
 dependent on this single outlet for its surplus productions? 
 Kentucky, according to the last enumeration, has 406,511, 
 Tennessee 261,727, and Ohio 230,760 And when the popu- 
 lation of the western parts of Virginia and Pennsylvania 
 and the territories which are drainea by the Mississippi or 
 its waters, is added, it will form an aggregate equal to aljout 
 one-fifth of ihe whole population of the United States, resting 
 all their commeniai hopes upon this solitary vent! The 
 bulky articlts of which their surplus productions consist can 
 be transported no other way. They will not bear the ex- 
 
ON THE INCREASE OF THE NAVY. 47 
 
 pense of a carnage up the Ohio and Tennessee and across 
 the mountains, and the circuitous voyage of the lakes is 
 out of the question. Whilst most other states have the option 
 of numerous outlets, so that if one he closed resort can be 
 had to others, this vast population has no alternative. Close 
 the mouth of the Mississippi and their export trade is ani- 
 hilated. He called the attention of his western friends, es- 
 pecially his worthy Kentucky friends (from whom he felt 
 himself with regret constrained to differ on this occasion) 
 to the state of the public feeling in that quarter, whilst the 
 navigation of the Mississippi was withheld by Spain; and to 
 the still more recent period when the right of depot was 
 violated. The whole country was in commotion, and at the 
 nod of government would have fallen on Baton Rouge and 
 New Orleans and punished the treachery of a perfidious 
 government. Abandon all idea of protecting, by maritime 
 force, the mouth of the Mississippi and we shall have the 
 recurrence of many similar scenes. We shall hold the inesti- 
 mable right of the navigation of that river b) the most pre- 
 carious tenure. The whole commerce of the Mississippi — a 
 commerce that is destined to be the richest that was ever 
 borne by a single stream — is placed at the mercy of a single 
 ship lying off the Balize! Again: the convulsions of the 
 new world, still more perhaps than those of Europe, chal- 
 lenge our attention. Whether the ancient dynasty of Spain 
 is still to be upheld or subverted, is extremely uncertain, if 
 the bonds connecting the parent country with her colonies 
 are not forever broken. What is to become of Cuba? Will 
 it assert independence or remain the province of some Eu- 
 ropean power? In either case the whole trade of the western 
 country, which must pass almost within gun-shot of the 
 Moro Castle, is exposed to danger. It was not however of 
 Cuba he was afraid. He wished her independent. But sup- 
 pose England gets possession of that valuable island. With 
 Cuba on the south and Halifax on the north — and the con- 
 sequent means of favouring or annoying commerce of par- 
 ticular sections of the country — he asked if the most sanguine 
 amongst us would not tremble for the integrity of the union? 
 If along with Cuba, Great Britain should acquire East Flori- 
 da, she will have the absolute command of the Gulf of Mexi- 
 co. Can gentlemen, particularly gentlemen from the western 
 country, contemplate such possible, nay probable, events, 
 without desiring to see at least the commencement of such 
 
48 ON THE INCREASE OF THE NAVY 
 
 a naval establishment as would effectually protect the Mis- 
 sissippi? He intreated them to turn their attention to the 
 defenceless situation of the Orleans Territory, and to the 
 nature of its population. It is known that whilst under the 
 Spanish government they experienced the benefit of naval 
 security. Satisfy them that under the government of the 
 United States, they will enjoy less protection, and you dis- 
 close the most fatal secret. 
 
 The general government receives annually for the public 
 lands, about ^600,000. One of the sources whence the wes- 
 tern people raise this sum, is the exportation of the surplus 
 productions of that country. Shut up the Mississippi, and 
 this source is in a great measure dried up. But suppose this 
 government to look upon the occlusion of the Mississippi 
 without making an effort on that element, where alone it 
 could be made successfully, to remove the blockading force, 
 and at the same time to be vigorously pressing payment for 
 the public lands; he shuddered at the consequences. Deep 
 rooted as he knew the affections of the western people to 
 be to the Union, (and he would not admit their patriotism 
 to be surpassed by any other quarter of the country) if such 
 a state of things were to last any considerable time, he 
 should seriously apprehend a withdrawal of their confidence. 
 Nor, sir, could we derive any apology for the failure to af- 
 ford this protection from the want ot the materials for na- 
 val architecture. On the contrary all the articles entering 
 into the construction of a navy, iron, hemp, timber, pitch, 
 abound in the greatest quantities on the waters of the Mis- 
 sissippi. Kentucky alone, he had no doubt, raised hemp 
 enough the last year for the whole consumption of the Uni- 
 ted States. 
 
 If, as he conceived, gentlemen had been unsuccessful in 
 showing that the downfall of maritime nations was ascriba- 
 ble to their navies, they have been more fortunate in show- 
 ing by the instances to which they had referred, that with- 
 out a marine no foreign commerce could exist to any extent. 
 It is the appropriate — the natural (if the term may be allow- 
 ed) connexion of foreign commerce. The shepherd and his 
 faithful dog are not more necessary to guard the flocks that 
 browze and gambol on the neighbouring mountain. He con- 
 sidered the prosperity of foreign commerce indissolubly 
 allied to marine power. Neglect to provide the one and you 
 must abandon the other. Suppose the expected war with 
 
ON THE INCREASE OF THE NAVY. 49 
 
 England is commenced, you enter and subjugate Canada, 
 and she still refuses to do you justice — what other possible 
 mode will remain to operate on the enemy but upon that 
 element where alone you can then come in contact with him? 
 And if you do not prepare to protect there your own com- 
 merce and to assail his, will he not sweep from the ocean 
 every vessel bearing your flag, and destroy even the coast- 
 ing trade? But from the arguments of gentlemen it would 
 seem to be questioned if foreign commerce is worth the kind 
 of protection insisted upon. What is this foreign commerce 
 that has suddenly become so inconsiderable? It has, with 
 very trifling aid from other sources, defrayed the expenses 
 of government ever since the adoption of the present con- 
 stitution — maintained an expensive and successful war with 
 the Indians — a war with the Barbary powers — a quasi war 
 with France — sustained the charges of suppressing two in- 
 surrections, and extinguishing upwards of forty-six millions 
 of the public debt. In revenue it has, since the year 1789, 
 yielded one hundred and ninety-one millions of dollars. Dur- 
 ing the first four years after the commencement of the pre- 
 sent government the revenue averaged only about two mil- 
 lions annually — during a subsequent period of four years it 
 rose to an average of fifteen millions annually, or became equi- 
 valent to a capital of two hundred and fifty millions of dol- 
 lars, at an interest of six per centum per annum. And if our 
 commerce is re-established it will, in the course of time, 
 nett a sum for which we are scarcely furnished with figures 
 in arithmetic. Taking the average of the last nine years 
 fcomprehending of course the season of the embargo) our 
 exports average upwards of thirty-seven millions of dollars, 
 which is equivalent to a capital of more than six hundred 
 millions of dollars at six per centum interest, all of which must 
 be lost in the event of a destruction of foreign commerce. In 
 the abandonment of that commerce is also involved the sa- 
 crifice of our brave tars, who have engaged in the pursuit 
 from which they derive subsistence and support, under the 
 confidence that government would afford them that just pro- 
 tection which is due to all. They will be driven into foreign 
 employment, for it is vain to expect that they will renounce 
 their habits of life. 
 
 The spirit of commercial enterprize so strongly depicted 
 by the gentleman from New York (Mr. Mitch.el,) is diffus- 
 ed throughout the country. It is a passion as unconquerable 
 H 
 
so ON THE INCREASE OF THE NAVY. 
 
 as any with which nature has endowed us. You may at- 
 tenrjpt indeed to regulate but you cannot destroy it. It ex- 
 hibits itself as wt-U on the waters of the western country as 
 on the waters and shores of the Atlantic. Mr. C. had 
 heard of a vessel built at Pittsburg having crossed the At- 
 lantic and entered an European port (he believed that of 
 Leghorn.) The master of the vessel laid his papers before 
 the proper custom officer, which, of course, stated the place 
 of her departure. The officer boldly denied the existence of 
 any such American port as Pittsburg, and threatened a sei- 
 zure of the vessel as being furnished with forged papers. 
 The affrighted master procured a map of the United States, 
 and, pointing out the gulf of Mexico, took the officer to the 
 mouth of the Mississippi — traced the course of the Missis- 
 sippi more than a thousand miles to the mouth of the Ohio; 
 and conducting him still a thousand miles higher, to the 
 junction of the Alleghany and Monongahela — there, he ex- 
 claimed, stands Pittsburg, the port from which I sailed! 
 The custom house officer, prior to the production of this ev- 
 idence, would have as soon believed that the vessel had 
 performed a voyage from the moon. 
 
 In delivering the sentiments he had expressed, Mr. C. 
 considered himself as conforming to a sacred constitutional 
 duty. When the power to provide a navy was confided to 
 congress, it must have been the intention of the convention 
 to submit only to the discretion of that body the period 
 when that power should be exercised. That period had, in 
 his opinion, arrived, at least for making a respectable be- 
 ginning. And whilst he thus discharged what he conceived 
 to be his duty, he derived great pleasure from the reflection 
 that he was supporting a measure calculated to impart ad- 
 ditional strength to our happy Union. Diversified as are the 
 interests of its various parts, how admirably do they har- 
 monise and blend together! We have only to make a proper 
 use of the bounties spread before us, to render us prosper- 
 ous and powerful. Such a navy as he had contended for, 
 will form a new bond of connexion between the states, con- 
 centrating their hopes, their interests and their affections. 
 
51 
 
 ON THE NEW ARMY BILL. 
 
 Speech on the New Army Bill^ delivered in the House of 
 Representatives y January, 1813. 
 
 Mr. Clay (the speaker,) said he was gratified yesterday 
 by the recommitment of this bill to a committee of the 
 whole house, from two considerations; one, since it afforded 
 him a slight relaxation from a most fatiguing situation; and 
 the other, because it furnished him with an opportunity of 
 presenting to the committee, his sentiments upon the im- 
 portant topics which had been mingled in the debate. He 
 regretied, however, that the necessity under which the 
 chairman had been placed of putting the question,* pre- 
 cluded the opportunity he had wished to enjoy, of render- 
 ing more acceptable to the committee any thing he might 
 have to offer on the interesting points, on which it was his 
 duty to touch. Unprepared, however, as he was to speak 
 on this day, of which he was the more sensible, from the 
 ill state of his health, he would solicit the attention of the 
 committee for a few moments. 
 
 I was a little astonished, I confess, said Mr. C. when I 
 found this bill permitted to pass silently through the com- 
 mittee of the whole, and, not selected, until the moment 
 when the question was about to be put for its third reading, 
 as the subject on which gentlemen in the opposition chose 
 to lay before the House their views of the interesting atti- 
 tude in which the nation stands. It did appear to me, that 
 the Loan bill, which will soon come before us, would have 
 afforded a much more proper occasion, it being more essen- 
 tial, as providing the ways and means for the prosecution 
 of the war. But the gentlemen had the right of selection, 
 and having exercised it, no matter how improperly, 1 am 
 gratified, whatever I may think of the character of some 
 part of the debate, at the latitude in which for once, they 
 have been indulged. I claim only, in return, of gentlemen 
 
 * The chairman had risen to put the question, which would have cut 
 Mr. C. off from the opportunity of speaking', by carrying the bill to the 
 House. — Editor. 
 
52 ON THE NEW ARMY BILL. 
 
 on the other side of the House, and of the committee, a like 
 indulgence in expressing my sentiments, with the same un- 
 restrained freedom. Perhaps in the course of the remarks 
 which I may feel myself called upon to make, gentlemen 
 may apprehend that they assume too harsh an aspect: but I 
 have only now to say, that I shall speak of parties, measures, 
 and things, as they strike my moral sense, protesting against 
 the imputation of any intention, on my part, to wound the 
 feelings of any gentlemen. 
 
 Considering the situation in which this country is now 
 placed, — a state of actual war, with one of the most powerful 
 nations on the earth, — it may not be useless to take a view 
 of the past, and of the various parties which have at differ- 
 ent times appeared in this country, and to attend to the 
 manner by which we have been driven from a peaceful pos- 
 ture, to our present warlike attitude. Such an inquiry, may 
 assist in guiding us to that result, an honourable peace, which 
 must be the sincere desire of every friend to America. The 
 course of that opposition, by which the administration of 
 the government had been unremittingly impeded for the 
 last twelve years, v;as singular, and, I believe, unexampled 
 in the history of any country. It has been alike the duty 
 and the interest of the administration to preserve peace. It 
 was their duty, because it is necessary to the growth of an 
 infant people, to their genius, and to their habits. It was 
 their interest, because a change of the condition of the na- 
 tion, brings along with it a danger of the loss of the affections 
 of the people. The administration has not been forgetful 
 of these solemn obligations. No art has been left unas- 
 saycd; no experiment, promising a favourable result, left 
 untried, to maintain the peaceful relations of the country. 
 When, some six or seven years ago, the affairs of the nation 
 assumed a threatening aspect, a partial non-importation was 
 adopted. As they grew more alarming, an embargo was 
 imposed. It would have accomplished its purpose, but it 
 was sacrificed upon the altar of conciliation. — Vain and 
 fruitless attempt to propitiate! Then came along non-inter- 
 course; and a general non-importation followed in the train. 
 In the mean time, any indications of a return to the public 
 law and the path of justice, on the part of either belligerent, 
 are seized upon with avidity by the administration, — the 
 arrangement with Mr. Erskine is concluded. It is first 
 applauded, and then censured by the opposition. No matter 
 
ON THE NEW ARMY BILL. 53 
 
 with what unfeigned sincerity, with what real effort ad- 
 ministration cultivates peace, the opposition insist that it 
 alone is culpable for every breach that is made between the 
 two countries. Because the President thought proper, in 
 accepting the proffered reparation for the attack on a na- 
 tional vessel, to intimate that it would have better comported 
 with the justice of the king, (and who does not think so?) 
 to punish the offending officer, the opposition, entering into 
 the royal feelings, sees in that imaginary insult, abundant 
 cause for rejecting Mr. Erskine's arrangement. On an- 
 other occasion, you cannot have forgotten the hypocritical 
 ingenuity which they displayed, to devest Mr. Jackson's 
 correspondence of a premeditated insult to this country. If 
 gentlemen would only reserve for their own government, 
 half the sensibility which is indulged for that of Great Bri- 
 tain, they would find much less to condemn. Restriction 
 after restriction has been tried, — negociation has been re- 
 sorted to, until further negociation would have been dis- 
 graceful. Whilst these peaceful experiments are undergo- 
 ing a trial, what is the conduct of the opposition? They 
 are the champions of war, — the proud, — the spirited, — the 
 sole repository of the nation's honour, — the men of exclusive 
 vigor and energy. The administration, on the contrary, is 
 weak, feeble, and pusillanimous, — " incapable of being kick- 
 ed into a war." The maxim, " not a cent for tribute, mil- 
 lions for defence," is loudly proclaimed. Is the adminis- 
 tration for negociation? The opposition is tired, sick, dis- 
 gusted with negociation. They want to draw the sword 
 and avenge the nation's wrongs. When, however, foreign 
 nations, perhaps, emboldened by the very opposition here 
 made, refuse to listen to the amicable appeals, which have 
 been repeated and reiterated by the administration, to their 
 justice and to their interests, — when, in fact, war with one 
 of them has become identified with our independence and 
 our sovereignty, and to abstain from it was no longer pos- 
 sible, behold the opposition veering round and becoming 
 the friends of peace and commerce. They tell you of the 
 calamities of war, — its tragical events, — the squandering 
 away of your resources,-— the waste of the public treasure, 
 and the spilling of innocent blood. " Gorgons, hydras and 
 chimeras dire." They tell you that honour is an illusion! 
 Now we see them exhibiting the terrific forms of the roar- 
 ing king of the forest. Now the meekness and humility of 
 
54 ON THE NEW ARMY BILL. 
 
 the lamb! They are for war and no restrictions, when the 
 adnriinistration is for peace, 'I'hey are for peace and re- 
 strictions, when the administration is for war. You find 
 them, sir, tacking with every gale, displaying the colours 
 of every party, and of all nations, steady only in one un- 
 alterable purpose, to steer, if possible, into the haven of 
 power. 
 
 During all this time, the parasites of opposition do not 
 fail by cunning sarcasm or sly inuendo to throw out the 
 idea of French influence, which is known to be false, which 
 ought to be met in one manner only, and that is by the lie 
 direct. The administration of this country devoted to foreign 
 influence! The administration of this country subservient 
 to France! Great God! what a charge! how is it so influ- 
 enced? By what ligament, on what basis, on what possible 
 foundation does it rest? Is it similarity of language? No! 
 we speak different tongues, we speak the English language. 
 On the resemblance of our laws? No! the sources of our 
 jurisprudence spring from another and a diff"crent country. 
 On commercial intercourse? No! we have comparatively 
 none with France. Is it from the correspondence in the 
 genius of the two governments? No! here alone is the liber- 
 ty of man secure from the inexorable despotism, which 
 every where else tramples it under foot. Where then is 
 the ground of such an influence? But, sir, I am insulting 
 you by arguing on such a subject. Yet, preposterous and 
 ridiculous as the insinuation is, it is propagated with so 
 much industry, that there are persons found foolish and 
 credulous enough to believe it. You will, no doubt, think 
 it incredible (but I have nevertheless been told it as a fact,) 
 that an honourable member of this house, unw in my eye, 
 recently lost his election by the circulation of a silly story 
 in his district, that he was the first cousin of the emperor 
 Napoleon. The proof of the charge rested on the statement 
 of facts, which was undoubtedly true. The gentleman in 
 question, it was alleged, had married a connexion of the 
 lady of the President of the United States, who was the 
 intimate friend of Thomas JeflJerson, late President of the 
 United States, who some years ago, was in the habit of 
 wearing red French breeches. Now, taking these premises 
 as established, you, Mr. Chairman, are too good a logician 
 5iot to see that the conclusion necessarily follows! 
 
 Throughout the period he had been speaking of, the op- 
 
ON THE NEW ARMY BILL. SS 
 
 position has been distinguished, amidst all its veerings and 
 changes by another inflexible feature, — the application to 
 Bonaparte of every vile and opprobrious epithet our lan- 
 guage, copious as it is in terms of vituperation, affords. 
 He has been compared to every hideous monster, and beast, 
 from that mentioned in the revelations, down to the most 
 insignificant quadruped. He has been called the scourge 
 of mankind, the destroyer of Europe, the great robber, the 
 infidel, the modern Attila, and heaven knows by what other 
 names. Really, gentlemen remind me of an obscure lady, 
 in a city not very far off, who also took it into her head, in 
 conversation with an accomplished French gentleman, to 
 talk of the affairs of Europe. She too spoke of the destruc- 
 tion of the balance of power, stormed and raged about the 
 insatiable ambition of the emperor; called him the curse of 
 mankind, the destroyer of Europe. The Frenchman listen- 
 ed to her with perfect patience, and when she had ceased, 
 said to her, with ineffable politeness; " Madam, it would 
 give my master, the emperor, infinite pain, if he knew how 
 hardly you thought of him." Sir, gentlemen appear to me 
 to forget that they stand on American soil; that they are 
 not in the British house of commons, but in the chamber 
 of the house of representatives of the United States; that 
 we have nothing to do with the affairs of Europe, the par- 
 tition of territory and sovereignty there, except so far as 
 these things affect the interests of our own country. Gen- 
 tlemen transform themselves into the Burkes, Chathams, 
 and Pitts of another country, and forgetting from honest 
 zeal the interests of America, engage with European sen- 
 sibility in the discussion of European interests. If gentle- 
 men ask me whether I do not view with regret and horror the 
 concentration of such vast power in the hands of Bonaparte? 
 I reply that I do. I regret to see the emperor of China 
 holding such immense sway over the fortunes of millions 
 of our species. I regret to see Great Britain possessing so 
 uncontrolled a command over all the waters of our globe. 
 If I had the ability to distribute among the nations of Eu- 
 rope their several portions of power and of sovereignty, I 
 would say that Holland should be resuscitated, and given 
 the weight she enjoyed in the days of her De Witts. I 
 would confine France within her natural boundaries, the 
 Alps, Pyrenees, and the Rhine, and make her a secondary 
 naval power only. I would abridge the British maritime 
 
56 ON THE NEW ARMY BILL. 
 
 power, raise Prussia and Austria to their original condition j 
 and preserve the integrity of the empire of Russia. But 
 these are speculations. I look at the political transactions 
 of Europe, with the single exception of their possible bear- 
 ing upon us, as I do at the history of other countries, or 
 other times. I do not survey them with half the interest that 
 I do the movements in South America. Our political relation 
 with them is much less important than it is supposed to be. 
 I have no fears of French or English subjugation. If we 
 are united we are too powerful for the mightiest nation in 
 Europe, or all Europe combined. If we are separated and 
 torn assunder, we shall become an easy prey to the weakest 
 of them. In the latter dreadful contingency, our country 
 will not be worth preserving. 
 
 Next to the notice which the opposition has found itself 
 called upon to bestow upon the French emperor, a distin- 
 guished citizen of Virginia, formerly President of the Uni- 
 ted States, has never for a moment failed to receive their 
 kindest and most respectful attention. An honourable gen- 
 tleman from Massachusetts, (Mr, Quincy,) of whom 1 am 
 sorry to say, it becomes necessary for me, in the course of 
 my remarks, to take some notice, has alluded to him in a re- 
 markable manner. Neither his retirement from public office, 
 his eminent services, nor his advanced age, can exempt this 
 patriot from the coarse assaults of party malevolence. No, 
 sir, in 1801, he snatched from the rude hand of usurpation 
 the violated constitution of his country, and that is his crime. 
 He preserved that instrument in form, and substance, and 
 spirit, a precious inheritance for generations to come, and 
 for this he can never be forgiven. How vain and impotent 
 is party rage directed against such a man! He is not more 
 elevated by his lofty residence, upon the summit of his own 
 favourite mountain, than he is lifted, by the serenity of his 
 mind, and the consciousness of a well spent life, above the 
 malignant passions and bitter feelings of the day. No! his 
 own beloved Monticello is not more moyed by the storms 
 that beat against its sides, than is this illustrious man, by 
 the bowlings of the whole British pack set loose from the 
 Essex kennel! When the gentleman to whom I have been 
 compelled to allude, shall have mingled his dust with that 
 of his abused ancestors, when he shall have been consigned 
 to oblivion, or if he lives at all, shall live only in the trea- 
 sonable annals of a certain junto, the name of Jefferson will 
 
ON THE NEW ARMY BILL. 57 
 
 be hailed with gratitude, his memory honoured and cherish= 
 ed as the second founder of the liberties of the people, and 
 the period of his administration will be looked back to, as 
 one of the happiest and brightest epochs of American his- 
 tory.* An Oasis in the midst of a sandy desert. But I beg 
 the gentleman's pardon; he has indeed secured to himself 
 a more imperishable fame than I had supposed; I think it 
 was about four years ago that he submitted to the house of 
 representatives, an initiative proposition for an impeach- 
 ment of Mr. Jefferson. The house condescended to con- 
 sider it. The gentleman debated it with his usual temper^ 
 moderation^ and wbanity. The house decided upon it in 
 the most solemn manner, and, although the gentleman had 
 some how obtained a second, the final vote stood, one for, 
 and one hundred and seventeen against the proposition! 
 The same historic page that transmitted to posterity the 
 virtue and the glory of Henry the Great of France, for their 
 admiration and example, has preserved the infamous name 
 of the fanatic assassin of that excellent monarch. The same 
 sacred pen that portrayed the sufferings and crucifixion of 
 the Saviour of mankind, has recorded, for universal execra- 
 tion, the name of him who was guilty, not of betraying his 
 country, (but a kindred crime,) of betraying his God. 
 
 In one respect there is a remarkable difference between 
 the administration and the opposition, — it is in a sacred re- 
 gard for personal liberty. When out of power my political 
 friends condemned the surrender of Jonathan Bobbins; they 
 opposed the violation of the freedom of the press, in the 
 sedition law; they opposed the more insidious attack upon 
 the freedom of the person under the imposing garb of an 
 alien law. The party now in opposition, then in power, ad- 
 vocated the sacrifice of the unhappy Robbins, and passed 
 those two laws. True to our principles, we are now strug- 
 gling for the liberty of our seamen against foreign oppres- 
 sion. True to their's, they oppose a war undertaken for this 
 object. They have indeed lately affected a tender solicitude 
 for the liberties of .the people, and talk of the danger of 
 standing armies, and the burden of taxes. But it must be 
 evident to you, Mr. Chairman, that they speak in a foreign 
 idiom. Their brogue evinces that it is not their vernacular 
 tongue. What, the opposition, who in 1798 and 1799, could 
 
 * This prediction is already beginning to be realized.— E(7. 
 
58 ON THE NEW ARMY BILL. 
 
 raise an useless army to fight an enemy three thousand miles 
 distant from us, alarmed at the existence of one raised for 
 a known and specified object, — the attack of the adjoining 
 provinces of the enemy. What! the gentleman from Mas- 
 sachusetts, who assisted by his vote to raise the army of 
 25,000, alarmed at the danger of our liberties from this 
 very army! 
 
 But, sir, I must speak of another subject, which I never 
 think of but with feelings of the deepest awe. The gentle- 
 man from Massachusetts, in imitation of some of his pre- 
 decessors of 1799, has entertained us with a picture of ca- 
 binet plots, presidential plots, and all sorts of plots which 
 have been engendered by the diseased state of the gentle- 
 man's imagination. I wish, sir, that another plot of a much 
 more serious and alarming character, — a plot that aims at 
 the dismemberment ol our union, had only the same im- 
 aginary existence. But no man, who has paid any attention 
 to the tone of certain prints, and to transactions in a par- 
 ticular quarter of the union, for several years past, can 
 doubt the existence of such a plot. It was far, very far from 
 my intention to charge the opposition with such a design. 
 No, I believe them generally incapable of it. But I cannot 
 say as much for some, who have been unworthily associated 
 with them in the quarter of the union to which I have re- 
 ferred. The gentleman cannot have forgotten his own sen- 
 timent, uttered even on the floor of this house, " peaceably 
 if we can, forcibly if we must;" nearly at the very time 
 Henry's mission to Boston was undertaken. The flagitious- 
 ness of that embassy had been attempted to be concealed, 
 by directing the public attention to the price which, the 
 gentleman says, was given for the disclosure. As if any 
 price could change the atrociousness of the attempt on the 
 part of Great Britain, or could extenuate, in the slightest 
 degree, the offence of those citizens, who entertained and 
 deliberated upon a proposition so infamous and unnatural! 
 There was a most remarkable coincidence between some of 
 the things which that man stales, and certain events in the 
 quarter alluded to. In the contingency of war with Great 
 Britain, it will be recollected that the neutrality and even- 
 tual separation of that section of the union was to be brought 
 about. How, sir, has it happened, since the declaration of 
 war, that British officers in Canada have asserted to Ame- 
 rican officers, that this very neutrality would take place? 
 
ON THE NEW ARMY BILL. 59 
 
 That they have so asserted can be established beyond con- 
 troversy. The project is not brought forward openly, with 
 a direct avowal of the intention. No, the stock of good 
 sense and patriotism in that portion of the country is too 
 great to be undisguisedly encountered. It is assailed from 
 the masked batteries of friendship, of peace and commerce 
 on the one side, and by the groundless imputation of op- 
 posite propensities on the other. The affections of the peo- 
 ple, there, are gradually to be undermined. The project is 
 suggested or withdrawn; the diabolical dramatis personse, 
 in this criminal tragedy, make their appearance or exit, as 
 the audience, to whom they address themselves, applaud, or 
 condemn. I was astonished, sir, in reading lately a letter, 
 or pretended letter, published in a prominent print in that 
 quarter, and written not in the fervor of party zeal, but 
 coolly and dispassionately, to find that the writer affected to 
 reason about a separation, and attempted to demonstrate its 
 advantages to the different portions of the union, — deplor- 
 ing the existence now of what he terms prejudices against 
 it, but hoping for the arrival of the period when they shall 
 be eradicated. But, sir, I will quit this unpleasant subject; 
 I will turn from one, whom no sense of decency or proprie- 
 ty could restrain from soiling the carpet on which he treads,* 
 to gentlemen who have not forgotten what is due to them- 
 selves, to the place in which we are assembled, or to those 
 by whom they are opposed. The gentlemen from North 
 Carolina, (Mr. Pearson,) from Connecticut, (Mr. Pitkin,) 
 and from New York, (Mr. Bleeker,) have, with their usual 
 decorum, contended that the war would not have been de- 
 clared, had it not been for the duplicity of France, in with- 
 holding an authentic instrument, repealing the decrees of 
 Berlin and Milan, that upon the exhibition of such an in- 
 strument the revocation of the orders in council took place; 
 that this main cause of the war, but for which it would not 
 have been declared, being removed, the administration ought 
 to seek for the restoration of peace; and that upon its sin- 
 cerely doing so, terms compatible with the honour and in- 
 terest of this country might be obtained. It is my purpose, 
 said Mr. C. to examine, first, into the circumstances under 
 
 * It is due to Mr. C. to observe, that one of the most offensive expres- 
 sions used by Mr. Q. an expression which produced disgust on all sides 
 of the house, has been omitted in that gentleman's reported speech; 
 ivhich in other respects has been much softened. — Editor. 
 
60 ON THE NEW ARMY BILL. 
 
 which the war was declared; secondly, into the causes of 
 continuing it; and lastly, into the means which have been 
 taken, or ought to be taken to procure peace; but sir, I am 
 really so exhausted that, little as I am in the habit of ask- 
 ing of the house an indulgence of this kind, I feel I must 
 trespass on their goodness. 
 
 [Here Mr. C. sat down. Mr. Newton moved that the 
 committee rise, report progress and ask leave to sit again, 
 which was done. On the next day he proceeded.] 
 
 I am sensible, Mr. Chairman, that some part of the de- 
 bate, to which this bill has given rise, has been attended by 
 circumstances much to be regretted, not usual in this House, 
 and of which it is to be hoped, there will be no repetition. 
 The gentleman from Boston had so absolved himself from 
 every rule of decorum and propriety, had so outraged all 
 decency, that I have found it impossible to suppress the 
 feelings excited on the occasion. His colleague, whom I 
 have the honour to follow, (Mr. Wheaton,) whatever else 
 he might not have proved, in his very learned, ingenious, 
 and original exposition of the powers of this government, 
 — an exposition in which he has sought, where nobody be- 
 fore him has, and nobody after him will, look, for a grant 
 of our powers, I mean the preamble to the constitution, — • 
 has clearly shown, to the satisfaction of all who heard him, 
 that the povver of defensive war is conferred. I claim the 
 benefit of a similar principle, in behalf of my political friends, 
 against the gentleman from Boston. I demand only the ex- 
 ercise of the right of repulsion. No one is more anxious 
 than I am to preserve the dignity and the freedom of debate, 
 ■ — no member is more responsible for its abuse, and if, on 
 this occasion, its just limits have been violated, let him, who 
 has been the unprovoked aggressor, appropriate to himself, 
 exclusively, the consequences. 
 
 I omitted yesterday, sir, when speaking of a delicate and 
 painful subject, to notice a powerful engine which the con- 
 spirators against the integrity of the union employ to effect 
 their nefarious purposes — I mean southern influence. The 
 true friend to his country, knowing that our constitution 
 was the work of compromise, in which interests apparently 
 conflicting were attempted to be reconciled, aims to extin- 
 guish or allay prejudices. But this patriotic exertion does 
 not suit the views of those who are urged on by diabolical 
 ambition. They find it convenient to imagine the existence 
 
ON THE NEW ARMY BILL> 61 
 
 of certain improper influences, and to propagate with their 
 utmost industry a belief of them. Hence the idea of southern 
 preponderance, — Virginia influence, — the yoking of the re- 
 spectable yeomanry of the north, with negro slaves, to the 
 car of southern nabobs. If Virginia really cherished a re- 
 prehensible ambition, an aim to monopolize the chief ma- 
 gistracy of the country, how was such a purpose to be ac- 
 complished? Virginia, alone, cannot elect a president, 
 whose elevation depends upon a plurality of electoral votes, 
 and a consequent concurrence of many states. Would Ver- 
 mont, disinterested Pennsylvania, the Carolinas, indepen- 
 dent Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana, all 
 consent to become the tools of inordinate ambition? But 
 the present incumbent was designated to the office before 
 his predecessor had retired. How? By public sentiment,— 
 public sentiment which grew out of his known virtues, his 
 illustrious services, and his distinguished abilities. Would 
 the gentleman crush this public sentiment, — is he prepared 
 to admit that he would arrest the progress of opinion? 
 
 The war was declared because Great Britain arrogated 
 to herself the pretension of regulating our foreign trade, 
 under the delusive name of retaliatory orders in council, — 
 a pretension by which she undertook to proclaim to Ame- 
 rican cnterprize, — " Thus far shalt thou go, and no farther," 
 — orders which she refused to revoke after the alleged cause 
 of their enactment had ceased; because she persisted in the 
 practice of impressing American seamen; because she had 
 instigated the Indians to commit hostilities against us; and 
 because she refused indemnity for her past injuries upon 
 our commerce. I throw out of the question other wrongs. 
 The war in fact was announced, on our part, to meet the 
 war which she was waging on her part. So undeniable 
 were the causes of the war, — so powerfully did they ad- 
 dress themselves to the feelings of the whole American 
 people, that when the bill was pending before this House, 
 gentlemen in the opposition, although provoked to debate, 
 would not, or could not, utter one syllable -against it. It is 
 true they wrapped themselves up in sullen silence, pretend- 
 ing they did not choose to debate such a question in secret 
 session. Whilst speaking of the proceedings on that occa- 
 sion, I beg to be permitted to advert to another fact which 
 transpired, — an important fact, material for the nation to 
 know, and which I have often regretted had not been spread 
 
62 ON THE NEW ARMY BILL. 
 
 upon our journals. My honourable colleague (Mr. M'Kee,) 
 moved, in committee of the whole, to comprehend France 
 in the war; and when the question was taken upon the pro- 
 position, there appeared but ten votes in support of it, of 
 whom, seven belonged to this side of the House, and three 
 only to the other! It is said that we were inveigled into the 
 war by the perfidy of France; and that had she furnished 
 the document in time, which was first published in England, 
 in May last, it would have been prevented. I vyill concede 
 to gentlemen every thing they ask about the injustice of 
 France towards this country. I wish to God that our ability 
 was equal to our disposition, to make her feel the sense 
 that we entertain of that injustice. The manner of the pub- 
 lication of the paper in question, was undoubtedly extreme- 
 ly exceptionable. But I maintain that, had it made its ap- 
 pearance earlier, it would not have had the effect supposed; 
 and the proof lies in the unequivocal declarations of the 
 British government. I will trouble you, sir, with going no 
 further back than to the letters of the British minister, ad- 
 dressed to the secretary of state, just before the expiration 
 of his diplomatic functions. It will be recollected by the 
 committee that he exhibited to this government a despatch 
 from lord Castlereagh, in which the principle was distinctly 
 avowed, that to produce the effect of a repeal of the orders 
 in council, the French decrees must be absolutely and en- 
 tirely revoked as to all the world, and not as to America 
 alone. A copy of that despatch was demanded of him, and 
 he very awkwardly evaded it. But on the tenth June, after 
 the bill declaring war had actually passed this house, and 
 was pending before the Senate, (and which, I have no doubt, 
 was known to him,) in a letter to Mr. Monroe, he says: " I 
 have no hesitation, sir, in saying that Great Britain, as the 
 case has hitherto stood, never did, nor ever could engage, 
 without the greatest injustice to herself and her allies, as 
 well as to other neutral nations, to repeal her orders as af- 
 fecting America alone, leaving them in force against other 
 states, upon condition that France would except singly and 
 specially, America from the operation of her decrees." On 
 the fourteenth of the same month, the bill still pending before 
 the Senate, he repeats: " I will now say, that I feel entirely 
 authorized to assure you, that if you can at any time pro- 
 duce ^ Jiiil and unconditional repcAi of the French decrees, 
 as you have a right to demand it in your character of a 
 
ON THE NEW ARMY BILL. 63 
 
 neutral nation, and that it be disengaged from any question 
 concerning our maritime rights, we shall be ready to meet 
 you with a revocation of the orders in council. Previously 
 to your producing such an instrument, which I am sorry to 
 see >ou regard as unnecessary, you cannot expect of us to 
 give up our orders in council." Thus, sir, you see that the 
 British government, would not be content with a repeal of 
 the French decrees as to us only. But the French paper in 
 question was such a repeal. It could not, therefore, satisfy 
 the British government. It could not, therefore, have in- 
 duced that government, had it been earlier promulgated, 
 to repeal the orders in council. It could not, therefore, 
 have averted the war. The withholding of it did not occa- 
 sion the war, and the promulgation of it would not have 
 prevented the war. But gentlemen have contended that, in 
 point of fact, it did produce a repeal of the orders in coun- 
 cil. This I deny. After it made its appearance in England, 
 it was declared by one of the British ministry, in parlia- 
 ment, not to be satisfactory. And all the world knows, that 
 the repeal of the orders in council resulted from the in- 
 quiry, reluctantly acceded to by the ministry, into the effect 
 upon their manufacturing establishments, of our non-im- 
 portation law, or to the warlike attitude assumed by this 
 government, or to both. But it is said, that the orders in 
 council are withdrawn, no matter from what cause; and 
 that having been the sole motive for declaring the war, the 
 relations of peace ought to be restored. This brings me to 
 the examination of the grounds for continuing the present 
 hostilities between this country and Great Britain. 
 
 1 am far from acknowledging that, had the orders in 
 council been repealed, as they have been, before the war 
 was declared, the declaration of hostilities would of course 
 have been prevented. In a body so numerous as this is, 
 from which the declaration emanated, it is impossible to 
 say, with any degree of certainty, what would have been 
 the eifect of such a repeal. Each member must answer for 
 himself. As to myself I have no hesitation, in saying, that 
 I have always considered the impressment of American 
 seamen, as much the most serious aggression. But, sir, 
 how have those orders at last been repealed? Great Britain, 
 it is true, has intimated a willingness to suspend their prac- 
 tical operation, but she still arrogates to herself the right to 
 revive them upon certain contingencies, of which she con- 
 
64 ON THE NEW ARM5f BILL. 
 
 stitutes herself the sole judge. She waves the temporary 
 use of the rod, but she suspends it in terrorem over our 
 heads. Supposing it to be conceded to gentlemen that such 
 a repeal of the orders in council, as took place on the twenty- 
 third June last, exceptionable as it is, being known before the 
 war was proclaimed, would have prevented it: does it follow 
 that it ought to induce us to lay down our arms, without 
 the redress of any other injury of which we complain? Does 
 it follow, in all cases, that that which would in the first in- 
 stance have prevented would also terminate the war? By 
 no means. It requires a strong and powerful effort in a na- 
 tion, prone to peace as this is, to burst through its habits 
 and encounter the difficulties and privations of war. Such 
 a nation ought but seldom to embark in a belligerent con- 
 test; but when it does, it should be for obvious and essential 
 rights alone, and should firmly resolve to extort, at all ha- 
 zards, their recognition. The war of the revolution is an 
 example of a war begun for one object and prosecuted for 
 another. It was waged, in its commencement, against the 
 right asserted by the parent country to tax the colonies. 
 Then no one thought of absolute independence. The idea 
 of independence was repelled. But the British government 
 would have relinquished the principle of taxation. The 
 founders of our liberties saw, however, that there was no 
 security short of independence, and they achieved that in- 
 dependence. When nations are engaged in war, those rights 
 in controversy, which are not acknowledged by the treaty 
 of peace, are abandoned. And who is prepared to say, that 
 American seamen shall be surrendered, as victims to the 
 British principle of impressment? And, sir, what is this 
 principle? She contends that she has a right to the services 
 of her own subjects; and that, in the exercise of this right, 
 she may lawfully impress them, even although she finds 
 them in American vessels, upop the high seas, without her 
 jurisdiction. Now, I deny that she has any right, beyond 
 her jurisdiction, to come on board our vessels, upon the 
 high seas, for any other purpose than in the pursuit of ene- 
 mies, or their goods, or goods contraband of war. But she 
 further contends, that her subjects cannot renounce their 
 allegiance lo her, and contract a new obligation to other 
 sovereigns. I do not mean to go into the general question 
 of the right of expatriation. If, as is contended, all nations 
 deny it, all nations at the same time admit and practice the 
 
ON THE NEW ARMY BILL. 65 
 
 right of naturalization. Great Britain herself does this. 
 Great Britain, in the very case of foreign seamen, imposes, 
 perhaps, fewer restraints upon naturalization than any other 
 nation. Then, if subjects cannot break their original alle- 
 giance, they may, according to universal usage, contract a 
 new allegiance. What is the effect of this double obligation? 
 Undoubtedly, that the sovereign having the possession of 
 the subject, would have the right to the services of the sub- 
 ject. If he return within the jurisdiction of his primitive 
 sovereign, he may resume his right to his services, of which 
 the subject, by his own act, could not devest himself. But 
 his primitive sovereign can have no right to go in quest of 
 him, out of his own jurisdiction, into the jurisdiction of 
 another sovereign, or upon the high seas, where there exists 
 either no jurisdiction, or it is possessed by the nation own- 
 ing the ship navigating them. But, sir, this discussion is 
 altogether useless. It is not to the British principle, objec- 
 tionable as it is, that we are alone to look, — it is to her 
 practice, — no matter what guise she puts on. It is in vain 
 to assert the inviolability of the obligation of allegiance. It 
 is in vain to set up the plea of necessity, and to allege that 
 she cannot exist, without the impressment of HER seamen. 
 The naked truth is, she comes, by her press gangs, on 
 board of our vessels, seizes OUR native as well as natu- 
 ralized seamen, and drags them into her service. It is the 
 case, then, of the assertion of an erroneous principle, — and 
 of a practice not conformable to the asserted principle, — a 
 principle which, if it were theoretically right, must be for- 
 ever practically wrong, — a practice which can obtain coun- 
 tenance from no principle whatever, and to submit to which, 
 on our part, would betray the most abject degradation. We 
 are told, by gentlemen in the opposition, that government 
 has not done all that was incumbent on it to do, to avoid 
 just cause of complaint on the part of Great Britain, — that, 
 in particular, the certificates of protection, authorized by 
 the act of 1796, are fraudulently used. Sir, government has 
 done too much in granting those paper protections. I can 
 never think of them without being shocked. They resemble 
 the passes which the master grants to his negro slave, " let 
 the bearer, Mungo, pass and repass without molestation." 
 What do they imply? That Great Britain has a right to 
 seize all who are not provided with them. From their very- 
 nature they must be liable to abuse on both sides. If Great 
 K 
 
66 ON THE NEW ARMY BILL. 
 
 Britain desires a mark by which she can know her own 
 subjects, let her give them an ear mark. The colours that 
 float from the mast head should be the credentials of our 
 seamen. There is no safety to us, and the gentlemen have 
 shown it, but in the rule that all who sail under the flag, 
 (not being enemies.) are protected by the flag. It is im- 
 possible that this country should ever abandon the gallant 
 tars, who' have won for us such splendid trophies. Let me 
 suppose that the genius of Columbia should visit one of 
 them in his oppressor's prison, and attempt to reconcile him 
 to his forlorn and wretched condition. She would say to 
 him, in the language of gentlemen on the other side: " Great 
 Britain intends you no harm; she did not mean to impress 
 you, but one of her own subjects; having taken you by mis- 
 take, I will remonstrate, and try to prevail upon her, by 
 peaceable means, to release you, but I cannot, my son, fight 
 for you." If he did not consider this mere mockery, the 
 poor tar would address her judgment and say, ' you owe 
 me, my country, protection; I owe you, in return, obedience, 
 I am no British subject, I am a native of old Massachu- 
 setts, where live my aged father, my wife, my children. I 
 have faithfully discharged my duty. Will you refuse to do 
 yours?' Appealing to her passions, he would continue: ' I 
 lost this eye in fighting under Truxtun, with the Insurgentej 
 I got this scar before Tripoli; I broke this leg on board the 
 Constitution, when the Guerriere struck.' If she remained 
 still unmoved, he would break out, in the accents of mingled 
 distress and dispair. 
 
 Hard, hard is my fate! once I freedom enjoyed, 
 
 Was as happy as happy could be! 
 
 Oh! how hard is my fate, how galling these chains! * 
 
 I will not imagine the dreadful catastrophe to which he 
 would be driven, by an abandonment of him to his oppressor. 
 It will not be, it cannot be, that his country will refuse him 
 protection. 
 
 It is said, that Great Britain has been always willing to 
 make a satisfactory arrangement of the subject of impress- 
 
 * It is impossible to describe the pathetic effect pro<iuced by this part 
 of the speech. The day was chilling cold, so nruch so, that Mr. C. has 
 been heard to declare, that it was the only time he ever spoke, when be 
 was unable to keep himself warm by the exercise of speaking, yet there 
 were few eyes that did not testify to the sensibility excited.— Editor. 
 
ON THE NEW ARMY BILL. 67 
 
 ment; and that Mr. King had nearly concluded one, prior to 
 his departure from that country. Let us hear what that 
 minister says, upon his return to America. In his letter 
 dated at New York in July, 1803, after giving an account of 
 his attempt to form an arrangement for the protection of 
 our seamen, and his interviews to this end with lords 
 Hawkesbury and St, Vincent; and stating that, when he had 
 supposed the terms of a convention were agreed upon, a new 
 pretension was set up, (the mare clausum^ he concludes: " I 
 regret not to have been able to put this business on a satis- 
 factory footing, knowing as I do its very great importance 
 to both parties; but 1 flatter myself that I have not misjudg- 
 ed the interests of our own country, in refusing to sanction 
 a principle, that might be productive of more extensive evils 
 than those it was our aim to prevent." The sequel of his 
 negociation, on this affair, is more fully given in the recent 
 conversation between Mr. Russell and lord Castlereagh, 
 communicated to congress during its present session. Lord 
 Castlereagh says to Mr. Russel: — 
 
 * Indeed there has evidently been much misapprehension 
 on this subject, an erroneous belief entertained that an ar- 
 rangement, in regard to it, has been nearer an accomplish- 
 ment than the facts will warrant. Even our friends in con- 
 gress, I mean those who are opposed to going to war with 
 us, have been so confident in this mistake, that they have 
 ascribed the failure of such an arrangement, solely to the 
 misconduct of the American government. This error pro- 
 bably originated with Mr. King, for being much esteemed 
 here, and always well received by the persons in power, he 
 seems to have misconstrued their readiness to listen to his 
 representations, and their warm professions of a disposition 
 to remove the complaints of America, in relation to impress- 
 ment, into a supposed conviction on their part, of the pro- 
 priety of adopting the plan which he had proposed. But lord 
 St. Vincent, whom he might have thought he had brought 
 over to his opinions, appears never for a moment to have 
 ceased to regard all arrangement on the subject, to be at- 
 tended with formidable, if not insurmountable obstacles. 
 This is obvious from a letter which his lordship addressed 
 to sir William Scott at the time.' Here lord Castlereagh 
 read a letter, contained in the records before him, in which 
 lord St. Vincent states to sir Wm. Scott the zeal with which 
 Mr. King had assailed him on the subject of impressment, 
 
68 ON THE NEW ARMY BILL. 
 
 confesses his own perplexity, and total incompetency to dis- 
 cover any practical project for the safe discontinuance of 
 that practice, and asks for council and advice. ' Thus you 
 see,' proceeded lord Castlereagh, ' that the confidence of 
 Mr. King on this subject was entirely unfounded.' 
 
 Thus it is apparent, that, at no time, has the enemy been 
 willing to place this subject on a satisfactory footing. I will 
 speak hereafter of the overtures made by administration 
 since the war. 
 
 The honourable gentleman from New York (Mr. Blea- 
 ker,) in the very sensible speech with which he favoured 
 the committee, made one observation which did not comport 
 with his usual liberal and enlarged views. It was that those 
 who are most interested against the practice of impressment, 
 did not desire a continuance of the war on account of it, 
 whilst those (the southern and western members,) who had 
 no interest in it, were the zealous advocates of American 
 seamen. It was a provincial sentiment unworthy of that 
 gentleman. It was one which, in a change of condition, he 
 would not express, because I know he could not feel it. 
 Does not that gentleman feel for the unhappy victims of 
 the tomahawk in the western wilds, although his quarter of 
 the union may be exempted from similar barbarities? I am 
 sure he does. If there be a description of rights which, 
 more than any other, should unite all parties in all quarters 
 of the union, it is unquestionably the rights of the person. 
 No matter what his vocation; whether he seeks subsistence 
 amidst the dangers of the deep, or draws them from the 
 bowels of the earth, or from the humblest occupations of 
 mechanic life: whenever the sacred rights of an American 
 freeman are assailed, all hearts ought to unite and every 
 arm should be braced to vindicate his cause. 
 
 The gentleman from Delaware sees in Canada no object 
 worthy of conquest. According to him, it is a cold, sterile 
 and inhospitable region. And yet, such are the allurements 
 which it offers, that the same gentleman apprehends that, if 
 it be annexed to the United Stales, already too much weak- 
 ened by an extension of territory, the people of New En- 
 gland will rush over the line and depopulate that section of 
 the union! That gentleman considers it honest to hold Cana- 
 da as a kind of hostage; to regard it as a sort of bond for 
 the good behaviour of the enemy. But he will not inforce 
 the bond. The actual conquest of that country would, ac- 
 
ON THE NEW ARMY BILL. m 
 
 cording to him, make no impression upon the enemy, and 
 yet the very apprehension only of such a conquest would 
 at all times have a powerful operation upon him! Other 
 gentlemen consider the invasion of that country as wicked 
 and unjustifiable. Its inhabitants are represented as harm- 
 less and unoffending, as connected with those of the border- 
 ing states by a thousand tender ties, interchanging acts of 
 kindness, and all the offices of good neighbourhood: Canada, 
 said Mr. Clay, innocent! Canada unoffending! Is it not in 
 Canada that the tomahawk of the savage has been moulded 
 into its deathlike form? Has it not been from Canadian 
 magazines, Maiden and others, that those supplies have 
 been issued which nourish and continue the Indian hostili- 
 ties? Supplies which have enabled the savage hordes to 
 butcher the garrison of Chicago, and to commit other hor- 
 rible excesses and murders? Was it not by the joint co- 
 operation of Canadians and Indians that a remote American 
 fort, Michilimackinac, was assailed and reduced, while in 
 ignorance of a state of war? But, sir, how soon have the 
 opposition changed their tone. When administration was 
 striving, by the operation of peaceful measures, to bring 
 Great Britain back to a sense of justice, they were for old 
 fashioned war. And now they have got old fashioned war, 
 their sensibilities are cruelly shocked, and all their sympa- 
 thies lavished upon the harmless inhabitants of the adjoin- 
 ing provinces. What does a state of war present? The uni- 
 ted energies of one people arrayed against the combined 
 energies of another, — a conflict in which each party aims 
 to inflict all the injury it can, by sea and land, upon the ter- 
 ritories, property and citizens of the other, subject only to 
 the rules of mitigated war practised by civilized nations. 
 The gentleman would not touch the continental provinces 
 of the enemy, nor, I presume, for the same reason, her pos- 
 sessions in the West Indies. The same humane spirit v/ould 
 spare the seamen and soldiers of the enemy. The sacred 
 person of his majesty must not be attacked, for the learned 
 gentlemen, on the other side, are quite familiar with the 
 maxim, that the king can do no wrong. Indeed, sir, I know 
 of no person on whom we may make war upon the principles 
 of the honourable gentlemen, but Mr. Stephen, the cele- 
 brated author of the orders in council, or the board of ad- 
 miralty, who authorize and regulate the practice of impress-^ 
 ment! 
 
70 ON THE NEW ARMY BILL. 
 
 The disasters of the war admonish us, we are told, of 
 the necessity of terminating the contest. If our achievements 
 by land have been less splendid than those of our intrepid 
 seamen by water, it is not because the American soldier is 
 less brave. On the one element organization, discipline, and 
 a thorough knowledge of their duties exist, on the part of 
 the officers and their men. On the other almost every thing 
 is yet to be acquired. We have however the consolation 
 that our country abounds with the richest materials, and 
 that in no instance when engaged in action have our arms 
 been tarnished. At Brownstown and at Queenstown the 
 valour of veterans was displayed, and acts of the noblest 
 heroism were performed. It is true, that the disgrace of 
 Detroit remains to be wiped off. That is a subject on which 
 I cannot trust my feelings, it is not fitting I should speak. 
 But this much I will say, it was an event which no human 
 foresight could have anticipated, and for which the adminis- 
 tration cannot be justly censured. It was the parent of all the 
 misfortunes we have experienced on land. But for it the 
 Indian war would have been in a great measure prevented 
 or terminated; the ascendancy on lake Erie acquired, and 
 the war pushed on perhaps to Montreal. With the excep- 
 tion of that event, the war, even upon the land, has been 
 attended by a series of the most brilliant exploits, which, 
 whatever interest they may inspire on this side of the moun- 
 tains, have given the greatest pleasure on the other. The 
 expedition under the command of governor Edwards and 
 colonel Russel, to lake Pioria on the Illinois, was complete- 
 ly successful. So was that of captain Craig, who it is said 
 ascended that river still higher. General Hopkins destroyed 
 the prophet's town. We have just received intelligence of 
 the gallant enterprize of colonel Campbell. In short, sir, 
 the Indian towns have been swept from the meuth to the 
 source of the Wabash, and a hostile country has been pene- 
 trated far beyond the most daring incursions of any cam- 
 paign during the former Indian war. Never was more cool 
 deliberate bravery displayed than that by Newman's party 
 from Georgia. And the capture of the Detroit, and the 
 destruction of the Caledonia, (whether placed to a maritime 
 or land account,) for judgment, skill, and courage on the 
 part of lieutenant Elliot, have never been surpassed. 
 
 It is alleged that the elections in England are in favour 
 of the ministry, and that those in this country are against 
 
ON THE NEW ARMY BILL, n 
 
 the war. If in such a cause (saying nothing of the impurity 
 of their elections,) the people of that country have rallied 
 round their government, it affords a salutary lesson to the 
 people here, who at all hazards ought to support theirs, 
 struggling as it is to maintain our just lights. But the peo- 
 ple here have not been false to themselves; a great majority 
 approve the war, as is evinced by the recent re-election of 
 the chief magistrate. Suppose it were even true, that an 
 entire section of the union, were opposed to the war, that 
 section being a minority, is the will of the majority to be 
 relinquished? In that section the real strength of the oppo- 
 sition had been greatly exaggerated. Vermont has, by two 
 successive expressions of her opinion, approved the decla- 
 ration of war. In New Hampshire, parties are so nearly 
 equipoised that out of thirty or thirty-five thousand votes, 
 those, who approved and are for supporting it, lost the elec- 
 tion by only one thousand or one thousand five hundred. 
 In Massachusetts alone have they obtained any considerable 
 accession. If we come to New York, we shall find that other 
 and local causes have influenced her elections. 
 
 What cause, Mr. Chairman, which existed for declaring 
 the war has been removed? We sought indemnity for the 
 past and security for the future. The orders in council are 
 suspended, not revoked; no compensation for spoliations. 
 Indian hostilities, which were before secretly instigated, 
 are now openly encouraged; and the practice of impressment 
 unremittingly persevered in and insisted upon. Yet admini- 
 stration has given the strongest demonstrations of its love 
 of peace. On the twenty-ninth June, less than ten days 
 after the declaration of war, the secretary of state writes to 
 Mr. Russell, authorizing him to agree to an armistice, upon 
 two conditions only, and what are they? That the orders in 
 council should be repealed, and the practice of impressing 
 American seamen cease, those already impressed being re- 
 leased. The proposition was for nothing more than a real 
 truce; that the war should in fact cease on both sides. Again, 
 on the twenty-seventh of July, one month later, anticipating 
 a possible objection to these terms, reasonable as they are, 
 Mr. Monroe empowers Mr. Russell to stipulate in general 
 terms for an armistice, having only an informal understand- 
 ing on these points. In return, the enemy is offered a pro- 
 hibition of the employment of his seamen in our service, 
 thus removing entirely all pretext for the practice of im- 
 
72 ON THE NEW ARMY BILL. 
 
 pressment. The very proposition which the gentleman from 
 Connecticut (Mr. Pitkin,) contends ought to be made, has 
 been made. How are these pacific advances met by the other 
 party? Rejected as absolutely inadmissible; cavils are in- 
 dulged about the inadequacy of Mr. Russell's powers, and 
 the want of an act of congress is intimated. And yet the 
 constant usage of nations I believe is, where the legislation 
 of one party is necessary to carry into effect a given stipula- 
 tion, to leave it to the contracting party to provide the re- 
 quisite laws. If he fail to do so, it is a breach of good faith, 
 and becomes the subject of subsequent remonstrance by the 
 injured party. When Mr. Russell renews the overture, in what 
 was intended as a more agreeable form to the British go- 
 vernment, lord Castlereagh is not content with a simple re- 
 jection, but clothes it in the language of insult. Afterwards, 
 in conversation with Mr. Russell, the moderation of our 
 government is misinterpreted and made the occasion of a 
 sneer, that we are tired of the war. The proposition of ad- 
 miral Warren is submitted in a spirit not more pacific. He 
 is instructed, he tells us, to propose that the government of 
 the United States shall instantly recal their letters of marque 
 and reprisal against British ships, together with all orders 
 and instructions for any acts of hostility whatever against 
 the territories of his majesty or the persons or property of 
 his subjects. That small affair being settled, he is further 
 authorized to arrange as to the revocation of the laws which 
 interdict the commerce and ships of war of his majesty 
 from the harbours and waters of the United States. This 
 messenger of peace comes with one qualified concession in 
 his pocket, not made to the justice of our demands, and is 
 fully empowered to receive our homage, a contrite retrac- 
 tion of all our measures adopted against his master! And 
 in default, he does not fail to assure us, the orders in coun- 
 cil are to be forthwith revived. Administration, still anxious 
 to terminate the war, suppresses the indignation which such 
 a proposal ought to have created, and in its answer concludes 
 by informing admiral Warren, " that if there be no objec- 
 tion to an accommodation of the difference relating to im- 
 pressment, in the mode proposed, other than the suspension 
 of the British claim to impressment during the armistice, 
 there can be none to proceeding without the armistice, to 
 an immediate discussion and arrangement of an article on 
 that subject." Thus it has left the door of negociation un- 
 
ON THE NEW ARMY BILL. 73 
 
 closed, and it remains to be seen if the enemy will accept 
 the invitation tendered to him. The honourable gentleman 
 from North Carolina (Mr. Pearson,) supposes, that if con- 
 gress would pass a law, prohibiting the employment of Bri- 
 tish seamen in our service, upon condition of a like prohi- 
 bition on their part, and repeal the act of non-importation, 
 peace would immediately follow. Sir, I have no doubt if 
 such a law were to pass, with all the requisite solemnities, and 
 the repeal to take place, lord Castlereagh would laugh at 
 our simplicity. No, sir, administration has erred in the steps 
 which it has taken to restore peace, but its error has been 
 not in doing too little, but in betraying too great a solicitude 
 for that event. An honourable peace is attainable only by 
 an efficient war. My plan would be to call out the ample 
 resources of the country, give them a judicious direction, 
 prosecute the war with the utmost vigour, strike wherever 
 we can reach the enemy, at sea or on land, and negociate 
 the terms of a peace at Quebec or at Halifax. We are told 
 that England is a proud and lofty nation, which disdaining to 
 wait for danger, meets it half way. Haughty as she is, we 
 once triumphed over her, and, if we do not listen to the 
 councils of timidity and despair, we shall again prevail. In 
 such a cause, with the aid of Providence, we must come 
 out crowned with success; but if we fail, let us fail like men, 
 lash ourselves to our gallant tars, and expire together in 
 one common struggle, fighting for free trade and sea- 
 man's RIGHTS. 
 
74 
 
 ON THE EMANCIPATION OF SOUTH AMERICA. 
 
 Speech of Mr. Clay on his proposition to make an appropri- 
 ation for the outfit^ and one year''s salary for a minister 
 to Buenos Ay res; delivered March 24, 1818. 
 
 The house being in committee of the whole, on the bill 
 making appropriation for the support of government for the 
 year 1818, 
 
 Mr. Clay rose, under feelings of deeper regret than he 
 had ever experienced on any former occasion, inspired, prin- 
 cipally, by the painful consideration that he found himself 
 on the proposition which he meant to submit, differing from 
 many highly esteemed friends, in and out of this house, for 
 whose judgment he entertained the greatest respect. A 
 knowledge of this circumstance had induced him to pausej 
 to subject his own convictions to the severest scrutiny; and 
 to revolve the question over and over again. But all his re- 
 flections had conducted him to the same clear result; and 
 much as he valued those friends, great as his deference was 
 for their opinions, he could not hesitate, when reduced to 
 the distressing alternative of conforming his judgment to 
 theirs, or pursuing the deliberate and matured dictates of 
 his own mind. He enjoyed some consolation, for the want 
 of their co-operation, from the persuasion that, if he erred 
 on this occasion, he erred on the side of the liberty and hap- 
 piness of a large portion of the human family. Another, and, 
 if possible, indeed a greater source of the regret to which 
 lie referred, was the utter incompetency, which he unfeign- 
 edly felt, to do any thing like adequate justice to the great 
 cause of American independence and freedom, whose inter- 
 ests he wished to promote by his humble exertions, in this 
 instance. Exhausted and worn down as he was, by the fa- 
 tigue, confinement and incessant application incident to the 
 arduous duties of the honourable station he held, during a 
 four month's session, he should need all that kind of indul- 
 gence which had been so often extended to him by the 
 house. 
 
ON THE EMANCIPATION OF SOUTH AMERICA. 75 
 
 He begged, in the first place, to correct misconceptions, 
 if any existed, in regard to his opinions. He was averse 
 from war with Spain, or with any power. He would give 
 no just cause of war to any power — not to Spain herself. 
 He had seen enough of war, and of its calamities, even 
 when successful. No country upon earth had more interest 
 than this in cultivating peace, and avoiding war, as long as 
 it was possible honourably to avoid it. Gaining additional 
 strength every day; our numbers doubling in periods of 
 twenty-five years; with an income outstripping all our esti- 
 mates, and so great as, after a war in some respects disas- 
 trous, to furnish results which carry astonishment, if not 
 dismay, into the bosom of states jealous of our rising im- 
 portance, we had every motive for the love of peace. He 
 could not however, approve, in all respects, of the manner 
 in which our negociations with Spain had been conducted. 
 If ever a favourable time existed for the demand, on the 
 part of an injured nation, of indemnity for past wrongs, 
 from the aggressor, such was the present time. Impoverish- 
 ed and exhausted at home, by the wars which have desola- 
 ted the peninsula, with a foreign war, calling for infinitely 
 more resources in men and money, than she can possibly 
 command, this is the auspicious period for insisting upon 
 justice at her hands, in a firm and decided tone. Time is 
 precisely what Spain now most wants. Yet what are we told 
 by the president in his message, at the commencement of 
 congress? That Spain had procrastinated, and we acquiesc- 
 ed in her procrastination. And the secretary of state, in a 
 late communication with Mr. Onis, after ably vindicating 
 all out rights, tells the Spanish minister, with a good deal 
 of sang froid, that we had patiently waited thirteen years 
 for a redress of our injuries, and that it required no great 
 effort to wait longer! He would have abstained from thus / 
 exposing our intentions. Avoiding the use of the language ' 
 of menace, he would have required, in temperate and deci- jf 
 ded terms, indemnity for all our wrongs; for the spoliations/ 
 of our commerce; for the interruption of the right of de- I 
 pot at New Orleans, guaranteed by treaty; for the insults f. 
 repeatedly offered to our flag; for the Indian hostilities 
 which she was bound to prevent; for belligerent use made 
 of her ports and territories by our enemy during the late 
 war — and the instantaneous liberation of the free citi zen ^ 
 of the United States now imprisoned in her jails. XontenT 
 
76 ON THE EMANCIPATION OF SOUTH AMERICA. 
 
 poraneous with that demand, without waiting for her final 
 answer, and with a view to the favorable operation on her 
 councils, in regard to our own peculiar interests, as well as 
 in justice to the cause itself, he would recognize any es- 
 tablished government in Spanish America. He would have 
 leli Spain to draw her own inferences from these proceed- 
 ings, as to the ultimate step which this country might adopt, 
 if she longer withheld justice from us. And if she perse- 
 vered in her iniquity, after we had conducted the negocia- 
 tion in the manner he had endeavoured to describe, he would 
 then take up and decide the solemn question of peace or 
 war, with the advantage of all the light shed upon it by sub- 
 sequent events and the probable conduct of Europe. 
 
 Spain had undoubtedly given us abundant and just cause 
 of war. But, it was not every cause of war, that should 
 lead to war. War was one of those dreadful scourges that 
 so shakes the foundations of society; overturns or changes 
 the character of governments; interrupts or destroys the 
 pursuits of private happiness; brings, in short, misery and 
 wretchedness in so many forms; and at last is, in its issue, 
 so doubtful and hazardous, thatnothing but dire necessity can 
 justify an appeal to arms. If we were to have war with Spain, 
 he had, however, no hesitation in saying, that no mode of 
 bringing it about could be less fortunate than that of seizing, 
 at this time, upon her adjoining province. There was a time 
 unaer certain circumstances when we might have occupied 
 East Florida, with safety: had we then taken it, our posture 
 in the negociation with Spain would have been totally differ- 
 ent from what it is. But, we had permitted that time, not with 
 his consent, to pass by unimproved. If we were now to 
 seize upon Florida, after a great change in those circum- 
 stances, and after declaring our intention to acquiesce in the 
 procrastination desired by Spain, in what light should we 
 be viewed by foreign powers, particularly Great Britain? 
 We have already been accused of inordinate ambition, and 
 of seeking to aggrandize ourselves by an extension, on all 
 k sides, of our limits. Should we not, by such an act of vi- 
 olence, give color to the accusation? No, Mr. Chairman, 
 if we are to be involved in war with Spain, let us have the 
 credit of disinterestedness; let us put her yet more in the 
 wrong. Let us command the respect which is never with- 
 held from those who act a nobie and generous part. He 
 hoped to communicate to the committee the conviction which 
 
ON THE EMANCrPATION OF SOUTH AMERICA. 77 
 
 he so strongly felt, that, adopting the amendment which he 
 intended to propose, would not hazard in the slightest de- 
 gree, the peace of the country. /^But if that peace were to 
 be endangered, he would infinitely rather it should be for 
 our exerting the right appertaining to every state, of ac- 
 knowledging the independence of another state, than for 
 the seizure of a province which sooner or later we must 
 certainly acquire. 
 
 Mr. Clay proceeded. In contemplating the great struggle 
 in which Spanish America is now engaged, our attention is 
 first fixed by the immensity and character of the country 
 which Spain seeks again to subjugate. Stretching on the Pa- 
 cific Ocean from about the 40th degree of north latitude, 
 to about the 55th degree of south latitude, and extending 
 from the mouth of the Rio del Norde (exclusive of East 
 Florida) around the gulf of Mexico and along the South 
 Atlantic to near Cape Horn, it is about 5000 miles in length, 
 and in some places near 3000 in breadth. Within this vast 
 region, we behold the most sublime and interesting objects 
 of creation; the loftiest mountains, the most majestic rivers 
 in the world; the richest mines of the precious metals; and 
 the choicest productions of the earth. We behold there a 
 spectacle still more interesting and sublime — the glorious 
 spectacle of eighteen millions of people, struggling to burst 
 their chains and to be free. When we take a little nearer 
 and more detailed view, we perceive that nature has, as it 
 were, ordained that this people and this country shall ulti- 
 mately constitute several different nations. Leaving the 
 United States on the north, we come to New Spain, or the 
 vice royalty of Mexico on the south; passing by Guatame- 
 la, we reach the vice-royalty of New Grenada, the late cap- 
 tain generalship of Venezuela, and Guyana lying on the east 
 side of the Andes, Stepping over the Brazils, we arrive 
 at the united provinces of La Plata, and, crossing the An- 
 des, we find Chili on their west side, and further north, the 
 vice royalty of Lima or Peru. Each of these several parts 
 is sufficient in itself, in point of limits, to constitute a pow- 
 erful state, and, in point of population, that which has the 
 smallest contains enough to make it respectable. Through- 
 out all the extent of that great portion of the world, which 
 he had attempted thus hastily to describe, the spirit of re- 
 volt against the dominion of Spain, had manifested itself. 
 The revolution had been attended with various degrees of 
 
78 ON THE EMANCIPATION OF SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 success in the several parts of Spanish America. In some 
 it had been already crowned, as he would endeavour to show, 
 with complete success, and in all he was persuaded that in- 
 dependence had struck such deep root as that the power of 
 Spam could never eradicate it. What were the causes of this 
 great movementf 
 
 Three hundred years ago, upon the ruins of the thrones 
 of Montezuma and the Incas of Peru, Spain erected the 
 most stupendous system of colonial despotism that the world 
 has ever seen — the most vigorous, the most exclusive. The 
 great principle and object of this system, has been to ren- 
 der otie of the largest portions of the world exclusively 
 subservient, in all its faculties, to the interests of an incon- 
 siderable spot in Europe. To effectuate this aim of her 
 policy, she locked up Spanish America from all the rest of 
 the world, and prohibited, under the severest penalties, any 
 foreigner from entering any part of it. To keep the natives 
 themselves ignorant of each other, and of the strength and 
 resources of the several parts of her American possessions, 
 she next prohibited the inhabitants of one vice-royalty or 
 government from visiting those of another; so, that the in- 
 habitants of Mexico, for example, were not allowed to enter 
 the vice royalty of New Grenada. The agiicullure of those 
 vast regions was so regulated and restrained, as to prevent 
 all collision with the interests of the agriculture of the pe- 
 ninsula. Where nature, by the character and composition 
 of the soil, had commanded, the abominable system of Spain 
 has forbidden, the growth of certain articles. Thus the olive 
 and the vine, to which Spanish America is so well adapted, 
 are prohibited, wherever their culture could interfere with 
 the olive and the vine of the peninsula. The commerce of 
 the country, in the direction and objects of the exports and 
 imports, is also subjected to the narrow and selfish views 
 of Spain — and fettered by the odious spirit of monopoly 
 existing in Cadiz. She has sought, by scattering discord 
 among the several casts of her American population, and 
 by a debasing course of education, to perpetuate her op- 
 pression. Whatever concerns public law, or the science of 
 government, all writers upon political economy, or that tend 
 to give vigour and freedom and expansion to the intellect, 
 are prohibited. Gentlemen would be astonished by the long 
 list of distinguished authors, whom she proscribes, to be 
 found in Depon's and other works. A main feature in her 
 
ON THE EMANCIPATION OF SOUTH AMERICA. 79 
 
 policy, is that which constantly elevates the European and 
 depresses the American character. Out of upwards of sev- 
 en hundred and fifty viceroys and captains general, whom 
 she has appointed since the conquest of America, about 
 eighteen only have been from the body of the American 
 population. On all occasions, she seeks to raise and pro- 
 mote her European subjects, and to degrade and humiliate 
 the Creoles. Wherever in America her sway extends, every- 
 thing seems to pine and wither beneath its baneful influence. 
 The richest regions of the earth; man, his happiness and 
 his education, all the fine faculties of his soul, are regulat- 
 ed and modified and moulded to suit the execrable purposes 
 of an inexorable despotism. ' 
 
 Such is a brief and imperfect picture of the state of things 
 in Spanish America in 1808, when the famous transactions 
 of Bayonne occurred. The king of Spain and the Indies, 
 (for Spanish America had always constituted an integral 
 part of the Spanish empire) abdicated his throne and be- 
 came a voluntary captive. Even at this day, one does not 
 know whether he should most condemn the baseness and 
 , perfidy of the one party, or despise the meanness and imbe- 
 jcility of the other. If the obligation of obedience and al- 
 llegiance existed on the part of the colonies to the king of 
 / Spain, it v^as founded on the duty of protection which he 
 I owed them./ By disqualifying himself from the perform- 
 I ance of this duty, they became released from that obliga- 
 tion. / The monarchy was dissolved; and each integral part 
 had a right to seek its own happiness, by the institution of 
 any new government adapted to its wants. Joseph Bona- 
 parte, the successor de facto of Ferdinand, recognized this 
 right on the part of the colonies, and recommended them to 
 establish their independence. Thus, upon the ground of 
 strict right; upon the footing of a mere legal question, gov- 
 erned by forensic rules, the colonies, being absolved by the 
 acts of the parent country from the duty of subjection to 
 it, had an indisputable right to set up for themselves. Buti 
 Mr. Clay took a broader and bolder position. He main-/ 
 tained, that an oppressed people were authorized, whenevei| 
 they could, to rise and break their fetters. This was the 
 great principle d£ the English revolution. It was the great' 
 { principle of cui^wn. Vattel, if authority were wanting, 
 ' expressly suppo?^' this right. We must pass sentence of 
 condemnation upon the founders of our liberty — say that 
 

 so ON THE EMANCIPATION OF SOUTH AMERICA. 
 
 , they were rebels — traitors, and that we are at this moment 
 / legislating without competent powers, before we could con- 
 / demn the cause of Spanish America. Our revolution was 
 / mainly directed against the mere theory of tyranny. We 
 ' had suffered comparatively but little; we had, in some re- 
 spects, been kindly treated; but our intrepid and intelligent 
 fathers saw, in the usurpation of the power to levy an in- 
 considerable tax, the long train of oppressive acts that were 
 to follow. They rose; they breasted the storm; they con- 
 quered our freedom. Spanish America for centuries has 
 been doomed to the practical effects of an odious tyranny. 
 If we were justified, she is more than justified 
 
 Mr. Clay said he was no propagandist.v"lfle would not 
 seek to force upon other nations our principles and our lib- 
 erty, if they did not want them. He would not disturb the 
 repose even of a detestable despotism. But, if an abused 
 and oppressed people willed their freedom; if they sought 
 to establish it; if, in truth, they had established it, we had 
 a right, as a sovereign power, to notice the tact, and to act 
 as circumstances and our interest required. He would say, 
 in the language of the venerated father of his country, 
 " Born in a land of liberty, my anxious recollections, my 
 sympathetic feelings, and my best wishes, are irresistibly 
 excited, whensoever, in any country, I see an oppressed na- 
 tion unfurl the banners of freedom.'* For his own part, Mr. 
 Clay said, that whenever he thouglit of Spanish America, 
 the image irresistibly forced itself upon his mind of an el- 
 der brother, whose education had been neglected, whose 
 person had been abused and maltreated, and who had been 
 disinherited by the unkindness of an unnatural parent. And, 
 when he contemplated the glorious struggle which that coun- 
 try was now making, he thought he beheld that brother ris- 
 ing, by the power and energy of his fine native genius, to 
 the manly rank which nature, and nature's Gpd, intended 
 for him. 
 
 If Spanish America were entitled to success from the 
 justness of her cause, we had no less reason to wish that 
 success from the horrible character which' the royal arms 
 have given to the war. More atrocitieSitBan those which 
 had been perpetrated during its existen«|fc|ere not to be 
 found even in the annals of Spain hgc^^^And history, 
 reserving some of her blackest pages fl^^Vname of Mo- 
 rillo, is prepared to place him along sid^m his great pro- 
 
ON THE EMANCIPATION OF/SOUTH AMERICA. 81 
 
 /■■■ 
 totype, the infamous desolaterof the Netherlands. He who 
 
 has looked into the history of the conduct of this war, is 
 constantly shocked at the revolting scenes which it portrays; 
 at the refusal, on the part of the commanders of the royal 
 forces, to treat, on any terms, with the other side; at the de- 
 nial of quarters; at the butchery, in cold blood, of prison- 
 ers; at the violation of flags, in some cases, after being re- 
 ceived with religious ceremonies; at the instigation of slaves 
 to rise against their owners; and at acts of wanton and use- 
 less barbarity. Neither the weakness of the other sex, nor 
 the imbecility of old age, nor the innocence of infants, nor 
 the reverence due to the sacerdotal character, can stay the 
 arm of royal vengeance. On this subject he begged leave 
 to trouble the committee with reading a few passages from 
 ^ most authentic document, the manifesto of the congress 
 of the united provinces of Rio de la Plata, published in 
 October last. This was a paper of the highest authority; it 
 was an appeal to the whole world; it asserted facts of noto- 
 riet)?y in the face of the whole world. It was not to be cre- 
 dited that the congress would come forward with a state- 
 ment which was not true, when the means, if it were false, 
 of exposing their fabrications, must be so abundant, and so 
 easy to command. It was a document, in short, that stood 
 upon the same footing of authority with our own papers, 
 promulgated during the revolution by our congress. He 
 would add, that many of the facts which it affirmed, were 
 corroborated by most respectable historical testimony, which 
 was in his own possession.* 
 
 * The following are thfe passages read by Mr. C. 
 
 " Memory shudders at the recital of the horrors that were then com- 
 mitted by Goyeneche, in Cochabamba. Would to heaven it were possi- 
 ble to blot from remembrance the name of that ungrateful and blood- 
 thirsty American; who, on the day of his entry, ordered the virtuous gov- 
 ernor and intendant, Antesana, to be shot; who, beholding from the bal- 
 cony of his house that infamous murder, cried out with a ferocious voice, 
 to the soldiers, that they naust not fire at the head, because he wanted it 
 to be aflaxed to a pole; and who, after the head was taken off, ordered 
 the cold corpse to be dragged through the streets; and, by a barbarous 
 decree, placed the lives and fortunes of the citizens at the mercy of his 
 unbridled soldiery, leaving them to exercise their licentious and brutal 
 sway during several days! But those blind and cruelly capricious men, 
 (theJSpaniards,) rejected the mediation of England, and despatched rigor- 
 ous orders to all the generals, to aggravate the war, and to punish us with 
 more severity. The scaffolds were every where multiplied, and inven- 
 M 
 
82 ON THE EMANCIPATION OF SOUTH AMERICA. 
 
 In the establishment of the independence of Spanish 
 America, the United States had the deepest interest. He 
 had no hesitation in asserting his firm belief, that there was 
 no question in the foreign policy of this country, which had 
 ever arisen, or which he could conceive as ever occurring, 
 in the decision of which we had so much at stake. This in- 
 
 tion was racked to devise means for spreading murder, distress and con- 
 sternation. 
 
 " Thenceforth they made all possible efforts to spread division amongst 
 us, to incite us to mutual extermination; they have slandered us with 
 the most atrocious calumnies, accusing us of plotting the destruction of 
 our holy religion, the abolition of all morality, and of introducing licen- 
 tiousness of manners. They wage a religious war against us, contriving 
 a thousand artifices to disturb and alarm the conciences of the people, 
 making the Spauish bishops issue decrees of ecclesiastical condemnation, 
 public excommunications, and disseminating, through the medium of 
 some ignorant confessor, fanatical doctrines in the tribunal of penitence. 
 By means of these religious discords they have divided families against 
 themselves; they have caused disaffection between parents and children, 
 they have dissolved the tender ties which unite man and wife; they have 
 spread rancour and implacable hatred between brothers, most endeared, 
 and they have presumed to throw all nature into discord. 
 
 " They ha^'e adopted the system of murdering men indiscriminately, to 
 diminish our numbers; and, on their entry into towns, they have swept off 
 all, even the market people, leading them to the open squares, and there 
 shooting them one by one. The cities of Chuquisaca and Cochabam- 
 ba, have more than once been the theatres of these horrid slaughters. 
 
 " They have intermixed with their troops soldiers of ours whom they 
 bad taken prisoners, carrying away the officers in chains, to garrisons 
 where it is impossible to preserve health for a year — they have left others 
 to die in their prisons of hunger and misery, and others they have forced 
 to bard labour on the public works. They have exultingly put to death 
 our bearers of flags of truce, and have been guilty of the blackest atro- 
 cities to our chiefs, after they had surrendered; as well as to other prin- 
 cipal characters, in disregard of the humanity with which we treated 
 prisoners; as a proof of it, witness the deputy Mutes of Potosi, the cap- 
 tain general Pumacagua, general Augulo, and his brother commandant 
 Munecas and other partizan chiefs, who were shot in cold blood, after 
 having been prisoners for several days. 
 
 " They took a brutal pleasure in cropping the ears of the natives of 
 the town of Ville-grande, and sending a basket full of them as presents to 
 the head-quarters. They afterwards burnt that town, and set fire to thir- 
 ty other populous towns of Peru, and worse than the worst of savages 
 shutting the inhabitants up in the houses, before setting them on fire, 
 that lliey might be burnt alive. 
 
 " They have not only been cruel and unsparing in their mode of mur- 
 der, but they have been void of all morality and public decency, caus- 
 ing aged ecclesiastics and women to be lashed to a gun, and publicly 
 flogged, with the abomination of first having them stripped, and their 
 nakedness exposed to shame, in the presence of their troops. 
 
 " They established an inquisitorial system in all these punishmentsj 
 *hey have seized on peaceable inhabitants, and transported them across 
 
ON THE EMANCIPATION OF SOUTH AMERICA. 83 
 
 terest concerned our politics, our commerce, our navigation. 
 There could not be a doubt that Spanish America, once in- 
 dependent, whatever might be the form of the governments 
 established in its several parts, these governments would be 
 animated by an American feeling, and guided by an Ame- 
 rican policy. They would obey the laws of the system of 
 the New World, of which they would compose a part, in 
 contradistinction to that of Europe. Without the influence 
 of that vortex in Europe the balance of power between its 
 several parts, the preservation of which had so often drench- 
 ed Europe in blood, America is sufficiently remote to con- 
 template the new wars which are to afflict that quarter of 
 
 the sea to be jndged for suspected crimes, and they have put a great 
 number of citi/eas to death every where, without accusation or the form 
 of a trial. 
 
 " They have invented a crime of unexampled horror, in poisoning our 
 water and provisions, when they were conquered by general Pineto at 
 La Paz, and in return for the kindness with which he treated them, after 
 they had surrendered at discretion, they had the barbarity to blow up the 
 head-quarters, under which they had constructed a mine, and prepared 
 a train beforehand. 
 
 *' He has branded us with the stigma ot rebels, the moment he return- 
 ed to Madrid; he refused to listen to our complaints, or to receive our 
 supplications: and as an act of extreme favour, he offered us a pardon. 
 He confirmed the viceroys, governors and generals whom he found ac- 
 tually glutted with carnage. He declared us guilty of a high misdemean- 
 or for having dared to frame a constitution for our own government, free 
 from the control of a deified, absolute and tyrannical power, under 
 which we had groaned three centuries; a measure ttiat could be offensive 
 only to a prince, an enemy to justice and beneficence, and consequently 
 unworthy to rule over us. 
 
 «' He then undertook, with the aid of his ministers, to equip large 
 military armaments, to be directed against us. He caused numerous ar- 
 mies to be sent out, to consummate the work of devastation, fire and 
 plunder. 
 
 " He has sent his generals, with certain decrees of pardon, which they 
 publish to deceive the ignorant, and induce them to facilitate their en- 
 trance into townsj whilst at the same time he has given them other secret 
 instructions, authorizing them, as soon as they should get possession of a 
 place, to hang, burn, confiscate and sack; to encourage private assassi- 
 nations — and to commit every species of injury in their power, against 
 the deluded beings who had confided in his pretended pardon. It is in 
 the name of Ferdinand of Bourbon that the heads of patriot officers, pri- 
 soners, are fixed up in the highways, that they beat and stoned to death 
 a commandant of light troops, and that, after having killed colonel * 'a-^ 
 
 3, tlie 
 
84 ON THE EMANCIPATION OF SOUTH AMERICA. 
 
 the globe, as a calm, if not a cold and indifferent spectator. 
 In relation to those wars, the several parts of America will 
 generally stand neutral. And as, during the period when 
 they rage, it will be important that a liberal system of neu- 
 trality should be adopted and observed, all America will be 
 interested in maintaining and enforcing such a system. 
 The independence then of Spanish America was the inter- 
 est of primary consideration. Next to that, and highly im- 
 portant in itself, was the consideration of the nature of their 
 governments. That was a question, however, for them- 
 selves. They would, no doubt, adopt those kinds of gov- 
 ernments which were best suited to their condition, best 
 calculated for their happiness. Anxious as he was that they 
 should be free governments, we had no right to prescribe 
 for them. They were, and ought to be, the sole judges for 
 themselves. He was strongly inclined to believe that they 
 would in most, if not all, parts of their country, establisli 
 free governments. We were their great example. Of us they 
 constantly spoke as of brothers, having a similar origin. 
 They adopted our principles, copied our institutions, and, 
 in many instances, employed the very language and senti- 
 ments of our revolutionary papers. [Here Mr. Clay read 
 a passage from the same manifesto before cited.*] But it is 
 sometinnes said that they are too ignorant and too supersti- 
 tious to admit of the existence of free government. This 
 charge of ignorance is often urged by persons themselves 
 actually ignorant of the real condition of that people. He 
 denied the ailed ged fact of ignorance; he denied the inference 
 from that fact, if it were true, that they wanted capacity for 
 free government; and he refused his assent to the further 
 conclusion, if the fact were true, and the inference just, that 
 we wei*e to be indifferent to their fate. All the writers of 
 the most established authority, Depons, Humboldt, and 
 others, concur in assigning to the people of Spanish Ame- 
 rica, great quickness, genius, and particular aptitude for the 
 acquisition of the exact sciences; and others which they 
 
 / *" Having then been thus impelled by the Spaniards and their king 
 we have calculated all the consequences, and have constituted ourselves 
 independent, prepared to exercise the right of nature to defend ourselves 
 against the ravages of tyranny, at the risk of our honour, our Jives and 
 fortune. We have sworn to the only king we acknowledge, the supreme 
 Judge of the world, that we will not abandon the cause of justice; that 
 we will not suffer ihe country which he has given us to be buried in ru- 
 ins, and inundated with blood, by the hands of the executioner, Srr " 
 
ON THE EMANCIPATION OF SOUTH AMERICA. 85 
 
 have been allowed to cultivate. In astronomy, geology, min- 
 eralogy, chemistry, botany, &c. they are allowed to make 
 distinguished proficiency. They justly boast of their Ab- 
 zate, Velasques, and Gama, and other illustrious contribu- 
 tors to science. They have nine universities, and in the ci- 
 ty of Mexico, it is affirmed by Humboldt, that there are 
 more solid scientific establishments than in any city even of 
 North America. He would refer to the message of the su- 
 preme director of La Plata, which he would hereafter have 
 occasion to use for another purpose, as a model of fine com- 
 position of a state paper, challenging a comparison with any, 
 the most celebrated that ever issued from the pens of Jef- 
 ferson or Madison. Gentlemen would egregiously err if 
 they formed their opinions of the present moral condition 
 of Spanish America, from what it was under the debasing 
 system of Spain. The eight year's revolution in which it has 
 been engaged, has already produced a powerful effect. 
 
 Education had been attended to, and genius developed. 
 [Here Mr. C read a passage from the Colonial Journal, 
 published last summer in Great Britain, where a disposition 
 to exaggerate on that side of the question, could hardly be 
 supposed to exist.*] The fact was not therefore true, that 
 the imputed ignorance existed; but, if it did, he repeated 
 that he disputed the inference. It was the doctrine of thrones, 
 that manjwas^too ignorant to govern himself. Their parti- 
 saris~assert his incapacity ThrefeTerice to all nations; if they 
 cannot command universal assent to the proposition, it is 
 then demanded as to particular nations; and our pride and 
 our presumption too often make converts of us. Mr. Clay 
 contended that it was to arraign the dispositions of Provi- 
 dence himself to suppose that he had created beings incapa- 
 ble of governing themselves, and to be trampled on by kings. 
 He contended that self-government was the natural govern- 
 ment of man, and he referred to the aborigines of our own i | 
 land. If he were to speculate in hypotheses unfavourable ' ' 
 
 " • As soon as the project of revolution arose on the shores of La Pla- 
 ta, genius and talent exhibited their influence; the capacity of the peo- 
 ple became manifest, and the means of acquiring knowledge vrcre soon 
 made the favourite pursuit of the youth. As far as the wants, or the 
 inevitable interruption of affairs have allowed, every thing has been 
 done to disseminate useful information. The liberty of the press has 
 indeed met with some occasional checks; but in Buenos Ayres alone as 
 many periodical works weekly issue from the press as in Spain and Por- 
 tugal put together." 
 
86 ON THE EMANCIPATION OF SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 to human liberty, his should be founded rather upon the 
 vices, refinements, or density of population. Crowded to- 
 gether in compact masses, even if they were philosophers, 
 the contagion of the passions is communicated and caught, 
 and the effect too often, he admitted, was the overthrow of 
 liberty. Dispersed over such an immense space as that on 
 which the people of Spanish America were spread, their 
 physical, and he believed also their moral condition, both 
 favored their liberty. 
 
 With regard to their superstition, Mr. Clay said, they 
 worshipped the same God with us. Their prayers were of- 
 fered up in their temples to the same Redeemer, whose in- 
 tercession we expected to save us. Nor was there any thing 
 in the Catholic religion unfavorable to freedom. AH reli- 
 gions united with government were more or less inimical 
 to liberty. All, separated from government, were compati- 
 ble with liberty. If the people of Spanish America had 
 not already gone as far, in religious toleration, as we had, 
 the difference in their condition from ours, should not be 
 forgotten. Every thing was progressive; and, in time he 
 hoped to see them imitating, tii this f'g^pect, our example. 
 But, grant that the people of Spanish America are igno- 
 rant and incompetent for free government, to whom is that 
 ignorance to be ascribed? Is it not to the execrable system 
 of Spain, which she seeks again to establish and to perpet- 
 uate? So far from chilling our hearts, it ought to increase 
 our solicitude for our unfortunate brethren. It ought to an- 
 imate us to desire the redemption of the minds and the bo- 
 dies of unborn millions from the brutifying effects of a sys- 
 tem whose tendency is to stifle the faculties of the soul, and 
 to degrade man to the level of beasts. He would invoke 
 the spirits of our departed fathers. Was it for yourselves 
 only, that you nobly fought? No, no. It was the chains that 
 were forging for your posterity that made you ^y to arms, 
 "and scattering the elements of these chains to the winds, 
 you transmitted to us the rich inheritance of liberty. 
 , The exports of Spanish America (exclusive of those of 
 //the islands) are estimated in the valuable little work of M. 
 Torres, deserving to be better known, at about eighty-one 
 millions of dollars. Of these more than three-fourths con- 
 sist of the precious metals. The residue are cocoa, coffee, 
 cochineal, sugar, and some other articles. No nation ever 
 offered richer commodities in exchange. It was of no ma- 
 
ON THE EMANCIPATION OF SOUTH AMERICA. S7 
 
 terial consequence that we produced but little that Spanish 
 America wanted. Commerce, as it actually exists, in the 
 hands of maritime states, was no longer confined to a mere 
 barter, between any two states, of their respective produc- 
 tions. It rendered tributary to its interests the commodi- 
 ties of all quarters of the world. So that a rich American 
 cargo, or the contents of an American commercial ware- 
 house, presented you with whatever was rare or valuable 
 in every part of the globe. Commerce was not to be judg- 
 ed by its results in transactions with one nation only. Un- 
 favourable balances existing with one state are made up by 
 contrary balances with other states. And its true value 
 should be tested by the totality of its operations. Our great- 
 est trade — that with Great Britain, judged by the amount 
 of what we sold for her consumption, and what we bought 
 of her for ours, would be pronounced ruinous. But the un- 
 favourable balance was covered by the profits of trade with 
 other nations. We may safely trust to the daring enterprize 
 of our merchants. The precious metals are in South Ame- 
 rica, and they will command the articles wanted in South 
 America, which will purchase them. Our navigation will 
 be benefited by the transportation, and our country will re- 
 alize the mercantile profits. Already the item in our exports 
 of American manufactures is respectable. They go chiefly 
 to the West Indies and to Spanish America. This item is 
 constantly augmenting. And he would again, as he had 
 on another occasion, ask gentlemen to elevate themselves to 
 the actual importance and greatness of our republic; to re- 
 flect like true American statesmen, that we were not legis- 
 lating for the present day only; and to contemplate this coun- 
 try in its march to true greatness, when millions and mil- 
 lions will be added to our population, and when the in- 
 creased productive industry will furnish an infinite variety 
 of fabrics for foreign consumption in order to supply our 
 own wants. The distribution of the precious metals has 
 hitherto been principally made through the circuitous chan- 
 nel of Cadiz. No one can foresee all the effects which will 
 result from a direct distribution of them from the mines 
 which produce them. One of these effects will probably be 
 to give us the entire command of the Indian trade. The 
 advantage we have on the map of the world over Europe, 
 in that respect, is prodigious. Again, if England, persist- 
 ing in her colonial monopoly, continued to occlude- her ports 
 
88 ON THE EMANCIPATION OF SOUTH AMERICA. 
 
 in the West Indies to us, and we should, as he contended 
 we ought, meet her system by a countervailing measure, 
 Venezuela, New Grenada, and other parts of Spanish Ame- 
 rica, would afford us all that we get from the British West 
 Indies. He confessed that he despaired, for the present, of 
 adopting that salutary measure. It was proposed at the 
 last session, and postponed. It was during the present ses- 
 sion again proposed, and, he feared, would be again post- 
 poned. He saw, and he owned it with infinite regret, a tone 
 and a feeling in the councils of the country infinitely below 
 that which belonged to the country. It was perhaps the 
 moral consequence of the exertions of the late war. We 
 are alarmed at dangers, we know not what, by spectres 
 conjured up by our own vivid imaginations. 
 
 The West India bill is brought up. We shrug our shoul- 
 ders, talk of restrictions, non-intercourse, embargo, commer- 
 cial warfare, make long faces, and — postpone the bill. The 
 time will however come — must come, when this country will 
 not submit to a commerce with the British colonies upon 
 the terms which England alone prescribes. And, he re- 
 peated, that, when it arrived, Spanish America would afford 
 us an ample substitute. Then, as to our navigation; gen- 
 tlemen should recollect that, if reasoning from past expe- 
 rience were safe, for the future our great commercial rival 
 will be in war a greater number of years than she will be 
 in peace. Whenever she shall be at war and we are in 
 peace, our navigation, being free from the risks and insur- 
 ance incident to war, we shall engross almost the whole 
 transportation of the Spanish American commerce. For 
 he did not believe that that country would ever have a 
 considerable marine. Mexico, the most populous part o» 
 it, had but two ports, La Vera Cruz, and Acapulca, and 
 neither of them very good. Spanish America had not the 
 elements to construct a marine. It wanted, and must always 
 want hardy seamen. He did not believe that, in the present 
 improved state of navigation, any nations so far south would 
 ever make a figure as maritime powers. If Carthage and 
 Rome, in ancient times, and some other states of a later 
 period, occasionally made great exertions on the water, it 
 must be recollected, that they were principally on a small 
 theatre, and in a totally different, state of the art of naviga- 
 tion, or when there was no competition from northern states. 
 
 He was aware that, in opposition to the interest which 
 
ON THE EMANCIPATION OF SOUTH AMERICA. 89 
 
 he had been endeavouring to manifest that this country had 
 in the independence of Spanish America, it was contended, 
 that we should find that country a great rival in agricultural 
 productions. There was something so narrow and selfish 
 and grovelling in this argument, if founded in fact, some- 
 thing so unworthy the magnanimity of a great and a gene- 
 rous people, that he confessed he had scarcely patience to 
 notice it. But it was not true to any extent. Of the eighty 
 odd millions of exports, only about one million and a half 
 consisted of an article which might come into competition 
 %vith us, and that was cotton. The tobacco which Spain de- 
 rived from her colonies was chiefly produced in her islands. 
 Bread stuffs could no where be raised and brought to market 
 in any amount materially afltcting us. The t|ible lands of 
 Mexico, owing to their elevation, were, it was true, well 
 adapted to the culture of grain; but the expense and difficulty 
 of getting it to the gulf of Mexico, and the action of the in- 
 tense heat at La Vera Cruz, the only port of exportation, 
 must always prevent Mexico from being an alarming com- 
 petitor. Spanish America was capable of producing articles 
 so much more valuable than those which we raised, that it 
 was not probable they would abandon a more profitable for 
 a less advantageous culture, to come into competition with 
 us. The West India islands were well adapted to the rai- 
 sing cotton; and yet the more valuable culture of coffee and 
 sugar was constantly preferred. Again, Providence had so 
 ordered it, that with regard to countries producing articles; 
 apparently similar, there was some peculiarity, resulting ! 
 from climate, or from some other cause, that gave to each 
 an appropriate place in the general wants and consumption 
 of mankind. The southern part of the continent, La Plata 
 and Chili, was too remote to rival us. 
 
 The immense country, w^atered by the Mississippi, and 
 its branches, had a peculiar interest, which he trusted he 
 should be excused for noticing. Having but the single vent 
 of New Orleans, for all the surplus produce of their industry, 
 it was quite evident that thev would have a greater security 
 for enjoying the advantages of that outlet, if the indepen- 
 dence of Mexico upon any European power were effected. 
 Such a power owning at the same time Cuba, the great key 
 of the gulf of Mexico, and all the shores of that gulf, with 
 the exception of the portion between the Perdido and the 
 Rio del Norde, must have a powerful command ovel* our 
 N 
 
K 
 
 90 ON THE EMANCIPATION OF SOUTH AMERICA. 
 
 interests. Spain, it was tiue, was not a dangerous neighbour 
 at present, but, in the vicissitudes of states, her power might 
 be again resuscitatedT" 
 
 Mr. C. continued: Having shown that the cause of the 
 patriots was just, and that we had a great interest in it5 
 successful issue, he would next inquire what course of po- 
 licy it became us to adopt. He had already declared that to 
 be one of strict and impartial neutrality. It was not neces- 
 sary for their interests, it was not expedient, for our own, 
 that we should take part in the war. All they demanded of 
 us was a just neutrality. It was compatible with this pacific 
 policy, — it was required by it, that we should recognize any 
 established government, if there were any established go- 
 vernment in Spanish America. Recognition alone, without 
 aid, was no just cause of war. With aid it was, not because 
 of the recognition, but because of the aid, as aid without 
 recognition was cause of war. The truth of these proposi- 
 tions he would maintain upon principle, by the practice of 
 other states, and by the usage of our own. There was no 
 con>mon tribunal, among nations to pronounce upon the 
 fact of the sovereignty of a new state. Each power does 
 and must judge for itself. It was an attribute of sovereignty 
 so to judge. A nation, in exerting this incontestible right, 
 — in pronouncing upon the independence in fact of a new 
 state, takes no part in the war. It gives neither men, nor 
 ships, nor money. It merely pronounces that in so far as it 
 may be necessary to institute any relations or to support any 
 intercourse, with the new power, that power is capable of 
 maintaining those relations and authorizing that intercourse. 
 Martens and other publicists lay down these principles. 
 
 When the United Provinces formerly severed themselves 
 from Spain, it was about eighty years before their indepen- 
 dence was finally recognised by Spain. Before that recog- 
 nition, the United Provinces had been received by all the 
 rest of Europe into the family of nations. It is true that a 
 war broke out between Philip and Elizabeth, but it pro- 
 ceeded from the aid which she determined to give and did 
 give to Holland. In no instance he believed could it be 
 shown, from authentic history, that Spain made war upon 
 any power on the sole ground that such power had acknow- 
 ledged the independence of the United Provinces. 
 
 In the case of our own revolution, it was not until after 
 France had given us aid, and had determined to enter into 
 
ON THE EMANCIPATION OF SOUTH AMERICA. 9i 
 
 a treaty of alliance with us, — a treaty by which she guaran- 
 teed our independence, that England declared war. Holland 
 also was charged by England with favouring our cause, and 
 deviating from the line of strict neutrality. And, when it 
 was perceived that she was moreover about to enter into a 
 treaty with us, England declared war. Even if it were 
 shown that a proud, haughty and powerful nation, like En- 
 gland, had made war, upon other provinces, on the ground 
 of a mere recognition, the single example could not alter the 
 public law, or shake the strength of a clear principle. 
 
 But what had been our uniform practice? We had con- 
 stantly proceeded on the principle, that the government de 
 facto was that we could alone notice. Whatever form of 
 government any society of people adopts; whoever they ac- 
 knowledge as their sovereign, we consider that government 
 or that sovereign as the one to be acknowledged by us. We 
 have invariably abstained from assuming a right to decide 
 in favour of the sovereign de jure^ and against the sovereign 
 de facto. That is a question for the nation in which it arises 
 to determine. And so far as we are concerned, the sovereign 
 de facto is the sovereign de jure. Our own revolution stands 
 on the basis of the right of a people to change their rulers. 
 He did not maintain that every immature revolution, — eve- 
 ry usurper, before his power was consolidated, was to be 
 acknowledged by us; but that as soon as stability and order 
 were maintained, no matter by whom, we always had con- 
 sidered, and ought to consider the actual as the true go- 
 vernment. General Washington, — Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Ma- 
 dison, had all, whilst they were respectively presidents, 
 acted on these principles. 
 
 In the case of the French republic. Gen. Washington did 
 not wait until some of the crowned heads of Europe should 
 set him the example of acknowledging it, but accredited a 
 minister at once. And it is remarkable that he was received 
 before the government of the republic was considered as 
 established. It will be found, in Marshall's life of Washing- 
 ton, that when it was understood that a minister from the 
 French republic was about to present himself. President 
 Washington submitted a number of questions to his cabi- 
 net for their consideration and advice, one of which was, 
 whether, upon the reception of the minister, he should be 
 notified that America would suspend the execution of the 
 treaties between the two countries until France had an es- 
 
92 ON THE EMANCIPATION OF SOUTH AMERICA. 
 
 tablished government. Gen. Washington did not stop to 
 inquire v/hether the descendants of St. Louis were to be 
 considered as the legitimate sovereigns of France, and if 
 the revolution was to be regarded as unauthorized resistance 
 to their sway. He saw France, in fact, under the govern- 
 ment of those who had subverted the throne of the Bour- 
 bons, and he acknowledged the actual government. During 
 Mr. Jefferson's and Mr. Madison's administrations, when 
 the Cortes of Spain and Joseph Bonaparte respectively con- 
 tended for the crown, those enlightened statesmen said, we 
 will receive a minister from neither party; settle the ques- 
 tion between yourselves, and we will acknowledge the party 
 that prevails. We have nothing to do with your feuds; who- 
 ever all Spain acknowledges as her sovereign, is the only- 
 sovereign with whom we can maintain any relations. Mr. 
 Jefferson, it is understood, considered whether he should 
 not receive a minister from both parties, and finally decided 
 against it, because of the inconveniencies to this country, 
 which might result from the double representation of another 
 power. As soon as the French armies were expelled from 
 the Peninsula, Mr. Madison, still acting on the principle of 
 the government defacto^ received the present minister from 
 Spain. During all the phases of the French government, 
 republic, directory, consuls, consul for life, emperor, king, 
 emperor again, king, our government has uniformly received 
 the minister. 
 
 If, then, there be an established government in Spanish 
 America, deserving to rank among the nations, we were mo- 
 rally and politically bound to acknowledge it, unless we re- 
 nounced all the principles which ought to guide, and which 
 hitherto had guided, our councils. Mr. C. then undertook to 
 show, that the united provinces of the Rio de la Plata pos- 
 sessed such a government. Its limits, he said, extending from 
 the south Atlantic ocean to the Pacific, embraced a territory- 
 equal to that of the United States, certainly equal to it, ex- 
 clusive of Louisiana. Its population was about three mil- 
 lions, more than equal to ours at the commencement of our 
 revolution. That population was a hardy, enterprising and 
 gallant population. The establishments of Monte Video 
 and Buenos Ayres, had, during different periods of their 
 history, been attacked by the French, Dutch, Danes, Por- 
 tuguese, English, and Spanish; and such was the martial 
 character of the people, that in every instance the attack had 
 
ON THE EMANCIPATION OF SOUTH AMERICA. 93 
 
 been repulsed. In 1807, general Whitlocke commanding a 
 powerful English army, was admitted, under the guise of a 
 friend, into Buenos Avres, and as soon as he was supposed 
 to have demonstrated inimical designs, he was driven by 
 the native and unaided force of Buenos Ayres from the 
 country. Buenos Ayres had, during now nearly eight years, 
 been in point of fact in the enjoyment of self-government. 
 The capital, containing more than sixty thousand inhabi- 
 tants, has never been once lost. As early as 1811, the re- 
 gency of Old Spain made war upon Buenos Ayres, and the 
 consequence subsequently was, the capture of a Spanish 
 army in Monte Video, equal to that of Burgoyne. This 
 government has now, in excellent discipline, three well ap- 
 pointed armies, with the most abundant material of war: the 
 army of Chili — the army of Peru, and the army of Buenos 
 Ayres. The first under San Martin, has conquered Chili: 
 the second is penetrating in a north-western direction from 
 Buenos Ayres, into the vice royalty of Peru; and according 
 to the last accounts, had reduced the ancient seat of empire 
 of the Incas. The third remains at Buenos Ayres to op- 
 pose any force which Spain may send against it. To show 
 the condition of the country in July last, Mr. C. again call- 
 ed the attention of the committee to the message of the su- 
 preme director, delivered to the Congress of the United 
 Provinces. It was a paper of the same authentic character 
 with the speech of the king of England on opening his par- 
 liament, or the message of the president of the United 
 States, at the commencement of congress.*' There was a 
 
 * The following are the passages read by Mr. Clay: 
 " The army of this capital was organized at the same time with those 
 of the Andes and of the interior; the regular force has been nearly 
 doubled; the militia has made great progress in military discipline; our 
 slave population has been formed into battalions, and taught the military 
 art as far as is consistent with their condition. The capital is under no 
 apprehension that an army of ten thousand men can shake its liberties, 
 and, should the Peninsularians send against us thrice that number, am- 
 ple provision has been made to receive them. 
 
 " Our navy has been fostered in all its branches. The scarcity of 
 means under which we laboured until now, has not prevented us from 
 undertaking very considerable operations, with respect to the national 
 vessels; all of them have been repaired, and others have been purchased 
 and armed, for the defence of our coasts and rivers; provisions have been 
 made, should necessity require it, for arming many more, so that the 
 enemy will not find himself secure from our reprisals even upon the 
 ocean. 
 
94 ON THE EMANCIPATION OF SOUTH AMERICA- 
 
 spirit of bold confidence running through this fine state pa- 
 per, which nothing but conscious strength could communi- 
 cate. Their armies, their magazines, their finances, were on 
 the most solid and respectable footing. And, amidst all the 
 cares of war, and those incident to the consolidation of their 
 new institutions, leisure was found to promote the interests 
 of science, and the education of the rising generation. It 
 was true, that the first part of the message portrayed scenes 
 
 " Our military force, at every point which it occupies, seems to be 
 animated with the same spirit; its tactics are uniform, and have under- 
 gone a rapid improvement from the science of experience, which it has 
 borrowed from warlike nations. 
 
 " Our arsenals have been replenished with arms, and a sufficient store 
 of cannon and munitions of war have been provided to maintain the con- 
 test for many years; and this, after having supplied articles of every 
 description to those districts, which have not as yet come into the union, 
 but whose connexion with us has been only intercepted by reason of our 
 past misfortunes. 
 
 "Our legions daily receive considerable augmentations from new- 
 levies; all our preparations have been made, as though we were about 
 to enter upon the contest anew. Until now, the vastness of our resour- 
 ces were unknown to us, and our enemies may contemplate, with deep 
 mortification and despair, the present flourishing state of these provinces 
 after so many devastations. 
 
 *' Whilst thus occupied in providing for our safety within, and pre- 
 paring for assaults from without, other objects of solid interest have not 
 been neglected, and which hitherto were thought to oppose insurmount- 
 able obstacles. 
 
 " Our system of finance had hitherto been on a footing entirely inad- 
 «quate to the unfailing supply of our wants, and still more to the liquida- 
 tion of the immense debt which had been contracted in former years. 
 An unremitted application to this object has enabled me to create the 
 means of satisfying the creditors of the state, who had already abandoned 
 their debts as lost, as well as to devise a fixed mode, by which the taxes 
 may be made to fall equally and indirectly on the whole mass of our pop- 
 ulation; it is not the least merit of this operation, that it has been effected 
 in despite of the writings by which it was attacked, and which are but 
 little creditable to the intelligence and good intentions of their authors. 
 At no other period have the public exigences been so punctually sup- 
 plied, nor have more important works been undertaken. 
 
 " The people, moreover, have been relieved from many burdens, which 
 being partial, or confined to particular classes, had occasioned vexation 
 and disgust. Other vexations scarcely less grievous will by degrees be 
 also suppressed, avoiding as far as possible a recurrence to loans, which 
 have drawn after them the most fatal consequences to states. Should 
 we, however, be compelled to resort to such expedients the lenders will 
 not see themselves in danger of losing their advances. 
 
 " Many undertakings have been set on foot for the advancement of 
 the general prosperity. Such has been the re-establishing of the college, 
 heretofore named San Carlos, but hereafter to be called the Union of 
 
ON THE EMANCIPATION OF SOUTH AMERICA. 95 
 
 of difficulty and commotion, the usual attendants upon re- 
 volution. The very avowal of their troubles manifested 
 however, that they were subdued. And what state, passing 
 through the agitations of a great revolution, was free from 
 them? We had our tories, our intrigues, our factions. More 
 than once were the affections of the country, and the con- 
 fidence of our councils, attempted to be shaken in the great 
 father of our liberties. Not a Spanish bayonet remains with- 
 in the immense extent of the territories of La Plata to con- 
 test the authority of the actual government. It is free, it is 
 independent— it is sovereign. It manages the interests of 
 the society that submits to its sway. It is capable of main- 
 taining the relations between that society and other nations. 
 Are we not hound, then, upon our own principles, to ac- 
 knowledge this new republic? If we do not, who will? Are 
 we to expect, that kings will set us the example of acknow- 
 ledgmg the only republic on earth, except our own? We 
 receive, promptly receive, a minister from whatever king 
 sends us one. From the great powers and the little powers 
 we accredit ministers. We do more: we hasten to recipro- 
 cate the compliment; and anxious to manifest our gratitude 
 
 the South, as a point designated for the dissemination of learning ^o the 
 youth of every part of the slate, on the most extensiFe scaJe, for the at- 
 tainment of which object the government is at the present moment en- 
 gaged in putting m practice every possible dihgence. It will not be 
 long betore these nurseries r^ill flourish, in which the liberal and exact 
 sciences will be cultivated, in which the hearts of those young men will 
 be lormed, who are destined at some future day to add new splendor to 
 ©ur country. ^ ^ 
 
 «' Such has been the establishment of a military depot on the frontier 
 with Its spacious magazine, a necessary measure to guard us from future 
 dangers, a work which does more honour to the prudent foresio-ht of our 
 country, as it was undertaken in the moment of its prosperous fortunes 
 a measure which must give more occasion for reflection to our enemies' 
 than they can impose upon us by their boastings. ' 
 
 "Fellow citizens we owe our unhappy reverses and calamities to the 
 depraving system of our ancient metropohs, which in condemning us to 
 the obscuruy and opprobrium of the most degraded destiny, has sown 
 
 That otr'h ' -^'^ r^' "°°^""'^ "^ ^° ^^^'"'y- Tell that metropoTis 
 that even she may glory m your works! Already have vou cleared alJ 
 the rocks, escaped every danger, and conducted these provinces to the 
 flourishing condition m which we now behold them. Let the enemies of 
 your name contemplate with despair the energies of your vHuTsn"! 
 
 ous'rr^'"?' f "^rr^'^^' ^'^^ >°" already appertL to their illus- 
 nCin^d^nJ^I 1 "' <^;"''«'f^te °»rseives on the blessings wehave already 
 
 ?he evnii^ni f"' "'""' *° ^^^ ^°''^'' ^^^* ^« ^^^^ l^^rned to profit bv 
 the experience of our past misfortunes." 
 
96 ON THE EMANCIPATION OF SOUTH AMERICA. 
 
 for royal civility, we send for a minister (as in the case of 
 Sweden and the Netherlands) of the lowest grade; one of 
 the highest rank recognized by our laws. We were the 
 natural head of the American family. He would not inter- 
 meddle in the affairs of Europe. We wisely kept aloof 
 from their broils. He would not even intermeddle in those 
 of other parts of America, farther than to exert the incon- 
 testible rights appertaining to us as a free, sovereign and 
 independent power; and, he contended, that the accrediting 
 of a minister from the new republic was such a right. We 
 were bound to receive their minister, if we meant to be 
 really neutral. If the royal belligerent were represented 
 and heard at our government, the republican belligerent 
 ought also to be heard. Otherwise, one party would be in the 
 condition of the poor patriots who were tried ex parte the 
 other day in the Supreme Court, without counsel, without 
 friends. Give Mr. Onis his conge, or receive the republican 
 minister. Unless you do so, your neutrality is nominal. 
 
 Mr. C. next proceeded to inquire into the consequences 
 of a recognition of the new republic. Will it involve us in 
 war with Spain? He had shown, he trusted, successfully 
 shown, that it was no just cause of war to Spain. Being no 
 cause of war, we had no right to expect that war would 
 ensue. If Spain, without cause, would make war, she may 
 make it whether we do or do not acknowledge the republic. 
 But she would not, because she could not, make war against 
 us. He called the attention of the committee to a report of 
 the minister of the Hacienda to the king of Spain presented 
 about eight months ago. A more beggarly account of empty 
 boxes, Mr. C. said, was never rendered. The picture of Mr. 
 Dallas, sketched in his celebrated report during the last 
 war, may be contemplated without emotion after surveying 
 that of Mr. Gary. The expenses of the current year required 
 eight hundred and thirty millions two hundred and sixty- 
 seven thousand eight hundred and twenty-nine of reals, and 
 the deficit of the income is represented as two hundred and 
 thirty-three millions one hundred and forty thousand nine 
 hundred and thirty-two of reals. This, besides an immense 
 mass of unliquidated debt, which the minister acknowledges 
 the utter inability of the country to pay, although bound in 
 honor to redeem it. He states that the vassals of the king 
 are totally unable to submit to any new taxes, and the coun- 
 try is without credit, so as to render anticipation by loans 
 
ON THE EMANCIPATION OF SOUTH AMERICA. 97 
 
 wholly impracticable. Mr. Gary appears to be a virtuous 
 man, who exhibits frankly the naked truth; and yet such a 
 minister acknowledges, that the decorum due to one single 
 family, that of the monarch, does not admit, in this critical 
 condition of his country, any reduction of the enormous sum 
 of upwards of fifty-six millions of reals, set apart to defray 
 the expenses of that family! — He states that a foreign war 
 would be the greatest of all calamities, and one which, being 
 unable to provide for it, they ought to employ every possible 
 means to avert. He proposed some inconsiderable contri- 
 bution from the clergy, and the whole body was instantly 
 in an uproar. Indeed, Mr. C. had no doubt, that, surround- 
 ed as Mr. Gary was, by corruption, by intrigue, and folly, 
 and imbecility, he would be compelled to retire, if he had 
 not already been dismissed, from a post for which he had 
 too much integrity. It had been now about four years since 
 the restoration of Ferdinand; and if during that period, the 
 whole energies of the monarchy had been directed unsuc- 
 cessfully against the weakest and most vulnerable of all the 
 American possessions, Venezuela, how was it possible for 
 Spain to encounter the difficulties of a new war with this 
 country?-— Morillo had been sent out with one of the finest 
 armies that had ever left the shores of Europe — consisting 
 of ten thousand men, chosen from all the veterans who had 
 fought in the Peninsula. It had subsequently been rein- 
 forced with about three thousand more. And yet, during 
 the last summer, it was reduced, by the sword and the cli- 
 mate, to about four thousand effective men. And Vene- 
 zuela, containing a population of only about one million, of 
 which near two-thirds were persons of color, remained un- 
 subdued. The little island of Margaritta, whose population 
 was less than twenty thousand inhabitants — a population 
 fighting for liberty with more than Roman valor — had com- 
 pelled that army to retire upon the main. Spain, by the late 
 accounts, appeared to be deliberating upon the necessity of 
 resorting to that measure of conscription, for which Bona- 
 parte had been so much abused. The effect of a war with 
 this country, would be to ensure success, beyond all doubt, 
 to the cause of American independence. Those parts even, 
 over which Spain has some prospect of maintaining her 
 dominion, would probably be put in jeopardy. Such a war 
 would be attended with the immediate and certain loss of 
 Florida. Commanding the Gulf of Mexico, as we should 
 O 
 
98 ON THE EMANCIPATION OF SOUTH AMERICA. 
 
 be enabled to do by our navy, blockading the port of Ha- 
 vanna, the port of La Vera Cruz, and the coast of Terra 
 Firma, and throwing munitions of war into Mexico, Cuba 
 would be menaced — Mexico emancipated — and Morillo's 
 army deprived of supplies, now drawn principally from this 
 country thxough the Havanna, compelled to surrender. The 
 war, he verily believed, would be terminated in less than 
 two years, supposing no other power to interpose. 
 
 Will the allies interfere? If by the exertion of an unques- 
 tionable attribute of a sovereign power, we should give no 
 just cause of war to Spain herself, how could it be pretended 
 that we should furnish even a specious pretext to the al- 
 lies for making war upon us? On what ground could they 
 attempt to justify a rupture with us for the exercise of a 
 right which we hold in common with them, and with every 
 other independent state? But we have a surer guarantee 
 against their hostility, in their interests. That all the allies, 
 who have any foreign commerce, have an interest in the in- 
 dependence of Spanish America, was perfectly evident. On 
 what ground, he asked, was it likely, then, that they would 
 support Spain, in opposition to their own decided interest? 
 To crush the spirit of revolt, and prevent the progress of 
 free principles? Nations, like individuals, do not sensibly 
 feel, and seldom act upon dangers, which are remote either 
 in time or place. Of Spanish Amenca but little is known 
 by the great body of the population of Europe. Even in this 
 country the most astonishing ignorance prevails respecting 
 them. Those European statesmen who were acquainted with 
 the country, would reflect, that, tossed by a great revolution, 
 it would most probably constitute four or five several na- 
 tions, and that the ultimate modification of all their various 
 governments was by no means absolutely certain. But, Mr. 
 C. said, he entertained no doubt that the principle of cohe- 
 sion among the allies was gone. It was annihilated in the 
 memorable battle of Waterloo. When the question was, 
 whether one should engross all, a common danger united 
 all. How long was it, even with a clear perception of that 
 danger, before an effective coalition could be formed? How 
 often did one power stand by, unmoved and indifferent to 
 the fate of its neighbour, although the destruction of that 
 neighbour removed the only barrier to an attack upon itself? 
 No; the consummation of the cause of the allies was, and 
 all history and all experience would prove it, the destruc 
 
ON THE EMANCIPATION OF SOUTH AMERICA. 99 
 
 tion of the alliance. The principle was totally changed. It 
 
 was no longer a common struggle against the colossal power 
 
 of Bonaparte, but it became a common scramble for the 
 
 spoils of his empire. There may, indeed, be one or two 
 
 points on which a common interest still exists, such as the 
 
 convenience of subsisting their armies on the vitals of poor 
 
 suffering France. But as for action — for new enterprizes, 
 
 there was no principle of unity, there could be no accord- " I 
 
 ance of interests, or of views, among them. ' 
 
 What was the condition in which Europe was left after 
 all its efforts? It was divided into two great powers, one 
 having the undisputed command of the land — the other of 
 the water. Paris was transferred to St. Petersburgh, and 
 the navies of Europe were at the bottom of tlie sea, or con- 
 centered in the ports of England. Russia — that huge land 
 animal — awing by the dread of her vast power all conti- 
 nental Europe, was seeking to encompass the Porte; and 
 constituting herself the kraken of the ocean, was anxious to 
 lave her enormous sides in the more genial waters of the 
 Mediterranean. It was said, he knew, that she had indi- 
 cated a disposition to take part with Spain. No such thing. 
 She had sold some old worm-eaten, decayed fir-built ships 
 to Spain, but the crews which navigated them, were to re- 
 turn from the port of delivery, and the bonus she was to get, 
 he believed to be the island of Minorca, in conformity with 
 the cardinal point of her policy. France was greatly inter- 
 ested in whatever would extend her commerce, and regene- 
 rate her marine, and consequently, more than any other 
 power of Europe, England alone excepted, was concerned 
 in the independence of Spanish America. He did not de- 
 spair of France, so long as France had a legislative body, 
 collected from all its parts, the great repository of its wishes 
 and its will. Already had that body manifested a spirit of 
 considerable independence. And those who, conversant 
 with French history, knew what magnanimous stands had 
 been made by the parliaments, bodies of limited, extent, 
 against the royal prerogative, would be able to appreciate 
 justly the moral force of such a legislative body. Whilst it 
 exists, the true interests of France will be cherished and 
 pursued on points of foreign policy, in opposition to the 
 pride and interests of the Bourbon family, if the actual dy- 
 nasty, impelled by this pride, should seek to subserve these 
 interests. 
 
100 ON THE EMANCIPATION OF SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 England finds that, after all her exertions, she is every 
 where despised on the continent; her maritime power viewed 
 with jealousy; her commerce subjected to the most onerous 
 restrictions; selfishness imputed to all her policy. All the 
 accounts from France represent that every party, Bonapar- 
 tists, Jacobins, Royalists, Moderes, Ultras, all burn with 
 indignation towards England, and pant for an opportunity 
 to avenge themselves on the power to whom they ascribe 
 all their disasters. 
 
 [Here Mr. C. read a part of a letter which he had just 
 received from an intelligent friend at Paris, and which com- 
 posed only a small portion of a mass of evidence to the same 
 effect, which had come under his notice.] It was impossi- 
 ble, he said, that with powers, between whom so much cor- 
 dial dislike, so much incongruity existed, there could be 
 any union or concert. Whilst the free principles of the 
 French revolution remained; those principles which were so 
 alarming to the stability of thrones, there never had been 
 any successful or cordial union; coalition after coalition, 
 wanting the spirit of union, was swept away by the over- 
 whelming power of France. It was not until those princi- 
 ples were abandoned and Bonaparte had erected on their 
 ruins his stupendous fabric of universal empire — nor in- 
 deed until after the frosts of Heaven favored the cause of 
 Europe, that an effective coalition was formed. No, said 
 Mr. C. the complaisance inspired in the allies from unex- 
 pected, if not undeserved success, might keep them nomi- 
 nally together; but for all purposes of united and combined 
 action, the alliance was gone; and he did not believe in the 
 chimera of their crusading against the independence of a 
 country, whose liberation would essentially promote all their 
 respective interests. 
 
 But the question of the interposition of the allies, in the 
 event of our recognizing the new republic, resolved itself 
 into a question whether England, in such event, would make 
 war uppn us: If it could be shown that England would not, 
 it resulted either that the other allies would not, or that, 
 if they should, in which case England would most probably 
 support the cause of America, it would be a war without 
 the maritime ability to maintain it. He contended that En- 
 gland was alike restrained by her honor and by her interest 
 from waging war against us, and consequently against Spa- 
 nish America, also for an acknov/ledgment of the indepen- 
 
ON THE EMANCIPATION OF SOUTH AMERICA. lOi 
 
 tlence of the new state. England has encouraged and fo- 
 mented the revolt of the colonies as early as June, 1 797. 
 Sir Thomas Picton, governor of Trinidad, in virtue of or- 
 ders from the British minister of foreign affairs, issued a 
 proclamation, in which he expressly assures the inhabitants 
 of Terra Firma, that the British government will aid in 
 establishing their independence.* In prosecution of the 
 same object, Great Britain defrayed the expenses of the 
 famous expedition of Miranda. England, in 1811, when she 
 was in the most intimate relations with Spain, then strug- 
 gling against the French power, assumed the attitude of a 
 mediator between the colonies and the peninsula. The terms 
 on which she conceived her mediation could alone be ef- 
 fectual were rejected by the Cortes, at the lowest state of 
 the Spanish power. Among these terms, England required 
 for the colonies a perfect freedom of commerce, allowing 
 only some degree of preference to Spain; that the appoint- 
 ments of viceroys and governors should be made indiscri- 
 minately from Spanish Americans and Spaniards; and that 
 the interior government and every branch of public ad- 
 ministration should be entrusted to the cabildo or munici- 
 palities, &c. If Spain, when Spain was almost reduced to 
 the island of St. Leon, then rejected those conditions, would 
 she now consent to them, amounting, as they do, substan- 
 tially to the independence of Spanish America? If England, 
 devoted as she was at that time to the cause of the Peninsula, 
 even then thought those terms due to the colonies, would 
 she now, when no particular motive existed for cherishing 
 the Spanish power, and after the ingratitude with which 
 Spain has treated her, think that the colonies ought to sub- 
 mit to less favourable conditions? And would not England 
 stand disgraced in the eyes of the whole world, if, after hav- 
 ing abetted and excited a revolution, she should now attempt 
 to reduce the colonies to unconditional submission, or should 
 
 * The following' is the passage read: 
 
 " With regard to the hope you entertain of raising the spirits of those 
 persons, with whom you are in correspondence, towards encouraging- 
 the inhabitants to resist the oppressive authority of their government, 
 I have little more to say than that they may be certain that whenever 
 they are in that disposition, they may receive at your hands, all the suc- 
 cors to be expected from his Brittanic Majesty, be it with forces or with 
 arms and ammunition to any extent; with the assurance that the views 
 of his Brittanic Majesty go no further than to secure to them their in- 
 dependence," Sfc. 
 
102 ON THE EMANCIPATION OF SOUTH AMERICA. 
 
 make war upon us for acknowledging that independence 
 which she herself sought to establish? 
 
 No guarantee for the conduct of nations or individuals 
 ought to be stronger than that which honor imposes; but for 
 those who would put no confidence in its obligations, he 
 had an argument to urge of more conclusive force. It was 
 founded upon the interests of England. Excluded almost 
 as she is from the continent, the commerce of America, 
 south and north, is worth to her more than the commerce 
 of the residue of the world. That, to all Spanish America, 
 had been alone estimated at fifteen millions sterling. Its 
 aggregate value to Spanish America and the United States, 
 might be fairly stated at upwards of one hundred millions of 
 dollars. The effect of a war with the two countries would 
 be to devest England of this great interest, at a moment 
 when she is anxiously engaged in repairing the ravages of 
 the European war. Looking to the present moment only, 
 and merely to the interests of commerce, England is con- 
 cerned more than even this country in the success of the 
 cause of independence in Spanish America. The reduction 
 of the Spanish power in America has been the constant and 
 favourite aim of her policy for two centuries — she must 
 blot out her whole history, reverse the maxims of all her 
 illustrious statesmen; extinguish the spirit of commerce 
 which animates, directs and controls all her movements, 
 before she can render herself accessary to the subjugation 
 of Spanish America. No commercial advantages which 
 Spain might offer by treaty, could possess the security 
 for her trade, which independence would communicate. The 
 one would be most probably of limited duration, and liable 
 to violation from policy, from interest or from caprice. The 
 other would be as permanent as independence. That he did 
 not mistake the views of the British cabinet, the recent 
 proclamation of the prince regent he thought proved. — 
 The committee would remark that that document did not 
 describe the patriots as rebels or insurgents, but, using a 
 term which he had no doubt had been well weighed, it de- 
 clared the existence of a "state of warfare." And with 
 regard to English subjects, who were in the armies of Spain, 
 although they had entered the service without restriction 
 as to their military duties, it required that they should not 
 take part against the colonies. The subjects of England 
 freely supplied the patriots with arms and ammunition, and 
 
ON THE EMANCIPATION OF SOUTH AMERICA. l03 
 
 an honorable friend of his (Col. Johnson,) had just received 
 a letter from one of the West India islands stating the ar- 
 rival there from England of the skeletons of three regiments, 
 with many of the men to fill them, destined to aid the pa- 
 triots. In the Quarterly Review, of November last, a 
 journal devoted to the ministry, and a work of the highest 
 authority, as it respects their views — the policy of neutrali- 
 ty is declared and supported as the true policy of England; 
 and that, even if the United States were to take part in the 
 war; and Spain is expressly notified that she cannot and 
 must not expect aid from England.* In the case of the 
 struggle between Spain and her colonies, England, for once 
 at least, had manifested a degree of wisdom highly deserv- 
 ing our imitation, but unfortunately the very reverse of her 
 course had been pursued by us. She had so conducted, by 
 operating upon the hopes of the two parties, as to keep on the 
 best terms with both — to enjoy all the advantages of the 
 rich commerce of both. We had, by a neutrality bill con- 
 taining unprecedented features; and still more by a late 
 executive measure, to say the least of it, of doubtful con- 
 stitutional character, contrived to dissatisfy both parties. 
 We had the confidence neither of Spain nor the colonies. 
 
 ♦" In arguing therefore for the advantages of a strict neutrality, we 
 must enter an early protest against any imputations of hostility to the 
 cause of genuine freedom, or of any passion for despotism and the Inqui- 
 sition. We are no more the panegyrists of legitimate authority in all 
 times, circumstances and situations, than we are advocatesfor revolution 
 in the abstract," S(C. " But it has been plausibly asserted, that by ab- 
 staining from interference in the affairs of South America we are sur- 
 rendering to the United States, all the advantages which might be secured 
 to ourselves, from this revolution; that we are assisting to increase the 
 trade and power of a nation which alone can ever be the maritime rival 
 of England. It appears to us extremely doubtful whether any advantage, 
 commercial or political, can be lost to England by a neutral conduct; it 
 must be observed that the United States themselves have given every 
 public proof of their intention to pursue the same line of policy. But ad- 
 mitting that this conduct is nothing more than a decent pretext; or ad- 
 mitting still farther, that they will afford to the Independents direct and 
 open assistance, our view of the case would remain precisely the same," 
 &:c. " To persevere in force, unaided, is to miscalculate her (Spain's) own 
 resources, even to infatuation. To expect the aid of an ally in such a 
 cause would, if that ally were England, be to suppose this country as for- 
 getful of its own past history as of its immediate interests and duties. 
 Far better would it be for Spain, instead of calling for our aid, to profit 
 by our experience; and to substitute, ere it be too late, for efforts like 
 those by which the North American colonies were lost to this country, 
 the conciliatory measures by which they might have been retained." 
 
104 ON THE EMANCIPATION OF SOUTH AMERICA. 
 
 Mr. Clay said, it remained for him to defend the propo- 
 sition which he meant to submit, from an objection, which 
 he had heard intimated, that it interfered with the duties 
 assigned to the executive branch. On this subject he felt 
 the greatest solicitation; for no man more than himself, res- 
 pected the preservation of the independence of the several 
 departments of government, in the constitutional orbits 
 which were prescribed to them. It was his favorite max- 
 im, that each, acting within its proper sphere, should move 
 with its constitutional independence, and under its constitu- 
 tional responsibility, without influence from any other. He 
 was perfectly aware, that the constitution of the United 
 States, and he admitted the proposition in its broadest sense, 
 confided to the executive the reception and the deputation 
 of ministers. But in relation to the latter operation, con- 
 gress had a current will, in the power of providing for the 
 payment of their salaries. The instrument no where said, 
 or implied, that the executive act of sending a minister to 
 a foreign country should precede the legislative act which 
 shall provide for the payment of his salary. And, in point 
 of fact, our statutory code was full of examples of legisla- 
 tive action prior to executive action, both in relation to the 
 deputation of agents abroad, and to the subject matter ot 
 treaties. Perhaps the act of sending a minister abroad, and 
 the act providing for the allowance of his salary ought to 
 be simultaneous; but if, in the order of precedence, there 
 were more reason on the one side than on the other, he 
 thought it was in favor of the priority of the legislative act, 
 as the safer depository of power. VVhen a minister is sent 
 abroad, although the legislature may be disposed to think 
 his mission useless — although, if previously consulted, they 
 would have said they would not consent to pay such a min- 
 ister, the duty is delicate and painful to refuse to pay the 
 salary promised to him whom the executive has even unne- 
 cessarily sent abroad. Mr. C. illustrated his ideas by the 
 existing missions to Sweden and to the Netherlands. He 
 had no hesitation in saying, that if we had not ministers of 
 the first grade there, and if the legislature were asked, pri- 
 or to sending them, whether it would consent to pay minis- 
 ters of that grade, that he would not and he believed con- 
 gress would not, consent to pay them. 
 
 If it be urged that, by avowing our willingness, in a le- 
 gislative act, to pay a minister not yet sent, and whom the 
 
ON THE EMANCIPATION OF SOUTH AMERICA. 105 
 
 president may think it improper to send abroad, we operate 
 upon the president by all the force of our opinion; it may 
 be retorted that when we are called upon to pay any minis- 
 ter, sent under similar circumstances, we are operated upon 
 by all the force of the president's opinion. The true theory 
 of our government, at least supposes that each of the two 
 departments, acting on its proper constitutional responsibili- 
 ty, will decide according to its best judgment, under all the 
 circumstances of the case. If we make the previous ap- 
 propriation, we act upon our constitutional responsibility, 
 and the president afterwards will proceed upon his. And 
 so if he make the previous appointment. We have a right 
 after a minister is sent abroad, and we are called upon to pay 
 him, and we ought to deliberate upon the propriety of his 
 mission — we may and ought to grant or withhold his salary. 
 If this power of deliberation is conceded subsequent to the 
 deputation of the minister, it must exist prior to that depu- 
 tation. Whenever we so deliberate we deliberate under our 
 constitutional responsibility. Pass the amendment he pro- 
 posed, and it would be passed under that responsibility. 
 Then the president, when he deliberated on the propriety 
 of the mission, would act under his constitutional responsi- 
 bility. Each branch of government, moving in its proper 
 sphere, would act with as much freedom from the influence 
 of the other as was practically attainable. 
 
 There was great reason, Mr. Clay contended, from the 
 peculiar character of the American government, in there 
 being a perfect understanding between the legislative and 
 executive branches, in relation to the acknowledgment of a 
 new power. Every where else the power of declaring war 
 resided with the executive. Here it was deposited with 
 the legislature. If contrary to his opinion, there were even 
 a risk that the acknowledgment of a new state might lead 
 to war, it was advisable that the step should not be taken, 
 without a previous knowledge of the will of the war-mak- 
 ing branch. He was disposed to give to the president all 
 the confidence which he must derive from the unequivocal 
 expression of our will. This expression he knew might be 
 given in the form of an abstract resolution, declaratory of 
 that will; but he preferred, at this time, proposing an act of 
 practical legislation. And if he had been so fortunate as to 
 communicate to the committee, in any thing like that degree 
 of strength in which he entertained them, the convictions 
 P 
 
106 ON THE EMANCIPATION OF SOUTH AMERICA. 
 
 that the cause of the patriots was just; that the character of 
 the war, as waged by Spain, should induce us to wish them 
 success; that we had a great interest in that success; that 
 this interest, as well as our neutral attitude, required us to 
 acknowledge any estal)lished government in iSpanish Ameri- 
 ca; that the United Provinces of the river Plate was such a 
 government; that we might safely acknowledge its indepen- 
 dence, without danger of war from Spain, from the allies, 
 or from England; and that, without unconstitutional inter- 
 ference with the executive power, with peculiar fitness, we 
 might express, in an act of appropriation, our sentiments, 
 leaving him to the exercise of a just and responsible dis- 
 cretion, he hoped the committee would adopt the proposi- 
 tion which he had now the honor of presenting to them, 
 after a respectful tender of his acknowledgments for their 
 attention and kindness, during, he feared, the tedious peri- 
 od he had been so unprofitably trespassing upon their pa- 
 tience. He offered the following amendment to the bill: 
 
 " For one years salary, and an outfit to a minister to the 
 United Provinces of the Riodela Plata, the salary to com- 
 mence, and the outfit to be paid, whenever the president 
 shall deem it expedient to send a minister to the said Uni- 
 ted Provinces, a sum not exceeding eighteen thousand dol- 
 lars." 
 
lor 
 
 ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 
 
 Speech in the Debate on the Resolutions relating to the -'. 
 power of Congress to make Roads and Canala; March, 
 1818. 
 
 Mr. Clay said, that he had been anxious to catch the 
 eye of the chairman for a few moments, to reply to some of 
 the observations which had fallen from various gentlemen. 
 He was aware that, in doing this, he risked the loss of what 
 was of the utmost value, the kind favour of the house, 
 wearied as its patience was by this prolonged debate. But, 
 when he felt what a deep interest the Union at large, and 
 particularly that quarter of it whence he came, had in the 
 decision of the present question, he could not omit any op- 
 portunity of earnestly urging upon the house the propriety 
 of retaining the important power which that question in- 
 volved. It will be recollected, said Mr. C. that, if un- 
 fortunately there should be a majority both against the ab- 
 stract proposition asserting that power, and against its prac- 
 tical execution, the power is gone for ever — the question is 
 put at rest so long as the Constitution remains as it is; and 
 with respect to any amendment, in this particular, he con- 
 fessed he utterly despaired. It would be borne in mind, 
 that the bill which passed Congress on this subject, at the 
 last session, had been rejected by the late president of the 
 United States; that at the commencement of the present 
 session, the president had communicated his clear opinion, 
 after every effort to come to a different conclusion, that 
 Congress did not possess the power contended tor, and had 
 called upon us to take up the subject in the shape of an 
 amendment to the constitution, and, moreover, that the 
 predecessor ol the present and late presidents had also in- 
 timated his opinion that Congress did not possess the power. 
 With the great weight and authority of the opinions of 
 these distinguished men against the power, and with the 
 fact, solemnly entered upon the record, that this house, 
 after a deliberate review of the ground taken by it at the 
 last session, had decided against the existence of it, (if such 
 fatally should be the decision,) the power, he repeated, was 
 
108 ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 
 
 gone — gone for ever, unless restored by an amendment of 
 the constitution. With regard to the practicability of ob- 
 taining such an amendment, he thought it altogether out of 
 the question. Two different descriptions of persons, enter- 
 taining sentiments directly opposed, would unite and de- 
 feat such an amendment; one embracing those who believed 
 that the constitution, fairly interpreted, already conveys 
 the power, and, the other, those who think that Congress 
 have not, and ought not to have it. As a large portion of 
 Congress, and probably a majority, believed the power al- 
 ready to exist, it must be evident, if he were right in sup- 
 posing that any considerable number of that majority would 
 vote against an amendment which they did not believe 
 necessary, that any attempt to amend would fail. Con- 
 sidering, as he did, the existence of the power as of the first 
 importance, not merely to the preservation of the union of 
 the States, paramount as that consideration ever should be 
 over all others, but to the prosperity of every great interest 
 of the country, agriculture, manufactures, commerce; in 
 peace and in war, it becomes us, said Mr. C. solemnly and 
 deliberately and anxiously to examine the constitution, and 
 not to surrender it, if fairly to be collected from a just in- 
 terpretation of that instrument. 
 
 With regard to the alarm sought to be created, as to the 
 nature of the power, by bringing up the old theme of " State 
 rights," he would observe, that if the illustrious persons, 
 just referred to, were against us in the construction of the 
 constitution, they were on our side as to the harmless and 
 beneficial character of the power. For it was not to be 
 conceived, that each of them would have recommended an 
 amendment to the constitution, if they believed that the 
 possession of such a power, by the general government, 
 ■would be detrimental, much less dangerous, to the inde- 
 pendence and liberties of the States. What real ground 
 was there for this alarm? Gentlemen had not condescended 
 to show how the subversion of the rights of the States was 
 to follow from the exercise of the power of internal improve- 
 ments by the general government. We contend for the 
 power to make roads and canals to distribute the intelligence, 
 force, and productions of the country, through all its parts; 
 and for such jurisdiction only over them as is necessary to 
 their preservation from wanton injury and from gradual de- 
 cay. Suppose such a power is maintained, and in full 
 
ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. io9 
 
 operation; imagine it to extend to every canal made, or pro- 
 posed to be made, and to every post road; how inconsidera- 
 ble and insignificant is the power in apolitical point of view, 
 limited as it is with regard to place and to purpose, when 
 contrasted with the great mass of powers retained by the 
 State sovereignties! What a small subtraction from that 
 mass! Even upon those roads and canals, the state govern- 
 ments, according to our principles, would still exercise juris- 
 diction over every possible case arising upon them, whether 
 of crime or of contract, or any other human transaction, ex- 
 cept only what immediately affected their existence and 
 preservation. Thus defined, thus limited, and stript of all 
 factitious causes of alarm, Mr. C. would appeal to the dis- 
 passionate candour of gentlemen, to say if the power really 
 presented any thing frightful in it? With respect to post 
 roads, our adversaries admit the right of way in the general 
 government. There had been, however, on this question, 
 some instances of conflict, which had passed away without 
 any serious difficulty. Connecticut, if he had been rightly 
 informed, had disputed, at one period, the right of passage 
 of the mail on the Sabbath. The general government per- 
 sisted in the exercise of the right, and Connecticut herself, 
 and every body else, have acquiesced in it. 
 
 The gentleman from Virginia, (Mr. H. Nelson,^ has 
 contended, Mr. C. continued, that I do not adhere, in the 
 principles of construction which I apply to the constitution, 
 to the republican doctrines of 1798, of which that gentleman 
 would have us believe he is the constant disciple. Let me 
 call the attention of the committee to the celebrated state 
 paper to which we both refer for our principles in this re- 
 spect — a paper which, although I had not seen it for sixteen 
 years, until the gentleman had the politeness to furnish me 
 with it during this debate, made such an impression on my 
 mind, that I shall never forget the satisfaction with which I 
 first perused it. I find that I had used, without having been 
 aware of it, when I formerly addressed the committee, al- 
 most the identical language employed by Mr. Madison in 
 that paper. It will be recollected, that I claimed no right 
 to exercise any power under the constitution, unless such 
 power was expressly granted, or necessary and proper to 
 carry into effect some granted power. I have not sought to 
 derive the power from the clause which authorizes Con- 
 gress to appropriate money. I have been contented with 
 
110 ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 
 
 endeavouring to show, that according to the doctrines of 
 1798, that according to the most rigid interpretation which 
 any one will put upon the instrument, it is expressly given 
 in one case, and fairly deducible in others. [Here Mr. C. 
 read sundry passages from Mr. Madison's report to the 
 Virginia legislature, in an answer to the resolutions of 
 several States, concerning the alien and sedition laws, show- 
 ing that there were no powers in the general government 
 but what were granted, and that, whenever a power was 
 claimed to be exercised by it, such power must be shown 
 to be granted, or to be necessary and proper to carry into 
 effect one of the specified powers.] It would be remarked, 
 Mr. C. said, that Mr. Madison, in his reasoning on the 
 constitution, had not employed the language fashionable 
 during this debate; he had not said that an implied power 
 must be absolutely necessary to carry into effect the specifi- 
 ed power, to which it is appurtenant, to enable the general 
 government to exercise it. No! Mr. C. said, this was a 
 modern interpretation of the constitution. Mr. Madison 
 had employed the language of the instrument itself, and had 
 only contended that the implied power must be necessary 
 and propej- to carry into effect the specified power. He had 
 only insisted, that when Congress applied its sound judg- 
 ment to the constitution, in relation to implied powers, it 
 should be clearly seen that they were necessary and proper 
 to effectuate the specified powers. — These, said Mr. Care 
 my principles; but they are not those of the gentleman from 
 Virginia and his friends on this occasion. They contend 
 for a degree of necessity absolute and indispensable; that by 
 no possibility could the power be otherwise executed. 
 
 That there are two classes of powers in the constitution, 
 Mr. C. believed never to have been controverted by an 
 American politician. We can not foresee and provide 
 specifically for all contingencies. Man and his language 
 are both imperfect. Hence, the existence of construction, 
 and of constructive powers. Hence also the rule that a 
 grant of the end is a grant of the means. If you amend the 
 constitution a thousand times, the same imperfection of our 
 nature and our language will attend our new works. There 
 are two dangers to which we are exposed. The one is, that 
 the general government may relapse into the debility which 
 existed in the old confederation, and finally dissolve from 
 the want of cohesion. The denial to it of powers plainly 
 
ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. m 
 
 conferred, or clearly necessary and proper to execute the 
 conferred powers, may produce this effect. And, i think, 
 with great deference to the gentlemen on the other side, this 
 is the danger to which their principles directly tend. The 
 other danger is, that of consolidation by the assumption of 
 powers not granted, nor incident to granted powers, or the 
 assumption of powers which have been withheld or ex- 
 pressly prohibited. This was the danger of the period of 
 1798 — 9. For instance — that in direct contradiction to a 
 prohibitory clause of the constitution, a sedition act was 
 passed; and an alien law was also passed, in equal violation 
 of the spirit, if not of the express provisions of the con- 
 stitution. It was by such measures that the federal party, 
 (if parties might be named,) throwing off the veil, furnished 
 to their adversaries the most effectual ground of opposition. 
 If they had not passed those acts, he thought it highly pro- 
 bable that the current of power would have continued to 
 flow in the same channel; and the change of parties in 1801, 
 so auspicious to the best interests of this country, as he be- 
 lieved, would never have occurred. 
 
 Mr. Clay begged the committee — he entreated the true 
 friends of the confederated union of these States, to ex- 
 amine this doctrine of State rights, and see to what abusive, 
 if not dangerous, consequences it may lead, to what extent 
 it had been carried, and how it had varied by the same 
 State at different times. In alluding to the state of Mas- 
 sachusetts, he assured the gentlemen from that State, and 
 particularly the honourable chairman of the committee to 
 whom the claim of Massachusetts had been referred, that 
 he had no intention to create any prejudice against that 
 claim. He hoped that, when the subject was taken up, it 
 would be candidly and dispassionately considered, and that 
 a decision would be made upon it consistent with the rights 
 of the Union and of the State of Massachusetts. The high 
 character, amiable disposition, and urbanity of the gentle- 
 man, (Mr. Mason, of Massachusetts,) to whom he had 
 alluded, would, if he had been otherwise inclined, prevent 
 him from endeavouring to make impressions unfavourable 
 to the claim, whose justice that gentleman stands pledged 
 to manifest. But, in the period of 1798 — 9, what was the 
 doctrine promulgated by Massachusetts? It was, that the 
 States, in their sovereign capacities, had no right to ex- 
 amine into the constitutionality or expediency of the mea- 
 
112 ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 
 
 sures of the general government. [Mr. C. here quoted 
 several passages from the answer of the State of Massa- 
 chusetts to the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions, concern- 
 ing the alien and sedition laws, to prove his position.] We 
 see here an express disclaimer, on the part of Massachu- 
 setts, of any right to decide on the constitutionality or ex- 
 pediency of the acts of the general government. But what 
 was the doctrine which the same State, in 1813, thought 
 proper to proclaim to the world, and that too when the 
 Union was menaced on all sides? She not only claimed, 
 but exercised, the right which in 1799 she had so solemnly 
 disavowed. She claimed the right to judge of the propriety 
 of the call made, by the general government, for her militia, 
 and she refused the militia called for. There was so much 
 plausibility in the reasoning employed by that State in sup- 
 port of her modern doctrine of " State rights," that, were it 
 not for the unpopularity of the stand she took in the late 
 war, or had it been in other times and under other circum- 
 stances, she would very probably have escaped a great por- 
 tion of that odium which has most justly fallen to her lot. 
 The constitution gives to Congress power to provide for 
 calling out the militia to execute the laws of the Union, to 
 suppress insurrections, and to repel invasions, and in no 
 other cases. The militia was called out by the general 
 government, during the late war, to repel invasion. Mas- 
 sachusetts said, as you have no right to the militia but in 
 certain contingencies, she was competent to decide whether 
 those contingencies had or had not occurred. And, having 
 examined the fact, what then? — She said, all was peace and 
 quietness in Massachusetts; no non-execution of the laws — 
 no insurrection at home — no invasion from abroad, nor any 
 immediate danger of invasion. And, in truth, Mr. C. said, 
 he believed there was no actual invasion for nearly two years 
 after requisition. Under these circumstances, had it not 
 been for the supposed motive of her conduct, he asked if 
 the case which Massachusetts made out, would not be ex- 
 tremely plausible? He hoped it not necessary for him to 
 say, that it was very far from his intention to convey any 
 thing like approbation of the conduct of Massachusetts. 
 Nol his doctrine was, that the States, as States, have no right 
 to oppose the execution of the powers which the general 
 government asserts. Any State has undoubtedly the right 
 to express its opinion, in the form of resolution or other- 
 
ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 113 
 
 wise, and to proceed, by constitutional means, to redress any 
 real or imaginary grievance; but it has no right to withhold 
 its military aid, when called upon by the high authorities of 
 the general government, much less to obstruct the execu- 
 tion of a law regularly passed. To suppose the existence 
 of such an alarming right, is to suppose, if not disunion it- 
 self, such a state of disorder and confusion, as must inevita- 
 bly lead to it. 
 
 Mr. C. said, that, greatly as he venerated the state 
 which gave him birth, and much as he respected the judges 
 of its supreme court, several of whom were his personal 
 friends, he was obliged to think that some of the doctrines 
 which that state had recently held concerning state rights, 
 were fraught with much danger. Had those doctrines been 
 asserted during the late war, a large share of the public dis- 
 approbation which has been given to Massachusetts, might 
 have fallen to Virginia. What were these doctrines? The 
 courts of Virginia have asserted that they have a right to 
 determine on the constitutionality of any law or treaty of 
 the United States, and to expound them according to their 
 own views, even if they should vary from the decision of 
 the supreme court of the United States. They have as- 
 serted more — that from their decision there could be no ap- 
 peal to the supreme court of the United States; and that 
 there exists in Congress no power to frame a law, obliging 
 the court of the state, in the last resort, to submit its de- 
 cision to the supervision of the supreme court of the 
 United States; or if he did not misunderstand the doctrine, 
 to withdraw from the state tribunals, controversies involv- 
 ing the laws of the United States, and to place them before 
 the federal judiciary. I am a friend, said Mr. C. a true 
 friend, to state rights; but not in all cases as they are as- 
 serted. The states have their appointed orbit; so has the 
 union; and each should be confined within its fair, legiti- 
 mate and constitutional sphere. We should equally avoid 
 that subtle process of argument which dissipates into air the 
 powers of this government, and that spirit of encroachment 
 which would snatch from the states, powers not delegated 
 to the general government. We shall thus escape both the 
 dangers I noticed — that of relapsing into the alarming weak- 
 ness of the confederation, which was described as a mere 
 rope of sand, and also that other, perhaps not the greatest 
 danger, consolidation. No man deprecates more than I do 
 
 Q 
 
114 ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 
 
 the idea of consolidation; yet, between separation and con- 
 solidation, painfnl as would be the alternative, he would 
 greatly prefer the latter. 
 
 Mr. Clay would now proceed to endeavour to discover 
 the real difference in the interpretation of the constitution, 
 between the gentlemen on the other side and himself. It 
 was agreed that there was no power in the general govern- 
 ment but that which is expressly granted, or which is im- 
 pliable from an express grant. The difference then must 
 be in the application of this rule. The gentleman from 
 Virginia, who had favoured the House with so able an 
 argument on the subject, had conceded, though somewhat 
 reluctantly, the existence of incidental powers, but he con- 
 tended that they must have a direct and necessary relation 
 to some specified power. Granted. But who is to judge 
 of this relation? And what rule can you prescribe different 
 from that which the constitution has required, that it should 
 be necessary and proper? Whatever may be the rule, in 
 whatever language you may choose to express it, there must 
 be a certain degree of discretion left to the agent who is to 
 apply it. But gentlemen are alarmed at this discretion; 
 that law of tvrants, to which they contend there is no limita- 
 tion. It should be observed, in the first place, that the 
 gentlemen are necessarily brought, by the very course of 
 reasoning which they themselves employ, by all the rules 
 which they would lay down for the constitution, to cases 
 where discretion must exist. But is there no limitation, 
 no security against the abuse of it? Yes, there is such 
 security in the fact of our being members of the same so- 
 ciety, equally affected ourselves by the laws we promulgate. 
 There is the further security in the oath which is taken to 
 support the constitution, and which will tend to restrain 
 Congress from deriving powers which are not proper and 
 necessary. There is the yet further security, that, at the 
 end of every two years, the members must be amenable to 
 the people for the manner in which their trust has been per- 
 formed. And there remains also that further, though 
 awful security, the last resort of society, which he contended 
 belonged alike to the people and to the states in their 
 sovereign capacity, to be exercised in extreme cases, and 
 when oppression becomes intolerable — the right of resis- 
 tance. Take the gentleman's own doctrine, (Mr. Barbour,) 
 ithe most restricted which had been asserted, and what other 
 
ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 115 
 
 securities have we against the abuse of power, than those 
 which I have enumerated? Say that there must be an ab- 
 solute necessity to justify the exercise of an implied power, 
 who is to define that absolute necessity, and then to apply 
 it? Who is to be the judge? Where is the security against 
 transcending that limit? The rule the gentleman contends 
 for, has no greater security than that insisted upon by us. 
 It equally leads to the same discretion, a sound discretion, 
 exercised under all the responsibility of a solemn oath, of a 
 regard to our fair fame, of a knowledge that we are our- 
 selves the subjects of those laws which we pass, and lastly, 
 of the right of resisting insupportable tyranny. And by 
 way of illustration, Mr. C. said, that, if the sedition act had 
 not been condemned by the indignant voice of the com- 
 munity, the right of resistance would have accrued. If 
 Congress assumed the power to control the right of speech, 
 and to assail, by penal statutes, that greatest of all the bul- 
 warks of liberty, the freedom of the press, and there were 
 no other means to arrest their progress, but that to which 
 he had referred, lamentable as would be the appeal, such a 
 monstrous abuse of power, he contended, would authorize 
 a recurrence to that right. 
 
 If, then, the gentlemen on the other side and himself 
 differed so little in their general principles, as he thought 
 he had shown, he would proceed for a few moments, to look 
 at the constitution a little more in detail. I have con- 
 tended, said Mr. C- that the power to construct post roads, 
 is expressly granted in the power to establish post roads. 
 If it be, there is an end of the controversy; but if not, the 
 next inquiry is, whether that power may be fairly deduced 
 by implication, from any of the specified grants of power. 
 To show that the power is expressly granted, I might safely 
 appeal to the arguments already used, to prove that the 
 word establish ^ in this case, can mean only one thing — the 
 right of making. Several gentlemen had contended that 
 the word had a diflferent sense; and one had resorted to the 
 preamble of the constitution to show that the phrase " to 
 establish justice,'' there used, did not convey the power of 
 creation. If the word " establish" was there to be taken in 
 the sense which gentlemen claimed for it, that of adoption 
 or designation, Congress could have had a choice only of 
 systems of justice pie-existing. Would any gentleman con- 
 tend that they were obliged to take the Justinian code, the 
 
116 ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 
 
 Napoleon code, the code of civil, or the code of common or 
 canon law? Establishment means, in the preamble, as in 
 other cases, construction, formation, creation. Let me ask, 
 in all cases of crime, which are merely malum prohzbitum^ 
 if you do not resort to construction, to creating, when you 
 make the offence? By your laws denouncing certain acts as 
 criminal offences, laws which the good of society required 
 you to pass, and to adapt to our peculiar condition, vou do 
 construct and create a system of rules, to be administered 
 by the judiciary. But gentlemen say that the word cannot 
 mean moke; that you would not say, for example, to establish 
 a ship, to establish a chair. In the application of this, as of 
 all other terms, you must be guided by the nature of the 
 subject; and if it cannot be properly used in all cases, it 
 does not follow that it cannot be in any. And when we 
 take into consideration, that, under the old articles of con- 
 federation. Congress had over the subject of post roads just 
 as much power as gentlemen allow to the existing govern- 
 ment, that it v/as the general scope and spirit of the new 
 constitution to enlarge the powers of the general govern- 
 ment, and that, in fact, in this very clause, the power to 
 establish post offices, which was alone possessed, by the 
 former government, he thought that he might safely con- 
 sider the argument, on this part of the subject, as success- 
 fully maintained. With respect to military roads, the con- 
 cession that they may be made when called for by the 
 emergency, is admitting that the constitution conveys the 
 power. And we may safely appeal to the judgment of the 
 candid and enlightened, to decide between the wisdom of 
 these two constructions, of which one requires you to wait 
 for the exercise of your power until the arrival of an emer- 
 gency, which may not allow you to exert it; and the other, 
 ■without denying you the power, if you can exercise it 
 during the emergency, claims the right of providing before- 
 hand against the emergency. 
 
 One member had stated what appeared to him a con- 
 clusive argument against the power to cut canals, that he 
 had understood that a proposition made in the convention to 
 insert such a power, was rejected. To this argument more 
 than one sufficient answer could be made. In the first place 
 the fact itself had been denied, and he had never yet seen 
 any evidence of it. But suppose that the proposition had 
 been made and overruled, unless the motives of the refusal 
 
ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 117 
 
 to insert It were known, gentlemen were not authorized to 
 draw the inference, that it was from hostility to the power, 
 or from a desire to withhold it from Congress, Might not 
 one of the objections be, that the power was fairly to be in- 
 ferred from some of the specific grants of power, and that it 
 was therefore not necessary to insert the proposition: that 
 to adopt it indeed might lead to weaken or bring into doubt 
 other incidental powers not enumerated? A member from 
 New- York, (Mr. Storrs,) whose absence Mr. C regretted 
 on this occasion, not only on account of the great aid which 
 might have been expected from him, but from the cause of 
 that absence, had informed him that, in the convention of 
 that state, one of the objections to the constitution by the 
 anti federalists was, that it was understood to convey to the 
 general government, the power to cut canals. How often, 
 in the course of the proceedings of this house, do we reject 
 amendments, upon the sole ground that they are not neces- 
 sary, the principle of the amendment being already contained 
 in the proposition! 
 
 Mr. C. referred to the Federalist, for one moment, to 
 show that the only notice taken of that clause of the con- 
 stitution which relates to post roads, was favourable to his 
 construction. The power, that book said, must always be 
 a harmless one> He had endeavoured to show not only that 
 it was perfectly harmless, but that every exercise of it must 
 be necessarily beneficial. Nothing which tends to facilitate 
 intercourse among the states, says the Federalist, can be 
 unworthy of the public care. What intercourse? Even if 
 restricted on the narrowest theory of gentlemen, on the other 
 side, to the intercourse of intelligence, they deny that to us, 
 since they will not admit that we have the power to repair 
 or improve the way, the right of which they yield us. In 
 a more liberal and enlarged sense of the word, it will com- 
 prehend all those various means of accomplishing the object, 
 which are calculated to render us a homogeneous people — • 
 one in feeling, m interest, and affection; as we are one in our 
 political relation. 
 
 Was there not a direct and intimate relation between the 
 power to make war and military roads and canals? It was 
 in vain that the convention should have confided to the 
 general government the tremendous power of declaring war 
 — should have imposed upon it the duty to employ the 
 whole physical means of the nation, to render the war, what- 
 
118 ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 
 
 ever may be its character, successful and glorious; if the 
 power is withheld of transporting and distributing those 
 means. Let us appeal to facts, which are sometimes worth 
 volumes of theory. We have recently had a war raging on 
 all the four quarters of the Union. The only circumstance, 
 which gave me pain at the close of that war, the detention 
 of Moose Island, would not have occurred, if we had pos- 
 sessed military roads. Why did not the Union — why did 
 not Massachusetts, make a struggle to reconquer the island? 
 Not for the want of men; nut for the want of patriotism, he 
 hoped; but from the want of physical ability to march a 
 force sufficient to dislodge the enemy. On the north- 
 western frontier, millions of money, and some of the most 
 precious blood of the state from which I have the honour to 
 come, were wasrefuUy expended for the want of such roads. 
 My honourable friend from Ohio, (Gen. Harrison,) who 
 commanded the armv in that quarter, could furnish a volume 
 of evidence on this subject. What now paralizes our arms 
 on the southern frontier, and occasioned the recent mas- 
 sacre of fifty of our brave soldiers? What but the want of 
 proper means for the communication of intelligence, and for 
 the transportation of our resources from point to point? 
 Whether we refer to our own experience, or to that of other 
 countries, we cannot fail to perceive the great value of 
 military roads. Those great masters of the world, the 
 Romans, how did they sustain their power so many cen- 
 turies, diffusing law and liberty, and intelligence, all around 
 them? They made permanent military roads; and among 
 the objects of interest, which Europe now presents, are the 
 remains of those Roman roads which are shown to the 
 curious inquirer. If there were no other monument re- 
 maining of the sagacity, and of the illustrious deeds of the 
 unfortunate captive of St. Helena, the internal improve- 
 ments which he made, the road from Hamburgh to Basle, 
 would perpetuate his memory to future ages. In making 
 these allusions, let me not be misunderstood. I do not de- 
 sire to see military roads established for the purpose of 
 conquest, but of defence; and as a part of that preparation 
 which should be made in a season of peace for a season of 
 war, I do not wish to see this country ever in that complete 
 state of preparation for war, for which some contend; that 
 is, that we should constantly have a large standing army, 
 well disciplined, and always ready to act. I want to see 
 
ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. HO 
 
 the bill, reported by my friend from Ohio, or some other 
 embracing an effective militia system, passed into a law; 
 and a chain of roads and canals, by the aid of which our 
 physical means can be promptly transported to any required 
 point. These, connected with a small military establish- 
 ment to keep up our forts and garrisons, constitute the kind 
 of preparation for war, which, it appeared to him, this 
 country ought to make. No man, who has paid the least 
 attention to the operations of modern war, can have failed 
 to remark how essential good roads and canals are to the 
 success of those operations. How often have battles been 
 won by celerity and rapidity of movement? It was one of 
 the most essential circumstances in war. But, without good 
 roads, it was impossible! He recalled to the recollection of 
 some of the members, the fact that, in the Senate, several 
 years ago, an honourable friend of his, (Mr. Bayard,) whose 
 premature death he ever deplored — who was an ornament 
 to the councils of his country; and whom, when abroad, he 
 found the able and fearless advocate of her rights — had, in 
 supporting a subscription which he proposed the United 
 States should make to the stock of the Delaware and Chesa- 
 peake canal company, earnestly recommended the measure 
 as connected with our operations in war. I listened to my 
 friend with some incredulity, and thought he pushed his 
 argument too far. I had, soon after, a practical evidence 
 of its justness. For, in travelling from Philadelphia, in the 
 fall of 1813, 1 saw transporting, by government, from Elk 
 river to the Delaware, large quantities of massy timbers for 
 the construction of the Guerriere or the Franklin, or both; 
 and judging from the number of wagons and horses, and 
 the number of days employed, I believe the additional ex- 
 pense of that single operation, would have gone very far to 
 complete that canal, whose cause was espoused with so 
 much eloquence in the Senate, and with so much effect, too; 
 bills having passed that body more than once to give aid, 
 in some shape or other, to that canal. With notorious facts 
 like this, was it obvious that a line of military canals was 
 not only necessary and proper, but almost indispensable to 
 the war-making power? 
 
 One of the rules of construction, Mr. C. continued, 
 which had been laid down, he acknowledged his incapacity 
 to comprehend. Gentlemen say that the power in question 
 is a substantive power; and that no substantive power could 
 
120 ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 
 
 be derived by implication. What is their definition of a 
 substantive power? Will they favour us with the principle 
 of discrimination between powers which, being substantive, 
 are not grantable but by express grant, and those which, not 
 being substantive, may be conveyed by implication? Al- 
 though he did not perceive why this power was more en- 
 titled than many implied powers to the denomination of 
 substantive, suppose that he yielded, how did gentlemen 
 prove that it may not be conveyed by implication? If the 
 positions were maintained, which have not yet been proven, 
 that the power is substantive, and that no substantive power 
 can be implied, yet he trusted it had been satisfactorily 
 shown that there was an express grant. 
 
 His honourable friend from Virginia (Mr. Nelson) had 
 denied the operation of executive influence on his mindj 
 and had informed the committee, that from that quarter he 
 had nothing to expect, to hope, or to fear. [ did not im- 
 pute to my honourable friend any such motive; I know his 
 independence of chaiacter and of mind, too well to do so. 
 But, 1 entreat him to reflect, if he dots not expose himself 
 to such an imputation by those kss friendly disposed to- 
 wards him than myself. Let us look a little at facts. The 
 president recommended the establishment of a bank. If 
 ever there were a stretch of the implied powers, conveyed 
 by the constitution, it has been thoucht that the grant of 
 the charter of the National Bank was one. But the presi- 
 dent recommends it. Where was then my honourable 
 friend, the friend of state rights, who so pathetically calls 
 upon us to repent, in sackcloth and ashes, our meditated 
 violation of the constitution; and who kindlv expresses his 
 hope that zve shall be made to feel the public indignation? 
 Where was he at this awful epoch? Where was that elo- 
 quent tongue which we have now heard with so much plea- 
 sure? Silent! silent as the grave. 
 
 [Mr. N. said, across the house, that he voted against 
 the bank bill, when first recommended.] 
 
 Alas! said Mr. C. my honourable friend had not the 
 heart to withstand a second recommendation from the presi- 
 dent: but, when it came, yielded, no doubt, most reluctantly 
 to the executive wishes, and voted for the bank. At the 
 last session of Congress, Mr. Madison recommends (and I 
 will presently make some remarks on that subject,) an ex- 
 ercise of all the existing powers of the general government 
 
ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 121 
 
 to establish a comprehensive system of internal improve- 
 ments. Where was my honourable friend on that occasion? 
 Not silent as the grave, but he gave a negative vote almost 
 as silent. No effort was made on his part, great as he is 
 when he exerts the powers of his well stored mind, to save 
 the commonwealth from that greatest of all calamities, a 
 system of internal improvement. No, although a war with 
 all the allies, he now thinks, would be less terrible than the 
 adoption of this report, not one word then dropt from his 
 lips against the measure. [Mr. Nelson said he voted 
 against the bill.] That he whispered out an unwilling nega- 
 tive, Mr. C. did not deny; but it was unsustained by that 
 torrent of eloquence which was poured out on the present 
 occasion. But, said Mr. C. we have an executive message 
 now, not quite as ambiguous in its terms, nor as oracular in 
 its meaning, as that of Mr. Madison appears to have been. 
 No! the president now says, that he has made great efforts 
 to vanquish his objections to the power, and that he cannot 
 but believe that it does not exist. Then my honourable 
 friend rouses, thunders forth the danger in which the con- 
 stitution is, and sounds aloud the tocsin of alarm. Far from 
 insinuating that he is at all biassed by the executive wishes, 
 I appeal to his candour to say, if there is not a remarkable 
 coincidence between his zeal and exertions, and the opinions 
 of the chief magistrate? 
 
 Now let us review those opinions, as communicated at 
 different periods. It was the opinion of Mr. Jefferson, that, 
 although there was no general power vested, by the con- 
 stitution, in Congress, to construct roads and canals, with- 
 out the consent of the states, yet such a power might be ex- 
 ercised with their assent. Mr. Jefferson not only held this 
 opinion in the abstract, but he practically executed it, in the 
 instance of the Cumberland road, and how? First by a 
 compact made with the state of Ohio, for the application of 
 a specified fund, and then by compacts with Virginia, 
 Pennsylvania and Maryland, to apply the fund so set apart 
 within their respective limits. If, however, I rightly un- 
 derstood my honourable friend, the other day, he expressly 
 denied, (and in that I concur with him,) that the power 
 could be acquired by the mere consent of the state. Yet 
 he defended the act of Mr. Jefferson, in the case referred 
 to. [Mr. Nelson expressed his dissent to this statement of 
 his argument.] Mr. C. said it was far from his intention 
 R 
 
122 ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 
 
 to mis-state the gentleman. He certainly had understood 
 him to say, that, as the road was first stipulated for in the 
 compact with Ohio, it was competent afterwards to carry it 
 through the states mentioned, with their assent. Now, if 
 we have not the right to make a road in virtue of one com- 
 part made with 3 single state, can we obtain it by two con- 
 tracts made with several states? The character of the fund 
 could not affect the question. It was totally immaterial 
 whether it arose from the sales of the public lands or from 
 the general revenue. Suppose a contract, made with Mas- 
 sachusetts, that a certain portion of the revenue, collected 
 at the port of Boston from foreign trade, should be ex- 
 pended in making roads and canals leading to that state; 
 and that a subsequent compact should be made with Con- 
 necticut, or New-Hampshire, for the expenditure of the 
 fund on these objects within their limits. Can we acquire 
 the power, in this manner, over internal improvements, if 
 we do not possess it independently of such compacts? He 
 conceived clearly not. And he was entirely at a loss to 
 comprehend how gentlemen, consistently with their own 
 principles, could justify the erection of the Cumberland 
 road. No man, he said, was prouder than he was, of that 
 noble monument of the provident care of the nation, and of 
 the public spirit of its projectors; and he trusted, that, in 
 spite of all constitutional and other scruples, here or else- 
 where, an appropriation would be made to complete that 
 road. He confessed, however, freely, that he was entirely 
 unable to conceive of any principle on which that road could 
 be supported, that would not uphold the general power con- 
 tended for. 
 
 He would now examine the opinion of Mr. Madison. 
 Of all the acts of that pure, virtuous and illustrious states- 
 man, whose administration has so powerfully tended to ad- 
 vance the glory, honour and prosperity of this country, he 
 most regretted, for his sake and for the sake of the country, 
 the rejection of the bill of the last session. He thought it 
 irreconcileable with Mr. Madison's own principles — those 
 great, broad and liberal principles, on which he so ably ad- 
 ministered the government. And, sir, said Mr. C when I 
 appeal to the members of the last Congress, who are now 
 in my hearing, I am authorized to say, with regard to the 
 majority of them, that no circumstance, not even an earth- 
 quake that should have swallowed up one half of this city, 
 
ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 123 
 
 could have excited more surprise than when it was first 
 communicated to this house, that Mr. Madison had re- 
 jected his own bill — I say his own bill: for his message at 
 the opening of the session meant nothing, if it did not re- 
 commend such an exercise of power as was contained in 
 that bill. My friend, who is near me, (Mr. Johnson, of 
 Virginia,) the operations of whose vigorous and indepen- 
 dent mind depend upon his own internal perceptions, has 
 expressed himself with a becoming manliness, and thrown 
 aside the authority of names, as having no bearing with 
 him on the question. But their authority has been refer- 
 red to, and will have influence with others. It was im- 
 possible, moreover, to disguise the fact, that the question is 
 now a question between the executive on the one side, and 
 the representatives of the people on the other. So it is un- 
 derstood in the country, and such is the fact. Mr. Madi- 
 son enjoys, in his retreat at Montpelier, the repose and the 
 honours due to his eminent and laborious public services; 
 and I would be among the last to disturb it. However 
 painful it is to me to animadvert upon any of his opinions, 
 I feel perfectly sure, that the circumstance can only be view- 
 ed by him with an enlightened liberality. What are the 
 opinions which have been expressed by Mr. Madison on 
 this subject? I will not refer to all the messages wherein 
 he has recommended internal improvements; but to that 
 alone which he addressed to Congress at the commence- 
 ment of the last session, which contains this passage: " I 
 particularly invite again the attention of Congress to the 
 expediency of exercising their existing- powers, and, where 
 necessary, of resorting to the prescribed mode of enlarging 
 them, in order to eff^ectuate a comprehensive sijstein of roads 
 and canals, such as will have the effect of drawing more 
 closely together every part of our country, by promoting 
 intercourse and improvements, and by increasing the share 
 of every part in the common stock of national prosperity." 
 In the examination of this passage, two positions forced 
 themselves upon our attention. The first was, the asser- 
 tion, that there are existing powers in Congress to effectuate 
 a comprehensive system of roads and canals, the effect of 
 which would be to draw the different parts of the country 
 more closely together. And I would candidly admit, in 
 the second place, that it was intimated, thai in the exercise 
 of those existing powers, some detect niight be discovered, 
 
124 ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 
 
 which would render an amendment of the constitution 
 necessary. Nothing could be more clearly affirmed than 
 the first position; but in the message of Mr. Madison re- 
 turning the bill, passed in consequence of his recommenda- 
 tion, he has not specified a solitary case to which those ex- 
 isting powers are applicable; he hns not told us what he 
 meant by those existing powers; and the general scope of 
 his reasoning, in that message, if well founded, proved that 
 there were no existing powers whatever. It was apparent 
 that Mr. Madison himself had not examined some of those 
 principal sources of the constitution from which, during 
 this debate, the power had been derived. I deeply regret, 
 and I know that Mr. Madison regretted, that the circum- 
 stances under which the bill was presented him, (the last 
 day but one of a most busy session,) deprived him of an op- 
 portunity of that thorough investigation, of which no man 
 is more capable. It is certain, that, taking his two mes- 
 sages at the same session together, they are perfectly ir- 
 reconcileable. What, moreover, was the nature of that 
 bill? It did not apply the money to any specific object of 
 internal improvement, nor designate any particular mode in 
 which it should be applied, but merely set apart and pledged 
 the fund to the general purpose, subject to the future dis- 
 position of Congress. If, then, there were any supposable 
 case whatever, to which Congress might apply money in 
 the erection of a road, or cutting a canal, the bill did not 
 violate the constitution. And it ought not to have been 
 anticipated, that money constitutionally appropriated by 
 one Congress, would afterwards be unconstitutionally ex- 
 pended by another. 
 
 I come now, said Mr. C. to the message of Mr. Monroe; 
 and it, by the communication of his opinion to Congress, he 
 intended to prevent discussions, he has most wofuUy failed, 
 I know that, according to a most venerable and excellent 
 usage, the opinion, neither of the president nor of the 
 senate, upon any proposition depending in this house, ought 
 to be adverted to. Even in the parliament of Great 
 Britain, a member who would refer to the opinion of the 
 sovereign, in such a case, would be instantly called to order: 
 but under the extraordinary circumstances of the president 
 having, with, I have no doubt, the best motives, volunteer- 
 ed his opinion on this head, and inverted the order of legis- 
 lation by beginning where it should end, I am compelled, 
 
ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 125 
 
 most reluctantly, to refer to that opinion. I cannot but 
 deprecate the practice of which the president has, in this 
 instance, set the example to his successors. The constitu- 
 tional order of legislation supposes that every bill originat- 
 ing in one house, shall be there deliberately investigated, 
 without influence from any other branch of the legislature; 
 and then remitted to the other house for a like free and un- 
 biassed consideration. Having passed both houses, it is to 
 be laid before the president; signed, if approved, and, if 
 disapproved, to be returned, with his objections, to the 
 originating house. In this manner, entire freedom of 
 thought and of action is secured, and the president finally 
 sees the proposition in the most matured form which Con- 
 gress can give to it. The practical effect, to say no more, 
 of forestalling the legislative opinion, and telling us what 
 we may or may not do, will be to deprive the president 
 himself of the opportunity of considering a proposition so 
 matured, and us of the benefit of his reasoning applied 
 specifically to such proposition. For the constitution fur- 
 ther enjoins it upon him to state his objections upon re- 
 turning the bill. The originating house is then to recon- 
 sider it, and deliberately to weigh those objections; and it 
 is further required, when the question is again taken, shall 
 the bill pass, those objections notwithstanding? that the 
 votes shall be solemnly spread, by ayes and noes, upon the 
 record. Of this opportunity of thus recording our opinions, 
 on matters of great public concern, we are deprived, if we 
 submit to the innovation of the president. I will not press 
 this part of the subject further. I repeat, again and again, 
 that I have no doubt but that the president was actuated 
 by the purest motives. I am compelled, however, in the 
 exercise of that freedom of opinion, which, so long as I 
 exist, I will maintain, to say that the proceeding is irregular 
 and unconstitutional. Let us, however, examine the rea- 
 soning and opinion of the president. [Mr. C. here quoted 
 the passage of the message at the opening of the session, 
 which follows:] 
 
 " A difference of opinion has existed from the first forma- 
 tion of our constitution to the present time, among our 
 most enlightened and virtuous citizens, respecting the right 
 of Congress to establish such a system of improvement. 
 Taking into view the trust with which I am now honoured, 
 it would be improper, after what has passed, that this dis- 
 
126 ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 
 
 cussion should be revived, with an uncertainty of my opi- 
 nion respecting the right. Disregarding early impressions, 
 I have bestowed on the subject all the deliberation which 
 its great importance and a just sense of my duty required, 
 and the result is, a settled conviction in my mind that Con- 
 gress do not possess the right. It is not contained in any 
 of the specified powers granted to Congress; nor can I con- 
 sider it incidental to, or a necessary mean, viewed on the 
 most liberal scale, for carrying into effect any of the powers 
 which are specifically granted. In communicating this re- 
 sult, I cannot resist the obligation which I feel, to suggest 
 to Congress the propriety of recommending to the states 
 the adoption of an amendment to the Constitution, which 
 shall give the right in question. In cases of doubtful con- 
 struction, especially of such vital interest, it comports with 
 the nature and origin of our institutions, and will contribute 
 much to preserve them, to apply to our constituents for an 
 explicit grant of the power. We may confidently rely, that, 
 if it appears to their satisfaction that the power is necessary, 
 it will always be granted." 
 
 In this passage, the president has furnished us with no 
 reasoning, no argument, in support of his opinion — nothing 
 addressed to the understanding. He gives us, indeed, aa 
 historical account of the operations of bis own mind, and 
 he asserts that he has made a laborious effort to conquer 
 his early impressions, but that the result is a settled con- 
 viction against the power, without a single reason. In his 
 position, that the power must be specifically granted, or in- 
 cident to a power so granted, it has been seen that I have 
 the honour to entirely concur with him; but he says the 
 power is not among the specified powers. Has he taken 
 into consideration the clause respecting post roads, and told 
 us how and why that does not convey the power? If he 
 had acted within what I conceive to be his constitutional 
 sphere of rejecting the bill, after it had passed both houses, 
 he must have learnt that great stress was placed on that 
 clause, and we should have been enlightened by his com- 
 ments upon it. As to his denial of the power, as an inci- 
 dent to any of the express grants, Mr. C. said, he would 
 have thought that we might have safely appealed to the ex- 
 perience of the president, during the late war, when the 
 country derived so much benefit from his judicious ad- 
 ministration of the duties of the war department, whether 
 
ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. i27 
 
 roads and canals for military purposes were not essential to 
 celerity and successful result in the operations of armies. 
 This part of the message was all assertion, and contained 
 no argument which he could comprehend, or which met the 
 points contended for during this debate. Allow me here, 
 said Mr. C. to say, and I do it without the least disrespect 
 to that branch of the government, on whose opinions and 
 acts it has been rendered my painful duty to comment; let 
 me say, in reference to any man, however elevated his sta- 
 tion, even if he be endowed with the power and preroga- 
 tives of a sovereign, that his acts are worth infinitely more, 
 and are more intelligible, than mere paper sentiments or 
 declarations. And what have been the acts of the presi- 
 dent? During his tour of the last summer, did he not 
 order a road to be cut or repaired from near Plattsburg to 
 the St. Lawrence? And my honourable friend will excuse 
 me, if my comprehension is too dull to perceive the force 
 of that argument which seeks to draw a distinction between 
 repairing an old and making a new road. [Mr. Nelson 
 said he had not drawn that distinction, having only stated 
 the fact.] Certainly no such distinction was to be found in 
 the constitution, or existed in reason. Grant, however, 
 the power of reparation, and we will make it do. We will 
 take the post roads, sinuous as they are, and put them in a 
 condition to enable the mails to pass, without those mortify- 
 ing and painful delays and disappointments, to which we, 
 at least in the west, are so often liable. The president 
 then, ordered a road of considerable extent to be construct- 
 ed or repaired, on his sole authority, in a time of profound 
 peace, when no enemy threatened the country, and when, 
 in relation to the power as to which alone that road could 
 be useful in time of war, there existed the best understand- 
 ing, and a prospect of lasting friendship greater than at any 
 former period. On his sole authority the president acted, 
 and we are already called upon by the chairman of the 
 committee of ways and means to sanction the act by an ap- 
 propriation. This measure has been taken, too, without 
 the consent of the state of New- York; and what is wonder- 
 ful, when we consider the magnitude of the state rights 
 which are said to be violated, Vt^ithout even a protest on the 
 part of that state against it. On the contrary, I under- 
 stand, from some of the military officers who are charged 
 with the execution of the work, what is very extraordinary,* 
 
128 ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 
 
 that the people, through whose quarter of the country the 
 road passes, do not view it as a national calamity; that they 
 would be very glad that the president would visit them 
 often, and thai he would order a road to be cut and im- 
 proved, at the national expense, every time he should visit 
 them. Other roads, in other parts of the Union, have, it 
 seems, been likewise ordered, or their execution, at the 
 public expense, sanctioned, by the executive, without the 
 concurrence of Congress. If the president has the power 
 to cause those public improvements to be executed, at his 
 pleasure, whence is it derived? If any member will stand 
 up in his place and say, the president is clothed with this 
 authority, and that it is denied to Congress, let ua hear from 
 himj and let him point to the clause of the constitution, 
 which vests it in the executive and withholds it from the 
 legislative branch. 
 
 There is no such clause; there is no such exclusive 
 executive power. The power is derivable by the executive 
 only from those provisions of the constitution, which charge 
 him with the duties of commanding the physical force of 
 the country, and the employment of that force in war, and 
 the preservation of the public tranquillity, and in the execu- 
 tion of the laws. But Congress has paramount power to 
 the president. It alone can declare war, can raise armies, 
 can provide for calling out the militia, in the specified in- 
 stances, and can raise and appropriate the ways and means 
 necessary to these objects. Or is it come to this, that there 
 are to be two rules of construction for the constitution^ 
 one, an enlarged rule, for the executive — and another, a re- 
 stricted rule, for the legislature? Is it already to be held, 
 that, according to the genius and nature of our constitu- 
 tions, powers of this kind may be safely entrusted to the 
 executive, but, when attempted to be exercised by the 
 legislature, are so alarming and dangerous, that a war 
 with all the allied powers would be less terrible, and that 
 the nation should clothe itself straightway in sackcloth and 
 ashes? No, sir, it the power belongs only by implication 
 to the chief magistrate, it is placed both by implication and 
 express grant in the hands of Congress. I am so far from 
 condemning the act of the president, to which I have re- 
 ferred, that I think it deserving of high approbation. That 
 it was within the scope of his constitutional authority, I 
 have no doubt: and 1 sincerely trust that the secretary at 
 
ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. jaQ 
 
 War will, in time of peace, constantly employ in that way, 
 the military force. It will, at the same time, guard that 
 force against the vices incident to indolence and inaction, 
 and correct the evil of subtracting from the mass of the 
 labour of society, where labour is more valuable than in any- 
 other country, that portion of it which enters into the com- 
 position of the army. Bat I most solemnly protest against 
 any ext-rcise of powers of this kind, by the president, which 
 art- denied to Congress. And, if the opinions expressed by 
 him, in his message, were communicated, or are to be used 
 here, to influence the judgment of the house, their authority 
 is more than countervailed by the authority of his deliberate 
 acts. 
 
 Some principles drawn from political economists have 
 been alluded to, and we are advised to leave things to them- 
 selves, upon the ground that, when the condition of society 
 IS ripe for internal improvements, that is, when capital can 
 be, so invested with a fair prospect of adequate remunera- 
 tion, they will be executed by associations of individuals, 
 unaided by government. With my friend from South 
 Carolina, (Mr. Lowndes,) I concur in this as a general 
 maxim; and I also concur with him, that there are excep- 
 tions to it. The foreign policy which I think this country 
 ought to adopt, presents one of those exceptions. It would 
 perhaps be better for mankind, if, in the intercourse be- 
 tween nations, all would leave skill and industry to their 
 unstimulated exertions. But this is not done; and if other 
 powers will incite the industry of their subjects, and depress 
 that of our citizens, in instances where they may come into 
 competition, we must imitate their selfish example. Hence 
 the necessity to protect our manufactures. In regard to 
 internal improvements, it did not always follow that they 
 would be constructed whenever they would afford a com- 
 petent dividend upon the capital invested. It may be true 
 generally, that, in old countries, where there is a great ac- 
 cumulation ot surplus capital, and a consequent low rate of 
 interest, they would be made. But in a new country, 
 the condition of society may be ripe for public works long 
 before there is, in the hands of individuals, the necessary 
 accumulation of capital to effect them; and, besides, there is 
 generally, in such a country, not only a scarcity of capital, 
 but such a multiplicity of profitable objects presenting them- 
 selves as to distract the judgment. Further — th? ;;ggregate 
 S 
 
130 ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 
 
 benefit resulting to the whole society, from a public im- 
 provement, may be such as to amply justify the investment 
 of capital in its execution; and yet that benefit may be so 
 distributed among diiferent and distant persons, as that 
 they can never be got to act in concert. The turnpike 
 roads wanted to pass the Allegany mountains, and the 
 Delaware and Chesapeake canal, are objects of this de- 
 scription. Tiiose who would be most benefited by these 
 improvements, reside at a considerable distance from the 
 sites of them; many of those persons never have seen and 
 never will see them. How is it possible to regulate the 
 contributions, or to present to individuals so situated, a 
 sufficiently lively picture of their real interests to get them 
 to make exertions, in effecting the object, commensurate 
 with their respective abilities? I think it very possible that 
 the capitalist, who should invest his money in one of those 
 objects, might not be reimbursed three per centum annually 
 upon it. And yet society, in various forms, might actually 
 reap fifteen or twenty per centum. The benefit resulting from 
 a turnpike road, made by private associations, is divided 
 between the capitalist who receives his tolls, the lands 
 through which it passes, and which are augmented in their 
 value, and the commodities whose value is enhanced by the 
 diminished expense of transportation. A combination upon 
 any terms, much less a just combination, of all these in- 
 terests to effect the improvement, is impracticable. And 
 if you await the arrival of the period when the tolls alone 
 can produce a competent dividend, it is evident that you 
 will have to suspend its execution until long after the gene- 
 ral interests of society would have authorized it. 
 
 Again, improvements made by private associations are 
 generally made by the local capital. But ages must elapse 
 before there will be concentrated in certain places, where 
 the interests of the whole community may call for improve- 
 ments, sufficient capital to make them. The place of the 
 improvement too is not always the most interested in its 
 accomplishment. Other parts of the union — the whole 
 line of the seaboard — are quite as much, if not more, in- 
 terested in the Delaware and Chesapeake canal, as the 
 small tract of country through which it is proposed to pass. 
 The same observation will apply to turnpike roads passing 
 through the Allegany mountain. Sometimes the interest of 
 the place of the improvement, is adverse to the improve - 
 
ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 131 
 
 ment and to the general interest. He would cite Louisville, 
 at the rapids of the Ohio, as an example, whose interest 
 will probably be more promoted by the continuance, than 
 the removal of the obstruction. Of all the modes in which 
 a government can employ its surplus revenue, none is more 
 permanently beneficial than that of internal improvement. 
 Fixed to the soil, it becomes a durable part of the land it- 
 self, diffusing comfort and activity and animation on all 
 sides. The first direct effect was on the agricultural com- 
 munity, into whose pockets came the difference in the 
 expense of transportation, between good and bad ways. 
 Thus, if the price of transporting a barrel of flour by the 
 erection of the Cumberland turnpike should be lessened two 
 dollars, the producer of the article would receive that two 
 dollars more now than formerly. 
 
 But, putting aside all pecuniary considerations, there may 
 be political motives sufficiently powerful alone to justify 
 certain internal improvements. Does not our country pre- 
 sent such? How are they to be effected, if things are left 
 to themselves? I will not press the subject further. I am 
 but too sensible how much I have abused the patience of 
 the committee, by trespassing so long upon its attention. 
 The magnitude of the question, and the deep interest I feel 
 in its rightful decision, must be my apology. We are now 
 making the last effort to establish our power; and I call on 
 the friends of Congress, of this house, or the true friends of 
 state rights, (not charging others with intending to oppose 
 them,) to rally round the constitution, and to support, by 
 their votes on this occasion, the legitimate powers of the 
 legislature. If we do nothing this session but pass an ab- 
 stract resolution on the subject, I shall, under all circum- 
 stances, consider it a triumph for the best interests of the 
 country, of which posterity will, if we do not, reap the 
 benefit. I trust, that by the decision which shall be given, 
 we shall assert, uphold and maintain, the authority of Con- 
 gress, notwithstanding* all that has been or may be said 
 against it. 
 
132 
 
 ON THE SEMINOLK WAR. 
 
 Speech on the Seminole War^ delivered in the House of Re-- 
 presentatives, January. 1819. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, "" ' 
 
 In rising to address you, sir, on the very interesting sub- 
 ject which now engages the attention of congress, I must 
 be allowed to say, that all inferences drawn fiom the course, 
 which it will be my painful duty to take in this discussion, 
 of unfriendlmess either to the chief magistrate of the coun- 
 try, or to the illustrious military chieftain, whose operations 
 are under investigation, will be wholly unfounded. Towards 
 that distinguished captain, who shed so much glory on our 
 country, whose renown constitutes so great a portion of its 
 moral property, I never had, I never can have any other 
 feelings than those of the most profound respect, and of the 
 utmost kindness. With him my acquaintance is very limited, 
 but, so far as it has extended, it has been of the most ami- 
 cable kind. I know, said Mr. C. the motives which have 
 been, and which will again be attributed to me, in regard to 
 the other exalted personage alluded to. They have been, 
 and will be unfounded. I have no interest, other than that 
 of seeing the concerns of my country well and happily ad- 
 ministered. It is infinitely more gratifying to behold the 
 prosperity of my country advancing by the wisdom of the 
 measures adopted to promote it, than it would be to expose 
 the errors which may be committed, if there be any, in the 
 conduct of its affairs. Mr. C. said, little as had been his 
 experience in public life, it had been sufficient to teach him 
 that the most humble station is surrounded by difficulties 
 and embarrassments. Rather than throw obstructions in the 
 way of the president, he would precede him, and pick out 
 those, if he could, which might jostle him in his progress — 
 he would sympathize with him in his embarrassments and 
 commiserate with him in his misfortunes. It was true, that 
 it had been his mortification to differ with that gentleman 
 on several occasions. He might be again reluctantly com- 
 pelled to differ with him; but he would with the utmost 
 sincerity assure the committee that he had formed no reso- 
 lution, come under no engagements, and that he never would 
 
ON THE SEMINOLE WAR. I33 
 
 form any resolution, or contract any engagements, for sys- 
 tematic opposition to his administration, or to that of any 
 other chief magistrate. 
 
 Mr. Clay begged leave further to premise that the sub- 
 ject under consideration, presented two distinct aspects, 
 susceptible, in his judgment, of the most clear and precise 
 discrimination. The one he would call its foreign, the other 
 its domestic aspect. In regard to the first, he would say, 
 that he approved entirely of the conduct of his government, 
 and that Spain had no cause of complaint. Having violated 
 an important stipulation of the treaty of 1795, that power 
 had justly subjected herself to all the consequences which 
 ensued upon the entry into her dominions, and it belonged 
 not to her to complain of those measures which resulted 
 from her breach of contract; still less had she a right to ex- 
 amine into the considerations connected with the domestic 
 aspect of the subject. 
 
 What were the propositions before the committee? The 
 first in order was that reported by the military committee, 
 which asserts the disapprobation of this house, of the pro- 
 ceedings in the trial and execution of Arbuthnot and Am- 
 brister. The second, being the first contained in the pro- 
 posed amendment, was the consequence of that disapproba- 
 tion, and contemplates the passage of a law to prohibit the 
 execution hereafter, of any captive, taken by the army, with- 
 out the approbation of the president. The third proposition 
 was, that this house disapproves of the forcible seizure of 
 the Spanish posts, as contrary to orders, and in violation of 
 the constitution. The fourth proposition, as the result of 
 the last, is, that a law should pass to prohibit the march of 
 the army of the United States, or any corps of it, into any 
 foreign territory, without the previous authorization of 
 congress, except it be in fresh pursuit of a defeated enemy. 
 The first and third were general propositions, declaring the 
 sense of the house, in regard to the evils pointed out: and 
 the second and fourth proposed the legislative remedies 
 against the recurrence of those evils. 
 
 It would be at once perceived, Mr. C. said, by this sim- 
 ple statement of the propositions, that no other censure was 
 proposed against general Jackson himself, than what was 
 merely consequential. His name even did not appear in any 
 one of the resolutions. The legislature of the country, in 
 reviewing the state of the union, and considering the events 
 
J 34 ON THE SEMINOLE WAR. 
 
 which have transpired since its last meeting, finds that par- 
 ticular occurrences, of the greatest moment, in many res- 
 pects, had taken place near our southern border. He would 
 add, that the house had not sought, by any officious inter- 
 ference with the duties of the executive, to gain jurisdic- 
 tion over this matter. The president, in his message at the 
 opening of the session, communicated the very information 
 on which it was proposed to act. He would ask, for what 
 purpose? That we should fold our arms and yield a tacit 
 acquiescence, even if we supposed that information disclosed 
 alarming events, not merely as it regards the peace of the 
 country, but in respect to its constitution and character? 
 Impossible. In communicating these papers, and voluntarily 
 calling the attention of congress to the subject, the president 
 must himself have intended that we should apply any rem- 
 edy that we might be able to devise. Having the subject 
 thus regularly and fairly before us, and proposing merely 
 to collect the sense of the house upon certain important 
 transactions which it discloses, with the view to the passage 
 of such laws as may be demanded by the public interest, 
 he repeated, that there was no censure any where, except 
 such as was strictly consequential upon our legislative ac- 
 tion. The supposition of every new law, having for its ob- 
 ject to prevent the recurrence of evil, is, that something has 
 happened which ought not to have taken place, and no 
 other than this indirect sort of censure would flow from the 
 resolutions before the committee. 
 
 Having thus given his view of the nature and character 
 of the propositions under consideration, Mr. C. said, he 
 was far from intimating, that it was not his purpose to go 
 into a full, a free, and a thorough investigation of the facts, 
 and of the principles of law, public, municipal and consti- 
 tutional, involved in ihem. And, whilst he trusted he should 
 speak with the decorum due to the distinguished officers of 
 the government, whose proceedings were to be examined, 
 he should exercise the independence which belonged to him 
 as a representative of the people, in freely and fully sub- 
 mitting his sentiments. 
 
 In noticing the painful incidents of this war, it was im- 
 possible not to inquire into its origin. He feared that it 
 would be found to be the famous treaty of Fort Jackson, 
 concluded in August, 1814; and he asked the indulgence of 
 the chairman, that the clerk might read certain parts of 
 
ON THE SEMINOLE WAR I35 
 
 that treaty. (The clerk having read as requested, Mr. C. 
 proceeded.) He had never perused this instrument until 
 within a few days past, and he had read it with the deepest 
 mortification and regret. A more dictatorial spirit he had 
 never seen displayed in any instrument. He would chal- 
 lenge an examination of all the records of diplomacy, not 
 excepting even those in the most haughty period of impe- 
 rial Kome, when she was carrying her arms into the barba- 
 rian nations, that surrounded her; and he did not believe a 
 solitary instance could be found of such an inexorable spirit 
 of domination pervading a compact purporting to be a treaty 
 of peace. It consisted of the most severe and humiliating 
 demands — of the surrender of large territory — of the privi- 
 lege of making roads through the remnant which was re- 
 tained — of the right of establishing trading houses — of the 
 obligation of delivering into our hands their prophets. And 
 all this, of a wretched people, reduced to the last extremity 
 of distress, whose miserable existence we had to preserve by 
 a voluntary stipulation, to furnish them with bread! When 
 did the all conquering and desolating Rome ever fail to re- 
 spect the altars and the gods of those whom she subjugated! 
 Let me not be told that these prophets were impostors who 
 deceived the Indians. They were their prophets — the In- 
 dians believed and venerated them, and it is not for us to 
 dictate a religious belief to them. It does not belong to the 
 holy character of the religion which we profess, to carry its 
 precepts, by the force of the bayonet, into the bosoms of 
 other people. Mild and gentle persuasion was the great in- 
 strument employed by the meek Founder of our religion. 
 We leave to the humane and benevolent efforts of the re- 
 verend professors of Christianity to convert from barbarism 
 those unhappy nations yet immersed in its gloom. But, sir, 
 spare them their prophets! spare their delusions! spare their 
 prejudices and superstitions! spare them even their religion, 
 such as it is, from open and cruel violence. When, sir, was 
 that treaty concluded? On the very day, after the protocol 
 was signed, of the first conference between the American 
 and British commissioners, treating of peace, at Ghent. In 
 the coutse of that negociation, pretensions so enormous 
 were set up, by the other party, that, when they were pro- 
 mulgated in this country, there was one general burst of 
 indignation throughout the continent. Faction itself was 
 silenced, and the firm and unanimous determination of all 
 
136 ON THE SEMINOLE WAK. 
 
 parties was, to fight until the last man fell in the ditch, 
 rather than submit to such ignominious terms. What a con- 
 trast is exhibited between the cotemporaneous scenes of 
 Ghent and of Fort Jackson: what a powerful voucher would 
 the British commissioners have been furnished with, if they 
 could have got hold of that treaty! The United States de- 
 mand^ the United States demand^ is repeated five or six 
 times. And what did the preamble itself disclose? That 
 two-thirds of the Creek nation had been hostile, and one- 
 third only friendly to us. Now, he had heard, (^he could 
 not vouch for the truth of the statement) that not one hos- 
 tile chief signed the treaty. He had also heard that perhaps 
 one or two of them had. If the treaty were really made 
 by a minority of the nation, it was not obligatory upon the 
 whole nation. It was void, considered in the light of a na- 
 tional compact. And if void, the Indians were entitled to 
 the benefit of the provision of the ninth article of the treaty 
 of Ghent, by which we bound ourselves to make peace with 
 any tribes with whom we might be at war on the ratification 
 of the treaty, and to restore to them their lands as they held 
 them in 1811. Mr. C. said he did not know how the hon- 
 ourable Senate, that body for which he held so high a respect, 
 could have given their sanction to the treaty of Fort Jack- 
 son, so utterly irrcconcileable as it is with those noble prin- 
 ciples of generosity and magnanimity which he hoped to 
 see his country always exhibit, and particularly toward the 
 miserable remnant of the aborigines. It would have com- 
 ported better with those principles, to have Imitated the 
 benevolent policy of the founder of Pennsylvania, and to 
 have given to the Creeks, conquered as they were, even if 
 they had made an unjust war upon us, the trifling considera- 
 tion, to them an adequate compensation, which he paid for 
 their lands. That treaty, Mr. C. said, he feared, had been 
 the main cause of the recent war. And if it had been, it 
 only added another melancholy proof to those with which 
 history already abounds, that hard and unconscionable terms, 
 extorted by the power of the sword and the right of con- 
 quest, served but to whet and stimulate revenge, and to 
 give to old hostilities, smothered, not extinguisheti by the 
 pretended peace, greater exasperation and more ferocity. 
 A truce thus patched up with an unfortunate people, with- 
 out the means of existence, without bread, is no real peace. 
 The instant there is the slightest prospect of relief, from 
 
ON THE SEMINOLE WAR. 137 
 
 such harsh and severe conditions, the conquered party will 
 fly to arms, and spend the last drop of blood rather than 
 live in such degraded bondage. Even if you again reduce 
 him to submission, the expenses incurred by this second 
 war, to say nothing of the human lives that are sacrificed, 
 will be greater than what it vyould have cost you to have 
 granted him liberal conditions in the first instance. I his 
 treaty, he repeated it, was, he apprehended, the cause of 
 the war. It led to those excesses on our southern borders 
 which began it. Who first commenced them, it was perhaps 
 difficult to ascertain. There was, however, a paper on this 
 subject communicated at the last session by the president 
 that told, in language pathetic and feeling, an artless tale — 
 Ji paper that carried such internal evidence, at least, of the 
 belief of the authors of it that they were writing the truth, 
 that he would ask the favour of the committee to allow him 
 to read it.* I should be very unwilling, Mr, C. said, to 
 
 * The following is the letter from ten of the Seminole towns, which 
 Mr. C. read. 
 
 To the Commanding officer at Fort Hawkins. 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 Since the last war, after you sent word that we must quit the war, we, 
 the Red people, have come over on this side. The white people have 
 carried all the red people^s cattle off. After the war, I sent to all my 
 people to let the white people alone, and stay on this side of the river; 
 and they did so: but the white people still continue to carry off their cat- 
 tle. Bernard's son was here, and 1 inquired of him what was to be done 
 — and he said we must go to the head man of the white people and co?n- 
 plain. I did so, and there was no head white man. and there was no law 
 in this case. The whites first began and there is nothing said about that; 
 but great complaint about what the Indians do. This is now three years 
 since the white people killed three Indians, since that they have killed 
 three other Indians., and taken their horses, and what they liad: and this 
 summer they killed three more; and very lately they killed one more. 
 We sent word to the white people that these murders were done, and the 
 answer was, that they were people that were outlaws, and we ought to 
 go and kill them. The white people killed our people first, the Indians 
 then took satisfaction. There are yet three men that the red people have 
 never taken satisfaction for. You have wrote that there were houses 
 burnt; but we know of no such thing being done: the truth in such cases 
 ought to be told, but this appears otherwise. On that side of the river, 
 the white people have killed five Indians; but there is nothing said about 
 that; and all that the Indians have done is brought up. All the mischief 
 the white people have done, ought to be told to their head man. When there 
 is any thing done, you write to us; but never write to your head man 
 what the white people do. When the red people send talks, or write, 
 they always send the truth. You have sent to us for your horses, and 
 we sent all that we could find; but there were some dead. It appears 
 T 
 
138 ON THE SEMINOLE WAR. 
 
 assert, in regard to this war, that the fault was on our sidej 
 but he feared it was. He had heard that very respectable 
 gentleman, now no more, who once filled the executive 
 chair of Georgia, and who, having been agent of Indian af- 
 fairs in that quarter, had the best opportunity of judging of 
 the origin of this war, deliberately pronounce it as his 
 opinion, that the Indians were not in fault. Mr. C. said, 
 that he was far from attributing to general Jackson any 
 other than the very slight degree of blame which attached 
 to him as the negociator of the treaty of Fort Jackson, and 
 which would be shared by those who subsequently ratified 
 and sanctioned that treaty. But if there were even a doubt 
 as to the origin of the war, whether we were censurable or 
 the Indians, that doubt would serve to increase our regret 
 at any distressing incidents which may have occurred, and 
 to mitigate, in some degree, the crimes which we impute 
 to the other side. He knew, he said, that when general Jack- 
 son was summoned to the field, it was too late to hesitate — 
 the fatal blow had been struck in the destruction of Fowl 
 town, and the dreadful massacre of lieutenant Scott and his 
 detachment; and the only duty which remained to him was 
 to terminate this unhappy contest. 
 
 that all the mischief is laid on this town ; but all the mischief that has 
 "been done by this town is two horses; one of tliem is dead, and the other 
 was sent b:^ck. The cattle that we are accused of taking, were cattle 
 that the white people took from us. Our young men went and brought 
 them back, with the same marks and brands. There were some of our 
 young men out hunting, and they were killed; others went to take satis- 
 faction, and the kettle of one of the men that was killed was found in the 
 house where the woman and two children were killed; and they sup- 
 posed it had been her husband who had killed the Indians, and took 
 their satisfaction there. We are accused of killing the Aixi'^ricans, and 
 so on; but since the word was sent to us that peace was made, we stay 
 steady at home, and meddle with no person. You have sent to us re- 
 specting the black people on the Suwany river; we have nothing to do 
 with ihem. They were put there by the English, and to them you ought 
 to apply for any thing about them. We do not wish our country desola- 
 ted by an army passing through it, for the concern of other people. The 
 Indians have slaves there also: a great many of them. When we have 
 an opportunity we shall apply to the English for them, but we cannot get 
 them now. 
 
 This is what we have to say at present. 
 
 Sir, I conclude by subscribing myself, 
 
 your humble servant, &€. 
 
 September, the 11th day, 1817. 
 
 N. B. There are ten towns have read this letter and this is the answer. 
 
 A true copy of the original. Wm. Bell, Aid-de-camp. 
 
ON THE SEMINOLE WAR. 139 
 
 The first circumstance which in the course of his per- 
 forming that duty, fixed our attention, had, Mr. C. said, 
 filled him with regret. It was the execution of the Indian 
 chiefs. How, he asked, did they come into our possession? 
 Was it in the course of fair, and open, and honourable war? 
 No, but by means of deception — by hoisting foreign colors 
 on the staff from which the stars and stripes should alone 
 have floated. Thus ensnared, the Indians were taken on 
 shore, and without ceremony, and without delay, were hung. 
 Hang an Indian! We, sir, who are civilized, and can com- 
 prehend and feel the effect of moral causes and considera- 
 tions, attach ignominy to that mode of death. And the gal- 
 lant, and refined, and high minded man, seeks by all pos- 
 sible means to avoid it. But what cares an Indian whether 
 you. hang or shoot him? The moment he is captured, he is 
 considered by his tribe as disgraced, if not lost. They, too, 
 are indifferent about the manner in which he is despatched. 
 But, Mr. C. said, he regarded the occurrence with grief for 
 other and higher considerations. It wa? the first instance 
 that he knew of, in the annals of our country, in which re- 
 taliation, by executing Indian captives, had ever been deli- 
 berately practised. There may have been exceptions, but if 
 there were, they met with contemporaneous condemnation, 
 and have been reprehended by the just pen of impartial his- 
 tory. The gentleman from Massachusetts may tell me, if 
 he chooses, what he pleases about the tomahawk and scalp- 
 ing knife — about Indian enormities, and foreign miscreants 
 and incendiaries. I, too, hate them; from my very soul I 
 abominate them. But, I love my country, and its constitu- 
 tion; I love liberty and safety, and fear military despotism 
 more even than I hate these monsters. The gentleman, in 
 the course of his remarks, alluded to the state from which 
 I have the honour to come. Little, sir, does he know of 
 the high and magnanimous sentiments of the people of that 
 state, if he supposes they will approve of the transaction to 
 which he referred. Brave and generous, humanity and cle- 
 mency towards a fallen foe constitute one of their noisiest 
 characteristics. Amidst all the struggles for that fair land 
 between the natives and the present inhabitants, Mr. C. 
 said, he defied the gentleman to point out one instance in 
 which a Kentuckian had stained his hand by — nothing but 
 his high sense of the distinguished services and exalted 
 merits of general Jackson prevented his using a different 
 
140 ON THE SEMINOLE WAR. 
 
 term — the execution of an unarmed and prostrate captive. 
 Yes, said Mr. C. there was one solitary exception, in which 
 a man, enraged at beholding an Indian prisoner, who had 
 been celebrated for his enormities, and who had destroyed 
 some of his kindred, plunged his sword into his bosom. 
 The wicked deed was considered as an abominable outrage 
 when it occurred, and the name of the man has been handed 
 down to the execration of posterity. 1 deny your right said 
 JMr. C. thus to retaliate on the aboriginal proprietors of the 
 country; and unless I am utterly deceived, it may be shown 
 that it does not exist. But before I attempt this, allow me 
 to make the gentleman from Massachusetts a little better 
 acquainted with those people, to whose feelings and sympa- 
 thies he has appealed through their representative. During 
 the late war with Great Britain, colonel Campbell, under the 
 command of my honourable friend from Ohio, (general Har- 
 rison) was placed at the head of a detachment consisting 
 chiefly, he believed, of Kentucky volunteers, in order to 
 destroy the Mississinaway towns. They proceeded and 
 performed the duty, and took some prisoners. And here is 
 evidence of the manner in which they treated them. (Here 
 Mr. C. read the general orders issued on the return of the 
 detachment).* I hope, sir, the honourable gentleman will 
 be now able better to appreciate the character and conduct 
 of my gallant countrymen than he appears hitherto to have 
 done. 
 
 But, sir, I have said that you have no right to practise 
 under colour of retaliation, enormities on the Indians. I will 
 advance in support of this position, as applicable to the 
 origin of all law, the principle, that whatever has been the 
 custom, from the commencement of a subject, whatever has 
 
 * The following- is the extract read by Mr. Clay. 
 
 " But the character of this gallant detachment, exhibiting', as it did, 
 perseverance, fortitude and bravery, would, however, be incomplete, if, 
 in the midst of victory, they had forgotten the feelings of humanity. It 
 is with the sincerest pleasure that the general has heard, that the most 
 punctual obe^dience was paid to his orders, in not only saving all the 
 women aad children, but in sparing all the warriors who ceased to resist; 
 and that even when vigorously attacked by the enemy, the claims of 
 mercy prevailed over every sense of their own danger, and this heroic 
 band respected the lives of their prisoners. Let an account of murdered 
 innocence be opened in the records of heaven against jur enemies alone. 
 The American soldier will follow the example of his government, and 
 the sword of the one will not be raised against tlie fallen and the helpless, 
 nor the gold of the other be paid for scalps of a massacred enemy." 
 
ON THE SEMINOLE WAR. 141 
 
 beefa the uniform usage coeval and co-existent with the 
 subject to which it relates, becomes its fixed law. Such was 
 the foundation of all common law; and such, he believed, 
 was the principal foundation of all public or international 
 law. If, then, it could be shown that from the first settle- 
 ment of the colonies, on this part of the American conti- 
 nent, to the present time, we have constantly abstained from 
 retaliating upon the Indians the excesses practised by them 
 towards us, we were morally bound by this invariable usage, 
 and could not lawfully change it without the most cogent 
 reasons. So far as his knowledge extended, he said, that 
 from the first settlement at Plymouth or at Jamestown, it 
 had not been our practice to destroy Indian captives, com- 
 batants or non-combatants. He knew of but one deviation 
 from the code which regulated the warfare between civilized 
 communities, and that was the destruction of Indian towns, 
 which was supposed to be authorized upon the ground that 
 we could not bring the war to a termination but by destroy- 
 ing the means which nourished it. With this single ex- 
 ception, the other principles of the laws of civilized nations 
 are extended to them, and are thus made law in regard to 
 them. When did this humane custom, by which, in con- 
 sideration of their Ignorance, and our enlightened condition, 
 the rigours of war were mitigated, begin? At a time when 
 we were weak, and they were comparatively strong — when 
 they were the lords of the soil, and we were seeking, from 
 the vices, from the corruptions, from the religious intoler- 
 ance and from the oppressions of Europe, to gain an asylum 
 among them. And when is it proposed to change this cus- 
 tom, to substitute for it the bloody maxims of barbarous 
 ages, and to interpolate the Indian public law with revolt- 
 ing cruelties? At a time when the situation of the two par- 
 ties is totally changed — when we are powerful and they are 
 weak — at a time when, to use a figure drawn from their 
 own sublime eloquence, the poor children of the forest have 
 been driven by the great wave which has flowed in from 
 the Atlantic ocean almost to the base of the Rocky moun- 
 tains, and overwhelming them in its terrible progress, he 
 has left no other remains of hundreds of tribes, now extinct, 
 than those which indicate the remote existence of their 
 former companion, the Mammoth of the new world! Yes, 
 sir, it is at this auspicious period of our country, when we 
 hold a proud and lofty station, among the first nations of 
 
i42 ON THE SEMINOLE WAR. 
 
 the world, that we are called upon to sanction a departure 
 from the established laws and usages which have regulated 
 our Indian hostilities. And does the honourable gentleman 
 from Massachusetts expect, in this august body, this en- 
 lightened assembly of christians and Americans, by glowing 
 appeals to our passions, to make us forget our principles, 
 our religion, our clemency, and our humanity? Why was 
 it, Mr. C. asked, that we had not practised toward the 
 Indian tribes the right of retaliation, now for the first time 
 asserted in regard to them? It was because it is a principle 
 proclaimed by reason, and enforced by every respectable 
 writer on the law of nations, that retaliation is only justifi- 
 able as calculated to produce eff'ect in the war. Vengeance 
 was a new motive for resorting to it. If retaliation will 
 produce no effect on the enemy, we are bound to abstain 
 from it, by every consideration of humanity and of justice. 
 "Will it, then, produce effect on the Indian tribes? No — they 
 care not about the execution of those of their warriors who 
 are taken captive. They are considered as disgraced by the 
 very circumstance of their captivity, and it is often mercy 
 to the unhappy captive, to deprive him of his existence. 
 The poet evinced a profound knowledge of the Indian cha- 
 racter, when he put into the mouth of the son of a distin- 
 guished chief, about to be led to the stake and tortured by 
 his victorious enemy, the words — 
 
 Begin, ye tormentors! your threats are in vain: 
 The son of Alknomak will never complain. 
 
 Retaliation of Indian excesses, not producing then any 
 effect in preventing their repetition, was condemned by both 
 reason and the principlt- s upon which alone, in any case, it 
 can be justified. On this branch of the subject much more 
 might be said, but as he should possibly again allude to it, 
 he would pass from it, for the present, to another topic. 
 
 It was not necessary, Mr. C. said, for the purpose of his 
 argument in regard to the trial and execution of Arbuthnot 
 and Ambrister, to insist on the innocency of either of them. 
 He would yield, for the sake of that argument, without 
 inquiry, that both of them were guilty; that both had insti- 
 gated the war; and that one of them had led the enemy to 
 battle. It was possible, indeed, that a critical examination 
 of the evidence would show, particuhrly in the case of Ar- 
 buthnot, that the whole amount of his crime consisted in 
 
ON THE SEMINOLE WAR. 143 
 
 his trading, without the limits of the United States, with 
 the Seminole Indians, in the accustomed commodities which 
 form the subject of Indian trade; and that he sought to in- 
 gratiate himself with his customers, by espousing their in- 
 terests, in regard to the provision of the treaty of Ghent, 
 which he may have honestly believed entitled them to the 
 restoration of their lands. And if, indeed, the treaty of 
 Fort Jackson, for the reasons already assigned, were not 
 binding upon the Creeks, there would be but too much cause 
 to lament his unhappy, il not unjust fate. The first impres- 
 sion made on the examination of the proceedings in the trial 
 and execution of those two men, is, that on the part of Am- 
 brister, there was the most guilt, but at the same time, the 
 most irregularity. Conceding the point of the guilt of both, 
 with the qualification which he had stated, he would pro- 
 ceed to inquire, first, if their execution could be justified 
 upon the principles assumed by general Jackson himself. If 
 they did not afford a justification, he would next inquire if 
 there were any other principles authorizing their execution; 
 and he would, in the third place, make some observations 
 upon the mode of proceeding. 
 
 The principle assumed by general Jackson, which may be 
 found in his general orders commanding the execution of 
 these men, is, " that it is an established principle of the law 
 of nations, that any individual of a nation, making war 
 against the citizens of any other nation, they being at peace, 
 forfeits his allegiance, and becomes an outlaw and a pirate." 
 Whatever may be the character of individuals waging pri- 
 vate war, the principle assumed is totally erroneous, when 
 applied to such individuals associated with a power, whether 
 Indian or civilized, capable of maintaining the relations of 
 peace and war. Suppose, however, the principle were true, 
 as asserted, what disposition should he have made of these 
 men? What jurisdiction, and how acquired, has the military 
 over pirates, robbers, and outlaws? If they were in the 
 character imputed, they were alone amenable, and should 
 have been turned over to the civil authority. But the prin- 
 ciple, he repeated, was totally incorrect, when applied to 
 men in their situation. A foreigner, connecting himself with 
 a belligerent, becomes an enemy of the party to whom that 
 belligerent is opposed, subject to whatever he may be sub- 
 ject, entitled to whatever he is entitled, Arbuthnot and 
 Ambrister, by associating themselves, became identified 
 
144 ON THE SEMINOLE WAR. 
 
 with the Indians; they became our enemies, and we had a 
 right to treat them as we could lawfully treat the Indians. 
 These positions were so obviously correct, that he should 
 consider it an abuse of the patience of the committee to 
 consume time in their proof. I'hey were supported by the 
 practice of all nations, and of our own. Every page of his- 
 tory, in all times, and the recollection of every member, 
 furnish evidence of their truth. Let us look for a moment 
 into some of the consequences of this principle, if it were 
 to go to Europe, sanctioned by the approbation, express or 
 implied, of this house. We have now in our armies proba- 
 bly the subjects of almost every European power. Some of 
 the nations of Europe maintain the doctrine of perpetual 
 allegiance. Suppose Britain and America in peace, and 
 America and France at war. The former subjects of En- 
 gland, naturalized and unnaturalized, are captured by the 
 navy or army of France. What is their condition? according 
 to the principle of general Jackson, they would be outlaws 
 and pirates, and liable to immediate execution. Were gen- 
 tlemen prepared to return to their respective districts with 
 this doctrine in their mouths, and say to their Irish, En- 
 glish, Scotch, and other foreign constituents, that you are 
 liable, on the contingency supposed, to be treated as out- 
 laws and pirates? 
 
 Was there any other principle which justified the pro- 
 ceedings? On this subject, he said, if he admired the won- 
 derful ingenuity with which gentlemen sought a colourable 
 pretext for those executions, he was at the same time shock* 
 ed at some of the principles advanced. What said the hon- 
 ourable gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Holmes) in a 
 cold address to the committee? Why, that these executions 
 were only the wrong mode of doing aright thing. A wrong 
 mode of doing a right thing! In what code of public law; 
 in what system of ethics; nay, in what respectable novel; 
 where, if the gentleman were to take the range of the whole 
 literature of the world, will he find any sanction for a prin- 
 ciple so monstrous? He would illustrate its enormity by a 
 single case. Suppose a man being guilty of robbery, is tried, 
 condemned, and executed for murder, upon an indictment 
 for that robbery merely. The judge is arraigned for having 
 executed, contrary to law, a human being, innocent at heart 
 of the crime for which he was sentenced. The judge has 
 nothing to do, to ensure his own acquittal, but to urge the 
 gentleman's plea, that he had done a right thing a wrong way! 
 
ON THE SEMINOLE WAR. I45 
 
 The principles which attached to the cases of Arbuthnot 
 and Ambrister, constituting them merely partkipes in the 
 war, supposing them to have been combatants, which the 
 former was not, he having been taken in a Spanish fortress, 
 without arms in his hands, all that we could possibly have 
 a right to do, was to apply to them the rules which we had 
 a right to enforce against the Indians. Their English cha- 
 racter was only merged in their Indian character. Now, if 
 the law regulating Indian hostilities, be established by long 
 and immemorial usage, that we have no moral right to re- 
 taliate upon them, we consequently had no right to retaliate 
 upon Arbuthnot and Ambrister. Even if it were admitted 
 that, in regard to future wars, and to other foreigners, their 
 execution may have a good effect, it would not thence fol- 
 low that you had a right to execute them. It is not always 
 just to do what may be advantageous. And retaliation, 
 during a war. must have relation to the events of that war, 
 and must, to be just, have an operation on that war, and 
 upon the individuals only who compose the belligerent party. 
 It became gentlemen, then, on the other side, to show, by 
 some known, certain, and recognized rule of public or mu- 
 nicipal law, that the execution of these men was justified. 
 Where is it? He should be glad to see it. We are told in 
 a paper emanating from the department of state, recently 
 laid before this house, distinguished for the fervour of its 
 eloquence, and of which the honourable gentleman from 
 Massachusetts, has supplied us in part with a second edition, 
 in one respect agreeing with the prototype, that they both 
 ought to be inscribed to the American public — we are justly 
 told in that paper, that this is the Jirst instance of the exe- 
 cution of persons for the crime of instigating Indians to war. 
 Sir, there are two topics which, in Europe, are constantly 
 employed by the friends and minions of legitimacy against 
 our country. The one is an inordinate spirit of aggrandize- 
 ment — of coveting other people's goods. The other is the 
 treatment which we extend to the Indians. Against both 
 these charges, the public servants who conducted at Ghent 
 the negociations with the British commissioners, endea- 
 voured to vindicate our country, and he hoped with some 
 degree of success. What will be the condition of future 
 American negociators, when pressed upon this head, he 
 knew not, after the unhappy executions on our southern 
 border. The gentleman from Massachusetts seemed en 
 U 
 
146 ON THE SEMINOLE WAR. 
 
 yesterday to read, with a sort of triumph, the names of the 
 commissioners employed in the negociation at Ghent. Will 
 he excuse me for saying, that I thought he pronounced, 
 even with more complacency and with a more gracious smile, 
 the first name in the commission, than he emphasized that of 
 the humble individual who addresses you, (Mr. Holmes de- 
 sired to explain) Mr. C. said there was no occasion for ex- 
 planation; he was perfectly satisfied. fMr. H. however, 
 proceeded to say that his intention was, in pronouncing the 
 gentleman's name, to add to the respect due to the nego- 
 ciator that which was due to the speaker of this house.) 
 To return to the case of Arbuthnot and Ambrister. Will 
 the principle of these men having been the instigators of 
 the war, justify their execution? It was a new one; there 
 were no land marks to guide us in its adoption; or to pre- 
 scribe limits in its application. If William Pitt had been 
 taken by the French army, during the late European war, 
 could France have justifiably executed him, on the ground 
 of his having notoriously instigated the continental powers 
 to war against France. Would France, if she had stained 
 her character by executing him, have obtained the sanction 
 of the world to the act, by appeals to the passions and pre- 
 judices, by pointing to the cities sacked, the countries laid 
 waste, the human lives sacrificed in the wars which he had 
 kindled, and by exclaiming to the unfortunate captive, you! 
 miscreant, monster, have occasioned all these scenes of de- 
 vastation and blood? What had been the conduct even of 
 England towards the greatest instigator of all the wars of 
 the present age? The condemnation of that illustrious man 
 to the rock of St. Helena, was a great blot on the English 
 name. And Mr. C. repeated what he had before said, that 
 if Chatham or Fox, or even William Pitt himself, had been 
 prime minister, in England, Bonaparte had never been so 
 condemned. On that transaction history will one day pass 
 its severe but just censure. Yes, although Napoleon had 
 desolated half Europe; although there was scarcely a power, 
 however humble, that escaped the mighty grasp of his am- 
 bition; although in the course of his splendid career he is 
 charged with having committed the greatest atrocities, dis- 
 graceful to himself and to human nature, yet even his life 
 has been spared. The allies would not, England would 
 not, execute him, upon the ground of his being an instiga- 
 tor of wars. 
 
ON THE SEMINOLE WAR. 147 
 
 The mode of the trial and sentencing these men, Mr. C. 
 said, was equally objectionable with the principles on which 
 it had befn attempted to prove a forfeiture of their lives. 
 He knew, he said, the laudable spirit which prompted the 
 ingenuity displayed in finding out a justification for these 
 proceedings. He wished most sincerely that he could re- 
 concile them to his conscience. It had been attempted to 
 vindicate the general upon grounds which he was persuaded 
 he would himself disown. It had been asserted, that he was 
 guilty of a mistake in calling upon the court to try them, 
 and that he might have at once ordered their execution, 
 without that formality. He denied that there was any such 
 absolute right in the commander of any portion of our army. 
 The right of retaliation is an attribute of sovereignty. It is 
 comprehended in the war making power that congress pos- 
 sesses. It belongs to this body not only to declare war, but 
 to raise armies, and to make rules and regulations for their 
 government. It was in vain for gentlemen to look to the 
 law of nations for instances in which retaliation is lawful. 
 The laws of nations merely laid down the principle or rule; 
 it belongs to the government to constitute the tribunal for 
 applying that principle or rule. There was, for example, no 
 instance in which the death of a captive was more certainly 
 declared by the law of nations to be justifiable, than in the 
 case of spies. Congress has accordingly provided, in the 
 rules and articles of war, a tribunal for the trial of spies, 
 and consequently for the application of the principle of the 
 national law. The legislature had not left the power over 
 spies undefined, to the mere discretion of the commander in 
 chief, or of any subaltern officer in the army. For, if the 
 doctrines now contended for were true, they would apply 
 to the commander of any corps, however small, acting as a 
 detachment. Suppose congress had not legislated in the case 
 of spies, what would have been their condition.? It would 
 have been a casus omissus,, and although the public law pro- 
 nounced their doom, it could not be executed because con- 
 gress had assigned no tribunal for enforcing that public law. 
 No man could be executed in this free country without two 
 things being shown: 1st, That the law condemns him to 
 death; and 2d, That his death is pronounced by that tribu- 
 nal which is authorised by the law to try him. These prin- 
 ciples would reach every man's case, native or foreign, citi- 
 zen or alien. The instant quarters are granted to a prisoner, 
 the majesty of the law surrounds and sustains him, and he 
 
148 ON THE SEMINOLE WAR. 
 
 cannot be lawfully punished with death, without the con- 
 currence of the two circumstances just insisted upon. He 
 denied that any commander in chief, in this country, had 
 this absolute power of life and death, at his sole discretion. 
 It was contrary to the genius of all our laws and institutions. 
 To concentrate in the person of one individual the powers 
 to make the rule, to judge and to execute the rule, or to 
 judge, and execute the rule only, was utterly irreconcilable 
 with every principle of free government, and was the very 
 definition of tyranny itself; and he trusted that this house 
 would never give even a tacit assent to such a principle. 
 Suppose the commander had made, even reprisals on pro- 
 perty, would that property have belonged to the nation, or 
 could he have disposed of it as he pleased? Had he more 
 power, would gentlemen tell him, over the lives of human 
 beings, than over property? The assertion of such a power 
 to the commander in chief, was contrary to thfe practice of 
 the government. By an act of congress, which passed in 
 1799, vesting the power of retaliation in certain cases in the 
 president of the United States — an act which passed during 
 the quasi war with France, the president is authorised to 
 retaliate upon any of the citizens of the French republic, 
 the enormities which may be practised in certain cases, upon 
 our citizens. Under what administration was this act pas- 
 sed? It was under that which has been justly charged with 
 stretching the constitution to enlarge the executive powers. 
 Even during the mad career of Mr. Adams, when every 
 means were resorted to for the purpose of infusing vigor into 
 the executive arm, no one thought of claiming for him the 
 inherent right of retaliation. He would not trouble the house 
 with reading another law, which passed thirteen or fourteen 
 years after, during the late war with Great Britain, under 
 the administration of that great constitutional president, the 
 father of the instrument itself, by which Mr. Madison, was 
 empowered to retaliate on the British in certain instances. 
 It was not only contrary to the genius of our institutions, 
 and to the uniform practice of the government, but it was 
 contrary to the obvious principles on which the general him- 
 self had proceeded; for, in forming the court, he had evi- 
 dently intended to proceed under the rules and articles of war. 
 The extreme number which they provide for is thirteen, pre- 
 cisely that which is detailed in the present instance. The 
 court proceeded not by a bare plurality, but by a majority 
 
ON THE SEMINOLE WAR. 149 
 
 of two-thirds. In the general orders issued from the adju- 
 tant general's office, at head quarters, it is described as a 
 court-martial. The prisoners are said, in those orders, to 
 have been tried "■ on the following charges and specifica" 
 tions," The court understood itself to be acting as a court- 
 martial. It was so organized — it so proceeded, having a 
 judge advocate, hearing witnesses, and th^: written defence 
 of the miserable trembling prisoners, who seemed to have a 
 presentiment of their doom. And the court was finally dis- 
 solved. The whole proceeding manifestly shows that all 
 parties considered it as a court-martial, convened and acting 
 under the rules and articles of war. In his letter to the se- 
 cretary of war, noticing the transaction, the general says: 
 *' These individuals were tried undt rmy orders, leg-ally con- 
 victed as exciters of this savage and negro war, legally con- 
 demned and most justly punished for their iniquities." The 
 Lord deliver us from such legal conviction, and such legal 
 condemnations! The general himself considered the laws of 
 his country to have justified his proceedings. It was in vaia 
 then to talk of a power in him beyond the law, and above 
 the law, when he himself does not assert it. Let it be con- 
 ceded, that he was clothed with absolute authority over the 
 lives of those individuals, and that, upon his own fiat, with- 
 out trial, without defence, he might have commanded their 
 execution. Now if an absolute sovereign, in any particular 
 respect, promulgates a rule which he pledges himself to ob- 
 serve, if he subsequently deviates from that rule, he subjects 
 himself to the imputation of odious tyranny. If general Jack- 
 son had the power, without a court, to condemn these menj 
 he had also the power to appoint a tribunal. He did ap- 
 point a tribunal, and became, therefore, morally bound to 
 observe and execute the sentence of that tribunal. In regard 
 to Ambrister, it was with grief and pain he was compelled 
 to say that he was executed in defiance of all law; in defi- 
 ance of the law to which general Jackson had voluntarily, if 
 you please, submitted himself, and given, by his appeal to 
 the court, his implied pledge to observe. He knew but lit- 
 tle of military law, and what had happened, had certainly 
 not created in him a taste for acquiring a knowledge of more j 
 but he believed there was no example on record, where the 
 sentence of the court has been erased, and a sentence not 
 pronounced by it carried into execution. It had been sug- 
 gested that the court had pronounced two sentences, and 
 
150 ON THE SEMINOLE WAR. 
 
 that the general had a right to select either. Two sentences! 
 Two verdicts! It was not so. The first being revoked, was 
 as though it had never been pronounced. And there re- 
 mained only one sentence, which was put aside upon the 
 sole authority of the commander, and the execution of the 
 prisoner ordered. He either had or had not a right to de- 
 cide upon the fate of that man, without the intervention of 
 a court. If he had the right, he waved it, and, having vio- 
 lated the sentence of the court, there was brought upon the 
 judicial administration of the army a reproach, which must 
 occasion the most lasting regret. 
 
 However guilty these men were, they should not have 
 been condemned or executed, without the authority of the 
 law. He would not dwell, at this time, on the effect of these 
 precedents in foreign countries, but he would not pass un- 
 noticed their dangerous influence in our own country. Bad 
 examples are generally set in the cases of bad men, and 
 often remote from the central government. It was in the 
 provinces that were laid the abuses and the seeds of the 
 ambitious projects which overturned the liberties of Rome. 
 He beseeched the committee not to be so captivated by the 
 charms of eloquence, and the appeals made to our passions 
 and our sympathies, as to forget the fundamental principles 
 of our government. The influence of a bad example would 
 often be felt when its authors and all the circumstances con- 
 nected with it, were no longer remembered. He knew of 
 but one analogous instance of the execution of a prisoner, 
 and that had brought more odium, than almost any other 
 incident, on the unhappy emperor of France. He alluded 
 to the instance of the execution of the unfortunate member 
 of the Bourbon house. He sought an asylum in the terri- 
 tories of Baden. Bonaparte despatched a corps of gen- 
 d'armes to the place of his retreat, seized him, and brought 
 him to the dungeons of Vincennes. He was there tried by 
 a court martial, condemned, and shot. There, as here, was 
 a violation of neutral territory; there the neutral ground was 
 not stained with the blood of him whom it should have pro- 
 tected. And there was another most unfortunate difference 
 for the American example. The duke D'Enghein, was ex- 
 ecuted according to his sentence. It is said by the defenders 
 of Napoleon, that the duke had been machinating not mere- 
 Iv to overturn the French government, but against the life 
 of its chief. If that were true, he might, if taken in France, 
 
ON THE SEMINOLE WAR. 151 
 
 have been legally executed. Such was the odium brought 
 upon the instruments of this transaction, that those persons 
 who have been even suspected of participation in it have 
 sought to vindicate themselves, from what they appear to 
 have considered as an aspersion, before foreign courts. In 
 conclusion of this part of the subject, Mr. C. said, that he 
 most cheerfully and entirely acquitted general Jackson of 
 any intention to violate the laws of the country, or the obli- 
 gations of humanity. He was persuaded, from all that he 
 had heard, that he considered himself as equally respecting 
 and observing both. With respect to the purity of his in- 
 tentions, therefore, he was disposed to allow it in the most 
 extensive degree. Of his acts^ said Mr. C. it is my duty to 
 speak with the freedom which belongs to my station. And 
 I shall now proceed to consider some of them, of the most 
 momentous character, as it regards the distribution of the 
 powers of government. 
 
 Of all the powers conferred by the constitution of the 
 United States, not one is more expressly and exclusively 
 granted than that which gives to congress the power to de- 
 clare war. The immortal convention who formed that in- 
 strument had abundant reason drawn from every page of 
 history, for confiding this tremendous power to the delibe- 
 rate judgment of the representatives of the people. It was 
 there seen that nations are often precipitated into ruinous 
 war from folly, from pride, from ambition, and from the 
 desire of military fame. It was believed, no doubt, in com- 
 mitting this great subject to the legislature of the union, we 
 should be safe from the mad wars that have afflicted and 
 desolated and ruined other countries. It was supposed that 
 before any war was declared the nature of the injury com- 
 plained of would be carefully examined, the power and re- 
 sources of the enemy estimated, and the power and resources 
 of our own couutry, as well as the probable issue and con- 
 sequences of the war. It was to guard our country against 
 precisely that species of rashness, which has been manifest- 
 ed in Florida, that the constitution was so framed. If then 
 this power, thus cautiously and clearly bestowed upon con- 
 gress, has been assumed and exercised by any other func- 
 tionary of the government, it is cause of serious alarm, and 
 it became that body to vindicate and maintain its authority 
 by all the means in its power; and yet there are some gen- 
 tlemen, who would have us not merely to yield a tame and 
 
152 ON THE SEMINOLE WAR. 
 
 silent acquiescence in the encroachment, but even to pass a 
 vote of thanks to the author. 
 
 On the twenty-fifth of March 1818, (Mr. C. continued,) 
 the president of the United States, communicated a message 
 to congress in relation to the Seminole war, in which he 
 declared that, although, in the prosecution of it, orders had 
 been given to pass into the Spanish territory, they were so 
 guarded as that the local authorities of Spain should be re- 
 spected. How respected? The president, by the documents 
 accompanying the message, the orders themselves which 
 issued from the department of war, to the commanding 
 general, had assured the legislature that, even if the enemy 
 should take shelter under a Spanish fortress, the fortress 
 was not to be attacked, but the fact to be reported to that 
 department for further orders. Congress saw, therefore, 
 that there was no danger of violating the existing peace. 
 And yet, on the same twenty-fifth day of March (a most 
 singular concurrence of dates,) when the representatives of 
 the people receive this solemn message, announced in the 
 presence of the nation and in the face of the world, and in 
 the midst of a friendly negociation with Spain, does general 
 Jackson write from his head quarters, that he shall take St. 
 Marks as a necessary depot for his military operations! The 
 general states, in his letter, what he had heard about the 
 threat on the part of the Indians and Negroes, to occupy 
 the fort, and declares his purpose to possess himself of it 
 in either of the two contingencies, of its being in their hands 
 or in the hands of the Spaniards. He assumed a right to 
 judge what Spain was bound to do by her treaty, and judged 
 very correctly; but then he also assumed the power, belong- 
 ing to congress alone, of determining what should be the 
 effect, and consequence of her breach of engagement. Ge- 
 neral Jackson generally performs what he intimates his in- 
 tention to do. Accordingly, finding St. Marks yet in the 
 hands of the Spaniards, he seized and occupied it. Was 
 ever, he asked, the just confidence of the legislative body, 
 in the assurances of the chief magistrate, more abused? The 
 Spanish commander intimated his willingness that the Ame- 
 rican army should take post near him, until he could have 
 instructions from his superior officer, and promised to main- 
 tain, in the mean time, the most friendly relations. No! St. 
 Marks was a convenient post for the American army, and 
 delay was inadmissible. He had always understood that the 
 
ON THE SEMINOLE WAR. 153 
 
 Indians but rarely take or defend fortresses, because they 
 are unskilled in the modes of attack and defence. The threat, 
 therefore, on their part, to seize on St. Marks must have 
 been empty, and would probably have been impracticable. 
 At all events, when general Jackson arrived there, no danger 
 any longer threatened the Spaniards from the miserable 
 fugitive Indians, who fled on all sides upon his approach. 
 And, sir, upon what plea is this violation of orders, and this 
 act of war upon a foreign power, attempted to be justified? 
 Upon the grounds of the conveniency of the depot and the 
 Indian threat. The first he would not seriousl) examine and 
 expose. If the Spanish character of the fort had been to- 
 tally merged in the Indian character, it might have been 
 justifiable to seize it. But that was not the fact, and the 
 bare possibility of its being forcibly taken by the Indians 
 could not justify our anticipating their blow. Of all the 
 odious transactions which occurred during the late war be- 
 tween France and England, none was more condemned in 
 Europe and in this country, than her seizure of the fleet of 
 Denmark at Copenhagen. And he lamented to be obliged 
 to notice the analog) which existed in the defences made of 
 the two cases. If his recollection did not deceive him, Bo- 
 naparte had passed the Rhine and the Alps, had conquered 
 Italy, the Netherlands, Holland, Hanover, Lubec, and Ham- 
 burg, and extended his empire as far as Altona on the side 
 of Denmark. A few days' march would have carried him 
 through Holstein, over the two Belts, through Funen and 
 into the island of Zealand. What then was the conduct of 
 England? It was my lot, Mr. C. said, to fall into conver- 
 sation with an intelligent Englishman on this subject. " We 
 knew (said he,) that we were fighting for our existence. It 
 was absolutely necessary that we should preserve the com- 
 mand of the seas. If the fleet of Denmark fell into the ene- 
 my's hands, combined with his other fleets, that command 
 might be rendered doubtful. Denmark had only a nominal 
 independence. She was, in truth, subject to his sway. We 
 said to her, give us your fleet; it will otherwise be taken 
 possession of by your secret and our open enemy. We will 
 preserve it, and restore it to you whenever the danger shall 
 be over. Denmark refused. Copenhagen was bombarded, 
 gallantly defended, but the fleet was seized." Every where 
 the conduct of England was censured; and the name even 
 of the negociator who was employed by her, who was sub- 
 X 
 
154 ON THE SEMINOLE WAR. 
 
 sequently the minister near this government, was scarcely 
 ever pronounced here without coupling with it an epithet 
 indicating his participation in the disgraceful transaction. 
 And yet we are going to sanction acts of violence, commit- 
 ted by ourselves, which but too much resemble it! What 
 an important difference, too, between the relative condition 
 of England and of this country! She perhaps was struggling 
 for her existence. She was combating, single-handed, the 
 most enormous military power that the world has ever 
 known. Who were we contending with? With a few half- 
 starved, half-clothed, wretched Indians and fugitive slaves. 
 And whilst carrying on this inglorious war, — inglorious as 
 it regards the laurels or renown won in it, — we violate neu- 
 tral rights, which the government had solemnly pledged 
 itself to respect, upon the principle of convenience, or upon 
 the light presumption that, by possibility, a post might be 
 taken by this miserable combination of Indians and slaves. 
 On the 8th of April, the general writes from St. Marks, 
 that he shall march for the Suwaney river; the destroying 
 of the establishments on which will, in his opinion, bring the 
 war to a close. Accordingly having effected that object, 
 he writes, on the 20th of April, that he believes he may 
 say the war is at an end for the present. He repeats the 
 same opinion in his letter to the secretary of war, written 
 six days after. The war being thus ended, it might have 
 been hoped that no further hostilities would have been com- 
 mitted. But on the 23d of May, on his way home, he re- 
 ceives a letter from the commandant of Pensacola, intimat- 
 ing his surprise at the invasion of the Spanish territory, and 
 the acts of hostility performed by the American army, and 
 his determination, if persisted in, to employ force to repel 
 them. Let us pause and examine this proceeding of the 
 governor, so very hostile and affrontive in the view of gene- 
 ral Jackson. Recollect that he was governor of Florida; that 
 he had received no orders from his superiors, to allow a pas- 
 sage to the American army; that he had heard of the reduc- 
 tion of St. Marks; and that general Jackson, at the head of 
 his army, was approaching in the direction of Pensacola. He 
 had seen the president's message of the 25th of March, 
 and reminded general Jackson of it, to satisfy him that the 
 American government could not have authorised all those 
 measures. Mr. C. said he could not read the allusion made 
 by the governor to that message, without feeling that the 
 
ON THE SEMINOLE WAR. I55 
 
 charge of insincerity, which it implied, had at least but too 
 much the appearance of truth in it. Could the governor 
 have done less than write some such letter? We have only 
 to reverse situations, and to suppose him to have been an 
 American governor. General Jackson says, that when he 
 received that letter, he no longer hesitated. No, sir, he did 
 no longer hesitate! He received it on the 23d, he was in 
 Pensacola on the 24th, and immediately after set himself 
 before the fortress of San Carlos de Barancas, which he 
 shortly reduced. Feni, vid'i^ vici. Wonderful energy! Ad- 
 mirable promptitude. Alas! that it had not been an energy 
 and a promptitude within the pale of the constitution, and 
 according to the orders of the chief magistrate! It was im- 
 possible to give any definition of war, that would not com- 
 prehend these acts. It was open, undisguised, and unau- 
 thorised hostility. 
 
 The honourable gentleman from Massachusetts had en- 
 deavoured to derive some authority to general Jackson from 
 the message of the president, and the letter of the secretary 
 of war to governor Bibb. The message declares that the 
 Spanish authorities are to be respected wherever maintained. 
 What the president means by their being maintained, is ex- 
 plained in the orders themselves, by the extreme case being 
 put of the enemy seeking shelter under a Spanish fort. If 
 even in that case he was not to attack, certainly he was not 
 to attack in any case of less strength. The letter to governor 
 Bibb admits of a similar explanation. When the secretary 
 says, in that letter, that general Jackson is fully empowered 
 to bring the Seminole war to a conclusion, he means that 
 he is so empowered by his orders, which, being now before 
 us, must speak for themselves. It does not appear that ge- 
 neral Jackson ever saw that letter, which was dated at this 
 place after the capture of St. Marks. He would take a mo- 
 mentary glance at the orders. On the 2d ot December, 18 1 7, 
 general Gaines was forbidden to cross the Floiida line. 
 Seven days after, the secretary of war, having arrived here, 
 and infused a little more energy into our councils, he was 
 authorised to use a sound discretion in crossing it or not. 
 On the I6th, he was instructed again to consider himself at 
 liberty to cross the line, and pursue the enemy; but, if he 
 took refuge under a ^Spanish fortress^ the fact was to be re- 
 ported to the department ofxvar. These orders were trans- 
 mitted to general Jackson, and constituted, or ought to have 
 
156 ON THE SEMINOLE WAR. 
 
 constituted, his guide. There was then no justification for 
 the occupation of Pensacola, and the attack on the Barancas, 
 in the message of the president, the letter to governor Bibb, 
 or in the orders themselves. The gentleman from Massa- 
 chusetts would pardon him for saying that he had under- 
 taken what even his talents were not competent to — the 
 ntiaintenance of directly contradictory pi'opositions, that it 
 was right in general Jackson to take Pensacola, and wrong 
 in the president to keep it. The gentleman has made a greater 
 mistake than he supposes general Jackson to have done in 
 attacking Pensacola for an Indian town, by attempting the 
 defence both of the president and general Jackson. If it 
 were right in him to seize the place, it is impossible that it 
 should have been right in the president immediately to sur- 
 render it. We, sir, are the supporters of the president. We 
 regret that we cannot support general Jackson also. The 
 gentleman's liberality is more comprehensive than ours. I 
 approve, with all my heart, of the restoration of Pensacola. 
 I think St. Marks ought, perhaps, to have been also restored; 
 but I say this with doubt and diffidence. That the presi- 
 dent thought the seizure of the Spanish posts was an act of 
 war, is manifest from his opening message; in which he says 
 that, to have retained them, would have changed our rela- 
 tions with Spain, to do which the power of the executive 
 was incompetent, congress alone possessing it. The president 
 has, in this instance, deserved well of his country. He has 
 taken the only course which he could have pursued, consis- 
 tent with the constitution of the land. And he defied the 
 gentleman to make good both his positions, that the general 
 was right in taking, and the president right in giving up the 
 posts. (Mr. Holmes explained. We took these posts, he 
 said, to keep them from the hands of the enemy, and, in 
 restoring them, made it a condition that Spain should not 
 let our enemy have them. We said to her, here is your dag- 
 ger; we found it in the hands of our enemy, and havmg 
 wrested it from him, we restore it to you in the hope that 
 you will take better care of it for the future.) Mr. C. pro- 
 ceeded. The gentleman from Massachusetts was truly un- 
 fortunate; fact or principle was always against him. The 
 Spanish posts were not in the possession ot the enemy. One 
 old Indian only was found in the Barancas, none in Pensa- 
 cola, none in St. Marks. There was not even the colour of 
 a threat of Indian occupation as it regards Pensacola and 
 
ON THE SEMINOLE WAR 157 
 
 the Barancas. Pensacola was to be restored unconditionally, 
 and might, therefore, immediately have come into the pos- 
 session of the Indians, if they had the power and the will 
 to take it. The gentleman was in a dilemma, from which 
 there was no escape. He gave up general Jackson when he 
 supported the president; and gave up the president when he 
 supported general Jackson. Mr. C. said that he rejoiced to 
 have seen the president manifesting, by the restoration of 
 Pensacola, his devotedness to the constitution. When the 
 whole country was ringing with plaudits for its capture, he 
 said and he said alone, in the limited circle in which he 
 moved, that the president must surrender it; that he could 
 not hold it. It was not his intention, he said, to inquire 
 whether the army was or was not constitutionally marched 
 into Florida. It was not a clear question, and he was in- 
 clined to think that the express authority of congress ought 
 to have been asked. The gentleman from Massachusetts 
 would allow him to refer to a part of the correspondence at 
 Ghent different from that which he had quoted. He would 
 find the condition of the Indians there accurately defined. 
 And it was widely variant from the gentleman's ideas on 
 this subject. The Indians, according to the statement of the 
 American commissioners at Ghent, inhabiting the United 
 States, have a qualified sovereignty only, the supreme so- 
 vereignty residing in the government of the United States. 
 They live under their own laws and customs, may inhabit 
 and hunt their lands; but acknowledge the protection of the 
 United Slates, and have no right to sell their lands but to 
 the government of the United States. Foreign powers or 
 foreign subjects have no right to maintain any intercourse 
 with them, without our permission. They are not, there- 
 fore, independent nations, as the gentleman supposed. Main- 
 taining the relation described with them, we must allow a 
 similar relation to exist between Spain and the Indians re- 
 siding within her dominions. She must be, therefore, regard- 
 ed as the sovereign of Florida, and we are accordingly 
 treating with her for the purchase of it. In strictness, then, 
 we ought first to have demanded of her to restrain the In- 
 dians, and, that failing, we should have demanded a right 
 of passage for our army. But, if the president had the 
 power to march an army into Florida v.'ithout consulting 
 Spain, and without the authority of congress, he had no 
 power to authorise any act of hostility against her. If the 
 
158 ON THE SEMINOLE WAR. 
 
 gentleman had even succeeded in showing that an authority 
 was conveyed by the executive to general Jackson to take 
 the Spanish posts, he would only have established that un- 
 constitutional orders had been given, and thereby transfer- 
 red the disapprobation from the military officer to the ex- 
 ecutive. But no such orders were, in truth, given. The 
 president had acted in conformity to the constitution, when 
 he forbade the attack of a Spanish fort, and when, in the 
 same spirit, he surrendered the posts themselves. 
 
 He would not trespass much longer upon the time of the 
 committee; but he trusted he should be indulged with some 
 few reflections upon the danger of permitting the conduct 
 on which it had been his painful duty to animadvert, to pass, 
 without a solemn expression of the disapprobation of this 
 house. Hecal to your recollection, said he, the free na- 
 tions which have gone before us. Where are they now? 
 
 Gone glimmering through the dream of things that were, 
 A school boy's tale, the wonder of au hour. 
 
 And how have they lost their liberties? If we could trans- 
 port ourselves back to the ages when Greece and Rome 
 flourished in their greatest prosperity, and, mingling in the 
 throng, should ask a Grecian, if he did not fear that some 
 daring military chieftain, covered with glory, some Philip 
 or Alexander, would one day overthrow the liberties of his 
 country? the confident and indignant Grecian would ex- 
 claim no! no! we have nothing to fear from our heroes; our 
 liberties will be eternal. If a Roman citizen had been 
 asked, if he did not fear that the conquerer of Gaul might 
 establish a throne upon the ruins of public liberty, he would 
 have instantly repelled the unjust insinuation. Yet Greece 
 had fallen, Csesar had passed the Rubicon, and the patriotic 
 arm even of Brutus could not preserve the liberties of his 
 devoted country! The celebrated niadame de Stael, in her 
 last and perhaps her best work, has said, that in the very 
 year, almost the very month, when the president of the 
 directory declared that monarchy would never more show 
 its frightful head in France, Bonaparte, with his grenadiers, 
 entered the palace of St. Cloud, and, dispersing, with the 
 bayonet, the deputies of the people, deliberating on the 
 affairs of the state, laid the foundation of that vast fabric 
 of despotism which overshadowed a I Europe. He hoped 
 not to be misunderstood; he was far from intimating that 
 
ON THE SEMINOLE WAR. I59 
 
 general Jackson cherished any designs inimical to the 
 liberties of the country. He believed his intentions to be 
 pure and patriotic. He thanked God that he would not, 
 but he thanked him still more that he could not, if he would, 
 overturn the liberties of the republic. But precedents, if 
 bad, were fraught with the most dangerous consequences. 
 Man has been described, by some of those who have treated 
 of his nature, as a bundle of habits. The definition was 
 much truer when applied to governments. Precedents 
 were their habits. There \vas one important difference be- 
 tween the formation of habits by an individual and by 
 governments. He contracts it only after frequent repeti- 
 tion. A single instance fixes the habit and determines the 
 direction of governments. Against the alarming doctrine 
 of unlimited discretion in our military commanders, when 
 applied even to prisoners of war, he must enter his protest. 
 It began upon them; it would end on us. He hoped our 
 happy form of government was destined to be perpetual. 
 But if it were to be preserved, it must be by the practice of 
 virtue, by justice, by moderation, by magnanimity, by great- 
 ness of soul, by keeping a watchful and steady eye on the 
 executive; and, above all, by holding to a strict accounta- 
 bility the military branch of the public force. 
 
 We are fighting, said Mr. C. a great moral battle, for the 
 benefit not only of our country, but of all mankind. The 
 eyes of the whole world are in fixed attention upon us. 
 One, and the largest, portion of it is gazing with contempt, 
 with jealousy, and with envy; the other portion, with hope, 
 with confidence, and with affection. Every where the 
 black cloud of legitimacy is suspended over the world, save 
 only one bright spot, which breaks out from the political 
 hemisphere of the west, to enlighten and animate, and 
 gladden the human heart. Obscure that, by the downfall 
 of liberty here, and all maakind are enshrouded in a pall of 
 universal darkness. To you, Mr. Chairman, belongs the 
 high privilege of transmitting, unimpaired, to posterity, the 
 fair character and liberty of our country. Do you expect 
 to execute this high trust by trampling, or suffering to be 
 trampled down law, justice, the constitution, and the rights 
 of other people? By exhibiting examples of inhumanity, 
 and cruelty, and ambition? When the minions of despotism 
 heard, in Europe, of the seizure of Pensacola how did they . 
 chuckle, and chide the admirers of our institutions, taunt- 
 
160 ON THE SEMINOLE WAR. 
 
 ingly pointing to the demonstration of a spirit of injustice 
 and aggrandizement made by our country, in the midst of 
 amicable negociation. Behold, said they, the conduct of 
 those who are constantly reproaching kings. You saw how 
 those admirers were astounded and hung their heads. You 
 saw too, when that illustrious man, who presides over us, 
 adopted his pacific, moderate and just course, how they 
 once more lifted up their heads with exultation and delight 
 beaming in their countenances. And you, saw how those 
 minions themselves were finally compelled to unite in the 
 general praises bestowed upon our government. Beware 
 how you forfeit this exalted character. Beware how you 
 give a fatal sanction in this infant period of our republic, 
 scarcely vet two score years old, to military insubordina- 
 tion. Remember that Greece had her Alexander, Rome 
 her Caesar, England her Cromwell, France her Bonaparte, 
 and, that if we would escape the rock on which they split 
 we must avoid their errors. 
 
 How different has been the treatment of general Jackson, 
 and that modest but heroic young man, a native of one of 
 the smallest states in the union, who achieved for his 
 countrv, on Lake Erie, one of the most glorious victories of 
 the late war. In a moment of passion he forgot himself 
 and offered an act of violence which was repented of as soon 
 as perpetrated. He was tried, and suffered the judgement 
 to be pronounced by his peers. Public justice was thought 
 not even then to be satisfied. The press and congress took 
 up the subject. My honourable friend from Virginia (Mr. 
 Johnson) the faithful and consistent sentinel of the law and 
 of the constitution, disapproved, in that instance as he does 
 in this, and moved an inquiry. The public mind remained 
 agitated and unappeased until the recent atonement so 
 honourably made by the gallant commodore. And was 
 there to be a distinction between the officers of the two 
 branches of the public service? Are former services, how- 
 ever, eminent, to preclude even inquiry into recent mis- 
 conduct? Is there to be no limit, no prudential bounds to 
 the national gratitude? He was not disposed to censure 
 the president for not ordering a court of inquiry or a gene- 
 ral court martial. Perhaps, impelled by a sense of grati- 
 tude, he determined by anticipation to extend to the gene- 
 ral that pardon which he had the undoubted right to grant 
 after sentence. Let us, said Mr. C. not shrink from our 
 
ON THE SEMINOLE WAR. 161 
 
 duty. Let us assert our constitutional powers, and vindi- 
 cate the instrument from military violation. 
 
 He hoped gentlemen would deliberately survey the awful 
 isthmus on which we stand. They may bear down all op- 
 position; they may even vote the general the public thanks; 
 they may carry him triumphantly through this house. But, 
 if they do, in my humble judgment, it will be a triumph of 
 the principle of insubordination — a triumph of the military 
 over the civil authority — a triumph over the powers of this 
 house — a triumph over the constitution of the land. And 
 he prayed most devoutly to heaven, that it might not prove, 
 In its ultimate eifects and consequences a triumph over the 
 liberties of the people. 
 
162 
 
 MISSION TO SOUTH AMERICA. 
 
 House of Representatives^ Saturday^ March 28, 1820. 
 
 The House having again resolved itself into a committee 
 of the whole on the general appropriation bill, to which 
 Mr. Clay had moved an amendment, going to make an ap- 
 propriation for the outfit and a year's salary of a minister to 
 Buenos Ayres. 
 
 Mr. Clay said, that as no other gentleman appeared dis- 
 posed to address the chair, he would avail himself of this 
 opportunity of making some remarks in reply to the oppo- 
 nents of his motion. 
 
 The first objection which he thought it incumbent on him 
 to notice was that of his friend from South Carolina, (Mr, 
 Lowndes) who opposed the form of the proposition, as be- 
 ing made on a general appropriation bill, on which he ap- 
 peared to think nothing ought to be engrafted which was 
 likely to give rise to a difference between the two branches 
 of the legislature. If the gentleman himself had always acted 
 on this principle, his objection would be entitled to more 
 weight; but, Mr. Clay said, the item in the appropriation bill 
 next following this, and reported by the gentleman himself, 
 was infinitely more objectionable — which was, an appropria- 
 tion of thirty thousand dollars for defraying the expenses 
 of three commissioners, appointed, or proposed to be paid, 
 in an unconstitutional form. It could not be expected that 
 a general appropriation bill would ever pass without some 
 disputable clauses, and in case of a difference between the 
 two houses, (a difference which we had no right to antici- 
 pate in this instance) which could not be compromised as 
 to any article, the obvious course was to omit such article 
 altogether, retaining all the others — and, in a case of that 
 character, relative to brevet pay, which had occurred dur- 
 ing the present session, such had been the ground the gen- 
 tleman himself had taken in a conference with the senate, of 
 tvhich he was a manager. 
 
 The gentleman from South Carolina, Mr. Clay said, had 
 
MISSION TO SOUTH AMERICA. 163 
 
 professed to concur with him in a great many of his general 
 propositions; and neither he nor any other gentleman had 
 disagreed with him, that the mere recognition of the inde- 
 pendence of the provinces was no cause of war with Spain 
 —except the gentleman from Maryland, fMr. Smith) to 
 whom he recommended, without intending disrespect to him, 
 to confine himself to the operations of commerce, rather than 
 undertake to expound questions of public law; for he could 
 assure the gentleman, that, although he might make some 
 figure, with his practical knowledge, in the one case, he would 
 not in the other. No man, Mr. C. said, except the gentle- 
 man from Maryland, had come out with what he would call 
 the hardihood to contend that, on the ground of principle 
 and mere public law, the exercise of the right of recogniz- 
 ing another power is cause of war. But, said Mr. C. though 
 the gentleman from South Carolina admitted, that recogni- 
 tion would be no cause of war, and that it was not likely to 
 lead to a war withSpain,we found him, shortly after, getting 
 into a war with Spain, how, I did not see, and by some means, 
 which he did not deign to discover to us, getting us into a 
 war with England also. Having satisfied himself, by this 
 course of reasoning, the gentleman had discovered, that the 
 finances of Spain were in a most favourable condition! On 
 this part of the subject, Mr. C. said, it was not necessary for 
 him to say any thing after what the committee had heard 
 from the eloquent gentleman from Massachusetts, (Mr. 
 Holmes) whose voice, in a period infinitely more critical in 
 our affairs than the present, had been heard with so much 
 delight from the east in support of the rights and honour of 
 the country. He had clearly shown, that there was no pa- 
 rallel between the state of Spain and of this country — the 
 one of a country whose resources were completely impov- 
 erished and exhausted; the other of a country whose resour- 
 ces were almost untouched. But, Mr. C. said, he would 
 ask of the gentleman from South Carolina, if he could con- 
 ceive that a state, in the condition of Spain, whose minister 
 of the treasury admits that the people have no longer the 
 means of paying new taxes — a nation with an immense mass 
 of floating debt, and totally without credit, could feel any anx- 
 iety to engage in war with a nation like this, whose situation 
 was, in every possible view, directly the reverse.'' He asked, 
 if an annual revenue, equal only to five-eighths of the annual 
 expenditure, exhibited a financial ability to enter upon a 
 
164 MISSION TO SOUTH AMERICA. 
 
 new war, when, too, the situation of Spain was altogether 
 unlike that of the United States and England, whose credit, 
 resting upon a solid basis, enabled them to supply, by loans, 
 any deficit in the income? 
 
 Notwithstanding the diversity of sentiment which had 
 been displayed during the debate, Mr. C. was happy to find 
 that, with one exception, every member had done justice to 
 the struggle in the south, and admitted it to be entitled to the 
 favor of the best feelings of the human heart. Even my honor- 
 able friend near me, (Mr. Nelson) has made a speech on our 
 side, and we should not have found out, if he had not told 
 us, that he would vote against us. Although his speech has 
 been distinguished by his accustomed eloquence, I should 
 be glad, Mr. C. said, to agree on a cartel with the gentle- 
 men on the other side of the house, to give them his speech 
 for his vote. The gentleman says, his heart is with us, that 
 he ardently desires the independence of the south. Will he 
 excuse me for telling him, that if he will give himself up to 
 the honest feelings of his heart, he will have a much surer 
 guide than by trusting to his head, to which, however, I am 
 far from offering any disparagement? 
 
 But, sir, it seems that a division of the republican party 
 as about to be made by the proposition under consideration. 
 Who is to furnish, in this respect, the correct criterion; whose 
 conduct is to be the standard of orthodoxy? What has been 
 the great principle of the party to which the gentleman from 
 Virginia refers, from the first existence of the government 
 to the present day? An attachment to liberty, a devotion to 
 the great cause of humanity, of freedom, of self-govern- 
 ment, and of equal rights. If there is to be a division, as 
 the gentleman says; if he is going to leave us, who are fol- 
 lowing the old track, he may, in his new connexions, find 
 a greater variety of company, which, perhaps, may indem- 
 nify him for the loss of his old friends. What is the great 
 principle that has distinguished parties in all ages and under 
 all governments — democrats and federalists, whigs and to- 
 ries, plebeians and patricians? The one, distrustful of human 
 nature, appreciates less the influence of reason and of good 
 dispositions, and appeals more to physical force; the other 
 party, confiding in human nature, relies much upon moral 
 power, and applies to force as an auxiliary only to the op- 
 erations of reason. All the modifications and denominations 
 of political parties and sects may be traced to this fundamen- 
 
MISSION TO BOUTH AMERICA 155 
 
 tal distinction. It is that which separated the two great 
 parties in this country. If there is to be a division in the re- 
 publican party, I glory that I, at least, am found among those 
 who are anxious for the advancement of human rights and 
 of human liberty; and the honourable gentleman who spoke 
 of appealing to the public sentiment, will find, when he does 
 so, or [ am much mistaken, that public sentiment is also on 
 the side of public liberty and of human happiness. 
 
 But ihe gentleman from South Carolina, has told us, 
 continued Mr. C. that the constitution has wisely confided 
 to the executive branch of the government, the administra- 
 tion of the foreign interests of the country. Has the honour- 
 able gentleman attempted to show, though his proposition be 
 generally true, and will never be controverted by me, that 
 we also have not our participation in the administration of 
 the foreign concerns of the country, when we are called upon 
 in our legislative capacity, to defray the expenses of foreign 
 missions, or to regulate commerce? Mr. C. said, he had stated, 
 when up before, and he had listened in vain for an answer to 
 the argument, that no part of the constitution had said which 
 should have the precedence, the act making the appropria- 
 tion for paying a minister, or the act of sending one. He 
 had then contended, and now repeated, that either the acts 
 of deputing and of paying a minister should be simultaneous, 
 or, if either had the preference, the act of appropriating his 
 pay should precede tlie sending of a minister. He challeng- 
 ed gentlemen to show him any thing in the constitution which 
 directed that a minister should be sent before his payment 
 was provided for. He repeated, what he had said the other 
 day, that, by sending a minister abroad, during the recess, 
 to nations between whom and us no such relations existed 
 as to justify incurring the expense, the legislative opinion 
 was forestalled, or unduly biassed. He appealed to the prac- 
 tice of the government, and referred to various acts of con- 
 gress for cases of appropriations, without the previous de- 
 putation of the agent abroad, and without the preliminary 
 of a message from the president, asking for them. Mr. C. 
 here quoted the act, authorising the establishment of certain 
 consulates in the Mediterranean, and affixing salaries thereto, 
 in consequence of which the president had subsequently ap- 
 pointed consuls, who had been receiving their salaries to 
 this day: other acts he quoted, of a similar character, from 
 which it appeared, he said, that congress had constantly 
 
lee MISSION TO south America. 
 
 pursued the great principle of the theory of the constitution, 
 for which he now contended — that each department of the 
 government must act within its own sphere, independently 
 and on its own responsibility. It was alittle extraordinary, in- 
 deed, after the doctrine which had been maintained the 
 other day, of a sweeping right in congress to appropriate 
 money to any object, that it should now be contended that 
 congress had no right to appropriate money to a particular 
 object. The gentleman's (Mr. Lowndes) doctrine was 
 broad, comprehending every case; but, when proposed to 
 be exemplified in any specific case, it did not apply. Mr. 
 C. said, his theory of the constitution, on this particular 
 subject, was that congress had the right of appropriating 
 money for foreign missions; the president the power to use 
 it. ihe president having the power, he was willing to say 
 to him, " here is the money, which we alone have a right 
 to appropriate, which will enable you to carry your power 
 into effect, if it seems expedient to you." Both being before 
 him, the power and the means of executing it, the president 
 would judge, on his own responsibility, whether or not it 
 was expedient to exercise it. In this course, Mr. C. said, 
 each department of the government would act independent- 
 ly, without influence from, and without interference with, 
 the other. He had stated cases, from the statute book, to 
 show, that, in instances where no foreign agent had been 
 appointed, but only a possibility of there being appointed, 
 appropriations had been made for paying them. He 
 proceeded to show, that, even in the case of the subject 
 matter of a negociation (a right much more important 
 than that of sending an agent,) an appropriation of money 
 had preceded the negociation of a treaty. Thus, in the 
 third volume of the new edition of the laws, page twenty- 
 seven, he (juoted a case of an appropriation of twenty-ftve 
 thousand eight hundred and eighty dollars to defray the 
 expense of such treaties as the president of the United States 
 might deem proper to make with certain Indian tribes. An 
 act, which had been lately referred to, appropriating two mil- 
 lions for the purchase of the Floridas, was a case still more 
 strongly in point, as contemplating a treaty, not with a savage, 
 but a civilized power. In this case, there might have been, 
 though he believed there was not, an executive message, re- 
 commending the appropriation; but he took upon him to as- 
 sert, that, in almost all the cases he had quoted, there was 
 no previous executive intimation that the appropriation of 
 
MISSION TO SOUTH AMERICA. 167 
 
 the money was necessary to the object — but congress had 
 taken up the subjects, and authorized these appropriations, 
 without any official call from the executive to do so. 
 
 With regard to the general condition of the provinces now 
 in revolt against the parent country, Mr. C. proceeded to 
 say, he would not take up much of the time of the house. 
 Gentlemen were, however, much mistaken as to many of the 
 points of their history, geography, commerce and produce, 
 which had been touched upon. Cientlemen had supposed 
 there would be from those countries a considerable competi- 
 tion of the same products which we export. Mr. C. ventured 
 to say, that, in regard to Mexico, there could be no such com- 
 petition, thai the table lands were at such a distance from the 
 sea shore, and the difficulty of reaching it was so so great as 
 to make the transportation to La Vera Cruz too expensive 
 to be borne, and the heat so intense as to destroy the bread 
 stuflfs as soon as they arrive. With respect to New Grenada, 
 the gentleman from Maryland was entirely mistaken. It 
 was the elevation of Mexico, principally, which enabled it 
 to produce bread stuffs; but New Grenada, lying nearly under 
 the line, could not produce them. The productions of new 
 Grenada for exportation were the precious metals, (of which, 
 of gold particularly, a greater portion was to be found than 
 in any of the provinces except Mexico) sugar, coffee, cocoa, 
 and some other articles of a similar character. Of Venezuela 
 the principal productions were coffee, cocoa, indigo, and some 
 sugar. Sugar was also produced in all the Guianas, French, 
 Spanish, and Dutch. The interior of the provinces of La 
 Plata might be productive of bread stuffs, but they were too 
 remote to come into competition with us in the West India 
 market, the voyages to the United States generally occupy- 
 ing from fifty to sixty days, and sometimes as long as ninety 
 days. By deducting from that number the average passage 
 from the United States to the West Indies, the length of 
 the usual passage between Buenos Ayres and the West In- 
 dies would be found, and would show that, in the supply of 
 the West India market with bread stuffs, the provinces could 
 never come seriously into competition with us. And, with 
 regard to Chili, productive as it might be, did the gentle- 
 man from Maryland suppose that vessels were going to 
 double Cape Horn, and come into competition with us in the 
 West Indies? It was impossible. But, Mr. C. said, he felt 
 a reluctance at pursuing the discussion of this part of the 
 
168 MISSION TO SOUTH AMERICA. 
 
 question; because he was sure these were considerations on 
 which the house could not act, being entirely unworthy of the 
 subject. We might as well stop all our intercourse with Eng- 
 land, with France, or with the Baltic, whose products are 
 in many respects the same as ours, as to act on the present 
 occasion under the influence of any such considerations. It 
 was too selfish, too mean a principle, for this body to act on, 
 to refuse its sympathy for the patriots of tht- south, because 
 some little advantage of a commercial nature mignt be re- 
 tained to us from their remaining in the present condition — 
 which, however, he totally denied. Three fourths of the 
 productions of the Spanish provinces were the precious me- 
 tals, and the greater part of the residue not of the same char- 
 acter as the staple productions of our soil. But, it seemed, 
 that a pamphlet had recently been published on this subject, 
 to which gentlemen had referred, — Now, said JVlr. C. per- 
 mit me to express a distrust of all pamphlets of this kind, 
 unless we know their source. It may, for aught 1 know, if 
 not composed at the instance of the Spanish minister, have 
 been written by some merchant who hab a privilege of trad- 
 ing to Lima under royal license; for such do exist, as I 
 am informed, and some of them procured under the agency 
 of a celebrated person by the name of Sarmiento, of whom 
 perhaps the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Smith) could 
 give the house some information. To gentlemen thus pri- 
 vileged to trade with the Spanish provinces under royal au- 
 thority, the effect of a recognition of the independence of 
 the provinces would be to deprive them of that monopoly. 
 The reputed author of the pamphlet in question, Mr. C. 
 said, if he understood correctly, was one who had been, if 
 he were not now deeply engaged in the trade, and he would 
 venture to say that many of his statements were incorrect. 
 In relation to the trade ot Mexico, Mr. C. said, he happen- 
 ed to possess the Koyal Gazette of Mexico of 1804, show- 
 ing what was the trade of that province in 1803; from which 
 it appeared that, without making allowance for the trade 
 from the Philippine Islands to Acapulco, the imports into the 
 port of Vera Cruz were in that year twenty-two millions in 
 value, exclusive of contraband, the amount of which was 
 very considerable. Among these articles were many which 
 the United States could supply as well, if not on better terms, 
 than they could be supplied from any other quarter; for ex- 
 ample, brandy and spirits; paper, iron, implements for agri- 
 
MISSION TO SOUTH AMERICA. 169 
 
 culture and the mines; wax, spices, naval stores, salt fish, 
 butter, provisions; these articles amounting, in the whole, to 
 one-seventh part of the whole import trade to Mexico. 
 With regard to the independence of that country, which gen- 
 tlemen seemed to think improbable, Mr. C. rejoiced that he 
 was able to congratulate the house that we have, this morn- 
 ing, intelligence that Mina yet lives, and the patriot flag is 
 still unfurled, and the cause infinitely more prosperous than 
 ever. This intelligence, he was much in hopes, would prove 
 true, notwithstanding the particular accounts of his death; 
 which, there was so much of fabrication and falsehood in the 
 Spanish practice, were not entitled to credit unless corrobo- 
 rated by other information. Articles were manufactured 
 in one province to produce effect on other provinces, and 
 in this country; and he had therefore always been disposed 
 to think that the details respecting the capture and execution 
 of Mina were too minute to be true, and were made up to 
 produce an effect here. 
 
 With regard to the general value of the trade of a country, 
 Mr. C. said, itis tobedeterminedby the quantum of its popu- 
 lation, and its character, its productions, and the extent and 
 character of the territory; and applying these criteria to 
 Spanish America, no nation offered higher inducements to 
 commercial enterprize. Washed on the one side by the Pa- 
 cific, on the other by the South Atlantic, standing between 
 Africa and Europe on the one hand, and Asia on the other, 
 lying along side of the United States; her commerce must, 
 when free from the restraints of despotism, be immensely im- 
 portant; particularly when it is recollected how great a propor- 
 tion of the precious metals it produced — for that nation which 
 can command the precious metals, may be said to command 
 almost the resources of the world. One moment, said Mr. C. 
 imagine the mines ofthe South locked up from Great Britain 
 for two years, what would be the effect on her paper system? 
 Bankruptcy, explosion, revolution. Even if the supply which 
 we get abroad ofthe precious metals was cut off for any length 
 of time, I ask if the effect on our paper system would not 
 be, not perhaps equally as fatal as to England, yet one of the 
 greatest calamities which could befall this country. The 
 revenue of Spain in Mexico alone, was in 1809, twenty mil- 
 lions of dollars, and in the other provinces in about the same 
 proportion, taking into view their population, independent 
 of the immense contributions annuallv paid to the clergy. 
 Z 
 
170 MISSION TO SOUTH AMERICA. 
 
 When you look at the resources of the country, and the ex- 
 tent of its population, recollecting that it is double our ownj 
 that its consumption of foreign articles, under a free com- 
 merce would be proportionally great; that it yields a large 
 revenue under the most abominable system, under which 
 nearly three-fourths of the population are unclad, and almost 
 as naked as from the hands of nature, because absolutely de- 
 prived of the means of clothing themselves, what may not 
 be the condition of this country, under the operation of a dif- 
 ferent system which would let industry develop its resour- 
 ces in all possible forms? Such a neighbour could not but be 
 a valuable acquisition in a commercial point of view. 
 
 Gentlemen had denied the fact of the existence of the in- 
 dependence of Buenos Ayres at as early a date as he had 
 assigned to it. The gentleman from South Carolina, who 
 ■was well informed on the subject, had not, Mr. C. thought, 
 exhibited his usual candour on this part of it. When the 
 gentleman talked of the Upper Provinces being out of the 
 possession of the patriots as late as 1815, he ought to have 
 gone back and told the house what was the actual state of 
 the fact, with which he was sure the gentleman was very 
 well acquainted. In 1811 the government of Buenos Ayres 
 had been in possession of every fool of the territory of the 
 Vice Royalty. The war had been raging from 1811 to 1815 
 in those interior provinces, bordering on Lima, which had 
 been as often as three times conquered by the enemy, and 
 as often recovered, and from which the enemy was now 
 finally expelled. Was this at all remarkable during the pro- 
 gress of such a revolution? During the different periods of 
 cur war of independence, the British had possession of dif- 
 ferent parts of our country; as late as 1780, the whole of the 
 southern states were in their possession; and at an earlier 
 date they had possession of the great northern capitals. 
 There was, in regard to Buenos Ayres, a distinguishing trait, 
 which did not exist in the history of our revolution. That 
 was, that from 18iO to the present day, the capital of the re- 
 public of La Plata had been invariably in the possession of 
 the patriot government. Gentlemen must admit that when, 
 in 1814, she captured at Monte Video an army as large as 
 Burgoyne's, captured at Saratoga, they were then in pos- 
 session of independence. If they have been since 1810 in 
 the enjoyment of self-government, it was, indetd, not very 
 material under what name or under what form. The fact 
 
MISSION TO SOUTH AMERICA. tti 
 
 of their independence is all that is necessary to be established. 
 In reply to the argument of the gentleman from South Ca- 
 rolina, derived from his having been unable to find out the 
 number of the provinces, this arose from the circumstance 
 that, thirty-six years ago, the Vice Royalty had been a Cap- 
 the Generalship; that it extended then only to Tucuman, 
 whilst of late and at present the government extended to 
 the Desaguedera, in about the sixteenth degree of south la- 
 titude. There were other reasons why there was some con- 
 fusion in the number of the provinces, as stated by different 
 writers; there was, in the first place, a territorial division of 
 the country — then a judicial, and next a military division, 
 and the provinces have been stated at ten, thirteen, or twen- 
 ty, according to the denominations used. This, however, 
 he, with the gentleman from South Carolina, regarded as a 
 fact of no sort of consequence. 
 
 Mr. C. said he would pass over the report lately made 
 to the house by the department of state, respecting the state 
 of South America, with only one remark; that it appeared to 
 him to exhibit evidence of an adroit and experienced dip- 
 lomatist, negociating, or rather conferring on a subject, with 
 a young and inexperienced minister, from a young and in- 
 experienced republic. From the manner in which this re- 
 port was communicated, after a call for information so long 
 made, and after a lapse of two months from the last date in 
 the correspondence on the subject, Mr. C. declared he was 
 mortified at hearing the report read. Why talk of the mode 
 of recognition? Why make objections to the form of the 
 commission? If the minister had not a formal power, why 
 not tell him to send back for one? Why ask of him to enu- 
 merate the particular states whose independence he wished 
 acknowledged? Suppose the French minister had asked of 
 Franklin, what number of states he represented'' Thirteen, 
 if you please, Franklin would have replied. But M. Frank- 
 lin, will you tell me if Pennsylvania, whose capital is in 
 possession of the British, be one of them? What would Dr. 
 Franklin have said? Mr. C. said it would have comported 
 better with the frankness of the American character, and 
 of American diplomacy, if the secretary, avoiding cavils 
 about the form of the commission, had s<tid to the minister 
 of Buenos Ayres, " at the present moment we do not intend 
 to recognize you, or to receive or send a minister to you." 
 
 But among the charges which gentlemen had industripus- 
 
172 MISSION TO SOUTH AMERICA. 
 
 ly brought together, the house had been told of factions pre- 
 vailing in Buenos Ayres. Do not factions, Mr. C asked, 
 exist every where? Are they not to be found in the best re- 
 gulated and most firmly established governments? Respect- 
 ing the Carreras, public information was abused, Mr. C. 
 said; they were supposed to have had improper views, de- 
 signs hostile to the existing government, and it became ne- 
 cessary to deprive them of the power of doing mischief. 
 And what was the fact, respecting the alleged arrest of 
 American citizens? Buenos Ayres had been organizing 
 an army to attack Chili. Carrera arrives at the river La 
 Plata with some North Americans: he had before defeated 
 the revolution in Chili by withholding his co-operation: the 
 government of Buenos Ayres therefore said to him, we do 
 not want your resources; our own army is operating; if you 
 carry yours there it may produce dissention, and cause the 
 loss of liberty — you shall not go. On his opposing this 
 course, what was done which has called forth the sympathy 
 of gentlemen? He and those who attended him from this 
 country, were put in confinement,but only long enough to per- 
 mit the operations of the Buenos Ayrean army to go on; they 
 were then permitted to go, or made their escape, to Monte 
 Video, and afterwards, where they pleased. With respect 
 to the conduct of that government, he would only recall the 
 attention of gentlemen to the orders which had lately eman- 
 ated from it, for the regulation of privateers, which had dis- 
 played a solicitude to guard against irregularity, and to res- 
 pect the rights of neutrals, not inferior to that ever shown 
 by any government, which had on any occasion attempted 
 to regulate this licentious mode of warfare. 
 
 The honorable gentleman from Georgia had commenced 
 his remarks the other day by an animadversion, which, Mr, 
 C. said, he might well have spared, when he told us that even 
 the prayers of the chaplain of this house had been offered up 
 in behalf of the patriots. And was it reprehensible, Mr. C. 
 asked, that an American chaplain, whose cheeks were furrow- 
 ed by age, and his head as white as snow, who had a thousand 
 times, during our own revolution, implored the smiles of hea- 
 ven on our exertions — should indulge in the pious and patri- 
 otic feelings flowing from his recollections of our own revolu- 
 tion? Ought he to be subjectto animadversion for so doing,in 
 a place where he could not be heard in reply? Ought he to be 
 subject to animadversion for soliciting the favor of Heaven 
 
MISSION TO SOUTH AMERICA. 173 
 
 on the same cause as that in which we fought the good fight, 
 and conquered our independence? He trusted not. 
 
 But the gentleman from Georgia, it appeared, could see 
 no parallel between our revolution, and that of the Spa- 
 nish provinces. Their revolution, in its commencement, 
 did not aim at complete independence neither, Mr. C. said, 
 did ours. Such was the loyalty of the Creole character, 
 that, although groaning under three hundred years of ty- 
 ranny and oppression, they had been unwilling to cast off 
 their allegiance to that throne, which had been the throne 
 of their ancestors. But, looking forward to a redress of 
 wrongs, rather than a change of government, they gradually, 
 and perhaps at first unintentionally, entered into revolution. 
 — Mr. C. said he had it from those who had been actively 
 engaged in our revolution: from that venerable man, (chan- 
 cellor Wythe) whose memory he should ever cherish with 
 filial regard, that a very short time before our Declaration 
 of Independence, it would have been impossible to have got 
 a majority of congress to declare it. Look at the language of 
 our petitions of that day, carrying our loyalty to the foot of 
 the throne, and avowing our anxiety to remain under the 
 crown of our ancestors; independence was then not even re- 
 motely suggested as our object. 
 
 The present state of facts, and not what has passed and 
 gone in South America, must be consulted. At the present 
 moment, the patriots of the south are fighting for liberty 
 and independence; for precisely what we fought. But their 
 revolution, the gentleman told the house, was stained by 
 scenes which had not occurred in ours. If so, Mr. Clay 
 said, it was because execrable outrages had been commit- 
 ted upon them by the troops of the mother country, which 
 were not upon us. Could it be believed, if the slaves had 
 been let loose upon us in the south, as they had been let 
 loose in Venezuela; if quarters had been refused; capitula- 
 tions violated; that general Washington, at the head of the 
 armies of the United States, would not have resorted to re- 
 tribution? Retaliation is sometimes mercy; mercy to both 
 parties. The only means by which the coward soul that in- 
 dulges in such enormities, can be reached, is to show to 
 him, that they will be visited by severe but just retribution. 
 There were traits in the history of this revolution, Mr. C. 
 said, which showed what deep root liberty had taken in 
 South America. He stated an instance. The only hope of 
 a wealthy and reputable family, said he, was charged, at the 
 
174 MISSION TO SOUTH AMERICA. 
 
 head of a small force, with the care of the magazine of the 
 army. He saw that it was impossible to defend it. " Go,'* 
 said he to his companions in arms, " I alone am sufficient 
 for its defence." — The assailants approached; he applied a 
 match and blew up the magazine, with himself, scattering 
 death and destruction on his enemy. Mr. Clay narrated 
 another instance of the intrepidity of a female of the patri- 
 ot party. A lady in New Grenada, had given information 
 to the patriot forces of plans and instructions by which the 
 capital might be invaded. She was put upon the rack to 
 divulge her accomplices. She bore the torture with the 
 greatest fortitude, and died exclaiming — " you shall not 
 hear it from my mouth; I will die, and may those live who 
 can free my country." 
 
 But the house had been asked, and asked with a triumph 
 worthy of a better cause — why recognize this republic? 
 "Where is the use of it? And was it possible, Mr. Clay 
 said, that gentlemen could see no use in recognising this 
 republic? For what did this republic fight? To be admit- 
 ted into the family of nations. Tell the nations of the world, 
 says Pueyrredon in his speech, that we already btlong to 
 their illustrious rank. What would be the powerful conse- 
 quences of a recognition of their claim? I ask my honora- 
 ble friend before me, (general Bloomfield) (the high sanc- 
 tion of whose judgment in favour of my proposition, I fond- 
 ly anticipate) with what anxious solicitude, during our re- 
 volution, he and his glorious compatriots turned their eyes 
 to Europe, and asked to be recognized: I ask him, the pat- 
 riot of '76, how the heart rebounded with joy, on the infor- 
 mation that France had recognized us. The moral influence 
 of such a recognition on the patriot of the south, will be ir- 
 resistible. He will derive assurance from it of his not hav- 
 ing fought in vain. In the constitution of our natures there 
 is a point, to which adversity may pursue us, without per- 
 haps any worse effect than that of exciting new energy to 
 meet it. Having reached that point, if no gleam of com- 
 fort breaks through the gloom, we sink beneath the pressure, 
 yielding reluctantly to our fate, and in hopeless despair los- 
 ing all stimulus to exertion. And, Mr. Clay asked, was 
 there not reason to fear such a fate to the patriots of La 
 Plata? Already enjoying independence for eight years, their 
 ministers were yet spurned from the courts of Europe, and 
 rejected by the government of a sister republic. Contrast 
 
MISSION TO SOUTH AMERICA. I75 
 
 this conduct of ours, said Mr. Clay, with our conduct in 
 other respects. No matter whence the minister comes, be 
 it from a despotic power, we receive him: and even now, 
 the gentleman from Maryland, (Mr. Smith) would have us 
 send a minister to Constantinople, to beg a passage through 
 the Dardanelles to the Black Si. a, that, I suppose, we might 
 get some hemp and bread-stuffs there, of which we ourselves 
 produce none — he who can see no advantage to the country 
 from opening to its commerce the measureless resources of 
 South America, would send a minister begging to Constan- 
 tinople for a little trade. Nay, I have seen a project in the 
 newspapers, and I should not be surprised, after what we 
 have already seen, at its being carried into effect, for send- 
 ing a minister to the Porte. Yes, sir, from Constantinople 
 or from the Brazils; from Turk or Christian; from black or 
 white; from the dey of Algiers or the bey of Tunis — from 
 the Devil himself, if he wore a crown, we should receive a 
 minister. We even paid the expenses of the minister of his 
 sublime highness the bey of Tunis, and thought ourselves 
 highly honored by his visit. But, let the minister come from 
 a poor republic, like that of La Plata, and we turn our back 
 on him. No, sir, we will not receive him. The brilliant cos- 
 tumes of the ministers of the royal governments, are seen 
 glistening in the circles of our drawing rooms, and their 
 splendid equipages rolling through the avenues of the me- 
 tropolis: but the unaccredited minister of the republic, if he 
 visit our president or secretary of state at all, must do it 
 incog: lest the eye of Don Onis should be offended by so 
 unseemly a sight! Mr. Clay said, he hoped the gentleman 
 from South Carolina, who was so capable of estimating the 
 effect of moral causes, would see some use in recognizing 
 the independence of La Plata. He appealed to the power- 
 ful effect of moral causes, manifested in the case of the 
 French revolution, when, by their influence, that nation 
 swept from about her the armies of the combined powers, 
 by which she was environed, and rose up the colossal pov/- 
 er of Europe. There was an example of the effect of mo- 
 ral power. All the patriots asked, all they wanted at our 
 hands, was to be recognized as, what they had been for the 
 last eight years, an independent power. 
 
 But, it seems, said Mr. Clay, we dare not do this, lest 
 we tread on sacred ground; and an honorable gentleman 
 from Virginia, (Mr. Smyth) who, when he has been a lit- 
 
176 MISSION TO SOUTH AMERICA- 
 
 tie longer in this house, will learn to respect its powers, calls 
 it an usurpation on the part of this house. Has the gentle- 
 man weighed the terms which he employed? If I mistake 
 not, the gentleman, in the debate respecting the power to 
 make internal improvements, called that too an usurpation 
 on the part of this house. That power, too, however, he 
 admitted to belong to the executive, and traced it to an im- 
 perial source, informing us that Caesar or somebody else, 
 had exercised it. Sir, the gentleman has mistaken his po- 
 sition here: he is a military chieftain and an admirable de- 
 fender of executive authority, but he has yet to learn his 
 horn-book as to the powers of this branch of the legislature. 
 Usurpation, Mr. Clay said, is arrogating to yourself autho- 
 rity which is vested elsewhere. But what was it that he 
 proposed, to which this term had been applied? To appro- 
 priate money to pay a foreign minister his outfit and a year's 
 salary. If that be an usurpation, said he, we have been 
 usurping power from the commencement of the govern- 
 ment to the present time. The chairman of the committee 
 of ways and means has never reported an appropriation 
 bill without some instance of this usurpation. 
 
 There are three modes under our constitution, in which 
 a nation may be recognized: by the executive receiving a 
 minister; secondly, by its sending one thither; and, thirdly, 
 this house unquestionably has the right to recognize, in the 
 exercise of the constitutional power of congress to regu- 
 late foreign commerce. To receive a minister from a for- 
 eign power is an admission that the party sending him is 
 sovereign and independent. So the sending a minister, as 
 ministers are never sent but to sovereign powers, is a re- 
 cognition of the independence of the power to whom the 
 minister is sent. Now, the honorable gentleman from South 
 Carolina would have preferred the expression of our opinion 
 by a resolution, independent of the appropriation bill. If the 
 gentleman would vote for it in that shape, 1 would really gra- 
 tify him; all that I want to do is to convey to the president 
 an expression of our willingness, that the government of 
 Buenos Ayres should be recognized. Whether it shall be 
 done by receiving a minister or sending one, is quite imma- 
 terial. It is urged that there might be an impropriety in 
 sending a minister, not being certain, after what had passed, 
 that he would be received; but Mr. Clay said that was one 
 of the questions submitted to the direction of the executive, 
 
MISSION TO SOUTH AMERICA. 177 
 
 which he would determine, upon a view of all the circum- 
 stances, and who of course would previously have an un- 
 derstanding that our minister would be duly respected. If 
 gentlemen desired to know what a minister from us was to 
 do, Mr. Clay said he would have him congratulate the re- 
 public on the establishment of free government and on their 
 liberation from the ancient dynasty of Spain; assure it of 
 the interest we feel in its welfare, and of our readiness to 
 concur in any arrangement which might be advantageous to 
 our mutual interest. Have we not, asked Mr. Clay, a min- 
 ister at the Brazils, a nation lying along side of the provin- 
 ces of La Plata, and considering the number of slaves in 
 it, by no means so formidable as the latter, and about equi- 
 distant from us. In reference to the strength of the two pow- 
 ers, that of La Plata is much the stronger, and the govern- 
 ment of Brazils, trembling under the apprehension of the 
 effect of the arms of La Plata, has gone farther than any- 
 other power to recognize its independence, having entered 
 into a military convention with the republic, by which each 
 power guarantees the possessions of the other. And we 
 have exchanged ministers with the Brazils. The one, how- 
 ever, is a kingdom^ the other a republic; and if any gentle- 
 man could assign any other better reason why a minister 
 should be sent to one and not to the other of these powers, 
 he should be glad to hear it disclosed, for he had not been 
 able himself to discover it. 
 
 A gentleman had yesterday told the house that the news 
 from Buenos A>res was unfavorable. Take it altogether, 
 Mr. Clay said, he believed it was not. But, he said, he put 
 but little trust in such accounts. In our revolution, incre- 
 dulity of reports and newspaper stories, propagated by the 
 enemy, had been so strengthened by experience, that at last 
 nothing was believed which was not attested by the signa- 
 ture of " Charles Thomson." Mr. Clay said he was some- 
 what similarly situated; he could not believe these reports — 
 he wished to see '' Charles Thomson" before he gave full 
 credit to them. The vessel which had arrived at Baltimore, 
 and which, by the way, by its valuable cargo of specie, hides, 
 and tallow, gave evidence of a commerce worth pursuing — 
 brought some rumor of a difference between Artigas and 
 the authorities of Buenos Ay res. With respect to the Ban- 
 da Oriental, which was said to be occupied by Artigas, Mr. 
 Clay said it constituted but a very subordinate part of the 
 A a 
 
178 MISSION TO SOUTH AMERICA. 
 
 territory of the United Provinces of La Plata; and it could 
 be no more objection to recognizing the nation because that 
 province was not included within its power, than it could 
 have been to our recognition because several states held out 
 against the adoption of the consMtution. Mr. Clay repeat- 
 ed that before he attached any confidence to a letter not 
 signed " Charles Thomson," he must know who the man 
 is who writes it; what are his sources of information, his 
 character for veracity, &c. and of all those particulars we 
 ■were deprived of information in the case of the recent in- 
 telligence in the Baltimore papers, as extracted from pri- 
 vate letters. 
 
 But, said Mr. Clay, we are charged, on the present occa- 
 sion, with treading on sacred ground. Let me suppose, 
 what I do not believe would be the case, that the president 
 had expressed an opinion one way, and we another. At so 
 early a period of our government, because a particular in- 
 dividual fills the presidential chair; an individual whom I 
 highly respect, more perhaps than some of those who would 
 be considered his exclusive friends, is the odious doctrine 
 to be preached here, that the chief magistrate can do no 
 wrong? Is the doctrine of passive obedience and non-resist- 
 ance — are the principles of the Stewarts, to be revived in 
 this free government? Is an opinion to be suppressed and 
 scouted because it is in opposition to the opinion of the pre- 
 sident? Sir, as long as I have a seat on this floor, I shall not 
 hesitate to exert the independence which belongs to the re- 
 presentative character — I shall not hesitate to express my 
 opinions, coincident or not with those of the executive. 
 But, Mr. Clay said that he could show that this cry had 
 been raised on the present occasion, without reason. He 
 supposed a case: that the president had sent a minister to 
 Buenos Ayres, and this house had been called on to make 
 an appropriation for the payment of his salary. He asked 
 of gentlemen whether in that case they would not have 
 voted an appropriation? And had not the house a right to 
 deliberate on the propriety of doing so, as well before as 
 after a minister was sent? Would gentlemen please to point 
 out the difference? I contend, said Mr- Clay, that we are 
 the true friends of the executive; and that the title does not 
 belong to those who have taken it. We wish to extend his 
 influence, and give him patronage; to give him means, as 
 he has now the power, to send another minister abroad. 
 
MISSION TO SOUTH' AMERICA. I79 
 
 But, apart from this viAvy of the qu'estion, as regarded the 
 executive power, this house, Mr. Cl&y said, had the incon- 
 testible right to recogruze a foreign* nation in the exercise 
 of its power to regulate commerce'.. with foreign nations. 
 Suppose, for example, we passed air act to regulate trade 
 between the United States and Buenos Ayres, the existence 
 of the nation would bd thereby recognized — as we could 
 not regulate trade with a nation which does not exist. 
 
 The gentleman from Maf-yland, (Mr. Smith) and the 
 gentleman from Virginia, (Mr. Smyth )_^the great cham|iion 
 of executive power, and the opponent of legislative autho- 
 rity, had contended that recognition wot^d be cause of war. 
 Mr. Clay said these ge^ntlemen were reduced to this dilem- 
 ma. If it was cause of war the executi« ought not to have 
 the right to produce a \%ar upon the co.untry without con- 
 sulting congress. If it was no cause qi war, it is an act 
 which there was no danger in performii^. There would be 
 very little difference in principle betweertVvesting the execu- 
 tive with the power of declaring war, q* with the power 
 of necessarily leading the country into yar, without con- 
 sulting the authority to whom the pow^jr of making war is 
 confided. But Mr. ^ay denied that it was cause of war: 
 but, if it were, the sense of congress ought certainly in 
 some way or other to be taken on it, before that step was 
 taken. He knew, he said, that some of the most distinguish- 
 ed statesmen in the country, had taken the view of this sub- 
 ject, that the power to recognize the independence of any 
 nation did not belong to the president; that it was a power 
 too momentous and consequential in its character to belong 
 to the executive. His own opinion, Mr. Clay confessed, 
 was different, believing the povjer to belong to either the 
 president or congress, and that it might, as most conveni- 
 ent, be exercised by either. If aid was to be given, to af- 
 ford which would be cause of war*, however, congress alone 
 could give it. 
 
 This house, then, Mr. Clay said, had the power to act on 
 this subject, even thqugh the president had expressed his 
 opinion; which he had not, further than, as appeared by the 
 report of the secretary of state, to decide that in January 
 last, it would not be proper to recognize them. But, Mr. 
 Clay said, the president stood pledged to recognize the re- 
 public, if, on the return of the commissioners, whom he has 
 deputed, they should make report favorable to the stability 
 
180 MISSION ^TO SOUTH AMERICA. 
 
 of the government. Those commieiioners sailed in Decem- 
 ber last, and might be expected to return in three or four 
 months from this time. When they returned, then, congress 
 Avould not be in session. The m-esident thus standing 
 pledged, said Mr. Clay, I ask, if We, who are disposed to 
 invest him with the means of recognizing that indepen- 
 dence, of redeeming his pledge, art not the true friends of 
 the executive, and \\hether the opponents of this motion do 
 not act as though they were t^t his friends; Suppose the 
 chairman of the committee of foreign relations had report- 
 ed a provision for an appropriation of that description which 
 I propose, said Mr. Clay, should we not all have voted for 
 it? And could any |[entlemarii be so pliant, as on the mere 
 ground of an executive recommendation, to vote an appro- 
 priation without exercising his ov*n faculties on the ques- 
 tion; and yet, when there is no such suggestion, will not 
 even so far act for himself as to determine whether a re- 
 public is so independent that we may fairly take the step of 
 recognition of it?' He hoped that no such submission to the 
 executive pleasure would characterize this house. 
 
 One more remark, and, Mr. Clay said, he had done. One 
 gentleman told the house that the poplilation of the Spanish 
 provinces was eighteen millions; that we, with a population 
 of two millions only, had conquered our independence — 
 and that, if the southern provinces willed it, they must be 
 free. This population, Mr. Clay said, he had already stated, 
 consisted of distinct nations, having l^t little, if any, inter- 
 course, the largest of which was Mexico; and they were 
 so separated by immense distances, that it was impossible 
 there should be any co-op«^ation between them. Besides, 
 they have difficulties to encounter which we had not. They 
 have a noblesse; they are divided into jealous castes, and a 
 vast proportion of Indians — to which adding the great in- 
 fluence of the clergy, and it would be seen how widely dif- 
 ferent the circumstances of Spanish America were from 
 those under which the revolution in thislcountry was brought 
 to a successful termination. He had already shown how 
 deep rooted was the spirit of liberty in that country. He 
 instanced the little island of Margarita, against which the 
 whole force of Spain had been in vain directed; containing 
 a population of only sixteen thousand souls, but where every 
 man, woman and child was a Grecian soldier in defence of 
 ireedom. For many years the spirit of freedom had been 
 
MISSION TO SOUTH AMERICA. 181 
 
 struggling in Venezuela, and Spain had been unable to con- 
 quer it. Morillo, in an official despatch transmitted to the 
 minister of marine of his own country, avows that Angos- 
 tura and all Guayana are in possession of the patriots, as 
 well as all the country from which supplies could be drawn. 
 According to the last accounts, Bolivar and other patriot 
 commanders were concentrating their forces and were with- 
 in one day's march of Morillo; and if they did not forsake 
 the Fabian policy, which was the true course for them, the 
 result would be that even the weakest of the whole of the 
 provinces of Spanish America, would establish its indepen- 
 dence, and secure the enjoyment of those rights and bless- 
 ings which rightfully belong to it. 
 
182 
 
 ON THE TARIFF. 
 
 iSpeech on the Tariffs delivered in the House of ifepre&enta- 
 tives^-26th Aprzl^ 1820. 
 
 Mr. Chairman: Whatever may be the value of my opi- 
 nions on the interesting subject now before us, they have not 
 been hastily formed. It may possibly be recollected by some 
 gentlemen, that I expressed them when the existing tariff 
 was adopted: and that I then urged, that the period of the 
 termination of the war, during which the manufacturing in- 
 dustry of the country had received a powerful spring, was 
 precisely that period when government was alike impelled, 
 by duty and interest, to protect it against the free admission 
 of foreign fabrics, consequent upon a state of peace. I in- 
 sisted, on that occasion, that a less measure of protection 
 would prove more efficacious, at that time, than one of 
 greater extent at a future day. My wishes prevailed only in 
 part; and we are now called upon to decide whether we will 
 correct the error which, I think, we then committed. 
 
 In considering the subject, the first important inquiry that 
 we should make is, whether it be desirable that such a por- 
 tion of the capital and labor of the country should be em- 
 ployed, in the business of manufacturing, as would furnish 
 a supply of our necessary wants? Since the first colonization 
 of America, the principal direction of the labor and capital 
 of the inhabitants has been to produce raw materials for the 
 consumption or fabrication of foreign nations. We have al- 
 ways had, in great abundance, the means of subsistence, 
 but we have derived chiefly from other countries our clothes, 
 and the instruments of defence. Except during those inter- 
 ruptions of commerce arising from a state of war, or from 
 measures adopted for vindicating our commercial rights, 
 we have experienced no very great inconvenience heretofore 
 from this mode of supply. The limited amount of our sur- 
 plus produce, resulting from the smallness of our numbers, 
 and the long and arduous convulsions of Europe, secured 
 us good markets for that surplus in her ports or those of 
 her colonies. But those convulsions have now ceased, and 
 our population has reached nearly ten millions. A new epoch 
 
ON THE TARIFF. Ig3 
 
 has arisen; and it becomes us deliberately to contemplate 
 our own actual condition, and the relations which are likely 
 to exist between us and the other parts of the world. The 
 actual state of our population, and the ratio of its progres- 
 sive increase when compared with the ratio of the increase 
 of the population of the countries which have hitherto con- 
 sumed our raw produce, seem, to me, alone to demonstrate 
 the necessity of diverting some portion ot our industry from 
 its accustomed channel. We double our population in about 
 the term of twenty -five years. If there be no change in the 
 mode of exerting our industry, we shall double, during the 
 same term, the amount of our exportable produce. Europe, 
 including such of her colonies as we have free access to, 
 taken altogether, does not duplicate her population in a 
 shorter term, probably, than one hundred years. The ratio 
 of the increase of her capacity of consumption, therefore, is, 
 to that of our capacity of production, as one is to four. And 
 it is manifest, from the simple exhibition of the powers of 
 the consuming countries, compared v;ith those of the sup- 
 plying country, that the former are inadequate to the latter. 
 It is certainly true, that a portion of the mass of our raw 
 produce, which we transmit to her, reverts to us in a fabri- 
 cated form, and that this return augments with our increas- 
 ing population. This is, however, a very inconsiderable ad- 
 dition to her actual ability to afford a market for the pro- 
 duce of our industry. 
 
 I believe that we are already beginning to experience the 
 want of capacity in Europe to consume our surplus produce. 
 Take the great articles of cotton, tobacco, and bread-stuffs. 
 For the latter we have scarcely any foreign demand. And 
 is there not reason to believe that we have reached, if we 
 have not passed, the maximum of the foreign demand for 
 the other two articles? Considerations connected with the 
 cheapness of cotton, as a raw material, and the facility with 
 which it can be fabricated, will probably make it be more 
 and more used as a substitute for other materials. But, after 
 you allow to the demand for it the utmost extension of 
 which it is susceptible, it is yet quite limited — limited by the 
 number of persons who use it, by their wants, and their 
 abilitN to supply them. If we have not reached, therefore 
 the maximum of the foreign demand, (as I believe we have) 
 we must soon lully satisfy it. With respect to tobacco, that 
 article affording an enjoyment not necessary, as food and 
 
1S4, ON THE TARIFF. 
 
 clothes are^ to human existence, the foreign demand for it 
 is still more precarious, and I apprehend that we have al- 
 ready passed its limits. It appears to me, then, that, if 
 we consult our interest merely, we ought to encourage home 
 manufactures. But there were other motives to recommend 
 it, of not less importance. 
 
 The wants of man may be classed under three great 
 heads — food, raiment, and defence. They are felt alike in 
 the state of barbarism and of civilization. He must be de- 
 fended against the lerocious beasts ot prey in the one con- 
 dition, and against the ambition, violence, and injustice, in- 
 cident to the other. 11 he seeks to obtain a supply of those 
 wants without giving an equivalent, he is a beggar or a rob- 
 ber; if, by promising an equivalent which he cannot give, he 
 is fraudulent; and if, by a commerce, in which there is per- 
 fect freedom on his side, whilst he meets with nothing but 
 restrictions on the other, he submits to an unjust and degra- 
 ding inequality. What is true of individuals is equally so 
 of nations. The country, then, which relies upon foreign 
 nations for either of those great essentials, is not, in fact, 
 independent. Nor is it any consolation for our dependence 
 upon other nations, that they also are dependent upon us, 
 even were it true. Every nation should anxiously endea- 
 vor to establish its absolute independence, and consequently 
 be able to feed and clothe and defend itself. If it rely upon 
 a foreign supply, that may be cut off by the caprice of the 
 nation yielding it, by war with it, or even by war with other 
 nations, it cannot be independent. But it is not true that 
 any other nations depend upon us in a degree any thing like 
 equal to that of our dependence upon them, for the great 
 necessaries to which I have referred. Every other nation 
 seeks to supply itself with them from its own resources; and, 
 so strong is the desire which they feel to accomplish this 
 purpose, that they exclude the cheaper foreign article for 
 the dearer home production. Witness the English policy in 
 regard to corn. So selfish, in this respect, is the conduct of 
 other powers, that, in some instances, they even prohibit the 
 produce of the industry of their own colonies, when it comes 
 into competition with the produce of the parent country. All 
 other countries but our own exclude, by high duties, or abso- 
 lute prohibitions, whatever they can respectively produce 
 within themselves. The truth is, and it is in vain to dis- 
 guise it, that we are a sort of independent colonies of En- 
 
ON THE TARIFF. 185 
 
 gland — politically free, commercially slaves. Gentlemen tell 
 us of the advantages of a free exchange of the produce of 
 the world. But they tell us of what has never existed, does 
 not exist, and perhaps never will exist. They invoke us to 
 give perfect freedom on our side, whilst, in the ports of every 
 other nation, we are met with a code of odious restrictions, 
 shutting out entirely a great part of our produce, and let- 
 ting in only so much as they cannot possibly do without. I 
 ■will hereafter examine their favourite maxim, of leaving 
 things to themselves, more particularly. At present I will 
 only say, that I too am a friend to free trade, but it must 
 be a free trade of perfect reciprocity. If the governing con- 
 sideration were cheapness; if national independence were 
 to weigh nothing; if honor nothing; why not subsidize for- 
 eign powers to defend us? why not hire Swiss or Hessian 
 mercenaries to protect us? why not get our arms of all kinds, 
 as we do, in part, the blankets and clothing of our soldiers, 
 from abroad? We should probably consult economy by 
 these dangerous expedients. 
 
 But, say gentlemen, there are to the manufacturing sys- 
 tem some inherent objections, which should induce us to 
 avoid its introduction into this country: and we are warned 
 by the example of England, by her pauperism, by the vices 
 of her population, her wars, &c. It would be a strange or- 
 der of providence, if it were true, that he should create 
 necessary and indispensable wants, and yet should render 
 us unable to supply them without the degradation or con- 
 tamination of our species. 
 
 Pauperism is, in general, the effect of an overflowing po- 
 pulation. Manufactures may undoubtedly produce a redun- 
 dant population; but so may commerce, and so may agri- 
 culture. In this respect they are alike; and, from whatever 
 cause the disproportion of a population to the subsisting fa- 
 culty of a country, may proceed, its effect of pauperism is 
 the same. Many parts of Asia would exhibit, perhaps as 
 afflicting effects of an extreme prosecution of the agricultu- 
 ral system, as England can possibly furnish, respecting the 
 manufacturing. It was not, however, fair to argue from these 
 extreme cases, against either the one system or the other. 
 There are abuses incident to every branch of industry, to 
 every profession. It would not be thought very just or wise 
 to arraign the honourable professions of law and physic, be- 
 cause the one produces the pettifoger, and the other the 
 B b 
 
186 ON THE TARIFF. 
 
 quack. Even in England it has been established by the dili- 
 gf nt search of Colquhoun, from the most authentic evidence, 
 the judicial records of the country, that the instances of 
 crime were much more numerous in the agricultural than in 
 the manufacturing districts; thus proving that the cause of 
 wretchedness and vice, in that country, was to be sought for, 
 not in this or that system, so much as in the fact of the 
 density of its population. France resembles this country 
 more than England, in respect to the employments of her 
 population; and we do not find that there is any thing in the 
 condition of the manufacturing portion of it which ought to 
 dissuade us from the introduction of it into our own coun- 
 try. But even France has not that great security against the 
 abuses of the manufacturing system, against the effects of 
 too great a density of population, which we possess in our 
 ■waste lands. Whilst this resource exists we have nothing to 
 apprehend. Do capitalists give too low wages; are the la- 
 bourers too crowded, and in danger of starving? the unset- 
 tled lands will draw off the redundancy, and leave the others 
 better provided for. If an unsettled province, such as Texas, 
 for example, could, by some convulsion of nature, be waft- 
 ed along side ot, and attached to, the island of Great Britain, 
 the instantaneous effect would be, to draw off the redundant 
 portion ot the population, and to render more comfortable 
 both the emigrants and those whom they would leave behind. 
 I am aware that whilst the public domain is an acknowledg- 
 ed security against the abuses of the manufacturing, or any 
 other system, it constitutes, at the same time, an impedi- 
 ment, in the opinion of some, to the success of manufactur- 
 ing industry, by its tendency to prevent the reduction of the 
 wages of labor. Those who urge this objection have their 
 eyes too much fixed on the ancient system of manufacturing, 
 when manual labor was the prmcipal instrument which it 
 employed. During the last half century, since the inventions 
 of Arkwright, and the long train of improvements which 
 followed, the labor of machinery is principally used. I have 
 understood, from sources of information which 1 believe to 
 be accurate, that the combined force of all the machinery 
 employed by Great Britain, in manufacturing, is equal to 
 the laljor of one hundred millions of able bodied men. If 
 we suppose the aggregate of the labor of all the individuals 
 which she employs in that branch of industry, to be equal 
 to the united labor of two millions of able bodied men, (and 
 
ON THE TARIFF. 18^ 
 
 I should think it does not exceed it,) machine labor will 
 stand to manual labor, in the proportion of one hundred to 
 two. There cannot be a doubt that we have skill and enter- 
 prise enough to command the requisite amount of machine 
 power. 
 
 There are, too, some checks to emigration from the settled 
 parts of our country to the waste lands of the west. Dis- 
 tance is one, and it is every day becoming greater and great- 
 er. There exists, also, a natural repugnance (ith less, it is 
 true, in the United States than elsewhere, but felt even 
 herej to abandoning the place of our nativity. Women and 
 children, who could not migrate, and who would be com- 
 paratively idle if manufactures did not exist, may be profit- 
 ably employed in them. This is a very great benefit. 1 wit- 
 nessed the advantage resulting from the employment of this 
 description of our population, in a visit which I lately made 
 to the Waltham manufactory, near Boston. There, some 
 hundreds of girls and boys were occupied in separate apart- 
 ments. The greatest order, neatness, and apparent comfort 
 reigned throughout the whole establishment. The daugh- 
 ters of respectable farmers — in one instance I remember the 
 daughter of a senator in the state legislature, were usefully 
 employed. They would come down to the manufactory, 
 remain perhaps some months, and return, with their earn- 
 ings, to their families, to assist them throughout tlie year. 
 But one instance had occurred, I was informed by the intel- 
 ligent manager, of doubtful conduct on the part of anv of 
 the females, and, afier she was dismissed, there was reason 
 to believe that injustice had been done her. Suppose that 
 establishment to be destroyed, what would become of all 
 the persons who are there engaged so beneficially to them- 
 selves, and so usefully to the state? Can it be doubted that 
 if the crowds of little mendicant boys and girls who infest 
 this edifice, and assail us, every day, at its very thresholds, 
 as we come in and go out, begging for a cent, were employ- 
 ed in some manufacturing establishment, it would be better 
 for them and the city? 1 hose who object to the manufac- 
 turing system, should recollect, that constant occupation is 
 the best security for innocence and virtue; and that idit ness 
 is the parent of vice and crime. They should contemplate 
 the labouring poor with employment, and ask themselves 
 what would be their condition without it. If there are in- 
 stances of hard task masters among the manufacturers, so 
 
188 ON THE TARIFF, 
 
 also are there In agriculture. The cause is to be sought for, 
 not in the nature of this or that system, out in the nature of 
 man. If there are particular species of unhealthy employ- 
 ment in manufactures, so there are in agriculture also. There 
 has been an idle attempt to ridicule the manufacturing sys- 
 tem, and we have heard the expression " spinning jenny 
 tenure." It is one of the noblest inventions of human skill. 
 It has diffused comforts among thousands who, without it, 
 would never have enjoyed them; and millions yet unborn 
 will bless the man by whom it was invented. Three impor- 
 tant inventions have distinguished the last half century, each 
 of which, if it had happened at long intervals of time from 
 the other, would have been sufficient to constitute an epoch 
 in the progress of the useful arts. The first was that of 
 Arkwright; and our own country was entitled to the merit 
 of the other two. The world is indebted to Whitney for the 
 one, and to Fulton for the other. Nothing is secure against 
 the shafts of ridicule. What would be thought of a man who 
 should speak of a cotton gin tenure, or a steam boat tenure? 
 
 In one respect there is a great difference in favor of man- 
 ufactures, when compared with agriculture. It is the rapi- 
 dity with which the whole manufacturing community avail 
 themselves of an improvement. It is instantly communicated 
 and put in operation. There is an avidity for improvement 
 in the one system, an aversion from it in the other. The 
 habits of generation after generation pass down the long 
 tract of time in perpetual succession, without the slightest 
 change in agriculture. The ploughman who fastens his 
 plough to the tails of his cattle, will not own that there is 
 any other mode equal to his. An agricultural people will 
 be in the neighborhood of other communities who have 
 made the greatest progress in husbandry, without advanc- 
 ing in the slightest degree. Many parts of our country are 
 one hundred years in advance of Sweden in the cultivation 
 and improvement of the soil. 
 
 It is objected, that the effect of the encouragement of 
 home manufactures by the proposed tariff will be, to dimin- 
 ish the revenue from the customs. The amount of the re- 
 venue from that source will depend upon the amount of 
 importations, and the measure of these will be the value of 
 the exports from this country. The quantity of the export- 
 able produce will depend upon the foreign demand; and 
 there can be no doubt that, under any distribution of the 
 
ON THE TARIFF. 189 
 
 labor and capital of this country from the greater allure- 
 ments which agriculture presents than any other species of 
 industry, there would be always a quantity of its produce 
 sufficient to satisfy that demand. If there be a diminution 
 in the ability of foreign nations to consume our raw pro- 
 duce, in the proportion of our diminished consumption of 
 theirs, under the operation of this system, that will be com- 
 pensated by the substitution of a home to a foreign market, 
 in the same proportion. It is true that we cannot remain in 
 the relation of seller, only to foreign powers, for any length 
 of time; but if, as I have no doubt, our agriculture will con- 
 tinue to supply, as far as it can profitably, to the extent of 
 the limits of the foreign demand, we shall receive not only 
 in return many of the articles on which the tariff operates, 
 for our own consumption, but they may also form the ob- 
 jects of trade with South America and other powers, and 
 our comforts may be multiplied by the importation of other 
 articles. Diminished consumption in consequence of the 
 augmentation of duties does not necessarily imply dimin- 
 ished revenue. The increase of the duty may compensate 
 the decrease in the consumption, and give you as large a 
 revenue as you before possessed. 
 
 Can any one doubt the impolicy of government resting 
 solely upon the precarious resource of such a revenue? It 
 is constantly fluctuating. It tempts us, by its enormous 
 amount, at one time, into extravagant expenditure; and we 
 are tlien driven, by its sudden and unexpected depression, 
 into the opposite extreme. We are seduced by its flattering 
 promises into expenses which we might avoid; and we are 
 afterwards constrained, by its treachery, to avoid expenses 
 which we ought to make. It is a system under which there 
 is a sort of perpetual war, between the interest of the go- 
 vernment and the interest of the people. Large importations 
 fill the coffers of government, and empty the pockets of the 
 people. Small importations imply prudence on the part of 
 the people, and leave the treasury empty. In war the reve- 
 nue disappears; in peace it is unsteady. On such a system 
 the government will not be able much longer exclusively to 
 rely. We all anticipate that we shall have shortly to resort 
 to some additional supply of revenue within ourselves. I 
 was opposed to the total repeal of the internal revenue. I 
 would have preserved certain parts of it at least, to be ready 
 for emergencies, such as now exist. And I am, for one, ready 
 to exclude foreign spirits altogether, and substitute to the 
 
190 ON THE TARIFF. 
 
 revenue levied on them a tax upon the spirits made within 
 the country. No other nation lets in so much of foreign 
 spirits as we do. By the encouragement of home industry 
 you will lay a basis of internal taxation, when it gets strong, 
 that will be steady and uniform, yielding alike in peace and 
 in war. We do not derive our ability from abroad, to pay 
 taxes. That depends upon our wealth and our industry; and 
 it is the same whatever may be the form of levying the pub- 
 lic contributions. 
 
 But it is urged, that you tax other interests of the state 
 to sustain manufacturers. The business of manufacturing, if 
 encouraged, will be open to all. It is not for the sake of the 
 particular individuals, who may happen to be engaged in it, 
 that we propose to foster it; but it is for the general interest. 
 We think that it is necessary to the comfort, and well being 
 of society, that fabrication, as well as the business of produc- 
 tion and distribution should be supported and taken care of. 
 Now, if it be even true, that the price of the home fabric 
 will be somewhat higher, in the first instance, than the rival 
 foreign articles, that consideration ought not to prevent our 
 extending reasonable protection to the home fabric. Present 
 temporary inconvenience may be well submitted to for the 
 sake of future permanent benefit. If the experience of all 
 other countries be not utterly fallacious; if the promises of 
 the manufacturing system be not absolutely illusory, by the 
 competition which will be elicited, in consequence of your 
 parental care, prices will be ultimately brought down to a 
 level with that of the foreign commodity. Now, in a scheme 
 of policy which is devised tor a nation, we should not limit 
 our views to its operation, during a single year, or for even 
 a short term of years. We should look at its operation for 
 a considerable time, and in war as well as in peace. Can 
 there be a doubt, thus contemplating it, that we shall be com- 
 pensated by the certainty and steadiness of the supply, in 
 all seasons, and the ultimate reduction of the price for any 
 temporary sacrifices we make? Take the example of salt, 
 which the ingenious gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Archer) 
 has adduced. He says during the war the price of that ar- 
 ticle rose to ten dollars per bushel, and he asks, if you 
 would lay a duty, permanent in its duration, of three dol- 
 lars per bushel to secure a supply in war. I answer no, I 
 would not lay so high a duty. That which is now proposed, 
 for the encouragement of the domestic production, is only 
 five cents per bushel. In forty years the duty would amount 
 
 Al 
 
ON THE TARIFF. 191 
 
 enly to two dollars. If the recurrence of war, shall be only 
 after intervals of forty years peace, (and we may expect it 
 probably oftener,) and if, when it does come, the same price 
 should again be given, there will be a clear saving of eight 
 dollars, by promoting the domestic fabrication. All society 
 is an affair of mutual concession. If we expect to derive the 
 benefits which are incident to it, we must sustain our rea- 
 sonable share of burthens. The great interests which it is 
 intended to guard and cherish, must be supported by their 
 reciprocal action and reaction. The harmony of its parts is 
 disturbed — the discipline which is necessary to its order is 
 incomplete, when one of the three great and essential bran- 
 ches of its industry is abandoned and unprotected. If you 
 want to find an example of order, of freedom from debt, of 
 economy, of expenditure falling below, rather than exceeding 
 income, you will go to the well regulated family of a farm- 
 er. You will go to the house of such a man as Isaac Shelby. 
 You will not find him haunting taverns, engaged in broils, 
 prosecuting angry law suits. You will behold every member 
 of his family clad with the produce of their own hands, and 
 usefully employed; the spinning wheel and the loom in mo- 
 tion by day break. With what pleasure will his wife carry 
 you into her neat dairy, lead you into her store house, and 
 point you to the table cloths, the sheets, the counterpanes 
 which lie on this shelf for one daughter, or on that for ano- 
 ther, all prepared in advance by her provident care for the 
 day of their respective marriages. If you want to see an 
 opposite example, go to the house of a man who manufac- 
 tures nothing at home, whose family resorts to the store for 
 every thing they consume. You will find him perhaps in the 
 tavern, or at the shop at the cross roads. He is engaged, 
 with the rum grog on the table, taking depositions to make 
 out some case of usury or fraud. Or perhaps he is furnishing 
 to his lawyer the materials to prepare a long bill of injunc- 
 tion in some intricate case. The sheriff is hovering about his 
 farm to serve some new writ. On court days (he never 
 misses attending them,) you will find him eagerly collecting 
 his witnesses to defend himself against the merchants' and 
 doctors' claims. Go to his house, and, after the short and 
 giddy period that his wife and daughters have flirted about 
 the country in their calico and muslin frocks, what a scene 
 of discomfort and distress is presented to you there! What 
 the individual family of Isaac Shelby is, I wish to see the 
 
192 ON THE TARIFF. 
 
 nation in the aggregate become. But I fear we shall short- 
 ly have to contemplate its resemblance in the opposite pic- 
 ture. If statesmen would carefully observe the conduct of 
 private individuals in the management of their own affairs, 
 they would have much surer guides, in promoting the in- 
 terests of the state, than the visionary speculations of theo- 
 retical writers. 
 
 The manufacturing system is not only injurious to agri- 
 culture, but, say its opponents, it is injurious also to foreign 
 commerce. We ought not to conceal from ourselves, our 
 present actual position, in relation to other powers. During 
 the protracted war which has so long convulsed all Europe, 
 and which will probably be succeeded by a long peace, we 
 transacted the commercial business of other nations, and 
 largely shared, with England, the carrying trade of the 
 world. Now, every other nation is anxiously endeavouring to 
 transact its own business, to rebuild its marine and to foster 
 its navigation. The consequence of the former state of things 
 was, that our mercantile marine and our commercial em- 
 ployment were enormously disproportionate to the exchange- 
 able domestic produce of our country. And the result of the 
 latter will be, that, as the exchanges between this country 
 and other nations will hereafter consist principally, on our 
 part, of our domestic produce, that marine and that employ- 
 ment will be brought down to what is necessary to effect 
 those exchanges. 1 regret exceedingly this reduction. I wish 
 the mercantile class could enjoy the same extensive com- 
 merce that they formerly did. But, if they cannot, it would 
 be a folly to repine at what is irrecoverably lost, and we 
 should seek rather to adapt ourselves to the new circumstan- 
 ces in which we find ourselves. If, as I think, we have 
 reached the maximum of our foreign demand for our three 
 great staples, cotton, tobacco, and flour, no man will contend 
 that we should go on to produce more and more, to be sent 
 to the glutted foreign market and consumed by devouring 
 expenses, merely to give employment to our tonnage and our 
 foreign commerce. It would be extremely unwise to accom- 
 odate our industry to produce, not what was wanting abroad; 
 but cargoes for our unemployed ships. I would give to our 
 foreign trade every legitimate encouragement, and extend it 
 whenever it can be extended profitably. Hitherto it had 
 been stimulated too highly, bv the condition of the world, 
 and our own policy acting on that condition. And we are re- 
 
ON THE TARIFF. 193 
 
 iuctant to believe that we must submit to its necessary 
 abridgment. The habits of trade; the tempting instances of 
 enormous fortunes which had been made by the successful 
 prosecution of it, were such that we turn with regret from 
 its pursuit; we still cherish a lingering hope; we persuade 
 ourselves that something will occur, how and what it may 
 be, we know not, to revive its former activity; and we would 
 push into every untried channel, grope through the Dar- 
 danelles into the Black Sea, to restore its former profits. I 
 repeat it, let us proclaim to the people of the United States 
 the incontestible truth, that our foreign trade must be cir- 
 cumscribed by the altered state of the world; and, leaving 
 it in the possession of all the gains which it can now possi- 
 bly make, let us present motives to the capital and labor of 
 our country to employ themselves in fabrication at home. 
 There was no danger that, by a withdrawal of that portion 
 which is unprofitably employed on other objects, and an ap- 
 plication of it to fabrication, our agriculture would be too 
 much cramped. The produce of it would always come up 
 to the foreign demand. Such were the superior allurements 
 belonging to the cultivation of the soil to all other branches 
 of industry, that it would always be preferred when it can 
 profitably be followed. The foreign demand would, in any 
 conceivable state of things, limit the amount of the export- 
 able produce of agriculture. The amount of our exporta- 
 tions would form the measure of our importations, and, 
 whatever these may be, they will constitute the basis of the 
 revenue derivable from customs. 
 
 The manufacturing system is favourable to the mainte- 
 nance of peace. Foreign commerce is the great source of 
 foreign wars. The eagerness with which we contend for 
 every branch of it; the temptations which it offers, operating 
 alike upon us and our foreign competitors, produce constant 
 collisions. No country on earth, by the extent of its superfi- 
 cies, the richness of its soil, the variety of its climate, con- 
 tains within its own limits more abundant faculties for supply- 
 ing all our rational wants than ours does. It is not necessary 
 or desirable, however, to cut off all intercourse with foreign 
 powers. But, after securing a supply, within ourselves, of 
 all the great essentials of life, there will be ample scope still 
 left for preserving such an intercourse. If we had no inter- 
 course with foreign states, if we adopted the policy of Chi- 
 na, we should have no external wars. And in proportion as 
 C c 
 
194 ON THE TARIFF. 
 
 we diminish our dependence upon them, shall we lessen 
 the danger of the recurrence of war. Our late war would 
 not have existed if the counsels of the manufacturers in En- 
 gland had been listened to. They finally did prevail, in their 
 steady and persevering effort to produce a repeal of the 
 orders in council; but it was too late to prevent the war. 
 Those who attribute to the manufacturing s} stem the bur- 
 thens and misfortunes of that country, commit a great error. 
 These were probably a joint result of the operation of the 
 whole of her systems, and the larger share of it was to be 
 ascribed to her foreign commerce, and to the ambition of 
 her rulers, than to any other cause. The war of our revolu- 
 tion, in which that ambition displayed its monstrous arro- 
 gance and pretensions, laid the broad foundation of that 
 enormous debt under which she now groans. 
 
 The tendency of reasonable encouragement to our home 
 industry, is favourable to the preservation and strength of 
 our confederacy. Now our connexion is merely political. 
 For the sale of the surplus of the produce of our agricultu- 
 ral labor, all eyes are constantly turned upon the markets of 
 Liverpool. There is scarcely any of that beneficial inter- 
 course, the best basis of political connexion which consists 
 of the exchange of the produce of our labor. On our mari- 
 time frontier there has been too much stimulus, an unnatu- 
 ral activity; in the great interior of the country, there exists 
 a perfect paralysis. Encourage fabrication at home and there 
 would instantly arise animation and a healthful circulation 
 throughout all the parts of the republic. The cheapness, and 
 fertility, and quantity of our waste lands, offered such pow- 
 erful inducements to cultivation, that our countrymen are 
 constantly engaging in it. I would not check this disposition 
 by hard terms in the sale of it. Let it be easily accessible 
 to all who wish to acquire it. But I would countervail this 
 predilection by presenting to capital and labor, motives for 
 employment in other branches of industry. Nothing is more 
 uncertain, than the pursuit of agriculture, when we mainly 
 rely upon foreign markets for the sale of its surplus produce. 
 In the first place, it is impossible to determine, a /?ri(?rz, the 
 amount of this surplus; and, in the second, it is equally im- 
 possible to anticipate the extent of the foreign demand. Both 
 the one and the other depend upon the seasons. From the 
 fluctuations incident to these, and from other causes, it may 
 happen that the supplying country will, for a long series of 
 
ON THE TARIFF. I95 
 
 years, have employed a larger share of its capital and labor 
 than is wise, in production to supply the wants of the con- 
 suming countries, without becoming sensible of its defect of 
 policy. The failure of a crop, or the failure of a market, 
 does not discourage the cultivator. He renews his labours 
 another year, and he renews his hopes. It is otherwise with 
 manufacturing industry. The precise quantum of its produce, 
 at least, can with some accuracy be previously estimated. 
 And the wants of foreign countries can be with some pro- 
 bability anticipated. 
 
 I am sensible, Mr. Chairman, if I have even had a suc- 
 cess, which I dare not presume, in the endeavor I have 
 been making to show that sound policy requires a diversion 
 of so much of the capital and labor of this country from 
 other employments as may be necessary, by a different ap- 
 plication of them, to secure, within ourselves, a steady and 
 adequate supply of the great necessaries of life, I shall have 
 only established one half of what is incumbent upon me to 
 prove. It will still be required by the other side, that a se- 
 cond proposition be supported, and that is, that government 
 ought to present motives for such a diversion and new appli- 
 cation of labor and capital, by that species of protection 
 which the tariff holds out- Gentlemen say, we agree with 
 you; you are right in your first proposition, but, " let things 
 alone," and they will come right in the end. Now, I agree 
 with them, that things would ultimately get right; but not 
 until after a long period of disorder and distress, terminat- 
 ing in the impoverishment, and perhaps ruin of the country. 
 Dissolve government, reduce it to its primitive elements, 
 and, without any general effort to reconstruct it, there would 
 arise, out of the anarchy which would ensue, partial com- 
 binations for the purpose of individual protection, which 
 would finally lead to a social form, competent to the conser- 
 vation of peace within, and the repulsion of force from with- 
 out. Yet no one would say, in such a state of anarchy, let 
 things alone! If gentlemen, by their favourite maxim, mean 
 only that, within the bosom of the state, things are to be 
 left alone, and each individual, and each branch of indus- 
 try, allowed to pursue their respective interests, without giv- 
 ing a preference to either, I subscribe to it. But if they give 
 it a more comprehensive import; if they require that things 
 be left alone, in respect not only to interior action, but to 
 exterior action also; not only as regards the operation of our 
 
19G ON THE TARIFF. 
 
 own government upon the mass of the interests of the state, 
 but as it relates to the operation of foreign governments 
 upon that mass; I dissent from it. 
 
 This maxim, in tliis enlarged sense, is indeed every where 
 proclaimed; but no where practised. It is truth in the books 
 of European political economists. It is error in the practi- 
 cal code of every European state. It is not applied where it 
 is most applicable; it is attempted to be introduced here, 
 where it is least applicable; and even here its friends pro- 
 pose to limit it to the single branch of manufacturing indus- 
 try, whilst every other interest is encouraged and protected 
 according to the policy of Europe. The maxim would best 
 suit Europe, where each interest is adjusted and arranged to 
 every other, by causes operating during many centuries. 
 Every thing there has taken and preserved its ancient posi- 
 tion. The house that was built centuries ago, is occupied by 
 the desccndents of its original constructor. If one could rise 
 up, after the lapse of ages, and enter a European shop, he- 
 would see the same hammer at work, on the same anvil 
 or last, and almost by the same hand. There every thing 
 has found its place and its level, and every thing, one would 
 think, might there be safely left alone. But the policy of the 
 European states is otherwise. Here every thing is new and 
 unfixed. Neither the state, nor the individuals who com- 
 pose it, have settled down in their firm and permanent po- 
 sitions. There is a constant tendency, in consequence of the 
 extent of our public domain, towai'ds production for foreign 
 markets. The maxim, in the comprehensive sense in wliich 
 I am considering it, requires, to entitle it to observation, 
 two conditions, neither of which exists. First, that there 
 should be perpetual peace; and secondly, that the maxim 
 should be every where respected. When war breaks out, 
 that free and general circulation of the produce of industry, 
 among the nations which it recommends, is interrupted, and 
 the nation that depends upon a foreign supply of its neces- 
 saries, must be subjected to the greatest inconvenience. If 
 it be not every where observed, there will be, between the 
 nation that does not, and the nation that does, conform to it, 
 •m inequality alike condemned by honor and by interest. If 
 there be no reciprocity; if, on the one side, there is perfect 
 hcedom oi trade, and on the other a code of odious restric- 
 tions, will gentlemen still contend that we are to submit tc 
 fcuch an unprofitable and degrading intercourse? Will they 
 
ON THE TARIFF. jgy 
 
 require that we shall act upon the social system, whilst eve- 
 ry other power acts upon the selfish? Will they demand of 
 us to throw widely open our ports to every nation, whilst all 
 other nations entirely or partly occlude theirs against our 
 productions? It is, indeed, possible, that some pecuniary 
 advantage might be enjoyed by our country in prosecuting 
 the remnant of the trade which the contracted policy of 
 other powers leaves to us. But what security is there for 
 our continuing to enjoy even that? And, is national honor, 
 is national independence to count as nothing? 1 will not 
 enter into a detail of the restrictions with which we are 
 every where presented in foreign countries. I will content 
 myself with asserting that they take nothing from us which 
 they can produce themselves, upon even worse terms than 
 we could supply them. Take, again, as an example, the En- 
 glish corn laws. America presents the image of a fme 
 generous hearted young fellow, who has just come to the 
 possession of a rich estate — an estate, which, however, re- 
 quires carelul management. He makes nothing; he buys 
 every thing. He is surrounded by a parcel of jews, each 
 holding out his hand with a packet of buttons or pins, or 
 some other commodity, for sale. If he asks those jews to 
 buy any thing which his state produces, ihey tell him no; it 
 is not for our interest; it is not fur yours. Take this new 
 book, says one of them, on political economy, and you will 
 there perceive it is for your interest to buy from us, and to let 
 things alone in your own country. The gentleman from Vir- 
 ginia, to whom I have already referred, has surrendered 
 the whole argument, in the example of the East India trade. 
 He thinks that because India takes nothing but specie from 
 us; because there is not a reciprocal exchange between us 
 and India, of our respective productions, that the trade 
 ought to be discontinued. Now I do not agree with him, 
 that it ought to be abandoned, though i would put it under 
 considerable restrictions, when it comes in competition with 
 the fabrics of our own country. If the want of entire reci- 
 procity be a suflicient ground for the total abandonment of 
 a particular branch of trade, the same principle requires that, 
 where there are some restrictions on the one side, they should 
 be countervailed by equal restrictions on the other. 
 
 But this maxim, according to which gentlemen would have 
 us abandon the home industry of the country, to the influ- 
 ence of the restrictive systems of other countries, without 
 an effort to protect and preserve it, is not itself observed by 
 
198 »^N THE TARIFF. 
 
 the same gentleman, in regard to the great interests of the 
 nation. We protect our fisheries by bounties and drawbacks. 
 We protect our tonnage, by excluding a restricting foreign 
 tonnage, exactly as our tonnage is excluded or restricted by 
 foreign states. We passed, a year or two ago, the bill to pro- 
 hibit British navigation from the West India colonies of that 
 power to the United States, because ours is shut out from 
 them. The session, prior to the passage of that law, the gen- 
 tleman from South Carolina and I, almost alone, urged the 
 house to pass it. But the subject was postponed until the 
 next session, when it was passed by nearly a unanimous 
 vote; the gentleman from South Carolina, and the two gen- 
 tlemen from Virginia, (Messrs. Barbour and Tyler,) voting 
 with the majority. We have now upon our table other bills 
 connected with that object, and proposing restriction upon 
 the French tonnage to countervail theirs upon ours. I shall, 
 with pleasure, vote for these measures. We protect our 
 foreign trade, by consuls, by foreign ministers, by embar- 
 goes, by non-intercourse, by a navy, by fortifications, by 
 squadrons constantly acting abroad, by war, and by a variety 
 of commercial regulations in our statute book. The whole 
 system of the general government, from its first formation 
 to the present time, consists almost exclusively, in one un- 
 remitting endeavor to nourish, and protect, and defend the 
 foreign trade. Why have not all these great interests been 
 left to the operation of the gentlemen's favourite maxim? 
 Sir, it is perfectly right that we should have afforded this 
 protection. And it is perfectly right, in my humble opinion, 
 that we should extend the principle to the home industry^ 
 I am a friend to foreign trade, but I protest against its 
 being the monopolist of all the parental favor and care of 
 this government. 
 
 But, sir, friendly as I am to the existence of domestic 
 manufactures, I would not give to them unreasonable en- 
 couragement, by protecting duties. Their growth ought 
 to be gradual, but sure. I believe all the circumstances of 
 the present period highly favorable to their success. But 
 they are the youngest and the weakest interest of the state. 
 Agriculture wants but little or no protection against the regu- 
 lations of foreign powers. The advantages of our position, and 
 the cheapness and abundance and fertility of our land, afford 
 to that greatest interest of the state almost all the protection 
 it wants. As it should be, it is strong and flourishingj or, if 
 
ON THE TARIFF. 199 
 
 it be not, at this moment, prosperous, it is not because its 
 produce is not ample, but because, depending as we do alto- 
 gether upon a foreign market, for the sale of the surplus of 
 that produce, the foreign market is glutted. Our foreign 
 trade having almost exclusively engrossed the protecting 
 care of government, wants no further legislative aid. And 
 whatever depression it may now experience, it is attributable 
 to causes beyond the control of this government. The abun- 
 dance of capital, indicated by the avidity with which loans 
 are sought, at the reduced rate of five per centum; the re- 
 duction in the wages of labor; and the decline in the price 
 of property of every kind, as well as that of agricultural 
 produce, all concur favorably for domestic manufactures. 
 Now, as when we arranged the existing tariff, is the auspi- 
 cious moment for government to step in and cheer and coun- 
 tenance them. We did too little then, and I endeavored 
 to warn this house of the effects of inadequate protection. 
 We were called upon, at that time, by the previous pledges 
 we had given, by the inundation of foreign fabrics which 
 was to be anticipated from their free admission after the 
 termination of the war, and by the lasting interests of this 
 country, to give them efficient support. We did not do it; 
 but let us not now repeat the error. Our great mistake has 
 been in the irregularity of the action of the measures of this 
 government upon manufacturing industry. At one period 
 it is stimulated too high, and then, by an opposite course 
 of policy, it is precipitated into a condition of depression 
 too low. First there came the embargo; then non-intercourse, 
 and other restrictive measures followed, and finally that 
 greatest of all stimuli to domestic fabrication, war. During 
 all that long period we were adding, to the positive effect 
 of the measures of government, all the moral encouragement 
 which results from popular resolves, legislative resolves, 
 and other manifestations of the public will and the public 
 wish to foster our home manufactures, and to render our 
 confederacy independent of foreign powers. The peace 
 ensued, and the country was flooded with the fabrics of 
 other countries; and we, forgetting all our promises, coolly 
 and philosophically talk of leaving things to themselves; ma- 
 king up our deficiency of practical good sense, by the stores 
 of learning which we collect from theoretical writers. I, too, 
 sometimes amuse myself with the visions of these writers 
 (as I do with those of metaphysicians and novelists) and, if 
 
200 ON THE TARIFF. 
 
 I do not forget, one of the best among them, enjoins it upon 
 a country to protect its industry against the injurious in- 
 fluence of the prohibitions and restrictions of foreign coun- 
 tries, which operate upon it. 
 
 Monuments of the melancholy effects, upon our manufac- 
 tures, and of the fluctuating policy of the councils of the 
 union in regard to them, abound in all parts of the country. 
 Villages, and parts of villages, which sprung up but yes- 
 terday in the western country, under the excitement to which 
 I have referred, have dwindled into decay and are abandon- 
 ed. In New England, in passing along the highway, one 
 frequently sees large and spacious buildings, with the glass 
 broken out of the windows, the shutters hanging in ruinous 
 disorder, without any appearance of activity, and enveloped 
 in solitary gloom. Upon inquiring what they are, you are 
 almost always informed that they were some cotton or other 
 factory, which their proprietors could no longer keep in mo- 
 tion against the overwhelming pressure of foreign compe- 
 tition. Gentlemen ask ior facts to show the expediency and 
 propriety of extending protection to our manufactures. Do 
 they want stronger evidence than the condition of things I 
 have pointed out? They ask why the manufacturing in- 
 dustry is not resumed under the encouraging auspices of 
 the present time? Sir, the answer is obvious; there is a 
 general dismay; there is a want of heart; there is the greatest 
 moral discouragement experienced throughout the nation. 
 A man who engages in the manufacturing business is thought 
 by his friends to be deranged. Who will go to the site on 
 which lie the ruins of Carthage or Balbec to rebuild a city 
 there? Let government commence a systematic, but moderate 
 support of this important branch of our industry. Let it 
 announce its fixed purpose, that the protection of manufac- 
 tures against the influence of the measures of foreign govern- 
 ments will enter into the scope of our national policy. Let 
 us substitute to the irregular action of our measures one 
 that shall be steady and uniform: and hope and animation 
 and activity will again revive. The gentleman from South 
 Carolina (Mr. Lowndes) offered a resolution, which the 
 house rejected, having for its object to ascertain the profits 
 now made upon capital employed in manufacturing. It is 
 not, I repeat it, the individuals, but the interests we wish 
 to have protected. From the infinite variety of circum- 
 stances under which different manufacturing establishments 
 
ON THE TARIFF. 201 
 
 ure situated, it is impossible that any information, such as 
 the gentleman desires, could be obtained, that ought to guide 
 the judgment of this house. It may happen, that, of two 
 establishments engaged in the same species of fabrication, 
 one will be prospering and the other laboring. Take the ex- 
 ample of the Waltham manufactory near Boston, and that 
 of Brunswick in Maine. The former has the advantages 
 of a fine water situation, a manager of excellent informa- 
 tion, enthusiastically devoted to its success, a mechanist of 
 most inventive genius, who is constantly making some new 
 improvement, and who has carried the water loom to a de- 
 gree of perfection which it has not attained in England; to 
 such perfection as to reduce the cost of weaving a yard of 
 cloth adapted to shirting to less than a cent per yard; while 
 it is abundantly supplied with capital by several rich capi- 
 talists in Boston. I'hese gentlemen have the most exten- 
 sive correspondence with all parts of the United States. 
 Owing to this extraordinary combination of favorable cir- 
 cumstances, the Waltham establishment is doing pretty well. 
 Whilst that of Brunswick, not possessing all of them, but 
 perhaps as many as would enable it, under adequate pro- 
 tection, to flourish, is labouring arduously. Would gentle- 
 men infer, from the success of a few institutions having pe- 
 culiar advantages, which form exceptions to the languishing 
 condition of manufacturing industry, that there exists no 
 necessity for protection? In the most discouraging state of 
 trade and navigation, there were, no doubt, always some in- 
 dividuals who were successful in prosecuting them. Would 
 it be fair to argue from these instances, against any mea- 
 sure brought forward to revive their activity? 
 
 The gentleman from Massachusetts, (Mr. Whitman) has 
 manifested peculiar hostility to the tariff, and has allowed 
 himself to denominate it a mad, quixotic, ruinous scheme. 
 The gentleman is dissatisfied with the quarter, (the west) 
 from which it emanates. To give higher tone and more ef- 
 fect to the gentleman's declamation, which is vague and in- 
 definite, he has even assumed a new place in this house. 
 Sir, I would advise the gentleman to return to his ancient 
 position, moral and physical. It was respectable and useful. 
 The honorable gentleman professes to be a friend to manu- 
 facturers! And yet he has found an insurmountable consti- 
 tutional impediment to their encouragement, of which, as no 
 other gentleman has relied upon it, I shall leave him in the 
 Dd 
 
202 ON THE TARIFF. 
 
 undisturbed possession. The honorable gentleman a friend 
 to manufacturers! And yet he has delivered a speech, mark- 
 ed with peculiar emphasis, against their protection. The 
 honorable gentleman a friend to manufacturers! And yet 
 he requires (if his constitutional difficulty could be remov- 
 ed) such an arrangement of the tariff as shall please him, 
 although every one else should be dissatisfied. The inti- 
 mation is notnevjT of the presumptuousness of western poli- 
 ticians in endeavoring to give to the policy of this country 
 such a direction as will assert its honor and sustain its in- 
 terests. It was first made whilst the measures preparatory 
 to the late war were under consideration, and it now proba- 
 bly emanates from the same quarter. The predilection of 
 the school of the Essex Junto for foreign trade and British 
 fabrics (I am far from insinuating that other gentlemen who 
 are opposed to the tariff are actuated by any such spirit) is 
 unconquerable. We disregarded the intimation when it 
 was first made; we shall be uninfluenced by it now. If, in- 
 deed, there were the least color for the assertion, that the 
 foreign trade is to be crushed by the tariff, is it not strange 
 that the whole of the representation from all our great com- 
 mercial metropolises should unite to destroy it? The mem- 
 ber from Boston (to whose national and disinterested course 
 I am happy, on this, as on many other occasions, to be able 
 to testify;) the lepresentatives from the city of New York, 
 from Philadelphia, and from Baltimore, all entered into this 
 confederacy, to destroy it, by supporting this mad and ruin- 
 ous scheme. Some gentlemen assert that it is too compre- 
 hensive. But its chief recommendation to me is, that it 
 leaves no important interest unprovided for. 
 
 The same gentlemen, or others, if it had been more limit- 
 ed, would have objected to its partial operation. The gene- 
 ral measure of the protection which it communicates, is 
 pronounced to be immoderate and enormous. Yet no one 
 ventures to enter into a specification of the particular arti- 
 cles of which it is composed, to show that it deserves thus 
 to be characterized. The article of molasses has, indeed, 
 been selected, and held up as an instance of the alleged ex- 
 travagance. The existing tariff imposes a duty of five cents; 
 the proposed tariff ten cents per gallon. We tax foreign 
 spirits very high, and yet we let in, with a very low duty, 
 foreign molasses, which ought to be considered as rum in 
 disguise, filling the space of so much domestic spirits. If 
 
ON THE TARIFF. 203 
 
 (which I do not believe will immediately be the case, to 
 any considerable extent) the manufacture of spirits from 
 molasses should somewhat decline under the new tariff, the 
 manufacture of spirits from the raw material, produced at 
 home, will be extended in the same ratio. Besides the in- 
 cidental advantage of increasing our security against the 
 effect of seasons of scarcity, by increasing the distillation 
 of spirits from grain, there was scarcely any item in the ta- 
 riff which combined so many interests in supporting the 
 proposed rate of duty. The grain-growing country, the fruit 
 country, and the culture of cane, would be all benefitted by 
 the duty. Its operation is said, however, to be injurious 
 to a certain quarter of the union. It was not to be denied, 
 that each particular section of the country would feel some 
 one or more articles of the tariff to bear hard upon it, dur- 
 ing a short period; but the compensation was to be found in 
 the more favorable operation of others. Now I am fully 
 persuaded that, in the first instance, no part of the union 
 would more largely than New England, share in the aggre- 
 gate of the benefits resulting from the tariff. But the habits 
 of economy of her people, their industry, their skill, their 
 noble enterprize, the stimulating effects of their more rigor- 
 ous climate, all tend to ensure to her the first and the rich- 
 est fruits of the tai iff. The middle and the western states 
 would come in afterwards for their portion, and all would 
 participate in the advantage of internal exchanges and cir- 
 culation. No quarter of the union could urge, with a worse 
 grace than New England, objections to a measure, having 
 for its object the advancement of the interests of the whole; 
 for no quarter of the union participated more extensively 
 in the benefits flowing from the general government. Her 
 tonnage, her fisheries, her foreign trade, have been constant- 
 ly objects of federal care. There was expended the great- 
 est portion of the public revenue. The building of the pub- 
 lic ships; their equipments; the expenses incident to their 
 remaining in port, chiefly took place there. That great drain 
 on the revenue, the revolutionary pension law, inclined prin- 
 cipally towards New England. I do not however com- 
 plain of these advantages which she enjoys. She is, proba- 
 bly, fairly entitled to them. But gentlemen from that quar- 
 ter may, at least, be justly reminded of them, when they 
 complain of the onerous effect of one or two items of the 
 tariff. 
 
204 ON THE TARIFF. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, I frankly own that I feel great solicitude 
 for the success of this bill. The entire independence of my 
 country on all foreign states, as it respects a supply of our 
 essential wants, has ever been with me a favorite object. 
 The war of our revolution effected our political emancipa- 
 tion. The last war contributed greatly towards accomplish- 
 ing our commercial freedom. But our complete indepen- 
 dence will only be consummated after the policy of this bill 
 shall be recognized and adopted. We have indeed great 
 difficulties to contend with; old habits — colonial usages — 
 the obduracy of the colonial spirit — the enormous profits of 
 a foreign trade, prosecuted under favorable circumstances, 
 which no longer continue. I will not despair; the cause, I 
 verily believe, is the cause of the country. It may be post- 
 poned; it may be frustrated for the moment, but it must fi- 
 nally prevail. Let us endeavour to acquire for the present 
 congress, the merit of having laid this solid foundation of 
 the national prosperity. If, as I think, fatally for the public 
 interest, the bill shall be defeated, what will be the charac- 
 ter of the account which we shall have to render to our con- 
 stituents upon our return among them? We shall be asked, 
 what have you done to remedy the disorders of the public 
 currency? Why, Mr. secretary of the treasury made us a 
 long report on that matter, containing much valuable infor- 
 mation, and some very good reasoning, but, upon the whole, 
 we found that subject rather above our comprehension, and 
 we concluded that it it was wisest to let it regulate itself. 
 "What have you done to supply the deficit in the treasury? 
 We thought that, although you are all endeavoring to get 
 out of the banks, it was a very good time for us to go intO- 
 them, and we have authorized a loan. You have done some- 
 thing, then, certainly, on the subject of retrenchment. Here, 
 at home, we are practising the greatest economy, and our 
 daughters, no longer able to wear calico gowns, are obliged 
 to put on homespun. Why, we have saved, by the indefati- 
 gable exertions of a member from Tennessee, (gen. Cocke) 
 fifty thousand dollars, which were wanted for the Yellow 
 Stone expedition. No, not quite so much; for thirty-thou- 
 sand dollars of that sum were slill wanted, although we stopt 
 the expedition at the Council Bluflfs. And we have saved 
 another sum, which we hope will give you great satisfaction. 
 After near two days debate, and a division between the two 
 houses, we struck off two hundred dollars from the salarv 
 
ON THE TARIFF. 205 
 
 of the clerk of the attorney general. What have you done 
 to protect home industry from the effects of the contracted 
 policy of foreign powers? We thought it best, after much 
 deliberation, to leave things alone at home, and to continue 
 our encouragement to foreign industry. Well, surely, you 
 have passed some law to reanimate and revive the hopes of 
 the numerous bankrupts that have been made by the extra- 
 ordinary circumstances of the world, and the ruinous ten- 
 dency of our policy? No; the senate could not agree on 
 that subject, and the bankrupt bill failed! Can we plead, sir, 
 ignorance of the general distress, and of the ardent wishes 
 of the community for that protection of its industry, which 
 this bill proposes? No, sir, almost daily, throughout the 
 session, have we been receiving petitions, with which our 
 tableis now loaded, humbly imploring us to extend this pro- 
 tection. Unanimous resolutions from important state legis- 
 latures have called upon us to give it, and the people of 
 whole states in mass — almost in mass, of New York, New 
 Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Ohio — have transmitted to us 
 their earnest, and humble petitions to encourage the home 
 industry. Let us not turn a deaf ear to them. Let us not 
 disappoint their just expectations. Let us manifest, by the 
 passage of this bill, that congress does not deserve the re- 
 proaches which have been cast on it, of insensibility to the 
 v/ants and the sufferings of the people. 
 
206 
 
 ON THE SPANISH TREATY. 
 
 Speech on the Spanish Treaty^ delivered in the House of 
 Representatives^ Monday^ 3d April^ 1820. 
 
 The house having resolved itself into a comaiittee of the 
 whole, on the state of the union; and the following resolu- 
 tions, submitted some days ago by Mr. Clay (the speaker) 
 being under consideration: 
 
 1. Resolved, that the Constitution of the United States 
 vests in congress the power to dispose of the territory be- 
 longing to them, and that no treaty, purporting to alienate 
 any portion thereof, is valid without the concurrence of 
 congress. 
 
 2. Resolved, that the equivalent proposed to be given 
 by Spain to the United States in the treaty concluded be- 
 tween them, on the twenty-second February, 1819, for that 
 part of Louisiana lying west of the Sabine, was inadequate; 
 and that it would be inexpedient to make a transfer thereof 
 to any foreign power, or to renew the aforesaid treaty — 
 
 Mr. Clay said, that, whilst he felt very grateful to the 
 house for the prompt and respectful manner in which they 
 had allowed him to enter upon the discussion of the reso- 
 lutions which he had the honour of submitting to their no- 
 tice, he must at the same time frankly say, that he thought 
 their character and consideration, in the councils of this 
 country, were concerned in not letting the present session 
 pass off without deliberating upon our affairs with Spain. In 
 coming to the present session of congress, it had been his 
 anxious wish to be able to concur with the executive branch 
 of the government in the measures which it might conceive 
 itself called upon to recommend on that subject, for two 
 reasons, of which, the first, relating personally to himself, 
 he would not trouble the committee with further noticing. 
 The other was, that it appeared to him to be always desir- 
 able, in respect to the foreign action of this government, 
 that there should be a perfect coincidence in opinion between 
 its several co-ordinate branches. In time, however, of peace 
 it might be allowable to those who are charged with the 
 
ON THE SPANISH TREATY, 207 
 
 public interests to entertain and express their respective 
 views, although there might be some discordance between 
 them. In a season of war there should be no division in the 
 public councils; but an united and vigorous exertion to bring 
 the war to an honourable conclusion. For his part, when- 
 ever that calamity may befal his country, he would entertain 
 but one wish, and that is, that success might crown our 
 struggle, and the war be honorably and gloriously termi- 
 nated. He would never refuse to share in the joys incident 
 to the victory of our arms, nor to participate in the griefs 
 of defeat and discomfiture. He conceded entirely in the 
 sentiment once expressed by that illustrious hero, whose 
 recent melancholy fall we all so sincerely deplore, that for- 
 tune may attend our country in whatever war it may be in- 
 volved. 
 
 There are two systems of policy, he said, of which our 
 government had had the choice. The first was, by appealing 
 to the justice and affections of Spain, to employ all those 
 persuasives which could arise out of our abstinence from 
 any direct countenance to the cause of South America and 
 the observance of a strict neutrality. The other was, by 
 appealing to her justice also and to her fears, to prevail 
 upon her to redress the injuries of which we complain, — 
 her fears by a recognition of the independent governments 
 of South America, and leaving her in a state of uncertainty 
 as to the further step we might take in respect to those 
 governments. The unratified treaty was the result of the 
 first system. It could not l)e positively affirmed what effect 
 the other system would have produced; but he verily be- 
 lieved that, whilst it rendered justice to those governments, 
 and would have better comported with that magnanimous 
 policy which ought to have characterized our own, it would 
 have more successfully tended to an amicable and satisfac- 
 tory arrangement of our differences with Spain. 
 
 The first system has so far failed. At the commencement 
 of the session, the president recommended an enforcement 
 of the provisions of the treaty. After three months delibe- 
 ration, the committee of foreign affairs, not being able to 
 concur with him, he has made us a report recommending 
 the seizure of Florida in the nature of a reprisal. Now the 
 president recommends our postponement of the subject until 
 the next session. It had been his (Mr. Clay's) intention, 
 whenever the committee of foreign affairs should engage 
 
208 ON THE SPANISH TREATY. 
 
 the house to act upon their bill, to offer, as a substitute for 
 it, the system which he thought it became this country to 
 adopt, of which the occupation of Texas, as our own, would 
 have been a part, and the recognition of the independent 
 governments of South America another. If he did not now 
 bring forward this system, it was because the committee 
 proposed to withdraw their bill, and because he knew too 
 much of the temper of the house and of the executive, to 
 think that it was advisable to bring it forward. He hoped 
 that some suitable opportunity might occur during the ses- 
 sion, for considering the propriety of recognizing the inde- 
 pendent governments of South America. 
 
 Whatever Mr. C. might think of the discretion which 
 was evinced in recommending the postponement of the bill 
 of the committee of foreign relations, he could not think 
 that the reasons, assigned by the president for that recom- 
 mendation, were entitled to the weight which he had given 
 them, Mr. C. thought the house was called upon, by a high 
 sense of duty, seriously to animadvert upon some of those 
 reasons. He believed it was the first example, in the annals 
 of the country, in which a course of policy, respecting one 
 foreign power, which we must suppose had been deliberately 
 considered, has been recommended to be abandoned, in a 
 domestic communication from one to another co-ordinate 
 branch of the government, upon the avowed ground of the 
 interposition of foreign powers. And what is the nature of 
 this interposition? It is evidenced by a cargo of scraps ga- 
 thered up from this charge d'affaires, and that — of loose con- 
 versations held with this foreign minister, and that — perhaps 
 mere levee conversations, without a commitment in writing, 
 in a solitary instance, of any of the foreign parties concerned, 
 except only in the case of his imperial majesty; and what 
 was the character of his commitment we shall presently see. 
 But, Mr. C. said, he must enter his solemn protest against 
 this and every other species of foreign interference in our 
 matters with Spain. What have they to do with them? Would 
 ihey not repel as officious and insulting intrusion, any in- 
 terference on our part in their concerns with foreign states? 
 Would his imperial majesty have listened, with complacency, 
 to our remonstrances against the vast acquisitions which he 
 has recently made? He has lately trammed his enormous 
 maw with Finland, and with the spoils of Poland, and, 
 whilst the difficult process of digestion is going on, he throws 
 
ON THE SPANISH TREATY. 209 
 
 himself upon a couch, and cries out — don't, don't disturb my 
 repose. 
 
 He charges his minister here to plead the cause of peace 
 and concord! The American " government is too enlight- 
 ened" (ah! sir, how sweet this unction is, which is poured 
 down our backs,) to take hasty steps. And his imperial 
 majesty's minister here is required to engage (Mr. C. said 
 he hoped the original expression was less strong, but he 
 believed the French word engager bore the same meaning,) 
 the American government, &c." "" Nevertheless the empei'or 
 does not interpose in this discussion." No! not he. He, 
 makes above all "no pretension to exercise influence in the 
 councils of a foreign power." Not the slightest. And yet, 
 at the very instant when he is protesting against the impu- 
 tation of this influence, his interposition is proving efi'ectual! 
 His imperial majesty has at least manifested so far, in this 
 particular, his capacity to govern his empire, by the selection 
 of a sagacious minister. For if count Nesselrode had never 
 written another paragraph, the extract from his despatch 
 to Mr. Poletica, which has been transmitted to this house, 
 will demonstrate that he merited the confidence of his mas- 
 ter. It is quite refreshing to read such state papers, after 
 perusing those (he was sorry to say it, he wished there was 
 a veil broad and thick enough to conceal them forever,) 
 which this treaty had produced on the part of our govern- 
 ment. 
 
 Conversations between my lord Castlereagh and our min- 
 ister at London had also been communicated to this house. 
 Nothing from the hand of his lordship is produced; no! he 
 does not commit himself in that way. The sense in which 
 our minister understood him, and the purport of certain 
 parts of despatches from the British government to its min- 
 ister at Madrid, which he deigned to read to our minister, 
 are alone communicated to us. Now we know very well 
 how diplomatists, when it is their pleasure to do so, can 
 wrap themselves up in mystery. No man more than my 
 lord Castlereagh, who is also an able minister, possessing 
 much greater talents than are allowed to him generally in 
 this country, can successfully express himself in ambiguous 
 language, when he chooses to employ it. Mr. C. recollected 
 himself once to have witnessed this facility, on the part of 
 his lordship. The case was this. When Bonaparte made 
 his escape from Elba and invaded France, a great part of 
 Ee 
 
310 ON THE SPANISH TREATY. 
 
 Europe believed it was with the connivance of the British 
 ministry. The opposition charged them, in parliament with 
 it, and they were interrogated to know what measures of 
 precaution they had taken against such an event. Lord Cas- 
 tlereagh replied by stating, that there was an understanding' 
 with a certain naval officer of high rank, commanding in 
 the adjacent seas, that he was to act on certain contingencies. 
 Now, Mr. Chairman, if you can make any thing intelligible 
 out of this reply you will have much more success than 
 the English opposition had. 
 
 The allowance of interference by foreign powers in the 
 affairs of our government, not pertaining to themselves, is 
 against the counsels of all our wisest politicians, — those of 
 "Washington, Jefferson, and he would also add those of the 
 present chief magistrate; for, pending this very Spanish 
 negociation, the offer of the mediation of foreign states was 
 declined, upon the true ground that Europe had her system, 
 and we ours; and that it was not compatible with our policy 
 to entangle ourselves in the labyrinths of hers. But a me- 
 diation is far preferable to the species of interference on 
 which it had been his reluctant duty to comment. The me- 
 diator is a judge, placed on high, his conscience his guide, 
 the world his spectators, and posterity his j\idge. His posi- 
 tion is one, therefore, of the greatest responsibility. But 
 what responsibility is attached to this sort of irregular, 
 drawing room, intriguing interposition? He could see no 
 motive for governing or influencing our policy, in regard 
 to Spain, furnished m any of the communications which 
 respected the disposition of foreign powers. He regretted 
 for his part, that they had at all been consulted. There was 
 nothing in the character of the power of Spain; nothing in 
 the beneficial nature of the stipulations of the treaty to us, 
 which warranted us in seeking the aid of foreign powers, 
 if in any case whatever that aid were desirable. He was 
 far from saying that, in the foreign action of this government, 
 it might not be prudent to keep a watchful eye upon the 
 probable conduct of foreign powers. That might be a ma- 
 terial circumstance to be taken into consideration. But he 
 never would avow to our own people, — never promulgate 
 to foreign powers, that their wishes and interference were 
 the controlling cause of our policy. Such promulgation would 
 lead to the most alarming consequences. It was to invite 
 further interposition. It might, in process of time, create 
 
ON THE SPANISH TREATY. 211 
 
 in the bosom of our country a Russian faction, a British 
 faction, a French faction. Every nation ought to be jealous 
 of this species of interference, whatever was its form of 
 government. But of all forms of government the united 
 testimony of all history admonished a republic to be most 
 guarded against it. From the moment Philip intermeddlea ' 
 with the affairs of Greece, the liberty of Greece was doomed 
 to inevitable destruction. 
 
 Suppose, said Mr. C. we could see the communications 
 which have passed between his imperial majesty and the 
 British government, respectively, and Spain, in regard to 
 the United States; what do you imagine would be their 
 character? Do you suppose the same language has been 
 held to Spain and to us? Do you not, on the contrary, be- 
 lieve, that sentiments have been expressed to her, consoling 
 to her pride? That we have been represented, perhaps, as 
 an ambitious republic, seeking to aggrandize ourselves at 
 her expense? 
 
 In the other ground taken by the president, the present 
 distressed condition of Spain, for his recommendation of 
 forbearance to act during the present session, Mr. C. was 
 also sorry to say that it did not appear to him to be solid. 
 He could well conceive how the weakness of your aggressor 
 might, when he was withholding from you justice, form a 
 motive for your pressing your equitable demands upon him; 
 but he could not accord in the wisdom of that policy which 
 would wait his recovery of strength, so as to enable him 
 successfully to resist those demands. Nor would it comport 
 with the practice of our government heretofore. Did we 
 not, in 1811, when the present monarch of Spain was an 
 ignoble captive, and the people of the Peninsula were con- 
 tending for the inestimable privelege of self-government, 
 seize and occupy that part of Louisiana which is situated 
 between the Mississippi and the Perdido? What must the 
 people of Spain think of that policy which would not spare 
 them, and which commiserates alone an unworthy prince, 
 who ignominiously surrendered himself to his enemy; a vile 
 despot, of whom I cannot speak in appropriate language 
 without departing from the respect due to this house or to 
 myself? What must the people of South America think of 
 this sympathy for Ferdinand, at a moment when they, as 
 well as the people of the Peninsula themselves, (if we are 
 to believe the late accounts, and God send that they may be 
 true,) are struggling for liberty? 
 
212 ON THE SPANISH TREATY 
 
 Again: when we declared our late just war against Great 
 Britain, did we wait for a moment when she was free from 
 embarrassment or distress; or did we not rather wisely select 
 a period when there was the greatest probability of giving 
 success to our arms? What was the complaint in England; 
 what the language of faction here? Was it not that we had 
 cruelly proclaimed the war at a time when she was strug- 
 gling for the liberties of the world? How truly, let the sequel 
 and the voice of impartial history tell. 
 
 Whilst he could not, therefore, Mr. C. said, persuade 
 himself, that the reasons assigned by the president for post- 
 poning the subject of our Spanish affairs until another ses- 
 sion, were entided to all the weight which he seemed to 
 think belonged to them, he did not nevertheless regret that 
 the particular project recommended by the committee of 
 foreign relations was thus to be disposed of; for it was war 
 — war, attempted to be disguised. And if we went to war, 
 he thought it should have no other limit than indemnity 
 for the past, and security for the future. He had no idea of 
 the wisdom of that measure of hostility which would bind 
 us, whilst the other party is left free. 
 
 Before he proceeded to consider the particular proposi- 
 tions which the resolutions contained which he had had the 
 honour of submitting, it was material to determine the actual 
 posture of our relations to Spain. He considered it too clear 
 to need discussion, that the treaty was at an end; that it 
 contained in its present state, no obligation whatever upon 
 us, and no obligation whatever on the part of Spain. It was 
 as if it had never been. We are remitted back to the state 
 of our rights and our demands which existed prior to the 
 conclusion of the treaty, with this only difference, that, in- 
 Sftead of being merged in, or weakened by the treaty, they 
 had acquired all the additional force which the intervening 
 time and the faithlessness of Spain can communicate to them. 
 Standing on this position, he should not deem it necessary 
 to interfere with the treaty-making power, if a fixed and 
 persevering purpose had not been indicated by it, to obtain 
 the revival of the treaty. Now he thought it a bad treaty. 
 The interest of the country, as it appeared to him, forbade 
 its renewal. Being gone, it was perfectly incomprehensible 
 to him why so much solicitude was mainfested to restore 
 it. Yet it is clung to with the same sort of frantic affection 
 with which the bereaved mother hugs her dead infant in 
 the vain hope of bringing it back to life. 
 
ON THE SPANISH TREATY. 213 
 
 Has the house of representatives a right to express its 
 opinion upon the arrangement made in that treaty? The 
 president, by asking congress to carry it into effect, has given 
 us jurisdiction of the subject, if we had it not before. We 
 derive from that circumstance the right to consider, 1st, if 
 there be a treaty; 2dly, if we ought to carry it into eifect; 
 and, 3dly, if there be no treaty, whether it be expedient to 
 assert our rights, independent of the treaty. It will not be 
 contended that we are restricted to that specific mode of 
 redress which the president intimated in his opening mes- 
 sage. 
 
 The first resolution which he had presented, asserted that 
 the constitution vests in the congress of the United States 
 the power to dispose of the territory belonging to them; and 
 that no treaty, purporting to alienate any portion thereof, 
 is valid, without the concurrence of congress.* It was far 
 from his wish to renew at large a discussion of the treaty- 
 making power. The constitution of the United States had 
 not defined the precise limits of that power, because, from 
 the nature of it, they could not be prescribed. It appeared 
 to him, however, that no safe American statesman would 
 assign to it a boundless scope. He presumed, for example, 
 that it would not be contended that in a goveinment which 
 was itself limited, there was a functionary without limit. 
 The first great bound to the power in question, he appre- 
 hended, was, that no treaty could constitutionally transcend 
 the very objects and purposes of the government itself. He 
 thought, also, that wherever there were specific grants of 
 powers to congress, they limited and controlled, or, he would 
 rather say, modified the exercise of the general grant of the 
 treaty-making power, upon the principle which was familiar 
 to every one. He did not insist that the treaty-making 
 power could not act upon the subjects committed to the 
 charge of congress; he merely contended that the concur- 
 rence of congress in its action upon those subjects was / 
 necessary. Nor would he insist that the concurrence should 
 precede that action. It would be always most desirable that 
 it should precede it, if convenient, to guard against the com- 
 mitment of congress, on the one hand, by the executive, or 
 
 * The proposition which it asserts was, he thought, sufficiently main- 
 tained by barely reading the clause in the constitution on which it rests; 
 " The congress shall have power to dispose, &c. the territory or other 
 property belonging to the United States." 
 
 ) 
 
214 ON THE SPANISH TREATY. 
 
 on the other, what might seem to be a violation of the faith 
 of the country, pledged for the ratification of the treaty. 
 But he was perfectly aware, that it would be very often 
 highly inconvenient to deliberate, in a body so numerous 
 as congress, on the nature of those terms on which it might 
 be proper to treat with foreign powers. In the view of the 
 subject which he had been taking, there was a much higher 
 degree of security to the interests of this country. For, 
 with all respect to the president and senate, it could not 
 disparage the wisdom of their councils, to add to that of 
 this house also. But, if the concurrence of this house be 
 not necessary in the cases asserted; if there be no restriction 
 upon the power he was considering, it might draw to itself 
 and absorb the whole of the powers of government. To 
 contract alliances; to stipulate for raising troops to be em- 
 ployed in a common war about to be waged; to grant sub- 
 sidies, even to introduce foreign troops within the bosom 
 of the country, were not unfrequent instances of the exercise 
 of this power; and if in all such cases the honour and faith 
 of the nation were committed, by the exclusive act of the 
 president and senate, the melancholy duty alone might be 
 left to congress of recording the ruin of the republic* 
 
 Supposing, however, that no treaty which undertakes to 
 dispose of the territory of the United States is valid, without 
 the concurrence of congress, it may be contended that such 
 treaty may constitutionally fix the limits of the territory of 
 the United States, where they are disputed, without the 
 co-operation of congress. He admitted it, when the fixation 
 of the limits simply was the object. As in the case of the 
 river St. Croix, or the more recent stipulation in the treaty 
 of Ghent, or in that of the treaty of Spain in l79j. In all 
 these cases, the treaty-making power merely reduces to 
 certainty that which was before unascertained. It announces 
 
 * The bouse of representatives has uniformly maintained its right to 
 
 deliberate upon those treaties, in which their co-operation was asked by 
 
 f the executive. In the first case that occurred in the operation of our 
 
 t government, that of the treaty, commonlj called Mr. Jay's treaty, after 
 
 ; general Washington refused to communicate his instructions to that 
 
 ' minister, the house asserted its rights, by fifty odd votes to thirty odd. 
 
 In the last case that occurred, the convention in 1815 with Great Britain, 
 
 although it passed off upon what was called a compromise, this house 
 
 substantially obtained its object; (or, if that convention operated as a 
 
 repeal of the laws with which it was incompatible, th^e act which passed 
 
 was altogether unnecessary. 
 
ON THE SPANISH TREATY. 215 
 
 the fact; it proclaims in a tangible form, the existence of the 
 boundary. It does not make a new boundary; it asserts only 
 where the old boundary was. But it cannot, under colour 
 of fixing a boundary previously existing, though not in fact 
 marked, undertake to cede away, without the concurrence 
 of congress, whole provinces. If the subject be one of a 
 mixed character, if it consists partly of cession, and partly 
 ef the fixation of a prior limit, he contended that the presi- 
 dent must come here for the consent of congress. But in 
 the Florida treaty it was not pretended that the object was 
 simply a declaration of where the western limit of Louisiana 
 was. It was, on the contrary, the case of an avowed cession ^ 
 of territory from the United States to Spain. The whole 
 of the correspondence manifested that the respective parties 
 to the negociation were not engaged so much in an inquiry 
 where the limit of Louisiana was, as that they were ex- 
 changing overtures as to where it should be. Hence, we find 
 various limits proposed and discussed. At one time the 
 Mississippi is proposed; then the Missouri; then a river 
 discharging itself into the gulf east of the Sabine. A vast 
 desert is proposed to separate the territories of the two 
 powers; and finally the Sabine, which neither of the parties 
 had ever contended was the ancient limit of Louisiana, is 
 adopted, and the boundary is extended from its source by 
 a line perfectly new and arbitrary; and the treaty itself pro- 
 claims its purpose to be a cession from the United States to 
 Spain. 
 
 The second resolution comprehended three propositions; \^ 
 the first of which was, that the equivalent granted by Spain 1 
 to the United States for the province of Texas was inade- 
 quate. To determinate this it was necessary to estimate the / 
 value of what we gave and of what we received. This ( 
 involved an inquiry into our claim to Texas. It was not his 
 purpose to enter at large into this subject. He presumed 
 the spectacle would not be presented of questioning, in this 
 branch of the government, our title to Texas, which had 
 been constantly maintained, by the executive for more than 
 fifteen years past, under three several administrations. He 
 was at the same time ready and prepared to make out our 
 title, if any one in the house were fearless enough to con- 
 trovert it. He would, for the present, briefly state, that the 
 man who is most familiar with the transactions of this 
 government, who largely participated in the formation of 
 
216 ON THE SPANISH TREATY. 
 
 our constitution, and all that has been done under it, who, 
 besides the eminent services that he has rendered his country, 
 principally contributed to the acquisition of Louisiana, who 
 must be supposed, from his various opportunities, best to 
 know its limits, declared, fifteen years ago, that our title to 
 the Rio del Norte was as well founded as it was to the 
 island of New Orleans. [Here Mr. C. read an extract from 
 a memoir presented in 1805, by Mr. Monroe and Mr. 
 Pinckney, to Mr. Cevallos, proving that the boundary of 
 Louisiana extended eastward to the Perdido, and westward 
 to the Rio del Norte, in which thev say, — " The facts and 
 
 aHprinciple'i which justify this conclusion, are so satisfactory 
 to their government as to convince it that the United States 
 have not a better right to the island of New Orleans, under 
 the cession referred to, than they have to the whole district 
 of territory thus described."] The title to the Perdido on 
 the one side, and to the Rio del Norte on the other, rested 
 ; on the same principle, — the priority of discovery and of 
 
 f occupation by France. Spain had first discovered and made 
 
 an establishment at Pensacola; France at Dauphine island 
 in the bay of Mobile. The intermediate space was unoccu- 
 pied; and the principle observed among European nations 
 having contiguous settlements, being that the unoccupied 
 space between them should be equally divided, was applied 
 to it, and the Perdido thus became the common boundary. 
 So, west of the Mississippi, La Salle, acting under France, 
 
 ' in 1682 or 3, first discovered that river. In 1685, he made 
 an establishment on the bay of St. Bernard, west of the 
 
 ' Colorado, emptving into it. The nearest Spanish settlement 
 
 ' was Panuco, and the Rio del Norte, about the midway line, 
 
 ^Jjecame the common boundary. 
 
 All the accounts concurred in representing Texas to be 
 extremely valuable. Its superficial extent was three or four 
 times greater than that of Florida, The climate was delicious; 
 the soil fertile; the margins of the rivers abounding in live 
 oak; and the country admitting of easy settlement. It pos- 
 sessed, moreover, if he were not misinformed, one of the 
 finest ports in the gulf of Mexico. The productions of which 
 it was capable, were suited to our wants. The unfortunate 
 captive of St. Helena wished for ships, commerce, and 
 colonies. We have them all, if we do not wantonly throw 
 them away. The colonies of other countries are separated 
 from them by vast seas, requiring great expense to protect 
 
ON THE SPANISH TREATY. 217 
 
 \ 
 
 them, and are held subject to a constant risk of their being \ 
 torn from their grasp. Our colonies, on the contrary, are 
 united to and form a part of our continent; and the same 
 Mississippi, from whose rich deposit, the best of them j 
 (Louisiana,) has been formed, will transport on her bosom 
 the brave, the patriotic men from her tributary streams, to ' 
 defend and preserve the next most valuable, the province 
 of Texas. -^^/^ 
 
 We wanted Florida, or rather we shall want it; or, to 
 speak more correctly, we want no body else to have it. We 
 do not desire it for immediate use. It fills a space in our 
 imagination, and we wish it to complete the arrondizement 
 of our territory. It must certainly come to us. The ripened 
 fruit will not more surely fall. Florida is inclosed in between 
 Alabama and Georgia, and cannot escape. Texas may. 
 Whether we get Florida now, or some five or ten years 
 hence, it is of no consequence, provided no other power 
 gets it; and if any other power should attempt to take it, an 
 existing act of congress authorises the president to prevent 
 it. He was not disposed to disparage Florida, but its intrinsic / / 
 value was incomparably less than that of Texas. Almost ' 
 its sole value was military. The possession of it would 
 undoubtedly communicate some additional security to 
 Louisiana, and to the American commerce in the gulf of 
 Mexico. But it was not very essential to have it for pro- 
 tection to Georgia and Alabama. There could be no attack 
 upon either of them, by a foreign power, on the side of 
 Florida. It now covered those states. Annexed to the 
 United States, and we should have to extend our line of 
 defence so as to embrace Florida. Far from being, therefore, 
 a source of immediate profit, it would be the occasion of 
 considerable immediate expense. The acquisition of it was 
 certainly a fair object of our policy; and ought never to be 
 lost sight of. It is even a laudable ambition in any chief 
 magistrate to endeavour to illustrate the epoch of his ad- 
 ministration, by such an acquisition. It was less necessary, 
 however, to fill the measure of honors of the present chief 
 magistrate, than that of any other man, in consequence of 
 the large share which he had in obtaining all Louisiana. 
 But, whoever may deserve the renown which may attend 
 the incorporation of Florida into our confederacy, it is our 
 business, as the representatives of that people, who are to 
 pay the price of it, to take care, as far as we constitutionally 
 Ff 
 
218 ON THE SPANISH TREATY. 
 
 can, that too much is not given. He would not give Texas 
 for Florida in a naked exchange. We were bound by the 
 treaty to give not merely Texas, but five millions of dollars, 
 also, and the excess beyond that sum of all our claims upon 
 Spain, which have been variously estimated at from fifteen 
 to twenty millions of dollars! 
 
 The public is not generally apprized of another large 
 consideration which passed from us to Spain; if an inter- 
 pretation which he had heard given to the treaty were just; 
 and it certainly was plausible. Subsequent to the transfer, but 
 before the delivery of Louisiana from Spain to France, the 
 then governorof New Orleans (hebelieved hisname was Gay- 
 oso,) made a number of concessions upon the payment of an in- 
 considerable pecuniary consideration, amounting to between 
 nine hundred thousand, and a million acres of land, similar 
 to those recently made at Madrid to the royal favorites. 
 This land is situated in Feliciana, and between the Missis- 
 sippi and the Amit6, in the present state of Louisiana. It 
 was granted to persons who possessed the very best infor- 
 mation of the country, and is no doubt, therefore, the choice 
 land. The United States have never recognized, but have 
 constantly denied the validity of these concessions. It is 
 contended by the parties concerned, that they are confirmed 
 by the late treaty. By the second article, his catholic ma- 
 jesty cedes to the United States, in full property and sove- 
 reignty, all the territories which belong to him, situated to 
 the eastward of the Mississippi, known by the name of 
 East and West Florida. And by the eighth article, all grants 
 of land made before the twenty-fourth January, 1818, by 
 his catholic majesty, or by his laxvful authorities^ shall be 
 ratified and confirmed, &c. Now, the grants in question 
 having been made long prior to that day, are supposed to 
 be confirmed. He understood from a person interested, that 
 Don Onis had assured him it was his intention to confirm 
 them. Whether the American negociator had the same 
 intention or not, he (Mr. C) did not know. It will not be 
 pretended, that the letter of Mr. Adams, of the twelfth 
 March, 1818, in which he declines to treat any further with 
 respect to any part of the territory included within the 
 limits of the state of Louisiana, can control the operation 
 of the subsequent treaty. That treaty must be interpreted 
 by what is in it, and not by what is out of it. The overtures 
 which passed between the parties respectively, prior to the 
 
OJV THE SPANISH TREATS. 219 
 
 conclusion of the treaty, can neither restrict nor enlarge its 
 meaning. Moreover, when Mr. Madison occupied in 1811 
 the country between the Mississippi and the Perdido, he 
 declared, that, in our hands it should be, as it has been, 
 subject to negociation. 
 
 It results, then, that we have given for Florida, charged 
 and encumbered as it is: — 
 
 1st, Unincumbered Texas. 
 
 2d, Five millions of dollars. 
 
 3d, A surrender of all our claims upon Spain, not in- 
 cluded in that live millions; and, 
 
 4th, If the interpretation of the treaty which he had stated 
 were well founded, about a million of acres of the best un- 
 seated land in the state of Louisiana, worth perhaps ten 
 millions of dollars. 
 
 The first proposition contained in the second resolution 
 was thus, Mr. C. thought, fully sustained. The next was, 
 that it was inexpedient to cede Texas to any foreign power. 
 They constituted, in his opinion, a sacred inheritance of 
 posterity, which we ought to preserve unimpaired. He 
 wished it was, if it were not, a fundamental and inviolable 
 law of the land, that they should be inalienable to any foreign 
 power. It was quite evident that it was in the order of 
 Providence; that it was an inevitable result of the principle 
 of population, that the whole of this continent, including 
 Texas, was to be peopled in process of time. The question 
 was, by whose race shall it be peopled? In our hands it will 
 be peopled by freemen, and the sons of freemen, carrying 
 with them our language, our laws, and our liberties; esta- 
 blishing on the prairies of Texas, temples dedicated to the 
 simple, and devout modes of worship of God incident to 
 our religion, and temples dedicated to that freedom which 
 we adore next to Him. In the hands of others, it may be- 
 come the habitation of despotism and of slaves, subject to 
 the vile dominion of the Inquisition and of superstition. 
 He knew that there were honest and enlightened men who 
 feared that our confederacy was already too large, and that 
 there was danger of disruption, arising out of the want of 
 reciprocal coherence between its several parts. He hoped 
 and believed that the principle of representation, and the 
 formation of states, would preserve us an united people. 
 But it Texas, after being peopled by us, and grappling with 
 us, should, at some distant day, break off, she will carry 
 
220 ON THE SPANISH tREATY. 
 
 along with her a noble crew, consisting of our children's 
 children. The difference between those who might be dis- 
 inclined to its annexation to our confederacy, and him, was, 
 that their system began where his might, possibly, in some 
 distant future day, terminate; and their's began with a 
 foreign race, aliens to every thing that we hold dear, and 
 his ended with a race partaking of all our qualities. 
 
 The last proposition which the second resolution affirms, 
 is, that it is inexpedient to renew the treaty. If Spain had 
 promptly ratified it, bad as it is, he would have acquiesced 
 in it. After the protracted negociation which it terminated; 
 after the irritating and exasperating correspondence which 
 preceded it, he would have taken the treaty as a man who 
 has passed a long and restless night, turning and tossing 
 in his bed, snatches at day an hour's disturbed repose. But 
 she would not ratify it; she would not consent to be bound 
 by it; and she has liberated us from it. Is it wise to renew 
 the negociation, if it is to be recommenced, by announcing 
 to her at once our ultimatum? Shall we not give her the 
 vantage ground? In early life he had sometimes indulged 
 in a species of amusement, which years and experience had 
 determined him to renounce, which, if the committee would 
 allow him to use it, furnished him with a figure, — shall we 
 enter on the game, with our hand exposed to the adversary, 
 whilst he shuffles the cards to acquire more strength? What 
 has lost us his ratification of the treaty? Incontestibly our 
 importunity to procure the ratification, and the hopes which 
 that importunity inspired, that he could yet obtain more 
 from us. Let us undeceive him. Let us proclaim the 
 acknowledged truth, that the treaty is prejudicial to the 
 interests of this country. Are we not told, by the secretary 
 of state, in the bold and confident assertion, that Don Onis 
 was authorized to grant us jnuch more, and that Spain dare 
 not deny his instructions? The line of demarcation is far 
 within his limits? If she would have then granted us more, 
 is her position now more favorable to her in the negociation? 
 In our relations to foreign powers, it may be sometimes 
 politic to sacrifice a portion of our rights to secure the 
 residue. But is Spain such a power, as that it becomes us 
 to sacrifice those rights? Is she entitled to it by her justice, 
 by her observance of good faith, or by her possible annoy- 
 ance of us in the event of war? She will seek, as she has 
 sought, procrastination in the negociation, taking the treaty 
 
ON THE SPANISH TREATY. 221 
 
 as the basis. She will dare to offend us, as she has insulted 
 us, by asking the disgraceful stipulation that we shall not 
 recognize the patriots. — Let us put aside the treaty; tell 
 her to grant us our rights, to their utterniost extent. And 
 if she still palters^ let us assert those rights by whatever 
 measures it is for the interest of our country to adopt. 
 
 If the treaty were abandoned; if we were not on the 
 contrary signified, too distinctly, that there was to be a 
 continued and unremitting endeavor to obtain its revival, 
 he would not think it advisable for this house to interpose. 
 But, with all the information in our possession, and holding 
 the opinions which he entertained, he thought it the bouuden 
 duty of the house to adopt the resolutions. He had acquitted 
 himself of what he deemed a solemn duty, in bringing up 
 the subject. Others would discharge their's according to 
 their own sense of them- 
 
222 
 
 MISSION TO SOUTH AMERICA. 
 
 r ''Oj 
 House of Representatives, May i 1^20, 
 
 The house being in committee of the whole, on the state 
 of the Union, and a motion being made to that effect, the 
 committee resolved to proceed to the consideration of the 
 following resolutions: 
 
 Resolved — ihat it is expedient to provide by law a suit- 
 able outfit and salary for such minister or ministers as the 
 president, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, 
 may send to any of the governments of South America, 
 which have established and are maintaining, their indepen- 
 dence on Spain. 
 
 Resolved-— T\i2i\. provision ought to be made for request- 
 ing the president of the United States to cause to be pre- 
 sented to the general, the most worthy and distinguished, in 
 his opinion, in the service of any of the independent govern- 
 ments of South America, the sword which was given by 
 the viceroy of Lima to captain Biddle of the Ontario, dur- 
 ing her late cruise in the Pacific, and which is now in the 
 office of the department of state, with the expression of the 
 wish of the congress of the United States, that it may be em- 
 ployed in the support and preservation of the liberties and 
 independence of his country. 
 
 When Mr. Clay arose and said: It is my intention, Mr. 
 Chairman, to withdraw the latter resolution. Since I offered 
 it to this house, by the passage of the bill to prevent, under 
 suitable penalties, in future, the acceptance of presents, for- 
 bidden by the constitution, to prohibit the carrying of for- 
 eigners in the public vessels, and to limit to the case of our 
 own citizens, and to regulate, in that case, the transportation 
 of money in them, has, perhaps, sufficiently animadverted 
 on the violation of the constitution, which produced that 
 resolution. I confess that when 1 heard of captain Biddle 
 receiving from the deputy of a king the sword in question, 
 I felt greatly mortified. I could not help contrasting his 
 conduct with that of the surgeon on board an American 
 
MISSION TO SOUTH AMERICA. 223 
 
 man-of-war, in the bay of Naples, (I regret that I do not 
 recollect his name, as I should like to record with the tes- 
 timony which I with pleasure bear to his high minded con- 
 duct) who, having performed an operation on one of the suite 
 of the emperor of Austria, and being offered fifteen hundred 
 pistoles or dollars for his skillful service, returned the purse, 
 and said that what he had done was in the cause of human- 
 ity, and that the constitution of his country forbade his ac- 
 ceptance of the proffered boon. There was not an Ameri- 
 can heart that did not swell with pride on hearing of his 
 noble disinterestedness. It did appear to me, also, that 
 the time of captain Biddle's interposition was unfortunate 
 to produce an agreement between the viceroy of Lima and 
 Chili, to exchange their respective prisoners, however de- 
 sirable the accomplishment of such a humane object might 
 be. The viceroy had constantly refused to consent to any 
 such exchange. And it is an incontestible fact, that the bar- 
 barities which have characterized the civil war in Spanish 
 America have uniformly originated with the royalists. 
 After the memorable battle of Maipu, decisive of the in- 
 dependence of Chili, and fatal to the arms of the viceroy, 
 this interposition, if 1 am not mistaken, took place. The 
 transportation of money, upon freight, from the port of Cal- 
 lao to that of Rio Janeiro, for royalists, appeared to me 
 also highly improper. Ifwewishto preserve, unsullied, 
 the illustrious character, which our navy justly sustains, we 
 should repress the very first instances of irregularity. But 
 I am willing to believe that captain Biddle's conduct has 
 been inadvertent. He is a gallant officer, and belongs to a 
 respectable and patriotic family. His errors, I am persuad- 
 ed, will not be repeated by him or imitated by others. And 
 I trust that there is no man more unwilling than 1 am unne- 
 cessarily to press reprehension. It is thought, moreover, 
 by some, that the president might feel an embarrassment 
 in executing the duty required of him by the resolution, 
 which it was far from my purpose to cause him. I withdraw it. 
 
 There is no connexion intended, or, in fact, between that 
 resolution and the one I now propose briefly to discuss. 
 The proposition to recognize the independent governments 
 of South America offers a subject of as great importance 
 as any which could claim the deliberate consideration of this 
 house. 
 
 Mr. Clay then went on to say, that it appeared to him the 
 
224 MISSION TO SOUTH AMERICA- 
 
 object of this government, heretofore, had been, so to man- 
 age its affairs, in regard to South America, as to produce 
 an effect on its existing negociations with the parent country. 
 The house were now apprized, by the message from the 
 president, that this policy had totally failed; it had failed, be- 
 cause our country would not dishonour itself by surren- 
 dering one of the most important rights incidental to sove- 
 reignty. Although we had observed a course toward the 
 patriots, as Mr. Gallatin said in his comn>unication read 
 yesterday, greatly exceeding in rigour the course pursued 
 towards them either by France or England; although, also, 
 as was remarked by the secretary of state, we had observed 
 a neutrality so strict that blood had been spilt in enforcing 
 it — still, Spanish honor was not satisfied, and fresh sacrifi- 
 ces were demanded of us. If they were resisted in form, 
 they were subststaniially yielded by our course as to South 
 America. We will not stipulate with Spain not to recog- 
 nize the independence of the south; but we nevertheless 
 grant her all she demands. 
 
 Mr. Clay said, it had been his intention to have gone into 
 a general view of the course of policy which has character- 
 ized the general government; but on account of the lateness 
 of the session, and the desire for an early adjournment, he 
 should wave for that purpose, and in the observations he 
 had to make, confine himself pretty much to events subse- 
 quent to the period at which he had submitted to the house 
 a proposition having nearly the same object as this. 
 
 After the return of our commissioners from South Ameri- 
 rica; after they had all agreed in attesting the fact of inde- 
 pendent sovereignty being exercised by the government of 
 Buenos Ayres, the whole nation looked forward to the re» 
 cognition of the independence of that country as the policy 
 which the government ought to pursue. He appealed to 
 every member to say, whether there was not a general opi- 
 nion, in case the report of that mission should turn out as 
 it did, that the recognition of the independence of that gov- 
 ernment would follow as a matter of course. The surprise 
 at a different course being pursued by the executive at the 
 last session was proportionably great. On this subject, so 
 strong was the message of the president at the commence- 
 ment of the present session, that some of the presses took it 
 for granted, that the recognition would follow of course, 
 and a paper in this neighbourhood has said that there was. 
 
MISSION TO SOUTH AMERICA. 225 
 
 in regard to that question, a race of popularity between the 
 president of the United States and the humble individual 
 who now addressed the house. Yet, faithless Ferdinand 
 refuses to ratify his own treaty, on the pretext of violations 
 of our neutrality; but, in fact, because we will not basely 
 surrender an important attribute of sovereignty. Two years 
 ago, Mr. Clay said, would in his opinion, have been the 
 proper time for recognizing the independence of the South. 
 Then the struggle was somewhat doubtful, and a kind office 
 on the part of this government would have had a salutary 
 effect. Since that period, what had occurred? Any thing 
 to prevent a recognition of their independence, or to make 
 it less expedient? No; every occurrence tended to prove 
 the capacity of that country to maintain its independence. 
 Mr. Clay then successively adverted to the battles of Mai- 
 pu, and Bojaca, their great brilliancy, and their important 
 consequences. Adverting to the union of Venezuela and 
 New Grenada in one republic, he said one of their first acts 
 was to appoint one of their most distinguished citizens, the 
 vice president Zea, a minister to this country. There was a 
 time, he said, when impressions are made on individuals and 
 nations, by kindness towards them, which lasts forever — 
 ■when they are surrounded with enemies, and embarrass- 
 ments present themselves. Ages and ages may pass away, said 
 Mr. Clay, before we forget the help we received in our day 
 of peril from the hands of France. Her injustice, the 
 tyranny of her despot, may alienate us for a time; but the mo- 
 ment it ceases, we relapse into a good feeling towards her. 
 Do you mean to wait, said Mr. Clay, until these republics 
 are recognized by the whole world, and then step in and ex- 
 tend your hand to them when it can no longer be withheld? 
 If we are to believe general Vives, wehave gone about among 
 foreign powers and consulted with lord Castlereagh and count 
 Nesselrode, to seek some aid in recognizing the indepen- 
 dence of these powers. What! after the president has told 
 us that the recognition of the independence of nations is an 
 incontestible right of sovereignty, shall we lag behind till 
 the European powers think proper to advance? The pre- 
 sident has assigned, as a reason for abstaining from the re- 
 cognition, that the congress of Aix-la-Chapelle might take 
 offence at it. So far from such an usurped interference 
 being a reason for stopping, Mr. Clay said he would have ex- 
 erted the right the sooner for it. But, the congress of Aix- 
 
226 MISSION TO SOUTH AMERICA. 
 
 la-Chapelle had refused to interfere, and on that point the 
 president was mistaken. Spain, it was true, had gone about 
 begging the nations of Europe not to interfere in behalf of 
 the South Americans; but the wishes of the whole unbiassed 
 world must be in their favor. And while we had gone on, 
 passing ntutrality bill after neutrality bill, and bills to pun- 
 ish piracy — with respect to unquestioned piracy, no one, 
 JVlr. Clay said, was more in favor of punishing it than he; 
 but he had no idea of imputing piracy to men fighting un- 
 der the flag of a people at war for independence — whilst 
 we pursued this course even in advance of the legitimates 
 of Europe, what, he asked, had been the course of England 
 herself on this head? Here Mr. Clay quoted a few passa- 
 ges from the work of Abbe de Pradt, recently translated by 
 one of our citizens, which, he said, though the author was 
 not very popular among crowned heads, no man could read 
 without being enlightened and instructed. These passages 
 dwelt on the importance of the commerce of South America, 
 when freed from its present restraints, fccc. What would I 
 give, exclaimed Mr. Clay, could we appreciate the advan- 
 tages which may be realized by pursuing the course which 
 I propose! It is in our power to create a system of which 
 we shall be the centre, and in which all South America 
 will act with us. In respect to commerce, we shall be most 
 benefitted: this country would become the place of deposit 
 of the commerce of the world. Our citizens engaged in 
 foreign trade at present were disheartened by the condition 
 of that trade: they must take new channels for it, and none 
 so advantageous could be found as those which the trade 
 with South America would afford. Mr. Clay took a pros- 
 pective view of the growth of wealth, and increase of popu- 
 lation of this country and South America. That country 
 had now a population ot upwards of eighteen millions. The 
 same activity in the principle of population would exist in 
 that country as here. Twenty-five years hence it might 
 be estimated at thirty -six millions; fifty years hence, at sev- 
 enty-two millions. We now have a population of ten mil- 
 lions. From the character of our population, we must 
 always take the lead in the prosecution of commerce and 
 maimfactures. Imagine the vast power of the two countries, 
 ami the value of the intercourse between them, when we 
 sha.l have a population of forty millions, and they of sev- 
 enty millions! In relation to South America, the people 
 
MISSION TO SOUTH AMERICA. 227 
 
 of the United States will occupy the same position as the 
 people of New England do to the rest of the United States. 
 Our enterprize, industry, and habits of economy, will give 
 us the advantage in any competition which South America 
 may sustain with us, &c. 
 
 But, however important our early recognition of the in- 
 dependence of the south might be to us, as respects our 
 commercial and manufacturing interests, was there not 
 another view of the subject, infinitely more gratifying? We 
 should become the centre of a system which would consti- 
 tute the rallying point of human freedom against all the des- 
 potism of the old world. Did any man doubt the feelings 
 of the South towards us? In spite of our coldness towards 
 them, of the rigour of our laws, and the conduct of our of- 
 ficers, their hearts still turned towards us, as to their breth- 
 ren; and he had no earthly doubt if our government would 
 take the lead and recognize them, they would become yet 
 more anxious to imitate our institutions, and to secure to 
 themselves and to their posterity the same freedom which 
 we enjoy. 
 
 On a subject of this sort, Mr. C. asked, was it possible 
 we could be content to remain, as we now were, looking 
 anxiously to Europe, watching the eyes ol lord Castlereagh, 
 and getting scraps of letters doubtfully indicative of his 
 wishes; and sending to the c?ar of Russia and getting 
 another scrap from count Nesselrode? VVhy not proceed to 
 act on our own responsibility and recognize these govern- 
 ments as independent, instead of taking the lead of the holy 
 alliance in a course which jeopardizes the happiness of un- 
 born millions. Mr. Clay deprecated this deference for for- 
 eign powers. If lord Castlereagh says we may recognize, we 
 do; if not, we do not. A single expression of the British 
 minister to the present secretary of state, then our minister 
 abroad, he was ashamed to say, had moulded the polic) of 
 our government towards South America. Our institutions, 
 said Mr. Clay, now make us free; but how long shall we con- 
 tinue so, if we mould our opinions on those of Europe? Let 
 us break these commercial and political fetters; let us no long- 
 er watth the nod of any European politician: let us become 
 real and true Americans, and place ourselves at the head of 
 the American system. 
 
 Gtntlemen all said, they were all anxious to see the inde- 
 pendence of the South established, if sympathy for them 
 
228 MISSION TO SOUTH AMERICA. 
 
 was enough, the patriots would have reason to be satisfied 
 with the abundant expressions of it. But something more 
 was wanting. Some gentlemen had intimated that the 
 people of the souih were unfit for freedom. Will gentle- 
 men contend, said Mr, Clay, because those people are not 
 like us in all particulars, they are therefore unfit for freedom? 
 In some particulars, he ventured to say, that the people of 
 South America were in advance of us. On the point which 
 had been so much discussed on this floor during the pres- 
 ent session, they were greatly in advance of us. Grenada, 
 Venezuela, and Buenos Ayres had all emancipated their 
 slaves. He did not say that we ought to do so, or that they 
 ought to have done so, under different circumstances; but 
 he rejoiced that the circumstances were such as to permit 
 them to do it. 
 
 Two questions only, Mr. Clay argued, were necessarily 
 preliminary to the recognition of the independence of the 
 people of the south: first, as to the fact of their independence; 
 and secondly, as to the capacity for self-government. On 
 the first point, not a doubt existed. On the second, there 
 was every evidence in their favor. They had fostered 
 schools with great care, there were more newspapers in the 
 single town of Buenos Ayres (at the time he was speaking) 
 than in the whole kingdom of Spain. He never saw a ques- 
 tion discussed with more ability than that in a newspaper 
 of Buenos Ayres, whether a federative or consolidated form 
 of government was best. 
 
 But, though every argument in favor of the recognitioiJ 
 should be admitted to be just, it would be said that another 
 revolution had occurred in Spain, and we ought therefore 
 to delay. On the contrary, said Mr. C. every consideration 
 recommended us to act now. If Spain succeeded in es- 
 tablishing her freedom, the colonies must also be free. The 
 first desire of a government itself free, must be to give lib- 
 erty to its dependencies. On the other hand, if Spain should 
 not succeed in gaining her freedom, no man can doubt that 
 Spain, in her reduced state, woulil no longer have power to 
 carry on the contest. So many millions of men could not be 
 subjugated by the enervated arm and exhausted means of 
 aged Spain. In ten years of war, the most unimportant pro- 
 vince ot South America had not been subdued by all the 
 wealth and the resources of Spain. 1 he certainty of the 
 successful resistance of the attempts of Spain to reduce 
 
MISSION TO SOUTH AMERICA. 229 
 
 them would be found In the great extent of the provinces 
 of South America — of larger extent than all the empire of 
 Russia. The relation of the colonies and mother country- 
 could not exist, from the nature of things, under whatever 
 aspect the government of Spain might assume. The condi- 
 tion of Spain was no reason for neglecting now to do what 
 we ought to have done long ago. Every thing, on the con- 
 trary, tended to prove that this, this was the accepted time. 
 
 With regard to the form of his proposition, Mr. Clay 
 said, all he wanted was to obtain an expression of the opi- 
 nion of the house on this subject; and whether a minister 
 should be authorized to one or the other of these govern- 
 ments, or whether he should be of one grade or of another, 
 he cared not. This republic, with the exception of the peo- 
 ple of South America, constituted the sole depository of 
 political and religious freedom: and can it be possible, said 
 he, that we can remain passive spectators of the struggle 
 of those people to break the same chains which once bound 
 us? The opinions of the friends of freedom in Europe is, 
 that our policy has been cold, heartless, and indifferent to- 
 wards the greatest cause which could possibly engage our 
 affections and enlist our feelings in its behalf. 
 
 Mr. C, concluded by saying that, whatever might be the 
 decision of this house on this question, proposing shortly 
 to go into retirement from public life, he should there have- 
 the consolation of knowing that he had used his best exer- 
 tions in favor of a people inhabiting a territory calculated 
 to contain as many souls as the whole of Christendom be- 
 sides, whose happiness was at stake, and which it was in the 
 power of this government to do so much towards securing. 
 
230 
 
 ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 
 
 House of Representatives^ January 16, 1824. 
 
 The bill authorizing the president of the United States to 
 cause certain surveys and estimates to be made on the sub- 
 ject of roads and canals, being under consideration — 
 
 Mr. Clay, (speaker) in rising, said, that he could not en- 
 ter on the discussion of the subject before him, without first 
 asking leave to express his thanks for the kindness of the 
 committee, in so far accommodating him as to agree unan- 
 imously to adjourn its sitting to the present time, in order 
 to afford him the opportunity of exhibiting his views; which, 
 however, he feared he should do very unacceptably. As a 
 requital for this kindness, he would endeavor, as far as was 
 practicable, to abbreviate what he had to present to their 
 consideration. Ytt, on a question of this extent and mo- 
 ment, there were so many topics which demanded a delibe- 
 rate examination, that, from the nature of the case, it would 
 be impossible, he was afraid, to reduce the argument to any- 
 thing that the committee would consider a reasonable com- 
 pass. 
 
 It was known to all who heard him, that there had now 
 existed for several years a difference of opinion between the 
 executive and legislative^ branches of this government, as to 
 the nature and extent of certain powers conferred upon it 
 by the constitution. Two successive presidents had returned 
 to congress bills which had previously passed both houses 
 of that body, with a communication of the opinion that con- 
 gress, under the constitution, possessed no power to enact 
 such laws. High respect, personal and official, must be felt 
 by all, as it was due, to those distinguished officers, and to 
 their opinions thus solemnly announced; and the most pro- 
 found consideration belongs to our present chief magistrate, 
 who had favoured that house with a written argument, of 
 great length and labour, consisting of not less than sixty or 
 seventy pages, in support of his exposition of the constitu- 
 tion. From the magnitude of the interests involved in the 
 question, all would readily concur, that, if the power is 
 
ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 231 
 
 granted, and does really exist, it ought to be vindicated, up- 
 held, and maintained, that the country might derive the great 
 benefits which may flow from its prudent exercise. If it has 
 not been communicated to congress, then all claim to it 
 should be, at once, surrendered. It was a circumstance of 
 peculiar regret to him, that one more competent than him- 
 self had not risen to support the course which the legislative 
 department had heretofore felt itself bound to pursue on this 
 great question. Of all the trusts which are created by hu- 
 man agency, that is the highest, m.ost solemn, and most 
 responsible, which involves the exercise of political power. 
 Exerted when it has not been intrusted, the public function- 
 ary is guilty of usurpation. And his infidelity to the public 
 good is not, perhaps, less culpable, when he neglects or re- 
 fuses to exercise a power which has been fairly conveyed, 
 to promote the public prosperity. If the power which he thus 
 forbears to exercise, can only be exerted by him — if no other 
 public functionary can employ it, and the public good requires 
 its exercise, his treachery is greatly aggravated. It is only 
 in those cases where the object of the investment of power 
 is the personal ease or aggrandizement of the public agent, 
 that his forbearance to use it is praiseworthy, gracious, or 
 magnanimous. 
 
 He was extremely happy to find, that, on many of the 
 points of the argument of the honourable gentleman from 
 Virginia, (Mr. Barbour) there was entire concurrence be- 
 tween them, widely as they differed in their ultimate con- 
 clusions. On this occasion (as on all others on which that 
 gentleman obliged the house with an expression of his 
 opinions) he displayed great ability and ingenuity; and, as 
 well from the matter as from the respectful manner of his 
 argument, it was deserving of the most thorough considera- 
 tion. He was compelled to differ from that gentleman at 
 the very threshold. He had commenced by laying down as 
 a general principle, that, in the distribution of powers among 
 our federal and state governments, those which were of a 
 municipal character were to be considered as appertaining 
 to the state governments, and those which related to exter- 
 nal affairs, to the general government. If he might be al- 
 lowed to throw the argument of the gentleman into the form 
 of a syllogism, (a shape which he presumed would be quite 
 agreeable to him) it amounted to this: Municipal powers 
 belong exclusively to the state governmentsj but the power 
 
232 ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 
 
 to make internal improvements is municipal; therefore it 
 belongs to the state governments alone. He (Mr. C.) de- 
 nied both the premises and the conclusion. If the gentle- 
 man had affirmed that certain municipal powers, and the 
 great mass of them, belong to the state governments, his 
 proposition would have been incontrovertible. But if he 
 had so qualified it, it would not have assisted the gentleman 
 at all in his conclusion. But surely the power of taxation 
 — the power to regulate the value of coin — the power to es- 
 tablish a uniform standard of weights and measures — to es- 
 tablish post offices and post roads — to regulate commerce 
 among the several states — that in relation to the judiciary — 
 besides many other powers indisputably belonging to the 
 federal government, are strictlv municipal. If, as he under- 
 stood the gentleman in the course of the subsequent part of 
 his argument to admit, some municipal powers belong to the 
 one system, and some to the other, we shall derive very 
 little aid from the gentleman's principle, in making the dis- 
 crimination between the two. The question must ever re- 
 main open — whether any given power, and, of course, that 
 in question, is or is not delegated to this government, or 
 retained by the states? 
 
 The conclusion of the gentleman is, that all internal im- 
 provements belong to the state governments; that they are 
 of a limited and local character, and are not comprehended 
 within the scope of the federal powers, which relate to ex- 
 ternal or general objects. That many, perhaps most inter- 
 nal improvements, partake of the character described by the 
 gentleman, he (Mr. C.) should not deny. But it was no 
 less true that there were others, emphatically national, which 
 neither the policy, nor the power, nor the interests, of any 
 state would induce it to accomplish, and which could only 
 be effected by the application of the resources of the nation. 
 The improvement of the navigation of the Mississippi would 
 furnish a striking example. This was undeniably a great 
 and important object. The report of a highly scientific and 
 intelligent officer of the engineer corps, (which Mr. C. hoped 
 would be soon taken up and acted uponj had shown that 
 the cost of any practicable improvement in the navigation of 
 that river, in the present state of the inhabitants of its banks, 
 was a mere trifle in comparison to the great benefits which 
 would accrue from it. He (Mr. C.) believed that about 
 double the amount of the loss of a single steam-boat and 
 
 \ 
 
ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT 233 
 
 cargo, (the Tennessee) would effect the whole Improvement 
 in the navigation of that river, which ought to be at this 
 time attempted. In this great object twelve states and two 
 territories were, in different degrees, interested. The power 
 to effect the improvement of that river was surely not mu- 
 nicipal, in the sense in which the gentleman used the term. 
 If it were, to which of the twelve states and two territories 
 concerned did it belong? It was a great object, which could 
 only be effected by a confederacy. And here is existing 
 that confederacy, and no other can lawfully exist: for the 
 constitution prohibits the states, immediately interested, 
 from entering into any treaty or compact with each other. 
 Other examples might be given to show, that, if even the 
 power existed, the inclination to exert it would not be felt, 
 to effectuate certain improvements eminently calculated to 
 promote the prosperity of the union. Neither of the three 
 states, nor all of them united, through which the Cumber- 
 land road passes, would ever have erected that road. Two 
 of them would have thrown in every impediment to its com- 
 pletion in their power. Federative in its character, it could 
 only have been executed so far by the application of federa- 
 tive means. Again: the contemplated canal through New 
 Jersey; that to connect the waters of the Chesapeake and 
 Delaware; that to unite the Ohio and the Potomac, were 
 all objects of a general and federative nature, in which the 
 states, through which they might severally pass, could not 
 be expected to feel any such special interest as would lead 
 to their execution. Tending, as undoubtedly they would do, 
 to promote the good of the whole, the power and the trea- 
 sure of the whole must be applied to their execution, if 
 they are ever consummated. 
 
 Mr. Clay did not think, then, that we should be at all 
 assisted in expounding the constitution of the United States, 
 by the principle which the gentleman from Virginia had 
 suggested in respect to municipal powers. The powers of 
 both governments were undoubtedly municipal, often opera- 
 ting upon the same subject. He thought a better rule than 
 that which the gentleman furnished for interpreting the con- 
 stitution, might be deduced from an attentive consideration 
 of the peculiar character of the articles of confederation, as 
 contrasted with that of the present constitution. By those 
 articles, the powers of the thirteen United States were ex- 
 erted collaterally. They operated through an intermediary, 
 Hh 
 
234 ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 
 
 They were addressed to the several states, and their exe- 
 cution depended upon the pleasure and the co-operation of 
 the states individually. The states seldom fulfilled the ex- 
 pectations of the general government in regard to its requi- 
 sitions, and often wholly disappointed them. Languor and 
 debility, in the movement of the old confederation, were 
 the inevitable consequence of that arrangement of power. 
 By the existing constitution, the powers of the general go- 
 vernment act directly on the persons and things within its 
 scope, without the intervention or impediments incident to 
 any intermediary. In executing the great trust which the 
 constitution of the United States creates, we must, therefore, 
 reject that interpretation of its provisions which would make 
 the general government dependent upon those of the states 
 for the execution of any of its powers; and may safely con- 
 clude that the only genuine construction would be that which 
 should enable this government to execute the great purposes 
 of its institution, without the co-operation, and, if indispen- 
 sably necessary, even against the will of any particular state. 
 This is the characteristic difference between the two sys- 
 tems of government, of which we should never lose sight. 
 Interpreted in the one way, we shall relapse into the feeble- 
 ness and debility of the old confederacy. In the other, we 
 shall escape from its evils, and fulfil the great purposes 
 which the enlightened framers of the existing constitution 
 intended to effectuate. The importance of this essential dif- 
 ference in the two forms of government, would be shown in 
 the future progress of the argument. 
 
 Before he proceeded to comment upon those parts of the 
 constitution which appeared to him to convey the power in 
 question, he hoped he should be allowed to disclaim, for 
 his part, several sources whence others had deduced the 
 authority. The gentleman from Virginia seemed to think 
 it remarkable that the friends of the power should disagree 
 so much among themselves; and to draw a conclusion against 
 its existence from the fact of this discrepancy. But he (Mr. 
 C.) could see nothing extraordinary in this diversity of 
 views. What was more common than for different men to 
 cont.-mplate the same subject under various aspects? Such 
 was the nature of the human mind, that enlightened men, 
 perfectly upright in their intentions, differed in their opin- 
 ions on almost every topic that could be mentioned. It was 
 rather a presumption, in favour of the cause which he was 
 
ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 235 
 
 '*\ \xr.. •• • '•• •• "^ 
 
 humbly maintaining, that the same result should be attained 
 by so many various modes of reasoning. But, if contrariety 
 of views might be pleaded with any effect against the ad- 
 vocates of the disputed power, it equally availed against 
 their opponents. There was, for example, not a very exact 
 coincidence in opinion between the president of the United 
 States and the gentleman from Virginia. The president 
 says, (page 25 of his book,) " The use of the existing road, 
 by the stage, mail carrier, or post boy, in passing over it, 
 as others do, is all that would be thought of; the jurisdiction 
 and soil remaining to the state, with a right in the state, or 
 those authorized by its legislature^ to change the road at 
 pleasure-'*'' Again, page 27, the president asks, " If the United 
 States possessed the power contended for under this grant, 
 might they not, in adopting the roads of the individual states, 
 for the carriage of the mail, as has been done, assume juris- 
 diction over them, and preclude a right to interfere with or 
 alter them?" They both agree that ihe general government 
 does not possess the power. The gentleman from Virginia 
 admits, if he (Mr. C.) understood him correctly, that the 
 designation of a state road as a post road, so far withdrew 
 it from the jurisdiction of the state, that it could not be after- 
 wards put down or closed by the state; and in this he claims 
 for the general government more power than the president 
 concedes to it. The president, on the contrary, pronounces, 
 that " the absurdity of such a pretension," (that is, prevent- 
 ing, by the designation of a post road, the power of the 
 state from altering or changing it,) " must be apparent to 
 all who examine it!" The gentleman thinks that the desig- 
 nation of a post road withdraws it entirely, so far as it is 
 used for that purpose, from the power of the wh<ile state; 
 whilst the president thinks it absurd to assert that a mere 
 county court may not defeat the execution of a law of the 
 United States! The president thinks that, under the power 
 of appropriating the money of the United States, congress 
 may apply it to any object of internal improvement, pro- 
 vided it does not assume any territorial jurisdiction; and, 
 in this respect, he claims for the general government more 
 power than the gentleman from Virginia assigns to it. And 
 he (Mr. C.j must own, that he so far coincided with the 
 gentleman from Virginia. If the power can be traced to no 
 more legitimate source than to that of appropriating the 
 public treasure, he yielded the question. 
 
236 ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 
 
 The truth is, that there is no specific grant, in the consti- 
 tution, of the power of appropriation; nor was any such 
 requisite. It is a resulting power. I he constitution vests in 
 congress the power of taxation, with but few limitations, to 
 raise a public revenue. It then enumerates the powers of 
 congress. And it follows, of necessity, that congress has 
 the right to apply the money, so raised, to the execution of 
 the powers so granted. The clause which concludes the 
 enumeration of the granted powers, by authorizing the pas- 
 sage of all law?, *' necessary and proper" to effectuate them, 
 comprehends the power of appropriation. And the framers 
 of the constitution recognize it by the restriction that no 
 money shall be drawn from the treasury but in virtue of a 
 previous appropriation by law. It was to him wonderful 
 how the president should have brought his mind to the con- 
 clusion, that, under the power of appropriation, thus inci- 
 dentally existing, a right could be set up, in its nature al- 
 most without limitation, to employ the public money. He 
 combats with great success and much ability, any deduction 
 of power from the clause relating to the general welfare. 
 He shows that the effect of it would be to overturn, or ren- 
 der useless and nugatory, the careful enumeration of our 
 powers; and that it would convert a cautiously limited go- 
 vernment into one without limitation. The same process of 
 reasoning by which his mind was brought to this just conclu- 
 sion, one would have thought, should have warned him 
 against his claiming, under the power of appropriation, such 
 a vast latitude of authority. He reasons strongly against the 
 power, as claimed by us, harmless and beneficent and limit- 
 ed, as it must be admitted to be, and yet he sets up a power 
 boundless in its extent, unrestrained to the object of inter- 
 nal improvements, and comprehending the whole scope of 
 human affairs! For, if the power exists, as he asserts it, 
 what human restraint is there upon it? He does, indeed, 
 say, that it cannot be exerted so as to interfere with the terri- 
 torial jurisdiction of the states. But this is a restriction al- 
 together gratuitous, flowing from the bounty of the presi- 
 dent, and not found in the prescriptions of the constitution. 
 If we have a right, indefinitely, to apply the money of the 
 government to internal improvements, or to any other ob- 
 ject, what is to prevent the application of it to the purchase 
 of the sovereignty itself, of a state, if a state were mean 
 enough to sell its sovereignty — to the purchase of kingdoms 
 
 / 
 / 
 
ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 2S7 
 
 empires, the globe itself? With an almost unlimited power 
 of taxation; and, after the revenue is raised, with aright to 
 apply it under no other limitations than those which the 
 president's caution has suggested, he could not see what 
 other human power was needed. It had been said, by Caesar 
 or Bonaparte, no doubt thought by both, that, with soldiers 
 enough, they could get money enough; and, with money 
 enough, they could command soldiers enough. According 
 to the president's interpretation of the constitution, one of 
 these great levers of public force and power is possessed by 
 this government. The president seems to contemplate, as 
 fraught with much danger, the power, humbly as it is claim- 
 ed, to effect the internal improvement of the country. And, 
 in his attempt to overthrow it, sets up one of infinitely greater 
 magnitude. The quantum of power which we claim over 
 the subject of internal improvement, is, it is true, of greater 
 amount and force than that which results from the presi- 
 dent's view of the constitution; but then it is limited to the 
 object of internal improvements; whilst the power set up by 
 the president has no such limitation; and, in effect, as Mr. 
 C. conceived, has no limitation whatever, but that of the 
 ability of the people to bear taxation. 
 
 With the most profound respect for the president, and 
 after the most deliberate consideration of his argument, Mr. 
 C. could not agree with him. He could not think that any 
 political power accrued to this government, from the mere 
 authority which it possessed to appropriate the public reve- 
 nue. The power to make internal improvements drew after 
 it, most certainly, the right to appropriate money to con- 
 summate the object. But he could not conceive that this right 
 of appropriation drew after it the power of internal improve- 
 ments. The appropriation of money was consequence, not 
 cause. It follows; it does not precede. According to the 
 order of nature, we first determine upon the object to be ac- 
 complished, and then appropriate the money necessary to 
 its consummation. According to the order of the constitu- 
 tion, the power is defined, and the application, that is, the 
 appropriation of the money requisite to its effectuation, fol- 
 lows as a necessary and proper means. The practice of con- 
 gressional legislation was conformable to both. We first 
 inquire what we may do, and provide by law for its being 
 done, and we then appropriate, by another act of legislation, 
 .the money necessary to accomplish the specified object. The 
 
238 ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 
 
 error of the argument lies in its beginning too soon. It sup- 
 poses the money to be in the treasury, and then seeks to 
 disburse it. But how came it there? Congress cannot im- 
 pose taxes without an object. Their imposition must be in 
 reference to the whole mass of our powers, to the general 
 purposes of government, or with the view to the fulfilment 
 of some one of those powers, or to the attainment of some 
 one of those purposes. In either case, we consult the con- 
 stitution, and ascertain the extent of the authority which is 
 confided to us. We cannot, constitutionally, lay the taxes 
 without regard to the extent of our powers; and then, having 
 acquired the money of the public, appropriate it, because 
 we have got it, to any object indefinitely. 
 
 Nor did he claim the power in question, from the consent 
 or grant of any particular state or states, through which an 
 object of internal improvement mightpass. It might, indeed, 
 be prudent to consult a state through which such an im- 
 provement might happen to be carried, from considerations 
 of deference and respect to its sovereign power; and from 
 a disposition to maintain those relations of perfect amity 
 which are ever desirable, between the general and state go- 
 vernments. But the power to establish the improvement, 
 must be found in the constitution, or it does not exist. And 
 what is granted by all, it cannot be necessary to obtain the 
 consent of some to perform. 
 
 The gentleman from Virginia, in speaking of incidental 
 powers, had used a species of argument which he entreated 
 him candidly to reconsider. He had said, that the chain of 
 cause and effect was without end; that if we argued from 
 a power expressly granted to all others, which might be con- 
 venient or necessary to its execution, there were no bounds 
 to the power of this government; that, for example, under 
 the power " to provide and maintain a navy," the right 
 might be assumed to the timber necessary to its construc- 
 tion, and the soil on which it grew. The gentleman might 
 have added, the acorns from which it sprung. What, upon 
 the gentleman's own hypothesis, ought to have been his 
 conclusion? That congress possessed no power to provide 
 and maintain a navy. Such a conclusion would have been 
 quite as logical, as that congress has no power over inter- 
 nal improvements, from the possible lengths to which this 
 power may be pushed. No one ever had, or could, contro- 
 vert the existence of incidental powers. We may apply dif- 
 
ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 239 
 
 ferent rules for their extraction, but all must concur in the 
 necessity of their actual existence. They result from the 
 imperfections of our nature, and from the utter impossibility 
 of foreseeing all the turns and vicissitudes in human affairs. 
 They cannot be defined. Much is attained when the power, 
 the end, is specified and guarded. Keeping that constantly 
 in view, the means necessary to its attainment must be left 
 to the sound and responsible discretion of the public func- 
 tionary. Intrench him as you please, employ what language 
 you may, in the constitutional instrument, "necessary and 
 proper," " indispensably necessary," or any other, and the 
 question is still left open, does the proposed measure fall 
 within the scope of the incidental power, circumscribed as 
 it may be? Your safety against abuse must rest in his in- 
 terest, his integrity, his responsibility to the exercise of the 
 elective franchise; finally, in the ultimate right, when all 
 other redress fails, of an appeal to the remedy, to be used 
 only in extreme cases, of forcible resistance against intoler- 
 able oppression. 
 
 Doubtless, by an extravagant and abusive enlargement of 
 incidental powers, the state governments may be reduced 
 within too narrow limits. Take any power, however incon- 
 testibly granted to the general government, and employ that 
 kind of process of reasoning in which the gentleman from 
 Virginia is so skilful, by tracing it to its remotest effects, 
 you may make it absorb the powers of the state governments. 
 Pursue the opposite course; take any incontestible power 
 belonging to the state governments, and follow it out into 
 all its possible ramifications, and you may make it thwart 
 and defeat the great operations of the government of the 
 whole. This is the consequence of our systems. Their har- 
 mony is to be preserved only by forbearance, liberality, 
 practical good sense, and mutual concession. Bring these 
 dispositions into the administrations of our various institu- 
 tions, and all the dreaded conflicts of authorities will be 
 found to be perfectly imaginary. 
 
 He said, that he disclaimed, for himself, several sources 
 to which others had ascended, to arrive at the power in 
 question. In making this disclaimer, he meant to cast no 
 imputation on them. He was glad to meet them by what- 
 ever road they travelled, at the point of a constitutional 
 conclusion. Nor did their positions weaken his; on the con- 
 trary, if correctly taken, and his, also, were justified by fair 
 
240 ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 
 
 interpretation, they added strength to his. But he felt it 
 his duty, frankly and sincerely, to state his own views of the 
 constitution. In coming to the ground on which (said Mr. 
 C.) I make my stand to maintain the power, and where I 
 am ready to meet its antagonist, I am happy, in the outset, 
 to state my hearty concurrence with the gentleman from 
 Virginia, in the old, 1798, republican principles, (now be- 
 come federal, also,) by which the constitution is to be in- 
 terpreted. I agree with him, that this is a limited govern- 
 ment; that it has no powers but the granted powers; and 
 that the granted powers are those which are expressly enu- 
 merated, or such as, being implied, arc necessary and proper 
 to effectuate the enumerated powers. And, if I do not show 
 the power over federative, national, internal improvements, 
 to be fairly deducible, after the strictest application ot these 
 principles, I entreat the committe unanimously to reject the 
 bill. The gentleman from Virginia has rightly anticipated, 
 that, in regard to roads, I claim the power, under the grant, 
 to establish post offices and post roads. The whole question, 
 on this part of the subject, turns upon the true meaning of 
 this clause, and that again upon the genuine signification of 
 the word " establish^''' According to my understanding of 
 it, the meaning of it is, to fix, to make firm, to build. Ac- 
 cording to that of the gentleman from Virginia, it is to 
 designate, to adopt. Grammatical criticism was to me, al- 
 ways unpleasant, and I do not profess to be any proficient 
 in it. But I will confidently appeal, in support of my defi- 
 nition, to any vocabulary whatever, of respectable authority, 
 and to the common use of the word. That it could not 
 mean only adoption, was to me evident; for adoption pre- 
 supposes establishment, which is precedent in its very na- 
 ture. That which does not exist, which is not established, 
 cannot be adopted. There was, then, an essential difference 
 between the gentleman from Virginia and me. I consider 
 the power as original and creative; he as derivative, adopt- 
 ive. But I will show, out of the mouth of the president 
 himself, who agrees with the gentleman from Virginia, as 
 to the sense of this word, that what I contend for, is its ge- 
 nuine meaning. The president, in almost the first lines of 
 his message to this house, of the fourth of May, 1822, return- 
 ing the Cumberland bill with his veto, says, " a power to 
 establish turnpikes, with gates and tolls, &c. implies a power 
 to adopt and execute a complete system of internal improve- 
 
ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 241 
 
 ment." What is the sense in which the word " establish" 
 is here used? Is it not creative? Did the president mean to 
 adopt or designate some pre-existing turnpikes, with gates, 
 &c. or, for the first time, to set them up, under the authority 
 of congress? Again, the president says, " if it exist as to 
 one road, [that is, the power to lay duties of transit, and to 
 take the land on a valuation,] it exists as to any other, and 
 to as many roads as congress may think proper to * estab- 
 lish.'' " In what sense does he here employ the word? The 
 truth is, that the president could employ no better than the 
 constitutional word, and he is obliged to use it in the pre- 
 cise sense for which I contend. But I go to a higher au- 
 thority than that of the chief magistrate — to that of the con- 
 stitution itself. In expounding that instrument, we must 
 look at all its parts; and if we find a word, the meaning of 
 which it is desirable to obtain, we may safely rest upon the 
 use which has been made of the same word in other parts 
 of the instrument. The word " establish" is one of frequent 
 recurrence in the constitution; and I venture to say that it 
 will be found uniformly to express the same idea. In the 
 clause enumerating our powers, congress has power "■ to es~ 
 tablish a, uniform rule of naturalization," &c. In the pream- 
 ble, " we, the people of the United States, in order to form 
 a more perfect union, establish justice, &c. do ordain and 
 establish this constitution," &c. What pre-existing code 
 of justice was adopted? Did not the people of the United 
 States, in this high, sovereign act, contemplate the construc- 
 tion of a code adapted to their federal condition? The sense 
 of the word, as contended for, was self evident when ap- 
 plied to the constitution. 
 
 But let us look at the nature, object, and purposes of the 
 power. The trust confided to congress was one of the most 
 beneficial character. It was the diffusion of information 
 among all the parts of this republic. It was the transmission 
 and circulation of intelligence; it was to communicate know- 
 ledge of the laws and acts of government; and to promote 
 the great business of society in all its relations. This was 
 a great trust, capable of being executed in a highly salutary 
 manner. It could be executed only by congress, and it 
 should be as well performed as it could be, considering the 
 wants and exigencies of government. And here I beg leave 
 to advert to the principle which I some time ago laid down, 
 that the powers granted to this government are to be carried 
 I i 
 
242 ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 
 
 into execution by its own inherent force and energy, with- 
 out necessary dependence upon the state governments. If 
 my construction secures this object; and if that of my op- 
 ponents places the execution of this trust at the pleasure 
 and mercy of the state governments, we must reject theirs 
 and assume mine. Hut the construction of the president 
 does make it so dependent. He contends that we can only 
 use as post roads those which the states shall have previously 
 established; that they are at liberty to alter, to change, and 
 of course to shut them up at pleasure. It results from this 
 view of the president that any of the great mail routes now 
 existing, that, for example, from south to north, may be 
 closed at pleasure or by caprice, by any one of the states, 
 or its authorities, through which it passes, by that of Dela- 
 ware or any other. Is it possible that that construction of 
 the constitution can be correct, which allows a law of the 
 United Stales, enacted for the good of the whole, to be ob- 
 structed or defeated in its operation by any one of twenty- 
 four sovereignties? The gentleman from Virginia, it is true, 
 denies the right of a state to close a road which has been 
 designated as a post road. But suppose the state, no longer 
 having occasion to use it for its own separate and peculiar 
 purposes, withdraws all care and attention from its preser- 
 vation. Can the state be compelled to repair it? No! the 
 gentleman from Virginia must say, and I will say — May not 
 the general government repair this road which is abandoned 
 by the state power? May it not repair it in the most effica- 
 cious manner? And may it not protect and defend that which 
 it has thus repaired, and which there is no longer an interest 
 or inclination in the state to protect and defend? Or does 
 the gentleman mean to contend that a road may exist in the 
 statute book, which a state will not, and the general govern- 
 ment cannot, repair and improve? And what sort of an ac- 
 count should we render to the people of the United States, 
 of the execution of the high trust confided, for their bene- 
 fit, to us, if we were to tell them that we had failed to ex- 
 ecute it, because a state would not make a road for us? 
 
 The roads, and other internal improvements of states, are 
 made in reference to their individual interests. It is the eye 
 only of the whole, and the power of the whole, that can look 
 to the interests of all. In the infancy of the government, 
 and in the actual state of the public treasury, it may be the 
 only alternative left us to use those roads, which are made 
 
ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. . 243 
 
 for state purposes, to promote the national object, ill as they 
 may be adapted to it. It may never be necessary to make 
 more than a few great national arteries of communication, 
 leaving to the states the lateral and minor ramifications. 
 Even these should only be executed, without pressure upon 
 the resources of the country, and according to the conve- 
 nience and ability of government. But, surely, in the per- 
 formance of a great national duty imposed upon this govern- 
 ment, which has for its object the distribution of intelligence, 
 civil, commercial, literary, and social, we ought to perform 
 the substance of the trust, and not content ourselves with a 
 mere inefficient paper execution of it. If I am right in these 
 views, the power to establish post roads being in its nature 
 original and creative, and the government having adopted 
 the roads made by state means, only from its inability to 
 exert the whole extent of its authority, the controverted 
 power is expressly granted to congress, and there is an end 
 of the question. 
 
 It ought to be borne in mind, that this power over roads 
 was not contained in the articles of confederation, which 
 limited congress to the establishment of post offices; and 
 that the general character of the present constitution, as 
 contrasted with those articles, is that of an enlargement of 
 power. But, if the construction of my opponents be correct, 
 we are left precisely where the articles of confederation left 
 us, notwithstanding the additional words contained in the 
 present constitution. What, too, will the gentlemen do with 
 the first member of the clause to establish post offices? Must 
 congress adopt, designate, some pre-existing office, estab- 
 lished by state authority? But there is none such. May it 
 not then fix, build, create, establish offices of its own? 
 
 The gentleman from Virginia sought to alarm us by the 
 awful emphasis with which he set before us the total extent 
 of post roads in the union. Eighty thousand miles of post 
 roads! exclaimed the gentleman; and will you assert for the 
 general government jurisdiction, and erect turnpikes, on 
 such an immense distance? Not to-day, nor to-morrow; but 
 this government is to last, I trust, for ever; we may at least 
 hope it will endure until the wave of population, cultivation, 
 and intelligence, shall have washed the rocky mountains 
 and mingled with the Pacific. And may we not also hope 
 that the day will arrive when the improvements and the 
 comforts of social life shall spread over ihe wide surface of 
 
244 ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 
 
 this vast continent? All this is not to be suddenly done. 
 Society must not be burthened or oppressed. Things must 
 be gradual and progressive. The same species of formid- 
 able array which the gentleman makes, might be exhibited 
 in reference to the construction of a navy, or any other of 
 the great purposes of government. We might be told of the 
 fleets and vessels of great maritime powers, which whiten 
 the ocean; and triumphantly asked if we should vainly at- 
 tempt to cope with or rival that tremendous power? And 
 we should shrink from the effort, if we were to listen to his 
 counsels, in hopeless despair. Yes, sir, it is a subject of 
 peculiar delight to me to look forward to the proud and 
 happy period, distant as it may be, when circulation and as- 
 sociation between the Atlantic and the Pacific and the 
 Mexican gulf, shall be as free and perfect as they are at this 
 moment in England, or in any other the most highly im- 
 proved country on the globe. In the mean time, without 
 bearing heavily upon any of our important interests, let us 
 apply ourselves to the accomplishment of what is most prac- 
 ticable and immediately necessary. 
 
 But what most staggers my honorable friend, is the juris- 
 diction over the sites of roads and other internal improve- 
 ments which he supposes congress might assume; and he 
 considers the exercise of such a jurisdiction as furnishing 
 the just occasion for serious alarm. Let us analyze the sub- 
 ject- Prior to the erection of a road under the authority of 
 the general government, there existed, in the state through 
 which it passes, no actual exercise of jurisdiction over the 
 ground which it traverses as a road. There was only the 
 possibility of the exercise of such a jurisdiction, when the 
 state should, if ever, erect such a road. But the road is 
 made by the authority of congress, and out oitht fact of its 
 erection arises a necessity for its preservation and protec- 
 tion. The road is some thirty or fifty or sixty feet in width, 
 and with that narrow limit passes through a part of the 
 territory of the state. The capital expended in the making 
 of the road incorporates itself with and becomes a part of 
 the permanent and immovable property of the state. The 
 jurisdiction which is claimed for the general government, 
 is that only which relates to the necessary defence, protec- 
 tion, and preservation, of the road. It is of a character al- 
 together conservative. Whatever does not relate to the ex- 
 'istence and protection of the road remains with the state 
 
ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 245 
 
 Murders, trespasses, contracts, all the occurrences and trans- 
 actions of society upon the road, not affecting its actual ex- 
 istence, will fall within the jurisdiction of the civil or crimi- 
 nal tribunals of the state, as if the road had never been 
 brought into existence. Hovr much remains to the state! 
 How little is claimed for the general government! Is it 
 possible that a jurisdiction so limited, so harmless, so un- 
 ambitious, can be regarded as seriously alarming to the so- 
 vereignty of the states! Congress now asserts and exercises, 
 without contestation, a power to protect the mail in its tran- 
 sit, by the sanction of all suitable penalties. The man who 
 violates it is punished with death, or otherwise, according 
 to the circumstances of the case. This power is exerted as 
 incident to that of establishing post offices and post roads. 
 Is the protection of the thing in transitu a power more clear- 
 ly deducible from the grant, than that of facilitating, by 
 means of a practicable road, its actual transportation? Mails 
 certainly imply roads, roads imply their own preservation, 
 their preservation implies the power to preserve them, and 
 the constitution tells us, in express terms, that we shall es- 
 tablish the one and the other. 
 
 In respect to cutting canals, I admit the question is not 
 quite so clear as in regard to roads. With respect to these, 
 as I have endeavoured to show, the power is expressly- 
 granted. In regard to canals, it appears to me to be fairly- 
 comprehended in, or deducible from, certain granted powers. 
 Congress has power to regulate commerce with foreign na- 
 tions and among the several states. Precisely the same 
 measure of power which is granted in the one case is con- 
 ferred in the other. And the uniform practical exposition 
 of the constitution, as to the regulation of foreign commerce, 
 is equally applicable to that among the several states. Sup- 
 pose, instead of directing the legislation of this government 
 constantly, as heretofore, to the object of foreign commerce, 
 to the utter neglect of the interior commerce among the se- 
 veral states, the fact had been reversed, and now, for the 
 first time, we were about to legislate for our foreign trade: 
 Should we not, in that case, hear all the constitutional ob- 
 jections made to the erection of buoys, beacons, light-houses, 
 the surveys of coasts, and the other numerous facilities 
 accorded to the foreign trade, which we now hear to the 
 making of roads and canals? Two years ago, a sea-wall, or, 
 in other words, a marine canal, was authorized bv an act of 
 
246 ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 
 
 congress, in New Hampshire; and I doubt not that many of 
 those voted for it who have now constitutional scruples on 
 this bill. Yes, any thing, every thing, may be done for 
 foreign commerce; any thing, every thing, on the margin of 
 the ocean: but nothing for domestic trade; nothing for the 
 great interior of the country! Yet, the equity and the be- 
 neficence of the constitution equally comprehends both. The 
 gentleman does, indeed, maintain that there is a difference 
 as to the character of the facilities in the two cases. But I 
 put it to his own candour, whether the only difference is not 
 that which springs from the nature of the two elements on 
 which the two species of commerce are conducted — the dif- 
 ference between land and water. The principle is the same, 
 whether you promote commerce by opening for it an arti- 
 ficial channel where now there is none, or by increasing the 
 ease or safety with which it may be conducted through a 
 natural channel which the bounty of providence has bestow- 
 ed. In the one case, your object is to facilitate arrival and 
 departure from the ocean to the land. In the other, it is 
 to accomplish the same object from the land to the ocean. 
 Physical obstacles may be greater in the one case than ia 
 the other, but the moral or constitutional power equally in- 
 cludes both. The gentleman from Virginia had, to be sure, 
 contended that the power to make these commercial facili- 
 ties was to be found in another clause of the constitution — 
 that which enables congress to obtain cessions of territorj' 
 for specific objects, and grants to it an exclusive jurisdiction. 
 These cessions may be obtained for the " erection of forts, 
 magazines, arsenals, dockyards, or other needful buildings." 
 It is apparent that it relates altogether to military or naval 
 affairs, and not to the regulation of commerce. How was 
 the marine canal covered by this clause? Is it to be con- 
 sidered as a "needful buildingr" The object of this power 
 is perfectly obvious. The convention saw that, in military 
 or naval posts, such as are indicated, it was indispensably 
 necessarv, for their proper government, to vest in congress 
 the power of exclusive legislation. If we claimed over ob- 
 jects of internal improvement an exclusive jurisdiction, the 
 gentleman might urge, with much force, the clause in ques- 
 tion. But the claim of concurrent jurisdiction only is as- 
 serted. The gentleman professes himself unable to compre- 
 hend how concurrent jurisdiction can be exercised by two 
 different governments at the same time over the same per- 
 
ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 247 
 
 sons and things. But, is not this the fact with respect to 
 the state and federal governments? Does not every person, 
 and every thing, within our limits, sustain a two- fold relation 
 to the state and to the federal authority? The power of 
 taxation as exerted by both governments, that over the 
 militia, besides many others, is concurrent. No doubt em- 
 barrassing cases may be conceived and stated by gentlemen 
 of acute and ingenious minds. One was put to me yesterday. 
 Two canals are desired, one by the federal, and the other 
 by a state government; and there is not a supply of water 
 but for the feeder of one canal — which is to take it? The 
 constitution, which ordains the supremacy of the laws of 
 the United States, answers the question. The good of the 
 whole is paramount to the good of a part. The same diffi- 
 culty might possibly arise in the exercise of the incontestible 
 power of taxation. We know that the imposition of taxes 
 has its limits. 1 here is a maximum which cannot be tran- 
 scended. Suppose the citizen to be taxed by the general 
 government to the utmost extent of his ability, or a thing 
 as much as it can possibly bear, and the state imposes a tax 
 at the same time, which authority is to take it? Extreme 
 cases of this sort may serve to amuse and to puzzle; but 
 they will hardly ever arise in practice. And we may safely 
 confide in the moderation, good sense, and mutual good 
 dispositions, of the two governments, to guard against the 
 imagined conflicts. 
 
 It is said by the president, that the power to regulate 
 commerce merely authorises the laying of imposts and 
 duties. But congress has no power to lay imposts and duties 
 on the trade among the several states. The grant must 
 mean, therefore, something else. What is it? The power 
 to regulate commerce among the several states, if it has any 
 meaning, implies authority to foster it, to promote it, to 
 bestow on it facilities similar to those which have been 
 conceded to our foreign trade, it cannot mean only an 
 empty authority to adopt regulations, without the capacity 
 to give practical effect to them. All the powers of this 
 government should be interpreted in reference to its first, 
 its best, its greatest object, the union of these states. And 
 is not that union best invigorated by an intimate, social, and 
 commercial connexion between all the parts of the confede- 
 racy? Can that be accomplished, that is, can the federative 
 objects of this government be attained, but by the application 
 of federative resources? 
 
248 ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 
 
 Of all the powers bestowed on this government, Mr. Clay 
 thought none were more clearly vested, than that to regulate 
 the distribution of the intelligence, private and official, of 
 the country; to regulate the distribution of its commerce; 
 and to regulate the distribution of the physical force of the 
 union. In the execution of the high and solemn trust which 
 these beneficial powers imply, we must look to the great 
 ends which the framers of our admirable constitution had 
 in view We must reject, as wholly incompatible with their 
 enlightened and beneficent intentions, that construction of 
 these powers which would resuscitate all the debility and 
 inefficiency of the ancient confederacy. In the vicissitudes 
 of human affairs, who can foresee all the possible cases, in 
 which it may be necessary to apply the public force, within 
 or without the union? This government is charged with the 
 use of it, to repel invasions, to suppress insurrections, to en- 
 force the laws of the union; in short, for all the unknown and 
 undefinable purposes of war, foreign or intestine, wherever 
 and however it may rage. During its existence, may not 
 government, for its effectual prosecution, order a road to be 
 made, or a canal to be cut, to relieve, for example, an ex- 
 posed point of the union? If, when the emergency comes, 
 there is a power to provide for it, that power must exist in 
 the constitution, and not in the emergency. A wise, pre- 
 cautionary, and parental policy, anticipating danger, will 
 beforehand provide for the hour of need. Roads and canals 
 are in the nature of fortifications, since, if not the deposites 
 of military resources, they enable you to bring into rapid 
 action, the military resources of the country, whatever they 
 may be. They are better than any fortifications, because 
 they serve the double purposes of peace and of war. They 
 dispense, in a great degree, with fortifications, since they 
 have all the effect of that concentration, at which fortifications 
 aim. I appeal from the precepts of the president to the 
 practice of the president. While he denies to congress the 
 power in question, he does not scruple, upon his sole au- 
 thority, as numerous instances in the statute book will 
 testify, to order, at pleasure, the opening of roads by the 
 military, and then come here to ask us to pay for them. 
 Nay, more, sir; a subordinate, but highly respectable officer 
 of the executive government, I believe, would not hesitate 
 to provide a boat or cause a bridge to be erected over an 
 inconsiderable stream, to ensure the regular transportation 
 
ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 249 
 
 of the mail. And it happens to be within my personal 
 knowledge, that the head of the post office department, as a 
 prompt and vigilant officer should do, had recently des- 
 patched an agent to ascertain the causes of the late frequent 
 vexatious failures of the great northern mail, and to inquire 
 if a provision of a boat or bridge over certain small streams 
 in Maryland, which have produced them, would not prevent 
 their recurrence. 
 
 I was much surprised at one argument of the honorable 
 gentleman. He told the house, that the constitution had 
 carefully guarded against inequality, among the several 
 states, in the public burthens, by certain restrictions upon 
 the power of taxation; that the effect of the adoption of a 
 system of internal improvements would be to draw the 
 resources from one part of the union, and to expend them 
 in the improvements of another; and that the spirit, at least, 
 of the constitutional equality, would be thus violated. From 
 the nature of things, the constitution could not specify the 
 theatre of the expenditure of the public treasure. That 
 expenditure, guided by and looking to the public good, 
 must be made, necessarily, where it will most subserve the 
 interests of the whole union. The argument is, that the 
 locale of the collection of the public contributions, and the 
 locale of their disbursement, should be the same. Now, sir, 
 let us carry this argument out; and no man is more canable 
 than the ingenious gentleman from Virginia, of tracmg an 
 argument to its utmost consequences. The locale of the 
 collection of the public revenue is the pocket of the citizen; 
 and, to abstain from the violation of the principle of equality 
 adverted to by the gentleman, we should restore back to 
 each man's pocket precisely what was taken from it. If the 
 principle contended for be true, we are habitually violating 
 it. We raise about twenty millions of dollars, a very large 
 revenue, considering the actual distresses of the country. 
 And, sir, notwithstanding all the puffing, flourishing state- 
 ments of its prosperity, emanating from printers who are 
 fed upon the pap of the public treasury, the whole country 
 is in a condition of very great distress. Where is this vast 
 revenue expended? Boston, New York, the great capitals 
 of the north, are the theatres of its disbursement. There the 
 interest upon the public debt is paid. There the expenditure 
 in the building, equipment, and repair of the national vessels 
 takes place. There all the great expenditures of the govern- 
 Kk 
 
250 ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 
 
 ment . necessarily concentrate. This is no cause of just 
 complaint. It is inevitable, resulting from the accumulation 
 of capital, the state of the arts, and other circumstances 
 belonging to our great cities. But, sir, if there be a section 
 of this union having more right than any other to complain 
 of this transfer of the circulating medium from one quarter 
 of the union to another, the west, the poor west — [Here Mr. 
 Barbour explained. He had meant that the constitution 
 limited congress as to the proportions of revenue to be 
 drawn from the several states; but the principle of this 
 provision would be vacated by internal improvements of 
 immense expense, and yet of a local character. Our public 
 ships, to be sure, are built at the seaports, but they do not 
 remain there. Their home is the mountain wave; but in- 
 ternal improvements are essentially local; they touch the 
 soil of the states, and their benefits, at least the largest part 
 of them, are confined to the states where they exist.] The 
 explanation of the gentleman has not materially varied the 
 argument. He says that the home of our ships is the 
 mountain wave. Sir, if the ships go to sea, the money with 
 which they were built, or refitted, remains on shore, and 
 the cities where the equipment takes place derive the benefit 
 of the expenditure. It requires no stretch of the imagination 
 to conceive the profitable industry — the axes, the hammers, 
 the saws — the mechanic arts, which are put in motion by 
 this expenditure. And all these, and other collateral advan- 
 tages, are enjoyed by the seaports. The navy is built for 
 the interest of the whole. Internal improvements, of that 
 general, federative character, for which we contend, would 
 also be for the interest of the whole. And, I should think 
 their abiding with us, and not going abroad on the vast 
 deep, was rather cause of recommendation than objection. 
 
 But, Mr. Chairman, if there be any part of this union 
 more likely than all others to be benefited by the adoption of 
 the gentleman's principle, regulating the public expenditure, 
 it is the west. There is a perpetual drain from that em- 
 barrassed and highly distressed portion of our country, of 
 its circulating medium to the east. There, but few and 
 inconsiderable expenditures of the public money take place. 
 There we have none of those public works, no magnificent 
 edifices, forts, armories, arsenals, dockyards, &c. which 
 more or less are to be found in every Atlantic state. In at 
 least seven states beyond the Alleghany, not one solitary 
 
ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 251 
 
 public work of this government is to be found. If, by one 
 of those awful and terrible dispensations of Providence, 
 which sometimes occur, this government should be unhappily 
 annihilated, every where on the seaboard traces of its former 
 existence would be found; whilst we should not have, in 
 the west, a single monument remaining on which to pour 
 out our affections and our regrets. Yet, sir, we do not 
 complain. No portion of your population is more loyal to 
 the union, than the hardy freemen of the west. Nothing 
 can weaken or eradicate their ardent desire for its lasting 
 preservation. None are more prompt to vindicate the in- 
 terests and rights of the nation from all foreign aggression. 
 Need I remind you of the glorious scenes in which they 
 participated, during the late war — a war in which they had 
 no peculiar or direct interest, waged for no commerce, no 
 seamen of theirs. But it was enough for them that it was 
 a war demanded by the character and the honor of the nation. 
 They did not stop to calculate its cost of blood, or of trea- 
 sure. They flew to arms; they rushed down the valley of 
 the Mississippi, with all the impetuosity of that noble river. 
 They sought the enemy. They found him at the beach. 
 They fought; they bled; they covered themselves and their 
 country with immortal glory. They enthusiastically shared 
 in all the transports occasioned by our victories, whether 
 won on the ocean or on the land. They felt, with the keenest 
 distress, whatever disaster befel us. No, sir, I repeat it, 
 neglect, injury itself, cannot alienate the affections of the 
 west from this government. T hey cling to it, as to their 
 best, their greatest, their last hope. You may impoverish 
 them, reduce them to ruin, by the mistakes of your policy, 
 and you cannot drive them from you. They do not complain 
 of the expenditure of the public money, where the public 
 exigences require its disbursement. But, I put it to your 
 candour, if you ought not, by a generous and national policy, 
 to mitigate, if not prevent, the evils resulting from the 
 perpetual transfer of the circulating medium from the west 
 to the east. One million and a half of dollars annually, is 
 transferred for the public lands alone; and, almost every 
 dollar goes, like him who goes to death — to a bourne from 
 which no traveller returns. In ten years it will amount to 
 
 fifteen millions; in twenty to but I will not pursue the 
 
 appalling results of arithmetic. Gentlemen who believe that 
 these vast sums are supplied by emigrants from the east. 
 
252 ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 
 
 labor under great error. There was a time when the tide 
 of emigration from the east bore along with it the means 
 to effect the purchase of the public domain. But that tide 
 has, in a great measure, now stopt. And as population 
 advances farther and farther west, it will entirely cease. 
 The greatest migrating states in the union, at this time, are 
 Kentucky first, Ohio next, and Tennesee. The emigrants 
 from those states carry with them, to the states and terri- 
 tories lying beyond them, the circulating, medium, which, 
 being invested in the purchase of the public land, is trans- 
 mitted to the points where the wants of government require 
 it. If this debilitating and exhausting process were inevitable, 
 it must be borne with manly fortitude. But we think that a 
 fit exertion of the powers of this government would mitigate 
 the evil. We believe that the government incontestibly 
 possesses the constitutional power to execute such internal 
 improvements as are called for by the good of the whole. 
 And we appeal to your equity, to your parental regard, to 
 your enlightened policy, to perform the high and beneficial 
 trust thus sacredly reposed. I am sensible of the delicacy 
 of the topic to which I have reluctantly adverted, in conse- 
 quence of the observations of the honorable gentleman from 
 Virginia. And I hope there will be no misconception of my 
 motives in dwelling upon it. A wise and considerate govern- 
 ment should anticipate and prevent, rather than wait for 
 the operation of causes of discontent. 
 
 Let me ask, Mr. Chairman, what has this government 
 done on the great subject of internal improvements, after 
 so many years of its existence, and with such an inviting 
 field before it? You have made the Cumberland road, only. 
 Gentlemen appear to have considered that a western road. 
 Thev ought to recollect that not one stone has yet been 
 broken, not one spade of earth has been yet removed in any 
 western state. The road begins in Maryland and it termi- 
 nates at Wheeling. It passes through the states of Maryland, 
 Pennsylvania, and Virginia. All the direct benefit of the 
 expenditure of the public money on that road, has accrued 
 to those three states. Not one cent in any western state. 
 And yet we have had to beg, entreat, supplicate you, session 
 after session, to grant the necessary appropriations to com- 
 plete the road. I have myself toiled until my powers have 
 been exhausted and prostrated, to prevail on you to make 
 the grant. We were actuated to make these exertions for 
 
ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 25S 
 
 the sake of the collateral benefit only to the west; that we 
 might have a way by which we should be able to continue 
 and maintain an affectionate intercourse with our friends 
 and brethren — that we might have a way to reach the capitol 
 of our country, and to bring our councils, humble as they 
 may be, to consult and mingle with yours in the advancement 
 of the national prosperity. Yes, sir, the Cumberland road 
 has only reached the margin of a western state; and, from 
 some indications which have been given during this session, 
 I should apprehend it would there pause forever, if my 
 confidence in you were not unbounded; if I had not before 
 witnessed that appeals were never unsuccessful to your 
 justice, to your magnanimity, to your fraternal affection. 
 
 But, sir, the bill on your table is no western bill. It is 
 emphatically a national bill, comprehending all, looking to 
 the interests of the whole. The people of the west never 
 thought of, never desired, never asked, for a system exclu- 
 sively for their benefit. The system contemplated by this 
 bill looks to great national objects, and proposes the ultimate 
 application to their accomplishment of the only means by 
 which they can be effected, the means of the nation — means 
 which, if they be withheld from such objects, the union, I 
 do most solemnly believe, of these now happy and promising 
 states, may, at some distant (I trust a far, far distant) day, 
 be endangered and shaken at its centre. 
 
'i»'^ 
 
 254 
 
 ON THE GREEK REVOLUTION. 
 
 Speech on the Greek Revolution^ delivered in the House 
 of Representatives^ 20th January^ 1824. 
 
 Mr. Clay rose, and commenced his speech by distinctly 
 stating the original resolution, as moved by Mr. Webster, 
 and the amendment proposed to it by Mr. Poinsett. The 
 resolution proposed a provision of the means to defray the 
 expense of deputing a commissioner or agent to Greece, 
 whenever the president, who knows, or ought to know, the 
 disposition of all the European powers, Turkish or Chris- 
 tian, shall deem it proper. The amendment goes to with- 
 hold any appropriation to that object, but to make a public 
 declaration of our sympathy with the Greeks, and of our 
 good wishes for the success of their cause. And how has 
 this simple, unpretending, unambitious, this harmless pro- 
 position, been treated in debate? It has been argued as if 
 it offered aid to the Greeks; as if it proposed the recogni- 
 tion of the independence of their government; as a mea- 
 sure of unjustifiable interference in the internal affairs of a 
 foreign state; and finally, as war. And they who thus argue 
 the question, whilst they absolutely surrender themselves to 
 the illusions of their own fervid imaginations, and depict, 
 in glowing terms, the monstrous and alarming consequences 
 which are to spring out of a proposition so simple, impute 
 to us, who are its humble advocates, quixotism, quixotism! 
 Whilst they are taking the most extravagant and boundless 
 range, and arguing any thing and every thing but the ques- 
 tion before the committee, they accuse us of enthusiasm, of 
 giving the reins to excited feeling, of being transported by 
 our imaginations. No, sir, the resolution is no proposition 
 for aid, nor for recognition, nor for interference, nor for 
 war. 
 
 I know that there are some, who object to the resolution, 
 on account of the source from which it has sprung — who 
 except to its mover, as if its value or importance were to be 
 estimated by personal considerations. I have long had the 
 pleasure of knowing the honorable gentleman from Massa- 
 chussetts; and sometimes that of acting with him, and I 
 
ON THE GREEK REVOLUTION. 355 
 
 have much satisfaction in expressing ray high admiration of 
 his great talents. But I would appeal to my republican 
 friends, those faithful sentinels of civil liberty with whom 
 I have ever acted, shall we reject a proposition, consonant 
 to our principles, favoring the good and great cause, on ac- 
 count of the political character of its mover? Shall we not 
 rather look to the intrinsic merits of the measure, and seek 
 every fit occasion to strengthen and perpetuate liberal prin- 
 ciples and noble sentiments? If it were possible for repub- 
 licans to cease to be the champions of human freedom; and 
 if federalists become its only supporters, I would cease to 
 be a republican; I would become a federalist. The preser- 
 vation of the public confidence can only be secured, or me- 
 rited, by a faithful adherence to the principles by which it 
 has been acquired. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, is it not extraordinary that for these two 
 successive years the president of the United States should 
 have been freely indulged, not only without censure, but 
 with universal applause, to express the feelings which both 
 the resolution and the amendment proclaim, and yet if this 
 house venture to unite with him, the most awful consequen- 
 ces are to ensue? From Maine to Georgia, from the Atlan- 
 tic ocean to the gulf of Mexico, the sentiment of approba- 
 tion has blazed with the rapidity of electricity. Every 
 where the interest in the Grecian cause is felt with the 
 deepest intensity, expressed in every form, and increases 
 with every new day and passing hour. And are the repre- 
 sentatives of the people alone to be insulated from the com- 
 mon moral atmosphere of the whole land? Shall we shut 
 ourselves up in apathy, and separate ourselves from our 
 country? from our constituents? from our chief magistrate? 
 from our principles? 
 
 The measure has been most unreasonably magnified. Gen- 
 tlemen speak of the watchful jealousy of the Turk, and 
 seem to think that the slightest movement of this body will 
 be matter of serious speculation at Constantinople. I be- 
 lieve that neither the Sublime Porte, nor the European al- 
 lies, attach any such exaggerated importance to the acts and 
 deliberations of this body. The Turk will, in all probabili- 
 ty, never hear of the names of the gentlemen who either 
 espouse or oppose the resolution. It certainly is not with- 
 out a value; but that value is altogether moral; it throws 
 our little tribute into the vast stream of public opinion, 
 
256 ON THE GREEK REVOLUTION. 
 
 which sooner or later must regulate the physical action up- 
 on the great interests of the civilized world. But, rely upon 
 it, the Ottoman is not about to declare war against us be- 
 cause this unoffending proposition has been offered by my 
 honorable friend from Massachussetts, whose name, how- 
 ever distinguished and eminent he may be in our own coun- 
 try, has probably never reached the ears of the Sublime 
 Porte. The allied powers are not going to be thrown into a 
 state of consternation, because we appropriate some two or 
 three thousand dollars to send an agent to Greece. 
 
 The question has been argued as if the Greeks would be 
 exposed to still more shocking enormities by its passage; as 
 if the Turkish scimitar would be rendered still keener, and 
 dyed deeper and yet deeper in Christian blood. Sir, if such 
 is to be the effect of the declaration of our sympathy, the 
 evil has been already produced. That declaration has been 
 already publicly and solemnly made by the chief magistrate 
 of the United States, in two distinct messages. It is this 
 document which commands at home and abroad the most 
 fixed and universal attention; which is translated into all the 
 foreign journals; read by sovereigns and their ministers; 
 and, possibly, in the divan itself. But our resolutions are 
 domestic, for home consumption, and rarely if ever meet 
 imperial or royal eyes. The president, in his messages, after 
 a most touching representation of the feelings excited by 
 the Greek insurrection, tells you that the dominion of the 
 Turk is gone forever; and that the most sanguine hope is 
 entertained that Greece will achieve her independence. 
 Well, sir, if this be the fact, if the allied powers themselves 
 may, possibly, before we again assemble in this hall, ac- 
 knowledge that independence, is it not fit and becoming in 
 this house to make provision that our president shall be 
 among the foremost, or at least not among the last, in that 
 acknowledgment? So far from this resolution being likely 
 to whet the vengeance of the Turk against his Grecian vic- 
 tims, I believe its tendency will be directly the reverse. 
 Sir, with all his unlimited power, and in all the elevation of 
 his despotic throne, he is at last but man, made as we are, 
 of flesh, of muscle, of bone and sinew. He is susceptible 
 of pain, and can feel, and has felt the uncalculating valour 
 of American freemen in some of his dominions. And when 
 he is made to understand that the executive of this govern- 
 ment is sustained by the representatives of the people; that 
 
ON THE GREEK REVOLUTION. 257 
 
 our entire political fabric, base, column, and entablature, 
 rulers and people, with heart, soul, mind, and strength, are 
 all on the side of the gallant people whom he would crush, 
 he will be more likely to restrain than to increase his attro- 
 cities upon suffering and bleeding Greece. 
 
 The gentleman from New Hampshire, (Mr. Bartlett,) 
 has made, on this occasion, a very ingenious, sensible, and 
 ironical speech — an admirable debut for a new member, and 
 such as I hope we shall often have repeated on this floor. 
 But, permit me to advise my young friend to remember the 
 maxim, " that sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof;'* 
 and when the resolution,* on another subject, which I had 
 the honour to submit, shall come up to be discussed, I hope 
 he will not content himself with saying, as he has now done, 
 that it is a very extraordinary one; but that he will then fa- 
 vour the house with an argumentative speech, proving that 
 it is our duty quietly to see laid prostrate every fortress of 
 human hope, and to behold, with indifference, the last out- 
 work of liberty taken and destroyed. 
 
 It has been said, that the proposed measure will be a de- 
 parture from our uniform policy with respect to foreign na- 
 tions; that it will provoke the wrath of the holy alliance; 
 and that it will, in effect, be a repetition of their own of- 
 fence, by an unjustifiable interposition in the domLStic con- 
 cerns of other powers. No, sir, not even if it authorized, 
 which it does not, an immediate recognition of Grecian in- 
 dependence. What has been the settled and steady policy 
 and practice of this government, from the days of Wash- 
 ington, to the present moment? In the case of France, the 
 father of his country and his successors received Genet, 
 Fouchet, and all the French ministers who followed them, 
 whether sent from king, convention, anarchy, emperor, or 
 king again. The rule we have ever followed has been this: 
 to look at the state of the fact, and to recognize that gov- 
 ernment, be it what it might, which was in actual posses- 
 sion of sovereign power. When one government is over- 
 thrown, and another is established on its ruins, without em- 
 barrassing ourselves with any of the principles involved in 
 the contest, we have ever acknowledged the new and actual 
 government as soon as it had undisputed existence. Our sim- 
 
 *The resolution offered by Mr. Clay, declaring that the United States 
 would not see with indifference any interference of the holy alliance in 
 behalf of Spain against the new American republics. 
 LI 
 
258 ON THE GREEK REVOLUTION. 
 
 pie inquiry has been, is there a government de facto? We 
 have had a recent and memorable example. When the allied 
 ministers retired from Madrid, and refused to accompany 
 Ferdinand to Cadiz, ours remained, and we sent out a new 
 minister, who sought at that port to present himself to the 
 constitutional king. VVhy? Because it was the government 
 of Spain, in fact. Did the allies declare war against us for 
 the exercise of this incontestible attribute of sovereignty? 
 Did they even transmit any diplomatic note, complainmg of 
 our conduct? The line of our European policy has been so 
 plainly described that it is impossible to mistake it. We are 
 to abstain from all interference in their disputes, to take no 
 part in their contests, to make no entangling alliances with 
 any of them; but to assert and exercise our indisputable 
 right of opening and maintaining diplomatic intercourse 
 with any actual sovereignty. 
 
 There is reason to apprehend that a tremendous storm is 
 ready to burst upon our happy country — one which may call 
 into action all our vigour, courage, and resources. Is it 
 wise or prudent, in preparing to breast the storm, if it must 
 come, to talk to this nation of its incompetency to repel 
 European aggression, to lower its spirit, to weaken its mo- 
 ral energy, and to qualify it for easy conquest and base sub- 
 mission? If there be any reality in the dangers which are 
 supposed to encompass us, should we not animate the peo- 
 ple, and adjure them to believe, as I do, that our resources 
 are ample; and that we can bring into the field a million of 
 freemen ready to exhaust their last drop of blood, and to 
 spend the last cent in the defence of the country, its liber- 
 ty, and its institutions? Sir, are these, if united, to be con- 
 quered by all Europe combined? All the perils to which we 
 can be possibly exposed, are much less in reality than the 
 imagination is disposed to paint them. And they are best 
 averted by an habitual contemplation of them, by reducing 
 them to their true dimensions. If combined Europe is to 
 precipitate itself upon us, we cannot too soon begin to in- 
 vigorate our strength, to teach our heads to think, our hearts 
 to conceive, and our arms to execute, the high and noble 
 deeds which belong to the character and glory of our coun- 
 try. The experience of the world instructs us, that conquests 
 are already achieved, which are boldly and firmly resolved 
 on; and that men only become slaves who have ceased to 
 resolve to be free. If we wish to cover ourselves with the 
 
ON THE GREEK REVOLUTION. 259 
 
 best of all armour, let us not discourage our people, let us 
 stimulate their ardour, let us sustain their resolution, let us 
 proclaim to them that we feel as they feel, and that, with 
 them, wc are determined to live or die like freemen. 
 
 Surely, sir, we need no long or learned lectures about the 
 nature of government, and the influence of property or 
 ranks on society. We may content ourselves witli studying 
 the true character of our own people; and with knowing 
 that the interests are confided to us of a nation capable of 
 doing and suffering all things for its liberty. Such a nation, 
 if its rulers be faithful, must be invincible. I well remem- 
 ber an observation made to me by the most illustrious fe- 
 male* of the age, if not of her sex. All history showed, 
 she said, that a nation was never conquered. No, sir, no 
 united nation that resolves to be free, can be conquered. 
 And has it come to this? Are we so humbled, so low, so 
 debased, that we dare not express our sympathy for suffer- ; 
 ing Greece, that we dare not articulate our detestation of 
 the brutal excesses of which she has been the bleeding vic- 
 tim, lest we might offend some one or more of their impe- 
 rial and royal majesties? If gentlemen are afraid to act rash- 
 ly on such a subject, suppose, Mr. Chairman, that we unite 
 in an humble petition, addressed to their majesties, beseech- 
 ing them that of their gracious condescension, they would 
 allow us to express our feelings and our sympathies. How 
 shall it run: " We, the representatives of the free people of 
 the United States of America, humbly approach the thrones 
 of your imperial and royal majesties, and supplicate, that of 
 your imperial and royal clemency," — I cannot go through 
 the disgusting recital — my lips have not yet learnt to pro- 
 nounce the sycophantic language of a degraded slave! Are 
 ■we so mean, so base, so despicable, that we may not attempt 
 to express our horror, utter our indignation, at the most 
 brutal and attrocious war that ever stained earth or shocked 
 high Heaven, at the ferocious deeds of a savage and infuri- 
 ated soldiery, stimulated and urged on by the clergy of a 
 fanatical and inimical religion, and rioting in all the exces- 
 ses of blood and butchery, at the mere details of which the 
 heart sickens and recoils! 
 
 If the great body of Christendom can look on calmly and 
 coolly, whilst all this is perpetrated on a Christian people, 
 in its own immediate vicinity, in its very presence, let us at 
 
 * Mad, de Stael . 
 
260. ON THE GREEK REVOLUTION, 
 
 least evince that one of its remote extremities is susceptible 
 of sensibility to Christian wrongs, and capable of sympa- 
 thy for Christian sufferings; that, in this remote quarter of 
 the world, there are hearts not yet closed against compas- 
 sion for human woes, that can pour out their indignant feel- 
 ings at the oppression of a people endeared to us by every 
 ancient recollection, and every modern tie. Sir, the com- 
 mittee has been attempted to be alarmed by the dangers to 
 our commerce in the Mediterranean; and a wretched invoice 
 of figs and opium has been spread before us to repress our 
 sensibilities and to eradicate our humanity. Ah! sir, " what 
 shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his 
 own soul," or what shall it avail a nation to save the whole 
 of a miserable trade and lose its liberties? 
 
 On the subject of the other independent American states, 
 hitherto it has not been necessary to depart from the rule 
 of our foreign relations, observed in regard to Europe, 
 Whether it will become us to do so or not, will be consid- 
 ered when we take up another resolution, lying on the ta- 
 ble. But we may not only adopt this measure; we may go 
 further^- we may recognize the government in the Morea, 
 if actually independent, and it will be neither war, nor cause 
 of war, nor any violation of our neutrality. Besides, sir, 
 what is Greece to the allies? A part of the dominions of 
 any of them? By no means. Suppose the people in one of 
 the Philippine isles, or in any other spot still more insulat- 
 ed and remote, in Asia or Africa, were to resist their for- 
 mer rulers, and set up and establish a new government, are 
 we not to recognize them in dread of the holy allies? If they 
 are going to interfere, from the danger of the contagion 
 of the example, here is the spot, our own favored land, 
 where they must strike. This government, you, Mr. Chair- 
 man, and the body over which you preside, are the living 
 and cutting reproach to allied despotism. If we are to of- 
 fend them, it is not by passing this resolution. We are dai- 
 ly and hourly giving them cause of war. It is here^ and in 
 our free institutions, that they will assail us. They will at- 
 tack us because you sit beneath that canopy, and we are 
 freely debating and deliberating upon the great interests of 
 free men, and dispensing the blessings of free government. 
 They will strike, because we pass one of those bills on vour 
 table. The passage of the least of them, by our free autho- 
 rity, is more galling to despotic powers, than would be the 
 
ON THE GREEK REVOLUTION. 261 
 
 adoption of this so much dreaded resolution. Pass it, and 
 what do you? You exercise an indisputable attribute of 
 sovereignty, for which you are responsible to none of them. 
 You do the same when you perform any other legislative 
 function; no less. If the allies object to this measure, let 
 them forbid us to take a vote in this house; let them strip 
 us of every attribute of independent government; let them 
 disperse us. 
 
 Will gentlemen attempt to maintain that, on the princi- 
 ples of the law of nations, those allies would have cause of 
 war? If there be any principle which has been settled for 
 ages, any which is founded in the very nature of things, it 
 is that every independent state has the clear right to judge 
 of the fact of the existence of other sovereign powers. I 
 admit that there may be a state of inchoate initiative sove- 
 reignty, in which a new government, just struggling into 
 being, cannot be said yet perfectly to exist. But the prema- 
 ture recognition of such new government, can give offence 
 justly to no other than its ancient sovereign. The right of 
 recognition comprehends the right to be informed; and the 
 means of information must, of necessity, depend upon the 
 sound discretion of the party seeking it. You may send out 
 a commission of inquiry, and charge it with a provident at- 
 tention to your own pt- ople and your own interests. Such 
 will be the character of the proposed agency. It will not 
 necessarily follow that any public functionary will be ap- 
 pointed by the president. You merely grant the means by 
 which the executive may act when he thinks proper. What 
 does he tell you in his message? That Greece is contending 
 for her independence; that all sympathize with her; and that 
 no power has declared against her. Pass this resolution, 
 and what is the reply which it conveys to him? " You have 
 sent us grateful intelligence; we feel warmly for Greece; 
 and we grant you money, that, when you shall think it pro- 
 per, when the interests of this nation shall not be jeopar- 
 dized, you may depute a commissioner or public agent to 
 Greece." The whole responsibility is then left where the 
 constitution puts it. A member in his place may make a 
 speech or proposition, the house may even pass a vote, in 
 respect to our foreign affairs, which the president, with the 
 whole field lying full before him, would not deem it expedi- 
 ent to effectuate. 
 
 But, sir, it is not for Greece alone that I desire to see 
 
262 ON THE GREEK REVOLUTION. 
 
 this measure adopted. It will give to her but little support, 
 and that purely of a moral kind. It is principally for Ame- 
 rica, for the credit and character of our common country, 
 for our own unsullied name, that I hope to see it pass. 
 "What, Mr. Chairman, appearance on the page of history, 
 would a record like this exhibit? " In the month of Janua- 
 ry, in the year of our Lord and Saviour, 1824, while all 
 European Christendom beheld, with cold and unfeeling in- 
 difference, the unexampled wrongs and inexpressible mise- 
 ry of Christian Greece, a proposition was made in the con- 
 gress of the United States, almost the sole, the last, the 
 greatest depositvny of human hope and human freedom, the 
 representatives of a gallant nation, containing a million of 
 freemen ready to fly to arms, while the people of that na- 
 tion were spontaneously expressing its deep-toned feeling, 
 and the whole continent, by one simultaneous emotion, was 
 rising and solemnly and anxiously supplicating and invok- 
 ing high Heaven to spare and succour Greece, and to invi- 
 gorate her arms, in her glorious cause, while temples and 
 senate houses were alike resounding with one burst of gene- 
 rous and holy sympathy; — in the year of our Lord and Sa- 
 viour, that Saviour of Greece and of us — a proposition was 
 offered in the American congress to send a messenger to 
 Greece, to inquire into her state and condition, with a kind 
 expression of our good wishes and our sympathies — and it 
 was rejected!" Go home, if vou can, go home, if you dare, 
 to your constituents, and tell them that you voted it down 
 — meet, if you can, the appalling countenances of those 
 who sent you here, and tell them that you shrank from the 
 declaration of your own sentiments — that you cannot tell 
 how, but that some unknown dread, some indiscribable ap- 
 prehension, some indefinable danger, drove you from your 
 purpose — that the spectres of scimitars, and crowns, and 
 crescents, gleamed before you, and alarmed you; and that 
 you suppressed all the noble feelings prompted by religion, 
 by liberty, by national independence, and by humanity. I 
 cannot bring myself to believe that such will be the feeling 
 of a majority of this committee. But, for myself, though 
 every friend of the cause should desert it, and I be left to 
 stand alone with the gentleman from Massachusetts, I will 
 give to his resolution the poor sanction of my unqualified 
 approbation. 
 
263 
 
 ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 
 
 Sptech in support of an American System for the Protection 
 of American Industry; delivered in the House of Repre- 
 sentatives on the oOth and 31st of March ^ 1824. 
 
 The gentleman from Virginia, (Mr. Barbour,) has em- 
 braced the occasion produced by the proposition of the 
 gentleman from Tennessee, to strike out the mmimum price, 
 in the bill, on cotton fabrics, to express his sentiments at 
 large on the policy of the pending measure; and it is scarcely 
 necessary for me to say that he has evinced his usual good 
 temper, ability, and decorum. The parts of the bill are so 
 intermingled and interwoven together, that there can be no 
 doubt of the fitness of this occasion to exhibit its merits or 
 its defects. It is my intention, with the permission of the 
 committee, to avail myself also of this opportunity, to pre- 
 sent to its consideration those general views, as they appear 
 to me, of the true policy of this country, which imperiously 
 demand the passage of this bill. I am deeply sensible, Mr. 
 Chairman, of the high responsibility of my present situa- 
 tion. But that responsibility inspires me with no other ap- 
 prehension than that I shall be unable to fulfil my duty; 
 with no other solicitude than that I may, at least, in some 
 small degree, contribute to recall my country from the pur- 
 suit of a fatal policy, which appears to me inevitably to lead 
 to its impoverishment and ruin. I do feel most awfully this 
 responsibility. And, if it were allowable for us, at the pre- 
 sent day, to imitate ancient examples, I would invoke the 
 aid of the Most High. I would anxiously and fervently 
 implore His Divine assistance; that He would be graciously 
 pleased to shower on my country His richest blessings; and 
 that he would sustain, on this interesting occasion, the hum- 
 ble individual who stands before Him, and lend him the 
 power, moral and physical, to perform the solemn duties 
 which now belong to his public station. 
 
 Two classes of politicians divide the people of the United 
 States. According to the system of one, the produce of 
 foreign industry should be subjected to no other impost 
 
264 ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 
 
 than such as may be necessary to provide a public revenue; 
 and the produce of American industry should be left to 
 sustain itself, if it can, with no other than that incidental 
 protection, in its competition, at home as well as abroad, 
 with rival foreign articles. According to the system of the 
 other class, whilst they agree that the imposts should be 
 mainly, and may, under any modification, be safely relied 
 on as a fit and convenient source of public revenue, they 
 would so adjust and arrange the duties on foreign fabrics as 
 to afford a gradual but adequate protection to American in- 
 dustry, and lessen our dependence on foreign nations, by se- 
 curing a certain and ultimately a cheaper and better supply 
 of our own wants from our own abundant resources. Both 
 classes are equally sincere in their respective opinions, 
 equally honest, equally patriotic, and desirous of advancing 
 the prosperity of the country. In the discussion and con- 
 sideration of these opposite opinions, for the purpose of 
 ascertaining which has the support of truth and reason, we 
 should, therefore, exercise every indulgence, and the great- 
 est spirit of mutual moderation and forbearance. And, in 
 our deliberations on this great question, we should look fear- 
 lessly and truly at the actual condition of the country, re- 
 trace the causes which have brought us into it, and snatch, 
 if possible, a view of the future. We should, above all, con- 
 sult experience — the experience of other nations, as well as 
 our own, as our truest and most unerring guide. 
 
 In casting our eyes around us, the most prominent cir- 
 cumstance which fixes our attention, and challenges our 
 deepest regret, is the general distress which pervades the 
 whole country. It is forced upon us by numerous facts of 
 the most incontestible character. It is indicated by the di- 
 minished exports of native produce; by the depressed and 
 reduced state of our foreign navigation; by our diminished 
 commerce; by successive unthrashed crops of grain, perish- 
 ing in our barns and barn-yards for the want of a market; 
 by the alarming diminution of the circulating medium; 
 by the numerous bankruptcies, not limited to the trading 
 classes, but extending to all orders of society; by an univer- 
 sal complaint of the want of employment, and a consequent 
 reduction of the wages of labour; by the ravenous pursuit 
 after public situations, not for the sake of their honors and 
 the performance of their public duties, but as a means of 
 private subsistence; by the reluctant resort to the peri- 
 
ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 265 
 
 lous use of paper money; by the intervention of legislation* 
 in the delicate relation between debtor and creditor; and,; 
 above all, by the low and depressed state of the value of, 
 almost every description of the whole mass of the property* 
 of the nation, which has, on an average, sunk not less than \ 
 about fifty per centum within a few years. This distress \ 
 pervades every part of the union, every class of society; all \ 
 feel it, though it may be felt, at different places, in different I 
 degrees. It is like the atmosphere which surrounds us — all ? 
 must Inhale it, and none can escape it. In some places it i 
 has burst upon our people, without a single mitigating cir- \ 
 cumstance to temper its severity. In others, more fortunate, 1 
 slight alleviations have been experienced in the expenditure | 
 of the public revenue, and in other favoring causes. A few | 
 years ago, the planting interest consoled itself with its hap- j 
 py exemptions, but it has now reached this interest also, I 
 which experiences, though with less severity, the general f 
 suffering. It is most painful to me to attempt to sketch or to / 
 dwell on the gloom of this picture. But I have exaggerated I 
 nothing. Perfect fidelity to the original would have autho- \ 
 rised me to have thrown on deeper and darker hues. And 
 it is the duty of the statesman, no less than that of the phy- 
 sician, to survey, with a penetrating, steady and undismayed 
 eye, the actual condition of the subject on which he would 
 operate; to probe to the bottom the diseases of the body po- 
 litic, if he would apply efficacious remedies. We have not, 
 thank God, suffered in any great degree for food. But dis- 
 tress, resulting from the absence of a supply of the mere phy- 
 sical wants of our nature, is not the only, nor, perhaps, the 
 keenest distress, to which we may be exposed. Moral and 
 pecuniary suffering is, if possible, more poignant. It plunges 
 its victim into hopeless despair. It poisons, it paralyses, the 
 spring and source of all useful exertion. Its unsparing 
 action is collateral as well as direct. It falls with inexora- 
 ble force at the same time upon the wretched family of 
 embarrassment and insolvency, and upon its head. They 
 are a faithful mirror, reflecting back upon him, at once, his 
 own frightful image, and that, no less appalling, of the 
 dearest objects of his affection. What is the cause of this 
 wide- spreading distress, of this deep depression, which we 
 behold stamped on the public countenance? We are the. 
 same people. We have the same country. We cannot ar- 
 raign the bounty of Providence. The showers still fall in 
 Mm' 
 
266 ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 
 
 the same grateful abundance. The sun still casts his genial 
 and vivifying influence upon the land; and the land, fertile 
 anil diversified in its soils as ever, yields to the industrious 
 cultivator, in boundless profusion, its accustomed fruits, its 
 richest treasures. Our vigor is unimpaired. Our industry 
 has not relaxed. If ever the accusation of wasteful extrava- 
 gance could be made against our people, it cannot now be 
 justly preferred. They, on the contrary, for the few last 
 years, at least, have been practising the most rigid economy. 
 The causes, then, of our present affliction, whatever they may 
 be, are human causes, and human causes not chargeable 
 upon the people in their private and individual relations. 
 
 What, again I would ask, is the cause of the unhappy 
 condition of our country, which I have faintly depicted? 
 It is to be found in the fact that, during almost the whole 
 existence of this government, we have shaped our indus- 
 try, our navigation, and our commerce, in reference to an 
 extraordinary vvar in Europe, and to foreign markets, which 
 no longer exist; in the fact that we have depended too much 
 iipon foreign sources of supply, and excited too little the 
 native; in the fact that, whilst we have cultivated, with as- 
 siduous care-, our foreign resources, we have suffered those 
 at home to wither, in a state of neglect and abandonment. 
 The consequence of the termination of the war of Europe, 
 has been the resumption of European commerce, European 
 navigation, and the extension of European agriculture and 
 European industry, in all its branches. Europe, therefore, 
 has no longer occasion, to any thing like the same extent, 
 as that she had during her wars, for American commerce, 
 American navigation, the produce of American industry, 
 Europe, in commotion and convulsed throughout all her 
 members, is to America no longer the same Europe as she 
 is now, tranquil, and watching with the most vigilant atten- 
 tion all her own peculiar interests, without regard to the 
 operation of her policy upon us. The effVct of this altered 
 state of Europe upon us, has been to circumscribe the em- 
 ployment of our marine, and greatly to reduce the value of 
 the produce of our territorial labour. The further effect of 
 this twofold reduction has been to decrease the value of 
 all property, whether on the land or on the ocean, and which 
 I suppose to be about fifty per centum. And the still fur- 
 ther effect has been to diminish the amount of our circu- 
 lating medium, in a proportion not less, by its transmission 
 
ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 267 
 
 abroad, or Its withdrawal by the banking institutions, from 
 a necessity which they could not control. The quantity of 
 money, in whatever form it may be, whicK a nation wants 
 is in proportion to the total mass of its wealth, and to the 
 activity of that wealth. A nation that has but little wealth, 
 has but a limited want of money. In stating the fact, there- 
 fore, that the total wealth ot the country has diminished, 
 within a few years, in a ratio of about fifty per centum, we 
 shall, at once, fully comprehend the inevitable reduction, 
 which must have ensued, in the total quantity of the circu- 
 lating medium of the country. A nation is most prosperous 
 when there is a gradual and untempting addition to the 
 aggregate of its circulating medium. It is in a condition 
 the most adverse, when there is a rapid diminution in the 
 quantity of the circulating medium, and a consequent de- 
 pression in the value of property. In the former case, the 
 wealth of individuals insensibly increases, and income keeps 
 ahead of expenditure. But, in the latter instance, debts have 
 been contracted, engagements made, and habits of expense 
 established, in reference to the existing state of weahh and 
 of its representative. When these come to be greatly re- 
 duced, individuals find their debts still existing, their en- 
 gagements unexecuted, and their habits inveterate. They 
 see themselves in the possession of the same property, on 
 which, in good faith, they had bound themselves. — But 
 that property, without their fault, possesses no longer the 
 same value; and hence discontent, impoverishment, and 
 ruin arise. Let- us suppose, Mr. Chairman, that Europe 
 was again the theatre of such a general war as recently raged 
 throughout all her dominions — such a state of the war as 
 existed in her greatest exertions and in our greatest pros- 
 perity: instantly there would arise a greedy demand for the 
 surplus produce of our industry, for our commerce, for our 
 navigation. The languor which now prevails in our cities, 
 and in our sea-ports, would give way to an animated ac- 
 tivity. Our roads and rivers would be crowded with the 
 produce of the interior. Every where we should witness 
 excited industry. The precious metals would re-flow from 
 abroad upon us. Banks, which have maintained their credit, 
 would revive their business; and new banks would be esta- 
 blished, to take the place of those which have sunk beneath 
 the general pressure. For it is a mistake to suppose that 
 they have produced our present adversity; they may have 
 
268 ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 
 
 somewhat aggravated it, but they were the effect and the 
 evidence of our prosperity. Prices would again get up; the 
 former value of property would be restored. And those 
 embarrassed persons who have not been already over- 
 whelmed by the times, would suddenly find, in the aug- 
 mented value of their property, and the renewal of their 
 business, ample means to extricate themselves from all their 
 difficulties. The greatest want of civilized society is a mar- 
 ket for the sale and exchange of the surplus of the produce 
 of the labor of its members. This market may exist at home 
 or abroad, or both; but it must exist somewhere, if society 
 prospers; and wherever it does exist, it should be compe- 
 tent to the absorption of the entire surplus of production. 
 It is most desirable that there should be both a home and 
 a foreign market. But, with respect to their relative supe- 
 riority, I cannot entertain a doubt. The home market is 
 first in order, and paramount in importance. The object of 
 the bill, under consideration, is to create this home market, 
 and to lay the foundations of a genuine American policy. 
 It is oppposed; and it is incumbent upon the partisans of 
 the foreign policy (terms which I shall use without any in- 
 vidious intent,) to demonstrate that the foreign market is 
 an adequate vent for the surplus produce of our labor. But 
 is it so? 1. Foreign nations cannot, if they would, take our 
 surplus produce. If the source of supply, no matter of what, 
 increases in a greater ratio than the demand for that supply, 
 a glut of the market is inevitable, even if we suppose both 
 to remain perfectly unobstructed. The duplication of our 
 population takes place in terms of about twenty-five years. 
 The term will be more and more extended as our numbers 
 multiply. But it will be a sufficient approximation to assume 
 this ratio for the present. We increase, therefore, in popu- 
 lation, at the rate of about four per centum per annum. Sup- 
 posing the increase of our production to be in the same ratio, 
 we should, every succeeding year, have of surplus produce, 
 four per centum more than that of the preceding year, with- 
 out taking into the account the differences of seasons which 
 neutralize each other. If, therefore, we are to rely upon 
 the foreign market exclusively, foreign consumption ought 
 to be shown to be increasing in the same ratio of four per 
 centum per annum, if it be an adequate vent for our surplus 
 produce. But, as I have supposed the measure of our in- 
 creasing production to be furnished by that of our increas- 
 
ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 26'9 
 
 ing population, so the measure of their power of consump- 
 tion must be determined by that of the increase of their 
 population. Now, the total foreign population, who consume 
 our surplus produce, upon an average, do not double their 
 aggregate number in a shorter term than that of about one 
 hundred years. Our powers of production increase then in 
 a ratio four times greater than their powers of consumption. 
 And hence their utter inability to receive from us our sur- 
 plus produce. 
 
 But, 2dly. If they could, they will not. The policy of 
 all Europe is adverse to the reception of our agricultural 
 produce, so far as it comes into collision with its own; and 
 under that limitation we are absolutely forbid to enter their 
 ports, except under ciixumstances which deprive them of 
 all value as a steady market. The policy of all Europe re- 
 jects those great staples of our country, which consist of 
 objects of human subsistence. The policy of all Europe 
 refuses to receive from us any thing but those raw mate- 
 rials of smaller value, essential to their manufactures, to 
 which they can give a higher value, with the exception of 
 tobacco and rice, which they cannot produce. Even Great 
 Britain, to which we are its best customer, and from which 
 we receive nearly one half in value of cur whole imports, 
 will not take from us articles of subsistence produced in 
 our country cheaper than can be produced in Great Britain. 
 In adopting this exclusive policy, the states of Europe do 
 not inquire what is best for us, but what suits themselves 
 respectively; they do not take jurisdiction of the question of 
 our interests, but limit the object of their legislation to that 
 of the conservation of their own peculiar interests, leaving 
 us free to prosecute ours as we please. They do not guide 
 themselves by that romantic philanthropy, which we see 
 displayed here, and which invokes us to continue to pur- 
 chase the produce of foreign industry, without regard to the 
 state or prosperity of our own, that foreigners may be 
 pleased to purchase the few remaining articles of ours, 
 which their restricted policy has not yet absolutely ex- 
 cluded from their consumption. What sort of a figure 
 would a member of the British parliament have made; what 
 sort of a reception would his opposition have obtained, if 
 he had remonstrated against the passage of the corn law, 
 by which British consumption is limited to the bread-stuffs 
 af British production, to the entire exclusion of American, 
 
270 ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 
 
 and stated that America could not and would not buy Bri- 
 tish manufactures, if Britain did not buy American flour? 
 Both the inability and the policy of foreign powers, then, 
 forbid us to rely upon the foreign market as being an ade- 
 quate vent for the surplus produce of American labor. Now 
 let us see if this general reasoning is not fortified and con- 
 firmed by the actual experience of this country. If the fo- 
 reign market may be safely relied upon, as furnishing au 
 adequate demand for our surplus produce, then the official 
 documents will show a progressive increase, from year to 
 year, in the exports of our native produce, in a proportion 
 equal to that which I have suggested. If, on the contrary, 
 we shall find from them that, for a long term of past years, 
 some of our most valuable staples have retrograded, some 
 remained stationary, and others advanced but little, if any, 
 in amount, with the exception of cotton, the deductions of 
 reason and the lessons of experience will alike command 
 us to withdraw our confidence in the competency of the 
 foreign market. I'he total amount of all our exports of do- 
 mestic produce for the year, beginning in 1 7U5, and ending 
 on the thirtieth September, 1796, was forty millions seven 
 hundred and sixty-four thousand and ninety-seven. Esti- 
 mating the increase according to the ratio of the increase 
 of our population, that is, at four per centum per annum, 
 the amount of the exports of the same produce, in the year 
 ending on the thirtieth September last, ought to have been 
 eighty-five millions four hundred and twenty thousand eight 
 hundred and sixty-one. It was in fact only forty-seven mil- 
 lions one hundred and fifty-five thousand four hundred and 
 eight. Taking the average of five years, from 1803 to 
 1807, inclusive, the amount of native produce exported was 
 forty-three millions two hundred and two thousand seven 
 hundred and fifty-one for each of those years. Estimating 
 what it ought to have been, during the last year, applying 
 the principle suggested to that amount, there should have 
 been exported seventy-seven millions seven hundred and 
 sixty-six thousand seven hundred and fifty-one instead of 
 forty-seven millions one hundred and fifty-five thousand 
 four hundred and eight. If these comparative amounts of 
 the aggregate actual exports and what they ought to have 
 been, be discouraging, we shall find, on descending into 
 particulars, still less cause of satisfaction. The export of 
 tobacco in 1791 was one hundred and twelve thousand four 
 
ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 271 
 
 hundred and twenty-eight hogsheads. That was the year 
 of the largest exportation of that article; but it is the only 
 instance in which I have selected the maximum of expor- 
 tation. The amount of what we ought to have exported 
 last year, estimated according to the scale of increase 
 which I have used, is two hundred and sixty-six thousand 
 three hundred and thirty-two hogsheads. The actual ex- 
 port was ninety-nine thousand and nine hogsheads. We 
 exported in 1803 the quantity of one million three hundred 
 and eleven thousand eight hundred and fifty-three barrels 
 of flour; and ought to have exported last year two millions 
 three hundred and sixty-one thousand three hundred and 
 thirty-three barrels. We, in fact, exported only seven hun- 
 dred and fifty-six thousand seven hundred and two bar- 
 rels. Of that quantity we sent to South America one 
 hundred and fifty thousand barrels, according to a state- 
 ment furnished me by the diligence of a friend near me, 
 fMr. Poinsett,) to whose valuable mass of accurate infor- 
 mation, in regard to that interesting quarter cf the world, 
 I have had occasion frequently to apply. But that demand 
 is temporary, growing out of the existing state of war. 
 Whenever peace is restored to it, and I now hope that the 
 day is not distant when its independence will be generally 
 acknowledged, there cannot be a doubt that it will supply its 
 own consumption. In all parts of it the soil, either from 
 climate or from elevation, is well adapted to the culture of 
 wheat; and no where can better wheat be produced than in 
 some portions of Mexico and Chili. Still the market of 
 South America is one which, on other accounts, deserves 
 the greatest consideration. And I congratulate you, the 
 committee, and the country, on the recent adoption of a 
 more auspicious policy towards it. 
 
 We exported, in 1803, Indian corn to the amount of 
 two millions seventy-four thousand six hundred and eight 
 bushels. The quantity should have been, in 1823, three 
 millions seven hundred and thirty- four thousand two hun- 
 dred and eighty-eight bushels. The actual quantity export- 
 ed was seven hundred and forty-nine thousand and thirty- 
 four bushels, or about one-fifth of what it should have 
 been, and a little more than one-third of what it was more 
 than twenty years ago. We ought not then to be surprised 
 at the extreme depression of the price of that article, of 
 which I have heard my honorable friend, (i\Ir. Bassett,) 
 complain, nor of the distress of the corn-growing districts 
 
^72 ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 
 
 adjacent to the Chesapeake Bay. We exported seventy-se- 
 ven thousand nine hundred and thirty-four barrels of beef 
 in 1803, and last year but sixty-one thousand four hun- 
 dred and eighteen, instead of one hundred and forty thou- 
 sand two hundred and seventy-four barrels. In the same 
 year, (1803,) we exported ninety -six thousand six hundred 
 and two barrels of pork, and last year fifty-five thousand 
 five hundred and twenty-nine, instead of one hundred and 
 seventy-three thousand eight hundred and eighty-two bar- 
 rels. Rice has not advanced, by any means, in the propor- 
 tion which it ought to have done. All the small articles, 
 such as cheese, butter, candles, &c. too minute to detail, 
 but important in their aggregate, have also materially di- 
 minished. Cotton alone has advanced. But, whilst the 
 quantity of it is augmented, its actual value is considerably 
 diminished. The total quantity last year exceeded that 
 of the preceding year by near thirty millions of pounds. 
 And yet the total value of the year of smaller exportation, 
 exceeded that of the last year by upwards of three and a 
 half millions of dollars. If this article, the capacity of our 
 country to produce which was scarcely known in 1790, wei*e 
 subtracted from the mass of our exports, the value of the 
 residue would only be a little upwards of twenty-seven mil- 
 lions during the last year. The distribution of the articles 
 of our exports throughout the United States, cannot fail to 
 fix the attention of the committee. Of the forty-seven mil- 
 lions one hundred and fifty-five thousand four hundred and 
 eight, to which they amounted last year, three articles alone, 
 (cotton, rice, and tobacco, J composed together twenty-eight 
 millions five hundred and forty- nine thousand one hundred 
 and seventy -seven. Now these articles are chiefly produced 
 to the south. And if we estimate that portion of our popu- 
 lation who are actually engaged in their culture, it would 
 probably not exceed two millions. Thus, then, less than 
 one-fifth of the whole population of the United States pro- 
 duced upwards of one-half, nearly two-thirds, of the entire 
 value of the exports of the last year. 
 
 Is this foreign market, so incompetent at present, and 
 which, limited as its demands are, operates so unequally 
 upon the productive labor of our country, likely to improve 
 in future? If I am correct in the views which I have pre- 
 sented to the committee, it must become worse and worse. 
 What can improve it? Europe will not abandon her own 
 agriculture to foster ours. We may even anticipate that she 
 
ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 273 
 
 will more and more enter into competition with us in the 
 supply of the West India market. That of South Ame- 
 rica, for articles of subsistence, will probably soon vanish. 
 The value of our exports, for the future, may lemain at 
 about what it was last year. But, if we do not create 
 some new market; if we persevere in the existing pursuits 
 of agriculture, the inevitable consequence must be, to aug- 
 ment greatly the quantity of our produce, and to lessen its 
 value in the foreign market. Can there be a doubt on this 
 point? Take the article of cotton, for example, which is al- 
 most the only article that now remunerates labor and capital. 
 A certain description of labor is powerfully attracted towards 
 the cotton growing country. The cultivation will be greatly 
 extended, the aggregate amount, annually produced, will be 
 vastly augmented. The price will fall. The more unfavora- 
 ble soils will then be gradually abandoned. And I have no 
 doubt that, in a few years, it will cease to be profitably pro- 
 duced, any where north of the thirty-fourth degree of lati- 
 tude. But, in the mean time, large numbers of the cotton- 
 growers will suffer the greatest distress. And whilst this 
 distress is brought upon our own country, foreign industry 
 will be stimulated by the very cause which occasions our 
 distress. For, by surcharging the markets abroad, the price 
 'of the raw material being reduced, the manufacturer will be 
 able to supply cotton fabrics cheaper; and the consumption, 
 in his own country, and in foreign nations, other than ours, 
 (where the value of the import must be limited to the value 
 of the export, which I have supposed to remain the same,) 
 being proportionally extended, there will be, consequently, 
 an increased demand for the produce of his industry. 
 
 Our agricultural is our greatest interest. It ought ever to 
 be predominant. All others should bend to it. And, in con- 
 sidering what is for its advantage, we should contemplate it in 
 all its varieties, of planting, farming, and grazing. Can we do 
 nothing to invigorate it; nothing to correct the errors of the 
 past, and to brighten the still more unpromising prospects 
 which lie before us? We have seen, I think, the causes of 
 the distresses of the country. We have seen, that an exclu- 
 sive dependence upon the foreign market must lead to still 
 severer distress, to impoverishment, to ruin. We must then 
 change somewhat our course. We must give a new direc- 
 tion to some portion of our industry. We must speedily 
 adopt a genuine American policy. Still cherishing the fo- 
 Nn 
 
274 ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 
 
 reign market, let us create also a home market, to give 
 further scope to the consumption of the produce of Ameri- 
 can industry. Let us counteract the policy of foreigners, and 
 withdraw the support which we now give to their industry, 
 and stimulate that of our own country. It should be a pro- 
 minent object with wise legislators, to multiply the voca- 
 tions and extend the business of society, as far as it can be 
 done, by the protection of our interests at home, against the 
 injurious effects of foreign legislation. Suppose we were a 
 nation of fishermen, or of skippers, to the exclusion of every 
 other occupation, and the legislature had the power to in- 
 troduce the pursuits of agriculture and manufactures, would 
 not our happiness be promoted by an exertion of its autho- 
 rity? All the existing employments of society — the learned 
 professions — commerce — agriculture, are now overflowing. 
 "We stand in each other's way. Hence the want of employ- 
 ment. Hence the eager pursuit after public stations, which 
 I have before glanced at. I have been again and again 
 shocked, during this session, by instances of solicitation for 
 places, before the vacancies existed. The pulse of incum- 
 bents, who happened to be taken ill, is not marked with 
 more anxiety by the attending physicians, than by those who 
 desire to succeed them, though with very opposite feelings. 
 Our old friend, the faithful sentinel, who has stood so long 
 at our door, and the gallantry of whose patriotism deserves 
 to be noticed, because it was displayed when that virtue 
 was most rare and most wanted, on a memorable occasion 
 in this unfortunate city, became indisposed some weeks ago. 
 The first intelligence which I had of his dangerous illness, 
 was by an application for his unvacated place. I hastened to 
 assure myself of the extent of his danger, and was happy to 
 find that the eagerness of succession outstripped the progress 
 of disease. By creating a new and extensive business, then, 
 we should not only give employment to those who want it, 
 and augment the sum of national wealth, by all that this 
 new business would create, but we should meliorate the 
 condition of those who are now engaged in existing employ- 
 ments. In Europe, particularly in Great Britain, their large 
 standing armies, large navies, large even on their peace ar- 
 rangement, their established church, afford to their popula- 
 tion employments, which, in that respect, the happier con- 
 stitution of our government does not tolerate but in a very 
 limited degree. The peace establishments of our army and 
 
ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 275 
 
 jur navy, are extremely small, and I hope ever will be. We 
 have no established church, and I trust never shall have. 
 In proportion as the enterprise of our citizens, in public 
 employments, is circumscribed, should we excite and invi- 
 gorate it in private pursuits. 
 
 The creation of a home market is not only necessary to 
 procure for our agriculture a just reward of its labors, but 
 it is indispensable to obtain a supply of our necessary wants. 
 If we cannot sell, we cannot buy. That portion of our po- 
 pulation, (and we have seen that it is not less than four- 
 fifths,) which makes comparatively nothing that foreigners 
 will buy, has nothing to make purchases with from foreign- 
 ers. It^is in vain that we are told of the amount of our 
 exports supplied by the planting interest. They may enable 
 the planting interest to supply all its wants: but they bring 
 no ability to the interests not planting; unless, which can- 
 not be pretended, the planting interest was an adequate vent 
 for the surplus produce of the labor of all other interests. 
 It is in vain to tantalize us with the greater cheapness of 
 foreign fabrics. There must be an ability to purchase, if 
 an article be obtained, whatever may be the price, high or 
 low, at which it was sold. And a cheap article is as much 
 beyond the grasp of him who has no means to buy, as a 
 high one. Even if it were true that the American manu- 
 facturer would supply consumption at dearer rates, it is 
 better to have his fabrics than the unattainable foreign fa- 
 brics; because it is better to be ill supplied that not supplied 
 at all. A coarse coat, which will communicate warmth and 
 cover nakedness, is better than no coat. The superiority of 
 the home market results, 1st, from its steadiness and com- 
 parative certainty at all times; 2d, from the creation of re- 
 ciprocal interests; 3d, from its greater security; and, lastly, 
 from an ultimate and not distant augmentation of consump- 
 tion, (and consequently of comfort,) from increased quan- 
 tity and reduced prices. But this home market, highly 
 desirable as it is, can only be created and cherished by the 
 PROTECTION of our owu legislation against the inevitable 
 prostration of our industry, which must ensue from the ac- 
 tion of FOREIGN policy and legislation. The effect and the 
 value of this domestic care of our own interests will be 
 obvious from a few facts and considerations. Let us sup- 
 pose that half a million of persons are now employed abroad 
 in fabricating, for our consumption, those articles, of which, 
 
276 ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 
 
 by the operation of this bill, a supply is intended to be pro- 
 vided within ourselves. That half a million of persons are, 
 in effect, subsisted by us; but their actual means of subsis- 
 tence are drawn from foreign agriculture. If we could 
 transport them to this country, and incorporate them in the 
 mass of our own population, there would instantly arise a 
 demand for an amount of provisions equal to that which 
 would be requisite for their subsistence throughout the 
 whole year. That demand, in the article of flour alone, 
 would not be less than the quantity of about nine hundred 
 thousand barrels, besides a proportionate quantity of beef, 
 and pork, and other articles of subsistence. But nine hun- 
 dred thousand barrtls of flour exceeded the entire quantity 
 exported last year, by nearly one hundred and fifty thousand 
 barrels. What activity would not this give, what cheerful- 
 ness would it not conimunicaie, to our now dispirited farm- 
 ing interest! But if, instead of these five hundred thousand 
 artizans emigrating from abroad, we give by this bill em- 
 ployment to an equal number of our own citizens, now en- 
 gaged in unprofitable agriculture, or idle, from the want of 
 business, the beneficial effect upon the productions of our 
 farming labor would be nearly doubled. The quantity would 
 be diminished by a subtraction of the produce from the 
 labor of all those who should be diverted from its pursuits 
 to manufacturing industry, and the value of the residue 
 would be enhanced, both by that diminution and ihe crea- 
 tion of the heme market to the extent supposed. And the 
 honorable gentleman from Virginia may repress any appre- 
 hensions which he entertains, that the plough will be aban- 
 doned, and our fields ren:iain unsown. For, under all the 
 modifications of social industry, if you will secure to it a 
 just reward, the greater attractions of agriculture will give 
 to it that proud superiority which it has always maintamed. 
 If we suppose no actual abandonment of farming, but, what 
 is most likely, a gradual and imperceptible employment of 
 population in the business of a)anufacturing, instead of be- 
 ing compelled to resort to agriculture, the salutary eflect 
 would be nearly the same. Is any part of our common coun- 
 try likely to be injured by a transfer of the theatre of fabri- 
 cation, for our own consumption, from Europe to America? 
 AH that those parts, if any there be, which will not, nor 
 cannot engage in manufactures, should require, is, that their 
 consumption should be well supplied; and if the objects of 
 
ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 277 
 
 that consumption are produced in other parts of the union, 
 that can manufacture, far from having on that account any 
 just cause of complaint, their patriotism will and ought to 
 inculcate a cheerful acquiescence in what essentially contri- 
 butes, «;2^ is indispensibly necessary to the prosperity of the 
 common family. 
 
 The great desideratum in political economy, is the same 
 as in private pursuits; that is, what is the best application 
 of the aggregate industry of a nation, that can be made ho- 
 nestly to produce the largest sum of national wealth? Labor 
 is the source of all wealth; but it is not natural labor only. 
 And the fundamental error of the gentleman from Virginia, 
 and of the school to which he belongs, in deducing, from 
 our sparse population, our unfitness for the introduction of 
 the arts, consists in their not sufficiently weighing the impor- 
 tance of the power of machinery. In former times, when 
 but little comparative use was made of machinery, manual 
 labor, and the price of wages, were circumstances of the 
 greatest consideration. But it is far otherwise in these lat- 
 ter times. Such are the improvements and the perfection 
 of machinery, that, in analysing the compound value of many 
 fabrics, the element of natural labor is so inconsiderable as 
 almost to escape detection. This truth is demonstrated by 
 many facts. Formerly, Asia, in consequence of the density 
 of her population, and the consequent lowness of wages, 
 laid Europe under tribute for many of her fabrics. Now 
 Europe re acts upon Asia, and Great Britain, in particular, 
 throws back upon her countless millions of people, the rich 
 treasures produced by artificial labor, to a vast amount, in- 
 finitely cheaper than they can be manufactured by the natu- 
 ral exertions of that portion of the globe. But Britain is 
 herself the most striking illustration of the immense power 
 of machinery. Upon what other principle can you account 
 for the enormous wealth which she has accumulated, and 
 which she annually produces? A statistical writer of that 
 country, several years ago, estimated the total amount of 
 the artificial or machine labor of the nation, to be equal to 
 that of one hundred millions of able-bodied laborers. Sub- 
 sequent estimates of her artificial labor, at the present day, 
 carry it to the enormous height of two hundred millions. 
 But the population of the three kingdoms is twenty-one 
 millions five hundred thousand. Supposing that, to furnish 
 able-bodied labor to the amount of four millions, the natural 
 
278 ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 
 
 labor will be but two per centum of the artificial labor. In 
 the production of wealth she operates, therefore, by a power, 
 (including the whole population, J of two hundred and twen- 
 ty-one millions five hundred thousand; or, in other words, 
 by a power eleven times greater than the total of her natural 
 power. If we suppose the machine labor of the United 
 States to be equal to that often millions of able-bodied men, 
 the United States will operate, in the creation of wealth, by 
 a ppwer, (including all their population,) of twenty millions. 
 In the creation of wealth, therefore, the power of Great 
 Britain, compared to that of the United States, is as eleven 
 to one. That these views are not imaginary, will be, I think, 
 evinced, by contrasting the wealth, the revenue, the power 
 of the two countries. Upon what other hypothesis can we 
 explain those almost incredible exertions which Britain 
 made during the late wars of Europe? Look at her im- 
 mense subsidies! Behold her standing, unaided and alone, 
 and breasting the storm of Napoleon's colossal power, when 
 all continental Europe, owned and yielded to its irresistible 
 sway; and finally, contemplate her vigorous prosecution of 
 the war, with and without allies, to its splendid termina- 
 tion, on the ever memorable field of Waterloo! The British 
 works which the gentleman from Virginia has quoted, por- 
 tray a state of the most wonderful prosperity, in regard to 
 wealth and resources, that ever was before contemplated. Let 
 us look a little into the semi-official pamphlet, written with 
 great force, clearness, and ability, and the valuable work 
 of Lowe, to both of which that gentleman has referred. The 
 revenue of the united kingdom amounted, during the latter 
 years of the war, to seventy millions of pounds sterling; and 
 one year it rose to the astonishing height of ninety millions 
 sterling, equal to four hundred millions of dollars. This 
 was actual revenue, made up of real contributions, from the 
 purses of the people.. After the close of the war, ministers 
 slowly and reluctantly reduced the military and naval es- 
 tablishments, and accommodated them to a state of peace. 
 The pride of power, every where the same, always unwil- 
 lingly surrenders any of those circumstances, which display 
 its pomp and exhibit its greatness. Cotemporaneous with 
 
 I this reduction/ Britain was enabled to lighten some of the 
 heaviest burthens of taxation, and particularly that most 
 onerous of all, the tmome tax. In this lowered state, the 
 revenue of peace, graduaJy rising from the momentary de- 
 
ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 379 
 
 pression incident to a transition from war, attained, in 1822, 
 the vast amount of fifty-five millions sterling, upwards of 
 two hundred and forty millions of dollars, and more than 
 eleven times that of the United States for the same year; 
 thus indicating the difference, which I have suggested, in 
 the respective productive powers of the two countries. The 
 excise alone, (collected under twenty-five different heads,) 
 amounted to twenty-eight millions, more than one half of 
 the total revenue of the kingdom. This great revenue allows 
 Great Britain to constitute an efficient sinking fund of five 
 millions sterling, being an excess of actual income beyond 
 expenditure, and amounting to more than the entire revenue 
 of the United States. 
 
 If we look at the commerce of England, we shall per- 
 ceive that its prosperous condition no less denotes the im- 
 mensity of her riches. The average of three years' exports, 
 ending in 1789, was between thirteen and fourteen millions. 
 The average for the same term, ending in 1822, was forty 
 millions sterling. The average of the imports for three 
 years, ending in 1789, was seventeen millions. The average 
 for the same term, ending in 1822, was thirty-six millions, 
 showing a favorable balance of four millions. Thus, in a 
 period not longer than that which has elapsed since the 
 establishment of our constitution, have the exports of that 
 kingdom been trippled; and this has mainly been the effect 
 of the power of machinery. The total amount of the com- 
 merce of Great Britain is greater since the peace, by one- 
 fourth, than it was during the war. The average of her 
 tonnage, during the most flourishing period of the war, was 
 two millions four hundred thousand tons. Its average, dur- 
 ing the three years, 1819, 1820, and 1821, was two millions 
 six hundred thousand; exhibiting an increase of two hun- 
 dred thousand tons. If we glance at some of the more pro- 
 minent articles of her manufactures, we shall be assisted in 
 comprehending the true nature of the sources of her riches. 
 The amount of cotton fabrics exported, in the most pros- 
 perous year of the war, was eighteen millions sterling. In 
 the year 1820, it was sixteen millions six hundred thousand; 
 in 1821, twenty millions five hundred thousand; in i822, 
 twenty-one millions six hundred and thirty-nine thousand 
 pounds sterling; presenting the astonishing increase in two 
 years of upwards of five millions. The total amount of 
 imports in Great Britain, from all foreign parts, of the ar- 
 
280 ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 
 
 ticl? of cotton wool, is five millions sterling. After supply- 
 ing most abundantly the consumption of cotton fabrics with- 
 in the country, (and a people better fed and clad and housed, 
 are not to be found under the sun than the British nation,) 
 by means of her industry, she gives to this cotton wool a 
 new value, which enables her to sell to foreign nations to 
 the amount of twenty one millions six hundred and thirty- 
 nine thousand pounds, making a clear profit of upwards of 
 sixteen millions five hundred thousand pounds sterling! In 
 1821, the value of the export of woollen manufactures was 
 four millions three hundred thousand pounds. In 1822, it 
 was five millions five hundred thousand pounds. The suc- 
 cess of her restrictive policy is strikingly illustrated in the 
 article of silk. In the manufacture of that article she labors 
 under great disadvantages, besides that of not producing 
 the raw material. She has subdued them all, and the in- 
 crease of the manufacture has been most rapid. Although 
 she is still unable to maintain, in foreign countries, a suc- 
 cessful competition with the silks of France, of India, and 
 of Italy, and, therefore, exports but little, she gives to the 
 two millions of the raw material which she imports, in va- 
 rious forms, a value of ten millions, which chiefly enter into 
 British consumption. Let us suppose that she was depen- 
 dent upon foreign nations for these ten millions, what an 
 injurious effect would it not have upon her commercial 
 relations with them? The average of the exports of British 
 manufactures, during the peace, exceeds the average of the 
 most productive years of the war. The amount of her wealth 
 annually produced, is three hundred and fifty millions ster- 
 ling; bearing a large proportion to all of her pre-existing 
 wealth. The agricultural portion of it is said, by the gen- 
 tleman from Virginia, to be greater than that created by 
 any other branch of her industry. But that flows mainly 
 from a policy similar to that proposed by this bill. One- 
 third only of her population is engaged in agriculture; the 
 other two-thirds furnishing a market for the produce of that 
 third. Withdraw this market, and what becomes of her 
 agriculture? The power and the wealth of Great Britain 
 cannot be more strikingly illustrated than by a comparison 
 of her population and revenue with those of other countries 
 and with our own. [Here Mr. Clay exhibited the following 
 table, made out from authentic materials.J 
 
ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 281 
 
 
 Population. 
 
 Taxes & public 
 burthens. 
 
 Taxaiion 
 per capita. 
 
 Russia in Europe, 
 
 37,000,000 
 
 L. 18,000,000 
 
 L.O 9 9 
 
 France, includiog Corsica, 
 
 80,700,000 
 
 37,000,000 
 
 1 4 
 
 Great Britaia, exclusive of" 
 
 
 
 
 Ireland, (the taxes com- 
 
 
 
 
 puted according to the • 
 
 14,500,000 
 
 40,000,000 
 
 2 15 
 
 value of money on the 
 
 
 
 
 European continent,) 
 
 
 
 
 Great Britain and Ireland ' 
 collectively, 
 
 21,500,000 
 
 44,000,000 
 
 2 
 
 England alone. 
 
 11,600,000 
 
 36,000,000 
 
 3 2 
 
 Spain, 
 
 11,000,000 
 
 6,000,000 
 
 11 
 
 Ireland, 
 
 7,000,000 
 
 4,000,000 
 
 11 
 
 The United States of America, 
 
 10,000,000 
 
 4,500,000 
 
 9 
 
 From this exhibit we must remark, that the wealth of Great 
 Britain, (and consequently her power,) is greater than that 
 of any of the other nations with which it is compared. The 
 amount of the contributions which she draws from the 
 pockets of her subjects, is not referred to for imitation, but 
 as indicative of their wealth. The burthen of taxation is 
 always relative to the ability of the subjects of it. A poor 
 nation can pay but little. And the heavier taxes of British 
 subjects, for example, in consequence of their greater wealth, 
 may be easier borne than the much lighter taxes of Spanish 
 subjects, in consequence of their extreme poverty. The ob- 
 ject of wise governments should be, by sound legislation, 
 so to protect the industry of their own citizens against the 
 policy of foreign powers, as to give to it th*e most expansive 
 force in the production of wealth. Great Britain has ever 
 acted, and still acts, on this policy. She has pushed her 
 protection of British interest further than any other nation 
 has fostered its industry. The result is, greater wealth 
 among her subjects, and consequently greater ability to pay 
 their public burthens. If their taxation is estimated by their 
 natural labor alone, nominally it is greater than the taxation 
 of the subjects of any other power. But, if on a scale of 
 their national and artificial labor, compounded, it is less than 
 the taxation of any other people. Estimating it on that 
 scale, and assuming the aggregate of the natural and artifi- 
 cial labor of the united kingdom to be what I have already- 
 stated, two hundred and twenty-one millions five hundred 
 thousand, the actual taxes paid by a British subject are only 
 about three and seven pence sterling. Estimating our own 
 taxes, on a similar scale, — that is, supposing both descrip- 
 tions of labor to be equal to that of twenty millions of able- 
 
 O o 
 
282 ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 
 
 bodied persons — the amount of tax paid by each'soul in the 
 Unit«^d States is four shillings and six-pence sterling. 
 
 The committee will observe, from that table, that the 
 measure of the wealth of a nation is indicated by the mea- 
 sure of its protection of its industry; and that the measure 
 of the poverty of a nation is marked by that of the degree 
 in which it neglects and abandons the care of its own in- 
 dustry, leaving it exposed to the action of foreign powers. 
 Great Britain protects most her industry, and the wealth of 
 Great Britain is consequently the greatest. France is next 
 in the degree of protection, and France is next in the order 
 of wealth. Spain most neglects the duty of protecting the 
 industry of her subjects, and Spain is one of the poorest of 
 European nations. Unfortunate Ireland, disinherited, or 
 rendered,. in her industry, subservient to England, is exact- 
 ly in the same state of poverty with Spain, measured by the 
 rule of taxation. And the United States are still poorer 
 than either. 
 
 The views of British prosperity, wVich I have endea- 
 vored to present, show that her protecting policy is adapted 
 alike to a state of war and of peace. Self-poised, resting 
 upon her own internal resources, possessing a home mar- 
 ket, carefully cherished and guarded, she is ever prepared for 
 any emergency. We have seen her coming out of a war of 
 incalculable exerJ:ion, and of great duration, with her power 
 unbroken, her means undiminished. We have seen, that 
 almost every revolving year of peace has brought along 
 with it an increase of her manufactures, of her commerce, 
 and, consequently, of her navigation. We have seen that, 
 constructing her prosperity upon the solid foundation of her 
 own protecting policy, it is unaffected by the vicissitudes of 
 other states. What is our own condition? Depending upon 
 the state of foreign powers — confiding exclusively in a fo- 
 reign, to the culpable neglect of a domestic policy — our 
 interests are affected by all their movements. Their wars, 
 their misfortunes, are the only source of our prosperity. In 
 their peace, and our peace, we behold our condition the 
 reverse of that of Cireat Britain —and all our interests, sta- 
 tionary or declining. Peace brings to us none of the bles- 
 sings of peace. Our system is anomalous; alike unfitted to 
 general tranquillity, and to a state of war or peace, on the 
 part of our own country. It can succeed only in the rare 
 occurrence of a general state of war throughout Europe. I 
 
ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 283 
 
 am no eulogist of England. I am far from recommending 
 her systems of taxation. I have adverted to them only as 
 manifesting her extraordinary ability. The political and fo- 
 reign interests of that nation may have been, as I believe 
 them to have been, often badly managed. Had she abstained 
 from the wars into which she has been plunged by her am- 
 bition, or the mistaken policy of her ministers, the pros- 
 perity of England would, unquestionably, have been much 
 greater. But it may happen that the public liberty, and the 
 foreign relations of a nation, have been badly provided for, 
 and yet that its political economy has been wisely managed. 
 The alacrity or sullenness with which a people pay taxes, 
 depends upon their wealth or poverty. If the system of 
 their rulers leads to their impoverishment, they can contri- 
 bute but little to the necessities of the state; if to their wealth, 
 they cheerfully and promptly pay the burthens imposed on 
 them. Enormous as British taxation appears to be, in com- 
 parison with that of other nations, but really lighter, as it 
 in fact is, when we consider its great wealth, and its powers 
 of production, that vast amount is collected with the most 
 astonishing regularity. [Here Mr. Clay read certain pas- 
 sages from Holt, showing that, in 1822, there was not a 
 solitary prosecution arising out of the collection of the as- 
 sessed taxes, which are there considered among the most 
 burthensome, and that the prosecutions for violations of the 
 excise laws, in all its numerous branches, were sensibly and 
 progressively decreasing.] 
 
 Having called the attention of the committee to the pre- 
 sent adverse state of our country, and endeavored to point 
 out the causes which have led to it, having shown that 
 similar causes, wherever they exist in other countries, lead 
 to the same adversity in their condition; and having shown 
 that, wherever we find opposite causes prevailing, a high 
 and animating state of national prosperity exists, the com- 
 mittee will agree with me in thinking that it is the solemn 
 duty of government to apply a remedy to the evils which 
 afflict our country, if it can apply one. Is there no remedy 
 within the reach of the government? Are we doomed to 
 behold our industrv languish and decay, yet more and more? 
 But there is a remedy, and that remedy consists in modi- 
 fying our foreign policy, and in adopting a genuine Ameri- 
 can SYSTEM. We must naturalize the arts in our country; 
 and we must naturalize them by the only means which ^he 
 
284 ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 
 
 wisdom of nations has yet discovered to be effectual; by 
 adequate protection against the otherwise overwhelming in- 
 fluence of foreigners. This is only to be accomplished by 
 tht establishment of a tariff, to the consideration of which 
 I am now brought. 
 
 And what is this tariff? It seems to have been regarded 
 as a sort of monster, huge and deformed — a wild beast, 
 endowed with tremendous powers of destruction, about to 
 be let loose among our people — if not to devour them, at 
 least to consume their substance. But let us calm our pas- 
 sions, and deliberately survey this alarming, this terrific 
 being. The sole object of the tariff is to tax the produce of 
 foreign industry, with the view of promoting American in- 
 dustry. The tax is exclusively levelled at foreign industry. 
 That is the avowed and the direct purpose of the tariff. If it 
 subjects any part of American industry to burthens, that is 
 an effect not intended, but is altogether incidental, and per- 
 fectly voluntary. 
 
 It has been treated as an imposition of burthens upon one 
 part of the community by design, for the benefit of another; 
 as if, in fact, money were taken from the pockets of one 
 portion of the people and put into the pockets of another. 
 But, is that a fair representation of it? No man pays the 
 duty assessed on the foreign article by compulsion, but 
 voluntarily; and this voluntary duty, if paid, goes into the 
 common exchequer, for the common benefit of all. Con- 
 sumption has four objects of choice. 1. It may abstain from 
 the use of the foreign article, and thus avoid the payment 
 of the tax. 2. It may employ the rival American fabric. 
 3. It may engage in the business of manufacturing, which 
 this bill is designed to foster. 4. Or it may supply itself 
 from the household manufactures. But it is said, by the 
 honorable gentleman from Virginia, that the south, owing 
 to the character of a certain portion of its population, can- 
 not engage in the business of manufacturing. Now, I do not 
 agree in that opinion, to the extent in which it is asserted. 
 The circumstance alluded to may disqualify the south from 
 engaging, in every branch of manufacture, as largely as other 
 quarters of the union, but to some branches of it, that part 
 of our population is well adapted. It indisputably affords 
 great iaciiity in the household or domestic line. But, if the 
 gentleman's premises were true, could his conclusion be ad- 
 mitted? According to him, a certain part of our population^ 
 
ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 285 
 
 happily much the smallest, is peculiarly situated. The cir- 
 cumstance of its degradation unfits it for the manufacturing 
 arts. The well-being of the other, and the larger part of 
 our population, requires the introduction of those arts. What 
 is to be done in this conflict? The gentleman would have 
 us abstain from adopting a policy called for by the interest 
 of the greater and freer part of our population. But is that 
 reasonable? Can it be expected that the interests of the 
 greater part should be made to bend to the condition of the 
 servile part of our population? That, in effect, would be to 
 make us the slaves of slaves. I went, with great pleasure, 
 along with my southern friends, and I am ready again to 
 unite with them in protesting against the exercise of any le- 
 gislative power, on the part of congress, over that delicate 
 subject, because it was my solemn conviction, that congress 
 was interdicted, or at least not authorised, by the constitu- 
 tion, to exercise any such legislative power. And I am sure 
 that the patriotism of the south may be exclusively relied 
 upon to reject a policy which should be dictated by consi- 
 derations altogether connected with that degraded class, to 
 the prejudice of the residue of our population. But does not 
 a perseverance in the foreign policy, as it now exists in fact, 
 make all parts of the union, not planting, tributary to the 
 planting parts? What is the argument? It is, that we must 
 continue freely to receive the produce of foreign industry, 
 without regard to the protection of American industry, that 
 a market may be retained for the sale abroad of the produce 
 of the planting portion of the country; and that, if we lessen 
 the consumption, in all parts of America, those which are 
 not planting as well as the planting sections, of foreign ma- 
 nufactures, we diminish to that extent the foreign market 
 for the planting produce. The existing state of things, in- 
 deed, presents a sort of tacit compact between the cotton 
 grower and the British manufacturer, the stipulations of 
 which are, on the part of the cotton grower, that the whole 
 of the United States, the other portions as well as the cot- 
 ton growing, shall remain open and unrestricted in the con- 
 sumption of British manufactures; and, on the part of the 
 British manufacturer, that, in consideration thereof, he will 
 continue to purchase the cotton of the south. Thus, then, 
 we perceive that the proposed measure, instead of sacri- 
 ficing the south to the other parts of the union, seeks only 
 to preserve them from being absolutely sacrificed under the 
 
286 ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 
 
 operation of the tacit compact which I have described. Sup- 
 posing the south to be actually incompetent, or disinclined 
 to embark at all in the business of manufacturing, is not its 
 interest, nevertheless, likely to be promoted by creating a 
 new and an American source of supply for its consumption? 
 Now foreign powers, and Great Britain principally, have 
 the monopoly of the supply of southern consumption. If 
 this bill should pass, an American competitor, in the sup- 
 ply of the south, would be raised up, and ultimately, 1 can- 
 not doubt, that it will be supplied cheaper and better. I 
 have before had occasion to state, and will now again men- 
 tion, the beneficial effects of American competition with 
 Europe in furnishing a supply of the article of cotton bag- 
 ging. After the late war, the influx of the Scottish manu- 
 facture prostrated the American establishments. The con- 
 sequence was that the Scotch possessed the monopoly of the 
 supply; and the price of it rose, and attained, the year before 
 the last, a height which amounted to more than an equiva- 
 lent for ten years protection to the American manufacture. 
 This circumstance tempted American industry again to en- 
 gage in the business, and several valuable manufactories 
 have been established in Kentucky. They have reduced the 
 price of the fabric very considerably; but, without the pro- 
 tection of government, they may again be prostrated — and 
 then, the Scottish manufacturer engrossing ;he supply of 
 our consumption, the price will probably again rise, it has 
 been tauntingly asked if Kentucky cannot maintain herself 
 in a competition with the two Scottish towns of Inverness 
 and Dundee? But is that a fair statement of the case? Those 
 two towns are cherished and sustained by the whole pro- 
 tecting policy of the British empire, whilst Kentucky cannot, 
 and the general government will not, extend alike protec- 
 tion to the few Kentucky villages in which the article is 
 made. 
 
 If the cotton growing consumption could be constitution- 
 ally exempted from the operation of this bill, it might be 
 lair to exempt it upon the condition that foreign manufac- 
 tures, the proceeds of the sale of cotton abroad, should not 
 enter at all into the consumption of the other parts of the 
 United States. But such an arrangement as that, if it could 
 be made, would probably be objected to by the cotton grow- 
 ing country itself. 
 
 S. The second objection to the proposed bill is, that it 
 
ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 287 
 
 will diminish the amount of our exports. It can have no 
 effect upon our exports, except those which are sent to Eu- 
 rope. Except tobacco and rice, we send there nothing but 
 the raw materials. The argument is, that Europe will not 
 buy of us, if we do not buy of her. The first objection to 
 it is, that it calls upon us to look to the question, and to take 
 care of European ability in legislating for American inter- 
 ests. Now if, in legislating for their interests, they would 
 consider and provide for our ability, the principle of reci- 
 procity would enjoin us so to regulate our intercourse with 
 them, as to leave their ability unimpaired. Bui I have shown 
 that, in the adoption of their own policy, their inquiry is 
 strictly limited to a consideration of their peculiar interests, 
 without any regard to that of ours. The next remark I would 
 make is, that the bill only operates upon certain articles 
 of European industry, which it is supposed our interest re- 
 quires us to manufacture within ourselves; and although its 
 effect will be to diminish the amount of our imports of those 
 articles, it leaves them free to supply us with any other 
 produce of their industry. And since the circle of human 
 comforts, refinements, and luxuries, is of great extent, Eu- 
 rope will still find herself able to purchase from us what 
 she has hitherto done, and to discharge the debt in some of 
 those objects. If there be any diminution in our exports to 
 Europe, it will probably be in the article of cotton to Great 
 Britain. I have stated that Britain buys cotton wool to the 
 amount of about five millions sterling, and sells to foreign 
 states to the amount of upwards of twenty-one millions and 
 a half. Of this sum, we take a little upwards of a million 
 and a half. The residue, of about twenty millions, she must 
 sell to other foreign powers than to the United States. Now 
 their market will continue open to her, as much after the 
 passage of this bill, as before. She will therefore require 
 from us the raw material to supply their consumption. But, 
 it is said, she may refuse to purchase it of us, and seek a 
 supply elsewhere. There can be but little doubt that she 
 new resorts to us, because we can supply her cheaper and 
 better than any other country. And it would be unreasona- 
 ble to suppose that she would cease, from any pique towards 
 us, to pursue her own interest. Suppose she was to decline 
 purchasing from us: The consequence would be, that she 
 would lose the market for the twenty millions sterling, which 
 she now sells other foreign powers, or enter it under a dis- 
 
288 ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 
 
 advantageous competition with us, or with other nations, 
 who should obtain their supplies of the raw material from 
 us. If there should be any diminution, therefore, in the ex- 
 portation of cotton, it would only be in the proportion of 
 about one and a half to twenty; that is, a little upwards of 
 five per centum; the loss of a market for which, abroad, 
 would be fully compensated by the market for the article 
 created at home. Lastly, I would observe, that the new 
 application of our industry, producing new objects of expor- 
 tation, and they possessing much greater value than in the 
 raw state, we should be, in the end, amply indemnified by 
 their exportation. Already the item in our foreign exports 
 of manufactures is considerable; and we know that our cot- 
 ton fabrics have been recently exported in a large amount 
 to South America, where they maintain a successful com- 
 petition with those of any other country. 
 
 3. The third objection to the tariff is, that it will diminish 
 our navigation. This great interest deserves every encou- 
 ragement, consistent with the paramount interest of agri- 
 culture. In the order of nature it is secondary to both agri- 
 culture and manufactures. Its business is the transportation 
 of the productions of those two superior branches of indus- 
 try. It cannot therefore be expected, that they shall be 
 moulded or sacrificed to suit its purposes; but, on the con- 
 trary, navigation must accommodate itself to the actual state 
 of agriculture and manufactures, if, as I believe, we have 
 nearly reached the maximum in value of our exports of raw 
 produce to Europe, the effect hereafter will be, as it respects 
 that branch of our trade, if we persevere in the foreign sys- 
 tem, to retain our navigation at the point which it has now 
 reached. By reducing, indeed, as will probably take place, 
 the price of our raw materials, a further quantity of them 
 could be exported, and, of course, additional employment 
 might, in that way, be given to our tonnage; but that would 
 be at the expense of the agricultural interest. If I am right 
 in supposing that no effect will be produced by this measure 
 upon any other branch of our export trade, but that to Eu- 
 rope; that, with regard to that, there will be no sensible 
 diminution of our exports; and that the new direction given 
 to a portion of our industry will produce other objects of 
 exportation, the probability is, that our foreign tonnage will 
 be even increased under the operation of this bill. But, if 
 I am mistaken in these views, aud it should experience any 
 
ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 289 
 
 reduction, the increase in our coasting tonnage, resulting 
 from the greater activity of domestic exchanges, will more 
 than compensate the injury. Although our navigation par- 
 takes in the general distress of the country, it is less de- 
 pressed than any other of our grt at interests. The foreign 
 tonnage has been gradually, though slowly, increasing, since 
 1818. And our coasting tonnage, since 1816, has increased 
 upwards of one hundred thousand tons. 
 
 4. It is next contended that the effect of the measure will 
 be to diminish our foreign commerce. The objection as- 
 sumes, what I have endeavoured to controvert, that there 
 will be a reduction in the value of our exports. Commerce 
 is an exchange of commodities. Whatever will tend to aug- 
 ment the wealth of a nation must increase its capacity to 
 make these exchanges. By new productions, or creating new 
 values in the fabricated forms which shall be given to old 
 objects of our industry, we shall give to commerce a fresh 
 spring, a new aliment. The foreign cummcrce of the coun- 
 try, from causes, some of which 1 have endeavored to point 
 out, has been extended as far as it can be. And I think there 
 can be but little doubt that the balance of trade is, and for 
 some time past has been, against us. I was surprised to hear 
 the learned gentleman from Massachusetts, (Mr. Webster,) 
 rejecting, as a detected and exploded fallacy, the idea of a 
 balance of trade. I have not time nor inclination now to dis- 
 cuss that topic. But 1 will observe, that all nations act upon 
 the supposition of the reality of its existence, and seek to 
 avoid a trade, the balance of which is unfavorable, and to 
 foster that which presents a favorable balance. — However 
 the account be made up, whatever may be the items of 
 a trade, commodities, fishing Industry, marine labor, the 
 carrying trade, all of which I admit should be comprehend- 
 ed, there can be no doubt, I think, that the totality of the 
 exchanges of all descriptions made by one nation with an- 
 other, or against the totality of the exchanges of all other 
 nations together, may be such as to present the state of an 
 unfavorable balance with the one or with all. It is true that, 
 in the long run, the measures of these exchanges, that is, 
 the totality in value of what is given and of what is received, 
 must be equal to each other. But great distress may be felt 
 long before the counterpoise can be effected. In the mean 
 time, there will be an export of the precious metals, to the 
 deep injury of internal trade, an unfavorable state of ex- 
 
 P P 
 
290 ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 
 
 change, an export of public securities, a resort to credit, 
 debt, mortgages. Most of, if not all, these circumstances, 
 are believed now to be indicated by our country, in its fo- 
 reign commercial relations. What have we received, for 
 example, for the public stocks sent to England? Goods. But 
 those stocks are our bond, which must be paid. Although 
 the solidity of the credit of the English public securities is 
 not surpassed by that of our own, strong as it justly is, when 
 have we seen English stocks sold in our market, and regu- 
 larly quoted in the prices current, as American stocks are 
 in England? An unfavorable balance with one nation, may 
 be made u]) by a favorable balance with other nations; but 
 the fact of the existence of that unfavorable balance is strong 
 presumptive evidence against the trade. Commerce will 
 regulate itself! Yes, and the extravagance of a spendthrift 
 heir, who squanders the rich patrimony which has descended 
 to him, will regulate itself ultimately. But it will be a re- 
 gulation which will exhibit him in the end safely confined 
 within the walls of a jail. Commerce will regulate itself! 
 But is it not the duty of wise governments to watch its 
 course, and, beforehand, to provide against even distant 
 evils; by prudent legislation stimulating the industry of their 
 own people, and checking the policy of foreign powers as 
 it operates on them? The supply, then, of the subjects of 
 foreign commerce, no less than the supply of consumption 
 at home, requires of us to give a portion of our labor such 
 a direction as will enable us to produce them. That is the 
 object of the measure under consideration, and I cannot 
 doubt that, if adopted, it will accomplish its object. 
 
 5. The fifth objection to the tariff is, that it will diminish 
 the public revenue, disable us from paying the public debt, 
 and finally compel a resort to a system of excise and inter- 
 nal taxation. This objection is founded upon the supposi- 
 tion that the reduction in the importation of the subjects, 
 on which the increased duties are to operate, will be such 
 as to produce the alleged effect. All this is matter of mere 
 conjecture, and can only be determined by experiment. I 
 have very little doubt, with my colleague, (Mr. Trimble,) 
 that the revenue will be increased considerably, for some 
 years at least, under the operation of this bill. The dimi- 
 nution in the quantity imported will be compensated by the 
 augmentation of the duty. In reference to the article of 
 molasses, for example, if the import of it should be reduced 
 
ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY, 291 
 
 fifty per centum the amount of duty collected would be the 
 same as it now is. But it will not, in all probability, be re- 
 duced by any thing like that proportion. And then there 
 are some other articles which will continue to be introduced 
 in as large quantities as ever, notwithstanding the increase 
 of duty, the object in reference to them being revenue and 
 not the encouragement of domestic manufactures. Another 
 cause will render the revenue of this year, in particular, 
 much more productive than it otherwise would have been; 
 and that is, that large quantities of goods have been intro- 
 duced into the country, in anticipation of the adoption of 
 this measure. The eagle does not dart a keener gaze upon his 
 intended prey, than that with which the British manufacturer 
 and merchant watches the foreign market, and the course 
 even of our elections as well as our legislation. I'he pas- 
 sage of this bill has been expected; and all our information 
 is that the importations, during this spring, have been im- 
 mense. But, further, the measure of our importations is 
 that of our exportations. If I am right in supposing that, 
 in future, the amount of these, in the old or new forms, of 
 the produce of our labor will not be diminished, but proba- 
 bly increased, then the amount of our importations, and, 
 consequently, of our revenue, will not be reduced, but 
 may be extended. If these ideas be correct, there will be 
 no inability on the part of government to extinguish the 
 public debt — The payment of that debt, and the consequent 
 liberation of the public resources from the charge of it, is 
 extremely desirable. No one is more anxious than I am to 
 see that important object accomplished. But I entirely con- 
 cur with the gentleman from Virginia, (Mr. Barbour,^ in 
 thinking that no material sacrifice of any of the great inter- 
 ests of the nation ought to be made to effectuate it. Such is 
 the elastic and accumulatmg nature of our public resources, 
 from the silent augmentation of our population, that if, in 
 any given state of the public revenue, we throw ourselves 
 upon a couch and go to sleep, we may, after a short time, 
 awake with an ability abundantly increased to redeem any 
 reasonable amount of public debt with which we may hap- 
 pen to be burthened. The public debt of the United States, 
 though nominally larger now than it was in the year 1791, 
 bears really no sort of discouraging comparison to its amount 
 at that time, whatever standard we may choose to adopt to 
 institute the comparison. It was in 1791 about seventy-five 
 
292 ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 
 
 millions of dollars. It is now about ninety. Then we had a 
 population of about four millions. Now we have upwards of 
 ten millions. Then we had a revenue short of five millions of 
 dollars. Now our revenue exceeds twenty. If we select popu- 
 lation as the standard, our present population is one hundred 
 and fifty per centum greater than it was in 1791; if revenue, 
 that is four times more now than at the former period; whilst 
 the public debt has increased only in a ratio of twenty per 
 centum. A public debt of three hundred millions of dollars, 
 at the present day, considering our actual ability, compound- 
 ed both of the increase of population and of revenue, would 
 not be more onerous now than the debt of seventy-five mil- 
 lions of dollars was, at the epoch of 1 7^1, in reference to the 
 same circumstances. If I am right in supposing that, under 
 the operation of the proposed measure, there will not be 
 any diminution, but a probable increase of the public reve- 
 nue, there will be no difficulty in defraying the current ex- 
 penses of government, and paying the principal as well as 
 the interest of the public debt, as it becomes due. Let us, 
 for a moment, however, indulge the improbable supposition 
 of the opponents of the tariff, that there will be a reduction 
 of the revenue to the extent of the most extravagant calcu- 
 lation which has been made, that is to say, to the extent of 
 five millions. That sum deducted, we shall still have re- 
 maining a revenue of about fifteen millions. The treasury 
 estimates of the current service of the years 1822, 1823, and 
 1824, exceeds, each year, nine millions. The lapse of revo- 
 lutionary pensions, and judicious retrenchments which might 
 be made, without detriment to any of the essential esta- 
 blishments of the country, would probably reduce them be- 
 low nine millions. Let us assume that sum, to which add 
 about five millions and a half for the interest of the public 
 debt, and the wants of government would require a revenue 
 of fourteen and a half millions, leaving a surplus of revenue 
 of half a million beyond the public expenditure. Thus, by 
 a postponement of the payment of the principal of the public 
 debt, in which the public creditors would gladly acquiesce, 
 and confiding, for the means of redeeming it in the necessary 
 increase of our revenue from the natural augmentation of our 
 population and consumption, we may safely adopt the pro- 
 posed measure, even if it should be attended, (which is con- 
 fidently denied,) v/ith the supposed diminution of revenue. 
 "W'e shall not then Kave occasion to vary the existing system 
 of taxation; we shall be under no necessity to resort eithei 
 
ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 293 
 
 to direct taxes or to an excise. But, suppose the alternative 
 were really forced upon us of continuing the foreign system, 
 with its inevitable impoverishment of the country, but with 
 the advantage of the present mode of collecting the taxes, 
 or of adopting the American system, with its increase of 
 the national wealth, but with the disadvantage of an excise, 
 could any one hesitate between them? Customs and an ex- 
 cise agree in the essential particulars, that they are both 
 taxes upon consumption, and both are voluntary. They dif- 
 fer only in the mode of collection. The office for the col- 
 lection of one is located on the frontier, and that for the 
 other within the interior. I believe it was Mr. Jefferson, 
 who, in reply to the boast of a citizen of New York of the 
 amount of the public revenue paid by that city, asked who 
 would pay it if the collector's office were removed to Pau- 
 lus Hook on the New Jersey shore? National wealth is the 
 source of all taxation. And, my word for it, the people are 
 too intelligent to be deceived by mere names, and not to 
 give a decided preference to that system which is based 
 upon their wealth and prosperity, rather than to that which 
 is founded upon their impoverishment and ruin. 
 
 6. But, according to the opponents of the domestic policy, 
 the proposed system will force capital and labor into new 
 and reluctant employments; we are not prepared, in con- 
 sequence of the high price of wages, for the successful 
 establishment of manufactures, and we must fail in the ex- 
 periment. We have seen, that the existing occupations of 
 our society, those of agriculture, commerce, navigation, 
 and the learned professions, are overflowing with competi- 
 tors, and that the want of employment is severely felt. Now 
 what does this bill propose? To open a new and extensive 
 field of business, in which all that choose may enter. There 
 is no compulsion upon any one to engage in it. An option 
 only is given to industry, to continue in the present unpro- 
 fitable pursuits, or to embark in a new and promising one. 
 The effect will be to lessen the competition in the old 
 branches of business, and to multiply our resources for in- 
 creasing our comforts, and augmenting the national wealth. 
 The alleged fact, of the high price of wages is not admitted. 
 The truth is, that no class of society suffers more, in the 
 present stagnation of business, than the laboring class. That 
 is a necessary effect of the depression of agriculture, the 
 principal business of the community. The wages of able- 
 
294 ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 
 
 bodied men vary from five to eight dollars per month; and 
 such has been the want of employment, in some parts of the 
 union, that instances have not been unfrequent, of men work- 
 ing merely for the means of present subsistence. If the 
 wages for labor here and in England are compared, they 
 will be found not to be essentially different. I agree with 
 the honorable gentleman from Virginia, that high wages are 
 a proof of national prosperity; we differ only in the means 
 by which that desirable end shall be attained. But, if the 
 fact were true, that the wages of labor are high, I deny the 
 correctness of the argument founded upon it. The argu- 
 ment assumes, that natural labor is the principal element in 
 the business of manufacture. That was the ancient theory. 
 But the valuable inventions and vast improvements in ma- 
 chinery, which have been made within a few past years, 
 have produced a new era in the arts. The effect of this 
 change, in the powers of production, may be estimated, from 
 what I have already stated in relation to England, and to 
 the triumphs of European artificial labor over the natural 
 labor of Asia. In considering the fitness of a nation for the 
 establishment of manufactures, we must no longer limit our 
 views to the state of its population, and ihe price of wages. 
 All circumstances must be regarded, of which that is, per- 
 haps, the least important. Capital, ingenuity in the con- 
 struction, and adroitness in the use of machinery, and the 
 possession of the raw materials, are those which deserve 
 the greatest consideration. All these circumstances, (except 
 that of capital, of which there is no deficiency,) exist in our 
 country in an eminent degree, and more than counterbalance 
 the disadvantage, if it really existed, of the lower wages of 
 labor in Great Britain. The dependence upon foreign na- 
 tions for the raw material of any great manufacture, has 
 been ever considered as a discouraging fact. The state of 
 our population is peculiarly favorable to the most extensive 
 introduction of machinery. We have no prejudices to com- 
 bat, no persons to drive out of employment. The pamphlet, 
 to which we have had occasion so otten to refer, in enu- 
 merating ihe causes which have brought in England their 
 manufactures to such a state of perfection, and which now 
 enable them, in the opinion of the writer, to defy all com- 
 petition, does not specify , as one of them, low wages. It as- 
 signs three — 1st, capital; 2dlv, extent and costliness of ma- 
 chinery; and, 3dly, steady and persevering industry. Not- 
 
ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 295 
 
 withstanding the concurrence of so many favorable causes, 
 in our country, for the introduction of the arts, we are 
 earnestly dissuaded from making the experiment, and our 
 ultimate failure is confidently predicted. Why should we 
 fail? Nations, like men, fail in nothing which they boldly 
 attempt, when sustained by virtuous purpose and firm reso- 
 lution. I am not willing to admit this depreciation of Ame- 
 rican skill and enterprise. I am not willing to strike before 
 an effort is made. All our past history exhorts us to pro- 
 ceed, and inspires us with animating hopes of success. Past 
 predictions of our incapacity have failed, and present pre- 
 dictions will not be realized. At the commencement of this 
 government, we were told that the attempt would be idle 
 to construct a marine adequate to the commerce of the 
 country, or even to the business of its coasting trade. The 
 founders of our government did not listen to these discou- 
 raging counsels; and, behold the fruits of their just com- 
 prehension of our resources? Our restrictive policy was 
 denounced, and it was foretold that it would utterly disap- 
 point all our expectations. But our restrictive policy has 
 been eminently successful; and the share which our naviga- 
 tion now enjoys in the trade with France, and with the 
 British West India islands, attests its victory. What were 
 not the disheartening predictions of the opponents of the 
 late war? Defeat, discomfiture, and disgrace, were to be 
 the certain, but not the worst effect of it. Here, again, did 
 prophecy prove false; and the energies of our country, and 
 the valor and the patriotism of our people, carried us glo- 
 riously through the war. We are now, and ever will be. es- 
 sentially, an agricultural people. Without a material change 
 in the fixed habits of the country, the friends of this mea- 
 sure desire to draw to it, as a powerful auxiliary to its in- 
 dustry, the manufacturing arts. The difference between a 
 nation with, and without the arts, may be conceived, by the 
 difference between a keel-boat and a steam-boat, combatting 
 the rapid torrent of the Mississippi. How slow does the 
 former ascend, hugging the sinuosities of the shore, pushed 
 on by her hardy and exposed crew, now throwing them- 
 selves in vigorous concert on their oars, and then seizing 
 the pendent boughs of overhanging trees: she seems hardly 
 to move; and her scanty cargo is scarcely worth the transpor- 
 tation! With what ease is she not passed by the steam-boat, 
 laden with the riches of all quarters of the world, with a 
 
296 ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY, 
 
 crew of gay, cheerful, and protected passengers, now dash- 
 ing into the midst of the current, or gliding through the 
 eddies near the shore! Nature herself seems to survey, with 
 astonishment, the passing wonder, and, in silent submission, 
 reluctantly to own the magnificent triumphs, in her own vast 
 dominion, of Fulton's immortal genius! 
 
 7. But it is said that, wherever there is a concurrence of 
 favorable circumstances, manufactures will arise of them- 
 selves, without protection; and that we should not disturb the 
 natural progress of industry, but leave things to themselves. 
 If all nations would modify their policy on this axiom, per- 
 haps it would be better for the common good of the whole. 
 Even then, in consequence of natural advantages and a 
 greater advance in civilization and in the arts, some nations 
 would enjoN a state of much higher prosperity than others. 
 But there is no universal legislation. The globe is divided 
 into different communities, each seeking to appropriate to 
 itself all the advantages it can, without reference to the 
 prosperity of others. Whether this is right or not, it has 
 always been, and ever will be the case. Perhaps the care of 
 the interests of one people, is sufficient tor all the wisdom of 
 one legislature; and that it is, among nations as among in- 
 dividuals, that the happiness of the whole is best secured 
 by each attending to its own peculiar interests. The propo- 
 sition to be maintained by our adversaries, is, that manu- 
 factures, without protection, will, in due time, spring up 
 in our country, and sustain themselves, in a competition 
 with foreign fabrics, however advanced the arts, and what- 
 ever the degree of protection may be in foreign countries. 
 Now I contend that this proposition is refuted by all expe- 
 rience, ancient and modern, and in every country. If I am 
 asked, why unprotected industry should not succeed in a 
 struggle with protected industry; I answer, the fact has 
 ever been so, and that is sufficient; I reply, that uniform 
 EXPERIENCE cvinces that it cannot succeed in such an un- 
 equal contest, and that is sufficient. If we speculate on the 
 causes of this universal truth, we may differ about them. 
 Still the indisputable fact remains. And we should be as 
 unwise in not availing ourselves of the guide which it fur- 
 nishes, as a man would be who should refuse to bask in 
 the rays of the sun, because he could not agree with judge 
 Woodward as to the nature of the substance of that planetj 
 to which we are indebted for heat and light. If I were to 
 
ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 297 
 
 attempt to particularize the causes which prevent the suc- 
 cess of the manufacturing arts, without protection, I should 
 say, that they are — 1st; the obduracy of fixed habits. No na- 
 tion, no individual, will easily change an established course 
 of business, even if it be unprofitable; and least of all is an 
 agricultural people prone to innovation. With what reluc- 
 tance do they not adopt improvements in the instruments of 
 husbandry, or in modes of cultivation! If the farmer makes 
 a good crop, and sells it badly; or makes a short crop; buoy- 
 ed up by hope he perseveres, and trusts that a favorable 
 change of the market, or of the seasons, will enable him, in 
 the succeeding year, to repair the misfortunes of the past. 
 2dly, The uncertainty, fluctuation, and unsteadiness of the 
 home market, when liable to an unrestricted influx of fa- 
 brics from all foreign nations; and, 3dly, The superior ad- 
 vance of skill, and amount of capital, which foreign nations 
 have obtained, by the protection of their own industry. — 
 From the latter, or from other causes, the unprotected ma- 
 nufactures of a country are exposed to the danger of being 
 crushed in their infancy, either by the design or from the 
 necessities of foreign manufacturers. Gentlemen are incre- 
 dulous as to the attempts of foreign merchants and manu- 
 facturers to accomplish the destruction of ours. Why should 
 they not make such attempts? If the Scottish manufacturer, 
 by surcharging our market, in one year, with the article of 
 cotton bagging, for example, should so reduce the price as 
 to discourage and put down the home manufacture, he would 
 secure to himself the monopoly of the supply. And now, 
 having the exclusive possession of the market, perhaps for 
 a long term of years, he might be more than indemnified 
 for his first loss, in the subsequent rise in the price of the 
 article. What have we not seen under our own eyes! The 
 competition for the transportation of the mail, between this 
 place and Baltimore, so excited, that, to obtain it, an indi- 
 vidual offered, at great loss, to carry it a whole year for one 
 dollar! His calculation, no doubt, was that, by driving his 
 competitor off" the road, and securing to himself the car- 
 riage of the mail, he would be afterwards able to repair his 
 original loss by new contracts with the department. But 
 the necessities of foreign manufacturers, without imputing 
 to them any sinister design, may oblige them to throw into 
 our markets the fabrics which have accumulated on their 
 hands, in consequence of obstruction in the ordinary vents, 
 Q q 
 
^98 ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY, 
 
 or from over-calculation; and the forced sales, at losing 
 prices, may prostrate our establishments. From this view 
 of the subject, it follows, that, if we would place the indus- 
 try of our country upon a solid and unshakable foundation, 
 we must adopt the protecting policy, which has every where 
 succeeded, and reject that which would abandon it, which 
 has every where failed. 
 
 8. But if the policy of protection be wise, the gentleman 
 from Virginia, (Mr. Barbour,) has made some ingenious 
 calculations to prove that the measure of protection, already 
 extended, has been sufficiently great. VVith some few ex- 
 ceptions, the existing duties, of which he has made an esti- 
 mate, were laid with the object of revenue, and without 
 reference to that of encouragement to our domestic indus- 
 try; and although it is admitted that the incidental effect of 
 duties, so laid, is to promote our manufactures, yet, if it 
 falls short of competent protection, the duties might as well 
 not have been imposed, with reference to that purpose. A 
 moderate addition may accomplish this desirable end; and 
 the proposed tariff is believed to have this character. 
 
 9. The prohibitory policy, it is confidently asserted, is 
 condemned by the wisdom of Europe, and by her most en- 
 lightened statesmen. Is this the fact? We call upon gentle- 
 men to show in what instance a nation that has enjoyed its 
 benefits has surrendered it. [Here Mr. Barbour rose, (Mr. 
 Clay giving way,) and said that England had departed from 
 it in the China-trade, in allowing us to trade with her East 
 India possessions, and in tolerating our navigation to her 
 West India colonies,] With respect to the trade to China, 
 the \Vhole amount of what England has done, is, to modify 
 the monopoly of the East India Company, in behalf of one 
 and a small part of her subjects, to increase the commerce 
 of another and the greater portion of them. The abolition 
 of the restriction, therefore, operates altogether among the 
 subjects of England; and does not touch at all the interests 
 of foreign powers. The toleration of our commerce to Bri- 
 tish India, is for the sake of the specie, with which we main- 
 ly carry on that commerce, and which, having performed 
 its circuit, returns to Great Britain in exchange for British 
 manufactures. The relaxation from the colonial policy, in 
 the instance of our trade and navigation with the West In- 
 dies, is a most unfortunate example for the honorable gen- 
 tleman; for in it is an illustrious proof of the success of our 
 
ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 299 
 
 restrictive policy, when resolutely adhered to. Great Britain 
 had prescribed the terms on which we were to be graciously 
 allowed to carry on that trade. The effect of her regula- 
 tions was to exclude our navigation altogether, and a com- 
 plete monopoly, on the part of the British navigation, was 
 secured. We forbade it, unless our vessels should be al- 
 lowed a perfect reciprocity. Great Britain stood out a long 
 time, but finally yielded, and our navigation now fairly 
 shares with her's in the trade. Have gentlemen no other 
 to exhibit than these trivial relaxations from the prohibitory 
 policy — which do not amount to a drop in the bucket — to 
 prove its abandonment by Great Britain? Let them show 
 us that her laws are repealed which prohibit the introduc- 
 tion of our flour and provisions; of French silks, laces, por- 
 celain, manufactures of bronze, mirrors, woollens; and of 
 the manufactures of all other nations; and then we may be 
 ready to allow that Great Britain has really abolished her 
 prohibitory policy. We find there, on the contrary, that 
 system of policy in full and rigorous operation, and a most 
 curiously interwoven system it is, as she enforces it. She 
 begins by protecting all parts of her immense dominions 
 against foreign nations. She then protects the parent coun- 
 tr}' against the colonies; and, finally, one part of the parent 
 country against another. The sagacity of Scotch industry 
 has carried the process of distillation to a perfection, which 
 would place the art in England on a footing of disadvanta- 
 geous competition, and English distillation has been pro- 
 tected accordingly. But suppose it were even true that 
 Great Britain had abolished all restrictions upon trade, and 
 allowed the freest introduction of the produce of foreign 
 labor, would that prove it unwise for us to adopt the pro- 
 tecting system? The object of protection is the establish- 
 ment and perfection of the arts. In England it has accom- 
 plished its purpose, fulfilled its end. If she has not carried 
 every branch of manufacture to the same high state of per- 
 fection that any other nation has, she has succeeded in so 
 many, that she may safely challenge the most unshackled 
 competition in exchanges. It is upon this very ground that 
 many of her writers recommend an abandonment of the pro- 
 hibitory system. It is to give greater scope to British in- 
 dustry and enterprise. It is upon the same selfish principle. 
 The object of the most perfect freedom of trade, with such 
 a nation as Britain, and of the most rigorous system of pro- 
 
aOO ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 
 
 hibition, with a nation whose arts are in their infancy, may 
 both be precisely the same. In both cases it is to give greater 
 expansion to native industry. They only differ in the thea- 
 tres of their operation. The abolition of the restrictive 
 system by Britain, if by it she could prevail upon other na- 
 tions to imitate her example, would have the effect of ex- 
 tending the consumption of British produce in other coun- 
 tries, where her writers boldly affirm it could maintain a 
 fearless competition with the produce of native labor. The 
 adoption of the restrictive system, on the part of the United 
 States, by excluding the produce of foreign labor, would 
 extend the consumption of American produce, unable, in 
 the infancy and unprotected state of the arts, to sustain a 
 competition with foreign fabrics. Let our arts breathe un- 
 der the shade of protection; let them be perfected, as they 
 are in England, and we shall then be ready, as England now 
 is said to be, to put aside protection, and to enter npon the 
 freest exchanges. To what other cause, than to their whole 
 prohibitory policy, can you ascribe British prosperity? It will 
 not do to assign it to that of her antiquity; for France is no 
 less ancient; though much less rich and powerful, in pro- 
 portion to the population and natural advantages of France. 
 Hailam, a sensible and highly approved writer on the mid- 
 dle ages, assigns the revival of the prosperity of the north 
 of Europe to the success of the woollen manufactories of 
 Flanders, and the commerce of which their fabrics became 
 the subject; and the commencement of that of England to 
 the establishment of similar manufactures there under the 
 Edwards, and to the prohibitions which began about the 
 same time. As to the poor rates, the theme of so much re- 
 proach without England, and of so much regret within it, 
 among her speculative writers, the system was a strong 
 proof no less of her unbounded wealth than of her pauper- 
 ism. What other nation can dispense, in the form of regu- 
 lated charity, the enormous sum, I believe, of ten or twelve 
 millions sterling? [Mr. Barbour stated it was reduced to 
 six; to which Mr. Clay replied, that he entertained no doubt 
 but that the benign operation of British protection of home 
 industry had greatly reduced it within the last few years, 
 by the lull employment of her subjects, of which her flou- 
 rishing trade bore evidence.] The number of British pau- 
 pers was the result of pressing the principle of population 
 to its utmost limits, by her protecting policy, in the creation 
 
ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 301 
 
 of wealth, and in placing the rest of the world under tribute 
 to her industry. Doubtless the condition of England would 
 be better, without paupers, if in other respects it remained 
 the same. But in her actual circumstances, the poor system 
 has the salutary effect of an equalizing corrective of the 
 tendency to the concentration of riches, produced by the 
 genius of her political institutions and by her prohibitory 
 system. 
 
 But, is it true that England is convinced of the impolicy 
 of the prohibitory system, and desirous to abandon it? What 
 proof have we to that effect? We are asked to reject the 
 evidence deducible from the settled and steady practice of 
 England, and to take lessons in a school of philosophical 
 writers, whose visionary theories are no where adopted; or, 
 if adopted, bring with them inevitable distress, impoverish- 
 ment and ruin. Let us hear the testimony of an illustrious 
 personage, entitled to the greatest attention, because he 
 speaks after the full experiment of the urestrictive system 
 made in his own empire. I hope I shall give no offence in 
 quoting from a publication issued from " the mint of Phi- 
 ladelphia;" from a work of Mr. Carey, of whom I seize, 
 with great pleasure, the occasion to say, that he merits the 
 public gratitude, for the disinterested diligence with which 
 he has collected a large mass of highly useful facts, and for 
 the clear and convincing reasoning with which he generally 
 illustrates them. The emperor of Russia, in March, 1822, 
 after about two years trial of the free system, says, through 
 count Nesselrode: 
 
 " To produce happy effects, the principles of commercial 
 freedom must be generally adopted. The state which adopts^ 
 xvhilst others reject them^ must condemn its own industry 
 and commerce to pay a ruinous tribute to those of other na- 
 tions.^'' 
 
 " From a circulation exempt from restraint, and the fa- 
 cility afforded by reciprocal exchanges, almost all the go- 
 vernments at first resolved to seek the means of repairing 
 the evil which Europe had been doomed to suffer; but 
 experience, and more correct calculations^ because they were 
 made from certain data^ and upon the results already knoxon 
 of the peace that had just taken place, forced them soon to 
 adhere to the prohibitory system, 
 
 '■*• Engla7id preserved hers. Austria remained faithf id to 
 the rule she had laid down, to guard herself against the ri- 
 
302 ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 
 
 valship of foreign industry, France^ with the same views ^ 
 adopted the most rigorous measures of precaution. And Prus- 
 sia published a new tariff in October last^ which proves that 
 she found it impossible not to follow the example of the rest 
 of Europe.''^ 
 
 " In proportion as the prohibitory system is extended and 
 rendered perfect in other countries, that state which pursues 
 the contrary system, makes, from day to day^ sacrifices more 
 extensive and more considerable. ^ * ^ ft of 
 fers a contijiual encouragement to the manufactures of other 
 countries — and its own manufactures perish in the struggle 
 which they ai-e, as yet, unable to maintain. 
 
 " It is with the most lively feelings of regret we acknow- 
 ledge it is our own proper experience which enables us to 
 trace this picture. The evils xvhich it details have been 
 realized in Russia and Poland, since the conclusion of the 
 act of the 7 — 19 of December, 1818. Agriculture without 
 
 A IVIARKET, INDUSTRY WITHOUT PROTECTION, LANGUISH 
 AND DECLINE. SPEClE IS EXPORTED, AND THE MOST SOLID 
 
 COMMERCIAL HOUSES ARE SHAKEN. The public prosperity 
 would soon feel the wound inflicted on private fortunes, if 
 new regulations did not promptly change the actual state of 
 affairs. 
 
 '"''Events have proved that our agriculture and our 
 COMMERCE, as xvcll as our manufacturing industry, are 
 not only paralyzed, but brought to the brink of ruin." 
 
 The example of Spain has been properly referred to, as 
 affording a striking proof of the calamities which attend a 
 state that abandons the care of its own internal industry. 
 Her prosperity was greatest when the arts, brought there 
 by the Moors, flourished most in that kingdom. Then she 
 received from England her wool, and returned it in the 
 manufactured state; and then England was least prospe- 
 rous- The two nations have reversed conditions. Spain, 
 after the discovery of America, yielding to an inordinate 
 passion for the gold of the Indies, sought in their mines 
 that wealth which might have been better created at home. 
 Can the remarkable difference in the state of the prosperity 
 of the two countries be otherwise explained, than by the 
 opposite systems which they pursued? England, by a se- 
 dulous attention to her home industry, supplied the means 
 of an advantageous commerce with her colonies. Spain, by 
 an utter neglect of her domestic resources, confided alto- 
 
ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 303 
 
 gether in those which she derived from her colonies, and 
 presents an instance of the greatest adversity. Her colonies 
 were infinitely more valuable than those of England; and, 
 if she had adopted a similar policy, is it unreasonable to 
 suppose that, in wealth and power, she would have surpas- 
 sed that of England? I think the honorable gentleman from 
 Virginia, does great injustice to the catholic religion, in 
 specifying that as one of the leading causes of the decline 
 of Spain. It is a religion entitled to great respect; and there 
 is nothing in its character incompatible with the highest 
 degree of national prosperity. Is not France, the most po- 
 lished, in many other respects the most distinguished state 
 of Christendom, catholic? Is not Flanders, the most popu- 
 lous part of Europe, also catholic? Are the catholic parts 
 of Switzerland and of Germany less prosperous than those 
 which are protestant? 
 
 10. The next objection of the honorable gentleman from 
 Virginia, which I shall briefly notice, is, that the manufac- 
 turing system is adverse to the genius of our government, 
 in its tendency to the accumulation of large capitals in a 
 few hands; in the corruption of the public morals, which is 
 alleged to be incident to it; and in the consequent danger 
 to the public liberty. The first part of the objection would 
 apply to every lucrative business, to commerce, to planting, 
 and to the learned professions. Would the gentleman in- 
 troduce the system of Lycurgus? If his principle be cor- 
 rect, it should be extended to any and every vocation which 
 had a similar tendency. The enormous fortunes in cur 
 country — the nabobs of the land — have been chiefly made 
 by the profitable pursuit of that foreign commerce, in more 
 propitious times, which the honorable gentleman would so 
 carefully cherish. Immense estates have also been made in 
 the south. The dependents are, perhaps, not more nume- 
 rous upon that wealth which is accumulated in manufac- 
 tures, than they are upon that which is acquired by com- 
 merce and by agriculture. We may safely confide in the 
 laws of distributions, and in the absence of the rule of pri- 
 mogeniture, for the dissipation, perhaps too rapid, of large 
 fortunes. What has become of those which were held two 
 or three generations back in Virginia? Many of the de- 
 scendants of the ancient aristocracy, as it was called, of that 
 state, are now in the most indigent condition. The best se- 
 curity against the demoralization of society, is the constant 
 
304 ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 
 
 and profitable emplovment of its members. The greatest 
 danger to public liberty is from idleness and vice. If ma- 
 nufactures form cities, so does commerce. And the disor- 
 ders and violence which proceed from the contagion of the 
 passions, are as frequent in one description of those com- 
 munities as in the other. There is no doubt but that the 
 yeomanr}' of a country is the safest depository of public li- 
 berty. In all time to come, and under any probable direc- 
 tion of the labor of our population, the agricultural class must 
 be much the most numerous and powerful, and will ever 
 retain, as it ought to retain, a preponderating influence in 
 our councils. The extent and the fertility of our lands con- 
 stitute an adequate security against an excess in manufac- 
 tures, and also against oppression, on the part of capitalists, 
 towards the laboring portions of the community. 
 
 11. The last objection, with a notice of which I shall 
 trouble the committee, is, that the constitution does not au- 
 thorise the passage of the bill. The gentleman from Vir- 
 ginia does not assert, indeed, that it is inconsistent with the 
 express provisions of that instrument, but he thinks it in- 
 compatible with the spirit of the constitution. If we attempt 
 to provide for the internal improvement of the country, the 
 constitution, according to some gentlemen, stands in our 
 way. If we attempt to protect American industry against 
 foreign policy and the rivalry of foreign industry, the con- 
 stitution presents an insuperable obstacle. This constitution 
 must be a most singular instrument! It seems to be made 
 for any other people than our own. Its action is altogether 
 foreign. Congress has power to lay duties and imposts, un- 
 der no other limitation whatever than that of their being 
 uniform throughout the United States. But they can only 
 be imposed, according to the honorable gentleman, for the 
 sole purpose of revenue. This is a restriction which we do 
 not find in the constitution. No doubt revenue was a prin- 
 cipal object with the framers of the constitution in investing 
 congress with the power. But, in executing it, may not the 
 duties and imposts be so laid as to secure domestic inter- 
 ests? Or is congress denied all discretion as to the amount 
 or the distribution of the duties and imposts? 
 
 The gentleman from Virginia has, however, entirely mis- 
 taken the clause of the constitution on which we rely. It is 
 that which gives to congress the power to regulate com- 
 merce with foreign nations. The grant is plenary, without 
 
ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 305 
 
 any limitation whatever, and includes the whole power of 
 regulation, of which the subject to be regulated is suscepti- 
 ble. It is as full and complete a grant of the power, as that 
 is to declare war. What is a regulation of commerce? It 
 implies the admission or exclusion of the objects of it, and 
 the terms. Under this power some articles, l)y the existing 
 laws, are admitted freely; others are subjected to duties so 
 high as to amount to their prohibition, and various rates of 
 duties are applied to others. Under this power, laws of 
 total non-intercourse with some nations, embargoes, pro- 
 ducing an entire cessation of commerce with all foreign 
 countries, have been, from time to time, passed. These laws, 
 I have no doubt, met with the entire approbation of the 
 gentleman from Virginia. [Mr. Harbour said that he was 
 not in congress.] Wherever the gentleman was, whether on 
 his farm or in the pursuit of that profession of which he is 
 an ornament, I have no doubt that he gave his zealous sup- 
 port to the laws referred to. 
 
 The principle of the system under consideration, has the 
 sanction of some of the best and wisest men, in all ages, in 
 foreign countries as well as in our own — of the Edwards, 
 of Henry the great, of Elizabeth, of the Colberts, abroad; 
 of our Franklin, Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton, at home. 
 But it comes recommended to us by a higher authority than 
 aay of these, illustrious as they unquestionably are — by the 
 master spirit of the age — that extraordinary man, who has 
 thrown the Alexanders and the Caesars infinitely farther 
 behind him than they stood in advance of the most eminent 
 of their predecessors — that singular man, who, whether he 
 was seated on his imperial throne, deciding the fate of na- 
 tions and allotting kingdoms to the members of his family, 
 with the same composure, if not with the same affection, as 
 that with which a Virginia father divides his plantations 
 among his children, or on the miserable rock of St. Helena, 
 to which he was condemned by the cruelty and the injustice 
 of his unworthy victors, is equally an object of the most in- 
 tense admiration. He appears to have comprehended, with 
 the rapidity of intuition, the true interests of a state, and to 
 have been able, by the turn of a single expression, to de- 
 velop the secret springs of the policy of cabinets. We find 
 that Las Cases reports him to have said: 
 
 " He opposed the principles of economists, which he said 
 were correct in theory though erroneous in their application, 
 Rr 
 
306 ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 
 
 The political constitution of different states, continued Kc, 
 must render these principles defective; local circumstances 
 continually call for deviations from their uniformity. Du- 
 ties, he said, which were so severely condemned by political 
 economists, should not, it is true, be an object to the trea- 
 sury: they should be the guarantee and protection of a na- 
 tion, and should correspond with the nature and the objects 
 of its trade. Holland, which is destitute of productions 
 and manufactures, and which was a trade only of transit 
 and commission, should be free of all fetters and barriers. 
 France, on the contrary which is rich in every sort of pro- 
 duction and manufactures, should incessantly guard against 
 the importations of a rival, who might still continue supe- 
 rior to her, and also against the cupidity, egotism, and in- 
 difference of mere brokers. 
 
 " I have not fallen into the error of modern systemati- 
 zers," said the emperor," who imagine that all the wisdom 
 of nations is centered in themselves. Experience is the true 
 wisdom of nations. And what does all the reasoning of 
 economists amount to? They incessantly extol the prospe- 
 rity of England, and hold her up as our model; but the 
 custom-house system is more burthensome and arbitrary in 
 England than in any other country. They also condemn 
 prohibitions; yet it was England set the example of prohi- 
 bitions; and they are in fact necessary with regard to certain 
 objects. Duties cannot adequately supply the place of pro- 
 hibitions: there will always be found means to defeat the 
 object of the legislator. In France we are still very far be- 
 hind on these delicate points, which are still unperceived 
 or ill understood by the mass of society. Yet, what ad- 
 vancement have we not made, — what correctness of ideas 
 has been introduced I>y my gradual classification of agricul- 
 ture, industry, and trade; objects so distinct in themselves, 
 and which present so great and positive a graduation! 
 
 " 1st. Agriculture; the soul, the first basis of the empire. 
 
 " 2d. Industry; the comfort and happiness of the popula- 
 tion. 
 
 " 3d. Foreign trade; the superabundance, the proper ap- 
 plication of the surplus of agriculture and industry. 
 
 "Agriculture was continually improving during the whole 
 course of the revolution. Foreigners thought it ruined in 
 France. In 1814, however, the English were compelled to 
 admit that we had little or nothing to learn from them. 
 
 >s. 
 
ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 307 
 
 " Industry or manufactures, and internal trade, made im- 
 mense progress during my reign. The application of che- 
 mistry to the manufactures caused them to advance with 
 giant strides. I gave an impulse, the effects of which ex- 
 tended throughout Europe. 
 
 " Foreign trade, which, in its results, is infinitely inferior 
 to agriculture, was an object of subordinate importance in 
 my mind. Foreign trade is made for agriculture and home 
 industry, and not the two latter for the former. The inter- 
 ests of these three fundamental cases are diverging and fre- 
 quently conflicting. I always promoted them in their natural 
 gradation, but I could not and ought not to have ranked 
 them all on an equality. Time will unfold what I have done, 
 the national resources which I created, and the emancipa- 
 tion from the English which 1 brought about. We have now 
 the secret of the commercial treaty of 1783. France still 
 exclaims against its author; but the English demanded it on 
 pain of resuming the war. They wished to do the same 
 after the treaty of Amiens; but I was then all-powerful; I 
 was a hundred cubits high. I replied that if they were in 
 possession of the heights of Montmartre I would still refuse 
 to sign the treaty. These words were echoed through Eu- 
 rope. 
 
 *' The English will now impose some such treaty on France, 
 at least, if popular clamor and the opposition of the mass of 
 the nation, do not force them to draw back. This thraldom 
 would be an additional disgrace in the eyes of thai nation, 
 which is now beginning to acquire a just perception of her 
 own interests. 
 
 " When I came to the head of the government, the Ame- 
 rican ships, which were permitted to enter our ports on the 
 score of their neutrality, brought us raw materials, and had 
 the impudence to sail from France without freight, for the 
 purpose of taking in cargoes of English goods in London. 
 They moreover had the insolence to make their payments, 
 when they had any to make, by giving bills on persons in 
 London. Hence the vast profits reaped by the English ma- 
 nufacturers and brokers, entirely to our prejudice. I made 
 a law that no American should import goods to any amount, 
 without immediately exporting their exact equivalent. A 
 loud outcry was raised against this: it was said that I had 
 ruined trade. Butwhat was the consequence? Notwithstand- 
 ing the closing of my ports, and in spite of the English, who 
 
308 ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 
 
 ruled the seas, the Americans returned and submitted to 
 my regulations. What might I not have done under more 
 favorable circumstances? 
 
 " Thus I naturalized in France the manufacture of cotton, 
 which includes: — 
 
 " 1st. Spun cotton. — We did not previously spin it our- 
 selves; the English supplied us with it as a sort of favor. 
 
 " 2d. The web. — We did not j^et make it; it came to us. 
 from abroad. 
 
 " 3d. The printing. — This was the only part of the ma- 
 nufacture that we performed ourselves. I wished to natu- 
 ralize the two first branches; and I proposed to the council 
 of state, that their importation should be prohibited. This 
 excited great alarm. I sent for Oberkamp, and I conversed 
 with him a long time. I learned from him, that this pro- 
 hibition would doubtless produce a shock, but that, after a 
 year or two of perseverance, it would prove a triumph, 
 whence we should derive immense advantages. Then I 
 issued my decree in spite of all: this was a true piece of 
 statesmanship. 
 
 " I at first confined myself merely to prohibiting the web; 
 then I extended the prohibition to spun cotton; and we now 
 possess, within ourselves, the three branches of the cotton 
 manufacture, to the great benefit of our population, and the 
 injury and regret of the English: which proves that, in civil 
 government as well as in war, decision of character is often 
 indispensable to success." 
 
 1 will trouble the committee with only one other quo- 
 tation, which I shall make from Lowe; and from hearing 
 which, the committee must share with me in the mortifica- 
 tion which I felt on perusing it. That author says: " It is 
 now above forty years since the United States of America 
 were definitively separated from us, and since their situation 
 has afforded a proof that the benefit of mercantile inter- 
 course may be retained, in all its extent, without the care 
 of governing, or the expense of defending these once re- 
 gretted provinces." Is there not too much truth in this ob- 
 servation? By adhering to the foreign policy, which I have 
 been discussing, do we not remain essentially British, in 
 every thing but the form of our government? Are not our 
 interests, our industry, our commerce, so modified as to 
 swell British pride, and to increase British power? ■ 
 
 Mr. Chairman, our confederacy comprehends, within its 
 
ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 309 
 
 vast limits, great diversity of interests: agricultural, plant- 
 ing, farming, commercial, navigating, fishing, manufacturing. 
 No one of these interests is felt in the same degree, and 
 cherished with the same solicitude, throughout all parts of 
 the union. Some of them are peculiar to particular sections 
 of our common country. But all these great interests are 
 confided to the protection of one government — to the fate 
 of one ship; and a most gallant ship it is, with a noble crew- 
 If we prosper, and are happy, protection must be extended 
 to all; it is due to all. It is the great principle on which 
 obedience is demanded from all. If our essential interests 
 cannot find protection from our own government against the 
 policy of foreign powers, where are they to get it? We did 
 not unite for sacrifice, but for preservation. The inquiry 
 should be, in reference to the great interests of every sec- 
 tion of the union, (I speak not of minute subdivisions,) what 
 would be done for those interests if that section stood alone 
 and separated from the residue of the republic? If the pro- 
 motion of those interests would not injuriously affect any 
 other section, then every thing should be done for them, 
 which would be done if it fornned a distinct government. 
 If they come into absolute collision with the interests of 
 another section, a reconciliation, if possible, should be at- 
 tempted, by mutual concession, so as to avoid a sacrifice of 
 the prosperity of either to that of the other. In such a case 
 all should not be done for one which would be done, if it 
 were separated and independent, but something; and, in 
 devising the measure, the good of each part and of the 
 whole should be carefully consulted. This is the only mode 
 by which we can preserve, in full vigor, the harmony of the 
 whole union. The south entertains one opinion, and ima- 
 gines that a modification of the existing policy of the coun- 
 try, for the protection of American industry, involves the 
 ruin of the south. The north, the east, the west, hold the 
 opposite opinion, and feel and contemplate, in a longer ad- 
 herence to the foreign policy, as it now exists, their utter 
 destruction. Is it true, that the interests of these great sec- 
 tions of our country are irreconcilable with each other? Are 
 we reduced to the sad and afflicting dilemma of determining 
 which shall fall a victim to the prosperity of the other? 
 Happily, I think, there is no such distressing alternative. 
 If the north, the west, and the east, formed an independent 
 state, unassociated with the south, can there be a doubt that 
 
310 ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 
 
 the restrictive system would be carried to the point of pro- 
 hibition of every foreign fabric of which they produce the 
 raw material, and which they could manufacture? Such 
 would be their policy, if they stood alone; but they are for- 
 tunately connected with the south, which believes its inter- 
 ests to require a free admission of foreign manufactures. 
 Here then is a case for mutual concession, for fair compro- 
 mise. The bill under consideration presents this compro- 
 mise. It is a medium between the absolute exclusion and 
 the unrestricted admission of the produce of foreign indus- 
 try. It sacrifices the interest of neither section to that of 
 the other J neither, it is true, gets all that it wants, nor is 
 subject to all that it fears. But it has been said that the 
 south obtains nothing in this compromise. Does it lose any 
 thing? is the first question. I have endeavored to prove that 
 it does not, by showing that a mere transfer is effected in 
 the source of the supply of its consumption from Europe 
 to America; and that the loss, whatever it may be, of the 
 sale of its great staple in Europe, is compensated by the 
 new market created in America. But does the south really 
 gain nothing in this compromise? The consumption of the 
 other sections, though somewhat restricted, is still left open 
 by this bill, to foreign fabrics purchased by southern sta- 
 ples. So far its operation is beneficial to the south, and 
 prejudicial to the industry of the other sections, and that 
 is the point of mutual concession. The south will also gain 
 by the extended consumption of its great staple, produced 
 by an increased capacity to consume it in consequence of 
 the establishment of the home market. But the south can- 
 not exert its industry and enterprise in the business of ma- 
 nufactures! Why not? The difficulties, if not exaggerated, 
 are artificial, and may, therefore, be surmounted. But can 
 the other sections embark in the planting occupations of the 
 south? The obstructions which forbid them are natural, 
 created by the immutable laws of God, and, therefore, un- 
 conquerable. 
 
 Other and animating considerations invite us to adopt 
 the policy of this system. Its importance, in connexion with 
 the general defence in time of war, cannot fail to be duly 
 estimated. Need I recall to our painful recollection the 
 sufferings, for the want of an adequate supply of absolute 
 necessaries, to which the defenders of their country's rights 
 and our entire population were subjected during the late 
 
ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 311 
 
 war? Or to remind the committee of the great advantage 
 of a steady and unfailing source of supply, unaffected alike 
 in war and in peace? Its importance, in reference to the 
 stability of our union, that paramount and greatest of all our 
 interests, cannot fail warmly to recommend it, or at least to 
 conciliate the forbearance of every patriot bosom. Now our 
 people present the spectacle of a vast assemblage of jealous 
 rivals, all eagerly rushing to the sea-board, jostling each 
 other in their way, to hurry off to glutted foreign markets 
 the perishable produce of their labor. The tendency of that 
 policy, in conformity to which this bill is prepared, is to 
 transform these competitors into friends and mutual custo- 
 mers; and, by the reciprocal exchanges of their respective 
 productions, to place the confederacy upon the most solid 
 of all foundations, the basis of common interest. And is 
 not government called upon, by every stimulating motive, 
 to adapt its policy to the actual condition and extended 
 growth of our great republic. At the commencement of 
 our constitution, almost the whole population of the United 
 States was confined between the Alleghany mountains and 
 the Atlantic ocean. Since that epoch, the western part of 
 New York, of Pennsylvania, of Virginia, all the western 
 states and territories, have been principally peopled. Prior 
 to that period we had scarcely any interior. An interior has 
 sprung up, as it were by enchantment, and along with it 
 new interests and new relations, requiring the parental pro- 
 tection of government. Our policy should be modified ac- 
 cordingly, so as to comprehend all, and sacrifice none. And 
 are we not encouraged by the success of past experience, in 
 respect to the only article which has been adequately pro- 
 tected? Already have the predictions of the friends of the 
 American system, in even a shorter time than their most 
 sanguine hopes could have anticipated, been completely re- 
 alized in regard to that article; and consumption is nov/ 
 better and cheaper supplied with coarse cottons, than it 
 was under the prevalence of the foreign system. 
 
 Even if the benefits of the policy were limited to certain 
 sections of our country, would it not be satisfactory to be- 
 hold American industry, wherever situated, active, ani- 
 mated, and thrifty, rather than persevere in a course which 
 renders us subservient to foreign industry? But these be- 
 nefits are two fold, direct and collateral, and, in the one 
 shape or the other, they will diifuse themselves throughout 
 
312 ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 
 
 the union. All parts of the union will participate, more or 
 less, in both. As to the direct benefit, it is probable that 
 the north and the east will enjoy the largest share. But the 
 west and the south will also participate in them. Philadel- 
 phia, Baltimore, and Richmond, will divide with the north- 
 ern capitals the business of manufacturing. The latter city 
 unites more advantages for its successful prosecution than 
 any other place I know; Zanesville, in Ohio, only excepted. 
 And where the direct benefit does not accrue, that will be 
 enjoyed of supplying the raw material and provisions for 
 the consumption of artizans. Is it not most desirable to 
 put at rest and prevent the annual recurrence of this un- 
 pleasant subject, so well fitted by the various interests to 
 which it appeals, to excite irritation and to produce discon- 
 tent? Can that be effected by its rejection? Behold the mass 
 of petitions which lie on our table, earnestly and anxiously 
 intreating the protecting interposition of congress against 
 the ruinous policy which we are pursuing. Will these peti- 
 tioners, comprehending all orders of society, entire states 
 and communities, public companies and private individuals, 
 spontaneously assembling, cease in their humble prayers by 
 your lending a deaf ear? Can you expect that these peti- 
 tioners, and others, in countless numbers, that will, if you 
 delay the passage of this bill, supplicate your mercy, should 
 contemplate their substance gradually withdrawn to foreign 
 countries, their ruin slow, but certain and as inevitable as 
 death itself, without one expiring effort? You think the 
 measure injurious to youj we believe our preservation de- 
 pends upon its adoption. Our convictions, mutually honest, 
 are equally strong. What is to be done? I invoke that saving 
 spirit of mutual concession under which our blessed consti- 
 tution was formed, and under which alone it can be happily 
 administered. I appeal to the south — to the high-minded, 
 generous, and patriotic south — with which I have so often 
 co-operated, in attempting to sustain the honor and to vin- 
 dicate the rights of our country. Should it not offer, upon 
 the altar of the public good, some sacrifice of its peculiar 
 opinions? Of what does it complain? A possible temporary 
 enhancement in the objects of consumption. Of what do we 
 complain? A total incapacity, produced by the foreign po- 
 licy, to purchase, at any price, necessary foreign objects of 
 consumption. In such an alternative, inconvenient only to 
 it, ruinous to us, can we expect too much from southern 
 
ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY, 3 IS 
 
 magnanimity? The just and confident expectation of the 
 passage of this bill has flooded the country with recent im- 
 portations of foreign fabrics. If it should not pass, they 
 will complete the work of destruction of our domestic in- 
 dustry. If it should pass, they will prevent any considera- 
 ble rise in the price of foreign commodities, until our own 
 incustry shall be able to supply competent substitutes. 
 
 To the friends of the tariff, I would also anxiously appeal. 
 Every arrangement of its provisions does not suit each of 
 youi you desire some further alterations; you would make 
 it pe'-fect. You want what you will never get. Nothing 
 human is perfect. And I have seen, with great surprise, a 
 piece signed by a member of congress, published in the 
 National Intelligencer, stating that this bill must be rejected, 
 and a judicious tariff brought in as its substitute. A judi- 
 cious tariff! No member of congress could have signed that 
 piece; or, if he did, the public ought not to be deceived. If 
 this bill do not pass, unquestionably no other can pass at 
 this session, or probably during this congress. And who 
 will go home and say that he rejected all the benefits of this 
 bill, becauae molasses has been subjected to the enormous 
 additional duty of five cents per gallon? I call, therefore, 
 upon the friends of the American policy, to yield somewhat 
 of their own peculiar wishes, and not to reject the practica- 
 ble in the idle pursuit after the unattainable. Let us imitate 
 the illustrious example of the framers of the constitution, 
 and, always remembering that whatever springs from man 
 partakes of his imperfections, depend upon experience to 
 suggest, in future, the necessary amendments. 
 
 VVe have had great difficulties to encounter. — 1. The 
 splendid talents which are arrayed in this house against us. 
 
 2. We are opposed by the rich and powerful in the land. 
 
 3. The executive government, if any, affords us but a cold 
 and equivocal support. 4. The importing and navigating 
 interest, I verily believe from misconception, are adverse to 
 us. 5. The British factors and the British influence are in- 
 imical to our success. 6. Long established habits and preju- 
 dices oppose us. 7 . The reviewers and literary speculators, 
 foreign and domestic. And, lastly, the leading presses of the 
 country, including the influence of that which is established 
 in this city, and sustained by the public purse. 
 
 From some of these, or other causes, the bill may be 
 postponed, thwarted, defeated. But the cause is the cause 
 Ss 
 
314 ON AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 
 
 of the country, and it must and will prevail. It is founded 
 in the interests and affections of the people. It is as natire 
 as the granite deeply imbosomed in our mountains. And, 
 in conclusion, I would pray God, in his infinite mercy, to 
 avert from our country the evils which are impending over 
 it, and, by enlightening our councils, to conduct us into that 
 path which leads to riches, to greatness, to glory. 
 
APPENDIX, 
 
 ON THE COLONIZATION OF THE NEGROES. 
 
 Speech before the American Colonization Society^ in the hall 
 of the House of Representatives^ January 20, 1827, with 
 the documents therein referred to, 
 
 Mr. Clay rose. I cannot (said he) withhold the expres- 
 sion of my congratulations to the society on account of the 
 very valuable acquisition which we have obtained in the el- 
 oquent gentleman from Boston, (Mr. Knapp,) who has just 
 before favored us with an address. He has told us of his 
 original impressions, unfavorable to the object of the soci- 
 ety, and of his subsequent conversion. If the same indus- 
 try, investigation and unbiassed judgment, which he and 
 another gentleman, (Mr. Powell,) who avowed at the last 
 meeting of the society, a similar change wrought in his mind, 
 were carried, by the public at large, into the consideration 
 of the plan of the society, the conviction of its utility would 
 be universal. 
 
 I have risen to submit a resolution, in behalf of which I 
 would bespeak the favour of the society. But before I offer 
 any observations in its support, I must say that, whatever 
 part I shall take in the proceedings of this society, whatev- 
 er opinions or sentiments I may utter, they are exclusively 
 my own. Whether they are worth any thing or not, no one 
 but myself is at all responsible for them. I have consulted 
 with no person out of this society; and I have especially ab- 
 stained from all communication or consultation with any one 
 to whom I stand in any official relation. My judgment on 
 the object of this society has been long since deliberately 
 formed. The conclusions to which, after much and anxious 
 consideration, my mind has been brought, have been neither 
 produced nor refuted by the official station the duties of 
 which have been confided to me. 
 
 From the origin of this society, every member of it has, 
 I believe, looked forward to the arrival of a period, when 
 it would become necessary to invoke the public aid in the 
 execution of the great scheme which it was instituted to 
 promote. Considering itself as the mere pioneer in the cause 
 
316 ON THE COLONIZATION 
 
 which it had undertaken, it was well aware that it could d» 
 no more than remove preliminary difficulties and point out 
 a sure road to ultimate success; and that the public only 
 could supply that regular, steady, and efficient support, to 
 which the gratuitous means of benevolent individuals would 
 be found incompetent. My surprise has been that the soci- 
 ety has been able so long to sustain itself, and to do so much 
 upon the charitable contributions of good and pious and en- 
 lightened men, whom it has happily found in all parts of 
 our country. But our work has so prospered, and grown 
 under our hands, that the appeal to the power and resour- 
 ces of the public should be no longer deferred. The resolu- 
 tion which I have risen to propose contemplates this appeal. 
 It is in the following words: — 
 
 *' Resolved^ that the board of managers be empowered and 
 directed, at such time or times as may seem to them expe- 
 dient, to make lespectful application to the congress of the 
 United States, and to the legislatures of the different states, 
 for such pecuniary aid, in furtherance of the object of this 
 society, as thev may respectively be pleased to grant." 
 
 In soliciting the countenance and support of the legisla- 
 tures of the union and the states, it is incumbent on the so- 
 ciety, in making out its case, to show, first — that it offers to 
 their consideration a scheme which is practicable — and se- 
 cond — that the execution of the practicable scheme, partial 
 or entire, will be fraught with such beneficial consequences 
 as to merit the support which is solicited. I believe bi)th 
 points to be maintainable. First. — It is now a little upwards 
 of ten years since a religious, amiable and benevolent resi- 
 dent* of this city, first conceived the idea of planting a 
 colony, from the United States, of free people of colour, 
 on the western shores of Africa. He is no more, and the 
 noblest eulogy which could be pronounced on him would be 
 to inscribe upon his tomb, the merited epitaph — " Here lies 
 
 * It has been, since the delivery of the speech, suggested that the 
 Rev. Robert Finley, of New Jersey, (who is also unfortunately dead,) 
 contemplated the formation of a society, with a view to the establishment 
 of a colony in Africa, and probably first commenced the project. It is 
 quite likely that he did; and Mr. Clay recollects seeing Mr. Finley and 
 consulting with him on the subject, about the period of the formation of 
 the society. But the allusion to Mr. Caldwell was founded on the facts 
 well known to Mr. Clay of his active agency in the organization of the 
 society, and his unremitted subsequent labours, which were not coofined 
 to the District of Columbia, in promoting the cause. 
 
OF THE NEGROES. 317 
 
 the projector of the American Colonization Society." 
 Amongst others, to whom he communicated the project, 
 was the person who now has the honour of addressing, you. 
 My first impressions, like those of all who have not fully 
 investigated the subject, were against it. They yielded to 
 his earnest persuasions and my own reflections, and 1 final- 
 ly agreed with him that the experiment was worthy of a 
 fair trial. A meeting of its friends was called — organized 
 as a deliberative body, and a constitution was formed. The 
 society went into operation. He lived to see the most en- 
 couraging progress in its exertions, and died in full confi- 
 dence of its complete success. The society was scarcely 
 formed before it was exposed to the derision of the unthink- 
 ing; pronounced to be visionary and chimerical by those who 
 were capable of adopting wiser opinions, and the most con- 
 fident predictions of its entire failure were put forth. It 
 found itself equally assailed by the two extremes of public 
 sentiment in regard to our African population. According 
 to one, (that rash class which, without a due estimate of the 
 fatal consequence, would forthwith issue a decree of gene- 
 ral, immediate, and indiscriminate emancipation,) it was a 
 scheme of the slave holder to perpetuate slavery. The other 
 (that class which believes slavery a blessing, and which trem- 
 bles with aspen sensibility at the appearance of the most dis- 
 tant and ideal danger to the tenure by which that descrip- 
 tion of property is held,) declared it a contrivance to let 
 loose on society all the slaves of the country, ignorant, un- 
 educated, and incapable of appreciating the value, or enjoy- 
 ing the privileges of freedom.* The society saw itself sur- 
 rounded by every sort of embarrassment. What great hu- 
 man enterprize was ever undertaken without difficulty? 
 What ever failed, within the compass of human power, 
 when pursued with perseverance and blessed by the smiles 
 of Providence? The society prosecuted undismayed its great 
 work, appealing for succour to the moderate, the reasonable, 
 the virtuous, and religious portions of the public. It pro- 
 tested, from the commencement, and throughout all its pro- 
 gress, and it now protests, that it entertains no purpose, on 
 its own authority or by its own means, to attempt emanci- 
 pation partial or general; that it knows the general govern- 
 
 * A society of a few individuals, without power, without other resour- 
 ces than those which are supplied by spontaneous benevolence, to eman- 
 cipate all the slaves of the country! 
 
318 ON THE COLONIZATION, 
 
 ment has no constitutional power to achieve such an object; 
 that it believes that the states, and the states only, which 
 tolerate slavery, can accomplish the work of emancipation; 
 and that it ought to be left to them, exclusively, absolutely, 
 and voluntarily, to decide the question. 
 
 The object of the society was the colonization of the free 
 coloured people, not the slaves, of the country. Voluntary 
 in its institution, voluntary in its continuance, voluntary in 
 all its ramifications, all its means, purposes, and instruments 
 are also voluntary. But it was said that no free coloured 
 persons could be prevailed upon to abandon the comforts of 
 civilized life and expose themselves to all the perils of a set- 
 tlement in a distant, inhospitable and savage country; that, 
 if they could be induced to go on such a quixotic expedi- 
 tion, no territory could be procured for their establishment 
 as a colony; that the plan was altogether incompetent to ef- 
 fectuate its professed object; and that it ought to be reject- 
 ed as the idle dream of visionary enthusiasts. The society 
 has outlived, thank God, all these disastrous predictions. It 
 has survived to swell the list of false prophets. It is no 
 longer a question of speculation whether a colony can or 
 cannot be planted from the United States of free persons of 
 colour on the shores of Africa. It is a matter demonstra- 
 ted; such a colony, in fact, exists, prospers, has made suc- 
 cessful war, and honorable peace, and transacts all the mul- 
 tiplied business of a civilized and Christian community.* 
 It now has about five hundred souls, disciplined troops, 
 forts, and other means of defence, sovereignty over an ex- 
 tensive territory, and exerts a powerful and salutary influ- 
 ence over the neighbouring clans. 
 
 Numbers of the free African race among us are willing 
 to go to Africa. The society has never experienced any 
 difficulty on that subject, except that its means of comforta- 
 ble transportation have been inadequate to accommodate all 
 who have been anxious to migrate. Why should they not 
 go? Here they are in the lowest state of social gradation — 
 aliens — political — moral—social aliens, strangers, though na- 
 tives. There, they would be in the midst of their friends 
 and their kindred, at home, though born in a foreign land, 
 and elevated above the natives of the country, as much as 
 they are degraded here below the other classes of the com- 
 
 * See the last annual report and the highly interesting historical sketch 
 of the Rev. Mr. Ashraun. 
 
OF THE NEGROES. 319 
 
 inunity. But on this matter, I am happy to have it in my 
 power to furnish indisputable evidence from the most au- 
 thentic source, that of large numbers of free persons of co- 
 lour themselves. Numerous meetings have been held in se- 
 veral churches in Baltimore, of the free people of colour, 
 in which, after being organized as deliberative assemblies, 
 by the appointment of a chairman (if not of the same com- 
 plexion) presiding as you, Mr. Vice-president, do, and sec- 
 retaries, they have voted memorials addressed to the white 
 people, in which they have argued the question with an abili- 
 ty, moderation, and temper, surpassing any that I can com- 
 mand, and emphatically recommended the colony of Libe- 
 ria to favorable consideration, as the most desirable and 
 practicable scheme ever yet presented on this interesting 
 subject. I ask permission of the society to read this highly 
 creditable document. 
 
 [Here Mr. Clay read the memorial referred to.] 
 The society has experienced no difficulty in the acquisition 
 of a territory, upon reasonable terms, abundantly sufficient 
 for a most extensive colony. And land in ample quantities, 
 it has ascertained, can be procured in Africa, together with 
 all rights of sovereignty, upon conditions as favorable as 
 those on which the United States extinguish the Indian title 
 to territory within their own limits. 
 
 In respect to the alleged incompetency of the scheme to 
 accomplish its professed object, the society asks that that 
 object should be taken to be, not what the imaginations of 
 its enemies represent it to be, but what it really proposes. 
 They represent that the purpose of the society is to export 
 the whole African population of the United States, bond 
 and free; and they pronounce this design to be unattainable. 
 They declare that the means of the whole country are in- 
 sufficient to effect the transportation to Africa of a mass of 
 population approximating to two millions of souls. Agreed; 
 but that is not what the society contemplates. They have 
 substituted their own notion for that of the society. What 
 is the true nature of the evil of the existence of a portion 
 of the African race in our population? It is not that there 
 are some^ but that there are so many among us of a differ- 
 ent caste, of a different physical, if not moral, constitution, 
 who never can amalgamate with the great body of our pop- 
 ulation. In every country, persons are to be found varying 
 in their colour, origin, and character, from the native mass. 
 
320 ON THE COLONIZATION 
 
 But this anomaly creates no inquietude or apprehension, 
 because the exotics, from the smallness of their number, 
 are known to be utterly incapable of disturbing the general 
 tranquillity. Here, on the contrary, the African part of our 
 population bears so large a proportion to the residue, of Eu- 
 ropet-n origin, as to create the most lively apprehension, es- 
 pecially in some quarters of the union. Any project, there- 
 fore, by which, in a material degrte, the dangerous element 
 in the general mass, can be diminished or rendered station* 
 ary, deserves deliberate consideration. 
 
 The colonization society has never imagined it to be prac- 
 ticable, or within the reach of any means which the several 
 governments of the union could bring to bear on the sub- 
 ject, to transport the whole of the African race within the 
 limits of the United States. Nor is that necessary to accom- 
 plish the desirable objects of domestic tranquillity, and ren- 
 der us one homogeneous people. The population of the 
 United States has been supposed to duplicate in periods of 
 twenty-five years. That may have been the case heretofore, 
 but the terms of duplication will be more and more protract- 
 ed as we advance in national age; and I do not believe that 
 it will be found, in any period to come, that our numbers 
 will be doubled in a less term than one of about thirty-three 
 and a third years. I have not time to enter now into details 
 in support of this opinion. They would consist of those 
 checks which experience has shown to obstruct the progress 
 of population, arising out of its actual augmentation and den- 
 sity, the settlement of waste lands, &c. Assuming the peri- 
 od of thirty-three and a third, or any other number of years, 
 to be that in which our population will hereafter be doubled, 
 if, during that whole term, the capital of the African stock 
 could be kept down, or stationary, whilst that of European 
 origin should be left to an unobstructed increase, the result, 
 at the end of the term, would be most propitious. — Let us 
 suppose, for example, that the whole population at present 
 of the United States, is twelve millions, of which ten may 
 be estimated of the Anglo-Saxon, and two of the African 
 race. If there could be annually transported from the Uni- 
 ted States an amount of the African portion equal to the 
 annual increase of the whole of that caste, whilst the Euro- 
 pean race should be left to multiply, we should find at the 
 termination of the period of duplication, whatever it may 
 be, that the relative proportions would be as twenty to two. 
 
OF THE NEGROES. 321 
 
 And if the process were continued, during a second term 
 of duplication, the proportion would be as forty to two — 
 one which would eradicate every cause of alarm or solici- 
 tude from the breasts of the most timid. But the transpor- 
 tation of Africans, by creating, to the extent to which it 
 might be carried, a vacuum in society, would tend to accel- 
 erate the duplication of the European race, who, by all the 
 laws of population, would fill up the void space. 
 
 This society is well aware, I repeat, that they cannot touch 
 the subject of slavery. But it is no objection to their scheme, 
 limited as it is exclusively to those free people of colour 
 who are willing to migrate, that it admits of indefinite ex- 
 tension and application, by those who alone, having the com- 
 petent authority, may choose to adopt and apply it. Our 
 object has been to point out the way, to show that coloniza- 
 tion is practicable, and to leave it to those states or indivi- 
 duals, who may be pleased to engage in the object, to pro- 
 secute it. We have demonstrated that a colony may be 
 planted in Africa, by the fact that an American colony there 
 exists. The problem which has so long and so deeply inter- 
 ested the thoughts of good and patriotic men, is solved — 
 a country and a home have been found, to which the Afri- 
 can race may be sent, to the promotion of their happiness 
 and our own. 
 
 But, Mr. Vice-President, I shall not rest contented with 
 the fact of the establishment of the colony, conclusive as it 
 ought to be deemed, of the practicability of our purpose. 
 I shall proceed to show, by reference to indisputable statis- 
 tical details and calculations, that it is within the compass 
 of reasonable human means. I am sensible of the tedious- 
 ness of all arithmetical data, but I will endeavour to sim- 
 plify them as much as possible. — It will be borne in mind 
 that the aim of the society is to establish in Africa a colo- 
 ny of the free African population of the United States; to 
 an extent which shall be beneficial both to Africa and Ame- 
 rica. The whole free coloured population of the United 
 States amounted in 1790, to fifty-nine thousand four hun- 
 dred and eighty-one; in 1800, to one hundred and ten thou- 
 sand and seventy-two; in 1810, to one hundred and eighty- 
 six thousand four hundred and forty-six; and in 1820, to 
 two hundred and thirty-three thousand five hundred and 
 thirty. The ratio of annual increase during the first term 
 Tt 
 
322 ON THE COLONIZATION 
 
 of ten years, was about eight and a half per cent per annum; 
 > during the second, about seven per cent per annum; and dur- 
 ing the third, a litde more than two and a half. The very- 
 great difference in the rate of annual increase, during those 
 several terms, may probably be accounted for by the effect 
 of the number of voluntary emancipations operating with 
 more influence upon the total smaller amount of free colour- 
 ed persons at the first of those periods, and by the facts of 
 the insurrection in St- Domingo, and the acquisition of Lou- 
 isiana, both of which, occurring during the first and second 
 terms, added considerably to the number of our free colour- 
 ed population. 
 
 Of all descriptions of our population, that of the free 
 coloured, taken in the aggregate, is the least prolific, be- 
 cause of the checks arising from vice and want. During 
 the ten years, between 1810 and 1820, when no extraneous 
 causes existed to prevent a fair competition in the increase 
 between the slave and the free African race, the former in- 
 creased at the rate of nearly three per cent per annum, 
 whilst the latter did not much exceed two and a half. Here- 
 after it may be safely assumed, and I venture to predict will 
 not be contradicted by the return of the next census, that 
 the increase of the free black population will not surpass 
 two and a half per cent per annum. Their amount at the 
 last census, being two hundred and thirty-three thousand 
 five hundred and thirty, for the sake of round numbers, 
 their annual increase may be assumed to be six thousand, 
 at the present time. Now if this number could be annually 
 transported from the United States during a term of years, 
 it is evident that, at the end of that term, the parent capi- 
 tal will not have increased, but will have been kept down 
 at least to what it was at the commencement of the term. 
 Is it practicable then to colonize annually six thousand per- 
 sons from the United States, without materially impairing 
 or affecting any of the great interests of the United States? 
 This is the question presented to the judgments of the le- 
 gislative authorities of our country. This is the whole 
 scheme of the society. From its actual experience, derived 
 from the expenses which have been incurred in transporting 
 the persons already sent to Africa, the entire average ex- 
 pense of each colonist, young and old, including passage 
 money and subsistence, may be stated at twenty dollars per 
 head. There is reason to believe that it may be reduced 
 
OF THE NEGROES. 323 
 
 considerably below that sum. Estimating that to be the ex- 
 pense, the total cost of transporting six thousand souls, an- 
 nually to Africa, would be one hundred and twenty-thousand 
 dollars. The tonnage requisite to effect the object, calculat- 
 ing two persons to every five tons (which is the provision 
 of existing law) would be fifteen thousand tons. But as 
 each vessel couid probably make two voyages in the year, 
 it may be reduced to seven thousand five hundred. And as 
 both our mercantile and military marine might be occasion- 
 ally employed on this collateral service, without injury to 
 the main object of the voyage, a further abatement might 
 be safely made in the aggregate amount of the necessary 
 tonnage. The navigation concerned in the commerce be- 
 tween the colony and the United States, (and it already be- 
 gins to supply subjects of an interesting trade,) might be 
 incidentally employed to the same end. 
 
 Is the annual expenditure of a sum no larger than one 
 hundred and twenty thousand dollars, and the annual em- 
 ployment of seven thousand five hundred tons of shipping, 
 too much for reasonable exertion, considering the magni- 
 tude of the object in view? Are they not, on the contrary, 
 within the compass of moderate efforts? 
 
 Here is the whole scheme of the society — a project which 
 has been pronounced visionary by those who have never giv- 
 en themselves the trouble to examine it, but to which I be- 
 lieve most unbiassed men will yield their cordial assent, af- 
 ter they have investigated it. 
 
 Limited as the project is, by the society, to a colony to 
 be formed by the free and unconstrained consent of free 
 persons of colour, it is no objection, but on the contrary, a 
 great recommendation of the plan, that it admits of being 
 taken up and applied on a scale of much more comprehen- 
 sive utility. The society knows, and it affords just cause of 
 felicitation, that all or any one of the states which tolerate 
 slavery may carry the scheme of colonization into effect, in 
 regard to the slaves within their respective limits, and thus 
 ultimately rid themselves of an universally acknowledged 
 curse. — A reference to the results of the several enumera- 
 tions of the population of the United States will incontes- 
 tibly prove the practicability of its application on the more 
 extensive scale. The slave population of the United States 
 amounted in 1790, to six hundred and ninety- seven thou- 
 sand, six hundred and ninety-seven; in 1800, to eight hun- 
 
324 ON THE COLONIZATION 
 
 dred and ninety-six thousand, eight hundred and forty-ninej 
 in 1810, to eleven hundred and ninety-one thousand, three 
 hundred and sixty-four; and in 1820, to fifteen hundred and 
 thirty-eight thousand, one hundred and twenty-eight. The 
 rate of annual increase, (rejecting fractions and taking the 
 integer to which they make the nearest approach,) during 
 the first term of ten years was not quite three per centum per 
 annum, during the second, a little more than three per cen- 
 tum per annum, and during the third, a little less than three 
 per centum.* The mean ratio of increase for the whole pe- 
 riod of thirty years was very little more than three per cen- 
 tum per annum. During the first two periods, the native 
 stock was augmented by importations from Africa in those 
 states which continued to tolerate them, and by the acquisi- 
 tion of Louisiana. Virginia, to her eternal honour, abolish- 
 ed the abominable traffic among the earliest acts of her self- 
 government. The last term alone presents the natural increase 
 of the capital unaflTected by any extraneous causes. That 
 authorizes, as a safe assumption, that the future increase 
 will not exceed three per centum per annum. As our pop- 
 ulation increases the value of slave labour will diminish, 
 in consequence of the superior advantages in the employ- 
 ment of free labour. And when the value of slave labour 
 shall be materially lessened either by the multiplication of 
 the supply of slaves beyond the demand, or by the compe- 
 tition between slave and free labour, the annual increase of 
 slaves will be reduced, in consequence of the abatement of 
 the motives to provide for and rear the offspring. 
 
 Assuming the future increase to be at the rate of three 
 per centum per annum, the annual addition to the number of 
 slaves in the United States, calculated upon the return of 
 the last census (one million five hundred and thirty-eight 
 thousand, one hundred and twenty-eight) is forty-six thou- 
 sand. Applying the data which have been already stated 
 and explained, in relation to the colonization of free per- 
 sons of colour from the United States to Africa, to the ag- 
 gregate annual increase both bond and free of the African 
 race, and the result will be found most encouraging. The 
 total number of the annual increase of both descriptions is 
 fifty-two thousand. The total expense of transporting that 
 number to Africa, (supposing no reduction of present pri- 
 
 * See a table io page 339. 
 
OF THE NEGROES. 325 
 
 ces) would be one million and forty thousand dollars, and 
 the requisite amount of tonnage would be only one hundred 
 and thirty thousand tons of shipping, about one-ninth part 
 of the mercantile marine of the United States. Upon the 
 supposition of a vessel's making two voyages in the year, 
 it would be reduced to one half, sixty-five thousand. And 
 this quantity would be still further reduced, by embracing 
 opportunities of incidental employment of vessels belong- 
 ing both to the mercantile and military marines. 
 
 But, is the annual application of one million and forty 
 thousand dollars, and the employment of sixty-five or even 
 one hundred and thirty thousand tons of shipping, consider- 
 ing the magnitude of the object, beyond the ability of this 
 country? Is there a patriot, looking forward to its domestic 
 quiet, its happiness and its glory, that would not cheerfully 
 contribute his proportion of the burthen to accomplish a 
 purpose so great and so humane? During the general contin- 
 uance of the African slave trade, hundreds of thousands of 
 slaves have been, in a single year, imported into the several 
 countries whose laws authorized their admission. Notwith- 
 standing the vigilance of the powers now engaged to sup- 
 press the slave trade, I have received information, that in a 
 single year, in the single island of Cuba, slaves equal in 
 amount to one-half of the above number of fifty-two thous- 
 and, have been illicitly introduced. Is it possible that those 
 who are concerned in an infamous traffic can effect more 
 than the states of this union, if they were seriously to engage 
 in the good work? Is it credible — is it not a libel upon hu- 
 man nature to suppose, that the triumphs of fraud and 
 violence and iniquity, can surpass those of virtue and be- 
 nevolence and humanity? 
 
 The population of the United States being, at this lime, 
 estimated at about ten millions of the European race, and 
 two of the African, on the supposition of the annual colo- 
 nization of a number of the latter equal to the annual in- 
 creasci of both of its classes, during the whole period ne- 
 cessary to the process of duplication of our numbers, they 
 would, at the end of that period, relatively stand twenty 
 millions for the white and two for the black portion. But 
 an annual exportation of a number equal to the annual in- 
 crease, at the beginning of the term, and persevered in to 
 the end of it, would accomplish more than to keep the pa- 
 rent stock stationary. The colonists would comprehend 
 
326 ON THE COLONIZATION 
 
 more than an equal proportion of those of the prolific ages. 
 Few of those who had passed that age would migrate. So 
 that the annual increase of those left behind, would continue 
 gradually, but, at first, insensibly, to diminish; and by the 
 expiration of the period of duplication it would be found 
 to have materially abated. But it is not merely the greater 
 relative safety and happiness which would, at the termina- 
 tion of that period, be the condition of the whites. Their 
 ability to give further stimulus to the cause of coloniza- 
 tion will have been doubled, whilst the subjects on which 
 it would have to operate, will have decreased or remained 
 stationary. If the business of colonization should be regu- 
 larly continued during two periods of duplication, at the 
 end of the second, the whites would stand to the blacks, as 
 forty millions to not more than two, whilst the same ability 
 will have been quadrupled. Even if colonization should 
 then altogether cease, the proportion of the African to the 
 Europe. in race will be so small that the most timid, may 
 then, for ever, dismiss all ideas of danger from within or 
 without, on account of that incongruous and perilous ele- 
 ment in our population. 
 
 Further; by the annual withdrawal of fifty-two thousand 
 persons of colour, there would be annual space created for 
 an equal number of the white race. The period, therefore, 
 of the duplication of the vi^hites, by the laws which govern 
 population, would be accelerated. 
 
 Such, Mr. Vice-President, is the project of the society; 
 and such is the extension and use which may be made of 
 the principle of colonization, in application to our slave 
 population, by those states which are alone competent to un- 
 dertake and execute it. All, or any one, of the states which 
 tolerate slavery may adopt and execute it, by co-operation 
 or separate exertion. If I could be instrumental in eradi- 
 cating this deepest stain upon the character of our country, 
 and removing all cause of reproach on account of it, by fo- 
 reign nations — If I could only be instrumental in ridding 
 of this foul blot that revered state that gave me birth, or 
 that not less beloved state which kindly adopted me as her 
 son, I would not exchange the proud satisfaction which I 
 should enjoy for the honour of all the triumphs ever de- 
 creed to the most successful conqueror. 
 
 Having [ hope shov^n that the plan of the society is not 
 visionary, but rational and practicable; that a colony does in 
 
OP THE NEGROES. 327 
 
 fact exist, planted under its auspices; that free people are 
 willing and anxious to go; and that the right of soil as well 
 as of sovereignty may be acquired in vast tracts of coun- 
 try in Africa, abundantly sufficient for all the purposes of 
 the most ample colony, and at prices almost only nominal, 
 the task which remains to me of showing the beneficial con- 
 sequences which would attend the execution of the scheme, 
 is comparatively easy. 
 
 Of the utility of a total separation of the two incongru- 
 ous portions of our population, supposing it to be practica- 
 ble, none have ever doubted. The mode of accomplishing 
 that most desirable object, has alone divided public opinion. 
 Colonization in Hayti, for a time, had its partisans. With- 
 out throwing any impediments in the way of executing that 
 scheme, the American colonization society has steadily ad- 
 hered to its own. The Haytien project has passed away. 
 Colonization beyond the Stony Mountains has sometimes 
 been proposed; but it would be attended with an expense 
 and difficulties far surpassing the African project, whilst it 
 would not unite the same animating motives. There is a 
 moral fitness in the idea of returning to Africa her children, 
 whose ancestors have been torn from her by the ruthless 
 hand of fraud and violence. Transplanted in a foreign land, 
 they will carry back to their native soil the rich fruits of 
 religion, civilization, law, and liberty. May it not be one of 
 the great designs of the Ruler of the universe, (whose ways 
 are often inscrutable by short sighted mortals,) thus to trans- 
 form an original crime into a signal blessing, to that most 
 unfortunate portion of the globe. Of all classes of our 
 population, the most vicious is that of the free coloured. It 
 is the inevitable result of their moral, political and civil de- 
 gradation. Contaminated themselves, they extend their vi- 
 ces to all around them, to the slaves and to the whites. If 
 the principle of colonization should be confined to them; if 
 a colony can be firmly established and successfully continu- 
 ed in Africa which should draw off annually an amount of 
 that portion of our population equal to its annual increase, 
 much good will be done. If the principle be adopted and 
 applied by the states, whose laws sanction the existence of 
 slavery, to an extent equal to the annual increase of slaves, 
 still greater good will be done. This good will be felt by 
 the Africans who go, by the Africans who remain, by the 
 white population of our country, by Africa and by Ameri- 
 
328 ON THE COLONIZATION 
 
 ca. It is a project which recommends itself to favour in all 
 the aspects in which it can be contemplated. It will do good 
 in every and any extent in which it may be executed. It is 
 a circle of philanthropy, every segment of which tells and 
 testifies to the beneficence of the whole. 
 
 Every emigrant to Africa is a missionary carrying with 
 him credentials in the holy cause of civilization, religion, 
 and free institutions. Why is it that the degree of success 
 of missionary exertions is so limited, and so discouraging 
 to those whose piety and benevolence prompt them? Is it 
 not because the missionary is generally an alien and a stran- 
 ger, perhaps of a different colour, and from a different tribe? 
 There is a sort of instinctive feeling of jealousy and dis- 
 trust towards foreigners which repels and rejects them in 
 all countries; and this feeling is in proportion to the degree 
 of ignorance and barbarism which prevail. But the African 
 colonists, whom we send to convert the heathen, are of the 
 same colour, the same family, the same physical constitu- 
 tion. When the purposes of the colony shall be fully un- 
 derstood, they will be received as long lost brethren restor- 
 ed to the embraces of their friends and their kindred by 
 the dispensations of a wise providence. 
 
 The society is reproached for agitating this question. It 
 should be recollected that the existence of free people of 
 colour is not limited to the states only which tolerate slave- 
 ry. The evil extends itself to all the states, and some of 
 those which do not allow of slavery, ftheir cities especial- 
 ly,) experience the evil in an extent even greater than it ex- 
 ists in the slave states. A common evil confers a right to 
 consider and apply a common remedy. Nor is it a valid 
 objection that this remedy is partial in its operation or dis- 
 tant in its efficacy. A patient, writhing under the tortures 
 of excruciating disease, asks of his physician to cure him 
 if he can, and, if he cannot, to mitigate his sufferings. But 
 the remedy proposed, if generally adopted and persevering- 
 ly applied, for a sufficient length of time, should it not en- 
 tirely eradicate the disease, will enable the body politic to 
 bear it without danger and without suffering. 
 
 We are reproached with doing mischief by the agitation 
 of this question. The society goes into no household to dis- 
 turb its domestic tranquillity; it addresses itself to no slaves 
 to weaken their obligations of obedience. It seeks to affect 
 no man's property. It neither has the power nor the will to 
 
OF THE NEGROES. 329 
 
 affect the property of any one contrary to his consent. The 
 execution of its scheme would augment instead of diminish- 
 ing the value of the property left behind. The society, com- 
 posed of free men, concerns itself only with the free. Col- 
 lateral consequences we are not responsible for. It is not 
 this society which has produced the great moral revolution 
 which the age exhibits. What would they, who thus reproach 
 us, have done? If they would repress all tendencies towards 
 liberty and ultimate emancipation, they must do more than 
 put down the benevolent efforts of this society. They must 
 go back to the era of our liberty and independence, and 
 muzzle the cannon which thunders its annual joyous return. 
 They must revive the slave trade, with all its train of atro- 
 cities. They must suppress the workings of British philan- 
 thropy, seeking to meliorate the condition of the unfortu- 
 nate West Indian slaves. They must arrest the career of 
 South American deliverance from thraldom. They must 
 blow out the moral lights around us, and extinguish that 
 greatest torch of all which America presents to a benighted 
 world, pointing the way to their rights, their liberties, and 
 their happiness. And when they have achieved all these 
 purposes, their work will be yet incomplete. They must 
 penetrate the human soul, and eradicate the light of reason 
 and the love of liberty. Then, and not till then, when uni- 
 versal darkness and despair prevail, can you perpetuate 
 slavery, and repress all sympathies, and all humane and be- 
 nevolent efforts among freemen, in behalf of the unhappy 
 portion of our race doomed to bondage. 
 
 Our friends, who are cursed with this greatest of human 
 evils, deserve the kindest attention and consideration. Their 
 property and their safety are both involved. But the liberal 
 and' candid among them will not, cannot, expect that every 
 project to deliver our country from it is to be crushed be* 
 cause of a possible and ideal danger. 
 
 Animated by the encouragement of the past, let us pro- 
 ceed under the cheering prospects which lie before us. Let 
 us continue to appeal to the pious, the liberal, and the wise. 
 Let us bear in mind the condition of our forefathers, when, 
 collected on the beach of England, they embarked, amidst 
 the scoffings and the false predictions of the assembled mul- 
 titude, for this distant land; and here, in spite of all the pe- 
 rils of forest and ocean, which they encountered, success- 
 fully laid the foundations of this glorious republic. Un* 
 U u 
 
330. ON THE COLONIZATION OF THE NEGROES. 
 
 dismayed by the prophecies of the presumptuous, let us 
 supplicate the aid of the American representatives of the 
 people, and redoubling our labours, and invoking the bless- 
 ings of an all-wise Providence, I boldly and confidently 
 anticipate success. I hope the resolution which I offer will 
 be unanimously adopted. 
 
331 
 
 Extracts from the Report of the board of Managers of the Jlme- 
 rican Colonization Society, presented at its annual meeting, 
 January A2tth, 1827, read by Mr. Clay in the course of the de- 
 livery of the preceding Speech. 
 
 The system of government established with the full consent of the 
 colonists, in the autumn of 1824, and which the managers had the hap- 
 piness to represent in their last report, as having thus far fulfilled all the 
 purposes of its institution, has continued its operations during the year 
 without the least irregularity, and with undiminished success. The re- 
 publican principle is introduced as far as is consistent with the youthful 
 and unformed character of the settlement, and in the election of their 
 officers the colonists have evinced such integrity and judgment as afford 
 promise of early preparation for all the duties of self-government. " The 
 civil prerogatives and government of the colony and the body of the laws 
 by which they are sustained," says the colonial agent, " are the pride of 
 all. I am happy in the persuasion I have, that I hold the balance of the 
 laws in the midst of a people, with whom ttie first perceptible inclination 
 of the sacred scale determines authoritatively, their sentiments and their 
 conduct. There are individual exceptions, but these remarks extend 
 to the body of the settlers." 
 
 The moral and religious character of the colony, exerts a powerful in- 
 fluence on its social and civil condition. That piety which had guided 
 most of the early emigrants to Liberia, even before they left this coun- 
 try, to respectability and usefulness among their associates, (prepared 
 them, in laying the foundations of a colony, to act with a degree of wis- 
 dom and energy which no earthly motives could inspire. Humble, and 
 for the most part unlettered men; born and bred in circumstances the 
 most unfavorable to mental culture; unsustained by the hope of renown, 
 and unfamiliar with the history of great achievements and heroic virtues, 
 their's was nevertheless a spirit unmoved by dangers or by sufferings, 
 which misfortunes could not darken, nor death dismay. They left Ameri- 
 ca, and felt that it was forever: they landed in Africa, possibly to find a 
 home, but certainly a grave. Strange would it have been had the reli- 
 gion of every individual of these early settlers proved genuine; but im- 
 mensely changed as have been their circumstances and severely tried 
 their faith, most have preserved untarnished the honors of their profes- 
 sion, and to the purity of their morals and the consistency of their con- 
 duct, is in a great measure to be attributed the social order and gene- 
 ral prosperity of the colony of Liberia. Their example has proved most 
 salutary; and while subsequent emigrants have found tliemselves awed 
 and restrained, by their regularity, seriousness and devotion, the poor 
 natives have given their confidence and acknowledged the excellence 
 of practical Christianity. " It deserves record," says Mr. Ashmun, " that 
 religion has been the principal agent employed in laying and confirming 
 the foundations of the settlement. To this sentiment ruling, restraining, 
 and actuating the minds of a large proportion of (he colonists, must be 
 referred the whole strength of our civil government." Examples of in- 
 temperance, profaneness or licentiousness, are extremely rare, and vice 
 
332 ON THE COLONIZATION 
 
 wherever it exists, is obliged to seek concealment from the public eye. 
 The Sabbath is universally respected; Sunday schools, both for the chil- 
 dren of the colony and for the natives, are established; all classes attend 
 regularly upon the worship of God; some charitable associations have 
 been formed for the benefit of the heathen; and though it must not be 
 concealed, that the deep concern on the subject of religion, which re- 
 sulted, towards the conclusion of the year 1825, in the public profession 
 of Christianity by about fifty colonists, has in a measure subsided, and 
 some few cases of delinquency since occurred; and though there are 
 faults growing out of the early condition and habits of the settlers which 
 require amendment; yet the managers have reason to believe, that there 
 is a vast and increasing preponderance on the side of correct principle 
 and virtuous practice. 
 
 The agriculture of the colony, has received less attention than its im- 
 portance demands. This is to be attributed to the fact, that the labour 
 of the settlers tias been applied to objects conducing more immediately 
 to their subsistence and comfort. 
 
 It will not, the board (rust, be concluded that, because more might 
 have been done for the agricultural interests of the colony, what has 
 been effected is inconsiderable. Two hundred and twenty-four plan- 
 tations, of from five to ten acres each, were, in June last, occupied by 
 the settlers, and most of them are believed to be at present under culti- 
 vation. One hundred and fourteen of these are on cape Montserado, 
 thirty-three on Stockton creek, (denominated the halfway farms, because 
 nearly equi-distant from Monrovia and Caldwell, the St. Paul's settle- 
 ment) and seventy-seven at the confluence of Stockton creek with the 
 St. Paul's. 
 
 The St. Paul's territory includes the half-way farms, and is represent- 
 ed as a beautiful tract of country, comparatively open, well watered and 
 fertile, and still further recommended as having been, for ages, selected 
 by the natives on account of its productiveness for their rice and cassa- 
 da plantations. The agricultural habits of the present occupants of this 
 tract, concur with the advantages of their situation, in affording promise 
 of success to their exertions. " Nothing," says the colonial agent, " but 
 circumstances of the most extraordinary nature, can prevent them from 
 making their way directly to respectability and abundance." 
 
 Oxen were trained to labour in the colony in 1825, and it was then 
 expected that the plough would be introduced in the course of another 
 year. Although commerce has thus far taken the lead of agriculture, 
 yet the excellence of the soil, the small amount of labour, required for 
 its cultivalion, and the value and abundance of its products, cannot fail, 
 finally, to render the latter the more cherished, as it is, certainly, the 
 more important interest of the colony. 
 
 The trade of Liberia has increased with a rapidity almost unexampled, 
 and while it has supplied the colonists not only with the necessaries, but 
 with the conveniences and comforts of life, the good faith with which it 
 has been conducted, has conciliated the friendship of the natives, and 
 acquired tlie confidence of foreigners. 
 
 The regulations of the colonv allowing no credits, except by a writ- 
 ten permission, and i eouiring the barter-to be carried on through facto- 
 ries established for the purpose, has increased the profits of the traffic, 
 and prevented numerous evils which must Lave attended upon a more 
 unrestricted license. 
 
OF THE NEGROES. 333 
 
 Between the first of January and the fifteenth of July, 1826, no less 
 than fifteen vessels touched at Monrovia and purchased the produce of 
 the country, to the amount, according to the best probable estimate, of 
 forty-three thousand nine hundred and eighty dollars, African value. 
 The exporters of this produce realize, on the sale of the goods given in 
 barter for it, a profit of twenty-one thousand nine hundred and ninety 
 dollars, and on the freight, of eight thousand seven hundred and eighty- 
 six dollars, making a total profit of thirty thousand seven hundred and 
 eighty-six dollars. 
 
 A gentleman in Portland has commenced a regular trade with the co- 
 lony; and for his last cargo landed in Liberia, amounting to eight thou- 
 sand dollars, he received payment in the course of ten days. The ad- 
 vantages of this trade to the colony, are manifest from the high price of 
 labour, (that of mechanics being two dollars per day, and that of com- 
 mon labourers from seventy-five cents to one dollar and twenty-five 
 cents,) and from the easy and comfortable circumstances of the settlers. 
 " An industrious family, twelve months in Africa, destitute of the means 
 of furnishing an abundant table, is not known; and an individual, of 
 whatever age or sex, without ample provision of decent apparel, can- 
 not, it is believed, be found." " Every family," says Mr. Ashmun, " and 
 nearly every single adult person in the colony, has the means of em- 
 ploying from one to four native labourers, at an expense of from four to 
 six dollars the month; and several of the settlers, when called upon in 
 consequence of sudden emergences of the public service, have made 
 repeated advances of merchantable produce, to the amount of three 
 hundred to six hundred dollars each." 
 
 The managers are happy to state, that the efforts of the colonial agent 
 to enlarge the territory of Liberia, and particularly to bring under the 
 government of the colony a more extended line of coast, have been ju- 
 dicious and energetic, and in nearly every instance resulted in complete 
 success. From Cape Mount to Tradetown, a distance of one hundred 
 and fifty miles, the colonial government has acquired partial jurisdiction. 
 Four of the most important Stations on this tract, including Montse- 
 rado, belong to the society, either by actual purchase, or by a deed of 
 perpetual lease; and such negociations have been entered upon with the 
 chiefs of the country, as amount to a preclusion of all Europeans from 
 any possessions within these limits. The fine territory of the St Paul's, 
 now occupied by settlers, was described in the last annual report of the 
 society. 
 
 The territory of Young Sesters, recently ceded to the society, is nine- 
 ty miles south of Montserado, in the midst of a very productive rice coun- 
 try, affording also large quantities of palm oil, camwood, and ivory. 
 The tract granted to the colony, includes the bed of the Sester's river, 
 and all the land on each side, to the distance of half a league, and ex- 
 tending longitudinally from the river's mouth to its source. In compli- 
 ance with the terms of the contract, the chief of the country has con- 
 structed a commodious store house, and put a number of labourers suffi- 
 cient for the cultivation of a rice plantation of forty acres, under the 
 direction of a respectable colonist who takes charge of the establish- 
 ment. 
 
 The right of use and occupancy has also been obtained to a region of 
 country on the south branch of the St. John's river, north nine miles 
 from Young Sesters, and the trading factory established there, under 
 
334 ON THE ^COLONIZATION 
 
 the superintendence of a family from Monrovia, has already provided a 
 Valuable source of income to the colony. Rice is also here to be culti- 
 vated, and the chief who cedes the territory, agrees to furnish the la- 
 bour. 
 
 The upright and exemplary conduct of the individual at the head of 
 this establishment, has powerfully impressed the natives with the impor- 
 tance of inviting- them to settle in their country; and consequently, the 
 offer made by the colonial agent, for the purchase of Factory Island, has 
 been accepted by its proprietor. This island is in the river St. John's, 
 four miles from its mouth, from five to six miles in length, and one-third 
 of a mile in breadth, and is among the most beautiful and fertile spots 
 in Africa. A few families are about to take up their residence upon it, 
 and prepare for founding a settlement, " which cannot fail," says Mr. 
 Ashmun, " in a few years, to be second to no other in the colony, except 
 Monrovia." 
 
 Negociations are also in progress with the chiefs of Cape Mount, 
 which, if successful, will secure to the colony the whole trade of that 
 station, estimated at fifty thousand dollars per annum, and may ultimate- 
 ly lead to its annexation to the territories of Liberia. " The whole coun- 
 try between Cape Mount and Trade Town," observes Mr. Ashmun, *' is 
 rich in soil and other natural advantages, and capable of sustaining a 
 numerous and civilized population beyond almost any other country on 
 earth. Leaving the sea-board, the traveller, every where, at the distance 
 of a very few miles, enters upon a uniform upland country, of moderate 
 elevation, intersected by innumerable rivulets, abounding in springs of 
 unfailing water, and covered with a verdure which knows no other chan- 
 ges except those which refresh and renew its beauties. The country 
 directly on the sea, although verdant and fruitful to a high degree, is 
 found every where to yield, in both respects, to the interior." 
 
 Much progress has been made the last year, in the construction of 
 public buildings and works of defence, though, with adequate supplies 
 of lumber, more might doubtless have been accomplished. Two hand- 
 some churches, erected solely by the colonists, now adorn the village of 
 Monrovia. Fort Stockton has been rebuilt in a stile of strength and 
 beauty. A receptacle capable of accommodating one hundred and fif- 
 ty emigrants, is completed. The new agency house, market house, 
 Lancasterian school, and town house, in Monrovia, were, some months 
 since, far advanced, and the finishing strokes were about to be given to 
 the government house on the St. Paul's. The wing of the old agency 
 house has been " handsomely fitted up for the colonial library, which 
 now consists of twelve hundred volumes systematically arranged in 
 glazed cases with appropriate hangings. All the books are. substantial- 
 ly covered, and accurately labelled; and files of more than ten newspa- 
 pers, more or less complete, are preserved. The library is fitted up so 
 as to answer the purpose of a reading room, and it is intended to make 
 it a museum of all the natural curiosities o{ Africa, which can be pro- 
 cured." 
 
 No efforts have been spared to place the colony in a state of adequate 
 defence, and while it is regarded as perfectly secure from the native for- 
 ces, it is hoped and believed, that it may sustain itself against any pirati- 
 cal assaults. " The establishment has fifteen large carriage guns and 
 three small pivot guns, all fit for service." Fort Stockton overlooks the 
 whole town of Monrovia, and a strong battery is now building on the 
 
OF THE NEGROES. 335 
 
 height of Thompson Town, near the extremity of the cape, which it is 
 thought will afford protection to vessels anchoring in the roadstead. The 
 militia of the colony consists of two corps appropriately uniformed, one 
 of artillery of about fifty men, the other of infantry of forty men, and ou 
 various occasions have they proved themselves deficient neither Id disci- 
 pline or courage. 
 
 Extracts from the Rev. J. Ashman's report of the Colony. 
 
 The money expended on these various objects has necessarily been 
 considerable; but, in comparison with the expense which similar objects 
 in this country cost European governments, it will be found not merely 
 nloderate, but trifling. Less than has been effected towards the extension 
 of our limits, I could not attempt: and I am certain that were the direc- 
 tion of every other establishment on the coast, except the Portuguese, 
 would regard itself not only authorized, but obliged., to pay away thou- 
 sands — I have in countless instances, spent not a dollar. But that spe- 
 cies of economy which sacrifices to itself any object essential to the suc- 
 cess of this undertaking, I am as little able to practice as the board is 
 to approve. 
 
 The natives of the country, but particularly of the interior, notwith- 
 standing- their habitual indolence, produce, after supplying their own 
 wants, a considerable surplus of the great staple of this part of western 
 Africa — rice. The moderate rate at which this grain is purchased by 
 such as deal directly with the growers; and the various uses of which it 
 is susceptible in the domestic economy, easily place the means of sup- 
 plying the first necessities of nature in the reach of every one. Rice, 
 moreover, always commands a ready sale with transient trading vessels 
 or coasters^jand forms an useful object of exchange for other provisions 
 and necessaries, between individuals of the colony. 
 
 To this succeeds, as next in importance, the camwood of the country, 
 of which several hundred tons every year pass through the hands of the 
 settlers; and serve to introduce, in return, the provisions and groceries 
 of America; and the dry goods and wares both of Europe and America, 
 which, from the necessary dependence of the members of every society 
 on each other, come soon to be distributed, for the common advantage 
 of all. 
 
 The ivory of Liberia is less abundant, and less valuable, than that of 
 other districts of Western Africa. It, however, forms a valuable article 
 of barter and export, to the settlement ; and the amount annually bought 
 and sold, falls between five and eight thousand dollars. 
 
 No less than five schools for different descriptions of learners, exclu- 
 sive of the Sunday Schools, have been supported during the year, and 
 still continue in operation. — The youths and children of the colony dis- 
 cover for their age, unequivocal proofs of a good degree of mental ac- 
 complishment. The contrast between children several years in the en- 
 joyment of the advantages of the colony, and most others of the same 
 age, arriving from the United States, is striking — and would leave an 
 entire stranger at no loss to distinguish the one from the other. Should 
 emigration, but for a very few months, cease to throw the little igno- 
 rants into the colony, from abroad, the phenomenon of a child of five 
 years, unable to read, it is believed, would not exist among us. 
 The first successful essay in the construction of small vessels, has 
 
335 ON THE COLONIZATION 
 
 been made the past year. I have built, and put upon the rice trade, be- 
 tween our factories to the leeward, and cape Montserado, a schooner of 
 ten tons burthen, adapted to the passage of the bars of all the naviga- 
 ble rivers of the coast. The sailing qualities of this vessel are so superi- 
 or, that before the wind, it is believed, few or none of the numerous pi- 
 rates of the coast, can overtake her. She makes a trip, freighted both 
 ways, in ten days; and commonly carries and brings merchandise and 
 produce, to the amount of from four to eight hundred dollars each trip. 
 Another craft of equal tonnage, but of very indifferent materials, has 
 been built by one of the colonists. The model of the St. Paul's (the 
 public boat) was furnished by myself; but she was constructed under the 
 superintendence of J. Blake, who has thus entitled himself to the cha- 
 racter of an useful and ingenious mechanic. 
 
 One of the most obvious effects of this colony, has already been to 
 check, in this part of Africa, the prevalence of the slave-trade. The 
 promptness and severity with which our arms have, in every instance, 
 avenged the iusults and injuries offered by slave ships and factories to 
 the colony, have, I may confidently say, banished it forever from this 
 district of the coast. Our influence with the natives of this section of the 
 coast is known to be so great as to expose to certain miscarriage, any 
 transaction entered into with them for slaves. But there is a moral feel- 
 ing at work in the minds of most of our neighbours, contracted doubtless, 
 by means of their intercourse with the colony, which represents to them 
 the dark business in a new aspect of repulsiveness and absurdity. Most 
 are convinced that it is indeed a bad business, — and are apparently sin- 
 cere in their determination to drop it forever, unless compelled by their 
 wants to adventure a few occasoinal speculations. 
 
 In the punishment of offences, the most lenient maxims of modern 
 jurisprudence have been observed, by way of experiment on human na- 
 ture, in that particular modification of it exhibited by the population of 
 this colony. The result has been, so far favourable to the policy pur- 
 sued. The passion to which corporeal and other ignominious punish- 
 ments address their arguments, is certainly one of the least ingenuous 
 of the human constitution. 
 
 Extracts from a Memorial from the free people of colour to the citizens 
 of Baltimore. 
 
 We have hitherto beheld, in silence, but with the iotensest interest, 
 the efforts of the wise and philanthropic in our behalf. If it became us 
 to be silent, it became us also to feel the liveliest anxiety and gratitude. 
 
 The time has now arrived, as we believe, in which your work and 
 our happiness may be promoted by the expression of our opinions. We 
 have therefore assembled for that purpose, from every quarter of the 
 city and every denomination, to offer you this respectful address with all 
 the weight and influence which oar number, character, and cause can 
 lend it. 
 
 We reside among you, and yet are strangers; natives, and yet not citi- 
 zens; surrounded by the freest people and most republican institutions 
 in the world, and yet enjoying none of the immunities of freedom. 
 
 It is not to be imputed to you that we are here. Your ancestors re- 
 monstrated against the introduction of the first of our race, who were 
 brought amongst you; and it was the mother country that insisted on 
 
OF THE NEGROES. 337 
 
 their admission, that her colonies and she might profit, as she thought, 
 by their compulsory labour. But the gift was a curse to them, without 
 being an advantage to herself. The colonies, grown to womanhood, burst 
 from her dominion; aad if they have an angry recollection of their union 
 and rupture, it must be at the sight of the baneful institution which she 
 has entailed upon them. 
 
 How much you regret its existence among you, is shown by the se- 
 vere laws you have enacted against the slave-trade, and by your employ- 
 ment of a naval force for its suppression. You have gone still further. 
 Wot content with checking the increase of the already too growing evil, 
 you have deliberated how you might best exterminate the evil itself. 
 This delicate and important subject has produced a great variety of 
 opinions; but we find, even in that diversity, a consolatory proof of the 
 interest with which you regard the subject, and of your readiness to 
 adopt that scheme which may appear to be the best. 
 
 Leaving out all considerations of generosity, humanity, and benevo- 
 lence, you have the strongest reasons to favour and facilitate the with- 
 drawal from among you of such as wish to remove. It ill consists, in the 
 first place, with your republican principles and with the health and mo- 
 ral sense of the body politic, that there should be in the midst of you aD 
 extraneous mass of men, united to you only by soil and climate, and ir- 
 revocably excluded from your institutions. Nor is it less for your advan- 
 tage in another point of view. Our places might, in our opinion, be bet- 
 ter occupied by men of your own colour, who would increase the strength 
 of your country. In the pursuit of livelihood and the exercise of indus- 
 trious habits, we necessarily exclude from employment many of the 
 whites — your fellow citizens, who would find it easier in proportion as 
 we depart, to provide for themselves and their families. 
 
 But if you have every reason to wish for our removal, how much great- 
 er are our inducements to remove! Though we are not slaves, we are 
 not free. We do not, and never shall participate in the enviable privi- 
 leges which we continually witness. Beyond a mere subsistence, and 
 the impulse of religion, there is nothing to arouse us to the exercise of 
 our faculties, or excite us to the attainment of eminence. 
 
 Of the many schemes that have been proposed, we most approve of 
 that of African colonization. If we were able and at liberty to go whith- 
 ersoever we would, the greater number, williog to leave this communi- 
 ty, would prefer Liberia, on the coast of Africa. Others, no doubt, 
 would turn them towards some other regions : the world is wide. Already, 
 established there in the settlement of the American colonization society, 
 are many of our brethren, the pioneers of African restoration, who en- 
 courage us to join them. Several were formerly residents of this city, 
 and highly considered by the people of their own class and colour. They 
 have been planted at cape Montserado, the most eligible and one of the 
 most elevated sites on the western coast of Africa, selected in 1821; and 
 their number has augmented to five hundred. Able, as we are informed, 
 to provide for their own defence and support, and capable of self-in- 
 crease, they are now enjoying all the necessaries and comforts and ma- 
 ny of the luxuries of larger and older communities. In Africa we shall 
 be freemen indeed, and republicans after the model of this republic. We 
 shall carry your language, your customs, your opinions and Christianity 
 to that now desolate shore, and thence they will gradually spread, with 
 our growth, far into the continent- The slave-trade, both external and 
 X X 
 
338 COLONIZATION OF THE NEGROES. 
 
 internal, can be abolished only by settlements on the coast. Africa, it 
 destined to be ever civilized and converted, can be civilized and convert- 
 ed by that means only. 
 
 We foresee that difficulties and dangers await those who emigrate, 
 such as every infant establishment must encounter and endure 3 such as 
 your fathers suffered when first they landed 00 this now happy shore. 
 
 The portion of comforts which they may lose, they will cheerfully 
 abandon. Human happiness does not consist in meat and drink, nor in 
 costly raiment, nor in stately habitations; to contribute to it even, they 
 must be joined with equal rights and respectability; and it often exists in 
 a high degree without them. 
 
 That you may facilitate the withdrawal from among you of such as 
 wish to remove, is what we now solicit. It can best be done, we think, 
 by augmenting the means at the command of the American colonization 
 society, that the colony of Liberia may be strengthened and improved 
 for their gradual reception. The greater the number of persons sent 
 thither, from any part of this nation whatsoever, so much the more capa- 
 ble it becomes of receiving a still greater. Every encouragement to it, 
 therefore, though it may not seem to have any particular portion of em- 
 igrants directly in view, will produce a favourable effect upon all. The 
 emigrants may readily be enabled to remove, in considerable numbers 
 every fall, by a concerted system of individual contributions, and still 
 more efficiently by the enactment of laws to promote their emigration, 
 under the patronage of the state. The expense would not be nearly so 
 great as it might appear at first sight, for when once the current shall 
 have set towards Liberia, and intercourse grown frequent, the cost will 
 of course diminish rapidly, and many will be able to defray it for them- 
 selves. Thousands and tens of thousands poorer tbau we, annually em- 
 igrate from Europe to your country, and soon have it in their power to 
 hasten the arrival of those they left behind — Every intelligent and indus- 
 trious coloured man would continually look forward to the day, when he 
 or his children might go to their veritable home, and would accumulate 
 all bis little earnings for that purpose. 
 
 We have ventured these remarks, because we know that you take a 
 kind concern in the subject to which they relate, and because we think 
 they may assist you in the prosecution of your designs. If we were doubt- 
 ful of your good will and benevolent intentions, we would remind you of 
 the time when you were in a situation similar to ours, and when your 
 forefathers were driven, by religious persecution, to a distant and inhos- 
 pitable shore. We are not so persecuted, but we, too, leave our homes, 
 and seek a distant and inhospitable shore: an empire may be the result of 
 our emigration, as of their's. The protection, kindness, and assistance 
 which you would have desired for yourselves under such circumstances, 
 now extend to us : so may you be rewarded by the riddance of the stain 
 and evil of slavery, the extension of civilization and the gospel, and the 
 blessings of our commoQ Creator! 
 
 WILLIAM C9RNISH, 
 Chairman of the meeting in Bethel chorch. 
 
 ROBERT COWLEY, 
 Secretary of the meeting in Bethel church. 
 
 JAMES DEAVER, 
 Chairman of the meeting in the African church. Sharp street. 
 
 REMUS HARVEY, 
 Secretary of the meeting in the African church, Sharp street. 
 
339 
 
 A TABLE, 
 
 Exhibiting the amount of the Jlfrican portion of the population 
 of the United States, according to the returns of the several 
 censuses, ivith the ratio of increase. 
 
 CENSUS OF 1790. 
 
 Slaves, 697,69'7 
 
 All other persons of colour except Indians, not taxed, ... 59,481 
 
 CENSUS OF 1800. 
 
 Slaves, 896,849 
 
 All other persons, as above, -----.- 110,072 
 
 Rate of increase of slaves between 1790 and 1800, 2.85442 pr. ct. pr. ann. 
 
 Do. do. persons of colour do. 8.6054 
 
 CENSUS OF 1810. 
 
 Slaves, 1,191,364 
 
 All other persons of colour, as above, ..... 186,446 
 
 Rate of increase of slaves between 1800 and 1810 3.2838861 pr. ct.pr. ann. 
 Do. do. persons of colour do. . 6.93854931 
 
 CENSUS OF 1820. 
 
 Slaves, 1,538,128 
 
 All other persons of colour, as above, ..... 233,530 
 
 Rate of increase of slaves between 1810 and 1820 2.911 
 Do. do. persons of colour do. - 2.52534246 
 
 Mean ratio of increase of slaves during the whole period of 30 years. 3.0164353 
 Do. of persons of colour, ..... 5.98976392 
 
 Present rate of increase of slaves, according to the last census, 2.911 
 
 Do. do. of free persons of colour - - _ 2.52534246 
 
 t>r a little more than two and a half per centum per annum. 
 
340 
 
 ON THE BANK QUESTION. 
 
 A sketch of xvhat Mr. Clay said on the Bank ^estion^in an 
 address to his Constituents in Lexington^ June Sd^ 1816. 
 [Extracted from the Kentucky Gazette.] 
 
 On one subject, that of the bank of the United States, 
 to which at the late session of congress he gave his humble 
 support, Mr. Clay felt particularly anxious to explain the 
 grounds on which he had acted. This explanation, if not 
 due to his own character, the state and the district to which 
 he belonged, had a right to demand. It would have been 
 unnecessary, if his observations, addressed to the house of 
 representatives, pending the measure, had been published; 
 but they were not published, and why they were not pub- 
 lished he was unadvised. 
 
 When he was a member of the senate of the United 
 States, he was induced to oppose the renewal of the charter 
 to the old bank of the United States by three general con- 
 siderations. The first was, that he was instructed to oppose 
 it by the legislature of the state. What were the reasons 
 that operated with the legislature, in giving the instruction, 
 he did not know. He has understood from members of 
 that body, at the time it was given, that a clause, declaring 
 that congress had no power to grant the charter, was stricken 
 out; from which it might be inferred, either that the legis- 
 lature did not believe a bank to be unconstitutional, or that 
 it had formed no opinion on that point. This inference 
 derives additional strength from the fact, that although the 
 two late senators from this state, as well as the present 
 senators, voted for a national bank, the legislature which 
 must have been well apprised that such a measure was in 
 contemplation, did not again interpose either to protest 
 against the measure itself, or to censure the conduct of 
 those senators. From this silence on the part of a body 
 which has ever fixed a watchful eye upon the proceedings 
 of the general government, he had a right to believe that 
 the legislature of Kentucky saw, without dissatisfaction, the 
 
ON THE BANK QUESTION. 341 
 
 proposal to establish a national bank; and that its opposition 
 to the former one was upon grounds of expediency, appli- 
 cable to that corporation alone, or no longer existing. But 
 when, at the last session, the question came up as to the 
 establishment of a national bank, being a member of the 
 house of representatives, the point of inquiry with him was 
 not so much what was the opinion of the legislature, although 
 undoubtedly the opinion of a body so respectable would 
 have great weight with him under any circumstances, as 
 what were the sentiments of his immediate constituents. 
 These he believed to be in favour of such an institution, 
 from the following circumstances: In the first place his 
 predecessor, (Mr. Hawkins) voted for a national bank, 
 without the slightest murmur of discontent. Secondly, 
 during the last fall, when he was in his district he conversed 
 freely with many of his constituents upon that subject, then 
 the most common topic of conversation, and all, without a 
 single exception as far as he recollected, agreed that it was 
 a desirable, if not the only efficient remedy for the alarming 
 evils in the currency of the country. And lastly, during 
 the session he received many letters from his constituents, 
 prior to the passage of the bill, all of which concurred, he 
 believed without a solitary exception, in advising the mea- 
 sure. So far then from being instructed by his district to 
 oppose the bank, he had what was perhaps tantamount to 
 an instruction to support it — the acquiescence of his con- 
 stituents in the vote of their former representative, and the 
 communications, oral and written, of the opinions of many 
 of them in favour of a bank. 
 
 The next consideration which induced him to oppose the 
 renewal of the old charter, was, that he believed the cor- 
 poration had, during a portion of the period of its existence, 
 abused its powers, and had sought to subserve the views of 
 a political party. Instances of its oppression for that pur- 
 pose, were asserted to have occurred at Philadelphia and 
 at Charleston; and, although denied in congress by the 
 friends of the institution during the discussions on the 
 application for the renewal of the charter, they were, in his 
 judgment, satisfactorily made out. This oppression indeed 
 was admitted in the house of representatives in the debate 
 on the present bank, by a distinguished member of that 
 party which had so warmly espoused the renewal of the 
 old charter. It may be said, what security is there that the 
 
342 ON THE BANK QUESTION. 
 
 new bank will not imitate this example of oppression?— He 
 answered, the fate of the old bank warning all similar in- 
 stitutions to shun politics, with which they ought not to 
 have any concern. The existence of abundant competition 
 arising from the great multiplication of banks, and the 
 precautions which are to be found in the details of the 
 present bill. 
 
 A third consideration upon which he acted in 1811 was 
 that as the power to create a corporation, such as was pro- 
 posed to be continued, was not specifically granted in the 
 constitution, and did not then appear to him to be necessary 
 to carry into effect any of the powers which were specifically 
 granted, congress was not authorized to continue the bank. 
 The constitution, he said, contained powers delegated, and 
 prohibitory, powers expressed and constructive. It vests 
 in congress all powers necessary to give effect to the enu- 
 merated powers — all that may be necessary to put into mo- 
 tion and activity the machine of government which it con- 
 structs. The powers that may be so necessary are deducible 
 by construction. They are not defined in the constitution. 
 They are from their nature, indefinable. When the question 
 is in relation to one of these powers, the point of inquiry 
 should be, is its exertion necessary to carry into effect any 
 of the enumerated powers and objects of the general govern- 
 ment? — With regard to the degree of necessity, various 
 rules have been, at different times laid down; but, perhaps, 
 at last there is no other than a sound and honest judgment 
 exercised, under the checks and control which belong to 
 the constitution and to the people. 
 
 The constructive powers being auxiliary to the specifically 
 granted powers, and depending for their sanction and ex- 
 istence upon a necessity to give effect to the latter, which 
 necessity is to be sought for and ascertained by a sound 
 and honest discretion, it is manifest that this necessity ma)- 
 not be perceived, at one time, under one state of things, 
 when it is perceived at another time, under a different state 
 of things. I'he constitution, it is true, never changes; it is 
 always the same; but the force of circumstances and the 
 lights of experience, may evolve to the fallible persons, 
 charged with its administration, the fitness and necessity of 
 a particular exercise of constructive power to-day, which 
 they did net see at a former period. 
 
 Mr. Clay proceeded to remark, that when the application 
 
ON THE BANK QUESTION. 343 
 
 was made to renew the old charter of the bank of the 
 United States, such an institution did not appear to him to 
 be so necessary to the fulfillment of any of the objects spe- 
 cifically enumerated in the constitution as to justify congress 
 in assuming, by construction, a power to establish it. It was 
 supported mainly upon the ground that it was indispensable 
 to the treasury operations. But the local institutions in the 
 several states, were at that time in prosperous existence, 
 confided in by the community, having a confidence in each 
 other, and maintaining an intercourse and connexion, the 
 most intimate. Many of them were actually employed by 
 the treasury to aid that department, in a part of its fiscal 
 arrangements; and they appeared to him to be fully capable 
 of affording to it all the facility that it ought to desire in all 
 of them. They superceded in his judgment, the necessity 
 of a national institution. But how stood the case in 1816, 
 when he was called upon again to examine the power of tho^^ 
 general government to incorporate a national bank. A total 
 change of circumstances was presented — Events of the 
 utmost magnitude had intervened. 
 
 A general suspension of specie payments had taken place, 
 
 and this had led to a train of consequences of the mos t 
 
 alarming nature. He beheld, dispersed over the immense "^ 
 extent of the United States, about three hundred banking 
 institutions, enjoying in different degrees the confidence of 
 the public, shaken as to them all, under no direct control of 
 the general government, and subject to no actual responsi- 
 bility to the state authorities. These institutions were 
 emitting the actual currency of the United States; a cur- 
 rency consisting of a paper, on which they neither paid I 
 interest nor principal, whilst it was exchanged for the paper / 
 of the community, on which both were paid. He saw these (^. / 
 institutions in fact exercising what had been considered at j /'^ 
 all times and in all countries, one of the highest attributes I 
 of sovereignty, the regulation of the current medium of the 
 country. They were no longer competent to assist the 
 treasury in either of the great operations of collection, de- 
 posit or distribution of the public revenues. In fact the 
 paper which they emitted, and which the treasury, from 
 the force of events found itself constrained to receive, was 
 constantly obstructing the operations of that department. 
 For it would accumulate where it was not wanted, and could 
 not be used where it was wanted for the purposes of govern- 
 
344 ON THE BANK QUESTION. 
 
 ment, without a ruinous and arbitrary brokerage. Every 
 man who paid or received from the government, paid or 
 received as much less than he ought to have done as was 
 the difference between the medium in which the payment 
 was effected and specie. Taxes were no longer uniform. In 
 New England, where specie payments have not been sus- 
 pended, the people were called upon to pay larger contribu- 
 tions, than where they were suspended. In Kentucky, as 
 much more was paid by the people in their taxes than was 
 paid, for example, in the state of Ohio, as Kentucky paper 
 was worth more than Ohio paper. 
 
 It appeared to Mr. Clay that in this condition of things 
 the general government could depend no longer upon these 
 local institutions, multiplied and multiplying daily; coming 
 into existence by the breath of eighteen state sovereignties, 
 some of which by a single act of volition had created twenty 
 ^->or thirty at a time. Even if the resumption of specie pay- 
 ments could have been anticipated, the general government 
 remaining passive, it did not seem to him that the general 
 government ought longer to depend upon these local insti- 
 tutions exclusively for aid in its operations. But he did not 
 believe it could be justly so anticipated. It was not the 
 ^* interest of all of them that the renewal should take place of 
 specie payments, and yet without concert between all or 
 most of them it could not be effected. With regard to those 
 disposed to return to a regular state of things great diffi- 
 culties might arise, as to the time of its commencement. 
 
 Considering then, that the state of the currency was such 
 that no thinking man could contemplate it without the most 
 serious alarm, that it threatened general distress if it did 
 not ultimately lead to convulsion and subversion of the 
 government, it appeared to him to be the duty of congress 
 to apply a remedy, if a remedy could be devised. A national 
 bank, with other auxiliary measures was proposed as that 
 remedy. Mr. Clay said he determined to examine the 
 question, with as little prejudice as possible arising from 
 his former opinion. He knew that the safest course to him, 
 if he pursued a cold calculating prudence, was to adhere to 
 that opinion, right or wrong. He was perfectly aware that 
 if he changed, or seemed to change it, he should expose 
 himself to some censure. But, looking at the subject with 
 the light shed upon it by events happening since the com- 
 mencement of the war, he could no longer doubt. A bank 
 
ON THE BANK QUESTION. 345 
 
 appeared to him not only necessary, but Indispensably ne- 
 cessary, in connexion with another measure, to remedy the 
 evils of which all were but too sensible. He preferred to 
 the suggestions of the pride of consistency, the evident 
 interests of the community, and determined to throw himself 
 upon their candor and justice. That which appeared to him 
 in 1811, under the state of things then existing, not to be 
 necessary to the general government, seemed now to be 
 necessary, under the present state of things. Had he then 
 foreseen what now exists, and no objection had laid against 
 the renewal of the charter other than that derived from the 
 constitution, he should have voted for the renewal. 
 
 Other provisions of the constitution but little noticed, if 
 noticed at all, on the discussions in congress in 1811, would 
 seem to urge that body to exert all its powers to restore to 
 a sound state the money of the country. That instrument 
 confers upon congress the power to coin money and to re- 
 gulate the value of foreign coins; and the states are pro- 
 hibited to coin money, to emit bills of credit, or to make 
 any thing but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of 
 debts. The plain inference is, that the subject of the general 
 currency was intended to be submitted exclusively to the 
 general government. In point of fact however, the regulation 
 of the general currency is in the hands of the state govern- 
 ments, or which is the same thing, of the banks created by 
 them. Their paper has every quality of money, except that 
 of being made a tender, and even this is imparted to it by 
 some states, in the law by which a creditor must receive it, 
 or submit to a ruinous suspension of the payment of his 
 debt. It was incumbent upon congress to recover the con- 1 
 trol which it had lost, over the general currency. Thei 
 remedy called for, was one of caution and moderation, but 
 of firmness. Whether a remedy directly acting upon the 
 banks and their paper thrown into circulation, was in the 
 power of the general government or not, neither congress 
 nor the community were prepared for the application of such 
 a remedy. An indirect remedy, of a milder character, 
 seemed to be furnished by a national bank. Going into 
 operation, with the powerful aid of the treasury of the 
 United States, he believed it would be highly instrumental 
 in the renewal of specie payments. Coupled with the other 
 measure adopted by congress for that object, he believed 
 the remedy effectual. The local banks must follow the 
 Yy 
 
346 ON THE BANK QUESTION. 
 
 example which the national bank would set them, of fe- 
 deetning their notes by the payment of specie, or their notes 
 will be discredited and put down. 
 
 If the constitution then warranted the establishment of a 
 bank, other considerations besides those already mentioned 
 strongly urged it. The want of a general medium is every 
 where felt. Exchange varies continually not only between 
 different parts of the union, but between different parts of 
 the same city. If the paper of a national bank were not 
 redeemed in specie, it would be much better than the cur- 
 rent paper, since although its value in comparison with 
 specie might fluctuate, it would afford an uniform standard. 
 
 If political power be incidental to banking corporations, 
 there ought perhaps to be in the general government some 
 counterpoise to that which is exerted by the states. Such a 
 counterpoise might not indeed be so necessary, if the states 
 exercised the power to incorporate banks equally, or in 
 proportion to their respective populations. But that is not 
 the case. A single state has a banking capital equivalent or 
 nearly so, to one-fifth of the whole banking capital of the 
 United States. Four states combined have the major part 
 of the banking capital of the United States. In the event 
 of any convulsion, in which the distribution of banking in- 
 stitutions might be important, it may be urged that the 
 mischief would not be alleviated by the creation of a na- 
 tional bank, since its location must be within one of the 
 states. But in this respect the location of the bank is ex- 
 tremely favorable, being in one of the middle states, not 
 likely from its position as well as its loyalty, to concur in 
 any scheme for subverting the government. And a sufficient 
 security against such contingency is to be found in the 
 distribution of branches in different states, acting and re- 
 acting upon the parent institution, and upon each other. 
 
 r»- 
 
J47 
 
 ADDRESS 
 
 To the people of the Congressional District composed of the 
 Counties of Fayette^ Woodford^ and Clarke^ in Kentucky^ 
 1824. 
 
 The relations of your representative and of your neigh- 
 bour, in which I have so long stood, and in which I have 
 experienced so many strong proofs of your confidence, at- 
 tachment, and friendship, having just been, the one termi- 
 nated, and the other suspended, I avail myself of the occa- 
 sion on taking, I hope a temporaiy, leave of you, to express 
 my unfeigned gratitude for all your favours, and to assure 
 you that I shall cherish a fond and unceasing recollection 
 of them. The extraordinary circumstances in which, during 
 the late session of congress, I have been placed, and the un- 
 merited animadversions which I have brought upon myself, 
 for an honest and faithful discharge of my public duty, form 
 an additional motive for this appeal to your candour and 
 justice. If, in the office which I have just left, I have abu- 
 sed your confidence and betrayed your interests, I cannot 
 deserve your support in that on the duties of which I have 
 now entered. On the contrary, should it appear that I have 
 been assailed w'thout just cause, and that misguided zeal 
 and interested passions have singled me out as a victim, I 
 cannot doubt that I shall continue to find, in the enlighten- 
 ed tribunal of the public, that cheering countenance and im- 
 partial judgment, without which a public servant cannot 
 possibly discharge with advantage the trust confided to him. 
 
 It is known to you, that my name had been presented, bv 
 the respectable states of Ohio, Kentucky, Louisiana, and 
 Missouri, for the office of president, to the consideration of 
 the American public, and that it had attracted some atten- 
 tion in other quarters of the union. When, early in Novem- 
 ber last, I took my departure from the district to repair to 
 this city, the issue of the presidential election before the 
 people was unknown. Events, however, had then so far 
 transpired as to render it highly probable that there would 
 be no election by the people, and that i should be excluded 
 from the house of representatives. It became, therefore, my 
 duty to consider, and to make up an opinion on, the respect- 
 
348 ADDRESvS. 
 
 ive pretensions of the three gentlemen that might be return- 
 ed, and at that early period I stated to Dr. Drake, one of 
 the professors in the Medical school of Transylvania Uni- 
 versity, and to John J. Crittenden, Esq. of P'rankfort, my 
 determination to support Mr. Adams in preference to gen. 
 Jackson. I wrote to Charles Hammond, Esq. of Cincinnati, 
 about the same time, and mentioned certain objections to 
 the election of Mr. Crawford, (among which was that of 
 his continued ill health,j that appeared to me almost insu- 
 perable. During my journey hither, and up to near Christ- 
 mas, it remained uncertain whether Mr. Crawford or I 
 would be returned to the house of representatives. Up to 
 near Christmas, all our information made it highly probable 
 that the vote of Louisiana would be given to me, and that I 
 should consequently be returned, to the exclusion of Mr, 
 Crawford. And, whilst that probability was strong, 1 com- 
 municated to Mr. Senator Johnston, from Louisiana, my 
 resolution not to allow my name, in consequence of the 
 small number of votes by which it would be carried into 
 the house, if I were returned, to constitute an obstacle, for 
 one moment, to an election in the house of representatives. 
 During the month of December, and the greater part of 
 Januai-y, strong professions of high consideration, and of 
 unbounded admiration of me, were made to my friends, in 
 the greatest profusion, by some of the active friends of all 
 the returned candidates. Every body professed to regret, 
 after I was excluded from the house, that I had not been 
 returned to it. I seemed to be the favourite of every body. 
 Describing my situation to a distant friend, I said to him, 
 " I am enjoying, whilst alive, the posthumous honours which 
 are lasually awarded to the venerated dead." A person not 
 acquainted with human nature would have been surprised, 
 in listening to these praises, that the object of them had not 
 been elected by general acclamation. None made more or 
 warmer manifestations of these sentiments of esteem and 
 admiration than some of the friends of general Jackson. 
 None were so reserved as those of Mr. Adams; under an 
 opinion, (as I have learnt since the election,) which they 
 early imbibed, that the western vote would be only influ- 
 enced by its own sense of public duty; and that if its judg- 
 ment pointed to any other than Mr. Adams, nothing which 
 they could do would secure it to him. These professions 
 and manifestations were taken by me for what they were 
 
ADDRESS. 349 
 
 worth. I knew thai the sunbeams would quickly disappear, 
 after my opinion should be ascertained, and that they would 
 be succeeded by a storm; although I did not foresee exactly 
 how it would burst upon my poor head. I found myself 
 transformed from a candidate before the people, into an 
 elector for the people. I deliberately examined the duties 
 incident to this new attitude, and weighed all the facts be- 
 fore me, upon which my judgment was to be formed or re- 
 viewed. If the eagerness of any of the heated partisans of 
 the respective candidates suggested a tardiness in the de- 
 claration of my intention, I believed that the new relation, 
 in which I was placed to the subject, imposed on me an 
 obligation to pay some respect to delicacy and decorum. 
 
 Meanwhile that very reserve supplied aliment to news- 
 paper criticism. The critics could not comprehend how a 
 man standing as I had stood toward the other gentlemen, 
 should be restrained, by a sense of propriety, from instantly 
 fighting under the banners of one of them, against the others. 
 Letters were issued from the manufactory at Washington, 
 to come back, after performing long journeys, for Washing- 
 ton consumption. These letters imputed to " Mr. Clay and 
 his friends a mysterious air, a portentous silence," &c. From 
 dark and distant hints the progress was easy to open and 
 bitter denunciation. Anonymous letters, full of menace and 
 abuse, were almost daily poured in on me. Personal threats 
 were communicated to me, through friendly organs, and I 
 was kindly apprised of all the glories of village effigies 
 which awaited me. A systematic attack was simultaneously 
 commenced upon me from Boston to Charleston, with an 
 object, present and future, which it was impossible to mis- 
 take. No man but myself could know the nature, extent, and 
 variety of means which were employed to awe and influence 
 me. I bore them, I trust, as your representative ought to 
 have borne them, and as became me. Then followed the 
 letter, afterwards adopted as his own by Mr. Kremer, to 
 the Columbian Observer — With its character and contents 
 you are well acquainted. When I saw that letter, alleged to 
 be written by a member of the very house over which I was 
 presiding, who was so far designated as to be described as 
 belonging to a particular delegation, by name, a member 
 with whom I might be daily exchanging, at least on my part, 
 friendly salutations, and who was possibly receiving from 
 me constantly acts of courtesy and kindness, I felt that I 
 
350 ADDRESS. 
 
 could no longer remain silent. A crisis appeared to me to 
 have arisen in my public life. I issued my card. I ought 
 not to have put in it the last paragraph, because, although 
 it does not necessarily imply the resort to a personal combat, 
 it admits of that construction: nor will I conceal, that such 
 a possible issue was within my contemplation. I owe it to 
 the community to say, that whatever heretofore I may have 
 done, or, by inevitable circumstances, might be forced to do, 
 no man in it holds in deeper abhorrence than I do, that per- 
 nicious practice. Condemned as it must be by the judgment 
 and philosophy, to say nothing of the religion, of every 
 thinking man, it is an affair of feeling about which we cannot, 
 although we should, reason. Its true corrective will be found 
 ivheu all shall unite, as all ought to unite, in its unqualified 
 proscription. 
 
 A few days after the publication of my card, " Another 
 Card," under Mr. Kremer's name, was published in the In- 
 telligencer. The night before, as I was voluntarily informed, 
 Mr. Eaton, a senator from Tennessee, and the biographer of 
 general Jackson (who boarded in the end of this city oppo- 
 site to that in which Mr. Kremer took up his abode, a dis- 
 tance of about two miles and a half) was closeted for some 
 time with him. Mr. Kremer is entitled to great credit for 
 having overcome all the disadvantages, incident to his early 
 life and want of education, and forced his way to the hono- 
 rable station of a member of the house of representatives. 
 Ardent in his attachment to the cause which he had espous- 
 ed, general Jackson is his idol, and of his blind zeal others 
 have availed themselves, and have made him their dupe and 
 their instrument. I do not pi-etend to know the object of 
 Mr. Eaton's visit to him. I state the fact, as it was commu- 
 nicated to me, and leave you to judge. Mr. Kremer's card 
 is composed with some care and no little art, and he is made 
 to avow in it, though somewhat equivocally, that he is the 
 author of the letter to the Columbian Observer. To Mr. 
 Crowninshield, a member from Massachusetts, formerly se- 
 cretary of the navy, he declared that he was not the author 
 of that letter. In his card, he draws a clear line of separa- 
 tion between my friends and me, acquitting them and un- 
 dertaking to make good his charges, in that letter, only so 
 far as I was concerned. The purpose of this discrimination 
 is obvious. At that time the election was undecided, and it 
 was therefore as important to abstain from imputations 
 
ADDRESS. 351 
 
 against my friends as it was politic to fix them upon me. If 
 they could be made to believe that I had been perfidious, in 
 the transport of their indignation, they might have been car- 
 ried to the support of general Jackson. I received the Nation- 
 al Intelligencer, containing Mr. Kremer's card, at breakfast, 
 (the usual time of its distribution,) on the morning of its 
 publication. As soon as I read the card, I took my resolu- 
 tion. The terms of it clearly implied that it had not entered 
 into his conception to have a personal affair with me; and I 
 should have justly exposed myself to universal ridicule, if I 
 had sought one with him. I determined to lay the matter 
 before the house, and respectfully to invite an investigation 
 of my conduct. I accordingly made a communication to the 
 house, on the same day, the motives for which I assigned. 
 Mr. Kremer was in his place, and, when I sat down, rose 
 and stated that he was prepared and willing to substantiate 
 his charges against me., This v/as his voluntary declaration, 
 unprompted by his aiders and abettors, who had no opportu- 
 nity of previous consultation with him on that point. Here 
 was an issue publicly and solemnly joined, in which the ac- 
 cused invoked an inquiry into serious charges against him, 
 and the accuser professed an ability and a willingness to es- 
 tablish them. A debate ensued, on the next day, which oc- 
 cupied the greater part of it, during which Mr. Kremer de- 
 clared to Mr. Brent, of Louisiana, a friend of mine, and to 
 Mr. Little, of Maryland, a friend of general Jackson, as they 
 have certified, " that he never intended to charge Mr. Clay 
 with corruption or dishonor, in his intended vote for Mr. 
 Adams, as president, or that he had transferred, or could 
 transfer, the votes or interests of his friends; that he (Mr. 
 Kremer,j was among the last men in the nation to make 
 such a charge against Mr. Clay; and that his letter was never 
 intended to convey the idea given to it." Mr. Digges, a 
 highly respectable inhabitant of this city, has certified to the 
 same declarations of Mr. Kremer. 
 
 A message was also conveyed to me, during the discus- 
 sions, through a member of the house, to ascertain if I would 
 be satisfied with an explanation which was put on paper and 
 shown me, and which it was stated Mr. Kremer was wil- 
 ling, in his place, to make. I replied that the matter was in 
 the possession of the house. I was afterwards told, that 
 Mr. Ingham, of Pennsylvania, got hold of that paper, put 
 it in his pocket, and that he advised Mr. Kremer to take no 
 
352 ADDRESS. 
 
 step without the approbation of his friends. Mr, Cook, of 
 Illinois, moved an adjournment of the house, on information 
 which he received of the probability of Mr. Kremer's mak- 
 ing a satisfactory atonement on the next day, for the injury 
 which he had done me, which I have no doubt he would 
 have made, if he had been left to the impulses of his native 
 honesty. The house decided to refer my communication to 
 a committee, and adjourned until the next day to appoint it 
 by ballot. In the meantime Mr. Kremer had taken, I pre- 
 sume, or rather there had been forced upon him, the advice 
 of his friendu ^ and I heard no more of the apology. A com- 
 mittee was appointed of seven gentlemen, of whom not one 
 was my political friend, but who were among the most emi- 
 nent members of the body. I received no summons or noti- 
 fication from the committee from its first organization to 
 its final dissolution, but Mr. Kremer was called upon by it 
 to bring forward his proofs. For one moment be pleased to 
 stop here and contemplate his posture, his relation to the 
 house and to me, and the high obligations under which he 
 had voluntarily placed himself. He was a member of one 
 of the most august assemblies upon earth, of which he was 
 bound to defend the purity or expose the corruption, by 
 every consideration which ought to influence a patriot bosom. 
 A most responsible and highly important constitutional duty, 
 was to be peformed by that assembly. He had chosen in an 
 anonymous letter, to bring against its presiding officer 
 charges, in respect to that duty, of the most flagitious cha- 
 racter. These charges comprehended delegations from seve- 
 ral highly respectable states. If true, that presiding officer 
 merited not merely to be dragged from the chair, but to be 
 expelled the house. He challenges an investigation into his 
 conduct, and Mr. Kremer boldly accepts the challenge, and 
 promises to sustain his accusation. The committee, appoint- 
 ed by the house itself, with the common consent of both 
 parties, calls upon Mr. Kremer to execute his pledge pub- 
 licly given, in his proper place, and also, previously given 
 in the public prints. — Here is the theatre of the alleged ar- 
 rangements; this the vicinage in which the trial ought to 
 take place. Every thing was here fresh in the recollection 
 of the witnesses, if there were any. Here all the proofs were 
 concentrated. Mr. Kremer was stimulated by every motive 
 which could impel to action; by his consistency of character; 
 by duty to his constituents — to his country; by that of re- 
 
ADDRESS. 353 
 
 deeming his solemn pledge; by his anxious wish for the suc- 
 cess of his favourite, whose interests could not fail to be 
 advanced by supporting his atrocious charges. But Mr. 
 Kremer had now the benefit of the advice of his friends. 
 He had no proofs, for the plainest of all reasons, because 
 there was no truth in his charges. — They saw that to at- 
 tempt to establish them and to fail, as he must fail in the 
 attempt, might lead to an exposure of the conspiracy, of 
 what he was the organ. They advised therefore that he 
 should make a retreat, and their adroitness suggested, that 
 in an objection to that jurisdiction of the house, which had 
 been admitted, and in the popular topics of the freedom of 
 the press, his duty to his constituents, and the inequality in 
 the condition of the speaker of the house, and a member on 
 the floor, plausible means might be found to deceive the ig- 
 norant and conceal his disgrace. A laboured communication 
 was accordingly prepared by them, in Mr. Kremer's name, 
 and transmitted to the committee, founded upon these sug- 
 gestions. Thus the valiant champion, who had boldly step- 
 ped forward, and promised, as a representative of Me peo- 
 ple, to " cry aloud and spare not," forgot all his gratuitous 
 gallantry and boasted patriotism, and sunk at once into pro- 
 found silence. 
 
 With these remarks, I will, for the present, leave him, 
 and proceed to assign the reasons to you, to whom alone I 
 admit myself to be officially responsible, for the vote which 
 1 gave on the presidential election. The first inquiry which 
 it behoved me to make was, as to the influence which ought 
 to be exerted on my judgment, by the relative state of the 
 electoral votes which the three returned candidates brought 
 into the house, from the colleges. General Jackson obtained 
 ninety-nine, Mr. Adams eighty-four, and Mr. Crawford 
 forty-one. Ought the fact of a plurality being given to one 
 of the candidates to have any, and what, weight? If the con- 
 stitution had intended that it should have been decisive, the 
 constitution would have made it decisive, and interdicted 
 the exercise of any discretion on the part of the house of re- 
 presentatives. The constitution has not so ordained, but, on 
 the contrary, it has provided, that " from the persons having 
 the highest numbers, not exceeding three, on the list of 
 those voted for as president, the house of representatives 
 shall choose^ immediately, by ballot, a president." Thus, a 
 discretion is necessarily invested in the house — for choice 
 Zz 
 
354 ADDRESS. 
 
 implies examination, comparison, judgment. The fact, there- 
 fore, that one of the three persons was the highest returned, 
 not being, by the constitution of the country, conclusive 
 upon the judgment of the house, it still remains to deter- 
 mine what is the true degree of weight belonging to it? It 
 has been contended that it should operate, if not as an instruc- 
 tion, at least in the nature of one, and that in this form it 
 should control the judgment of the house. But this is the 
 same argument of conclusiveness, which the constitution 
 does not enjoin, thrown into a different, but more imposing 
 shape. Let me analyze it. There are certain states, the ag- 
 gregate of whose electoral votes conferred upon the highest 
 returned candidate, indicates their wish that he should be 
 the president. Their votes amount in number to ninety-nine, 
 out of two hundred and sixty-one electoral votes of the 
 whole Union. These ninety-nine do not, and cannot, of 
 themselves, make the president. If the fact of particular 
 states giving ninety-nine votes can, according to any received 
 notions of the doctrine of instruction, be regarded in that 
 light, to whom are those instructions to be considered ad- 
 dresssed? According to that doctrine, the people, who ap- 
 point, have the right to direct, by their instruction, in certain 
 cases, the course of the representative whom they appoint. 
 The states, therefore, who gave those ninety-nine votes, may 
 in some sense be understood thereby to have instructed their 
 representatives in the house to vote for the person on whom 
 they were bestowed, in the choice of a president. But most 
 clearly the representatives coming from other states, which 
 gave no part of those ninety-nine votes, cannot be consider- 
 ed as having been under any obligation to surrender their 
 judgments to those of the states which gave the ninety-nine 
 votes. To contend that they are under such an obligation 
 would be to maintain that the people of one state have a 
 right to instruct the representatives from another state. It 
 would be to maintain a still more absurd proposition, that, 
 in a case v.'here the representatives from a state did not hold 
 themselves instructed and bound by the will of that state, 
 as indicated in its electoral college, the representatives from 
 another state were, nevertheless, instructed and bound by 
 that alien will. Thus the entire vote of North Carolina, and 
 a large majority of that of Maryland, in their respective 
 electoral colleges, were given to one of the three returned 
 candidates, for whom the delegation from neither of those 
 
ADDRESS. 355 
 
 states voted.— -And yet the argument combatled requires 
 that the delegation from Kentucky, who do not represent the 
 people of North Carolina nor Maryland, should be instruct- 
 ed by, and give an effect to, the indicated will of the people 
 of those two states, when their own delegation paid no at- 
 tention to it. — Doubtless, those delegations felt themselves 
 authorised to look into the actual composition of, and all 
 other circumstances connected with, the majorities which 
 gave the electoral votes, in their respective states; and felt 
 themselves justified, from a view of the whole ground, to 
 act upon their responsibility and according to their best 
 judgments, disregarding the electoral votes in their states. 
 And are representatives from a different state not only 
 bound by the will of the people of a different commonwealth, 
 but forbidden to examine into the manner by which the ex- 
 pression of that will was brought about — an examination 
 which the immediate representatives themselves feel it their 
 duty to make? 
 
 Is the fact, then, of a plurality to have no weight? Far 
 from it. Here are twenty-four communities, united under a 
 common government. The expression of the will of any one 
 of them is entitled to the most respectful attention. It ought 
 to be patiently heard and kindly regarded by the others; but 
 it cannot be admitted to be conclusive upon them. The ex- 
 pression of the will of nineiy-nine out of two hundred and 
 sixty-one electors is entitled to very great attention, but that 
 will cannot be considered as entitled to control the will of the 
 one hundred and sixty-two electors, who have manifested a 
 different will. To give it such controlling influence, would 
 be a subversion of the fundamental maxim of the republic — 
 that the majority should govern. The will of the ninety-nine 
 can neither be allowed rightfully to control the remaining 
 one hundred and sixty-two, nor any one of the one hundred 
 and sixty-two electoral votes. It m.ay be an argument, a per- 
 suasion, addressed to all, and to each of them, but it is bind- 
 ing and obligatory upon none. It follows, then, that the fact 
 of a plurality was only one among the various considerations 
 which the house was called upon to weigh, in making up its 
 judgment. And the weight of the consideration ought to 
 have been regulated by the extent of the plurality. As be- 
 tween general Jackson and Mr. Adams, the vote standing 
 in the proportions of ninety-nine to eighty-four, it was en- 
 titled to less weight; as between the general and Mr. Craw- 
 
356 ADDRESS. 
 
 ford it was entitled to more, the vote being as ninety-nine 
 to forty-one. The concession may even be made that, upon 
 the supposition of an equality of pretensions between com- 
 peting candidates, the preponderance ought to be given to 
 the fact of a plurality. 
 
 With these views of the relative state of the vote, with 
 which the three returned candidates entered the house, I 
 proceeded to examine the other considerations which be- 
 longed to the question. For Mr. Crawford, who barely 
 entered the house, with only four votes more than one can- 
 didate not returned, and upon whose case, therefore, the 
 argument derived from the fact of plurality, operated with 
 strong, though not decisive force, I have ever felt much 
 personal regard. But I was called upon to perform a solemn 
 public duty, in which my private feelings, whether of affec- 
 tion or aversion, were not to be indulged, but the good of 
 my country only consulted. It appeared to me that the pre- 
 carious state of that gentleman's health, although I partici- 
 pated with his best friends, in all their regrets and sympa- 
 thies, on account of it, was conclusive against him, to say 
 nothing of other considerations of a public nature which 
 would have deserved examination, if, happily, in that respect 
 he had been differently circumstanced. He had been ill near 
 eightet-n months; and although I am aware that his actual 
 condition was a fact depending upon evidence, and that the 
 evidence in regard to it, which had been presented to the 
 public, was not perfectly harmonious; I judged for myself 
 upon what I saw and heard. He may, and I ardently hope 
 will, recover; but I did not think it became me to assist in 
 committing the executive administration of this great re- 
 public on the doubtful contingency of the restoration to 
 health of a gentleman who had been so long and so seriously 
 afflicted. Moreover, if, under all the circumstances of his 
 situation, his election had been desirable, I did not think it 
 practicable. I believed and yet believe, that if the votes of 
 the western states, given to Mr. Adams, had been conferred 
 on Mr. Crawford, the effect would have been to protract in 
 the house the decision of the contest, to the great agitation 
 and distraction of the country, and possibly to defeat an 
 election altogether — the very worst result I thought, that 
 could happen. It appeared to me then, that sooner or later 
 we must arrive at the only practical issue of the contest before 
 us, and that was between Mr. Adams and general Jackson, 
 
ADDRESS. 357 
 
 and I thought that the earlier we got there, the better for 
 the country and for the house. 
 
 In considering this only alternative, I was not unaware of 
 your strong desire to have a western president; but 1 thought 
 that I knew enough of your patriotism, and magnanimity, 
 displayed on so many occasions, to believe that you could 
 rise above the mere gratification of sectional pride, if the 
 common good of the whole required you to make the sacri- 
 fice of local partiality. I solemnly believed it did, and this 
 brings me to the most important consideration which be- 
 longed to the whole subject — that arising out of the respect- 
 ive fitness of the only two real competitors, as it appeared 
 to my best judgment. In speaking of general Jackson, I am 
 aware of the delicacy and respect which are justly due to 
 that distinguished citizen. It is far from my purpose to at- 
 tempt to disparage him. I could not do it if I were capable 
 of making the attempt; but I shall nevertheless speak of him 
 as becomes me, with truth. I did not believe him so com- 
 petent to discharge the various, intricate, and complex 
 duties of the office of chief magistrate, as his competitor. 
 He has displayed great skill and bravery as a military com- 
 mander, and his renown will endure as long as the means 
 exist of preserving a recollection of human transactions. 
 But to be qualified to discharge the duties of president of 
 the United States, the incumbent must have more than mere 
 military attainments — he must be a statesman. An indi- 
 vidual may be a gallant and successful general, an eminent 
 lawyer, an eloquent divine, a learned physician, or an ac- 
 complished artist; and doubtless the union of all these cha- 
 racters in the person of a chief magistrate would be de'sira- 
 rable; but no one of them, nor all combined, will qualify him 
 to be president, unless he superadds that indispensable re- 
 quisite of being a statesman. Far from meaning to say, that 
 it is an objection to the elevation, to the chief magistracy, 
 of any person, that he is a military commander, if he unites 
 the other qualifications, I only intend to say that, whatever 
 may be the success or splendour of his military achievements, 
 if his qualification be only military, that is an objection; and I 
 think a decisive objection to his election. If general Jackson 
 has exhibited, either in the councils of the Union, or in those 
 of his own state, or in those of any other state or territory, 
 the qualities of a statesman, the evidence of the fact has es- 
 caped my observation. It would be as painful as it is unne- 
 
358 ADDRESS. 
 
 cessary to recapitulate some of the incidents, which must 
 be fresh in your recollection, of his public life. But I was 
 greatly deceived in my judgment if they proved him to be 
 endowed with that prudence, temper, and discretion, which 
 are necessary for civil administration. It was in vain to 
 remind me of the illustrious example of Washington. There 
 was in that extraordinary person, united a serenity of mind, 
 a cool and collected wisdom, a cautious and deliberate 
 judgment, a perfect command of the passions, and through- 
 out his whole life, a familiarity and acquaintance with bu- 
 siness and civil transactions, which rarely characterise any 
 human being. No man was ever more deeply penetrated 
 than he was, with profound respect for the safe and neces- 
 sary principle of the entire subordination of the military to 
 the civil authority. I hope I do no injustice to general 
 Jackson, when I say, that I could not recognise, in his pub- 
 lic conduct, those attainments for both civil government and 
 military command, v/hich cotemporaries and posterity have 
 alike unanimously concurred in awarding as yet only to the 
 father of his country. I was sensible of the gratitude which 
 the people of this country justly feel towards general Jackson 
 for his brilliant military services. But the impulses of public 
 gratitude should be controlled, as it appeared to me, by rea- 
 son and discretion, and I was not prepared blindly to sur- 
 render myself to the hazardous indulgence of a feeling, 
 however amiable and excellent that feeling may be when 
 properly directed. It did not seem to me to be wise or pru- 
 dent, if, as I solemnly believed, general Jackson's compe- 
 tency for the office was hichly questionable, that he should 
 be placed in a situation where neither his fame nor the 
 public interests would be advanced. General Jackson him- 
 self would be the last man to recommend or vote for any 
 one for a place, for which he thought him unfit. I felt 
 myself sustained by his own reasoning, in his letter to Mr. 
 Monroe, in which, speaking of the qualifications of our ve- 
 nerable Shelby for the department of war, he remarked: 
 " I am compelled to say to you, that the acquirements of 
 this worthy man are not competent to the discharge of the 
 multiplied duties of this department. I therefore hope he 
 may not accept the appointment. I am fearful, if he does, 
 he will not add much splendour to his present well earned 
 standing as a public character." Such was my opinion of 
 general Jackson, in reference to the presidency. His con- 
 
ADDRESS. 359 
 
 victions of governor Shelby's unfitness, by the habits of his 
 life, for the appointment of secretary of war, were not more 
 honest nor stronger than mine were of his own want of ex- 
 perience, and the necessary civil qualifications to discharge 
 the duties of a president of the United States. In his ele- 
 vation to this office, too, I thought I perceived the esta- 
 blishment of a fearful precedent; and I am mistaken in all 
 the warnings of instructive history, if I erred in my judg- 
 ment. Undoubtedly there are other and many dangers to 
 public liberty, besides that which proceeds from military 
 idolatry, but I have yet to acquire the knowledge of it, if 
 there be one more perilous or more frequent. 
 
 Whether Mr. Adams would, or would not have been my 
 choice of a president, if I had been left freely to select from 
 the whole mass of Aioerican citizens, was not the question 
 submitted to my decision. I had no such liberty; but I was 
 circumscribed, in the selection I had to make, to one of the 
 three gentlemen, whom the people themselves had thought 
 proper to present to the house of representatives. What- 
 ever objections might be supposed to exist against him, still 
 greater appeared to me to apply to his competitor. Of Mr. 
 Adams, it is but truth and justice to say, that he is highly 
 gifted, profoundly learned, and long and greatly experienc- 
 ed in public affairs, at home and abroad. Intimately con- 
 versant with the rise and progress of every negotiation with 
 foreign powers, pending or concluded; personally acquainted 
 with the capacity and attainments of most of the public men 
 of this country whom it might be proper to employ in the 
 public service; extensively possessed of much of that valua- 
 ble kind of information, which is to be acquired neither 
 from books nor tradition, but which is the fruit of largely 
 participating in public affairs; discreet and sagacious; he 
 would enter on the duties of the office with great advantages. 
 I saw in his election the establishment of no dangerous ex- 
 ample. I saw in it on the contrary, only conformity to the safe 
 precedents which had been established in the instances of 
 Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Madison, and Mr. Monroe, who had 
 respectively filled the same office, from which he was to be 
 translated. 
 
 A collateral consideration of much weight was derived 
 from the wishes of the Ohio delegation. A majority of it, 
 during the progress of the session, made up their opinions 
 to support Mr. Adams, and they were communicated to 
 
360 ADDRESS. 
 
 me. They said, *' Ohio supported the candidate who was 
 the choice of Kentucky. We failed in our common exer- 
 tions to secure his election. Now, among those returned, 
 we have a decided preference, and we think you ought to 
 make some sacrifice to gratify us." Was not much due to 
 our neighbour and friend? 
 
 I considered, with the greatest respect, the resolution of 
 the general assembly of Kentucky, requesting the delega- 
 tion to vote for general Jackson. That resolution, it is true, 
 placed us in a peculiar situation. Whilst every other dele- 
 gation, from every other state in the union, was left by its 
 legislature entirely free to examine the pretensions of all 
 the candidates, and to form its unbiassed judgment, the 
 general assembly of Kentucky thought proper to interpose 
 and request the delegation to give its vote to one of the 
 candidates, whom they were pleased to designate. I felt a 
 sincere desire to comply with a request emanating from a 
 source so respectable, if I could have done so consistently 
 with those paramount duties which I owed to you and to 
 the country. But, after full, and anxious consideration, I 
 found it incompatible with my best judgment of those du- 
 ties to conform to the request of the general assembly. The 
 resolution asserts, that it was the wish of the people of 
 Kentucky, that their delegation should vote for the general. 
 It did not inform me by what means that body had arrived 
 at a knowledge of the wish of the people. I knew that its 
 members had repaired to Frankfort before I departed from 
 home to come to Washington. I knew that their intention 
 was fixed on important local concerns, well entitled, by their 
 magnitude, exclusively to engross it. No election, no ge- 
 neral expression of the popular sentiment had occurred since 
 that in November, when electors were chosen, and at that the 
 people, by an overwhelming majority, had decided against 
 general Jackson. I could not see how such an expression 
 against him, could be interpreted into that of a desire for 
 his election. If, as is true, the candidate whom they pre- 
 ferred, was not returned to the house, it is equally true, 
 that the state of the contest as it presented itself here to 
 me, had never been considered, discussed, and decided by 
 the people of Kentucky, in their collective capacity. What 
 would have been their decision on this new state of the 
 question, I might have undertaken to conjecture, but the 
 certainty of any conclusion of fact, as to their opinion, at 
 
ADDRESS. 361 
 
 which I could arrive, was by no means equal to that cer- 
 tainty of conviction of my duty to which I was carried by 
 the txc-rtion of my best and most deliberate reflections. ! he 
 letters from home, which some of the delegation received, 
 expressed the most opposite opinions, and there were not 
 wanting instances of letters from some of the verv mem- 
 bers who had voted for the resolution, advising a different 
 course. I received from a highly respectable portion of my 
 constituents a paper, instructing me as follows: "We the 
 undersigned voters in the congressional district, having 
 viewed the instruction or request of ihe legislature of Ken- 
 tucky, on the subject of choosing a president and vice- 
 president of the United States, with regret, and the said 
 request or instruction to our representative in congress 
 from this district, being without our knowledge or consent; 
 Wc for many reasons known to ourselves, connected with 
 so momentous an occasion, hereby instruct our representa- 
 tive in congress to vote on this occasion agreeably to his 
 own judgment, and by the best lights he may have on the 
 subject, with, or without, the consent of the legislature of 
 Kentucky." This instruction came both unexpectedly and 
 unsolicited by roe, and it was accompanied by letters as- 
 suring me, that it expressed the opinion of a majority of my 
 constituents. I could not therefore regard the resolution as 
 conclusive evidence of your wishes. 
 
 Viewed as a mere request, as it purported to be, the 
 general assembly doubtless had the power to make it. But, 
 then, with great deference, I think it was worthy of serious 
 consideration whether the dignity of the general assembly 
 ought not to have induced it to forbear addressing itself not 
 to another legislative body, but to a small part of it, and 
 requesting the members who composed that part, in a case 
 which the constitution had confided to them, to vote ac- 
 cording to the wishes of the general assembly, whether 
 those wishes did or did not conform to their sense of duty. 
 I could not regard the resolution as an instruction; for, from 
 the origin of our state, its legislature has never assumed 
 nor exercised the right to instruct the representatives in 
 congress. I did not recognize the right, therefore, of the 
 legislature to instruct me. I recognized that right only when 
 exerted by you. That the portion of the public servants who 
 made up the general assembly have no right to instruct that 
 portion of them who constituted the Kentucky delegation in 
 3 A 
 
362 ADDRESS. 
 
 the house of representatives, is a proposition too clear to be 
 argued. The members of the general assembly would have 
 been the first to behold as a presumptuous interposition, any 
 instruction, if the Kentucky delegation could have commit- 
 ted the absurdity to issue, from this place, any instruction 
 to them to vote in a particular manner on any of the interest- 
 ing subjects which lately engaged their attention at Frank- 
 fort. And although nothing is further from my intention 
 than to impute either absurdity or presumption to the gene- 
 ral assembly, the adoption of the resolution referred to, I 
 must say that the difference between an instruction emana- 
 ting from them to the delegation, and from the delegation 
 to them, is not in principle, but is to be found only in the 
 degree of superior importance which belongs to the general 
 assembly. 
 
 Entertaining these views of the election on which it was 
 made my duty to vote, I felt myself bound, in the exercise 
 of my best judgment, to prefer Mr. Adams; and I accord- 
 ingly voted for him. I should have been highly gratified 
 if it had not been my duty to vote on the occasion: but that 
 was not my situation, and I did not choose to shrink from 
 any responsibility which appertained to your representative. 
 Shortly after the election, it was rumored that Mr. Kremer 
 was preparing a publication, and the preparations for it which 
 were making excited much expectation. Accordingly, on 
 the twenty-sixth of February, the address, under his name, 
 to the " Electors of the Ninth Congressional District of the 
 State of Pennsylvania," made its appearance in the Wash- 
 ington City Gazette. No member of the house, I am per- 
 suaded, believed that Mr. Kremer wrote one paragraph of 
 that address, or of the plea, which was presented to the 
 committee, to the jurisdiction of the house. Those who 
 counselled him, and composed both papers, and their pur- 
 poses, were just as well known as the author of any report 
 from a committee to the house. The first observation which 
 is called for by the address is the place of its publication. 
 That place was in this city, remote from the centre of Penn- 
 sylvania, near which Mr. Kremer's district is situated, and 
 in a paper having but a very limited, if any, circulation in 
 it. The time is also remarkable. The fact that the president 
 intended to nominate me to the senate for the office which 
 I now hold, in the course of a few days, was then well known, 
 and the publication of the address was, no doubt, made less 
 
ADDRESS. 363 
 
 with an intention to communicate information to the electors 
 of the ninth congressional district of Pennsylvania, than to 
 affect the decision of the senate on the intended nomination. 
 Of the character and contents of that address of Messrs. 
 George Kremer & Co. made up, as it is, of assertion with- 
 out proof, of inferences without premises, and of careless, 
 jocose, and quizzing conversations of some of my friends, 
 to which I was no party, and of which I had never heard, 
 it is not my intention to say much. It carried its own re- 
 futation, and the parties concerned saw its abortive nature 
 the next day in the indignant countenance of every unpre- 
 judiced and honorable member. In his card, Mr. Kremer 
 had been made to say, that he held himself ready " to prove^ 
 to the satisfaction of unprejudiced minds, enough to satisfy 
 them of the accuracy of the statements which are contained 
 in that letter, to the extent that they concern the course of 
 conduct of H. Clay.'''' The object for excluding my friends 
 from this pledge has been noticed. But now the election 
 was decided, and there no longer existed a motive for dis- 
 criminating between them and me. Hence the only state- 
 ments that are made, in the address, having the semblance 
 of proof, relate rather to them than to me; and the design 
 was, by establishing something like facts upon them, to make 
 those facts re-act upon me. 
 
 Of the few topics of the address upon which I shall re- 
 mark, the first is, the accusation, brought forward against 
 me, of violating instructions. If the accusation were true, 
 who was the party offended, and to whom was I amenable? 
 If I violated any instructions, they must have been yours, 
 since you only had the right to give them, and to you alone 
 was I responsible. Without allowing hardly time for you to 
 hear of my vote, without waiting to know what your judg- 
 ment was of my conduct, George Kremer & Co. chose to 
 arraign me before the American public as the vialator of 
 instructions which I was bound to obey. If, instead of be- 
 ing, as you are, and I hope always will be, vigilant observers 
 of the conduct of your public agents, jealous of your rights, 
 and competent to protect and defend them, you had been 
 ignorant and culpably confiding, the gratuitous interposition, 
 as your advocate, of the honorable George Kremer, of the 
 ninth congressional district in Pennsylvania, would have 
 merited your most grateful acknowledgments. Even upon 
 that supposition, his arraignment of me would have required 
 
364 ADDRESS. 
 
 for its support one small circumstance, which happens not 
 to exist, and that is, the fact of your having actually in- 
 structt:d me to vott- according to his pleasure. 
 
 The relations in which I stood to Mr. Adams constitute 
 the next theme of the address, which I shall notice. I am 
 described as having assumed "a position of peculiar and de- 
 cided hostility to the election of Mr. Adams," and expres- 
 sions towards him are attributed to me, which I never used. 
 I am made also responsible for " pamphlets and essays of 
 great ability," published by my friends in Kentucky in the 
 course of the canvass. The injustice of the principle of hold- 
 ing me thus answerable, may be tested by applying it to the 
 case of general Jackson, in reference to publications issued, 
 for example, from the Columbian Observer. That I was not 
 in favor of the election of Mr. Adams, when the contest was 
 before the people, is most certain. Neither was I in favor 
 of that of Mr, Crawford or general Jackson. That I ever 
 did anv thing against Mr. Adams, or either of the other 
 gentlemen, inconsistent with a fair and honorable competi- 
 tion, I utterly deny. My relations to Mr. Adams have been 
 the subject of much misconception, if not misrepresentation. 
 I have been slated to be under a public pledge to expose 
 some nefarious conduct of that gentleman, during the nego- 
 ciation at Ghent, which would prove him to be entirely un- 
 worthy of public confidence; and that with a knowledge of 
 his perfidy, I, nevertheless, voted for him. If these impu- 
 tations are well founded, I should, indeed, be a fit object 
 for public censure; but if, on the contrary, it shall be found 
 that others, inimical both to him and to me, have substi- 
 tuted their own interested wishes for my public promises, 
 I trust that the indignation, which they would excite, will 
 be turned from me. My letter, addressed to the editors of 
 the Intelligencer, under date of the fifteenth of November, 
 1822, is made the occasion for ascribing to me the promise 
 and the pledge to make those treasonable disclosures on Mr. 
 Adams. Let that letter speak for itself, and it will be seen 
 how little justification there is for such an assertion. It ad- 
 A^erts to the controversy which had arisen between Messrs. 
 Adams and Russell, and then proceeds to state that, "• in 
 the course of the several publications, of which it has been 
 the occasion, and, particularly in the appendix to a pamphlet 
 which had been recently published by the honorable John 
 Quincy Adams, I think there are some errors (no doubt 
 
ADDRESS. 365 
 
 unintentionat) both as to matters of fact and matters of opi- 
 nion, in regard to the transactions at Ghent, relating to the 
 navigation of thr; Mississippi, and certain liberties claimed 
 by the United States in the fisheries, and to the part xvhich 
 I bore in those transactions. These important interests are 
 now well secured," — "'An account, therefore, of what oc- 
 curred in the negociation at Ghent, on those two subjects, 
 is not, perhaps, necessary to the present or future security 
 of any of the rights of the nation, and is only interesting as 
 appertaining to its past history. With these impressions, 
 and being extremely unwilling to present myself, at any 
 time, before the public, I had almost resolved to remain 
 silent, and thus expose myself to the inference of an acqui- 
 escence in the correctness of all the statements made by 
 both my colleagues; but [ have, on more reflection, thought 
 it may be expected of me, and be considered as a duty on 
 my part, to contribute all in my power towards a full and 
 faithful understanding of the transactions referred to. Un- 
 der this conviction, I will, at some future period, more 
 propitious than the present to calm and dispassionate con- 
 sideration, and when there can be no misinterpretation of 
 motives, lay before the public a narrative of those transac- 
 tions, as I understood them." 
 
 From even a careless perusal of that letter, it is apparent, 
 that the only txvo subjects of the negociations at Ghent, to 
 which it refers, were the navigation of the Mississippi and 
 certain fishing liberties; that the errors, which I had sup- 
 posed were committed, applied to both Mr. Russell and Mr. 
 Adams, though more particularly to the appendix of the 
 latter; that they were unintentional; that they affected my- 
 self principally; that I deemed them of no public impor- 
 tance, as connected with the then, or future, security of any 
 of the rights of the nation, but only interesting to its past 
 history; that I doubted the necessity of my offering to the 
 public any account of those transactions; and that the nar- 
 rative which I promised was to be presented at a season of 
 more calm, and when there could be no misinterpretation 
 of motives. Although Mr. Adams believes otherwise, I 
 yet think there are some unintentional errors, in the con- 
 troversial papers between him and Mr. Russel, But I have 
 reserved to myself an exclusive right of judging when I 
 shall execute the promise v/hich I have made, and i shall 
 be neither quickened nor retarded in its performance, by 
 the friendly anxieties of any of my opponents. 
 
366 ADDRESS. 
 
 If injury accrue to any one by the delay in publishing 
 the narrative, the public will not suffer by it. It is already 
 known by the publication of the British and American pro- 
 jets, the protocols, and the correspondence between the 
 respective plenipotentiaries, that the British government 
 made at Ghent a demand of the navigation of the Missis- 
 sippi, by an article in their projet nearly in the same words 
 as those which were employed in the treaty of 1783; that a 
 majority of the American commissioners was in favor of 
 acceding to that demand, upon the condition that the Bri- 
 tish government would concede to us the same fishing li- 
 berties, within their jurisdiction, as were secured to us by 
 the same treaty of 178J; and that both demands were final- 
 ly abandoned. The fact of these mutual propositions was 
 communicated by me to the American public in a speech 
 which 1 delivered in the house of representatives, on the 
 twenty-ninth day of January, 1816. Mr. Hopkinson had 
 arraigned the terms of the treaty of peace, and charged 
 upon the war and the administration, the loss of the fishing 
 liberties, within the British jurisdiction, which we enjoyed 
 prior to the war. In vindicating, in my reply to him. the 
 course of the government and the conditions of the peace, 
 I stated:— 
 
 " When the British commissioners demanded, in their 
 projet, a renewal to Great Britain of the right to the navi- 
 gation of the Mississippi, secured by the treaty of 1783, a 
 bare majority of the American commissioners offered to 
 renew it, upon the condition that the liberties in question 
 were renewed to us. He was not one of that majority. He 
 would not trouble the committee with his reasons for being 
 opposed to the offer. A majority of his colleagues, actuated 
 he believed by the best motives^ made, however, the offer, 
 and it was refused by the British commissioners," \^See 
 Daily National Intelligencer^ of the twe)ity-Jirst of March^ 
 1816.] And what I thought of my colleagues of the ma- 
 jority, appears froni the same extract. The spring after the 
 termination of the negociations at Ghent, 1 went to London, 
 and there entered upon a new and highly irnpoitant nego- 
 ciation with two of them, (Messrs. Adams and Gallatin,) 
 which resulted, on the third day of July, 1815, in the Com- 
 mercial Convention, which has been since made the basis of 
 most of our comniercial arrangements with foreign powers. 
 Now, if I had discovered at Ghent, as has been asserted, 
 
ADDRESS. 367 
 
 that either of them was false and faithless to his country, 
 would I have voluntarily commenced with them another 
 negociation? Further: there never has been a period, dur- 
 ing our whole acquaintance, that Mr. Adams and I have 
 not exchanged when we have met, friendly salutations, and 
 the courtesies and hospitalities of social intercourse. 
 
 The address proceeds to characterize the support which 
 I gave to Mr. Adams as uniiatural. The authors of the 
 address have not stated why it is unnatural, and we are 
 therefore left to conjecture their meaning. Is it because 
 Mr. Adams is from New England, and I am a citizen of 
 the west? If it be unnatural in the western states to support 
 a citizen of New England, it must be equally unnatural in 
 the New England states to support a citizen of the west. — 
 And, on the same principle, the New England states ought 
 to be restrained from concurring in the election of a citizen 
 in the southern states, or the souther: states from co-ope- 
 rating in the election of a citizen of New England. And, 
 consequently, the support which the last three presidents 
 have derived from New England, and that which the vice- 
 president recently received, has been most unnaturally given. 
 The tendency of such reasoning would be to denationalize 
 us, and to contract every part of the union, within the nar- 
 row selfish limits of its own section. It would be still worse; 
 it would lead to the destruction of the union itself. For if 
 it be unnatural in one section to support a citizen in another, 
 the union itself must be unnatural; all our ties, all our glo- 
 ries, all that is animating in the past, all that is bright and 
 cheering in the future, must be unnatural. Happil) , such 
 is the admirable texture of our union, that the interests of 
 all its parts are closely interwoven. If there are strong 
 points of affinity between the south and the west, there are 
 interests of not less, if not greater, strength and vigor, bind- 
 ing the west and the north, and the east. 
 
 Before I close this address, it is my duty, which I pro- 
 ceed to perform with great regret, on account of the occa- 
 sion which calls for it, to invite your attention to a letter 
 addressed by general Jackson to Mr. Swartwout, on the 
 twenty-third day of February last. The names of both the 
 general and myself had been before the American public, 
 for its highest office. We had both been unsuccessful, i he 
 unfortunate have usually some sympathy tor e.sch other. 
 For myself, I claim no merit for the cheerful acquiescence 
 
368 ADDRESS. 
 
 which I have given in a result by which I was excluded 
 from the house. I have believed that the decision by the 
 constituted authorities, in favor of others, has been founded 
 upon a conviction of the superiority of their pretensions. It 
 has been my habit, when an election is once decidf^d, to 
 forget, as soon as possible, all the irritating circumstances 
 which attended the preceding canvass. If one be successful, 
 he should be content with his success. If he have lost it, 
 railing will do no good. I never gave general Jackson nor 
 his friends, any reason to believe that I would, in any con- 
 tingency, support him. He had, as I thought, no public 
 claim, and I will now add, no personal claims, if these ought 
 to be ever considered, to my support. No one, therefore, 
 ought to have been disappointed or chagrined that I did 
 not vote for him. No more than I was, neither surprised 
 nor disappointed, that he did not on a more recent occasion, 
 feel it to he his duty to vote for me. After commenting 
 upon a particular phrase used in my letter to judge Brooke, 
 a calm reconsideration of which will, I think, satisfy any 
 person that it was not employed in an offensive sense, if 
 indeed it have an offensive sense, the general, in his letter 
 to Mr. Swartwout, proceeds to remark: **• No one beheld 
 me seeking through art or management, to entice any re- 
 presentative in congress from a conscientious responsibility 
 to his own, or the wishes of his constituents. No midnight 
 taper burnt by me; no secret conclaves were held, nor cabals 
 entered into to persuade any one to a violation of pledges 
 given, or of instructions received. By me no plans were 
 concerted to impair the pure principles of our republican 
 institutions, nor to prostrate that fundamental maxim which 
 maintains the supremacy of the people's will. On the con- 
 trary, having never in any mannner before the people, or 
 congress, interfered in the slightest degree with the ques- 
 tion, my conscience stands void of offence, and will go qui- 
 etly with me, regardless of the insinuations of those who, 
 through management, may seek an influence not sanctioned 
 by integrity and merit." I am not aware that this defence 
 of himself was rendered necessary by any charges brought 
 forward against the general. Certainly I never made any 
 such charges against him. I will not suppose that in the 
 passages cited, he intended to impute to me the misconduct 
 which he describes, and yet taking the whole context of his 
 letter together, and coupling it with Mr. Kremer's address, 
 
ADDRESS. 369 
 
 it cannot be disguised that others may suppose he intended 
 to refer to me. I am quite sure that if he did, he could 
 not have formed those unfavorable opinions of me upon any 
 personal observation of my conduct made by himself; tor a 
 supposition that they were founded upon his own know- 
 ledge, would imply that my lodgings and my person, had 
 been subjected to a system of espionage wholly incompati- 
 ble with the open, manly, and honorable conduct of a gallant 
 soldier. If he designed any insinuations against me, I must 
 believe that he made them upon the information of others, 
 of whom 1 can only say, that they have deceived his cre- 
 dulity, and are entirely unworthy of all credit. I entered 
 into no cabals; I held no secret conclaves; I enticed no 
 man to violate pledges given or instructions received. — The 
 members from Ohio and from the other western states, with 
 whom I voted, were all of them as competent as I was to 
 form an opinion on the pending election. The M'Arthurs 
 and the Metcalfes and the other gentlemen from the west, 
 (some of whom nave, if I have not, bravely " made an effort 
 to repel an invading foe") are as incapable of dishonor as any 
 men breathing — as disinterested, as unambitious, as exclu- 
 sively devoted to the best interests of their country. It was 
 quite as likely that I should be influenced by them, as that 
 I could control their votes. Our object was not to impair, 
 but to preserve from all danger, the purity of our republi- 
 can institutions. And how I prostrated the maxim which 
 maintains the supremacy of the people's will, I am entirely 
 at a loss to comprehend. The illusions of the general's 
 imagination deceive him. The people of the United States 
 had never decided the election in his favor. If the people 
 had wiUed his election, he would ha^e been elected. It was 
 beause they had not willed his election, nor thai of any 
 other candidate, that the duty of making a choice devolved 
 on the house of representatives. 
 
 The general remarks: " Mr. Clay has never yet risked 
 himself for his country. He has never sacrificed his repose, 
 nor made an effort to repel an invading foe; of course his 
 conscience assured him it was altogether wrong in any other 
 man to lead his countrymen to battle and victory." The logic 
 of this conclusion is not very striking. General Jackson 
 fights better than he reasons. When have I failed to con- 
 cur in awarding appropriate honors to those who on the sea 
 or on the land have sustained the glory of our arms, if I 
 3B 
 
370 ADDRESS. 
 
 could not always approve of the acts of some of them? It 
 is true, thf)t it has been my misfortune never to have re- 
 pelled an invading foe, nor to have led my countrymen to 
 victory. If I had I should have left to others to proclaim 
 and appreciate the deed. The general's destiny and mine 
 have led us in different directions. In the civil employments 
 of my country, to which I have been confined, I regret that 
 the little service which I have been able to render it, falls 
 far short of my wishes. But, why this denunciation of those 
 who have not repelled an invading foe, or led our armies 
 to victory? At the very moment when he is inveighing 
 against an objection to the election to the presidency,^ found- 
 ed upon the exclusive military nature of his merits, does 
 he not perceive that he is establishing its validity by pro- 
 scribing every man who has not successfully fought the 
 public enemy? And that, by such a general proscription, 
 and the requirement of successful military service as the 
 only condition of civil preferment, the inevitable effect would 
 be the ultimate establishment of a military government? 
 
 If the contents of the letter to Mr. Swartwout, were such 
 as justly to excite surprise, there were other circumstances 
 not calculated to diminish it. Of all the citizens of the Uni- 
 ted States, that gentleman is one of the last to whom it 
 was necessary to address any vindication of general Jack- 
 son, He had given abundant evidence of his entire devotion 
 to the cause of the general. He was here after the election, 
 and was one of a committee who invited the general to a 
 public dinner, proposed to be given to him in this place. 
 My letter to judge Brooke was published in the papers of 
 this city on the twelfth of February. The general's note, 
 declining the invitation of Mr. Swartwout, and others, was 
 publisiied on the fourteenth, in the National Journal. The 
 probability therefore is, that he did not leave this city until 
 after he had a full opportunity to receive in a personal in- 
 terview with the general, any verbal observations upon it 
 which he might have thought proper to make. The letter 
 to Mr. Swartwout bears date the twenty- third of February. 
 If received by him in New York, it must have reached 
 him, in the ordinary course of the mail, on the twenty-fifth 
 or twenty-sixth. Whether intended or not as a " private 
 conr.munication," and not for the "public eye," as alleged 
 by him, there is much probability in believing that its pub- 
 lication in New York, on the fourth of March, was then 
 
ADDRESS. 371 
 
 made, like Mr. Kramer's address, with the view to its ar- 
 rival in this city in time to effect my nomination to the 
 senate. In point of fact, it reached here the day before the 
 senate acted on that nomination. 
 
 Fellow citizens, I am sensible that generally a public of- 
 ficer had better abstain from any vindication of his conduct, 
 and leave it to the candor and justice of his countrymen, 
 under all its attending circumstances. Such has been the 
 course which I have heretofore prescribed to myself. This 
 is the first, as I hope it may be the last, occasion of my 
 thus appearing before you. The separation which has just 
 taken place between us, and the venom, if not the vigor, 
 of the late onsets upon my public conduct, will, I hope, be 
 allowed in this instance to form an adequate apology. It 
 has been upwards of twenty years since I first entered the 
 public service. Nearly three-fourths of that time, with some 
 intermissions, I have represented the same district in con- 
 gress, with but little variation in its form. During that long 
 period, you have beheld our country passing through scenes 
 of peace and war, of prosperity and adversity, and of par- 
 ty divisions, local and general, often greatly exasperated 
 against each other. I have been an actor in most of those 
 scenes. Throughout the whole of them you have clung to 
 me with an affectionate confidence which has never been 
 surpassed. I have found in your attachment, in every em- 
 barrassment in my public career, the greatest consolation, 
 and the most encouraging support. I should regatd the loss 
 of it as one of the most afflicting public misfortunes, which 
 could befal me. That I have often misconceived your true 
 interests, is highly probable. That I have ever sacrificed 
 them to the object of personal aggrandizement, I utterly 
 deny. And for the purity of my motives, however in other 
 respects I may be unworthy to approach the Throne of 
 Grace and Mercy, I appeal to the justice of my God, with 
 all the confidence which can flow from a consciousness of 
 perfect rectitude. 
 
 H. CLAY. 
 
 Washington, 26th March, 1825. 
 
372 
 
 SPEECH AT LEWISBURG. 
 
 of Tra;^ersTci\^vn,h<^M im. 
 
 Mr. Claifs speech at the dinner f, given him at Letvisburg., 
 Virginia. [From the Lervisburg, Fa. Palladium., of 
 September 11.] 
 
 Lewisburg, August 23 J, 1826. 
 The Hon. Henry Clay, 
 
 Sir: — At a meeting of a respectable number of the in- 
 habitants of Levvisburg and its vicinity, convened in the 
 court house on the twenty second inst. it was unanimously 
 determined to greet your arrival amongst them by some 
 public demonstration of the respect which they in common 
 with a great portion of the community, feel towards one of 
 their most distinguished fellow citizens. It was therefore 
 unanimously resolved, as the most eligible means of mani- 
 festing their feelings, to request the honor of your presence 
 at a public dinner to be given at the tavern of Mr. Frazer, 
 in the town of Lewisburg, on Wednesday the thirtieth in- 
 stant. 
 
 In pursuance of the above measures, we as a committee, 
 have been appointed to communicate their resolutions and 
 solicit a compliance with their invitation. In performing 
 this agreeable duty, we cannot but express our admiration 
 of the uniform course which, during a long political career, 
 you have pursued with so much honor to yourself and 
 country. Although the detractions of envy, and the violence 
 of party feeling have endeavoured to blast your fair repu- 
 tation, and destroy the confidence reposed in you by the 
 citizens of the United States, we rejoice to inform you, 
 that the people of the western part of that state which claims 
 you as one of her most gifted sons, still retain the same 
 high feeling of respect, which they have always manifested 
 in spite of the maledictions and bickerings of disappointed 
 editors and interested politicians. We cannot close our 
 communication M'ithout hailing you as one of the most 
 distmguished advocates of that system of internal improve- 
 ment which has already proved so beneficial to our country, 
 
SPEECH AT LEWISBURG. 373 
 
 and which at no distant period will make even these desert 
 mountains to blossom as the rose. 
 
 We have the honor to subscribe ourselves, 
 
 Your's with esteem, 
 J. G. M'Clenachek, John Beirne, 
 
 James M'Laughlin, J. A. North, 
 
 J. F. Caldwell, Henry Erskine. 
 
 White Sulphur Springs, Hith August, 1826. 
 Gentlemen: — I have received the note which you did 
 me the honor on yesterday to address to me, inviting me in 
 behalf of a respectable number of the citizens of Lewisburg 
 and its vicinity, to a public dinner at Mr. Frazer's tavern, 
 on Wednesday next, which they have the goodness to 
 propose, in consequence of my arrival amongst them, as a 
 manifestation of their respect. Such a compliment was most 
 unexpected by me on a journey to Washington, by this route, 
 recommended to my choice by the pure air of a mountain 
 region, and justly famed mineral waters, a short use of 
 which I hoped might contribute to the perfect re- establish- 
 ment of my health. The gratification which I derive from 
 this demonstration of kindness and confidence, springs, in 
 no small degree, from the consideration that it is the spon- 
 taneous testimony of those with whom I share a common 
 origin, in a venerated state, endeared to me by an early tie 
 of respect and affection, which no circumstance can ever 
 dissolve. In communicating to that portion of the citizens 
 of Lewisburg and its vicinity, who have been pleased thus 
 to favor me, by their distinguished notice, my acceptance 
 of their hospitable invitation, I pray you to add my profound 
 acknowledgments. And of the friendly and flattering manner 
 an which you have conveyed it, and for the generous sym- 
 pathy, characteristic of Virginia, which you are so obliging 
 as to express, on account of the detractions of which I have 
 been the selected object, and the meditated victim, be as- 
 sured that I shall always retain a lively and grateful re- 
 anembrance. 
 
 I am, gentlemen, with great esteem and regard, faithfully, 
 
 your obedient servant, 
 
 Henry Clay. 
 Messrs. M'-Clenachen, North, McLaughlin, Caldxvell, 
 
 Beirne, and Erskine, &fc, &fc. 
 
374 SPEECH AT LEWISBURG. 
 
 TOAST 
 
 Seventh. Our distinguished g-uest, 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 drank, 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 broughtthem together. In passing through my na- 
 tive 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 retuin 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 ray 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 1 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 co-equal sovereign power, I was 
 charged in the north with being too partial to the south, 
 and as being friendly to that unfortunate condition of sla- 
 very, of the evils of which none are more sensible than I am. 
 At another period, when I believed that the industry of 
 
SPEECH AT LEWISBURG. SfS 
 
 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 exigences; 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 alter- 
 native left to our honor by the persevering injustice of a 
 foreign nation. These contradictory charges and perverted 
 views' gave me no concern, because 1 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 agrer- on one of the many important questions which 
 arose during the negociations 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 cooperation together in the public 
 sei vice, as is demonstrated by the convention at London 
 subs<^queiitly negotiated by Messrs. Adams, Gallatin and 
 myself. It was a difference of opinion on a point of expe- 
 diency, and did not relate to any constitutional or fimda- 
 mental principle. But with respect to the conduct of the 
 distinguished citizen of Tennessee, I had solemnly er- 
 
3?6 SPEECH AT LEWISBURG. 
 
 pressed, under the highest obligations, opinions, which, 
 whether right or wrong, were sincerely and honestly enter- 
 tained, and are still held. These opinions related to a 
 military exercise of power believed to be arbitrary and un- 
 constitutional. 1 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 revilcrs 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 cha- 
 racterized 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 stale, which has been asserted to 
 be the consummation of a previous corrupt arrangement. 
 What can I oppose to such an assertion, but positive, pe- 
 remptory 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 hare decided. I took 
 counsel from my friends, from my duty, from my conscious 
 innocence of unworthy and false imputations. I was not 
 
SPEECH AT LEWISBURG. 3?? 
 
 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 employ- 
 ment. 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 ad- 
 vanced 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 tar from being impelled by any vain 
 or boastful spirit, to mention these things, I do it with hu- 
 miliation and mortification. 
 
 If I had refused the department of state, the same indi- 
 viduals 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 confi- 
 dence 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 endeavoured 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, 
 ,3 C 
 
378 SPEECH AT LEWISBURG. 
 
 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 acqui- 
 escence, or to which, if in any instance they made opposition, 
 it was respectful, limited and qualified? The present ad- 
 ministration 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 
 
SPEECH AT LEWISBURG. 379 
 
 present it as a subject for discussion. But, during that of 
 Mr. Monroe, it has been seen that it was a matter of con- 
 sideration, and there is every reason to believe, if he were 
 now at the head of affairs, his determination would corres- 
 pond 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, endeavour 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 connexion 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 abun- 
 dant 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 
 
380 SPEECH AT LEWISBURG. 
 
 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 con- 
 tingencies might threaten our quiet and safety, may be more 
 successively 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 in- 
 terested 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 
 ot 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 dissatis- 
 faction to nations whose friendship we are called upon by 
 every dictate of policy to conciliate. 
 
 Tht-re 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 pre- 
 sent 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 
 ot 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 au- 
 thority 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 
 
SPEECH AT LEVVISBURG. ggj 
 
 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 ultimatelv 
 disunion Itself? The slave holding states cannot forget that 
 they are now m 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 distin- 
 guished individual at the head of the government and my- 
 self have been indicted by the people. If that is the case 
 1 presume that some defence is lawful. By the bye if thJ 
 honorable member is to have the sole conduct of the pro- 
 secution without the aid of other counsel, 1 think that it is 
 
 not difficult to predict that his clients will be non suited 
 
 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, wilM hope, be acceptable for the sake 
 
 ot the wine, if not the sentiment. 
 
 " The continuation of the turnpike road which passes 
 
 through Lewisburg, and success to the cause of in^ternal 
 
 improvement, under every auspices." 
 
 He then took his seat amid the repeated cheers of the 
 whole company. '^ 
 
 TUE END,