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 OKI KflSJadJJKV <D>F 
 
 
REPORT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CEREMONIES ON THE FOURTH OF JULY, 1857, 
 
 AT THE 
 
 mg of t|c Corner J^mc 
 
 OF A 
 
 NATIONAL MONUMENT, 
 
 TO BE ERECTED 
 
 NEAR LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY, 
 
 TO THE MEMORY OF 
 
 HENRY CLAY; 
 
 TOGETIIER WITH THE 
 
 ORATION DELIVERED ON THE OCCASION, 
 
 BY THE 
 
 Rev. ROBERT J. BRECKINRIDGE, D.D., L.L.D. 
 
 Published by tiie Clay Monument Association: 
 
 ii 
 
 18 5 7. 
 
e: 
 
 3 +0 
 
 "' 
 
 Entered according to the act of Congress, in the year 1857, by 
 
 THE CLAY ^OISTTTiyEElXrT ASSOCIATION, 
 
 la the Clerk's Office of the District of Kentucky. 
 
 STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY THE 
 CINCINNATI GAZETTE CO. 
 
LAYING THE CORNER STONE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 NATIONAL MONUMENT TO HENRY CLAY. 
 
 The ceremonies incident to laying the Corner Stone of the Clay Monument, 
 to be erected in the Lexington Cemetery, took place on Saturday, the 4th of 
 July. The time selected for the purpose — the anniversary of the birth of our 
 National Independence — was well suited to the grand and solemn occasion. 
 The day was auspicious — the heavens smiling cloudlessly above the brilliant 
 and patriotic display. The business houses and private dwellings on the 
 street leading to the Cemetery, were adorned with flowers and evergreens, 
 flags, and banners, and streamers ; and the side-walks, windows and house- 
 tops, were thronged with men, women, and children, to witness the great 
 procession. Captain Bcford, the Chief Marshal, with his Staff, superbly 
 mounted and caparisoned, had every thing in order by nine o'clock, when 
 the line of march was commenced from "head-quarters," opposite the Phoenix 
 Hotel, amid the thunder of artillery and the enlivening music of some four 
 or five splendid Bands in attendance. 
 
 The Masonic Fraternity, to whom the ceremonies were entrusted, wer>- 
 largely represented, and their magnificent regalias added greatly to the 
 beauty and splendor of the pageant. The Odd Fellows were also out in con- 
 siderable numbers and in full dress. 
 
 The military present consisted of Capt. Goins' Artillery Squad of Frankfort, 
 Falls City Guards of Louisville, Guthrie Greys, and Continentals, of Cincin- 
 nati, National Guards of St. Louis, Independent National Guards of Indian- 
 apolis, City Guards of Baltimore, and the Madison Guards of Richmond, Ky. 
 
 The Fire Companies present were the Lafayette and Union Companies of 
 Louisville, and the several Companies of Lexington. 
 
 The family carriage, which was presented to Mr. Clay by the Citizens of 
 Newark, N. J., in 1833, which was the only one in the procession admitted 
 nto the Cemetery grounds, was ornamented with white funereal plumes and 
 arreaths of evergreens and flowers. It was occupied by Aaron Dupuy, an old 
 negro servant of Mr. Clay, who had been in hi3 service for many years. In 
 the back seat was a bust of Mr. Clay, and the engraving of his leave-taking 
 of the Senate. 
 
 Long before the procession arrived at the Cemetery, a large concourse had 
 assembled and were in waiting, occupying every eligible point to witness the 
 interesting ceremonies. 
 
 3 
 
Upon the platform near the foundation of the Monument, were the mem- 
 bers of Mr. Clay's family, consisting of Thos. II. Clay and James 15. Clay and 
 their families, Isaac Shelby and family, and others. 
 
 The following distinguished gentlemen were observed on and in the 
 vicinity of the platform: John C. Breckinridge, Vice President of the United 
 States, Governor Morehead, Senator Crittenden, Hon. James Guthrie, Hon. 
 Garrett Davis. Ex-Gov. Trimble of Ohio, Chief Justices Geo. Robertson and 
 T. A. Marshall, J. B. Huston, Speaker of the House of Representatives of Ken- 
 tucky: Hon. James Harlan, Attorney General; Hon. Richard Ilawes; Dr. 
 Green, of the Normal School; President Bartlett, of the American Council of 
 the U. S.; Hon. Oscar F. Moore, of Ohio; Roger W. Hanson, Esq.; Zophar 
 Mills, Esq., of N. Y. ; and the President and Directors of the Clay Monument 
 iciation. 
 
 The Masonic Fraternity occupied the enclosure where the ceremonies were 
 performed, while the Military, Firemen, and the rest of the procession, selected 
 such positions in different portions of the grounds as they preferred. 
 
 In the stone was placed a box hermetically sealed, in a glass jar a history 
 of the occasion, with the names of the President and Vice President of the 
 United States, the Governor of Kentucky, the names of the Officers of the 
 Grand Lodge of Kentucky, and of the President and Directors of the Clay 
 Monument Association ; a copy of each of the papers of the city of Lexington ; 
 a picture of Cincinnati in 1802, published in the Cincinnati Gazette; also a 
 parchment prepared by the Cincinnati Guthrie Grays, in testimony of their 
 appreciation of the man who preferred to be right rather than to be President 
 of the United States; a medallion in copper, struck from the die of the Clay 
 Gold Medal, presented by the Clay Festival Association of New York, with a 
 copy of all the festive songs and odes sung and read before that Association 
 for the last twelve years, and giving a history of that Association ; also a 
 beautiful medallion likeness of Mr. Clay, by C. Younglove Haynes, Esq., of 
 Philadelphia, together with copies of Philadelphia papers from the same gen- 
 tleman, with coins of the present day, (American), in gold, silver, and copper; 
 a Bible and other articles. 
 
 The President of the Association, H. T. Duncan, Esq., in a graceful manner, 
 assigned to the M. W. Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky, Mr. 
 T. X. Wise, the duty of laying the Corner Stone, and the solemn and deeply 
 interesting ceremonies were conducted by him in the presence of the assem- 
 bled multitude in the most imposing and impressive manner. The stone was 
 laid to its place, and pronounced b}' the Grand Master well formed, true, and 
 trusty, when corn, wine, and oil, were poured upon it, and the ceremonies 
 concluded by prayer. During and preceding the ceremonies, the Newport 
 U. S. Band discoursed the sweetest music, and salutes were fired. 
 
 After laying the Corner Stone, the procession was re-formed and proceeded 
 to the Fair Grounds, where the address was to be delivered. The vast am- 
 phitheater was filled to repletion, with the gathered beauty, intellect, and 
 worth of Kentucky. A spectacle more brilliant and beautiful has rarely 
 gladdened the eye or heart of the most enthusiastic. The gay colors of the 
 
splendid dresses of the women, intermingled with the immense crpwd oi 
 sturdy men, were picturesque in the highest degree ; the whole bright circle 
 was like to a rich garland of flowers, overhanging the area of green below, 
 where the military marched and countermarched. The music was as fine as 
 ever thrilled a soldier's heart, or lent enchantment to a fairy scene. The 
 movements of the troops within the circle upon the green, 
 
 " With waving arms and banners bright," 
 
 surrounded as they were by the beauty and chivalry of the State, presi 
 a grand and stirring spectacle, and aroused the most generous and ennobling 
 emotions. When the great crowd had become somewhat settled, the Band 
 struck up the national air of the Star Spangled Banner, in a style more 
 thrilling and touching than any we had ever heard. The fine toned instru- 
 ments seemed to breathe the very words of the truly beautiful and stirring 
 song, and inspired a deep and enthusiastic feeling of patriotism, pride, and 
 pleasure. 
 
 After prayer by the Rev. E. F. Berkley of the Episcopal Church of this 
 city, the orator of the day, Rev. Ro. J. Breckinridge, D. D. was introduced 
 to the crowd by II. T. Duncan, Esq. The speech of Dr. Breckinridge was 
 alike worthy of the great Statesman in gratitude for whose public services 
 this magnificent ovation was gotten up; to the occasion itself which had 
 drawn together the largest assemblage of the free citizens of our common 
 country that had ever taken place in the West, and to his own reputation a? 
 one of the most chaste, classical, and eloquent speakers of the age. It was a 
 noble tribute to the life and services of Kentucky's most distinguished dead 
 son, by one of her greatest living sons, and was alike worthy of both. It 
 was not to be expected that any considerable number of this vast concourse 
 of people could hear this oration ; no man was ever gifted with sufficient 
 power to have made himself heard by such an assemblage; but the few who 
 did hear it were delighted with this great effort of a master mind. We ar< 
 gratified to announce, however, that Dr. Breckinridge's speech is to be shortly 
 presented to the public in an enduring form, as a just tribute to him towhos< 
 memory this work of gratitude has now been dedicated. 
 
 After the speech, dinner was served up, on the tables prepared in the shi 
 for the purpose, to strangers, while those from the more immediate surround- 
 ing country, had basket pic-nics on all parts of the ground. 
 
 At 4 o'clock the military were reviewed by Governor Morehead, and this 
 probably the most beautiful display in the whole proceedings of the daj 
 The military occupied the hollow on the city side of the Fair Grounds, whi!- 
 the immense concourse of spectators, men, women, and children, occupied \ 
 u'reen sloping hill a little beyond, commanding a full view of the evoiution.- 
 of the troops. The wind being favorable, every note of the splendid mush 
 of the Newport Band, which played alone during the review, was borne full 
 upon the ear of all present. — The glittering armor, waving plumes, and tin 
 wonderful precision of the movements of the troops, presented a sec. 
 true grandeur, and one well calculated to inspire enthusiasm and mak 
 
pulses fly. The whole hill side, full length, was covered with gaily dressed 
 ladies, men, and children ; and with the fine military display in the valley 
 below, presented a picture of unusual splendor and beauty. This closed the 
 regular proceedings of the day. 
 
 " Such honors Ilion to her hero paid, 
 And peaceful slept the mighty Hector's shade." 
 
 A more brilliant Fourth of July it has never been our good fortune to 
 enjoy, and we can scarcely hope to see such another. Every thing went off 
 quietly and in the best order. 
 
 To the gallant Captain Buford, who conducted the affair, many thanks are 
 due for the able and soldierly manner in which he bore himself throughout, 
 and for the general satisfaction he rendered in the discharge of his arduous 
 duties. 
 
 The monument, some 120 feet in hight, is to be built of the magnesian 
 limestone of this State, which resembles very much the famed Caen stone of 
 Normandy, and is a column modeled after the Corinthian style of architecture, 
 consisting of a stereobate, pedestal base, shaft and capital, the whole sur- 
 mounted by a statue of the Statesman in bronze. 
 
 The stereobate, or sub-base, some 20 ft. in height, and 40 ft. square, is in 
 the Egyptian style, plain and massive, and has its appropriate cornice of very 
 simple character throughout its whole circuit, broken on each side around, a 
 projecting facade in the same style, but of more elaborate finish. In the 
 centre of the southern face is an entrance to a vaulted chamber, of the 
 dimensions 12 by 24 ft., and 16 ft. high in the centre, lighted from above by 
 heavy plate glass fixed in bronze frames in such manner as to be unseen from 
 without. The chamber is of polished marble of Kentucky, appropriately 
 finished as a receptacle for sarcophagi, and, if desirable, a life size statue. 
 The opening is closed by a screen of bronze. The remaining space within 
 the sub-base is a closed vault, access to which is had by means of a door- 
 way, ordinarily closed with masonry. 
 
 Above the stereobate or sub-base is the pedestal of the column, divided 
 horizontally into two members, each with its base and cornice. The lower 
 one is 8} ft. in hight, and the upper 14 ft. in hight. The faces of both 
 members of the pedestal are in sunk panel, to be filled ultimately with bas 
 reliefs, in bronze, if desirable. 
 
 Above the pedestal rises the shaft, which, with the base and capital, is 
 09 feet in hight. The lower diameter being 6 feet 8 inches, and the upper 
 5 feet 10 inches, built solid. The shaft, instead of the ordinary 24 flutes, 
 with their intermediate fillets, is composed of a cluster of 13 spears (one for 
 each of the "Old Thirteen"), the heads of which of bronze, interlaced and 
 grouped with corn leaves and appropriate national emblems, form the capital 
 of the column, conformable, in outline and proportion, to the best examples 
 of the order. On the abacus of the capital rests an acroter of bronze, of a 
 parabolic contour, and formed of ash and ivy leaves, serving as a pedestal to 
 the statue. The latter to be 12 feet in hieht. 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 Letter from the President of the United States. 
 
 Washington, loth June, 1857. 
 
 My Dear Sir : 
 
 I have received your kind note of the Gth instant, with an invitation from 
 the Committee to be present on the 4th July next, at the laying of the corner- 
 stone of the monument to the memory of Henry Clay. 
 
 I can assure you I should esteem it a high privilege to witness the interest- 
 ing ceremony, and deeply regret that the pressure of public business renders 
 thfs impossible. I knew Mr. Clay well for many years before his death, and 
 although we often differed on political questions, I always admired his lofty 
 patriotism, his high and chivalrous character, and his commanding eloquence. 
 He has well deserved the monument his fellow citizens are about to erect to 
 his memory; because his life has added lustre to his country. It^ has 
 strengthened the bonds of that Union which he so dearly loved, and furnishes 
 a noble example as well as a precious legacy, to the future generations of his 
 countrymen. Yours, very respectfully, 
 
 H. f. Duncan, Esq. JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 Letter from Ex-President Fillmore. 
 
 Buffalo, N. Y., June 26th, 1857. 
 
 Hon. II. T. Duncan, 
 
 Sir : — Your letter of the 8th instant, enclosing an invitation from the Com- 
 mittee to be present in Lexington on the 4th of July, at the deeply interesting 
 ceremony of laying the corner stone of the National Clay Monument, ar- 
 rived here during my absence, and this must be my apology for any apparent 
 neglect in answering it. 
 
 I can not be insensible to the honor you have done me by this invitation, 
 and as a friend and admirer of the deceased, nothing could be more gratify- 
 ing than to be permitted to unite with his neighbors and countrymen in lay- 
 ing the foundation of that monument which is to attest a natiou's gratitude 
 to one of its noblest patriots and most gifted statesmen— but I regret to say 
 that my engagements are such that I am reluctantly compelled to decline the 
 invitation. 
 
 With many thanks for the honor of being remembered on this most in- 
 teresting occasion by my friends in Kentucky, and to yourself, personally, 
 for the very flattering manner in which you have been pleased to communi- 
 cate their request, and 
 
 With sentiments of the highest regard, I am truly yours. 
 
 MILLARD FILLMORE. 
 
 Letter from Hon. Edward Everett. 
 
 Boston, 26th June, 1857. 
 Dear Sir:— On my return from the West a short time since, I found on 
 mv table vour obliging letter of the 30th of May, with the invitation of the 
 officers of the " Clay Monument Association," to attend the ceremonial of 
 
 7 
 
8 
 
 laying the corner-stone on the ensuing 4th of July. It would have afforded 
 me the highest satisfaction to be present on an occasion of so much interest, 
 and to listen to a speaker of such distinguished ability, as the gentleman 
 who is to deliver the oration. But a series of engagements to repeat my 
 address on " Washington " in this quarter, will prevent my leaving Massa- 
 chusetts. 
 
 1 entertained the highest respect for the patriotic character and life-long 
 Lees of Mr. Clay. I have often felt the transcendent power and charm 
 of his eloquence; and I enjoyed for years the privilege of his personal 
 acquaintance, and I may venture to add of his confidence. For these rea- 
 sons, I hope you will allow me to add my mite toward the noble work you 
 are about to erect. 
 
 With my best wishes for its successful prosecution, and assurances of 
 friendly personal regard, I remain, my dear sir, sincerely yours, 
 
 H. T. Duncan, Esq. EDWARD EVERETT. 
 
 Letter from Jared Sparks, Esq. 
 
 Cambridge, lf)th June, 1857. 
 
 My Dear Sir : — Your favor of the 30th of May came duly to hand, enclos- 
 ing an invitation to me from the Committee of the Clay Monument Associa- 
 tion, to be present at the ceremony of laying the corner-stone on the 4th of 
 July. Allow me to express through you, to the Committee, my best acknow- 
 ledgments and thanks for this kind mark of their attention. 
 
 My recollections of the personal qualities of Mr. Clay, my knowledge of 
 his character and of the great services rendered by him to his country, 
 would alike conspire to give me a very deep interest in uniting with those 
 who will be assembled on that occasion to pay so just and honorable a tribute 
 to his memory; but my destiny turns me in another direction. I expect to 
 sail in two days with my family for Europe. We shall probably be absent 
 about a year. I can only express my best wishes, therefore, that the events 
 of the day may be as auspicious as the object is worthy of applause, and that 
 the Association will meet with all success in carrying out their noble under-. 
 iking. I remain, my dear sir, sincerely your friend, 
 
 Henry T. Duncan, Esq. JARED SPARKS. 
 
 Letter from lion. Wm. A. Graham. 
 
 Hillsboro', N. C, June 20th, 1857 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 I very sincerely regret that I cannot be present at the ceremony of laying 
 the corner-stone of the Clay Monument, in Lexington, on the fourth of July, 
 agreeably to your invitation. 
 
 The occasion, however, will command my ardent sympathy. Henry ( 
 was so extraordinary a character in American history, that a public monu- 
 ment is not only due, as a memorial of his illustrious life and service to the 
 Republic, but as a memento of his patriotic teachings, and an incentive to 
 'he emulation of his noble example. For near half a century, that he was 
 connected with our national affairs, scarce anj r thing of moment was trans 
 I. in which lie did not bear an eminent part. Entering the halls or 
 Congress when the men of the Revolution were yet in full vigor, and in the 
 maturity of their faculties, he did not finally depart from them until their 
 ad-children had largely participated in the public counsels. 
 Yet in the conflicts and competitions of three generations of statesmen, 
 (many of them unsurpassed in any age or nation.) his position was through- 
 out conspicuous and commanding: and never at any period challenging so 
 i ral an approbation as in the sunset of his career, in 1819-50, \* 
 
9 
 
 the third time, he gave peace to a distracted country. Admired always for 
 genius and eloquence, frankness and courage, he is most missed from the 
 public service, in his enlarged patriotism, his devotion to the Constitution 
 and the Union, his wisdom and conserVatism, and capacity for control. Am- 
 bitious, doubtless, with the weakness of noble minds, envy and the spirit of 
 faction found no place in his breast: and though disappointed in his aspira- 
 tions after power to do good, he breathed no sentiment of disloyalty to the 
 Government, nor did "his soul contrive against his country aught." Though 
 the boldest of men, he cut no Gordian knots with the sword and prescribed 
 dismemberment for no disease of the body politic ; but with a wisdom equal 
 to every emergency, ho mot events as they arose, adapted his means to the 
 ends to be accomplished, and overcame every difficulty without transcending 
 the legitimate powers of the Government. In diplomacy and foreign inter- 
 course, while keenly sensitive to the national honor and interests, he yet re- 
 garded war but as an agency for acquiring honorable peace, the enjoyment 
 of which was so essential to the growth and development of the nation, and 
 tho permanent prosperity and happiness of the people. 
 
 His monument, therefore, is a monument to the grandeur and progress of 
 the country during the first half of the nineteenth century — to national sen- 
 timents, and loyalty, and love to the Union, according to the true theory of 
 the Constitution — to American genius and character, of which no man wa. : ' 
 ever a more true delineation and representative. 
 
 Let it rise, upon the beautiful plains of his beloved Kentucky — middh 
 ground in the territories of the great Republic, but may the solitary in- 
 fluences of his noble and generous sentiments, and extended and purified 
 patriotism, be diffused by it from the Atlantic to the Pacific shore. 
 
 Repeating my regrets, that I am unable to unite with you, in the imposing 
 ceremonies of the day, I am, Gentlemen, with great respect, 
 
 Your obed't serv't, 
 
 WILL. A. GRAITAM. 
 To Messrs. II. T. Duncan, Benj. Gratz, Horace B. Hill, Henry Bell, Thomas 
 
 A. Marshall. 
 
 Letter from Hon. Howell Cobb. 
 
 Washington City, June 15th, 1857. 
 Gentlemen, 
 
 It would give me sincere pleasure to accept your invitation to be 
 present at the laying of the corner-stone of the Clay Monument, on the 
 4th of July next, if my official engagements would admit of it. Being pre- 
 vented, however, from attending, I avail myself of the opportunity to ex- 
 press my cordial concurrence in the motives which have induced this testi- 
 monial to the worth, ability, and patriotism of the man whose memory is 
 thus to be commemorated. It was my lot to enter public life at the time Mr. 
 Clay was playing his last part in the political drama rendered so remarkable 
 by the association of his name and services. I had been taught to look 
 upon him as the formidable and dangerous enemy of the political faith in 
 which I had been reared. It is not strange then that in the ardent tempera- 
 ment of young manhood I should have regarded him as one not cntitl 
 my generous confidence. Under these circumstances my personal associa 
 with Mr. Clay in public life began. The time was the memorable session 
 of 18!'.'- '"0. The struggle which marks that era in our history is yet fresh 
 in the memory of every one who participated in it. Mr. Clay was a promi- 
 nent actor in the scene. My official position not only enabled, but required 
 me to observe with anxious solicitude the progress of every measure con- 
 nected with the adjustment of those questions which then so immediately 
 threatened the peace and integrity of the Union. I was thrown thereby into 
 more intimate association with him and others who bore a conspicuous 
 
10 
 
 and controlling part in the scene, than, under other circumstances, I should 
 have been. It was then and there that I first learned the true character of 
 this great man. Discarding the prejudices of former years, and forgetting the 
 differences which had separated him from the political party with which I 
 had always been identified, I witnessed, with no ordinary satisfaction, the 
 zeal, energy, and power with which he labored to restore peace to a distracted 
 country, and give stability to the Republic. Whether agreeing with, or dif- 
 fering from him in the propositions which, from time to time, he presented to 
 the Senate and the country, I felt impressed with his ability as a statesman 
 and his sincerity as a patriot. Whatever criticisms may be made upon the 
 political life of Mr. Clay, it may be truly said of him, that he loved his country 
 with a freedom from simulation or hypocrisy that admitted of no question, 
 and a devotion that never faltered in its service. No word of mine can add 
 to his stature, or increase the regard in which his name and character are held 
 by his countrymen, but I claim the privilege, on this appropriate occasion, 
 afforded by your partiality, of uniting with them in the expression of sincere 
 regard for his memory as the ablest of statesmen, and the purest of patriots. 
 
 I am, very respectfully, your obed't serv't., 
 
 HOWELL COBB. 
 Messrs. H. T. Duncan, Benj. Gratz, Horace B. Hill, Henry Bell, Thomas A. 
 Marshall, Committee, Lexington, Ky. 
 
 Letter from Hon. R. C. Winthrop. 
 
 Boston, 25th June, 1857. 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 I have the honor to acknowledge your obliging invitation for the approach- 
 ing 4th of July. 
 
 It would afford me the highest gratification to witness the imposing cere- 
 monies with which you are about to lay the corner-stone of a Monument to 
 the great orator and statesman of the West. I should take peculiar interest 
 in listening to a fresh eulogium upon his career and character from the flow- 
 ing and gifted speaker who has been selected for the occasion, and I should 
 count myself fortunate, indeed, if I might add my humble tribute of admira- 
 tion for the many noble qualities of which Henry Clay was so long the 
 living embodiment. 
 
 Engagements at home, however, leave me no further hope of being with 
 you, and I can only offer you my grateful acknowledgments for your kind 
 remembrance of me, and my cordial sympathy in all the emotions of pride 
 and of patriotism which will be excited by the occasion. 
 
 The Lexington of Kentucky, like the Lexington of Massachusetts, will 
 more and more become a place for the pilgrimage of all who delight to recall 
 the great events and the great men of our history, — and I trust that some of 
 us, who are deprived of the satisfaction of seeing the laying of the corner- 
 stone, may find an opportunity of visiting the Monument after its "top-stone 
 shall have been brought forth with shouting." 
 
 I am, Gentlemen, with great respect, your obliged and ob't serv't.. 
 
 ROB'T C. WINTHROP. 
 H. T. Duncan, Esq., and others, Committee. 
 
 Letter from Lrastus Lrooks, Esq. 
 
 New York. June 29, '57. 
 Dear Sir: — 
 
 In answer to the very kind letter addressed, through me, to '-the Henry 
 Clay Festival Association," to be present at the laying of the corner-stone of 
 the Clay Monument on the 4th of July, I have the* honor to say that your in- 
 vitation has been most gratefully accepted. 
 
11 
 
 It will not be in the power of the Association to attend as an organization, 
 nor will any large number of members be present as Delegates, but I may 
 Bay, without pretence or affectation, that the hearts and sympathies of our 
 whole bodv will be with you at Lexington on this interesting occasion. 
 
 It is the' privilege of Kentuckians to retain within their own honored Com- 
 monwealth all that is mortal of the distinguished 'lead. The dust of the one 
 mingles with the soil of the other. And in addition to all this, from 
 beautiful Cemetery of your hospitable city, there will rise a noble column, 
 not only pointing out the dwelling place of the dead, but in its lofty eleyal 
 teaching present and future generations to aspire to imitate the patriotism 
 which it commemorates. Fours, indeed, is a great privilege,— but we of New 
 York, and Mr. Clay's countrymen every-where, feel that all have a common 
 share in the fame of one whose genius, stretching far beyond his native land, 
 was as boundless as humanity itself. 
 
 We are reminded by our meeting this evening, that just five years b 
 passed this day since Henry Clay died at the Capitol of the Nation, but p 
 ing years and* days only seem to teach us that we honor one wlio was the 
 tit particular star of his time and country. 
 
 We send you some memorials of our Association, making up a part of the 
 incidents of' its history during the twelve years past, and in the hope that it 
 may be convenient to deposit them beneath the monument, and near the cor- 
 ner-stone which is to be laid under circumstances so imposing. 
 
 With very sincere regrets that it will not be in my power to be with you 
 in person on the 4th of July, 
 
 I have the honor to be, with great respect and esteem, your friend. 
 
 EBASTUS BROOK?. 
 In behalf of the Henry Clay Festival Association 
 
 Henry T. Duncan, Esq., President Clay Monument Association. 
 
 Letter from Hon. Henry Wilson. 
 
 Natick, Mass.. June 20, 1857. 
 Gentlemen : — ■ 
 
 I have received your very kind invitation to be present on the occasion of 
 laying the corner-stone of the Monument which a grateful people are to raise 
 to* the memory of the Orator and Statesman. It would afford me the most 
 sincere gratification to unite with the people of Kentucky, on the lovely spot 
 where rest the mortal remains of Henry Clay, in laying the foundation stone 
 of the Monument which shall rise to mark the place of his last repose. It 
 was my good fortune, but a few weeks ago, to visit his home, and to stand by 
 his grave, and I can assure you that, if it was in my power, I would gladly 
 go from Massachusetts to Kentucky to unite with you, on the 4th of July, in 
 beginning, with appropriate ceremonies, the pious work of erecting a memorial 
 to the memory of a Statesman who so largely influenced the public affairs of 
 this country and age. Yours truly, 
 
 HENRY WILSON. 
 To Messrs. II. T. Duncan, Benj. Gratz, II. B. Hill, Henry Bell, and T. A. 
 
 Marshall. 
 
 Letter from Hon. Percy Walker. 
 
 Mobile, June 20, 1SG7. 
 Gentlemen : — 
 
 Your letter, inviting me to be present at the laying of the "Corner-stone of 
 the National Clay Monument'' at Lexington, on the 4th of July next, has 
 been received. 
 
 It is proper that Kentucky should pay such an honor to the memory of her 
 most distinguished citizen, to one whose genius and eloquence have shed 
 
12 
 
 upon her so much lustre — whose statesmanship was known and acknowledged 
 of all men, and whose name is one of the few that will not die. 
 
 I regret that my engagements are such as to prevent my being present 
 u;>on an occasion so suggestive of national pride — so interesting to those who 
 : 1 the lives of such men as Mr. Clay as affording the best illustration of 
 the excellence of our Republican system. 
 
 Whether on the hustings, where men were to be swayed by stirring elo- 
 quence, passionate appeals, or cogent reasoning — in the Courts, in whose calm 
 precincts, cold logic was needed, or in the Senate, where "high argument" 
 was held, he was equally at home, coercing from all the acknowledgment of 
 
 ;reat powers, and winning admiration for his knightly bearing, his • 
 drous eloquence, his undaunted courage, and sincere purpose. 
 
 Kentucky holds his ashes, but his fame forms a part of our national renown. 
 Again, regretting my inability to accept your invitation, 
 
 I am, respectfully, vour ob't. servant, 
 
 PERCY WALKER. 
 Messrs. H. T. Duncan, Benj. Gratz, II. B. Hill, Henry Bell, and T. A. Marshall, 
 Committee. 
 
 Letter from Hon. James A. Stewart. 
 
 Cambridge, Md., June 2-lth, 1857 
 Tq Messrs. II. T. Duncan, and others: 
 
 Dear Sir: — Allow me to express my profound acknowledgment for 
 honor you have conferred upon me, by your kind invitation to be present on 
 die "grateful occasion" of laying the corner-stone of the National Clay 
 Monument, at Lexington, on the ensuing 4th of July. 
 
 I have long cherished an ardent desire to view that highly favored portio;. 
 of our common Country, interesting, not only on account of the beauty of its 
 scenery and fertility of its soil, but absolutely hallowed by the associations 
 connected with the domiciliary scenes of the illustrious and world-renov 
 patriot. Such a theater must always be memorable and inciting to ever} 
 lover of his country; especially upon such a "deeply interesting occasion" 
 as you propose, would a visit be intensely agreeable to me; but, gentlemen. 
 I must forego the participation, as it is out of my power to attend. 
 
 The fame of Henry Clay is immortal, and it requires no labored edifice to 
 perpetuate his name, but it is ever grateful to our feelings, to perform a pa- 
 triotic service. The very day you have designated is peculiarly appropriate 
 for such a glorious and devotional enterprise under all the circumstances that 
 nark the present era in the country's history. 
 
 I hope all the incidents of the day and the occasion may conspire to impart 
 additional interest to the consecration of our glorious Anniversary, and giv< 
 if possible, brighter lustre to the escutcheon of all our patriot saints. 
 
 Very trulv, your ob't serv*t. 
 " ' JAMES A. STEWART. 
 
 Letter from Hon. Justin S. Morrill. 
 
 Strafford, Va., June 20, 1857. 
 
 Dear Sirs: — Your invitation to be present at the time selected, the 4th of 
 luly, to lay the Corner-Stone of the National Clay Monument, at Lexington, 
 Ky., has been received, and while I feci that no occasion would give i 
 more hallowed pleasure — paying a tribute, as I should, to the memory of the 
 idol of my boyhood, and chief in manhood — I shall be compelled to forego it. 
 md accept other and less grateful duties. 
 
 In the muster-roll of great names which our whole country loves, 
 which it should bo taught to love, there is not one which commands the suf- 
 frages of more hearts than that of the gallant Kentuckian, who would ••rather 
 be right than be President." It was a leading characteristic of him. that 
 
13 
 
 whatever his head suggested, and heart approved, found a courageous utter- 
 Certainly the whole nation approves of your design, and in its present 
 hand- it can not be tardily executed. It is eminently fitting that Kentucky 
 should lead, as well in sorrow for his irreparable loss as in honor to his 
 memory, by raising a monument worthy of him who has elevated the cha- 
 racter, not only of his own State, but of the Nation, as an orator, statesman, 
 diplomatist, and above all as A max. 
 
 Very respectfully yours, 
 
 JUSTIN S. MORRILL. 
 Messrs! II. T. Duncan, Benj. Gratz, Thos. A. Marshall, &c, of the Clay Monu- 
 ment Association, Lexington, Ky. 
 
 Letter from Hon. Aaron V. Brown. 
 
 Washington, June 22d, 1857. 
 Gentlemen : — 
 
 I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your invitation to be 
 present at the laying of the corner-stone of the National Clay Monument. 
 
 The day — the place — the orator selected, and most of all the many Na- 
 tional Associations which cluster around the great name which that Monu- 
 ment is to bear, will truly make it a "deeply interesting and grateful occa- 
 sion.'' 
 
 For nearly half a century the giant-names of America have been those of 
 Jackson, Clay, Calhoun, Adams, and Webster. Around them parties have 
 been formed and political battles have been fought, with a skill and fortitude 
 never surpassed. But they have all now gone down to the grave. The 
 vehement passions have subsided which a noble and generous rivalry for 
 fame and the advancement of their country" s good had engendered, and now 
 : rateful ami admiring country is building monuments to their memory. 
 
 Three of them died at the Capitol, exhibiting, in their exit, the most sublime 
 and instructive moral spectacle ever presented to their countrymen. A spec- 
 tacle of noble and generous confidence in each other, notwithstanding the 
 wide ditferences of opinion which had separated them through their lives. 
 
 When the dead body of Mr. Calhoun, the first of this great trio who de- 
 parted, was borne into the Senate Chamber, among the crowd of Senators 
 who assembled to pay the last sad tokens of respect, you saw the tall and 
 manly form of your own great Statesman and Orator, you heard and felt the 
 touching tones of his eloquence, when advancing and standing over the mor. 
 tal remains of his great compeer, he exclaimed : " Mr. President, I was hi? 
 'senior in years — nothing else. According to the course of nature, I ought 
 •to have preceded him. It has been decreed otherwise: But I know that I 
 'shall liniar here only a short time, and shall soon follow him. And how 
 'brief is the period of human existence allotted even to the oldest among 
 'us! Sir, ought we not to profit by the contemplation of this melancholy 
 'occasion? Ought we not to draw from it the conclusion, how unwise it is 
 'to yield ourselves to the sway of the animosities of party feeling? How 
 ' wrong to indulge in those unhappy and hot strifes which too often exas- 
 ite our feelings and mislead our judgments in the discharge of the high 
 ■aud responsible duties which we are called on to perform." 
 
 Excellent, noble sentiments ! When did a Nation ever stand in greater 
 need of such counsel? We can well imagine that we almost hear his com- 
 mands to us as we rear his Monument, to engrave upon it for the benefit of 
 all his countrymen, this motto, — "Let your virtues, not your passions, be 
 immortal." 
 
 The prophecy of Mr. Clay, " I, too, shall soon follow him," was not long ir. 
 its fulfillment. 
 
 On the 1st day of July, 1852, the mortal remains of Mr. Clay were borne 
 into the same hall and surrounded by very nearly the same Senators, who. 
 
14 
 
 one by one, imitated the great example which he had set them only two 
 short years before. One of his ablest opponents, Gen. Cass, who had fought 
 aps, more pitched battles against him than any one else on the stage of 
 ai tion (save, perhaps, Mr. Benton,) came forward, and whilst gazing upon 
 his inanimate remains, exclaimed: "Another great man has fallen in our 
 land, ripe, indeed, in years and in honors, but never dearer to the American 
 people than when called from the theater of his services and renown to that 
 final bar where the lofty and lovely must all meet at last. But he has passed 
 beyond the reach of human praise or censure, and his name and fame will 
 be proudly cherished in the hearts of his countrymen for long ages to com 
 —yes, they will be cherished and freshly remembered when these marbl 
 columns shall themselves have fallen, like all the works of man, leaving 
 their broken fragments to tell the story of former magnificence, amid the 
 \ crv ruins which announce decay and desolation." 
 
 The portals of the tomb had but just closed upon the remains of Mr. Clay. 
 before they were opened to receive those of Mr. Webster, who, though breathing 
 his last not at the Capitol, but at his own favorite Marshfield, received for 
 his virtues and his talents the profoundest homage from those who, during a 
 long life, had differed from him in opinion. 
 
 These three examples of doing justice to political opponents, of which Mr. 
 Clay's was the first, and perhaps the most salutary in its influence, ought 
 never to be lost sight of. No reference to them can be too frequent, no de- 
 scription of them, however imperfect, can be too often attempted. If differ- 
 ences in political opinions are to grow into enmities, and these enmities are 
 to last for ever, then it is no infidelity to say, that man was made for war and 
 havoc, and not for the high purposes of enlightened Christian civilization. 
 
 But I forbear. Official duties at the Capitol will forbid my presence, and 
 I must be content to send you the assurance, that although absent in person. 
 my spirit will mingle freely with yours on the great occasion, in paying the 
 highest honors to the genius, eloquence and patriotism of Henry Clay. 
 I am, very trulv, your ob't serv't, 
 
 AARON V. BROWN. 
 To Messrs. H. T. Duncan, Benj. Gratz, and others, Committee, &c. 
 
 Letter from lion. J. Morrison Harris. 
 
 Baltimore, June 27, 1857. 
 
 Gentlemen : — 
 
 I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your invitation to attend 
 upon the ceremonies incident to laying the corner-stone of your proposed 
 Monument to Henrv Clay, on the 4th of July, proximo. 
 
 I do not know any thing of a public national character from which I would 
 derive more pleasure, than such an occasion, occurring as it docs, at the old 
 home of the immortal man whom it is intended to honor, and thus sur- 
 rounded with associations of deepest interest. It may will be said of Henry 
 I 'lav. that he needs no monument to perpetuate his great fame in the 
 memory of the American people, his career of illustrious services bi 
 memorial enough; but I can readily understand with how much of pridi 
 and satisfaction the people of Kentucky, as of the country at large, will 
 always contemplate the Monument which you propose to associate with his 
 
 name. 
 
 I greatly regret that business engagements will deprive me of the pleasure 
 of witnessing your ceremonies, and wishing you the greatest success in your 
 undertaking I have the honor to be, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 J. MORRISON HARRIS. 
 Messrs. II. T. Duncan, and others, Committee, Lexington. 
 
15 
 
 Letter from Hon. Witt. D. Leu-is. 
 
 Philadelphia, July 1, 1857. 
 Gentlemen : — 
 
 The possibility of my being able to avail myself of your invitation to be 
 present at the imposing ceremony to take place on the 4th inst., of laying 
 the corner-stone of the National Clay Monument, at Lexington, has induced 
 me to delay till the last moment apologizing for my necessary absence. 
 
 Believe me, I yield to this necessity with sincere regret, having been 
 honored from early life with the friendship of the great Statesman, in 
 remembrance of whom you are about to assemble, and whose name and 
 services are the common property of his country. His public acts and 
 beneficent policy are known to the Nation, but the frankness of his nature 
 and nobleness of his heart were known to me as they could have been 
 known to but few, even of his immediate fellow-citizens. It would have, 
 therefore, been to me a melancholy satisfaction to Lave witnessed the initia- 
 tory proceedings towards rearing a Monument, which may for a time be a 
 visible memento of the illustrious deceased, although, however stable it may 
 be, it will be long outlived by his fame. 
 
 With great respect and regard, 
 I remain, Gentlemen, 
 
 Your friend and servant, 
 
 WM. D. LEWIS. 
 Messrs. H. T. Duncan, B. Gratz, II. B. Hill, Henry Bell, and Thos. A. Mar- 
 shall, Committee, Lexington, Ky. 
 
 Letter from Hon. Thos. L. Harris. 
 
 Petersburg, III., June 23d, 1857. 
 Gentlemen : — 
 
 I thank you for the invitation you have given me, to attend the ceremony 
 of laying the corner-stone of the "National Clay Monument." Nothing 
 could afford me greater satisfaction, than to be present on such an occasion, 
 and join in bearing testimony to the eminent talents and patriotism of that 
 wonderful man. 
 
 I was not originally a political friend of Mr. Clay ; but co-operating with 
 him in the passage of the adjustment measures of 1850, and sharing his ac- 
 quaintance and confidence during that memorable struggle, all antipathies 
 were forgotten in admiration of his patriotism and eloquence, which never 
 were more conspicuous than during that season of public peril. From that 
 time forward, no one has entertained for Mr. Clay, or his memory, higher 
 regard than myself, which I shall manifest, if in my power, by being present 
 on the day you have so properly chosen to inaugurate your memorial, which, 
 however splendid or enduring it may be, cannot, in these respects, equal his 
 fame, or adequately bear testimony to his public service. 
 
 I am your obedient servant, 
 
 THOS. L. HARRIS. 
 Messrs. H. T. Duncan, Benj. Gratz, Horace B. Hill, Henry Bell, Thos. A. 
 
 Marshall. 
 
 Letter from Hon. Jacob Broom. 
 
 Philadelphia, June 30, 1857. 
 Gentlemen : — 
 
 I regret that existing engagements will deny me the pleasure of accepting 
 your kind invitation to be present on the 4th day of July next, at the laying 
 of the corner-stone of the National Clay Monument. 
 
 Although absent, I may nevertheless be permitted to express the great 
 pleasure I experienced in witnessing those emotions of patriotism and na- 
 
16 
 
 tional pride which lead the American people to commemorate the public 
 virtues of our eminent and illustrious countrymen. It is, indeed, the pulse 
 which indicates the health of the nation; for when that pulse shall beat but 
 feebly, it will be an evidence of impaired vigor, if not of constitutional de- 
 cay. " On the other hand, a lively and grateful recollection of the character 
 and services of those who have devoted the best energies of life to the wel- 
 fare of their country, imparts a healthful vigor to the body politic, and 
 animates with noble impulses the spirit of its members. 
 
 In common with my countrymen, especially with those assembled on this 
 interesting occasion, I hail with pride and delight this manifestation of a 
 people's gratitude to the memory of an able and devoted patriot, who, by his 
 ardent love of eountry, and fervent zeal for its welfare, has rendered his 
 name immortal. Yes! give to his memory a National monument, for he was 
 himself an ornament to the Nation. "With a spirit far above the mere affairs 
 of party, he could join the immortal Webster and Calhoun in laying their 
 hearts upon the altar of their country, and, in forgetfulness of party, with 
 the incense of patriotism, dispel the clouds of danger which lowered over 
 our National Union. 
 
 " Honor to his Memory, Peace to his Ashes." 
 
 Very respectfully, your ob"t serrt, 
 
 JACOB BROOM. 
 Messrs. H. T. Duncan, Benjamin Gratz, Horace B. Hill, Henry Bell, Thos. A. 
 
 Marshall, Committee of " Clay Monument Association." 
 
AN ORATION 
 
 TO COMMEMORATE 
 
 HENRY CLAY; 
 
 DELIVERED IN TIIE AS[PHITHEATRE OF THE FAIR GROUND, 
 
 AT LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY, 
 
 ON TUB 
 
 OCCASION OF LAYING THE CORNER STONE 
 
 OF TIIE 
 
 luteal Clan |Hommunf, 
 
 ON THE FOURTH DAY OF JULY", 1857, 
 
 BY ROBERT J. BRECKINRIDGE. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION: 
 
 IN AID OK TIIE MONUMENTAL FUND. 
 
 1857. 
 
ORATION. 
 
 My Countrymen: 
 
 It is by no choice of mine, that, bent under the 
 infirmities of advancing age, and enfeebled by the ravages 
 of protracted suffering, I stand here to-day to discharge a 
 duty I have not been permitted to decline. Five years 
 ago, when the remains of Mr. Clay were brought back to 
 us, they who had in charge the solemnities of that occa- 
 sion, hardly excused my utter inability, from physical pros- 
 tration, to discharge a duty similar to this. There were 
 personal and there were public reasons, there were consid- 
 erations made sacred by ancestral ties, which forbade me, 
 all unfit as I am, thus doubly urged, to refuse what powers 
 are left me, to this great occasion, — this last testimony of 
 the generation to which I belong, and of my own people 
 amongst whom I dwell. We have done all that mortals can. 
 One line upon the base of that monument whose founda- 
 tion we have this day laid, will express our finished work. 
 Inscribe upon it, A Grateful Country to her Great 
 Citizen. 
 
 It only remains that I attempt to anticipate the judg 
 ment of posterity. Let us throw ourselves forward intc 
 coming ages, and mingle our thoughts with the thoughts 
 of our children's children, and strive to make articulate 
 that great and distant award. It is the lot of man to be 
 forgotten ; the lot even of greatness to be obscured, as name 
 
 19 
 
20 
 
 after name is added to the roll which envelops all genera- 
 tions. As the eager footsteps of our race advance, and 
 the Past recedes further and further, mankind can cherish 
 only the greatest names ; and even these rather in their 
 vital spirit than in the minute record of their achievements. 
 Here, to-day, by the unanimous judgment of the living 
 generation, we are dealing with a name which cannot be 
 forgotten. But let us respect the necessities of posterity, 
 the very weakness of humanity, the inexorable demands 
 of time, nay, the very nature of fame itself. It is not so 
 much the particular acts of the most illustrious man, as it 
 is the man himself, that distant generations can appreciate. 
 It is the sum and spirit of a grand career, and not its 
 separate parts which after ages cherish. Nor is it even the 
 man and the career considered of themselves ; high as he 
 may have risen, and long and glorious as it may have been, 
 that can justify the highest judgment of posterity. The 
 temper of the age in which he lived, and the manner in 
 which it affected him, and he controlled it ; the point at 
 which he startled — the difficulties he surmounted — the ri- 
 valry he overcame — the ends at which he aimed — the 
 means by which he wrought ; the theatre on which he act- 
 ed — the spirit of his whole course — the tenor and influence 
 of his life, — all, all must pass that high and just ordeal, 
 and must incur that irreversible decree, after which alone 
 is enduring fame. If our applause shall be the echo of the 
 applause of distant generations, the grand condition is, that 
 it must be the truthful and impartial result of a scrutiny 
 like this. Every great thought is imperishable ; but it 
 must be supremely great to abide forever in its separate 
 form. Every great name is a part of the influence which 
 pervades all generations; but its light must be transcendent, 
 to abide singly and in its distinct glory, as ages pass away. 
 
21 
 
 Henry Clay was born in the county of Hanover, near 
 Richmond, the Capitol of the ancient Colony of Virginia, on 
 the 12th day of April 1777. lie died at Washington 
 City, the Capitol of the United States of America, while 
 serving as a Senator from the commonwealth of Kentucky 
 in the national Congress, on the 29th day of June, 1 852. 1 lis 
 public life, from his commencement of the practice of the 
 law till his death, lasted about fifty five years, far the great- 
 er part of which was passed in the service of his country; 
 — a public life hardly matched in its duration and splendor 
 by any other in our annals. He lived a little over seven- 
 ty-five years ; three quarters of a century more fruitful in 
 events, or more decisive in their -influence upon human so- 
 ciety, had hardly occurred in the history of mankind. Be- 
 hold that fair haired Colonial child, born in obscurity ; and 
 then behold that majestic dying sage, with the eager gaze 
 of many millions of freemen fixed upon him ! Behold the 
 glorious life which lies between these two periods ; and then 
 behold the period of the world's history covered by that 
 long life ! An inheritance, as he said himself, of indigence 
 and ignorance, resulting in every form of greatness to which 
 his efforts had been directed, and in unquestioned pre-em- 
 inence as the first citizen; the first parliamentary leader, 
 and the first Senator in the world ! An existence whose 
 commencement witnessed the first upheavings of the nation 
 in its earliest struggle for a new and free life; whose progress 
 ran parallel with the mighty progress of the nation itself and 
 with events unprecedented in their force and efficacy, which 
 shook all other nations ; and whose mortal close rested 
 upon a universal state of human affairs, and upon abroad 
 and settled glory of his own people, as widely different 
 from the condition which his birth had witnessed, as his 
 own humble infancy differed from the splendor of his ma- 
 
22 
 
 tared triumph. It is a period and scene of things, in 
 which it was no common fortune to live and act. The time, 
 the actors, and the events, are such, that there is glory 
 even to have partaken with them. How much more to 
 have risen, and been maintained by the love and venera- 
 tion of a great people, in a position of habitual if not chief 
 influence in such an em ; and leaving it only to enter upon 
 a higher state of being, to leave behind no single man 
 qualified to take his vacant place ! 
 
 It was about eight months after the Continental Con- 
 gress had issued from the city of Philadelphia, the immor- 
 tal Declaration of Independence, in the name of the people 
 of the United States, that the pious wife of a faithful and 
 laborious Baptist minister, far off in Virginia, gave birth 
 to her seventh child. Another being added to the innumer- 
 able multitude whose common lot it is to come, and go, and 
 be forgotten. A little circle of loving hearts accepting a 
 common but yet precious boon, one more pledge to occupy 
 their lives. How were they to conceive that God had be- 
 stowed upon them so great a gift ? How could any mortal 
 suspect, that herein lay concealed a force which at the end 
 of three quarters of a century should be felt wherever true 
 greatness was revered, — a spirit whose mortal influence 
 should surmount the grave, and diffuse itself for good over 
 many generations ? And yet it is impossible to conceive 
 that any training could have been more thorough and 
 complete than that which the scenes, the events, the asso 
 ciations, and the employments, through which he passed 
 during his whole life, furnished for the development of the 
 great nature and gifts of this wonderful man. The lan- 
 guage which he learned to speak, was replenished with the 
 divine truth which pervades a christian household, and 
 with the fervent patriotism of a whole people struggling 
 
23 
 
 against odds too great to be counted, for ends more sacred 
 than life itself. The first words he understood were words 
 which sunk into his heart for ever, — Country, Liberty, In- 
 dependence. The first names he heard beyond his father's 
 threshold, were names that will live for ever, — the name 
 of his neighbor Henry, the prince of orators and patriots, 
 —the name of his fellow- Virginian, Washington, the first 
 of mortals. As he was taught to know those who lived 
 and died around him, he was taught at the same time the 
 nature of the struggle which raged so fiercely. Such an 
 one had borne himself bravely in the deadly peril ; such 
 an one had triumphed gloriously, and such an one had 
 fallen still more gloriously ; such an one had given all ghe 
 had to her country, and though her heart was broken she 
 did not repine. And as his quick intelligence sought be- 
 yond the limits of his own circle, and beyond the limits 
 of his own commonwealth, to know his whole country and 
 its people, it was still by means of imperishable names and 
 deeds, that his spirit opened to them all. This is Bunker 
 Hill, — the earth shall melt before its name can be forgot- 
 ten : this is Charleston, and this is Eutaw, and this Bran- 
 dywine, and this Monmouth, — all glory to their heroic 
 names : this is King's Mountain, and this is Saratoga, and 
 this is Yorktown, — and lo ! our oppressors have bit the 
 dust. And this loud acclaim, bursting from the grateful 
 hearts of a free people, and swelling in solemn unison over 
 a redeemed Continent, and this great shout of triumph, 
 make articulate to his young heart, that Country, and 
 Liberty, and Independence which he had learned before, arc 
 but other words for Patriots, Heroes, and Sages ; that tri- 
 umph is but another name for God's blessing on the right ! 
 Such was the earliest training of this child, born of 
 English parents in the middle condition of life, both of 
 
>24 
 
 whom were descended from early emigrants to the colony. 
 One great domestic incident marked this period ; he lost 
 his father when he was about four years of age. Who 
 that has not tried can tell the perils and sorrows of any 
 orphanage, and more than any, one of indigence? And 
 yet it is most wonderful how signal is the care of God for 
 the bereft seed of his own children, and how marvel- 
 ously frequent is his choice of such, as instruments of the 
 greatest works he accomplishes through human hands? 
 In this case it is not hard to understand how the relation 
 of such an orphan boy to such a widowed mother, situated 
 as they were, and passing through such a period, must 
 have been productive of the most important effects upon 
 his character. And it is easy to see how such a condition 
 would make more striking every special interposition of 
 Divine Providence, in behalf of one springing from an 
 estate so destitute, and led by ways so unusual, and yet so 
 effective, to an eminence so great, so early, and so lasting. 
 
 The second period of Mr. Clay's life commenced with 
 his removal to Richmond, when he was fourteen years of 
 age. He had received but three years' instruction at 
 school ; nor had he advanced farther than the simplest 
 elements of knowledge, during this comparatively short 
 period, under the instructions of Peter Deacon, of whom 
 little is known except that he was the only teacher of 
 Henry Clay. He was now placed by Captain Henry 
 Watkins, whom his mother had married, in the store o 
 Richard Denny, of Richmond. At the end of a year 
 Peter Tinsley, of Richmond, Clerk of the High Court of 
 Chancery, of Virginia, gave him a situation in his office; 
 and about the same time, namely 1702, his mother 
 removed with his step-father to Kentucky. Thus he who 
 
25 
 
 had been left an orphan at four years of age, now 
 at the age of fifteen years, with such advantages of 
 instruction as three years' schooling in the Slashes of 
 Hanover, and one year's attendance in a retail store in 
 Richmond, might be supposed to offer, according to his 
 own statement, was left to his own control in the city of 
 Richmond, without a guardian and without pecuniary 
 means of support, to make good his way in life from the 
 stool of a junior clerk in the Chancery Court. And he 
 did make good his way. What an illustrious commentary 
 is this, at once upon the nature which God had bestowed 
 on this wonderful man, upon the folly of our common 
 notions regarding the true nature of education itself, and 
 upon the character of our people, our institutions, and our 
 limes! That solitary, indigent, and illiterate boy— to all 
 outward appearance might as well expect to scale the 
 h.avens, as expect to occupy a seat in the Senate of the 
 United States, within less than fifteen years after he took 
 his seat in that Chancery Clerk's office. To the eye of 
 man, that slender lad at his daily irksome toil, would have 
 been almost the last child of the Republic apt to become 
 the greatest Tribune of the people this nation has ever 
 beheld, and perhaps the first leader and ruler of great 
 Legislative Assemblies the world has ever produced. But 
 he who could have seen what powers lay hid in that frail tene- 
 ment; he who could estimate aright the past and the 
 future training by which those powers had already been 
 quickened into action, and would be more and more 
 d sveloped ; he who could have foreseen the great occasions 
 which must come, and the fervor with which they would 
 be seized, and the enthusiasm with which men would hail 
 the advent of one, whose lofty impulses were but reflec- 
 tions of their own best desires ; to such a scrutiny as this, 
 
26 
 
 nothing future and contingent could be more assured, than 
 the great career to which this youth was destined. 
 
 Five years of his life were spent in Richmond, after his 
 entrance upon his Chancery Clerkship ; four of these years 
 were occupied in constant intercourse with Chancellor 
 Wythe, one of the ablest, best, and most learned men 01 
 a period and a Commonwealth renowned for great citizens 
 At first he was merely his official clerk; soon he became 
 his amanuensis, his pupil, his fellow student, his compan- 
 ion, his friend. So deep was his sense of what he owed 
 to this accomplished man, that he named his first son after 
 him. These four years reveal to us a thousand secrets of 
 the life and accomplishments of Henry Clay. A genius 
 rarely matched, had been prepared by a training singular 
 but most powerful; and now the hour and the man had 
 come, to light the pile, to fan the flame, to shape and 
 polish the exquisite material. It cannot be said that Mr. 
 Clay was habitually a student through life ; but no one 
 ever found him ignorant of any thing. It cannot be said 
 1 hat he was highly learned in any department of human 
 knowledge ; but he had that higher and broader insight 
 into most parts of knowledge, and that wide and strong 
 grasp of the very essence and element of knowledge itself 
 — whereby the proportions of all truth become clearest to 
 the highest intellects. It cannot be said that he was highly 
 refined in any part of learning ; but yet while no man has 
 written or spoken more, and none with less regard to mere 
 elegance, no English style is clearer, or purer than his — 
 and no productions so voluminous in any language will 
 endure a severer ordeal of criticism. Nothing in the 
 career of this remarkable man is more striking and influ- 
 ential, than his long and intimate training under the eye 
 of Chancellor Wythe. That venerable man, in the maturity 
 
27 
 
 of his great powers, and the ripeness of his immense 
 attainments, watching over, stimulating, and directing for 
 years together, the earnest and intrepid intellect which he 
 had found, Lost as it were, by the wayside of life. The 
 quick and ardent spirit of the youth, ripening into manhood 
 under the daily lessons of age made illustrious by great 
 services, great attainments, and great virtues. It is a 
 spectacle not more touching in itself than it is explanatory 
 of the subsequent career of Mr. Clay. It is thus that 
 great masters have always been accustomed to form their 
 greatest pupils. It is thus that the highest impulses are 
 given to the human spirit, and received by it. It is thus 
 that the greatest intellects perpetuate their force; that the 
 highest processes of the human understanding become 
 familial — the deepest secrets of human thought are care- 
 fully explored — and the highest forms of knowledge itself 
 are made distinct. 
 
 The remaining year which Mr. Clay spent in Richmond, 
 was especially devoted to the study of law, as his future 
 profession, in the office of Mr. Brooke, at one time Gover- 
 nor of the State, but then its Attorney General. In 
 1797, being twenty years of age, he was licensed to prac- 
 tise law by the Court of Appeals of Virginia. It is to be 
 remembered, also, that during the whole period he resided 
 in Richmond, six years in all, five of them were passed in 
 continual relations with the legal profession — a large part 
 of them in habitual intercourse with the greatest lawyers 
 of that age, amongst whom was John Marshall, afterwards 
 confessedly the greatest judge our' country has produced. 
 There is no marvel, therefore, that Mr. Clay rose so rap- 
 idly to such great eminence at the bar: nor that he main- 
 tained his great position through life — notwithstanding the 
 practice of his profession was, during the greater part of 
 
28 
 
 his career, but incidental and irregular. Nor should it be 
 forgotten that daring his early life, to the completion of 
 his twentieth year, Richmond, in the vicinity of which he 
 had passed his fourteen earliest years, and in which he had 
 passed the six succeeding years, was not only the focus of 
 all that was most illustrious in Virginia, but also one of 
 the chief centres of influence, touching all national affairs. 
 There was the annual assembly of the Legislature of the 
 State; there the highest judicial tribunals sat; there the 
 highest public officers resided ; there the chief men of the 
 Commonwealth resorted on all great occasions ; there 
 Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Marshall, and how many 
 more, had made a peculiar fame, dearer, if not so august 
 as that which filled the nation with their praise ; and there 
 Tazewell, and Walter Jones, and Robinson, and Taylor, 
 and Nicholas, and Root, and how many more, his imme- 
 diate compeers, were laying, like himself, deep foundations 
 for future eminence. And how many great questions of 
 war and peace — of government and legislation — of for- 
 eign and domestic policy, had been decided in his sight 
 and in his hearing, during those twenty years ! The war 
 of the Revolution — the glorious peace it conquered — the 
 gradual conviction of the nation against the old Confeder- 
 ation — the formation of the present Federal Constitution — 
 the State 'Conventions which sat upon it — the establish- 
 ment of the new National Government — the election and 
 Administration of Washington — the rise and gradual 
 formation of National Parties — the election of the Second 
 President of the United States, co-incidentallv with the 
 emigration of Mr. Clay to Kentucky. This second period 
 in his life could not have been less fruitful in its influence 
 on him — nay, may have been far more fruitful than the 
 first. lie was now a man, and about to launch fearlessly 
 
29 
 
 upon the stream of life. With what powers, with what 
 attainments, with what success, he would soon make manifest, 
 and all men now fully know. With what previous training, 
 upon what grounds to account to posterity for all that 
 followed, it has been my object to disclose. There is no 
 miracle in greatness : there is no miracle in fortune. That 
 which goes before, embraces all that follows after. The 
 gifts of God are uncontrollable by man : the Providence 
 of God is irresistible by man. But the lesson of all 
 greatness is a true lesson. A lesson often ill read by 
 men : seldom unravelled fully : but full of truth and 
 power to all who will study it aright. 
 
 At twenty years of age Mr. Clay took up his abode in 
 Lexington, Ky. in the year 1797, and commenced the third 
 period of his life. Here he remained till his death, fifty- 
 five years afterwards, a resident in this city or its immedi- 
 ate vicinage. He entered immediately upon the practice 
 of his profession, and rose rapidly to great distinction in 
 it. Two years afterwards he married Lucretia Hart, a 
 daughter of one of the earliest and most important citizens 
 of Lexington ; who still survives, an object of respect and 
 veneration to us all. The surviving members of his num- 
 erous family of children are also in our midst. In 1803 
 he was elected for the first time to the lower house of the 
 Kentucky Legislature ; and before 1811, when he com- 
 menced his career as a member of the lower house of Con- 
 gress, he had served five or six years in the Kentucky 
 House of Representatives, two or three times as Speaker of 
 that body, and also in the Senate of the United States, first 
 during the year 180G, and afterwards during the years 
 1809 and 1810. This lapse of thirteen years from 1797 
 to 1811, constitutes the third period of Mr. Clay's career; 
 
30 
 
 at the close of which we find him in his thirty fourth year, 
 taking rank, by universal consent, with the first lawyers, 
 the first politicians, the first orators, and the first states- 
 men of his time. The training which the Revolution itself 
 had commenced, which all that was striking and effective in 
 Virginia had developed and advanced, is now completed in 
 the bosom of Kentucky, and in the Senate of the nation. 
 The point which he has reached may justly be considered 
 one at winch few, even of those who are esteemed great and 
 fortunate, ever arrive. With him it is rather the point at 
 which his peculiar glory starts ; insomuch that none have 
 thought it needful hitherto, even to trace the influence of 
 all that went before, upon the great glory which followed. 
 In this, as in the two preceding periods, let me briefly at- 
 tempt to supply this omission. 
 
 Kentucky had been separated from Virginia, and had 
 become a sovereign State in 1792 ; the first and fairest 
 daughter of the Revolution ! Her people were in chief 
 part emigrants from Virginia — and of them an immense 
 proportion were officers and soldiers of the Revolution, who 
 had found themselves at the close of that great struggle, 
 broken in fortune by the sacrifices their country had ex- 
 acted, not always generously, and unfitted in some degree, 
 by a long war, for many of the common demands of life. 
 They turned their resolute faces to this beautiful country, 
 and wrested from savages, through a conflict longer and 
 fiercer than the one they had waged before, the bounty lands 
 which their parent Commonwealth had bestowed on them 
 as a partial recompence for their Revolutionary services. 
 They were simple and heroic men: and whatever there may be 
 of good or powerful in the character of our people now, 
 one fountain of it was in their veins. To them were 
 added, at a later period, multitudes of emigrants from 
 
/ 
 
 31 
 
 most of the middle and southern States, men in general not 
 dissimilar from them, and embracing every condition of 
 life. In the midst of this strong, peculiar, and homoge- 
 neous population, about twenty years after the first white 
 settlement had been attempted, Mr! Clay cast his lot for 
 life. After the lapse of more than seventy years since a 
 regular government was formed amongst us, we are not 
 even yet so tamed that feeble men can rise to permanent 
 distinction. Sixty years ago, in the bloom of early man- 
 hood, without patrons, without the favor of the great 
 or opulent, without the means of paying his weekly 
 board, as he himself described his condition in the 
 most public and formal manner forty five years afterwards, 
 Mr. Clay commenced his professional career in such a com- 
 munity, and as he habitualy declared, in the midst of a 
 bar uncommonly distinguished by eminent members. How 
 just that estimate was, may be easily understood, when we 
 call to mind that amongst the junior members of that bar 
 were James Brown afterwards of Louisiana, and Joseph II. 
 Daviess who fell at Tippecanoe ; and that its leaders were 
 George Nicholas, the drafter of the Kentucky Constitution 
 of 1792, and the elder John Breckinridge, the drafter of 
 the Constitution of 1798—9, the author of those famous 
 Kentucky Resolutions of 1798, which give the first organ- 
 ized expression to the constitutional doctrines of the old 
 Democratic party — and afterwards the leading advocate of 
 those doctrines in the Senate of the United States. The 
 influence of this Kentucky training upon Mr. Clay, and 
 the impression he produced and continually strengthened 
 upon such a community, is well enough expressed by say- 
 ing that of the first thirteen years he spent eight or nine 
 in the Legislature of the State, and the Senate of the 
 United States ; and that from his first election in 1803, 
 
32 
 
 till his death in 1852 — during fifty years spent chiefly in 
 the public service and occupied with every important topic 
 which agitated the human mind during that eventful period, 
 Kentucky not only refused him nothing, but habitually 
 and joyfully trusted and honored him. 
 
 During these thirteen years, Mr. Clay enjoyed a full and 
 lucrative practice and reached great eminence in various 
 departments of his noble profession. Such is the nature 
 of human society, that in all free countries the first lawyer 
 in any community is its first citizen ; and in proportion as 
 the government is popular in its nature, and the exigencies 
 of society are unusual, political eminence is the natural in- 
 heritance of the leaders of the legal profession, and public 
 employments are thrust upon them. It is a glorious in- 
 heritance ; and it were well if men understood better the 
 conditions on which, alone, it ought to be acquired — and 
 felt more deeply the sacred trust which its enjoyment im- 
 plies. That Mr. Clay's professional success should con- 
 duct him directly to political life, was a result unavoidable 
 except by his own refusal of that preferment which is the 
 most seductive to ardent minds. Having once entered with 
 success upon such a career, the difficulties of retreat and 
 the inducements to advance became more serious at every 
 step ; while the professional distinction which opened and 
 constantly widened the new career, furnished, by the varied 
 training which had led to it, a fitness for this higher form 
 of public life. The science of government is, indeed, a 
 far higher science, than the science of merely remedial jus- 
 tice, which is but one department of it ; and the duties of 
 true statemanship exceed in importance all other public 
 duties which mortals can discharge. Entering upon a 
 career of public service which continued half a century, 
 and terminated only with his life, there was much that was 
 
33 
 
 striking in the period itself, as well as in all that was per- 
 sonal to Mr. Clay. The dependence of the Colonies upon 
 a distant government superior to their own, had always 
 limited their absolute independence : and the powers of the 
 Continental Congress, — though extremely limited and not 
 perfectly denned, had made the Confederation in effect a 
 Government. It was not therefore a condition wholly new 
 — but it was, nevertheless, one very different from any they 
 had occupied before, which the American States assumed 
 when the Federal . Government was organized under the 
 new Constitution in 1789. The character, the abilities, and 
 the virtues of Washington, added to the recollection of past 
 services which were above all price, had prevented the form- 
 ation of an organized opposition during his Administration 
 of eight years, which terminated at the period of Mr. Clay's 
 settlement in Kentucky. But the new Constitution had not 
 been adopted without serious opposition, and considerable 
 amendment: and while the very theory of the Constitution, 
 even if perfectly settled and accepted, touching the grand 
 question of power between it and the several States, would 
 have required the most careful handling during the first 
 years of the new National Government, if not, indeed, at all 
 times : in point of fact, no distinct theory was generally ac- 
 cepted — and parties were gradually maturing those conflict- 
 ing systems of opinion, which divide the country to the pres- 
 ent moment The passage of the Alien and Sedition Laws 
 during the Administration of the elder Adams, followed by 
 other acts only less obnoxious than they, produced that 
 »vide outburst of national opposition, which, nourished by 
 other causes, brought the old Democratic party into per- 
 manent control of the Federal Government, and placed Mr. 
 Jefeeeson in the Presidency, in 1801. In the mean time, 
 
 the foreign policy of the Government tended to the divi- 
 3 
 
34 
 
 sion of opinion, in a line very nearly parallel with that al- 
 ready indicated, touching the nature of the Constitution it- 
 self. The treaty negoeiated with Great Britain, by Mr. Jay, 
 during the second term of General Washington's Adniin- 
 ist ration, had produced great dissatisfation in the country ; 
 and the deep sympathy of the American people with the 
 progress of the first Revolution in France, produced a cer- 
 tain anxiety in the public mind, at the supposed want of 
 such a sympathy on the part of our Government, almost 
 from its commencement. Toward the close of the last 
 century, these various subjects had excited in the whole 
 nation a high degree of political interest — and had pro- 
 duced the most thorough party divisions. In Kentucky, 
 there were special causes to augment the agitation, which 
 pervaded the minds of men. She was on the eve of mak- 
 iii"- her second Constitution — and in addition to all other 
 fundamental questions, was about to determine that one 
 concerning the hereditary Slavery of the black race, which 
 still clings like a mighty parasite to the whole fabric of 
 our peculiar civilization, and our double system of Govern- 
 ments. She was moreover so vitally involved in that por- 
 tion of the foreign policy of the nation, which concerned 
 the country beyond the Mississippi, and on both sides of 
 its lower course, as well as the exclusive national use of the 
 majestic stream itself; that nothing but the acquisition of 
 Louisiana by the Federal Government, would probably haw- 
 prevented the people of the West from anticipating by hah 
 a century, that form of individual conquest and organized 
 personal war, which has become, in our day. an element in 
 the movement of society. There were besides, questions 
 less deeply seated, but still immense : questions of finance, 
 of the currency, and of banking — questions of internal im- 
 provement, questions of the Federal Judiciary, and the 
 
35 
 
 powers of Congress relative thereto, questions of the pub- 
 lie lands, questions of the Indian Tribes and Indian wars, 
 questions of the formation of "New States. Such is a mere 
 sketch, designed only to convey some idea of his topics, 
 as before of his associates and his theatre of action, during 
 the thirteen years immediately following Mr. Clay's emi- 
 gration to Kentucky, and immediately productive of the 
 ereai career which he commenced as Speaker of the Lower 
 House of Congress, in 1811. They who are familiar with 
 his opinions and public services, and who are conversant 
 with the civil and political history of the country, will per- 
 ceive at once- from the topics I have enumerated, how 
 mam' of the great principles which regulated all his public 
 conduct, were definitively settled and announced during 
 these thirteen years ; how many of the most difficult ques- 
 tions he was ever called to handle, were carefully investi- 
 gated at this early period ; how many of the greatest efforts 
 of his subsequent life have their germ here. On one single 
 topic of capital importance, connected in its origin with this 
 period of his life, he saw cause afterwards to modify, if not 
 to change an opinion deliberately formed. It is the single 
 incident of the kind, which his long public service fur- 
 nishes ; and it was avowed with perfect frankness, defin- 
 ed with consummate skill, and defended with great and 
 characteristic force. As a Senator in Congress, in the 
 Session of 1810, he resisted with all his force the re- 
 chartering of the Bank of the United States: as a member 
 of the House of Representatives in 1S1G, and repeatedly 
 afterwards, he urged with equal earnestness, the charter- 
 ing of a Bank of the United States. His reasons on both 
 those occasions, are preserved in his published works. — 
 The incident itself illlustrates some of the greatest qualities 
 of his mind : the steadfastness of his great understanding, 
 
36 
 
 when its demands were satisfied ; the noble fairness of it, 
 notwithstanding its great tenacity ; the deliberate care with 
 which it reached conclusions which it felt to be final. — 
 Substantially this is his exposition of an incident, which in 
 an ordinary man, would have passed unnoticed. Here is a 
 question of incidental power ; if the power is necessary for 
 the execution of any powers clearly granted, then it is 
 granted, otherwise it is withheld. Upon the first examination 
 of the question, it did not appear to me that the inci- 
 dental power was necessary in any strict sense, while it 
 did appear to me to be in its own nature liable to abuse ; 
 and while my settled political principles led me to resist 
 the exercise of doutful powers. Upon a second and more 
 careful examination of the question, under new and ex- 
 tremely important aspects of public affairs, I became satis- 
 fied that the disputed power was not only necessary, but 
 in a manner indispensable to extricate the country and se- 
 oure some of its highest interests. To this latter opinion 
 I adhere, and abide by the judgment of my country upon 
 the reasons for the change of opinion, which I have laid 
 before it 
 
 It is far beyond the limits of a sketch like this, to discuss 
 the merits of the particular principles avowed by Mr. Clay: 
 or to pass sentence on the great and numerous questions 
 embraced in his hundred published speeches ; or to illus- 
 trate, one after another, the incidents of his long public 
 life ; or to estimate the separate parts of that immense mass 
 of policy and legislation, which grew under his hands into 
 a mighty system. Duties such as these belong to far dii- 
 ferent hands, far different occasions. Independently \ 
 altogether, of the judgment we may form for ourselves. 
 of any, or even the greater part of these particulars, 
 there is a higher judgment which Ave may form of him to 
 
37 
 
 whom they stand related in a manner more or less inti- 
 mate, and of the influence which he exerted, or sought to 
 exert, through them, upon his country, his age, and his 
 race. At the very commencement of his professional life, 
 we find him ardently advocating the distinctive opinions of 
 what was called at that time the Republican, in eontra-dis- 
 tinction to the Federal party ; the questions which separa- 
 ted them having particular relation to the powers of the 
 General Government, the mode of construing the Federal 
 Constitution, the rights of the States, and the Foreign poli- 
 cy of the country. By the time the former party had be- 
 come firmly established in the control of the government, 
 by the election of Mr. Jefferson in 1801, it had acquired, 
 very generally, the name of the Democratic party ; and 
 under that appellation, controlled the administration of pub- 
 lic affairs, for twenty-eight years, through the Administra- 
 of Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and the younger Adams, 
 to the year 1829. Throughout this whole period, Mr. 
 Clay was thoroughly identified with this great party : — 
 and whether in Congress, as a Foreign Minister, or as a 
 Member of the Cabinet, was for the greater portion of it. 
 one of its most distinguished leaders. Although Gen. Jaj iks< in 
 had always belonged to the Democratic party, and in that 
 sense his election, and the elections subsequently of Mr. 
 Van Buren and Mr. Polk, might be claimed as prolonga- 
 tions of the triumph of the party which came into power in 
 1801, yet from the period of Gen. Jackson's first elec- 
 tion, in 1829, to that of Mr. Clay's death in 1852, his ha- 
 bitual position to the government had been wholly chang- 
 ed, except during the last three years of his life, embrac- 
 ing the. greater part of the Administration of Mr. Fillmore. 
 The election of General Jackson was strictly -peaking, the 
 initiation of a new era in American parties. It was known 
 
38 
 
 to be his own desire that old party lines should be'eflao- 
 ed ; and this generous and politic impulse went far to con- 
 ciliate the old Federal party — long beaten, but still strong. 
 Besides this, his high personal qualities, his long public 
 services, his great military reputation, and a certain feeling 
 widely diffused amongst the people, that the popular will 
 had been too little regarded in the selection of Mr. Adams 
 over him by the House of Representatives, four years be- 
 fore, conspired to carry him into the Presidency with an 
 overwhelming burst of popular enthusiasm, in 1829. He 
 found himself in effect, the creator of a new party, personal- 
 ly devoted to himself, and for many years bearing his name. 
 It was impossible for Mr. Clay to adhere to this party. For 
 it had occurred, that his own influence had turned the scale 
 in favor of Mr. Adams, in 1825 : and as the result of his 
 conduct on that occasion, he had been assailed with an 
 atrocious malevolence, which has no parallel in our annals, 
 which stung his proud and sensitive spirit more deeply than 
 all the injuries of his life combined, and which is shocking 
 alike by its baseness, its folly, and its efficacy. But. be- 
 sides this, there were in the very nature of the case, 
 grounds upon which a party created like the one I have 
 described, and led by a man of the controlling influence 
 and iron will of General Jackson, could never be the pany 
 to which such a man as Mr. Clay was in 1829, could ad- 
 here. With the progress of events, the differences became 
 more numerous and more decided : and as the name " Dem- 
 ocrat " became gradually restored to the Jackson party, the 
 name " Whig," which had been from of old glorious in 
 Britain, and which our own Revolution had made doubly 
 glorious, was gradually assumed by the opposite party, to 
 express their hostility alike to Executive encroachment in 
 the Government, and to Federal encroachment upon the 
 
39 
 
 States — their devotion to the popular, in opposition to the 
 reural element of the National Constitution. It is a 
 great error to allege, that Mr, Clay in this change 
 of party name changed any principle whatever; or that 
 the new name implied any such thing. The form might 
 vary somewhat in the progress of years and of de- 
 velopment; but in point of absolute truth, the old Whig 
 party of the Revolution, and the recent Whig party, 
 which the death of Mr. Clay, and immediately succeeding 
 events disorganized, were identical with each other, and 
 with the old Republican party which arose with the Federal 
 Constitution itself, and the old Democratic party, winch 
 came into power with Mr. Jefferson in 1801. Whether 
 the party to which Mr. Clay adhered during his whole 
 political career, bore one name or another, and whether it 
 was in power or in opposition — there can be no doubt of 
 the distinct and unchangeable fixedness and coherence of 
 his own political opinions, from the beginning to the end. 
 Whatever may be thought of these opinions, no one can 
 doubt the extraordinary courage and ability with which he 
 maintained them. Whatever may be thought of the party, 
 whose popular leader he was during many years of triumph, 
 and which rallied around his person during many years of 
 disaster, it is impossible to deny to him the glory, 
 whether in triumph or defeat, of ranking with the greatest 
 party leaders, the world has ever seen. One of the ablest 
 and most generous of his opponents, standing by his dead 
 body, boldly proclaimed, " Here lies a man, who was in the 
 public service for fifty years, and never attempted to de- 
 ceive his countrymen." 
 
 The period at which Mr. Clay became conspicuous as a 
 member of Congress, was one which taxed in the highest de- 
 
40 
 
 gree all the powers of our greatest statesmen. Our new 
 government had indeed been fully organized, and had 
 passed through three Administrations, covering twenty 
 years. But each of these Administrations had presented 
 a widely different phase, and the country a widely different 
 state of parties under each ; and new phases of adminstra- 
 tion, and new aspects of parties, and new conditions of the 
 country, were to be powerfully developed. As a mere 
 illustration, let it be remembered, that during the fifty 
 years of Mr. Clay's political life, the population of the 
 United States increased more than four fold — its Territorial 
 extent more than five fold — while as the product of those 
 causes, augmented by its enormous progress in wealth, in 
 commerce, in manufactures, in agriculture, in the useful 
 arts, in public works, and in every element of national 
 power, its actual force had increased a hundred fold. It 
 had risen from a condition so little dreaded by great 
 nations, as to require it to vindicate by war with the great- 
 est of them all, its right to be neutral in the bloody con- 
 flicts of distant states ; and it had risen so high that all 
 great nations felt then own safety to be involved in its for- 
 eign policy. It is in the midst of such a progress, through 
 such a development, to such a result, that this man, con- 
 fessedly so great as an orator, a lawyer, a politician, a 
 parliamentary leader, must vindicate to himself the still 
 higher title of a great Statesman. Two things may be 
 confidentially asserted as the basis of his claim to a title 
 so august. The first is that of all the statesmen of his 
 age, he most prominently carved a policy for his country . 
 a policy, to adopt which, or to reject which, made the sys- 
 tem of other statesmen. A policy much disputed, and hav- 
 ing various fortune; but a policy, nevertheless, which, 
 whether adopted, or modified, or rejected, had a perpetual 
 
41 
 
 relation to him, as the leader by whose means every great 
 measure must be advocated, or must be resisted. From 
 1811 till 1852, a period of more than forty years, it can- 
 not be denied that the opinion of Henry Clay was an im- 
 portant element in the fate of every important question of 
 national policy. The other fact is still more honorable 
 to his name, still more conclusive of his true greatness. 
 To whatever cause we may see fit to attribute it, whether 
 to his patriotism, to his justice, his sagacity, his love 
 of fame, his ambition, the fact is still unquestionable, 
 that of all the statesmen of his day, he was hold by 
 the common voice of mankind to be the most impartial. 
 Impartial in striving to arrange all conflicting interests, 
 impartial in seeking to adjust all threatening difficulties, 
 impartial in settling the boundaries of power and right, 
 impartial in his great spirit, in his wide intelligence, 
 and in his dauntless conduct. It seems to me that these 
 two qualities describe the highest type of statesmen. — 
 A nature so high that nothing can disturb its sublime 
 rectitude, so large that nothing can evade its serene 
 intelligence ! The passions of men, the vicissitudes of 
 fortune the force of events, the course of Providence 
 itself, may give or may deny success to human efforts; 
 may baffle or may respect human wisdom. But if there 
 \>e such a thing as supreme excellence in statesmanship — 
 tvery just conception of it, must embrace the qualities I 
 have Hirnalized as fundamental in the character of Henry 
 
 jIAY. 
 
 And now we are in the midst of that great period of 
 his life — commencing with his election as Speaker of the 
 House of Representatives, and terminating with his death, 
 during which all his great endowments became so conspic- 
 uous, through services and efforts so illustrious, lie had 
 
42 
 
 never before been a member of that house ; which renders 
 it still more remarkable that he should have been elected 
 its Speaker on the day he took his seat. He was re-elect- 
 ed Speaker six times; and after occupying the chair about 
 thh'teen years, left it to become Secretary of State in the 
 Cabinet of the younger Adams, in 1825, which situation ht 
 held till the close of that Administration in 1829. He 
 was out of Congress during two short periods ; first in 
 1811-15, while engaged as one of the American Commis- 
 sioners in negotiating the treaty of Ghent, and again in 
 1820-22, when the condition of his private affairs obliged 
 him to return to the bar. After the close of his service 
 as Secretary of State, in 1829, he remained in private life 
 till the autumn of 1831, when he was elected to the Senate 
 of the United States for the third time, and commenced a 
 Senatorial career even more protracted and glorious than 
 his previous career in the more popular branch of Congress. 
 He was elected to the Senate the fourth time in 1837. In 
 March, 1812, after twelve years continuous service in the 
 Senate, covering six years of the Administration of Gene- 
 ral Jackson, the whole of Mr. Van Buren's Administration, 
 and the first two years of Mr. Tyler's, he resigned his 
 seat in the Senate and retired, as he supposed finally, to 
 private life. In 1818, he was elected to the Senate the 
 fifth time, and was a member of it till his deatli in 1852. 
 From his entrance into public life, just fifty years had ex- 
 pired at his death ; and of these more than forty years 
 had been passed in the most laborious public service. 
 From his entrance into the House of Representatives in 
 1811, he had served thirteen years as the Speaker of that 
 House — about sixteen years as a Senator, and four years 
 as Secretary of State ; thus occupying far the greater pan 
 of the last forty years of his life, in a career not matched 
 
43 
 
 by any statesman of his era. It cannot be said with 
 propriety that Mr. Clay was in private life, even when 
 not engaged in the public service. In or out of office 
 he was still the leader of the great party which shared 
 his sentiments, and approved his public policy ; a party 
 many of whose members cherished for twenty yens. 
 not only a settled desire, but a vehement passion to 
 elevate him to the Presidency of the United States. Again 
 and again did they urge upon the people his claims upon 
 that high office ; and more than once the great prize seems 
 to have eluded him after it had been apparently secured. 
 His immediate Mends never doubted that in 184-1, when 
 Mr. Polk became the President, Mr. Clay was really elect- 
 ed by the legal votes ; and that but for the frauds on the 
 elective franchise, in New York, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and 
 Louisiana, he would have received an immense majority of 
 the whole electoral vote of the nation. Be that as it may, 
 it was a convention of Mr. Clay's Mends that nominated 
 General Harrison, who was elected in 1841, and General 
 Taylor who was elected in 1849. So that, in effect, the 
 nation may really have been for him, during the twelve 
 years covered by the three successive Administrations of Mr. 
 Tyler, Mr. Polk, and Mr. Fillmore, from 1841 to 1853. 
 It was, at least, a signal retribution, that the death of Gen- 
 eral Harrison and the advent of Mr. Tyler to the Pres- 
 idency, should have defeated every hope, which caused Mr. 
 Clay to be set aside in 1841 ; and that the death of Mr. 
 Clay should have disorganized it wholly in 1852 ; if dur- 
 ing so many previous years that party had it in its power 
 by concert, by effort, and by zeal, to raise him to the 
 Presidency, and make its own national policy triumphant 
 I do not say that his glory is less as the first citizen, 
 orator, and statesman, of his age, than it would have been 
 
44 
 
 as the first magistrate of his country. The difference to 
 his party was incalculable. To his country — what and how 
 great — this is not the occasion, nor has the time yet come, 
 to determine. 
 
 Concerning this last, longest, and most illustrious por- 
 tion of Air. Clay's life — there are certain great character- 
 istics so obvious that they cannot be overlooked, and so 
 peculiar as to be perfectly decisive. The most obvious is 
 the superiority which he acquired and maintained in every 
 assembly in which he was called to act ; and the mastery 
 he exhibited over every subject submitted to his scrutiny ■ 
 or to utter all in one word, his indisputable supremacy. — 
 Both Houses of Congress, and the Cabinet of the Pres- 
 sident, are theatres peculiar in themselves ; and the chair 
 of the House of Representatives, and the table around 
 which Ambassadors converse, are also theatres distinct and 
 singular. Moreover Mr. Clay encountered everywhere, 
 during the forty years under our immediate consideration, 
 all the ablest public men, of an age fruitful of greatness; 
 and it was his fortune to be obliged to confront, through 
 life, questions of the gravest importance, and the largest 
 sweep, and to be obliged to act with regard to interests the 
 most lasting and immense. The general impression 
 has been, that he had enjoyed no previous training, cal- 
 culated to fit him for eminence on such theatres ; and his 
 own candid and modest statements concerning his early 
 life, have strengthened this general impression, which it is 
 probable he deeply shared. I have sought to correct this 
 fallacy, and to explain in the known facts of the case, ap- 
 plied to such a nature and such endowments as his, the 
 causes which produced his superb fitness for his great 
 career. Be that as it may, his success was never for a 
 moment doubtful, in any theatre on which he acted. So 
 
45 
 
 great was the impression produced of his superiority in 
 every thing to which be addressed himself, thai op the 
 breaking out of the war with England in 1812, Mr. Mal.i- 
 son desired to confer on him the supreme command of our 
 armies, though his age scarcely exceeded thirty-five years, 
 nor had he ever studied the military art, or had a day's 
 experience in arms. No great genius ever proved itself 
 by this unerring test, applied more variously; nor does the 
 history of mankind afford a score of names, whose fitness 
 for supremacy in affairs, was more signally marked than 
 his. He rose with every new occasion of his life ; during 
 fort\' years his country never doubted that he was entitled 
 to rank with the ablest men of his day ; and when he pas- 
 sed away, the settled conviction of enlightened men, 
 throughout the earth, ratified the solemn judgment of his 
 country, that none greater remained. 
 
 What followed of necessity, from such a character as this, 
 was the breadth and thoroughness of his way of viewing all 
 subjects, and the wide diffusion of any party that might 
 follow him. Such a spirit must expand itself, as the posi- 
 tion from which it acts rises higher and higher ; such a 
 leader must gather to his standard, all everywhere within 
 his influence, who sympathize with his thought and ap- 
 prove his purpose. He could not limit himself to interests 
 purely local ; he could not lend himself to ends purely sec- 
 fcional; he could not appreciate measures in the narrow 
 healing of them ; he could not restrain himself to the 
 transitory effects ofpobcy; he could not conceal from him- 
 self the influence of Isolated acts upon each other and upon 
 systems <>f things. The statesmanship of Mr. Clay, there- 
 fore, continually regarded the interests of the whole nation. 
 the relations of the parts of it to each other, and to the 
 whole, and the relations of the nation itself to all other 
 
46 
 
 nations; and was a statesmanship, whatever may be 
 thought of its wisdom and its fitness in the actual con- 
 dition of affairs, pre-eminently large, self-consistent, and 
 effective. And the party which adhered to his fortunes, 
 great as may have been its personal devotion to him, 
 was a party the farthest possible from being sectional ir 
 any of its aims, or anti-national in any of its principles 
 Every measure proposed by Mr. Clay during his illustri- 
 ous career , may doubtless be called in question by men of 
 other views ; and the great system which they unitedly 
 composed, and the high policy they combined to advance, 
 may be rejected as being unsuitable to our country. Nor 
 is it my purpose to discuss any of these things. But that 
 Ins conception of the true destiny of this great nation, was 
 pure and august, no one competent to judge will ever doubt, 
 any more than that he followed the conception he had form- 
 ed, with a spirit singularly true and intrepid — with a heart 
 perfectly republican and national, and with resources whose 
 extent, defeat itself rendered more apparent. A child of 
 the Revolution, a pupil of the great men whom the Rev- 
 olution produced, a follower of the great national ideas of 
 that sublime era, he was, above all the statesmen of his 
 immediate times, the statesman of the nation that Revolu- 
 tion founded, the nation those great men and those great 
 ideas fashioned. 
 
 In a free and great country constituted, as ours is, of 
 many local sovereignties on one hand, and a common 
 national government on the other, and covering, as ours 
 does, an area so immense, and embracing interests so 
 diversified; it must necessarily occur that at certain periods 
 and from various quarters, public opinion which is the 
 very foundation on which our vast system rests, may shake 
 in its furious commotions those very foundations, to which, 
 
47 
 
 in its majestic calmness, it imparts such invincible strength. 
 After all, and under every form which human society can 
 put on, the only question concerning such perils is the 
 question of remedy. Where man is made for the govern- 
 ment, the remedy is always bloody and sudden. Where 
 the government is made for man, the remedy may 
 be slow, but must, without madness, always be peaceful. 
 I confess myself unable to understand how revolution 
 and civil war, can be permanently avoided under despotic 
 governments, or can occur in free countries, unless some 
 great portion of the people are steadily bent on mischief, 
 that is, in other words, have ceased to be fit for freedom. 
 In the whole career of Mr. Clav, nothing more remarka- 
 bly distinguishes him, than his keen appreciation of the 
 true nature of such perils when they occur, no matter under 
 what aspect; and his prompt and comprehensive manner 
 of dealing with them, according to their respective conditions. 
 Justly estimating the position of the United States with 
 reference to human freedom, he saw more clearly than 
 any statesmen of his age, precisely what we owed, on the 
 one hand, to struggling liberty everywhere, and precisely 
 what we owed, on the other, to established liberty in our own 
 great empire. It is to this profound insight, so character- 
 istic of true genius, not less than to his ardent patriotism 
 in matters that related to his own country, and to his 
 earnest desire for the progress of human civilization in 
 matters that related to all other nations ; that we should 
 attribute his conduct, alike in our own seasons of peril 
 from domestic discord, and his conduct toward those in all 
 other countries, who were periling their lives for personal 
 freedom, and national independence. For us — was his 
 just, wise, and patriotic idea — who have acquired these 
 inestimable treasures, let us preserve them by even' mutual 
 
48 
 
 concession, and every proof of exalted forbearance; re- 
 membering bow poor and how low are all secondary consid- 
 erations, when compared with the peace, the freedom, the 
 independence, the union, the glory of our country. For 
 the oppressed nations, was his equally great conception, 
 the case is precisely reversed. For them, until personal 
 freedom, and national independence are won, all other 
 considerations are insignificant and transitory. To the 
 Republics of South America, therefore, to Greece, to men 
 in all lands who periled life for that without which life is 
 ignominious, he lifted up his eloquent and heroic voice, 
 cheering them and rebuking the sluggish enthusiasm of 
 his country. But to the perilous discord of his own 
 countrymen — rising fir above all considerations of 
 party, of section, and of mere policy — his sublime 
 teachings were of forbearance, brotherhood, and mutual 
 concessions for the common liberty, the common glory. 
 On three memorable occasions, the first in the House 
 of Representatives, the other two in the Senate of the 
 United States, it was his fortune to exert his great powers 
 with complete success, in the settlement of the three most 
 threatening internal difficulties, which occurred from the 
 adoption of the Federal Constitution till his own death. 
 The first related to the admission of Missouri into the 
 Union, and occurred in 1819-21. It involved and settled 
 for thirty years, all those questions concerning the power 
 of Congress over slavery in the Territories, which the 
 recent repeal of the Missouri Compromise has opened 
 afresh. The second occurred in 1832-33, and related to 
 the whole question of the Protective policy of the country, 
 involving the question of the power by a State to null i ly 
 an act of Congress. The third occurred in 1850-52, 
 and embraced and settled numerous questions of the most 
 
49 
 
 profound interest to the nation, and most difficult and im- 
 portant in themselves ; some of which, recent events, sub- 
 sequent to his death, have opened again with so much 
 vehemence and peril to the country. And where is the 
 statesman, for whom is now in store, the great glory of 
 doing for us once what he thrice accomplished ? 
 
 It is in the light of these great characteristics of Mr. 
 Clay, the immense superiority of his nature, the intense 
 nationality of Ins spirit, and his exquisite perception of 
 the immense supremacy of the question of our liberties, 
 our independence, and our Union, over all other questions; 
 that they who would appreciate aright, must constantly 
 scrutinize the efforts and the acts which make his course so 
 illustrious, during the forty years I am now surveying. 
 Called to administer the foreign affairs of the country, to 
 negotiate numerous and important treaties, to adjust prin- 
 ciples of international law, to watch over the interests of 
 commerce, and to discharge the various duties of the most 
 important cabinet officer under the government ; called to 
 preside for twelve or thirteen years over the National 
 House of Representatives, and to sit for eighteen or nine- 
 teen years in the National Senate ; called to discuss and to 
 settle the greatest Constitutional questions, the largest and 
 most difficult parts of national policy, the most extensive 
 interests of every kind, of the most prosperous and rapidly 
 advancing people in the world; called to maintain his 
 elevated position by the most numerous and varied dis- 
 courses ever delivered by any single orator ; called to en- 
 dure the most systematic, vindictive, and unworthy perse- 
 cution ever organized against any American statesman; 
 called at last to close his labors and his life together 
 amidst the unanimous applause of his countrymen — his 
 remains were borne in solemn triumph from the Capitol 
 
50 
 
 which he had so long adorned, and delivered by the nation 
 itself, into the hands of those who had never faltered in 
 their loving, trustful, and proud devotion to him ! Our 
 fathers are with him to-day, in the land where good men 
 dwell, when they are done with earth. Our hands have 
 founded to-day a monument, not so much to commem- 
 orate his greatness, as to commemorate our love. — 
 And of the many thousands gathered to participate in our 
 pious labors, no just or generous heart will whisper, that I 
 speak aught concerning him but the severest truth ! 
 
 And now what was it in this great man, which the train- 
 ing I have pointed out developed under the fortune which 
 attended him, into the character and career I have sketch- 
 ed? What was he in that distinct personal existence, 
 which made him so remarkable, and which entered as the 
 fundamental element into his training, Ins lot, and his des- 
 tiny ? To answer this question at once briefly, justly, and 
 completely, is the most difficult part of my present duty : 
 difficult always, and with regard to every human being : 
 still more difficult, concerning a career begun from a po- 
 sition so narrow and so humble, covering an area so vast, 
 and terminating at an elevation so immense : most dif- 
 ficult of all, when striving to utter the calm judgment of 
 posterity, in the hearing of living men, to whose concep- 
 tions no utterance of mine might seem sufficient. This 
 much, I think I may assert ; that he of whom I speak 
 knew perfectly, and that every one of you will grant, tha 
 not for the fame winch he himself attained, would I in such 
 a matter, depart from the truthful utterance of my own 
 convictions. 
 
 My own judgment is that the great, original, and all 
 pervading element of the greatness of Hexry Clay, was, 
 
51 
 
 so to speak, the extreme naturalness of the man. He was 
 a man like the times in which he lived, like the men who 
 surrounded him, like the nature he bore. There was noth- 
 ing distorted about his nature — nothing out of sympathy 
 with his times — nothing that could make him, or any one 
 else, feel that he was not a man of the very living genera- 
 tion. He was not a common, — on the other hand he was 
 a grand specimen, but yet he was a real and faithful spec- 
 imen of a man, of an American, of a Kentuckian. And 
 all who beheld him would have owned, if their thought 
 had been so directed, that there stood before them a type, 
 a noble type it may be, but yet a real type of a man, an 
 American, a Kentuckian, of that long and glorious period, 
 commencing with the Revolution, and terminating in the 
 middle of the nineteenth century. It was thus that there 
 was begotten between him and the generation with which 
 he acted, a sympathy so profound and so enduring : and if 
 he had never been called to act in public affairs, except 
 concerning questions with regard to which the national 
 mind was substantially agreed — he would necessarily have 
 been as much the idol of the nation, as he was of those 
 who shared his principles. In that case he would have 
 taken his place in history, by the side of those heroes and 
 sages of the human race, who with this same glorious en- 
 dowment enjoyed a higher fortune, and whose names scat- 
 tered thinly across the track of ages, keep our race alive 
 to the highest glory which humanity can reach, and to the 
 sublime conditions of attaining it. 
 
 With such a nature God had bestowed on him a person- 
 al presence and bearing, as impressive as any mortal ever 
 possessed. Whatever was in his heart his very organiza- 
 tion and manner seemed perfectly fitted to express ; what- 
 ever was in his mind his outward man seemed in all things 
 
52 
 
 exactly calculated to make articulate. The force which all 
 that in its widest sense can be called action lends to every 
 utterance, abode in him without measure ; and with him, 
 as with all great masters of human passion, the voice and 
 the diction were not less striking than the thought and 
 the emotion which they enriched and made vital. The 
 spirit which animated an organization so fine seemed, as 
 is not uncommon in the highest class of men, to possess 
 two natures : one genial, playful, loving, gentle, frank, and 
 placable ; the other firm, wary, heroic, persistent, and cap- 
 able of the most daring, fiery, and impetuous move- 
 ments : and the two combined made up a temper which 
 was habitually kind, self-reliant, lofty, and just. The 
 basis of his moral character was akin to that which lies at 
 the foundation of supreme moral excellence, — integrity 
 and love of truth. Honest in all things, truthful always : 
 to deceive, to prevaricate, to act unfairly, — the refuges of 
 base, timid, and feeble natures, — no more entered into 
 his thoughts in the high and difficult emergencies of life, 
 than in the daily round of his commonest duties. His was 
 a high, fair, brave, upright nature. His intellectual char- 
 acter, by which he will be chiefly known to posterity, was, 
 as all men acknowledge, of the highest order. Clear, 
 powerful, and comprehensive, no subject seemed to be 
 difficult under its steady insight, and it embraced with 
 equal readiness eveiy department of human knowledge to 
 which it became his duty to attend. A great and original 
 thinker, he encountered without hesitation, the widest and 
 most intricate problems, and acted with absolute confidence 
 on the conclusions at which he arrived. Sagacious in the 
 highest degree, in detecting all fallacy, the highest studies 
 of ordinary minds amused his leisure ; and speculations 
 which begun in his day to pass for the elements of science 
 
53 
 
 in certain departments of the wide domain of political phi- 
 losophy, he publicly classed with the fictitious literature of 
 the hour. No genius was ever capable of a wider diversity 
 of use than Ms. And the vast and searching common 
 sense, which was the most striking characteristic of his 
 intellect, revealed the purity, the truth, and the force with 
 which the ultimate elements of our rational nature dwelt 
 and acted in his noble understanding. If we add now the 
 power of that patient, dauntless, and heroic will, which ex- 
 ecuted the desires of such a heart, and obeyed the behests 
 of such an intellect, we complete the survey of this extra- 
 ordinary man. It Avas undoubtedly as an orator, that he 
 was most illustrious in his own generation. Posterity may 
 change this verdict, and give him superior rank, both as 
 a statesman and as a man consummate in the greatest 
 practical affairs. But if the ages to come, could be made 
 aware of the influence which was added to his great dis- 
 courses, by the power of his action, his voice, and his im- 
 posing presence ; if they could appreciate the rapidity and 
 truth of his intuition, the depth of his common sense, the 
 grasp of his understanding, both logical and practical, the 
 vitality of his convictions, the directness of his method, 
 the fierceness of his withering sarcasm, the fervor of his 
 high intellectual movements, his boundless confidence in 
 truth, his dauntless sense of right, his profound sympathy 
 with his audience, the sublime completeness of the whole 
 to the whole, the man to the occasion, the utterance to the 
 subject, — it would be felt how justly, after a struggle of 
 fifty years, and in comparison with a succession of men 
 greatly distinguished in his own great art, he was held 
 worthy to take rank with the greatest orators the world 
 has produced. To sum up all, I do not hesitate t<> apply 
 to him the words winch the sublime character of Hampden 
 
54 
 
 wrong from Clakendon, " He was a man that durst always, 
 "at all risks, support the liberty and property of the 
 " country ; a man above all others possessed of the most 
 " absolute spirit of popularity, and the most absolute fac- 
 "ulties to govern ; a man to whom all came to learn, and 
 " of whom it could not be discovered that he learned from 
 "any one." 
 
 I have said in the commencement of this discourse 
 that Mr. Clay was the child of Christian parents, all the 
 more likely to be jealous of the heritage of God's love to 
 their boy, as they had little else to bestow upon him. 
 His own repeated declarations, made in the most public 
 and solemn manner, at every period of his life, that he 
 cherished the highest veneration for the Christian religion, 
 and the most profound conviction of the divine mission of 
 the Savior of sinners — fully justify the importance which 
 I have attached to this element of his destiny, even if he 
 had not attested, in his latter years, the sincerity of his 
 life-long convictions, by openly professing his faith in the 
 son of God, and uniting himself with his professed follow- 
 ers. He lived some years, and closed his days, in com- 
 munion of the Protestant Episcopal Church, to which his 
 venerable wife had long been attached. It was my fortune 
 to have personal knowledge under circumstances which do 
 not admit of any doubt in my own mind, that according 
 to the measure of the light he had, he was during a few 
 years immediately preceding his death, a penitent and 
 believing follower of the Divine Redeemer. It may be 
 well allowed, that the frank and habitual avowal, even of 
 speculative faith in the Christian religion, by a man of his 
 character and position, was not without its value, and was 
 not free from reproach, during that terrible season of 
 
55 
 
 unbelief which marked the close of the last century, and 
 stretched forward upon the first quarter of the present. 
 And that the crowning efforts of his life were sustained by 
 a sense of Christian duty, and its last Bufferings assuaged 
 by the consolations of Christian hope, are facts too 
 important, as they relate to him, and too significant in 
 their own nature, to be omitted in any estimate of him. 
 It is not, however, on account of such considerations as 
 these, that I reiterate with so much emphasis the undenia- 
 ble fact, that Mr. Clay never was an infidel, that he was 
 always an avowed believer in true religion. But it is because 
 such is my sense of the shallowness, the emptiness, and 
 the baseness of that state of the human soul, in which it 
 can deny the God who created it, and the Savior who 
 redeemed it, and can empty itself of its own highest 
 impulses — and disallow its own sublimest necessities ; that 
 I have no conception how such a soul could be what this 
 man was, or do what he did. It is because I do under- 
 stand with perfect distinctness, that belief in God, and 
 belief in a mission given to us by him, and to be executed 
 with success only by means of his blessing upon our 
 efforts; must be a conviction, at once profound and 
 enduring, in every soul that is great in itself, or that can 
 accomplish everything great. Wonderful as Mr. Clay's 
 career was, it would be a hundred fold more wonderful, to 
 suppose that such a career was possible to a scoffer and a 
 sceptic. 
 
 Nor is it possible for us to forget, that in some sort he 
 anticipated what has occurred this day, and habitually 
 desired that, wherever the exigencies of his life might 
 require him to die, his dust should mingle with our dust. 
 Ten years before his death, speaking for the last time, as he 
 then supposed, to the Senate of the United States, and speak- 
 
56 
 
 ing of you, his words were these, " I emigrated from Virginia 
 " to the State of Kentucky, now nearly forty-five years 
 "ago. I went as an orphan boy who had not yet attained 
 '•'the age of majority, who had never recognized a father's 
 " smile, nor felt his warm caresses, poor, pennyless, with- 
 'out the favor of the great, with an imperfect and 
 ' neglected education, hardly sufficient for the ordinary 
 ' business and common pursuits of life ; but scarce had I set 
 " my foot on her generous soil, when I was embraced with 
 " parental fondness, caressed as though I had been a favor- 
 ite child, and patronized with liberal and unbounded 
 " munificence. From that period, the highest honors of 
 "the State have been bestowed upon me ; and when, in 
 " the darkest hour of calamity and detraction, I seemed to 
 " be assailed by all the rest of the world, she interposed 
 "her broad and impenetrable shield, repelled the poisoned 
 " shafts that were aimed for my destruction, and vindicated 
 " my good name from every malignant and unfounded 
 "aspersion. I return with indescribable pleasure to linger 
 "a-while longer, and mingle with the warm-hearted and 
 " whole-souled people of that State ; and when the last 
 " scene shall forever close upon me, I hope that my earthly 
 " remains will be laid under her green sod with those of 
 her gallant and patriotic sons." On one of the last days 
 of his life, he said to Judge Underwood, his colleague in 
 the Senate, " There may be some question where my re- 
 " mains shall be buried. Some persons may designate 
 ' Frankfort. I wish to repose in the Cemetery at Lexing- 
 ' ton, where many of my friends and connections are bu- 
 " ried." And so it is, this day. His earthly remains are 
 under her green sod — and many of her gallant and patri- 
 otic sons are lying by his side. Many a friend, who in his 
 life stuck closer than a brother, and many a connection by 
 
57 
 
 ties of blood, and ties closer than blood itself, — repose in 
 silence around the illustrious sage. Piously, to him and 
 them, in all reverence and love, our filial hands have now 
 wrought his last behest. All blessings on that glorious 
 name, " which will be repeated with applause wherever lib- 
 erty is cherished or is known." 
 
 I ought not to pass wholly without notice the affecting 
 coincidence which makes the day which is sacred to the 
 liberty of mankind, and the independence of nations, the 
 fit occasion for solemnities which are designed to commem- 
 orate our own veneration for a patriot, whose whole life 
 was at once an illustration of what may be won through 
 the freedom, the independence, and the union of his coun- 
 try, and a sublime plea for their endless continuance. It is 
 two hundred and fifteen years, this day, since the Long 
 Parliament of England established an Executive Govern- 
 ment. and thus laid the foundation of the English Com- 
 monwealth. John Hampden, next to Washington, the 
 greatest name in history, at the head of ten members from 
 the Commons, united with five from the House of Lords, 
 was charged with the safety of the kingdom, the defence of 
 the Parliament, the preservation of peace, and the resist- 
 ance by force, of any force that might be used on the part 
 of the King. Seven years afterwards, on the 29th of Jan- 
 uary, 1G-49, the warrant for the execution of Charles 
 Stuart, King of England, Ireland, and Scotland, was signed 
 by fifty-nine commissioners under the presidency of that 
 illustrious John Bradsiiaw, of whom Milton said that he 
 so demeaned himself always as if he was sitting in judg- 
 ment upon a King ; and the next day at one o'clock, the 
 head of Charles the First, rolled upon the scaffold in front 
 of his Palace of White Hall. They who did this deed, 
 
58 
 
 were our lineal ancestors — and the true founders of all ex- 
 isting freedom, public and personal. And I this day, in the 
 name of God and of true and regulated liberty everywhere 
 under heaven, avouch their great deed, and magnify their 
 sacred names ! 
 
 On the fourth day of July, 1776, eighty-one years ago 
 this day, another free nation was born. On that day fifty 
 five Representatives of the United States of America, met 
 in the city of Philadelphia, adopted and issued our immor- 
 tal Declaration of Independence. After a war of seven 
 years, George the Third, King of the United Kingdom of 
 Great Britain and Ireland, by solemn treaty confirmed by 
 the Continental Congress on the 14th day of January, 
 1783, recognized the dismemberment of his empire, and 
 the erection in this new world of that majestic nation which 
 is ours this day. These were our immediate ancestors : 
 perhaps greater, at least more fortunate than their heroic 
 predecessors. These were they who, having conquered ty- 
 rants, forgave them : who, having won and established free- 
 dom, sat down in mutual trust and common brotherhood, 
 beneath its hallowed shade. 
 
 Now here are we — the children of the English Common- 
 wealth, — the children of the American Revolution, — the 
 inheritors of all that wisdom and courage could wrest from 
 tyrants and from fortune, in the two most fruitful struggles 
 which history records. Here are we, more than two centu- 
 ries beyond the point at which our liberties were baptized 
 in the blood of Hampden — a century and a quarter beyond 
 that where Washington commenced the most glorious life in 
 History. Here is our country — great — free — united — 
 invincible. What have we to say this day, to the shades 
 of our mighty ancestors, — what to the teeming generations 
 who are to follow us ? Oh ! my countrymen, may I not 
 
59 
 
 dare to respond from the bosom of such solemnities as 
 these — in the spirit and from the very presence of our 
 mighty dead — may I not dare in your name, proudly and 
 firmly to respond, after a fashion like this : We are the in- 
 heritors of personal freedom, of national independence, of 
 country still united. We intend, God helping us, to 
 transmit the sacred treasure to our children's children, un- 
 diminished and without a blot. We love the memory of 
 our fathers : we cherish the deeds of our great ancestors : 
 we know the day of our visitation : we intend to be faith- 
 ful in our lot — -just to ihe glorious Past — true to the still 
 more glorious Future ! This day. in the hearing of heaven 
 and earth, and to the farthest limits of time and space that 
 our vow can reach, we consecrate ourselves and our poster- 
 ity, and we mean that the veiy work in which we are en- 
 gaged shall attest the completeness and sincerity of that 
 consecration, — to the Freedom, the Independence, and the 
 Union of our Country ! 
 

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