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Speech Of Henry Clay

Speech Of Henry Clay image
Parent Issue
Day
7
Month
November
Year
1842
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

We have received from our attenüve Baltimore coi respondent the folio wing speech of Mr. Clay, delivered at llichmond, Indiana, on the 16th inst. which we hasten to Jay before pur readers. Wiih thecircunistances attending its delivery, our readers are alresdy acquainted. Whife Mr. Clay wasaddressing theassembled iriuhitude on political topics, a Mr. Mendenjall ascended the standard presonfed a pe'itinn to Mr. Clay, which was read aloud, requesting him forlhwith to libérate all hifi slaves. Aficyhe reading of thepetltion, the assemily manifested great sensation. Some cried hiij degree of excitement, of anger and of indignalion was k'mdled ngainst him. The sustest manifestation of displeasure on the part of Mr. Clay might have exposed Mr. Menderhall to great persona! danger. But Mr. Clay rose with perfect calmness andppsure, and hrst addreesed the multitude in a stroin of persuasión and entreaty. He hoped thui Mr. M. might be treated witli the crreateát fnrbcarance and respect . He assured hts fellow citizens there collected, that the pre :entation of the petiüon had not occasioned him the slightest pain, nor excited one sohrffry disagreeable emotion. If it were to be presented to him, he preferred that it shonld be done in the face of this vast and respectab!e assemblage. He thonghl he con ld give it suchan answer as became him and the subjec of which it treatetf. At al! events, he entreated and besought his fellow citizens, for thei sake, for his counlry's sake, for his sake, to oflèr no direspect, no indirnity, no violence in word or deed, to Mr. Mendenhall. This appearing to compose the assembly Mr. Clay bovved l.o Mr. Mendenhall, and addréawnp hiin said - I wil] now. sir, make to you and to this pe tition such a response as becumes me. Allow me to say that I think you have not conforrned to the independent character of an American citizen, in presenting a petilion to me. - I am, like yourself, but a private citizen. A netifion as the term impliee, generally proceeds from nn inferior in power or station to a superior: bnt bet ween us thereis entirè equality. And what are the circumstancos undcr which you have chosen to offer it? 1 am a total stranger passing tfirongh your Sta'e on my way to lts capital, in consequeuce of an iavitation with which I have been honored to visit it to exchange salutations, with such of my friends of Indiana as think proper to meet me, and accept of their hospitality. Anxious ns I rui) to see them, and to view parts of this State which I had never seen, I carne here with reluctance, because I apprehended that motives of my journey might be misconceived and perverted. Bat vvhen the folfilment of an oíd promise to visit Indianapolis was insisted upon, I yielded to the solici ations of friends, and have presented myself among you. Such is the occasion which has been deliberately selected for tendering this petition to me. Í am advanced in years, and neither myeelf nor the place of my residence iser unknown to the world. Yon miglit, at nny time wjthin these Jast 25 or 30 years, have presented yonr petition lo me at Ashland. If you had gone thero for that purpose, you should have bern received and treated with respect and liberal hospitality. IN ow, Mr. Mendenhall, let us reverse conditions, and suppose that you had been invited to Kentiieky, to partake of its hospitality; and that, previous to your arrival, I hnd employed snch rneans os I understand have been used to get up this petition, to obtain the signatures of citizens of that State to a petition, to present to you, to relinquish your farm or other property, what would you have thought of such a proceeding? Would you have deemed it courteous and accordiner lo the rites of hospitoJitv? s I know well that you, and those who think with you, controvert the legitimacy oC slavery, and úeoy the rght of propcrty in slaves.- Uut the law of my Stale and other States has otherwise ordained. The law may be wrong, in your opinión, and otiglit to be repealed; but, tlien, you and your associatcs are not the law makerB for ue, and unlet-s you can show some authority to nullify our !aws, we must continue to respect them. Util the Uw ispealed, we must be excused lor ggserljng the njrhts - ay, tlie propcrty in slaves - vvljich it sanetions, authonzes, and vindicates. And who ore tlie prtitioners wbose organ you assuine to bal I have no doubt that ;na nyofthem are worthy, ammble or.d humane persons, who by erroneous representati ns, have beon induced incoTisiderately to affix Uieir signuture to this peiition, and that they will j deeply regret it. Oihers, and not a few, I ain toid, are free biacks.mën, women and children, who hiive been anfully deceived and imposed upon. A very lare portion, I have been credily informed. nre the political opponents of the party to which I beionr - deinocruts, as they most undeservedly cali themselves, who have eagerly seized this opportunity to wound, as they imnined, my feelinirp, and to aid tlie cause to which they nre atUched. In otiier quarters of the Union, demócrata claim to be the exclusive chnmpions of Southern inieresttt, the only we defund.ers of - pro: rty, and unjusíly acenso us wfiijs wiili abolition desiöfns, vvholly incompatible with its secuijty. What otiCTht these distant democrats lo tliitik of the conrse of their friends bere, who have ur.ited in this petition? And what is the foundation of thisappeai to me in Indiana, to libérate the slaves under my care in Kentucky? It is a general declaration, in the actannouncmg to the world the Independence of thethir"een American colonies, that all men are created equal Now, as nn abstract principie, there is do doubt of the truthof that declaration; and it is desirable, in the orieinal construclion of society, and in organized societies, to keep it in view as a great fundamental principie. But, then, I ap prehend that in no society that ever did exist, or ever shall be formed, was or can the equality asserted among the members of the human race, be praclicnlly enforced nnd carried out. There are portions of it, large portions, wouien, minors, insane, culprits, transientsojourners, that will always probahly remain subject to the jrovernment of nnothcr portion of the comrnunity.muí aeciaration, whatever may be the extent of its import, was made bv the delegations the thirteen States. In most of them slavery existed, and had long existed, and was established by luw. It was introduced and forced upon thecolonicsby the paromount law of England. Do yon believe, that in making that declaration,the Slates that concurred in it intended that it should be torlured into a virtual emanciparon of all the slaves within their respective limits? Would Virginia and the other southern States have ever united in a declarntion which was to bc interpreted into an abolition of slavory nmong thrm? Did any one of thirteen States entertain such a design or expectation? To impute sach a secret nnd unavowsd purpose would be to charge a politica 1 fray, upon the noblest band of patriots that ever assembled t) CQlir.cil !l fronil nnnlllliP Hinfallu ij nf tne revolution - a lïaud upon txié üdium 01 ihese States, whose Constitution not only rccognizes the iavvfulness offlavery, hut permitted the importation of slaves from África imtil the year 1808. And I am bold to say that, if the doctrines of modern ultra politica 1 aboliüonists had been seriously promulgated at theepoch of our revolntion, our iorious Independence would 'never have been achieved. Never! - (Gieat applause, and many voices echoing 'Never!)i know the predominan! sentiment in the frec States is adverse to &lavery; but hnppy in (lieit own exemption. from whaiever cvila mav altend it, the great m:iss of our fellow ciizens theie do not seek to viólale the Conslituiion, orto riisturb the harmony of theso State. 1 desire no concealment of my opinions in regnrd to the insti t u t ion of slavery. I look u)on it as a great evil. nnd deeply lament thnt we have derived it from thn parental government and from our ancestors. I wish every elave in the Uniied Stites was in the country of his ancestors. But here they are, and the qnestion is, how can they be best dealt withi If n state of nature existed. and we were abont to lay the foundations of 6ociety, no man vvoiikl be more strongly opposed than ï should lie to incorpórate the insiitution of slavery amona; its elements. But there san incalculable difl'erence bet ween the forniation of society, with itsancicnt Iaws, institutions and esiablishments Now. great as I acknowledgc, in my opinión, theevils of slavery are, they are nothing, absolutely nothing. in compirison with the far greaier evils which would inevitably flow from a sudden, general and ndiscriminate emancipntion. ín someof the States, the number ofslnves approximates totvards an equalitv with tliat of the whites: in one or two they surpass thcm. Whai would be the condition of the two race in thoso States, upon the supposition of an immediate emancipation? Does any man suppose that they would beconie blendcd mto one homogcnious mass1 Does any man recomtnend amalgamation - that rnvolting admixture, alike offensive to God and man? For those wlutn He, by their physical proporties, has made unlike and put asunder, we may, without presümpiuousness,. suppose, were never intended to be joined together in one of the holiest rites. And let me teil you, sir, if you do not already know it, that such is the feeling - prejudices, if you pleaser (and what man claiming to be n statesnian, will ovcrlook, or disregard, the deep seated and unconqucrable prejudices of the people) in the slave States, that no human law could enforce a unión between the two races. What then would certainly happen? A struggle for politica] ascendancy; the blacks seeking to acquire, and the whites to maintain possession of the government. Upon the supposition of ageneral, immediateemancipation, in ihoseSiates where the blacks outnumber the whites, they woulcl have nothing to do but to insist upon another part of the snmo Dcclaralion of Independence, as Dorr and his dcltided democratie folowers recently did ia Rhode Island, according to vliich nn unilefined majority havo the right, at heir plensurc, to subvert an existing governmrnt, nd instituto a new one in ite plnce, and the whites would be broiipht in complete subjection to the blncks! contest would inevitably ensiii beween the two races, civil war. carnnge, pillago, onflagration, devnstati'jn. end the ultímate extermination or expulsión of the blacks. Nothing s more certain. And nre not these evils far greater than the mild, continually improvinc :ate ofslavery which e.xists in this country? f ay continually improving: for ff this gratifying )rogress in the amclioraiion of the cotidition of the slaves hns been checked in sonie of the Stntes, the responsibility must attach to the subject of ibolition. In consequence of t. incrensed rigor in the pólice and further restroints have heen imposed; and I do believe that gradual emnncipation (the only mefhod of liberation that has ever been thought safe or wise by nny body of the Slave States) has been postponed half a century. ithout nny knowledgc of the relntions in which I stand to my slaves. or ilieir individual eondjtion, yon. Mr. Mondcuhnl!, and your? oíales who havo been aciive in getiing up ihis pe. [ mío, cali upon mr forthwith t libérate ih wholo oi ihein. Now et tne teU you thot soms ! hall n dozen o them, from oge. decrsptitude or inurmity, nre wholly uriable to gaiti a livelihood tur thenisdves. nud are a heavy charga upon me. Do you think ] should conform to the dictatea of hufiiaimy, by ridding niysoF of that cha ge, and sendmg tlieni forth imo the world, with the booo of libeny, to and a wreiched exiwence u etarvation? Anothur elass ia composed of helplcs infants, withor without improvident matbara. Do you believe, as n Chriatian. that I should perforrn iny duty townrds them, by abando wng them to ihfir iute? Then, there is elaas who would accept iheir freettom, f I would givo it to ihem. I hive for many years owned a slávo that wishca would lenve me, bui he wili nou Whnt shall I do wiih that clabs? Whot my treatment of my etavesia, you may learo from Charles, who accompanios me on thia journey, and who has trnvolled with m over th gronter part of the United Sates, and in boili ilia .mid.H, nndliashnd n iliotiimnd opp.unitica, 1 cliosci. f iMiilnce -.liTn., t& k.-.vo me Excuse me, Mr. Mendeihall. for saying ihat my sla ves are as we1 fed ond ciad, look as sleek and honrty. and are quite as civil and respectful in t heir domcanor, and as little disposed to wound the feohngs of any one, na you ore. [Great nnd continued laughter and opplause.il Let me recommend to you, sir, to imítate the benpvolent example of the society of Frienda in the ïnidst of which you reside. Meek, gentle. imbued with the genuine spirit of our benign re' dgion, wliilst in principie they are firmly oppoaed to slavery, they do not seek to accomplish itsextmction by foul epithets, coarse and vulgar abuse and gross calumny. Their ways do not k-ad thro'' blood.revolntion and disunion. Their broad and comprehensive philanthropy embraces, aa they beheve, the good and the happines of the white as well as the black raco; giving to the one their comniiserntion.to the other, their kind uess and synipathy. Their instrumenta are not those of de8truction and of war.but of peace,pcrsuasion and earnest appeals to the charities of the human (wart. Unambmous; they have no political objtíctsor purposes to subserve. My intercoura wuli them (hroughoutlife has been considerable imeiestmg und ngrceable; and I ventue to say thnt nothmg could have induced tbem, as a society, whatever a few individuáis might have been tempted to do, to seize the occasion of my casual passage through thia State, to offer me a pertonal indigniry. r [This part of Mr. Clay's speech waslistened to with deep and absorbingattention, and woa followed by a loud burst of applause.] I respect ihe motives of rational abolitionwt, who are actuated by a sentiment ol devotion to human liberty, although I deplore and deprecas the concequentes of the agitation of the question. 1 have even my friends among them. But they ar not monomaniacs, who surrendering themselves to a single idea, ook altogether to th black side of human Ufe. They do not believe that the sum total of all our efforta and all our devotion should be nbolition. They believe that there are duties to perforru towards the whita man as well as the black. They want good government, good administration, and the neneral prospenty of their country.. ' I'I',!. Mcii..!c:n!ial(? tvo,, Ijcfore I come to a fíiinl decisión, I should like to know what you and your aasociates are willing to tlo for the slnres n my posscssion, if I should tbink proper to libérate them. I own about fifty, who are probably worih fifteen thousand doilari. To turn ihem luose upon society without anjr nieans of eubsistence or 9upport, would be an act ofcrueity. Ateynu willing to rnise and secure tho pnyment of rifteen thousand dollars, fbrtheir benefit, if I 8hou!d be induced to free them? The security of the paytnent of that slim would ma(eriüüy lessen the obstacles ia the way of their emancipation. And now, Mr. Mendenhall, I must take rcspectful leave of you. We as we have met, witli no unkind feclings, no cxeited anger or dissatishiction nn my part, whatever may haro been your motives, and ihe I refer to our comnion Judge above, to whom we are ïoth rcsponsible. Go home, and mind your own business, and leave otber people to take care of theire.- Limit your benevo'eiu exertion to your own neighborhood. Within that cirefe, youwill find ampie scope for :he excrcise of alt your charities. Pry.upthe tear3ofthc nfïlicted widowa around you. console and conifort the helpless orphnn,elothc the naked, nnd feed aml help the poor, blnck and white, who need euccor, and you wi 11 bc a botter nndwisor man ihaa you have thia day shcwo youfself. [Ra]turoii8 npplause follovrvd the conclusión of tho speech.]

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Subjects
Signal of Liberty
Old News