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RGIA COURIER. . O. M'WHOETSa AND HEATHY BSEA^UffS, PUBLISHERS. Term*—'This r*|M*r is p iblisbr.d ovorv Monday and Tnar*d:iV afu-rnom, H *■> 00 prr annum, payable in ad vance, or |G 00 at th - expiration of the year. XT Adverf .iementa not exceediny a stp.are. inserted the first tiinr or 62 1*2 cents, and 43 3-4 cents for each con- MR. CLAY’S SPEECH, > T THE DINNER AT NOBLF.'s INN, NEAR^LEXINGTOV, judv!2. 4. Our distinguished Guest, Henry ( lay.—The furnace of persecution may be heated seven times hotter, and seventy times in- re. he will come ont unscathed by the fire of nnlienianry brighter to nil and dearer to his friends : while ids enemies rhallsiuk with the dross of their own vile mate rials Mr. Ci.\y, after the above toast had been read, addressed the company as fol lows. f-lr. President. Friends and Fellow-Citizens— 1 beg permission - o offer my hearty thanks, and I i make my respectful acknowledgments for the affectionate reception which has been given me during my present visit to my old congressional district and for this h sp: able and honorable tes timony of your esteem and confidence. And I thank you "especially f»r the friendly sentiments and feeling- expressed in the toast which you h v? just done me the honourto drink. I always had the happiness of knowing that I enjoyed, in a h igh degree the attachment of that portion of ray fellow citizens whom I formerly represented hut I should never have been senssible of the strength and ardour of their affection, except for the extraordinary character of the times. For near two years and a half I have been assailed with a rancour a. d bitterness which have few ex ample.. I have found myself the particular ob- je t of con rrted and conc -ptra ed abuse ; and others, thrusting themselves between you and mc- huve dared to arraign me for treachery to your interests. But mv former constituents, unaffec ted Ly the calumnies w ich have been so fersc- veringly tirculated to my prejudice have stood 1 y me with a generous constancy and a noble magnanimity. The measure of t'.eir regard and confidence has risen with, and even surpassed that of the malevolence, great as it is of my personal and political foes. 1 thank you, gen tlemen, who arc a large portion of my late con- situents. I thank you, and every one of them with till my heart, for the manly support which I have uniformly received. It has cheered and consoled me amidst all my severe tr ials; and ;nav 1 not add that it is honourable to the gener ous hearts and enlightened heads who have resolv ed to protect the character of an old friend and a faithful servant 7 The numerous manifestations of your confi dence and attachment will be amongst the latest and most treasured recollections of my life.— They impose on me obligations which can never he weakened or conceited. Onejof those obliga tions is, that 1 should embrace every fair oppor tunity to vindicate that character which you have so generously sustained, and to evince to you and to the world, that you have not yi bled to the impulses of a blind and enthusiastic sentiment — 1 feel that I am, on all fit occasions, especially bound to vindicate myse’f to my former consti u, ents. It was as their representative ; it was in t he fulfilment of a high trust which they confi ded to sne, that I have be » accus- d of tiolating the most sacred of duties, of treating their wish es with contempt, and.Pu b interests with treach ery. Not is this obligation, in mv conception of stantl v demanded from \he House of Represen tatives an investigation. A Committee was ac cordingly, on the 6th day of February, 1825, ap pointed in the rare mode of balloting by the House instead of by the selection of the Speaker It was composed of some of the leading members of the body, not one of whom was iny political friend iu the preceding Presidential canvass. Al though Mr. Kremer, in addressing the House, had declared his willingness to bring forward his proofs, and his readiness to abide the issue of the inquiry, his fears, or other counsels than his own. prevailed upon him to take refuge in a mis erable subterfuge. Of all possible periods that was thp most fitting to substantiate the charge, if it w as true Every circumstance was then fresh; the witnesses aFl living and present; the election not vet complete ; and therefore the imputed cor rupt bargain not fulfilled. All these powerful considerations had no weight with the conspira tors and their accessaries,and they meanly shrunk from even an attempt to prove their charge, for the best of all possible reasons—because, being communication was intended with the most friendly motives “ that be came as a friend, and that he hoped, however it might be received, there would be no altei ation in the friendly feel ings between them. The General graciously condescends to receive the communication, and, in consideration of the high standing of the distinguished member, and of his having always been a professed friend, he is promised impuni ty, and assured that there should be no change of amicable ties. After all these necessary pre liminaries arranged between the high negotiating powers, the envoy proceeds : “He had been in formed by the friends of Mr. Clay, “that the ; monthof Januarv. or at any rate “ friends of Mr. Adams had made overtures t® | S , ate .’ n {he month The OI \i y avowal of my “ them, saying if Mr. Clay and his friends would ^— that the overture was made, and the second-day after, the annunciation of my intention took place. Now, I will not assert that there may not have been some speculations in the newspapers about that time, (although I do not believe that there were even any sperulalions so early.) as to the probable vote which I should give; but I should be glad to see.any newspaper which, the second day after early in January, asserted in its columns, that I had come out “ openly and avowedly in favor of Mr. Adams.” I challenge the production of such a paper- 1 do not believe my intention so vote for Mr. Adams was announ ced in the newspapers openly and avowedly du- nnite in aid of the election of Mr. Adams, Mr. Clav should be Secretary of State; that the friends of Adams were urging, as a reason to induce the friends of Mr Clav to accede to 1 their proposition, that if I was intention to vote for him, which was publicly i made in the newspapers, prior to the election, is contained in mv letter to'Judge Brooke, which is 1 dated the 28th January. It was first published f electedTresT- i in the Enquirer at Richmond, some time in the elected ires , nl0Qt j, i j go further; I do not believe dent, Mr. Adams would be continued Secretary . ' a "'"“^ vspaper aI Washington can be produced ,OF 1 J - before the latter part of January, the best of all possible reasons—because, utiuji of State, (inuendo, there would be no room | - c ; n g before the latter part oi January, false and fabricated, they could adduce no proof « Kentucky.”) [Is th.s Gen. Jackson s inuendo, , t whether upon mv avowal or not, of mv Which was not false and fabricated. J or <>'*'of the distinguished member of Con- : j {o yote for Mr ’ Adams . Gen. Jackson’s During two years and a half, w hich have now ; gress ?J “ That the friends of Mr. Clay stated ; OTUSt deceive him. He must have con- intervened, a portion of the press devoted to the , “ the West does not want to separa e from th. - cvents and circum sances. His friend, cause of Gen. J. has been teeming with the vilest; “ West, and if I would say or permit any oi my • Geortre Kremer in his letter to the Colum- calumnies against me, and the charge, under ev- . “ confidential friends to gay that, in case 1 was - ■ observer, bearing date the 25th January, ery camelon form, has been a thousand times re peated. Up to this time, I have in vain invited investigation, and demanded evidence. None, lJlc „ r .. not a particle, has been adduced. “ P ut an end to the Presidential contest m one , . ? d vote fbat letter was first published at The extraordinary ground has been taken, that i “ hour; and he was of opinion it was rig t t(j .. . j hia and returne d in the Columbian Ob- t he accusers were not bound to establish by proof ; “ fight such intriguers with thnr own weapons. | 0 Washington City on the 31st January, the guilt of their designated victim- In a civili- —To which the General s ates himself to la ' e I i„ no . hefm-e'jts date that letter was written — guilt „ . . zed, Christian and free community the monstrous replied in substance, “ that in politics, as in eve principle has been assumed, that accusation and ; “ conviction are synonymous and that the persons ‘ who deliberately bring forward an atrocious : ‘ charge are exempted from all obligations to sub-. ‘ stantiate it. But is there any real difference, in ; ‘ this respect, between political and other offences ? 4 Do not ali perpetrators of crime endeavor to con- j * ceal their guilt and to elude detection ? If the ac- j against: ing influence It would amount to an universal license to universal calumny ! ■o one has ever contended, that the proof should be exclusively that of < ye-witnesses, testi fying fiom their senses positively aud directly to the fact. Political, like all other offences, may be established by circumstantial as well as posi tive evidence. But I do contend, that some, evi dence be it what it may ought to be exhibited. If there be none, how do the accusers know that an offence has been perpe rated 7 If they do Iqpow it, let us bave the/ar/s on which their conviction is based. I will not even assert that, in public affairs, a citizen has not a right freely to expre s his opinions of public men, and to speculate upon the motives of their conduct. But if he chooses to promulgate opinions, let them be given as opinions. The public will correctly judge of thrir value and their grounds. No one has a right to put forth the positive asseriion, that a political of fence has been committed, unless he stands pre pared to sustain, by satisfactory proof of some kind, its actual existence. If he who exhibits a charge of a political sriitfe is, from its very nature disabled to establish it, how much more difficult is the condition of the ac cused ? How can lie exhibit negative proof of bis innocence, if no affirmative proof of his guilt is, or cin be adduced 7 It must have been a conviction that the justice of the public required a definite charge, by a re sponsible accuser, that has, at last extorted from Gen. Jackson his letter of the 6th of June, lately published- I approach that letter with great re luctance, not on my own account, for on that, I do most heartily fc sincerely rejoice that it has made its appearance, But it is a reluctance, excited by the feelings of respect which 1 would anxiously have cultivated towards its author. He has, how ever, by that letter, created such relations be- its import, »t all weakened by the dissolution of I tween us, that, in anv language which I may em ploy in examining its contents, 1 feel myself bound by no other obligations than those which belong tQ truth, to public decorum, and to myself. • The first consideration which must, on the pe rusal of the letter, force itself upon every reflect ing mind, is that which arises out of the delicate posture in which Gen. Jackson stands before the American public. Ileis a candidate for the Pre sidency, avowed and proclaimed. He has no competitor at present, and there is no probabili ty’ of his having any, but one. The charges which he has allowed" himself to be the organ of communicating to the very public who is to de cide the question of the Presidency, though di rectly aimed at me, necessarily implicate his only’ competitor. Mr. Adams and myself are both guilty, or we are both innocent of the im puted arrangement between us. His innocence is absolutely irreconcilable with my guit. IfGe- neral Jackson, therefoie, can establish my guilt, and, by inference, or by insinuation, that of his sole rival, lie w ill have removed a great obstacle to the consummation of the object of his ambi tion, And if he can at the same time, make out his own purity of conduct, and impress the Ame rican people with the belief that his purity and integrity alone prevented his success before the House of Representatives, liis claims will become absolutely’ irresistible. Were there ever more powerful motives to propagate,—was there ever greater interest, at all hazards, to prove the truth of charges 7 I state the case, I hope, fairly; I mean to state it fairly and fearlessly. If the position be one which exposes General Jackson to unfavorable suspicions, it must be borne in mind that he has voluntarily taken it, and he must abide the con sequences. 1 am acting on the defensive, and it is he who assails me, and who has called forth, by the cteftial laws of self-protection, the right to use all legitimate means of self-defence. General Jackson lias shown, in I is letter, that he is not exempt from the influence of that bias towards one’s own interests, which is unfortu nately’ the too common lot ofliuman nature It is his interest to make out that he is a person of spotless innocence, and of unsullied integrity ; ami to establish, by direct charge, or by neces sary inference, the w ant of those qualities in his rival. Accordingly^ w e find throughout the let ter, a labored attempt to set forth his own imma- cu.ate purity iu striking contrast with the cor ruption which is attributed to others. We would imagine from his letter, that he very seldom touches a newspaper. The Telegraph is mailed regularly for him at Washington, but it arrives at the-Hermitage very irregularly’. He would have the pub ic to infer, that the postmaster at Nash- \ille, whose appointment happened not to be up on his recommendation, obstiucted his reception of it. In consequence of his not receiving the Telegraph, be bad not on the 6th June, 1827, ry thing else, my guide was principle, and con- trarytothe expressed and unbiassed will of the people or their constituted agents, I never would step into the Presidential chair ; and re quested him to say to Mr. Clay and his friends, (for i did suppose he had come from Mr. Clay. although he used the terms Mr. Clay's friends.) __ ____ that before I would reach the Presidential cuscr of a political offence is absolved from the “ chair by such means of bargain and corruption, duty of proving his accusation, every other “ I would sec the earth open and swallow both accuser of offences, stands equally absolved. Such “Mr. Clay and his friends and myself wit a principde, practically carried into society, wouid “them.’ Now nil these professions are very subvert allbarmonv,pe ce and tranquility. None fine, and display admirable purity.. But its sub- —-no age, nor sex, nor profession nor calling, limity would be somewhat more impressive, if w’ould be safe against its baleful and everwhclm- j some reason other than Gen. Jackson had pro- thr relations which heretofore existed between us- I would instantly resign the place I hold in the councils f the nation, and directly a peal to the suffrages of iny late ronsituents, us a candidate for re elrctio ifl did not Uu -w that my foes are of that class whom one rising from th“ dead cannot convince, whom nothi g can silence nod who wage .-war o extermination. So the issue of such an appeal, they would •cdoublc their a- buse of ine and of you ; their hatred is common to us both- ’ Th y have compelled me so often to he the theme of my a ndress to the people, that I should have willingly abstained on this festive occasion, from any allusion to this subject, but for a new and imposing form which the calumny against me has recently assumed. I am ‘-gain put on mv defence, not of any new adversary ; but of the old charges, clad in a new dress, and exhibited hy an open and undisguised enemy, The fictitious names have been stricken from the foot of the in dictment and that of a known and substantial prose utor has been voluntarily offered. Un daunted by the formidable name of that prosecu tor, I will avail mi self, with your indulgence, of this fit opportunity of free and unreserved inter course with you, as a large number of iny late constituents, to make some observations on the past and present state of the question. When evidence shall be produced, as I have now a clear right to demand.-in support of the accusation, it will be the proper time for m - to take such no- t : ce of it as its nature may require. In Febuary 1825, it was my duty, as the Rep- rcsentalive of this District, to vote lof some one of the three candidates for the Presidency, whp who were returned to the House of representa tives. It has been established, and can be further proved, that, before I left this State the prece ding fall, I communicated to several gentlemen of the highest respectability my fixed determina tion not to’vole for General Jackson. The friends of Mr Crawford asserted to the last, that the con dition of his health was such as to enable him to administer the duties of the office. 1 thoughtother- wise, after I reached Washington City, and vis- i e ! him to satisfy myself; and thought th itphys- iral impediment, ifthere were no other objections ought to prevent hie election. Although the Del egations from four States voted for him, and his pretcasi ns were zealously pressed to the very last moment, it has been of late asserted, and 1 believe by some of the vert persons who then warmly espoused his ca»se, that his incompeteu- cv w as so palable as clearly to limit the choice to t-.vo of the three returned «a»didates. In my view cf my duty, there was no alternative but that w hich I embraced. That I had some objec- tionsto Mr. Adams l am ready freely t - admit; but these did not weigh a feather in comparason with th? greater and insurmountable objections, long and deliberately entertained against his com claimed it. He would go into the Presidential chair, but nev<*r, no ! never contrary to “the ex- How long before its date that letter was written for Mr. Kremer, it does not appear. Whether there be any connexion between the communica tion made by the distinguished member of Con gress, and that letter, perhaps Gen. Jackson can explain. At the end of more than two years after a cor rupt overture is made to Gen. Jackson, he now, foi the first time, openly proclaims it. It it true, as I have ascertained since the pnblication of Mr. Beverley’s Fayetteville letter, the General has been for a long time secretly circulating the charge. Immediately on the appearance at Washington of that- letter in the public prints, the ■Editor of the Telegraph asserted, in his paper, Gen. Jackson had communicated the overture to him about the period of the election, not as he now states, but according to Mr. Beverley’s ver- pressed and unbiassed will of the pebple, or their ot the tale. Since I left IVashington on the constituted agents two modes of arriving at it ‘1.0th of last month, I have understood that en. the more reasonable, as there happens to be no |Jackson has made a similar communication to other constitutional wav. He would see “ the {several other persons, at different and distant earth open and swallowboth Mr. Clay and his {points. Why has the overtnre been thus clan friends and myself,” before he would reach the jdestinely circulated ? Mas it that through t le Presidential chair by “such means of bargain jlmedium of the Telegraph, the leading paper sup- and corruption.” I hope Gen. Jackson did not -porting the interests of Gen. Jackson, and thio intend that the whole human race should be also ’his other depositories, the belief of the charge swallowed up, on the contingency he lias stated, should be d.tily and gradual^ infused into the nor that they were to guaranty that he has an ipublic mind, and tnus contiioute to the suppoit absolute repugnance to the employment of any of his cause ? The Zealand industry with which exceptionable means to secure his elevation to b has been propagated, the daily columns of the Presidency. If he had rendered the dritin- certain newspapers’can testify. Finding , the guished member of Congress a little more distin- public still unconvinced, has the General found guished, bv instantly ordering him from his pre- jit to be necessary to come out in proper person, sence, and by forthwith denouncing him and the infamous proposition which he bore to the Ame rican public, we should he a little better prepar ed to admit the claims to untarnished integrity, which tiic General so modestly puts forward.— But, according to his own account, a corrupt and scandalous proposal is made to him; the person who convpyed it rdvlses him to accept it. and vet that person still retains the friendship of Gen. Jackson who is so tender of his character that j cerncd, demanded, an inquiry in the House of his name ig carefully concealed and reserved to j Representatives, aiid established, by satisfactory through the thin veil of Mr. Carter Beverley’s agency 7 - When the a>*cge ( j overture was made, the elec tion remained ’’"decided. Why did not Gen. Jackson then hold up to universal scorn and in dignation the inbi m0 us bearer of the proposal, and those who dared to insult his honor, and tamper with his integrity 7 If he had, at that time, denounced all the infamous parties con- petitor. I take this occ -Jon with great satisfac- ! seen Carter Beverley’s famous Fayetteville let- t.on, to state that my objections to Mr. Adams a- J ter, dated the 8th of the preceding March, pub- rose chiefly from apprehensions which have not lished iu numerous gazettes, and published, I been real sed. I hare found him at the head of 1 have very little doubt, although I have not the the Government, able, enlightened, patient means of ascertaining the fact, in the gazettes of of investigation, and ever ready to receive with * Nashville. 1 will not say, contrary to General respect, and when approved by hisjudgement, to Jackson’s assertion, that he had never read that act upon the cou -sols of his official advisers. I letter, w lien he wrote that of the 6th of June, but add, with unmixt pleasure that from the com- j I must think that it is very strange that he should m-mcement of the Government, with the excep- j not have seen it; and that I doubt whether there tiou of Mr. Jefferson's Administration, no Chief is another man of any political eminence in the Magistrate has found the members of his Cabinet United Slates who has not read it There is a re- so united on all public measures, and so cordial ; markable coincidence between General Jackson and friendly in all their intercourse, private aud and certain editors who espouse his interest, in official, as those are of the piesent President. j relation to Mr. Beverley’s letter. They very ear- Had I voted for General Jackson, iu opposi- ; lv took the ground, in respect to it, that I ought, t'on to the well-known opinion, which I enter- j under mv own signature, to come out an deny rained of him, one-tenth part of the ingenuity and the statements. And General Jackson now says, zeal which have been employed to excite preju dices against me would have held me up to uni versal contempt: and what would have been w orse, I should havefelt that I really deserved it. Before the election, nu afleriTpt was made by an abusive letter, published in the Columbian Ob server, at Philadelphia, a paper which, as has since transpired, w as sustained by Mr. Senator Eaton, the colleague. Jthe friend and the biogra pher of Genera! Jackson, to assail my motives, mid to deter me in the exercise of my duty. This letter being avowed by Mr. G* jrge Kremer, I in- in his letter of the 6th of June, that he “ always intended, should Mr. Clay come out over his own name, and deny having any knowledge of the communication made hy his friends to my friends and to me, that I would give him the name of the gentleman through whom that communication came.” The distinguished member of Congress, who bore the alleged overture, according to General Jackson, presented himself with diplomatic cir cumspection lest he should wound the'very great sensibility of -the General. He avers that the to be hereafter brought forward as a w itness ! A man, who. if he be a member bf the House of Representatives, is doubly infamous—infamous for the advice whielihe gave, and infamous for his willingness to connive at the corruption of the body of which he was a sworn member—is the credible witness by whom Gen. Jackson stands ready to establish the corruption of men whose characters were never questioned ! Of all the properties which belong to honora ble men not one is so highly prized as that of character, Gen. Jackson cannot be insensible to its value, for he appears to be most anxious to set forth the loftiness and purity of his own.— How has he treated mine ? During the dispensa tion of the hospitalities of the Hermitage, in the midst of a mixed company, composed of individ uals from various States, he permits himself to make certain statements respecting my friends and me which, if true, would forever dishonour and degrade us. The words are hardly passed from his mouth, before they are committed to paper, by one of his guests, and transmitted in the form of a letter to another State, where they are published in a newspaper, and thence circulated throughout the Union And now he pretends thatThese statements were made, “ without any calculation that they were'o be thrown into the public journals.” “ Does he reprove the indis cretion of the guest who bad violated the sancti ty of a conversation at the hospitable board 7— Far from it. The public is incredulous? It can not believe that Gen. Jackson would be so want ing in delicacy and decorum The guest appeals to him for the confirmation of the published state ments ; and the General promptly addresses a letter to him, in which “he most unequivocally “ confirms (says Mr. C. Beverley) all I have said “ regarding the overture made to him pending the last Presidential election before Congress ; “ and he asserts a great deal more them he ever “tcldme." I should be glad to know if all the versions of the rule have now made their appear ance, and whether Gen. Jackson will allege that he did not “ calculate” upon the publication of his letter of the fitli of June. The General states that the unknown envoy used the terms, “Mr Clay’s friends,” to the ex clusion, therefore, of mvself, but lie nevertheless inferreil that he had come from me. Now. why did he draw his inferrence contrary to the import of the statement which he received 7 Does not this disposition to deduce conclusions unfavorable to me manifest the spirit which actuates him ?— And does not General Jackson exhibit throughout his letter a desire to give a coloring to the state ments of his friend, the distinguished member of Congress, higher than they would justify 7 No one should ever resort to implication but from necessity. 11 hy did he not ascertain from the envoy if he had come from me 7 lVas any thing more natural than that General Jackson should ascertain the persons who had deputed the envoy? If his shocked sensibility and indignant virtue and patriotism would not allow him to inquire into particulars, ought he to have hazarded the as sertion, that I was privy to the proposal, without assuring himself of the fact 7 Could he not, af ter rejecting the proposal continuing as he did, on friendly terms with the organ of it, have satis fied himself if I were conusant of it 7 If he had not time then, might he not have ascertained the fact from his friends or me, during the interven ing two and a half years 7 The compunctions of his own conscience, for a moment appear to have visited him towards the conclusion of his letter, for he there does say, “ that in the supposition “ stated, I may have done injustice to Mr. Clav ; “ifso, the gentleman informing me can explain.” No good or honourable man will do another vo- luctarily any injustice. It was not necessary that General Jackson should have dont ine anv. And he cannot acquit himself of the rashness aiid iniquity of his conduct towards me by referring at this late day, to a person, whose name is with held from the public. This compendious mode of administering justice, by first hanging and then trying a man, however justifiable it may be, accordingto the precepts of the Jackson code is sanctioned by no respectable system of jurispru dence. It is stated in the letter of the 6th of June, that the overture was made early in January; and that the second day after the communication, it “ was announced in the newspapers, that Mi- Clay had come out openly and avowedly in fa vor of Mr. Adams.” The object of this state ment is obvious. It is to insinuate that the pro posal which was rejected with disdain bv Gen. Jackson, was accepted with promptitude by Mr Adams. This renders the fact as to the time of the alleged annunciation very important. It is to be regretted that Gen. Jackson had not been a little more precise. It was early in January proof, the truth of his accusation, there might, and probably wou’d have been, a different result to the election. Why. when at my instance, a Committee was on the 5th day of February, 1825, (only four days before the election,) appointed to investigate the charges of Mr« Kremer, did not Gen. Jackson present himself and establish their truth 7 Why, on the 7th of that month, two days before the election, when the Committee report ed that Mr. Kremer declined to come forward, and that “ if they knew of any reason for such investigation, they would have asked to be clo thed with the proper power, but not having them selves any such knowledge, they have felt it to be their duty only to lay before the House the communication which they have received why did not Gen. Jackson authorize a motion to re commit the report, and ifflnfullv come forward with all his information 7 The Congress of the Nation is in session. An important election has devolved on it. All eyes are turned towards Washington. -The result is awaited with inten sc anxiety and breathless expectation. A corrupt proposition, aflectingthe election, is made to one of the candidates. He receives it, is advised to accept it, deliberates, decides upon it. A Com mittee is in session to investigate the verv charge. The candidate, notwithstanding, remains pro foundly silent, and, after the lapse of more than two years, when the period of another election is rapidly approaching, in which he is the only competitor for the office, for the first time, an nounces it to the American public! They must have more than an ordinary share of credulity who do not believe that Gen. Jackson labors un der some exti aordinary delusion. It is possible that he mav urge, bv way of ex cuse for what must he deemed his culpable con cealment of meditated corruption, that he did net like to volunteer as a witness before the com mittee, or to transmit to it the name of his friend, the distinguished member of the House of Rq^ presentatives, although it is not verv easy to dis cern any just reason for his volunteering now, which would not have applied with more force at that time. But what apology can be made for his failure to discharge his sacred duty as an American Senator? More than two months af ter the alleged overtnre, my nomination to the office which I now hold, was made to the Senate of the United States, of which Gen. Jackson was a sworn member. On that nomination, he had to deliberate and act in the most solemn manner. If I were privy to a corrupt proposal to General Jackson, touching the recent election; if I had entered into a corrupt bargain with Mr. Adams to secure his elevation, I was unworthy the office to w liich I was nominated; and it was the duty of Gen- Jackson, if he really possessed the infor mation which he now pnts forward, to have mov- ed »!ip t n appoint a committee of enquiry, and by establishing my guilt, to have preserved the National Councils from an abominable con tamination- As the conspiracy of Gaorge Kre mer He Co. had, a short time before, meanly shrunk from appearing before the committee of the House of Representatives, to make good their charges, I requested a Senator of the U. States, when my nomination should be taken up, to ask of the Senate the appointment of a committee of inquiry, unless it should appear to him to be al together unnecessary. One of our Senators was compe led, by the urgency of his private busi ness, to leave Washington before my nomination was disposed of; and as I had but little confi dence in the fidelity and professed friendship of the other, I was cohstrained to present my ap plication to a Senator from another State. I was afterwards informed, that when it was acted up on, Gen. Jackson aad every other Senator pre sent was silent as to tLe imputations now made, no one presuming’ to question my hondr or inte- grity. How can Gen. Jackson justify to his con science or to his country this palpable breach of his public duty 7 It is in vain to say that he gave a silent negative vote. He was in possession of information which, if true 1 must have occasioned the rejection of my nomination. It does not ap pear that any other Senator possessed the same information. Investigation was alike due to the purity of the National Councils, to me, and, as an act of strict justice, to all the other parties im plicated. It is impossible for him to escape from the dilemma that he has been faithless, as a Se nator of the United States, or has lent himself to the circulation of an atrocious calumny. After the election, Gen. Jackson was among the first who eagerly pressed his congratulations upon his successful rival. If Mr. Adams had been guilty of the employment pi impure means to eflect his election, Gen. Jackson ought to ha?e disdained to sully his own hands by touching those of his corrupt competitor. On the 10th of February, 1825, the verv next day after t'he electWA, Gen. Jackion wn J . tit ..... Kir crimp to public dinner a* Washington by someo|his friends. He expressed to them his wish »■»’ ^ rai-ht be excused from accepting the invitation, because, alluding to the recent election, he said <• anv evidence of kindness and regard, such as vou propose, might, by many, be viewed as con- vevin" with it exception, murmuring, and feel ings of complaint, which I sincerely hope belong to none of mv friends.” More than one month after the corrupt proposal is pretended to have been received, and after, according to the insinu ation of Gen. Jackson, a corrupt arrangement had been made between Mr. Adams and me— after the actual termination of an election, the issue of which was brought about, according to Gen Jackson, by the basest of means, he was unwilling to accept the honors of a public dinner, lest it should imply even an exception against the result of the election , . . , Gen. Jackson professes in bis letter of the otn June—I quote li s own words, “ to have always intended, should Mr Clay come out over his own signature and deny having any knowledge of the communication made by his friends to my friends and to me, that I would give him the name of the gentleman through whom that communication came-” He pretends never to have seen the Fayetteville letter ; and yet the pretext of a de- nia’l under my signature is precisely that which had been urged by the principal editors who sus tain his cause. If this be an unconcerted, it is nevertheless a most wonderful coincidence. The General never communicated to me his profess ed intention, but left me in entire ignorance of his generous purpose ; like the overture itself, it was profoundly concealed from me. There was an authorized denial from me, which went the circle of the public prints, immdiately after the arrival at Washington of the Fayetteville letter. In that denial my words are given. They were contain ed in a letter dated at Washington City on the 18th day of April last, and are correctly stated to have been “that the statement that his (my) friends had made such a proposition as the letter describes to the friends of Gen. Jackson was, as far as he knew or believed, utterly destitute of foundation *, that he was unwillingjto believe that Gen. Jackson had made any such statement; but that no matter with whom it* had originated, he was fully persuaded it was a gross fabrication, of the same calumnious character with the Kremer story, put forth for the double purpose of injuring his public character, and propping the cause of General Jackson: and that for himself and his friends he defied the substantiation of the charge before any fair tribunal whatever.” Such were my own words transmitted in ihe form of a tetter from a friend to a known person. Whereas the charge which they repelled was contained in a letter written by a person then unknown to some person also unknown. Did I not deny the charge under my own signature in my Card, of the 31st January, 1825, published in the National Intelli gencer 7 Was not there a substantial denial of it in my letter to Judge Brooke, dated the 28th of the same month 7 In my circular to my consti tuents 7 In my Lewiiburg speech 7 And may I not add, in the whole tenor of my public life and conduct 7 If Gen. Jackson had offered to furnish me the name of a member of Congress, who was capable of advising his acceptance of a base and corrupt proposition, ought I to have resorted to liis infamous and discredited witness 7 It ha* been a thousand times asserted and re peated, that I violated instructions which I ought to have obeyed. I deny the charge; and I am happy to have this opportunity of denying it in the presence of my assembled Constituents. The General Assembly requested the Kentucky dele gation to vote in a particular way A majority of that delegation, including myself, voted in op position to that request. The legislature did not intend to give an imperative instruction. The distinction between a request and an instruction was familiar to the legislature; and their rolls attest that the former is always addressed to the members of the House of Representatives, and the latter only to the Senators of the U. States. But I do not rely exclusively on this recognized distinction. I dispute at once the right of *be legislature to issue a mandatory instru tlon to the Representatives of the people. Such a right has no foundation in the Constitution, in the rea son or nature of things, nor in the usage of the Kentucky Legislature. Its exercise would be a manifest usurpation. The General Assembly has the incontrovertible right to exovess its opinion and to proclaim its wishes on any political subject whatever; and to such an expression great de ference and respect arp due; but it is not obliga tory. The people, when, in August. 1824, they elected members to the General Assembly, did not invest them with any power to regulate or control the exercise of the discretion of the Ken tucky delegation in the Congress of the United States. I put it to the candor of every elector present, if he intended to part with his own right, or anticipate the exertion of any such power by the legislature, when he gave his vote in August, 1824? The only instruction which I received from a legitimate source, emanated from a respectable portion of my immediate constituents; and that directed me to exercise my own discretion, re- garnless of the will of the legislature. You sub sequently ratified my vote by unequivocal demon strations repeatedly given by your affaetiomte attachment and your unshaken confidence. You ratified it two years ago by the election of my personal and political friend (Judge Clarke) to succeed me in the House of Representatives, who had himself subscribed the only legitimate in structions which I received. You ratify it by the presence and the approbation of this vast and respectable assemblage. I rejoice again and again, that the contest has at last assumed its present practical form. Here tofore, malignant whispers and dark surmises have been clandestinely circulated, or openly or unblushingly uttered by irresponsible agents.— They were borne upon the winds, and like them were invisible and intangible. No responsible man stood forward to sustain them, with his ac knowledged authority. They havp at last a local habitation and a name. Gen. Jackson has now thrown off the mask, and comeAconfessedly forth from behind his concealed batteries, publicly to accuse and convict me. We stand confronted before the American people. Pronouncing the charges, as I again do, destitute of all foundation, and gross aspersions, whether clandestinely or openly issueO ftura tne 'hall* nf the Capitol, the saloons of the Hermitage, or by press, by pen. or by tongue; and safely resting on my conscious integrity, I demand the witness, and await the event with fearless confidence. The issue is fairly joined. The imputed offence does not comprehend a single friend, but collec tive body of my friends in Congres ; and it accu ses them of offeriug, and me with sanctioning corrupt propositions, derogating from honor, and in violation of the most sacred of duties. The charge has been made after two years delibera tion. Gen. Jackson has voluntarily taken his position, and w’itbout provocation. In voting a- gainst him as President of the United States, I gave him no just cause of offence. I exercised no more than my indisputable privilege, as. on a subsequent occasion of which I have never com- complained he exercised his in voting against me as Secretary of State. Had I voted for him, I must have gone counter to every fixed principle of my public life, I believe him incompetent and his election fraught with danger. At this early period of the Republic, keeping stead.ly in view the dangers which had overturned every other Free State, I believed it to be essential to the last ing preservation of onr liberties, that a man de void of civil talents, and offering no recommenda tion but one founded on military service, should not be selected to administer the Government. I believe so yet; and I shall consider the days of the Commonwealth numbered, when an opposite principle is established. Rbe’ieve, and still be lieve, that now, when our institutions are in com parative infancy, is the time to establish the great drinciple, that military qualification alone is not a sufficious title to the Presidency. If we start right, we may run along race of liberty,happi ness, and glory. If we stumble in setting out, we shall fall as others have fallen before us, and fall without even a claim to the regrets or sympathies of mankind. I have never done Gen. Jackson, knowingly, a* 1 Uj lujusme t er occasion, to bestow ao him merited praise for the glorious issue of the battle of New-Orieans No American citizen enjoyed higher satisfaction than I did with the event. I heard it for the first time on the Boulevards of Paris; and 1 eagerly perused the details of the actions, with the anx ious hope that I should find that the gallant mili tia of my own State had avenged, on the banks of the Mississippi, the blood which they had so free ly spilt on the disastrous field of Raisin. That hope was not then gratified ; and although I had the mortification to read the official statement, that they had ingloriously fled, I was nevertheless thankful for the success of the arms o f my country, and felt grateful to him who had most contributed to the ever memorable victory. Thi3 concession is not now made for the purpose of conciliating the favor or mitigating the wrath of Gen. Jack- son. He has erected an impassable barrier be twen us, and I would scorn to accept any favor at his hands. I thank mv God that He has en dowed me with a soul incapable of appprehen sion from the anger of any being but himself. I have, as your Representative, freely examin ed, and in my deliberate judgment, justly con demned the conduct of Gen. Jackson in some of our Indian wars. I believed, and yet believe him to have trampled upon the Constitution of hi; country, and to have violated the principles 0 f humany —Entertaining these opinions, I did net and could not vote for him. I owe you, my friends and fellow-citizens, m.c- ny apologies for this long interruption ofthe fes tivities of the day. I hope that my desire to vin- dicate their honoured object, and to satisfy you that he is not altogether unworthy of them, w-iil be deemed sufficient- JOE STRICKLAND. in tothcr Buis hed, Jewli 18, 1003 600 i; 27 Lovin L'nkle Bon—You mus’nt take no mo;ir ov Jjkttb’s Red munny, kaso he's got intu a darn kind ov a Snarl, un I ex pact it wil awl go tu pot in a keep. I kan* tell you hou tis, not awl on’t. only i km: that a Parsle ov loryers got hold on imur. tha kat hawld im at a grate rate. He had awl kreashun at him at vvonse. Furst tha tried tu dround him in the Moris Kanaul, but he got out, un jumbt intu the Lyphe un Phire, un lik’d tu hev burnt tu detfa— then he dug tinder ground un got intu the Phultun banck, un turned out the hoi boo dle ov um, got awl the munny, un then lafft at um, the loryars awl the tyme dri- vin at him, hut tha kud’nt get hold on him —he waz jist like Padda’s Phlce, kase when tha put their finger on him ho was’nt there—finally un tarnully, tha kind uv surroundid him un got him intu kourf, u.n he fit um so hard that lie slipt thru ther fingers. He’s a Pritty darn kute man— he noes az mutch lor az innv on um ; un by the lord Harry tha koud’nt hold him not abitmoar thun you kottd hnald a wild pig by the tale arteryou rub’d Soaft Sope out—Arter a while tha drove him kinder intu a korner un fride him agin, un i blev6 the Jewry brot him in ghilty on Sews Side, but I ges tha wont liil him Im darn sorra fur im, kase I always lik’t Jaktib— iph it had’nt bin fur his red munny I shoudnt bort that Tikket ov Annul, when i furst kum frum Vamount, flint Drord the twenta thousen dolors in the fiilydelfy Lotrey, i meen tu give him part ont to pa his Pliitic with—i’ll be durnd iph i doant help i.n out ov the Skrape iph i kan t for they are all pickin at him and want to make him a skape gofe. JOE STRICKLAND Tu Uukle Ben. klost to the mcatin hous THE SLEEPING SENTINEL. “ The army of Italy under Gen. Buon aparte, having been engaged against the Austrians during the whole of one day, at length terminated the battle by gaining a complete victory at the very moment when the declining sun throw a parting gleam upon the western horizon. During the period of this conflict and the two fore going days, the troops h id nut tasted re pose, and the complete flight of the enemy at this particular juncture, was therefore the most fortunate, as the French were thus enabled to enjoy that repose during the night, of which they most gladly took the advantage. “ Notwithstanding this harrassed state of the army it was necessary to establish outposts; when a grenadier, stationed upon this service, which precluded the idea of rest, being quite exhausted with fa tigue, fell-asleep on his post! “ Napoleon, who offered up his owr. repose as a sacrifice to the more imperi ous calls of promptitude and glory, pre* ceeded alone to visit the outskirts of the camp, and this survey at the post of tlu sleeping sentinel, who could hardly be deemed guilty of a breach of duty, but the unwilling victim of extreme fatigue, that totally overpowered him. “ Buonaparte, unmindful of his dignity, and actuated only by uoble motives, took up the soldier’s musket, which lay beside him, when, placing it up to his own shoul der, he continued to mount guard for nearly an hour, in order to insure the safe ty ofthe camp. The grenadier at length awoke and sought for his piece in vain, but by the light of the moon perceived the general, who had thus paid respect to his repose. “ O ! Iam undone!” vociferated the soldier, recognizing Napoleon, whose lineaments are graven upon the heart of every warrior. “ No my friend, aaplied the general with extreme affability, at the same time surrendering vp his musket, “ tlae battle was obstinate and loDg enough contested to excuse your having thus yielded to the impulse of fatigue; one moment’s inatten tion, however, might endanger the safety ofthe camp; I was awake, and have on ly to advise that you would be more upon your guard for the future!” Mr. Van Suren and the Woollen Sill —At a meeting lately held in Albany for the purpose of selecting delegates to the state convention, with reference to that to beheld at Harrisburg. Mr. Van Buren an nounced himself in favor ofthe project which he strongly opposed at Washington last winter. The Argus says, he fnjly ex plained his course in relation to That bill, and insisted up~n the necessity of “pro tection” being extended to the wool man ufactories, &c. We are not a little curi ous to see his speech reported at length, and to learn the grounds upon which the Hop. Senator has changed hi* post. N. T. Times edge CUT OFF