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touch upon any party topic on this occa
-Bion, and it has been my design to con
fine my remarks to an illustration of the
injustice of our opponents in making as
sists upon persons instead of principles,
flieir chief engine of party warfare.—
Rarely have we ever assailed the private
characters of their eminent men, or done
them even justice in this particular.
Never have they failed to libel and vilify
ours without regard to truth or conse
quences. lam not sure but the time has
come to force them to a truce in this sav
age warfare, or to carry the war into their
own camp. It illy becomes them now to
assume all the virtues for their candi
dates and ascribe all the vices to ours.
'ldle presidential candidate of the democ
racy will be a pure man, upon whose
private life calumny cannot fix a stain ;
and in this respect how will his oppo
nent compare with him in the estimate
of the private virtues and duties of a
good citizen ?
But I will pass from this, lest I should
overstep my design in bringing these sug.
gestions to a single point, viz: the calum
nies upon the characters of Jefferson and
Jackson in their relation to morality and
religion. So odiously was the character
of Jefferson held' up in this respect by
his opponents, that terror pervaded all
New England at the awful pictures
dVawn in the pulpit and the press, of the
French atheism and the jacobinical her
esies that were to inundate the land and
demolish the churches if Thomas Jeffer
son was elected president! So alarmed
were the pious old Indies of that day,
who believed what their federal sons and
husbands told them, that it is said they
actually hid their family bibles in their
meal chests and under their beds when
the news came that Jefferson was
chosen !
hi a like manner our second JefTerson
has been denounced as utterly reprobate
and vile, and a scoffer at all that was holy
and good ; and our young men have
been cautioned by his example, against
the demoralising and sou! destroying in
fluences of democracy. There is an in
cident in the lives of Jefferson and Jack
son which brings them together in this
relation, and beautifully illustrates their
veneration for morality and religion, and
their earnest desire to inculcate these as
the foundations of happiness and success
in young men. It is a lesson well worth
the study of our ingenious youth, and
the regard of every New England moth
er; and I venture to believe th.it I shall
be pardoned for introducing it here.
In 1815, just after the battle of New
Orleans, Gen. Jackson met Mr Jefferson
in Virginia, and on that occasion the re
tired sage, as if he foresaw what was to
be recorded of the guest in the future
history of his country, gave that memo
rable toast so familiar in every mouth,
“Honor and gratitude to those who have
filled the measure of their country’s hon
or” From that time to the death of the
author of the declaration, the relations
of these two illustrious men were those
of the highest mutual regard. An in
stinctive sympathy existed between them
npoti those great doctrines of the demo
cratic faith, which Jefferson had inculca
ted in the noblest precepts, and which
Jackson was destined to carry forward in
inflexible practice. At a later period in
the life of one, and after the decease of
the other, the sympathies of these great
men were pleasingly illustrated upon the
necessity of religious principle as the
foundation of true virtue and pure mor
ality.
In 1823, Mrs. Grotzan, of Philadel
phia, the accomplished wife of Peter
Grotzan, who had for many years enjoy
ed a correspondence with Mr. Jefferson,
wrote to him a request that he would al
low her to bestow his name upon her in
fant son, and would send him a written
lesson of advice, as a legacy and guide
for his future life. Mr. Jefferson sent the
following invaluable lesson for the youth
of our land:—
w 'l'hoe. Jefferson to Thos. J f JT - rson Grotzan ;
Your affectionate mother requests that
I would address to you, as a namesake,
something which might have a favorable
influence on the course*of life you have
to run. Few words are necessary, with
good dispositions on your part. Adore
God, reverence and cherish your parents.
Love your neighbor as yourself, and
your country more than life. Be just,
lie true: murmur not at the ways of
Providence, and the life into which you
have entered will be the passage to one
of eternal and ineffable bliss—and if to
the dead it is permitled to care for the
things of this world, every action of your
life will be under my regard.
Monticello, Jan. 10,1824.
In 1833, Gen. Jackson had been elect
ed to the presidency, and Jefferson had
been called' to-hw last and higlrest re
ward. In June of diet year the parents
of young Grotzam, then ten years of age,
introduced him to- President Jackson,
and presenting the original letter of Jef
ferson to their son, desired him tonddan
expression l of his sentiments, which he
immediately wrote upon the letter, in tire
following words:—
“ Although requested by Mrs. Grotzan,
yet I can add nothing to the admirable
advice given to her son by that virtuous
patriot and enlightened statesman Thom
as Jefferson. The precious relic which
he sent to the young child, contains tire
purest morality, and inculcates the no
blest sentimeirts. I can only recommend
a rigid adherence to them. They will
carry hwn through life safely, and what
is far herter, they will carry him through
death triumphantly—and we may hum
bly trust they will secure to all who in
principle and practice adopt them, that
crown of immortality described in the
holy scriptures.
ANDREW JACKSON.
Philadelphia, June 9, 1843.”
Fortunate young man to have recei
ved two srreh lessons from two such
men ! Well may they be dedicated to
the youth of the United States, as their
surest guide to virtue, happiness, and
honor here, and bliss hereafter.
And these, Mr. President, arc the sol
emn and earnest sentiments of those two
fraternal champions of the democratic
principle, who have been villified as void
of all respect for religion, or regard for
the decencies of morality !
And now, in the last days of the illus
trious Jackson, we find him, ns he so
resignedly expresses himself in a note
recently published, reposing his trust
“in a just and wise Providence, prepared
when he makes the call, with due hu
mility to submit to His will.”
Mr. President, the life of that great and
good man has been spared to witness the
act of Iris country’s justice in the restitu
tion of an unjust fine. But he has an
other event yet to wait for. I cannot
but feel that lie will be prepared to wit
ness the full restitution of the principles
and measures he so nobly begun, and
his eminent successor so faithfully pur
sued, but which for a time have been
stricken down by the opposing hosts.
That event is to be consumated this
very year, by the election of a Democra
tic President. Who would not glory in
being able to contribute to the joy the
last of the revolutionary line of Presi
dents will feel, if spared to hear that an
nouncement ? Who would not feel cov
ered with shame and remorse, if by di
vision, indifference or disaffection, he had
contributed but a single grain, to throw
the blanceinto thescale ofouropponents?
The whole public life of Andrew Jack
son, and the spirit of his repose as henow
waits the last summons, speaks to the
great brotherhood of the democracy one
emphatic word—the secret of their
strength, the surety of their triumph;
and" that word is, “union,” “union,”
“ UNION!”
In conclusion, Mr. 11. offered this sen
timent :
Andrew Jackson. —He has gloriously
carried out the will of the people in his
life; he now humbly waits the willof
Heaven in his death. May the voice of
the people be the voice of Got!—“Well
done, good and faithful servant.”
Exportsof New Hampshire —Granite,
ice, and distinguished men.
The President then read a letter from
the Hon. Levi Woodbury:—
I! 'ashington, D. C., March 12, 1844.
Gentlemen—l have received your
polite invitation to attend the celebration
of the birth-day of Gen. Jackson in Fan
cuil Hall.
It is a matter of deep regret to me that
lam not able to join you in rendering
due honor to that great patriot and hero
in so appropriate a place as the “ Old
Cradle of Liberty,” and within sight of
the monument of Bunker’s Hill.
Respectfully,
LEVI WOODBURY.
To Messrs. D. H. Dustin, J. S. Kim
ball, J. E. Stevens, committee, &c
John C. Calhoun —The bright parti
cular of the South, whose radiance illu
mines the whole Union.
The President, in this connexior, cal
led upon Mr. Brownson, who eloquently
responded to the call. In attending the
meeting lie had not anticipated this sum
mon, but never refrained from comply
ing with a request to speak his senti
ments. He should be untrue to himself
as a man and an American citizen, untrue
to the ties of feeling which bound him to
one who traced his origin to the same
green island with himself, if lie failed to
recognise and speak of General Jackson
in terms of respect and admiration. He
allowed to General Jackson individuality
of characterand firmness—he was always
ready in time of need to “take the re
sponsibility.”
In this respect, John C. Calhoun strong
ly resembled him. Like General Jack
son, the patriot of the South never mer
ged his identity in any movement of men
or parties—he was always John C. Cal
houn. These statesmen did not ask what
was expedient—what was popular—but
what was right. This was true demo
cratic feeling. Gen. Jackson did not
perform any acts because his party de
sired it, but because it was right of itself.
So with Mr. Calhoun—whether the mul
titude were with him or against him,
there he stood, unchanged, unchanging,
ready to live for the truth, fight for the
truth. He might full, but it was nobler
and better to fall with right, than to
triumph with wrong. He dosed with
this sentiment:—
Popular Government A govern
ment which shall be under a constitution
and laws, is the wisest, best and ony
free government possible.
We append the following sentiments
from a number of similar character giv
en, during the festiveties.—
Riffle Balls —The metallic currency
of 1815, freely disbursed at the banks of
the Mississippi when Gen. Jackson was
the paying teller.
Andrew Jackson. —Unsurpassed in
integrity, firmness and patriotism. Hon
ored be the name of the Hero.
British Insolence— In the revolution
ary war it developed the spirit of Jack
son when, a boy; in the last war it re
ceived its punishment from Jackson
when a man.
'I he memory of thelamentcd Upshur
and Gilmer. —[Drunk in silence.]
Protection Equal laws and equal
rights, with individual industry and pri
vate economy constitute the American
system.
I'he Democr -tic General of 1844.
The rank and file will not desert him.
Martin Van Buren. —His motto, un
compromising hostility to an U. States
Bank : true to the people he has “follow
ed in the footsteps of his illustrious pre
decessor.”
VOLUNTEER TOASTS.
The True American Citizen : ITie
sympathiser with all who are crusted by
aristocratic or despotic sway; his motto
is “equal privileges to all,” and thus, ill
the language of our venerable Jackson,
“he asks for nothing but what is right,
and submits to nothing that is wrong.”
The V-toes—A capital foundation to
rest upon when you are going to fight
the Old Bank Dragon, who was £i/>-ified
in the book of Revelations.
Veto—The “I forbid” of Andrew Jack
son, as terrible to the monopolists and
aristocrats, ns it was cheering and inspir
ing to the freemen and democrat.
By Henry Crocker. Martial law and
the Veto power—The patriot exercise of
the first in the camp, and of the other in
the cabinet , has been the salvation of our
liberties heretofore. May the one never
be stayed by a perfidious Judge, nor the
other te disturbed by a factious congress
in time to come.
By Peter T. Homer. The democra
tic members of the present congress—by
remitting his fine they have done an
act of justice to a noble patriot; by modi
fying the present unequal system of tax
ation, they will do one to the American
people.
By Thomas Ford. British aggression
—England seeks the cotton of Texas —
wonder if she wants the “ cotton bags
of New Orleans ” to put it in.
Cass —The sorted democrat
and true patriot, whose qualifications fit
him to adorn any station which die
people may appoint him.
From the Columbus 7 \mcs.
The Pheenix Hank*
The Augusta Constitutionalist in an
article copied in to-day’s paper, sharply
rebukes the effrontery of the last Whig
report, that a Democratic Legislature
and the Democratic party, are answera
ble for the origin, and therefore the blow
up of this concern. We quote the arti
cle both for the sake of truth, and to put
on record, another evidence of the un
scrupulous recklessness of a party, which,
while claiming all the virtue and respect
ability of the country, yet stoops to the
use of means so vile, to prop their unpop
ular cause.
Mr. #uieu quotes the record upon the
authors of the report, and shows beyond
all quibble or cavil, that the “Phoenix”
was true W*hig progency, and had “Coon”
written legibly in its face.
This effort at fabrication having flash
ed in the pan, we await with some curi
osity to see what shift the fabricators will
make, when they find like the lawyer in
the fable, that'it was their bull that gored
our ox. We have faith in the inventive
powers of Federal Editors—they are “a
devil at a fence”—but we do marvel how
they propose to creep out of this dilem
ma—for surely the Coon is fairly treed
this time. They said “the rascally lo
co focos are to blame for this Bank fail
ure—they gave it anew name and set it
on its new legs, to prey upon the sub
stance of the people—on them let the
vengence of the people fall”—but now,
when it turns out that the honest Whigs,
originated, voted for mid carried through
the measure, and that if punishment is
to fall any where, it must be on their
honest shoulders—What will Mrs. Grun
dy say ? • They can do but two things,
either brazen it out, on one of their re
cognized principles of action, that an un
truth boldly stuck to, is good and lawful
political capital—or console themselves
as the antedelnvian did, when Noah re
fused to take him in the Ark, the water
up to - his chin and still pouring—“ Well
this is no great crack of a shower after
all”—So, “as Mr. Toombs, and Mr. Ste
phens and Mr. Flournoy and Mr. Chip
ley and Mr. Crawford, all voted for it,
and we really cannot put it on the Locos,
why it is not such a bad Bank after
all !”
No, it is not so very bad, no worse in
deed, than the Biddle Bank of their idol
atry, which ruined a thousand fortunes,
broke hundreds of hearts, and turned
hundreds of widows and orphans pen
nyless into the streets. P.
From, the Georgia CorsliMionalist.
The Fhcenix Bank.
Since 4he failure of this bank charges
of a serious nature have been alleged
against the President of the Institution,
who has been arrested in Charleston,
brought to this city, and lodged in the
Augusta jail, until he is removed to Co
lumbus, where he is to be tried. We
shall abstain for the present from any re
marks upon the various rumors afloat
respecting the failure of the bank ; but
we must notice the dissemination of a
report which is totally devoid of truth ;
that the change of the name ol the insti
tution, from the Farmers’ Bund of Chat
tahoocchee to Phoenix Bonk, and, even,
its mismanagement, are to ascribed to a
democratic legislature and to the demo
cratic party. We knew such assertions
to be untrue before we contradicted them
in our paper; we consulted our docu
ments, and the results of our examination
is as follows, which must convince every
friend of truth, that to the whigs alone
must be ascribed what is now so un
blushingly alleged against the democrat
ic party :
According to the return made to the
Governor of Georgia, of the condition
of the Farmers’ Bank of Chattahoochee,
on the Ist Monday in October, 1840, it
appears James S. Calhoun was President,
and D. Hudson, Cashier of the institu
tion, and the following individuals were
stockholders:
The Bank itself, Shares 1,919 Paid in
J. S. Calhoun, 30 3,000
Patrick Gibson, 50 5,000
Thos. Green, sen- 100 6,000
A. Iverson, 50 5,000
J. K. Kilburn, 40 4,000
S. Kxtckogey, 50 5,000
G. B. Lamar, 100 10,000
Nathan McGehee, 250 25,000
E. Molynewx, jun. 200 30,000
Unknown, 6 600
Forfeited, 5 25
W. P. Yongc, 100 10,000
3,000 103,625
A few months after, that is on the 12th
of December, 1840, Mr. Chipfey, a whig,
introduced into the House of Representa
tives, in which the whigs had a large
majority, a bill to change the name of the
Partners’ Bank of Chattahoochee to that
of Phoenix Bank. On the final passage
of the bill ih the Hotlse, it was advocated
by the whigs and strenuously opposed
by the democrats; it passed by yeas 109,
nays 69; 'a large number of the yeas
whigs, among whom we find recorded
the names of Messrs. Chappell!, Craw
ford of Richmond, Flournoy of Musco
gee, Flournoy of Washington, Rhodes,
Stephens, Toombs, and others. In the
Senate, when the bill passed, the yeas
and nays were not taken. It must be
borne in mind that Mr. Calhoun, the
President of the Bank at the time, was
Senator from Muscogee.
Now we will ask, on whom must Jfall
the odium of having changed the name
of the bank? The bill was sanctioned
the 24th of December, 1840.
According to the return made to the
Governor of the condition of the Phoenix
Bank, on the 19th of October, 1843, by
F. Martin, President, it appears that on
that day the following individuals were
stockholders:
Solomon Kneeland, Shares 40 $4,000
Samuel Koockogey, 33 3,300
F. Martin, 471 47,100
Nathan McGehee, 465 46,500
Daniel H. Bird, 18 1,800
G. Kostar, 851 85,100
John D. Field, sen. 24 2,400
A. Mayor, 430 43,00
Henry Strickland, 18 1,800
William P. Yonge, 30 3,000
Lentilhon & Cos. 319 31,000
Patrick Gibson, 50 5,000
W. H. Howland &
Cos. Trustees 140 15,000
Forfeited, 111 6,625
3,000 290,525
A35E3353 iJiViSf SOB
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10, 1844.
Mr. Clay.
This distinguished statesman of the
West has been with us and is gone.—
Now that the hnrly burly is over, that
the dust and the smoke have passed
away, we can take a calm and impartial
view of the field and count overthe woun
ded and the slain. To others it may be
long to recount the achievementsof the de
tachments, to describe the dearly bought
honors of the self-complacent subalterns
who figured in the melee; it is enough
for us, on the present occasion, at least,
to follow the movements of the main ar
my and chronicle the exploits of the Na
poleon of the day.
The crowd that collected to hear Mr.
Clay was not large. Few comparatively
were present from the country, certainly
not half the number we had anticipated.
We subjoin below a full, and as we be
lieve, impartial analysis of the speech.—
The ideas are condensed as well as the
language. In the latter, however, espe
cially in the more exciting parts, the
words of the orator are used. In this at
tempt to give the public what was said,
we have endeavored “ nothing to exten
uate or set down aught in malice.”
It will be evident to all who read this
sketch as it was to every candid listener,
that the orator was extremely solicitous
to do away the impression that his visit
was for party purposes. If, however, in
the early part of the speech his effort suc
ceeded, we are confident before he con
cluded, that it was renewed and pressed
home with a force that will render it in
delible. ,
From the high reputation of the spea
ker as an orator (and we would not pluck
from his brow a single laurel to which
he is legitimately entitled) we had ex
pected much—from his usual regard to
the proprieties of political life and the el
evated position which he occupied before
the American people we had expected
much. In both respects we were disap
pointed. We had expected, that ifjje
spoke at all, he would have spoken on
topics and those only which belong to
the statesman, not the politician, on the
great fundamental principles of Republi
can Government. We did not expect
that he would enter the arena of political
strife and become the vindicator and
trumpeter of his own and the fame of his
party. As an orator Mr. Clay fell below
himself, or is another specimen of ttiat
old adage “ distance lends enchantment
to the view.” We do not mean to say
that he did not evince talent and oratori
cal power. He did, and of a high order,
but not the talent or the power ascribed
to Henry Clay.
There was a spirit of demagoguism
running through the whole speech, and
though designed to be artfully concealed
would thrust itself out in some of its dis
gusting forms. For instance, his allu
sion to the slashes, as though there are
none in the State of “ Harry of the slash
es,” was merely tte book lesson on which
he conld h-ang a story for a certain class
that te was once a barefooted boy and
went to mill.
We instance also his comments on
Mr. Van Buren’s travels. They were
unlike Mr. Clay’s, as are his principles.
Besides, if they were similar, Mr. Van
Buren is an ex-President, Mr. Clay only
an aspirant. If he said any thing about
Mr. Van Buren’s vote on the tariff, he
should have told the whole story, and
not like a in his service, have
tortured truth and justice to excite a
smile. His remarks about Mr. Lowndes
and Mr. Calhoun as favoring the protec
tive tariff system, were, to say the least,
in bad taste. We boldly challenge him
to repeat them in the state of their nativ
ity. The slander has been refuted time
and again, nay it has been condemned
by every State Right press in Georgia
from 1828 to 1534 by the very men who
have revived it.
But we forbear, with this single re
mark, that throughout the whole
speech Mr. Clay never once attempted to
prove the constitutional right of the gov
ernment to sustain his views. All who
heard him must admit this pungent truth.
MR. CLAY’S SPEECH.
After tendering his acknowledgments
to the President of the Clay club and the
citizens of Macon for the kindness and
hospitality extended to him, Mr. Clay
said He had left his home in Kentucky
in November last on a visit to New Or
leans, whither private business had for
some time detained him, that partly with
the view of recruiting his health by
spending a winter at the South, and part
ly to gratify a desire for a long time en
tertained, he had resolved to embrace
this, perhaps the only opportunity that
would be afforded him, to visit the Old
North State, that he knew no reason why
like other citizens he could not travel
where he pleased. Had his own wishes
been consulted, he should have preferred
passing through the country without
noise and ostentation, but that this he
had found impossible. He here alluded
to the travels of Mr. Van Bnren, and sta
ted that when he learned that that distin
guished friend of his was in South Caro
lina and contemplated visiting the West,
that he wrote to him inviting him to visit
him at his own residence at Ashland, that
when Mr. V. arrived at Lexington, he
went out to meet him, and with a proces
sion of seventy carriages and some hun
dreds on horse-back—a procession three
times as large as that which honored his
own arrival into this beautiful city, con
ducted him to Ashland, when we killed
the fatted calf and extended to him the
poor hospitality that his home afforded.
After telling an anecdote of an inquisi
tive tavern-keeper near Washington City,
he commented upon the unkindness of
the press towards him, and noticed the
conduct of some of his democratic friends.
He then took from his pocket an article
cut from a newspaper, which paper he
said he had found upon the table, just as
he was leaving the hospitable mansion of
bis friend, Mr. Nisbet, to attend this mee
ting. It appeared, he said to be the pro
ceedings of a Democratic meeting recent
ly held in Bibb county, and foranght he
knew, in this city. He read, “Henry
Clay, the itinerating candidate for all the
honors his party can confer, has left the
slashes of the West and is in the field
boldly canvassing for golden opinions
with all with whom he can come in con
tact.” Why, said Mr. Clay, my demo
cratic friends have forgotten their geogra
phy, we have heard of the slashes of
Hanover but they have located them in
Kentucky!! This led him to tell the
story, evidently the design of the whole
critique, of his going to mill bare-footed
in the slashes of Hanover. He here pro
nounced a eulogy on the patriotism and
honesty of the great mass of the Demo
cratic party, expressed his confidence in
them, but not in their leaders. He repea
tcdly declared and hoped lie should be
credited, that he was not travelling “to
win golden opinions;” he combated this
charge in a variety of ways and labored
hard to satisfy his hearers, that his demo
cratic friends had been wicked and un
generous in casting this imputation upon
him.
Mr. Clay now said that it was only at
the earnest solicitation of his friends, who
had assured him there was a great curi
osity to hear his voice, that he had con
sented to address Ins fellow citizens.—
But, said he, what shall I say? “You
all know me.” He told his audience
with what freedom and fearlessness he
had ever declared his sentiments, that
these were known throughout the whole
Union, that following the dictates oftruth
and patriotism, he had boldly breasted
the storms which had gathered around
him. He attempted a vindication of his
coalition with Mr. Adams, spoke of his
efforts on the Missouri question, on the
compromise of the tariff of 1828 and on
the difficulties which he had been instru
mental in removing, that existed between
the administration of Gen. Jackson and
the government of France.
He again recurred to the proceedings
of the Bibb Democratic meeting, and said
that his democratic friends had also char
ged him with being the “uncompromising
enemy of Georgia in all her controver
sies with the Indians.” Here he indig
nantly exclaimed “I am no enemy of
Georgia;” and from this text furnished
by himself, pouretfforth a burst of elo
quence unequalled by any other portion
of his address, and establishing his claim
to the high reputation he enjoys as an
orator, lie then spoke of the only
charge in this regard made by the De
mocracy—his hostility to Georgia in her
Indian relations. He admitted that on
a certain occasion he had voted against
an Indian treaty in the Senate of the
United States in which Georgia had an
interest; that he was anxious that this
State should in a just and honorable
manner get into the possession of her
territory; that the Indians, the aborigi
nes of the country were the weaker party,
and that when he looked into the evi
de nee connected with the treaty with all
the powers that God had given him, that
evidence brought him to the conclusion
that the treaty was made by force and
was the result of fraud. Should he
then he asked, acting under the sanctions
of the oath he had taken, faithfully to
discharge his duty, be denounced as an
enemy to Georgia, because he would not
lend his aid to the perpetuation of a
fraud ?
But again, said he, these Democratic
friends say I am the father of the Ameri
can system. He jestingly added, if lam
its father, it had more fathers than one;
some of them from an adjoining State.—
He spoke of the efforts of himself, Wm.
Lowndes, and John C. Calhoun, in ar
ranging and sustaining the tariff of 1816,
he referred to the tariff of 1824 and glan
ced at the act of 1828 which he said at
the South had emphatically been called
the Bill of Abominations; and that he
knew this act had been concocted in
fraud and collusion. He had not voted
for it, but he could tell who did vote for
it, and would tell, if his hearers would
say nothing about it. Martin Van Bu
ren voted for it. He then entered into
an examination and defence of a protec
tive tariff. The substance of his re
marks on this subject, and even the phra
seology will be found in the following
extract of a report of a speech lately made
by him in Tuscaloosa.
Mr. Clay next adverted to the general
policy of the party with which he acted,
and remarked that a National Bank con
stituted a prominent feature in that poli
cy. He discussed the expediency of such
an institution. The substance of his ar
gument was this; that it was a point
now settled in this country, that the
States would have their banks. He then
contended that there was a necessity,
there should be some controlling institu
tion to regulate them, to furnish a cur
rency which will be sound and with
which a man could travel from Maine to
the Sabine. He, besides, presented this
viftw, that England had her Bank;
France hers; Belgium hers; and every
civilized nation upon the Globe; that
such an institution with proper men to
direct it. who would have their eye out
upon the commercial world and the state
of trade could resist the studied combina
tions of foreign countries, and protect the
trade and commerce of our own country.
He illustrated this view by the action of
the Bank of England, when, as he aver
red, it had to reduce the price of cotton a
few years ago, refused all discounts for
houses trading with the American cotton
dealer.
Mr. Clay closed his harangue with an
exalted eulogiom on the principles of
Whiggery, and depicted in glowing col
ors the glorious state of things which
would be consequent upon their triumph.
His position, lie said, his extensive
correspoudetice gave him nil opportunity
to know and to judge. These princi
ples, in November, 1844, he assured his
hearers, would prevail, and by a majori
ty and an enthusiasm not inferior to that
which actuated their leaders in the ever
memorable campaign of 1840. With
the glories of that prospect in full view,
he bowed, closed and retired, while some
of his hearers, in broken, disconnected,
doubting, and hesitating huzzas intend
ed, but failed to give a response to the
sentiments and efforts of the actor.
Mr. Bryan’s letter, corrective of fieri. James
Hamilton’* report of the Bandolph and
Clay duel.
Though we did not publish but
merely adverted to Hamilton’s letter as
an insidious attempt, under the guise of
honorable neutrality to electioneer the
more effectually for the Federal aspirant
to t)ie presidency, yet, the kindly and re
spectful sentiments we ever cherished for
the honored dead as well ns a regard for
truth and justice, render it to us a labor
of love to give Mr. Bryan’s letter a place
in our columns.
We remember Col. Tatnall, shortly af
ter his return from Washington, narrating
the circumstances of the duel—they cor
respond accurately with the letter beforeus.
The Col. noted that when speakingof what
might occur on the ground, Randolph ob
jected to the hair trigger pistols from their
liability to be discharged by slight pres
sure; expressed his resolution not to fire at
Clay unless ‘he looked mischief; and even
then, he would only wing him.’ Tatnal
also noted the superlative self-possession
with which Mr R. on the accidental dis
charge of his first pistol, turned to him
and said, ‘did I not tell you so?’ alas,
poor Edward !!! the gentle, generous,
chivalrous Edward !! ! he who once
knew thee and can now pass the lonely
repository of thy ashes without the trib
ute of a tear to thy memory, though he
may be ‘ a very good sort of man’ we en
vy not his feelings.
We should be unjust to our own emo
tions at this moment filled as it is with
kind and sad recollections of the past)
did we neglect expressing the pleasure
we experienced in noticing the motives
that elicited and the spirit which animates
Mr. Bryan’s letter. But who acquainted
with his parents and their descent, could
expect it to be otherwise ? If chivalrous
honor, generous feeling, undecaying ar
dor in friendship and unblenching patri
otism be hereditaments, Mr. B.’s posses
sions in that species of property must in
deed be ample.
From the Savannah Georgian.
Broughton Island, (
March 26th, 1844. j
Dcmr Sir: —Your knowledge of the
position in which I stood towards Mr-
Randolph, emboldens me to request the
publication of the following remarks and
proofs:
Mr. Randolph has often remarked to
me, “Your father and myself did not love
each other because we had no faults, but
in spite of our faults.” It was from that
source I learned the golden rule ol honor,
never to turn against my friend, an
never to- use my confidential position
with. him. to his injury or the_ benefit o
his enemy—if causes should arise