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C. M. Clay's Letter

C. M. Clay's Letter image
Parent Issue
Day
22
Month
April
Year
1844
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

In another column will be fonnrl a leltcr from this gentleman to the Aiayor of Dayton. We ;;eed Dot coimnend it to the aUenJon of our readers. It wns pu'ulished just before the Cünnecticut eleciion. and s suppoecd to have liad an nfluence there, favorable to the whigs It is bein published thtoughout the country n the Whig paper.--, wiih the prominent pieface of ihe Tiibuce, " An i-slavery men Hear C. M . Clay!" So we say . He-ar liim. As this letter is altract'i considerable aUeution, we invitu the consideralkm of our readers to the followinor poiuts: 1. Mr. C. M. Cloy avows his intentie to vote for his unele and near neigbbor, Ucnry Clay. for President. This waa to be expect ed as a oiaUer of course,under Ihe circuni stanc&s. 2, Mr. Clay eays that after November next no man ehould be deemed fit for President vvho viólales the fundamenial doctrines of the Christian Relirion and Rcpublican Jnsiitutions by holding slaves. So say we. The only difference between us is, that. lie intcids to vote once more for a man who viola'es these principies. Wellj afier we have all voted next November, according to his own professed principies, he will stand on preásdy Ihe samejootmg witk vs. lie now stands where thousands did tn 1840, who wonld vote for a s'aveholder "just for this once" 11 order to secure a permnnent setllement of "the other gieat ínreresLs." Aud how" tlrey have beensettJcíi: S. Mr. C!ay fully concedes that after next November, {he mere fact that a mnn is a slaveholder, is a svjfiátml reusanfor rrfusing him our svffragcs for President. LJ} We cali attention lo this, because the N. Y. Tri bune, wliich now praises ihis letter, has strenuously contended that to refuse to vote for a man because he is a slavehoider, is a violafjon of the compromifes of the ConstiUition, and an üjvju'st proseripüon of a ponton of the American peopïe. Yei the Tribune tays C. M. Clay is "a gooil WhigT' 4. The same Wliig papers that are so earnett lo civcul&te this speech of Mr. Clay, with fccarcely au exception, have refused to pubüsli lis Anü-Texas speech, for no other reason hat ve can imagine, ihan that it contaios the bllowingf paragrap!) : {í Then come Tne Libfirty Party, embracing a largo portion of the vlrtiie, inlellígence. and egal knowledge, ihe Christianity and patriotsm of iheNorth. Takin?r Ihe ground first oceupied by Washington himself, that slavery vas of the law, and shouid be abolished by av, they oppeal to the ballot box, not the )avonet; )ike Ihe greai Irish Reformer, havng faiUi in the power of reasnn, truth and vii me, ihey expect to nchíeve a bloodless revoutiun, more glorious tliaia any yetarisinir f rom orce and arras. Tliis. party a few years ag-o, lumbered seven thoneand voléis - now, ín 843, they poli eivty-five thnusand votes at he ballot box. having o'oubled ihrincelves evey year from ílie time of Iheir orponization. - At such a conliüued rale of increaseí I leave t to the reñecting to determine h-w lnng ir vill be, before they absorb ihe wlu;le poulical jower of the Nortíí."' 5. Anti-síavery mon are cnlled on to follovv he lëad of C. M. Clay in voting1 for a slaveíolder, because he has spent S40,000 in freenv bis slaves. We do not admit this argument to be by ony ineans concIurívc As a noral act, it is the intention only thar makes t valuable. Mr. Birney mada hitnself poor )y hiá acts of emancipation. while Mr. C. M. CJay ia sliU oneof therichest rnen of Kenucky. The widow wlio put in nll she liad, according to the Savior's rule, gave more tíian all the rich men who gave of their abundance.part from this, why should not Anti-slavery men be 03 reudy lo lisien to Mr. Cirney and Dr. Brisbane, as Mr. Clay ? Considereó according to the dollar rule, tlieirunited sacrifïces are eqnal io those of Mr. Clay. But we despise such a rule of aclion. Liberty men necd not the dicfation of any leaders. - They should, and they will hear C. M. Clay, and all other noble men and imítate ihem in every good work, faut not in their inconsistent cics or wrong doings. 6. The Detroit Adve tUer casts some reflcclion on fUr. Birney, bec;iuse he left Kentucky and has fetlled in the North, whiie Mr. CJay remainsamong tlie slaveholders to labor for aboliiion. The injustice of this assertion must be apparenr, when it is considered thai Mr. Birney was obliged to leave by threats and dernonstralions of personal violence. The limes haveallered, and we are told that ubolitionists in Kentucky, inslead of being liantec as felons, are ïLout foi mig an Anti-slavery organizalion. 7. Wr. C. M. Clay's defence of his uncte'e sliiveholding is excoedingly lanie. Perhaps it was the best that could be made. 8. It is quiie Judicrous to see an apprehension in some of the whig papers lest the Antislavery part of Ibis letter should have hs appropriate effüct. Thus the Jacksou Guzetle suys: "It will be observed that lie gives it as his opinión, that afier tiie present coutest - vvhen the publ.c mind is enlightened as it will be by the discusáiuns now goíng on uppu tho subject of slavery: Ihut mi cnndidalc hereaftcr for ihe ofEce of President, could shield himself from being juslly held accojntablo for holding sjaves; and that such an individual would nol merit an eieclion. Tkovgk we are somewhat in doubt whetkcj' he has given a sujjkienl limit to the time nccessary to diffuse general intrtligence vpon the subject oj the rights of the slave, we ara will ing to concede, and 6o believe, that the time ís not far distiuit when the position he aseumeE should be tuken by the riortfi."The evil that this letler can accomplish wilt be small uud temporary, whilo its truths will wel! subserve the best nterests of'our cause.

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Subjects
Signal of Liberty
Old News