Selections: Speech Of Henry Clay

We have received from our attentivc ¦Ballimore correspondent ihc following speech of Mr. Clay, delivered at Richmond, Indiana, on the 16th inst. whicli we hasten to hiy before our readers! With the circumstances atténding its delivery, our readers are already acquainted. Wlnle Mr. Clay was addressing the assembled multitude on political topics, a Mr. Mendenhall ascended the standard prese-nted a pctitión to Mr. Clay, which was rcad aloud, requesting him forthwith to libérate all his' slaves. After the reading of the petition, the assembly manifested great sensalion. - Some cried out, pull him [Mr. Mendenhall] down, and a high degree of excirement, of anger and of indiguafiön was kimlled ngainst him. The slightesmam iiestrttion of displeasure on the part of Mr. Clay might have exposed Mr. Mcndenhall to great personaldanger. But Mr. CJay rose with perfect calmness and composure, and first addressèd the multitude in a strain of persuasión and entreaty. He hoped that Mr. M. might bc treated with the greatest forbearance and respect. He assured his fellow citizens there collected, that presehtation of the petition had not occasioned him the slightest pain, nor excited one solitary disagreeable emotion. If it were tobe presented to him, he 'preferred that it should be done ín the face of this vastand respectable assemblage. He thonght he could give it such an answer as became him and the subject of which it treated. At all eveiits, he entreatcd and besoüght bis fellow citizens, for their sake, for his 2ountry's sake, for his sake, to oflër no Jisrespect, no indignity, no violence, in vord or deed ta Mr. Mendenhall.This appenring to compóse the assem bly, Mr. Clay bowed lo Mr. Mendenhall and addressiiig him said - I will now, sir, rnnko to you and to this petition sucha response as becomes me. Allow me to say that I think you'hdve nol conforme:! fo the independent characterof an American citizen. in presenting a ycUUon (o me. - 1 run, lïkc yoursëlf, but a private citizen. A petition, as the term implies, generally proceeds from an inicrior in power or station to a superior; bul between us thére is entire equality. - And what are the circumstances under which you have chosen to offer i% I am a total stranger passing through your State on my way to its capital, in consequence of an invitation with which I have been honored to vïsit it to exclmnge salutations, with such of my friends of Indiana as think proper to meet me, and accept of their hóspitality. An.xious as I am to see them, and to view parts of this' ¦ ' - State which I liad neverseen, I carne here ir with reluctance, because I apprehended "j thíit the motives of my journey might be misconcei.ved and perverted. But when the fulfilrnent of ah oíd promisc to visit Indianapolis was insisted upon, I yielded 3j to the sclicitations of friends, and have _ presenledmyself ainong you. Such is the occasion which has been deliberately selected for tendering this ped tition to me. I am advanced in years and 8 neither myself nor the place of rny residence js.. altogether unknowa, to the world. You might, at any time witliin a tliese last 25 or 30 years, have presented your petition to me at Ashland. If you I had gone therc for that purpose, you ? should have been received and treated I Avith respect and liberal hospitality. Now, Mr. Mendenhall, let us reverse conditions, and suppose that you had been ! invited to Kentucky, to partake of its hospitality; and that, previous to yourarrival, I had employed such means as I understand have been used to get up this petition, to obtain the of citií zens of that State to a petition, to pre, sent to you, to relinquish your farm or other property, what would you have thought of such a proceedingï Would you lmve deemed it courteous and ac cording to the rites of hospitalitv1? 1 know well that you, and those who thifik with you, controvert the legitimacy of slavery, and deny the right of property in slavcs. But the law of my State and other States has othenvise ordained. The law may be wrong, in your opinión, and ought to be repealed; but, then, you and your associates are not the law makers for us, and unless you can show some authorify to nullify our laws, we must continue to re.spect them. Until the law is repealed, we must be excused for asserting the rights - ay, the property in slaves- which it eanctions, authorizes, and vindicates. And whore the petitioners whose organ you assumo to be? I have no doubt that rriariy of them are worthy}: amiabíe and humano -persons, who by erroneous representations, have been induced inconsiderately to affix their signature to this petition, and that they will deeply regret it. Others, and not a few, I am told, are free blacks, men, women and chiJdren, who have been artfully- ceived and imposed upön. A'-very lari t portion, I have been credibly informed. - are the political opponents of the partytc 1 which I belong - democrats, asthey mosl - undeservedJy cali themselves, who have - eagerly seized this opportunity to wound, - asthey imagined, my feelings, and to 3 aid the cause to which they are attached. i In other quarters of the Union, democrats 1 claim to be the exclusive champions of i Southern interests, the only safe defend ers of slave property, and unjustly accuse us whigs with abolition designs, wholly - incompatible with its security. What ought these distant democrats to think of thecourseof their friends here, who have united iii this petition? ; And what is the foundation of this áppeal to me in Indiana, to libérate the slaves under my care in Kentucky? Itis a genera! declaration, in the act announcing to the world the Independenceof the thirteen American colonies, that all men nre created equal, Now, as an abstract principie, theré is no doubt of -thetruth of that declaration; and it is desirable, in the original construction of society, and in organized societies, to keep it in view as a great fundamental principie. Bul, (hen, Í apprchend that in no society that ever did exist, or ever slmll be formed, was or can the equality asserted among the members of the human race, be practically enforced and carried out. There are portions of it, large portions, women, minors, insane, culprits transléfit sojournérs, that will always probablyremain subject fo the government of another portion of the community. Tlmt declaration. whntevcr may be the extent of its import, was made by tliedelégaiïons of the thirteen States. In most of them slavery exisfod, and had long e.xisted, and v'as ëstablished by Jaw. It was introduced and forced upon themos by the paramonnt laiv ofEngland. Do y o ó believe, that in niaking that decïaration, the States that concurred in it intendcd that it should bc tortured into a virtual einancipation of' all the slaves within their respective limiís? Wóuld Virginia and the other southorn States have ever united in a declaration which was to be interpreted into an abolition of slavery among them? Did any one of the thirteen States entertain such a , sign or expectntion! To imputo such a , secret and unavowed purpose would be to chargo a political fraud upon the noblest band of patriots that ever asserabled in councii - a fraud upon the confederacy of iho revolution - a fraud upon the Union of these States, whose Constitution not only i rocognizes the lawfulness of slavery, but i permitted the importation of slaves from te África until the year 1808. And I am d bold to say ihat: if the doctrines of mode ern ultra poli:ical abolitionists had been n seriously prormilgated at the epoch of t our rcvülution, our glorious Iridepend:1 ence would nevcj' have been achievcd.- 9 Never!- [Great applaus, and many voices echoing 'Never!'] i 1 know the predominan! sentiment in - the free States is adverse to slavery; hut i happy in their own e.xemption.' from - whatever evils may altend it, the great ï; massof our felJow citizens there do not i seek to viólate the Constitution, or to dis1 turb the harmony of these States. I dei sirenoconcealment ofmy opinionsin re' gard to the institution of slavery. I bok l pon it as a great evil, and 'deeply lament that we have derivedit from the parental government and from our ancestors. I wish every slave in the United States was in the country of his ancestors. But here they are. and the question is how can they be best dealt with? If a state of nature -existed, and we were about to lay the foundations of society, no man would be more strongly opposed than I should be to incorpórate the institution of slavery among its elements. But thcre is an incalculabje difference between the formation of society, with its ancient laws, institutions ond establishments. Now, great as I acknowledgo, in my opinión, the evils of slavery are, they are nothing, absolutely nothing, in comparison with .the far greater evils which would inevitably ílow frorn a sudden, general and indiscriminate emancipation. In some of the States, the number of slaves approximates towards an equality with that of the whites; in one or tw'o they surpass them. What would be the condition of the two races in those States, upon the supposition of an immediate emancipation? Does any man suppose that they would become blended into one homogenious masa? Does nny man recommend amalgamation- that revolting admiiture, alike ofTensive to God and man? For those whom He, by their physical proper;tie3, has made unlike and put asunder, we may, without presumptuousness, suppose, were never intended to be joined together in oneof the holiest rites. And let me teil you, sir, if you do not already kno-v it, that such ia the feeling - prejudicea, if ( you please, (and what man claiming to be (e a statesman, will overlook, or disregard 1, the deep seated and unconquerable pre y judices of the people) in the slave States t that no human law could enforco a unior i between the two races. Whai then would certainly happen?- A struggle for political ascendancy; the blacks seeking to acquire, and the whitei s to maintain possession of the government. f Upon the supposition of a general, im. - medíate emanci pation, in those States i where the blacks outnumber the whites, r they would have nothing to do but to inI sist upon another. part of the samo Decf laration of Independence, as Dorr and ; his deluded democratie iollovrers reeently did in Rhode Island, according to ¦ which an undefined majority havo the i right, at their pleasurc, to subvert an exI isting government, and institute a new one in its place, and the whites would be brouglit in complete subjection to the blacksí A contest would inevitably ensue between the two races, civil war, carnage, pillage, conflagration, devastation, and ihe ultimate extermination or expulsión of the blacks. Nothing ís more certain. And are not these evils far greater than the mild, continually miproving state of slavery which exists in I this country? I say continually improving: for if this gratifying prögress in the I amelioration of the condition of tJieslavcs I has been checked in sonio of the States, the xesponsibility must atiach to the subject of abolition. ín consecjuence of it, increased rigor in the pólice and further rest rain ts have been imposed; and I do believe that gradual ernancipation (thef; only method of liberaíion that has ever , been thought safe or wi.se by any body of t the Slave States) has been postponed half . a centurv. Without any knowledge of the t tions in which I stand to my slaves, or their individual cpjidition, you, Mr. ' denhall, and your associatas who have been active ín getting up this netition. ;cali upon me íbrthwith to libérate the wfiole o f them. Now let me teil yon hat somo half a dozen of them, from a0, decrepitóle or infirmiív, are wholly unible to gain a livolihood ípr themselves, nel are a heavy charge upon me. Do you think I should conform to the dictates of humanity, by ridding myself of that charge, and sending them forth into the world, witli the boon of liberty, to end a wretched existence iu 6tarvation? , er class is composed of helpless infants, i with or without improvident mothers. - ' Do you believo. as a Christian, that I ' should perform my duty towards them,by abandoning them to their tatö? There is j anothcr class, who would not accept tbeir ifreedom, if I would givo it to ihcm. 1 ¦ivo for ijiany years ownrd u slavo. that Iwishcd wouid leavo.me, bui hc. wil! not. Whatshall I do with that class? tytijggr t rent ment of my sla vos is, you muy loarn froin Charles, whp accompanics.incon.this journey, and wlio has travelled with mo over'ilio grenter part of the United States, and in botli the Cañadas,, and has had a thousand opporlunities, if he had eho.sen to embrace them, to leave me. Excuse me, Mr. Mendcnhall, for saying. that'iriy slaves are rus well and ciad, look as sleek and hearty, and are quito as civil and respectful in their dejneanor, and as little disposed to wound tho feelings or any on e, as you are. [Oreat and continued laughtcr and applause. ] Let me recommend to you, sir, to imitate the benovolent example of thesocie- tyofFriendsinthemidst of wliich youl reside. Meek, gentle, imbued with the enuine spirit of our benign religión, ivhilstin principie thöy are firmly oppo;ed to slaveryy they do notseek toaccomf)lish its extinction by foul epithets, coarse and vulgar abuse, and gross calumny. Their ways do nut lead through blood, revoíution and dísunion. Their br.oad and comprehensivo , philarrthrophy embraces, as they believe, the good nnd the happiness of the Nvhite as wcli a9 tlie black rnce; giving to tho one their Qmmiseration, to the other, their kindne&s and sympathy; , Their iiistrumenta are not those of desiruction and of war, but of peace, persuasión, and earnest appeals to the charities of the human heart. Unambitious, tliey' have no political objects or purposes to subserve. My intercourse with them thoughout life has been considerable, interesting and agreeable; and I venture to say that nothing could have induced them, asa society, whatever a few individuals might have been tempted to do, to seize the occasion of my casual passage through this State, to offer me a personal indignity. _ [This part of Mr. Clay's speech was listened to with deep and absorbing atien;ion, and wasfollowed by a loud burst of xpplausc.] I respect the motives of rational aboliipniats. who are actuated by a, sentiment fdevotionto human libcrty, although I i teplore and deprécate the consequences of he agitation of the question. I have L' evea wy mends among them. But the 1 are not monomaniacs, who surrenderin themselves tó a single idea, look altogeth " ,er to ther Mack side oí human lite. The ! do not believe íhat the sum total of all ou 1 efTorts and all our devotion should'be ab olition. They believe t.hat there are du ¦ lies to perform towards the white man a 1 well as the black. They want göod gov ernment, good administraron, and the general prosperiíy of their country. I shall, Mr. Mcndenhall, take your petition ioto respectful and delibérate consideration, but befo re í come toa final decisión, I should Iiko to know what yon and your associatcs are wiliing to do foi the slavcs m my possession. 'Ú I should libérate them. I own about fifíy, who are probably worth fifteen ihousand dollars. To turn them loóse upon feociety without any means of subsistenco or support, would bc ar act of cruelty. Are you willing to rnise and secure the payment cC 015,000, for their benefit, if I should be induced to freo -them? The security of the payment of tliat sum [ would materinlly lessen the obstacles ín (he way of their emanciparon. And now. Mr. Mendenlnll, I must tak respcctful leave of you. We separate a we have met, wiih no unkind feelings, no excited anger or dissatisfaction on my part whatever may have been your motives, and these I refer toour comnion Jud"-e above, to whom ye nre both responsible. Go. home and mind your own business, ind leave other people to take carc oí heii-s. Limit your benevolcnt 'exertion o your own ncighborhotKi. Witliin ihat ïircle, you will íind ampie scopo for thc ;xercise ofall your charitics. Dry up lie tears of. thc aíHicted widows around i'ou, console and comfort the helpless or )lian, clotlie the naked, and feed and help he poor, black and white, who need ' :or. and you will be a betler and wiser v nan tban you havo this day shewn ' ü!f. [Ilapfurous applause folio wed the t lusion of the speech.]