Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1838-09-20
MESSRS. CLAY 4 CALHOUN

by the envy, hatred, malice and observation-disclosures
oil MIR. Calhoun, and the whippers-in Of HE Kennel
10 do justice to this distinguished Patriot.
writer in the Columbia Telescope speaks Of Mr..
Clay in the following complimentary terms-not the
less SO, that they obquely ht oi,hs mos, pron;.
nent intellectual defects, not say deiormitie, Of
Mr.. Calhoun:
That Mr. Clay is possessed of administrative tal
en, is, perhaps. in the language of great master
oi the day, complex idea, requiring analysis and
explanation" lie is not il i. true, as some of b;s
contemporaries are. always treadinc n slack wire
with balancing pole in his hand as a proof of his
extraordinary activity. and in this would probat'
defer TO the Bcdouns to the Eaye, II i,,,
so true, that in making his approach To proposed
point. his habit has generally led him 10 prefer the
straight to the circumaex always taking the Penn
sylvana Avenue with meridian sun TO walk bv in
preference to the mar,hes of the r.ber will, flick
crng txiiaiation for his guide. 1t is. perhaps fur
thcr true, that his excellence snot liheihe Sphynx
IN constructing paradox, the solution Of which
he is to display the astonishing facility Win
which the most striking absnrdi,i.s NAV be
tcconcied, and the most crooked of all things
may apparently be made straight. Ii is true.
moreover, that many Of the wise ofihe country.
aud some OF onr own State, have regarded him 4,
fla,in. not only extended but distinct horizon in
which il has been said that he OILY had The eve
to scr, but the finger to direct the ORDER arrange
mcnt, and complete development oil its resources
nave neatu II saiu Oi nun too, that oil all the
public men IN The country, in circumstances calling
for dclibcraon and self command, lie wa. alsa,s
pre- cmlnenty fortified not with rash and precipi-
tate confidence, but with sdid and rtsolae cGrn,ss
rs fan removed from that temefy in " hich weakness
takes refuge from its own fears from that apathy
in which ign seeks to shrond itself in toc.t-
tnlncss and that being poised. .acios far lighted
and calm, he never tailed TO his way through
the difficulties by which lie WAS surrounded: and
that without his heart faerng his head mis- wing
/ lt,, 1ia a1sn, tt E..t 4
the right and firmly to pursue it, resardiul Of hi.
county. hut regardless OF himself II has also been
sad. that lie was not only gallant spirited and mag
luminous but entirely frank, aud lha, those who
could mol esteem him asa friend, sustain him
confederate, never failed to respect him adj
versafN not assalhng your strong holds from the
cover OF masked batteries, but opening h. Whale
line OF battle to the artillery # the opposin. host
These traits have been aScrhed the Senator from
kentucky, with what Justice those " no know HIM
can best decide"
Aud brilliant writer in the Georgia Journal. tie
leading Stale Right, paper in ha, State, and Of the
straitest sect, remarks:
But why this sensitive shrinking from coniact
aud fellowship with Henry Clay, Has Ike justcicp
from some scquestcted obscurity rfthe western WOODS
unknown to those whose votes TO max the next
President! Have we in Georgia 10 evidence. at hS
wisdom, magnanniity and patriotism! Or has his
political life been cquiroca. yacillating aml
fresoue, so inefficient, that one say What lie
is; whether he ever did, will do any lhngt
Mr.. Clay, hc every oih,r great man, whose lite has
been scene of activity and ;chlevment in the SIR
al his country. hls fallen into errors; but he
has "hen convinced of them, wanted the na,ua-
nimity TO confess and abandon them. ii Ne may
Judge oil Mr. tay's State Iii hit tenets by hat he
has actually done-ii we determine the question by
reference 10 facts, and not to parade d words, he
will be found much more genuine and effective
State Rights man. than that Macnus Apollo beyond
the Iusalo, whose furious admirers in tins STATE
" Ilson Lumphin and all, seem reluctant to place
even "a iiulc below the angels
Ii is indeed strange that State Right. men should
STRAIN at Mr.. Clay, who, if lie Ia. not always
been strictly o,thodox,-ifhe has not always strictly
i" ocd the mark" and walked with perfect precision
nthe hair line which divides the opposing schools.
without ever leaning over on the light the lett,
has al least never wandered farther from the sra-
dard Of %, Ihan Mr.. Madison. Who long bore that
standard aloit I'VE say it is strange that State
Rights men should strain NJ him, and then "swai-
low John L. Calhoun who, if he belong to their
school now. has joined it from policy and not from
principle just as he did in ls1G, when lie united
himself nth the llani!tonian school of laiiiudlna-
nan ledtfasts, to which he zsaou., adhered, until
II became his interest to desert his Chem late al
lies Tor the purpose Of building up Southern par
", upon whom lie relied either elevate him to the
Presidency, or else to make HIM the chief man of
the Southern fragmen, of disme mbered Republic
Ill wcaved ambton,' indeed has been at the
bottom OF all his sudden changes of ctecd.. IIeen.
tered public life Republican of the State .hs
school but a, soon a, the War wa. ended, and he
found that there had been general obliteration oil
old patty lines. lie became the open advocate ola
liberal system of const utional construction, and
claimed the largest powers for the federal govern
ment which have ever been commended for BY the
b'ttereH satir,t Of Virginia taphysica dis;ine-
iions-Aud why Wemay suppose that an enla,g-
cd feeling of patriotism, and the lesson. of the Wa,
from which we mad but just emerged, had exercised
some influence upon his judgment-bu, it is not
uncharilabe, especially when interpreted by subse-
quent events, to presume that his opinions we're
somewhat Influenced by what seemed to tie the IL
resstible tide Of public sentiment, upon which he
hoped to be borne into the Presidential chair
Vim. II. Crawford then tho favore OF TIE State
Right, party, TO succeed Mr. Monroe-and Mr.
Ca lhoun and his devoted parzans mmed took
the field against him, plotting with Ninian Edwards
at Washington against his private character, and in
the South, through his friends M:Dnfie, Hamilton,
&c. rdculng his strait laced political notions -
So far indeed, did Mr. Calhoun and his friends car
~ their opposition to their favorite doctrine OF
State sovereignty, that they absolutely repudiated