The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1843-10-30
THEM DIsONIAN
MR.. cLAY's LAST EPIsTLE.


Wings Of Fayette county, Virginia, urging
him 10 visit some central point Of that noun
Rain district. as much good would result to the
cause" from such visit As to what the Peo-
ple may do or say, or any portion OF lhem' we
haze no commentary 10 make. They may pirate
nf the unparalleled treachery Of the acting
President until doomsday, if it so please
them We can only express our regret that
they should permit themselves TO come 10
erroneous conclusions. As free cilzens en-
gagged 10 the work Of maintaining free insttu-
lions, il behooves them to hear before they
strike; to ascertain facts truly, before they
come to conclusions. They should bear in
mind, continually, that the readiesi mode for the
thief to ipe pursuit in a crowd, is to !
be the oidest 70 cry our "stop thief;" thereby
TO direct attention from himself to another. But
if the People, OF any portion Of them, choose TO
BE- cheated, and TO assail the true man and let
the thief pass, why they musI even do as ihey
please, aud we have not one word to say against
il.
We cannot, however. withhold the express
sion Of our extreme regret that an open aud
avowed candidate for the Presidency-a man
who has been highly distinguished in the country,
aud has rendered her some good service and done
much harm--who has filed elevated positions in
the public councils, and who therefore should he
presumed TO possess some decency of deport-
lneht, Should have resorted TO a repetition of the
abuse of the President in which he has in
dulged from the time of the extra session, and be-
tore any Democrats pere appointed TO office,
and has persevered in, with increased malignity,
TO the present hour-we say that we cannot
but regret this for the sake OF The country, and
more especially for the sake of Henry Clay
himself. He has yet some character to lose,
and we fear that he is in fair way Of losing il. |
" considering the youth OF our Republic, and the
yirtuous and ustrious who have filled the office
of Chief Magistrate of the Union, il is painful in the
extreme to behold such example of utter abandon
ment of all the obligations Of honor of duty, and Of
fdelity.n
Such is one of the sentences in the letter Of
Henry Clay. Instead of using broad express
sons like those, which any BLACKBOARD in the
street could use as well as Henry Clay, we
should have been better pleased if the candidate
for the Presidency had gone into PARTICULARS
What Z" obligations of honor, of duty and fdeli-
ty" have been violated? Mr.. Tyler vetoed Mr..
Clay's Bank bill, and so he would do again with
a similar BILL come from what quarter or party
il might. Was this to violate "the obligations
of honor, of duty and of fidelity 2" Was ii a
violation of duty to uphold his settled and Of
ten expressed convictions of what the Consti
tuition required Was ii violation Of the obli-
cations Of honor for him TO avoid an act of per-
jury Is it by surrenderng the Constitution TO
Congress, and by the commission Of perjury,
that Mr. Clay, when he comes TO be President,
is TO give TO the country so pure administIa-
ton as he would seem TO promises
What Mr.. Clay means by a violation Of The
Obligations of 6delity," we cannot understand.
Fidelity to whom or what 2 Fidelity TO the
Constitution-fdeiiy TO parIy-or fidelity to
Henry Clay2 VIII he tell US which or what |
he means? Does Mr. Clay mean that fidelity
10 ones oath Of office is to yield to fidelity to
party or to himsclI7 Does he mean TO tell his
known friends that when he is Presdeni-GJd
save the mark The will care nothing for his oath
nothing for the Constitution noIhing for any
thing or person but party or Henry Clay7
For his constant hit at the President as being
an accidental President, we commend him
TO Lord BIougham. If President dies and
the Vice President succeeds, why be is an
accident, and nothing more, and Mr.. Clay
takes great delight in telling him so. Now
we cannot regard this so much an attack on the
President as on the Constitution. If King
dies and King succeeds, why Lord Brougham
and Mr. Clay think that there is no accident
in the way. Oh no, that is all legitimate-the |
offspring Of legitimacy but il the forms Of our /
Constitution are observed, and death occurs, /
why, then, no respect is to be paid TO the Presi-
dent, because he has succeeded by accident
Mr.. Clay certainly shows very exquisite taste
in the use Of the following language:
"Againsi Ne. Tyler no exertion is necessary. He
viii soon r with The contempt and amidst the SCOTS
Of al hon "a lie Our efforts should be directed
against tl Sc who hrst seduced and then prohted hy
him those who, after having him 10 their own
uses now affect 10 shrink from the communicating
association; those who, after his complete identi-
fcation with them, and al the moment when he ia
appropriang TO their exclusive advantage the whole
patronage OF the Government, unustly upbrsid us
with the failure Of measures the adoption Of which
was prevented by his perhdy and their countenance
and support Of him"
This letter, il is to be recollected, was written
before the late elections. Mr.. Clay had not
then heard Of the New Jersey election, an cleo
lion staked, TO a great extent. on Mr.. Tyler's
name and Mr.. Clay's. If TO be defeated 10
popular election is evidence of the contempt and
SCOTS ofall honorable men, then Mr.. Clay stands
10 that unfortunate predicament in New
Jersey. There he was defeated, and by the
man whom he pretends to despise as one not
TO be noticed in the approaching struggle. We,
moreover, tell Mr. Clay, that if the Republican
party should conclude to rally around Mr.. Tyler