Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1844-11-01
Mr.. WebSterS Portraits of Henry Clay.

After thirty years acquaintance with Mr..
Clay in 1912, Mr.. Webster sketched this por-
trait of him for the Madsonan. 1t will be
seen that the outline embraces the character
Of Mr.. Clay from the time he and Mr.. Web
ster met in Congress, down to 1912, when
they had parted, and the sketcher sat on the
same seat in the cabinet OF Secretary of State,
which Mr.. Clay had once occupied:
"When the years he numbered (says Mr..
Webster of Mr.. Clay) were barely sufficient
to qualify him for seat in the Senate of the
United States, and he could almost ithout
suspicion pretend to the innocence of novice
in political intrigue. he extended his vision
through long vista of party turmoil and re-
volution before him, and intenty scanned the
whole scene, that he mi ght discover in turn
all the tortuoslties and difficulties Of the path
which led to the covered prize beyond. To
attain it, every energy has been nerved; every
plan and every scheme has been employed,
till the age of 70 has overtaken HMM vain.
"He has figured among statesmen in origl-
mating and supporting measures deeply affect
ing the interests of the country, whether for
veal or for wo; it was with the expectation of
the presidency.
ale has figured among partisans and in
trigued among politicians; it was with the ex-
pectdtlOn OF Lne presidency.
He has poured his fluent strains of deibe-
ratve eloquence in the Capitol; it was with
the expectation Of the presidency.
8 He has speechifed at dinners and on the
stump; it was with the expectation of the pre-
sidency.
''He has promulgated opinions and condemn
ed Mem-he has joined parties and fersaken
them-he has supported friends and abandoned
them 1t aVos all a0ih The expectation Of the pre-
sidency. Amid every change of political opin-
ion in himself-and every revolution of party
whether he was representative, senator,
commissioner in foreign country, or quilted
his popular position to become Secretary OF
State. he never lost sight of the one great OBJ
ject-the presidency. AS soon as he thought
his arrangements made, his forces prepared,
and the plan of campaign complete. he enter
ed the field, and he was defeated. Again de-
! feated, in open warfare, he experienced, in
1889, the additional degradation and disap-
pointment of being rejected by his own friends.
Vexed and harassed by reiteration of defeat,
where stands he now! Upheld by his own
desperation and the reckessness of few des-
perate friends, he affects the modesty of re-
tirement, while he promises indirectly re-
newal of the contest.
"DlreclIy he promises no Sncn tnlhg OUT
in the morbid peevishness of frustrated ambi-
ton, 1--WE will not quote an old and familiar
adage) he assals personally, as we'll as po-
Iitically, one whose position he envies, be-
cause he has, by long reveries on his own as
pirations, persuaded himself that he should be
there himself! But where is he now! Al
every struggle he is sinking further and further
from the object he wishes to grasp. Are his
hopes of the presidency any brighter!
''His most sanguine friends cannot conf
IDENTIFY make the assertion.
HE has met the punishment which usual
ly attends constant tissue of intrigue. The
calculations of his cunning have deceived him,
and he is further from the presidency than
ever.
Eyes, furthe. than ever. When he betray-
ed the President, and declared himself in IA
vor of national bank. contrary to the profess
sions Of the party in 1910, and so far succeed
ed in his per6dy as to obtain the leadership OF
the wing party after the vetoes-then, or up
TO that period, the whig party held nineteen
OF the States by decided majorities. Under
Mr.. Clay's lead, and with his name as the
candidate for lo44, in less than two years the
wings have lost possession of all the States
bnt five or six. This is incontrovertible, and