Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1844-10-03
RICHMOND, VA.
Thursdny Morning. October ,. ISL
LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT

ter-wIieI" One otihesc was celtahiN iio' ''i'e''
forhc public eye II is the extraordinary Va;
| letter 10 Cassius NJ. Clay. which We PUp,'sh t"'s
molning, with the scahng >lr1c'l'resoi 'lIc vi"
Vn,l, D,.mocrat |, show, with what cagelncss The
.sa.pirny and moon-rcaching Gay Is pursuing
H., ,an,,. oc omh,inn.-bow anxiolisly he watches
llIe vanc Of popular sentiment, ana seeks 10 az
! cominedalc his opinions Ia every Scc,io' VI
| the country II is impossible l"r one, VINO iih Ia,
| ALWAYS given Mr.. Clay some ciea', amy an
| his defeats for moral rmness. ana Il uccmea cla-
ractcr-to see The twislings and luril'isS W '''c
/ political Prolcus without astonishineit anu con-
| tcmm. The III leller was addrcsscdlo VI Hoo'e
of Georgia, partly intended for The private eye
of his friends. but VIKING from his correspondent
nv The publication, of Mr.. llolsey II touches
his former course about the ri Git oil Congress 10
emancipate the slaves oil The Disirict-and Mr.
| II uscs up this letter 50 as To present MT Clay
| in parallel columns, in opposition 10 himself al
! different periods of his course.
Bpt The letter of all letters is the last, from The
National lnlellisenccr. lie sweals al last, that IL
is To he his laSt-hat *, the lasl intended Tor Inc
public eye He says, thai he doubted al ilrsl the
| propric,y of answering any letters upon any new
| nueslions-thal he sill doubts the proprciy- and
VOWS. that this is TO be the last letter he will write
| for the public eve. We mn>l, therefore, regard
! il rs the last strain of The diving swan-and ti-
fortunately for the MINSTREL it is no. The sweetest,
| hul the most ridiculous and shameless al all Ills
notes. PITY il is. indeed, for his present pros
meets and his future character thai he has written
| 50 many letters. and that this last should be 50
| open 10 exceptions. Better indeed, If he HAD
/ taken much sooner the advice OF his friends III
! New York. Far better, il he too, had had Com
mit;ee like General Harrison, 10 conduct his
/ correspondence. or r.!usc all answers. Hnt 50
anxious has Mr. Cha; been To- propiliaic all his
friends in all directions la remove all objections,
| la abatc all prcadcc,. and 10 grasp The Scerlle.
that he has been writing 10 all pats oi the coni-
try, and prcseningihe most inconsisle phases 10
| North and South One unfortunate letter has led
him on to another He writes lccr with
Northern aspect, 10 please The Abolilioni>t~. a
Southern friend informs him, that tins lei
ter is doing mischief 10 his cause III the South
| Out then comes another letter. with more oil i
! Southern aspect about it.-Mr. CassiuS VI. Gay
rocs forth as sort ol missionary 10 win ihc Aho-
| lii;onists But his rcvcalonS are strong, as 10
| dissatisy the Southern palatc-and out comes the
"anon;cd chicliain' with public letter, disclalm-
inu some OF the public remarks OF the missionary
but. for fear Of Mr. c. NJ Clay's taking OIL
! fence al Ibis public demonstration. he addresses
| a private note 10 excuse his public lclIer-!cIling
| him, that he had been obliged 10 sain>ay his de-
! carationS. because Of the INJURY they were like
! IL 10 inlct upon the Viii. cause in the States ol
i
| they 'cvcn endangered The Stale OF Kentucky.
We cannot trace The anxious and desperate
game which Mr. Clay has been pIaying-hls cleo
| tioneering tour-his mutiludinous and various
letters, IN fr cGjet-withou losing that respect for
| his moral lrnne>s, Of which he had been cried
up rs ..lhc great Embodiment" Who now can
| confi,ic in his professions, alter Witnessing the
fluctuations which he has exhibited III ms
four letters on the Texas question! What
will the Aboliionsis think oi his apparent
| versatility! Bcshrew us but we now be-
Iievc. that Mr.. Clay will retire from the
campaign, not only with defeat upon his banners,
| lu shorn of that high character for inlrcpidliy,
| and even audacity with whichhe entered The con-
| test.
We laythis last VIII and Testament before our
readers. We have no room for the copiouS re-
marks, which it is calculated 10 call forth. II
| places lis author in a most nnenvIabic anu a"k-
ward position. No one can mistake lis charac-
ter. II is intended 10 win back, il possible the
Abolition vote, which he tells cassius Clay, in his
private letter. he (El Claw is "airaid' he is dcs-
tined 10 lose These letters Nos. and y he
| had written about the annexation Of Texas. The
lst was intended for the North. Nos : and )
were designed for Southern latitude, To soften
down the objections 10 his Isl letter. He had 50
completely mys,iiicd the whole subject, that some
| wag had said that he must now write In letter
10 cxylala his three first. And 10! here ii is! max
| ing confusion, il possible, worSr conounded -
| and the distracted politician il possible, more
awkward and ridiculous. This il last throw of
| the dice is 10 cxpungc his two letters, Nos. and
3 and bring him back To the Isl, (Raleigh,) or
| Abolition letter The whole letter is weak and
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS that intlrnity OF purpose,
which is the evidence of an eager, noon-rcachln@
and unbalanced spiril-an ln!Irmiiy ol purpose,
| which he manifested from The very moment when
he consented 10 write any replies AT all, Gown In
the present. la>l, expiring effort We pass over
, The comments. which rise Ia our lips on reading
this crude aud panic-sruck production. BuI no.
| thinn SURPRISES Us more in The whole Of lis con
tents than that 4 man, who had been 50 much
attached 10 Texas who had >olcnnly protested
against It's cessionin ~, and had attempted twice
10 rcroyer il in % and ~ should now have the
| folly 10 come forward aud say substantially, "Oi.
as to myself have no personal al individual mo
tives for opposing, nor have any Tor eSPoaSihs,
the measure have no wish myselfin the mal,cr
and all | wish is 10 please every body
else" Whatever he my particular views and
opinions" (Which he has not The courage to
cxpre>>.) Il should he happy 10 see wha, The
WHOLE nation might concur III desiring under
The condition.. stated And this declaration he
now makes after the indications Of his personal
feelings in his recent letter. But who does not
see for what purpose this last Letter is iEdl'cd!-
| Who is so blind as moi 10 sec, that Mr.. Gay,
alarmed bv the accounts lie had received about
! The AhollonislS writes il To- proplae thru pre-
ludiccS:f and in fact To present, OF all others,
| This single sentence "Nohng was further
from my purpose than 10 ia'imatc any ciaaSc
of oujpjou asian. as ann Considcrajic roSpccf0-
bic poriion ~ iic Coufderacy @onW c"ntinDc ID
sr,yD orr in 0pp0sitt0n 10 The annexation NJ Ter
as" But the Dclphic Oracle has spoken too late.
The Convention of Utica have decided against
him-and upon The ground, noi so much o!
iancration, as of Sar0y which Mr.. Clay
did not anticipate ana does not meet III this
last will and testament. There is another tra-
lure in this remarkable letter.; is 10 be his las,
and in it he goes apparently The whole against
/ Tcxas-and he vows 10 the Abolitionisis, that it
is his last-hai he will change no morc-llia the
weathcrcocli will shift no longer on lis pivol-hut
that he will remain true, clcrnaiiv true, 10 the I'M
qualified declarations of his Raleigh letter against
annexation.
Bur, whilst he addresses these pledges 10 the
North, what will the South say OF him! What
hope does he hold out 10 them? None He
closes the door forever. Like The inscrip-
ton on the poetic gates OF Hell, there is
No Hope" written upon them We shall
scarcely hear Messrs Leigh and Lyons, &c,
&c. avcrring now, that Mr.. Clay IS the very
man to get ms Texas Souihrons Mr. Clay
has sacrificed this beautiful country for the votes
of the Ahoi,ionists and 10 his own ambition.
What will You say What will you do ?
From The National Jnieligcncer.
A LETTER FROM MR. CLAY.
To Tic Editors.
ASHLAND, September %, 1914.
Gentlemen: Since my nomination al Balii-
more in MAY last. hy the Wing Convention, as
candidate for The Office of President ofthc United
States, have received many letters propoundinc
TO me questions on public affairs, and others may
have been addressed 10 me which never re-