The Whig standard. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1843-1844, 1844-04-15

MI, Clay was conducted to !hs theatre psstly
filled With ladies, and thsre was welcomed by
DR.. William Reed, one of the baka of old t776,
in the following address:
Honored Sir. A fond reverence for the men of
the Revolution, my companions Of ITS, who
have almost left me solitary, has moved nv fell
low citizens TO confer upon me the grateful pri-
vilege of welcoming worthy son of America to
our ancient city. In the name of the living, |
bid you hearty welcome-and am sure that
if the great and good men who figured in the
Revolution, with whom | moved in concert
the Middletons, the Gadsdens, the Lowndes, the
Pinckneys, the Rutledges, the Hugers, and the
gallant Marion and Monltrie, Sumter and Hamp-
ton, could add their voices to mine, they, too,
would bid you welcome, as an honored son of
the Republic, AMI an ilustrious benefactor of the
now great nation founded by their tolls. Most
worthy We're these patriots of all the love and
veneraton, which their posterity, who have de-
puted me to speak to you, bear them-and it is
as witness OF their labors, their pure love OF
country, their anxious hopes and cares and pray
ers for the perpetuity of their GREAT WORK, that
for them and their children, would add to their
welcome, grateful thanks for all the good you
have done US. feel, with those who have gone
before me, and more deeply than the youthful
generation around me can feel, the great debt
we all owe you for your patrionc labors in de-
fence of the institutions of the men of '76, and
that Union which was their only hope for the
prosperity of their children. | greet you, sir, as
a most faithful son of such sres. You have
been ever true TO their lessons, and long life,
spent in your country's service, has exhibited a
constant devotion to law, liberty, the Constitu-
ton, and the Union. You have been ever no.
bic lover of your ,ohole country-and the gloomy
days of the Missouri agitation, and the Com
promise, tell of that spirit of concession and mu-
tual fol bearance, SO earnestly commended to his
countrymen in his farewell address, by the Father
Of his Country.
This is the spirit-these are the services, on
which an old man delights to dwell-and re-
joice in the occasion which permits the express
sion of my heartfelt thanks. Younger men
would glory in celebrating that eloquence which
has reflected so much honor on republican insti-
tutions, and graced our Legislative halls. And
could wish that some one of the young men,
your companion in the second war Of Indepen-
dence-a Calhoun, Cheves, or your friend, the
lamented and beloved Lowndes, could have been
here this day, to have made proper acknowledge
ments TO you, in terms sufficiently glowing for
The great and brilliant part you bore in that gal.
lant conflict for our country's honor But these
are themes not for me.
1t wi not be out Of place to wish you safe
Journey throughout your long tour, by land and
by water, or to wish and hope for prolongation
OF your valuable life; nor is it unreasonable to
hope, when tell you that the man who stands
before you shouldered his rnusket for the protec-
ton Of the first Congress, some years previous to
the period that gave birth to the great statesman
address.
Again, felfow.countrymen patriot and national
benefactor, welcome, thrice welcome, to our
hearts and our homes.
To this address (says the Courier) Mr.. Clay re-
sponded ina speech thrilling eloquence and great
ability, occupying near two hours in the delivery,
and enthraling the attention of an interested and
delighted auditory The great length of this
speech, and the variety and importance of the
subjects it discussed, forbid us even the attempt
to report or sketch it; although we may glance
at several Of its leading points. Although Mr..
Clay was evidently fatigued and oppressed by
his journey, he yet in the finest spirits, aris-
ing, doubtless, from the warmth and eclat of his
reception, aided in no small measure by the news
of the Wing victory in Connecticut, received
that morning. He seemed in the very best
mood for speech, and evnced by the ease and
buoyance with which he delivered himself and
in the exquisite touches of humor with which he
occasionally enlivened the weightier matters of
his dlscourse-and he gave, for the first time to
a Charleston audience, noble specimen of that
gifted eloquence with which he has so often
electrified the Senate or sweled the enthusiasm
of the popular assembly.
The manner in which Mr. Clay met and treat.
ed insulting epitbets, put forth by small fry OPP
ponents, is thus handsomely noticed in the last
Macon Messenger:
1t SO happened, that few moments before
leaving his room, one of our city papers was
handed to him containing the preamble and res
outions adopted by the Democratic Association
of Bibb county at late meeting. In this pre-
amble, Mr. Clay was termed land most certainly
in very bad taste) SHE itinerant aspirant for the
Presidency" His reort upon his Democratic
friends for this illiberal imputation upon him