The Cadiz sentinel. [volume] (Cadiz, Ohio) 184?-1851, 1844-05-29
TO THE FREEMEN OF OHIO.
FELLOW CITIZENS:


TO THE FREEMEN OF OHIO.
FELLOW CITIZENS:
Henry Clay IS once again a candidate forthe
high Office of Chief Magistrate of this glorious
Union. Twenty years have now elapsed since
he was first an unsuccessful candidate for this
same office, and his repeated defeats and disap-
pointments render it sufficiently evident, that,
with the mass of the American people, his gen.
eral unfmess for the station is no new theme.
But that act of his life, which has been rightly
considered Of darker hue and more damning
character than any other, is one to which we may
Ijusdy call your especial attention. 1t belongs
to an era, since which an entire generation has
lpassed from the stage ofhuman action; & though
the career of IFS author had otherwise been
"without spot or Dlemish," it should of itself suf
| fee forever to debar him from the exalted place
to which he aspires.
In entering upon detailed exposition of that
foul transaction, we do not avail ourselves of a
| right which belongs to all American citizens
the right freely to discuss the character and quail
| iicatons of every man who asks us for our votes
We shall endeayor to give its history with perfect
fairness and candor We have ever been taught,
and We most sincerely believe, that no falsehood
can be Of any use in free discussion before free
people. If we should err in sigle statement,
the error will not only be unintentional, but il
must occur in spite of our most anxious precau-
ton. All important facts shall be stated with
the utmost particularly. We ,ciU giUe means,
times and places, and all our quotations shall be
from hss most authentic sources. We desire, fel-
low citizens, to lay nothing before you which will
not safely bear your severest scrutiny. May we
not therefore, fairly solicit and confidently expect
the candid attention of every honest man into
whose hands this address may fall, no matter
what may have been his previous political bias ?
The Charge.
The charge against Mr.. Clay, in the nvesti-
cation of which we now wish you to join, is brief
ly this:
That he, while the election for President was
before the House of Representatives, in the win
ter of ls24-5, being representative from Ken
lucky and Speaker of the House, entered into a
corrupt coalition with John Quincy Adams, a man
to whom he had previously been personally and
politically opposed, in consummaton of which
coalition, in open defiance of the will ofthe peo-
pie of the State of Kentucky and of the United
States, and also in direct opposition to his own
professed principles, he made Adams President
of the United States, and Adams, in return, made
him his Secretary of State, and placed him in
what he afterwards termed "the line of safe pre-
cedents for elevation TO the Presdency-or, to
state it still more briefly, SO far as in him lay
HE SOLD HIMSELF, HIS CONSTITU-
ENTS AND HIS COUNTRY TO A POLIT-
ICAL AND PERSONAL ENEMY, FOR THE
CORRUPT AND SELFISH PURPOSE OF
OBTAINING THE OFFICE OF SECRETA-
RY OF STATE, AND SECURING THE
SUCCESSION TO THE HIGHEST OFFICE
IN THE LAND.
Position of Men and Parties, in 1924.
"The Hartford Convention, the victory of Orleans,
the peace Of Ghent prostaed the name of federalism
It votares abandoned it through shame and mortifca-
ton, and now call themselves republicans" Such was
the language Of Thomas Jefferson, in letter written to
General La Fayette the close of the year 1928
See 4h uOl Of fJe0er,On'S Correspondence, p. 384.
1t was indeed true that federalism had nomi-
nally ceased to exist There were then four
candidates for the presidency in the field, allseek
ing support from the republican party. Three
of these, Andrew Jackson, William H. Crawford
and Henry Clay, had always been associated
with that party. One of them, John Quincy Ad-
ans, was the son of that black-cockade federal
ist, John Adams, and, in the outset of his public
life, had shown himself one of the most bitter
and vindictive among the federal politicians.
But, in 1907, he suddenly apostatized from his
fathers party, and became supporter ofthe JEFF
fersonian administration. So managing as TO
make the republican party believe him sincere,
he was taken into favor, became the recipient of
their bounty, and, at the time ofwhich we speak,
was President Monroe's Secretary of State He
had, however, so cultivated the good will of his
old associates, that The great majority of the re-
publicans became distrustful of him; and in the
same letter, just quoted, Mr.. Jefferson, speaking
of him as ''the northernmost candidate" declar-
ed that he would "get eUcry federal pOte in the
Union" 1t should here be remarked that, when
Mr.. Jefferson said that the federalists had chan
ged their name, he added, "but the name alone
is changed, the principles arc the same"
The republicansm of Jackson and Crawford
had never been distrusted.
Mr.. Clay had many splendid qualities, and had
been of some service to tho republican cause.
In 1911, he had made an eloquent and unan-
swearable argument against a National Bank,
and he had given vigorous support to the war.
Still, he had not gained the confidence of the
people. His abilities were deemed more snowy
than solid, and in several instances, he had ex-
hibited an overweening ambition, and an ungen-
erous jealousy of those supposed TO stand in his
way. Thomas NJ Randolph, the son-in-law and
intimate friend of Thomas Jefferson, has given
us Mr.. Jeffcrson's opinion of MIR. Clay in these
words
"Towards Mr.. Clay, as politician, Mr.. Jefferson
constantly manifested very strong repugnance, and
often said that he merely splendid orator, without
any valuable knowledge from experience or study, o
any determined public principles founded in sound po
litical science, either practical or theorctical"Se
! Efie's Register, vol. sap 81.