Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1844-08-13
MAsnlNGrnN Cry. Marcl

Sir: nave received your letter Of the Isl IN
slant, proroGnding 10 me certain interrogaioricS
After pcr,,sa OF Mr.. Cay'S late address 10 the
public. il would be a!iectatiOn 10 say That dld
not anticipate 4 call OF this character from some
of the friends OF General Jackson. lnthe nature
OF that publication, nave sufficient apology.
if any were warning, for pr2mmiy complying
with your rcque>t Without. however, Pretend
Ing 10 give siccilc answers la each oil your IN
errogalorieS, | shall give simple narrative "i
iacts and circumstances, iea"n% their afplicd-
ton 10 You ard the public.
During the late contest for the Presidency. be-
fore the people, was the VAIN md zcalonS
.yiend Of MIR CLAW. regarded his election Is
important 10 The whole United States, and cspc-
ii i,v 10 the people Of the Western country with
whose political principles he had harmonilcd
and with whose local interests his prc'-ns'onS q
pcarcd 10 be peculiarly Identified. lac Iniorina.
lion given Inc by Mr. Clay and his iriendS ana
my own sangune temperament, induced me 10
le lere thai his prospects were equally favorable
with those OF any other OF the candidaie>; and
much more so than those of General Jackson
until October 1921 In that month, Mr.. Clay
Mr. Trimble. Mr. C. A Wicl;liie, myself, ano
perhaps other members OF the Kentucky Dele
gallon casually met IT Frankfort during the ses-
sion OF the Court u Appeals. There Mr. CLAY,
Tor the first time expressed - me an apprehension
LAT he shoul, BE excluded from the House oil Re-
prcsentrtiyes; and observed with seeming care
iessness ii nlannc-, iha, il worlG be hS Tor as,
IN that case, 10 remain uncominl;icd as TO cur
second choice. This remark made but sigh.
i,npre sion on nv mind atIhc time, and in No
ycmhcr proceeded IL " ashingion City, still. en-
;crtaiiing the hope ,lal Mr. Clay would be one
Of the three returned to the House Of RepIcse:-
taivcS
Af:er mr. arrival in tho city was confined to
nv room by iLiiSros.on While in this situa-
lion, MIR. Cl2y called and after the usual civil
,:tieS, told me- in emphatic terms thai he had
! Gitle doubt h was excluded from the House Of
Representatives, and that ell 1--WE" (mcaning the
! Kentucky Delegation in Congress. chad now 10
do was io hole ourselves uncommilled. as 10 our
second choice" declaring, chat We could vote Tor
either of the three candidates, and justify our
selves TO our constituents.
AT this time was much devoted to Mr. Clay,
and very unwilling 10 incur his displcasnrc.
perceived, or though, perceived his object, ami
Immediately sent Tor my colleague and conilen-
tial friend. Major r. P Henry, and also .or Col.
+. NJ. Johnson, Of the Senate, and appriZcd
them Of the remarks of MIR. Clay. Col. Johnson
remarked, that il we had made up our MINIS,
we had better frankly and openly avow our i'll
,entions at once Major Henry detailed SINH
lar conversation which had taken place between
himself and MIR. Clay, and concurred in the pro-
pricty of an immediate avowal. We accor-
dinghy declared our determination to vote for Gc-
neral Jackson, and thus avoided 4 repetition Of
such suggestions from MIR. Clay
had no further intercourse with Mr.. Clay on
the subject of the election until after il was over,
except thai which will be explained in suisse
cueni part Of this letter. was warmly attached
TO Mr.. Clay, and decidedly hostile TO Mr. Adams.
| had denounced him in all parts OF the district
represented by me, on the authority of facts de-
rived from Mr.. Clay. Disappointed in my first
choice. and in bad health, TOOK little or no pat
in the canvass among the members OF Congress,
and gave silent vote, in accordance as thought,
wihihe wishes Of the people Of kentucky.
In relation 10 the other topics embraced in your
note, they involve much dehcacy; but having
| spoken of them, feel il incumbent on Inc 10 pre-
| vent all misrepresentation by statement OF the
I truth. Soon after the meeting OF Congress, my
| friend, General Call for The purpose of satisfying
me of the state Of public sentiment in kentucky,
| in relation TO the Presidential Election, Molrcd
| me a letter from Mr. J. J. Critenden, saying, Il
| hope You will e able to make the General beat
I the Yankee" and soon after Mr. Francis John
son read to me- and also to another member Of
/ Congress, letter from Mr.. ]. J. Crittenden, pur-
porting to be an answer to letter from Mr.. John
son 10 Mr.. Critenden, in which Mr.. G. informed
! Mr.. J., that General Jackson was his Mr.. C.s)
1 nfSt ciiolcc alter MT. clay put, list III .Nli
Adams would appoint Mr.. Clay Secretary of
State, or place him in his Cabinet, am not GER
tain which expression was used, then it would be
| an easy task to reconcile his constituents TO the
| vote in favor OF Mr.. Adams.
| received Two letters from confidential friend
of Mr. Clay's, residing in Kentucky, urging me
TO vote for whoever would make Mr.. Clay Secrc-
tary of State, and intima!ing .'iat MIR. Adams
would do it Mr.. Clay happened 10 see me re-
ceive one of the letters, and after had read il,
asked me what news from Kentucky? replied
that had received letter from --. Mr.
Clay asked-ani what does --s ayl | re-
piled, "iou know very WE'LL" He laughed, and
left me under the impression that he did know
| A few days after, the intention of Mr.. Clay, with
that OF a majority of the Kentucky delegation, to
vote for MIR. Adsms, was publicly announced
! My colleague, John T. Johnson, Esq, desired
me 10 accompany him to the room of our col
league, David White, Esq; did So soon after
our arrival, Mr.. Johnson mentioned TIC rumor
which was abroad, as 10 the vote OF Kentucky
and asked Mr.. White whether j. was true, ex-
pressing, at the same time, hope lhat ii was MOI;
| Mr.. w. replied in substance, that he did not
wish TO be ANNOYED; that che was not about TO
vote for Mr.. Adams, but for Mr. Clay that he
I had good authority for his vote, and knew v hat
he was about" Here interrupted he CONVEX
sation, and Mr.. Johnson and myself withdrew
The impression made upon nv mind, and.
Il T. L. 81. r