The examiner. [volume] (Louisville, Ky.) 1847-1849, 1848-01-29
Letter from a. IA. Clay.
LEXINGTON Kr., Jan. 18th, l5ls.
'hs EdiLors of Iht Ckrisfian Rrfrrtor.

sophie Indifference. Neither fiattery nor denun-
citation at home or abroad shall move me one
iota from the advocacy Of such principles as
choose &c advocate, or the choice Of such means,
az my best reason may suggest for their ulii-
mate success. | am private man, candidate
Tor no Office, ] ask no man for his vote or his
purse; in the discharge Of my duty as a citizen
Of Republic, have attempted TO be intelli-
gent, l Certainly have Iab0red. / have spent
my money and my time--foregone toIerable
chances fer elevation to office-suffered some
what, in feeling in name, and in person, in vim
dicating Principles-surely | ought TO be honest.
II any sensible man knows Of any other proofs
OF sincerity and integrity which have not yet
gwen, and will write them down, / will attempt
them. tam lot too old yet to learn, or too self
concelted 70 be advised. In attempting To over
throw slavery, l expected TO meet the ill-will
ami violence Of those who were gamers by
slavery. But TO find those who profess to be
anti-savery men and who certainly are interest
ed in the establishment of liberty in America,
watching my every act and ayOwed opinion,
with Incorporating hatred and dsnuncia-
tion-astounds me- No doubt some who hate
the South, who have calculated the cost of the
Union and desire its dissolution, are disat point
ed in not finding me prepared to forget that the
slaves, the masters and the nOR-sIsve- hsiGeTs of
the South, by such an event would be involved
in one common ruin. come not to, destroy,
but TO save. II liberty and this Union cannot
co-exist, then confess | am in despair. III with
all our natHTaf, social, and political advantages
some OF which can never be reReped in all
coming time, We cannot carry out the great
principles of the Declaration of go" then |
confess that have no hope Of their ultimate
triumph. What is the basis of the whole fab
ric of RePuhIicanisml That the majority
rule. That the Legitimate end of government
is to secure the rights Of all, minoriiies az well
as maJorities, is true. But suppose that the i'm
Projections Of humanity fall short Of the pro
lection of all the citizens, what are you to dof
Give It all up IN disgust and fall back upon the
unlimited despotism of a single mani Surely
not What them Simply If we cannot all DO
as We please to do-let the majority do as they
please TO do. Have you, gentlemen, found
better rule Of action than this? Have YOU
knowingly AMI in good faith, entered into the
partnership of the American government You
have agreed TO play; you have put up the stakes;
you have cast the die; you have lost! What say
you-will yol pay upl One pays up after
night, another pays up after some grumbling
and swearing, and the third pays up with gen
tlemanly grace. Now which is the honest and
sensible man, A, b, or C,-the first, second, or
lasti You and and the American people have
formed this partnership of Republicanism: we
have pu: up the stakes, we have said knowing
ly whatever the constituted authorities by legal
maJoriiies enact, that We will abide.
Congress says there shall be war with Mexico,
we have said we are opposed to war with Mexi-
co; we have done our duty; we have played the
game and have lost! What shall we do7 Shall
we refuse to Payl You say, yes: say, no.
There . an end Of il. Logic" brings US Just
to this point; shall We do what We have sgreeS
70 do or not2 You say, no: say, yes. You
must either go with the government or dissoIus
the government For my part, great evils as
seemed to me the Texas iniquity and Mexican
war, they We're yet more sufferable than revolu-
ton anc the dissolution Of the union. There
cannot be any mddls ground. II you refuse TO
pay when YOU lose, there is an end of all play
ing. IL you refuse 10 carry out the enactments
Of government, there is an end of all govern
ment Well, but the regular army ought TO
tight, not you, UolURtser. Why ought the
regular to hghtl Because he is paid for it.
Shall man be excused for violation of prn-
ciple because he is paid IL | committed
crime in joining the army, then did every SOL
der, who believed the war unjust commit the
same crime. Why then denounce only mel II
committed crime in going TO the war, then
did every man in America, denying the Justice
Of the war, who contributed money by paving
taxes, or who gave aid and comfort to the army,
commit the saRs erime. II there was a man
who opposing the justice of the war, who did
not use all the energies and means, which, after
providing first for himself and his, he owes uni
versal man, in ad,of the Mexicanshnd against the
American army, that man committed the same
crime | 90 boldly a step beyond all this, every
man believing the Mexican war unjust, unless
holding the doctrine of non-resistance, who did
not take up arms against the Americans, and
who was not ready TO peril his life in the Mex-
can cause, that man committed the same crime.
Let impartial reason then determine who has
been the victim Of "Iogie" you, or |. Once
more. The jury is the legal creature of the
government; the prisoner has undergone fair
trial; all the forms Of the law have been COM
piled with; he is condemned to be hung 70 death.
You individually think the man innocent, or
you are opposed 10 capital punishments; will
you hang him? If you think with me, you
will, If not you will quietly retire and leave me
10 do IL! You are a coward in such case.
say either hang him, or help him. So much for
"Lsgic.
Once more, Congress lays a tariff upon the
importation Of foreign sugar it robs you to
sustaia slave-labor Will you pay 1T You
have never thought of doing otherwise then
you have committed the same crime, for which
am denounced VIII pay il Yes. Be-
cause it is the iap. viii you pay it Eyes:
because cannot help it," Indeed There was
Just tax was laid upon them, by power TO which
they did not assent, said, we will die, but pay no
tax Which were the nobler, you OF your an
cestors Logic" places you, In the dilemma
Of denouncing your ancestors. or, by admitting
that thu Obligations for action are widely differ
ent, of losing your argument
In Republic 1t seems to me to be the duty
Of every good citizen TO advocate what he deems
right T; but when the public will has been def
nitey declared in legal form, though IT be dia-
metrictly opposed TO his, he ought in good faith
TO carry out that will-dssolve the government
by revolution-or leave the country. 1t does
not follow, that you ought to have gone to the
war, or that thousands Of other persons ought
to lave gone they and you may haye been
more useful in other vocations. But this say,
that you and every other man In this Republic
who votes or partakes Of it's protection, should
have aided and abetted" me and the American
army who did 90 to the war, until the proper
authorities had concluded Il by peace IL
suited my temperament TO play the soldier,
yours 10 be taxpayer. trust We we have both
discharged our whole duty. In going to the
war then, i ges possible to have been conss-
tent, it was possible TO have been soldier in the
pro-slavery Mexican war, and yet to have been
an honest anti slavery man. My mOtipss then,
not the act, must determine my consistency
Now, long before the declaration of the war,
avowed in public speeches in the North, that
would go TO 1t. Why was | not then dsnoun-
ced 7 The earnestness which | displayed In
this cause gave me the reputation of being
fanatic. The untold woes which have come
upon us by the annexation of Texas were long
since ,eea BY me, as well as by every intelligent
observer of human events. / would, that had
possessed eloquence equal to tho infinite
issue---that our nation had been spared her
great crime--that the Constitution of my coun-