The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1856-06-28

which were both Madison and Gallwtin !
Where would ile be able TO find equally emf
| nent men Mr.. Buchanan replied he - uuli
not so out If this room for Secretary Of
State, looking at Mr.. Clay This gentleman
tAr. Ciayj playtully remarked that lie
| thought there was no timber thrlr fit for a
cabinet officer, unless it were Mr.. Buchanan
himself
Nh. Clay, while hc was so holly asoallcd
with the charge OF baleaiu, mtfist.e and cor
ruption daring the administrator Of Mr.
Admus, notified Mr, buchanan Of his lurcm-
non to publish the above occuIIncn: bat nv
the earnest cnrrcaiIes of that gentleman, he
W.S induced To t,lhcar dong So.
lIi' passage, Vt icr,nr. wls written by
Mr.. Clay S own hnn" We learned the fact
from Mir. Clay himself, frnln Mr.. Cotton, aud
from ain c!nincntly respected relative of Mr.
Clay. The great kcutuckiau. who had borne
the weight of bitter calumny for more than
twenty years. and seen his highest political
hopes crushed and blasted by it, did not
choose 10 submit to it longer out of tender
ness to the reputation Of an old political en-
envy: the deepest regret felt by his best
friends is that he submitted to 1t so long. Mr..
Buchanan, it appears, might when called On
for his testimony III 1875, have testified that
Mr.. Clay far from having signiii,d that hr
would support General jackson for the prcsl.
deucy in consideration OF the SecrcaryShlp of
State, had positively rejected such bargain,
proilercd to him by Mr.. buchanan himself
Whatever of dishonor. whatever of inlamy.
there could be in bargain, intrigue, and cor
ruption, attached to Mr.. Buchanan. We do
not believe that he had any authority from
General jackson to say what he said to Mr..
Inv In, To,
opinion. lie undertook to assert, as from
authority, that General Jackson would form
the most splendid cabinet the country had
ever had, and that Mr.. Clay, if he should
support him, would be his Secretary of State
Mr.. Clay stated in the passage he wrote
out for Colton's biography of him, that,
while he was so holly asSailcd with the
charge Of bargain and corruption during the
Adams administrations he notified Mr.. Buch.
anan of his intention to publish the occur.
renee in question, but was induced by that
gcntleman's earnest cntrcatics to forbcar
doing so. Mr.. Cotton said III his biography
that he had understood that several times in
later years Mr.. Clay had ntimatcd to Mr..
Buchanan that it might DC his duty to pub
from it by Mr.. Buchanan. We also know
contemplated publishing the facts, and was
vchomcntly urged by his political friends to
do so as a matter OF justice, not merely to his
own fame, but TO his party, and that he was
prevented only by Mr.. Buchanans cntrcatics.
Governor I.ctchcr, who was present at the
interview in January 1925, and heard all
that passed, was always of the opinion that
Mr.. Clay ought to make the publication, and
DII 81 l,t
suffering and carried his ncIosity too far.
MIR. Lctchcr, it seems, after the interview
of January, 1926, relieved Mr.. Buchanan's
apprchrnsions by the assurance that he would
not publish the facts Of the interview without
MI. Buchanan's consent. But so strong and
deep was Mr.. Lctchcr's conviction that the
facts ought to be published, that he wrote to
Mr.. Buchanan upon the subject during the
great Presidential conflict of 1911, declaring
however, in his letter that he would not yio-
late the pledge he had originally given. Mr.
Buchanan replied, deprccatins the publica-
ton and requiring the observance of the
pledge. The reply was made with Mr..
buchanan characteristic cunning, and we
give it below entire. One might think, from
the language Of his letter, that he had no dis
tinct recollection Of the conversation with Mr.
Clay in Mr.. Lctchcr'S room in January. 1925
and yet that very conversation, exceedingly
Cmrhatical AS it was, had been, from the very
first and through all the ensuing years, "A
matter of the deepest anxiety and even agita-
ton to Mr.. Buchanan, who, as Mr.. Cla, has
testified under his own hand, lad earnestly
cntrcatcd that it might not DC given to the
world. Ilele is Mr.. Buchanan's latter to Mr..
Letcher: