Daily American organ., 1856-09-02

Opinions of Henry Clay.


Opinions Of Henry Clay.
Mr.. Clay was invited to address the Legis-
lature of Kentucky in the fall of 1850, just af-
ter the passage of the Compromise measures
of that year, and on the 18th day of Novem-
Der he delivered before that body an exceed
ingly able and interesting speech, which was
published in the National mtelligencer of this
city on the 9th day of that month. A friend
from Gainsborough, Tennessee, over the ini-
tials s. S. S., has kindly furnished us with the
following extract from that speech, as follows
Sand here, Mr.. Speaker, let us make momen-
tary inquiry as to what would have been the con.
dition Of the parts of the Confederacy on the sub
ject of slavery if unhappy it had been dsseveredp
Assuming that the line could have been drawn be-
tween the slavehoding nd non-slaveholding States
all north Of Maryland and Virginia. and oil north
of the Ohio river, would have been foreign and
and Independent sovereign power Contrast, if
you please our present condition with what it
would have been under that order of things. AT
present we have right, if any slave escapes from
his service, to demand his surrender; and we have
the right to take the constitution and the law in
our hand and require the surrender"
i do not believe that there will be any open
and forcibe resistance to the execution of the law.
The people Of the North have too strong sense
of the proprety of the obedience to the law for
that. But if there be any such resistance, we have
the right to invoke the employment of any part of
the militia of the United States, OF the army or
the navy of the United States to enforce the exc
cution Of the law and, although Ihave no author
ity to commit President Fillmore to any specific
line of duty, Ihaue knoon him long daoeii, and
ultimately, and feel entire confidence in him. as
a man Of ability and Of honesty, and Of patriot
im mho wiH perform has duty and has phole duty
an seeing to the faithful erecution of the la,os of
the land, to Which I pledge the support Of the ut
most ofmy poor ability may be asked as have
been asked, schen would consent to dissolution
of the Union? ! answer neverl ,eper! NEVER !!
Because can conceive of no possible contingency
that would make it for the interest and happiness
of the people break up this glorious Confedera-
cy, and to separate it into bleeding and bellgerent
parts
"If the agitation in regard to the Fugitive Slave
Law should continue and increase and become
alarming it will lead to the formation of two new
parties-one for the Union, and the other against
The Union a
present parties have been created by divisions
of opinion as to systems of national policy-as to
fnance-free trade protection-the improve.
ment Of rivers and harbors-he distribution of the
proceeds OF the public lands, sc. but these sys-
TENS of policy springing out of the administration
of the government of the Union, lose all their in
terest and importance il that Union is to be dis
solved. They sink into utter insignifcance before
the all-important, pervasive and paramount inter-
est of the Union itself. And the platform of that
Union party viii be, the UNION, THE CONSTITUTION,
AND THE ENFORCEMENT OF ITS LAWS. And if it
should be necessary to form such a party, and il
should be accordingly formed, / announce myself
in this place a member Of that UNION party, what,
ever may be its component elementsl"
The first point in the above speech of Mr.
Clay, to which we shall make especial refer
ence, is the prediction he made that Mr.. Fill
more would faithfully execute the laws of the
land. This prediction, founded upon his long
and intimate acquaintance with Mr.. Fillmore,
was fulhlled--the laws of the land were faith
fully executed--the Fugitive Slave law, to
which Mr.. Clay particularly referred, was en-
forced, and the country was restored to quiet
and peace. One year and half afterwards,
Mr.. Clay, in letter addressed to Hon. Daniel
UTlmann, of New York, in speaking of the then
three competitors for the nomination by the
old Wing party, said
The foundation of my preference is, that Mr.
Fillmore has administered the government with
signal success and ability. He has been tried anC
found true, IA thful, honest, and conscientious"
The second point to which we refer, in the
speech Of Mr. Clay above quoted, has refer.
ence to the formation Of neW parties, and his
declaration in advance, announcing himself a
member Of that UMoN PARTY whose formation
he predicted. As he predicted, new parties
have been formed, one for the preservation Of
the Union, and ttoo for the disseyer.nce Of it
upon sectional issues.
Two OF the prominent planks in the plat
form of the American party are the following !;
The perpetuation Of the Federal Union, "a the
palladium of our civil and religious liberties and the
only sure bulwark Of American Independence
The maintenance and enforcement Of all laws
constitutionsly enacted until such laws shall be
repealed, or shall be declared null and void by
competent Judicial authority"
These two planks make the American"
party emphaticslly the Union party of the
country, whilst the sectional issues created by
the present sham Republican and sham Dem
ocrstic parties, make those parties anti Union,