The Athens post. [volume] (Athens, Tenn.) 1848-1917, 1856-07-18
THE GREAT ISLANDER UPON HENRY
CLAY AND JAMES BUCHANAN'S
CONNECTION WITH 1T.

THE GREAT ISLANDER UPON HENRY
CLAY AND JAMES BUCHANAN's
CONNECTION WITH 1T.
Upon this subject we present to-day tw,
written statements made BY Gen. Jackson
himself in the last years of his life. The,
show how thoroughly his soul was poisoned
by the base falsehood which MIR. Buchanan
breathed into his ear, and how inerad;cabl,
the slander remained ever afterwards fixed il
his belief. .t
| The Maysvile Express has bad the reck
lessness to say that"when the charge [against
Mr. Clay] was made by Gen. Jackson, who
referred to Mr.. buchanan as his witness, Mr.
Buchanan repelled it, and General Jackson
never repeated it afterwards" We confront
this reckless assertion of the Express, with
the "card" of Gen. Jackson, dated May 8
1874, and addressed to the editors of the
Nashville Union. In that card Gen. Jackson
says: $. e'
any attention has been called to various
newspaper articles, referring to letter said
to have been written by me to Gen. Hamilton,
recanting the charge of bargain made against
MIR. Clay, when he voted for Mr.. Albums in
1925. To put an end 10 all such rumors,
feel it to be due to myself to state that have
no recollection of ever having written such a
letter, and do not believe there is n letter
from me to Gen. Hamilton, or any one else,
that Will bear such construction. Of the
charges brought against Mr.. Adams and Mr..
Clay at that time formed my opinion as the
country at large did-from facts and circum.
stances that were indisputable and conclusive;
and may add that this opinion has undergone
no change"
This card may be found in Colion's Life
and Times Of Henry Clau, and in all the
Democratic newspapers of 1914, when the last
successful attempt was made to keep Henry
Clay out of the Presidency by repetitions of
this sander. The Kentucky Yeoman copied
the "card" into its issue of May 80, 1874,
under the caption Of "a Clay-coon Fasehood
Nailed to the Counter"
In this card Gen. Jackson declares that his
"opinion" that Clay and Adams were guilty
of the corrupt bargain which he had charged
upon them] had undergone no change"-
Thus he virtually repeated the charge before
the public, and re.asserted his belief that it
was true; and this he did in 1874, when Hen.
ry Clay was candidate for the Presidency,
and when this charge was the chief reliance
of his enemies to effect his defeat.
The next statement of General Jackson's
which we present, impeaches Mr.. Buchanan's
character for truth, by charging him with
lacking the moral courage to repeat before
the public the tale he had told in private
This statement has just been given to the
public by Hon. Allen A. Hall, editor of the
Nashville Banner, who copies it from letter
written by Gen. Jackson 10 n friend, Feb. %,
lS45-just two months and ten days before
his death, and while his last sickness was
upon him. The editor of the Banner copies
as follows from the letter lying before him:
"Your observations with regard to Mr.
Buchanan are correct. He sho,oed a rant Of
moral courage in the affairs of the intrigue of
Adams and Clay--did not do me justice in The
expose he then made, and am sure about that
time did believe there was n perfect under
standing between Adams and Clay about the
Presidency and the Secretary Of State. This
am sure of. But whether he viewed that
there was any corruption in the case or not,
know not, but one thing do kno,o, that he
wished me to combat Them nth their o,on ,oea-
pons-that 'cas, to lei my friends say if oas
elected would make Mr.. Clay Secretary of
State. This to me appeared gross corruption,
and repelled it with that honest Indignation
as (which | thought it deserved"
Here Gen. Jackson, SO far from recanting
the charge, or admitting that his own state.
ment of his interview with Mr.. Buchanan was
in anywise erroneous, says Buchanan "sho,oed
a want Of moral courage" and "did not do me
justice in The expose he then made" and he
expressly reafiirms what Mr.. Buchanan had
expressly denied-viz: that Buchanan advised
him to "combat them the friends of Mr..
Adams] with their own weapons--that was
to let my friends say that if was elected /
would make Mr.. Clay Secretary of State"
From this II is evident that Gen. Jackson
always stood by his own statement of Mr..
Buchanan's communication to him ns the true
one-thnt he always believed what Buchanan
then told him was true-that he always be-
lieved it was nothing but "a want of moral
courage" that is fear of Mr. Clay and his
friends, which induced Buchanan to equivo-
cate, and fail to repeat before the public what
he had told him in private-and that, poison.
ed in mind and judgment by Buchanan's pri-
vate statement, he lived and died in the belief
that his great compatriot, Henry Clay, had
been guilty of base barter of honesty for
office.
And now having this re confirmation by
Gen. Jackson, on his death. bed, of his own
statement of what Mr.. Buchanan did commu-
ncate to him at that interview "early in Jan.
uary, 1895" let US re produce that statement,
in order that the render may have the whole
matter clearly before him at once. It is as
follows: MSa
aHe Buchanan said he had been informed,
By the friends Of Mr.. Clay, that The friends of
Mr.. Adams had made opertures 10 them, say.
ing, If Mr.. Clay and his friends pouid unHRe
in aid of the election of Mr. Adams, Mr.. Clav,
should be Secretary Of State. That the friends
of Mr.. Adams were urging, as reason TO
induce the friends of Mr.. Clay to accede to