New national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1870-1874, 1872-06-27
Hon. Cassius NJ. CIay's Advice To
the Negroes Of Kentucky.

HO.s. Cassius NJ. CIay's Advice to
the Negroes of Kentucky.
Mr. Andrew j. Chambers, Of Bloomfield,
Kentucky, has, with strange absurdity, APP
piled to this gentleman for light upon the
issues of the present political campaign, and
the letter, in another column, is the unhappy,
but Characteristic result. Perhaps there is
not another public man in the country who
could have been consulted to less advantage.
While we accord to Mr.. Clay all honor for
his old time heroic defense of free speech,
when menaced by the revolvers and bowie
knives of slave-drivers, we deny his fitness
to enlighten or advise colored men as to their
political duties in the present crisis. He is
a brave man, and that is something, but he
has always been more distinguished for phys
ical courrge than for political consistency.
He can hate and fight, and when he hates
and fights on the right side, he is, like any
other effective weapon, desirable posses
sion but in directing the political power of
the negroes of Kentucky, he is as useless as
an empty gun in battle, or a blind sailor on
dangerous coast. He tells the negroes of
Kentucky of his lifetime devotion to their
liberation and advancement; but he does
not tell them Of the ugly breaks in that life
time devotion. That he has served our cause
is undeniable, and that he has, from want of
Judgment or principle at times, sorely injured
our cause, is equally undeniable. His pres
ent effort to frighten the colored voters in
Kentucky into the support Of the candidate
Of the Democratic party for the Presidency
is consistent with other facts Of Mr.. Clay's
history.
We well remember his earlier utterances
quence, and how signally his subsequent
course blasted the expectations which his
utterances created. lSi4, like 1872, had its
temptation to apostasy, and Mr.. Clay fell
before it then as he has fallen now. 1t is a
part Of his character. This vigorous de-
nouncer of nepotism then had the prospect
of seeing kinsman of his in the Presidential
chair. Henry Clay was running for the
Presidency, and so was J. G. Birney. Both
were Kentuckians, but Birney was an Abo-
Zionist, and a repentant STAKEHOLDER, while
Henry Clay was defender of slavery,
proud and persistent STAKEHOLDER. Now, what
course did this s. lifelong devotee to the lib
Grafton of the blacks pursue" IN the issues
Of that memorable campaign? All the Alb
olitionists Of the period know that he went
with his slaveholding kinsman. After in
spring abolition confidence and acquiring
abolition fame, illustrating the old saw of the
COW and the pail Of milk, he employed both
to stab the cause Of " liberation and the adj
vancement of the blacks" by putting willy
defender Of slavery into the Presidential
chair. Mr.. Clay was defeated, and with that
defeat ended all hopes Of his ever gaining
the Presidency. After his defeat, no man
more bitterly assailed Henry Clay than did
his kinsman, Mr.. Cassius u. Clay. Is it too
much to intimate that this might have been
different had his kinsman got the Presidency
and given Cassius an Office of honor and
profit? In our own case he seems to think
a very small Office was able to turn our
brain.
After failing to elect his slaveholding kins-
man and failing 10 cousin himself into Office,
Cassius again mounted his "hobby" and
poured out vehement clOquence in favor Of
Abolition, and strange to say, again secured
certain measure ofanti-slayery attention and
confidence. But Cassius is queer man, and
a year or two Of this sort Of life was enough
for him. Precisely at the moment when anti
slavery men all over the country were be-
ginning to expect most from this ''life-long',
champion of liberation and advancement of
the blacks" he mounted his horse and scam
pered OFF TO the Mexican war--a war virtually
for the extension of slavery. Winning no
iaurels in this most I'm just and cruel war upon
neighboring Republic, Mr.. Clay came home
and was modestly silent for a while, as in
deed man Of much more brass might have
been after two such blunders. The country
soon forgot Cassius NJ. Clay as il soon for
gets ADLER and better men. Mr.. Clay is not
only queer man, but he is restless man. |
Having quilted politics and abandoned bis
"life-long' devotion to " Liberation and adj
vancement of the blacks" he went into the
banking business in Cincinnati. Here, as
elsewhere, Cassius was failure. His finan- |
cial ability was not any greater than his |
philanthrOpic constancy, and lie succeeded no |
better as a money lender than as a soldier.
But Mr.. Clay is not only queer man and n
restless man, but lac is an irrepressible man.
Despite Of his known weakness and untuust-
worthyness, he was again allowed. and we may
say encouraged, TO remount his old, badly used
Abolition "hobby," and knife in hand ride
his way through Kentucky. WeIl-seated, he
rode on till-till he reached an Office of honor
and profit, and made one Of that now much
oespised class known as soffice-holders. -
Once iirsniy and comfortably seated here,
alas! for the corrupting influence of Office he
seems TO have entirely forgotten his well /
ridden hobby" for he is again silent and