Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1878-02-04
ADAMS, JACKSON AND CLAY.

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collections aud AnecdOteS,
Washington Post, January Path.
Secretary Thompson spoke of his
personal recollections of ''Three De-
ceased Statesmen--Adams, Jackson
and Clay" to large audience last
evening at Foundry church.
He proposed to speak to them
Of three dead statesmen, with
whom he had been personally ac,
quainted and whose public life he
witnessed. Tney were selected be-
cause they represented three dis
tinct types of character and each
Of whom were great in their par
ticular sphere. Whatever their
contemporaries in the heat and
bitterness of party conflict had
said about them, now that we
can view their character and deeds
through this unbiased medium of
history, their claim to the first
rank among American statesmen
will not be disputed. Adams, Jack
son and Clay, names which once
reused the fercest passions and
evoked the bitterest invectives from
minds inhamed by the rancor Of
political contests. There is a point
of difference, as well as resemblance,
with these three men, arising from
their dissimilar family and social
relations. Adams descended from
an old and wealthy family; in early
life came under the influence Of
education and the associations of a
well-regulated and law-abiding
community jackson and CLAW,
born in poverty, without early ad-
vantages, were compelled in a
wild unsettled community, where
the scenes shifted according to
the passing passion, to seek that
fortune which was not theirs by In
heritance. They were all men of
marked ability. Adams of a eau
tious, dellberative nature, with al
most the appearance of timidity.
But it was only in appearance
that he was combatative his oppo-
nents had good reason to know.
Outwardly cold, his passions were
violent, smoldering within like the
pent-up fires of a volcano. Jack
son and Clay were men made in the
same mould, men conscious that
they were born to rule, and men
who were inspired with such a
sublimity of patriotism that they
were ready to sacrifice their lives
upon the altar of their country. |
served with Adams in the house
during the Twenty-seventh and
Twenty-ninth congresses. l saw
him die at his desk like mediaval
knight with his armoron. One scene
in his life brings out fully the mans
character. 1t was In that celebrated
trial for treason in 1S42. Adams
was a firm supporter of the right
Of petition, and when he was
asked to present a petition looking
to the dissolution Of the Union, he
did so, because he held that all pc
TONERS had at least the right to be
heard. For this he was charged
with treason and arraigned for trial.
Against him were arrayed Marshall,
Gilmore and Wise, men of pre-emi-
nent and acknowledged ability as
orators and debaters. In the long
and exciting debate which followed,
Adams, with the mature ability of
a giant, laid his opponents in the
dust, and achieved the proudest
triumph Of his life.
The first time | saw jackson was
it the celebration of the battle of
New Orleans, at Nashville, Tenn.
He then impressed me, as saw
him on horseback, as one whom
nature had stamped as a nobleman.
He was a great man with a kind
heart, the truest of friends, un-
swerying in duty, If he committed
errors it was not from q disinclina-
tioB to do what was right. The
numbeF Of persons now living who
were personally acquainted with
Clay is growing less every year. and
his fame now rests with the histo-
rian. From a perusal Of his
speeches, it may be difficult to un-
dpgstanA the power which he WELD