The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1880-03-10
ADAMS, JACKSON, CLAY.

ADAMS, JACKSON, CLAY.
Tho Secretary Of tho Navy's Interesting
"Reminiscences of these Eminent
| ,merlcAns.
Secretary of the Navy Thompson has
given q Brooklyn audience an exceed
ingly interesting narration of his per-
sonal recollections of John q. Adams
Andrew Jackson and. Henry Clay, with
brief references to Chief Justice Mar
shall, the Hon. Henry A. Wise. John C.
Calhoun, Daniel Webster and others
He regarded Mr.. Adams as one OF the
greatest men, if not the ablest statesman
the United States has ever produced
He said that while Adams appeared tc
be cold and unsympathetic in bis ma
ture, and exhibited no warmth of feeling
in his intercourse with Others, his pas
sions were really violent. and, at times
seemingly beyond his control. They
slept within him like the smoldering
lava within the deuths of volcano
and when they burst forth they were
terrific in their effect. jackson and
Clay had the same kind of courage, they
were formed in the same mold. Each
felt that he was born to command, as in
| fact they were. Neither of them, when
aroused, calculated the consequences OF
took any heed of danger. Dir. Thomp'
son stated that he served with Mr.
Adams in the House Of REPRESENTATIVE
during the T Twenty-seventh and Twenty.
ninth Congresses, and until Mr.. Adams
death. He was looking at him when be
fell at his desk. He died like media.
val knight with all his armor on, and at
his post of duty. He was ready at the
last moment to break lance with any
adversary, come from wha tever quarter
| he might. The speaker said he wit
messed one of the most remarkable
events of Mr.. Adams's life, and that was
his trial in the House Of Representa-
tives for introducing q petition from
some of the citizens of Massachusetts to
dissolve the Union. Very few event;
had impressed him as did that. Con.
gress sought to censure him by resolu-
| ton for what Bfr. Adams conceived to
be, and the speaker said, what in point
of fact was the plain performance of his
duty. This petition was introduced by
him January 4, 1912, and it was accom-
panied by a motion that the committee
be instructed to report against. the
prayer of the petitioners. He deter
mined to maintain inviolate the consti-
tutional right of petition. He had but
a few days before exhibited his earnest
ness and his honesty By presenting a pc
tition from Georgia asking for his own
removal from the craftsmanship Of the
committee on foreign relations, because,
as the petition recited, he was mono
! maniac on the subject of slavery. Henry
A Wise, Tom Marshall and Gilmer, of
Virginia, were selected to lead IN attack
upon Mr.. Adams. This remarkable
contest lasted for eleven days, and
though Adams adversaries were in the
full vigor and flush of manhood, and
Adams was trembling with age and
weak with the labors OF an industrious
life, the result was the triumphant vic
| tory of Adams and the Overwhelming
defeat of his assailants. The speaker
happened to know, he said, before this
memorable contest occurred, that Mar
shall considered himself more than a
match for Adams, for the brilliant Ken
tuckian was not without egotisnl. TO
knowingly invoke controversy with
Adams was almost as unwise as for one
to enter cage with wild animals. Be-
sides himself there was but one other
member of Congress, Mr.. Thompson
said. who witnessed that memorable
debate who now survived
The first time the speaker ever saw
Andrew Jackson was at Nashville,
Tenn, on January 8, 1897. He had been
defeated for the presidency three years
before. in the contest with Adams, Clay
and Crawford, and at that time was
again a candidate. The occasion was
the celebration of his memorable vic
tory at New Orleans by which he had
fairly earned the title of the hero of the
age. His appearance on horseback, as
he rode from the Hermitage into the
town, impressed the beholder as man
on whom the Almighty had fixed the
stamp of greatness. The next time the
speaker had seen him was on the occa-
sion Of his Inauguration at Washington,
March 4, 1929, in which city the speaker
and his father had arrived from their
Western homes on horseback. Mr..
Thompson had been introduced to the
President on that occasion by his father.
who remarked to Jackson that the
young man was even at that time falling
away from the principles OF Democracy
| which he (the elder Thompson) had
always maintained. Instead of receiving
lecture from Jackson, as he greatly
feared, the President placed his hand
upon the speakers head, and said !:
my son, think always for yourself,
and let your conscience be your invari-
able guide" It had been claimed that
Jackson did not write his inaugural
address. Mr.. Thompson stated that he
was in the possession of letters which
were of a private and personal character,
and could not, therefore, be published
with propriety, which proved beyond a
doubt that jackson wrote this state
paper at the Hermitage before he left
home without the assistance OF any one
and without consultation with any one.
Clay's oratory Mr.. Thompson thought
unequaled. He was not classically edu-
Gated, having in his early years, unlike
Adams, been compelled to devote his
energies to the obtaining of livelihood.
He never studied oratory. His elo-
quence consisted in til. utterance Of such
thoughts and sentiments as it was
necessary to utter without striving for
effect. His eloquence was like the blaze
of internal fires breaking forth Mr..
Thompson witnessed Clay's farewell to
his colleagues of the Senate in le42, after a
continuous public service of forty years.
The scene was dramatic and effective,
and it reached its climax when CAL
houn, between whom and Mr.. Clay no
private intercourse had existed for some
years walked across the Senate cham
Der and grasped Mr.. Clay by the hand,
and without words bade his ancient ad.
versary mute adieu. Now, when
the silver cord is loosened and the
golden bond is broken,'' when he was
alike insensible to either praise or cen
sure, those who saw and realized the
power Of this great man should not be
denied the privilege of expressing their
admiration tor him in life, and theil
veneration for his memory now when ht
was dead.
How Big Is Man,
| How big lS a man. anVwayp Well