The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1880-03-26
Adams, jackson, Clay.

Adams, jackson, Clay.
Q THE SECRETARY OF THE NAvY's INTEREsTIN
| | "REMINISCENCES OF THESE EMINENT AMEl
= ICANs.
Secretary of the Navy Thompson hs
, givena Brooklyn audience an exceedingl
, interesting narration of his personal rt
!, collections of John @. Adams, Andre,
Jackson, and Henry Clay, with brief re-
erences to Chief Justice Marshall, tn
Hon. Henry A. Wise, John c. Cal
houn, Daniel Webster and others. H
regarded Mr.. Adams as one of tn
greatest men, if not the ablest statesman
the United States has ever produced. I'll
said that while Adams appeared to b'
cold and unsympathetic in his nature
and exhibited no warmth of feeling il
his intercourse with others, his passions
were really violent, and at times, seem
ingly beyond his control They slep
within him like the smouldering lava
within the depths of a volcano and whei
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, calculat
ed the consequences or took any heed OF
danger. Mr.. Thompson stated that he
served with Mr.. Adams in the House OF
| Representatives during the Twenty
| seventh and Twenty-ninth Congresses,
and until Mr. Adams death. He was
| looking at him when he fell at his desk.
He died like medieval 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
whatever quarter he might. The speaker
said he witnessed one of the most remark
able events of Mr.. Adams's lite, and that
was his trial in the House of Representa-
tives for Introducing petition from some
of the citizens of Massachusetts to dis
solve the Union Very few events had
impressed him as did that. Congress
sought to censure him by resolution for
what Mr.. 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 accompanied
by Il motion that the committee be in
structed to report against the prayer of
the petitioners He determined to MAIN
tain inviolate the constitutional right of
petition. He had but few days before
exhibited his earnestness and his hon
esty by presenting petition from Georgia
asking for his own removal from the
craftsmanship of the committee on for
eign relations, because, as the petition re-
cited, he was monomaniac on the SUBJ
ject of slavery. Henry A. Wise Tom
Marshall and Gilmer, of Virginia, were
selected to lead an attack upon Mr..
Adams. This remarkable contest lasted
for eleven days, and though Adams aa-
versaries 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 tri-
umphant victory Of Adams and the over
whelming defeat of his assailants The
speaker happened to know, he said, be-
fore this memorable contest occurred,
that Marshall considered himself more
than match for Adams, for the brilliant
Kentuckian was not without egotism. To
invoke controversy with
Adams was almost as unwlse as for one
to enter a cage with wild animals. Be-
sides himself there was but one other
membero 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 s, 1927. He had been defeat
ed for the presidency three years before,
in the contest with Adams, Clay and
and at that time was again
candidate. The occasion was the cele-
bration of his memorable victory 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 a man on whom the
Almighty had fixed the stamp of great
ness. The next time the speaker had
seen him was on the occasion of his in
ut Washington, March 4, 1929.
in which city the speaker and his father
had arrived from their Western homes
on horseback. Mr.. Thompson had been
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 Thomp-
SOM had always maintained. Instead of
receiving Il cture 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 invariable
guide" 1t had been claimed that jack
son did not write his inaugural address.
MIR. Thompson stated that he was in the
possession of letters which were of pri-
vate and personal character, and could
not therefore be published with propriety,
which proved beyond 4 doubt that Jack |
son wrote this state paper at the Hermi- |
tage before he left home without the |
assistance of any one and without consul |
tation with any one.
Clay's oratory Mr.. Thompson thought |
He was not classically edu- |
Gated, having in his early years. unlike !
Adams been compelled to devote his |
energies TO the obtaining of a livelihood. |
He never studied oratory. His eloquence |
in 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 wit |
messed Clay's farewell to his colleagues of
the Senate in 1912, after a continuous |
public service of forty years. The scene
was dramatic and effective, and it reached |
its climax when Calhoun, between whom
and Mr.. Clay no private intercourse had |
existed for some years-walked across
he Senate chamber and grasped Mr.. Clay
by the hand, and without words bade his |
ancient adversary a 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
,dmiraiion for him in life, and their
for his memory now when he
was dead.
Boston Commerciai BHitsfia Ex-Nar-
'hal Bazaine Is breetiing American hogs
in Europe. A great many American
log- that 20 10 Europe have no breed
ing.
The man who will wait two hours for
biz turn in the BARRIERS chair. will get
mad aBd thrash and scold II a shirt bat
-