The spirit of democracy. [volume], July 26, 1844, Image 1

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' PRINCIPLES AND MEASURES) AND MEN THAT WILL CARHY.TIIOBE PRINCIPLES AND MEASURES INTO EFTECT.
VOLUME I. NUMBER 22.
'BY JA.MES R. MORRIS.
iWOODSFIELD, OHIO, FRIDAY, JULY 26, i 844.
- V 111 - v . i , r iiy -jr -r w t
I'-.V
.
rf2? SPIRIT OF DEMOCRAC Y
,11 PUBLISHED EVERT FRIDAY MORNING, ,
BY J. It. MORRIS. , V
- i'
TERMS : $1,60 per annum in advance', $2,00
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ftfj- No paper will be discontinued, except at the
option of the editor, until all arrears are paid.""
49- AU communications sent by mail must be
post-paid. . ; ... i ..
Advertisements inserted at the usual rates.
" ' " POETKY. '
v.SONGSFOR THE PEOPLE.
, ' BY "PER se" or THE OHIO STATESMAN.
THE DEMOCRACY ti: THE COONS.
, , , Mr-"Auld Lang Syne." ' '
1 Should good old doctrines be forgot
''" ' In this auspicious day, ,:
' When scores of honest men and true,
' ' " Are risingfrom the Clay, "
.Jj'"' Are risingfrom the Clay, my boys, '
Not having found relief,
In these two dollars for a day,
' Plum puddingand roast beef.
The Government is deep in debt,
And the people feel it sore, ,
; And shall we count in the amount,
. . . Two hundred millions more? . , ...
Two hundred millions more, my boys,
f By the figures and the dates,
In a new and general Bankrupt Law .. . . .
: ... For the speculating States? .
Our currency is coming straight.
For the bubble it has burst,
Blown by the Bank before it fell, "
': Corrupted and accurs'd,
, Corrupted and accurs'd, my boys,
How then shall we sustain,
; The man who tries e'er.Jackson dies,
To give it life again?
The Treasury can barely meet
The debts upon its bands, .
' And yet the coons would take away ... -
' ; The proceeds of the lands
. The proceeds of the lands, my boys,
': '' And squander them away, '
With another tax upon your backs,
The full amount to pay.
, We have a right to Oregon,
.. And ftiendsare there who pray
Their country's laws to shield them from
The troop of Hudson's Bay, ..' .
, "The troop of Hudson's Bay, my boys,
... ; Who've carried off the spoil
;, Ofskinsandluraformanyaday, , .
-., And now they claim the soil.
: And Texas, too, we'll take her in, !
" "'" When all hands shall agree,
"Andshehasmether bonded debt, '
: And half her land, is free,
' And half her land is free, my boys.
So (hat the South shall fail ,
' To change die checks and balances
' That he in either scale.
Hurrah! then for democracy,
- '- Which claims for great and small,
The Constitutional deserts, . ,
i The "Equal Rights" of all,
, ( The ''Equal Bights" of all, my boys,
i Upon your country's sod; jt.
j. These are our principles, and this . r ,
. , The creed of Polk and Tod.
! Waihington, July 1, 1844. , -.
A LIFE ON THE OCEAN WAVE.
:: ;i A life on the ocean wave!
i A home in the rolling deep I , . ..,
Where the scattered waters rave, , ;
:' And the winds their revels keep.
Like an eagle caged, I pine,
' On this dull unchanging shore.
Oh, give me the flashing brine, t, . ;
The spray, and the tempest's roar.. :
Once more on the deck I stand, , '
Of my own swift gliding craft:
Set sail, farewell to the land,
The gale follows far abaft.
' We shoot through the sparkling foam, ,
') Like an ocean bird set free;
,- JLike the ocean bird, our home . ( ,
We 'U find far out in the sea. . ' ...
'' The land 's no longer in view,'' '-
;'' ' ' The clouds have begun to frown,.
' ; ' But with a stoui vessel and crew, )
We ll say, let the storm come down! :'
1 And the song oi our hearts shall be, . ;
.V While the wind and waters rave, - 1
' A life on the heaving sea,''- " -
r . ') ... Ahome on the bounding wave. v . .
;ig . 1 11 ':'.
GIRLS, GET UP EARLY 1 Up with you!
up! What if you are sleepy t Jump out of bed!
' Jy rouod-ritir about, and in a few moments you
will be bright a larks. We wouldn't g ive a straw
for girls who won't get up in the morning., What
are they good for? Lazy, dumpish creature they
are unfit for wives or companions. Our advice
to young men who are looking out for wives would
be never select a female who dotes away the
precious morning hours, She may be a help-eat,
' put will never prove a help-mate. , ., : .4
' MORALITY AND RELIGION. The rules
' and doctrines of pure religion and morality tend to
correct all the malignant "qualities of the heart;
f U nn: malice. Bride, and resentment In
doing this, they cut off the very source of disagree
.able behaviour .4 i-; '
l'-"A strong laboring man, engaged in hard work,
- -will require food oftener and in larger quantities
" thanan Indolent or sedeotary man. ' ; ,v ( T
. ..NATION ALT ANNIVERSARY. :
WooDSriELD, July 4, 1844.
Mr. A. Rom f' : .'
The undersigned are authorised to request a
copy of your speech delivered to-day, for publica
tion. ' : , JAMES MITCHELL, ;' ;
ISA AH RM1TH.
' J. PATTERSON MASON,
1 ,' ' Committee.
: Woodsvield, Joly 4, 1844.
Gcnllcmmi . ; ' t . .-'
. In compliance with your request, I submit to
ybur disposal the short and very imperfect address
delivered to-day, hoping that its imperfections will
be excused upon the ground of its being written
in the utmost haste. Yours respectfully,
. r-. . A.-BOSS. '
Messrs. J, P. Mason, Isaac Smith, James Mitch
ell, committee :
. ORATION.
The anniversary of freedom's birth-day has
again returned, and we, the participants of human
liberty, according to our custom, are assembled to
celebrate with cheerful, and, I trust, grateful hearts,
that memorable day upon which the most momen
tous transaction occurred which bas ever been
recorded in the political history of our race. It
has been the custom of nations, time immemorial,
to celebrate in public festivities some remarkable
event in ihuir hUtory, but it has fallen to the lot of
very few to commemorate a day upon which the
achievmeut of civil and religious liberty had been
effected. It has, however, fallen to our fortune to
be among the favored few, whose anniversary calls
forth the songs and congratulations of freemen.
In contemplating the inestimable blessings arising
from the enjoyment oi freedom, the mind involun
tarily recurs to a consideration of the disadvantages
resulting from it state of subjection and thence
institutes a contiast between the antagonistical
conditions of bondage and independence.
In order even to ascertain the presence of any
particular quality, we must have some conception
of its opposite : so in relation to our properly ap
preciating the advantages and immunities of per
sonal and national freedom, we must know some
thing in reference to personal and national oppres
sion. . The indomitable man of the forest is never
heard chanting the songs oi liberty, the reason oi
which is obvious, he and his ancestors have been
permitled to roam unchecked and unrestrained,
and have enjoyed all the privileges which their
ingenuity could devise, and hence he appreciates
not the blessings of his condition, but revels in
their luxury and feasts on their enjoyment. It
would have obviated many calamities in the histo
ry of the human family, had mankind been endow
ed with the faculty of discriminating between op
posite conditions without the aid of experience;
but such an endowment would have been inconsis
tent ,with the nature and abilities of finite beings,
and would exalted man higher in the scale of being
than it was designed by his Creator he should be
placed. But the sad reflection is (hat mankind are
unwilling to learn even from experience to place
a proper estimate upon their most salutary inter
ests. From which lamentable circumstance arises
the melancholy fact that governments have been
continually changing from monarchy into a state
of partial freedom, and from this again to despo
tism -
Nations which have just shaken off the oppres
sive yoke generally produce warm and enthusiastic
advocates for human rights. The smart of the
tyrant's rod, then keen and piercing, begins to be
removed by (lie exhillerating and cheering con
sideration that the stripes will not be renewed.
The recollection of recent oppression adds stimu.
lus to enthusiasm and arouses into decisive action
the latent powers of body and mind. But soon
ambitious motives usurp the recollection of former
oppressive injuries, and then the retrograde for
monarchy commences. The jewel lately burnish
ed shines with supereminent splendor, fascinating
with its peculiar lustre the ardent admirers of beau
ty. So governments recently emancipated from
the galling chain, appearing beautiful and harmo
nious in their simplicity, afford to the mind of the
philanthropist a pleasing prospect To trace the
footsteps of liberty from its first introduction to the
present through all its meandering course, would
prolong the present remarks beyond an ordinary
length. This,- however, should not escape our
notice, that its existence in any one place has been
but transitory; as the morning dew, although re.
freshing, evaporates and vanishes before the rays
of the approaching sun, so the salutary influences
of freedom are blighted by the avaricious votaries
of ambition. Greece was opce an asylum for the
oppressed, in which the goddess of liberty deigned
to take up her residence but ber stay was of short
duration. The decorations of her temple were
converted into fortifications for the protection of
her adversaries. The aspiring demagogue hesita
ted not to desecrate her altars in sacrificing to the
satiation of an inordinate thirst for personal aggran.
dizement.' The freedom of which it was her priv.
Ilee to boast extended to the aspirant the means
of effecting her total destruction. :
': Rome, also, may be mentioned as the temporary
retainer of the salutary visitor; but she, like many
other! could afford but a transitory residence to the
magnificent treasure of prosperity and happiness.
. i At length, when not only Greece and Rome, but
the whole eastern continent bad become submerg.
ed in the depths of , tyranny and . oppression,, and
freedom could not even secure a place where to
erect a monument to her memory, bidding, a final
adieu to the eastern world, she settled upon a resi
dence amid the wilds of the western continent.
Disgusted at the gorgeous robes of imperial dignity
and mocked by the glittering pearls of diadems,
she fled Into the land upon which the iron grasp
of bondage had not been irretrievably fastened,
Although the seeds of despotism had been sown,
and were commencing to luxuriate, anterior, to
herfarrival, yet the affability of her address secured
her at least a Welcome in the hearts of America's
sons, . But, strange as it may appear, tyranny, not
content with an eastern empire, pursuing her with
desperate, enmity, sought to. exterminate the last
traces of her name and existence, : And here the
mighty conflict is renewed oppression seeking to
obtain universal dominion over the minds and con
sciences of men, and freedom contending for the
inaleuable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness.' The claims of each were rigidly urged,
both claiming superiority, one upon the grounds
of prescription, the other from natural rights. The
votaries of each manifest a willingness to establish
the rightful dominion of their sovereigns. They
whose ensigns bore the colors of oppression came
to the contest clothed in the armour of death,
threatening immediate destruction upon all op
posing their progress. But the menaces of their
folly only served to enkindle the aspirations of
their antagonists after what they conceived to be
their natural and inherent right - As the banner
of oppression moved on to the contest, they of the
opposite ranks saw more clearly the glory and dig
nity of their cause. The hideous deformity of
their oppressive foe fell more forcibly upon their
astonished sight the injustice which had been so
inhumanly exercised assumed the form and appear
ance of reality the visionary fancies of prescrip
tive rights to exercise any but delegated authority
entirely vanished, in consequence of which the
advocates of equal rights inscribed upon their
banner the illustrious motto, ' Liberty or Death."
The contest ripens into action soon the clangor
of arms is heard amid conflicting parties, vollies
of musketry and peals of cannon commingled with
the solemn din of music conspire to render the
scene terriuc in the extreme, t nends, Ameri
cans, contemplate the field of battle in which
your liberties are at stake, contemplate the glori
ous boop of freedom placed in the midst of bellige
rent adversaries, one party of which is striving to
consign the invaluable treasure to the shades of
oblivion, the other to hand it downas an imperish
able legacy to generations yet uuborn. The con
flict is desperate. The legions of oppression, led
on to action by the hitherto victorious chieftain,
and stimulated in the midst of arms by the consid
eration that present victory would completely
obliterate the last lingering hope of liberty, rush
to the contest with maddened fury. But the
opposingranks stand firm as adamant, unawed by
superiority of numbers and undaunted by the cour
age and intrepidity of their assailants. The in
scription of their banner is the watchword of each
valliant friend of freedom. At length the despera
tion of their enemies invigorates their courage.
They see the lion of their adversaries abating in
his phrensied rage, whilst the eagle of liberty bears
majestically aloft the stars and stripes of freedom.
Soon the cheering tones of victory begin to rever
berate from ear to ear. The clangor of arms ceas
es when the discomfitted ranks of tyranny break
and vanish before the patriotic band,
The scenet-wWiout
was worthy the admiration of angels; the adver
saries ot human rights fleeing before the friends
of liberty and happiness.
The struggle for freedom is over the indepen
dence of our nation is achieved, which glorious
achievmeut we are assembled this day to commem
orate. The standards of liberty are quickly borne
throughout the length and breadth of our extensive
land. The benign Influences of freedom's reign
soon begin to spread from center to circumference,
The hardy and enterprizing pioneer, enfranchised
from oppressive lords, assails the forest with the
buoyant hopes of realizing the sweets of domes
tic happiness in the enjoyment of equal rights.
Agriculture and commerce, the handmaids of free
dom, combining their salutary influences, enrich
the coffers and satisfy the wants of the industrious
yeomanry. The spirit of enterprise actuates every
bosom against which the trackless wilderness pre.
sents but a temporary impediment The forest
bows at the approach of the husbandman villages,
towns, and cities rise in majestic splendor on the
soil where lately flourished the majestic oak, wav
ing its branches over the hovels of the untutored
savage. The pine and the poplar are converted by
the skillful mechanic into household furniture, for
the comfort and convenience of those happy in
the enjoyment of their natural rights.
Such was the spirit which the first dawnings of
liberty actuated, such the enthusiasm inspired
when independence first obtained the ascendency
But the advantages were not exclusively civil
The consciences of men had been constrained to
yield submission to the dictates of popes, kings and
emperors, and were not free to the enjoyment of
the inestimable blessing of performing those sacred
devotions, so essential to our earthly fruition and
heavenly hopes. But in the land of independence
all constraint instantly vanishes, and the Christian
is allowed the uninterupted enjoyment cf not only
civil but religious liberty as a direct consequence
of which, churches were erected, seminaries found
ed, colleges instituted aud schools established for
the advancement of scientific and religious ins true
lion. . And here permit me to remark that to these
we must look for the perpetuation and support of
our free institutions.
; Among the multiplicity of subjects which con.
cent either nations or individuals, there are none
of importance so transcendantas that of a judicious
moral training. The intellectual man may be cul.
tivated until his knowledge is coextensive with
the almost unbounded range of physical and intel
lectuai sciences. With the powers of a Newton,
who wreste d from the arcanum of nature, a know.
ledge of that mysterious principle which pervades
the entirety of matter, and equipoises suns and
systems pended in the vacuum of immensity, he
may in the imasitation be able to contemplate the
beauty, order and harmony .of creation's vast' do.
mains. With the penetrative erudition of a Locke,
who traveled to the very fountain of thought, and
thence deduced, with almost definite precision, the
abstruse principles which regulate the operation
of mind upon matter, he may comprehend and
define the -recondite powers otV our immaterial
nature. With the philosophic skill of a Franklin,
who taught the raging elements to be obedient to
his mandates, he may confine and analize the imj
ponderable agents of nature. Yet if he be desti
tute of moral principle, and recognize no moral
obligations, hi career' will be like a ship tossed
upon the boisterous deep, hurried before the rag.
ing storm, unassisted by helm or ballast.
Would we be a free and independent people,
we must be moral as well as learned. The grand
conservative principle upon which the preservation
and perpetuity of national independenceare based,
consists in a rigid adherence to the principles of
morality. As well might we expect the vegetation
of plants without the genial influence of a summer's
sun, as to hope for the prosperity of a nation or
individual rejecting the moral sauative. The
father of our country, who led her armies to glo
rious victory, in his farewell address makes the
forcible interrogative, "Can it be that Providence
has not connected the permanent felicity of a
nation with its virtne ?" The history of the world
affords us ample evidence that despotism and mise
ry are the direct consequences of corrupted morals.
The fate of nations, like that of individuals, de
pends upon the rectitude of their course.
May it then be the pride of American freemen
to contribute honor to the escutcheon of their
country's glory by cherishing Uiose principles
which are essential to her preservation. May
every moral enterprise be hailed as ominous of
peace and safely, and nurtured with fostering hand
of care as the efficient means of our happiness!
and at the same time lot the factious spirit of the
aspiring demagogue be quelled by the superiority
of pure and benign motives. Nothing can be
more repugnant to general prosperity than the
immoral and unwairanted motives which aim alone
at personal aggrandizement, which should receive
the disapprobation of every individual, who would
delight to behold the flag of liberty gently wafted
over the land of every nation, tongue and people.
HENRY CLAY AGAINST THE FRONTIER
SETTLERS.
When.Henry Clay in early life, was a member of
the Kentucky legislature, the new settlers in the
southern part of the State, asked indulgence in the
payments for lands which they had purchased of
the State and then occupied. Mr Clay opposed
the indulgence with such bitterness that he excited
against him the uncompromising hostility of the
people in that region. So high did the feeling
rise, that when Gen. Green Clay, some time af
terwards, travelled through the Green River coun
try, as it was called, electioneering for the office
of Governor, he found it expedient to disavow all
relationship with Henry Clay.
This hostility to the frontier settlers bas been
frequently and decisively manifested by Mr. Clay
both in votes and speeches while he was a mem
ber of Congress. We shall give a few of the proofs
which, if necessary, could be multiplied almost
number.
At the commencement of the session of Con
gress in December 1837, Mr. Van Burcn recom
mended the passage of a preemption law to enable
the Settlers on the Public Lands to secure their
homes by paying the minimum price for the land
and also a law reducing and graduating the price,
so that emigrants might purchase the second and
third rate land at less than $1,25 per acre.
A Bill "To grant pre-emption rights to settlers
on the public lands," was accordingly introduced
of which the following was the leading provisions :
viz.
" Be it enacted by the Senate and Houie of Rep-
rescntathes of the United States of America in
Congress assembled, That every actual settler" on
the public lands, being the head of a family, or over
twenty-one years of age, who was in possession,
and a house-keeper by personal residence thereon,
on or before the first day of December, eighteen
hundred and thirty-seven, shall be entitled to all
the benefits and privileges of an act entitled "An
act to grant pre-emption rights to settlers on the
public lands," approved May twenty-ninth, eigh
teen hundred and thirty; and the said act is hereby
revived and continued in force two years:"
While this Bill was under consideration on the
27th January 1838, Mr. Merrick a Whig benator
from Maryland, proposed the following amend
ment: viz.
"Provided, that the righLol pre-emption grant
ed by this act, or the act hereby revived, shall not
accrue to any other persons than those who were,
on the 1st day of December, 1837, citizens of the
United States; and such citizenship shall in all
cases be established by legal and competent testi
mony, to the satisfaction of the Register and Re
ceiver of the Land District in which the lands may
be, prior to any entry thereof, by virtue of the
provisions of this act."
The amendment was rejected, Yeas 15 Nays
28. Among the Yeas stands the name of HEN
RY CLAY. See Senate Journal 18378 page
181.
On the same page the following record appears :
viz. .;
. "On motion of MR. CLAY OF KENTUC
KY, to amend the Bill by adding thereto the fol
lowing section : viz.
"Seo. 2. And be it further enacted, That all
settlements on the public lands subsequent to ths
first day of December 1837, shall be, and the same
are strictly prohibited; and the President snail oe
and hereby Unauthorized and REQUIRED to
cause all persons who may settle on the public
lands subsequent to the day aforesaid to be re.
moved therefrom." ' ' ,
This amendment was also rejected 21 to 23,
HENRY CLAY of course voting in the affirma
tive."' ." ' " : ' -
Page 183, Mr. Prentiss moved the following
amendment: viz. .'
- "Nor shall any person have any right, or be en
titled to a patent, under or by virtue of this act,
without navinir, in addition to the statute mini
mum price, at least one half of the real value of
the land above that price, not inclurting improve
ments, to be ascertained by three judicious and
disinterested appraisers, under oath, to he appoint.
ed by the Register of the land office in the District
where the land is situate." - : .
.' Rejecled.lYeas 10, Nays 27;thenameJof HEN.
RY CLAY being at thehead ol the Yeas.
Page 191, the Bill passed the Senate, Yeas 80,
Nays 18, the name of HENRY CLAY being
among the Nays.
The Bill passed both Houses was approved by
MR. VAN BUREN and became a law.
Thus, Henry Clay voted to exclude all men
born out of the United States from a privilege pro
posed to be extended to the native born.
He voted in favor of requiring the Settlers to
pay more than the minimum government price for
the land improved by them.
Not satisfied to authorize Mr. Van Buren, then
President, he offered an amendment to require
him, to remove all settlers who might have located
tliemsilves on the public lands prior to 1st Decern'
eerl837.
Finally, he voted against the passage of the Bill,
thus denying pre-emption rights altogether, to na
tives as well as foreigners.
A Bill reducing the price of such public lands'
as had been long in the market also passed the
Senate at that session, HENRY CLAY voting
against it.
At the Session of 1839 40, a Bill providing for
a graduation and reduction of price was again in
troduced, as also a bill to continue pre-emption
rights. - " .
Page 316 of the Journal of that Session, Mr.
JVbrvell moved an amendment to extend theAct of
1838 "tothe22dday of June 1842" which was
adopted, Yeas 25, Nays 11. Among the Nays
was HENRY CLAY.
At the third leading of the Bill, page, 329, the
following proceedings stand recorded : viz.
On motion of Mb. CLAY OF KENTUCKY
to commit the Bill with instructions:
1st. To restrict the right of pre-emption to citi
zens of the United States, native or naturalized :
2d. To strike out the section, recognizing the
principle that the public lands, prior to the grant
of pre-emption, or any other grant, can be the sub
ject of creating the relation of lessor and lessee.
"3d. To strike out rhe section,, reviving the
right to floats." ' ' '
It was rejected by Yeas 8, Nays 25, HENRY
CLAY being of course one of the Yeas.
The Bill was then passed, Yeas 26, Nays 9,
HENRY CLAY being one of the JVoy.
Page 334, HENRY CLAY voted in a minority
of 11, against a Bill providing for the reduction
and graduation of the price of public lands,
At the Session of 1840-41, a bill was introduced
into the Senate "to establish a permanent, pros
pective pre-emption system in favor of settlers on
the public lands who shall inhabit and cultivate the
same and raise a log cabin thereon."
Page 78, of the Senate Journal of that Session,
it is thus recorded: viz. -
"On motion of Mr. Mangum to amend the Bill
by inserting, section 1 , line 4, after the word "man,"
the words being a citizen of the United States."
It was rejected, Yeas 12, Nays 30.
Yeas, "Messrs. CLAY of Kentucky, Clayton
Crittenden, Dixon, Graham, Huntington, Knight,
Mangum, Merrick, Prentiss, Preston, Ruggles,
every man a whig.
Many other amendments tending to render the
Bill less favorable to settlers were proposed, for all
of which Henry Clay voted.
Page 156, the Bill was passed by a vote of Yeas
31 to Nays 19.
Nats, "Messrs. Bayard, Calhoun, CLAY,
OF KENTUCKY, Clayton, Crittenden, Dixon,
Graham, Huntington, Kerr, Knight, Mangum,
Merrick, Phelps, Prentiss, Preston, Rives, Roane
Ruggles, Southard," all Whigs but two
These extracts show what Henry Clay DID.
Let us now see what he SAID.
We heve before us copies of three letters writ
ten by Henry Clay, explaining his course upon
the pre-emption laws, and denying the harsh ex
pressions in reference to the settlers, which had
been imputed to him.
The first is dated 1st June, 1839, and is addres-
edto Alston B. Estes, of Tennessee. In this let
tor he says : -"The
extracts from the Globe are entire pervcr
sions of whatpossed in the Senate on the occasions
to which it refers perversions which are habitual
with that print whenever I am concerned.
"I never used the expressions against pre-emp-tioners,
which were attributed to me, although I
was opposed to the passage oi pre-emption laws.
At the last session of the Senate, an explanation
was made of what I really did say at the previous
session; on which occasion a Senator from Illinois
acknowledged that he had inferred the exception
able expressions from the tenor of my speech, and
that had not used them. What passed was cor
rectly published in the National Intelligencer, but
I regret that I have not a copy of it by me to trans
mit to you.
In this letter there is not a word excusing him.
self for his votes or pretending that he was in favor
of pre-emption rights in any shape.
His second letter was dated 27th September 1842
addressed to some persons in Arkansas. In this
Letter he says:
"My speeches on the pre-emption system were
never regularly reported. They were delivered
from time to time, in a sort of running debate, and
I was shockingly caricatured in the Globe. When
it was stated I think by Mr. Young of Indiana, in
the Senate, that I had applied degrading epithets to
the Pre-emptioners, I denied it positively, and my
correction was published in the Intelligencer, but
I regret that I have no copy by me.
"I was opposed to the pre-emption by itself.
thought it unequal to the public; was an irregular
mode ol acquiring the public lands, and led to dis
putes and controversies among the settlers. When
public land was taken possession of, without the
authority of law, I considered it a trespass, and
characterised it as such. So did Mr. van jsuren,
who used that identical word in one of his mes
sages (in 1837 or 8) to Congress,
"On a general settlement of the land question, 1
was willing to allow pre-emptions properly guardv
d. Aocordinelv. you will find tn the bona
Journal, 1840 and '41, pages 135 and 59, 1 yoti
for a resolution of Mr. Crittenden, 10 snow F.c.
emptions to the poor settler, to the exclusion of the .
rich and the speculator.
"I voted at the Extra session of 1841, wf me
Distribution Bill, in which a provision is incorpo
rated for pre-emptions."
The third Letter was dated 25tn September, ibm
and addressed to Mr. J. H. Clay JMwM ol lows.
It is of similar tenor with his letter to Arkansas.
There are sundry points on which these Litere
are worthy of considerations
1. Mr. Clay says, "on a general setuemenioiH
land question, I was willing to allow pre-emptioof
properly guarded," and he alludes to bis votes to
connect pre-emptions with distribution in 1840 and
1841. But it was in January, 1838, two or three
years before these votes, that he voted against the
pre-emption law, denounceo me - -
jnably corrupt and the Settlers on the public lands
a lawless rabble and plunderers ot the puwic
property. Moreover, ne naa ucii ... -
hrouriit before the Senate no less than five BUU to
distribute the proceeds of the public lands among
the States, in not one of which was there any pro
vision to grant pre-emption rights.
It was not until after 1838, therefore, that Mr.,
Clay was willing to grant pre-emption rights en
any terms.
2. Mr. Clay denies using me exprewoiw ,u
lntion to Dre-emotioners which be says, had been
grossly misrepresented by the reports in the Globe.
He admits, however, that he was reponeu cwrevir
lv in the National Intelligencer.
Well, passing over the report oi we un,.
.. . r .i t . ii ; wIiafaIia Admits
us take tnat oi me lutcuigvuw. "
that what passed is "correctly published." In that
oaDer otthe 19th January, 1838, the proceedings
of the 16th of that month, are reported, and there
we find the following: viz.
Mr. Clay of Kentucky said, that in no shapt
which could be given to this BUI could he give it
At vote. In any aspect, it was to be considered as
a bounty or a grant of the property of the whole
people to a small part of the people, often the spec
ulator, and Mr. C. would like to know by what
authority such a bill could be passed? He regard
ed it as a rewardiot the VIOLATION OF THE
LAW as a direct encouragement to intruding taw
lessly on the lands of the United States, and for se
lecting and taking what the TRESPASSER pleas
ed of the property of the whole people; and be was
not to be deterred from the most strenuous oppo
sition to such measures by any denunciation come
from what quarter it might, let these measure be
asserted by whom they might. '
The Document was 211 of the Session oi hmo.
The whole of it was well worthy of deliberate peru
sal, and it was replete with fraud, ABOMNIA
BLE EXECRABLE FRAUD, scandaloiu to
the country, scandalous to the government, and
scandalous to the perpetrators. In saying thie
Mr. C. would not denounce any whole class; but
he would say, that the pre-emption system was A
SCHEME OF HEARTLESS AND BOUND
LESS SPECULATION. " '
In this way, LAWLESS MEN bad often com
bined not only without but against the positive
authority of law; and here while vindicating tne
rights and guarding the property of the whole peo
ple, Mr. C. would not be awed nor deterred from
performing his duty by any personal considerations.
"Mr. C. did not intend at present logoao mr
into the s'uhiect as he had done, hoping for another
occasion on which he designed, should God spare
his life and health, to speak more fully on the sub
ject, and endeavor to expose this SYSTEM OF
INIQUITY."
In the National Intelligeucerof the oth t eDroary
1838, the proceedings of the 27th January are pub
lished, and in them we find the following : viz.
Mr. Tifton. I will repeat as nearly ae 1 can
what was said yesterday, and if I go wrong, he
(Mr. Clay) can correct me. 1 unaersiana uwi ne
denounced the settlers on the lands as a lawless
banditti of land robbers, unjustly grasping at the
public treasure.
("Here Mr. Cla rose r.nd said that he would
repeat what he did say on the occasion referred to
by the Honorable Senator from Indiana. Qc?He
did say that the SQUATTEKo on ine puone
lands were a LAWLESS RAHUL,-; snai wey
might as well SEIZE UPON OUR FORTS,
OUR ARSENALS, OR ON THE PUBLIC
TREASURE, as to rush out and seize on the pub
lic lands.
"Mr. Tipton resumed. The Senator admits
that the expressions used by him amounted to what
I have repeated."
By Mr. Clay's own witness, therefore, it is prov
ed that he called the Settlers on the Public Land
without discrimination, "SQUATTERS," "A
LAWLESS RABBLE;" and said "they might a
well seize upon our forts, our arsenals, or on the
public treasure." What is that but to call tbem
PUBLIC ROBBERS?
The report in the Globe varies very little from
that in the Intelligencer. It include tbe"publio
ships," in Mr. Clay' comparison, and represent
him as saying that "Me whole pre-emption system
putrifUd and corrupted oJl a touched.
Mr. Clay's abuse of the settlers created a great
sensation, and was severely commented on by the
friends of the Bill.
Mr. Clat of Alabama, aid"h did not know
to whom the Senator from Kentucky alluded; but,
if that Senator escaped the denunciation of the
hardy pioneers of the West, whom he bad charged
as violators of the law, trespassers who had seized
upon the public property, and whom be had stig
matized as perpetratois of the most disgraceful
frauds, in terms so injurious to their character and
feelings, he would be fortunate indeed,"
See Cong. Globe, 1837-8 Page 143.
In Senate January S7. 1838 Mr. Nobtem.
said, the Senator from Maryland seemed to sup
pose that this bill proposed to give a bounty to the
pre-emption settler upon the public land. Tbi
h was a mistake. The bill gave only a preference to
actual settler upon these land. They were
obliged to psy the Government price for thetn