Page:Life of Henry Clay (Schurz; v. 1).djvu/104

92 champion of war, the proud, the spirited, the sole repository of the nation's honor, denouncing the administration as weak, feeble, pusillanimous,” and incapable of being kicked into war: —

“When, however, foreign nations, perhaps emboldened by the very opposition here made, refuse to listen to amicable appeals; when, in fact, war with one of them has become a matter of necessity, demanded by our independence and our sovereignty, behold the opposition veering round and becoming the friends of peace and commerce, telling of the calamities of war, the waste of the public treasury, the spilling of innocent blood — ‘Gorgons, hydras, and chimeras dire.’ Now we see them exhibiting the terrific form of the roaring king of the forest; now the meekness and humility of the lamb. They are for war and no restrictions, when the administration is for peace. They are for peace and restrictions, when the administration is for war. You find them, sir, tacking with every gale, displaying the colors of every party and of all nations, steady only in one unalterable purpose, — to steer, if possible, into the haven of power.”

Over the charge that the administration had been duped by France, a very sore point, he skipped nimbly, ridiculing the idea of French influence as well as the tremendous denunciations of Bonaparte, in which the opposition were fond of indulging. With these denunciations he dexterously coupled an attack made by Quincy upon Jefferson; and then, to inflame the party spirit of wavering Republicans, he burst out in that famous eulogy