Page:Life of Henry Clay (Schurz; v. 2).djvu/363

Rh ing wounds if he had had more fingers. Clay complained feelingly that the President, instead of aiding him in pacifying the country, adhered exclusively and persistently to his own plan, regardless of consequences. But Taylor could not be moved. He was determined to the fighting point, and would have signed a bill with the Wilmot Proviso in it, had it been presented to him. The influence he exercised was, therefore, rather on the anti-slavery side. Thus, although the current of popular sentiment ran in favor of a compromise, the practical difficulties Clay had to contend with seemed to be well-nigh insuperable.

But two events happened which essentially changed the aspect of things. On the first Mon day in June the dreaded Nashville Convention met. Instead of sending forth fierce threats of disunion in case the extreme demands of the South were not fully complied with, as the Southern hotspurs had hoped, the convention, following more moderate counsels, passed resolutions, indeed, vigorously denouncing the Wilmot Proviso and all other anti-slavery heresies, but at the same time expressing confidence that Congress would find a way to do justice to the South. It is true it also adopted an address in which the sentiments of the “fire-eaters” found their expression, and which soundly denounced Clay's comprehensive plan of adjustment. But on the whole the convention produced the impression that the Southern people were divided in sentiment, and that the Union possessed