Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/665

 CLAY 653 chosen to fill a vacancy in the United States senate caused by the resignation of Gen. John Adair. His first speech in that body was made to urge the erection of a bridge over the Po- tomac, opposite Washington ; and he soon after submitted a resolution contemplating an appropriation of public lands to aid the con- struction of a canal around the falls of the Ohio at Louisville. He also urged upon the government the importance of promoting in- ternal public improvements, and submitted to the senate a proposition, which was carried with but three dissenting votes, directing "the secretary of the treasury to prepare and report to the senate at their next session a plan for the application of such means as are within the power of congress to the purposes of open- ing roads and making canals ; together with a statement of undertakings of that nature which, as objects of public improvement, may require and deserve the aid of government." Mr. Clay's fragment of a term expired with his first session ; and he was again chosen in 1807 to the legislature, of which he was made speaker the next year. In December, 1808, he made a report approving the leading features of Mr. Jefferson's foreign policy, denouncing the British orders in council, and pledging to the president the enthusiastic support of Ken- tucky in any probable contingency. Having been stigmatized as a demagogue by Humphrey Marshall, Mr. Clay challenged his assailant. They mot and fired twice, Marshall being slightly wounded at the former fire, and Clay at the latter. Their seconds then interfered, and terminated the combat. At the session of 1809-'10 Mr. Clay again appeared in the United States senate, having been elected to fill a vacancy for two years, created by the resignation of Mr. Thurston. His first speech at this session was in favor of the policy of protection. He afterward introduced a bill to enable the territory of Orleans to form a state constitution and government, and be admitted into the Union as the state of Louisiana. When the question of rechartering the first bank of the United States came up, he voted, with the great mass of the younger members of his party in favor of its overthrow, and made a speech of remarkable vigor and energy against the recharter, which was frequently quoted against him after his change of views evinced in 1816. In August, 1811, he was elected a representative in congress ; and on the day of his first appearance in the represen- tatives' hall as a member, at the called session in November, he was chosen speaker by a large majority, a distinction without parallel since the meeting of the first congress. To this house the dominant party had sent, also for the first time, John 0. Calhoun of South Carolina, William H. Crawford of Georgia, and Felix Grundy of Tennessee, all young, ardent, ambitious, inspired with hostility to Great Britain, and dissatisfied with the dilatory pol- icy which the administrations of Jefferson and Madison had pursued with regard to her. Mr. Clay constituted the committees of the house with express reference to an early declaration of war. He was one of the most zealous advo- cates of the bill proposing the immediate en- listment of 25,000 men, and urged the imme- diate construction of 10 new frigates. War having been declared, congress adjourned, July 6, 1812. During the winter session, which began Nov. 2, Mr. Clay made a speech in reply to Josiah Quincy which attracted great attention by its force and bitterness, by the vehemence of its denunciation of the fed- eral party, its glowing eulogium on Jefferson, and its personal insolence to Quincy, whom he stigmatized as soiling the carpet on which he stood. The 13th congress was convened by the president May 24, 1813, more than six months in advance of its regular day. The war party was predominant in congress, and Mr. Clay was reel ected speaker by a large majority. No effort was omitted on his part to insure and provide for a vigorous prosecu- tion of the war. The British ministry having offered to open negotiations for peace with the United States, the proposition was readily em- braced by President Madison, who designated Albert Gallatin, secretary of the treasury, and James A. Bayard, a leading federalist, as asso- ciates with John Quincy Adams in the pro- posed negotiations. Mr. Clay and Jonathan Russell were added after the negotiations had been formally agreed on. On Jan. 19, 1814, Mr. Clay resigned the speakership and his seat in order to sail for Europe as a peacemaker. Notwithstanding the intensity of party feeling in congress, but nine votes were recorded against the resolution of thanks for his ability and impartiality as speaker, which was now proposed and adopted. After signing the treaty at Ghent, Mr. Clay spent some months in Paris and London, and on his return to the United States in September, 1815, was warmly welcomed. During his ab- sence he had been unanimously reflected to congress, and on the meeting of that body in December, 1815, he was once more chosen speaker without serious competition. Except- ing one term (1821-'3), he continued a member of the house and its speaker till 1825. During this period his influence was exerted in behalf of the protection of domestic industry through the encouragement of American manufactures, and the development of the national resources by means of internal improvements. But on a single question, that of a national bank, he now frankly avowed that his views had been changed by the disastrous financial experi- ences of the late war ; that he was now as de- cidedly favorable to such an establishment as he had formerly been hostile to it. The bill chartering the second United States bank be- came a law in April, 1816. Many who con- curred with Mr. Clay in his change of views on this subject afterward changed back again, but he remained an advocate of a national