Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/21

* CLAY. was employed liy )iim to copy documents. The intimate associiitinii with Chancellor Wythe was an important inthienee on Clay's life ami devel- opment; for he had received almost no sehoolini^. and lie never studied regularly, save for one year in the office of Robert Urooke, then Attorney-Gen- eral of Virginia. Clay was admitted to the bar at twenty, but he soon left Richmond, and sinight the fuller opportunities of the West, at Lexing- ton, Ky. Here his attractive personality and his skill as a speaker won him friends, and made him a leading jury-lawyer. It was not long before he turned his attention to polities, and when, in 1709, the revision of the Kentucky C'on- stitution was undertaken, CUay was found play- ing an active and honorable part with the minor- ity, and risking his personal prestige by his advocacy of the gradual abolition of slavery. This stand might have cost him dear, had he not soon afterwards been able by his eloquence to aid his State heartily in opposing the Alien and Sedition Laws. He married in 1790, rose steadil.y in his profession, and was elected to the .State Legislature in 1803. In 1800, having been appointed to represent Kentucky for an unex- pired term in the United States Senate, he took from the first a conspicuous part in the pub- lie business, bringing in a number of resolutions and sitting on several committees. His first speech — one on the bill for a bridge across the Potomac — indicates his future course as one of the most earnest advocates of the policy of internal improvements. Scarcely had he returned to Kentucky when he was reelected to the State IjCgislature and made Speaker. It was at this time that, sharing the rapidly growing hostility , toward England, and desiring to foster domestic manufactures, he introduced the resolution that all members of the Legislature should wear no clothing made in foreign countries — a proposal that Humphrey Marshall, a Federalist, stigma- tized as the utterance of a demagogue. Angry words were passed, a challenge followed, and in the duel that was fought both parties were slight- ly wotmded. In the winter of 1800-10 Clay was again sent to fill a vacancy in the Senate, where he continued to be the champion of the protection of home manufactures. When the question of chartering the L'nited States Bank came u]). Clay opposed the measure as corrupt and unconstitu- tional : and his remarks on this occasion were treasured tip to be used with great effect against him when, in 1816, a revival of the matter made manifest an alteration in his views. Entering the National House of Representatives in 1811, Clay was chosen Speaker as soon as he a])peared, and as leader of the vigorous de- mocracy sprung up since the Revolution, he prac- tically forced the war with England, .speaking with rash confidence of the ease with which Canada could be overrun by ' his fellow Ken- tuckians. He sujiported the war with all his eloquence, in and out of Congress, and was in con- sequence known as the 'War Hawk:' he advocat- ed an increase of the army, and aroused much cnthtisiasm for his measures. When the war seemed nearly a failure, he was one of the com- missioners to arrange terms, resigning the Speak- ership in .January, 1814. In spite of the disap- pointment the war had brought to his hopes, he contributed much to the success of the commission- ers, who were far superior to the British represen- tatives opposed to them, and who secured the best ) CLAY. jiossible terms in the Treaty of Ghent. He resist- ed especially the British claim to the right of nav- igating the Mississippi. On his return in 181.5, Clay, as tlic leading war statesman, was royally welcomed. During his absence he had been re- elected to the House of Representatives, and, de- clining the offer of the mission to Russia, he took his seat and was chosen Speaker — an olliee which the later tender of a Cabinet place did not induce him to resign. The tariff" of 1810, which was moderately protective, was urged by Clay, on the ground that certain industries must be built up lor the nation's safety during war. This same year he advocated the rechartering of the Na- tional Bank to renew specie ])ayments and to prevent further distress, and with Calhoun he helped to pass the bill for internal improvements vetoed by Madison. The Fifteenth Congress met December 1, 1817, and Clay was again elected Speaker. In this session he continued to assert the power of Congress to construct internal im- provements, and he pleaded earnestly for the recognition of the South American republics, a cause always dear to his warm heart. Clay was again chosen Speaker on the meeting of the Sixteenth Congress and continued to be its leading member, frequently criticising Mon- roe's administration in hard terras. This was the period of the great contest over the admission of Missouri. Clay, though not the author of the Missouri Compromise of 1820, did bring about the com- promise of the next year, bj' which it was agreed that Missouri should be admitted (without re- striction as to slavery) on her promise not to prevent citizens of other States from settling within her borders. Declining reelection to the following Congress, he did not appear in active politics again until 1823, when he reoecupied the Speaker's chair. In the election of 1824 he was a candidate for the Presidency, together with Crawford, Jackson, and Adams. The Electoral College failing to elect, the choice between the three highest candidates fell to the House, where Clay, who had come fourth and was thus not eligible for elec- tion, cast his strength for Adams. Soon after the latter's inaviguration, Clay was appoint- ed Secretary of State — a fact which gave point to the cry of 'Bargain and corruption,' which, though baseless, and again and again re- futed, never ceased to injure him in his political career. His relations with Adams were de- nounced by John Randol])h as the "combination of the Puritan with the blackleg," language which lirovoked a challenge from Clay ; but neither jiarty was wounded in the duel that ensued, Randolph refusing to fire at his adversary the second time. The Secretaryship of State, for- merly regarded as the stepping-stone to the Presidency, proved an obstacle to Clay, and though he made an excellent olTicer, he regretted his long absence from Congress, where he could always lead. A strong ojiponent of (leneral .Tack- son as a candidate for the Presidency, he retired with Mr. Adams after the latter's defeat in 1829. Two years later he was elected to the Sen- ate. Here, in the difficult role of Senator and Presidential candidate, he was prominent in his advocacy of the protective system, which he diibbcd unreasonably, but successfully, the 'American .■system.' I'nanimously nominated by the Whigs, Clay was overwhelmingly defeated by Jackson