The career
of Henry Clay was a public career. From his youth he has been devoted to
the public service, at a period, too, in the world's history justly
regarded as a remarkable era in human affairs. He witnessed in the
beginning the throes of the French Revolution. He saw the rise and fall
of Napoleon. He was called upon to legislate for America and direct her
policy when all Europe was the battlefield of contending dynasties, and
when the struggle for supremacy imperilled the rights of all neutral
nations. His voice spoke war and peace in the contest with Great Britain.
"When Greece rose against the Turks and struck for liberty, his name was
mingled with the battle-cry of freedom. When South America threw off the
thraldom of Spain, his speeches were read at the head of her armies by
Bolivar. His name has been, and will continue to be, hallowed in two
hemispheres, for it is
"'One of the few, the immortal names
That were not born to die!'
"To the ardent patriot and profound statesman he added a quality
possessed by few of the gifted on earth. His eloquence has not been
surpassed. In the effective power to move the heart of man, Clay was
without an equal, and the heaven-born endowment, in the spirit of its
origin, has been most conspicuously exhibited against intestine feud.
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