proposed system was complete and conclusive. The first resolution, declaring the power of Congress to construct military and post-roads, was carried by a majority of twenty,though the others were lost. Mr. CLAY, on various subsequent occasions, renewed the discussion of this great national question, and has always strenuously upheld the right of the general government to appropriate money for purposes of Internal Improvement. The Cumberland Road is, in itself, an enduring monument of his eloquent and persevering labors. For years, in opposition to the most powerful influences, in his own words, he "had to beg, entreat, supplicate Congress, session after session, to grant the necessary appropriations to complete the road." "I have myself," said he, "toiled until my powers have been exhausted and prostrated, to prevail on you to make the grant." Upon the road stands a monument of stone, surmounted by the genius of Liberty, inscribed with the name of HENRY CLAY.

In January, 1819, the conduct of General JACKSON,-one of the most popular commanders in the army, whose defence of New Orleans, at the close of the war with Great Britain, had won for his gallantry the gratitude and admiration of the whole country,-in conducting the Florida campaign, came before the House of Representatives for investigation. The grounds upon which it became a subject of censure are so fully stated in the speech of Mr. CLAY, on the Seminole War, delivered in the House of Representatives on the 8th of January, 1819, that there is no necessity for a detailed exposition of them here. The whole contest had its origin in the division of the Indians, at the breaking out of the war between the United States and Great Britain, the majority of them aiding the latter power, while but a small part continued

friendly to us. A strong military force, under Gen. JACKSON, was accordingly sent into their territory; and the destructive warfare waged against them by that relentless chief, soon compelled them to the most abject and hopeless submission. A treaty was formed in August, 1814, at Fort Jackson, if an instrument deserved the name, which was, in fact, a mere imposition of the most insolent demands,―far more disgraceful to the Christian victors than to the savage people unfortunately subjected to their tender mercies. This treaty was signed by the chiefs of about one-third of the nation-that portion who had never been engaged in hostilities with us, and with whom, therefore, no treaty could be made. Occasional acts of enmity between the residue and the whites followed this mockery of pacification,-though a letter, written in the simple eloquence of their race and signed by ten of the Seminole towns, solemnly declares that not a single murder had been committed by the Indians, that was not in return for some similar outrage perpetrated by the whites. "The white people," says the letter, "killed our people first; the Indians then took satisfaction. There are yet three men that the red people have never taken satisfaction for." From this time the Indians were treated as outlaws, and in the prosecution of the war against them, all the dictates of humanity wete disregarded, and the rights of neutrals were treated with unparalleled contempt. Indian chiefs were decoyed by Gen. JACKSON to his camp, by raising a foreign flag, then seized and executed with remorseless cruelty. Two Englishmen who fell into his hands, one of whom was in the Indian camp, and the other was seized on Spanish neutral ground, neither being convicted of any crime, were hung, in defiance of the decision of a court-martial he himself had summoned; and Pensacola was seized, without authority or color of law, mere

ly in revenge of a fancied insult from the Spanish Governor, who had dared to remonstrate with him for having seized St. Marks, not only in defiance of right, but in contemptuous violation of the orders of his own government. These acts of Gen. JACKSON, high as he was exalted by his military fame in the eyes of the nation, had alarmed considerate men and invited their scrutiny. In both branches of Congress they were made the subject of examination, and the resolutions, which gave occasion, in the House, for Mr. CLAY'S speech upon the general topic, had been reported by a Select Committee; and expressed the marked censure of the House of the obnoxious acts of General JACKSON. In giving them his support, Mr. CLAY not only did violence to the friendly feelings which had always, up to that time, existed between himself and the offending general, but placed himself in hazardous opposition to the strong current of the popular favor. But he stood upon the high ground of moral principle; and the eloquent speech in which he urged his views, while it treats with unusual forbearance and courtesy the man whom it so severely arraigns, vindicates, with remarkable clearness and power, the propriety of the course his sense of duty had urged him to take. The members of the House whom he addressed were almost without exception strongly prejudiced in favor of General JACKSON, and listened with reluctance to any imputations upon his character or his acts. President MONROE and every member of his Cabinet deeply shared this feeling, and felt warranted in interposing their influence against the resolutions of censure; so that it is not at all marvelous that they failed of success.

In thus sketching, up to the year 1819, the most prominent portions of Mr. CLAY's public service, we have purposely

omitted all reference to his efforts in behalf of that great system of PROTECTION TO AMERICAN INDUSTRY, with which, more closely than with any other legislative scheme, his name will for ever be connected. In order to place before the public, in its true light, the magnitude and merit of his exertions in its behalf, a connected statement of the condition and wants of the leading interests of the country will be necessary; and we deeply regret that our narrow limits forbid the detail which the importance of the subject would seem to demand. As we have already seen, in various modes and at various times in the history of the country, the propriety of building up American Manufactures had been recognized, though timidly and in apparent distrust of our national ability to effectuate so noble a scheme. In 1790 the Secretary of the Treasury was directed to examine and report upon the subject; and in 1810 the National Legislature had shown a marked solicitude to ascertain the actual progress of the United States in achieving the Independence commenced by the Revolution, by combining with the business of the census an inquiry into the condition of manufactures throughout the Union. Indeed, from the year 1808 to 1811, during the operation of what was called the Restrictive System, the importance of domestic manufactures became conspicuous to the nation, and sunk deep into the thoughts of every considerate statesman. During the four years-from 1804 to 1807, both inclusive-the average annual gross product of duties on merchandize imported, had been somewhat more than $24,000, 000-nearly double the average amount received under the operation of the system which succeeded. To supply this deficiency in the revenue, upon the approach of the war, the permanent duties, previously imposed upon imported goods, were doubled, by an act of July 18th, 1812, and an addi

tion of 10 per cent. was made to these double duties on goods imported in foreign vessels. This act, by its own limitation, expired on the 17th of February, 1816. The act imposing an additional duty, commonly called the "Mediterranean Fund," of 2 1-2 per cent. ad valorem, and a discriminating duty of 10 per cent. upon that additional duty, in respect to goods imported in foreign vessels, expired on the 3d of March, 1815. But the operation of the restrictive system, and of the war, fruitful as it was in suffering and mortification to the country, awakened to life in our soil the germ of future prosperity and independence. During the war, every patriot heheld with unmingled shame the illicit traffic which sprung up with the enemy, and saw clearly the necessity of providing, by legislation which should protect our own industry, against its recurrence. The principles of the social compact, requiring a surrender of a portion of the natural rights of the individual for the security of the whole society, were recognized, and the force of a similar principle, as operating between the several States of the Union and the federal government, was also felt. The variety of soil and of climate which the United States enjoyed, evinced her possession of all the elements of national independence: and the country felt the necessity of establishing a domestic, in preference to a foreign market, and the employment of domestic, in preference to foreign labor. Under the influence of this conviction, the march of domestic manufactures, which, from the peace of 1783 to the year 1808, had been slow but steady, after that period be came bold and rapid. Cotton manufactories were multiply ing at the North; so that, while in the year 1800 but 500 bales were manufactured, in 1815, 90,000 were reported ;—a capital of $40,000,000 was invested; employment was given to more than 100,000 persons, whose aggregate wages