interference with slavery should be by legal meth- ods. On 28 March, 1861, he was appointed minis- ter to Russia. He returned to this country in June, 1862, having been commissioned major-gen- eral of volunteers, and shortly afterward made a speech in Washington, declaring that he would never draw his sword while slavery was protected in the seceding states. He resigned on 11 March, 1863, and was again sent as minister to Russia, where he remained till 25 Sept., 1869. In 1870 he publicly supported the revolutionary movement in Cuba, and became president of the Cuban aid so- ciety. In 1871 he delivered an address by invita- tion at the St. Louis fair, urging speedy reconcilia- tion with the north, and at the same time attack- ing President Grant's administration. He was identified with the liberal republican movement in 1872, an.d supported his old friend Horace Greeley for the presidency. He afterward joined the demo- cratic party, and actively supported Samuel J. Tilden in 1876, but advocated Blaine's election in 1884. In 1877 Mr. Clay shot and killed a negro. Perry White, whom he had discharged from his service and who had threatened his life. Mr. Clay was tried, and the jury gave a verdict of *' justifiable homicide." A volume of his speeches was edited by Horace Greeley (1848), and he has published " The Life, Memoirs, Writings, and Speeches of Cassius M. Clay" (2 vols., Cincinnati, 1886).
CLAY, Henry, statesman, b. in Hanover county,
Va., in a district known as “The Slashes,” 12
April, 1777; d. in Washington, D. C., 29 June,
1852. His father, a Baptist clergyman, died when
Henry was four years old, leaving no fortune.
Henry received some elementary instruction in a
log school-house, doing farm and house work
when not at school. His mother married again
and removed to Kentucky. When fourteen years
of age he was placed in a small retail store at
Richmond, and in 1792 obtained a place in the
office of Peter Tinsley, clerk of the high court of
chancery. There he attracted the attention of
Chancellor Whyte, who employed him as an
amanuensis, and directed his course of reading.
In 1796 he began to study law with Robert Brooke,
attorney-general of Virginia, and in 1797, having
obtained a license to practise law from the judges
of the court of appeals, he removed to Lexington,
Ky. During his residence in Richmond he had
made the acquaintance of several distinguished
men of Virginia, and became a leading member of
a debating club. At Lexington he achieved his
first distinction in a similar society. He soon won
a lucrative practice as an attorney, being especially
successful in criminal cases and in suits growing
out of the land laws. His captivating manners
and his striking eloquence made him a general
favorite. His political career began almost
immediately after his arrival at Lexington. A
convention
was to be elected to revise the constitution of
Kentucky, and in the canvass preceding the election
Clay strongly advocated a constitutional
provision for the gradual emancipation of the slaves
in the state; but the movement was not successful.
He also participated vigorously in the agitation
against the alien and sedition laws, taking
position as a member of the republican party.
Several of his speeches, delivered in mass meetings,
astonished the hearers by their beauty and force.
In 1799 he married Lucretia Hart, daughter of a
prominent citizen of Kentucky. In 1803 he was
elected to a seat in the state legislature, where he
excelled as a debater. In 1806 Aaron Burr passed
through Kentucky, where he was arrested on a
charge of being engaged in an unlawful enterprise
dangerous to the peace of the United States. He
engaged Clay's professional services, and Clay,
deceived by Burr as to the nature of his schemes,
obtained his release.
In the winter of 1806 Clay was appointed to a seat in the U. S. Senate to serve out an unexpired term. He was at once placed on various committees, and took an active part in the debates, especially in favor of internal improvements. In the summer of 1807 his county sent him again to the legislature, where he was elected speaker of the assembly. He opposed and defeated a bill prohibiting the use of the decisions of British courts and of British works on jurisprudence as authority in the courts of Kentucky. In December, 1808, he introduced resolutions expressing approval of the embargo laid by the general government, denouncing the British orders in council, pledging the general government the active aid of Kentucky in anything determined upon to resist British exactions, and declaring that President Jefferson was entitled to the thanks of the country. He offered another resolution, recommending that the members of the legislature should wear only clothes that were the product of domestic manufacture. This was his first demonstration in favor of the encouragement of home industry. About this resolution he had a quarrel with Humphrey Marshall, which led to a duel, in which both parties were slightly wounded. In the winter of 1809 Clay was again sent to the U. S. senate to fill an unexpired term of two years. He made a speech in favor of encouraging home industries, taking the ground that the country should be enabled to produce all it might need in time of war, and that, while agriculture would remain the dominant interest, it should be aided by the development of domestic manufactures. He also made a report on a bill granting a right of pre-emption to purchasers of public lands in certain cases, and introduced a bill to regulate trade and intercourse with the Indian tribes, and to preserve peace on the frontier, a subject on which he expressed very wise and humane sentiments. During the session of 1810-’1 he defended the administration of Mr. Madison with regard to the occupation of West Florida by the United States by a strong historical argument, at the same time appealing, in glowing language, to the national pride of the American people. He opposed the renewal of the charter of the U. S. bank, notwithstanding Gallatin's recommendation, on the ground of the unconstitutionally of the bank, and contributed much to its defeat.
On the expiration of his term in the senate, Clay was sent to the national house of representatives by the Lexington district in Kentucky, and immediately upon taking his seat, 4 Nov., 1811, was elected speaker by a large majority. Not confining himself to his duties as presiding officer, he
