Jackson attended the first levee of Mr. Adams as president elect, while secretary of state, and told Mr. Niles, of the Register, that "he was satisfied with the result." He even went so far, as to confess to Mr. Niles, on that occasion, "that he was not fit for the presidential chair; that he could not get on; that his proper place was at the head of an army;" and so on. (See Mr. Niles's evidence, next chapter.) On the 10th of February, 1825, the day after his defeat, in the election of Mr. Adams, he was invited, by some of his political friends, to a public dinner at Washington, and declined, giving as his reason, that "any evidence of kindness and regard, such as you propose, might, by many, be viewed, as conveying with it EXCEPTION, murmurings, and feelings of complaint, which, I sincerely hope belong to none of my friends." Are these, and other similar and contemporaneous acts, consistent with a knowledge and conviction of the truth of the charge, which he publicly brought against Messrs. Adams and Clay, in 1827 ?

It will be observed, from Mr. Buchanan's letter, that he betrays no impression of that great passion, into which General Jackson 'affects to have fallen, at the alleged offer of bargain, viz., that he would see them all sunk, and sink himself, &c., before he would do it. On the contrary, according to Mr. Buchanan's account, it all went off smoothly, and most amiably. Why? Because, according to Mr. Buchanan, there was no offer of bargain, and because they together, were concerting bargain! Nevertheless, it will not do for Mr. Buchanan to DENY what General Jackson asserts: "I do not recollect, that General Jackson told me I might repeat his answer to Mr. Clay and his friends; though I should be very sorry [afraid?] to say, HE DID NOT." Does not every one see the lurking disbelief of Mr. Buchanan, as to the matter of this passion? "The whole conversation," says he, "being upon a public street, it might have escaped my observation." What! such a storm of the soul, of SUCH a man, pass over unregarded?

CHAPTER XVII.

THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.

Proof of a Negative.-Mr. Clay's Position in the Case.-The Voice of many Witnesses.

Ir can not but have been observed, that all that is proved on this subject, in the preceding chapters-and it is not small or unimportant is proved by General Jackson and his friends. And what is it? Not a PARTICLE or SHADE of evidence, to support their charge against Mr. Clay! But something very unexpected is proved. They are caught in their own trap! Their own management, their own talk, their own acts, their own documents, adduced against others, convict themselves! And the more they are examined, the worse they appear. The very crime they charge, is proved to be their own, out of their own mouths! Before a single witness from the other side is called to the stand, not only is the defendant justified, but the plaintiffs are arraigned on their own declaration, and the parties have changed their relative positions! The conspirators are henceforth doomed to act on the DEFENSIVE; and it is not a little singular, that they have been thrust into this predicament by their own acts, as ACCUSERS!

It may not, however, be amiss, though no rules of justice can lawfully require it, to show what can be done in the PROOF OF A NEGATIVE. Innocent persons have sometimes been saved from unjust charges, by proof of an ALIBI, when they must otherwise have fallen. But it is not always that innocence escapes by such good fortune. The same is the effect of being able to prove a NEGATIVE, though neither law, nor justice, imposes the obligation. It is sometimes, however, the doom of necessity. Happily, in the case of the conspiracy now under consideration, there is Now no necessity for it, inasmuch as the conspirators have so far disagreed, and managed their several parts with so little skill, that it was im

possible they should not be ultimately exposed, though successful in accomplishing their main and original design.

The public have hitherto seemed to be satisfied with the result, that General Jackson and his coadjutors entirely failed to prove what they had alleged; but it was not even thought, that they had actually convicted themselves of the crime which they endeavored to fasten on innocent persons. Not anticipating these disclosures-before, indeed, all these materials of evidence for the conviction of the conspirators, had transpired-the importance of the subject, arising from the baseness and diabolical character of the plot, as well as from the extent of its influence, seemed to require the proof of a NEGATIVE. Much of this species of evidence has, indeed, gradually transpired, from time to time, uninvoked-enough, amply sufficient, for the purpose. It was obvious, that nothing more was required, to establish a negative, than an appeal to those members of the western delegations, in the house of representatives, who voted with Mr. Clay for Mr. Adams, and secured his election. When the accusers refused to face the witnesses in court, on whose evidence the proof of their charges solely depended, it became necessary for Mr. Clay to bring them. forward. Their evidence must be credible, from three valid considerations, independent of each other. First, they were, individually and collectively, men of honor, having not only the confidence of the public, but of their political opponents, as witnesses on this, or any other matter. The reader, probably, will not have forgotten the incidental evidence of Mr. McDuffie, in a former chapter, as to the character of these gentlemen, his political opponents: "There are no members on this floor, for whom, generally, I feel more respect. . . . Next to my own personal friends, there are none whom I estimate more highly ;" and this was said while the charge was pending before the house. Second, it was not credible, that they could have been induced, en masse, to barter their fidelity as public servants, and their honor as individuals, for the sole benefit of Mr. Clay. Third, it was much more incredible, and utterly inconsistent with the known principles of human nature, and all the rules of moral evidence, that they should unanimously agree in falsifying themselves. Such a thing was never known.

But, before proceeding to adduce this species of evidence, in proof of a negative, it may be proper to put in front of the whole, the POSITION of Mr. Clay himself, which renders the charge perfectly absurd. He was accused of aspiring to the office of secre

tary of state, and of bargaining for it! The statesman who had declined a seat in the senate of the United States, to be a commoner in the lower house; who, the first day that he took his seat there, and at the first ballot, was placed at the head of that body; who continued at the head of it, by biennial election, from 1811 to 1825, without a rival, and was at that moment in the possession of that high dignity; who would have been placed by Mr. Madison at the head of the armies of the United States, in the war of 1812, if he could have been spared from the councils of the nation; who declined successively the mission to Russia, and the war department, tendered to him by Mr. Madison; who again declined the war department, the office of minister to the court of St. James, and all other foreign missions, out of which he had his choice, under Mr. Monroe ;-the statesman, who, as everybody knew, and who could not himself but know, whoever came to power, would have the first offer of the first place, or of any place he might choose, if it were possible for him to choose one; who had been a candidate for the presidency, and who, if he had not been defrauded in Louisiana, and cheated in New York, would have been returned to the house of representatives in 1824, and elected president on the 9th of February, 1825;—the statesman, who was decidedly the favorite of the nation in any fair field, and whose talents had acquired for him a world-wide fame; who had never sought office, but whom office always sought;—SUCH was the man, who was accused of selling his own vote as a representative of the people, and bargaining away the votes of other representatives, for the office of secretary of state-an office to which he must DESCEND, to fill it—which could not elevate him, but which would be itself elevated by such an incumbent. A man, whose honor was unsullied, accused of the foulest stain, without a motive! If a man would sell his soul, it must be supposed that he has an object, which he, at least, thinks worthy of the sacrifice. If he is to be set bargaining for place, an offer should be made that is equal to the price of his honor and fair fame.

Soon after the Fayetteville letter appeared, in the spring of 1827, a circular was addressed to all those members of the house of representatives, who voted with Mr. Clay for Mr. Adams, in 1825, and who constituted the corps then designated "Mr. Clay's friends," by General Jackson and his friends, and also to other wit

nesses, at their respective residences, in different states of the Union, requesting them to communicate all they knew and believed in regard to this matter. The points of the circular, to which answers were requested, were expressed in the following words: "If such a proposition [of bargain] were ever made by the friends of Mr. Clay to those of General Jackson, it must have been known to many persons, and the fact, therefore, may be ascertained. May I ask the favor of you to inform me, whether you know, or believe, any such proposition was ever made? Or, whether conditions of any sort were made by the friends of Mr. Clay to any person, on a compliance with which their vote was made to depend?" These points of inquiry are important to be observed, in reading the evidence, as the answers in full are not given here; but only extracts on these points.

The answers to these inquiries, with other documents containing evidence which transpired from time to time, will, with a few exceptions, be found at length, in Niles' Register, vol. xxxiii., pp. 296 to 314, and vol. xxxiv., pp. 306 to 312. A sufficiency of extracts from these documents, to answer all the purposes of truth, and a conviction thereof, is placed in the lower margin, at the head of which appear ALL the witnesses, who alone could establish the charges of the conspirators, if there had been any foundation for them. The request was unexpected, and they all wrote from their own domicils, in different parts of the country, entirely independent of each other, and without any possibility of concert. The harmony of their evidence, therefore, is the more remarkable and convincing.*

The Hon. DUNCAN MCARTHUR, of the Ohio delegation, May 18, 1827, says: "The fact is, that the Ohio delegation-at least a large majority of them-were the first of Mr. Clay's friends, who came to the determination of voting for Mr. Adams, and that too, without having ascertained Mr. Clay's views on the subject. The language of some of the friends of the general, before the election, was, that the friends of Mr. Clay durst not vote for any man, other than General Jackson. This was often repeated, in a menacing manner. But, it is also true, that others of the general's friends used, what they no doubt conceived, more persuasive language. Indeed, they appeared to be willing to make any promises, which they thought would induce the friends of Mr. Clay to vote for General Jackson."

The Hon. JOSEPH VANCE, of the Ohio delegation, July 12, 1827, says: "As one of the original friends of Mr. Clay, I was in the habit of free and unreserved conversations, both with him and his other friends, relative to that election, and I am bold to say, that I never heard a whisper of anything like a condition, on which our vote was to be given, mentioned, either by Mr. Clay himself, or any of his friends, at any time, or under any circumstances." Mr. Vance was out of the state, when the circular was first received, and answered it immediately on his

return.

The Hon. P. BEECHER, of the Ohio delegation, May 21, 1827, says: "I do not know, that a friend, or friends, of Mr. Clay, ever made any proposition to the friends of General Jackson, respecting the election of Mr. Adams, as president, in