DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.53309#0025
HENRY CLAY,
BORN in Hanover County, VIRGINIA, April 12th, A. D. 1777.
The leading mind of the post-Revolutionary Statesmen of America-the mind which has most impressed itself
upon our institutions, and more than any other given direction to our domestic and foreign policy, is that of Henry
Clay. The son of a highly respectable and educated, but poor clergyman; born in ’77, in the very clangor of the
Revolution, he first began to listen to and comprehend the language of men amidst the gratidations of a triumphant
people. Mingling with the masses on terms of equality, he learned to sympathize with their wants and their wishes,
their pleasures and their antipathies, their hopes and their fears. By birth therefore, by position, by the training of
his infancy and childhood, he was fitted to become the great Leader of the People. His boyhood was spent in aiding
to support a widowed mother; his youth in the office of the Court of Chancery at Richmond. His vivacity and genius
attracted the notice of Chancellor Wythe, Governor Brooke and other eminent jurists, by whose advice he applied
himself to the study of the Law. Intense application prepared him lor admission in one year, and before the age
of majority, he received his diploma and followed his mother and family to Kentucky. He began his career at
Lexington, and was soon known as the most powerful advocate throughout the West. Before the termination of the
first decade of his professional life he led the bar of his State.
In his 27th year—1803~he consented to serve in the Legislature. On this congenial soil he sprung up like the
giants from their mother earth. At once he took rank with the oldest and the best. In three years he became the
leader of Kentucky and was sent to the National Senate. On his return, lie again entered the Legislature, of which
ho was chosen Speaker. Two years after, he was returned to the Senate at Washington, from which he withdrew
in 1811 for a seat in the Lower House, as the more commanding position. It was an epoch in our history. Torn
by unequalled party rancor, trampled upon by the belligerents of Europe, the nation required a strong hand to guide
her. Clay was selected. On his first entrance he was placed in the Speaker’s chair. Prom that moment he became
the acknowledged champion of the country. He roused her sleeping honor, hurled defiance at her haughty insuiters, and
denounced war upon England. Under his gallant leadership the nation assumed a noble attitude, compelling the
admiration and respect of the world. The wisdom of the young Statesman guided the war which his eloquent
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BORN in Hanover County, VIRGINIA, April 12th, A. D. 1777.
The leading mind of the post-Revolutionary Statesmen of America-the mind which has most impressed itself
upon our institutions, and more than any other given direction to our domestic and foreign policy, is that of Henry
Clay. The son of a highly respectable and educated, but poor clergyman; born in ’77, in the very clangor of the
Revolution, he first began to listen to and comprehend the language of men amidst the gratidations of a triumphant
people. Mingling with the masses on terms of equality, he learned to sympathize with their wants and their wishes,
their pleasures and their antipathies, their hopes and their fears. By birth therefore, by position, by the training of
his infancy and childhood, he was fitted to become the great Leader of the People. His boyhood was spent in aiding
to support a widowed mother; his youth in the office of the Court of Chancery at Richmond. His vivacity and genius
attracted the notice of Chancellor Wythe, Governor Brooke and other eminent jurists, by whose advice he applied
himself to the study of the Law. Intense application prepared him lor admission in one year, and before the age
of majority, he received his diploma and followed his mother and family to Kentucky. He began his career at
Lexington, and was soon known as the most powerful advocate throughout the West. Before the termination of the
first decade of his professional life he led the bar of his State.
In his 27th year—1803~he consented to serve in the Legislature. On this congenial soil he sprung up like the
giants from their mother earth. At once he took rank with the oldest and the best. In three years he became the
leader of Kentucky and was sent to the National Senate. On his return, lie again entered the Legislature, of which
ho was chosen Speaker. Two years after, he was returned to the Senate at Washington, from which he withdrew
in 1811 for a seat in the Lower House, as the more commanding position. It was an epoch in our history. Torn
by unequalled party rancor, trampled upon by the belligerents of Europe, the nation required a strong hand to guide
her. Clay was selected. On his first entrance he was placed in the Speaker’s chair. Prom that moment he became
the acknowledged champion of the country. He roused her sleeping honor, hurled defiance at her haughty insuiters, and
denounced war upon England. Under his gallant leadership the nation assumed a noble attitude, compelling the
admiration and respect of the world. The wisdom of the young Statesman guided the war which his eloquent
11