dated at Washington appeared in a Philadelphia newspaper pointedly accusing Clay of having struck a corrupt bargain with Adams. Clay, the writer said, was to transfer his friends to Adams for the purpose of making Adams President, and Adams was then to make Clay Secretary of State. “And the friends of Mr. Clay,” so the letter continued, “gave the information to the friends of Jackson that, if the friends of Jackson would offer the same price, they would close with them. But none of the friends of Jackson would descend to such mean barter and sale.” The letter pretended to come from a member of Congress, who, however, did not give his name. A copy of the paper was mailed to Clay. This stung him to the quick. On February 1 he published “a card” in the “National Intelligencer,” in which he expressed his belief that the letter purporting to come from a member of the House was a forgery; “but,” he added, “if it be genuine, I pronounce the member, whoever he may be, a base and infamous calumniator, a dastard and liar; and if he dare unveil himself and avow his name, I will hold him responsible, as I here admit myself to be, to all the laws which govern and regulate men of honor.” Clay's hot blood had run away with his judgment. He himself felt it as soon as he saw his “card” in print. But a high-spirited man, conscious of his rectitude, should not be judged too harshly if the first charge of corruption publicly brought against him does not find him cool enough to determine whether the silence
