Monument to the Memory of Henry Clay

What constitutes a true monument-The best position for estimating a public man-Men have often a distinct private and public characterWhich their true character-Essentials of a perfect biography.

In any high sense, there is but one thing which men may call a monument. The skillfully-chiseled marble of the churchyard can be purchased, as well by money, as by merit. The canvas, glowing with the semblance of life, is, how often, a monument rather of the genius of the artist, than of the forgotten dead, whose features it perpetuates. Triumphal arches and pyramids even, however deeply and strongly they may be founded, change at last to ruinous heaps, or are intrusted, in vain, with the names of their builders and the records of the deeds which they commemorate.

Nevertheless, greatness has its enduring monument. But that monument is erected by itself. Laid sometimes, indeed, in the blood and tears of suffering humanity, built up amid the sighs of lacerated bosoms, and crowned with the execrations of a long posterity; but sometimes based upon the noblest impulses of a noble heart, erected every part of it to bless and adorn

humanity, and completed amid shouts of gratitude, or those more expressive tokens of affection—a nation's tears.

When we speak then of a monument, commemorative of HENRY CLAY, we mean not the marble which may cover his moldering remains, nor any imposing columns, which men may hereafter erect in their places of public resort. We mean, his own great character; his matchless will; the thoughts which he entertained; the words which he spoke; his large sagacity; and that larger patriotism, which achieved for his country continued peace and prosperity-for himself, a place, like that of a household idol, in every American heart.

To the life of HENRY CLAY we must look for his monument. It is obvious, then, that his life should be so presented, as to make what we may call, its historic impression.

The particular phase of mind, or social temper, which is best known to a great man's familiar friends, bears, often, no higher relation to his character in its completeness, than the peculiar forms of rock or foliage, which come, more immediately, under the observation of the dwellers at the foot of the mountain, bear to the dimensions and outline of the whole mass. When great objects are to be estimated, nearness of position can not always be accounted a favorable circumstance. The work of the biographer, resembles, somewhat, that of the engraver, who must, with a few bold and discriminating lines, present what is individual and peculiar in the features to be delineated; or perhaps, better yet, we may compare it with those works of the sculptor which are to stand at a distance, or upon an elevation. The finer details are left comparatively untouched, while the peculiar outlines are executed strongly.

The biographer must present, as nearly as possible, the impression which the greatness that he describes made upon its own age, but it must be ever with this discrimination, he must present each striking action or characteristic, not in the light of its temporary importance, but of its historic permanence and value. This, to a cotemporary biographer, is a task of no small difficulty. Hence, it often happens, that greatness receives its best estimate years after men are familiar with it, except in its

results. The partiality of affection, the contempt, which is said to spring up in little minds from familiarity, and the prejudices of enmity, are alike fatal to the truth of biography.

The household friends of CLAY; the farmers and shopkeepers, with whom he had frequent dealings; and the enemies, who persecuted him with their slanders, would, severally, be unqualified to draw with correctness his portrait. Yet, it can not be denied, that the biographer, who lives near the time of the character which he describes, possesses important advantages over those who come after him. The many little incidents, illustrative of character, which live their short life in the memory of friends, serve often, as a sufficient clue to mysteries of public conduct, which the subsequent historian might seek in vain to decipher. Things which might otherwise be accounted trifles, are, in this way, not unfrequently invested with no small significance. Private details may be regarded as scattered rays, valuable in proportion to the quantity of light which they can throw upon the main object; this, in historical characters, being not the private but the public and official conduct. It would, indeed, do great injustice to many, perhaps to most of those who have figured largely in the world's estimation, to depict them, mainly as they have appeared in social life. Men often bear what would seem two distinct characters-so distinct as even to amount to an apparent contradiction. The question with the biographer, in such a case, must be, which will give the most correct impression? which represents, most truly, the effective character ? Charles II sought, in disguise, the acquaintance of the author of Hudibras, thinking that he should find him a most facetious fellow; but so great was the king's disappointment, that he was led to pronounce him a stupid blockhead, and to declare it to be impossible, that he could ever have written so witty a book. Tradition affirms, of Shakspeare, that after obtaining a competency from his dramatic works, he settled down quietly upon a farm, varying the monotony of his life by an occasional visit to the nearest market town, to execute small commissions for himself and his neighbors. What idea of the immortal dramatist should we now possess, had it been left to

one of those neighbors to transmit his personal impressions of the "chiel amang" them!

The elegant Addison, and the genial Lamb, are said to have been reserved in general society. In such cases, it is evident which phase of character must be presented, unless injustice would be done.

Yet, even more, in the case of statesmen, must historic faithfulness be regarded, because they leave no such oft-perused records of themselves, from which to correct mistaken impressions.

The highest form of character which a man has ever developed, even if that display of power has been but short and occasional, is a more just index of what he is, and of what he can do, than his intermediate periods, though disproportionately long, of mediocrity and indolence. For in this only does he vindicate his title to greatness, and render himself an object of possible interest to posterity. Keeping this fact in view, it will be evident, that the more clearly the character described is made to stand out in its individuality, the more perfectly the reader is made to feel a direct approach to it, the better will the ends of biography be answered.

The day has forever passed by, in which history may be a dry catalogue of facts. Men put away contemptuously the skeleton, and demand the action and glow of life. This has evidently widened the province of biography, for to convey an adequate impression of a man's effective force, the history of his time must be displayed, the circumstances which made him what he was, and, those more hidden things, the probable motives of his conduct.

Where so much is implied, the reader will be considerate, it is hoped, if he encounter occasional mistakes and misapprehensions.

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