When these overtures, said the writer, were rejected,
Clay transferred his interest to Adams. [Footnote: Niles' Register,
XXVII., 353.]
Stung to the quick, Clay rushed into print with a denunciation of
the writer as a dastard and a liar, and held him responsible to the
laws which govern men of honor. [Footnote: Ibid., 355.] In reply to
this evident invitation to a duel, Kremer avowed his authorship and
his readiness to prove his charges. If Clay had known the identity
of his traducer, he would hardly have summoned him to the field of
honor, for Kremer was a well-meaning but credulous and thick-headed
rustic noted solely for his leopard-skin overcoat. The speaker,
therefore, abandoned his first idea, and asked of the House an
investigation of the charges, which Kremer reiterated his readiness
to prove. But when the investigating committee was ready to take
testimony, the Pennsylvania congressman refused to appear. He was,
in fact, the tool of Jackson's managers, who greatly preferred to
let the scandal go unprobed by Congress.
Pages:
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384