work on the West Indies, which I need scarcely add, is written in a
series of letters to this statesman. He said that the recent short crop
of sugar in Jamaica was a proof that the author had been misled in the
favorable information he had collected, and also that this deficiency in
the crop was a proof not only of the idleness, but of the immorality of
the negroes. He accused my companion, John G. Whittier, of deserting
him, after having been his warm friend; and on J.W.'s giving his reasons
for so doing, he complained that the abolitionists improperly interfered
with the affairs of the South, though he made an exception in favor of
the Society of Friends. He inquired if J.G. Whittier was a "Friend" in
regular standing, evidently intimating a doubt on that point, on account
of his being so decided an abolitionist. The praise of such men is the
strongest testimony that could be adduced to the declension of the
Society of Friends in anti-slavery zeal. To a great extent I fear their
sentiments on this subject have been held traditionally; and that in
many cases, they have not only done nothing themselves, but by example
and precept have condemned the activity of others; I trust, however, a
brighter day in regard to their labors is approaching. I feel
disinclined to take leave of Henry Clay, without some animadversions
which, on the public character of a public man, I may offer without any
breach of propriety. In early life, that is in some part of the last
century, he supported measures tending to the "eradication of slavery"
in Kentucky, and at various periods since, he has indulged in cheap
declamation against slavery, though he is not known to have committed
himself by a solitary act of manumission. On the contrary, having
commenced life with a single slave, he has industriously increased the
number to upwards of seventy. As a statesman, his conduct on this
question has been consistently pro-slavery. He indefatigably negotiated
for the recovery of fugitive slaves from Canada, when Secretary of
State, though without success. In the Senate he successfully carried