One of my favorite historical figures is Henry Clay.
There is an intuitive perception about [Henry Clay], that seems to see & understand at a glance, and a winning fascination in his manners that will suffer none to be his enemies who associate with him. When I look upon his manly & bold countenance, & meet his frank eloquent eye, I feel an emotion little short of enthusiasm in his cause, and nothing short of absolute detestation & contempt for the cowardly baseness of those who behind his back accuse him of venality & corruption, yet in his presence, cower, like partridges before the hawk. Such a man as Henry Clay may well be betrayed into errors of passion & feeling, but it is impossible he should be guilty of those degrading vices of which meanness is a component part. He has too much sensibility. He suffers the slanders of interested enemies, and the slang whang of newspapers accusation to vex & harrass him exceedingly ... He is a great man - one of Nature's nobles.
- Congressman Edward Bates, to his wife, Julia, February 25, 1828
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