Virginia Argus. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1796-1816, 1816-05-22
THE LATE SAMUEL DEXTER.

| every means in our power'' III.
THE LATE SAMUEL DEXTER.
1ustum ct tenacem proposti yerum {"
surely great man hao fallen in Israel p'The
private life of Mr. Dexter is unknown to the wr;.
ter; buff we can make an estimate of nr;v,,.
worth by public character, as we can nudge of
CHARACTER by minor actions, his must have been
IS. Unable, indeed-For, as a public man, he has
| ie'' scarcely ms equal. His deceasc has left a
voo IN the moral, the intellectual and the poiti-
ca world, which will remain long uaoccupied
I'VE view him as moralist, we must give him
the highest grade for he practised morality be-
lore ne preached it He established his pr,n-
c'pies after long and severe Investigation and
not until he turned every side upon the light OF
reason. When once eat ,lished, he never de-
serted mem-he never left them for a moment.
ais mind was strong, s dund and capacious-
NO brilliant flashes of genius-no dazzling rays
10 cross his steady light. The march of his
nho, hRe his natural gait, was deliberate and
urn. lie adopted no opinion till it had been ac-
ourateiy weighed, and then (in his own wordsy
ne would struggle to maintain it"
AS an advocate at the bar, (and here. almost
entirely was he known to The wri,er) No deyelon-
ca ca himself completely. He never sacrificed to
ms Gent the respect which was due to his coun.
Try anu to himself Honesty was his polar star
n, lie never even conceded opinion VIII. ch he be.
iieVed to be right shall never forget the so.
e
nance, and the hrmness of his manner, when he
lately commenced an argument. Nav il please
your honors, m every great constitutional questi.
on consider that there are two distinct duties
OF an advocaie--one which he owes to his coun-
.ry, and the other which he owes to his client"
lie spoke from the heart to the heart his arpu.
ments were solid and convincing, because we
were certain that what he said, he believed him
sell. He seemed to spurn all ornament lest il
should dazzle the understanding but when, he
did attempt 1T, we were convinced what he could
do, were he to pursue it further. Particularly he
disdaIned to use IT, as Others sometimes do to
supply material deficiencies, or 10 conceal radi-
cal faults. He always seemed proud to throw
open his whole mind, conscious that it could sun
port the strictest scrutiny. II lis manner was go-
verned by the dignity ofhis mind And, to sum
up his merits as an advocate at the bar, he nev-
ca ceased to recolect, that he was man, citizen
and moral agent.
AS politician, what shall say of hun Who
does not remember that important moment when
| a whole host was arrested by his single arm -
| Who has not heard of the man who threw him.
| self before the spear which was levelled at his
| countryl We c;nnot enough admire hat moral
| courage which he displayed and that noble atti-
| tude which he assumed, when with almost ma
| glc influence he held faction immoyeable, even
! after she had vaulted into her charo, while the
| dogs of war, " lashed in like hounds" were
| crouchng at his feet. 1t has been said, aud by
4 Ire
| y-that when he discovered the direction which
they had taken, and the lengths to which they
| tended, he withdrew from them and stood aloof
| that he might secure the votes of al the other
! party, as we'll as of the moderate of his own. in
his advancement to the pct of Governor of Msss
| sachusetts.
eli 1T were so, it was grievous fault
And grievously hath Caesar answered it"
| Let it rest in his grave. But no. this IS not to
/ ha. III
above It. When politician is accused of sece.
ding from his party, we lie to hear hun answer
| that his party has deserted him But is not this
| more often true han the former An honest no.
| htlcan establishes his principles, and by them
graduates his rule of conduct. So id Mr. Deg.
ter. When his party had d genera ed into fcti.
on-when they began to unfurl the banner of re.
bellion--
"When judgment had fed to british beasts.
And men had lost their reason-''
then he refused TO accompany their mad career
then 1T that he ret red within his princ,nIasy
and opposed their progress. He nrver inin1d
his opponents, he never changed even his opin,.
ons. He was always afederaIist, and openly a.
vowed i IN the last speech which he ever deIiv,
ed at the bar. Such is the honest politician. Such
only IS the politician who can ever be Statesman
and such was Mr.. Dexter-he who nref, rred
to be great in himself rather than in the opinions
of Others. Perhaps it Will be long ere ws
shall look upon his like again." unless il NAV be
some one, who, inspired with admiration of his
Character, shall keep constantly before him this
illuStriOus example
The epoch of his political life, when he was
summoned fiom he world, forcibly reminds uc
OF that elegant DEPRESSION OF Burke, in his speecb
at BRISTOL, declining the election--when he al.
ludes to the sudden death CT one of the candi4
dates. "Gentlemen, the melancholy event Of
yesterday has read to us an awful lesson against
being too much troubled about any of the objects
of ordinary ambition. The worthy gentleman
who has been sna'ched from us, at the moment
of the election, and in the middle of the contest.
whilst his desires were as warm, and his hopes
as eager as ours, has teelingly told what sha.
dows we are, and what shadows we pursue"
L.
NEw YoRE, May Il