The native American., 1838-02-03

erS nau laHeH ue HaHueS Oh DemOSLneneS anu
Cicero and to them giventhe powerto sway
the judgment and enchant the heart.
The eloquence of an eloquent man is the harp
music of the soul Who that has listened to those
gifted in voice and mind, descanting on some
grand absorbing topic, but has held his breath,
lest the smallest word should pass beyond his
yearning sense; how the pulses quicken how the
whole nervous system is agitated and attuned to
the incest sensibility,-a fever seems to overcome
us. and we would almost permit the crowd in our
rear to rush over us like the Juggernaut of the
Indian, so that we might be permitted, in our
diving agones, to catch the melodious voice and
inspired language of the orator.
Do paint too wildly for this age Of kissing
steamboats, and laundering railroads. To those
who may favor these columns with a perusal, who
live beyond the convenient chance of paying
visit to Washington, and who have been accus-
toned to view eloquence merely in the abstract
never having seen it embodied, save in some
county court lawyer of their vicinage, perhaps all
my enthusiasm may be placed to the account of
'.small change;" but can assure them that there
lis no influence so overcoming, administering,
as that of language.
have said my euoginm at the commencement
1 Of this paper, and shall not trouble my friends
with a renewal.
! Having never been in England, am of course
incapable Of introducing comparisons between
English orators and our own. | have never
heard Lord Brougham, that wild and daring ge-
MUS, soar in his philosophical political flights;
nor O'Connel, the child of Erin and of agitation,
who poured the lava of his burning heart so CO.
/ piously on the heads of the thousands at GLASGOW
that they would have made an arch of triumph
for him with their discovered arms; nor Shel
whose kinded eye is said to be so full of thought
nor Lyndherst, that first great man of the British
realm;-but | have been where genius was
prompting her sons to great and mastery efforts
| have stood by the hour, when wished every
true lover of eloquence could have been with me
and heard the glorious pictures drawn Of power
States, and of Government. In a country like
1 our own, so overrun and trodden down by news
papers that 60 forth from the little sanctums o
the press-rooms, to cut the Dclphic to gaping
eyes; need not say that allude to the American
j Congress the scene of all this eocution; fol
those papers have all and each directly or nd
rectly pointed, at one time another, to the Capt.
J tol as the arena where great men fight their bat
ties, and where principles greater than empires
are the subject Of combat.
| wish it to be understood in these Chances y
that do not speak in party sense, for am
not political writer. My object is to give a
sketch of Congress as it is-its members, and
their manners; but must be pardoned if / travel
little out of the record to point of time re-
moved some years back. | refer to the great
South Carolina debate which took place in the
Senate Chamber upon the Tariff question of 1893.
was in the gallery. The notification fever had
risen almost phrenzy high. Members of all par
ties had deserted the lower House to witness the
splmtering of lances between Robert Y. Hayne,
Of South Carolina, and Daniel Webster. When
/ entered the Hall, General Hayne was speaking;
he was man of general youthful appearance, with
his shirt collar turned over his cravat, and his
hair smoothly brushed across his forehead. He
was OF the middle stature and well made. He
was speaking energetically--his eyes were pc
he moved up and down the allies formed between
the desks with rapid and agitated step; his
gestures were vehement, and he appeared to be
under high state of excitement. | was pecu-
lary struck with his whole appearance, and the
tone of feeling evident in. the Chamber. Mr.
Calhoun was III the chair: with his large, steady,
and vgant eyes Witnessing the first great battle
of his doctrine; he seemed the very spirit Of
embodied interest-not word, not gesture Of
General Hayne escaped his lion look. The
Senate deeply interested as matter of course.
The language of General Hayne was rich and
vigorous; and his powerful sketch of the effect OF
the Impost Law on the South-the description
he gave of her people-his own bold and hazard
Gus elocution and impetuous bearing, were evi-
IDENTIFY making strong impression on the body
From time to time attention would be directed
from him to the gentleman who was expected to
answer him, and whom General IIayne attacked
under cover Of terrible and CALLING fire.
Cold, serene, dark and melancholy, that man.
thus assaicd, sat apart, bleak and frowning as
mountain rock; he evidently felt the gigantic in
luences that were at work around him, but his
profound mind was Strengthening itself for the
contest. And how deeply solemn was that hour,
that tmoment-how grand that scene, and what