Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1840-1842, 1842-05-27
speEcH on MR. RAYNha.


The gentleman from fennsylvannta lNr Brswn)
Aiteh.pted 10 be severe on the Wing party, and
tainted us with a violation Of our promises and
With the distress under which the country now sui.
ferx. Did the gentleman forget he was addressing
n deliberate assembly, ot did he imagine himself
on the hustings IN Moyamensing. appealing to the
PASSIONS OF the crowd on the approach OF an election1
Where is the g%entleman's csndor, where his regard
TO historical truth
mr. BRows rose, and asked leave to exPlsin.l
Nit RAYsEs. would willingly near the gentle
mans explanation, II he would eoohne h,mseh 10
that. know the gentleman well. When ne com
menca- speaking, he seems unsbled To stop himself,
hut appears to he impelled onward by some power,
similar TO that principle IN physics which causes a
body, when once put IN motion, IN the absence of
any other resisting power, to move on IN a straight
Inc forever. When the gentleman begins to speak,
il really seems painful to him to stop. But to be
serious; does he not know that the last Admins
tration left us, as a legacy, a debt oi many millions
10 pay; with an empty Treasury, with a deeaying
commerce. with a ruined public credit, with the re
sources OF the country crippled and languishingf
Did We not find tue country defeBeelcss-our for
tthesuons dila pidsted- our navy neglected ana TOT
tng-Our army reduced 10 almost nothing oy the
il conducted Florida war-our public buildings na-
hnIshed-our hatbors sinking 10 ruinI And have
W. no, h,d TO provide Tor oil these1 Does not the
gentlemen know that we have failed IN passing our
great favorite measure OF relief, a Bank OF the UNI
ted States, aud that, too, owing 10 the wles and Sc
auctions Of his own friends1 Docs he not know
NltN faAftuAlNb ph~NNNaA NaAN' W. wv W. wv -
every movement we make towards relieving the dis
tre,ses OF the timesl And are we TO he taunted
with this, and insulted for our mlsiortunei As well
might he who hires the ASSASSIN 10 do the Iced OF
death, Insult his victim in his agony, and taunt HIM
with a want OF caution in not warding oil the blow.
No, sir, we are not responsible-the Wing party
here is not responsible Tor the evils Of the country.
Those are responsible who have seduced the acting
President from his own professed principles; and
who are now leagued with him IN making war on
thOSe Who elevated him TO mower. saw 10 the
gentleman from Pennsylvania and his party he is
rouR President-he gives rou his conhdence-he
listens TO YOUR counsels. II you wish the couctry
relieved from suffering, go 10 him and tell him Of
the wide spread distress that prevails; of bank
ruptcy and ruin stalking through the land; OF the
honest poverty that is asking for bread; OF the cries
OF the suffering widow and orphans OF all the great
b anches of industry languishing; OF public CONN
uence destroyed; of the credit of the Government
dishoncrcd; OF The golden harvest which brokers and
spectators are reaplng; OF the people OF this ex-
tenslye country eIelaiming, IN the language OF
Scripture, "What shall we do 10 be saved Go
and tell him this, and appeal TO him, in the name OF
his suffering and bleeding country, TO pause, TO con-
slider, TO retrace his steps, before the inst.coUectirs
clements Of combustion shall have burst into a hanno.
Tell him to divest his mind OF the intoxicating IN
huenee of power; TO shut his eyes against the daz-
zling glare OF his position; to forget Tor a while the
's,ars and garters" Of a future reelection which
dance before his bewildered Imagination; and to
listen TO the counsels OF those who, by n minority
OF lil,uuU votes, placing Nun IN bHt NUG VI NlNApN
tion, by which he reached his present elevation.
The disasters of the country require that the ex-
pertinent should be made. But It you Will not DO
this; If you will continue to urge him forward IN
defeating all our measures OF rehet; II you VIII
continue to "laugh al our calamiues on your heads
let the responsibility rest-foT there, and there only,
will 1t properly belong. {
The "peculiar friends Of the Executive, and their {
new allies, the self styled Democrats, plainly SHOW,
by the coincidence of their remarks, what the great
principle Of cohesion that unites them together
They well know the "optn sesame" 10 the heart OF
him who dispenses patronage at the other end OF |
the capital. 1t is haired Of him, who of all men
living has done mos, for his country; who has ad-
hered 10 her interests through "weal and through !
We" whose high and unbending soul will not stood
to the grovelling considerations OF selhshness and
ambition. Like Mordecai, the Jew, he sits unter. 0
rihed al the gate, and bows not 10 Haman. And /
the possession OF power, the dispensing Of patron. /
age, the aitterins OF the obsequious. and the sevili-
" Of the umld, "ali avail noihingn TO his ~revilers, I
SO org as he dares to love his country better than I
himself. And even now, when, after many long
years OF toll, he needs repose, and is about TO retire {
10 the shades Of private life, vituperauon and calum. s
ny continue TO pursue him with the fury OF a hend. :
Wei might he hang his head in sorrow at the in
gratitude he has received, but that his philosophic
mind well knows that il has always been the lot
Of the yirtuous and the good TO encounter the ran.
cor Of cnmity and vice. The great master of the {
human heart has enumerated "the insolence Of of I
nv anu Wv 0EANA' hh@N NANfAh " NAb NAu 1 I
takes, as among the ills that flesh is heir to-" The
efforts of those who are attempting TO injurs The c
fair fame OF Henry Clay remind me of the boast 4
OF The Indian savage, that with an arrow he could c
pluck the moon from heaven. After much vaunt. s.
ing OF his skill In archery, he bent his bow, he took "
his aim, and let hy his arrow. The shaft soon f.
spent itself in air, and fell TO the ground, while the IL
bright luminary sailed on, undImmed and unscathed, h
through the SKY. And so will It prove with the e
efforts Of The revilers Of Henry Clay. They may Il
discharge at him the arrows OF their spite, till the a
whole quiver OF caiumny is empued; but still he Il
will stand hrm and mistaken as the rock, against a
which the iretung waves Of the ocean may lash "
in VAN. They may, perhaps, 10y their
wies and strltasems, prevent the gratitude OF those M
appreciate his services and his sacrifices from
rewardIng him as they wish, bot still they cannot L.
prevent his name from going down TO posterity as u
me incorrupIbie patriot and s,atesman-as the =
ughiIn the political tempests Of his time y
rs the heneiacior Of his country-ast the friend OF y
Thcy cannot depnve him of that =
'-- unfat lng fame. q
Which vIrue hangs uuOu - y1fary1a touuh o. z