Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1843-02-16
From The National LateHigeneer, Oh instant.
THE PRESENTATION OF THE
sword OF Washington.

4 THE PRESENTATION OF THE
sword OF EYasiair geon.
The scene presented in the House of Re-
representatives. yesterday, was one of those
brief moments of refreshing, which, lew
and far between, occur 10 the weary,
way-worn, heart-sick traveller across the
sandy Zahara, where he comes upon a
cluster OF palms, and beneath their CRATE
ful shade finds yelling spring worthy 10
be called "the Diamond of the Desert.
| Ii was an hour when the remembrance Of
better days rushed with power upon the
heart, and bore II away, for the time, from
surrounding dearth, and transported il, as
in vision, TO happier cline. |. was a
moral mirage, in which, while gazing 10
| thought upon what " that old man elo-
quent p" well denomnated "our Golden
Age" one forgot that there are such
things as demagogues, and can be such
things as statesmen, neither bic nor pure.
1 WASHINGTON, our own WASHINGTON,
might be imagined, for moment, 10 have
"burst his ceremenis," and 10 be present
in the Legislative Halls OF the land he
loved and both the man who offered, and
man who received The cherished memo
rails Of the dead PATRIoT seemed to have
felt, while they spoke, the inspiration Of
greater presence than that which was Wis
ibIe about them. fanciful observer
might have believed that the mere touch
of WAsmINGToN' SWORD had a sort Of
moral electricity about it, and that he who
did but handle the staff on which FRANK
LIN had SO often leaned, caught By the
contac. something of his elevatng wis.
dom.
Mr.. Summers, as we well know, is es-
teemed at home as a lawyer high stan
ding, and IL man Of great strength and
purity Of character, but his warmcst
I friends could not have desired that his
parting speech (f it were his last) rs
member of Congress should have been
more worthy of the place and OF the man.
He treated q subject on which it is no
easy task TO speak without triteness in a
manner at once simple, appropriate, and
dignified, saying just enough and 90 more,
and saying it with a warmth Of feeling too
sincere to be counterelied. His brief ac-
count Of the relics he presented was ceur
and succnct, and ye; had enough of par.
ticularty TO give it the highest interest.
AS he proceeded, the crowded holl and
galleries were mute as the grave and
while every eye gazed, and many an eye
overlooked, every ear listened with the
eagerest attention TO the close.
The response of Mr.. Adams was every
way such as might have been expected
from him; but those who only read it,
mus: lose more than half the impression
with which it was received. The associ-
atoms of the occasion we're such as could
not fail to reach a mind like his, and n
waken within 1t those deep and powerful
| feelings which, when unaroused, slumber
beneath an aspect and manner which
give no token other presence. HIS IN
donations were deep and imprisoned his
voice laItered-:he eloquent blood rushed
in torrents to his countensnce-and his
whole figure, attitude, and gesture were
those of one Of Natures orators strongly
moved.
! The whole transaction was in high de.
gree crectabe to our country, and its re-
cords on our archives will mark al lea
one bright day in the contemporaneous
history of Congress.
AS soon as the speeches were ended,
and the resolution moved by Mr.. Adams
had been adopted, Mr.. Taiaferro, himself
Virginian, land we may add with truth
fine specimen of the Virginia gentleman
acting as the Father of the House, ?"
which the date Of his commission entities
him to do, moved that both the address OF
Mr.. Summers and the response Of Mr..
Adams be inserted at length on the Jour
nal which having been ordered, Mr.. Nc
KEENAN,, a Pennsylvania, closed the
scene in dgnlhed and mast appropriate
manner by moving, in honor Of the occa.
sion, that The House adjourn.
And now occurred a spectacle true to
Nature. The decorum of the House had
kept every man in his sea, while the ad-
dresses were in delivery and the votes be-
ing taken: but no sooner had the adj
Ijournment been announced, and the Speak
er left the Chair, than there was a stimuli
taneous rush from all quarters 10 obtain "a
nearer view Of the interesting memorials
Of our great lost Patriots. Nor was the
eye satisfied with seeing. Every hand
was outstretched TO touch them. 1t was
like tlomer's scene Of the bending Of u
lysses' bow; and many puny hand now
grasped the sword of WASHINGTON that
would have trem6led in the scenes where
II once cleaned in the eyes Of the foes to
American independence. Demand after
demand was made for pleasure SO CRATE.
full and so rare; and it was long before
the Sergeant-at-Arm could rescue staff
and falchlon from the still eager hands
that reluctantly gave them up TO his Gus
tody. They were ordered to be deposited
in the Department of State: but we pre-
sumo they will eventually accompany the
military commission, his uniform and
other precious memorials Of WASHINGTON
which have been transferred from that
Department 10 the halls of the National
Institute.
/ ScoLDING.-l never knew a Seeding
person that was able to govern a family.
What makes people scold Because
they cannot govern themselves. How