The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1843-04-29
from the Observer and Repor,er.l
MIR. NAGLE'S PORTRAIT OF HENRY
CLAY.

| MIX. NAGLE'S PORTRAIT OF HENRY
CLAY.
Lofty, erect, beneath the Senate's dome,
His bald high forehead eloquent with thought,
His clear eye kindled with patriots fire,
Stands up, my country, here, the noble form
OF ono amongst the proudest and the best,
OF thy illustAious sons; around him spread
Memorials of the trophies he has wen:
Here are the ANVIL and the SHUTTLE; here,
Hard by the PLOUGH, which his own hand hath
| held;
| While far npon the blue and boor,i1,g sea,
Leans the tall SHIP before the freshning gale;
Fair symbols all, ofthat tr-sistcrhood,
| The bond of nations, and their imminent,
The strength and glory of the common veal
Wide COMMERCE, arcient HUsBANpRy, and ART
Beside him hangs in broad and flowing folds
OF striped and starry blazonry, that flag,
Meier borne aloft by tyrant hands, nor struck
In base dishonor to conquering foe
Young freedoms ems ign 10 waiting world.
o, well the artists cunning hand hath wrought,
In shape and shade, the spirit of the scene!
And musing here in still and thoughtful mood,
In pensive silence gazing on the brow,
My busy memory gathers up the past,
Runs Ger the records of departed time,
And marks the progress of his high career,
| Whose form and features beam upon me now.
|
| Unknown to greatI ess, borne upon no page
Of proud but empty heraldry; his lot
Cast not amidst the gay and giitterng scenes
OF rank and rches his sole heritage
clear, strong head great and fiery heart,
| And, browning these, the birthright Of the free!
While yet the fresh bloom of LIES youthful
| years
CLOVIS on his checks, that burning soul hath
found.
Full utterance from hiseloquent lips--to scourge
The false fears ofoppression, and to CLAIM
Unshackled, freedom for the pen and speech.
| see him next, ere thirty summer suns
Had shed their radiance on his upward path,
Standing, peer, amidst that choicest few,
| The honored and the trusted OF the land,
The guardians OF its liberty and laws
Bearing upon his brow, asd ia his heart,
With the high hope and confidence of youth,
The calm, clear wisdom of experienced age.
Well hast thou placed him, artist, underneath,
That vaulted roof whose arches have sent back
So oft the echo of his clarion voice.
Uplifted, ever, for the right and true.
Here, when deep gloom was brooding DER the
| realm,
When foreign despots tramplcd down our rights,
And wavering sons within grew pale with fear,
He reused the ancient spirit of our homes,
10 guard again their fre-sides, and once more
|
And his strong words, like tempests DER the sea,
Bore ON that infant navy, whose young arm
Struck down. in many well-contested fipht,
Her meteor flag, whose folds had proudly swept,
In naughty triumph, over the ted waves
Of Nile, the Baltic, and dread Trafalgar!
Here when that cry for help fell on his ear,
From out the Andes Rocky Businesses,
| From the green borders of the far La Plate,
And from its broad Savannas-how he hailed,
| ,n,,r ~.
| And babe the struggling nations to be free!
Here, in prouder hour, with loftier post,
When his own country's sword had eleven thro'
The sanctity ofprvate right--he stood,
Ue awed, amidst the storm ofobloquy,
| And kissing hate, that ratified round his head
Guarding the civic ggs of the State
From the rough onset of usurping war!
When Greece-fair land of liberty and song
Long crushed, and bound, and bleeding-with
| her neck
| Beneath the Moslem's heel-rose up at length
Stirred by the genius other glorious past,
Summoned by voices from the sunny shores
OF Saiams, and from the rocky pass
of terrible Thermopyle to shake
OFF from her limbs the letters of the slave,
And from her soul the palsying lethargy
VI long, dark years, new Demosthenes
Spoke hope and courage TO her listening ear,
In tones and spirit worthy ofthe old.
Hail! Patriot, Sage, and Statesman on thy
brow,
Though tickle Fortune may not set her seal,
greer er garland blooms than any wreath
The wayward goddess for her minions binds;
And in thy hands, though office may not place
Its barren sceptre and its fleeing power,
brighter, better destiny is thine,
Then all these empty honors can bestow.
Thou hast thy country's love: with her renown
Thy own is woven; with her name, thy name,
In union understandable, is bound;
The pages of her history are thine!
And when thy setting sun shall touch the verge
OF life's horizon, shall a nations eyes
Follow in sadness the departing light;
nations heart thy memory shall embalm;
nations tongue thy eulogy shall speak;
Worthy amongst the worthiest of her sons,
Her dauntIess champion, and her steadfast friend.