The Whig standard. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1843-1844, 1844-07-12
REMARKS OF HON. !. Nj. b. cAttsiN Ar
THE BLADENSBURG CELEBRATION
JtJLY A. IS44

REMARKS UF HUN. u M -. CAUHIN AT
THE BLADENSBURG CELEBRATION,
JULY 4, lS44.
Mr.. Causin, after referring TO the principles of
the two parties of the country, and briefly review.
ing their claims upon the consideration of the
people, then made stirring appeal to his con-
stituents, and besought them to bestow every
energy and endeavor they possessed towards the
advancement of the principles they held in COM
mon with the Wing party. He called upon them
to do their duty; and if there be one wing, said
he, within the sound of my voice, who faIters in
the glorious cause in which he is engaged, if his
ardor be not yet revived, if his energy be yet un-
nerved, and the every feeling of his whole heart
and soul be not yet alive to the Importance of the
eventful crisis, then conjure him, by his own
and his country's welfare, to arouse from his le-
thargy, to rekndle the fires of 40 not yet flicker
ing in the splendor of their victory, ay, | would
advise him by every tie of interest and of patriot
ism to visit our neghbors Of the District of Co.
lumbia, and there relume the expiring flame of
his bosom from that vesta lamp. whose pure and
holy light the wings of that place have kept and
still keep, burning with the undying fervor Of
vigils, bestirring, and bracing, and exhilara,ing
their wing brethren of the States, and perpetu
ally illnmining our country's Capitol as an ever
standing altar of wing principles There he
might see what men can do. who have no incen-
tive but their countrys good, no sinister motive
of self interest by procuring through the elective
franchise the honors and high places Of Govern
ment, no base and sordid spirit, calling up an
equally base and despicabe pretence Of patriot
ism but with exertions pure and undefi|ed as
the native fires of their bosoms, they have zeal
without reward, energy without gain, determine.
yton without Indictment, and the most vigorous
action without the slightest prospect from its ex-
ertion, except the honor and the happiness of
their common country. l have read of Grecian
heroism, of Spartan courage, of Roman firmness
but there are none Of these qualities which in my
opinion command SO much admiration from man.
kind, az that of beholdng community of indi-
v:duas, with fixed and unbending decision, adj
herring, in the midst of power and might, to their
opinions and sentiments. To see them disregard
ing oppression, and to the very last, firm to prn-
ciple and to patriotism, notwithstanding their
dearest interests we're retarded, perhaps sacri-
feed, by resistance ay, too, to observe them in
the very mouth Of the lions den nnterrfed and
unawed by either threats or denuncatons, was,
say, in my estimation, an exerton OF the sterner
and nobler faculties of the human soul, which
shows to the world scene of moral sublimity
and grandeur rarely to be found. | feel, fellow
citizens, in giving my feeble testimony in behalf
of the people of that District, that also bespeak
portion of the praise for my own generous and
high minded constituents, for part of them are
but {" bone of our bone, and sinew of our snew."
They are as children wandering from the thresh-
old of their fathers, who turn with fervor Of de-
votion and affection towards their parental domi-
Gil. and feel and kno,o. persecution and oppres-
sion for opinions sake should befal them in their
present situation, that within its venerable halls
there IS left niche where in common with our
selves they may enjoy the full fruiton of that
religious and civil freedom therein established by
our and their ancestors, and preserved by poster
ty. Maryland never yielded up her territory to
become an object of neglect and experiment for
those who can not, dare not face their own con-
stituents with the exquisite humbugs they at
tempt to fasten upon Others to whom they are not
responsible. feel for that neglected people, as
if they were now almost my constituents, and
with qualification would hail the day Of entirely
assuming on my part the relative duty existing
between representative and constituent--the
day when all division lines shall be obterated,
when good old Maryland shall have restored TO
her mangled bosom these wandering children OF
hers, who. like the tribes of Israel, might again
receive their rights in the fond and attectionate
embrace of their father land
Friends and opponents are equally astonished
why it is, that under the ve-y throne of power
and patronage, and notwithstanding so many in
ducements Of public Office and pecuniary reward
for the last sixteen years to the contrary, there
should be found within that District so many fast,
devoted, ardent, yes, ardent and sincere friends
or Henry Oldy. llt PiouiCM 70 Caoby oo'scu'
It is an instinct as we'll of the human heart as an
inclination Of the reason of man, to sympathize
with the prosecuted, whether that persecution be
directed against particular societies or particular
individuals. The people of Washington are the
living witnesses of the persecution, nay, more,
of the calumny and detraction heaped upon the
name and fame and character Of Henry Clay
They have heard him and seen him struggling
and battling for right and freedom during thirty
long and eventful years; they have stood beside
him in the approaching crisis of their country's
dissolution, Watching sleepless and almost heart
less, the eventful moment, and they have seen
that crisis met and overcome by his eloquence,
his wisdom, his devotion to the Union They
kno,o these detractons to be asehoods. and living
in sight of the very theatre of his glory and re-
nown, they noby dare to brand them as such |!
We read that the brave Manlius Of old, who SO
successfully resolved to defend the citadel Of
Rome to the last against the fire and sword of
the ruthless Gau, and who cast headlong from
ill., rorno;on rock those bloody invaders of his