New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1844-03-05

| down his words and actions, day by day, week
| after week and month after month, crltlcIsDg his
style and his words, comparing his eloQuence "llh
| that Of more finished and polished orators and bet
ter logicians. With his great eoquence, orator.
is not part OF that man $ character. IL Is ou,
weapon IN his hand and if there is an enemy to be
destroyed itmatters not whether ne be sclen.ihcai
| w pierced with a polished blade or crushed VITA
| an iron mace. Great orators are commonly very
unsteady, weak men IL achon practlcai sense
and Judgment. Demosthenes was-oicero GER
| lainlv was-and 50 were some OF the gfedtesl VI
| the British Orators-Bollngbr oke, Burke, Snefi-
dan, Brougham and Others But when The time
brinys = great purpose to great man, capable OF
annreciat;ng and achieving it, he will not fail to
express and vindcate it in the right way If he
have energy, enthusiasm quickness, courage and
self possession. Such was the eloquence OF our
| man It was the eloquence Of the time and the
purpose, torrent, deluge that swept away ali
the fences of logic and all the ornament of taste
| And SO these critical observers looked on. and
noted and marked till the dark hours came and
their criticism was forgotten for all felt that they
| wanted not great orator. but a great mana
| man for the g time" and man to the "pur-
pose.n The crisis came. Clouds were rising.
| We looked up to the armament of our glory, to
the lights of our age, seeking IN them their an
| Gent ustre All saw till certain stars shot
madly from their spheres" and we saw some " fall
from Heaven to earth" and some going out IN
the darkness of death. But there was one great
star which still shone on and grew brighter
| through the broken clouds and IN the deepening
rloom, till all other lights paled to its sparkling,
cheering ray, and it filed the whole sphere with
its glory. It was to the patriot the star of Mem
ory and of Hope 1t was the nations polar star,
the star of it's faith and of its destiny.
When, in those trying days, there were doubts
and sudden fears, whispers of treachery, rumors
of assertions, betokening defeat. when the front Of
battle wavered, and the lines were breaklng,- then
came forth the champion to retrieve the cause; and
his clarion.voice like {" blast from the bugie,"
sounded the war-note again, and cheered our
warriors to the charge. They closed the ranks
which death and desertlon had thmned, and IN
solid battalion. when the time OF profitable con-
test vast past began that noble retreat WHICH,
like that of the 10000 Greeks under Aenophon,
was moro glorious than a hundred victories. IL
was a retreat from the corruptlons ana allure
ments of power and gold, all that the monarch
nd h;o satraps could offer from the resources OF
an empire They could not buy the men who
then took up their two years march through dry
deserts and painless tangled, torests--over cold,
dreary mountains piled on mountains, TIL they
reached the end of their pilgrimage III their wei
come home But "the blast from the bugleS
checrcd them on their toilsome and dangerous
way, and inspired them at once with the memory
of former victories and the hope of new trlumphs
on fa!rcr fields.
Such were the trials and struggles Of that band
of faithful mcorruptible patriots-the immortal
Twenty Seventh Congress. They recognized
their leader, in an hour when to be without
leader was ruin They rallied under him, sus-
tanned him, initiated him, and clung to him as
the nations last hope. And, at length, when the
hour came for his departure, and they thronged
to hear him for the last time in that place whose
glory he had been so long, and III that saddened
moment when all the great and thrilling reme1n-
ORANGES Of that life rushed Oh them, Who will
wonder that they wept, and that his enemies, his
antagonists in the contests of twenty years, wept
with them? The sentiment of the hour was i'm
passioned. And then they all felt how much that
was soft and kind and aAecticnate was blent
with the noble and great in that character, and
how largely love was mingled with yeneratlon III
their feelings to him.
He was not thus withdrawn from immediate
agency in that cause, till well assured that the
great remaining measure was IN the hands OF
men determined and able to perfect 1t. But
though many such capable men were found, &C
tive IN their several places, and fulfilling their
several duties with patient and courageous de-
votion, yet the great scheme oil action Was not
complete without a man who could act III the
place Of the absent chief. to realize his pun
pose, to lead In the great work, to conduct
the defence, and head the charge. Such d
man was found as soon as sought, II the per-
son OF one, who with modest pretenson and
mild demeanor, had ever pursued the PLAIN path OF
public duty without seeking occasions OF display,
but who, however varously and severely tried. had
always proved fully equal to every emergency,
always greater than the occasion. Standing as
the financial leader of the House, between two
fires. continually assaulted by the opposition, and
by the Administration which annoyed HIM with
secret tricks and open attacks, and labored to
thwart him and deceive him by false information,
while he was toiling to raise the means to carry
on the Government-he still went calmly on, re-
sisting alike assault and temptation, Watchiul,
sagacious, concniatory but bold till he triumph
ed over all, coming off victor in every encounter,
and finally extorting reluctant commentator
from his most INSCRIPTIONS opponents. Andnot
merely in the great Assembly of the National
Representatives, where action in the sight of the
world is fame, and makes public history, but IN
the laborious, yet unappreciated and obscure oc-
equations of the committee-room, he tolled long
and faithfully, often watching while others slept,
planning, collecting, comparing, arranging, and
perfecting the details of the great measures which
were not presented to the eye of the Public till
these quiet exertons had been lavished almost to
exhaustion Thus and under his hands, aided by
faithful associates, the TARIFF was framed and
he, its author, then became its observation-disclosures
ready with the solid eloquence of action and of
Just and vigorous language. He caredit through
that long and harasslng contest, TILT trlumphed
at last, at the sacrifice OF pride and just resent
| m