Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1847-06-30

gesara fald sxcepta atthe opsien Of the Publishers
sUBsTANCE OF
C0I BENTl s SPEC L.
# May 2sth, 1s47s
Col. B. said this was the proper place for
him to make his thanks to the people Of
Missouri for the honor Of thirty years cleo
hons to the Senate of1the II. States. It
was the seatof government, and the place
where the elections, a1l except the first, had
been held. Il was the central point from
which his voice would issue, and diverge
and 90 forth to every part of the State.
Thanks to the art Of printing, the audi
enee Of the speaker is no longer limited to
the circle, numerous and respectable as it
NAV be-, (and as this is within the sound
ofhis. voice; but his words preserved, and
the sounds embodied for the eye, fly to eve-
rv'point Of the compass; and the expanded
audience, in the form OF readers, become
co-extensive with the magnitude of thesub-
iect, and with the interest which the speak
or is able to excite. In this way he con-
sidered himself as now speaking to the
whole body ofthe people Of Missouri, and
wished every one, up to the renotest limits
Of this State, to consider himself personally
addressed, and personally thanked, when
reading the expression Of the grateful eff
fusions Of his heart for the unparalleled
honor which had been done him.
He was indebted to the people not only
for the honor Of these elections, but for the
solid benefit Of their support and confidence
in the long discharge of his eventful and
arduous duties. His had been no holiday
service. It covered not only a long period
Of time, but period filed with great events
events affecting the interests and the pas.
sions Of the whole community = and on all
s.of which he had felt himself called, either
!: by sense Of duty, or by force of position,
or by temperament, to act decided part.
<IIe had acted up TO, what he believed to be,
the line of duty on every occasion. Fear
lesslY. courageously, disinterestedly, he had
q s. Is sInn calculation ever baked
him: 10 selfish consideration ever tainted
his motives: no unworthy fear of the event.
ful Justice of his constituents ever haunted
his mind, or paralyzed his exertions. He
had often acted without previous knowl-
edge of the wishes of his constituents; some
times against their pretty well known
never against their expressed wishes; but
always for their intended good always
from profound conviction Of right-and
always IN the firm confdence of an equita-
bic Judgment, and eventual approval of his
conduct. And never had the event de-
ceived him. Though staggered and per-
PICKED sometimes, las in the Oregon and
Fexas questions, et.in the end, all came
right. An enlightened and just constitu-
Aney did justice 10 disinterested motives and
solid reasons. They approved in the end
what they doubted in the beginning. They
had sustained hin under all trials; and now
he owed as much gratitude for the solid
benefit Of this generous, kind, never fail
ins support, as he did for the unparalleled
honor Of thirty years unbroken elections to
the highest branch of the highest political
body which the genius of free institutions
admits.
The numerous elections he had received,
. and thegenerous support which had been
given him, (col. B., said, had not only
BEEN honorable to himself and his constitu-
ents, but to the institutions, republican and
popular, under which they took place
Fickleness and instability gratitude and
injustice to public men-were old and stand
ing reproaches to republican governments
The ingrafitude of republics had grown into
d proverb. To use public man as an
instrument, OF d toy, taken up without af-
fection, and thrown away without a fault,
was considered by many as the natural re-
suit Of the elective principle and of the lev
yof popular Institutions. His thirty years
eiectiuu so ri.o 6r111r5 Of rhe 6nitcd
would bean answer to that reproach-an
answer to ii, sofar as Missouri was con-
NSerned. She had been steadfast, stable, and
grateful. She had stood by her Senator
as faithfully as he had stood by her; and the
senly contest between them at present was
lone Of further kindness, and further hon
or. proposed on one side, and declined on
the other. He alluded to the repeated
nominations, legislative and popular, which
J proposed him for the Presidency of the
United States. g For the feelings which in
duced that most honorable nomination, so
often, and In so many forms repeated, he
was most profoundly grateful, and now
made his most heartfelt thanks. But these
nominations, while pleasant und acceptable
under one aspect under the aspect of hon.
!. or end canfidence-Wer embarrassing and
s even. injurious, under another. They put
him in q false position, as presumptiye can
zdidate for place with which ne nad utter
sly and uniformly refused TO permit his name
10 be connected. They impaired his use
fulness in the Senate by subjectmg his con
duct, in the discharge of his public duties, Z
9 unjust criticisms. Under this aspect, thes,
nominations were embarrassing to him
and detrimental to the public service. Bu
this little contest, so amicable and transi
emf, was now at an end. His letter to tn
Howard county meeting-he chose t
answer oil in one letter to that mother 0
scouniries-he had given the reply whicl
would silence the question. He had no