The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1850-03-13


spouse to the improved feeling of the coun
try. The enthusiasm Of faction, the zeal
of infatuation, and the ofiiciousness of such
as fatten on mischief, prolonged and pam
pered discord. In the Senate, other minds
had conceived and offered terms of COM
promise; other patriots had sought TO quell
the raging discomfort; but as these were
supposed to favor the localities whence
they came, they were not needed as
they should have been. The Union was
yet menaced with sudden overthrow. A
day was set which could not be passed
with safety; and, to aggravate the difficult
ties which beset the country, the people
had but few representatives who could
speak to the question, without mixing it
up with factious opposition to the Admin
istration, or addressing themselves to the
prejudices and passions Of their immediate
districts. 1t was under these circum-
stances that it was announced that Mr..
WEBSTER would address the Senate upon
the state of the country. 1t went forth to
inspire men with hope; for from the be-
ginning there was belief, that grew into
conviction with every mind, that he
would speak for the Union, as the repre-
sentative of the Union, as he once before
spoke when rebellion Haunted her scor-
pions under the dome Of the capitol.
On the morning Of the day upon which
Mr.. WEBSTER spoke, stranger might
have noticed upon every countenance the
mark of anxiety and expectation. The
streets were dotted with groups knotted
together, and talking with an air Of augu-
ry; and, long before the hour for the
meeting of the Senate, tide of human
beings set towards the capitol, which
was without precedent in numbers and
kinds. Old men and young, grandmothers
and laughing girls, with bright faces So
| bered for the moment into, we had almost
said, sternness; boys, waddling children;
strangers, laborers, all avocations, all
trades, conditions, and ages, were repre-
scented in that stream of life. The places
set apart for spectators were filled ere yet
the throng hadreached the public grounds.
The Senate doors were literally forced by
the multitude. Before the members of
that body met together, every nook and
corner which could contain living crea-
ture had found its occupant. The bar of
the Senate chamber was filled, and the
seats Of our august law-givers were
usurped by the mothers and daughters of
the republic. There was no respect paid
to privileged occupants of the floor. The
people poured il like waters overlapping
their banks. The officers of the Senate
were stripped of their authority, and Sen
ators themselves were forced to be con-
tent with such accommodation as they
could find with the rest.
II was in the midst of such an assem-.
blage as we have described, that Mr..
WEBSTER rose to speak for the Union.
Perhaps no public man ever stood up in such
an one. He was canopied and girt about
by waving mass of fellow beings. The
windows in the very dome of the Senate
chamber had their listeners. The scene
was radiant with light and life There was
not in all that crowd pulse that did net
beat for him if we except here and there
disloyal agitator, who glowered upon the
spectacle as treason might upon the COM
ing Of the avenger. There was not, to
waste no words upon these exceptions, a
heart that did not accompany the speaker
with prayer. He was encompassed by
an atmosphere laden with aspirations for
his cause. When he first took the floor,
there was movement as though every
bosom had swelled with hope. II was
some time before he could proceed with
his speech. After the few first words, a
silence prevailed as intense as the interest
every one felt in his subject 1t was only
when the spectators leaned forward to
catch some word lost or idea indistinctly
heard-as though it were substance to be
clutched by reaching after-that the cqui-
librium Of the masses was lost and confu-
sion followed. II was grand spectacle
and sublime theme.
How Mr.. WEBSTER requited the pa
tience and the expectation, the encourage
ment and anxiety Of his hearers, we
may well despair Of telling as it should be
told. The first words he uttered rang in
the heart like the clarion of one who brings
glad tidings to dismayed people. "I
wish TO speak to-day, not as Massachu.
sets man, nor as Northern man, but as
an American and member Of the Sen
ale Of the United States" II not the
text, il was the spirit which he brought TO
its consideration. We shall not attempt
to give an analysis of what followed.
The speech is. before the world. Power
full as the argument and superb the struc-