Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1850-11-07
Corre.uondsues of the New YOrt Tribuns.
az nEsssh st the sennse.
4 Retrospect Of its ActsOn-Miaia-
fure Likeness of legislators.
WASHINGTON, Oct, 1850.

4 retrospect OF us dCSeOs
ture Likeness of legislators.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 1850.
Jtmay not be NAL appropos, afte1
the close of the most prolonged ant
tempestuous session of the Ameri
can Congress which has ever occur
red, TO take a birds eye retrospect
Of its men, measures and means.
shall, so far as the personal is con
cerned, confine my remarks to iht
Senate, which has been more esPe
cially under my supervision, though
not, | rejoice TO say, under my ol-
rection.
The coup d. el OF the senate
Chamber at the commencement ol
the session was quite different from
what !, was at the close. Deaths
doinos have made a considerable
chance in the liniaments Of the pic
ture. Then the central figure in the
foreground, upon the Whig side OF
the house, was Daniel Webster,
famiIiarly known as Black Dan, on
the Democratic sido, John C. Cal
houn, both of whom have been re-
moved by the grim monster. Death
-one directly and the other Incl
dentaIIy, which last is, ! suppose, the
more pleasant method of dealing
with bis kingship.
Black Dan, alias the Godlike, as
he has been cognomened by his es-
pecial admirers, is sort of intellect
ual hippopotamus or rather, no doubt
| should say. an elephant, though
tried, by the substitution of another
powerful but unwieldy beast, to
avoid the triteness of the comparison.
1t won't do. The elephant is the
legitimate type of man, trite or not.
He has immense power, bulk and
weight, but no agility or expertness
in the use Of his power. If he gets his
foot on you, you are dead man, but
then there is no special necessity
for you to get under his feet. He is
good natured as long as he is well
fed, and much prefers being let alone
to being provoked, but when provok-
ed his wrath is quite frightful to
weak nerves.
He is an extremely useful animal
in carrying heavy burdens, and is
fond of hunting in droves. Ii would
be ungenerous, perhaps, to push the
parallel further out, and affirm that
Webster, like the elephant, can be
trained to hunt his own kind, and
do faithful service to his captors,
against his own kith and kin. But
some things that are ungenerous are
true.
Calhoun had a strong personal re-
semblance TO the devil. | Judge from
the portrait only of this latter per-
sonage as exhibited in the back
ground of Du Beuf2s great paint
ing OF Adam and Eve. If Calhoun
had set for the likeness it could moi
be better; and so strong has been the
relation of ideas in my mind ever
since saw both, that | cannot pos
sibly think of the great South Caro-
linian, since his departure from earth,
otherwise than as head-devil in one
of Swedenborg's internal groups,
striving, with desperate energy, to
maintain the equilibrium between the
internal and The supernal regions
which | take to be the pro-slaYery
and The anti-slavery protentialities Of
those dominions. speak of course of
the great NuIlifer as of a historical
character, and without the slight
est personal disrespect. Indeed, |
feel none towards either OF the dis
tinguished gentlemen last mentioned.
Another important figure in the
group, on the left of the Senate
Chamber, at the beginning Of the
session, (not there at the end Of it,)
was Tom Corwin, the modern Mo-
mus. Momus must have been fat,
for flesh on the ribs and joviality
have associated together from time
immemorial. Tom Corwin is fat
too, as he should be. But the flesh
Of him is not his only good quality.
he is honest and discreet. Honest
the whole world proclaims him, that
is, everybody who knows him, and
discreet he certainly is, for he did
not make speech during the whole
session. He said the reason was that
Seward had pointed at the truth, and
thrown The whole country and Sen
ate into convulsions; but that if he
(Corwin) spoke, he should tell the
truth straight out which might be
the death Of them. Out of mercy,
therefore, TO the Senate and country,
as he could not lie, he kept STILL.
Corwin is ''chuck full' of genius. He
wants cultivation and good taste.
OF the men who have taken the
places of the great men who have
been named, the first is Nj. Win.
throp, of Mass, patIician; that is,
/ believe, etemologically, man who
has a father. He is man of decid-