Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1850-08-08
Mr.. Clay,s speech.

The speech OF Mr.. Clay, delivered
in the Senate on Mondays publish
ed in full in the Intelligencer anc
Union. 1t, together with the subse
quent debate, fills more than thirteer
columns ofthosepapers. The speech
will no doubt be published in pam
Iphlet, and widely distributed. Th'
following are the closing passage
of the main speech. They are in
Mr.. Clay's happiest style:
Mr.. President, l wish | had til,
physical power to give utterance Il
the many, many ideas which | still
have; but have it not. ! must has
ten towards conclusion.
The responsibility OF this grea
measure passes from the hands o
the committee, and from my hands
They know, that it is an awful anC
tremendous responsibility. ! hope
that you will meet it with just con.
ception, and true appreciation of its
magnitude, and the magnitude oI
consequences which m ay ensue
from your decision one way or the
other. The alternatives, l fear,
which the measure presents, are con-
cord and increased discord; a serviIe
civil war-originating in its causes
on the lower Rio GranGe, and termi-
mating, possibly, in its consequences
with the upper Rio Grande, in the
Santa Fe country-or the restora-
ton Of harmony and fraternal kind
ness.
] believe, from the bottom of my
soul, that the measure is the reunion
of this Union. l believe it is the
dove Of peace, which, taking its aerial
flight from the dome of the Capitol,
carries the glad tidirgs of assured
peace and restored harmony to all
the remotest extremities of this dis
tracted land. l believe that it will
be attended with all these benefcent
effects. And now let US discard all
resentment, all passions, all petty
jealousies, all personal desires, all
love Of place, all honing after the gill
ded crumbs which fall from the table
of power. Let us forget popular
fears, from whateve: quarter they
may spring. Let us go to the limpid
fountain of unadulterated patriotism,
and, performing solemn lustration,
return divested OF all selfish, sinister,
and sordid impurities, and think
alone of our God, our country, our
consciences, and our glorious Union
that Union without which we
shall be torn into hostile fragments,
and sooner or later become the VIC
Tins of military despotism or foreign
domination.
Mr.. President, what is an individ-
ual mani An atom, almost invisi-
BILE without a magni(ying glass--a
mere speck upon the surface of the
immense universe-not a second in
time compared to immeasurable, ney-
er-failing, never-beginning, and-nev-
er-ending eternity; drop of water
in the great deep, which evaporates
and is borne off by the winds; a grain
Of sand. which is soon gathered to
The dust from which it sprung. Shall
a being SO small, SO petty, so fleeting,
80 evanescent, oppose itself to the
onward march ola great nation, TO
iubsist for ages and ages to come
oppose itself 10 that long life of pos
Gritty, which, issuing from our loins,
will endure during the existence Of
he world FORBID il. God Let US
ook at our country and our cause;
'levate ourselves 10 the dignity of
'ure and disinterested patriots, wise
nd enlightened statesmen, and save
'ur country from all impending dan
.ers. What if, in the march of this
lation to greatnes and power, we
hould be buried beneath the wheels
hat propel it onward. What are ;
We, what is any man worth who is :
ot ready and willing to sacrifice
imselt for the benefit of his country {
Vhen it is necessary
Now, Mr.. President, allow me to
lake a short appeal TO some sena- {
the whole of the Senate
Iere is my friend from Virginia, Mr.. c
1AsoN] OF whom have never been f
yithout hopes. | have thought of Z
lie revolutionary blood Of George 7
Jason which flows in his veins-of c
lie blood of his own father-of his l
wn accomplished father-my friend {
my cherished friend for many a
ears. Can he, knowing, as | think s
8 must know, the wishes of the peo- I
Ie of his own State-can he, with t
he knowledge he possesses Of the I
ublic sentiment there, and of the Q
igh obligation cast upon him by his I
oble ancestry-can he hazard Vir- C
mas greatest and most glorious v
lork at last which she, perhaps, n