Richmond daily times. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1853, 1851-07-08

Hsa6IIDeut
public lite or to private life, with hearts deyonty thank
ul Almighty God for the preservation OF the liberty
and happiness of the country unite In sincere and Ter
prayers that this Deposit and the walls and arches
the domes and towers the columns and entablatures
now to be erected over il, may endure forever.
God save the United States OF America.
DANIEL WEBSTER, Secretary Of State"
Mr.. Webster then made striking comparison
of the condition of the country at the present
time, and in 1898, when Washington laid the cor
ner stone of the original Capitol. He produced
tabular statement showing the number of States,
the aggregate population and that of the principal
cities, the receipts into the Treasury, the public
expenditures the imports, exports and tonnage,
the area of the United States, the miles of mail
transportation, of railroads and telegraphs, the
number of the army and navy, of post Offices
public libraries, &C., &c, at the two periods; and
the contrast is truly grateful to our national pride.
The remainder of the speech was, for the most
part, highly interesting development of the
advances made by the country in all the elements
of national power, in practical and philosophical
science, in general education, in benevolent en-
terprises, and in religious sentiment. All this un-
paraeled growth of prosperity and renown Mr.
Webster attributed to "the Union of these States
under general Constitution, which guarantees 10
each State a republican form of government ana
to every man the enjoyment of life, liberty ana
the pursuit of happiness, free from civil tyranny
or ecclesiastical domination" And this truth he
happily connected with the subject of the day by
asking, "who does not feel that when President
Washington laid his hand on the foundation of the
first Capitol building, he performed great work
of perpetuation of tine Union and the Constiu-
ton 2" The situation and growth of Washington
City, the increased number of its public ediices,
its great monument to the father of his country,
"fitly intended to reach loftier height than any
similar structure on the surface of the whole
EARTH" were referred to as showing that the city
itself gives strength to the Union, and should be
regarded as the permanent seat of the national
government. In referring to the monument, Mr..
Webster repeated the memorable words of his
Bunker Hill Grafton, "Let it rise let it rise till
it shall meet the sun in his coming-let the earliest
light of the morning gid it, and parting day linger
ard play upon its summit" He imagined the scene
in which the venerable form of Washington, Gas
presented in the glorious statue by Houdon, now
in the capitol of Virginia" was seen heading
short procession "over those then naked fields;
he crosses yonder stream on fallen tree; he as
cends to the top of this eminence, whose original
oaks of the forest stand thick around him as If
the spot had been devoted 10 Druidical worship,
and here he performs the appointed duty of the
day." Then assuming this vision to be re-
III Nod
by the shades of the great public men ofhis own
day, would say to the men Of this generation
there assembled And surely these words would
be worthy of the spirit of Washington, sent back
from heaven to earth, to give counsel to his coun-
trymen
Maintain the constitution which he labored pain
fully to establish and which has been 10 you such
ofinesmable blessings. Preserve the Union OF
the States cemented it was by our prayers, Our tears
and our blood. Be true to God, your country, and
your duty"
brief address to President Fillmore whose
good fortune it was to perform act such as the
earliest of his predecessors performed fifty-eight
years ago, was closed with this fine invocation:
MAY the principles Of your administration and the
wisdom OF your political conduct, be such that the
world of the present day. and all history hereafter,
be at loss to perceive what example You have made
your study.
And then the orator brought his truly noble
discourse to an end by expressing ''the deepest
wish of his heart" in the words of the great Ro-
man orator:
"Duo modo haze OPTIC; unum, ut moriens populum
Romanum liberum relinquam; hoe mihi ma jus dis
immortalbus dari nhil potest alterum utita cuque
eveniat, ut de repubca quiaque.mereatur.
1.-TWO things only wish one, that. dying may
leave the Roman people free-more than this the i'm
mortal Gods can grant me nothing; the other, that, it
may so happen to all men, that each may deserve
well of the Republc.l
We are aware that we must have given the rea-
der but faint idea of Mr.. Websters Grafton, but
it was only our purpose to ncie to its careful Pc
rusal, by abiding to some of its most remarkable
points. 1t inculcates lessons which must be emf
nently profitable to all who will earnestly ponder
them.