The republic., 1851-03-17
From tie Ns,D Orleans Pieayune.

Mr. Rhett's Speech-SenatOrial TheatricaIs.
The greatest orators of ancient and modern times
have, upon occasions of extraordinary interest,
been reduced to dramatic shifts to enforce the in
struction Of q rhetorical display. 1t was no unu-
forum the wife and children Of the accused to in
tensify the terrors OF defamation by chorus OF
lamcntation These accessories to proper de-
cision AZ the coryphees Of the opera now.
Rshearsals Of the pleadings were had before the
day of trial, at which they were instructed where
the % ssp
sympathy Of the Judge, from an inarticuate sob to
ahysterical ejaculation. Even the ilustrious Burke
did not disdain to employ the devices of the thea
tire in achieving climax, as We are told that be
once brandished drawn dagger in the Commons
to surprise the Senate into an enthusiasm which
his rhetoric failed to excite.
But these artistcal contrivances of the ancients
and of Mr.. Burke are nero baby Jumpers and pen
n.y. whistles when compared with the artful strate
gy of r. Barnwell Rhett-whilome MIR. Smith, of
South Carolina, now Senator in Congress from that
Stats In his debut before the Senate in the debate
upon the Presdent's message and proclamation
upon the Boston insurrecton, he informed his COM
peers that "that was the last time he should ad-
dress that body"
The last time! the very last time! What was
there mournful in the grief of Agrippina compared
with this announcement; startling in the dagger
of Burke? II was the fret time Mr.. Rhett had ad
dressed that body; and il was just as distressing
that the "frst should be last" that ''the last
should be fret" Like archaeological ingenuity
which, read backwards or forwards. means the
same thing, Mr. Rhett's declaration affects the
mind equally whether his speech be regarded as his
sfrst" or his "last." Contemplating 1t in either
aspect, it ia the conclusion OF Senatorial career,
begun and finished with the expedition ofjob work.
Il il difficult to imagine the effect this announce
ment had upon the Senate. The scene was more
imposing than funeral solcmnity; for the orator,
by implication at least delivered the dying dccla
ration Of his colleagues. II was secession, dis
union and revolution, illustrated in person al
parenthesis For Mr.. Rhett scarcely mcditates
bodily suicide; and no fugitive slave, with the mil
itary and civil posse ut his heels, would have a
harder time Of t than the idea Of retiring from
politics would if it should once enter his noddle.
The announcement, therefore, was intended to
ing the mind of Senators with the terror Of a
catastrophe which would number with its first
fruits the silencing Of vote like his. Once grasp
the idea OF Mr.. Rhetts being heard in the Senate
no more forever, and the horrors Of revolution
begin to unveil.
That Mr.. Rhett "spoke this speech" in micn
betting the perlous burden of his soul, can be ta
tor may bc repeated of him. "That he always
seemed demonstrating gently with himself for be-
ing 80 much greater than other men," He not
only spoke for himself but for all the world and
ssthe rest Of mankind." The contingency which
is 70 knock the Senatorial breath out Of his body
will perform that Office for all. without Union
there can DO no Senate; with secession comes the
the death Of the National Legislature; and in his
corpse we shall behold the emblem Of defunct en-
pires. collapsed sovereigntes, and extinct nation
alities! He should make gorgeous demise in
such character; and to this end we hope he has
studied -Kirby's last act Of Richard" who died
harder, and oftener, and more desperately than
any tragedy hero we ever saw in q set-to with the
grim King of Terrors upon tho stage. He has
been encored in this scene, to our certain know
ledge. Mirabeau dramatized his natural death; if
Mr. Rhett docs not do the same, and handsomely,
for his typical performances, his colleagues will
not be bound by it.
We repudate the thought that Mr.. Rhett de-
signed, by this announcement, to popularize the
doctrine Of secession. 1t can hardly be possible
that he considered the riddance of the Senate Of
such propagandist as himself would compensate
the country for the disasters of disunon. The
people Of the United States have the glorious prvi
lege of skipping his share in the debates in Con-
gress. If they were compelled to read every thing
that was said in the Senate, there would be GER
tain sort Of relief in secession. But this is not
the case, VIC constrained to regard Mr.. Rhetts
speech in the light of theatrical poster, in which
he is announced to do the leading business in an
intense melo dramatic crisis. He is not only going
TO extingush himself the hero of the plot, but
everybody else who is ready to undergo extreme
JUNCTION secondhand.