Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1852-11-20

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war with England, 10y which it has nothing
to gain? 1t will ally itself with the burcan-
| ecring spirit Of the West, to conquer Mexico
and Cuba, for Slavery. II will as readily
| nlly itself with the mercantile spirit of our
| Eastern cities, to prevent war which would
! result only IN anneXing Canada for freedom.
! IL Is no test OF n great statesman, to induce
| people to do ms they wish MIR. RaltOul
! showed some power, when hc induced the
! Massachusetts Democracy tn 60, even so far
| us they have gone, towards freedom, for they
| did not wish to do IT, Wr. Webster ilad no
opportunity Of showing great power in pre-.
serving peace with England, for both coun-
tries desired it, This does not seem to me,
! therefore great success.
Again, Mr.. Webster advocated two noble
causes, perhaps the best calisrs lac ever con
sislcntly maintained; the cause of Hungary,
and the freedom of tic Western lands To
actual settlers. But lc advocated both uu-
successfully; neither prevailed in onr leeis-
lallon. Finally, hc had tried, Irrcgularly aud
! occasionally, To rouse the North for freedom ;
he dill it uusucccssillly; hc suddenly chang
cd bis ground, cudcayorgd to bend it TO sln.
very aud WAS unsuccessful in that. The
attempt 10 nominate him for the Presidency,
was unsuccessful, aud the desperate attempt
to make u tiual declaration in his favor, was
arrested ly message sent from his dChtlI-
bed. Strange cuincidcucc! that that mes.
sage should have been signed 10y the hand
which did sign it ;-llIc hand thai bore upon
it, nt Mr. Wcbsicr's bidding, the darkest stain
of ANY IN Massachusetts the hand which
signed the certificate which year before
seni back Thomas Sims, u claimed slave, from
the free city of Boston. isprak il in sorrow,
not in angcr but history never lOrgcts rciri-
buttons like this.
judged by success, then, he wns not
gronl statesman. The skill aud tactics Of
the wlig party lny in the versatile brain aud
rendy will of Clay aud of Others; Mr.. Web
sler supplied it's argument and its ndmiuis-
iraiiyc skill. In the midst OF the ignorance
and vulgnriiy that have disgraccd our public
proceedings, his yigor, knowledge, aud clear
ness, have stood forth conspicuous, and help
cd to keep up the intellectual Standard of
Onr staiesmarslip. Ills State papers aud
lcltcrs-ullIuush, his one singular mistake
about the discovery of the lohos Islands
would have crushed the administrative rrpu-
lHiiun uf n lesser nhn-wrra models in their
Kind, and probably uncquaI!cd in this gene
ration.
There is but one way in which u states
niuu can lupr Ia obtain permanent rcpuia-
ton, except by success, aud that is cuu,iS
rrncy. Tired 10y this test, also, Mr. Webster
hIlrd. lnrnusI>irit "u The Tariff. iEcnrsi>t-
rut on the j .uk, ti- rGuWuing Inconsistency
was nii llr one .r'i Iut'stinn ut the day
SLAVERY. ill- hr,sight was tfrd here aud
luuud N1tlug. Tie changed lis pnsion
here. = .ins uordiIy nsilr, and speaking
urIy iiW i.ugungc "l rhr intellect, r"slrriiy
viii say lin. us Ndpulrun said, II wus
nntsr tiu u rtiuir, It was II hluudrr."
ihrur "a not a rhId"w al question that Mr.
Webster was, ~ unc pcrlud, very near To
idcniii ing himself with tie AMI Slavery
agitation. Nay, long before hc dcplurcd The
want of North in Congress (lhe most see
iOnni thing ever said by Northern men there J
he seemed 10 hold this position. For, have
it from rcliuhc authority, that years ago, lIl-
ring II contested election in the old Third
District, when John G. Whittier was the
Llhrrly candidate, Mr.. Webster, in n convcr-
saliUn ~ Lowell, advised some of his friends
to support .ini, with this expressive addition,
" II is the ground wc have all got to come 10,
sooprr or lHicr.' Who can tell the cousc-
qucncC, had lac come to il then? lie failed,
and lived TO exhibit that which Lord John
Russell pronounced To he the one thing
worse Than the cant Of Reform, its mcan-
chuly re-cau'.
As II lawyer cannot Of course speak Of
him, hut 10y reputation. Yet the Iaw in his
hands was more than it seems ia those of
many great lawyers; il seemed To bc with
him II study of principles as well Hs prccG-
dents, aud his speeches belong To literature,
nj least, il tot To philanthropy. There is II
remarkable lulicily Of handling shown in
them, and an attraction is tlrGwn around the
subjects least lulhliar 10 popular Interest,"
y remarkable instance of this, was his nrgll-
mcnl in the late India rubber case; one oi
tie few legal arguments not involving hu-
man lite or moral principle, which the
general reader peruses with unhlgging intc-
rest, through The mere brillianry aud vigor
1f The slatemcHt.
But it takes II rare fascination, rarcr than
this To carry such speeches, or speeches on
greater ocrasiOns, down to the next genera
ton, aud when one nsks ia calm reflection,
will Mr.. WehSterS addresses be permanently
read, the answer renaiEs uncertain. | sup
pose that no department of literature, not
even sermons, are so swiftly left behind, us
speeches. Written Tor the ear, not hc eye,
they pass away with the audiences that heard
them; even the printing press cannot save
them. To write ~ once for the GHr aud eye
is the rareSt Of all gifts. To have al the
same time the power Of original thought,
and the power to condcuse that thought into
form OF absolute, permanent beauty, is the
very rarest Of combinations, and yet puslerily
will accept nothing less. Many men have
moments Of aspiration; snulches OF their
high thoughts are murmmed into music and
remembered; hut who are those whose olo-
qucnco has hahlually this perfect power p
cun think of but Two such voices, which
this country aud generation has heard; there
is kossulII, and there is Wendell Phillips, |
can hardly hope that any other contemporary
eloqnenrc will be long remembered, and /
am not sure even of theirs.
Mr.. Wehslcrs personal appearance was
lbe most remarkable which Ibis generation
hns looked upon; his mere presence WINS mn