The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1852-05-29


IHE MIGHTY THREE.-C Clay Calhoun, WEB
= The Washington correspondent OF tho
Charleston Mercury, in his letter OF the 9th
inst, writes rs follows:
"Another of the great lights of our genera
ton is fast passing away TO the land OF shadows.
Henry Clay is dying, and thrill must pass
through every heart at the announcement Of
the fact. Though his decline has been so grad
ua that the public mind should have been pre-
pared for it, still, like Calhoun, Henry Clay
seems to possess unbounded vitality the
spirit seemed so much stronger than the flesh,
that the tidngs, come when they might, would
give n shock and excite surprise. Of the mighty
three who have 80 identified themselves with
the history of this country since the war of
1912 down to the present hour, Webster will
soon be the sole survivor. But their works will
survive them, and though the angry storms Of
passionate controversy and party hate ragged and
roared around them during their political pill
grimages, yet, when death has set its seal upon
them, their countrymen must award to all of
them the need of high intellect directed to high
aims and prompted to lofty aspirations. When
Calhoun died. revulsion of feeling took place
throughout the country, and tardy recognition
of the true mdjesty of his character, and the
1
who had most bitterly reviled him while living.
Honors such as never had been paid before to
any citizen, were accorded to his memory, and
his remains were inurned in the midst of gen.
eral lamentaton. S milar will be the sensation
when Henry Clay passes away, and his death
will be like the fall Of the mighty oak amid
the stiffness of the wood The deep shadow
which has so long rested on the solemn counte
nance of Webster, the shade of which deepened
us he pronounced an eulogium on Calhoun, will
catch another and u deeper tint when his last
great rival passes on before him to that bourne
from whence no traveller returns.
When he spoke of Calhoun in the Senate, and
came to the passage where he says He was my
own age none who saw him will forget his air
and aspect. His head dropped on his breast
he stood musing for moment, as though there
were warning and summons for him in that
| fact, a. felt that his race too was nearly run
He will not be in the Senate to pronounce an
other eulogium on his next greatest competitor
in that arena, but the same thought must be
more strikingly present to him when he stands
by the bier of Clay. Looking at these three
and contrasting them with those who fill theil
places, we must admit that there were giants in
those days. But the breed of noble bloods is
not yet extinct, and powers yet sumbering or
| uuucVclOpeu UluSL eAlbt Ill 6OtUe QuITLeT, UeeQ
ing only the stimulus of opportunity and excite
ment to blaze forth into splendor equal to that
Of the meridian of these great men now passing
away. Since the commencement of the session
it has been obvious to all of Mr. Clay's friends
that his end was near. He has sunk down sud-
denly in the last few months, like some old
tower which presents frowning front of mas
sive strs1gtb, until it suddenly crumbles down
into mass of ruins from turret to foundation
stone undermined by the wasting influence of
time. Though wasted to the last degree, and
reduced to the extreme of physical feebleness,
Mr. Clay's mind still continues as vivid and vigo.
rous as ever, and his firmness is still mistaken
Differ as men may as to the political or personal
attributes of Henry Clay, no one can deny that
he has obtained deep and strong hold on the
affections of the American.people, and possesses
some traits which even his enemies may ad
mire."