The southern press. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1852-07-03
SENATE.


of Representatives intermingled with Senators;
the representatives of foreign soveregns paid
the tribute of their presence cabinet ministers,
and heads of bureaus, and members of the judi,
ciary, clustered without the bar. OF the illus
trious contemporaries of the distinguished dead
but few remain; but one form attracted all eyes
the honorable Secretary of State, Daniel
Webster, sat there. The General-in-C Chief of
the Army, Major General Scott, too, was present
Attorney General Crittenden, long the colleague
of the deceased; the Hon. Reverdy Johnson, a
in the Senate, and one OF the At
torney Generals predecessors; and numerous
others, eminent for their eloquence and their
genius, there contemplated the end of human
greatness.
The Chaplain to the Senate, the Rev. G. d.
BUTLER, in his opening prayer, duplicated for
the living; but he also afforded Christian CON
ISOLATION by speaking hopefully of the dead,
whose declining days were cheered by the Cos
pei dispensation.
The Journal having been read
Mr.. UNDER WOOD rose and said: Mr. Pres-
dent, rise to announce the death Of my col.
league, Mr.. Clay. He died at his lodgings, in
the National Hotel Of this city, at seventeen
minutes past eleven o'clock yesterday morning,
in the seventy-sixth year of his age. He ex-
pred with perfect composure, and without a
groan or struggle.
BY his death our country has lost one of its
most eminent citizens and statesmen and
think, its greatest genius. | shall not detan the
Senate by narratipg the transactions of his long
and useful life. His distinguished services as
statesman are nseparably connected with the
history of his country. AS Representative ard
Speaker in the other House of Congress, as
Senator in this body, as Secretary of State, and
as envoy abroad, he has, in all these positions,
exhibited wisdom and patriotism which have
made deep and lasting impression upon the
grateful hearts of his countrymen His thoughts
and his actions have already been published to
the world in written biography in Congress
sional debates and reports; in the journals of
the two Houses; and in the pages of American
history. They have been commemorated by
monuments erected on the waysde. They have
been engraven on medals Of gold. Their mem
DRY will survive the monuments of marble and
the medals Of gold for these are ef1aced and
decay by the friction of ages. But the thoughts
and actions of my late colleague have become
identified with the Immortality of the human
mind and will pass down from generation to
generation as portion of our national inherit
ance incapable of humiliation so long as genius
mas an auUlrert OF lD6rly lrlenu.
Mr.. President, the character of Henry Clay
was formed and developed by the influence of
our free Institutions. His physical, mental, and
moral faculties were the gift of God. That
they were greatly superior to the faculties
allotted to most men cannot be questioned
They were not cultivated improved, and direct
ed by liberal or collegiate education His
respectable parents were not wealthy, and had
q. &c. -, -
college Moreover, his father died when he
was a boy. At an early period, Mr.. Clay was
thrown upon his own resources, without patri.
mony He grew up in clerks office in Rich
mond, Virginia. He there studied law. He
emigrated from his rative State aud settled in
Lexington, Kentucky, where he commenced the
practice of his profession before he was of full
age.
The road to wealth, to honor, and fame was
open before him. Under orr Constitution and
laws he might freely employ his great faculties
unobstructed by legal impediments, and unaided
by exclusive privileges. Very soon Mr.. Clay
made deep and favorable impression upon the
people among whom he began his career. The
exec Hence of his natural faculties was soon
displayed. Necessity stimulated him in their
cultivation. His assiduity, skill, and fidelity in
dence He was elected member of the lepisla-
ture of Kentucky, in which body he served sever.
al sessions prior TO 1906. In that year he was
elevated to a seat in the Senate of the United
States.
At the bar and in the general assembly Of
Kentucky Mr.. Clay first manifested those high
qualities as public speaker which have secured
10 him 80 much popular applause and admira-
ton. His physical and mental organization
eminently qualified him to become a great and
impressive orator. His person was tall slender,
and commanding His countenanee clear, ex-
pressiye, and Notwithstanding the emotion
which predomnated at the moment with exact
similitude. His voice, cultivated and modulated
in harmony with the sentiment he desired TO
express, fell upon the ear like the melody Of
enrapturing music. His eye besming with in
teligence and flashing with coruscations Of
genius His gestures and attitudes graceful
and natural. These personal advantages won
the prepossessions Of an audience, even before
his intellectual powers began TO move his hear.
ers and when his strong common sense his
profound reasoning, his clear conceptions Of his
subject in all its bearings, and his striking and
beautiful illustrations, united with such personal
qualities, were brought 10 the discussion Of any
WINGED, and led by The orator as IL enchanted by
the Tyre Of Orpheus
No man was ever blessed by his Creator with
faculties Of higher order Of excellence than
those given 10 Nr. Clay In the quckness of
his perceptions, and the rapidity with which his
were formed, he had few equals and
no superior He was eminenhy endowed with
a nice discriminating taste for order, symmetry,
and beauty. He detected in moment every.
thing out Of place or deficient in bis room, upon
his farm, in his own or the dress Of Others lie
was a skillfu Judge Of the form and qualities Of
bis domestic animate, which he delighted TO raise
on his farm. ! could give you instances Of the
quickness and minuteness Of his keen faculty
Of observation, whichever overlooked anything
A want Of neatness and order was offensive to
him. lie was particular and neat in his hand.
writing, and his apparel A slovenly blot or
negligence Of any sort met bis condemnation
while he was 40 organized that he attended 10,
and arranged little things 10 please and crafty
bis natural love for neatness, order, and beauty
bis great intellectual faculties grasped all the
subjects Of Jurisprudence and politics with
facility amounting almost 20 intuition As a