The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1852-07-01

Tor the last tme to become the witnesses of his de
feat in that final contest where the mightiest fal
before the great destroyer-whcn these marbl,
columns shall themselves have fallen, like all the
works of man, leaving their broken fragments /,
tell the story OF former magnifcencc, amid tn,
livery ruins that announce decay and dissolution.
was often with him during his last illness, wher
the world and the things of the world were fast fad
ling away before him. He knew that the silvc
Ncord was almost loossned, and that tho COLDER
8bowl was breaking at the fountain; but he wal
resigned'to the will of Providence, ling that II,
5who gave has the right to take away in his owI
good time and manner. After his duty to his Gre
ator and his anxiety for his family, his first
was for his country, and his first wish for the pre-
servation and perpetuaton of the Constitution anc
the Union dear to him in the hour of death an they
chad ever been in the vlgor OF life. OF that Const
Hutton and Union, whose defence in the last anc
greatest crisis of their peril had called forth all hi
energies, and had stimulated those memora BILE nc
powerful exertions, which he who Witnessed car
never forget, and which no doubt hnstened the fina
Hcatastrophe, nation now deplores with aincerit,
: and unanimity not less honorable to themselv e.
than to the memory OF the object of their affections
And when we shall enter that narrow vale,
through which he has passed before US, and which
leads to the judgment seat Of God may we be abb.
to say, through faith in His Son, our Saviour ano
in the beautiful language ofthe hymn of the dying
christian dying, but everything and triumphant
The world recedes, it disappears!
d Heaven opens on my eycs my cars
With sounds sernphc ring:
Lend, lend your wings mount | hyI
q Oh grave where is thy victory?
Oh death, wh,rc ia thy sting?"
Let me die the death of the righteous, and Let INV
\ last end be like his.
Mr.. HUNTER. MIR. President we have heard
with deep sensibility, what has just fallen from the
ESenators who have preceded me. We have heard
Sslr, the voice OF Kentucky-and, upon this occa-
asion, she had right TO speak-in mingled accents
3of pride and Sorrow for it has rarely fallen TO the
4 lot of any State to lament the loss of sucb son
cd "a, ,a~ -. &.
9ths procefs sion; for she cannot be supposed To be
aunmindfulof the tie which bound her TO the dead.
w hen the earth opens to receive the mortal part
which she gave to man. it is then that affection i
teager to bury in Its bosom every recollection but
gthose of love and kindness. And, sir, when the
last eensbc tic ie about to be severed il ia then
that we look with anxious interest to the deeds IF
the lie, and TO the cmanations of the heart nd the
mind, for those more enduring monuments which
3are the creation of an immortal nature.
In this instance, we can be at no loss for these
This land, sir, Is full Of the monuments Of his
jgcnius. His memory is as imperishable as Ameri.
Joan history ITSELF for he of those who made
ait Sir, he belonged to that marked class who are
the men OF their century; for il was his rare good
fortune not only to have been endowed with the
capacity to do great things, but to have enjoyed
athe opportunities of achieving them. know, sir
liz has been said and deplored, that he wanted snnc
1of the advantages OF an early education; but il
gperhaps has not been remembered that in MANY
respects, he enjoyed such opportunities for mental
training as can rarely fall to the lot of man. He
l had not chance to learn al much from books bnt
:be had such opportunities Of learning from men az
lew men have ever enjoyed. Sir, il ia to be re ]
SncInbered that he was reared alta time when there
was state OF society in the Common wealth which
lgave MIN birth such has never been seen tbere
before nor since. 1t his earIy nrivIeo 90 ,o ,eo
how justice administered by a 'PendIeton a nC
Ia Wythe, with the last of whom he was in Inc
daily habit of familiar intercourse. He had con
slant opportunities to observe how f,rcnsic oucs
lions were managed by Marshall and Wick
ham. DE was old enough, too, to have heard and|
ito have appreciated the eoouence of a Patrick
Henry, and of George Keith Taylor. In short, sir
me nved III n society In which the examples OF al
Jefferson, and Madison. and Monroe were|
Iivlng influences, and which the setting eun ofI
Ia Washington cast the mild effulgence Of its dc
gpartng rays.
He was trained, too, has been well said by mel
Senator from Michigan, (Mr. CAss) at a periodI
when the recent revolutionary struggle had piyenl
Ia more elevated tone to patriotism and impaired al
higher cast to public feeling and 10 public charac
Ter Such Lessons were worth, perhaps, more to,
him than the whole encyclopedia OF echolastici
learning. Not only were the circums nces of hsl
'early training favorable to the development of his
genius, but tho theatre upon which he was throwni
wac eminently propitious for ts exercise Tbel
|crcums tances OF the early settlement Of Kentucky
the generous, daring and reckless character of the
people, all fitted it to be the theatre for the displayl
lot those commanding qualities of heart and mindj
(which he eminently possessed There can h.
little doubt but that those people and their chose
leader exercised n mutual influence upon eacbl
Other; and no ono can be surprised that with hisl
brave spirit and commanding eIoquence and fasci-
mating address, he should have led not only there
but elsewhere.
did not know him, Mr.. President. as YOU did |
n the freshness OF his prime, or in the full ma
urity Of his manhood. j did not hear him, cir as
you have heard him, when his voice rousod the
spirit of his countrymen for war-when he chceredl
the dropping, when he rallied the doubling through
all the vicissitudes of long and doubtful contest
have never seen him, sir, when from the height
OF the chair he ruled the H,use OF Represents
lives by the energy Of his will, when upon the
level OF the floor he exercised control almost ash
absolute by the mastery of his intellect. When Il
fret knew him his sun had little passed its re
NTH. The effacing hand of time had ju.t begun TOD
touch the lineamcnts of his manhood. But yet,
SIR, saw enough oil him to be able to realize what
he might have been in the prime of his strength E
and in the foil vigor Of his maturity. | saw him
sir, as you did, when he led the '.oppostion dur
ing the administration of MIR. Van Buren, | hadE
daily opportunities of witnessing the exhibition off
his powers during the extra session under Mr. nv
ler's administration. And saw, as we all cav
IN recent contest, the exhibition of power on
bis part which was most marvellous in one Of his
years
Mr. President, he may not have had as much ofE
analytic skill as some others in disscciing cub 3
Jet. Ii may be, perhaps. that ne did not seek ton
ook quite go lar ahead as some who have been most
distinguished for political forecast. Bot il may bel
truly said OF Mr. CLAY, that he was no exaegera-
or. he looked at events through neither end OF 81
Inc telescope, but surveyed them with tho natura ~
md the naked eye. He bad the CO pacity of seein
hings as the people saw them, and Of feeling
hngs as the people felt them. He had, sir, beyondE
my other man whom | have ever seen, the trueE
ncsmerc touch OF the OratOrthc rn re art Of trans
ernng his impulses to others Thoughts, fecngs,g.
came from the ready mould Of his &C q
MUS, radiant and glowing, and communicated their
,wn warmth 10 every heart which received them N
He, too, was the power Of welding the higher and n
ntenser forms of passion with majesty and an 4
ase which none but the great masters Of the hui
nan heart can ever employ IL his rare good j.
ortune to have been of those who FORM as il =
we're, sensible link and living tradition which q
onnccts one age with another, and through which s.
me generation speaks its thoughts and feelings -
nd appeals to another. And unfortunate is IL for =
country when il ceases to possess such men, for *
is 20 them that we chiefly owe the capacity 70
maintain the unity of the great Epos Of human his
Dry, and preserve the consistency Of political "
ION. ~
Sir, Il may be said that the grave is still new