The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1852-06-08
The Mighty Thraa.

Washington correspondent Of tho
Charleston Mercury, in his letter of
the 9th instant, wrifes,as follows:
Another Of the great lights of oun
generation ). is fast, passing away to
the land of shadows. Henry Clay
is dying, and thrill must pass through,
every heart Mt the announcement Of
tho fact. Though his decline has been
so gradual that the public mind should
have been p epared for it, still, like
Calhoun, Henry Clay seems to pos
sess so unbounded a vitality, the spirit
seemed SO much stronger than the
flesh, that the tidings, come when they
might, would give shock and excite.
surprise. OF the mighty three who
have so identified themselves with the
history. Of this country since the war
of 1912 down 10 the present hour,
Webster will soon be the sole suryi.
vor. But their works will survive
them, and though tho angry storms Of
passionate controversy and party hate
ragged and roared around them during
their political pilgrimages, yet, when
death has set its seal upon them, their
countrymcn must award to all of them
tho need Of high intellect directed to
high aims and prompted to lofty as
pirations. When Calhoun died, n re.
vulsion of ffecling took place throughout
the country, and tardy recognition of
the true majesty of his character, and
the beauty of his whole life, was wrung
from those who had most bitterly re.
viled him while living. Honors such
rs never had been paid before to any
citizen, were accorded to his memory,
and his last remains were inurncd in
the midst Of general lamentation.-
Similar will be the sensation when
Henry Clay passes away, and his death
will be like the fall of mighty oak
amid the stiffness of The wood.' The
deep shadow which has so long rested
on the solemn countenance of Web
stcr, the shade of which deepened as
he pronounced an eulogium on Cal
houn, will catch another and deeper
tint when his last great rival passes Oh
before him to that bourne from whence
no traveller returns.
When he spoke of Calhoun in the
Senate, and came to the passage where
ne says 'Ife was my own age none
who saw him will forget his air and
aspect. His head dropped on his
breast: he stood musing for mo-
mcnt, rs though there was warning
and summons for him in that fact,
and felt that his race was too nearly
run. He will not be in the Senate to
pronounce another culogium on his
next greatssI 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 chose who fill their places, we
must admit that there were giants in
those days. But the breed of noble
bloods is not yet extinct, and powers
yet slumbcring or undeveloped must
exist in some quarter, needing only the
stimulus ofoPportunity and excitement
to blaze forth into splendor equal to
that of the meridian Of these great men
now passing away. Since the COM
menccment Of the session it had been
obvious to all Of Mr.. Clay's friends
that his end was near. fIe has
sunk down suddenly in the last
few months, like some old tower which
presents a frowning front ofmassive
strength, until it suddenly crumbles
down into a mass Of ruins from
turrct to foundation stone, undermined
by the wasting influence of time.
Though wasted to the last degree,
and reduced TO the extreme of phys
ical fceblcness, Mr.. Clay's mind still
continues as vivid and vigorous "a
ever, and his frmness is still un-
shaken. Differ as mon may us to
the political or personal attributes OF
Henry Clay no one can deny that he
has obtained a deep and strong hold
on the affections Of the American
people, and possesses some traits
which even his enemies may admire,
--~~~~~~. ~...o~.-~-~~~S-~
Mr.. A. j. Donelson's retirement
from the editorship OF the Washington
Union-a post which he had occu pied
with much ability-seelns to be con-
nected with decided change of
tone on the part of that journal in
reference to the compromise. We
alluded the other day to the positive
assurances protiered by the Union,
not long since, affirming the readiness
with which the democratic national
convention would give its sanction to
the compromise, and took occasion
to place these assurances in contrast
with its subsequent and sudden silence
on that subject. But the following
paragraph, which appeared almost
simultaneously with Mr.. Donelson's
withdrawal, shows that the silence in
question was only u transition space
for an entire change Of front:
"As the period for the asscmblagc
Of the delegates to Baltimore ap-.
proaches, we see more clearly the
wisdom Of those counsels which have
recommended the oblivion of past
differences, and the restoration of
the harmony and concord which have
alwova prauailad xuhnp tho truo r,;n