The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1852-07-05

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ties, aud tolsrstsd do tsstsnslons Of nsattailty,
Moreover, the territory possessed By the nation
was iuedeauate to commercial exigencies, and
Indispensable social expansion and yet no pro-
vision had been made for enlargement, nor for
extending the political system over distant re-
| gions, inhabited OF otherwise. which must lnev-
itabiy be AGO aired Nor could any such acquL
sition be made without disturbing the carefully
adjusted balance of powers among the members
Of the confederscy.
These difficulties, Mr. President, although they
grew less with time and by slow degrees, con-
tinued throughout the whole life of the states
man whose obseouies We are celebrating. Be
it known, then--and am sure that history Will
confirm the instructon--that conservatism was
the interest of the nation and the responsibility
of it's rulers. during the period in which ne
f0urished lie was ardent, bold, generous, ana
even ambitious and ye', with a profound con-
vcton of the true exigencles OF the country,
| like Alexander Hamilton, he disciplined himself,
and trained a restless nation, that knew only
selfcontro to the rigorous practice OF that oIten
humiIiating conservatism which It's welfare ana
security in that peculiar crisis 30 lmperl0usly
demanded.
/ 1t could not have happened, sir, to any citizen
to have acted alone, nor even to have acted al
WAYS the most conspicuous part in trying Pc
Rod SO long protracted Henry Clay therefore
shared the responsibilities of government with
not only his proper contemporaries, but also sur
viyors of the Revolution, as we'll as also many
who will now succeed himself Dellcacy for
bids my naming those who retain their places
here out we may, without Improperly, recall
among his compeers a Senator OF vast resources
and inhexible resolve, who has recently with
drawn from this chamber, but trust not alto
gether from public lite, MIR. Benton and an
other, who, surprising all his contemporaries
within his country, and even throughout the
world, in tho proper eloquence of the forum,
now, in autumnal years, for a second time, dig
nifies and adorns the highest seat in the executive
council, [Mr. Webster. Passing by these emf
nent and noble men, The shades of Calhoun,
John Qaincy Adams, Jackson, Monroe, Madison,
and Jefferson, rise up before us-statesmen
whose living and local fame has rpened already
into historical and worldwide renown.
| Among geniuses 80 lofty as these, Henry
Clay bore part in regulating the constitutions
al freedom of political debate; establishing that
long contested and most important line which
divides the sovereignty Of the several States
from that Of the Staets confederated asserting
the right of neutrality, and indicating it by a
war against Great Britain, when that just but
extreme measure became necessary T; adjusting
the terms on which that perilous yet honorable
contest was brought to a peaceful close per-
fectng the army, and the navy, and national
Notifications settling the fiscal and financial
policy OF the government in more than one
crisis Of apparently threatened revolution, as
serting and calling into exercise the powers OF
the government for making and improving inter-
nal communications between The States; arous-
| ing and encouraging the Spanish American
colonies on this continent to throw off the for
eign yoke, and to organize governments on
principles congenia to our-own, and thus Great
ing external buwarks for our own national de-
fence establishing equal and impartial peace
and amity with all existing maratime powers !;
and extending the constitutional organization
of government over the vast regions all secured
in his lifetime by purchase or by conquest,
whereby the pillars of the republic have been
removed from the banks of the st. Mary's to
the borders of the Rio Grsnde, and from the
margin of the Mississippi to the Pacific coast.
We may not yet discuss the wisdom of the
several measures which have thus passed in re
view before us, nor of the positions which the
deceased statesman assumed in regard to them,
but we may without offence dwell upon the
comprehensive results of them all.
The Urion exists in absolute integrity, and
the republic in complete and triumphant devel-
opment Without having relinquished airy
part of their individuality, the States have more
than doubled already, and are increasing in num-
bers and growing in political strength and ex-
pansion more rapidly than ever before. With
out having absorbed any State, or having even
encroached on any State, the confederation has
opened itself so as to embrace all the new men,
bers who have come, and now, with capacity for
further and indefinite enlar ement, has become
fixed, enduring, and perpetual Although it was
doubted only half a century ago, whether our
polica system could be maintained at ALL and
whether, if maintained, it could guarantee the
peace and happiness of society, it stands now
confessed by the world the form of government
not only most adapted to empire, but also most
congenial with the constitution of human ma
ture.
! When we consider that the nation has been
conducted to this haven, rot only through
stormy seas, but altogether also without a
course and without star; and when we con-
slider, moreover, the sum of happiness that has
already been enjoyed by the American people.
and still more the influence which the great
achievement is exerting on the advancement and
melioration of the condition of mankind, we see
Ut OHco lttft III uput nave SutiFutu IiIo
ambition to have been, no matter how humbly,
concerned in 80 great transaction.
Certainly, sir, no one will assert that Henry
Clay in that transaction performed an obscure
or even common part. On the contrary, from
the day on which he entered the public service
until that on which he passed the gates Of death,
he was never follower, but always leader
and he marshaled either the party which sus
tanned or that which resisted every great meas
ure, equally in the Senate and in the popular
canvass And he led where duty seemed to
him to indicate, reckless whether he encountered
one President or twenty Presidents, whether he
was opposed by factions or even by the whole
people Hence it has happened, that although
that people nre not yet agreed among themselves
on the wisdom of all or perhaps of even any Of
his great measures, yet they are nevertheless
unanimous in acknowledging that he was at
once the greatest, the most faithful, and the
most reliable of their statesmen. Here the eft.
fort at discriminating praise tf Henry Clay in
| rarord 70 hio MI hlic pn1icv rrret atOp evau an