The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1852-12-17
Tributes to MIR. webster.

OF the adore ses delivered in the House of Rep.
resentatives on Wednesday in memory of DAsIEL
WEBSTER, not already published in this paper, We
make room for the two following-the frat 10y
Colonel PREsTos, just elected from the Louisville
district in Kentucky TO succeed the Hon Hua-
PHREy Marshall, and the other tina. Of the Hon.
| EDWARD STANLY, of North CaroLns:
Mr.. PaEsroN sad Mr.. Speaker, ! have been
| requested, by some OF the gentlemen who compose
| the delegation from my State. to make some
marks upon the subject OF the message and reso-
lutions received from the Senate, which have been
laid upon your table this morning. III relation to
the death Of Mr.. Webster. IL was, in theis opin-
ion, peculiarly appropriate that kentuck va State
80 long associated with Massachusetts la political
| sympathy, IA well in reciprocal admiration enter.
tanned for two Of the most eminent men Of their
day-should come forward and add her iestimo.
nial to the esteem 10 which she held hir life aud
| great public services, and the regret she e1ps-
| rienccd at the calamity which has befalIen the
| country. The mind naturally goes bact, III look
ing over the great carecxaot4 paaiel w ebsser, to
the period Of his birth, seventy yeats ace. sn the
| northern part of the State Of New Hampshire.
| amid it's mountain scenery, and beneath the roof
Of bis pioneer father, the future statesman frat
| drew the breath OF life, and imbibed, amid that
| wild scenery and those mountains, that freedom
Of thought that dignity and that intellectual health
| which lett 30 indeliblc mark upon his oratory
| and public career in after life. No man has
earned greater reputation, in the present time, in
forensic endeavor than Mr. Wcbater. nor any
whose reputation could challenge comparison, IN
| less it be one who was also born in similar OBJ
scure station Of life, amid the marshes of Hanover
and whose future led him to cross the summit OF
the Appalachian range with the great tide Of popu-
| laton which poured from Virginia upon the fertile
plains of Kentucky. Their destiny has been use
full great, and brilliant From that period TO this,
these celebrated contemporaries have been con-
spcuous in the career OF public utility to which
they devoted their lives, and by their dignifed
| statesma nship have commanded not only the re-
spect of their several States but of t nation and
| of mankind. For forty years they swayed the
councils OF their country, and the same year sees
| them consigned to the grave. The statesman of
Ashland died in this city, before the foliage of sum-
mer was sere, and was sent with the honors Of his
| country, back TO the resting place which he now
| occupies in the home of his early adoption The
winds OF autumn beat upon the stern New Eng
| land ebores-the shores of Plymouth, where the
| Pilgrim Fathers landed-and caught up the
piring breath Of Daniel Webster as he terminated
bis life of honorable service The dirge that the
night winds now utter through the primeval for
ests of Ashland lament for one; the surges of the
wintry ocean, as they beat upon the shores Of
Marshheld, are fitting requiem to the other
There are two points Of particular prominence in
the life Of Webster to which will allude. All re-
member the celebrated struggle Of 1880. Tho
greatest minds of the country, seeing the constu-
tional questions involved from different points OF
view, were embroiled in controversy. The dark
est apprehensions were entertained. A gallant and
gifted Senator from South Carolina, with genius
and fire Characteristic of the land of his BIRTH had
expressed tho views Of his party with great ability,
and, as it thought with irresistible eloquence.
The eyes of the country were directed TO Webster
as the champion of the Constitution and the Union.
Crowds of beautiful women and anxious men on
that day tbronged the other wing of this Capitol.
What patriotic heart in the nation has yet forgot
ten that noble and memorable repys deep and
enthusiastic sentiment of admiration and respect
thrilled through the heart of the people, and even
yet the triumph of that son of New England is con-
secrated in the memory of his countrymen. Sub
sequently the Chief Magistrate Of the Union, Pres
ident jackson, announced opinions oil a similar
cha racter in his celebrated proclamation, and men
| of all parties felt that new rampant had been
erected for the defence of the Constitution
At period more recent, within the remem-
brance Of all, Daniel Webster again appeared in
/ another critical emergency that impericd the
safety OF the Republic, 1t was the 7ih OF March,
1850 Excited by the territorial question the spirit
of fanaticism broke forth with fearful violence
from the North. But it did not shake his un-
daunted soul. He gazed with majestic serenity at
the storm, and sublime in his self reliance, az
Virgil describes Mezentius, surrounded by bis enc.
mics
"He, like a old rock by seas enclosed,
To raging winds md roaring waves exposed
From his proud summit looking down, disdains
Their empty camor, and unmoved remains
A great portion Of the fame Of Daniel Web.ter
rests upon the events Of that day, and his patriot
ism having endured the tempest his reputation
shone with fresh lustre after it had passed. Clay
| and Webster that day stood linked hand in
hand, and averted the pers that menaced their
| common country. In the last great act OF their
lives in the Senate, they drew closer the bonus OF
Union between the North and South, like those
lofty Corderas that, stretching along the Isthmus
of Panama, bind in indlssoluble bonds Northern
and Southern America, and alike beat back from
their rocky sides the fury of either ocean. These.
Mr.. Speaker and gentlemen of the House, are the
memories that make us in western homes re.
verencc the names of Clay and Webster
The gentleman from Massachusetts, (Mr. DA-
vis) in his eloquent tribute to the genius and fame
Of Daniel Webster, has chosen to apply 70 him the
remark by which Cicero characterizes Bru'us-
"Quid quid gull, uaide ru't." II he will pardon
me, l think the description applied by the great
orator whom he has quoted to Gracious, is moro
striking: "Eloquentia quidem neccio an habuisses
paren grandis est uerbis, sopens ssntenfus GENRE
toto 81 auis." IT, however, resemblance prevailed
in this respect between Caius Gracious and Web
stsr, il did not in others. Gracious, as We are
told, was the first Roman orator who turned his
back to the Capitol and his face to the peopIe-thc
popular orators Of Rome, anterior to that time.
having always turned their faces TO the Senate and
their backs to the Forum. Webster never sought
to subvert the judgment of the people by infaming
their passions. His sphere was among men OF
intellect. His power was in convincing the minds
Of tbs cultivated and Intellectual rather than BY
| iervid harangues TO sway the ignorant or excite
| the multitude Clay-bold, brilliant, and spicn.
did, rushing at results with that intuition OF com
mon that outsrips all the processes OF logic
| lways commanded the heart and directed the
action of his party. Webster seemed deficient in
some Of these great qualities, as he surpassed him
in others He nppenred h's natnrai aa-,iA.rs
probably unequaed, save by tbs Earl of than,
whom he resembled. swept with tina velocity of
charge Of cavalry on the ranks OF his opponents,
and often won the victory before Others were pre-
pared for the encounter. Webster, with his array
Of facts, his power Of abatement, and logical deduc-
| tions, moved forward like the disciplined and sor,
red infantry, with the measured tread ofdslibcrato
resolution and irresistible power.
Daniel Webster is dead He died without ever.
having been elevated TO the Presidency of the ma.
ton. Camillus, the secopd founder Of Rome, never
enjoyed the Consulate, but he was not css illustri.
oue because he not rewarded by the fasces and
the consular. purple. Before the Iustre OF Web
ser's rsnown a merely Presidential reputation
must grow pale He has not only lefta reputation
OF unsur passed spendor in the Senate but he will
also pass down TO posterity the abiest and most
profound jurist of his day. As an orator, he had
not, as has been correctly observed by Seuu'oT
from New York, the vehemenCe of Demosthr mes,
nor the splendor Of Cicero, but stil Daniel Web
stcr urator-an orator marked by tho cha
raCterisics Of the Ttutonc rsce-bUid, massive,
| and rcpe;e with manly force aud igor. II ~fi..
ipgs are marked by deep phios phy wh'ch WI
cause them to be read when tn issues that evoked
them have passed away, and the spcod@r o an
Imagination a,nost as rich as mat ol hufEe WI