The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1852-07-05
WspsssDAy, June 30, tsS9.
DEATH OF THE HON. HEnRY CLAY.
CONCLUDED |

DEATH OF THE HON. HEaKY CLAY.
! CONCLUDED
Mr. CLEMENS. Mr. President, should not
have thought it necessary to add anything to
what has already been said, but for request
preferred by some of the friends of the deceased.
should have been content to mourn him in
silence and leave it to other tongues to pro-
nounee his eulogy. What have now to say
shall be brief-very brief
| Mr.. President, it is now less than three short
years ago since first entered this body. AT
that period it numbered among its members
many Of the most illustrious statesmen this re-
public has ever produced, or the world has ever
known. OF the living, it Is not my purpose to
speak; but in that brief period, death has been
busy here and, as if to mark the feebeness of
all human things, his arrows have been aimed
at the highest the mi htiest of us all. First,
died Calhoun. And well, sir, do remember
the deep feeling evinced on that occasion by him
whose death has been announced here to-day,
when he said IL was his senior in years-n
nothing else In the course of nature | ought
to have preceded him. 1t has been decreed
otherwise but know that shall linger here
only short time, aid shall soon follow him"
It was genius mourning over his younger bro.
Their. and too surely predicting his own approach
ing end.
He, too, sir, is now gone from among US, and
left none like him behind. That voice, whose
every tone was music, ia hushed and still. That
clear, bright eye is din and lu,terless, and that
breast, where grew and hourished every quality
which could adorn and dignity our nature, is
cold AS the cod that soon must cover it. few
hours have wrought mighty change-a change
for which lingering illness had, indeed, in some
degree prepared US, but which nevertheless, will
.f;n Gr1 v.y:t f>,c
Many a sorrowing heart is now asking, as did
yesterday, when heard the first sound Of the
| funeral bell
The hand that upheld our bright banner the sures,
Is he gone from our struggles away
| But yesterday lending people new life,
Cold, mute, in the coffin to-day"
Mr.. President this is an occasion when eulo
gy must fail to perform its office. The long life
which is now ended is history Of glorious
deeds too mighty for the tongue Of praise. 1t
is in the hearts of his countrymen that his best
epitoph must be written. 1t is in the admira-
ton of world that his renown must be recorded.
In that deep love of country which distin.
guished every period of his life, he may not
have been unrivaled In .oftiness of intellect, he
was not without his peers. The skill with
which he touched every chord of the human
heart may have been equaled The iron will,
the unbending frmness the fearless courage,
which marked his character, may have been
shared by others. But where shall we go to
find all those qualities united, concentrated,
blended into one brilliant whole, and shedding
lustre upon one single head, which does not
dazzle the beholder only because it attracts his
love and demands his worship?
| scarcely know, sir, how far it may be allow
able, upon an occasion like this, to refer to
party struggles which have left wounds not yet
entirely healed. | will venture, however, to
suggest, that it should be source Of conso-
laton to his friends that he lived long enough
to see the full accomplishment Of the last great
work Of his life, and to witness the total disap.
pearance of that sectional tempest which threat
ened to whelm the republic in ruin. Both the
great parties of the country have agreed to
stand upon the platform which he erected, and
both Of them have solemnly pledged themselves
to maintain unimpaired the work of his hands
doubt not the knowledge of this cheered him
in his dying moments, and helped to steal away
the pangs of dissolution.
Mr.. President if knew anything more that
could say, would gladly utter it. To me, he
was something more than kind, and | am called
upon to mingle private with public grief.
wish that could do something to add to his
fame. But he built for himself monument of
Immortality, and left to his friends no task but
that of soothing their own sorrow for his loss.
We pay to him the tribute of our tears. More we
have no power to bestow. Patriotism, honor,
genius courage, have all come to strew their
garlands about his tomb; and we'll they may,
for he was the peer of them all.
Mr.. COOPER. Mr.. President it is not al
ways by words that the living pay to the dead
the sincerest and most eloquent tribute. The
tears of nation, flowing spontaneously over
the grave of public benefactor, is more elo-
quent testimonial of his worth and of the affec-
ton and veneration Of his countrymen than the
most highly wrought eulogium of the most
gifted tongue. The heart is not necessarily the
fountain of words, but it is always the source of
tears, whether they be of JOY, gratitude, or grief
But sincere, truthful, and eloquent as they are,
they leave no permanent record of the virtues
and greatness of him on whose tomb they are
shed. As the dews of heaven falling at night
are absorbed by the earth, or dried up by the
morning sun, so the tears of a people, shed for
their benefactor, disappear without leaving a
trace to tell the future generations of the ser
vices, sacrifices. and virtues of him to whose
memory they were grateful tribute. But as
homage paid to virtue ia an incentive to it, it is
right that the memory of the good, the great,
and noble Of the earth should be preserved and
honored.
The ambition, Mr.. President, of the truly
great is more the hope of living in the memory
and estimation of future ages than of possessing
power in their own. 1t is this hope that stmu-
lates them to perseverance; that enables them
to encounter disappointment, ngratitude, and
neglect, and to press on through tolls privatons,
and perils to the end. 1t was not the hope Of
discovering world, over which he should HIM
self exercise dominion, that sustained Columbus
in all his trials. 1t was not for this he braved
danger, disappointment poverty, and reproach.
1t was not for this he subdued his native pride,
wandered from kingdom to kingdom, kneeng
at the feet Of princes supplant for means to
prosecute his sublime enterprise. 1t was not
for this, after having at last secured the patron.
age of Isabella, that he put off in his crazy and
disappointed fleet into unknown seas, to struggle
with storms and tempests, and the rage of a
muHnous crew. 1t was another and nobler kind
| Of ct; late J,r,;th