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

homage paid to virtue Is incentive to it, il isl
right that the memory Of the good, the great andI
noble OF the earth should be preserved and hon
)red.
The ambition, MIR. President, of the truly great
is more the hope Of living in the memory and esti
mation OF future ages than Of possessing power nl
their own Is is this hope that stimulates them to
perseverance,; that enables them TO encounter dis
appointment, ingrattude and neglect, and to press
on through tolls. prvations, and perls, to the end
IL was not the hope of discovering world, over
which he should himself exercise dominion, that
sustained Columbus in all his trials. II was not
for this he braved danger, disappointment. poverty
and reproach. II was not for this no subdued his
native pride, wandered from kingdom to kingdom
kneeling at the feet Of princes supplant for
means to prosecute his sublime enterprise. II was
not for this after having last secured the patron
age OF Isabella, that he put off in his crazy and i'll
appointed fleet into unknown TO struggle with
storms and tempests, and the rage of mutinous
crew. II was another and nobler kind of ambition
that stimulated him to contend with terror, super
sition, and despair. and to press forward on HE
perilous course when the needle in his compass,
losing its polarity seemed TO unite with the fury Of
the elements and the insubordination of his crew
in turning him back from his perilous but gorious
enterprise. II was the hope which was realized at
last, when his ungrateful country compelled
to inscribe, as epitaph on his tomb
"Columbus has given a new world to the king
dom OF CASTLE and Leon"
That enabled him at first to brave 30 many disap
perils that beset his pathway on the deep. This,
air. is the ambition of the truly great not Il,
achieve present fame, but future immortality
This being the case, it is BETTING here day to
add TO the life Of HKNRY CLAY the record Of his
death, signaizcd as it is by a nations gratitude
and gref. Ii is right that posterity should learn
from u.s. the contemporaries Of the iustrious de
ceased, that his virtues and services were appre-
ciated by his country, and acknowledged by the
tears oil his countrymen poured out upon his
Hgrave.
The career of HENRY CLAY wns a wonderful
one And what an illustration of the excellence
8of our institutions would retrospect of his life
Iatord? Born in an humble station, without an VI
| OF the adventious aids Of fortune by which the
distractions on the road to fame smoothed, he
rose not only to the most exalted eminence of po
sition, but likewise TO the highest place in the af
fectiops OF his countrymen. Taking into view
the disadvantages OF his early Position-disadvan-
5tages against which he had always to contend
his career 10 without parallel in the history OIL
great men. To have seen him youth, without
friends or fortune, and with but scanty educa-
tion who would have ventured to predict for hirn|
a course SO brilliant and benefcsnt, and faneI
80 well deserved and enduring? Like the pine Il
8however, which sometimes springs up amidst theI
rocks on the mountain eide, with scarce crevice|
1 IN which TO Tx Its roots or soil to nourish them
&but which, nevertheless overtops all the trees of
the surrounding forest, HENRY CLAY, by his ownI
inherent, self sustaining energy and genius, rose
to an altitude OF fame almost unequaled in the gel
: In which he lived. AS an orator. legislator, and|
statesman, he had no superior. All his faculties
were remar kabie, and in remar kable combination
Possessed OF brilliant genius and fertile una
Yginntlon, his judgment was sound diecr iminat
: ing, and eminen,ly practical OF ardent and|
4llnpetuous temperament, he was nevertheless|
3persevering and firm Of purpose Frank, bold,
land intrepid, he cautious in providing gairstI
the contingencies and obstacles which might pos
4sibly rise up in the road to success. Generous,
liberal, and entertaining broad and expand
: ed views OF national policy, in his Legislative
course he never transcribed the limits OF wiseI
ECONOMY.
Bot, Mr.. President, Of all his faculties that oil
fmaking friends and attaching them to him theI
: most remarkable and extraordinary. In this re-
4spect he seemed to possess sort of fascination
aby which all who came into his presence were at
4tracted towards and bound to him by ties which,
neither time nor circumstances had power to dis
3solve weaken. In the admiration of his fIiendsI
was the recognition of the divinity of intellect; inl
stheir attachment to him, confession OF his gen
gerous personal qualities and social virtues.
OF the public services Of Mr.. CLAY, the present.
5occasion affords no room for a sketch more e x
tended than that which his respected collcagues
Il MIR. UNDKRwooD1 has presented. 1t is, how
fever, sufficient TO say, that for than forty
years he has been prominent actor in the drama.
England hs voice was more potent than any other
in awakening the spirit OF the country, infusipgp
lconhdence into the people, and rendering avaablet
the resources for carrying on the contest In our
domestic controversies, threatening the peace of
1thc country md the integrity CT the Union he has
always been first to note danger as well TO sug
lBeBt Tue means Oh II. w men the wdter6E
|of the great political deep were upheaved by the {
tempest Of discord, md the ark of the Union, I
|freighted with the hopes and destnies of freedom
tossing about on the raging pillows, and drifting
(evcry moment nearer to the vortex which threat +
|ened to swallow it up, it his clarion voice :
rising above the storm, that admonished the crew
|of impending peril and counselled the way to
lea fey.
But, MIR. President, devotedly as he loved his
country, his aspirations not limited 10 itss
welfare alone. Wherever freedom had votary Il
that'votary had friend in HENRY CLAY; and ia .
THE struggle of the Spanish colonies for indepen
have become the notices on the banners free
dom in every land. But neither the services whichH
he has rendered his own country, nor his wishesS
for the welfare of others, his genius, nor the
affection of friends, could turn aside the DESTROYER
mo price could purchase exemption from the com
mon lot of huma nifty. HENRY CLAY, the wse the <
great, the gifted, had to die and his history isE
summed up in the biography which the Russian
poet has prepared Tor oil. kings and serfs viz:
"born, living, dying,
Quitting tho still shore for the troubled wave
Struggling with storm. clouds, over shipwrecksE
flying, 3
And casting anchor in the silent grave"
But though time would not spare him, there isk
etill this of consolation He died peacefully andS
happy, ripe in renown, full of years and of honors
and rich in the affections of his country. He en-
Joyed, too, the unspeahohle satisfaction of closin
his eyes whilst the country he had loved muc bS
and served so we'll was still in the enjoymen ofS
peace, happiness, unlon and pro5pcrity-etill ad b
yancing in all the elements of wealth. greatness
and power.
/ know, Mr.. President. how unequal have been
to the apparently self imposed task of presenting
in an appropriate manner, the merits OF the illus
trious deceased. But II had remained silent on h
an occasion like this, when the hearts Of my con
stiuents are swelling with grief would have bcenE
disowned by them. 1t ia for this reason-that off
giving utterance to their feelings as well as of my
own-that have trespassed on the time of theH
Senate. would that could have spoken filter Z
words; but, such as they they were uttered by
The tongue in response to the prompings of the X
heart. n
Mr.. SEWARD. Fifty years ngo Henry CLAY "
IF Virginia, already adopted by Kentucky, then as e
youthful as himself entered the service of his coun
.ry representative in the unpretending Lcgsla- T.
ure of that rising Sta,e and having ~
pursued, with ardor and constanCy the gradual a
paths of an aspiring change through halls Of Con-
yrcse, foreign courts, and executive councils he r.
las now with the cheerfulness of patriot and the
erenity of Christian, fifty closed his long and
rduous career, here in the Senate in the full pres ~
nee OF the Republic, looking down upon the scene 2
0iih anxiety and alarm, not merely n Senator, likeE
me Of us who yet remain in the Senate House. but IS
Hing that character which, though it had no au- %
hority of law, and was assigned without suffrage,