Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1852-06-10
THE MIGHTY THREE.

CLAY, CALHOUN, WEBsrER.-rhe Wash
ington correspondent Of the Charleston
Mercury, in his letter of. the 5th instant,
writes as follows:
"Another of the great lights of our gen.
Grafton is fast passing away to the land of
shadows. Henry Clay is dying, and a
thrill must pass through every heart at the
announcement of the fact. Though his
decline has been so gradual that the public
mind should have been prepared for it, still,
like Calhoun, Henry Clay seems to possess
so unbounded vitality, the spirit seemed so
much stronger than the flesh, that the It'd
ings, come when they might, would give a
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 to the present hour. Webster
will soon be the sole survivor. But their
works will survive them, and though the
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 coun.
trymen must award to all of them the need
of high intellect directed to high aims and
prompted to lofty aspirations. When Cal.
houn died, revllson Of feeling took place
throughout the country, and tardy recog-
milton of the true majesty of his character,
and the beauty Of his whole life, was wrung
from those who had most bitterly reviled
him while living Honors such as never
had been paid before to any citizen, were
accorded to his memory, and his last remains
were inurned in the midst of general lamen.
tation. Similar will be the sensation when
Henry Clay passes away, and his death
will be" like the fall of the mighty oak amid
the stiffness of the wood" The deep shad-
ow which has so long rested on the solemn
countenance of Webster, the shade of
which deepened as he pronounced an culo
gum on Calhoun, will catch another and a
deeper tint when his last great rival passes
on before him to that bourne from whence
no traveller returns.
When he spoke of Calhoun in the Sen
ate, and came to the passage where he says
He was my own age" none who saw him
will forget his air and aspect. His head
dropped on his breast: he stood musng for
moment, as though there were warning
and summons for him in that fact, and felt
that his race too was nearly run. He will
not be in the Senate to pronounce another
euiogium on his next greatest 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 those
who fill their places, we must admit that
they were giants in those days. But the
breed of noble bloods is not yet extinct, and
powers yet slumbering Or undeveloped must
exist in some quarter, needing only the
stimulus of opportunity and excitement to
blaze forth into splendor equal to that of
the meridian of these great men now pass.
ing away. Since the commencement Of the
session it has been obvious to all of Mr..
Claws friends that his end was near. He
has sunk down suddenly in the last few
months, like some old tower which presents
a frowning front of massive strength, until
it suddenly crumbles down into mass of
ruins from turret to foundation stone, un-
derniued by the wasting influence Of time.
Though wasted to the last degree, and re-
duced to the extreme of physical fecbleness,
Mr.. Clay's MUD still continues as vivid and
vigorous as ever, and his 6rmness is still
unsbaken. Differ as men may as to the
political or personal attributes Of Henry
Clay no one can deny that he has obtained
deep and strong hold Oh the affections
of the American people, and possesses
some traits which even his enemies may
admire"