The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1853-08-03


law. deduced by construction, peIhaps or by iIlaton
some iiuh Of policy for want whereof nston genera
lions, may be the wotss; reason seeking and unfoidn
truth the sane tone IN all of deep eslness expres
siye OF strong desire that that bch he felt be i'm
portant should be accepted as true, and spring up
acon-lhe same transparent plain, forcibe, and drec
speech, conveying his exact thought 10 the mind, no
something less or mofcthe same sovereignty OF form
oi brow, and eye, and and manner th
intellectual king Of men, standing before yosthat sam
mayellousness OF qualities and results, residing know
not whee In words In picures in the ordering OF ideas
lin felcities ndescfbable, by means Whereof comny
from his tongue all hDgs seemed msnded truth seem
ed more trse; probability more plausible greatness NOR
grand goodness more awfu every affection more ende
Than when coming from other tongues-these in al
his eloquence. But sometimes II became ndvdualized
and Disseminated even from hnself sometimes place
circumstances, great interests at stake, stage au
dencc hed ior the highest historic actioD,a Crisis rer
sona or national, upon him stirred the depths OF tina
emotional nature sihe anger of The goddess siIs The
sea on which the great epic is beginning; strong pas
sions themselves kndlcd 10 Intensity, quckened every
faculty TO new life; the stimulated associations OF ideas
brought silsressues of thought and kaewledge wi,ha
comnand, the spcfi which often held his iHax fss
dissolved and she and gave him 10 choose of heI
of gold; earnesntss became vehemtDce the simple
PereElcuous measured and diIec, language became a
beadong full and burning tide Of speech the discourse
o Teason wisdom, gravity, and beauty changed 10 that
dcnoes, that consunmae eoquence grand, rapid
pathetic terrible, the oL9wid imensum innnmYus tina,
Cicero might have recognised the master triumph OF
in The rarest opportunity OF his noble power.
Such elevation above himself in congressional debate
great discussions OF executive power following the re.
moval OF the deposits. which they who heard them will
never forget and some OF which rest in the tradition OF
hearers only. But there other fields of oratory
which, under the influence Of uncommon springs OF
inspiration, he exemphed in still other forms, an elo-
quence in which do not know that he has had supc-
TiOr among men. Addressing masses by tens OF thou.
SANDS in the open air. the urgent political questions OF
the day. or designated 10 lead the medatons OF an hour
devoted % the comnemoraon Of some national era, or
some incident marking the progress OF the nation, and
lifting him up to view Of WHAT is and what is past and
ndsAct revelation OF the glory that lies in the fu-
lure or the death OF some great historical name Just
borne by the nation to his tomb, we have learned that
then and there at the base Of Bunker Hill before the cor
laid, ard again when from the finished col
una the centuries looked on him in FaDesil Hall,
mourning lor those with whose spoken or written elo-
quence of freedom lis arches had often resounded
the rock OF PIymoub before the Capitol, of which there
shall nuabe one left another before his memory
shall have ceased to live; such scenes, unfeered by
tbs laws OF forensic parliamentary debate, muitiudes
uncouh,ad lifting up their eyes TO him. great histo
rical OF America around him, all symbols OF her
glory and and power and fortune there, voices of the
past, not uDheard shapes beckOnlng from the fuure,
not unseen sometimes that mighty intellect, borne up
wards 10 height and kindled 10 an illumination which
shall more, wrought out, as II were, IN an IN
slant picture OF a vision warning, pTedlcion the
progress OF nation the contrasts OF Its eras the heroic
deaths; the motives TO patriotism; the maxms and arts
imperial by which the glory has heen gathered and may
be heightened wrought out in an instant picture to fade
| only hen all record of our mind shall die.
have reserved, until could treat il rs separate and
final topic, the consideration OF the morality OF Mr. Web
stes public character and life. To his true fame. 10 the
kind and degree of influence which that large series OF
great acons, and those imboded thoughts OF great in
ellect exert on the uure--ths Is the ai-imPon
In the last speech which he made IN
the Senaiethe last OF those which he made as he ssd
for the and the Union, and which he might
have commended. Bacon his name and memory. ITO
mems charitable speeches, TO foreign nations and the
next ages" yet with better hope he asscrted-"Ihe
ends aim at shall be those oil my country, my God and
truth" Is that praise his
Until the IN day Of March. 1885, think j, would
baua hoon tnn aim hy a unIve "A
general, and expressive OF profound and intelligent
conviction, and of enthusiasm, love. and trust, as ever
saued cousplcnous craftsmanship. tried BY many crises
OF affairs in great nation, agaled ever by parties, and
| wholly free
That he had admitted desire TO win, by deserving
n EN- the highes, forms OF public honor many would
ha said, and they who loved him most iondly, and ie
the truest soctnde that he should carry good con-
science and pure fame frightening to the end, would mol
have feared TO copcede for he was not ignorant OF
himself and he therefore knew that there was nothing
within the Union, constitution and law, too high or loo
large, TOO difficult for him He believed that his naiu-
raj his acquired Abilities and his policy OF admnstfa
on would contribute to the glory OF America and
he held theory OF ethics which required him TO dis
paIage 10 suppress TO ignore vast capacities OF public
service merely because they were his own II the fleets
of Greece were assembling. and her tribes buckling on
their from Lacona to Mount Ihrace from The Cape
OF Sunum 10 the westernmost Isle and the great epic
action was opening, yt was not ior MN 10 eitn insan
y or idocy, escape the perlls and the honor OF
command But that all this in him had been ever IN
subordnalion to princpcd and beautiful pubic virtue
that every sectional bias, every party lie, as well ms
every aspiring had been uniformly held by him
Tor nothing against the claims o county; that nothing
lower than country seemed worthy enougb--nothng
smaller large enoug ghfor that great heart, wood not
have been questioned by whisper. Ah al any hour
before that day he had died. how would then the great
procession Of the people OF Amerca-be great rumphal
procession of the dead-bave moved onward 10 his
grave the sublmy Of national soErow not conirasted
not outraged by one feeble voice OF caumny
+ In that aptecedent public life, embracing from 1912 10
1850 "a period Of thirtyesht years. mad grandest
proofs OF the genuineness and comprehensiveness oil
his patriotism, and the bodness and manness oil MS
public virtue He began hs career OF politics as led
sralist Such was his fa'ber-so beloved and re-
vered; such his literary and professional companions
such, although by no very decisive certain prepon
dersnee, the community in which he was bred and was
to live Under that OF parry be entered Congress
personally and by connexIou, opposed 70 thc war,
which thought to bear with such extreme sectional
severity upon the North aud East And yet one might
almost say that the only thing he mbbed IRON federal
st or federalism love and admiration for the constr
tuition as the means OF union That passion ne uid from
them inhert--that he cherished. .
He came into Congress opposed, have said, to the
war-apd behold him, il you would jndge OF The quality
OF his political ethics in opposlton. Did those eloquent
lpe at time OF life when vehernence and imptudence
are expected II ever ami not ungaceful, lei TALL even
one word Of faction Did he deny one power 10
the general governmen, which the soundest exfosl'ors
OF all creeds have allowed i2 Did he breathe sya
BILE which could excite region, ate family Of Siaes,
agapst the Union-which could hold ou, hope aid to
the enemy (which sought 10 turn or tended TO check the
tide OF and intense nationality then bursting up, to
flow and burn till all things appointed 10 America TO do
shall be fulfilled These questions, in their Substance,
he put Mr. Calhoun in 1893, in The Senate and that
great maG-one ef the authors OF the war-Jnst iben
only them relation to MIR Webster. and who bad Just
/ aeh In