Washington sentinel. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1853-1855, 1855-03-02
PROCEEDINGS IN CONGRESS.
Presentation Of the sword Of Gen. jackson
In SENATE, February u, 1855.


Mr.. CASS. of Michigan, having presented
to the Senate the sword of General Andrew
jackson, and appropriately prefaced the cere-
mony with an eloquent address, which we pub
lished few days SINCE
Mr.. BELL, of Tennessee, said: Mr.. Presi.
dent, am fully aware that in undertaking to
accompany the offer q the resolution which /
| propose to send to the Chair with any remarks
upon the public services and character Of the
| lllustrious man whose name and whose mem
| DRY have been so eloguently and appropriately
brought to our notice by the distinguished
Senator from Michigan, assume an Office Of
| great delicacy, and one which /, especially,
may well have some distrust Of my ability to
perform in a proper and satisfactory manner;
yet, as the senior representative Of the State OF
Tennessee in the Senate, | do not feel at lib
erty to decline it.
In what propose to say must tread with
caution and reserve, or not at all, upon grounds
on which the fires O. political controversy ragged
with such fercenessat period so recent that
the embers yet shoulder and may not pru.
/ IDENTIFY be disturbed
| Inthe great dramaof a fairs now being enacted
on this continent, the opening act of which was
! the evolution-the closing scenes, trust, will
y,
in his day, great a successful actor. What
ever difference OF opinion may have existed
among his contemporaries Of the merits of
some parts of performance, yet, as whole,
it received the plludits of his countrymen, and
a large proportion of them pronounced it mas.
tery throughout
| Gen. jackson possessed rare endowments,
and was, indeed, one of the most, if not the
most, remarkable man of the age in which he
! lived. With bat slight and Indifferent mental
or professional training and discipline in early
life, SO generally regarded as important, if not
essential, to emilent success in either of the
two great departments of human effort the
civil and the military, yet at the very outset Of
his military career he exhibited talents for COM
mand of high order, and in less than three
years, by his brilliant achievements, established
his reputation as the first military chief Of the
country. But thia is not all retiring from the
army when there appeared to be no further de-
mand for active service, he was in few years
thereafter elevatedto the highest civil station
under the National Government, and for eight
successive years be welded the power and in.
auence of his position as Executive Chief with
such vigor and address that he was sustained
in and succeeded ia carrying out all the great
| measures OF his Administration some Of them
presenting questions of the gravest nature and
giving rise to the most intense excitement, and
this too IN the face OF an opposition combining
an amount OF ability, eloquence, skill and ex-
perience in affairs 10 both Houses of Congress,
but more especially In the Senate, greater than
was ever Witnessed before or since. The lars
and contentious between those great moral ele-
ments were sometimes such as shook the whole
country.
A man who, having addicted his early man.
hood mainly to the pursuits ofprivate life, with,
out any appreciable culture or experience in
public affairs, could thus, when there arose a
public exigency OF sufficient urgency to induce
him to enter the public service per saltatm, as
it were, raise himself to the first rank as a mil.
itary leader, and then, for so long period, as
Chief Magistrate Of a great and free country,
thus direct and control its civil administration,
must be allowed to have possessed great capa-
city. His was no negative or unmarked career,
no meteor-like appearance upon the great thea
tire of affairs to blaze and dazzle for a moment
and then pass away forever, but, both as mil
itary commander AID civil chief, he left his
impress upon his country and its institutions
deep, striking and iDdelble.
1t would be idle 10 assume, as some have
done, that General dickson was indebted alone
or chiefly to fortunes and adventurous circum
stances for his extraordinary success. He was
such man as, whe he had once attained no
sition, had the facult for creating the circum.
stances, if he neededihem, necessary to further
and continued successes Posterity will in.
quire, with eager criosity the secret of his
amazing success-he distinctive traits Of
mind and of personal character by which he
achieved it some which they will probably
seek in vain in the pages of contemporary his
tory.
General jackson had what may be called an
intutive perception OF the passions and inte-
rests by which the mass Of mankind are con-
trolled He was shrewed observer of indi-
vidual character, AID he was seldom mistaken
in his estimate ofthe men with whom he as
ISOLATED as friencs or came in contact with as
opponents. He vas devoted to his friends,
and the more dhers opposed or denounced
them the more determined he became to sus-
tain them, and nver cast them off until they
arrayed themselves in open opposition to his
| plans and wishs. Nor was he deficient in
courtesy to opponents, not personal enemies,
and could evencourt them, when he desired
or needed theirsupport, but never by fawning
or unmanly appals.
! His selfreliaice was wonderful. He never
despaired Of hi fortune. As the obstacles to
the success ofany favorite scheme Of policy
multiplied and he storm ofopposition was Wild
est, it was then that one of his most striking
traits was exhibited. He became the soul, the
animatng principle of his followers, revived
their fainting courage, reinspired their conf
dence in his ilfallibility and cheered them on
to renewed ant more vigorous efforts.
When the emergency required it no man was
more prompt il coming TO decision. When
the question presented difficulties and admitted
Of deliberation, he counselled with his friends
| When his owr conviction was clear he seldom
deferred to tn, views Of others and when he
once decided Upon his course he was inaexible
and immovabe. He was, emphatically and
truly, man Of stern resolve and iron Will
and when opposition to the accomplishment Of
his purposes appeared formidable and discour.
aging he was apt to become impatient Of the
restraints and trammels Of official and custom.
airy routine. He had the courage, both moral
and physical, TO dare and to do whatever he
thought proper and necessary to the successful
issue OF whatever he had resolved upon. He
was, withal, a patriot, devoted TO the honor,