Washington sentinel., 1856-06-05
From the Philadelphia National Argus.
M.ssachus.tts-Th Difference.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Difference.
4 There is very striking difference in the
standard of the men sent by Massachusetts to
the United States Senate now and formerly,
and this difference is forcibly illustrated in the
character of the speeches of her present and
former Senator's AS if to verify the proyerb:
"Do men gather grapes OF thorns or hgs OF
] thistles?" the Senators of Massachusetts now
/ know only sectioadlisna whereas In former times
it was their honor and their boast 10 know only
the "whole country So also in their speeches.
The demagogues who represent Massachusetts
to-day seek after effect in sectional denuncia-
iion, bitterness oflanguage, and every irritating
inuendo, singing out one State now and again
another as the objects of their abuse and yltu
peration, and shielding themselves behind the
privileges of the positions they disgrace. We
have already published the bitter, vile, and
offensive denunciatons of South Carolina by
Mr. Sumner, which led to the recent assault
upon him by Mr.. Brooks, and we now contrast
It with the language of another Massachusetts
Senator upon former time. The citizens Of
South Carolina, whom Mr. Sumner so bitterly
assailed, could desire no more conclusive refu-
tation OF his calumnies than is afforded in a
memorable speech of Daniel Webster, the pre-
decessor OF Mr.. Sumner, and to whom the latter
bears about the same comparison as "satyr
to hyperion" That illustrious citizen Of Mas.
sachusetts, in his reply to Hayne, in 1880, SO
far from traducing the State represented by his
opponent, thus handsomely alluded to it. Mr..
Webster remarked as follows, and we call espe,
cial attention to his words, as they are in such
remarkable contrast to those of the demagogue
and sectionalist who has succeeded him:
7 Before doing that, however, let me observe
that the eulogium pronounced on the character
of the State of South Carolina by the honorable
gentleman for her revolutionary and other
merits meets my hearty concurrence. | shall
not acknowledge that the honorable member
goes before me in regard for whatever Of dis
tingushed talent or distinguished character
South Carolina has produced. claim part Of
the honor, partake in the pride of her great
name. claim them for countrymen, one and
all, the Summers the Rutledges, the Sumpters
and the Marions-Americans all, whose fame
is no more to be hemmed in by State lines than
their talents and patriotism were capable of
being circumscribed within the same narrow
limits. In their day and generation they
served and honored the country-the whole
country, and their renown is of the treasures of
the whole country.
81 thank God, if am gifted with a little of
the spirit which is able to raise mortals to the
skies, have yet none, as trust, of that other
spirit which would drag angels down.
"When / shall be found, sir, in my place
here in the Senate or elsewhere to sneer at
public merit, because it happens to spring up
beyond the little limits of my own State and
neighborhood; when / refuse, for any such
cause, or for any cause, the homage due
to American talent, to elevated patriotism, to
sincere devotion to liberty or the country; or if
| see an uncommon endowment of Heaven; if
see extraordinary capacity in virtue in any
son of the South, and if moved by local preju-
dices or gangrened by State jealousy, get up
here to abate the tithe of hair from his Just
character and just fame, may my tongue cleave
to the roof of my mouth.
" Sir, let me recur to pleasing recollections;
let me indulge in refreshing remembrances Of
the past; let me remind you that in early times
no States cherished greater harmony, both of
principle and feeling, than Massachusetts and
South Carolina. Would to God that harmony
might return again. Shoulder to shoulder they
went through the Revolution-hand to hand
they stood around the Administration Of Wash-
ington, and felt his own great arm lean upon
them for support"
Thus spoke Daniel Webster Of the Palmetto
State upon the greatest occasion of his life, and
her sons, as they peruse his eloquent testi-
monial to her merits, can well afford to treat
with contempt the libelous attack of the Aboli.
tion demagogue who occupies his seat, but yet
leaves his place vacant in the Senate Of the
United States.