Staunton vindicator and general advertiser. (Staunton, Augusta County, Va.) 1858-1860, 1858-02-06
SPEECH OF
NGM IAWRENlE NJ. kElTT.

iH Ht ljouse " ittI'flotH'tWtees, ouHHHj
j 1911, 1858, on tie announcement Of thc
/ death of .Seaator Rush.
l3r. kElTT. Mr.. Chairman, tie resolu
tons j eforc US communicate only otsicia
i intelligence Of tie death Of the disting uishcc
Senator from Texas The public voice has
alfeady uecl broken into sobs over his bier
and it is fitting that We now. in our high es-
tate, should celebrate funeral tribute tC
his memory On behalf, then, Of the Com
monaeaith. of South Carolina, on whose sol
he was born, lay a glove upon his freshly
closed grave,
Sir, the symbols Of mourning are thiclen-
III &. around us. At the very threshold OF
our legislative career. we have been sum
moned Away from the passions aud strifes
Of political warfarc, and carriedtio those last
scenes Of life, il. which ambitions are hush
ealand ripa.fies forever stilled In the briei
track Of tine lying between the close Of the
last and the beginning Of the present Con-
gress, around how many of the trusted OF
( the land have the curtains Of time been
closely drawn2 Men fresh from the Cabinet
and with the prestige Of renoWn upon their
brows Senators covered witll.angust and re-
yered. trephless Representatives unfolding
the fasees of pop;.lar authority all Of these,
! ccming from every portion OF the Union,
and drawing nearer and nearer, as they a(l-
vanced, have mingled in that dark and
narrow house whera all human glories en-
ter and disappear f;rever.
Over the loss of,no one of these rose there
Ia deeper cry, of grief shan over that of the
lamcntcd RusK. With that i!ltuitiye sa-
gacity which detects genuine merit, and
that presoieAt forecast which goes forth fear
lessly to meet the future, and anticipates
events ere g-st tlley arc formed the big heart
Of tla-Peoplc felt that .. great man bad fallen
-one whose step wasupon the round and
'op" of the republican. Ladder General
Russ. s5rayltaied to superiority by the laws
Of his mental aud. moral. nature These
carried hiins to Qistl.ction, as the instincts
of the eagle carry him above the noun aims,
to The verys ssn. Certainly it is 4 no
bic tl-iug 10 bear, l!.o banasr, histori-
cal name for thousand years; and, in turn
ING to the past II see, looming through the
night Of ages, q series of figures, baihel
Yith iroa, draped with erinine, who resesn
.,le you, and bear the sane name that you
d tut i is shallow philosophy that un-
icrvalup8 The efforts Of 4in. whe starts a no
bIa lire
.<1yn Il Z ,sll.liio parcn'ago ans, TO a mar
row tojtuac, young Rusk went forth to be-
gin the warfare Of life. kearod upon the
soil wet wiihtle yIaoa4of patriots: cdaca-
ted BY stirring themes Of heroic daring and
,g;th a heart chetsfenel BY the sacrifices and
oSeged 4 I'll the wealth II our historic
.tfusglc, be fntwed IA the tra4nwag e
s,itsc great mea who had hung our political
aeaveAs il la;i5 anl glory. l,be splendid
courug., ana Tia Unanimous sacrifices through
Which ou! independence had been woa and
established. he Displayed On behalf Of that
people, whose cause he had cspoused, and
on whose soil be lived La the very front
If Tic Foremost r!oa Of Iexas, be kept
watch end ward " while the ''lone star
wax. blending is scatt red rays Ato unity
ire il wheeled 9pWard to n.in9Ie its bright
ness with tic blaze Of the Federal oonstela-
ton
IS Secretary 81 war, lie orsanizol the
resources of Texas as militfry lea4er, he
CONDUCTED hcr alnie to victory as legisla-
tor, he aided to establish her civil policy !;
and as CHEF justice, he cllla5;a2d5Ae j'u-
lsprnee@e9
ia walking back softly over the path he
trol, we may we'll ask what high qualities
Of head and heart he had to win such signal
success. AS an orator it was net given him
to utter those b1srnnc words which some
times electrify u whole people ! those words
which strike Ike q fash Of lightning @hie j
pcnotra5e whioL 10 not stay to be scanned,
prol,ed, yezed, and criticised; y which IL
lumnate and are gone but wish intuitiye
saeacity he cut to the heart ofevery mca-
sure, aud realizing it and stripping ;tca+5sx-
trinsic appliances, he presented itiu a few
short, sharp. ahr1 fttrsentences. As . state
man It was not his excellencc to elaborate
theories Of civic economy, Or to expound
the rudimcnts~of governments: but with q
ready insigttinto the needs of society, he
appreciated and administered the living
principles upon which each phrase Of it rests
and is founded The eminent feature in
General Rusk's craftsmanship was is prac-
ticality The power Of his mind Jay in the
perfect equilibrium Of its forces. With C.
Quad facility he unwound the threads Of de-
fusion with which an opponent had cacgiled
his subject, and presented the construction
and accumulation Of proofs nee tssary to It's
elucidatior:'
Truth is aeiav tsalot from Divinity itself.
/, ETr WHO socks It, must seek it reverent and
afraid; must seek it in the attitude ascribcd
by tae great epic poet Of I1pgland, to the
sbrightest chcrubim at The tootstool OF the
G4nnipotcnt tfrofe,' who
I ".pproael not, but'with botl wings vail their
eyes
I Yet when possessed, wien realizod, ID
who would apply it to human affairs withont
reference to the atmosphere Of modifying
circumstances, only mars and Hss4ays Is. ~
Wise statesmanship consists in thoj malicious
anplsaation CT abstract truth to the iniper.
feet ami progressive conditions Of humanity
1t was this craftsmanship that made Gen
cral Ruslz representative man.
But his claim to our homage lies not a
lone in the pure and rsagnarlmot.s victories
/ Of mind LIS 7a;,s: = genial and gentle spir
it. 0ne of his last acts was to secure {
few homciy comforts to his aged mother
who vet lives upon her native soil IN tn
Palmetto State OF this however, ] neet
not speak for how many homes in the lane
cfhis adoption have been relieved Of wan
by TIE hard Of Lin noss p;slaNed ana coz
cred m in his bed Of imperturbable Stun