The Bedford gazette. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1805-current, 1859-07-01

/ prosperity and adversely this double schem
! OF Government, State and Federal, so peCulIa
and SO little understood by other Powers, We
which protects the earnings of industry, an
makes the largest personal freedom compatlbl
with public order these great results We're no
acquired without wisdom and toll and blood
the touching and heroic record is before tn
world. But 10 all this we were born, and, lik
heirs upon whom has been cast great inherit
ance, have only he high;duty TO preserve, II
extend, and TO adorn it. The grand production
OF the era in which the foundations of thi
Government were laid, reveal the deep sens,
ITS founders had of their obligations to the
whole family OF man. Let us never forget tha
the responsibilities imposed on this generation
are by SO much the greater than those which
rested on our revolutionary ancestors, as the
population, extent, and power of our country
snrPass the dawning promise of its origin.
1t would BE- pleasing task 10 pursue many
trains of thought, not wholly foreign 10 this
occasion, but the temptation to enter the wide
field must be vigorously cUrbed vet | may be
pardoned, perhaps, for one or two additional
reflections.
The Senate is assembled for the last time in
this Chamber. Henceforth it will be convert
ed to other uses yet it must remain forever
connected with great events, and sacred to the
memories of the departed orators and statesmen
who here engaged in high debates, and shaped
the policy OF their country. Hereafter the
American and she stranger, as they wander
through the Capitol, will turn will, instructive
reverence to view the spot on which so many
and great materials have accumulated for aiSto-
ry. They will recall the images of the great
and good, whose renown is the common prop
erty Of the Union; and chiefly, perhaps, they
will linger around the seats once occupied by
the mighty three, whose names and fame, as
sociated in life, death has not been able to
sever; iIustrious men, who in their generation
sometimes divided, sometimes led, and some
times resisted public opnion-for they were OF
that higher class of statesmen who seek the
right and follow their convictions.
There sat Calhoun, The Senator, infexible,
auserp, oppressed. but not overwhelmed by
his deep sense OF the importance of his public
functions; seeking the truth, then fearlessly fol-
lowing it--a man whose unsparing intellect
all his emotions TO harmonic with
The deductions OF his TIgprous logic, and whose
noble countenance habitnally wore the expres-
sion ofone engaged in the performance of high
public duties.
This was Webster's seat. He, too, was
every inch a Senator. Conscious of his own
vast powers, he reposed with confidence on
himself; and scorning the contrivances of small
er men, he stood among his peers all the greater
Tor the simple dignity ofhis senatorial demean-
or. Type of his northern home, he rises be-
fore the Imagination, in the grand and granite
outline ofhis form and intellect, like great
New England rock, repelling New England
wave. As a writer, his productions will be
cherished bv statesmen and scholars while the
English tongue is spoken. As a senatorial ora
tor, his great efforts are historically associated
with this Chamber, whose very air seems yet
to vibrate beneath the strokes Of his deep tones
and his wcighty words.
On the outer circle, sat Henry Clay, with
his ifnpptuous and ardent nature untamed by
age, and exhibiting in the Senate the same We
hement patriotism and passionate eloquence
that of vore electrified the House of RPpresen-
taives and the country. His extraordinary
personal endowments, his courage, all his noble
qualities, invested him with an individuality
and charm cf character which, in any age,
would have made him a favorlte Of history
He loved his country above all earthly objectr.
He loved liberty in all countries. 1llustrious
man orator, patriot, phianthroPist-whose
light at its meridian, was seen and felt IN the
remotest parts of the civilized wo'ld; and whose
declining sun, as it hastened down the west,
threw back its level beams, in hueS OF mellow
ed splendor, to illuminate and to cheer the land
he loved and served SO well.
All the States may point, with gratifed pride,
10 the services in the Senate of their patriotic
sons Crowding the memory, come the names
of Adams, Hayne, Wright: Mason, Otis, Ma
con, Pinckney, and the rest-I cannot number
them sho, in the record OF their acts and III
terances, appeal to their successors to give the
Union destiny not unworthy OF the past
What models were these, TO awaken emulation
or to plunge in despair Fortunate Will be
the American statesmen who, IN this age, or
in succeeding times, shall contribute to invest
the new Hall to which we go, with historic
memories like those which cluster here.
And now, Senators, we leave this memorable
Chamber. bearing with US, unlmpaired, the
Constitution we received from our forefathers
Let us cherish it with grateful acknowledg-
ments to the Divine Power who controls the
destinies of empires and whose goodness we
adore. The structures reared by men yield &c
the corroding tooth of time. These marble
walls must moulder into ruin; but the principles
of constitutional liberty, guarded by wisdom
and virtue, unlike material elements, do not de-
cay. Let us devoutly trust that another Sen
ate, in another age, shall bear TO new anc
larger Chamber, this Constitution vigorous anc
inviolate, and that the last generation OF pos
terity shall witness the deliberations OF tht
Representatives of American States still uni
ted, prosperous, and free.
Or"Dd you knew," said a cunning Yam
kee to Jew, ''that they hang Jews and jack