The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1859-08-24

- fl
was one Of the few whose yerypsesence in public
assembly is call to order. In the daily routine Of
legislation he did not take an, active part He
rather stunned clerical work. and consequently
avoided, as much as duty permitted, the labor Of
the committee room; but On every question that
came up while he was member Of either House of
Congress, he made greatspeeeh; and when he hi
spoken there was very little leftfor any one else
to say on the same side Of thequestion. Iremeff
Der, on one occasion, after he had been defending
on broad national grounds the policy of affording
moderate protection TO our native industry, show
ing that it. was not merely local but a national
interest," and speaking to establish this point BY a
great variety of illustrations, equally nbyeEand in
genious, Western member, who had hitherto
wholly dissened from this view Of the subject, ex-
claimed that he twas the most persuasive speaker
he had overheard"
But though abundantly able to have filed a
prominent place among the distinguished active
statesmenio OF Tuesday, he had little fondness for
political life, and no aptitude whatever for the out
doors management for the electioneering egerde-
main, for the wearisome correspondence with great
| local men, and the heart. breaking drudgery Of
thanking car-loadslot speeches and public docu.
ments to the four Winds which are necessary at
the present day to great success in political ca
reer3 Still less adroit was he in turning TO some
personal advantage whatever topic happens for the
moment to attract public attention--hshing With
freshly baited hook in the turbid waters OF an
| ephemeral popularity In reference to some Of
the arts by which political advancement is sought
and obtained, he once said to me, with that we'll
known characteristic look, in which sadness and
compassionate pleasantly were about equally min
gled &" They did not do such things in Washing
tons days. a
If ever there was truly disinterested patriot,
Rufus Choate was that man. In his political ca
reer there was no shade of selfshness Had he
been willing to purchase advancement at the price
often paid for it, there never was moment, from
the time when he first made himself felt and known
thathe could not have commanded anything which
the party could bestow. But he desires none Of
the rewards OF honors of success. On the contra-
~ he, not lyfor his individual self, regarded Of
fee as burden--an obstacle in the way Of the
cultivation of his professional and literary tastes
but he held thatof necessity, and in consequence
of the strong tendency Of parties to assume Sec
tional character, Conservative opinions seeking to
moderate botpe ugitaIe r1IU
vuuavy must, of necessity be in the minority; that
it was the mission men who hold sued opinions,
not to fill honorable and lucrative posts which are
unayoidably monopolized by active leaders, but to-
speak prudent words on great occasions, which
would command the respect, if they do not enlist
the sympathes Of both the conflicting parties, and
insensibly infuencesthe pubicmind He compre.
hended and accepted the position he knew that it
was one liable to be misunderstood .nd sure to be
misrepresented at the time but not the less sure to-
be justified when the intsrestsand passions of the
day are buried beneath the clods Of the valley.
But this hstracsm, to which his conservative
opinions condemned him, produced not shade, Of
bitterness in his feelings. His patriotism was as
cheerful as it was intense. He regarded our con-
federated Republic, with its wonderful adjustment
Of State and Federal organization; the States bear
ing the burden and descending to the details oflocal
administration, the general governments moulding
the whole into one general nationality, and repre-
senting it in the family Of nations, -as the most
wonderful phenomenon in the political history of
the world. Too much OF statesman to join the
unreaecting dsparagen,ent, with which other great
forms of national policy are often spoken CT in this
country ; he yet considered the oldest, thes wsest
and the most successful of them, the British Con-
stitution, as far less wonderful political system
than our confederated republic. The territorial
extent Of the country, the beautiful play into each
other of its great commercial, agricultural and
manufacturing interests the material prosperity,
the advancement in arts, and letters, and manners
already made; the capacity for further indefinite
progress in this vast theater Of action, in which
Providence has placed the AIlglo-American race !;
stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from
the Arctic circle to the tropics, we're themes on
which he dwelt, as none but he could dwell; and
he believed that with patience, with mutual for
bearance, with a willingness to think that our
brethren, however widely We may differ from them,
may be as honest and patriotic as ourselves, our
common country would eventually reach a height
prosperity of which the world as yet has seen no
example.
With such gifts such attachments, and such spirit,
ne placed himself, as matter Of course, not mere
y at the head of the jursts ard advocates, but of
the public speakers Of the country. After listen
ing to him at the bar, in the Senate, or upon the
academic or popular platform, you felt that you had
heard the best that could be said 10 either place.
That mastery which he displayed at the forum and
in the deliberative assembly was not less conspicu
Gus in every other form of public address As hap
pens in most cases q eminent jurists and states.
men, possessing brilliant imagination and able to
adorn severe course of reasoning with the charms
OF a glowing fancy or a sparkling style, it was
sometimes said Of him, as it was said before him
Of Burke ard Erskine, of Ames and Pinkney--that
he was more Of rhetorieian than logician, that