The Feliciana Democrat. (Clinton, La.) 1855-186?, 1859-02-05
Tbe :ftlitiana Demotrat.
SPEECH OF THE VICE PRESIDENT
coNcIupED FROM FIRST PAGE

forming but the eastern margin OH INC map VI
our vast possession. See besides christianity,
civilization, and the arts given TO continent
the dcspised colonies grown into power oil
the first class, representing and protecting ideas
that involve the progress OF the human race
commerce greater than that of any other ma
tion--eyery variety of climate, SOIL and pro.
ducion to make people powerful and happy
free interchange between the States-in u
word, behold present greatness, and in the FL
tnre an empire to which the ancient mistress Of
the world in the heighth of her glory could not
be compared Such is our country; ny, and
more far more than my mind could conceive,
or my tongue could utter. Is there an Amer
lean who regrets the past? Is there one who
will deridc his country's laws, pcrvert her Con-
sttution, or ALLEVIATE her people, If there be
such man, let his memory descend to posterl
ty laden with the excavations of all mankind.
So happy is the political and social condition
Of the United States, and so accustomed are
we to the secure cnjomycnt of q freedom else.
where unknown, that we are apt to undcrval
ne the treasures we possess, and to lose in some
degree the sense of obligation to onr forefath.
ers. But when the s,rifcs of faction shake
the government, and even threaten it, we may
pause with advantage long enough to rcmem.
Der that We are rcaping the reward of other
mems labors. This liberty we inhcrit-this nd.
mirablc Constitution, which has survived peace
and war. prosperity aud adversely this double
scheme of government, State and Federal. so
peculiar and SO little understood by other Pow
crs, yet which protects the earnings Of indus
try and makes the largest personal freedom
compatible with public order; these great re-
suits were not achieved without wisdom and
toll, and blood. The touching and heroic re.
cord is before the world but to all this we
were born, and like heirs upon whom has been
cast great inheritance, have only the high dn-
ty to preserve to extend, and to adorn it,
The grand productions of the era in which the
foundations of this government were laid, re-
veal the deep sense its founders had of their
obligations to the whole family of man. Let
us never forget that the responsibilities impos'
cd on this generation are by so much the great
er than those which rested on our revoluiiona.
ry ancestors, as the population, extent and pow
or of our country surpass the dawnlng promise
of its origin.
1t would be pleasing task to pursue many
trains of thought, not wholly foreign to this oc
casion but the temptation to enter the wide
field must be vigorously curbcd; yet may be
pa.doned, perhaps, for one or two additional re-
Elections.
The Senate is assembled for the last time in
this chamber Henccforth it will he convert
ed to other uses: yet it must remain forever
connected with great events, and sacred to the
memories Of the departed orators and states
men, who have engaged in high Debates and
shaped the policy of their country. Hereafter
the American and the stranger, as they wander
through the Capitol, will turn with instructive
reverence to view the spot on which so many
and great materials have accumulated for his.
tory They will recall the images of the great
and the good, whose renown is the common
property of the Union; and chiefly perhaps,
they will linger around the seats once occupied
by the mighty three, whose names and fame
associated in life--death has not been able to
sever; illustrous men, who, in their generation,
sometimes divided, sometimes led and some
times resisted public opnon--for they were Of
that higher class of statesmen who seek the
right and follow their own convictions.
There, sat Calhoun, Tie Scnator--inhcXiblc
austerc, oppressed, but not overwhelmed by
his deep sense of the Importance of his public
functions seeking the truth, then fcarlessy
following it; man whose unsparng intellect
compelled his emotions to harmonic with the
deduction of his rigorous logic, and whose no,
bic countenancc habitually wore the express.
ion of one engaged in the performance Of high
public duties.
This, was Wcbstcr's seat He, too, was cv-
.ery inch Senator. Conscious of his own vast
powers, he rcposcd with confidence on himself,
and scorning the contrivances Of smaller men,
he stood among his peers all the greater for
the simple dignity of his senatorial dcmeanor.
Type Of his northern home, he rises before the
imagination in the grand and granite outline
of his form and intellect, like great New En-.
gland rock, repeing New England wave.
As writer, his productions will be cherished
by statesmen and scholars while the English
tongue is spoken. As a senatorial orator, his
great efforts are historically associated with
this chamber, whose very air seems yct.to Vi
brate beneath the strokes of his deep tones and
his weighty words.
On the outer circle, sat Henry Clay with
his mpetuous and ardent nature untamed by
age, and exhibiting in the Senate the same vc
hement patriotism and passionate eloquence
that, of yore, electrified the House of Repre-,
scntatives and the country. His extraordina.