New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1859-01-06
FROM WASHING Ton.
"REMINISCENCES OF THE OLD UNITED
STATES SENATE CHAMBER
F,o,. an O,<zx.onx Correspondent

N these forsy years past, would FL volumes. AZ
looked in upon i,s solitude TO-DAY, and saw tae
retiring shadows Of its late occupants, its every
column sud tsbla.u,e and sife and feat, suggested
some momentous question, some eminent name, IN
American history. rs very silence seemed 10
plead for notice, hasty and mesgre though IT be,
Of the part il has played in pu5hc Affairs.
The Senate entered It's now deserted, but then
new Chamber. on the 9Th OF December, 1919.
President Monroe congratulated Congress on the
recorDueDcement of lis duties in the Capitol.
Tom1kins, the Vice PRECEDENT being absent, The
Chair was filed By the urbsne John Gailsrd, who
oficia.ed as Presdent pro TEN. twelve successive
year.. and held Reat in that body longer than any
other member except Col Benton and William h
King. The r.ost distinguished members at that
tine were Harrison Gay OTIS, Nathan Sanford,
Rufus King. MahlOn DickerEon. Jas. Barbour
Nathaniel Macon, William Smith, William K. King
William Pinkney and Richard u. johnson.
Scarcely had they entered their chamber before
tbev courpeL ced discussion that extended through
two months summOling to the arena the hlghes,
forensic powers Of the body, and filing the whole
country with an agitation whose echoes have not
yet died away. | alude to the Missouri ques-
tioD" The long aDd vehement debate excited IN
precedented interest. The lobbies and galleries
were ihronged from day TO day--a not unfrequent
occurrence now but rare spectacle then. Mr..
Macon, with more than twenty years COngres-
sionsl experience, remarkng upon TIE circun-
stance said The scene in this chamber excels
:" anything have ever witnessed in the Senate be-
fore"
In this first struggle between Freedom and Slay
cry, .hc North was beaten, and in the Senate, and
by its own sons On an early test vote, Parrot of
N Ham. Ii-a psI,rer nj Vermont TaNlor of
Indiana, and Edwards and Thomas of Illinois, went
with the South. We embrace this occasion to
rescue their names from oblivion. Their mOrts
live. On the night Of March 2 IS20--the storm Of
wind and rain that beat upon the Capitol being al
most drowned by the tumult withln-the biI for
the admission Of Missouri 10 the Union, without
the Slayery-reeirictng clause, passed both Houses
The next morning Tic National LateHigsncer an
nounced the result in startling capitus, THE
QUESTION SETTLED" AT the close of its cOngrat-
ulatory editorial it said, "Ihe few days past have
been trying time ia Congress; but the trial has
" passed aud We look now only for harmony and
&" cancellation on all sides" The editors OF that
able Journal have lived TO see how vain was their
proenostication. The Goals Of that controversy,
kept alive rather than extinguished by superficial
" compromise burst out, d third ola century there
after, with more glowing fame than before
Until the Missouri struggle, the Senate had never
led the House in moulding public measures In
the exciting debates preliminary to and at the dec
laration Of the war of 1Sl2-lj it played second
AIRY part--tbe Senate being quiet and dgnifed,
while the discussions in the House were able and
acrimonious; Clay, Grundy, Calhoun, Porter,
Quincy, Randolph, Webster, being the leading
sprits Indeed, when the war declared. the
only men OF mark in the Senate were Narnum, of
Massa cbusetts; German, Of Newfork; Bayard,
of Delaware; Giles, of Vireina Crawford, OF
Georgia Smith, of MaplaEd and Gaillard of
South Carolina.
The lead in legislation assumed by the Senate in
| 1870 was never afierward wholly relnquished.
The next great question that agitated lis Chamber
was the proposed Panama Congress. The dis
cussion Of this important and novel subject was
congcnial TO the commanding talents aud lofty am
| bton of several men who had entered the Senate,
| since the Missouri contest among whom Van Bu-
| ren Benton, Randolph, Holmes, Ilayne, Noodbury,
Tazewell and Berrien, stood conspicuous. The
debate, protracted and able, is an era in Congress
| ional oratOry.
When Jackson took the Presidential chair. a
| galaxy of talent studded the Senate Chamber
Beside the names just mentioned, there were. on
| the Administration side, Edward Livingston, San
| ford. Dickerson, Grundy, Forsyth, White and W.
K. King; while Webster, Clayton, Noble, frehng-
huysen, Sprague and Robbins were the chiefs OF
| the Opposition.
After sharp skirmish over the power of the
| President to remove from Office without special
cause (the heads were falling by scores into the
basket, they entered upon a contest which is still
known as the great debate in the Senate In
| January, lo30, Mr.. Foot introduced resolution,
as harmless as himself about the pubic lands. The
"battle of the giants, that followed almost uDin-
! tcrruptcdly for four months, will always rescue the
name of the author from oblivion. This grand
| oratorical contest will ever be known, and quoted
| and commented upon, as the debate 'on Foots
resolution" The young academicians Who, in
! coming generations will decaim brilliant extracts
! from Haynes speech or mSlcstic passages from
| Wcbsters. viii remember thai they were delivered
! GU Foots resolution" The statesmen aud juTs,s
who, in times remote will quote the fiery logic of
| Eayne the ponderous argument of Benton, the
profound reasoning of Webster, the discriminating
PREDICTION Of Livingston, to sustain favorite theo
ries of government, viii cite them as from the de-
| bate ION FO0ts resolution
! Ii is unnecessary to say that the discussion
driited out of sight of the public lands, and, ike
Columbus pushed boldly out into wide sea, IN
search OF new worlds. Tue Hotspur of the South
was sustained by Benton, Grundy, Rowan and
Woodbury. The Richmond Of the North rallied
around him Holmes, Clayton, Robbins and Sprague.
! Livingston pursued middle line of argument IN
regard to the respective powers Of the Federal and
State Governments, sustainingi it with more than
! bis usual acumen, and justibing the subsequent
opinion that be was the author of Jacksons Anti
Notification Proclamation Of a later day.
| Websters principal speech is generally regarded
as the great forensic effort OF his lie. Ii
undoubtedly sent his fame as a constitutional
lawyer and parliamentary orator higher and wider
1 than it had ever gore before. His closing ausion
to 4" the gorgeous ensign of the Republic" which
iron the spot where he stood, could be float
ing over the dome of the chamber ranks among the
best-sustained passages of ornate eoquence in the
language.
We must omit all notice OF many questions that
lr.v srs.