The hydraulic press., 1860-11-17

not willing it should CO. If she demands the
protection of her own rights, in this particular,
1t is equally Incumbent upon her to respect the
rights of others. To say that she will dissolve
the Union because her distractions do not meet
with popular favor is to perform the part of Lu-
eifer, wlh, being in heaven, woald rule it, or
accept the alternative of perditionf in order to
/ preserve his inconsistent consistency.
! The fact is, we are ali more or less at fault ON
this fruitful subject of slavery. We agitate too
much. We indulge more than we ought to in
| the language of elimination and recrimination.
/ If we were to read the history of those shines
which tried mems souls" more, and talk less, it
would do us good. We have permitted ourselves
to forget the lessons which have been taught us
by our Revolutionary fathers, and have found an
echo in the blossoms of the greatest living and
! dead statesmen since their day. We wish to re-
yive these memories; and with that view, copy
below couple of extracts from Daniel Websters
great speech in reply to Mr.. Hayne, of South
Carolina, delivered in the Senate of the United
States, January 26th, 1880. Mr.. Webster said:
/ s'I propose, Sir to say something on these and
! to consider how far they are Just and constitu-
! tional. Before doing that however, let me OBJ
4 serve that the eulogium pronounced by the hon
orabe gentleman on the character of the State of
South Carolina for her Revolutionary and other
merits, meets my hearty concurrence. l shall
not acknowledge that the honorable member goes
before me in regard for whatever ofdistinguished
talent, or distinguished character, South Carroll
ma has produced. / claim part of the honor |
partake in the pride, of her great names. /
claim them for countrymeD, one and all, the Lau-
renses, the Rutledges the Pinckneys, the Sump-
ters, the Marions, Americans all, whose fame is
no more to be hemmed in by State lines, than
their talent and patriotism capable Of being
circumscribed within the same narrow limits. In
! their day and generation, they served and hen
orcd the country, and the whole country; and
their renown is of the treasures of the whole
country. Him whose honored name the gentle
man himself bears-does he esteem me less ca
pable of gratitude for his patriotism, sympathy
for his sui.erings, ,thanifhs eyes had first opened
upon the light of Massachusetts, instead OF South
Carolina: Sir, does he suppose it III his power to
exhibit Carolina name so bright, as to produce
envy in my bosom? No, Sir, increased gratifica-
ton and delight rather. thank God that, if |
gifted with little of the spirit which is able to
raise mortals to the skies, | have yet none as /
trust, of that other spirit, which would drag an
gels down. When l shall be found, Sir in my
place here in the Senate, or elsewhere, to sneer
al public merit, because it happens to spring up
neighborhood when refuse, for any such cause
or for any cause, the homage due to American
talent, to elevated patriotism, to sincere devotion
to liberty and the country; or, if | see un-
common endowment Of Heaven, if [ see extra
ordinary capacity and virtue, in any son Of the
South and if, moved by local prejudice or gam
grened by State jealousy, get up here to abate
thetithe of hair from his just character and
just fame, may my tongue cleave to the roof of
my mouth
Sir, let ME recur to pleasing recolections; let
me INDULGE in refreshing remembrance of the
past; let me remind you that, in early times, no
States cherished greater harmony, both Of prili-
ciple and feeling, than Massachusetts and South
Carolina. Would to God that harmony might
again return! Shoulder to shoulder they went
through the Revolution. hand in hand they stood
round the administration of Washington and
felt his own great arm lean on them for support
Unkind feeling, if it exist, alienation, and dis
trust are the growth, unnatural to such SOILS of
false principles since sown. They are weeds the
seeds of which that same great arm never scat
tered.
Mr. President, shall enter on no encomium
upon Massachusetts,; she needs none. There she
is. Behold her. and Judge for yourselves. There
is her history; the world knows it by heart. The
past, al least, is secure. There is Boston, and
Concord, and Lexington, and Bunker Hill; and
there they will remain forever. The bones of her
sons, falling in the great struggle for Indepcnd-
ence, now lie mingled with the soil of every
State from New England TO Georgia. and there
they will lie forever. And, Sir, where American
Liberty raised its first voice, and where its youth
was nurtured and sustained, there still lives in
the strength of its manhood and full of its origi-
nal spirit. If discord and disunion shall wound
it, if party strife and blind ambition shall hawk
at and tear it, if folly and madness, if uneasness
under salutaTy and necessary restraint, shall
succeed in separating it from that Union, by
which alcnc its existence is made sure, it viii
IL - - IL e +I04o H..
which its infancy rocked it will stretch forth
its with whatever of viSor it may still retain
over the friends who gather round it; and it will
fall at last, if fall it must, amidst the proudest
monuments Of its own glory, and on the very
spot of its origin"
'Iprofess, Sir, in my career hitherto, to have
kept steadily in view the prosperity and honor of
the whole country, and the preservation of our
Federal Union. 1t is to that Union we owe our
safety at home, and our consideration and dig
nifty abroad. 1t is to that Union that
chiefly indebted for whatever makes most
proud of our country. That Union reached
only by the discipline of virtues in the severe
school of adversitv. It had its origin in the ne
cessities of disordered finance, PROSTATE COM
merce, and ruined credit. Under its benign in
fuences, these great interests Immediately awoke,
as from the dead, and sprang forth with newness
of life. Every year of its duration has teemed
with fresh proofs of its utility and its blessings;
and although our territory has stretched out wi
der and wider, and our population spread farther
and farther, they have not outrun its protection
or its benefits. 1t has been to us all copious
fountain of national, social, and personal happi-
ness.
have not allowed myself, Sir, to look beyond
the Union, to see what might lie hidden in the
dark recess behind. have not coolly weighed
the chances of preserving liberty when the bonds
that unite us together shall be broken asunder.
have not accustomed myself to hang over the
precipice of disunion, to see whether, with my
short sight, can fathom the depths of the abyss
below; nor could / regard him safe COUNSEL
lor in the affairs OF this government, whose
thoughts should be mainly bent on considering
not how the Union may be best preserved, but
how tolerable might be the condition of the peo-
pie when it should be broken up and destroyed
! While the Union lasts, we have high, exciting
gratifying prospects spread cut before us, for US
] and our children. Beyond that l seek not to