Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1860-02-16
WAsuryerox. Jan. "a. 1860.

WASHINGTON, Jan. "a, 1860.
For three whole hours to-day, Gov. Corw;n has
held both sides of the House. and its crowded gal
leries, spellbound. with argument of transcend
empower in illustration and defense of the flnda-
mental principles of the Republican party The
telegraph can picture to you the scene
h IN it can thunder storm at sea, a charge OF
Murats cavalry at Bordno. Mr.. Corwn's speech
Of yesterday, of which this is continuance an
! accident. He rose simply to correct Mr.. Birksdlle
upon historical 20 M, when the sudden gathering of
mem oers around him imulated him to keep on un-
til he hal spoken Two hours the latter half of which
was an introduction to the gre 1t effort of day
| His audience this afternoon consisted of the en-
tire House, Republicans, Democrats, and Ameri-
cans. All clustered around him, and so filled up
the that the Clerk was repeatedly required to
clear it, in order that the official reporters might
be able to catch the gtteringpcriods and luminous
passages of the orator. No portion of the me IN
bers paid closer attention than the Ketts, the La
mars, the Currys, the McRaes, and other leaders OF
The ultra South. Two or three times they strove
to emincpate themselves from the spell; but they
had reclinel on the remoter sofas only few mo-
ments, when the magcian's wand drew them again
within the charmed circle of his eloquence.
Though this speech exhibited all the salient fea-
tures of Mr. Corwn's eloqucnce, wit, humor, droll-
cry, pathos, happy classical illusions, apt historical
exposition. garnshed and set off with those unique
Il
for which he is celebrated, yet, its leading chirac
teristic was the ajestc march of the argument
Amid all the glitter of the lighter and gayer weap
ofattack and retort, there heard the inces-
sint booming of the heavy artillery OF logic in de-
ensc of the main proposition, that the doctrines of
the Republican party, and especially their opinions
upon the power and duty of Congress to inhibit
Slavery in the Territories, were identical with the
teachings ofthe trainers of the Constitution, and the
great men who had expounded its provisions in the
Legislative, Judicial, and Executive Departments
of the Government. He caused the words and the
acts of Jefferson, Washington, Madison, Marshall,
Monroe, Crawford, Calhoun, Adams. Writ, Clay
and Webster, to pass in long and solemn review
before his auditory, he, all the while, pouring along
their path the glowing light of fervid and apprecil-
ting eulogy. In those portions ofhis speech where
he dwelt upon the policy of the fathers of the Re-
public in excluding Slavery from the North West
Territory, and oftfeir elder sons in inhibi:ing il
north OF the parallel of &c deg. 80 min. he to
the level of his theme, utterng sentences of trans
ccndent eloquence. .,f,.s -
His answer to the charge that the Republican
party is responsible for Browns invasion of Har-
per's Ferry; his interjected sketch of Brown as a
Puritan of the Cromwell type, around whom the
angels ofthe Most High enc ,moed light and day;
his charge that the Free Soil resolutions of Demo-
cratic State Conventions, passed in 1e48 (which he
ready were far more likely to incite Brown to his
attack on Virginia than the speeches of Seward; his
challenge to the South to quote anything from the
most ultra Abolitionists more incendiary than the
writings and speeches oi jefferson and other slave
holders which he cited, were given in his happiest
vein, both in respect to natter and manner. Now
he was inimitably witty about Helpers book saying
how he he had feared to frank it, On request, to a
curious constituent, ,lest the envelope be used to
procure against him an indictment for constructive
trcason then, raining pittiless shower Of rdculc
upoa the attempt OF Democratic members to prove
every body on his side Of the Chamber guilty, sby
intendnant of law" of murder and treason and
each armed with horrid knife, and only wait
ing an opportunity to thrust it into the bowels
Of gentlemen on the other side; and gracefully
changing the tone and manner, appealing to Geor-
gia, Kentucky and Virginia to abandon their insane
doctrines aud mad practices, dig up the bones
of their Jeffersons, Marshas, Crawfords, Wirts,
and dash them into the Potomac, or gibbt them be-
tween the heavens and the earth-every hue pol
itics in the House keeping up running accompa-
niment of laughter at his humor, or. as his bursts
of majestic eloquence broke suddenly upon them.
sinking into silence that reached the remotest spec
tators in the galleriesall this could be seen and
felt, but cannot be described.
The Southern members had the good sense, and
the good taste, to let Mr. Corwn deliver his speech
without interruption. He was listened to also, to-
ward the close, by Mason, Clay, and other slave
holding Senators, while the galleries were filed
with ladies and gentlemen from that section of the
Union 0fcourse, McClernahd and Vallandigham
illustrated their readiness to do .ourney work" for
their Southern masters by persistent efforts to in
terrupt him, after he had explicitly requested them