New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1860-04-16
BEN Orleans paly shet apuasy aanug sp 49, 1850


1t was III the calm and matured expression Of
these counsels that his voice was last heard upon
public aithirs speak of tho interview between
him and Kossuth.
Kossuth had lately reached our shores. He came
almost nj the guest of the nation Landed a. New
York. the excitabe population Of That city award
ed him the honers of o Roman triumph. Sympa-
thizng with the cause OF his d0wn-trodden coun-
try they sought in the attentions they showered
upon him, to signalize their love Of liberty. His
addresses were listeped to by thousands of hearers
and shouts of applause went up at them that
seemed to ring throughout the whole circle Of the
land. The honor Of seat In the Senate-house OF
the Nation was voted to him, and his journey to
the Capitol was an uninterrupted ovation. His
speeches had, meantime, advocated not merely
sympathy with his country, but had solicited ma
terial aid. Emboldened by the momentary effects
Of his brilliant eoquenee, and flushed by the APP
plauses of the people and the press he essayed to
overturn the established policy OF our country,
and presumed to hold up before US new lights by
which we were to read the writings of our fathers
and to furnish US with strange interpretations Of
the cherished counsels of Washington.
Arrived at the seat of our National Government,
and after receiving distinguished hcnors, he sought
approximately and at last obtained an interview
with Mr.. Clay, whose life was fast ebbing away.
He saw him.
The great statesman lay stretched upon his
COUCH suffering under the weight Of years and dis
ease y He thanked Kossuth for the honor OF his
visit. He told him of his love Of liberty and of his
sympathy for oppressed Hungary. But at the same
time he added that he must protest against the
policy OF Intervention which Kossuth had proposed.
kindiing with his theme, he spoke with the elo-
quence Of his noble nature. He pointed out the
wisdom the advantage, the Justice and the patriot
ism OF our uninterrupted neutrality, which had
preserved us from being involved in the tangled
web of European politics, thus conducting to our
unprecedented prosperity, and effecting by ex-
ample more for the cause Of liberty throughout the
world than arms could have achieved.
What d legacy Of wisdom for posterity is there
in these last counsels Of the dying statesman
counsels unlocked for from one whose voice on
earth was deemed silenced under the trials OF dis
ease. Thus have we beheld the evening sun,
slowly sinking in the west beneath veil Of clouds
and seemnly at rest. suddenly burst forth again in
the full glories of his golden splend0r, to illumine
the surroun ling horizon in blaze Of Light ere his
broad disk disappeared behind the hills to his dur
nal sumher. Q
This remarkable interview was soon made pub.
lie. 1t challenged the deliberate consideration of
rejecting minds, and aroused them to just sense
Of patriotic duty The spell which Kossuth's &C.
MUS and oratory had woven was broken. The
purpose of his further journeyings became vain !;
and before he LETT shores for his native Europe
he had learned through the wholesome yet kindly
rebuke administered by the dying lips Of Henry
Clay, how little that comprehends of the spirit
| and intelligence of the people OF the United
States who endeayors to lead them astray from the
faith of the Fathers of the Republic
Among all the important services Of Mr.. Clay,
throughout his long and eventfui career, there are
none conspicuous, better emitting him to the
lasting gratitude Of his country than his labors for
the preservation OF the Union. His patriotism was
| love of his whole country. No narrow limits
hemmed it in. His comprehensive mind, without
losing sight Of the geographical Lines that separate
upon the map the different States OF the Union,
considered these States as sections Of q common
country, in history, one in origin, one in Ian
| guage one in government, one in affection, and
one in glory. His heart was wrapped up in the
Nation. To disunite its component psrts-to sep
fr4r hos
been to destroy his sublime patriotism.
1t was this exalted patriotism which induced
him, on every occasion where the permanency of
the Union involved, to stand forth its boldest,
most earnest, and most effective champion.
| When the question of the admission Of Missouri
occupied the public mind, which Mr.. Jefferson de-
clared the most momentous that had ever threat
ened the Uniona-every patriot in the land trem.
bled for the fate of the country. The schemes of
other statesmen had failed to furnish a remedy
| equal to the emergency and disunion, like black
cloud, lowered upon the country.
Mr.. Clay, coming into the councils of the nation
in the midst of this gloom, brought with him wise
measures of conciliation. AT first his plans were
| rejected; but he perseyered with q spirit un-
daunted. They at length prevailed, and peace and
| goodwill were restored The honor OF saving the
country was, all sides, awarded to him. and his
praises were on the lips Of grateful people. Mr..
| Benton called him .s the paeifcator Of ten millions
of freemen, and it is in speaking of this act that
Mr. Crittenden has said II was the greatest civil
The second occasion when Mr.. Clay earned the
title Of the SAWYER of his country. and again signal
lied his devotion to the Union was in 1883, during
the portentons times Of notification in South Caro-
lima. The people of that chivalfous State had OPP
posed, with the most settled determination, the
| tariff laws of the General Government. They had
| passed, In convention, an ordinance declaring these
| laws unconstitutional, null and void and menacing
| resolute resistance 10 their enforcement in the
| State. The Legislature, on assembling, ratified
this ordinance, and at once set about the effective
organization of the militia, and the preparation Of
materials for war, with the avowed purpose of sus.
tanning the attitude Of the State by an appeal to
1 arms. YlS3s3
| On the 10th December, 1882, Gen. Jackson issued
| his celebrated proclamation, denouncing these
measures as reasonable and calling back the good
| people of the State to their allegiance. A few
| days after this, Governor Hayne issued counter
| proclamation, in which he eShorted all citizens u
South Carolina to stand by her in her position OF
peril. Civil war seemed inevitable. The we'll
| known courage and intexible will of Gen. Jackson
| left no hope that he would swerve from the course
| he had adopted under stern sense Of duty; while
1 the spirited and impetuous people of South Caro-
lima were resolved upon resistance. This posture
of affairs was contemplated throughout the country
| with anxiety and alarm, whilst in South Carolina
herself the bitterest and most proscriptve enmity
| prevailed against those citizens who sustained the
/ Government of the United States.
| The earliest recollectionE of my infancy carry
me back to those troubled times, which impressed
| themselves upon my wondering mind with vivid
ness that does indeed seem strange to me at this
| day. The deep and dangerous excitement Of the
whole community of Charleston; the preparations
for armed resistance; the daily collisions between
| individuals whom opposite opinions alone made
hostile; the nightly Kisses and hurrahs of passing
| professions, and their solemn tramp along the
| payements filled my boyish Imagination with
| vague portents of an unknown danger. which ma
! turer years have shown me were not i'll founded.
| II was in the midst of these troubles that the
| eyes of the nation turned to Mr.. Clay, as the
statesman whose hand was to pour oil upon the
troubled waters "There is, said Mr.. Randolph,
at that time his bitter foe there is man, anc
one man only, who can save the Union--and that
man is Henry Clay. l know he has the power-l
believe he has the patriotism and frmness equal to
the OCCASION y
The country was not disappointed. In spite OF
the probable alienation of political friends, and
well knowing the distinctions in the pathway
leading to reconciliation of differences of opinion
honestly entertained, Mr.. Clay assumed once more
the character of peace maker. He introduced
into the Senate his compromise tariff 1t was at
first reluctantly assened to by Mr.. Calhoun. Fin
ally, and in opposition to Mr.. Websters influence,
it was passed. 1t also passed the House and the
nation was again quoted. The measure, while it
provided for the gradual but decided reduction OF
duties on imports still preserved the principle of
protection to American industry and retained the
standard of home valuation. 1t paci6ed South
Carolina and saved the country from the horrors
of civil war.
The strains of eulogy in which my heart prompts
In sneak this nafriatie and great achievement