The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1862-10-14

ciOus, so bloody, so implacable 50 exter-
minating-nOt even the wars of Greece
including those Of the Commoners Of En-
gland and the revolutions Of France
none, none Of them all would rage with
such violence, or be characterized with
such bloodshed and enormitics as would
the war which must succeed, if that event
ever happens, the dissolution Of the uni
on. And what would be its termination =?
/ Standing armies, and navies, TO an extent
stretching the revenues Of each portion OF
the discovered members, would take place.
An exterminating war would follow-not,
sir, war Of two or three years duration,
but war of interminable duration--and
eXterminating wars would ensue, until,
after the struggles and exhaustion Of both
parties, some Philip or Alexander, some
Caesar or Napoleon, would arise and cut
the Gordian knot, and solve the problem
of the capacity of man for self-govern-
ment, and crush the liberties of both the
severed portions of this common empire.
Can you doubt it?
"Look at all history-consult her pages,
ancient or modern-look at human ma
ture look at the contest in which you
would be engaged in the superstition of
war following upon the dissolution of the
Union, such as l have suggested; and /
ask you if it is possible for you to doubt
that the final disposition of the whole
would be some despot treading down the
| liberties of the people--the final result
would be the extinction of this last and
| glorious light which is leading all man
kind, who are gazing upon it, in the hope
and anxious expectation that the liberty
which prevails here will sooner or later
be diffused throughout the whole of the
civilized world, Sir, can you lightly
contemplate these consequences Can
you yield yourself to the tyranny of pas
sion, amid dangers which | have depicted
in colors far too tame of what the result
| would be if that direful event to which
have referred should ever occur? Sir, |
implore gentlemen, l adjure them, wheth-
er from the South or the North, by all
that they hold dear in this worldly all
their love of Hberty-by all their venera-
ton for their ancestors-by all their re-
gard for posterity-by all their gratitude
to Him who has bestowed on them such
unnumbered and countless bessings-by
all the duties which they owe to man
kind--and by all the duties which they
owe TO themselves, to pause, solemnly to
pause, at the edge of the precipice, before
the fearful and dangerous leap be taken
into the yawning abyss below, from which
none who ever take it shall return in
safety.
Finally, Mr.. President, and in conclu-
sion, implore, as the best blessing which
Heaven can bestOw upon me, upon earth,
that if the direful event of the dissolution
of this Union is to happen, shall not
survive to behold the sad and heart-rend-
ing spectacle"
Among the front ranks of men that
founded, organized, and cemented to-
gether the American Nation, the name of
DANIEL WEBSTER will be found. In dis
tant ages, when coming generations shall
study the English language as the pres
ent does the Greek and Latin as models
of style and lights of wisdom and truth,
his orations will be read with delight,
and recited as the choice productions of
| OuO uuLilaH Auiuus Ilo CdACtI mas bten
so recent that his countrymen are not
prepared to appreciate thoroughly the
magnitude of the great character that la
bored so long and so faithfully for the
Nation. 1t is within the memories of the
youth that he performed his great part in
society. For years the schoolboys have
recited his majestic passages as the mas
terpieces Of oratory. Our old men who
admired and leaned on his wisdom for
support, repined over the Nations loss.
II Statesman no longer wakes up the
Nation by his grand periods and lessons
Of wisdom. He now sleeps his last long
sleep in the old Bay State, on the shores
of the "far sounding" sea. Near his
loved mansion, at Marshfield, rest the
mortal remains of New England's great
Statesman. The waves of his Northern
Sea, that he loved so much in life to look
upon, now sing their solemn and sublime
dirges to his yoiceless but eloquent tomb.
A mere urn contains the dust and ashes
of him to whom millions turned in their
hours Of trial The majestic form, the
brow of wisdom, those eyes OF life, have
disappeared. The monuments erected TO
commemorate his deeds may perish "but
thy memory" o son Of liberty, shall not
fade. Honored Massachusetts, whose
soil contains bis tomb Noble, venerated
State. How many jewels of our nation
repose in your bosom. How many sacred
recollections inspire your children and
give to your whole domain divine en-
chantment. II was amid the memories
that consecrate thy soil that the soul Of
the great WEBSTER caught its first inspi