Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1875-09-09

uhpc cOuple VI nOuIb the merits o.
the question with an earnestness,
beauty and an eloquence seldom equal
ed, he turned his attention to the Sen
ators who had assaulted him. Quotine
in succession the words Of each one, de.
nouncing the oppression, the insolenc,
and the arrogance Of Great Britain, hs
exclaimed "But the Senator wishes
for no war with her." Then, with con.
summate skill, he repeated Mark An.
tony's Grafton over Caesars body, draw.
| ing a parallel between each Senator and
Ionea Of the conspirators "Great Bri.
tain" said he, "has always been our en-.
envy, she was arrogant, domineerine
and insolent, but the Senator wishes
for no war with her." Pursuing the
parallel, he exclaimed, ''there the we'll.
beloved Brutus stabbed, but Brutus is
an honorable man." Then quoting an
other Senator, he cried out, "See what
rent the envious Casca made; but he,
too, is an honorable man." So admira-
bly, had Mr.. Choate prepared the minds
of the auditors that it is difficult to give
an idea of the effect Of these quotations.
As one looked over the Senate, it seemed
ready to burst into laughter, but in
fact every one restrained his feelings
lest he might lose some of the speak
er's words. The effect on the Senators
arraigned was not less striking. While
Mr.. Benton strove to throw it off, with
poorly assumed air between indiffer-
ence and defiance, Mr.. Buchanan hung
his head with the sheepish look Of one
who has been detected in a shallow
stratagem. After getting through with
his adversaries, Mr.. Choate drew him
self up to his full height, with an air of
great dignity, and said: "But, Mr..
President, there is one great and strik-
ing difference between Mark Antony
and these honorable Senators, and it is
due to their high character as well as
to the courtesy of the Senate that /
should state it." As he uttered these
words in fine, manly tone Of voice,
and with an air of generous courtesy,
the Senators raised themselves up in
their seats with countenance and man
ner which seemed to say, "Well, he has
hit us rather hard, but he is about to
make amends handsomely" Mr.. Choate
said, with striking emphasis "Antony
was villain; Antony was a hypocrite;
these honorable Senators are perfectly
sincere" Had he swept the Chamber
with the keen scimitar Of Saladin, it
would seem that heads could not have
sunk more suddenly. When the speech
was concluded, Senator Foster, of Ten
nessee, and G.. w. Summers, of Virgin
ia, both fine speakers and orators, with
whom happened to be standing began
to express their admiration most warm
ly. "If that man." said one Of them,
"only had the manner Of Clay, or Web
ster, or Calhoun, he would universally
be regarded as the greatest orator in
the world" II differ with you" said;
cit is bis fine manner that in a great de-
gree makes him so impressive, but his
ideas are not in themselves as large as
those of the men you mention, and are
not calculated to make so great an inn
preston" They, however, reiterated
their opinions with much emphasis. -
Some weeks later, on speaking to them
again, found that the effect had been
greatly diminished.
/ regard Mr.. Webster's greatest eff
fort as that delivered on the 9Th Of
March, 1850, No mere report of it will
give one an idea of its greatness with
out such knowledge Of the circum-
stances under which it was made as
perhaps none but those then present
could realize. Intense anxiety prevail
ed in Washington in the minds Of men
of all shades Of opinion. The shadows
of those events which occurred q dozen
years later seemed to Cypress the minds
Of all present. With this anxiety there
was hope that Mr.. Webster might
solve the difficulty. He spoke to such
an audience as had never been previ-
ously assembled in the Senate chamber.
All felt the truthfulness of Senator
Walkers words when in moving to post
pone the subject on which be had the
floor, to take up that on which Mr..
Webster was to speak, be said there
was "but one man in America who
could have drawn that audience togetb-
err, and he alone could satisfy il" It
was not merely that all the sitting and
standing room in the Chamber was
filed with brilliant throng of ladies
and gentlemen, but the distinguished
character of the persons assembled was
most remarkable. Being fortunate
enough to get seat on the arm Of Mr..
Corwin's chair, and thus being quite
near Mr.. Webster, / had fair view Of
every countenance turned toward the
orator There appeared in every face
anxiety and intense earnestness. He
had been speaking for nearly hour on
the subject in general terms before he
indicated the position he meant to take.
Every face retained its intense anxiety
of expression, until at the close of one
of his sentences, he said, in an emphat-
ic manner, 81 will not vote for the Will
mot proviso." There seemed at once
to be sense Of relief in the audience,
accompanied by slight rustling sound,
caused by the relaxation. He proceed
ed, and fully met the public expectation
and hope. 1t was purely intellectual
impression made on the minds of all
present, and yet the effect was greater
than any mere oratory alone could have
produced. / never witnessed such q
sense Of relief in the public mind. He
had drawn from the dark cloud the
lightning which seemed ready to burst
on the country. But for this effort wa
should then probably have had, with
what result cannot now be known, the
collision which occurred dozen years