Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1877-05-30
webster and the Constitution.

Mr.. Webster entered upon the great
task before him-the constitutional
argument. He undertook to demolish
the structure so elaborately reared by
the Senator from South Carolina, and
SO powerfully supported by the class Of
gentlemen who followed Mr.. Calhoun
as political leader. He undertook to
show that our political system was a
gorernaeat established by the people of
the United States, and not mere COM
pact between the States. He aimed to
exhibit the Constitution, which defined
annihilate the theory that any one State
or any number of States could, by a
light reserved when our political system
was organized, arrest the course of the
government or overturn it. He at tie
same time admitted the right of revolu-
ton on the part of the people-a right
higher than the Constitution aud
supreme over all governments. Never
at any period of the worlds history had
statesman undertaken TO perform a
greater task. Ii is not too much to say
that upon that debate depended the
stability of the government, the destiny
of the republic.
Mr.. Webster was profoundly con-
scious of the Importance of the occa-
sion. He rose TO the full height of its
grandeur; he advanced in his great
argument with a bearing nothing less
than majestic. His eye swept the whole
field of controversy. He disdained all
the little arts of debate; he stated the
propositions of his adversary, which ne
meant to combat, with the most perfect
fairness; and he struck the shield of
he formidable champion of the opposing
party as it hung liz front of his tent
with the point of his lance. The tourna-
ment, upon which the eyes of the vast
assemblage representing the whole
country were fixed, was TO him not a
field for display, but a real field of
battle. Not only did he hold in hand
the lance with which to unhorse the
powerful man who opposed him in the
lists, but the battle-axe which none but
his great arm could WELD was within
his reach, with which he would crush
all corners, until the field was yielded
to him. - -.r..
IL is impossible to Overestimate the
service rendered by Mr.. Webster to the |
Constitution and to the country. The |
influence of his great argument in be-
half of the supremacy of the Constitu-
ton, and of the laws of Congress passed
in pursuance of It's authority, is i'm
measurable. Not only did it settle the
opinions of men at that tine, but it has
ever since given to the national govern
ment a moral power which makes it at
once Irresistible and indestructible. The
American flag was flying over the
Senate-chamber when he delivered his
immortal speech, and through the glass
dome its folds might be seen floating in
the breeze. While the effect upon the |
audience which thronged every spot
within the reach of his voice was over
whelming, the words still ring in our
ears, and will be heard by every sue
ceeding generation. History and paint
ing will preserve the scene as one of the |
most memorable and impressive which
has occurred in the fortunes of the |
republic. Some appropriate spot in the
Capital Of the United States should be
chosen, where monument may be
reared to the honor of the great Senator
who saved the Constitution. He was a
man frr
Not for an age,
But for all time
Harper's Magazine.