The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1879-05-26

rose TO make his maiden II ecch. We inn
| aginc, from the complacent spirit and the
/ ambitious style of the Grafton as 1t appears
In the Congressional Record that the orator
felt no unworthy trcmur when he was about
to spread himself in tho presence " the
United States in Congress assembled. The
/ new member generally fcels u slight chok-
/ ing sensation in his throat as he vainly en-
deavors to appear uncunccrncd. and TO utter
/ his first Mr. Speaker in the clear tones Of
/ n veteran. His first sentences are seldom
! audibc-and it is only after he has emptied
| two or three glasses Of water, and become
! thoroughly disgusted with the sound OF his
own voice, that he succeeds in making it
| heard by any one else. Sometimes he Is
really modest, and has something to say
which he understands himself; and some
times no has difficulty in deciphoring his
| friends manuscript But none Of these
/ troubles bcsct the Honorable JAMES b. BEL
/ FORD. lie was evidently under the impress
sion that the mantle Of DANIEL WEBSTER
/ had fallen on him and was at that moment
| depending in graceful folds from his shout
ders. He spoke iluently and confidently,
| and he imagined that the little hustle in the
rear Of the seats was occasioned by the rush
OF the reporters TO the telegraph instru-
ments 10 inform the world that the greatest
/ speech ever made In the House was then in
progress. He had no difficulty with the
manuscript, for he had written it himself;
and it is safe to say thatno other man could
/ possibly have produced it, even II tho Hon
orable JAMES b. BELFoRD had ever deemed
himself in need OF any mortal assistance in
the art Of composition
But the Honorable JAMES b. BELFoRD had
committed a serious error He had written
the speech in the elegant seclusion of the
Rocky Mountains, with no object apparently
but the exhibition of his superior style. lie
had evidently labored 1t over and over again,
and tried II, according 10 HORACE. with the
nail. 1t was polished until the original mean
ing, II II ever had any, was wholly rubbed
out. Yet, when the Honorable JAMES b.
| DELFoRD descended from the Rocky Noun
tains and began his progress toward the
capital OF the nation. he was happy; he had
treasure about him. He remembered how
WFBsIERs morning drum-beat, encir-
cling the earth with the martial airs Of Eng
land" had struck hlm while fishing near
the British posts Oh the border; and he was
satisfied that the conscious genius OF BEL
FORD, drinking inspiration from its lofty
station on the backbone of the continent,
had done better.
He carried the speech to Washington
neatly folded in a copy OF his home organ
the Wlh Scrcamer Of me Cddon-and painted
for his opportunity. lie required n great
occasion. 1t was beneath BELFoRD and uu-
worthy Of the speech, to let it off in Com
mittee OF the Whole on the State of the
Union But when the occasion arrived. Mr.
BTLFoRDs finely hronzed cheek was tried
His business ostcnsibly was 70 sustain Mr.
HAYEss vetoes. past and to come, and to
justify the wanton use of the veto power
against the people. His speech, to be sure,
was about the veto, n veto or vetOcs, or
something Of that sort, but the drift Of it,
SO far as could be made ont, was decidedly
against his own side of the question. Any
other man would probably have folded the
old speech upagain in the Screamcr and laid
1t away till more convenient season But
the Honorable JAMES B. BELFoRD was not to
Doe daunted bya circumstance so trifing, and,
indeed it is barely possible that the great
man had bestowed 50 much pains upon the
literary execution Of the Grafton as to have
forgotten altogether about the subject mat
ter. At all events he delivered il, with all
the elaboration Of conscious power and, as
he rolled of each rounded sentence, paused
10 admire the effect, as the gunner who mp
plies the match steps back to observe the
shot in its tremendous career.
The speech was printed in the Record, and
in due time it will doubtless appear in the
, wa SGoomer, with nm eloquent tribute to
tour eloquent representative in the halls OF
, Congress" But it does not seem to have
, taken the place in our political literature
which its author designed it for If he had
appropriated more freely from modern his
) tory, it might perhaps have seemed ireshcr
, and more TO the purpose. But books were
probably scarce in the canon while the Hon
oruble JAMES b. BELFoRD was in Labor
and the schoolmaster away from home. lie
was able only to lay hold Of two books
3 an Ancient History and HALLAM on
the British Constitution He held fast t.
, the Ancient History through one half of his
, speech, transferring the interesting story
I bodily, but TRANSMITTING II into the BELFORl
dialect and to HALLAM as faithfully
through the other half. His own reflections
rs we remarked before, appear TO have hao
no purpose and 10 tend to no conclusion
b but in the tumble Of historical incidents anC
r quotations thrown together by this undi5
4. eliminating hand, all that is Ineligible goes
t TO show that the veto has long since beer
/ eliminated from the British Constitution
1 and that in our Constitution the power
e. which we call the veto IS no veto at all. i
{ was meyer intended that the Prcsdcn
- should be- able to arrest finally wise ant
wholesome legislation by the exercise Of his
n individual will. The power, justly under
T. stood, extends only to the temporary OBJ
r struction Of hasty and unconsidered action
y to give time for reflection and n moro dc
g libcratr and enlightened exercise Of thu
d legislative powers which are vested exclu
e sively in Congress. A President who should
l. make himself a perpetual obstacle to thu