The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1882-01-18

II, makes the Government 1tkelt one OF us |
own creators. Il makes Il q party to that |
compact to which II owes It's own exist
ence. For the purpose Of erecting the |
Constitution on the basis Of a compact, the |
gentleman considers the States Us parties 10
that compact; but as soon as his compact
Is made, then lie chooses to consider the
general Government, which Is the of.
spring OF that compact, not its
offspring, but one Of lis parties; and
20, being q party, without toe power
OF judging on the terms Of the
compact, 1.-THE whole Of tue gentleman's
min proposition were conceded to him
Il the Constitution be compact between
States, still that Constitution, or that COM
pact, has etlabliShed Government lpiM Ger.
lain pOlrsrs. The extent Of It's powers must
be sought for in the instrument itself. The
constitution declares that the laws Of
Congress passed In pursuance Of the Con.
stitution shall DO the supreme law Of he
tdnd, No construction Is necessary here.
1t declares also, with equal plalnnesS and
precision, that the judicial power Of the
United States shall extend TO ertry case
arising under the laws Of congress. This
needs no construction, Here Is law, then,
which Is declared to be Supreme and here
is u power established which Is to interpret
that law.
AS a specimen Of webster's grand logic
on behalf Of Federal supremacy, the passage
quoted above Is perhaps not more remark
able than other passages that might be
quoted, but II has never been met by any
Of the advocates Of secession; not even by
Mr.. Calhoun himself. 1t Is SO plain, TOO,
that every school boy can understand it.
Webster was great, as the greatest al
ways are, in the simplicity Of his reasoning
and statements. Everybody could under
stand him.
It is said that great lawyers seldom make
great statesmen. Ifthis is true, it does not
apply to Webster. He was q great lawyer,
and by all odds our greatest statesman.
Even us criminal lawyer he was great.
His speech for tho prosecution in the case
known as the murder Of Captain Joseph
White, stands as a monument to his fame
US n criminal lawyer But Of course his
special fame rests on his achievements as q
constitutional lawyer His name as law.
yer will be forever associated with the eel
ebrated Dartmouth College case-of which
college he was n graduate. He win,
dicated the inviolability OF its colonial
charter rs against the power Of the New
Hampshire Legislature. No man before
or since ever held the Supreme Court o.
the United States entranced and enthralled
as he did by his argument and appeal in
TINT case. 1t is said that tears came to the
eyes OF Chief Justice Marshall when Web
ster, at the close Of his argument, and dur
ing his short appeal for justice, stopped
and with choked voice said, "Your Honors
this is small college, but there are those
Of us who love it." Three years ago We
saw the short and simple autograph note
to his brother Ezekiel, in which Webster
announced the decision Of the court in
favor Of the college.
As n Secretary Of State, Webster leads al
thegreat names that have made that de
partmcnt Of the government illustrious.
Who has not heard oithe great Hulsemanu
letter? Many will remember how it thrill
ed the country when it appeared on De
cember 9lst, 1850. It was written to re
buke Austria for protesting against ou
government commissioning IN agent tC
procure and forward correct information
in regard to the Hungarian rebellion
Austria had alluded to our act rs being
tantamount to putting spy in the field
and had intimated threat against him as
spy. To this threat Webster said:
To give this odious name and character
to confidential agent of neutral power,
bearing the commission Of hiscountry, and
sent for purpose fully warranted by the
law OF nations, is not only to abuse Ian
guage, but also to Confound all just ideas,
aud to announce the widest and most ex-
travagant notions, such as certainly were
not to have been expected in grave dip.
lomatic paper; and the President directs
the undersigned to say to Mr.. Hulsemann
TINT the American government would re-
gard such an imputation upon it by the
cabinet OF Austria US that it employs
spies, and that in quarrel none ofits own,
US distinctly offensive, ii it did not presume,
as it is willing 10 presume, that the word
used in the original German was not Of
equivalent meaning with "spy" in the
English language, or that in some other
way the employment OF such an appro-
brious term may be explained. Had
tho Imperial Government Of Austria
subjected Mr.. Mann to the treat
ment Of spy, it would have
placed itself without the pale Of civilized
nations; and the cabinet Of Vienna may be
assured, that il it had carried, or attempted
to carry, any such lawless purpose into
effect, in the case OF an authorized agent
OF this Government, the spirit OF the peo-
pie OF this country would have demanded
immediate hostilities to be waged by the
utmost exertion OF the power OF tho Re.
public, military and naval"
AS may well be imagined, this forcible
reply to the threat Of the Austrian repre-
sentative depressed the hump on his back
not little. Mr.. Webster gave him taste
of the quality Of the republic as Nation
competent to protect its citizens through
out the world, that was only second to our
fOrcible extradition Of Martin Kosta in
the harbor Of Smyrna from an Austrian
man. Of war. Austria has respected tho
rights Of American citizens Of foreign
birth ever since. Mr.. Webster in writ
ing to friend about this letter said
that one object in view in writing it was to
teach Americans the power and value Of
their flag and awaken spirit OF loyalty to
it against. the mutterings Of disunion.
This was always his patriotic object in all
the positions Of his public life. He was
a lover Of his country, and desired all his
countrymen to be proud Of her and true to
her. Looking at his long career and at
what he did in his own day for the imme-
date good OF the nation, and what he did
for tho LASTING C,ood of nnstar;t,, ,r,a o,,,,,o4