Year: 1874

tion.,... .5..... 4szGd s'1og1pH - On this field of action Clay and Web ster stood in the front rank of an illus tfious array of contempo pofMFies1< Clay, the originator of measures and policies, with his inventive and ogRauixinR minds not rich in profound ideas oK in knowledge gathered by book study, but learning as he went; quick in the perception of exist ing wants and difficulties and of the means within reach to satisfy the one and over come the other; and born captain also. Ia commander of men, who appeared as If riding through the struggles of those days mounted on 8 splendidly caparison- ed charger, sword in hand, and with way ing helmet plume, leading the front;- fiery and truly magnetic soul, over-awing with his frown, enchanting with his smile. fourishing the weapon of eloquence like a wizards wand, overwhelming opposi- tion and kindling and flaming the flame of enthusiasm;-a marshaler of parties, whose very presence and voice like asignal blast created and yielded organization. And by his side Daniel Webster, with that awful vastness of brain, tremend- ous store-house of thought and knowledge which gave forth it's treasure with ponder ous majesty of utterance; he not an orig lnator of measures and policies, but mighty advocate, the greatest advocate thls country ever knew,-a king in the realm of intellect, and the solemn embodi- ment of authoritY,-a huge Atlas, who | carried the constitution on his shoulders. He could have carried there the whole moral grandeur of the nation, had he never comprehended his own.

 | Such men filled the stage during that | period of construction and conservative national organization, devoting the best efforts of their statesmanship, the states manshlp of the political mind, to the pur- pose of raising their country to greatness Tn wealth and power, of making the peo- pie proud of their common nationality, and of imbedding the Union in the con- tentment of prosperity, in enlightened patriotism, national law, and constitution al principle.

 And when they drew near their end, they could boast of many grand achieve ment, not indeed exclusively their own, l for other powerful minds had their share in the work. The United States stood then among the great powers of the earth strong and respected. The republic had no foreign foe to fear, it's growth in pop ulation and wealth, ill popular intelligence and progressive civilization, the wonder of the world. There was no visible limit to it's developments; there seemed to be no danger to it's integrity.

 l But among the problems which the statesmen of that period had grappled with, there was one which had eluded their grasp. Many conflict of opinion and interest they had succeeded in set tllng, either by positive decision, or by | judicious composition. But one conflict had stubbornly baffled the statesmanship of expedients, for it was more than mere conflict of opinion and interest. It was a conflict grounded deep in the moral na- ture of man-the slavery question. Many a time had 1t appeared on the surface dur ing the period have described, threaten ing to overthrow all that had been ingen- Fiously built up, and to break asunder all that had been laboriously cemented to- gether. In their anxiety to avert every danger threatening the Union, they at tempted to repress the slavery question by compromise. and apparently, with suc- cess; at least for while. But however firmly those compromises seemed to stand, there was force of nature at work which, like restless flood, silently but unceasingly aed irresistibly washed their foundation away, until at last the towering structure toppled down.

 The anti-slavery movement is now one of the great chapters of our past history. The passions of the struggle having been buried in thousands of graves, and the victory of Universal Freedom standing as firm and unquestionable as the eternal hills, we may now look back upon that history with an impartial eye. It may be hoped that even the people of the South, If they do not yet appreciate the spirit winch created and guided the anti-slav- cry movement, will not much longer mis- understand it. Indeed, they grievously misunderstood it at the time. They look ed upon it as the offspring of wanton desire to meddle with other peoples af fairs, or as the product of hypocritical selfshness assuming the mask and cant of philanthropy, merely to rob the South and to enrich New England; or as an ir- sidious contrivance of criminally reckless political ambition, striving to grasp and monopolize power at the risk of destroy: ing part of the country, or even the whole. It was, perhaps, not unnatural that those interested in slavery should have thought so; but from this great error arose their fatal miscalculation as to the strength of the anti-slavery cause.

 No idea ever agitated the popular mind to whose origin calculating selfshness was more foreign. Even the great up- rising which brought about the war of l independence was less free from selfish motives, for it sprang from resistance to a tyranical abuse of the taxing power. l Then the people rose against that oppres- sion which touched their property; the anti-slavery movement originated in an impulse only moral. It was the irresisti- ble breaking out of trouble of conscience "a trouble of conscience which had al- ready disturbed the men who made the American republic. It found voice ill their anxious admonitions, their gloomy prophecies, their scrupulous care to ex- clude from the constitution all forms of expression which might have appeared to sanction the idea of property in man. It found voice in the fierce struggles which resulted in the Missouri compromise. It was repressed for time by material in- terest, by the greed of gain, when the pe- culiar product of slave labor became one of the principal staples of the country and mine of wealth. But the trouble of conscience raised it's voice again, shrill and defiant as when your own John Quin- cy Adams stood in the halls of Congress, and when devoted advocates of the rights of man began and carried on, in the face of fidicule and brutal persecution, an ag- itation seemingly hopeless. It cried out again and again, until at last it's tones and echoes grew louder than all the noises that were raised to drown it.

 The anti-slavery movement found ar- rayed against itself all the influences, all the agencies, all the arguments which or dinarily control the actions of men. Com merce said, Do not disturb slavery, for it's products fill our ships and are one of the principal means of our exchanges. In- dustry said, Do not disturb slavery, for it feeds our machinery and gives us markets. The greed of wealth said, Do not disturb slavery, for it is an inexhaustible foun- tain of riches. Political ambition said, Do not disturb slavery, for it furnishes l us combinations and compromises to keep up parties and to make power the price of shrewd management. An anxious states man ship said, Do not disturb slavery, for