The Token for 1838 (review) [pp. 760-761]

SOUTHERN LITERARY MESSENGER.
of individual honor, and personal character, and of absolute
independence. We know no masters-we acknowledge no
dictators. This is ahall for mutual consultation and discussion;
not an arena for the exhibition of champions. I offer myself, sir,
as a match for no man. I throw the challenge of debate at no
man's feet. But then, sir, since the honorable member has put
the question in a manner that calls for an answer, I will give
him an answer. And I tell him, that holding myself to be the
humblest of the members here, I yet know nothing in the arm
of his friend from Missouri, either alone, or when aided by the
arm of his friend from Carolina, that need deter even me from
espousing whatever opinions I may choose to espouse, from debating whenever I may choose to debate, or from speaking
whatever I may see fit to say, on the floor of the Senate. Sir,
when uttered as matter of commendation or compliment, I should
dissent from nothing which the honorable member might say
of his friend, still less do I put forth any pretensions of my own.
But when put to me, as a matter of taunt, I throw it back and
say to the gentleman, that he could possibly have said nothing
less likely than such a comparison to wound my pride of personal character."
I also well remember his most magnificent conclusion
in this debate. The Senate Chamber was crowded; the
members of the House of Representatives had abandoned their posts, to be present; surrounded by the
nodding feathers, the glittering ornaments, and rich
and fashionable array of the beauty of the land, Mr.
Webster advanced a step in front of his desk, which
he pushed behind him, and in a tone and manner of
the utmost earnestness-turning from the chair of the
president and looking towards Mr. Hayne-with very
little action at the commencement, but increasing in
heat and vehemence as he progressed, until at length
he became impassioned and violent in the extreme, and
far more eloquent than I had ever heard him before or
since-he observed:
"I have not allowed myself, sir, to look beyond the Union to
see what might lie hidden in the dark recess behind. I have not
coolly weighed the chances of preserving liberty, when the bonds
that unite us together shall be broken asunder. I have not permitted myself to hang over the precipice of disunion to see
whether, with my short sight, I can fathom the depth of the
abyss below; nor could I regard him as a safe counsellor in the
affairs of this government, whose thoughts should be mainly
bent on considering not how the Union could be best preserved,
but how tolerable might be the condition of the people, when it
shall be broken up and destroyed. While the Union lasts we
have high, inciting, gratifying prospects spread out before us
and our children. Beyond that I seek not to penetrate the veil.
God grant that in my day, at least, that curtain may not rise.
God grant that on my vision may never be opened what lies behind. When my eyes shall bc turned to behold, for the last
time, the sun in heaven, may I not see him shining on the broken and dishonored fragments of a once glorious Union; on
states dissevered-discordant —belligerent; on a land rent with
civil feuds, or drenched it may be in fraternal blood! Let their
last feeble and lingering glance rather behold the gorgeous ensign of the Republic, now known and honored throughout the
earth, still full high advanced, its arms and trophies streaming
in all their original lustre —not a stripe erased or polluted, nor a
single star obscured —bearing for its motto no such miserable interrogatory as'what is all this worth?' nor those other words
of delusion and folly, Liberty first, and Union afterwards; but
everywhere, spread all over in characters of living light blaz.
i ng on all its amnple folds, as they float over the sea, and over the
land, and in every wind under the whole heavens, that other
sentiment dear to every true American heart-Liberty and
Union, now and forever, one and inseparable!"
It is difficult to find anything in American literature
transcending the richness and beauty of this extract.
The allusion to the flag of the country is finely poetic.
The example of Mr. Webster proves conclusively
that the most energetic and powerful minds are not
unpropitious to the culture and growth of the more
chaste and better productions of the imagination. The
prose of Milton is as powerful and nervous as his
poetry is pre-eminently sublime. Shakspeare is as renowned for his accuracy-for his knowledge of man,
and of the human heart-as for the sweetness of his
verse, his taste and thrilling pathos. It is a curious
fact that the earlier efforts of Mr. Curran are plain
and void of attempt at rhetoric display, and he has
declared that all his excellence-for which he is so celebrated-in splendor of expression and eastern gorgeousness and imagery, was the result of labor and of
study. The tinted and perfumed flowers require in
rearing, the same assiduous care and attention which
are lavished upon the fruit and grain of autumn. Success, therefore, in this department of mind, is equally
entitled to our consideration, as in the more valued attributes of the reasoning faculty. It is a common and
injurious error that they may not be combined. Mr.
Chief Justice Marshall said of Mr. Pinckney, of Maryland, that he wielded the club of Hercules entwined with flowers —an expression itself, a beautiful illustration and example of the very merit in another,
which commanded so apt and warm an eulogium.
The writer of this is not of the number of the personal friends of this gentleman, and feels that in remarks which find their origin only in a sense of truth
and justice, his opinion is not swayed by predelictions
of any character in favor of the individual of whom
he speaks. The history of Mr. Webster is interesting as that of one-of whom it is our boast that our
institutions are calculated to exhibit numerous instances-who has risen, by his own exertions, from an origin of comparative humility to posts of the greatest
eminence; and whatever may be the diversity of opinion as respects the weight or merit of his views as a
politician, he has won his way to widely-spread and
enduring fame, and to the respect and admiration of his
fellow-citizens; and no man, who thinks and feels as
every American should, but is proud of him.
THE TOKEN FOR 1838.
"Who reads an American book?" If there is anything seductive and attractive, in the most clear and
beautiful typography, firm, even, and glossy paper, the
richest binding, together with the highest literary nmateritel, and engravings of an exquisite finish, from valuable paintings, by experienced masters, thousands will
answer the above taunt, with patriotic pride: for this
is truly "An American Book." The title-page is peculiarly indicative of its origin and design, equal in its
emblematical quaintness to anything in old OQuarles,and telling the whole story of the character of the work
to the most cursory glance of the reader. The emblem
of "the universal Yankee nation," associated with the
name of its people, often in jest, but never in offence,
is most happily hit off, and does great credit to Chapman and Gallaudet.
Among the literary contributors, we observe the
names of Pierpont, whose "Wonders of the Deep" is
the leading article in the volume, and is itself one of the
richest pearls ever disclosed to the admiration of the
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