his own country has, of late years, become the intelligent opinion of the whole world. And in proof of this I might cite, among others, the deliberately recorded opinions of the late Premier Guizot, of France, and the great, though eccentric writer and statesman, Brougham, of England, men of vast celebrity.

Our country, then in its infancy, has grown up in little more than half a century, to be the first republic in the world, having increased from three or four millions to nearly twenty-five millions of inhabitants, and extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. During the present year, the nation has been called upon to mourn the death of two of her 'distinguished citizens; two men born since the establishment of our independence, cradled in the Revolution, and brought up, as it were, at the feet of the fathers of the republic, whose long public career has attracted to them and all that concerned them, more than to any others, the admiration, the gratitude, and the hope of the whole people. These men-Henry Clay and DANIEL WEBSTER-have both been gathered to their fathers during the present year. When, during our last session, the official announcement was made in this House of the death of Henry Clay, I listened with heartfelt sympathy to the eloquent and beautiful eulogies then pronounced upon his character, and felt in the ful

ness of my heart the truest grief. As one of the representatives of the great and prosperous State of Ohio on this floor, I desired them to mingle my humble voice with those who eagerly sought to honor his memory. But no opportunity was afförded me, and I could only join with meekness of spirit and a bowed mind in the appropriate funeral honors which were rendered to the illustrious dead by Congress. And I only now desire to say, that no State in this Union, not even his own beloved Kentucky, more deeply felt the great loss which, in the death of Mr. Clay, the nation had sustained, than the State of Ohio; and the public meetings of her citizens, without distinction of party, in the city in which I reside, and many other parts of the State, expressed, in appropriate and feeling terms, their high estimate of his great public services, and their profound grief for his death.

And now, sir, since the adjournment of Congress, at its last session, he who co-operated with Mr. Clay in the legislative and executive departments, at various times, for nearly forty years, and to whom, with his great compatriot, more than to any others, the people looked for counsel, and for security and peace-he, too, has paid the debt of nature, and will never more be seen among men. The formal announcement in this body of the death of DANIEL WEBSTER has elicited just and eloquent

tributes to his memory, and brings freshly to our view the beautiful traits of his private character, and his great and long-continued public services in the Senate and in one of the executive departments of the government. In all that is said in commendation of the private virtues and pre-eminent public services of DANIEL WEBSTER, I heartily concur; and I wish, sir, that I could find words sufficiently strong and appropriate to express what, in my judgment, were the great claims of these two eminent men upon the admiration and upon the gratitude of their countrymen. They were in many respects exemplars for the young men of our country. Born (without any of the advantages conferred sometimes by wealth and position) in humble life; struggling with adversities in their earlier years; triumphing over all obstacles by their native strength of intellect, by their genius, and by their persevering industry and great energy, they placed themselves in the very first rank of American statesmen, and for more than forty years were the great leaders of the American mind, and among the brightest guardians of their common country.

Sir, it was my good fortune to have known, for many years, both these great patriots, and to have enjoyed their friendship; and I think I but express the general sentiment of the intelligent people of this great country when I say that our country is,

in a very large degree, indebted to them for its present unexampled prosperity; for its peace and domestic happiness; and for its acknowledged power and high renown all over the world. In my judgment, the words of the national legislature, so beautifully and aptly embodying the true character of the Father of his Country, were not more appropriately uttered then in reference to him than they might be applied now, so far as relates to the civil affairs and action of our government within the last forty years, to Henry Clay and DANIEL WEBSTER; and it may be properly said of them, that within that time they have been, emphatically, «First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of their countrymen." But, sir, the great men of a country must die; and, if the great men of a country are pre-eminently good men, their loss is the more severely felt. Nothing human is perfect; and I am far from believing, much less from asserting, that the eminent men of whom I have spoken were without defects of character. But I believe their virtues so far outweighed the imperfections of their nature, that to dwell upon such defects, on this occasion, would be as unprofitable and futile as to object to the light, and heat, and blessings of the glorious sun, guided by the Omnipotent hand, because an occasional shadow or spot may be seen on his disk. These guardians of our country have passed away; but their works and good examples are left for our

guidance, and are part of the lasting and valued possessions of this nation. And, Mr. Speaker,

When the bright guardians of a country die,
The grateful tear in tenderness will start;
And the keen anguish of a reddening eye

Disclose the deep affliction of the heart.

The question was put, and the resolutions were unanimously adopted; and

The House adjourned till to-morrow at twelve o'clock M.

THE END.