Page:The Homes of the New World- Vol. II.djvu/116

Rh their representatives, during a general attack on the Compromise Bill, in a manner which caused universal merriment.

Everybody longs in the meantime that Congress should come to a close, and that everybody may be able to set off, the one to his home, another to the seaside, every one to get away, away, away, away—from speeches and contention in the Capitol, and all the hot, high-pressure life of Washington! The last great speech of this session is expected to-morrow.

Monday, July 22nd.—Clay has made his great speech, and the question stands as it stood before, and the world goes on as it did before, but it is said that Congress will soon be at an end.

Clay spoke from three to four hours, but his speech, which was in fact a summing up of the whole state and development of the question during the session, as well as a statement of Clay's own part in the affair, did not seem to make any great impression upon the Senate. A sentimental address to the Members of Congress, bidding them to reflect upon what they, on their return home, should have to tell their wives and children about the position of their country, did not succeed at all, and called forth laughter, so likewise his warning to them to put aside all little-mindedness, all selfish impulses, &c., and for the sake of the welfare of the whole land to vote for the Compromise Bill; and this last deserved to fail, inasmuch as it represented that all opposition to the bill was alone the effect of base motives, which is not the case. I cannot, nevertheless, but admire the athletic soul of this man, and his power as a speaker.

After having spoken for more than three hours with fervour and power, sometimes with emotion, disentangling clearly and logically the progress and state of this contested question, which had occupied Congress for seven months, he stood vigorous still, and ready for a little