62 BANQUET TO THE 



the press, that has enabled me to be somewhat be- 

 hind the political curtain at Washington, and to know 

 what work each public servant there has performed. 

 When I first visited the National Capital some of the 

 old worthies were living, and the intellectual giants of 

 our nation were in their prime. Webster, and Clay, 

 and Jackson, and Calhoun, and Benton, and Wood- 

 bury, with others of national renown, ruled the Repub- 

 lic with noble patriotism, and profound statesmanship, 

 and stern political virtue. Since then the average 

 congressman, devoting himself to personal enrich- 

 ment, partisan scheming, and the mercenary lust for 

 office, has grown " small by degrees and beautifully 

 less ; " while honorable citizens retire in disgust from 

 the rude jostlings of contending parties, unwilling to 

 act with those whom they cannot respect, and feeling 

 that " the post of honor is the private station." It 

 has often occurred to me, how few of the scores and 

 hundreds of congressmen that I have known ever 

 originated, much less carried through, any measure 

 calculated to benefit his fellow-creatures. 



How different. Sir, has been the career of our 

 parental friend, whose name is a household word in 

 every American heart, and whom we have met to- 

 night to honor ! He has always been distinguished 

 for his sound, useful common-sense, which has en- 

 abled him to be of great service to his friends. The 

 man with every sense but common-sense is as help- 



