Tazewell. I will merely allude to two or three speeches and writings,
which the student of history may consult as specimens of parliamentary
ability, and as eminently displaying the caste of Mr. Tazewell's
intellectual character as well as his views on political subjects.
His _debut_ in the Senate was made on the bankrupt bill of that
session--not a regular speech, but a searching examination of the
details of the bill, which he exposed with such effect that its friends
substantially gave it up in despair. His first serious speech was
delivered on the 21st day of the same month in which he had taken his
seat, on his own motion to strike out the third section of the bill for
the suppression of piracy in the West India seas, which had been
reported from the Committee of Foreign Affairs, and had been introduced
by a forcible speech from its chairman, who was also his colleague--a
name to be pronounced with respect by every Virginian--the venerable
James Barbour then the acknowledged head of the Senate. The section
proposed to be stricken out authorized the President of the United
States in a time of profound peace to declare, on the representations of
a naval officer, any of the ports of Spain in the West Indies in a state
of blockade.
Pages:
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114