Dedication of the Old Senate Chamber by the United States Senate Commission on Art and Antiquities

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s-pers_348_001_018

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Dedication of the Old Senate Chamber by the United States Senate Commission on Art and Antiquities

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1976-06-16

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1976-06-16

Congress (Dublin Core)

94th (1975-1977)

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See all items with this valueOld Senate Chamber (United States Capitol, Washington, D.C.)

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Arts, Culture, Religion

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United States. Congress. Senate. Commission on Art and Antiquities

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programs (documents)

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http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/

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eng

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https://dolearchivecollections.ku.edu/index.php?p=collections/findingaid&id=21&q=

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Collection 005, Box 348, Folder 1

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Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS

Archival Collection (Dublin Core)

Robert J. Dole Senate Papers-Personal/Political Files, 1969-1996

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Dedication of the
Old Senate Chamber
United States Capitol
June 16, 1976

The United States Senate
Commission on
Art and Antiquities

(photo of statue of eagle holding bows with its talons and a ribbon in its beak)


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Dedication of the
Old Senate Chamber

Welcome
Honorable Nelson A. Rockefeller
Vice President of the United States
and President of the United States Senate

Remarks
Honorable Hugh Scott
Republican Leader, United States Senate
Honorable Mike Mansfield
Majority Leader, United States Senate

The United States Senate
Commission on Art and Antiquities
Mike Mansfield, Chairman
Hugh Scott, Vice Chairman
James O. Eastland
Howard W. Cannon
Mark O. Hatfield
Francis R. Valeo, Executive Secretary

Special Delegation
United States House of Representatives
Carl Albert, Speaker of the House
Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr.
John J. Rhodes
George H. Mahon
Elford A. Cederberg

Proceedings upon removal of the Senate to its present chamber, January 4, 1859.


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THE CONGRESSIONAL GLOBE.

THE OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS OF CONGRESS, PUBLISHED BY JOHN C. RIVES, WASHINGTON, D. C.

THIRTY-FIFTH CONGRESS, 2D SESSION.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 5, 1859
NEW SERIES... No. 13.

IN SENATE.
TUESDAY, January 4, 1859

Hon. ROBERT W. JOHNSON, of Arkansas; Hon. GEORGE E. PUGH, of Ohio; and Hon. DAVID L. YULEE, of Florida, attended to-day.
Prayer by Rev. W. B. EDWARDS, D.D.
The Journal of Thursday, December 23, 1858, was read and approved.

ADMISSION OF LADIES

Mr. STUART. There is a very great interest felt in the proceedings that are to take place here, previous to going into the other Chamber. While many of the ladies have found seats in the galleries, there are others who have not, and have great anxiety to witness these proceedings. We have plenty of seats here, and I move (I hope there will be no objection to it) that they be admitted to seats on the floor. It will be but for a few moments, and they will not interrupt our business.
The VICE PRESIDENT. It requires unanimous consent.
Mr. HAMLIN. It may be an ungracious, it is an unpleasant task, to object to the motion which has been made by my friend from Michigan; but I have seen so many occasions when ladies were admitted to this Hall when the result was only to interrupt the legitimate business of the session, that I feel compelled to enter my objection. We passed a resolution on the last day of our meeting excluding all persons, except the members of the House of Representatives, from being admitted to the Senate Chamber; and I think it is too early now to depart from that resolution. I must therefore object to this proposition.

REMOVAL TO THE NEW HALL.
Mr. DAVIS. The special committee appointed to make arrangements for the removal of the Senate from the present to the new Chamber have directed me to make a report, accompanied by a diagram, which I now submit to the Senate.
The VICE PRESIDENT. The Secretary will read the report.
The Secretary read the report, in which the committee state that they had arranged the seats and desks for Senators, and for the officers and reporters of the Senate, in the mode exhibited in an accompanying diagram. They had also assigned rooms for the use of the officers of the Senate; and they added that an appropriation was required for furnishing them. The galleries on the left of the chair were assigned to ladies and the gentlemen accompanying them; those on the right of the chair to gentlemen alone. The center portion of the north gallery was reserved for such reporters of the press as may be admitted thereto by the authority of the Senate, except the front desk, which was set apart for the reporters of the Senate. The committee proposed the following order of proceedings for removing to the new Chamber: After an address, to be delivered by the Vice President, the Senators, preceded by their President, Secretary, and Sergeant-at-Arms, will move in the usual order of procession to the new Chamber, and there assume the seats respectively assigned to them; when, after prayer by the Chaplain, the business will be continued as prescribed by the rules of the Senate.
Mr. CRITTENDEN. I move you, Mr. President and Senators, that we proceed at once to the consideration of this report, and that it be adopted. That is the purpose for which I rise. Before, however, submitting that motion to the vote of the Senate, I hope that I may be indulged in a few words of parting from this Chamber. This is to be the last day of our session here; and this place, which has known us so long, is to know us no more forever as a Senate. The parting seems to me, sir, to be somewhat of a solemn one, and full of eventful recollections. I wish, however, only to say a few words.
Many associations, pleasant and proud, bind us and our hearts to this place. We cannot but feel their influence, especially I, Mr. President, whose lot it has been to serve in this body more years than any other member now present. That we should all be attached to it, that my longer association should attach me to it, is most natural. Mr. President, we cannot quit this Chamber without some feeling of sacred sadness. This Chamber has been the scene of great events. Here questions of American constitutions and laws have been debated; questions of peace and war have been debated and decided; questions of empire have occupied the attention of this assemblage in times past; this was the grand theater upon which these things have been enacted. They give a sort of consecrated character to this Hall.
Sir, great men have been the actors here. The illustrious dead, that have distinguished this body in times past, naturally rise to our view on such an occasion. I speak only of what I have seen, and but partially of that, when I say that here, within these walls, I have seen men whose fame is not surpassed, and whose power and ability and patriotism are not surpassed, by anything of Grecian or of Roman name. I have seen Clay and Webster, and Calhoun and Benton, and Leigh and Wright, and Clayton, (last though not least,) mingling together in this body at one time, and uniting their counsels for the benefit of their country. They seem to our imagination and sensibilities, on such an occasion as this, to have left their impress on these very walls; and this majestic dome seems almost yet to echo with the voice of their eloquence. This Hall seems to be a local habitation for their names. This Hall is full of the pure odor of their justly-earned fame. There are others besides those I have named, of whom I will not speak, because they have not yet closed their career-not yet ended their services to the country; and they will receive their reward hereafter. There are a host of others that I might mention - that deserve to be mentioned - but it would take too long. Their names are in no danger of being forgotten, nor their services unthought of or unhonored.
Sir, we leave behind us, in going from this Hall, these associations, these proud imaginations so well calculated to prompt to a generous emulation of their services to their country; but we will carry along with us, to the new Chamber to which we are to go, the spirit and the memory of all these things; we will carry with us all the inspiration which our illustrious predecessors are calculated to give; and wherever we sit we shall be the Senate of the United States of America - a great, a powerful, a conservative body in the government of this country, and a body that will maintain, as I trust and believe, under all circumstances and in all times to come, the honor, the right, and the glory of this country. Because we leave this Chamber, we shall not leave behind us any sentiment of patriotism, any devotion to the country which the illustrious exemplars that have gone before us have set to us. These, like our household gods, will be carried with us; and we, the representatives of the States of this mighty Union, will be found always equal, I trust, to the exigencies of any time that may come upon our country. No matter under what sky we may sit; no matter what dome may cover us; the great patriotic spirit of the Senate of the United States will be there; and I have an abiding confidence that it will never fail in the performance of its duty, sit where it may, even though it were in a desert.
But it is yet, sir, not possible to leave this Hall without casting behind us many longing and lingering looks. It has been the scene of the past; the new Chamber is to be the scene of the future; and that future, I hope, will not be dishonored by any comparison to be made with the past. It, too, will have its illustrations of great public services rendered by great men and great patriots; and this body, the great preservative element of the Government, will discharge all its duties, taking care to preserve the Union of the States which they represent - the source of all their honors, the source of the trust which they sit here to execute, the source as it has been and as it will be of their country's greatness, happiness, and prosperity, in times to come as it has been in the time that is past.
Mr. President, I cannot detain you longer. I move that the vote of the Senate be now taken on the report which has been presented, and that it be adopted.
The VICE PRESIDENT. The question is on agreeing to the report of the committee. The report was adopted nem. con.
The VICE PRESIDENT. Senators, I have been charged by the committee to whom you confided the arrangements of this day, with the duty of expressing some of the reflections that naturally occur in taking final leave of a Chamber which has so long been occupied by the Senate. In the progress of our country and the growth of the representation, this room has become too contracted for the representatives of the States now existing and soon to exist; and accordingly you are about to exchange it for a Hall affording accommodations adequate to the present and the future. The occasion suggests many interesting reminiscences; and it may be agreeable, in the first place, to occupy a few minutes with a short account of the various places at which Congress has assembled, of the struggles which preceded the permanent location of the seat of Government, and of the circumstances under which it was finally established on the banks of the Potomac.
The Congress of the Revolution was sometimes a fugitive, holding its sessions, as the chances of war required, at Philadelphia, Baltimore, Lancaster, Annapolis, and Yorktown. During the period between the conclusion of peace and the commencement of the present Government, it met at Princeton, Annapolis, Trenton, and New York.
After the idea of a permanent Union had been executed in part by the adoption of the Articles of Confederation, the question presented itself of fixing a seat of Government, and this immediately called forth intense interest and rivalry.
That the place should be central, having regard to the population and territory of the Confederacy, was the only point common to the contending parties. Propositions of all kinds were offered, debated, and rejected, sometimes with intemperate warmth. At length, on the 7th of October, 1783, the Congress being at Princeton, whither they had been driven from Philadelphia, by the insults of a body of armed men, it was resolved that a building for the use of Congress be erected near the falls of the Delaware. This was soon after modified by re- quiring suitable buildings to be also erected near the falls of the Potomac, that the residence of Congress might alternate between those places. But the question was not allowed to rest, and at length, after frequent and warm debates, it was resolved that the residence of Congress should continue at one place; and commissioners were appointed with full power to lay out a district for a Federal town near the falls of the Delaware; and in the mean time Congress assembled alternately at Trenton and Annapolis; but the representatives of other States were unremitting in exertions for their respective localities.
On the 23d of December, 1784, it was resolved to remove to the city of New York, and to remain there until the building on the Delaware should be completed; and accordingly, on the 11th of January, 1785, the Congress met at New York, where they continued to hold their sessions until the Confederation gave place to the Constitution.
The Commissioners to lay out a town on


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the Delaware reported their proceedings to Congress; but no further steps were taken to carry the resolution into effect.
When the bonds of union were drawn closer by the organization of the new Government under the Constitution, on the 3d of March, 1789, the subject was revived and discussed with greater warmth than before. It was conceded on all sides that the residence of Congress should continue at one place, and the prospect of stability in the Government invested the question with a deeper interest. Some members proposed New York, as being "superior to any place they knew for the orderly and decent behavior of its inhabitants." To this it was answered that it was not desirable that the political capital should be in a commercial metropolis. Others ridiculed the idea of building palaces in the woods. Mr. Gerry, of Massachusetts, thought it highly unreasonable to fix the seat of Government in such a position as to have nine States of the thirteen to the northward of the place; while the South Carolinians objected to Philadelphia on account of the number of Quakers, who, they said, continually annoyed the southern members with schemes of emancipation.
In the midst of these disputes, the House of Representatives resolved, "that the permanent seat of Government ought to be at some convenient place on the banks of the Susquehanna." On the introduction of a bill to give effect to this resolution, much feeling was exhibited, especially by the southern members. Mr. Madison thought if the proceeding of that day had been foreseen by Virginia, that State might not have become a party to the Constitution. The question was allowed by every member to be a matter of great importance. Mr. Scott said the future tranquility and well-being of the United States depended as much on this as on any question that ever had, or could, come before Congress; and Mr. Fisher Ames remarked that every principle of pride and honor and even of patriotism were engaged. For a time, any agreement appeared to be impossible; but the good genius of our system finally prevailed, and on the 28th of June, 1790, an act was passed containing the following clause:

"That a district of territory on the river Potomac, at some place between the mouths of the eastern branch and the Connogocheague, be, and the same is hereby, accepted, for the permanent seat of Government of the United States."

The same act provided that Congress should hold its sessions at Philadelphia until the first Monday in November, 1800, when the Government should remove to the district selected on the Potomac. Thus was settled a question which had produced much sectional feeling between the States. But all difficulties were not yet surmounted; for Congress, either from indifference, or the want of money, failed to make adequate appropriations for the erection of public buildings, and the commissioners were often reduced to great straits to maintain the progress of the work. Finding it impossible to borrow money in Europe, or to obtain it from Congress, Washington, in December, 1796, made a personal appeal to the Legislature of Maryland, which was responded to by an advance of $100,000; but in so deplorable a condition was the credit of the Federal Government that the State required, as a guarantee of payment, the pledge of the private credit of the commissioners.
From the beginning Washington had advocated the present seat of Government. Its establishment here was due, in a large measure, to his influence; it was his wisdom and prudence that computed disputes and settled conflicting titles; and it was chiefly through his personal influence that the funds were provided to prepare the buildings for the reception of the President and Congress.
The wings of the Capitol having been sufficiently prepared, the Government removed to this District on the 17th of November, 1800; or as Mr. Wolcott expressed it, left the comforts of Philadelphia "to go to the Indian place with the long name, in the woods on the Potomac." I will not pause to describe the appearance, at that day, of the place where the city was to be. Contemporary accounts represent it as desolate in the extreme, with its long unopened avenues and streets, its deep morasses, and its vast area covered with trees instead of houses. It is enough to say that Washington projected the whole plan upon a scale of centuries, and that time enough remains to fill the measure of his great conception.
The Senate continued to occupy the north wing, and the House of Representatives the south wing of the Capitol, until the 24th of August, 1814, when the British army entered the city and burned the public buildings. This occurred during the recess, and the President immediately convened the Congress. Both Houses met in a brick building known as Blodget's Hotel, which occupied a part of the square now covered by the General Post Office. But the accommodations in that house being quite insufficient, a number of public-spirited citizens erected a more commodious building, on Capitol Hill, and tendered it to Congress; the offer was accepted, and both Houses continued to occupy it until the wings of the new Capitol were completed. This building yet stands on the street opposite to the north- eastern corner of the Capitol Square, and has since been occasionally occupied by persons employed in different branches of the public service.
On the 6th of December, 1819, the Senate assembled for the first time in this Chamber, which has been the theater of their deliberations for more than thirty-nine years.
And now the strifes and uncertainties of the past are finished. We see around us on every side the proofs of stability and improvement. This Capitol is worthy of the Republic. Noble public buildings meet the view on every hand. Treasures of science and the arts begin to accumulate. As this flourishing city enlarges, it testifies to the wisdom and forecast that dictated the plan of it. Future generations will not be disturbed with questions concerning the center of population, or of territory, since the steamboat, the railroad, and the telegraph have made communication almost instantaneous. The spot is sacred by a thousand memories, which are so many pledges that the city of Washington, founded by him and bearing his revered name, with its beautiful site, bounded by picturesque eminences, and the broad Potomac, and lying within view of his home and his tomb, shall remain forever the political capital of the United States.
It would be interesting to note the gradual changes which have occurred in the practical working of the Government, since the adoption of the Constitution; and it may be appropriate to this occasion to remark one of the most striking of them.
At the origin of the Government, the Senate seemed to be regarded chiefly as an executive council. The President often visited the Chamber and conferred personally with this body; most of its business was transacted with closed doors, and it took comparatively little part in the legislative debates. The rising and vigorous intellects of the country sought the arena of the House of Representatives as the appropriate theater for the display of their powers. Mr. Madison observed, on some occasion, that being a young man, and desiring to increase his reputation, he could not afford to enter the Senate; and it will be remembered that, so late as 1812, the great debates which preceded the war and aroused the country to the assertion of its rights, took place in the other branch of Congress. To such an extent was the idea of seclusion carried, that, when this Chamber was completed, no seats were prepared for the accommodation of the public; and it was not until many years afterwards that the semi-circular gallery was erected which admits the people to be witnesses of your proceedings. But now, the Senate, besides its peculiar relations to the executive department of the Government, assumes its full share of duty as a coequal branch of the Legislature; indeed, from the limited number of its members, and for other obvious rea- sons, the most important questions, especially of foreign policy, are apt to pass first under discussion in this body, and to be a member of it is justly regarded as one of the highest honors which can be conferred on an American statesman.
It is scarcely necessary to point out the causes of this change, or to say that it is a concession both to the importance and the individuality of the States, and to the free and open character of the Government.
In connection with this easy but thorough transition, it is worthy of remark that it has been effected without a charge from any quarter that the Senate has transcended its constitutional sphere - a tribute at once to the moderation of the Senate, and another proof to thoughtful men of the comprehensive wisdom with which the framers of the Constitution secured essential principles without inconveniently embarrassing the action of the Government.
The progress of this popular movement, in one aspect of it, has been steady and marked. At the origin of the Government no arrangements in the Senate were made for spectators; in this Chamber about one third of the space is allotted to the public; and in the new apartment the galleries cover two thirds of its area. In all free countries the admission of the people to witness legislative proceedings is an essential element of public confidence; and it is not to be anticipated that this wholesome principle will ever be abused by the substitution of partial and interested demonstrations for the expression of a matured and enlightened public opinion. Yet it should never be forgotten that not France, but the turbulent spectators within the Hall, awed and controlled the French Assembly. With this lesson and its consequence before us, the time will never come when the deliberations of the Senate shall be swayed by the blandishments or the thunders of the galleries.
It is impossible to disconnect from an occasion like this, a crowd of reflection on our past history, and of speculations on the future. The most meager account of the Senate involves a summary of the progress of our country. From year to year you have seen your representation enlarge; time and again you have proudly welcomed a new sister into the Confederacy; and the occurrences of this day are a material and impressive proof of the growth and prosperity of the United States. Three periods in the history of the Senate mark, in striking contrast, three epochs in the history of the Union.
On the 3d of March, 1789, when the Government was organized under the Constitution, the Senate was composed of the representatives of eleven States, containing three millions of people.
On the 6th of December, 1819, when the Senate met for the first time in this room, it was composed of the representatives of twenty-one States, containing nine millions of people.
To-day it is composed of the representatives of thirty-two States, containing more than twenty-eight millions of people, prosperous, happy, and still devoted to constitutional liberty. Let these great facts speak for themselves to all the world.
The career of the United States cannot be measured by that of any other people of whom history gives account; and the mind is almost appalled at the contemplation of the prodigious force which has marked their progress. Sixty-nine years ago, thirteen States containing three millions of inhabitants, burdened with debt, and exhausted by the long war of independence, established for their common good a free Constitution, on principles new to mankind, and began their experiment with the good wishes of a few doubting friends and the derision of the world. Look at the result to-day; twenty-eight millions of people, in every way happier than an equal number in any other part of the globe! the center of population and political power descending the western slopes of the Alleghany mountains, and the original thirteen States forming but the eastern margin on the map of our vast possessions. See besides, Christianity, civilization, and the arts given to a continent; the despised colonies grown into a Power of the first class, representing and protecting ideas that involve the progress of the human race; a commerce greater than that of any other nation; free interchange between the States; every variety of climate, soil, and production to make a people powerful and happy - in a word, behold present greatness, and, in the future, an empire to which the ancient mistress of the world in the height of her glory could not be compared. Such is our country; av, and more -far more than my mind could conceive or my tongue could utter. Is there an American who regrets the past? Is there one who will deride his country's laws, pervert her Constitution, or alienate her people? If there be such a man, let his memory descend to posterity laden with the execrations of all mankind.

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So happy is the political and social condition of the United States, and so accustomed are we to the secure enjoyment of a freedom elsewhere unknown, that we are apt to undervalue the treasures we possess, and to lose, in some degree, the sense of obligation to our forefathers. But when the strifes of faction shake the Government, and even threaten it, we may pause with advantage long enough to remember that we are reaping the reward of other men's labors. This liberty we inherit; this admirable Constitution, which has survived peace and war, prosperity and adversity; this double scheme of Government, State and Federal, so peculiar and so little understood by other Powers, yet which protects the earnings of industry, and makes the largest personal freedom compatible with public order; these great results were not acquired without wisdom and toil and blood-the touching and heroic record is before the world. But to all this we were born, and, like heirs upon whom has ben cast a great inheritance, have only the high duty to preserve, to extend, and to adorn it. The grand productions of the era in which the foundations of this Government were laid, reveal the deep sense its founders had of their obligations to the whole family of man. Let us never forget the responsibilities imposed on this generation are by so much the greater than those which rested on our revolutionary ancestors, as the population, extent, and power of our country surpass the dawning promise of its origin.
It would be a pleasing task to pursue many trains of thought, not wholly foreign to this occasion, but the temptation to enter the wide field must be rigorously curbed; yet I may be pardoned, perhaps, for one or two additional reflections.
The Senate is assembled for the last time in this Chamber. Henceforth it will be converted to other uses; yet it must remain forever connected with great events, and sacred to the memories of the departed orators and statesmen who here engaged in high debates, and shaped the policy of their country. Hereafter the American and the stranger, as they wander through the Capitol, will turn with instinctive reverence to view the spot on which so many and great materials have accumulated for history. They will recall the images of the great and the good, whose renown is the common property of the Union; and chiefly, perhaps, they will linger around the seats once occupied by the mighty three, whose names and fame, associated in life, death has not been able to sever; illustrious men, who in their generation sometimes divided, sometimes led, and sometimes resisted public opinion-for they were of that higher class of statesmen who seek the right and follow their convictions.
There sat Calhoun, the Senator, inflexible, austere, oppressed, but not overwhelmed by his deep sense of the importance of his public functions; seeking the truth, then fearlessly following it - a man whose unspairing intellect compelled all his emotions to harmonize with the deductions of his rigorous logic, and whose noble countenance habitually wore the expression of one engaged in the performance of high public duties.
This was Webster's seat. He, too, was every inch a Senator. Conscious of his own vast powers, he reposed with confidence on himself; and scorning the contrivances of smaller men, he stood among his peers all the greater for the simple dignity of his senatorial demeanor. Type of his northern home, he rises before the imagination, in the grand and granite outline of his form and intellect, like a great New England rock, repelling a New England wave. As a writer, his productions will be cherished by statesmen and scholars while the English tongue is spoken. As a senatorial orator, his great efforts are historically associated with this Chamber, whose very air seems yet to vibrate beneath the strokes of his deep tones and his weighty words.
On the outer circle, sat Henry Clay, with his impetuous and ardent nature untamed by age, and exhibiting in the Senate the same vehement patriotism and passionate eloquence that of yore electrified the House of Representatives and the country. His extraordinary personal endowments, his courage, all his noble qualities, invested him with an individuality and a charm of character which, in any age, would have made him a favorite of history. He loved his country above all earthly objects. He loved liberty in all countries. Illustrious man!- orator, patriot, philanthropist - whose light, at its meridian, was seen and felt in the remotest parts of the civilized world; and whose declining sun, as it hastened down the west, threw back its level beams, in hues of mellowed splendor, to illuminate and to cheer the land he loved and served so well.
All the States may point, with gratified pride, to the services in the Senate of their patriotic sons. Crowding the memory, come the names of Adams, Hayne, Wright, Mason, Otis, Macon, Pinckney, and the rest-I cannot number them - who, in the record of their acts and utterances, appeal to their successors to give the Union a destiny not unworthy of the past. What models were these, to awaken emulation or to plunge in despair! Fortunate will be the American statesmen who, in this age, or in succeeding times, shall contribute to invest the new Hall to which we go, with historic memories like those which cluster here.
And now, Senators, we leave this memorable Chamber, bearing with us, unimpaired, the Constitution we received from our forefathers. Let us cherish it with grateful acknowledgments to the Divine Power who controls the destinies of empires and whose goodness we adore. The structures reared by men yield to the corroding tooth of time. These marble walls must molder into ruin; but the principles of constitutional liberty, guarded by wisdom and virtue, unlike material elements, do not decay. Let us devoutly trust that another Senate, in another age, shall bear to a new and larger Chamber, this Constitution vigorous and inviolate, and that the last generation of posterity shall witness the deliberations of the Representatives of American States still united, prosperous, and free.
In execution of the order of the Senate, the body will now proceed to the new Chamber.
The Senate, preceded by the Vice President, the Secretary, and the Sergeant-at-Arms, proceeded to the new Chamber.
The Senators having been seated, the VICE PRESIDENT called the body to order. and the Rev. P.D. GURLEY, D.D., offered up the following prayer:
Almighty God, our Father and helper, in all the events and changes of life, we would acknowledge Thee that Thou mayest direct our steps. In entering this new council chamber where the representatives of a great, a free, and a mighty nation are to meet and deliberate in years to come, we would look up to Thee through Jesus Christ for Thy presence and Thy blessing. To Thee would we dedicate the place-to Thee our God and the God of our fathers. To the cause of justice, of liberty, and of humanity, would we dedicate it; praying that the counsels which may prevail in years to come, may be counsels of truth, of duty, and of wisdom, which Thou wilt approve, and which Thou wilt cause to redound to Thine own glory, and to the highest welfare of our beloved country. Grant, we beseech Thee, that those who come here from year to year, as the representatives of the different States of this Union, may be true to the Union; and true to all the interests confided to their care. May they never yield to the sway of evil passion, or sacrifice any principle or interest which duty to Thee and to their beloved country may call them to defend; but may they so act in the fear of Thy name, and under the guidance of Thy word, that the influences which issue hence, shall be cheering to the heart of Christian patriotism, and only cheering, and that continually.
We beg of Thee, blessed God, here to be present in the hour of our country's peril, whether that peril be internal or external, domestic or foreign. In the hour of peril. be Thou here to guide our councillors by Thine own counsel, and to incline them, while they prove all things, to hold fast that which is good.
And now, our God, we beseech Thee to spread over us the banner of Thy protection. Aye let it wave over the flag of our country, and over all our precious interests. Aye let it wave from generation to generation over this Hall, and over the happy representatives of a happy, a free, and a united people: and to Thy name, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, shall be the praise and the glory forever. Amen.

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THE UNITED STATES SENATE, A. D. 1850.
The Engraving from the (unintelligible) is respectfully dedicated to the people of the United States by the (unintelligible)


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The Senate Chamber
1810-1859

(image of bronze eagle with wings spread, ribbon in beak and standing on arrows and American crest)


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(portrait of Thomas Jefferson)
(signature) Jefferson

(portrait of Benjamin Henry Latrobe)
(signature) B Henry Latrobe

Cover: Carved gilt eagle and shield from canopy over Vice President's desk.

(image of vice presidents desk)
Vice President's dais, "canopied by crimson drapery, richly embossed and held by talons of an o'er hovering eagle."


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"I congratulate the people of the United States on the assembly of Congress at the permanent seat of their government, and I congratulate you, gentlemen, on the prospect of a residence not to be changed. . . . May this Territory be the residence of virtue and happiness!"

Thus, did John Adams address the first joint session of Congress, held in the new capital city of Washington. Adams' welcome of November 22, 1800 to the newly arrived legislators was delivered in the Senate Chamber, then located on the ground floor level of the unfinished Capitol building. When Congress first occupied the Capitol, only the north wing had been completed. For the earliest years of the 19th century this small rectangular building housed the Senate, House of Representatives, Supreme Court, Library of Congress, and local courts.
In March 1801, the Senate Chamber was the setting for the inauguration of Thomas Jefferson, the nation's third president. Jefferson took great interest in the construction of Washington's public buildings, especially the Capitol which he called, "the first temple dedicated to the sovereignty of the people." The new President's attempts to encourage architects and to promote architectural education have been properly described as "part of a larger effort to establish the fine arts in this country." In 1803, Jefferson appointed one of the few professionally trained architects in America, Benjamin Henry Latrobe, Surveyor of Public Buildings. Latrobe's first task was to construct the south wing of the Capitol for the House of Representatives.
From the time of the cornerstone laying in 1793, several architects had labored with great difficulty on the construction of the Capitol. The original design followed the plans of Washington physician and amateur architect, William Thornton. His simple but elegant concept had met the favor of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Latrobe and his predecessors faced the difficult task of converting a technically imperfect plan to one that was practical and architecturally sound. Modifications were made amid much criticism from Thornton, who had been named a Commissioner of the City of Washington.
After members of the House of Representatives occupied their handsome chamber in 1807, Benjamin Henry Latrobe turned his attention to the Senate wing. Although it had been in use for less than a decade, dry rot had made many of the timbers unsafe, the roof leaked, and the plaster on the ceilings and columns of the Senate Chamber was altogether unsatisfactory. Latrobe recommended a bold rearrangement of the wing, so that the Senate and the Supreme Court could be more conveniently and safely housed. The architect's new design called for a one-story chamber for the Supreme Court at ground level (in what had been the "floor" of the original Senate meetingplace) with a two-story Senate Chamber located directly above. Heretofore the Court had met in a small committee room in the north wing.
The new construction did not proceed without difficulty. In September 1808, Latrobe's principal assistant, John Lenthall, prematurely removed props supporting the Supreme Court's vaulted ceiling. Lenthall was killed when the ceiling fell, also bringing down the floor of the Senate Chamber. It was not until January 1810 that Senate members of the 11th Congress met in the new chamber on the principal floor of the Capitol.
Upon viewing the elegantly finished room in 1810, a visitor observed that "the drapery, hangings and carpets, and indeed the whole chamber (are) finished in a superior style of splendour and brilliancy." Latrobe used the colors associated with Revolutionary War uniforms-buff and blue-in his decorative treatment of the room. The curtains were blue mantua lined with buff silk and complimented hangings of glazed straw-colored cotton. This

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(drawing of plans for Senate Chamber)
Working drawing for the Senate Chamber by Benjamin Henry Latrobe, October 20, 1809.

(image of marble column)
Ionic capital, Italian marble c. 1819.

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setting, however, was short-lived. On August 24, 1814 the British marched on Washington and set fire to the Capitol.

Returning to Washington in 1815 to supervise reconstruction of the Capitol Building, Benjamin Henry Latrobe found the interior gutted, the outer walls scarred and blackened.

Latrobe reported that damage to the Senate Chamber was extensive, as fire "burnt the marble columns to lime" and "cracked every thing which was of freestone."
During the early months of reconstruction, the 13th Congress met in the old Blodget's Hotel building near the foot of Capitol Hill. But these quarters were cramped and soon a group of Washingtonians erected a building at the present site of the Supreme Court for the temporary accommodation of the legislature. Remembered as the "Old Brick Capitol, " its construction served as a rallying point for those who feared the removal of the seat of government because of general dissatisfaction with the new capital city.
As directed by the Senate, Latrobe enlarged his original design for its chamber and committee rooms. Expansion of the nation was being reflected in space requirements of the legislators. Before destruction of the room in 1814, eight caryatids, symbolic female figures representing national prosperity, had supported a small public gallery. For the enlarged chamber, Latrobe proposed substituting twenty caryatids to represent the number of states in the Union in 1817. Rather than having the caryatids made from freestone, as in the previous room, Latrobe wanted them carved from Italian marble. This preference spotlighted a growing dispute between the architect and Commissioner of Public Buildings Samuel Lane. The Commissioner felt that the Capitol was becoming too grand and Latrobe's designs were costly and impractical. His view was supported by many members of Congress. Increasing difficulties of this nature forced Benjamin Latrobe to resign his post of Surveyor of the Capitol in 1817. To succeed him President Madison selected Boston-born Charles Bulfinch, whose acclaimed design of the Massachusetts statehouse made him a logical choice. Although Bulfinch followed much of Latrobe's plan for the Senate Chamber, the elaborate caryatids were not included in the rebuilt room the Senate again occupied in 1819.
The original public gallery was located on the east side of the room, above the Vice President's dais. It was not large enough, however, to accommodate all of the visitors who found the Senate Chamber a popular gathering place. A second and higher gallery was added along the east side of the room during the reconstruction of 1815-1819. But the addition was hot and confining and obstructed the room's gallery-level windows, thus depriving the chamber of much needed daylight. In 1828 the upper gallery was removed and Bulfinch fashioned a graceful semicircular balcony supported by cast-iron columns for the chamber's west side:

(portrait of Charles Bulfinch)
(signature) Charles Bulfinch

(image of column)
Cast-iron Corinthian capital from circular gallery column support.

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East view of the Senate Chamber.

(image of the front of the chamber. Marble columns, chandelier, and portrait)

(image of inside the chamber with many senators present and spectators above)

Engraving of the Senate Chamber, circa 1847, by Thomas Doney.

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(page 15)

Robert Mills' Guide to the Capitol of the United States (1834 edition) described the Senate Chamber as it would appear for the next quarter century.

"This is a large semi-circular room, covered with a dome, richly ornamented with deep sunken panels and circular apertures to admit light from above; across the chord of the semi-circle, a screen of columns stretches on each side of the President's chair, which is placed in a niche on an elevated platform, in front of which below are the Secretary and chief clerk's desk. The columns of this screen are of Grecian Ionic order, and composed of the beautiful variegated marble of the Potomac, with caps of Italian white; these, with its entablature, support a gallery: in front of which is another, but lighter gallery, running around the circle of the room, supported by reeded and gilt iron columns, surmounted by a rich gilt iron balustrade. . . . The walls of the Senate Chamber are hung with fluted drapery, placed between pilasters of marble, which extend up to the spring of the cornice. The principal light of this room comes in from the east; but there is, in addition, a borrowed light from above. The (Vice President's) chair is placed on the line of the diameter of the circle, and from this, as a centre, the Senator's desks describe concentred curves, cut by radii, which form the aisles. These desks are all of mahogany, and single, each with a large arm-chair; they are placed on platforms, gradually rising one above the other.
The Senate Chamber is of the same general form with the Halls of Representatives, but has the advantage of plain walls and few recesses; consequently it is a good speaking and hearing room. The dome is very flat. The dimensions of the Chamber are as follows: 75 feet in its greatest length, or diameter, 45 feet in its greatest width, and 45 feet high."

By mid-19th century the Union had grown to 31 states. To accommodate the ever-increasing number of legislators, Congress approved a plan to extend the Capitol Building by adding north and south wings. Dominating each new wing would be an enlarged legislative chamber. Consequently, on January 4, 1859 the Senate, with great pomp and ceremony, took leave of its historic meetingplace and proceeded to the present Senate Chamber. The Old Senate Chamber would serve as the Supreme Court Chamber from 1860 until 1935, when the court moved to its present building. Since 1935, the chamber has been used infrequently for congressional committee meetings. It also served as the Senate's temporary meeting place during repairs and reconstruction of the present Senate Chamber's roof in 1940, 1949 and 1950.

The Senate Chamber was a popular gathering place in the 19th century.

It has been said that for Washington women status was determined by the frequency of one's appearances in the halls of Congress. The many visits to the Senate gallery of the celebrated Dolley Madison, give evidence of this tradition.
A diary entry by Washington hostess, Margaret Bayard Smith, captured some of the excitement of the Webster-Hayne debate of 1830:

"The Senate Chamber is the present arena and never were the amphitheaters of Rome more crowded by the highest rank of both sexes than the Senate Chamber. Every inch of ground, even the steps were compactly filled, and yet not space enough for the ladies-the Senators were obliged to relinquish their chairs of State to the fair auditors who literally sat in the Senate. One lady set in Col. Hayne's seat, while he stood by her side speaking. I cannot but regret that this dignified body should become such a scene of personality and popular resort, it was supposed yesterday that 'there were 300 ladies besides their attendant beaux on the floor of the Senate. The two galleries were crowded to overflowing with the People, and the house of Reprs. quite deserted. Our government is becoming every day more and more democratic, the rulers of the people are truly their servants and among those rulers women are gaining more than their share of power."

Senators generally took the business at hand more seriously. James Fenimore Cooper

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1. W. H. Seward

2. Henry Clay

3. W. C. Dawson

4. J. M. Berrien

5. W. L. Dayton

6. W. P. Mangum

7. W. Upham

8. J. W. Miller

9. J. A. Pearce

10. S. A. Douglass

11. (blank)

12. D. Sturgcon

13. D. R. Atchison

14. H. S. Foote

15. W. R. King

16. J. M. Mason

17. S. U. Downs

18. H. Hamilton

19. T. H. Benton

20. D. L. Yulee

21. Henry Dodge

22. A. C. Dodge

23. John Wales

24. P. Spruance

25. J. R. Underwood

26. Thomas Corwin

27. John Davis

28. Geo. E. Badger

29. Daniel Webster

30. S. S. Phelps

31. A. C. Greene

32. Lewis Cass

33. T. J. Rusk

34. James Whitcomb

35. J. C. Calhoun

36. Jeff. Davis

37. J. W. Bradbury

38. W. K. Sebastian

39. P. Soule

40. A. Felch

41. James Cooper

42. J. P. Hale

43. R. S. Baldwin

44. J. H. Clarke

45. John Bell

46. Geo. W. Jones

47. Truman Smith

48. S. Borland

49. H. I. Turney

50. A. P. Butler

51. J. D. Bright

52. R. M. T. Hunter

53. D. S. Dickinson

54. I. P. Walker

55. S. Houston

56. S. P. Chase

57. J. Shields

58. Jackson Morton

59. Thor. G. Pratt

60. Moses Morris

61. J. Clemens

(diagram of numbered seating chart of Senate Chamber relating to above numbers)

PLAN OF THE SENATE CHAMBER
IV SESSION _ XXXIST CONGRESS.
1850.

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observed that debate in the Senate was particularly dignified. Members dressed in somber, swallow-tailed coats. The image conveyed was one of "gravity incarnate." John C. Calhoun always wore "plain black clothing ," and Henry Clay was an impressive figure on the Senate floor in "well-cut broadcloth, gleaming shirt-front and high white collar and cravat." Daniel Webster affected the revolutionary colors of buff and blue, appearing in blue coat and pantaloons with a buff vest. An exception to the rule was Sam Houston of Texas. A most colorful Member in dress as well as life style, Senator Houston's wardrobe included a panther-skin waistcoat, large Mexican sombrero, brightly colored serape, and flaming red vest. Spectators took particular delight in watching Houston whittle small wooden hearts from lengths of pine and having them distributed to women in the gallery.
The Senate of this era was considered the American institution closest to an "aristocratic assembly." Alexis de Tocqueville wrote in DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA that the Senate Chamber "contains within a small space a large proportion of the celebrated men of America. Scarcely an individual is to be seen in it who has not had an active and illustrious career: the Senate is composed of eloquent advocates, distinguished generals, wise magistrates, and statesmen of note, whose arguments would do honor to the most remarkable parliamentary debates of Europe."
Senators worked hard to affect style and elegance. Snuff taking for example, was elevated to a fine art. Henry Clay, who was admired for his "grace and ease" in taking snuff, used it as a clever political signal. Vice President Martin Van Buren noted on one occasion that "Mr. Clay left his seat, on one of his snuff taking expeditions, his common resort, when anything was going on of which he wanted to wash his hands, and occupied his time in badinage."
Mrs. Frances Trollope described another common practice in the Senate Chamber. The English writer observed in DOMESTIC MANNERS OF THE AMERICANS that "the senators, generally speaking look like gentlemen. . . I would I could add they do not spit, but alas! 'I have an oath in heaven,' and may not write an untruth." Because of the prevalence of tobacco-chewing, a cuspidor was placed by every desk in the room.
In the gallery, hand-lettered signs cautioned Mrs. Trollope and other visitors not to put their feet on the railing, "as the dirt from them falls upon the Senators' heads." Visitors also ringed the outer perimeter or "lower circle" of the Senate floor. English observer, Harriet Martineau took special note of a group of Cherokee chiefs standing in the center of the "circle." They had come to hear Henry Clay uphold their right to have the Supreme Court hear their grievances. One of the most memorable visits occurred on December 9, 1824, when "General Lafayette was conducted into the Senate Chamber and formally introduced. . .,whereupon the Senators rose and remained standing till (Lafayette) was seated, and then adjourned in order that they might have an opportunity to present their respects to him individually."
Robert Mills commented that "the deficiency of space for visitors in this room is very sensibly felt during the session of Congress; for such has always been the attraction here, that the galleries and lobbies are often crowded to excess, much to the annoyance of the Senate. The access to these galleries has been often objected to, particularly by the ladies; and hence, they are mostly crowded in upon the Senate." Prompted by this situation, the Senate by resolution in 1836 reserved one-third of the red-draped circular gallery for the exclusive use of women.

(image of Sam Houston in Senate Chamber)
Sam Houston whittling a length of pine in the Senate Chamber.

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(page 18)

The Senate, during its residence in this chamber, grew in stature from a small advisory council to the primary forum for the great national debates of the mid-19th century.

Unlike the larger House of Representatives with its predominately northern and western membership, the Senate maintained a balance between slaveholding and non-slaveholding states. Its relatively small size, ranging from 46 to 64 Members during the period, facilitated open and unlimited debate. In this chamber, to the resonance of impassioned oratory, compromises were forged that held the Union together in the four decades prior to the Civil War.
When the Senate reoccupied the chamber in 1819 it was confronted with a crisis over the introduction of slavery into the western territories. The House had voted to admit Missouri as a free state, but the Senate objected and the issue became deadlocked. After three months debate Congress adopted Illinois Senator Jesse B. Thomas' amendment permitting slavery in Missouri but prohibiting its future spread north of the 36°30' line of latitude. Maine then entered the Union as a free state to preserve the sectional balance and complete the Missouri Compromise.
In 1830 Senators Robert Y. Hayne of South Carolina and Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, met in dramatic confrontation over the issue of "Nullification." Vice President John C. Calhoun presided over the debates during which Hayne maintained the rights of the states to nullify federal laws, viewing the Union as a compact of sovereign states. In ringing oratory, Webster proclaimed the nationalistic intentions of the founding fathers and

(image of senators in chamber with one standing in the middle)
"Webster's Reply to Hayne," painted by G. P. A. Healy, 1851.

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(page 19)

the Constitution, concluding with "Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable."
The Webster-Hayne debate attracted national attention. Washington hotels were crowded with persons who had come from remote parts of the country to hear what they expected to be a "remarkable discourse." Charles W. March, a Washington journalist, described the scene at the Capitol on the first day of Webster's response to Hayne:

"As early as nine o'clock of this morning, crowds poured into the Capitol, in hot haste; at 12 o'clock the hour of meeting, the Senate Chamber,-its galleries, floor and even lobbies,-was filled to its utmost capacity. The very stairways were dark with men, who hung to one another, like bees in a swarm.
The House of Representatives was early deserted. An adjournment would have hardly made it emptier. The Speaker, it is true, retained his chair, but no business of moment was, or could be, attended to. Members all rushed in to hear Mr. Webster, and no call of the House or other parliamentary proceedings could compel them back. The floor of the Senate was so densely crowded, that persons once in could not get out, nor change their positions; in the rear of the Vice-Presidential chair, the crowd was particularly intense. . . a Representative from Alabama became wedged in here. From his enormous size, it was impossible for him to move without displacing a vast portion of the multitude. Unfortunately, too, for him, he was jammed in directly behind the chair of the Vice- President, where he could not see, and hardly hear, the speaker. By slow and laborious effort-pausing occasionally to breathe-he gained one of the windows, which, constructed of painted glass, flank the chair of the Vice-President on either side. Here he paused, unable to make more headway. But determined to see Mr. Webster as he spoke, with his knife he made a large hole in one of the panes of the glass. . . . Many were so placed, as not to be able to see the speaker at all. The courtesy of Senators accorded to the fairer sex room on the floor-the most gallant of them, their own seats. The gay bonnets and brilliant dresses threw a varied and picturesque beauty over the scene, softening and embellishing it."

The subject of the debates widened the split between the followers of Calhoun, who favored Nullification, and those of President Andrew Jackson, a Unionist. In 1832 the Senate was evenly divided for and against approval of Jackson's nominee, Martin Van Buren, to become ambassador to England. In a rare exhibition of the Vice President's power as President of the Senate, Calhoun cast the tie-breaking vote to defeat his rival, Van Buren.
The Senate Chamber also saw fierce clashes over economic policy. Jackson's veto of legislation extending the life of the Second Bank of the United States directly led to the division of Congress into Democrats and Whigs. In March 1834 the Senate censured President Jackson for removing government funds from the Bank. "We are in the midst of a revolution, hitherto bloodless, but rapidly tending towards the concentration of all power in the hands of one man," warned Senator Henry Clay. Then Jackson's forces rallied, led by Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri, and in January 1837 ordered the Secretary of the Senate to draw black lines around the original censure resolution and write "Expunged by order of the Senate."
In the 1840's problems of territorial expansion more deeply embroiled the Senate. Filibusters tied up its business over the settlement of the Oregon boundary and the Wilmot Proviso, prohibiting slavery in lands acquired during the Mexican War. The uncertainty of slavery in the California and southwestern territories revealed the need for a new compromise by 1850.

The dramatic debates of 1850 brought together for the last time the three mighty legislators of the era, Webster, Clay and Calhoun.

In the hope of halting sectional disintegration Henry Clay emerged from retirement and returned to the Senate. Although in his 73rd year Clay was hale and vigorous. The Kentuckian was

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known throughout the country for his bold, autocratic, magnetic, and fiery manner. This was coupled with a charm "so compelling that an opponent once declined a meeting which would subject him to the appeal of 'Harry of the West.' " He was Abraham Lincoln's "beau ideal," and fascinating even to his frequent adversary, John C. Calhoun, who stated: "I don't like Henry Clay. He is a bad man, an imposter, a creator of wicked schemes. I wouldn't speak to him, but by God, I love him." He lacked the intellectual resources of

"The United States Senate, A.D. 1850," engraved by Robert Whitechurch after Peter Rothermel. Henry Clay presents his program of compromise to the Senate, presided over by Vice President Millard Fillmore. John C. Calhoun appears to the right of the Vice President and Daniel Webster is seated left foreground, head in hand.

(image of senator speaking in the chamber)

(portrait of Henry Clay)
(signature) H. Clay

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(page 21)

Webster and Calhoun, but with a vision of America tantamount, he employed considerable talents to forge three great compromises, in 1820, 1833 and 1850, to preserve the Union.
According to the Congressional Reminiscences of a contemporary, John Wentworth, Clay was not like Calhoun with his masterful parliamentary speeches. His formidable reputation on the Senate floor was based on skillful debate rather than set or well-structured speeches. As Wentworth relates:

"Although the Senate and galleries would always be filled when it was announced that Mr. Clay was to speak, yet it was always with the expectation and hope that some one would interrupt him, and a grand, intellectual sparring exposition would take place. Of all men whom I ever heard, I never know one who could endure so much interruption and discuss so many side issues, and yet finish his speech with the entire line of argument marked out in his mind from the beginning, as Mr. Clay. Could the enemies of Mr. Clay have formed a combination never to interrupt him, nor be interrupted by him, they would have deprived him of much of his senatorial glory. The best speeches of Calhoun, Webster, and Benton were well considered, and read now much as when delivered. Not so with Mr. Clay's best speeches. They were unpremeditated, and as much a surprise to himself as to his audience. Shorthand reporting had not then reached its present condition. Thus, Clay must suffer with posterity incapable of hearing the varied intonations of his ever-pleasing voice, or of seeing his gesticulations, his rising upon his toes, his stamp of the foot, his march down the aisles until his long fingers would almost touch the president's desk, and his backward tread to his seat, all the while speaking; his shake of the head, his dangling hair, and his audience in the galleries rising and leaning over as if to catch every syllable."

On January 29, 1850 Henry Clay took the floor of the Senate Chamber to present his program of compromise intended to reconcile the major issues dividing North and South. His proposals included entry of California as a free state, organization of the southwestern territories and their admission to statehood without restrictions, and separation of New Mexico from Texas with compensation to Texas for the loss.
Clay held up a wooden fragment from George Washington's coffin for emphasis and warned against adopting measures that might destroy the Union which had been cemented by Washington's "exertions and example." He declared that "the Constitution . . . was made, not merely for the generation which then existed, but for posterity, undefined, unlimited, permanent, and perpetual . . . and for every subsequent state which might come into the Union, binding themselves by that indissoluble bond."

(image of senators speaking in chamber. Calhoun is seated)
A mortally ill John C. Calhoun listens as his defense of the southern position is read to the Senate, March 4, 1850.

In response to Clay's proposals, Senator John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, mortally ill but still spokesman for the South, made his last active appearance in the chamber on March 4, 1850. He once again had drafted an eloquent defense of the southern position, arguing that an exact political balance between the two regions had to be maintained.
Calhoun had been respected for decades because of the logical, disciplined nature of his thought and speeches. Webster considered him much the ablest man in the Senate, the greatest in fact that he had met in public life. It was said

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(portrait of John C. Calhoun)
(signature) J. C. Calhoun

that Calhoun could have surpassed Newton, Calvin and Locke as a logician.
Harriet Martineau had characterized Calhoun as "a cast iron man, with bristling hair and eyes that burned like heavy coals .. . who looks as if he had never been born and could never be extinguished."
Another journalist, Oliver Dyer, included Calhoun in his list of Great Senators. Although Dyer was an abolitionist, he came to recognize Calhoun as a "high-toned, elegant gentleman, with a brilliant intellect, a sweet disposition, a sound heart, and a conscientious devotion to what he believed to be right." He described Calhoun's physical appearance:

"He was tall and gaunt. His complexion was dark and Indian-like, and there seemed to be an inner complexion of a dark soul shining out through the skin of the face. His eyes were large, black, piercing, scintillant. His hair was iron gray, and rising nearly straight from the scalp, fell over on all sides, and hung down in thick masses like a lion's mane. His features were strongly marked, and their expression was firm, stern, aggressive, threatening."

Calhoun seldom addressed the Senate but when he did, his carefully reasoned speeches brought the previously scattered and indifferent attention of the group to a focus. On March 4 he was too sick to deliver the speech which he had prepared. Senator James M. Mason of Virginia read Calhoun's defiant words while the South Carolinian sat bundled in a cloak, "his eyes glowing with meteor-like brilliancy as he glanced at Senators upon whom he desired to have certain passages make an impression."
The burden of responding to Calhoun fell to Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, called the "God-like Daniel" because of his physical appearance and oratorical power. His dark complexion caused him to be likened to "a transparent bronze statue" when standing in the well of the Senate. Dyer wrote:

"He had broad shoulders, a deep chest, and a large frame. I have seen men taller than Webster; I have seen men larger; but I never saw anyone who looked so large. . . . The head, the face, the whole presence of Webster, was kingly, majestic, godlike. And when one heard him speak, he found that Webster's voice was just exactly the kind of voice that such a looking man ought to have. It was deep, . . . with a thunder roll in it which, when let out to its full power, was awe inspiring. In ordinary speech its magnificent bass notes rolled forth like the rich tones of a deep-voiced organ. . . . He also had a faculty of magnifying a word into such prodigious volume and force that it would drop from his lips as a great boulder might drop through the ceiling, and jar the Senate Chamber like a clap of thunder. . . . And from this magnificent presence there emanated an atmosphere and sense of power . . . and whenever he was aroused, and began to put forth his power, one felt that it was measureless. . . . "

March 7, 1850 - the day of Webster's response to Calhoun, brought expectant crowds to the Senate Chamber once again. The Congressional Globe, official record of legislative proceedings, and other contemporary accounts describe the packed chamber, with women seated in senators' chairs and documents piled high to provide additional seating. Webster pleaded the Union's

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(portrait of Daniel Webster)
(signature) Dan Webster

cause, asking for conciliation and understanding. "I wish to speak today not as a Massachusetts man, not as a Northern man, but as an American. I speak today for the preservation of the Union. Here me for my cause. . . ."
Webster had spoken for a short time when the gaunt, bent form of Calhoun was assisted to his chair. He sat trembling, unnoticed by Webster. After several expressions of regret from Webster that illness had prevented the "distinguished Senator from South Carolina" from being present, Calhoun announced in a "clear and ghostly voice," that "the Senator from South Carolina is in his seat."
Webster continued for three hours in support of Clay's program of compromise. He acknowledged the South's grievances but found the idea of secession totally unreasonable. "No, sir! No, sir! There can be no secession!"
Many in the North denounced Webster for his accommodating words. His long-held Presidential ambitions were lost in the storm of anger from erstwhile supporters. Webster's speech did help to dispell the threat of imminent secession by the southern states, and after months of bitter struggle, Clay's resolutions became law. The Compromise of 1850 realized, Webster wrote: "We have now gone through the most important crisis that has occurred since the foundation of this government, and whatever party may prevail, hereafter, the Union stands firm. Disunion, and the love of mischief, are put under, at least for the present, and I hope for a long time."
Only four years later, the peace that the Compromise had brought was shattered when Illinois Senator Stephen A.Douglas introduced the Kansas-Nebraska bill. This voided the Missouri Compromise and left the question of slavery in Kansas to the "popular sovereignty" of those settled there.
Again, the intensity of national feeling was mirrored on the Senate Floor. Controversy surrounding the extension of slavery to Kansas had risen to a feverish level by the 19th and 20th of May 1856, when Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts delivered a five hour oration on "The Crime Against Kansas." A reporter observed that the galleries had not been so crowded in anticipation of a major address since the days of Webster. A new generation had succeeded Webster, Clay and Calhoun in the Senate.
Sumner's speech contained virulent personal attacks on Senators Douglas, James Mason and Andrew P. Butler of South Carolina. Butler's cousin, Congressman Preston Brooks took offense at Sumner's words, believing they "insulted South Carolina and (Senator) Butler grossly." He felt duty-bound to avenge the honor of his aged kinsman and home state. Two days later, Brooks found the near-sighted Sumner seated at his desk in the Senate Chamber attending to his correspondence. Denouncing Sumner to his face, Brooks immediately raised his gold-topped cane over the Massachusetts senator, repeatedly striking him about the head and shoulders. When attempting to escape the blows, Sumner, acting almost unconsciously,

13

rose and ripped his desk from where it had been bolted to the floor. The Massachusetts senator, as a result of his injuries, did not return to the chamber for three and a half years.

(image of Brooks beating Sumner)
SOUTHERN CHIVALRY _ ARGUMENT VERSUS CLUB'S.

Lithograph by John L. Magee depicting the caning of Senator Charles Sumner by Representative Preston Brooks, May 22, 1856.

"Bleeding Kansas" tore apart the nation and the party structure within the Senate, destroying the Whigs, dividing the Democrats, and creating the new Republican party. In this atmosphere of tension, the Senate moved to its new chamber in 1859 and on to the trials of the Civil War.

Over a century passed before the Senate Chamber of 1810-1859 would be returned to its mid-19th century appearance.

Under the direction of the Commission on Art and Antiquities of the United States Senate, the long-held hope of restoration was realized during the year of America's Bicentennial. Architectural historians, librarians, researchers and archivists, cooperated in the effort to consider all appropriate resources, to achieve as accurate a recreation as possible.
Today's visitor to the Old Senate Chamber will find reproductions of Members' desks arranged in four semi-circular rows. The design of these mahogany desks is thought to have originated with Thomas Constantine, a New York cabinetmaker, who in 1819 supplied "48 desks for Members, each $34." Every desk bears a small ivory name plate with script lettering to identify the senator to whom it was assigned. A silver- topped inkwell and small bottle of blotting sand are recessed in the upper right corner, reflecting a custom followed to this day. Senators' chairs also follow an 1819 design attributed to Constantine. These low-backed armchairs with slightly raked rear legs are made of mahogany. Separated from the senators' desks by a curved wooden balustrade, are reproductions of the red- upholstered sofas that accommodated privileged visitors to the chamber's "lower circle."
The Constitution provides that "The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate. . . . " (Art. I, Sec. 3). From an elevated dais in the center of the chamber Vice Presidents from George Clinton through John Breckinridge presided over the assembly. An 1828 guidebook describing the elegant treatment accorded this area of the room notes that the Vice President's chair (is) "canopied by crimson drapery, richly embossed and held by talons of an o'er hovering eagle." The carved gilt eagle with shield has been returned to its original location.
Another original example from the pre-1860 chamber is the Vice President's desk, a curved table with ornately-curved legs surmounted by a star detail. In front of this desk has been placed a slightly larger table, used by the Secretary and Chief Clerk. Both desks have again been faced with red "modesty curtains." The officers chairs are upholstered in red morocco leather which voucher material indicates was frequently used for the room's furnishings. A pair of columnar solar lamps, associated with the 19th century Senate, have been placed on the Vice President's desk.
The Senate Chamber is lighted principally from above by a series of six skylights and a large brass

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chandelier. The chandelier's design is based on a lighting fixture made for the Senate in 1837 by the prominent Philadelphia firm, Cornelius and Co. The original Cornelius chandelier was a 24-light Argand fixture, modified in 1847 to burn gas. Double and single Argand lamps, also associated with the early chamber, are found on mantels in the loggia area, behind the Vice President's dais.

Detail of arm support from original Senate Chamber settee.
(image of what is described above)

(image of desk)
Senator's mahogany desk and chair, design attributed to Thomas Constantine, circa 1819.

(image of Vice President's dais)
View of the Vice President's dais from the gallery.

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Throughout most of its history, red or crimson was a favored color in the Old Senate Chamber. In addition to the crimson hangings over the Vice President's chair, draperies of this color were used for the room's windows and galleries. The walls at gallery level also were hung with swags of material suspended by gilt stars. The "star carpet," a patterned Brussels floor covering evident in many 19th century engravings, has been reproduced for the chamber. The carpet is marked by gold stars on a red background.
Above the east or marble gallery, "elegantly framed and draperied" is a portrait of George Washington by Rembrandt Peale. It was purchased for the chamber in 1832 and the artist hoped it would become the "standard likeness" of Washington. Peale dressed his subject in black cloak and jabot and "framed" the first President with a painted stone "porthole" surrounded by an oak wreath and topped by a keystone bearing the head of Jupiter. This is the first of Peale's "porthole" portraits of Washington, and is regarded by art historians as the finest.

(portrait of George Washington wiht the words "PATRIAL PATER")
"Porthole" portrait of George Washington by Rembrandt Peale, painted in 1823.

Details of mantels designed for chamber, c. 1812 by Giovanni Andrei.
(images of a fireplace and engravings in marble)

Among the earliest objects installed in the chamber are two white statuary mantels located on the east wall. Designed by Giovanni Andrei, the classical mantels were ordered by Benjamin Latrobe about 1812 from Traquair Marble Company of Philadelphia. Before they were shipped to Washington, however, the Capitol was destroyed by fire in 1814. During the rebuilding project, Latrobe learned that the mantelpieces had been crated for three years and were available for use in the Senate Chamber. Reproductions have been placed at the north and south ends of the Senate lobby. In addition to the fireplaces, the Senate Chamber was heated by two pyramid-shaped Franklin stoves, located in semi-circular niches on either side of the room's main entrance.

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The Old Senate Chamber in the U.S. Capitol is open each day of the week from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., except when in use for official ceremonial purposes. Closed Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Years' Day. For information, write the Curator, U.S. Senate Commission on Art and Antiquities, Washington, D.C. 20510 or telephone (202) 224-2955.

(image of chamber; chandelier and skylights)


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Illustrations courtesy of:
Architect of the Capitol, Government Printing Office,
Harvard University Portrait Collection,
Library of Congress, White House.

The United States Senate
Commission on
Art and Antiquities

Mike Mansfield, Chairman
Hugh Scott, Vice Chairman
James O. Eastland
Howard W. Cannon
Mark O. Hatfield
Francis R. Valeo, Executive Secretary

Mantel detail depicting mace surmounted by liberty cap.
(image of what is described above)