Statesmen . howere his contemporaries. 90 STATESMEN From the day of his death until the Confed-erate flag fell at Appomattox the logical con-sequences of his life and teachings went onand on, increasing in force and intensity untilthe fabric that he had so laboriously rearedfell in ruins. To the last moment he mani-fested the deepest interest and concern in thetroubles of his country. The South, the poorSouth, God knows what will become of her,murmured his trembling lips; but he died withthat serenity of mind which only a clear con-science can give on the death-bed. On Feb-ruary 12, 1847, ne s
Statesmen . howere his contemporaries. 90 STATESMEN From the day of his death until the Confed-erate flag fell at Appomattox the logical con-sequences of his life and teachings went onand on, increasing in force and intensity untilthe fabric that he had so laboriously rearedfell in ruins. To the last moment he mani-fested the deepest interest and concern in thetroubles of his country. The South, the poorSouth, God knows what will become of her,murmured his trembling lips; but he died withthat serenity of mind which only a clear con-science can give on the death-bed. On Feb-ruary 12, 1847, ne said in the Senate : If Iknow myself, if my head were at stake I woulddo my duty, be the consequences what theymight. It was his solemn conviction thatthroughout his life he had faithfully done hisduty both to the Union and to his section. Be-cause as he honestly believed slavery to be good,a positive good, he had never been able to seethat it was impossible to serve at the same timethe Union and his Thomas H. Benton. IV. THOMAS H. BENTON. In one of the public squares of the city of there stands a bronze statue of Thomas The right hand points westward, andon the pedestal are inscribed these words: There is the is India. It is odd that so little is said by the biographersof Benton about his early, incessant, and active ef-forts to promote the building of a railway acrossthe continent. He was one of the first statesmenof the country to advocate the building of sucha road. He was one of the earliest to direct theadventurous explorations in the far West, and toencourage overland transit by wagon to the Pa-cific coast. He was engaged in these labors longbefore the discovery of gold in California. Whilethe right of American possession of the mouthof the Columbia was as yet unsettled, he threwhimself into the contest for the acquisition ofthat territory with tremendous zeal; and as earlyas 1819 he wrote on all these topics. When heentered Congres
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