The deep sympathy which prevailed in every section of the Union, was soon
felt in Congress. Many public men were anxious that the Government should
take some important and decisive step, even to hostilities, in behalf of
Greece. Eloquent speeches were delivered in the House of Representatives
on the exciting topic. Mr. Clay electrified the country with his stirring
appeals in behalf of the land in which was established the first republic
on earth. Mr. Webster submitted the following resolution to the House of
Representatives:--

"Resolved, That provision ought to be made by law, for defraying the
expense incident to the appointment of an Agent, or Commissioner, to
Greece, whenever the President shall deem it expedient to make such
appointment."

In support of this resolution, Mr. Webster made a most eloquent speech, of
which the following is the conclusion:--

"Mr. Chairman--There are some things which, to be well done, must be
promptly done. If we even determine to do the thing that is now proposed,
we may do it too late Sir, I am not of those who are for withholding aid
when it is most urgently needed, and when the stress is past, and the aid
no longer necessary, overwhelming the sufferers with caresses. I will not
stand by and see my fellow-man drowning, without stretching out a hand to
help him, till he has, by his own efforts and presence of mind, reached
the shore in safety, and then encumber him with aid. With suffering
Greece, now is the crisis of her fate--her great, it may be her last
struggle. Sir, while we sit here deliberating, her destiny may be decided.
The Greeks, contending with ruthless oppressors, turn their eyes to us,
and invoke us, by their ancestors, by their slaughtered wives and
children, by their own blood poured out like water, by the hecatombs of