He smote the rock of the national resources, and abundant streams of revenue gushed forth. He touched the dead corpse of the Public Credit, and it sprung upon its feet.

Webster’s imagery likens a statesman’s financial policy to biblical miracles: striking a rock to bring forth water and raising the dead. The “rock of the national resources” suggests latent taxable capacity and economic potential that, under skillful administration, can be converted into steady government income. The “dead corpse of the Public Credit” evokes a nation whose reputation for honoring debts has collapsed; to “touch” it and make it stand again implies restoring confidence in federal obligations and stabilizing the fiscal system. The praise is hyperbolic by design—an orator’s way of crediting a single figure with reviving revenue and national credit, and of framing fiscal competence as a near-providential act central to national strength.