Names. William Schouler, Boston, 66 66 66 66 Issacher Fuller, First Date of Birth. Native Place. Office. vr.in Dec. 31, 1814, Scotland, Joseph P. Dexter, Jr., Nov. 30, 1835, Boston, As. Messenger 1835 1852 1852 RECAPITULATION OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES-1853. Farmers,.. Whole number of Senators, 40; Representatives, 289. Total, 329. Blacksmiths, Cashiers, Druggists, 4 each,. Butchers, Cabinet-Makers, Railroad Agents, Auctioneer, Amorer, Bookbinder, EULOGY ON DANIEL WEBSTER, BY HON. GEORGE S. HILLARD. It is now twenty-six years since the heart of the nation was so deeply moved by the death of two great founders of the Republic, on the fiftieth anniversary of the day when its independence was declared. Then for the first time, these consecrated walls wore the weeds of mourning. Then the multitude that filled this hall were addressed by a man, whose thoughts rose without effort to the height of his great theme. He seemed inspired by the occasion, and he looked and spoke like one on whom the mantle of some ascended prophet had at that moment fallen. He lifted up and bore aloft his audience on the wings of his mighty eloquence. His words fell upon his hearers with irresistible, subduing power, and their hearts poured themselves forth in one deep and strong tide of patriotic and reverential feeling. And now he, that was then so full of life and power, has gone to join the patriots whom he commemorated. Webster is no more than Adams and Jefferson. The people, that then came to listen to him, are now here to mourn for him. His voice of wisdom and eloquence is silent. The arm on which a nation leaned is stark and cold. That heroic form is given back to the dust. We, that delighted to honor him in life, are now here to honor him in death. One circle of duties is ended and another is begun. We can no longer give him our confidence, our support, our suffrages; but memory and gratitude are still left to us. As he has not lived for himself alone, so he has not died for himself alone. The services of his life are crowned and sealed with the benediction of his death. So long as a man remains upon earth, his life is a fragment. It is exposed to chance and change, to the shocks of fate and the assaults of trial. But the end crowns the work. A career that is closed becomes a firm possession and a completed power. The arch is imperfect till the hand of death has fixed the keystone. The custom of honoring great public benefactors by these solemn observances is natural, just, and wise. But the tributes and testimonials which we offer to departed worth, are for the living, and not for the dead. Eulogies, monuments, and statues can add nothing to the peace and joy of that serene sphere, into which the great and good, who have finished their earthly career, have passed. But these expressions and memorials do good to those from whom they flow. They lift us above the region of low cares and selfish struggles. They link the present to the past, and the world of sense to the world of thought. They break the common course of life with feelings brought from a higher region. Who can measure the effect of a scene like this, these mourning walls, these saddened faces, those solemn strains of music? The seed of a deep emotion here planted, may ripen into the fruit of noble action. A great man is a gift, in some measure, a revelation of God. A great man, living for high ends, is the divinest thing that can be seen on earth. The value and interest of history are derived chiefly from the lives and services of the eminent men whom it commemorates. Indeed, without these, there would be no such thing as history, and the progress of a nation would be as little worth recording, as the march of a trading caravan across a desert. The death of Mr. Webster is too recent, and he was taken away too suddenly from a sphere of wide and great influence, for the calm verdict of history to be passed upon him, and an accurate gauge to be taken of his works and his claims. But all men, whatever may have been the countenance they turned towards him in life, now feel that he was a man of the highest order of greatness, and that whatever of power, faculty, and knowledge there was in him, was given freely, heartily, and faithfully during a long course of years, to the service of his country. He, who in the judgment of all, was a great man and a great patriot, not only deserves these honors at our hands, but it would be disgraceful in us to withhold them. We, among whom he lived, who felt the power of his magnificent presence, his brow, his eye, his voice, his bearing,-can never put him anywhere but in the front rank of the great men of all time. In running along the line of statesmen and orators, we light upon the name of no one to whom we are willing to admit his inferiority. |