The Whig standard. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1843-1844, 1844-02-05

Senator from Louisiana, Mr.. BarroW ne
mover has done ample justice to his great SUBJ |
ject. He also had the advantage OF long ac-
auaintance and intimate personal friendship with
the deceased He also knew him on the banks
of the Cumberland, though too young to belong
TO the circle of young lawyers and law students,
of which, the junior member the young ALEX
AMBER PoRTER-was the chief ornament and
delight. But he knew him-long and intimate
ly-and has given ev dence of that knowledge
in the just, the feeling, the cordial and impress
sive eulogium which he has just delivered on
the life and character of his deceased friend and
colleague He has presented 10 you the matured
man, as developed in his ripe and meridian age:
he has presented to you the flushed scholar, the
eminent lawyer, the profound judge, the distin-
guished senator, the firm patriot, the constant
friend, the honorable man, the brilliant con-
verser, the social, cheerful, witty companion.
He has presented TO you the ripe fruit, of which
| saw the early blossom, and of which felt the
assurance, more than thirty years ago, that i,
would ripen into the golden fruit which we have
all beheld.
Mr.. President, this is no vain or empty cere-
monial in which the Senate is now engaged.
Honors to the llustrious dead go beyond the dis
charge of debt of justice to them, and the rem
dition of consolation to their friends: they be-
come lessons and examples for the living. The
story of their humble beginning, and noble con-
clusion, is an example to be followed, and an
Indictment to be felt. And where shall we find
an example more worthy of imitation, or more
full of encouragement, than in the life and cha
racter of ALEXANDER PORTER "a lad Of tender
age-an orphan with widowed mother and
younger children--the father martyred in the
cause Of freedom-an exile before he was ten
years old-an ocean to be crossed, and a strange
land TO be seen, and wilderness of thousand
miles to be penetrated, before he could find
resting place for the sole of his foot: then edu-
cation 10 be acquired, support 10 be earned, and
even citizenship to be gained, before he could
make his own talents available to his support !:
conquering all these difficulties by his own exer-
tons, and the aid Of an affectionate uncle-G
will name him, for the benefactor of youth de-
serves to be named, and named with honor in
the highest Places with no other aid but that
of an uncle's kindness, Mr.. Alexander Porter
sen, merchant Of Nashville, also an emigrant
from Ireland, and full of the generous qualities
which belong to the children of that soil (: this
lad, an exile and orphan from the Old World,
thus starting in the New World, with every
thing to gain before il could be enjoyed soon at
tanned every earthly object, either brilliant or
substantial, for which we live and struggle in
this life. Honors, fortune, friends the highest
professional and political distinction long SUI
preme Judge in his adopted State: twice Sen
wearing all his honors fresh and growing to the
last moment Of his life-and the announcement
of his death followed by the adjournment Of the
two Houses OF the American Congress What
| noble and browning conclusion to beginning
so humble, and SO apparently hopeless! Honors
to such life-the honors which we now paw to
the memory Of Senator PoRTER-are not mere
offerings to the dead, or mere consultations to
the feelings OF surviving friends and relations
they go further, and become incentives and in
ducements to the ingenious youth of the present
hopes, and firing their spirits with generous
emulation.
Nor do the benefits of these honors stop with
individuals, nor even with masses, or generations
of men. They are not confined to PERSONS, but
rise to INsTTTUTIoNs-to the noble republican in
situations under which such things can be Re-
publican government itself-that government
which holds man together in the proud state Of
equality and lberty-thls government is benefit
ed by the exhibition of the examples such as we
now celebrate, and by the rendition of the honors
such as we now pay. Our deceased brother Sem
ator has h0nored and benefited our free republican
institutions by the manner in which he has adj
vanced himself under them and we make man
fest that benefit by the honors which we paw him.
He has given practical illustration of the work
ing OF our free, and equal, and elective form of
government; and our honors proclaim the nature
of that working. What is done in this chamber
is not done in corner, but on a lofty eminence,
seen of all people. Europe, as well as America,
will see how our form Of government has worked
in the person of an orphan, exilcd boy, seeking
refuge in the land which gives to virtue and talent
all that they will ever ask-the free use of their
own exertions for their own advancement
Our deceased brother was not an American citi-
ven by the accident of birth: he became SO by
the choice OF his own will, and by the operation
of our laws. The events of his life, and the bu-
sness of this day, show this title to citizenship to
be as valid in our America as it was in the great
republic OF antiquity | borrow the thought, not
the language of Cicero, in his pleading for the
poet Archas, when | place the citizen who be-
comes SO by law AMI choice, on an equal footing
with the citizen who becomes SO by chance. And,
in the instance now before us, we may say that
our adopted citizen has repaid us for the liberality
Of our laws; that he has added to the stock of our
national character by the contributions which he