Baton-Rouge gazette. [volume] (Baton-Rouge, La.) 1819-1856, 1850-08-31
a 'tMan IL like 10 vanity
His days are as Shadow that pa'se,,lh I, sysy' WY

| Ps Ia A.
| A few sabbaHis since | was called 'upol
10 discourse OF, ohe of the melailctol.
events which oteut IN times Of pestileiiee
A family was suddenly removed from thei
dwelling. and theit seat III this hutise o
God, to sleep parent and children, in TIL,
grave Recently an ex-Pfesident, passe,
through our town. from the station O
power he had just left In honor Scare
had the Vote Of his response to ol,f vel
come ceased, erfehe was with the dead
THEN came the intelligence. that states
man, who for half a century, had sent fottl
from the Senate chamber the thrill Of
resistless eloauence, had beet s,itt,mohe'
away.
In the march of modern improvement
there Ia a method OF silently ecnlniuniea
ting intelligence. No iarring Of elements
nor rattling of coaches taor tfampliig o
horsemen is heard, but q,tietly Hs the pro
gress of death, are borne the tidings of 10,
or wo. On its voiceless conveyancers ha
ceme of late to our hearts message of sad
ness The first atzeti Of our country, thu
head cf cur councils, the commander D
our armies, is dead Forum and pulpi
proclaim It, The halls Of Legislation, have
PIT On the etblens Of mourl,iig--tllt
wheels Of Justice have stopped in tllei
| coirse-pvery fortilcatipn utters It's lolit
voice Of ainepiation-the war ship on faI
distant oceans peas forth ts signal of dis
trees. Out songs Of liberty are dirge
Prairie aud forest, hamlet and city, five
and sea, have caught the wail, like th.
wall on Egypt when the first born died
General Taylor Is aead, and great nation
| is pouring forth its sorrows over his bier
The ila,ne that every human being
| thrtWehput this wide tonfedetaty, hath st
often uttered. Is now but breath. lie lives
only in history aiid sUnH Ills record Il
with the mighty, but II Is the mighty dead
Politics and political characters, are not
the themes Of the sacred desk. Its pro.
vince is the solen,nties Of religion, and the
duties of life as they bind us to God. and
have reference to eternity. We stand not
in this place to day to utter the language
Of fulsone ettlogy, or carping cehsufe
BY the grave Of one lately nations repre-.
sentative, we tell you that i'll all his great.
ness and glory, H1lttH IL Ike to pdn,ty
his days are us d shado,e that passfth
array"
We are like men who dream. and i'll
vision rises the tl,fniig Of human life We
gaze on towering structures. we hear the
| l.,I 1.
,nony Of mighty masses aud great events
Ahand touches us. we waken, and all has
vanished. Truth the voice ofCod speak :
from the serultlire, teaching ia wi1at shH
dows we are aud what shadows we pursue
Imagination is to tie scenes Of life what
color is to the lace Of nature, we too often
mistake lights and shades for realities, and
it is therefore well at times. az chemistry
| analyzes mere matter. in sober truth to ex.
famine the perspective WHICH rises betotesus
in lt,es of loveIiness, and gilded with Il
glory like the eternal.
To be President of this oonfedenley IL
the ambition of. statesmen The luftiest
talent is ennobled by position III the
chair once occupied by Washington and
Jefferson The name of such t,1 one il
halowed to future ages. associated with
deeds of high renown, encircled with the
halo Of nations glory. Emulation never
sought nobler prize. To gain it, let the
whole people be moved, political seheming
agtate society to It's centre, and strong
convulsions plfake the very foundations d
the government The struggle IL over
the goal II won, and where are they who
reached it Twice has the Presidential
chair been vacated by duath within the
last ten years. OF the six44who have
occupied 1t within that period, one half are
in their graves Of all who have beer
elected to the station but one survives
Awakened by the hand Of reality the
splendors that dazzled the fancy disappear
and we are gazing into sepnlchre, and
upon dust
The text i. illustrated in the military
triunphs of our nation With the sacred
fields Of the revolution are blended the
names of Washington, Warren, Gates,
Schuyler, Snmrter, Jones and Marion,
and in later times scarcely less distinguish.
ed are Harrison, Jackson, Duncan, Ring.
gold. Worth and Taylor. Those gathered
around our country's flag when it arose
like new constellation4upon the western
world These bore il on through bloody
fields, amidst tempest aud night. Strong
was the arm that yielded not in the hour
ofdismay, and brilliant the eye that quail.
ed not in the red glare of battle. Praise,
praise to the patriot and the brave. Moth.
|ing shall be spared to express the gratitude,
the almost alteration, with which we re.
verence the noble men who have made our
nation free and honored .--engrave their
names on marbe--alas. it covers their
graves. The Conqueror Of conqnerors
hath met them, and they have fallen into
darkness and nothingness.
Yet il is natural to honor those who
have deserved well, bethey living or dead
1t is not a matter of little Importance,
whether our memories shall be blessed
with the righteous, or rot with the wicked.
The danger is that we shall attach to
actions which are to be weighed in the
balances of the sanctuary too great ansinl-
1 Il IT. - H.