Daily evening star. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1852-1854, 1853-01-17
EVENING STAR.
WASHINGTON:
MONDAY, JANUARY II, 1863.
DEATHS OF PUBLIC MEN.


IT Vermont, again reminds us of the uncer-
tainty of human life, and the utter vanity
Of worldly honor.
"For sohat IS your 1ife2 And what IS your
ionors 1t is vapor that appearsth a little
ohi1e, and then Uanisheth a,cay."
Here at the seat Of government we are
made to feel the emptiness Of official gran
leur more than in almost any part of the
land. 1t is here that the delegated power
Of the people reaches its greatest height of
e1sltation; for there can be no higher
Office on earth than President of such
Republic as this. And yet that Office has
been repeatedly proved to be not too high
for the cold hand of death to reach it with
its elammy fingers; nor too strong for it to
bold the occupants in the icy grasp of the
dead.
To-day we have seen the pageant of an
Inauguration. Tomorrow it has been fol-
lowed by funeral procession of the inau
gurated chief To-day the booming cannon
proclaim that a new President is placed
over US. Tomorrow the tolling bells an
nounce that he is no more! To-day the
strains of martial music herald the en-
trance of victorious party leader to the
Executive Mansion. Tomorrow the mourn
tul funeral dirge sounds with hollow cadence
ut the portals Of his tomb To-day his
only child blesses his fond eyes, and nestles
with joy and gladness in his parental bosom.
Tomorrow that dear boy lies mangled
corse before him, to be borne among the
snowy hills of the North to an early
grave!
Is all this sadly true of our Presidents
and their families? Equally true is it of
those occupying lesser Offices, and NOV
ing in less exalted spheres of life. Our
CALHOUNs, our CLAYs, our WEBsrERs, aro
passing away. And if the nation at large
misses these distinguished men, how much
more do We miss those who lived here in
Washington! We saw them-heard them
knew them-as no other portions of our
countrymen could. They had been wont
10 come so long and so stately to these
TAILS of Council, to these Arenas of Debate.
'aat they seemed to be fixtures of the
governments; absolutely essential to the
safe adjustment of the political machinery
1t our national affairs. 1t seemed as if
such men had become the fixed stars Of our
armament; and that their removal would
vt necessity involve us as people in dark
ness and obscurity.
But they are gone. And yet the affairs
ct our beloved country roll on in undis-
turbed security, and with a power and
grandeur that may well challenge the ad-
duration of the world Their departure
will but call out new lights in our horizon
men of mark, equal to those who preceded
Item; men who only want the occasions
which their predecessors had, to prove them
to be in all respects worthy to be deemed
their peers.
Let us not, then, despair of the Republic.
There are other Washingtons and Franklins,
'ther Jeffersons and Jacksons, other Web
tiers, and Clays, and Calhouns, to be
given to us in place of these that are taken
AWAY. Where the fathers were the sons
shall be. And if we profit, as we may, BY
the great lessons that these sires have Taught
us our nations shall weep, and in her car
reer Of prosperity and glory-a career the
like Of which was never seen on this earth