Georgetown weekly news., 1855-01-18
MIR. Latham's Speech,


In the House of Representatives, when
the death of Hon. Presley Ewing, a mem
Der OF the House, was announced, Mr.. La
than, of California, rose and said: - "
To the wish of the Kentucky delegation.
that / should participate in this mournful
oblation to our departed associate, nv own
heart has given mournful acqdiescence. But
/ four short months ago we took him by the
hand at parting, and wished him ''God
speed, little dreaming of the journey he
was going on, or that the chilly hand of
death.was to come between him and our
/ welcome back. Secure in the strange
confidence with which mortality rnocks her
worldly minded children, no passing thought
admonished us that his bright eye would so
soon be dimmed-that his hearty. ioyial
laugh would be heard no more among us.
Our line of vision reached not half so far;
but we measured distance only with our
hopes. The death of Presley Ewing comes
| nearer home to individuals in this body, in
asmuch as he endeared himself to all most
fraternally: and whether we admire his tai
ents and consistent liberality on this floor,
or recall around the social hearth or board
his humorous originality and oddity, our
voices assume of themselves the low tone of
afectionate sorrow, and the smile; which
had sprung to the lip fades sadly away
We cannot but wonder and be amazed at
Gods providenee; but yet wonder WHY one
so fitted to cheer and make happy, should
be so early called away; at the very dawn
ing of manly existence, whose morning sun
was rising with more than common bright
thof q
usefulness and well rewarded exertion, the
twilight of the grave came on; and they
who loved him--the aged parents, whose
pride and stay he was-are left to sit within
the shadow of his eclipse. To them and to
the constituency he so honorably represent
ed, we can but offer our coincidence of sin
cere sympathy and regret; and while we
confidently resign our own will to that of
the Omniscient One, who giveth and also
taketh away in his good time for his own
purposes, we can best express our feelings
in the simple sentence, which should be en-
craven on the stone that marks his grave
"He had no enemies"
To ourselves let us bring this striking
lesson home, and in this hour-set apart
not only to honor, but to contemplate
us ponder upon the uncertainty Of our time
at most, let us look onward at the work we
have laid out for our lives to do, and up
ward to that power whence cometh our
strength and length of days to do it. Let
us remember that our sight is not the same
as His who made US, that when task seems
done to us, to Him, it is unfinished, and
when most unfinished to us, to him it is al
ready done; that the thin thread of life
whereWith we are to weave the web of our
days work is often stayed in the hand at
high noon, and knots, and blemishes, and
places overshot, together with the soiled
spots and marks of careful toll, remain as
we have left them until the time of the great
showing; that deeds which are to us trivial
have great influence, and in one moment
tread too fast upon the heels Of the other,
burdened with its own weight of action so
much as to be unable to spare anything to
rectify or alter. Yet, while we are earnest
as these cOntemplations should make us, we
can gain still another lesson than that of
our mortality, from the one of our number,
whose work has been so lately finished. We
may learn that by the cheerful and concil-
iatory discharge of our own duties, we en-
courage our fellow laborers in theirs, so that
we
-"GO not Hike the quarry-slaye at night,
Scourged to his dungeon but sustained soothed,
BY an unfalterlng trust approach thy grave
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch
About him, and lies down TO pleasant Dreams"
The public life of Mr. Ewing is known to
us all, as well as to those of his own State
whom it most concerned. He was twice a
member of the Legislature of Kentucky,
twice elected to the Congress of the United
| States-thus demonstrating the belief of
his people in his integrity, and their conf
dence in his ability, his personal acquaint-
ance and deep yeneration for Henry Clay,
his admiration Of the "great man's'' devo-
ton to his friends, and steady pursuit of his
own patriotic duty, which led him so much
to emulate and initiate him, needs scarcely
to be recalled to you. His talents were
brilliant, his education classical, his social
virtues enriched by travel and humor, were
eminently great, and withal "God gave him
generous and noble heart" In many
chosen circles his loss is mourned as irrepa-
bic; and though his life has fitted across
our horizon as bright and sudden as a
shooting star, its track is marked IN
our memory by the soft light of afectionate
recollection, that only the midnight cloud
of death has power to obscure.
|