Weekly Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1853-1861, 1856-12-18
John NJ. Clayton's Heart Sorrows.

Hon. Mr.. Baysrd, of Delaware, Mr.. Clay
toms colleague, in mis- handsome eulogy in
the Senate, on the deceased, drew attention
to the following SAL facts in the life of the
departed statesman:
To his great mental qualities he added a
host of virtues. Affectionate as a son, devo-
ted as husband, almost too indulgent as a
father, he was a kind and generous friend.
OF exceeding liberality, his purse was open to
those he loved and esteemed, with an almost
careless confidence. Little conversant with
and somewhat needless of the mere conven-
tionalities Of society, there was charm in the
cordislty of his manner which endeared him
to his friends and attracted and fascinated
even his ordinary acquaintance. But, Mr..
President, successful as was my friend in all
his pursuits, there were shadows cast upon
the pathway of his life, and he had more
than an equal share of the sorrows and dis
appointments inevitable to the lot of man.
He achieved fame and acquired fortune, and
his checks in the pursuit of either were few
and transient. This is the bright side of the
| picture. The reverse presents the Affections
to which, in the dispensation of an allwise
Providence, he was subjected in his domestic
relations
In September, 1922, he married the daugh-
ter of James Fisher, of Delaware, an accom-
plished lady, and the object of his first affec-
tons. After little more than two years oil
domestic happiness, she died in February,
1925, leaving him two sons, and to him her
loss was lifelong sorrow. He cherished
her in memory with an almost romantic de-
votion, and, though unusually demonstrative
as to his ordinary emotions and feelings, with
his deeper affections it was otherwise. His
was grief which spoke not, and even the
observant eye of friendship could only see,
from momentary glimpses, how immedicable
was the wound which had been inflicted OF
the two children which she left him, the
youngest, who was of great promise both in
tellectually and morally, died in January,
1S49, in his twenty-fourth year, and the
other two years afterwards. On the death of
his youngest and favorite child, there was a
desolation of the heart, which, though it vain
ly courted relief in the excitement of public
life, could scarcely be realized by those who
have not suffered under the pressure of a
similar sorrow. Perhaps it is best pictured
in the melancholy reflections of Wallen-
stein:
:. shall grive down this blow ofthat am conscious,
What does not man grieve down?
From the highest,
As from the vilest thing OF evsr day
Conquer him. Yet / feel what have lost
In him. The bloom Is vanished from my life.
For, o he stood beside me like youth,
Transformed for me the real to a dream,
Clothing the palpabe and the familiar
With golden exhalations Of the dawn.
Whatever fortunes wait my future tolls,
The beautiful is vanished, and returns not.
Such, Mr.. President, was my colleagues
career and such his sorrows. He stood iso-
lated in the world; for though there remain
ed affectionate relatives and kind friends,
they could not satisfy the longing of the
heart for those nearer and dearer who had
passed away. cannot doubt that the corro-
ding effect of this great grief, and the indis-
position of physical exertion which it natur-
ally produced, undermined very vigorous
constitution, and foreshortened his life, at an
age when ripened experience and undecsy ed
mental powers would have rendered his SER
vices most valuable to his country.
STEAMBoATING ON THE UPPEE MISSISSIPPI.
From a statistical statement of the steam