The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1856-12-20

| great political parties OF the country WiillSt
| the national organization was maintained.
AS n lawyer. he was necessarily less known
to those around me, as the sphere Of his for
ensic action, with few exceptions, was within
the limits of his owl State. 1t has been my
fortune. however. to have frequently wit
messed and felt his powers, both as ON ASSOC
ciate and opponent and though have heard
very many of the most distinguished lawyers
of our country, in cases calling for the highest
exercise of their capacity, and may have
thought few possessed greater powers of
discrimination, and others more playful
! fancy-in the combination of all his faculties
| | have yet to meet his superior, If indeed
have met his equal. as an advocate before a
| jury. | will not pause now to analvZe the
peculiar powers which rendered him effective,
Formidable and successful in his forensic pur-
suits. 1t is sufficient that he was so success.
| full in a profession in which merit alone can
| command success
To his great mental qualities he added a
| host of virtues Afectionate as son, de-
voted as husband, almost too indulgcnt as
father, he was kind and generous friend.
OF exceeding iheralty, his purse was open
to those he loved and esteemed with an almost
careless confidence. Liltlo conyersant with,
and somewhat needless of, the mere convcn-
| tionalitics of society, there was a charm in
the cordially Of his manner winch endearcd
him to his friends, and attracted and fascin-
ated even his ordinary acquaintances. But
Mr.. President, successful as was my friend III
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
disappontments inevitable to the lot of man
| lie achieved fame, and acquired fortune, and
his checks III the pursuit of either were but
few and transient. This Is the brs ht side of
the picture. The reverse presents the aillc-
tons to which. in the dispcnsa,ons of an all
wise Providence, he was subjected in his do
mestc relations.
In September, 1922. he married the daugh-
! ter Of DR.. James Fisher, Of Delaware, an ac-
complshed lady. and object of his first aflec-
tons After little more than two years Of
domestic happiness, she died in February
| 1925 leaving him two sons, and to him her
loss was lifelong sorrow.-l1c cherished
her memory with an almost romantic devo-
ton, and though unusually dcmonstrative 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 sec,
from momentary gimpscs, how immedicabe
was the wound which had been inflicted.
Of the two children which she left him, the
eldest. who was Of great promise. both intel
lcctually and morally, died in January, lS49,
i'll his twenty fourth year, and the other two
years afterwards. On the death of his young
est and fayorite child, there was a desolaton
Of the heart which, though it vainlv courtcd
relief in the excitement of public life, could
scarcely be realized by those who have not
suffered under the pressure Of a similar sor-
row. Perhaps it is best pictured in the fne-
ancholy reflections of Wallcnstcin:
Il shall gtieve do wn this blow of that I m con-
scious;
What does not man grisve down?
From the highest.
As from the vicst thing of every day,
He learns to wean himself; for the strong hours
Conquer him Yet feel what have lost
In him. The bloom is vanished from my life,
For 0, he stood beside me like my youth,
Transformed for me the real to DREAM
Clothing the palpable and the familiar
With go!dcs calculations 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 remained
affectionate relatives and kind friends. they
could not satisfy the longing of the heart for
those nearer and d.arer who had passed
away. | cannot doubt that the comoding eff
feet of this great grief and the ndispostion
to physical exeItion which it naturally pro-
duccd, undermined very vigorous constitu-
ZION, and orc-shortcncd his life, at an age
when ripencd experience and untlccayed men,
tai powers would have rendered his services
most valuable to his country.
Among the graves Of the last century, Mr..
President, in an old church-yard at New
Castle, there is an epi:aph upon the tomb
stone of MIR. Curtis, who died in 1853 after
having filled many public Offices in the then
colony of the Three Lower Counties upon
Delaware, attributed II believe correctly to
the pen of Benjamin Franklin. 1t might with
change of name, be most appropriately in
scribed upon the tomb of my lamcntcd friend:
'lf to be prudent in council,
Upright in judgment,
Faithful in trust,
Give value to the public man;
If to be sincere in friendship,
Afcconate to relations
And kind to all around him.
Make the private man amiabls,
Thy death, 0, Clayton,
As "a general loss,
Long shall be lamentsd'
l will but further add, as the last and
browning act of my colleagues life. that he
died in the faith and with hopes of Chris
tain.
MIR. President, offer the following resolu-
tons:
Resolrcd unanimously, That the members
of the Senate. from sincere desire of show.
ing every mark of respect due to the memory
of the Hon. JoHN NJ. CLAYTON, late Senator
from the State of Delaware, will 90 into
mourning by wearing Grape on the left arm
for thirty days.
Resotred unanimously, That as an additional
mark of respect for the memory of the Hon.
John M. CLAYTON, the Senate do now adj
Journ. 1.-THE Resolutions were adopted.
Hon HOWELL COBB has issued book
from the Georgia press, for private circuo-
ton, entitled "Scriptural Examination of the
institution Of Slavery" intended to prove
that the development of slavery in tbs United
States is calculated to secure .'civl and reii.
gious liberty" to the race of Africa. 1t is
freely distributed among public men, with
the authors compliments.