Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1857-02-11
DEATH OF HON. P. S. BROOKS.
THIRTY.FOURTH CONGRESS-.
IN SENATE.
WASHINGTON, Jar

ceed to the consideration of legislative business,
and he would therefore move that the Chair be
vacated until communication was received
from the other House.
This suggestion met with unanimous response.
The PRESIDENT of the Senate (Mr. MAsoS)
announced that the Chair would he considered
vacant until the communication was received
from the House.
At about half past - message was received
from the House of Representatives announcing
the death of Mr.. BROOKS and the proceedings
had thereon when
Mr.. EVANS, of South Carolina, addressed the
Senate as follows:
The relation in which stand to the deceased
seems to require that should say something on
this melancholy occasion. have known him
for many years and the more that | have
known and the more that have seen Of him
the higher has he risen in my regard, and the
deeper, the deeper is the distress and atfliction
which I feel for his early death. Mr.. President,
] would that this tribute to his memory could
he paid by my worthy colleague, who could do
it SO much better than I can hope to do. But
his grief for the loss of dear friend and rela-
tive is too overwhelming to allow him to give
utterance to his feelings on this sad event.
When those who have lived out their time
are gathered to their fathers, it is an event in
the history of man which makes but little i'm
preston but when Il man, in the prime OF lite,
in the midst of his hopes, is suddenly cut down,
surrounded by all the endearnentS of domestic
life, with the prospect Of great public utility be-
fore him, it is an event which strikes deep into
the human heart. 1t teaches lis painfully the
uncertainty of human life, which has been aptly
compared to the grass of the field, which shoots
forth and tiourishes to-day, but to morrow is
cut down and withers in the evening sun.
Sir, my sympathy is painfully excited. My
heart bleeds when think of the maddening
grief, the desolation of all the cherished hopes
of the future, which the news Of his death will
carry to his widow mother his devoted wife,
and his little children. All that we can do is
to mnge our grief with theirs, and testify our
respect for the many noble qualities Of the de-
ceased son, husband and father, and patriot.
Time, it has been said, will wear out the tracts
of the deepest sorrow. God grant it may be so
with them.
PREsroS S. Brooks was descended from a
stock which did good service in the trying times
of the Revolutionary war. HIS father, Whit
field Brooks, was man of science, OF liberal
education, and polished manners His mother,
who is still alive, is one Of the most cstmablc
ladies within the circle OF my acquaintance. -
Their son, Preston S. Brooks, was born in
1919, and was little over thirty-seven at the
time Of his death. He received q liberal edu-
cation at the South Carolina College, and WAS
admitted to the practice of law in 1913. In
1916 call was made for volunteers for the
Mexican war. In his native district of Edge
field he aised a company of one hundred men,
of which he was unanimously elected captain.
lie was mustered into the service Of the United
States and marched to Mexico, where the Pal
metto regiment, Of which his company was
part, was distinguished throughout the war for
its bravery, and for all those qualities which en-
noble and dignity the soldiers life.
When the war was ended he return to Ills ma
tive district and devoted himself to the planting
interest. BY the introduction of that order and
system which is best learned in the discipline
of the camp, he became successful planter.
Colonel Brooks was elected in 1858, on Mr..
Burt's declining reelection, to the House OF
Representatives for the Thirty-thrd Congress,
by constituency who had never been otherwise
represented than by a man of note among his
fellows. Among these may be named R. Good
loe Harper, John c. Calhoun, and George Nc
Dufie select these as most distinguished,
without mention of others who in their day
bore high reputation for usefulness and states
manship.
The man who succeeded such men had an
ardous duty to perform to fulfil the expectations
of those who sent him. In the discharge OF the
duties of his station he was modest and unob-
trusve vet, when the occasion required, he
spoke his sentiments with eloquence, openneSS.
candor, and sincerity, which Won him the res
pect of ALL even of those who were not con-
vinced by his argument. The manliness of his
character, the urbanty of his manners, that
true polieness which is the offspring of benev-
olence, had made him a general favorite, and
many warm personal friends even among his po-
litical opponents at a time of unusual party Bit
terness.
But will say no more. Other Senators,
presume, design to pay their tribute OF respect
to the memory Of the deceased. Nothing which
we can do can restore him to his family, his
friends, aud his country. We must bow in sub
mission to the will Of our Almighty Father,
who, we arc taught to believe, docs not aitict
His children in vain.
beg leave, in conclusion, to offer the follow
ing resolutions:
Resolved, That the Senate has received with
deep sensibillty the message from the House OF
Representatives announcing the death oil the
Hon. Preston S. Brooks, a Representative from
the State of South Carolina.
Resolved, That, in token of respect for the
memory of the deceased, the Senate will attend
his funeral at the hour appointed by the House
of Representatives, and will wear the usual
badge Of mourning for thirty days.
Mr.. HUNTER, Of. Virginia, said: ! rise to Sc
cond, with all my heart, the resolutions which
the Senator from South Carolina has offered as
a token of respect to his deceased colleague,
whose character and high qualities lie las por-
trayed with so much of truth and feeling. As
We gather around the grave Of a departed broth
er, not only is friendship eager to present the
tribute of its Affection but even enmity ii it be
the enmity Of generous mind, is ready to bury
with him its bitter recoections and animoSities
is an Offering TO the comman brotherhood OF
humanity. Who of Us does not feel that when
one has paid the last debt OF nature he has set
tied his accounts with man? Who, too, could
stand by the last resting place Of fellowbeng,
and deepen its gloom by casting upon it the
darker Shadows of his mortal hate? Here, sir
ut the threshold, as it were, of these portals
through which the spirit of a brother has just
pissed from time to eternity, we bury the rec
objections of the past in our contemplatlonS
the future, whose dark curtain hides from oul
eager scrutiny the way which we ourselves SC
soon must tread. 1t is upon such an occasion
as this, and in contemplation of such journey
that we would dvest ourselves of all those feel
ings which might prove evil companions ny the
way.
Mr.. President, Preston S. Brooks has gone