Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1858-01-23
EuIogy OF mr.. X eth Of =. O., on the i"''

voice mas alre3Cy DeeD uiOheh iu'O 'NN' WV
| his bier; and it is fitting that we now, IN our
high estate should celebrate funeral trl'
butte to his memory. % behalf, then, OF the
| Commonwealth OF Sou h Carolina, On whose
soil he was born, lay glove upon his fresh
S-c'oscd grave.
sir, toe sym bois of mourning are thickcn
iny around US. A; the very threshold OF our
legislative career we have been summoned
away from the passions and strItes at poli'
teal warfare, and carried to those last scenes
of life. 10 which ambitions are huShed and
rlvalries forever stiled. 10 the bret tract oi
time lying between the cIJse OF the last ana
the beginning of the present Congress,
around how many Of the trusted OF the land
have the curtains of time been closely drawn.
Men fresh from the cabinet, and with the
1,yeSfi0e Of renOwn upon their brows-sena-
tors covered with august and revered trophies;
representatives unfolding the faces OF popC-
lar authority-al Of these, coming from eve
~ portion Of the tDiCn, and drawing near
er aud nearer As they advanced, have min-
gled in that dark and narrow house where
all human glores enter" and disappear Tor
ever.
Over the less Of no one of these rose there
a deeper cry Of grief than over that OF the
/ lamehted Rusk. With that ntultl'e sagacl-
ty which detects genuine merit, and that
/ president forecast which goes forth iear!e'siy
/ 10 meet the future and anticipates events ere
vet they are formed, the big neart OF the pee
pie felt that a great man had talIen-One
whose step was upon the round ana top
of the republican ladder. General kusk
grayitated to superiority by the laws OF MS
mental and and moral nature these cai-
ried him to distinction, as the instincts OF the
eagle carry him above the mountains up to
the very sun. Certainly it is noble thlnS
to bear, like banner, u historical name tor
thousand years; and IN turning to the past
! to see, looming through the night OF ages, u
series of figures, barded with iron, draped
with ermine, who resemble you and bear the
same name that you do; but 1t IS shallow
! philosophy that UNDERWRITERS the efforts OF
! him who starts noble line.
Born of humble parentage and TO mar
/ row fortune, young Rusk went forth to be.
gin the warfare Of life. Reared upon soil
| sill wet with the blood of patriots; educa
ted by stirring themes Of heroic daring; and
with a a heart chaztened by the sacrifices aud
lowered with the wealth of our heroic Strug-
ole, he followed in the track"ay ol those
great men who had hung our political hea'
yeus in light and glory. The splendId cour-
aye and magnaulmUus sacrihces through
which our independence had been won and
established, he displayed on behalf OF that
people whose cause he had espoused, and on
whose soil ne lived In the very front OF the
foremost men Of Texas, he kept watch and
ward" while the "lone star was blending
its scattered rays into unity ere it wheeled
upward to mingIe It's brightness with the
blaze Of the federal constellation.
As Secretary of War, he organized the re-
sources Of Texas; rs military leader, he con-
Quoted her arme, to the victory; as legislator,
, he aided to establish her civil pOilty and n
| Chief Justice, he systcmatlZvd her luris-
prudence.
In walking back softly over the path be
trod, we may well ask what high qualities OF
head aud heart be had to win such signal
success? As an orator it was not given him
to utter those burning words which some
times electrify a whole people; those words
which strike like fish of lightning; which
penetrate; which do not stay TO be scanned,
| "prubed, yexed, ami criticised; : which
illuminate and are gone but With intuuve
saracity he cut to the heart of every mea-
sure and realizing it, and stripping it OF
ex,rinsic appliances, he presented II 10 few
short, sharp, abrupt sentences. As states
man, it was not his excellence to elaborate
theories Of civic economy, or eXpound the
rudments Of government: but with ready
insight into the needs OF society, he apFrecla-
ted and administered the living principles
upon which each phase Of It resS and Is
| founded. The eminent feature IN General
Rusk's craftsmanship was its practlcabihty.
The mower OF his mind lay 10 the perfect
eouiIibrium Of all its forces. With equal
| facility he unwUund the threads OF de!u-
sion 18th which an opponent had encoiled
his subject, and presented the construction
! and accumulation Of proofs necessary to It's
/ eucidation.
/ Truth is ray shot from Divinity itself -
! lie who seeks it must seek II revcrent ard
| afraid: must seek it in the attitude ascrIbed
by the great epic poet Of England to the
/ brightest cherubim at the tOOtstool Of the
/ Omnipotent throne" who
Approach not but with both wings vail their eyes
Yet. when possessed, when reaiz d. he who
would apply it u human affairs without re-
| ference to the atmosphere OF modifying ell
cumstances, only mars and beuays 1t. Wise
s,atemanship consists in the judcious appli-
cation Of abstract truth to tue imperfect and
! progressive conditions Of humanity. 1t was
! this craftsmanship that made General Rusk a
/ representative man.
/ Bat his claim to our homage lies not alone
| in the pure and magnanimous victories OF
mind. His was genial and gentle spirit.
| One of bis last acts was ty secure few home
/ " comforts to his aged mother who yet lives
| upon her native soil in the Palmetto State.
/ OF this, however, need not speak; for how
many homes in the land OF his adoption have
been relieved OF want by the hand Of him now
pilowed and covered up in biz bed Of impeT-
! turbable slumbeI, Taken all in all, General
Rusk was one of the men who may be ever
regretted but never supplied. Ardent minds
like his keep their first enthusiasm, but pent
up like the central fires Of the earth. Gener,
Gus hearts like his give w tue affections OF
life but worship their memories in the inner
recesses of the shrine. How sad, too, the be,
reayemeut For il ever any man had aTght
he certainly had, not to consent to death. 1t
was d hard thing for him to fall in the midst
of the tgrch-race Of fame, with the light stlll
brightly burning; to iall when be had shaken
off the dust raised by his laggus competitor,
to fall when be bad shaken of the very wear
mess of the course and his hand was ust
] L., ,ho ppllap nd nj his