The Nevada journal., 1859-09-30
tteuada County @firial press.
FRIDAY MORNING, Sept. 80, 1859.
Grafton by Col. e. ID. Baker.
ON THE DEATH OF
DAVID C.. BRODEkhCA

~ whom his tolls and cares were CIV
en-. are about to bear him to the place
annointed for all the living. 1t is not
fit that such man should pass to the
tomb unheralded ; it is not fit that
such life should steal unnoticed to
its close it is not fit that such death
should call forth no rebuke or be surs
rounded by no public lamentation. Its
this conviction which impels the gath
ering of this assemblage. We are here
of every station and pursuit. of every
creed aud character, each in his ca
pacity of citizen, to swell the mourn
full tribute which the majesty of the
people offers to the unreplyins dead.
He lies to-day surrounded by little of
funeral pomp. No banners droop
above the bier, no melancholy music
floats upon the reluctant air. The
hopes of high-hcarted friends droop
like fading flowers upon his breast,
and the struggling sigh compels the
tear in eyes that seldom weep
Around him are those who have known
him best and loved him longest; who
have shared the triumph, and endur-
ed the defeat. Near him are the
gravest and noblest OF the State, poss-
essed by a grief at once earnest and
sincere; while beyond, the masses
of the people that he loved. and for
whom his life was given. gather like
a thunder-cloud of swelling and in~
dignant grief.
In such presence, fellow citizens.
let us linger for a moment at the Por-
tails of the tomb. whose shadowy arch
es vibrate to the public heart, to
speak few brief words of the mar,
of his life, and of his death.
Mr.. Broderick was born in the Dis
trict of Columbia. in 1919; he was of
Irish descent and of obscure and re-
spectacle parentage; he had little of
early advantages, and never summon
ed to his aid complete and finished
education. His bcyhood, as indeed
his early manhood, was passed in the
CITY of New York, and the loss of his
father, early stimulated him to the
efforts which maintained his surviving
mother and brother, and served also
to fix and form his character even in
his boyhoo1. His love for his mother
was his first and most distinctive trait
of character. and when his brother
died; an early and sudden death-the
shock gave a serious and reflective
cast to his habits and his thoughts,
which marked them to the last hour
of his life. He was always filled with
pride, and energy and ambition his
pride was in the manliness and force
of his character. and no man had more
reason. His energy was manifest in
the most resolute struggles with pow
erty and obscurity, and his ambition
impe!led him too seek foremost place
in The great race for honorable power
Up 10 the time of his arrivafin Cal
ifornia his life has been passed amid
events incident to such character,
Fearless. self-reliant, open in his en-
mites, warm in his friendships. wed
ded to his opinions, and marching di.
rectly to his purpose through and ovel
all opposition, his career was chequer
ed with success and defeat. But
even in defeat his energies were
strengthened and character develop
ed. When he reached these shores
his keen observation taught him al
once that he trod broad field and
that higher career was before him
He had no false plide-sprung from
people and of race whose voca-
ton was labor, he toiled with his own
hands, and sprang at bound from
tie workshop to the legislative hall
From that hour there congregated
around him and against him the ele-
ments of success and defeat. Strong
friendships. bitter enmities, high
praise, malignant caiumnles-but he
trod with free and proud step that
onward path which has led him to
glory and the grave.
1t would be idle for me at this hour
and in this place to speak of all that
history with unmitigated praise it
will be idle for his enemies hereafter
to deny his claim t. noble virtues and
high purposes. When in the Legis-
lature he boldly denounced the spec
ial legislation which is the curse of a
new country, he proved his courage
and his rectitude. When he opposed
the various and sometimes successful
schemes to strike out the salutary
provisions of the Constitution which
guarded free labor, he was true to all
the betterinstincts Of his life. When
prompted by his ambition and the
admiration of his friends he first
sought seat in the Senate of the
United States. be sought the highest
of all positions by legitimate effort,
and filled with honor.
1t is my duty to say that, in my
judgment when at later period he
sought to anticipate the Senatorial
election, he committed an error which
/ think he lived to regret. 1t would
have been a violation of the true
principle of representative govern