The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1859-10-14

CITIZENS or CALIroaNrA A Senator hes
dead In our midst He ia wrapped IN .
bloody shroud, and We, TO whom his tolls ana
cares were given, are about to bear him TO
the place appointed for oil the living. u 10
not iit that snch man should pass 10 the
tomb unheraldcd; II is not fit that such = life
should steal unnoticed to its close; it IL not
| AZ that such death should call forth no re-
buke. or be surrounded by no public lament
| alton. II is this conviction which impels Nhe
gathering Of this assemblage. We are here
Of every station and pursuit, OF every creed
and character, each in his capacity Of citi-
zen, to swell the mournful tribute which the
majesty Of the people offers to the unreplying
dead. He lies to-day surrounded with little
Of funeral psmp. No banners droop above
the bier, no melancholy music floats upon the
reluctant air. The hopes Of high hearted
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 endured the defeat. Near him are the
gravest and noblest OF the State, possessed
by grief at once earnest and sincere while
beyond, the masses Of the people that he
loved, and Tor whom his life was given, gath
or like thunder cloud Of swelling and indig-
nant grief.
In such presence, fellow citizens, let us
linger for moment at the portals Of the
tomb, whose shadowy arches vibrate to the
public heart, to speak few words Of the
man, Of his life, and Of his death.
Mr.. Brodsrick was born in the District Of
Columbia in 1919; he was Of Irish descent
and of obscure and respectable parentage; be
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summoned to his aid complete and flashed
education. His boyhood, as indeed his early
manhood, was passed in the city OF New
lated him to the efforts which maintained hia
also to FIX and form his character even in his
boyhood. His love for his mother was his
first and most distinctive trait Of character,
and when his brother died an early and sud
den death, the shock gave q serious and re-
Hective 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 aDbition-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 poverty and
obscurity, and his ambition impelled him to
seek foremost place ia the great race for
honorable power.
Up to the time OF his arrival in California
his life had been passed amid events incident
to such character. Fearless, self-reliant,
open in his enmities, warm In his friendships,
welded to his opinions, and marching d.
rectly to his purpose through and over all
opposition, his career was chequered with
success and defeat. But even in his defeat
his energies were strengthened and his char
acter developed. When he reached these
shores, his keen observation taught him at
once that he trod broad field and that
higher career was before him. He had no
false pride-sprung from people and of q
race whose vocation was labor, he toiled with
his own hands, and spraDg at q bound from
the workshop to the legislative hall. From
that hour there congregated around him and
against him the elements Of success and de-
feat. Strong friendships, bitter enmities,
high praise, malignant calumnies-but he
trod with free and proud step that onward
path which has led him to glory and the
grave.
Fellow citizens, the man that lies before
you was your Senator. From the moment OF
his election, his character has been maligned,
his motives attacked, his courage impeached,
his patriotism assaulted. 1t has been q sys-
tenn tending to one end. And the end is here.
What was his crime? Review his history
consider his public acts--weigh his private
character before the grave encloses him
forever, judge between him and his enemies.
As a man to be judged in his private rela-
tons, who was his superior? II was bis
boast, and amid the general license of a new
country, was proud one, that bis most
scrutinzng enemy could fix no single act of
immortality upon him. Temperate, decorous,
self-restrained, he had passed through all the
excitements of California unstained. No
man could charge him with broken faith or
violated trust. OF habits simple and mex
pensive, he had no lust Of gain. He over
reached no mans weakness in bargain, and
withheld no man HE just dues. Never in
the history OF the State has there been . citi-
zen who has borne public relations more
stainless in ell respects than be.
But il il not by this standard that he 10 to
De judged. lie was public man, and his
memory demands public judgment. What
WAS his public crime? The answer ia in his
own words: "THEY HAVE KILLED Nh BECAUSE
WAS OPPOSED TO THE EXTENSION or SLAVERY
AND A coKRUPT ADxINisrRArIoH.n Fellow.
oitisens, they are remarkable words, uttered
at very remarkable moment; they involve
the history Of his Senatorial career, and Of
its sad and bloody termination.
When Mr.. Broderick entered the Senate.
be had been elected at the beginning Of 4
Presidential torn as friend OF the President
elect, having undoubtedly been one Of his
most influential supporters. There we're I'M
questionably some things in the exercise Of
the appointing power which he could have
wished otherwise; but he had every reason
to remain with the Administration which
could be supposed to weigh with man in his
position. He had heartily maintained the
doctrine Of Popular Sovereignty o. set forth
in the Cincinnati Platform, and he never
wavered in its support to the day Of his death.
But when, in bis judgment, the President be.
trayed bis obligations to the party and tho
country-whsn, In the whole series of acts
10 relation to kansas, he proved reoreant to
bis pledges and his INSTRUCT ns--when the
WhnlA nnHAr NJ tia Admin;sxraA;n~ -