Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1861-08-01
IN MEMORY OF HON. S. A. DOUGLAS
BY non. JOHN ]. CRITTENDEN, OF KENTUCKY,
AND HON. S. s. cox OF OHIO.
Delivered in Congress, July 9, 1861 !

lls SlNl L IL ~ DbN Nll' NItuhtI
| have only few words to say. Anoth
er of the great men of our country ha
}. passed away. Since the last adjournmcn
e Of Congress, few months since, th
Honorable Senator DOUGLAS has fallei
into the grave. | do not stand here, sir
r in imagination by the side Of that grave
o to use the language Of flattery. | do no
rise, sir, for the purpose of -lavishini
praises to his memory. That will be
h long to the impartial history of his time
i When the history of this country shall b,
y written, recorded honors will cluste
around his name. Mr.. Speaker, the dcatl
= of Mr.. Douglas struck heavy blow or
the American heart and his memory is
embalmed in the heart ofhis countrymen
have witnessed few occasions, in the
I, course Of my life, when there has beer
any greater exhibition of public sorrow
Sir, was well acquainted with Mr.. Doug
las. We were kept apart for a long pc
riod Of time that we both served in the
national councils by our political differ
ences. But for the last four or five years
4 of Mr.. Douglas life we were associated
personally and politically, and | had an
opportunity OF becoming well acquainted
with the man and in all my intercourse
: Of an intimate character with him, while
we agreed in politics and acted together
found him to be an honorable and pat.
riotic man, dsntcrested and noble in his
patriotism, and ready to sacrifice his per-
sonal interests for the good Of his coun-
try. This / can testify from my know l.
edge of his character. He was an extra
ordinary and remarkable man. Not
/ favored by fortune in the earlier period
Of his life, belonging, as | understand, to
to the humble but worthy class of the
mechanic, he raised himself by his own
cXertions to the high position which he
occupied. 1t seemed to me that Mr.
Douglas mind expanded with his increas-
ing elevation and | know ofno man in
this country who is better entitled to the
| denomination Of statesman than was Mr..
| Douglas at the time of his death. lie
was honest, generous, patriotic in all his
actions and purposes. He was ambitious
but he sought to attain eminence by pub
lie services. There have been times when
| thought less iavorably Of him. But
my opportunities Of knowing him enabled
me to correct my error in regard to his
character and speak but what | truly
believe when bear testimony to his
worth. His mind expanded and i'm.
proved step by step as he advanced in
llie and his country sustained n great
loss in his death, at time like this, when
it is surrounded by peril and DISASTER
know OF no man who might have been
more useful in this crisis. There are few
who had so much of the confidence of hi,
country men, and who combined with il
such II capacity for controlling and lead
ing thcm Sir, as n friend, | mourn
him ; as an American citizen | mourn
him. And it is right that we should Civ,
this evidence here, OF our sympathy and
regret for his early death. lie was young
when he died but to the young, death i,
not always n calamity. In most inStanc
es, perhaps, it ought to philosophicSlly
; AS more OF blessing than the life which
is taken. He died young in the meridian
of his life, in his palmy days leaving
his country mourning, and the heart o
his agonizcd widow lillcd with nm incu
=, rablo sorrow. But, sir, there is n Powe
above us all, and | trust that that God
who tcnpers the wind to the shorn lamb
will take care OF the widow and the faith
- erlcSs
Mr. COX, Mr.. Speaker Ohio is no
separated from Kentucky, either in the
' estimate of Judge Douglas which has beer
so eloquently pronounced 10y the djstin
guished statesman Mr.. Crttcnden VIII,
has just taken his seat, or in the grie
which has been expressed for the prema
ture closing of his ilIustnous career
That career closed with the opening o
this eventlul summer. 1t ahoundcd in
friendships, services and ambitions, 1t
, ended while he was enjoying tumult o
universal acclaim, and when all felt tn,
need OF It's continuance. Labor paused
in its toll, bankers shut their offices and
merchants their stores, lawyers and Judge,
al iourned their courts, ministers added
new lervor to prayer, partHanS united in
} hushcd regret, and soldiers drapcd the FLAG
in Grape, to bear their part in tho great
grief of tho nation, lie died in tho mids
OF the people who had honored him for +
generation in the city whose growth haC
''Nh IvH'ulbb bN no NlHHduNN III tl'
d State whose pralries were familiar 10 hi,
eye from earliest manhood and in tha
great Northwest, whose commercial, ag
ricultural, physical and imperial grcatneN,
was the pride of his heart and the typ,
of his own character here was il
him quick maturity of growth, n icwil
ity of resource and sturdiness of energy
which made hls life the microcosm of that
great section with which he was so close
ly Unidentified,
That mind which had few equals and
that will which had no conqueror, sav,
in the grave, were at lust wrung from hi'
iron frame, 1t is hard to believe that he
lies pulsclcss in his scpulcher at Cottag,
Grove. 1t is sad to feel that the summer
winds whl,h wave the grass and flowers
OF his loved prairies, has, in its low wall.
an elegy to the departed statesman. -
Well might the waters of the lake. lust
before his death, as if prcmonitory OF
some groat sacrifice, swell in mysterious
emotion, These poor pancgyrics, from
manuscript and memory, tail to express
the loss which those feel who knew him
best. One would wish for the eloqud1'e
of Bossuet. or the muse of Spenser OF
Iennyson, to tell, in the poetry of sor-
ro,y tha in6nita woo which wonll wrao