The Jeffersonian Democrat. [volume] (Chardon, Ohio) 1854-1865, 1863-01-30

1
Senator Pearce, of Maryland, Dehv.
cred in the House Of Repre- sentatives,
Jan 18th, 1858.
Mr.. RlDDLE. Mr.. Speaker, Il may be
said that the touch OF death dissolves The
form and figure with which man, in arti-
iicial life, is clothed, and reduces him 10
bis bare, essential self; strips him 10 his un-
| clothed individuality, so that for once, be
is estimated fr what he is disconnected
from all that ever periained 10 him. IL
matters nothing where the journey began;
on what mountain or in what valley !;
nothing at all through what regions his
pathway conducted him, and still less
what lie gathered or scattered by the way;
J he lies down at the end, emply-handed,
naked aud alcne, the type Of all the living.
and the peer Of all the dead. II avails (
nothing how he was estimated in life
through what mists he was seen how
lauded or how deserted I; the simple man
lies before you now, and the unaided soul
} inslinciively estimates him at his value
D an awful and inevitable ordeal. What a
t grand monarch is death /; and how his
subjects are hallowed and elevated by the
J touch OF his scepter. What lines Of soft
: cred beauty it traces upon cbangeless
I faces, while the angels Of Charity hide
. with their wings the harsh lneaments, and
r vail the unlovable memories. And how,
: too, the living are changed, as they rev.
i erently erter his silent court. Folly and
Q pride, passion, ambition and its needs,
hate and its prejudices, die within us, and
, leave justice, truth and mercy to speak !;
; and so the dead living contemplate the
b living dead. And so como l, the living
descendant of the Puritan Pilgrims, into
the presence Of the dead descendant Of the
Cavaliers,t TO speak, II may, fitting word
over him. Springiug from these antipo-
6al sources, educated in opposite schools
7 OF politics that had come TO be intolerant,
q and coming from sections that had grown
N into hostility with the disparity Of years,
10 and neither disposed to lay aside the mer-
cs tai habits OF a lifetime, the incidents Of
8, this queer congressional lie threw the de.
TO parted and myself, for many months, TO.
IN gether. That intercourse taught me, a,
!. least, how much OF political hatreds and
i. enmities, Of party strifes that shake con.
in tinent, and of sectional snimosity thai
10 theatens TO dismember it, are due TO the
ch prejudice that cannot see, the Ignorance
nc that will not know, aud the bigotry tha
n does not allow for differences in education
: habits Of thought, and all the surrounding
~ ~ that impregnate the atmosphere OF social
10 life, moral training and political sentiment
,. also came 10 know that true nobleness
in of soul, purity of heart, elevation of senti-
90 nnent, and the refined cultivation Of the
arI al. 1f 81 ot,,wo
Sc; might find their amplest home in phas'
on OF our civilization, not, as / supposed, ia
-, - vorable to their growth; showing, at lesat
of the native richness Of the nature in whicl
nd they grow. II l sometimes fancied tha
.ir some one of these qualities found express
RS, ion in an unyonted way, incident to
n warm and generous temper, knew that
= "Like sunshine broken in ri,
on Though gone astray, twas sunshine STILL"
go Ofthe Senator may not speak. The
10 representatives of the States, his peers, hi
-, brothers, friends and rivals, ,circllng round
/ an empty chair, have done that fitingly hnC
ue well; willie the representatives Of the peo
pie on this floor, have added more thai
needful TO his chapet as statesman ant
a jurist. Lifelong friends, whose elo
quence was made touching by individur
sorrow, have receunted a career long IA
oil mliar 10 the country; enumerated hi
'o' high qualities; have shown us a crowne
,d sovereign State mourning for her dead, AN
nd pointing US 10 that speechless circle which
berelt Of its sun and center, sits in a dark
i'd ened sorrow, that makes it sacred fror
m our gaze. l speak only the impression
&C. which many months Of daily association
i, with him produced His was high, al
.ne dent, impulsive nature, enlarged and gen
uro un' erous, to which an early and thoroug
in in culture had opened out its thousand ave
Of nues for exercise and development. !
ty, mind vigorous and enriched with libera
as studies, an imagination stored with ID
ny pictured dreams of old romance, and th
quick, subtle and appreeiative power G
ny detecting the oft unseen lines of beauty il
~ art or nature, it was his fortune to hav
,en spent his life on this great focal stage c
the nation, and to have daily lived an
md breathed, to have been part and ard par
Ind eel of the momentous times and things
tes; which other men only hear and read.
attempt no analysis of the influences, 9
'',l 10 their effects upon the character Of publ
no men, incident TO the unnatural and stin
in. ulating official life in this capital, strang
in. and striking as they appear to eyes fir
ith admitted to the charmed circle. Mo
ich mon are metamorphosed by them.
II was the fortune of the departed Sci
'dy ator to have mixed and mingled in thes
'nu scenes for 81 years; to have been th
peer and familiar associate OF Presiden
9th 9th and Senators, Cabinet ministers, and roy
nco ambassadors to have been the hattere
nds companion of the great men, and the va
are ued acquaintance of the noble and beau
tilul women that have crowded the boarc
av- in the great, strange, and varied nations
TO- drama ever being enacted, and upon whic
,ow the curtain never descends, at this capita
And yet, TO me, he seemed 10 have pre-
lion served the original elements Of his natu
in their primal strength. There was q
this same generous impulse; the same ligh
ON, ing up of the face at the mention of n
ably BILE act the quick sympathy with mi
fortune; the word OF commiseration {
-. the deserving and the whitening deuu
',ths ,hss citation and sarcasm for everything me