The Morgantown monitor. [volume] (Morgantown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1863-1864, 1864-01-23

swer for Strengthening Monarchal
Governments, out don't think them
fitting for a Republican or Free
Government.
DANIEL RAYMOND.
Death of Hon. Lemuel j. BoWden,
US. Senator from Eastern Va.
Resolutions and Remarks OF Senators
Garlic and Wiley, in the Senate.
Mr.. CARL1LE rose and said: Mr..
President, during the recess, death
has made vacant the seat beside me.
Lemuel J. Bowden, my colleague in
this body, died in this city, on Satur-
day, the I'd instant. Mr.. Bowden
resided in the extreme eastern part
of our State, several hundred miles
from me, and with his early life |
am entirely unacquainted. | first
met him in 1851, as member OF
the convention that formed the
present constitution of our State. In
that body he early took rank among
its readiest and ablest debaters. -
Residing in a section of the State
where the people were almost unit
in favor of secession, he never falter-
ed in his devotion to the Union. lie
was an able lawyer, an accomplished
gentleman, sincere patriot, and an
honest man. l move the adoption
of the following resolutions:
The Senate having received the sad intelligence
that (during the recess of the two Houses of Con-
grcss the Hon. Lemuel J. Bowden, Senator Of
the u. S. from the State of Virginia, departed
this life in the city of Warrington, on Saturday,
the I'd instant, and also that the funeral was
! conducted under the arrangementotthec committee
appointed for that purpose by the Vice President
and carried out by the Sergeant-at-Arms OF the
Senate: Therefore,
Resolved, That the Senate, in order to testify
their respect for the memory of the bon. Lemuel
]. Bowden, late q Senator of the U. 5. from the
State of Virginia, will wear the usual badge OF
mourning for the space Of thirty days.
Rssolrea, That as an additional mark of re-
spect for the memory of the deceased, the Senate
do now adjourn.
Mr.. WILEY. Mr. President al
though my acquaintance with Mr..
Bowden was not very intimate, yet
it was sufficient to justify me in say
ing that the Senate and the country
have cause to regret his demise. He
was, l understand, about fifty-two
years of age at the time Of his death.
He was an eminent lawyer. Perhaps
there we're none more so in lower
Virginia. He had served two or three
sessions as a delegate to the General
Assembly Of Virginia, acquittlng
himself honorably and with benefit
to the State. | first became acquaint-
ed with him in 1851, during the
session of the constitutional conven-
ton of Virginia, of which he was a
member. Thequestion which absor-
bed the special attention of that body
was the basis of representation in the
two houses of the General Assembly
The people of the western part of the
State insisted that representation
should be apportioned according to
white population, or the right OF
suffrage. The people of the eastern
section Of the Commonwealth de-
manded that it should be apportioned
according to population and property
or taxation. Mr.. Bowden was one
of the very few members of the con-
vcntion residing east Of the Blue
Ridge who espoused the principle of
the right fsuffrage as the true source
of the Legislative powe of the State,
and planted himself firmly on "the
white basis" and he was nebly sus-
tanned by his constituents. l am
happy to-day, Mr.. President, to be
made the organ through whom the
people l represent on this floor &C
knowledge the debt of gratitude
which they owe to the deceased for
the disinterested and distinguished
services which he rendered to them
on that occasion. West Virginia
will ever cherish his memory.
But the frmness with which Mr..
Bowden always adhered to his con-
victions of what was right hasreceived
more recent and more signal Illustra-
ton during the present melancholy
rebellion. He resisted the principle
and policy of secession from first to
last. Residing in a section of the
State where this fallacy was most
rampant, he kept himself free from
all faint of disloyalty. Surrounded
by the most illustrious champions of
those delusive ideas ofStatesupremacy
over national allegiance, always so
predominant, and now so fatally dis
astrous in Virginia, he maintained
his integrity untarnished, and at
the risk of his life, never forfeited
either his self-respect or his fealty to
the National Government. When
the authorities of the insnrrectionary
organization at Richmond seized his
property for the payment of taxes,
he paid the taxes to save his property
from sacrifice, but not until the col
lector had given him a certificate
ilI IL . ,,r,oonf r,oo p,oSo nm or