The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1866-01-03


cord, concede to him the possession, in an
eminent degree, of what Cicero commends
as the Joni Senator's prudentia-the ''wis-
dom Of good Senator"
It's no less our duty, Mr.. President,
than it is our grateful privilege, in the
midst of this sorrow, in this high place,
and in the presence Of the American peo-
ple-if ! may borrow the language of
another on like occasion--to pay the
tribute of our recognition of the national
loss, in the removal of those to whom we
have been accustomed to look, especially
in times of doubt and difficulty, for drec
ton and for counsel. Such loss is the
more deeply felt, occurring at period
like the present, when questions novel aud
OF paramount importance, growing out of
n new and changed condition of public
affairs, are to he considered and deter
neutrality-suspicious. vital TO the best inter-
css of the country, and involving the
highest welfare, and even the very ntcg-
rity and faith of the Government. The
national heart has been laden with mourn
ing and grief at the loss of many gallant
and noble and patriotic sons ofthe Repub-
lic--numbering in its list of the mighty
dead the chosen Chief Magistrate of your
country-during this passing year now
drawing to its close, TO whom we were
all looking for counsel and for guidance in
these times of perplexity and trial. In
the midst of these great bereavments, we
have only to bow in humble submission
to the will of Him who chastiseth mot
willingly" and who edoeth all things
we'll" 1t is only left to us to cherish the
memories of the good and great who have
been taken from US, to imbibe the spirit
OF their teachings, and TO follow on, so
far forth as we may do it, in the light of
their examples.
Like most of the distinguished men Of
our time, and especially of our country
like most of those who have risen to the
high places of power and trust, like most
OF the men who stand at the head of af-
fairs in the various departments of life,
whether political, professional, literary.
commercial, or other pursuit. like most
OF the men who in our day and country
have made their impress upon society,
and who have written their own history
upon the times IN which they ived-like
these men Jacob Collamer was emphati-
cally the author and the arbter of his
own fortunes. He owed nothing at all
to the factitious aids or the accidental
circumstances of birth or fortune or fam
ilv patronage. Under God, he made his
own fame and his own fortunes. With
his own hands he cleared TIE rugged
pathway which led him up to the entrance
door OF the temple of honor and renown.
lie made his own good name, and made
1t known and honorable among men.
With the advantage of gifted mind, and
with n resoute purpose to fulfil the great
end OF his being-the service of God and
his country by application and industry,
by energy and perseverance, and an hon
est and an honorable life of well-doing.
he formed his own character and won
his own distinction, and left it as a rich
Inheritance to his children, and as an ex-
ample to those who snail come up after
him.
Other and like examples abound through
all our history. So did Daniel Webster,
in whom the son of an humble Salisbury
farmer among the granite hills of New
Hampshire becomes in after years, and
by popular appelation, The "great ex-
FOUNDER of the American Constitution :"
the great American Senator; the qreat
american Statesman, who stands by the
common recognition of mankind, as the
intellectual monarch of the age. So did
Abraham Lincoln - cIdrun nomea-the
poor Kentucky boys the martyr President
who, under God, had saved country
and redeemed race the martyr Presi-
dent, who having saved his country from
the great rebellion of all history, and re-
deemed race from the bondage of CEN
turtles, falling by the assassin hand of
treason, went down to the grave amid a
nations tears and amid the requiem of a
nations wailing, yet bearing with him to
the tomb more of the worlds affections,
more OF its sympathies, and more of its
honors too, than were ever accorded TO
other man, or prince, or potentate o.
earth; and whose highest eulogism is
spoken in the universal lamentation.-
And sol beg pardon, if in the least
offend against the proprieiies of this oc-
casion, or of this presence so did Andrew
the humble mechanic from the mountains
of North Carolina, who now, by the will
of the American people, and by provi-
dental dspensaliun, wields the power and
challenges the homage of the first magis-
trate of the nation, and on whose will or
word to-day, more than Of other living
man, hang the destinies OF this American
Republic. These are great examples.
These are ilustrious examples. Our his
tory is full OF them. They are as beacon
lights along the dim and crowded path
way of human life. They are for in
struction, for guidance, for encouragement,
for inspiration to the rising and the COM
ing generation of American youth.
" Tho fame which a man wins for himself Is best
That he may call Ills own"
Jacob Collamer was endowed with a
rare combination of intellectual and moral
qualities of high order; a capacous
mind, at once active, clear and discrimih-
ating-a mind, too, in which the analytic
powers and the reflective faculties were
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