The Portland daily press., 1869-12-17


takea in this, for all unite in other declala-
tions, and the feeling I had must have been
only caused by that atmosphere which the
necessity of protection against stran gers and
bores, flung around him.
Intellectually his lack seems to have been
want of Imagination and a scorn of the weak
ness, as he would have probably termed it, Of
passion, emotion and sentiment. After all, i'm
agnation is the one touch of Promethean fire
which was lacking. With it he would have
been among the greatest. Without il, he fell
short of his splendid opportunities, not
seeming to be incompetent to cope with them,
but unwilling to try the wrestle. Jacobs bat
tie with the angel would not have been covet-
ed by him. SPECTATOR.
MIR. sumuer's Eulogy ON Senator Fes-
senden.
A seat in this Chamber is vacant. But this
is very inadequate expression for the present
occasion. Much more than a seat is vacant
There is a void difficult to measure, as it will
be difficult to fill. Always eminent from the
beginning, Mr.. Fessenden during these later
years became so large a part OF the Senate
body. His guiding judgment, his ready pow
er, his presence so conspicuous in debate, are
gone, taking away from this Chamber that
identity which it received SO largely from him.
OF all the present Senate one only besides
myself witnessed his entry into this Cham
ber. cannot forget it. He came in the
midst of that terrible debate on the Kansas
and Nebraska bill by which the country was
convulsed to its centre, and his arrival had the
nok - lpr Gnll 80 Lot4
Those who stood for Freedom then were few
in numbers-not more than fourteen, while
thirty-seven Senators in solid column voted to
break the faith originally rlighted to Free
dom and to overturn a time-honored land
mark, opening that vast Mesopotamian
region to the GU Sc of slavery. Those
anxious days are with difficulty COM
pretended by a Senate where Freedom
rules. One more in our small number was a
sensible addition. We were no longer IA, but
Is. His reputation at the bar, and his fame
in the other House gave assurance which was
promptly sustained. He did not wait. but at
once entered into the debate with all those
resources which atterward became so famous.
The scene that ensued exhibited his readi-
ness and courage. While saying that the
people of the North were fatigued with the
threat of disunion-that they considered it a.
mere noise and nothing else, he was inter-
rupted by Mr.. Butler of South Carolina, al
ways ready to speak for slavery, exclaiming
''lf such sentiments as yours prevail want
a dissolution right away,p-a characteristic
intrusion doubly out of order-to which the
newcomer rejoined, do not delay it on nv
account; do not delay it on account of any
body at the North" The effect was electric;
but this incident was not alone. Douglas,
Cass and Butler interrupted only to be worst
ed by one who had just ridden into the lists.
The feelings of the other side were expressed
by the Senator from South Carolina, who,
after one of the flashes of debate which he
had provoked, exclaimed: Every well; go
on; have no hope of you." All this will be
found in the Globe, precisely as give it, but
the Globe could not picture the exciting scene
the Senator from Maine erect, firm, i'm
movable as jutting promontory against
which the waves of ocean tossed in dissolv-
ing spray. There he Stood Not Senator,
loving freedom, who did not feel ON that day
that champion had come.
This scene, so brilliant in character, illus
trated Mr.. Fessenden's long career in the
Senate. All present were moved, while tn ose
at distance were less affected. His speech,
which was argumentative, direct and pungent,
exerted more influence on those who heard it
than on those who read it, vindicating his
place as debater rather than orator. This
place he held to the end without superior
without a peer. Nobody could match him
in immediate and incsive reply. His words
were swift and sharp as cimeter, or borrow
ing an illustration from an opposite quarter,
he "shot flying" and with unerring aim. But
while this great talent secured for him always
the best honors of debate, it was less impor-
tant for the country, which except in rare in
stances, is more impressed by ideas and by
| those forms in which truth is manifest.
The Senate has changed from its original
character, when, shortly after the formation
| of the national government, a Nova Scotia pa
| per, while declaring that the habits of the
| people here are very favorable to oratory,
could say: "There is but one assembly in the
whole range of the Federal Union in which
oratory is deemed unnecessary, and, believe
even absurd and obtrusive; to wit, the Senate
| or upper House OF Congress. They are mere
| ly a deliberate meeting, in which every man
delivers his concise opinion, one leg over the
other, as they did in the First Congress
when an harangue was great rarity. Unit
edj States Gazette, Philadelphia, lDec. 81
| 1881 Speech was, then, for business and
immediate effect in the Chamber. Since ther
the transformation has preceded-speech be
coming constantly more important unit
now, without neglect of business, the Senat
has become centre from which to addres
the country. A seat here is lofty pulpi
with a mighty sounding-board, and the Who'll
widespread people is the congregation.
| As Mr.. FeSsenden rarely spoke except fo
business, what he said was restrained in il
influence, but it was most effective in thi
Chamber Here was his empire and his un
disputed throne. OF perfect integrity an
austerest virtue, he was inaccessible to thos
temptations which in various forms beset th
avenues of public life. Most faithfully ant
constantly did he watch the interests intrust
/ od To ba IVA n mn1pI. HOllInl
the position of Chairman of the Finance Com
mittee, while it yet had those double duties
which are now divided between two impor-
tant committees, he became the guardian o.
the National Treasury, both jn3 its receipts
and in its expenditures, so that nothing was
added to il or taken from It with ms knoWl
! edge. and how truly he discharged this i'm
| mense trust all will attest. Nothing could
| leave the Treasury without showing a
| passport. This service was the moIe momen.
tous from the magnitude of the transactions
involved, for it was during the whole period
| of the war, when appropriations responded to
loans and taxes-all being on scale be
yond precedent in the worlds history. On
these questions, sometimes SO sensitive and
difficult and always SO grave, MS influence
was beyond that of any other Senator and
| constantly swayed the Senate, All that our
| best generals were in arms he was in the f.
| nancal field.
| Absorbed in his great duties and confined
| too much by the training OF his profession, he
forgot sometimes that championship which
shone so brightly when he first entered the
Senate. Ill health came with its disturbing
| influence, and without any of the nature Of
Hamlet, his conduct at times suggested those
| words by which Hamlet pictures the short
comings of life:
| And thus the native hue of resolution
| Is sicklied Ger with the pale cast Of thought,
| And enterprises of great pith and moment,
With this regard, their currents turn awry,
| And lose the name OF action.
Men are tempted by the talent which they
possess, and he could not resist the impulse tS
employ, sometimes out of place, those extra
ordinary powers which he commanded Sc
easily. More penetrating than grasping, he