The Portland daily press., 1869-12-16

In the U. S. Senate on Tuesday the death
of Senator Fessenden was announced by SEN
ator Morrill, of Maine, who spoke as follows
Mr.. President, One who atyour adjourn
ment in July had in this chamber become
a familiar presence-a pervading influence
comes not again at your re-assembling in
December. The dull toll of far-off bells,
the visible emblems of mourning, public
and private, have spoken of bereavement,
and touch our hearts with deepest sensi-
bllity. These swiftly repeating vicissi-
tudes in the personal deStinies of those
associated here; a consciousness of the
numbers of the wise, the patriotic, the
trusted, who of late have departed hence
who come no more to these councils
oppress as with the weight of common
misfortune; and now new absence at the
roll call to earthly duty inflicts q fresh
pang of regret.
A great public sorrow aff1icts the people
OF my native State, a sense of bereavement
the nation. In especial sympathy with the
common misfortune the Senate .pauses to
pay its tribute of respect to its eminent
dead, the marked lineaments of whose
form and character are vivid. still in the
| memory, who, so lately, stood here in his
high office, in the prominence of native
gifts, and of a rich and varied experience,
challenging the respect, the confidence,
and the admiration of his countrymen.
On the eighth day of September last,
alter career 'r kle-elili.lellC IN PROFESSIONAL
anu Puoiio iilo oIsinninS %i'h MS earliest
hahhoou, anu having oeeH constantly
associatep Mitn .ne courts, anu oilcialiy
!l we puplic oou.'ciss ol 'ne oiate anu ma
full possession of his intellectual faculties,
| William Pitt Fessenden was called aWaV
lioii @ .ne no0nes Va eai VI. Ihe Puolic
career OF Mr. fessenaen was not IN any
sense proolelnallcai, anu IN tiiis presence
aMiiliess !? ~ conslaelao ; poition oi IT.
anu III s ns JusI J. prohi'nenoo ~ lhli'laIely
ass 49,. ~; Li.. W" vi ouI
i, lione ieIeno iils'oiy alaiysis ~ IL wouiu
see,i W ~ ~ n1o oth "nio p'oPelIy
" 0.eol ,' ,anu. 1nu o."ol oeoaeiohe IL may
oH aea. aueeie"iIy ti " poaatay 'eose niatHeu
an eiee h; ~ uie o,iao w,l 49, ironl WHICH
spi Hs narS .a pofo Of oetinitv 1,oro 1;,;dod h
tween 5nhlic and nrofessional & IiS1u Ifa ~ the e
latter of which. in early wears. he conse.
| Grated himself with sinoular fidelity. his
nassionate fondness for If remo;n.
inc long after the exicences of tbe nublic
service had severed ali nractical connection
with If. While the former was NOT wholly
uninterrupted and exclusive. il was sniff
cientlv continuous and devoted for contact
| connection and familiarity with tbe nolitirs
| and nuhlic events of the dav Epter;n~
| the LEGISLATURE of his State af twentv.six
he was returned at short intervals was
early a member of Congress, again in the
Legislature, then advancing to this body,
then, briefly, Minister of State, and finally
again in the Senate, where it may not un-
| fitly be said, his service was continuous
| from its first beoinnino to its anal close
| u;o-oo,I, 49, - a. I;,t
| his State was noticeable for the concession
of the party in power to his elo-
quence and requirements, of positions of
distinction and influence, which. bv usage.
belonged to political friends. to riper wears
| and larger experience. On his entrance
into the National House of Representa-
| tives, himself among the Youngest of its
members, he at once participated in the
| important debates of that body. attracting
notice as a graceful orator and skillful de-
| bater. and for the comprehension and ma
turity of his opinions.
| His pre-eminent pubIic career dates.
strictly from his entrance into this body in
1854, as from this time he gave himself
| exclusively to his public duties. Simulta-
neously with his advent to the Senate
arose, in Congress, that class of public
| questions which were calculated TO test
| the temper of his affections, the tenacity
of his opinions. and the steadiness of his
purpose. Kansas-Neb the stalking
horse of slavery. which. under an affecta.
tion of detendino the CONSTITUTION. was to
conceal the ouiltv purpose of subversion
| of democratic renublican institutions. af.
forded an opportunity for the exhibition
of those powers of ANALYSIS, logic and in
yective. which have rarely been surpassed
| in any legislative body, Here was auda-
cious MISREPRESENTATION hint to overt
treason which was to follow; here were
the first mutterlngs of the storm that was
to burst upon the nation amid the convul-
sions of civil war. This audacious spirit
of bad faith, usurpation and oppression.
| leading an assault upon popular rights,
| could not fail to provoke the intensest
| hostility in one, the very elements of whose
| of infidelity and cruelty. The effect here
| of his memorable speech on that occasion
| was electric, and contributed, it may not
| be doubted, to swell the tide of popular
| indignation and resolution of the great ma
| tional uprising OF 1896, followed in after
years by memorable deeds in arms.
Not aggressive in spirit, not an advanced
| radical reformer even, whatever may be
said OF his constitutions! conservatism, he
was, by the native simplicity OF his tastes,
| MS education ana haoits OF rIe, ana, better
| stili, Dy MS ehllgnteneo sense OF lustlce
| ana hatred OF wrong, Always tne aoie ana
| ieafiess auVocate ol civil anu rehsious
| liberty. hepuuiical INSTITUTIONS hau no
truer cohsefVator anu oppression no more
| determined ana uhcOmpromlslnS Opi onent
| than william Flu FesSenden. FROM this