Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1870-09-24
IN MEMoRIAM.
Duncan K. McRse's EuIOgIIn Upon Edwin
/. HamIlas

=
Much of the effect Of the following speech.
delivered yesterday In tbs Federal Court
room, is lost because the iiaimitsble grace.
fulness and ease, and nsturalness of thi
speaker cannot be reproduced In tht
newspapers. Colonel MclRse said:
May IL Please YoRr Honor-If Thu
gentlemen of the bar ave hnishetI
the business of the morning, 1 will avail
myself of your Honor's permission to
bring to the attention Of the court q mar
ter of which I gave notice On yesterday.
A Jew weeks since this whole com:
mnnity, and especially the members OF
the legal profession, were greatly shocked
and appalled, by the sudden death Of an
estimable and valued brother, Ed. L.
Hamlin. A meeting of the bar, nnEner
ously attended, and composed OF it's best
material, was held to take into considers
ton the death of our companion. A pre-
Rmble and resolutions were adopted,
which 1 have been charged TO present to
this honorable court. 4
Perhaps your Honor is not aware, blu
the occasions OF death in our professional
circle within the past few years have been
frequent and disprop0rtionate, and @ery
often has the dread come with
sudden surprise TO those eminently dis
tinguished for merit and excellence.
On all these occasions we have been
GAlt60 IN n kDlFlE OF huCGLtOndlc DEObud4-
hood to give expression to our respect for
the departed, and our sympathy with the
bereaved. 1t is not the haiti of the pro
fsssion to indulge in oVerweening utter
ances Of poignant grief. Our noble pro-
fession teaches in its maxims and in its
practice ths essential lessons Of the phi
iosophy of life, and those who follow It's
teachings with loyal fidelity will assured-
ly be aided how to die with manly forth
nd &c olao how N haar the lnaQ Of thOea
most cherished with resignation and dig
nifty, for the law is the hsndmsid of re-
IiEion, which, in the supreme moment, is
the Divine supporter of us all.
But in the utterances which we do use
we mean to be sincere. The condolences
which we offer we declare TO be heartfelt,
and the relations which we purpose to es-
tablish with the living representatives of
those whom we are called to mourn are
intended to be those of an abiding q
affec.ionate sympathy, for w0c claim that
every brotherhood is a union of honor
and truth, contaminated at the altar of
Justice by the ministration of law; and
we believe that this union results every
where in the conservation OF b rights
and the advancement of the interests of
communities and governments and peo-
pies.
It ought therefore to be held as a most
valuable testimonial to worth and merit,
TO be rendered only when deserved, and
to be cherished when rendered, by the
united brotherhood of the profession.
Il is doubtless within the knowledge OF
your Honor, that the manner of this
death has not been ordinary and natural,
but premature and violent, and the more
lGmentable fact is doubtless also within the
same knowledge that it has trsnspired
outside the pale of legal sanction, and in
opposition to the legal prohibition.
But I am not instructed by my breth-
rem to enter upon a discussion OF the man
ner of his death. The profession does
not conceive la the interests OF society
are to be promoted by q nervous yigor
against q specific case, but rather by a
uniform and genuine and sincere current
of public sentiment ever flowing steadily
and camly toward the enforcement of all
law and the punishment of its violation.
Still less am I expected to obtrude before
this tribunal the unhappy controversy of
which this death has been the deplorable
result. And least of all so to offer our
homage of affection to our departed
brother as to be wanting in a proper CON-
misseration for his less fortunate survivor.
believe / shall fulfill their wishes most
scceptsbly If carefully refraining from
whatsoever NAV infiet a wound. l confine
myself to the earnest expression of that
profound sorrow which we all feel for the
loss of ayOung life, full Of hope, and full
of promise, persisted suddenly IN it's very
prime, when maturing into usefulness
and honor.
1 will now read to your honor the pro-
ceedings to which I nave referred. THESE
have already been published by US and
are therefore omitted L, have now,
il please you honor, performed the
duty allotted to me.
The resolutions and their preamble are
tenderly expressive of the sentiments of
the bar, and they have my cordial con
They convey the request for
their Transcription on the minutes of this
court. If it shall please your honor to
accede to this request, they will remain in
judicial arches a solemn and mourn
fuI tribute to u companion who
OF of manly health and pride trOd
the green paths which we now
pursue, and who at last has only by a
short period preceded all the rest of us
the mysterious boundary, where
the human eye may not penetrate nor the
human mind explore.
But the time which hath come for him
will ere long arrive for IS, hen our pill
grimsgs and sojOurn being past, we shall
enter on the dread ordeal of death, to con-
front, face to face, the awful realities be-
yond the grave. II is not my province to
point the moral OF this thought.
The sacred volume, the foundation of
governments and law, and now, to all en-
.irhtened and civilized minds, the book
1f undoubted revelation, through all its
illuminated pages, IN letters of living
light, presents the admonition, ID ye
also ready, for it is appointed unto all
men once 10 die, and after death, the
Judgment"