Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1875-05-22

Funeral Of General John c. Breckin-
ridge at Lexington ON Wednesday
Last-SOlemn and ImpSs-
Ing Pageant.
Over Twenty Thousand Persons Present
-Bistinguished KentuckiaDs az
Pali-Bearers and Mourn
ers-"Hail and
Farewell"
Louisville Coarier-Journal.I J

Louisville Coarier-Journall
LEXINGTON, May 19.-The funeral 0
General Breckinridge was attended to
day by an immense crowd. The stree
leading to the church and the one meet
ing 1t at right angles were jammed witt
people OF all ages, sexes and conditions
OF life. Vehicles that had brought In
numbers OF persons from the country
crowded closely on the sidewalk. The
tops and windows of houses were
jammed. The procession was a long and
mournful column, transformations, but
imposing and grand. The Masons
marched next to the music. After the
Masons went citizens in carriages and on
foot. After the citizens, the hearse and
pall-bearers, followed again by citizens.
! Then went the eX-COnfederate and old
Mexican soldiers who had served under
General Breckenridge in the Mexican
and sectional wars.
The church was, of course, filled. 1t
was touching to see the crowd that filed
by the coffin to get last look at the
cOuntenance which was rigid in death,
but which still retained traces Of its
nobleness and excellence. White and
cOlOred passed by it, looked upon it, and
would fsin nave asked for q hair for
| memory. The face had assumed a
waxen hue. 1t was yellow and clammy.
| The eye that had so often melted in
! pity at suffering, or blazed with elo-
! quent indignation at wrong, was closed,
and the lips that had so often dropped
mamma weIe fixed and compressed. The
sable silvered Eeard was there still,
and the gray locks hid the temples.
Grouped around the coffin, besides
the relatives, stood United States Sena-
tors M'Creery and Stevenson, Governor
Leslie, Colonel Howard Smith, James
M. Tate, and others of the State gov
eminent, while near by was Hon.
George II. Pendleton, of Ohio, who had
come to pay his tribute to his dead
friend.
The following gentlemen acted as
pall-beareTs:
DR.. ] ohm r. Desha, W.CP Breckenridge
Major Frank K. Hunt, Mai. Mat. c. Johnson,
Gen. Geo. b. Hodge, Hon. Jas. B. Beck,
J. =. Johnston, Col. ]. T. Johnson,
Mr.. George Birch, Gen. ]. +. Robinson,
Maj. Clint. M'Clarty, Judge Hoke,
Maj. Semple, A. Keene Richards.
When the coffin was conducted to the
cemetery it is estimated that twenty
thousand persons followed it. Reach
ing the cemetery it was placed in a ba-
sin surrounded by a gentle eminence,
which was crowded; even the trees were
filled with spectators. Then the Knights
Templar took charge Of the coffin and
placed it in a vault belonging to the
Johnson family, with their usual cere-
monies.
The Grape worn by the order and by
the pall-bearers was laid upon the
coffin, and then were placed beside it
the flowers by the devoted hands of wo-
man, The corpse rests now under the
shadow Of the Clay monument, with
the stony eyes of the statue gazing down
upon the pulseless form. Thus passes
away one of the tall spirits of the earth.
I learn that he said little just previous
to his death, only moving his hands to
press back those who stood by his bed,
as if his great soul required room for its
fight, and his last look was one of polite
recognition to friend and relative who
had just entered TO see his eyes assume
a CLASSY aspect, and then retreat under
the film of death. His mind was still
clear. In this way the great Kentuckian
passed over the great river, bidding
adieu to the kind, friendly figures that
still remained on this side, who, with
sobbing hearts and fearful eyes, watched
him disappear in the dim distance of the
dark unknown.
But 1t is frequently the case that
when genius expires it is filled with
familiar scenes, and dwells upon the
triumphs and glOries Of fading memory.
Jackson wished to cross the river and
rest under the shade Of the trees on the
other side; and when Lee saw the dark
battalions of death approaching, he felt
the need Of those faithful legions who
had assailed the nights OF Gettysburg,
and who had stood as an iron line in
defense of Richmond. His mind wan
dered back to his trusty followers, and,
turning to friend, he said: "Send for
A. P. Hill" But Breckenridge did not |
call up the devoted regiments that had |
followed him.
II was pitifuI, indeed, that such a
spirit should leave his country under |
the ban of a ruthless and avenging IA
naticism, with a resolution of congress |
branding his corpse with treason. 1t is |
cruel and deadly judgment which con- |
victs man without arraignment and |
trial; it is the fatal stroke of the adder |
that gives no warning and shows no |
mercy. Breckenridge will live in his |
tory when the memory OF his persecu- |
tors shall have rotted, and the seething |
lava OF party passion which has swept |
over his grave will, when cooled by !
time, be wrought in images to his |
honor.
A stranger on reaching the town Is at |
once filled with the most painful and |
somber emotions. The oppressive quiet |
that is felt in the street, and the draper |
~ rv1r moi vii
dow, show that the popular heart has |
been wrung by no ordinary suffering. |
Every face seems to shed sadness, and |
you had only to run your eye along that |
solemn procession that conducted the |
corpse to the grave 10 see stout forms |
shaken with storm of sobs and eyes |
melting with the tenderness of tears. |
The solemn "Come, ye disconsolate,"
was sung by voices trembling with emo
ton, the funeral sermon was preached, |
the coffin placed in the hearse, and the |
black plumC3 of death nodded in the |
sunlight. He has been laid in his grave, |
but the atmosphere seems still instinct |
with the spirit Of the dead statesman, |
and we feel the presence and power OF |
departed majesty as sensibly as the SEN |
tinels in Hamlet recognized the royal |
soul Of the buried king in the "disem-
bodied spirit that disturbed their vigils
and wsylaid their beat.n The scene is |
in strange contrast with budding ma
ture, about to assume the freshness and |
beauty Of spring. The imposing form
that few days ago contained the no.
blest soul that ever breathed the air OF |
Kentucky has been committed to worms |
that will gnaW it into dust and rudely /
riot in its rotten sleep.
1t is q sad commentary upon life and |
its vanities, and it is a lesson to the am.
bilious mind storing itself with the |
choicest resources of learning and seek |
ing to grasp the fieeting emblems of |
temporal greatness.
But for the christian faith that stands |
by the open grave to burst its cerements
and declare that there is resurrection |
and 8 life, the untimely msrring Of such |
a structure in the Vigor Of It's power |
would chill ali human aspiration and |
condemn mankind to the degeneracy Of !
bessts. But that almighty instinct Of
immortality tells us that the feverish |
NCw h. Io1,olo,Daanf nd