Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1878-01-24


ions, his tireless activity. his indomitable viii,
have impressed "the very age and body of t.o
time" HIS life was force which cannot die.
That freside criticism which dwells apart in
the seclusion of its own selfimportance and
would not soil its dainty fingers by contact with
affairs, which believes government is a science
as exact as mathematics. that human nature is
plastic as clay and cold as marble may dwarf
/ his image in the penny mirror ii holds up to the
universe, and in which the only colossal figure
1t beholds is tho reflection of itself; but he has
made his own place in history safe 'gainst the
| tooth Of time and razure of oblivion"
| he lived in an heroic age-this age-an age
| so great that the distance of intervening cen
turies will be necessary to measure its heroism,
| its achievements and its sacrifices.
We. as Americans. must be excusable for be-
| heving-we should he inexcusable ii We did not
believe-that no political question of graver con-
| sequence To all succeeding time was ever con-
ironted by any people than that which culmi-
mated in civil war. History will record that
the war was the inevitable result of an irrypres-
sible conflict of moral forces, for which peace had
| no arbitrament. Mortons liio east in
State where this conflict of opinion was eager,
passionate, and doubtful. He WIS at the meeting
OF the currents in the circlIng of the maelstrom.
What to others was conviction, sentiment,
( to him became an inspiration and a passion. He
was intensely American. For his large nature,
and his great ambition. too, the continent was
none too wide. That his country should play
subordinate part i'm human affairs never
entered his imagination TO conceive.
lie would have enlarged the bounds
of destiny to give it scope aud
amplitude. The sentiment that this is ma
| ton. one. indIvisible ndestructible" so perme-
ated his intellect that any other seemed pollti-
cal proclamation and sacrilege With him this
was not theory of construction, but source
and center; not an abstraction but livln. faith.
Not Webster has expressed his faith with more
massive strength, nor Baker with moro impas-
stoned feryor.
I No bo1 Ia l,er
sion of the magnitude of the war on whose
verge We stood and the tremendous issues IL in
volved. OF Titan mold, near to nature, ele-
mental powers were his famiiiars lie had an
instructive sense Of tho awful forces that are
urleashod by He knew that in the air. so
still II would not stir the floating down, the fury
Of the tempest slept
| In the halcyon days, amid delusve promises
| of peace he saw that war was inevitable. and
rose to the supreme height of the occasion. In
| a speech on the 22l of November, 1861 which
raIg through the country like a call 10 arms, he
| said:
'Seven years is but day in the lifetime of q
natior, and would rather come oft OF strug-
gle Mt the end of that time defeated in arms con-
| c.ding Independence TO successful revolution
! than to purchase present peace by the conces-
sion of principle that must inevitably explode
this nation into small, dishonored frsgments-
He blinked nothing, concealed nothing. lie
knew the uncertainties of war; its dread sacri-
fees, and declared that all thrsc though follow
| ed by defeat, were better than inaction the
compromise of principle he deemed essential
| TO the existence OF any republic on this CONT
Bent.
This was at once his confession of political
| faith. and the Keynote Of his character. In the
cause he championed he would have dared fate
itself to the lists and matched his will against
| the courses OF the stars
There Is neither time nor necessity to trace
his career. To leave out Morton and his intiu-
| ence would be 10 rewrite the history OF this
country for the past eighteen years, and to mod
iy it for all time to come. In the great strugs
on which the existence of the union was staked.
he held the central fort No living man can tell
| what the result would have been if he had not
been where and what he was.
In character his will dominated his intellect,
great as that Was. Ne seemed incapable of in
decision. To resolve was to leave joubt be
mind. Thought, resolution, action, were CO
instant.
As a debater he was an athlete trained down
to pure muscle. In speech, careless o: the
graces Of oratory and polish of style, bis earn
estness enchanted attention. his directness car
ried conviction, and there was n natural sym
metry in the strength of his statement above
the reach of art
He was a partisan: instinct and experience
taught him that organization was essential Ia
the triumph Of any political principle or the
| successful Administered ON OF popular govern
ment He was born leader, conscious ~ h,s
power and jealous of his right 10 lead. He was
1
whose ambition Is at one with the best aspira
tons of humanity, whose death is q loss 10 the
weak. and whose grave IL wet with the tears OF
the humble aud the despised.
Large Drained, large framed. and brawny
muscled, his vigorous health freedom of mo
ton, physical independence. manly presence
were his joy aud pride. and part of that
full endowment of mind aud body which gave
! him commanding rank. But when nj lfes me
! ridian he was stricken with the cruel paraysi
from which he was never to recover, he ne
!, | cepted his lot without repining. What u
another would have been warning 10 quit nc
tive service and an excuse for and rest, to
| hi.a was the occasion of increased exertion and
mental activity. The broken sword only made
| the combat closer.
When the fatal symptoms OF his malady sp
, | peared. some months before his death, he said
20 q friend that he realized the end had come,
but he felt his career WAS incomplete. his life
work not finished. Perhaps he felt, too, that
death was stepping between him and the great
J prize Of bis personal ambition. He knew the
J night was settling on the home Of which his love
! From that time the American people watched
the wasting sands Of his life and counted hi
failing pulse He fought death an equal fol
J every inch Of time until "worn ont" worn ou
by long suffering and hard conflict, ne yielded u
the conqucror Of all
However long expected the death of one We
honor or love comes at last . shock. Ne
preparation can take away it, final suddenness
There is not a precinct In all this broad Ian,
where Morton's death was not felt The nation
was bereayed. His State was his chief mourner
Political friends and opponents We'd with eacl
other TO honor his memory. A hundred thou
sand men, women and children took u last lool
at his face, softcned and refined by death, ever,
trace Of suffering every mark Of conflict gone
On a chill November afternoon a vast conconrss
followed him TO the grave. The shades of might
were falling when tue last rite spoken and
the great crowd dispersed, leaving him alon,
with the dead.
There will be music and song. revelry and
mirth. "Ihe seasons in their bright round will
come and go; hope and joy, and great ambition
will rise mp they have risen" Generations
will pass ON the swift flight of years. Battle
storms will Smite the earth, peace smile upon
il, plenty crown il, love bless il. History will
write great chapters in the book of time. lie
will come more. His life is offended with
the mysterious tide which bears upon It's cur
rent events, institutions. empire, in the awful
sweep OF destiny. Nor praise censure nor
love nor hate, nothing can touch him further