The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1880-04-07
For THE RECORD.
TIE OLD SQUARE ALMANAC


must be mostly modern. and biographical.
March 10, TIT, Kentucky gave birth to her
! greatest son, and one of Americas most illus
trious Statesmep-Henry Clay. His political
position, in the agitations that cuImipsrcu III
Secession and the War of the Rebellion, was
that of Compromise Nan. He gained the
reputation of peacemaker, by his :" Omni-
bus Bill /" of 1860 but there is peace which
in the end proves to be no peace, because its
basis is present expediency, not eternal prin-
ciple. Such measures can at the best afford
but temporary tranquility ; and this may
sometimes be gain. The Omnibus Bill
settled nothing but the Texas boundary and
the abolition of slavery from the District of
Columbia. 1t sanctioned the extension of
slavery, wherever the people of State desir-
ed it, and made strong bid for political ma
noeuvering in the new Territories. 1t made
easy the bred Scott decision seven years lat
er; that negroes are not, and cannot be-
come citizens" The reversal of the decision
did not have to wait many years. There are
some great crises in the affairs of nation or
Of the world, that require the statesmanship
not only of a brilliant orator, but of a single
minded man, (narrow-minded it might al
most SEEM possessing large sympathies.
These qualities met irthe Sorrowful Presi-
dent and April IA is the anniversary of his
tragic end-martyrdom is net too strong a
word. The day that followed that dreadful
Good Friday will not be forgotten by any who
were of thinking age In 1855. Nothing
could have been more disastrous 10 the South
than that bastard blow and those who loved
her least must yet pity her enduring woes,
that would have been less, and less protracted
had Mr.. Lincoln lived longer.
April IA, stands in the old records as Black
Monday Slows Chronicle thus explains
the name . 1t is to be noted that the 14th
day of April, and the morrow after Easter
Day (i8o0) King Edward III. with his host
lay before the city of Paris which day was
fdlI DASH OF mist and nan, and SO bitter cold
that many men died on their horsebacks with
the cold wherefore unto this day it hath
been called the Black Mondag
April II, 1890, died Benjamin Franklin
He was one Of the few men, whose life is the
history of the age in which they live: To say
that he was " a self-made man = is not to tell
the half. He had large share in the making
of his country, and his countrymen not by
his sound atesmanship, merely, but by his
humanitarianism, still more. He thought
and worked for every worthy interest of the
race and the nation land gave dignity and
importance to things which mind less CON-
prehensive or less practical would overlook.
His Poor Richards Almanae,'' published
for twenty-five years, beginning 1889, con-,
tanned maxims of common sense aud worldly
wisdom, the faithful observance Of which
would make men not only more prosperous,
but better and happier. Aud when the oc-
easion served, Franklin struck higher note,
and gave religious counsels in devout and
reverent spirit. Philadelphia may we'll es-
TEEN him as her " First Citizen.' 1t is in
deed remarkable in how many undertakings
to elevate society and develop the life of his
City and his Nation, franklin was first The
originator of the first literary club, .sthe
Junta = : of the Philadelphia Library the
founder of the first fire. company the mover
for the voluntary association to defend the
frontier, in 1744 (; the protector of the famous
Philadelphia Academy, and the first Presi-
dent of the Societies for alternating the mis-
cries of prisons and for the abolition of
slavery.
No other Amesican-born subject of the
Crown--received such high social and liter
airy honors in England /; and at home, his
merits gained him places of trust and dig
nifty, during mole than forty years-Port
Master of Philadelphia, colonel of a regiment,
to repair Braddock's defeat member of the
Colonial Assembly for ten years agent in
England for four of the Colonies member of
the Continental Congress and signer of the
Declaration /, one of the trainers of the Con-
stituton of Pennsylvania, and of the United
States Commissioner to France In IT'S, and
to England In 1880 President of the Supreme
Executive Council of Pennsylvania in lTS5,
&C., 60. And, all the while, he was busy
about printing, editing, experimenting in
Natural Philosophy, corresponding with the
scientific men of Europe, writing ably on po-.
litical and philosophical subjects This busy,
useful life ended at the age of 81. His me-
mortal, as we have seen, IL more enduring
than . perennial brass" His epitaph is the
simplest imaginable. The old French soldier
would never pass through the Place Vendome,
in Paris. but he paused, with uncovered head,
at the foot of the Napoleon monument. The
young American, visiting Philadelphia should
not fail to ronder like honor at the tomb of
our first Philosopher. In the tall brick wall
enclosing Christ Church buryipg-ground. at
the corner Of Fifth and Arch, an opening has |
been made, in late years, and an iron railing
inserted. Peering in, one sees abroad. low |
table tomb. and the inscription Bsnjamia and
sssszz'esQh Franklin.
sculptor, 6sgs.aasQ, James Thorn, the Ayrshire
We are faiu 10 say. az sAslk: $ Poor TLorn,'
@a'v., ins syisLire poet, sgsls5s : comps