National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1881-04-26
H00SIER ELOQUENCE.
SENATOR D. W. VOORHEES,, GRAFTON
At the dwelling Of the Farragut Statue Yester.
day-A Glowing Tribute to the Old Admi-
ral-His Services to the Nation
Fifty Set Forth.

! diana, was as follows:
| LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: This is an occasion on
which the best emotions of the American heart
are inspired. We are here to pay ceremonial
honors TO the memory of one whose deeds of peril
and of high renown, in defense of his country,
adorn more than half century of his country IS
history. No good life is ever wholly extinguished,
even in this world. He who has lived for the well
fare of his fellow men, for the cause of free and
! enlightened government, and to enlarge the boun-
daries of human happiness lives on forever, even
here upon the shores of time. For the benefactors
| of the human race there is no death. The centu-
/ ries may move on in an endless procession over
! their graves; human society may be transformed
| by the storms of revolution; the world may be
carried by the spirit of progress from old condi-
tiOnS to new ones, yet the influences OF the phi
lanthropist the hero and the law giyer in eternal
strength and beauty, viii keep pace with them all,
| and give color and shape to the conduct of re-
motest generations. 1t is in recognition OF this
great fact that statues and monuments have arisen
ell over the face of the civilized globe. The in
iuences of
THE ILLUSTRIOUS DEAD
are always active in the affairs of the world and
the wish has been strong in every age to perpetu
ate their form and features, and to transmit them
to poSterity. As the student of antiquity tolls
amidst the ruins of former civilizations in Rome,
the forms and the faces of such were supposed
to have had the strongest control over the events
of their times. Indeed, the desire of the human
heart to keep alive the virtuous examples of those
who have passed away is as widespread and uni
versal as the race of man. In some form or other
it is manifest everywhere, on every shore, and in
the customs of every tribe and kindred beneath
the sun. From the polished works of Phidias to
the mounds of the American Indian the idea is the
iSt tic tcior,,
canoe confined alone to honors paid to the great.
For every worthy life, however humble, that goes
out on the ebbing tide into the vast ocean of
eternity there are sghS and tears, and some frail
memorial is erected mark OF love and memory.
In every human breast there are records which
tell of the dead who still live; in every ear there
are voices at times which no one else can hear,
and to every eye there sometimes comes face not
seen by Others. Such is the experience of indi
vidual grief and recognition of the honored and
beloved dead, but when nation mOurns, and
brings forth its laurel wreath of fame to crown
THE TRIUMPHANT HERO,
then the scene changes into the pomp and page
antry of the present hour This day and hour the
Government of the United States unveils to the
world the statue of Farragut-thes statue of naval
commander first in American history and second
to no one who has handled ships in battle since
the day ON which Themistocles beat Xerxes at
'sea- born Salamis." Happy and fortunate is he
who stands in brass marble at the Dehest of a
grateful country, and in time to be gazed upon by
those who knew and loved him in life On but
few have such hOnors been bestowed; but few
such monuments as this can be erected; and yet
there comes pressing upon my thoughts at this
moment mighty thrOng, whose toll, whose
agony, and whose blood made this glorious monu
ment, and all similar ones in the Capital of a
united country, possible. Those who fought with
Farragut, with Porter and with others whose
names are household words of honor, seem to
be here. The spirits of those who died for the
flag on ocean and river perhaps how people
the air, looking with joy on its peaceful
supremacy and unbroken folds. The mighty
hosts who sleep in the bosom of Virginia and from
there to the sunset side of the Mississippi and
down to the Cult of Mexico, make their mute ap-
peal for recognition at all times and places of
tiOnal glory. No monument has been erected to
these
WARRIORS OF THE SEA
and the land: perhaps none will ever be- they |
need none fashioned by human hands. Did say
they had no monument? Not so; the existence of |
the American Union is their monument and every |
voice to proclaim that the memory of their lives
and of their deaths shall never perish.
They fell devoted, but undying;
The very gale their names seems signing;
The waters murmur of their name;
The woods are peOpled with their fame;
The silent pillar, lone and gray,
Claims kindred with their sacred clay;
Their spirits wrap the dusky mountain;
Their memory sparkles DER the fountain:
The meanest rill, the nghtiest river,
Roll mingling with their fame forever.
In estimating the wonderful career and the
splendid achievements of the great Admiral
whose statue stands before us, we naturally look
to the source of his training and the school of his
experience. The American navy presents most
instructive and inspiring theme for thought and
It's history is full of national and
honor. Indeed, the profession of the
sailor has developed in all countries and ages the
loftiest and most striking qualities of manhood.
From those far distant regions of superstition and
Of song wherein Homer described the long black
high -beaked ships, which bore "the fair tress'd
sons of Archaic" to "the howery plains of Sea-
mander" in the Trojan war to represent time, the
ocean has been the home of brave men and the
theatre of
IMMORTAL ACHIEVEMENTS.
From the restless bosom of the great deep history
mas obtained its most brilliant examples of human
enterprise and endurance. There are reasons, OBJ
7ious to all, why this should be so. The dominion
IF man over the earth and sea, a divine grant of
power in the beginning of time has been more
lifhcult of enforcement on the waters than OH the
ands. The assistance of science is more necessary
o the progress of fleets than to the march of
armies, and such assistance was late in coming.
The mysteries of the mariners needle and COM
pass were slow in being revealed. With what
lager interest and solicitude we even yet follow
Columbus as he sailed from the bar of
'altes, early in the morning of the Sd of
August, 1892, and steered boldly into an
unknown ocean, experimenting as he went
n the first rudiments of navigation,
md feeling his way in the uncertain twilight dawn
If nautical science! But the light grew stronger
IS he sailed on. and his disciples since, at the op
'osite poles of the earth and under the equator,
md in all the four quarters of the globe, have
ouched the utmost limits to which human cour- ,
ge, inspired by thirst for knowledge, can attain
The waters of the world, however, assume their |
most practical and historical aspect when consid-
red as the highways and the battie-ficlds of ma
ions. is in this respect that they have enriched
he annals of mankind more amply than in any ,
ther Exploring expeditions voyages of discov-
~, the great currents of commerce, benefcent and
lorous as they are in the peaceful progress of the
uman race, all subordinated by the pen of the
historian to the :
wARIIKE NAvIES OF THE WORLD. ,
he first and leading thought of the student of q
american history in connection with the navy of +
be United States is that it has done more far more
proportion to its strength to establish and illus
rate the American character among the nations :
the earth, than any other branch of the public ,
eryice, and at the same time has not received !
hat fostering or generous liberaity from the
government which its record justifes and indeed E
emands. While every American heart beats high r
the memory of our naval victories, yet, as rule
Il our history, whenever the spirit of an extra 3
rdinary economy has penetrated our public affairs
has first been found operating on the small f
ut glorious American navy. 1t has never been Q
nought necessary for the American Republic S
maintain a naval force more than equal to- that
f a third-rate European power. This is not
olicy originating with the people, for their pride
nd affection would dictate different course, 1t {
, perhaps, more due to the geographical position s
{ the limited States than TO any other couSa AL Z