The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-01-16

OF aa the leading modern governments
he searched and if one can be found rejecting
more honor upon the public service than this, Its
existence has not yet been announced. And
when his calumniatOrs are appraised of the fact
that he died a comparatively poor man, after all
these thousands lad passed through his hands,
without a single eye TO serutinize his conduct or
any authority whatsoever to arrest him, they
ought to realize, if they do not that implacable
resentments generally recoil upon those who IN
dulge them, while integrity is always sure OF Ill
innate triumph, because truth is indie
structble. As in all these transactions,
Governor Morton modelled his official life
after the examples Of the best and truest patriots
of the country, and, like them, has left his own
as legacy to rs. il is our solemn duty TO declare
here. as part Of the ceremony of unVeihng this
statue, that no breath of suspicion right
fully attach to his memory, but that he fairly
the praise of having acted throughout his
putfE- career, from the beginning to the end,
without fear and without reproach7 If it were
necessary that any additional epitaph should be
engraved upon his tombstone it might appro-
priately be in his own words, whereby, after
review of what he had done to preserve the honor
and credit of the State, he declared to the LeSs-
latTe: Il glad TO be able to say that the
credit of the State has been fully preserved; and
that her stocks now command higher price in
the market, when compared with the stocks OF
other States bearing like interest, than at any
former period in her history" Let every posi-
BILE honor be conferred upon the memory
of the who, with firm reliance
upon the people, had courage enough
to achieve such a result as this in the midst of
angry conflict of opinion, and whilst the
shafts of calumny were flying thick and fast
as almost to darken the air around him, and the
atmosphere seemed impure from the poison they
bore upon their points.
HIS SECOND TERM AS GOVERNOR.
The election of Governor Morton to the Office
of Governor at the State election of 1864 near
the close of the war, was a deserved tribute to
his integrity and worth by the people of the
State He had, by this time, been fully and
severely tried, in every possible way in which
his fitness could be tested, and had given salts
factory assurance that the honor and welfare of
the State was secure in his hands-that by no
act OF his could the former be furnished or the
latter endangered. The results of the
rendered his election a necessity to the proper
restoration of the Union, as his defeat would
have tended to imperil the success of measures
essential to reconstruction The State could not
afford to hesitate, or to take any backward step.
Not only. therefore. did the people honor him
and themselves by his election, but their de
cision gave strength to the national cause. If
anything had been needed to place the State in
proper relation to restored Union, 1t was
furnished by that event And richly did he re-
pay the public for the confidence thus expressed
in him. by continuing to devote his best energies
to the interests of the whole country, until the
end was reached, which patriotism dictated, and
which loyal people, everywhere, endeavored
most anxiously to accomplish after the establish
ment of peace. In so far therefore, as he was
identified with the Union cause, during the
progress and after the end of the war, he failed
in nothing within the compass of human en-
ergy he omitted no duty; lie shrunk from no
responsibility; he evaded no issue, but devoted
all the faculties Of his vigorous and unim-
paired intellect to the best means of so
distributing the blessings of peace as to
obliterate a remembrance Of the ravages
of war Within the circle of his official
obligations there was no act of his which
could be blotted out without injustice to his
memory, and none which, if omitted might not
have weakened the cause Of the Union, which he
had so much at heart.
How little we know what day or an hour
may bring FORTH The events of each future mo-
ment are known only to the infinite mind of the
Creator. When Governor Morton entered upon
the gubeInatorial office in 1860 he possessed a
physical constitution of apparently eXtraordi-
nary heathfulneSs and strength. His physique
magnifcently developed without visible
spot or blemish. Few men possessed more
commanding or attractive person. Yet, so in
cessant and severe were his labors and so earn
eStly had he employed all his energies of both
mind and body that when the pressure by which
his nervous system had been taxed
was partially removed, his natural strength
abated and he was Frustrated by a
paraytie stroke. by one of those fatal
blows which human power is unable
to resist Like the cyclone which,
upon the sea, wrenches apart the timbers of the
stoutest ships, and upon the land devastates
whole sections of country, this terrible disease
seizes upon its victims without warning of its
approach, and the strong and the weak, the old
and the young fall alike before it. For four
years every faculty of his being had been wound
up to its fullest capacity and when he
about to lay down some portion of the heavy
burden he had borne so honorably and well, his
robust frame was suddenly bent beneath the
terrible and unexpected stroke. Why such
things are, none of us can tell. God works
through the instrumentalties of his own provi-
idence, and matter how mysteriously He
may affiict us, should not forget that it is
His wisdom that directs the act and that it is
our duty to stand with our heads bowed in His
presence, resigned to whatsoever destiny He may
provide.
Although the lower limbs of Governor Nor
ton were SO weakened as TO become
almost useless, yet his mental faculties
remained unimpaired and his will unconquered.
The strength of this latter faculty with him was
wonderful, and was so displayed to convince
all who had personal intercourse with him that,
If it were possible for medical skill and science to
revive his nervous energies, it would
enable him to regain full possession
of his health The blow, however,
was too violent for successful resistance,
even with the natural Vigor of his manhood, and
it was soon demonstrated that his attack would
battle the efforts of the most eminent men of
the medical profession. All the remedies APP
Piled, both in this country and France, were I'M
availing, and it sad to realize the gradual
wasting away of man once so strong. Not
withstandiug this however, his public life had
been so useful, his character for wisdom, patriot
ism, and prudence so well established, and
he had acquired so large share of the
confidence Of the people he had SO faith
fully served, that they transferred him to
the Senate of the United States as a theater fit
for the display of his undated intellectual
ability. / remember but one other instance
where a senator was elected after paralysis had
seized upon his extremities. But in that case
as in the case of Governor Morton it was in
tended to signify the public appreciation of the
most marked and splendid Abilities and of those
high qualities which elevate their possessors
above politicians into statesmen.
HIS CAREER IN THE SENATE.
He entered the Senate in 1867, when he was
only forty-four years of age, and when, but for
his physical infrmity, he would have been in