Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-12-02
TALMAGE on HENDRICKS.
An Eloquent Eulogy By the Celebrated
Brook iyn Divine.

NFU ON 4 lAUd- AA@At 1881 ph AAl UEeAtA 20
Vice President Hendricks said:
While the nation was assembled to ceIe-
bFate the incoming CT the fruits Of the
garth the Black Reaper, Death. swung his
sharp sickle and vita his keen bIade cut
down the second Of the high officials M
the land In the sweet cup Of public r.
10icings there was present The worm Wocu
II bereavement. and the rri-lt naa0ua.
wreath was intertwisted with cypress,
and there was a clash OF Hall-iuJaI Clo-
rus and Dead March. The sudden Qe-
mise Of Thomas a. Hendricks, our wee
President, has saddeued the nation. GREAT
and magnificent soul. hast thou gone for
ever beyond the worlds praise and Diane
Pure as a woman, unaffected a. a cnHd.
vet mighty in the cQulsels o. state ana
nation and church. From the tune
when at an outdoor meeting ia
the West 1 said ia going upon the
platform, "W here i GOV. hen
drjcks" and be- put his hand on my
shoulder and said, Here / am until I
met him in a glee Of spirits az bis rooms
in Washington at the close 81 his last
sprlng's work as presiding officer % the
United states senate, l loved him more
and more. Many did not realize bis
greatness, because he had such equlpoise
q character. such rounding and SYM
metrv Of nature. no one faculty projecting
out Of proportion 10 other iacultes. Great
as LAWYER great as a Governor; great
as 8 Confessional representative; great
as a Senator; great as a Vice President,
be- has suddenly assembled 10 higher
spheres. Tor he was Christian. and about
his destiny there can be no dispute. Our
Vice President is with God. The time OF
his going. II it had been decided rF any,
thing else than divine wisdom,
rrrrfH f-r. rar a
take. just after the jolt and jar
and irritation always felt az the going
ont Of one party from power and the as
sumption or another party had passed
aWav. and public affairs seemed c0m-
pletely settled for another four years. by
this startling providence aegitatiug qufs-
tons are aroused, and on the lth OF next
month we snail practically have another
Presidential election, the senate called
upon 10 do that which last " arch the peo-
pie mad fixed as they thought TOR years to
come. President Cleyeia1d's continuance
IN life and mental capacity IS the only
barrier between C. and a complete reEO-
luton in the administration Oi public at
fairs. ben there are SO many m6iarlas
floating up from the Potomac fats, and so
manr Wilkes Booths and Guiteaus and
unref0rma0le cranks, political and religi-
Gus, VINO remain unshOt and un0anged,
we do well, with more emphasis than ever
before, 10 pray God 10 bless
and protect the President OF the
United States. But that which
might seem the wrong time for such a de-
cease is the right time, because the Ia
Unite God makes no mistakes, and, trust
ing the nation % his hands, we deVoutly
study the lessons OF this lie that has now
disappearod, leaving the nation in grief.
FIRST OF all. be was a good man amid all
the temptations Of political life. ANY
man that can live at Washington through
two Congressional terms, and a term as
Commissioner Of General Land Office,
and a Senatorial term, and part of
Vice Presidents term, as did this man.
and have his morals unchanged is fire
proof and hail proof and Lightning proof
The test is terrific and tremendous be-
yOnd anything imagined bY any one who
has not either experienced it or had
intimate friends describe 10 him
the perils through which they
passed in WashingtOnian pOliti-
cal lie. The trouble is that 50 many men
Of great talent have been great in their
designations, and their misdeeds have
been made the subject OF jocOsity rather
than Of lOathing apprehension. Men,
honest at home, have at the capital gone
down under Credit Mobiler infamy. and
men, pure at home, have at Washington
bowed 70 habits SOdOmic. Two years in
the House Of Representatives or SIX years
IN the Senate have been the temporal and
eternal damnatiOu 81 many ofthe grandest
men 10 this country. The Congressional
buryIng ground at Washington, and the
city and village and neighbOrhOod ceme-
teries. north, south, east and west, con-
tain tne bones Of great many Congress
siOnal drunkards. Amid all these fires
for many years Thomas A. Hendricks
walked unsinged. He never got on
board mat popular ran train which has
it depot In every city, namely. "Dsad
River Grand Trunk Railroad" Whion Is
said . have Tor stations Tippleton, Qbar-
Tslyiile, Guzziers' Junction, Debauch
slough. Dismal swamp. Dark Tunnel
Aurderers' Gu.ch, Hangman's HOllowa1d
FeTnltiOn. In this day when we have 10
many factories In the land making drunk
arcs at wholesale, physicians by reckless
prescriptions, apOthecaries by false labels
81 DitteTE, and Congressional halls BY
CTerWOTkiDg their members. what Grand
thing e was we rad 50 long in high places
this man whose life was q perpetual FRO
test against all styles OF dissipation. lie
ci6d with only a moderate estate. after
many decades Of unlimited opportunity.
TIE hrlbng railroad schemes that ran
over half Of our public men always lett
him on the right side Of the track. Along
al the coasts efrewn with the hulks
Of political advantages be yoyaged with
out toe loss Of rudder OF spar. II there
ever was man 1T 10 be carried out amid
TIE acclamatiO and condemnation Of a
grateful people, that man was Thomas A
Hendricks. Dear and generous soul. may
ke be held IN everlasting remembrance !
He was one Of the few old men who knew
how n treat young men. Many old
people In dealing with their juniors make
the ~ stake either Of patrOnizing them or
snubbng them; by patronizing them
seeming 10 imply that they. the seniors,
are Desiowing great favor; by suubbing,
amply ne that they. the juniors, are not
worth noticing anyhow. Mr.. Hendricks
met you as a man ought always meet men.
without any airs Of periority or without
any appearance Of being bored, and a
coal HEAVIER would get from him as
polite bow as a chief justice. Another
commendable Characteristic was that he
kept his patience while being persistently
lied about Speeches were put in bis
mouth which he never made, or taken out
oi their connection so as 20 advocate
something different from what he meant,
Interviews were reported the language OF
which he never used. he h ad thrown at
him the charges Of being a coward. hypo-
crite, traitor, and all the vocabulary and
abuse Of Billingsgate was exhausted upon
him by men " hO will be among the chief
m0urners at his Obsequies. Alas. for the
dishonest eulOgiums Of orators and edi.
tors VINO lie about a man while he lives
and then put their Daupra in mOurnfng