The Indianapolis sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1880-1904, 1885-03-29

Some OF Americas nlu.,rious Dead.

home of Americas iiiastrious Dead.
How few remember John i'ornytn, Of
Georgia, one OF the most gifted aud oil )quent
men ever In the Senate OF the uaited States,
William u. Preston, OF Reutl, Carolina, Will
lam I, barfy,oi Kentucky, Felix 0ruady, OF
Tennessee. eminent for his legal knowledge
and great eloquenoe at the liar nnd ia Don,
gfefai General Fam Smith, OF Marylan 1, who
tor thirty,nine years was q member OF Con-
efehsl or Nathaniel Macon, OF NorthcarOllna
thiftyteven years Ia Congress, Speaker OF
the House, President pro tenl, OF tho Senate,
fIeiident OF the tonhtitntisnh Convention
~ hia own State, dying as lAte M 1887. Yet
We presume a large number OF our Intelligent
res Q have scarcely heard n word concern.
Ing there gentlemen, once holding such im.
poriant positions In the history OF tho ile.
public.
The Hat OF American lawyers, jurlsta and
statesmen who were distinguished IN their
day for talents, learning aud valuable pnb,
Tic service, and whose very names have faded
{ om the minds OF our people, would III q
Glossy Iprh,nted column OF his
and careful readers remember anything
OF William Pinkney, OF MafyiaadY Yet he
died ~ late rs is22, Daring his life he stood
at the head OF the Bar of the United States,
and his splendid talents, vast l~earains aud
magnificent oiatory made him one OF the
1 mtat CObtIltuQuh men OA NV 49, n ulNul-
Der OF the Convention which framed the
Federal Constitution, a member Of Congress,
Com missioner 10 England for eight years.
Minister 10 England, Attorney General OF
the United States, Minister TO Russia. aud
member Of the Senate, he filled and adorned
these high stations SO as to {; sisfy his admir-
log countrymen. In the Supreme Court OF
the Nation be stood without a rival, and
Webster speaks Of him as tho migitiest law
| yer OF his Time. Yet almost all the fame he
so justly acquired white Lying, seems buried
with him III the tomb.
Who recalls the history Honest John Da.
Wis, OF Mgssachusetts-a man who, during
his life, was honored and beloved, aad
walked ~ Will among the mountain ranges
Of power2. Ten years in Congress fOar years
Governor of his State fourteen years a Ssna-
tor of the United States. Take the two most
brilliant and mastery orators Of modern
times-Ruius Choa'e of Ma, ~sachusetts, and
Thomas Corwin. of Ohio-how rapidly does
the public forget their wonderful talents
and marvellous eloQuence. As death stilled
the magic OF their tongues and buried them
out of sight, so is their once great fame, with
which q Nation rung, slowly dying. aud the
memory of it passing away
How few think of Governor Marcy, of Ell.
ward Everett, Caleb Cushing or Roger b.
fancy But the grass has scarcely had time
to grow over their graves. Yet these were
among the most learned, gifted, useful and
accomplished men that lived during the
century. Take the great offices OF the Gov.
e~rnment-the places In the Cabinet for
which men eagerly strive, and which are re-
gsrded as among the highest rewards OF a
statesman's ambition. Does anybody know
OF the men who filed these high place. from
Washington to Hayes? Surely the names of
these distinguished citizens, comprising, as
they do, a portion of the very flower Of the
human race, should be remembered like
| houeahnld UoY1a Rut IN Ua uoro n pript In
large letters the list Of Secretaries Of State,
Treasury, War, Navy, Pestmasters General
and Attorneys General from 1889 to the pres.
ent day. the larger part of lifelong catalogue
would scarcely awaken the interest of any
body at this moment The m e their his
tory and their works are completely forgot
ten.
1t would be natural thai the former jas.
tees of the Supreme Court should be remem-
bere0 by the public, as these gentlemen held
their offices for life, and their decisions often
affected the gravest interests of the entire
Nation. Some of the judges were men of the
Hottest character, profound learning and
except the members of the Bar, can give the
names OF q dozen men who occupied the
bench of the Supreme Court twenty years
and more ago. r. names of William Cush-
ing. James Wilson, John Blair, Robert II.
HARRISON, Thomas Johnson, William Patter.
SUI. Alireu moore, W1lll6m Johnson,
Thomas Todd, Smith Thompson, Robert
Trimble. awaken no associations in the pub.
lie mind. They are dead-end 1.-THE dead
know not anything, neither have they any
more q reward; for the memory Of them is
forgotten"
Jefferson, in his play of rip Van
Winkle," often moves his audience to tears
by his pathetic utterance of these words:
How soon We are forgotten when we are
dead" They find a response In the bosom of
every man. Our daily experience warns US
around US. The great statesman, the brill.
liant orator. the gifted scholar, the learned
Judge, the brave soldier, the patriot, and tbs
friend of humanity. fall by our side and are
gone. The gaps made by their absence are
filed by the rushing crowd, and the man
who yesterday could command the applause
OF a listening Senate or q grateful nation, to-
day sleeps quietly in the churchysrd, and
his memory has become q thing of the dead
past. The esgle which proudly scared to
meet the sun, and the little spsrrow, fell
dead side by side upon the same field. and
both are equal. Death is no respsctor of
persons, but lays in the grave TO mouldsr
and decay the king and the plowman. Ev-
cry day reminds Us of the vanity, the brew
isy, the unsatisfactory nature of human life
how unsubstantial its honors. how shadovy
its richest rewards. The fame We thought was
ours, or hoped to win, slips from our grasp
and as we come to learn too late the history
OF human hopes and human ambitions. We
are led, like Solomon. to exclaim: There is
no remsm brance of the wise more than tn 2
fool forever, seeing that which now is shalt
be forgotten; for what profit hath q man of
all his labor which be tsketh unde the san?
Behold all is vanity"