The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-12-01

SHC0 dAb OhitCd an lkEHG
dod speed into heaven, lost star of our night"
JUDGE D~AvIDsoN's EMARK
The next speaker was Judge Thomas David
son, of Charlottesville, who spoke substantially
as follows:
of our meeting is a striking illustration of the uncer-
talnty of life and of the truth of the saying that
death loves a shining mark" But a few hours ago
Nlce-president Hendricks was in life, vigorous and in
apparent health, and in the full possession of tie
splendid faculties of mind and heart which had won
for him SO high a place among his %fellow.men and had
solong commanded the admiration of his countrymen.
Today he is dead. and the sorrow of SO. 00O, 600 of
people is manifesting itself in emblems of mourning
ana IN tender messages of coincidence and sympathy
to his widowed wife. We say he is dead, but this is
not strictly true even in a human sense. He will for
ever continue to live in the forces and influences
Whlch, in life, were set in motion by him. There is
another sense In which we may not say that he whose
departure we mourn is wholly lost to us. What a
world were this, how uncomfortable its weight if they
whom death hath sundered did not meet againl
10 US who have met here to-day Thomas A. Hen
drlcks was not alone the political leader-the states
man TO whom the country looked with pride. He
was, to US, the companion, ~neighbor, friend and
guide--strong in counsel, sympathetic in nature, char
liable In conduct and expression, and gentle, though
nrm, In reproof. OF all the men in public or private
NE whom 1t has been my fortune to know, no one
ever seemed to me more symmetrical in character
than Thomas A. Hendricks. He was. in everything,
the perfect gentleman. At home or abroad, in Office
or out OF office, and at all times, he was the same.
His life was gentle, and the elements
80 mixed in him that nature might stand up,
And say to all the world, This was a mani"
With his public career his countrymen are familiar,
and but lately it had received their highest common
dat1on and approval.
AS a lawyer he was without reproach, and stood
deservedly stood-in the highest rank of his profess
sion. To me it was a pleasure to try causes in which
he was engaged as counsel; and, indeed, it was a
pleasure to DO with him at all times and in all places.
As a man and as a lawyer his purposes were earnest,
his convictions strong and his motives pure, and, con.
trary to much that has been said and written, he had
the courage of his convictions, and was never afraid
to express them at the proper times and on pro-
per occasions. He was always the firm antagonist
of what he conceived to be wrong and the vigorous
advocate of what he thought to be right; and he had
clear, intelligent and just conceptions of what was
right and what was wrong. In his public and in his
private life he exemplifed the highest type of man
hood. In his death the Nation has lost one of it's
| greatest and purest men; Indiana has lost her most
distinguished citizen. The people of the United States
will not soon forget to honor the name and character
of Thomas A. Hendricks. His great talents, his pub
lie success, and his eminent position have so con-
nected his name with the Institutions of his country
that it can never be disassociated with their history.
But it is to Indianians, present and future, that the
name and fame of Thomas A. Hendricks will be espe-
cially dear. TO these that
Name shall shine untarnished in the rolls of fame,
And stand the example of each distant age,
And add new lustre to the historic page"
JUDGE JAMES S. FRAZER's REMARKS.
The next speaker was the well-known and
who spoke as follows:
L HdfC IL ueCedSeu flC0-pToSIuSnU Uue
very commencement of his public life. Though my
junior, we first met as members of the Legislature in
the session OF Io4S-9. ne had engaged IN the de-
bates occasionally, but not frequently. His speeches
were solid and a little dry, rather than snowy. His
manner was deliberate; his delivery slow and meas
ured, his words we'll chosen, and his speeches were
addressed to the judgment. lie was modest, unas-
Stunning and somewhat reserved. The cast of his mind
was judicial and not partisan, and 1 cannot remember
that during the whole session he par
%ticipated at all in any of the debates con
corning, party questions. knew his
graceful and persuasive oratory which so greatly dis
ti%nguished him afterward were not then his. He did
not then contemplate a political career, and though an
attentive and very useful member. when the session
ended, he said to me that he was glad to get back to
his law Office in Shebyvile; that his ambition was en-
tirely professionals; that he wished only to be a great
lawyer, and meant by diligence and careful study to
reach as far as might be in that direction, hoping
that he would some day be thought fit for
a j~udgeship. Such was the aspiration, the wax
ing dream of the man at twenty-nine. But
it is not easy for such a man to avoid a political career.
To a lawyer, whose private life is not subject to crit
icism. whose everyday demeanor makes and multiplies
personal friends, who takes a citizens proper interest
in public questions, and occasionally at the hastings
advocates the opinions he has formed, without any
desire to subserve personal preferment, but with con-
spcuous ability, the temptaticns are very great. He
will be wanted in politics. The expression of this
want is always a gratifying compliment. and if he
yields, in very many eases he becomes so disabled that
the lawyer is lost forever. But in this case the lawyer
was not lost. He never abandoned the law except
temporarily, and always returned to the practice with
vigor and success. He did not become dwarfed, ap-
parently, by his attention to politics as many do. This
shows wonderful capacity. The times of his most active
political career were full of new. and difficult. and i'm
portant problems of statecraft; and in the discussion
of these he bore a prominent part, in truth the leading
part on his side. And yet he could pass from the
floor of the Senate into the forum of justice and be
a giant there. l witnessed this once with aGmiring
of it, and heard from him what the judges
all regarded as being, in both matter and manner,
the most mastery argument made in that court dur
ing a term of service of six years. There was no au-
dieOc6 to inspire hlm-nOt more than half q dozen
persons and the four judges. Popular applause was
not to be won by the effort. The great lawyer argued
like a lawyer should. before a court, the questions of
law in his cause. That was all But it was much, as
attesting the manner of man he was, as one of our
profession. That this divided attention was a disad-
vantage professionally admits of no question, for the
law alone is a subject large enough for all of any life
and mind. AS it was, he was an honor to the
bar, and his place was amongst the highest.
Of this demeanor at the bar I can not, upon personnel
knowledge, speak very fully, for l saw but little of his
practice in the trial courts, but that little was beyond
ticism-respect to the court, courteous to the
other counsel and faithful to his clients. 1t seemed
to me a model for the study and imitation of younger
men.
Brethren, as one of US, we may be proud Of him.
His work is done. The professional and friendly ties
which bound him closely to US all-very closely to
some of us--have been snapped without warning; his
voice in our courts is hushed. We give our tribute Of
sincere respect to his memory. We can do no more.
JUDGE MAcK's REMARKS.
Judge VIM. Mack, of Terre Haute, was the
next speaker, his speech in substance being as
follows:
Gentlemen of the Bar: Notwithstanding all the ad-
varcements that have been made in solving the mys-
teries of the future, that veil that divides us from the
future has not yet been lifted. Who could have con-
templated one short week ago the occasion of our be-
ing called together here. AS has been said by one who
preceded me such are the uncertainties of human life.
In joining sincerely with the general mourning over
the loss of one so pure, SO noble, so eminent in all the
walks of public and private life, l do it not with I'M
alleged grief. My sorrow is mingled with joy.
| | have witnessed the decorations of your city since
entering it, and I like those DECORATIONS that are in
terspersed with white. This public building looks too
gloomy. The thought that the life of Mr.. Hendricks
terminated so suddenly-that his sun was quenched
when shining with extreme brilliancy midway between
the meridian and the occident of life-ls a solemn and
a mournful thought. But that cloud of grief that
cry of this building. Moonlike, it has it's
golden border, indicative of the bright, shining
lining beyond. To be sure, he has passed away,
but he had the rare glory of being snatched by death