Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-02-19

old Hall of Representatives He proceeded
to deliver an address in which he spoke of
General CssS as one who, more than any
other, had been identified with the infancy
of Michigan, and who had defended her in
war, guided her youthful footsteps, laid
down rules of conduct for her, and brought
order out of chaos, had (when separated from
her BY oceans) still clung to her as his home
and fondly looked to her soil as the dust
with which his own was to commingle.
MANY PLACES FILLED WITH CREDIT.
After a review of the life and public
services of General Cass, Mr.. Palmer said
that he knew of no public man who had
filled so many places in the economy Of
life-teacher, explorer, negotiator of treaties,
Governor, lawyer, legislator, marshal,
soldier, diplomat, Secretary of War, Sem
ator and Secretary of State, in all Of which
positions General Case had acquitted him.
self surprisinglvwell. Inconcluson hesaid.
The misus engendered by the heat passion
and rancor of the crucial time of the nations
history have risen and men are judged not
only by their acts but by the results of their
acts II has been said that the highest place
in history must be assigned to founders of
States: if this be SO, certainly the next grada-
lion must be assigned to him who builds the
superstructure on foundations already laid.
To such a place impartial biography must
assign Lewis Cass. The State whose institu-
tiOns he did so much to mold, and in whose
soil his ashes repose after lapse of 2 years-a
time sufficient for scrutiny of his acts and
their consequences-has decreed through its
representatives assembled that he is worthy of
place by the side of the great men who stand
serene and changeless beneath the dome of the
Capitol.
THANKS FOR THE STATUE.
1t remains for us. Mr.. President to formally
accept his statue, presented to the nation by the
State Of Michigan. She invokes consideration
for the life and character which it represents,
and recalls the calm judgment of the present
and the future. She leaves it in that august
tribunal-where the nation has gathered Tin
psrt) the counterfeit presentments of her
heroic sOns-with Williams the tolerant Allen
the vehement, Winthrop the devout, and the
goodly array of wOrthies on whom history has
set her seal. In that court of last resort where
every American must of necessity be hls own
sccuser, defender, and judge, it were well that
we should pause and after calm deliberation,
let our consciences enter up the verdict
whether or no our aspirations, our aims. and
our acts have been and are consistent with the
glory of the Republic.
Mr.. Morrill,, at whose instance it was that
the old Hall Of Representatives was con-
verted into a statuary hall, was the next
speaker. He eulogized General Cass. and
indicated the names of other illustrlous
Americans whose statues would in time
stand in the same hall. General Cass, he
said belonged to the age of Webster, Clay
and Calhoun. He spoke of the termina-
ton of General Cass' Sc years of public ser
Cabinet because of the refusal to reinforce
and reprovision Fort Sumter-thus proving
himself, like Abdiel, faithful found among
the faithless, and he said, in conclusion:
& LET us welcome the statue of Lewis Cass as
4 feliciUous contribution to our American pan
theon where are clustered precious memories
that will be Tor all future generations an inspi-
ration to noble deeds and unselfsh devotion to
the institutions Of free, enlightened and inde-
pendent people.
HIS BIRTHPLACE HoNoRED.
Mr.. Chandler was the next speaker. The
State of New Hampshire, he said, was, as
well as the State of Michigan, honored by
the statute to-day presented, because Lewis
Cass was born in New Hampshire He
thanked the people of Michigan for the ap-
propriate memorial which they had this day
placed in the National Capitol to one
of the most distinguished sons
of the most eminent citizens of Michigan
and the Union, and which Congress now ac-
cepted in behalf of a grateful people. He
reviewed the compromise measures and the
anti-slavery agitation which had led to the
organization of the Republican party. He
was not prepared to say that the anti
slavery agitators were absolutely unselfsh
or wholly sincere, or were, in every way
patriotic; but such had been the opinion of
anti-slavery writers and speakers who had
endeavored, dispassionately, to review the
incidents of the great anti-slavery conflict
before its elimination in civil war.
If Mr.. Webster had been right in his
views of the danger of the anti-slavery agi-
tation, continued Mr.. Chandler, General
Cass was equally right; but he had been
willing to yield too much to slavery and the
South. Certainly it was the duty of all,
now that the black cloud of slavery had
passed away, to endeavor to judge, favor
ably and charitably, those whose sole con-
trolling motive had been devotion to the
union of the States.
WHY CAss MoUREED.
Mr.. Chandler spoke of the sadness and
Gloom which had settled down on General
Cass at the time of his resignation from
President Buchanan's Cabinet on account
of the distracted condition of the country
which he had served so long; and he read
from a speech OF Mr.. Garfield, in the House
of Representatives, detailing an interview
with General Cass about that time, in which