Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-02-26
THE MYSTERY OF DEATH.
A Remarkably Eloquent Funeral Ora
ton by Senator ingalls,.

A AAearAaoay Eloquent Funeral Ora
ton by Senator Ingalls,.
Senator Ingalls, yesterday added one more or.
asorical triumph to the many which have contrib
uted to his fame, but the oratory was not Of
the same character as that which il ordinarily
associated with the Senator's name, The Bit
terness Of the partisan was absent and the clear
pitiless tones of political and personal defiance
gave place to the softer modulations which ex-
press grief and sympathy. The occasion which
called the presiding officer of the Senate to
the floor also filed the galleries with an ex-
pectant multitude. At 8 o'clock the Senate
proceeded to the consideration Of resolutions
OF sorrow and eulogy on the death Of Repre-
sentative James Nelson Burnes, of Missouri,
and after Senator Cockrell had delivered his
remarks the low buzz of conversation in the
galleries ceased and attention was focused up
on Senator Ingalls,, who arose slowly, and
speaking with easy deliberation. said:
Mr.. President, these are the eliminating
hours OF a closing scene in the drama of ma
tional life. When this day returns one political
party will relnquish and another assume the
executive functions of government On every
hand are visible the preparations to welcome
the coming and speed the parting guest At
the eastern portieo already stands the stage on
,.
the presence of a mighty audience, amid the
mimic pomp and circumstance of war, with
the splendor of banners, music's martial
strains, and the hOarse salutations of accentuat-
ing guns. Enterprises of great plth and mo-
ment wait upon the event Of the brief
interval. While pleasure wanders restlessly
through the corridors of the capitol hope and
fear, ambition, cupidity, and revenge sit
in the galleries. or stand at the gates, eager,
like dying Elizabeth to exchange millions of
Nnyny for -
cess or failure, wealth or penury, honor or OBJ
loquy depend. At this juncture and crisis,
when each instant is priceless. disregarding
every Involvement, resisting every incentive
and solicitation, the Senate proceeds. bv unan-
imous consent, to consider resolutions of the
highest privilege, reported from no committee.
having no place upon any calendar, but which
take precedence of unfinished business and
special order, upon which the yeas and nays are
never called, and no negative vote is ever re-
corded, and reverently pauses, in obedience to
the hottest impulse of human nature, to con-
template the profoundest mystery of human
destlny-the mystery of death
I'm the democracy of the dead all men at last
are equal. There is neither rank nor station
nor prerogative in the republic Of the grave.
Az tins fatal threshold the philosopher ceases
to be wise, and the song of the poet is silent.
Dives relinquishes his millions, and Lazarus
his rags. The poor man is as rich as the
richest. and the rich man is as poor as the pau
per. The creditor loses his usury. and the
debtor IS acquitted of his obligation There
the proud man surrenders his dignities, the
polltlclan his honors, the wording his pleas
ures; the invalid needs no physician. and the
iaborer rests from unrequited toll Here at
last ls natures final decree in equity. The
wrongs of time are redressed, injustice is ex-
plated, the irony of fate is refuted, the IN
equal distribution of wealth. honor capacity
pleasure, and opportunity which make life SO
cruel and inexpllcable ceases in the realm of
death. The strongest there has no supremacy,
and the weakest needs no defense. The might
lest captain succumbs to that invncble adj
versary, who disarms alike the victor and the
vanquished.
james Nelson Burnes, whose death we de-
piore to-day. was man whom Plutarch might
have described or Van Dyke delineated; mas
slve, rugged, and robust; in motion slow; in
speech sonorous and deliberate; grave in
aspect; serious in demeanor; of antique and
heroic mold; the incarnation of force. energy,
and power. Not perplexed by moral abstrac-
tons nor mental subtleties, he possessed that
assemblage of qualities which makes success in
practical affairs inevitable. Great enterprises
were natural to him. Breadth, grasp. and COM
prehensloD characterized his projects Early
perceiving the enormous possibilities of the
valley OF the Missouri. longer than the Amazon
and more fertile than the Nile he Immediately
identified himself with the forces which have
developed the empire of the northwest: made
io hHeriCau utsert an Oasls. ana aDOl-
ished the frontier At the bar. on the
bench, in business and politics, he was
foremost for a quarter of century.
when We first met St. Louis was an outpost of
civilization, and Jefferson City the faHhest
point reached by railroad. In all that vast
region, from the sparse settlements along the
Missouri to the Sierra Nevada. from the Ar
kansas to the iellowstone-now the abode of
millions. soon to be represented in this cham
ber-there was neither husbandry nor harvest
habitation nor home, save the casual encamp-
ments OF the Bedouins of the plains, more saw
age than the beasts they slew. We were neigh
bors-as that word goes in the west Twenty
miles to the northward, across the turbid
stream. the level bars of tawny sand and the
vast expanse of primeval forest. were visible
from my door, in the morning and evening sun,
the spires and the towers of the CITY where he
dwelt. and with whose history his name will be
indissolubly associated. Here in stately home.
with ample fortune, equipage, and retinue.
surrounded by family he adored. by friends
devoted to him, and by enemies whom he had
overcome, he confidently anticipated LARGER
triumps and loftier honors yet TO be-
'As / looked for the last time upon that
countenance from which for the first time in so
many years no glance of kindly recognition
nor word OF welcome came, I reflected upon
the impenetrable and insoluble mystery of
death. But If death be the end. if the life of
Burnes terminated upon this bank and shoal of
time. If no morning is to dawn upon the night
IN winch he sleeps. then sorrow has no conso-
latlon, and this impressive and solemn cere-
mony which we observe to-day has no more
Significance than the painted pageant of the
stage. Ii the existence of Burnes was but a
troubled dream, his death oblivion. what avaiIs
it that the Senate should pause to recount his
virtues, and that his associates should assemble
in solemn sorrow around his voiceless sepul-
cher? Neither veneration nor reverence is due
the dead if they are but dust; no cenotaph
should be reared to preserve for posterity the
memory OF their achievements. If those who
come after them are to be only their successors
in annihilation and extinction.
Unless We survive, the ties of birth, affec-
ton. and friendship are delusive mockery: the
structure of laws and customs upon which soci-
city is based. a detected inposture: the codes of
morality and justice, the sentiments of gratitude
and faith are empty formulas. without force or
conservation. In this world only we have hope
and consciousness-whys should their inculca-
tons be needed? Duty must be a chimera.
Our passions and our pleasures should be the
guides of conduct, and virtue is indeed a super
stition if life ends at the grave
This is the conclusion which the philosophy
OF negation must accept at last. Such is the
felicity OF those degrading precepts which make
the epitaph the end. If these teachers are right.
If the life OF Burnes is like an arrow that is
spent. then We are atoms in moral chaos: ODE
dience to law is indefensible seryitude: rulers
and magistrates are despots tolerated only bv
popular nnbecility; justice is denial of liberty;
honor and truth are trivial rhapsodies; murder
and perjury are derisiye jests, and their harsh
definitions are frivolous phrases invented by ty-
trants to impose on the timidity of towards and
the credulity of slaves