Evening journal., 1889-02-26
OF THE GRAVE
An Eloquent Thanatopsis by
Senator Ingalls,.
EULoGY ON CONGRESSMAN BURNEs

An Men Are Equal In the Democracy of
Death-work of the senatc--Fiiibuster-
ing Begun In the House Against the
cowIes Bin--General Washington News.
WASHINGTON, Feb, 26.-Thc senate passed
the house hill. 70 divide portion Of the Sioux
reservation in Dakota, also the bin to ratify
and confirm an agreement with the Ute 1ndi
ans. The army appropriation bin was then
taken up, senator Cullom giving notice thnt
when il was disposed OF he would call up the
Oklahoma bill
At o'clock the resolution on the death Of
the late Representative Burnes, OF Missouri,
was taken UP and Senator CoclSrell addressed
the senate. He was followed hy Senator In
gals who for half an hour. held the atten-
ton Of full senate and crowded galleries
Mr.. Ingalls, said; "These are the culmina-
ting hours Of the closing scene in the drama
Of our national life When this day week re-
turns one political party win relinquish and
another assume the executive functions Of
government. On every hand are visible the
preparations to Welcome the coming and
speed the parting guest Events Of great
pith and moment are waiting on the event Of
the brief interval While pleasure wandess
restlessly through the corridors Of the Capitol,
hope and fear, ambition, cupidity aud revenge
sit in the galleries or stand at the gates eager
Qike the dying Elizabsth) to exchange mill
ions of money for that inch Of time on which
success or failure wealth or penury. honor
or obloquy depend At this crisis and juno
ture, when every instant is priceless. the
senate, resisting every inducement and solicit
tation, proceeds by unanimous consent TO con
slider resolutions Of the highest privilege-re-
ported from no committee, having no place
ON any calendar, but which take precedence
OF unfinished business and speoinl orders;
ON which the yeas and nays are never called,
and on which no negative vote has ever been
recorded-and reyerently panses in obedience
to the holiest impulses Of human nature 70
contemplate the profoundest mystery OF
human destiny the mystery of death.
''ln the democracy Of death all men at least
are equal There is neither rank nor station,
nor prerogatiye IN the republic OF the grave.
At that fatal Threshold the philosopher ceases
to be wise, and the song of the past is silent.
AT that fatal threshold Dives relinquishes his
millions and Lazarus his rags. The poor man
is as rich as the richest, and the rich man as
poor as the pauper. The creditor loses his
money and the debtor is acquitted Of his oh
legation The proud man sulrenders his Dig
nifty, the politician his honors. the worldiing
his pleasures. Hero the invalid needs no
physician, and the laborer rests from unre-
Quilted toll. Here, az least, IS natures final
decree in equity. The irony Of fate Is de-
feated The wrongs Of time are redressed
and injustice Is expiated The unequal dis
tribution Of wealth. Of honor, capacity, pleas
ure and opportunity which make life SO cruel
and inexplicable a tragedy, ceases in the
realm Of Death. The strongest has there no
supremacy, and the weakest has no defense.
The mightiest captain succumbs 20 that in
vineihe adversary, who disarms alike the
victor and the vanquished James Nelson
Burnes, whose life and virtues we commemor-
ate, was man whom Plutarch might have
described, and yandyke portrayed Massive,
rugged and robust, in motion slow, in speech
serious and deliberate, grave IN aspect,
serious in daneanor, Of antique and heroic
mold, the incarnation Of force. As looked
for the last time upon that countenance, from
which lfor the first time Ia so many years no
glance Of friendly recognition, nor word Of
welcome came reflected upon the impene-
trable and insoluble mystery o death. But
if death be the end, if the life Of Burnes
terminated upon this bank and shoal OF
time if no morning is 20 dawn upon the
night in which he sleeps, then sorrow has no
consolation, and this impressive and solemn
ceremony, 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 avails il that the senate should pause to
recount his virtues. Neither veneration nor
reverence are due the dead If they are but
dust; no cenotaph should be reared 10 pre-
serve for posterity the memory Of their
achievements If those who come after them
are 20 be only their successors in annihilation
and extinction. II in this world only we
have hope and consciousness duty must be a
chimea, our pleasures and our passions
should be the guides Of conduct, and virtue is
indeed a superstition 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 II the life Of
Burnes is as a taper that is burned out, then
we treasure his memory and his example IN
vain. And the latest prayer Of his depart
ing spirit has no more sanctity 70 US, who
soon or late must follow him, than the whis-
per Of winds that stir the leaves Of the pro
testing forest or the murmur Of waves that
break upon the complaining shoren
Eulogies were also pronounced by Senators
Voorhees,, Hale, Hampton, Coke and Vest.
after which the resolutions were adopted
unanimously and the senate adjourned
rlInktCrc Nr rLJr r~,au - -, ,