Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1902-05-15
Capers Extraordinary :
In Pennsylvania ~ - :
To the Memory of 3
"Am0s" " - " y " 3
Democratic Prospects (
Still Growing - ~ " (
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mOIl NIL. CdilllOu duu A1dJOE Otey
We're both useful and growing men,
bers; but, as they were comparatively
new members, only the usual honors
were paid to them.
A Public Funeral For Amos Cummings.
To Amos J. Cummings the house paid
the unusual tribute of public funeral
in the hall of the house of representa-
tiyes, and the rare honor was well be-
slowed. He was one of the most useful
and most popular men who ever sat in
that body.
None knew him but to love him.
None named him but to praise.
Wherefore? Because he loved every
body. He spoke evil of no one With
his facile pen he made the fortunes of
many public men. He was a most
felicitous writer, and he delighted to
write of their excellences, which he
magnified as a lover magnifies the
beauty of his sweetheart. Remember
me at my best" was the pathetic re-
quest which Charles Dickens put into
the mouth of James Steerforth. Amos
Cummings always painted his friends
at their best, and he did it with mas
ter hand. He was thoroughly imbued
with the spirit of st. PauIs rhapsody
on charity in the thirteenth chapter of
Corinthians, "Though speak with the
tongue of men and of angels and have
not charity, have become as sounding
brass and tinkling cymbal." If there
n uiItl16 O1s< rpa M or q lli fitu in a
man, he sought it out and exploited it
to the utmost. A dullard he pitied;
rascal he loathed; a pretender he de-
tested. He was brave as lion, gentle
as woman, plain as an old shoe hon
est as the day is long, tireless as the
force of gravitation. He stood I'M
abashed at the presence of presidents
and princes; he was easily accessible
to the humble, the needy and distress
ed. At his funeral were statesmen, sol
diers, lawyers, editors and men of high
degree, but the lowly were there in
thousands with tears in their eyes and
sorrow in their hearts for their dead
friend, who never failed them at any
time or in any place. In the very best
sense he was 'the friend of the peo-
ple," and the people-the plain people,
as Lincoln called them-repaid that
friendship in Scripture measure, heap
ed up, pressed down and running over.
| The most convincing evidence of his
popularity is that he was spoken of
lantic to the Pacific and from the great
| lakes to the gulf of Mexico. Only on
rare and state occasions was he spoken
to as "Nfr. Cummings" or as Hon.
| Amos J. Cummings" He was Amos
to his friends, and his friends consti-
tuted newspaper reading America. A
worker all his days, he enjoyed this
world with the hearty zest of a boy,
and the world enjoyed him. 1t is a
more delectable place for human habi-
tation because he lived in it. He was
catholic, in the very best sense, in both
politics and religion. A Republican
house voted him a public funeral al
though he was Democrat, and a
| Catholic prelate participated in his fu-
neral services although he was Prot
eStant. Some men are created to be
honored; some are created to be loved;
a few are created to be both loved and
honored. To that small but goodly
company Amos J. Cummings undoubt-
edly belonged. He did not confine his
love to the human family, but it en-
braced all animated nature" to use
Oliver Goldsmith's phrase. He loved
the lower animals; he loved the birds;
he loved the flowers. One of his keen
est delights was to throw off the cares
of craftsmanship, lay down his facile
pen and while away a few hours with
his bosom crony, Hon. William r.
Smith, superintendent of the National
| botanical gardens, in luxuriating amid
the flowers and shrubbery which Shen-
stone would have admired and in dis
cussing "sweet Robbie Burns" the
tenderest poet that ever sang. There
was no sincerer mourner at the bier of
Amos Cummings than his most faith
full and intimate friend, Superintend-
ent Smith.
What wonderful and varied career
this lovable man had! Son of a Pres
byterian preacher, he was the child of
| the manse. While q mere boy he
served under Walker in Nicaragua.
| Congress voted him gold medal for
heroic conduct on the awful field of
| Fredericksburg. He boasted that he
had set type in every state in the
Union. He became the editor of a
great paper. He died one of the most
popular men in public life, mourned
! by mighty nation "He went about
/ doing good" and little children cried in
the streets when they heard that he
| was dead.
The consuming passion of this mans
soul was a noble love of country. He
fought for her in his young manhood
and Deriled his own life that the repub-
lie might live. In his maturer years
ne gave to her the full measure of his
devotion as legislator. He died, as
no doubt he wished to die, in her serv.
ice with the harness on his back. Type
setter, filibuster, soldier, editor, states
man-in all his vocations and ayoca
tions he followed the Scriptural in
junction, ''Whatsoever thy hand find
eth to do, do it with thy might"
No truer friend, no manlier man, nc
intenser patriot, ever lived or died.
The st. Louis Globe-Democrat makes
the following editorial statement.
Before condemning General Smith toe
severely it might be well to inquire just
how much carnage has come to pass un'
der his fire and sword" proclamation.
In other words, General Smith has
the 80. K" of The CD. if only few
score or few hundreds of fierce ten
year-olds were slain under the terms OF
his order. If Smiths order was disre
garded, then it merely shows that the
officers and men under Smith were
more humane than he. 1t does not init
igate his crime against humanity in the
estimation of single hair.
The Washington Post rises to remark
that He'll Roaring Kill-and-B Smitf
will hardly make pleasing attraction
for the close congressional districts this
year.
!, "compIete Pacification."
4 It is a well recognized fact tina
words and phrases gradually, through
the mutations of time and the changes
, of custom, often come to have mean
ings entirely different from the sens
originally intended in their use. Fo
s,1e+onoo +I,n xrrord ssnyovo,f,5 OF IN,