The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1907-03-16

4 charged with legislation, | sometimes
4 turns my attention ito other things
7 says William Wolff Smith. The guess
ton of 9@ulogies, for instance. Eulo-
{ giles OF deceased senator's and coa-
Il gressmen5 are usually a farce. some
times a great man passes away. and
the body of which he was member
very properly pays tribute to his pub
lie services and private life. To that
extent the custom Of congressional eu-
logies is worthy of approval But 1t
is carried to the extent that no mat
Ter who it Is that dies, the fact that
he Is found on the paw roll of house
or senate as a member. Is considered
ample Justification for suspendng pub
lie business that his colleagues may
pay tribute to his virtues, many OF
them not discovered until his death.
Congress takes good care of its own
and buries its dead at considerable
expense. l know of case of a very
wealthy senator died and was buried
out OF the senate contingent fund
Among the funeral expenses was a
charge for new pair of shoes for the
corpse. The total expense ran up
to nearly $4,000.
Generally. when member dies, he
has something on record which his col
leagues can review in q complimentary
manner, but often he has just come in
10 public life, and then the eulogizcrs
are hard pressed for something to say
about him. More than once, when
was on the floor of the house, have I
had members say to me: For heay-
ems sake tell me something about
Blank. We are going TO bury him,
and ] am down for a speech. These
exercises are always referred to as
"burying" a member. In many in.
stances the beautiful, tender tributes
which are paid to members of the
house whose membership was scarce
~ noticed until their death, except by
the sergeant alarms, who paid them,
are written by professional speech-wri-
tiers and not by the members who de-
liver them. 1t is not perhaps, gener-
ally known that many of the set
speeches delivered in the house and
senate are written by private secretar-
les, newspaper men and others, and
then distributed broadcast under the
government frank among the constitu-
ents of the member delivering the
speech as though 1t was the product of
his own brain. From congressional
eulogies in epitaphs is not long one
Who first placed on a tomb an i'm
scription reciting the good deeds of the
buried one is of little or no moment
The oldest Egyptian tombs bear them.
We can almost read the story of
nd af
Egyptian epttaphs and those of Greece
and Rome The old Egyptians gen.
orally wrote their epitaphs on the cof-
fins instead of on the tombs. AS a.
rule they began with a prayer and
ended with Boosting of the deeds of the
deceased. What Dragging set of old
buffers the Egyptian Pharoahs were
anyway!
The ancient Greek epitaph are of
great literary interest Usually they
are very tender and rich in expression.
The old time Greeks were given to
poetry as well as to philosophy, and
they combined the two in the work of
writing epitaphs. Rhymes are never
found among Greek epitaphs, but they
partake more or less of poetic imagery
and expression. The Romans were
the tersest and most direct in compos-
ing epitaphs. They confined them
selves to simple and direct state
ment of fact, without flourish or vain
Boosting
In all ages, and among all peoples
there have been instances of rare ten
derness and beauty in epitaphic writ
ing. Where can be found anything
more tender or beautiful than the cpl
taph written by Robert Burns for his
fathers tomb, containing the lines:
Here lies the loving husbands dear
remains
The tender father and the generous
friend"
Shakespeare wrote the epitaph of
Ben Johnson, his friend and oft COM
panion, and it consists of only four
words. on the tablet to his memory i'm
Westminster Abbey, and 1t will stand
for all time as classic. A volume
could not tell more than the four words
express;
ooh! Rare Ben Johnson
II Is history. biography. a crit
ique, tribute, all in one. 1t is a
monument to Johnson and to Shakes
peare combined. How different is the
great poets own epitaph in that same
Westminster Abbey, and it, too was of
his own authorship. 1t reads:
The Handicapped towers, the gor-
geous palaces. the solemn temples, the
great globe itself, yea all which 1t in
herits shall dissolve, and lake base
less fabric of a vision, leve not a
wreck behind
In an obscure grave yard in London
may be seen the grave of one who, If
ever an Engilsli-bo subject deserv-
ed a place in Westminster Abbey his
should have occupied most prom
inent position Who erected the
stone or caused it to be carved Is not
known. but the epitaph is simple, like
the life Of him it commentaries 1t
reads:
Mr.. John Bunyan.
~