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NOTICE 
 
 OP 
 
 THE LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 OP 
 
 HON. JOHN DAVIS, 
 
 READ BEFORE THE 
 
 AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY, 
 
 AT ITS MEETING HELD IN BOSTON 
 
 ON THE 2Cth OF APRIL, 1854. 
 
 / 
 
 BY HON. THOMAS KTNNICUTT, 
 
 OP WORCESTER. 
 
 
 i.s.A, _^.;J 
 
 ^ BOSTON 
 
 PRINTED BY JOHN WILSON & SON, 
 
 22, School Street. 
 
 1854. 
 
ET 3^0 
 
The followiniif notice of the life and character of the Hon. 
 John Davis formed a part of the Report' of the Council of 
 the American Antiquarian Society, made to a meeting 
 of the Society held in Boston on the 26th of April, 1854 ; 
 and is published in this form by direction of the Society. 
 
NOTICE. 
 
 Within a few days, death has agafti invaded our 
 ranks. The President of this Society, the Hon. John 
 Davis, died at his residence in Worcester, on Wed- 
 nesday, the nineteenth instant. 
 
 It would be dcpartmg from the custom of the Coun- 
 cil, as well as doing injustice to their o^vn feelings 
 and the character of the deceased, if they were to close 
 this report without a tribute to his memory. 
 
 For the last quarter of a century, the name of John 
 Davis has been intimately associated with the councils 
 of his native State or with those of the Union. Du- 
 ring that period, he has borne a part in public affairs 
 which will identify him with the history of his times, 
 and give to him a position among the wise and patrio- 
 tic statesmen of his country. Of such a one, when 
 enrolled among our members, and holding as he did 
 the position of our presiding officer, it is, though a 
 sad, yet not an ungrateful duty to inscribe a brief 
 
6 
 
 notice upon the pages of our records, and thus to tes- 
 tify to our successors and to posterity the estimate 
 which we entertam of his services and his charac- 
 ter. 
 
 John Davis was born on the thirteenth day of 
 January, 1787, in the town of Northhorough, in the 
 county of Worcester. Of a parentage neither afflu- 
 ent nor poor, it was his good fortune to feel the neces- 
 sity of that personal effort and persevering industry 
 which lie at the foundation of all success in life. Like 
 most of the distinguished men of New England, his 
 early training v^s upon his paternal farm and in the 
 common schools of his native town, where he acquired 
 that hardihood of physical constitution, which, in after 
 years, bore him through many an hour of suffering 
 from acute disease, and, with the rudiments of educa- 
 tion, those traits of character which contributed essen- 
 tially to his success in the rough contests of his 
 subsequent career. 
 
 After the usual preparation, a part of which was 
 made at Leicester Academy, he entered the Freshman 
 class of Yale College in the year 1808, and graduated 
 in course with honor in 1812. 
 
 Having selected the law for his profession, he 
 entered upon its study in the office of the Hon. Fran- 
 cis Blake of Worcester, who then stood unrivalled at 
 the Bar of that county, and was admitted as an attor- 
 ney in 1815. Just ten years from that time, in 
 December, 1825, he took his seat in the Congress of 
 
the United States, as the representative of the Wor- 
 cester South District. In that position he continued 
 eight years, until January, 1834, when, having been 
 elected Governor of the Commonwealth, he entered 
 upon the duties of that office, in the discharge of 
 which he continued until March, 1835, when he took 
 his seat in the Senate of the United States, to which 
 he had been elected by the Legislature then in ses- 
 sion. He remained a member of the Senate until 
 January, 1841, when he rcassumed the office of 
 Governor of the State, having been elected in the 
 autumn of 1840, and continued to discharge its duties 
 imtil January, 1843, when, having been defeated in 
 the previous Gubernatorial canvas, he remained in 
 private life until March, 1845. In that year, upon 
 the death of the Hon. Isaac C. Bates, then a Senator 
 from Massachusetts, he was elected his successor by 
 the Legislature, and continued to represent the State 
 until the 4th of March, 1853, when, upon the expira- 
 tion of his term, he finally retired to private life. 
 
 It will be seen by these dates, that he was eight 
 years and a fraction of a year a representative in Con- 
 gress, three years and a fraction Governor of the 
 Commonwealth, and nearly fourteen years a member 
 of the Senate of the United States ; making twenty- 
 five years, or more than half of his entire manhood, 
 spent in the public service. 
 
 The success of Mr. Davis in his profession was 
 remarkable. He has been known to say, that his dif- 
 
8 
 
 fidence was so great in early life, that, for years after 
 he had acquired some reputation at the Bar, he never 
 rose to address the court or jury without embar- 
 rassment ; yet, at the end of ten years after his admis- 
 sion to practice, upon the elevation of Governor 
 Lincoln to the Bench, he was the acknowledged head 
 of his profession in a county of wide extent, and 
 always distinguished for the ability of its Bar. As an 
 advocate, he had few superiors in Massachusetts. 
 Others there were more eloquent, possessed of more 
 genius, capable of producing more thrilling effect by 
 impassioned declamation and beautiful imagery ; but 
 there were few, if any, possessed of more power to 
 convince or persuade a New England jury. His ima- 
 gination was always subordinate to his judgment ; 
 perhaps he had too little of the former facidty. He 
 seldom indulged in declamation. His strength lay in 
 the clearness of his statement, in logical arrangement, 
 in a facility of grouping the evidence bearing upon a 
 given point, in a sagacity that never failed him in the 
 selection of the topics and illustrations suited to 
 the tribmial he addi*essed, with which his mind was 
 stored by extensive reading and wide observation; 
 and, added to this, a smcerity of manner so perfect 
 that it could not be counterfeit. It is not strange, 
 that, with such endo\\Tnents, he should be successful 
 with a jury composed of men distmguished, as most 
 New England juries are, for their common sense, ear- 
 nest to discover the truth, and suspicious of all attempts 
 
to lead their jiulgment astray by appeals to their feel- 
 ings or imagination. 
 
 As a lawyer, ^Ir. Davis was not remarkable for 
 extensive reading. In this, his maxim was, " Miiltum, 
 noil multa.'" His mind was well stored with legal 
 principles, and he seldom failed of making a just 
 application of them in practice. His arguments ad- 
 dressed to the court were always characterized by this 
 habit of his mind ; and, though he never permitted 
 himself to be surprised by the citation of cases which 
 he had not seen, he relied more upon well-settled 
 principles, and the deductions logically made from 
 them by his own mind, than by the citation of any 
 number of analogous authorities. He was always lis- 
 tened to by the court with attention, as one who had 
 something to say, and from whom something might be 
 learned, a fact which means something more than a 
 compliment in the Supreme Court of Massachusetts. 
 
 But it was as a statesman that Governor Da\is was 
 most distinguished, and upon his character in. this 
 capacity "vvill rest his chief claim to an enduring repu- 
 tation. He had not long been a member of the House 
 of Representatives before he became distinguished. 
 The system of protection to American industry was 
 then just assuming a decided character, and he at 
 once gave to it the aid of his intellect, his industry, 
 and experience. His opinions upon all questions 
 connected with it were highly respected ; and it was 
 in no small degree under his auspices, as a leader in 
 
 2 
 
10 
 
 the House, that the system was finally perfected. In 
 the contests growmg out of this policy, he encoun- 
 tered the most distinguished of its opponents m that 
 body, and, in the opinion of its friends at least, achieved 
 a decided triumph. When it is remembered that Mr. 
 McDuffie of South Carolina was then the leading 
 supporter of the opposite side of the question, this is 
 no light distinction. The weapons which win success 
 in such a warfare must have no ordinary temper, and 
 be wielded with no want of strength or skill. 
 
 It was in the latter part of his service in the House, 
 that South Carolina took her position on the subject 
 of a practical nullification of the tariff laws, in the 
 enactment of which he had taken so conspicuous a 
 part ; and that the integrity of the Union was directly 
 and imminently threatened. It will be recollected by 
 many with what equanimity and firmness he bore 
 himself through all that trying period, yielding to no 
 unmanly fears, but possessing his spirit calmly in the 
 conviction of a just cause, and reassuring others by 
 his confidence in the strength of the constitution to 
 carry itself safely through the crisis. 
 
 Upon his elevation to the Senate, he entered upon 
 an arena in which it was still more difficult to acquire 
 and sustain a reputation of a high order ; for there, 
 in addition to a host of other able men, stood, in the 
 full strength of their manhood, with every muscle 
 and sinew and nerve in vigorous action, that great trio 
 of intellectual champions, around whose contests of 
 
11 
 
 almost superhuman power already tradition is casting 
 the halo of an heroic age. It is not, of course, in a 
 comparison with these, in their peculiar characteris- 
 tics, that Governor Davis is to find his true position 
 as a debater or a statesman. The matchless manner 
 and the " voice divine " of Henry Clay never yet fell 
 to other mortal lot. Mr. Calhoun's remorseless logic 
 and metaphysical skill were pre-eminently his own. 
 And Mr. Webster's grasp of intellect and sublime 
 imagination were as unequalled as the brow which 
 foreshadowed them. Into this arena, Governor Davis 
 brought that admirable temper, that sagacity, that 
 dispassionate wisdom, which had distmguished him in 
 the House, and which had now culminated to their 
 zenith ; and he soon took a rank, which never deserted 
 him, among the wisest and most able members of that 
 remarkable body. 
 
 There he renewed his efforts in support of the pro- 
 tection of American industry, and for many years 
 defended the policy whenever it needed defence. His 
 speech in 1840, in reply to Mr. Buchanan of Penn- 
 sylvania, will be remembered as one of his most suc- 
 cessful efforts, and as having had probably more 
 influence among the masses, in the unparalleled poli- 
 tical contest of that year, than any other document 
 that issued from the press. 
 
 For many years he was the Chairman of the Com- 
 mittee on Commerce in the Senate ; and, though the 
 duties of that Committee were foreign from his early 
 
12 
 
 pursuits and studies, he applied himself to the dis- 
 charge of them with such energy and devotion, that 
 he soon mastered the principles and details of the 
 subjects referred to him. As a branch of commerce, 
 his attention was early attracted to the fisheries, in 
 which his own constituents were largely and success- 
 fully engaged ; a department of industry, which, 
 whether we consider its importance to the national 
 wealth and national defence, or the fearless hardihood 
 with which it is pursued in every climate and sea, 
 justifies the magnificent and prophetic eulogium of 
 Burke, who saw in it the promise of the future great- 
 ness of a people then but m the " gristle of manhood." 
 The prophecy has become history ; and however some 
 may have been disposed to disparage this element of 
 national prosperity and honor, Mr. Davis claimed for 
 it the fostering care and protection of the government, 
 and on all occasions gave to the brave mariners em- 
 ployed in it his steadfast support. Many a bold 
 seaman, as he pursued his prey on the stormy banks 
 of Newfoundland, amid the icebergs of the polar sea, 
 or beneath the burning sun of the torrid zone, has 
 had reason to bless the vigilant care of the fearless 
 senator, who never forgot or failed him when his rights 
 needed a defender. 
 
 When he left the chair of the Committee on Com- 
 merce, it was admitted by common consent, that it 
 had never been filled with more fidelity, or with 
 greater usefulness to the country. One of his last 
 
13 
 
 labors as a member of the Senate was the framing 
 and perfectmg a bill for the regulation of steam na^-i- 
 gation, with the object of diminishing the immense 
 hazard to life with which it had been attended ; and, 
 though opposed by adverse interests, and thwarted 
 by all the arts of which parliamentary skill is master, 
 he succeeded in establishing a code of regulations 
 whose beneficial effects have already been widely felt, 
 and which is destined in the future, in no small 
 degree, to ensure safety in the use of that fearful 
 power which we have harnessed to our commerce, and 
 have hitherto left almost without control. 
 
 But it was not to such special subjects as the 
 tariff and commerce, large though they are, and com- 
 prehensive enough to monopolize the labors of a life, 
 that he limited his attention. His was a mind which 
 could not content itself with specialties, however use- 
 ful or absorbing. He surveyed the whole map of 
 statesmanship, and w^as satisfied to leave no part of it 
 unexplored. The principles of international law, of 
 diplomatic intercoiu'se, of constitutional law as applied 
 to the States and the general government, and the 
 conflicts between them,, our systems of finance and 
 public domam, our foreign and our domestic relations, 
 the great questions of peace and war, of international 
 duties and international rights; — all these, and many 
 more, he made his study ; and upon them all, who- 
 ever has read the debates ^of the Senate through the 
 period of his membership, during which all of them 
 
14 
 
 have been discussed, and still more those who have 
 enjoyed the privilege of his conversation, must have 
 been impressed with the great extent of his knowledge, 
 the comprehensiveness of his intellectual vision, and 
 the high character of his practical wisdom. 
 
 On the agitating questions of a domestic character 
 which have been discussed during his connection with 
 the Senate, while he steadily maintained the rights 
 and defended the interests of the North, Mr. Davis 
 was always ready to do justice to the South. With 
 him her constitutional rights were sacred ; for to the 
 constitution he acknowledged no divided allegiance. 
 Whatever provisions were found clearly set down in 
 that instrument were fundamental articles in his poli- 
 tical creed. He never complained of them or at- 
 tempted to evade them. He was accustomed to take 
 enlarged views of the various and diversified interests 
 of the country, as forming in combination the strength 
 of a great and united empire, destined m its integrity 
 to advance the civilization of the world beyond any 
 experience in its history, and by its dissolution, if dis- 
 solved it shoidd be, to retard it by fearful and unde- 
 fined perils and disasters. H/s regarded the union of 
 the States, therefore, as a priceless blessing, to be 
 maintained only by a faithful adherence to the com- 
 promises of the constitution. But, while he w^as ever 
 ready to respect the rights of other sections of the 
 Union, he firmly insisted upon those of his own ; and 
 upon all questions on which he was to act, involvmg 
 
15 
 
 either, he claimed, what he freely conceded to others, 
 the right to be guided by his own independent judg- 
 ment. This he followed, on more than one occasion, 
 with a fearlessness which dared to obey conscience 
 and duty, regardless of personal hazard or popular 
 reproach. 
 
 On the subject of international relations and duties, 
 Mr. Davis held sacred the obligation of treaties, and 
 the still higher obligation of dealing justly, under all 
 circumstances, with other nations, whether bound by 
 treaties or not. His mind revolted from all attempts 
 to wrest from the weak their rights or their territory, 
 either by encouraging lawless individual enterprises, 
 or by seeking occasions to involve them in national 
 quarrels. The doctrine of a manifest destiny, in 
 accordance with which we are to extend our republi- 
 can empire, by right or by wrong, over the whole 
 continent, found no lodgment in his mind. He ad- 
 hered to that safer, that more benignant policy, which 
 seeks to cultivate, to civilize, and adorn the vast 
 empu'e which we already possess, rather than that 
 which covets new provinces at the expense of national 
 honor, and it may be of national security. 
 
 In regard to the question of intervention in Euro- 
 pean politics, which so much excited the country 
 during the visit of that extraordinary and erratic 
 genius, the distinguished Hungarian exile, he quietly 
 reposed upon the great doctrine of the father of his 
 country, and lived to see the storm of popular entliu- 
 
16 
 
 siasm subside into the calm of a conservative public 
 opinion ; a result for which, in the closing days of 
 his life, in view of the events transpiring upon the 
 continent of Europe, he had reason to be grateful, as 
 a lover of the peace and prosperity of his country. 
 
 Neither the limited time for the preparation of this 
 notice, nor the occasion itself, admits of an extended 
 review of Mr. Davis's opinions upon subjects of public 
 policy, or of greater detail in regard to his senatorial 
 career. His personal influence in that body, during 
 the latter part of his connection with it, and up to the 
 hour he left it, was probably unsurpassed by that of 
 any other member. The sober thoughtfulness and 
 spotless integrity of his life, his freedom from extra- 
 vagance of manner or expression, his extensive and 
 accurate information on subjects the most diverse, his 
 ability to grapple with and master both principles and 
 details, his readiness to impart knowledge, his long 
 experience in public aflairs, his reputation for solid 
 judgment, his wisdom in council and firmness in time 
 of trial, united to give him a position in the Senate, 
 which any who sat there might well be content to 
 occupy. It may safely be said of him, that few men 
 have at any time belonged to that august body who 
 have possessed greater capacity for the service of the 
 country, few who have exerted their talents with 
 more fidelity, and fewer still who have accomplished 
 more beneficial results. 
 
 When Governor Davis was first elected to the 
 
n 
 
 office of Chief Magistrate of the Commonwealth, he 
 had never been connected with the State Government. 
 His public life had been confined to Congress, as the 
 representative of his district. Ilis reputation acquired 
 there was the basis of his popularity at home. Suc- 
 ceeding one of the most popular and efficient chief 
 magistrates the State had ever had, the post was a dif- 
 ficult one to fill, without suffering by the comparison 
 which would be sure to be instituted. It is praise 
 enough to say gf him, that he filled it without a dimi- 
 nution m the amount of public regard which his pre- 
 decessor had won. He remamed in the office of 
 Governor at this time but little more than a year, 
 when he was transferred to the Senate. His selection 
 a second time as the candidate of his party for the 
 executive office was in 1840, when the political con- 
 trol of the State had passed into the hands of its 
 opponents, and when it was deemed necessary to put 
 in nomination the strongest man in the popular favor 
 whom the party possessed within its ranks. There 
 was no doubt in the minds of any who that man was ; 
 and the result, in his election by a popular majority 
 of nearly twenty thousand votes, showed the wisdom 
 of the selection. His executive administrations were 
 characterized by a careful and conscientious attention 
 to every department of duty, by a strict regard to the 
 constitutional limitations upon his authority, by a 
 jealous guardianship of the rights of the State in her 
 relations with the General Government and her sister 
 
18 
 
 States, and by a watchful concern in all her industrial 
 interests, in her educational system, and her charitable 
 institutions. 
 
 But the executive department of government was 
 not that which was best suited to his tastes, or the 
 character of his mind. He liked better the larger 
 questions and broader field of contemplation opened 
 to the statesman in the national legislature, and he 
 returned to the Senate with no wish again to assume 
 the responsibilities and duties of executive station. 
 Here he remained until within little more than a 
 year of his death, when he returned to 'his home, with 
 the intention of never again leaving it' for public life. 
 And there, his labors ended, and his work all done, 
 he died, — 
 
 " Like one who -RTaps the drapery of his couch 
 About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams." 
 
 Massachusetts mourns his death as a public loss. 
 Well she may. She never had a wiser, a more faith- 
 ful, or a more useful statesman. Long Avill she hold 
 his services in grateful remembrance. Numerous as 
 have been her distinguished men, and provid as she 
 has reason to be of the long line of patriots who have 
 illustrated her annals and adorned her councils, none 
 have left to her the legacy of a nobler or a purer 
 public life. 
 
 Distinguished as Governor Davis was in public, 
 it was in the relations of private life that the true 
 
19 
 
 worth of his character was best known and appre- 
 ciated. Unostentatious in his manners, simple to a 
 remarkable degree in his tastes, steadfast in his inte- 
 grity under all circumstances, easy to be approached 
 by the humble, always ready to listen to the weak 
 and the friendless, stern and uncompromising in his 
 resistance to wrong, social in his habits, genial in 
 his disposition, and constant m his friendships, he 
 was peculiarly fitted to adorn a private station, and to 
 make happy the narrow circle of home and neighbor- 
 hood and friends. These genial and agreeable quali- 
 ties accompanied him in his intercourse with public 
 men ; and, above all, his allegiance to truth followed 
 him wherever he went, and whatever he did. In pri- 
 vate and in public life, the " incorriipta fides " of the 
 man and the statesman never deserted him. _ It was 
 the pole-star of his life, and, like the " in hoc^vinces " 
 of Constantine, always flamed on the sky before hun. 
 
 Governor Davis was a man of large reading, and of 
 wide and minute observation. His knowledge was 
 extensive and various. It was difficult to suggest a 
 subject on which something could not be learned 
 from him. He had devoted much time to the reading 
 of history, both ancient and modem ; and few persons 
 were so thoroughly instructed in the details of our 
 own colonial and national history. In the later years 
 of his life, he resumed the reading of ancient classic 
 authors, among whom Caesar, Tacitus, and Livy ac- 
 corded best with his tastes. 
 
20 
 
 In conversation he possessed remarkable power. 
 Few men eqnalled him as a talker. His resources 
 seemed to be never-failing. It was delightful to listen 
 to him, as he sat in his o^vn house, surrounded by his 
 friends, pouring forth instruction by the hour, from 
 lips that never tired, and from a mmd never exhausted 
 of its treasures, upon themes of the most varied cha- 
 racter, social, political, historical, moral, — rising from 
 those of ordinary interest, up to those which deal 
 with the highest questions of human life and human 
 destiny. Had Governor Davis's lot been cast in .a fli^ . 
 ferent sphere, had he occupied the chair of history or 
 moral philosophy in a university, there can be little 
 doubt that he would have achieved a fame as honor- 
 able, if not as distmguished, as that which crowned 
 his political career. ^* 
 
 Though deeply engrossed with the cares and duties 
 of political station, he yet found time to interest him- 
 self m those benevolent enterprises which have' for 
 their object the improvement of the world in ci^dliza- 
 tion, in morals, and religion. In the proceedings of 
 the American Bible Society he felt a warm interest, 
 and consented for a number of years to act as the 
 President of the Worcester County Auxiliary Bible 
 Society, in which capacity he afforded efficient aid to 
 the parent association. Penetrated himself with a 
 conviction of the inspiration of the Scriptures, and of 
 the truth of the great and beneficent doctrines of the 
 Christian religion, he regarded their circulation, in 
 

 21 
 
 every tongue and in every land, as the means of tlie 
 moral elevation, and the general and peimanent ci\dli- 
 zation of the human race. 
 
 Of the interest which he felt in this institution, and 
 the attention which he devoted to its concerns, the 
 reports of the council from year to year will testify. 
 As its friend and constant benefactor, he bestowed 
 upon it many and valuable favors ; and, as its Presi- 
 dent, he conferred upon it honor, and devoted to it 
 the last services of his life. 
 
 itr But it is time to bring this notice to a close. 
 Again we are reminded by this event of the fearful 
 havoc which death has made among us within the last 
 three years, — 
 
 . " The great are falling from us ; " 
 r 
 
 Calhoun, Clay, Webster, — all within so short a space, 
 that, as each departed, he seems to have been calling 
 to the next to follow him. And now Davis has 
 joined them, may we not believe, to unite with their 
 spirits in that higher council, around the throne of 
 the Most High. 
 
22 
 
 EE SOLUTIONS. 
 
 After the preceding report was read, Hon. Robert 
 C. WiNTHROP rose, and spoke as follows : — 
 
 I pray leave, Mr. Vice-President, to present to*;tlie ^^^ 
 Society a resolution or two, for the purpose of placifife^^ 
 formally upon the records of this meeting the vfewsr"' *.*• 
 which have been already expressed on all sides of the 
 hall. They relate, I need not say, to our lamented 
 President, whose death has been so fitly and feelingly 
 announced to us in the Report of the Council. 
 
 It has been my good fortune to know Governor 
 Davis long and well. It is twenty years this very . 
 month, since I entered his military family (as it is C 
 sometimes called) as his senior aide-de-camp, upon his ' 
 first election to the office of Governor of Massachu- 
 setts. From that time to this, hardly a year has 
 elapsed in which I have not been associated with him 
 in some sphere or other of the public service. I have 
 known him, for years together, in the intimacies of a 
 Congressional mess, where all that is peculiar in pri- 
 vate character is sure to make itself known. And it 
 has been my privilege, too, to serve at his side in the 
 Senate Chamber of the United States, during a brief, 
 
i 
 
 23 
 
 but crowded and momentous, period in the history of 
 our national legislation. I desire, under these circum- 
 stances, sir, to bear my humble testimony to the many 
 excellent and noble qualities, both of head and of 
 heart, which distinguished him everywhere alike. No 
 better or worthier senator, in my humble judgment, 
 was ever sent to the Capitol from Massachusetts, or 
 from any other State, than John Davis ; none more 
 intelligent, more industrious, more faithful, more use- 
 ful, more- pure, disinterested, and patriotic. 
 ■ ''^•Hi.s pli^sical health and vigor were, it is true, not 
 ...V^l-w^ays equal to the demands which were made upon 
 him. He had, too, a natural repugnance to every 
 thing in the nature of ostentation or personal display. 
 But he had . a word ably and fitly and eloquently 
 spoken for every occasion where it was called for; 
 and he had, what is better than a whole volume of 
 words, a quick eye, a listening ear, an attentive and 
 thoroughly informed mind, and a punctual personal 
 presence, for the daily and practical proceedings of 
 Congress. No man took a more active interest, and 
 no man exerted a more valuable influence, in regard 
 to the real business of the country. Though born 
 and bred in the interior of the State, and educated to 
 the profession of the Bar, his mind seemed to have a 
 natural facility for grappling with the difficult ques- 
 tions of trade and currency and tariff's, which belong 
 more peculiarly to those who have their homes upon 
 the sea-board, and who are personally engaged in com- 
 
24: 
 
 mercial aflaii's. Upon questions of this sort, his 
 opinion was often appealed to, almost as law. More 
 than one occasion might be cited, where that opinion 
 was deferred to implicitly, as an all-sufficient authority 
 to govern the action of the Senate, even by those least 
 inclined and least accustomed to waive any views of 
 their own. The labor of the country, and the com- 
 merce and navigation of the country, owe him a debt 
 which could not easily have been paid, had he lived ; 
 and which now, alas ! can only be the subject of empty « 
 and formal recognition. *^ ^w£/'-" 
 
 Above all, sir, he was a just and virtuous mai:^^,^ 
 whose daily life was without spot or blemish, ^"and 
 whose example may be commended, without qualifi- 
 cation, to the imitation of both young and old. As 
 such, his name belongs to the treasures of our State 
 and nation, and his memory can never fail to be che- 
 rished by all who appreciate the value of virtuous and ' "* 
 Christian statesmen. > # 
 
 I ought to apologize, Mr. Vice-President, for having \ 
 added a syllable to the able and admirable tributes to 
 which we have just listened, in the Eeports of my 
 friend Judge Kinnicutt, and of our devoted Librarian ; 
 and I Avill only trespass further upon your time by 
 submitting the follo-vving resolutions : — 
 
 Resolved, That we have learned with unfeigned sensibility 
 and sorrow the sudden death of our distinguished and excel- 
 lent President, and that this Society will ever cherish his 
 memory with the warmest regard and respect. 
 
25 
 
 Resolved, That the President's chaii-, m the Society's hall 
 at Worcester, be shi'ouded with black until the next annual 
 meeting ; and that the Council be requested to take measures 
 for adding a portrait of Governor Davis to the Society's 
 
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 Resolved, That the thanks of the Society be presented to 
 the Council for the admirable memoir of our lamented Presi- 
 dent which they have presented in their Report, and that 
 they be instructed to prepare it for the press in a form in 
 which it may have general circulation. 
 
 Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be communicated 
 to the widow and family of Governor Davis, with an assurance 
 of the sincere sympathy of the Society in their afflicting 
 
 bereavement. 
 ft ^^* 
 
 1*lie Honorable Abbott Lawrence arose to second 
 the resolutions, which, he said, would unquestiona- 
 bly receive an affiraiative response from every mem- 
 ber of the Society. They indeed required no advocacy 
 from him, or any other person, to secure their passage ; 
 but he felt it due to the relations he had sustained to 
 the deceased, of a public and private nature, that he 
 should not permit the question to be taken until he 
 had tendered his humble tribute to exalted wtues, 
 the memorv of which is so dear to us all. 
 
 It had been the happy privilege of the speaker to 
 be associated with Governor Davis in bonds of social 
 intimacy for a long series of years ; he had also been 
 connected with him in the care or arrangement of 
 many important matters of general interest. He could 
 say of Governor Da^'is, that no one could be a more 
 
26 
 
 true and judicious friend; no one more devoted to 
 the faithful discharge of delegated power ; no one in 
 whose bosom glowed a more pure or ardent patriot- 
 ism; no one whose moral character was more free 
 from blemish. Governor Davis possessed extraordi- 
 nary sagacity, incorruptible integrity, and industry 
 which never flinched in the face of arduous labor. 
 These qualities, backed by the results of close obser- 
 vation of men, and extensive researches in books, 
 enabled him to take and retain a position in our 
 national councils which it has fallen to the lot of few 
 men to achieve. They were qualities which ev^m 
 political hostility has neither depreciated n'or denied 
 and whose beneficial effects illuminate the pages of 
 our nation's legislative history. ^ 
 
 Mr. Lawrence said it would be superfluous for him 
 to specify the many and noble results of Governor 
 Davis's public labors. They were on record, and had 
 already been ably and eloquently set forth in the 
 Reports which had just been laid before the Society. 
 The good which he has done " is not interred with the 
 bones " of the great man who has fallen : the State and 
 the nation have been made happier and better by his 
 life. Mr. Lawrence (of whose remarks the above is 
 but an outline) concluded by an affecting allusion to 
 the beauty of the character of the deceased in his 
 domestic relations. 
 
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