ADDRESSES
ON THE
DEATH OF HON. JAMES A. PEARCE,
DELIVERED IN THE
SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
ON
TUESDAY, JANUARY 13, 1z63
WASHINGTON:
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.
1863.




IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
THURSDAY, February 12, 1863.
Resolved, That ten thousand copies of the' eulogies on the life and character
of the Hon. JAMES A. PEARCE, delivered in the Senate and House of Representatives, be printed for the use of this House.
Attest:
EM. ETHERIDGE, Clerk.




ADDRESSES
ON THE
DEATH OF HON. JAMES A, PEARCE.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES,
TUESDAY, JANUARY 13, 1863.
Address cf MR. KENNEDY, of Maryland.
MR. PRESIDENT: The portals of the tomb have
scarcely closed over a late honored associate and colleague, when again the grim messenger of death has
entered, this chamber and taken from its deliberations a
bright and leading light, one whose long and exemplary
service had secured the respect and consideration of this
body; a faithful guardian of the high trusts reposed in
him; always a defender of the right, an enlightened
counsellor, and a wise and comprehensive statesman.
Sir, the melancholy duty has devolved on me to
announce the death of my late distinguished friend and
colleague, the Hon. JAMES ALFRED PEARCE, long a senator in Congress from the State of Maryland. He died
at his residence in Chestertown, Kent county, on the
21st of December, 1862, in the fifty-eighth year of his
age, after a long and painful illness, which kept him
from his seat the greater part of the last, session. For
the last six months of his life he had but little alleviation
from intense suffering, and but little hope of relief, save




4              OBITUARY ADDRESSES.
in the repose of the silent tonlb. Neither skill nor the
tenderness of affection could stay the cold hand of death.
In the hour of his country's greatest need, while the
ruthless shock of civil war was forcing the very strongholds of its liberty; in the full vigor of a ripened intellect; in the midst of his powers for usefulness, his sun
has gone down forever, and all that was mortal of that
wise and trusted senator has descended to the grave.
In offering this feeble tribute of my respect and
appreciation for his character and endowments I shall
not intrude upon the solemn occasion any elaborate
exposition of his political opinions, or lengthened eulogy
upon the many excellencies of his character, but follow
a sacred custom in briefly tracing the principal points
and facts of his life, through a career of honorable distinction and usefulness.
Mr. PEARCE was the son of Gideon Pearce, esq., of
Kent county, Maryland, but was born at the residence
of his grandfather, Dr. E. C. Dick, in Alexandria, Virginia, on the 14th of December, 1805. His paternal
ancestors were of Scottish origin, and came to the
province of Maryland about the year 1670, and held
many positions of distinction and influence from that
early period in the history of our State. He manifested
many of the traits of his Scottish progenitors, and in
none more than the steady perseverance which marked
his whole life in the attainment of high objects. This
was no less shown in his earliest days than in the later
periods of his life, when discharging the responsible
duties of his public station. So thorough had been his
preparation for college, under the tuition of an eminent




HON. JAMES A. PEARCE.             5
master at Alexandria, and so great was his aptness and
application, that he entered Princeton College at a period
when most boys are just beginning the higher studies
of an academic course.  He was admitted to his first
degree at the early age of seventeen, having graduated
with the highest honors of his class, which comprised
many names since distinguished in the various departments of science and learning throughout the country.
Subsequently he studied law, and was admitted to the
bar in 1824.
After this he resided a short period in Louisiana, but
returning to Maryland he was elected to a seat in the
House of Delegates of that State in 1831. Though too
young and modest to assume a leading part, it was the
commencement of a political career such as few attain
to, and such as any might well be proud of. In 1835
he was elected to represent his district in Congress, and
re-elected for a second term, ending in 1839. For the
succeeding Congress he was defeated by Hon. Philip
Francis Thomas, afterward governor of the State-but
was again returned in 1841, and served until 1843.
During this period he acquired much reputation by his
general course in the popular branch of Congress, but
especially by his report on the question of refunding the
fine imposed upon General Jackson. This brought him
so prominently before the people of his State that he
was elected that year (1843) to a seat in the Senate of
the United States, to succeed Hon. John Leeds Kerr.
From that date he was successively re-elected in 1849,
1854, and 1861; his term consequently would not have
expired until 1867-thus having given to his country, in




.6             OBITUARY ADDRESSES.
the national councils, twenty-five years of service to its
best interests, never charged with the reproach of narrow
partisanship or sectional motives, but at all times acting
under the influence of a broad and comprehensive
American statesmanship.
lMr. President, it may be a fact worthy of recording
in this hasty sketch of my late colleague, that he never
was defeated in any contest for public station or preferment, by the people or legislature of his State, from the
first struggle for the honors of his college class, down to
his last re-election to this body, with the exception of
one term in the House of Representatives, which I have
already named.
This is the summary of the public service of Mr.
PEARCE; and however prominent it may stand out, he
yet was marked in other spheres of life.  Notwithstanding the duties of his public position, which he
faithfully discharged, he was never neglectful of the
practice of his profession, in which he held high rank,
and was eminently successful. He was Professor of Law
in Washington College, at Chestertown. He was further
honored with the degree of Doctor of Laws, conferred
upon him by the College of St. James, in Maryland, and
also by his ancient Alma Mater, the college of Princeton.
His qualifications for high judicial station were so well
esteemed that he was offered, at one time, a seat on the
bench of the United States district court for the State
of' Maryland.  He was afterwards, during the same
presidential term of Mr. Fillmore, nominated and confirmed by the Senate as Secretary of the Interior, which
distinguished mark of appreciation he also declined, pre



HON. JAMES A. PEARCE.             7
ferring to remain in the Senate, where his sphere of
usefulness was more extended, and more in consonance
with his tastes and studies. As a friend of science and
the promotion of knowledge, he was appointed a regent
of the Smithsonian Institute shortly after its establishment, which post he held to the day of his death. For
seventeen years of his service in the Senate he was at
the head of the Joiut Committee on the Library of Congress, and, by his scholarly tastes and discriminating
judgment, has contributed much to its present enlarged
condition of usefulness.
Mr. PEARCE was a man of varied tastes and acquirements, combining in a greater degree, perhaps, than
almost any public man of his times, the learning of the
statesman and jurist with that of the accomplished
scholar.  He was fond of' paintings and music; was
gifted with a fine voice, wuithl which at times he charmed
the social circle, as he always did by the finished style
of his conversation. He was much given to the pursuits
of agriculture, and took a deep interest in all that pertained to its scientific advancement. He cultivated with
great success fruits and flowers. Indeed, so general was
his information, so cultivated was his intellect,'and so
thoroughly national and broad were his political views,
that his reputation was not long confined to the limits
of his State, but attracted such consideration among the
galaxy of distinguished men who grew up with the
whig party, that upon more than one occasion his
name was publicly canvassed in connexion with the
presidency of the United States. In politics Mr. PEARCE
had always been a leading and prominent member of the




8              OBITUARY ADDRESSES.
whig party, and advocated its doctrines till it ceased to
exist, in 1852.  From  that period to his death he
co-operated with the democratic  party, consistently
maintaining to the last those high. principles by which
he thought the Constitution could only be enforced, and
through it a free representative government of equal
States preserved.
It was during the excited scenes of 1850, when the
territorial question had aroused a fearful sectional spirit,
when Clay and Webster stood hand in hand to resist the
storm and avert the perils that threatened our common
country, that Mr. PEARCE made, perhaps, the most signal
effort of his senatorial career, in carrying an amendment
to the memorable compromise measures which changed
the original bill, after a most excited debate, and against
the most vehement opposition of Mr. Clay, who reported
them.
Generally averse to speaking, he suffered himself at
times to rest under the imputation of an unwillingness to
meet responsibility; when at others he would throw
himself into the arena and encounter the boldest and
ablest leaders of the times. He was no orator in the
popular sense; his sphere was among men of intellect;
his force was in convincing the minds of the cultivated
and intelligent, rather than by fervid declamation to
sway or excite the multitude. He never sought to subvert the judgment of the people by inflaming their
passions.
Mr. President, it is no slight evidence of high merit
when a comparatively young man could carry a measure
against the dictation and power of such a party leader




HON. JAMES A. PEARCE.             9
as Henry Clay, or acquire a national reputation at a
period when giant intellects were struggling for party
ascendancy; when Clay and Webster, Calhoun and
Benton, and other great lights, swayed the measures
and policy of the country; yet, sir, he achieved that
triumph; and while he was always regarded with just
pride by his State, there were many occasions in the
stormy times of the old whig conflicts when public
sentiment acknowledged the enlightened conservatism
of his statesmanship. He comprehended fully the complex character of our government, and in the support
of measures he looked only to high principles. His aim
was to develop the great interests of his country; to
elevate it to the highest summit of a just and durable
glory. Whatever errors of opinion may have been
ascribed to him by persons of different political sentiments, the most earnest of his opponents have never
found occasion to breathe a suspicion against his integrity. He had the most scrupulous regard for truth;
and his social and frank nature, his fine manners and
great conversational powers made him an attractive
and instructive companion, while no man was' more
sincere and true in his friendships.
As a senator, he illustrated and adorned the high position so often conferred upon him by his State; he was
dignified and courteous; his elevated moral sense was
universally acknowledged; and the records of our parliamentary history will transmit his name in conspicuous
association with the long list of leading men who impressed their views upon the policy of the country, and




10               OBITUARY ADDRESSES.
will preserve to posterity many enduring memorials of
his enlightened service and exalted patriotism.
Mr. President, in concluding this imperfect and hasty
sketch of our late associate, it will be gratifying to his
friends to know that no clouds overhung his future, but
that his pathway to the grave was brightened by the
hopes of a blissful immortality; and in placing upon
record the assurance of the complete and comprehensive
religious belief he died in, I am permitted to say that his
mind was so set upon the safety of his soul that it
allowed no contending thoughts beyond those which the
unhappy condition of the country could not fail to bring
before one so truly devoted to its best interests, and so
truly distressed at the perils which surround it.
He often expressed the only regret he had in death
was that he could not exhibit to the associates of his
public life the new light which he deemed not merely of
vital importance to every man, but of inestimable value
to every walk in life —not less to the statesman than to
the minister of the Gospel.  "And to add greater honors to his age than man could give, he died fearing
God."
Thus, Mr. President, lived and died a virtuous statesman and a Christian gentleman.
IMr. President, I offer the following resolutions:
Resolved, That the Senate of the United States has received
with the deepest sensibility the announcement of the death of Hon.
JAMES ALFRED PEARCE.
Resolved, That as an additional mark of respect to the memory
of the deceased, the members and officers of the Senate will wear
the usual badge of mourning for thirty days.




HON. JAMES A. PEARCE.             1
Resolved, That, as a further mark of respect for the memory of
the deceased, the Senate do now adjourn.
Ordered, That the Secretary communicate these resolutions to
the House of Representatives.
Address of Mr. BAYARD, of Delaware.
MR. PRESIDENT: Perhaps it might be questioned
whether the custom of announcing formally the death
of those senators who die during the recess of Congress, or while absent from Washington, is altogether
advisable and free from objections; but while it exists,
no man's memory is better entitled to its just. tribute
than that of the deceased senator from Maryland.
My acquaintance with Mr. PEARCE before I became a
member of this body was so slight, and our intercourse
had been so casual and transient, that, though an admirer
of his public course, even while we were members
of opposing parties, I did not fully estimate the extent
of his capacity and his value to his country.
In this body, for now nearly twelve years, I have had
b)etter opportunities for observation, and my admiration
and confidence have grown with my knowledge of the
mall.
Of an integrity beyond even a suspicion, he was
eminently a statesman, and a conservative statesman.
Highly educated, devoted to his country and his duties,
he brought to the consideration of public affairs an enlarged intellect, acute discrimination, and profound
knowledge, and, what is far more rare, a sound judgment, unbiased by prejudice -or passion.




12             OBITUARY ADDRESSES.
In debate on any subject which he discussed, he was
listened to with attention, and commanded that confidence and weight in our deliberations to which he was
so justly entitled. Always clear and logical in his argument, his appeals were to our reason, not to our passions
or prejudices. Though, perhaps, not a brilliant debater,
his calm clearness, his moderation of language, and
thorough knowledge of the subject under discussion,
made him a formidable opponent, and gave him a weight
and influence in the conduct of public affairs seldom
exceeded.
HIis love of country and high sense of duty were beyond question. The courtesy of a gentleman also characterized his intercourse with his fellow senators in
this hall, and in social life I can recall no instance in
which he uttered language wounding or irritating to the
feelings of those whom he opposed in debate. In social
intercourse his intelligence, varied knowledge, and amenity made him an agreeable and instructive companion.
Such is my estimate of our departed colleague.
His loss to his State and his country'may not at first,
amidst the daily occurrence of exciting events, be fully
realized, but will be felt in the future, and his State will
find it difficult to replace him by an equal. To his
family and friends that loss is irreparable; but leaves the
melancholy consolation, that when so able, so good, and
so upright a man dies, the loss is not to him, but to
those who survive. I have always fancied there was
much of truth in the saying of the ancients, "ov o; ysoe
0c;ovura, a-cro roy.xe  e~o;" and though our colleague did not
die a young man, yet he was called from us in the full




HON. JAMES A. PEARCE.            13
maturity of his powers, with the confidence of his country established by his past services and career. Cut off
thus by the inscrutable providence of God in the meridian of his capacity for protection to his family and service to his country, it may be well for us if his death
brings home to our gravest reflections the transitory
nature of human existence, and the utter vanity of
human ambition.
Mr. President, the Senate may possess in the future,
as in the past, more eloquent debaters than my deceased
friend from Maryland, but we shall look in vain fior a
sounder judgment, better balanced intellectual and moral
qualities, or more reflective and enlightened statesmanship, than was combined in JAMES ALFRED PEARCE.
Address of Mr. FESSENDEN, of Mfaine.
Mr. PRESIDENT: I knew the late Senator PEARCE
well. Members of the twenty-seventh Congress in
the House of Representatives, and belonging to the
same political party, our relations, though not intimate,
were friendly; and I could not fail to recognize in
him a careful and logical thinker, an accomplished
scholar, and a most courteous and agreeable gentleman.
Returning to Congress after a long absence, I found him
occupying a most distinguished position in the Senate,
and filling a large space in the public eye. Still memb ers of the same political party, we met only to renew
and strengthen our friendly relations. At that precise
period, however, was pending a measure, destined to




14             OBITUARY ADDRESSES.
sever political ties, separate personal friends, engender
and imbitter sectional controversies, and finally, in its
consequences, to afford the pretext for a long contemplated effort to overthrow the government and destroy
the Union, leading to all the horrors of civil war, in its
most dire and destructive form. You will, of course,
understand, sir, that I allude to the repeal of the Missouri restriction. Of that repeal, Senator PEARCE, though
in one sense a supporter, was not an advocate. I feel justified in saying that, however he might have felt compelled to countenance that most disastrous measure, he
lamented its introduction, foresaw many of its evils, and
had no sympathy either with its authors or their
purposes.
Of the time which has since elapsed I have only to
remark, in this connexion, that it placed us, politically,
wide as the poles asunder. We were in opposite currents, and they bore us daily further and further apart.
A southern man and a slaveholder, he became, whether
from necessity or choice, a participator in the consequent
struggle for permanent southern ascendancy; and truth
compels me to admit that most of the series of measures
which marked that struggle received his co-operation.
There were occasions, however, when, shaking from his
limbs both sectional and party shackles, he disdained to
violate his sense of right in obedience to the behests of
party or section. Of such occasions instances might
easily be found, and some of them are probably within
the recollection of many senators now present.
An event approached which was to throw into the
shade all previous epochs in the history of this nation.




HON. JAMES A. PEARCE.             15
The evil seed, industriously sown by designing and
wicked men, sprang forth at last, and produced its deadly
fruit. The pernicious doctrines taught by the apostles
of treason, under the names of nullification first, and
secession afterwards, culminated in open rebellion.
The leaders of that rebellion were many of them his
personal, and all of them his political friends. They
claimed to be acting in defence of an institution vital to
their welfare, and in which all had a common interest.
They claimed, moreover, that their common rights were
in danger of utter overthrow and consequent annihilation, and called upon all exposed to the common peril
for aid. either in the council or in the field.  Gigantic
in its proportions, the rebellion was prepared with a
skill, burst forth with a fury, and was conducted with a
vigor, which, notwithstanding its colossal strength, has
shaken our national edifice to its-base.  I am, however,
happy in the belief that at no time did this horrible
crime against humanity receive either countenance or
sympathy from  the senator of whom  I am  speaking.
Southern man though he was, and closely allied to the
south by family and friendly ties, his clear and logical
intellect was never clouded or confused for a moment by
the meretricious jargon with which treason strove to
cover its deformities; nor was his heart, strained as it
undoubtedly was by the rending asunder of so many
cords, perverted from its allegiance. Failing in health,
and conscious that the destroyer's hand was upon him,
he gave to his country all his remaining strength. To
the government, though not of his choice, he yielded a
steady, unfaltering, and liberal support-not timidly and




16              OBITUARY ADDRESSES.
grudgingly, but manfully and generously. Though disapproving, as a constitutional lawyer, of measures which
the Executive believed to be essential, he did not reserve
all his indignation for them, while finding no words of
rebuke for infinitely greater sins. His courage was not
of that anomalous character which sees no terror in the
comet as it rushes athwart the slky-," And from its horrid hair
Shlakes pestilence and war,"
while it trembles at every falling star.
I have said that I was happy in the belief that at no
time since the commencement of this great struggle was
he of whom I speak untrue to his trust.  My satisfaction has its origin particularly in the fact that, notwithstanding all difference of opinion and diversity of action,
our personal relations always remained of the most
friendly character. To daily intercourse in the Senate
was more recently added constant and frequent association upon two committees. It was not possible that
such intercourse and association with Senator PEARCE
should fail to create a high estimation of his capacity as
a legislator, while they developed qualities of mind and
traits of character eminently striking and attractive.
Long a member of the Committee on Finance, and assiduous in the discharge of his duties, no man was better
versed in the financial history of his country, more
thoroughly comprehended its resources, or was more
familiar with its wants.  Economical from principle and
habit, convinced that a lavish expenditure was of evil
tendency in nations as in individual affairs, and conscien



HON. JAMES A. PEARCE.            17
tious in the discharge of public as of private trusts, he
was scrupulously careful of the public money. But he
was too broad a statesman and too well aware of national
obligations and necessities to be mean or niggardly.
There was nothing local or sectional inhis legislation.
With him the voice of justice was potent, and he obeyed
that voice as willingly when borne upon a northern as a
southern breeze.
Chairman for many years of the Committee on the
Library, his associates on that committee enjoyed a companionship with him no less pleasing than instructive.
Distinguished as a scholar in early life, thoroughly imbued with a love of letters and of science, delighting in
books, he had read much and well upon a great variety
of subjects. An accurate and painstaking lawyer, his
mind was disciplined to logical exactness. Fond of the
beautiful in all its forms, and quick to discern it, his taste,
naturally good, had been highly and carefully cultivated.
He loved poetry and painting and sculpture and music
and flowers. It is not singular that, thus organized, he
should have felt and manifested a deep interest in whatever tended to enlarge the boundaries of knowledge, and
to increase the sum  of human enjoyment-that the
Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution, the
Coast Survey, the Botanic Garden, our exploring and
scientific expeditions, the adornment of the Capitol, all
should have experienced his fostering care, and found in
him an advocate and a friend.
Thus bringing to the discharge of his duties a rare
intelligence and a highly cultivated intellect, trained and
disciplined in the forum, fluent and easy of speech, grace



18             OBITUARY ADDRESSES.
ful in manners, and of a winning address, speaking
always directly to the point in debate, our late associate
early attained and always held an enviable position among
the most prominent members of this body. No one
ever presumed less upon such well-earned honors. Affable
and courteous, he was careful not to offend by word or
manner. Quick to resent an affront, and exacting the
respect due to himself, he never forgot what was due to
others. Of a somewhat impatient temper, he kept the
most vigilant watch over it; and, if betrayed into unguarded warmth, was ever ready to regret and atone for
any possible offence. Such an example is well worthy
of imitation. It bespeaks a kindness of heart and
delicacy of feeling which always mark the true gentleman, and of which vulgar and cowardly natures are incapable.
Senator PEARCE was a statesman, and not a mere
politician. You never found him making speeches, long
or short, for personal effect. Though a party man, he
was not a party tool. Though a stout adversary, he was
a generous one. He never inquired the cost of a curtain for the East Room, or counted the spoons on the
President's table. He never offered resolutions on which
to predicate harangues fobr local effect. Content to stand
upon his own sense of what was due from him to the
station he occupied, he left his character and his usefiulness to speak for him, both to the Senate and his constituents. A proud man, he scorned the petty arts of
the demagogue, and reposed with confidence upon the
enlightened judgment of the State which had intrusted
its dignity and its interests to his keeping.




HON. JAMES A. PEARCE.            19
Into the private and domestic life of' Senator PEARCE,
I will not attempt to enter. It may not, however, be
amiss to say that few men were his equals in the charm
of social intercourse. Possessing a correct taste and
great amenity of manner, being, withal, a close observer
of' events and a patient thinker, his conversation was
both interesting and instructive, and always fastidiously
pure. Few have more thoroughly mastered their own
language, or could habitually express themselves with
equal correctness and elegance. An awkward phrase
was to him an annoyance, and vulgarity almost a crime.
Mr. President, in all history we find but few among
public men who can be cited as exemplars of all the
virtues. The moral sublime is rarely illustrated either
in public or private life, except by individual actions.
We must judge men, in whatever station, by the age in
which they live, the circumstances which surround them,
the influences to which they are exposed, and all that
goes to the formation and development of individual
character. Tried by this standard, how few there are
who rise far above the level of their time and surroundings!
After receiving a large share of public attention for
many years, our friend and associate has finished his
earthly career at a point of time the most striking and
eventful in his country's history; at a period when the
question of man's capacity for self-government is to be
finally determined; when it is to be definitely ascertained
whether law and order or anarchy and misrule are to
dominate in this hemisphere; whether the cause of
progress and civilization is to be benefited or injured,
ri~~~~~~~




20             OBITUARY ADDRESSES.
strengthened or weakened, by our example; whether
freedom to man is henceforward to be the rule or the
exception in government; whether, in fine, this western
world is to present the imposing spectacle of a great,
united, prosperous, powerful, and free people, exhibiting
the virtues and bestowing the benefits of peace and a
regard for human rights upon all mankind, or whether
we are to become a hissing and a byword-a feeble
gathering of disunited, scattered, fragmentary, shadowy
republics, powerless for good, feared and honored by
none, despised by all, and most of all by ourselves, the
degraded and degenerate descendants of dead heroes.
As the dying statesman's eye turned for the last time
to meet the sun, did his mental vision penetrate beyond
the curtain which divides the present from the future?
Was he permitted, as earth was fading from his view, to
behold the future destiny of his country? WVhat may
be the revelations of such a moment none living can
disclose. And this is well. Could that mysterious veil
be lifted but for a moment, even the stoutest heart might
be appalled by what lies beyond. The terrible ordeal
through which we may yet be compelled to pass before
the end of this mighty struggle is attained, might require
more of courage and endurance than fall to the lot of
any people. But faith and hope endure forever. To
these angels of a merciful and righteous God we may
look, in the darkest hour, for support to a righteous
cause. Temporary defeat may await our armies, weakness may pervade our councils, rivers of tears may flow
from sad and sorrowing eyes, clouds and darkness may




HON. JAMES A. PEARCE,           21
be around about us, but hope for our beloved land and
faith in its destiny will yet strengthen the patriot's heart
and nerve his arm as he looks forward to the future.
The resolutions were unanimously adopted, and the
Senate adjourned.




422 4             (OBITUARY ADDRESSES.
fN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 13, 1863.
Mr. CRISFIELD.  I desire to call up the message from
the Senate, now upon the Speaker's table.
The message from the Senate was taken up and read,
as follows:
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES,
January 13, 1863.
Resolved, That the Senate of the United States has received
with the deepest sensibility the announcement of the death of Hon.
JAMES ALFRED PEARCE.
Resolved, That, as an additional mark of respect to the memory
of the deceased, the members and officers of the Senate will wear
the usual badge of mourning for thirty days.
Resolved, That, as a further mark of respect for the memory of
the deceased, the Senate do now adjourn.
Ordered, That the Secretary communicate these resolutions to
the House of Representatives.
Attest:                   J. W. FORNEY,
By W. HICKEY, Chief Clerk.
12-                                                               o




HON. JAMES A. PEARCE.           23
Address of Mr. CRISFIELD, of Maryland.
Mr. SPEAKER: The message which has just been read
at your desk is the official notice to this house of an
event which was known to each of us, and is mourned
by the whole country.
JAMES ALFRED PEARCE, late a senator in Congress
from the State of Maryland, after a long and painful illness, died at his residence in Chestertown, Kent county,
Maryland, on Saturday, the 20th day of December last.
He was born at the city of Alexandria, on the 14th
of December, 1805, and at the period of his death had
just entered upon his fifty-eighth year. He was descended, on the paternal side, from one of the oldest
and most respectable families in Maryland. His parents
resided in Kent county, in that State, but at the time of
his birth they happened to be at the residence of his
maternal grandfather, the late Dr. Dick, of Alexandria.
His mother died when he was quite young; and his
early education was directed by careful teachers in the
city of his birth, under the superintendence of his grandfather. He early gave evidence of the strong and quick
talents which made his after life so distinguished.
While he was yet very young, he was removed to the
College of New Jerssy, and when he had scarcely completed his sixteenth year, he graduated at that distinguished seat of learning with the first honors of his
class. Among his classmates were the late George R.
Ag




24             OBITUARY ADDRESSES.
Richardson, attorney general of Maryland, in his day
one of the brightest ornaments of the Maryland bar;
Albert B. Dod, afterwards a distinguished professor of
the same college; Hugo Mearns, of Pennsylvania, distinguished for his scholarship; and Edward D. MIansfield,
subsequently professor of law in the Cincinnati College.
To hold even an equal rank in such fellowship would
have been a great honor, but to take precedence over
them, at his early age, clearly foreshadowed his subsequent distinction.  At that period he distinguished
himself not simply for scholarship, but he then gave
evidence of the possession of the parliamentary abilities
which made his senatorial life so successful. He was a
member of the Cliosophic Society, and, as junior orator,
he won the first honors over all competition. In 1822
he took the degree of Master of Arts, and at a later
period of his life, that venerable institution, in recognition of his talents and public services, honored itself and
him by conferring on him the degree of Doctor of Laws.
He studied law in the city of Baltimore with the late
Judge Glenn, and was admitted to the bar in 1824.
Shortly after his admission, he commenced the practice
of his profession in Cambridge, Maryland. After remaining in Cambridge about a year, he renmoved to Louisiana, where he remained two or three years engaged
in planting. From Louisiana he came to the seat of his
family, in Kent county, Maryland, and in that county lhe
resided to the close of his life. On his return to Kent,
he resumed the practice of law. He very soon reached
the front rank of his profession. His mind, quick, analytical, and discriminating, was admirably fitted for the




HON. JAMES A. PEARCE.            25
successful pursuit of the law. By careful study he had
mastered the great principles of the science and made
them his own, and his ready elocution, enriched and
adorned by his ripe scholarship, and his immense and
varied stores of literature, made him a most powerful
and fascinating advocate. If he had confined himself to
the pursuit of the law, it is not, I think, too much, nor
any disparagement to others, to say that the Maryland
bar, at no period of its history, could have pointed to a
more profound jurist or a more successful advocate than
he would have been. But his fellow-citizens, with appreciative judgment of his capacity for parliamentary
duties, and of personal character, did not permit him
long to pursue the quiet walks of his profession, but
early called him into the public service.
In 1831, without any agency of his own, and contrary
to his own expectations, he was sent to the legislature of
Maryland. The confidence thus early bestowed was
never withdrawn, but, with one single exception, was
continued through all the mutations of party down to
his death. In 1835 he became a member of this house,
and, with the exception of a single term-when le was
defeated by a small majority by the Hon. Philip Francis
Thomas, afterwards governor of the State, and at a later
period Secretary of the Treasury-he was re-elected
from term  to term till 1843. In 1843 he was transferred to the other house, where he continued, by four
successive elections, till his death. This long and uninterrupted period of public service is the most honorable and conclusive proof of his great talents and purity
of character; and it is the more honorable and conclu



2 11           OBITUARY ADDRESSES.
sive when it is remembered-as all who knew him
know-that he never, throughout his long career, ever
took pains to conciliate the support of any one. He
despised the usual arts of electioneering, and when his
own election was the subject of consideration he was
austere and reserved, even to his friends, to a degree
which sometimes provoked complaint. I venture to
affirm that at no period, directly or indirectly, did he
ever speak one word, or do any act, with a view to propitiate any voter to his support; and from a long personal acquaintance with his character, I can say that his
delicate sense of propriety would not have permitted
him to accept office, except in obedience to the unsought
requisition of his fellow-citizens that his time and talents should be devoted to the public service.
The records of Congress for the last twenty-seven
years are replete with the evidences of the wisdom and
value of his labors. I shall not attempt to recount them
in detail: they are well known and deservedly appreciated by the country. These records, I will, however,
say, do show that he was a wise, prudent, and patriotic
statesman; that in no single instance did he forget his
own dignity, his duty to the whole country, and his devotion to his own State and people; that he never was
a partisan wrangler-the factious opponent of those from
whom he differed, the blind supporter of those with
whom he in general agreed, or the apologist of vice or
official delinquency. These records do show that he
had carefully studied the Constitution, and made it, under
all circumstances, the rule of his action; that he had an
exalted appreciation of what was due to the honor, glory,




HON. JAMES A. PEARCE.           27
and dignity of his country, and in every emergency supported them with conscientious and unfaltering zeal; in
a word, they exhibit him a patriot who loved his country;
a statesman who understood more nearly than most men
what was needful to its grandeur and power; a just
man, who, for himself and his country, with unyielding
perseverance, and according to his intelligent convictions, pursued the right.
He was, from taste and habit of thought, more inclined
to literature and science than to politics; and the early
training and liberal education which he had received
well fitted him to pursue the bent of his inclination. It
was in consequence of this that during his career in
Congress, first in the House of Representatives and
again in the Senate, he was a leader in advocating, directing, and controlling the various legislative enactments
which pertained to literature and science.
The Library of Congress was a favorite object of his
care, and he gave much time and thought to the management of its affairs. The value of this rich collection
of the recorded labors of the human intellect is greatly
indebted to his knowledge and judgment in tmaking the
selection of appropriate works.
The Coast Survey, including its advantages, methods,
and results, was another object of his special attention.
No member of Congress was better acquainted with the
details of its operations, and its annual progress; and no
one was more ready or better able to give an answer to
any question which might arise as to its management
and practical and scientific utility, or to defend it against
the attacks which it might receive from those who had




28             OBITUARY ADDRESSES.
not as thoroughly as himself mastered its history and its
character. His most elaborate speech upon the survey,
which was delivered in 1849, gave so full, so clear, and
so admirably arranged an exposition of the character and
progress of the work, that it not only established the
confidence of Congress in the enterprise, but also, by a
wide distribution of printed copies, served to enlighten
the public mind on the subject, and to direct favorable
attention to it as well as to himself.
The Botanic Garden was another object of his peculiar
regard. That institution, which has brought the plants
and trees of the tropics and the remote parts of the
earth to our doors, and is so replete with curious,
instructive, and interesting objects of study and gratification, has grown up under his personal superintendence
and care. He took much pleasure in and devoted much
of his time to its growth and improvement.
The Smithsonian Institution was another object of his
solicitude and care. In 1'847, immediately after its organization, he was appointed one of its regents, and very
soon afterwards was elected a member of the executive
committee, and afterwards became its chairman, which
office he continued to hold until the time of his death. He
critically examined the will of the founder, and became
convinced that the institution was intended not for educational purposes, nor even to diffuse useful knowledge,
but for the higher and more special purpose of increasing the sum of human knowledge by new researches
and explorations, and the diffusion of the result of these
among intelligent men in all parts of the civilized world.
Tn the discussions whic:h occurred in 1854, as to the




HON. JAMES A. PEARCE.           29
plan of organization, he took a lively interest, and defended, by an able and comprehensive speech, the course
which had been pursued by the regents in carrying out
the will of the testator under the law of Congress
authorizing the establishment. He also made an elaborate report to the board of regents on the distribution
of the income of the Smithsonian fund. He gave
scrupulous attention to the expenditures of the establishment, and, as chairman of the executive committee,
annually examined every item of expenditure during the
whole year.
Mr. PEARCE had great administrative and executive
power, and an active judicial mind. Though impatient
of mere routine duty, yet in grasping great principles, he
was never unmindful of details. He was singularly
familiar with the details of the government, as well as
exact in his knowledge of principles. Mr. Fillmore, in
just appreciation of these qualities, when he came to
form his Cabinet, appointed him Secretary of the Interior, and afterwards tendered him the appointment of
judge of the United States court for the district of Maryland, both of which places he declined, preferring to
remain in the position which had been confided to him
by the people of his own State.
Mr. PEARCE, by his talents, sagacity, and his thorough
knowledge of the government, and of public questions,
was admirably fitted for a party leader, and his friends
many times endeavored to push him forward, but he
shrunk from the mere contests of party. And yet, when
occasion required it, he did not hesitate to break a lance
with the most renowned champions, and always with




credit to himself. If h e did not always bear away the
laurels of victory, his flag never trailed in token of defeat. But he had no taste for that kind of debate; and
I venture to affirm that in all the records of the two
houses no speech of his can be found of a merely party
character. He never spoke but upon practical questions depending, and with a view to influence their decision. He never made a speech in either house for
effect elsewhere, and very rarely printed one for circulation even among his friends. The public, even his constituents, have no just idea of the extent and variety of
his labors. To be justly estimated, they must be searched
for through the ponderous records of the two houses
for a period of more than a quarter of a century.
He was not an ambitious man, in the ordinary sense
of that term. He had a just regard for his own character, and a becoming solicitude for his own fame. He
desired to be useful, to labor for his country, to benefit
his race, and to possess the good opinion of his cotemporaries; but he had no desire for the possession of mere
power. The presidency had no charms for him. At
one period his friends and many others thought that high
dignity was within his grasp, and he was urged to allow
himself to be placed in the way of it. This might have
been done without any change of opinion, the least sacrifice of principle, or the slightest indelicacy; but he
steadily refused, and on the ground that its burdens were
a too costly price to pay for its honors.
Mr. PEARCE was a member and a leader of the Whig
party. He was a firm believer in the constitutional
views and general ideas of policy which distinguished




HON. JAMES A. PEARCE.            31
that party. It is believed he retained these general
views till his death. When that party went down, and
in 1856, when the contest for the presidency was between Mr. Buchanan and Colonel Fremont, the chances
of Mr. Fillmore being hopeless, he supported Mr. Buchanan, in the vain hope of warding off the terrible sectional conflict which has since devastated the country;
and from that period he acted with the Democratic party.
He had a fearful apprehension of the dangers to result
from sectional controversy, and more than once warned
his countrymen of its fearful and fatal consequences.
His sympathies, of course, were with his section. He
looked on a dissolution of the Union as the most terrible
national calamity. He early avowed that secession was
adverse to the Constitution, and that there was no just
cause for revolution; and he repeated these opinions the
last time his health permitted him to occupy the floor of
the Senate for any length of time. He differed very
widely from the administration respecting the power of
arrest; and his last great speech was in defence of the
liberty of the citizen, and against the power of the
President to suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas
corpus. But his' loyalty and devotion to the government
were beyond question. Among the last letters I received
from him, was one in reference to a paper quite widely
circulated, with which my name is connected, and which
breathes in every line sentiments of loyalty and Union,
of which he spoke in terms of laudation; and, to use his
own expression, adopted its sentiments and opinions
without an if or a but. He longed to see the Union




32             OBITUARY ADDRESSES.
restored; and his last days were embittered by the apprehension that it might not be done.
In the intervals of relaxation from the public service
he devoted himself mostly to agriculture, and was a most
successful farmer. He took great delight in the pursuit,
and brought a farm, which in my youth I have roamed
over, noted for its barrenness, to be one of the most fertile and productive estates in Maryland. Annually lihe
used to give a farmers' dinner, at which his neighbors
were collected; and occasionally he gave to his fellowcitizens the benefit of his knowledge of the science and
practice of agriculture in the form of a public address.
His tastes were all refined, delicate, and elevated.
He could not tolerate the gross, vulgar, or indelicate.
He loved the beautiful in whatever fobrm it appeared.
He delighted in flowers; he was charmed with music.
The wild melody of birds never failed to draw from him
an expression of pleasure. He contemplated works of
art with appreciative and discriminating judgment; was
devoted to the drama; and luxuriated in elegant literature. In social intercourse he was without a rival, so far
as my observation goes. Iis rich and varied learning;
his thorough knowledge of men and things; the quick
and rapid evolutions of his mind; his inexhaustible fund
of incident and anecdote of remarkable persons and
periods; his wit and humor; the natural and easy flow
of his style; and his graceful and dignified manners, never
failed to fascinate all who were permitted to enjoy his
society.
He was a man of exalted virtue. He was incapable
of an impure or mean action. He was just in his deal



HON. JAMES A. PEARCE.            33
ings, truthful in every declaration, faithful to every
promise. During his whole life he was never suspected,
as far as I know or believe, of any impropriety involving
his personal honor. He passed through all the vicissitudes of public life and the struggles of party without
ever having his action ascribed to improper influences.
Purity of conduct was habitual with him: it pervaded
his whole life, and in every relation. It was my happiness long to enjoy his friendship and correspondence. I
have his familiar letters, running through a period of
over twenty years; and I take pride in saying that, in
all that intercourse, there never was a word spoken or
written by him which, if published, would not increase
the public respect for his character, and supply new
proofs that he was a good as well as a great man.
But the crowning glory of li-fe was his death. If the
former was an example of incorruptible virtue, which
shames our faults and challenges our emulation, his death
is a triumphant proof of the power and mercy of God,
which to us who survive is both a warning and a consolation. Mr. PEARCE died with the blessed assurance of
a blissful immortality. I discovered last summer, while
he still was able to attend the Senate, that his thoughts
were being turned towards his own salvation, though he
never trusted himself to speak to me directly on the
subject. Shortly after he went home, he wrote to me
that he felt the duty and necessity of preparation for
the change which would come, sooner or later. The
topic was alluded to in every letter as long as he was
able to write, and when he was too feeble for that, I was
kept informed of his condition and the state of his mniend.              — 3,,




34                OBITUARY ADDRESSES.
through the correspondence of his son, who is a most excellent young man, and inherits, if we may judge by his
present promise, the mind and graces of his fhathler. We
cannot look into the hearts of mnen, and can only test
their sincerity by their outward conduct; yet I feel
warranted  in expressing the belief that Mr. PEARCE'S
faith was clear and unreserved, his repentance genuine
and thorough, his hope strong and bright, and grew
stronger and brighter as death drew nearer. His chief
anxiety towards the close was that he might live to
exhibit his change of heart before the world, and especially
to his companions in the public service.  The day after
his death, his son wrote me the following letter, which,
without his consent or knowledge, and perhaps contrary
to his wish, I take the liberty of reading to the House:
"CHESTERTOWN, December 21, 1862.
"MY DEAR SIR: My father's painful life was ended yesterday, at
two o'clock, in perfect tranquillity of mind and body, and I have not
a shadow of doubt that he is enjoying the eternal happiness which is
the sure reward of such faith and repentance as his. What his sufferings were no one will ever know, but I believe no human being
ever endured more intense or prolonged suffering.  I am sure no one
ever bore them with readier acquiescence to God's will, or sweeter
cheerfulness to those around him. He had acquired a frame of mind
so wholly set on heaven, that the only thoughts which ever put aside
religion were those that the unhappy condition of the country forced
upon him. If, as I presume, your friendly connexion' with him constitutes you the proper person to notify the House of Representatives
of his death, I think I only carry out his wishes in asking you to
state distinctly the clear, decided religious opinion he held, and the
anxiety he expressed so often that his former associates in public life
might know the certainty with which he trusted in his belief. If he
had lived, it would have been his effort to make practical exhibition




HON. JAMES A. PEARCE.                   35
of this; and now that he is gone, I think it my duty to make this request of you. The day before his death, he charged me to send to
you the remembrance of his death-bed. He said, " Tell him I loved
him," and was going on further, but his emotion silenced him. It is
a dreadful loss to lose a father, and, most of all, such as mine was to
me. For the first time in my life, I find my grief, contrary to my
nature, longing for expression to those who share it with me. But I
am writing now to discharge a duty, and have already accomplished it.
"I remain, my dear sir, very truly, yours,
" J. A. PEARCE, Jr.
"Hon. J. W. CRISFIELD,
" Wlashington, D)istr'ict of Columbia."
Mr. Speaker, the scene has closed!  JAMES ALFRED
PEARCE has been gathered to his fathers; his spirit has
gone to meet the responsibilities and the rewards of
eternity; his life and character only remain, just objects
of admiration and emulation to American youth.
"We have lost him; he is gone!
We know him now: all narrow jealousies
Are silent; and we see him as he movedHow modest, kindly, all-accomplished, wise,
With what sublime repression of himself,
And in what limits, and how tenderly!
Not swaying to this faction or to that;
Not making his high place the lawless perch
Of winged ambitions, nor a vantage-ground
For pleasure; but through all this tract of years
Wearing the white flower of a blameless life,
Before a thousand peering littlenesses.
Who dares foreshadow for an only son
A lovelier life, a more unstained than his?"




36               OBITUARY ADDRESSES.
Mr. Speaker, I move the adoption of the following
resolutions:
Resolved, That the House of Representatives of the United States
has received with the deepest sensibility intelligence of the death of
JAMES ALFRED PEARCE, late a Senator in Congress from the State
of Maryland.
Resolved, That the members and officers of this house, as a proper
mark of respect for the personal character and long and valuable
public services of Hon. JAMES A. PEARCE, will go into mourning by
wearing crape on the left arm for the period of thirty days.
Resolved, That, as a further mark of respect for the memory of the
deceased, this house do now adjourn.
Address of Mr. CRITTENDEN, of Kentucky.
Mr. SPEAKER: I rise to do little else than to second
the resolutions offered by my friend from Maryland.  I
knew Mr. PEARCE well.  For many years I enjoyed the
honor and pleasure of an acquaintance with him more
intimate, perhaps, than did a majority of those who were
associated with him in public life. Nothing of all that
has been said by my friend from Maryland surpasses the
actual beauty of his character. I served with him long
in the Senate; and during that full term of service, embracing periods of high political agitation and great party
excitement, no one ever heard Mr. PEARCE say a word
or saw him do an act in that body that was not suitable
to a gentleman and a Senator. No rule of decorum
towards any member of the body was ever violated by
him.  To be a gentleman and to be honorable was a part
and parcel of his nature. They seemed to be less the




HON. JAMES A. PEARCE.            37
acquirement of any moral education which he had received than part of his natural endowments. I never
heard him, by any inadvertence-I never heard him, in
any moment of excitement in conversation, utter a sentiment that was not in itself delicate and pure. There
was nothing vulgar, there was nothing rude about him.
His modesty was Conspicuous in the midst of the many
virtues that adorned him. He was not more careful of
the rights and feelings of others than he demanded from
others perfect respect towards himself. He had no idea
that was more clear and distinct than that of the highest
personal honor and the keenest sensibility to anything
like insult, and no one was more prompt to resent any
indignity. And yet, sir, although possessed of all these
high qualities, Mr. PEARCE was a man who made no
ostentatious display. I never knew one who was freer
from the quality of egotism. He concealed his high
qualities and virtues as the mine conceals its treasures.
There was no display of them. It was only when occasion required it that his powers were put forth; and
such was his diffidence-his marked and characteristic
diffidence-that he passed through this house, and passed
even through the Senate, with but an' imperfect knowledge on the part of those bodies of the extent of his
virtues or of his intellectual qualities.
Mr. Speaker, I ought not to add a word to what has
been said by my friend from Maryland. I shall but mar
the just and beautiful picture which he has drawn of the
character and life of his friend. I know no more educated, polished, and refined legislator than he was. There
was, sir, a daily beauty in his life, and his death has cor



38             OBITUARY ADDRESSES.
responded with it. May the grass grow green upon his
grave and the rose and the laurel flourish there together,
while his country shall long remember him with pride
and affection.
Addlress of Mr. MCPHERSON, oj Pennsylvania.
Mr. SPEAKER: When Mr. PEARCE entered this house,
twenty-seven years ago, he was a young and ardent
member of the Whig party, then preparing for its first
great victory, whose bright promises were soon dashed
by the disgraceful defection of a Virginian, who, then
treacherous to his party and lately treacherous to his
nation, has gone down to his grave in ignominy and contempt. From that period to the day of his death, Mr.
PEARCE continued, with the exception of one congressional term, a member of the national legislature-and
was an observer and participant in the political movements of those momentous years. During all that time,
he was an attentive and laborious member, always maintaining a high position, and enlarging the sphere of his
influence. He was conspicuous in what must be considered a great historic period-one fruitful of vast consequences, not only to us, but to millions elsewhere-not
only to the cause of' firee government on this continent,
but to all forms of government on all continents; and he
bore an important, if not a controlling part in the achievements of that quarter of a century in which the nation
appeared to be making the surest and quickest progress
towards supremacy and immortality. A few facts will
best illustrate this point.




HON. JAMES A. PEARCE.            39
When Mr. PEARCE entered Congress, the people were
divided solely upon questions of internal administration —
the expediency of a protective tariff, a sub-treasury, and
the distribution of the proceeds of the sales of the public lands. The great northwest had scarcely entered upon
its amazing career; the Sabine bounded us on the southwest; the Oregon boundary and the northeastern were
unsettled; our immense Indian possessions were unorganized, and neither the nation nor foreign powers had
realized the extent of our resources, the reach of our
capabilities, or the magic and marvellous influence we
were destined to exert upon the world. During his
term of service many perplexing foreign differences
were adjusted, and American diplomacy made for itself
an honorable place, in the persons of Webster and
Marcy and Seward; the State of Texas was annexed,
the Mexican war fought, an empire added to our domain,
and our golden sister from the Pacific welcomed by the
nation; seven other States were encircled by the Union,
which stretched from ocean to ocean; the whole of our
territorial possessions was covered by organizations upon
the principles of which, after long controversy, the Congress were unanimously agreed; the tariff policy was
variously modified, and a uniform land policy adopted;
the Pacific railroad was inaugurated, and the slavery controversy of 1850 was compromised, and then so sadly
reopened in 1854 by the enactment of the Kansas-Nebraska law, with all the gloomy catalogue of wrongs and
evils of which it was the prolific mother. At the close
of his career he found this vast empire torn by internal
dissensions, the American Union shattered, its power




40             OBITUARY ADDRESSES.
weakened, its mission eclipsed, its beauty obscured, its
institutions threatened, and its life in danger. To all of
us this great grief has come with crushing weight. Our
deceased friend felt it with peculiar acuteness; for had
he not helped to consolidate this empire, enlarge the
Union, increase its power, ennoble its mission, refine its
beauty, protect its institutions, and guard its life?. As
Rachel wept for her children, he would not be comforted. The troubles of the country preyed upon hinm,
and his days were shortened.
Few of us have had so varied experience. Upon all
questions he has a clear and open record. Upon that it
is not for me to pass. It is, however, proper to say that
I believe Mr. PEARCE met the great responsibilities of
his position with a purity of purpose rarely if ever exceeded in our history.
In his personal character Mr. PEARCE Was singularly
admirable. He was a well educated, highly cultivated
gentleman. A statesman, he was a patron of the fine
arts. As chairman for twenty years of the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress, he gave that valuable
institution a guardianship as faithful and careful as it was
enlightened; and as a regent of the Smithsonian Institution from its date of organization, and a member of its
executive committee, he nobly identified himself with
that great educating and civilizing agent which will make
the name of Smithson enduring as one of the benefactors
of mankind. Mr. PEARCE was all his life a student, unobtrusive in demeanor, but of strong convictions and
decided opinions, which he always had the manliness to
avow in the presence of friend or foe. IIe was a gentle



HON. JAMES A. PEARCE.            41
man of the most delicate sensibility, as all realized who
observed his bearing during the pendency of his last reelection to the Senate. He was a laborious, faithful, and
useful man, whose counsels, fidelity, and information will
be missed in the committee room, the Senate chamber,
and the halls of science.
Mr. Speaker, called to serve with him in two fields of
labor, and thrown somewhat intimately with him, my
conceptions of his character-formed after years of
observation —-vere confirmed; and I never ceased to
admire him for the thoroughness with which he performed
every duty, the high motives which controlled his conduct, and the clearness he brought to the consideration
of subjects of common interest. On many points we
differed; but I believe it will be many years before there
will be found in the American Congress a purer, more
enlightened, and useful member than the late JAMES
ALFRED PEARCE, of Maryland.
Address of MR. MAY, of Maryland.
Mr. SPEAKER: I have only been apprised since I
came into this hall that these sad ceremonies of
respect to our distinguished colleague were appointed for
to-day. I wish, sir, to offer my tribute to his memory.
He honored me with his friendship for many years, and
in the last months of his life freely imparted to me his
views upon the vital questions which now, unhappily,
divide our country. I am authorized to speak for him
here upon those questions; and I wish, if the unpremeditated thoughts and feelings suggested by the occa



42             OBITUARY ADDRESSES.
sion, or awakened by the touching and eloquent tributes
of the distinguished gentlemen who have preceded
me, may go in place of more studied eulogy, to offer
them just as they spring from my heart. I desire to
speak of the respect in which he was held by those
who, in the divisions of political sentiment, as represented
in party organization, having opposed him throughout
the greater portion of his life, at length discovering that
he was a public man who followed "principles and not
men," honored him  with the highest testimony of
their confidence, and committed to him the representation of the sovereignty of their State. For the Democratic party of the State of Maryland, I here speak,
and also for those of all parties who believed with
him  that the Constitution of' this land was made
for war as well as for peace; nay, sir, who believe that
its strongest and most priceless sanctions were designed
as bulwarks against the tendencies of arbitrary power
supported by military authority, and have a higher obligation in war than in peace. For those in our State
who, while acknowledging all the delegated powers of
the federal government, yet retain an equal reverence
and respect for the reserved rights of the States, I also
bear testimony of their respect for his distinguished
public life-a life which illustrated, in a long public service, all those virtues which can adorn a high and pureminded republican representative. For all these classes
of our fellow-citizens, I wish to pay the tribute of their
respect for his character and public services, and to
express their profound sorrow for his death.
Mr. Speaker, when the storms of passion had prostrated




HON. JAMES A. PEARCE.            43
the assembled representatives in both halls of this Capitol, our senator stood, amid the few, firm and erect.
Broken in health, his vital powers almost exhausted, he
yet marched up with the remnant of his life to the side
of the bleeding Constitution of his country, and gave his
latest efforts to sustain it. He did all that a public man
could do here to support the paramount authority of the
Constitution, and to oppose and defy the exertions of
arbitrary power. I remember with infinite pleasure,
and repeat it here with delight, that one of the last
efforts of his public service was a noble speech vindicating his fellow-citizens of Maryland against the criminal and cruel oppressions under which they were then
suffering. I remember how his heart,, the seat of his
fatal disease, pulsating with a noble enthusiasm  and
sympathy for them, and beating too warmly, denied him
the utterance of speech, and compelled him to retire'from
the Senate and seek the quiet of his chamber; and well
do I remember another most gratifying instance of his
spirit of liberty. It was my duty, as a representative
of the State of Maryland, to take counsel of his experience in one of the rooms of the Capitol, touching an atrocious and unparalleled outrage on the judiciary of our
State, by dragging from the bench an honored, eminent,
and faithful magistrate, scattering his blood upon the
ermine, and well-nigh taking his life by the hands of
armed ruffians; and I can never forget the glow of indignation that kindled his eye and swelled his breast at the
recital of the facts. The excitement was too strong for
his enfeebled frame, and he sunk under the exhaustion
of his own noble enthusiasm. If he could do no more




44             OBITUARY ADDRESSES.
to vindicate the authority of the Constitution of his
country than he did accomplish, it was because he was
denied the power to do it by the prostration of his vital
functions and the unheeding passions that prevailed.
The worthless tenement of flesh could not support the
struggles of its undying guest. Sir, he felt that it was
his duty to prevent and redress, and not invite or provoke, the further aggressions of a reckless tyranny. He
so stated his views to me.
Mr. Speaker, let no advocate of unlicensed power dare
claim an approbation of his views because this eminent
senator did not wrestle more conspicuously with arbitrary power in the halls of Congress; nor let any complaining victim of tyranny question the integrity or the
noble devotion of his services in their behalf; nor yet
must any self-applauding martyr of liberty attempt to gain
a passing notoriety at the expense of the fame of this
departed statesman of Maryland; but let these, and all
of us, draw from the contemplation of his life on this
solemn occasion, instruction that may be salutary. Let
us learn firom the moderation and fidelity of his character,
to admire in our public stations, and seek those duties
which look to conciliation, compromise, and concord.
Let no wrongs suffered, no resentment fixed in our
breasts, move us from the discharge of these sacred
duties; but let us try, through the common suffering that
afflicts the land, to walk out from the dominion of passion, purified, regenerated, and disenthralled.
I trust, Mr Speaker, that, speaking from my heart, as
I ought to speak on an occasion like this, I trespass not
against the limits which ought to be observed in dis



HON. JAMES A. PEARCE.            45
cussing the virtues of an eminent statesman. I must
speak now, sir, as I feel. While commending to public
praise and respect the memory and services of this distinguished man, I must be allowed to describe him as
one who, having sworn to support the Constitution of'
his country, to the latest moment of his life, and through
every trial, kept the faith of that obligation to his Maker
and his fellow-citizens. He rests now near the banks of
the Chesapeake. The flowers which the distinguished
gentleman from K6ntucky described so beautifully as
surrounding his grave, are symbols not only of his taste,
but also of his immortality. And may we not trust, too,
that the blossoms and fruits which opened and adorned
his life here, will also be more gloriously unfolded and
ripened in a higher and brighter sphere.
Mr Speaker, while we deplore the loss of such
public characters in this time of our national afflictions,
may we not inquire why, in the inscrutable decrees of
Providence, those gifted, experienced, and good men,
whose lives were consecrated to the public service and
to the welfare of their fellow-men, are removed from us?
We cannot, presume to penetrate the mysteries of divine
wisdom. We must accept those providential lessons as
teaching us that the cup of our adversity is not yet full;
that the chastening rod is not yet to be broken, and as
also solemnly admonishing us that passion is perhaps yet
longer to have its sway. But are we not authorized to
call upon those ascended statesmen who, like him, have
passed from earth —all those great and good men who
devoted their lives and talents to establish and maintain
the principles embodied in our Constitution, which not




46             OBITUARY ADDRESSES.
only form the bond of' our union, but which are higher
and infinitely more priceless than it-those principles of
civil liberty which form the foundations on which the
whole fabric of the happiness of man under every form
of free government rests? May we not expect, I repeat,
that the spirits of the great statesmen who formed this
noble structure'of our government, and those who came
after them and supported its pure and faithful adaministration-ay, sir, and the thousands of citizens whose
souls have gone from ensanguined battle-fields-will be
assembled witnesses at the- bar of heaven, pleading the
cause of their bleeding country, and that the Almighty
Ruler of all nations, responding in His good time, will
send down His angel of peace among us? Such, sir, is
my devout prayer.
Address of Mr. RIDDLE, of Ohio.
Mr. SPEAKER: It may be said that the touch of death
dissolves the form and figure with which man, in artificial
life, is clothed, and reduces him to his bare essential self;
strips him to his unclothed individuality, so that, for once,
he is estimated for what he is, disconnected from all that
ever pertained to him. It matters nothing where the
journey began; on what mountain or in what valley;
nothing at all through what regions his path conducted
him, and still less what he gathered or scattered by the
way; he lies down at the end empty-handed, naked, and
alone, the type of all the living, and the peer of all the
dead. It avails nothing how he was estimated in life;




HON. JAMES A. PEARCE.            47
through what mists he was seen, how lauded or how
decried; the simple man lies before you now, and the
unaided soul instinctively estimates him at his value; an
awful and inevitable ordeal.  What a grand monarch is
death; and how his subjects are hallowed and elevated
by the touch of his sceptre. What lines of softened
beauty it traces upon changeless faces, while the angels
of charity hide with their wings the harsh lineaments,
and veil the unlovable memories. And how, too, the
living are changed, as they reverently enter his silent
court. Folly and pride, passion, ambition and its meeds,
hate and its prejudices, die within us, and leave justice,
truth, and mercy to speak; and so the dead living contemplate the living dead. And so come I, the living
descendant of the Puritan pilgrims, into the presence of
the dead descendant of the Cavaliers, to speak, if I may,
a fitting word over him.
Springing from these antipodal sources, educated in
opposite schools of politics that had come to be intolerant,
and coming from sections that had grown into hostility,
with disparity of years, and neither disposed to lay aside
the mental habit of a lifetime, the incidents of this queer
congressional life threw the departed and myself for
many months together. That intercourse taught me, at
least, how much of political hatreds and enmities, of party
strifes that shake a continent, and of sectional animosity
that threatens to dismember it, are due to the prejudice
that cannot see, the ignorance that will not know, and
the bigotry that does not allow for differences in education, habit of thought, and all the surroundings that impregnate the atmosphere of social life, moral training,




48             OBITUARY ADDRESSES.
and political sentiment. I also came to know that true
nobleness of soul, purity of heart, elevation of sentiment,
and the refined cultivation of the gentlest humanities of
our best nature, might find their amplest home in a phase
of' our civilization not, as I supposed, the most favorable
to their growth, showing, at least, the native richness of
the nature in which they grew. If I sometimes fancied
that some one of these qualities found expression in an
unwonted way incident to a warm and generous temper,
I knew that"Like sunshine broken in a rill,
Though gone astray,'twas sunshine still."
Of the senator I may not speak. The representatives
of the States, his peers, his brothers, friends, and rivals,
circling around an empty chair, have done that. fittingly
and well; while the representatives of the people on this
floor have added more than was needful to his chaplet
as a statesman and jurist. Life-long friends, whose eloquence was made touching with individual sorrow, have
recounted a career long familiar to the country; enumnerated his high qualities; have shown us a crowned
sovereign State mourning for her dead, and pointed us
to that speechless' circle which, bereft of its sun and
centre, sits in a darkened sorrow that makes it sacred
from our gaze. I speak only the impressions which
many months of daily association with him produced.
His was a high, ardent, impulsive nature, enlarged and
generous, to which an early and thorough culture had
opened out its thousand avenues for exercise and development.  A  mind vigorous and enriched with liberal
studies, an imagination stored with the pictured dreams




HON. JAMES A. PEARCE.           49
of old romance, and the quick, subtle, and appreciative
power of detecting the often unseen lines of beauty in
art or nature, it was his fortune to have spent his life on
this great focal stage of the nation, and to have daily
lived and breathed, to have been part and parcel of the
momentous times and things of which other men only
hear and read. I attempt no analysis of the influences,
or their effects upon the character of public men incident to the unnatural and stimulating official life in this
capital, strange and striking as they appear to eyes first
admitted to the charmed circle. Most men are metamorphosed by them.
It was the fortune of the departed senator to have
mixed and mingled for twenty-seven years; to have been
the peer and familiar associate of presidents and senators,
cabinet ministers, and royal ambassadors; to have been
the flattered companion of the great men, and the valued
acquaintance of the noble and beautiful women that have
crowded the boards in the great, strange, and varied national drama ever being enacted, and upon which the
curtain never descends, at this capital. And yet, to me,
he seemed to have preserved the original elements of his
nature in their primal strength. There was the same
generous impulse; the same lighting up of the face at
the mention of a noble act; the quick sympathy with
misfortune; the word of commisseration for the deserving; and the withering denunciation and sarcasm for
everything mean or ungenerous. Hasty words have I
heard, but unmanly or ungenerous never. And I never
heard his tongue profaned with the ribald blasphemy
of the name of woman, that pollutes the lips of so many
4




_5' 0          OBITUARY ADDRESSES.
of the younger men of our generation. He had found
time, too, for the development of those rare and refined
tastes and pursuits not always thought compatible with
exclusive public life, and incident to an older stage of
civilization than that to which, as a nation, we have attained. He had that nice and detective sense, born of a
poetic temperament, that recognized the beautiful wherever it dwelt, whether in the harmony of sounds, the
tinge and perfume of a flower, or the breathing forms
that meet us in life. His long and intimate association
with the leading men of his time; his appreciation of
character and memory of incidents, with his graphic and
dramatic power of description, often rendered his conversation always remarkable, a series of living pictures,
sometimes in good-natured caricature, often strongly
sketched, and oftener mellowed and softened by the regretful memory of the artist.
Mr. PEARCE was a native of that proud southern land;
proud of that land, and proud of his nativity; and that
land may well recognize and mourn him as one of the
noblest outgrowths of its stimulating soil.
To him, and to others like him, this war of rebellion
was more than it can be to us of the more favored
northern States. To us it is a threat of the dismemberment of our country and the destruction of our government, which we may redeem by telling down the price
in the rich red drops of our own and our children's blood.
All this, dreadful as it is, was the war to him, and infinitely more. Loyalty to the Union, by which he stood,
was treason to the friendships and cherished associations,
the memories, hopes, and aspirations of a lifetime; and
ILDW




HON. JAMES A. PEARCE.            51
success to either party would be, in some sort, a disaster
that his heart must mourn.  God help souls so sorely
tried. To him was given no prophet's eye to discern, in
this awful struggle, one of the world's great convulsions,
by which the generations of men are purged and purified
for a renewed and better career. In the roar and shriek
of battle and the wild wail of woe which filled all the
land, he could detect no rythmic voices chanting the great
hymn of human progress and hope. The convulsions
were the premonitory throes of dissolution, and the voices
the cries of universal despair. Through no vista came
a ray of hope, and nowhere beckoned a hand to safety.
But night interminable, without stars or hope of dawn,
draped the earth as with its funeral pall. I-e had seen
his native Virginia desecrated and despoiled, discrowned,
and given over to a most living desolation. He had seen
the old friends and companions of his life and manhood
come in the fierce array of battle, and invade the soil of
his Maryland, and leave their red footprints burnt into
its soil, so that forgetfulness may never efface them, and
leaving wounds so deep as to defy the surgery of time
itself. So he turned him from all outward things to that
inner life and light, and died with their halo on his brow
and their hope in his heart, leaving his memory to his
children, his history to his country, and the lesson of his
life to those who may profit by it.
Address of Mr. MORRILL, Of Vermont.
Mr. SPEAKER: Soon after my arrival here at the beginning of my service, it was my fortune to have quarters




52             OBITUARY ADDRESSES.
at the same house and table with Senator PEARCE, and
from that moment our social relations were of the most
kindly character, and, perhaps, he might have allowed me
to say intimate.
Senator PEARCE, possessing a commanding intellect,
possessed, also, great aptitude for acquirement in many
directions, embracing science, literature, and agriculture,
as well as politics and constitutional law; and there were
happily blended in him the habits of a scholar and a man
of affairs.  I have met with few men who appeared to
me to be better furnished with the qualifications which
adorn and make useful a statesman, a legislator, or a man.
In social intercourse he was conspicuous for his affluence of information, anecdote, and ready wit. The table
was always a season of enjoyment, and he participated
in current topics of conversation with as much zest as he
engaged in graver debate. His language was ever chosen
with much elegance and precision, and his manners were
always gentlemanly. He adhered to friends, regardless
of party boundaries, with a tenacity that never faltered.
As a citizen of Maryland, when others wavered, he stood
firmly fbr the Union and the Constitution.
But, Mr. Speaker, I merely rose to say that, in the
death of the distinguished senator, I felt that I had lost
a valued friend.
The question was taken on the resolutions, and they
wiere agreed to; and thereupon (at three o'clock p. m.,)
the House adjourned.