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 "m 
 
 EULOGY 
 
 ON THE DEATH OF 
 
 General ©Ijamaa £. j^omcr. 
 
 BY DAVID T. DISNEY. 
 
 CINCINNATI: 
 
 JOHN HITCHLER, PRINT., "GREAT WESTERN OFFICE," FOURTH St. 
 
 184 7. 
 
 
 
^ 
 
EULOGY, 
 
 ON THE DEATH OF 
 
 GENERAL THOMAS L. HAMER; 
 
 BY 
 
 J 
 
 DAVID T. DISNEY 
 
 OP CINCINNATI 
 
 JOHN HITCHLER, PRINTER, j 
 
 " Great Western Office," Old Council Building, Fourth Street, Cincinnati. 
 
 1847. 
 
^^0^ 
 
 A 
 
 .w-^^ 
 
PROCEEDINGS 
 
 AT 
 
 GEN. HAMER'S FUNERAL. 
 
 On Saturday, the 13tli of February, 1817, the re- 
 mains of Gen. Hamer were brought out from Higgins- 
 port to Georgetown, (his place of residence.) The 
 hearse was flanked by the Higginsport Artillery, 
 Capt York, who marched with trailed arms, furled 
 banners, and solemn and melancholy music, and was 
 followed by an immense concourse of citizens, in car- 
 riages and on horseback, who had assembled to pay 
 their tribute of respect to the dllustrious dead. 
 
 Minute guns were fired as the Process-ion came near 
 the town, and the several church bells of the village 
 tolled, to give notice of its approach. The Procession 
 then proceeded to the late residence of the deceased, 
 where the remains were delivered over by the Committee 
 of Reception, to the Committee of Burial, and appro- 
 priate remarks made by the Chairman of each Committee. 
 The remains were left in charge of the latter, until 
 Monday, the 15th, when they were delivered into the 
 care of Jaimes H. Thompson, Esq., Commissioner for 
 the State, appointed by the Legislature of Ohio, who 
 issued the following order: — 
 
J 
 
 4 GEN. H A ]\I E R S FUNERAL. 
 
 ORDER FOR GEN. THOS. L. HAMER'S INTERMENT. 
 
 GRAND MARSHALS— Hon. J. Winston Price, of Highland County, 
 P. J. BucKNER, of Brown County. 
 
 ASSISTANT MARSHALS— Col. D. Miller, Highland Co., Gen. 
 James Loudon, David G. Devore, Andrew Ellison, of Brown 
 Co., Col. DowTY Utter, Col. J. D. Morris, of Clermont Co. 
 
 SPECIAL MARSHAL OF MASONIC LODGE— John S. Beaseley. 
 
 The Procession Avill form at ten o'clock, at the late residence of Gen. 
 Hamer, as follows :— 
 
 1st. — Masonic Lodge, 
 
 2nd. — Chaplain, Rev. Mr. Wroe; Orator, David T. Disney, of Ham- 
 ilton County. 
 3d. — The Hearse, under charge of Masonic Pall Bearers, R. C. Dugin, 
 
 E. Ellsberry, H. Young, W. McColgin, J. Inskip. 
 4th. — The family and relations of Gen. Hamer. 
 5th, — The members of the Bar and Officers of the Court. 
 6th. — The Military and Guard of Honor. 
 7th. — Committee of Arrangements. 
 8th. — The Citizens. 
 
 Music under the control of the Marshals. All persons are requested 
 to obey further orders of the Marshals. 
 
 JAMES H. THOMPSON, Com'r. for the State. 
 February 15th, 1847. 
 
 The Procession was formed in obedience to the above 
 order, and the Masonic brethren having been filed in 
 columns on each side of the walk leading to the late 
 residence of the deceased, and the remains of Gen, 
 Hamer having been borne to the door under the direc- 
 tion of the Marshals, Mr. Thompson, turning to the 
 Masonic Pall Bearers, said: — 
 
 "The State of Ohio, mindful of the illustrious services 
 of the deceased, and desirous of perpetuating the memory 
 of his existence to future ages, as a bright example of a 
 Republican citizen, has ordered that his remains should 
 be brought from the soil of Mexico, where he died of 
 relentless disease, after his gallant conduct at the 
 
GEN. HAMER^S FUNERAL. 5 
 
 storming of Monterey, and interred at home, by the author- 
 ity and at the expense of the State, and in her name. The 
 deceased, before he left home, for the service of his 
 country, on a foreign soil and in a distant clime, 
 requested that in the event of his death, his remains 
 should be interred according to the forms, and with the 
 honors of your order, of which he was an exemplary 
 member — I, therefore, commit to your ancient order these 
 remains, only that you may perform those ceremonies 
 and do those honors which are meet for the occasion, 
 and which comport with the belief of the people, that 
 nothing will be done which does not point to the future 
 and bright immortality of the deceased, and does not 
 hold out to man the promise that after this life, he shall 
 pass into an endless state of existence." 
 
 The Masonic Pall Bearers having deposited the 
 remains of the deceased upon the hearse, the procession, 
 composed of ten thousand or more persons, proceeded 
 to the Baptist church, in Georgetown, where, after an 
 appropriate and feeling prayer, by Rev Mr. Wroe, a 
 funeral oration was delivered by the Hon. David T. 
 Disney, of Cincinnati. 
 
 The Procession then moved forward to the grave. 
 The Church yard w^as surrounded on the outside by Col. 
 Mclntyre's Cavalry Squadron, and on the inside Capt. 
 Donaldson's Light Infantry, and Capt. Ferree's Rangers, 
 w^ere detained to take possession of the grave, and keep 
 back the press of the immense crowd, which they did 
 with much difficulty. 
 
 The Masonic brethren formed a hollow square inside 
 of the Military, within which, the members of the Court 
 and Bar were admitted as chief mourners, and Col. John 
 D. White, as master, read the impressive funeral service 
 of the Order, and cast the white apron into the grave, 
 as an emblem of innocence and purity. The whole 
 
6 GEN. HAMER's funeral. 
 
 Order then proceeded around the grave, singing a 
 funeral hymn, and each deposited in the grave the sprig 
 of evergreen, the mystical emblem of eternal life. 
 
 Mr. Thompson then approached the head of the grave, 
 and taking from his hat a large badge of black crape, 
 thus addressed the Masonic brethren: — 
 
 '^You have deposited, with the remains, on behalf 
 of your ancient Order, the emblems of innocence and 
 immortality. It is mine, on behalf of this assembled 
 multitude, and the State of Ohio, to deposite the badge 
 of their grief, (and the melancholy emblem fluttered to 
 the last resting place of him, w^hose loss it commemmo- 
 rated and mourned.) It is done! THOMAS L. 
 HAMER, is interred!! May all of us during our 
 lives, imitate, and may history for all future time record, 
 the many virtues of the deceased, and let his Epitaph, 
 only be, '■^Interred hj the autlioritij of the State of Ohio.'''' 
 
 The ceremonies at the grave were concluded by an 
 appropriate benediction from the Rev. Mr. Wroe, and 
 the Procession returned, in the same order which they 
 had observed in coming, to the late residence of the 
 deceased, where John Jolliffe, Esq., on behalf of the 
 family and relations of Gen. Hamer, returned thanks, 
 in a few feeling remarks, for the respect manifested on 
 the melancholy occasion. 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 7 
 
 Georgetown, Brown Co., 0-, March 18, '47. 
 
 Bro. David T. Disney: — The undersigned Committee, 
 
 appointed by Georgetown Lodge, No. 72, respectfully 
 
 solicit a copy. of your Funeral Oration on the burial of 
 
 brother Thomas L. Hamer, for publication. 
 
 Respectfully and fraternally yours, 
 
 JOHN D. WHITE, 
 JAMES LOUDON, \ Com. 
 P. L. WILSON. 
 
 Cincinnati, 29th March, 1847. 
 
 Brethren: — I have to acknowledge the receipt of your 
 favor under date of the 18th inst. The copy of the 
 address which you solicit is at your disposal, and I beg 
 to reciprocate your kind and fraternal feelings. 
 
 Yours, very truly, 
 
 D. T. DISNEY. 
 John D. White, 
 James Loudon, \ Committee. 
 P. L. Wilson, 
 
EULOGY. 
 
 Fellow Citizens: — 
 
 We have assembled upon the present mournful 
 occasion, to pay that last sad tribute of respect, which 
 custom has demanded from the remotest time. In every 
 age, and in every clime, among every nation with which 
 humanity has peopled our busy earth, veneration for the 
 dead, and the observance of rites and forms, in de- 
 positing their remains, has characterized the race of 
 man. The wild untutored Indian of our forests, as the 
 savage barbarian of remoter climes, digs the rude grave, 
 and with the solemn ceremonies of his tribe, consecrates 
 the spot where is to rest the mouldering form he loved 
 to gaze upon in life. In the polished days of Greece 
 and Rome, the funeral processions of their illustrious 
 men were scenes of pomp and splendor. And in our 
 own day, the genius of civilization has led the people 
 of every land to pay the most profound respect, to the 
 ceremonies of the distinguished dead. 
 
 The resting place of our fathers is intimately asso- 
 ciated with the recollections of our birth — and its 
 memory is ever found embalmed in the deepest feel- 
 ings of reverence and affection in the human breast. 
 As we dwell upon the thought, memory calls up the 
 past, and we live again in the childhood of early youth. 
 Home, with all its sweet affections, clings about the spot, 
 
 and humanity consecrates it, with a devotion pure and 
 
 2 
 
10 
 
 EULOGY 
 
 holy in itself. The savage son of the wilderness, re- 
 ceding before the advancing wave of the white man's 
 civilization, ere yet he looks his last upon the setting 
 sun, dreams of the distant sepulchre of his ancestors, 
 and feels himself but as a wanderer upon the earth. 
 Such are the natural instincts of the human heart. 
 How proper then for us to dwell, though briefly, upon 
 this scene. 
 
 Not mine the function, for those precepts of religion, 
 which purer hands should give, but contemplating the 
 history and character of him we mourn, to do that 
 justice to his memory, which his merits and truth de- 
 mands. Inadequate to the task, I would avoid the effort, 
 but the memory of other days bids duty urge me on. 
 
 The character of Thomas L. Hamer, indeed, affords 
 an ample theme. But, among a people with whom he 
 resided from the period of his youth, I need not dwell 
 upon the difficulties which beset his early path. Nor 
 relate how, unaided and unassisted, except by the 
 unconquerable energies of his nature, he surmounted 
 every obstacle, and elevated his reputation to that lofty 
 pinnacle, to which the common voice of the public has 
 assigned it. My own personal acquaintance with him 
 commenced in the winter of '29, and the first vote which 
 I ever cast in a legislative hall, was given for him as 
 the presiding officer of the House of Representatives, 
 in the Legislature of our State. Party politics then, as 
 now, ran high, and difficult was the post he was called 
 upon to fill. The warm and heated zeal of party would 
 urge its own peculiar views, but the occasion ever found 
 him at his post, unwavering from the importunities of 
 his friends, or the bitter invectives of political foes. 
 Swayed by a conscientious determination to impartially 
 discharge his duties, he was led to a correct conclusion 
 of their character, by a critical sagacity seldom equalled. 
 
EULOGY. 11 
 
 and always firm and composed, the storm of contending 
 parties gathered round him, to fall away rebuked by 
 the evidences of his temper and the superiority of his 
 mind. Plain and unpretending in his manners, his power 
 was acknowledged; and his admiring friends even then 
 predicted for him the highest honors of the Republic. 
 
 It is sad for me to recall those days, and look upon 
 this scene. The recollections of that time, come clus- 
 tering thick around me, and .with mournful pleasure I 
 dwell upon events so long since passed. But the 
 maturity of his fame has shown how amply his genius 
 sustained the promise that he gave. 
 
 With a mind that never wandered, calm, clear, and 
 collected, his strong and ardent impulses were ever 
 obedient to his judgment, — the latter pointed out his 
 path, and the former impelled him on it with a fervor 
 and a power, which drove success within his grasp. 
 His industry never tired, and with a mind so thoroughly 
 disciplined, that his glance upon results seemed almost 
 like intuition, he possessed abilities of the highest 
 order in the commonwealth, and was abundantly adequate 
 to the duties of any station. How ably he represented 
 the people of this district in the Congress of the nation, 
 you yourselves can tell. You have given the evidence of 
 your appreciation of his fidelity to the trust, by his con- 
 stant re-election, whenever it was solicited at your hands. 
 He was faithful to your peculiar and local interests, but 
 he was not less so to the great interests of the nation. 
 On that broad arena, where the noblest intellects of our 
 land met in daily strife, well and nobly did he maintain 
 his reputation as a statesman. Placed in the vanguard 
 of his party, by the common consent of the gifted minds 
 who then filled the nation's councils, Mr. Hamer won a 
 national reputation as a debater, which gave an increased 
 lustre to the character of his State. No little schemes of 
 
12 EULOGY. 
 
 cunning — no artful devices to catch tlie shifting; gale 
 characterized his movements, but w^ith a manly elo- 
 quence, he advocated the measures which he deemed 
 essential to the nation's welfare, and with a loftiness of 
 purpose which scorned the petty steps of meaner minds, 
 he marched to the attainment of his objects, with a frank- 
 ness of avowal which compelled the respect alike of 
 friend and foe. 
 
 In the halls of Congress, he seemed to have found a 
 position peculiarly fitted to his talents. But notwith- 
 standing his success in public life, he never neglected 
 the study of his profession. As a lawyer, he occupied 
 a rank attained by few. Classed by his associates at 
 the bar with the ripest members of his profession, his 
 efforts confirmed the reputation, and demonstrated his 
 ability, to shine with equal lustre whether at the bar 
 or in the Senate's forum. 
 
 The fascinations and allurements of public station 
 never alienated him from the less pleasing studies of his 
 ordinary avocation, but with a facility of mind which of 
 itself evinced his genius, he made his acquirements in the 
 law the ministers to his power as a statesman. As a 
 lawyer, he patiently waded through the well worn 
 volumes of musty precedent, and with persuasive tongue 
 vindicated his client's cause ; but as a statesman his 
 views were enlarged and liberal. Studying man, in all 
 the majesty of his native rights, as a politician, he was 
 the uncompromising foe of every innovation upon his 
 liberty. All his efforts tended to assert the right and 
 power of the people, and in them alone he recognised 
 the source of all rightful authority in the government of 
 nations. Disdaining the arts of the demagogue, he 
 planted himself on his princijiles, and though warm and 
 zealous in attachment to his party, he never permitted 
 its behests to blind him to their effects upon the public 
 
EULOGY. 13 
 
 welfare. Holding that object as supreme, he scanned 
 with a free and fearless eye, every movement which 
 , might affect it, and never permitted his respect for the 
 authority from which they emanated, to prevent his fair 
 and unimpassioned examination of their merits and th^r 
 justice. Prompt to speak, as well as think, he never 
 hesitated to proclaim with frankness the convictions of 
 his mind, and though occasionally in the stormy strife of 
 party, he may have given unavoidable offence to some, 
 yet when the temper of the moment had passed away? 
 all respected him for the fearlessness of his course. 
 
 He believed that a firm and lasting approbation was 
 only to be won by upright and noble conduct, and with 
 honor and virtue as his guides, he marched on, respected 
 and esteemed by all. It was in the judgment as well 
 as in the hearts of the people, that he sought an 
 abiding popularity — not the popularity which, evanescing 
 with the moment, perishes with the occasion which gives 
 it birth, but a popularity which, arising from substantial 
 merits, laboring with ability in behalf of the public weal, 
 is the final and deliberate expression of approval from 
 the intelligence and virtue of the community. Preferring 
 the right to challenge the people's sanction, to that sanc- 
 tion without a just and sufficient cause, he labored to 
 render sound and lasting service to the public interests, 
 secure, that he could command the approval of his 
 conscience, and enjoy in after life the consolations which 
 ever must arise from an unmixed purity of purpose. 
 
 He had no vulgar arts. His nature was too stubborn 
 in its frankness. In private as in public life, the same 
 characteristics were ever his. You knew him, you met 
 him in his daily intercourse with men, and can witness 
 to the amenity of his manners, and the gentle firmness 
 of his conduct. Kind and considerate, he understood 
 the workings of the human heart. His noble spirit was 
 
14 EULOGY. 
 
 deeply imbued with tenderness for his race. He knew 
 that a manly heart may beat beneath the roughest looks, 
 and that however differently fortune may have cast the 
 lots of men, sensibility and mind have not always fol- 
 lowed her awards. His charity for the unfortunate was 
 humane and generous. No ostentation proclaimed the 
 philanthropy of his feelings, but the promptness of his 
 action attested their sincerity. With gentle respect, he 
 won the affections of the humble, and all who approached 
 him felt how truly he appreciated the dignity of man 
 without regarding the favors which fortune had bestowed. 
 As a husband and a parent he will long be remembered 
 beyond the circle of his home. Tender and kind, he was 
 an example in all the delicate relations of domestic life. 
 The public may emulate the grief within the threshhold 
 of his home, but none can measure the intensity of that 
 sorrow, but those that have been bound to him by the 
 strongest ties. Public exhibitions may claim an asso- 
 ciation in their mourning, but the deep fountains of the 
 heart well not up there like at his desolate fireside. 
 The nation has lost a statesman and a faithful public 
 servant, but the gloomy chambers of his mansion miss 
 the husband and the father. An able and a prudent 
 counsellor has left the public service. A kind and af- 
 fectionate husband, a tender parent, has left forever 
 the embraces of those he loved. A mourning' family 
 weeps in its bereavement, and a whole community mingles 
 in its grief. Such is the mournful spectacle we witness. 
 Seldom indeed have we seen such wide-spread sorrow. 
 His companions in arms, his associates in the profession 
 of the law, the representatives of our State in Congress, 
 the Legislature of Ohio, and the people in their primary 
 asssemblages, have all united in paying tribute to his 
 memory. They have eulogized his virtues and deplored 
 his loss. In every part of this great State the public 
 
EULOGY. 15 
 
 voice has spoken, and the tones of universal grief pro- 
 claim his merits and his honors. A chasm is made. An 
 empty void exists, where once the luminary shone, hut in 
 his memory his children possess the proudest legacy. 
 
 The example of such men forms the character of the 
 age. His great ahilities daz.zled the public eye, but his 
 daily practice of all the virtues of humanity w^on for 
 him universal esteem and love. Our youth, studying his 
 career, will be stimulated to renewed exertion, and learn 
 that the purest paths alone can lead to sound and lasting 
 fame. They will learn from the solidity of his reputa- 
 tion, that public opinion is at last, not only a just but 
 an enlightened judge. The institutions of our country 
 open every avenue to ambition. The highest posts are 
 within the reach of all who shall properly aim at their 
 possession, and the general mourning on this occasion, 
 will teach aspiring youth, that virtuous ability will es- 
 tablish them deep in the affections of the people. No 
 obstructions of prejudice or of law can hinder them in 
 their onward path to greatness — but with virtue as their 
 guide, they may indulge in the loftiest dreams of station. 
 The icy clog of poverty will melt before their efforts — 
 the impediments in their path will vanish in their 
 struggles ; and their industry and their ambition, sooner 
 or later, be rewarded by rising pre-eminently over all. 
 Temporary applause may be lost and won by a freak of 
 fortune, but an enduring fame can only be established 
 by constant toil, animated by the love of virtue, and 
 executed with an ability equal to the task. It is this, 
 and privileges like this, that renders our condition such 
 an admirable contrast to that of the fettered mass in 
 Europe. With no aristocracy but the aristocracy of 
 talent and of merit, every member of our community is 
 united to uphold it, and while the bland smile of encour- 
 agement is ever ready for the deserving; the rebuking 
 
16 EULOGY. 
 
 frown of public censure withers the effort of the unprin- 
 cipled. Storms may lour, and obstacles of every 
 kind may interpose, but the resolute man of honor will 
 struggle on to his fmal and just reward. Few indeed, 
 have been the men whom the world calls great, that won 
 not their eminence through most disheartening toil ; but 
 when the race is run, and the prize has been awarded, 
 how little apt we are to dwell upon the labor which 
 prepared the champion for the struggle. In a government 
 like ours, where the people are at once both the rulers 
 and the ruled, strong are the incentives to a noble and 
 manly life. Public opinion, that great arbiter, before 
 which all must sooner or later bow, knows in our land 
 neither the prejudice of birth or fortune, but calmly 
 judging of his merits, awards to every man his own. 
 Interest and design may with selfish hands sway the 
 scales of public justice for a time, but its ultimate decree 
 is as pure as it is lasting. 
 
 Eminently philosophical, in the structure and forma- 
 tion of his mind, Mr. Hamer subjected every action of 
 his life to a cool and thorough examination, before he 
 entered on it. Receiving nothing upon authority, he 
 analysed a subject for himself, and though ever ready to 
 yield a due respect to the opinions of all around him, 
 he yet maintained, with a becoming dignity, the convic- 
 tions to which his own reflections brought him. Look- 
 ing abroad upon the world and its multifarious pursuits, 
 with an eye of the keenest discrimination, his views of 
 human nature were of a comprehensive cast. Unfettered 
 and unbound by prejudice's narrow views, deserving 
 merit found in him a friend. Nor did differences of faith, 
 whether political or religious, engender in his heart that 
 bitterness of spirit, which cannot tolerate the belief that 
 honesty may exist, where opposition can be found. 
 
E ULOGY. 17 
 
 Moulded in the very form of charity, he was kind and 
 lenient to others' failings, and tho' when the occasion 
 called he never failed to rebuke with frankness, yet he 
 never admonished, but in the gentlest spirit. Firm and 
 resolute in his character, no obstacle daunted him in 
 his course, and few men moved to the attainment of 
 an object with a more fixed and immoveable de- 
 termination to succeed. Coolly weighing and estimating 
 every difficulty to be encountered, it was not until after 
 the most deliberate reflection that he marched to the 
 assault, but having resolved upon the effort, he made it 
 with every energy he possessed. Such a man would 
 succeed in any walk of life. The poet and the painter 
 may require peculiar gifts from nature for their profes- 
 sions, but, perhaps with these exceptions, such a man 
 would be respectable in every department within the 
 limits of human undertaking, A clear mind and a solid 
 judgment, combined with a spirit of decision far from 
 common, were sufficient reasons for his elevation in the 
 estimation of his fellow men. Of necessity, he must 
 have felt his superiority, yet none so carefully concealed 
 it. Entirely unaffected, his modesty prevented show, 
 while his easy and pleasant manners rendered him the 
 delight of his associates, and the charms of his conver- 
 sation made him an agreeable companion on all occasions. 
 
 With such a disposition, it was extremely natural that 
 he should seek an association with an institution 
 which preaches peace on earth, and seeks to ameliorate 
 the condition of man. The precepts and rules of the 
 Masonic Fraternity were in exact consonance with his 
 natural traits, and as a brother of the mystic tie, he 
 supported an institution whose influence he would gladly 
 have seen extended to every member of the human family. 
 
 His faithfulness to the regulations of the Order se- 
 cured him the favor of his brethren, and by regular 
 
 3 
 
18 
 
 EULOGY. 
 
 progression they exalted him to the sublimer mysteries 
 of the craft. To say of him, that he was a true and 
 faithful Mason, is in itself pronouncing the highest 
 eulogy upon his character. That he was so, was found 
 in his conformity to the requirements of the institution, 
 and in which he presented an example to the world, 
 which his brethren may be proud to follow. 
 
 His ardent patriotism, his clear and powerful intel- 
 lect, the purity of his life, and the rectitude of his 
 conduct, vindicated in his person the Masonic Institu- 
 tion from the aspersions of its enemies, and proclaimed 
 the folly and ignorance of the malignity which has 
 occasionally pursued its members with most vindictive 
 fury. To be a faithful Mason is to be an honest man. 
 Bound to sustain the laws of his country, every Mason 
 is taught to be a good and useful citizen, and to conform 
 with cheerfulness to the government under which he 
 lives. They arc commanded that with quietness they 
 eat their own bread, not being busy bodies, or walking 
 about disorderly. To be a distinguished member of 
 such an institution, is in itself a certificate of worth. 
 Aud though ignorance may sneer, and malignity may 
 snarl, the purity of the Order will shield it against both. 
 With faith, hope and charity as its great and guiding 
 rules, it will still continue to defy the assaults of envy, 
 and command the approbation of the good. Venerable 
 from its age, the Temple of Masonry still bides the 
 destroying hand of time, and the changing habits and 
 laws of men. With the hoar of antiquity clinging 
 around its brows, the very fissures in its walls tell how 
 bravely it has withstood the storms of ages, and the 
 contemplation of its history teaches us that virtue is 
 eternal. 
 
 In every age the Masonic Fraternity have numbered 
 among their members the great and gifted of the land. 
 
EULOGY. 19 
 
 Men the most distinguished for virtue and ability have 
 ever been found among its sons, and not among the 
 least of those, is seen enrolled the name of him whose 
 remains now lie before us. The record of his virtues 
 and his deeds is deposited in safety. 
 
 The government of the United States is unlike the 
 government of any other nation upon earth. Spring- 
 ing from the people, it is swayed and directed by its 
 supporters. The fundamental law in our land is the 
 mighty voice of the public. Its fiat over-reaches Courts 
 of law and Congressional enactments. Unsanctioned 
 by its approval, legislative ordinances are idle declara- 
 tions; but sustained by the people they become as potent 
 as human authority can make them. Our government 
 is essentially a government of economy, and believing 
 that all governments should be of right for the benefit, 
 and not the oppression, of the governed, our fathers 
 instituted it in such a form as they believed would be 
 the least burdensome to the people. Made for and by 
 themselves, they constituted their rulers merely agents 
 of the public, and they not only determined to hold 
 them to a strict accountability for the trust, but made 
 them entirely dependant upon the citizens for support. 
 Indeed, they were jealous of power in every form, and 
 the history of subverted nations and ruined empires 
 teemed with too many instances of the danger of stand- 
 ing armies, for them to omit any precaution in guarding 
 against their evils. Believing that the safety of the 
 State might well be intrusted to those most interested 
 in it, they reposed sufficient confidence in the citizen 
 soldiery of the country to intrust the honor and repu- 
 tation of tlie country in their hands, and well has history 
 justified the act. 
 
 The royal heads of Europe, with thrones upheld by 
 mercenary bayonets, consult not the movements of the 
 
20 EULOGY. 
 
 popular will, nor do the}' admit themselves dependant 
 upon any outburst of the enthusiasm of the people. 
 In their hands, the machine of State has far other ob- 
 jects than the happiness of the mass, and the whims 
 and caprices of monarchs rule, instead of the people's 
 interests. Distrusting alike their intelligence and their 
 patriotism, the advocates of monarchy have affected to 
 believe that the want of a standing army is a weak- 
 ness in our government, and the one which must render 
 it powerless to maintain its dignity abroad. What- 
 ever credit they may give it for ability to maintain a 
 protracted resistance in defence, they have always 
 urged, that without a standing soldiery we shall be 
 incompetent to maintain the honor of our flag, by a just 
 and speedy punishment of aggressors upon our rights. 
 But men w^ho reason thus understand not the nature of 
 free and liberal institutions, nor their operation upon 
 the hearts and minds of men. The American pulse 
 beats too ardently in behalf of the honor of the Ameri- 
 can name, ever to permit her sons to remain quiescent 
 when the reputation and interest of the nation calls. 
 Prompt and responsive, they will rally around its flag, 
 and their deeds have shown how gallantly they can 
 sustain it. 
 
 Over hill and over dale, over mountain and over 
 valley, ran the story of Resaca's bloody plain. It was 
 the call to arms, and proudly was it answered. Through 
 the highways and the byways came the rushing throng, 
 and myriads demanded the right to mingle in the conflict. 
 The farmer left his plough, the mechanic forgot his shop, 
 the lawyer left his brief, and emulously struggled which 
 should uphold his country's banner. Impelled by a 
 patriotism unknown in other lands, all sought the tented 
 field. Home and its enjoyments were abandoned for 
 the rudeness of the camp, and every heart was burning 
 to avenge its country's wrongs. The spectacle was 
 
EULOGY. 21 
 
 grand. A nation trembled with impatience to scourge 
 the insulting foe. 
 
 In such a scene, the chivalry of him we honor could 
 not be missing. In the enjoyment of all which renders 
 happy the life of man, he left it at his country's call. 
 With a patriotism too lofty to gratify a selfish ease, his 
 ardent spirit led him on. The path of honor was to him 
 the path of dut}^ Nor wife, nor children, nor friends, 
 nor the honorable ambition of civil life, could stay the 
 generous sacrifice he made. The endearments of all he 
 loved, he offered on the altar of his country's good, and 
 turning from the laurels of the statesman, he sought the 
 fields of war and all the perils of a hostile land. 
 
 Exposed to the vicissitudes of a climate as unfriendly 
 as the foe, as a soldier, he won the profound regard 
 of his associates in arms. His gallantry and his coolness 
 gave the highest promise of future greatne'ss, while the 
 chivalry of his character made him universally beloved. 
 
 In the bloody streets of Monterey, when the death 
 storm was at its highest, and the shattering volley came 
 pealing down, when the wild huzza, and the muskets' 
 crash and the cannons' deadly boom told how the fatal 
 work progressed — firm at his post he braved the terrors 
 of the field. On a thousand wrings came flying the 
 messengers of death — the earth was bathed in gore — 
 the star-spangled banner fluttered in the smoke until 
 the conquering power of the freeman's arm planted it 
 on the topmost tower of the captured town. But not 
 fated there to die, he escaped every danger of the day. 
 Not among scenes of blood and carnage — not amid the 
 groans of the wounded and the shrieks of the dying was 
 his career to close — but when all was done, and the 
 battle's strife had slept, the fiat came ; and disease de- 
 stroyed what the fight had spared. Unsearchable are 
 the ways of God. Thomas L. Hamer has passed from 
 among us — may we profit by the example of his life. 
 

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