MMEDIATELY after intelligence of the death of Senator Douglas was received in Washington, a meeting of his friends and admirers was held there, to determine upon the best mode of honoring his memory. A Committee then formed-of which the Hon. John B. Haskin was Chairman, and John J. McElhone, Esq., Secretary-decided upon inviting Col. Forney to deliver an Oration or Eulogy upon the great departed, and the Lecture Hall of the Smithsonian Institute was kindly granted as the most suitable auditorium. At eight o'clock, upon the evening of Wednesday, July 3d, the Hall was crowded—the audience including representatives of numerous classes of politics, with a number of ladies. When Prof. Henry, of the Institute, appeared, accompanied by Gen. Cameron, Col. Forney, and numerous other gentlemen, who took seats upon the platform, he was warmly greeted. Prof. Henry, in introducing the speaker, in a few compact and expressive sentences, said that the place in which they were assembled was exactly suited for the delivery of an estimate of Mr. Douglas, because that lamented and distinguished statesman had been connected with the Institute in an official manner, and had also personally taken great interest in its welfare. He was sure that full justice would be done to the character of Mr. Douglas by Col. Forney, whom he now begged leave to introduce to the audience. EULOGY. MR. PRESIDENT HENRY, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: On the eve of the Anniversary of American Union and Independence, we have assembled in this classic hall to pay a heartfelt tribute to the memory of a Statesman, who, in his day and time, has conferred lasting benefits upon his country, and who, in the hour of her extremest peril, and in the prime of his life, has been called to his final account. Mingled with the grief which this sad event has inspired-a grief that has obliterated party prejudices among the people of all the loyal States of this Union-is the sad recollection that to-morrow's celebration of our national Sabbath will find us in the midst of an internal strife, which threatens the overthrow of our domestic peace, and the destruction of the liberties purchased by the blood of our forefathers, and consecrated in the deathless charter proclaimed from Independence Hall on the Fourth Day of July, 1776. [Applause.] We have, therefore, a double cause to mourn-first, in the loss of an unchallenged and unquestioned Patriot, and next, in the fact that, in one section of our happy country, thousands of misguided men are found insensible to all the obligations of the glorious Past, and resolved to entitle themselves to the scorn and detestation of mankind. Yet may we not congratulate ourselves that, if there are those reckless enough to forget the day, and the men who made that day immortal, more than twenty millions of people will greet the rising of to-morrow's sunwill hail the eighty-fifth anniversary of American Independence -with a fervor all the more deep, all the more religious, all the more profound and universal, because the Republic is in imminent danger, and the efforts and prayers of all good men are demanded for its preservation? [Applause.] When the impartial historian comes to analyze the character and services of Stephen A. Douglas, he will be amazed at the wonderful versatility of the man, the vast amount of labor he performed, the events in which he moved a principal actor, and the comparatively short period of time during which he figured upon the stage of American politics. Volumes would be required to do justice to the subject. How, then, can I expect, within the decent and proper limits of such an occasion as this, to rise to an ordinary comprehension of the duty which has been assigned to me? I must content myself with a mere allusion to certain of the leading elements of the character of the departed patriot, and with a genial; though partial, view of many of his distinguishing traits and achievements, such as might be anticipated from one who loved him as a friend and believed in the general justice of his opinions. Our greatest national historian, in his marvellous eulogy upon Andrew Jackson, in this very city, sixteen years ago, when he approached that part of the history of the old hero which continued to divide public opinion, said: "We tread on ashes where the fire is not yet extinguished." Many of the acts of Stephen A. Douglas were the acts of yesterday. We can almost hear the echo of the shouts of the hosts in the great conflicts upon one side, of which he was the leader. The theories he advocated still awaken animosities among men; his own passions, and those he aroused, are yet keenly remembered. For all this, I do not |