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ORATION
ON THE
LIFE AND CHARACTER
OF
HENRY WINTER DAVIS,

BY

HON. JOHN A. J. CRESWELL.

Delivered in the Hall of the House of Representatives,
February 22, 1866.

WASHINGTON:
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.
1866.




PREFACE.


The death of Hon. HENRY WINTER DAVIS, for many years a distinguished
Representative of one of the Baltimore congressional districts, created
a deep sensation among those who had been associated with him in
national legislation, and they deemed it fitting to pay to his memory
unusual honors. They adopted resolutions expressive of their grief, and
invited Hon. JOHN A. J. CRESWELL, a Senator of the United States from
the State of Maryland, to deliver an oration on his life and character,
in the hall of the House of Representatives, on the 22d of February, a
day the recurrence of which ever gives increased warmth to patriotic
emotions.

The hall of the House was filled by a distinguished audience to listen
to the oration. Before eleven o'clock the galleries were crowded in
every part. The flags above the Speaker's desk were draped in black, and
other insignia of mourning were exhibited. An excellent portrait of the
late Hon. HENRY WINTER DAVIS was visible through the folds of the
national banner above the Speaker's chair. As on the occasion of the
oration on President LINCOLN by Hon. GEORGE BANCROFT, the Marine band
occupied the ante-room of the reporters' gallery, and discoursed
appropriate music.

At twelve o'clock the senators entered, and the judges of the Supreme
Court, preceded by Chief Justice Chase. Of the Cabinet Secretary Stanton
and Secretary McCulloch were present. After prayer by the chaplain, the
Declaration of Independence was read by Hon. EDWARD MCPHERSON, Clerk of
the House. After the reading of the Declaration, followed by the playing
of a dirge by the band, Hon. SCHUYLER COLFAX, Speaker of the House of
Representatives, introduced the orator of the day, Hon. J. A. J.
CRESWELL.




REMARKS

OF

HON. SCHUYLER COLFAX,

SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.


Hon. SCHUYLER COLFAX, Speaker of the House of Representatives, said:

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: The duty has been devolved upon me of introducing
to you the friend and fellow-member, here, of HENRY WINTER DAVIS, and I
shall detain you but a moment from his address, to which you will listen
with saddened interest.

The world always appreciates and honors courage: the courage of
Christianity, which sustained martyrs in the amphitheatre, at the stake,
and on the rack; the courage of Patriotism, which inspired millions in
our own land to realize the historic fable of Curtius, and to fill up
with their own bodies, if need be, the yawning chasm which imperiled the
republic; the courage of Humanity, which is witnessed in the pest-house
and the hospital, at the death-bed of the homeless and the prison-cell
of the convict. But there is a courage of Statesmen, besides; and nobly
was it illustrated by the statesman whose national services we
commemorate to-day. Inflexibly hostile to oppression, whether of slaves
on American soil or of republicans struggling in Mexico against
monarchical invasion, faithful always to principle and liberty,
championing always the cause of the down-trodden, fearless as he was
eloquent in his avowals, he was mourned throughout a continent; and from
the Patapsco to the Gulf the blessings of those who had been ready to
perish followed him to his tomb. It is fitting, therefore, though dying
a private citizen, that the nation should render him such marked and
unusual honors in this hall, the scene of so many of his intellectual
triumphs; and I have great pleasure in introducing to you, as the orator
of the day, Hon. J. A. J. CRESWELL, his colleague in the thirty-eighth
Congress, and now Senator from the State of Maryland.




ORATION

OF

HON. JOHN A. J. CRESWELL.


MY COUNTRYMEN: On the 22d day of February, 1732, God gave to the world
the highest type of humanity, in the person of George Washington.
Combining within himself the better qualities of the soldier, sage,
statesman, and patriot, alike brave, wise, discreet, and incorruptible,
the common consent of mankind has awarded him the incomparable title of
Father of his Country. Among all nations and in every clime the richest
treasures of language have been exhausted in the effort to transmit to
posterity a faithful record of his deeds. For him unfading laurels are
secure