Eulogy on the Life and Services of Henry Clay

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Excerpt from Eulogy on the Life and Services of Henry Clay: Delivered in the Hall of the House of Representatives, October 11, 1852 Ladies and Gentlemen: We have met to commemorate the life and services of Henry Clay. After a long life, - after a long, useful and illustrious career, - he has passed away. The fiery and aspiring spirit, whose earthly life was one long storm, has at length sunk to rest. Neither praise nor censure can now reach him. When his haughty soul passed away from the earth, and the grave closed over his dust, it also entombed in its dark and narrow chamber the bitterness of detraction, and the tiger ferocity of party spirit, with which lie had so long wrestled. Death has hallowed his name and burnished his services bright in the memory of his countrymen. We have met to express, in the manner which the custom of our country has established, our appreciation of those services and our sense of his glory. We have met, not as partisans or friends, - political or personal, - of the illustrious dead, but as Americans, desirous to do honor to a great American. In attempting to discharge the duty which has been imposed upon me, I shall avoid the indiscriminate eulogy which is the proverbial blemish of obituaries and funeral discourses, and shall essay, however feebly, to present Mr. Clay as he was, or, at least, as he seemed to me. Great beings, - grand human creatures, - scattered sparsely throughout time, should be painted with truth. An indiscriminate deluge of praise drowns mediocrity and greatness in the same grave, where none can distinguish between them. When the greatest of all Englishmen, Oliver Cromwell, sat to the painter, Lely, for his portrait, whose pencil was addicted to flattery, he said, "Paint me as I am, leave not out one wrinkle, scar or blemish, at your peril." He wished to go to the world as he was, and greatness is wise in wishing it. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.