The Congressional Globe, Volume 13, Part 1: Twenty-Eighth Congress, First Session Page: 338
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338
CONGRESSIONAL GLOBE.
astrous accident, on a deck which, under other cir-
cumstances, lie might have illustrated by his valor.
But, in so overwhelming a calamjty, which stands
almost without a parallel, in the records of human
misfortune, all bear their equal and sympathizing
share. 'Surrounded, as we are, on every hand, by
the desolate wailing of the widow, and the helpless
cry of the orphan, none of us can be in a state of
mind to discharge, with intelligence and composure,
the duties which belong to us here.
- Let us, then, Mr. President, bowing in all hu-
mility of spirit beneath this stroke of an all-wise
and mysterious Providence, discard from our
minds, for a season, the cares and excitements
of our daily duties in this hall. Let us lay to
heart the monitory lesson so impressively read
to us in the events of yesterday, that "in the
midst of life we are in death." With this les-
son engraven upon our hearts, let us keep con-
stantly in view the eternal, as well as temporal
responsibilities under which all the duties of both
public and private life are to be performed. Let
the deep sense of common calamity and mutual
affliction unite us more closely by the ties of broth-
erhood and affection. Let us "put away from us all
bitterness and wrath, and evil-speaking;" and
when we come together again, under these chasten-
ing influences, we shall all feel, I trust, how much
better patriots we are, for being better Christians.
Mr. R. concluded by submitting the following
resolutions:
Resolved, That the Senate, impressed with the
profound sense of the awful calamity wtiich yester-
day occurred on board of the steamer Princeton, by
the explosion of a gun, involving the loss of many
valuable lives, and among them of the Secretary of
State and Secretary of the Navy,
Resolved, That the Senate will attend, in a body,
the obsequies of the deceased members of the cabi-
net, and that a committee of five be appointed to
make arrangements with such committee as may
be appointed on the part of the House of Represent-
atives.
Resolved, That, in consideration of this afflictive
dispensation, the Senate do now adjourn to Monday
next.
Resolved, That the Senate will go into mourning
by wearing crape on the left arm for thirty days.
Resolved, That a copy of the foregoing resolutions
be ti-ansimtted to the President of the United States.
The resolutions having been read, a message was
received from the House of Representatives,oy the
hands of Mr. McNulty, their Clerk, announcing the
action of that body touching this awful calamity.
The message was read, and concurred in.
The resolutions submitted by Mr. Rives were
unanimously agreed to; and
The following senators were appointed a com-
mittee of arrangements on the part of the Senate to
act in conjunction with the committee on the part
of the House of Representative:;, vjy: Mr. Rives,
Mr. Archer, Mr. IIino, Mr. Woodbury, and Mr.
Bayard.
The Senate then, in accordance with its previous
action, adjourned till Monday next.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
Thursday, February J29, 1844.
Tile journal having been read,
A message was received from the President of the
United States, by Mr. John Tyler, jr , Ins pri\ate
secretary; which will be found 111 the proceedings of
the Senate.
The message having been read,
Mr. HOPKINS rose and said :
Mr. SrEAKER: I have risen to present to tins
House a series of resolutions touching the melan-
choly subject of the message which has just been
read. If it were becoming in me to speak upon an
occasion so mournful, the deep feeling of grief
which now pervades the bosom of every member
of this House, and in which my own so sincerely
and painfully participates, would render me incom-
petent to the discharge of such a duty. I shall be
pardoned, therefore, in declining to utter one word
in support of the resolutions which 1 have the honor
of submitting, and which I know will find so gen-
erous a response from this body. I send them to
the chair.
Mr. H. then handed up the following resolutions,
which were read and unanimously agreed to:
Resolved, That this House has heard, with deep
sorrow, of the dreadful catastrophe which occurred
yesterday, on board the United States ship-of-war
Princeton, when many valuable lives were lost; and
by which, amongst others, the Hon. Abel P. Up-
shur, Secretary of State, and the Hon. Thomas W.
Gilmer, Secretary of the Navy, met a sudden and
awful death.
Resolved, That this House will manifest its re-
spect for the memory of the late distinguished Secre-
taries of State and of the Navy, and its sympathy
for their bereaved families, by attending their funeral
in a body.
Resolved, A« a further mark of respect to the de-
ceased, and to manifest our sense of this most melan-
choly and afflicting dispensation of Divine Provi-
dence, that this House will transact no legislative
business until after the funeral obsequies of the de-
ceased shall have been performed.
Resolved, That the members of this House will
wear the usual badge of mourning for 30 days.
Resolved, That a committee of five members of
this House be appointed to make arrangement with
such committees as may be appointed on the part of
the Senate, for the attendance of the two Houses of
Congress at the funeral of the late Abel P. Upshur
and Thomas W. Gilmer.
[The following is the committee appointed on the
part of the House: Mr. HoruiNs, of Virginia; Mr.
Cave Johnson, of Tennessee; Mr. C. J. Ingersoll,
of Pennsylvania; Mr. John Q.. Adams, of Massa-
chusetts; Mr. D. D. Barnard, of New York.
Resolved, That when this House adjourn to-day
it will adjourn to meet on Monday next.
Resolved, That the House do now adjourn.
The House then adjourned.
IN SENATE.
Monday, March 4,1844.
Mr. BARROW presented the credentials of Mr.
Henry Johnson, senator elected by the legislature
of Louisiana, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the
death of the Hon. Alexander Porter. He came for-
ward, and was qualified.
Mr. MERRICK presented a petition from 150
citizens of Indiana county, Pennsylvania, praying
Congress to grant relief to certain officers and sol-
diers in the late war with Great Britain; also, of the
Indian wars prior to the treaty of Greenville, in 1795:
referred to the Committee on Pensions.
Mr. BARROW presented a petition from James
W. Breedlove of New Orleans, praying compensa-
tion for the use of his steam schooner Merchant,
employed, in 1841, to cruize in pursuit of pirates:
i eferred to the Committee on Naval Affairs.
Also presented additional documents in support of
the claim of J. Millikan; which were committed to
the committee on Private Land Claims.
Mr. CHOATE presented a petition from David
Baker, praying for the renewal of his patent for a
certain kind of saw: referred to the Committee on
Patents and the Patent Office.
Mr. MILLER presented resolutions adopted by
the legislative council and general assembly of New
J ersey, requesting the senators and representatives
from that State to use their influence to procure an
appropriation for the construction of a breakwater
harbor at Cape May: referred to the Committee on
Commerce, and ordered to be printed.
Mr. BAGBY presented a memorial from sundry
merchants, traders, and shippers of Mobile, urging
upon the Senate the reconsideration of its vote last
session, rejecting a commercial treaty with Texas.
Mr. B. made some remarks, not heard in the re-
porters' gallery, but supposed to have reference to a
misapprehension by the petitioners of the action of
the Senate upon that treaty: referred to the commit-
tee on Foreign Relations.
Mr. B. also presented a memorial of the general
assembly of Alabama, and resolutions adopted by
that body, instructing the senators and requesting
the representatives from that State to use their in-
fluence to procure the passage of a law allowing to
the citizens of that State further time to embrace
the benefits of the pre-emption system. Also,
other resolutions of that body in favor of the gradu-
ation and reduction of the price of the public lands,
in the State of Alabama, which have been long in
the market: referred to the Committee on Public
Lands.
DEATH OF MR. FRICK OF PENNSYLVANIA.
A message was received from the House of Rep-
resentatives by Mr. McNulty, their Clerk, inform-
ing the Senate of the death of the Hon. Henby
Frick, a representative from Pennsylvania, and the
passage of the usual resolutions of that body, in
testimony of respcct for the memory of the deceased;
which being read:
Mr. BUCHANAN rose, and addressed the Sen-
ate as follows:
Mr. President: It has become my painful duty to
move the resolutions customary on such occasions,
as a token of respect for the memory of the Hon.
Henry Frick, late a member of the Pennsylvania
delegation in Congress, information of whose death
has just been communicated to us by the House of
Representatives.
The performance of such a duty, at all times
solemn, is rendered peculiarly impressive upon the
present occasion, by the sad and melancholy gloom
in which we are now enveloped. The vanity of
worldly honors and the folly of ambition have been
brought home to the hearts of all who hear me, by
the late astounding and heart-rending catastrophe,
which has covered a nation with mourning. Every
man, and especially every public man, must, at the
present moment, deeply feel how worthless are the
highest honors and distinctions which human power
can bestow upon human frailty; even when these
have been nobly won by wisdom, patriotism, and
virtue. Truly, in the language of Scripture, "man
walketh in a vain* shadow, and disquieteth himself
in vain." The grave had not closed upon the mortal
remains of those whom we all deplore, when death
struck down another victim from our midst, among
our associates in Congress. May these melancholy
events, following each other in such rapid suc-
cession, soften and subdue the maddening pulse of
political excitement, and teach us to feel that we arc
all brethren—that we arc all fellow-citizens of the
same glorious republic!
Mr. Frick was born in the county of Northumber-
land, and State of Pennsylvania, in the year 1795.
At an early age he learned the noble art of printing,
in the city of Philadelphia. Whilst yet in his mi-
nority, fired with youthful patriotism, he united
himself to a volunteer company, and took up arms
in defence of his country during the late war with
Great Britain. In the year 1816, he established a
political journal in his native county, which he con-
tinued to conduct for more than twenty years; and
it is still owned and conducted by members of his
family.
Mr. Frick represented his county with fidelity
and ability during three successive sessions, com-
mencing with that of 1828, in the legislature of
Pennsylvania; and he was finally elected to Con-
gress hi October last, under circumstances which
clearly evince that he enjoyed uncommon personal
popularity among those who knew him best. The
history of his life presents no very remarkable
events. It is the history of a man (fortunately so
common in this country) who, from an humble be-
ginning, has, by industry, ability, and perseverance,
gradually surmounted every intervening obstacle,
and at last attained the high distinction of a seat in
the other branch of Congress. He terminated his
earthly career in this city, on Friday last, after a long
and lingering illness, which he bore with oalmness
and resignation.
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United States. Congress. The Congressional Globe, Volume 13, Part 1: Twenty-Eighth Congress, First Session, book, 1844; Washington D.C.. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth2367/m1/362/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.