CHAPTER XI.

Return to Tennessee-Speech at Richmond-Arrival Home-Prospects for the Future-Vanity of Human Hopes and Expectations-His DeathFuneral Honors-Personal Appearance and Character-Conclusion.

IF Mr. Polk was gratified with the enthusiastic demonstrations of regard that attended him on his journey to Washington in the spring of 1845, to enter upon the duties of his administration, he was far more sincerely pleased, with the kindly greetings that everywhere welcomed him as he returned to his home in Tennessee. The one might have been selfish, for he had then office and patronage to bestow; but the other was the genuine homage of the heart; a voluntary offering to the man, and not to the President.

At Richmond, he was complimented with a public reception by the citizens, and the Legislature of Virginia, which was then in session. In reply to an eloquent address from the Speaker of the House of Delegates, the ex-President returned his hearty thanks for the high honor accorded to him by the legislature of a State for which he cherished the most profound veneration, and from whose political apostles he had imbibed his appreciation of the great principles of constitutional liberty. He was, he said, taken by surprise at the manner of his reception; and to be thus received, when he had just laid

down power, and was no longer clothed with the patronage of the government, filled him with gratitude. He felt proud, too, that he was "no more a servant of the people, but had become a sovereign." He spoke, also, of the greatness of the country, and of the value and importance of the Union. "Preserve this union," he declared," and the march of our country in prosperity and greatness will be rapid beyond comparison, and her ripened glory will surpass that of ancient Rome, the mistress of the world."

At Wilmington, North Carolina, the people of his native state came together in crowds, to welcome him. Extensive preparations had been made for his reception, and in replying to the orator who addressed him, he said: "You remark truly, sir, that I still cherish affection for my native state. I receive its welcome as the blessing of an honored parent. North Carolina can boast of glorious reminiscences, and is entitled to rank with, or far above, many who make greater pretensions. It was from her-her counties of Mecklenburg, New Hanover, and Bladen, that the news of treason in the colonies first went to the ears of the British monarch, and here was the spirit of independence first aroused.”

At Charleston, Savannah, and New Orleans-at every place where he paused upon his route-welcomes and congratulations were liberally showered upon his head; and prayers and blessings innumerable attended him, like ministering angels, to the home from which he had gone forth in early manhood to carve out his destiny, and to which he now returned, with the harvest of fame he had gathered.

Previous to his return to Tennessee, Mr. Polk had purchased the mansion and grounds formerly belonging to his friend and preceptor, Mr. Grundy, and situate in the heart of the city of Nashville. Here, surrounded by the comforts and conveniences which an ample fortune enabled him to procure, in the sweet companionship of his wife, of books, and of the friends whom he loved and esteemed,—he determined to pass the remainder of his days in ease and retirement, fulfilling his duty to himself and to the world, but not entering again into public life. He had discovered, from his own experience, that an aching heart was the price of a diadem," and he longed to enjoy the quiet and tranquillity which seemed to woo him with their smiles. His constitution appeared to be unimpaired; a life of strict temperance, approaching to abstemiousness, seemed to promise a continuance of health for many years; and nearly one-third of man's allotted pilgrimage was yet before him.

But the hopes and expectations of man are like the mists of the morning,-as empty and as fleeting. No rank or station-no honor or reputation-no talents or advantages-can protect him from his destiny.

"The statesman's fame

Will fade, the conqueror's laurel crown grow sear;
Fame's loudest trump, upon the ear of Time

Leaves but a dying echo."

The year 1849 will not be soon forgotten in the valley of the Mississippi; but the fearful ravages of the Asiatic cholera, which it witnessed, will be long remembered in sorrow and pain. On his way up the Mississippi from New Orleans, in the month of March, Mr. Polk had suf

fered considerably from diarrhoea; but the use of medicine, and a proper attention to regimen, checked the attack, and it seemed entirely to pass off, leaving him in apparent good health. He was somewhat enervated, however, by the fatigue consequent upon his journey, and the acknowledgment of the kind civilities extended to him; and when he arrived at Nashville, his whole system was enfeebled.

"Having taken up his abode here," says one of his friends and neighbors, "he gave himself up to the improvement of his grounds, and was seen every day about his dwelling, aiding and directing the workmen he had employed; now overlooking a carpenter, now giving instructions to a gardener, often attended by Mrs. Polk, whose exquisite taste constituted the element of every improvement. It is not a fortnight since I saw him on his lawn, directing some men who were removing decaying cedars. I was struck with his erect and healthful bearing, and the active energy of his manner, which gave promise of long life. His flowing gray locks alone ✓made him appear beyond the middle-age of life. He seemed in full health. The next day being rainy, he remained within, and began to arrange his large library; and the labor of reaching books from the floor and placing them on the shelves, brought on fatigue and slight fever, which the next day assumed the character of disease in the form of chronic diarrhoea, which was with him a complaint of many years' standing, and readily induced upon his system by any over-exertion.

"For the first three days, his friends felt no alarm. But the disease baffling the skill of his physicians, Dr.

Mr. Polk continued gradu-
The disease was checked

Hay, his brother-in-law, and family physician for twenty years, was sent for from Columbia. But the skill and experience of this gentleman, aided by the highest medical talent, proved of no avail. ally to sink from day to day. upon him four days before his death, but his constitution was so weakened, that there did not remain recuperative energy enough in the system for healthy reäction. He sunk away so slowly and insensibly, that the heavy death respirations commenced eight hours before he died. He died without a struggle, simply ceasing to breathe, as when deep and quiet sleep falls upon a weary man. About half an hour preceding his death, his venerable mother entered the room, and kneeling by his bedside, offered up a beautiful prayer to the 'king of kings and lord of lords,' committing the soul of her son to his holy keeping."

Others beside that pious mother watched for the departing of the spirit. The wife and the brother were there overcome with grief. But he had already taken leave of those who were so dear, and, like Russell, he could say, "the bitterness of death was passed."

The death of Mr. Polk occurred on the 15th day of June, 1849, and in the 54th year of his age. The funeral ceremonies took place on the following day; all business was suspended in Nashville; and the cortége that accompanied his remains to their final resting place, was composed of almost the entire population of the city and the adjacent country. He was dressed in a plain suit of black, and a copy of the constitution of the United States, which had ever been the guide of his counsels, was