trayed in the National Intelligencer of April 9, 1841, which contained an account of the funeral: "Never, since the time of Washington, has any one man so concentrated upon himself the love and confidence of the American people; and never, since the melancholy day which shrouded a nation in mourning for his sudden death, has any event produced so general and so profound a sensation of surprise and sorrow. "So brief had been the late president's illness, that now, as in the case of Washington, there had scarce been time for us to begin to fear, when the stunning blow of the reality fell upon us like the stroke of thunder from a cloudless sky. Men looked aghast, and staggered, as if amazed by something they could scarce believe. But it was true. He who, with beaming countenance, passed along our streets in the joy of his hearthe, the welcome, the long-expected, the desired, on whom all eyes were fastened, to whom all hearts went out; who had within him more stirring subjects of exhilarating consciousness than have met in any single bosom since Washington was crowned with wreaths as he came back from Yorktown, was, on Wednesday last, within one month, one little month,' borne along that same crowded avenue-crowded, not as before, with a jubilant people gathered from every quarter of the country, but with sincerely sorrowing multitudes following his bier. When the words, the president is dead,' met the ear, the man of business dropped his pen, the artisan dropped his tools-children looked into the faces of their parents, and wives into the countenances of their husbands-and the wail of sorTow arose as if each had lost a parent, or some near and dear friend. Could General Harrison now look down on the land he loved, he might, indeed, 'read his history in a nation's eyes;' and those whose bosoms glow and struggle with high purposes and strong desires for their country's good, may learn in what they now behold, wherever they turn their eyes, how glorious a reward awaits the memory of those who faithfully serve their country!" On Wednesday, the 7th of April, the funeral of President Harrison took place at Washington, and was attended by an immense concourse of citizens, who thronged to the city from Baltimore, Philadelphia, Alexandria, and other places, anxious to join in the honors and solemnities paid to the memory of the illustrious deceased. The civic and military procession was large and imposing, occupying two miles in length. The funeral service of the episcopal church was recited by the Rev. Mr. Hawley. The body was interred in the congressional burying ground, but afterward removed to North Bend, Ohio, at the request of the family of General Harrison. All party distinctions were merged in the feeling of respect due to the memory of the honored dead; and throughout the Union, funeral honors and other testimonials of public feeling, similar to those which took place on the death of General Washington, were awarded to the memory of Harrison. At every city, town, and village, in the Union, as the unwelcome 442 tidings of the death of the president arrived, it was received with every demonstration of mourning and regret, and followed immediately by such marks of respect as the several communities had it in their power to offer. Such legislative bodies as happened to be in session, were among the foremost to demonstrate their sympathy with the general impulse. That exhibited by the legislature of Maryland, in leaving the seat of the state government, and attending the funeral as an organized body, was among the most touching evidences of the kind. The Pennsylvania legislature deputed a number of members from each branch of that body, to proceed from Harrisburg to Washington, to attend the funeral. The legislature of New York adopted such measures as the occasion enabled them to do, to testify their feelings. The respective courts, wherever they were in session, officially united in the general expression, as did also the municipalities of all the principal cities and towns in the Union. The occasion was also appropriately noticed by the clergy of the different denominations. General Harrison left one son and three daughters, all living at or near North Bend, Ohio. Four sons and a daughter died before their father. All of the sons left children. Although he never In person, General Harrison was tall and slender. had the appearance of possessing a robust constitution, yet such had been the effects of habitual activity and temperance, that few men at his age enjoyed so much bodily vigor. He had a fine dark eye, remarkable for its keenness, fire, and intelligence, and his face was strongly expressive of the vivacity of his mind, and the benevolence of his character. The most remarkable traits of General Harrison's character, and those by which he was distinguished throughout his whole career, were his disinterestedness, his regard for the rights and comforts of others, his generous disposition, his mild and forbearing temper, and his plain, easy, and unostentatious manner. He had a most intimate knowledge of the history, and foreign and domestic polity of the United States; and from the moderation of his political views and feelings as a party man, although firm, frank, and consistent, he was well calculated for the high station to which he was elected, and which it is believed he would have filled with ability, and to the satisfaction of the public, during his presidential term, had his life been spared. His talents, although, perhaps, not of the highest order, were very respectable, and, united with an accurate knowledge of mankind, enabled him to acquit himself well in the various public stations to which he was called. He was a bold and eloquent orator; and he has left on record numerous evidences of his literary acquirements, among which, besides his correspondence and public papers, we may mention his discourse before the Historical Society of Ohio (on the aborigines of the valley of the Ohio), published at Cincinnati in 1839, which can not fail to please and instruct either the scholar, the lover of history, or the antiquary. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF JOHN TYLER, THE ancestors of John Tyler, the tenth president of the United States, and the sixth chief magistrate of the nation whose birthplace was Virginia, were among the early English settlers of the Old Dominion. This family of Tyler, it is understood, traced their lineage back to Walter, or Wat Tyler, who, in the fourteenth century, headed an insurrection in England, and, while demanding of the king (Richard II.) a recognition of the rights of the people, lost his life in their cause. The father of the subject of this sketch, bearing the same name, was the second son of John Tyler, who was marshal of the colony, under the royal government, up to the period of his death, which occurred after the remonstrances against the stamp act, and whose patrimonial estate covered a large tract of country in and about Williamsburg. The son early entered with warmth and spirit into the discussion of those grievances which afterward kindled the flame of the revolution; and so earnestly were his sympathies enlisted in the cause of colonial rights, and so unhesitatingly were his opinions expressed, that his father, the marshal, often told him that he would some day be hung for a rebel. A rebel he did indeed prove, but his consequent exaltation was destined to be, not the scaffold, but the chair of state. Removing from James City, some time in 1775, to Charles City, he was, not long after, elected from that county a member of the house of delegates of Virginia, and in that capacity distinguished himself by the zeal and fearlessness with which he advocated the boldest measures of the revolution, and the devotion with which he lent all the energies of a powerful mind to its success." The intimate friend of Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and Edmund Randolph, he was scarcely less beloved by the entire people of Virginia. • We are indebted to a life of President Tyler, written by one of his friends, and published by Harper and Brothers, in 1844, for a part of this sketch. |