l words importing that it was to give
the Speaker and members of the house an opportunity of attending the
funeral obsequies of William Wirt.

"At the adjournment of the house on Wednesday I did not know what
the arrangements were, or would be, for that mournful ceremony. Had
I known them, I should have moved a postponed adjournment, which
would have enabled us to join in the duty of paying the last tribute
of respect to the remains of a man who was an ornament of his
country and of human nature.

"The customs of this and of the other house of Congress warrant the
suspension of their daily labors in the public service, for the
attendance upon funeral rites, only in the case of the decease of
their own members. To extend the usage further might be attended
with inconvenience as a precedent; nor should I have felt myself
warranted in asking it upon any common occasion.

"Mr. Wirt had never been a member of either house of Congress. But
if his form in marble, or his portrait upon canvas, were placed
within these walls, a suitable inscription for it would be that of
the statue of Moliere in the hall of the French Academy: 'Nothing
was wanting to his glory; he was wanting to ours.'

"Mr. Wirt had never been a member of Congress; but, for a period of
twelve years, during two successive administrations of the national
government, he had been the official and confidential adviser, upon
all questions of law, of the Presidents of the United States; and he
had discharged the duties of that station entirely to the
satisfaction of those officers and of the country. No member of this
house needs to be reminded how important are the duties of the
Attorney-General of the United States; nor risk I contradiction in
affirming that they were never more ably or more faithfully
discharged than by Mr. Wirt.

"If a mind stored with all the learning appropriate to the
profession of the law, and decorated with all the elegance of
classical literature; if a spirit imbued with the sensibilities of a
lofty patriotism, and chastened by the meditations of a profound
philosophy; if a brilliant imagination, a discerning intellect, a
sound judgment, an indefatigable capacity, and vigorous energy of
application, vivified with an ease and rapidity of elocution,
copious without redundance, and select witho