ES

Proceedings of the Common Council.

BOARD OF ALDERMEN,

OCTOBER 25, 1852.

PRESENT-Richard T. Compton, Esq., President; Abraham Moore, Dudley Haley, Oscar W. Sturtevant, Jacob F. Oakley, John Boyce, Thomas J. Barr, William M. Tweed, William J. Brisley, Charles Francis, Wesley Smith, John Pearsall, James M. Bard, Sylvester L. H. Ward, Asahel A. Denman, William H. Cornell, Alonzo A. Alvord, John Doherty, William J. Peck.

The following communication was received from his Honor the Mayor, viz:

MAYOR'S OFFICE,

October 25, 1852,

To the Honorable Common Council:

GENTLEMEN :-The mournful intelligence has spread throughout the land that DANIEL WEBSTER-the Oratorthe Patriot-the Statesman-unrivalled in any country or in any age-is no more.

The death of such a man is a national calamity, and his decease will be mourned with a sincerity which is but a merited tribute to his worth and services.

DANIEL WEBSTER needs no eulogy from me, and I shall not attempt any; his history is written on the annals of our country, in letters which can never be effaced-his memory is embalmed in the hearts of his grateful country

men.

I communicate this painful information to you officially, to the end that such steps may be taken, as will at once mark our appreciation of his exalted worth and servicesour grief at the loss which we, in common with the whole country, have sustained.

A. C. KINGSLAND, MAYOR.

Whereupon, THOMAS J. BARR, Alderman of the Sixth Ward, presented the following preamble and resolution, viz :

Whereas, It has pleased Almighty God to remove from this life, DANIEL WEBSTER, late Secretary of State, and

Whereas, This eminent statesman, for the last forty years, has, in the council and cabinet of the nation, rendered services of unequalled devotion and patriotism to preserve the Constitution of our confederacy, to perpetuate the blessings of our Union, and to defend the honor and dignity of our country, untarnished, at home and abroad; and whose transcendent genius and talent have served to elevate our country to its present proud position among the nations of the earth, shedding the brightest lustre upon our past history, and inspiring the most ardent hopes for our future destiny; and

Whereas, This Board, sharing the general sorrow which this melancholy event inspires, is desirous of evincing its sensibility at the loss; therefore, be it

Resolved, That a Committee of seven be appointed on the part of this Board, to unite with a like Committee of the Board of Assistants, to take such measures as may be necessary to manifest the respect and admiration of the city of New York for the memory of the illustrious deceased, and to make the necessary arrangements for that purpose.

Whereupon JOHN BOYCE, Alderman of the Fifth Ward, seconded the resolution, and, in doing so, made the following remarks:

Mr. PRESIDENT:-I rise to second the motion; in doing so, I do not intend to trouble you with any unnecessary remarks, for what has already been said, and much that has been published in all of the newspapers of the day, leaves nothing for me to say, without repeating what has already been well said; but I desire to bear my feeble testimony to the unsurpassed worth and services of the great statesman, whose death the people of this great nation, from length to breadth, without distinction of party, are called upon to mourn, and I have no doubt but sadness now pervades every intelligent and enlightened mind throughout our whole country, where this melancholy event has been made known. I am free to say, none among our distinguished and lamented statesmen who have preceded him in their demise, had stronger claims upon the affection and respect of their countrymen, than has DANIEL WEBSTER—his distinguished public services— his pre-eminent abilities and patriotism, when living, forced a respect from all, such as could be created only by a master mind like his. Now that he is gone, it is proper and it is right that this Common Council-the people of this

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great and wealthy city, and the inhabitants of this happy land, should arise, one and all, and show every testimony of respect to the memory of the greatest statesman of the age, who has contributed more than any other to a correct understanding of our constitutional compact, and the perpetuity of our glorious institutions.

ASAHEL A. DENMAN, Alderman of the Sixteenth Ward, made the following remarks:

Mr. PRESIDENT:-I sometimes think it unfortunate that I am not a professional speaker, so that I might be enabled to bear testimony to the valuable services of those of our great men who have; by the 'dispensation of Almighty God, been called from the active scenes of life; and particularly on this occasion it would afford me a melancholy pleasure to be enabled to pay a passing tribute to the memory of the illustrious deceased. He had all the attributes of a great statesman-his works will substantiate that, and we may say, to-night, that a great man has departed, and, in the language of one of old, “Truly a great man has fallen in Israel."

I hope that the Committee appointed will make such a demonstration as will be worthy of the city of New York, and of the departed statesman.

The resolution was then unanimously adopted, and the President appointed Aldermen BARR, PECK, OAKLEY, MOORE, DENMAN, BOYCE and STURTEVANT as such Committee, on the part of this Board.

And the same was directed to be sent to the Board of Assistants for concurrence.

On motion, the Board adjourned.

BOARD OF ASSISTANT ALDERMEN,

OCTOBER 25, 1852.

PRESENT Jonathan Trotter, Esq., President, in the chair; Assistant Aldermen Brown, Tait, Mabbatt, O'Brien, Rodman, Breaden, Woodward, Wells, Anderson, Bouton, McGown, Wright, Wheelan, Barker, Rogers and McConkey.

Assistant Alderman BARKER presented the following resolutions:

Resolved, That this Board receives with profound regret the intelligence of the death of the HON. DANIEL WEBSTER, the last of that great triumvirate of American statesmen, who, having adorned for more than a quarter of a century the history of their country, have, within so short a period, been gathered to the tomb.

Resolved, That our feelings of grief at his loss are in some degree assuaged by the pride which we feel as his compatriots, when we reflect that to him this age has produced few equals, and no superiors as an orator, a lawyer, or a statesman.

Resolved, That whatever difference of political opinion may have existed at times between him and portions of his countrymen, all must acknowledge the debt of gratitude which his country owes to the illustrious deceased, for innumerable services rendered in the Senate, and in the Cabinet, for the highest and most successful efforts of diplomacy, and for defences of the Constitution and the Union, on many well-remembered occasions, which no one ever excelled, or perhaps has equalled.