looking forward to a long career of honor and fame. And perhaps it may be my lot to be shortly laid in the grave; and perhaps in this assembly some one may be called upon to address some remarks over my poor lifeless body-even as I have been called upon on the present occasion; and if this should be so, I pray that that friend may accord to me as much of praise and as little of blame as will be consistent with the truth.

In conclusion, I would remark that I have no words sufficient to express my own personal regret. I have lost a warm personal friend. I may find others, but I shall not be able to find friends that I have loved in other years. I shall not often find those to whom I can, as I could to him, talk of the old familiar times and the lessons I taught him in carly life-of the virtues and example of his parents-of his mother's, his poor afflicted mother's affection and love-of his old contests-his old hopes, so often broken. I shall not often find friends like these, nor can the breach which death has made be so easily repaired.

Let me hope, for myself and us all, that when we have filled our allotted space in this world; when we are attended by weeping friends, for the purpose of removing us to our last resting place, that it shall not be said of us that we have lived without purpose, but that we have gathered friends in the days of our manhood; that we have left fruits to bloom when we have departed.

DISCOURSE ON THE DEATH OF HON. WM. I. FERGUSON, Delivered in the Congregational Church, Sacramento, Cal., Sept. 16th, 1858.

BY REV. J. A. BENTON.

Thy hands were not bound, nor thy feet put into fetters: as a man falleth before wicked men, so fellest thou. And all the people wept again over him."II. SAMUEL, iii. 34.

The worst has been realized. The poor mangled corse of our senator lies before us. Others may have felt the same: I certainly have feared from the first, that it would come to this, and have so expressed myself within a few days. For such were the antecedents, the circumstances, and the shock of the wound he received, that they would have imperiled the life of the most robust man; and they rendered it almost certain that a temperament and a constitution like his, so slender and delicate, would not long survive. And there are many who have been incredulous regarding the reports of his improved condition, as knowing they were premature; because the worst stage of the difficulty was not passed, nor the point of danger turned. When the time for decision came, a careful examination

showed the wound gangrenous, and the parts adjacent moribund. Speedy amputation of the limb afforded the only hope of life; and even that was dim. And such was the severity of the proceeding, though the sufferer was under the influence of anaesthetics, and such his physical prostration, that his powers did not rally again nor his senses return. And so his eyes were closed upon the light of life, and he passed unconsciously away.

We shall look upon him no more. Three or four short weeks have sufficed for all this. A month ago the deceased was here among his friends, in his usual health, vigor, and activity. He was uncornaonly spirited, cheerful, and energetic. He was in his element; in the exercise of some of his peculiar faculties, which always came out with remarkable force in the midst of a political excitement. He went to San Francisco to remain, as he supposed, but a few days. There he fell into a personal and political controversy; gave some offence to his opponent; was challenged to mortal combat; stooped to the acceptance of the proposal; fell at the fourth fire, and was carried from the field badly wounded. After four weeks' absence, and three of lingering and suffering of alternating hopes and fears—he is with us once again; but only in these lifeless remains, which have come to be garnered, as treasures, in the burying place of those who in his life had delighted to do him honor.

It saddens us to know that we shall no more look on his familiar features, co finely chiseled, so exquisitely moulded, so handsomely combined, so vivacious in their play, and so expressive of the varied emotions of the soul. The full brain that wrought under that fine brow and capacious forehead, throbs no more. We cannot see again the rare head and face that, but for an early thinning out of the hair, had been more than beautiful: they were even grand. The Lands, the feet, the skin, the movement, the tone, as well as the features, all were expressive of fine sensibilities, genius, and character. None could behold him and not be impressed. None could turn away and quickly lose that image from his memory.

It saddens us more to think in what a conflict our senator came to his untimely end, and by what a process our community has been deprived of his services in the coming years.

From the Christian standpoint, no duel can ever be justified; nor any party thereto. This is conceded on every hand, and so positively that it never is expected that a professing Christian will ever send or acept a challenge; and he is always exempted from the operation of the "code of honor" without loss of reputation, or the disparagement of his spirit, bravery, or courage.

From the standpoint of society, there is offered somewhat that may poliate, if it cannot justify, the practice of dueling. It is alleged that there are some personal offences of which the civil law takes no cognizance, or against which it affords no adequate protection; that, therefore, there must be some social law, to the usages of which such cases shall be referred; and that the "code of honor" is such law, and the practice of dueling the best method of arbitrament yet discovered. To support these allegations, the instances

brought forward are those in which the laws of a State are not outwardly violated, while yet the offenders exhibit such an injurious, overbearing, and contumelious spirit, such studied insult, such malicious hate, and such fiendish passion, that, without quick resentment and revenge, the offended parties could no longer hold up their heads, or move in their accustomed circles, except with danger of being rejected, disparaged, and despised, or meet the offending parties on terms of equality, and with proper feeling of self-respect and complacence.

There is not time now to controvert these statements in full, on the basis of reason and common sense. I shall only say that the edge of all these allegations is turned by the fact that men have met such offences, have refused to fight duels, and have really lost nothing by the course they took; but rather have risen in the general estimate, and held a loftier social position ever afterward than would otherwise have been possible. The one brief reason, patent to all men of sense is, that the man of high spirit, great courage, and lofty character, can display his qualities without resorting to the duel; and one who has them not, will never bring away from the dueling ground any thing more of these qualities than their grim and ghastly shadows. But if we even assume that there are times when the duel is a necessity, and occasions on which it is allowable to have recourse to it, it is certain that all occasions are not fit ones, and that many personal offences ought to be excluded from the number that are actionable under the "code of honor." There are such exclusions; and some offences are regarded as unworthy of a settlement on the field of honor. Yet, all sensible men must admit, even those who justify dueling in extreme cases, that matters trifling and contemptible are in our day far too frequently made the basis of a challenge, and that the whole matter needs a reformation.

Now, admitting for the moment that some occasions may justify dueling, I affirm that political differences, and the disturbances, disputes, and imputations growing out of them, are not sufficient occasions. They spring out of impulse, hot blood, the excitement of the moment, and are always to be taken with abatement, and men can endure them for a time without serious loss or damage; and when days are past, they will be withdrawn and apologized for by any with whom it is worth while for a man to associate. Political differences there must be. Disputes and bickerings will occur. Epigram, repartee, the shaft of wit, will fly, and may sting. Accusations will arise; recriminations be made, and imputations hurled. These are unavoidable incidents to the existence of parties and the freedom of debate. They grow in some measure out of our institutions and our social state, and they ought to be permitted and allowed licenses, for which no one is answerable except at the bar of public opinion. They ought not to be regarded as insults, or as touching the tender parts of character, or as really derogatory to a man's reputation. And there ought to be a combined effort, if not to suppress dueling, at least to banish all political troubles and their outgrowths from the operation of the dueling code. A determined

and persistent effort might accomplish this. For there is no good reason why our political differences, or animosities even, should be carried beyond their proper arena, and allowed to invade the social circle and disturb the harmonies of domestic life. It is time we learned a wider toleration of these differences, and forbade their entrance into the common walks of life. Till we do, opinion is not free, and the conduct of life in civil matters is subjected to a social inquisition, if not a tyranny, as impolitic as it is unjust.

I say these things, because this duel grew primarily out of a political difference and discussion in the midst of a social scene. It is only the latest, and not the first duel fought in our State, that has had a similar origin and a political significance. If I am not mistaken, political reasons were at the bottom of the duels between Denver and Gilbert, Broderick and Smith, Gwin and McCorkle, Washington and Washburn-others, also, it may be-and finally, Johnston and Ferguson. Of these, the first and the last only were fatal to one of the parties in each. And God grant that it may be years and generations before our annals shall be blotted with the record, and our soil stained with the blood of another fatal duel: and that we may never more hear of a resort to so cruel an arbitrator as this for the settlement of difficulties arising out of the ever-changing phases of political strife and political affairs! As I am not familiar with the intricacies of the "code of honor," nor conversant with the details of proceedings under it, I do not feel competent to criticize the transactions of the case which just now has had so lamentable a result. But I may say that the contest might have terminated sooner, and otherwise, without disparagement to either of the parties. Three exchanges of shots were as good proof of personal qualities as a dozen could have been. And I agree with the person who had the loading of the pistols, that then, at the most, after the third fire, when the deceased had only escaped the loss of the lower part of the face by the momentary elevation of the chin, it was time to have done. But the demand for satisfaction was not yet met; and the fourth fire laid our young senator low, and has brought him hither, at length, "bound hand and foot in his grave-clothes."

We will turn now to our text and its application. A long contest had been going on between the house of Saul and the house of David for supremacy in Israel. Abner was a prominent leader in the house of Saul, as Joab and his brothers were in the house of David. In process of time, after having fought many battles for the house of Saul, in one of which he had slain Asahel, Joab's brother, Abner became alienated from his old party and former associates, and resolved to transfer his allegiance to the house of David He had visited the head of the new party; had made his negotiations; and had gone away, in peace, to consummate the arrangement. On his way homeward at the well of Sirah, Abner was overtaken by messengers from David's premier (to which transaction the king was not privy) requiring his return to Hebron. He went back with the messengers to the city gates. There he was met by Joab, who drew him aside as if to speak with him peaceably and in quiet. Then taking

him at a disadvantage, when Abner was suspecting no harm, Joab thrust a dagger in his side, and slew him. Resentment against Abner for the past was one of the motives to the deed; and perhaps a jealousy of him for the future, lest himself might be overshadowed by one so eminent, was another. Such a death, of such a man, took the people by surprise. The sensation was deep and wide. The feeling rose almost to indignation, and the profoundest sorrow filled all Hebron. And David said to all the people that were with him, Rend your clothes, and gird you with sackcloth, and mourn before Abner." And King David himself followed the bier. And they buried Abner in Hebron; and the king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner; and all the people wept. And the king lamented over Abner and said: Died Abner as the fool dieth? Thy hands were not bound, nor thy feet put in fetters: as a man falleth before wicked men, so fellest thou. And all the people wept again over him. And when all the people came to cause David to eat meat while it was yet day, David sware, saying, God do so to me, and more also, if I taste bread, or aught else, till the sun be down. And all the people understood that day that it was not in the heart of the king to slay Abner. And the king said unto his servants, Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel? And I am this day weak, though anointed king, and these men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too hard for me." The analogy between the scenes here described and these which we witness today, will not hold in all the particulars, but at some poin's it is a striking one. Here lies the body of one who has had a prominent place and run a brilliant career. As a public man, he has belonged to different and opposing parties. The transfer of allegiance from one to another has created some enmities, given rise to some jealousics, and left memories that only waited for their opportunity to render themselves formidable. He was alike eminent with whatever party he acted, and could not fail to be regarded by any party as an acquisition. He was a great man, and a kind of prince among political aspirants: he was held in esteem and honored by the masses of the people. He fell in the midst of life, when new honors and a fresh carcer were apparently awaiting him. He fell by the hands of one who should have been the very last man to shed his blood; and in death he is mourned by rulers and people, who gather with a common sorrow to follow him to his grave and weep at his tomb. In these respects, certainly, the person whose obsequies we observe to-day resembles the man concerning whom my text had utterance. And we, too, are weak this day, though clothed with power; and these modern sons of Zeruiah have been too hard for us.

Our friend, whom with lamentations we are here to bury, has been for three years one of our senators in the State Legislature, and is the first one in our history who has died during his term of office. He was fitted in many ways for a leader, and had those social qualities, that pleasing presence, that fascination of manner, that humor, pleasantry, and wit, that fluency of speech, that raciness of style, that gift of eloquence, and that power of command