FUKEEAL ADDEESS 



REV. SAMUEL S. MITCHELL, D. D. 



"Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day 

 IN Israel?" 



These words, coining down through the centuries from the mouth 

 of Israel's King, I take up as the fittest ones ^ith which to open my 

 mouth in the presence of all that is not already immortal of Joseph 

 Henry. 



Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this 

 day? And yet why do I ask the question? This day, this hour, 

 this assemblage, this pageant, so unusual and so illustrious even in 

 this world of death — these are my answer before that I utter a word 

 of the sublime interrogatory. 



Yes ! the nation's capital knows that a prince and a great man 

 has fallen. So does our whole country; so does the civilized world. 

 That quick-footed servant which years ago was yoked to the car of 

 human progress by the hands which have now forgotten their cun- 

 ning, — the swift messenger which he himself lured from duty in the 

 skies unto the service of man, — this messenger, slower-winged, it 

 seems to me, than usual, as if loath to tell the story, has already run 

 earth's circuits with the sad news; and at this hour, wherever 

 science is known, or learning respected, or goodness revered, there 

 are those who clasp hands with us in the consciousness of a great 

 loss and in the communion of a heartfelt sorrow. 



You will not, therefore, blame me, I am sure, my hearers, if, in 



a world where great men are ever scarce, and in a capital city 



which better perhaps than any other illustrates the truth that even 



(15) 



