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The foregoing extracts are taken from the published volumes of Mr. Dickinson's speeches and letters, compiled by John E. Dickinson, Esq., who also wrote a very creditable sketch of the statesman's life.

In those volumes there are several pages devoted to the poetry of Mr. Dickinson, which was arranged and prepared by his daughter, Mrs. Mary S. D. Mygatt. In the preface to these poems, she says:

"To those who have known him only in the bustle and turmoil of public life, or perhaps through the press's medium, these heart thoughts may present some idea of the inner being, of the sentiment which graced his refined mind, that rendered the home he blessed with his presence so bright and cheerful, and of that devoted love which ever made his foremost thoughts and desires the happiness of those about him -endearing traits which the countless cares of an eventful life could never change or take away."

Among these poems the following has been much admired, and possesses the interest of having been written but five days before his death, "as it would seem with some premonitions of his approaching end. It reveals the tenderness and purity of his inner life more than any speech that can be made."

TO LYDIA.

In youth's bright morn, when life was new,
And earth was fresh with dew and flowers,

And love was warm and friendship true,
And hope and happiness were ours,

We started hand in hand to thread
The chequered, changeful path of life,
And with each other, trusting, tread
The battle-fields of worldly strife.

We ranged in walks obscure, unseen,

O'er rugged steep, through vale and glen,
And climbed along the hillside green,
Unmindful of the future then.

We caught the song of earliest birds,
We culled the loveliest flowers of spring;
We plighted love in whispering words,
And time sped by on fairy winge.

And as it passed new joys were found
And life was gladdened by the birth
Of prattling babes, who clustered round
To cheer with smiles our humble hearth.

Fate thrust us forth before the world,

And phantoms whispered earthly fame, Where hope's proud banner is unfurled, And happiness too oft a name.

Thus lured along, we rode the dark
And foaming tide of public life,
And proudly dared, with slender barque,
The elements of storm and strife.

But storm and strife, thank heaven, have passedThe night has fled, and morning come!

And we, tossed mariners, at last

Returned once more to hearth and home.

But of the loved ones God had given,
Two have returned-two sunk to rest,
In life's gay morning called to heaven,
To the bright mansions of the blest.

They sleep amid Spring Forest's glades,

Where flows its streamlet's murmuring waves,

And oft at evening's gentle shades

We'll weep beside their early graves.

Yet loved ones cluster round us still,

To gild the days of life's decline,

And whisper-'tis our Father's will
That blessings yet are yours and mine.

No change of life, no change of scene,

No fevered dreams, no cankering cares, No hopes which are, or e'er have been, Nor wrinkled brow nor silver hairs,

Have ever changed that vow of youth,
Or blotted it from memory's page;
But, warm as love and pure as truth,
It ripens with the frosts of age.

A few more days, a few more years
Of life's capricious, fitful tide;
A few more sorrows, joys and tears,

And we shall slumber side by side.

Then let us live-then let us love-
As when life's journey we began,
Until we meet in worlds above,

When this sad pilgrimage is done.

These beautiful lines were read by Judge Pierrepont, at the meeting of the New York city bar, called at the time of Mr. Dickinson's death to pay a tribute of respect to his memory.

. ALVAH WORDEN.

Commences Life as a Merchant.-His Character, Acquirements, and Industry.Demagogues.-Mr. Worden's Opinion of Them.-His Parentage and Birth.Prepares for College.-His Love for the Natural Sciences.-Decides not to Enter College. Commences the Study of Medicine.-Abandons that Study and turns his attention to Mercantile Pursuits. Makes the Acquaintance of a Prominent Merchant of Auburn, New York.-Worden Enters his Store.-Pleases his Employer. Accepts a Position in the Auburn Bank.-Commences Business as a Merchant on his own Account.-For a Time, Meets with Great Success.-His Marriage to a daughter of the late Judge Miller.-Worden's Failure.-Commences the Study of Law.-Elected a Justice of the Peace.-Admitted to Practice.-His Success.-Engages in the Trial of a Cause against Mark H. Sibley.-Succeeds.Forms a Partnership with Mr. Sibley and removes to Canandaigua.-His Professional Progress.-Worden is Engaged in the Celebrated Case of Griffith v. Reed.-Is Defeated by the Referees.-Appeals to the Supreme Court.-Worden Attends that Court, prepared to argue it himself against Marcus T. Reynolds.Worden Loses his Trunk.-Appears in the Court Room, at Utica, in his Common Clothing. His Appearance.-Remarks of Foppish young Lawyers.-The Argument. Interesting Scene.-Apparent Triumph of Reynolds.-Defeat Turned into Victory. Success of Worden's Argument.-Its Effect.-Other Important Cases in which he was Engaged.-Worden and the General Term Lawyers of the Old Supreme Court.-He is Elected to the Legislature.-His Legislative Career.His Efforts for the Passage of a Law Providing for a Constitutional Convention. -Law Passed.-The Convention.- Mr. Worden a Delegate.-Candidate for President.-Is Strongly Sustained.-John Tracy Chosen.-Mr. Worden's Labors and Activity in the Convention.-His Great Speech on the Powers of the Executive.-Other Speeches.-His Plan for a Judiciary.-Closing Scenes of the Convention. Resolution offered that Members Sign the Constitution.- Opposed by Charles O'Conor.-Sustained by Worden and others.-Adjournment of the Convention.-R. H. Walworth, J. A. Collier and Mr. Worden, Appointed Codifying Commissioners.-Walworth and Collier Resign.-Worden's Labors and Duties. -Reappointed a Code Commissioner.-Returns again to the Duties of his Profession. Great Case of The Farmers' Loan & Trust Company v. Carrol.-Great Argument of, before the Supreme Court.-Worden, J. C. Spencer, Kirkland, Wm. C. Noyes and Hiram Denio engaged.-Interesting Scene in the Court Room.- Description of the Arguments.-Reflections on the Professional and Political Life of Alvah Worden.

Alvah Worden first entered the theater of life, on his own responsibility, in the character of a merchant. In this vocation, at a very early age, he developed

that correct and ready knowledge of human nature, that thorough understanding of business in principle and in detail, that sound practical sense, which gave him much prominence as a man of business.

His fine mind, his many intellectual endowments, at length, by an easy transition, led him to the legal profession. With an industry which no excess of toil could weary, he applied himself to the study of law as a science, a system for the well being of society, as regards the enjoyment of civil rights, the prevention of crime, and the encouragement of virtue. He sought its fundamental principles as well as the detail of each precedent and legislative rule, reducing them to the test of reason alone; and when he came to his examination, he possessed, in extenso, the qualities and acquirements of a thorough lawyer.

Acute, sagacious, reflecting, with a plain, masculine, commanding eloquence, which ignored superfluous decoration and fancy, alike powerful in reason, attractive in ethical beauty and logical skill, he soon gained a commanding position at the bar of his native State, and took a high rank among the distinguished civilians of his day.

Among his faults, there was a certain firmness which sometimes degenerated into obstinacy,-a confidence in the principles he advocated, which was often blended with contempt for those who differed with him. His unbending honesty and straightforward integrity, in his intercourse with men, especially in politics, often led him to neglect that spirit of conciliation, which in a government like ours, conducted by the stratagem of party, is necessary in the attainment of important and responsible positions. It was a distinguishing feature in his character, that he would neither yield his judgment to the clamor of the populace, nor suffer himself to be swerved from the line of what he deemed to be his duty, by the artifices of demagogues; and hence, Mr. Worden was not an accomplished politician, simply because he did not

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