tor, is yet fresh in the public recollection. It appears to have commenced on the election of General Houston to the Senate of the United States, and to have grown stronger as age advanced, until death cut it short. On going to, or returning from Washington, the General frequently spent a few days with his friend at Harrisburg, and for a long period scarcely a week elapsed without a letter passing between them. When Gen. Houston was nominated as an independent candidate for Governor of Texas, Mr. Porter strongly urged him to accept the nomination, for the purpose of strengthening the hands of the Union men of the South, and, in opposition to the belief of most persons, predicted his election. The prediction was realized and the aged hero stood manfully by his patriotic principles as a friend of the Union until overpowered by a rebel legislature and driven from office. On his election as Governor, Gen. Houston invited Mr. Porter to visit him in Texas, that he might have the advantage of the practical knowledge and judgment of the latter respecting the most favorable route for a railroad through Texas to the Pacific coast, the Texas route being regarded by both as the best for the great national thoroughfare. The invitation was accepted, and several months were spent determining the most feasible direction for locating it, and in organizing a company for its construction. These efforts, it is believed, would have been successful had they not been brought to a sudden termination in the fall of 1860, by the secession of the Southern States.

Mr. Porter returned to his home in Harrisburg, and contributed his influence to sustain the Government in the fierce. conflict which had commenced. He scouted the doctrine of secession, and maintained, as he had long done, in its fullest extent, the maxim of Jackson, "The Union must and shall be preserved." To encourage others, he shouldered his mus ket at the age of more than seventy years, and with the young men of the town joined in military drill. He rejoiced greatly over the success of the Union arms, and was much gratified that one of his sons, General Horace Porter, had borne an

honorable part in many battles. When, however, the course of the national administration failed to meet his approval, he was decided in expressing his condemnation, and in maintaining that the South must be brought back to a whole Constitution and not to a broken one- a distinction likely to be misunderstood, in a time of popular excitement, but to the danger of being so misunderstood he was entirely indifferent.

During the winter of 1867, while attending at night a meeting of his church, he contracted a severe cold. While others regarded the attack as light, he believed that it would prove fatal, and began to prepare for the approaching change. During the succeeding summer he was able to walk out, but in the beginning of August his strength declined. With great composure and even cheerfulness, he arranged several matters of business and conversed calmly of his approaching end. On being asked how he felt on the near prospect of death, he said: "I have obtained perfect peace. I am not conscious of a doubt or a fear." On the 6th of August, surrounded by several children and a devoted wife, his hands having been folded on his breast, he thanked those about him for their kindness and dutifulness, and composed himself as if to fall asleep. As one and another passage of Scripture was repeated, he expressed his assent, until the pulse became still, and the aged heart ceased to beat. He had passed away as gently as a child falls to sleep in its mother's arms. The public business was, at the request of the Governor of the Commonwealth, generally suspended. Large numbers of citizens came from every section of the State to pay to his memory the last sad tribute of their respect. His remains were deposited in the beautiful cemetery which lies within sight of the scenes of his most useful labors, where a simple monument truthfully records that he was a man of large influence for many years in the affairs of his native State.

FRANCIS RAWN SHUNK.*

GOVERNOR UNDER THE CONSTITUTION OF 1838.
January 21, 1845, to July 9, 1848.

FRANCIS RAWN SHUNK was of German descent. He

was born at the Trappe, a village in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, August 7th, 1788. His father, John, was the son of Francis Shunk, who emigrated from the Palatinate of the Rhine, in Germany, about the year 1715. His mother, Elizabeth Rawn, was the daughter of Casper and Barbara Rawn, the former of whom also emigrated from the Palatinate. The memory of this couple is still held in the highest veneration by all who were acquainted with them. They were examples of those excellent virtues, and that devoted piety, which elevate our nature, and invest with dignity the humblest conditions of life.

The mother of Governor Shunk was a woman distinguished for her kindness and affection, and for her devotion to the happiness of her children. He often spoke of her in terms of the most devoted attachment, and cherished her memory with filial piety to the last hour of his life. There can be no doubt but that her influence was greatly felt in the formation of his early character, and its subsequent development. His father was a man of strong and stern mind, yet naturally facetious and fond of indulging in this propensity.

His parents were not able to furnish the means, or spare his time to secure, in the ordinary way, even the rudiments of an education. Much of his childhood and youth was

*This account of the Life and Character of Governor Shunk has been abridged from a Discourse delivered upon the occasion of his death by his friend and neighbor, Rev. William R. De Witt, D. D.