616 JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS [Mar. 4,

At 12 3/4 o'clock, P. M., the House having returned from
witnessing the Inauguration of his Excellency, Governor
James B. Groome resumed the business of the session.

Mr. Buchanan announced the death of his colleague, the
Hon. Robert Fowler, a member of the House of Delegates
from Baltimore county, as follows :

Mr. Speaker:—It becomes my painful duty to announce to
this House and the State at large, the death of our dis-
tinguished fellow-member and colleague, Hon. Robert
Fowler. To us who have been associated with him in the
most intimate relations in the discharge of our duties as rep-
resentatives of Baltimore county, it is indeed a sad occur-
rence ; and when I look around this House and see the many
sorrowing countenances, it gives unmistakable evidence of
the esteem and regard in which he has been held, and sug-
gests to me that a " great man hath this day fallen." I do
not rise to make any extended remarks upon the life and
character of the deceased. His charitable hand that has so
often relieved the wants of the needy, and his friendly and
loving heart, in which there was always room for a friend,
and his generous and noble nature, that prompted him to
the deeds that have won for him the brightest color of his
fame, speak his character in better terms than I can employ.
In consequence of the suddenness of his demise, and the
inauguration ceremonies of the day, I merely state a formal
announcement of his death, and I now move you, sir, that a
Committee of eight members of this House be appointed to
attend the funeral obsequies, and that a Committee of five
be appointed to prepare suitable resolutions touching the life
and character of the deceased.

Mr. Henkle seconded the motion submitted by Mr. Bu-
chanan, and spoke as follows:

Mr. Speaker:—I arise to second the motion with emotions
that I have never before experienced on a similar occasion,
but I would do violence to my own feelings and sense of duty,
as reflecting in part the sympathies of a large and sorrow-
stricken community in and around the Capitol of the State,
did I not speak a word of sympathy, and drop a tear of sor-
row, to the memory of Robert Fowler.

The announcement of his death this morning, fell like a
thunder-stroke upon our ears, and has cast an expression of
gloom and sadness over every face.

His death has left a vacant place that none can fill. In
all the high and responsible positions of public trust that he
filled in the course of his public career, he was faithful, just,
diligent and courteous to all that approached him. In his
social relations and qualities, he was pre-eminently conspicu-