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MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 
 
 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 Orris S. Ferry, 
 
 (A SENATOR FROM CONNECTICUT,) 
 
 DELIVERED IN THE 
 
 Senate and House of Representatives, 
 
 ■February 8, 1876. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF CONGRESS. 
 
 FORTY-FOURTH CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION. 
 1876. 
 

 AUG 6 1^08 
 
PROCEEDINGS 
 
 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
ANNOUNCEMENT. 
 
 Mr. Eaton. Mr. President, I beg leave to offei the 
 following resolutions : 
 
 Resolved, That as a mark of respect to the memory of Orris S. Ferry, late 
 Senator from Connecticut, the business of this body be now suspended, that his 
 former associates may pay proper tribute to his public and private virtues. 
 
 Resolved, That the Secretary communicate this resolution to the House of 
 Representatives. 
 
 The resolutions were unanimously agreed to. 
 
ADDRESSES. 
 
 Address of Mr. Eaton, of Connecticut. 
 
 Mr. President, the Reaper has indeed been busy in 
 the Connecticut congressional field. Buckingham, Ferry, 
 and Starkweather ! Witliin the short space of less than 
 a year these three gifted men have been gathered to their 
 fathers ; tliree names honored by their native State and 
 honoring her. Difficult will it be to fill the places so 
 long and so worthily occupied by them. 
 
 The death of a valuable and eminent public servant is 
 a loss deeply to be deplored by his immediate constitu- 
 ency, and demands at the hands of his former associates 
 proper and seemly action. Thus impressed, I submit to 
 the Senate the brief remarks which I shall off"er on this 
 mournful occasion. No fulsome eulogy will be pro- 
 nounced by me. It would be alike unworthy of my 
 character and the Spartan simplicity which was one of 
 the leading characteristics of the late Senator Ferry. 
 
 Orris Sanford Ferry was born in the town of Bethel, 
 Fail-field County, State of Connecticut, on the 15th day 
 of August, 1823. His father, a respectable inhabitant of 
 Bethel, was largely engaged in the manufacture of hats. 
 
ADDRESS OF MR. EATON ON THE 
 
 and iit an early age young Ferey was apprenticed to that 
 business. But soon discovering the bent of his mind and 
 his aversion to the trade to which he had designed him, 
 the father released him from his bonds, gi^^ng him such 
 educational advantages as enabled him to graduate from 
 Yale College in the year 1844. He pursued the study 
 of the law under two eminent members of the profession 
 in his native county and was admitted to the practice 
 of that profession in 1846. 
 
 Mr. Ferry immediately took high rank as a counselor 
 and advocate, and at an early age was justly regarded 
 as in the front rank of the profession in Connecticut. 
 His wonderful powder of analysis and the magnetism of 
 his oratory gave him great power with the court and jury, 
 and as a platform speaker he had no superior and few 
 equals in his State. 
 
 Mr. Ferry served in the State senate two sessions, 1855 
 and 1856, and exhibited distinguished ability both as a 
 legislator and political leader. I was not a member of 
 the Connecticut legislature either of the terms that Mr. 
 Ferry occupied his seat in the senate, but I saw much of 
 his course and know the high estimate which was placed 
 upon his powers by the leading men of the State. 
 
 In 1859 Mr. Ferry was elected to the other branch of 
 the Federal Legislature, and served through the session 
 with marked ability. 
 
 Shortly after the commencement of the late terrible 
 civil conflict, Mr. Ferry was commissioned by Governor 
 
LIFE AND CHARACTER OF ORRIS S. FERRY. 
 
 Buckingham as colonel of the Fifth Regiment of Con- 
 necticut Volunteers, and he remained in the service until 
 the close of hostilities. As an officer I understand that 
 he was respected by his superiors and beloved by those 
 subjected to his command, perfonuing all the duties 
 devolved upon him with promptness and fidelity. 
 
 Resuming the practice of his profession in 18G5, he was 
 perhaps at the most successful period of his legal career 
 when he was elected to the United States Senate for the 
 term commencing March 4, 1867. From that time until 
 his death the story of 0. S. Feery is a part of the 
 history of this body, and I hesitate not to say that by his 
 manly and independent com-se in the Senate, though 
 diifering widely upon some matters from many of his 
 political friends, he won the respect and high regard of 
 all his associates. 
 
 This is not the proper occasion to speak at length upon 
 his intellectual efforts upon this floor, so well calculated 
 to bring forth his gi-eat powers — efforts which placed him 
 in the front rank of Senators as a debater and constitu- 
 tional lawyer. 
 
 Devotedly attached to the great principles which foiin 
 the base of our system of government, whenever in his 
 opinion those principles were menanced or endangered, 
 even by the action of political friends, the chains of party 
 allegiance were broken as a strong man rends asunder 
 ropes of yarn, and all the energies of his body and mind 
 were summoned to the conflict in support of such views 
 
10 ADDRESS OF MK. EATON ON THE 
 
 as he believed to be riglit, just, and tor the best interests 
 of his counti-}'. One of the leading and governing traits 
 of Mr. Ferry was his love of justice. He was eminently 
 a just man. He never put to liimself the question, Will 
 it be politic to pm'sue a given course of action? The 
 question which he mentally propounded was, Will it be 
 just? And, once convinced of the justice of his position, 
 he could neither be persuaded nor driven from the ground 
 which his calm judgment had pronounced correct. 
 
 As a politician he was above the petty arts and mean- 
 nesses wliich small men use to attain high position. 
 
 His personal integrity was pure and spotless. The 
 ai-morial beaiings of the French Bayard might well have 
 been claimed by him. Indeed he was tndy — 
 
 "Without fear and without reproach." 
 
 I should do injustice to my feelings if I failed to repro- 
 duce part of a letter from a distinguished divine. Rev. Ur. 
 Childs, of Hartford, Conn. 
 
 Says Dr. Childs : 
 
 It is just ten years since my acquaintance with General Fekuy conimenceil. 
 
 Letters from him carried me to Norwalk, his place of residence, and resulted 
 ultimately in my becoming his pastor. Ho was then in the prime of life, forty- 
 two years of age. With a magnificent physical organization, a genial disposi- 
 tion, a strong, clear, active mind, earnest, enthusiastic, impetuous, yet cautious, 
 wonderfully popular, no man in the State probably had the elements or gave the 
 promise of a brighter future. The war was over, and he had returned to the 
 practice of his profession, which opened to him all that his ambitiou could ask 
 in that direction, and to the enjoyment of his home, which had for him stronger 
 attractions than the scenes of public life. 
 
 With the movements that placed him in the National Senate I believe he had 
 little to do. He was not a political manager. lie was an honest man, and 
 those who knew him best believeil in him most fully. Even his political oppo- 
 nents never, as far as I am aware, questioned his perfect integrity. Intensely 
 earnest in the cause that be espoused, ho was more than a parti.san. As a 
 
LIFE AND CnARACTER OF ORRIS S. FERRY. 11 
 
 national legislator his views were always broader than his party. Acquainting 
 himself thoroughly with the constitutional history of his country, a diligent 
 student of the history of other nations, he developed .an independent, wise, far- 
 seeing statesmanship, which, had he not been arrested by the hand of disease, 
 would huve placed him — at least ought to have placed him — in the very front 
 rank of political leaders. In my judgment there is no office in the gift of the 
 people that General Ferry would not have filled with eminent ability. 
 
 Senators, I have done. 
 
 Through my associate and myself, Connecticut mourns 
 the loss of one of her most distinguished sons. 
 
 Through you, the representatives of the several States, 
 the Federal Union expresses its deep son-ow at the loss 
 of a wise, sagacious, and matured statesman, capable of 
 lifting himself above the claims and behests of party in 
 the discussion and consideration of questions involving 
 the very life of the Federal system ; a statesman whose 
 profound genius entitles his name to be enrolled among 
 the immortal few who knew how to make and keep a 
 people ! 
 
12 ADDRESS OF MR. SARGENT ON THE 
 
 Address of Mr. Sargent, of California. 
 
 Mr. President, on the 27th of February, 1875, Senators 
 rose in their places to pay fitting tributes of respect and 
 aflfection to the memory of a dead Senator of Connecticut, 
 whose illustrious public sei'vice and private virtues had 
 commanded our admiration and love. 
 
 Among those who eloquently spoke on that occasion — 
 not yet a year ago — was the Senator whose loss we now 
 dei^lore. He was himself then feeble in frame, and halted 
 tremblingly to his seat in this Chamber, the victim of a 
 disease that was rapidly and certainly drying up the springs 
 of life ; and I doubt not that the painful thought was in 
 other minds, as it was in my own, that ere long we might 
 be called upon to mom-n his loss and pay customary trib- 
 ute to his memory. Yet his intellectual nature triumphed 
 against the visible progress of disease, and he spoke with 
 unexcelled force and beauty, and with deep feeling, of his 
 associate and friend. His words come back to us to-day 
 as singularly due to himself: "The plainest truth is his 
 highest eulogy." He would not offend the modesty of the 
 dead by words of boastful praise. 
 
 For himself, also, he seemed in tin- suprcnic nioniont 
 imi)ressed with the sentiment of that mournful eleg}' which 
 
LIFE AND CHAKACTEE OF ORRIS S. FERRY. 
 
 13 
 
 shows the emptiness of fame, the monotonous level of the 
 
 ° ' Can honor's voice provoke the silent dust ? 
 
 Or flattery soothe the dull, cold ear of death ? 
 
 From such thoughts came his dying request that no 
 eulogistic sermon be preached at his grave. The spirit 
 of that request restrains me in what I may say to-day. 
 But it would belittle the truth not to say that we who 
 knew him well know that he was distinguished for eminent 
 ability and zeal in the public service; that his mind was 
 clear, sharp, and flexible as a Damascus blade. His sense 
 of duty brought him daily to this Chamber and to the 
 committee-room when the excuse for absence, of inex- 
 tinguishable pain, was ready and obvious. 
 
 Our friend was fortunate in his reputation. A man's 
 character is built solely by himself. He constructs it 
 piece by piece, to deformity or symmetry. It cannot be 
 created or destroyed by another. But reputations are the 
 spoit of circumstance, or the prey of malice; often be- 
 yond the control of the possessor, and as often fictitious 
 and unjust. Sometimes, as with the persecuted Galileo, 
 this is the fault of the age ; sometimes, as with blind and 
 despised Milton, it is the license of party. Happy is the 
 wise and good against whom the mob has never cried, 
 "Crucify him! release to us Barabbas!" 
 
 I only wish to add that from daily association with Mr. 
 Ferry I learned to admire the rectitude visible in all his 
 words and actions-a rectitude that seemed to spring not I 
 merely from a heart well guarded by conscience, but h-onil 
 
11 ADDRESS OF ilR. SABGENT ON THE 
 
 an even poise of intellect, which could not incline to 
 temptation or stoop to wrong. 
 
 The impressions left here by his daily walk and con- 
 versation were familiar to his friends and constituents at 
 home. I listened to the simple statement of his virtues, 
 of his Christian faith and works, by his pastor, who spoke 
 to his neighbors as the cold form of the dead Senator 
 rested at tlie altar of the little church at Norwalk, and 
 heard the same testimony which we can all bear — that 
 he was conscientious, just, upright. 
 
 Such men, whatever their party associations, elevate 
 the public service. Their influence is good, not only in 
 the traces they may leave in wholesome statutes, but in 
 the higher respect of the people for free institutions chal- 
 lenged by their conspicuous integrity. 
 
LIFE AND CHARACTER OF ORRIS S. FEKRY. 15 
 
 Address of Mr. Bayard, op Delaware. 
 
 Mr. President, I have a sad satisfaction in yielding my 
 tribute of sincere respect to the character and memory 
 of our late associate, Mr. Ferry, of Connecticut, whose 
 career has been so ably and well stated by his colleague, 
 [Mr. Eaton.] 
 
 There never was any personal intimacy between us, 
 and our views as to party never brought us into that 
 sympathy which is begotten of a common endeavor for 
 political ends. 
 
 Yet even in his life-time and amid the ardor of differing 
 opinions, so often forcibly and positively expressed, as was 
 his wont, I was always conscious, whether concurring in or 
 dissenting from his views, that back of his utterances there 
 shone the light of ti-uthful intent, which caused a radiance 
 to pervade everything he said. It was the sense of honest 
 conviction, uncolored and undinmaed by petty partisan or 
 unjust considerations. 
 
 The real strength and safety of this Government lies in 
 the absolute freedom with which opinions may be formed 
 and expressed, and to the independent and courageous 
 utterances of its able and virtuous men the people may 
 best look for guidance. 
 
 This day our country needs men who will proclaim 
 
IG ADDRESS OF ME. BAYARD ON THE 
 
 their real judgments; not those who, to adopt a phrase 
 that fell unpleasantly on my ear not long since in this 
 Chamber, "follow, in order to lead." One who loved 
 England described her as — 
 
 A laud whero, girt by friends or foes, 
 A maD may speak the thing he will. 
 
 For when this shall not be, true manliness and honest 
 public service will have departed, and time-serving have 
 taken their place. 
 
 The Senator whose death we so justly mourn possessed 
 the qualities which can create and preserve a free govern- 
 ment of laws. 
 
 He had a mind of excellent natural powers, well matured, 
 and enlightened by study of the laws, both in their enact- 
 ment and practical administration. 
 
 He had experience of men living under the orderly 
 regime of law, and also under the less defined control of 
 military rule in time of war. 
 
 So fitted by events, he came into this council chamber 
 of the States of the Union somewhat heated, perhaps, upon 
 his first entiy by the scenes of warfare in which he had just 
 been engaged, and in which, as a soldier, he had borne a 
 brave, conscientious, and distinguished part. But, from 
 the first, I well remember how instinctively he recoiled 
 from unworthy or improper schemes, how unerringly he 
 probed and detected fraud, and unspaiingly denounced 
 dislionesty and corruption, wherever and whenever found, 
 with a treuerous indijjnation. 
 
LIFE AND CHAKACTER OF OEUIS S. FERRY. 17 
 
 He lived a life of quiet self-respect. No busy seeker 
 he of men's praises; no dexterous manager of party forces; 
 no scatterer of ambiguous voices in the market-place. 
 
 It was because he was a true friend to popular institu- 
 tions that he despised and shunned the arts of the dema- 
 gogue ; much less did he stoop to gather personal or party 
 advantage in the flames of discord among his countrymen. 
 Thus I believe he was fit to rule men and to execute the 
 great trusts of political power. 
 
 I could produce abundant extracts from his speeches in 
 this Chamber where his censure of what he deemed cor- 
 rupt, dishonest, and unworthy was unhesitating and un- 
 sparing. And he never permitted the garb of party to 
 shelter a guilty man from his just denunciation. For six 
 years we served together upon the Committee on Private 
 Land-Claims, where cases involving the title or possession 
 of extensive and valuable bodies of land came frequently 
 before us. His intelligence, acumen, and fine legal and 
 judicial abilities were in this way made known to me; and 
 reports of important cases, comprehending questions of 
 law and fact of a complicated nature, where lapse of time 
 and fraud had combined to obscure truth and justice, were 
 made by him and are on the files of the Senate, in which 
 his vigorous and instinctively honest mind dissolved all 
 doubts and ai-rayed the merits of the case in clear and 
 orderly precision. The condition of physical health in 
 which for years he performed his duties here must have 
 touched and saddened us all; yet complaint was never 
 
18 ADDEESS OF MR. BAYARD ON THE 
 
 heard from his Hps, and he would force his weak body to 
 its work with a vigor and courage that it is not extravagant 
 to call hei-oic. To know him was to respect him. His 
 life here has ended, but not I trust its influences upon 
 those who survive and shall succeed him. 
 
 "Well may we moiiru bim ; 
 Well may we imitate his virtues." 
 
LIFE AND CHAKACTER OF OBRIS S. FERRY. 
 
 19 
 
 Address of Mr. Howe, of Wisconsin. 
 
 Mr. President, I had not realized how pecuHar and 
 unique my relations with the late Senator Feery had been 
 until I sat down to consider what might be proper for me 
 to say at his official funeral. I knew him fii'st only when 
 he entered the Senate; and I scarcely knew him anywhere 
 else than in the Senate. 
 
 During his whole term of service here I was his cola- 
 borer; bu^t I rarely saw him out of this Chamber. He 
 never repelled me and was not at all repellant to me. I 
 felt for him not only entire respect, but also great admira- 
 tion; and therefore I was surprised to find upon reflection 
 that I had never known him but in an official way and in 
 his public character. During the whole time we worked 
 together I never received from or made to him, so far as I 
 remember, anything like a confidential communication. 
 Nothing like a whispered or a side remark ever passed 
 between us. I rarely ever spoke to him or heard him 
 speak upon other than public afiairs. And when for an 
 occasional moment he turned to the discussion of private 
 interests, his wont was to discuss them in official style. 
 If I asked after his health, or for the news of the day, his 
 habit was to answer with the same fidelity to fact and the 
 
20 ADDRESS OF MR. HOWE ON THE 
 
 same accuracy of statement he would have employed in 
 communicating with his physician or with a reporter for 
 the Associated Press. 
 
 Once I ventm'ed to applaud some unusually forcible 
 and fervid remarks he made in the Senate. He answered 
 me with a laugh, as little encouraging to my enthusiasm 
 as if the splendid bronze charger on which sits Brown's 
 statue of Scott should whinny when the admiring specta- 
 tor claps his hands at the triumph of the artist. So 1 do 
 not feel that I ever knew Mr. Feeky in any other charac- 
 ter than that of a Senator. If indeed he had a life distinct 
 or different from his public one, I was a stranger to it. 
 My conclusion is that when he put on the senatorial robes 
 he put them on for steady wear ; that his purpose was to 
 cany the proprieties of his great office constantly with 
 him ; not to be oppressed by them, still less to oppress 
 any one by them, but to attract by and instruct with them 
 everywhere and always. 
 
 I need not speak in this presence of the clearness or the 
 vigor of his intellect. This Chamber, instructed by the 
 loftiest utterances in our language, has witnessed too many 
 evidences of both to make any mention of either profitable. 
 
 But more than most men he was sincere and earnest. 
 Others have exhibited on special occasions and in pursuit 
 of special ends more zeal than he was accustomed to be- 
 tray, but few men of my acquaintance have seemed to 
 burn with an ardor so constant and sustained as that 
 which inspii'ed him. 
 
LIFE AND CHARACTER OF ORRIS S. FERRY. 
 
 21 
 
 Two traits in liis character deserve particular mention : 
 his independence of thought and his fideUty to conviction. 
 
 He thought for himself and formed his own conclu- 
 sions. He listened to the reasoning of others, but he was 
 guided by his own. He was not likely to be the idol of a 
 party, for he could not abjectly follow one. But he was 
 not for that reason the more unsafe to lead a party, since 
 he was sure to lead by the best light he had. 
 
 Perhaps less than others he realized the importance of 
 organization to political achievement. Perhaps more 
 than others he felt the importance of impressing individual 
 opinion upon the public mind. Whatever might have 
 been the cause, he seemed as prompt and resolute to 
 attack what he deemed error m the party to which he 
 belonged as in that to which he was opposed. At times, 
 indeed, he appeared even more uncompromising toward 
 his political associates than toward his political adver- 
 saries. There are those in the world still wlio hold that 
 "unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much 
 required," and who are more intolerant of fault in their 
 friends than in strangers. 
 
 Something must be pardoned to the exigencies of party 
 as to the spirit of liberty. It is not wise to destroy a 
 gi'eat party, freighted with precious hopes and struggling 
 to noble ends, because it occasionally stumbles or for a 
 moment seems to falter on its way. It is not wise to 
 silence a great teacher, in whose light a generation has 
 walked and the human race has visibly grown, because 
 
ADDRESS OF MK. HO\\"E ON THE 
 
 of a single fault, whether imputed or real. It is not Avise 
 to drag the moon from the planetary system because there 
 are a few spots on it. Of course, when the moon 
 crumbles into ashes, and so flings dust and not light upon 
 the beholder, it might as well be shoveled out of the 
 system. When the teacher slips all the cables which 
 moor him to truth, close reefs the hopes which waft him 
 heavenward, and drifts out listless and rudderless upon 
 the sea of unbelief, helplessly buffeted by all its waves 
 and hopelessly clapboarded by all its barnacles, the sooner 
 he goes to pieces the better. And when a party has sold 
 itself to do evil, has coiled itself on the path of human 
 progress ; when it no longer seeks to give nurse to but 
 rather to nurse upon its country, all good men should 
 abandon it and unite to take it to pieces. 
 
 It is not easy always to discover the precise point where 
 the paths of the partisan and of the patriot diverge. In 
 every era men have been seen to desert the banners of 
 party before the point of divergence was reached, and 
 men have been seen to follow them long after that point 
 was passed. 
 
 Undoubtedly good husbandry will seek to garner up 
 all the wheat ; and good husbandly will bum the chaff. 
 But some are so eager of grain they will continue to rake 
 over the straw long after the wheat is all out ; and some 
 are so impatient of chaff they will kindle the fires in it 
 Avhile it is yet heavy with the bread of life. 
 
 The late Senator from Connecticut, liowever, never set 
 
LIFE AND CHAEACTER OP ORKIS S. PERRY. 23 
 
 fii'e to untlirashed harvests. He did not always keep 
 even step with the party in which he trained, but he 
 never deserted it. Occasionally perhaps by ill-timed 
 contentions he obstructed its progress, but I think he 
 never meant to imperil its final triumph. I did not 
 always agree to the correctness of liis conclusions, but 
 I never for a moment doubted the sincerity of them. 
 
 And the fidelity with which he adhered to his con- 
 victions and the courage with which he asserted them 
 was an instruction to us all and deserved all praise. 
 Where he went, belief and affirmation walked hand in 
 hand. He seemed absolutely exem^^t from all 2:)liysical 
 and all moral tremors such as are born of fear. On the 
 field and in the forum he flung himself into the encounter 
 with equal readiness. 
 
 Within an hour after liis State had offered him a regi- 
 ment to lead to battle he accepted the solemn trust. We 
 have seen him enter upon an engagement here with even 
 less deliberation. Day after day he sat here racked with 
 physical pains, but no moan escaped him. His body was 
 enfeebled by disease, but his spirit never languished. 
 
 Wherever his sense of duty pointed the way, there he 
 was sure to tread. By him adversaries were uncounted 
 and results were uncalculated. His lips never expressed 
 it, but his manner seemed tg say with the young Prince 
 of Tyre— 
 
 Like a bold cliauipiou, I assume the lists, 
 Nor ask advice of any other thought 
 Bat faithfuluess and courage. 
 
24 ADDRESS OF ME. FUELING IIUYSEN ON THE 
 
 Address of Mr. Frelinghuysen, of New Jersey. 
 
 Ml-. President, change is written on everything with which 
 we are famiHar. The spring, the summer, the golden 
 autumn, and the icy winter chase each other, and while 
 we recognize the one it is gone. The forest is no sooner 
 clothed in its luxuriant foliage than it begins to disrobe, 
 and presently its bare poles stand up againt the sky. The 
 creations of human industry and genius, whether of king- 
 dom or code, of monvmient or picture, ci-umble away 
 before this universal law. These changes ai-e fraught 
 with instiniction, and remind us that we shall not long 
 continue as we now are. But it is when the stern mes- 
 senger calls away a companion distinguished for his 
 genius and his eloquence, his purity, and his Christian 
 faith that we learn the most impressive of moral lessons. 
 
 The average age of the members of this body is per- 
 haps fifty years. In that past period a thousand, yes, 
 nearer two thousand, millions of sentient beings such as 
 we, capable of indefinite if not of infinite moral and 
 intellectual development, have appeared upon the stage 
 of time, there rejoiced and emulated, suffered and striven, 
 and have then departed forever; theii- entry and exit 
 being alike mysterious. 
 
LIFE AND CnARACTER OF ORRIS S. FERRY. 25 
 
 Brief as has been tlieii' visit to earth, it has been long 
 euougli to effect several demonstrations : 
 
 It has proven that there is a spiritual as well as a mate- 
 rial existence ; for they were all conscious of being, and 
 they were all recognized as being, in their personality, 
 spiritual. 
 
 It has proven that they were moral intelligences, for no 
 matter how enfeebled by want or how degraded by bad 
 associations, there never was one of that mighty host, 
 with every selfish inducement to decide in his own favor, 
 who has not condemned and blamed himself for every 
 wrong he committed. 
 
 It has proven, by the acquisitions those intelligences 
 have made in languages and laws, in philosophy and art, 
 that they are capable of perpetual progression. 
 
 It has proven that they were not the results of natural 
 causes, for they have seized upon nature and made it sub- 
 servient to their pleasure. The very elements have been 
 subjected to their service ; its obstacles, such as oceans 
 and space, storms and lightnings, have been overcome and 
 conquei'ed. 
 
 Our race stands out the supernatural by an iiTefraga- 
 ble logic. If this be not true, why admire the heroism of 
 the martyr dying for his faith more than the fire that con- 
 sumes him ? Why render more homage to the patriot 
 soldier who dies in front of the line than to the steed 
 which spur and bridle have forced to the danger? Why 
 more gratitude to a friendship that is true amid tempta- 
 
2G ADDEESS OF MR. FUELINGHUYSEN ON THE 
 
 tions to betray than to the steady current of the river that 
 makes its way over rocks and precipices ? It is man as a 
 positive force superior to nature that we admire. 
 
 In him we to-day lament the intellectual and moral was 
 in a marked degree predominant. His physical infirmities 
 seemed to augment that supremacy. In the prime of life, 
 shattered by disease, he i-esolutely and firmly adjusted 
 himself to the situation. We have seen him standing 
 there, advocating those measures be believed, best for his 
 country, while his countenance was distorted from pain. 
 His spirit finnly held the mastery over physical forces. 
 They could not cany the citadel of his soul. 
 
 He had, too, marked independence of character and 
 thought, and possessed the concomitant virtue of courage. 
 He was satisfied of his ability by investigation to arrive 
 at a sound conclusion. He knew that his motives were 
 pure and honest, and Avhen his opinions Avere formed he 
 was not to be swerved from them. Though not indiffer- 
 ent to popular opinion, as no sound mind is, he had much 
 of the spirit of that old hero who said, "Were there as 
 many devils in Worms as roof-tiles, I would on." 
 
 I did not always think him right, but I always felt 
 re-assured where I found myself voting as he voted. 
 
 He was a man of good education and attainments. He 
 had not high culture; few men have. High culture is 
 not essential to excellence or usefulness ; if it were, our 
 republican institutions. State and national, Avould be in a 
 sad condition. Ilis education was sufficient to have de- 
 
LIFE AND CHARACTER OF ORRIS S. FERRY. 27 
 
 veloped his native powers and to render him conscious of 
 his strength, so that he went fearlessly and successfully 
 forward as a leader in life's duties. 
 
 Mr. Ferry's reasoning powers were of a superior order, 
 and were habitually fortified by careful reflection on the 
 subject he would present. He seized the strong point of 
 the question under investigation and wielded it with great 
 power. In presenting his views he was direct, plain, and 
 logical, and in that he impressed his hearers with the 
 strength of his own convictions, so that they sympatliized 
 with him ; he was eloquent. 
 
 When that terrible calamity, the record of which is 
 found in thousands of desolate homes, overtook ovu- coun- 
 try, his patriotism shone forth. A Representative of the 
 nation, he became a patrol to guard its capital; and after- 
 ward, at the head of the Fifth Connecticut Cavalry, 
 bravely participated in its battles. But his jiatriotism was 
 not sectional ; it was not a narrow sentiment, confined to 
 any locality. He fought to preserve here for all his 
 country that civil liberty which, while the greatest of 
 blessings, is conferred upon only a few spots of earth. 
 He believed that he was contending for the right. I do 
 not say he would not say that many of those witli whom 
 he contended did not, from their stand-point, think they 
 were right. But this is true : when everywhere in this 
 free Republic law shall be supreme, the rights of property 
 and person secure, and constitutional political equality 
 exercised and protected, then, when civil liberty is thus 
 
28 ADDRESS OF ME. FRELINGHUYSEN ON THE 
 
 established, and we rejoice in the prosperity, peace, and 
 virtue that flow from it, all will remember past differences 
 only to be the more gi-ateful that we are again fiiends. 
 
 It was the crowning glory of our friend that he was a 
 Christian. Conscious of a spiritual malady which human 
 culture or educational development could not cure, he 
 sought and found for a disease to the supernatural a 
 supernatural remedy. 
 
 He has gone from us forever. Whither has he gone ? 
 All of him that is mortal quietly reposes in the soil of the 
 gallant State that delighted to honor him. His memory 
 is embalmed in the hearts of many loving countrymen, 
 and his spuit has returned to the bosom of his Father. 
 
LIFE AND CHARACTER OF ORRIS S. FERRY. 29 
 
 Address op Mk. Thueman, of Ohio. 
 
 Mr. President, I have a few very sincere words to say 
 of our deceased brother — words of sincere admiration of 
 his character. That he was a man of intellect all who 
 knew him will bear witness ; that he was a speaker of sin- 
 gular perspicuity and force all who ever heard him can 
 testify ; that his mind was cultivated, his manners refined, 
 his bearing dignifi^ed, simple, and wholly free from osten- 
 tation, is known to us all. But to me, as no doubt to 
 others, the great trait of his character was its broad, en- 
 lightened, and fearless independence. He was one of that 
 class of men — too limited in every land and in every age — 
 who think for themselves and dare to say what they think. 
 Paying due regard to the opinions of others and always 
 willing to receive instruction, he nevertheless was careful 
 to assert his brain and manhood by ultimately deciding 
 for himself And he had a breadth and grasp of mind, a 
 magnanimity of soul, and a sense of justice that ever 
 inclined him to measures of moderation and kindness; 
 and in such measures his reason, his learning, and his feel- 
 ings found the truest statesmanship. I might give not a 
 few illustrations of these characteristics from the records 
 
oO ADDRESS OF MU. THtlEMAN ON THE 
 
 and debates of the Senate, but this is not an occasion to 
 speak of matters that have not yet passed out of the 
 region of controversy. Time, in my opinion, will vindi- 
 cate the soundness of his judgment. His honesty of pur- 
 pose needs no vindication, for no one was ever found to 
 question that 
 
LIPE AND CHARACTER OF ORRIS S. FERRY. 31 
 
 Address op Mr. Wadleigh, of New Hampshire. 
 
 Mr. President, I first met the late Senator Ferry in 
 1873, when I took a seat in this Chamber. He was then 
 suffering from the disease which condemned him to partial 
 seclusion and finally ended his life. I was not without 
 prejudice against him, and should never have known him 
 intimately had I not been associated with him upon the 
 committee of which he was chairaaan. Thus brought 
 into social relations with him my prejudice vanished, and 
 I soon learned to admire the clearness and strength of his 
 intellect and the pm-ity and beauty of his character. Our 
 acquaintance, on my part at least, grew into warm friend- 
 ship, to which I should do violence were I to constrain 
 myself to silence on this occasion. 
 
 The events of his life have been so fully traced by his 
 colleague that I will only glance at them. Born in 
 Connecticut, and always residing in his native county of 
 Fairfield, his honors must have been doubly dear as coming 
 from those who had known him from childhood. In 
 youth he wrought in liis father's manufactory, where he 
 acquired a practical knowledge, which he sometimes 
 unexpectedly exhibited to the discomfitui-e of those who 
 assumed his want of it. 
 
32 ADDRESS OF ME. WADLEIGH ON THE 
 
 He gi-aduated at Yale College, the alma mater of so 
 many distinguished Americans, and chose the legal 
 profession. We who knew him here cannot doubt that 
 he deserved and won professional distinction, especially 
 as an advocate. His strong common sense, his earnest- 
 ness, born of intense convictions, his inborn and in-epres- 
 sible love of right and justice, his contempt and hatred 
 for meanness and wrong, and the mingled logic and 
 feeling which animated his speech must have won the 
 minds and the hearts of the clear-headed, strong- 
 minded men who generally compose the juries of New 
 England. 
 
 After two years of faithful sei-vice in the Connecticut 
 Senate and tlu'ee years' performance of the duties of 
 prosecuting attorney in the county of Fairfeld, he was, 
 in April, 1859, elected to the national House of Repre- 
 sentatives, where he served till March, 1861. In the 
 midst of all-pervading treason which seemed to forbode 
 the sure downfall of the Republic, his unselfish patriotism 
 led him to enlist and serve as a private soldier in a 
 company raised to defend the National Capital from the 
 foes that menaced it from within and without. In the 
 great struggle which preserved national unity and free 
 institutions to our people he took no unceitain nor 
 wavering part. His patriotism and his humanity alike 
 condemned a rebellion which would have divided our 
 country into independent and hostile States, without peace 
 at home or power abroad, and wliich would have erected 
 
LIFE AND CHARACTER OF ORRIS S. FERRY. 33 
 
 upon the ruins of American freedom a government with 
 human slavery for its corner-stone. 
 
 Having been appointed by Governor Buckingham to 
 the command of the Fifth Connecticut Regiment he 
 obtained by arduous study a knowledge of military 
 aft'airs, and with his regiment did faithful and honorable 
 service. Commissioned brigadier-general in 1862, he 
 served with gallantry till the end of the war, when he 
 resumed the practice of his profession at Norwalk. In 
 1867 he was elected to this Senate, and re-elected in 
 1872. His last public effort in this Chamber was to pro- 
 nounce a true and beautiful eulogy upon his friend and 
 colleague, Senator Buckingham. Much in that eulogy 
 might be applied to the lamented Ferry himself In it 
 he seemed to be sounding his own requiem. The sorrowful 
 task of preparing it almost overcame him, and admonished 
 him that his own hold en life was rapidly breaking and 
 that his feet were even then pressing the shore of that 
 dark river over which his friend had passed to the unseen 
 world. In vain he sought relief from medicine; it had 
 no shield against the stroke of death. The dying Vice- 
 President sent to him a message of love which never 
 reached him. They died within a few hours of each 
 other — loved, trusted, and mourned. 
 
 In the character of Senator Ferry it seems to me there 
 was almost everything to admire and almost nothing to 
 condemn. 
 
 His intellect was clear, powerful, and logical. Few 
 
34 ADDRESS OF MR. WADLEIGH ON THE 
 
 better speeches than his can be found in the records of 
 American eloquence. Terse, vigorous, and full of fiery 
 force, they were delivered with an earnestness of manner 
 which gave them wonderful effect. His hearers felt that 
 before them was a man who believed what he said, and 
 who said it because he believed it. When warmed in 
 debate his impulsive energy seemed to triumph over the 
 cruel disease which, like the vultui-e of Pi'ometheus, was 
 gnawing his vitals. Yet, with all his mental strength, he 
 had the ardent generosity and captivating frankness of 
 youth and a feminine kindness of heart. The pooi*, the 
 oppressed, the unhappy multitude whose lives are dark- 
 ened by want, had never a friend whose heart beat for 
 them with stronger sympathy. His love of right, of 
 justice, of what Anglo-Saxons call "fair play," amounted 
 to a passion. Yet he never stooped to flatter or amuse 
 the people to whose welfare he devoted himself His 
 public addresses never appealed to the baser passions, but 
 only to the sentiments of justice and duty in the hearts 
 of his hearers, and to their judgment and reason. He 
 was a patriot without being a demagogue. 
 
 He was by natui-e a man of unyielding courage, and in 
 liis later years his fear of God shut liis heart against all 
 other fear. He had the courage to be true to his convic- 
 tions always and everywhere. No unpopulaiity of a cause 
 could prevent his warmly espousing it. His independence 
 of thought sometimes led to breaches of party discipline 
 which would have been fatal to men of less purity, but 
 
LIFE AND CHAEACTER OF ORRIS S. FERRY. 35 
 
 which never lost him the confidence of those who knew 
 him. They knew that no selfish, dishonest motive could 
 influence him. His character shielded him even against 
 suspicion. They felt that modern degeneracy had not 
 reached him; that, though poor, he could not be swayed 
 by all "the gold of Ormus and of Ind." Their faith in 
 him was well-founded. His feet were firmly planted on 
 that eternal rock where stood in other days the martyrs 
 who endm-ed poverty, scorn, insult, torture, and death 
 rather than disobey the whispers of conscience — that 
 "still small voice" too often unheeded by men in high 
 places. Yet he made no parade of his religion ; it was 
 concealed rather than ostentatiously displayed, and con- 
 sisted in acts rather than in words. When some glaring 
 examples of hypocrisy brought contumely upon the re- 
 ligious professions of statesmen, the pure, noble, honest 
 life of Ferry did much to redeem genuine Christianity 
 from reproach. 
 
 He once said to me that he tried to live as though the 
 next moment would usher liim to the bar of the Eternal 
 Judge. To a man who thus lives, seeing continually the 
 white throne of Omnipotence with the childi'en of earth 
 thronging to it for judgment, nothing is harder than to do 
 wi'ong, and to him death is but the door to immortality. 
 Though he leaves here no earthly riches, he leaves 
 what is better — a stainless name and an example for 
 emulation. 
 
 When we look upon such a life and such a death, when 
 
3G ADDRESS OF ME. WADLEIGH ON THE 
 
 we reflect how often of late the pale king of terrors has 
 invaded this Chamber, and how soon we may receive his 
 dread summons, shall we not be incited to the more 
 faithful perfoimance of our duties — duties involving the 
 welfare of many millions of our fellow-men, which we 
 owe to them, to our country, and to God? 
 
LIFE AND CHARACTER OF ORRIS S. FERRY. 37 
 
 Address of Mr. English, of Connecticut. 
 
 Mr. President, one year ago last Saturday Mr. Ferry 
 rose in his seat in this Chamber, in the performance of 
 what he said was to him the saddest duty of his public 
 life, to announce to the Senate the death of his colleague 
 on this floor. On the 27th day of the same month he 
 delivered in the Senate a eulogy on the life and character 
 of Governor Buckingham which made a deep impression 
 on the Senate and country at that time. It was his last 
 public effort in the Senate. He returned to his family and 
 home in Norwalk, where he died on the 23d day of 
 November last. 
 
 By the dispensation of Providence, the State of Connec- 
 ticut has lost by death not only two Senators, but quite 
 recently one of her senior members in the House of 
 Representatives, making, in all, one-half of her entire 
 delegation in Congress, and all within the brief space of 
 less than one year. It is but seldom that a State is called 
 upon to endure such a triple affliction as her citizens 
 mourn to-day. 
 
 Such, Mr. President, is the uncertainty of human life, 
 and it admonishes us all to heed the divine admonition, 
 "Be ye also ready." 
 
38 ADDRESS OF MR. KNGLISH ON THE 
 
 To-day the Senate -testifies its respect for the memory 
 of Mr. Ferry. 
 
 Mr. President, wliile I had not the honor of serving with 
 Mr. Ferry as a member of this distinguished body, it was 
 my good fortune to know him long and to know him 
 well. Fi-om my earliest acquaintance I had learned to 
 respect him, not only for his superior abilities, but as a 
 man of noble impulses and great purity of character. 
 
 Born among the hills of Connecticut, where he derived 
 his first educational advantages in the public schools, and 
 where he learned to earn his bread by the sweat of his 
 brow ; apprenticed at an early age, in his native town of 
 Bethel, to his father, a prominent manufacturer of hats in 
 that town ; while thus engaged, he exhibited such a taste 
 for books and knowledge as to induce his father to send 
 him to Yale College, whence he was graduated in 1844. 
 Of his class. Governor Haight, of California, and Governor 
 and Senator Washburn, of Massachusetts, became the most 
 prominent in political life. While in college he was not 
 distinguished as a scholar, but as a writer and debater 
 he was conspicuous and of great promise. He was 
 thoroughly independent, and gave evidence of a noble 
 and strong character. 
 
 Ilis professional, militarj^, and political life has been so 
 ably presented by my distinguished colleague as to leave 
 little or nothing more to be said upon these heads. 
 
 His speeches in the Senate were marked by great 
 clearness of expression and force of utterance, and 
 
LIFE AND CHARACTER OF ORRIS S. FERRY. 39 
 
 always commanded attention. He was in tlie best sense 
 an eloquent man, because he spoke his convictions of 
 duty, and had opinions, solid and strong, of his own. He 
 dared to differ from his party and be true to his individual 
 convictions, to his sense of duty, to his country, and to 
 his God. 
 
 His recent efforts in this Chamber, in support of what 
 he believed to be for the best interests of the country, are 
 so fresh in the minds of the people as to make it unneces- 
 sary for me to recur to them. 
 
 During his whole public service, and often in situations 
 in which bribes or gifts might have been accepted, such 
 was his sterling integrity he was placed beyond the reach 
 of temptation. As a Senator he had a clear conception 
 not only of the duties but the responsibilities of the posi- 
 tion, and was fearless in the discharge of those duties. 
 When he spoke, he spoke as a statesman, and not as a 
 politician ; for politician he never was, nor could he be, 
 certainly not in that sense that makes j^oHtics a profession, 
 whereby offices of honor or profit may be obtained. Nor 
 was he in any sense an office-seeker. He would neither 
 seek nor ask for any office of honor or profit, nor did he 
 crave any. But, on the conti-ary, had he been governed 
 by his own impressions, regardless of the opinions of 
 others, he would have continued in the practice of his 
 much-loved profession, and which would have been greatly 
 to his^pecuniary advantage. But from a sense of duty he 
 accepted the high and honorable position to which he was 
 
40 ADDRESS OF JIR. ENGLISH ON THE 
 
 elected by his fellow-citizens, having but one object in 
 view, to discharge the duties of the same in such a 
 manner as would conduce to the best good of liis State 
 and country. 
 
 Mr. Ferry, from disease and bodily infirmity, had been 
 a very great sufferer for several years, which would have 
 comi^Ietely discouraged a less determined man; but he 
 struggled on, and by his indomitable will continued in 
 the discharge of the duties of his office of Senator up to 
 the close of the last session. But, as time rolled on, liis 
 physical vigor became paralyzed. Suffering bodily pain 
 and agony, with the fact of approaching death before 
 him, he still continued faithfully to discharge every duty, 
 until at last his physical strength gave way; but his mental 
 power held out until the end. 
 
 It may not, Mr. President, be inappropriate for me to 
 allude to the Christian character of Mr. Ferry, and the 
 esteem with which he was held at home among his friends 
 and fellow-citizens. He was a man of an emotional na- 
 tiu-e and instinctive reverence for spiritual truth. In his 
 decided i-eligious impressions he showed great energy of 
 mind and independence of character. His political life 
 had given him a rapid growth of reputation for intellect 
 and capacity. At home, among his fellow-citizens, he had 
 obtained great influence, not only as a public man, but in 
 the church, of which he was a devoted member as well. 
 He taught a Bible-class, and out of liis efforts to do good 
 to his charge he prepared a course of lectures in support 
 
LIFE AND CHARACTER OF ORRIS S. FERRY. 41 
 
 of the divine origin of Chi-istianity, which was numerously 
 attended and produced a profound impression. 
 
 Struggling against infiraiity, which sapped the springs 
 of life, he held on bravely to the end, sustained by a noble 
 ardor and indomitable pluck, by his Chi*istian faith and 
 heroism, and died the death of a Christian patriot, deeply 
 lamented by all of his friends and fellow-citizens. 
 
 Mr. President, I beg leave to offer the following reso- 
 lution: 
 
 Eeaolved, That, as an additional mark of respect for the memory of Mr. Fekky, 
 the Senate do now adjourn. 
 
 The resolution was agreed to unanimously ; and the 
 Senate (at two o'clock and thirty-five minutes p. m.) 
 adjourned. 
 
PROCEEDINGS 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 
 
ANNOUNCEMENT. 
 
 MESSAGE FROM THE SENATE. 
 
 A message was received from the Senate, by Mr. Symp- 
 son, one of its clerks, announcing the proceedings of that 
 body on the death of Orris S. Ferry, late a Senator from 
 Connecticut. 
 
 DEATH OF THE LATE ORRIS S. FERRY. 
 
 The Speaker. The Clerk will read the message just 
 received from the Senate. 
 The Clerk read as follows: 
 
 In Sen'ate of thk United States, Februarys, 1876. 
 
 Mcaolved, That as a mark of respect to the memory of Okris S. Feery, late a 
 Seuator from Connecticut, the business of this body be now suspended, that his 
 former associates may pay proper tribute to his pviblic and private virtues. 
 
 Resolved, That the Secretary communicate this resolution to the House of Rep- 
 resentatives. 
 
ADDRESSES, 
 
 Address of Mr. Phelps, of Connecticut. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, the sudden decease of my colleague, [Mr. 
 Starkweather,] who had the matter in charge, and the 
 request of my remaining colleagues, have unexpectedly 
 devolved upon me the dirty of moving the adoption of 
 the resolutions which have just been transmitted from the 
 Senate, and of supporting them by such remarks appro- 
 priate to the occasion as I may be able to make; and I 
 regret that I have had neither the time nor opportunity 
 to make a fitting preparation for the discharge of such a 
 delicate and important duty. 
 
 Senator Ferry was born at Bethel, in the State of Con- 
 necticut, on the 15th day of August, 1823. A portion of 
 his early years was spent in manual labor in the manu- 
 factory of his father, but he soon developed such a desire 
 for knowledge and such uncommon indications of intellec- 
 tual superiority that he laid aside the implements of a 
 trade he was rapidly acquiring, and, at the age of fourteen 
 years, entered upon the necessary studies preparatory to 
 
48 ADDRESS OF MR. PHELPS ON THE 
 
 admission iu Yale College, from which he was graduated 
 at the age of tweuty-one. His collegiate career was bril- 
 liant, and the high distinction which he afterward attained 
 was clearly foreshadowed at his graduation. He had a 
 peculiar fondness as well as a s^iecial aptness for forensic 
 effort, which naturally led liim to adopt the profession of 
 the law, and, as a student in the offices and under the 
 personal instruction of two of the most eminent jurists of 
 his native State, he mastered with great facility the intri- 
 cate science of jm-isprudeace. He was admitted to the 
 bar in 184G, and immediately commenced a successful 
 practice at Norwalk, Connecticut, which he a few years 
 later allowed to be interrupted by his active participation 
 in the earnest political contest which was then going on. 
 He was at that time an ardent partisan, and was elected 
 to the State senate in 1855 and again in 1856 as a mem- 
 ber of the party then kiiown as American. His party was 
 in the ascendency and his talents gave him a conspicuous 
 position among its leaders. As a tactician he was saga- 
 cious, and as a debater had all the weapons of logic at his 
 command and wielded them with surprising power. He 
 was independent in thought and positive in action. He 
 shunned all artifice and indirection and fearlessly advo- 
 cated what he believed to be right, and with equal bold- 
 ness opposed and unsparingly denounced what he thought 
 to be wrong. It would have violated his nature to have 
 been untrue to his honest convictions, and he was there- 
 fore utterly uncompromising between right and wrong. 
 
LIPE AND CHARACTER OF ORRIS S. FERRY. 49 
 
 His fame as a local legislator gave him such prominence 
 that he became a candidate of the republican party for 
 Congress in 1857, but was then unsuccessful. He was 
 again placed in nomination in 1859, and elected to the 
 Thirty-sixth Congress, and in this intellectual arena of the 
 nation, which was at that time tlu'obbing with excitement 
 and numbered among its prominent actors many of the 
 most distinguished minds of the country, he acquitted 
 himself with marked distinction. Among the important 
 positions assigned to him in that Congress was a place on 
 the celebrated committee of thirty-three, which was organ- 
 ized to consider the condition and relations of the seceded 
 States 
 
 Upon the breaking out of the late civil war, all the 
 enthusiasm of his nature was aroused for the preservation 
 of the Union, and he entered the Army as colonel of the 
 Fifth Regiment of Connecticut Volunteers. On the 17th 
 of March, 1862, he was commissioned a brigadier-general 
 by President Lincoln, and served in that capacity in dif- 
 ferent divisions of the Army until near the close of the 
 war. 
 
 In 1866 lie was elected by the legislature of Connecti- 
 cut to the Senate of the United States, and was re-elected 
 in 1872. His last public effort there was to pronounce an 
 eloquent trilDute of respect and affection to the memory of 
 his deceased colleague, Senator Buckingham. With what 
 commanding ability he discharged his duty in that body 
 I need not repeat. It is sufficient to say that by his emi- 
 
50 ADDRESS OF MR. PHELPS ON THE 
 
 nent service he acquired a national reputation as an able, 
 faithful, and conservative Senator, who loved his country 
 more than he loved his party, and in liis election honored 
 his State more than it honored him. 
 
 As a lawyer he possessed a remarkably clear, discrimi- 
 nating legal mind, which thoroughly understood and in- 
 telligently digested the principles of the common law. He 
 was a conscientious adviser, laborious and careful in the 
 preparation of his causes and skillful in their management, 
 and before neither court or jury had many competitors 
 who could meet him on more than equal terms. In his 
 deportment he maintained the dignity of liis profession 
 and cherished its honor with true devotion. 
 
 In the later years of his life he was the subject of 
 strong religious convictions, and publicly and with his 
 whole heart professed a belief in the fundamental doc- 
 trines of the Christian religion, and made then- practice a 
 sincere and constant part of his daily life. 
 
 He was a man of unbending integrity, and deeply im- 
 bued with the true spirit of manhood. He scorned every- 
 thing that was base and despised everything that was 
 mean. Corruption never tarnished his honor. He had 
 no itching palm for dishonestly-gotten gold, and was at 
 all times above all suspicion of complicity in legislative 
 jobs and subsidies. He received no compensation or 
 emolument except what he was by law clearly entitled to 
 take, and it is the noblest tribute that can be offered to 
 his memory to say that he entered the public service poor 
 
LIFE AND CHARACTER OF ORRIS S. FERllY. 51 
 
 and continued many yeai's in the civil and military depart- 
 ments of the Government, and, without extravagance in 
 living, died in his senatorial robes as poor as he entered 
 that service. 
 
 He expired at his home on Sunday, the 21st day of 
 November last, after a long and suffering illness. The 
 best medical skill was unavailing to heal his malady and 
 restore his health. The highest type of womanly excel- 
 lence and devotion existed in his household, and their 
 blessed ministrations, often more potent than the physi- 
 cian's remedies, were, by those every way worthy his 
 companionship, constantly and with cheerful fidelity 
 exerted to the last. 
 
 In his death the country has lost one of its pm'est and 
 ablest statesmen ; the Commonwealth of Connecticut, 
 which proudly reckons many distinguished sons among 
 her jewels, the peer of the most gifted of them ; the legal 
 profession one of its soundest counselors and most eloquent 
 advocates ; the community in which he lived, an accom- 
 plished Christian gentleman ; and his family such a hus- 
 band and father as only such a husband could be to a 
 loved and loving wife, and such a father to an affectionate 
 and devoted daughter. 
 
 It is said, sir, that death loves a shining mark. This 
 cannot well be more strikingly exemplified than in the 
 fact that since the adjournment of the last Congress we 
 have lost an Ex-President, a Vice-President, and a Sen- 
 ator of the United States and six members elected to this 
 
ADDKESS OF Mil. PHELPS OX THE 
 
 House. The State which I have the honor in part to 
 represent has been especially bereaved. Within the sliort 
 space of less than one year she has been deprived of two 
 Senators : Buckingham, who had rendered most distin- 
 guished service and been loved and honored as a State 
 rarely loves and honors a son however eminent, whose 
 decease gave expression to some of the most touching 
 eulogies ever delivered in this Capitol ; and Ferry, no 
 less worthy and distinguished, whose private virtues and 
 public services we are now endeavoring to commemorate. 
 Their fame belongs not alone to Connecticut, but to the 
 country; but we cherish with a just State pride the fact that 
 they wei'e born and lived and are bm-ied on our own soil. 
 Their good names are indelibly engraved on the hearts of 
 the people of the State, and their gi-aves are shi-ines which 
 virtue and patriotism and religion will forever venerate. 
 She has also been deprived of a distinguished Represent- 
 ative who has just been borne to his last resting-place in 
 the bosom of her soil and in the presence of his mourning 
 constituency. 
 
 The event we are considering is but the reiteration of 
 the solemn and oft-repeated lesson of mortality — another 
 impressive reminder that "man walketh in a vain shadow." 
 Public honors and high position furnish no exemption. 
 Tlie all-wise and almighty Power who decrees the man- 
 date, and the messenger who executes it, respect no dis- 
 tinctions of rank or condition. The mocker at human 
 ])ride follows man into the high places of the land, and 
 
LIFE AND CHARACTER OF ORRIS S. FERRY. 53 
 
 there, as well as in the lowliest, repeats to him the 
 startling message, and the suddenness with which its 
 utterance sometimes falls upon our ears cannot be more 
 forcibly illustrated than by a recurrence to the fact that 
 I am now addressing the House in the place of a lamented 
 colleague who but a few days since was in the enjoyment 
 of his accustomed health, and had prepared himself for 
 and expected to perform the duty, but has himself been 
 called to his final rest. At the proper time in the course 
 of these proceedings that voice from the dead, speaking in 
 language much more beautiful and eloquent than any I 
 can express, will be read as one of the addresses on this 
 occasion. It will help to remind us that we are constantly 
 living in the shadow of the grave, and, alas! too often 
 allow ambition and covetousness and pride to conceal the 
 shadow or drive it from our thoughts ; and to teach us 
 that it will be true wisdom to pause in our career of 
 worldliness, and remember there is something within our 
 reach higher than earth's highest honors, which, if attained, 
 will take away the sting of death and crown us with im- 
 mortal life. In his last years Senator Ferry, trusting in 
 the divine promise, earnestly and humbly sought that 
 happy and exalted end. 
 
 I oifer the following resolutions : 
 
 Rfsolfcd, That tbo House has received with profound sorrow the announce- 
 meut of the death of Orris S. Ferry, late a Senator from the State of Con- 
 necticut. 
 
 BesoUed, That as a mark of respect to the memory of Mr. Ferry the business 
 of the House be now suspended, that proper tributes may be paid to his public 
 and private virtues. 
 
54 ADDRESS OF MR. SEELYE ON THE 
 
 Address op Mr. Seelye, of Massachusetts. 
 
 Sir. Speaker, I am quite certain that the relations of no 
 other one here with Senator Ferry were the same as my 
 own. The gentleman who has preceded me, and those 
 who are to follow, as also those who listen, knew him only 
 in the varied relations, public and social, of mature life, 
 but he and I were boys together, sharing with one another 
 the gladness of childhood and the aspirations and purposes 
 and hopes of youth. From the little village where his 
 father and mine were near neighbors and friends, and 
 where he and I were playmates and schoolmates, there is 
 no other Representative now here, and it is upon this 
 account that I have been requested to say a few words 
 respecting his early life. It was spent in Bethel, Connecti- 
 cut, where he was born August 15, 1823. He was a 
 restless, eager, daring boy, not fonder of work than boys 
 usually are, but a leader in all boyish sports, from which 
 no one of his companions was wont to go home with a 
 dirtier face or with hair more tangled and clothes more 
 torn than he. But exuberant as he was of life and vigor, 
 ho was neither rough nor rude nor coarse even as a boy. 
 I never knew him, as he grew larger, to tyrannize over 
 smaller boys, though I have often seen him sliow a sort 
 
LIFE AND CHARACTER OF ORRIS S. FERRY. 55 
 
 of chivalric adlierence to the weaker side. Generous, 
 high-minded, and a universal favorite, tlie boy was father 
 of the man. 
 
 In school he always had his lessons, though no one 
 ever knew when or where or how he got them ; he was 
 not early fond of study, hut, if he ever worried his 
 teachers by his restless inattention, he never wearied 
 them by obliging them to repeat their instructions. 
 
 If, however, not an early student, he was as a boy a 
 great reader of books, especially in the line of poetry 
 and history and romance, of which his father's library 
 furnished the largest collection then in the village, and 
 from whose stores he was as fond of bringing feasts for 
 the fancy of his boyish friends as they were of feeding 
 upon them. His earliest aspirations were for a literary 
 life; and I doubt if he ever dreamed of his later achieve- 
 ments in the Senate and the administration of public 
 affairs. With unwonted freedom, even for a boy, he told 
 his day-dreams, and the boys who heard them, and over 
 whom his words could tlu'ow a spell like that felt by all 
 who listened to him in his riper years, never doubted that 
 they would all come true. 
 
 But his lot was cast where other occupations than play 
 or reveling in romances or building castles in the air 
 were soon pressed upon him. In that little village there 
 was no dolce far niente view of life. Everybody had 
 something to do and was expected to do it. Hardly any 
 vice seemed more repugnant to the busy workers there 
 
50 ADDRESS OF MH. SEELYE ON THE 
 
 tliuu idleness, and about the most condemning epithet 
 among them which could be applied to man or woman 
 was laziness or shiftlessness. There were no rich people 
 there ; and had there been, I hardly see how they could have 
 lived a life of leisure without being stung like drones by 
 the busy bees around them. A child's world of fancy 
 there soon found itself intersected by the hard world of 
 fact, and Orris Ferry soon learned that the actual present 
 had a work for him no less than the far-off future. While 
 in the dreamy fancies of his childhood there might have 
 been prefigured, had there only been the eye to see the 
 picture, that far-reaching meditativeness in which "the 
 heaven wliich lay about his infancy " still stretched before 
 the vision of his later years, I think he owed also what- 
 ever persistence of purpose and energy of work he after- 
 ward revealed as much to these early conditions which 
 surrounded him as to his original endowment. But the 
 fearlessness with which he exercised liis purpose, tlie 
 courage of his convictions, the bravery with which he 
 could throw aside all arbitrary domination and be a free- 
 man and a hero, this was not dependent upon any circum- 
 stances of his early life; this was his original possession, 
 as conspicuously his in the earliest revealings of himself 
 as in the latest, and would have been revealed as his 
 wherever he had been born or however bred. 
 
 But tliere were other traits prominent in his later life 
 ^^■hi(•h were, doubtless, partly due to his early surround- 
 ings. T]w religious faith, which was the ever-brin-htening 
 
LIFE AND CHARACTER OF ORRIS S. FERRY. 57 
 
 crown of his maturest years, was, I cannot but think, 
 greatly aided by the associations of liis childhood. In 
 the center of the village where was his childhood's home 
 — central alike in location and in the power it repre- 
 sented — was the Congregational meeting-house, where 
 the only church then in the place gathered with its con- 
 gregation for public worship, and to which were drawn 
 and from which dispersed the cm-rents by wliich — as 
 originally was the case in almost every New England 
 town and village — the life of that community was directed 
 and sustained. Hard workers as were the men and 
 women there, sharp, too, at a bargain as they were, and 
 eager to get gain, no one with much knowledge of them 
 but would soon discover that in their thoughts and ques- 
 tionings the next world had no less prominence than this. 
 The warmest discussions ever held among them were 
 on the highest themes of theology, discussions which, 
 however wide their range, were always brought for settle- 
 ment, in the last appeal, to Scripture and to common 
 sense. It was quite natural that the children breathing 
 such an air should early learn to talk about these things, 
 and to think abouf them, also, for themselves, and quite 
 to be expected, also, that one like Orris Ferry, always 
 unwilling to have his thoughts constrained, and always 
 unable to have them concealed, should in his freedom of 
 inquiry find things where common sense and Scripture 
 seemed to clash, and in his fearlessness of expression 
 should declare this seeming contradiction without proviso. 
 
58 ADDRESS OF ME. SEELYE ON THE 
 
 He early avowed his skepticism respecting all religious 
 things, though he always had a certain seriousness of soul 
 which never suflPered him to be a scoffer. In later years, 
 when by a further and profounder exercise of this same 
 freedom of inquiry, he became a sincere believer — 
 showing again that it is only the shallow draught at the 
 fountain of free thought which intoxicates and the deep 
 draught which sobers one again — it was not strange that 
 the living faith with which his soul was penetrated should 
 find its fitting expression and liveliest exercise in that form 
 of doctrine and mode of conduct which, though for years 
 repugnant to his convictions and his habits, were yet the 
 earliest, as they were the latest and most intimate, asso- 
 ciations of his life. 
 
 I do not speak of him as a man, so afifectionate, so 
 trutliful, so far-sighted, so courageous, with his command- 
 ing presence and controlling speech ; for as such he has 
 already beeu and is to be aptly portrayed by those who 
 knew him only as a man. And I trust I shall be par- 
 doned for dwelling at such length upon these thoughts of 
 his boyhood, which make his memory very tender to me 
 and which awaken a sense of personal loss beyond my 
 power to express, as I think of the hopes we both had 
 cherished of reviving here the intimacy of our boyhood, 
 and of the expectation, which had been to me very bright 
 and dear, that I might find from his superior wisdom and 
 wider knowledge of public aftairs a much- needed aid. 
 
LIFE AND CHARACTER OF ORRIS S. FERRY. 59 
 
 Address of Mr. Garfield, of Ohio. 
 
 I have never in tliis House performed a duty so sad 
 and so sacred as that which is devolved upon me to-day. 
 Two weeks ago last Friday om- late beloved friend and 
 associate, Hon. H. H. Starkweather, of Connecticut, 
 came to my seat and urgently requested that I should 
 addi'ess the House on the resolutions in reference to the 
 death of Senator Ferry. After speaking with me for a 
 few moments, he was called to the chair to preside and 
 remained there perhaps half an houi-; but, not feeling well, 
 he soon passed out, and never entered the Hall again. 
 
 The very evening when he was stricken with his mortal 
 disease he had completed, or very nearly completed, the 
 remarks which he proposed to offer to the House on this 
 occasion. I have not had the heart even to keep my 
 promise to him. I could not think of this subject without 
 being overwhelmed with the sense of the double loss ; but 
 I am sure the House will permit me, in place of any 
 remarks of my own, to do what our departed friend can 
 no longer do for himself, to read the speech as he left it. 
 I have filled a few blanks and added here and there a 
 word to supply the final revision which liis own hand 
 would have made; and thus the dead speaks for the dead 
 
CO ADDItESS OF MR. GAUFIKLD ON THE 
 
 friend -whom lie soon folloAved. I read, and ask that it 
 may go into the Record as his speech, the following 
 
 REMARKS PREPARED BY THE LATE HON. H. H. STARKWEATHER. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, since the adjournment of the last Congress, 
 God in His sovereign wisdom has removed from the service 
 of the nation Senator Orris S. Ferry, one of its distin- 
 guished and trusted councilors. 
 
 At any time the death of a Senator in the midst of his 
 labors, so conspicuous for ability, for patriotism, and for 
 a conscientious devotion to duty as was Mr. Ferry, is a 
 great national loss. His departure from us, preceding 
 but a few hom-s that of Vice-President Wilson, and fol- 
 lowing so closely that of Senators Sumner and Buck- 
 ingham, and others illustrious in the national councils, 
 heightens and emphasizes the bereavement. The death 
 of Mr. Ferry is a peculiar loss to the State that he served 
 and honored, and whose memory she cherishes with an 
 affectionate admiration. Throughout the Commonwealth, 
 among the learned, the founders of our academies, uni- 
 versities, in our common schools, among the ministers of 
 religion, and the humble worshipers of God — along all its 
 hills, in the Sunday-schools that he loved, among learned 
 judges and eminent counselors, among the sons of toil 
 for whom he spoke, among the good and the great, and 
 in every cottage of the poor — there is great sadness. 
 
 Twice within a few months death has invaded the sanc- 
 tuary of our hearts, and taken from us our trusted pulilic 
 
LIFE AND CHAKACTER OF ORRIS S. FERRV. 61 
 
 servants and most honored citizens. No two men of this 
 generation, among all the honored names of our common- 
 wealth, could touch so many homes with a sense of per- 
 sonal loss. While their work here is finished, there is 
 left to us the reflection that for this life our present rela- 
 tions are severed forever. 
 
 "Around us each dissevered chain 
 In sparkliug ruin lies, 
 And earthly bands can ne'er again 
 Unite the broken ties." 
 
 Mr. Ferry was bom in the town of Bethel, in Fairfield 
 County, on the 15th of August, 1823. His father, Starr 
 Ferry, was an enterprising business man of that town — a 
 citizen known for his good sense, integrity, and social 
 position in a community remarkable for its intelligence 
 and culture. 
 
 He was early apprenticed to his father's trade, and in 
 after-life he had a just pride of his proficiency in his call- 
 ing. An incident occun-ed at the last session of Congress 
 that illustrates his character. As an advocate was explain- 
 ing before the Committee on Patents the mysteries of a 
 certain invention, he was surprised to learn that the chair- 
 man of the committee had learned the art when a boy and 
 was still in advance of the advocates and experts in the 
 thoroughness of his knowledge of the subject. Early, 
 however, the love of books and of study took possession 
 of him and he left his trade to enter on a course of prep- 
 aration for college. But of this the learned and distin- 
 guished gentleman from Massachusetts, [Mr. Seelye,] the 
 
02 ADDRESS OF MK. GARFIKLD ON THE 
 
 companion of his boyhood, can more appropriately speak. 
 In passing, it is sufficient to remark that as a boy he gave 
 high promise of success. 
 
 At the age of seventeen he entered Yale College, and 
 here, says one well qualified to judge — 
 
 His fine powers of mind soon found appreciative recognition, particularly in 
 the department of literature and debate. Ho early became one of the editors 
 of the Yale Literary Magazine ; was also a successful competitor for the Town- 
 send literary prize ; and uniformly stood among the very highest in anything 
 that required elaborate or extemporaneous address. His prestige thus gained 
 in letters, together with his hearty social qualities, and his fine personal api)ear- 
 ance, secured for him a marked popularity as well in circles without as within 
 the college. 
 
 He graduated in 1844 at the age of twenty-one, and 
 after a year he entered the office of the late Chief- 
 Justice Thomas B. Butler as a student at law, was soon 
 admitted to the bar, and became his partner. 
 
 Here his associations were most fortunate. Judge 
 Butler was remarkable, not only for his legal learning, 
 but for his varied acquirements, his love of justice, and 
 his generous social qualities. Mi-. Ferey's advent to the 
 bar was in other respects fortunate in its suiTOundiugs. 
 The bar of Faii-field County and the adjoining counties 
 of Now Haven and Litchfield at this time had many 
 eminent lawyers. There were the venerable Charles 
 Hawley, Roger Sherman Baldwin, the Ingersolls, Judges 
 Butler, Sejinour, Button — all learned in the mysteries of 
 jurisprudence, the first two becoming chief-justices of our 
 high court. Besides these there were a score of younger 
 men. Minor, Beardsley, Loomis, White, Carter, Beach, 
 Hanison, and others, near his own age, of rai-e ability. 
 
LIFE AND CHAKACTEU OF OKEIS S. FERRY. 63 
 
 At no time in our history has there been a greater array 
 of talent at the bar than this. It is a sufficient commen- 
 dation of Mr. Ferry, and hot a httle remarkable, that 
 within a few years from his admission to the bar he placed 
 himself at the head of his profession. 
 
 Soon after his admission to the bar Mr. Ferry married 
 the daughter of Governor Bissell, and the daughter and 
 wife, in womanly virtues, in social cultm-e, and in the 
 sweet graces of charity and religion, is worthy of her 
 illustrious father and husband. 
 
 When yet a young man he was early honored at home. 
 He was successively chosen judge of j^robate, State 
 attorney, and State Senator. Each of these positions he 
 filled well. 
 
 It was my good fortune to be a member of the Legis- 
 lature of Connecticut in 1856, and to be a member of the 
 judiciary committee of which he was chauTnan. It was 
 then often a subject of remark among men eminent at the 
 bar that Mr. Ferry, (then but thirty-two,) not only as a 
 debater, but a legislator, had the rarest ability, and at 
 that early day he gave full promise of those great qualities 
 which have for eight years past been the admiration of 
 his colleagues in the Senate. He was then, as ever, brave, 
 true, great. 
 
 We are greatly indebted to ]\Ir. Ferry for his public 
 addresses before the people of our State. His logic and 
 his eloquence were irresistible on these occasions. 
 
 Mr. Ferry was elected to the Thirty-sixth Congress 
 
04 ADDRESS OP MR. GARFIELD ON THE 
 
 from Connecticut and took his seat in this House in 1859 
 amid the stiiring scenes immediately preceding the 
 rebeUion. This body then embraced many men of 
 marked character and ability. Here were the great 
 leadei's of the South, men schooled in politics and accus- 
 tomed to ride ; and from tlie North came also many men 
 of gi-eat ability, but mostly new to the public service. 
 
 Mr. Ferry from the first took a conspicuous part in the 
 discussions of the House, and was one of the committee 
 of thirty-three appointed by the Speaker on "so much of 
 the President's message as relates to the perilous condition 
 of the country." Early in the debates he delivered a 
 speech which was regarded by his associates as very able 
 and effective, and expressing at that time the true position 
 of its most thoughtful statesmen. His analysis of the 
 state of the country at that trying epoch and his views of 
 the duty of the Government now read like prophecy. 
 
 At the close of his two years in the House he raised 
 and commanded a regiment, and served in the Army with 
 honor to the close of the war. His whole heart was in 
 the work ; and he devoted his entire time and abilit}' to 
 its duties. When the war was over he resumed his pro- 
 fession ; but the next year, 186G, he was elected to the 
 Senate and served a full term, and was re-elected in 1872. 
 
 Tlie public career of Mr. Ferry wliile in the Senate 
 has been so faithfully delineated in the main by his 
 distinguished associates that there is little need to recount 
 them here; and, besides, I feel how inadequate are any 
 
LIFE AND CHAEACTEE OF OEEIS S. FEERY. 05 
 
 words of mine even to express my reverence and admi- 
 ration. 
 
 He entered the Senate at the commencement of the 
 Fortieth Congress. Great questions, among them the 
 problems of reconstruction, were on our hands; with 
 these, new relations of the dominant and the late subject 
 classes as they emerged from a state of war. 
 
 I have seen it suggested by those who have failed fully 
 to apprehend the position of Mr. Ferry that he was 
 unduly conservative in his tendencies on questions of 
 reconstruction. On the contrary, it can be said to his 
 credit that on these measures he led the advance. His 
 speeches in the Senate and in the conventions at home 
 show that from the outset he maintained with masterly 
 ability not only the right of the nation, but its duty to 
 secure liberty, enfranchisement, and civil rights to those 
 who had been slaves. It is true, in connection with 
 many leading men of the party, he early favored a large 
 amnesty to those who had been in rebellion against the 
 Government. 
 
 But in all his work in the Senate his noble utterances 
 in regard to the power of the nation to suppress rebellion, 
 his denunciations of secession, his appeal for justice for 
 the slave, ally him indissolubly with the great republican 
 leaders whose fame is immortal. 
 
 It would be a pleasant service to quote from his 
 speeches and rehearse his acts as proofs, if they were 
 needed, of his fidelity to liberty and his faith in the in- 
 
CO ADDRESS OF MK. GAEFIELD ON THE 
 
 destructibility of the Union. There are no nobler acts 
 or utterances on record. But I must not detain the 
 House longer with this sketch while others wait to unfold 
 with better-chosen words his character and services. 
 
 Before closing, however, let me refer to the crowning 
 glory of his life. Mr. Feeey had a strong religious ele- 
 ment in his character. This was with him a great con- 
 trolling force, and not a sentiment. It added greatly to 
 his strength and upheld him not only in great emergencies 
 but in the daily labors of life. He loved to contemjjlate 
 and discourse of the Infinite God and the glory of His 
 reign. He dwelt with rapture on the majestic prophecies 
 of Isaiah and the grand poems of the HebrcAv minstrel 
 king. His discourses on religion became a part of liis 
 beautiful life-work in his home. 
 
 It was most beautiful and grand, amid failing strength 
 and long years of pain, to hear him discourse of — 
 
 " Rest at last, 
 Repose complete, eternal ; 
 Love, rest, uud home." 
 
 No cloud obscured the effulgence of his hope or 
 dimmed liis vision. Clear and high his intellect and his 
 faith rose above all storms and darkness, and sustained 
 him in sweet companionship amid the unrevealed mys- 
 teries of pain. As his end drew near, he came back to 
 his home, after a brief absence. There, under liis own 
 roof, with the angels of his household about him, he 
 passed to his rest. 
 
 Thinking of trials past, and knowing as we do liow 
 
LIFE AND CHARACTER OF ORRIS S. FERRY. 07 
 
 well he had wrought for the future, trusting in the merits 
 of his dear Lord, he could repeat the sweet lines of 
 Bonar — 
 
 Beyond the smiliug and the weeping 
 
 I shall be soon ; 
 Beyond the vraking and the sleeping, 
 Beyond the sowing and the reaping, 
 I shall be soon. 
 Love, rest, and home! 
 Sweet home ! 
 Lord, tarry not, but come. 
 
 Beyond the blooming and the fading 
 
 I shall be soon ; 
 Beyond the shining and the shading, 
 Beyond the hoping and the dreading, 
 I shall be soon. 
 Love, rest, and home ! 
 Sweet home ! 
 Lord, tarry not, but come. 
 
 Beyond the rising and the setting 
 
 I shall be soon ; 
 Beyond the calming and the fretting, 
 Beyond remembering and forgetting, 
 I shall be soon. 
 Love, rest, and home ! 
 Sweet home .' 
 Lord, tarry not, but come. 
 
 Beyond the parting and the meeting 
 
 I shall be soon ; 
 Beyond the farewell and the greeting, 
 Beyond the pulse's fever beating, 
 I shall be soon. 
 Love, rest, and home! 
 Sweet home ! 
 Lord, tarry not, but come. 
 
 Beyond the frost-chain and the fever 
 
 I shall be soon; 
 Beyond the rock-waste and the river, 
 Beyond the ever and the never, 
 I shall be soon. 
 Love, rest, and home ! 
 Sweet home! 
 Lord, tarry not, but come. 
 
G8 LIFE AND CHAUACTER OF ORKIS S. FERRY. 
 
 Ay, the sweeter words of inspiration — in the vohime of 
 the book it is written, "Lo, I come quickly. Even so, 
 come, Lord Jesus." 
 
 The resolutions offered by Mr. Phelps were agreed to 
 unanimously. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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