IN MEMOPvIAM $ ADDRESS OF HON. CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW OF NEW YORK upon the i.ife and ciiajBACter of HON. EDMUND W. PETTUS (LATE A SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF ALABAMA) DELIVERED IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 18, 1908 4^ WASH I NO TON li)08 42169— 774S P4GU4 ADDRESS OF IIOX. CIIAUNCEY M. DEPEW, MEMORIAL ADDRESSES ON THE LATE SENATORS FROM ALABAMA. Jlr. BANKHEAD. Mr. Presideut, I offer the resolutions which I send to the desk. The Secretary read the resolutions, as follows : licsolvcd, That the Senate has heard with profound sorrow of the death of the lions. John T. Mokgan and Ed.muad W. Pettus, late Senators from the State of Alabama. Resolved, That as a mark of respect to the memory of tlie deceased Senators, the business of tSe Senate be now suspended to enable their associates to pay proper tribute to their high characters and dis- tinguished public service. Resolved, That the Secretary communicate a copy of these resolu- tions to the House of Representatives. The VICE-PEESIDEXT. The question is an agreeing to the resolutions. The resolutions were unanimously agreed to. Mr. DEPEW. Mr. President, when a man dies in youth or in his prime with years of usefulness before him, the sentiment is grief or despair. Every year which one enjoys in health and the full possession of all his faculties beyond the Psalmist's limit of life is a source of gratitude. If he is still at fourscore in the forefront of the battle when the sunnuons comes, the event elicits reminiscence, record and applause. Alabama, through her two .venerable and great Senators, Morgan and Pettus, had in this body a unique distinction. These two representatives, or as they might be called, am- bassadors of a sovereign State, one S3 and the other 86, and by reason of their ability and power destined to reelection which would carry them both toward their century, pre- sent a picture which has no imvaliel in our history. Senator MoiifjAX was in the front rank of tlie statesmen of the Republic. 2 421G0 — 77-18 His great ability, vast acquirements, profound ovudllinn, in- domitable industrj', self-sacrificing devotion to tliL- public wel- fare and rare elequence have placed him in a niclie of tlio temple of American fame. He possessed an almost unequaled command of English pure and undefiled, and in giving utter- ance to bis tbougbt it was done with such correct expression that after a running debate in which he took a principal part and which would last a day, his sentences were so perfect that his speech required neither review nor correction. IMore than any other of our statesmen he resembled the great English writer and orator, Edmund Burke. His colleague, Senator Pettus, was a good lawyer and an able judge, but preeminently, in all his characteristics, the soldier. The friendship and in- terdependence of these associate representatives of Alabama upon each other and their daily intercourse was one of the most interesting and attractive pictures in the Senate. The General followed with awe and admiration the lead of the veteran and distinguished Senator, and the slender and fragile Senator seemed to lean with reverential regard upon the vigorous, ag- gressive and gigantic General, but at the moment when their State seemed unanimously resolved to keep them here without limit as to time the summons came to both, and they died as they had lived, neighbors and friends, possessing to the last the full vigor of their physical and mental powers. Such an event inspires many reflections upon youth and age. The tribute of the world is given wholly to youth. Its admira- tion is for early achievement. It is apt to dismiss age or be impatient that it lingers upon the stage. I remember a dis- tinguished English statesman remarking to me with disappoint- ment and disgust after Mr. Gladstone's Midlothian campaign had electrified the country, " There is no use waiting for old men to die. After seventy they go on forever." The brightest pages of history, the most brilliant passages in oratory and the highest flights of rhetorical expression are devoted to the achievements of px'ecocious genius. In our day everything is subjected to the merciless analysis of science and research. The most valued traditions of childhood are shattered by the cold 421G9— 7T48 processes of historical delving. William Tell becomes a myth and Arnold Winkclreid an exaggerated tradition. By the same bloodless dissection alienists and phj'siologists are now endeav- oring to prove that in the formation and growth of the brain an unnatural and unhealthy early development tends either to degeneracy or, in rare instances, where there is great natural power, to extraordinary and morbid maturity In infancy and youth. It is the inspiration and despair of the schools that Alexander the Great was a wise ruler at 18 and conquered all Greece at 20. At 2G he wept because there were no more worlds to conquer and died at 30. His achievements and his tragic death were alike due to an abnormal brain which made him meet the characterization of Pope, "The youth who all things but himself subdued." In this he stands in marked contrast with Ciesar, who matured more slowly and naturally, and was at the zenith of his powers when assassi- nated at 5G, and of whom Pope also said, " Cfcsar was the world's great master and his own." Hannibal was in sight of the fulfillment of the vow to his father of the destruction of Eome when he was 31, but then his genius seemed to de- cay. Napoleon had reached the zenith of his powers at 35 and at Waterloo was the victim of premature senility. Byron's genius began to fade in his early thirties, and he died before he was 40. Pitt was prime minister at 25, and the maturity of his gifts was under 40. Goethe, the great German genius, and one of the greatest the world ever saw, on the other hand, grew nor- mally to maturity and was no exception to nature's laws. The work which gave him universal recognition, " Iphigenia," was written when he was 37, but his immortality is largely based upon " Faust," which was published when he was 55. He lived without any abatement of mind until he was S3. Thiers, having accomplished a world of literary work and done much political service, saved France from total dismemberment at 71 and re- mained three years after in the presidency to consolidate his work. Von Moltke at 71 had become one of the most famous gen- orals of the centuries, while Bisn)arck late in life consolidated the (;<'rnian pemile into one Empire under the great sovereign 421U'J— 77J8 who wielded the scepter vigorously until past 90. Gladstone'8 most triumphant campaign, and one of the most remarkable la English history, was won by a stumping tour of unequaled rigor and versatility when he was 84. The dead line of {50, which had been the rule of the past, no longer exists in our day. Shakespeare divided life into seven ages. At first the infant, JlewHng and puking In the nurse's arms. Tlien the whining school-hoy, with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping lilje snail Unwillingly to school. And then the lover, Sighing lilvC furnace, with a woeful ballad Made to his mistress' eyehrow. Then a soldier, Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard, Jealous in honour, sudden, and quick in quarrel. Seeking the bubble reputation . Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the Justice, In fair round belly with good capon lin'd, With eyes severe and beard of formal cut, Full of wise saws and modern instances ; So he plays his part. The sixth age shifts Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon, With spectacles on nose and pouch on side, His youthful hose, well sav'd, a world too wide For his shrunk shank ; and his big manly voice, Turning again toward childish treble, pipes And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all. That ends this strange, eventful history, Is second childishness and mere oblivion, Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything. But Shakespeare died at 50. Mr. President, we have only to look about this Senate to note the marvelous difference between Shakespeare's period and our own. It was then the survival of the fittest who possessed the vigor of constitution and strength which could resist the pes- tilence, plague, and disease common to the unsanitary conditions of the home, uucleanliness of the person, and wild excesses and intemperance of the times. According to Shakespeare's view, " the lean and slipper'd pantaloon " came between 50 and 60, and second childhood, " Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans every- thing," between CO and 70. But in our day the leaders in the professions, the captains of industry, and the controlling minds in public life are largely these who look with equanimity uix>u throe score and ten. 421G9— 7748 6 Tho life of Senator Tettus is one of those American careers wblcli are the perennial inspirations of our youth. Equipped with a vigorous constitution and a good education as his only capital, he began the battle of life with an optimistic cheerful- ness and indomitable perseverance which were his character- istics for the succeeding sixty-five years. He was admitted to the bar in 1S42, and was in the active practice of his profession, except when on the bench or in wars, for sixty-four years. He early won the favor of a large constituency, and two years after his admission to the bar, at the age of 23, was elected solicitor for the seventh circuit of Alabama. Heredity is either the curse or the blessing of us all. The dominant char- acteristic in the blood may skip several generations to ulti- mately assert itself with double force. It was the grand- father, who was a soldier of the Eevolution, whose militant and virile spirit was reincarnated in his grandson. The call to arms in the Mexican war drew him instantly from the brilliant ca- reer upon which he had entered in legal and political life and he marched to Mexico as a lieutenant of an Alabama company. The stirring experiences of that campaign, with its battles and marches, its assaults and victories, were exquisite happiness to the young and enthusiastic soldier. He returned from the war at the time when the country was excited, as it had never been before, by the gold discoveries in California. The romance and perils of the West appealed over- whelmingly to this adventurous spirit. That he did not have the money for this expensive trip was no obstacle to a man to whom obstacles were invitations. He started on horseback and found his way across the Great Plains of the AVest when its trails were infested by bands of hostile Indians. When he arrived the situation did not interest him. His was not the nature to endure hardships and the wild life of a mining camp of that period simply for gold. Glory was his ambition, gold only of value so far as it niiglit liflp him to attain that end. The voyages and marches of tho Forty-niners are a pictur- esque chapter in the story of the settlement and dovelopnient of our Territories. They were practical Argonauts, whoso 42109—7718 search liad its reward for some in fortunes greater than were possible to tlie seekers of tlie Golden Fleece, but for most of tliem bitter disappointment and unniarlced gra^-es. Tbe sordid side of these early struggles on the golden coast repelled this chivalric knight and we find him soon returned to renewed activities at the bar and in the public life of his State. lie had been brought up in the strictest school of State rights. The resolutions of 17S9 were his political gospel and John C. Calhoun his political guide. One of his last acts in the Senate was to vote against the railroad rate bill, notwithstanding the public sentiment in its favor, because he believed that it violated in principle his fundamental beliefs in the rights and sovereignty of the States, He was among the earliest to enlist for the war in the Confederate army, and believed as thoroughly in the righteousness of his cause as did his patriot grandfather in that of the Revolution. His commanding figure made him an ideal soldier. He was elected a major of his regiment, but his gallantry upon many bloody battlefields soon won him the stars of a brigadier- general. His impetuosity and daring made him a prisoner of war, but he received the consideration of his captors which gallant soldiers always pay to heroic enemies against whom have gone the fortunes of the fight. The civil war ended, he again resumed the activities of peace. Having vigorously and conscientiously done the work of his laborious profession and accepted many honors from his fellow-citizens, he thought that at 75 he would like to retire to the dignity and con- genial duties of a Federal judge, with its permanency of of- fice, securing the pleasures of comfortable and serene old age, but he was told he was too old. This stirred the soldier to conflict, and with the answer, " If I am too old to be a judge, I am young enough to be a United States Senator," he entered a contest before the people for the place. He broke down all op- position and captured the imagination and support of the people, and at 7G was triumphantly elected Senator of the United States from the State of Alabama. When the time for his reelection came, he was S3 years of age, but there was no oppo- 42109— 774S sition, and liis triumph was complete. It was oue of his most gVatifying recollections that his second election cost only $1, the legal fee for his certificate. He was reelected at the end of his second for a third term, which, if he had lived, would have car- ried him to the age of 95. There is no such record in the whole history of the Senate. I served with him on the Committee on the Judiciary. He never missed a meeting, and his reports upon the questions re- ferred to him as a subcommittee were not only able and judi- cial, but possessed a picturesque originality and humor which gave them the flavor of that Elizabethan literature of which he had been all his life an ardent student. His humor was resist- less, and we all remember the occasions when the driest debate was suddenly lifted into life and his side enormously helped by the ripple of laughter which disturbed this august assemblage at one of his sallies. As impregnable were his opinions, so un- shakable were his friendships, and he would make any sacri- fice to aid or defend those whom he loved. Side by side in the old churchyard in the village of Selma lie these great statesmen of Alabama, not of Alabama alone, but of the United States. As the years go by that will become sacred ground and a mecca for the youth of the South who would get inspiration for great careers in the civil or military life of their country. The Senators who were privileged to serve with Morgan and Pettus unite in paying to their memories the deepest and teuderest tributes of respect and admiration. Long after we are gone, among the cherished traditions of this body will bo the recollection of the lives, the genius, the work, and the picturesque personality and orighiality of these historical figures fighting back death and serving their country when past four- score years, and dying, as they had lived, together. 421G9— 7748 O