f;..-.'. V.--'/-.-:. ,- ] ; ; ; >-s -''—'."'?■ ^^ LlFl AND (jk^CTfiKXP VQtfflAMMJlOWB February 3^1883. ■ ■ ; . giyc?.c^Q^ffl%^are - rcag£g g g'£ e | LIBRARY OFjCONGRESS. jj I chap. ..£kkff^ I s) ill •— ■/ »? Shelf ^LfiU-O-l |1 UNITED STATES / OF AMERICA. j] MEMORIAL ADDKKSSUS LIFE AND CHARACTER William M. Lowe, (A REPRESENTATIVE FROM ALABAMA), HH.lVKUI.l) IX 'INK HOI SE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND IN THE SENATE. \J ' FORTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION. PUBLISHED IiY ORDER OF CONGRESS. WASH INGTON: GOVKKNMENT PRINTING OFI'ICE. 1883. 0172 "» ; [Public Resolution — No. 11.] JOINT RESOLUTION tn print certain eulogies delivered in Congress upon the late "Will- iam M. Lowe. Resolved hi/ the Senate and House of Representatives of the United Slates of America in Cunt/res* assembled, Thai there be printer] of the eulogies delivered in Congress upon tbc late William M. Lowe, a member of the Forty-severjth Congress from the State of Alabama, twelve thousand copies, of which three thousand shall be for the use of the Senate and nine thousand for the use of the House of Representatives; and the Secretary of the Treasury be, and lie is hereby, directed to have printed a portrait of the said William 11. Lowe, to accompany saiil eulogies; and for the purpose of engraving or printing said portrait the sum of five hundred dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, be, and the same is hereby, appropriated out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. Approved, February 23, 1883. • ADDRESSES ON THE Death of William M. Lowe. PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE In the House of Representatives, December L 1882. Mr. Herbert. Mr. Speaker, I rise to announce that since the adjournment of this House in August my colleague, Hon. Will- iam M. Lowe, died at his residence in Huntsville, Alabama ; and making to-day -imply this sad announcement that he has gone from among us forever, I give notice that on some future occasion a motion will be made to fix a day upon which this House shall pay appropriate honors to his memory. I now yield to the gentleman from Ohio, who has a similar an- nouncement to make. Mr. TAYLOR. Mr. Speaker, with feelings of the deepest per- sonal sorrow 1 have to announce the death of my honorable col- league, Jonathan T. UPDEGRAFF, late a member of this House from the State .if Ohio. The experience of Mr. UPDEGRAFF in tin- Hall, his fidelity to the public service, his integrity, and his ability cause his lor-s to he deplored by this body and by the country. His private character and social qualities give to his death ground for peculiar -fief to those who knew him best. I ask the action of the House on the following resolution. The Clerk read as follows : Resolved, That the House has heard with sincere regret the announcement of tin- death during the hit.- recess ..t" It u. William M. Lowe, hit.- a Rep- 4 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF II II. 1.1 AM M. LOWE. resentative f om the State of Alabama, and of Hon. Jonathan T. Upde- GRAFF, a Representative from the State of ( Ihio. Resolved, That the Clerk communicate the foregoing resolution to the Sen- ate. Rewired, That as a mark of respect to the deceased the House do now ad- journ. The resolution was unanimously adopted ; and accordingly the House adjourned. In the House of Representatives, February 3, 1883. Mr. < >atks. The hour having- arrived, according to the order of the House, for eulogies on the late Hon. William M. Lowe, of Alabama, I submit the resolutions which I send to the Clerk's desk. The Clerk read as follows : Resolved, That the. House of Representatives has received witb profound sensibility the announcement of the death "f Hon. William M. Lowe, late a Representative from the State of Alabama. Resolved, That the business of this House be now suspended, in order to afford an opportunity for the expression of proper tributes to the memory of the deceased. Resolved, That as a further mark of respect the House, at the conclusion of such memorial services, adjourn, and that these resolutions be transmitted to the Senate for its action thereon. The resolutions were adopted unanimously. Address of Mr. Oates, of Alabama. Mr. Speaker: "Taint me as 1 am." said Oliver Cromwell to young Lely; "if you leave out the scars and wrinkles I will not pay von a shilling." One of Shakespeare's great creations, in contemplation of imme- diate death, exclaims, "Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate, nor set down aught in malice;" and so shall I speak in paving the last sad tribute to my late colleague and friend. In the plainest language and without the employment of figures of speech I shall ADDRESS OF MR. OATES, OF ALABAMA. 5 endeavor to painl him as he was, although I am isciousofmy inability to do so according to his merit-. William Manning Lowe was born in Huntsville, Madison ( Ibunty, Alabama, on the 16th day of January, 1*42, and died in that town on the 12th day of October, 1882, in the forty-first year of his age. His ancestry was of the bignesl respectability. < >n the paternal side he descended from a family of Marylanders who came over from England with Lerd Baltimore. His father, Gen- eral Bartley M. Lowe, was born in Edgefield District, South Car- olina, in the year 17!»7, but soon thereafter his father, who had been a captain of volunteers in the Revolutionary war. removed to Florida and accepted service under the Spanish Government, for which he received large grants of land. < reneral Lowe upon reach- ing manhood located in Huntsville, and engaged in merchandising with such success that he soon became the "merchant prince" of that town. He married a Miss Manning, who was of a wealthy and intelli- gent family. He was for many years president of the State hank at Huntsville. He took an active part in politics, and was at one time a Presidential elector and supporter of General Jackson. In the later years of his life he was engaged in the commission busi- ness in Xew Orleans, where he became well known, as he was at home, for his ability as a financier, his high integrity, and public spirit. He died at his home in Huntsville in 1867 at the age of 70 years, respected and honored by all who knew him. He left six children, three sons and three daughters. Dr. John T. Lowe, who was chief surgeon of General Loring's division of the Confederate army duringthe late war, is an eminent physician. Robert J. Lowe, the next oldest, was a lawyer, and represented Madison County in the State legislature in 1859 with signal ability for one so young. He attended the Baltimore convention, and was a warm supporter of Breckinridge for the Presidency in I860. When Mr. Lincoln was elected he was fired with the spirit of secession, volunteered in the first company that left his county in L861, and from the fatigue and exposure incident to camp life and the forced march of General John-ton to reach the first battle of Manassas, contracted typhoid fever, of which he died. 6 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF WILLIAM if. LOWE. Mv late colleague, the youngest son, was the brightest and most intellectual of the inmates of that grand old homestead situated on one of the picturesque hills of the classic town of Huntsville. The father, jnstlv proud of his fair-haired, bright-eyed boy, was so in- dulgent that the latter scarcely knew restraint. This too great but perhaps pardonable indulgence made its impression on the youthful mind, and, coupled with his native independence, so shaped the character of the man that he never could gracefully submit to a line of discipline opposed to his conviction or inclination. His father gave him the best opportunities for mental training. He attended school at Florence, Alabama, the University of Ten- nessee, and the University of Virginia, and acquired a classical education. In 1860, long before he attained his majority, lie was a strong advocate of the election of Douglas, notwithstanding his father and Ill-others were active supporters of Breckinridge for the Presidency. And, on the election of Mr. Lincoln, when they were for secession, he, with equal firmness, opposed this doctrine, contending that there was no sufficient cause for a dissolution of the Union. But when the tocsin of war was sounded and his State called for troops, he volunteered as a private in the same company with his brother, in the Fourth Alabama Regiment of infantry, with which he partici- pated in the first battle of Manassas, and in the midst of that con- flict fell severely, and it was thought at the time mortally, wounded. He was left upon the field ainongthe dead until the battle wasover before he was removed and cared for. After several months of suffering he recovered, but a deep scar on his forehead ever remained an infallible testimony of his gal- lantry upon that momentous occasion. He was afterward promoted to a captaincy and served for a time on the staff of General AVith- ers, and was again wounded near Murfreesborough, Tennessee. He was subsequently, at his own request, transferred to General ('lan- ton's staff in the cavalry arm of the service, and was soon after promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel, serving with Clanton through his campaigns in Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee until captured at the battle of Franklin. Thence he was taken to Camp ADDRESS OF MR. OATES, OF ALABAMA. 7 Chase and Fort Delaware, where he was confined as a prisoner of war until three months after the surrender. He was offered his parole much earlier upon taking the oath of allegiance to the Tinted States, but this he persistently refused, and remained in prison (ill President Johnson, who knew something of his antecedents, caused him to be released without taking any oath at all. In the fall of the year 1865 Colonel Lowe was elected solicitor of the Huntsville circuit, which office he held and discharged the duties thereof with great credit to himself and satisfaction to the people until displaced by the reconstruction measures of Congress in 1868. During his official term he developed such strength of character and so much political tact in reorganizing the Democratic party that lie at once became a Jeader in the polities of the State. He was a delegate from his district to the national Democratic con- vention, held in Xew York in 1868, which nominated Mr. Sey- mour for the Presidency. I met him for the first time in that convention. I favored the nomination of General Hancock upon a platform accepting as accomplished facts the reconstruction of the Southern States, recognizing them as acts of the conquering power, and pretermitting the constitutionality, wisdom, and injustice of the re instruction measures to he dealt with by the people under the mellowing influences of time. When I made my views known to Colonel Lowe I found a happy concurrence of opinion. But we were the youngest members of the delegation from our State and unable to control its action. Some lively discussions, however, were had in the committee-room. Perhaps the liveliest of these occurred when our chairman, who was oneof the fourex-gover -s on the delegation, deliberately proposed a resolution reconjmending the Democrats of Alabama to hold the Presidential election inde- pendent and in defiance of the then existing State government. I trust that I commit no breach of propriety in mentioning this cir- cumstance, since that distinguished chairman's loyalty has long since been assured beyond question by a change in his party rela- tions. Standing together upon every question under consideration, at our first acquaintance, a strong personal attachment sprang up lie- 8 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF WILLIAM M. LOWE. tween Colonel Lowe and myself, which continued unabated to the close of his life, although we differed — intensely, radically differed — politically during the last four years. In November, 1870, he was elected from his county to the lower house of the genera] assembly, a house composed largely of such men as Hons. < J. W. Hewitt, B. B. Lewis, Taul Bradford, N. N. ( !lenients, subsequently members of Congress, and J. P. Hubbard, H. T. Taul- min, Oliver Semmes, R. K. Boyd, J. M. Carmichael, and others, whose names I cannot at this moment recall, who have since risen to distinction, and proven themselves men of first-class ability. At the organization Colonel LOWE received several votes for speaker, but was not a candidate. I was also a member of that house, which brought me in close personal contact, and gave me the best opportunities for observing his character, habits, and mental en- dowments. He was abstemious and never indulged in strong drink, al- though cheerful, sportive, and fond of the gay world. It cannot be said that he was either a hard worker or a great student. He was a thinker. He read much, and was quite familiar with a large number of books, but he thought more. His mind was broad and comprehensive, yet critically exacting and accurate in controversy, except when disposed to indulge in irony or ridicule, in which his wit claimed the privilege of exaggera- tion. He possessed a splendid legal mind, yet he was not a great or profound lawyer. No man ever did or ever will attain eminence in this the greatest of professions except through long years of laborious and unremitting study and application, which the world calls genius. While my departed friend esteemed the law a great science, it had no such enchantment for him. His tastes were political. Thev were inac - d with his ambition, to which he subordinated all other considerations consistent with honor and integrity. He was an ac- complished scholar, profound thinker, strong, terse, and elegant in diction ; he was a convincing writer, and, with a keen appreciation of the ridiculous and his unsurpassed conversational powers, he was one of the most companionable and entertaining men I ever knew. ADDRESS OF Ml!. DA IKS, OF A I. I HAM A. 9 His literary taste was of a high order and his mind well stored with the most select and useful information which could be made available as the basis of a state-man's character. He pos- sessed poetic genius and wrote some beautiful fugitive verses. One of these little poems was reproduced some years ago in the Saturday Evening Po-t of New York, and pronounced by that paper to be quite equal to some of the best stanzas of Lord Byron ; vet he never esteemed himself a poet nor sought reputation as such. He had a purpose in life, a destiny chosen by himself. Keenly alive to either praise or censure, yet reputation won in other fields than such as tended to political preferment was by that fact, in his estimation, shorn of half its value. His thoughts and methods were peculiarly his own. They were original and eccentric. Hfc never imitated. His respect for pre- cedent was marked by expediency. His reverence for antiquities was moderate and he refused to adhere to a practice or principle merelv because it was hoary with age. He cared little for what men had done or were inclined to do. He adopted the line of policy which suited him best, and like a railroad bridged stream-. tunneled mountains, and took his own independent course. Original in thought, he was yet more original in the skillful utilization of ideas which he extracted from others and dressed in his own peculiar garb with such consummate art that all the world acknowledged them his own. Hence during his service in the State, legislature I feel assured that the surviving members of that body will bear me out in asserting that Colonel Lowe, legiti- mately I concede, made more reputation out of the work he did than any other member of that unusually able house of representa- tives. In 1875 I served with him in the convention of one hundred delegates which framed the present excellent constitution of Ala- bama. These delegates were chosen not on account of personal pop- ularity so much as for their knowledge and experience in matters of statecraft, legislative, judicial, and executive. In that conven- tion of distinguished men Colonel Lowe not only sustained the high reputation he had previously won, but added fresh laurel- to it. 10 LIFE AND CHARACTER, OF WILLIAM M. LOWE. Iii 1876 he was a candidate for the Democratic nomination tor Congress in the eighth district. The convention assembled at De- catur, and in its organization adopted that foolish and mischievous two-thirds rule, which has no place in any code of parliamentary law and should never have found one in any State or district nomi- nating convention. Other candidates were before the convention, but ( lolonel Lowe was the choiceof the majority. He never could, however, receive the two-thirds of the voteswhich the rule required to secure his nomination. Hence, after between one and two hun- dred fruitless ballotings, the names of all the candidates were withdrawn, and Hon. W. W. Garth, who had not been a candi- date, but was a Lowe delegate in the convention, was then nomi- nated, and subsequently elected. Although disappointed, if not mortiftd at the action of the con- vention, Colonel Lowe supported Mr. Garth as he was in honor hound to do. In 1878 Mr. Garth was again nominated by the Democrats. Colonel Lowe refused to go before the convention, inferential])', I woidd say, because he saw that he could not be nominated on ac- count of another old party custom of giving a member a second nomination if he behaved himself during his first term. But lie this as it may, Colonel Lowe announced himself an independent Democratic-Greenback candidate against Mr. Garth. Dp to this time he had Keen a prominent and consistent Demo- crat. It was claimed by many, and I believe denied by no one, that lie had done more for the success of that party since the late war than any other man in North Alabama. He was constitution- ally and by education a Democrat ; not a political martinet, or what he styled "Bourbon," but a Democrat of liberal, enlarged, and < - scrvative views on questions of economy and policy. But as to the character, powers, ami purposes of the funda- mental law of our Government, he was as sound a Democrat as I ever heard discourse upon that subject. lie felt that his party had not recognized his services nor rewarded him as he was entitled, that he had been set aside unjustly, and his proud and ambitious soul rebelled against it. He seized upon the Greenback policy, ADDRESS OF MR. OATES, OF ALABAMA. \\ which as a Democrat he was inclined honestly to believe the best financial policy in the administration of the Government, and ad- vocated it with such signal ability that he won to his standard many supporters. A considerable number of Democrats, from personal admiration and attachment, believing that his merits entitled him to higher consideration than the Democratic conventions had accorded him, gave him their support with alacrity. While mi the ether hand many equally warm personal friends, standing firmly by the action of their party in convention, became alienated and put forth stren- uous efforts to defeat him. The contest was an exciting Two-thirds of the wealth and intelligence and all the newspapers lint one in the district supported Mr. Garth. The opposing candidates met in joint discussion and were greeted everywhere by large and enthusiastic audiences. The Republicans of the district being in a hopeless minority, so that they could not elect a candidate of their own, flocked to Lowe's standard as birds fly to cover in a tempest. His supporters, composed of incongru- ous elements, were united alone upon the question of his election. They constituted, therefore, a great personal following — in facta "Lowe party." He was successful. He defeated Mr. Garth by over 2,000 majority. Colonel Lowe at the time he broke from his old party repudi- ated none of its fundamental principles, but only its methods; and, while doubtless he felt that his grievances fully justified his course, I am constrained to believe that it was the great mis- take of his life. The sense of justice in men of any party, how- ever tardy in action, will eventually assert itself and reward true merit within their own ranks if he who possesses it ui iplainingly exercises the virtue of patience. Had he adhered to his party and retained his health he would most likely have held a seat in the other end of this Capitol to-day. His prospects were more promising than those of any man in the Slate of his age. But of splendid physique, manly form, a mind well stored with the choic- est literature and politcal information, his countenance radiant with intelligence, a voice as clear and musicalas tin; lute of Orpheus, his 12 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF WIIJ.IAM M. LOWJS. sublime courage and confidence in his own ability to make his fame so brilliant as to obliterate forever any dark spots of inconsistency upon it conspired to lead him resistlessly forward. He could not possess his ambitious soul in patience. In the Forty-sixth Congress he was not conspicuous and added but little to his former reputation. Like every observing and sen- sible man who becomes a member of this House of Representatives, he saw that here lie became a student for a time, instead of a teacher, and that it was best for his reputation that he should wait and learn from more experienced members before he undertook to apply the metewand of legislation to the most important and com- plicated proceedings. In 1880 he was a candidate for re-election. The Democrats nominated General Joseph Wheeler, who was personally very popu- lar, particularly on account of his brilliant career in the late war. As in the previous election, except with greater energy, every effort was made by the Democracy to defeat Colonel Lowe. Nearly every newspaper in the district and throughout the State opposed him and advocated Wheeler's election. The best speakers and campaigners were sent into the district from different parts of the State to canvass and speak against him. He met upon the stump any who wished a joint discussion with him. He possessed the courage of his convictions, was aggressive and bold, witli a sarcasm that was withering and a power to ridicule which was unique and unrivaled. At times he was pathetic and eloquent; not a great orator in the popular sense of that word, but an earnest, impressive, effective, and captivating speaker. Always cool, courageous, and self-possessed, he was a fearful antagonist in debate. General L. I'. Walker, an eminent lawyer, statesman, and polemic, at the bar meeting held in Huntsvilleon the death of ( lolonel Lowe, among other things gave utterance to the following high estimate of Ins deceased townsman's ability: Hon. William M. Lowe was a man of exceptionally rare abilities. Asa political debater he was tlie only peer of William L. Yancey. Had Lis con- versations been reduced to writing they would have been as readable as those of Hr. Johnson. Two years ago when I was assigned to meet him in political ADDRESS OF MIL OATES, OF ALABAMA 13 debate at Tuscnmbial fell that my position was infallible. I made nn speech and thouglrl it unanswerable; but when Colouel Lowe had concluded his reply I bad very grave doubts as to whether I had been right. His speech in his own behalf — Said General Walker— in the late remarkable contest between himself and General Wheeler for the seat in Congress was the most exhaustive argument in defense of tin- justness of his side of the case that could have been made; and if posterity will do it- self the credit to read it carefully it will certainly be benefited thereby. The election was close, but General Wheeler was awarded the certificate by a majority of 43 votes on the face of the returns. Colonel Lowe contested, and was seated by this House in June last. The speech to which General Walker alluded was not de- livered before the House, but merely printed in the Record. Prior to the assembling of the present Congress Colonel Lowe had lost his magnificent voice and could only converse in a whisper. Before that affliction he was one of the finest singers I ever heard. Often have I been enraptured by hearing him play upon theguitar and sing with dee]), melodious voice that beautiful song, " I am dying, Egypt, dying," composed by the brave, the heroic General W. II. Lytic, the night before he fell, September 20, 1863, in front of my regiment at the battle of Chickamauga. But now the voice of the singer, like that of the composer, Federal and Confederate, brethren of a common country, alike honored and lamented, is silent in death. Colonel Lowe left Washington in July last, while ( longress was still in session, and went to Colorado in quest of health, and re- mained there until September under the impression that the pure and rarefied air of that elevated country was greatly benefiting him. In the latter part of August the Democrats of his district met in convention and nominated for Congress Hon. Luke Pryor, a man of high character and acknowledged ability. Colonel L< <\\ E saw in this that if he would lie his own successor in Congress an- other terrible intellectual battle had to be fought and won. Disease eoidd not repress his ambition uorcurb his plucky spirit. He came home and entered the field as a candidate for the Forty- eiarhth Coneress. He and his friends thought his health somewhat improved. He engaged actively in the canvass, but on the 8th of 14 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF WILLIAM M. LOWE. October he returned home from the western part of his district very much exhausted and took to his tied. Growing worse, he was re- moved to the house of his widowed sister, Mrs. Nicholas Davis, where he received his friends, was very cheerful, and seemed to have no apprehension of approaching dissolution. liven on the 11 tli lie discussed his campaign, with great confidence in the cer- tainty of his election. His difficulty in breathing increased as the evening wore away, the family became alarmed, and his phv- sicians were summoned, but their skill was unavailing. That de- ceptive and dreadful destroyer of human life, consumption, had found a permanent lodgment within the breast of that once robust and powerful man. No human agency could arrest it, and at 7 o'clock on the morning of the 12th day of October last that fiery and ambitious soul took leave of its earthly tenement, and Will- iam MANNING Lowe was dead. The next day, at a meeting of the members of the liar, the following resolution was adopted : Resolved, In the death of Hon. William M. Lowe the Hnntsville bar feels itself bereaved of one of its honored and distinguished members. He was a man of rare abilities, superior literary attainments, unusual powers of dis- crimination, and cogent, powerful, and deductive eloquence. He possessed a judicial mind, and his legal arguments were always char and lucid, and had he confined himself to the profession of the law he would have reached high eminence as a lawyer. Captain Humes, who presided at the meeting, said : Colonel Lowe's conspicuous and distinguished career, his pre-eminent tal- ent and personal virtues deserve the highest eulogy, and I cannot, feeling as I do upon this subject, mar the solemnity of the occasion by any ill-timed impromptu remarks. George S. Gordon, esq., said: Colonel Lowe's mind was, I have often thought, like a conservatory filled ■with exotics, his diligent gleanings from the field of letters: and no florist could nlilize and arrange more effectually or skillfully than he the cuttings from his mental treasures; and if amid its beauties were found the flowers of fragrance too overpowering, flowers with danger-petals springing from golden calyxes, plants with luxuriance of bloom and growth too unrestrained, let us remember that the same God who made the perfect flowers made also these, and made ourselves and our departed brother. I recall the rich melody of his voice in song as itoften thrilled me. * I hear distinctly now his whispered tones, produced by disease, which by the very contrast bring to mind the clarion notes of one of his finest songs. ADDRESS OF MR. OATES, OF ALABAMA. 15 Mr. Speaker, such were the sentiments expressed upon that sad occasion by those who knew him well. These show the estimate placed upon him by his professional brethren and fellow-townsmen who had opposed him politically since bis defection from the Demo- cratic party. The newspapers of the country generally paid high editorial tributes to his memory, while a deep sorrow was felt by his constituents for the death of one so courageous, so brilliant, and of such rare attainments. At Cholet, when young Bouchamps fell before the unerring fire of Kleber's intrepid battalions, the sorrow felt by the Yendcans was no less poignant and the demoralization not much greater than that which prevailed among Colonel Lowe's immediate supporters when their intrepid leader tell before the scythe of Time, lb- had limits, for he was human. Perhaps the greatest was his impatient and lofty ambition. But he sought its gratification by the boldest and most defiant methods, and never would stoop to conquer. He was altogether heroic, and sought rather than shrank from controversy and responsibility, and was a born leader of men. Hi- never married, and, after the war had swept away the family patrimony, resided with and aided in the maintenance of his sis- ters. The Huntsville Independent speaks of his attachment to his sisters in the following beautiful language: Through his stormy and eventful lift- his strong and unselfish fraternal devotion to a household widowed and orphaned shone out as a star on a dark and tempestuous sea. lie has crossed over the turbulent river of death, and in ( 1 1 ri~t- ian faith, let us hope, rests under the shade of the trees on the other side. He has finished the labors of this life and passed be- yond human vision into " the undiscovered country, from whose bourn no traveler returns." Between two worlds life hovers like a star, 'Twist night and morn, upon the horizon's verge. How little do we know that which we are! How less what we may be! The eternal surge Of time and tide rolls on, anil bears afar Oar bubbles; as the old burst, new emerge, Lashed from tin' foam of ages; while the graves of empires heave but like some passing waves. 16 LIFE AKD CHARACTER OF WILLIAM M. LOWE. Address of Mr. Herbert, of Alabama. Mr. Speaker: The biography and character of William M. Lowe have been so fully and so ably portrayed by his intimate friend, my colleague, that little is left for me to say. I come sim- ply to lay a flower on the grave of my dead friend. I remember well when I first heard his name. It was in the winter of -1867— '68. That political revolution known as recon- struction was in progress in Alabama. The future was as dark and uncertain as the past had been bl ly and disastrous. The deepest anxiety pervaded every heart, and men who had not lost hope were taking counsel together for the welfare of the State. I remember well a letter written during that winter to General Clanton from North Alabama. It was from Colonel Lowe. Liv- ing in different portions of the State and having served in different portions of the Confederate army, he and I had never met ; but that letter, written in confidence to a trusted friend and leader, im- pressed me so that I shall never forget it. It was conservative in tone, wise in its counsels, statesmanlike, patriotic, and there was a brave, cheery ring about it that sounded like the distant notes of the bugle that betokens help in the coming battle. We met afterward, and the admiration I had for the writer of that letter increased when I knew the man. And I watched his course long afterward with sincere admiration. He was, as my colleague has- said, a born leader of men, and as such, though but a young man, he took and held his place during that never-to-be-forgotten conflict for supremacy that waged with varying success between the two great political parties in Alabama from 1868 to 1874. By his courage, his fidelity, his activity, and unsurpassed services in that memorable struggle he won for himself all over the State hosts of friends, who, though when he had felt himself impelled to change his political relations wished him defeat, could never vet quite for- get to love him and never ceased to admire him. ADDRESS OF Mil. HERBERT, OF ALABAMA. 17 Hi- was born to be admired. Stately in figure, dignified in his carriage, he was ever fearless in his purpose. Yet nf maun era mild Ami winning every heart he kuew to please, Nobly tii please ; while equally he scorned Of adulation to receive or give. lit' .was from his youth ambitious of political preferment. He aspired to become a pillar of state. He was and avowed himself to be a politician, for he declared that statesmanship, the scienceof governing men wisely anil well, was the noblest of all sciences. His was not the common ambition hit off by the satirist : All would be deemed, e'en from the cradle, tit To rule in politics, :is well as wit ; The grave, the gay, the fopling, and the dunce Start up ((iiul bless us) statesmen :ill at once. Colonel Lowe's ambition was not only to occupy but to fill and adorn the place of a statesman. He well knew he could not reach the goal of his ambition by his talents alone; that broad culture, liberal and polite learning, were necessary ; and so ambition and inclination hand in hand led him to explore the domain of litera- ture, philosophy, biography, and history. Neglecting in great part the law, which to him was but a step- ping-stone, he reveled in these fields of thought and amassed a fund of information on political topics greater than was possessed by any man of his age in his State. Fertile in resources, dexterous in debate, magnetic in his influence, he was a powerful champion oi whatever cause he espoused, and the impress of his opinions, whether those opinions were right or wrong, will long be felt in the district he represented on this Hour at the time of his death. I will not attempt further to portray his character, .Mr. Speaker ; lint I cannot refrain quoting one remark of which I am reminded by the saying which has just fallen from the lip- of my colleague that Colonel Lowe never knew restraint. During last summer Colonel Lowe was talking to a lady about her four-year-old child. He said : " Madam, your boy is bright and promising. 1 hope he has a great future before him ; but let me impress upon you one thing — teach him to obey. This is a lesson I never could learn. 0172 2 18 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF WILLI Ail M. LOWE. The failure to learu it has been the bane of my life." There- mark impressed me. Perhaps lie frit that the magnificent strength and splendid self-confidence that had enabled him like a strong swimmer to swim against tide might, if it had been disciplined, have enabled him to achieve even greater results. He was indeed a strong man. Of this the devotion of his fol- lowers was a splendid testimonial. But, alas! sir, strength, what is it? Ambition, what does it avail".' Two years ago, when in the splendid prime of his young man- hood, disease came like a cloud on his horizon. The cloud grew and grew ever and ever more ominous, until at last the " dark Plutonian shadows" of death gathered about him when in the midst of one of life's bitterest conflicts; the bright weapons he 1 forged for the battle of life dropped from him, and he sank into the dark aud silent grave. His conflicts are over ; his battles are ended ; his bright ambition has gone down, even as a star that sinks to rest. Peace be to his memory. Address of Mr. Ford, of Missouri. Mr. Speaker: As one of the fifteen Greenback members of the Forty-sixth Congress I very soon became well acquainted with Mr. Lowe. Our relations and intercourse were pleasant — indeed I may say confidential — and in him I found elements of true worth that impressed me most favorably. To-day, dedicated to his mem- ory, I add my word of regret that his country and friends have suffered an irreparable loss in his early demise. As will be remembered, the first or extra session of the Forty- sixth Congress was somewhat disturbed and excited ; political dis- cussion was indulged in with much vigor, occasionally bitter if not violent. To all of this Mr. Lowe was opposed, regretted the acerbities and spirit evoked, and in our conferences, which were frequent, deprecated a policy that could only tend to arouse an- tagonisms and sectional animosities. He was thoroughly devoted to his Government, attached to ADDBES8 OF MI!. JUX !■:<, OF TEXAS. 19 American institutions, and uncompromising in his fealty to that cardinal Republican principle that a man's worth should be the true touchstone of merit ; hence, the accidents of birth and wealth were of little consequence in his estimate of character. I have never known a man who was impelled to serve his people and country by loftier motives, purer instincts. He believed his mission was to do good, and with all the enthusiasm of the poet and prophet, his hope- wafted him into that better future where the unhappy past of his country might be forgotten. Colonel Lowe had been identified with the effort to establish the Southern Confederacy, had accepted the dangers and responsF bilities of war ardently, honestly, but his great soul abhorred a feeling of estrangement, and he recognized the solidarity of the nation, the unity and affection that should ami must characterize the whole people within the limits of the Republic. Profoundly erudite and philosophic, he had evolved a system of ethics for his own government. To that system he loyally adhered, and he loved to revel in the beautiful as portrayed by eminent thinkers of the past and present. He has gone from our midst, a brave, true, gentle spirit, ad- mired by all familiar with his virtues, mourned by a large circle of friends and acquaintances. Integrity wreaths his character, his life the verification of the poet's truism : The rank is but the guinea's stamp, The man 's the gowd fur a' that. Address of Mr. Jones, of Texas. Mr. Speaker: Our late colleague, William M. Lowe, was born in Huntsville, Alabama, January 16, 1842, and died in his native city October 12, 1882. The affluent and social circumstances of his family offered every advantage for literary and social culture. Of a philosophic turn of mind, with an ardent thirst for knowledge, he embraced with alacrity and improved with assiduity his advantages. Beside- the 20 LIFE JAZ> CHARACTER OF WILLIAM M. LOWE. schools at home, he attended successively a school at Florence, Alabama, the University of Tennessee, and the University of Virginia. In 1860, though just turned into the nineteenth year of age, profoundly impressed with the magnitude of the issues in- volved, he entered the political arena in support of Stephen A. Douglas, the exponent, in his judgment, of Union and Liberty ; an ardent disciple of Jefferson, local self-government and the maintenance of the Union had taken deep root in his generous and heroic soul. Interference by the Government with the local affairs of any part of the people, whether in State or Territory, in whatever pre- tence disguised, was to his mind the same tyranny attempted by England upon the colonies. Besides, he foresaw that such inter- ference would provoke a sectional conflict, imperiling institutional liberty on the western continent and ending in disunion or the humiliation of the South. His father and two brothers, older than himself, supported Breckinridge. They also favored secession, but, true to his convictions, he opposed it. His confidence in the virtue and intelligence of the masses of the people was too great to be shaken by the election of a President in accordance with the Constitution and laws of his country. He believed that whatever of error or danger involved in it would be overcome and cor- rected by the sober second thought of the people. Profoundly imbued with Americanism and the genius and phi- losophy of our constitutional Government, he could see but little to fear within and but little to hope without the Union. He loved the Constitution and Union for past blessings and future capabilities. Beneath the Star-Spangled Banner our people had increased from three to thirty millions, and throughout our vast domain, extending from ocean to ocean, were the freest, happiest, and most prosperous of any age or country. In his own native State such were the conditions of prosperity as to leave but little to desire. For the sake of kindred, friends, State, country, and humanity he deprecated separation, and op- posed it with all the earnestness of a patriotic heart. The evil hour came ; the die was cast ; the people of Alabama declared for ADDRESS OF MB. JOXES, OF TEXAS. 21 secession. He recognized the right of the ] pie "to change, alter, or abolish their government " and to Porm new government, laying its foundation on sik-Ii principles and organizing its powers in such form as, in their judgment, best calculated to secure life, liberty, and property. He accepted as truth " The voice of the people is the voice of God;" that in the nature of things and of necessity there is a supreme authority, inalienable and indestructible, residing in the people to fix the allegiance of all citizens who elect to remain within the actual jurisdiction of organized government. Besides, lie felt that the Union hi' loved was gone, and could Dot he re- stored by force ; and all that was left to him was to take his life in his hand ami obey the voice of his people, leaving the conse- quences to God. He was a volunteer private in the, first company that left Huntsville, and was severely wounded in the first battle at Manassas and left on the field as dead. His fortitude and physical resources sustained him, and after a severe and protracted illness, relieved by the most attentive nursing, he was so far re- covered as to enable him to serve a- captain on General J. M. Withers's staff in Smith's Kentucky campaign, and was again wounded near Murfreesborough, Tennessee. Subsequently he served with the rank of lieutenant-colonel on General James H. Clanton's staff until captured at the battle of Franklin, Tennessee. Refusing to take the oath, he remained in prison for three months after the war, when he was released by order of President John- son. His father, General B. M. Lowe, a man of superior ability and great force of character, died soon after the war. At its close his large fortune had been swept away, reducing his family to poverty and devolving on Colonel Low k the charge and maintenance of two single sisters, to whom he seems to have devoted his life. On his return home after his release he applied himself assiduously to the study and practice of law. He rose rapidly. in the profession and soon attained the first rank at the Huntsville bar. From 1865 to 1868 he was solicitor of the fifth Alabama circuit. He was displaced by reconstruction. Hi' served in the house of repre- 22 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF WILLIAM M. LOWE. sentatives of Alabama in the sessions of 1871 ami 1872. Among his colleagues were (i. W. Hewitt, B. B. Lewis, N. Y. Clements, Taul. Bradford, and W. C. Oates. He was a prominent and leading- member, especially in the session of 1872. He framed an election law remarkable for perspicuity and fairness, which passed the house with great unanimity, but failed in the senate. His eulogy upon the death of General Clanton delivered in the session of 1872, as characterized by a colleague there and here [Mr. Oates], "is unsurpassed in the English language." In 1875 he was a prominent member of the constitutional convention, and contributed largely to the present excellent constitution of Alabama. He was from boyhood a Democrat, and acted with that party until 1878, wljen, disapproving the position of the party on the financial questions then agitating the public mind, and in his judg- ment presenting the paramount issue of the day, with characteristic independence of thought and courage of conviction, he avowed himself a Greenbacker. His eminent abilities and distinguished moral courage rendered him at once the hope of his party and the dread of the opposition in the State of Alabama. By acclamation he became the candidate of his party for the Forty-sixth Congress. The opposition was alarmed and exerted its utmost endeavors to defeat him. The ablest and most popular speakers from all parts of the State hastened to the help of the opposition in the district. The contest was active and earnest, and on the part of his political opponents often vituperative and vindictive. But bold in the right and strong in the love and confidence of the good people of North Alabama, the district, largely Democratic, rallied to the support of North Alabama's favorite son, and he was triumph- antly elected. Entering Congress at the extra session on the 18th of March, 187!), he was a leading and influential member of his party in Congress. He participated in the memorable debate on "political riders," and delivered a speech cogent in logic, earnest, and elo- quent. His eulogy on the death of Senator Houston, delivered in the second session of that Congress, in appropriateness, diction, and pathos, is rarely equaled and never excelled on like occasions. ADDRESS OF MIL JOXES, OF TEXAS. 23 Mr. Lowe was a candidate for re-election. His political « >| »j >■ »- nents again rallied and concentrated all their forces against him. The .storm hurst upon his head with redoubled fury; but, sus- tained by the devotion of his constituents and inspired with fervid patriotism, his personal resources of intellect and courage were equal to the occasion, and he was again triumphantly elected. S i after the election a painful and alarming malady devel- oped in his throat. During the winter of 1881 he gradually grew worse, so much so that he was unable to attend the House. At New York he submitted to a surgical operation, ami under the ad- vice of his physician visited the State of Colorado. His health so improved that he returned home and engaged in the canvass of '82, and in the heat and burden of the strife died suddenly from constriction of the throat, and thus closed the career of one who died too soon. The day after his death, at a meeting of the Huntsville liar, to pay tribute to the memory of their deceased brother, the speakers, Democrats, Republicans, and Greenbackers, spoke in the highest terms oi him as a gentleman, lawyer, patriot, ami statesman. General Pope Walker, speaking of his pre-emi- nent powers in political debate, said " He alone of all of Alabama's gifted and illustrious sons was the peer of Yancey." Though born in affluence and of the highest social rank, his philosophy was too comprehensive and his sympathies too univer- sal for the narrow training of class. In all the elements of humanity, its hopes, fears, and liabilities, he telt anil appreciated common lot and universal brotherhood. Incapable of envy, he valued wealth for its benefits and deplored poverty as misfortune. To kindred affectionate and devoted, to friends faithful and unfal- tering, to opponents generous, and to enemies placable, lie illus- trated without ostentation the virtues of a Christian. By nature and culture fitted for the highest rank in his profes- sion and for any place in the councils of state, it was natural and laudable that he should be ambitious. Self-poised without ego- tism, and self-reliant without vanity, he devoted his rare powers of intellect to truth and progress. In the ascent of the hill of life, ere he attained its summit, he fainted and fell. Peace to his ashes ; blessings on his memory. 24 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF WILLIAM M. LOWE. Address of Mr. Burrows, of Missouri. Mr. Speaker: I would be false to my kindlier and better emo- tions if I failed to bring my tribute, small ss it is, and lav it down upon the newly-made grave of mypolitieal colleague, Hon. William M. Lowe, of Alabama, to whose memory we have set apart and dedicated this hour; and I am pleased to listen to the high cn- comiums fromthosewho knew him far better than I, his colleagues upon this floor; and although they differed from him politically, it affords me no small degree of pleasure to hear them speak of him as a man, neighbor, and friend, as a citizen and soldier; for it is in these relations of life that we know and prove men and learn to plaee a proper estimate upon their real worth to society and man- kind. The vicissitudes and circumstances surrounding human life in the transit through this earthly pilgrimage is sure to bring out and de- velop our capabilities and powers, and by them we are known and read of men; and we are told that the good that men do. lives after them. It is a strange comedy, however, upon human action that we rarely find and speak of this g 1 until the person is dead ami the ear into which it was our privilege to have spoken many words of eheer is forever closed and they who might have been animated and encouraged to still loftier deeds or noble endeavors have passed from the theater of action. Still may we trust that the tributes of thought, whether couched in poetry, in beautiful and well-rounded sentences, or in broken and homely phrases, as are mine, that have, may, or shall be spoken within these walls will not be entirely lost, whether they be spoken in memory of a martyred President, a dead Senator, or deceased Representative, lint may the lives which are here briefly carica- tured, as they shall lie read in after years and by other eenera- tions, inspire with lofty thought and pure and ennobling pur- poses and spirit the sons and daughters of our race. It is with this incentive before me and a profound respect for ADDRESS OF MR. BURROWS, OF MISSOURI. 25 the deceased that I rise in my place to say that when I received the mournful intelligence last October that William M. Lowe was dead I felt then, as I do to-day; thai the people of this coun- try, and especially those upon whose shoulders the industries and burdens of the nation rest, had lost an advocate, a defender, a friend indeed; for in him every power of his being throbbed with keenest sympathy for the "sons of toil," let them be under a South- ern sun, a Northern sky, or on a Western plain. Mi-. Speaker, it was not my good fortune during the months of the first session of this( longress to become a- intimately acquainted witli the deeea-ed as I wished, from the fact that when he came here from the closely-contested election from the eighth district of his State in the campaign of 1880, he did so with broken consti- tuti md an impaired voice, scarcely able to speak above a hoarse whisper, and conversed with great pain ami effort to himself; mid although the embodiment of sociability and mirth and blessed with a most genial nature and possessing the rare faculty of interesting and attracting others to himself when in the enjoyment of health, during the weary weeks of his waiting for the tardy action of this body in the contested-election cases, of which his was one, and after his' admission as a member upon this floor, his caged spirit, as he moved in and out among us, ever seemed chafing under its physical restraints and chagrined that it could not hurst the liars of its environment ami once more be free. Mr. Speaker, William M. Lowe was a lover of truth and instia — vea.and of liberty; and for the maintenance and advance- ment of these fundamental principles he was willing to do and dare all things in the measure of his power. His premature death and early grave, " for his sun went down at noon," arc the best evidences of his ardor, conviction-, ami zeal ; of his ardent attach- ment to measures for relief and the correction of abuses that he believed were pernicious of the best interests of the people, and destructive to the prosperity of and general good of the whole country. In proof of this vve point with pride to hi- acts and votes in the Record of the Forty-sixth Congress. 26 LIFE AXD CHARACTElt OF WILLIAM M. LOWE. But we arc not here to speak of him a< a partisan, but as a citi- zen, soldier, and statesman, for in all these relations he acquitted himself as a man. His bearing was noble, brave, manly, chival- rous, his reputation untarnished. His character stands out to be read and admired of all men. His precepts and examples will not perish with the body, but the maxims of his life, charity, patience, justice, honor, gratitude, and friendship, shall teach others, when my feeble words of praise shall have passed away. Eest, noble fellow ! Thv name shall not soon perish from the earth, but will be for long, long years embalmed in the hearts and affections of those whom thou loved and served so nobly. Mourned, beloved, respected, and cherished be thy name and character forever. The Speaker. In pursuance of resolutions already adopted, the Chair now declares this House adjourned until Monday next, at eleven o'clock a. m. 'ROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE. Ix the Senate of the United States, December 5, L882. A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. McPher- son, its Clerk, communicated to the Senate the intelligence of the death ofMr. "William M. Lowe, late a member of the House from the State of Alabama, and of Mr. J< >NATHAN T. Updegkaff, late a member of the House from the State of < >hio, and transmitted the resolutions of the House thereon. Mr. Pendleton. Mr. President, I ask the Chair to lay before the Senate tlie resolutions just communicated from the House of Representatives. The Presidixi; < >FFICER. The Chair lays before the Senate res- olutions from the House of Representatives, which will be read. The Acting Secretary read as follows: Resolved, That the House has heard with sincere regret the announcement of tin- death, during the late recess, of Hon. William M. Lowe, a Represent- ative from the State of Alabama, and of lion. Jonathan T. Updegraff, a Representative from the State of Ohio. Resolved, That the Clerk communicate the foregoing resolution to the Senate. Resolved, That as a mark of respect to the memory of the deceased the House do now adjourn. Mr. Pexdleton. Mr. President, as a mark of respect to the memory of these deceased Representatives, I move that the Senate do now adjourn. The motion was agreed to; and (at one o'clock and fifty-eight minutes p. m.) the Senate adjourned. 28 life and character of william m. lowe. In the Senate of the United States, February .3, 188.3. A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. William K. Mehaffey, one of it* clerks, transmitted to the Senate the res- olutions adopted by that body concerning the death of William M. Lowe, late a member of the House from the State of Alabama. Mr. MORGAN. Mr. President, I ask that the resolutions just re- ceived from the House be laid before the Senate. The Presiding Officer. The Chair lays before the Senate the resolutions of the House, which will be read. The Acting Secretary read as follows : Hi mil ml, That the House of Representatives has received with profound sensibility the announcement of the death of Hon. William M. Lowe, late a Representative from the Stato of Alabama. Resolved. That the business of this House be now suspended in order to af- ford opportunity for the expression of proper tributes to the memory of the deceased. Resolved, That as a further mark of respect this House, at the conclusion of stub memorial service, adjourn ; and that these resolutions be transmitted to the Senate for its action thereon. Mr. MORGAN. Mr. President, I present resolutions on the sub- ject of the resolutions just sent to us by the House of Representa- tives. The Pi;ksii>in<; Officer. The resolutions offered by the Sena- tor from Alabama will now be read. The Acting Secretary read as follows: Resolved, That the communication from the House of Representatives an- nouncing tlie death of Hon. William M. Lowe, of Alabama, while a mem- ber of that body, is received by the Senate with sympathy in the expressions of sorrow in the resolution of the House and with regret. •2. That the Secretary of the Senate transmit a copy of the proceedings of the Senate on this occasion to the family of the deceased. 3. That as a mark of respect to the memory of Mr. Lowe the Seuate do now adjourn. ADDRESS OF MB. MORGAN, OF ALABAMA. 29 Address of Mr. MORGAN, of Alabama. Mr. President: William Manning Lowe was a native of Alabama. He was born in Huntsville, near the place where he died. His family were of the best class. His father was eminent for his ability and high character in the mercantile circles of the South, and was greatly esteemed by a large and most respectable class of acquaintances. In his youth Colonel Lowe had advantages which he indus- triously improved to acquire learning and to accomplish himself by the study of the best authors in literature. His attainments were rich and varied and gave him a power of expression that was singularly strong and eloquent. He was educated at Florence, Alabama, and in the University of Tennessee, and afterward took a law course at the University of Virginia. His knowledge of the law was put to good account for the public in the office of solicitor to prosecute the pleas of the State, which he held from 1865 to 1868. The public career of Colonel Lowe began in the army of the Confederate States, and in a time that extinguished in death so many splendid lives and developed so many men of great powers who otherwise would have had no opportunity to impress the world with their genius or strength. Wars have been the subjects of lamentation by all Christian nations through every generation, but they come nevertheless, and seem to increase in frequency as the enginery of destruction and death becomes more efficient. It seems to be true that every generation has its time of warfare, and will incur any risk to identify itself with the history of some great military struggle. It is not merely the fame that men win in such conflicts that induces them to engage in war, but there is in the breast of every spirited man a love of martial exercises, a courting of danger, a love of adventure, a guadium certaminis, that urges him to engage in arms upon almost any occasion that is "justified by honor." 30 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF WILLIAM M. LOWE. One hundred millions of annual taxation to give pensions to those who were disabled in the late civil war is justified, even in the minds of those who were the enemies in arms of the pensioners, by a sense of grateful appreciation of the services they rendered to their country, and of the gallant manner in which they demeaned themselves in the theater of war where the people were such anx- ious and often such delighted spectators. And so, when any gal- lant soldier dies, whatever may have been his social character, the people pass by his delinquencies, if he had any, not in mere chari- table forgetfulness, but as matters of little moment, while they can recall with pride and satisfaction the honors he has won in the bloody fields of battle. It is also rarely the case that civic honors of the highest class arc withheld from men who have earned a reputation for courage, devotion, and skill in the fields of battle. Six times in our com- paratively short history men have been chosen to the Presidency who had evinced great skill in military command but had not been conspicuous for statesmanship until after they had been elected and inaugurated in office. Mr. Lowe laid the foundations of his political career in his rallant conduct in the ranks of the ( lonfederate army, and so strong was his hold upon the affection of the people from this cause that many of them supported him who believed that his course as a politician was not the best for those he represented. The first battle of Manassas was the most striking incident in American history. All that had preceded it in the history of the war was mere preliminary skirmishing. That was the first gen- eral engagement between the opposing armies. The field was open, o-ently undulating, wide in extent, and without natural or artificial obstacles to obstruct any great military maneuver ; either army could have marched for four or five miles on that field in line of battle. Neither army had its flanks covered by any natural pro- tection or military works. The forests that once covered the field had long ago disappeared; a few low stone fences and patches of young pine and a few scattering houses were the only shelter that even small bodies of men could find. On such a field neitherarmy ADDRESS OF MB. MORGAN, OF ALABAMA. 31 could possess any considerable advantage even in the positions of field artillery. The members of the opposing hosts were much the same. The infantry arms then in use were all of old patterns and were of short ranee. Neither army had been lone in the field, and the great body of the officers were without military training such as is found in well-organized standing armies. Each army was made up fir the greater part of citizen soldiery. They were armies of militia, many of the soldiers scarcely accus- tomed to the cumbrous harness and heavy baggage that they were then required to carry until they were weary and discouraged. The men were in all essential respects the same in each army except the difference in political opinions which divided them. The battle in which they were about to engage was the first great act in a tragedy of warfare that has never been equaled in all that makes war "rand, destructive, and terrible in the history of Christian nations. The scene they were about to open was nothing more than po- litical controversy intensified into war by a universal appeal to arms. It is no disparagement to later and better trained and bet- ter equipped armies to say that no armies that were ever marshaled were composed of better material. They were volunteer armies such as it is likely no other country could produce, and their fight- ing on that field has demonstrated that in three months' time, or less, we can improvise an army of citizen soldiery that are equal to the defense of our country against any possible combination of military power. If there is a genius of American liberty, which we represent on the dome of our Capitol in the bronze image there as a goddess, she looked with sad eyes on the field of Manassas on that Sabbath morning, when the dun cloud of war obscured the rising sun and left the earth to be lit up with the fierce flashes of artillery and musketry, when, under the light of a July sun, for hours together the contending ranks could only discern the lines of their antag- onists by the lines of fire which rolled without ceasing from the muzzles of their guns. It was not the sudden charge and as sud- den retreat that usually characterizes the action of raw troops 32 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF WILLIAM M. LOWE. which describes the tactics of that field; it was the obstinate and death-defying conflict of men who had no thought but victory and no sentiment but duty to hold them steady in their dreadful work. Strategic changes in the positions of the forces were made on that field in accordance with settled plans of military operations care- fully prepared beforehand on both side.-, and during all of that long and sultry day these plans were executed until the shattered columns could no longer be mustered in proper military organiza- tions, the one army retiring-, the other not being able to pursue. The troops were steady and firm, and were moved with the pre- cision and celerity of trained soldiery. The staff of both armies was incomplete, and sometimes brigades and divisions were in com- mand of officers who had never before seen their regimental and company officers under their control. The losses on both sides were heavy, the field was almost without supplies of water, the ambulance corps were imperfectly organized and were poorly sup- plied with vehicles or stretchers, and the wounded lay upon the field almost without attention. Mr. LOWE entered the ( 'on federate army in the Fourth Regiment of Alabama Infantry as a private soldier, and in that capacity was fighting in that battle. Then the post of a private in the ranks was the post of honor. Personal preferment was almost unknown among those who took up arms on either side. They understood the questions involved in the contest, and were fighting to main- tain their convictions. No man in the ranks of either army prob- ably understood those questions more perfectly than this accom- plished young scholar and lawyer. I doubt if he could have been induced to fight in defense of a cause that did not command the honest suffrages of his sedate judgment. His heart did not rule his judgment where the issues to be decided affected the welfare of the country. The Fourth Alabama Regiment has become renowned in .South- ern history for the gallantry of its men on that field. Its gallant colonel, Egbert Jones, and its major, Charles S. Scott, fell on the field, the first to die and the other to survive dangerous wounds and to render to his countrymen the dutv and advantage of a true ADDJfESS OF MI!. MORGAN, OF ALABAMA. 33 heart and a superior intellect. That regiment was almost cut to pieces utter a lone- and fierce struggle with a gallant foe. When its field-officers till, the scattered companies attached themselves, with decimated ranks, to other commands, and continued the arduous conflict until the field was won. As the day receded, the body of Private William M. LOWE was borne from the Held in the arms of his comrades, to die, as was then believed. He was wounded with a musket-hall in his forehead. The deadly missile spared his lite only by the breadth of a hair. Hi- vigorous constitution triumphed over death, and he struggled hack into life to enjoy the honors he had nobly won in the hearts of a people who will never cease to honor his mem- ory as a faithful and brave soldier. Later in the war he rejoined the army and held the ranks suc- cessively of lieutenant, captain, and lieutenant-colonel, command- ing troops in the field and acting on staff' duty with distinction and with the approval of his superior officers and his comrades. When the war had closed Mr. Lowe again took up his profes- sion, in which he acquired a good reputation for ability. During the period of reconstruction he was very intense in his opposition io that policy, and took a leading and influential place in the op- position. His high intelligence and courage soon gave to him a prominent position, and he found in the public service his most congenial employment, lie was elected to the legislature from his native county in 1870, and his service there disclosed an enter- prising spirit which indicated his mental independence of the thraldom of fixed opinions and methods of government sanctified by time. He was incisive and aggressive in the enforcement of his convictions. He was next elected to the constitutional convention of Ala- bama, in 1875, and exhibited in that body the ability to deal with the gravest questions of constitutional law. He then became, in 1879, a candidate for Congress as a Green- back-Democrat, and had the support of the Republican party in his district. He was elected over a gentleman of much ability after a heated canvass of the district.