Glass 
 Book 
 
 
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 ^^2d sSn''! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES {^NoT^"* 
 
 John Franklin Rixey 
 
 (Late a Representative from Virginia) 
 
 MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 
 
 Fifty-ninth Congress 
 Second Session 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
 Februory 25, 1907 
 
 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
 March 2, 1907 
 
 Compiled under the direction of the Joint Committee on Printing 
 
 WASHINGTON : : GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : : 1907 
 
 J ■ I 
 
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 SEP V:r^ 1907 
 D. ofO. 
 
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HON. JOHN F. RIXEY. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Proceedings in the House 5 
 
 Prayer by Rev. Henry N. Couden, D. D 5, 8 
 
 Memorial addresses by— 
 
 Mr. Jones, of Virginia 1 1 
 
 Mr. Hay, of Virginia i8 
 
 Mr. Williams, of Mississippi 20 
 
 Mr. Flood, of Virginia 23 
 
 Mr. Kitchin, of North Carolina 27 
 
 Mr. Glass, of Virginia 31 
 
 Mr. Foss, of Illinois 33 
 
 Mr. McCall, of Massachusetts 35 
 
 Mr. De Armond, of Missouri 37 
 
 Mr. Lamb, of Virginia 43 
 
 Proceedings in the Senate 47 
 
 Memorial addresses by — 
 
 Mr. Daniel, of Virginia 51 
 
 Mr. Hopkins, of Illinois 62 
 
 Mr. Hemenway, of Indiana 66 
 
 Mr. Carmack, of Tennessee 68 
 
 3 
 
Death of Representative John F. Rixey 
 
 PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE 
 
 Saturday, February ^, igoj. 
 
 The House met at 12 o'clock noon. 
 
 The following prayer was offered by the Chaplain, Rev. Henry 
 N. Conden, D. D.: 
 
 We come to Thee, O God, our Heavenly Father, praying for 
 that light which never shown on sea or shore, but which illu- 
 mines the mind, quickens the heart, and makes for righteous- 
 ness in man, proving his Divine sonship and making the whole 
 world akin; which dignifies the smallest duty, renders easy the 
 hardest tasks, and leads on to heroism and glory when heroes 
 are needed. 
 
 ■ Our hearts are profoundly moved this morning by the sudden 
 death of one who for years in modesty and humility worked 
 faithfully and well upon the floor of this Hou.se, rendering to 
 his country a service worthy to be recorded by the angels above. 
 We most fervently pray that his colleagues, his friends, and the 
 dear ones of his heart may be comforted by the thought that 
 sometime .somewhere, they will be united to him where sorrows 
 never come. Hear us in the name of Christ, the Lord. Amen. 
 Mr. Jones, of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, it is with inexpress- 
 ible sadness and unfeigned grief that I announce to the House 
 
 5 
 
6 Memorial Addresses: John Franklin Rixey 
 
 the death of my colleague, the Hon. John F. Rixey, which 
 occurred at the residence in this city of his brother, the Surgeon- 
 General of the Navy, about 9 o'clock this morning. At some 
 future time I shall ask the Hou.se to set apart a day that Mem- 
 bers may have an opportunity to pay tribute to the personal 
 virtues and public services of my colleague. 
 
 I now send to the Clerk's desk and ask to have read the 
 resolutions which I offer, and for which I ask immediate 
 consideration. 
 
 The Clerk read as follows : 
 
 Resolved, That the House has heard with deep regret and profound 
 sorrow of the death of Hon. John F. Rixey, a Representative from the 
 State of Virginia. 
 
 Resolved, That a committee of seventeen Members of the House, with 
 such members of the Senate as may be joined, may be appointed to attend 
 the funeral at Culpeper,Va., and that the necessary expenses attending 
 the execution of this order be paid out of the contingent fund of the 
 
 House. 
 
 Resolved, That the Sergeant-at-Arms be authorized and directed to take 
 such steps as may be necessary for properly carrying out the provisions 
 of this resolution. 
 
 Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the Senate 
 and transmit a copy to the family of the deceased. 
 
 The question was taken; and the resolutions were unani- 
 mously agreed to. 
 
 The vSpeakkk. The Chair announces the following com- 
 mittee. 
 
 The Clerk read as follows: 
 
 Mr. Jones, of Virginia, Mr. Hay, Mr. Lamb, Mr. Flood, Mr. Maynard, 
 Mr. Glass, Mr. vSlemp, Mr. Southall, Mr. Saunders, Mr. Foss, Mr. INIeyer, 
 Mr' William W. Kitchin, Mr. Gregg, Mr. Williams, Mr. De Arniond, Mr. 
 Burton, of Ohio, and Mr. Slayden. 
 
 Mr. Jones, of Virginia; Mr. Speaker, as a further mark of 
 respect to my deceased colleague, I move that the House do 
 
 now adjourn. 
 
 The Si'KAKKK. Pending the motion, the Chair will announce 
 
Proceedings in the House 7 
 
 that the gentleman from Massachusetts, Mr. LovERiNG, will 
 preside over the session of the House to-morrow. 
 
 The motion to adjourn was then agreed to. 
 
 Accordingly (at 12 o'clock and 18 minutes) the House 
 adjourned until Sunday at 12 o'clock m. 
 
 Monday, February 11. 1907- 
 
 A message announced that the Senate had passed the follow- 
 ing resolutions: 
 
 Resolved, That the Senate has heard with deep sensibility the announce- 
 ment of the death of Hon. John F. Rixey. late a Representative from the 
 State of Virginia. 
 
 Resolved, That a committee of seven Senators be appointed by the Vice- 
 President to join the committee appointed on the part of the House of 
 Representatives to take order for superintending the funeral of the deceased. 
 
 Resolved, That the Secretary communicate these resolutions to the 
 House of Representatives. 
 
 Resolved, That as a further mark of respect to the memory of the 
 deceased the Senate do nov^- adjourn. 
 
 And, in compliance with the foregoing, the Vice-President 
 had appointed as said committee Mr. Daniel, Mr. Taliaferro, 
 Mr. Dick, Mr. Patterson, Mr. Ankeny, Mr. Flint, and Mr. 
 Clarke, of x\rkansas. 
 
 Thursday, February 14., ipoj. 
 
 Mr. Jones, of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous 
 consent for the present consideration of the following order, 
 which I send to the Clerk's desk. 
 
 The Clerk read as follows: 
 
 Ordered, That when the House shall adjourn on Sunday, February 24, 
 it shall be to meet at 10 a. m. on Monday, February 25, and at the said 
 session of Monday, the 25th, eulogies of the life, character, and public 
 services of the Hon. John F. Rixey. late a Representative from Virginia, 
 shall be in order until the hour of 12 m. 
 
 The Speaker. Is there objection? [After a pause.] The 
 Chair hears none. 
 
8 Memorial Addresses: John Franklin Rixey 
 
 Monday, February ^5, /907. 
 
 The House met at 10 o'clock a. m. 
 The Clerk read the following: 
 
 Speaker's Room, House of Representatives, 
 
 Washington, D. C, Febniarv 2j. /907. 
 I hereby designate Hon. William A. Jones, of Virginia, as Speaker 
 pro tempore during this day. 
 
 J. G. Cannon, Speakei-. 
 
 Mr. Jones of Virginia took the chair as Speaker pro tempore.. 
 The Chaplain, Rev. Henry N. Coiiden, D. D., offered the 
 following prayer: 
 
 O Thou who hast made us after Thine own image and filled 
 our breasts with longings, hopes, and aspirations which are 
 ever leading us onward and upward to larger life, we thank 
 Thee for the pure, the noble, the true, who in their conduct 
 strive continually to measure up to the standard of perfected 
 manhood in Je.sus Christ. We tnank Thee for the ties of love 
 and affection which bind us together, so that when one rejoices 
 all rejoice, when one suffers all suffer with him, and w^hen 
 one is taken from our midst in death, the heart is bowed in 
 sorrow and we cherish the words he uttered, the things he did; 
 above all the service he freely gave to his fellow-men. 
 
 "Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, 
 whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, what- 
 soever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, 
 if there be any virtue, and if there be any prai.se, think on these 
 things." 
 
 Bless, we beseech Thee, the service of the hour and help us 
 to cherish in our hearts the memory of him for whom it is .set 
 apart, that we copy his virtues and live the larger life of which 
 he was a conspicuous example in his home, in his comnumit)-, 
 and on the floor of this House, where he rendered faithful and 
 
Proceedings in the Honse 9 
 
 efficient service for hiscouutr3^ Comfort his famil}', his friends 
 and colleagues, and all who mourn his loss with the blessed 
 assurance that though he may not return to us we shall go 
 to him and dwell with him forever; and glory and honor and 
 praise be Thine, through Jesus Christ our lyOrd. Amen. 
 
 The Speaker pro tempore. The gentleman from Illinois 
 [Mr. Mann] will please take the chair. 
 
 Mr. Mann took the chair as Speaker pro tempore. 
 
 Mr. Jones of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I offer the following 
 resolutions. 
 
 The Clerk read as follows: 
 
 Resolved, That as a mark of respect to the Hon. John F. Rixev, late a 
 ^Member of this House from the State of Virginia, and in pursuance of the 
 order heretofore made, the business of the House be now suspended to 
 enable his associates to pay fitting tribute to his high character and distin- 
 guished services. 
 
 Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the Senate. 
 
 Resolved, That the Clerk be, and he is hereby, instructed to send a copy 
 of these resolutions to the family of the deceased. 
 
 The resolutions were agreed to. 
 
MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 
 
 Address of Mr* Jones* of Virginia 
 
 Mr. Speaker: When, on Saturday, a fortnight ago, the 
 announcement of the death of my late colleague, the Hon, 
 John F. Rixey, was made in this House, it came with start- 
 ling suddenness to most of us, for, although for many sad and 
 dreary months he had been suffering from a deadly malady, 
 few outside of his immediate family and closest friends realized 
 that the grim destroyer had long since marked him for his 
 own. There was little in his appearance and bearing, and far 
 less in the lightsome and energetic manner in which he met 
 and so faithfully discharged the manifold duties of his high 
 position, betokening the dread disease which even then was 
 Steadily and surely doing its deadly work. With high cour- 
 age, patriotic purpose, and a rare devotion to the interests of 
 the constituency which had so long delighted to honor him, he 
 positively refused to quit his post of duty upon this floor, 
 although repeatedly and earnestly admonished by his physi- 
 cians that to remain was to seriously endanger if not to sacrifice 
 his life. Hence it was that many of his friends were shocked 
 as well as grieved when it became known that almost immedi- 
 ately upon the adjournment of Congress he had gone away in 
 quest of health— first, to the mountains of North Carolina; 
 then to Colorado, and, later still, to northern New York, in 
 what proved a vain effort to stay the encroachments of a dis- 
 
12 Memorial Addresses: John Franklin Rixey 
 
 ease which has ever baffled the physicians' skill, and which no 
 clime, warmed b}' the sun's bright circle, can surely and per- 
 manently eradicate. And so, despairing of recovery and re- 
 signed to a fate which he recognized to be inexorable, he 
 quieth- returned in the early winter season to the home in this 
 city of his brother. Admiral Presley M. Rixey, the Surgeon- 
 General of the Navy, there to await with submissive patience, 
 sublime fortitude, and an inspiring Christian resignation the 
 final summons to his eternal reward. It is not possible to re- 
 call without a feeling of sadness that since the beginning of 
 the Fifty-ninth Congress "death's inexorable doom" has been 
 pronounced against fifteen of our comrades, eleven of whom 
 served in this House and four in the Senate Chamber; but 
 never, I fain would believe, has the icy hand of the grim de- 
 stroyer been laid upon a Member of this bod>- who was more 
 luiiversally respected and esteemed and more generally beloved. 
 
 So to-day, amid the stern exactions of duty which invariably 
 accompany and are inseparable from the closing hours of a ses- 
 sion of Congress, we have suspended the w^ork of legislation in 
 order that opportunity may be given his colleagues to speak in 
 words of praise and of eulogy of Mr. Rixey's accomplishments 
 and character, and to extol those personal virtues which adorned 
 his noble and gracious life. 
 
 John Franklin Rixev was born at the "Retreat," the 
 family homestead, in the county of Culpeper, near the town of 
 Culpeper, on the i.st day of August, 1854. His father was 
 Presley M. Rixe3^ a prominent farmer and extensive landowner. 
 His mother's maiden name was Mary Francis Jones. Pied- 
 mont, Va., early became the storm center in the war between 
 the States, and thus it was that the father, the better to provide 
 for the protection and safety of his family, purchased a home 
 in the town of Culpeper and removed them thither. It was 
 
Address of Mr. Jones, of Virginia 13 
 
 there that most of the youth of John F. Rixey was passed, and 
 there he received his early educational training in the famous 
 Berkeley School. Afterwards he attended Bethel Academy, 
 near Warrenton, Va., for several sessions, and in the summer 
 of 1876 he was graduated from the law school of the University 
 of Virginia with the degree of bachelor of laws. He at once 
 began the practice of his profession at Culpeper, and two years 
 thereafter was elected attorney for the Commonwealth for his 
 county, a position the duties of which he continued to discharge 
 with conspicuous fidelity for twelve consecutive years. In i88a 
 he married Ellen Barbour, the daughter of the late lieutenant- 
 governor, James Barbour, and a niece of the late John S. Bar- 
 bour, United States Senator from Virginia. Subsequently he 
 went to reside at "Beauregard," near Brandy Station, the beau- 
 tiful country seat which continued thereafter to be his perma- 
 nent residence up to the time of his death. When, in 1896, 
 after a spirited contest, he received the Democratic nomination 
 for Congress in the Eighth Congressional district, which was 
 followed by a triumphant election, he had held no political office, 
 and his personal acquaintance in some of the counties compos- 
 ing the district was quite limited. Subsequently each succes- 
 sive nomination came to him without opposition, and although 
 away from the State during the whole of the campaign of last 
 year, he was returned to the Sixtieth Congress with an over- 
 whelming majority. Prior to his active entrance upon his 
 Congressional duties in December, 1897, Mr. Rixey assidu- 
 ously practiced his profession in Culpeper and the adjacent 
 counties of Fauquier, Rappahannock, Madison, Orange, and 
 Louisa, and in the Federal courts and the supreme court of 
 appeals of Virginia. Success seemed assured from the very 
 beginning of his professional career. At first he practiced 
 alone, but later became associated wnth his brother-in-law% the 
 
14 Memorial Addresses: John Franklin Rixey 
 
 Hon. John S. Barbour, and it is believed that the firm of 
 Rixey & Barbour enjoyed a practice among the most exten- 
 sive and lucrative in the rural districts of the State. 
 
 As a lawyer he was conspicuously successful, coming con- 
 stantly in contact with many of the brightest luminaries in a 
 judicial circuit widely famed for the abihty and learning of its 
 practitioners at the bar. Among the illustrious lawyers with 
 whom he contested for primacy may be mentioned such eminent 
 men as ex -Senator Eppa Hunton, Gen. William H. Payne, 
 James V. Brooke, and John Murray Forbes, of Fauquier. 
 Attorney-General James G. Field and Catlett Gibson, of Cul- 
 peper, and Governor James L. Kemper, of Madison, all of 
 whom, save only the first, have now passed from the arena of 
 life. That his forensic abilities and legal triumphs should 
 have brought him into an enviable prominence amid such an 
 imposing array of legal talent is the highest tribute which 
 could be paid to his professional standing and reputation. He 
 was a well-grounded, well-trained, and thoroughly equipped 
 lawyer, and upon every proposition submitted to his judgment 
 he brought to bear the w^ell-di.sciplined force of a matured 
 intellect. His reasoning was forceful and logical, clear, strong, 
 and convincing. As an advocate he achieved success through 
 the compelling force of an inexorable logic rather than by the 
 employment of the meretricious embellishments of speech and 
 rhetorical display. He appealed to the reason rather than to 
 the emotional sensibilities of judge and jurw That he was 
 ever faithful to the noblest traditions of the profession which 
 throughout his career he so conspicuously adorned, and the 
 ethics of which he invariably observed, is the universal testi- 
 mony of all those with whom he i-)racticed. 
 
 P>ul, descended as he was from a long line of practical planters, 
 he inherited a passionate fondness for agriculture, which \\'a.sh- 
 
Address of Mr. Jones, of Virginia 15 
 
 ington, himself a practical agriculturist, declared to be the 
 noblest calling of mankind. Living on a farm, to the direction 
 of which he gave his close personal attention, he was what is 
 known in Virginia as a country lawyer in contradistinction to 
 the city attorney, who has been aptly described as more tech- 
 nical and scientific though less philosophic, more astute, though 
 less broad, than his country brother. Mr. Rixey was in every 
 high essential a typical farmer-lawyer. Nothing gave him 
 more genuine pleasure than to ride or drive over his broad and 
 fertile fields. Well do I recall with what delight he was wont 
 to watch his herds of sleek, fat cattle as they roamed over the 
 grass-clad hills and through the rich river bottoms of his two 
 magnificent Culpeper County farms. 
 
 The late John Randolph Tucker, profound constitutional law- 
 yer, brilliant orator, and great statesman though he was, pos- 
 sessed an intimate acquaintance with that character of lawyer 
 whose life was spent amid rustic scenes and who breathed the 
 pure atmosphere of an inspiring and ennobling pastoral life. 
 Standing in this Hall he pronounced upon one of my predeces- 
 sors a strikingly beautiful eulogy, in the course of which he 
 declared : 
 
 I do not doubt that John Marshall, the most illustrious of the Chief 
 Justices of the United States, under the classical shades of his country 
 seat at Oak Hall, framed the inexorable logic of his argument m the case 
 of Jonathan Robbins and constructed those canons of interpretation in 
 that series of marvelous judgments which laid the foundation of his fame 
 as the greatest expounder of our Federal Constitution. 
 
 John F. Rixey was a farmer and stock raiser as well as a 
 lawyer, and in both capacities he was preeminently successful. 
 
 Of his career in this House I shall say little, for the character 
 and the quality of his work done here is known to us all. At 
 all times active and vigilant in the performance of his legislative 
 duties, he was justly regarded as an ideal Representative, and I 
 
1 6 Memorial Addresses: Jo/in Franklin Rixey 
 
 venture nothing in saying that the district which honored him 
 with six consecutive elections, and which in turn was by him 
 so signally honored, never had a more efficient, more patriotic, 
 more devoted, and more intelligent Representative. He met 
 every duty and faced every obstacle fearlessly, and ever fol- 
 lowed where conscience and judgment led. He had few, if 
 any, enemies, for his directness, frankness, and singleness of 
 purpose so exalted his deeds and gave weight to his words as 
 to compel admiration of the man as the exponent of high civic 
 virtue. His judgment was sound and his view of a situation 
 broad, while he possessed in high degree the comparatively rare 
 power of grasping details. He loved his country with genuine 
 patriotism and served it with unselfish devotion. No man whom 
 I have known during a .somewhat extended service in the Hou.se 
 of Representatives was ever more assiduously attentive to the 
 public needs of his district or more considerate of the wishes 
 and well-being of his con.stituents. 
 
 How natural, then, that he should have been b\- them .so 
 implicitly trusted, so highly esteemed, and so so universally 
 beloved! It was nothing less than his stern, inflexible, and 
 unyielding .sen.se of duty to country and obligation to constitu- 
 ents which held him to his post of duty in this Hall against the 
 urgent solicitations of family and friends, and w^hen every con- 
 .sideration o-f a purely personal character demanded he should 
 lay down for the time being his pul)lic burdens and official 
 cares. And now he has gone hence forevermore. To no 
 mortal has it ever been given to solve the my.steries of life and 
 death, and so to our blind vision and finite intelligences his 
 untimely taking off may — nay, does — seem premature, but 
 there is a solace in the thought that God knoweth when the 
 appointed work is done; and so He giveth His beloved .sleep. 
 
 Surely he has not lived in vain whose life has furnished to 
 
Address of Mr. Jo7ies^ of Virgiaia ij 
 
 the world such a splendid example of fidelity to conscience and 
 devotion to duty. Reverencing always the things that are pure 
 and noble and of good repute, ever exemplary in habit, con- 
 duct, and deportment, it was but natural that he should have 
 publiclv and openly professed his faith in Christ by connecting 
 himself with one of His churches; and hence it was that some 
 years prior to his death he became a member of the Presby- 
 terian Church. His whole life was singularly beautiful and 
 upright, his faith sublime, and his hope serene. 
 
 Of the mere personal attributes of his character and of my 
 clo.se personal and intimate relations to, and my warm and 
 tender affection for, our dear friend I shall not trust my.self 
 further to .speak, nor could I wish to intrude within the sacred 
 precincts of his beautiful home life or lift the veil which hides 
 the grief of the stricken wife and bereaved children. 
 
 But recently I stood beside his open grave and with .sorrow- 
 ful heart and tearful eyes beheld the performance of the last 
 sad rites over his funeral bier in a beautiful cemetery overlook- 
 ing the town where had been spent the days of his early vouth 
 and maturer manhood. 
 
 As we contemplate, even faintly and imperfectly as mortals 
 may, the immensity of the universe, the limitless reach and 
 force of Almighty power, and the fathomless depth and gra- 
 ciousne.ss of x\lmighty love, we may take leave of our friend 
 in the fond hope and .soothing faith that somewhere, .sometime, 
 the frail and transitor\- ties of mortal affection broken now may 
 be welded for eternity; that he has but gone before, while we 
 linger here a little longer. 
 H. Doc. Si 2, 59-2 2 
 
1 8 Memorial Addresses: John Franklin Rixey 
 
 Address of Mr. Hay, of Virginia 
 
 Mr. Speaker: I first knew John F. Rixev in 1879, when 
 he was Commonwealth's attorney for his county, and thereafter 
 until he and I came to this House was thrown with him fre- 
 quently. As a lawyer Mr. Rixey ranked high at the Virginia 
 bar, and for many years was one of the leading members of 
 the bar in his and adjoining counties. He was especially 
 strong as an advocate, besides being an adviser of sound judg- 
 ment, possessing fully the confidence of his large clientage 
 and his fellow-members of the bar. His relations with the 
 bar were always pleasant, and while firm in advocating his 
 own side of the case, he yet was ever ready to give to his 
 adversary that courteous and considerate treatment which 
 marks the able lawyer and gentleman. 
 
 His course in Congress has been a most successful one. He 
 has represented his constituency with rare faithfulness and 
 singleness of purpose. No man on this floor was ever more 
 ready than he to respond to the many demands which are 
 constantly made upon Members here. His public services, 
 while not show}-, were well recognized by his people and by 
 those who served with him here. His death was most 
 untimely. Taken from a sphere of action in which his use- 
 fulness was conspicuous, cut off when his powers were ripest, 
 tho.se of us who survive him wonder at the inscrutable decrees 
 of Providence. 
 
 Tho' much is taken, much a1)i(les. 
 
 While we deeply regret the loss of his presence, his useful- 
 ness in this place, his clear judgment, yet there remain to us 
 
Address of Mr. Hay.^ of Virginia. 19 
 
 the example of his clean life, his upright character, his force- 
 ful personality. He was indeed a modest gentleman, one of 
 those spirits whose living made the world better, who in all 
 of his life exemplified the true man, whose purposes were "to 
 strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield," those great princi- 
 ples which elevate mankind and lead to a higher and better 
 life. 
 
20 Memorial Addresses: John Franklin Rixey 
 
 Address of Mr. WiLLiAMSt of Mississippi 
 
 Mr. Speaker: Old Virginia, more frequently, perhaps, than 
 any other part of the world, has produced a class of men who 
 have displayed in private and in public life the best characteris- 
 tics of the old English country gentleman combined with distinc- 
 tive American traits — sturdiness, conservatism, common sense, 
 and unobtrusive courage in conduct and opinion; acknowledg- 
 ing " duty," as Washington and Lee did, to be not only " the 
 noblest word in the English language," but the guiding- star of 
 their course in life; acknowledging consideration of the opin- 
 ions and environment of others as the basis of all healthy and 
 pleasant social relations; regarding the family as the keystone 
 of the structure of human virtue, and looking upon the denial 
 of law-conferred or law-permitted special privileges as the chief 
 function of government, while leaving men otherwise free in 
 their pursuits, industries, and development. 
 
 Such men are never sensationalists, though unwaveringly 
 intolerant of private or public wrong. Such men attribute, as 
 a habit of thought, honest motived to others; are in the habit 
 of restraining and governing themseh^es, and l)elieve therefore 
 in the capacity and right of self-government as inherent in 
 others; are sticklers for the limitation of the powers of political 
 government so as to forestall and prevent the tyranny of majori- 
 ties and so as to secure the right of individual and local evolu- 
 tionary progress in freedom, unrestrained except in so far as is 
 necessary to prevent one man or one communit>' or one nation 
 from connnitting aggression on another. In the family, as in 
 .societv, they are charitable in nonessentials, while inculcating 
 
Address of Mr. Williams.^ of Mississippi 21 
 
 essentials of character and outgrowing conduct more by example 
 than by precept, leaving much to the child's enlightened sense 
 of duty and individual development, not attempting to mold 
 other human beings in their mold, believing that wife and child, 
 like each of God's creatures, has the supreme right to live its 
 own life in an atmosphere of guiding and guarding love. 
 
 Such men, being just and kind, firm of purpose and conduct 
 as well as tolerant and considerate, moderate in all things, not 
 extreme, self- restrained, not self-assertive, deserve and are sure 
 to have loving and faithful wives, trustful and confiding chil- 
 dren, loyal friends, willing servants, few enemies, and the sin- 
 cere respect of all men. People attach themselves to them 
 without analyzing the motives of their attachment and with or 
 without intimacy of as.sociation. Men trust them; children 
 love them; employees serve them "for more than the mere 
 wages' sake." Tlie whole structure of society can rest upon J 
 their strong shoulders as on a secure base. 
 
 Ju.st such a man, to my personal knowledge, was John F. 
 RixEY, if his character be limned by an analyst and not a 
 eulogist, though in his case I am both. If all men were like 
 him and his class, the dream of the t heoretical an archist might 
 come true, because there would be little or no need of the phys- 
 ical force of po litical gove rnment. The individual life of each 
 would, in combination, consummate the highest good of all. 
 Justice, equality, and freedom — the sole objects of all right 
 government — would prevail as a natural and unforced out- 
 growth of the unrestrained development of individuality. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, words are poor things; like ourselves, a breath, 
 and with a breath are gone. They can not restore the dead 
 friend to a useful, noble, and unselfish. life. They can not com- 
 fort the wife, who justly idolized him. 
 
 I wish to God thev could. 
 
22 Memorial Addresses: John Franklin Rixey 
 
 They can not console the children, who will miss his love, 
 example, and guidance. They can serve only to convey to 
 those who loved him my abiding personal knowledge and appre- 
 ciation of the courtesy, kindness, intelligence, moral courage, 
 honesty, and public usefulness of the Virginia gentleman, who 
 has gone before us and yet has not ceased to be with us. 
 
Address of Mr. Flood .^ of Virginia 23 
 
 Address of Mr. Flood» of Virginia 
 
 Mr. Speaker: "The joys of conquest are the joys of 
 man." 
 
 There could be no truer interpretation of universal life and 
 compound of universal history than this aphorism of the poet. 
 
 Man reads it one way during life's stress and strain; another 
 way at life's close. There are two arenas of conquest — the 
 one, objective; the other, subjective. The one has ambition 
 for its inspiration and guide; the other, wisdom. The one is 
 the conquest of the world and all it implies; the other, the 
 conquest of self. The one passeth away and is forgotten as a 
 dream; the other is indestructible. 
 
 One conquest is of the head; the other of the heart. And 
 almost the last lesson most of us learn is that the heart is 
 higher and nobler than the head; that the heart alone can 
 really interpret life; that it alone can cherish its own intima- 
 tions and soar with them to the heaven of their fulfillment. 
 
 We do not erect monuments in our hearts to those who 
 are "great like Caesar, stained with blood, but to those who 
 were only great as they were good." 
 
 The world is expending treasure in disentombing the memo- 
 rials of dead and buried empires and deciphering the hiero- 
 glyphics in which they are recorded, but the records of a good 
 man's life are writ in letters so plain and imperishable that 
 "he who runs may read." 
 
 John F. Rixey was born in Culpeper County, Va., on 
 August I, 1854, and reared in the country. 
 
 The old Greeks, who seemed to know everything and to 
 anticipate everything, called the earth our mother. Our 
 
24 Memorial Addresses: John Franklin Rixey 
 
 brother, whose memor}' we are met to enshrine in oiir hearts, 
 drank deep of the gentle and salutary monitions of nature. 
 He loved to contemplate the symbolism of life in the shifting 
 panorama of the seasons, the unfolding of nascent manhood 
 which had its type in the awakened vigor of spring, the stress 
 (jf life as pictured by the heat and glare of the storms of sum- 
 mer, the fruits of a well-fought fight symbolized in the 
 golden grain and fruitage of autumn, and the repose typified 
 b}' the long nights and manteling snows of winter. As we 
 read the short and simple annals of his life in the ' ' Official 
 Directory" we see how the love of country dominated him. 
 He writes himself down as "lawyer and farmer." 
 
 In due course he was sent to the connnon schools of his 
 neighborhood, where he was subjected to their discipline and 
 training, and then came the larger outlook and curriculum of 
 Bethel Academy, and last, the strenuous and exigent labors of 
 an academical and professional course at the University of 
 Virginia. 
 
 Thus equipped he entered the legal profession and began its 
 practice in his native county. His industry, honesty, learning, 
 and sound judgment soon brought him a lucrative practice, 
 which he conducted actively until he was elected to Congress. 
 During this period he was three times elected prosecuting attor- 
 ney of Culpeper County, serving with distinguished ability in 
 this responsible position for twelve years. 
 
 As a lawyer he ranked high among the people and l)ar of 
 northern Virginia, a section which has ever been distinguished 
 for its great lawyers. In 1896 he was elected to Congress, and 
 such was the esteem entertained for him by the people of his 
 district that he was reelected five times with practicall\- no 
 opposition. 
 
 In his political ideas and methods he has .sometimes been 
 
Address of Mr. Floods of \lrgijiia 25 
 
 called a partisan. If by this was meant that he sincerely and 
 honestl}' believed in the principles and purposes of his party 
 and tried by all honorable means to promote the public good b}' 
 placing its men and measures in control of the Government, the 
 accusation was true, and the term was simply a just tri])ute to 
 a true and honest man. 
 
 It has been the partisan who in all ages of the world and 
 every field of human progress has led the way. Wherever con- 
 flicts of opinion have determined the thoughts and actions of 
 mankind, there the well-equipped partisan has been the guiding 
 power and controlling force for good. 
 
 During the time he was a Member of the House of Represen- 
 tatives Mr. RixEY stamped his views and personality upon some 
 of the most important legislation enacted by the American 
 Congress. For nearly nine years he was a member of the 
 Committee on Naval Affairs and aided in .some of the mo.st 
 radical and useful reforms in the history of the country, and 
 was no less u.sef ul in calling attention to and preventing some 
 of the worst abuses that threatened the nation. 
 
 Such, in brief outline, are the unadorned facts of the career 
 of John F. Rixey. They illustrate a character rounded, 
 integral and complete, and such a character always enlists our 
 interests and challenges our analysis. 
 
 No man ever achieved what he achieved unless he had rich 
 native endowments. You can not develop a negative nature. 
 You can not train faculties which do not exist. 
 
 Shakespeare, in de.scribing his hero Brutus, says: 
 
 His life was gentle; and the elements 
 
 So mix'd in hini, that Nature might stand up. 
 
 And say to all the world, "This was a man!" 
 
 And we all know that the fiber of gentleness always enters 
 into the texture of ideal manhood. 
 
26 Memorial Addresses: John Franklin Rixey 
 
 Mr. Rixey was a modest, companionable, ingenious, friendly 
 man. 
 
 No man can pass half a century of life, whose maturity is 
 tested by the keen scrutiny of legal and parliamentry environ- 
 ments, and sustain that scrutiny unrebuked and unchallenged, 
 who does not have the roots of his nature struck deep nito the 
 granite subsoil of conviction. Just as no oak can fling its 
 branches broadcast to wrestle with the storms whose nutriment 
 is not drawn from the limestone and iron of the earth. 
 
 Mr. Rixey was trained in the austere and inflexible doctrines 
 of the Presbyterian Church. He sat under the ministry of a 
 church w^hose clergy are compelled to sustain the rigid and 
 protracted tests of both academic and theological institutes; a 
 church which has never shrunk from facing the conception of 
 truth whether that truth were pleasant or unpalatable. But 
 the fabric of his faith was gentleness and l)rotherly kindness. 
 
 When a man has attained to the possession of these attributes 
 he has, indeed, experienced the highest "joys of conquest." 
 I have often read with pleasure this passage from Lord Bacon: 
 The poet saith excellently well: "It is a pleasure to stand upon the 
 shore and to see ships tossed upon the sea; a pleasure to stand in the win- 
 dow of a castle and to see a battle and the adventures thereof below; but no 
 pleasure is comparable to the standing upon the vantage ground of truth, 
 where the air is always clear and serene, and to see the errors and wander- 
 ings and mists and tempests in the vale below. Certainly it is heaven 
 upon earth to have a man's mind move in charity, rest in Providence, and 
 turn upon the poles of truth." 
 
 And so we see how the life of John F. Rixey, turning upon 
 the.se poles, made him true in all the relations of life. And we 
 can safely leave him there. 
 
 May it ])e said of all of lis, as we can say it of him: 
 He wore the white flower of a blameless life. 
 
Address of Mr. Kitchin^ of North Carolina 
 
 Address of Mr. Wiluam W. KiTCfflN. of North Carolina 
 
 Mr. Speaker: I desire to add the simple tribute of a high 
 regard and a warm personal friendship to the memory of the 
 late Hon. John F. Rixey. If length of life under the guid- 
 ance of Providence were always commensurate with one's vir- 
 tues, he would have survived more than threescore j'Cars and 
 ten. If life is to be measured by virtue, by the development 
 of the lovable and noble qualities of heart and mind and by 
 obedience to their suggestions, then his life was long and full, 
 though his departure was in middle age, or manhood's prime, 
 as we reckon our periods. 
 
 Entering Congress together ten years ago, for the last eight 
 years serving together on the Committee on Naval Affairs, of 
 which he was a member before my assignment to it, sharing 
 the same views upon nearly every question that has divided 
 that committee, we became closely associated in our public 
 service, more closely than I have been with any other Repre- 
 sentative. Probably no Member had better opportunity of 
 knowing his arduous work and patriotic zeal than myself. In 
 my judgment, and I say it deliberately and after consideration, 
 no man during my membership of this body has brought to the 
 service of his country a more thorough patriotism, more unself- 
 ish loyalty to public interest, or a more incorruptible integritv, 
 nor has anj^one followed the path of duty as he saw it more 
 unfalteringly and courageously than our deceased friend. He 
 was a type of the splendid Representative; of strong heart, 
 brave spirit, clear intellect; a man of conscience, courage, and 
 ability; modest but alert, unassuming but energetic, tolerant 
 but positive. 
 
28 Memorial Addresses: JoJin Franklin Rixey 
 
 Ability is an essential of every great Representative, bnt in- 
 tegrity is the great essential of the best Representative. In 
 this age of seductive allurements, under which men sometimes 
 become negligent of public interests, and of strong temptations, 
 under which they sometimes become unfaithful, a people should 
 be regarded as happily performing their duty to themselves 
 and the Republic in sending to a legislative body a Representa- 
 tive of both the capacity and the character of Mr. RixEY. 
 For many years he held the commission of a great, proud, and 
 intelligent constituency residing within the shadow of this 
 Capitol, and as that commission fell from his hands on the 
 9th of February it was as unstained as the spotless snow that 
 then enveloped his district. 
 
 There has been no session of recent Congresses when divi- 
 sions have not appeared on this floor upon matters coming from 
 the Naval Affairs Committee. These divisions have not been 
 upon propositions vital to the Navy. It is both Democratic and 
 Republican to have a .strong Navy of the best men and best 
 material sufficient for the needs of our great country. Men in 
 both parties have differed and will probably continue to differ 
 as to the requisite magnitude of the Navy from time to time, 
 depending largely upon each one's estimate of the probabilities 
 of war and his confidence in our position and resources, all rec- 
 ognizing the necessity for the public of a proper Navy and the 
 injustice upon the public of an unnecessarily large one. The 
 divisions have been upon subsidiary matters, such as the num- 
 ber and kinds of new .ships, how to obtain them, at what price, 
 and how to ( btain armor and armament, the establi.shment and 
 improvement of navy-yards and stations, methods of economy 
 and development, and other matters of secondary importance to 
 the primary proposition of the creation and maintenance of a 
 sufficient Navy. Though these subsidiary matters have some- 
 
Address of Mr. KitchiJi^ of NortJi Carolina 29 
 
 times involved political principles and aroused partisan discus- 
 sion, yet, as a rule, the divisions upon matters from the Naval 
 Committee have not been partisan. They have, however, pro- 
 duced much controversy and frequent debates. In these Mr. 
 RiXEY was often a leading participant and always proved him- 
 self well equipped, accurate, ready, forceful, and entirely con- 
 versant with the subject at isstie. He was an active, vigilant, 
 vigorous, and candid antagonist, who never avoided the real 
 point at stake and never struck below the belt. 
 
 His personal life was clean and his language pure. I never 
 heard a profane or vulgar expression from his lips and never 
 knew him to do an act his pastor would not have approved. 
 Immorality and vice received no encouragement from his speech 
 or conduct. By precept and example he contributed to the vir- 
 tue and morality of ever}' circle he entered. I never knew him 
 until the maturity of his powers and character, but a knowledge 
 of him then necessarily involves much insight into his earlier 
 years. When one beholds a great oak he knows the rich ingre- 
 dients that made it, in what soil the roots were nourished in its 
 youth, what storms it has resisted, and what winters of adversity 
 it has endured. From our deceased friend's strong, fixed char- 
 acter of manhood one can easily conceive the healthy environ- 
 ment of his boyhood, the various temptations that had in vain 
 beat about his pathway, the steady application of his mind and 
 heart to the duties of life, and the firm, fundamental, moral 
 character that had . controlled him in his constant progress iu 
 the esteem of his fellow-men. 
 
 I had the honor to be one of the committee of the House that 
 attended the burial at Culpeper. In the funeral procession we 
 observed that all of the business houses were closed out of re- 
 spect for the occasion. A profound sorrow was over the little 
 city. Notwithstanding the inclemenc}^ of the weather, the snow 
 
30 Manorial Addresses: John Franklin Rixey 
 
 covering the earth, a large concourse of his constituents, friends, 
 and neighbors gathered in the cemetery to pay a last sad tribute 
 to his mortal remains. The great outpouring of the people 
 from far and near, who knew him well, bespoke the high esteem 
 in which all classes held him. Among them he had lived with- 
 out reproach. Before them he had established a right to the 
 high title of a Christian gentleman, and those who assembled at 
 his grave in loving remembrance of his life and character hon- 
 ored them.selves in the service they rendered to his memory. 
 And they seemed to realize, as we do, that his death is a loss to 
 his State and to our common country. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, the kind expressions which we utter to-day in 
 his memory are necessarily incomplete, for words are inadequate 
 to express what the heart contains when we contemplate the 
 death of such a man. In addition to the many pleasant recol- 
 lections which I shall always cheri.sh of him, I shall have the 
 comforting thought that it is well with him. Knowing him 
 as I did, I am glad to think that as the remorseless enemy 
 approached he had no fear and his faith was strong, and when 
 that enemy conquered his body and lead his spirit to the 
 dividing line, I doubt not that the " Friend that sticketh closer 
 than a brother ' ' was with him in the valley of the shadow and 
 bestowed upon him the crown of immortality on the other side. 
 
Address of Mr. Glass., of Virgniia 31 
 
 Address of Mr, Glass, of Virginia 
 
 Mr. Speaker: As a surviving colleague of the late John F. 
 RiXEY, I desire, in a word, to indicate how tenderlj- 1 regard his 
 memory. In nn- humble estimation no Representative in Con- 
 gress better deserved, when he died, the kindly tributes to his 
 personal worth which we are accustomed to pay here than the 
 deceased Member from the Eighth Virginia district. Mr. Rixey 
 was a man of solid character and superior intelligence. He had 
 good preparation for the active pursuit of public affairs, which 
 so soon engaged his attention, and his exceptional talents made 
 it certain that his a.spirations must enjoy a large mea.sure of ful- 
 fillment. His early obligations as a trusted official of the State 
 were discharged with such efficiency and fidelity as to merit the 
 higher distinction that was bestowed upon him by his commu- 
 nity when he was sent to be a Member of this House; and I am 
 sure we will all agree that his service here, extending over a 
 period of ten years, was characterized by a devotion and an-x 
 industry that entitled him to the confidence and esteem witli -^ 
 which his people so richly and so repeatedly honored him. 
 His particular usefulness to his own district and his cheerful 
 readiness to serve his own constituents quickly expanded 
 into an ideal representative relation to his State and country, 
 so that all Virginia mourns his death as a distinct bereave- 
 ment of the Commonwealth, and the nation has cause to 
 lament the loss of a diligent and patriotic servant. 
 
 Sprung from a good ancestry and reared in an atmosphere of 
 refinement, nobody better understood, and no life was more 
 surely conformed to, that philosophy which teaches that the 
 well-being of the soul depends only on what we are and that 
 
32 Memorial Addresses: John Franklin Rixey 
 
 nobleness of character is nothing else but the love of good and 
 scorn of evil. Familiar with the niceties of social intercourse, 
 and not insensible to the value of real tact, nevertheless the per- 
 sonal and official transactions of Mr. Rixey were distinguished 
 b}- a frankness that knew no concealment and a courage that cal- 
 culated not consequences. Though singularly unobtrusive by 
 nature, he never evaded a duty nor sought to shift a responsi- 
 bility. Tolerant of oppo.sing opinions, he was firm and forceful 
 in the a.ssertions of his own convictions, and yielded only 
 when it seemed best for his country that he should. His fine 
 qualities of unselfishne-ss and his complete zeal for the public 
 interest as he conceived it were remarkably exhibited in his 
 long service on the Committee on Naval Affairs of this House. 
 My intimacy with Mr. Rixey did not extend to his fireside. 
 That was my misfortune and no fault of his hospitality; but 
 there is no need to draw aside the curtain and peer into the 
 sanctity of the saddened home to tell that he was a devoted 
 son, a gentle husband, an affectionate father, a loyal brother. 
 He must have been these to have been so modest a gentleman, 
 so true a friend, so brave a man, so patriotic a representative 
 of his people. 
 
Address of Mr. Foss^ of Illinois 2)2> 
 
 Address of Mr. Foss, of Illinois 
 
 Mr. Speaker: I desire to add my tribute to that of others 
 on the life of our late colleague. 
 
 Singularly enough, while the naval appropriation bill was 
 under consideration in the House, Mr. Rixey, who had always 
 been a member of the committee during his Congressional 
 service, died. He had always been one of the active members 
 of the committee and had taken a great interest in naval 
 affairs, both in the committee and in the debates on the floor of 
 the House. 
 
 This is the finst death that has occurred on the committee for 
 some time, the last being that of the late Amos J. Cvimmings, 
 five years ago. Mr. Rixey was a man who was intensely 
 loyal to his constituents. He .served them da}- and night, and 
 the many large public improvements which he secured for his 
 district are a testimonial of his indefatigable industry and 
 loyalty to his constituents. 
 
 Mr. Rixey was a conservative man. He was not easily 
 carried away by the whim or fancy of the hour. His whole 
 nature was embedded in the solid rock of conservatism. He 
 would oftentimes stand alone, unmoved by the persuasions of 
 his colleagues and friends. 
 
 Above all, he was a man who had the courage of his con- 
 victions. If there is any one characteristic that has .shone 
 through his Congressional service here in this body it was that 
 of his splendid courage. He not onl}^ dared to think for him- 
 self, but he dared to fight for what he believed to be right. 
 Frequently upon this floor he led the charge against some 
 provision in the naval bill wdaich he did not feel that he could 
 H. Doc. 812, 59-2 3 
 
.34 Memorial Addresses: John Franklin Rixey 
 
 support, and whenever he led he led with all the splendid fire 
 and determination of a general on the field of battle. 
 
 He was a man also of intense honesty of purpose and sin- 
 cerity. He was one whom it took some time to thoroughly 
 know. Though a man of pleasant demeanor and easy to 
 approach, yet he was not a man who showed up his real worth 
 on first acquaintance. He was frequently misunderstood, but 
 upon intimate acquaintance he unfolded a wealth of sterling 
 virtues which commanded the respect and admiration of all 
 within the circle. 
 
 His death has been a great loss to this House. His Con- 
 gressional service has been an honor to the State and the 
 nation, and his memory will be cherished through the coming 
 years. 
 
Address of Mr. McCall^ of Massachusetts 35 
 
 Address of Mr. McCall, of Massachusetts 
 
 Mr. Speaker : I feel it my duty to add one word expressing, 
 I fear very inadequately, the high opinion that I had of our 
 late colleague John F. Rixey. I am led to do this from my 
 personal regard for him and from the relations of the States of 
 Massachusetts and Virginia, and also from my association with 
 Virginia Representatives upon this floor. These two noble 
 Commonwealths have been associated together since before the 
 foundation of this Government, and, with the exception of an 
 unfortunate period which was necessary fully to establish our 
 Government, they have emulated each other in everything that 
 has contributed to our national glory. And I trust and believe 
 they will continue to engage in that noble rivalry. 
 
 Then, I have been very closely associated with the Repre- 
 sentatives of Virginia upon this floor. During my first term 
 of service it was my privilege to be upon the Committee. on 
 Elections, of which that astute and able lawyer, that kindly 
 gentleman, and that fair-minded man. Governor O'Ferrall, was 
 the chairman. Afterwards for many years I was associated in 
 service upon the Committee on Ways and Means with the dis- 
 tinguished gentleman who is now governor of the Common- 
 wealth of Virginia. And I am proud to say that I number 
 among my friends many who have been or now are members of 
 the able delegation from Virginia. 
 
 And so I feel that I should say one word here concerning 
 that faithful and sterling Representative in w^hose memory 
 this service is held. It adds something to our regard for 
 representative government that a man like John F. Rixey 
 should be sent here — a kindly man, an able man, a man who 
 
36 Memorial Addresses: Joint Frankliii Rixey 
 
 combined the energy and force of an intellectual fighter with 
 
 the urbanity of a gentleman. It would be creditable to any 
 
 constituency in this country that it should send such a man 
 
 here. And so, Mr. Speaker, I desire to say .simply that I 
 
 had a very hig-h regard for him personally. I have watched 
 
 him upon this floor, I have marked the force with which he 
 
 spoke, and I have noticed his modesty and lack of all 
 
 ob'trusiveness. But modest though he may have been, we 
 
 had no difficulty in detecting in him the essence of true 
 
 manhood and that living spark of which Wordsworth speaks 
 
 when he says : 
 
 If thou indeed derive thy light from heaven. 
 
 Then, to the measure of that heaven-born light, 
 
 vShine, Poet, in thy place, and be content. 
 
 The stars preeminent in magnitude. 
 
 And they that from the zenith dart their beams 
 
 (Visible though they be to half the earth. 
 
 Though half a sphere be conscious of their brightness), 
 
 Are yet of no diviner origin, 
 
 No purer essence, than the one that burns, 
 
 Like an untended watch fire, on the ridge 
 
 Of some dark mountain ; or than those which seem 
 
 Humbly to hang, like twinkling winter lamps. 
 
 Among the branches of the leafless trees. 
 
Address of Mr. Dc Annond^ of Missouri 2)7 
 
 Address of Mr. De Armond of Missouri 
 
 Mr. Speaker: When John Franklin Rixev died the Re- 
 public lost a faithful servant, Virginia lost ohe of her noblest 
 citizens, all of us who were acquainted with him lost a true and 
 reliable friend, and his family suffered a loss which words can 
 not describe. 
 
 Since I have been a Member of this House death has been 
 busy in the Virginia delegation. Out of it have died Barbour 
 and I,ee, Epes, Otey, Wise, and Rixey — one from the Senate 
 and five from the House. 
 
 Shortly after the termination of their membership in this body 
 six others with whom I served passed over the Great Divide — 
 L,awson, Edmonds, Meredith, Turner, Walker, and O'Ferrall. 
 So in the period of a little less than eight Congresses twelve 
 Members from \^irginia have died, six of them out of active 
 service in the Congress and six lately retired from it. I believe 
 this mortalit}- in the Congressional representation of the Old 
 Dominion is perhaps unmatched in the histor}' of the Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 John F. Rixey was a man, as those of us who were ac- 
 quainted with him well know, of the very highest type and of 
 the noblest characteristics. He was modest, gentle, resolute, 
 conscientious. He possessed the substantial abilities so nec- 
 essary for a successful career here and elsewhere, and they 
 were associated with a modesty truly charming and a courage 
 entirely unobtrusive, but equal to the requirements of any occa- 
 sion. He came of a fine line of ancestry, out of the citizenship 
 of a fine old Commonwealth where character and manhood, and 
 
38 Memorial Addresses: John Franklin Rixey 
 
 the sturdy as well as the gentle virtues that characterize both, 
 are estimated and appraised quite as highly, certainly, as any- 
 where else in the Union or in the world. 
 
 It seems to us, measuring human life as it is ordinarily 
 measured, that he died prematurely and in his prime; but who 
 knows when the right time to die has arrived or when it will 
 arrive? Who knows whether it is not really better to fail in 
 the prime and meridian of life, when those who esteem us 
 remember us as we are at our best, than to fade and finally sink 
 to rest in its evening, when the shadows are long drawn and 
 when almost everything that makes life attractive and marks 
 for us its achievements has long since ended? Old age often 
 is weakness without its winsomeness; it is childhood without 
 the charm of childhood. The memory dwells upon tho.se who 
 have departed as we knew them just before the end, the time 
 of their departure. Mr. Rixey will dwell in our memories and 
 the memories of others who knew him as a man fully equipped 
 and strong and ready for the battle of life; a man full of 
 achievements in the contest. Perhaps, after all, when the 
 shock is over and when grief has adjusted itself to the blow, 
 and when time has effaced or dimmed the traces of the great 
 sorrow that death always must bring — perhaps, after all, it is 
 better that he shall dwell in our memories and in the memories 
 of his own dearly loved ones as a man in his prime and in his 
 glory, rather than as the fading, vanishing remnant of a life 
 past its usefulness and its power and lingering only, waiting 
 only for the inevital)le summons that comes in weakness and 
 clo.ses in the night when the .stars have burned out, when noth- 
 ing remains to illumine the sky with a suggestion of the halted 
 power of manhood. The .star that is blotted suddenly from the 
 sky leaves in the memory of him who gazed upon it in its 
 .splendor a ])icturc of a magnificent light, l)ut the star that 
 
Address of Mr. De Armond, of Missouri 39 
 
 pales and pales and pales and finally flickers out can leave no 
 memory so well worth cherishing. 
 
 Representative Rixey was an excellent type of what has been 
 known and described as the ' ' country lawyer. ' ' The country 
 lawyer still exists and will exist in our land for many days, 
 and, let us hope, many ages, but not so numerously in the 
 comparison as in the former time. 
 
 In the early days of the Republic all our lawyers, with but 
 few exceptions, were country lawyers, bred in the country, liv- 
 ing in the country, identified with the country, following the 
 pursuits of the countryman. We have arrived now at the stage 
 of progress or development, or at least of advancing population, 
 when, in large measure, professional men are gathered together 
 in cities. The professional man of the city is essentially dif- 
 ferent from the professional man of the country. He is more 
 famihar with books, he is further along in scientific pursuits 
 and developments, but he also is farther from nature. In a 
 broad sense he knows less of men and their wants and rights 
 and feelings and aspirations. The country lawyer, if he be a 
 man of ability and of character— and if he be not he can not 
 succeed — comes to live in close touch and in full understand- 
 ing with the people among w^hom he dwells. Their wants are 
 his wants; their aspirations are his aspirations; their triumphs 
 are his triumphs; their sorrows and their struggles are his sor- 
 rows and his struggles; their life is his life. He communes 
 with nature more and with books less. He learns more of gen- 
 eral principles and less of special cases and special instances. 
 He devotes himself more to broad thought and broad reasoning 
 and broad philosophic principles, and less to what this man or 
 that man, in this positioner that position, here or there, now or 
 at some other time, said upon some question. He does not look 
 particularly for some case that is in point, but he digs deep for 
 
40 Memorial Addresses: John Franklin Rixcy 
 
 fundamental principles; he looks far into the philosophy of 
 things and thence deduces his conclusions; and upon this foun- 
 dation, out of the materials thus gathered, he rears his super- 
 structure strong and synnnetrical and, above all things else, 
 natural. This man of whom I now speak dwelt in the country, 
 and was of the country. A member of the learned profession 
 and learned in it, he was a practical farmer, interested in all 
 that concerns the people engaged in the tillage of the soil and 
 in the care of their flocks and herds. He was therefore, by 
 natural development, a broad man in thought, purpose, and 
 deed; a charitable man; in action, a plain, practical man. He 
 looked at things about him with the clear eye of experience. 
 He read the book of nature as it was spread out before him, 
 and there learned lessons far more valuable than man has traced 
 in any book man has written or will ever write. 
 
 It seems strange, in this day of progress and advancement in 
 science and in discovery, that there are still some diseases so 
 formidable, so deadly, so all-pervading, so unconquerable that 
 the strongest go down before them as readily as the weakest. 
 One of the most formidable of all diseases is the "white death," 
 the plague of consumption, to which our friend fell a victim. 
 In all the charities of philanthropy, in all the schemes of benev- 
 olent purposes, he will be among the greatest of benefactors 
 who shall discover the cause of and the sure cure for this deadly 
 disease, which strikes down manhood in its prime, which spares 
 neither age nor youth, which devastates the earth, and marches 
 unconquered through the ages. Let us hope that human science, 
 and perseverance, and research may bring us something that 
 will stay the ravages of tliis fell destroyer. 
 
 Never upon one of these occasions, or upon any occasion 
 where we face death, can we rid ourselves — nor would \\e if 
 we could — of the dreadful charm, of the fateful mystery, that 
 
Address of Mr. Dc Annoiid^ of Missouri 41 
 
 ever hangs around human Hfe. We come into the world with- 
 out our own voHtion; we go out when, how, where, none — no 
 more the wisest than the most fooHsh — can tell. We are here 
 for a little while or for a comparativel}' long period, and j^et 
 how short is even the longest life when contrasted with the 
 cycles of time and with the endless ages of eternal being. Life 
 is a great mystery, a mystery all through, a mystery in every 
 part — in its inception, in its progress, in its ending. 
 
 As we gaze into the grave where loved ones are laid, mind, 
 spirit, imagination, hope fly far beyond the tomb, into pictured 
 realms we know not where, by means we know not what. So 
 it was when we laid our friend awa^- to rest. So it was when 
 we stood around his open grave in the snow-covered ground 
 of the beautiful cemetery where he now reposes. So it is now, 
 vSo it will be when we in our turn are laid awa}' to rest in 
 mother earth, and so it will be most assuredly until the career 
 of humanit}" is ended and man no longer is a pilgrim going 
 up and down over the surface of this planet. People reason 
 about it, consult others about it, indulge iii predictions about 
 it, search Holy Writ concerning it. Yet all of it is mystery. 
 Only the eye of faith can pierce the distant future. Only upon 
 the wings of hope can we traverse the space which inter\-enes 
 between this life and the life beyond. Ever}' man's hope, 
 ever}' man's aspiration, every pulsation of the human heart 
 tends to nourish a conviction that there must be a life bej'ond 
 this, that this can not be the end of everything, that there 
 must be another sphere of existence, sublimated out of the 
 human, in which our being shall be endless, unclouded, 
 unmarked by sorrow or care, where the sun shall eternally 
 shine, where life shall have no end. In this faith we live 
 through this earth life; to this we cling in our moments of 
 darkness and when despair would settle upon us like a pall. 
 
42 Memorial Addresses: John Frank/in Rixey 
 
 Upon this we rest when threatened with earthly extinction. 
 It is our hope, the star whose beams pierce through the 
 clouds and fog and darkness when our loved ones go hence. 
 Even if it could be demonstrated that this hope is without 
 basis, that its aspirations have nothing upon which to rest, 
 it would be cruelty to know the truth and to reveal it. We 
 rest upon the hope, we dwell in the promise, and when this 
 life is over, be the ending soon or be it remote, be it glorious 
 or be it the reverse, we all go down in the hope that there 
 shall be an awakening beyond the tomb, and that the spirit 
 which dominates and animates us here, which triumphs over 
 flesh and over distance and circumstance, which soars upon 
 its wings of faith and builds with its power of genius beyond 
 the clouds wall survive when the earthly tabernacle lies low in 
 the dust from which it was originally created. 
 
Address of Mr. Lamb, of Virginia 43 
 
 Address of Mr. Lamb» of Virginia 
 
 Mr. Speaker: For the fourth time in twice as many 3^ears 
 the Virginia delegation in this House are called on to pay 
 tribute to a departed colleague. Truly in the midst of life we 
 are confronted by death. Death loves a shining mark, and in 
 the demise of John F. Rixey it found one. An able and con- 
 scientious Representative, a loyal citizen of the Commonwealth 
 of Virginia, a devoted husband, father, and brother has passed 
 from earth to the spirit land. 
 
 It is no exaggeration to say that few Members of this House 
 during the past decade commanded more respect and admira- 
 tion than did our colleague, for he possessed qualities of head 
 and heart that endeared him to all who were thrown with him 
 in the committee rooms and on the floor. 
 
 Had this blow fallen to one of the older Members of our 
 delegation we would have said : " This is but nature's law; the 
 machinery that sustains the mystery we call life has failed to 
 perform its appointed task and the no less mystery of death 
 is the natural consequence." 
 
 According to man's allotted time, years of great influence 
 were before him ; years in which to lay up knowledge and ren- 
 der service to those who loved, honored, and trusted him ; years 
 in which to study the science of government and apply its 
 principles; years in which to study human nature and work 
 out plans for the betterment of his fellows; yea, more, for him 
 personally years in which to rear and direct the young and 
 tender plants that gathered around his hearthstone ; years of 
 love and care for the one who brought life to his life and peace 
 to his home. 
 
44 McDtorial Addresses: JoJiu Franklin Rixcy 
 
 Without the show}' qiiahties of the orator, he possessed what 
 we all know is more valuable in a Representative — sound judg- 
 ment and patient attention to the details of the work. Through 
 this he reached results here that fully met the demands of his 
 constitueijts and would have insured him continued service as 
 long as he desired to be a Representative in Congress. 
 
 The Commonwealth of Virginia can ill afford to lose, in the 
 prime of life, such a man as was our deceased comrade. The 
 people outside of the Eighth district knew and appreciated him. 
 In the city of Richmond .several years ago he addressed a very 
 cultivated audience, and as I pas.sed through the crowd I heard 
 men say: "That .speech was worth listening to. Some da}- 
 that man will be governor of the State." 
 
 I had a better opportunity, po-ssibly, than any other of our 
 
 delegation of judging as to the estimate put upon him by the 
 
 people of the Eighth district, for I canva.ssed several of his 
 
 counties in 1898, and since that time have .spoken frequently in 
 
 various places in the district. I did not meet a man who spoke 
 
 of him in any but the highest terms, and all seemed perfectly 
 
 satisfied with the valuable service he gave them. If he had 
 
 enemies — and who has served ten 3-eaTS in Congress without 
 
 making some — I never met one. The opinion held of him in 
 
 every county, so far as I have been able to learn, was strongh* 
 
 voiced in the Alexandria Sunday Times of ye.sterday a week 
 
 ago. After summing up the work done for that city, the writer 
 
 said: 
 
 What Ik- has done for this cit\' and county he has done for ever}' other 
 county in liis district, and has never failed to aid anything that tended to 
 advance the interest of his mother vState. Words are inadequate to do 
 justice to this genial, high-toned, honorable \'irginia gentleman, now laid 
 beneath the .soil of old Virginia, whom he loved so well and served so 
 faithfully. 
 
 This would be a fitting epitaph on his toml), where he sleeps 
 beneath the .sod of old Culpeper Count) , where his boyhood 
 
Address of Mr. Lamb, of I 'irginia 45 
 
 days were spent as he watched the surging tide of battle roll 
 over the red hills and lovely plains of his native county. He 
 was a lad of nine summers when as a man of 22 years of age I 
 led a squadron of troop in a deadly fraj* through the streets of 
 Culpeper. He grew to manhood amidst the struggles and trials 
 of a people who lost all save their unquenchable spirit and 
 unstained honor. No wonder that he possessed his full share 
 of both and that they fed his young heart with noble resolves 
 and fired his soul with a determination to fight life's battles as 
 bravely as he had seen men face the mortal perils of the 
 battlefield. 
 
 Our colleague and friend accomplished more in two decades 
 than most men of equal, if not better, opportunities, have done 
 in twice that time. Witness an honorable and efficient ser\-ice 
 as Commonwealth's attorney of his county for twelve years. 
 See and enjoy, as I have, the culture and refinement and com- 
 fort of one of the best-ordered and most hospitable homes in all 
 Virginia. Turn the pages of the Congressional Record and see 
 his spirit, character, and manhood imprinted wherever dutv 
 impelled, or an entirely fitting and never a made opportunity 
 presented itself. 
 
 If in a little over two decades he had accomplished this much, 
 what might he not have achieved had robust health and long 
 life been given unto him? We need not speculate. The end 
 came. The shock was severe to most of us. 
 
 Of his faith I need not speak. I have reason to know that 
 it was strong and abiding. It served him well when trials 
 came. It accounts in part for his popularity in this House and 
 elsewhere. It had been growing with his years. The spirit 
 speaks when the lips are closed. We can not conceal our inner 
 life from others, tr\- all we ma}-. The laws of the spirit are as 
 fixed as those of gravitation. 
 
46 McDiorial Addresses: John Franklin Rixey 
 
 My personal relations with and ni}- attachment for John F. 
 Rixey .might be best told — if these need be told at all in this 
 presence — by reference to my correspondence. Letters from 
 my close friends and relatives, and even comparative strangers, 
 were filled with words of condolence for me personally, and 
 expressions of regret and sympathy at the loss I had sustained 
 in the death of one of whom they had heard me speak so often 
 and so highly. 
 
 I am comforted by the thought that these words of praise I 
 here express in one form or another I uttered of him while he 
 lived. I shall love to recall his form and features, and during 
 the active years that are left me I shall now and then visit 
 the spot where we laid him to rest. 
 
 Peace to his memory. May a kind Providence guard and 
 protect those who directly bind his memory to earth. 
 
 FURTHER ACTION OF THE HOUSE. 
 
 Mr. Speaker: I move that as a further mark of respect to 
 the memory of the deceased the House take a recess until 12 
 o'clock noon. 
 
 The motion was agreed to. 
 
 Accordingly (at 11 o'clock and 30 minutes a. m.) the House 
 was declared in recess. 
 
 The recess having expired, at 12 o'clock noon the House was 
 called to order by the Speaker. 
 
PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE 
 
 Saturday, February 9, igoy. 
 
 A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. W. J. 
 Browning, its Chief Clerk, communicated to the Senate the 
 intelligence of the death of Hon. John F. Rixey, late a Rep- 
 resentative from the State of Virginia, and transmitted the 
 resolutions of the House thereon. 
 
 The Vice-President laid before the Senate the following 
 resolunons of the House of Representatives, which were read: 
 
 In the House of representatives, 
 
 February 9, /907. 
 
 Resolved That the House has heard with deep regret and profound 
 sorrow of the death of the Hon. John F. Rixey, a Representative from 
 the State of Virginia. 
 
 Resolved, That a committee of seventeen Members of the House, with 
 such members of the Senate as may be joined, may be appointed to attend 
 the funeral at Culpeper, Va., and that the necessary expenses attending 
 the execution of this order be paid out of the contingent fund of the House. 
 
 Resolved, That the Sergeant-at-Arms be authorized and directed to take 
 such steps as may be necessary for properly carrying out the provisions of 
 this resolution. 
 
 Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the Senate 
 and transmit a copy thereof to the family of the deceased. 
 
 The Speaker announced the appointment of Mr. Jones, Mr. Hay, ^Ir. 
 Lamb Mr Flood, Mr. Maynard, Mr. Glass, Mr. Slemp, Mr. Southall, 
 Mr Sounders, of Virginia; Mr. Foss, of lUinois; Mr. Meyer, of Louisiana; 
 Mr William W. Kitchin, of North Carolina; Mr. Gregg, of Texas; Mr. 
 Williams, of Mississippi; Mr. De Armond, of Missouri; Mr. Burton, of 
 Delaware, and Mr. Slayden, of Texas, members of the committee on the 
 part of the House. 
 
 47 
 
48 Memorial Addresses: JoJm Frankliti Rixey 
 
 Mr. Daniel. Mr. President, this forenoon, as the Members 
 of the two Houses of Congress were assembling for their daily 
 task, intelligence came that the Hon. John Franklin Rixey, 
 who for five terms has represented the Eighth district of Vir- 
 ginia in the House of Representatives, had this morning de- 
 parted this life at his residence in this city. 
 
 I move, Mr. President, that this body, having received offi- 
 cial notification of his death, adopt the resolutions which I send 
 to the desk. 
 
 The \^ice-President. The Senator from \"irginia proposes 
 resolutions, which will be read. 
 
 The Secretary read the resolutions, as follows: 
 
 Resolved, That the Senate has heard with deep sensibility the announce- 
 ment of the death of Hon. John F. Rixey, late a Representative from the 
 State of Virginia. 
 
 Resolved, That a committee of seven Senators be appointed by the Vice- 
 President to join the committee appointed on the part of the House 
 of Representatives to take order for superintending the funeral of the 
 deceased. 
 
 Resolved, That the Secretary communicate these resolutions to the 
 House of Representatives. 
 
 The Vice-President. The question is on agreeing to the 
 re.solutions submitted b}' the Senator from Virginia. 
 
 The resolutions were unanimously agreed to. 
 
 The Vice-President appointed as the committee on the 
 part of the Senate, under the second resolution, Mr. Daniel, 
 Mr. Taliaferro, Mr. Dick, Mr. Pattenson, Mr. Ankeny, IVIr. 
 Flint, and Mr. Clarke of Arkansas. 
 
 Mr. Daniel. Mr. President, as a further mark of respect to 
 the memory of the decea.sed, I move that the Senate adjourn. 
 
 The motion was imanimou.sly agreed to; and (at 4 o'clock 
 and 25 minutes p. m. ) the Senate adjourned until Monday, 
 February 11, 1907, at 12 o'clock meridian. 
 
Proccedi)ip-s in tJie Senate 
 
 49 
 
 Wednesday, February 27, igoy. 
 Mr. Daniel. Mr. President, I take this occasion to give 
 notice that on Satiirdaj' afternoon, before a recess or adjourn- 
 ment, I shall ask the Senate to adopt appropriate resolutions 
 and to take becoming action concerning the late Representative 
 John F. Rixey, who recentlj^ died, and whose funeral has been 
 attended by a committee of this bod}'. 
 
 Saturday, March 2, igoy. 
 The Vice-President. The Chair lays before the Senate res- 
 olutions from the House of Representatives, which will be read. 
 The Secretary read the resolutions of the House, as follows : 
 
 In the Housk t)F Representatives, 
 
 February 2^, igoj. 
 
 Resolved, That as a mark of respect to the Hon. John F. Rixey, late 
 a Member of this House from the State of Virginia, and in pursuance of 
 the order heretofore made, the business of the House be now suspended to 
 enable his associates to paj- fitting tribute to his high character and dis- 
 tinguished services. 
 
 Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the Senate. 
 
 Resolved, That the Clerk be, and he is hereby, instructed to send a copy 
 of these resolutions to the family of the deceased. 
 
 Mr. Daniel. Mr. President, I beg leave to offer the resolu- 
 tions which I send to the desk. 
 
 The resolutions were read and unanimously agreed to, as 
 follows : 
 
 Resolved, That the Senate has heard with profound sorrow of the death 
 of Hon. John F. Rixey, late a Representative from the State of Virginia. 
 
 Resolved, That the business of the Senate be now suspended in order 
 that a fitting tribute may be paid to his memory, 
 
 H. Doc. 812, 59-2 4 
 
MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 
 
 Address of Mr. Daniel, of Virginia 
 
 Mr. President: When two days hence the Fifty-ninth 
 Congress shall cease and the term of the Sixtieth Congress 
 shall begin, there will be names accredited to the new roll 
 which will have none to answer thereto. Death has been 
 busy in this Congress. Four Senators and five Representa- 
 tives have ceased to be. This day three weeks ago John 
 Franklin Rixey, of Culpeper, Va., Representative of the 
 Eighth distric't, was numbered amongst them. He was the 
 able and effective Representative of that district for ten years. 
 He had been chosen, although absent from the State by reason 
 of his sickness, to succeed himself. No need for his presence. 
 The people knew him and were for him. The voice of the 
 Ruler of the Universe has overruled the voice of the people 
 and has disposed the purposes of man. 
 
 Mr. RixEY was born in Culpeper, near the county seat 
 
 which bears the county name, on the ist day of Augu.st, 1854. 
 
 He died in this city on the 9th day of February of the 
 
 present y r, at the home of his brother, Surgeon-General 
 
 Rixey, of the Navy. His body, attended by the committee 
 
 of the two Houses of Congress which had been appointed to 
 
 pay to him the last honors, and followed by many mourning 
 
 friends, was borne to his home and consigned to his native 
 
 dust. 
 
 51 
 
52 Memorial Addresses: John Fra7ikliii Rixey 
 
 There is a brief sketch of him in the Congressional 
 Directory, which recites as follows: That he was educated in 
 the common schools, at Bethel Academy, and the Universit}' 
 of Virginia; is a lawj^er and farmer; was Commonwealth's 
 attorney for Culpeper County twelve years; was elected to 
 the Fifty-fifth, Fifty-sixth, Fifty-seventh, and Fifty-eighth 
 Congresses, and reelected to the Fifty-ninth Congress, receiv- 
 ing 7,986 votes to 2,443 for his opponent. To this account 
 should be added that he was reelected to succeed himself at 
 the Congressional election of November, 1906. 
 
 For five terms he had faithfully served his people with dili- 
 gence and with successful attention to every duty committed to 
 his hands. 
 
 It is probable that there is no district in the United States, 
 unless it be the Congressional district of Maryland which ad- 
 joins the District of Columbia, which has .so many affairs to be 
 attended to in Washington as has this Eighth district of Vir- 
 ginia. ]\Iany of its people have located here. Many who are 
 engaged in Washington on official or other business have located 
 there. Many of them find employment here by rea.son of their 
 proximity and convenient access. The Representative of the 
 district has therefore entailed upon him multifarious duties 
 such as are but lightly shared by Representatives from distant 
 places. 
 
 With patience, with alacrity, with faithful and affectionate 
 regard for his people, as well as with a loyal and devout sense 
 of obligation to his country, Mr. RiXEV bestowed a constant 
 and unrelaxing devotion to his tasks. 
 
 The feelings of a past generation have died out save in honor 
 of the past. There is nothing of public .sentiment in Virginia 
 that is not in unison with the United States. Congressman 
 RixKv, though in boyhood he knew war in its sternest and 
 
Address of Mr. Daniel.^ of Virginia 53 
 
 bitterest wa3-s, represented to-day and to-morrow as much as 
 ever his brother, who heads the Medical Corps of our Naval 
 Department. 
 
 As a member of the Naval Committee of the House he dis- 
 tinguished himself by his knowledge of naval affairs, and he 
 was always to be found at the post of dut3^ His interest in and 
 attention to agriculture led to the measure that established the 
 experimental agricultural station in Alexandria County, just 
 across the Potomac River. 
 
 Of a fine mind, well trained in the schools, and with an earn- 
 est and energetic nature which was tireless and ceaseless in pur- 
 suing the ends it aimed at, few men have been so concentrative 
 in their endeavors or so successful in their attainment. 
 
 His boyhood was spent at the very focus of the active scenes 
 of war. From his father's house, where were the headquarters 
 of the Federal Army in the town of Culpeper, General Grant, on 
 the 3d of May, 1864, rode forth to the battle of the Wilderness. 
 During the four years while the storm of conflict raged over 
 northern Virginia scenes of swift recurring battles were familiar 
 to his eyes and the diapason of the cannonade familiar to his 
 ears. When war ended, the territory which he represented 
 and that adjoining had come to be known as ' ' the Flanders of 
 the War. ' ' 
 
 When the surviving Confederate soldiers returned to their 
 homes, Maj. Albert G. Smith, who had been wounded in Pick- 
 ett's charge at Gettj'sburg, and who I have heard described by 
 his comrades as standing on the heights with the hilt of a 
 sword in his hand, which had been broken by some hurtling 
 missile of the battle, established the Bethel Academy near the 
 town of Warrenton, in Fauquier. As L,ee went to the head of 
 Washington College, which became Washington and lyce Uni- 
 versity, so Major Smith now devoted himself to training the 
 
54 Memorial Addresses: John Franklin Rixey 
 
 hoys of the countryside in the ways of peace. Not forgetting 
 that peace must al\va5-s be prepared for war, and instinctively 
 knowing that " to ride, to shoot, and to tell the truth" was 
 the maxim of his people for the instruction of youth not less 
 than the ancient Persian, he made it a military as well as a 
 classical and mathematical academy. At one time one of his 
 tutors was Major Jenkins, of South Carolina, afterwards dis- 
 tinguished at Santiago, and many of his boys went forth with 
 the Army of the United States to the Spanish war. 
 
 In the Berkley School and in this academy young Rixey re- 
 ceived his early education, and then repaired to the Universit}- 
 of Virginia and to the study of law. 
 
 He was ere long elected Commonwealth's attorney for Cul- 
 peper County, and then commenced the Congressional career 
 which has been so unhappily closed by his death. 
 
 For scenic and for dramatic things and for those which at- 
 tract conspicuous notice, Mr. Rixey displayed but little taste. 
 His was a businesslike and practical mind, that looked to the 
 accomplishment of results rather than to ostentation or parade 
 on the road to them. 
 
 He was a lover of the country, and lived at a beautiful home 
 near Brand}' Station, which overlooks the field of the great 
 cavalry battle of June 9, 1863, between Stuart and Pleasanton. 
 A third of the war was fought in Virginia. The Eighth and 
 the adjoining districts, with that around Richmond and Peters- 
 burg, were its centers. Within view of the summit on which 
 stands his home are many other battlefields and scenes identi- 
 fied with the great .strife which on each side made ambition 
 virtue. 
 
 As success came to him he increa.sed his holdings of land. 
 A farm was to him the spot of most attractiveness. On the 
 
Address af Mr. Daniel., of Virginia 55 
 
 scarred Manassas field, scene of great wrestlings, as well as in 
 his native count}- of Culpeper, he rejoiced to see the grass 
 grow and his flocks and herds feed amidst scenes of pastoral 
 beaut3% 
 
 His was a wholesome as well as an active and busy life. The 
 domesticity of his nature manifested itself in his pursuits and 
 aspirations whenever public cares relaxed. 
 
 He was an able lawyer; well read in the books and well 
 practiced in his profession. He established high rank at a bar 
 where he was brought into competition and conflict with many 
 of the brightest and ablest minds of the State. 
 
 When he entered politics, he soon became a leader of the 
 people. The successive times that he was chosen to represent 
 them here attest their fidelity to him even as his own career 
 attests his fidelity to them. 
 
 If deep conviction, thorough devotion, and the enthusiasm of 
 ser\dce make the partisan, such, then, must Mr. Rixey be 
 counted. But he was not a man offensive either in words or 
 waj'S to those opposed to him. Standing for the independence 
 and honesty of opinion, for free action and free speech, he 
 respected those whose opinions were different from his own. 
 He observed the wisdom that comes from the heart. He obe)' ed 
 the wise counsel so well given by Allen G. Thurman, " the old 
 Roman," when he said " Keep a civil tongue in yoViX mouth." 
 
 Such is the characteristic of all well-mannered, self-respecting, 
 and well-poised men, who remember that by the very truths on 
 which their own rights are founded rest also side b)^ side with 
 them the equal rights of others. "So use thine own as not to 
 hurt another ' ' is the maxim of our common law, borrowed from 
 the broad-minded and deep-hearted jurisprudence of ancient 
 Rome, that lays its inflexible injunction on the tongue as well 
 
56 Memorial Addresses: John Franklin Rixey 
 
 as on the hand of man and keeps him within the bounds of his 
 own domain in the moralities, decencies, and civilities of life as 
 well as in his dealings with respect to material things. 
 
 Partisan he may have been — most of us are — but he never 
 trenched b}' word upon the character, as he did not by deed 
 upon the belongings, of another. 
 
 The Eighth district of Virginia is one of the most historic 
 regions of the United States. If its history were written, it 
 would involve the writing of the history of the whole country 
 from its colonial days to the present time. 
 
 When one considers even the names of the counties which 
 Mr. Rixey represented, he sees in them the names drawn from 
 memory of the motherland rather than from the new inspira- 
 tions of the Republic. 
 
 Culpeper County, of which he was a native and a resident, 
 was formed in 1 748 and named after Lord Culpeper, one of the 
 colonial governors of Virginia. 
 
 Fairfax County dates its origin to 1742 and bears the name 
 of Lord Fairfax, who held an immense grant from the English 
 Crown. Fauquier County separated from Prince William in 
 1759, and was called after Charles Fauquier, colonial governor 
 from 1758 to 1767. King George County, formed in 1720 from 
 Richmond County, takes its name from the English King. 
 Loudoun County, formed in 1757 from Fairfax, gets it name 
 from the Earl of Loudoun, who connnanded the British forces 
 during the latter part of the French war. Prince William 
 County, named after an English prince, was created from Staf- 
 ford and King George. Stafford, formerly a part of West- 
 moreland, was formed in 1675. Louisa, created in 1742 from 
 Hanover, and Alexandria, the newcomer — all alike bear the 
 ancient names. I have not examined to see, but, unless in 
 New iMigland, I doul)t if there is another Congressional district 
 
Address of Mr. Daniel^ of Virgi)iia 57 
 
 iu the United States which in all its counties save one — in this 
 case that of Alexandria — bears the old colonial names which 
 they bore when independence was declared. And Alexandria 
 County has the fine flavor of the ancient days, which it 
 acquired from the venerable city which was the home of both 
 Washington and lyce. 
 
 The traits of the fatherland are in them. But they are 
 Americans all; founders and lovers of freedom as the greatest 
 of human possessions; patriotic to the core; upholders of home 
 rule, but filled with the splendid aspiration of the reunited 
 nation. 
 
 They are lovers of the land, and on isolated plantations they 
 have planted pleasant homes. They have taken part not only 
 in the Indian wars that antedated the Revolution, but in every 
 war with which this country has been identified. I noted not 
 long since, in traversing some of the reminiscences of Culpeper, 
 that George Washington was surveyor of that county when he 
 was a youth of 17, in the service of Lord Fairfax, making his 
 own living and going out into the adventures of life before he 
 had yet become a man. In the records of that county there is 
 this entry: 
 
 20th July, 1749. George Washington, Gent, produced a commission 
 from the president and members of William and Mary College, appoint- 
 ing him to be surveyor of this county, which was read, and thereupon he 
 took the usual oaths to His Majesty's person and Government and took 
 and subscribed the abjuration oath and test, and then took the oath of 
 surveyor, according to law. 
 
 Four of our great Presidents are identified with its histor3^ 
 Washington's tomb is in Fairfax. Madison lived and rests in 
 Orange. Monroe for a time had his seat at Oak Hill, in Lou- 
 doun. Zachary Taylor was born in Orange. 
 
 When the Revolution broke out the Culpeper minute men 
 made a name for themselves, not only in the swift patriotism 
 
58 Memorial Addresses: John Franklni Rixey 
 
 with which they responded to the call of Governor Patrick 
 Henry, but by their conduct upon the field of battle. The 
 Culpeper minute men turned out for war the last time in the 
 Spanish war. From the day of the Revolution to this hour 
 they have always been ready to respond at a moment's warning 
 to their country's call. They float on their flag the picture of 
 a rattlesnake, with the legend "Don't tread on me!" Those 
 Culpeper minute men and the men of the adjoining counties 
 were soon formed into a regiment. Lawrence Taliaferro, a 
 kinsman of the distinguished Senator now representing Florida 
 in this body, was its colonel. 
 
 Stevens was its lieutenant-colonel, afterwards a general. 
 Thomas Marshall, father of the great Chief Justice, was its 
 major, and .serving as a heutenant was the incipient Chief 
 Justice himself. 
 
 There is a story told of this regiment at the battle of the 
 Great Bridge, which I like to refer to, because it is character- 
 istic of the great people who inhabit the region of Virginia 
 along the Potomac, and which those going westwardly in the 
 State and beyond it have carried with them. This regiment 
 encountered in the battle of the Great Bridge a regiment of 
 the British regulars. They were behind earthworks, and when 
 the British .regulars charged them they were beaten back. 
 Swift to heal, as quick and steady to fight, the Virginians 
 leaped over the breastworks and helped to bind the wounds 
 which they had made. 
 
 The people of this whole section are high spirited, chivalrous, 
 brave, quick to re.sent insult, firm and strong in resistance to 
 wrong, but at the same time one of the sweetest-tempered and 
 most hospitable people that one could meet upon a summer's 
 day. They are lovers of the land. They rejoice in the scenes 
 of the countryside, in the fields, in the .streams, in the woods. 
 
Address of Mr. Daniel^ of l^irgiiiia 59 
 
 In their libraries are good books that abound not in sensations. 
 They are good hunters and fine marksmen, and the}- are hos- 
 pitable hosts. The refinements of life abide amongst them, 
 and they are as gentle in peace as they are fierce and dauntle.ss 
 in war. 
 
 Mr. RixEY was a representative man of this countryside. His 
 father was a landholder. He himself had that land thirst which 
 made him buy and cultivate the land whenever he was able to 
 do so. He bespoke a people who loved home, who imbibe prin- 
 ciples of love of country from the fireside. They respect char- 
 acter above all things; never call without reverence the name 
 of woman. 
 
 The Representatives of this district have always been men of 
 mark. The district looks upon its Representative as a man who 
 must be one fit to hold a great and responsible office and wortln- 
 to discharge its trust and duty. Since the reconstruction period 
 but six men have represented it: Elliot Braxton, descended from 
 a signer of the Declaration of Independence; Eppa Hunton, 
 renowned first in his service in the legislature of his State and 
 in the State convention and then as a soldier, who led the iron- 
 sides of battle; John S. Barbour, accomplished in many waj^s — 
 in the studies of the academy; as president of a great railroad; 
 as chairman of a great party; equal in mental gra.sp and in 
 social dignity to any of the higher tasks of life. Then William 
 H. F. Eee, a brave soldier and a noble gentleman, a man whose 
 beautiful attachment to his every duty was like the esprit de 
 corps which converts the soldier to the cau.se which commands 
 his allegiance; then Elisha Meredith, a younger man of a new 
 generation, but one of a most noble and manly type; manly 
 and vigorous mold, generous, active, a true friend, a hardy 
 champion, a man of hope who died too young, and then suc- 
 ceeding him came John F. Rixey, whom we mourn to-day. 
 
6o Memorial Addresses: John Frciiikliu Rixey 
 
 Three of these Representatives have died while they served 
 in the House of Representatives, Lee and Meredith, and now, 
 also, Rixey. Two '^f them became Senators of the United 
 States — John S. Barbour and Eppa Hunton — and the former was 
 borne from this Chamber to his last home. The latter survives, 
 venerated of all. Who will be Mr. Rixey' s successor no man 
 knows, but we all know that these six gentlemen who have rep- 
 resented their State in the halls of Congress have represented 
 it and their country well, and that their successor has worthy 
 exemplars before him. 
 
 Mr. Rixey's home life was a happy one. He wedded Miss 
 Barbour, daughter of James Barbour, who was a lawyer, legis- 
 lator, and publicist, who was distinguished by the abilities 
 which have characterized the family to which he belonged. 
 For many years they dwelt together in the holy estate and in 
 the quiet hospitable home. We pause at its threshold. But 
 to its inmates go forth our deepest s>-mpathy for the loss 
 irreparable. We can neither retrieve nor heal it; we can 
 only bow before Him whose mercy endureth forever. 
 
 In the fifty-fourth j-ear of his age, while his ripened facul- 
 ties, cultivated by experience as well as by education, were at 
 maturity, and when they might have been of most l)enefit to 
 his country, to his family, and to his kind, he has been cut 
 down. There were premonitions of his end. A year ago, 
 when Congress adjourned, it was known that he was ailing. 
 It seemed that that dreadful disease, tuberculosis, had menaced 
 if not yet fully attacked him. He went to the wholesome 
 climate of Colorado seeking relief. But he sought it there in 
 vain. He returned to his home. During his absence he had 
 been chosen as his own succe.s.sor. But it was not to ]>e. He 
 was for .several months an invalid, and it l)ecanie evident that 
 the hand of the de.stroyer could not be stayed. Patient, sub- 
 
Address of Mr. Daniel^ of ViJ'ginia 6i 
 
 missive, meeting the fate in store for him with the fortitude 
 with which he had contemplated all the tasks and dangers and 
 tribulations of life, peacefully, at his brother's home in this 
 city, on the 9th day of last month, he breathed his last. 
 
 It is a characteristic of our race, Mr. President, and one 
 worthy to be cultivated and preserved, that they do not make 
 loud lamentations over the dead and do not seek ostentatious 
 funerals. When their time has come they step aside for the 
 generation that presses upon their heels. They would not add 
 one memory of grief and sorrow to those left behind. It can 
 be said of John F. Rixey that he performed a man's part in 
 life and did it well and faithfully. It is enough. 
 
 His kindred, his companions, and his people honored him. 
 Those dear to him loved him. Such was his reward. He 
 proved equal to all the tasks which he assumed. He has 
 passed hence, lea\'ing a name to be cherished by those who 
 loved him and to be honored and respected by those who knew 
 him. 
 
62 Memorial Addresses: John Fra7iklin Rixey 
 
 Address of Mr* Hopkins, of Illinois 
 
 Mr. President: Death is ever an unwelcome guest. He is 
 no respecter of person, no respecter of time or place. The 
 laughing schoolboy feels the clutch of his icy fingers and passes 
 from the pleasures and pastimes of childhood into the great 
 unknown. The gray-haired man, w^ho has conquered every 
 obstacle that appeared in his pathw^ay during a long and stren- 
 uous life, though surrounded by every comfort and luxury that 
 wealth can bring, responds to the call that death sends to him, 
 and leaves all and follows death out into the shadows and across 
 the dark waters that separate this life from a future existence. 
 
 However long may be the struggle, however fierce the con- 
 test, all alike must .sooner or later yield to that grim-visaged 
 mon.ster. 
 
 John F. Rixey has trodden the path prepared for him by 
 death long before his exit from this world, and has passed 
 into the great unknown. Many years before death finally 
 claimed him for his own he recognized that he was stricken 
 with a mortal disease, and, like the Christian philo.sopher that 
 he was, prepared to meet his final conqueror with that perfect 
 resignation that comes from a realization of a well-.spent life 
 here and an assurance that the transition from this life to 
 another will take him to that better world where all Christians 
 are taught the just will meet. 
 
 Death achieved no mastery over him. He fought the battle 
 as becomes a true Christian, and when the inevitable hour 
 approached welcomed death more in the spirit of a victor than 
 that of the vanquished. Dearly as he loved this life, his 
 family and friends, his native State and his country, he 
 
Address of Mr. Hopkins.^ of Illinois 63 
 
 believed that he was passing into that higher and holier 
 existence that we are all taught is the fortune of those who 
 follow the simple precepts of a Christian life. 
 
 I first met Mr, Rixky in the House of Representatives in the 
 Fift3'-fifth Congress. He had just been elected to the House 
 from the Eighth Virginia district, and I had been reelected from 
 the then Eighth district of Illinois. I had had a service of 
 some 3'ears in the House of Representatives and was well 
 acquainted with man}' of the older Members of Congress from 
 that State. That great Commonwealth and her public men 
 have always had a great interest for me. The Northwest 
 Territory, from which the State of Illinois was carved, was 
 once a possession of Virginia, and all loyal citizens of Illinois 
 take a natural pride in that vState and her public men. Mr. 
 RixEY was a typical Virginian. He had inherited that love of 
 country life that is characteristic of the great men of that 
 State from the time of Washington and Jefferson to that of 
 Lee and Wise. The men of mark in that State have been men 
 who were passionately fond of country life. 
 
 Mr. RiXEV did not possess the brilliant qualities of mind 
 that made Patrick Henry the first orator of his time and Robert 
 E. Lee one of the greatest militar}^ geniuses of his age. His 
 attainments were of the solid, substantial kind, that were so 
 marked in the t^'pe ot men like James Madison in the earlier 
 hi,story of the State, and more recently' in men like the late 
 Senator Barbour. 
 
 In his brief biographical sketch that he prepared for the 
 Congressional Directory he described himself as a lawyer and 
 a farmer. To men residing in great cities like Chicago, New 
 York, or Philadelphia this combination of farmer and lawyer 
 seems inconsistent, but it accurately described the life that was 
 led by Mr. Rixey. He w'as a country-bred lawyer, and when 
 
64 Memorial Addresses: John Franklin Rixey 
 
 lie was not engaged in court or over his law books in the prepa- 
 ration of a case for trial, was out upon his plantation enjoying 
 to the fullest limit the pleasures of rural life. It is said that 
 he was very successful at the bar. From my knowledge of 
 him as a Member of Congress, I can well appreciate the fact 
 of his great success with courts and juries. He had an air 
 of honesty that disarmed opposition, and possessed a clearness 
 of speech and a cogency of reasoning that must have made him 
 very effecti\-e with the jury of twelve or with the judge. 
 
 His experience upon his farms in coming in close touch with 
 nature gave him keener perceptions and a nicer judgment on 
 all questions of right and justice than can be acquired in a 
 smoky law ofhce in a great city. There is something about life 
 in the country that broadens and enlightens the mind. Men 
 who follow intellectual pursuits are greatly strengthened and 
 broadened by this contact with nature that one derives from 
 country life. John Marshall would never have given to the 
 country and to the world those marvelous opinions constru- 
 ing the Constitution of our common country had he been 
 deprived of the benefits and influences exerted upon him in 
 that ideal country life that he enjoyed during the thirty-odd 
 years that he was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the 
 United States. 
 
 The late Judge Drummond, of Chicago, is a man whose 
 name is revered and loved by all lawyers who had the good 
 fortune to practice in the circuit court of the United States at 
 Chicago — the court over which he presided. I have often 
 heard it said by those who were most familiar with him that 
 whenever he was troubled over legal questions that were argued 
 before him or when his mind was clouded or uncertain on what 
 course he should adopt on litigation pending before him, he 
 would go out into the country to his little farm, and there, 
 while he was overseeing the care of his cattle and sheep and 
 
Address of Mr. Hopkins, of Illinois 65 
 
 hogs and horses, he solved the problems that perplexed him 
 while in his court room in the great city; and when he came 
 back to his court he came with a mind clarified and broadened 
 by his country experience and administered the law in a spirit 
 of fairness and justice that has placed his name among the 
 greatest judges of this or any other country. 
 
 Mr. RiXEY naturally, from his mode of life, took a deep, 
 interest in politics, and that he should eventually represent his 
 people in Congress was as natural and as inevitable as that 
 night follows day. His practice at the bar in the circuit carried 
 him over many of the counties of his district. The people in 
 the court room learned of his high character, his candor, and 
 his fidelity to duty, and when the time came in his career when 
 he felt that he could abandon in whole or in part his law 
 practice the people of the Eighth Virginia district honored 
 themselves by electing him to the House of Representatives of 
 the United States. The repeated elections which followed his 
 first, show how well he met the expectations of his constituents 
 and how fully he discharged all of the duties of a Representative 
 in Congress. ' I found him during the Fifty-fifth, Fifty-sixth, 
 and Fifty-seventh Congresses, in which I served with him, 
 always alert when the interests of his constituents or of his 
 State were involved. He was a broad-minded, patriotic citizen, 
 and while he never forgot the people of his district or of his 
 State, he w^as always quick to respond to any question that 
 involved the true interests of his country. 
 
 Mr. President, Virginia will undoubtedly have in the future, 
 as she has had in the past, men to represent her in the Congress 
 of the United States of marvelous oratorical ability, but she 
 will have no one, in my judgment, who will be more faithful 
 to her interests or more true to his ideals than was John F. 
 
 RlXEY. 
 
 H. Doc. 812, 59-2 5 
 
66 Memorial Addresses: John Franklin Rixey 
 
 Address of Mr. HEMENWAYt of Indiana 
 
 Mr. President: I desire to add a few words of tribute to 
 the memor}^ of John Franklin Rixey. I served with him in 
 the lower House of Congress, and there learned to respect and 
 admire him. He was a member of the Committee on Naval 
 Affairs, and my position on the Committee on Appropriations 
 frequently brought me in personal contact with the members of 
 his committee, and I shall never forget the industry, patience, 
 and patriotism with which Mr. Rixey discharged his duties as 
 a Representative of the great State of Virginia. We differed 
 in politics, but above partisanship there always shone out from 
 his character the higher and nobler sentiments of a patriotic 
 American citizen. 
 
 He was a typical Virginian, and he was proud of her history. 
 He knew Virginia as the great State that she is, that has 
 furnished to our country some of our most noted statesmen and 
 greatest jurists. He was born in Culpeper Count}- August i, 
 1854, during the days when public sentiment was arraying itself 
 on one side or the other of the question that seven years later 
 resulted in the greatest war the world has ever witnessed. His 
 earlier impres.sions were formed during the days when men 
 thought deep and strong, when martial nuisic filled the air and 
 soldiers were marching to war. Though he lived in a section 
 of the country where the fruits of war were most bitter and 
 where the hand of destruction fell most heavily, yet in his life 
 and ]>ublic service there was naught but the broadest states- 
 manship that rejoices in a great united country. 
 
 Words of eulogy can not add to or detract from the fame of 
 any man, but when offered as they are to-day they do credit to 
 
Address of Mr. Heniciizvay.^ of Indiana 67 
 
 those who speak them. Perhaps no higher tribute can be paid 
 a man in public life than the tribute that he labored earnestl)' 
 and faithfully to bring about matters of public benefit, and 
 perhaps no public man who had an ambition to serve the people 
 faithfully and earnestl}' would desire a greater compliment than 
 to have it said of him "he succeeded." 
 
 Measured by this test, Mr. Rixet'.s life was complete. He 
 not only served his people diligentl}' and faithfully and accom- 
 plished much good, but he made many friends, who shall always 
 remember him pleasantly and kindly. 
 
68 Memorial Addresses: John Franklm Rixey 
 
 Address of Mr. Carmack, of Tennessee 
 
 Mr. President: The death of John F. Rixey was to me 
 a personal grief. I served with him as a Member of the House, 
 was brought into close and frequent contact with him in com- 
 mittee, and learned to know him — head and heart. We entered 
 the House together. We became friends almost as soon as we 
 became acquaintances. This friendship, upon vsxy part, was 
 based upon the only sure and enduring foundation of friend- 
 ship, an admiration for the solid qualities of the man. I 
 observed in my association with him that his conscientiousness 
 in the performance of public duties was marked and exceptional. 
 He loved to know things thoroughly and to do things well. He 
 sought with earnest purpose to know his premises perfectl}^ 
 before he reasoned to the conclusion. He brought to the con- 
 sideration of public questions a mind that was lucid, clear, and 
 logical. It seemed to me that he labored to cast out of his 
 thought all prejudice and preconceived opinion when he had to 
 deal with a particular case. He had faxed principles which he 
 held, not for show nor for purposes of academic discussion. 
 They were to him rules of life, and he made his opinions and 
 his conduct in particular cases conform rigidl)^ thereto. Truth 
 and right and justice were always present with him. 
 
 In dealing with public matters his thought was directed to 
 the merits of the question in debate rather than to the temper 
 or disposition of his audience, and his power of persuasion la}' 
 in the force of his reasoning, the lucidity of his statement, and 
 his clear comprehension of the subject. He was a man of abil- 
 ity — of much more than usual ability — and yet it was his char- 
 acter more than his intellect that commanded respect. The 
 
Address of Mr. Cariiiack.^ of Tennessee 69 
 
 same might be said of every man who is truh' great. It was 
 true of Washington; it was true of Lee; it was true of Alfred. 
 John F. Rixey had a character which made him love the right; 
 he had an intellect which enabled him to understand and 
 defend it. 
 
 He therefore could always command attention. While never 
 a rhetorical, he was always an interesting, speaker, for he brought 
 to the discussion of every question that most compelling of all 
 faculties, earnestness — an evident sincerit}' and a strong con- 
 viction. His intellectual abilities would not have made him 
 what he \vas if they had not been coupled with love of truth 
 and justice. I saw and observed this quality in him when we 
 were members of the Committee on Claims in the House of 
 Representatives. No false or unjust demand upon the public 
 Treasury could evade his relentless questioning; Ijut he was as 
 eager to do justice to the claimant as he was to the Govern- 
 ment, and every honest claim found in him an earnest champion. 
 
 Before he entered public life he had w^on distinction as a 
 lawj'er in competition with a bar famed for legal lore and 
 skilled in forensic combat. There were perhaps many of those 
 whom he met in such combat who had, in the popular sense of 
 the term, a greater gift of eloquence than he. He was a match 
 for the best of them, because he was learned in the law, indus- 
 trious in the preparation of his cause, and clear and logical in 
 its presentation, and had that indescribable power of character 
 which gives double power to the intellectual faculties. Those 
 who knew him as a lawj-er not onl}- testify' to his ability, but to 
 the fidelity with which he observed the ethics and honorable 
 traditions of a noble profession. This was a part of his character 
 as a gentleman, born and bred. 
 
 From my first acquaintance with John F. Rixev he seemed 
 a man in feeble and failino- health, whose mental energies held 
 
yo Memorial Addresses: John Franklin Rixey 
 
 disease at bay. In the latter years of his service this fatal 
 disease made steady progess upon him, but he clung heroically 
 to his post of duty, disregarding the warnings of his physicians 
 and the pleadings of his friends that he might be faithful — faith- 
 ful to the last— to his trust. He felt that the high honors his 
 people had bestowed upon him demanded of him a great sac- 
 rifice in their service. He made that sacrifice to the uttermost — 
 ' ' greater love hath no man than this. ' ' 
 
 John F. Rixev w^as not only e.steemed and respected, but by 
 those who knew him he was loved. He had that charm of 
 manner which goes with a pure and upright soul — the charm 
 which, unconsciously and without effort, .sheds itself abroad, a 
 charm which all men feel, but w'hich none can define. 
 
 It is to me a melancholy pleasure to lay my humble wreath 
 upon the coffin of so grand a man. I hope the few but earnest 
 words I speak may be of some comfort to his family and his 
 friends. Whenever such a life goes out there is the comforting 
 thought that such a character and such a life can never be in 
 vain. The pure .spirit of John F. Rixey has passed beyond the 
 bounds of this mortal life; but he lives, not alone in the loving 
 hearts of friends and family, Init in the bles.sed influence he 
 left behind, which will help to make in his own image the lives 
 of those who come after him. 
 
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