AN ADDRESS 
 
 JOHN PATTON, 
 
 Delivered at Lansing, Mich., October 12, 1898, at the 
 
 Unveiling of the Statue, Erected by the 
 
 State of Michigan, in the Capitol 
 
 Grounds, to the 
 
 Memory 
 
 of 
 
 AUSTIN BLAII^ 
 
 WAR GOVERNOR. 
 
 .^ 
 
Class RS^;^ 
 
 HRESE.VTCD in' 
 
\ 
 
Compliments ot- 
 
 JOHN PATTON, 
 
 Grand Rapids, Mich. 
 
 AN ADDRESS 
 
 JOHN PATTON, 
 
 Delivered at Lansing, Mich., October 12, 1898, at the 
 
 Unveiling of the Statue, Erected by the 
 
 State of Michigan, in the Capitol 
 
 Grounds, to the 
 
 Memory 
 
 of 
 
 AILSTIX' I^LAII^ 
 
 WAR GOVERNOR. 
 
I<rtl«> • .^'« 
 
 Oft 
 
AN ADDRESS 
 
 BV 
 
 JOHN PATTON, 
 
 AT 
 
 LANSING, MICHIGAN, 
 OCT. 12, 1898. 
 
 At the Unveiling of the Statue, erected to the 
 
 memory of 
 
 GOV. AUSTIN BLAIR. 
 
 We have met to witness the completion of an hon- 
 orable work, which was inspired by the reverent and 
 g-rateful homag'e a patriotic people pays to illustrious 
 public service. In the presence of the Chief Executive 
 and State Officers, the Honorable Secretary of War, 
 members of Congfress and of the Legislature, surrounded 
 by our rulers and Judg-es, and these gray haired veterans, 
 the representatives of that great army, now so sadl}' deci- 
 mated, of ninety thousand of the sons of Michigan who 
 responded so cheerfully to his call in the war for the 
 Union; with these tattered and glorious battle flags 
 brought out from their holy resting places in yonder 
 capitol to do him reverence, mute but more eloquent than 
 words of the victorious fields on which they were carried, 
 by the loyal hands to which he committed them, so many 
 of which, alas, have been stiffened in death: with the 
 
"Hero of Santia<jo,"* the yallant Shatter and these later 
 soldier boys browned by southern suns and tresh from 
 the fields which have added unfadin<r laurels to our 
 arms, advanced the American name and carried the bles- 
 sinfjs of liberty to the islands of the sea, with these — and 
 this vast concourse of our citizens, we have assembled to 
 do honor to the memory of our j^reat war jrovernor, and 
 unveil the statue of Austin Blair. 
 
 His achievements have already been yiven to the 
 paye of history, and the heroic epoch in which he lived 
 and laliorecl, is fast recedinof into the misty twilig-ht of 
 le^endarj^ fame. A g"eneration has grown to manhood 
 since his yreatest work was done here, and now, with 
 partisan rancor and passion all buried in his grave, we 
 have come to recall his fruitful life and public service as 
 he stands revealeil in tlie i)erspective of tlu' i)ast. 
 
 To you, who were his devoted friends and contempo- 
 raries, I can present no picture of the man. as he was, 
 which can equal that which is jihotographed on your 
 memories, nor would I attempt it: anil only an inspired 
 tongue could properly portray his lofty patriotism and 
 unwavering courage, his unsullied integritv and conse- 
 cration to duty, and his heroic services in those hours of 
 trial when, with the mightiest things in his keeping, he 
 was faitlifiil and true. 
 
 It is the first statue erected here by the state in 
 honor of any of her renowned citizens, and he has been 
 singled out for this high honor because his career was 
 one of ])atriotic devotion to the interests of Michigan and 
 entitles him to this recognition. At Gettysburg when 
 the Michigan monuments were dedicated and for the last 
 time he said farewell to the soldiers of Michigan, in that 
 
— D — 
 
 patlietic address which l)rou<^'ht tears to the eyes, he 
 said, " The teae-hings of heroes will not pass away." It 
 is ill this spirit toda}' we erect this memorial, that he 
 may stand here as a teacher of that heroic time, and that 
 the noble influences which he exerted may be recalled 
 and perpetuated amono- our ciiildrens' children. 
 
 The accomplished sculptor has produced a work of 
 art which appeals by its own merits. It shows him in 
 a characteristic pose as he was accustomed to address 
 the people in a g^reat crisis, in the attitude of public 
 speaking-, with the whole form tlirilling- with nervous 
 enero-y as he advocated the cause of his country. It is a 
 likeness of him which none who ever saw him as he lived 
 and moved among- us will fail to recog-nize. 
 
 Its position, too, is a most fitting- one, here in the 
 walk leading- to the capitol, the symbol of the State for 
 which he made such costly sacrifices and served so well, 
 and the thousands who shall pass this spot every year 
 will see this silent lironze fig-ure and these eloquent ex- 
 tracts from his messagfes on the granite pedestal, and re- 
 call the story of his brave and incorruptible life. 
 
 It is a singular parallel that in the year of his birth, 
 the public questions which were discussed, were much 
 the same as those wliich are of absorbing- interest now. 
 Knvironment and the first knowledg-e of public matters 
 have much to do with making- the child but the father of 
 the man, and the first voices to which Austin Blair list- 
 ened in his earlv youth undoubtedly had much to do with 
 his subsequent career. When he first opened his eyes 
 eigfhtv years ag;o in the log- cabin in Western New York, 
 in Tompkins county, where his father, Georg-e Blair, 
 had '"felled the first tree, liuilt the first log; cabin, and 
 
burned the first log- heap." Gov. I)c Witt Clinton had just 
 beffun that wonder of enyineerinor, the Erie canal. Com- 
 pleted seven years later, it married the lakes to the sea. 
 solved the problem of cheap transportation, and by bring- 
 ing' the products of the west through the Empire state, 
 poured a steady stream of wealth into it which filled it 
 with prosperous inland cities and made New York the 
 commercial metropolis of the nation. The people every- 
 where were discussing internal improvements, our rela- 
 tions to Spain, and the Canadian fisheries as they are 
 now. The Seminole war and (len. Jackson's forcible 
 anne.xation of East Florida had made war with Spain 
 almost unavoidable. It resulted finally in the peaceful 
 acquisition of the Floridas and the glory of military con- 
 quest, stirred the enthusiasm of the country and made 
 Jackson the hero of the hour. With his strong rugged 
 figure appearing on the horizon <as a possible candidate 
 for the presidency, Henry Clay from his place in the sen- 
 ate deplored the impending ilanger when " liberty in 
 this republic would be overthrown by military chieft- 
 ains." It was in that vear Webster made his famous 
 speech in the Dartmouth college case, and at Abbotts- 
 ford. Scott was writing the Waverly novels. 
 
 Coincident with his birth was precipitated the 
 debate on slavery which raged until its final aboli- 
 tion. In that same year, ISIH. then' occurred an 
 event momentous in its results. The political balance 
 between the slave and free states had. by tacit con- 
 sent, been maintained ever since 178') and the states 
 had been admitted alternately as representing either 
 slavery or freedom. It was thought that this 
 course was essential to the very existence of the 
 
unicin, and the excitement can be imagined when on the 
 day the bill to admit Alabariia came before the senate 
 Missouri knocked at the door of the house of representa- 
 tives. This was the first chang-e in the manner of ad- 
 mission ; and to a young- congressman from New York, 
 James Talmadgfe. then but thirty years of age, who 
 served but one term and was never heard of agfain, is due 
 the honor of moving- the restriction to the enabling- act for 
 the admission of Missouri, which forbade the further in- 
 troduction of slaves and promised freedom to the chil- 
 dren of those already there. This was the electric touch 
 which set the g-iant forces in motion, the spark which 
 enkindled the flame of passionate debate which burned 
 with fury until it was forever quenched in the blood of 
 civil war. 
 
 Waterloo had been foug-ht, the face of the foreig-n 
 world had been changfed, the Spanish-American colonies 
 were in revolution, and Henry Clay with thrilling- elo- 
 quence was pleading- for their liberties and uttering- those 
 impassioned speeches which have been quoted so often 
 in the past three years. It was the echo from these con- 
 tests which came to him on the farm and in the school, 
 and he could not help but listen to it. 
 
 " Who," said Josiah Ouincy to John Randolph, " was 
 the most eloquent orator you ever heard? " "The most 
 eloquent orator I ever heard," replied Randolph, " was 
 a woman, a slave, a mother, and her rostrum was the 
 auction block." This orator appealed straig-ht to the 
 liberty-loving- heart of Austin Blair as she had to that 
 of his father before him, and at Cazenovia seminary and 
 Union college, the picture of the slave mother and her 
 child was ever before him. What Burke so sadlv said 
 
— 8— 
 
 of his son wlio was cut off in carlv vmitli. mitjht have 
 been said of liim " He was made a public creature." 
 
 He was a born leader ot men. and a study of his life 
 brings jironiinently before us the fact that in every place 
 he filled he assumed and exercised the leadership which 
 came naturally to him. 
 
 He served on the Judiciary committee in the legfisla- 
 ture, was a member of the Ct)nference Committee in the 
 Buffalo Free Soil convention, served on the Committee 
 on Resolutions at the birth of the republican party in 
 1854. was Chairman of the Michijjan delegation in the 
 National Republican Convention of 18(j(l, and was one of 
 the leadinjjf spirits in the conference of loyal governors 
 at Altoona in 18()2. He was a member of the Committee 
 of Foreiffn Affairs in the 4(tth Conyress. and Speaker 
 Blaine recog^nized his talents by mal<in<^- liim a member 
 of the Ways and Means Committee in the 41st. and he 
 was Chairman of the Committee on Claims in the 42d 
 Congfress. He was always a leader, and his talents trave 
 him instant recoifnition wherever he was placed. 
 
 When he be^an his i)rofessional life at Jackson in 
 1841, to the youn<i' lawyer came the same tem])tati(ms 
 which had beset Phillips and Sumner in the early part of 
 their lives. He was an educated man, conscious of super- 
 ior powers, just -enterinf^' on a profession which prom- 
 ised wealth and distinction, with slavery dominalinj^ 
 legislation, defended from the pulpit and the bench, 
 with the avenues of preferment closed to him who would 
 disturb it, and as he stood at the parting- of the ways, 
 on one side were compromise and ease, on the other con- 
 tumely and bitterness; but it is to his everlastinj,*- honor 
 that he did not hesitate which to choose. He took the 
 
— 9— 
 
 slave for his client and said, as did Martin Luther, 
 "Here I stand, I can take no other course. God help 
 me!" It is a leaf in the wreath of laurel which crowns 
 him that in the first legislature in which he sat in 1845 
 as a member of the Judiciary Committee, he brought in 
 an earnest minority report againt all color and race dis- 
 tinction as applied to the elective franchise and advo- 
 cated strikino- the word '-white" from the constitution 
 of the state. Remember, he did this against the advice 
 and pleadings of his timid friends who said it would 
 defeat him at the next election, as it did; but this 
 was Austin Blair who never did a public act with a 
 thought of how it would affect his personal fortunes. 
 He was not politic, he was not moved by expediency. 
 He had enlisted under the banner of freedom, and know- 
 ing that he was right, he was devoted to duty wherever 
 
 it led him. 
 
 He was a man of sublime courage and flawless 
 
 integrity. 
 
 No corporation was ever powerful enough to buy 
 his vote or pen. No agent ever soiled his hand with a 
 bribe, and his honesty was as unquestioned as an axiom, 
 as bright as the stars. He was never owned by any 
 human being, he feared no one but God, and he loathed 
 the arts of the demagogue and despised the tactics of 
 the trimming politician. Public office was to him but the 
 opportunity to be of service to his state and country, 
 :ind was never used for personal profit. He believed in 
 parties, but considered them only a means toward an 
 end, and he did not, as a member of congress hesitate to 
 attack corruption, whether he found it in the office of 
 
-10— 
 
 the Postmaster General or the Secretaiv <if the Navy of 
 the administration of his party. 
 
 (iovernor Blair was a man of stroni;- feeliny, in- 
 tensely in earnest for a cause or a man, and he shared in 
 the passionate admiration men had for Henry Clay. He 
 clunff to his fortunes until the Whiy convention in 1848 
 passed him by for Tavlor. when he met with the Free 
 Soil convention at Buffalo and helped to nominate Van 
 Buren and Adams. If he had no other title to remem- 
 brance, his name would still be honored for the promi- 
 nent part he took in the great uprising- in this state in 
 IH.^4 after the passajje of the Kansas and Nebraska act, 
 when Whij^s and Free Soilers, Liberty men and Demo- 
 crats, tlun}^- party ties to the winds and founded the 
 Republican party. He stood beside such men as Chand- 
 ler of the lion heart. Bin^>'ham, Howard and Gorham, 
 who -pays a tribute to him by his presence here today, 
 and is full of years and honors. When the committee on 
 resolutions met untler the clump of trees at the edg^e 
 of the oak opening- at Jackson to deliberate on that 
 terrific arraignment of slaverv. Austin Blair was a 
 member of it. He shared in its honors with that g^reat 
 man. Jacob M. Howard who sleeps at Elmwood, in 
 Detroit, under a stone on which are inscribed the words 
 of the thirteenth amendment to the constitution f)t the 
 United States, for its passagfe was due to him. His 
 whole heart and soul were in the movement to elevate 
 Seward to the presidency and no man was more pained 
 at the defeat of his idol by the comparatively unknown 
 Lincoln at Chicag-o ; and yet for the cause, with tears 
 in his voice, he supported the nomination in a short 
 speech of rare power and eloquence. Nominated by his 
 
—11— 
 
 party for Governor, hu threw himself into that memor- 
 able canvass with all his energ"v, and was elected by 
 20,000 majority. 
 
 When he took his seat here in January, 1S()1, the 
 storm of rebellion was imminent, the state treasury 
 was bankrupt, and the treasurer a fuyitive from 
 justice ; good men were in dispair, and the air was 
 filled with alarm and uncertaintv, as the verv founda- 
 tions of our government were threatened. No yox'ernor 
 ever confronted a more alarming- situation, but he was 
 equal to it, and his first messag-e g^ave hope to the timid 
 and was potential in the unparalled awakeningf of the 
 north which followed the attack on Sumter. What 
 thrilling" memories come as we hear ag^ain the bugle 
 blast of that first messagfe I How set and determined 
 these ring-ing- words on the eve of battle: 
 
 "They who think that this g-ovenment can be dis- 
 rupted peacfully, have read history to no purpose. The 
 sons of the men who carried arms in the seven vears' 
 war with the most powerful naticm in the world, to 
 establish this g"overnment, will not hesitate to make 
 equal sacrifices to maintain it. I recommend to you to 
 make manifest to the gentlemen who represent this state 
 in the two houses of Congress, that Michigan is loyal to 
 the Union, the Constitution and the Laws, and will de- 
 fend them to the uttermost, and to proffer to the 
 President of the United States the whole military power 
 of the state for that purpose." 
 
 What stirring words of hope and courage he uttered 
 during these stormy years! The Puritan and the sol- 
 dier of Cromwell spoke in him again when he said, in 
 
—12- 
 
 1862 — when tlu- niyht \v;is dnrk and the way was uncer- 
 tain: 
 
 "No property' of a rebel ouyht to be free from conlis- 
 cation. not even a sacred slave; he who is not for the 
 Union in this mortal struffyle is ajfainst it. The hifi'h- 
 est dictates of patriotism, justice and humanity combine 
 to demand that the war should be conducted to a speedv 
 close, upon principles of the most heroic ener<»"y and ret- 
 ributive ]3ower. Hurl the Union forces, which outnum- 
 ber him two to one, upon his whole line like a thunder- 
 bolt, pav them out of his property, feed them from his 
 <rranaries, mount them upon his horses and carry them 
 in his wajjons, if he has any, and let him feel the full 
 force of the storm of war which he has raised." 
 
 From the spriny of 1S61 until tlie war closed, over 
 ninety thousand men were enlisted and put into service. 
 Thev com|)rised thirty reg^iments of infantry, one 
 reyiment of sharpshooters, one regiment of engineers 
 and mechanics, thirteen batteries of light artillery 
 and eleven regiments of cavalry. Nearly all were 
 volunteers. Michigan filled every quota, and it is 
 ever to be remembered that, owing to his efforts, 
 she was ready when the contest opened and her 
 troops under Willco.x were among the first to enter 
 the national capital. The great question was not 
 who should go, but who shoulil be compelled to stay. 
 With rare foresight Gov. Blair otlicered the early regi- 
 ments with men who were experienced soldiers and he 
 gave to the Union cause and history such names as 
 Richardson. Roberts, Poe, Custer and Phil. Sheridan. 
 Through all those years of agony he labored here as 
 few men have, sacrificing all he had for the cause of the 
 
—13— 
 
 union. 1 can weave no lairer <;"arland for him than to 
 sav that he was g'overnor of Michig'an from 1S()1 to 18()5 
 at a salary of (.me thousand doHars a year, and witli 
 opportunities to enrich himself on every hand, he retired 
 from office an impoverished man. 
 
 We may say of him, as he said of the soldiers at the 
 dedication of the monument at Detroit: "In the hearts 
 of a gTateful people, in the history of a most memoralile 
 and victorious struggle, in a literature overflowing- with 
 eulog"y and in a well deserved applause of all mankind 
 who love liberty antl hate oppression, is written the no- 
 i)le epitaph that will stand as long" as anything" human 
 endures." 
 
 How beautiful his reference there to the dead. It 
 sounds as if it had been written for this day : 
 
 "If we could summon them from their resting" places 
 today and bring" them before you here in their martial 
 array, the closed column would fill all these streets and 
 avenues with an army more than ten thousand strong", and 
 how many old familiar faces would look out from the 
 noblest of armies as it filed past. How many sad and 
 "■lorious memories would come throngfing" back upon us of 
 a victorious and martial combat. Heroic death and 
 g"lorious victory would rise before our vision, and how 
 exultingfly should we behold the tattered, blood-be- 
 sprinkled flag"s carried by the hands that upheld them 
 trium])hantly in battle."" 
 
 He earned the title of "The Soldier"s Friend,"' and no 
 letter ever came from the humblest private which re- 
 maincil unanswered. His sleepless care followed them in 
 the shock of battle, w-as with them in the hospitals among" 
 the wounded, and he tenderly received and sent to the 
 
— u— 
 
 lovitiiT ones the honored dead. He bore uncomplaininy-ly 
 the weijrhtiest burdens, and we can imaifine his ni^fht 
 viofils in this citv. when all that we held dear was im- 
 periled. He cared not only for the soldier in the field, 
 hut fur the wife and children left behind and saw that 
 they did not suffer. This was promised to induce en- 
 listments and was faithfully kept at a larg-e e.xpense to 
 the places charged with the execution of the laws which 
 had been passed for this purpose. The office of gover- 
 nor is at all times full of cares and perple.xities, but in 
 time of war its burdens are well-nigh overwhelming. 
 He must see that every call of the general government 
 is complied with, every duty ])erformeil. He raises the 
 regiments and commissions every ofBcer. He is blamed 
 for the incompetency and neglect of others, and he 
 stands between the people and the harpies who at sucii 
 times seek to plunder the state. For four years his 
 days and nights were given to the consideration of cares 
 iniunnerahk. and l)unlens that were almost overpower- 
 ing, and he earned and has the full measure of our grat- 
 itude. 
 
 In the crisis of rebellion, the strongest men came to 
 the front in official life, and it was an extremely fortu- 
 nate thing that when the war ojiened, the governors of 
 the loyal states were men of such pre-eminent intellect- 
 ual abilitv and actuated by such loft}' patriotism. They 
 have won immortal renown as " war governors." and 
 among them all, Austin Blair took high rank. It is a 
 galaxy of names which has not been surpassed in the 
 historv of our country. Massachusetts furnished John 
 A. Andrew, whose eloquence and patriotism link his 
 name inseparably with the great struggle; Buckingham 
 
—15— 
 
 of Connecticut, was a beloved citizen and a leader of 
 men who "wore the white flower of a blameless life." 
 Curtin. of Pennsylvania, was eloquent and energ-etic 
 and had a most captivating- and winning personality. 
 Morton, of Indiana, was a giant in debate, a man of un- 
 l)endino- will, in the prime of life, and fit to make the 
 great battle which he fought in Indiana. Kirkwood, of 
 Iowa, was a leader of great power, strong at every 
 point. Yates, of Illinois, was popular and able. And 
 it is the testimony of James G. Blaine that "Austin 
 Blair, of Michigan, was a worthv compeer of these emi- 
 nent officials and administered his high trust with honor 
 to himself and advantage to his country." 
 
 The war governors occupied a peculiar relation 
 towards President Lincoln, and he was accustomed to 
 confer with them frequently. Every call for troops 
 went to them, and on them was cast the responsibility 
 of seeing that it was responded to. They visited the 
 departments at Washington frequently, and were 
 brought into intimate association with the President 
 and Secretary of War, and he leaned on them and 
 trusted them as he did few other men. 
 
 Gov. Blair has left a manuscript history of a meet- 
 ing of the loyal governors in 1862, which is an important 
 contribution to the history of the war and has not yet 
 been published. It is called " The Conference of Loyal 
 Governors at Altoona, Pennsylvania, September 24, 
 1862." The histories of the time speak of it simply as 
 a meeting where those governors conferred, issued an 
 address to the President and asked him to "call for a 
 force of volunteers for one year's service, of not less than 
 100,000 in the aggregate, the quota of each state to be 
 
—16— 
 
 raised after it sh.ill have tilled its cjuota of the requisi- 
 tions already made." 
 
 It was a private conference and was unreported, and 
 the reasons for holdiny it were merelv a matter of con- 
 jecture, and few Utiew why it was held. It was called 
 at a time when the splendidly equipped armv of the Po- 
 tomac under McClellan. which was expected to capture 
 Richmond, had suffered tlefeat in the Peninsula cam- 
 jjaig'n in the seven days" ti'fhting' before Richmond. 
 Manassas had been lost and Pope had been forced inside 
 the fortifications at Washin.ifton. It was a period of 
 yfreat ^loom and despondency, and the movements of 
 (ien. Lee's army north, for the invasion of the border 
 states, filled the country with apprehension. There 
 was but little volunteerinff, there was no draft law. and 
 loval men were in despair. 
 
 Gov. Curtin was sick in the City of New York and 
 there met Secretary Seward who, panic-stricken, had 
 the mavor of Philadelphia with him and was about to 
 call upon the maN'ors of New York and Boston to advise 
 some method for increasing- the army. Additional troops 
 were an absolute necessity, and the President, in this 
 peril, hesitated to issue the call for fear it would not be 
 responded to. (iov. Curtin sugfg-ested that it would be 
 better for the governors of the loyal states to meet and 
 take action in the matter, and on communicating with 
 the President, he g-ave his approval. The governors 
 were reached bv wire and a majority of them met at 
 Altoona, but under brighter skies, for Antietam had 
 been fou<rht on Sept. 17, and on Sept. 22 the emancipa- 
 tion proclamation had been issued. Lee's army had not 
 been destroyed, as it should have been, after Antietam. 
 
— 17— 
 
 and the situation was still perilous. A ring-ing- address 
 was written by Andrew and sig-ned by the most of 
 those present and the governors in person went to Wash- 
 ington and handed it to President Lincoln. This prompt 
 action gave new hope to the country, filled up the ranks 
 of the decimated armies and saved the cause of the Union. 
 
 Alexander H. Stephens, vice-president of the Confed- 
 eracy, when he was a member of congress after the war, 
 said that this meeting of the loyal governors was the 
 severest blow the South received in the early part of the 
 war. It was relying on the disaflfection of the North 
 and the effect of the victories to prevent fresh troops 
 but this meeting and its results revealed a spirit among 
 the northern states which made the contest a death 
 struggle to the end. It was in its effect as thrilling and 
 timely as the united vote of Congress for fifty millions 
 of dollars at the beginning of the late war. 
 
 Gov. Blair was active and earnest in the work of the 
 conference and rendered here a great service to his 
 country'. 
 
 How proud he was of the soldiers of Michigan! In 
 his last message he said to the legislature: "Again and 
 for the last time I commend the Michig-an troops to vour 
 continued care and sujiport. They have never failed in 
 their dutj' to the country or to the state. Upon every 
 great battlefield of the war their shouts have been 
 heard and their sturdy blows have been delivered for 
 the Union and victory. In every situation their bravery 
 has won the approval of their commanders, and their 
 heroic endurance of hardship has added lustre to their 
 names. It is my sole regret at quitting office that I 
 part with them." 
 
—18— 
 
 He was, after the war. three times a member of Con- 
 gress and left a record of faithful and honorable service 
 in that body. The teachings of Clay appear in his pow- 
 erful speech on the tariff, and his views on financial 
 ([uestions were reflected in his sjJi-ech of 1868 when he 
 stood bv the honor of the nation and assisted Garfield in 
 his jjfreat measure to strengthen the jJublic credit. 
 "There is indeed'" said he, "a small party of political 
 freebooters who boldly propose to repudiate this debt: 
 l>ut no man who has any fear, either of infamy in this 
 world, or of the pang's of the second ileath, will make 
 haste to join them. It is safe to affirm upon the honor 
 of the American people, which has never j'et been de- 
 filed, that this debt will be paid." 
 
 His service as a member of the Boartl of Reg"ents of 
 the State University was con<i"enial and valuable, as his 
 interest in the cause of education never flajrg'ed. 
 
 The professional life of Gov. Blair was interrupted 
 many times, l)ut his <jreat ability as a lawyer was 
 widely recogfnized. and his work in the courts of the 
 state was conspicuous and distin'^'uished. He was se- 
 lected by his party as a candidate for the higfhest judic- 
 ial honors, as a member of the Supreme Court, but in 
 that vear tlu' i)i)p()siti()n candidates were elected. 
 
 We see him yet, in the last years of his life, at con- 
 ventions and public meetinofs, and in the courts of law, 
 attended by the veneration and love of the jieople, hailed 
 bv the affectionate title of the "Ohl War Govenor," 
 and look ag"ain upon his g-lowing- face and hear the tones 
 of his resonant voice, which was so eloquent; and as the 
 old Dutch painters used the shadows in their pictures to 
 briny out more clearlv the lineaments of the face, so as 
 
-19- 
 
 the shadows of death j^rew about him, the beaut}' of his 
 character and the gflory of his service to the state shone 
 resplendent on that somber background. And thus he 
 passed as Carlyle said of another, "into that still 
 country' where the hail storms and fire showers do not 
 reach, and the heaviest laden wayfarer at leng'th laj's 
 down his weary load." 
 
 There is a tradition amongf the Ottomans that when 
 the battle rag^es most fiercely, there may be seen amid 
 the wreaths of cannon smoke the shadowy form of 
 Solyman, their dead leader and g^reatest ruler, sur- 
 rounded by divinified heroes, and man}' times when the 
 daj' has been almost lost they have called his name and 
 with renewed courage have pushed on and won the 
 figfht. There will be contests for us all, they are upon 
 us even now, and the line will waver and men gfrow sick 
 at heart at the steadv atlvance of so much that is base 
 and corrupting- in our politics; but above the roar and 
 smoke of the conflict we may, if we will, still see this 
 undaunted form, and if we so choose, some of the g^lory 
 of his noble life may be reflected in ours, urging- on 
 to fresh victories and g'reater triumphs. We owe it to 
 him and to ourselves, to here pledg-e anew devotion 
 to our country and solemnly avow our determination to 
 be worthy of the heritagfe which has come to us. 
 
 As finally in the longf weary way he walked for us, 
 from the Valley of the Shadow of Death there bloomed 
 the fair flower of Freedom for the slave, so now on the 
 heig"hts of Santiagfo has at last flowered the plant of 
 National Unity, almost a century in gTowing, which fills 
 our dear land with fragrance and with joy. 
 
 He was g^reat in war, and like the greatest, he was 
 mag-nauimous in peace. He advocated universal amnesty 
 and reconciliation, and we have witnessed the fulfillment 
 
—20— 
 
 of his prophecj' made in ;in address in 1S71 when he said: 
 "The soldiers of the Union will shake hantls with those 
 of the Confederacy under the Hatf of a country that is 
 free enoug"h and g^reat enouffh for all. They are all de- 
 scendants ot the men wlio fouj^'ht side hv >ide in '7() and 
 1812. Thev carried the rtaj^- tojjether at Chapultepec 
 and Buena Vista, and they will carry it tog-ether ayain 
 on the grander fields of the future." Thank God,«we may 
 now write the names of Lee and Wheeler and Hobson 
 by the side of Dewey and Shafter and Schley and we are 
 ag^ain one country, under but one flag", with one destiny. 
 It is worth ail it cost to have this accomplished and to 
 the problems of the future we may turn with confidence 
 and hope. 
 
 In Walter Scott's ballad of " Bonnie Dunilee," 
 when Claverhouse is asked where he is g"oing", he replies, 
 " I go whither guides me tlu' g^host of Montrose:" so 
 when in the days to come there shall be temi)t.ition and 
 trial for those whom the people have chosen to represent 
 them here, when thej' shall need brave champions, when 
 the allurements of expediency' and time serving" shall 
 almost stifle the call of duty, let our Montrose still lead 
 on. May these voiceless lijis still speak, anil the sig^ht of 
 this calm, determined face recall the ag"e of heroes and 
 inspire to greater courag^e and loftier ideals. Ma}' this 
 bronze fig^ure, fittinglv standing" in front of the Hagf he 
 helped to save, here in the city where he suffered and en- 
 dured so much, look out on this g"reat state he loved so 
 well, and still tell the story of his patriotic, stainless life 
 to a people who will listen to this voice and emulate him. 
 
 Let it testify that republics are not ungrateful, and 
 
 that Michigan remembers with pride and ."lifection those 
 
 of her sons who have rendered great and faithful service 
 
 and deserved well of their country. 
 
 •' Not he that breaks tlie dams, but he 
 That through the channels of the state 
 Convoys the people's wish, is great: 
 His name is pure, his fame is free." 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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