BEIIKELEY\ 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVIWITY 
 CALIFORNIA 
 
MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 
 
 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 WILLIAM J, SEWELL 
 
 (LATK A SENATOR FROM XK\V JKRSKY), 
 
 IIKI.IVKKKD ix THK 
 
 SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 
 
 FIFTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS, 
 SECOND SESSION. 
 
 WASHINGTON: 
 
 GOVERNMENT PRINTING O K K I C E . 
 
(DOC. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Proceedings in the Senate 5 
 
 Address of Mr. Kean, of New Jersey 10 
 
 Address of Mr. Cockrell, of Missouri 15 
 
 Address of Mr. Allison, of Iowa 20 
 
 Address of Mr. Morgan, of Alabama 24 
 
 Address of Mr. Cullom, of Illinois 28 
 
 Address of Mr. Proctor, of Vermont 31 
 
 Address of Mr. Daniel, of Virginia 33 
 
 Address of Mr. Warren, of Wyoming 38 
 
 Address of Mr. Penrose, of Pennsylvania 42 
 
 Address of Mr. Depew, of New York 47 
 
 Address of Mr. Dryden, of New Jersey 55 
 
 Proceedings in the House 63 
 
 Address of Mr. Gardner, of New Jersey 70 
 
 Address of Mr. McClellan, of New York 77 
 
 Address of Mr. Hull, of Iowa 79 
 
 Address of Mr. Steele, of Indiana 82 
 
 Address of Mr. Stewart, of New Jersey 84 
 
 Address of Mr. Fowler, of New Jersey 87 
 
 Address of Mr. Adams, of Pennsylvania 91 
 
 Address of Mr. Parker, of New Jersey 94 
 
 $31,05 
 
 322 
 
DEATH OF RON, WILLIAM J, SEWELL 
 
 PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE. 
 
 JANUARY 6, 1902. 
 
 The Chaplain, Rev. \V. H. Milburn, I). D., offered the fol 
 lowing prayer: 
 
 O Thou, with whom are the" issues of life and death, we are 
 in Thy presence bowed, humble and reverent, as we remember 
 that a chair upon this floor is vacant and that an honored 
 member has passed from among- us. I y et Thy compassion be 
 the succor and stay of the wife and children who are bereaved 
 and of the great circle of friends by whom he was loved and 
 whom he loved in return. 
 
 Xor would we forget, as we come to Thee, Thine honored 
 and beloved servant, the junior Senator from Arkansas. 
 Maintain his fortitude and flow of cheerful spirits. Bless the 
 means used for the relief of his bodilj suffering. Grant to 
 return him to such health and strength as he usually possesses, 
 and speedily bring him back with Thy benediction to his place 
 upon this floor. 
 
 These and all other mercies we humbly ask, in the name of 
 Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen. 
 
6 Proceedings in the Senate. 
 
 DEATH OF SENATOR WILLIAM J. SEWELL. 
 
 Mr. KEAN. Mr. President, it is my painful duty to announce 
 to the Senate the death of my colleague, Gen. WILLIAM J. 
 SEWELL. He died at his home, in Camden, on December 27, 
 at 9 o clock and 30 minutes in the morning. 
 
 On some other day I shall ask that the business of the Senate 
 be laid aside that appropriate tribute may be paid to his mem 
 ory. I offer the following resolutions, for which I ask present 
 consideration. 
 
 The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from New Jersey 
 offers the resolutions which he sends to the desk, and asks for 
 their present consideration. The resolutions will be read. 
 
 The Secretary read the resolutions, as follows: 
 
 Resolved, That the Senate has heard with deep regret and profound 
 sorrow of the death of the Hon. WII.UAM J. SEWEM,, late a Senator from 
 the State of New Jersey. 
 
 Resolved, That the Secretary communicate a copy of these resolutions 
 to the House of Representatives. 
 
 The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Will the Senate agree to the 
 resolutions? 
 
 The resolutions were unanimously agreed to. 
 
 Mr. KEAN. Mr. President, I also offer the following resolu 
 tion. % 
 
 The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The resolution will be read. 
 
 The Secretary read the resolution, as follows: 
 
 Resolved, That as a further mark of respect to the memory of the 
 deceased the Senate do now adjourn. 
 
 The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Will the Senate agree to the 
 resolution? 
 
 The resolution was unanimously agreed to; and (at 12 
 o clock and 8 minutes p. m.) the Senate adjourned until 
 to-morrow. Tuesday, January 7, 1902, at 12. o clock meridian. 
 
Proceedings in the Senate. J 
 
 JANUARY 7, 1902. 
 MESSAGE FROM THE HOUSE. 
 
 The message also transmitted to the Senate the resolutions 
 of the House on the death of Hon. WILLIAM J. SEWELL, 
 late a Senator from the State of New Jersey. 
 
 DECEMBER 9, 1902. 
 MEMORIAL ADDRESSES OX THE LATE SENATOR WILLIAM J. 
 
 SEWELL. 
 
 Mr. KEAN. Mr. President, I desire to give notice that on 
 Wednesday, the iyth of December, at some convenient hour, 
 I shall submit resolutions in regard to the death of my late 
 colleague, WILLIAM J. SEWELL, in order that appropriate 
 tribute may be paid to his memory. Circumstances have 
 been such that I have heretofore been unable to present the 
 resolutions. 
 
MEMORIAL ADDRESSES. 
 
 DECEMBER 17, 1902. 
 
 Mr. KEAX. Mr. President, in pursuance of the notice here 
 tofore given, I submit the resolutions which I send to the 
 desk. 
 
 The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from New Jersey 
 submits resolutions, which will be read. 
 
 The Secretary read the resolutions, as follows: 
 
 Resolved, That it is with deep regret and profound sorrow that the 
 Senate hears the announcement of the death of Hon. WILLIAM J. SEWELL, 
 late a Senator from the State of New Jersey. 
 
 Resolved, That the Senate extends to his family and to the people cf 
 the State of New Jersey sincere condolence in their bereavement. 
 
 Resolved, That, as a mark of respect to the memory of the deceased, 
 the business of the Senate be now suspended to enable his associates 
 to pay fitting tribute to his high character and distinguished services. 
 
 Resolved, That the Secretary transmit to the family of the deceased and 
 o the governor of the State of New Jersey a copy of these resolutions, 
 with the action of the Senate thereon. 
 
 Resolved, That the Secretary communicate these resolutions to the 
 House of Representatives. 
 
 Resolved, That as an additional mark of respect, at the conclusion of 
 these exercises, the Senate do adjourn. 
 
 The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Will the Senate agree to the 
 resolutions? 
 
 The resolutions were unanimouslv agreed to. 
 
io Life and Character of William J. Sewell. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. KEAN, OF NEW JERSEY. 
 
 Mr. PRESIDENT: Almost a twelvemonth has rolled away 
 since the mortal remains of General SEWELL were conveyed 
 to their last resting place in the beautiful cemetery of Harleigh, 
 near Cam den, N. J., and yet we feel the loss that has befallen 
 his country and his State as if it were but yesterday. 
 
 We miss him here that tall, soldier-like form, which for 
 many years held conspicuous plac,e among us, the friend and 
 colleague to whose memory we pay our tribute to-day. 
 
 In his rise from narrow and humble beginning to eminence 
 and leadership General SEWELL exemplified those qualities of 
 mind and heart which we have come to recognize as typical 
 American. Gifted with resolution, patience, firmness, self- 
 reliance, he was destined to master in time whatever task he 
 undertook to prove his mettle in any field to \vhich duty or 
 opportunity might call him. 
 
 Thoroughness, constancj T , and loyalty were his watchwords. 
 His success he owed to no caprice of fortune. He won against 
 odds; it was the fruit of struggle and training of capacity 
 unfolding itself as opportunity came of that broad and hard 
 experience in which our leaders in war, in politics, and in 
 industry have almost all been bred. 
 
 To this school the school of Clay, of Jackson, of Lincoln, 
 of Grant, of Garfield, of McKinley WILLIAM J. SEWELL 
 clearly belonged. His leadership was established under the 
 same conditions and through the same qualities. 
 
 He was a younger son of a family of yeoman proprietors 
 possessing a freehold in the parish of Sebergham, Cumber 
 land, England. His father obtained a commission in the civil 
 
Address of Mr. Kean, of New Jersey. i r 
 
 service and went to Castlebar, county of Mayo, Ireland, as 
 "collector of internal revenues" for that county, where he 
 married a daughter of Captain Joyce, of the Fifth Regiment 
 of Irish Dragoon Guards. The Joyce family was of Protestant 
 Scotch-Irish descent. Although General SEWELL had but 
 little Irish blood in his veins he cherished the greatest 
 affection for the land of his birth and early associations. 
 
 Born in 1835, he was left an orphan at an early age; he fol 
 lowed a brother to the city of New York. As a youth he was 
 adventurous and romantic, and at the age of 18 gave up a 
 good bxisiness opening in order to enlist before the mast of an 
 American merchantman, the Flyaway, sailing for Chinese 
 ports. After an adventurous voyage, on which he distin 
 guished himself for courage, he returned to the United States 
 as first mate of that vessel. He engaged in several business 
 undertakings, and when the war broke out he had so many 
 friends he was able to raise a company of his own, with 
 which he enlisted in the Fifth New Jersey Volunteers and 
 became its captain. 
 
 He participated in all of the engagements in which the Fifth 
 New Jersey took part, and in July, 1862. was promoted to the 
 lieutenant-colonelcy. He became colonel in September of the 
 same year. 
 
 At Chancellorsville he commanded the Second New Jersey 
 Brigade and led a timely and successful charge against the 
 enemy a piece of soldierly skill and daring which won imme 
 diate recognition, and later was awarded a medal of honor by 
 Congress. 
 
 Though wounded, he resumed his field duties for the Gettys 
 burg campaign, and on the second day s fight at Gettysburg 
 was in the front line of the Federal left wing so fiercely 
 assaulted by Longstreet. There he again showed the greatest 
 
12 Life and Character of William J. Scwell. 
 
 gallantry and was again and this time more seriously 
 wounded. From July 2 to August 31, 1864, he was retired 
 for disability. But entering the service afresh as colonel of the 
 Thirty-eighth New Jersey Volunteers, he participated in the 
 wasting Virginia campaign which preceded Lee s surrender. 
 
 For meritorious services he received brevets both as brigadier 
 and as major general. 
 
 From 1872 to the time of his death he devoted much labor 
 to organizing and strengthening the National Guard of New 
 Jersey, bringing it to a new and highly creditable level of 
 efficiency. 
 
 Soon after the outbreak of the war with Spain, President 
 McKinley commissioned him a major-general of volunteers. It 
 was his earnest wish to serve his country again in arms, but 
 a higher duty interposed, and at the earnest request of his 
 Republican colleagues in this body he decided to decline the 
 appointment pressed upon him. Many of you will recall the 
 appeal that was made to him not to abandon his seat in the 
 Senate. 
 
 "We do this," the letter read, "knowing that the appoint 
 ment is well merited by your distinguished military career and 
 your genius for organization and command, but we feel in this 
 exigency neither the party nor the country can forego in the 
 Senate the influence of your experience, ability, patriotism, and 
 integrity in legislative service." 
 
 The fidelity and capacity he had shown as a soldier were to 
 assure his success in civil life. After being mustered out of the 
 service he wa.st.ed no time in seeking employment. The first 
 place that offered was accepted, and, though not a remuner 
 ative one, proved to be most fortunate. It was with the 
 Camden and Amboy Railroad, at Trenton. His great execu 
 tive ability in even minor positions was quickly recognized, and 
 
Address of Mr. K ean, of A Vet 1 Jersey. 13 
 
 lie was sent to Camden as yardmaster. Diligence and compe 
 tence soon earned him promotion; he rose through the various 
 grades to be general superintendent, vice-president, and finally 
 president of what is now known as the \Yest Jersey and Sea 
 shore Railroad Company. 
 
 General SEWELL S active political career began in 1872 with 
 his election to the State senate from Camden County. He 
 served three three-year terms in the senate, and was its presi 
 dent while the Republican party had control. He fathered the 
 resolution creating a commission to suggest amendments to the 
 State constitution, and led the fight for their adoption. He 
 also took a conspicuous part in the passage of New Jersey s 
 general railroad law and of the railroad municipal tax and 
 municipal corporation acts. 
 
 In 1 88 1 he first entered this body, having been chosen to 
 succeed the Hon. Theodore F. Randolph. Six years later he 
 failed of reelection, the legislature having a Democratic major 
 ity on joint ballot. But in 1895 he regained his seat, succeed 
 ing the Hon. John R. McPherson. In IQOI he was elected for 
 a third term, only a fraction of which he served. His last 
 appearance in this body was at the extraordinary session called 
 by the President which terminated March 9, 1901. 
 
 In his own State he long exercised an exceptional influence 
 in party councils. He headed our State delegations to the 
 Republican conventions of 1876, 1880, 1884, 1888, 1892, 1896, 
 and 1900, and was New Jersey s recognized spokesman in all 
 those gatherings. His power in the State organization was 
 sometimes disputed, but never overthrown. On the con- . 
 trary, it grew with time, for it was based on unquestioned 
 capacity, courage, loyalty, and integrity. 
 
 In all the heated and prejudiced struggles of faction no one 
 could justly reproach WILLIAM J. SEWELL with a broken 
 promise or a dishonorable betrayal. 
 
14 Life and Character of William J. Sewell. 
 
 Of his service in this body I need say little. Here, where 
 his character was intimately known, his sterling virtues *were 
 amply appreciated. He made few speeches. The part he 
 played was not spectacular. Yet the work he did was emi 
 nently useful and lasting. His judgment on all important 
 legislation was sought and valued. He was a tower of 
 strength in council. His voice was potent in all decisions 011 
 legislative or party policy. 
 
 In manner General SEWELL has been charged with a certain 
 brusqueness and coldness. There was a hint of military pre 
 cision in his attitude. He sometimes carried directness to 
 the point of bluntness, but this manner reflected only his own 
 deeper tendencies of thought and character. He believed in 
 openness, in candor, in plain speaking and straightforward 
 action. He scorned concealment and indirection, and he 
 detested shams and insincerity. 
 
 To all who knew him intimately this surface roughness 
 covered a tender and generous heart. Always open, always 
 high-minded, he won the ungrudging respect of his opponents, 
 while attaching his friends to him in ever-tightening bonds 
 of trust and love. 
 
 His life was gentle, and the elements 
 
 So mix d in him, that Nature might stand up 
 
 And say to all the world, "This was a man!" 
 
Address of Mr. Cockrell, of Missouri. 15 
 
 t 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. COCKRELL, OF MISSOURI. 
 
 Mr. PRESIDENT: It is eminently fitting that to-day the 
 Senate of the United States of America should lay aside its 
 legislative labors in order to pay its last tribute of respect, 
 friendship, and honor to the memory of Hon. WILLIAM JOYCE 
 SEWELL, late a Senator in this Chamber from the State of 
 New Jersey. 
 
 General SEWELL was born December 16, 1835, in Ireland, 
 came to this country at the age of 18 years, and died at his 
 home in Camden, N. J., December 27, 1901, respected, hon 
 ored, and loved by the good people of his adopted State and 
 by all who knew him personally or knew of his noble, manly 
 character and worth. "A good name is rather to be chosen 
 than great riches." 
 
 His life record is a brilliant and illustrious one, worthy of 
 emulation and inspiring and encouraging to those who closely 
 study it. At the age of 18 years, in this, his adopted country, 
 he entered the arena for his life work with a sound body 
 and a clear, vigorous mind; with honesty of purpose, fidelity 
 in the discharge of every duty and trust, great or small, 
 and firm determination to achieve success honorably and 
 legitimately. 
 
 He engaged in mercantile pursuits; and early after the 
 beginning of the civil war in 1861, being loyally and patriot 
 ically devoted to his adopted country and the maintenance of 
 the integrity of the Union of the States, he organized a com 
 pany of volunteers and was commissioned captain in the Fifth 
 New Jersey Regiment on the a8th day of August, 1861, and 
 served during the entire war with distinguished gallantry 
 and military ability. 
 
1 6 -Life and Character^ of William J. Scu ell. 
 
 On July 7, 1862, he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel, and 
 in October of the same year to colonel, and participated in 
 the many battles in which his regiment was engaged, and 
 was severely wounded at the battles of Chancellorsville and 
 Gettysburg. 
 
 At the battle of Chancellorsville he was commanding the 
 Second New Jersey Brigade and, at a critical position, led 
 forward his brigade in a daring charge and achieved one of the 
 brilliant successes of the war, capturing eight stands of colors. 
 For his gallant and meritorious services in this battle he was 
 commissioned by brevet a brigadier-general of United States 
 Volunteers. 
 
 On July 2, 1864, he resigned as colonel on account of the 
 disabilities incurred in the service in the line of duty. As soon 
 as he had partially recovered from the effects of his. wounds, 
 he again offered his services to his State, and was commis 
 sioned by the governor to raise and organize the Thirty-eighth 
 Regiment New Jersey Volunteer Infantry, and was mustered 
 in as colonel October i, 1864, and with his regiment took an 
 active part in the operations about Petersburg, Va., which 
 resulted in the capture of Richmond, Va., on April 2, 1865, 
 and the surrender of General L,ee at Appomattox on April 9, 
 1865. With his command he returned to his home and was 
 honorably mustered out on June 30, 1865. 
 
 For his gallant and meritorious services during the war he 
 was brevetted major-general March 13, 1865. In estimating 
 correctly the gallantry, military abilities, and services shown 
 and rendered by General SEWELI. from early in 1861 to the 
 middle of the year 1865, we must not forget the historical fact 
 that that war was a war lasting for four long weary years, 
 wherein the citizen soldiers of the Northern and Southern 
 States of our Union, the noblest and bravest soldiers who ever 
 
Address of Mr. Cockrell, of Missouri. 17 
 
 faced each other in martial array and clashed in mortal combat 
 in all the history of the world s wars, confronted each other, 
 fearlessly contesting every foot of ground and covering the 
 field of battle with dead and wounded on each side. When 
 such soldiers met each other in battle there was truly the 
 tug of war," testing to the fullest extent their endurance, 
 courage, manhood, and devotion. 
 
 It was in such a war that General SEWELL achieved emi 
 nent distinction and rendered meritorious services, justly 
 entitling him to the brevets of brigadier-general and major- 
 general, United States Volunteers, conferred upon him by 
 President Lincoln. When the war closed, in the maintenance 
 of the Union of the States, General SEWELL returned to the 
 peaceful avocations of civil life with the same courage, patri 
 otism, and devotion he had so conspicuously shown during 
 the war. 
 
 He was that type of American soldier whom his comrades 
 in arms respected, honored, and willingly followed. 
 
 In civil life he was that type of American citizen whom his 
 fellow-citizens respected and loved to honor and to follow. 
 
 As an officer he was brave, strict in discipline, mindful of 
 the well-being of his men, and inspired them with confidence 
 and courage, and enjoyed their respect and love. 
 
 As a citizen, by his forceful character, great executive ability, 
 untiring energy, incorruptible integrity, and strict attention 
 and devotion to duty and to the interests of his fellow-citizens, 
 he inspired their respect, confidence, love, and loyal devotion. 
 He attained the highest honors which his fellow-citizens could 
 confer upon him as an American citizen by adoption and born 
 a foreigner. 
 
 He was three times in succession elected a State senator from 
 his home county, Camden, and was president of the senate in 
 S. Doc. 226 2 
 
1 8 Life and Character of William J. Scwell. 
 
 1876-1879 and 1880, when his party was in power, and while 
 a member of his State legislature was elected to the United 
 States Senate in 1881 to succeed Senator Randolph, and served 
 in this Chamber to the expiration of his term in 1887. 
 
 Politically General SEWELL was a stanch Republican, and 
 took an active part in all public and political affairs. He was 
 elected a delegate to the Republican national conventions of 
 1876, 1880, 1884, 1888, 1892, 1896, and 1900, and was made 
 the chairman of his State delegation in each of the conventions. 
 
 In 1895 he was again elected to the United States Senate to 
 succeed Senator McPherson, and in 1901 he was reelected for 
 the term beginning March 4, 1901, and ending March 3, 1907. 
 
 In addition to the many duties of the official positions he 
 held, he was engaged in and connected with many business 
 enterprises banks, trust companies, and philanthropic societies. 
 
 He took an active interest in the organization of the National 
 Guard of his State and held high positions in that organization , 
 and was the commander at the time of his death. 
 
 He was most earnestly interested in the proper management 
 of the National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, and 
 was vice-president of the Board of Managers. He was emphat 
 ically a busy man in the fullest sense of the phrase. His 
 energetic and earnest devotion to his multifarious duties 
 doubtless hastened his untimely death in the meridian of his 
 usefulness and honors. 
 
 The respect, the friendship, the love, and devotion of his 
 constituents, neighbors, and associates were made most manifest 
 at his funeral obsequies. The people en masse turned out to 
 pay their last tribute to his memory. It was a most impres 
 sive scene. The religious services were conducted at his 
 residence by Bishop Scarborough, of the Protestant Episcopal 
 Church, of which General SEWELL was a member of the vestry. 
 
Address of Mr. Cockrdl, of Missouri. 19 
 
 My acquaintance with him began when he entered the Senate 
 in 1 88 1 and became a member of the Committee on Military 
 Affairs. Our acquaintance soon ripened into warm personal 
 friendship, which continued to his death. The more I was 
 with him and the more I knew T of him, the greater were my 
 respect, admiration, and friendship for him. 
 
 In his bearing General SEWELL was quiet, reserved, and 
 unassuming, and was cordial and faithful in his friendships. 
 
 As a Senator he was faithful, industrious, and useful, and 
 performed his full share of the duties and labors of the Com 
 mittees on Appropriations and Military Affairs and others of 
 which he was a member. In his death the Senate, his State, 
 and our country have suffered a serious loss. We tender to 
 his bereft family condolence, and point our countrymen to 
 the useful life, the meritorious services, and the illustrious 
 career of WILLIAM J. SEWELL, the citizen, the soldier, the 
 statesman, the patriot, for encouragement, inspiration, and 
 emulation. 
 
2O Life and Character of William J. Scivcll. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. ALLISON, OF IOWA. 
 
 Mr. PRESIDENT: The senior Senator from New Jersey [Mr. 
 Kean] and the senior Senator from Missouri [Mr. Cockrell] 
 having detailed at large the military career and the civil service 
 of the late Senator SEWELL, I shall only review them briefly. 
 
 My personal acquaintance with General SEWEU, began in 
 1881, when he became a member of the Senate. Prior to that 
 time he was well known to me as a leading citizen of the State 
 of New Jersey and as one of the earnest, active, and influential 
 Republicans of that State. He was widely known as a great 
 and gallant soldier, as a conspicuous member of the New Jersey 
 senate for man} years, and as a potential factor in the political 
 and commercial affairs of that State. He had been an 
 important member of two Presidential conventions and had 
 taken an active part in their deliberations; and as a leading 
 Republican he was well known in nearly all the States of the 
 Union. Therefore when he came to the Senate he was by no 
 means a stranger to those then serving in this body, and 
 enough was known of his capabilities to anticipate the value of 
 his service here, for it is a fact that when a Senator is first 
 elected to this body there is as a rule a careful analysis made 
 by Senators of his record in civil or military life, in order that 
 a just estimate may be formed of his prospective value in this 
 Chamber. 
 
 After what has been said by the Senators who have preceded 
 me it is not necessary that I should dwell at length upon the 
 active participation of Senator SEWELL in the affairs of the 
 State of New Jersey, upon the great ability displayed by him 
 as a business man in the conduct of large affairs in his State, 
 or upon his distinguished record in the civil war. Because of 
 
Address of Mr. Allison, of Iowa. 21 
 
 his special knowledge of military affairs, immediately on his 
 entry into the Senate he was placed upon the important Com 
 mittee on Military Affairs. During the entire period of his 
 service in this bod} he remained a member of that committee 
 and participated actively, as those who served with him well 
 know, in the framing of all the legislation considered and 
 promulgated by it. At his death he was the ranking member 
 of that committee next to the chairman. As is well known to 
 us all, he was especially conspicuous in the military legislation 
 made necessary by the w r ar with Spain. His services were so 
 highly appreciated by the President that he tendered him a 
 military command, with the rank of major-general. He was 
 inclined to accept this distinction, but because of his valuable 
 services on the committee and in the Senate at this critical 
 period, at the unanimous request of the Republican Senators 
 then here, he declined the proffered honor. 
 
 Owing to the political situation in New Jersey he failed of 
 reelection to the Senate in 1887, though he was the unanimous 
 choice of his part} , and his friends made a vigorous effort to 
 secure his reelection. His defeat was occasioned by the legis 
 lature being closely divided between the two great political 
 parties. Again, in the winter of 1895, he was the unanimous 
 choice of his party for Senator and was then elected, and 
 reelected in 1901, so that at the time of his death he was on 
 the threshold of his third term in the Senate. 
 
 There being a vacancy in the Republican membership of the 
 Committee on Appropriations, Senator SEWELI, was appointed 
 a member of that committee in March, 1897, because of his 
 general and special knowledge of matters coming before it, 
 especially because of his long service here, because of his 
 intimate knowledge, of all subjects relating to military matters 
 and appropriations for the support of the Army, and also 
 
22 Life and Character of William J. Sewell. 
 
 because of his extensive knowledge of all matters connected 
 with the National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, of 
 the Board of Managers of which, selected by the two Houses 
 of Congress, he was an active member. His sympathy for his 
 comrades in arms and his desire to makes these Homes effective 
 for the comfortable support of the veterans admitted to them 
 led him to give particular attention to this subject. 
 
 He spent much time in this labor of love, making at least 
 two visits annually to each of the Homes; and during several 
 years he had general charge of one of the most important of 
 them. He made their cause his own, and was so familiar 
 with ever} r detail respecting their wants that his recommenda 
 tions were, as a rule, followed by the committee and by the 
 Senate. This was because of his special information and 
 experience and the confidence of his associates in his judg 
 ment. This was true not only as respects all appropriations 
 involving military affairs, but his views had great weight in 
 the Senate upon all matters which engaged his serious 
 attention. He proved himself a most valuable member of 
 the Committee on Appropriations, giving close attention to 
 the detailed work assigned to him. He was at all times a 
 safe counselor and a wise and judicious legislator. 
 
 Whilst an earnest Republican, he often differed with his 
 Republican colleagues upon matters of detail, and on such 
 occasions was resolute and independent in the expression of his 
 opinions in committee and in the Senate. Keen of perception 
 and with a broad and thorough knowledge of affairs, he imme 
 diately grasped the essential points of a proposition. He 
 possessed the faculty of rapid deduction; was quick to make 
 up his opinion respecting a question under consideration, and 
 when made was slow to surrender his own judgment to 
 others. 
 
Address of Mr. Allison, of Iowa. 23 
 
 Senator SEWELL was a man of comparatively few words. It 
 was generally understood that he said only what he meant 
 and meant always what he said. His opinions were expressed 
 with force and directness and were susceptible of no misinter 
 pretation. 
 
 It may be truly said of him that he was a most able, valu 
 able, and useful Senator, not only in the committee room, but 
 on the floor, and was, therefore, of great sendee to his State 
 and nation. His death is a distinct loss to his country, and 
 is greatly deplored by all those who served with him in this 
 body. 
 
 The home life of Senator SEWELL was ideal in its hospitalit}* 
 and surroundings. Socially he was always most agreeable, 
 courteous, and kind to those with whom he came in personal 
 contact. He enjoyed especially the companionship of old com 
 rades and friends and greatly endeared himself to them. For 
 these agreeable personal qualities I became strongly attached 
 to him, and because of them and because of his conspicuous 
 public service and his high character as a citizen and Senator 
 it is fitting that I should take this occasion to pay this brief 
 but imperfect tribute to his memory, having served with him 
 and known him well during all the period of his membership 
 in this body. 
 
24 Life and Character of William J. Sewell. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. MORGAN, OF ALABAMA. 
 
 Mr. PRESIDENT: Although Senator SEWELL was severely 
 antagonized to my State and the South during the civil war, 
 and was opposed to me in our political affiliations during 
 the period of our service in the Senate, there were many 
 points on which we were in cordial agreement. This is 
 especially true as to almost every question that concerned our 
 relations with foreign countries during our joint service in the 
 Senate. 
 
 I have always felt stronger in having the support of his 
 opinion and his wise judgment, which usually amounted to a 
 firm conviction, when any measure was presented that taxed 
 me with perplexing doubts. In this just confidence in his 
 sincerity and wisdom I believe that I only shared the opinion 
 of the entire Senate. 
 
 During several years we were closely associated as members 
 of the Senate Committee on Interoceanic Canals. 
 
 In the personnel of that committee the majority were 
 Republicans, and, as. chairman, I would have had a disagree 
 able task if any party lines had affected the conduct of its 
 members as to the great and delicate questions confided to the 
 committee by the Senate. 
 
 This is a fitting occasion, I think, to say that no bod} of 
 Senators could have more completely discarded all political 
 influence from their thoughts and actions, or could have 
 devoted their labors to the service of the whole country more 
 impartially, than has been true of that committee in perform 
 ing the exacting and difficult task assigned to them by the 
 Senate. And I am glad to say, in honor of our departed 
 colleague, that his thoughtful and laborious work on that 
 
Address of Mr. .If organ, of Alabama. 25 
 
 committee and his wise counsel were among the strongest 
 supports of the supreme duty that Providence has assigned 
 to the United States, of providing a highway for the nations 
 between the great oceans. 
 
 He was very proud to be associated with this work, that 
 only the United States can perform, and deserves the highest 
 honors that its final completion will confer upon those who 
 shall accomplish it. 
 
 The subject was as broad as the ocean -borne commerce of 
 the whole world, and the naval power of the United States and 
 those intrusted with its exploration were required to proceed 
 with caution, but with bold and fearless step, to reach conclu 
 sions that are logically safe and will be practically secure for 
 all time. But this honest and able Senator was equal to the 
 duty and fearless in its discharge. The benefit of his work on 
 that committee will be felt through many ages to come. 
 
 In this service and in all else that was confided to him General 
 SEWELL exhibited a mental trait which was a distinguishing 
 characteristic. He always looked within for his convictions 
 and opinions, and outwardly for the facts upon which he 
 based them. 
 
 He did not disregard or hold in light esteem the opinions 
 of other men, but his judgment was his own; he borrowed 
 nothing from currents of thought in other minds, and no 
 reflected color of selfishness was permitted to stain the clean 
 record of his final judgments. 
 
 He was not aggressive in pressing his opinions on others, 
 but he defended his own convictions with decided firmness. 
 
 There was a directness, force, and singleness of purpose in his 
 action in respect of public affairs that engaged his attention 
 which left no doubt of his sincerity, and a clearness of concep 
 tion as to his duty, as he understood it, that forced him into 
 
26 Life and Character of William J. Sewell, . 
 
 open controversy in support of his convictions with fearless 
 intrepidity. It was not his adversary with whom he waged 
 any conflict of debate, but with his adversary s position or the 
 principles he espoused. So that in the fiercest controversy 
 he indulged in no personalities or invectives, and in his most 
 strenuous debates he wounded no man s feelings and never 
 made an enemy. This is a noble trait, a very great mark of 
 true manhood that should characterize the bearing and deport 
 ment of an American Senator. 
 
 General SEWELL has left with us the memory of a high 
 example in his dignified and honorable course in this Chamber. 
 His Irish blood fed a passionate flame that warmed his heart, 
 quickened his spirit, and drew his affections to high aims and 
 generous actions. 
 
 His friendships had the honest and sincere loyalty of love. 
 They were honorable and ennobling, and were never used for 
 convenience or subordinated to personal advantage or unworthy 
 ends. 
 
 He was a \vealthy and powerful man, but he did not court 
 the favor of the rich or the support of the powerful at any 
 expense whatever to his dignity or his principles. 
 
 He never used his wealth or power for the oppression of the 
 weak or the poor, nor did he, with a flaunting display of gener 
 osity, graciously condescend to help them. His generous Irish 
 blood gave a natural flow to his sympathies, and he met the 
 poor and the weak with the hand of friendship that was never 
 empty or grudging and very many have grasped it in silent, 
 tearful gratitude. 
 
 As a soldier he was even rashly courageous. He did not 
 stop to study strategic arts of war when the enemy was in 
 array against his flag. 
 
 His movement was to the front, and he touched elbows with 
 
Address of Mr. Morgan, of Alabama. 27 
 
 his men as he marched steadily into the deadliest conflict. He 
 did not rejoice in battle, and was not lured by the ambition for 
 victories; but he could not fail to respond to a call of duty 
 because death was reaping its harvests from the field of battle. 
 He was as gallant a soldier as any who fell or any who sur 
 vived the battle of Chancellorsville, and a higher title to a 
 soldier s chaplet of honor no man can win. 
 
 Senator SEWELL left a record here of duty well and faithfully 
 performed that will long be referred to as a marked example of 
 high Senatorial character, and will confer lasting and special 
 honor upon the State of New Jersey. 
 
28 Life and Character of William J. Sew ell. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. CULLOM, OF ILLINOIS. 
 
 Mr. PRESIDENT: With sadness I join with other members 
 of the Senate in paying tribute to the memory of our late 
 colleague, Senator SEWELL. 
 
 The majority of the members of this body knew him well. 
 To know him was to admire him. He was a splendid citizen, a 
 gallant soldier, an able statesman. He was a remarkable man, 
 of unusual power and singleness of purpose, open-hearted, 
 outspoken, and never hesitated to condemn what he deemed 
 to be wrong or to approve what he believed to be right. 
 
 Senator SEWELL for many years possessed great influence in 
 his State, and was equally great in the Senate and generally 
 in the councils of the nation. He had rare good judgment, 
 which is the one necessary element of success (whatever may 
 be a man s other qualities or acquirements), in the proper 
 discharge of private or public duty. 
 
 Mr. President, Senator SEWELL made a splendid reputation 
 in the field as a soldier during the civil war and at home in 
 New Jersey in the management of private business and as the 
 leader of his party for many years before he came to the 
 Senate in iSSi. He was a positive man, and did not at any 
 time shrink from any contest. He was an honorable oppo 
 nent, and when he gave blows he expected and was willing to 
 receive them in return. 
 
 Senator SEWELL was not willing to surrender or compromise 
 when he was sure he was right. He was for the right for 
 right s sake. He w r as a man of energy, and in the business 
 walks of life he was in the habit of doing things, and could 
 see from day to day and week to week that he was accom 
 plishing his purpose. 
 
Address of Mr. Cull urn, of Illinois. 29 
 
 The business of the Senate, when compared with the large 
 business enterprises with which Senator SEWELL was familiar, 
 moves slowly. After he had been in the Senate a short time 
 he became restless and felt that he was not accomplishing very 
 much, and while chafing under such feeling on one occasion 
 he said to me, "When I was in private life, engaged in busi 
 ness, I felt that I was doing something for my family and the 
 community in which I live; when I was a soldier in the Union 
 Army, I felt that I was helping to save the Union and the 
 flag; but since I have been in the Senate, I do not feel that I 
 am doing any good whatever. 
 
 However, Senator SEWELL was very soon recognized as one 
 of the strong men in the Senate, and found himself sought 
 after and consulted on all difficult and important measures. He 
 did not like to talk, and sometimes seemed wearv of longf 
 
 o 
 
 speeches by other Senators. He seldom addressed the Senate, 
 but when he did he had something to say, which he said in the 
 fewest words possible in order to present the facts and make his 
 views plain. 
 
 It is said that brevity is the soul of wit. Xo man ever demon 
 strated it more perfectly in the Senate. 
 
 As a legislator, Senator SEWELL did not stop to theorize. 
 He saw the situation and determined upon his duty and with 
 courage performed it. He was- the architect of his own 
 fortune. He was, as has been said by the senior Senator 
 from New Jersey, a native of Ireland; but, like thousands of 
 others from that unfortunate island who came to our shores, 
 showed himself, when his adopted country called, ready to offer 
 his life in defense of liberty and the Union. 
 
 He cared nothing for show. He believed in plain living. He 
 was a modest man, as most brave men are. His health failed 
 him in the last years of his service here, and while believing 
 
30 Life and Character of William J. Sewcll. 
 
 that death was " waiting at the door," he struggled ou until at 
 last the end came, and he passed away. 
 
 Mr. President, it seems to me that I am constantly standing 
 in the shadow of death death in the family, death in the 
 Senate. No class, age, or rank can long escape the great 
 destroyer. 
 
 Senator SEWELL lived in this his adopted country for more 
 than sixty years. He witnessed its growth and prosperity. He 
 took part in that momentous struggle in which the life of the 
 nation was involved. He witnessed in that struggle the down 
 fall of slavery and rejoiced in its disappearance from our fair 
 land. He saw how when the war ended the nation sprang 
 forth as with a bound into new life and wealth and power. He 
 lived to see this country increase in wealth and influence among 
 the nations as no other has done in centuries. What a satisfac 
 tion to him to feel in his last days upon earth that he had done 
 his part in maintaining the Union and in consecrating it anew 
 upon the enduring foundations of liberty and equality. 
 
 Some one has said that he is great who is what he is from 
 nature and who never reminds us of others. The subject of 
 this memorial service to my mind comes within that definition. 
 
 Mr. President, I close what I have to say by stating that 
 I have not known in my experience a more conscientious 
 citizen, soldier, and statesman, or better friend than Senator 
 WILLIAM J. SEWELL. 
 
Address of Mr. Proctor, of Vermont. 31 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. PROCTOR, OF VERMONT. 
 
 Mr. PRESIDENT: It was my good fortune to sit next to 
 Senator SEWELL in the Military Committee room during the 
 entire time of his service since he last came into the Senate. 
 He was very regular in his attendance at the meetings of 
 the committee; it is needless to say a good worker on all 
 matters of business before us. No man at the table was 
 better equipped than he for the consideration of all questions 
 pertaining to the Army. His eminent service during the civil 
 war, his natural bent for military affairs, his strong judgment 
 and earnest devotion to the good of his country, especially 
 qualified him for the performance of his duties on that com 
 mittee. And he was resolute and forceful in their discharge. 
 That there was never any doubt as to where he stood on any 
 question, nor that he would stand there to the end, goes 
 without saying. He was sturdy and strong, mentally, physic- 
 all} 7 , and in natural temperament. Courage and constancy 
 were leading traits of his character. These qualities made him 
 a born soldier of the highest type, but not for the tinsel and 
 show of military service. But when the welfare of the country 
 was at stake his intense loyalty was aroused and he was filled 
 with the inspiration of combat. His entire military career was 
 especially creditable, but his great charge at Chancellorsville at 
 the head of the Second New Jersey Brigade, \vhen he captured 
 nine stands of colors, stands out as most glorious, and for this 
 he was awarded a medal of honor. Here he was on the 
 offensive, and his work was dashing and brilliant. But had 
 the occasion arisen for a desperate defense of a position, no 
 soldier would have met the situation better than General 
 SEWELL. He would have stood like a rock. No matter what 
 
32 Life and Character of William J. Seu ell. 
 
 the odds, surrender would never have occurred to him as a 
 possibility to be considered. Surrender was a word not found 
 in his vocabulary. 
 
 In legislation he was wisely conservative, but not retro 
 gressive, and an earnest believer in the future of his country. 
 His judgment on military matters seemed almost intuitive. 
 My seat next to his gave me the benefit of his aside remarks. 
 "That will never do" was a frequent one, when an objection 
 able measure was brought up. But, though instantaneous in 
 his decision to oppose, he was calm, deliberate, and methodical 
 in acting upon it. And in these asides there was often a vein 
 of rare humor, in which he seldom indulged publicly, but in 
 which his well-rounded character was not deficient, though 
 it might have seemed so to the casual observer. Take him 
 all in all, measure his life and work by our best standards, 
 and there are few who will take rank for sterling manhood, 
 for great endeavor and achievements, for ripe judgment and 
 vigorous common sense, with WILLIAM J. SEWELL. 
 
Address of Mr. Daniel, of I irginia. 33 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. DANIEL, OF VIRGINIA. 
 
 Mr. PRESIDENT: In common with his colleagues, I had 
 great respect for Gen. WILLIAM J. SEWELL, of New Jersey, 
 late one of the Senators of that State in this body, and with 
 them I deplore his loss to his State, his country, and the 
 Senate. He was a manly man, of strong convictions and 
 strong sense, and of great activity and usefulness, and he pos 
 sessed man}* qualities that attracted the affection of friends and 
 the confidence and respect of all men everywhere. The many 
 positions of responsibility, both of private and public trust, 
 that he held and the acceptable manner in which he dis 
 charged them bespoke his great ability and force of character, 
 while the frequency of his election to office, both State and 
 Federal, demonstrated the favorable judgment pronounced 
 upon him by the people of the great and progressive State 
 who knew him best. 
 
 New Jersey is a Commonwealth in which the isms have 
 found but little entertainment and which deserves the charac 
 terization of conservative " in the best sense of that term. I 
 say in the best sense, because the word " conservative " is often 
 abused and emplo^-ed as a shelter of indecision, of neutrality, 
 or of time-serving. General SEWELL, like the State which he 
 represented, was conservative in the best and highest sense of 
 that word. 
 
 His career was indeed a remarkable one. It was such as 
 could pertain only to an extraordinary man and an extraor 
 dinary country. His lines in life and my own were far apart 
 and generally far different. He was born in Ireland; I in 
 the oldest settlement of the English race in America. He was 
 an active man of affairs merchant, railroad president, and 
 S. Doc. 226 \ 
 
34 Lift* and Character of William J. Sewell. 
 
 business man; I, a local lawyer. He, in settling in Xe\v Jer 
 sey at an early day became identified with his adopted State 
 and perforce of his environment was imbued with all the pre 
 dominant ideas of the Northern people. I, rooted to the soil of 
 my fathers, was by nativity, heredity, education, and environ 
 ment alike imbued with the ideas that had been born in the 
 birth and has grown with the growth of the pioneers of our 
 race and of our free and independent American institutions. 
 But these things with right-thinking men and with right- 
 feeling men have never been a bar either to admiration or con 
 fidence or friendship, and there were many aspects and rela 
 tions in which we met on most congenial ground. 
 
 He had in part represented here one of the old thirteen 
 States that founded this Union and which had many ancient 
 and historic and friendly ties with my own. He was a 
 thoroughgoing and enthusiastic American, and he had been a 
 soldier a soldier of such qualities as always commands the 
 admiration of all true soldiers. So American was he that 
 there was nothing in his appearance, manner, bearing, lan 
 guage, convictions, or expressions by which anyone would 
 suppose that he was not "to the manner born," and anyone 
 who would utter in his presence a sentiment of patriotism, of 
 principle, or of generosity would be sure to strike a responsive 
 chord in his bosom. 
 
 I never knew General SEWELL until I met him here and was 
 never thrown with him in intimate social relation, but I was 
 often brought in personal intercourse and consultation with him 
 in our service in this body, especially pending the Spanish- 
 American war and the legislation therewith connected, when 
 his position as a leading member of the Committee on Military 
 Affairs gave great importance and far-reaching consequence to 
 his labors. Those labors were great, they were valuable, and 
 
.-Iddrcss of Mr. Daniel, of Virginia. 35 
 
 they were highly distinguished. They were supported by his 
 natural fervent energy, by his familiarity with military affairs, 
 which had been constantly refreshed by his performance 
 of duty in New Jersey as major-general commanding the 
 National Guard of that State. They were also no little aided 
 by his experience in the civil war, where he rose from the 
 rank of captain in the Fifth New Jersey Infantry to be a 
 brigadier-general and then a major-general. 
 
 In that war he and I were in opposing armies, which tested 
 each other s steel in more than six hundred battles, and 
 some of those battles were among the fiercest, bloodiest, and 
 greatest in soldiership and in generalship alike which are 
 known to human history. 
 
 In that war Americans of all sections achieved a respect for 
 each other by those qualities which command and which compel 
 respect and relegated to the rear narrowness and bigotry, to 
 be replaced by confidence and friendship. A most glorious 
 achievement ! 
 
 General SEWELL wore upon his body the scars of Chancellors- 
 ville and Gettysburg and had attached to his name the highest 
 decorations that a brave soldier can win. None respect more 
 such honorable distinctions, won in such manner as he won 
 them, than the men who fought against him, and none can 
 know better than they what they counted for and what they 
 cost him. 
 
 For myself, I respected him beyond what those distinctions 
 themselves either expressed or implied, first, because he 
 appeared to me to value them more than he valued the 
 many honors he had attained in political life and more than 
 he valued his manifold successes in business, which had 
 brought him fortune; and second, because I never heard him 
 say a word or saw him show a sign of prejudice, resentment, 
 
36 Life and Character of William J. Seivell. 
 
 or animosity toward the equally brave and patriotic men 
 who had encountered him. On the contrary, I know the 
 fact that he took keen and earnest interest in urging honors 
 for ex-Confederate soldiers who volunteered in the Spanish- 
 American war, and that it gave him profound gratification to 
 see them intrusted with the flag of our country and to show 
 them the fitting distinctions deserved by those who bear 
 it well. 
 
 Such things as these betokened to my mind more clearly and 
 more decisively the true soldier and the true patriot than any 
 title or any medal of honor; and I record here, as it were 
 standing by his tomb, the grateful appreciation which I feel 
 and which will be felt not only in the South, but throughout 
 the borders of the Union. My observation and experience 
 alike have taught me that in these respects General SEWELL 
 was like the best and the most of the soldiers of all parts of 
 America. Those who have the rankest and most unbridled 
 tongues have seldom, indeed, become the heaviest of the 
 burden bearers. Those who have borne the burdens of the 
 battle have shown the least degree of grudge against those 
 who bore such burdens against them; have rarel}-, indeed, if 
 ever, used belittling terms concerning them, and have always 
 been the readiest, the heartiest, and the most cogent forces 
 of restoration, conciliation, order, peace, and friendship. 
 
 In the travail of woman man is born upon the earth. So in 
 the travail of mind is knowledge wrested from ignorance, and 
 in the travail of both bod} and soul are the nations molded 
 under God s providence and lifted up to higher and purer and 
 better things. The dead soldier and statesman whom we 
 mourn to-day and to whom \ve say our last farwell bore his 
 part like a true man in the heavy travail of his day and 
 generation; survived to share the joys of victory, to promote 
 
Address of Mr. Daniel, of Virginia. 37 
 
 and welcome the dawn of a broader and brighter day, to see 
 the new generation come afield "and in mutual well-beseeming 
 ranks march all one way." 
 
 And so his life was crowned with such fullness of achieve 
 ment and satisfaction as should content the reasonable ambition 
 and hope of man. We may rejoice that the infirmities of age 
 had not bereft him of his faculties ere life closed, and that such 
 scenes as those which his heart craved and had yearned for 
 were before his vision. Giving his body to the dust and his 
 memory to his grateful country, we pray that He who alone 
 can heal may heal the wounded hearts of his family and of 
 those who knew him best and loved him most. 
 
Life and Character oj William J. Seicell. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. WARREN, OF WYOMING, 
 
 Mr. PRESIDENT: If I were asked to name the dominating 
 power in the Senate of the United States, I would say it is 
 the irresistible influence which has come to us as a legacy 
 from former members who have passed away. 
 
 Whatever this legislative body has of patriotism, of dignity, 
 of devotion to duty, of methods for the general good, is due 
 in great measure to the ideals established by the illustrious 
 dead whose names haye illumined its roll of membership. 
 
 And as the list lengthens and there is added to it the names 
 of those with whom we have been in personal touch as friends 
 and colleagues aye, almost as brothers we who remain, and 
 upon whom it devolves to pay a word of tribute, are more and 
 more dominated by the dead. 
 
 The great orators, the brilliant debaters, the noted states 
 men who have passed away the Clays, the Websters, the 
 Calhouns of the Senate have not been the only class of mem 
 bers to bring the Senate to the degree of respect in which it 
 is held as a dignified, orderly, conservative, and patriotic 
 legislative body. 
 
 A part, equal perhaps in importance, has been taken by 
 those who have performed their duty as they have found it 
 men whose days with the schoolmaster were brief, self-taught 
 in the rough school of experience, carrying a commission 
 rather than a diploma, but knowing humanity to its inmost 
 heart, and quick to the needs of the citizenship of the land. 
 Men of this mold have left a potent impress upon the country, 
 upon Congress, and upon those who have succeeded to their 
 place in this body. 
 
 Such a man was WILLIAM J. SEWELL, United States Senator 
 
Address of Mr. Warren, of Wyoming. 39 
 
 from New Jersey from 1881 to 1887 and from 1895 to 1901 
 our friend and colleague in whose memory we meet to-day 
 to pa}- what tribute our weak words can bestow upon the 
 record of his life and deeds. 
 
 General SEWELL was not an American born; his birthplace 
 was in that land which has given many illustrious statesmen, 
 citizens, and soldiers to this their adopted country. He was 
 not equipped with wealth to start his career, and was forced 
 to fight the battles of life without the aid and support of 
 father and mother, both having died when he was a mere 
 lad. The hard fortunes of the sea first engaged him, and as 
 a boy before the mast he sailed to the then almost unknown 
 shores of the Orient. But "hard as these first conditions 
 were, he and not they obtained the mastery, and, starting 
 the voyage as boy, he ended as mate. 
 
 The story of his life is a record of success; not success 
 coining by accident, influence of connections or friends, but 
 by his own untiring perseverance, his devotion to duty, his 
 capacity his genius, in fact, for hard work. 
 
 In every undertaking of his life he commenced at the 
 lowermost round of the ladder. When he went to the 
 defense of his adopted country, he offered himself as a pri 
 vate soldier, but there must have been, in the face and figure 
 of the handsome, stalwart youth of 25, evidence of the quali 
 ties of leadership, for his companions in his company elected 
 him their captain. He was faithful to every trust imposed 
 in him. He was brave in battle. One who has chronicled 
 his military life says: 
 
 His charge at Cbancellorsville was one of the most brilliant feats of the 
 war and won for him a medal of honor. It was the morning of May 3, 
 1863, the last of the three days battle. The Second Brigade of New Jersey 
 had but two hours sleep during the night. They had formed in fighting 
 line before davbreak and had been under continuous fire for over four 
 
40 Life and Character of William J. Sewell. 
 
 hours. Many of their comrades were dead. More lay wounded and 
 dying about them. General Mott had been injured and carried from the 
 field; General Berry had been killed, and the command fell upon Colonel 
 
 SEWELL. 
 
 To the south and in front and to the w r est and on the right flank were 
 the Confederate troops. They were swarming forward in overwhelming 
 numbers and had seized a hill from w T hich the Federals had been driven 
 and which SEWELL realized must be recovered. With the instincts of a 
 born soldier he rallied his disheartened forces, and seeing them hesitate 
 in-the presence of the foe in such overwhelming numbers that it seemed 
 madness to charge, he galloped to the front in advance of the brigade until 
 he stood in distinct view of all and then exclaimed: "At least, Jerseymen, 
 follow me! " His example was irresistible. With a rush and a cheer the 
 whole line went forward. Up and over the hill they drove the enemy, 
 and on the crest of the earthworks planted the regimental colors. 
 
 He entered the service a captain and left it a major-general. 
 
 After the smoke of battle cleared away, General SEWELL 
 put off the uniform of a soldier and commenced civil life in 
 a humble capacity in his chosen profession of a railroad man. 
 He started as yardmaster and agent and became president. 
 The qualities of leadership, mastery of details, unremitting 
 work, carried him onward from the lowest to the highest place. 
 
 We know his life after he became a member of this body. 
 Seemingly austere at times, perhaps, in manner, yet he was 
 the embodiment of kindliness and true courtesy. I had the 
 honor to serve with General SEWELL for over six years as 
 fellow-member of the Committee on Military Affairs and some 
 two years on the Committee on Appropriations, and I learned 
 to- know and value his worth as a man, as a legislator, as a 
 friend. My association with him brings to mind 
 
 That best portion of a good man s life 
 His little, nameless, unremembered acts 
 Of kindness and of love. 
 
 He let no day close without doing good deeds for his friends, 
 for his colleagues, for his constituents; and it was with profound 
 sorrow that the fatal tidings came that his work was done. 
 
 I recall the active interest taken bv General SEWELL in 
 
Address of Mr. IVarrcn, of Wyoming. 41 
 
 legislation for increasing the efficiency of the National Guard. 
 He was an example of what can be accomplished in war by 
 the citizen soldier, and it was his constant desire to upbuild 
 and improve the National Guard service of the country, in 
 order that it might become a bulwark of defense to our 
 institutions. 
 
 It was said by a former member of this body that a reformer 
 and his reform rarely succeed at the same time." To-day, as 
 we pay our meed of praise to our departed colleague, the 
 reform for which he strove so long and well is about to become 
 ingrafted in the law of the land. While he did not live to 
 see his wishes consummated, we know that his ideas have 
 taken shape and form, and that to his work and energies we 
 owe light and wisdom with which to act in the consideration 
 of the measure which carries into effect his ideas. 
 
 While striving to benefit the National Guard of the country, 
 in which he took so great an interest, he never lost sight of 
 the old soldiers with whom he served, and the duties he per 
 formed as a member, vice-president, and president of the Board 
 of Managers of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer 
 Soldiers served to ameliorate the hardships of many of his 
 old comrades. 
 
 And so ran the story of his life. As a boy, meeting cheer 
 fully the obstacles which poverty placed in his path; as a 
 youth, taking up the hardships of the camp and field, braving 
 the perils of the fiercest battles of the civil war, and winning 
 for himself imperishable fame in the annals of that great 
 conflict; as a business man, gaining the respect and confidence 
 of a great State; as a legislator, true to his constituents, his 
 friends and his country; and in all, in youth and manhood, 
 in war and peace, in his private and public life, living close to 
 the highest ideals of human life. 
 
 Thus he won success- -nay, he did more, he deserved success. 
 
42 Life and Character of William J. Seivell. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. PENROSE, OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 Mr. PRESIDENT: I always entertained sentiments of the 
 highest regard and esteem for our late colleague, General 
 SEWELL, in my acquaintance and friendship with him, extend 
 ing over mail} 7 years before I came to this body, and these 
 sentiments were intensified by the more intimate associations 
 which I formed with him in the Senate. I sat next to him 
 in this Chamber. We resided in adjoining cities, and repre 
 sented adjoining States which, have many common interests. 
 I had many opportunities to observe the strength and 
 greatness of his character and to fully appreciate the loss 
 which we have sustained in his death. 
 
 The career of General SEWELL was distinguished by 
 splendid achievements; it affords an inspiration to any young 
 man and illustrates the opportunities of our American Republic. 
 What he accomplished was not the result entirely of good 
 fortune, but the rounding out of ean.est, intelligent, and per 
 sistent effort. He was born in Ireland, of a respectable family 
 in moderate circumstances, being English upon his father s 
 side and Scotch-Irish upon his mother s. The original coat of 
 arms of the Sewell family was first conferred upon one of the 
 line for gallantry at the battle of Crecy in defense of the Black 
 Prince, and to this was added later the crest "a mailed hand 
 brandishing a cap of liberty," a republican emblem that could 
 only have been won by resistance to kings. 
 
 He left home at the age of 1 6 to better his fortunes and to 
 create a career. Joining an elder brother in New York in a 
 mercantile capacity, he soon afterwards became a sailor before 
 the mast, and made a number of voyages in various directions, 
 finally becoming second mate by his indomitable energy and 
 
Address of Mr. Pcnrosc, of Pennsylvania. 43 
 
 forceful will. Late in the fifties he was found in Illinois occu 
 pying- the position of what might be termed a soliciting 
 salesman, traveling the prairies seeking business for the house 
 which he represented. It was then that he heard the 
 noted debates between Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Douglas, which 
 made a profound impression upon him, and tended largely to 
 his adherence to the Republican party in later years. 
 
 By chance being in Xew Jersey when the war commenced, 
 his naturally martial spirit and his devotion to his adopted 
 country induced him to apply to the governor of the State, Dr. 
 Newell, for the position of second lieutenant in one of the 
 regiments of that State. Governor Newell was so much 
 impressed with his appearance and his decided expression of 
 views as to the conduct of the war that he appointed him a 
 captain. Entering as a captain, he retired at the end of the 
 war brevet major-general. Upon many a battlefield he attested 
 his gallantry and military prowess, notably at Chancellorsville, 
 where he led the New Jersey brigade and recaptured from the 
 Confederate forces a number of Union standards. 
 
 At the end of the war he found himself without any special 
 friends in the East, with no money accumulated, and no pro 
 fession upon which to depend. Happening to be in New 
 Jersey, he entered the service of the Pennsylvania Railroad 
 Company in a minor capacity, and remained continuously with 
 that great corporation until the time of his death, becoming 
 finally president of its lines in New Jersey. As a railroad 
 official the same attributes characterized him as marked his 
 military career. He was fearless in the discharge of duty, 
 quick to grasp an opportunity to better the road which he 
 represented, and singularly fortunate in inspiring absolute 
 loyalty and implicit confidence in both his associates and 
 subordinates. 
 
44 Life and Character of William J. Scwell. 
 
 Having settled in C-amden, N. J., General SEWELL turned 
 his attention to politics, and was soon elected to the State 
 senate, where he served for a number of years, some time as 
 president. In 1881 he was elected to the United States Senate, 
 defeating for the nomination such distinguished Republicans as 
 George A. Halsey, George M. Robeson, and William "Walter 
 Phelps. At the expiration of his term, the State having 
 become Democratic, he retired to private life. It was thought 
 at that time that Xew Jersey was hopelessly Democratic and 
 the prospect of Republican success very remote. Here it was 
 that he exhibited that wonderful sagacity in political as in 
 other affairs which distinguished him throughout life. Almost 
 unaided he kept up the organization in his State with such 
 perfection that in 1895 he was again elected to the United 
 States Senate, and, at the expiration of his term, was reelected 
 for the term expiring March 4, 1907. 
 
 Among the many admirable traits in General SEWELL S 
 character several stood out preeminently. His modesty was 
 evident. No one, however intimate with him, ever heard him 
 boast or refer, even in the most indirect manner, to his achieve 
 ments during the war or in the great and important political 
 events in which he had participated in civil life. In fact, he 
 seemed to deprecate any personal allusion to himself, and when 
 there \vas any praise to be awarded he was sincerely desirous 
 that others should be the recipients rather than himself. He 
 was preeminently noted for the inviolability of his word. The 
 old saying, " His word is as good as his bond," applied with 
 singular force to General SEWELL, nd in his case could even 
 have been enlarged, for his word was better than his bond." 
 He \vas not a man profuse in protestations, neither did he 
 make a promise nor incur any obligation without giving due 
 consideration to what was involved, and whenever he said he 
 
Address of Mr. Penrose, of Pennsylvania. 45 
 
 would or would not do a thing, there was no retraction or 
 reluctance, no compromise. He absolutely fulfilled what he had 
 undertaken, so that in his own State political friend and foe 
 alike fully realized that in dealing with him there w r as nothing 
 held back, there were no unfair surprises intended, but from 
 the first his course was marked with fairness and candor. 
 
 He exhibited a remarkable loyalty to his friends. No man 
 ever lived who was more thoroughly devoted to his friends or 
 truer to their interests. His friends did not embrace an army, 
 and he was careful as to whom he placed upon his list or 
 brought near to his heart, but he could not be shaken when 
 once his friendship and confidence had been acquired by 
 anyone. If he erred at all, it was in his steadfast allegiance, 
 unwilling to see things which with other men might have 
 weakened the association. Xo slander, no innuendo, no 
 attempt to depreciate or injure anyone who was upon terms 
 of friendship or intimacy with him had the slightest effect. 
 
 He possessed keen discernment. Few men have excelled 
 General SEWELL in the extraordinary faculty which he pos 
 sessed for picking out the right person for the work he had in 
 charge. Without this faculty he could have hardly accom 
 plished his achievements as head of great corporate interests 
 and as the recognized leader of a great political organization in 
 one of the great States of the Union. He seemed to know by 
 intuition exactly how to develop the best in a man, to discern 
 what he was fitted for, and to realize his capabilities, influences, 
 and aptitudes. Intrusted as he was with responsibilities which 
 would have appalled almost anyone, he was able to bring about 
 wonderful results, because surrounded by a staff of efficient 
 assistants who took their instructions from him, followed them 
 faithfully, and never betrayed in the slightest degree the faith 
 reposed in them. 
 
46 Life and Character of William J. Sewell. 
 
 He possessed great industry. It was General SEWELL S 
 habit never to leave his office until he had disposed of every 
 matter that could be attended to that day. His thoroughness 
 in the dispatch of business was one of the secrets of his suc 
 cess. No detail, however insignificant, escaped his attention; 
 no request, however unimportant, was not promptly acted 
 upon; no person ever sought an interview upon a proper mis 
 sion and was refused; no letter worthy of an answer remained 
 unresponded to. 
 
 General SEWELL possessed great breadth of view. He was 
 a reticent man. He was a clear and forceful speaker, without 
 pretending to be an orator. In private life, was not want to 
 engage in much conversation. His was a reflective and 
 absorbing mind, always anxious for information, never con 
 ceited as to his own opinion, willing to be advised if he 
 thought the advice judicious, and capable of grasping a situa 
 tion, both as to its strong and weak points, almost instantly, 
 which would have required from most men considerable time 
 for reflection. His career in the Senate illustrates his char 
 acter. There was scarcely a question presented to the Senate 
 during the thirteen years that he was a member upon which 
 he did not from the first reach a correct conclusion. 
 
 He was loyal to his country, a loving and devoted husband 
 and father, steadfast to his friends, and faithful to every trust 
 confided to him. As a citizen, soldier, and statesman his 
 career was marked by loyalty to truth and principle. His 
 name will have a bright and honored place in the history of 
 our country. 
 
Address of Mr. Depciv, of Neiv York. 47 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. DEPEW, OF NEW YORK. 
 
 Mr. PRESIDENT: It was my privilege to know Senator 
 WILLIAM J. SEWELL for more than a quarter of a century. 
 He and I, during the whole of that period, were in the same 
 profession. It brought us close together in the intimacy of 
 antagonisms and of friendships. Our acquaintance, our inter 
 course, ripened into the warmest friendship, and the more years 
 I knew him the more I appreciated the qualities of mind and of 
 heart which enabled him to accomplish the career which we 
 celebrate here to-day. 
 
 I know of no example at this particular period w r hich is so 
 rich in encouragement as that of Senator SEWELL. Extremes 
 always go together, and we are just now, more than at any 
 other age, at the extremes of optimism and pessimism. There 
 never was a time when for an American there was so much to 
 be proud of, and to be hopeful for, and to inspire ambition, as 
 now. And there never has been a time when, from the pro 
 fessor s chair to the pulpit, from the pulpit to the press, from 
 the press to the platform, and from every public source, there 
 were so many and such unanimous expressions in regard to the . 
 failure of our institutions from now on to permit the develop 
 ment of the individual. There is the universal cry everywhere 
 that these combinations which are forming from the natural 
 tendencies of our age, both of capital on the one side and of 
 labor on the other, are every day wiping out the unit and 
 recognizing only the mass. 
 
 It is the glory of our country that it has been builded upon 
 the individual; that under our institutions, differing from all 
 others of all other lands and of all times, it makes no difference 
 what mav be the start that the bov has in life, if he has in him 
 
48 Life and Character of William J. Seu ell. 
 
 the making of a career, the circumstances, conditions, environ 
 ments, and institutions enable him to make it to the limit of 
 his capacity. 
 
 But we are told now that that element in our institutions 
 has been negatived by the character of our industrial and 
 financial development; that it is the corporation, it is the 
 great organization of the trust, it is the mighty combination 
 of labor which have wiped out the foundations upon which 
 we have builded and that which is the hope of the future of 
 the Republic of the United States. So says the lecturer, so 
 says the professor, so says the theorist, so says the agitator, 
 so says the demagogue. 
 
 Now, here we have in the career of our friend the best answer 
 I have ever known to just that question. He arrived in this 
 country and started handicapped as our American youth are 
 not. All the great successes in our financial, our industrial, 
 and our public life have been made by those who started with 
 nothing, with no equipment except brains, character, industry, 
 and ambition. But they were American citizens with all that 
 that means. However, here was a foreign lad w T ith none of 
 those influences of family to which he could go for advice, 
 and none of those influences of environment of the village or 
 the hamlet or the county which would be proud of him and 
 push him forward. Notwithstanding that, you have heard 
 here in these various eulogies what he accomplished, and still 
 did not live to the full period allotted to man. 
 
 He began as a poor boy, without a penny, and accumulated 
 a fortune. He began in public life simply as a worker in the 
 ranks of his part} and reached the highest position that his 
 country can give to one born upon a foreign soil. A member 
 of the senate of his State, elected the president of the senate of 
 his State by his associates, after he had been there two terms 
 
Address of Mr. Depew, of New York. 49 
 
 and he was entering upon his third, he was elected to the United 
 States Senate and chosen for three terms. Starting as a soldier 
 in the humblest position as an officer, by gallantry he retired a 
 brigadier-general, and was then brevetted a major-general for 
 gallantry in the field. Commencing in the humblest capacity 
 in the railway in which he worked for nearly forty years, he 
 became the president of all its lines in the State in which 
 he resided. 
 
 Now, there is another element which is a refutal of these 
 pessimistic views. He began his career in the corporation, in 
 which the individual is eliminated, and all private views, private 
 character, private ambitions, and private ability are reduced to 
 the general mass, says the theorist. And yet it was in that 
 career, which occupied the whole of his active life, in the 
 service of one of the greatest corporations in this country 
 that he achieved in finance a success, in public life a success, 
 in his profession a success, as a soldier a success, in any one 
 of which any man would have been said by his neighbors 
 and his family to have accomplished an honorable and 
 distinguished career. 
 
 If I may be permitted, as the trend of discussion has gone 
 principally upon what he achieved, I think that his success 
 was due to the directness and the courage which he had. 
 The courage which he displayed upon the battlefield was the 
 courage which was displayed by millions of his fellow- 
 citizens who served under the one flag or the other during 
 the civil war. But he had a higher courage than that mere 
 physical courage, which is admirable, but with which our 
 race is gifted. He had a moral courage, and to that he 
 owed the major part of his success. 
 
 During the period when he was most active in politics, when 
 he was most ambitious for popular favor, there prevailed 
 S. Doc. 226 4 
 
5O Life and Character of William J. Sewell. 
 
 through this country that singular craze and prejudice which 
 said that the million of men engaged in the profession of 
 railroading were unworthy of public confidence, and were 
 dangerous to nominate for public office. There were times 
 when this rose so high that, while both parties wished the 
 services of the railway man after the nominations were made, 
 neither party dared nominate a man upon the pay roll of a 
 railroad company for a village, a county, a State, or a national 
 office. 
 
 Many who had ambitions at that period sought to gratify 
 their ambitions by denying the profession in which they were 
 engaged or minimizing it; but Senator SEWELL always remem 
 bered that he was one of a million men engaged in a profession 
 which required as much, at least, if not more, of ability, of 
 intelligence, of sobriety, of industry, of fidelity, and all the 
 qualities that go to make up good service and good citizenship 
 than any other pursuit in the country. He remembered the 
 camaraderie that he had with these men, and he was deter 
 mined that by no act of his should there be a slur cast upon 
 this profession that they were unworthy of public confidence 
 compared with those who were engaged in other gainful and 
 in other reputable pursuits in our country. 
 
 It was the peculiarity of this craze, of this prejudice, that 
 it applied only to those who were on the pay roll and receiving 
 their stipend salary, wages, whatever it might be in the 
 regular way from the treasury of the corporation. During the 
 whole of that period the president or the general counsel 
 could retain distinguished lawyers who would receive as com 
 pensation many times what the officer or the general counsel 
 had in the way of salary, who would appear in the State and 
 in the national courts, and sometimes when the Government 
 and the corporation were in antagonism, and yet that politician, 
 
Address of Mr. Depeiv, of New York. 51 
 
 becoming a statesman, or one at the time, could appear in 
 this capacity, and then upon the platform or in Congress 
 denounce the corporation and retain the confidence of his 
 fellow-citizens. 
 
 I remember an incident at a national convention where 
 SEWELL and I were frequently in consultation upon this sub 
 ject and in which I was personally interested, where a gentle 
 man, distinguished in his State and in the nation, came to 
 me and said, "You should retire instantly, for the sake of 
 your party, from the position in which your State put you 
 as its candidate for President, because in our State we have 
 educated the people to believe that anyone who holds any 
 position under a railroad, whether it is a brakeman, a con 
 ductor, a locomotive engineer, a freight man, a passenger 
 man, a president, or a general counsel, is un worth}- of public 
 confidence. I said, My friend, what do you do? " " Well, 
 he said, "outside of my public life I am so engaged and 
 engrossed in public duties that it is impossible for me to take 
 private practice, and so my entire living comes from the 
 retainers given me by a leading Western railroad." 
 
 Now, Mr.. President, Mr. SEWELL was no such man as that. 
 When he ran for the State senate first, and again and again, 
 he was the leading railway officer and the represent ative of 
 all the railroads in his State, and he made no concealment of 
 the fact. On the contrary, while he did not run as such, 
 he did assert, " I am as worth} , if as a man and a citizen you 
 think me so, as you, gentlemen, who are engaged in any other 
 pursuit, avocation, or profession." And that courage elected 
 him. It reelected him. It made him the leader of his party 
 in his State. It did more. It made his State, which has 
 always been freer from baseless prejudice than most of our 
 Commonwealths, choose him the leader of the delegation in 
 
52 Life and Character of William J. Sewell. 
 
 six national conventions, where he was to be a great force in 
 saying who should receive the nomination for the Presidency 
 and Vice-Presidency, when upon that nomination and upon 
 that platform depended the fortunes of the party to which 
 he belonged. 
 
 When in public life he illustrated that he could be a railway 
 man in his profession and a public man when intrusted by the 
 people with office. To his initiative, to his skill as a business 
 man. and to his lack of prejudice on all questions is due that 
 legislation in the State of New Jersey by which taxation has 
 been lifted, so far as State taxation is concerned, from the 
 farm, from industries, and from labor, and placed upon the 
 corporations. He perfected that system so that from the cor 
 poration and not from the farm, not from industries, not from 
 labor, come in the State treasury of New Jersey to-day reve 
 nues which have relieved it of State debt, revenues which pay 
 the whole of its State taxation, revenues which take care of its 
 educational system, and revenues which seem as though they 
 would ultimately wipe out local taxation. 
 
 Mr. President, Senator SEWELL was in no sense a spectacular 
 man. We who knew him best knew that he avoided crowds, 
 he avoided applause, he never played to the gallery. He was 
 always intent upon the one thing which he sought to accom 
 plish. The motive power of his career was its directness, its 
 courage, its outspokenness. When he started in the railway 
 business he meant to be president of the railway, and he was; 
 in finance he meant to get a fortune, and he secured it; in 
 politics he meant to go as far as he could under the laws 
 and the Constitution of the United States, and he did. 
 
 In this Senate his value was in the fact that he undertook 
 nothing which he did not completely understand, and that 
 which he did understand by the submission of the judgment 
 
Address of Mr. Depew, of New York. 53 
 
 of his associates to his great judgment, backed up by his won 
 derful information and industry, became the law of the land. 
 
 He started to redeem the State of Xew Jersey from its rock- 
 ribbed condition in the Democratic party. It had been allied 
 to that party ever since the time of Jefferson, and including 
 Jefferson s time. In that State, which is peculiarly interstate, 
 within itself, in the families who married and intermarried, 
 there were traditions and legends of party associations most 
 difficult to break, most difficult to sever; and Senator SEWELL S 
 success in the twenty years struggle by which he turned that 
 State over to his own party, and by which it looks as if it might 
 be kept there, was due to the qualities of leadership, in which 
 he differed from most of the political leaders of my time. 
 
 Political leaders, as I have known them and I have known 
 almost all of them in almost every State for forty years are 
 jealous of youth; they are afraid of young ambition; they hesi 
 tate to acknowledge the rising genius which appears in the 
 different localities of their State, and they frequently put a 
 heavy hand on a young man who is marching ahead, according 
 to their judgment, too rapidly, and may possibly interfere with 
 or remove them from the seat of power. SEWELL never had 
 any fear on that point. Wherever there was ambition in youth 
 he encouraged it; wherever there was ability he recognized it; 
 wherever a young man could be placed so that he could be 
 most useful to the cause which SEWELL loved, and which he 
 believed ought to triumph, it never occurred to his brave and 
 manly heart that that boy or that young man could be a rival 
 of himself. 
 
 There is one race, Mr. President, which has contributed more 
 to the government of this world in modern times than any 
 other. It bears a very small proportion to other races, almost 
 an infinitesimal portion. Wherever you go around the world, 
 
54 Life and Character of William J. S ewe II. 
 
 in seeing foreign countries and foreign sights, you come upon 
 the colonies of the British Empire, and recognize that the sun 
 in its course around the globe never sets upon the British flag. 
 Wherever the situation is difficult, wherever government is 
 almost impossible, wherever the climate is most deadly, wher 
 ever the population is nearer to barbarism and savagery, and 
 therefore almost impossible to assimilate, there you find as a 
 governor a member of the Scotch- Irish race. The Scotch-Irish 
 race is a very small part of the inhabitants of the British 
 Islands, but in the civil and military affairs of England they 
 occupy more distinguished, more powerful, and more numerous 
 stations than all other races combined. 
 
 That race has contributed much to the glory of the American 
 Army and of the American Navy. Though an almost infini 
 tesimal part of our 80,000,000 people, it has contributed several 
 Presidents to the United States, but it never gave to our public 
 and our business life, it never gave to our citizenship a better 
 example or a more useful service than when it contributed 
 the grit, the pluck, the modest courage, the ability, and the 
 indomitable ambition of Senator WILLIAM J. SEWELL. 
 
Address of Mr. Dryden, of New Jersey. 55 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. DRYDEN, OF NEW JERSEY. 
 
 Mr. PRESIDENT: As the junior Senator from Xe\v Jersey, 
 precedent assigns to me the duty of speaking the last word in 
 these memorial services. But the story of General SE WELL S 
 life, to which we have just listened from the lips of those who 
 knew and honored him, renders it unnecessary for me to speak 
 of him at length. 
 
 It is especially fitting that this body, of which General 
 SEWELL was a member for nearly one-fifth of his busy and 
 eventful career, should bear testimony by appropriate action 
 and in a public manner to his sterling character and distin 
 guished services. These solemn observances are far more 
 than a mere adherence to a venerated custom. They testify 
 to a public loss. They signalize a recognition of the virtues of 
 a useful citizen, a brave soldier., a wise statesman. 
 
 Devoid of the pomp and show which would characterize a 
 similar event under other forms of government, their very 
 simplicity lends to them a force and dignity appropriate to 
 the life of the man whom we mourn and to the memory of 
 a patriotic and self-sacrificing servant of the Republic, in whose 
 service he was when he died. 
 
 Considering the circumstances of his foreign birth, remem 
 bering that he came to this country a mere boy in years, both 
 fatherless and motherless, and that without friends or means, 
 and with but scant store of education, he by the exercise of 
 great natural abilities rose step by step from a very humble 
 position in life to be a major-general and a Senator of the 
 United States, the story of Senator SEWELL S advancement is 
 remarkable and in some respects singular. Except that he 
 was of Anglo-Irish lineage above the common, he might not 
 
56 Life and Character of William J. Sewell. 
 
 inaptly have said in the slightly altered language of Bulwer 
 
 Ly tton : 
 
 My father died; and I, the lowly born, 
 
 Was my own lord. Then did I seek to rise 
 
 Out of the prison of my mean estate, 
 
 And with such jewels as the exploring mind 
 
 Brings from the caves of knowledge, buy my ransom 
 
 From those twin gaolers of the daring heart 
 
 Low Birth and Iron Fortune. 
 
 The outbreak of the civil war found General SEWEI,!,, then 
 a young man, residing in New Jersey and already occupying 
 a responsible position in railroad work. He was among the 
 first to answer the nation s call for men to maintain its unity, 
 and recruiting a company of his own went with it to the front 
 as its captain. I shall not attempt to tell his story as a soldier. 
 How he bore his part in that mighty four years conflict which 
 followed is splendidly attested by his early and numerous 
 promotions, through which he rose steadily to the ranks of 
 lieutenant-colonel, colonel, brevet brigadier-general, and finally 
 brevet major-general. His first star was given him for "gal 
 lant and meritorious conduct in the battle of Chancellorsville, 
 where he w r as severely wounded. For his brilliant sen-ices in 
 action at Spottsylvania and Gettysburg, as well as in other 
 great battles of the war, he was awarded a medal of honor by 
 Congress. He was but 30 years of age when he was entitled 
 to w r ear the double star of a major-general. These memorial 
 events in his career are a part of our country s history, and 
 their story of his bravery and patriotism and of hardships 
 endured for the love of his country will remain there to kindle 
 the pride of his descendants and to encourage American youth 
 to emulate his noble deeds. 
 
 Two events subsequent to his service in the civil war illus 
 trate, one, the strength of his martial spirit, and the other, 
 his capacity for command. Soon after the close of that great 
 conflict he became identified with the National Guard of the 
 
Address of Mr. Dry den, of New Jersey. 57 
 
 State of Xe\v Jersey and continued in it for the remainder 
 of his life, being its major-general commanding at his death. 
 Occupying that position when the late war with Spain broke 
 out he was anxious to take the field again and was, in .fact, 
 appointed and commissioned a major-general of United States 
 Volunteers by the late President McKinley. Following that 
 occurred a most unusual event. You will remember, Mr. 
 President, you and those who were serving in the Senate 
 with him at that time, how, at the urgent request of the 
 late Vice- President Hobart and a large number of his Sena 
 torial colleagues who believed General SEWELL S services 
 were imperatively demanded here as a member of the Com 
 mittee on Military Affairs, he with great reluctance and regret 
 declined the appointment and remained in the Senate at the 
 post which, in the judgment of many of his associates, duty 
 assigned to him. 
 
 Of his ability as a military commander I will mention but 
 a single instance. In the year 1877 the country was pro 
 foundly agitated by labor troubles, particularly in connection 
 with some of the railroads. In certain localities outside of 
 my own State the fires of discontent, which had been smol 
 dering, broke out in open conflagration. Property was 
 destroyed and human lives sacrificed. Great lines of trans 
 portation were tied up and business was in a state of partial 
 paralysis. The trouble reached New Jersey, and the calamity 
 there was imminent. The conditions demanded the exercise 
 of talent of the highest order. To meet the emergency Gen 
 eral SE\VELL was made provisional commander of the forces 
 of the State, assembled to preserve order, and sent to Phillips- 
 burg, X. J., the greatest point of danger. With rare courage, 
 decision, and good judgment he opened and kept open the 
 lines of travel throughout the territory under his command, 
 restored peace and order, vindicated the majesty of the law, 
 
58 Life and Character of William J. Sewell, 
 
 and, what is worthy of the highest praise, accomplished all 
 this without the destruction of property and without the loss 
 of a single life. In the language of a conservative and com 
 petent authority, the late Adjutant-General Stryker, of New 
 Jersey, "A more skillfully planned, silently but rapidly exe 
 cuted, and thoroughly effective movement was never made by 
 State troops in the history of this country." 
 
 The qualities that enabled General SEWELL to rise to high 
 rank and command in the military service of his adopted 
 country marked him out for conspicuous success in the ranks 
 of peace. Returning upon the close of hostilities in the civil 
 war to his ante-bellum occupation and resuming his old home 
 in New Jersey, he soon began climbing the paths of peace 
 to new places of honor and trust. No obstacles or difficulties 
 could long stay his advancement. Just as he had shown a 
 marked genius for war, so in business and in statecraft he 
 possessed all the important qualifications that make for suc 
 cess. He was a man of sound judgment, quick in decision, 
 and untiringly industrious. He had in a marked degree one 
 other trait which is essential to permanent distinction in any 
 vocation in life absolute fidelity to his promise. His plighted 
 faith was an inviolable obligation. No man could ever truth 
 fully charge General SEWELL with lukewarmness or faint 
 heartedness to any friend or cause he professed to serve. 
 
 Immediately after the civil war, associating himself with the 
 Republican party in New Jersey, he was chosen to the State 
 senate in 1873, and continued a member of that bod}" until 
 elected to the Senate of the United States. His influence in 
 shaping public affairs steadily grew, and in the councils of his 
 party in his own State he became the acknowledged and undis 
 puted leader. In the larger field of national politics he was 
 also potential. 
 
 Nearly evervone now a member of this Senate knew him 
 
Address of Mr. Dry den, of Neu< Jersey. 59 
 
 well as a colleague, some for a long period of time. Those 
 who served with him will bear me witness that here, as 
 wherever else duty called him, he discharged every obligation 
 with scrupulous fidelity. He did not aspire to the fame of an 
 orator. He was essentially a man of action, not words. His 
 ambition was to be known as a faithful, untiring, and effective 
 worker. How well and aptly he might have said, speaking 
 the words of one of Shakespeare s kingly characters: 
 
 I profess not talking. Only this 
 Let each man do his part. 
 
 His favorite resort here was the committee room that place 
 where so much of the effective business of the Senate is trans 
 acted. 
 
 But if he shrank from public speaking, he was alert, active, 
 tireless, and zealous in the performance of every duty. He was 
 a man of strong and rugged character and when greatly moved 
 by any cause near to his heart his whole nature became aroused 
 and he could express himself with a directness and force clear, 
 powerful, and convincing. Naturally a man of few words, he 
 weighed his language carefully, but every utterance had its 
 significance and place. I will quote one, and only one, sen 
 tence from the speeches of this taciturn man. It was upon an 
 occasion when the conditions, the circumstances, the surround 
 ings were all calculated to move him profoundly. He was 
 about to retire from the senate of New Jersey, to sever connec 
 tions which had lasted for years, and to take his seat as a 
 Senator of the United States. As he arose at the call, and 
 amid the plaudits of his old friends, he said with much feeling: 
 
 You will not hear from me as an orator, for I am a simple man, labor 
 ing as many hours a day as any mechanic in the State, but* when the 
 nation and State are attacked and need a bosom to be bared to meet 
 the attack, mine will be bared. 
 
 These words furnish a key to his character. 
 
 Very much of his influence with his political as well as 
 
60 Life and Character of William J. Sewell. 
 
 business associates grew out of the trait of character to which 
 I have already alluded the absolute dependence that could be 
 put upon his promise. His personal integrity was unimpeach 
 able. Under what appeared at times to be a rather cold and 
 even haughty exterior he had a kind, sympathetic, and tender 
 heart which moved him to do many acts of benevolence. His 
 faithfulness to anyone who had obtained his confidence and 
 esteem was proverbial. His friendship was as 
 
 Constant as the northern star, 
 
 Of whose true-fixed and resting quality 
 
 There is no fellow in the firmament. 
 
 To sum up the life and character of WILLIAM J. SEWELL, 
 judging him by the standard of what he was and what he did, 
 the facts lead to the inevitable conclusion that in his threefold 
 capacity of citizen, soldier, and statesman he acquitted himself 
 in a manner to reflect the highest credit upon the country that 
 gave him free, ready, and largest opportunity to develop and 
 bring into splendid fruition the varied and brilliant qualities 
 born in him, upon the historic State that honored itself in long 
 honoring him, and upon all who were concerned or associated 
 with him in his noble and remarkably successful life work. 
 His exalted quality of citizenship is attested by his achieve 
 ments in the walks of peace, conspicuous among which was his 
 evolution as a masterful developer of the great railroad system 
 in which he started in a very humble capacity, and with which 
 he was prominently identified nearly all his mature life. His 
 character as a soldier, as incarnated in his deeds, proves him to 
 have been a born commander, as full of sagacity as he was of 
 courage, equally ready as he was resourceful, skillful, and 
 efficient. In the Senate, first of the State he so much loved 
 and so richly adorned and then of the nation whose Govern 
 ment and institutions he idolized, he bore himself from first to 
 last as a wise, painstaking, and patriotic legislator. 
 
Address of Mr. Dry den, of New Jersey. 61 
 
 There is only the assertion of a simple truth in saying, Mr. 
 President, that the man whose very distinguished career closed 
 upon the 2jth day of December, 1901, and whose memory is 
 the occasion of these justly deserved remembrances, was in all 
 the relations of life, private as well as public 
 
 Zealous, yet modest; innocent, though free; 
 Patient of toil, serene amidst alarms; 
 Inflexible in faith; invincible in arms. 
 
 The Senate thereupon, in accordance with the sixth resolu 
 tion (at 4 o clock and 5 minutes p. m.), adjourned, the 
 adjournment being, under the order made this day, until Sat 
 urday, December 20, 1902, at 12 o clock meridian. ; 
 
 FEBRUARY 9, 1903. 
 MESSAGE FROM THE HOUSE. 
 
 The message also communicated to the Senate resolutions 
 passed by the House commemorative of the life and services 
 of Hon. WILLIAM JOYCE SE\VELL, late a Senator from the 
 Stat-e of Xew Jersey. 
 
PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE. 
 
 JANUARY 6, 1902. 
 
 The House met at 12 o clock m. The chaplain, Rev. Henry 
 X. Couden, D. D., offered the following prayer: 
 
 We come to Thee, Almighty God, our heavenlj Father, 
 because we believe in Thee as a faithful friend, a wise coun 
 selor, and a trustworthy guide, and because we know that in 
 our weakness we need Thy counsel and Thy guiding hand 
 in all the affairs of life. We bless Thee for the season that 
 has just passed, with its hallowed associations and its far- 
 reaching lessons, the home gatherings, their pleasures and 
 joys; and we thank Thee that Thou hast brought us together 
 again in health and strength. And, that the great problems 
 that shall come before this House may be ably and efficiently 
 disposed of, give to these, Thy servants, clear minds, high 
 resolves, and lofty endeavors, that they may prove themselves 
 worthy of the confidence reposed in them by a great people 
 whom they represent. Since we last met death has entered 
 into the Congressional family and taken from it a wise and 
 faithful statesman, whose character has left its impress upon 
 those who knew him and upon the nation he served. Com 
 fort, we beseech Thee, the stricken family and bereaved 
 friends with the blessed hope of immortality, and Thine shall 
 be the praise through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 
 
 DEATH OF SENATOR SEWELL, OF NEW JERSEY. 
 
 Mr. L,OUDENSI<AGER. Mr. Speaker, it becomes my painful 
 duty to announce to this House the death of that distinguished 
 
 63 
 
64 Proceedings in the House. 
 
 citizen, soldier, and statesman, Senator WILLIAM J. SEWELL, 
 of the State of New Jersey. His death occurred last Friday a 
 week, at his home, about 9 o clock in the morning. For 
 months he had heroically struggled against disease, which 
 finally proved too strong for his constitution to longer resist, 
 and he passed away, surrounded by his family, and was laid to 
 rest on the last day of the year, mourned by thousands of 
 people of his own and other States as no other citizen of the 
 State was ever mourned. 
 
 I shall not at this time, by any extended remarks, endeavor 
 to express for myself, the people of the State, or the thousands 
 of his associates in business and politics the high appreciation 
 and deep affection entertained for him. 
 
 At some other time, under more appropriate conditions, the 
 House will be asked to set aside a part of its time, when the 
 members will be afforded an opportunity to pay such tributes 
 to his memory as is befitting such a life, character, and distin 
 guished public service as was rendered by him to the State, 
 in the service of his country, and the council of the nation. 
 
 His untimely death is the greatest loss the State of New 
 Jersey has ever suffered. 
 
 As a further mark of esteem, I offdr the following resolu 
 tions: 
 
 Resolved, That the House has heard with profound sorrow of the death 
 of Hon. WILLIAM JOYCE SEWELL, a Senator of the United States from 
 the State of New Jersey. 
 
 Resolved, That as a further mark of respect to the memory of the late 
 Senator SEWELL this House do now adjourn. 
 
 Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the Senate 
 and transmit a copy thereof to the family of the deceased Senator. 
 
 The resolutions were unanimously agreed to. 
 
 Accordingly, in pursuance of the resolutions (at 12 o clock 
 and 12 minutes p. m.), the House adjourned until to-morrow 
 at 12 o clock noon. 
 
Proceedings in the House. 65 
 
 JANUARY 7, 1902. 
 
 MESSAGE FROM THE SENATE. 
 
 The message also announced that the Senate had passed the 
 following resolutions: 
 
 Resolved, That the Senate has heard with deep regret and profound 
 sorrow of the death of the Hon. WILLIAM J. SEWELL, late a Senator from 
 the State of New Jersey. 
 
 Resolved, That the Secretary communicate a copy of these resolutions 
 to the House of Representatives. 
 
 Resolved. That as a further mark of respect to the memory of the deceased 
 the vSenate do now adjourn. 
 
 DECEMBER 13, 1902. 
 EULOGIES ON THE LATE SENATOR SEWELL, OF NEW JERSEY. 
 
 Mr. GARDNER, of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I beg leave 
 to submit a resolution and ask unanimous consent for its 
 immediate consideration. 
 
 The Clerk read as follows: 
 
 Resolved, That the House meet on Sunday, the 8th day of February, 
 1903, at 12 o clock noon, for the consideration of resolutions commemo 
 rative of the life, character, and services of the late Gen. WIUJAM J. 
 SEWELL, a Senator of the United States from the State of New Jersey. 
 
 The SPEAKER. Is there objection to the present considera 
 tion of the resolution? [After a pause.] The Chair hears 
 none. 
 
 The resolution was agreed to. 
 
 SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1903. 
 The House met at 12 o clock noon. 
 
 Mr. William J. Browning, Chief Clerk, called the House 
 to order and read the following communication: 
 
 FEBRUARY 8, 1903. 
 
 I hereby designate as Speaker pro tempore for this day Hon. Richard 
 Wayne Parker, ot New Jersey. 
 
 D. B. HENDERSON, Speaker. 
 S. Doc. 226 s 
 
66 Proceedings in the House. 
 
 The Chaplain, Rev. Henry X. Couden, D. D., offered the 
 following prayer: 
 
 Almighty Father, whose spirit is everywhere present to 
 uphold, strengthen, and guide Thy children in the discharge 
 of the cares and responsibilities which must needs come to 
 us in this earthly existence. We thank Thee for the holy 
 Sabbath day, which takes us, if we will, out of the busy 
 whirl and turmoil of life s activities, not only to quiet and 
 rest, but to a contemplation of the larger relationships of life 
 with Thee and our fellow-men. We thank Thee for whatever 
 is great in men as financiers, as discoverers, as statesmen, 
 as scholars or teachers of truth and righteousness, but above 
 all w 7 e thank Thee for that full rounded-out character in men 
 which lifts them above self in poise and nobility of soul. 
 We bless Thee for all whom Thou hast raised up to be 
 leaders of men, especially for the men of America w y ho have 
 wrought and woven into the fibers of our nation their 
 characters, which make it strong and great; and as we gather 
 here to-day, help us to call to mind whatever was noble and 
 pure and lofty in those whom we w r ould honor by this sacred 
 service, and let Thy loving arms be about those w y ho are near 
 and dear to them in the ties of kinship, to comfort and 
 sustain them in that blessed hope of the immortality of the 
 soul, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 
 
 The Journal of yesterday s proceedings w r as read and 
 approved. 
 
 ORDER OF PROCEDURE FOR THIS DAY. 
 
 The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will read the order 
 under which the proceedings of this day will be governed. 
 The Clerk read as follows: 
 
 On motion of Mr. Gardner, of New Jersey, by unanimous consent, 
 Resolved, That the House meet on Sunday, the 8th day of February, 
 
Proceedings t in the House. 67 
 
 1903, at 12 o clock noon, for the consideration of resolutions commemo 
 rative of the life, character, and services of the late Gen. WILLIAM J. 
 SEWELL, a Senator of the United States from the State of New Jersey. 
 On motion of Mr. Flanagan, by unanimous consent, it was 
 Resolved, That when the House meets on Sunday, the 8th day of Febru 
 ary, 1903, it shall consider appropriate resolutions memorial of the public 
 services and life of Hon. Joshua S. Salmon, late a Representative from the 
 Fourth Congressional district of New Jersey. 
 
MEMORIAL ADDRESSES. 
 
 Mr. GARDNER of Xe\v Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I offer the fol 
 lowing resolution. 
 
 The Clerk read as follows: 
 
 Resolved, That this House has heard with sincere regret the announce 
 ment of the death of the Hon. WII.IJAM JOYCE SEWELI,, late a Senator 
 of the United States from the State of New Jersey, and tenders to the 
 family of the deceased the assurance of its profound sympathy with them 
 in the bereavement they have been called upon to sustain, and the further 
 assurance that this House recognizes the lofty patriotism and eminent 
 abilities of the deceased and the value of his long and distinguished public 
 service to his country. 
 
 Resolved, That the Clerk be directed to transmit to the family of Mr. 
 a certified copy of the foregoing resolution. 
 
 Mr. GARDNER of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, before proceed 
 ing, I desire to ask unanimous consent for general leave to 
 print on this resolution. It so comes about that at least five 
 distinguished gentlemen who were to speak here to-day, Mr. 
 Dalzell, of Pennsylvania; Mr. Grosvenor, of Ohio: Mr. Bing- 
 ham and Mr. Adams, of Pennsylvania, and Mr. McDermott, 
 of New Jersey, are either confined to their homes by sickness 
 or are unavoidably absent. It is desirable that they, at least, 
 should be able to place their tributes of respect upon the 
 record. 
 
 The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from New 
 Jersey asks unanimous consent that general leave to print 
 may be granted upon the resolution just read. Is there 
 objection? [After a pause.] The Chair hears none, and it 
 
 is so ordered. 
 
 69 
 
jo Life and Character of William J. Sewell. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. GARDNER, OF NEW JERSEY. 
 
 Mr. SPEAKER: We are met to commemorate the life and 
 achievements of Gen. WILLIAM JOYCE SEWELL, late a United 
 States Senator from the State of New Jersey. His was the 
 distinguished life of a distinguished man, and his a distin 
 guished character in a country and generation prolific of 
 remarkable men and remarkable achievements. 
 
 His life was an attestation of the merit of industry, integrity, 
 and valor valor not only to lead the charge on the field of 
 war, but also to follow conviction in civic affairs, whatever the 
 threatened consequences. So it was everywhere said of him 
 that his word was a bond, his promise performance. Foes vied 
 with friends in admiration of his character, and at length he 
 came to be regarded as the embodiment of New Jersey s civic 
 and military wisdom the best representative of a magnificent 
 State with a most splendid populace. 
 
 The life of this man was simple, earnest, and eventful. He 
 rose to high rank and commanding power in every field he 
 entered. He commanded the unquestioning faith of superiors 
 in civil and military organizations, and the confidence of the 
 public in political affairs. 
 
 The biographical story of General SEWELL has been told and 
 is written in the record. I shall not repeat it at length. He 
 was, in part at least, of Scotch-Irish blood, a strain which has 
 contributed much to the country s strength from the days of 
 the colonies to the present. It may not be true, as sometimes 
 contended, that "If it had not been for the Scotch-Irish in 
 America there would have been no United States of America. 
 And again, "There would have been no Revolution, no 
 revolt." It may or may not have been stated too strongly 
 
Address of Mr. Gardner , of New Jersey. 71 
 
 when it was said that They formed the backbone and the 
 best part of Washington s army; " but the names of Stark, and 
 Knox, and Pickens, and Mclntosh, and Patterson, and Scott, 
 and MacDougall, and St. Clair, and Henry, and Rutledge, and 
 Clinton, and Livingstone, and McKean, and John McKinley, 
 and Richard Caswell, and New Jersey s own William Alexan 
 der form a might}- group among the immortals of that period. 
 
 SEWALL was an adopted citizen one among the millions 
 who have come to America and have been invaluable con 
 tributors to our strength and greatness. They have joined 
 in the development of our industries and in expanding our 
 commerce, have added to our scientific attainments, adorned 
 the professions, embellished our literature, and defended our . 
 institutions in the forum and on the field. 
 
 Senator SEWELL was born in Ireland. He was English 
 on his father s side and Scotch-Irish perhaps Irish and 
 Scotch-Irish on his mother s. He came to the United States 
 at the age of 16 years shipped on a merchant vessel as a 
 sailor for a voyage around the world and returned mate of the 
 ship. Soon after the return he was mustered in as a captain 
 of a New Jersey company for the civil war. He served until 
 its close and retired a brevet major-general. Being now in 
 private life he took employment with the Camden and Amboy 
 Railroad Company. He remained a railroad man by occupa 
 tion for the balance of his life. In the earl}" seventies he also 
 entered the field of politics, from which he retired only at 
 death. He was chosen to the State senate for three terms 
 of three years each. He left that office to enter the Senate of 
 the United States. Although he twice failed of reelection 
 to that body, because of the defeat of his party in the State, he 
 remained the leader and was each time the candidate and 
 the choice of his party for the high office. He was afterwards 
 twice reelected to the Senate and died a Senator. 
 
72 Life and Character of William J. Sewell. 
 
 The sailor boy, the captain of volunteers, had become a 
 general and a Senator of national renown and the commanding 
 figure of his State. 
 
 New Jersey is honored by a long roll of names great in war 
 and peace. In the war of the Revolution, Alexander, Max 
 well, Dayton, Winds, Newcomb, Shreve, Martin, Brearly, 
 Ogden, Rhoa, and many more achieved fame befitting a 
 monument. 
 
 In the war of 1812, Perry with others won immortality and 
 added luster to their country s arms and history. Kearney 
 and Stockton added new glory, to her page in the war with 
 Mexico. No monument could rise broad enough and lofty 
 enough to bear the names of her sons who merit imperishable 
 fame for deeds done on the fields of the great civil conflict. 
 
 Her sons have been not less eminent as jurists and states 
 men. She had her Daytons, her Stocktons, her Frelinghuysens. 
 As an explorer, her Albert Montgomery Pike left his name 
 towering forever on the peak above the clouds. And yet it 
 has some how come about that the unassisted, self-made 
 SEWELL is adopted as her popular hero, and to him she will 
 probably erect the first monument commemorative of a 
 distinguished son. 
 
 WILLIAM J. SEWELL was one of the few who could walk 
 alone. He was wholly self-reliant. His opinions were formed 
 from influences within rather than without, and never de 
 pended upon what another man thought or wrote or said. In 
 both civil and military affairs his determinations were quick 
 as the promptings of intuition and, if authority or respon 
 sibility were his, action was as prompt as decision, and he 
 pursued the course determined upon with singleness of pur 
 pose and disregard of personal consequences. Those who 
 knew him well in arms best understood his self-reliance and 
 
Address of Mr. Gardner, of New Jersey. 73 
 
 his qualifications for independent action and command. An 
 instance will illustrate. On a bloody and well-nigh disastrous 
 day of the civil war, General Mott received an order in gen 
 eral terms to "Fully develop the strength of the enemy in 
 front." He passed it to Sewell. When the corps commander 
 noticed a youthful and smooth-faced figure leading a force 
 into the woods, he rode up to General Mott and asked, "Will 
 that young fellow develop the enemy ? The reply was 
 characteristic of the gallant Mott and expressed the faith 
 superior officers had in SEWELL. Before the sun went down - 
 that day the commander might well have wished the develop 
 ment had been less efficient. 
 
 General SEWELL s life was a campaign whose close found 
 him a conqueror. With no friends, save those he made by 
 noble effort, he had all the adverse external conditions of a 
 "stranger in a strange laud" to overcome. He had neither 
 the aids of friendship, fortune, nor a thorough preparation 
 for his work. He was incapable of resorting to flattery or 
 hypocrisy. He was not endowed with great tact. He would 
 not silently pursue a right course for a false reason. Hence, 
 every advance he obtained he was required to conquer. He 
 fought his way to promotion as a sailor. He fought his 
 way to every promotion in war. He fought his way in his 
 adopted profession, and won his promotions by achievements. 
 He fought his way under adverse conditions in politics, and 
 here again he had to conquer to succeed, and although, in 
 his later years, all trusted and none opposed him, he still 
 bore the arms and wore the armor. He lifted his battle-ax 
 in very boyhood and never laid it down it fell from his 
 relaxing grasp when the aged conqueror was dying. 
 
 Hence SEWELL charging out from amidst defeat and disaster 
 of the army at Chancellorsville and delivering a stunning and 
 
74 Life and Character of William J. Sewell. 
 
 bewildering blow straight in the face of victorious pursuit, 
 while giving to history and the world one of its most glorious 
 spectacles of gallantry in arms, but illustrated the real char 
 acter of the hero of that hour. Nowhere, in an} capacity, 
 was defeat, however overwhelming it seemed, accepted by him 
 as complete or final. He wheeled and charged, and charged 
 again. Where the tide of disaster was to be stayed and turned 
 back, he was most heroic and conquering. 
 
 He was of that class of might} actors who do not so much 
 write their names in the history of great events as they fix 
 their image upon them. They illustrate themselves on the 
 scene of the most eventful hour. Not a story but a scene illus 
 trates them in a way so characteristic that the life is portrayed. 
 SEWELL as a lad resisting mutiny in early manhood enlisting 
 to preserve the Union later quelling riot; and then giving all 
 his splendid energy to the overthrow of what he believed to be 
 wrong and oppressive in civil affairs, exhibits his intuitive 
 determination to aid in preserving and upholding order and 
 law and justice. 
 
 The spirit of adventure was born in WILLIAM J. SEWELL. 
 It was. true to his nature that he early crossed the seas to 
 America. When he shipped as a sailor it was inevitable that 
 he should choose as his first experience, if opportunity offered, 
 a voyage around the world. It could readily have been fore 
 told that he would plunge himself into the civil war. Beneath 
 the quiet, dignified, but gentle exterior was a lion heart 
 throbbing with a mighty impulse to do something great for 
 man and society. The civil war met that impulse. The 
 unprecedented struggle offered ample opportunity even for 
 satiation of all such ambitions. SEWELL, with the thousands 
 of other like spirits, was satisfied by the experiences and scars 
 of four years of steady fighting, and he settled down to the 
 
Address of iMr. Gardner, of New Jersey. 75 
 
 work of civil life. But he had been born for conflict storms 
 were his element. To the storm he would have drawn, and 
 arrayed himself with the right as he saw it. Somewhere, at 
 some time, he must have been an actor at the point of the 
 world s greatest tumult. 
 
 Few ever achieve success from resources so purely personal, 
 innate, and characteristic. When he sailed on the voyage 
 around the world, it is not recorded that he had a friend on 
 shipboard, yet he returned mate of the ship. When he \vent 
 into the war, he was unknown in his command and left no 
 influence in his State to seek his advancement, yet he left that 
 command a brevet major-general. When he entered the rail 
 road service, he had "no friend at court," yet he died the 
 president of the road. He entered politics without a relative 
 or political friend in New Jersey at a time when all eminent 
 positions were occupied by men of historic family and political 
 resource, and he was regarded somewhat in the light of an 
 intruder; he became the unquestioned leader whose opinions 
 were accepted as public policy and " molded a State s decrees," 
 a United States Senator whom none aspired to unseat. So, 
 too, in every enterprise with which he was associated, his 
 suggestions were largely adopted as lines of business policy. 
 This brings to view the most uncommon, most remarkable 
 combination of elements in this one man. Nature seems to 
 have almost overendowed him; as a man of affairs, as a soldier, 
 a statesman, a politician, he achieved greatness several full 
 measures of success, any one of which might well satisfy even 
 a proud ambition. 
 
 In his home life and relation SEWELL exhibited that 
 chivalrous regard, devotion, and tender solicitude for family 
 beautifully typical of the Scotch the world over. Wherever 
 the Scotchman, whether from Scotland or Ireland, may go, 
 
7 6 Life and Character of William J. Sew ell. 
 
 however hard his lot or engrossing his cares, the wellsprings of 
 his domestic love never dry; and though his rugged nature is 
 hard to touch and move, and though he exhibits the giant s 
 strength and the greatest self-control, if you mention the loved 
 and absent he is conquered and betrays it with a tear. I have 
 never met a man of this blood who could with dry eyes speak 
 of his mother s grave. 
 
 When General SEWELL died the light to which Jerseymen 
 had looked for a longer period and with greater confidence 
 than to any preceding one for guidance in both civil and 
 military affairs was extinguished. How fully we had trusted 
 him, how wholly we had relied upon him, what burdens we 
 had imposed upon his busy life, we did not realize till he had 
 gone. Then we saw he had filled many places; that he had 
 been our statesman, our soldier, our politician the inspira 
 tion of our policies and enactments, the very sources of our 
 political will. 
 
Address of Mr. McClellan, of A 7 eu York. 77 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. MCCLELLAN, OF NEW YORK. 
 
 Mr. SPEAKER: Many years ago, when a little boy, I was 
 taken by my father to a session of the. senate of the State of 
 New Jersey. What particularly impressed my childish mind 
 was the presence of the presiding officer. I can remember the 
 respect and admiration I felt for him. I thought he was one 
 whose example all might follow. A quarter of a century has 
 passed since then, and during that time my first impression of 
 WILLIAM J. SEWELL has grown stronger with the years. 
 Although my lot has been cast in another State, I have always 
 felt a Jerseyman s pride in her strong men, and a Jerseyman s 
 love for those who have made her famous. 
 
 SEWELL occupied the seat of Jonathan Elmer, of John 
 Rutherford, of Richard Stockton, and Jonathan Dayton. With 
 such a parliamentary ancestry it would not have been surpris 
 ing had he been lost in the shadow of his forebears; yet 
 SEWELL stands out as the representative of all that has made 
 New Jersey, and that has made this great nation of ours what 
 they are to-day. 
 
 Honesty and ability are the presupposed possessions of ever} 
 man who enters the Senate, but in addition to these essentials 
 SEWELL possessed a manhood and a manliness that were 
 worthy of the best traditions of our history. A gallant soldier 
 in the Army of the Potomac, with a dash and daring that came 
 of his Irish blood, a masterful ruler of men in politics, he 
 achieved success and fame through his own exertions and 
 because he never compromised with his sense of right. 
 
 Although he was a militant partisan, he never permitted 
 party prejudice to swerve him from the path of righteousness. 
 No more splendid page is written in our history than that 
 
78 Life and Character of William J. Sewell. 
 
 which contains the story of SEWELL s moral courage in the 
 Fitz-John Porter case. Undeterred by the fact that it had 
 become a party issue, undaunted by the pressure of social and 
 political friends, it was enough for him to believe that a great 
 wrong had been done to a gallant soldier, and, taking his very 
 political life in his hands, he fought the good fight through to 
 victor} T . Those who knew the man expected nothing other 
 from him. His fight in this particular case was but an inci 
 dent in the battle he waged through life a constant struggle 
 of all that was just and honest and true a struggle that is 
 crowned to-day with the victory of the love and respect of all 
 who knew him. 
 
Address of Mr. Hull, of Iowa. 79 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. HULL, OF IOWA. 
 
 Mr. SPEAKER: It was not my good fortune to know General 
 SEWELL previous to my entrance into Congress. While I had 
 met him at great conventions, it was in such manner as to 
 only acquire a casual knowledge of the man; but when I came 
 here and he entered the Senate the lines of legislation threw 
 us together so closely that I learned to know him well, to have 
 a profound respect for his judgment, and to have an admira 
 tion and love for the man. The life and achievements of 
 Senator SEWELL, as outlined by the gentleman from New 
 Jersey [Mr. Gardner] this morning, are the greatest tribute 
 that can be paid to the genius of American institutions in 
 affording such men from any country the opportunity to 
 work out their own great destinies, as well as the greatest 
 tribute to the Senator himself. 
 
 Coming to this country, as stated, a poor, unknown boy, 
 entering the Army of the Union to battle for the life of the 
 Republic and the perpetuation of free institutions, fighting his 
 way up without any fictitious aids, rank by rank, step by step 
 until, as stated, he left the Army of the United States at the 
 close of the civil war with the high rank of brevet major- 
 general he achieved much of military glory. Then, turning 
 to civil life with the same energy, the same integrity, the same 
 courage, the same intelligence and high purpose, he carved for 
 himself a place both in business and in politics that makes him 
 stand unrivaled among the sons of New Jersey. 
 
 His life and his achievements, his accomplishments, his 
 character, all leave an inspiration for the future, not only to 
 the sons of New Jersey, but to the young men of the Republic 
 wherever the historv of the countrv is studied. To the Senate 
 
8o Life and Character of William J. Seu>ell. 
 
 of the United States he brought a trained intellect, a thorough 
 knowledge of politics and government, and when he was on 
 committees of conference, his judgment almost invariably was 
 of such character, backed by such reason, that the conferees 
 associated with him, almost without exception, yielded to his 
 desires, his wishes, or his arguments. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, during this busy life in the Senate of the United 
 States, at the head of a great railroad corporation, looking after 
 multitudinous questions that affected those associated with him, 
 both in politics and business, there never was a time when this 
 great-hearted Scotch- Irish American was not ready to turn 
 aside from his busy pursuits to look after the interests of those 
 who served their country with him during the days of the civil 
 war. Most men in his position would have had enough to do 
 to occupy them full}-, either as president of that great corpora 
 tion or as a Senator of the United States. Mr. SEWELL, 
 however, attended to both, and then gave enough time to see 
 to it that in the great Homes that are built up by this generous 
 Government to care for those who battled for the flag during 
 the days of the rebellion their inmates were cared for, their 
 wants supplied, and the best interests of the Homes at all times 
 advanced. 
 
 I regret that it was not my privilege to know him more in 
 his home life. One evening I was a guest at his home for a 
 short time, and I found there that the people of his neighbor 
 hood, the statesmen who were visiting his locality on that 
 occasion, went to his house to spend of the evening the hours 
 that were left in converse with this sage of New Jersey. There, 
 too, through that gentleness, that hospitality, courtesy, and 
 kindness \vhich so pervaded his nature, as well as the ability 
 with which he presented the different questions that came 
 before us in our conversation, I learned to admire him in 
 
Address of Mr. Hull, of Iowa. 81 
 
 that place as I had learned to love and admire him in his 
 public life. It is a great tribute to any American to say that 
 his home life is perfect, and that is all that was needed, to 
 my mind, to round out the splendid career of this great man. 
 I am glad to be here to-day to listen to that part of the tribute 
 of my friend from New Jersey [Mr. Gardner] and to pay 
 my tribute of respect, feeble as it may be, to this man who 
 adopted our country and added renown and glory to her 
 citizenship. 
 
 S. Doc. 226 6 
 
82 Life and Character of William J. Sewell. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. STEELE, OF INDIANA. 
 
 Mr. SPEAKER: It was my good fortune to know Senator 
 WILLIAM J. SEWELL well, the acquaintance beginning during 
 the session of the Forty-seventh Congress, while he was serving 
 as Senator and as a member of the Committee on Military 
 Affairs, and I was a member of the House on the same com 
 mittee, where we were thrown together quite frequently. It 
 was only necessary to be with Senator SEWELL a very short 
 time in order to be impressed with his superb qualifications as 
 a business man. I came to know him better on account of our 
 association as members of the Board of Managers of the 
 National Soldiers Homes from 1891 until his death. To those 
 who did know him well it is not surprising to learn from 
 his biography that, although he came to this country from 
 another as a poor boy, he succeeded in every undertaking to 
 the satisfaction of his friends and, no doubt, of himself. 
 
 He shipped as a boy, bound for the Pacific, and became the 
 first officer before the end of the voyage. He enlisted as a 
 private at the outbreak of the civil war, and closed his military 
 career as a major-general. Whether in military life or in busi 
 ness life, it was always the same with him; he landed at the 
 head of every enterprise in which he was engaged, without 
 regard to where he started. He was three times president of 
 the senate of his State, and elected three times as a Senator of 
 the United States. Six times was he chairman of the State 
 delegation to the national conventions. He was one of the 
 oldest members in continuous service of the Board of Managers 
 of the National Soldiers Homes at the time of his death. He 
 served one year as its president, utterly refusing further elec 
 tion to this important office on account of pressing business 
 
Address of Mr. Steelc, of Indiana. 83 
 
 engagements too numerously made to become a member of 
 the Board, notwithstanding the earnest desire of his fellow- 
 members that he should do so. He showed great interest, 
 in fact, unusual interest, in the philanthropic business of the 
 Board. 
 
 Senator SEWELL w y as a quiet, modest, and unobtrusive man, 
 able, forceful, honest, and strong. He was held in the highest 
 esteem by all whose fortune it was to know him. He was a 
 faithful, loyal, and affectionate husband and father. He was 
 loved and revered by his family. I attended his funeral and 
 was not surprised to learn in w r hat high esteem he was held by 
 the citizens of New Jersey, and especially of those of the city 
 of Camden, in which he lived, every business house, large or 
 small, of whatever character, being absolutely closed. The 
 memory of such men truly lives after them. 
 
84 Life and Character of William J Sewell. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. STEWART, OF NEW JERSEY. 
 
 Mr. SPEAKER: Death is regarded in the religions and poetry 
 of all nations both as a destroyer and deliverer; as a sting as 
 well as a blessing; as a consummation, and a sad interruption; 
 as a curse and a benediction. 
 
 It requires faith unquestioned and profound to believe that 
 death is other than a curse when it takes a beloved one in the 
 hey day of youth, in the roseate hour of hope and promise; but 
 we are in a measure satisfied when the grim messenger takes 
 one from our ranks whose life work has been crowned, whose 
 career ended, is brilliant and replete. I_ife then prolonged is 
 but repetition, cumulative, and oftentimes monotonous. 
 
 The life of Senator SEWELL was complete, was crowned, was 
 finished, full of useful labor and distinguished success. 
 
 Born in Ireland in lowly, middle rank, he succeeded by sheer 
 merit and ability to reach the highest office in the nation 
 eligible to the foreign born. 
 
 He was a commanding figure and power in his State, and a 
 United States Senator of wonderful influence and prestige. In 
 his adopted State he was a man of large affairs and influence, 
 and his strength was always directed to increase its com 
 mercial, manufacturing, and agricultural interests, and New 
 Jersey properly appreciates the efforts of Senator SEWELL 
 in the development of her interests along these lines. 
 
 But it is as a soldier, courageous, daring, ever intrepid, that 
 General SEWELL s enduring fame will largely rest. 
 
 The story of his soldier life, and his deeds of heroism read 
 like a romance Who will ever forget SEWELL at Chancellors- 
 ville and his brilliant achievements in that great battle? 
 
Address of Mr. Stewart, of Neu Jersey. 85 
 
 General Sickles in his official report of the battle says: 
 
 Charge after charge was made by this gallant brigade under Colonel 
 SKWELI,, Fifth New Jersey, upon whom the command devolved (after the 
 loss of General Mott and Colonel Park, Second New York Volunteers, 
 wounded) before it was withdrawn, terribly reduced and mutilated, from 
 the part assigned it. Its stern resistance to the impulsive assaults of the 
 enemy and the brilliant charges made in return were worthy of the Old 
 Guard. No soldier could refuse a tribute of admiration in remembrance 
 of the last charge made. A small body, for a regiment, drove the enemy 
 out of the rifle pits near Fairview before withdrawing and returned with 
 40 men, whose sole reliance in this charge was in the bayonet, every 
 cartridge having been exploded moments before. 
 
 .Such was SEWELL, the soldier. 
 
 SEWELL in appearance was essentially military, and his mind 
 was in the mold of the hero. Always taciturn, his silence was 
 as significant and sometimes as ominous as the sphinx, and 
 filled you with apprehension that w r hat he would do next might 
 " make or unmake him quite." 
 
 His purpose was always lofty, never trivial; he loved his 
 adopted country with a chivalrous and courtly devotion, and 
 was always ready to immolate his services, his means yes. life 
 itself, on its altars. 
 
 General SEWELL was a polished gentleman, withal, not 
 demonstrative, but strongly and warmly attached to his friends, 
 and as constant in his friendship as destiny. He believed 
 friendship to be the "sweetener of life, the cement of the soul, 
 the solder of society," nor was he unforgiving toward his ene 
 mies; his soul harbored no bitterness; it was gentle and kind 
 and his whole bearing and conversation toward those with 
 whom he came in social or official contact tended to encourage 
 and help. 
 
 SEWELL, as has been said, was a silent man, but when he 
 spoke a kindly smile would often irradiate his stern face and 
 his words would be low and sweet and full of friendlv interest. 
 
86 Life and Character of William J. Seivell. 
 
 His memory comes to us not in a " robe of mourning and in 
 a faded light," but in brilliant colors and colossal figures as 
 a dignified statesman, a heroic soldier, a stately citizen, and a 
 constant friend. 
 
 We are satisfied that time will add to the estimate of 
 SEWELL S worth and services, and that a just posterity will 
 regard his military exploits and civic employments at a much 
 higher standard even than is so generously accorded by his 
 contemporaries. 
 
 In these memorial services we note in halting words the life 
 of those we think we know sufficiently to testify concerning. 
 
 Our lives are involved, too, most of us in a less conspicuous 
 sense, but all amply within their limitations. We alone know 
 surely our purpose and inspiration, but let us all sincerely hope 
 that each of us in our public efforts, and in our private con 
 cerns and friendships, will be guided by the spirit General 
 SEWELL was controlled by a lofty and generous patriotism 
 and unselfish devotion to duty, and a magnificent and enduring 
 love of mankind. 
 
 In parting we salute the splendid and distinguished dead, 
 while we abide a while in the shadow of the Great Mystery 
 with the waiting and anxious living. 
 
Address of Mr. Fowler, of New Jersey. 87 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. FOWLER, OF NEW JERSEY. 
 
 Mr. SPEAKER: Now neither the birthplace nor the parent 
 age of WILLIAM J. SEWELL interests us or those who shall 
 come after us, beyond the simple matter of history. 
 
 But what he aspired to be, what he did, and what he was 
 are matters of vast importance, since his life is a priceless 
 heritage. Ours is an age of true hero worship in the largest 
 and best sense of the term; and the life of WILLIAM J. SEWELL 
 will long be an inspiration to every lad of New Jersey, where 
 the potentiality of his personal influence will never cease if the 
 secondary or reflected power of his soul shall be taken into the 
 range of our contemplation. 
 
 What WILLIAM J. SEWELL did has been recounted else 
 where, and his achievements have also been reviewed here 
 to-day; therefore, I shall pay my tribute of respect to this 
 natural leader and chieftain of men by recalling those qualities 
 and characteristics which, combining, it seems to me, made 
 him what he was. 
 
 His purpose never slept. He knew as well as any man I 
 ever met that one of the most striking differences between 
 men in the race of life is the measure of determination. His 
 determination was invincible. His energy was measured by 
 his heart beats. He died like a warrior in the fury of battle, 
 restless because he must rest. 
 
 Buoyed up and borne along by a God-like will, he clearly 
 saw that 
 
 True ambition there alone resides 
 Where Justice vindicates and Wisdom guides. 
 Wouldst thou be famed? Have those high acts in view 
 Brave men would act. 
 
88 Life and Character of William J. Scwell. 
 
 He clearly sa\v that all work is noble if nobly done, and 
 every task was so nobly wrought by him that it was turned 
 into a stepping-stone to a higher and broader plane of action, 
 where duties multiplied and burdens heavier grew, only to 
 bring new opportunities to his aspiring soul. Through well 
 doing, from round to round, he mounted the ladder of fame 
 and held his place with equal poise. As step by step he 
 gained his vantage ground, he left no doubt in any mind that 
 his " words were bonds. " Indeed, there were those 
 
 Who scanned the actions of his daily life 
 
 With all the industrious malice of a foe, 
 
 And nothing met their eyes but deeds of honor. 
 
 Nor was his the honor, confined and measured by subtle 
 speech whose terms fixed narrow bounds for his interpreta 
 tion, but rather that which sounds- in wisdom and knows no 
 limitation except what justice makes. By every instinct 
 he seemed to know that honor, indeed, is the finest sense 
 of justice the human mind can frame; and being so happily 
 and fortunately constituted he could 
 
 Poise the cause in justice s equal scale, 
 
 Whose beam stands sure, whose rightful cause prexails. 
 
 Herein lay the wisdom of his party leadership more than in 
 practice and experience, for the former was absolutel}- essen 
 tial, while the latter could only be a helpful incident in such 
 consummate success as his. 
 
 His life \vas one of man} relationships, and he almost inva 
 riably, with unerring discernment, could detect the false and 
 discover the true, and realizing that a false friendship, like 
 clambering vines, shades and rots the walls it covers, while 
 true friendship brings to life the brightest sunshine and 
 sweetest pleasures. He recognized and held as friends only 
 tried and transparent characters. 
 
Address of Mr. Folder, of New Jersey. 89 
 
 Xo one ever charged him with disloyalty nor placed a 
 limit to the measure of the support to which he was justly 
 entitled. He never forgot a friend, and he requited every favor 
 fourfold. 
 
 He was a stranger to the sense of ingratitude, and though he 
 almost personified reserve in his military mien his heart was as 
 tender as a child s. 
 
 These were the qualities which, uniting in his soul, made 
 him a patriot of heroic mold. 
 
 Never shall I forget his patriotic words when his heart had 
 been touched by the presentation of a token of friendship, upon 
 which he discovered the name of his wife interwrought with 
 his own. 
 
 Alluding to his love for that country which had made it 
 possible for him to do so much for himself, with an emotion he 
 only with the greatest difficulty could partly conceal, lie 
 expressed a profound regret, evidently most sincere, that it 
 had not been his glorious fortune to fall in battle fighting for 
 her cause. He said that this had been the one earnest desire 
 of his life, and that when from political considerations, urged 
 by his colleagues in the United States Senate, he could not 
 accept the commission tendered him by President Me Kin ley, 
 he willingly and gladly laid both of his boys upon the altar of 
 his country. 
 
 Of him it can be truly said: 
 
 My country claims me all, claims every passion, 
 Her liberty henceforth be all my thought, 
 Though with a brother s life cheaply bought, 
 For her mine own I d willingly resign, 
 And say with transport that the gain was mine. 
 
 WILLIAM J. SEWELL possessed the will of a god, and was 
 inspired by a noble ambition. He was wise, he was grateful, 
 
go Life and Character of William J. Sewell. 
 
 he was loyal, he was brave. "His integrity was as spotless 
 as a star." His life was as pure as a bar of light. He loved 
 his country, and the full measure of his devotion to her was 
 not found in his own life nor in the priceless lives of his two 
 sons which he gladly proffered, but in an earnest desire that 
 his blood might be poured out on the battlefield in defense of 
 her flag. 
 
Address of Mr. Adams, of Pennsylvania. 91 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. ADAMS, OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 Mr. SPEAKER: I can iiot say that these memorial services 
 which we hold in commemoration of our departed colleagues 
 appeal to my best judgment. I rarely participate in them, but 
 there are occasions when the distinguished abilities of the 
 departed member make an irresistible call for recognition, and 
 when to this is added a warm friendship of many years 
 standing one can not refrain from paying the tribute justly 
 due to the legislator and the friend. In my opinion the 
 best eulogy that any man can have is the record of his 
 public services during his life. That opinion is more than 
 confirmed by the case of the distinguished gentleman whose 
 memory I rise to honor. His life was one of acts and deeds 
 and not of speech. His acts are recorded in the records of 
 his Congressional career. His energy is displayed in the 
 many business interests which he brought to a state of almost 
 perfection, and his gallant deeds are written on the pages of 
 the history of the country he loved so well. 
 
 The life of General SEWELL is one of the grandest illustra 
 tions of the liberality of our institutions as founded by our 
 forefathers, to enable individual worth and individual energy 
 to have full opportunity for their development under our 
 free institutions, regardless of station in life or the support 
 of powerful influence. 
 
 Senator SEWELL, inspired by that active ambition which 
 predominates in the Scotch-Irish character, emigrated to this 
 country at the age of 18 years. He at once entered upon his 
 life work with a clear and vigorous mind and with a stern 
 determination to meet every duty and trust with his best effort. 
 He was engaged in mercantile pursuits until 1861, when the 
 war of secession broke out. With the same assurance that 
 
92 Life and Character of William J. Sew ell. 
 
 appertained to his daily work he applied in his conviction that 
 his services belonged to his adopted country. We were receiving 
 its benefits. He felt that he must return his obligation in 
 maintaining its integrity. He organized a company of volun 
 teers and was commissioned a captain in the Fifth New Jersey 
 Regiment, and served during the entire war with gallantry and 
 military ability. His devotion to his new duty was such that 
 within a year he was promoted to be lieutenant-colonel, and 
 was severely wounded at the battles of Chaucellorsville and 
 Gettysburg. It was at the former battle that, while tempor 
 arily commanding the Second Brigade of New Jersey, he led a 
 daring charge and achieved one of the most brilliant successes 
 of the war, capturing many stands of colors, and so earned his 
 brigadier-generalcy. 
 
 At the close of the war, on April 2, 1865, we find him still 
 in the service, taking an active part in the campaign which 
 led to the surrender of General Lee. After his long and 
 gallant service at the close of the war he was brevetted 
 major-general. 
 
 General S SWELL S military career is another illustration of 
 the patient care and strict attention to the matter in charge 
 which always characterized whatever he undertook. A strict 
 disciplinarian, he was noted for his kindly feeling for and 
 the careful attention which he gave to the men under his 
 command. He was esteemed and beloved by all who came 
 into contact with him, and even amid the rigor and hardships 
 of a military campaign the kindly side of his nature was 
 never hardened by the terrible scenes and acts occurring daily 
 under his knowledge. 
 
 Senator SEWELL illustrated that type of American soldier 
 who, like Cincinnatus, when the war was over, laid down his 
 sw 7 ord and returned to his peaceful avocations. He entered 
 into the service of the Pennsylvania Railroad system in its 
 
Address of Afr. Adams, of Pennsylvania. 93 
 
 Xe\v Jersey branches. Here again his indomitable will and 
 perserverance led to his rapid promotion, and he passed from 
 one grade to another until he became president of one of its 
 roads. Senator SEWELL S mind was of too active a nature 
 to be limited simply to his business routine. He was naturally 
 attracted to public affairs, and took an active interest in the 
 politics of the State of New Jersey. This State was wise 
 enough to command his services, and he was elected to the 
 State senate. Here the same force of character stood him in 
 good stead, and with the same result, for he became the presi 
 dent of the senate. In 1881 he was chosen by the legislature 
 to be its United States Senator. In that body he was known 
 as the "silent Senator," but the impression must not be 
 gained that he could not express his views, for when his coun 
 sel was sought Senator SEWELL could express his judgment in 
 as clear and forceful a manner as any of his colleagues in 
 that illustrious body. It was not lack of ability, it was the 
 modesty and reserve of the man, as he rarely volunteered his 
 advice, but never sought to evade the responsibility of his 
 position when his opinion was demanded. 
 
 But, Mr. Speaker, it is left to those who knew Senator 
 SEWELL as a friend and in his domestic relations to most 
 thoroughly appreciate his character. Like all men of reserve, 
 when once a man was taken into his friendship, he was loyal 
 to an uncommon degree, and stood ever ready to aid and 
 advise when called upon by that tie. It was my good fortune 
 to see a good deal of Senator SEWELL in a social way, and 
 I will ever prize the opportunity I so had of knowing a man 
 of so pure and honest a character, with such high ideas of 
 his duties in public and private life; and much as the State 
 will mourn his loss and miss his great services, and brilliant 
 as is his record on the pages of his country s history, it will 
 be those who knew him best will mourn him the most. 
 
94 Life and Character of William J. Seivell. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. PARKER, OF NEW JERSEY. 
 
 Mr. SPEAKER: The life of WILLIAM JOYCE SEWELL was 
 a romance. He was a little boy in an Irish town, where 
 his father, an Englishman, held some office, I believe, in the 
 internal revenue. His mother was one of the Irish gentry, 
 but that boyhood was spent in poverty. As a youth he 
 became a sailor amid the islands of the Pacific. Then he 
 came here and was a soldier for the Union, decorated for 
 braver} with a medal of honor, retired after four years as 
 brigadier-general and brevet major-general, and still in his 
 early manhood. 
 
 He began life anew as the captain of a freight yard. He 
 rose in the same quick fashion to be superintendent and 
 president of a railroad that was one of the great branches of 
 the Pennsjdvania system. Then, as a politician, first as State 
 senator, he suddenly came into command of the political 
 circles of his State a command that was almost as military 
 as that which he had exercised in the Army. Elected 
 Senator of the United States amid a storm of opposition, 
 defeated for his second term, he was finally reelected by 
 acclamation, taking a place here at the head of the nation, 
 where he was the trusted adviser of our wisest Presidents and 
 carried the weight and strength of the man who is born to rule. 
 
 One fact alone will show this. The President wished to 
 make him a major-general in the Spanish war. His asso 
 ciates could not spare him from the Senate and begged him 
 to remain. 
 
 Such a life is a romance, but it is one that is not easy to 
 tell. His nearest friends know how deeply he loved them, 
 how thoroughly he trusted them, how loyal he was to them, 
 how fullv he felt for them, how eager he was to advance all 
 
Address of Mr. Parker, of Neiv Jersey. 95 
 
 those in whom he believed. But his nearest friends heard 
 very little about himself. He was the lifelong soldier, who 
 acted instead of talking, who decided instead of remem 
 bering, and who thought only for a purpose. 
 
 And yet all this kind of description tells very little about 
 him, either to friends or to strangers. It tells very much 
 more of his heart to know that in manhood he went back to 
 the little Irish town where he had spent his boyhood in order 
 to go past and look at the house where his mother had lived, 
 but without the heart to go in, because it was occupied by 
 strangers. It tells something more to remember the more than 
 brotherly affection which always prevailed between himself and 
 his brother, Robert Sewell, the lawyer, of New York, who. 
 had come here almost with him, where the two brothers had 
 helped each other in their new country in the New World. 
 
 At the battle of Williamsburg he was a young captain of 
 infantry. I think it wa* his first field. A fieldpiece and 
 some ammunition had been captured from the other side. 
 He took possession of it, like the sailor that he was ready 
 for everything and, with two or three men to help him, was 
 serving the piece against its former owners. At this time 
 General Kearny rode up and asked him his name and his 
 regiment. He said, "Do you belong to the artillery?" 
 "No; to the infantry." "How did you come to serve the 
 gun?" And when it was explained he said, " Be kind enough 
 to give General Kearny s compliments to your colonel, and 
 say to him that you are a gallant and efficient young officer 
 whose conduct ought to be commended." 
 
 General SEWELL was prouder of this, his first commendation 
 in his first battle, than perhaps of any other. The military 
 phase of his character remained throughout his life. It was 
 almost as a chief that he always received his friends in the 
 receptions which were held by him, crowding his rooms at 
 Trenton, whenever he went to the State capital. Within 
 
96 Life and Character of \Villiam J. S ewell. 
 
 what he deemed to be his own sphere he disposed of all 
 matters with military promptness and precision, and yet no 
 one could be more regardful of the sphere of influence of 
 others. His delicate deference to the wishes of representatives 
 whose opinions differed from his own was as marked as his 
 autocratic rule where he had the right. His sensitive honor 
 was shown by the fact that as ex-senator of the State, and 
 at one time ex-Senator of the United States, he always 
 refused to exercise the privilege of going upon the floor. 
 
 He began his political career in Xew Jersey amid the most 
 bitter opposition. Before his death he had conquered the 
 respect and love of those who had been most opposed to him. 
 He lived simply. He made no display. He was a magnate 
 in railroad circles, but no one would have known it from his 
 ways. He did his duty through life, never fearing to assume 
 new work, until what he had to do in business, in statecraft, 
 in charity among the old soldiers and elsewhere, finally over 
 whelmed him. 
 
 When he died the \vhole State went into mourning. His 
 funeral was a spontaneous outburst of grief. For courage, 
 loyalty, truth, and courtesy, whether as soldier, statesman, 
 citizen, or man, the memory of WILLIAM JOYCE SEWELL is 
 dear to his friends, who are found wherever his work was 
 done, whether in war, in government, or in the pursuits of 
 peace. Let us keep such memories green. 
 
 Blessed is the land whose heroes still have life 
 Within the heart-world of their countrymen, 
 Inspiriting its youth to noble deeds 
 And love of what has made it free and great. 
 
 The SPEAKER pro tempore. Are there any further remarks? 
 The question is upon the adoption of the resolutions. 
 
 The question was taken, and the resolutions were unani 
 mously agreed to. 
 
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