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4bTH CONGRKSS, ) HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. < Mis. Doc. 
 2d Session. J t ^o. 27. 
 
 MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 
 
 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 William A. Duncan 
 
 (A KEPKESENTATIVE FROM PEXX.STLVAXIA ), 
 
 DELIVEUEU IX THE 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND IN THE SENATE, 
 
 U,^, FORTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, SECOND SE S SION. )8 ^4"- I 
 
 PLBMSHED BY ORDKR OF CONGRESS. 
 
 WASHINGTON: 
 
 GOVERXMENT PRINTING Ol'FICE. 
 1885. 
 

 JOINT RESOLUTION' lor the priiitiim of certain enlo-iics delivered in Congress upon the 
 latu Willlaiii A. Diiiicau. 
 
 resolved hji the Senate and JJoune of J!ej»esenlathes of the United States of 
 Aniericd in ('onf/rtas agxenihhd, Tliat tlii-ro bo jiriiitod of the ruloyics tlt'liviTed 
 in C'<iiij;i(ss uptin the lute William A. Diiiieau, a Keiireseiitative in the Korty- 
 eijilith Coiiyress frnm the .Stat* of Pennsylvania, twelve fliousautl live hun- 
 dred copies, of which three thousand shall be for the use of tlie Senate and 
 nine thonsand live hundred for thu tise of the House of Representatives. 
 And the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is hereby, directed to have 
 l)rinted a jjortrait of the said William A. Duncan to accomjiany said eulojjies; 
 and for the purpose of en^jravinj; or priutiiifi said jiortrait the sum of live 
 hundred dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is h<-rel>y appropri- 
 ated, out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. 
 
 Ajiproved, IVbruary I'Jth, lf?85. 
 
 AUG 6 li*0« 
 
 D.ora 
 
ADDRESSES 
 
 Death of William A. Duncan. 
 
 PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 
 
 In the House of Representatives, 
 
 December 1, 1884. 
 
 Mr. Ermentrout. Mr. Si)oaker, on me has devolved the sad 
 duty of announcing to the House of Representatives the death of 
 our late lamented colleague, William A. Du.n'CAN, recently rep- 
 resenting the nineteenth district of the State of Pennsylvania, com- 
 posed of the counties of Adams, York, and Cumberland, which 
 occurred at Gettysburg on the 14th of November last. 
 
 It is not my purpose now to make any remarks commemorative 
 of the qualities and character of the deceased. Upon some future 
 occasion that will be my sad duty. But on behalf of our delega- 
 tion and of the constituents whom he represented I offer the fol- 
 lowing resolutions, and ask their adoption by the House. 
 
 The Speaker. The resolutions submitted by the gentleman from 
 Pennsylvania will be read. 
 
 The Clerk read as follows : 
 
 Besolred, That the House has beard witb sincere regret the anuoiTncemont 
 of the death of William A. Duncan, late a Representative from the State of 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 FesoJvcd, That the Clerk communicate the foregoing resolution to the 
 
 Senate. 
 Ecaolved, That as a further mark of respect to the memory of the deceased 
 
 the House do now adjouru. 
 
 The question being taken on the resolutions, they were unani- 
 mously adopted ; and accordingly the House adjourned. 
 
4 LIFE ASH CHAnACTEn OF iVlLLIAM A. JTXCAX. 
 
 December 17, 1884. 
 
 Mr. KuMENTlioi'T, 1)V uiianiinoiis (•(»i)soiit,snlnnitte(l the fnllow- 
 wig re.S(jlutiun ; wliioli wa.-! read, c-tm.sidered, and adopted: 
 
 liesolvtd, That MtMid.iy, .Jaimary 'J(>, 1885, at 2.:{0 p. in., be lixed as llie lime 
 for jiaviiin a;.i)n>jnial»' lioiior to tlie iiiemory of the late Hon. \V. A. DrxcAX, 
 late a Kt'inesentative from tlie 81 te of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Jani\mjy 20, 18S."). 
 
 The Si'EAKEii. The lioiir of half past two o'clock having arrived, 
 the Chair will bring to tlie attention of the House the special order 
 assigned for this time. 
 
 'J'he Clerk read a< fnllows : 
 
 liesoUed, That Monilay, January "ilj, 18S.'i, at 2.:W \\. ni., be fixed a.s the time 
 for iiayinj; apitropriate honor to the memory of the late Hon. W. A. Dl'XCAN, 
 late a Kepresentativc- fr<MU the State of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Mr. KiniEN'i'iioir. T submit the resolutions wliieh I send to the 
 desk. 
 
 The Cleric read as follows: 
 
 Jifniihcd, That this Honst' lias lieard witli profound sorrow of the death of 
 H(UJ. W. A. DCNCAN, late a Represent at ivi- fro n the Slate of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Henolred, That the business of thf House be now suspended that littinji 
 tribute may bi* paid to his mi-mory. 
 
 lU'Solvtd, That as an adilitional mark of irspt'cl llie House shall, at tluMnn- 
 elusi(ui of thesi- cen-monies, adjourn. 
 
 lUsiihcd, That the Cli-rk coinmunieate the.so n-solutimis to the Senate. 
 
ADDRESS OF MR. ERMENTROUT, OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 Address of Mr. Ermentrout, of Pennsylvania. 
 
 JNIr. Speaker : Hon. William A. Duncan, the subject ot these 
 funeral rites, was born in Franklin Township, Adams C'onntv, 
 Pennsylvania, February 2, 1836. He died at Gettysburg, in his 
 native county, November 14, 1884, in his forty-ninth year. His 
 paternal ancestors originally went from the neighborhood of Edin- 
 burgh to Donegal, Ireland, from whence, about the year 1 750, his 
 grandfather, Seth Duncan, emigrated to the United States, and 
 located in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. He there married 
 and lived till late in life, Mhen he removed to Abbottstown, then 
 York (now Adams) County. Seth had a number of children, 
 most of whom became notable people. It was indeed a remark- 
 able family. James and Matthew were brave officers in the Revo- 
 lutionary war. AVilliam, after whom our late colleague was named, 
 represented Philadelphia in the State assembly as representative 
 and senator for several terms, and was an aid to (lovernor Simon 
 Sn3'der during the war of 1812. His son, Abuer L., was a dis- 
 tinguished lawyer in New Orleans, whither he had gone in 180G. 
 He Avas one of General Jackson's aids at the battle of New Orleans, 
 and counsel with Edward Livingstone in defending that o-eneral 
 during his trial before Judge Hall for proclaiming martial law. 
 His daughter Hannah became the wife of John Nicholson, the 
 famous comptroller-general of Pennsylvania and partner of Robert 
 Morris, the great American financier of the Revolution. Anotiier 
 daughter married Judge William Moulder, of Philadelphia. Tiie 
 most of them lived to a ripe old age. His son, Adam Seth Enos 
 Duncan, the father of Mr. Duncan, was an exception. He died 
 in 1840, aged fifty-one years. He, too, had been a soldier, serving 
 in the war of 1812-'13 at Lundy's Lane, Chippewa, and l>lack 
 Rock, and was twice wounded. 
 
 On the maternal side tributary rills of Pennsylvania-CJerman 
 blood steadied and calmed the Scotch-Irish flood of many geni'ra- 
 tions coursing in his veins; for both gi'andmother and mother 
 
6 LIFE AND CEAnACTER OF WILLIAM A. DUXCAX. 
 
 were of that race who more than two huiulrcd years ago brought 
 from the banks of the Rhine the arts, .sciences, literature, and 
 religion of a Christian civilization and planted them firmly in 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 Mr. Duncan, therefore, in his extraction was a Pennsylvanian, 
 representing in blood and lineage the two great stocks which have 
 so strongly impressed their characteristics on that State and made 
 her a powerful, prosperous, and substantial Commonwealth. 
 
 It is a reiiiarkable family record, even for good old Pennsyl- 
 vania. Yet our friend's whole life shows that he did not depend 
 for laurels upon his (lea<l ancestors ; he was rather actuateil by the 
 famous sentiment of the eloquent Ulysses: 
 
 Nam Kenus, et proavos, et qiiaj non fecimus ipsi, 
 Vix (;a nostra voco. 
 
 Nevertheless, if we would correctly weigh a man's life and char- 
 acter we must know the mold in which he was cast. We must all 
 act for ourselves; but something of our characteristics we owe to 
 our forebears, as a noted American writer i)Uts it : 
 
 Tliini;i;li nature appears capricious, some qiialiiies slio carefully fixes and 
 transMiits, hut simie, anil those the liner, she exhales with the lireath of the 
 inilividual av too costly to jieriietuate. Hut I notice also that they may 
 become fixed and permanent in any stock, l»y jyaintinj; and repaintinj; them 
 in every indivitlual until at last nature adopts them and bakes them in her 
 jiorci'lain. 
 
 With these antecedents Mr. Dintax was left an orphan boy at 
 the Jtge .of four years, with two other brothers but a few years 
 older, to the eiiarge of a widowed iiKtther. Nothing ot" the past 
 worthv ol' |ireservation for her children was permitted to be lost 
 bv this esiiiiiable ladv. I ler alTeetionite care eai'ried them through 
 the trouble^ of ehiliUiDod, lullowed thelil lhroUL:li llie t»'lii|ttat ion.S 
 of youth and even alter their carei-r of manhood had opene<l. Slie 
 die<l ill iSSd at the ailvaiieecl age of eightv vears, liaviiig found 
 the rewani of lier iii..iheil\- (IcMitiiiii ill xeiiig III T biiy.-> grow into 
 sncces.xfiil bii~iiie-< null and honored eiii/eiis. Heaven grant us 
 many ■^inh women ! Thev are the ('ornelias of the l\e|)nbli<'. 
 
 Pr<'snmably .Mr. Oincan early showed an aptitude for intellect- 
 
ADDRESS OF 2IR. ERMENTROUT, OF rENXSYLVAXIA. 7 
 
 ual pursuits, as lie matriculated at the age of seventeen at Franklin 
 and Marshall College, liancaster, Pa., in 1803. lie graduated in 
 regular course in 1857 as valedictorian of" his class. This fact 
 attests the eminent rank he attained while a college student as 
 scholar, thinker, and orator. After graduating he entered the 
 law office of R. G. McCreary, esq. (who preceded him one short 
 year ago to the other world), at Gettysburg, the county seat of 
 Adams, and in due course was admitted to the bar in 1859. He 
 applied himself zealously to practice. Industry, diligence, and 
 integrity brought with thera the confidence of his associates, of the 
 community, an extensive practice, and made his professional career 
 a success. Endowed with such qualifications, combined with an 
 agreeable address and methodical and regidar habits, promotion to 
 places of public trust became a matter of course. By the election 
 of the people he filled the ofHce of prosecuting attorney for Adams 
 from 1862 to 1865, and so acceptably that he was again chosen to 
 fill the same position from 1868 to 1871. He was also for a long 
 time solicitor for the county, and filled various other local offices. 
 In November, 1882, he was elected to represent the populous and 
 intelligent counties of Adams, Cumberland, and York, comprising 
 the nineteenth district of Pennsylvania, in the Forty-eighth Con- 
 gress. 
 
 Here let us pause in our count of the unvarnished items that so 
 far have made up this man's life. He did not flash into notice like 
 a meteor, illuming the heavens to the great admiration of the 
 lookers-on and then disappear, nor did he become notorious by 
 reason of any great noise he made or others made for him. We 
 find him taking his origin in a quiet little township in Adams 
 County, going through the phases of infancy and boyhood, begin- 
 ning a career of study, till it brought him to the college door. He 
 entered at the beginning. He steadily i)ursued his way, looking 
 neither to the right nor to the left. The culmination of that 
 course was the winning of its most coveted prize. He entered the 
 arena of real life in the ranks of the profession of his choice. He 
 there gained its most desirable and substantial rewards. He 
 placed himself in contact with the public. 
 
8 LIFE .IXJ) CHARACTER OF WILLIAM A. DUXCAX. 
 
 I'liUlic tni.-ts U'l-aiiK.' his legitimate J305sessi<>n and public u.sefnl- 
 
 ness his luiljit. No doubt he had conflicts in the race of life, but 
 
 he preserved thmuirh them all hi-; own self-res[)ect, the confidence 
 
 of the community which had known him from boyhood, and of 
 
 all with wliMiii he associated. He wa-; indeed a type of those men 
 
 who, whether they become more or less famous, whether they 
 
 adorn private station or public position, bring to humanity its most 
 
 lasting and substantial achievements, who well deserve the com- 
 
 mendatiun iA' one gifted with more than ])oetic insj)iration, who 
 
 has said — 
 
 All my lilV l<>ii<r 
 1 have licln 111 with most risjiect the man 
 Wlif) kiKW himsi'lf and knew Mil- ways before him. 
 Anil from amongst them ehose cDnsidiiately, 
 With a eh'ar fiiiesijj;ht, not a hlitnlfold coniage, 
 And, havinjf chosen, witli a steadfast mind 
 I'nisned his pnrposes. 
 
 With such antecedi'iits Ik; becamea member of this body. With 
 such a record the constituency which honored him and those who 
 knew him ha<l a right to expect a continuance of his usefidness. 
 liut Pnivi<lenee willed otherwise. An insidious disease, the ap- 
 pearanee (tf which had given occasion for solicitude some six vears 
 ago, had already lai<l so heavy a hand upon his niurtalitv that the 
 Usefulness of his Cnngres-ional cari-er was paralvzed at its verv 
 thre-hold. And tlntugh the exeitemcnt and intei\'st natural t(» every 
 oiH- ii|M)M I'lilrringa ntw field >eemed at the beginning of this Con- 
 gress f(»r awhile to kindle up new life, it was but the last Hickerof 
 the divine sj)ark premonitory of appruaching extiin-titiu. Those of 
 us who noted these changes saw fidl well that his davs wcie mim- 
 l)ere<l. lie scldnni appeared at the meetings of his committees. Edu- 
 cation and Military Alliiirs. Ilis wastccf Ibrm and feebl(> gait were 
 seldom seen, and his n-at but seldom occU|iied. 
 
 Alti'i- ihr ;tdj(inn lit ill .Inly hi>t ami hi- return lidiiie he rarelv 
 
 led the Iniii-e, except on |»lcasant days to (akt- short drives. This 
 ci.ntinued till a month before death, during which tiiiu* 1 learn he 
 was con-'tantly at honic, :ind often, owing to a dillicuhy in liieath- 
 ilig, unable to coii\cr..e with hi- fiiiiids. 1 n the long, wcaiv hours 
 
ADDRESS OF MIL ERMENTROVT, OF PEXySlLIAMA. 9 
 
 spent by him in the ante-chamber of death he learned fully to re- 
 alize his condition and to l)ecome resigned to it. In vain friends 
 spoke hopefully of renewed strength and prolonged life. He o-ave 
 them no encouragement. Overruled by these friends, he allowed 
 his party to honor him with a renoniination fol' Congress, but his 
 subsequent re-election crowned with success a brow already damp 
 with the dews of death. Having renewed the religious vows of his 
 early youth, armed with Christian faith in a Redeemer, he calndv 
 awaited the beginning of a new life. In the early morning hours 
 of November 14, 1884, at Gettysburg, his spirit peacefully took 
 its everlasting flight. 
 
 Standing to-day at the grave of William A. Du^X'AN, my 
 mind at this stage of our political history is irresistibly carried back 
 to a suggestive episode in his career. In 1856, while yet a beard- 
 less youth upon the threshold of active life, he was selected as the 
 chosen embassador of his instructors and fellow-pupils as the 
 representative of his ahaa mater to bear congratulatory messages 
 to James Buchanan, the last President of the United States of his 
 parly, on his election to the Presidency. Twenty-eight years elapse ; 
 years crowded with tremendous events, bringing Avith them tre- 
 mendous changes, affecting tlic social and political life of millions, 
 bringing with them overthrow after overthrow upon the party in 
 whose supremacy his warmest sympathies were enlisted, and after 
 years of toil and effort in her behalf, in the crowning hour of her 
 success, at the very start of a race involving most important results, 
 to him and his political household, like Moses on Pisgah's top, in 
 sight of the promised land, his eyes close in death. 
 
 It is a question among men whether strict ])ropriety does not re- 
 quire that on occasions like this the participants should mask their 
 feelings and restrain the flow of natural emotions. Let those who 
 prefer j)lay the part of the stern Roman. I prefer to be the Greek, 
 who weeps and still remains a man. For, in this solemn presen*'e, 
 occupying from early youth the relations I have to our dead frii'iid, 
 the first victim among my Pennsylvania colleagues since my con- 
 nection witli this House, tlie recollection of long-faded days trans- 
 
10 LIFE AND CHAEACTER OF WILLIAM A. DUXCAX. 
 
 ports me back over the gaps of time, place, and circumstance. 
 Once more I stand with liim on the perilous edge of an unknown 
 future — unknown, but filled with glorious promise and pleasing 
 prospect. A\'hcn-the alluring splendors of hope gilded life's bright 
 morning with honor, wealth, and fame, beckoning on over untrodden 
 and untried j)aths, there we part(;d, each bent upon his respective 
 mission, each pursuing his separate path. Converging here, with 
 many things then hoped for never realized to both, his hoped-for 
 unrealized balance absorbed by deatii. It is the one sad lesson of 
 life — the chalice that sooner or later is commended to the lips of 
 ;,1] — (1,,. vault V olhunian wishes. Yet the magic spell of that time 
 projects a softening, soothing halo, to which no human heart can 
 be insensible, into the very gloom of this hour. 
 
 I should hesitate to intrude upon the privacy of the domestic cir- 
 cle on an occasion like this; but it is due to those who survive him 
 to say that the synunctry of our friend's rounded career visible to 
 the public eye did not want the harmonious complement of a pros- 
 perous wedlock. Perhaps no one may tell how much of his success 
 was due to this union. In 18G3 he wedded Miss Catherine W. 
 Sfhmucker, daughter of Rev. Dr. Samuel S. Schmucker, president 
 of the Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, who is now deceased, 
 the honored head of a family distinguished in the annals of the 
 Cl'.ureh, in the learned ])r(»fe<sions, and in the higlu'r walks of lit- 
 erature. The fruit of the union was four sons, now aged iv-peet- 
 ively twenty, nineteen, seventeen, and tliirteen years. Ila|>iiily 
 thev live to console, to comfort, and to sustain the bereaved wiihiw 
 in the bitter attlicticju of this irrej)arable loss. They are the lega- 
 tees of nianv honorable faniilv traditions, of which no doubt thi'V 
 will |»r<»\e thein>elves worthy. 1 tiii>t they will Imld nj) without 
 rcjiroaeh in the battle (»f life the noble standard that fi-li from the 
 j;i;i>|» of their prciLicnilor nnly when hi> hand \\a- nerveless in 
 death. 
 
 IIi>enii wa- univip-ally lainenicd :ind regretted. The ri'xilu- 
 tioils of n'-peel Mild >yni|ialhy pas-.ed i>y hi«- former a-soei;ites at 
 hoiiie, the large eonecjurse of sorrowing friend- upon his inteniK-nt, 
 
ADDRESS OF MR. SWOFE, OF FENXSYLVANIA. 11 
 
 bear amplest testimony to this. All that lay in human power to 
 avert or break tiie force of the blow has now been clone, but — 
 
 They cannot render back 
 The golden bowl that's broken at the fountain, 
 Or mend the wheel that's broken at the cistern, 
 Or twist again the golden cord that's loosed. 
 
 I doubt not that those -of us who during the last session saw the 
 too frail body that incased the immortal soul of our late associate 
 must feel it to be better far to anticipate that hour when the breath 
 of Almighty Power shall resurrect it from the dust, and change the 
 body corruptible in time into the body incorruptible in eternity. 
 
 Thus ends my painful duty, a duty performed as best I could. 
 I have not disfigured my face with grief as one without hope, nor 
 indulsred in vain lamentation, nor obscured with indiscriminate 
 eulogy the memory of our late colleague. Not so have I purposed 
 or performed. But as one who first learned to know him and be- 
 come his friend years back in the college days, I have in decorous 
 and befitting words laid an honest tribute on his tomb — a tribute 
 notunwarmed I hope by some rays of the ancient faith, some gleams 
 of home pride, some cheering beams from the memories of long ago. 
 
 Address by Mr. Swope of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Mr. Speaker : As the successor, fellow-townsman, and life-long 
 acquaintance of William A. Duncan I feel impelled, not only or 
 chiefly by time-honored custom, but much more by the dictates of 
 friendship, esteem, and regard for high mental and moral excellen- 
 cies, to offer a few words of tribute to the memory of my pretleccssor. 
 
 A monotone of sadness pervades the literature of every race and 
 comes wailing dowu to us in the song and story of all the tribes of 
 men. To be born is but the beginning of death. All the forces 
 and potencies of nature seem at once to combine against the structure 
 which she herself has reared. From the initial moment life is a 
 struggle which yields no crown to the victor, and to the vampiishcd 
 suffering, decay, and death. If life were to be estimated only by 
 
12 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF WILLIAM A. DUXCAX. 
 
 its last and ciilininating result, or by its fontimied contest with all 
 destructive agencies, then, indeed, it would be true that — 
 Man Wiis made to luuurii. 
 
 The teachings of the pessimist would be in accordance with sound 
 philosojjjiy, and life itself would be evil, and only evil. 
 
 15ut man is liimself a predominating factor in the economies of 
 nature. lie tills a larger place in the moral than he occupies in 
 the material universe, and stands on a plane so far exalted above all 
 other creations, that his life cannot be measured by his length of 
 days in the land. It is estimated not by years so much as by 
 deeds; not by cycles of time so much as by eras of events. In 
 the material universe not an atom of matter is ever lost, though 
 constantly assuming new forms and coml)inations. 
 
 A drop of water which to-day may be tossed in wild commotion 
 on the waves of the deep may to-morrow glitter in the dew-drop 
 or fall in a tear. Thus every act of man is followed by an ever- 
 widening circle of consequences and results, and forever reappears 
 in novel and vai'ied jihascs of existence. It may itself become a 
 j)ropagating germ, to be multij)lied and rej)roduced throughout all 
 time. This large view of the vast results which may be attaine<l 
 in a nrewhieh has not yet I'eached its mei-Idian may in a measure 
 i-econcile us to the untimely loss of those who have not lived long, 
 but well. 
 
 Mr. Dl'NCAN had the honoi- of being chosen by the ])(>ople 
 Mmon"- whom he wa- boiMi and reared, and so by them well known 
 and trusted, to re|»re-ent (hem here. And (hough his usefulness 
 was to some ex(ent impaii'cd l»y failing health and ever-increasing 
 weaUness, yet -iieh wa-^ (lieir firm faith in his honor and honesty 
 of purpose and action that they again re-elected him as theii- iJep- 
 re>en(a(ive for (he l"'oi-(v-ninth C(»ngi-ess. This in itself is ates(i- 
 moiiv of no >li^ht <»r diiliion^ chiirai-ter (o hi> wcirth. ability, :ind 
 conscientious regard Ibr (he interests of (he |»eo|)le whom he mos( 
 closely re|)n'sen(ed. Nor is (he constituency of (he niiie(een(h dis- 
 trict of Pennsylvania by whom he was chosen wanting in the emi- 
 nence and distinction of the men whom (hey have sent here in times 
 |)a>t. \\'hatever dilVerences of opinion luay have prevailed, :ind 
 
ADDBESS OF MR. SWOFE, OF PEXXSTLVAXIA. . 13 
 
 may still prevail, in regard to great public interests and national 
 policies, there can be no differences respecting the ability and j»a- 
 triotism of the Representatives chosen by the peoi)le wlio -upported 
 mv lamented predecessor. Nor was my iKMiored friend wanting in 
 a watchful, careful, and intelligent regard for their interests. 
 
 But his patriotism was broader than his district. lie regarded 
 that a fragment, however valued and prized, of the great and no- 
 ble old Commonwealth of which it is a part ; and this again as only 
 a member of a national family of States, constituting one grand and 
 glorious Union, whose honor and prosperity is the highest goal, to 
 which all should be at once tributary and subordinate. 
 
 ^Yith no tormenting ambitions for public ollice, and but little ex- 
 perience beyond the cares of a local and honorable relationship to 
 the community in which he lived, Mr. Duncan was sent here more 
 bv reason of the reputation he had gained as a good citizen, able 
 lawyer, diligent worker, and an incorru[)tible patriot than because 
 he had won any renown as a Representative or legislator. That he 
 did not disappoint or forfeit the confidence of his constituency, the 
 faith of his party, or fliil in his duty to the Commonwealth or to 
 the county, is seen in the significant fact that he was returned on 
 his second candidacy with a largely increased popular vote over 
 his first election. 
 
 I may state here that which may be allowed me, as his personal 
 friend and confidant in his last hours, that he wanted but this to 
 smooth and make easy his path to the grave, already open to re- 
 ceive him, for he died just one week after his re-election. Tiiis is 
 not the time to enlarge upon the strain and stress which is laid 
 upon a member when his personal convictions of what is right and 
 just are at variance with those entertained by many of his friends 
 and by most of his constituents. Happy is he who escapes this 
 ordeal, this trial by fire, and most happy is he who in thi- long 
 run and final result can demonstrate that he was right. 
 
 Those who have known Mr. Duncan only in this legislative hall 
 can form no conception (if the man. His first step here was the 
 initial movement toward his grave, and every day accelerated the 
 pace of the relentless disease which, hour by hour, sapped and 
 
14 LIFE AXD CHAEACTER OF WILLIAM A. DUXCAX. 
 
 undermined liis vital forces. Still he fought a good fight against 
 his remorseless foe. He gallantly contested every stej); and could 
 he have been placed under more favorable circumstances of climate 
 and situation he might have ])rotracted the contest for many years. 
 But, sir, though often besought by family and friends to quit his 
 post and forsake his duties, he remained here, fulfilling all the re- 
 spi)nsil)iliiies of his position until the close of the session, when, 
 with every duty pefrormed, and liis ])ulilic tru-t fultiiled, he came 
 home to die in sight of those; blue mountains at whose base he was 
 born, and whose lengthening shadows, as the sun sinks behind them, 
 almost reach his grave. 
 
 It has been said i)y the great dramatist, who was noted for his 
 accurate portrayal of the human heart and his philosophic inter- 
 pretation of the motives of human conduct, that — 
 
 The evil tliiit nicii do lives after tliem; 
 The };oo(l is oft interred witii their boues. 
 
 However true this adverse and discouraging estimate of thedura- 
 
 bility of good deeds may be, it can be accepted only with many 
 
 limitations and under very unlbrtunale conditions of societv. I 
 
 prefer to ijelieve the truth of a higher, more inspiring, antl philo- 
 
 .sojiliie sentiment : 
 
 'I'lie ineiiHiry of the just is Idest, 
 'JMie name of the wieUed sliall rot. 
 
 I believe in the essential immortality of good di-eds. Those that 
 are such are not and eaniiot be buried with the bones of their 
 authors, but live alter and rulluw them. 
 
 Xav, sir, it is a cheering truth that ot" "the good men do time but 
 the impression deeper makes, as streams their channels deeper wear." 
 It is oidy when death has lent its .solemn sanction to a com|)leted 
 life, and titne has confirmed the value of thoughts and deeds, that 
 their wisdom and ini-elli<!incss arc rightly appreciated. 
 
 No man t;d<es in tlic range and altitude of ji moinitain while 
 environed b\' near-jutting prominences ami thick forests. Thecliain 
 needs to be projected again>t a remote hori/.on, girding which mav 
 be seen the lonix-drawn and towerinj' mas.«jiveness of the wlmle. 
 
r 
 
 ADDRESS OF ME. SWOPE, OF PENNSYLVANIA. 15 
 
 Thus it is that wc contemplate those colossal figures which awe 
 and inspire us along the granite ranges of history. 
 
 The virtue, purity, and patriotic devotion which look ui)()n us 
 from their secure heights to-day in the characters of AVashington, 
 Jefferson, and others on like Alpine summit^ are all the more con- 
 spicuous and impressive because of the distance from which we 
 contemplate them. The ages Avill never disjjlace them from their 
 eminence nor shrink their solid dimensions. In the same measure 
 and by the same law will every humbler name take its endurim*- 
 place among the stabilities of the fnture. We may therefore con- 
 fidently commit the record of our deceased brotlier to the keepinc- 
 of that fiivoriug genius who protects and guards the archives of 
 the past. 
 
 William A. Duxcax was born in Franklin Township, Adam; 
 County, Pennsylvania, on February 2, 1830. After such pre- 
 liminary training as was at that period accessible in country schools 
 he entered Franklin and Marshall College, from which he gradu- 
 ated in 1857 with the highest honor. During his college course 
 he displayed marked ability as a clear thinker and graceful writer, 
 which qualities he enlarged and developed during his whole career. 
 After leaving college Mr. Duncan studied law in Gettysburg, and 
 was admitted to the bar in 1860. In 1802 he was elected district 
 attorney, and re-elected in 1868. In 1874 he was the nominee of 
 Adams County for the State senate. He was also a member of the 
 State central committee. In 1882 he was elected a member of the 
 Forty-eighth Congress of the United States, and was re-elected 
 November 3, 1884. He died November 14, 1884. 
 
 While a close professional student, and a hard worker in all the 
 details of his business, so that he commanded the unlimited confi- 
 dence of his clients, he did not neglect the ordinary duties which 
 pertain to a good citizen. He has been identified with every or- 
 ganization which had for its object tiie welfare and improvement 
 of the community in which he lived. He was genial, kind, and 
 courteous, and was most loved by those who knew him best. 
 
 In his domestic life his even and e(niablc tcnij>cr, his kind con- 
 sideration for those about him, his hospitality to his friends, and 
 
16 LIFE AM) CHAKACTtili OF WILLIAM A. DCKCAN. 
 
 hi.s constant love for his wife and children, shone forth with peen- 
 liar luster. During the long- period cf his weakness and dci)res- 
 sion his devoted wife administered to his wants, relieved him of 
 such burdens as slie herself could l)e' . with an entire devo- 
 
 tion which ended only with his life .- " .i\^\ everything for him. 
 
 With the love of partial friends!.;^), .A'ith the sorrow of a be- 
 reaved community, we interred the remains of our brother in the 
 soil of a field made memorable by the bloodiest battle of cruel war. 
 
 He rests on the summit where carnage and death held their 
 bloitdv revels twentv-oii'^ years ago, but where now all is ])eaee 
 and stillness, where the summer breezes blow S()ftly from the blue 
 njountains which overlook the |>lain now smiling with peace and 
 plenty. 
 
 In the a<ljoining cemetery, where — 
 
 Eufh in his narrow cdl IVtrt'ver laid, 
 The riulfi forefatlic'is <»f the haniK't sleep — 
 
 rests all that is uKjrtal of my lamented friend and ))redecessor. 
 
 Let us trust that each of us, before the final result comes, may 
 have contributed his share, humble though it be, to the hap|)iness, 
 prosperity, and progress oi" his race, so that it may not truly be 
 >;iid of anv one of us, "he has lived in vain." 
 
 Address of Mr. Atkinson, of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Mr.SpKAKKR: As the Highlander will not pass the tumulus of his 
 friend without adding a pel)ble thereto, so I olVer a brief tribute to 
 the memory of my late colleague, Willi.vm A. Di'ncax, in whose 
 honor these services arc held to-day. It is fitting that we should 
 turn a~ide for a little while Imm our daily duties to record our tes- 
 timonials of esteem Ibr one who (iiithfully an<l h(»nestly performed 
 his duty as a Rcjirescntativc, who eon>eientiou>ly and laboi"iou-ly 
 serve<l his constituents evi-n when di'eliiiing healih made hi- oner- 
 ous duties doubly dillieult, and who thoroughly enjoyed (he conli- 
 d< iK-e Mild respect of" the intelligent constitm-ncy which sent him to 
 thi> House. 
 
ABDBESS OF MB. ATFIXSOX, OF PENXSYLVAXIA. 17 
 
 We can render him no otlior service; but it is a service M-liich 
 he well deserved, so that we may not perform it as a mere matter 
 of official duty or custo-^-. but because his gentle and amiable dis- 
 position, his fidelity aii ' '"^H^sty, his industry, and his sacrifices 
 for his country secure li ■ ^^?lim as his just due. 
 
 The district which I 'ha'x'^ the honor to represent adjoins that 
 represented by Mr. DuxcAN, but my acquaintance with him began 
 only at the beginning of the first session of the Forty-eighth Con- 
 gress. When I first met him I was impressed with his amiabilitv 
 and gentleness of disposition. A thorough gentleman, of refined 
 and cultured tastes, I iound him an interesting companion, and 
 soon learned to r.ppreciatc him as a valued friend. Altiiouoh dis- 
 ease had set its impress upon him, he never seemed to think of 
 himself or his physical misfortunes, but bravely and unflinchingly 
 bore the burden which would have fallen on a man of less courao-e 
 with crushing force. He attended to his public duties with careful 
 attention to detail and a total disregard of self, as if animated only 
 by a desire to achieve the greatest results in the brief time which 
 he knew was allotted him to live, apparently believing that — 
 
 We live in deeds, not years; iu thongbts, not breaths; 
 lu feelings, not iu figures on a dial. 
 We should count time by heart-throbs. lie most Htos 
 Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best. 
 
 Mr. Duncan's humblest constituents could call upon him for 
 his services, feeling assured that his business would receive as care- 
 ful consideration as the more important affairs of the influential. 
 He was polite and courteous to his fellow-members of this House 
 and kind to his inferiors. As a lawyer he loved his profession, 
 and although not without ambition for public life, yet acted as if 
 the highest honor to which he aspired was to be distinguished in 
 the profession of his choice. 
 
 Bringing fine literary culture to his professional studies, he 
 thoroughly mastered the principles of the law and a])plied them 
 readily and accurately to the facts presented in a cause. His in- 
 tellectual abilities were of a high order, and he possessed a diver- 
 H. Mis. 27 2 
 
18 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF WILLIAM A. DUNCAN. 
 
 sified knowledge outside the range of his profession rarely obtained 
 by the laborious practitioner of the law. 
 
 He acquired a large practice soon after he was admitted to the 
 bar, and his unwearied devotion to the interests of his clientage 
 ■was one of the inducing causes which produced the disease of which 
 he died. Few men possessed as great and enviable popularity as 
 Mr. Duncan. His popularity was not accidental or evanescent, 
 for his constituents had known him from his childhood. 
 
 Soon after he came to the bar he was elected district attorney of 
 his native county, and so satisfactory was his performance of the 
 duties of that office that he was again elected to the same positicjn. 
 After his first election as a Representative in Congress he felt that 
 his failintr health would not enable him to bear the exertion and 
 fatigue incident to a canvass for re-election, and he would willingly 
 have declined the honor of a renomiuation. But his many friends 
 insisted that he should again be a candidate, and he reluctantly 
 yielded to their importunities. 
 
 His ])hysical Inability rendered him unable to canvass his dis- 
 trict, but the confidence of his people was so marked, that he was 
 elected by a larger majority than when he was first a candidate. 
 No higher compliment could have been paid to his personal worth. 
 
 Two weeks after his re-election deatli called him from the scenes 
 of his struggles and his earthly triumphs. He fell in the meridian 
 of his useful and honorai)le career; and his unfinished life, if the 
 expression may be used, is well typified by a broken C(»lumn. 
 From the spring and summer of his career we had a right to ex- 
 pect :ui abunilaiit autumn. We regret that by his untimely death 
 this body and his people have been deprived of those matured 
 fruits fi»r wliich his character and attainments had iu>tified us to 
 hoj)e. 
 
 His Ixjdy has been laid to rest among his kindrcil upon the his- 
 toric Cemetery Hill at Celtysburg, whicli two (lc<-:idcs ago vil)rated 
 with the thunder of that mighty cannonatle which marked the 
 turning point of the struggle i'or the maintenance of the Union. 
 'J'he fierce coiifli<'t over, the nation dwells in peai-i', and may this 
 
ADDRESS OF MR. POST, OF PENNSYLVANIA. 19 
 
 peace be emblematical of the peaceful repose of his spirit since the 
 conflict of his life is ended. 
 
 The sainted dead of the nation, who died that the Union might 
 live, lie in the national cemetery at his feet. On the morning- of 
 the resurrection none can be in nobler company. 
 
 He lias outsoared the shadow of our uight; 
 
 Euvy and calumny and hate and pain, 
 And that unrest which men miscall delight, 
 
 Can touch him not and torture not again; 
 
 From the contagion of the world's slow stalu 
 He is secure ; alid now can never mourn 
 
 A heart grown cold, a head grown gray, in vaiu — 
 Nor, when the spirit's self has ceased to burn. 
 With sparkless ashes load an unlamented urn. 
 
 Address of Mr, Post, of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Mr. Speaker: He whose memory we honor to-day and whose 
 death we mourn was a modest, unassuming, honest, and faithful 
 citizen. Content to perform with zeal and fidelity whatever duties 
 his environment imposed he sought not renown, but courted rather 
 that more substantial boon, the confidence and esteem of his neigh- 
 bors, with whom he was brought into daily contact and among 
 whom he sought to achieve an honorable reputation. 
 
 Durino- his brief term of service in this House Mr. Duncan was 
 precluded from attendance upon its sessions often for several days 
 in succession by reason of delicate health. At the time of taking 
 his seat the ravages of disease had grievously impaired his powers 
 of endurance, and he was therefore obliged to abstain from all social 
 festivities, in order that his whole strength might be husbanded for 
 the discharge of official duties. Hence it came that his acquaint- 
 ance among his colaborers in this body was exceedingly limited and 
 his usefulness necessarily curtailed. For many years it had been 
 his ambition to represent his district in Congress; and who can im- 
 agine the bitterness of his disappointment, when at last, the coveted 
 prize being attained, he found himself ])hysically incapacitated for 
 active participation in the work of legislation. 
 
20 LIFE AXD CHAUACTER OF WILLIAM A. DVXCAX. 
 
 In this contentious body, with its iron-bonnd, inexplicable rules 
 and utter disregard for individual feeling; where recognition can 
 onlv be obtained as the result of intellectual prowess, parliamcnt- 
 arv finesse, or sheer force of will; where the power is wielded bv 
 a few of the legislative elders, and a new member is chiefly con- 
 sidered as a necessity in making up a quorum, a man in robust health 
 and ill the iuU vigor of manhood's strength may well be over- 
 whelmed by the paucity of his chances for gaining a foothold ; how 
 utterlv futile of accom])lishment, then, this task must have ap- 
 peared to our deceased friend, who entered this Hall enfeebled by 
 disease and with emaciated frame. 
 
 Stricken down while yet comparatively a young man, deprived 
 of an opportunity for displaying in public life whatever talent or 
 adaptation therefor he may have possessed, in eulogizing the dead 
 ui)on this occasion wc can only speak of the character and reputa- 
 tion sustained by him in the private walks of life. In his inter- 
 course with his fellows the deceased was kind, considerate, and 
 courteous. In his business relations he was conscientituis, fair, and 
 generous. As a lawyer he was able, industrious, and successful. 
 To all trusts confided to his keeping he was faithful, and as a husband 
 and father he w\as loving, tender, and true. 
 
 A little more than a year ago the Forty -eighth (.'ongress convened 
 in its lirst session. In the year that has passed so quickly, as quickly 
 as vtmishing breath, the shadow of death has frequently darkened 
 thi> Chamber. Of those who then came commi.ssioned to this House 
 of Ivcpiesentatives, bearing with pride such evidence of popular 
 favoi- and eagerly hoping Ibr higher honors, several have already 
 gone to Join the great majority. Life's litfid fever being over, they 
 sleep. As the Death King has entered here with swilt and echo- 
 loss tread and borne away one after another of our associates, we 
 are remindi-d of the uneerlainty t»f life, and the gn^at and solemn 
 truth is loi-ced home upon us that it is appointed unto all once to die. 
 W'li.i.iA.M A. Dr.NCAN was born in A<laius County, Pennsyl- 
 vania, I'clniiarv '2, l.SoO. After graduating with high honors from 
 college he J'lad law and was atlniilted to praetiee in isr>!l. Aside 
 from serving two terms as district attorney for his county he held 
 
ADDRESS OF MB. BAYNE, OF rENNSYLVAXIA. 21 
 
 no other official position until his election to Congress. Alwnys a 
 strong ])artisan and taking an active interest in political matters, he 
 was frequently a delegate to conventions, county and State. 
 
 Notwithstanding the fact that at the close of the last session Mr. 
 Du_ DAN returned to his home much prostrated, and it was aj)parent 
 that the end of his earthly career was near at hand, and while unable 
 to go about among them, his constituents unanimously renominated 
 him for re-election, and at the election he was. chosen by a large 
 majority, thus attesting the regard of his people for their distin- 
 guished Representative. The certificate of the return judges of 
 this election Avas received two days before his death. 
 
 I was one of the committee of the members of this House des- 
 ignated by the Speaker to attend the funeral obsequies of the de- 
 ceased held in the quaint but historic little borough of Gettysburg. 
 In that vicinity he had lived all his life, and from the immense 
 concourse of mourning friends gathered there to pay their last trib- 
 ute of respect it was evident that by those who had known him 
 long and intimately he was beloved. There, side by side M'ith those 
 of his kin who had gone before, we laid him to rest, and as we re- 
 traced our steps from the city of the dead, leaving him asleep upon 
 the breast of Mother Earth, vve felt that a good man had gone from 
 among us to his eternal home. 
 
 Address of Mr. Bayne, of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Mr. Speaker: I rise more for the purpose of joining my col- 
 leagues in paying a tribute to the memory of jNIr. Duncan than 
 with the view of saying anything which may enlighten the members 
 of the House about his characteristics or his life. My acquaintance 
 with INIr. Duncan' was formed at the beginning of the present Con- 
 gress; and I was brought into more or less intimate association 
 with him by his bcinjr a member of the Committee on Military 
 Affairs. I also met hiin frequently, and our social relations were 
 somewhat intimate and always pleasant. ** 
 
 As Mr. Duncan appeared to me, a most prominent characteristic 
 
22 LIFE AXD CUAEACTEU OF WILLIAM A. DUXCAX. 
 
 of his nature was tliat he was essentially and in every respect a gen- 
 tleman. 
 
 Every element which goes to make up that desirable character 
 was possessed in a conspicuous degree by iiim. He was studious 
 alwavs to avoid the mere suggestion of anytliing that would give 
 offense. In his intercourse with others ho was kindly, gonial, 
 respectful, treating all as equals. 
 
 The members of his own family — Iiis sons and daughters — shared 
 his association as adult equals arc wont to do ; and I have more 
 than once observed the respect and considr-ration that were sliown 
 each other in the discussion of topics, and how free each felt to ex- 
 press his or her opinion, unawed by paternal austerity, fully en- 
 couraged rather by the mutual confidence and regard tliat prevailed 
 in that good family. 
 
 Notwithstanding this genial, kindly temperament of ^Ir. Dun- 
 can, I am told that in the legal forum he conducted most vigorous 
 fights, and that in ])rofcssional controversies his bretliren of the bar 
 alwtivs rcirardcd him as a fi)eman fully worthv of their steel. In 
 Congress, being a new member and snbjeeted to those unfavorable 
 opi)ortunities which new members have always to encounter here, 
 he iiad but little chance to show the metal he was made of; i)ut I 
 am convinced from his course in the Committee on Military Allairs, 
 from the decided conviction he expressed on subjects coming before 
 that eommittee, that if his health had permitted him to live longer 
 among us and it had been cfjiial to the pcrrormance of the multi- 
 farious duties devolved ui)on u^, here in the legislative forum he 
 would have made his mark, as he did in the legal forum before he 
 came here. 
 
 Mr. DuN(\\N was comjiaratively young, and it was a misfortune 
 to his great Slate and to his constituency that he was taken of! so soon. 
 In the rou<rh-and-tumble fi^ht of this world autl in the ruir^cd 
 contests which seem to exist always in this body it is not easy lor 
 a man of quiet, amiable, and gentle manner to make himself <'on- 
 spieuous before the country, but after a while, after the lapse of 
 time, :iM<l with s(»me ex|)('rienee, I leel he would have risen tt» a 
 Commanding position in this House, and that his abilities would 
 
ADDRESS OF MR. HOPKINS, OF PENNSYLVANIA. 23 
 
 have gained the fullest respect and admiration of his fellow- 
 members. 
 
 His people have lost an honest and worthy man, his constituents 
 a faithful and just Representative, and his fimily a good father and 
 kind husband; and I sincerely join with my colleagues in paying 
 this last tribute by this great body to the memory of Mr. Duncan. 
 
 Address of Mr. HOPKINS, of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Mr. SrEAKEii : Upon the first day of the present session of Con- 
 gress, when llepreseutatives were exchanging salutations upon their 
 reunion after a few months of separation, the cheerful greetings 
 were silenced and the business of the House was suspended. by tiie 
 announcement that during the vacation two of our fellow-members 
 had passed away from earth and w'ould meet with us in this Hall 
 no more. 
 
 Thus in the midst of our joyousness we were reminded that a 
 dark shadow enveloped the households of two of our late com- 
 panions. In the full enjoyment of our own active life and vigor- 
 ous health we were reminded that death had stricken down two of 
 those who sat here with us but a few months since. And we come 
 to-day in a formal manner to honor the memory of William A. 
 Duncan. 
 
 There is much of the true philosophy of life in the Latin maxim, 
 de mortuis nil nisi bonum. For it is unmanly to attack those wlio 
 can not defend themselves. But in speaking of the dead the ten- 
 dency is rather to indulge in exaggeration of their virtues. The 
 friends of our departed colleague have no occasion to invoke the 
 charity of silence; and it is quite certain that by extravagant eulogy 
 we would do violence to the nature and wishes of him whose mem- 
 ory we honor. 
 
 By native capacity and educational acquirements Mr. Duncan 
 was well equipped for a useful and honorable life. But, unfortu- 
 nately, his mental vigor was not fortified by physical strength. 
 He was always delicate. The iusiduous disease which undermined 
 
24 LIFE AND CHAEACTER OF WILLIAM A. DUNCAN. 
 
 his life and bore him to au uiitiaiely grave crippled his energies, 
 and to a great extent marred the perfection of his promised career. 
 Taken away just at tlie periol when a man's fame, it he is to have 
 any in political life, is first forming, we can only conjecture what 
 his success would have been. But there is enough known to ex- 
 cite sincere regret at his removal from his new career, -when we re- 
 member that he was a man of cultivated mind, inflexible integrity, 
 lofty aspirations, and courteous manners. 
 
 I\Ir. Duncan was never an aggressive man, but quiet, unobtru- 
 sive, and extremely modest. Yet, with all of his amiability, he was 
 not without resolution and self-assertion. In his antagonisms he 
 never excited enmity ; in his successes he never aroused envy. 
 The gentleness of his disposition, the frankness of his manner, the 
 integrity of his character, made him many friends and many muurn- 
 ers at his death. 
 
 I had the sad satisfaction of attending the funeral of our re- 
 spected colleague, and witnessed the universal evidence of high 
 esteem in which he was held by all of his neighbors. The entire 
 conmiunity followed his remains to their last resting-})lace in the 
 historic cemetery which overlooks the town of Gettysburg, and 
 manifested their profound res})ect as the body was laid away in that 
 peaceful and lovely spot which had been the scene of a bloody and 
 memorable conflict. As his calm life was undisturbed by the 
 angry contentions around him, so his last, sweet sleep will be un- 
 broken by the turbulent memories which throng the air above his 
 grave. 
 
 The gentlemen who liav(^ preceded me have spoken at length of 
 Mr. Dincan's public services, and further allu.-ion to them is 
 needless. 
 
 I present my estimate of his character as a modest tribute to the 
 memory of a modest man. 
 
 I move the adoption of the resolutions. 
 
 The res<»lutions were unanimously agreed to; and in accordance 
 therewith the llt>use adjourned. 
 
PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE. 
 
 In the Senate of the United States, 
 
 Jaiuiary 26, 1885. 
 A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. Clark, 
 its Clerk, eommnnieated to the Senate the resolutions of the House 
 on the announcement of the death of Hon. William A. Duncan, 
 late a Representative from the State of Pennsylvania. 
 
 The Presiding Officer (Mr. Piatt in the chair). The Chair 
 lays before the Senate a message from the House of Representatives. 
 The Chief Clerk read as follows: 
 
 Ix THE House of Eepresentatives, January 2fi, 1S85. 
 
 Eesolved. That this House has heard with profound sorrow of the death of 
 Hou. W. A. DuxcAX, late a Representative from the State of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Besolved, That the business of the House be now suspended that fitting 
 tribute may be paid to his memory. 
 
 liefohed, That as an additional mark of respect the House shall, at the con- 
 clusion of these ceremonies, adjourn. 
 
 Eesolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the Senate. 
 
 Mr. Cameron, of Pennsylvania. I offer resolutions, and ask 
 that they be read at the desk. 
 The Chief Clerk read as follows : 
 
 Bcsoh-ed, That the Senate has heard with profound sorrow of the death of 
 William A. Duncan, late a member of the House of Kepresentatives from the 
 State of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Hcsolved, That the business of the Senate be now suspended in ordor that 
 fitting tribute may be paid to his memory. 
 
 licsolved, Tbat as an additional mark of respect the Senate shall, at the con- 
 clusion of these ceremonies, ^djouru, 
 
 «5 
 
26 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF WILLIAM A. DUNCAN. 
 
 Address of Mr. Cameron, of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Mr. Prksidknt: It is my sad duty to aniiounoc to tlic Senate 
 the death of "William A. Duncan, late my colleague iu the House 
 of Representatives from the State of Pennsylvania, which occurred 
 on the morning of Friday, November 14, 1884, at his home in the 
 historic town of Gettysburg, Pa. 
 
 Mr. Duncan was born in Franklin Township, Adams County, 
 Pennsylvania, on the 2d day of February, 183G. After receiving 
 a common-school education he went through his preparatory course 
 for college at Mercersburg, Pa., and entered Franklin and Mar- 
 shall College at Lancaster, where he was distinguished for his tal- 
 ents and close application to his studies, graduating in 1857, on 
 which occasion he was selected to deliver the valedictory address 
 of his class. 
 
 After leaving college, he entered the law office of Robert G. Mc- 
 Creary, esq., at Gettysburg, where he diligently pursued iiis stud- 
 ies, and on the 15th of August, 1859, was admitted to the bar, and 
 at once entered upon the active practice of his profession. 
 
 Being possessed of a versatile mind, with an open, generous, and 
 genial nature, full of magnanimity, and particuhirly devoted to his 
 adopted profession, he became one of the most promising members 
 of the Adams County bar, and very soon acrpiired a large practice. 
 It is said by one who knew him intimately that " his professional 
 career was characterized by devotion to his j)rofession, fidelity to 
 his clients, and marked courtesy in liis relations to the court and 
 members of the bar." 
 
 Mr. Duncan ])racticcd law successfully for over twenty years. 
 Pos.se.ssing niii< h ii:itiiral ingciniity and iiiiinstry, these with his 
 uniformly geiitlciManly bearing and high integrity rendered him 
 skillfully arnieil ;ind e<|iiippe(l for the contests at the bar and made 
 him -uccos.sfid in his business affairs. He had a broad and cul- 
 tivated mind, a keen and j)olished utterance, and a pure and patri- 
 otic iiearl. Always fair and candiil, he sought no unfair advantage 
 
ADDRESS OF MR. CAMERON, OF PENNSYLVANIA. 27 
 
 in argument, but invariably conceded to his opponent the same 
 honesty of motive which he claimed for himself and which was 
 universally accorded him. His good and reliable judgment ren- 
 dered him very useful as a citizen in the conduct of any enterprise 
 of public concern. He was patient, prudent, and far-sighted, and 
 his astuteness was especially apparent before a jury. For years 
 before his death he was in full practice, having a large share of 
 assigned estates intrusted to his excellent management; and, as is 
 generally the case in rural districts, his practice was of a miscel- 
 laneous character, rendering it necessary for him to give it close 
 and constant application, which in the progress of time seriously 
 aifected his health. 
 
 In 1862 he received the nomination for the office of district at- 
 torney by the Democratic party of his county, of which he was an 
 ardent and faithful adherent, and was elected in October of that 
 year. While holding this position- he performed his duties with 
 such fidelity and impartiality that he was renominated in 1865, but 
 owing to divisions in his party was defeated. 
 
 In 1868 he was again nominated for the third time for that 
 position, and was elected, when he again proved himself worthy 
 of the trust bestowed upon him by his fellow -citizens. 
 
 In 1882, after a very spirited contest, he was nominated by iiis 
 Democratic friends to the Forty-eighth Congress to represent the 
 nineteenth Congressional district of Pennsylvania, composed of the 
 counties of Adams, Cumberland, and York, a district very strongly 
 Democratic, and elected by 3,177 plurality. After taking his seat 
 in the House he was assigned to duty on the Committee on Military 
 Affairs and the Committee on Education, where he served with 
 great credit to himself and his constituency. 
 
 Mr. DuxcAX was renominated last summer to represent his dis- 
 trict again in the Forty-ninth Congress and was elected in the suc- 
 ceeding election by 4,262 plurality. His re-election two weeks be- 
 fore his death, although suffering at the time with an incurable 
 disease, was a high compliment to his sterling worth and showed 
 the universal esteem in which he was held. 
 
 Mr. DuxcAN was a thorough and consistent Democrat. Having 
 
28 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF WILLIAM A. DUXCAX. 
 
 been imbued with the principles of that party from early child- 
 hood, his faith in its teachings and his zeal in its service increased 
 vearlv. At home lie was one of the foremost leaders in its councils 
 and an elegant and aggressive champion in defense of its traditions, 
 Ijut, like the great majority of his ])arty in the State, was a firm 
 and steadfast su})porter of the doctrine of protection. It being his 
 first terra in Congress, he was too modest and retiring to obtrude his 
 opinions upon the House or enter into discussion with older and 
 more experienced members, but had he been permitted to live 
 through the coming Congress he would have proven himself capa- 
 ble of sustaining in debate the measures he advocated with skill 
 and good judgment. 
 
 One of the oreatest characteristics of Mr. Duncan's life was his 
 abounding good nature and his unfailing charity toward others. 
 
 If anvthing derogatory of another was said in his presence, he 
 was sure to defend the absent pne or to change the course of con- 
 versation by some humorous or diverting remark into other and 
 more congenial channels. He had no ill to speak of others, even of 
 those who may have treated him unkindly and unjustly. 
 
 ^Ir. Duncan was married in 1863 to Miss Catharine Schmucker, 
 a daughter of Kev. S. S. Schmucker, D. D., an eminent divine of 
 the Lutheran Church, an organization very large in numl)ers and 
 whii'h has in its membership some of the ablest and purest people 
 in the State. Miss Schmucker, brought up under tjje teachings of 
 a father of great strength and purity of character, was a worthy 
 lielpmeet to her husband and made his home a charming one, re- 
 markable for its cultivated simplicity in a community noted for its 
 intelligence and unostentatious iiospitality. 
 
 Mr. Duncan had always enjoyed vigorous and robust health 
 until about four years ago, when symptoms of pubnonary trouble 
 began to deveh)i) to such an extent thai he wascom|)ellcd to aban- 
 d(»ii his legal practice. Although he einph)yed the best medical 
 skill and was extremely careful in his habits, the disease gradually 
 gained luadway. lie returned to his home after the adjournment 
 (»f Congress in July last. As the summer advanced his health 
 rapidly declined, and for several weeks before his death he was uu- 
 
ADDRESS OF ME. CJMEEOX, OF PEXXSYLVJXIA. 29 
 
 able to leave his residence. He grew weaker constantlv, until 
 death relieved him, dying calmly and peacefully in the presence of 
 his wife and family. 
 
 Mr. DuxcAX was a Christian. He trusted in God and publicly 
 avowed his allegiance to Him. His many virtues, which so fondly 
 attached many warm friends to him, will be missed at his office, at 
 his fireside, at the bar, and in these Halls. 
 
 In the Gettysburg Star and Sentinel of Tuesday evening, Xo- 
 vember 18, 1884, I find the following resolutions adopted at a 
 meeting of his former associates at the bar. 
 
 That we have heard witli profoimd sorrow of the death of our late brother, 
 Hon. William A. Duxcax; that by his demise our bar has hist an able law- 
 yer and prudent counselor, our county a useful man and a good citizen, our 
 Congressional district an honorable gentleman and a faithful representative. 
 
 That the court, its officers, and the bar attend the funeral of the departed. 
 
 That these proceedings be entered on the records of the court, and be pub- 
 lished in the county papers. 
 
 That we present a copy of these resolutions to the fanuly of our lamented 
 associate, and extend to them onr deepest sympathy, and commend them to 
 the Consoler of the afflicted aud the Healer of all sorrow. 
 
 Mr. President, in my association with men in public or private 
 life I have never heard of one who possessed a character more lovely. 
 Strong in his convictions of right, fearless in his expression of them, 
 he had the rare faculty of impressing his antagonists with the purity 
 and sincerity of his motives, so that when they could not approve 
 his position they never failed to respect the reasons which he gave 
 to sustain it. Thus it was that he left no sting behind and his strong 
 est political opponents were among his warmest personal friends. 
 
 During my service in the Senate we have been frequently called 
 upon to mourn the death of fellow-members endeared to us by ties 
 of association and friendship. In the death of Mr. DuxcAN I feel 
 that we have not onl)- lost a worthy associate, but the State which 
 I have the honor in part to represent has lost ah able and efficient 
 representative. Our colleague has passed beyond the river that 
 separates life from death, time from eternity ! He has passed for- 
 ever from these Halls, and has left behind him an honorable name 
 and an unsullied reputation. 
 
30 LIFE AXD CHAUACTEE OF WILLIAM A. DUNCAN. 
 
 Address of Mr. Maxey, of Texas. 
 
 Mr. Pke-sidext. The neighbors of the late William A. Dun- 
 can say he was mauly, generous, talented, true. 
 
 To have achieved honorable position MJiile young, and to have 
 increased his reputation not only as a faithful guardian of public 
 trust, Imt as a man in the social and daily widks of life, he nuist 
 have possessed sterling qualities of head and heart. Graduating 
 in 1857, he was chosen to deliver the valedictory. Admitted to 
 the bar in 1859, he, by dint of hard study, honorable deportment, 
 a good education, and native talent, rapidly rose in his profession, 
 and acquired a large and lucrative practice. The high estimate 
 placed upon him by his professional brethren is the best assurance 
 of his honor as a man and ability as a lawyer. 
 
 He made friends wherever he went and retained them. He 
 was a man of good culture and earnest ai)plication. 
 
 Three years after his admission to the bar he Mas elected district 
 attorney, and to the same oilice five years later. 
 
 In 1882 he was elected to tiie Forty-eightli Congress, and in 
 1884 was elected to the next Congress. His last election speaks 
 volumes. Stricken down by the dread disease, pulmonary con- 
 sumption, the shadows were gathering thick and fast around him 
 before the canvass was closed. The scy tlie of death was whetted and 
 ready to cut the brittle thread. The people knew that his days and 
 hours were numljcred, yet they •^hovwd their love and res])cct for 
 the dying man by re-election (o (he position Ik- liad so wortiiily 
 filled. Two weeks later he was numbered among the dead. 
 
 H' a man die shall he live again '.' is the ever-recurring question. 
 
 The Creator by whose almighty fiat were launched, we know not 
 when, <Mjuntless worlds into boundless space, gave them laws infin- 
 itely wise and so nicely adjusted that this vast universe moves un- 
 erringly, so perfectly that the intellect of man can calculate centuries 
 in advance the precise moment of an event resulting from those laws. 
 
 Tlie infidlible operation dI' the iiiljdiible laws of creation jiroves 
 an infallible Law (Jiver. 
 
ADDRESS OF MB. McMILLAN, OF MINNESOTA. 31 
 
 The crowning glory of creation is man, with his mighty intellect, 
 his soaring ambition, his lofty aspirations, his resistless energy ; 
 with a moral nature leading him pleasantly into the paths of gen- 
 tleness, mercy, and benevolence, with an inborn veneration for the 
 author of his existence. Can it be that such a God would create 
 such a man, who, in obedience to the laws of his existence, has 
 achieved such amazing triumphs over matter and such mighty 
 triumphs over mighty intellects, and yet would doom that man to 
 annihilation with death? Can it be that such an intellect incased in 
 a frail mortal body should die because the body dies? Through the 
 unending cycles of eternity the soul of man will go onward ex- 
 panding in the presence of the Omniscient. If a man die he shall 
 live again. 
 
 William A . Duncan was a man of many virtues, beloved by 
 all who knew him, and best by those who knew him best. The 
 memory of the just is blessed. 
 
 William A. Duncan has finished his course on earth. He 
 acted well his part. We scatter flowers over his grave. "He shall 
 return no more to his house; neither shall his place know him any 
 more." 
 
 Address of Mr. McMillan, of Minnesota. 
 
 Mr. President : Already on two occasions during the past week 
 we have been called upon to suspend our ordinary proceedings to 
 pay respect to the memories of those who have been called by death 
 from the public service. The voice of eulogy uttered upon those 
 occasions has scarcely died within the Chamber ere we are called 
 again to mourn the departure and commemorate the virtues of 
 another fellow-laborer. The chair of William A. Duncan, in 
 the House of Representatives, is vacant. He was born in Adams 
 County, Pennsylvania, in 1836, and died at Gettysburg, Pa., on 
 Friday, the 14th of November, 1884, in the forty-ninth year of his 
 age. Endowed by nature with a high order of talents, his intel- 
 lectual powers were developed, enlarged, and invigorated by a lib- 
 eral course of study and mental discipline at his alma mata, Frank- 
 
32 LIFEAXD CHARACTER OF WILLIAM A. DUNCAN. 
 
 lin and Marshall College, from which he was graduated in 1857. 
 After faithful and diligent application tlirongli a regular course of 
 Iciral studv and traininjj; he \va> admitted to the bar in 1859. Thus 
 thoroughly furnished for liis work, he entered upon the practice of 
 the law, and devoted himself to his profession. By his ability, in- 
 tegrity, and industry, he soon acquired an extensive practice, which 
 he retained throughout his professioual career of twenty-live years, 
 during which he was twice elected by the people district attorney 
 of his county. 
 
 He had an exalted view of the dignity and iinj)ortance of the 
 profession, and fully appreciated both its privileges and its respon- 
 sibilities, and believed that for the administration of justice both 
 lawyers and courts were to co-operate. In the trial of causes, there- 
 fore, he sought tlie truth and did not pervert justice ; he was true 
 as well to the court as to client. In his professional life he was 
 not influenced by sordid or mercenary motives; he never turned a 
 deaf ear to the cause of the poor or friendless, and was ever ready 
 to defend the oppressed. 
 
 After so many years of arduous professional labor he consented 
 to become a candidate for the House of Representatives of the 
 United States, and in 1882 was elected by his constituents to rep- 
 resent the nineteenth Congressional district of Pennsylvania in the 
 Forty-eighth Congress. He was a Dcmorrat, but, with the majority 
 of his party in Pennsylvania, he believed in the princi[)le of })ro- 
 tection to American industry. 
 
 His service in the House of Jvepresentatives was limited to a 
 single t(!rm. During the Congress of which he was a member he 
 serve<l upon several important committees of tiie House. 
 
 Having particij)ated so many years in the jurisprudence of iiis 
 State he was enabled by his intellectual ability, his legal learning, 
 his huge exjX'ricMce, wise counsel, and suuiid jiidi:nuiit, to taUe a 
 high position among his culleagues, and to render valuable and 
 (!nicient service in devising and framing the legislation otthe nation. 
 He was diligent, conscientious, and faillilul in the di-charge of his 
 public duties," and iiis generous and iuuioiable bearing and upright 
 
ADDRESS OF MP. JOXKS, OF FLOBIDA. 33 
 
 character won for him the high esteem and regard of his colh-agiies 
 in the House of Representatives. 
 
 But those loved liim most who knew him hest. After his first 
 term of service, althongli it was evident deatli had marked him as 
 a victim, and that he must very soon yiekl up liis life, his constit- 
 uents, in November last, re-elected him as their Representative in 
 the next (Forty-ninth) Congress. This was the benediction of 
 those who had been the companions of his youth, the friends of his 
 manhood, and who saw him and knew him in the daily walks of 
 life. No higher or clearer expression of confidence and regard 
 could be given by a c(mstituency to their Representative; no greater 
 reward could be received by a public servant. 
 
 The crowning characteristic of the life of our departed friend re- 
 mains to be noticed. He was a faithful and sincere Christian ; the 
 graces which adorned his character were the fruits of his Saviour's 
 love, and his daily life, which commended him to the favor and re- 
 gard of his fellows, was the expression of his faith in Christ. This 
 faith which prepared him to live, prepared him also to die. 
 
 If timid nature for a moment shrank at the approach to the dark 
 valley the voice of the risen Saviour came to him in reassuring 
 accents from the other side, "It is I, be not afraid;" and in the ro- 
 s])Ouse of his faith his last song was the sweetest, as he sang with 
 the Hebrew j)oet — 
 
 I shall be satisfied when I awake with Thy likeness. 
 
 Address of Mr. Jones, of Florida. 
 
 Mr. President: Again we are called upon to record our expres- 
 sions of regret over the loss of a good man. WiLLrA:\i A. I>1'ncan', 
 of Pennsylvania, in the prime of his manhood and the beginning of 
 his usefulness, has passed away forever. In his untimely deatli the 
 Church has lost a sincere Christian, ihe. bar an able lawyer. Con- 
 gress an upright and useful memi)er, and the country a devoted 
 and patriotic citizen. It is hard for us to comprehend the wisdom 
 H. Mis. 27 ". 
 
34 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF WILLIAM A. DUNCAN. 
 
 of Providence in designating a man so circumstanced as a victim 
 for the grave. After long years of study and prej)aration we find 
 him, in his forty-seventh year, entering the other House as a mem- 
 ber of the Forty-eighth Congress from one of the most important 
 districts in his State. He had won his college prizes and passed 
 on to the bar. There, in honorable competition with the able law- 
 yers of his State, he acquired legal fame, and his intercourse with 
 the people satisfied them that he was a fit person to represent thcra 
 in the great parliamentary body which sits at the other end of the 
 Capitol. The business of the bar for a time is put aside. Briefs 
 and clients nt» linger interest him. The modest and unpretending 
 country court-house, so long the scene of his patient and honorable 
 labors, is overshadowed in his min<l by the vast proportions of tiiis 
 great structure wherein his talents are to be exerted in the interest 
 of a <rreat nation. The stimulus of loftv and honorable ambition 
 takes the j)lace of ordinary professional promptings, and he comes 
 here full of hope and heart and life, and gives his best talents and 
 services to the interests of his country. 
 
 He served with great credit to himself, and his district in the 
 Forty-eighth Congress and was re- elected to the Forty-ninth Con- 
 gress at a time when the dark shadows of death was almost before 
 his eves. Conscious as his pcoj)le were at that time that he would 
 not be able to serve them in the new Congress, with a generous ap- 
 preciation of his faithful services, they decided to console the last 
 houi*s of his life by a public indorsement of his labors here, and 
 show to the world that in the approaching death of William A. 
 Duncan Pennsylvania and Congress were about to lose a faithful re- 
 presentative and an iionest man. It is not for us to pass upon the 
 wisdom of the Almighty in matters of this kind. If from Mr. 
 Duncan's years, learning, industry, an<l honesty we are at liberty 
 to infer that his death terminated a career full, with assurances of 
 future usefulness, on the other hand it is jiossible that Providence 
 interfered to save him from protracted sullering, and that, un<ler 
 the wise dispensation of the Almighty, wliat appears to be our and 
 his country's loss is in reality his gain. 
 
ADDRESS OF MR. MANDERSON, OF NEBRASKA. 35 
 
 Address of Mr. MANDERSON, of Nebraska. 
 
 Mr. President. Not eventful the life ihat has closed. Spent 
 amid stirring scenes and in troublous times it stands out against 
 them in contrasts to be remarked. Born in that central State, the 
 Keystone of the arch of Commonwealths, where — 
 
 Pennsj-lvaiiia holds tbe scales, 
 
 Aud ueitber South uor North prevails— 
 
 where politics seems to be of every day — he was not a politician. 
 Livino- on that, wiiich one of the most stupendous events in modern 
 history has made holy ground, where the strongest of human passions 
 held fullest sway, and "dire was the noise of conflict," at far-fiuncd 
 Gettysburg, where " it seemed as though men fought upon tlte 
 earth and fiends in upper air" — he was a quiet looker-on and not 
 a soldier. 
 
 But he "acted well his part." It comes not 1o every man that 
 he shall fill a page, or require even a line, in the world's history. 
 Yet the uneventful lives seem tlie happiest ones, and the " mute, 
 inglorious Miltons" of earth are usually the ones to envy, if con- 
 tent with life is its chiefest blessing. Of a genial nature, he made 
 many friends, "well-springs in the wilderness," who loved him in 
 life and mourn his too early death. Trained in the schools, he 
 loved books, "those monuments of vanished minds," "delightful 
 when prosperity happily smiles; inseparable comforters when ad- 
 versity threatens." 
 
 Well balanced and inteHcctual, his pursuits were those of the 
 scholar and his enjoyments those of the student. He could well 
 
 exclaim : 
 
 My mind to me a kingdom is, 
 Such perfect treasure there I find. 
 
 Called to the bar, he became one of its leaders in his locality. 
 Devoted to that "exacting mistress, the law," she gave him full 
 return in a large clientage, to whose interests he was devoted. 
 
 Of upright character, he was universally esteemed, aud it came 
 
36 LIFE ASD cnAi!AC'rj:n of iujj.iam a. duncax. 
 
 naturally, iVoin tlie recof^nition of all ih 'so comincntlalik' <iiialitios, 
 tliaf his neighbors chu.sc him to rtprcsi-nt his Conjiressioiial district 
 in the Forty-eighth Congress, Siilfering (hiring his term from 
 that fell disease of whieii he diwl in November last, he was not 
 able to place an imprint npon any of the legislation of the last 
 session ; bnt fresh and well deserved appreciat'on of his worth 
 came to him w hen, while upon the bed of death, he was re-elected 
 to the House of Iteprescntatives. 
 
 To me WiT.LiA.M A. Duncax was jK-rsonally nidcn(»wn, bnt 
 when, at the recpiest of a colleague who esteemed him highly, I 
 looked over the detail of his lii'e that T, a native of the grand old 
 ("ommonweaith that he honoi'ed as it honored him, might pay fitting 
 tribute to his memory, I was charmed with its symmetry and could 
 not but admire the features I have so feebly portrayed. A life so 
 beautiful, a career so even gave promise of a useful future. 
 
 It is mo-t aj)t to depict him growing with the years of experience 
 into the trusted legislator, the wise counselor, respected of all men, 
 of service to the State, until with ripened age came fuller honors, 
 aud at last with th<' full allotment of years would come the end to 
 the rounded lil'e. But it was not so to be. "God's linger touched 
 him and he slept." 
 
 Mr. Presidcut, I second the adoption of the resolutions. 
 
 The PiiKsiufNf; Offk HK. The (juestion is on agreeing to the 
 resolution .-ubniitted by the Senator IVom Pennsylvania [Mr. Cam- 
 eron]. 
 
 Mr. CAAtHUox, of l*ennsylvania. liefore the (piestion is j)ut, I 
 desire to state tiiat my colleague [Mr. Mitchell], who desired to 
 take aud would have taken part in these proceetlings, is unavoidably 
 detained from the Senate to-day. 
 
 The resolulioud were agreed to unanimously; and the Senate 
 adjourned. 
 
 O