»^M$^i SSS«5i^pS*35^^ ^ Tr '^ 'U i s.SY28^-^ Class ( :^ ^ _ ,41- Book — gi 5 7 5 1/ ^~^% MEMOKl^^^l^DRESSES LIFE AND CHARACTER FERNANDO WOOD, (A llErilESENTATIVE FKOM NEW YORK), UKl.lVKUI'U IN THK HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, February l*S, 1881, i>uj;lisiii;d by okdek of C()N(;ues.s. WA8IIIN(}T()N: GO V KKNM i;nt 1' kin ting ok kick. f»^ S' JOINT KESOLUTION tu pi iiit certain culo^icis di^livcit-d in Conp-ess upou the late Fcruaudo Wood, Matt. II. Cari)cut(M', and Anibio.se E. Biiruside. RemJred bij the Senate and flonse of liejireneiitatires of the United Slalen, of America in Congress amembled, Tliat tbero bo printed twelve tlum.sjiiul copies re,s])ectively of tlie eulogies delivered in Cori}^)'c.ss upon the late Fernando Wood, a Representative from tlie State of New York : Matt. H. Carpenter, a .Senator from the State of Wiscousiu, and Ambrose E. Bnrnside, a Senator from the State of Rhode Island, of each of which four thousand shall be for the Senate, aud eight thousand for the use of the House of Rei)re.seutatives; and the Secretary of the Treasury be, aud he is hereby, directed to have l)riuted portraits of the three above-uamed Messrs. Wood, Carpenter, aud Buruside to accompany their respective enloyies; aud for the purjxise of defraying the expense of engraviug aud printing the said portraits the sum of lifteen hundred dollars, or so much thereof as may be nece.sfsary, be, and the same is hereby, appro[tiiated out of any money in the Treasury not other- wise ajipropriated. Apiiroved, February 1.'), l6&-i, JUL 6 '?15 '^^7^7^ . PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE OF RErRESENTATIVES. February 14, 1881. The Speaker. It is the sad cluty of the Chair to hi-iiio- to the attention of the Honse the telegram which will he read. The Clerk read as follows : Hot Springs, Fchruar)/ 14, 18>'l. To Hon. Jordan E. Cravens, House of liepresentatives : Hon. Fkkxando Wood died liere last night at nine o'clock. 8. A. STITT. The Speaker. Mr. Fernaxdo Wood first entered this House as a member forty years ago ; and if he had lived to the close of the Congress for which he was chosen, his term of service would have reached twenty years. Mr. Tucker. Mr. Speaker, on receiving this morning the rumor of the sad event which has just been announced, the members of the Committee on Ways and Means, over which Mr. Wood pre- sided for four years, waited for its authentication. Upon the intelli- g(Mice being confirined by the telegram which has just been read, the committee held a meeeting, at which I was instructed to offer for the consideration of the House the resolutions which I now submit. The ('lerk read as follows: Resolved, Tliat this Ilonsc has In-ard with (h'op rcgivt of the death ol'Hon. Fkrxando Wood, hite a Representative from the State of New York. liesolred, That a. committee of nine members Ite appointed by the Sjieaker to tak(>. order for snperintending tln^ funeral of Mr. Wood; and tliat, as a mark of respe(-t entertained by tln^ House for his memory, his rv'mains be removed from Hot Springs, Arkansas, to the city of New York in charge of th<' Sergeant-at-Arms, attended by said committee, who shall have full power to carry this resolution into effect. liesolred, That the Clerk communicate the foregoing resolutions to the Senate. Resolved, That, as an additional mark of respect to the memory of the deceased, the Honse do now .uljdurn. ^ Mr. Cox. Mr. Speaker, I rise to second the resolutions snbmitted by the distinguished gentleman from Virginia [Mr. Tuc^ker]. Death exists his baleful shadows across our chamber. He appears 2 LIFE AND CHARACTEB OF FERNANDO WOOD. iu tlie very midst of our deliberations. He abruptly closes our legislative labors. Although the sad tidings announced by you, sir, were not alto- gether unexjiocted, yet, after all, such messages never fail to startle us with their suddenness. My colleague, who so recently left us, followed by so many sor- rowful forebodings, has now left us forever. His long and eminent public service — service in the great metropolis as its conspicuous chief magistrate for three eventful terms, and service in this Hall as the representative of that metropolis, beginning almost two score years ago — is ended. His demise leaves a void which creates a hush and an awe to which this House is unaccustomed. The committee of which he was chairman has been jirompt to recognize its great loss and his remarkable (jharacter. His expei'i- ence, his information, his presence, his courtesy, his dignity, and his courage marked liim as a debater, a statesman, and a man of great qualities, attributes, and energies. Disease did not, for it could not, close — only death did or could close — his distinguished career. He felt and knew when he left us, as he stated in his last speech on this floor, that he was nearing the closing hours of an eventfid life. He met death dauntlessly. As a mark of sorrow and sympathy, of esteem and respect to one of the foremost men in this House and in the country, the delega- tion of the State of New York will endeavor to have designated a day for such obsequies as will fitly commemorate the eminent char- acter of the deceased. I ask that the House may now take action on the resolutions sub- mitted by my friend from Virginia [Mr. Tucker]. The resolutions were adopted unanimously. The Speaker. In obedience to the instructions of one of the resolutions just adopted, the Chair announces the appointment of the committee, whose names will be read. The Clerk read as follows: Select committee to attend the fiineial of Hon. Fkijnaxdo Woop: Mr. Tnckcr, of Vir>^iniii: Mi". Frye, of Maine; Mr. Phelps, of Connecticut; Mr. Dnnncll, of Minnesota; Mr. Mills, of Texas; Mr. McKinley, of Ohio; Mr. Car- lisle, of Kentucky; Mr. Critten(lo Wood, late a Kepreseiitative from tlie State of New York, and in order to ])ermit the members and officers of this House to attend tlie funeral fi'om his kite residence in this city at three o'clock p. m. this day, at two o'clock p. m. this House will adjourn. RemliH'd, That the Clerk communicate the forej^oiug resolution to the Senate, Avith an invitation to the members of the Senate to Join the members of the House attending said funeral. The Speaker (at two o'clock p. m). The Chair desires to state that gentlemen who design to attend the funeral of their late fellow-member, Hon. Fernando Wood, will find carriages pro- vided by the Sergeant-at-Arnis at the east front of the House wing of the C^apitol. In obedience to the order adopted to-day, the House now, in res])(!ct to the memory of INIr. Wood, stands adjourned imtil Monday next at eleven o'clock. February 21, 1881. Mr. Cox. I ask unanimous consent to submit at this time a pro- posed order, to which I think there will be no objection. The Clerk read as follows: Ordered by the House of Representatives, Tliat next Sunday, at three o'clock in the afternoon, be set apart for the observance of the ceremonit^s in mem- ory of Hon. Ferxando ^Vo()D, late a member of this House. The Speaker. If there be no objection this order will be adopted. There was no objection. Some time subsequently the following wa.s adopted : Ordered, That the Clerk communicate the forej^oinsj; resolntiou to the Sen ate, with an invitation to the SiMi.ato to attend in tlif House at said luMir and participate in said ceremonies. 4 LIFE AND f'HARACTEB OF FERNANDO WOOD. February 23, 1881. A message from the Senate, by Mr. Burch, its Secretary, com- municated to the House a resolution of the Senate accepting the invitation of the House to attend the observance of tlie ceremonies in memory of Hon. Fernando Wood in the Hall of the Houes on Sunday next at three o'clock in the afternoon. February 26, 1881. Mr. Tuf;KER. I ask the House to adopt the order which I send to the desk. The Clerk read as follows: Ordered, Tliat tlie. ceremonies fixed for Sunday (to-morrow) at three p. m., in eonimemoraiion of the late Hi)n. FKitXAxno Wood, he ]>ost)>oned nntil Monday eveninjj^, at eight o'cloclc, and tliat the Senate he advised of tlie (diange. The Speaker. The effect of this is to postpone the ceremonies until Monday evening, for the reason that the burial of Senator Carpenter takes place al)oiit the same time on to-morrow that it had been ordered there sliould be a session of the House. Of course the Senate and such of the members of the House as may desire to attend the funeral of the late Senator Carpenter could not do it and at the same time ])articipate in the ceremonies in the House under the original order. In view of that fact its postpone- ment has been deemed necessary. The order was aureed to. February 28, 1881. The Speaker. Tiie House will be in order. Rev. Dr. Ridlock, Chaplain of the Senate, will ofter prayer. The Chai)lain of the Senate, Rev. J. J. Bullock, D. D., offered the foilowinu' PROClCEDIKdS IN THE HOUSE OF BEPBESENTATIVES. 5 PRAYER. Almii^litv and ever-livinii; God, who art the maker of our bodies, tlie father of our spirits, and the disposer of all events, we invoke Thy blessing to rest upon the serviees of this solemn oceasion. in Thine inscrutable providence during the last days of this Congress it liath seemed good unto Thee to remove from this world by the hand of death two of the most distinguished members of this National Legislature. We i)ray that these solemn events may be deeply impressed ui)on the minds and hearts of all those who have been associated with them in guiding and directing the affairs of this great country. May they be led by these solemn dispensations of Thy providence to consider their latter end and to see the impor- tiuice of being prepared for their departure when it is thy will to call them hence. For it is certainly true that it is appointed unto all men once to die, and after death the judgment; and that neither wealth, nor talent, nor high position can arrest the footsteps of death, the great destroyer of liuman hopes and human expectations. And we pray that we all give heed to the solemn warning that comes from the vacant chairs clad in sackcloth that were recently filled by those who are now numbered among the dead. We do beseech Thee, Our Father, that, seeing that life is so short and so uncertain, and that death and judgment and eternity are certainly before us, we may so live that when the sunuuons of death may be put into our hands we shall be ready to die in peace and in the confident expectation of a glorious immortality. We pray for the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost to abide upon us, now and forever. Amen. The Speaker. The Chair will cause the order of the House under which this evening's session is held to be now read. The Clerk read as follows: SATUitDAY, February, 26, 1881. Mr. Tucker, by unaniinous conseut, submitted the following order; which was rcatl, considered, and agreed to: " Ordertd, Tliat the ceremonies fixed for Sunday (to-uiorrow) at three ji. ni., in comuieuKuatioM of the ; late Hon. Fkrnan'do Wood, be postponed until Monday evening, at' eight o'clock, and that the Senate be advised of the change." 6 LIFE AND CRARACTEli OF FERNANDO WOOD. Mr. Cox, I am Jiret!ted by the delegation of New York Slate to present the resolutions for our action this evening, which I send to the desk. The Clerk read as follows: Whereas the House of Representatives hiis heard with feeliiiirs of unalfecteil f^rief the aunoiiucemout of the death of Hon. Fernan'do Wood, a Kepre- sentative in Congress from the ninth district of the State of Now Yorli : Resolved, That in the loss of our late associate in le<>islative life we deplon; one of the ablest counselors of our nation, whose long public service, begin- ning forty years ago, in municipal as well as in Federal life, wei-e given with energy, intelligence, sagacity, and courage to what seemed to him the best interests of his great city, the Empire State, and the entire country; and for his supreme and undaunted devotion to duty, even to the end of his illustri- ous career, and his nuswerviug loyalty to his convictions and to the Constitu- tion of our land, we desire to testify our nnaffected condolence with his family, his constituents, his city, and his State. Besohed, That the Clerk of this House be directed to present this i)ublic expression of the sorrow felt by this House in its loss to the family of the deceased. Resolved, That as a further mark of respect for the memory of the deceased, this House do now adjourn. Mr. Springer. I ask unanimous consent that the Doorkeeper be directed to admit ladies and gentlemen to the floor of the House durino; these services, and that the House take a recess for five niin- utes while this order is being executed. The Speaker. The gentleman from Illinois asks unanimous consent that the Doorkeeper be directed to admit to the floor ladies and gentlemen who are unable to find seats in the gallery. Is there objection? The Chair hears none. The gentleman from Illinois also asks that the House take a recess for five minutes. The Chair hears no objection. Accordingly (at eight o'clock and ten minutes p. m.) the House took a recess for five minutes. The recess having expired, the House resumed its session at eight o'clock and fifteen minutes p. m. ADDRESSES ON THE DEATH OF FERNANDO WOOD, A EBPEESEK^TATIVE FROM NEW TOEK. DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, February "28, 1881. Address of Mr. TUCKER, of Virginia. Mr. Speaker: Death has cast the shadow of his dread presence over both Legislative Chambers of the Capitol. He has taken from this House one who was oldest in public service, and distin- guished for his ability and experience; and more recently has quenched the brilliant light of the gifted and eloquent Senator from Wisconsin. To-night, we are met to pay a just tribute of respect to the mem- ory of our late associate, Hon. Fernando Wood, a Representative from the State of New York ; for four years chairman of the Com- mittee on Ways and Means, and for nearly forty years a conspicu- ous figure in American politics. The broad, deep river which rolls its majestic waters to the sea, with scarcely a ripple on its bosom, tells but little of the move- ments of the mountain stream it once was, of the chasms it has leaped, of the precipices over which it has fallen, of the mountains through which it has cleft its way, of its devious course to avoid what it could not surmount, until in its well-defined channel it 8 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF FERNANDO WOOD. becomes the source of blessing to all within the range of its benefi- cent influence. So is it often with "this pleasing, anxious being" of our common humanity. In its primary stages it is marked by vigorous, some- times vehement, struggles to free or avoid the obstructions to pro- gress and success. In the antagonisms of an early career criticisms just and unjust upon the motives to action generate hostilities which as life goes on are modified, alleged, or removed; and as we near the period when it shall empty itself into the eternal and infinite "life beyond life," we cease to strive and struggle, but with the momentum of an early, resistless force we may hope to achieve, with calm and self-contained power, the highest and noblest pur- poses of a pure and chastened ambition. To trace the career of so sagacious a public man as Mr. Wood to its early stages would be a matter of interest, as it always is to see how the germs of later success were laid in the experiences of youth, and thus to find how true it is that " the child is father to the man." My personal acquaintance with him, however, having begun in the Forty-fourth Congress, I have no materials from which to speak with accuracy of his previous life. I shall leave to some other member to do this more satisfactorily than in my ignorance of it I could hope to do. Feenando Wood was born on the 14th of June, 1812, just four days before the declaration of war against Great Britain. His infant slumbers in his quiet Quaker home in the City of Brotherly Love were broken by the sounds of war ; and I can well imagine that in his childhood, from hearing of the battles and victories of our then young Union, he imbibed much of that patriotic pride and devotion to his own country for which he was remarkable in his later utter- ances. In his boyhood tradition relates that when engaged in manual labor his employer predicted failure for him, because while at work ADDRESS OF MB. TUCEEB, OF VIRGINIA. 9 with his hands his eye was fixed on a book kept open before him. This thirst for the information which reading affords indicated an early self-consciousness of fitness for higher work and for more im- portant functions. Before his majority he went into the shipping business, and by his prudence, sagacity, and energy realized a for- tune. In 1841 he first became a member of this House, being elected when the whirlwind of popular feeling swept Mr. Van Buren and the Democratic party from power and placed the execu- tive and legislative branches of this government in the hands of the Whig party. I was curious to see the position of Mr. Wood upon the sharply drawn issues of that memorable period. His first appearance was in offering a resolution of inquiry re- specting the rights of American citizens, said to have been unlaw- fully imprisoned by British authority in Van Dieman's Land, an inquiry indicative of his jealous regard for the liberty of his fellow- citizens. v He stood with the Democratic party against the re-establishment of the Bank of the United States. He spoke with earnestness against the perpetuation of a national debt; opposing all the ideas indulged in then as now of a splendid government as contrary to the simple and economic views of the fathers of our republican system. His opposition to a traiff for protection was very decided, and his thoughts upon free trade were boldly expressed. They were obviously inspired by the probability of that great change in Brit- ish policy which a few years later was carried by Sir Robert Peel in the overthrow of the corn laws forever. Mr. Wood said : The spirit of the age is tending toward free trade. The nations of Europe have recently become anxious inquirers into its political and social a3\-antages. The general assimilation of customs regulations, the mutual dependence of an unfettered intercourse, the beautiful and harmonious ^^-orklng of a system, beyond the control of ambition or avarice, would in time bind mankind m bonds of amity, good-will, and peace, driving war and fomine forever from the world. 10 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF FERNANDO WOOD. This was the language of a young statesman, not yet thirty years of age ; and to the views thus expressed he consistently adhered to the end. He serv'ed but one term at that time. He continued to co-operate with the Democratic party, and after its schism in 1 848, he refused to follow Mr. Van Buren in that Presidential election as the can- didate of the Free-soil party. As a southern man, I should do injustice to the dead if I did not here mention that during the whole period of sectional strife prior to the civil war, when the free-soil Democracy and the newly-born Eepublican party assailed what the South regarded as her constitu- tional rights, Mr. Wood upheld the equal right of the South to participate in the settlement of the great domain for colonization by the old States which had been won by the equal contribution of the valor and treasure of the North and South. He was three times elected mayor of the city of New York, serv- ing as such in 1 855-56-57 and in 1861-'62. In this position he exhibited rare executive ability and acquired great distinction. He was elected to the Thirty-eighth Congress and subsequently, serving as a Representative in this House nearly eighteen years alto- gether, and was re-elected to the Forty-seventh Congress. Mr. Wood was a member of the Committee on Ways and Means in the Forty-fourth Congress, and led, upon reporting the bill from the committee, the friends of the measure for carrying into effect the Hawaiian treaty. Though I differed with him on that question, I take occasion to say he supported the measure with ability, and its success was largely due to his energy and activity. He was chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means for the last four years. His name is associated with the tariff bill which was defeated in May, 1878. But more especially will his name be associated with the bill introduced by him and referred to the com- mittee, and afterward in a modified form reported by him to the ADDRESS OF MB. TUCKER, OF VIRGINIA. 11 House in March, 1880, for refunding the public debt, and which, with amendments, passed this house in January last. Whatever opinions may be entertained of that measure, no man iu this House can ever forget the manly, almost heroic, persistence with which, though tortured by a painful disease, and even when the stamp of death was visible in his face, Mr. Wood came and stood at his post day after day until the bill passed. It was touch- ing to hear him speak of it and of his connection with it as a triumpli for the public credit of our country. Nor will any of us ever forget the earnestness with which the dying man on the 15th of January last uttered these patriotic words, almost the last he ever spoke in this Hall, seemingly prophetic of his end : This nation stands to-day upon her imperial power. Her resources in the earth and above the earth, in the manly industry and energy of her people, are as ten to one compared with those of any other nation in the world. I tor one in the expiring hours of a public life of forty years, will never consent that this great country shall hawk its credit through the money markets of the world. [Applause.] He went away with little hope ever to return. He felt his life- work was done. He died tranquilly, in peace, without pain. We have committed his body to his mother earth ; his spirit has returned to God, who gave it. Mr. Wood's mind was active and vigorous. It was practical rather than philosophic, dealing more with the concrete than the abstract. His judgment and sagacity about men and things were marked qualities of his constitution. He had much general infor- mation, and while, from lack of early training and the mental dis- cipline which the higher education secures, his mind was not as accurate and logical as it might otherwise have been, yet his strong common sense, his keen and clear knowledge of men, and his large information on subjects of business and politics made him a wise and sagacious actor in the affairs of his time. 12 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF FERNANDO WOOD. He had courage, fortitude, and a persistent energy which was successful for his projects, when men of more intellect without these moral qualities would have failed. His presence was striking ; his style in debate was impressive and dignified; his manners were courteous; and in the intercourse of the home they were genial and full of kindness. He was very decided in his opinions and strong in his convictions, and stout and brave in their assertion and maintenance. His hospitality was generous and warm. In all the relations of his family he was gentle, aifectionate, and true. It has been my duty thus to speak of Mr. Wood in his public relations, as I have known him for six years as his associate in this House and on the Committee on Ways and Means. Having filled the measure of his life, he has met its responsibili- ties and has passed away from these scenes of busy, active strife, for- ever. Brother Representatives, standing at the grave of our dead com- rade, let us resolve that we will meet our life responsibilities (the more solemn when we look on death !) in the fear of God and for the best interests of our common country! Let a pure love of country, our whole country, inspire that earnest and harmonious co-operation for the promotion of its real interests and its true glory without which all our labor will be in vain. In the presence of this solemn event and under a deep sense of our responsibility to our country and to our God, may it teach us so to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom ! Address of Mr. HuTCHiNS, of Nev/ York. Mr. Speaker : The members of the Forty-sixth Congress have three times been called to pause and contemplate the realities of death. To-day another vacant seat, dressed with the emblems of ADDRESS OF ME. RUTCEINS, OF NEW TORE. 13 mourning, reminds us that we are gathered for a similar purpose. It might seem that this event, so common, would be viewed by us all M'ithout emotion. But this is not so. The heart, the head, and the hand join in this solemn tribute of respect for the dead. When men who are pursuing the business of life with an earnestness that absorbs their whole being, and making haste to accomplish the pur- poses of ambition, stand on the threshold of the inexorable grave and acknowledge the fact that "all flesh is as grass," it is an event calculated to teach lessons of profit, if rightly considered. The man dies, but his deeds live. The art of printing and the mighty elements of nature now impressed into the service of man- kind give every action upon the stage of life the meed of immortal ity and hand down to posterity the good and the evil of each gener- ation. Should not this fact prompt us to an exalted patriotism and to earnest efforts looking to the greatest good of the greatest num- ber of our fellow-citizens? The record of Fernando Wood's life, covering an important period of our country's history, is full of deep interest and instruc- tion. He was born June 14, 1812, in the city of Philadelphia. The fact that his ancestors were Quakers conveys to us the idea that he began life with practical and solid notions of men and things. His parents took him to New York City in 1820, where were enacted the busy scenes of his earnest and eventful life. When fourteen years of age he became a merchant's clerk, afterward a skilled me- chanic; and when twenty years old we find him struggling to estab- lish himself in mercantile business. He battled for the prize of success with varied results until 1840. When only twenty-eight years of age his ambition, after repeated efforts, was rewarded by his election to the Twenty-seventh Congress. This Congress enrolled among its members John Quincy Adams, Millard Fillmore, Caleb Cushing, Robert C. Winthrop, Henry A.Wise, U. M. T. Hunter, and others, afterward equally honored and eminent in the annals of 14 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF FERNANDO WOOD. the nation. The Senate at that time was also composed of many statesmen of great ability. Mr. Wood not only enjoyed the ac- quaintance of these eminent men, but took part in their earnest debates when the great and far-reaching questions of that day were being settled by the master minds of the Republic. Such was the school in which our deceased colleague was trained, where he had the benefit of the ablest intellects, the wisest statesmen, and the pro- foundest thinkers of the day. No doubt his subsequent public career was largely influenced by the forces imparted to his mind and his principles at this epoch of his life. During the session of this Congress Professor Morse made appli- cation for aid to perfect the magnetic telegraph of which he was the inventor; Mr, Wood had a keen appreciation of its merits, and acting upon his own judgment rendered him such valuable aid that Professor Morse in after years, and in the day of his great triumph, was wont to say that he regarded his success as largely due to Mr. Wood. On the expiration of his Congressional term Mr. W^ood re-entered mercantile life, in which he met with marked succass. In 1850 he again entered into the arena of politics, Avhen he was the Democratic candidate for mayor of the city of New York, but was defeated. In 1854 he was again the candidate of his party and elected. During the term of his service he was the earnest advocate of establishing; the Central Park, and initiated measures which resulted in its becoming a success. He invited Washington Irving, George Bancroft, William Cullen Bryant, and other distinguished citizens to consult with him in devising plans for this great breathing-place for future millions of the metropolis. Thus was New York City and the Western World largely indebted to Mr. Wood for this sue- ■ cessful enterprise which is becoming the central school of natural history — of the liberal arts and the depository of relics of greatness and grandeur of ancient and modern times. ADDRESS OF Mli. HUTCH INS, OF NEW YORE. 15 He was re-elected mayor in 1856 and again in 1859. During his term as chief magistrate of the city of New York he originated the uniforming the police, which innovation has since grown into a universal custom in the cities of our country. The great abuses which had become common in the municipal government from negligence, want of discipline, and executive incapacity were inquired into, and reformed by the assistance of his practical good sense. Evil-doers in their secret haunts were discovered by the enforcement of new police regulations, and restraint, exposure, or punishment meted out to them. He determined to make his adopted city a model of good government and he succeeded in so doing by his persistent and energetic efforts. It may be said of our deceased friend that during his administration of the office of mayor no man was ever abused more unsparingly than he, but he did his duty so fearlessly, and to all appearances so conscientiously, as to win the praise of unpreju- diced minds. Mr. Wood was returned to the Thirty-eighth Congress, and from that time until his death, excepting the Thirty-ninth Congress, was a continuous member of this body. His history for the twenty-one years of his Congressional career is intimately interwoven with the history of the period of that service, and the student will find the record of his acts in harmony with the best interests of the finan- cial management of the country, and on the vital questions of cur- rency, tariff, and commerce were conservative and sound, as pro- pounded by the best minds and the closest thinkers of his party. The last public measure which engaged his attention showed his devotion to views that he had adopted after mature consideration, and demonstrated also his intense earnestness in carrying them to a successful consummation. He came to this House at the begin- ning of the present scs^^ion from a sick bed. Day after day he consulted with his colleagues and urged upon them his convictions. He faltered not, though feeble in body and his vital forces nearly 16 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF FERNANDO WOOD. worn out, until this, the last public measure which bears his name, was approved by us. When it had received our sanction, he re- marked, with a presentiment of his near death, " This ends a period of forty years' public service." Then his physical nature yielded to the force of disease and in a last effort to recuperate he fell a victim to death. When success runs through the warp and woof of a whole life- time the measure of a man's greatness is the result of his fidelity to popular interests. Such is the philosophy by which to form our judgment of public men. Judged by this rule, as a merchant, as the chief magistrate of the first city of the Union, as a representa- tive in the United States Congress of a large and intelligent constit- uency, the life of our late distinguished associate may be regarded as a triumphant success. In looking at the elements of Mr. Wood's character we find that he was self-reliant to a wonderful degree. He was active and ener- getic in the pursuit of every object that engaged his attention, and also in the discharge of all public duties. His life was a stormy one, and the reason is obvious when we realize that he was a man strong in his convictions and fearless in their expression. Hence he made enemies, and he seldom endeavored to conciliate them. The courtly dignity of his carriage and the suavity of his man- ners was a noted characteristic of the man. His bearing upon this floor was always unexceptional, and we might profit by imitating its propriety and befitting manliness. Thus having labored diligently in the public service for two-score years, and lived the allotted period of human life, he died with his armor on, a true type of the American citizen, ripe in deeds of public interest and full of honors. ADDRESS OF MR. LAPIIAM, OF NEW YORK. 1 7 Address of Mr. Lapham, of New York. Mr. Speaker: It is not my purpose to dwell at length upon the topics naturally suggested by the occasion which has called us together or to pronounce an elaborate eulogy or take an extended biographical notice of the life and labors of our deceased colleague. The gentlemen who have preceded me have made it unnecessary for me to do so. The event is not one calculated to excite that intense grief we have felt at times when the Destroyer has snatched from our midst those who were just entering upon a public career of honor and usefulness. Mr. Wood had nearly filled up the measure allotted to human life, and has fallen at last, as the ripened grain falls before the reaper's sickle. Such a passing away is a harvest, not a blight. My acquaintance with him personally began with my entrance to the Forty-fourth Congress, in December, 1875. I thus met him as one of the leaders of the dominant party in this House, flushed by a great political victory just then achieved. I had known and heard of him as a most devoted partisan, and therefore watched his course and conduct as a Representative with more than ordinary care and interest. His example from that time till he left this Hall never to return was such that I can bear cheerful testimony how often he abjured partisanship and rose to the higher duties devolved upon him by the demands of statesmanship. Years had tempered the ardor of his zeal as a politician and ripened his judgment for the discharge of the more dignified duties of a statesman. He was an earnest advocate of a measure when once espoused by him, but he brought to its advocacy that calmness and dignity which ren- dered his earnestness less offensive to those with whom he differed in opinion. Which one of all those who listened to him in one of his last efforts on this floor will ever forget the example in this 2 w 18 LIFE AND CHARACTEB OF FERNANDO WOOD. respect which he has left for our imitation — the patient earnest- ness with which he pressed to a conclusion a measure which he had come to believe so deeply concerned the public welfare and which his impressive and eloquent words proved he was conscious would be the last and crowning act of a long and eventful public service here ! He had convinced himself that a government loan at 3 per cent, interest could be successfully floated (a conclusion in which I then thought and still think he was in error). His colleague [Mr. Hutchins], who has preceded me on this occasion, had taken issue with him upon the subject. "Such a loan [said he] as is here pro- posed has never been floated. 1 do not believe it can be." The closing sentences of Mr. Wood's reply, to which reference has already been made, were in these words : Tliis nation stands to-day upon lier imperial power. Her resources in the earth and above the earth, in the manly industry and energy of her people are as ten to one compared with those of any other nation in the world. I, for one, in the expiring hours of a public life of forty years, will never con- sent that this great country shall hawk its credit through the money markets of the world. This was on the 15th of January last. On the 19th the bill passed the House. His work was done. His labors as a Repre- sentative were ended. He left the theater in which he had so long been a prominent actor, never to return. This was not to have been the close of his service had his life been spared. He had been honored by an election to the Forty-seventh Congress. His touching allusion to the "expiring hours" of his "public life" foreshadowed the end which so soon came. A greater than any living writer has said : The sense of death is most in apprehension. And the poor beetle, that we tread upon, In corporal sufferance linds a pang as great As when a giant dies. This sense our departed friend most clearly realized, and yet his ADDEESS OF Mil. LOUNSBEEY, OF NEW YORK. 19 resolute, manly, and almost perilous struggle with the great enemy in the weary journey he undertook — the eifort thus made to Hold death a while at the arm's end — was characteristic of the energy manifested in his whole life, and of a determination to spare no effort to avert for a time his coming fate. At least we'll die with harness on our back— was the language of his example. And so, dying in a distant State, his mortal remains were returned by loving hands and with official fidelity and care to the residence in this city where he had so many years dispensed a generous and almost princely hospitality, and where his obsequies were held, to be taken thence to the place he had selected for their burial. Mr. Wood's services as a Representative (and it is of him in that respect that I speak) were of the most exalted character. He was industrious and punctual in the performance of every duty. He avoided no labor properly cast upon him. He was kind to all classes of applicants for favor in legislation who sought his aid and whose claims he believed just. He was also courteous to younger and less experienced members of the House. In the committee- room and on the floor he was a model Representative. We shall miss his manly presence among us; and it may be many years before, in these respects, we shall look upon his like again. Address of Mr. LouNSBERY, of New York. Mr. Speaker : The voice of my colleague but lately sounded in this Hall. To-day it is forever hushed. His body lies sepul- chered with the dead. The mournful duties of his associates con- nected with his obsequies close with the present hour. I shall not indulge in fulsome adulation ; but I shall mingle with others in making a truthful portraiture of a life largely devoted to the pub- lic service, and ended while engaged in a most earnast and exhaust- 20 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF FERNANDO WOOD. ing struggle in the interest of his country. I would render here the lesson of his life, bred of self-instruction and determined eifort; projected among a people of which he was truly a part, and ended amid duties that had become congenial to his habits and nature. Fernando Wood was born in 1812, at Philadelphia, where his parents were temporarily residing. He was reared in New York City. At the age of thirteen years, on his own account, but with the consent of his parents, he took employment in a book-store, and thenceforward supported himself and educated himself. Very young he took part in the local politics of his city, and at the age of twenty-eight was elected to Congress from one of the city dis- tricts, and served for two years in the same Congress with Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, and John C. Calhoun, forming an intimate acquaintance with the two latter. He returned at the end of his term, with his business broken up by his political services and with the resolve never more to par- ticipate in politics, but to devote himself exclusively to building- up a fortune. He adhered to this resolution until he had succeeded to his satisfaction. He had been successful in business. He had built up a shipping trade which, with several fortunate ventures, had made him in 1854 an accumulation of gains on which he felt justified in retiring from active business. He had had the sagacity when the gold discoveries made California a field for adventures to land several cargoes of goods at San Francisco and with the profits to purchase real estate there. He also bought real estate in New York City, and with the growing prosperity of the country he became a man of wealth as that word was used at that time. . He then again felt able to indulge his old fondness for politics, and he was elected mayor of New York in 1854 and re-elected for two subsequent terms. In 1862 he was elected to a seat in Congress from the ninth New York district, and he has without break held this seat. It seemed to be the fixed determination of ADDRESS OF Mk^m'^^^^.Y, OF NEW YORK. 21 his constituents to continue him in Congress till his death. At the last election, though continuously confined to his house by sickness, and though his party was divided by rival factions, he was again elected to his tenth successive term. This terra, by reason of his death, he has not been able to enter upon. His Cono-ressional services connect the deceased with an eventful period of his country's history. He sat in this Hall while the Representatives of many of the States were absent from their seats by secession ; while a war of the sections was in active progress ; while reconstruction was emerging by conflicting propositions; while the waste of war was giving place to restoration ; and while the credit of the country was being rebuilt. When his party came again to a majority in this House he was made chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means. He participated in the enact- ment of laws that tended to returning prosperity. He participated in the triumphs of a coin resumption by the Treasury. He saw the government bonds aj)preciated in the markets of the world. His voice has hardly yet died along the walls of this Chamber in the eloquent expression of his confidence in the government credit and in its ability to refund its redeemable indebtedness at the rate of 3 per cent. I was one of many interested witnesses of his last and most earnest effort. His voice was already broken by approaching dis- solution, but his mind was clear. He seemed determined to leave this act impressed upon the financial history of his country as a monument to his legislative career. Those who saw the dying statesman as he retired from the House after the result of the vote upon his bill had been announced were irresistibly reminded of the words of the dyiri^ Adams : Thia is the last of earth, and I am content. This picture in outline is that of a successful career. Of emi- nence achieved as a legislator under such circumstances as make his 22 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF FERNANDO WOOD. case, though not exceptional, sufficiently rare to mark it as a nota- ble event. Though educated to trade, he was not unsuccessful as an orator. Without the learning of the books he had become cult- ured in state-craft. He was the representative of a class of public men in his country who have succeeded by a positive purpose with- out the aid of erudition. He was peculiarly the child of his city, and was honored by it because he so fitly represented its growth and its practical habits and methods. The deceased was magnificent without ostentation. When he was carrying on a shipping trade with immense profits his office was small and ill-furnished. His residence in New York, though princely in its extent and in its appointments, was plain and with- out ornament to attract the eye of the stranger. At his home in Washington, where he was beyond precedent liberal in his hospi- tality, he did nothing to attract observation. His funeral obse- quies were conducted according to his wishes in such manner as to repel public demonstration to his memory. The deceased had much store in his family and his fireside. He leaves a surviving family of eleven children, not spoiled by tender- ness, but reared under the affectionate eye of a devoted father. His will, drawn when he had reason to expect a speedy death, shows that his chief concern was to make ample provision for the care of his afflicted widow. We have put away in his tomb our distinguished associate. A column has fallen not easily replaced. I mourn in him a lost friend. The country has no longer his wise and devoted counsels. His fireside is desolated of his care and protection. We have left only the recollection of a history rounded out to a ripe and com- plete fruition. We can rest alone in the remembrance of his achievements — For memory is the only friend That grief cau call her own. ADDRESS OF MR. WRIGHT, OF PENNSYLVANIA. 23 Address of Mr. Wright, of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker : I rise under a deep feeling of emotion. I have parted with a life-long friend. For the last forty years Mr. Wood and myself have been connected with many of the political events which have successively excited this country; and in his departure I feel as though I was separated from a personal friend Avith whom I have been associated during that long period of time. Mr. Wood was my junior by some four years. The last con- versation I had with him was in this Hall, and I inquired of him with regard to his age. He told me he was born on the day that the American Congress declared war against Great Britain in 1812. He was therefore four years my junior. According to the ordinary course of events I should have gone before him. But such is hu- man destiny. We cannot tell what an hour will bring forth. I am feeble to-night, but I will try to make a few remarks and make myself audible. They cannot be extended. If I were to give a general summary of the character of Fernando Wood I would say he was a man of great industry, of strong wdll, and posi- tive attributes ; that his character for integrity was unquestioned. He filled all his high offices with dignity and purity. He was tenacious of his opinions. They were the result of labor and re- search as well as the result of honest convictions, convictions formed, not at random, but conclusions deduced from the power of educated and trained thought. Inferences from facts, from long experience in public and private aifairs. As a statesman his ideas were bold, yet conservative. He stood high in the estimation of his colleagues, and in the conflict of opin- ions his sincerity was never questioned. He was courteous in his manner, not offensive in debate, frank, open, manly, true, and reli- able as a friend, and, better than all, he was a gentleman. That is 24 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF FERNANDO WOOD. my summary of the character of my colleague and my late distin- guished friend. That he was a man of industry and strong will is manifest by the manner in which he began the great battle of life. Born in my native State, which fact always attached me the more to him, born in humble circumstances, apprenticed in his boyhood, still having always that indomitable will as an element of his character, there was no power that could resist his onward march, and onward he did march ; and he marched to conquest and victory, disregarding the ordinary obstacles in the pathway of life. He entered into mercantile life, and in that he exhibited sagacity and showed that he knew how to manage and control his affairs ; when he had accumulated a fortune he had the judgment and dis- cretion to take care of it. That shows conclusively his great indus- try, his strong wall, his positive attributes. Let me stop here a moment to turn away from the ordinary chain of ceremonies of this kind and say that it is men of such character, men born in obscurity, with will and foresight, and power, who have laid the corner-stones of our great government; and to their arms we are to intrust the safety and custody of it in all time to come. Mr. Wood was a living example of wliat industry, temper- ance, and labor can accomplish. Jjeaving Philadelphia, passing through his apprenticeshi23, accu- mulating a fortune as a merchant and showing that he knew how to take care of it, he entered into public life. He became the mayor of the great metropolis of this great country. No man to-day can raise his voice and say that Fernando Wood, in the high office that he held as the mayor of New York, ever failed to discharge properly the duties of that office. He was always at his post, al- ways maintaining the character and dignity of his position, and also maintaining the purity of his own life and conduct. When he came into public life — I know the time well, because ADDRESS OF MR. WRIGHT, OF PENNSYLVANIA. 25 I hatl been in public life some years before him — when he came into public life there was a class of men from whom he received his earliest instructions such as never again will exist in this country. Why it should be so I do not know. I say nothing in derogation of the character of those who now occupy these two Chambers. But there was a galaxy of power and learning, influence and integ- rity, especially in the Senate of the United States, when Fernando Wood entered into public life that never before existed, and perhaps never will again. There is but one way in which history can repeat itself with regard to the restoration in the Senate of men of the powers possessed by those who held seats in that body at that time. That was a time when men were selected by the States to represent them always with an eye solely to their ability and qualification. I stand here to-day at three score and ten, and I can afford to say it, and I dare say it, that is not the rule now. There are, of course, exceptions. It was in the training of those men with whom Mr. Wood associated that upon his mind were made those deep impressions of the honor and the integrity which characterized him as a man and statesman. So far as he had anything to say in this Chamber during the de- bates of the last four years, you will find that there was no acrimony, no effort made to excite ill-will on the part of his adversaries. He followed strictly the line of his argument, and the position he main- tained in carrying it out was sustained by dignity. You all know that who have seen the grand old form standing at his place here in this Chamber arguing questions of State. You all have felt im- pressed with the idea that he was a man who could talk to the point, talk sense and avoid all ideas and expressions which would produce acrimony, and which sometimes lead to very bad and serious results. In this particular ]Mr. Wood enjoyed a proud and enviable posi- tion. 26 LIFE AND CHARACTEli OF FERNANDO WOOD. I said he was tenacious of his opinions ; no man was more so. They were opinions that he had formed after deep research. He differed with me in regard to many questions of state policy, par- ticularly in his ideas as to revenue. I thought none the less of him, though. He was manly; he did not conceal his opinions, he spoke them right out freely and without concealment. As regards his standing, according to our idea and definition of statesmanship, we would not be justified perhaps in placing him in that higher circle. He was upon the plane below, but upon a plane where he could exercise his influence and his power and do as much good for the public as though he had occupied the plane that was above him. He was tenacious of his opinions to a remarkable extent. Many a contest have I had with him in regard to those matters, especially during the last twenty years. I do not now speak as to political issues ; they are out of place here to-night. He was born in Pennsylvania but reared in New York — by birth a son of the great Keystone State; by adoption a son of tlie great Empire State. He was a true type of those two great States lying side by side, anchors of safety in revolution, and anchors of safety and indexes of public opinion in all time to come. He was a type of the character of those two great States lying in the center of the territory of this nation. I have stated, in the general summary I have given of his char- acter, that he was a courteous man. You all know that; it is need- less for me to repeat it. Gentle in manner, kind in action, the last man on God's earth to offend, it never entered his mind to utter a word to hurt the feelings of his opponent, whether he was above him in the social or political scale or below him. He was courteous in his manner out of this Hall as well as in it. He was a model statesman, because his training had been such as a statesman should receive, riaving been thus trained in early life, the impressions ADDRESS OF MR. COFFROTH, OF PENNSYLVAXIA. 27 then made upon his mind were never thrown off. The mantle which he took upon himself in 1840 in the society of the men of those days was never changed, and was interred with him. As I said when I arose, I feel under a deep sense of embarrass- ment, because I am reminded of an event which must happen to me in a very short time. I hear the knocking at the door. I feel as though a part of me had gone in my social and political life, as though the man who had been by my side in political issues for the past forty years had left me. I feel now that in the absence of an old friend and distinguished statesman from his seat in this body that, so far as I am concerned, it is a banquet hall deserted. Address of Mr. Coffroth, of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker : We are again called upon to mourn the loss of one of our number. Our deceased brother lived to nearly the period of time allotted to man. When we met here in December last we little thought that before the close of this session the seat of Fernando Wood would be draped with the pall of mourning and decorated with white flowers — the emblem of the pure in death. He entered upon his duties with all the appearance of having many years of usefulness before him. His arduous labors as chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, and his unre- lenting exertions during the pendency of the refunding bill, wore heavily upon his constitution, and it gave way faster than any of his friends anticipated. When, in the discussion of the refunding bill, on the 16th of January last, he declared, "I, for one, in the expiring hours of a public life of forty years, will never consent that this great country shall hawk its credit through the money markets of the world," none of us had the remotest idea that these were among the last words of a dying statesman who had for many 28 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF FERNANDO WOOD. years given his time, intellect, and energy to the good of his country. He left this Hall aft^r the passage of the refunding bill to seek rest and to restore his shattered health ; but, alas ! he will never re- turn again. God, in His divine wisdom, has called him away, and How pale appear Those clay-cold cheeks where grace and vigor glowed! Oh, dismal spectacle! How humble now Lies that ambition which was late so proud! I will not at any length recount the many positions held by Fernando Wood. He was born in the city of Philadelphia on the 14th of June, 1812, and is of Quaker parentage. At nineteen years of age he commenced business as a shipping mer- chant in the city of New York, from which business he retired with an ample fortune in 1850. He was first elected to Congress in 1840, and was a member thereof in the years 1841, 1842, and 1843. He was three times elected mayor of the city of New York, serving as such during the years 1855, 1856, 1857, 1861, and 1862. He was then elected to the Thirty-eighth Congress, being regularly in attendance at its sessions and gained great distinction by his course. He was again elected in 1866 to the Fortieth Con- gress, .and has been a member from that time until the date of his death, which occurred at the Hot Springs, in Arkansas, on Sunday evening, the 20th of February instant. It can be truly said of Fernando Wood that his was an eventful life. He was an eloquent and captivating public speaker. The first public speech I heard him make was during the sitting of the Demo- cratic National Convention, in 1860, at Charleston, South Caro- lina. His speeches in Congress have evinced rare ability, and have placed his name in the category of the great statesmen who have preceded him. He has forever gone from us, and his death will be mourned as a public loss, and in tlie private circles of life many ADDRESS OF MB. COFFROTH, OF PENNSYLVANIA. 29 loving hands will strew flowers over his grave, while others will shed tears over his demise, because he m^^s the common benefactor of the poor and needy. Mr. Speaker, death is a frequent visitor to these Halls, and we are appalled when the summons comes — Yet, tell me frighted senses ; Wliat is death ? Blood only stopped, and interrupted breath ; The utmost limit of a narrow span. And end of motion, which with life began. As smoke that rises from the kindling fires, Is seen this moment, and the next expires ; As mighty clouds by rising winds arc tost. Their fleeting forms scarce sooner fonnd than lost. So vanishes our state, so pass our days. So life but opens now, and now decays ; The cradle and the tomb, alas ! so nigh. To live is scarce distinguished from to die. Mr. Speaker, on the first Monday of December, 1863, after an absence of twenty years, Fernando Wood reappeared as a mem- ber of the Thirty-eighth Congress. You and I made our first ap- pearance as members at that time. Time has made sad and lament- able havoc with our then colleagues. We call the roll and ask. Where is Pennsylvania's " Old Commoner," Thaddeus Stevens ? The answer comes — he is dead ! Where is the warm and impetu- ous Meyer Strouse? The answer is — he is dead! Then we desire to know of that noble patriot, Philip Johnson ; and the answer is — he is dead ! Then we ask. Where is the pleasant and kind- hearted Charles Dennison ? The answer comes — he is dead ! We inquire next. Where is the eloquent and noble-hearted William H. Miller ? and the answer again comes — he is dead ! The inquiry is then made for the intelligent jurist, James T. Hale ; and we are again answered — he is dead ! We then call the name of the earnest and able advocate of the homestead law, John L. Dawson ; and we are answered — he is dead ! The inquiry then comes, Where is the distinguished Thomas Williams ? The answer again is given — 30 LIFE AND CHAR AC TEE OF FERNANDO WOOD. he is dead ! And last, but not least, we call the name of that generous and noble man, Jesse Lazear ; and the answer comes in mournful accents — he is dead ! Yes, these associates and colleagues of our first Congress have been taken from their families and their country by the hand of death. When we look over this Cliamber we only see eight mem- bers now here who were members of the Thirty -eighth Congress — four from Pennsylvania, the Speaker of this House, Mr. William D. Kelley, Mr. Charles O'Neill, and myself; one from Iowa, Mr. Hiram Price ; one now from New York, but then from Ohio, Mr. Samuel S. Cox ; one from Illinois, Mr. William R. Morrison ; and one from Indiana, Mr. Godlove S. Orth. These eight mourn the loss of their deceased brother not only because of their associations with him in this, but on account of their association with him com- mencing with the beginning of the Thirty-eighth Congress. Hav- ing been acquainted with him for so long a period of time, we learned to love him for his kind heart, his generous disposition, and his aifable treatment of all his associates. He had no disposi- tion to utter unkind words whereby a thorn might be left rankling in the bare nerves of the heart, but his every word and action had a tendency to draw men to him in bonds of friendship, and soothe every contending passion into serene contentment. Mr. Speaker, death shadows our pathway on every side. Since the convening of the present Congress three Senators, Mr. Zacha- riah Chandler, of the State of Michigan; Mr. George S. Houston, of the State of Alabama ; and Mr. Matthew H. Carpenter, of the State of Wisconsin ; and four members of the House, Mr. Rush Clark, of the State of Iowa ; Mr. Alfred M. Lay, of the State of Missouri ; Mr. Evarts W. Farr, of the State of New Hampshire, and our deceased brother for whom we now mourn, Mr. Fer- nando Wood, of the State of New York, have been removed from the councils of the nation by the unerring archer. Death. ADDRESS OF MB. COVERT, OF NEW YORK. 31 In view of these lessons of mortality, to each one of us comes the injunction — So live that when thy siiiumons comes to join The innumerable caravan which moves To that mysterious realm, where each shall take His chamber in the silent halls of death, Thou go not, like the quarry slave at night, Scourged to his dungeon, but, sustained and soothed By an unfaltering trust, approach the grave Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams. Address of Mr. Covert, of New York. Mr. Speaker: Sorrow finds fittest expression oftentimes in silence. It rules in a realm which is sacred, but its sway is disputed always by duty. I should stand mute to-night in my place in this Hall, did not this joint ruler, duty, itself sad-eyed and sorrowful, beckon me to speak. It would be more grateful and perhaps more fitting if I remained mute of lip while the voice of the heart only responded to the kindly words others have spoken of him who, living, was my friend, and who, dead, I most sincerely mourn. And speaking, what shall I say of him whose name was familiar to the ears of thousands for nearly half a century? What shall I say of him whose presence was so familiar to us all in this chamber? Of him who, after nearly twenty years of faithful service in this House, has made his last appeal to us, has answered his last roll-call, and has passed out from this Chamber, never again to enter its portals? You knew — who know not Astrophel? Alas ! that I should say I knew. And have not in possession still ! Things known permit me to renew. Of him, you know his merit such I cannot say — you liear — too much. The life record of my late colleague has about it, in parts, the elements of romance, if we define romance to be that which is strange 32 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF FERNANDO WOOD. and out of the ordinaiy courses and conditions of events. He came from the ranks of the people, from an ancestry strong and sturdy and self-respecting. The elements of mental strength and self- respect thus inherited were through his whole life distinguishing traits of his character. When Fernando Wood was born to the world he came as a born leader of men. Passing his earlier days in comparative obscurity, he even then nursed an ambition which he knew and felt would raise him above his surroundings. Even in his youthful days he was prince absolute among his associates, as in later years he ruled at seasons almost a king among men. It is related of him that even in these youthful days the methods by which he acquired dominion among the younger men with whom he affiliated were seemingly peculiar. In his association with them he was temperate in his habits ; while affable, he was never unduly familiar, and there was nothing in his manner or methods that sug- gested any unbending to secure favor. He preserved always around and about him a peculiar atmos- phere of personal dignity which gained for him an equally peculiar quality of personal respect. His education had not been of a liberal character, and during all the time he was thus building up his leadership he was a hard and devoted student. He grew rapidly in the confidence and respect of the people by whom he was sur- rounded, and forty years ago he took his seat in Congress as its youngest member. As has been intimated by my distinguished friend from Virginia [Mr. Tucker], there were some illustrious names on the muster-roll of that Congress. Webster, Clay, Calhoun, Benton, Silas Wright, Rufus Choate, Quincy Adams, Buchanan, and Cushing were among his associates. The young New York member was becomingly modest, but at the same time becomingly self-reliant and self-respecting always in the presence and companionship of these distinguished statesmen. He was for months a silent student of political economy and of parliamentary practice. ADBBESS OF MB. COVERT, OF NEW YORK. 33 I am glad my colleague [Mr. Hutchins] has alluded to one fact iu his early Congressional career. It was not until Professor Morse had in vain solicited Congress to aid in the establishment of a short line of telegraph to prove the utility of his invention that the young member from New York attracted any public attention to his Congressional work. The inventor had met with disappoint- ment and rebuff everywhere. The older members of Congress, immersed in affairs of state, had treated him with coldness and indif- ference. Mr. Wood advocated his measure, and with such success that Congress was led finally to authorize the experiment. The result was the triumph of the invention which has since "put a girdle round about the earth." Science, and scientists the wide world over owe to Fernando Wood a deep debt of gratitude, and to his memory a peculiar meas- ure of respect in this connection. The world at large has, I fear, never sufficiently appreciated the full value of the service he thus generously and bravely rendered. The act was characteristic of the man. In the face of ridicule and of prophecy of failure, he fear- lessly stood as the champion of a project doomed, seemingly, to defeat, and fought the measure through to an assured and pro- nounced success. This peculiar element of boldness under seem- ingly adverse circumstances, thus early exhibited, was to the very day of his death always a distinguishing feature in the character of our late associate. The period during which Mr. Wood acted as mayor of New York City was crowded thick with stirring events. The circum- stances which led to his election to the mayoralty and his adminis- tration of the affairs of his office formed fruitful themes for discussion, not only in his municipality, but throughout the whole country, more than a quarter of a century ago. I have not the time to discuss these matters in detail or even barely to allude to them save only to say that they, too, illustrated most forcibly the 3 w ' 34 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF FERNANDO WOOD. characteristics I have mentioned — the possession of the highest form of personal boldness and self-reliance under exciting and most diffi- cult conditions. Many are living to-day who opposed the policy of Mr. Wood as mayor of New York City; but there are few, I think, even of his then bitterest opponents, who will deny that his control of aifairs was marked by great strength — by a regard for the city's interest from his stand-point, and by a very high order of administrative ability. About twenty years ago Mr. W^OOD was again sent to Congress, and ever since then, up to his death, he continuously held a seat in this House. He early distinguished himself here for the strength and individuality of his opinions. He stood at times with the minority of the political party to which he belonged. Not applause from the majority ; not public clamor; not the solicitation of friends nor the taunts of enemies could make him retreat from a position once thoughtfully taken, or surrender a judgment once finally formed. While Mr. Wood was regarded perhaps as a man of action rather than of words, he was yet always an effective and most forcible speaker. The records of this House will show that while his addresses were not always decked with the flowers of rhetoric, they were yet at all times direct, logical, and earnest. It is needless to add that he never spoke for display. The time of this House was always a sacred thing to him, and it was only when occasion demanded it that he rose to speak, and rising was always accorded that attention given to one personally respected and whose counsels were entitled to regard. Those who have preceded me, his older associates on the floor, and those who were his colleagues on committees, gentlemen who have been for years closely associated with him in his Congressional labors, have spoken fully of his public services, and have borne warm and eloquent and truthful testimony to their character and value. Reference has been made more than once to the last public ADDRESS OF MR. COVERT, OF NEW YORK. 35 act of his life — his advocacy of his refunding measure. I had especial opportunities to observe the loyalty and devotion with which he gave almost his last hours to the passage of this bill through the House. Feeble and suffering, with the cold touch of death almost upon him, against the advice of his physicians, in opposition to the entreaties of his family and friends, he attended day after day the sessions of this House until his bill was passed. My friend from Kentucky [Mr. McKenzie] has said to me that at once upon the passage of the measure he passed over to Mr. Wood's seat and congratulated him upon the result; not only because of the success he had achieved, but because it would afford him an opportunity for the rest he so much needed. The pale cheek did not blanch, the eye quail, nor the voice falter, as Mr. Wood replied : Sir, I have but a few honra more to live, and I ^vould die here in my place in this House if it were necessary I should remain. This unswerving devotion to what he deemed his duty was only in continuation of what had been the usage of his whole public life. He was leal and loyal always to what he regarded as official obligation. He was brave and faithful always in the discharge of official duty. One of the earliest of our public men, himself an exemplar of the best and sweetest human virtues, has written : See that thou copy no man save in the mat.er of faithfulness. If we who to-night mourn our dead associate, and who try by what expression we may to do reverence to his memory, seek earn- estly to copy Fernando Wood only in this one regard — faithful- ness to official obligation — he wall not have lived and labored, he will not have died, in vain. But there were other elements in the character of our associate eminently worthy to stand as models for us to imitate and to emulate. There are many gentlemen in this Chamber to-night who have seen him in the midst of excited 36 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF FERNANDO WOOD. debate, when discussion upon the largest public measures had called forth the strongest passion of our natures. I doubt if he was ever known to so far forget himself as to wantonly say one word, even in these scenes of intense excitement, to wound the heart of any man, to needlessly use one expression that in his calmest moments might not have been appropriately uttered. Dignified, as befitted his position here — and his was a graceful dignity that seemed inborn and natural to the man — he was in his public life, in all his intercourse with associates and friends, essen- tially a gentleman. I desire to emphasize what my venerable friend from Pennsylvania [Mr. Wright] has too briefly said on this gen- eral point, not only because this characteristic was his to a large, even to a pronounced, degree, but because this was an element in his character that might be modeled after with profit by us all. It suggests a rule of conduct brought physically to our senses by the example of our dead friend more emphatically than Thackeray states it when he says : Come wealth or want, come good or ill, Let young and old accept their part ; And bow before the awful Will, Aud bear it with an honest heart, Who misses or who wins the prize. Go, lose or conquer as you can ; But if you fail, or if you rise, Be each, pray God, a gentleman. I fear, Mr. Speaker, that what I have said may have seemed too like a cold analysis of what many regard as the leading traits in the character of one who since I have held a seat on this floor, up to the time of his death, honored me with his friendship, and who was more than kind to me always. I have spoken of Mr. Wood more perhaps as the Avorld saw him and had learned to regard him — able, ambitious, polished, courtly, and devoted to the de- mands of official station. He had other traits which the great world did not so fully AlWRESS OF MR. COVERT, OF NEW YORK. 37 understand. I know that I can speak for the whole junior mem- bership of this House when I bear testimony to Mr, Wood's unvarying courtesy to them at all times, and the kindness of heart which characterized his intercourse with them under all circum- stances. He was ever ready to encourage right effort on their part, ever willing to give to them words of kindly counsel and suggestion. I hazard nothing in expressing the belief that he found greater pleasure in doing acts of courtesy and kindness to his younger associates on this floor — and that from the purest motives — than to those who had already made honored names and had established for themselves national reputations. Perhaps I have no right to speak of my late colleague in his domestic relations. The home which has been saddened and the home ties which have been severed by his death seem too sacred almost for discussion here ; but it was in his household that the true inner character of Fernando Wood revealed itself. The ambitious leader, he who Jn his working hours was devoted to state-craft, at his home became the fond father and easily approached companion, the head of a domestic circle that looked up to and loved and reverenced him. This charmed circle is broken now and stricken by a grief which no words of ours can soothe. We have draped the desk of our late associate in mourning. At his broken home is a vacant place, around which his loved ones gather, and where there is no need of visible token to tell them of their loss. It is present in his very absence; it is felt in the weary and unsatisfied longing For the touch of a vanished hand, And the sound of a voice that is still. We can but show to those who are thus nearly and sorely stricken that this Congress has paused near the closing hours of its session to express to them and to the country its deep sense of the loss which they and the nation have alike sustained. 38 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF FERNANDO WOOD. It seems difficult to realize that Fernando Wood is dead ; that the name so familiar to thousands will never again be voiced in the tone in which we call the name of the living. His name, honored in life, has now the added dignity which comes of death. Though he has passed from among us, he will live in the archives of the city whose chief magistrate he was, and in the records of the Federal Congress, where for so many years he held distinguished place. He will yet live in the thoughts of those who were his associates, and in the minds of the many whose interests he pro- tected and wdiom he most devotedly served. It is a beautiful tradition — that which prevailed with some of the people of Germany — that the spirit of one of their dead kings, Avho in his life was revered and honored, sometimes revisits the land of his love. When the moon sheds down its softest and its sweetest beams upon the earth, the spirit of the good king descends, and, pass- ing over the land, blesses corn-field and meadow, and whispers low upon the night-wind words of wise counsel to his people. Let us hope that when they who have been devoted to the pub- lic service are taken from us, their labors sharply stopped by the quick decree of death, the influence of their presence may still be felt in their accustomed places. Let us seek for the counsels they would utter could they but speak them. Let us listen for the re- sponses they would make could they but reply to our questionings. If these conditions may prevail, Fernando Wood, though we mourn him dead, will yet remain to us, and will, far into the future, live and labor for the people whom he served so long, so faithfully, and so well. The resolutions submitted by Mr. Cox were then unanimously agreed to. In pursuance of one of the resolutions just adopted (at nine o'clock and fifty-five minutes p. m.) the House adjourned. PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE. February 14, 1881. A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. Theodore F. King, one of its clerks, communicated to the Senate intelligence of the death of Hon. Fernando Wood, late a Representative from the State of New York, and transmitted the action of the House thereon. Mr. Bayard. I ask that the resolution of the House be reported. The Presiding Officer. The message will be read. The Chief Clerk read as follows : In the House of Representatives, February 14, 1881. Besolved, That this House has heard with deep regret of the death of Hon. FERNANDOi-WooD, late a Representative from the State of New York. Resolved, That a coinmittee of nine members be appointed by the Speaker to take order for siiperiutending the funeral of Mr. Wood ; and that, as a mark of the respect entertained by the House for his memory, his remains be removed from Hot Springs, Arkansas, to the city of New York in charge of the Sergeaut- at-Arms, and attended by said committee, who shall have full power to carry this resolution into effect. Resolved, That the Clerk communicate the foregoing resolutions to the Sen- ate. Resolved, That, as an additional mark of respect to the memory of the de- ceased, the House do now adjourn. Mr. Bayard. Mr. President, I oifer the following resolutions and ask for their present consideration : Resolved, That the Senate has received with sensibility the message of the House of Represeutatives announcing the death of Hon. Fernando Wood, a Representative from the State of New York. Resolved, That, as a mark of respect for the memory of the deceased, the Sen- ate do now adjourn. The resolutions were unanimously agreed to ; and (at four o'clock and fifty-five minutes p. m.) the Senate adjourned. February 19, 1881. A message*from the House of Representatives announced that the House had passed a resolution for its adjournment this day at two 40 LIFE AND CHAUACTER OF FERNANDO WOOD. o'clock p. m. as a mark of respect to the memory of Hon. Fer- NAN'DO Wood, late Representative from the State of New York. Mr. Kernan. I ask that the resolutions received from the House of Representatives be read. The Chief Clerk read as follows: In the House of Representatives, February 19, 18«1. Resolved, Tliat, as a mark of respect to tlie raeuioi-y of Hon. Fernando Wood, late a Eepreseutative from the State of New York, and in order to permit the members and offlcers of this House to attend his funeral from his late residence in this city at three o'clock p. m., this House will adjourn this day at two o'clock p. m. Resolved, That the Clerk communicate the foregoing resolution to the Senate, with an invitation to the members of the Senate to join the members of the House in attending said funeral. Mr. Kernan submitted the following resolutions ; which were considered, by unanimous consent, and agreed to : Resolved, That, pursuant to the invitation of the House of Repl^sentatives, the Senate will adjourn this day at two o'clock i). m. in order to permit the members and ofticers of the Senate to attend the funeral of Hon. Fernando Wood, late a member of the House of Representatives from the State of New York, at his late residence in this city, at three o'clock p. m. Resolved, That the Secretary communicate the foregoing resolution to the House of Representatives. February 22, 1881. A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. George M. Adams, its Clerk, announced that the House had set apart next Sunday, February 27, at three o'clock p. m., for the observance of the ceremonies in memory of Hon. Fernando Wood, late a mem- ber of this House from the State of New York, and extending an invitation to the Senate to attend in the House at that hour and participate in the ceremonies. February 26, 1881. A message from the House of Representatives advised the Senate that the House had postponed the ceremonies fixed for Sunday (to-morrow) at three p. m. in commemoration of Hon. Fernando Wood until Mondav evenino; at eisrht o'clock. > LIBRARY OF CONGRESS yliliiJitliiiiiii 014 221 576 7