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 GEORGE LEAVENS LILLET 
 1859-1909 
 

GEORGE LEAVENS LILLEY 
 
 LATE GOVERNOR OF CONNECTICUT 
 
 MEMORIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 STATE OF CONNECTICUT 
 
 IN 
 
 JOINT CONVENTION 
 
 MAY 27, 1909 
 
 Hartford Published by the State 1909 
 
h/OO 
 ■L7Z 
 
 Resolved hy this Assembly: 
 
 " That the Comptroller be and he hereby is directed to cause ten 
 thousand copies of the proceedings of the Senate and House of Repre- 
 sentatives and the Joint Convention, relating to the death of His 
 Excellency Governor George L. Lilley, to be printed for distribution." 
 
 The Case, Lockwood & Brainard Co., Hartford, Conn. 
 
JOINT CONVENTION. 
 
 At the hour of 11.30 o'clock A. M.^ the Honorable Senate, 
 preceded by the President pro tempore, the Honorable Isaac 
 W. Brooks, and its Clerk, John A. Spafford, entered the 
 Hall of the House ajid met the House in Joint Convention. 
 
 The President pro tempore of the Senate presided over 
 the Convention. 
 
 The Clerk of the Senate and Clerk of the House were 
 secretaries of the Convention. 
 
 Prayer was offered by the Reverend J. Frederick Sexton, 
 Chaplain of the Senate, as follows : 
 
 " O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, in whose em- 
 brace all creatures live, in whatsoever world or condition they 
 be ; we beseech Thee for him whose name and dwelling 
 place and every need Thou knowest; Lord, vouchsafe him 
 light and rest, peace and refreshment, joy and consolation in 
 Paradise, in the companionship of saints, in the presence of 
 Christ, in the ample folds of Thy great love. 
 
 Grant that his life (so troubled here) may unfold itself 
 in Thy sight, and find a sweet employment in the spacious 
 fields of eternity. If he hath ever been hurt or maimed by 
 any unhappy word or deed of ours, we pray Thee of Thy 
 great pity to heal and restore him, that he may serve Thee 
 without hindrance. 
 
 Tell him, O gracious Lord, if it may be, how much we 
 love him, and miss him, and long to see him again; and if 
 there be ways in which he may come, vouchsafe him to us 
 as a guide and guard, and gTant us a sense of his nearness 
 in such degree as Thy laws permit. 
 
 If in aught we can minister to his peace, be pleased of 
 
4 GEORGE LEAVENS LILLEY 
 
 Thy lave to let this be; and mercifully keep us from every 
 act which may deprive us of the sight of him as soon as our 
 trial-time is over, or mar the fullness of our joy when the end 
 of the (lays hath come. 
 
 Pardon, gracious Lord and Father, whatsoever is amiss 
 in this our prayer, and let Thy will he done, for our will is 
 blind and erring, but Thine is able to do exceeding abun- 
 dantly above all that we ask or think ; through Jesus Christ, 
 our Lord. Amen." 
 
 Senator Searls of the Twenty-eighth District offered a 
 resolution concerning the death of the late Goveraor George 
 L. Lilley, and moved that the resolution be adopted. 
 
 Senator Searls spoke as follows : 
 
 Mr. President: 
 
 It is a remarkable fact that no Connecticut Gt)vernor has 
 died in office since the adoption of our Constitution in 1818, 
 so, never since that time, possibly never before in the his- 
 tory of the State, has a Joint Convention of the Legislature 
 assembled for the sad purpose which now calls us together. 
 The birth and death of any human being is shrouded in 
 mystery. Our life is ever changing, and yet is changeless. 
 We come from the unknown, and we return whence we came, 
 the mortal part to the embrace of its mother earth, and the 
 immortal to drift out upon that dark and imknown sea that 
 rolls around all the world. This mystery deepens when a 
 man in the strength of his power, known and beloved, hold- 
 ing high position in the State, with every promise of many 
 years of important public service, almost without warning 
 lays down his burden and passes beyond the confines of earth 
 and time. Such a mystery calls us together today. To this 
 mystery is superadded the element of tragedy. I need not 
 weary this Assembly with details which you fully understand 
 and appreciate. Be it enough for me to say that our beloved 
 Governor, after a successful and honorable business career, 
 was induced to accept public office. His rise was rapid. 
 
MEMORIAL PROCEEDINGS 5 
 
 Elected to the commou council of his own citj, he later be- 
 came a member of the General Assembly, then Congressman- 
 at-Large, and then Governor. Never defeated, he had just 
 fought his greatest fight, had won his greatest victory, and, 
 inspired by the loftiest purpose, had entered upon his high 
 office with the brightest promise of success, and with the good 
 will of a large majority of those who had most bitterly op- 
 posed him, when, without warning, in the twinkling of an 
 eye, like a flash of lightning from a clear sky, the bolt fell. 
 His tempest-tossed life was ended, and the State mourns to- 
 day the departure of one of its most beloved citizens, its 
 chosen chief magistrate, stricken down in the pride of his 
 intellect, in the vigor of his manhood and in the service of 
 the State. The highest honor that the Eoman Senate thought 
 it could bestow upon a citizen was its declaration that he had 
 deserved well of the republic, and the verdict of our people, 
 I believe, will be that our departed friend and honored Gov- 
 ernor likewise in his day and generation deserved well of 
 his State. Good men and true who have lived well and ser\'ed 
 faithfully in the places to which they have been called are 
 beacon lights of our civilization, answering each to each down 
 the illuminated ages. Do these men who have fought a good 
 fight, finished their course, and kept the faith as our lamented 
 Governor has done altogether vanish from the earth when 
 the grave closes upon them ? Apparently, in many instances, 
 " Yes " ; in reality, never. A stone thrown into the ocean 
 makes ripples near the shore as it sinks, and those ripples 
 soon are merged in the wild surges of ocean billows, but that 
 ocean is affected to the farthest shore, although impercepti- 
 bly to moi-tal ken ; so a word is spoken, and is lost to human 
 ear, but science tells us that the vibrations in the ether which 
 they cause expand and expand beyond the confines of this 
 little world, until, passing through illimitable space, they 
 break against the gi-eat white throne ; so the worthy life of a 
 worthy man in its results is imperishable. Governor Lilley's 
 work is done, and well done, and will live after him. Never 
 shall I forget the afternoon when his body was laid to rest 
 
(J GEORGE LEAVENS LILLEY 
 
 in the beautiful cemetery adjoining the city of his adoption 
 and his love, where most of his life work was done, the 
 immense concourse of people, the hush that could be felt, 
 the last sad rites-, taps, the rays of the setting sun falling 
 upon his open grave as if in benediction, and then, sadly 
 departing, we left him alone with his God, There let him 
 sleep with friend and neighbor around till through the air 
 the Angel of the Eesurrection flies. Peace to his ashes, 
 honor to his memory, rest to his soul. 
 
 Representative Knight of Salisbury spoke as follows: 
 
 Mr. President: 
 
 I have never so keenly regretted my inability to make an 
 effective speech as I do at this moment, when, as a personal 
 and a political friend of Governor Lilley I have both the 
 opportunity and the desire to honor his memory. 
 
 The friends of Governor Lilley have found him scrupu- 
 lously honest, direct, courteous, singularly free from sus- 
 picion of men or. motives, slow in criticism, and without a 
 trace of malice. Even the scorching fire of the contest for 
 the governorship left him without any desire for revenge 
 upon his political enemies. 
 
 His closest friends, those with whom he talked of the 
 future most frankly knew this for a fact. The fiery ordeal 
 through which he passed seemed to have burned out of him 
 any political dross with which he might have started, and 
 left him with but one purpose — to serve the best interests 
 of the State he loved with his whole heart and to the utmost 
 of his ability. What that ability was we all know. However 
 we may differ about the man there can be but one opinion 
 about his unusual equipment. 
 
 A keen sense of justice and a remarkable quality of plain 
 common sense were his distinguishing traits ; added to these 
 were clear insight, boundless energy, untiring industry and 
 a genius for friendship. An enthusiastic student of men and 
 events, he possessed within himself the characteristics which 
 
MEMORIAL PROCEEDINGS 7 
 
 make men natural and successful leaders in any country. 
 The price which he paid for the opportunity for such leader- 
 ship among us, fills, and must continue to fill, both his friends 
 and his opponents with unspeakable regret. He lasted till 
 the race was well won and then he succumbed — spent — not 
 by honest competition, nor the length of the course, nor the 
 legitimate tension of the contest, but by the unfair obstacles 
 thrown on the track from the side lines. Every game but the 
 game of politics is, in the interests of fair play, safeguarded 
 by certain rules; even prize fighting has its hard and fast 
 rules of where a man shall be hit, and how. The whole civil- 
 ized world has a prejudice in favor of fighting its battles in 
 the open — facing the enemy. 
 
 Both sides in a conflict deplore guerrilla warfare. Both 
 sides have a contempt for spies and traitors, enemies mas- 
 querading as friends, however valuable the information they 
 may bring. 
 
 It is only in this greatest contest of all — this game we 
 call politics — which should bring into service all the loyalty 
 and patriotism and fair-mindness of which man is capable, 
 that victory at any price, with any weapons no matter how 
 unworthy, is countenanced, and so we have the spectacle of 
 men entering our State service with ideals shattered, with 
 manhood insulted and outraged, with faith in human nature 
 replaced by suspicion and contempt, and if we are to believe 
 the opposition, with characters far better fitted for service 
 in the penitentiary than in the highest ofiices in the gift of 
 the people. 
 
 Mr. President, Gentlemen of the General Assembly, when 
 we turned sorrowfully away from the last resting place of 
 Governor Lilley, after days of the most sincere and im- 
 pressive tributes ever paid to any governor by any State, 
 we all felt that no further word could be added to those so 
 eloquently spoken, no tribute of honor remained unpaid to 
 one whom the whole State mourned and many of us loved. 
 
 But there is one service remaining, which we as a body 
 may rightfully take upon ourselves. As members of the 
 
g GEORGE LEAVENS LILLEY 
 
 General Assembly we represent the entire State. Our po- 
 litical influence for the time being reaches like a network 
 over every city, town and village within its boundaries; 
 we have it in our power to strike a concerted, and therefore 
 an effective blow for clean politics and upright methods 
 from this day forth. Let every man here take the responsi- 
 bility of his own section upon himself. Let him insist 
 that the best man with the cleanest record shall be the suc- 
 cessful candidate, and then, Mr. President, the members of 
 this General Assembly shall not only have helped bring 
 victory out of calamity, but they will have erected the best 
 and the most enduring monument ^^dthin their power to the 
 memory of Governor George L. Lilley. 
 
 Senator Luther of the First District spoke as follows: 
 
 Mr. Speaker: 
 
 Sometimes death seems a natural thing, because it ap- 
 pears like the gathering in of the harvest. A man has lived 
 a long life, has served his generation. Then, little by little, 
 the power fades away, the body is bent and shriveled, the 
 steps wander slowly toward the gTave and we say that a life 
 is complete. ISTature provides that the old man shall walk 
 without fear and without repining into the chill shadows 
 that hide whatever may be his later destiny. 
 
 And again, death may come so early that the mourners, 
 when their keenest grief has been assuaged, think of all the 
 changes and chances of mortal life that have been escaped, 
 and so they are content. We watch the plucking of the 
 ripened fniit and the fall of spring-time's blossom with 
 something that is an approach to comprehension. Over the 
 old man's grave we write the word " faith," and to the 
 mother, crying, with her dead baby on her knees, we speak 
 of innocence, of the fairer life that may be hereafter. 
 
 ISTot so easy is it to be reconciled when a life is cut off in 
 mid career. A man through great tribulation reaches some 
 point of vantage where there is opportunity for extraordi- 
 
^/lEMORIAL PROCEEDINGS 9 
 
 nary service; lie squares himself for conflict or for labor; 
 he plans great and useful enterprises for human betterment. 
 Then the call resounds, the soul goes back to God who gave 
 it, the tool falls from the dying hand. With tasks all un- 
 accomplished and life not half lived the end crowds the 
 
 beginning. 
 
 This, I think, is about the most inexplicable of the dif- 
 ficult things in human experience. Why is one taken away 
 when he is apparently entering upon a season rich in ad- 
 vancement for himself and for all within his influence ? It 
 is this feeling more than any other that has brought us here 
 today. Many here present are thinking of a close personal 
 friend whose bodily form they shall see no more. All are 
 ready to join in such respectful tribute as is seemly when 
 a chosen leader is taken away. All, also, are full of sym- 
 pathy for the mourning widow and her sons. But, dominat- 
 ing all else, is there not this greater sentiment of common 
 loss in the removal of a master workman called away from 
 a task but yesterday undertaken. 
 
 We know, indeed, that the work to which the dead leader 
 set himself is not to remain undone. Another hand carries 
 the flag, another voice is upraised in counsel. Loyally do 
 we who are here today pledge our allegiance and give as- 
 surance of our confidence to the man who inherits an un- 
 sought task and imdertakes unexpected duties in the service 
 of the State. Him do we salute and him we promise fealty. 
 No ; the commonwealth will not cease its march nor will 
 the people hesitate because of the deep tragedy of these re- 
 cent months. A government of the people is above any 
 person whatsoever. But a government of the people suffers 
 whenever any part of its strength is removed, and specially 
 if one called upon to express the will of the people cannot 
 
 fulfill his task. 
 
 Yes; this is what we are thinking —" The pity of it," 
 " The pity of it." We gave to one of ourselves honor, 
 dignity, the opportunity for splendid service. He accepted 
 his commission and began his work honorably, with dignity, 
 
IQ GEORGE LEAVENS LILLEY 
 
 devotedly. Then liis Maker called him away. Were I iu 
 a pulpit rather than in a hall of legislation it would be 
 proper to explain how a religious faith helps us to understand 
 eveii such an ordering of Divine Providence. As it is, 
 each one for himself thinks and must think of whatever 
 lessons he has learned in studying the mysteries of life and 
 death. We all believe, I take it, that this life is not the 
 whole. We can dimly comprehend that service does not 
 cease with death, but that both in this world and in the 
 world to come the life of man w^orks out inlinite and in- 
 scrutable purposes of good. These intimations of things too 
 great for human wisdom come to us seldom, perhaps, but 
 surely. Like the flash of some white-winged bird of the 
 night, flitting out ~of the darkness and into the darkness ; 
 like the sound of a solitary trumpet, startling in the midst 
 of a great siinice; like the gleam of a single star from the 
 zenith of a clouded sky so hopes and aspirations and as- 
 surances visit and cheer the sorrowful souls of us all. Thus 
 we learn that all of good in a human life counts for the 
 uplift of mankind to all eternity. Thus we find our con- 
 fidence confirmed that man's work does not cease when his 
 activities are transferred to a world invisible. 
 
 This man whose untimely taking off we mourn had filled 
 ,and was filling a large place in the political life of Con- 
 necticut. And when I use the words " political life " I 
 refer to about the highest expression of the consciousness 
 of human brotherhood. It is of politics through which is 
 achieved and must be achieved every step in human progress. 
 Politics is not a selfish scramble for advantage, it is not an 
 arena for the contention of the baser elements in human 
 nature, not for the profession of the insincere. It is the 
 opportunity of our best and greatest, it is the divinely 
 ordered progress of evolution. In the world of politics is 
 found indeed much that is base, somewhat that is foul. 
 This because men are sinners. But politics is the one best 
 occupation for lovers of their fellow-men. Our late governor 
 was a politician. He busied himself largely in public af- 
 
MEMORIAL PROCEEDINGS n 
 
 fairs. He concerned himself much with matters that should 
 be of the highest interest to every American and should 
 engage the service of all loyal citizens. His career was 
 stormy. He made bitter enemies and devoted friends. His 
 last year or two of life was spent in the midst of tumult 
 and the shouting of manifold voices. Here in this chamber 
 he proclaimed but yesterday his resolute purpose to lead 
 the people of this commonwealth, if they would follow him, 
 along what seemed to him the path of progress. He an- 
 nounced a purj)ose to undertake, not that reform which is 
 content with fault-finding, but an effort toward unceasing 
 betterment which is the condition of all healthful life. He 
 died with it all unaccomplished. His aspirations, hopes, 
 ambitions, plans were not to be fulfilled by himselfo This 
 is the dark tragedy of today. The brighter side we shall 
 realize if we resolve that whatever of high purpose and 
 resolution animated our leader's soul shall find its expression 
 in our words and acts. We shall best record our sympathy 
 if we consecrate our public service to the completion of great 
 undertakings in the interest of the people who called our 
 governor to lead them. 
 
 We may think one further thought at least; we may re- 
 solve that from this day forward we will be kind in public 
 speech, slow to wa-ath, unwilling to believe evil. Taking a 
 lesson from the fiJiest feature in George Lilley's stormy life, 
 from the dignity of its last half-year, from his silence when 
 silence must have been difiicult, from his unembittered at- 
 titude toward all the people, we may begin an era of kind- 
 ness toward each other, of faith in each other's sincerity 
 of purpose, which will count mightily in the upbuilding 
 of a loftier standard in all our public life. And may it 
 not be thus a death shall accomplish things too great for 
 life? 
 
12 
 
 GEORGE LEAVENS LILLEY 
 
 Mr. E. S. Banks of Fairfield, Speaker of the House of 
 Representatives, spoke as follows: 
 
 Mr. President: 
 
 I am numbered among those who believe that the only 
 fame of any endvirance is that which comes from our work, 
 from our deeds, and that such fame cannot be enhanced by 
 the eulogies of our friends. " By their fruits ye shall know 
 them " is a maxim as true today as when spoken nearly two 
 thousand years ago, and yet in this special case it is fitting 
 that these exercises should be held, less in eulogy of the dead 
 than in commemoration of the living, for Governor Lilley's 
 life is a singular example of devotion to duty, and after all, 
 no eulogy, no matter with what beauty of expression it may 
 be adorned, is greater than this: "He did his duty as he 
 saw it." He was a strong man, too, Mr. President, strong 
 and steadfast in his purpose and in his ambition. The chief 
 office of the Commonwealth came to him, not by chance, not by 
 accident, but it came to him as the victory of a sti-enuous and 
 vituperative political contest. Even, Mr. President, in these 
 days it happens that slander and abuse is the portion of the 
 strong man who enters public life, but Mr. President, he was 
 at all times mindful of his duty, he hearkened to the call of 
 duty and followed wheresoever the still, small voice seemed to 
 him to lead, and without regard to consequences to himself. 
 
 My acquaintance with George L. Lilley began in 1901, 
 when he and I came as freshmen to this House, and I have 
 often recalled an incident which took place during that ses- 
 sion. He was a member of the Committee on Railroads and 
 that Committee had made a unanimous report in favor of a 
 certain measure ; a member of the House in a vigorous speech 
 opposed that report, and during that speech Mr. Lilley was an 
 attentive listener, and immediately upon the close of the 
 speech he said he was convinced that he had been wrong in 
 his decision, and he should be compelled to vote against his 
 Committee's report. That act, Mr. President, without 
 hesitation, without calculation, without consultation, was a 
 
MEMORIAL PROCEEDINGS 13 
 
 characteristic manifestation of a kind of courage which im- 
 pelled him to admit of the right when he thought he saw it, 
 as on a later occasion he cried out when he saw the right but 
 before he had assembled the evidence to prove it was the 
 right. 
 
 It seems but yesterday that he was with us sharing our 
 burdens and encouraging our work, but a transition which 
 we call death ha^ taken place and he has gone forth, leaving 
 us the splendid example of his life. WT^ience he came we 
 know not, whither he went Ave know not, as we know not 
 whence we came or whither we shall go, but this satisfaction 
 we shall have, he has gone to that place, wherever its loca- 
 tion, where go the souls of those who do their duty here. 
 
 Representative Higgins of Winchester spoke as follows : 
 
 Mr. President: 
 
 In support of the resolutions which have been presented 
 in commemoration of the memory of our late lamented Gov- 
 ernor, George L. Lilley, as a member of a different political 
 party from that to which he belonged, I desire to unquali- 
 fiedly endorse every sentiment expressed in those resolutions, 
 and to add a few simple words of tribute, based upon a per- 
 sonal observation and study of his career in public life dur- 
 ing the past decade. 
 
 I may say at the outset, however, that I realize my own 
 limitations and inability to adequately express the senti- 
 ments of esteem and admiration which I hold for the courage 
 and fearless adherence to duty in public office, of the man 
 whose death we mourn and whose memory will be cherished 
 for years yet to come. Possibly no man in public life in 
 this commonwealth has ever had a more strenuous, and I 
 might say, bitter opposition, from the press, the pulpit and 
 the platform than George L. Lilley, yet he lived to overcome 
 it all. 
 
 In the face of bitter attacks, the electorate of one of the 
 most conservative states in the union elevated him to the 
 
Ijj^ GEORGE LEAVENS LILLEY 
 
 position of its chief executive. After taking the solemn 
 oath of office and donning the robes of power, he, in the 
 short time allotted to him, demonstrated that as a servant 
 of the people, his commendable ambition and purpose was to 
 faithfully discharge the duties of his office, irrespective of 
 powerful contending influences. 
 
 Mr. Lillej was human, he had his faults, he may have 
 made mistakes, and I do not contend that he was possessed 
 of greater intellectual powers, moral stamina or statesman- 
 like ability than many other of Connecticut's illustrious sons, 
 but that which was in him, the finer fibers of his human 
 nature, rose above the petty turmoils of his day, and with 
 the courage of his convictions he manfully stood for those 
 higher ideals of good citizenship which are the great bul- 
 warks of our nation's greatness, and against the possibly 
 conscientious but apparently misguided onslaught of bitter 
 attack, won a splendid victory; not merely the victory of 
 office, but the victory of winning many of those who were 
 opposed to him as his ardent admirers, and of gaining the 
 good will and esteem of his fellowmen. 
 
 President Taft recently stated that one of the most im- 
 portant powers of the president was the appointment of good 
 men on the Federal Judiciary; such may be said of the 
 governor of the state, one of the most important duties for 
 him to perform is the nomination of good men for judges 
 of our higher courts, and with eminent fairness to political 
 parties and credit to the State which he loved, Governor 
 Lilley made his judicial nominations and promotions, which 
 were received with universal approval. 
 
 Governor Lilley was made of clear grit, he possessed the 
 power not only to «ave himself, but the even greater power 
 to give himself. When he saw something to be done which 
 he knew he ought to do, he did not count the cost, but like 
 a valiant soldier, courageously assumed the task. 
 
 A man whose activities in life could have engendered such 
 turbulent opposition, and whose death, within a few brief 
 months, could have caused such universal sorrow, must, of 
 
MEMORIAL PROCEEDINGS 15 
 
 necessity, figure in the history of his time ; and as time goes 
 on, and the sunlight of truth reveals the real situation, his 
 name, like the flower whose name he bore, will grow in 
 splendor, and remain on the pages of history as one of Con- 
 necticut's noted men. 
 
 When we listen to all the good things that are now being 
 said of him, and the honest tributes that are now being paid 
 to his memory, it forces upon us a realization of the frailty 
 of human nature which too many times waits imtil the 
 ears no longer hear and the voice is stilled in death, before 
 speaking that which would gladden the heart and lighten 
 life's burdens. He may have occupied but a short space of 
 time in this transitory life, but life's success is not measured 
 by years. 
 
 His was a life of strenuous activity, his record worthy of 
 emulation and an honorable heritage to his descendants ; he 
 so lived that he died regretted, and so died that he will live 
 after death. 
 
 Mr. President, we mourn the loss of a good governor, and 
 I feel that the resolutions should, and will, receive the unani- 
 mous support of every member of this General Assembly. 
 
 Eepresentative Malone of Bristol spoke as follows: 
 
 Mr. President: 
 
 " Strange, is it not, that of the myriads who 
 Before us pass the door of darkness through, 
 Not one returns to tell us of the road 
 Which to discover we must travel too." 
 
 So ^vrote the Persian poet centuries ago, and we, with all 
 our learning, all our advancement in science, literature, and 
 art, are today no wiser concerning the mystery of death than 
 when old Omar fell asleep. 
 
 We are told that the true measurement of the giant oak can 
 best be taken when it is down. So it is with the lives of men. 
 In the presence of death all men are impartial. Then envy 
 has no hope to actuate it, malice has no ambition to support 
 it, ambition sees no genius in its path. History then be- 
 
IG 
 
 GEORGE LEAVENS LILLEY 
 
 comes an unbiased witness. It is only after life's struggles 
 are over that man can best be judged. In life we often 
 strive for place, power and wealth. They are as fleeting as 
 the shadows. It is only the character that a man builds that 
 he is privileged to transmit as a lasting legacy to posterity. 
 
 We have assembled today in accordance with legislative 
 enactment to pay another tribute of love and affection, of 
 honor and esteem, to the memory of him who has gone before 
 us into the world of eternal life, and who but yesterday was 
 the chief magistrate of our Commonwealth. 
 
 The career of George L. Lilley was typically .American, 
 for under adverse conditions and with unwearying resolution 
 he worked his way to high estate. He possessed the judg- 
 ment to select the right course and never hesitated to pursue 
 it. He feared not to do a public duty at personal hazard. 
 
 He was an admirer of the high character and splendid 
 type of the men that were instrumental in the early settle- 
 ment and development of Connecticut, and of the representa- 
 tive form of government which they established and main- 
 tained. 
 
 We honor his memory, and as in the case of other men 
 who have struggled for the right, his career symbolizes the 
 careers of those men who since our national existence began 
 have come to the front to risk everything, even life itself, 
 and to spend the days of their strongest manhood in conflict 
 for an ideal. True to the principles which animated them, 
 we can now appreciate and understand the great injustice 
 that was attempted against him. 
 
 Not what men say but what they do measures their useful- 
 ness. Principle without practice or example is of little 
 force in the world. The example of a man who walks up- 
 right before God and man is worth a thousand sermons from 
 the lips of an eloquent divine. The man on the battlefield 
 who keeps his face to the foe, stands steadfast in the line of 
 battle, and dies, if need be, to maintain it, does more to win 
 the victory than inspiring words of command and encour- 
 
MEMORIAL PROCEEDINGS I7 
 
 agement from all the regimental officers. It is the man who 
 says " Come ! " and then goes, who leads to victory. 
 
 We should keep steadfastly before our minds the fact that 
 this Americanism which George L. Lilley typified is a ques- 
 tion of principle, of purpose, and of character ; that it is not 
 a matter of birthplace, or creed, or line of descent. 
 
 Here in this country the representatives of many old world 
 races are being fused together into a new type, the main 
 features of which were determined at the time of the Revo- 
 lutionary War, for the crucible in which all the new type.-; 
 are melted into one was shaped from 1776 to 1789, and our 
 nationality was definitely fixed in all its essentials by the 
 men of Washington's day. 
 
 The strains will not continue to exist separately in this 
 country as in the old world. They will be combined in one, 
 and of this new type those men will best represent what is 
 loftiest in the nation's past and what is finest in her hope for 
 the future who stand each solely on his work as a man, who 
 refuse to submit to wrongdoing themselves, who never fear 
 to fight when fighting is demanded by a sound and high 
 morality, but who hope by their lives to bring ever nearer 
 the day when justice shall prevail within the confines of our 
 common country. 
 
 If we remember these things the life of George L. Lilley 
 will not have been lived in vain. 
 
 Ilepresentative Bartlett of Bridgeport spoke as follows: 
 Mr. President : 
 
 In speaking of the resolution and to pay a tribute to the 
 memory of George Leavens Lilley, I realize how futile it is 
 to attemj)t by words to portray the feelings of the people of 
 this State, whose governor he was and of those who knew 
 him intimately and loved him for his personal worth, when 
 the news came that he had passed into the shadow. The 
 mantle of sorrow hung darkly over all. The tenderest senti- 
 ments in the choicest rhetorical gems are inadequate to ex- 
 2 
 
]^g GEORGE LEAVENS LILLEY 
 
 press the sorrow felt at his passing away. Could I give 
 utterance to the expressions of sorrow and of sympathy for 
 the aged mother, the devoted wife, the three noble sons and 
 for those near and dear to him the memory of their dead 
 governor would be embalmed in the rarest garlands. Could 
 I express the true feelings of men who knew his career in 
 public life and as our governor; of faithful service to the 
 State, rich in triumphs and good deeds, and of death in that 
 sei-vice and for his State, it would be the hope that this life 
 might be long remembered and its example the means of 
 inciting others to higher aims and loftier purposes and that 
 the influence of his life might live on and on through the long, 
 rolling, ceaseless waves of time. Could I have looked into 
 the hearts of some I would, I am certain, find a sincere 
 desire to right a great wrong done, and, if it were in their 
 power to recall him, kind words would soothe the brave 
 though tired heart instead of the venomous tongue of slan- 
 der being hurled pitilessly against him. 
 
 " Misunderstanding hurled its venonied dart, 
 The poisoned fang of jealousy struck deep 
 And bruised and pierced the brave and noble heart, 
 
 Until God's mercy healed the wound in dreamless sleep. 
 
 The cruel sting of censure and of bitter words. 
 
 Begot of envy and born of greed 
 Are like the fierce and evil omened birds 
 
 That perch on every wounded thing and vilely feed. 
 
 Ingratitude struck hard and did its work too well, 
 And traitorous tongues unearned reproach^ did speak 
 
 Until with broken heart the fighter fell, 
 
 For whom a State in sorrow bows and weeps." 
 
 He has passed beyond the effect of our praise or cen- 
 sure. What we will remember and cherish must be of his 
 life and as we knew him here, a devoted husband and father, 
 a faithful friend, a true citizen, a God-fearing man, with 
 a splendid life record, true of promise, free of reward, en- 
 compassed by all the few years of life allotted him. A life, 
 Mr. President, all too short, but a beautiful life, much of 
 it spent in an unostenatious way, in doing good ; scattering 
 flowers in the pathway of those walking in the dark places of 
 life by giving them the sunshine of human sympathy ar.d 
 
MEMORIAL PROCEEDINGS I9 
 
 human helpfulness, a perfect example of the Fatherhood of 
 God and the Brotherhood of Man. 
 
 It was my great honor to be a member of the military 
 family of Governor Lilley, serving as an aide on his statf 
 as commander in chief. Although fate decreed that the re 
 lation thus created should not long continue, during the short 
 time it did exist his noble character and lovable qualities so 
 endeared him to me that his loss to me is, as I know it is 
 to every member of his staff, the loss of a dear friend. 
 
 George Lilley was a brave man and died a brave man, and 
 as brave men die. He had no fear of death, yet he loved 
 life, and his chief regret when the end came was the parting 
 with loved ones here and that his life must close with so many 
 things left unfinished. The crisis he has met and passed 
 awaits us all. Can we stand at the open door of an end- 
 less future and cast all doubts and fears aside ? No traveler 
 has ever returned to tell us whether the way is dark and 
 dreary or if stars shine. Yet when the final summons came, 
 and George Lilley knew the end was drawing near, he met 
 that crisis without fear, and as the shadows steal at evening 
 over the earth, softly closing the flowers, touching them to 
 sleep silently and lovingly in the promise of a bright awaken- 
 ing, he passed to a peaceful sleep and to that glorious horizon 
 of eternal peace behind whose shining drapery exists the 
 great forever where every soul must claim its everlasting 
 home. 
 
 The resolution was then adopted unanimously by a rising 
 vote. 
 
 The following is the resolution : 
 
 State of Connecticut, 
 General Assembly, 
 
 January Session, A. D. 1909. 
 
 JOINT CONVENTION. 
 Whereas, pursuant to a joint resolution heretofore unani- 
 mously passed by this General Assembly, having for its ob- 
 
20 
 
 GEORGE LEAVENS LILLEY 
 
 ject appropriate legislative action concerning the death of 
 Governor Lilley, the Senate and House of Kepresentatives 
 are in joint convention assembled for the purpose in said 
 resolution expressed, Therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That we realize, with profound sorrow, the irrep- 
 arable loss which Connecticut has sustained in the death 
 of its beloved chief magistrate, Governor George L. Liliev. 
 
 We are deeply sensible that his removal from us, so soon 
 after his induction into office, and in the maturity of his 
 years, has deprived the State of the invaluable services of one 
 of its most wise, able, and loyal sons. 
 
 We appreciatively call to mind his solemn pledge that 
 every duty which might devolve upon him as governor would 
 be by him performed without fear or favor and with an eye 
 single to the public weal, and we remember with pride and 
 satisfaction how strong is the evidence presented by his short 
 career that such pledge, had his life been spared, would have 
 been by him conscientiously and faithfully kept, so that his 
 administration would have redounded to his own honor and 
 conserved the highest interests of the State. 
 
 We voice our abiding conviction that the people of this 
 Commonwealth will ever hold his name in reverent memory. 
 
 We extend to the wife and family of our late governor 
 the sincere assurance of our sympathy and the sympathy of 
 all the people of the State, whose representatives we are, 
 believing that the grief which they must necessarily endure 
 will be alleviated by the thought that the husband and 
 father has left behind him for their heritage the record of 
 a well-spent life. 
 
 Eesolved, That these resolutions be spread at length upon 
 the Journal of each House, and that an engrossed copy of 
 them be transmitted to the family of Governor Lilley. 
 
MEMORIAL PROCEEDINGS 21 
 
 Mr. Hayes of Waterbury then introduced the following 
 resolution, and moved that it be adopted : 
 
 Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives in 
 Joint Convention assembled: 
 
 Whereas, the eulogy delivered by former Governor George 
 P. McLean on the occasion of the funeral ceremonies of the 
 late Governor George L. Lilley most eloquently voiced the 
 tribute of honor and respect paid by the entire State to the 
 memory of our late Governor George L. Lilley, and was a 
 fitting and adequate appreciation of the life and public 
 services of our late Governor. ]^ow, therefore, 
 
 Be it Resolved : 
 
 That the eulogy of the Honorable George P. McLean, in 
 the words following, be made a part of the record of this 
 Joint Convention and be printed in the journals of both 
 Houses of the General Assembly : 
 
 We are gathered here today, my friends, as men have 
 gathered in the past, and will gather in the future when 
 touched by the sorrow of nature's final and deepest mystery. 
 
 In all the ways of life ; from the proud gates of what men 
 call success, from the humble door of what men call failure, 
 we stand today together, broken and baffled before the veil 
 no human hand can raise, and behind which are the pages no 
 human tongue can read. 
 
 But yesterday he was our living fellow man, bending his 
 body and his brain to the service of the State he loved. With 
 strength far spent, with tired head and tired heart, he 
 thought of neither rest or cure. 
 
 He lived to vindicate his friends, and to do his duty. This 
 was the single hope of his courageous soul, and in the fulfill- 
 ment of this hope, fear of death and love of life have no 
 part. This loyalty to duty was his chief inheritance. He 
 kept the talents that God gave him as far from the napkin 
 of idleness as any man in his generation. In his youth he 
 worked incessantly for himself and those he loved. Later, 
 
22 GEORGE LEAVENS LILLEY 
 
 he took an active interest in public matters, first at home, 
 then here, and afterwards in Washington. His efforts in 
 public life ran in complete harmony with his dominant 
 natural characteristics, thrift, economy and honesty in the 
 expenditure of public funds. He knew, as we all know, that 
 money sometimes sits too high and integrity sometimes sits 
 too low in the councils of the nation. He knew, as we all 
 know, that the nation or state or society, however large or 
 small, that prefers money to character, never can, never has 
 and never will endure. 
 
 He had the courage always to raise his voice in 
 protest. Once he raised his voice alone in a matter of vital 
 importance to his country, and that voice was drowned in a 
 tumult of censiTre and abuse. Single-handed he had the 
 courage to try to reach the truth, which never hurts an 
 honest man or honest men, and the only door that led to the 
 whole truth was closed by those that had the power to close 
 it and defeat his purpose. In the opinion of some men of 
 honest intent he made a grave mistake, and the censure he 
 received was justified. In the opinion of other men, of 
 equally honest intent, this one failure should have been and 
 still may be his crowning achievement. 
 
 He gladly accorded to his disinterested critics absolute 
 honesty of purpose, and they will now as gladly be as just to 
 him. Two days before his strength failed him he said to 
 me : " I do not expect to live very long, but if God gives me 
 length of days I shall devote them all to the prevention and 
 punishment of chicane and extravagance in the use of money 
 of the people." 
 
 Judged by his deeds and words, he gave his life to wisdom 
 and to duty. We mourn today because that life was precious 
 and useful, and we think it ended all too soon for him and 
 us. And yet we know his death was not the sacrifice to self 
 that folly loves. Unworthy ambition falters at the tomb. 
 He saw the grave in time to turn aside. He had hours, days, 
 long months in which to choose between his duty to himself 
 
MEMORIAL PROCEEDINGS 23 
 
 and his duty to his State and friends. He made the choice 
 that only brave men make, and won as only good men win. 
 And so, my friends, if there be aught but chance in change- 
 less law and harmony — if life and love and rounded earth 
 and shining star have other cause than black and shapeless 
 accident, if truth itself be not the mocking spawn of false- 
 hood — then his life was long, and this is his hour of victory, 
 complete, eternal victory. 
 
 Shall we who linger on in cautious comedy, guarding with 
 a miser's zeal our little hoard of human hours, as we con- 
 template this life that drew the coward bolts of self and took 
 the path that only heroes take, mingle our tears with pity 
 or envy ? Was not this life long indeed, and will it not give 
 high inspiration to his sons which no temptation can ever 
 weaken ? Will not it give love and comfort unspeakable to 
 the wife and mother, and strength to all of us 1 
 
 Life is a mission, the life that is worth living. Life is 
 measured by what it gives and not by what it takes. The 
 life that lacks an aim, an unselfish ideal, lacks everything, 
 and the man that has a lofty purpose, and lives for it, does 
 well, but the man that has such a purpose and dies for it, 
 does all that can be done in this or any other world. 
 
 True to his ideal and in triumphant tragedy, he has written 
 his name high in the history of the State and deep in the 
 affection of his fellow men. And now, as we must with sor- 
 rowing hearts and loving hands bear away all that is mortal, 
 shall we not with a stronger faith cherish that which is im- 
 mortal ? 
 
 Shall we not see with a clearer vision that His will, not 
 ours, is done on earth, and that it is in this darkest hour of 
 what we call death He gives his children sight to see the light 
 that never fails ? 
 
 And be it Further Resolved : 
 
 That the Clerks of this Joint Convention be instructed to 
 transmit a copy of this resolution, suitably engrossed, to 
 the family of the late Governor. 
 
y-ii 
 
 24 
 
 GEORGE LEAVENS LILLEY 
 
 The resolution was discussed by Mr. Hayes of Waterbury. 
 The resolution was adopted unanimously by a rising vote. 
 
 Upon motion of Senator Searls of the Twenty-eighth Dis- 
 trict, the convention was dissolved. 
 
 The President then dissolved the convention, and the 
 Senate withdrew. 
 
 Respectively submitted, 
 
 ELMORE S. BAi^S, 
 
 Speaker. 
 
 L£f'/Ir'l2