% j^ ^ %*»- 'A £j j^j . vy J LLJ^\//J ii . i]^\-/i: William Brimage Bate (Late a Senator from Tennessee < MEMORIAL ADDRESSES Fifty-ninth Congress Second Session SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES January 17, 1907 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES January 20, 1907 Compiled under the direction of the Joint Committee on Printing WASHINGTON : : GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : : l"*? SEP21 mi D. of'B. TABLE OF CONTENTS ^ Page Proceedings in the Senate 5 Prayer by Rev. Edward E. Hale 6 Memorial addresses by — Mr. Carmack, of Tennessee 9 Mr. Daniel, of Virginia iS Mr. Nelson, of Minnesota 27 Mr. McEnery, of Louisiana 31 Mr. Clark, of Montana 36 Mr. Spooner, of Wisconsin 40 Mr. Perkins, of California 43 Mr. Frazier, of Tennessee 48 Proceedings in the House 61 Prayer by Rev. Henry N. Couden 62 Memorial addresses by — Mr. Gaines, of Tennes.see 65 Mr. Grosvenor, of Ohio 88 Mr. Clark, of Missouri 97 Mr. Richardson, of Alabama 103 Mr. James, of Kentucky 109 Mr. Brownlow, of Tennessee 113 Mr. Stanley, of Kentucky 119 Mr. Lamb, of Virginia 128 Mr. De Armond, of Missouri 134 Mr. Robinson, of Arkan.sas 141 Mr. Meyer, of Louisiana 147 Mr. Garrett, of Tennessee 153 ilr. Butler, of Tennessee 163 Mr. Houston, of Tennessee 166 Mr. Padgett, of Tennessee 1 70 Mr. Sims, of Tennessee 173 3 Death of Senator William B. Bate PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE Friday, June r, iqo6. Mr. Carmack. Mr. President, I give notice that on Satur- day, June 1 6, I will ask the Senate to consider resohitions in commemoration of the life, character, and public services of my late colleague, Hon. William B. Bate. Wednesday, /?^«f /j, igo6. Mr. Carmack. Mr. President, a few days ago I gave notice that on Saturday, the i6th instant, I would ask the Senate to consider resolutions of respect to my late colleague, Hon. William B. Bate; but on account of the necessary absence of a number of Senators who wish to make remarks, and at their request as well as at the request of my colleagues from Tennessee in the other House, I wish to withdraw that notice, and I shall renew it at some future time. Monday, December lo, i<^o6. Mr. Carmack. Mr. President The Vice-PrE.SIDENT. Does the Senator from Illinois yield to the Senator from Tennessee? Mr. Cullom. I do. Mr. Cakmack. I simply wish to give notice that on Thurs- day, January 17. I shall ask the Senate to consider resolutions of respect to my late colleague, Senator Bate, of Tennessee. 6 .}/c'»ioria/ .Iddri'sscs : Wi/lidiii B. Bate THrKSDAY, /(?«//- be read. The Vice-President. The Secretary will read the resolu- tions submitted by the senior Senator from Tennessee. The Secretary read the resolutions, as follows: Resolved, That tlie vSenate has heard with profound sorrow of the death of Hon. AViLUAM B. Bate, late a Senator from the State of Tenne.ssee. Resolved, That as a mark of respect to the memory of the deceased the business of the Senate be now suspended to enable his associates to pay proper tribute to his high character and distinguished public services. Resolved, That the Secretary communicate these resolutions to the House of Representatives. The Vice-President. The question is on agreeing to the resolutions submitted by the Senator from Tennessee. The resolutions were unauimouslv agreed to. MEMORIAL Addresses Address of Mr. CARMAa, of Tennessee Mr. President; It is with a feeling of peculiar tenderness and reverence that I approach the sad duty of this occasion. I was born within a mile of General Bate's homestead, lived among his friends and neighbors, listened with rapt attention to stories of camp and conflict as they fell from the lips of the heroic veterans who were his followers and comrades in battle, and from my early boyhood was deeply imbued with the spirit of personal devotion to him that prevailed among the people of his native county. In later years circuni-stances brought us much together, and I became his personal friend and supporter in all his political contests. My personal knowledge of the man revealed inborn qualities which strengthened my love for him and held it to the last; and the affectionate relations that have existed and do exist between our families are among the most precious blessings of life. Mr. President, if in youth one could be permitted to shape the end of his life he could not wish for it a happier termina- tion than that which closed the mortal career of William B. Bate. Full of years, full of fame, and full of honors he closed a life crowned with domestic peace and happiness, the esteem and confidence of his people, and that consciousness of duty faithfully done which more than all things else gives sweetness to life and takes bitterness from death. By the sternest code of honor he lived a life of rectitude. It is no ' 9 lo Memorial Addrcssrs: M'illiani B. Bate exaggeration to sa>' that neither to the right nor to the left, under whatever temptation, throughout a long life, full of action, full of excitement, full of strivings and honorable am- bitions, did he ever swerve by the breadth of a hair from the path of honor. In addition to all this, and higher and better than all this, the Christian's faith and hope were his; so that his peaceful death, met with a calm and quiet resignation, was a fitting close to such a life, a happy realization of the prophet's prayer, " Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his. ' ' He died as one who knew that the gates of death were but the portals of inunortal life. William B. Bate was born in the old blue-grass county of Sunnier, a county still famed for the sterling character of its citizenship and the generous hospitality of its people. The world can not produce a nobler type of men and women than may there be found. They are worthy of the ancestry from whom they sprang. General Bate was the son of a Revolu- tionary .soldier, and came from the old pioneer stock who in the early history of the vState invaded this region with ax and rifle to hew through the jirimeval forests a pathway for civilization. They were men of heroic heart and simple faith. A faith in God that knew no doubts or questionings gave them the forti- tude to dare the terrors of the wilderness. On the frontiers of civilization, struggling with wild beasts and with j'et wilder men, they acquired the fundamental qualities tliat go to make the manners and tlie character of a gentleman — respect for one's self and for others. General B.\te was born near Old Bledsoe's Lick, and within sight of the old fort where the early .settlers found protection while yet the white man had to make good his title to the land against his savage foe. Here he spent the years of his boyhood until — a fatherless lad — he determined to go forth alone to match himself against the Address of Mr. C\iriuack, of Tennessee ii world. He went first to Nashville and secured a place as clerk on a steamboat which plied between Nashville and New- Orleans. The war with Mexico coming on, he enlisted in the latter cit}-, joining a company of Louisianians, and went to Mexico. He served out his term of enlistment with the Louisiana troops and then joined a company from his own State which had arrived upon the scene of hostilities and was made first lieutenant. In this capacity he served to the end of the war. After his return from Mexico he soon entered upon the study of law, graduating from the Cumberland Law School, at Lebanon, Tenn. He did not have to wait for clients, but at once achieved marked success in his profession, being elected prosecuting attorney for the district, including the city of Nashville, in the year 1854, just two years after he had been licensed as a practicing attorney. In 1856 he married Miss Julia Peete at Hunt.sville, Ala., the loving and faithful partner of 'his long and checkered life, who still survi\-es him. It so happens that this day upon which we connnemorate his life and ser\-ices is the annivensary of the day of their happy union. General Bate early developed a taste for politics, and as a member of the legislature and Presidential elector on the Breckinridge-Lane ticket he began his political career, a career which had already given promise of greatness when inter- rupted by the outbreak of the war of secession. Tennessee left the Union reluctantly and with .sorrow. She had voted down the first proposal to leave the Union l)y an immense majority. But when the .sece.ssion movement grew to such strength that war became inevitable, and she had to decide between the alternative of uniting her forces with or against her sister States of the South, she chose to abide the fortunes of the Southern Confederacy. Looking calml\- back from this 12 Afrmorial Addresses: W'illiaiii />'. Bate peaceful time to that stormy period, I am ]5roud that she dared and sufFered with .the South. The martial, the military instinct in General Bate was stroniz:, ,and his whole heart and soul was in the cause of the South. Neither then nor afterwards, to his dying da\-, did he ever ipiestion the justice of her cause or permit, any man to do so in his presence without stern and empliatic rebuke. Tliat cause had in him a friend who was faithful unto death and beyoud the cjrave. He enlisted as a private in a company then forming at Gal- latin, was made its captain, and later was elected colonel of the regiment. In his eagerness to give his services on the field he promptly took his regiment to \'irginia and commanded it in the battle of Bull Run. As its term of enli.stment was about to exj)ire, so thoroughlx' had the rank and file become imbued with the si)irit of their conunander, when the proposiil was made to them to enlist for the war the entire regiment stepped forward as one man. There was not one laggard ir this regiment of Sunnier Connt>- lieroes. There was another conspicuous illustration of the spirit that prevailed in this regiment. Because of the ])romptitude with which they had gone to the front. Colonel Bate had been per- mitted ti> select the army in which his regiment should serve, and he natmallv selected the army of Tennessee. Upon the transfer being made, all the members of the regiment were given a sixty da\ s' finlough. Before this furlough had expired Albert .Sidnev Johnston made the movement which brought on the battle of Shiloh, and at the call of their colonel the mem- bers of this regiment xoluntarily abandoned the ease and com- fort of home, tore up their unexpired furloughs, and hastened to report for diU_\'. For many of them it meant death or muti- lating wounds, for this regiment was early in the battle and in Address of Mr. Cnrnmck, of Teiiitcsscc 13 the "focal and foremost fire." In a desperate charge Colonel Bate rode in the verj- front of his regiment and cheered them toward the foe. While doing so he received a wound which shattered his leg, but he continued to lead his regiment onward until faintness from loss of blood caused the bridle reins to drop from his hands and until his horse was shot from under him. In that battle his brother and brother-in-law and a cousin were killed and another cousin severelj' wounded-— five members of one family in one regiment weltering in their blood upon one battlefield. Colonel Bate \&y for a long time in peril of death from his terrible wound. His surgeons decided that amputation was necessary, but it was characteristic of the man that he over- ruled the opinion of the surgeons and decided to take the chance of recovery without the loss of his limb. His decision meant that he would take all the chances of death rather than become luiserviceable to his country in its hour of peril. He slowly recovered from his wound and was indeed badly crippled throughout the war. He returned to his command on crutches as a brigadier-general. He was so badly crippled that it was not believed that he would again be fit for duty in the field, and a movement sprang up to make him governor of the vState to succeed Isham G. Harris, whose term was soon to expire. There is no doubt whatever that he could have been elected ; but he promptly declared that he would accept no civil office, but would share all the perils of battle with his comrades unto the bitter end. He was afterwards twice wounded while yet .so badly crippled from his former wound that he had to be lifted to his horse as he rode at the head of his command. He had three horses killed under him at Chickamauga, and everywhere and under all circumstances he exhibited that same spirit that won the 14 Memorial Addresses: Wi/lia))/ B. Bate name bestowed upon him in the ofBcial report of his division commander, General Stuart, at Chickamauga — "the indomi- table." I sliall not dwell upon the details of his military career. I need not do so — there are volumes of eulog}- in the simple statement that he entered the army as a private soldier and left it as a major-general. From the hopeful beginning to the end of the sad but glorious chapter, when he surrendered the ragged, famished, battle-torn, heroic remnant of his com- mand, it was the same story of a devotion that knew no weak- ness and a valor that knew no fear. Upon his tombstone, and upon that of every Tennes.sean who followed laim, may be written without flatter}- the characterization of Bayard — "a knight without fear and without reproach." When the war was over he returned to the practice of law, removing to the capital city of Nashville, and soon commanded an innnense practice. He was especially successful in jury trials, and at the time when he became governor in 18S2 his firm probal)ly had the large.st practice in the State. He was elected governor at a time when the refunding of the State debt followed as a result of the settlement which was an i.ssue in this campaign. An incident in connection with this shows the extreme punctiliousne.ss of his sense of duty. The law required that the new bonds issued should be signed by the governor. When it was proposed to prepare a stamp by which the facsimile of his signature might be placed upon the bonds he insisted upon an exact compliance with the letter of the law and of undergoing the immen.se physical labor and writing the signattire upon each with his own hand. In all his career this same nice and self-exacting sense of duty governed his pulalic and his private conduct. After his second term as governor came his election to the Senate. It was a battle of the Titans in which he then pre- Address of Mr. Car mack ^ of Tcnucssee 15 vailed. Intellectual giants like ex-Governor Marks and ex- Congressman John F. House contended with him in friendly and chivalrous rivalry, and yielded him the palm without bit- terness as to a victor worthy of their steel. In politics he lived and died a Democrat — not simply in the sense that he supported the nominees of his party, but because he was a thorough believer in its great fundamental principles. Like the late Isham G. Harris, he clung with tenacity to his party's earliest creed and felt a sense of resentment for every deviation from the Jeffersonian principle of a strict con.sfruc- tion of the Constitution. In his service here he was faithful, industrious, diligent, a close student of the business of the Senate, having a clear understanding of the questions of the day, and when he chose to do so he presented his views with great ability, learning, and power. A speech on the tariff question in the early years of his .service showed him to be a profound student of national taxation, and his speech upon what, in our part of the country, was usually denominated the ' ' force bill ' ' was liberally quoted from one end of the land to the other. But above all other qualities, he bore among his a.ssociates here a reputation for honor and integrit\- that was without a stain. No suspicion of an unworthy motive was ever imputed to any act of his. No man here or eLsewhere ever felt one moment's doubt as to the absolute rectitude of his intentions. It is a fact significant of the iiappy passing of old issues, of old passions and prejudices, that among the most devoted friends he had in this Chamber were those who wore the blue when he wore the gray, who fought under the Stars and Stripes when he fought under the stars and bars; with whom he contended for life and death in the awful shock of battle. There are no truer friends than those who have been honorable i6 Memorial Addresses: Ul'/liain B. Bate foes, and the handclasp that is made above the grave of kin- dred dead is never broken. Even as he loved and honored those who fought by his side he loved and honored those who confronted them. And while old associations, the memory of common sorrows and of common sufferings, botind him as with hooks of steel to his comrades in arms, the .story of that great war was to him a les.son of American prowess and American valor, which, united under a connnon flag, coidd withstand the world in arms. His intense devotion to the memory of the cause for which he had fought, and of the comrades who had died for that cause, might seem to the superficial inconsi.stent with heartfelt devotion to the Union; but you in this Chamber who fought on the other side, none of you ever questioned for one moment the loyalty to the Union of this battle-.scared old hero of the Confederacy. You lo\-ed and honored him for his very fidelity to those hallowed memories and hallowed graves. You, who like him, but on the opposing side, have passed through the furnace of war know that he who can lightly forget what was once the cause of his country, the cause for which its women prayed, and for which its sons had died, could not be loyal to any country or faithful to any flag. You knew that he brought to the service of the whole country as faithful a devo- tion to duty as when fighting for the cause of the Confederacy on the red edge of battle. The Confederacy had no braver knight than William B. Bate when war was flagrant in the land; the Union has had no truer friend since the war clouds were lifted and the waiting sunlight came down to bless the land, which is the common hope, as it is the common heritage, of us all. His love for the Confederacy was but the faith- fulness of memory to the noble dead — that lingering with uncovered head by the tomb of old comrades and fallen hopes which purifies and exalts the .soul. Address of Mr. Car mack., of Tennessee 17 Mr. President, it is true that "peace hath her victories no less renowned than war." William B. Bate was one of those who came back from the war, surveyed the scene of red ruin and blank desolation that overspread his country, and then with heart resolute and undismayed faced the awful problems of that awful time. All the heroism displayed through four blazing years of war pales into insignificance by the side of that story of patience, constancy, and fortitude which enabled a weaponless and uncaptained army of disfran- chised citizens to win victory even from defeat. In private life General Bate was simple, plain, devoid of artifice or ostentation. Unusually blessed in his domestic rela- tions, he found his happiest hours around the family hearth- stone and in the company of congenial friends ; but in all the walks of life the same high courage and noble qualities which won him honor and fame in field, in forum, and in Senate were his. And when he came to meet the inevitable hour these qualities rose supreme and he blenched not when he stood face to face with the king of terrors. Over him the grave could win no victory and for him death had no sting. As in the ardor of his youthful prime he had faced death without a tremor, with all the courage of a .soldier, so at the last he met death with all the fortitude of a Chri.stian. At peace with his fellow-man, with his conscience, and his God, "he gave his honors to the world again, his blessed part to Heaven, and slept in peace." S. Doc. 403, 59-2 2 iS Memorial .iiidres.scs : W'illiaiii B. Bate Address of Mr. Daniel, of Virginia Mr. President: We have halted on the forced march that is made necessary by the short and congested session of Con- gress, and we have called a trnce to all dissension that we may pay tribute to the memory of one of our number whose name the Ruler of the Universe has stricken forever from the Senate roll and from the roll of life. The shadow of death marks the boundaries of man's common country. By the reconciling grave we arc one. William Bkijlvgk B.vte was a soldier of his country before he became a man. He had just entered his fourth term of service in this body when he departed from us. Throughout his long and useful life he was an earnest and honest soldier of the common good. At the close of his service he left l)ehind him a clean, white record, which bears witness that iln'ough his life's ceaseless struggle he was always "present for duty." and that as Clod gave him to .see that duty .so he did it, whatever might befall. He had pas.sed considerably beyond the period of threescore years and ten before he died — indeed, he was in his eightieth year — but his strength had remained eciual to his tasks; and it is consoling to reflect that it was not in the valley of helpless- ness that he left us nor lay the jiroccss of slow deca>-. No matter when death comes, .so mighty is the change it is startling and sudden. No matter what the premonitions may be, and no matter howsoever we steel our hearts to meet the inevitable, the blow- that shivers the life of one belox'eil and honored must lacer- ate the sensibilities and pall upon the affections. Address of Mr. Daniel, of Virginia 19 Although the shadow upon the dial marked the evening of his days, Senator Bate was here and took the oath of office for a new term on the 4th of March, 1905. I had stood bv his side when he entered the Senate in 1887, and again was with him when he was sworn in the last time. Together we joined in the line of Senators that proceedec' from this hall to witness the inauguration of President Roose- velt from the east front of the Capitol. As we passed out of the Chamber I said to him, "General, I have seen you sworn into the Senate for four times, and I hope that you may long live and that I may have the pleasure of seeing you sworn in again;" but it was not so written. As we reached the throng pressing forward through the halls of the Capitol we became detached from each other and I never saw him more. A severe cold, contracted by the exposure to tlie piercing atmosphere of the inaugural occasion, brought on pneumonia, and soon the sad intellegence came that William BRniAOE Bate was no more. He was born in the blue-grass region of Tennessee, in Sum- ner County, as his colleague has recounted, in the midst of the scenes of the old Indian wars, near Bled.soe's Lick, which is now known as Castalian Springs, in a section that abounds with incidents of the encounters between the hardy pioneers and the stubborn tribes of Indians who .stood in their pathway. He sprung from that yeoman stock which loves the land and fights for it, and, plastic of mind and heart, he was full of the traditions and legends which inspire manhood to high emprise. "Old Hickory" said, and he was of that region, that "the man who was born and reared among these people deserved but little credit for being a gentleman or a .soldier, for he could not help it." 20 Memorial Addresses: U^illiam fi. Bate The blood of the pioneers of X'irginia and Nortli Carolina mingled in his veins. Tillage of the soil, the earliest and purest of avocations, was theirs. They held the .simple faith of the Baptists, and they looked on life as a real, earnest, and .solemn matter, to be met by the best that was in them. When >et in his teens, yoinig Bate, with that spirit of adventure and desire to see the world which is apt to charac- terize the youth of our race, set out for New Orleans, having become a clerk on the steamer Saladin. plying between Nash- ville and that city. The expan.sion of our race has never come from congestion at home. They ha\'e gone forth into all lauds from that spirit of enterprise and love of romance and adventure which the Creator has implanted in their ambitious, strong, and aspiring blood. The Mexican war was on, and, joining a Loui.siana com- mand, the boy B.\TE, as a private soldier, with his musket on his shoulder, marched with it to the relief of Zachary Taylor on the border of Mexico. This service ended, he became first lieutenant of Company I, Third Tenne.ssee Volunteers, was selected as its adjutant, and with it served until the conclusion of the Mexican war. From second clerk on a steamer and private in the ranks he rose bv steady gradations to the foremost places in both peace and war. To glance at the positions in which he was placed by the confidence and trust of the people is as if to let the eye range over the rungs of the a.scending ladder by which he climbed to eminence and renown. Private and lieutenant in the Mexican war, editor of the Tenth Legion, a Democratic journal, after the return to peace, and a member of the legisla- ture, and then came his settling down to the study of the legal profession in 1S50, when he entered a law school in Lebanon, Tenn., graduating in 1852. Address of Mr. Danic/, of I'irffinia 21 Soon again he climbs upward. He became attorney-general for the judicial district which was composed of Sumner, David- son, and Williamson counties, which include the city of Nash- ville, for six years. While holding this office he was nominated for Congress, but declined. In i860 he was elector upon the Breckinridge ticket for the Presidency, but Tennessee stood slow and patient, as did my own State, upon the edge of war, and each of them gave their electoral vote to John Bell. In 1 86 1 the lightnings of war flashed from the clouds of long dissension. It was the rear guard fight about an institution which perplexed the nations of the earth for countless ages past. Again he took his place at the bottom of the ladder, enlisting as a private of volunteers. He was elected captain of the company which became Company I, of the Second Tennessee, and later was elected colonel of the regimeut. Brigadier-general in 1862, major-general in 1863, corps com- mander of the renmant of a great command at the surrender. Bate made a name as a soldier, liased upon facts which can never be confu.sed v.x belittled, which places him in the front rank of just renown. In the conflicts of 1862-1864 he was wounded, first at Shiloh, in 1862, then at Hoovers Gap, in 1863, and then again at Atlanta, in 1864: and as the rings in the bark of a tree mark the years of its growth, so the years of his .service were marked with scars upon his per.son. "Indomitable Bate" was the characterization of him by Gen. A. P. Stewart, after the bloody battle of Missionary Ridge, in which three horses were killed under him. No hero of all that bloody strife more possessed the confi- dence of the .soldiers whom he commanded and of the superior officers who commanded him. The war records make enduring pedestal for the statue of his 22 Memorial Addresses: William B. Bate fame, and whetliL-r they were composed b>' a soldier upon one side or tlie otlier they are in the main the embodiment of the triitli. If neither of the armies which opposed each other had otlier chroniclers and commentators than those who fought against them, their great heroic characters and their fame would l)e permanentl)' enshrined. vSomeday Tennessee will raise his own figure on that pedestal, and it will sometime stand in Ijronze in his beloved Tennessee, where it will not only attest the valor ,ind devotion of the past but be an in.spiration to the youth of the volunteer State, which will ' ' keep the soldier firm and the statesman true. ' ' I heard one of his captains, W'ho was himself wounded at Shiloh, say that over the roll of the nnisketry could be heard the voice of B.VTK cheering on his soldiers. Presently one of his men said to him, "Colonel Batk must be down, for I hear his voice no more." So in truth it was; and soon near Shiloh Church lay five of his family near each other, three killed and two wounded, his brother, Capt. Humphrey Bate, amongst the dead, him.self amongst the stricken. But enough of war. Apart from tlie nobleness of sacrifice and the greatness of soul which the trials of war stimulated aiid brought forth, and, apart from the removal of the can.se of .strife, the l)est thing about the great conflict is that it is over and that it will come no more ; Init the bra\-e and true of each side will Ix- cherished as a people's legacy, adding lu.ster to the American name. When .surrender came at Bentonville in 1S65 B.\TE rode to the remnant of his old division, which stood in line, dismounted, hobbled on his crutches to his old brigade and regiment, and, when the order to stack arms was given for the last time, he stood amongst those with whom he had been a pri\-ate soldier, and from them departed as a private citizen once more. Address of Mr. Dain'c/, of I 'irs;tttia 23 Napoleon taught tliat the officer must take his place with his soldiers in surrender, as in the l.iattle. It needed no Napoleon to tell that to Bate. It is the instinct of such brave and honest spirits as was his. Now again he was at the bottom of the ladder, and again his ascent began. For seventeen j-ears he seduloush' practiced his profession, and rose to high rank and large practice. In 1875 he came within one vote of being elected a Senator of the ITnited States, and by the change of a single vote Andrew John.son was chosen. In 1S76 he was an elector at large on the Tilden ticket, and for a second time he bore the Democratic banner on the Fed- eral field. In 1882 he became Governor of Tennessee, and was a second time chosen. In 1887 he entered the United vStates Senate. His services here were diligent, constant, and unre- mitting. The greater part of a vSenator's work makes little noise and gets little notice. In the committee room and in council with colleagues is worked out, for the most part, the legislation of the country. It is rare that a speech controls the action of this body. The wise suggestion at the proper time makes no record. The careful and precise studj" of details may become as potent as the luiderground wire that lights a city or that drives its engines and trains, but the eye gets no picture of it. But his services here were by no means confined to mere detail. He is regarded as practically the author of the Weather Bureau and the Signal vService in their present organization. He was the author of the Ijill which ended the supervision of elections by the Federal Government, and his hand was seen and his influence felt in many of the good w^orks which emanated from the committees on which he served and have pa.ssed into legislation. Though not a frequent .speaker, he po.ssessed ability and eloquence which were exemplified on pertinent occasions. 24 Memorial .hMrrssrs: William B. Bate Those who served with him for years in the Senate will never forget the great fight he made to prevent the removal of the Jackson statue from what is known as Lafayette square. His opposition to its removal was successful, although prep- aration had already been made and in part completed to take awav the equestrian statue of Jackson and put it on the corner of the square, instead of letting it stay as the center- piece. No corner for Jackson, but the chief place, said Bate. So, on the center of the .scjuare in front of the White House Old Hick(ir>- still rides erect his prancing steed, and because he had a champion of the stuff whereof he — the hero of New Orleans — was made. The combination of intelligence, sagacity, and courage, com- mingled with the many virtues that go to make np the gentle- man, the soldier, and the good citizen, came together in force of character in William B. Bate and made him a foremost man. His heart was loyalty itself. He adhered to principles wherever they carried him. He would not compromise a creed nor give to expediency what belonged to conviction. He respected the opinions of others and treated all with courtesy; and the courtesy which he freely bestowed he in turn exacted. He seemed old-fashioned in his .strict adherence to the ideals of his teachings and his convictions, and the light and frivo- lous sometimes attributed to the stubbornness of his nature what was in truth only the clearness and tenacity of his faith. He was a man of simplicity and devoid of ostentation. He never spoke just to be heard of men, but only to carry to them a message which went forth from his heart and mind. Many of his speeches were notable for their careful and well- considered views and for the clearness and power with which thev were uttered. Address of Mr. Daniel, of lirg/iiia 25 On festival and on memorial occasions, especially upon those that commemorated noble characters and great deeds, Senator Bate was frequently the welcome orator, and his addresses were marked liy those truthful historical allusions, those worthy reflections, and those lieauties of poesy and eloquence that gave instruction in the most attractive and pleasing garb of expression. I can not take my seat, Mr. President, without adverting to the happy domestic life of Senator Bate. Fifty-one years ago he married Miss Peete, of Huntsville, Ala. Their union was blessed with children — all daughters — two of whom sur- vive. His home was not only his castle; it was his temple, and those nearest and dearest to him were his constant thought. On one occasion, when on some public ceremonial a compli- ment was paid to Mrs. Bate, who had been his helpmate and companion for many years, the Senator recognized it and thus respected it : I thank you — He said to tho.se who had paid this tribute to her he loved best — I thank you fur this compliment to my wife, and I challenge any man to have a better right to feel more kindly and lovingly to the beautiful and charming women of Alabama than I do. You will pardon the personality when I say that in the long ago — and it .seems to me but yesterday — it was in the beautiful little city of Huntsville, Ala. , nestling at the foot of Monte Sano, overlooking a valley thai smiled with de- light, that I was given, under a wreath of orange blossoms, one of the loveliest of all the sweet girl flowers that grew and bloomed in that refined and cultivated social garden. She has been for more than forty years my companion and comfort — through war and peace, through weal and woe, througli good and evil fortune — and although she has gone into motherhood and grand motherhood still .she is my cheerful compan- ion and my faithful comforter. So I feel that I can challenge with impunity the right of any man who was not born under Alabama's segis and who does not live on Alabama soil to feel nearer and dearer to Alabama than I. 26 Memorial Addresses: ]]'iUiam B. Bale There is an ancient adage which .says " ever_\- man is the child of his own works." vSo, obviou.sly, was William Bkimage Bate. He was a matter-of-fact man, and he built himself from the ground. He dreamed no dreams of frenzied fancy; he saw* no visions ; he owned no castles in Spain, and took no stock in Utopia. Nevertheless, the .spirit of poesy and the charm of romance were in his heart, and there, too, was the fountain of that natural eluquence which flowed forth when the true spring was touched. There was nothing dim and there was nothing doubtful about him. He stood fourscpiare to all the winds that blew. His people looked upon his works, and they .saw that they were good. They felt the beat of his strong, true heart and the warm grasp of his honest hand. They knuw him, and their con.stancy was l)ut the reflected image of his own constancy to them. I had the honor to l)e among those who bore his Ixxly l.)ack to Nashville, and stood and saw it laid in his native soil. The vast outpouring of the people was impressive. But nothing was more impressive than the gray line of his old Confederate comrades that followed his hear.se and fired the last salute over his grave. vSome of them were yet sturdy and strong, some wrinkled and haggard with life's accumulated burdens, some as gray haired as the coats they wore. Hut all of them were of one mind of approval and of one heart in the spirit of love for the dead hero who rode in their front in liattle and in their front at the last recei\-ed the bolt (.if fate. There we laid him in the dust at the bottom of life's ladder. There he rests in the abiding honor and affection of the people of Tennessee. Nor will Tennessee alone remember him. He .served the whole American people as a worthy .Senator and as a patriotic citizen. He who considers his history, sees he not also another ladder rising in the vision of immortalit\', its foot resting on the earth, its summit disappearing from mortal ken in the heavens? Address of Mr. Xe/soii, of Minnesota 27 Address of Mr. Nelson, of Minnesota Mr. President: While the thirteen colonies were struggling;- to secure their independence from Great Britain, there was a small band of determined and hardy frontiersmen of the Caro- linas and \"irginia who pressed westward over the spurs of the Allegheny Moinitains into the valleys of the Cumberland, the Tennessee, and the Ohio, and wrested the same from the cruel, crafty, and indolent .savages who roamed through the wilder- ness, a terror and a menace to the .settlers on the frontier. These frontiersmen wrought their impress upon the Revolution- ary struggle, directly and at a most critical time, at Kings Moun- tain, and indirectly b\- repressing to a large extent throughout the unequal struggle the bloody aggressions of the savage allies of Great Britain. But the greatest result uf their task was this; That at the conclusion of the war they furnished the colonies the basis and ground for claiming and acquiring that fertile and vast expanse of country between the Allegher.ies and the Mississippi River. And thus the heroic struggles of these brave men inured in the fullest sense to the great advantage and glory of the entire nation. These men were preeminently, both intuitively and by train- ing, a race of warriors and vState builders. What they con- quered and subdued with the rifle and the ax, they knew how to organize, maintain, and govern conformable to the princijiles of free government. From the very loins of this race, as its best type and po.ssessed of all the virile courage and vigor of it, came Senator B.VT}C, our coworker and associate for many years in this body. He died in the seventy-ninth year of his age, at peace with all the world, 28 Memorial Addresses: Ji'illiaiii B. Bate after a most e\-entfiil and fruitful life such as falls to the lot of but few men. He was a veteran in the pul)lic service and had been a veteran in both war and peace. I can not enter into the details of his long; life and varied career. Those who stand nearer to him than I are better qualified for this task. I can only give my impression of him as I saw him, heard him, and knew him. He was one of the bravest men that ever lived. This he atte.sted on many a bloody field of battle and in many a civic strife and controversy, but his bravery was of the higher order, a moral and intellectual bravery, based on principle and con- viction, and not of the grosser kind, the mere bravery of the bulls-. He was always brave in the performance and execution of what he conceived to be his duty, of what he deemed right and just, never evading or shirking a burden or responsibility, never faltering, however great the odds. But he was a gladiator of the noblest type, scorning to take a mean or underhanded advantage of his adversaries, manly and forbearing at all times and under all circumstances. He had no patience for shams or mere glamor of an\' kind ; he could always distinguish, in man or measure, the counterfeit, however much embellished, from the real aud substantial. He had no tolerance for the former, but was always ready and swift to embrace the latter. Like all brave men of the higher type, he was gentle, kind, and sym- pathetic in all spheres and walks of life and in all the varied and trying affairs of life. That air of arrogant loftiness and supreme self-sufficiency which tokens the vain, the blood or the purse-proud man, was utterly foreign to his nature and make-up. He gauged men at their real measure and worth, and on that level he was always ready to meet them. There never was a more modest man than he in military or civic life. What he wrou.ght on the bloody fields of' battle or in the realm Address of Mr. Nelson, of Minnesota 29 of the civil service of his State and country he left others to tell and extol. He preferred to be measured by his deeds rather than by his words. Men of action are, as a rule, brief and modest in speech, and are content with results rather than mere praise. As a member of this body he was one of its most useful mem- bers, faithful in attendance, both in .ses.sion and in connnittee. He never .shirked, but was always ready to bear his full share of the drudgery of legislation — that drudgery so es.sential but often little noted by the public at large. He did not belong to that .school of legislators who are content and feel that they have done their whole duty if they deliver one or two .set speeches during the session. While he was not a prolific debater, yet he never abstained from discussing a measure of importance that he felt called upon to support or oppo.se, and his discussion was always instructive, clear, and to the merits. He never .spoke for the mere sake of .speaking — for mere oratorical display. He was always in earnest, and when he .spoke he spoke to pa.ss or defeat a measure. He never supported or opposed a measure for the mere purpo.se of courting popularity. His attitude was governed by what he conceived to be right and just in the premises. In other words, it was always a matter of principle with him. His environment and training had been such that on all constitutional questions he belonged to the .so-called "school of strict constructionists" — strict in measuring the rights of the Federal Government, but liberal in measuring the rights of the States. And in this he was the child of his age, his State, and his surroundings. Our system of government is such that from the very begiiniing it bred and evoked two schools of con.stitutional construction, the one tending to fortif>' the Fed- eral and the other to fortify the State power. And whatever 30 Meiunrhi/ Ai^drcssfs: W'illiaui H. Bate else niay he said mi the suljject, all fair-minded men, I think, will concede that the one school is a valuable check and restraint upon the exuberance of the other, and that l)et\\-eeu the contentions of the two the people, who have given their power of attorne>- to the P''e(leral Government for national and Federal purposes and to the State government for local and State purposes, will ultimately secure and maintain that equilibrium of double power and double purpose which is the mainspririg and the glory of our wonderful Federal system. Senator Bate died faithful and loyal to our flag and to the best interests of our country. Its welfare was foremost and uppermost in his lo\e and affection. He was one of its brave, faithful, and trusty legislative sentinels, on duty when he passed away. His countersign in his last moments was "the ITnion now and forever." Tennessee never had a more lionest, more faithful, and more zealous representative in the United vStates Senate, and we, his colleagues, had in him a Senator who was always on duty, always at the laboring oar. His task and his mi.ssion on earth are ended. He did not live in vain; he wrought nnicli for the good of our country and for the cause of our common humanity. He was a vSenator of the United "-'tates in the fullest sen.se of the term, and the recording angel will enter him as a brave, upright, and faithful man, and as a public .servant who bore the burdens of life fearlessly and heroicallv to the last. Address cf Mr. McEiicry, of Louisiana 31 Address of Mr. McEnery, of Louisiana Mr. President: William Brimage Bate's career was eventful. His strong personality- gave evidence of conflict and victories. It was stamped in every lineament of his face and expressed itself in his every motion. He was not born to remain an idle .spectator amidst stirring events nor to participate in them merely content with duties simply performed, but to be the controlling .spirit and leader. As a boy he was on the Mississippi River, and caught inspiration from that mighty .stream. The rough experience of life on that river has edu- cated hardy, strong men, with strong intellects, indomitable will and courage, making a perfect type of true and vigor- ous manhood. Leaving this river, with its strong impressions upon him, he became the boy hero of the Mexican war. This experience carried him to the Tennessee legi.slature in young manhood, where he was distinguished. Hardly stopping for rest or recreation, he entered upon the practice of the law, mastered this intricate .science, and soon became eminent, and was elected attorney-general of the Nashville district, in which office he served six years. During his incumbency of this office he was nominated for Congress, but declined this high honor. His entry into politics was brilliant, but was stopped for the moment by the civil war. But his activity did not cease. With his experience in war and civil life and the high posi- tion he occupied, he would have been justified in demanding high military rank, but, having self-confidence and measuring his ability, he knew that opportunity alone was wanting for advancement. Therefore he entered the Confederate armv as 32 Memorial Addresses: William B. Bate a private, Vmt rapidly ascended to captain, colonel, brigadier and major general. He literally fought hi.s way to supremacy. He was always to the front and three times dangerously wounded while in the lead. What a record for a soldier! What nation would not be proud of such and crown him with all the honors it could bestow! Here he could have rested, having achieved all the fame and glory to satisfy the most ambitious. But his ambition was as.sociated with dut\' to his unfortunate countrymen. He still fought for their deliverance from an infamous, hell-born des- potism and again became acti\e in political life. His people appreciated his unselfish patriotism and the sacrifice made in their behalf, and twice placed him in the executive office of his State. He made a great governor, ranking among the be.st, and his efforts were untiring to reduce taxation and to give the people a clean and economical administration. He succeeded and was rewarded by a .seat in this honorable body. His history here is well known, and laws enacted during his several terms in the Senate bear the impress of his genius. Those who served with him know his ability, the grandeur of his character, and the ser\nces he rendered to the nation. Worst to be endured than all that he had yet encountered was the tyranny and fetters fastened upon him and his people after the cessation of hostilities between the States, the being buried while yet alive, to the sad condition of his people. He fought and battled for right while thus fettered and buried. He used every energy of his being to cast aside the trannnels and to burst from the cerements of that tomb and take his place in the van of his countrymen, struggling for liberty — aye, for life it.self. He carried them on in accelerated progress, in improvement in government, and in material things, which prostrated to the dust the puny obstacles of legislative, judicial, and executive tvrannv. Address of Mr. AfcEfiery, of Louisiana 2>2> It can safely be asserted that no CDiiditioiis such as followed the close of the civil war can ever he renewed in this country. Bad men, vicious men, can no longer obtain sway over a people ignorant and easily led by interested advisers acting for their own selfish ends. That terrible departure from justice which marked the period of reconstruction has taught a le.s.son that it is unsafe to depart from the .sacred rule of civil polity not to bestow power where there is no effective and individual responsibility. His great energy and ability when thus freed strove to defeat the cunning and sordid plots of monopolists. When he thus entered political life he was free, no longer the .slave of a fanat- ical party, no longer at the mercy of designing and intriguing politicians who planned and plotted for the disfranchisement of honest and brave men of the South. He had attained that position, and, on this vantage ground, after his entrance into the Senate he struggled- for honest government, a government not of promises but of actual accomplishments. He rejoiced in the prospect of good government, in the progress of trade, of private and political virtue, and the attainment of national prosperity in the restoration of the people's rights. In peace he won laurels more imperishable than those which crowned him in war. His achievements here and his fame belong to the nation. He did well and nobly his appointed task in life, and he now rests from his labors and sleeps under the simple but not in- glorious epitaph commemorating "One in whom mankind lost a friend and no man got rid of an enemy." He had no irritability of temper and was not impatient of contradiction, but on subjects he had mastered and on which he held strong opinions he was tenacious. He comprehended all subjects of legislation and had the rare faculty of mastering all details and combining them with general views of the whole S. Doc. 403, 59-2—07 3 34 Miiiioria/ Ac/c/rcsses : William B. Bate subject-matter, thus :ivailin>< himself of all that speculatiim presents and experience affords to correct the results of jjeneral reasoning. His orations were clear and logical, eloquent and classical: " The first creditor of ever\- people is the plow, and upon the furrows which it turns reposes the great mass of national wealth." Such sentences of classical inspiration are fre- quently met in his addresses. His physique was strong and vigorous, enabling him to endure the .severest strains of mental labor. His faculties were strong and coordinate, enabling him to concentrate them with force and vigor to accompli.sh his purpo.ses. With such iihysical, moral, and intellectual force he readily achieved the highest distinction as jurist, soldier, and .statesman. To follow him in all his efforts in acquiri-ag the highest honors would be to review the jurisprudence of his State and the histor\- of the battles of two wars and the con- flict for political mastery in Tennessee. In all this conflict and endeavor his was the master mind. He pressed forward to success and victory with character unsullied and not a \oice raised in detraction. His achievements were in a State which in c\erv crisis of her histor\- developed great men, whether in the forum or in the field. To meet and to successfull\- com- pete with such men great qualities in manhood and intellect were required. His character was a grand one in its integrity, its honesty, and its puritv. He had a lofty disdain for all that was low and mean. There was no shadow of fanaticism to cloud his character or to disturb his judgment. He was in puljlic and in private life a person of the purest morals, and his indignation was aroused by profligacy or groveling baseness. His nature was kind and affectionate and true, and there was never a more stead\- or sincerer friend. Address of Mr. McEnery, of Louisiana 35 He had approached the evening of life. For him the sun was sinking beneath the horizon, and the shadows were gath- ering fast around him. They enveloped him in final embrace, it may be said, in this Chamber, and when the light went out it was amid the scenes of his labors and in the last discharge of dutv. •^6 Memorial Addresses: William B. Bale Address of Mr. Clark, of Montana Mr. President: To have been requested by the near friends of the late Senator Bate to say a few words on this occasion is a privilege and honor which I deeply appreciate. It was my good fortune for .several years before his demi.se to be .seated next to him in this Chamber and to exchange with him the glad morning greetings which his kindly heart ahva\s prompted. We had frequent conversations and dis- cussed freely the various pending questions of impurtance with which the Senate was occupied from time to time; and often- times, although not inclined to be communicative as to himself, I drew from him many \-ery interesting reminiscences of his eventful life. No member of this body was more punctual in attendance than he. Nothing but the most .serious illne.ss of himself or famih- prevented his presence here, and uniformly in time for the prayers of the Chaplain, for which he manifested the great- est reverence and respect. I am glad to acknowledge my deep sense of obligation and gratitude to him for wise counsel and advice always cheerfully given, and, above all, for his kindly acts and words, which so deepl>- endeared me toward him. The fatal illne.ss which carried him away .so suddenly was contracted on the platform at the east front of the Capitol, where he participated in the inaugural ceremonies of the President. So violent was the attack that ended this noble life that outside of his family and intimate friends few people were aware of his illness until the .sad news of his death was announced. I recall the sad incident where at m>- own home, at a formal dinner party at which he was to have been the Address of Mr. Clark, of Montana ■^J guest of honor, while waiting for his arrival the first tidings of his serious illness came unexpectedly to all present and cast a gloom upon the festivities of the occasion. We all recollect the sad and impressive funeral ceremonies which took place in this Chamber. The universal expressions of sorrow from all pre.sent denoted the confidence, respect, and love which dwelt in the minds and hearts of all who knew him. He was so unostentatious that it required an intimate knowl- edge of the man to know and appreciate his noble impulses and sterling qualities. To him anything suggestive of insin- cerity, duplicity, or mendacity was abominable. Purity of thought and speech was characteristic of his daily intercourse with his fellow-men. He led the life of a Christian, in all respects correct and consistent, and in his social life he was most genial, companionable, and hospitable. He was never so happv as when surrounded by his family and intimate friends ; he and his charming wife, whom all who know her respect and love, dispensed so royally the well-known hospitality of their home. In the committees on which he served he was distinguished for prompt attendance and diligent study of all the questions presented for consideration and intelligent discussion of the same. His fearless defense and advocacy of what he conceived to be right, his unflinching integrity of purpose and action, were known to all with whom he came in contact. In his advocacy of any question and presentation of argumeiU he was always clear and forceful. As minority leader in opposition to the bill pending for the joint statehood of Arizona and New Mexico he made a remarkable record, which clearly established his ability to cope with the most adroit masters of parliamen- tary practice. His speech in that memorable contest was a masterful effort, and its peroration, brilliant and patriotic, was 38 Memorial Addresses: Ullliam B. Bate accorded the highest acclamation and praise. The defeat of the measure, largely due to his aljle efforts, was one of the greate.st triumphs in his political life. lu review of the wonderful achievements of the great char- acter whose memory we revere and honor to-day we are car- ried back to the events embracing a period of nearly half a century, when he took an acti\e part in the thrilling events of the civil war. This was not his first military experience. When only a l>oy, acting as a clerk on a steamljoal, he eidisted in a Louisiana company and .served with distinction in the war with Mexico, where, for gallant .service, he was promoted to a lieutenancy. Upon the close of the war he returned to Ten- nes,see and embarked first in the field of journalism, then studied law and entered the political arena, and the day fol- lowing the firing on Fort Sumter found him enlisting as a private in Company I, Second Tennessee Infantry. I leave to others more familiar with his life and more capable of elo- quently describing his military career that interesting and deli^ditful theme. His rapid rise and promotion for gallantry and bravery from a private to a major-generalship ; the story of his almost constant engagement in battle throughout the entire period of the war; his frecjuent wounds and narrow escapes, having had three horses killed under him in one bat- tle ; his persistence in fighting when phy.sically disabled : his reluctance to yield at last when the cause so dear to iiis heart was absolutely hopele.ss — all comjjrise a record of Spartan valor and heroism that is unsurpa.ssed , if not unparalleled, in the world's most famous contests, and can not fail to elicit the most profound admiration of all who will read it. The people of his State recognized his ability, his patriotism and devotion to their intere.sts, and honored him twice with an election as chief executive of the State, and four times they Address of Mr. Clark, of Montana 39 honored him with election to the United States Senate. All these honors were richly deserved, and the State of Tennessee proudly and gratefully bestowed them in recognition of the splendid achievements and \'alorous service of her noble son, William Brijiage Bate, the loyal citizen, the brilliant soldier, the honored statesman. 40 Memorial Addresses: ]]'iUiain B. Bate Address of Mr. Spooner, of Wisconsin Mr. President: I dread to mar, as I know I shall by un- studied speech, the uniform beauty and appropriateness of the addresses which have been delivered here in tribute to the memory of vSenator Hate. But I dread more, Mr. President, the inference which might l)e drawn fnnn my silence that I am indifferent to the memory of one for whom I had profound respect and sincere friendship. I .served long with Senator B.\te. I came to know him well and greatlv to esteem him as the pos.sessor of all the essential qualities of genuine manhood. I have heard more in detail to- day of his career than I had known. Nothing which has been said here of his surpassing devotion and gallantry on fields of battle has surprised me. From my knowledge of him he could not ha\e been better called by an\- other name than "The Indomital)le Bate." I never knew a man, Mr. President, with a finer .sen.se of fea'lty to the demands of duty, great and small, than charac- terized Senator Bate. He was not only of exceptional phy.si- cal courage, but of exceptional intrepidity of soul. Brusque sometimes, sturd\-, strong fibered, educated in a school of life which develops strength of character and manhood, he pos- sessed with all his strength and firmness and bluntuess not only courtesy — the courtesy of the gentleman of the old .school, to use a phrase which means much, for there is no finer gentle- man in the world than the gentleman of the old .school— but he was withal a man of great tenderness, as all manly men are. The bravest are the tenilerest. The loving are the daring. Address of Mr. Spoon cr, of J(7sro//s/n 41 His sympathies were easily aroused, and no man resented more instantly and with greater spirit the perpetration of a wrong upon man, woman, or child than did he. If I were to name the element in him which more than all things else impressed me, it was an ever-present sense of duty. It is impossible to conceive of the slightest con.scious failure in the performance of any duty, public, private, or social, in Senator Bate's life. Mr. President, he loved with inexpressible strength the Com- monwealth of Tennessee and her people. He had been brought up in a school of thought and in an environment entirely dif- ferent in many ways from that in which my youth and early manhood were cast. Not unnaturally he belonged to a school which construed the Constitution so as to enlarge the rights of the States and to minimize what I thought were the powers and rights of the General Government. He was not to be criticised by me for that, nor would he criticise me for that, for I never met a man more tolerant of honest differences of opinion, toler- ant of weakness in friend and in foe, but tolerant never of mean- ness and littleness in any one. He offered his life — and that is the most that any man can offer— many times for a cause in which he believed and in which I did not believe. But, Mr. President, with all his strength of comradeship and of associations, with his firnmess of conviction, apologizing for nothitig, repenting of nothing, when he, standing at that de.sk, took the oath of a Senator, no man who ever has taken it and no man whoever will take it, can take it with a stronger, holier purpose to serve in every way to his uttermost the Government of the United States than did he. He was utterly indifferent to his own comfort, sometimes indifferent to his own health and safety, in the discharge of duties relatively trifling as a .Senator, because they were duties, 42 Me»iorial Addresses: William B. Bate and he regarded no duty as trifling. He did not look, with all his splendid career behind him, upon the National Government from anv standpoint of restriction in power other than that which he found and which many of us fiiid in the Constitution, which he had sworn to support. Mr. President, he stood for the rights of the vStates; he stood for the rights of the National Government. He stood for larger powers in the National Government than he would have done thirty years ago, as 1 now stand stronger for the rights of the States than I would have done thirty years ago. He knew that the National Government was created by the States; that every power which it possesses was surrendered \i\ the States ; that it pos.sesses none except those which expressly or b\- implication were surrendered by the States, and that all the powers which the vStates did not surrender the States withheld and .still possess. He could not, without being a great man, Mr. President, have carved out for himself the career which he did in profes- sional, in military, and in public life — a career which won him the love and admiration of his State and of the South and the unfeigned respect and regard of the people of the North. I have never allowed this aisle — nor do any of us in the discharge of public duty or in judgment of each other — to exist ; and I heard the news of the illness and death of Senator Bate with the keenest sorrow. Mr. President, this may be .said of him, that when he breathed his last — and happil\-, he was spared a lingering illness — there followed him to his home in Tenne.ssee the re.spect and affec- tionate regard of every member of the Senate, and the respect which all thoughtful people everywhere cherish for an honest, sincere, manly man. who had discharged to the full his duty in everv relation of life. Adaress of Mi-. Perkins, of California 43 Address of Mr. Perkins, of California Mr. President: In the Senate of the United States the true value of a man is soon ascertained. Xot only is a Member revealed to his associates, but often, I have no doubt, to him- self. Manj- a Senator, I am sure, has here found that he possessed abilities and powers that he had only half recog- nized, and perhaps some of those qualities on which he had prided himself were found to be but weak tools for the work that had to be done here. Whatever there is in a man is here called into play, and he is judged through what he is shown to be, not through what his partial admirers may think he is. The character which is attributed to a Senator who has served a term, or nearly a term, represents the man himself as far as it is possible for associates to truthfully portray the character of those whom they know best? Senator Bate was one who lost nothing by reason of the involuntary- scrutiny to which all of us and all of our acts are here subjected. The noble qualities of mind and heart which were here shown compelled the most sincere respect ; and the confidence which was reposed in his absolute honesty and unselfishness was strengthened as the years of his service increased in number. By his colleagues on both sides of this Chamber he was recognized as representing the very highest type of public man. Senator Bate came from that part of our country where loyalty and personal honor are deser\-edl\- emphasized as the two highest virtues of man, public or private. Whatever views he might hold, whatever cause he might espouse, it was recognized that his po.sition was taken as the result of 44 Memorial Addresses: W'illiam B. Bate impartial consideration and unselfish thoiij^ht, and though others might not at all times agree with hiiji, no one could raise a question as to his honesty, his conscientiousness, or his integ- rity of purpose. His entire career is evidence of the simplicity and truth of his noble character. In two wars he exposed his life from the sen.se of hightest duty to his people ; and his many wounds received on the battlefield proved his energy and unshrinking courage in following the path to which that duty pointed. Brave men in all parts of our country recognize and honor bravery wherever found, and to no one should such honor be more sincerely given than to Senator Bate. Senator B.\TE was of that sturdy stock which carried the Revolutionary war to a \ictorious issue. There was inbred in him that quality of indomitable courage, that spirit of freedom, that determination to maintain at any cost whatever he believed to be right, which was the .strength of the armies which fought under Washington and which won for us political libert>-. It was this stock which gave to the people west of the Cumber- land Mountains the characteristic virtues which they possess to-day. Senator Bate posse.s.sed them all in a marked degree ; and they compelled him early to attain, and in all his later life to maintain, a leading position in the State which he made his home, whose people had so honored him again and again by electing him as their repie.sentative in the highest legislative body in the land- His public spirit forced him into politics while he was yet young, and until his death he was more or less in public life. Fortunate is he who in .so long and active a career can create such a record for unselfish devotion to the public welfare. For many years one of the mo.st prominent and mo,st trusted leaders of his party in Tenne.ssee, he at last became go\-ernor, which Address of Mr. Perkins, of California 45 office he administered for two terms to the lasting benefit of his State and with honor and credit to himself. From the governor's chair he came to the United vStates Senate, and here he found the opportunity to round out a most useful and hon- orable life. His honest>', courage, and ability were at once recognized, and he became one of the members of this body who had to be reckoned with on all important occasions. Vigilant and active, no matter of moment escaped him. As chairman of the great Committee on Military Affairs he evinced a breadth of view and grasp of detail that showed him to be one of the most efficient of legislators. And on other important committees of which he was a member his influence was felt as a force. In all public questions it was the greatest good to the greatest number at which he aimed, and to him we owe some of our most useful legislation. The Department of Agriculture, as at present constituted, is due principall>- to his efforts, and it was through him that the Weather Bureau was transferred from the War Department to the Department of Agriculture and divorced from the Signal Service, which has enabled its development to be effected until it has attained its present high state of efficiency. It was through his efforts that the so-called " force bill" was defeated, and in the debates on that measure, against which the whole .strength of his man- hood protested. Senator Bate delivered .some of the strongest and most eloquent speeches ever heard in this Chamber. It was through him, also, that all laws providing for Federal supervision of elections were repealed, thus restoring to the people he loved .so well the status from lack of which they had so long suffered. This great work was of incalculaljle benefit to our entire country, for through its means sectionalism was destroyed and the United States became at last and in fact one and indivisible. No service could be greater than this. 46 Memorial Addresses: WiUiani B. Bate On an occasion similar to this Senator Batp: said here, iu reference to a deceased colleague: In our civil war citizens of the same Commonwealth were impelled by that first and supreme necessity that is not chosen, but chooses; which is paramount to all deliberation and admits of no discussion and demai. 's no evidence. Thev were forced mto conflict by the operation of princi- ples they did not originate and by circumstances over which they had no control. And now, since both sides, from their respective standpoints, believed they were in the right, let us on occasions like this, in this national forum, common in representation of all .sections and all parties, bring wreaths to the " bivouac of the dead " without stopping to discuss the resolutions of '98 or the conditions which they createil, or the wisdom or folly which inspired on the other side the spirit of fanaticism. Be our politics what they may, let us all honor the brave and heroic sons of all the States as models and exemplars of American character ; and, since "grim visaged war has smoothed his wrinkled front," let us honor those who were heroes in the strife with true American i)atriotisni and pride. We and the entire country can not only honor him who was a "hero in the strife" for his manline.ss, devotion, and hero- ism, but we can and do honor him with true American pride for the dex-otion and patriotism he has shown in this Chamber and for the example he has here set for all who love their country. I was honored, Mr. Pre.sident, by his personal friendship and received great benefit from his wise counsel. I owe hiin a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid. So, in this tribute to his memory, I may well say that he has left us a splendid legacy, and if we profit by his example we shall all be l)etter men and better citizens of this now happy and united country. Throughout his long life Senator B.\TE demonstrated that his ambition was the highest that can actuate man — an ambi- tion to do his full duty as he understood it, not only to those immediately surrounding him but to all mankind. In this no thought of self appeared, and personal advantage, position, or the acquisition of wealth had no place in his scheme of life. When he died he left no great fortune to his bereaved widow Address of Mr. Perkins^ of California 47 and his children, but he did leave them wliat is of far greater value — an untarnished reputation; and I am sure that the members of his family in Tennessee and California — for some of them reside there — will guard and cherish this priceless legacy. In his case it is most clearly shown that a good name is better than great riches; and that can be bequeathed to his descendants by every man who will accept the precepts and follow the example of General Bate, the soldier and the states- man. As has been so well said of another who died upon the field of duty, we can say in memory of our departed colleague and friend: When a star i.s quenched on high, For ages will its light Still travel downward from the sky, Shine on our mortal sight. So when a good man dies. For years beyond our ken < The light he leaves behind him lies Upon the path of men. Memorial Addresses : \Villia»i B. Bate Address of Mr. Frazier, of Tennessee Mr. President: Tlie .Senate of the United States has paused to-day in the (Hscharse of its higli and responsible duties to the people of this great nation to pay fittiiiK and deser\-ed tribute to the memory and character of a distinguished son of Tennessee. Mr. President, in this mercenary age, when the minds of men seem to be .so deeply absorbed in the problem of how money maj' be gotten and riches acquired, it is a rehef and a .solace to l)e able to study the character and honor the memory of one who devoted a long life of unceasing labor and unwavering fidelity to the service of the people. William B. B.\te, late a Senator of the United States, representing in this Chamber the .State of Tennessee, was born October 7, 1826, in Sumner County of that State. He died in the city of Washington on March y, 1905, thus lack- ing only a few months of having reached the ripe old age of fourscore years. For more than half a century the name of William B. Bate has been familiar to ever3- household in Tennessee, and in all his long and eventful career his influence has been potent for good. Few of the .sons of Tennessee — and the State has been fruitful and rich in great men — have .so universally commanded the respect and confidence of all the people as Senator Bate. Even his political enemies accorded him the just met;d of praise due to the highest integrity, honesty of purpose, and purity of life. The people of Ten- ne.ssee honored him as they have honored few of its citizens. He served the State long and faithfully. Once a member of Address of Mr. Frazier^ of Tennessee 49 the legislature, once attorney-geueral of his district, a soldier in the Mexican war, and again for four 3'ears a soldier iu the civil war, twice Presidential elector, twice governor, and four times in succession elected to the Senate of the United States. Every honor which the people of Tennessee had to bestow they freely gave to him, and his fidelity to each and every trust but proved that their confidence was not misplaced. He died at his post of duty just as he was entering upon his fourth term in the Senate. Others may have .ser\'ed the State longer in .some particular place; others may have made greater impress in certain fields of endeavor, but few have served the State in more ways and none with greater fidelity than Senator William B. Bate. He sprang from the body of the common people. Like so many others in the American Republic who have acheived fame and won renown, he had no noble ancestry to boa.st of, but he had that which in this land of equality of opportunity was far better — he had a scjund body, robust intellect, the highest courage, rugged honesty, and a worthy ambition to serve his fellowmen. His birthplace was in the rich, beautiful, and fertile basin of middle Tennessee, and in sight of the old fort overlooking "Bledsoe's L,ick," famous in the early .settlement of the State as the scene of many fierce and bloody encounters between the red men and the daring pioneers, who braved the dangers of an unexplored wilderne.ss and the .savage foe to carr^' the van- guard of civilization across the Cumberland Mountains on its westward course and plant it on the tributaries of the Missis- sippi River. Senator Bate sprang from that sturdy stock of virtuous and liberty-loving people, whose restless and adventurous spirit led them to seek a home in the wilderne.ss. S. Doc. 403, 59-2—07 4 50 Memorial Addrrssc} : U'illiaiu B. Bate They came armed with the rifle, the axe, and the Bible, sus- tained by a brave and self-reHant manhood. They came to clear the forest, to plant the iield, to build homes, and lay the foundations of orderly government. They came deter- mined to carve out of the wilderness, by the strength of their own right arms and brave hearts, an abiding place and to erect for them.selves and their posterity a commonwealth, in which there should be guaranteed to all, to high and low alike, free- dom of the person, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press. They were brave, hardy, and adventurous, but the}' believed in individual freedom. They believed in them.sel\'es and they believed in Ck)d. They liad the American genius for .state making. They were prominent as conunonwealth builders. From such an ancestry Senator B.\TE inherited and early imbibed that toughness of moral fiber and strength of character which, througli a long life of pul)lic service, no temptation could e\er weaken or impair. He was not born with a silver spoon. He had the good fortune of havuig inherited honest poverty and of being forced, in his youth, to luidergo tho.se hardships and privations which are so conducive to the forma- tion of a strong and manly character. He had the further blessing of having lieen born and raised on a farm, that fruitful nursery of great men, and to its hard- ships and struggles can be attributed in no small degree that physical endurance, moral strength, and intellectual force which marked his after life. For an American l)oy to have been born and reared on the farm, where, in field and forest and by river, he can study and comnuuie with nature and have stimulated within him a pro- found reverence for the grandeur of the universe and the divinity of God, is a blessing. To be denied it is a distinct and positive loss. Address of Mr. Frasier, of Tennessee 51 From the farm, that cradle from which has come so many of the nation's strong and forceful men, he was early forced out into the great world to meet and compete with his fellowmen. His father died when he was a youth of 15 years of age, and he was left without the help and guidance of his parental care. His early training was thus left to his widowed mother, and so strong was the imprint of this noble Christian woman impressed upon him that when in after years he decided to openly attach himself to the church, with a sentiment that was as tender as it was lieautiful he went back to the old home, sought out and joined the church in which his mother had lived and died, and was baptized in the same crystal stream in which, more than three-quarters of a century before, she had been baptized. For a few years he continued to work on the farm and at intervals to attend the old field school, with its house built of logs, whose curriculum, though circumscribed by the limited learning of its stern preceptor, was generally enough to sow the seed of knowledge and virtue that in the fullness of time would ripen into strong and vigorous manhood and character. But the ambitious .spirit of this farmer boy chafed under its narrow limitations, and he longed for a vAA that out of one family there lay upon that bloody field near the old Shiloh Chtu'ch five members, three dead and two wounded, a scene scarcely paralleled in the annals of warfare. For gallautrj' at the battle of Shiloh Colonel Bate was com- missioned by President Jefferson Davis brigadier-general. Address of Mr. Frazicr^ of Tennessee 55 From Shiloh to Murfreesboro, Cliickainauga, Missionary Ridge, north Georgia, around Atlanta, at Franklin and Nash- ville, in the manj- great battles fought by the Army of the Tennessee, General Bate was a conspicuous and distinguished figure, at his post of dut}- even when his unhealed wounds forced him to use his crutches. Always dashing, gallant, and cotirageous, he won from General Stewart the soubriquet of "The Indomitable Bate." Through all those four years of suffering and hardships, of dangers and defeats. General B.vte never once faltered or wavered; never once lost faith in himself, the courage and fidelity of his men, nor the justue.ss of his cause. He surrendered the shattered remnant of his division at Bentonville, N. C, only after it was known to all that the cause for which he had so gallantly fought and suffered was lost and further fighting was not only folly, but criminal mad- ness. When the end came, and the Stars and Bars, which he had followed in victory and defeat with such unselfish devotion, was furled for the last time, with a spirit of frank and manly patriotism he accepted as final and conclusi\e every fair and legitimate result of the war. The issue had been submitted to the stern arbitrament of the sword; the decision had been against him. He accepted the result as a brave .soldier and a true patriot should. He made no apologies for the past. He cherished no anamosities for the futtu'e. Like hundreds and thousands of others who had worn the gray in that terrible conflict, he said, " Let the dead pa.st bury its dead." Not forgetting the glories and the sacrifices of the past, they turned their faces to the future and laying hold of the new and difficult problems that were pressed upon them they have helped to build here a greater, a richer, and a freer republic in one than could have lived upon this continent if divided into two. 56 Memorial Addresses: ]\'illia))i B. Bate General Bate returned to lais lionie poor, wounded, and limping. He found his State devastated, homes destroyed, industries paralyzed, the labor system on which the South's wealth had depended not only disori^anized, Init, as a system, utterly destroyed. The slave had been freed, but the black man remained, and with him a problem unparalleled in its difficulties. To reorganize his State and bring it again into harmony with the other States of the I'nion, to revive old industries and construct new ones, to build up the waste places, to readjust society, and to reorganize labor and adapt it to the new and changed conditions which had come as the war's inevitable consequence were- problems which demanded the highest .statesmanship and most patient conservatism. General Bate saw and accepted the situation — the inevita- ble — and with the truest patriotism addres.sed himself to the just and peaceful solution of these large and difficult problems. He did his full duty as a citizen to bring peace and order out of chaos. He advi-sed his comrades in arms to turn their faces to the future and to devote their energies to rebuilding their shattered fortunes. After the surrender in 1 865 General Bate resumed the prac- tice of law at Nashville and continued in active and succe.ssful practice till i!SS2, when he was nominated and elected governor of Tennessee. He was again elected in 18S4, and served his State in that high office for two full terms with marked distinc- tion and ability. In 1887 he was elected to the United States Senate, where he continued to repre.sent his State by succes.sive elections till the day of his death. He had just entered upon his fourth term when he died. Of his .services here I need not speak, as others who .served with him and knew and appre- ciated his honesty and fidelity to duty have done so. Senator Bate was no ordiuar\' man. When we see him a Address of Mr. Frmier^ of Tninessee 57 poor, fatherless plowboy at 15, with meager educational advan- tages and no extraneous influences to aid him, by dint of his own laborious eiTorts and solid worth rise step by step until he became a major-general in the greatest war of modern times, the chief executive of his State, and an honored and respected member in the highest legislative council of the greatest nation of the world, we must confess that there was somewhere in the man some uplifting force that made him great and strong. Where lies the hidden spring, the secret power? From long and, I confess, a not impartial study of Senator Bate as a man, citizen, soldier, and public official my firm belief is that the. key to his character, the mainspring of his success in life, are to be found in hrs honesty and fidelity. Senator Bate was an absolutely honest man. He never owed any man a debt that he did not pay. He never took from any man a dollar that he did not believe was justly his. He was not only honest in the narrow commercial .sense of fidelity to every financial obligation, but in the higher and broader rela- tions of life. In dealing with his fellow-men, in business, in politics, in every relation of life, he was always frank, straight- forward, and honest. His word was as good as his bond, with security. Direct, resolute, .sometimes stern even to abruptne.ss, he created en- mities and was often maligned; but no man ever successfully maintained the charge that he failed to meet an obligation or to keep faith with any one of his fellow-men. Careful, cautious, even slow to make up his mind and incur an obhgation or to espouse a cause, when Senator Bate's word was once given he to whom it was given might go his way in peace, with absolute faith that that word would be made good at any sacrifice. Senator Bate's fidelity to duty was not less marked than his honesty in dealing and in purpose. 5^ Memorial Addresses: ]\'illiain B. Bate In every walk of life, from musket bearer to division com- mander, from steamboat clerk to governor's chair and Senator's seat, his fidelit\' to every trvist was stern, unyielding, Spartau. From the ])ath of duty as he saw it, from fidelity to those who trusted him, no threat or danger could drive him, no temptation could allure him. He stood always firm and uncompromising for the right, as his faith and his conscience pointed the way. Faitli in himself and the justness and purity of his motives and fidelity to obligations and to duty made him strong and forceful in the accompli.shment of his purposes. He was as faithful to principle as to personal obligation. He deserted no cause which he had espou.sed. He compromised no principle in which he believed. Convinced that the States had a right under the Constitution to secede, and that they had sufficient cause to justify the act, he unhesitatingly Ijared his bosom and ri.sked his life and was ready to sacrifice his all for the main- tenance of that principle. A Democrat and a strict con.struc- tioni.st of the Constitution on principle, no question of personal gain or popularity or of party exigency ever caused him to waver in his fidelty to that principle. He believed his con- struction of the Constitution was right, and from it he never swerved. He never wavered in his fidelity to truth as he saw it, to duty as it was given to him to understand it, to the Constitution ashe interpreted it. He had faith in and a deep-seated love for our form of gov- ernment. He had faith in the people and never doubted their capacity' for self-government. He trusted the people. The people trusted him. There were others to whose brilliancy of speech or boldness of achievement the people may have accorded a higher admiration, but there was none in whcse fidelity to duty and honesty of purpose the masses of the peo- ple reposed a sublimer faith. Senator Bate was faithful to Address of Mr. Frazicr, of Tciiucsscc 59 every trust. No .son of Tenne.s.see ever bowed hi.s head in shame because he was unfaithful to obhgation or to duty. While he was their servant the people went quietly to their fields, to their shops, to their several avocations, knowing that he who bore their high commission in the council of the nation was as faithful to duty as the needle to the pole, as pure in life as the translucent waters that flow through the verdant valleys, and as firm in character as the everlasting mountains, of his native State. My father's friend, I can not remember the time when I did not know vSeuator B.\te. I was taught to honor and respect him ; his friendship and fidelity made me love him. I sought his counsel. I was guided by his wisdom. His last official act was to dictate and sign a letter to me on the day before his death. It was the last time he ever signed his name, and so firmly was his hand held in the grip of death that the name is scarcely legible. It related to the disposition of the Confederate flags, ordered returned to the States by a resolution of Congress, about which, as governor, I had asked his advice — the old, tattered banners, only representing a lost cause, a sentiment, if you please ; but to him, even in his hour of dissolution, it was the Cross of vSt. Andrew, under whose stainless folds he had charged to victory and to glory. Mr. President, the upright citizen, the pure patriot, Senator William B Bate, whose long and eventful life was devoted to his country's welfare, was faithful to the end. He died at his post of duty. He sleeps beneath the blue-grass sod of his native State, which he served so long and loved so well. Peace be to his ashes and honor to his memory. 6o Memorial .IiMnssrs: William B. Bate FUKTIIKR ACTION OF THE SENATE. At the close of his address Mr. Frazier said: Mr. President, I ask for the adoption of the re.solution I send to the desk. The Vice-President. The Senator from Tennessee pro- poses a resolution, which will be read by the Secretary. The Secretary read the resolution, as follows: h'cioli-cd . Tliat as a further mark of respect to the inemory of the deceased the Senate do now adjourn. The resolution was unanimously agreed to; and (at 4 o'clock and 33 minutes ]>. ni. ) the Senate adjourned until to-morrow, Friday, January 18, 1907, at 12 o'clock meridian. PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE Saturdav, Pect'mber 75. igo6. Mr. Gaines of Tennessee. Mr. Sjieaker, I ask nnaniniuns con.sent for the present consideration of the order which I send to the Clerk's de.sk. The Speaker. The gentleman from Tennessee asks tniani- mons consent for the present consideration of a resolntion, which will be reported by the Clerk. The Clerk read as follows: Ordered, That Sunday, January 2", 1907, at i o'clock, be set apart for addresses on the life, character, and public service of Hon. \Vii,i,i.\M B. Bate, late a Senator from the State of Tennessee. The resolution was agreed to. Wednesday, ya«/^a/:r 16. igoj. Mr. Gaines of Tennes.see. Mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous con.sent that the Hou.se change the hour for holding the memo- rial ser\'ice in the memory of the late Senator Bath, from I o'clock p. m. next Sunday to 2 o'clock the same day. The Speaker. Is there objection? There was no objection. Saturday, Jn>iuary ig, rgoj. The Speaker. Without objection, the gentleman from Ten- nessee [Mr. Sims] will act as Speaker during the services in memory of the late Senator Bate to be held to-morrow. There was no objection. 62 Memorial Addresses: William P. Bate Sunday, January 20, igoy. The House met at 2 o'clock p. m., and was called to order by Hon. Thetus \V. Sims, of Tennessee, Speaker pro tempore. The Chaplain, Rev. Henrj- N. Couden, D. D., oiTered the following praA'er: Infinite Spirit, Father of all souls, we bless and adore Thy holy name for Thy goodness and for Thy wonderful works to ' the children of men. Especially do we thank Thee for the pure, the noble, the true, the great men whom Thou hast raised up in every age of the world's hi.story as beacon lights to guide their successive generations onward and upward to higher civilization. We are here to-day to commemorate the life and character of such a man, one who by dint of his devotion to dutv rose step by step to eminence and leadership; a soldier brave and valiant in two wars; a student ever seeking truth; a statesman working for the good of his countrymen. We bless Thee for what he did, yet more for what he was. His char- acter will live and be a .special guide to those who shall come after him to high living and to noble life. Bless and comfort, we pray Thee, the bereaved, those who mourn his loss. A lov- ing father, a faithful husband, a dutiful son, beautiful in his devotion to his mother, seeking religion at the .same altar where she worshiped, baptized in the same stream where she was baptized, living always near to Thee. O God, we pray Thee to comfort the living with the blessed hope that some time, somewhere, they will go to him and dwell forever in his pres- ence. And peans of praise we will ever give to Thee. In Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Mr. Gaines of Tennes.see. Mr. Speaker, I ask the adoption of the resolutions which I .send to the Clerk's desk. The Clerk read as follows: Rcsoli'fd, That in punsuance of the special order heretofore adopted, tlie Ho\ise proceed to pay tribute to the memory of the Hon. W. B. BATE, late Senator from the State of Tennessee. Proceedings in the House 63 Resolved, That as a further mark of respect to the memory of the deceased and in recognition of his distinguished career and his great service to his country as a United States Senator, the House, at the con- clusion of the memorial proceedings of this day, shall stand adjourned. Resolved, That the Clerk of the House communicate these resolutions to the Senate. Resolved, That the Clerk of the House be, and he is hereby, instructed to send a copy of these resolutions to the family of the deceased. The resolutions were unanimously agreed to. Mr. Houston. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that those Members who are absent and unable to be present and speak to-day maj' have leave to print remarks in the Record on the life and character of the late Senator Bate, and those who speak maj' extend their remarks, if they so desire. The Speaker. Without objection, the request of the gentle- man from Tennessee will be agreed to. There was no objection. MEMORIAL ADDRESSES Address of Mk. Gaines, of Tennessee Mr. Speaker: William Bkimack Bate was born Octo- ber 7, 1826, near Bledsoe Lick, CastaHan vSprings, Sumner County, Tenn., and died March 9, 1905, at 6 a. m., in his apartments, Ebbitt House, Washington, I). C, having onh' a few days before, for the fourth time, taken the oath as Senator from the State of Tennessee, He received his early education in a school, known then as "Rural Academy," near his birthplace. Between .sessions he worked on the farm. His father, James H. Bate, a pioneer, died when this son was aljout 15 years of age. Of these pio- neers Gen. Andrew Jackson .says: .\ mail who is born and reared among.st this people deserves hut little credit for being a .soldier and a gentleman, for he can't help it. Senator Bate was both. After the death of his father, young B.\te continued to work on the farm and attend the country school for abotit two years, when he sought a wider field of action, and next we hear of him employed as a ".second clerk" on the Sa/ad//i. a boat plying the Cumberland and Mississippi rivers between Nashville, Tenn., and New Orleans. He was thus employed when this boat, in 1846, collided with and sank the Co>ti;n-ss on the Mi.ssis.sippi River near Washington Point. When the Mexican war began with the United States^ he was in New Orleans, where, May 15, 1846, he joined the S. Doc. 403, 59-2—07 5 (>S 66 Memorial Addresses: IVillinni B. Bate army of his nati\'e country to serve six months, which he did, and was "honorably mustered out at New Orleans Au- gust 14, 1S46, with his regiment and company." The press states that he ivas the first Tennesseean to reach the scene of hostilities. On October 2, 1.S47, at Nashville, Tenn., he reentered the "service, returned to Mexico, did his dut>' well, and was again honorably mustered out at Memphis, Tenn., July 22, 184S, with his regiment and company." Desiring to get, if possible, correct information of at least the main features of his military record, my request for this intelligence was promptly honored by the War Department, through its very efficient Military Secretary-, as shown by the following correspondence : War Department, The Military Si-xretarv's Office, ]\\isbi)ii;tou, June /C\ /go6. Hon. John W. Gaines, House of Rcprrsfntatii'i-s. Dear Sir : In compliance with the request contained in your letter of the 14th instant, I have the honor to transinit herewith a statement of the military service of the late Senator William B. Bate. Very respectfully, 1". C. .^INSWORTH, r/n- Military Secretary. STATEMENT OF THE MILITARY SERVICE OF WILLIAM H. BATE, WAR WITH MEXICO. William B. Bate was mu.stere(i into the service of the United States at New Orleans, La., May 15, 1846, as a sergeant in Company F, Fourth Louisiana Infantry, to serve six months. The regiment arrived at Brazos Santiago May 26, 1846, and at Lomita, Mexico, June 4, 1S46. He was honorably mustered out of service with his company and regiment as a private at New Orleans, La., August 14, 1S46. He reentered the service at Nashville, Tenn., October 2, 1S47, as a private in Company I, Third Tennessee Infantry, commanded by Col. Benjamin F. Cheatham, to serve during the war, and was promoted to be first lieutenant of the same company October 8, 1S47. He accompanied Address of Mr. Gaines., of Tennessee 67 his regiment to Mexico, in which country it was stationed at the City of Mexico, Veracru?., Jalappa, Puebla, and JMolino del Rev. Returninfi to the United States, he was honorably mustered out with his company and regiment at Memphis, Tenn., July 22, 1.S4S. We see, when his country no longer needed his military services, he returned to the civic circle of life and established and edited at Crallatin, Tenn., a weekly newspaper called the "Tenth Legion." He soon attracted the attention of the people — in fact, throughout his life he was their champion. When abotit 23 years old he served one term — 1849-50 — in the lower hotise of the Tennessee legislature. His cam- paign for this office l)ecame historic, and is. with pride, often recalled by the old citizens of middle Teiniessee. There were nine candidates, but Lieutenant Batk's main competitor was the late Gen. George Maney, a gentleman of great nattiral ability, scholarly, and a fluent speaker. They were both young men of great promise, but the young lieutenant was elected. Concluding his legislative services, he entered the noted Cumberland University, Lebanon, Tenn., from which he grad- uated in 1852. He formed a partnership with Maj. George W. Winchester, one of Tennessee's most gifted speakers and able lawyers, and began the practice of his profession at Gallatin, Tenn. Two years thereafter he was elected attorney-general for the circuit composed of Davidson, Sumner, and Wilson coitnties, and served from 1854 to i860. While yet attorney-general he was tendered by the Demo- crats the nomination for Congress, but declined the honor and served his full term, six years, in the office to wdiich he had asked the people to elect him. While thus engaged he met at the bar many eminent lawyers of middle Tenne.ssee, and particularly at Nashville, Franklin, and Gallatin. 68 Memorial Addn-sses: William />'. Bale In speaking of liis rccurcl in this oftice Col. Uaxter Smith, an ex-Confederate soldier and ])roniinent la\v\-er of Nashville, formerly of Gallatin, who from his Ixiyhood knew General Bate, thns writes nie: It was clianicteristic of him to bt indefatii^ablc in the jirepuralioti of his cases for trial, and with liis kiiowleilgt- of nit-n ami his quick percep- tion he was ahvays alile to present the State'.s side of the case in the most favorable attitnde. As a resuU he was able to co])e with the most distinguislied of lawyers in the many important cases he prosecuted, and he went out of the office having added greatly to his reputation. General I>.\TK did not pose as, nor was he con.sidered, a great law\er, l>tit he was a great advocate and a wonderfully successful practitioner. He marshaled the facts of .anil pre- sented his case, as he did in his ]:iul:)lic speeches, witli great force and effect. Throughout the man's life there was a ring of persuasive sincerity in his \'oice that caught the ear; there was an appealing sense of justice in his words that tottched the hearts of his hearers, whether juries or the people of Tennessee, whom he so often addressed. These charming characteristics and his nianl\' and chivalric mannerism, with the close study that he always ga\-e any subject he discus.sed, made him a formidalile antagoni.st at the bar, on the hu.stings, and in the Senate of the laiited .States. Gn Januar>- 17, 1S56, Lieutenant Batk was married Ko Miss Julia Peete, of Huntsville, Ala., who with their two daugh- ters, Mrs. Sirsan Bate Childs and Mrs. Ma/.ie Bate Mastin, stirvive him. General B.\TK was an intense Democrat of the Calhoun .school. He was often called on to make political speeches in many, if not all. of the stirring cam])aigns that occurred in Teiniessee from his advent in pulilic life, which we see began when he was about twenty and three years of age. He was a candidate in his Congre.ssional di.strict for elector on the Address of Mr. Gaines^ of Tennessee 69 Breckinridge and Lane ticket in i860. His opponent was Col. E. I. Gollida}', of Lebanon, Tenn., one of the most elo- quent speakers in the State, who afterwards .served as a Mem- ber of Congress from the Fourth Congressional district of Tennessee. In this campaign Colonel vSmith sa3-s : "General Bate acquitted himself as a political speaker with entire satisfaction to his friends." In 1861. as might have been expected, General Bate cast his fortunes of war with his native vState, and was among the first Tennesseans to enlist in the Confederate service, and went to Virginia. Of his Confederate record. General Ainsworth writes me as follows : WiLLi.^M B. Bate was elected colonel of the Second Tennessee Infantry, Provisional Army, May 6, 1861, and was appointed to that position by the President of the Confederate States, to take rank .■\pril 27, 1S61 ; was promoted to be brigadier-general, Provisional Army, ()ctol>er 3, 1S62, and to major-general. Provisional Army, February 23, 1864. From May 26, 1861, to July iS, 1 861, Colonel Bate and his regiment performed diity at Fredericksburg, Brookes Station, and other points between the Potomac and Rappahannock rivers, in the military depart- ment of Fredericksburg, bearing a part in resisting an attack by Union naval vessels on the Confederate batteries at Aquia Creek June i, iS6r. Of Colonel Bate's service on this occasion Col. Daniel Ruggles, his superior commander, says : ■ The conduct of my entire force, under the connnand of Colonel BaTK, of i-lie Walker Legion, until my arrival on the field was admirable thi oughout the daj'." Another officer, writing from Aquia Creek to the Confederate secretary of war, under date of June l, 1S61, says ; "Colonel Bate has been assigned the command of the brigade here, composed of his own regiment and the Virginia troops present, and is working with a zeal consistent with the energy and euthusia.sni of his nature." The Second Tennessee was on the field of the first battle of Bull Run, fought July 21, 1S61, as a part of Brig. ('.en. T. H. Holmes's brigade, but it did not become actively engaged with the enemy. Soon afterwards the regiment returned to the line of the Potomac and was stationed at Evans- port, Va., where it confronted the Union forces, occupying the Maryland ■JO Memorial .Iddrcsscs: ]\'illiai)i B. Bate side of the river until February, 1S62. Al)out the middle of that month a sufficient number of its members having reenlisted for the war, and thus insured the continuation of the organization beyond its first year's enlistment, Colonel BaTR conducted the reenlisted men to Tennessee on a furlough granted until April I, 1862. The regiment was reorganized at Corinth, Miss., April 3, 1862, and, under the command of Colonel BATE, participated in the battle of Shiloh, Tenn.. April 6, 1S62. General Cleburne, the brigade commander, in his official report, refers to the regiment and its connnander as follows : "Here the Second Tennessee, coming up on the left, charged through a murderous cross fire. The gallant major * * '■ fell mortally wounded, and the colonel, \V. B. Bate, had his leg broken by a minie ball. Tennessee can never mourn for a nobler band than fell this day in her Second Regiment." Under date of November 22, 1S62, Oen. Braxton Bragg, commanding the .\rmy of Tennessee, reported to the adjutant ami inspector-general, Confederate States army, that "Bate and * " are not likely to return to field duty for months." On t'ebruary 23, 1.S63, Brigadier- General Bate, then in temporary command of the di.strict of the Ten- nessee, was assigned to duty with Lieutenant-General Polk's corps and, on March 12, 1S63, was placed in command of a brigade in Stewart's division. He subsequently bore a part in the Tullahoma campaign, being engaged in action at Hoovers Gap, Tennessee, June 24-26, 1S63. He also participated, as a brigade commander, in the succeeding campaign of Chickamauga. Regarding his services in the battle of Chickamauga, September 19 and 20, 1863, General Stewart, the division connnander, says ; " I desire to express my high appreciation of Brigadier-Generals Brown, Bate, and Clayton, and of their respective commands. Representing the three States of Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee, they vied with each other in deeds of high and noble daring. The Confederacy has nowhere braver defenders led by more .skillful commanders." He continued to command a brigade in the ensuing Chattanooga- Ringgold campaign until November 19, 1863, on which date, by virtue of seniority of rank, he was placed in commaml of Breckinridge's divisiorK which he commanded in the battle of Missionary Ridge, November 25, 1863, and in covering the retreat of the Confederate army therefrom. General Bragg, the army commaniier, in his official report, says : "Brigadier-Generals * * * and Bate * " ' were distinguished for coolness, gallantry, and successful conduct throughout the engage- ments and in the rear guard on the retreat." On February 27, 1864, while at Dalton, Ga., Major-General BATE was regularlv assigned to the command of Breckinridge's division, which was thereafter designated as " Bate's division." Address of Mr. Gaines^ of Toinessee 71 In opposing General Sherman's advance on Atlanta; with General Hood's northward movement, culminating in the battles of Franklin and Nashville ; and in the campaign of the Carolinas, terminating in the sur- render of General Johnston's army at Durham Station, N. C, April 26, 1865, General Bate bore an active part, being wounded in front of Atlanta August 10, 1864. All of the troops of Cheatham's corps engaged in the battle of Bentonville, N. C, March 19, 1865, were commanded by General Bate. He was paroled at Greensboro, N. C. , May i, 1865. Official statement furnished to Hon. John W. Gaines, House of Rep- re.sentatives, June 16. 1906. By authority of the Secretary of War : V. C. AiNSWORTH, Tin- Military Sccfctary. Being a mere child during the ci\'il war, I have no personal knowledge of the fortitude and many heroic deeds of General Bate during that conflict, but have the good fortune of being able to present to-day, in pleasing detail, from the pen of another, some of his heroic acts in that unfortiuiate and bloody struggle. Dr. William J. McMurray, who was first lieutenant in Com- pany B, Twentieth Tennessee Infantry, often called by General B.\TE his "Tenth Infantrj- Legion," in the Nashville American of March 10, 1905, writes most interestingly of the brilliant military career of General B.^TE. Doctor McMurray, whom I well knew, was himself a brave Confederate soldier, and to his recent death a distinguished physician of Nashville. Doctor McMurraj' says: In May, 1S61, when the clouds of war began to hang low. General B.\TE offered his services to the South and joined its forces as a private. He was at once elected captain and then colonel of that famous Second Ten- nessee Infantry Regiment. His last" great battle was that of Shiloh, where he .shared the work of Cleburne's brigade of Hardee's corps on the e.>itreme left of the Confed- erate lines. Here he bravely led his regiment through a murderous fire, when he fell severely wounded, a minid ball breaking both bones of his "Error, evidently, as article shows he was engaged in several "great battles" after Shiloh fight. /- Mentor/a/ . It/t/nssrs: ]]'illia»i B. Bate leg and cutting an artery unilcr liis knct- . His liorsc was killed at that same time. His gallantry and that iif his regiment was so marked that he was hon- orahly mentioned in the reports of both Generals Cleburne and Hardee, and on October 3, 1862, he was promoted to brigadier-general, and onthis spot where he fell his old regiment has erected a monument. On account of his wonnil he was put in temporary command of the dis- trict of northern Alabama. In February, 1863, he was again assigned to the field and put in command of Raines's brigade of Polk's corps, General Raines having been killed in the battle of Murfreesboro, and in June, 1863, he was removed from this brigade and assigned to a newly formed brigade, composed of the Fifty-eighth .\labama. Thirty-seventh Georgia, Fifteenth, Thirty-seventh, and Twentieth Tennessee regiments, and Cas- well's Georgia Battalion, and assigned to the division of the grand old hero, A. P. Stewart, Company B, Twentieth Tennessee Infantry, his Tenth Infantry Legion. He took part in the Tullahonia canijiaign with much credit. .At the battle of Hoover's Gap, on June 23, 1863, General Bate, with the Twentieth Tennessee Regiment and the little Georgia battalion, fought for two hours two brigades of Federals, and when other reenforcements came up, which was the remainder of his brigade. General Stewart arriv- ing upon the field about nightfall, found General B.\TK in command with a fle-sh wound in his leg, but .still on the firing line. General Rosecrans, in his official report, says this little handful of soldiers under B.\TK delayed the left wing of his army for thirty-six hours and prevented him from getting possession of Bragg's comnmnicatious and forcing him to a di.sastrous battle. It was about Ihi^ time that tlie political ])arties of Tennes.see offered General B.\TE the nomination for governor of Tennessee, which w-ould taV : '''m from the field, but he declined and .said he could not accept a civ:, position while he could serve his people upon the field. General B.\TE next took a prominent part in the battle of Chickamauga; he fired the first gun in that historic .struggle, on the banks of the river of death, on Friday evening, September iN, driving the Federals from Thed- fords Ford, cros.sing that stream the next morning, and about 2 p. m. went into action as a part of the Confederate reserve. During this first charge of Stewart's division, which was composed of the brigades of Brown, Clayton, and B.\TK, the Federal right center was broken for the first time, anil the enemv was driven back for more than i mile down by the Kelly house, on across the Rossville road, down to the tauyard, in the Dyer field, and a glance at the map of that field will show that Bate led his men farther to the front than any other Confederate troops that day. The next day Bate and his men participated in that death struggle. All dav long the battle raged until finally Snodgrass Hill was captured. Address of Mr. Gaines, of Tennessee 73 and when that great blue mass slid down from the northern slope of Snodgrass Hill the Eufaula battery was attached to BaTE'S brigade that had fired the first gun of the battle on Friday evening and fired the last gun on Sunday evening. In this engagement Bate's brigade entered the fight with i.i->55 mus- kets and had killed and wounded 607. Every field officer in his brigade was killed or wounded but two or three. After this battle President Davis followed in the track where Bate and his men fought, and in less than thirty days Brigadier-General Bate, of infantry, was offered a major-general's conmiission of cavalry. At the battle of Missionary Ridge General BATE commanded Breckinridge's old division just east of the road that led by Bragg's headquarters. Throughout the Georgia campaign of one hundred days' fight he com- manded his division in Hardee's corps. At Resaca he drove back every attempt of the enemy, and at Dallas, Ga., he a.ssaulted Logan's corps in their trenches. On the 22<1 of July he led the flank movement under Hardee which brought on the famous battle of Atlanta, in which General McPherson was killed. On the 6th of August, with his division alone, he fought the battle of Eutaw Creek that checked the right-flank movement of the enemy around Atlanta, capturing several flags, and puni.shing the enemy very severely in this engagement. He was shot through the knee and sent to the hos- pital at Barnesville, Ga. He recovered from this wound just in time to join Hood in his ill-fated campaign in Tennessee. In this campaign he commanded a division in Cheatham's corps, which was Hardee's old corps, and was with this corps when the great nif.s- take was made at Spring Hill, and the next day led his division upon the bloody works at Franklin, where many of his men gained the interior of the enemy's works and held them until the Yankees retreated. Next morning after the battle Geheral Hood ordered General Bate to take the remnant of his division and proceed across the country to the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad and destroy all the blockhouses and bridges between Murfreesboro and Nashville. He was then ordered to rejoin Hood at Nashville, which was done only a few days before the battle of Nashville. It was in this engagement his division was nearly annihilated. While at the angle on that line his Tennesseans were demolished and his Georgians fought until they were surrounded on three sides, yet Bate, with crutch in hand, rode up and down his line urging his men to hold fast. He retreated out of Tennessee with Hood and finally followed Joe Johnston into the Carolinas, and at the battle of Bentonville, the last bat- tle note of the war, General Bate commanded the remnant of his old division and that of Cleburne's, and assaulted the Federal earthworks, overrun them, driving the enemy back and capturing many prisoner.s. 74 Memorial Addresses: M'illiam B. Bate . In this, the last battle and dying agony of the Confederacy, Gen. Wil- liam B. Bate, with crutch in hand and suffering from many wounds, was a conspicuous figure. He stood here literally in the last ditch. General Bate returned to Nashville after the war and enjoyed a lucra- tive practice in the law, was twice elected governor of the State, and four times sent by an appreciative people to the Ihiited States Senate, the greatest honor within their gift. No braver soldier ever un.slieathed a .sword or shouldered a. gun than General Batk. Whether walking or riding, sick or well, mangled on the battlefield or hobbling on crutches, defying the imperious surgeon's knife or facing the mowing grapeshot, he was the personification of dauntless courage, demanding his rights as he saw them, courting death at every turn rather than be unfaithful in the least, act a coward in the slightest, or fall slnjrt of the full measure of duty well done. Ever cautious, studious, and thoughtful before arriving at his conchisions, whether the (juestion concerned a civic, mili- tary, or legislative responsibility, he always had an opinion as to what was right and what was wrong and unbendingly and imiuovabh^ stood f(.)r what he thought was right. He never bent the truth nor swer\-ed in doing, or trying to do, his full duty, re.gardless of the consequences. He never struck below the belt. He was always open, frank, with friend or foe, a gentleman of tlie very highe.st honor, and as far from fraternizing at any time, anywhere, with any man who fell short of this high standard as any man who was ever honored by State or nation. So severe was his wound received at Shiloh tliat the army surgeon informed C.eneral B.\TE that he must amputate his leg to .save his life. But General Bate said it should not be done. The surgeon came to perform the operation, and General Bate drew his pistol and said to the surgeon that he would kill him if he undertook to do so. General Bate was victorious, .saved Address of Mr. Gaiiirs, of Tcinicssce 75 his leg, but ever afterwards walked lame and almost uniformly with a heavy hickory stick. His friends thought after this wound that he would be unfit for active duty in the field, and, in iSh;,. urged him to accept the nomination for the governorship of Teiuiessee, Init he refused and replied in the following remarkably characteristic words : Wartrace, July // , igOj. Gentlemen : In reply to your telegram of to-day I beg to say that, however flattering the honor you suggest and to which I am not insen- sible, tliere is a duty that rises above it. As a son of Teimessee and a southern soldier, I would feel dishonored in this hour of trial to quit the field. No, .sirs ; while an armed foe treads our soul and I can fire a shot or draw a blade I will take no civic honor. I had rather, amid her mis- fortunes, be the defender than the governor of Tennessee. Let me exhort to harmony. Respectfully. W. B. B.vTE. Messrs. Galloway, Rick, Winchester, Brown, and others. I dare say he never sought, as a Mexican or Confederate soldier, as a private or major-general, any position of security, if duty called him elsewhere. He was the kind of a man who would resolve every doubt against himself in deciding on what liis full duty was as a citizen, on the battlefield, or in any civic position he ever filled. He was amongst the first Tennesseans to enlist as a Federal soldier in the Mexican war. He was one of the first Tennes- seans to enlist as a Confederate soldier in the civil war. In each of these wars he fought to the last — initil the bloody sword had settled the questions in dispute. And when death touched him with the harness .still on he would have then died for his country if it had been necessary. The man's whole life shows that this is not an extravagant statement. Though the cause of the Confederacy was to him always an absolutely just cause — a fight for equal rights for equal State.s — 76 Mciiiorin/ .hfc/rrssis: ]]'iUia)!i B. Bate hf acceiitt-d tlie arhitraiiifiit of tlie sword in 1S65, and, like a niaiil\' and jiatriotic man that he was, stood sponsor for a reunited countr\' in fact and law and died as he wished — in the service of his native State and coinitrx" — a wish his State had »a;ratified li>' electini; him the fourth time to the Senate at the advanced aj^e of jy years, and over one of Tennessee's most gifted statesmen. Having been designated by the vSecretary of War as one of those to speak for Confederates at the dedication of Chicka- niauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, General Bate delivered a most memorable sjieech, which I hope that every ■ mendjer of Congress, and every man, women, and child in this Republic niaj- at an early day impartial!)- read and study. General Bate, in part, .said: The principles in deffiise of •which the South accepted hattle were foiinil ill the Constitution. Whatever may Ije the right or the wrong, the Soiitli believed she was right, and the' principles in defense of which the .South accepted battle, after peaceably seceding from the Union, were found in the Constituion and taught by the fathers. The South claimed and asked nothinj^ more than equal rights, not of persons only, but of States, equal privilej^es in all parts of the Union; equal protection where- ever the flag floated to every person and to every species of property recognized by anj- State. Less than th.it was suljordination, not equality. Thus, Jlr. Chairman, it may be seen that the facts of history, the writ- ings of the founders of our Federal system, the reservations of the States when ratifying the Constitution, and, it may I)e .said, the resolutions and platforms of political parties, and the course of administration up to that time, all united to sustain the theor\- that our Federal Union was a com- pact of confederation from which any State could peaceably withdraw. When equal rights and equal privileges were denied to the South, an appeal to the court of last resort between sovereign .States became abso- lutely necessary —an appeal to war — that tribunal of force whose judgment is final, whether just or otherwise. In its forum the States joined issue, and when its decree was found against the .South we bowed to it as final, without coiLsenting to it as just or ri,ghteous. Its irreversible result will not again be questioned, but is accepted with a solemn .sen.se of duty, over- cast with natural and unavoidable sorrow. It now becomes our duty, as ex-Confederate soldiers, to maintain the Government with true faith, and defend the (lag of our countrj- with the Address of Mr. Gaines, nf Tennessee 77 same courage and devotion that \vc gave to our "little cross of St. Andrew." That, Mr. Chairman, is the essence of the unvarnished story of the causes which led to our civil war. We take no exceptions to the sense of duty which impelled the people of the North to peril all of the Constitu- tion, all of material wealth, and that wider wealth of individual life to maintain the union of States, for it but shows their love and deep devotion to the Union. The South proffers at the bar of history and in the forum of conscience a rectitude of motive and a warrant of law not less moral and righteous than all that animated the North. Publicists may draw distinctions between just and unjust wars, but in civil conflicts for inalienable rights victory can not sanctify the wrong nor defeat invalidate the right. Our civil war established beyond controversy that the North was the stronger in all the materials of war and had vastly greater facilities for making them available, having, be,sides internal resources, the outside world to draw from; but beyond that human reason can draw no rightful conclusion, and the right or wrong is left to impartial history. And, Mr. Chairman, I have not the least apprehension that impartial hlstorv will fail to recognize the justification of the South in the records of our country and find that, according to the faith that was in her people, and their judgment made up from that standpoint, there was no alterna- tive left in 1S61 liut to appeal to arms; and I affinn, Mr. Chairman, with ecjual confidence, that any comparisons of the two sections, from the earli- est times to the present day, will not find the South to have been less patriotic or less solicitous for the honor, glory, and welfare of the I'nion. Among the thousands of blessings with which a kind Providence has crowned our country' there is one which of all others we are prone least to appreciate — the blessing of peace. The pomp of war, its imposing spectacles, its glittering array, the measured tread of armed men, and the neigh of the war horse — "as he .smelleth the battle from afar, and to the trumpet saith ha! ha!" — captivate the eye and intoxicate the senses, while the halo of military glory quenches the pulsation of humanity and veils from sight the widowed m^jther and the weejiing orphan kneeling on the bloody hearthstone. We men from yonder battlefields know what war is, and while holiling ourselves ever ready to touch elbows in line of battle against foreign foes, our experience, our courage, and our patriotism warn us to "beware c)f entrance to a quarrel." The blood and carnage of 1861-1865 should not be repeated. No thoughtful man, however, is free from grave apprehensions when he sees the ugly signs outcrop here and there and hang ominously over the des- tinv of our country. We even now see the faint yet vivid flashes and 7>S Meuiorial Addresses: ]]'illiani B. Bate hear the thuiultr in the distance, and pray that the storm may pass harmless. When tlie time comes, which we pray may never come, that calls our men to battle, the record of the past gives promise and assurance to the future that the descendants of the men who followed Bragg on yonder field will be as responsive to the call, as valiant in the fight, and as vigorous in the pursuit as the children of those who rallied under Rosecrans, And should danger come, I believe the conservative .South may yet prove to be the rod that will conduct the fiery bolt harmless to the earth, and when liberty takes her flight, if she ever should, from this country, her last resting place will be in our Constitution-loving and Constitution- defending South. We of the South love our comrades with no less devotion; we see in them no less courage, honor, manliness, and patriotism than you recog- nize in your fellow-soldiers. To the men of the South their cause was not less holy, not less sacred, not less rightful than you esteem that for which your armies fought Col. James W. I51ackmore, a lifelong friend, leading lawyer and citizen of Gallatin, Tex., in a recent letter to me says: After the surrender of the Confederate army General Bate came home and found the property he owned had been attached for security debts, and he was left with but little to start on. But he went to Nashville and began the practice of law there, and .soon won distinction in his profession and gaineil a remunerative practice. After the civil war and for many years previons to his elec- tion as governor of Tennessc be jtracticed law in Nashville in partnership with Col. Frank E. Williams, a very able lawyer. He never practiced his profession after he was elected governor or to the United States Senate. He seemed to delight in giving his whole time to the ptiblic. General B.\TE was a man in whom the people must have had and did have implicit confidence, for he was almost continuon.sly filling, with or withont compensation, some place of distinction and trust. He was a delegate to the Democratic national co«i- vention in iS68, some of his brother delegates being the late lamented John F. House, A. O. P. Nicholson, Thomas A. R. Nelson, and Nathan Bedford Forre.st. Gen. W. B. Bate served Address of J/r. Gaines, of Tennessee 79 as a member of the committee on organization, which made the Hon. Horatio vSeyniour president of the convention, and A. O. P. Nicholson vice-president, and Joseph H. Thompson secretary for the State of Tennessee. General Bate was also one of the committee to inform the nominees of their nomination. Judge Nelson, for the Tennessee delegation, nominated Andrew Johnson for President, and for the first six ballots he received the full vote of this delegation and for several times thereafter. As further evidence of General B.vte's loyalty and sincere devotion to a reunited people, one country, and one fiag, we have only to glance over the balloting of this hi.storic convention and .see the entire Tennessee delegation casting their vote for Franklin Pierce, George H. Pendleton, \V. S. Hancock, Thomas A. Hendricks, and Horatio Seymour for the Presidential nomi- nation, all of whom had opposed the cau.se of the Confederacy on the field of battle, in the forum, or on the .stump. And this only three years after the smoke of battle had lifted from the stricken Southland. On the twelfth ballot the first and only vote cast for George B. McClellan was given by Tennessee ' ' midst cheers and great applau.se," the balance of the votes being divided between John- ,son and Pendleton. On the thirteenth ballot the vote was unchanged, except one cast for Franklin Pierce. On the fourteenth ballot the vote was equally di\'ided between Hancock and Pendleton. On the fifteenth it stood half for Jolukson and half for Pendleton. On the .sixteenth and .seventeenth ballots the vote stood five and one-half for John.son and the balance for Pendleton. But on the eighteenth, when "Tennessee" was called, the chairman of the delegation .said : The State of Tennessee, faithful to him who has ever been faitliful to our country, casts her united vote for Andrew Johnson. 8o Mrtiioriiil Aiidrrssrs: II 'illiaiii B. Bate The onl\' vote he received on this ballot. On the nineteenth and twentieth ballots her ten \-otes were cast for Hancock amidst applause. On the twenty-first liallot the vote stood five for Johnson, two and one-half for Hancock, one-half for Hendricks, one-half for McClellan, two and one- half not x-otinu. On the twentx'-second ballot Tennessee cast three and one-half votes for Hancock, one and one-half for Hendricks, one for vSeynionr, and four for Johnst)n. On the first roll call Ohio cast twenty-one votes for vSe\'niour, and Ten- nessee one; total, twent\-t\\o. Before the balloting concluded New Jersey, \\'esl \'iri;"inia, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, Maine, and (Georgia changed their votes to Se\-mour, and he was nominated. When nominatiims for \'ice- President were jiresented and the name of Tennessee was called the chairman of tiie Ten- nessee delegation said : Mr. Chairman, it is the plea.sure of the Tennessee delegation that the vote of the Slate of Tenne.ssee .shall he cast by a distinguished southern soldier, whom I have the hi>nor to present to the convention — N. K. I'or- re.st. [tVreat ai>plause.] Whereupon (reneral Forrest said : I have the pleasure, sir, to cast the vote of Tenne.ssee for General Blair, and I wish to take this occasion to thank the delegates here for the kind and uniformly courteous treatment that the southern delegates have received at this convention. [Great cheering.] This ci)n\ention met Jul\- 4, iSdS, and as.sembled at Tam- many Hall. Fur twelve _\ears C.eneral H.VTK served as a member of the national Democratic executive connnittee. In 1S75 he was defeated for the I'nited States Senate by a narrow margin. (.)n one ballot he was elected by one vote, btit by a change of one vote before the result could be announced there was a tie as against the combined vote of ex-President AMrrss of Mr. Gaines^ of Tennessee 8i Andrew Johnson and Mr. Edwin H. Ewing. Finally Mr. Johnson was elected. General Bate was elector for the »State at large on the Tilden and Hendricks ticke.t. in 1876, and made a thorongh canvass of the State. He ahvays loyally supported the nomi- nees of the Democratic party and its platforms. He was a "strict constructionist" of the old .school, a State rights advo- cate of unsuspected fidelity. I distinctly remember that during his first or .second cam- paign — his second, I think — for governor, the Democratic plat- form indorsed and demanded the continuation of a railroad rate-fixing commission law, then unpopular. Throughout a laborious campaign General B.\TE stood .squarely on this plat- form. It appeared for a little while as though he would be defeated becau.se of his fixed determination to stand by this law and for his party platform. About this time one of Tennessee's greatest sons, lawyers, public speakers, writers, and authors. Col. Arthur S. Colyar, said: Scratch the platform and vote for the imtn. This keen discrimination from such a high source rang throughout Tennessee and was on everyone's lips. But Gen- eral Bate .stuck to his party platform, was reelected, a per- sonal triumph, for a legislature w-as at the same time selected which passed a bill to repeal this law, which met with a prompt and vigorous veto from Governor Bate, but the legis- lature nevertheless passed the bill over his ^•eto. The Hon. Park Marshall, State senator of Tennes.see, and I think during the gubernatorial administration of General B.\TE and afterwards intimately associated with him in Wash- . ington City, in a published letter briefly reviews General B.\te's record as governor. After quoting General B.vtk's S. Doc. 403. 59-2 6 82 Moitorial .Iddrcsses: ]\'iUiai)i B. Bate immortal telegram from W'artrace, Jul\- 17, 1.S63, already cited, declining the honor of a nomination for governor. Mr. Marshall says: ■ With his (lesperale wounds still uiihealeil. unable to move about except on crutches, Wili^iam B. B.aTK sent the above reply from the Confeder- ate camp at Wartrace to the convention which virtually offered him the office of governor. These words were not spoken in idleness, nor was that spirit that gave them utterance broken to the end of those days "that tried men's souls." even after other severe wounds had been received at Hoovers Gap and at Atlanta, nor after the marches and battles from Atlanta to Nashville and from Nashville to the end at Bentonville. Many a man — and true man at that — would gladly, under the circum- stances, have accepted the call of his State to the high and more secure office of governor and been held blameless. Nineteen years later the people, under trying circumstances, again called upon W. B. B.-VTE to take the office of governor. Now, the con- ditions had changed. General B.\TE had accepted the arbitrament of war, and was pursuing the practice of his profession, in which his success was very great, lie had earned sufficient money with which to payoff |;3o,ooo of antewar debts, and his income was much greater than the salary attached to the office of governor. Yet he accepted the nomination when his chances of election were extremeh- doubtful. Indeed, many of those who were considered the best judges were of the opinion that the probabilities were altogether again.st him and again.st any other man who should make the race. Democratic prospects were at the lowest ebb in the State at which thev have ever stood since 1S6;;. It is clear that neither at this time nor in 1S63 did General B.\TK reach a decision to promote his own comfort. Everyone must remember what a nightmare the State debt question was during the whole period from iSyoup to 1SS3, how it arraj-ed neighbor against neighbor, smothered almost every other issue, and paralyzed the .Stale, until' finally it sjilit the Democratic party in twain and in 18S0 elected a Repuljlican governor and State officials. In 1882 the split had shown no signs whatever of mending while the debt itself was growing apace. It was at this time that the Democratic party turned to General BATE, who did not .seek the office, and appealed to him as a strong and suitable man to lead them. He accepted, out of a pure sense of public spirit, and such was the ability displayed by him in his debates on the stump and sucli the confidence he inspired that the people everywhere crowded together to hear him, and he was elected by 27,000 majority. This was the manner of \V. B. B.\Ti;'s introduction to public position after the war, and it was the middle period, as it were, of a line of sue- Address nf Mr. Gaines, of Tennessee 83 cesses unequaled since the time of Andrew Jackson in this State. Before that lie had been, at different times, a soldier in the Mexican war, a member of the legislature, district attorney-general, private, captain, major, colonel, brigadier-general, and major-general, successively, in the Confederate army, and for seventeen years a most successful lawyer; while, since 1882, he has been governor four years and United States Senator seventeen years, and no semblance of a taint has attached to him in any of these positions at any time. But we are speaking of him especially in his relations to the office of governor. Here it may be remarked that a good object, only partialh- accomplished, may long be remembered with admiration, for the endeavor and regret for such failure as ma}- be incident to it, whilst one, perfectly accomplished, may soon be forgotten as no longer demanding attention. Let not Senator BaTE'S successes, though complete, be among those that are forgotten. He brought order out of fiscal chaos, perfect credit to his State, and lasting harmony to the Democratic party. Had he not done these things so well there might not now be so much reason for recalling them to memory. His was not a mere routine administration. All the chief acts of his administration are his and are strongly impressed with his personality and guiding hand. All of his appointments were recog- nized as being responsive to the paramount public interests, and consist- ently therewith, were chiefly given to the men who had "slept in the leaves with him." His attention to the settlement of the ,State debt was a.ssi(luous and constant, the hour of midnight often finding him at his office in the capitol engaged in the work. He adopted a system of doulple checking to avoid errors. Every seal was impressed on every bond and every executive signature was written by his own hand. Not an error occurred throughout the whole transaction. The Bank of Tennessee money and the Torbett Issue were settled and refunded into certificates under his per.sonal supervision and by his own hand. His administration was pro- ductive of perfect satisfaction to friends or foes alike, from a business standpoint at least. During the whole four years he had but one assistant in his office — the adjutant-general — who also acted as his private secretary, except that there was a very small appropriation for clerical assistance in each of his two terms, part of which, being unused, was turned back into the treasurv. The committee of the legislature having the debt settle- ment in charge proposed to allow him compensation for the great extra labor to be imposed upon him, but this he positively declined to pennit to be enacted into law, saying that his salary was fixed before his election, and he would not receive a dollar in addition thereto, and did not do so. Governor Bate fixed 30 cents on the hundred dollars as a fair rate of taxation — just to the taxpayer and at the same time sufficient to pay cur- rent expenses and interest on the .State debt and have a suqiliis for enier- 84 Memorial Addresses: U'illiaiii /.'. Bate geiicies and for the gradual reduction of the del)l. This rate was found to l)e an eminently satisfactory one. With it he paid current expenses, paid the interest on the debt, paid the large costs of asylums built, and in addition paid off |596,oc.xj of Bank of Tennessee money. His administra- tion was in every detail eminently economical and wise, and is often sjioken of, without disparaging others, as a model one. With B.\TK's administration, the amount of the debt having been fixed and -settled, began the first really orderly system of taxation after the war, which has grown with the growth of population and prosperity since the debt was settled until the revenues, by steady annual growth and accre- tions, are now- far greater than they then were, the growth in volume being .steady and the amount of receipts for the year just pa.ssed, under Governor Frazier, being considerably greater than those for any previous year, while at the .same time the expen.ses were practically the same as those of the .several years immediately before. So exemplary and satisfactory \vas the administration of Gov- ernor B.\TE the Democrats elected him to the United .State.s Senate in 1887. He was reelected in iSy;, and in 1S99 and kjo.s, having taken his seat for the fourth time in that body March 4, just five days before his death. His long service in the Senate appears in the ufficial record, open to e\-ervone. It speaks for it.self, as his deed> alwa\s spoke for him. whether in peace or war. He was constant. inteUigent, efficient, loyal, and patriotic. His devotion to dut\ , to that unusually high standard he set and maintained, was superb, and won for him the confidence and re.spect of his colleagues and the .admiration and applau.se of the people of Tennessee regardless of party. Thev well knew they could retire at any hour, day or night, and know that he wuuld be found ])romptly at his post, ready to toe the mark. His private and public deeds are above sus- picion; his record .spotless. The old and young of this or any land can profitably rend and study his history and ennilate his illustrious example. No private or public monument need be erected to his mem- ory. His life, his teachings, his deeds, these, his .self-erected Address of Mr. Gaines, of Tennessee 85 monument, constructed day by day, will last as long as the human eye can read and unseared consciences .shall dwell in the hearts of civilized man. He was a tender and con.siderate hn.sband and father. His devotion to his wife — "my cheerful companion and m\- faith- ful comforter, through war and peace, through weal and woe, through good and evil fortune " ' — was a beautiful and continu- ous courtship, so much .so as to be often the subject of the happiest comment. He was charitable without o.stentation. He was a faithful church attendant. Although his citizenship and home were in Nashville, a city studded with .schools, colleges, and churches, he clung with filial devotion to his old homestead about Castalian Springs, some 40 miles from Nashville. A few years before his death he joined the Baptist Church, of which his mother had been a member, and in the same chapel in which she had worshiped down to her death, located near the scenes of his childhood. He wi.shed to be and was baptized at the same place, in the same little stream in which his mother, years before, had been immersed. This was all done without the people of Nashville, a city of 150,000 people, knowing anything about it for some time afterwards. There were small and large Bapti.st churches in Nashville that were thoroughly religiously conducted, whose membership was composed of his intimate friends and com- rades, to whom he was always devoted. This unusual act must have been prompted l:>y his devotion to that " spot of sunshine" where he was born and reared, and reverence for mother, mother's church, and her old church hou.se. He followed mother's example, stepped in mother's footprints down to the little stream and down into the very pool where she years before was baptized. All this, and the 86 Memorial Addresses: ]]'illiai)i B. Bate quiet, modest waj- in which he had it done, is, I believe, with- out precedent. Thus he paid homage at least to his mother, and exhibited unparalleled respect to this modest chapel, where perhaps he first heard mother lisp her prayers for husband, daughters, and sons; for country, God, and truth. The plain and devout minister who recei\-ed him into this church tenderly and with modest pride alluded to this incident in the religious exercises over the remains of Senator Bate, as they lay covered in a wilderness of flowers offered by the legislature of Tennessee and the people themselves from throughout his native State, who paid last and fitting respect to his memory in the house of representatives in the vState of Tenne.ssee, where fifty-six years before, in the splendor of his young manhood, he had served as one of their lawmakers. His last and fatal illness was brought about from exposure in attending the inauguial ceremonies at the national capital, March 4, 1903. I personalh- warned him against going out in the severe cold that day, but he promptly replied, as he pa,s.sed on out of the Chamber to the platform : "1 think I should go, out of respect to the President. I think it is my duty, sir;" and continued forward with his brother Senators and listened thoiighout to the inaugural address of President Roosevelt. He was .soon stricken with a .severe cold and died in less than five days thereafter. Thus we see this man did finally sacrifice his life in doing what he considered his full duty. His mind was clear to the last. He fully realized that death was soon to close his earthly career, but he was ready. He was calm and met in his weakness his last enemy as he had met others in his strength, with clean hands, unflinching cour- age, clear conscience, and full of hope. With a few friends and his devoted wife about his bedside, he bade them a final adieu, and then thought of far-awav Tennessee and friends Address of Mr. Gaines, of Tennessee 87 that had gone to their final rest, and said: "I am dying. When I am dead take me back to Tennessee and bury me at Mount Olivet among nu' friends." This was done. In the family burying ground in that beau- tiful city of the dead, and, as it happened, in the shadow of the Confederate shaft, that .silent witness of his heroic deeds and those of his Confederate comrades, his remains rest to await the resurrection morn. Repeating tiie words of one of his old comrades, Col. George B. Guild — The greensward of Mount Olivet will never hide a nobler, grander character than Senator Willi.\m B. B.\te; the recital of his manly career as a public servant is an inspiration now and will be for coming years. Courtly gentleman, public-spirited citizen, brave soldier, farewell ! Mr. Speaker, in his death many an humble, plain man, woman, and child in Tennessee has lost a ready and generous sponsor ; the State of Tennessee has last one of its purest citi- zens and public servants ; the Republic has lost one of its most capable and incorruptible Senators. 88 Memorial Addresses: William />'. Bate Address of Mr. Gros\tnor, of Ohio Mr. SpEAKKk: Stiialor 15atk w^is a tyiiical southern man. He was a typical southern soldier. He was a typical southern politician. He was a Democrat of the old school; a Democrat who began his career and ended his career with knowledge and faith in the old time-honored principles of the Democratic party. He believed in those principles, and could he have shaped the policy of his party it would have stood by Democratic princi- ples. Xo false god could have allured him from the beaten pathway and the accepted time-honored principles of Democratic policy. I shall speak, however, little of his political views and more of his record as a soldier and his character as a patriot. I read with some interest this morning a sketch ot his life and public ser\-ices furnished l.)y a friend, and I find that he and I were close together during much of that momentous i)eri(id covered by the civil war, not in sentiment, but in ]ihysical loca- tion, which lasted substantially during all of his great experi: ence in the army — he in an important command and I in a very hmnljle command. It is said in this sketch that his fir.st great battle was Corinth. I was not there. I was then beginning the experience which ripened into over four years of service in the Unicju Arm\-. but General Bate had been a .soldier in the Mexican war, and his career in the civil war illustrates the importance and value of .service experience as a soldier, a value that can not be dupli- cated in any (jther way. It does not appear that between the clo.se of the Mexican war and the outbreak of the civil war General Bate had taken any interest or had any practical connection with military matters, Address of Mr. Grosz'Ciior^ of Ohio 89 and yet the limited service that he had iti the Mexican war in the humble position which he occupied fitted him to at once assume promitience in the new conditions that surrounded him. And so, like many others, some of the volunteers, men without train- ing at West Point, men without active service except this Mexican war experience, found themselves prominent and distinguished. It was well that we had those men. They rapidly transformed our bands of soldiers and artisans and clerks and students into trained and tried and efficient soldiers. The State of Tennessee was peculiarly located with reference to the great events of the great war. Tennessee was already his- torically great- vSiie had produced great men, great soldiers, and had written the name of the gallant " \'olunteer set" upon the historical records of her country, but in the ci\il war Tennessee was our pathway to the South. She occupied the great middle position between the Northeast and the Southwe.st and the South. Strategicalh- Tennessee was the pivot or central point from which radiated the great movements of the two great armies. Grant, coming up the Tennessee and Cumberland b}- way of Fort Henry, reached Pittsburg lyanding, and a column under Buell and Mitchell striking Nashville and central Ten- nessee, and so it was that Tennessee became second only to Virginia as the great theater of the war. And here it was, upon the .soil of Tennessee, that General Bate occupied a prominent position. I shall not di.scuss in detail his merits as a .soldier. They are sufficiently written in the official reports of the army to which he belonged. They are sufficiently written in the appreciation of his fellow-soldiers, and they are sufficienth- written in the loyalty of Tennessee to the men who served under the very eye of the people of that great State. Tennessee was devastated by war. CoUnnns of marching men sweeping across her rich 90 M,-niorial Addresses: William B. Bate fields and through Iilt fair towns and cities left the impress of the devastation of war upon her. That she bore the afflictiou heroically and without a nuirniur is history. She was divided iu sentiment, and much of loyalty and devotion to the old Union remained with her, and no truer men, no more self-sacrificing men, operated under the Stars and Stripes than the men of East Tennessee, who came gladly to the front and formed regiments and fought and bled and died and suffered the destruction inci- dent to war, and suffered the destruction incident to internal strife among the people of the same State. The sweep of the great armies first arriving at Nashville, moving by Murfree.sboro to Huntsville, Ala., came back by Battle Creek and Manche.ster to Na.shville, and thence by Stone River and thence by the Tullahoma campaign, and all the inci- dents of war along the Tennes.see River, ultimately and finally up to the carnage of Franklin and the great battle of Nashville. Surely Tennessee suffered, did not cry out, Init .stood .stubbornly fighting to the entl. In both the.se great battles of Franklin and Nashville, General Bate was a prominent figure. He well might have been, for he was on the soil of his own State and fighting to reach his own home and fighting to make its victory for the cause in which he had embarked. It is said in the sketch to which I referred, that he was pre.sent and participated in the "mi.stake at Franklin." I am not here to discuss military strategy, but if there was a mistake made at the battle of Franklin by the Confederate troops, and I think there was a most serious mis- take, it was n(jt made b>' General Bate or any of the inferior officers of that immense column of active, vigilant, and wonder- fully con-spicuous soldiers. The result at Franklin, while it looked like victory for the Confederates, was in fact a move- ment which ultimately worked disaster, and under all ordinary Address of Mr. Grosvi'iior^ of O/iio 91 circumstances the part of wisdom by the Confederates would have been to wait at Frankhn, halt and consider, and ultimately abandon all the preconceiv-ed notion of Nashville. There was not one chance in a thousand that Nashville could be captured, and it has always seemed to me that the battle of Nashville, pressed upon us by the advancing column of Hood, was the greatest strain upon the soldiers of Tenne.ssee of an}- of the other features of their campaign. The army of Hood had been turned aside from the general movement of the Confederate army at the same time that General Thomas had been located at Nashville. Everyone understood that the grand strategy of the armies involved a successful movement by way of Nashville by the Confederate army onward to the Ohio River. It was perfectly understood by all of us that if that great army should be unsuccessful at Franklin and Nashville, then the\- would be destroyed. They were without a sufficient supply of pro- visions ; the country was absolutely bare of re.sources to aid them ; they were poorly equipped in ammunition and tents and transportation. Here was the flower of the Tennessee troops uuder Cheatam and a number of others whom I might name, and conspicuous among them General B.vte. The\' made their appearance after the disaster at Franklin, for although the I'nion Army fell back with great loss and came to Nashville practically in retreat, yet the movemeut was perfectly understood to be a strategic movement to draw further away the badly crippled army of Hood to its ultimate destruction in front of Nashville. I think there was no greater demonstration of splendid hero- ism, of splendid self-sacrifice, than that exhibited l.)v this arm>- in its appearance before Na.shville on the morning of the lytli day of December of that memorable year. To withdraw and go backward and recross Tennessee Ri\-er to a place of tein- 92 Memorial Addresses: U'l!/ia»i /?. Bate porary safety was defeat and destruction and substantial dis- grace ; to KO forward was death and overthrow and glory. Once across, the suggestion of temporary safety ; after across, the suggestion of honor and defeat. That they who com- manded the awful onslaught upon our lines upon that memora- ble December morning had any hope of success is impossible of belief, but the>- chose the path of honor and glory rather than the path of temporary safety and futile hope of the future. In Na.shville was a vast bod\- of niilitar\- stores, sufficient to have supplied the army during the whole of the coming winter and spring and put them in a position to have marched easily and practically unobstructed to Louisville, for the defeat of the I'ljion Army at Xashville and the forcing of it to retire would have been substantially the opening of a pathway to the Ohio River. Here, then, liefore them was the prospect of supplies, food to hungry men, clothes to .suffering men in midwinter, and the homes of their families, for in the city of Nashville and its surroundings there lived many of the soldiers of Hood's army. So their struggle to get into and take possession of that great and beautiful city of their State was a struggle to save their arm^■, i.ir failing, lose their army. So I say I think there was no greater demonstration of hero- ism than the teriffic attack made by Hood and his columns upon the forts and places around Nash\-ille on that occa.sion. That they should fail was absoluteh' inevitable. But men like Bate knew perfectly well that the end had come unless they were successful, and the terrific liattle was the result of that mental condition of that splendid army. Of course when fate decided against them they were practically de.stroyed, and the things that were witnessed in the pursuit of Hood down b\- wa>- of Franklin to the Temiessee River made an impre.ssion ujion my mind that will never be obliterated. Hundreds of men were Address of Mr. Grosz'ciior, of Ohio 93 found marching in the sUght snow and the pouring rain or standing by the roadside giving up, surrendering, not by order of their commanding officer, but surrendering through the force of actual military and physical necessity; standing there by the roadside we found them with empty haversacks. Now and then a Union soldier would step up to the dejected Confederates and running his hand into his haversack and that old-time question, " What have you got there, Johnny? " was answered by the ex- hibition of a few grains or parts of corn. This was the armj^ thus fed and thus clothed which undertook the desperate work of destroying Thomas's army and capturing Nashville. There were scenes of fraternity and good will and lienevo- lence enacted between the solders of the triumphant army of the Union and the dejected and suffering soldiers of the arm>- of the Confederacy, and as we passed these lines of captured Confederates we were taught at that late period in the war that the real fighting men on both .sides had great admiration for each other. Notwithstanding, therefore, that I do not indorse the general- ship of the battle of Franklin — -surely not — I think there were no better .soldiers in either army than the men under Hood who made the forlorn, hopeless a.ssault upon our works at Nashville at the time I mention. The spirit of Cheatam and B.\TE and a score of others in.spired the soldiers. But let me pass on. General B.\tk was reconstructed, and I never heard anything upon the topic of the work and recon- struction and the new conditions from him until we met at the dedication of the great military park at Chattanooga — the Chickamauga National Park — and I there heard his splendid, comprehensive, eloquent oration. I believed then and I believe now that every word he said was sincere. I have only this one comment to make. It seems to me the conditions in this couu- 94 ATcmoi'ial Addresses: William B. Bate tr}^ have reached the jwint of time wlieii it would be well for ex-Confederates and their representatives to cease saying upon every possible occasion that they believed then that they were right and they believe now they were right. This reiteration is not offensive to me, and if there was any practical good in it I would not comment upon it, but unfortunately no good can come of it. Does anyone doubt that men who fought four long years, left their homes, their wives and their children to suffer, witnes.sed the deva.station of their country, the destruction of their property, the death upon the battlefield of scores and hun- dreds and thou.sands of their fellow-citizens, bearing in their own bodies the wounds of conflicts, believe that they were not sincere? Do men fight that sort of a war for glory? There was no such thing as conquest jiossible. Why did they fight? They fought in a mistaken opinion sternly believed in, faith- fully adhered to, and why keep repeating it ? It .seems to me that it is unnecessary to give assurance that they were honest. Nobody doubts it. It is not worth while to plead "not guilty " when there is no indictment. The world has settled that question. The world has looked on with wonder at the reuniting of the two great wings of this country, the North and the South. In 1890 I was a member of an official connni.ssion which was sent to Europe for certain pnrpo.ses connected with the Chicago Exposition and with relation to the consular ser\'ice in Europe. W'ith a number of the members of that connnission and another connnission I had the honor to be pre.sent ill the city of Berlin at a dinner given by the vice-chancellor of the German Empire. There were present on that occasion a colonel of the Confederate army, a major of the Confederate arniv, a captain of the llnioii Army, and myself, all members of the same commission and all bearing the appointment of the Address of Mr. Grosvenor^ of Ohio 95 Government and all cooperating in the purpose of our mission. Caprivi, the then chancellor of the German Empire, the suc- cessor of Bismarck, himself a soldier of mighty renown, said to me that, in his opinion, the most wonderful feature of our situ- ation and one that he could not understand was the presence upon that commission of men who had served on either side of the great war. He said that would not be tolerated in Europe — there would never be such a gathering as that. The men who rebelled, as he called it, and I call it — and I see no reason wh}- to call it so should be offensive — would be rele- gated to eternal oblivion politically. He said to me, "Do you people over there treat these men just as well as you do your own comrades? " "Yes." I replied, " and sometimes, with a little touch of sympathy in our actions, a little better." He again assured me that it was the mo.st wonderful thing he ever knew and that he could not undenstand it. Another thing I wish to sa^' : Why should not a man like B.\Tfi: have been a member of the Senate of the United States as a representative of the great vState of Tennes.see? He had lived in the State and had fought for the State. He had made sacrifices. He had been shot and bruised, his property had been destroyed. His people sent him here, and under the Con- stitution they had a right to send him here, and their action was supreme and conclusive. No man can question it. Upon the broader plane of national politics, is it wise for the people of the South to constantly appear to recognize and constantly signify an admitted disability in the great political contest of the day of the men who fought on the Confederate .side? Why should they, the people of the vSouth, place conditions of dis- count upon the men who stood in the battle for them? Why limit the honors to be bestowed upon their fellow-citizens and the men who did not fight in the Confederate war? What is g6 Memorial Addresses: ]J'/7/ia»/ B. Bale there in the \-ie\v of the people of this country lo-' in any particular with relation to the action, history, and movements of the United States? When the President of the United States, and he has my approval — I have not had an opportunit>' to know \\\vi else approves it — when our President, a Republican, a northern man, writes such a letter as he wrote to the assembly last night, met in honor of the birthday of Gen. Robert E. Lee, the time has come when the South should quit apologizing or explaining or advertising disabilities and stand upon the front line of their political ideas, recognizing no disal)ilit\ , turning their backs u])on the past, and hailing the i)resent, and such a positicjn would be the best vindication thai the South c<.)uld give to men like Batk. Address of Mr. Clark^ of Missom-i Address of Mr. Clark, of Missouri Mr. Speaker : I am here to join in these proceechngs for two reasons : i. Because I knew and revered General Bate. 2. Because I know and love John Wesley Gaines, who so ably represents the Hermitage district. There are some men in this world from whom a request comes to me as a command. One of these is Brother Gaines. The most pleasant feature of this .solemn occasion is the speech of my venerable friend General Grosvenor, of Ohio. I have heard him make divers speeches upon sundry subjects, but I have never heard him speak more interestingly or more sensibly than to-day. General Grosvenor was a Union soldier and was no carpet knight. He rose from major to brigadier, fwo years ago he and I debated at Nashville. One of the most fondly remembered days of m}- life was spent in companj' with him and Brother Gaines and certain eminent citizens of that city in going over the battlefield on which General Grosvenor commanded a brigade holding one of the .splendid turnpikes and on which General B.ate, commanding a tli vision of Confederates, was a conspicuous figure. During that day, to him full of heroic recollections, General Grosvenor uttered no word touching the brave, ragged, and hungry Confederates who immortalized that field except in prai.se of their valor and in sympathy for their sufferings. You and I, Mr. Speaker, and other men like us, loo young to be soldiers in the war between the States, can never experi- ence the sen.sation which Csesar denominates gaudium cerla- S. Doc. 403, 59-2 7 98 Memorial .ItMrrssts: William B. Bate iiiiiiis, whicli a fLn'orite luiglish-speakiiig- poet has translated into the famous couplet : The stern j- always felt for each other. The men who did the fighting,' never perpetuated the bitterness of the four years" carnival of death. That was done b\' the stay-at-homes. But even they ha\-e ceased at last to stir tip strife, and it is well. Missouri is bound to Tennessee by .strongest ties of filial affection. The .greatest Missourian that ever lived — one of the reall>- great statesmen of the Repulilic — Col. Thomas Hart Benton — though born in North Carolina, grew to manhood and began his high career at Franklin, Tcnn. ISIany other distin- guished Missourians, among them the famous Governor Jo.seph Wingate Folk, and several thou.sand of the .sturdy citizens of that inqierial Commonwealth, first looked upon this glorious world in Tennessee. It is a well-known fact that innnigration closely luigs paral- lels of latitude. North Carolinians settled Tennessee. \'irgin- ians Settled Kentucky. North Carolinians and Temies.seans, Virginians and Kentuckians, together with the elite from every State and ci\-ilized country, settled Missouri originally and, to a large extent, Missourians have peopled the great West even to the golden shores of the peaceful ocean. Pioneers leave their impress upon a State forever in a greater or less degree. If they are a virile race and immigration front stocks other than those from which they sprang does not pour in so as to greatly outnumber the descendants of the original settlers, then the characteristics of the pioneers always remain the dominant characteristics of that people — virtues, traits, Address of Mr. Clark, of Missouri CjCj habits, and even prejudices descendin<;' fruni generation to generation. In no age, in no country, was there ever in any State a set of pioneers of higher qualities than the original settlers of Ten- nessee. Hers is hemic history from the time when William Bean built the first white man's cabin within her l)orders to the present hour. In all the elements of good citizenship they have had no superiors in the annals of the human race. The roll call of her early soldiers and ])ul_ilic men stirs the lilood of a lover of his country even at this late da>-. John Sevier, Isaac Shelby, Andrew Jackson, John Coffee, William Carroll, the Donelsons, the Robertsons, the Blounts, the Overtons, the McNairys, the Searcys, the Davidsons, the Hordemans, the Lewises, the Cookes, Sam Houston, Davy Crockett, Hugh L. White, Felix Grundy, the Roanes, the Bells, and the Bentons are names to conjure with — part of the priceless treasures of the State and of the Republic. What American wortlu- of the name is not proud to claim as countrymen the Tennessee frontiersmen who, armed only with sipiirrel rifles, utterly destroyed the gallant Ferguson and his trained veterans at Kings Mountain, thereby turning back the tide of invasion and starting Lord Cornwallis on his dismal and disastrous journe>- to Yorktown? Who can read without increased jtride in our country the thrilling story of the valor of the raw militiamen of Kentucky and Tennes.see who, on January S, 1.S15, converted Napoleon's quitclaim deed to us of the Louisiana Purchase into a general warranty deed whose validit}- no man may question? From her entrance into the Union, Tennessee has sent to the councils of the Republic strong, clear, admirable, high-miuded men — Men who their duties know. But know their rifjhts, Unci, knowing;, ilare niaintaiu. lOO Memorial Addresses: ]]'illiaiii B. Bate She has given to the Rejnihlic three Presidents — Andrew Jackson, of heroic and blessed nienior}-; James Knox Polk, to whose ability and achievements lnstur>- has never done justice; and Andrew Johnson, to whose career history has done gro.-^s injustice. ( »nl\' three States — Virginia, New York, and Ohio — ha\-e ])rotluced more Presidents. Tennessee has also furnished her quota of Speakers of this House, Cabinet officers, ministers to foreign courts, and judges of the Supreme Court of the United States. She has .sent to our wars so nianx' soldiers and of such .splendid qualities that she has fairly won and proudly bears the title of "The old \'olunteer State." Were the Republic fighting for her life to-day, she would in jiroportion to population send into the ranks of war as many .soldiers and as good ones as any other State in the Union. When I first came to Congress, Tennessee's Senators were Ishani Ci. Harris, czar of her fierce I)enK)cracy, and Gen. Wil- liam H. Bati'., a soldier of two wars. Oeneral K.\TK stood high as a law>'er. He held many minor ci\'il offices ; was twice governor of Tennessee : was elected to the United States Senate for four full terms, tlyhig in the beginning c.if the fourth. In every position he held he dis- charged hi^ duties with capacity, courage, industry, and fidelity. In politics he was a robust, jiatriotic partisan, and ever stood ready to both assert and defend the political faith in which he was born, in which he li\ed all his days, and in which he died. In his vouth he ser\-ed in the Mexican war, being mustered out as a lieutenant. In his prime during the war between the vStates he volun- teered as a private and fought his way to the double stars of a major-general. Address of Mr. Chirk, of Misscmri roi There is little doubt that his magnificent record as a soldier was the chief cause of his becoming governor and Senator. Carl Schurz in his Life of Henry Clay sagely remarks that the American voter likes the smell of gunpowder upon the gar- ments of his Presidential candidate. He might ha\-e extended his dictum so as to include candidates for offices of all sorts and sizes. General Bate was a fine sample of the American volunteer soldiery, upon which we have always chiefly relied, and upon which we will chiefly rely so long as the Republic endures ; for our people without regard to political creed are oppo.sed to a large standing army. In this country so few men desire to be soldiers that in times of peace it is difficult to keep the ranks of our small Army full ; but under necessity every American citizen is a possible soldier, intelligent, patriotic, brave. The greate.st European commander since Napoleon was once asked if he had studied the campaigns and battles of our Union and Confederate armies during their titanic struggle. He answered that he had no time to waste studying the camjiaigns and battles of armed mobs. Perhaps if he had run up against the combined armies of Grant and Lee he would have modified that cavalier opinion very suddenly. I rejoice in the faith that the average American citizen rises equal to the duties of any position in which he finds liimself, and I believe, furthermore, that when our great war closed there were marching in the ranks of the Union and Confederate armies, carrying muskets as privates, thousands of men who would have made capable colonels, brigadiers, or even major-generals if promoted on the instant. Having fought all he could during the four awful years of fratricidal strife. General Batk quit fighting when peace was declared and courageously, resolutely, and intelligently bent I02 Memorial Addresses: ll'i/h'ai)/ B. Bate bis splendid energies to Iniilding up tlie waste places of the South. It is pleasant to remember that he lived long enough to see her rehabilitated and enjoying that great prosperity which is only a ])rophecy of her greater prosperity in the days to come, for no man saw with clearer vision that the develop- ment of the natural resoin'ces of the South is only in its begin- ning and will ere long make it the marvel of the world. He was a modest, unassuming, Christian gentleman of the old school, justly proud of his career, both civil and military. His countr>'nien are jiroud of him and warmly cherish the memory of this veteran soldier and .statesman. Except for the local reference, the fine lines of good Sir Walter Scott are applicable to General B.\te: Soldier, re.st ! thy warfare o'er. Sleep the .sleep that knows not Ijrcaking ! Dream of battled fields no more. Days of danger, nights of waking. In our isle's enchanted hall, Hands unseen thy couch are strewing. Fairy .strains of music fall, Every .sense in slumber dewing. Soldier, re.st ! thy warfare o'er. Dream of fighting fields no more ; Sleep the sleej) that knows not breaking, Morn of toil, nor night of waking. No rude sound shall reach thine ear. Armour's clang, or war-steed champing. Trump nor pibroch summon here Mustering clan, or squadron tramiiing. Yet the lark's .shrill fife may come, At the daybreak from the fallow, And the bittern sound his drum. Booming from the sedgy shallow. Ruder .sounds shall none be near. Guards nor warders challenge here. Here's no war-steed's neigh and champing. Shouting clans or squadrons stamping. Address of Mr. R/c/iardson, of Alabama 103 Address of Mr. Richardson, of Alabama Mr. vSpeaker: I believe that it can l)e truthfully said that Sen- ator William B. Bate will be classed by his countrymen with the highest type of American manhood and true citizenship. That tribute he justly earned in the walks of his private and public life. In the varied and nuiltiplied duties devoh-ing upon him from the time he entered as a private .soldier in the war with Mexico to the hour that his life went out in this city, on the 9th day of March, 1905, the guiding and controlling prin- ciple of his life was devotion to dutj-. During that long period of more than sixty years the people among whom he was born and reared again and again conferred upon him the .highest civic honors within their gift. When the dark clouds of recon- struction were lifting and pas.sing away, the people of the great State of Tennessee by common consent turned to him to bear their banner for the great office of governor of his State. It was a time when a strong, hone.st, and brave man was needed at the helm. He triumphed, as he desen^ed to do. and his wise, able, and honest administration of that high and honor- able trust stands memorable in the annals of his State. His administration was characterized in ever\' official policy and act by the unmistakable, living, and ever-present indi\-idu- ality of the man. As a member of the United States vSenate. Senator B.\TE stood with the foremost for purity of character, the maintenance of public and official lionest}-, and unfaltering frankness in the expression of his honest convictions. Upon great public questions that he had studied and investigated no sentimental policy could influence him to refrain from express- ing his honest opinions. He loved the truth, and his very I04 Memorial Addressvs: Wil/iaiii /?. Bate nature revolted at evasion, deceit, and hypocrisy, coming from whatever source it might. Like all strong, broad, and able men, Senator Hatk was patient and tolerant of the views differ- ing from his, ami in his intercourse with his fellow-men was ever courteous, refined, and gentle. Mr. Speaker, others better informed than I am will speak to-day on the career and life of Senator Batk as a citizen, his ability in the legislative and executive positions that he filled; but it is his record, his cUaracter, his life as a Confederate sol- dier that equally challenges love and admiration, and about which I desire chiefly to speak. I do not hesitate, Mr. Speaker, to .say that midst the hosts of honored, noble, and illustrious men who led our Southern armies in the great civil war none was more devoted in heart, mind, .soul, and l.)ody to the cause of the vSouth than was Gen. WiLLi.VM B. B.VTK. In the early days of iS6i, when the ominous nuUterings of the fearful struggle that was soon to follow between the sections of the South and the North, he promptly offered his services to his people, the people among whom he had been born and reared, the South that he loved, and entered the Confederate army as a private. Without the aid of official help, but depending alone upon his courage, splendid judgment, and sagacity of leadership on tlie field of battle, he rose rapidly from the ranks to the high position of major-general of volunteers. He bore a conspicu- ous and honored part in all of our great battles under Albert ,Sidne>' Johnston, Hood, Bragg, and Joseph E. Johnston. He was the companion and close friend of the immortal Pat. Cleburne. When the future historian, who has yet to write a true history of our great civil war, and give credit to whom credit belongs, and paint in living words the honor, glory, and courage of the brave men who wore the gray and the lihie, he Address of Mr. Ric/iardsoii, of Alabama 105 will pause, then rest, when he traces the immortal trail of death — the march of Bate's Tennessee regiment — as it surged and reeled around the fire-crested summit of vSnodgrass Hill, on the river of death, Chickamauga, leaving more than 67 per cent of men dead and.dying on tlie field. Such dauntless cour- age, such reckless disregard of death, such willingness to gi\-e life for country was never surpassed on any battlefield. I can not, Mr. Speaker, on an occasion like this, follow this great man in all the walks of his noble life — .soldier, statesman, and patriot — but it is sufficient to .say, in part memory of his match- le.ss career in the army of the South, tliat in the last dying battle of the Confederacy, animated by the same unquenchable spirit of love and patriotism for the cause of the South that led him to volunteer in the earliest days of the war, General B.\TE, wounded, and with his crutch in his hand, led the last charge on the enemy's lines at Benton\-ille, X. C. Truly it can be said of him, Mr. Speaker, that he greeted the first bright cheering rays of the rising .sun of the Con- federacy, and after four long, bloody, and dark years, the lingering rays of that .setting sun played mournfully upon him and his brave men as they made the last charge on the enemy's line. ■ Is it any wonder that such a record, such an inspiring and ennobling career, should call for the deep love of his Con- federate comrades who linger behind him and cause them to speak of him in the highest terms of praise? Mr. Speaker, it rarely occurs in the life of a man that one incident, one event, unfolds his character in vivid and living colors. In the early part of our civil war a great convention was assembled at Na.shville, Tenn., and after thoughtful and patriotic consideration a call was made on General B.vtk to leave the field, come home, and accept the office of the gov- io6 Mciiiorin! Addresses: ]\'illiani B. Bate ernor nf his State. The spirit that gave utterance to his reply ranks liini as a patriot whose name ought never to die. Said he: As a sun of Tennessee and a Southern soldier, I would feel dishonored in this hour of trial to quit the Held. * * * I had rather, amid her misfortunes, be the defender than to be the governor of Tennessee. Sucli sentiments could only emanate from the heart of a man noble and grand in the image of his Maker. The world has ever bestowed its choicest wreaths of honor and glory upon the ])atriot soldier. The man who turns his back upon a high, glittering, and in\-iting ci\-ic honor, preferring hardships of camj) life and the carnage of the battle, to stand with his country in her mis- fortunes, is the noblest type of Ciod's creation, and deserves the ])raise of his fellow-men. \Vhile it is true that General Bath won the highest honors and on several occasions received the commendation of his superior otficers for gallantry on tlie field of battle, it is also true that his example on his return home, under the .sliadows of defeat, deserve as nuich praise as when he fearlessly led his brave men into the jaws of death. Midst his .stricken, dis- heartened, impo\-erislied people he stood as a tower of strength. The devastation, the gloom, and the sorrow that greeted him from all sides, the cruelty and oppression that marked the days of reconstruction in the ,South, never dismayed or subdued his proud spirit. He had fought a good fight for a cau.se he loved, and in her ruins and ashes the .South was dearer to his heart than in its days of glory, wealth, and jiower. Repining over that which was lost was no part of his nature. To meet and prepare for the future of the South, to restore order, law. and peace where lawlessness prevailed, to weld acrain the broken links of the Union, and to restore the govern- Address of Mr. Richardson, of Alabama 107 iiient of Tennessee and the States of the South t<:) the hands of its white people was the great ambition of liis life. In this noble work he steadily labored, and his people followed him as a trusted and wise leader. Such an example from such a man, under conditions existing at that time, can not now be esti- mated or understood as to its real \-alue except b)- those who passed through the reign of terror that swept the South in the days of reconstruction. I do not hesitate to say that it was the example and wise counsel of such southern leaders as General B.\te that stimu- lated and encouraged the brave and matchless soldiers of the South, who surrendered their flag under the orders of their great commanders — General Lee, at Appomattox, and General Johnson, at Bentonville — to submit peacefully to the wicked and studied usurpations and cruelties of the " Freedmen's Bureau" and the pillaging army followers, and ga\-e their hearts and hands to the restoration of the Union. A great and difficult work was before these brave men, and nobly and grandly have they accomplished it. It should be a profound satisfaction to the friends and ad- mirers of this true and beloved .son of the South that God spared his life long enough for him to realize that kind, cor- dial, and friendh- relations between the States of the North and the South for which he had so unselfishly and patriotically labored by precept and example had been fully restored, and that he died a citizen of a highly prosperous and reunited country. Quite fifty years ago General B.\tk led to the marriage altar in my home town, the city of Huntsville, Ala., Miss Julia Peete, one of the most accomplished and charming daughters of the .South. Reared midst the endearing a.sso- ciations of culture, refinement, and hospitality of a typical loS Memorial Addrcxscs: ]\'illiai)i /?. Bate southern home before the war, this noble woman crowned and blessed her chivalrous husband and her home with a purity and tenderness of love and devotion that makes home the hallowed altar of domestic happiness, love, and peace. The people that I hax'e the honor to represent on this floor — embracing the \'alley of the Tennessee — have watched and fol- lowed General P)ATK with ])ride in his distinguished and hon- ored career. We ha\-e rejoiced in his \-ictories and his death brought sorrow to our hearts and tears to our c>-es. \'iew him, Mr. Speaker, as we may, in either of the walks of life — civil or militarv — in ])eace or in war, in \ictory or in defeat, as a Senator of the United States or as the chief executive of his State, we find in Senator Wii.i.i.VM B. B.vTE an unfaltering devotion to his convictions of duty, a quiet and submissive endurance under the trials of adversity — brave and tender — a character for purit>- and hone.sty untouched by the taint of suspicion, which entitles his memory to l.)e held dear in the hearts of his countrvmen. Address of Mr. James, of Kcntncky 109 Address of Mr. James, of Kentucky Mr. Speaker: ^^'e are told that the true measurement of the giant oak can be best taken when it is down. So it is with the life of a great man. In the presence of death all men are im- partial ; then envy has no hope to actuate it : malice has no motive to inspire it ; ambition sees no genius in its path ; history then becomes the unbiased witness. Judged by every standard, whether in the full glow of political life or at the journey's end, Senator William B. Bate has performed with marked abilit5' in every position to which he has been chosen. Gen. William B. Bate was four times elected to the Senate from the State of Tennessee, and after having just entered upon his fourth term, on March 9, 1905, he was called to his last reward. Seventy-nine years of age, having served his country faithfully, and having distinguished him.self in peace and in war, he laid down his burden with a name as spotless as his .service had been. He typified in character, in courage, and in chivalry the Old South. He believed the Union was made up of equal States with equal rights, and that those rights which were not plainly and specially given by the Constitution to the Union were specially re.served to the States. He was a lover of local self-government. He believed truly that the government governed best that governed least. He had confi- dence in the wisdom of the people; he did not believe in power being placed in a few hands, and he believed, too, that govern- ment amongst men derived its just powers from the consent of the governed, and therefore he opposed to his uttermost impe- rialism, whether it was the imperialism of England over the Boers, or whether it was the imperialism of America o\-ei the no Mcii/on'n/ Adi^rcsscs: ]]'illiaiu B. Bate Philippines. He would raise in front of the marching arm.v of either the declaration that govennnents can exist among men only by the consent of the governed. He was a Democrat in the true meaning of that term, loyal always to his party nominee and faithful to its platform declarations. His whole official life was an exemplification of true Democracy. Ten- nessee has furnished main- great men to the Republic. It furnished Jackson, who dro\-e the Biddies out of power, who led the triumphant armies at New Orleans; furnished Polk, who defeated Clay; furnished Andrew Johnson, who succeded to the Presidency upon the death of Lincoln. General Bate had the courage of Jackson, the brilliancy of Polk, and the adroitness of Johnson. Tennessee and the Republic may say of him that indeed "Ulysses has gone and left none l)ehind him strong enough to bend his bow. ' ' General B.\TE was a Confederate soldier, and whether at Chickamauga or Snodgrass Hill or at Missionary Ridge, com- manding Breckinridge's old division, or at bloody Shiloh, he was the same dashing, courageous soldier. In the last-named battle he was wounded, but holding to his crutch and for- getting his pain in the glory of battle, he rode up and down the line cheering the boys m gray. Fighting with that vast army of courageous southerners for the Constitution as the fathers taught it to them, he exhibited a courage and daring that finds no counterpart in the history of the world's wars. No panegyric pronounced by me could add to the glorious history of this devoted army in conflict for courage, for if all that constitutes that term in our language should be lost, the name of the Confederate soldier would .stand for it all. Scarred by the battles of the civil war, wounded by the bul- lets of the enemy, with a broken heart and almost broken hopes. General Bate laid down the flag of the Confederacy Address of Mr. James, of Kcntuckv in and took up the Stars and Stripes and jieided to none in his loyalty to his Republic's flag. He folded the conquered ban- ner, with its myriad recollections, with his manifold love, stained with his blood and consecrated with his tears, and laid it to rest. And then he turned his face to the stars upun his own, his country's flag, and knew nothing but devotion for it. Those who fought with him, who luved and followed him, are being swiftly gathered to the home to which he was called. When Tennessee called him to be go\-ernor during the conflict between the States, by the army camp fire he read her call, amid the roar of the cannon and the scream of the .shells and tire gleam of the bayonet. He said to his State that as nuicli as he loved her and the great honor of presiding as her chief executive, his heart was with the boys in gray, and he refused to fonsake what he thought was his duty to those around the camp fire while danger everywhere lurked about him. This is but an exemplification of the history and life of the man. And what shall I say of Tenne.ssee, the dear old Volunteer State? How sweet of her people that in the old age of General B.VTp; she refused to retire him to private life, but almost at the end of life's journey his people reelected him, and the last delectable words which touched his ears were those of Tennes- see's loyal sons, saying, "Well done, thou good and faithful .servant." He read b}' the last rays of life's setting sun another conuuis- sion from his people. What consolation it nuist have been to this faithful old soldier, statesman, and patriot that Tenne.s.see refused to drive him out into the night and storiii in his old age. In all his service in public life the bony finger of sus- picion never was pointed to him. In his life we may .see exem- plified the statement of the Good Book, which tells us that "a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving 112 Memorial Addresses: ]]'illiaiu B. Bale favor rather than silver or gold." He was rich in a good name, poor in worldly goods, yet he left behind hini a career in public life that will shine like a cohunn of light through the darkness of corruption and of avarice as a guide to the feet of the faithful. Truly it may be said of him that — He was a friend of truth, of soul sincere, In action faithful, in honor clear, Who broke no ])roniises, served no private ends. Sought no titles, and forsook no friends. Address of Mr. Brozvnlou\ of Tennessee 113 Address of Mr. Brownlow, of Tennessee Mr. Speaker: Tennessee has made more history than any State in the Republic, except Massachusetts and Virginia. In proportion to its population it did more on the field of battle to .secure the independence of the United States than did any of the thirteen colonies, as Bancroft says substantially in his descrip- tion of the battle of Kings Mountain. In our "second war of independence" it was the militia of Tennessee under its own incomparable Jackson, whose immortal victory at New Orleans shed imperishable glory on his State and country and led the conqueror of Napoleon to exclaim that "Andrew Jackson was the only really great general the United States had produced." In 1846, when the Secretary of War, William L. Marcy, called upon Governor Aaron V. Brown, of my vState, for three regi- ments, its quota of troops, the governor responded tendering thirty-six regiments, to which the Secretary replied that "Ten- nessee would not be permitted to furnish the entire army for the war with Mexico. In our deplorable civil war Tennes.see exhibited its martial spirit by furnishing its full' quota of .soldiers to both armies, and better soldiers the world never saw. If those of the Union Army were more successful in achievement, it was because of the superb leadership of that Army's greatest generals — Grant, Thomas, and Sherman. If Tennessee's Confederate soldiers were less successful in battle than were their comrades of the Army of Northern Virginia, it was not because they were inferior in any respect, but because it was not their fortune to have Lee, Jack.son, Longstreet, and Gordon for leaders, while it was their misfortune to have an obstinate President take from them a very .S. Doc. 403, 59-2 8 114 Memorial Addresses: Williiiiii B. Bate great commander whom the)- all justly idolized — Joseph E. Johnston — and ])ut upon them as commanders Bragg and Hood, whom President Davis made generals, instead of giving them commanders whom God Almighty had made generals. And yet, Mr. Speaker, such was the determined courage of Tennessee's Confederate soldiers and those of her sister States of the South that at Chickamauga the percentage of killed and wounded of both Union and Confederate armies was greater than was that of any battle of the civil war, despite the fact that the heroic men of the Confederate arm}- had no confidence in the ability for leadership of their conunander in chief. The eagerness and unanimity of Tennesseeans in responding to the call to arms have given to their vState the sobriquet of ' ' The Volunteer State of the Union," to which my distinguished soldier friend from Ohio, General Grosvenor, has appropriately added that of "The Battle State of the Union," more decisive battles of the civil war having been fought within its borders than in any other State. That a man sh.oukl have as a soldier excited the admira- tion and won the hearts of a people of such martial spirit as those of Tennessee, of a vState which has given to the country such heroes as Sevier, Jackson, Gaines, Farragut, and Forrest, and the winners of Texan independence, Houston and Crockett, is of itself the highest attestation of his merit. This the late Senator Willi-VM B. Bate did. To my colleagues who were of the political school of the lamented Senator I leave the ta.sk of reciting the events of his brilliant militar)' career, confining nn-,self to the simple .statement that, enlisting as a private sol- dier in the Confederate army, he came out of the war a major- general, and that when the battle of Chickamauga opened he was on crutches from a serious wound ; that despite this wound which relieved him from all obligation to engage in that Address of Mr. BroicnlozL\ of Tennessee 115 battle and which disabled him from mounting his horse with- out assistance, he gallantly led his division in the thickest of the combat, in which he had three horses shot under him and in which more men were killed and wounded than in any other command of equal number. Of the 120,000 gallant men of the Confederate army from Tennessee, the only one whose career was more brilliant than that of General Bate was that of " the wizard of the saddle," lyieut. Gen. N. B. Forrest, who never had a superior as a ca\-alry connnander and few equals. Of each it may appro- priately be said, as it was of Robert Clive, the conqueror of British India, by Prime Minister Pitt, "He was a hea\-en- born general." That General B.\T]i should have had .so strong a hold on, the affection of such a people as those of Teiniessee, with stich a record as a soldier, is not surprising. Innnediately after the great victory of New Orleans Thomas H. Benton predicted that Andrew Jackson would be elected President, for the reason, he said, that "the majority of the American people love the man who lias the smell of gunpowder on his gar- ments;" and to the people of no State is this remark more applicable than to those of Tennessee. That General B.\TK should have commanded more of the admiration of the people of his State than did his comrade in arms, General Forrest, is because his civic virtues were worthy of his soldierly. The political .school of Hamilton and of "Light Horse" Harry Lee, in which I was educated, inculcated other doctrines than those held by General Bate, and these arrayed nie not only in the ranks of his political opponents, but in those of my countrymen who oppo.sed the cause he .so heroicall\- uplield in our civil war. As a Repul>lican, I speak of liim as a Dem- ocrat of the Calhoun State rights .school in deserved honor with Ii6 Memorial Addresses: Jl'il/iani B. Bate that school of his party who freely shed his blood in proof of the sincerity of his convictions, and as a Confederate soldier whose fame was fairly won and has become an imperishable chapter in the annals of the g:reat Commonwealth whose com- mission as a Senator of the United States he would have borne for a longer period than did any of his predecessors had not death unfortunately terminated that career before the expira- tion of the term to which he had just been elected by an almost unanimous vote. But the splendid record of General Batk as a leader of men on the field of battle was not his only title to the respect and admiration of the people of " The Volunteer State." His per- sonal and civic virtues were worthy of his skill and courage as a .soldier. Of ardent temperament, indomitable will, and zeal- ous parti.san.ship, he was po.ssessed of the prejudices and virtues which necessarily attach to such natures, but he was capable of subordinating these to his inflexible sen.se of honor and ju.stice. When his party divided in 1880 on the question of the payment in full of Tennessee's debt, General Bate supported the can- didate of that wing of his party for governor — Hon. John "\'. Wright — who favored preserving the credit of the .State. Later during the four years he was governor he impartially and sternly enforced the laws and witheringly rebuked the men who dared appeal to him on the plea of party service or the social connections of the parties to remit the penalties imposed by the courts on the cowardly miscreants who carried concealed weapons which they murderously used in violation of law. One of the most creditable features of his long and honor- able life was his opposition to the corrupt machine of his own party in Tennessee, which, years ago, enacted an infamous election law for the express purpose of leaving nothing to chance of making fraud easy at the polls. The evil con.se- Address of Mr. Brozvnlotv^ of Tennessee 117 quences of that infamous law were predicted by General Batk, and his predictions have been so completely verified that no Democrat in the State who pretends to be honest will justify the wholesale frauds on the ballot which have been the invari- able concomitant of every election which lias been held under its nefarious provisions. To the credit of all the leading and influential Democratic newspapers of Tennessee it may be said that they denounce this infamously corrupt statute and demand its repeal. This corrupt statute was condemned by Senator Bate, who would sooner have been defeated for reelection to the Senate than to have owed his success to the stuffing of a ballot box or the forging of an election return, and his trium- phant reelection the last time was achieved over the opposition of the political pirates who secured the passage of the law. Retribution has overtaken some of the authors and instigators of this iniquitous legislation, and the signs of the times indicate that it will overtake others of them as soon as a deceived and outraged people have the opportunity to put the seal of their condenniation upon them. Mr. Speaker, death has .stricken from the roll of the Senate the name of an incorruptible legislator. His remains lie buried under the soil of the State which delighted to honor him for more than a quarter of a century. His record as soldier and statesman is finished. We turn for a few hours from the dis- charge of our ordinary duties to pay this last .sad tribute to his memory. He was plain and simple in his manners and tastes. In the family, a model .son, husband, father, and brother. In the walks of private life, an ideal citizen. In his religious views, he was strongly attached to the Baptist faith, and of that great church which has done so much for the development, civ- ilization, and Christianization of Tennessee he was a consistent, worthy member. He was absolutely devoid of duplicity ; he it8 Memorial Addresses: William B. Bate always spoke the truth ; he was an honest man. vSo thoroughly was his reputation in tliat regard established that where he was best known his bitterest enemy would not dare insinuate that he had ever been guilty of hypocrisy or falsehood in public or i)rivate life or of fraud in any business transaction. He was firmly of the opinion that personal integrity and political dis- honesl>- are aljsoluteh- irreconcilable in the same person, and on this conviction he acted throughout his career, as William H. vSeward .said John Quincy Adams had. Mr. Speaker, the iiualities which I have ascribed to General B.iTE may well be emulated by .some of his contemporaries upon whom accident or an inscrutable I'rovidence has devolved the responsibilities of high ofiicial station. I'pon many of them more brilliant gifts have been bestowed. But not of all of them can it be said, as of William B. Bate, he was truthful, he was honest, he was incorruptible. These are traits which Tennes- see has always honored in any American statesman, and as a tribute to them, as developed in her soldier Senator, she now lays the garlands of her love upon his tomb. No Sybarite can %vii; the praise Or laurel wreath of story ; No calm, but storms for all who climb The stern Mont Blanc of glory. Address of Mr. Stanley, of Koducky 119 Address of Mr. Stanley, of Kentucky Mr. Spp:aker: It is with unfeigned diffidence that I offer here, in the midst of these able and elaborately prepared ad- dresses, a spontaneous and almost extempore tribute to that soldier and statesman, William B. Bate. The passing of this gallant and chivalrous scion of the South calls to my mind a scene in which there is strangely mingled the elements of pathos and sublimity. A few more days and the last sentinel will for the first time have fallen asleep at his post, and the last heroic defender of the lost cause will have joined his companions upon the nether shore. We see the last line broken and shattered, as they pass silently and swiftly west- ward, one by one. Tran.sfigured in the "golden lightning of the .sunken sun," outlined in distinct silhouette against the many-hued splendors of a day that is done, they rise before us gray and grand, the rear guard of the most gallant band that ever careered o'er field of carnage or of glory. To-morrow we shall truly sa>- : On Fame's eternal camping ground Their silent tents are spread, And Glory guards with solemn round The bivouac of the dead. What men they were — these protectors of the homes, these fine exemplars of the chivalry of the South, with their high aspirations and modest mien— strange mingling of strength and tenderness, of courage and of courtesy. It is of Bate, the soldier, I would speak, of Hate, the inspiring and perfect exemplar of the highest civilization, not of the South onl\-, but of the race. I20 Memorial Addresses: iriniaui B. Bate We hear iiiucli of the provinciahsm of the vSouth, of a civih- zation characteristic of and pecuhar to those antebelhmi days. We speak of it with reverence, yet we treat it as a nieniory. What were the distinctive and distinguishing elements of that civihzation of which Bate was so pecuharly the embodiment? In what is it different from to-day? Where is the hne, if hue there be, between the old South aud the new? Is it true that we have lost something, that we have left something far behind us? Is it true that these strangely gracious, knightly, cour- teous soldiers as they pass from the scene of action will leave no type or trace behind? If true, it is the saddest conunentary upon the decadence not of the South only, but of the race. What were the characteristics, which the thought and purpose of that life which pulsated in every fiber of this dead .soldier's being? Dauntless courage, a devotion to duty so serious and sacred that it was a religion, a high and changeless reverence for woman, an idolatrous love of truth. The.se virtues marked the southern man, inspired the southern soldier, and sanctified southern life. Were they peculiar to that section south of Mason and Dixon's line? Was this their glorious provincialism confined to a brief era and a circumscribed section? Nay, verily! The deep rooting of these fine sentiments was not a growth— it was a heritage. It was the evidence not of section- alism, not of provincialism, but of eternal conservatism. If the South differed from other sections, it was because other sec- tions had departed from the most precious inheritance of their fathers, had retrograded, not they. If the South was broader, more liberal, or more generous than her neighbors, it was because others had allowed their souls to be cramped in the narrow channels of fanaticism or of greed. Older than its civilization or its faith, these ideals run like a silver thread through all the history of the Saxon race, and when history x4ddress of Mr. Sta>i/ey, of Kentucky 121 is lost in the twilight of time, they illiiniine the traditions of the rugged worshipers of Thor and Woden in the wilds of Sleswick and Friesland. Tacitus, who alone among the ancient historians had a close personal knowledge of the manners and customs of the Saxons in their so-called "barbarism," declared: The generals are chosen for their valor * * *. The}' command more by warlike example than bj- their authority. To be a prompt and daring spirit in battle and to attack in front of the lines is the popular character of a chieftain. \\'hen admired for his bravery he is sure to be obeyed. Those lines, written in the presence of the Saxon warrior and describing a civilization, if civilization I may call it, fifteen hundred years older than this, might be appropriately applied to that gentle, firm, courageous hero, Robert E. L,ee, whose raemor}' we commemorated but yesterday, who in camp was the beloved companion and comforter of his devoted followers, and in the dread hour of battle inspired them like a god. In the heat of the engagement — says Tacitus — the Saxon warrior hears the shrieks of his wife and the cries of his chil- dren. These are the darling witnesses of his conduct, the applauders of his valor, at once beloved and valued. And how well his wild consort deserved his devotion and inspired his courage. With one husband, as with one life, one mind, one body, every woman is satisfied; in him her happiness is centered; her desires extend no fur- ther, and the principle is not only affection for the husband's per.son, but reverence for the married state. Ah, it was no new tiling, this mixture of strength and ten- derness, love and valor, in the midst of his wild environment; shut out in the darkness and in the fog, from the presence of his God, he worshiped truth as a divinity and woman as a goddess. 122 Mem (I rial Addresses: \Villia»i B. Bate Taine, a Frenchman, pays this nnwilhiiK tribute to the Scan- dinavian savatje; Through all oiitljreaks of primitive brutality gleams obscuiely the grand idea of dutv, which is the self-constraint exercised in view of some noble end. Marriage was pure amongst them, chastity instinctive. Amongst the Sax- ons the adulterer was punished by death; the adultress was obliged to hang herself, or was stal)bed by the knives of her companions. The wives of the Cimbrians, when they could not obtain from JIarius assurance of their chastity, slew themselves with their own hands. They thought there was something sacred in a woman; they married but one, and kept faith with her. In fifteen centuries the idea of marriage is unchanged amongst them. The wife, on entering her husband's home, is aware that she gives her-self altogether, "that she will have but one body, one life w^th him; that she will have no thought, no desire, beyond; that slie will be the companion of his perils and labors; that .she will suffer and dare as much as he, both in peace and war." And he, like her, knows that he gives himself. Having chosen his chief, he forgets him.self in him, assigns to him his own glory, serves him to the death. "He is infamous as long as he lives who returns from the field of battle without his chief." It was on this voluntary subordination that feudal society was based. Man, in this race, can accept a superior, can be capable of devotion and respect. Thrown Ijack upon him.self by the gloom and severity of his climate, he has discovered moral beauty, while others discover .sensuous beauty. This kind of naked brute, who lies all day by his fireside, sluggish and dirty, always eating and drinking, whose rusty faculties can not follow the clear and fine outlines of poetic forms, catches a glimpse of the sublime in his troubled dreams. He does not see it, but simply feels it; his religion is already within. * * * His gods are not inclosed in walls; he has no idols. What he designates by divine names is something invisible and grand, which floats through nature and is conceived beyond nature, a mysterious infinity which the sense can not touch, but w^hich " reverence alone can appreciate;" and when, later on, the legends define and alter this vague divination of natural powers, an idea remains at the bottom of this chaos of giant dreams— that the world is a warfare, and heroism the greatest excellence. Upon that rude ba.se rugged, subhnie, and eternal mediaeval chivalry was planted, and to it, as to the Rock of Ages, the thought, the aspirations, and the life of the South were anchored. Chivalry was its natural result. It was the flower of which those simple principles were the root. Civilization and religion Ijrought refinement and culture — brought the .sweet amenities Qf life — broadened, sanctified, and ennobled the severe fiber of Address of Air. Stanley, of Kentucky 123 the Saxon chief. Follow him through time, see him clad in the gay garments of the cavalier, decked in plumes, splendid in court and camp, the Sidneys, the Raleighs, the Ruperts still retain beneath the gay exterior of a knight-errant the stern virtues -of the vScandinavian warrior. There never was a time in the history of the Anglo-vSaxon race, from the invasion of Great Britain until the .settlement of Virginia, that its highest thought, its holiest customs, its grandest endeavor were not inspired by those same sentiments which we designate "Southern chivalry." It was not persecution nor greed for gold that tempted the first .settlers of Virginia and the Carolinas to brave the terrors and dangers of a trackless and unexplored ocean, or to endure the hardships and face the perils of the wilderness and the savage. They were filled with the spirit of high adventure; they were the lineal sons of the Norse kings, "who had never slept under the smoky rafters of a roof; who had never drained the ale horn by an inhabited hearth;" who laughed at wind and storm and sang: The blast of the tempest aids our oars; the bellowing of Heaven, the howling of the thunder, hurt us not; the hurricane is our servant and drives us whither we wish to go. They carried the banners of heraldry and the scepter of power, planted them upon the smoky tops of the Blue Ridge, and bore them across the fertile fields of Kentuckj- and Tennes- see and the undulating, far-stretching plains of the West, till at last they were mirrored in the Father of Waters and the placid bosom of the Lakes. They multiplied in numbers, grew in prosperity and wealth, and in a higher and finer civilization. In their hour of ease and culture they were the exquisite models of " that generous loyalty to rank and sex, that proud submission, that dignified obedience, that subordination of the heart which kept alive, 124 Memorial Addresses: Ulllian! P. Bate e\-en in servitude itself, the spirit of an exalted freedom. The unboiight grace of life, the cheap defense of nations, the nurse of manly sentiment and heroic enterprise. * * * That sensibility of principle, that chastity of honor which felt a stain like a wound, which inspired courage whil.st it mitigated ferocity, which ennobled whatever it touched, and under which vice it.self lost half of its evil b\- losing all of its grossness. " But they were never enervated by ease or softened by civilization; they ne\-er deviated a hair's breadth from the rigid rectitude of their fathers; their sons preserved a changeless fidelity to duty, and their daughters a chastity as immaculate as the snows upon the mountain peaks. As illustrati\-e of this fine idea of duty which ran in sun- light and shadow through all the life of \Villi.\m B. B.\TE, and, as illustrative of its hold upon the race, I would recount a touching incident told of the battle of Cressy. It is said that, when the gay and festive chivalry of France had dashed themselves to pieces against the fixed and immovable English columns, when the mailed hand of Edward III had crushed into the mire and blood of the ensanguined field the fleur-de- lis of France, the l)lind King of Bohemia, unwilling to hear the death groans of his friends, unwilling to listen to the wail of disaster and defeat, unwilling to survive his com- panions, had his horse bound fast and tight to a charger upon either side, and between his trusty courtiers, guided by the turmoil and thunder of the fight, dashed to death. When night came and the pale moon looked down upon 30,000 slain, they found three horses standing like silent sentinels and three dead riders at their feet, and between his companions, with the seal of death upon his blind eyes, lay the brave old King of Bohemia. A white triplunied crest dappled in blood .still clung to his dauntless brow, and on it was inscribed the simple motto " Ich Address of Mr. Stanley, of Keiiliicky 125 dien " — I serve- It thrilled five centuries of English history past and rang through a thousand years of civilization yet to come. The most martial of England's kings reverently lifted that simple crest and placed it, as a deathless laurel, upon the brow of his first-born son; and to-day, more precious than all the trophies wrung from Poitiers, Agincourt, or Waterloo, high above all the bloody swords and battered shields and tattered banners taken iu a thousand years of conquest that has girded the earth and mastered the sea, old England still holds aloft that triplumed crest as the proud insignia of all her princes yet unborn and all her uncrowned kings. I could write upon the tomb of William B. Bate, with truth and with sincerity, the motto of the Prince of Wales and the dead Bohemian king, "I serve." One single incident in his life portrays in rare and radiant colors his flawless devotion to duty. Wounded at Shiloh, his horse shot under him at Chickamauga, wounded again before Atlanta, ragged, emaci- ated, racked with pain, with pallid face and thin lips set, you see that heroic figure on his crutches amid his companions in arms. It was at this time that there came to him the .tempting- offer of civic honors, of east and wealth and fame. Unsolicited, a grateful and trusting people laid at his feet the chief magis- tracy of a sovereign State. The old soldier was immovable, set- ting his face like a flint toward the foe, whom he knew was destined to ultimate victory, he took iu his manly arms his wretched companions and sent back to those who would tempt him with office or power that message which shall thrill all Tennesseans in the centuries yet to come: I shall accept no civic honor as long as an enemy of Tennessee dese- crates her soil. Yonder, in front of the White House, carved from bronze that for ages shall defy the wasting tooth of time, is an inspir- ing figure — a horse and rider facing the foe, instinct with cour- 126 A/fiiioria/ Addresses: ]]'illiaiii B. Bale age and with life, drinking deliglit of l)attle upon the l)loody plains. It was not necessary to inscribe upon its base the name of Old Hickory. I invoke the genius of sculpture and of art to place beside it a companion piece; not an equestrian figure, but one bowed and racked with pain, leaning upon a broken crutch, covered with the blood and dirt of battle, with his back upon honor, wealth, and ease and still facing, with resolute and unfal- tering courage, gloom and di.saster, death and defeat. Jackson and Bate, fitting companions on the field of fame, twin stars in the galaxy of Tennessee's deathless and deified heroes. It is true that his dauntless band endured famine and dis- aster, wounds and pestilence and death for a lost cause; that the flag the>- followed, now furled forever, is a conquered ban- ner. But that liainier and its story — Suiiy by poets and by .sage.s, Shall go soundinjf clown the ages, Thoui;h its folds are in the dust. It is an unholy cau.se or a weak one that needs the vulgar Seal of success. He who perishes in a bad cause is a victim; he who dies for a good one, lost though it be, is a ble.ssed martyr. Can you try the deathless dead b)- the narrow stand- ard of success ? If the laurel must always crown the hero's brow, we shall leave Hannibal at Zama, Napoleon at Waterloo, Columbus in prison, and Latimer at the stake. Proudly and sadly — I sing the hymn of the conquered, who fell in the battle of life. The hymn of the wonnded, the beaten, who died overwhelmed in the strife ; Not the jubilant song of the victors, for whom the resounding acclaim Of nations was lifted in chorus, wlu)se brows wore the chaplet of fame. But the h^-mn of the low ami the humble, the weary, the broken in heart. Who strove and who failed, acting bravely a silent and desperate part ; Address of Mr. Slniilfy, of Kentucky 12/ Whose youth bore no flower on its branclies, whose hopes burned in ashes away, From whose hands sHpped the prize the>- had i;rasped at, who stood at the dying of day With the wreck of their life all around them, unpitied. unheeded, al<)ne. With Death swoopinj; down o'er their failure, and all but their faith overthrown. While the voice of the world shouts its chorus, its piean for those who have won. While the trumpet is sounding triinnphant, and high to the breeze and the sun Glad banners are waving, hands clapping, and hurrying feet Thronging after the laurel-crowned victors, I stand on the field of defeat, In the shadow, with those who are fallen and wounded and dying, and then Chant a requiem low, place my hand on their pain-knotted brows, breathe a prayer. Hold the hand that is helpless, and whisper, "They only the victory win Who have fought the good fight, and have vanquished the demon that tempts us within ; Who have held to their faith unseduced by the prize that the world holds on high ; Who have dared for a high cause to suffer, resist, fight — if need be, to die." Speak, History, who are life's victors? Unroll thy long annals, and .say Are they those whom the world called the victors — who won the success of a day? The martvrs or Nero? The Spartans, who fell at Thermopylai's tryst. Or the Persians and Xerxes? His judges or Socrates? Pilate or Christ? 128 Memorial Addresses: William B. Bate Address of Mr. Lamb, of Virginia Mr. Speaker : On this Sabbath day we turn from the l)usy scenes of life to the contemplation of death. We stand weak, powerless, and appalled before the last enemy, our very souls echoing the thoughts that thrilled the heart of the poet who described the last hours of the brave Greek : Come to the bridal chamber, Death ; Come to the mother's, when she feels For the first time her firstborn's breath ; Come when the blessed seals That close the pestilence are broke, And crowned cities wail its stroke ; Come in consumption's ghastly form. The earthquake shock, the ocean stonn ; Come when the heart beats high and warm With banquet song and dance and wine ; And thou art terrible— the tear. The groan, the knell, the pall, the bier; And all we know or dream or fear Of agony are thine. William B. Bate was a soldier of two wars, a patriot, a distinguished lawyer, a pure and able .statesman, and a Chris- tian gentleman. Devoted to his Southland and to his high ideals of duty, he never hesitated to give his time, his talents, and, if need be, lay down his life for the right as he saw it. A striking instance of his devotion to duty and high principles was shown in 1863, when, though racked with pain and shattered by wounds, he declined the honor and comparative ease and lux- ury of the governorship of Tennessee to remain in the army, .saying : As a son of Tennessee and a southern soldier I would feel dishonored in this hour of trial to quit the field. No, sirs ; while an armed foe Address of Mr. Lamb^ of I'irginia 129 treads our soil and I can fire a shot or draw a blade I will take no civic honor. I had rather, amid her misfortunes, be the defender than the governor of Tennessee. Rareh' have the marked characteristics of any man been so clearly portraj'ed in so few words. These were no idle senti- ments; they were this man's early conceived principles, ad- hered to by him through sunshine and storm, through adver- sity and prosperity, to the close of a long and distinguished life. A native of Sumner County, Tenn., he volunteered as a pri- vate in the Mexican war, in May, 1846, in Company F, Fourth Louisiana Infantry, and served with courage and fidelity in Mexico. In August, 1846, his company and regiment were mustered out, and he received an honorable discharge as a private. He afterwards attended the law school at Lebanon, Tenn., and shortly after completion of his studies he was elected pros- ecuting attorney for his judicial district, discharging the duties with marked energy and ability. A strong States-rights Democrat, he was an elector on the Johu C. Breckinridge Presidential ticket. Imtnediately after the bombardment of Fort Sumter he ad- vocated sece.ssion by Tennessee, and on her call for State troops volunteered as a private, was shortly made captain of his com- pany, and, a little later, colonel of his regiment. So conspicu- ous was his gallantry and efficiency that he was honoraljly mentioned b}- Generals Cleburne and Hardee, and on October 3, 1S62, he was promoted to brigadier-general. The Eufaula Battery under Bate fired the first gun on Fri- day evening at Chickamauga and the last gun on Sunday eve- ning, and the war maps show that Bate led his men that day farther to the front than any other man. In this engagement Bate's brigade entered the fight with 1,055 niuskets, and had S. Doc. 403, 59-2 9 130 Mnnor/a/ Addresses: ]\'illiai)i B. Bate killed and wuunded 607 men. Every field officer in his bri- gade, except two or three, was either killed or wounded. After the battle President Davis followed in the track where Bate and his men had fought, and in less than thirtj- daj-s Brigadier- General Bate of infantry was offered a major-general's com- mi.s.sion of cavalry. Many times he was severely wounded, and each time returned to active duty at the earlie.st moment he was fit for service. For a more brilliant record for gallantry and efficiency and those .sterling qualities that make our greatest soldiers we would search in vain. More love for his Southland had no man; none submitted to sacrifice and danger more cheerfully or followed the path of duty more strictly. Ability of the high- est, ideals of the loftiest, an unstained sword, and a spotless character, is it any wonder that Tennessee delighted to honor her gifted and noble .son ? He was no le.ss conspicuous as a state.sman than he was as a soldier. He served his State in peace with the same fidelity he had shown in war. He was defeated for the United States Senate by Andrew Johnson in 1S70 by one vote. Elected governor of Tennessee in 1S82 and reelected in 18S4. Elected to the United States Senate in 1S87 and reelected in 1893, i^oy- a"d i9'-'5- He contracted pneumonia on March 4, 1905, at the inauguration ceremonies, from which he died. His public and pri\-ate life was exemplary; his military rec- ord a brilliant one. An able statesman, a consistent Christian, a noble citizen has entered on sleep. Tennessee may well mourn and this House well honor this distinguished soldier, patriot, lawyer, and statesman, for it can be well said of him that he was indeed both " great and good." In the death of vSenator B.\TE another of the brave soldiers of forty years ago has answered the last summons and joined the great majority. Address of ^/r. Lamb, of llrf^iiiia 131 In the Fifty-fifth Congress we had thirty-two ex-Confederates in this House and sixteen in the Senate. This Congress num- bers eight in the former and twelve in the latter. The3' are falling almost as rapidly as they fell in battle. The brave men whom they met in conflict, and by whose deeds of valor the\' well measured their manhood and chivalry, are falling at the rate of 1,000 a month. Our deceased friend and colleague was a conspicuous figure in an army that has been rarel}-, if ever, equaled for valor, self- sacrifice, and devotion to duty. The principles for \\ hich they fought and the righteousness of their cause is being recognized more and more by the world's best minds as the years pass by. It will not be many years before thoughtful men everywhere will be saying that po.ssibly after all it would have been better for constitutional govern- ment and human liberty had the principles contended for in that struggle been established and maintained. It is impo.ssible to contemplate the passing away of these Con- federates without calling to mind the conditions after their defeat that tried even more than war their courage and forti- tude. We search the histories in vain for a parallel case to theirs. In this era of good feeling we do not like to dwell upon the helpless and almost hopeless condition of the southern .soldiers and their families after Appomatto.x. Under good laws well administered it would have been a herculean task to restore their fallen fortunes. That they succeeded under all the evils of the worst legislation that ever affected a people is simply a miracle, and stamps them as the best, bravest, and truest men that have ever lived in all the tide of time. The philo.sophical historian of the future will tell the wonder- ful story of their achievements in peace, ,'ind our children's children will set it to their credit as equal, if not surpassing, the victories they had won in war. 132 Memorial Aildnsscs: William B. Bate Before the last old soldier joins his comrades on the other side he will see his beloved Southland stronger in material resources and richer per capita than any part of the Union. Treating the character of mir deceased colleague as a type of the Confederate soldier, let nie present this thought for the con- sideration of my colleagues and the friends of the deceased, as well as the reading public. The southern soldiers of the civil Avar were men of faith. They were raised in a period when faith was emphasized by the mothers of the South. The most monientnus period for the South was from about 1S40 to 1S60. The character of the .southern soldier was formed by their mothers chiefl\- during that jieriod. It was a period of great prosperity and the fathers were making money. The wealth they then accumulated prolonged the unequal struggle for four years. The sons went to war strong in faith — not an ideal faith, mind you — not perfect, but .sound and strong. Witness, if you will the revivals in the Confederate army. It was won- derful. The strongest in faith remained to the last. The gentlest are always the bra\'est. They held many weak-hearted and weak-minded to their part by the powerful influence of example. Then those of most faith were often the first to fall. Death loves a shining mark, both in war and jieace. We missed them daily and often said, "This can not last; all will be killed." But man\- returnetl. They and their .sons have made this Southland to bloom as a ro.se. They have set an example of faiti; that has been an inspira- tion and uplift to theii fellow-citizens of this Republic. The Confederate soldier was an optimist during the war. He has been one since. He lived on faith and he fought with faith. Unfortunately many of them are living on faith alone now. In part, through his example, an atmo.sphere of faith has been created in our countr>'. This faith has been quickened b\' Address 0/ Mr. Lamb, of Virginia 133 science, literature, and poetry, all drawing inspiration from the Father and His Word. Could our colleague wire us from the spirit world to-day he would say with Browning: God's in his heaven, All's right with the world. Or from Death in the Desert: I say the acknowledgment of God in Christ, Accepted by the reason, solves for thee All questions in the earth and out of it. And has so far advanced thee to be wise. Or from the best illustration of faith ever written, he would give us this from In Memoriam: Strong Son of God, immortal love; ■Whom we, that have not seen Thy face, B}- faith, and faith alone, embrace. Believing where we can not prove. 134 Memorial Addresses: ]]'illiajii B. Bare Address of Mr. De Armond, of Missouri Mr. Speakek: This is an occasion for speaking words of soberness and truth concerning a departed friend. It is so much a characteristic of our people and time to exaggerate in praise, and possibh- to blame too much, that one of the most difficult accomplishments is to measure accurately a man's character and work and to express in terms of sobriety and truthftilness the estimate formed. General Bate, as we knew him and as others before us knew him, was a man of high character and heroic pur- pose. He was a man of undoubted honesty and courage, a man who, unlike a large majority of us. had his own views of things and measured ami directed his own course of conduct in accordance with those views. Most of us, chame- leon like, take on the hues of our surroundings and change from time to time as they change. There are a few who seem to have an inner controlling life of their own, which colors things about them instead of taking color from objects and incidents with which they are brouglit into contact Most of us in our little vo\-age through life hug the shore and forget the stars, and so are guided or mi.sguided by the weak near- by lights that shine dimly through the fog. There are a few who .seem to steer by the pole star, who get their light fnun the distance, beyond the mists, a light that, unvarying, faints not, changes not; and through the years of life, be they few or be they man\-, their bark is steered in a steady course by a fixed, unfailing li.ght. General B.\TE seemed to be a man of that kind. A soldier in the Mexican war, as a young man he shouldered Address of Mr. Dc Armoiid, of Missouri 135 his musket to go to distant fields of carnage and glory in the heroic day of a generation now gone. He illustrated, as hun- dreds of others did upon many a bloody field in far Mexico, the heroic qualities which characterized him and characterized the American soldier of that day, and, as we think, characterize the American soldier of every day. He made his wa>- in civil life honorably, studiously, and courageously, having fixed prin- ciples and a steady hold upon them. When the warning notes of the great strife between the States came, when the storm long brewing broke, and the fateful bugles stirred tlie martial spirit of a proud, brave, confident people, it was natural that he, as it was natural that his neighbors also, should volunteer, and did volunteer, to fight under the banner of the stars and bars. It would be surprising if he had not been a good .soldier in that trying civil-war time, because he had given evidence and promise of the posse.s.sion of the qualities necessary to make a good .soldier. It was a time when the chivalry of the South, the manhood of the South, the courage and devotion and sac- rifice of the South were challenged for all they were worth. Saying nothing — and here is not the time to say it — as to the causes of the war, or whether the war might have been avoided, or who was most at fault, or who was most in the right, the real test put up to the .southern people was that of meeting at the threshold of home an invading force, a hostile army — an army of their brethren, it 's true, but brethren in arms warring against them. That brought out, as it necessarily would bring out in that age or in any age of our country under any circum- stances, the fighting forces and heroism of the old vSouth. General B.\TE was not an exceptional man in that great con- test. There were few exceptional men in it. It was a contest in which nearly all were heroes, some in humble position in 136 Mcuiorial Addresses: J J '///id 11/ B. Bate the ranks, charging with the bayonet, resisting the bloody onslaught; some in the garb of officers and with sword in hand; but in general it was a warfare of heroes, and the man who was not a hero in the strife was the exceptional man. This man of whom we speak to-day bore hintself well in that war, as so many hundreds, so many thousands and tens of thousands of others, did. That he was sincere and that he was honest, that he was de\-oted to duty as he saw it, he gave, as so man}- others gave, the highest and final evidence, the conclusive proof, put- ting up his life as a risk, as a stake of tlie contest, and offering it a ready forfeit for success and against failure. Shattered and broken in the conflict, wounded, .sore, and bleeding, he still clung to his standards and clung to his sense of duty; still braved the dangers and the horrors of the battle- field. It was grand and heroic; it marked the character of a man made of the stern, sturdy stuff that is not exceptional, but rather characteristic of the American citizen. After the war, after the bloody strife had ended, after the cau.se was indeed a lost cause, lost forever, after the old Stars and Stripes again waved in triumph over the land. General Bate addressed him- self, as so many thousands of others did, to the duties and cares and responsibilities of civil life, under sad circumstances, when everything was trying, when most things were depres.sing, and when but little was encouraging or inspiring. That in the period of rehabilitation following the war he acquitted him.self bravely and well is undoubtedly true, aud in speaking this truth we are speaking in honor of him and of those who .shared the burdens and the cares, and, finally, the triumphs of those 3'ears. It was perfectly natural that General B.vte should be honored after the war by his people, as he was honored, in being made go\-ernor of a proud vState and .Senator in one of the greatest Address of Mr. Dc Arniond, of Missouri 137 legislative bodies known to civilized man. That he acquitted himself well in these official stations is a credit to him, and no surprise to those who knew him. The South has honored her heroes, and has loved to honor them. There is, however, still left by the war that sentimt-nt which prevails somewhere and manifests itself now and again, and that, not in the South, but .somewhere else does put a certain kind of handicap upon the man who cast in his lot with the lost cause, and who in the terrible war wore the garb of gray, or who is a dutiful son of the South. Surelj- the South has shown a loyalty and devotion to the men who stood by her and fought for her in the dark and trying days of '61 to '65. These old heroes, as also these who fought against them, are fast passing away. The great majority are already numbered with the dead, and those who still linger are advancing in years and soon will pass over the great mystic river that all of us must cross. North, South, East, and West, as we get farther and farther from the liitter memories of the war, and as we paint in brighter colors and dwell in more loving phrase and more kindly thought upon its many glorious deeds, they are honored and revered more and more, whether they wore the blue or the gray. Only yesterday, all over the Southland, at many places in the North, and in lands beyond the seas, the memory of a southern soldier, one of the greatest men, not only of our own country and age, but of all countries and all ages, was strikingly honored in the celebra- tion, in solemn and glorious form, of the one hundredth anniversary of his birth. It is very difficult to .speak of the living justly, kindly, and bravely. It is even more difficult to speak of the dead as real facts, tempered by mercy and charity, and yet guided and directed by courage and honesty, would suggest. As we come to the portals of the grave, as we bend over the bier of the 138 Memorial Addresses: William B. Bate departed, as we lintjer about the mound covered with flowers under which rests him who was but no longer is of this world, judgment seems to surrender control, moderation to give way to extravagance, and we too often lose ourselves in an infini- tude of meaningless phrases which sound and roll but signify nothing. Of this man it can be .said — and if he could hear what we are sax'ing; if it were possible, as it may be, for him to revisit these .scenes and to know this afternoon what we are doing, I believe it would be pleasing to him to hear us in sin- cerity speak it of him — that he was a sturdy, honest, manly man ; not the greatest man who ever lived, not the man upon whom ought to be jiiled the most exuberant utterance and the loftiest sounding words that our language may afford, but one who may lie s])oken of honestly and inodestl\' and moderately as a man of the conmion people, honest to the core, true to principle and to friends and to duty; a man who hewed his way through life without asking odds of any, who never hesi- tated to strike when it was a duty to strike, and who never inflicted a needless hardship or a wrong upon any man con- sciously or knowingly. We can say of him in moderation things which can be said truthfnlh' of very few of us, and those things are words of praise — a good man, a true man. a brave man, a reliable friend and a faithful public servant, honest in the relations of public life and private life, ready to concede to others all that he asked for him.self, demanding for himself nothing but what he regarded as his right ; standing sturdily, whatever the odds or whatever the circumstances, where he thought duty required him to stand ; opposing what he thought ought to be oppo.sed, and forwarding as far as he could what he thought ought to be advanced. This is a noble type of a sturdy manhood; this is a man out of the setting of the old age; a man who grew up in Address of Mr. Dc Armoitd, of Missouri 139 the pioneer days, who was discipHiied and strengthened and developed in the hard times of the frontier, where the sturdy virtues shine, when the ornamentation of which we know so much to-day was absent, when men were esteemed for what tliey were and not so much for what they appeared to be, or for what the adornments of wealth could add or what the blandishments of influence or power might give them for their brief day. This man grew up in the wilds among a sturdy and heroic people. He was one of them. Their characteristics were his characteristics. He illustrated through his life just what he was. It was easy to know what he thought upon any ques- tion. It was easy, once you knew him, to anticipate what he would do in any particular emergency. He was not a man who sought to display all the attractive qualities that he pos- sessed. He never sought to magnify himself or exploit himself. He was ever ready to hear the call of duty; but he never pu.shed himself forward; he was a plain, sul)stantial, reliable, good man; a thoroughgoing, conscientious, faithful, devoted public servant; absolutely honest, incorruptible: a man for whom the blandishments of power had no charm, a man who never was affected by the frowns of those who might be above him, and never was swerved from an>- duty of his post liy the sycophancy of those below him, who desired to accomplish something through him. Mr. Speaker, the greatest thing about a man after all prob- ably is the essence of real character. Now and then, and indeed frequently, you meet charms and graces and power of intellect. There are always to be found in the broad walks and in the narrow paths of life, everywhere, at .ill times, the excellent virtues that belong to good-fellowship and home, a kindly .spirit and lovable disposition, the sturdy unconii)laining 140 Memorial Addresses: William B. Bate courage and patience with which burdens are borne, a modest}- which is capti\'ating; but seldom, oil, so seldom, is there com- bined, as there was condjined in that man of whom I spoke a moment ago and whose memorj' now is a world memory, whose story is the story of the ages, whose example is for all time, that consummation and sublimation that gathers together all of perfection as nearly as it is possible in human form to find it, all of the graces and charms, all the strength, moderation, and restraint, all the breadth and generosity of the ideal yet real man. Of course I speak of that rare man, Lee, of whom they spoke yesterday and last night — the man whose name is ringing down the aisles of time and whose memory will be as shining an example for thousands of years as it is to-day, aye, ten thou- sand years from to-day, if there be no hiatus in history, as it is now ; of that grand old chieftain under whom General Bate fought with dauntless courage, who was not only great on the battlefield, but great in the council and transcendentally great in the elements of manhood and all things that go to illustrate the character of the gentlest, proudest, loftiest, noblest ,iOul that our God in his wisdom, in the ages that have gone and \\\ the time that is, ever breathed into one solitary human being. Speaking of these sturdy qualities of General Bate, one is reminded almost irresi.stibly of the magnificent personality, of the matchless (jualities, of the human completeness of his great commaniler. The\' have crossed over the river ; they are gone to the other side ; and the more we dwell upon them and the more we pattern after their virtues and their excellencies the l)etter for us while we live and the better for our memories after we are gone. Address of Mr. Rol>iiiso>i, of Arkansas 141 Address of Mr. Robinson, of Arkansas Mr. Speaker: We have assembled to commemorate the life, the character, and public services of Senator William B. Bate. Arkansas joins with her sister States in expre.ssing a sense of appreciation for the virtues of that faithful, favored, gifted son of Tennessee, who moves no more among the living. From a consideration of his long, eventful life, crowned with every honor human love could give and fruitful of every benefit his efforts could confer upon his people, we learn the wisest lesson finite minds can grasp — the merit of right living. In this solemn hour, made sacred to his memory, we recall his un- wavering fidelity to duty, his lifelong loyalty to manly honor. These are the pillars upon which his character was built. The achievements of selfish ambition are transient. The crovi-ns they bring to weary brows soon crumble into dust. Their lau- rels wither in an hour. Their monuments are quickl>- obscured beneath the sands of time. But the monuments which patriots build defy the wrath of .storms and master the might and blight of time. Self-sacrifice and devotion to duty are the most en- during attributes that adorn tlie soul. In the life of Senator Bate these qualities predominated. There is a fullness, a completeness in his career that calms our grief and thrills our hearts with inspiration. For almo.st eighty years he lived to bless the world with noble thoughts and generous deeds. Those eighty years were crowded with important events to our nation and to the world. The high- way that he chose in life was never devious. It was .straight from the hour of his birth to the hour of his death. Like a 142 Memorial Addresses; J!'i//ia»/ P. Bate lauL- l)et\veeii open fields, it ran all the way without one crook or turn. It was bright as the shining pathway' of the just. Few men live .so long as he lived. Not many lives are filled with honors such as crowned his brow. It was given to him to serve his .State and his nation in many po.sitions of exalted trust. He always kept the faith. He never failed to do his dnt>'. He guarded with sacred fidelity every interest intrusted to his care. His life was rich witli varied experience. He knew all the hardships of physical toil, the peace of well- earned repose, the elation of success, the inicertainty of com- bat, the glory of triumph, and met with fortitude the hi.gh tide yf defeat. Two things he never knew — fear and dishonor. The great charm of his life story is that through all his years, through reverses and successes, his character remained unchanged, unsullied, and his name unstained. Whether we think of liim as a lad working in the sunny fields of Tennessee within sight and sound of the spot that gave him birth, or as a clerk on a steamboat that plowed the bo.som of the Mississipjn in the days when railroads were almost unknown ; whether we observe him as a private .soldier following with intrepid courage the Stars and Stripes in the war \\\\.\\ Mexico, or leading the dashing liattalions of the Confederacy amid scenes of bloody combat in the civil war; whether we contemplate him as State legislator, lawj-er, public prosecutor, Presidential elector, governor, or Senator, he is the same humble yet indomitable .spirit, always guided by heroic courage and unfaltering resolution. He was as gallant in battle as the " Bra\-est of the Brave." When the civil war began he was among the first Tennesseans to enlist in the Confederate army. Had either the State or the nation called alone he would have responded jo>full\-, for the fear of danger never moved him. Had either Teinies.see or the Address of Mr. Robinson^ of Arkansas 143 United States called him to arms against a foreign foe his heart would have leaped to the contest, for the love of battle stirred him. But the call was the cry of Tennessee against the Union. Let no man living doubt that this ordeal was severe. To him who had known the glory of the ITnion f^ag and uplifted its fair folds in victory in a foreign land the test was awful. But the brave man never faltered. He believed that Tennessee was right, and he v»'eut to battle under a strange, new flag, against the banner that his services in Mexico had helped to sanctify to freedom. We .see him, wounded at Shiloh, his horse .shot under him, in the very chasm of the conflict; we behold him at Hoovers Gap, holding at bay with a few men the army of General Rosecrans. He stands by the river of death, welcoming with open arms the oncoming foe when Chickamauga's carnival of death begins. We see him fighting at the head of his troops, undaunted, fearless, pressing farthe.st to the front. One thousand and fifty-five brave hearts charge into the conflict with him. When the fury of the battle is spent, six hundred and seven of them lie dead or wounded on the field, and among them lies almost every field officer in the regiment. He .stands like a mountain of valor between Bragg's retreating hosts and utter rout at Missionary Ridge. At Resaca he is breasting the flood of death and driving the enemy before him. He plunges into the trenches at Dallas and grapples hand to hand with his foes. Leading the flank move- ment under General Hardee, he precipitates the bloody battle of Atlanta. He is next falling in wrath on the Federal Army at Eutaw Springs, and plucking from its steady grasp the Union .standards with the arm of victory. Wounded again, he soon returns to his duty, and we see him with Hood fighting against fate through the disastrous Tennes.see campaign. He faces death and baffles despair at Franklin, leading his soldiers into 144 Memorial Aihh-essi-s: W'illiaiii B. Bate the enemy's trenches, and inspiring them by his own example to deeds of reckless daring. Behold him at Nashville when "the ranks are rolled in vapor, and the winds are laid with sound," his regiment surrounded, himself still suffering from a wound, cheering his men to deeds of hopeless daring by the well- known signal of his crutch waved in nudair. He followed with the heroism of despair the receding tide of the Confederacy as it ebbed back into the Carolinas, and at Bentonville displayed unequaled valor, although he must have known his cause was doomed. When at Greensboro, X. C, JMay i , 1865, he accepted his parole, he surrendered liate and malice- and resolved to start in life anew. In that great war every battle produced a thousand heroes. In all the hosts that went to strife from 1861 to 1S65 there was no braver soldier, no truer patriot, no nobler man in either army than \ViLLi.\.M H. B.\tk. In politics, Senator Bate was a Democrat. He Ijelieved in the doctrine of States rights — the right and power of a State to govern itself in all matters of local concern. He thought that the vStates, having created the Federal ITnion, had the right to dissolve it when a cause arose that seemed to the State to justify such action. \\"hen the question of the right and power of a State to .secede from the Union had been determined against his views, he accepted the construction written with the sword by the hand of war on the Constitution in letters of blood, and, acknowdedging tlie indis.sohdaility of the Union, .sought with su])lime earnestness to preserve the liberties of the people and the rights of the States under the Constitution and within the Union. When the war had passed and peace had come again to bless a reunited country, he began the practice of his profession, pur- suing it with diligence and patience. As a lawyer he was sue- Address of Mr. Rohiiisnii, of Arkansas 145 cessful. It is written that his services as public prosecutor were characterized liy tliat high sense of duty and regard for ethics that seemed to inspire him in every relation of life. He served his party in its conventions and as Presidential elector, and was called by the people of Tennessee to the governor's office in 1882, and again in 1884 he was elected to that exalted position. The last phase of his career began with his election to the United States Senate in 1887. How well he discharged the duties of Senator may be determined from the fact that for four successive terms he was elected to represent his .State. The records of the Senate disclo.se that he was foremost in securing legislation for the advancement and improvement of agriculture. He resisted with all his power the attempt to pass the force bill. He maintained that the people of the States are capable (jf holding their own elections; that to impose Federal supervision of elections in the .State is an unwarranted tre.spass liy the General Government upon the right and power of the States to govern themselves. The defeat of the force bill was encompassed, and Senator B.VTE was reentrenched in the affections of the people of the South. He stood firmly against the forced alliance of Arizona with New Mexico, and ended his Senatorial career with a \-ictory in behalf of what he deemed .self-government. Senator B.\TE was a distinct representative of a type of Sen- ator that is rapidly pa.ssing. The ex-Confederate soldier will soon disappear from the I'nited States Senate. Since the close of the war the Southern States have attested their faith in the men who fought the battles of the Confederacy b>- uniformly lavishing political honors upon them. The most distinguished Senators from the Southern States during the last thirty years were ex-Confederate soldiers. They had been tried in the glow S. Doc. 403, 59-2 lo 146 Memorial .hMns.us: U'illiaDi />'. Bale of a fiery furnace and the public knew them to lie worthy of honor and of confidence. Only a few remain in the Senate, but their presence there evidences the love and confidence which they earned by valor and retained by fidelity. What a race of men they were! What hardships they endured ; what jirivations the>' experienced ; what difficulties they encoun- tered ; what disappointments they met with ; what vict(5ries they achieved; what defeats they suffered! What valorous deeds they performed in war; what patriotic purposes prompted them in peace! Bravest of soldieries the wars of the earth have known, our .nation salutes you. Scarred cheeks and empt>' sleeves are >"our bad.tjes of bravery; honor, your watch- word ; courai;e, ^■our inspiration; hope, your emblem; imperish- al)le .u'lory is, and ever shall be, >dur reward. On .Shiloh's field, fertilized with the ashes of fallen heroes and washed b\' .streams of patriots' blood, stands a monument to the name of B.\TE. His fame is linked indissolubh' with the glory of that field. But in the homes of Tennessee, crowning her hilK and nestlini^ in the shadows that lock within their soft embrace her peaceful \-alleys, are monuments to his renown more endurini:; than marble shafts. Those monuments are the love of loyal hearts and the confidence of faithful friends. Farmer, lawyer, soldier, statesman! Faithful old friend of the people. You sleeji to-day in the bosom of Tennessee, secure in the love of all her citizens. She has given to fame a thousand names immortal, but none more everlasting than your own. For your patriotism and moderation, }our nobility of purpose, your indomitable resolution, the Republic mourns y<5ur death and re\'eres your memory. Address of Mr. A/cvcr, of Louisiana 147 Address of Mr. Meyer, of Louisiana Mr. Speaker: I rise to second the resolutions connneniora- tive of' the life and services of Gen. Wilij.vm 15. I5.\TK, late vSenator from the State of Tennessee, who died in this city on March 9, 1905. My acquaintance with the late Senator dates from the period of the civil war, when every true son of the South felt impelled to devote himself to her cause and to the protection of her .soil. I first met liim during- the north Cxcorgia campaign of a hun- dred days, when, as was once described by the distinguished general himself, "every movement was a battlefield and every battlefield a graveyard; when for one hundred days cannons thundered and muskets flashed, and for one hundred nights the .stars looked down on new-made graves and new battle lines stained with blood." In all these conflicts General B.A.TE took a conspicuous part. I remember vividly his courtes>- and aflfa- bility to me, a youthful staff officer, the more marked because of his commanding position. Mr. Speaker, the story of Senator BaTE's career has been told by faithful ai d loving eulogists. His career illustrates the beneficence of our institutions and how nnich may he accom- plished under them by self-denial, hard work, inherent virtue, and earnestness of purpose. Young men may take courage from his example. Born in the State of Tennessee, which he loved .so well and served so splendidl>- throughout life, he received early an academic education, yet to broaden his practical knowledge and to maintain himself he worked as second clerk on a steamboat between Nashville and New Orleans. Later the mililarv ardor 148 Mriiiorial Addrisscs: ]]'illia)ii />. Bate inherent in the youth inspired liini ,to enlist as a private throughout tlie Mexican war in Louisiana and Tennessee regi- ments, gaining an experience quahfying, training him for the brilliant career achieved in the four years of our liloody struggle. Returning from the Mexican war, he applied himself to the study of the law, the profession of his choice, graduating from the Lel)anon Law vSchool in 1852. His rise was stead>', crowded as the bar of Tennessee was by men of legal talents and acipiirements, and even thus earl\- his fellow-citizens con- ferred upon him man\- honors and evidences of confidence and distinction. But B.VTK was much more than a sound successful lawyer and politician. He was not much beyond 30 years when the war began that involved our land in four years of de.solatory conflict. The young law_\'er was quick to take up arms for his vState and section. Notwithstanding some military experience, he deemed it best to begin at the foot of the ladder. He enlisted as a private, but his capacity for duty as an officer, his industry, zeal, and high soldierly qualities soon secured for him a commission and steadily carried him through the various grades of lieutenant, cajUain, colonel, brigaxlier-general, and major-general, surrendering with the army of Tennessee in 1865. Three times he was dangerously wmmded, carrying the marks of his braver>- to his dying daw This rise was not due to favor or influence. He won his spurs fairl\' b>- solid, enduring merit and b>- the faithful per- formance of dut>'. He ro.se to high rank in an army of brave men and skillful, tried, heroic officers, in such a host as has never been excelled in the story of human achie\-ement, \-irtue, and endurance. Address of Mr. J/rivv, of Louisiana 149 Fighting against terrible odds, imperfectly armed and equipped, ill fed, having no reenforcements to draw upon, fighting long months a losing battle, we can now hardly realize the con- stancy and inflexible courage it required in the conunander, the strain upon the officers and men, but everyone who knew or who served with General Bate in those dark days bears witness to his wonderful heroism and liis knightly qualities. He was a man among men. Tho.se who knew him personalh- and the strength of his per- sonal character knew also there would be — there could be — no duty that he would not perform, whatever might be the per- sonal risk or sacrifice; whatever man could do in ou.set or to cover retreat in case of disaster he would be sure to do. He was a hero in the midst of heroes. By these he has been judged, and .so the verdict will stand forever. His monument is the history of the western army of the Southern Confederacy. When that unfortunate war clcsed in conquest, ruin, and humiliation for the South, General B.\TE returned to his work as a lawj-er; but even then, when the road to public distinction seemed closed to the returning soldiers of the lost cause, men like these were the natural counselors and leaders of the people, though in ]irivate life. Energetic in peace as he had been in war, he aided in wresting control of his State from the unworthy grasp of camp followers and renegades, and assisted to rehabilitate her after the degradation into which she had been plunged by the remorseless hordes which had used her only for purpc3es of plunder and persona! aggrandizement. But, Mr. Speaker, capabilities such as General H.\TK pos- sessed were not permitted by his fellow-citizens to escape further public service in behalf of his people. Soon after Tenues.see again came into the control of her own, in 1882, he was elected 150 Memorial Addnsses: William B. Bale governor and reelected without opposition in 1884. In January, 1887, he was elected to the ITnited States Senate, and took his seat March 4 following, to which he was thrice reelected, hold- ing this great position to the day of his death. And upon his entrance into that distinguished assemblage he fotnid himself, indeed, in goodh' and familiar company, many of them men who, like himself, had given their youth and blood to the cause in which he had borne so conspicuous a part. Among them I may mention Berry and Jones, of Arkansas; Blackburn, of Kentucky: Joseph Iv lirown and Cohpiitt. of Georgia; Butler and Hampton, of vSonth Carolina; Cockrell and \'est, of Mis.souri; Daniel, of Virginia; Eu.stis and (jib.son, of Louisiana; George and Walthall, of Mississippi; Isham Ct. Harris, of Tennes.see; Reagan and Coke, of Texas; Matt. Ran- som and Zebulon Vance, of North Carolina, and Morgan and Pugh, of Alabama — all of them bearing as eminent a part in the councils of the nation as they did in the campaigns and on the liattlefields of the lost cause. Mr. Speaker, I shall not dwell upon (Teneral Batk's career in the .Senate. He led a quiet and simple life, such as the Sen- ators from the South led in the old days when their thoughts and utterances were molding the doctrines of the Republic. But he was not an idle man. He neglected no public duty. He wasted no time in dissipation or the pursuit of plea.sure. He \vas a practical, laliorious Senator. He studied all the public questions that came up, and on the.se he formed his upinions quietly and firndy. I{\'eryone knew where to find him. Thoughtful, obser\-ant, studious, and upright, courteous, yet frank and truthful, when he did speak he proved himself an able thinker, a brilliant and forceful speaker. He did not go around seeking to make friends; he had no such art; but such Address of Mr. Mcvcr, of Louisiana 151 was his perfect rectitude, his love of truth, and his courtesy that when he passed from the Senate to his great reward there was not one there who did not feel that he who had died was worthy to have been a senator of Rome when Rome survived. Tennessee loved and honored her noble son, and in this she honored herself. Never once was her pride and confidence in him withdrawn or even weakened. Bate could not but know and prize this wealth of trust and affection from his own people. In the death, of a man of tlie stamp of Senator Bate a whole nation sustains a loss. No man breathed who was more sin- cerely devoted to the best interests of his country, and his career as a Mexican and Confederate soldier and in public life is jeweled with examples of his admirable devotion to duty. The State of Tennessee was his pride. To her he brought commanding talents, patriotic purpose, and a zeal for the cau.se of other people's rights. In the councils of his country he was eminent for his wisdom, his eloquence, and purity of character. Mr. Speaker, there has been no ejioch in the history of man- kind when public trusts were more difficult, when to .ser\-e the State required higher abilitv and higher personal qualities than in the thirty years that followed the civil war, and especially from the public men of the South. They had to face a tempest of passion and a bitter prejudice that often brought a feeling to their hearts akin to despair. To plead the cause of a week and conquered people; to con- ciliate without sacrificing honor and duty, to be frank and yet not offensive; to lift up and regain the liberties of a trampled, hated, distrusted section; to make apparent all the good faith and patriotism of their constituents without resorting to unmanly recantations or fulsome protestations; to be patient and j-et strong under the most trying provocation ; to know what to yield 152 Mriiiiiria/ Addrrsscs: U'i/lia»i B. Bate and when to hu firm; to hope on and fight on to restore the material prosperity- and pohtical future of their constituents, these, and far more than I can describe, were their difficult tasks. In this great work the wisdom, thoughtfulness, and patriot- ism of a heroic man like Bate was an invaluable aid to Tennes- see and the entire South. If he had ambition, who shall blame him? It was an ambi- tion not low nor selfi.sh nor sordid. It inspired him to .serve his State and the Union, to help rebuild an impoverished and suffering .section, and to increa.se the happiness and progress of mankind. It is by such generous aspirations that humanity advances to succe-ssive triumphs and States become great and opulent. But, now, Mr. Speaker, we nuist realize that the knightly fig- ure has gone from our view. I mean the earthly part, the casket which contained the jewel, but we can still see in the mind's eye the affable presence, the courteous mien, the kindly, frank tone, the countenance in which never lurked an ignoble thought. In the feverish, fretful struggle of life, with so much in its daily strife and contention that is sordid, saddening, and repul- sive, it is refreshing to turn aside and .study the lineaments of one who was a sterling patriot, an heroic soldier, a wise states- man, a devoted husband and father, a true friend, a gentleman of the South, in whom every element of our nature .seemed blended in harmonious i^roportious. Address of Mr. Garrett^ of Tennessee 153 Address of Mr. Garrett, of Tennessee Mr. Speaker: In coininini with all Teniiesseans, I have some knowledge of Gen. \Villi.\:\i B. B.\te historically. His life touched four generations of our State, his public activities were linked with three, and during at least two of them he loomed quite large in the thoughts and affections and imagina- tions of our people. I had very limited opportunity, however, for obtaining a knowledge of his qualities and characteristics by personal contact or association with him. It was not my fortune to form his personal acquaintance until less than two years prior to his demise. He was the first governor of our Commonwealth whose election I can remember with distinctness, and I was but a small boy when he began his service as a Senator. His last term in the .Senate began on the same day that my first and present term in the House commenced, and he died five days after this date, so that I had no opportunity of being associated with him officially. Subsequent to my acquaintance with him, however, I was sometimes in his society, and can recall with keen pleasure con- versations enjoyed with him. From these I can and do bear cheerful testimony to the kindly spirit which he displayed and the generous suggestions, both helpful and instructive, that he offered. His advices with myself subsequent to my election to Congress were not confined merely to the details of official duties and labor, nor to the expression of opinions and views with respect to public questions and issues, but in a kindly and, it may be said, a fatherly manner he spoke with nie upon the more delicate questions of official conduct and decorum. I remember that the thought or theory which he seemed most 154 Memorial Addresses: William />'. Bate anxious to emphasize and ini]>ress was tliat entire frankness, accompanied by courteous demeanor, was at once the funda- mental (hity i)f the pulihc servant and the surest foundation for success, l)oth temjiorary and ultimate. Thu man \vln> rtMiiaiiis lonj^ in ]»iil>lic service — he saitl, in substance — is l)roiij;ht fact- tofaccwitli many embarrassing and perplexing conditions. There are constantly arising contests between friends, conflicts between rival interests, both having claims upon him. Tact and courtesy and judgment must be displayed, of course, in such situations, but the easiest way out, the wa^' which will prove least embarrassing and contribute most to the strength of the man among the people, is and will always be an entire frankness, accompanied Ijy firmness not less pronounced because courteous. There is nothing new about this thought, of course; it is as old as human society. But it is one which each generation mtist learn and can not be too often emphasized, and I deemed it a most praiseworthx' act in that honored old puldic servant, standing in the gathering twilight of his sjilendid life — a life which had been crowned with rich honors and had as trophies the highest political prizes any .single Conunonwealth of these United States can bestow — to turn to one just entering, and that in early life, tipon public activities in an official capacity and make this thought the uppermost and most emphatic. The proof of that theor>-, if, indeetl, .sir, it may he called a theory, was demonstrated quite con.spicuously in General Bate's own career. He held iix-e difBerent official civil posi- tions by election of the people. To one of the.se, the govern- orship, he was twice elected. To the Senate of the United States he was four times commissioned. He received political support from three generations of Tennesseans. In all, he served the people for thirty j-ears in oificial civil capacities, and this service began two-thirds of a century, almost, before %- Address of Mr. Garrerl, of Trnncssrc 155 it closed. If I remember correctly, he was never defeated Ijut once when seeking public position. That was in 1875, when b}- one majority ex-President Johnson was elected to the Senate. And, sir, it has escaped by observation in studying his his- tory if in all that time there was one instance of his deceiving man or men; if he ever evaded or sought to evade a responsibility; if he ever failed to meet any issue of his long life at, at least, the halfway point. During his long career he was a central figure in many heated and impassioned con- tests. -Think, sir, what changes were wrought within the span of this man's life. Measured by the history that was made and bv the experiences which accompanied its making, he lived far longer than did the ancient patriarchs who dwelt in the eastern land in mankind's early forenoon. What pas- sions, what poems, what romances, what vicissitudes and vitalities were incident to his agel All the records of human achievements through all the misty ages might be utterly destroyed— aye, effaced even from tradition and erased from human recollection— save the records made within the years from his birth to his death, and we should still have left accomplishments \ast enough and great enough to appeal to highest human thought, to kindle the loftiest imagination, and to thrill human hearts with every delight and ever\- despair which the spirit of man may feel. That age was a condensed resume of all the ages that have been, an ex- panded expression of the thoughts that are, and a prophecy of the things that are to be. From its activities and accomplishments philosopher and poet and painter and publicist and all may draw an inspira- tion with which to grapple the eternal problems ari.sing from mankind's mighty movements and a wisdom with which to solve them in that manner that will lead the race onward 156 Mc))iorial .ItMnssrs: ll'illiani B. Bate and onward toward the heights, even tlie beautiful heights that he l>eyond the trenibhng stars. The epitome of all life is in that epoch; the past, with its passion and its power; the present, with its praj'er and its praise ; the future, with its dread and its dreams. And, sir, it is not saying too much to assert that the super- lative of all the achievements of that period are to be found in the history of these United States. With the.se far-reaching activities the name of General B.\TE was linked, not always conspicuously, indeed, but often so, and always honorably. The contests in which he engaged were .so environed that they brought into public view not only every (|uality of strength and every reserve ]iower belonging to the man, l)ut disclo.sed the flaws and exhibited the weaknesses as well. He emerged from them all not without criticism, it is true, but witnout a sugges- tion of .shame or an insinuation of lack of moral cr intellectual integrity. When you come to measure the manhood of a man, what greater encomium could be desired than that it max- be truly said he fought always in the open sunlight, never evading an issue, never avoiding a question, never deceiving his fellow? So far as I am familiar with the record of General B.\te, private and public, that may be truly .said of him; and, I think, sir, it is \-er\-, very fine. He po.s.se.ssed firmness, too, as well as frankness. His will was inflexible after his judgment had pointed the way. Had it not been so I am thoroughly convinced that he could never have met with such long-continued success in receiving honors from the people of that vState. A distinguishing, perhaps one may say the distinguishing, characteristic of the men of Ten- . ne.ssee who.se names are mo.st illustrious in our annals and are best remembered, and upon whom Tennesseans bestowed their bravest admiration and evidences of loyal love, was inflexible Address of Mr. Garrett^ of Tennessee 157 determination, accompanied, it may be added, with aggressive, combative disposition. John Sevier, founder of the short-lived, romance-tinged State of FrankHn and father of the eternal Commonwealth of Tennessee, upon whose simple tomb in the public square of beautiful Knoxville is inscribed the words, "Thirty-five battles — thirty-five victories;" Robertson, who was to the Cumberland country what Sevier was to the Wa- tauga : Houston, who laid aside the governorship of the State to enter the wilderness, from whence he emerged bearing to the sisterhood of States a new Commonwealth which he, with Austin, had founded and grounded ; Jackson, whose ad sum will ring clear at every roll call of the immortals ; Polk, who, as floor leader in this House, joined with another statesman whom Tennessee gave to Missouri in the bud of his intelligence and power, the great Senator Benton, to lead in rendering the Jackson Administration conspicuous forever, and who, when later elevated to the Presidency himself, gave to the country the most brilliant four years of his existence and the most suc- cessful administration in crystallizing into law the conceptions and policies in the public thought of the times of any in our history; Bell, the great ante-bellum Senator; Harris, the war governor and distinguished post-bellum Senator ; Andrew Johnson, to whom a combat was meat and drink. In this list, which is but a partial one, of course, may be found conspicuous representatives of almost every shade of political thought dur- ing our ten and an hundred years of statehood, and the distin- guishing characteristic of each, the quality which every Tennessee schoolboy first notes, was unyielding determination, combined with aggressive temperament. It is not putting it too .strongly to say that General B.\te was as inflexible as either of these and was of that type whom Teuuesseaus have mo.st delighted to honor 158 Memorial AMnssrs: Williaiii B. Bale The -, the faith of her past love, her past fathomless love, the faith of her public virtues, of her luisullied public virtues. As in life the}' honored him because he was strong and brave and true, so now do they cherish his memory becau.se he maintained unbroken every thread in the line of puljlic luster and preserved the traditional loyalty to the good things of the soul and the great things of human relationship. He kept their faith. That was it. Through glory and thnjugh gloom Address of Mr. Garrett, of Tennessee i6i he kept their faith, even the g^reat faith of Tennesseans, and they are content, sir, qnite content. I have said that I do not care to speak of his death. I do not and I shall not in any language of my own. It was a part of the day's work, an incident in the great sweep and scheme of things. It means mnch — jnst how much we do not know. Some time we shall know, no doubt, but not now; that is, not all of us. The poet may know; the poet does know most among men, both of the things of earth and of the things beyond the earth. A great southern poet has written a great poem about death. In some respects it is the greatest of all his poems, and I think some lines of it are quite appropriate just here; Sad mortal! Couldst thou but know What truly it means to die. The wings of thy soul would glow And the hope.s of thy heart beat high ; Thou wouldst turn from the Pyrrhonist schools. And laugh their jargon to scorn. As the babble of midnight fools Ere the morning of truth be born ; But I, earth's madness above, In a kingdom of stormless breath — I gaze on the glory of love In the unveiled face of Death. I tell thee his face is fair As the moon-bow's amber rings. And the gleam in his unbound hair Like the flush of a thou.sand springs ; His smile is the fathomless beam Of the star-shine's sacred light. When the summers of Southland dream In the lap of the holy night ; For I, earth's blindness above. In a kingdom of halcyon breath — I gaze on the marvel of love In the unveiled face of Death. S. Doc. 403, 59-2 II 1 62 Memorial Addresses: William B. Hale Tlirough the spleiulur of stars iiiipeark-d III the glow of the far-off grace, He is soaring world by world With the souls in his strong embrace; Lone ethers, unstirred by a wind, At the passage of Death grows sweet With the fragrance that floats behind The flash of his winged retreat; And 1, earth's madness above, 'Mid a kingdom of tranquil breath, Have gazed c>n the luster of love In the unveiled face of Death. But beyond the stars and the sun I can follow him still on his way, Till the pearl-white gates are won In the calm of the central day. Far voices of fond acclaim Thrill down from the place of souls. As Death, with a touch like flame, Uncloses the goal of goals ; And from heaven of heavens above God speaketh with bateless breath — My angel of perfect love Is the angel men call Death! Address of Mr. But/cr, of To/iiesscc 163 Address of Mr. Butler, of Tennessee Mr. Speaker: In tlie remarks which I shall submit on this occasion I do not propose to enter in detail into the history of this great and good man, whose death we so much deplore and whose memory we have met to commemoi-ate. His life and character, both civil and military, has been so ably and reliably depicted Ijy gentlemen who have preceded me it would be sim- ply a matter of repetition for me to dwell upon it. But as the distinguished Senator was born and reared in the county of Sumner, in the district which I have the honor to represent in this House, I feel that I should bear testimony of the high esteem in which he was held by these who knew him best and had shared Ids hospitalities in peace and with him the trials and dangers of war. Those who responded to his commands on the bloody historic fields of Shiloh and Chickamauga and who with a fidelity akin to worship have ever rallied to his standard since that time, until they lovingly but sadly laid him to rest on the 13th of March, 1905 — truly those people admired him as perhaps they did no other man; nor was this admiration undeserved, because with them he was as a brother, ever ready to extend a helpitig hand in time of distress and by his example and influence led them on to a higher and better life. He was perhaps more widely known than any man in Ten- nessee, and, on account of his heroic valor, his undaunted cour- age, his sterling integrity, his patriotic de\-otion to his country, his .self-sacrificing disposition, his loyalty and fidelity to his 164 Mciiioricil Addresses: William B. Bate friends, his unswerving adherence to principle, and his Chris- tian character, none knew him but to love him. I had the honor of an intimate acquaintance with him from my early manhood up to his death, and can say without exaggeration a more courteous, affable gentleman I never met. He was the soul of honor — a true type of genuine .southern manhood, with which the country of his nativit\- so richly abounds. He was ever grateful to his political friends and tolerant of those who chose to oppo.se him, always conceding to others what he claimed for himself — honesty of purpose. His heart went out in sympathy to those in distress, especiallj- to those who wore the gray and shared with him the trials, privations, and dangers of that terrible conflict between the States, in which he played such a prominent part, as .shown from the records of the War Department and .statements of gentlemen on this floor. It is needless to say those old .soldiers loved him as a brother, because they demonstrated their devotion and confidence in him when they rallied to his standard almost^ to a man in the hottest political campaign Tennessee has witnessed for many years, in which he was triumphantly reelected to the United States Senate only a few months before his death. It was .said in that cam- paign that he was too old to longer make an efficient Senator, but the response came quick and fast, " Let him die in the har- ness," and .so he did. Tennessee mourns the loss of her distinguished son, and well she may, because with that same courage and patriotism dis- played on .so many hard-fought battlefields he was ever on the watchtower looking after the interests of his beloved State and the people who so often, but .so deservedly, honored him. In the death of Senator B.vte Tennessee has lost one of her most Address of Mr. Biitlcr, of Tennessee 165 gifted and loyal sons and the nation one of its most efficient and trustworthy Senators. As a Senator he was ever at his post of duty, faithful to the trust his people had reposed in him, zealously guarding the interests of the nation with an ability and firmness worthy of the high position. His ashes rest beneath the sod of Tennessee, and his name and memory will live in the hearts of his people. i66 Memorial Addresses: Jl'ilh'a))/ B. Bate Address of Mr. Houston, of Tennessee Mr. vSpeakek : It would be reiteration for me to recount the life and deeds of the distinguished man to whose memory we are here to-da\- to pay just and lo\-ing tribute. This has already been fittingly and eloquently done. But, coming from the di-strict which I have the honor to represent in this body, and knowing the strong hold that Senator Bate had on the confidence and affection of the people of this district, I feel that I must voice in a few words the love and respect felt by that people for his name and memory. His State delighted to honor him while living and with una- nimity mourned his death. His life illustrates the ends that may be attained by simple faith and unfailing devotion to duty, and to his people is an ideal example of patriotism. He knew no halting at the call of duty, and gave his utmost endeavor to every .service that fell to his lot. Eager in the service of his country, he rushed to every po.st of duty. He gave his labor and shed his blood in her behalf. His chief characteristics were a devoted mind and an intrepid .soul. He never .swer\-ed from the line of duty as he .saw it, and no mortal danger ever caused him to ([uail or hesitate. As a member of the legislature of his State ; as the attor- ney-general of his judicial circuit ; as a private and lieutenant in the Mexican war; as private, captain, colonel, brigadier- general, and major-general in the civil war ; as governor of his State, and as Senator from that State — in each and all these places of honor and trust he did his part faithfulh' and well. He failed in no instance to measure up to the full performance of dutv. His official career before and since the war is written Address of Mr. Hoitslou, of Tennessee 167 in the records of his State and of the American Congress. And I desire to insert with these remarks his mihtary record in the ^Mexican and civil wars as furnished nie by The Mihtary Secretary. This is his record as shown by the l>rief data of war, tiie unembellished statement of position held and .ser\-ice per- formed. But the real record of this soldier is not portrayed in this short official recital ; it remains yet for the historian to give that record in its fullness. It lives in fragments in the minds and memories of his surviving comrades, as they were a.ssociated with different parts of his career. It is green in their hearts, and will be until these hearts have .stilled their motion. It glows in the traditions and tales that are the com- mon heritage of the sons and daughters of southern soldiers. It li\-es in the song and .storj- of his .section and will be crystal- lized in American history when history shall, as history will, accurateh* set forth the valor and heroism of the gallant men who wore the gray. But his career in war was only a part of his life. There is another and a larger part of it that endears him to his people. When the war was ended, he in good faith accepted the condi- tions and did all in his power to restore jieace, that " ble,s,sed peace .so dear to God and inappreciably valuable to man." Then in the ranks of the civilian he measured up to the loftiest standard. He who had .so gallantly led his people on the field of battle was a conspicuous example and leader in the paths of peace. With courage and patriotism he met the trying condi- tions of the days ju.st after the war, and with patience, pru- dence, and moderation as his guides rendered signal .service in tiding over this difficult period and restorinj;- loyal allegiance to a reunited country. And later on, when again called by his people into public service as governor of his .State, his adminis- i68 Mcii/or/a/ Addrcssrs: W'illiaiii B. Bale tration was just and sagacious, and as a Senator liis course was noted for its wisdom and absolute fidelity to every trust. His career was marked by intelligent application and indus- tr\-. The conscientious performance of duty was the doctrine that guided his every step, and the people of his State knew that in him they had a representative who could bring no reproach, but would reflect honor, upon the State that so loved to liouor him. Mr. Speaker, the respect and confidence that the people of Tennessee reposed in Senator B.vtk was a treasure that a king should be proud of. And this treasure he earned by honest and f;;ithful .service to his people. In every walk of life he held their approval. That whole life was devoted to their service. In times of peace he labored for them; in times of war he leil them in liattle. As a civilian he served them with distinction; as a .soldier his record is that of a hero. Three times he was dangerously wounded in battle; still he was un- dismayed and fought on, maimed and crippled in body, yet undaunted in .soul. His devotion was ,so great he could not hesitate or falter; his faith and purpose so steadfast he could not turn his mind from the course of duty, and no peril to him- self e\-er checked him in that course. He fought a good fight. To his intrepid spirit was due the success of his life, and he attained his purpose and ambition in life to a remarkable degree. His career was rich in honors and ripe in years, but — The liaiul of the Reaper Take.s the ears that are hoary. And at the age of almost founscore he was gathered to his fathers. He was laid to rest beneath the sod of his own native State. His comrades buried him with the honors of war and his State bowed its head in re\'erent sorrow. His natural instincts to do his whole dutv on everv occasion Address of Mr. Hon stem, of Tennessee 169 and his disregard of danger to himself were perhaps the causes of his sudden end of hfe. His attendance and part in the inau- gural ceremonies of the President and the exposure resulting from it were more than his years and strength could stand. In a few short days the summons came. And the same high courage that had borne him through so man}- conflicts sustained him then, and with fortitude and resignation he answered the last call. In that hour he was a conqueror still. He died the death of the righteous, universally lamented as a model of the true and the valiant — as an honest and earnest patriot. The fairest treasure mortal times afford Is spotless reputation. This treasure Senator Bate po.ssessed in life, and dying left as a heritage to his people. [Note. — For a duplication of the official statement of the military record of Senator B.\TE, appended to Mr. Huston's address, see pages 66 and 69.] Memorial Addresses: ll'il/iaiii B. Bate Address of Mr. Padgett, of Tennessee Mr. Speakkk: A st-vere hoarseness, as the result of la grippe, will deny to me the opportunity of speaking at length upon this occasion. Moreover, the very late hour admonishes me that I should be brief. Others, more capable than I, have spoken at length of the achievements and given in detail the life work of this distinguished .statesman, and I feel m\' inability to add much to what has been already' so eloquently spoken. Mr. vSpeaker, near Castalian S]>rings, in vSumner County, Tenn., on October 7, 1826, a child was born. In the city of Washington, March 9, iyo5, a man died. This period mea.sures the life work of a distinguished and well-beloved son of Ten- nessee. Senator William B. Bate lived to a ripe old age, and died full of \ ears and full of honors. His actix'ities were varied and co\x-red a wide field of action; both in war and in civil life he distinguished him,self preeniineiitlx'. In war he rose from the position of a private to that of major-general, and in <:ivil life he was connnissioned by the great State of Teinies- see as one of its ambassadors in the Senate of the United States. I shall not attempt to rehear.se in detail the particulars of either his military or civic life — that has already been told in language more eloquent than I can hope to emplo\-. The simple state- ment of his rise to the position of a major-general and for four successive terms a Senator of the United States bespeak suffi- ciently the merits of the man. Mr. Speaker, I come not to flatter or to speak extravagantly of the life and character of Senator Batk, and yet I would not be content unless I availed mj'self of the opportunit>- of this occasion to Ijear testimony to the jiurity of his life, the nofiility Address of Mr. Padgett., of Tennessee 171 of his character, and tlie efficieuc}- of his Hfe work. .Senator Bate was tried in many ways and alwaj's found true. In the discharge of his* duties as a private soldier or as a commanding officer on the field of battle or in camp life; or as a private citizen in the business affairs of life, or as a civic officer, he ever measured up to the fullness of the standard "always present. ahva\s prepared." Senator Bate possessed in an eminent degree all the elements of character, all the qualities of heart and mind essential to a generous and noble manhood. Posses.sed of a strong and vigor- ous intellect, he was capable of a comprehensive under.standing of the great problems arising in social and political life. A man of splendid courage, his actions measured up to his convictions. But, Mr. Speaker, better than mere intellectuality was the nobility of his character, the charity of his heart, the purity of his life. In all the elements constituting nobility of character, integrity, honor, honesty, and purity he was a Gibraltar; im- movable from the right, impregnable to wrong. It was these qualities of his life which so endeared him to the people of Tennessee and gave them such abiding confidence and unshaken faith in him. Mr. Speaker, Senator Bate %vas a man of generous impulses and a catholic spirit. He did not limit his sympathies or con- fine them by narrow jealousies. The generosity of his heart is well expressed in the lines: He prayest best who loveth best All tUings both great and small; For the dear God who loveth us, He made and loveth all. Mr. Speaker, if I rightly understand the aim of his life or correctly interpret the philosophy of life which inspired his life work I think it is aptly expressed in these lines of the poet: 172 Memorial Addresses: ]\'illiai)i B. Bate I live fur those who love me, For those who know ine true ; For the heaven that smiles above me And awaits my spirit too; For all himian ties that bind me, For the task by God assigned me, For the bright hopes yet to find me, And the good that I can do. I live to hold comnmnion With all that is divine; To feel there is a union 'Twixt nature's heart and mine. To profit In- affliction, Reap truth from fields of fiction, Grow wiser from conviction. And fulfill God's grand design. I live for those who love me, For those who know me true ; For the heaven that smiles above me And awaits my spirit too ; For the cause that lacks assistance, For the wrong that needs resistance, For the future in the distance, .\nd the guo.l that I may do. Mr. Speaker, true to his lo\e, iu the hour of death he gave the injunction. "Take me l)ack to Tenne.ssee. " This wasdone. His body lay in state in the Capitol, and thou.sands took a last look and did homage to the departed vSenator. On the dav of his burial maiij- thousands stood reverently to witness the ceremony of placing his body iu the grave, "earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust," to await the resurrectiou. Then came the impressions of another scene, when the women went early in the morning to the sepulcher of a loved One and found the stone rolled away, and asked the gardener the whereabouts of the loved One whom they found not; and the angel answered, "He is not here." Leaving the flower-covered moiuid, lifting our vision above the glory of the western sun, we shall expect to find .Senator 15.\tk in the company of the true and good of earth in that richer, better, nobler life of which the angel spoke, saying", "He is risen." Address of Mr. Sims, of Tennessee 173 Address of Mr. Sims, of Tennessee Mr. SpEAKicr: After all that has been said as to the life, character, and public services of the late lamented Senator Bate in this House and in the Senate, I find it difficult to express myself so as not to appear as repeating and adopting the words and ideas of those who have preceded me in addressing the House on this sad occasion. But it will l)e an even tnore difficult task to relate all in the life of the great Senator that will be of benefit to those of us who survi\-e him and to those who come after us. I have known Senator Bate intimately for thirty years, and I never knew a nobler man, one whose every act and deed, whether private or public, was more worthy of example. I shall leave to others who are more familiar with his career as a soldier the narrative of his military achievements. I feel incompetent to do him justice in that regard. I shall not dwell on his record as governor of Teiuiessee nor on his record as a Senator. All these have received treatment at the hands of those better fitted for it than I am. I think, in relating the facts in the life of a good and great man, that it is well to tell of the little things with which every day is crowded, but which, being of apparently no consequence, are not the result of effort or study, but are the uncolored outgivings of the heart — the real man and not the actor. When I first came to \Va.shington as a Member of the iMl'ty- fifth Congress at the extraordinary .session, in March, 1897, I took my meals at the Ebbitt Hou.se, the well-known hotel in this city where Senator Bate lived all the time of his Sena- torial career and where he died. I was asked by him to sit at 174 Mouorial Addresses: W'illiani B. Bate his taljle and take my meals with the Senator and his noble wife. In this way, during more than four months of that session of Congress, I was the constant companion of the Senator. Though he was old enough to have been my father, I found him one of the most interesting, pleasant, affable, and desirable companions I ever had, regardless of age. During this time I never saw him angry, never heard him scold or speak cress to a .servant; was always most punctual in his attendance at meals; always gave Mrs. Bate as much personal attention and gallant consideration as if she were in her girl- hood teens and he her lover and suitor, in.stead of the gray- haired grandsire that he was. I ne\'er in all my acquaintance witli him heard him .say one unkind word about anybody. He seemed to be governed in his conversation about others by the rule that ii he could not .sav anything good about them to say nothing. He never took advantage of the privilege of a j^rivate convensation to abuse and denounce anyone, however much he might disagree with them. He was always l)old and strong in his denunciation of wrong as such and never excused or palliated what was realh^ wrong in his best friend, but in doing so he always refrained from personal abu.se or innuendo. His integrity and purity of life were his elements of greatest strength. Although a learned lawyer, a great orator, an accomplished .scholar, his character for old-fashioned honesty was his greatest element of power and influence in the Senate. Xo man was ever heard to question his honesty of purpo.se, whatever his position might be on anj' question. In his long career there was never even .so much as a whisper of scandal in connection with an}- of his public acts. He was liberal, but not extravagant. He died a much poorer man than when he first came to the vSenate. He was fortu- Addrt'ss of Mr. .Sn//s, of Tennessee 175 nate in that he had a competence when he entered pubhc office, and his views of public duty were such that he retired from all active professional or business pursuits and gave all his time and energies to his Senatorial duties. It is sad to think that the meager compensation of Senators will not permit them to ser\'e in that great body, giving all their time and strength to their public duties, except at a sac- rifice to themselves and their families. But such has been the fact .so long that the public have concluded that the only acceptable evidence of official honesty is to quit office in pov- erty, or at least in reduced circumstances. The great Senator, figuratively speaking, was so erect in his relations with the world while in office that he appeared to lean backward. He literally shunned the very appearance of evil. I knew of an instance where an old and loved friend of the Senator had received his aid in a matter — not strictly offi- cial in character, but while in office — who afterwards .sent the Senator a present of small value, simpl>- as a token of gratitude, who was greatly mortified when the .Senator returned the arti- cle with a letter thanking his friend for his intended kindness, but refusing ab.solutely to receive anything of the .slightest value as a gratuity, however innocent the intention of the donor might be. He refused all courtesies in the way of free railroad tran.s- portation and express or telegraph franks, but never in the slightest impugned the motives of any other man who did not follow in his foot.steps. He was indefatigable in his official labors. As a Member of the House I have had every opportunit\- to know him well in this regard. I was often interested in the passage of a private bill in the Senate, and on account of the .Senator's great age and out of a feeling of kindness to him I have sometimes asked 176 Mniiorial .hMrrssrs: U'iUiaii/ B. Bale the then junior Senator to look after a private l)ill : but Sena- tor Bate in every instance asked me whj- I did not come to hini in the matter and always seemed hurt because I did not put the bill in his hands. His love for work was so great that he seemed to want to do it all, and any manifestation of sym- pathy for him on account of his age or infirmities seemed to be painful to him. I saw him on the day of the inauguration of President Roose- velt on his way to the platform to take his seat as a member of the inaugural committee. In the Rotunda of the Capitol on his way I saw he appeared to be fatigued, pale, and ex- hausted. He was urged by an employee of the Senate, who took note of his condition, not to go out in the cold wind and sit with the committee, but the Senator would not heed the efforts of his friends, but, in what he regarded as a discharge of duty, made his way to the front of the inaugural platform, took his .seat, and remained there until the inaugural ceremo- nies were over, exposed to a cold north wind, from which ex- posure he took a severe cold, resulting in fatal illness of only three days' duration. He thus literally died at his post: he fell on the firing line. Mr. vSpeaker, to state all that occurred in the life of Senator B.\TK that is useful and instrncti\-e to the people of his State and nation wnuld fill a large volume, which is impossible on this occasion, but I hope some gifted writer will do justice to his name and fame and leave in enduring form a full and complete hi.story of the public and private acts of this good and great man. Mr. Speaker, I had the honor to be on the committee appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives to attend the fmeral and burial of Senator Bate, which took place at Nashville, Teini., with military honors, on the 13th Address of' Mr. Sims, of Tcniicsscc 177 dav of March, 1903. Tennessee has had many great and well- beloved men, and lier people love to show their love for her great and glorious dead; but I never heard of and certainly never saw the attendance of so large a gathering of the peojile of Tennessee at the funeral and Inirial of any other man as was in attendance at that of Senator 15ate. The jieople of every walk of life from every part of the State came in almo-t numberless thousands, and with bowed, l)ared heads paid the hero dead the last but most tender tribute of their love and respect by the shedding of unaffected tears. Though dead, \el he lives i.n the example of a good and great life by the follow- ing of whose teachings all the world may be made better. FfRTHER ACTION- OF THE HOUSE. The Speaker pro tempore. In ])nrsuance of the resolu- tions heretofore adopted, and as a further mark of respect to the deceased Senator, the House will stand adjourned. Accordingly (at 5 o'clock and 42 minutes) the House adjourned. O S. Doc. 40}., 59-2 12 > iiMiiiMm«*miiiiwi>iiiiiiii<*>iMl