AMES BOWEN EVERHART. 
 

 
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A MEMORIAL 
 
 OF 
 
 THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF 
 
 James Bowen Everhart 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 THOS. LOUIS OGIER 
 
 
 NEW YORK & LONDON 
 
 G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 
 
 S^e ^nickerbocher ^wsa 
 1889 
 
 6^ 
 

 COPYRIGHT BY 
 
 THOS. LOUIS OGIER 
 
 Press of 
 
 G. P. Putnam's Sows 
 
 New York 
 
3r 
 
 4 
 
 THIS VOLUME IS 
 
 DEDICATED 
 
 TO 
 
 THE FRIENDS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 LATE JAMES BOWEN EVERHART 
 
 111 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The highest tribute that can be paid to the 
 memory of those we admire, is to cherish their 
 excellent qualities, manly virtues, and intel- 
 lectual attainments. Coleridge says : " What 
 is that which first strikes us, and strikes us at 
 once, in a man of education ; and which, among 
 educated men, so instantly distinguishes the 
 man of superior mind. ... It is the unpre- 
 meditated and evidently habitual arrangement 
 of his words, grounded on the habit of foresee- 
 ing, in each integral part, or (more plainly) in 
 every sentence, the whole that he then intends 
 to communicate." Such marked and decided 
 characteristics were found in the life of our 
 departed friend, the late James Bowen Ever- 
 hart. 
 
 Thos. Louis Ogier. 
 
 West Chester, Pa., i88g. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 History of the Family i 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 
 The Student and Lawyer 6 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 The Tra^-eller 13 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 The Traveller — Continwd ... .22 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Author and Poet 26 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Patriot and Soldier 39 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 State Senator 43 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 His Eulogy on General Wayne in the Senate — 
 
 Retirement from State Senate ... 54 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Congressional Contests 75 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The Congressman 83 
 
 vii 
 
vlli Contents. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. ''^^^ 
 
 Illness and Death— Tributes of Respect . . 97 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Newspaper Tributes 120 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Closing Services 
 
 144 
 
LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 OF 
 
 JAMES BOWEN EVERHART. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 IT is about two and a half centuries since 
 the ancestry of James Bowen Everhart 
 came to this country, from the Kingdom 
 of Wurtemberg. The family first located in 
 the State of New York, and about the middle 
 of the last century the great-grandfather of 
 Mr. Everhart, moved from that State to Penn- 
 sylvania and took up lands in East Vincent 
 township, Chester county, then an almost 
 endless forest. A son, James Everhart, was a 
 youth during the Revolution, but, like other 
 brave and patriotic young men of that day, 
 shouldered his musket and went forth to 
 battle for the infant Republic. 
 
 On one occasion while he was with a small 
 
2 Life and Character of 
 
 body of scouts in the vicinity of Valley Forge, 
 during the winter of 1778, they were pursued 
 by the enemy, and while young Everhart was 
 making his way on the ice to the opposite 
 side of the Schuylkill river, it broke. He 
 was plunged into the water and with British 
 bullets whistling around him reached the other 
 shore in safety. He lived to see his great- 
 grandchildren reach the age of maturity, and 
 died a nonagenarian. His sons were James, 
 John, and William. The last-named was the 
 father of the subject of this sketch. 
 
 William Everhart was born in 1785, and 
 after acquiring a country-school education, 
 studied the profession of surveyor. About 
 the time he came of age, he, in connection 
 with his profession, engaged in the mercantile 
 business. In 18 12, during the second war with 
 Great Britain, he raised a rifle company of 
 eighty picked men, and offered their services 
 to the government ; they were not called into 
 service. In 18 14 Mr. Everhart married Miss 
 Hannah Matlack, a granddaughter of Isaiah 
 Matlack. It was while engaged in the mercan- 
 tile business in West Whiteland township, 
 whither he had moved some years previous, 
 
yames Bowen Everhart, 3 
 
 that he sailed for England, in the year 1822, 
 for the purpose of making extensive purchases. 
 Mr. Everhart sailed from New York in the 
 ill-fated packet ship Albion^ bound for Liver- 
 pool. The vessel, when nearly at the end 
 of its voyage, was, on April 22d, wrecked near 
 the Old Head of Kinsale, on the Irish coast. 
 The captain and all of the crew excepting 
 eight were drowned, and of the twenty-five 
 cabin passengers Mr. Everhart alone was saved. 
 Among the prominent passengers who found 
 the sea for their grave were General Lefebvre 
 Desonouetts, Colonel A. J. Prevost, Major 
 William Gough, a brother of Lord Gough, 
 and Professor Fisher of Yale College. 
 
 Mr. Everhart, with almost superhuman ef- 
 forts, saved his life by clinging to the nearly 
 perpendicular rock, upon which he had only 
 sufficient space to rest one foot. In this try- 
 ing position he remained until dawn, being 
 continually drenched with the angry billows. 
 He was rescued by the people, who lowered a 
 rope over the headland. Mr. Everhart was 
 very kindly treated and cared for by the warm- 
 hearted Irish people. He always took an 
 interest in the welfare of the Celtic race, 
 
4 Life and Character of 
 
 whether in America or upon their native 
 heath, and in the time of famine no cry for 
 succor reached this country, that he did not 
 hear and respond to with a liberal contribu- 
 tion. His children have ever remembered the 
 kindness to their father by the Irish people 
 when he was a castaway on their shores, and 
 like him have responded to calls for aid in 
 time of famine. Mr. Everhart, in that disas- 
 ter, lost ten thousand dollars in gold ; some 
 time after, the British authorities found about 
 that sum of money and offered it to Mr. 
 Everhart, if he would make oath that he could 
 identify it as his own. This he could not see 
 his way clearly to do, and declined to comply 
 with the conditions. 
 
 In 1824 he moved to West Chester, and pur- 
 chased several extensive tracts of farm lands 
 within the borough limits. He opened streets, 
 which he donated to the corporation ; erected 
 a number of business houses and dwellings, 
 and performed many other acts for the ad- 
 vancement and prosperity of the borough. In 
 1836 he was elected Chief Burgess, serving in 
 that capacity for two years. 
 
 In 1852 he was elected on the Whig ticket 
 
James Boweii Everhart, 5 
 
 to Congress, and before his term expired he 
 delivered — on May 19, 1854 — a very able speech 
 on the Kansas-Nebraska bill of Senator Doug- 
 lass. In the course of his remarks, he, in 
 almost prophetic language, predicted the 
 dreadful results which would follow the pass- 
 age of the bill ; he said : " Its authors are 
 sowing a wind, but will reap a whirlwind." He 
 declined a renomination in 1854, and resumed 
 his mercantile profession. In 1867 he retired 
 from business, after upwards of sixty years of 
 active business life. He died on October 30, 
 1868, lamented by the entire community. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 JAMES BOWEN EVERHART, the third 
 son of William and Hannah Everhart, was 
 born in West Whiteland township, Ches- 
 ter county, July 26, 1821. He received his early 
 education at Bolmar's Academy in West 
 Chester; his preceptor, Antonie Bolmar, was a 
 French gentleman and soldier. After finishing 
 at this school he entered Princeton College, 
 from which he graduated in 1842 witha class of 
 sixty others. Among his classmates were many 
 who have acquired distinction, as the Hon. 
 George H. Boker, of Philadelphia, ex-Minis- 
 ter to Turkey ; the late Thomas W. Catrell, 
 Ph.D., Professor in Lincoln University; Rev. 
 Elijah R. Craven, D.D., Secretary of the 
 Presbyterian Board of Publication ; Rev. Jo- 
 seph F. Garrison, D.D., Professor in the Divin- 
 ity School of the Protestant Episcopal Church 
 of Philadelphia; Thomas N. McCarter, LL.D., 
 of Newark, New Jersey; William Potter Ross, 
 who was for a time Chief of the Cherokee 
 
 6 
 
James Bowen Everhart, 7 
 
 Nation ; and the late Doctor Robert King 
 Stone, Professor in the Medical College of 
 Washington, D. C. 
 
 While at Princeton Mr. Everhart was a 
 member of the Cleosophic Society, and whilst 
 maintaining a high rank for scholarship, 
 especially in the classics, he was distinguished 
 for his ability as a speaker and writer. His 
 friend, Rev. John T. Duffield, D.D., Professor 
 of Mathematics in the College of New Jer- 
 sey at Princeton, and who graduated the year 
 preceding Mr. Everhart, thus writes of him : 
 
 *' Mr. Everhart was the most prominent of 
 the four representatives of the Cleo Society in 
 what is here known as ' The Junior Orator 
 Contest.' I have ever admired and appreciated 
 his intellectual ability, his sterling integrity, 
 and his rare nobility of character. He was 
 a broad-cultured, high-minded, large-hearted, 
 amiable, genial gentleman." 
 
 Mr. Everhart was one of the founders of 
 one of the college literary periodicals, which 
 has been continued to the present day — for 
 the first year it was called The Gem, afterwards 
 and at present it is called The Nassau Literary 
 Magazine. 
 
8 Life and Character of 
 
 Rev. E. R. Craven, D.D., in writing of Mr. 
 Everhart, says : ** He had one of the brightest 
 minds in our class, and was one of our finest 
 scholars, excelling both in the classics and in 
 mathematics, and he was regarded as one of 
 our best writers and speakers." 
 
 After his graduation he returned to West 
 Chester and commenced the study of law, 
 under the preceptorship of Joseph J. Lewis, 
 Esq., one of the prominent members of 
 the bar of Chester county ; he remained with 
 Mr. Lewis for one year and then entered the 
 Harvard Law School at Cambridge, Massa- 
 chusetts, where he passed a year, and then 
 returned home, but to better perfect himself 
 in his chosen calling he became a student of 
 the late Hon. William M. Meredith, a leading 
 attorney of the bar of Philadelphia. On Feb- 
 ruary 4, 1845, he was admitted to practise his 
 profession at the bar of Chester county and of 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 For three years he applied himself to the 
 law with such care that he became recognized 
 as one of the most thoughtful and painstaking 
 attorneys at the bar. He then relinquished 
 practice and went upon an extended foreign 
 
James Bowen Everhart, 9 
 
 tour. During that time he was for several 
 months a student at the University of Edin- 
 burgh, Scotland, from which he went to the 
 University of Berh'n, and there studied Inter- 
 national Law, receiving diplomas from both 
 these universities. On his return home he re- 
 sumed his practice, which avocation he pursued 
 for nine years, retiring in 1861. During his ser- 
 vice at the bar he became recognized as a de- 
 fendant's counsellor, and in all his twelve years 
 of practice he only assisted the Commonwealth 
 in one criminal prosecution. His field was a 
 varied one, covering nearly every branch of 
 law, both in the criminal and in the civil 
 courts. In the former he defended in six 
 murder trials, not one of his clients being 
 called upon to suffer capital punishment. One 
 of these cases was for poisoning by the admin- 
 istration of arsenic in whisky. The woman 
 was charged with having assisted a man in the 
 administration of the poisoned liquor to her 
 husband. On motion of Mr. Everhart, one of 
 the counsel, they were tried separately, and 
 the man was found guilty of murder in the 
 first degree. Mr. Everhart made a motion for 
 a new trial, at which he made a very able 
 
lo Life and Character of 
 
 argument, and succeeded in securing to the con- 
 victed man another chance for his life. When 
 the second trial terminated, his client was found 
 guilty in the second degree, and the woman 
 was acquitted. 
 
 This case at that time was perhaps without 
 precedent in the annals of criminal law in 
 Pennsylvania. He also conducted a homi- 
 cide case in which he succeeded in having 
 jurisdiction ousted, because the blow was 
 given in Chester county while death ensued 
 in Philadelphia. There was a similarity be- 
 tween this case in its legal phase, and that 
 of the murdered President Garfield, who was 
 shot in Washington but died in New Jersey. 
 In one of the other homicide cases Mr. Ever- 
 hart was threatened with bodily harm, by a 
 friend of the dead man, if he defended the ac- 
 cused. He was also importuned by his friends 
 not to enter into the case, as the man who 
 made the threats was a desperate character, 
 and, moreover, he would lose every friend he 
 had in the locality where the crime had been 
 committed. Mr. Everhart, however, did not 
 allow either threats or friendly solicitation to 
 deter him, and defended the prisoner with 
 
jfames Bowen Everhart, 1 1 
 
 such success that his life was saved. In this 
 course of action, he showed forth the strong 
 character for which he was so noted in later 
 years, and demonstrated to both enemy and 
 friend that he was not to be deterred in his 
 convictions of justice, and the right of a de- 
 fendant to have the best defense that the 
 law furnished. 
 
 In civil suits he was equally successful. In 
 one of this class of suits he was engaged as 
 attorney for a company which was prosecuted 
 for corrupting water used in the manufacture 
 of paper. He had several chemical experiments 
 made in open court before the jury. In so do- 
 ing Mr. Everhart exhibited an original yet 
 convincing argument for his client. In an- 
 other suit for divorce he laid claim on the 
 husband to pay the counsel fees of the wife, 
 without regard to the results of the case, 
 which claim was for the first time allowed 
 in the Chester county courts, though it had 
 been recognized in the Philadelphia courts. 
 In an important quo warranto case before the 
 Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, involving the 
 charter of a railroad company, he was suddenly 
 left alone, by his elder colleague, when the 
 
1 2 James Bowen Everhart. 
 
 case was called up. He showed considerable 
 courage in opposing, single-handed, three of 
 the ablest lawyers in Pennsylvania, who were 
 also flanked by attorneys of well known fame 
 as advisers. In fact, during the few years that 
 he acted as a counsellor, he managed all man- 
 ner of cases. His field of action was not con- 
 fined to Chester county, but he tried cases in 
 several counties of the State. He had a re- 
 markable faculty of adapting himself to any 
 character of case. After he retired from prac- 
 tice, the younger members of the bar for many 
 years sought his advice in intricate cases. He 
 was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court 
 of the United States, on January 24, 1854, 
 on motion of Hon. Reverdy Johnson. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 IN 1848 Mr, Everhart left home for an 
 extended foreign tour. He visited the 
 British Isles, the principal nations of the Euro» 
 pean continent, and parts of Asia and Africa. 
 His first point was through the British King- 
 dom ; he then crossed the English Channel into 
 France, then a republic with Louis Napoleon 
 Bonaparte, as its President, whom he saw and 
 described in his " Miscellanies " as a man ** be- 
 low the ordinary height ; his nose prominent ; 
 his eyelashes long ; his glance steady, but 
 downward like the first Napoleon ; his mous- 
 tache heavy and dark, shading his mouth. His 
 face was impassive — calm, passionless, thought- 
 ful, and inscrutable ; neither repelling by pride, 
 nor attracting by sympathy, betokening a ge- 
 nius not to be seduced or daunted, but leaving 
 it in doubt whether his instincts were good or 
 evil." This description is an excellent example 
 of the close scrutiny with which Mr. Everhart 
 studied people and deduced his opinion of them. 
 
 13 
 
14 Life and Character of 
 
 From France he passed into Italy, by way of 
 the Simplon Pass, over the Alps. Italy was not 
 then the Italy of to-day, but was divided into 
 numerous petty kingdoms, all subject indi- 
 rectly to the will of the Pope. While in 
 Rome Mr. Everhart visited Pope Pius IX. by 
 an appointment. He thus describes the head 
 of the Roman Catholic Church in his " Miscel- 
 lanies " : " The Chamberlain of his Holiness, 
 Monseigneur De Medici, took me by the hand 
 and presented me by mentioning my name 
 and country, and retired. I was left alone 
 with the Pope. He was very plainly attired in 
 a long gown of white cloth and a skull-cap, 
 and seated at a writing-table. As I approached 
 him, bowing ceremoniously three times, he in- 
 clined towards me with a smile. His figure 
 was full, tending to corpulency, but did not 
 seem tall. He had a beautiful face, full of in- 
 telligence, and almost womanly in its expres- 
 sion of mildness. It was not furrowed by time 
 nor saddened by misfortune. He spoke French 
 fluently ; his voice was gentle, his manner 
 cheerful. . . . The interview lasted about ten 
 minutes ; he handed me a souvenier, as he 
 termed it. It was a small red case containing 
 
y antes Bowen Everhart. 1 5 
 
 a medal, with his own ^^'gy on one side and 
 the Virgin's on the other, around which was 
 written, ' laetitiae nostrae causa.' " 
 
 At Naples Mr. Everhart climbed to Vesu- 
 vius and looked into its crater while in a state 
 of partial eruption. Of this terrific volcano he 
 gives a vivid piece of pen-painting. He says : 
 
 *' From Resina, a small village, we started on 
 horseback for the top of Vesuvius. There 
 were evident signs of an imminent irruption. 
 With a fellow hanging to each pony's tail, 
 passing through groups of children and mendi- 
 cants, by vines and mulberries, round curves 
 and over stones, racing and shouting, we 
 reached the hermitage. The air was pleasant, 
 the view vast and splendid ; the wine sweet, 
 and piously recommended as * tears of Christ.* 
 Passing hence over waves of lava, which seemed 
 to have frozen as they heaved, we gained the 
 base of a declivity which no beast could climb. 
 We dismounted and up the long slippery steep ; 
 over pumice rock, ankle-deep in ashes ; leaning 
 on sticks, clutching at loose cinders, slipping 
 over patches of snow; amidst- the importuni- 
 ties of beggars, guides, and hucksters, we toiled, 
 perspired, and stopped. Refreshed with rest 
 
1 6 Life and Character of 
 
 and lunch, after many falls and bruises, red of 
 face, panting and exhausted, we stood on the 
 old crater. 
 
 " It extended around like a plain ; the sur- 
 face was broken by small elevations and deep, 
 glowing fissures. Having ascended higher, we 
 glanced down into the huge volcanic furnace. 
 This crater was vast in its circuit, high above 
 the sea, indefinitely deep. The blaze, the 
 roar, the missiles, and the quivering crust were 
 appalling. Explosions broke forth with the 
 noise of a thousand guns. The whole moun- 
 tain trembled. Sulphurous smoke issued out 
 in clouds. Flames of red and blue surged 
 against the sloping sides. The molten lava 
 heaved up and overflowed, threatening vine- 
 yards and villages below. Volleys of stones 
 shot up like rockets and came rattling back, 
 burning as they fell." 
 
 From the summit of the burning mountain 
 he descended to the two ill-fated cities of Her- 
 culaneum and Pompeii, and walked through 
 their excavated streets. He also visited the 
 " City of the Sea," and wandered through the 
 palaces of the Doges, crossed the ** Rialto," 
 and lingered at the " Bridge of Sighs," over 
 
yames Bowen Everhart, 1 7 
 
 which the victim of the Council had passed, 
 centuries ago, to his doom. He visited Greece 
 and its ancient capital — Athens, — where he 
 viewed all of its historic sites, as the Acrop- 
 olis, the " Groves of Plato," the ancient tem- 
 ples, and stood on Mars Hill, where the great 
 Apostle preached. Passing from Greece he 
 went to Turkey and its curious capital, which 
 he described in brilliant language in his *' Mis- 
 cellanies." He saw the Sultan Abdul Medjed, 
 and the Howling Dervishes, and Turkish wo- 
 men with their veils which did not hide their 
 " freckled faces." He crossed the Mediter- 
 ranean Sea and visited the land of the Ptolo- 
 mies, and' sailed upon the Nile, *' the joy of the 
 Arab," as far upas the ruins of Thebes. He 
 wandered in the Desert, and had sundry semi- 
 agreeable adventures with the Bedouins. Leav- 
 ing Egypt, he passed into Palestine, and so- 
 journed for a short time in the ancient city of 
 the kings of Israel, visiting all the noted 
 points of interest in and around Jerusalem. 
 While there he witnessed the Easter festival, 
 which attracts Jew and Christian, Greek and 
 Mohammedan. 
 
 In a visit to the Jordan and the Dead Sea, 
 
1 8 Life and Character of 
 
 he had an unpleasant encounter with some 
 Jordan robbers, which he describes in the 
 following thrilling language : 
 
 ** I employed a sheik and four men, the usual 
 guard for the journey to the Jordan and the 
 Dead Sea. But the dragoman considering him- 
 self and sheik sufficient protection, sent his men 
 and the baggage to meet us at Jericho. Well 
 mounted we passed eastwardly over desolate 
 hills of stone and sand, down ravines, along the 
 edge of rocks, and in six or eight hours we 
 reached the spacious plain of the Dead Sea. 
 
 ** A strange loneliness and gloom prevailed. 
 A few bushes were seen, but no birds were 
 there, and a single gazelle was the only crea- 
 ture that crossed our path. The mountains of 
 Moab cast doleful shadows upon the mysteri- 
 ous lake. Its heavy waves rolled slowly upon 
 the beach, rattled like sheets of metal, or like 
 muffled bells, the requiem of the buried cities. 
 I bathed in its waters, transparent as glass, 
 and which buoyed the body up and burned 
 the lips like vitriol. The blasted shores 
 seemed strewed with salt and brimstone. The 
 atmosphere was impregnated with a bitu- 
 minous odor. . . . We halted at a spot on the 
 
James Bowen Everhart. 1 9 
 
 Jordan, where they say the Saviour was bap- 
 tized by John. I was smarting from my 
 asphaltic bath, which seemed to have robed 
 me in a sheet of fire. I sought along the 
 borders of that narrow and tumultuous stream 
 for a place to wash in its lucid waters. Disap- 
 pointed by the abrupt and crumbling bank, I 
 was returning, when some twenty armed Arabs 
 came stealing towards us from the bushes. 
 For an instant it seemed they might be 
 friends ; but their numbers and movements 
 showed their hostile purpose. They were as 
 wild and picturesque banditti as ever robbed 
 or killed. They crouched like beasts of prey, 
 or like hunters, or like Indians, with their 
 pieces levelled. They advanced behind the 
 sheik and dragoman as they were watering the 
 horses. I shouted the alarm. My men rushed 
 into the stream. Unseen before, I became the 
 target of a score of guns ; a bullet whistled 
 near. 
 
 " I took shelter behind a fig-tree, whose 
 branches reached to the ground. There, 
 quite helpless, without even a penknife, stick, 
 or stone for defense, suspicious of my guides, 
 ignorant of the language and of the country, 
 
20 Life and Character of 
 
 I had to await the issue. The imagination 
 was not inactive. Stories of highwaymen and 
 savages, of barbarian slaves and tortured cap- 
 tives, passed swiftly through the mind. For a 
 time the chance of escape appeared hopeless. 
 
 '' Four Arabs, with guns and knives, prowled 
 around the place I left, and within the shadow 
 of the tree which sheltered me. Some of 
 them stood off on guard to prevent surprise ; 
 some searched the saddle-bags ; the others 
 secured the horses, dragged the guides out of 
 the water, and stript them to their shirts. 
 Part of them mounted our beasts ; they all 
 went off in triumph and swiftly disappeared. 
 
 *' From necessity we walked over rocks and 
 sand for several miles, and entered Jericho, 
 very tired and very humble. There my men, 
 like David's messengers, were compelled to 
 tarry for breeches, though not for beards. 
 Having rested and refreshed, I proposed the 
 next morning to the Turkish officer in com- 
 mand there of ten soldiers, a joint expedition, 
 at my expense, against the robbers. He 
 laughed at the scheme and said it was impossi- 
 ble to find them in the mountains. Then ob- 
 serving that I had escaped without the loss of 
 
yames Bowen Everhart. 2 1 
 
 clothes or money, he added very gravely that 
 * Allah had already blessed me.' " 
 
 Among the other cities of Palestine that Mr. 
 Everhart visited were those of Bethlehem, 
 Bethsaida, Cana, Beer, Tyre. He then re- 
 turned to Eurooe, 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THERE were yet many other places 
 and countries that Mr. Everhart had 
 not visited in Europe, and after returning 
 from Palestine he went to Vienna, Florence, 
 Milan, and Genoa, and then back to Paris. 
 After a short visit in the gay capital, he trav- 
 ersed France, crossed the Pyrenees and entered 
 Spain. He went to Madrid, where he conversed 
 with noble cavaliers and beautiful sefioritas, 
 delighting in gay costume ; where beggars are 
 not called " tramps," and who request alms 
 Hke gentlemen, never appearing in public 
 without the renowned Spanish cloak and em- 
 broidered hat. He made a pilgrimage to the 
 Escurial — which is monastery, sepulchre, and 
 palace, — wandered through its spacious halls, 
 stood on its grand stairways, and descended 
 into its gaping vaults, where " precious stones 
 flash light from its walls and elaborate urns 
 contain the jewelled skulls of kings." 
 
 From Madrid he went into Granada, and 
 
 22 
 
James Boweii Everhart, 2 
 
 J 
 
 beheld the dark-eyed and olive-skinned Moor, 
 who yet cling with reverential love to the cus- 
 toms and costumes of the Saracen, though 
 converted to Christianity. Back across Spain, 
 over the Pyrenees, and through France he 
 went to the country of dykes and canals, a 
 land redeemed from the sea by its thrifty 
 people, whose women, he thought, had the 
 most lovely complexions of any that he had 
 seen. Of this country and its people Mr. 
 Everhart, in his " Miscellanies," says : " There 
 are few countries which are more interesting 
 than Holland. The Hollander finds water 
 wherever he turns — the first object in the 
 morning, the last at night. Its vapors float 
 over his head, its percolations form the bog at 
 his feet. Its prevalence assails all his senses, 
 he hears its roar beyond the dykes, he sees it 
 around him in currents or in ponds, he smells 
 its impurities at all hours. It pervades his 
 cities and his meadows." Of the people he 
 wrote : 
 
 ** Politeness is very general, yet nearly 
 every man wears his hat in church, and burns 
 his tobacco in the cars and the stations, though 
 a notice in four languages forbids smoking. 
 
24 Life and Character of 
 
 Their customs are curious and permanent. 
 As with the ancients, ivy leaves mark a wine- 
 shop, and Lucian's lawyer, to allure the clients, 
 decked his gate with twigs of palm ; so badges 
 are common here. Lace is fastened on the 
 door when a child is born and prevents the 
 entrance of a bailiff. A bulletin hanging on 
 the knocker states the condition of an invalid 
 and saves him from intrusion. Men dressed 
 in black, with cocked hats, are employed to 
 announce a death and attend a funeral. 
 
 ** The women are handsome and wholesome 
 ruddy with blood and health. They adorn 
 their heads with caps and bands of brass or 
 gold. They carry with them, wherever they 
 go, a small basin of hot coals for their feet. 
 They are not, however, entirely devoted to 
 display. They hold the plough in the field, 
 they haul the boat in the canal, they drag the 
 truck to market in the traces with a dog, they 
 are sometimes obliged to hire their sweethearts 
 for a festival." 
 
 He sailed up the Rhine and passed into 
 Switzerland and visited its chief cities. 
 
 Returning to England, he spent several 
 weeks in London, and examined all of its 
 
James Baive7i Ever hart. 25 
 
 places of note. It was while at the Crystal 
 Palace he saw the conqueror of the First 
 Napoleon, whom he described as ^' an old man 
 dressed in a blue light body-coat, with his 
 head drooped upon his breast." From Eng- 
 land he again went to the land of Bruce and 
 the unfortunate Mary, Queen of Scots; 
 thence into the wild Welsh country, and over 
 the Irish Sea to the Emerald Isle. In the 
 latter he visited Kinsale Head, where his 
 father was wrecked nealy forty years before. 
 He returned home, after three years of travel, 
 with a great store of knowledge and information. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 MR. EVERHART, some years after his 
 return from Europe, published a vol- 
 ume of his travels entitled " Miscellanies," 
 from which several extracts were made in the 
 preceding pages. This book was published in 
 1862, and was spoken of by newspapers in very 
 flattering terms, and in letters received by Mr. 
 Everhart from many friends it was highly com- 
 mended. The poet N. P. Willis wrote of the 
 sketch entitled " Women " in the following lan- 
 guage : ** We like to echo the paean to this 
 charm of our life (Beauty of Women), and we 
 cannot help copying these from some sweet 
 thoughts on the subject." The late Horace 
 Binney, Sr., the well-known Philadelphia 
 lawyer, said : " Pleasure and instruction have 
 been derived from it." The late Reverdy 
 Johnson wrote : " It gives me pleasure to 
 read it." 
 
 It was while Mr. Everhart was at the Har- 
 vard Law School that he had an opportunity 
 
 26 
 
yames Bowen Ever hart, 27 
 
 to hear, on one Independence Day, the great 
 jurist, Rufus Choate, deliver an oration at 
 Concord, New Hampshire. This event he 
 made the initial chapter of his " Miscellanies." 
 He thus describes the scene : 
 
 ** One sultry Fourth of July, on the famous 
 field of Concord, a huge canvas tent shaded ten 
 thousand partisans of that gifted leader, who 
 was destined, like Moses, to lead his hosts 
 to the land he could not reach himself. 
 
 "■ Numerous men of mark sat on an elevated 
 platform, eating like other hungry people ; but 
 whose organism, unlike theirs, would transmute 
 the food, by a sort of alchemy, into thoughts 
 which move the world. 
 
 " There was Webster, universally hailed the 
 defender of the Constitution — with the fresh 
 honor of diplomatic triumph on his massy 
 brows — with the consciousness of matchless 
 eloquence upon his scornful lips — coming, as it 
 were, like another Achilles, to cast dismay 
 upon the foe by his majestic presence. 
 
 "There were the benevolent features and 
 bald head of Abbott Lawrence — the great 
 merchant, and the fine gentleman — represent- 
 ing the aristocracy of commerce, the American 
 
28 Life and Character of 
 
 patronage of learning, and the princely hospi- 
 tality of Boston. 
 
 "There was Horace Greeley, with hair and 
 clothes as light as his complexion ; whose 
 plain demeanor, homely gestures, and drawl- 
 ing elocution marred the vast formation and 
 vigorous style of the editorial tribune. 
 
 '* There was another person whom I did not 
 know. He had a sad, thoughtful face, half 
 poetical, half philosophical, such as you see in 
 the pictures of Lamartine. He was nervous. 
 He ate but little. He pushed his fingers 
 through his raven curls. His dreamy oriental 
 eyes glanced from earth to heaven. Light and 
 shade flitted alternately across his brow. He 
 moved about on his seat. He seemed excited 
 with deep feeling. So you might suppose the 
 priestess appeared when about to utter the 
 oracle ; or the prophet on the point of pro- 
 claiming the vision. 
 
 ''The Chairman, Mr. Hoar, addressed him : 
 * I trust our senatorial friend will allow us to 
 ask him, ** Watchman, what of the night ? *' * 
 
 ** Tumultuous applause greeted the unknown 
 figure, with cheers for Choate as he rose to 
 answer. 
 
yaines Bowen Everhart. 29 
 
 *' A tall man, he lifted himself up to his full 
 height ; pale and trembling with emotion, he 
 stretched forth his arm. Amidst a silence like 
 night, with a look radiant of genius, and in a 
 voice eloquent as an angel's, he exclaimed : 
 * The morning cometh ! Thank God ! the 
 morning cometh ! * An exordium, so prompt 
 and happy, thrilled the innumerable crowd 
 like magic. Subdued murmurs of delight es- 
 caped them, and compelled him to pause. As 
 he proceeded he seemed to sway them by a 
 sort of fascination ; they hung with parted lips 
 upon his accents, captive to every thought he 
 uttered. Such brilliant power, such genial 
 sensibility, dazzled the imagination, warmed 
 the blood, filled the soul. His wit, his pathos, 
 his sarcasm, his imagery, were all effective. 
 You could read the deep indignation on all 
 faces when he referred to the Texas land- 
 jobbers speculating in war. Men shook with 
 laughter when, in an irresistible manner, he 
 spoke of Mr. Polk's name not having been 
 written between Orion and the Pleiades, and 
 the perplexity of his friends in proving his 
 opinions by witnesses and afifidavits. They 
 listened with breathless admiration, when he 
 
30 Life a7id Character of 
 
 alluded to the fitness of the assembly then and 
 there ; and recalled the first fierce struggle and j 
 
 the generous bloodshed of those heroic mar- 
 tyrs, whom the angels in chariots of fire led on 
 to victory and to heaven. And few were un- 
 moved when, turning from the past and the 
 dead, he pointed to the Revolutionary veterans 
 near him, covered with the honored marks of 
 war and time, ready to renew their patriotic 
 vows, and consecrate their closing days, as they 
 had their best, on the altar of their country. 
 
 *' In conclusion he referred in complimentary 
 terms to Greeley for his advocacy of a protec- 
 tive tariff, and said of it, that it is a principle 
 native to the soil, and as essential as the 
 ballot. That labor is the true foundation of 
 liberty — that it must forge the national 
 weapons and weave the national colors. 
 That while liberty sheds its hallowed light 
 over our institutions, labor lends its sturdy 
 arm for their support in peace, and for their 
 defence in war. 
 
 " He ceased — but the effect of his oratory 
 was permanent. No one could forget his im- 
 pressive emphasis, which varied through all 
 the notes of tuneful sounds — his pictorial 
 
Ja^nes Bowefi Everhart. 3 1 
 
 words, which seemed to make thought sensible 
 to sight — his impassioned logic, which glowed 
 through his periods with the energy of fire. 
 
 " Sometimes he spoke with such insinuating 
 force that you might suppose of him as of 
 Pericles, that the goddess of persuasion dwelt 
 upon his lips. And sometimes he displayed 
 as much vehemence as if the furies had roused 
 him to ecstasy. 
 
 ** Occasionally his speech had the delicious 
 sweetness of some one gentle instrument of 
 music. And occasionally, it had the swelling 
 grandeur and crashing thunders of the 
 orchestra." 
 
 In 1867 Mr. Everhart, who had a cheerful 
 and poetical turn of mind, published a volume 
 of poems, which he dedicated to his father. 
 They are real gems. One of the most beauti- 
 ful and pathetic is a loving tribute to his 
 deceased mother, which is quoted entire : 
 
 SHE IS NOT THERE. 
 
 I glanced outside the dwelling-house, 
 And o'er the bright parterre ; 
 
 The flowers are gayly blooming, 
 And scent the summer air; 
 
32 Life and Character of 
 
 The alleys lined with evergreen, 
 Are trimmed with tasteful care ; 
 
 The birds are singing that she loved — 
 She is not there, not there. 
 
 I gazed about the doorway sill, 
 
 On the bronzed, old, iron chair ; 
 The pine-tree waves its shadows cool, 
 
 That used to fan her hair ; 
 The beggar *s waiting at the gate, 
 
 Who blessed her with his prayer; 
 The neighbors pass she used to greet- 
 
 She is not there, not there. 
 
 I enter in the spacious hall, 
 With quick, unconscious air ; 
 
 I look around the parlor seats, 
 I seek the open stair ; 
 
 I listen for a voice or step — 
 She is not there, not there. 
 
 The carriage drives within the yard ; 
 
 The dogs bound from their lair ; 
 And one by one the seats are left, 
 
 That she was wont to share ; 
 I mark them as they pass me by — 
 
 She is not there, not there. 
 
yames Bowen Everhart, ^^Ti 
 
 I sit me at the family board, 
 
 Beside her constant chair ; 
 I seem to cull the parts she chose 
 
 To make her evening fare ; 
 I turn around to meet her smile — 
 
 She is not there, not there. 
 
 I bring some favored genial book, 
 
 Some lay or ballad rare ; 
 I rest near where she often bent 
 
 To catch the quaint old air; 
 No gentle signs respond to me — 
 
 She is not there, not there. 
 
 Familiar scenes are beaming still. 
 
 Old haunts attractions bear ; 
 Warm hands their kindly pressure give ; 
 
 Fond looks their welcome wear; 
 And yet the broken circle shows — 
 
 She is not there, not there. 
 
 Those features in the pendent frame 
 
 Her outward charms declare; 
 Yet shall my breast an image keep, 
 
 Far dearer and more fair. 
 Of tenderness, and truth, and love 
 
 And faith above despair. 
 
34 Life and Character of 
 
 Until the heart's dead pulses shows — 
 She is not there, not there. 
 
 Mr. Everhart was a close and careful reader 
 of the Bible, and produced a number of beau- 
 tiful verses from passages of Scripture. One 
 of the most charitable and generous is : 
 
 "THE ENTERTAINMENT AT SIMON'S HOUSE." 
 
 — Luke vii. 36-50. 
 
 Midst those who had taken their places, 
 
 To sup at the Pharisee's board. 
 There entered a woman, with ointment. 
 
 Who stooped at the couch of the Lord. 
 Her tresses hung loose o'er her shoulders, 
 
 And her eyes were cast to the floor ; 
 She seemed an unwelcome intruder, 
 
 Desolate, degraded, and poor. 
 
 Her tears bathed the feet of the Master, 
 
 She wiped them with folds of her hair, 
 Bedewed them with kisses and ointment. 
 
 And silently worshipped Him there. 
 The host, as a bigot, regarded 
 
 Her beautiful deed with disdain. 
 And deemed, if his guest were a Prophet, 
 
 He 'd know that her touch was a stain. 
 
James Bowen Ever hart, 35 
 
 The Lord in His wisdom, divining 
 
 What passed in the Pharisee's heart, 
 Declared how his faith is deficient 
 
 Who yields of his love but a part. 
 For Simon but formally tendered 
 
 The debt that to strangers he owed, 
 Denying the tribute of homage 
 
 The woman so fondly bestowed. 
 
 Though many her sins, He forgave her : 
 
 Then, marveled the guests at the board ; 
 ** Who 's this, that he pardons transgression ?" — 
 
 The woman alone knew the Lord. 
 Their cavils He checked by repeating 
 
 Salvation again in her ears. 
 Who 'd shown her belief and devotion 
 
 By lowliness, sorrow, and tears. 
 
 The poems of Mr. Everhart were largely of 
 scenes and events in Chester county, and 
 many of them were of a domestic character. 
 Others were patriotic, and still others of his- 
 torical rhyme. 
 
 The poetry of Mr. Everhart was not confined 
 to the solemn and pathetic, but there were 
 many verses which had a dash of heroic and 
 martial, as in the following : 
 
36 Life and Character of 
 
 THE FLAG. 
 
 *' By yon cluster, with starry lustre, 
 
 The regiments muster along the line — 
 And onward moving, devoted proving, 
 Their heart a-loving around it twine. 
 
 ** Mark! how they eye it! as if the fiat 
 Of holy Diet had made them swear 
 Before the altar, on law and psalter, 
 They 'd never falter beneath its glare. 
 
 *' Now, high, advancing, oh ! see it glancing! 
 Oh ! sight entrancing ! they charge the foe ! 
 Shoulder to shoulder, the men grow bolder. 
 Shielding its holder from overthrow ! 
 
 ** But, hear the clashing of squadrons dashing. 
 Amidst the crashing of iron and lead ! 
 Oh ! scene appalling ! behold them falling ! 
 The wounded crawling among the dead ! 
 
 ** That banner flaring, with colors bearing 
 A charm to daring, the day has saved : — 
 And they *11 discover, when strife is over, 
 The thickest clover blooms where it waved. 
 
 *' Still 'neath its blazon, the diapason 
 
 Of gun and caisson for Freedom rolls — 
 
yames Bowen Ever hart, 37 
 
 And still shall Glory, through ages hoary, 
 In art and story embalm its folds." 
 
 The poems were followed in 1875 by an- 
 other single poem entitled *' The Fox 
 Chase," and was dedicated to the late Hon. 
 John Hickman, who for several years repre- 
 sented Chester county in the national Con- 
 gress. Mr. Gerritt Smith, in commenting 
 upon this poem, said : " I am not familiar with 
 the sport, but I am capable of seeing that 
 there is true poetry in the description." The 
 late Hon. John W. Forney wrote : " This 
 short but spirited poem conveys a better idea 
 of the ' noble sport ' than the celebrated blank- 
 verse quarto called the * Chase,' which ap- 
 peared in 1735. The character of the poetry is 
 high ; some passages exhibit no small skill in 
 word-painting. The action is at a rapid pace, 
 and very accurate." The scene is laid in 
 Chester county, on the Brandywine battle- 
 ground, up the stream, over its hills, and 
 through its valleys. 
 
 In 1888, early in the year, Mr. Everhart pub- 
 lished his last work, entitled '' Speeches," which 
 he dedicated to Rev. John T. Duffield, D.D., of 
 
38 y antes Bowen Ever hart, 
 
 the College of New Jersey ; it is a collection of 
 his public orations, chiefly upon questions that 
 came before the Senate of Pennsylvania and the 
 Congress of the United States while he was a 
 member of those bodies. They are, however, 
 interspersed with some speeches of a local char- 
 acter. The press of not only Pennsylvania but 
 of other States have spoken in the highest 
 terms of this, his last contribution to literature. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 MR. EVERHART was a patriot, but one 
 who never made a display of his patri- 
 otism. His love of country was deep-seated, 
 and his extended travels in foreign lands rather 
 increased than stunted his admiration for 
 American institutions. The unassumed gran- 
 deur of the greatest Republic the world ever 
 produced was in no way dimmed by the jew- 
 elled crowns and titled paupers of European 
 monarchies. His patriotism was of the prac- 
 tical kind ; it was courageous ; it did not halt 
 when the call came for men to go forth and 
 bare their breasts to the bullet and steel. 
 
 In 1862 he raised a company known as 
 " Co. B " Tenth Regiment of Pennsylvania 
 State Militia, under a call from Governor An- 
 drew G. Curtin. The colonel of the regiment 
 was R. Maris Frame, of West Chester. At the 
 time the call was made it was generally thought 
 that General Lee would not halt upon the 
 Maryland and Pennsylvania border, but would 
 
 39 
 
40 Life and Character of 
 
 invade the latter State. The Tenth Regiment 
 was ordered to Hagerstown, Maryland, with 
 some other companies of State regiments. At 
 the time of their arrival at Hagerstown the 
 battle of Antietam was in progress ; the smoke 
 of the conflict was visible and the guns could 
 be heard distinctly. Colonel Frame being 
 called upon to join General McClellan's left 
 wing, convened a council of the regimental 
 captains for the purpose of taking a vote as to 
 whether they would march to Antietam. Cap- 
 tain Everhart said in the conference : " It is a 
 disgrace to parley, and the men must march." 
 He returned from the conference to his com- 
 mand and immediately formed the men in 
 line, and in stirring language told them of 
 their duty, and said : " If there are any who 
 are afraid to go to battle let that man step 
 from the ranks now. I want no cowards with 
 me." The men without an exception stood by 
 their captain, and, with a cheer, expressed 
 themselves ready to go into the engagement. 
 Very many privates from other companies, and 
 some ofificers also, signified their willingness to 
 be led to the front under his leadership. Just 
 as preparations were being made to obey the 
 
yames Boweii Ever hart, 41 
 
 order to move forward, an officer from McClel- 
 lan's staff arrived and countermanded the 
 order. The danger was over. Lee had begun 
 to retreat. The emergency was passed and 
 the regiment was marched back to Harris- 
 burg, and on September 26, 1862, it was 
 mustered out of service. 
 
 Again, when Lee invaded Pennsylvania, in 
 1863, another call was made for emergency 
 men by the Governor. Among the regiments 
 raised was the Twenty-ninth, on June 19th, by 
 Col. J. W. Hawley. Many of the men of the 
 year previous responded, among whom was 
 Captain Everhart, who was chosen major of 
 the regiment. The companies of the Twenty- 
 ninth were scattered along the line of the 
 Pennsylvania Railroad, and to the south of 
 that road. Major Everhart, with two com- 
 panies, occupied an entrenched camp at the 
 extreme end of Morris Cove, not far from 
 Bedford, Pennsylvania. Some scouting Con- 
 federate horsemen hovered around occasion- 
 ally, and a few stragglers were captured. After 
 the battle of Gettysburg the regiment was en- 
 camped for a few weeks at Loudon, and was 
 constantly under arms, and had a brush with 
 
4-2 James Bowen Ever hart, 
 
 the enemy on one or two occasions. The 
 second cause for the call of emergency men 
 having terminated with the defeat of Lee and 
 his retreat, the regiment returned to Harris- 
 burg and were mustered out of service on Au- 
 gust 1st, having been in service two and a half 
 months. 
 
 Soon after returning home. Major Everhart 
 applied to a Congressman, asking that Secre- 
 tary of War, Stanton, authorize him to raise a 
 regiment of picked men. The application to 
 the War Department was, however, unsuccess- 
 ful. In 1864, on the report of the attempt on 
 the National Capital, Major Everhart recruited 
 a company, but his labor was brought to an 
 end by the retreat of the enemy. He was a 
 member of Gen. George A. McCall Post 31, 
 Grand Army of the Republic, and all through 
 his life, since its organization, was a generous 
 contributor to the Post. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 m 
 
 IN the year 1876, at the solicitation of his 
 friends, Mr. Everhart became the Repub- 
 lican candidate for State Senator to represent 
 Chester county — the Nineteenth Senatorial 
 District of Pennsylvania, At the general elec- 
 tion his Democratic opponent was G. B. 
 Sharp, the vote being, Mr. Everhart 9,705, and 
 Mr. Sharp 6,598. In 1880 he was unanimously 
 renominated in the Republican convention, and 
 at the general election the vote was: Mr. Ever- 
 hart 11,229; Dr. F. W. Heckel, Democrat, 
 7,519; Alvan Williams, National, 221. His 
 term was for four years, but in 1882, when it 
 was hardly half completed, he was nominated 
 and elected to represent the Sixth Congres- 
 sional District, composed of Chester and Dela- 
 ware counties, in the House of Representatives. 
 As a State Senator Mr. Everhart was care- 
 ful and painstaking. In the excitement of the 
 Hayes-Tilden presidential contest he pre- 
 vented in the Senate the introduction of a 
 
 43 
 
44 Life and Character of 
 
 resolution expressly affirming the right of 
 the Vice-President to decide the election of 
 Mr. Hayes as President by giving him the 
 electoral vote. He also opposed the move- 
 ment, advised by men at Washington, to ap- 
 propriate a million of dollars to arm the State 
 for the purpose of seeing the electoral vote 
 counted. Such procedure, he argued, was un- 
 constitutional. He offered, on January 23, 
 1877, 3. resolution approving of an Electoral 
 Commission, which a few days afterward was 
 adopted by a similar resolution in Congress. 
 Mr. Everhart was the only Republican in the 
 State Senate who voted for the resolution. 
 The next day, with two other Republicans, he 
 supported a similar resolution offered by a 
 Democratic Senator. During his five years in 
 the Senate Mr. Everhart perhaps prevented 
 much special legislation by constitutional ob- 
 jections. He constantly opposed severe penal- 
 ties, and particularly imprisonment for venal 
 offences, as calculated to degrade and not to 
 reform, or likely to make the law a dead letter. 
 He made several speeches on extending the 
 jurisdiction of the justices of the peace to 
 trial juries ; on allowing criminals to testify in 
 
yavtes Bowen Everhm^t. 45 
 
 behalf of themselves if they so desired. He 
 spoke in favor of paying the officers and sol- 
 diers of the National Guard who went to Pitts- 
 burg to suppress the riots of 1877. Mr. 
 Everhart also made able speeches on the reso- 
 lution to print a report of the great waterways 
 of Pennsylvania ; on the Geodetic Survey of 
 the State ; on resolutions concerning the 
 deaths of Senators and on the deaths of ex- 
 Governor Bigler and the late Hon. Bayard 
 Taylor, Minister to Germany. This latter ad- 
 dress was printed by order of the Senate in 
 pamphlet form. On that occasion Mr. Ever- 
 hart said : 
 
 " Mr. President — In presenting these reso- 
 lutions it may not be improper for me to 
 add that Mr. Taylor was one of my con- 
 stituents. I knew him very well, and for 
 many years. He was born in Kennett Square. 
 Chester county, about a half century ago, near 
 one of the most important battle-fields of the 
 Revolutionary war — 
 
 Where beautifully flows the Brandywine, 
 On and forever from dawn to decline — 
 Under bridges and arches of trees, 
 
46 Life and Character of 
 
 Gilding the landscape and cooling the breeze, 
 Parting the pastures and swelling their stores, 
 Flowering, perfuming the sinuous shores, 
 Glassing the squirrel disporting above, 
 Sweetening the tanager's carol of love — 
 With dreamers in quest of the Muses' shrine. 
 In the haunted dells of the Brandywine. 
 
 There, in a pleasant district, in the midst of 
 cultivated people, his blameless and ambitious 
 boyhood forecast the meritorious man. With a 
 high purpose, correct principles, and exceptional 
 gifts, he passed all the straits of life untainted 
 and unharmed. His industry seemed like an 
 impulsive instinct or an obligation of con- 
 science. It was not spasmodic or erratic, or 
 aimless or misdirected, but discriminating and 
 constant. It was more serviceable than friends 
 or funds, and insured them both. It made 
 him prompt to seize occasions and meet 
 emergencies. It exceeded his necessities, and 
 increased with his success. It made his 
 volumes valuable, and outnumbered his ma- 
 tured years. He was fond of art — the de- 
 licious trophies of the chisel and the pencil, 
 which multiply and perpetuate the changing 
 
y antes Bowen Ever hart, 47 
 
 phase of beauty, and decorate the porches and 
 temples, the Valhallas and Vaticans, with the 
 immortal counterfeits of nature. But he was 
 no less a devotee of books, those stores of 
 quaint and current learning, those sweet 
 friends of scholars, those arsenals of genius, 
 those silent oracles of thought, which mould 
 the character of persons, states, and eras. 
 He cultivated language, which opened new 
 sources of intelligence and new fields for 
 energy. His efficient rendering of Faust 
 shows his thoroughness in German, while his 
 facility in divers tongues amazed those who 
 heard him in their native speech, as in some 
 sort they were amazed who heard the Apostles 
 on the day of Pentecost. He travelled and 
 girdled the globe with his journeys. He 
 viewed nearly ' all places that the eye of 
 heaven visits,' regions grim with perpetual 
 rock, or ice, or sea, or sand ; or attractive with 
 arable areas, or a wilderness of floral bloom, 
 or forest shade ; nature in all her contrasts of 
 motion, forms, and colors, growth and waste ; 
 and her phenomena from the arctic twilight 
 to the torrid noon, through all the seasons and 
 through all the zones. He passed over the mid- 
 
48 Life and Character of 
 
 die, tideless sea, bordered with continents and 
 gemmed with islands, amidst once worshipped 
 elements and glorious cities and storied coasts, 
 — by altars of love, and fountains of song, and 
 monuments of genius, and cradles of religion 
 from Jupiter to Jesus ; over the solemn, glowing 
 waste, where Hagar's seed still camp beneath 
 their camel-skins and wave their hostile hand, 
 and where the Howadjis on their pilgrimage 
 carol, as they plod their dreary way, the holy 
 verses of the Koran or the Kaaba ; along the 
 alluvial shores where the lotos blooms and the 
 Apis reigned, where every temple was like a city 
 and every city like an empire, and whose won- 
 drous ruins still seem to echo the vaunt of Osy- 
 symandias, * I am king of kings, and who would 
 exceed my fame, let him surpass my works ' ; 
 over the strange and fable-ridden region of the 
 farthest East, with its white elephants and 
 pagodas, and its pomp of silken fleece and 
 jewel craft ; amidst the swarming multitudes 
 and unvarying customs of the flowery realm of 
 old Cathay ; through those curious mediaeval 
 towns, with their grand cathedral towers, 
 where the old masters carved and painted, 
 and the great composers swelled the litanies 
 
yames Bowen EverharL 49 
 
 with their incomparable music ; over the vine- 
 clad slopes of Granada, rife with the reminis- 
 cences and relics of Moorish chivalry and 
 taste ; along the glittering gulches of the 
 Pacific sierras ; among the snow-clad hills of 
 the polar north, where they sang of Thor and 
 Oden, and where Viking unfurled their icy 
 sails for voyages of booty and adventure. 
 
 " And thus his productions allure the imagin- 
 ation after his wandering steps as if fragrant, 
 like those of Venus, who left behind her a trail 
 of flowers. And then how easily he leads us, 
 as it were, through the ivory gate of dreams, 
 into the ideal land, into the world of airy 
 forms, through galleries of grace and vistas of 
 delight, amidst vivid pictures and obvious pas- 
 sions, instructive fancies and attractive shows 
 — all harmonious as reality. 
 
 ** What facility, tenderness, and sweetness, 
 what spirit and fitness, what splendor and 
 wisdom in his verse! His Muse may not 
 indeed, with exulting strength, soar upward 
 with the mightier bards, to the ' highest heaven 
 of invention,' but sweeping along with easy 
 wing and inspiring breath, over various-featured 
 nature, she transmutes the voiceless landscape 
 
50 Life and Character of 
 
 and the latent thought into imperishable song. 
 How exquisite his idyls of the field ! How en- 
 kindling his heroic strains ! What melting 
 pity in his tones of grief ! What rhythmic 
 grandeur rolls along his lines ! 
 
 ** And what vigor, clearness, and simplicity in 
 his prose ! Nothing superfluous or incongru- 
 ous or insipid, not weakened by cant, or 
 blurred by vice, or wasted on subtleties, but 
 rich in matter as the waters abound in pearls. 
 
 " Thus his labors, by their scope and finish, by 
 their diversity, tone, and freshness, have won 
 unusual favor. They have supplied the place 
 of reckless public publications, and fostered 
 a worthier taste ; they have inspired senti- 
 ments of toleration, faith in energy, free- 
 dom in thought, hope in progress ; they 
 have been an unfailing source of edification 
 and entertainment ; they have solaced many 
 weary hours, and idle lives, and restless spirits ; 
 they have given an example to the adventu- 
 rous, and a model to the studious; they have 
 discussed many topics, the association of scen- 
 ery, aesthetic charms, the moral of events, the 
 mystery of the affections, the philosophy of mo- 
 tives, the fashions of race, the civilization epochs. 
 
yames Bowen EverharL 5 1 
 
 " His labors, familar to two continents and to 
 many languages, tinged by his own personality, 
 are recommended by it. 
 
 ** He was a gentleman in heart and bearing ; 
 a genius without proverbial eccentricities or 
 contrasts ; learned without pedantry ; flattered, 
 without egotism ; appreciative, catholic, and 
 generous in his views ; close as a brother in 
 his attachments ; just as an arbiter in his criti- 
 cisms ; grateful, but not resentful ; persistent 
 against difficulties, but not obstinate in error; 
 aspiring to distinction, but not vain of suc- 
 cess ; betraying no ^WYy^ and exciting none. 
 With teeming recollections and honest courte- 
 sies, trusting, reciprocal, congenial, his very 
 presence was an inspiration. The friend of 
 Freiligrath, Humboldt, and Thackeray ; whom 
 Whittier * so loved ' ; whom Longfellow com- 
 pared to his own ideal prince ; whom Powers 
 spoke of as * almost an angel ' ; whom the 
 nation honored with high responsibility and 
 trust. 
 
 " But, alas ! the ovations which greeted his 
 distinction were but the heralds of his obse- 
 quies. His civic laurels have become his 
 burial wreath, and admiration is emphasized 
 
5 2 Life and Character of 
 
 with sorrow. Few dead have had such mourn- 
 ers. People and poets, philosophers and kings 
 have contributed their tears. And yet no fav- 
 ored birth or fortune blessed his opportunities 
 or aided his condition. Not his, the glamour 
 of abounding wealth displayed in charities or 
 taste. Not his, the eclat won by the soldier's 
 peril in the stress of battle. Not his, the im- 
 pulsive approbation of the crowd, moved by 
 flattered vanity or pride. 
 
 " None of these things formed his fame, or 
 magnify his loss. They rest upon other causes. 
 It is the absence of that unwearied spirit which 
 shed its intellectual stores profusely as the Ori- 
 ental chief his diamonds. It is the silence of 
 those golden strings which, like David's, might 
 calm the troubled passions with their melody. 
 It is the unawakening trance of those precious 
 properties which imbued his manhood with 
 fascinations. It is his works and worth and 
 fatal zeal which claim our gratitude and grief, 
 and will embalm his memory in the human 
 heart forever." 
 
 This tribute to the memory of Mr. Taylor 
 was pronounced by many of the Senators to 
 
yames Bow en Ever hart, 53 
 
 be the finest memorial ever delivered in the 
 Senate of Pennsylvania. The leading news- 
 papers of the State spoke of it in the highest 
 terms. The Philadelphia Times said : *' It is 
 conceded to be one of the finest half-hour ad- 
 dresses ever heard in the Senate." The Har- 
 risburg Telegraph said : '' It was the gem of the 
 season " ; and th.Q Pittsburg Dispatch wrote : *' It 
 was an eloquent and fitting tribute." 
 
 Mr. Everhart was preeminently fitted to 
 deliver the eulogium upon the dead minister, 
 poet, and author. He knew him so well ; he 
 had travelled in so many of the same coun- 
 tries. Their poetical souls were in accord ; 
 their love of nature so harmonizing ; their 
 admiration of the heroic so exalted ; their 
 veneration for ancient cities and sites so 
 worshipful. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 HEN in the Senate of Pennsylvania in 
 1879, on the occasion of the substitu- 
 tion of General Anthony Wayne's name in the 
 bill making an appropriation for the statues of 
 distinguished Pennsylvanians to be placed in 
 the National Capitol, Mr. Everhart spoke on 
 the bill and his amendment in favor of General 
 Wayne as follows : 
 
 ** Mr. Chairman : — I offer this amendment 
 with some reluctance, but, nevertheless, under 
 a sense of justice. It is not intended to show 
 any disrespect for the Commisson. They are 
 gentlemen of distinction, of acknowledged in- 
 telligence and liberality of views. They have 
 done their duty sincerely, but in this matter it 
 is generally conceded that they have made a 
 mistake. Public opinion has not confirmed 
 their selection. They are directed by the law 
 to report annual progress. They did not re- 
 port their selection, the most important step 
 in their progress, although made last April 
 
 ';4 
 
yames Bowen Ever hart. 55 
 
 when we were in session. They only reported 
 this session, after they made the contract. It 
 would have been courteous, and a proper com- 
 pliance w^ith the law, if they had deferred to 
 those for whom they acted. It would have 
 caused no particular delay, because they only 
 made that contract three weeks before this ses- 
 sion commenced. But they will say, perhaps, 
 that, the contract being made, it is too late 
 for us to interfere, though it is the only oppor- 
 tunity we have had ; too late to do any thing 
 but pay the money. I think that is an error. 
 This contract, like all others, was made in ac- 
 cordance with existing law, and that law re- 
 quires them to report progress ; and to report 
 progress means that the legislature reserves 
 the right to approve or condemn that progress. 
 All the parties, therefore, the Artist and Com- 
 mission, knew beforehand that this contract 
 was subject to the direction of the legislature. 
 It requires this appropriation from us in order 
 to carry the contract out. 
 
 " They were to report progress, not merely 
 for information, for that would be superfluous, 
 but to report as auditors, committees, and 
 agents report, for the judgment of those 
 
56 Life and Character of 
 
 whom they represent. Their action is con- 
 tingent, interlocutory, and incomplete without 
 ours. They could not make it final, because 
 their powers are not absolute and independent, 
 but derivative and subject to our supervision 
 and control. They could not select, against 
 our will, a man of renown, a native of the 
 State, like John C. Calhoun, although, accord- 
 ing to them, within the literal term of the 
 Commission. This possible consequence is 
 provided against by their qualified powers. 
 Their duty was preparation, examination, and 
 selection — but that was not to be irrevocable 
 or irreversible. They were chosen for their fit- 
 ness, to be sure, but they were not deemed ir- 
 responsible or infallible. And their labors, no 
 odds how arduous or devoted, no odds what 
 praise they command, or what consideration 
 they deserve, are not to be regarded as sacred 
 or successful. It cannot be said, because they 
 did not seek this duty, because it was beset 
 with importunities and perplexities, because it 
 has consumed time, patience, and study, that 
 therefore their work is beyond the reach of 
 improvement or of change. Besides, this modi- 
 fication, if adopted, would not materially in- 
 
y antes Bowen Ever hart. 57 
 
 terfere with the contract. Should it, at this 
 stage, require a difference of pose or expres- 
 sion, a slight compensation to the Artist would 
 enable the Commission to comply with the 
 legislative authority. 
 
 " It is, therefore, the proper time to question 
 the selections that have been made, and to rec- 
 tify the error if there be one. 
 
 *' They were authorized to have two statues 
 executed for the Rotunda at Washington, of 
 persons illustrious for historic renown or divS- 
 tinguished Revolutionary services, previous to 
 or during that war. They selected Robert 
 Fulton for his historic renown, and Peter 
 Muhlenberg for distinguished Revolutionary 
 services. Both of these gentlemen, though 
 natives, acquired their distinction and renown, 
 not in the State, but respectively in Virginia 
 and New York. But leaving that for the pres- 
 ent, ought not each of these examples to 
 be the most praiseworthy that the Common- 
 wealth has produced? 
 
 " Does Peter Muhlenberg's preeminence as a 
 Pennsylvanian, in that contest, stand patent 
 and express beyond cavil? Does he over- 
 shadow all of his cotemporaries ? He was a 
 
58 Life and Character of 
 
 clergyman, a soldier, and a politician. He 
 served his country well. He was wise, just, 
 brave, and patriotic. But he was not so emi- 
 nent in civil life as Penn, Franklin, Morris, 
 Rittenhouse, or Rush ; and while I would not 
 disparage him, never until this occasion has 
 his military character been preferred to 
 Wayne's. Although in many of the same 
 engagements, he never emerged from them 
 with a renown like this. Is it answered that 
 his command was less ? So then was his risk, 
 and so should be his recognition. Is it said 
 that his opportunities were small ? That 
 would be an obstacle to his distinction, not a 
 reason for it. Is it said that his merits were 
 not acknowledged ? That calls in question the 
 justice of Washington and the adjudication of 
 history. 
 
 " But all these suggestions imply the superior 
 reputation of Wayne. He was especially the 
 Pennsylvanian soldier of the Revolution. 
 Born on her soil, trained in her schools, we see 
 him the trusted agent of Franklin ; a member 
 of the Provincial Assembly ; a deputy to the 
 Pennsylvania Convention ; one of the Commit- 
 tee of Public Safety ; raising a regiment for 
 
yames Bowen Everhart, 59 
 
 the army ; invading Canada, and by the for- 
 tune of war suddenly in command of a de- 
 feated force ; conducting the retreat with 
 safety to Ticonderoga ; promoted and com- 
 mended for his ability ; skirmishing with suc- 
 cess about the heights of Middletown ; resist- 
 ing like a wall Knyphausen's advance at 
 Brandywine till sunset ; renewing the action 
 with ardor at Goshen ; blazing like a fire 
 through the fog and gloom of Germantown ; 
 collecting clothing for the half-naked troops 
 while on a leave of absence ; foraging in Jer- 
 sey to sustain the camp at Valley Forge ; 
 bursting like an avalanche through the British 
 lines at Monmouth ; scaling the terrific steeps 
 of Stony Point ; quelling a mutiny of unpaid 
 troops by his prudence ; assaulting Cornwallis, 
 five times stronger than himself, with advan- 
 tage, at Green Springs ; defeating the British 
 and Indians at Ogeechee ; storming the re- 
 doubts at Yorktown ; repulsing the savages 
 and Tories at Sharon ; entering Savannah and 
 Charleston in triumph ; closing the war by 
 receiving the allegiance of the disaffected, and 
 new titles for his service. 
 
 "Then, in the General Assembly he was the 
 
6o Life and Character of 
 
 first to oppose the test laws, and the most 
 influential in their repeal. He was amongst 
 the foremost in advocating comprehensive in- 
 land navigation, and the union of the Delaware 
 and Chesapeake bays. He received a deserved 
 gratuity of land from Georgia ; was elected to 
 Congress ; made a member of the United States 
 Constitutional Convention ; appointed chief of 
 the army. Again in the field, he subdued the 
 Indians, whose previous massacre of citizens 
 and soldiers had filled the wide West with woe 
 and terror. He returned to the seat of gov- 
 ernment, and was awarded a welcome which 
 recalls the enthusiasm of Rome's historic tri- 
 umphs. And after half a lifetime of public 
 labors, died on duty. 
 
 " Such was Wayne. A man of neighborhood 
 influence, and household virtues, and an absorb- 
 ing love of country ; a soldier by descent and 
 genius, an oracle of discipline, a paragon of 
 valor. Rigorous like Frederick, beloved like Na- 
 poleon, with the dash of Murat, and the steadi- 
 ness of McDonald ; pursuing with the zeal of 
 Blucher, retreating with the care of Xenophon ; 
 generous in victory, self-relying in distress, — 
 he had all the elements of a great captain. 
 
yames Bowen Everhart, 6i 
 
 **He seemed to have the ability to discern, 
 to combine, and distribute, to anticipate and 
 execute; to avail himself of error, assistance, 
 locality, or time; to inspire his force with fury, 
 and his enemies with panic ; to diminish the 
 hostile advantage of position ; to compensate 
 for the inferiority of equipment or experience ; 
 to make the most of success, and suffer the 
 least from reverses. And in the very ecstasy 
 of strife, when thoughts leap through centu- 
 ries, and minutes compass the destinies of 
 people, and principles and politics wait upon 
 the winged words of command, — decided and 
 discreet, he seemed to grasp all clues, all haz- 
 ards, all cares, all possibilities of victory and 
 defeat. In trying predicaments, when weak 
 minds are alarmed and strong ones doubt ; 
 when it is fatal to err, and perilous to change, 
 — then rising with its necessity, he seemed able 
 to modify, postpone, or precipitate the crisis. 
 
 ''Thus was he amongst the first, the truest, 
 the wisest, the most illustrious of his time; 
 the hero of many fields, laurelled with many 
 trophies, a ' soldier fit to stand by Caesar and 
 give direction.' His deeds have passed the 
 crucible of criticism. They were not in a cor- 
 
62 Life and Character of 
 
 ner, nor forgotten in a day; nor were they 
 commonplace, nor shared always with others ; 
 but done in person, or by his especial instance 
 or order. 
 
 " What better or equal claims has any other 
 to a guerdon such as this ? What merits 
 should he have shown to have made him 
 worthy of this statue ? Is it patriotism — that 
 noble feeling which, next to Christian faith, 
 seems the purest of human virtues, which 
 founds, fosters, defends, and beautifies the 
 State? Mark his course, from his prime till 
 death, giving the most zealous, prudent, and 
 unselfish devotion of energy and talent to the 
 public cause, through all its troubles, to the 
 last. Is it generalship — that peculiar skill 
 which trains and marshals men in masses for 
 the red field of war? Here is disposition, ap- 
 proach, attack, retreat, repulse, pursuit ; all 
 with such ingenious method and fair results, 
 as satisfied the requirements of the military 
 art. Is it courage — that steadfast quality, 
 which gazes with unblenched eye upon the 
 king of terrors ? Here it is, so exalted and 
 intense, that it seemed a madness, became a 
 proverb, reads like romance, recalls the days 
 
y antes Bow en Ever hart. 63 
 
 of chivalry, the feats of Paynim and Paladin; 
 which sets itself against vast odds of numbers, 
 drill, and metal, and was ready, as was said 
 and seemed, to charge into the very mouth of 
 hell. Is it civic worth — that which in uncer- 
 tain times settles rules of action and guides the 
 common thought towards contingent wants 
 and distant benefits? Observe his provident 
 measures, his preparation of supplies and men 
 for the forcible assertion of the common weal ; 
 and his legislative wisdom, looking far ahead 
 of * the ignorant present' to the needs of 
 future wealth and commerce. Is it private 
 character — that which gives to society its 
 dearest decencies and graces ? Here is a 
 citizen without reproach, whose life was an 
 example of probity and honor. 
 
 " All of these things are abundantly estab- 
 lished : By history, written at different periods 
 and in different places. By divers pens of 
 eminent friends, of foreigners and natives. By 
 tradition handed down through various fami- 
 lies, associated with personal incident and 
 local scenes and battle relics; and interwoven 
 with the literature, the song and music of the 
 land, from then till now. By the confidence 
 
64 Life and Character of 
 
 of Franklin, who esteemed him in the very- 
 morning of his career, chose him to represent 
 a distant important colonization scheme, and 
 was afterwards joined with him in the Com- 
 mittee of Public Safety. By the constant 
 friendship of Washington, who for nearly a 
 score of years had him by his side or beneath 
 his eye, or under his command, in bivouac and 
 battle, in the darkest seasons and the bitterest 
 trials; who relied on him as ^neas on Acha- 
 tes ; who charged him with momentous duties ; 
 who commended him in public orders; who 
 honored him with chief command of the 
 national army. By the repeated thanks of 
 Congress, engrossed on record and published 
 to the country and the world. By the ever- 
 welcome voice of chivalrous Lafayette, speak- 
 ing his praise from the shores of beautiful 
 France. By the words of General Lee, deemed 
 the wisest military critic of the day, pronoun- 
 cing one of his exploits unparalleled in the past. 
 By the united approbation of Greene and St. 
 Clair, of Gates and Schuyler, the chief gen- 
 erals in the field ; of Rush, the eminent civilian ; 
 and of Morris, the great financier. By the 
 voluntary applause of the people of contempo- 
 raneous and current times. 
 
yamcs Bow en Ever hart, 65 
 
 ** But this bill seems an effort to overturn this 
 mountain of evidence, to reverse the verdict 
 of generations, and remove the settled land- 
 marks of history. It seems intended as an 
 arbitrary decree to fix a posthumous prece- 
 dence, to confound our patriotic associations, 
 disparage the object of our affections, and rob 
 us of our knightliest hero. And for what? To 
 substitute another whose deeds are not so 
 conspicuous, whose character is not so popu- 
 lar, whose name is not so familiar, and who 
 was eminent chiefly as a citizen of Virginia. 
 For there he had his home before and during 
 the Revolution. There he debated and voted 
 in the House of Burgesses. There he preached 
 the Gospel, there he left the pulpit for the 
 field, and there he attained all his military 
 titles. He is therefore beyond the purview of 
 the law ; for he was distinguished, not as a 
 Pennsylvanian, but as a Virginian soldier. 
 
 ** But, Mr. President, the attempt is useless 
 to disturb the character of Wayne, or super- 
 sede him in public opinion, or dim the impres- 
 sion of his services and virtues. His fame is 
 fixed, and no specious indirection nor conven- 
 tional after-thought can ignore or obscure it. 
 You will prepare a more prominent niche for 
 
66 Life and Character of 
 
 another one in vain. For it is not in human 
 authority, with its enactments and decisions, 
 nor in artistic craft, with its bronze or marble, 
 to equah'ze or alter or transpose the merits of 
 the dead. Every effort to put another in his 
 place will be imputed to partiality or preju- 
 dice. And no explanation can refute this 
 plausible inference. His absence will be more 
 conspicuous than the other's obtrusive pres- 
 ence. Your preference will only be damaged 
 by the contrast. 
 
 " For these statues are not merely to adorn 
 a corridor, or encourage art, or for a local 
 purpose, or a transitory show, but for the 
 permanent glory of the State. They are to 
 perpetuate, in stone or metal, her dearest off- 
 spring, her Cornelian jewels. They are to 
 represent the best types of her early heroism, 
 patriotism, and genius — those who achieved 
 the most for her institutions, her progress, and 
 her renown — such as in the unchristian ages 
 would have had tombs in the Ceramicus, vic- 
 torious arches across the Imperial ways, colos- 
 sal figures in the mighty avenues of Carnac. 
 
 ** It is meet, therefore, that we should not 
 select for this great honor men of uncertain 
 
James Bowen Everhart. 67 
 
 citizenship or inferior claims. But when, here- 
 after, ambitious youth shall seek in the pan- 
 theon of patriots for inspiration and example, 
 let them behold his form, who was a leading 
 spirit in the people's struggle, and who con- 
 tributed the peerless feat of Stony Point tow- 
 ards their immortal triumph." 
 
 On the resolution in the Senate relative to 
 the removal of the remains of William Penn, 
 his speech was pronounced a magnificent tri- 
 bute to the founder of the State. 
 
 Mr. Everhart introduced several beneficial 
 rules for the government of the Senate. He 
 never had any particular idol, but aimed to 
 prevent bad legislation as much as possible. 
 He amended a number of bills upon all sub- 
 jects, many perhaps for the better ; one, a tax 
 bill, which might have prevented his native 
 county, with others of the State, from recov- 
 ering some thousands of dollars of overpaid 
 taxes. He served during his term on the fol- 
 lowing committees: Judiciary, Banks, Educa- 
 tion, Library, Constitutional Reform, Federal 
 Relations — the latter of which he was the 
 Chairman, — Pensions and Gratuities, Compare 
 
68 Life and Character of 
 
 Bills, and Agriculture. On all these com- 
 mittees he was an earnest worker, and carefully- 
 scrutinized all the work laid before those 
 committees. 
 
 He never accepted a railroad pass, and was 
 the only member of the Legislature who, when 
 no objections were made to paying, declined to 
 take the extra pay, amounting in his case to 
 some two thousand dollars, which he covered 
 back into the State treasury. He was per- 
 haps the only Senator who refused the per- 
 quisite of postage stamps after the stationery 
 rule went into effect. Mr. Everhart declined 
 these apparent favors, not because he desired 
 to make any special exhibition, but because 
 he conscientiously believed that under the 
 Constitution of the State he was forbidden 
 to do so. 
 
 At the time he resigned his seat in the Sen- 
 ate, having been elected to represent the Sixth 
 Congressional District in the Lower House of 
 the National Legislature, his fellow Senators 
 paid him glowing tributes. 
 
 Senator Cooper, of Delaware county said : 
 " I had intended, upon the presentation of this 
 resignation, or the entry of the Senator from 
 
y antes Baiven Ever hart, 69 
 
 Chester (Mr. Everhart) upon his Congressional 
 term, to say something to indicate the feeling 
 that I have for him. But I will briefly say 
 that whatever regret there may be at our part- 
 ing company, and whatever regret I may have 
 in ceasing to be a colleague and becoming a 
 constituent, is tempered by the fact that he 
 has been promoted to a higher position ; and 
 that as a constituent I was glad to give him 
 my support for that higher position. 
 
 " I need not say in his presence that there is 
 no gentleman in the counties of Chester and 
 Delaware who stands higher in the estimation 
 of the people than the Senator from Chester ; 
 and I shall look forward to his career in Con- 
 gress to be as bright there as it has been here. 
 His conduct upon this floor for the past six 
 years has been distinguished by the highest 
 ability, and I can add no more to that fact." 
 
 Senator Gordon : — '' I think that the senti- 
 ments expressed by the Senator from Dela- 
 ware (Mr. Cooper) are those of every member 
 of this body who has been brought into per- 
 sonal association with the Senator from Ches- 
 ter (Mr. Everhart.) 
 
 *' To part with him after a long period of 
 
JO Life and Character of 
 
 official connection is no ordinary event. It 
 would be no ordinary event if this happened 
 to any Senator. As Burke said in that mag- 
 nificent rhapsody upon the death of his son : 
 
 " 'At this exigent moment the loss of a fin- 
 ished man is not easily supplied.* 
 
 " His constituency, and the greater con- 
 stituency of the State at large, are those who 
 have most to regret in this separation. 
 
 " For ourselves, the pure and upright legisla- 
 tor leaves us. The gentleman whose honor 
 was such that he felt a stain like a wound ; 
 with a wit that loved to play, but not to harm ; 
 the scholar, the well-equipped lawyer, the 
 painstaking and careful legislator leaves this 
 body to-day. That is no ordinary event, nor 
 should be passed by unmarked. My associa- 
 tions v/ith him have been of such an intimate 
 character that I cannot trust myself lest I 
 might violate the proprieties of this place if I 
 spoke all my heart on this subject." 
 
 Senator Herr : — '' Without any expectation 
 of rising at this moment or on this occasion, I 
 think it is entirely in keeping with the occasion 
 and with the moment for me to attempt to 
 bear my small tribute of respect to the outgo- 
 
yames Bowen Everhart, 71 
 
 ing Senator. In rising to do that I am sure I 
 but echo not only the feeling, but give form 
 and expression to that spirit of courtesy, 
 mutual confidence and respect which always 
 has prevailed in this Chamber, one for the 
 other. But that spirit of courtesy requires, 
 perhaps, just now a special emphasis because 
 it refers to the Senator from Chester (Mr. 
 Everhart). His private and personal character 
 has commanded our respect and admiration ; 
 because whoever came in contact with him 
 privately and personally always discovered 
 and instantly recognized that he was a gentle- 
 man, and when that is said I am sure an 
 epitome is delivered. 
 
 ** But his public career is the only career that 
 we, perhaps, are justified or called upon to 
 glance at, and when we recall that, surely there 
 is no one here but will agree with me when I 
 declare that it has been marked with a mutual 
 courtesy and respect, a deference for the feel- 
 ings and wishes of others, while always in 
 debate regnant and powerful. And when he 
 passes away from us now to a scene that I do 
 not think is any higher nor any more exalted, 
 it surely will be an encouragement to him to 
 
72 Life and Character of 
 
 know that he carries with him the good wishes 
 and the plaudits of the Senate of Pennsylvania. 
 
 " There was a time I just recall, in the stormy 
 days of England, when charges were made 
 against Walpole of a character that reflected 
 on his integrity, involving the character, too, 
 of many friends, that Walpole rose upon the 
 floor of Parliament and said : 
 
 **' Whatever defects maybe detected in my 
 private character or public career, I, at least, 
 Mr. Speaker, may call upon my God to declare 
 that these hands are clean.' 
 
 *' We all can apply that to the Senator from 
 Chester, and hope that if a monument should 
 ever be erected to his memory, the most glori- 
 ous epitaph will be : ' These hands are clean.' " 
 
 Senator Smith : — " It seemed but yesterday 
 that I had the pleasure, I may say the honor, 
 of making the acquaintance of the Senator from 
 Chester (Mr. Everhart), who is about to leave 
 us, and yet it has been years. In all that time 
 our intercourse has been unbroken. His refined 
 taste and elegant deportment have been such 
 that we might all emulate. His poetic gifts we 
 have listened to with admiration and intense 
 interest." 
 
yames Boiven Bverkart. Jt, 
 
 Senator Stewart : — This resignation dissolves 
 and interrupts a fellowship which has been 
 agreeable and pleasant, and profitable to us all. 
 I cannot allow the occasion to pass without 
 expressing my own regret at the departure of 
 the Senator from Chester (Mr. Everhart). 
 
 "After a continuous term of service in this 
 body for six years, the people of a wide constit- 
 uency, recognizing his ability and worth, have 
 elevated him to a position of wider influence 
 and, perhaps, greater responsibility. 
 
 " It is fitting, Mr. President, and it is certainly 
 most gratifying to us, his colleagues, to know 
 that his services of labor here are terminated in 
 this way. In common with all the Senators 
 here, I have for the distinguished Senator the 
 highest admiration and unqualified respect, and 
 I feel assured that whatever body he may enter 
 in the future, he will command the same 
 respect, the same confidence, and the same 
 admiration. He carries with him not only my 
 own personal wishes for his success, but he 
 carries with him, I am sure, the best wishes 
 of every member of this body." 
 
 Senator Lee : — ** I did not expect to say any 
 thing on this occasion, but I am simply moved 
 
74 yames Bowen EverharL 
 
 to what I say by my sincere regard for the 
 Senator from Chester. 
 
 '' Four years ago I came into this Chamber 
 without any previous legislative experience, 
 one of the youngest members of the Senate. I 
 was here but a few days when I learned to rely 
 with implicit confidence upon the advice and 
 counsel of the Senator from Chester (Mr. 
 Everhart). In all the contests of this body 
 since, and there has been contests between 
 right and wrong, the voice and vote of the 
 Senator from Chester have been uniformly 
 on the side of right. 
 
 " I can pay him no higher tribute than this. 
 
 ** The people of his district, recognizing his 
 conspicuous service here, that he did not sim- 
 ply represent a district, but that larger con- 
 stituency, the State, have promoted him to 
 a wider, if not higher field of usefulness. 
 
 " I simply rise now, Mr. President, to express 
 my sincere and profound regret at his depart- 
 ure, and to wish him in his new field of labor 
 the same success which he has uniformly 
 achieved here." 
 
CHAPTER IX, 
 
 IN no sense of the word could Mr. Everhart 
 be termed an office-seeker; to those who 
 knew him he often spoke upon the difficulties 
 surrounding a man in public life. His innate 
 modesty was such that he could not, in the 
 most unobtrusive manner, intimate to any one 
 that he would like to have them vote for him ; 
 yet he fully recognized the duties of a citizen 
 of the Republic, and was always ready to obey 
 the demands of the people. It was while he 
 was still a Senator, he was solicited and urged 
 by friends to permit his name to be used as a 
 candidate for Congressional honors, to repre- 
 sent the Sixth District of Pennsylvania in the 
 National House of Representatives, For some 
 time he refused to consider the importunities 
 of his friends in both Chester and Delaware 
 counties, but finally consented. At the same 
 time he told them in unmistakable language 
 that they must not expect him to solicit sup- 
 porters, saying: "You know that I have never 
 
 75 
 
76 Life and Character of 
 
 asked any man to give me his support for office ; 
 I believe in the good old maxim ' that the office 
 should seek the man, and not the man the 
 office.* " He also imposed another condition 
 upon those who undertook the management of 
 his canvass, to wit : " There shall be no promise 
 of any kind made directly or indirectly to any 
 one for his suffrage." He had five competitors 
 for the honor, and in the Republican nomina- 
 ting convention, after a hard struggle, his op- 
 ponents, one by one, retired from the contest, 
 and on the twenty-fifth ballot he was nomi- 
 nated. On the evening of his being placed 
 upon the ticket, he was congratulated at his 
 home by over three thousand people. 
 At the general election the vote was : 
 
 Chester, Delaware. The District 
 
 Everhart (Rep.) . . . . 8,966 5,649 14,615 
 
 Clyde (Dem.) .... 6,113 3,^97 9,810 
 
 Pennypacker (Proh.) . . 316 — 316 
 
 The plurality of Mr. Everhart was 4,805, and 
 his majority 4,489. 
 
 In 1884 he was again a candidate for re- 
 nomination. Two of his former opponents 
 and another aspirant entered the contest. In 
 the nominating convention he again was placed 
 upon the ticket after a struggle in which no 
 
yames Bowen Ever hart, 'j'j 
 
 less than twenty-three ballots were cast before 
 a result was acquired. At the general election 
 the vote was : 
 
 Chester. Delaware. The District, 
 
 Everhart (Rep.) . . . 10,791 7,802 18,593 
 
 Heckel (Dem.) . . . 7,071 4,480 ii,55i 
 
 Passmore (Proh.) ... 558 49 607 
 
 The plurality of Mr. Everhart was 7,042, and 
 his majority 6,535. 
 
 Again, in 1886, he was a candidate for the 
 third time, with two of his former competitors. 
 
 In the convention a very exciting contro- 
 versy took place upon the refusal of the judge 
 of elections in Westtown tov/nship, refusing to 
 accept the votes of two citizens at the primary 
 election. The case was laid before the con- 
 vention, but the chairman of that body de- 
 clined to hear the protest, and referred it to a 
 committee, who reported in favor of sustaining 
 the action of the judge of the election, and 
 also declined to hear the minority report. In 
 consequence of this action of the chair, the 
 delegate from Westtown was forced to cast 
 his vote for Mr. Everhart's opponent, thus 
 losing to him the nomination by one vote. 
 The action of the convention was protested 
 against by the friends of Mr. Everhart, and 
 
78 Life and Character of 
 
 an appeal was made to the Republican voters 
 of the district, and a protest sent to the 
 Delaware conferees. They, however, decided 
 not to undo the work of the Chester county- 
 convention. 
 
 The friends of Mr. Everhart then proceeded 
 to make a contest at the general election, and 
 insisted that he should permit his name to go 
 before the people of the district as the regular 
 nominee of the party, on the ground that a 
 fraud had been committed in the convention. 
 In response to this demand from several hun- 
 dreds of prominent citizens, Mr. Everhart 
 accepted the situation and issued the following 
 address : 
 
 ** To the Repiiblica7is of Chester and Delaware 
 Counties : 
 "To the numerous requests, written or 
 otherwise, by Republicans in various parts of 
 the District urging me to stand as the regular 
 nominee of the party for Congress, I reply that 
 I have consented to do so. Regularity does 
 not depend on names and forms, but on facts 
 and principles. And he is the regular candi- 
 date who had the right to a majority of the 
 votes. 
 
yames Bowen Everhart. 79 
 
 " The late Republican convention by its in- 
 action allowed instructions from Westtown to 
 be illegally counted against, instead of for, the 
 choice of that township. At their delegate 
 election two electors' votes, which would have 
 given the undersigned the majority of instruc- 
 tions, were rejected. These electors were 
 qualified in every respect, as was abundantly 
 proved. They were natives and residents of 
 the neighborhood, gentlemen of character, life- 
 long members of the Republican party, and 
 except casting a ballot for Cleveland generally 
 voted its ticket, and this year promised to 
 support it — a promise which gives even a 
 Democrat a right to vote in the organization. 
 Any stricter test than this would afford no 
 chance for the party's continuance or growth. 
 The rejection of the votes referred to was 
 therefore a denial of the right of suffrage and 
 of citizenship, of the right of participation in 
 the government they live under and sup- 
 port. The officer chosen by a handful of 
 bystanders, though it is said against their 
 advice, classed these voters with minors and 
 aliens. This seems like a new experience in 
 politics. We thus see how the judge made 
 
8o Life and Character of 
 
 the ticket. A nomination brought about by 
 such a process — by the exclusion of proper 
 votes, by the violation of individual rights, 
 party usages, and public law — cannot be ex- 
 cused or accepted. And as neither the con- 
 ference nor their candidates nor those who 
 boasted of majorities would agree to refer 
 the case back again to the township or the 
 county, we who honor the party and believe 
 in the strength and truth of our position ap- 
 peal to the honest judgment of the people. 
 
 *' James B. Everhart." 
 
 This address was followed by a call for a 
 public meeting of citizens of Chester county, 
 which assembled in Horticultural Hall, West 
 Chester, on the twenty-fifth day of September, 
 eighteen days after the county convention. 
 The late Dr. Nathan A. Pennypacker, who 
 was one of Mr. Everhart's first competitors, 
 was chosen president of the meeting. Ad- 
 dresses of a stirring character were made by 
 Dr. Pennypacker ; Ex-Congressman Washing- 
 ton Townsend ; Thomas W. Pierce, Chairman 
 of the Republican County Committee ; Colonel 
 H. H. Gilkyson ; and Rev. William L. Bull, an 
 
James Bowen Everhart, 8i 
 
 Episcopal clergyman. The meeting, without 
 opposition, declared Mr. Everhart to be the 
 regular nominee of the party. He was called 
 upon to address the assemblage, and as he 
 stepped upon the stage, was greeted with 
 cheers, waving of hats and handkerchiefs. He 
 said briefly: ** Fellow Citizens — You have 
 come up to-day in imposing numbers from 
 all callings and quarters of the District, not as 
 delegates or agents, but as the people in your 
 own persons and in your sovereign power. 
 To your consideration we commend our cause. 
 Your well-known character for fealty to party 
 and to country, your wise discernment of the 
 facts, your earnest reprobation of persistent 
 wrong, your honest zeal for justice, give ample 
 assurance of ultimate success." (Cheers.) 
 
 The result of this action of the people 
 placed two Republicans in the field. For 
 about six weeks a very exciting campaign 
 was carried on by all parties, resulting in 
 the election of his Republican opponent. 
 
 In 1888 the friends of Mr. Everhart insisted 
 that he should once more lead them, to which 
 demand he consented, and a vigorous campaign 
 was being conducted. Early in August Mr. 
 
82 yames Bowen Ever hart, 
 
 Everhart was stricken with illness, from 
 which he did not recover, and on the twenty- 
 third of the month, within nine days of the 
 time appointed for the primary elections, and 
 twelve of the convention, he died. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 ON the fourth day of March, 1883, Mr. 
 Everhart entered upon his duties as 
 Congressman. When he went to Washington 
 he remained at his post throughout the en- 
 tire session, nor did he fail to record his vote 
 in a single instance upon any bill or measure. 
 His faithful presence was the same in the 
 Forty-ninth Congress. He aided in obtain- 
 ing pensions for a great number of persons, 
 secured several new post-ofifices in his dis- 
 trict, and presented a large number of peti- 
 tions upon various subjects, not only from his 
 constituents, but from other petitioners. 
 
 Among the bills of a public character that 
 were presented by him were : bills " To equalize 
 the right of fishing in the navigable waters 
 of the United States"; ''To establish the 
 metric system in government affairs"; "To 
 erect monuments to William Penn and Gen- 
 eral Anthony Wayne in the Rotunda of the 
 Capitol " ; " To enact public buildings in the 
 
 83 
 
84 Life and Character of 
 
 city of Chester." He also offered amend- 
 ments to a number of bills; the most notable 
 were : " To the Pension Appropriation bill," 
 the amendment being as follows : *' Provided 
 that all applicants for pension shall be pre- 
 sumed to have had no disability at the time 
 of enlistment, but such presumption may be 
 rebutted." This amendment was adopted by 
 a vote of 117 ayes to 14 nays. To the Bureau 
 of Animal Industry bill he offered the follow- 
 ing amendment : " Provided, that no State or 
 Territory or part thereof shall be declared in 
 quarantine, if the Governor of the same shall 
 officially certify to the President of the United 
 States he is satisfied, from thorough inves- 
 tigation, no disease dangerous to the animal 
 industry of the nation exists therein." This 
 amendment was adopted. To the Electoral 
 Count bill Mr. Everhart made this amend- 
 ment : "And the joint convention shall then 
 proceed to vote, the House voting by States, 
 each State having two votes, and the Senate 
 voting per capita." This amendment was also 
 adopted. 
 
 Mr. Everhart was an uncompromising oppo- 
 nent to the distribution of free railroad passes 
 
y antes Bowen Ever hart, 85 
 
 by railroad companies, either directly or indi- 
 rectly. In the Interstate Commerce bill he 
 offered this amendment to govern free passes : 
 "And no railroad company or companies shall 
 grant free passes allowing persons to ride free 
 from one State or Territory to another. Pro- 
 vided that the prohibition shall not apply to 
 officers or employees of railroad companies, or 
 to the United States Supervisors or Commis- 
 sioners of railroads ; to cases of charity ; nor 
 prevent the issuing of excursion or commuta- 
 tion tickets at special rates." This amendment 
 was rejected by the House. 
 
 During all of Mr. Everhart's public life in 
 both the State Senate and in Congress he 
 never accepted a railroad pass, though he was 
 in constant receipt of these favors. He invaria- 
 bly returned them to the source from which 
 they emanated, with thanks for the courtesy 
 intended. And in making the declination he 
 frankly stated, in unmistakable language, that 
 he did not think it right or proper for him as a 
 public officer to accept such gratuity. 
 
 He also offered amendments to a number of 
 other bills, some of which were adopted and 
 others rejected. 
 
86 Life and Character of 
 
 During the consideration of the River and 
 Harbor bill in the Committee of the Whole, 
 making appropriations for the construction, 
 repair, and preservation of certain public 
 works on rivers and harbors, and for other 
 purposes, Mr. Everhart said : 
 
 "■ Mr. Chairman : — It is proper to commend 
 the liberal conduct of the committee in the 
 House ; but, without disparaging their motives 
 or their labors, we may not be indifferent to 
 the defects of the measure they have intro- 
 duced. The report is but a syllabus, with 
 brief statement and scant argument ; alludes 
 to the Engineer's estimates and some local 
 demands only to say they were not complied 
 with ; admits some errors, deprecates criticism, 
 and in some parts disarms it. But the appro- 
 priations are remarkable for their number, 
 diversity, and amount. 
 
 " It appears that no spot or object is too 
 grand or too insignificant to be ignored. The 
 salt water and the fresh, the sea-coast and the 
 tow-path, the banks of the great lakes and the 
 beds of little streams, leveed cities and sine- 
 cure ports, shoals where the mussels bury, and 
 sloughs like, perhaps, * that Serbonian bog, 
 
yames Bowen Ever hart. dtj 
 
 where armies whole have sunk,* receive in 
 various degrees the care and bounty of the 
 bill. And yet it is clear that the distribution 
 is not always equitably averaged and applied. 
 
 " Fifteen millions of dollars is ' a good 
 round sum ' to be taken from the public 
 purse ; and yet this committee 
 
 ***The Gordian knot of it will unloose, 
 Familiar as their garter.' 
 
 They pour it out with the exuberance and 
 generosity of some high power, and it falls 
 upon the favored places as freely as the 
 golden shower of Jupiter on Danae. Nor is 
 the sum in every instance directed by adequate 
 importance or necessity. It is unrestricted by 
 unpronounceable names, by obscurity of situa- 
 tion, by dearth of water, by mass of obstruc- 
 tion, by difificulty of distance, or by lack of 
 people. 
 
 *' Bayous are to be improved where the 
 alligator wallows and the pelican feeds ; and 
 inlets where King Frost holds his carnival in 
 palaces of ice ; and shores which seem as 
 remote and fabulous as those of Calypso or 
 Atlantis. 
 
88 Life and Character of 
 
 ** There is nothing, Mr. Chairman, which 
 seems too incredible to be embraced within 
 the limits of this bill." [Applause.] At this 
 point of his remarks the Chairman announced 
 that Mr. Everhart's time had expired, but 
 several members yielded their time, and he 
 proceeded : 
 
 ** Mr. Chairman, I was saying that the scope 
 and purpose of the bill are extraordinary. 
 Every sort of information and construction 
 seems to have been employed in order to 
 extend this committee's jurisdiction. Chan- 
 nels, beset with mud, or rocks, or rapids, are 
 to be deepened or widened without the ulti- 
 mate possibilities of commerce. Canals are to 
 be bought, or built, or seized, or accepted, and 
 tunnels are to be pierced, bridges to be sprung, 
 dikes and dams to be constructed, for the 
 apparent relief of particular States or riparian 
 owners. Enormous experiments, which hither- 
 to have failed, are to be repeated with aggra- 
 vated cost on the ' Father of Waters,' with no 
 assurance of better benefit to navigation. 
 
 ** So the bill orders which is now before us. 
 Such is this unpretentious roll, which refers to 
 places which no gazetteer has ever mentioned ; 
 
jfames Bozven Ever hart. 89 
 
 to a nomenclature which no polyglot lexicon 
 can explain ; and to regions of climatic varia- 
 tions with which no signal bureau corresponds. 
 [Laughter and applause.] And though this 
 simple pamphlet be not as elegant as those 
 which had the imprimatur of the Elzevirs, or 
 the binding of Baskerville ; though it be not 
 as rare as some Palimpsests of the Vatican, nor 
 as interesting as the ' Splendid Shilling,* or the 
 'Adventures of a Guinea,' yet it is loaded with 
 colossal figures which no bank ledger can ex- 
 hibit ; its pages glistening with treasures, and 
 its every sentence a promise of gold. But let 
 us not be seduced. [Applause.] Let us not 
 yield to the temptation, lest, like the roll in 
 the prophetic vision, it be written between the 
 lines, 'within and without, with lamentations 
 and woe,' which, if we swallow, may not be to 
 us, as to Ezekiel, as sweet as honey in the 
 inner man." 
 
 The press throughout the country spoke in 
 flattering terms of this effort of Mr. Everhart 
 to prevent the misappropriation of the public 
 funds. 
 
 The Philadelphia Record said : ** Congress- 
 
go Life and Character of 
 
 man Everhart did himself credit by opposing 
 the River and Harbor bill in a careful and 
 convincing speech. He has the thanks of the 
 Record^ and he ought to have the applause of 
 a grateful constituency. A District that sends 
 a man to Congress who will not log-roll has 
 done the country some service." 
 
 The Baltimore Sun said : " When he com- 
 menced his speech no one paid the least atten- 
 tion. To do so would have been a radical 
 departure from the usual order, and there was 
 no expectation that he would be other than a 
 humdrum in his matter and manner. He 
 uttered but a few words, however, when the 
 attention of the whole House was concen- 
 trated upon him and so remained until he 
 concluded." 
 
 The CJiester (Delaware county) Times said : 
 ** It is not often that the name of our repre- 
 sentative in Congress is flashed over the wires 
 as having made a set speech before his col- 
 leagues. But perhaps because of this fact, 
 which is due altogether to Mr. Everhart*s 
 modesty, the House was all the more aston- 
 
yames Bowen Everhart. 91 
 
 ished the other day when the modest, un- 
 assuming gentleman who represents us so 
 faithfully rose in his place and in vigorous 
 though polished terms denounced the con- 
 glomeration of wise recommendations and 
 positive frauds which is known as the River 
 and Harbor bill. And he has vastly risen in 
 the esteem of the House by his courageous 
 denunciation of wrong.** 
 
 The Media (Delaware county) Record^ in an 
 editorial, said : " Congressman Everhart op- 
 posed the measure, and so strong were his 
 sallies against the gross extravagance of the 
 measure, several members voluntarily offered 
 to yield him their share of time to continue 
 his speech. Nobody attempted to answer Mr. 
 Everhart, and he deserves the thanks of his 
 constituents for his action in the premises. It 
 is gratifying to note such fealty to the inter- 
 ests of the tax-payers of not merely his own 
 District, but of the entire country, and it is 
 equally agreeable to commend the work so 
 well done." 
 
 The West Chester Village Record editorially 
 
92 Life and Character of 
 
 said: "The River and Harbor bill has grown in 
 the Senate from fifteen million dollars, which 
 the House thought a big enough steal, to eigh- 
 teen millions. It is gratifying to know that our 
 member of Congress has raised his voice 
 against the iniquities of the present bill and 
 voted against it." 
 
 On the occasion of the consideration of the 
 Oleomargarine bill in the Committee of the 
 Whole, defining butter, also imposing a tax 
 upon and regulating the manufacture, sale, 
 importation, and exportation of oleomargarine, 
 Mr. Everhart said : 
 
 ** Mr. Chairman : — The right to tax is coeval 
 with sovereignty ; is essential to its existence ; 
 needs neither grant nor reservation, and is 
 limited only by the uniformity of its operation 
 and the wisdom of the government. It is a 
 legislative right, and no court will inquire as to 
 the degree of its exercise. It may impose 
 prohibitory burdens upon foreign and domestic 
 products. It may discriminate for or against 
 industries or classes. It may throw greater 
 restrictions around distilleries than breweries ; 
 
yames Bcnven Ever hart, 93 
 
 favor cider more than wine, and cigars more 
 than cigarettes. And Congress under other 
 clauses may bestow charities, endow schools, 
 grant pensions, punish counterfeiters, and by 
 the establishment of a national board of health 
 provide against the invasion of disease. The 
 constitutionality of the question under consid- 
 eration seems therefore beyond dispute, 
 whether it be for revenue to the government 
 or for the public welfare. The policy is 
 justified by the facts. 
 
 " Mr. Chairman, the time-honored business of 
 butter-making is threatened with signal mis- 
 chief. Another article has been put in circula- 
 tion not as original, or auxiliary, or even as a 
 substitute, but skilfully disguised so as to pass 
 for the honest product. And this is oleomar- 
 garine. [Laughter.] Composed, as said, in 
 some instances at least, of miscellaneous offal, 
 the slag of the butcher shop, the kitchen, and 
 the alley, dissolved, neutralized, combined, and 
 prepared by drugs and temperatures so that it 
 may resemble the taste, form, and color, and 
 bear the name of butter. Then its fabrication 
 and excellence are lauded as if its origin were 
 associated with springs and pastures, with cows 
 
94 Life and Character of 
 
 and churns, and all the charm and flavor of the 
 dairy. [Applause.] 
 
 ** The more perfect the imitation the more 
 salable and dangerous the commodity. And 
 this mixture its friends expect the poor man to 
 roll under his tongue as if it were a morsel 
 sweet as sin, and which indeed it may be. 
 [Applause and laughter.] Against this sub- 
 stance, whose claim now to be deemed a rival 
 industry savors of a false pretension, the bill 
 would protect the people, as other measures 
 protect them against bogus coin and the impor- 
 tation of infected rags. It is designed — such 
 a deception seems even more reprehensible 
 than that which exaggerates or disparages, or 
 that which surreptitiously abstracts property, 
 or that violence which assails the credit of the 
 real article, confounds its identity, impairs it 
 prestige. And although, if the oleomargarine 
 ingredients be neither filthy nor deleterious, 
 nay, though it be pure as the ' icicle on Dian's 
 temple ' and wholesome as the ' bread of 
 angels,* or * like the sovereign'st thing on 
 earth,' yet still it is but a counterfeit claiming 
 to be genuine. And being of cheaper materials 
 and of more extensive production, its tendency. 
 
yames Bowen Ever hart, 95 
 
 like that of poor money to expel the better, 
 would, unhindered, usurp the market and 
 corrupt the trade. And this to the serious 
 aggravated damage of that great majority who 
 cultivate the soil, whose sweat and labor 
 mingle with its furrows, and augment the 
 public wealth ; who supply us sustenance from 
 the harvest and the orchard ; who are the con- 
 servators of law and order ; and whose brawny 
 patriotism is the last unfailing reliance in the 
 hour of trouble, in riot, and in war." [Loud 
 applause.] 
 
 This speech in defence of the product of the 
 legitimate dairy was commented on in compli- 
 mentary terms by the press throughout the 
 entire country, especially in the rural districts. 
 At the seventh annual meeting of the Dairy- 
 men's Association held in Philadelphia on 
 the fifteenth of September, 1886, Mr. Reall, 
 President of the Association, spoke particularly 
 of the services rendered him by Mr. Everhart, 
 in his exertions at Washington the preceding 
 winter. The Association Committee on Reso- 
 lutions, through Mr. W. C. Rice, President of 
 the Minnesota Dairymen's Association, pre- 
 
96 Life and Character of 
 
 sented a series of resolutions stating Mr. Ever- 
 hart had the thanks of the Association for his 
 efforts in behalf of wholesome dairy products. 
 
 The Republican county meetings of both 
 1885 and 1886 passed resolutions commending 
 his course as the Representative of the district. 
 
 Mr. Everhart was a member of the following 
 Congressional Committees : Coinage, Weights, 
 and Measures; War Claims; Pacific Railroads; 
 Alcoholic Liquor Traffic. He was a regular 
 attendant at all of the meetings of those 
 committees. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 ON the second day of August Mr. Ever- 
 hart was taken ill with an aggravated 
 attack of cholera morbus, from which he ral- 
 lied very slowly; but on the fifth he was taken 
 with a severe chill, followed with an acute at- 
 tack of dysentery. Although he had the best 
 of medical advice and attention he did not rally ; 
 but gradually became weaker and weaker, until 
 August twenty-third when he passed, most 
 peacefully, to his heavenly abode. His death 
 occurred a few minutes before six o'clock. At 
 no time during his illness did he lose his 
 control of his intellectual powers, and spoke, 
 though in a weakened voice, to members of 
 his family a few hours before he died. 
 
 THE BAR MEETING. 
 
 The bar of Chester county at a meeting 
 held in the court-room on the day following 
 the death of Mr. Everhart, was very largely 
 attended. On motion of Col. Francis C. 
 
 97 
 
98 Life and Character of 
 
 Hooton, President Judge J. Smith Futhey 
 (since deceased) was called to the Chair, and 
 J. Newton Huston, Esq., selected Secretary. 
 Hon. Washington Townsend moved that the 
 Chair appoint a committee to prepare appropri- 
 ate resolutions. Judge Futhey appointed as the 
 committee Hon. Washington Townsend, Hon. 
 Robert E. Monaghan, Col. Francis C. Hooton, 
 Wilmer W. McElree, and S. Duffield Mitchell, 
 Esqrs. The committee, after a brief absence, 
 reported as follows: 
 
 "The members of the Chester county Bar 
 have heard with profound regret and sorrow 
 of the death of James B. Everhart, late mem- 
 ber of this bar. 
 
 ** During the time he was an active member 
 of the bar, he was capable, industrious, and 
 painstaking, faithful to his clients, fair and 
 courteous to his colleagues, respectful to the 
 Court, and influential before a jury, and had 
 he continued the practice of the law he would 
 have obtained a high standing in the legal 
 profession. 
 
 "As a member of the Legislature of Penn- 
 sylvania he devoted himself to the best inter- 
 ests of his immediate constituents and of the 
 
y antes Bowen Everhart, 99 
 
 State at large, and he was so conscientious and 
 upright in his character and conduct that, when 
 whispers of improper conduct or legislation 
 were rife in the community, not the least im- 
 peachment of his motive or action was ever 
 made, his reputation for integrity being entirely 
 spotless. 
 
 "As a member of Congress he was assiduous 
 in the discharge of his duties and ever atten- 
 tive to the requirements and interests of the 
 people of his district and of the nation, and 
 his sterling integrity and his eloquence in the 
 discussion of national affairs procured him the 
 esteem of all who knew him. 
 
 " In private life his ripe scholarship, his ex- 
 tensive learning, his genial manners, warmth 
 of friendship, and his purity of life and con- 
 duct made him hosts of friends, and in his 
 death the members of this bar and the com- 
 munity at large will feel that they have lost 
 a pure, high-minded, and honored fellow- 
 citizen. 
 
 ^^ Resolvedy That these minutes be spread 
 upon the records of the court, that a copy be 
 furnished the newspapers, and also a copy to 
 the family of the deceased." 
 
I oo Life mid Character of 
 
 The following eulogistic remarks were made 
 by the members of the bar. 
 
 Hon. Robert E. Monaghan: 
 
 " I do not know whether or not the mem- 
 bers of the bar knew more law years ago than 
 they do now, but they were accustomed at the 
 time when I first came to West Chester to ap- 
 pear in court with a large number of books 
 bearing upon their cases. At that period Mr. 
 Everhart was in active and full practice at this 
 bar, and in this way I remember him coming 
 into court prepared for the trial of his cases. 
 I remember his zeal in behalf of his client. 
 
 ** In politics he was a Republican from con- 
 viction, and although he and I differed upon 
 political questions, he was always affable and 
 pleasant. I never knew him to speak a harsh 
 word of any one. Mr. Everhart was a warm, 
 true, and constant friend, and had a desire to 
 impress his friendship. A few days before he 
 took sick we walked down the street together 
 to his home. He asked me to walk in, and 
 while I sat on the porch he went into the 
 house and brought out a copy of the book 
 containing his speeches, which he published 
 
James Bowen Everhart, loi 
 
 recently. He desired me to take it as a memento 
 from him, and keep it. I had him to write my 
 name in it, and underneath the words ' From 
 the Author.' 
 
 " It was the last time I saw him alive. 
 When I learned the nature of his sickness 
 I felt that he would not recover, and said 
 so to his physician. Such thoughts oppressed 
 me, but I felt that he would die. The 
 Hon. Samuel J. Randall, sent me a pre- 
 scription, he had used with success upon 
 himself, when suffering in a similar way. 
 This, however, was received too late to be 
 of any use." 
 
 Hon. Washington Townsend began by 
 adding his approval to what had just been said 
 by Mr Monaghan concerning the zeal, fidelity, 
 and earnestness with which Mr. Everhart ad- 
 vocated the cause of his clients. He then traced 
 his literary and public career, and pronounced 
 a warm eulogy upon him, in which he said : 
 
 " Perhaps I have known Mr. Everhart longer 
 than any one else here. I knew him in his 
 boyhood and when at school. I heard him 
 make his first political speech. It was at 
 
I02 Life and Character of 
 
 the old Washington Hotel in the Clay-Polk 
 campaign in 1844. It was an eloquent effort, 
 and made such an impression as to mark him 
 at once as an orator. He was ever after in 
 demand as a speaker at campaign meetings 
 over the county. 
 
 *' I knew him as a painstaking young lawyer. 
 He came from college well equipped for work. 
 His tastes were of a literary character, and his 
 father gave him opportunity to equip himself 
 for any position in life that he might see fit 
 to choose. In his public life as a member 
 of the Legislature of Pennsylvania he was 
 known to be honest and attentive to his duties. 
 I have heard men who were opposed to Mr. 
 Everhart, politically, pay tribute to his integ- 
 rity and uprightness. He was well versed in 
 the literature of the day and in that of ancient 
 times. He could draw from these immense 
 stores, as occasion demanded, an abundance of 
 illustration with which to enrich his speeches." 
 
 Col. Francis C. Hooton : 
 
 " Mr. Chairman : — We have been again called 
 together to make our last remarks upon the 
 death of one of our fellow-members of the 
 
y antes Bow en Ever hart. 103 
 
 Bar, and to pass resolutions appropriate to 
 such an occasion. There are very few amongst 
 us who were all in all just what James B. 
 Everhart was. 
 
 ** I cannot speak of him, as some of you can, 
 as a practitioner at the bar, as I had seen him 
 try but few cases, but he was still practising 
 when I came here to study law, and he had 
 several students in his office. Thus his office 
 became a popular place for the law-students 
 and young lawyers to meet. Mr. Everhart was 
 very fond of the society of young lawyers and 
 of those who were studying to become lawyers, 
 and it afforded him much pleasure to narrate 
 to them anecdotes of his travels in foreiorn 
 countries and descriptions of the places he had 
 seen. 
 
 " Mr. Everhart was very well grounded in 
 the principles of the law, and, in fact, in all 
 literature. He was a graduate of Princeton 
 College, graduating, I think, either first or 
 second man. After his graduation at Prince- 
 ton, he commenced the study of law. He 
 went to Harvard Law School and graduated 
 there. Then he went to Edinburgh to study 
 the peculiar form of the law administered in 
 
1 04 Life and Oiarader of 
 
 Scot.ai:c. Then he went to Berlin and studied 
 International Law, and after graduating there 
 he travelled over Europe, going all over 
 Europe, to Constantinople, up the Nile, to 
 Jerusalem and all over the Holy Land, and 
 then home. In 1876 he was elected to the 
 State Senate, and again in 1880, and in 1882 
 and 1884 he was elected to Congress. In 
 even' position he was called upon to fill he 
 established two decided characteristics — de- 
 cided ability, and an invincible determination 
 to do that which he thought was right. 
 
 " Although possessed of large means he did 
 not think it was correct to make use of money 
 to succeed in securing political preferment ; 
 and in 1876 and 1880 — both Presidential years, 
 — in each of which he was a candidate for the 
 Senatorial nomination, when making contribu- 
 tions to political clubs throughout the country, 
 he would not permit his friends, by whom the 
 money was conve>'ed to these clubs, even to 
 intimate that a contribution would secure their 
 support. Mr. Everhart was one of nature's 
 noblemen. He was a devoted friend, a sound 
 counsellor, and an earnest Christian gentleman. 
 It w^ be long before we see his like.** 
 
James Bozuen Ever hart 105 
 
 Hon. D. Smith Talbot: 
 
 "Mr. Chairman: — In the natural course of 
 events we once more assemble to give expres- 
 sion to our feelings of sorrow at the death of a 
 friend and brother. 
 
 "We all know that Mr. James B. Everhart 
 is dead, and we are assembled to pay a tribute 
 to his memory and lay a flower upon his tomb. 
 This gathering of the members of the bar and 
 the solemn silence that pervades the room 
 speak eloquently of the high estimation in 
 which our late friend was held alike by the 
 young and the old. 
 
 " I had the pleasure of his friendship and 
 acquaintance from my first appearance in this 
 place as a student of law. I have never re- 
 ceived any thing but kindness at his hands. 
 The language of eulogy is not always the 
 language of truth. Anger and criticism stop 
 at the brink of the grave, and the deeds of the 
 dead are invested with the dignity of death. 
 Mr. Everhart inherited the virtues of an honor- 
 able ancestry, and around his character clustered 
 all gentle and refining influences. He had the 
 earnestness of a quiet purpose, the strength of 
 a high principle, and, at the same time, the 
 
io6 Life and Character of 
 
 delicacy of a woman. His ambitions were 
 high and lofty, and he had a contempt for the 
 demagogue and the hypocrite. He gained 
 high political preferment, but never at the 
 sacrifice of a principle. He had political rival- 
 ries, but he provoked no antagonism. His 
 great charity covered and concealed the fail- 
 ings of his opponents. In his public and 
 private life he was always the modest, dignified 
 Christian gentleman. 
 
 " He neither could be flattered by the smiles, 
 nor bribed by the favors of those who had 
 usurped the distribution of ofifices. He would 
 not sacrifice his independence by shaping his 
 opinions to suit the designs of partisans. He 
 was conscientious in his convictions, and fear- 
 less and defiant in battling for the right. He 
 blended with his more solid acquirements 
 lighter accomplishments, and over all his pub- 
 lic acts and private trusts there shone the 
 serene beauty of the polished gentleman. 
 
 "• His private benefaction to the poor, needy, 
 and distressed was great ; no cry of suffering 
 came to him in vain. Noble words may be 
 spoken of him, but his best memorial will be 
 the tears of the poor. 
 
jfames Bowen Ever hart, 107 
 
 ** While Mr. Everhart has never been in 
 practice since I entered the bar, he never lost 
 his interest in the profession of his choice, and 
 in his leisure moments would quietly slip into 
 the court-room, and was an eager listener in 
 the trial of cases. He took an interest in the 
 young men who came to the bar, and was 
 always glad to hear of their success, as well as 
 to keep a general knowledge of the changes in 
 the practice of the law. 
 
 '* Mr. Everhart, had he continued the prac- 
 tice of the law with the application necessary 
 to make a livelihood out of it, would have 
 made a mark of a very high order at this 01 
 any other bar. His tastes were of a refined 
 nature, and his thoughts scholarly. But he is 
 now gone from our midst, and I am glad to 
 pay this tribute to his memory." 
 
 Mr. Charles H. Pennypacker: j 
 
 '* Mr. Chairman : — I do not think any action 
 has been begun in this court by James B. 
 Everhart since 1861. The last time I remem- 
 ber hearing him plead a case was in 1858 or 
 1859, when he appeared in behalf of a man 
 accused of murder. 
 
1 08 Life and Character of 
 
 ** He was essentially a man of letters, rather 
 than one given to the solving of knotty prob- 
 lems in dispute between clients. He had trav- 
 elled widely and studied deeply. In his library 
 were books of which there is no known dupli- 
 cate in this country. He read them, under- 
 stood them, and applied the knowledge gained 
 from them. In public life he was pure and 
 high-minded ; and I believe that the time will 
 come when every citizen of Chester County 
 will rejoice in the knowledge that Mr. Ever- 
 hart was born and lived in this country." 
 
 Mr. James J. Creigh : 
 
 " Mr. Chairman : — The example of Mr. Ever- 
 hart's life speaks to us more impressively than 
 any word which we can utter on this mournful 
 occasion. 
 
 " It is his highest eulogy ; it is our greatest 
 comfort as we gather around his grave. There 
 is nothing in his personal, professional, or 
 political career which requires from his friends 
 a defense, an apology, or even an explanation. 
 He was for many years a member of this bar. 
 He came to the bar before I did, and practi- 
 cally retired not long after my admission ; but 
 
y antes Bowen Ever hart. 109 
 
 I am sure that the older members will unite 
 with me in saying that he discharged every 
 professional duty with ability and zeal, with 
 fidelity to his clients, courtesy to his brethren, 
 and honor to himself, and that he oftentimes 
 eloquently and successfully defended life and 
 liberty. He was trained for the bar by a thor- 
 ough education in the oflfices of such promi- 
 nent attorneys as William M. Meredith and 
 Joseph J. Lewis, and by a course of study in 
 schools of law in our own country and abroad 
 — at Harvard, Edinburgh, and Berlin. He had 
 an aptitude for the philosophical and scientific 
 conception of the law. He was well grounded 
 in the principles and practice and rules of his 
 profession. Had he continued in practice he 
 would have secured a large clientage, and 
 would undoubtedly have become a lawyer of 
 great distinction and prominence. He chose 
 a different path. 
 
 " His public utterances were thoughtful and 
 impressive. In the numerous speeches which 
 he made, there are not a few which will take 
 high rank in classical eloquence. He possessed 
 the oratorical spirit. His mind naturally 
 turned to poetical expression ; but he also 
 
1 1 o Life and Character of 
 
 knew the use of philosophy and logic. His 
 real power as an intellectual man was not al- 
 ways seen by the public. His intimate friends 
 knew him much better in this respect than his 
 larger circle of admirers. They saw that along 
 with natural ability of the highest order, 
 trained and educated by hard study, he had 
 complete command of his mental apparatus, 
 and that he could use it strongly, clearly, and 
 practically when it was necessary to do so. He 
 was a full man, and therefore a ready man. 
 We can all remember occasions when he laid 
 aside the art of polished discourse and took up 
 readily and successfully the rugged weapons of 
 copious extemporaneous speech. And then 
 he was, like other able speakers, armed for 
 every emergency. 
 
 " Mr. Chairman, it is his public life which 
 will be remembered longest. It has left, as we 
 all know, a lasting impression upon the public 
 mind. I observe that yesterday and to-day the 
 daily papers have been calling special at- 
 tention to it. It will long be held in grateful 
 appreciation. It is an inspiration to his 
 friends. It is now their consecration to what 
 he represented. 
 
James Bowen Everhart, 1 1 1 
 
 *' He was morally and mentally qualified for 
 statesmanship. He was an incorruptible, con- 
 scientious representative of the people. He 
 was as much without reproach and without 
 fear as a Bayard or a Sumner. Ambitious, as 
 he had a right to be, he did not stoop to 
 methods to obtain a seat in the Legislature 
 and in Congress of which he could ever be 
 ashamed before his God, his country, and his 
 conscience. He sought not to serve himself so 
 much as to serve the trust committed to him, 
 by always doing what was right. He did not 
 know how to be a demagogue. 
 
 '* He could not sacrifice his honor and con- 
 science, nor disobey the law in letter or in 
 spirit, to obtain political advancement, to get 
 a nomination. He said to me upon one occa- 
 sion : ' The ofifice is not worth it.' He would 
 not have taken it at such a price. This was 
 the reason that men had confidence in him. 
 
 " No man could successfully assail his char- 
 acter. If there was an arrow of defamation 
 cast at him it fell to the ground before it 
 could reach him. Honorable men passed it 
 by with scorn. He was invulnerable. 
 
 *' I count this as almost the best thing which 
 
112 Life and Character of 
 
 can be said of our departed friend — of my 
 friend. Public men must expect to be misun- 
 derstood, sometimes misrepresented. But, as 
 he once said in closing a beautiful tribute to 
 the memory of a brother Senator: 'He who 
 Avears the cross of virtue shall win its crown.' 
 
 ** Mr. Everhart was a patriotic citizen, a 
 friendly neighbor, a hospitable host, a pleasant 
 man to meet. He was so unostentatious, so 
 free from loud display, so kind in his heart, so 
 well-disposed towards everybody, so mindful 
 of the feelings of others, so secret in his 
 charity, so natural in his manner ; he had, as 
 his friends often observed, a rare quality of 
 courage insensible to fear of any kind ; he was 
 in all respects a gentleman, a good and gracious 
 gentleman. 
 
 " To what God gave him bountifully by 
 nature, he added what God gave him through 
 grace. He was an humble Christian believer, 
 a regular attendant upon divine worship, and 
 for years a communicant in the Presbyterian 
 Church. And so he finished his course in faith. 
 
 " At the break of day, when the sun was 
 rising, clothed in light he entered into im- 
 mortality. 
 
James Bowen Evej^hart. 1 1 3 
 
 ** ' He passed through glory's morning gate, 
 And walked in Paradise.* 
 
 ** Of Mr. Everhart, in his other and tenderer 
 relations, to his family and intimate friends, I 
 cannot speak. It is something almost too 
 painful to think about. An unclouded friend- 
 ship of many years has strangely come to a 
 pause. But the tie is not severed. I hope to 
 see him hereafter." 
 
 RESOLUTIONS BY M'CALL POST 3 1, G. A. R. 
 
 At a regular muster of General George A. 
 McCall Post No. 31, Grand Army of the Re- 
 public, located in West Chester, and held 
 August 24, 1888, a committee, appointed for 
 the purpose, composed of Rev. Joseph S. 
 Evans, James P. Long, and Francis H. Tag- 
 gert, reported the following, which was unani- 
 mously adopted : 
 
 " Whereas, Having learned of the death of 
 our late comrade, Hon. James B. Everhart, 
 who has been suddenly stricken down by a 
 fatal malady, and thus removed from the 
 midst of a devoted and loving family, as well 
 as from a community which he has honored, 
 
1 1 4 Life and Character of 
 
 and by whom he was greatly beloved ; there- 
 fore, 
 
 " Resolved, That in the death of Comrade 
 James B. Everhart, this Post has lost a valu- 
 able member, one whose presence in our midst 
 was ever hailed with unfeigned pleasure ; one 
 whose words and counsel were ever fraught 
 with instruction and profit to his fellow 
 Comrades. 
 
 '■'■ Resolved, That we keenly appreciate the 
 fact that, while our loss is great and painful, 
 yet our community, our State and Nation, have 
 sustained a loss which is more far-reaching in 
 its effects, in being deprived of the services 
 and influence of a legislator whose natural 
 ability, education, and unimpeachable integrity 
 in public as well as in private life, have won 
 for him a reputation of honor and usefulness 
 unequalled by few and surpassed by none. 
 
 ^'Resolved, That the surviving Comrades, 
 members of General George A. McCall Post No. 
 31, G. A. R., do hereby tender to the bereaved 
 family of our deceased Comrade, our most un- 
 feigned heartfelt sympathy, in this their sad 
 bereavement in the loss of a true, noble. Chris- 
 tian brother." 
 
James Bowen Ever hart, 115 
 
 RESOLUTIONS OF THE WEST CHESTER PIO- 
 NEER CORPS NO. I. 
 
 At a meeting of the West Chester Pioneer 
 Corps No. I, called for the purpose of taking 
 appropriate action regarding the death of Mr. 
 Everhart, who was an honorary member of the 
 organization, a committee, consisting of El- 
 wood H. Sweney, John Carey, Jr., William T. 
 Hunt, Howard Hawley, and H. T. Beaumont, 
 was appointed to prepare and present appro- 
 priate resolutions, to wit : 
 
 " Whereas, This Corps has learned with pro- 
 found sorrow of the death of the Hon. James 
 Bowen Everhart, one of its highly distinguished 
 honorary members ; 
 
 *' Resolved^ That this organization is pro- 
 foundly impressed with the brilliancy of intel- 
 lect, the purity of character, unflinching integ- 
 rity, and the unswerving devotion to duty 
 which characterized the career of our deceased 
 honorary member in all his walks of life. 
 
 " Resolved^ That we are deeply sensible of the 
 great loss sustained by the death of Mr. Ever- 
 hart, not only by this Corps, but also to the 
 field of literature, to society and state, of which 
 he was a contributor and a useful member. 
 
1 1 6 Life and Character of 
 
 *^ Resolved^ That this Corps will manifest our 
 respect for the memory of its deceased honor- 
 ary member and its sympathy with his bereaved 
 family by draping their room in mourning for 
 the space of thirty days." 
 
 These resolutions being adopted, C. Wesley 
 Talbot, Esq., President of the Corps, paid the 
 following tribute to the memory of Mr. Ever- 
 hart : 
 
 " In obedience to a well-established custom, 
 honored by long observance, this organization 
 is again called upon to pause for a moment 
 from its ordinary duties, and pay a tribute of 
 love and respect to the memory of one of its 
 eminent dead. 
 
 " The sharp arrow of death has pierced our 
 ranks, and a shining mark has been its victim. 
 It has opened the urn of grief which is fast 
 filling with the tears and affection of a loving 
 people. It has snapped asunder the silver 
 cord, and the spirit of James Bowen Everhart 
 has taken its everlasting flight. The familiar 
 form, the kindly smile, the gentle voice, the 
 silver tongue, and the ripe intellect, all are 
 silent in death. Scholar, traveller, lawyer, 
 author, statesman, and philanthropist sleeps 
 
jfames Bowen Ever hart, 117 
 
 beneath the freshly made mound amid the 
 shades of Oaklands. 
 
 " * Nor wreck nor change, nor winter's blight, 
 Nor death's remorseless doom. 
 Shall dim one ray of holy light 
 That gilds his glorious tomb.* 
 
 ** We cannot deepen the color of the rose, 
 nor add perfume to its fragrance, — the great 
 handiwork of nature hath made it perfect ; 
 neither can we strengthen nor beautify with 
 feeble words the life and character of our de- 
 parted friend, — he lived and died one of 
 nature's noblemen. 
 
 " His love of truth was so deep, active, and 
 constant that he would not have us at this 
 time heighten one beautiful color of his nature 
 or soften one simplicity of his character. Free 
 from ostentation, show, or vainglory, he won 
 the admiration of all classes of his fellow-men. 
 He was the soul of honor and a living monu- 
 ment of integrity. Incapable of a mean thing, 
 he rose above party strife, and preferred hon- 
 orable defeat to stained victory. Born with 
 all the instincts of a gentleman, polished and 
 adorned by travel and a thorough knowledge 
 
1 1 8 Life and Character of 
 
 of the sciences and classics, he was a credit to 
 his kindred, an honor to this organization, and 
 a blessing to the age in which he lived. 
 
 "As the shadows began to lengthen and the 
 receding world became lost to sight, when the 
 valley grew chill and the splashing waters 
 broke upon his listless ears, methinks no con- 
 sciousness of wrongs inflicted, or of trusts 
 betrayed, or obligations undischarged, or un- 
 kind word to have been recalled, could have 
 clouded his eyes as they closed in death ; but 
 with a full knowledge that he had labored 
 faithfully and well in his Master's vineyard, he 
 passed to his eternal rest, surrounded by those 
 he so much loved — 
 
 * Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch 
 About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.* 
 
 " May we emulate his virtues, profit by his 
 example, and strive to attain his wisdom, so 
 that when the messenger of death comes, 
 whether it be in the morning, at noon-time, or 
 at night, we may greet him at the doorway, 
 bid him welcome at the threshold, and stand 
 ready for the summons that will join us with 
 
yames Bowen Everhart, 1 1 9 
 
 that vast army of noble men, the influence of 
 whose lives, like the far-away planet, will shine 
 on and on for countless ages after they shall 
 have ceased to exist." 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE newspaper press of not only Chester 
 county but of the entire State spoke of 
 Mr. Everhart in the highest terms, both as a 
 statesman and a litterateur. The following are 
 some of the editorial tributes that were paid to 
 his abilities : 
 
 ** The death of ex-Congressman Everhart 
 will be lamented by many more than the peo- 
 ple of the county which has been his home. 
 Mr. Everhart was not a politician, in the every- 
 day sense of the term, but he was better, — a 
 scholar with a sincere and conscientious inter- 
 est in public affairs. He was a Republican 
 always, but a man of independent thought in 
 his attitude toward party management, and 
 his comparatively brief public life was charac- 
 terized in all his acts by manifest purity of 
 purpose. He served both in Congress and in 
 the legislature, but in the latter made the 
 reputation for which he will be best and long- 
 est remembered." — Philadelphia Press, 
 
 1 20 
 
James Bozven Everhart. 1 2 1 
 
 '* The death of Ex-Congressman James B. 
 Everhart will be very vi^idely lamented. In 
 Chester county, where he has enjoyed the 
 highest representative honors, his death will 
 be mourned in all circles, regardless of partisan 
 faith. 
 
 " Mr. Everhart was a type of the best and tru- 
 est representative men of the age. He was not 
 only honest in purpose, but he was honest in 
 action, and however his fellow-citizens differed 
 from him, he always commanded the respect 
 of friend and foe. 
 
 " In the State Senate Mr. Everhart was 
 known as one of the few who were ever faith- 
 ful to conviction, and in Congress he main- 
 tained the same high standard of integrity. 
 Had he been more pliable he would doubtless 
 have died a Congressman, but he preferred 
 fidelity to his faith in the right even when 
 weighed in the balance with success. Such a 
 man will long live in the grateful memories of 
 his people. — Philadelphia Times, 
 
 *' The silent reaper has removed a striking 
 and worthy figure from the political arena of 
 this State. James Bowen Everhart was a man 
 
12 2 Life and Character of 
 
 who did service in his time, in his own peculiar 
 way, to the public, the influence of which 
 ought to extend far beyond the local circle in 
 which he was known. At a time when the 
 seething tide of iniquity was at its flood in this 
 State, one of the most modest and shrinking 
 of men appeared at Harrisburg, and, quite un- 
 noticed, took his place in the Senate. There 
 he remained through five years of public ser- 
 vice, and with a record at its close without 
 spot or blemish. Intelligent and able beyond 
 nearly all his more pretentious and assuming 
 associates, faithful to every trust, industrious 
 and courageous in the performance of every 
 duty, Mr. Everhart did not shine like a meteor 
 in a dark place, but his influence was of the 
 kind so sorely needed at such a time. Often 
 misunderstood and greatly underrated, he 
 calmly pursued his way until called by his 
 people to serve them in a higher post, and 
 thither he turned in the same quiet, unosten- 
 tatious way, and without guile, performed 
 every duty that came to him as only a manly 
 patriot can. Mr. Everhart might have re- 
 mained in Congress twenty years without 
 reaching the heights whereon other bolder 
 
James Bowen Ever hart, 123 
 
 though less worthy men attract the public 
 gaze and admiration, but the tempter never 
 would even have approached him. He was 
 an honest servant of the people during the 
 closing years of a life that throughout was 
 singularly exemplary, and always guided by a 
 spirit of gentleness, kindness, and simplicity. 
 Chester county has lost a most worthy son, 
 and Pennsylvania a citizen who was an honor 
 to the State." — Philadelphia Evening Telegraph, 
 
 " Ex-Congressman Everhart, who died yes- 
 terday, was a fine example of the sincere 
 * scholar in politics.' A true Republican, he 
 strove for the best with an expression of indi- 
 vidual independent opinion, stated in terms of 
 literary tact and taste." — Philadelphia Evening 
 News. 
 
 '* The death of James B. Everhart at his 
 home in Chester county removes from public 
 life an accomplished man and citizen of high 
 respect.' ' — Harrisbiirg Independent, 
 
 " A great deal of sorrow is expressed for 
 Mr. Everhart's death among West Chester 
 
1 24 Life and Character of 
 
 and Chester county people, while throughout 
 the Sixth District are heard regrets of his 
 removal by death. Hon. James B. Everhart 
 was an honest, incorruptible, faithful man, and 
 would not be swerved from what he thought 
 to be right." — Chester (Delaware county) 
 Times. 
 
 " The death of Mr. Everhart removes a 
 central figure from this district, and one that 
 has attracted considerable attention through- 
 out the State. In noting his death we recog- 
 nize the loss of a gentleman and scholar. . . . 
 
 *' Mr. Everhart was a close student to the 
 last. He received a liberal education and 
 capped it with college honors, and he added 
 to it a profession in which he was fully versed, 
 and a scope of literary culture extensive and 
 thorough. To these he added the experience 
 and observation of travel, so that when his 
 manhood was matured he had acquired a fund 
 of practical and theoretical knowledge such as 
 but few possess. 
 
 "All his tastes led that way, and his student 
 life, while it prevented him from mingling with 
 the people, equipped him for almost any posi- 
 
James Boweii Ever hart, 125 
 
 tion in the literary world. His house was his 
 home — his books his companions, — and what 
 they taught, added to what he thought, formed 
 his world. He absorbed knowledge ; at times 
 the public caught glimpses of his poetic, ora- 
 torical, and literary merits ; they were but 
 transient flashes from the rifts of the canopy 
 that concealed the brilliant centre from which 
 they emanated." — Chester (Delaware county) 
 Neivs. 
 
 '* Mr. Everhart was well-known as an orator 
 and poet, and the works which he published 
 for private circulation are gems. With high 
 abilities and sterling generosity and honesty 
 he was yet not so well adapted to the ordinary 
 political contests as others with less marked 
 characteristics, for in many things he lacked 
 that practicability so essential to continued 
 political success. He was a scholar, a gentle- 
 man, and a most worthy citizen — sensitive to 
 a degree, too tender for the rude contests of 
 the day, always in love with what he conceded 
 to be right, but too often impracticable in the 
 approaches to very proper aims. In personal 
 character he stood as high as any public man 
 
126 Life and Character of 
 
 ever known to his district." — Dclaivare County 
 American, Media, Pa. 
 
 *' The death of Hon. James B. Everhart is a 
 pubh'c calamity. In the highest, best, and 
 noblest sense Mr. Everhart was a true man in 
 civic as in private life ; while his public services 
 stamped him as a man of rare ability, high re- 
 solve, and patriotic purpose. But he is gone ; 
 his earthly pilgrimage is over, and the best we 
 can now do is to cherish the memory of his 
 deeds, kindly spirit, noble instincts, and gen- 
 erous benefactions. 
 
 "• His death leaves a void which, without the 
 slightest impulse to be premature or indelicate, 
 demands recognition at the hands of those who 
 cherish as dearest — in their public aspects — 
 Mr. Everhart's past distinguished services both 
 as State Senator and Congressman. In these 
 spheres he demonstrated the instincts of the 
 true patriot — brave, modest, and true — to all 
 that popular sovereignty meant or implied." — 
 Delaware County Record, Media, Pa. 
 
 *' The announcement of the death of the 
 Hon. James B. Everhart fell like a stunning 
 
Jmnes Bozven Ever hart, 127 
 
 blow upon the people of this county and a 
 circle of friends not bounded by county or 
 State lines. His illness had scarcely become 
 known when the intelligence of his death was 
 sent forth. The removal of one so gifted is 
 indeed a calamity to the whole country. Mr. 
 Everhart was a man conspicuous for his good 
 deeds both in public and private life — true, 
 honest, brave, incorruptible ; the public service 
 and home citizenship sustain a great loss in 
 his death." — Press, Oxford, Pa. 
 
 ** The death of Hon. James B. Everhart re- 
 moves from this scene a man who was in every 
 fibre a gentleman. In all his intercourse with 
 his fellow-men, whether in public or private 
 life, his bearing was that of a sensitive, digni- 
 fied, generous man, to whose record there 
 clings no taint of dishonor. He carried his 
 eminent private virtues into his public career, 
 and his record in the Senate of his native 
 State as well as in the halls of Congress is 
 conspicuous for its absolute freedom from any 
 suggestion of selfishness or sordidness. 
 
 " He carried his manhood upon his own 
 sturdy shoulders, and while eminent men all 
 
128 Life and Character of 
 
 around him were being sharply catechised for 
 their peculiar positions and important issues, 
 Mr. Everhart was always certain to be found 
 on the side of justice and right. His fidelity 
 was as great in small things as in larger ones, 
 and no act of his, either at Harrisburgh or 
 Washington, was ever for a moment ques- 
 tioned. This much, it seems to us, needs to 
 be said in this age, when public ofifice seems 
 to be universally regarded as a private trust. 
 
 " Of Mr. Everhart as a private citizen little 
 can be said that will add to his good name. 
 His uncorruptible, unpretentious life is his 
 own best eulogy. Gifted by nature with a 
 poetic temperament and filled with a high 
 sense of humor, he was a delightful companion, 
 a true friend, and a noble citizen. Unostenta- 
 tious in his charity, economical in his criticism, 
 and generous in his good-will, he has left be- 
 hind him a memory which will always be held 
 sacred in the county of his birth." — Advance^ 
 Kennett Square, Pa. 
 
 " Death has stepped forward as the irresisti- 
 ble arbiter, and the black shades of his funeral 
 pall envelop to-day, August 23d, Chester 
 county and distant limits beyond. 
 
yames Bowen Ever hart. 129 
 
 ** James B. Everhart is dead. 
 
 " Three weeks ago to-day he was well ; three 
 weeks ago to-day he was stricken with illness, 
 which, by various changes and modifications, 
 have laid this chieftain among men low in icy 
 stillness. 
 
 " No man in this community of his birth of 
 ninety thousand people did more to honor it 
 in life ; no man in his death will be more gener- 
 ally or more sincerely mourned. Born, reared, 
 and living all his days, except when absent as 
 a student, a traveller, a soldier, or a statesman, 
 in the midst of the sturdy sons and amiable 
 and lovely daughters of Chester, James Bowen 
 Everhart was their typical representative, 
 proud of them and they were equally proud 
 of him. 
 
 " Of an ancestry that shared in the stirring 
 history of every great epoch of this land from 
 the Revolution down, whose fame and whose 
 glory of record are emblazoned on the page that 
 tells of perils on the field, of battle, and of 
 shipwreck ; of the victories that come by care- 
 ful nursing of resources ; of the character that 
 is only possible by the purest methods and in- 
 tercourse of life ; of mind-power that grasped 
 the most occult facts of history, that suggests 
 
1 30 Life and Character of 
 
 poetic measure ; — of all these he of whom we 
 write was a fitting and honored representative. 
 " Knowing him as we have many years, 
 associated with him as we were in all his po- 
 litical contests, as we look back one fact stands 
 out preeminently to the credit of his char- 
 acter, namely, his gentleness and his urbanity 
 even under the most trying circumstances of 
 party conflict, misrepresentation, and calumny. 
 Never, we believe, was he heard to utter a 
 harsh sentiment against or to wish ill of an 
 opponent." — Messenger, Phoenixville, Pa. 
 
 ** In accordance with its usual indiscriminate 
 selection, death has once more removed from 
 Chester county a figure of more than ordinary 
 interest ; he who held relationship with some 
 of the most exalted endowments of life — a 
 statesman, student, author, philosopher, — pecu- 
 liarly gifted in all these traits, and in them all 
 preeminent. Years of training had fitted him 
 to fill any ofifice with which he was entrusted, 
 doing honor to them all. Had he been willing 
 to lower himself to the level of a second-rate 
 politician to satisfy a certain element he would 
 have died a Congressman, but culture forbade 
 
James Bawen Everhart, 131 
 
 this, and being of a modest, retiring nature, he 
 instinctively evaded such associates. Such a 
 man was James B. Everhart, who, one week 
 ago, became acquainted with life's final 
 struggle." — Independent^ West Grove, Pa. 
 
 In the Philadelphia North American the fol- 
 lowing beautiful tribute was paid by Henry C. 
 Townsend, Esq., a member of the Philadelphia 
 bar: 
 
 " As a friend from boyhood of the late Hon. 
 James B. Everhart, who knew him well and 
 esteemed him highly, I would ask the privi- 
 lege of paying a tribute of respect to his mem- 
 ory through your columns. 
 
 " In his youth he exhibited the same traits 
 of honesty of purpose, purity of personal char- 
 acter, moral and physical courage, that so emi- 
 nently distinguished his manhood. He was 
 fortunate in his birth, and the favorable influ- 
 ences which moulded his character in early life. 
 His mother was a woman of singularly lovely 
 nature, gentle, amiable, and affectionate, illus- 
 trating in her daily life all the Christian virtues, 
 while his father was a man of force and execu- 
 tive ability, honorable and upright in all his 
 
1 3 2 Life and Charactei^ of 
 
 dealings, a useful, public-spirited citizen, and a 
 benefactor to the community which he served 
 in a distinguished public capacity with honor 
 and success. In the son were harmoniously 
 blended the traits of character which distin- 
 guished these worthy parents, and so perma- 
 nently were they engrafted into his early 
 nature and so lasting were the influences of his 
 home training that, when he left the parental 
 roof for college, and later in life for an extended 
 tour and residence in foreign lands, the same 
 firmness of moral principle and rectitude of 
 personal conduct controlled his life. His 
 tastes were eminently intellectual. He loved 
 learning for its own sake. A diligent reader 
 and student, gifted with a brilliant imagination 
 and a wonderful use of language in the expres- 
 sion of his thoughts, the little that he has 
 given to the world in the way of literature — 
 both in prose and poety — is only a proof of 
 what he might have accomplished as a culti- 
 vated man of letters had he devoted his time 
 industriously to this sphere of intellectual 
 labor. When he entered Princeton College in 
 1839, ^t *h^ ^S^ o^ eighteen, he began a cor- 
 respondence with the writer of this sketch, 
 
James Bowen Everhart, 133 
 
 continued for many years both at home and 
 abroad, some of which shows as vivid an imagi- 
 nation, copious and varied diction, mature re- 
 flection and sound judgment, as could be found 
 in the published writings of now recognized 
 leaders in the literary world. They refer to 
 and discuss intelligently the characters and 
 public services of such leaders of men as Henry 
 Clay, Daniel Webster, John C. Calhoun, James 
 Buchanan, Rufus Choate, and Thomas H. 
 Benton, with all of whom he had a personal 
 acquaintance, and with some of whom he, at 
 that early period of his life, corresponded. 
 His letters are treasures of bright originality, 
 both in thought and expression. He was in 
 early life ambitious of becoming a statesman 
 in the broader and higher sense of that term. 
 He had many of the remarkable natural gifts, 
 such as originality of thought, innate honesty 
 of purpose, a noble ambition to do good to his 
 fellow-men, rich and varied diction and elo- 
 quent expression in language and manner that 
 distinguished in so marked a degree our own 
 late Henry Armitt Brown. While pure in 
 thought, chaste in expression, gentle in man- 
 ner, kindly tolerant toward others in all honest 
 
1 34 Life and Character of 
 
 differences of opinion, he was full of force and 
 power, possessed in an eminent degree the 
 courage of his convictions, and followed bravely 
 to any point to which those convictions led 
 him in the discharge of duty. His brave and 
 patriotic career as a volunteer soldier of his 
 country in her hour of extremest peril, his 
 faithful public services to the State in the 
 Senate and to the country in Congress are a 
 conspicuous and honorable part of history. 
 He scorned to use the devious and doubtful 
 methods of the mere politician to achieve suc- 
 cess. He preferred rather to lose the prize 
 than win it by improper and irregular means. 
 While a consistent member of another form of 
 religious faith — the Presbyterian, — his life was 
 passed among and his character and principles 
 were perhaps formed and strengthened by the 
 prevailing influence of the religious Society of 
 Friends, so prominent in the community in 
 which he was a recognized leader, whose prin- 
 ciples he respected and whose confidence and 
 support he enjoyed. A dutiful son, an affec- 
 tionate brother, a good citizen, a firm friend, 
 a faithful, upright, and honorable public offi- 
 cial, he has passed away from works to re- 
 
James Bowen Ever hart. 135 
 
 wards, full of honor, respect, and esteem, hav- 
 ing earned the Divine benediction — * Well 
 done, good and faithful servant,' — and leaving 
 a reputation worthy of imitation by the youth 
 of our land." 
 
 " James B. Everhart, a citizen of West 
 Chester, whose death is announced, was one 
 of those men who are an honor to the commu- 
 nity in which they live as to the country at 
 large. Mr. Everhart was in public life and it 
 is greatly to his credit that in all his transac- 
 tions he was honorable and upright. No scan- 
 dal ever attached to his name. He could not 
 be bribed or bought. The interests of the 
 people he faithfully guarded. He prevented 
 the consummation of wrongs in matters of 
 legislation. His duty was ever before him. 
 By all he was respected and honored. His 
 life was an honorable one ; his death is a 
 serious loss to the community and State." — 
 Daily TimeSy Norristown, Pa. 
 
 ** The death of Hon. James Bowen Ever- 
 hart removes from the stage of political life 
 one of the most charming actors whom a laud- 
 
1 36 Life and Character of 
 
 able ambition, affluent circumstances, a liberal 
 education, and an enquiring mind ever con- 
 tributed to it. I do not mean that the late 
 Senator Everhart was a political Booth, or 
 that he held the relations in statesmanship 
 which Henry Irving or Salvini does to the 
 theatrical profession. But I do mean that he 
 was a man of fine mind, thoroughly patriotic, 
 inflexibly honest, and entirely devoted to what- 
 ever public duties the various public offices he 
 filled devolved upon him. Mr. Everhart was 
 not a born politician in the sense in which 
 that term is commonly used. He was more a 
 scholar, and regarded politics philosophically, 
 or rather he treated public questions from the 
 standpoint of philosophy. And yet he was 
 diplomatic, cautious, courteous. 
 
 ** Mr. Everhart served five years in the Sen- 
 ate. He soon became an authority on consti- 
 tutional questions and for that matter the 
 Constitution was his hobby. Any measure 
 that conflicted with the organic law was an- 
 tagonized by him, and many a pet scheme of 
 politicians of his own party was impaled with 
 deadly effect on a point of order raised by 
 Senator Everhart. Another hobby of his was 
 
yames Bmven Everhart, 137 
 
 opposing legislation that provided heavy pen- 
 alties for penal offences. Severe penalties he 
 insisted degraded rather than reformed con- 
 victs. 
 
 * -x- * * * * -5^ 
 
 *' His ruling passion was caution. He never 
 committed himself on any subject outside of 
 such as his official duties required a determina- 
 tion. Then he was prompt and positive. But 
 it was impossible to get an expression from 
 him on any subject in controversy between 
 men. He would not decide between oppos- 
 ing candidates in his own party, and was as 
 skilled in evading answers as Prince Metter- 
 nich was in diplomacy," — Editor Harrisburg 
 (Pa.) Telegraph, 
 
 " The death of Hon. James B. Everhart, a 
 notice of which appeared in last week's In- 
 quirer, is a public calamity. Few public men 
 of our State, of late years, have so endeared 
 themselves to the moral and thoughtful classes 
 of our people. He was a man of ripe culture, 
 fine ability and unquestioned integrity. His 
 public and private life was unspotted, and his 
 patriotism pure and lofty." — Lancaster (Pa.) 
 Inquirer, 
 
J 
 
 8 Life and Character of 
 
 ** Pennsylvania has lost a loyal and worthy 
 representative in the person of James B. Ever- 
 hart, lawyer, soldier, State Senator and Con- 
 gressman, who died after a two-weeks* illness. 
 Mr. Everhart was one of those men, of whom 
 there are happily always a few, who serve as the 
 salt by which politics are kept from corruption. 
 He was a man of great natural ability, a hard 
 and untiring student, an observant traveller 
 and a thorough well-equipped publicist, and 
 his record, from whatever point of view it be 
 regarded, is much more than respectable. But 
 it is by his sterling integrity, his unselfish de- 
 votion to the public interests, his clear-sighted 
 recognition and advocacy of whatever prom- 
 ised to promote the general good, and his en- 
 lightened, unswerving, and effective opposition 
 to whatever was inconsistent to the common 
 weal, that he chiefly established a claim upon 
 the respect and gratitude of his fellow-citizens, 
 and it is by these that he will be best remem- 
 bered. Old Chester county, prolific in good 
 men, has had few better sons than James B. 
 Everhart." — North Americaft, Philadelphia. 
 
 *' James B. Everhart was a public man of a 
 
yames Bowen Ever hart. 139 
 
 kind unfortunately rare in this country. He 
 was public-spirited and conscientious. If his 
 party did a thing which his judgment con- 
 demned, that was no reasan to him why he 
 should join in doing it. Because the majority 
 in favor of an unrighteous act was almost 
 unanimous, was no argument to him that the 
 act was righteous. When in the State Legis- 
 lature, he was conspicuous as the only one who 
 declined to take extra pay when that question 
 came up as a point of dispute. 
 
 " The country needs more statesmen of the 
 Everhart type — intelligent, conscientious, well- 
 informed, superior to partisanship, anxious 
 only to secure the good of all, impervious to 
 the arguments of the lobby, steadily opposed 
 to bad legislation, and withal quiet, retiring, 
 speaking only on occasion and then to the 
 point. Such a man was he, and such a man is 
 hard to find in legislative halls, whether State 
 or national. Mr. Everhart's death is a loss to the 
 nation and the State as well as to the commu- 
 nity in which he lived." — Inquirer^ Philadelphia. 
 
 ** The death of Hon. James B. Everhart is a 
 public loss, not only to West Chester, but to 
 
1 40 Life and Character of 
 
 the State at large. He was an accomplished 
 gentleman, a true friend, and a pure man, and 
 as such his death will lead every heart to feel 
 that a great loss has been sustained in this 
 community. 
 
 '' His life-work was without ostentation, and 
 yet he accomplished much for the public good. 
 He was gentle, genial, and painstaking in all 
 his associations with friends and acquaintances, 
 and whether in the councils of the nation or 
 at his own fireside, his high nature made him 
 a true man in the fullest measure of the term. 
 In speaking of him as one whose work is com- 
 pleted, there will be none to say it was not 
 well done." — Local Nezvs, West Chester, Pa. 
 
 " Mr. Everhart was a polished gentleman, a 
 scholar, and a poet, besides a very charitable 
 citizen, his charities being bestowed in an un- 
 ostentatious manner, as, indeed, were most of 
 his acts performed. A close student, he spent 
 much of the time during the years in which he 
 was not in public life, among his books, having 
 collected one of the finest private libraries in 
 the State. A thoroughly classical student, he 
 was accustomed, as an orator, to draw his exam- 
 
y antes Bowen Everhart. 141 
 
 pies largely from writings of that character. 
 His literary attainments and ability were recog- 
 nized as being of a high order. In early years 
 he contributed considerable poetry to the local 
 press." — Daily Republican^ West Chester, Pa. 
 
 LINES ON THE DEATH OF JAMES B. EVERHART. 
 
 BY LEWIS R. HARLEY. 
 
 The pall of death again is spread, 
 
 About a peaceful home ; 
 A soul is borne on angel wings, 
 
 No more on earth to roam ; 
 A spirit rises from the clay. 
 
 Now clothed in endless life, 
 And free from care and pain and sin, 
 
 And angry battle strife. 
 
 The death-knell sounds its mournful tones. 
 
 And round the silent bier 
 Kind friends in deepest sorrow move. 
 
 And shed a silent tear. 
 The saddened throngs on every side, 
 
 With solemn step and slow. 
 Approach the dark and narrow tomb, 
 
 Where his cold form lies low. 
 
142 Life and Character of 
 
 They did not bury all of earth 
 
 Who kindly laid him there ; 
 His name in ages yet to come 
 
 Will glow with lustre fair. 
 The holy muses fired his soul 
 
 With poetry and song, 
 The rhapsodies of sweetest verse 
 
 Will echo far and long. 
 
 His silver voice with cadence fine, 
 
 On pageant holiday, 
 Was often heard in flowing speech, 
 
 And led the soul away 
 To sunny lands beyond the sea, 
 
 'Midst classic scenes of old. 
 Where ancient gods in triumph reigned 
 
 Through all the age of gold. 
 
 A genial friend, and kind and true. 
 
 We lose in his demise. 
 But now he views the glory land. 
 
 Beyond the vaulted skies. 
 Where stars nor sun shall ever set, 
 
 Or tempests ever roll, 
 But where the ocean of God's love 
 
 Will overwhelm the soul. 
 
James Bozven Ever hart. 143 
 
 Speak tenderly of him for aye, 
 
 And venerate his name, 
 And may the spirit of his life 
 
 Infuse us with its flame. 
 And lead us in the path of truth, 
 
 However rough its way. 
 Till morning lights the eastern hills 
 
 With the eternal day. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 TH E funeral took place on Monday, August 
 27th, which was attended by over two 
 thousand persons who came from all parts of 
 the county and other localities. The funeral 
 services were conducted by Rev. J. C. Caldwell, 
 D.D., pastor of the First Presbyterian Church 
 of West Chester ; assisted by Rev. William 
 L. Bull, a Protestant Episcopal clergyman, 
 who was an esteemed friend of Mr. Ever- 
 hart ; and the Rev. William Newton, D.D., 
 pastor of the Reformed Episcopal Church. 
 
 The services were opened by the Rev. Mr. 
 Bull, who read some portions of the Scriptures 
 suitable to the occasion. He was followed by 
 the Rev. Dr. Newton, who offered the accom- 
 panying beautiful and sympathetic prayer : 
 
 *' * Lord, thou hast been our Dwelling-place 
 in all generations. Before the mountains were 
 brought forth, or even Thou hadst formed the 
 earth and the world, even from everlasting to 
 everlasting, Thou art God. 
 
 144 
 
y antes Bawen Everhart, 145 
 
 " ' Thou turnest man to destruction ; and 
 sayest, Return ye children of men. 
 
 " ' For a thousand years in Thy sight are but 
 as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in 
 the night.' 
 
 " And Thou remainest the same, O Thou 
 Holy One of Israel. Unchanged by all the 
 variations of our lot ; the same yesterday and 
 to-day and forever ; the same in the counsels 
 of Thy Throne ; the same in Thy heart of 
 love ; the same in Thy Almighty arm of 
 power. And so, Thou hast ever been a pres- 
 ent help ; a refuge and a home to all who trust 
 in Thee. And we are witnesses for Thee, this 
 day, that there hath never failed us one of all 
 the good things Thou hast spoken to us of. 
 They have all come to pass according to Thy 
 word ; and Thine has been the loving-kind- 
 ness, and the faithfulness, and the truth. 
 
 " And now, Thou hast come near and laid 
 Thine hand upon this stricken family, by tak- 
 ing their loved one to Thyself. We are not 
 afraid. The darkness of this hour is not in 
 Thee, but in ourselves. In Thy light we can 
 see light, even through our tears. And so we 
 come with childlike confidence, and ask that 
 
1 46 Life and Character of 
 
 Thine own great calm may come into our souls 
 to-day. Teach us to be still, and know that 
 Thou art God — our loving Father, always, 
 even though Thy way is in the sea, and Thy 
 paths in the great waters ; and when Thy foot- 
 steps are not known. And so we come ac- 
 cording to Thine own command, to weep with 
 those who weep, and help these stricken ones 
 to bear the burden of the great sorrow Thou 
 hast laid upon them. We bless Thee for the 
 pure life, the stainless character, and the Chris- 
 tian example of Thy servant whom now Thou 
 hast taken to Thyself. We bless Thee for the 
 Truth Thou hadst given to him, and for its 
 outshining in his daily life. May the voice 
 that has called him hence reach every heart 
 to-day. Teach us what shadows we are, and 
 what shadows we pursue. Teach us that 
 Thou alone art great ; Thou alone art abid- 
 ing. Oh ! teach us that he builds too low 
 who builds not on the rock of Thine own ever- 
 lasting Truth in Jesus Christ our Lord. Com- 
 fort this stricken family. Stay their souls 
 on Thee. Make them strong in Thine own 
 strength. And may the tears which they shed 
 in this hour of their grief be bright with the 
 
y antes Bcwen Ever hart. 147 
 
 radiance of a hope full of immortality ! Bless 
 this dispensation of Thy providence to this 
 bereaved family ; to the Church, bereaved with 
 them ; and to this entire community ! May 
 we all, like obedient children, hear when Thou 
 speakest. And when we are called to depart 
 hence, may it be with a conscience void of of- 
 fence, in the comfort of a reasonable, religious, 
 and holy hope, and in the assurance of a joy- 
 ous resurrection — through Jesus Christ our 
 Lord ! Amen." 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Caldwell, with much feeling, 
 made the following address : 
 
 " It is not difificult to find circumstances in 
 which death is a welcome messenger. When 
 the grasshopper has become a burden, when 
 the daughters of music have ceased to charm 
 with their melody, when the recognition of 
 friends is no longer a possession of our beloved, 
 death is a sweet relief. We then lay the aged 
 one away to rest, sweet rest. 
 
 ** Or when disease has wrought its sad havoc, 
 wasted the body of our dear one to painful 
 emaciation, when delirium has beclouded the 
 soul, we cannot forbid a gladness because 
 
148 Life and Character of 
 
 death has disjoined the spirit from its ruined 
 tabernacle. 
 
 ** To-day we find no relief to our agonized 
 hearts in either of these circumstances, for 
 neither old age nor the delirium of wasting 
 sickness had touched with ruinous touch the 
 body or the mind of him whose mortal part 
 we lay in the tomb in the hope of a blessed 
 resurrection. 
 
 "A mystery surrounds us now, for why 
 should James Everhart have died ? He was 
 in the vigor of manhood. He was ardently 
 loved in this home of brothers and sisters, out 
 of which years ago went father and mother. 
 This community had not done with this man. 
 His fellow-citizens could have still used him in 
 the high places of state. No explanation of 
 what has now taken place can now be given, 
 except the explanation which quiets the heart, 
 humbly believing God does all things well. 
 A servant of God, who has been blind for more 
 than thirty years, who never saw the faces of 
 his two sons, one of whom has just died, said, 
 out of a triumphant trust : * God makes no 
 mistakes.' Ye who have confidence, firm and 
 true, can also say here in the presence of this 
 
yames Bowen Everhart, 149 
 
 inscrutable event : * God makes no mistakes.* 
 He has called home a son of His, because He 
 sees that son's work is done. Though our 
 hearts bleed, we say, with unquestioning re- 
 liance on God's wisdom and goodness: *Thy 
 will be done.' 
 
 " The friend to whom had been assigned the 
 office of making the personal remarks at this 
 time finds himself overwhelmed with a sense 
 of his loss, and cannot trust his power of self- 
 control to speak of his friend whom he knew 
 so well. To me, therefore, falls the duty of 
 saying some things which ought to be said 
 concerning our departed brother. Panegyric 
 would be offensive, even eulogy long dwelt on 
 would not be acceptable to those who knew 
 James Everhart most intimately and so loved 
 best. But the community and the State and 
 the Church have a right to hear some things 
 concerning him who occupied so honorable a 
 place in each, 
 
 '^ I did not have the privilege and pleasure of 
 what is called an intimate acquaintance, but I 
 knew James Everhart well enough to see most 
 clearly that he was far more than ordinary 
 man. We have a right to claim him as one 
 
1 50 Life and Character of 
 
 who among us was decidedly on the side of 
 truth and righteousness, and who sought, as 
 he understood them, the best interests of our 
 beloved country. Certain marked qualities of 
 soul were his, a few of which I am glad to 
 speak of. It would do good to dwell on these 
 at length, but this cannot now be done. 
 
 *' James B. Everhart had delightful simplicity 
 of character. This simplicity was a mark of 
 strength, not of weakness. His personality 
 was not a confused medley of diverse or con- 
 trary elements. He was somewhat of a recluse 
 in his habits ; still, his was not a hidden soul. 
 He did not wear his heart upon his sleeve, yet 
 men easily and quickly understood him. He 
 lived in the light where all could see him who 
 had any honest wish to know what he was. 
 They that came nearest to him testify to his 
 being one of the common folk, having no airs, 
 but standing on the broad platform of a puri- 
 fied humanity. He was a plain man, and 
 grasped the hands of plain men with a warmth 
 which meant that he was their fellow. 
 
 *' James B. Everhart had genuine modesty 
 of character. He disliked show, and tinsel 
 offended him. He did not strongly assert self, 
 
James Bowen Everhart, 1 5 1 
 
 yet he stood like a rock for principle. Some 
 who have no appreciation of modesty, and 
 others who know nothing of it as a beautiful 
 feature of the soul, thought him who possessed 
 it in so remarkable a degree, to be proud and 
 aristocratic, while in fact he was the very 
 opposite. He came forward, not on his own 
 motion, but because friends knew his worth to 
 be just what we need in places of high trust. 
 He was not without his ambitions, yet these 
 ambitions were in perfect accord with his for- 
 getfulness of self, and rendered him all the 
 more fit to take and to do the duties which 
 came f9r his doing. It must be admitted that 
 his modesty of character hindered him from 
 being the dazzling spectacle of the blusterer ; 
 yet who of his friends wished to see him in the 
 dust and filth of a contest, where mean men 
 and corrupt men are able to make the loudest 
 uproar, and are pleasing to those who find 
 their almost brutish delight in noise and swag- 
 ger ? Our brother's disposition made him hate 
 brawls, whether on the rostrum, or in the 
 forum, or in the legislative hall ; but it gave 
 him courage in the right and in the pure and 
 in the good. He did not hesitate to assert 
 
152 Life and Character of 
 
 himself when assertion of self was demanded 
 for a good purpose, yet even then he would be 
 out of sight as quickly as manly honor would 
 permit. 
 
 ** Intermingled with simplicity and modesty, 
 yet having its own place, was the element of 
 sincerity in James B. Everhart's character. 
 While he meant no more than he said, he 
 meant all he said. He was a true man, mis- 
 interpreted at times, but never fairly charged 
 with duplicity or deceit. He was not all smiles, 
 for he could say * No * with mighty strength to 
 that which did not approve itself to his con- 
 science. Sometimes they who liked him not, 
 or were his antagonists in warm contests, 
 imagined his sincerity was open to impeach- 
 ment ; but their suspicion might have found 
 its reason in the reflection of a jealousy or a 
 selfishness which are foreign to him but native 
 to them. He sought his ends not by tortuous 
 courses, but in straight lines that were easy to 
 follow, except by those whose brains being in 
 a whirl make them fancy the crooked the only 
 way to a righteous purpose. 
 
 ** James B. Everhart was a man of the strict- 
 est integrity. His word was truth itself; his 
 
James Bowen Ever hart. 153 
 
 business relations were in the control of a con- 
 science which was scrupulous to the last degree 
 of exactness. This is the testimony of all who, 
 because of their own integrity, are entitled to 
 give their witness here. His own he esteemed 
 at its true value ; what was others, if entrusted 
 to his care, or involved in his business life, he 
 guarded with unceasing vigilance, and rested 
 not till the last farthing had reached its proper 
 place. More, his integrity was not alone in 
 the region of dollars and cents, or in that of 
 acres and bonds, but was as emphatic in all the 
 relations which one man bears to another. 
 He had no counterfeit, but dealt in pure coin 
 in speech and in behavior and in life, whether 
 in private or in public. 
 
 ** James B. Everhart had made great intellec- 
 tual acquirements, and was a man of unusual 
 literary culture. He was no mean poet ; he 
 was widely read in history ; he knew the opin- 
 ions as well as the ascertained facts of the 
 scientist ; he had learned much of the philoso- 
 phers of Greece and Rome, and had refined 
 his tastes in careful study of the great men 
 who used these tongues. He had not passed by 
 the theologies, in which human hearts feel or 
 
154 ^if^ ^^^ Character of 
 
 speculate with the warmest enthusiasm. His 
 books constantly grew in numbers, because 
 his thirst to know the beautiful and the 
 good and the true was the insatiable thirst 
 of a soul which can only be satisfied in 
 God. 
 
 *' That which rounded out the character of 
 James B. Everhart, that which gave beauty to 
 every feature, was his unfaltering faith in the 
 Lord Jesus Christ. He was a Christian man in 
 that he followed, and daily prayed for likeness 
 to, his Divine Master and Redeemer. His re- 
 ligious profession was not a loud profession, 
 but it soared quietly yet certainly into the 
 heights of confession in his every-day life. He 
 never failed to find his place in God's house 
 for worship, unless some unavoidable hindrance 
 stood in his way. Thither he brought a ser- 
 vice warm in the flame of a devotion which 
 never waned. 
 
 ** James B. Everhart was one of God's own 
 noblemen. We bury his body to-day in the 
 hope of a glorious resurrection. Hence we 
 sorrow not as those who have no hope. The 
 streaming tears do not prevent us from saying 
 * Glory to God in the Highest ! ' 
 
yames Bowen Ever hart, 155 
 
 ' Go to the grave, for there thy Saviour lay- 
 In death's embraces, ere He rose on high ; 
 
 And all the ransomed, by that narrow way, 
 Pass to eternal life beyond the sky. 
 
 Go to the grave ? no, take thy seat above : 
 Be thy pure spirit present with the Lord, 
 
 Where thou for faith and hope hast perfect 
 love. 
 And open vision for the written word.' " 
 
 After this beautiful address Dr. Caldwell 
 closed the services with a prayer. In that quiet 
 and picturesque **City of the Dead" — Oak- 
 lands Cemetery — the remains of Mr. Everhart 
 were committed, with a short prayer by Dr. 
 Caldwell and the benediction by Rev. Joseph 
 S. Evans, pastor of the Goshen Baptist Church, 
 to an ivy and evergreen lined tomb. 
 
 James Bowen Everhart was by nature one 
 who was fitted to fill the highest ranks in the 
 councils of state. He was a grand represen- 
 tative of honest manhood, moral manhood, 
 and brave manhood ; so just, so unselfish, and 
 so kind. He never uttered a revengeful word, 
 and his ways were those to win men. Never 
 repelling, except towards that which was 
 
156 y antes Bowen Ever hart, 
 
 wrong. He died as he had lived, a modest 
 Christian man ; and thus no greater tribute 
 could be accorded to his memory than the 
 tears which were silently shed upon his grave 
 by those who admired his brave, affectionate, 
 and gentle spirit. His memory will ever be 
 revered by his friends, and it will stand forth 
 as a beacon in the community to an honorable 
 and peaceful end to those who will follow.