UC-NRLF 
 
 . 
 
 THE 
 
 JFE AND UKARA 
 
 FSB. 29, 1888. 
 
LIBRARY 
 
 OF THK 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
 OI K T OK 
 
 Received 
 
 JU4+4. ^97 
 
 Accession No. (3 & ? Jl" Class No. 
 
MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 
 
 ON THE 
 
 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 OF 
 
 SETH C. MOFFATT 
 
 (A REPRESENTATIVE FROM MICHIGAN), 
 
 DELIVERED IN THE 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND IN THE SENATE, 
 
 FIFTIETH CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF CONGRESS. 
 
 WASHINGTON: 
 
 GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 
 1889. 
 
K 
 
 Joint resolution to print twelve thousand five hundred copies of the eulogies on SETH C. 
 MOFFATT, late a Representative in Congress. 
 
 Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
 States of America in Congress assembled, That there be printed of the 
 eulogies delivered in Congress upon the late SETH C. MOFFATT, a Repre 
 sentative in the Fiftieth Congress from the State of Michigan, twelve thour 
 sand five hundred copies, of which three thousand copies shall be for the use 
 of the Senate and nine thousand five hundred for the use of the House of 
 Representatives; and the Secretary of the Treasury be,, and he is hereby, 
 directed to have printed a portrait of the said SETH C. MOFFATT, to accom 
 pany said eulogies; and for the purpose of engraving and printing said 
 portrait the sum of five hundred dollars, or so much thereof as may be 
 necessary, is hereby appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not 
 otherwise appropriated. 
 
 Approved, May 21, 1888. _ 
 
 2 662-^ 
 
UIIVBKSITY 
 
 PROCEEDIXGS IX THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 
 
 DECEMBER 22, 1887. 
 
 Mr. BURROWS. Mr. Speaker, it becomes my painful duty, 
 on behalf of the Michigan delegation, to announce to this 
 House the death of our esteemed colleague, Hon. SETH C. 
 MOFFATT, who died in this city this morning, at half past 7 
 o clock. 
 
 In his death the delegation feels a personal bereavement. 
 Those who had the pleasure of his acquaintance, I am sure, 
 feel the loss of a genial and true-hearted friend. The State 
 has lost a wise and able counselor. 
 
 This is not the Jtime for eulogy. On some more fitting oc 
 casion we shall ask the House to join us in a further tribute 
 to his memory. For the present I offer the resolutions I 
 send to the desk. 
 
 The Clerk read as follows: 
 
 Resolved, That the House has heard with sincere regret the announce 
 ment of the death of Hon. SETH C. MOFFATT, late a Representative from 
 the State of Michigan. 
 
 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That 
 a select joint committee, consisting of seven members of the House and 
 three members of the Senate, be appointed to take order for superintend 
 ing the funeral and to escort the remains of the deceased to their place 
 of burial; and the necessary expenses attending the execution of this order 
 be paid out of the contingent fund of the House. 
 
 Resolved, That the Serg eant-at-Arnis of the House be authorized and 
 directed to take such steps as may be necessary for properly carrying out 
 the provisions of these resolutions. 
 
 Resolved, That the Clerk communicate the foregoing resolutions to the 
 Senate. 
 
 Resolved. That as a further mark of respect to the nif mory of the de 
 ceased the House do now adjourn. 
 
 3 
 
4 Life and Character of Setli C. Moffatt. 
 
 The SPEAKER. Before submitting the resolutions the 
 Chair desires to state that if the resolutions be adopted the 
 committee, with the consent of the House, will be selected 
 after the adjournment, and the Chair will cause the names 
 to be entered upon the Journal of its proceedings. 
 
 There was no objection, and it was so ordered. 
 
 The following committee was appointed by the Speaker: 
 Mr. Cutcheon, of Michigan; Mr. Brewer, of Michigan; Mr. 
 Wade, of Missouri; Mr. Fisher, of Michigan; Mr. Ford, of 
 Michigan; Mr. Lyman, of Iowa, and Mr. Shively, of Indiana. 
 
 The resolutions of Mr. Burrows were then unanimously 
 agreed to; and accordingly the House adjourned. 
 
 FEBRUARY 29, 1888.. 
 
 The SPEAKER pro iempore. The time has arrived for the 
 special order to be taken up, which the Clerk will report. 
 The Clerk read as follows: 
 
 Ordered, That February 29, 1888, at 3 o clock p. m., be set apart for 
 the consideration of resolutions relating to the death of Hon. SETH C. 
 MOFFATT. 
 
ADDRESS OF MR. BURROWS, OF MICHIGAN. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, this hour, by common consent of the mem 
 bership of the House, has been set apart for the purpose 
 of paying tribute to the memory of our deceased colleague, 
 Hon. SETH C. MOFFATT. This high mark of respect will 
 be appreciated by the people of his district, who, regardless 
 of party affiliations, were personally attached to him, by 
 the State which always delighted to honor him, and by his 
 family, whose loss is irreparable. 
 
 It was not my good fortune to have known Mr. MOFFATT 
 long, having never met him until 1884; but I knew him 
 long enough and well enough to know the manliness of his 
 character and the sincerity of his friendship. I can not,, 
 therefore, forbear this tribute before I offer the resolutions 
 which I send to the desk. 
 
 The Clerk read as follows: 
 
 Resolved, That the business of the House be suspended, that suitable 
 honors may be paid to the memory of Hon. SETH C. MOFFATT, late a 
 Representative from the State of Michigan. 
 
 Resolved, That in the death of Mr. MOFFATT the country has sustained 
 the loss of a safe legislator, a patriotic citizen, and an able and faithful 
 public servant. 
 
 Resolved, That as a further mark of respect to his memory the House, 
 at the conclusion of these ceremonies, shall adjourn. 
 
 Resolved, That the House communicate these resolutions to the Senate. 
 
Life and Character of Seth C. Moffatt. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. ALLEN, OF MICHIGAN. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, it is not, sir, among the least of the glories 
 of this Republic that here men can rise to eminence and 
 power independently of the accident of birth. The only 
 blue blood which is recognized among us is that which 
 throbs from honest hearts to feed healthy brains, and the 
 only success that men achieve in this country is a success 
 founded upon what is within themselves. 
 
 It is the lot of most men who rise to high positions in this 
 Republic to have been born of poor parentage and in early 
 life to have known what it is to be hampered by the hard 
 lines of poverty. These obstacles, which in any other na 
 tion would thwart and prevent the rise of nine out of ten, 
 in a republic are what impel men to do those things that 
 finally make a character that the world recognizes and re 
 spects. 
 
 Mr. MOFFATT was one of these. He had no aids except 
 those which God had given him. He had to hew his way 
 to eminence and power by his innate industry and worth, 
 and he achieved what few men do success while at the 
 same time preserving in every relation of life the most per 
 fect integrity. 
 
 If we look to see upon what foundation his character was 
 built we will find at its base integrity. No man ever lived 
 who was defrauded by SETH C. MOFFATT. No man ever 
 lived who carried away from his presence a feeling that he 
 had been wronged. No man could ever lay at his door cor 
 ruption. He stood pre-eminently upon moral principles in 
 all his dealings with his fellow-men. Combined with this 
 was a gentleness like that of a woman. 
 
 He never, no matter by what excitement he might be sur 
 rounded, gave way to impetuosity or to anger. But with 
 
Address of Mr. Allen, of Michigan. 7 
 
 that gentleness was coupled a firmness that withstood all 
 obstacles. With a frail body he had a spirit of indomitable 
 courage, and that spirit never did and never would yield at 
 any point where his convictions were the other way. Upon 
 this foundation he built that manly character and achieved 
 that reputation which will go along with the history of the 
 great State of which he was such an important and beloved 
 citizen. 
 
 How suddenly the summons came to him ! On that after 
 noon when he left this Hall, whoever else might have walked 
 with him, in the corridor he was joined by the sweet angel 
 of death, who locked arras and walked beside him until his 
 spirit beheld the land that is afar off," and saw the King 
 in his beauty." When those mortal eyes became oblivious 
 to the scenes about him, when those mortal ears were 
 stopped, the spirit still lingered in that frail tenement of 
 clay. Where it was wandering then I know not, but I know 
 that he had a faith that was sufficient for that hour which 
 comes to each. I have no doubt that although the earthly 
 tenement was unable to make any sign, the spirit was active 
 in contemplating those wonderful scenes where it now is, 
 and as it waited it could say: 
 
 And so, beside the silent sea 
 
 I wait the muffled oar; 
 No harm can ever come to me 
 
 On ocean or on shore. 
 I know not where His islands lift 
 
 Their fronded palms in air, 
 I only know I can not drift 
 
 Beyond His love and care. 
 
 And so this spirit with which we were so familiar went 
 out from among us, never to return. How grand is the 
 thought, how consoling is it to men who do think, that a 
 spirit thus coming from God goes back to Him, there to in 
 crease in glory and power as long as the ages of eternity 
 shall roll ! He died young in years: but, sir, while it is true 
 
8 Life and Character of Seth C. Moffatt. 
 
 that "our time is a very shadow that passeth away," it is 
 also true that honorable age is not that which standeth in 
 length of time nor that is measured by numbers of years, 
 but wisdom is the gray hair unto men, and an unspotted 
 life is old age." 
 
 The great work laid upon his two-score years 
 Is done, and well done. If we drop our tears 
 We mourn no blighted hope nor broken plan 
 With him whose life stands rounded and approved 
 In the full growth and stature of a man. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR, WADE, OF MISSOURI. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, my acquaintance with Mr. MOFFATT began 
 at the opening of the first session of the Forty-ninth Con 
 gress. Chance in drawing seats placed me by his side, and 
 during the latter part of that session we jointly occupied a 
 suite of rooms, and for months were as intimately associated 
 as two members of a common family. 
 
 Thus situated I had every opportunity to study his char 
 acter, to know its strength and weakness, and while I do not 
 say he was without faults, I do say that he came as near 
 filling my idea of the true man as any I had ever known. 
 He was ambitious only to serve his constituents faithfully, 
 strong in his affections and convictions, clear in judgment, 
 fertile in expedient, courageous in action, ready in conclu 
 sion, honest and just in dealings, generous to a fault, and 
 unselfish and devoted in his friendship. 
 
 It is no wonder, then, sir, possessing as he did all these 
 ennobling traits of mind and heart, that he drew around 
 him warm and devoted friends, was successful in his. pro 
 fession and honored by his fellow-citizens. 
 
 Commencing life with no aid save that of a clear head 
 and willing hands, he soon occupied a prominent position 
 
Address of Mr. Wade, of Missouri. 9 
 
 in his profession and had laid the foundation for a substan 
 tial fortune. 
 
 It has been said that some men achieve honors, others 
 have them thrust upon them. In his case honors were thrust 
 upon him. He filled many important offices in his State, 
 was speaker of its house of representatives, was twice elected 
 a member of this House, yet never sought an office. But I 
 shall not speak of his history and acts before he came to 
 Congress. 
 
 As a member of this House he was prompt in attendance, 
 at all times thoroughly acquainted with its business, and 
 was perhaps the best informed man in the rules and parlia 
 mentary usages governing it of any of its members whose 
 term of service was no longer than his. His quick discern 
 ment, ready comprehension, and retentive memory, together 
 with the ability to bring the full strength of his mind and 
 all of his information to bear on a given subject, peculiarly 
 fitted him for a parliamentarian. 
 
 The measure of a member s usefulness, and this is es 
 pecially true of a new one, is determined by the bills he 
 succeeds in passing directly benefiting the constituency he 
 represents. Measuring SETH C. MOFFATT by this standard, 
 it would prove him the most useful member Michigan ever 
 sent to this House. Before he came to Congress his district 
 had been represented by men of commanding ability, men 
 who had earned a national reputation, yet when we contrast 
 what they did for the district with what he did we find that 
 he accomplished more in one Congress than they did in many. 
 
 Had the river and harbor bill become a law by the signa 
 ture of the President, the works which would have been 
 constructed under it for the benefit and protection of the 
 shipping interest of our Great Lakes would have been mon 
 uments to his energy, industry, and ^gislative ability, which 
 
10 Life and Character of Setli C. Moffatt. 
 
 would nave stood for all time, and his grateful constituency, 
 looking upon them, would have said, " Well done, good and 
 faithful servant." 
 
 I do not know, Mr. Speaker, that there is a supernatural 
 or other influence which comes to us and gives notice that 
 the time has almost come when we will lay down life bur 
 dens, and all the ties binding us to earth will be severed. 
 But I have heard it said that when those who, possessing a 
 bright hope of a glorious immortality, were just passing 
 under the shadows of the clouds of the valley of death, their 
 feet just touching the waters of the dark river, they would 
 appear to be under an influence not earthly, would speak of 
 scenes most wonderful in beautiful language, and while they 
 thus talked the air would seem filled with the grand har 
 mony of that song sung by the angels and spirits of the 
 just when a redeemed soul enters the gates of the crystal 
 city. 
 
 But I do know, Mr. Speaker, that on the last night which 
 our dead colleague spent on earth when conscious, when 
 there was no sound in the room in which we were audible 
 to me, but perhaps to him the fluttering of the wings of 
 the Angel of Death, he talked to me as he had never done 
 before. I wish now, because of his death, which came so 
 suddenly that his wife and children were not present, that 
 the power might be given me to turn back the wheels of 
 time to that evening, or that I might have the power to re 
 produce the ocene and enable his wife to hear what he said 
 of her. If she could hear that conversation, she would learn 
 that of all things earthly she was the dearest to him. Could 
 she have heard him say as he did to me, " Oh, how I wish 
 my wife were here, that she might take my hand in hers, 
 that I might feel the influence of her presence, for I know I 
 could then sleep," she would have known that he wished for 
 
Address of Mr. Cutcheon, of Michigan. \ \ 
 
 her more than all others. And I would have her listen to 
 other words expressive of tender love and holy affection that 
 I might here repeat did I not believe them too holy for even 
 this occasion. Could I do this, Mr. Speaker, I am sure Mrs. 
 Moffatt would go away thanking God for the love of her 
 husband, and that the words she had heard spoken would 
 be a well-spring of joy each day of the journey of life which 
 she now treads alone. 
 
 I would bring the children to this scene and have them 
 hear him speak of his affection for and trust in them, and I 
 am sure they would go away inspired by a determination 
 never to do anything to bring discredit upon their father s 
 honored name. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, I believe that sorrow is the deepest, most 
 felt, which is not spoken; and were it not the custom to 
 speak on such occasions as this, I should have remained 
 silent. The sentence which I have spoken, the words I have 
 used, neither convey my idea of the worth nor express my 
 sorrow for the loss which I in common with others have 
 sustained in the death of SETH MOFFATT. To his family I 
 extend my warmest sympathy, to his State my regrets, to 
 the members of the House rny sorrow, and for myself I 
 would say that a bright friendship has gone out of my life 
 forever and its place I do not hope to see filled. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. CUTCHEON, OF MICHIGAN. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, once more we have halted for a little hour 
 in the great march of events to decorate a new-made grave. 
 Once more the shadow of a dark wing falls across our path 
 way, and a sudden chill admonishes us of the nearness of an 
 unseen presence. 
 
12 Life and Character of Seth C. Moffatt. 
 
 Death is as universal as life itself. It is the one fact that 
 must come to all mortality. Soon or late, to every one of 
 us will come the relentless messenger with the stern com 
 mand, " Come ! " and we shall all " leave our mirth and our 
 employments and shall come." No pleadings of engage 
 ments here, no excuse of unpreparedness, no influence of 
 the powerful or prayers of the loving can stay the stern de 
 cree or buy off the grim executioner. 
 
 We go out into the busy, thronging street, into the swarm 
 ing haunts of men, into the crowded gatherings of youth 
 and beauty or of the strength and splendor of manhood and 
 womanhood, and life seems to press in full and swelling 
 tides everywhere. The flashing eye, the mantling cheek, 
 the eloquent lip, the rounded and exuberant form, all tell 
 of an overflowing vitality, an all-pervading life. And yet 
 by the side of each one lurks even now the unperceived 
 shadow, too impalpable as yet to be discerned, but just as 
 real and as certain as the presence of life. Yet when the 
 shadow reveals itself, when the clearly foreseen and inevita 
 ble hour comes, it comes with the surprise and shock of a 
 mystery and a calamity. 
 
 This was the shock that came to me when on the morning 
 of the 22d of December last, as I walked up the avenue 
 to this Capitol, I saw the flag over the House ascend until it 
 stopped at half-mast, and then, seemingly refusing to go to 
 the peak, hung drooping and sorrow-laden midway on the 
 staff ; and as I looked it came to me, with an apprehension 
 as if a voice had spoken it, that SETH C. MOFFATT was dead. 
 
 And such proved to be the fact. 
 
 Already the intelligence had sped on lightning wings to 
 his distant home, and to meet his broken-hearted wife, as 
 she was hastening to his side, and out into the wide country 
 from ocean to ocean. 
 
Address of Mr. Cutcheon, of Michigan. 13 
 
 How various was the meaning of thai message to those to 
 whom it caine ! 
 
 To the stranger to whom it was only the mention of a 
 name; to the people of his State, which he had served in 
 many public capacities; to his constituents, who had learned 
 to look to him as a trusted leader and representative; to his 
 neighbors, who had witnessed his growth and success with 
 pride, and to the family whose life was bound in closest ties 
 with his own. 
 
 The spotless snows of northern Michigan lie thick and 
 silent now above the snowy forehead and the folded hands. 
 
 The frost-laden winds of Grand Traverse Bay, on whose 
 picturesque shores he spent all his manhood years, now 
 sweep through the branches of the sighing pines that stand 
 as stately sentinels above his grave, while we, his colleagues, 
 gather here about the seat he lately occupied, to pay our 
 tribute of respect to his life and memory. 
 
 SETH C. MOFFATT was born at Battle Creek, in the State 
 of Michigan, August 10, 1841. He died in the city of Wash 
 ington, December 22, 1887, and was buried at Traverse City, 
 Mich., December 26, 1887. 
 
 Embraced within the parentheses of these dates was a life 
 of earnest endeavor, of unsullied honor, of usefulness to 
 his community, State, and nation, and crowned with a large 
 measure of the Appreciation of his fellow-citizens. 
 
 Born to that best estate of our American society, the intel 
 ligent middle class, he was neither fettered by the unhappy 
 limitations of actual poverty nor enervated by the seduc 
 tions of wealth, which might relieve him of the beneficent 
 necessity for effort and honorable work. 
 
 His boyhood was that of the average Michigan boy of 
 forty years ago, when none were rich, when work was hon 
 orable to all, and indolence was discreditable to any. His 
 
14 Life and Character of Seth C, Moffatt. 
 
 early tuition was that of the public common school, that 
 great equalizer of American citizenship, in which he made 
 such good progress that in the fall of 1858 he removed with 
 his parents to Colon, in St. Joseph County, where for two 
 years he engaged in teaching, at the same time preparing 
 himself for college. In I860 he entered the literary depart 
 ment of the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor. I was 
 then in my last undergraduate year in that institution, 
 and I still remember well the slight, smooth-faced boy who 
 then came, to us. 
 
 One peculiar physical characteristic, which must have 
 struck all who ever became acquainted with him, impressed 
 me the first time I ever met him; it was the extreme small- 
 ness of his hand. It was as slender and flexible as a girl s. 
 
 The acquaintance then begun was never long interrupted 
 until his death, and by the appointment of this House it was 
 my melaiichqly duty to stand by his open grave when under 
 the wintry skies of his northern home he was laid in his last 
 resting place. 
 
 I know not what changed his original purpose, whether 
 it was pecuniary considerations or an impatience to engage 
 in the actual work of life, but, for whatever cause, at the 
 end of one year he abandoned the literary course and entered 
 the law school of the University of Michigan, from which 
 he graduated in 1863. During his last year in the law school 
 he was a part of the time employed in the office of Hon. 
 Thomas M. Cooley, then dean of the faculty and justice of 
 the supreme court of Michigan, and now the distinguished 
 jurist and chairman of the Interstate Commerce Commis 
 sion. 
 
 After his graduation and admission to the bar he entered 
 the law office of Hon. Byron D. Ball, of Grand Rapids, 
 Mich, (afterward attorney-general of the State), where he 
 
Address of Mr. Cutcheon, of Michigan. 15- 
 
 remained until the spring of 1804, when lie removed to 
 Lyons, in Ionia County, where he began the practice of the 
 law. As fate would have it, to this same county of Ionia I 
 came also, in the summer of I860, to engage in the practice 
 of the law, having in the mean time served three years in 
 the Army and graduated from the same Michigan law 
 school, and so once more our paths ran together. 
 
 In the fall of 1800 Mr. MOFFATT was a candidate before 
 the Republican county convention for the nomination of 
 circuit court commissioner, but was beaten by a young one- 
 armed soldier lately home from the war and also commenc 
 ing the practice of the law, and now a justice of the su 
 preme court of Michigan, Hon. A. Benton Morse. Shortly 
 before this time the county of Leelanaw had been organ 
 ized. The county was new and they were short of mate 
 rial for prosecuting attorney. Mr. MOFFATT was urged to 
 come to Leelauaw County. He did so ; and while yet only 
 constructively a resident of that county he was nominated 
 for the office of prosecuting attorney and duly elected, an 
 office he continued to hold for four years. At the same time 
 he was appointed deputy collector of customs at Northport. 
 
 Again, in 18G7, it happened that I followed Mr. MOF- 
 FATT S movement northward and put out my sign in the 
 infant city of Manistee, so that once more Mr. MOFFATT and 
 myself were brought into the same legislative, senatorial, 
 and Congressional districts. 
 
 In the autumn of 1870, at a senatorial convention held in 
 my own town, and over which I had the honor to preside, 
 Mr. MOFFATT was nominated for State senator. He was 
 elected and served for two years with marked ability, and 
 at the end of that time was appointed by the governor, Hon. 
 John J. Bagley, a member of the constitutional commission 
 to revise the constitution of the State. He acquitted him 
 self as an efficient member of that body. 
 
16 Life and Character of Seth C. Moffatt. 
 
 Meanwhile the legislature, of which he was a member, 
 had made a new Congressional apportionment of the State, 
 creating the new Ninth district, embracing all the district 
 recently represented by Mr. MOFFATT (the Eleventh), and 
 also all the counties embraced in the present Ninth district 
 excepting Muskegon. In August, 1872, the first Republican 
 convention met in the new district to nominate a candidate 
 for Congress. The district was strongly Republican, and 
 a nomination was considered equivalent to an election. 
 . There were four candidates before the convention, among 
 whom Mr. MOFFATT stood second in point of strength. 
 The leading candidate was Hon. Hiram A. Burt, of Mar- 
 quette, and after Mr. MOFFATT came Hon. Jay A. Hubbell, 
 of Houghton, while Hon. D. L. Filer had the two votes of 
 Mason County. After balloting all the afternoon a combi 
 nation was formed among the minor candidates. An ar 
 rangement was made that all the anti-Burt votes should be 
 thrown to Mr. MOFFATT three times, unless a nomination was 
 sooner reached; then all should be thrown to Mr. Hubbell in 
 like manner for three times, unless a nomination was made 
 before that number of ballots. Each delegate had half a 
 vote, and on the third ballot Mr. MOFFATT lacked only one- 
 half a vote of sufficient to nominate him. Then the combi 
 nation cast their votes for Mr. Hubbell, and on the second 
 ballot he was nominated, having secured the vote of the 
 one delegate necessary. Mr. Hubbell was elected, and con 
 tinued the Representative of that district for ten years and 
 until the present apportionment was made. Thus for the 
 want of a single vote Mr. MOFFATT was delayed twelve years 
 in his entry upon Congressional life. 
 
 In 1874 Mr. MOFFATT was appointed register of the 
 United States land office at Traverse City, Mich., and in 
 consequence of this appointment he removed to that place, 
 where he continued to reside until his death. 
 
Address of Mr. CntcJteon, of Michigan. 17 
 
 He continued to hold the office of register until the land 
 office was removed to Reed City, in 1878. In the latter 
 year he was elected prosecuting attorney for Grand Trav 
 erse County, and in 1880 he was elected a representative 
 in the legislature, and on the convening of that body he 
 was selected as speaker of the house. The session had 
 hardly more than fairly commenced when he was stricken 
 down with typhoid fever, which kept him from the duties 
 of his office during most of the session and at one time 
 threatened a fatal termination. 
 
 During his incumbency of the speakership a new Con 
 gressional apportionment was made, and Mr. MOFFATT S 
 county, with three other small counties, was detached from 
 the Lower Peninsula, * and with the " Upper Peninsula" 
 constituted the new Eleventh district. 
 
 In ISS-^ Mr. MOFFATT S friends, after a lapse of ten years, 
 again pressed him for the Congressional nomination, but 
 the Hon. Edward Breitung, of Marquette County, was the 
 successful candidate. Mr. Breitung s failing health con 
 strained him to decline a renomination, and Mr. MOFFATT, 
 in 1884, succeeded in securing the nomination which hud 
 eluded him by so narrow a margin in 1872. He was elected 
 by a majority of more than 7,000, and in 1880 he was renom- 
 inated without opposition and re-elected to the Fiftieth 
 Congress. 
 
 Of his career in this House it is unnecessary for me to 
 speak. He was a quiet and unostentatious member, never 
 conspicuous, and yet he brought about results without ap 
 pearing to exert himself. He took a profound interest in 
 the commercial development of his district and was ever on 
 the alert for any measure that promised well for the up 
 building of the great interests intrusted to his care. At the 
 time of his unexpected and lamented death he was planning 
 H. Mis. 577 t 
 
18 Life and Character of Seth C. Moffatt. 
 
 large things for the improvement of the great northern 
 waterway from the new Northwest to the sea. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, I shall not prolong this brief sketch of his 
 life by any attempt to analyze his character. I shall leave 
 that for others, with only a few words. One of the great 
 secrets of his success, perhaps the chief one, was that he was 
 a friendly man. He was essentially of the people. He never 
 put any distance between him and the humblest or least 
 cultured man. He met and greeted all in a friendly way. 
 The same traits served him as a lawyer. He made friends 
 with juries and gained their confidence, and he impressed a 
 conviction of his sincerity upon the court. In the political 
 campaign he made votes not so much by speeches or by pub 
 lic meetings as by mingling freely among the people, not 
 with an assumed cordiality, but with a genuine and natu 
 ral sincerity and real friendliness. He managed campaigns 
 in such a quiet way that he did not appear to manage at all. 
 He was an excellent judge of human nature. He knew upon 
 whom to depend and where not to put his trust, and he was 
 rarely mistaken in his judgments. He had a genuine love 
 for politics and public life. Few were the State conventions 
 of his party after he came to manhood at which the familiar 
 face and form of SETH MOFFATT was not seen. He had that 
 most desirable faculty for a man in public life, an almost 
 intuitive memory of men and names. There was no man of 
 any prominence in either party in his State that he did not 
 know and meet upon friendly terms. No man in the State 
 was more familiar with its political history than Mr. MOF 
 FATT. He knew all about the men who had been the lead 
 ers in the State from the beginning. He was in no sense an 
 idealist nor an extremist, but he was a man of strong con 
 victions, and his political allegiance was held with a firm 
 and unfaltering devotion. 
 
Address of Mr. Cutcheon, of Michigan. 19 
 
 Such were some of his more noticeable characteristics. 
 
 He was of a genuine American type, developed by our sys 
 tem of social equality and our political systemof equal rights 
 in government. He came fr< m the people; he was emphat 
 ically of the people; and he was most highly esteemed by 
 t In-ill. No one who witnessed the universal mourning of the 
 community when he was borne to his rest could doubt for a 
 moment that he held a place very near to the hearts of the 
 people among whom he dwelt. 
 
 It was Christmas morning and all the earth was covered 
 with a deep mantle of beautiful fresh-fallen snow which was 
 still falling in large feathery flakes when the funeral train 
 swept out from the somber pine and hemlock woods of north 
 ern Michigan, on to the very shore of Grand Traverse Bay, 
 and the long journey of more than a thousand miles from 
 this capital to his lakeside home was completed. 
 
 It seemed almost as though the whole community had come 
 out on that still Sabbath morning to show their respect for 
 their neighbor and friend. Hundreds of hardy workingmen, 
 with the business men and professional men, stood with un 
 covered heads in the fast-falling gnow as the casket was borne 
 from the station to the unpretentious home from which, just 
 one month before, he had gone out full of high purpose and 
 strong IK )])(-. 
 
 On the following morning, accompanied by a great con 
 course of his fellow-citizens of all classes and conditions, we 
 bore him to his final rest in.^ place. As we stood by the open 
 grave, the clouds, which had hung heavy and snow-laden 
 through the morning, parted, and a burst of brilliant sun 
 shine out of a blue sky flooded the scene and gilded the white 
 earth with a beauty and splendor indescribable. 
 
 There we left him. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, the task which was assigned to us is done. 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
20 Life and Character of Seth C. Moffatt. 
 
 "We have borne all that was mortal of our late colleague and 
 friend from this capital, away beyond the mountains, across 
 "the beautiful river," through great commonwealths, to the 
 State that gave him birth, and to which he devoted his life; 
 past the spot where he was born, 011 the banks of the Kala- 
 mazoo; past that modern Athens where he was educated; 
 past the beautiful "valley city" where he commenced his 
 professional life; past the capital where he presided as speaker 
 and discharged the duties of a senator; past all that stands 
 for the work and worry, for the stress and struggle of life, 
 to that blessed spot, so redolent of all that is sweetest and 
 most sacred, of all that is serenest and most restful his 
 home. In the midst of the great State where he was .born 
 and to which he was ever so loyal, among the constituents 
 he represented so ably and faithfully, surrounded by the 
 neighbors and friends who loved him and mourn him, and 
 the dear ones who cherish his memory as their most sacred 
 treasure, we have left him to his quiet sleep. 
 May he rest in peace. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. FORD, OF MICHIGAN. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, it is with deep sorrow that I arise to pay 
 tribute to the memory of my friend and colleague, SETH C. 
 MOFFATT. I had known him a long time, and while we 
 differed upon political questions, our relations were of the 
 most friendly and cordial nature. And I am thankful that 
 in all our intercourse no word or action ever occurred to 
 interrupt the kindly feeling that existed between us. 
 
 Mr. MOFFATT was a native of the State whose district he 
 represented, being born in Battle Creek, Mich., in 1841. He 
 received a common-school education, and graduated at the 
 
Address of Mr. Ford, of JficJiiyan. 21 
 
 law school of the Michigan University. Many times hud 
 the people reposed confidence in him. He was a member of 
 the State senate in 1871- 72, a member of the constitutional 
 commission of 1873, and was speaker of the Michigan house 
 of representatives in 1881- 82. He was elected to the Forty- 
 ninth and Fiftieth Congresses. He was a thorough and con 
 sistent Republican. At the time of his death he was the 
 leading apostle of that political faith in the district which he 
 represented. But while he was a devotee of the principles, 
 of the Republican party, some of his most intimate asso 
 ciates were Democrats. He was a man who made friends 
 wherever he went, and who had the respect of all who knew 
 him, regardless of party. 
 
 It is customary to speak well of those who have passed 
 away. The old Latin maxim, "De mortuis nil nisi bonum,"" 
 is an excellent one. But in respect to my dead colleague it, 
 is not necessary to invoke the application of this maxim,, 
 because if we speak truthfully we can say of him nothing 
 but good. He was a sterling man, true to the core, liberal 
 and magnanimous, with a pure and stainless character. He 
 posse-sed the qualities of activity and perseverance in a. 
 remarkable degree. He was an indefatigable worker in any 
 matter on which he was bent, and no member of this House 
 was more industrious in behalf of the interests of his con 
 stituents than he. He was of a kind disposition, open-hearted 
 and generous, modest and gentle as a woman. 
 
 One would make a mistake to think that under his quiet 
 and unostentatious manner there did not lie any resolution 
 and firmness. He was peculiarly possessed of those quali 
 ties. I remember an instance which well illustrates this. 
 When he was a member of the legislature, in 1 881 - 82, he 
 was elected speaker of the house. Some time after serving 1 
 at the regular session he was taken ill. His indisposition 
 
22 Life and Character of Setli C. Moffatt, 
 
 was protracted so long that it was feared he would not re 
 cover. Right at this time, while he lay upon a sick bed, an 
 extra. session of the legislature was called by the governor. 
 Thinking that he could not live to assume the duties of 
 speaker, many members of the legislature commenced to 
 discuss the question as to who should be his successor. Just 
 prior to the opening of the session this subject was consid 
 erably agitated. But Mr. MOFFATT, with indomitable en 
 ergy, arose from his sick bed, and when the hour for the 
 convening of the legislature arrived, to the surprise of a 
 great many, he appeared in the speaker s chair, weak and 
 pale, but very determined, and took the gavel and called the 
 house to order. 
 
 When the committee of this House which accompanied 
 his remains to their last resting place arrived at his home 
 the scenes were touching indeed, and I can fully indorse all 
 that has been said in that respect by the gentleman [Mr. 
 Cutcheon] who preceded me. I never saw more genuine 
 sorrow manifested than at Traverse City when we laid him 
 away. The town was draped in mourning, business was 
 wholly suspended, and a sadness pervaded the entire com 
 munity. Few men in northern Michigan will be missed 
 more than he who so lately was with us full of life, hope, 
 and ambition. As I stand here it seems but yesterday that 
 I sat in this very Hall in friendly converse with him, and to 
 day he is clasped in the bosom of the earth and the winter 
 snow of the north rests upon his grave. 
 
 As a lawyer he was industrious and successful, as a citizen 
 he was high minded and exemplary, and as a friend he was 
 staunch and true. By his death this House has been deprived 
 of one of its most worthy and able members, his district of 
 a faithful and conscientious representative; and his family 
 have suffered the irreparable loss of a kind and indulgent 
 father, a tender and loving husband. 
 
Address of Mr. Ford, of Michigan. 23 
 
 He was but forty-six years of age ; an age at which most 
 men are considered to be in the prime of life. It is inexpress 
 ibly sad that one so beloved, at such an age, right in the 
 zenith of his career, when such a fate was least expected, 
 when his dear wife and children were a thousand miles away, 
 should be so ruthlessly taken by the Angel of Death. But 
 Fooiier or later it comes to us all. 
 
 The glories of our mortal state 
 
 Are shadows, not substantial things; 
 There is uo armor against fate; 
 Death lays his toy hand on kings. 
 Scepter and crown 
 Must tumble down. 
 And in the dust l>e equal made 
 With the ixx>r sickle, scythe, and spade. 
 
 His hopes and aspirations are crushed, his family are heart 
 broken; but he has gone where no pain, no sorrow, no an 
 guish exists. He has been taken to that unknown hereafter 
 from whence no traveler returns. 
 
 That there is a hereafter every man, it seems to me, must 
 believe. I can not conceive how any one with human in 
 stincts can think otherwise. If there exists a person who 
 honestly believes that when his eyes are closed in death 
 nothing remains, then I say such a person is to be pitied. 
 Can it l)e that at the conclusion of man s existence on this 
 planet for a comparatively infinitesimal period of time 
 can it be, I say, that then, when dust is rendered into dust, 
 all is ended ? No. 
 
 When matter and mind are perished and lost, 
 And all that we see into chaos is tossed. 
 From nothing to nothing we jw-ss out alone, 
 Like a flash or an echo, unknown, unknown. 
 
 No word comes back; we know not what awaits us. Still, 
 I have something here in my innermost soul which tells me 
 that this life is not the end; that beyond all this we have 
 a wider, a higher, a nobler destiny. There lies in the hu 
 man breast a something which says, This is not all. " What 
 
24 Life and Character "of Setli C. Moffatt. 
 
 an encouraging hope, what a divine thing it is for this world, 
 this belief in a future existence! How could the widow and 
 the fatherless children of our dead colleague bear up under 
 their unutterable grief if the hope of a future reunion be 
 yond the dark valley were taken away ? To teach any 
 other belief is unnatural yes, it is monstrous. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, from all earthly scenes my associate is gone 
 forever. But he will not be forgotten. His friends will 
 ever keep his memory fresh in their hearts. And when the 
 glorious summer comes, and the grass grows green, and the 
 beautiful Michigan roses blossom on his grave, although 
 hushed will be his lips in death, yet the tender blades and 
 the perfume of the flowers will speak of him, and to those 
 who knew him best will seem to say, "Beneath here sleeps 
 one who was kind and noble and true." 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR, GATES, OF ALABAMA. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, I can not permit this melancholy occasion to 
 pass without uttering a brief tribute to the memory of my 
 departed friend. I met Mr. MOFFATT for the first time in 
 the Forty-ninth Congress. I had barely a passing acquaint 
 ance with him until we were associated as members of the 
 special telephone investigating committee. 
 
 Charges had been made assailing the honor of a member 
 of the Cabinet and a number of other high officials, and pub 
 lished to the world in many of the leading newspapers. In 
 the opinion of the House of Representatives these charges 
 required an investigation, which was ordered, and a com 
 mittee consisting of four Republican and five Democratic 
 members was appointed for the performance of that duty. 
 They were confronted by many difficulties, and sat for nearly 
 
Address of Mr. Oafes, of Alabama. 25 
 
 four months, the greater part of the time during the sessions 
 of the House. A large volume of thirteen hundred pages of 
 close print attests the work done by the committee. And 
 although the report died upon the calendar with the expira 
 tion of that Congress, the evidence taken silenced the press 
 and satisfied the country. 
 
 Nearly every day of the sessions of the committee contro 
 versies arose upon questions involved or incidental to the 
 investigation we were instructed to make, which, owing to 
 their supposed political significance, provoked unfriendly 
 comment and sharp retort, not always unmixed with some 
 warmth of feeling, in which nearly all at times participated; 
 but Mr. MOFFATT, in strong contrast, was ever calm, amia 
 ble, and genial on these occasions. True to his convictions, 
 his party, and associates, he was never harsh, extreme, nor 
 unfair, but always respectful, considerate, and tolerant of 
 the opinions of those with whom he differed. He was never 
 radical, but truly conservative in his methods. He acted 
 upon the wisdom of the proverb, "A soft answer turneth 
 away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger." In debate 
 he was earnest, perspicuous, and sensible, rather than elo 
 quent. By his urbane, pacific, and respectful demeanor he 
 won the esteem and confidence of all of his associates. To 
 estimate him at his true merit required an intimate per 
 sonal acquaintance, and with those who enjoyed that he 
 .steadily grew in all the virtues which adorn true manhood. 
 
 Of the nine members of the committee of which I have 
 spoken, he and myself were the only ones elected to the pres 
 ent Congress. When it assembled last December I met him 
 apparently in good health. He greeted me with that hearty 
 cordiality which was a part of his nature and which made 
 him so estimable and popular. His prospects for a long and 
 useful life were then apparently much greater than those of 
 
26 Life and Character of Setli C\ Moffatt. 
 
 most of us who have survived him. But, alas ! he has met 
 that fate which is our common heritage, and passed over the 
 river to repose peacefully in the shade of the trees upon the 
 other side. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. O DONNELL, OF MICHIGAN. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, upon the assembling of the Forty-ninth 
 Congress for the first time two members to whom I shall 
 allude took their places in this Chamber. The elder came 
 from the State of Louisiana, the younger from Michigan. 
 They were much alike; in features there was some resem 
 blance; both had held important trusts from their fellow- 
 citizens. By nature they were reticent and retiring, but men 
 of firm convictions. They were strangers when they came; 
 in the drawing of seats they chose places in close proximity. 
 The peculiar qualities and" endowments of each attracted 
 one to the other, and in a short time a warm friendship grew 
 up. In a few months one was seized with an illness which 
 in a brief time proved fatal. In his apartments, alone, while 
 battling with death, the life blood welled up and he was 
 found lying dead, his face to the morning stars, 110 longer 
 ignorant of their solemn mysteries in his silent sleep. The 
 survivor of the dual friendship grieved for his own and the 
 country s loss. He served his term and so well did he de 
 mean himself that he was again commissioned to represent 
 his people. At the convening of this Congress, he chose his 
 accustomed place and entered upon his duties. In a few 
 days a slight indisposition, assailed him, and the feeble frame 
 yielded to the malady which poisoned the vital current, and, 
 like his friend of two years agone, he suddenly crossed the 
 line that divides time from eternity was taken from earth 
 
Address of J/r. O Donnell, of Michigan. 27 
 
 to the land where the soul wears its mantle of glory. They 
 are released from earthly labor, and, like the soldiers of Ma 
 homet, were speech a gift of the dead, would say, "In Para 
 dise we shall rest." 
 
 Mr. Speaker, when the first of these was called away his 
 colleagues invited me to pay a tribute to his memory. To 
 this I acceded, and to-day, at these memorial services, in 
 obedience to the wishes of his associates and to keep a prom 
 ise to the dead a pledge lightly exacted and more lightly 
 given, but here solemnly redeemed I attempt to weave a 
 chaplet to the worth of my friend and late co-worker. 
 
 SETH C. MOFFATT, whose loss we deplore to-day, was born 
 in the year 1841, at Battle Creek, Mich., a pleasant city in 
 the district which I have the honor to represent. In that 
 place his youth was spent. Among its generous people he 
 tarried a few years, where he laid the foundation of an ed 
 ucation afterward finished at Michigan s institute of learn 
 ing a university which is the pride of the inhabitants of 
 the Peninsular State and is honored in every civilized land. 
 Possessed of this capital, he removed to the then sparsely- 
 settled portion of northern Michigan, which was his abid 
 ing place until he came to the national capital in December. 
 
 It is not easy to comprehend why this quiet man, in the 
 midst of his preparations to join his loved ones in the far 
 away but dear home, where he would observe with them 
 the festival which commemorates the coming of One who 
 brought "peace on earth and good will to men," should, in 
 the presence of the very well and spring of life, be gathered 
 to the cold company of death. His friends had thought his 
 illness would be brief, and that he would soon resume his 
 place. I remember, oh! so vividly, visiting him while he 
 lay ill. Although he had endured but a few hours of suf 
 fering, it had left its imprint of agony. Even then he was 
 
28 Life and Character of Seth C. Moffatt. 
 
 upon the threshold of eternity, but we who stood about him 
 did not realize it. He struggled for the breath which is life. 
 He was released from the anguish of the disease that was 
 sapping life, for kind nature had administered the anaes 
 thetic of physical insensibility. As we two friends stood 
 there the lips murmured " broken words through the closing 
 door which opened to one world and shut out another." The 
 sister of suffering humanity who was the gentle minister of 
 relief, who watched without weariness, told us that he would 
 be better on the morrow. 
 
 The morrow came ; the sun gilded dome and marble pal 
 ace; the morning, with eyes full of pitying sunshine, looked 
 upon the face of the dead. The unseen messenger had 
 waited around that couch until the hour when the dis 
 turbed chemistries of failing life could no longer resist, and 
 as a new day came bore him away. He was better on the 
 morrow, for as he was freed from the ligaments of the body 
 he gazed upon the life to come as it is seen by the eyes of 
 immortality. Wonderful mystery of life! Even greater 
 mystery of death! How little, indeed, humanity knows of 
 either. As we spoke to the leaden ears and told him of his 
 dear ones journeying on the way to him we thought him re 
 turning. How meager our knowledge. The slender cord 
 that moors us to time had been slackened, and even then he 
 was drifting away to that still, strange land, the shadowy 
 homes of the shadows. The nation s flag that floats above us 
 was that day the ensign of woe, announcing his death to 
 many before unaware of his illness. 
 
 Mr. MOFFATT had aided in and was part of the develop 
 ment of his portion of^ our loved Michigan. He was ani 
 mated by the same affection for that grand Commonwealth, 
 his native State, that inspires all within its borders. The 
 people of the section where he dwelt were not long in recog- 
 
Address of Mr. O Donnell, of Michigan. 29 
 
 nixing his merits. For over twenty-one years lie served 
 them in places of trust and responsibility, in positions ex 
 ecutive, legislative, and financial, always to his credit and to 
 their satisfaction. 
 
 At last they called him to the high and honorable position 
 of their representative in the Congress of the United States, 
 where he served them faithfully for nearly three years. 
 He was not wont to mingle in the strifes and forensic con 
 tests on this floor, but this modest and retiring man attended 
 to those other equally important duties pertaining to service 
 here. He served his country and constituency with fidelity. 
 It was his fortune to represent a district where but little was 
 required in attending to personal interests, and he had the 
 opportunity so longed for by laborers in this House to be 
 come familiar with the great questions of the hour and 
 study the wants and needs of all the people. He was not 
 burdened with duties which are so irksome to many, the 
 accumulation of which makes membership here a pillory 
 rather than a post of honor. With a well-trained mind 
 and application the future gave promise of greater useful 
 ness. He believed the great high road of human welfare 
 to lie along the old highway of steadfast well-doing, and in 
 all his duties remembered the wise words of Solomon as an 
 admonition: * Whatever thy hand findeth to do, do it with 
 thy might. 7 All his work is ended, for he was, to our vision, 
 too early summoned to the other world by death. Where 
 fore? This is humanity s same, eternally renewed question 
 of our lives. 
 
 I have sketched imperfectly the life and services of SETH 
 C. MOFFATT. As a citizen he met all the requirements of the 
 highest citizenship. That is much indeed, and when so filled 
 the title American citizen " is a proud one. As a husband 
 and father he was tender, considerate, and loving. Indeed. I 
 
30 Life and Character of Seth C. Moffatt. 
 
 do not think this gentleman ever caused a tear save when he 
 died. There was not a shred of littleness about him. He 
 was always gratified at the success of any of his colleagues, 
 and it is but justice to say, Mr. Speaker, the same kindly 
 feeling permeates those from our State who survive him. It 
 was not his intention to stay here long. His design was to- 
 serve his people as best he could for the remainder of the 
 term allotted to him, and then go back to his home by the 
 great lake, permitting others to bear the burden we all so 
 gladly assume. He would turn aside from the thorny road 
 of political life and devote himself to the profession he loved 
 so well. He was happy in this resolve, and hope wove its 
 roses in the blue web of the future. This decision he held to 
 the end , and its contemplation sustained him. The thought 
 of home was the last joy of memory that followed him to the 
 boundaries of life. 
 
 This useful life is over and its reward cometh. Occasions- 
 like this bring to mind the Persian prayer, first uttered in 
 the youth of the world, which comes down to us through the 
 centuries with all its beauty of truth, "Purity and glory are 
 sown for them that are pure and upright in heart. " In utter 
 ing the words of praise for this life whose heart throbbings 
 are stilled, we speak them as reverently as we would lay our 
 hands upon the face of the dead. 
 
 The people among whom his manhood s years were passed 
 evinced their deep regret at his departure from the world. 
 They who trusted and honored him in the past lament the- 
 termination of a career with which their hopes were so closely 
 interwoven, and to his family they with gentle hand and 
 tender hearts would have lifted aside the veil of sorrow.. 
 They and we mournfully realize 
 
 Nothing is our own; we hold our pleasures 
 
 First a little while, ere they are fled. 
 One by one life robs us of our treasures; 
 
 Nothing is our own except our dead. 
 
Address of J/r. Osborne, of Pennsylvania. 31 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. WHITING, OF MICHIGAN. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, I esteem it a very great privilege and a pleas 
 ure to add in a very few words my testimony on this occasion. 
 For it was my good fortune also to have a personal acquaint- 
 tance with the one in whose memory to-day this House lays 
 aside its restless, urgent business and devotes most profit 
 ably more than a passing thought to the life and character 
 of one whom to know was a pleasure and a benefit, and in 
 whose death this House lost one of its most upright, consist 
 ent, and honored members. 
 
 Free from selfish ambition or personal resentment, he was 
 loved by every true man with whom he was thrown in con 
 tact. Genial and unpretending, he had a face and a man 
 ner which inspired confidence and secured good will. Ris 
 ing above the politician, he was a statesman above reproach 
 from partisan or opponent a pride to the State of Michigan, 
 one whom in life she "delighted to honor" and in death she 
 will not forget. SETH C. MOFFATT builded well his own 
 monument, for the memory and the influences of his pure 
 life will live when the chiselings of marble will have been 
 effaced and the emblems of mortal greatness have decayed. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. OSBORNE, OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, SETH C. MOFFATT was my friend. I can not 
 therefore allow the hour to pass without paying a tribute of 
 respect to his memory. He was held in very high esteem 
 by all gentlemen who were acquainted with him and who 
 knew his excellent qualities of head and heart. He was one 
 of those pleasant, warm-hearted men whose company is al- 
 
32 Life and Character of Seth C. Moffatt. 
 
 ways appreciated and whose deportment is commended by 
 the best society. 
 
 Born in Michigan, educated in her schools and at her uni 
 versity, he there laid the foundations for a life of useful and 
 intelligent action that brought distinction to himself and re 
 flected honor 011 his native land. Indeed, his career is one to 
 which his friends can point with just pride and from which 
 may be drawn many practical lessons worthy of emulation 
 by the youth of our land. I think his life is a striking ex 
 ample of the great work energy may accomplish when di 
 rected by an earnest devotion to truth and honor. 
 
 Few men have been more successful in producing solid 
 results from life s battle than was he. Starting from an 
 unpretending station, in the brief period of forty-five years 
 he became a distinguished member of the bar, a leading and 
 influential State senator, speaker of the lower house of the 
 Michigan legislature, a member of the constitutional com 
 mission, delegate to the Republican national convention, a 
 Representative from Michigan in the Forty-ninth and in the 
 Fiftieth Congress of the United States. 
 
 Chosen and rechosen, always indorsed by the people in 
 his official stations; placed in the balance and never found 
 wanting. 
 
 In truth, here was a man whose early death is most deeply 
 to be deplored. 
 
 A quiet, modest man, who had a soul radiant with heav 
 enly light. Full of generous, sympathetic impulses for his 
 fellow-man, I do not wonder that his people mourned and 
 refused to be comforted when they realized that he had 
 passed away and had gone out from amongst them forever. 
 
 I would pour oil and wine into -the broken and contrite 
 hearts of his bereaved family. 
 
 They have sustained a loss no words I may sound can al- 
 
J </<//>. s.s nf Mr. Osborne, of Pennsylvania. 33 
 
 leviate. His taking off was so unexpected ; so near the 
 Christmas season, when the heart is aglow with affection, it 
 did not seem possible that one so noble and true, and useful 
 in the affairs of life, could be then selected as a target for 
 death. 
 
 It is touchingly sad to those who knew him to remember 
 how anxiously he was looking forward to the time when his 
 dear wife and children would join him at Washington for 
 the winter. Only the day before he was confined to his bed 
 he dwelt upon their coming with unusual warmth of feel 
 ing, and rejoiced exceedingly when he thought the day of 
 their coming could not be deferred much longer. 
 
 Alas! how weak and insignificant is man. In the midst of 
 our greatest prosperity we are traveling nearest the brink 
 of destruction. When just ready to take a sip from the cup 
 of earthly sweetness, it is turned to bitter gall. 
 
 His wife and children came ; but how changed the condi 
 tions ! The wife a widow and the children fatherless; the 
 affectionate husband, the kind and loving parent, cold in 
 death. The tenderest affections of the human heart are 
 suddenly scalded by the bitterest tears of bereavement. 
 
 Human sympathy in such a presence is best shown in 
 silence, bowing in humble submission to Him who sitteth on 
 the circle of eternity and ruleth the universe. 
 
 Men build cities and endow institutions of charity and die 
 remembered for their beneficence. They erect the splendid 
 mausoleum pointing towards heaven and cover it all over 
 with the story of their deeds, and die hoping that the world 
 will not willingly forget their names and memory. They 
 stamp the record of their deeds upon their age in letters of 
 enduring brass that generations yet unborn may rise up and 
 call them great. 
 
 By the grave of SETH C. MOFFATT I would plant a rose 
 H. Mis. 57? 
 
34 Life and Character of Seth C. Moffatt. 
 
 and a honey-suckle. I would bedew them with my tears. 
 His name is written by the hand of affection in the hearts 
 of the people, and there his memory is inscribed and will 
 remain, a lasting tribute to truth and honor, a noble ex 
 ample of an upright life and an evidence of the blessings of 
 our free institutions. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. CANNON, OF ILLINOIS. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, SETH C. MOFFATT and I were friends. Dur 
 ing his service in the Forty-ninth Congress we lived at the 
 same hotel, were associates and companions, and were seat- 
 mates in the Fiftieth Congress. There was no member of 
 the House to whom I was more attached. He was an honest, 
 candid, able, modest man, a- lawyer by profession. Nature 
 gave him an excellent legal mind, which, aided by industry 
 and character, enabled him to rank with the first class in 
 his profession. 
 
 Members of this body rarely, if ever, do themselves jus 
 tice as legislators in the first Congress of their service. Mr. 
 MOFFATT was not an exception to this rule. Knowing his 
 competency, his friends frequently urged him to take an ac 
 tive part in the debates of the House; he generally declined, 
 saying he would quietly serve one term in Congress and 
 be more active in the future in the event of his continued 
 service. His attainments at the bar, and his legisla 
 tive experience in his State, having served in the Michigan 
 legislature as speaker of the house of- representatives, 
 coupled with his sterling personal qualities and liberal cult 
 ure, promised a career in the House honorable to himself 
 and useful to the country. His was a character that grew 
 on those with whom he came in contact. He was of that 
 
Address of Mr. Hayes, of loint. ;;;> 
 
 .-lass of men who can be depended upon 1<> do their part, lo 
 answer the drafts drawn up<>n them. It is such men in 
 public ami private life that make <>ur civilization liotli 
 stable and progressive. 
 
 During Mr. MOFFATT S last illness I saw him frequently. 
 He sull ered greatly, yet was cheerful and hopeful. Neit her 
 he nor his friends apprehended that his disease was t<> prove 
 fatal. He greatly desired to spend the approaching holi 
 days at his home in Michigan with his wife and children, 
 neighbors and friends, insisting that he could make the jour 
 ney in his then condition. 
 
 On Monday prior to his decease on Wednesday, he real 
 ized that his strength was not sufficient to warrant the jour 
 ney. His last conscious act was the writing of telegrams 
 to his wife and son that he could not be with them on 
 Christmas, but hoped the family would be together at home 
 and have as good a time as possible. We telegraphed 
 wife to come. She did not arrive until after his decease en 
 Wednesday. He was spending an eternal holiday on the 
 other shore. 
 
 Of the state for us all on the other side, we only know 
 through faith and hope. To my mind the most reasonable 
 hope as to the future is that each one will find a place ac 
 cording to his loves. I shall be content ay, more, glad 
 if, when my time comes to cross to the unknown, I shall find 
 a place in company with SETH C. MOFFATT and such as he. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. HAYES, OF IOWA. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, there are quite a number of the members of 
 this House that knew more of Mr. MOFFATT in his man 
 hood than myself, but I doubt if any more keenly deplored 
 his untimely death or had more occasion for such feeling. 
 
36 Life and Character of Seth C. Moffatt. 
 
 His father and my own were pioneer doctors in Michigan 
 when it was a Territory and practically a wilderness, living 
 but 12 miles apart, and he and I were born in the same 
 county in the same year, and were classmates at the Michi 
 gan University, graduating in the same class from the law 
 department of that institution. While there a strong 
 friendship developed between us, and cordial and pleasant 
 relations were always afterwards maintained. When I was 
 elected a member of this House I instinctively turned to 
 wards him, not only as a friend but as an adviser and assist 
 ant, on account of his experience in the duties and details of 
 business here. 
 
 After leaving Ann Arbor he settled in a part of Michigan 
 distant from myself, and I soon left the State, so that I saw 
 but little of him personally thereafter until meeting him 
 here; but I always watched his course with interest and re 
 joiced at his successes in life. However, from so watching 
 his course, from seeing him as I did, and from the universal 
 testimony of all who knew him, I feel competent to correctly 
 speak of him, and I know that he was in his manhood the 
 natural outgrowth and development of his early promise. It 
 has been well said: * The childhood shows the man, as morn 
 ing shows the day." He was spotless in his character, and 
 his integrity, probity, and honor were never questioned. In 
 his profession and life he was eminently successful, and not 
 by the mere glamour of brilliancy and transcendent genius, 
 but rather by force of character, industry, integrity, stu- 
 diousness, level-headed judgment, good habits, a determina 
 tion to do his duty under all circumstances, and, withal, a 
 laudable but reasonable ambition. 
 
 These qualities, as is almost always the case, led to suc 
 cess in life, and to an honorable position among men. At 
 the very threshold of his career his ability as a lawyer and 
 
.lr/.//v.s.v <>f Mr. Hayen, of Ian;,. ;\~ 
 
 worth as a man were recognized, and he was elected pne- 
 cut ing attorney, filling this important position for sonic ten 
 years. Following this In- was a State senator in Michigan. 
 a member of its constitutional commission, register of the 
 United States land office, and for two years was a member 
 of the Michigan house of representatives, and during this 
 time served as its speaker, receiving such just r cognition 
 from his party that when elected to this important and re- 
 sponsil de position he was a new member of that body. In 
 1884 he was a delegate to the Republican national conven 
 tion at Chicago, and in the same year was elected a member 
 of this body and had so continued until his untimely death. 
 which occurred in the vigor of his manhood and at a time- 
 when it is reasonable to suppose his usefulness had just 
 commenced. 
 
 When his various positions of honor, trust, and responsi- 
 bility are considered, and it is remembered that they were 
 all tilled with credit to himself and an eye single to the in 
 terests of those whom he represented, and when in connec 
 tion with this his life as a whole is viewed, it may well be 
 said that .his death was a public calamity as well as an incon 
 solable loss to his family and friends. It has, however, a 
 bright side in the knowledge that the sum of his life and 
 labors was a heritage of honor to his family and a shining 
 mark well worth the emulation of all men. 
 
 Whoe er amidst the sons 
 Of reason, valor, liberty, and virtue 
 Displays distiniruisltcd merit, is a noble 
 Of Nature s own creating. 
 
38 Life and Character of Setli C. Moffatt. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. CHIPMAN, OF MICHIGAN, 
 
 Mr. Speaker, I regret that my first utterance in this House 
 is on an occasion of sadness, yet I am proud, very proud, that 
 my native State has been represented here by a man entirely 
 worthy of the encomiums which have just been bestowed 
 on Mr. MOFFATT. 
 
 In this age of ribald criticism and irresponsible accusation 
 it is a great pleasure to know that a good man has been here. 
 He indulged in no vain babblement on this floor, no fierce 
 shrieking to catch the ear of fame. He was true and honest, 
 consistent, laborious, useful. What higher eulogy can be 
 passed on any man ? Useful, sir, above everything - a faith 
 ful, efficient representative of his people. I do not say that 
 he has anchored his name in history. How many have done 
 that in the past how many will do it in the future ? 
 
 So it is saying a great deal to say that he was honest, he 
 was useful, and that he has lain down to pleasant slumbers. 
 The decent respect of this occasion is honestly his. 
 
 The actions of the just 
 Smell sweet and blossom in the dust. 
 
 Arid he, though he has passed from mortal ken, has left 
 us the perfume of his charity and kindliness. 
 
 Let us hope that all is well with him beside the great lake 
 and beneath the snow of his native State the beneficent 
 snow which ripens the glory of the golden grain and pre 
 sages the prosperity of happy homes. 
 
of Mr. Gfattinger, of New //a////>.s7//>p. 39 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. GALLINGER, OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, I esteem it a great honor to have been in 
 vited, on this sad occasion, to bring a single utterance of ten 
 der and loving tribute to the memory of our late associate, 
 SETH C. MOFFATT. Others, who knew him longer and bet 
 ter than I, have spoken of his distinguished public services 
 and of his superior qualities of head and heart. I knew him 
 only from the opening of the Forty-ninth Congress, but his 
 gentle manners and quiet, unobtrusive life attracted my at 
 tention and led me to have a warm feeling of friendship for 
 him. Our acquaintance began almost on the first day of 
 the session, and many pleasant hours were spent in talking 
 of the great possibilities and wonderful progress of the dis 
 trict he represented. Mackinac Island, that spot of almost 
 unequaled beauty, around which cluster delightful tradi 
 tions and historic memories, the marvelous lakes and rivers 
 of the great State of Michigan, the famous "Soo," with its 
 grand canal, unrivaled water-power, and magnificent com 
 merce all these served as topics for interesting conversa 
 tion between us. His love for his State was sublime. On 
 that theme he talked con amore, while on all general sub 
 jects he was a man of remarkable intelligence, wide culture, 
 and great breadth of view. Withal, he was an amiable, 
 honorable, conscientious gentleman. 
 
 His life was gentle, an( i the elements 
 
 So mixed in him that Nature mi^ht stand up 
 
 And say to all the world, " This was a man ! " 
 
 When the Fiftieth Congress met no warmer grasp was 
 given my hand than by our late friend and associate. Then 
 came the intelligence of his serious illness, and my heart, 
 accustomed in a professional way to the anxieties and sor- 
 
40 Life and Character of Seth C. Moffatt. 
 
 rows of the sick-chamber, went out in deepest sympathy 
 to this good man. who, away from home and friends and 
 family, was being ministered to by the hands of strangers. 
 Death came soon, and the Christmas season, so full of joy 
 and gladness to most of earth, brought unutterable grief to 
 those who knew him best and loved him most. The devoted 
 wife, on her mission of love, found when she reached Wash 
 ington that death had preceded her, and then she realized, 
 as every stricken and bleeding heart realizes, that 
 
 Along the roadside where we pass bloom few 
 Gay plants of heart s-ease, more of saddening rue. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, I need not say more. Mine is but the trib 
 ute of a word. Our friend has gone never to return. He 
 has escaped from the contentions and antagonisms of this 
 world, and entered upon a better and higher life. Let us, 
 in honoring his memory as we do to-day, strive to emulate 
 his virtues, and to so live that it may be said of us as we 
 would say of him : 
 
 The good, they drop around us on? by one. 
 
 Like stars when morning breaks ; though lost to sight, 
 
 Around us are they still, in heaven s own light, 
 
 Building their mansions in the purer zone 
 
 Of the invisible ; when round are thrown 
 
 Shadows of sorrow, still serenely bright 
 
 To faith they gleam ; and blest be sorrow s night, 
 
 That brings the o erarching heavens in silence down, 
 
 A mantle set with orbs unearthly fair ! 
 
 They dwell, divinely dwell, in memory-, 
 
 While life s sun declining bids us for the night prepare, 
 
 That we, with urns of light, and our task done, 
 
 May stand with them at last in lot unchangeable. 
 
<>f Mr. Cnnijt r. f Imrn. 41 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. CONGER, OF IOWA. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, this House has to-day put away the bustle and 
 tumult of ordinary work to pay a merited tribute of respect 
 and love to the memory of one of our number who has been 
 n -i -fatly called to a higher life, a nobler work. It is for us 
 a sad yet grateful service. Sad because the places that have 
 known our brother here shall know him no more forever ; 
 grateful for the associations hallowed by his presence ; sad 
 because of his untimely death, yet grateful for the sweet 
 memories of his eventful life. 
 
 SETH C. MOFFATT was one of the first acquaintances I 
 made in the Forty- ninth Congress ; our first hand-shake was 
 under such circumstances as made us friends, and I have 
 ever counted that day blessed which gave me such a friend. 
 I therefore gladly bring my laurel branch for the rhaplft 
 that we on this occasion shall weave for the memories and 
 the victories of our departed colleague. 
 
 Others have most eloquently told the story of his distin 
 guished life, of his birth, his boyhood, and manhood, all in his 
 own loved Michigan, and of his splendid service to his native 
 State. I only knew him here, in this national capital. But 
 I knew him thoroughly ; knew him as faithful and industri 
 ous representative, as able and conscientious legislator, as 
 genial companion, as Crusted friend, as devoted husband, r.s 
 loving father, and as a Christian, manly man. 
 
 There is no place in the world where the measure of a man 
 is more quickly and accurately taken than upon this floor. 
 This measurement placed SETH MOFFATT high up on the 
 roll. His words were few, but his sentences were golden ; 
 his judgment was safe, and his convictions unfaltering. 
 A a t rii-ii l, he was ever kind and true; as a husband, he 
 
42 Life and Character of Seth C. Moffatt. 
 
 was tender and thoughtful; as a father, most loving and in 
 dulgent. His family circle was truly and in the strictest 
 sense a home. He gave every spare moment from his pro 
 fessional and public duties to his family, and was idolized 
 by every member of it. His children and 
 
 His loving wife beguiled him more than Fame s emblazoned zeal, 
 And one sweet note of tenderness than Triumph s loudest peal. 
 
 As a citizen he was of the highest type. He was a man 
 of profound reverence, of unfaltering faith in God and im 
 plicit trust in His divine promises, and a firm believer in the 
 immortality of the soul. He also believed that moral char 
 acter was salvation; that in this and all worlds men should 
 and would be happy or miserable according to their deserts. 
 He saw the revelations of God in the laws and forces of the 
 universe and in the thoughts and loves of mankind. 
 
 He was a religious evolutionist, basing his hope for the 
 future upon the record of the past, beholding a constant de 
 velopment in the spiritual as in the physical world, and hop 
 ing for an outcome of creation which would justify the infi 
 nite wisdom, the infinite love, and the infinite fatherhood of 
 the Creator. His was a religion broad enough, deep enough, 
 and high enough to take in all mankind. He believed and 
 very often said that 
 
 There s a wideness in God s mercy, 
 
 Like the wideuess of the sea; 
 There s a kindness in His justice 
 
 Which is more than liberty. , 
 
 And his daily walk was ever consistent with and contin 
 uously emphasized his religious faith. 
 
 Our friend was indeed small of stature, but in the kind 
 ness of his great heart, in the depth and strength of his 
 friendship, in the tenderness and trustfulness of his love, in 
 his devotion to duty, in the incomparable power and un 
 stinted reverence of his intellect, in his faith that over all 
 
j. , . >x o) Mr. < ongi r, / /""</. 4.". 
 
 and blrssing forever, he was a 
 pleto, well-rounded man. u splendid type of those mm wh< 
 have given strength and glory to the past and promise secu 
 rity and perpetuity for the future of our Republic. 
 
 What constitutes a state? 
 Not high-raise 1 battlement or labored mound. 
 
 Thick wall, or moated Rate; 
 Not cities proud, with spires and turrets crowned; 
 
 Not bays and broad-armed ports, 
 Where, laughing at the storm, proud navies ride; 
 
 Nor starred and sj angled courts, 
 Where low -browed Baseness wafts perfume to pride. 
 
 No! Men, high-minded men, 
 With powers as far above dull brutes endued, 
 
 lu forest, brake, or den, 
 As beasts excel cold rocks and brambles rude; 
 
 Men who their duties know, 
 But know their ri.hts, and, knowing, dare maintain! 
 
 These constitute a state. 
 
 Of just such men was SETH C. MOFFATT. On the 22d 
 day of December last he died; but as sure as God s sun 
 shines he lives again. His life was a noble mission. Our 
 heritage is his blessed memory. Let us emulate his virtues 
 and profit by his example. 
 
 The question being then taken on the resolutions submit 
 ted by Mr. Burrows, they were adopted unanimously; and 
 in accordance with the concluding resolution the House (at 
 5 o clock and 20 minutes p. m.) adjourned. 
 
PROCEEDINGS IX THE SENATE. 
 
 DECEMBER 22, 1887. 
 
 A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. 
 Clark, its Clerk, announced the death of Hon. SETH C. MOF- 
 FATT, a Representative from the State of Michigan, and 
 communicated the resolutions of the House thereon. 
 
 Mr. PALMER. I ask for the reading of the resolutions of 
 the House of Representatives. % 
 
 The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The resolutions will be read. 
 The Chief Clerk read as follows: 
 
 IN THE Housz OF REPRESENTATIVES. December 22. 1887. 
 
 Resolved, That the House lias heard with sincere regret the announce 
 ment of the death of Hon. SETH C. MOFFATT, late a Representative from 
 the State of Michigan. 
 
 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That 
 a select joint committee consisting of seven meniljers of the House and 
 three members of the Senate be apjxiinted to take orders for suj>erintend- 
 ing the funeral and escort the remains of the deceased to their place of 
 burial, and the necessary expenses attending the execution of this order 
 be paid out of the contingent fund of the House. 
 
 Resolved. That the Sorgeant-at-Arms of the House be authorized and 
 directed to take such steps as may be necessary for properly carrying out 
 the provisions of these resolutions. 
 
 Resolved, That the Clerk communicate the foregoing resolutions to the 
 Senate. 
 
 Ix THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. December 22. 1887. 
 Ordered, That Mr. Cutcheon, Mr. Ford, Mr. Brewer, Mr. Wade, Mr. 
 Fisher, Mr. Lyman, and Mr. Shively be the committee on the part of tin- 
 House. 
 
 4o 
 
46 Life and Character of Seth C. Moffatt. 
 
 Mr. PALMER. Mr. President, I offer the resolutions which 
 I send to the desk. 
 
 The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The resolutions submitted 
 by the Senator from Michigan will be read. 
 The Chief Clerk read as follows: 
 
 Resolved, That the Senate lias heard with deep sensibility the an 
 nouncement of the death of Hon. SETH C. MOFFATT, late a Representa 
 tive from the State of Michigan. 
 
 Resolved, That the Senate concur in the resolution of the House of 
 Representatives providing for the appointment of a joint committee to 
 take order for superintending the funeral, and to escort the remains of the 
 deceased to Traverse City, Mich., and that the members of the committee 
 on the part of the Senate be appointed by the President pro tempore. 
 
 The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is on agreeing 
 to the resolutions. 
 
 The resolutions were agreed to unanimously. 
 
 Mr. PALMER. Mr. President, I give notice that at some 
 future time I shall introduce resolutions commemorative of 
 the merits of the deceased, which will afford an opportunity 
 for remarks to be made upon the same. I now, out of re 
 spect to the memory of the deceased, move that the Senate 
 adjourn. 
 
 The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Before submitting the mo 
 tion, the Chair will announce as the committee on the part 
 of the Senate Messrs. Palmer, Teller, and Jones of Arkan 
 sas. The Senator from Michigan moves that the Senate do- 
 now adjourn. 
 
 The motion was agreed to, and the Senate adjourned. 
 
 MARCH 15, 1888. 
 
 The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Pursuant to the notice 
 given by the Senator from Michigan [Mr. Palmer] on the 
 5th instant, the Chair lays before the Senate resolutions from 
 the House of Representatives, which will be read. 
 
/ /</ < f///m/.s- //< //;/ >,V miff . 47 
 
 The Secretary n-a-1 as follows : 
 
 IN THK II"! a "i Ki i la-.sr.NTATivKs. l <l>ruary2Q, 1888. 
 
 Resolved, Tlmt the business of the Bouse be suspended, that .suitable 
 honor> may !>- paid to the memory of Hon. SETH C. MOFFATT, late a 
 Keprescntative from tli!- State of Michigan. 
 
 /;..-,.//-,. , Tliat in the death of Mr. MOITATT the country has sustained 
 the los-; of a safe legislator, a patriotic citizen, and an able and faithful 
 public servant. 
 
 /; Wm/. That as a furtlier mark of respec-t to his memory the House 
 at tlie conclusion of these ceremonies shall adjourn. 
 
 That the House communicate these resolutions to the Senate. 
 
 Mr. PALMER. I offer the resolutions which I send to the 
 desk for the consideration of the Senate. 
 
 A 
 
 The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The resolutions submit 
 ted by the Senator from Michigan will be read. 
 
 The Secretary read as follows : 
 
 l, That the Senate receives with <if-p sensibility the announce 
 ment of the death of Hon. SETH C. MOFFATT, late a member of the House- 
 <>t Representatives from the State of Michigan, anil tenders to the family 
 and relatives of the deceased the assurance of its sympathy in their be- 
 reavemen*. 
 
 Resolved, That the Secretary transmit a copy of the foregoing resolu- 
 s to the family of Mr. 2IOFF.ATT. 
 
48 Life and Character of Setli C. Mqffatt. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. PALMER, OF MICHIGAN. 
 
 Mr. President, the apothegm "speak nothing save good 
 of the dead "has given rise to the epigram "false as an 
 epitaph." 
 
 It is easy for a friend to pronounce a eulogy on a "bad man. 
 The mantle of charity covers all that is ill, and leaves affec 
 tion free to create or portray an ideal, which tradition, forti 
 fied by friendship, can only partially justify. 
 
 The hand of the rustic artist may ca-rve the fungi into 
 attractive forms or paint the faces of its sections with sug 
 gestive and aesthetic scenes, but dense and valuable woods 
 admit of no such freedom of treatment. 
 
 It is so of character. Where there is nothing for charity 
 or regard to conceal, where there are virtues manifold, one 
 must be careful to curb the imagination, lest a departure 
 from exactness may throw discredit on a recital of qualities 
 which truly reported make up a symmetiical whole. 
 
 Some men attain prominence by accident, some by effort, 
 and some grow into it as naturally as the palm among lesser 
 trees. The first may acquit themselves well for a brief 
 season; the second often desire the insignia without the 
 effort, and soon pass out of public sight; the third remain 
 because their growth lias put them there, and nature makes 
 no mistakes. 
 
 Of the latter class was the man of whom I speak to-day. 
 Twas not his fortune to figure in dramatic combinations; 
 there was nothing startling in his career, at least to the 
 outside world. What he achieved he had done quietly. 
 Of slight frame and delicate organization, he was not fitted 
 for many of those mental efforts which resemble the stroke 
 of Richard of the Lion Heart. His was rather the scimiter 
 
Address of Mr. Palmer, of Mich if/an. 4 ( .> 
 
 of Saladin, and what lie did in influencing men was done by 
 the subtle stroke of a finely-tempered mind not that he 
 ever dealt in finesse or chicanery; they were foreign to his 
 nature. 
 
 He was atmospheric in his influence. Men were prepared 
 to love him before they saw him, and they wished to agree 
 with him before they knew him. It was not because lie was 
 effeminate that he was not aggressive, for when occasion 
 demanded there were none of truer courage than he. His 
 differences were never intensified by hate nor his opposition 
 re-enforced by malice. He was a gentle man; not in the 
 oriental sense, merely a mystic and a dreamer, for his life 
 shows him to have been a worker and a man of results. 
 
 Sent to Congress by a constituency as sturdy as any, and 
 more intelligent than most, men and women of culture and 
 refinement, people who not only have accomplished but are 
 still accomplishing, he had acquitted himself in a manner 
 fully up to their expectations. 
 
 He was born forty-six years ago ; not much of a space 
 in a geological epoch or in the span of history, but it was 
 enough to permit him to develop, to exfoliate, and to become 
 and remain a man. There was nothing unusual in his youth \ 
 there was nothing but what he shared in common with thou 
 sands of others in his early manhood. His was steady nor 
 mal growth from the cradle to the grave. 
 
 He filled many positions of dignity and trust ; he was never 
 found wanting, He was a member and speaker of the Mich 
 igan house of representatives, State senator, member of the 
 constitutional convention, delegate to the Republican na 
 tional convention, a member of the Forty-ninth and Fif 
 tieth Congresses. To those who know with what eagerness 
 these prizes are pursued by the men whose lungs are inflated 
 by the winds of the prairies tempered by the Great Lakes, 
 H. Mis. 577 4 
 
50 Life and Character of Seth C. Moffatt. 
 
 where to be happy one must work, where the ozone of 
 the air and the fruits of the earth contribute to the crea 
 tion of forceful and the stimulation of feeble men, this 
 record when read would incarnate the qualities required for 
 successful competition in the frame of an athlete. On the 
 contrary, this man achieved all this, or rather, he grew into 
 it, retarded, as one might think, by a frame and physique as 
 delicate as a woman s. Nay more, he sustained himself in 
 each of them. 
 
 He was a lawyer ; but his career was never tainted by a 
 suspicion of barratry or oppression. 
 
 He was a politician ; but with him " the end did not justify 
 the means. " His political life was subjected to and will bear 
 the measurement of the severest code of morals. 
 
 He was a friend ; and those coming in contact with him 
 needed no assurance that he was true. 
 
 He was a husband ; and in that far northern home, on the 
 banks of that beautiful lake, amid the whispering pines and 
 mournful hemlocks, a silent widow sheds unavailing tears 
 :above the grave of a companion regardful, chaste, and affec 
 tionate. 
 
 He was a father. Children " climbed his knee the envied 
 kiss to share ;" but his ambition for them was not that they 
 should achieve distinction or acquire wealth, but that they 
 should have and practice virtue. 
 
 He was a religious man not in a sectarian sense. I think 
 creeds would have cribbed and confined him, and arrested 
 his growth ; but he had the convictions which are the bases 
 of all religion. He believed in the great overruling Power, 
 in immortality, and the great law of compensation which at 
 last makes all things even. 
 
 When I first met him the psychological and social chem 
 icals of my nature unconsciously prepared the plate and 
 
Address of Mr. Palmer, of Michigan. 51 
 
 took liis photograph. I have compared the outlines and the 
 expression of my negative with my subsequent experience, 
 and with others, and we all agree as to the correctness of the 
 picture. 
 
 Such was SETH C. MOFFATT, Representative of the 
 Eleventh district of Michigan, who died in this city at Prov 
 idence Hospital on the 22d day of December, 1887. I have 
 not intended to overstate his virtues. I shall 
 
 No farther seek his merits to disclose, 
 Ordraw his frailties from their dread abode. 
 
 His frailties I did not know. He undoubtedly had them. 
 I hope so. They are incident to the most exalted natures ; 
 they are essential to an exhaustive portrayal of a complete 
 and lovable character ; they are the shadows which nature, 
 no less than art, demands for her most perfect work. The 
 hopes and fears, the joys and sorrows, the aspirations and 
 temptations, the defeats, the successes of forty-six years of 
 this animated life must have swayed him at times, and in all 
 probability he did not escape every pitfall ; but the tenor of 
 his life and the character of his sympathies assure me that 
 his constant effort was toward consecutively higher planes, 
 of living. 
 
 Fine-fibered physique, kindly presence, responsive heart, 
 well-balanced brain, all united in one, farewell! I know not 
 what the future has in store for you ; but I feel that when 
 you threw off the vestments which here fetter us all, you 
 entered upon that higher arena which the soul loves to con 
 template and speculate upon, spiritually clean limbed and 
 anointed, and that there the great Supervisor assigned you 
 your proper place. 
 
 Among the things inscrutable on earth, and which assures 
 us that we have a mortgage on eternity which our good 
 friend and faithful attorney, Death, will in due time fore- 
 
52 Life and Character of Seth C. Moffatt. 
 
 close, is tliis, that we who mourn those who have gone be 
 fore have a right to know why a man so well equipped and 
 impelled to give delight to others should be taken first "and 
 those whose hearts are dry as summer s dust burn to the 
 socket." 
 
 Surely the blank wall against which we fruitlessly beat 
 with lacerated hands, which gives back nothing but an. echo 
 to our lamentations, and which to be passed must be tun 
 neled by the grave, has its foundations laid partly upon 
 other fields than those of earth, and when we emerge into 
 the refulgent light of the other side all will be made plain. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR, PADDOCK, OF NEBRASKA. 
 
 Mr. President, it was not my good fortune to know Mr. 
 MOFFATT intimately, and I shall not attempt an extended re 
 view of his too brief, but eventful life. Nor, indeed, is this 
 necessary. Others better qualified than myself have spoken 
 of his career from boyhood to its sad and sudden close; have 
 told the story of his struggles, his trials, and his successes. 
 The voices of his associates, here and elsewhere, who were 
 bound to him by ties of affection, who honored him for his 
 manliness, his quiet, unyielding persistence, and his un 
 bending integrity, have been heard in generous eulogy of 
 his strong, well-rounded, admirable character. 
 
 The history of his triumphs as a lawyer and his faithful 
 service as a Representative of the great Commonwealth of 
 Michigan has been presented. The tributes of warm friend 
 ships, ruthlessly broken by the iron hand of death, have 
 been laid with tears upon his grave, and the tremulous 
 tones of bereaved affection have paid the last honors to de 
 parted worth. 
 
Address of Mr. Paddock, of Xebraska. 53 
 
 Living in one of the busiest and most progressive of our 
 western Commonwealths, where the struggle for preference 
 and position is keenest, he was for more than twenty years 
 identified with public life and the recipient of the confidence 
 and respect of friends and neighbors. Mr. MOFFATT S career 
 was steadily upward. Successive tokens of public esteem 
 evidenced the high appreciation in which his services to 
 his State and the nation were held by those best qualified 
 to judge. His unswerving integrity, his fidelity to every 
 obligation, cemented friendships which will continue a 
 pleasant memory to many long after beneficent Nature has 
 effaced the marks of his newly-made grave. 
 
 Mr. MOFFATT was in the full meridian of life. He had 
 achieved success by labor. He had won his way to honor 
 able distinction by the inherent force of his character. Men 
 respected him for what he was, not for what he seemed to 
 be. His homely virtues commended him to those who ad 
 mired sincerity, who abhorred mere display, and by whom 
 the shams of society and the veneer in which false pretense 
 and deception masquerade as honesty and truth were con 
 demned. 
 
 He was in every sense of the word a self-poised man. His 
 natural reserve was born of an innate modesty which de 
 clined self-assertion at the expense of self-respect. With a 
 firm grasp on his mental resources, which were large, he 
 preferred the esteem of his wide circle of friends to the 
 fickle applause of the galleries or the evanescent notoriety 
 of the press. A student of the political problems of the day, 
 well equipped to grapple with topics affecting the national 
 welfare, he was content to leave largely to others the acri 
 mony of partisan debate and the bitterness of political con 
 troversy. 
 
 His mind was essentially a legal one. He was conserva- 
 
54 Life and Character of Seth C. Moffatt, 
 
 tive in arriving at conclusions, slow to express an opinion, 
 but when his judgment had crystallized an impression into 
 a conviction it became the guiding motive of his action. 
 
 It was said of SETH C. MOFFATT by some that he kept 
 himself in the background from excessive modesty. By 
 others his reserve of manners was taken for indifference. 
 He was far from indifferent. Keenly and properly sensi 
 tive of the great world around him, he was particularly re 
 gardful of the desires and interests of friends and the de 
 mands of the State which had honored itself by repeatedly 
 honoring him. 
 
 Mr. President, death has removed from the councils of 
 the nation an able, an honest man, and an experienced legis 
 lator. Words of praise in the presence of the dread de 
 stroyer seem at best cold and formal. They can not tame the 
 night of his repose nor shiver the iron chain which binds 
 his senseless clay. He had passed from the finite to the in 
 finite, from the scenes of success into the shadows which 
 shroud the future. 
 
 But he is not altogether dead, sir! 
 
 Non oninis rnoriar 
 
 Exclaimed one of England s greatest writers 
 
 if dying I yet live in a tender heart or two. 
 
 To be rich; to be famous? What do these count a year hence, when 
 other names sound louder than yours; when you lie hidden away under 
 the ground along with idle titles engraven on your coffin? But only 
 true love lives after you, follows your memory with secret blessings, or 
 precedes and intercedes for you. 
 
 Praised be our Lord for our sister the death of the 
 body from whom no man escapeth," sang St. Francis from 
 the walls of his medieval monastery. The clear vision of 
 the saintly monk whose life had been worn away in works 
 of charity, amidst sin and siiffering, saw, perchance, beyond 
 "the vale between the peaks of two eternities," another 
 
Address of Mr. Stockbridge, of Michigan. 55 
 
 sphere in which flagging activities and wearied souls find 
 new stimulus, enlarged scope for endeavor, and peaceful 
 rest. To it there is but one portal through that our friend 
 has passed from sight at the end of his mortal pilgrimage. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. STOCKBRIDGE, OF MICHIGAN. 
 
 Mr. President, I can not permit this occasion to pass with 
 out adding my tribute to the memory of my departed friend. 
 I was intimate with Mr. MOFFATT for twenty years, and in 
 all those years knew of no word or act of his that I would 
 wish to forget. 
 
 I am sure I voice the sentiment of Michigan when I say 
 that no one of her citizens enjoyed more fully such confi 
 dence and entire respect than he to whose memory these 
 exercises are a tribute. Michigan feels proud of Mr. MOF 
 FATT, for he was born, educated, and grew to manhood 
 within her borders. He served her well in her legislature, 
 as speaker of her house of representatives, as a member of 
 her constitutional commission, and in the Congress of the 
 United States, and always, everywhere, was mindful of her 
 best and truest interests, and in every position in which he 
 was placed did his whole duty manfully and well, so that 
 through long years of public service he grew year by year 
 in the confidence and esteem of all who knew him. 
 
 His home was in one of the finest sections of his State, the 
 great Traverse Bay region, a region with as intelligent and 
 manly a population as any section of our country can boast 
 of, and such a constituency evinced their high appreciation 
 of the sterling qualities of Mr. MOFFATT by always keeping 
 
56 Life and Character of Seth C. Moffaft. 
 
 him in prominent positions, to guard, protect, and further 
 their interests. 
 
 The life of Mr. MOFFATT is a signal illustration of what 
 may be accomplished by one born in the middle walks of 
 life, if he has the industry, good sense, ability, and honor- 
 possessed by my departed friend. His life was a success, 
 for he had in all respects acted well his part. From our 
 common school and academy he passed through our great 
 university, of which we are so proud, to our law school, 
 and from there commenced the practice of his profession, 
 and within a few years attained a position among the most 
 eminent men at the bar in our State. In the midst of a 
 rapidly growing region of his State, his business sagacity 
 enabled him to accumulate a handsome competency, and his 
 manly qualities and open, generous traits of character se 
 cured him a noble wife from among the many fair daughters 
 of Michigan. To this beloved wife and their children he 
 was all a loving and kind husband and fond father could 
 be. So I repeat, his life was a success, and a noble illustra 
 tion of what life may be in this favored country of ours. 
 
 In that far-off home, as a citizen, a neighbor, he has left 
 the impress of his life and character upon all who knew 
 him, and he will be held in honored and loving remem 
 brance. He has left his monument in human hearts, more 
 enduring than any marble column. 
 
 Those who knew him well could not fail to be impressed 
 with the gentleness and amiability of his character. There 
 were no bitter ingredients in his composition ; goodness, 
 charity, and a good heart were the foundation of his broad 
 views and sympathy with mankind. Though his opinions 
 were clearly defined and his convictions positive, he was 
 utterly incapable of narrow prejudice or bitter enmity; and 
 while he entered with vigor and enthusiasm into the busi- 
 
Address of Mr. Stockbridye, of Michigan. 57 
 
 i it-ss life of his favored region, still his greatest enjoyment 
 was in the quiet and affection of his own home, and among 
 those he loved so well he found contentment and rest. He 
 was generous and warm in his attachments ; there was 
 nothing calculating in his friendship. 
 
 Well do I remember his cordial, hearty greeting upon 
 my arrival here December last, and his honest and warm 
 assurance that he was glad I was to be here. His open and 
 manly directness of speech won him the confidence of all. 
 
 I have spoken of my departed friend, Mr. MOFFATT, as a 
 citizen, as a legislator, and a friend. As to what he was to 
 his own home and to his family is not for any to tell, for 
 none can tell. The hearts most bereaved by his death know 
 not their own bitterness only, but the rich treasure they 
 have held and still hold, forever. It is not for even a friend 
 to enter that sanctuary. 
 
 His faith was unfaltering in everything fundamental to 
 Christianity, and he held with a firm grasp the old and the 
 true, and his daily life was the. best possible proof of his 
 sincerity. 
 
 Happy for us if we each, as the shadows lengthen, are 
 filled with the hope which sustained him, and as the even 
 ing draws on can as serenely give up our account for the 
 day s work, feeling that it has been faithfully done. 
 
 Mr. PALMER. I now move the adoption of the resolu 
 tions. 
 
 The resolutions were agreed to unanimously. 
 
 Mr. PALMER. I move, as a further mark of respect to the 
 memory of our deceased friend, that the Senate adjourn. 
 
 The motion was agreed to ; and the Senate 
 H. Mis. 577 5 
 

 LOAN DEPT 
 
 TIME 
 
J.S. 5oth 
 Cong,,, 1st 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
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