MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 
 
 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 CHARLES FREDERICK CRISP 
 
 (LATE A REPRESENTATIVE FROM GEORGIA), 
 
 DELIVERED IN THE 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND SENATE, 
 
 FIFTY-FOURTH CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF CONGRESS 
 
 WASHINGTON : 
 
 GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
 I8 97 . 
 
Cq 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE 5 
 
 MEMORIAL ADDRESSES BY 
 
 Mr. HENRY G. TURNER, of Georgia 8 
 
 Mr. DAVID BREMNER HENDERSON, of Iowa 10 
 
 Mr. THOMAS CLENDINEN CATCHINGS, of Mississippi. 12 
 
 Mr. JOHN DALZ^LL, of Pennsylvania 24 
 
 Mr. JAMES DANIEL RICHARDSON, of Tennessee 28 
 
 Mr. JOHN W. MADDOX, of Georgia 35 
 
 Mr. BENTON McMiLLiN, of Tennessee 40 
 
 Mr. AMOS J. CUMMINGS, of New York 44 
 
 Mr. BINGER HERMANN, of Oregon 49 
 
 Mr. NELSON DINGLEY, Jr. , of Maine 53 
 
 Mr. DAVID A. DE ARMOND, of Missouri 57 
 
 Mr. HUGH ANDERSON DINSMORE, of Arkansas 63 
 
 Mr. CHARLES F. BUCK, of Louisiana 68 
 
 Mr. CHARLES M. COOPER, of Florida 74 
 
 Mr. CLAUDE A. SWANSON, of Virginia 77 
 
 Mr. JOHN FLETCHER L,ACEY, of Iowa 80 
 
 Mr. JOHN C. BELL, of Colorado 86 
 
 Mr. JOSEPH WHEELER, of Alabama 89 
 
 Mr. FRED A. WOODARD, of North Carolina. 91 
 
 Mr. FERNANDO C. L,AYTON, of Ohio 95 
 
 Mr. JOHN H. BANKHEAD, of Alabama 99 
 
 Mr. JOHN I/HJNDES MCL,AURIN, of South Carolina. . . 103 
 
 Mr. JAMES B. McCREARY, of Kentucky io& 
 
 3 
 
4 Contents. 
 
 PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE Continued. Page. 
 MEMORIAL ADDRESSES BY 
 
 Mr. GEORGE L. WELLINGTON, of Maryland 112 
 
 Mr. PARISH CARTER TATE, of Georgia 117 
 
 Mr. LEONIDAS F. LIVINGSTON, of Georgia 124 
 
 Mr. THOMAS G. I,AWSON, of Georgia 127 
 
 Mr. ELIJAH ADAMS MORSE, of Massachusetts 133 
 
 Mr. HENRY ST. GEORGE TUCKER, of Virginia 137 
 
 Mr. WARREN BREWSTER HOOKER, of New York. ... 141 
 
 Mr. CHARLES L. BARTLETT, of Georgia 143 
 
 PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE 161 
 
 MEMORIAL ADDRESSES BY 
 
 Mr. JOHN B. GORDON, of Georgia . . 164 
 
 Mr. JACOB H. GALLINGER, of New Hampshire 169 
 
 Mr. ARTHUR P. GORMAN, of Maryland 171 
 
 Mr. JAMES H. BERRY, of Arkansas 176 
 
 Mr. ROGER Q. MILLS, of Texas 180 
 
 Mr. THOMAS HENRY CARTER, of Montana 184 
 
 Mr. JOHN WARWICK DANIEL, of Virginia 186 
 
 Mr. AUGUSTUS OCTAVIUS BACON, of Georgia 192 
 
DEATH OF CHARLES FREDERICK CRISP, 
 
 PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE. 
 
 DECEMBER 7, 1896. 
 
 Mr. TURNER, of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, it is my painful 
 duty to have to announce to the House the untimely death 
 of my colleague CHARLES FREDERICK CRISP, late a mem 
 ber of this body, which occurred in the city of Atlanta, 
 Ga., on the 23d day of October last. 
 
 At some later day in the session I will ask the House 
 to appoint a time when his friends here may pay fitting 
 tribute to his distinguished character and to his eminent 
 public services. At the present time I offer the following 
 resolutions for immediate consideration. 
 
 The Clerk read as follows : 
 
 Resolved, That the House has heard with profound sorrow 
 of the death of Hon. CHARLES FREDERICK CRISP, late a Rep 
 resentative from the State of Georgia. 
 
 Resolved, That as a mark of respect to his memory the 
 House do now adjourn. 
 
 Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to 
 the Senate. 
 
 The resolutions were agreed to; and accordingly the 
 House (at 3 o clock and 45 minutes p. m.) adjourned until 
 12 o clock to-morrow (Tuesday). 
 
MEMORIAL ADDRESSES. 
 
 JANUARY 16, 1897. 
 
 The SPEAKER. The Clerk will report the special order. 
 The Clerk read as follows: 
 
 Resolved, That Saturday, January 16, 1897, beginning at i 
 o clock p. m. , be set apart for paying a tribute to the memory 
 of the Hon. CHARLES F. CRISP, late a member of the House of 
 Representatives from the State of Georgia. 
 
 Mr. TURNER, of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I offer the reso 
 lutions which I send to the Clerk s desk. 
 
 The SPEAKER. The gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Turner] 
 offers the following resolutions, which will be reported by 
 the Clerk of the House. 
 
 The Clerk read as follows: 
 
 Resolved, That the business of the House be now suspended, 
 that opportunity may be given for tributes to the memory of 
 Hon. CHARLES F. CRISP, late a Representative from the State 
 of Georgia. 
 
 Resolved, That as a mark of respect to the memory of the 
 deceased, and in recognition of his eminent abilities as a distin 
 guished public servant, the House, at the conclusion of these 
 memorial proceedings, shall stand adjourned. 
 
 Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to 
 the Senate. 
 
 Resolved, That the Clerk be instructed to communicate a 
 copy of these resolutions to the family of the deceased. 
 
 7 
 
8 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. TURNER. 
 
 Mr. TURNER. Mr. Speaker, CHARLES FREDERICK CRISP 
 was born on the 2gth of January, 1845. ^ n tne month of 
 May, 1861, while he was still but a lad, he enlisted in the 
 Army of the Confederate States, and his service was thence 
 forth rendered in the State of Virginia. At the end of the 
 war, when he had. still not reached his majority, he studied 
 law, and was admitted to the bar in 1866. Soon thereafter 
 he became solicitor-general of his judicial circuit, was 
 reappointed to that honorable station, and then became 
 judge of the superior court, in which high station he served 
 for five years, and was then nominated for Congress. 
 
 Appearing on this floor during the Forty-eighth Con 
 gress, he was reelected consecutively six times. He became 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives during two terms, 
 and during the present Congress, by the nomination of his 
 party associates, he became leader of his party. 
 
 During a prior Congress, and while he was Speaker, the 
 governor of Georgia tendered him an ad interim appoint 
 ment to the Senate of the United States, to fill the vacancy 
 caused by the death of the late Gen. Alfred H. Colquitt. 
 That honorable position he declined. During the present 
 Congress he became a candidate for a regular term in the 
 Senate, to begin on the 4th day of March next, and in the 
 early part of October last a general assembly was chosen in 
 Georgia, which would in a few weeks, with practical una 
 nimity, have elected him to the Senate. He died on the 23d 
 day of October last, a few weeks after his last great success. 
 
 The remarkable eminence which he attained seems 
 greater when contrasted with his humble beginning. His 
 
Address of Mr. Turner. 9 
 
 training in the schools was limited. While yet a youth he 
 joined the Confederate Army, and had not reached his 
 majority when the war ceased. From a military prison he 
 went forth to the struggle of life, without education and 
 without resources, amid a people prostrated by a great 
 defeat in war and impoverished by its desolating conse 
 quences. He was the foster child of adversity. In the 
 camp, on the march, and in battle he learned lessons more 
 difficult than those taught in the schools. There is not in 
 all the varied round of human experience a more pathetic 
 trial than that of a tender youth suddenly subjected to the 
 horrors of war. But the lad who can bear strain and endure 
 privation and face danger and death may in peace climb 
 the dizzy heights to an elevation next to the highest in the 
 world. His great career ended in his prime. His bright 
 day closed at its noontide. He left this last field of honor 
 without the sting of defeat and amid the cheers of victory. 
 But, sir, between my late colleague and myself there was a 
 wide difference of opinion. I leave to others the pleasant 
 task of delineating the traits of character which endeared 
 him to his friends, and of recounting the steps by which he 
 rose to the highest places of power and responsibility. 
 
io Lijc ami Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. HENDERSON. 
 
 Mr. HENDERSON. Mr. Speaker, a sad duty engages our 
 attention to-day. We are here to review the life, services, 
 and character of our distinguished colleague and ex- 
 Speaker of this House, CHARLES FREDERICK CRISP. 
 
 To his own delegation will be assigned the sacred duty 
 of pointing out historically the leading actions of his life. 
 I will briefly consider Mr. CRISP from the standpoint of 
 my personal acquaintance and relationship with him as a 
 member of this body. 
 
 This House presents in a marked degree evidence of 
 the great law of change affecting all the relations of life. 
 Mr. CRISP commenced his service as a member of this 
 body in the Forty-eighth Congress. When he died there 
 were only twelve members in the Fifty-fourth Congress 
 who had served continuously with him from the time he 
 entered Congress, and twenty in the same Congress who 
 served with him in the Forty-eighth. He was one of 
 seven elected to the Fifty-fourth Congress who were 
 removed by death. These facts suggest the uncertainty of 
 all life s positions and of life itself. 
 
 My relations with Mr. CRISP have been somewhat singu 
 lar. He was the first member of Congress with whom 
 I held heated debate, and I believe I was the last with 
 whom he had debate developing some of the feelings so 
 often incident to our legislative life, but leaving no scar. 
 Our relations always, saving our first experience, were of 
 the most friendly character, and our first sharp encounter 
 taught us, I believe, to respect each other. 
 
 Though never intimate with Mr. CRISP in that sense 
 
Address of Mr, Henderson. 1 1 
 
 which means comradeship, so necessary to my life, we were 
 always good friends, enjoying- thoroughly cordial relations 
 and mutual respect. I soon learned that his word once 
 given to me was sacredly kept. 
 
 He was a man of high honor, and self-respect was a 
 dominating element in his character. 
 
 He was truly a strong, deep, and earnest character. He 
 was never a trifler. 
 
 He was kind and gentle in his manner, so much so in 
 ordinary relations that one often wondered at the high and 
 intense feeling which at times he was capable of swiftly 
 reaching. 
 
 Some are constituted so as to move through life on a 
 dead, cold level ; others sound all the notes of life, reveling 
 in its sunlight, suffering in its shadows. The greatest 
 lives know both storm and rest. The Pacific Ocean can 
 woo to its waters, but can drive in terror to its shores. 
 
 These thoughts come from a study of Mr. CRISP in 
 my fourteen years relationship with him on this floor. 
 He had in his nature the sunlight and the shadow, the 
 tempest and the calm. 
 
 Entering the Confederate Army as a mere boy of about 
 1 6, he soon learned how very serious a matter life was. It 
 tempered the good metal until it was capable of great 
 work, and the boy without a boyhood was soon a powerful 
 and aggressive man. His strength and ability invited the 
 confidence of the people, who soon elevated him, step after 
 step, until, in this body, he reached a position of power 
 second only to that of the Chief Executive. 
 
 When death took him, he had not yet attained the fullest 
 stature of his mind. 
 
 The great Georgian sleeps after a hard, active, tireless 
 summer s work and before the autumn s harvest had come. 
 
1 2 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. CATCHINGS. 
 
 Mr. CATCHINGS. Mr. Speaker, it has long been a custom 
 with the House of Representatives, upon the death of one 
 of its members, to set apart a day upon whic^i addresses may 
 be delivered for the purpose of placing upon its records in 
 suitable form evidence of the esteem in which he was held. 
 It is exceedingly difficult to prepare remarks for such pur 
 pose which shall be in all particulars appropriate. We are 
 prone to indulge in fulsome eulogy, or, in the effort to 
 avoid that, to fall short of paying just tribute. On this 
 occasion, to me the task is peculiarly trying. The rela 
 tions between CHARLES FREDERICK CRISP and myself 
 were so intimate, my affection for him was so great, and 
 my estimate of his character and abilities so high, that 
 I shrink from speaking of him as they would naturally 
 prompt me to do. The strong qualities which enabled him 
 to grasp and retain the unchallenged leadership of his party 
 in the House of Representatives, and which twice gave him 
 its Speakership, manifested themselves in his boyhood, and 
 steadily grew in potency and brilliancy up to the very hour 
 of his death. He entered the Confederate Army when a 
 slender lad but 16 years of age. Notwithstanding his 
 extreme youth, he was soon elected to a lieutenancy of his 
 company. Had he not been made a prisoner of war in 
 May, 1864, and confined as such until hostilities had ended, 
 there can be little doubt that he would have earned and 
 achieved still higher and more responsible rank. Within 
 five years from his admission to the bar he was appointed 
 solicitor-general for one of the judicial circuits of his State, 
 and in 1873 was reappointed for a term of four years. 
 
Address of Mr, Catchings. 13 
 
 His advancement in his profession was so rapid that in 
 1877 he was appointed jndge of the superior court of the 
 same circuit, and he was afterwards twice elected to that 
 office. In 1882 he was elected a Representative in Con- 
 oress, and was six times successively reelected. Almost 
 
 C J 
 
 from the day of his entrance into the House of Represent 
 atives he was recognized as one of its foremost members. 
 In the Forty-ninth Congress, as a member of the Committee 
 on Commerce, in the absence of its distinguished chairman, 
 he had in charge the bill to create the Interstate Commerce 
 Commission and define its jurisdiction and powers. That 
 measure elicited prolonged, earnest, and serious debate, and 
 the great skill and ability displayed by him in defending it 
 and securing its passage gave him rank among the strongest 
 and most useful Representatives. He had already, in the 
 Forty-eighth Congress, given evidence of that remarkable 
 grasp and perception of parliamentary law which was speed 
 ily to develop until he became one of its acknowledged 
 masters. It will be remembered that the seat of Hon. John 
 G. Carlisle, the Speaker of the Fiftieth Congress, was con 
 tested. This made it improper that the members of the 
 Committee on Elections, which would be charged with the 
 duty of examining into and reporting upon this contest, 
 should be appointed by him. It was therefore provided 
 that the committee should be chosen directly by the House 
 of Representatives. 
 
 Hon. Henry G. Turner, of Georgia, then as now an 
 honored Representative, had been chairman of that com 
 mittee in the Forty-ninth Congress, and in that capacity 
 had rendered most useful and distinguished service. He 
 declined to serve longer on that committee. Mr. CRISP S 
 power in debate, professional acquirements, and aptitude 
 
14 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 for parliamentary management had been so notable that, as 
 by one impulse, his Democratic colleagues, though against 
 his will, selected him for the chairmanship of that com 
 mittee. His work in connection with it was of such high 
 order that when the Fiftieth Congress ended, he had greatly 
 advanced himself in public estimation as well as in the 
 regard of his colleagues. In the Fifty-first Congress, which 
 had passed under Republican control, he was the senior 
 member of the Democratic minority of .the Committee on 
 Elections. Though not holding a committee assignment 
 of such character as according to the precedents invested 
 him with the highest rank, yet, immediately upon Mr. 
 Carlisle s retirement from this body to occupy the seat in 
 the Senate to which he had been elected, by sheer force of 
 his remarkable fitness he immediately forged to the front 
 and seized the actual, substantial leadership of his party, 
 which was never wrested from him until he had closed his 
 eyes in his last and eternal sleep. No good purpose can be 
 subserved by recalling the fierce and frequent struggles 
 which marked the stormy career of that Congress. 
 
 It is sufficient to say that this gallant and courageous 
 leader was ever in the thick of the fight, battling bravely 
 for the right as he saw, it, and that amid all the heat and 
 fury of the turbulent scenes then enacted his mind was ever 
 clear, his aims definite, his purpose unfaltering, and his 
 poise of character so magnificent and superb as to chal 
 lenge the respect and admiration of the whole country. 
 When it became known that the Fifty-second Congress 
 would have a Democratic majority, he was at once a candi 
 date for the Speakership. His candidacy was not of his 
 own making. It came about upon the insistence of a large 
 number of his party colleagues, who, witnessing -his steady 
 
Address of Mr. Catchings. 15 
 
 growth, the wonderful versatility he had displayed in the 
 discharge of every duty to which he had been assigned, and 
 above all the masterful qualities which had distinguished 
 his conduct amid the trying events of the Fifty-first Con 
 gress, desired that he should be elevated to the Speakership 
 and charged with the grave responsibilities pertaining to 
 that exalted office. The contest over the Speakership of 
 the Fifty-second Congress was one of the most memorable 
 in the annals of the House of Representatives. With no 
 external influences to aid him, victory came to him through 
 the sheer force of his strong and attractive personality and 
 the profound admiration excited by the eminent services 
 he had rendered his party under circumstances which dis 
 played to advantage his great and forceful qualities. Dur 
 ing this contest bitter attacks were made upon him from 
 many sources, but his character was so lofty and his quali 
 fications so conspicuous that the shafts of misrepresentation 
 and calumny fell harmless at his feet. He did not regard 
 his election as in any sense a personal triumph, and I know 
 that he entered upon the duties of the office of Speaker 
 with as pure and patriotic emotions as ever animated the 
 human breast. 
 
 The difficulties and responsibilities attendant upon that 
 office are known to few outside of this Chamber, and in all 
 their details they are not fully appreciated by many of us 
 here. The Speaker appoints all the committees of the 
 House. This power of appointment, conferred upon him 
 by our rules, enables him in a large measure to give color 
 to all important legislation which may be proposed by the 
 several committees. The pressure upon him by members 
 of the House for such assignments as their ambition or 
 tastes may lead them to desire is persistent and tremendous. 
 
1 6 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 While he can not and should not turn an indifferent ear to 
 the claims of his friends and supporters, yet he must not 
 forget that the responsibility for legislation rests largely 
 upon him, and that beyond certain limitations, if he would 
 have the best work done, he can not afford to be influenced 
 by personal considerations or the inclinations of friendship. 
 And in any event, even where all considerations are equal, 
 his appointments can not be shaped so as to satisfy the 
 expectations or desires of all. 
 
 Under the rules of the House, very few of the commit 
 tees have the privilege of calling up for consideration at 
 any time bills reported by them. Committees not possess 
 ing this privilege, and members interested in bills reported 
 by them, are constantly importuning the Speaker to allow 
 such measures to be acted upon. This imposes upon him 
 the burden of examining these bills, passing judgment 
 upon them, and determining whether or not he will inter 
 vene to secure their consideration by the House. In the 
 very nature of things he feels the necessity in the large 
 majority of instances of this sort to refuse his intervention. 
 While the Speaker is not so separated from the member 
 ship of the House as that, as in the case of the Speaker of the 
 British House of Commons, he must cease to be a partisan 
 when he assumes the duties of his office, yet as to all ques 
 tions not involved in party policy it is incumbent upon him 
 to deal fairly and impartially with all the members of the 
 House. A man so constituted that he can not as to such 
 non partisan questions be absolutely just and equitable is 
 not qualified for the office of Speaker. No man can satis 
 factorily discharge the functions of the Speakership who 
 is not a good judge of human nature. He must under 
 stand that there are "many men of many minds;" that 
 
Address of Mr. Catching s. 17 
 
 peculiarities of temperament exist among the members of 
 this House as elsewhere; that some of them are insistent and 
 persistent, while others are diffident and shrinking; that 
 some are extremely sensitive and easily wounded, while 
 others are phlegmatic and not of so fine a mold; that self- 
 assertiveness and loquacity are not always, or even usually, 
 accompanied by the best ability, and finally that, generally 
 stated, each member is fairly striving to serve his constit 
 uency according to the lights before him. 
 
 How well Mr. CRISP met the requirements of the 
 Speaker s office there are many here and elsewhere who 
 can attest. His kindly and patient consideration of all 
 requests made of him was notorious. He was always 
 accessible, and neither by word nor manner gave offense 
 to those whose official duties compelled them to approach 
 him. Amid all the pressure upon him, even after his 
 health was broken and the burdens of the office seemed 
 more than he could bear, as Clarendon said of the great 
 Hampden, He preserved his own natural cheerfulness and 
 vivacity, and above all a flowing courtesy to all men." 
 Indeed, his nature was so kindly and his desire to possess 
 the esteem and friendship of his colleagues so intense, that 
 even when it must have cost him great effort he would 
 assume that cordial manner and cheery smile so familiar to 
 all of us in this Chamber. In dispensing the privileges 
 at his disposal regarding the proceedings of the House 
 he was absolutely impartial, and neither friend nor foe 
 ever suspected that he had not received from him fair and 
 equitable treatment. 
 
 As a presiding officer he has had few equals. His pres 
 ence in the Speaker s chair was so fine and manly, his 
 voice so full and resonant, and his alertness and power in 
 H. Doc. 255 2 
 
i8 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 dealing with parliamentary problems so manifest, that it 
 was always a pleasure to onlookers to witness the superb 
 manner in which he presided over our deliberations. Mis 
 understandings and collisions between members sometimes 
 occur to mar the proceedings here, and of these he had his 
 share, as was to be expected in view of his strong character 
 and prominent position. But he never sought to provoke 
 these troubles, and I have many times heard him express 
 the keenest regret that he had been drawn into them. He 
 was a very ambitious man, but his ambition was to render 
 honorable service to his country, and not to exalt himself. 
 He believed in the teachings, principles, and traditions of 
 the Democratic party, and therefore was an earnest partisan. 
 But his partisanship was not of that cheap quality which 
 eternally proclaims itself lest it be overlooked, nor was it 
 ever displayed in such manner as to be personally offensive 
 to others. While his opinion was firm upon all subjects 
 that he had investigated, he was more than scrupulous in 
 yielding respect to the judgment of those who differed with 
 him. He recognized the right of all men to think for 
 themselves, and imputed no improper motives or lack of 
 ability to those who had reached conclusions and expressed 
 opinions different from his own. 
 
 This fairness upon his part was ever displayed in his offi 
 cial capacity as Speaker as well as in private intercourse. 
 During the extra session of 1893, when the House of Rep 
 resentatives was called upon to deal with the important 
 financial question then presented for its consideration, 
 although he was an earnest advocate of the free coinage of 
 silver, his official conduct was so fair and exempt from all 
 personal bias or prejudice that no man, whatever his views 
 may have been, could have pointed to any word or act of 
 
Address of Mr. Catching s. 19 
 
 his upon which to base complaint or criticism. And as in 
 this instance, so it ever was with him in dealing with great 
 public questions. I do not hesitate to affirm that through 
 out his Congressional career, from its beginning to the end, 
 he displayed the highest qualities of leadership, and that 
 he was ever guided by aspirations and sentiments altogether 
 ennobling. -The distinguished Speaker of this House, in a 
 telegram of condolence sent upon his death to his bereaved 
 widow, truly said that his loss is the country s. He had 
 rendered his country great and valuable service, and, being 
 yet in the prime of life, he had abundant resources upon 
 which, if life had been spared, he would freely and proudly 
 have drawn in its interest and behalf. 
 
 His services as Speaker of the Fifty-second Congress were 
 so notable and satisfactory to his party that he was reelected 
 to the Speakership of the Fifty-third Congress without oppo 
 sition, and in the Fifty-fourth Congress, which had passed 
 under Republican control, he was complimented by the 
 unanimous vote of his party associates for that office. Dur 
 ing the Fifty-third Congress he was tendered by the gov 
 ernor of Georgia the appointment as Senator to fill the 
 vacancy created by the death of Senator Colquitt. It was 
 no small part of his ambition to represent his State in that 
 august body. Accompanying this tender came telegrams 
 from distinguished citizens of Georgia who aspired to the 
 vacant seat in the Senate, pledging him that if he would 
 accept the appointment he should have no opposition for 
 election before the legislature. He did not feel that under 
 the existing circumstances he would be justified in vacating 
 the Speakership, and therefore promptly put aside the 
 tempting object of his ambition. In talking with him on 
 the subject I suggested that the opportunity to attain a seat 
 
2O Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 in the Senate might never come to him again, and insisted 
 that he was not called upon to perform such an act of self- 
 abnegation. Other friends tendered him similar advice. 
 He could not view the situation in that light, and so, plac 
 ing country and party above self, he declined the great 
 honor, and so far as outward appearances indicated without 
 the slightest pain or even regret. And yet I knew, as many 
 of his friends did, that he desired almost above all things 
 to be a Senator from the State of Georgia. No finer act 
 was ever performed by a public man, and it is in itself 
 ample proof of the nobility of his soul and the loftiness of 
 his character. The people of his State, remembering his 
 unselfish sacrifice, upon the announcement by Senator 
 Gordon in the spring of last year that he would not 
 seek reelection, promptly determined that Mr. CRISP should 
 be his successor, and although considerable effort was made 
 to organize opposition, yet the admiration and respect of 
 the people for him was so unbounded that it was swept 
 away like chaff before the wind ; and at the general pri 
 maries held throughout the State in the summer and fall of 
 1896 he was chosen as the Democratic nominee by a sub 
 stantially unanimous vote. But the legislature of Georgia 
 was not permitted to ratify this verdict of the people by 
 investing him with formal title to a seat in the United 
 States vSenate. 
 
 The disorder from which he had long been suffering 
 suddenly struck him down on the 23d day of October, 
 1896, and, as with Moses of old, when in sight of the goal 
 of his ambition, his noble spirit took its flight from all 
 earthly scenes. The deep and widespread regret which at 
 once, through telegrams, letters, resolutions, and otherwise, 
 manifested itself in all sections of the country gave 
 
Address of Air. Catching s. 21 
 
 evidence of the profound impression created throughout 
 the United States by his eminent public services and of the 
 high and affectionate esteem in which he was almost uni 
 versally held. In the State of Georgia, upon which his 
 splendid career had reflected such honor, the grief of the 
 people knew no bounds, and was manifested by many and 
 impressive public ceremonials. For a time his body lay in 
 state in the capitol at Atlanta, where multitudes of both 
 sexes and of all ages and colors thronged to view it. It 
 was then carried to his home in Americus upon a special 
 train, escorted by the whole body of State officials and a 
 delegation of judges in behalf of the judiciary of the State. 
 At all the stations along the route vast crowds gathered, 
 in many instances accompanied by military organizations, 
 and often insisting upon having the casket opened that 
 they might once more behold the features of their honored 
 dead. In Americus, his home, where he was revered by 
 his neighbors for his great achievements and loved for his 
 affectionate and generous nature, upon every building, 
 whether private or public, emblems of mourning were 
 profusely displayed. Large delegations from every com 
 munity in his Congressional district gathered there to par 
 ticipate in the funeral rites. On the 25th day of October, 
 amid the tears and lamentations of that vast assemblage, 
 our honored friend and distinguished colleague was ten 
 derly laid away in his last resting place. 
 
 I have not yet spoken of his domestic relations; indeed, I 
 scarce know how to speak of them. They may be summed 
 up in the statement that he was a devoted husband and 
 a loving father. I doubt if in his family circle a harsh 
 word or rude sentiment ever escaped his lips. When with 
 his wife and children, his sweetness of temper, gentle 
 
22 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp, 
 
 care, and kindly consideration were beyond all power of 
 description. 
 
 The character of our distinguished friend easily accounts 
 for the true and real leadership acquired and so long 
 retained by him in the House of Representatives and else 
 where. I say elsewhere, for, as I have already pointed out, 
 he was under all conditions and circumstances a true and 
 real leader. He was wholly exempt from every species of 
 charlatanry. He had no trick of voice or deportment to 
 distinguish him from others. He never strutted or posed 
 or affected an air of wisdom or assumed a patronizing man 
 ner. In social life he never discoursed, but contented him 
 self with conversation, and that was always frank and 
 polite, and especially marked by kindly consideration for 
 others. He did not need to be bolstered up by such cheap 
 and tawdry devices. For affectations of all sorts indeed he 
 had great contempt, often saying that they are the sure 
 concomitants of weakness and vulgarity. His official con 
 duct was ever courteous and dignified. Though possessing 
 great faculty for retort in debate, and making use of it 
 whenever it seemed to be the most effective weapon, yet it 
 was of the kind that, though smarting at the time, left no 
 permanent sting behind. His sagacity was such that he 
 rarely took a false step in the management of the cause he 
 had in hand. His success is largely attributable to the fact 
 that he lost sight of himself entirely while discharging his 
 official duties. I doubt if he was ever suspected of perform 
 ing for the sake of self-aggrandizement. His integrity of 
 purpose, so far as I know, was never questioned, and I am 
 sure that it could never have been successfully impeached. 
 The traits I have described, coupled with industry, unceas 
 ing vigilance, exceptional power in debate, and a mental 
 
Address of Mr. Catchings. 23 
 
 poise which nothing could disturb, commanded the admira 
 tion, respect, and confidence of his party colleagues, and 
 caused them instinctively to turn to him for advice and 
 counsel. They knew that he faithfully endeavored to serve 
 his country and party; that no desire for personal prefer 
 ment ever marred his purpose or directed his conduct; that 
 he was alert and sagacious, studious and thoughtful, care 
 ful and prudent. Such a man could not fail to be a leader, 
 no matter what might be his environments. My personal 
 devotion to him was great, and I had abundant cause to 
 know that it was fully and cordially reciprocated. It gives 
 me infinite pleasure to reflect that the friendship between 
 us was never impaired, and that to the very last I was the 
 recipient of his love and confidence. With me no other 
 can take his place. 
 
24 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. DALZELL 
 
 Mr. DALZELL. Mr. Speaker, it seems difficult of belief 
 that, while we are engaged from day to day in the routine 
 of Congressional life and strife, one who but lately was in 
 the forefront of every battle on this floor is sleeping his last 
 sleep in the soil of his Georgian home. It requires our 
 positive knowledge of a melancholy fact to persuade us that 
 a glance across the aisle will not disclose his presence in his 
 accustomed seat. His cheery voice, his kindly look, the 
 warm grasp of his hand, I can hardly realize that they may 
 not be with me on the morrow. But they will not. He 
 who was the leader of his party here and a potential factor 
 when the first session of this Congress ended, ere its second 
 session began, at the call of Providence, joined the great 
 majority who have passed over the river and are resting 
 under the shade of the trees. 
 
 The thoughts suggested by an occasion like this, while 
 they are of the most solemn, interesting, and suggestive 
 character, are nevertheless trite and commonplace in their 
 expression. True, they bring us face to face with the 
 unsolved and insoluble problem of immortality. But death 
 is the common destiny of all. Men have been dying since 
 the world began; and with each death the same queries have 
 been made and have failed of answer. There is no oracle 
 outside of Revelation to make reply. What that country 
 is, or whether any, to which we all are bound no man shall 
 know save the emigrant thereto. From him no answer 
 comes; and philosophy and speculation are* vain. There is 
 no retreat save to the faith so aptly defined by the great 
 
Address of Mr. Dal 2 ell. 25 
 
 apostle as k the substance of things hoped for, the evidence 
 of things not seen. 
 
 In bringing my humble but sincere tribute to the memory 
 of CHARLES FREDERICK CRISP, T shall not undertake to 
 recite at any length the history of his life. Others more 
 familiar with its details will do that, and they will do it 
 lovingly. The merest outline of it is sufficient to prove 
 him to have been a man of mark. Born to an inheritance 
 of struggle, without the advantages of wealth or influence 
 or great name, his native virtues, and these only, were the 
 factors in the problem of his successful fortune. His edu 
 cation was only that of the common schools the common 
 schools that so many times have been the grand univer 
 sities productive of the highest type of American citizen 
 ship. The greatest of modern English poets has idealized 
 such character in his conception of 
 
 Some divinely gifted man, 
 Whose life in low estate began 
 And on a simple village green; 
 
 Who breaks his birth s invidious bar, 
 And grasps the skirts of happy chance, 
 And breasts the blows of circumstance, 
 
 And grapples with his evil star; 
 Who makes by force his merit known, 
 
 And lives to clutch the golden keys, 
 
 To mold a mighty state s decrees, 
 And shape the whisper of the throne; 
 And moving up from high to higher, 
 
 Becomes on Fortune s crowning slope 
 
 The pillar of a people s hope. 
 
 The language of eulogy, Mr. Speaker, is too apt to be 
 the language of extravagance, and the extravagant eulogist 
 overleaps his purpose. I would avoid that danger, and, 
 putting aside so much of the poet s language as would be 
 extravagant here, will simply say that the boy of nameless 
 birth, who by his own inherent strength became the Speaker 
 
26 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 of the House of Representatives of the American people, 
 has a right to be ranked as one who made by force his merit 
 known, and lived to mold a mighty State s decrees. 
 
 Into the panorama of our friend s life there are woven 
 many pictures. From a schoolboy he became a soldier; 
 left home and kindred to follow the flag that stood to him 
 for the right. That was not our flag. From our stand 
 point, he was mistaken; from his, he was a patriot. The 
 time has long since gone by when dispute over that ques 
 tion may be had. And when he was borne, amid the 
 lamentations of his people, to his last resting place, he could 
 not have had (and I doubt not he himself would have said 
 so) a more welcome shroud than the Stars and Stripes the 
 symbol of an indissoluble Union cemented in blood. 
 
 In civil life, with great distinction, he illustrated the ver 
 satility of American genius and the grand possibilities of 
 American citizenship. It is characteristic of the American 
 that he is a man of many sides. A possible ruler as well 
 as one ruled a factor in the creation and maintenance 
 of enterprises which under our system of government de 
 pend upon individual effort instead of governmental his 
 education is that of experience, and is practical and varied. 
 The life of our deceased friend proves the truth of this 
 observation, 
 
 He was a lawyer of mark first, solicitor-general of his 
 circuit; then clothed with the spotless ermine of a judge. 
 It is said of him that in both of these capacities he measured 
 up to the full stature of a perfect manhood. Retiring from 
 his judgeship, he became the representative of his State 
 on the floor of this House. Here there is no need to sound 
 his praises. They are part and parcel of the plain records 
 of the American Congress. 
 
Address of Mr. Dalzell. 27 
 
 During his period of service many questions of national 
 importance enlisted legislative attention. His attitude with 
 respect thereto was the attitude of his party; and he was 
 ever at the fore in the assertion and maintenance of that 
 party s principles. All honor to him for that. All honor, 
 say I always, to the man of strong and honest convictions 
 who has the courage to stand by them. 
 
 In the assertion and maintenance of his chosen beliefs he 
 was ever a leader. He possessed the elements of leader 
 ship. He was bold, aggressive, logical, convincing. He 
 was inspiring; men loved to follow him. He was as brave 
 in defeat as in victory. His leadership asserted itself; and 
 by the choice of his party during two Congresses he pre 
 sided with dignity in the great office of Speaker of this 
 House. 
 
 I do not say that he was always right. I do not say that 
 he had no faults. Far from it. He was a strong man and 
 gentle; and his faults, such as they were, were overborne 
 immensely by his virtues; and we have now no memory 
 save for the latter. 
 
 And so now, with this simple tribute to his memory so 
 far short of its deserving I leave him to his conspicuous 
 place upon the roll of the nation s illustrious dead among 
 those whom the world delights and will continue to honor. 
 
28 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. RICHARDSON. 
 
 "Mr. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, on the first Monday of 
 December, 1883, as a member of the Forty-eighth Con 
 gress, CHARLES FREDERICK CRISP took his seat in this 
 House. I did not know him until the beginning of the 
 Forty-ninth Congress, the first to which I was elected. 
 Very early after the organization of the Forty-ninth Con 
 gress I was assigned to membership on the Committee on 
 Pacific Railroads, of which he was also a member. In 
 the arrangement of seats at the table of that committee I 
 was placed by his side, and in this way first made his 
 acquaintance. I was a new member, and although he had 
 had then but one term, I found he was entirely familiar 
 with all questions before the committee, and that its able 
 and efficient chairman, Hon. J. W. Throckmorton, of 
 Texas, and the entire committee trusted implicitly his 
 opinions and his judgment. 
 
 The acquaintance thus formed between us grew into per 
 fect friendship. There was never an incident of any kind 
 or character from the date of our first meeting, through all 
 the long years we served together in this House, that 
 marred that friendship. It remained unbroken to his 
 death. The reflection that throughout all his services here 
 I had his esteem, his respect, and his friendship is a source 
 of supreme satisfaction to me. 
 
 As a younger member of the House in service he always 
 gave me his encouragement; as a coworker in committee 
 he gave me his assistance; and finally, when he came to 
 the highest position in the gift of this body, I rejoice 
 to know I enjoyed his confidence and support. Each time 
 
Address of Mr. Richardson. 29 
 
 when he sought the Speakership it was my pleasure to cast 
 my vote for him; and on the occasion of his last nomina 
 tion to that elevated station I had the honor (which I 
 regarded a high one) by his request to formally present his 
 name. On that occasion, among other things, I said: 
 
 The very pleasant task has been given me of placing in nom 
 ination for Speaker of the House in the Fifty-fourth Congress 
 a gentleman who is my warm personal and political friend. It 
 goes without saying that this gentleman has already been 
 named for the position in the hearts of all of us here assem 
 bled, and it only remains for the formal words to be spoken. 
 When the Fifty-second Congress was about to assemble, just 
 four years ago now, there appeared in this Chamber 240 of the 
 chosen representatives of a hopeful and triumphant Democracy. 
 Then it was, after a sharp and brilliant contest, the gentleman 
 I am to name was placed in the Speaker s chair. Two years 
 later, when about 215 members of our party met here for a 
 similar purpose, with the experience of a past Congress to 
 guide us, with full knowledge of his honesty, capacity, and 
 ability, he was by unanimous action and with hearty acclama 
 tion again chosen our leader. We come now a small band of 
 patriots, so far as numbers are concerned, to say again he is our 
 choice for this responsible office, but we recognize the fact that 
 this time our declaration is impotent. 
 
 The roll was called, and he was unanimously chosen as 
 our nominee. 
 
 It will not be expected of me on this occasion to enter 
 into an account in detail of his long and useful career as a 
 member of this House and a citizen of Georgia. This has 
 been done to-day by others of this body by whom these 
 things are said more appropriately than by myself. I shall 
 content myself with speaking of him in a more general 
 way. 
 
 The effort on my part to fully describe the loss the 
 country, and more particularly the Democratic party, 
 
30 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 sustains by his untimely death would be a failure. There 
 is no man in public life to-day who could not better be 
 spared than Mr. CRISP. His place may be taken, but it 
 can not be filled by any other Representative. 
 
 He enjoyed to the fullest capacity the confidence of his 
 party not only on this floor, but throughout the Union. 
 Those who differed with him here and elsewhere enter 
 tained for him marked respect. His powers in debate 
 were of the very highest order, as all can testify who ever 
 thus met him. He was always cool and clear-headed, and 
 often quite aggressive. His courage was unsurpassed, as 
 his supporters and opponents all will bear witness. His 
 honesty was never questioned. His conduct was always 
 above reproach. Called to the responsible and exacting 
 duties of Speaker of the House, he met these responsibil 
 ities and duties in such manner as to reflect not only honor 
 and credit upon himself and his party, but upon the entire 
 country. In the chair he was always amiable, yet always 
 positive. He was gentle, yet stern when duty demanded 
 sternness in the Speaker. He loved to do deeds of kind 
 ness as a presiding officer, but never did them when it was 
 improper to do them or when they were to be done at the 
 expense of his office. He was gifted in the statement of 
 all questions and was a talented parliamentarian. He was 
 at all times composed, and while others grew excited, his 
 self-possession was never for a moment disturbed. He was 
 firm in his administration of the affairs of the House, and 
 at times was quite emphatic, but he was always impartial, 
 considerate, and just. 
 
 There are times, we all know, in this body when, amid 
 the excitement incident to debate on exciting political 
 questions, when party feeling is running high and bitterness 
 
Address of Mr. Richardson. 31 
 
 of expression is freely indulged, to preserve order and 
 fair decorum the occupant of that chair is called upon to 
 exercise and must, in his discretion, exercise great powers. 
 Yet during all his experience through many trying and 
 exciting scenes he never exercised those powers rudely or 
 too arbitrarily. He never on such occasions abused the 
 prerogatives and powers of the Speaker or brought his high 
 office into contempt. 
 
 I would not be understood as saying or insinuating that 
 he was not a partisan, or, more strictly speaking, a party 
 man. He was a strong believer in the principles and tenets 
 of his party, and this with a man of his pronounced con 
 victions and courage necessarily made him more or less a 
 partisan ; but his partisanship was never exerted at the 
 expense of his patriotism. Though a partisan, he was not 
 a fanatic. 
 
 His experience as a lawyer and judge made him conserv 
 ative and fair-minded. He never for one moment permitted 
 his partisanship to provoke in him bitterness of feeling or 
 expression or to render him uncharitable toward his politi 
 cal opponents or those with whom he differed. He never 
 impugned motives when engaged in controversies nor 
 assailed character in partisan warfare. 
 
 His public record covers a period when courage, high 
 ability, and absolute integrity were required to meet grave 
 and important exigencies. It is a proud satisfaction to 
 know that his connection with the history and his appear 
 ance in all these exigencies and emergencies were wholly 
 honorable to himself and conspicuously serviceable to his 
 State and country. 
 
 In unofficial life he was given the best opportunity to 
 display those splendid traits of character which in him 
 
32 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 were so pronounced and distinguished. I have said he was 
 honorable and just as a public man and presiding officer; 
 so he was sincere and true as a private citizen. His was a 
 changeless sincerity. He was never in disguise. He was 
 the soul of honor. He had a contempt for everything low, 
 mean, or sordid. Highly endowed as he was by nature 
 and his own training with so many estimable traits, his 
 influence over men was almost without limit. 
 
 He had no compromise to make with that which was 
 wrong, and held with tenacity to that which he believed 
 to be right. 
 
 He was warm-hearted, genial, and social in his nature. 
 He enjoyed the companionship of friends, and made it both 
 pleasant and agreeable for them to be with -him. High 
 toned, manly, and dignified in manner and conduct, he 
 treated everyone, both high and low, in fashion becoming 
 a gentleman, and expected like treatment in return. 
 
 He was in every respect a most lovable man. 
 
 All who came in close acquaintance or contact with him 
 became his friends and admirers. He was a genuine type 
 of the best element of the South. He was called before 
 his work was finished. He did not die of old age or linger 
 ing delay. His eye was not dim, nor his natural force 
 abated." 
 
 He was an active worker until his life closed. The full 
 measure of his capabilities had not been reached, and his 
 career was incomplete. He was full of ambition, but was 
 never sordid and venal. His ambitions were all noble. 
 
 One of his highest ambitions, as I have heard him say, 
 was to represent Georgia in the United States Senate. Yet 
 he was so self-sacrificing to his conception of the true sense 
 of duty that, when the coveted seat was graciously tendered 
 
Address of Mr. Richardson. 33 
 
 him by the governor of his State, he declined it, saying his 
 first duty was not to himself, but to the House of Repre 
 sentatives, which had honored and trusted him. 
 
 He held the high office of judge before being elected to 
 Congress, and also filled other positions of responsibility 
 and dignity in his State. In the late war between the 
 States he was a courageous soldier. From his early man 
 hood until death ended his bright and enviable career his 
 pathway had been strewn all along with honors, his hands 
 filled with trusts confided to him by his fellow-citizens, 
 his brain continuously occupied in anxious and arduous 
 thought, his body often taxed to the utmost of physical 
 endurance, but his course had been steadily and unfalter 
 ingly upward. 
 
 When the end came, there was no stain upon his name 
 and fame. He died in the maturity of his strength and in 
 the fullness of his powers. The position he attained in his 
 country s pantheon is an elevated one. His name will 
 survive long in the history of his State and the country. 
 
 A familiar writer has said, "There is no antidote against 
 the opium of time," and that "gravestones scarce tell the 
 truth forty years." It is vain for any man to hope for 
 immortality or for a patent from oblivion, for there is noth 
 ing really immortal but immortality. 
 
 It is a fact that only twenty-seven names of the multi 
 tude who lived make up the world s history before the 
 Flood. The greater part of humanity by far must be con 
 tent to be as though they had not been, and be found in 
 the register of God and not in the record of man. 
 
 I will not disparage the names of those who have gone 
 before him in the high office of Speaker of this House. 
 Many of them have been men of great renown and adorned 
 
 H. Doc. 255 3 
 
34 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 that exalted station, but none of them surpassed him in 
 zeal and devotion to duty, none surpassed him in patriot 
 ism, honesty, and courage, and none exceeded him in 
 energy and integrity. The best that can be said of any of 
 them can be truthfully said of him. 
 
 His splendid and successful career was cut off when he 
 was in his highest usefulness, and all must realize the 
 irreparable loss his State and the Republic sustained when 
 his incomplete life was terminated. 
 
 The story of his life illustrates what energy, honesty, 
 integrity, and devotion to duty will achieve. That story 
 will illumine the brightest page not only in Georgia s his 
 tory, but that of our whole country ; and his name, which 
 passes as an invaluable heritage to his grief-stricken widow 
 and children, will be preserved and perpetuated in spotless 
 purity through a long hereafter. 
 
Address of Mr, Maddox. 35 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. MADDOX. 
 
 Mr. MADDOX. Mr. Speaker, the distinguished gentlemen 
 who have preceded me have in eloquent and beautiful 
 language portrayed the life and character of my late dis 
 tinguished colleague as a soldier, citizen, husband, father, 
 lawyer, prosecuting officer, judge, member of Congress, and 
 Speaker of this House, and but little is left for me to say. 
 But there are some thoughts that I desire to suggest on this 
 occasion. What has already been said of his merits, in my 
 opinion, has not been exaggerated. 
 
 I first became acquainted with CHARLES FREDERICK 
 CRISP in Atlanta in 1883, when he was presiding over a 
 State convention for the purpose of nominating a governor, 
 and met him occasionally until I became a member of the 
 Fifty-third Congress, when my relations with him became 
 exceedingly close, and I am proud to say that I enjoyed his 
 confidence to a larger extent perhaps than any of his col 
 leagues. He told me of his political troubles and trials. I 
 knew his ambition to be a Senator from Georgia long before 
 he made that fact known to the world, and when he was 
 offered the appointment by Governor Northen, no one knew 
 better than myself what it cost him to lay aside the goal of 
 his ambition to discharge a patriotic duty that he owed the 
 country; but he did it cheerfully. 
 
 When he determined to become a candidate for Senator, 
 he departed from the usual custom that prevailed in our 
 State in obtaining the voice of the people. Instead of 
 going before the legislature, he demanded of the party 
 machinery in the State that they order a primary election 
 
36 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 for United States Senator, and let every Democrat in 
 Georgia speak for himself; and they did speak, and from 
 the mountains to the seaboard, almost without a dissenting 
 voice, he was chosen. Through his long term of service 
 in this House he was always the champion of the people 
 and their rights, and when he aspired to a seat in the Sen 
 ate, it was to the people he appealed and not to rings and 
 combinations. As high as he stood in the estimation of 
 the people of his State, they never fully appreciated his 
 great ability on the stump. He never had any opposition 
 that amounted to anything in his election in his own dis 
 trict, and, the State never being a doubtful one, therefore, 
 when the great political contests were being fought through 
 out the Union, he was at the command of his party, and 
 wherever the battle raged the warmest there he could be 
 found at the front battling for Democracy. So, when he 
 went to Georgia to discuss the political issues of the day 
 in joint debate with his distinguished fellow-citizen Hon. 
 Hoke Smith and was compelled to discontimie them, some 
 of the newspapers were unkind enough to attribute his with 
 drawal to an inability to cope with his distinguished and 
 able adversary. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, we who have seen him cross swords with 
 the ablest men in the House on every sort of question that 
 it is possible to conceive of in a body like this, and found 
 him to be the equal of any and inferior to none, and who 
 knew of his great power and tact upon the stump before 
 the people, were not prepared to believe this, and when he 
 returned to his post here, I met him at his hotel and found 
 him a sick man, and from what he said I knew that his 
 disease was far more serious than mere throat trouble. I 
 sat beside him in the first session of the Fifty-fourth 
 
Address of Mr. Maddox. 37 
 
 Congress, and I know that after his return from Georgia he 
 never arose to address the House but he complained of the 
 great pain it gave him to do so. After Congress adjourned 
 he went to Asheville, N. C., and spent the summer. There 
 his friends hoped he would regain his health at that famous 
 resort. 
 
 The reports we had from him from time to time led his 
 friends to believe that he had been greatly benefited, and 
 when he returned to Georgia in the early fall, I, at the 
 instance of the citizens of Rome, invited him to address 
 the people of that section on the political issues of the day. 
 He accepted the invitation, and I met him at the depot the 
 evening before he was to speak, and was astonished to see 
 the inroads that disease had made upon him in the few 
 months we had been separated. But, notwithstanding the 
 fact that he was then at death s door, he bore up manfully 
 and attended a reception that was held in his honor and had 
 a hearty handshake and smile for all whom he met. 
 
 He was to speak the next morning at n o clock. I 
 called for him at 10 o clock and was admitted to his room 
 by his distinguished son, Charles R. Crisp, and found 
 him upon the bed writhing in pain. After the paroxysms 
 had to some extent passed off, I begged him not to attempt 
 to make a speech. He said that he was advertised to speak ; 
 the people had come to hear him, and he was determined 
 to make the effort. I accompanied him to the opera house 
 and introduced him to the vast audience that had assembled 
 there. He spoke for one hour and fifteen minutes, and, 
 while he was not as vigorous as I had seen him when 
 addressing the people before, he made one of the clearest, 
 most logical, and powerful arguments that I ever heard 
 from him. This speech was published throughout the 
 
38 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 State and used as a campaign document. And yet, while 
 he was speaking, I would not have been surprised to have 
 seen him fall, and was expecting it; but with sheer force of 
 will power, which he possessed in a wonderful degree, and 
 with death staring him in the face, he coolly, deliberately, 
 and courageously depicted the wrongs of the present finan 
 cial system and told the people how they were to be cor 
 rected. This was his last speech, and it was worthy to be 
 his last. 
 
 The people who heard him were delighted and were 
 looking forward to the time when they could point to him 
 as the Senator from Georgia. But alas! how little did 
 they know of the condition of this man they were so eager 
 to honor. Mr. Speaker, when he was leaving Rome, I 
 begged him not to attempt to speak any more in the 
 campaign. He finally agreed that he would not, though 
 exceedingly anxious to visit several places in the State for 
 that purpose. My opportunities for judging this man were 
 good. I had his confidence. I sat by him. I watched 
 him closely. I compared him with all the distinguished 
 men that I knew or had ever known; and in my judgment, 
 viewed from every phase of life, politically, socially, and 
 otherwise, he was the peer of any and inferior to none. 
 
 When the death angel, with his solemn message, invaded 
 our midst and summoned from earth this pure and spotless 
 statesman, the nation mourned and every heart in Georgia 
 was saddened, every eye was dimmed with tears; for they 
 realized that a great and good man was gone and our 
 country had sustained an irreparable loss cut down in the 
 strength and vigor of his manhood, when his ability and 
 usefulness were recognized all over the country. Though 
 he will mingle with us no more, and we will miss the 
 
Address of Mr. Maddox. 39 
 
 genial smile and the cordial hand clasp, though his voice 
 may be hushed and his chair may be vacant, yet the spirit 
 of patriotism and chivalry which he breathed into the 
 hearts of his countrymen will live for ages. We can not 
 dismiss him to the dark chambers of death. Recognizing 
 his greatness and goodness, we delight to do him honor, 
 and will weave bright garlands gathered from the sweetest 
 flowers of admiration, friendship, and love, and tenderly 
 twine them, a last sad tribute, around his memory. 
 
4O Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. MCMILLIN. 
 
 Mr. McMiLLiN. Mr. Speaker, it is sad to have those at 
 any time of life go from us who are capable of serving their 
 country; but to have the gifted and patriotic taken in the 
 prime of life, when ability is at the zenith, when the enthu 
 siasm of youth is happily blended with the discretion of 
 age, is the greatest loss the State can sustain in the death 
 of the citizen. 
 
 Such was the case in the death of CHARLES FREDERICK 
 CRISP. He had by hard work and superior intellectuality 
 fought the battles of early life and won. He had attained 
 an eminence in his State and country of which any man 
 might be justly proud. He had the respect and confidence 
 of his party and people in a very high degree. His State 
 stood ready to bestow upon him still greater honors. His 
 country was ready to applaud and ratify anything his State 
 did in his honor. A future full of brightness and distinc 
 tion lay before him when the relentless reaper came and 
 claimed the harvest. 
 
 Mr. CRISP was one of the young men of the South who 
 came on the stage just in time to see his country rent asun 
 der and distracted by a fierce fratricidal strife. Brave and 
 enthusiastic, he united his fortunes with those of his State 
 and section and risked his life in behalf of what he thought 
 was right. The close of the war found him still a youth, 
 in a land devastated by the ravages of war, with its agricul 
 ture prostrate, its educational institutions closed, many of 
 its young men buried on the battlefield, and sorrow and 
 waste hanging like a pall over the whole land. Such had 
 
Address of Mr. McMillin. 41 
 
 been the ruin around him that of the 11,000,000 people in 
 the South the combined wealth of 7,000,000 would prob 
 ably not have aggregated half a million dollars. Ruin 
 stalked abroad where prosperity had only a few years before 
 smiled on the whole land. There was everything to dis 
 courage, there was everything to dismay. 
 
 Such were the scenes which surrounded this young man 
 on his return from the greatest war of modern times, and 
 the greatest civil war of history. Like many other noble 
 and strong young men of that day and land, Mr. CRISP saw 
 these discouraging surroundings without dismay. Instead 
 of giving up because his educational advantages had been 
 restricted by these patriotic duties, he cast about him for the 
 best means of restoring his country to its former prosperity 
 and its prestige. He did not give up the struggle of life 
 because the struggle at arms had been unsuccessful. He 
 had confidence in the strength of his people, the resources of 
 his land, and the power and permanency of free institutions. 
 
 Others who have preceded me have given so minute an 
 account of his action at that period, the exertion he made, 
 the success he attained, the trust reposed in him by an 
 appreciating people, that it would be out of place for me to 
 reiterate them; but it may be truly said that he was one of 
 the hard-working and potent agencies in reviving the droop 
 ing spirits of the people around him and in building up the 
 waste places of his loved land. Notwithstanding he died 
 so young, he lived to see the agriculture of his country rise 
 again. He lived to see the sails of commerce whiten the 
 ocean and Gulf around him. He lived to see his own State 
 one of the leaders in the manufacture of the cotton it pro 
 duced. He lived to see the iron smelted in the valleys 
 through which he had recently fought force its way by its 
 
42 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 superiority or cheapness to the markets not only of this 
 country, but many of the markets of the Old World. He 
 lived to see educational institutions spring up anew where 
 they had been paralyzed or destroyed by war. He lived to 
 help return the ballot to his comrades in arms from whom 
 it had been taken, and he lived to be a potent agent in 
 resisting Federal interference with State elections, and 
 in taking from the statute books the laws which tended to 
 give undue influence to Federal power in the elections of 
 the people. 
 
 Although Mr. CRISP died so young, if we judge his life 
 by its activities, its accomplishments, its successes, we may 
 truly say he had a long and eventful public career. I knew 
 him well, having served with him during his whole term in 
 Congress, and being connected with him in committee serv 
 ice at the time of his death. He had a quick perception, a 
 strong understanding, and a genial disposition. Having 
 lived in the same hotel with him for a considerable period, 
 I knew his domestic life as well as his public. The same 
 gentleness in demeanor which characterized him when asso 
 ciating with his fellow-men he carried to the family circle 
 intensified. At the hearthstone, in the midst of his family, 
 he was all that could be expected of the husband and father. 
 As a member of this House, he was watchful and pains 
 taking. As its Speaker, when presiding over the House, 
 he was courteous, ready, and firm. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, in the death of Mr. CRISP his State has 
 lost an able and patriotic public servant, and our institu 
 tions a zealous advocate and a strong defender. To his 
 family every member who served with him and knew him 
 will join in most heartfelt expressions of sympathy. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, the State of Kentucky, soon after the close 
 
Address of Mr. McMillin. 43 
 
 of the Mexican war, erected in the cemetery at her capital 
 a beautiful monument to her sons who fell in that war. 
 The gifted Theodore O Hara recited at its dedication a poem 
 he composed for the purpose. He was afterwards a comrade 
 in arms of Mr. CRISP, and I know not how better I can 
 express the feelings of his associates here from whom he 
 has been taken than by quoting the words of his comrade 
 spoken at that monument : 
 
 Nor wreck, nor change, nor winter s blight, 
 
 Nor time s remorseless doom, 
 Shall dim one ray of holy light 
 
 That gilds your glorious tomb. 
 
44 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. CUMMINGS. 
 
 Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, Tarquin, tyrant of Rome, 
 once signified a desire to cut off the heads of his tallest 
 nobles. If nobility of nature had been the standard, and 
 CHARLES FREDERICK CRISP had lived under his dominion, 
 he would certainly have been in danger. Nature had fash 
 ioned him with the greatest care. In the class for which 
 she had designed him she had left a space very near the 
 head of the list wherein he was to write his name. To fit 
 him for it, however, his training was to be severe and 
 varied. Man, soldier, jurist, he acted his part well ; but it 
 was as orator and statesman that he was to round up his 
 career. The vicissitudes that intervened taught him endur 
 ance, faith, hope, and constancy, so that when he Arrived 
 at his destined service he was fitted for the tremendous 
 encounters he was to endure. 
 
 He entered the lists with extreme modesty. His voice 
 was low and soft, his demeanor graceful, his manner unob 
 trusive. He knelt at the shrine of the people, and rose 
 knighted, the defender of their rights a new champion 
 in the lists. Among the throng he was hardly noticed, 
 but he placed himself in front of his charge. When the 
 poachers of power threatened his preserves, he started up 
 
 Not like the fox that shuns the snare, 
 But lion of the hunt aware. 
 
 In the gi apples that ensued he first leveled the approaches, 
 that the contest might be fair. Then he stormed the cit 
 adel his adversary had set up. With herculean power 
 and unyielding constancy he made every crevice feel his 
 
Address of Mr. Cummings. 45 
 
 incisive assaults, and every salient the unabated force of his 
 well-trained battery. When demolition ensued and all was 
 over, he made the ruin effulgent with instructive lessons. 
 
 I might here close this sketch, satisfied that I had given 
 an outline of the characteristics of this noble man, but 
 he was my friend, at times my leader, always my instructor, 
 and I feel it a duty on this occasion to fill it up with such 
 observations on his career as my knowledge affords. 
 
 I shall speak of him with something of the suppressed 
 emotion with which Antony struggled over the dead body 
 of Caesar, though in their lives there was little analogous, 
 and in their death nothing whatever. Neither have I any 
 motive, as the Roman had, for playing the cunning orator. 
 To those who were here with him I need not say that his 
 conduct was most noble under all circumstances ; to those 
 who were not here, I will say they have missed an exemplar 
 whom they could have studied with advantage. Questions 
 of tremendous import, of vast national importance, shook 
 this Hall during his membership. Call to mind the great 
 struggle over the force bill ; the lesser one over the McKin- 
 ley bill. The first he opposed because he believed it a 
 blow at the attributes of citizenship, sapping the founda 
 tions of our polity; the second because he deemed it the 
 vicious outgrowth of a false political economy. All that 
 party zeal, great research, and eminent ability could com 
 mand clashed in these combats. At times the House 
 swayed and tossed like a forest heaving to a tempest. 
 When the storm had swept by and decorum had returned, 
 such is the tenacity of party ties that alignments were 
 found to be hardly affected. 
 
 How often, amid the wildest commotion, have I seen 
 Mr. CRISP ride calm, dignified, and graceful, confident in 
 
46 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 the justice of his cause, spurred on by duty, and by his 
 almost faultless diction, his earnest manner, and his all- 
 sweeping logic soothe the struggling elements. Members 
 might not agree with him, but they would listen. There 
 was no malignity in him, nor even asperity. From his 
 well-filled quiver he drew no poisoned arrow, for he knew 
 that passion and judgment could have little fellowship, 
 and he was earnest to convince. 
 
 His oratory was not overvehement. It flowed with regi 
 mental precision, close-ranked, animated, and confident. 
 His bearing was always superb. I never knew him halt 
 for a word or at fault for an illustration. When the situa 
 tion warranted, he would light up the House with the live 
 liest display of humor. In attributes, in political tenets, 
 and in his manner of illustration, he might not inaptly 
 be called the John Bright of the American Commons. 
 
 His bouts with our distinguished Speaker, eminent for 
 his talents and his audacity, were of thrilling interest. 
 
 Flashes of lightning and mutterings of thunder betokened 
 the storm. It was like those intense situations we have so 
 often seen upon the stage, where the future is threatening 
 and the outcome dubious. It was not in the nature of 
 either to give an inch of ground. When they had thus 
 met in full career, and the strength and mettle of each 
 had fully proved themselves on the other, they generally 
 unlocked, if I may so express it, with something like defi 
 ant courtesy. Each had triumphed over the other for the 
 Speakership ; each could generously and truthfully say of 
 the other : "Great let us call him, for he conquered me." 
 
 Many of us remember Mr. CRISP S contest for the Speak 
 ership. It was his ambition to preside over the House, of 
 which he was so devoted a member. His party dominated 
 
Address of Mr. Cummings. 47 
 
 by an immense majority, and were privileged to caucus for 
 the prize. The contest was intense enough to unsettle 
 nerves not proof against disturbance. From first to last 
 he was threatened with defeat. Yet no ripple was observ 
 able in his even and well -sustained deportment. When 
 proclaimed victor, he received the honor with thanks, 
 emphasizing that he was conscious of the responsibility it 
 imposed and modestly showing he was confident he could 
 meet its claims. His address on taking the gavel was 
 a model of brevity and almost touching in simplicity. 
 Here it is : 
 
 GENTLEMEN OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: For 
 the great honor you have conferred upon me I return you 
 heartfelt thanks. 
 
 I shall endeavor to discharge the duties of the office of 
 Speaker with courtesy, with firmness, and with absolute impar 
 tiality. Let us unite in the hope that our labors here may 
 result in the advancement of the prosperity, the honor, and 
 the glory of our beloved country. 
 
 The words "our beloved country" flowed into the speech 
 with as sweet a cadence as ever sprang from human heart 
 and fell from human lips. By unanimous vote the House 
 afterwards signified that he had fulfilled his highest 
 promise. 
 
 It was during his Speakership that his constancy was 
 severely tried. His highest ambition was to be a Senator 
 of the United States; but he desired to win the honor by 
 services faithfully rendered to his State and people. A 
 vacancy in the Senatorship occurred. The governor of 
 Georgia tendered it to him. He had but to accept it and 
 walk into the other house. He put it instantly aside to 
 serve out the term for which he had been chosen. Duty 
 
48 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 chained him to the House, and that was a chain at which 
 he never strained. In such estimation was he held by the 
 people of his State that on the first occasion that offered 
 itself they overwhelmingly designated him for the high 
 position he had declined. 
 
 Such, Mr. Speaker, was your predecessor as I saw him 
 and knew him in this House for many years. But there 
 was a softer and far more tender shade to his character. It 
 was his love for his home and family. I saw him and 
 knew him in his typical Georgia home. I have conversed 
 with him for hours while the mocking birds flooded the air 
 with music and the sweet perfume of the cape jessamine 
 was wafted to the porch. I have marked his devotion to 
 an invalid wife, his tender affection for his children, and 
 his generous care of old and tried servants emancipated in 
 the war. I have sat at his table. Morning, noon, and 
 night have I seen him bow his head and heard him ask 
 God s blessing upon the food spread before him and his. 
 It was a family united in love and affection one in which 
 the good old Southern term of endearment, "honey," was 
 not forgotten. The children honored the father and the 
 mother, and the parents honored the children. When the 
 funeral procession passed the house, the words "His old 
 home were affixed in flowers above the gate. They had 
 been placed there by his neighbors. It was thus he passed 
 to a new home in the hereafter. 
 
 But his brilliant attributes will remain a resplendent 
 memory, and when bereft of all human vanity, as I hope 
 we may be, many of us, I am sure, as years go by, will 
 declare with wholesome pride, "I was a member when Mr. 
 CRISP was Speaker." 
 
Address of Air. Hermann. 49 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. HERMANN. 
 
 Mr. HERMANN. Mr. Speaker, it is related of a great his 
 toric character whose portrait was being painted that when 
 the artist suggested he would eliminate from the picture a 
 mole upon the face, the great man answered, "No; paint 
 me as I am." Could the wish of our departed friend be 
 known, it would be that his life, like the face of the por 
 trait, should be represented just as it was. And well he 
 could afford this wish. Sir, for nearly twelve years it was 
 my privilege to be associated with CHARLES FREDERICK 
 CRISP as a member of this Congress, and though differing 
 with him on political lines, I esteem it a high privilege to 
 unite with other associates in expressing this my tribute of 
 respect, of love, and admiration for the life and character 
 of this distinguished statesman. I speak of him as I always 
 found him. 
 
 It seems but yesterday that we beheld in yonder chair 
 the genial face and well-remembered form of him whose 
 eulogy we now speak. Whether as the presiding officer 
 of this House or as the unassuming and always courteous 
 member on the floor, his presence was such as to invite 
 the most kindly attention from his associates as well as 
 from the onlookers in the gallery. Though one of the 
 most devoted to any task undertaken by him, yet in the 
 performance of that duty there was always shown a ready 
 willingness to suffer interruption and with patience to 
 answer either friend or opponent, and with equanimity to 
 continue. A remarkable trait possessed by ex-Speaker 
 CRISP was in his complete self-government. In all the 
 
 debates in which he participated and it was his lot while 
 H. Doc. 255 4 
 
50 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 a member to participate in some of the most exciting con 
 troversies known to our annals lie maintained a manly 
 self-possession, a placid, undisturbed, and unruffled temper, 
 and a hold on his subject which eminently fitted him to 
 occupy the trying position of leader of his party. It must 
 have been a pleasure and a pride among his partisans to 
 follow such a leader. There was an absence of egotism, of 
 arrogance, of captiousness, of hauteur in his character. To 
 the young members, more than all, will his memory in this 
 respect be cherished. 
 
 The leader of a party in this House can, if his self-will so 
 ordains, discourage and permanently impair the future of 
 many a young member, while he can also encourage, aid, 
 and incite him to his best efforts. Nothing so delighted 
 Mr. CRISP as to rescue, by kindly suggestion or active aid, 
 the embarrassed young member floundering in some trying 
 debate or entangled in the parliamentary procedure of the 
 House. Never was there a member of this body more 
 approachable, more seemingly unconscious of high honors, 
 and yet more dignified and more in place than he. The 
 best test of his splendid character, however, was that which 
 he soon developed in the Speaker s chair. In this exalted 
 place the occupant too often abandons his previous cordial 
 mannerism and at once assumes an air of austerity and lofty 
 elevation above his fellows not justified by the dignity and 
 authority of any office in this our republican form of gov 
 ernment. With Speaker CRISP there was still retained the 
 genial, lovable qualities which ever distinguished him 
 before. He had grown no greater; his associates had grown 
 no less. And yet he was the able, dignified, respected 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
 
 To the innumerable demands upon him for recognition he 
 was courteous and patient willing to hear the merits of the 
 
Address of Mr, Hermann. 51 
 
 measure submitted, and then either granting, considering, 
 or regretfully declining. Whatever was the answer, the 
 member was made to feel that consideration was accorded 
 him. His appeal had been kindly, respectfully heard. He 
 could not complain. So sensitive was he to the feelings of 
 his fellows, that never did he refuse a request that he did 
 not suffer moie pain than did the one denied. He never lost 
 his control when Speaker. We all recall his superb bearing 
 when presiding over the House when often wrought up to 
 intense excitement over some political debate. It would 
 seem as if the angry passions, the personal taunts, the crimi 
 nations and recriminations on the floor, even to the extent 
 of harsh reflection, fiery invective, and individual criticism 
 hurled at the Speaker himself, would so unnerve and dis 
 turb him as to prompt retaliation upon his tormentors. 
 Speaker CRISP rose grandly above this temptation. With a 
 cool head and a firm gavel he ruled the storm and mastered 
 it. When order was restored and the membership was again 
 tranquil and the hot heads were cooling, not the slightest 
 indication could be discerned in the face of the Speaker 
 of the siege he had just passed through. He exemplified 
 in the most practical manner and under the most trying 
 circumstances the Scriptural injunction: "Let every man 
 be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath." 
 
 And when at last in the revolution of parties another 
 succeeded him in the chair, again he returned to the mem 
 bership on the floor and resumed his duties as a Represent 
 ative; he was still the same generous-hearted, considerate, 
 self-sacrificing friend, associate, and member as he ever was. 
 
 With all the angry contentions which history will note 
 as a part of his administration of this House, and which 
 are still in vivid recollection, it is a refreshing boast, and 
 confers imperishable luster upon his good name, that he 
 
52 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 exercised his powers as a Speaker in a fair and impartial 
 manner as between the great parties on the floor, and that no 
 stamp or stain suggestive of disrepute rests upon any public 
 or private act during his long service as the trusted and 
 distinguished representative of the people of his State. 
 
 Like the spire on some lofty cathedral seen at close view, 
 when neither its true height nor its majestic proportions 
 can be accurately measured, so is ex-Speaker CRISP, in 
 according to him his just place in history in so brief a 
 period after his death. His splendid life work will shine 
 forth in even greater luster as time goes on, for then the 
 mists which more or less obscure every active, ambitious 
 genius, surrounded by enmities and personal antagonisms, 
 will have faded away, and exposed to view the intrinsic 
 worth and the perfect symmetry, the strength and beauty 
 of this well-balanced life. 
 
 The light of our friend was extinguished while it was 
 yet day yea, at high noon. He was still in the midst of 
 his usefulness, and no premonition pointed out the untimely 
 end. The summons came, and the work was done. It is 
 difficult to realize that this is true. Do we comprehend 
 the uncertainty of life? Is it so frail ? We hear the answer 
 in the expiring breath and see it in the open grave. It 
 leaves an admonition to us all: "Do thy work to-day; for 
 thee there may be no to-morrow." May we not hope that 
 if not here there may be that to-morrow in the celestial 
 realms, "in that temple not made with hands, eternal in 
 the heavens?" 
 
 Mr. Speaker, with these poor words in testimony of my 
 high esteem for our departed associate, and in grateful 
 remembrance of his noble, generous nature, I tenderly lay 
 my sprig of acacia upon his honored grave. 
 
Address of Mr. Ding ley. 53 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. DINGLEY. 
 
 Mr. DINGLEY. Mr. Speaker, I made the acquaintance 
 of CHARLES FREDERICK CRISP soon after he entered the 
 Forty-eighth Congress as a Representative from Georgia. 
 That acquaintance ripened into an intimate friendship, 
 which continued till death removed him from the House 
 of Representatives during the interval between the close 
 of the first and the opening of the second session of the 
 present Congress. 
 
 Notwithstanding our divergent political views often 
 brought us into antagonism in debate, yet on all occasions 
 he bore himself with such courtesy and kindliness of spirit, 
 as well as ability and elevation of tone, that my respect for 
 him personally and my admiration of his ability were 
 increased. During my long service with Mr. CRISP, in 
 which we were frequently on opposite sides of important 
 and exciting political questions, nothing ever occurred 
 to mar in the slightest degree our warm friendship and 
 mutual regard. 
 
 For some time after entering Congress Mr. CRISP mod 
 estly refrained from active participation in the business and 
 debates of the House, realizing as he did the importance 
 of familiarizing himself first with the rules and methods of 
 the House, so dissimilar in many respects from the practice 
 of all of our State legislative bodies. Unlike many other 
 parliamentary bodies, the House, partly from the necessity 
 which exists in an assembly of so large a membership and 
 partly because of its rapidly changing elements, pays little 
 regard to courtesy in the conduct of its business, and grants 
 
54 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 very little to any member beyond what he is entitled to 
 under its rules and practice. 
 
 I well remember the first time that Mr. CRISP forged 
 
 o 
 
 to the front and demonstrated not only his ability as a 
 legislator, but also his skill as a parliamentarian. It was 
 on the occasion of the consideration and passage of the 
 interstate-commerce bill, when the enforced absence of 
 Judge Reagan, the chairman of the committee having that 
 subject in charge, threw upon Mr. CRISP the responsibility 
 of defending and guiding that important measure through 
 the House in the face of a well-organized and determined 
 opposition. This duty he performed with an ability, skill, 
 and success which at once placed him among the leading 
 members of the House a rank which he subsequently 
 maintained without difficulty. 
 
 When the Democratic party came into control of the 
 House at the opening of the Fifty-second Congress, it was 
 natural that Mr. CRISP S name should have been promi 
 nently mentioned for the Speakership, especially in view of 
 the fact that while temporarily occupying the chair he had 
 shown himself to be an expert parliamentarian and a suc 
 cessful presiding officer. But his nomination over older 
 associates of larger experience and greater prestige was a 
 recognition of his fitness for the high office of Speaker, 
 which was shown to be well deserved. The ability and 
 fairness with which he discharged the duties of this impor 
 tant and difficult position entitle Mr. CRISP to a high 
 place among those great statesmen who have graced this 
 high office, second only to the Presidency itself. 
 
 Mr. CRISP S mind was eminently logical and judicial. 
 The possession of such a mind is absolutely essential to 
 real success and usefulness in public service. In high 
 
Address of Mr. Dingley. 55 
 
 public position men ruled by sentiment, who possess little 
 logical power, little capacity to accurately weigh all sides 
 of important questions, and especially to distinguish effects 
 from causes, are always dangerous leaders, however sincere. 
 Indeed, their power for mischief is only augmented by 
 the earnestness which is sometimes born of inability to 
 judicially weigh consequences. Mr. CRISP S mind was so 
 logical and judicial that he could see all around a ques 
 tion and avoid the errors and dangers of surface thinking. 
 
 Mr. CRISP S position in the House was reached as much 
 through his industry as through his ability. Indeed, no 
 one achieves eminence either in public or private life except 
 by persistent and well-directed work. There is no royal 
 road to real and permanent success here or elsewhere. One 
 who has carefully and thoroughly prepared himself to meet 
 responsibilities is sooner or later needed. On the other 
 hand, one who excuses himself from the labor required to 
 make himself a master of his chosen line of study will 
 never be able to keep to the front. 
 
 Mr. CRISP S rapid rise from a humble condition to so 
 high a position in the nation affords another illustration of 
 the fact that in this land of the free merit is accorded 
 recognition regardless of station or wealth. In spite of 
 the effort of narrow minds to create the impression that 
 there are classes in this country who secure privileges 
 denied to the masses, the fact is that no class distinctions 
 exist among our people, and that there is no distinction, 
 no honor, no privilege which is not equally open to every 
 citizen, however humble. 
 
 It is here in this Chamber, where Representatives from 
 each of the forty-five States of the Union meet to consult 
 with reference to the interests of this great Republic, that 
 
56 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 we feel as nowhere else the strength of the tie which binds 
 together our seventy millions of people. Differ in opinion 
 as we may, there rises above those differences the mutual 
 regard engendered by the friendships here formed, and the 
 feeling that we are fellow-citizens of a common country 
 whose interest we desire to promote, and the heirs of a 
 common heritage whose priceless blessings we desire to 
 defend. 
 
 When, therefore, one of our number is removed by 
 death, especially one who has been so long with us as has 
 Mr. CRISP, we feel the separation not only as a national 
 loss, but as a personal bereavement. 
 
 What we call death the dissolution of the mysterious 
 union of soul and body which characterizes life as dis 
 cerned by our imperfect natural vision is always an 
 unwelcome, although inevitable, visitor. But when it 
 comes to one who, like Mr. CRISP, was still young and in 
 the height of his usefulness, the shock is intensified and 
 the grief deepened. Happy is he who, when called to 
 close his eyes on the scenes of earth and enter upon the 
 life beyond, can meet this summons with a serene faith in 
 Him who is over all and above all, as we doubt not was 
 the case with our departed associate and friend. 
 
Address of Mr. De Armond. 57 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. DE ARMOND. 
 
 Mr. DE ARMOND. Mr. Speaker, this hour is appropriately 
 devoted to services in memory of a distinguished member of 
 this body, lately with us, now gone to 
 
 The undiscovered country, from whose bourn 
 No traveler returns. 
 
 His life has been gracefully sketched by others far more 
 familiar with it than I am, though I knew him quite well 
 from service with him in the House of Representatives. I 
 knew him somewhat also in the relations of friendship out 
 side of the House. Of him it has been well said, because 
 it has been truthfully said, that on the domestic side, as 
 husband, father, friend, citizen, his life was not only with 
 out reproach, but admirable. 
 
 The career of CHARLES FREDERICK CRISP as a public man 
 has been ably and fittingly outlined to-day before this audi 
 ence and before the country. He himself painted the pic 
 ture, and the lines have been but pointed out by those who 
 have just engaged the attention of the House. A poor boy, 
 he entered the Southern army from his Georgia home, and 
 performed well the duties of a soldier "in times that tried 
 men s souls. Emerging from the prison where he had been 
 cast by the fortunes of war, with but little preparation except 
 that which had been made in the rude school of the camp, he 
 began the study of his chosen profession. How he rose in 
 that profession from the stripling attorney at the bar to be 
 solicitor-general, and soon became the chief presiding officer 
 of the court ; how by the suffrages of those who knew him 
 well he was sent to this House, and how his legislative career, 
 begun here and ended here, is honorable and illustrious all 
 
58 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp, 
 
 this is known to his associates and to the country too well 
 to need recital from me. 
 
 It may be worth while to inquire in what lay principally 
 the elements of the eminent Georgian s success. What was 
 there about him that elevated him above his fellows in a 
 body always distinguished for having within it many men 
 of great and commanding ability ? How did he attain and 
 how did he retain leadership unquestioned within and over 
 a party difficult to lead and ever ready to throw aside leaders 
 and to choose new ones in their stead ? That he was a man 
 of ability all know. But he led able men, who willingly 
 followed him. That he was a man of courage goes without 
 saying. But he had cheerful followers in men independent 
 as well as courageous, because they felt that he would 
 lead them aright. I believe that the one quality which 
 contributed mightily in giving him this ascendency in the 
 House conceding to him great intellectual endowments 
 lay in his amiable and lovable disposition. He won power 
 through his kindliness and retained it through kindness, 
 supplemented, of course, by tact, ability, and firmness. 
 
 His leadership was not self-imposed. To it he was called 
 voluntarily by his party associates, because they believed 
 he would lead in the course which it was right for them to 
 take because it was not irksome to follow him because 
 his leadership was so pleasant that it seemed but superior 
 fellowship. 
 
 Some men achieve greatness and command success in 
 ruling over other men by virtue of intellectual endowment 
 alone or by vast will power. While Mr. CRISP possessed 
 these great gifts of nature, he also possessed that sweet and 
 kindly disposition which attracted people to him, which 
 made people love to be associated with him, and which 
 preserved his sway over the minority, as it is now over 
 
Address of Mr. De Armond. 59 
 
 the majority as it was for a time as perhaps the sway of no 
 other man of his party will be established or maintained in 
 this House in many a day to come. He has gone; gone to 
 return to these Halls no more. I can not add to his fame, 
 nor could I detract from it. His life work is known; it is 
 approved by those who knew it best. His career was indeed 
 a remarkable one; and if he had not died in his prime, there 
 is no guessing how many new triumphs of statesmanship 
 might be placed to his credit. 
 
 What a proud thing it is, Mr. Speaker, for a man starting 
 poor and working his way without extraneous aid to rise 
 by the power of his own personality, by his intellect and 
 lovable qualities, to the high position which Mr. CRISP 
 reached, and which you, too, twice gained; an official posi 
 tion second only to one other in the world; a place which, 
 well filled filled by intellect, courage, courtesy, kindness, 
 impartiality is often in a lifetime even higher than any 
 official station not occupied by a man possessing the same 
 estimable qualities of the head and of the heart. Then, 
 true indeed it is that Mr. CRISP S was a life upon whose 
 bright, clean, glorious story we may dwell with profit to 
 ourselves and to those who are to come after us. 
 
 Leadership is not necessarily sought or coveted. It is 
 generally born in the man. Sometimes it is acquired by a 
 man s own zeal, and sometimes it is thrust upon a man. 
 However, men of superior ability naturally aspire to leader 
 ship; not a few attain it without real merit. But those who, 
 because of qualities inherent in themselves, retain leader 
 ship over followers possessed of the power to depose them 
 these few are men born to lead, as others are born to follow. 
 
 Perhaps the proudest tribute to the memory of ,the 
 departed statesman whose death we mourn is that he 
 retained his ascendency over men not so much by virtue 
 
6o Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 of special effort as through the warm feeling, akin to affec 
 tion, which his sunny disposition and native kindliness 
 awakened in his associates, so that they felt themselves 
 honored in honoring him. 
 
 The loss to Speaker CRISP S party and to his country is 
 almost irreparable. While we of the minority have many 
 able and strong men among us, yet attention does not turn 
 to anyone in particular as being peculiarly fitted, as he was, 
 for the post of leader. At least, no one stands out, to the 
 exclusion of the others, like Mr. CRISP did, as the proper 
 leader here of the forces of the Democracy. 
 
 I esteem it a privilege, Mr. Speaker, that, as a member of 
 this body, I have beheld two great parliamentary leaders, 
 one upon either side of the Chamber, each superb in his own 
 way, marshal their respective forces, now for attack, now 
 for defense. I do not expect again in life, though my years 
 be prolonged to great length, to find their equals in ability 
 to lead and govern their fellow-partisans in parliamentary 
 warfare. But could either have led so successfully the 
 forces which followed the other? 
 
 Often we think and say that those who die in their prime 
 are taken prematurely. Of course, to family and friends, 
 to love and hope and pride, the shock comes most rudely 
 when the blast of death has blown where, it would seem, 
 the blush of life ought to continue. But, after all, when 
 you consider the fame in years to come of a man whose life 
 is full of good deeds and grand achievements, as was Mr. 
 CRISP S looked at in the light of history is it an unmixed 
 misfortune in the annals of the world that such a one goes 
 down when the sun is at high noon, instead of lingering on 
 the stage of action, often superfluous, until the long and ever- 
 lengthening shadows from the west are falling upon him? 
 
Address of Mr. De Arniond. 61 
 
 Yet there is no doubt that if Mr. CRISP had been spared 
 he would long have been one of the greatest members of 
 the Senate, whose doors were open for him to enter; no 
 doubt that had he lived he would have gone from honor to 
 honor; no doubt that his fame and usefulness would have 
 grown and expanded, no matter how rich the honors and 
 deeds to his credit when the dread destroyer overtook 
 him. 
 
 His career is hardly matched in the legislative history of 
 the country. At least there are few to lay side by side with 
 it; and with his honors full upon him, in the full possession 
 of his magnificent abilities, surrounded by his beloved 
 family and cherished friends, his warm heart ceased to beat 
 and his great intellect was transferred to another scene of 
 action. Long will his memory live in the hearts and in the 
 minds of all who knew him. Long will his services to his 
 country be remembered gratefully by those who justly 
 appreciate them, kindly even by those who believe he was 
 wrong politically, because, above all things, he was an 
 amiable man in high station, who as nearly avoided the 
 giving of offense to any, and as uniformly treated all with 
 consideration, kindness, and generosity, as anyone of whom 
 we have a record or anyone whom we may ever expect to 
 meet. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, in contemplation of these sad events, which 
 are occurring daily for death is almost as old in the world 
 as life; with the centuries full of life and death, and death, 
 like birth, marking every hour and every minute of every 
 day we are brought, over and over, time and time again, 
 to the strange, alway sold, and ever fresh reflections which 
 will spring up when we gaze into the open grave, when we 
 view the cold and lifeless clay which so recently was the 
 
62 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 mortal shelter of the departed spirit. Filled with that awe 
 which the ages have not been able to banish, which per 
 vades generation after generation, we solemnly ask, Whither 
 has the spirit gone that lately tenanted this clay? What is 
 there of existence beyond this world ? Or is this all ? Is 
 this the end? We can not see through the veil just a little 
 way before us, but thick enough to cloud the sight. Faith 
 and Hope alone light up the gulf; alone give promise for 
 the future. 
 
 Our friend has gone. His memory is with us, enshrined 
 in our hearts. By his example we hope to profit. But 
 again the query presses for answer, " If a man die, shall he 
 live again?" The abandoned clay is in the churchyard at 
 Americus, under sweet flowers, with the soft Southern sky 
 bending over all. But the spirit ! What of it ? Is that, which 
 was so much, nothing now vanished, dissolved, annihi 
 lated, as though it never was? Did its existence terminate 
 with the life of the body? Whatever vainglorious philoso 
 phers may say, man rebels at the suggestion that there is 
 nothing beyond the grave. The hope, sometimes clung to 
 in desperation, sometimes cherished in brightest anticipa 
 tion, that there is a hereafter, and that men, though they 
 die, yet live in that hereafter we will not give that up. 
 No philosophy, even if ripened in ages of calm reasoning, 
 can banish it. It springs as an inheritance of humanity, 
 as an instinct in the soul of every human being that 
 breathes. We believe our hopes, our affections, all that 
 we hold near and dear in life, admonish us to believe, con 
 strain us to believe that our friend has not perished, but 
 that in a higher and nobler sphere this great intellect, this 
 tender, loving spirit shall flourish and expand, and achieve 
 new triumphs and perform new deeds of glory and of grace 
 while countless ages roll on into eternity. 
 
Address of Mr. Dinsmore. 63 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. DINSMORE. 
 
 Mr. DINSMORE. Mr. Speaker, in the presence of gentle 
 men here who were so much nearer to CHARLES FREDERICK 
 CRISP, who were so fortunate as to have a more extended 
 acquaintance with him, a closer relation, a longer term of 
 service, I approach with diffidence and hesitation the hon 
 orable privilege which has been extended to me to speak in 
 commemoration of a great man who made his life a part of 
 the illustrious history of this House. It is not for me to 
 criticise his great character. I leave that to those more 
 capable of the task. I only desire, Mr. Speaker, to place 
 upon record the humble tribute of one who had an acquaint 
 ance and friendship with him through a few years, but 
 who, during that whole time, learned to honor, admire, and 
 love him more and more. 
 
 It is at all times a delicate and a responsible undertaking 
 to speak here for the permanent record upon the life and 
 character of one who has been a member of this House. 
 Men are too prone to run into extravagant expression, to 
 magnify the virtues of the dead as well as disparage the 
 merits of the living. What is said upon these occasions 
 should be not only just to the dead, but faithful to truthful 
 history. I fain would, in the few sentences which I shall 
 speak to-day, do so as if in presence of the conscious spirit 
 of our departed friend, knowing that he would have me 
 give utterance to no sentiment that is not justified by his 
 own life. Nor have I sought for information upon the 
 detailed incidents of his history, preferring to put into 
 words the impressions that association with the man have 
 made upon me, and to stop there. 
 
 Duty does not demand of us to enlarge upon or even to 
 
64 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 refer to foibles of character; but, on the other hand, it is 
 required of us that in the things we say we shall deal fairly 
 and honestly with ourselves and with the dead. Therefore 
 I shall endeavor to restrain my expressions within the 
 bounds of temperate speech, within the limits which I 
 believe would be indorsed by our great leader if he could be 
 present and hear what is said of him. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, every man s life, in a narrower or wider 
 sense, is an ideal for other men. Whether it be lowly or 
 exalted, whether it be humble or great, there is among every 
 man s associates some person who will look to him as an 
 exemplar of his own conduct, who will find in him some 
 thing worthy of imitation; and it is pleasant to think there 
 are few men who do not thus exercise an influence for good 
 upon mankind. The greatest good of a great life is its 
 influence upon society. In the aspirations of early youth 
 the boy selects some great character of history and tries to 
 fashion himself upon that model, to build himself up to 
 that level. What a grand figure have we here to inspire the 
 ambition, the fortitude, the patriotism, and the integrity of 
 American youth, aye, and of American manhood! 
 
 Mr. Speaker, I have had the honor, in the short time I 
 have served in the House, to be associated with Mr. CRISP 
 as Speaker of the House in one Congress and as the acknowl 
 edged leader of the minority in another. In every relation, 
 in every emergency, in every situation it has appeared to me 
 that he arose to the full stature of great manhood and capa 
 bility of dealing with the difficult tasks that confronted him. 
 As Speaker of the House, as leader upon the floor, as a 
 citizen in private life, he was always thoughtful and digni 
 fied, firm and unyielding in adherence to principle, and bold 
 and fearless in defense of it, yet withal kind, gentle, cour 
 teous, and considerate. As Speaker, he was easy of access 
 
Address of Mr. Dinsmore. 65 
 
 to every member of the House, even though the humblest, 
 newest, most obscure member that had come into it easy 
 of approach, and always having words of encouragement 
 for those who sought to make themselves useful in the great 
 House over which he had the honor to preside. 
 
 I have no doubt that each one who came into the House 
 while he was Speaker has pleasant memories of his own 
 experience and of the words of counsel he has given, and we 
 cherish in our minds tender memories never to be effaced. 
 He was gentle as a woman, simple in his demeanor, yet 
 always calm, dignified, self-possessed, strong, and great. 
 As leader of his party on the floor, he controlled his forces 
 more by inspiring them with love and confidence than 
 with fear of discipline. He was tolerant of the impulsive 
 ardor of the inexperienced, of the "vaulting ambition" of 
 youth that in this forum so often "doth o erleap itself," 
 and gave full value to the usefulness of every member. 
 
 But, Mr. Speaker, it was in the fury of polemic tempest 
 that this man rose superior to his fellows. The louder 
 shrieked the winds of passion, the higher mounted the 
 surging waves of partisan animosity, the greater appeared 
 the man, the more capable of battling for his cause and of 
 representing the issues for which he stood. This was one 
 of the characteristics of the man that he shone best under 
 the greatest difficulties and it seemed to require great and 
 critical situations to bring out his intellectual qualities and 
 his great power of leadership. And he has challenged the 
 admiration not only of this side, but of that, and the whole 
 country, for his great ability in performing the stern duties 
 of presiding officer of this unruly House. 
 
 It perhaps accords with common observation that sim 
 plicity, gentleness, kindness, and unostentation are almost 
 universally characteristics of the truly great man. Con- 
 H. Doc. 255 5 
 
66 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 sciousness of acknowledged superiority, of security in a 
 position of leadership, and of general approbation and 
 respect generates charity toward rivals and consideration 
 for opposition, and causes a great mind to contemn pom 
 pous parade and vulgar display, the artifice and the trick of 
 the demagogue. Our departed friend despised all things 
 of this character. He always drove straight for the mark, 
 and by the ponderous power of logic and reason and appeal 
 to honor and patriotism he hewed his way to the accom 
 plishment of his great purpose, always unyielding, brave, 
 and courageous, yet generous to opposition, and never 
 forgetting to be courteous to all and considerate of all. 
 
 The privilege was accorded me of a slight glimpse into 
 his domestic life, and it was there, Mr. Speaker, that the 
 beautiful attributes of his character were brought most 
 prominently into view. A devoted husband, a kind, gentle, 
 and affectionate father, his faithful wife adored him and 
 his children hung upon him as the tendrils of the vine 
 entwine themselves about the body of the sturdy oak. 
 Coming out of the war almost a youth, with no inheritance 
 save a soldier s honorable name won in a cause that was 
 lost, with no possession other than a tattered uniform and 
 the blood, brain, and brawn that God had given him, he 
 started out to make for himself a place in society and in his 
 country s history. At the threshold there was linked with 
 his life a young, confiding, loving woman, who in the flush 
 of youthful affection defied the will of parental authority 
 and joined herself to him to march by his side through the 
 highways and byways and the uncertain incidents of this 
 world. 
 
 When the time came, Mr. Speaker, when the blush of 
 beauty had faded from her cheek and the form he loved in 
 its youthful beauty had been wrenched in the cruel tortures 
 
Address of Mr. Dinsmore. 67 
 
 of rheumatism, there was no lessening of the love which he 
 gave to her in the beginning, but with stronger and greater 
 attachment he stood by her side, and when she held out her 
 crippled hand the love light mounted to his eyes and he 
 was wont to say : But I will be your hand. You shall 
 walk upon my feet." Those hands and those feet, Mr. 
 Speaker, never failed her, but were ever present to perform 
 their affectionate offices. A beautiful intimacy existed 
 between him and his children. Often have I looked up 
 with admiration from my table at the hotel where we all 
 lived, when father and son that son whom a loving people 
 have sent here to fill the vacant chair caused by the relent 
 less hand of death, honoring both father and son in the 
 deed and themselves as well would walk in side by side, 
 sometimes hand in hand, often arm in arm, before the 
 assembled guests, utterly unconscious that any were look 
 ing with admiration upon the beautiful comradeship which 
 existed between the two. And there are not many things 
 more beautiful than confidence and fellowship between 
 father and son, nor anything better calculated to impress 
 the son or lead him upward and onward in an honorable 
 life and to an enviable old age. 
 
 But, Mr. Speaker, in the midst of his honors, in the 
 very zenith of his usefulness and his splendid life, the scythe 
 of the reaper has mown him down. He has left his foot 
 prints upon the highways of our nationality; he has 
 engraved his name upon the tablets of his country s history; 
 he has left behind him a name to be emulated and honored, 
 and he has carried with him the respect of his enemies, the 
 admiration and affection of his friends, the devotion of his 
 family, the confidence and esteem of all; and what more, 
 Mr. Speaker, can any man claim for himself upon going 
 out from this world? 
 
68 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. BUCK. 
 
 Mr. BUCK. Mr. Speaker, I had hoped to be able to add in 
 my best voice to the tributes that are paid to-day to the 
 honored dead. But the elements seem against me; and I 
 do not know whether I shall be able even to make myself 
 heard. 
 
 The propriety, Mr. Speaker, that some one young in 
 membership in this House should say something of that 
 great public servant whose memory and whose deeds are 
 here commemorated must be the apology for my presuming 
 to add my humble voice to these tributes. When Hamlet is 
 challenged to the duel with Laertes, Osrick says to him: 
 "You are not ignorant of what excellence Laertes is." 
 Hamlet replies: "I dare not confess that, lest I should 
 compare with him in excellence; but to know a man well 
 were to know himself." 
 
 There is therefore in these things a semblance, if not a 
 substance, of self-praise which under any circumstances 
 would make me modest in speaking of the great dead 
 whom we honor here to-day. 
 
 I anticipated, however, the situation. I knew that mem 
 bers of this House who knew him better than I and were 
 better able to speak his praises and display the beauties of 
 his character would precede me, and I would be relieved of 
 anything more than the expression of that impression 
 which I gladly and truthfully convey and which it was my 
 good fortune to imbibe from him during the short period 
 that it has been my happiness to know him. It has per 
 haps been my good luck that in this very short period I 
 
Address of Mr. Buck. 69 
 
 have learned to know more of him than happens in the 
 average intercourse between members of this House. And, 
 without repeating what has been said, I can only say that, 
 perhaps by operation of that inexplicable intuition by which 
 soul communicates with soul, I received the impressions of 
 that greatness of character, that firmness of mind, that 
 consistency of purpose, that devotion to duty which distin 
 guished CHARLES FREDERICK CRISP and which language 
 can not exaggerate. I will ask the privilege, in view of the 
 fact that the memory of the dead and his deeds are on record, 
 to pronounce a few reflections incident to this service which 
 perhaps also convey their lesson. 
 
 I have heard criticised I may say ridiculed and con 
 demned the practice not only of the Houses of Congress, 
 but of courts and other public bodies, to spend hours like 
 these in eulogies upon the dead. Well, it is in the nature 
 of things. There is evil as there is good. The scoffer is 
 at hand to tread upon the heels of the reverent. The jester 
 and the clown are by in the motley mystery of human life 
 to mix their colors in the garments of wisdom and of dig 
 nity. But these things come not from men who see "books 
 in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in every 
 thing. 
 
 I am the spirit that denies 
 
 says the arch scoffer 
 
 Part of the part am I; once all, in primal night 
 Part of the darkness which brought forth the light. 
 
 Why, sir, that is the struggle, the epic of man s redemp 
 tion, to overcome the spirit of denial and survive godlike 
 in the prevalence of truth. And truth prevails and is evi 
 denced to-day when this House of Representatives turns 
 aside from its usual business and from its public service to 
 lay the flowers of tribute upon the tomb of the departed 
 
yo Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 dead. As we look down the ages and let pass before the 
 view the toils and the struggles, the failures and the suc 
 cesses, the lights and the shades of human character and 
 effort; and above all, when we look into our own souls, and 
 try to square ambition with achievement, desire with con 
 summation, hope with possibility aye, all the contradic 
 tions and paradoxes of conduct and aspiration we do rise 
 from the contemplation with the conviction that through 
 all there is a higher destiny. And even in the blankness of 
 despair and the tragedy of hopelessness, we exclaim with 
 Hamlet, in the ecstacy and exultation of our souls 
 
 What a piece of work is man ! How noble in reason ! how infinite in 
 faculties ! in form and moving, how express and admirable ! in action, 
 how like an angel ! in apprehension, how like a god ! 
 
 Are not these thoughts justified when we recall that 
 majestic, that self-controlled, that courageous, that manly 
 figure that drew by his magnetic look the attention of his 
 followers and the admiration, if not the approbation, of 
 his opponents ? 
 
 Public service should, as a principle in our country, be 
 always commended. Few men enter politics from purely 
 selfish motives. They do not find, if they enter from selfish 
 motives, what they seek. They soon find that it is a service 
 and a sacrifice, not a gathering of fruits ; and whatever the 
 original motive may be with which public men begin to 
 develop themselves, there is always at the bottom the senti 
 ment of patriotism, a desire and an ambition to serve our 
 fellow-men, to be workers in the field of progress and of 
 good toward our country. The wholly selfish man rarely 
 troubles himself about public life. He nurses his personal 
 comfort, and concerns himself no further about the law and 
 the liberty of the land than is necessary to protect his own 
 
Address of Mr. Buck. 71 
 
 rights and the pursuit of happiness as he understands it. 
 Happily for the human race and happily for this great 
 country and the people of the United States, mankind 
 stands vindicated in the high shrines of the temples of 
 duty and devotion. It awes the scoffer into ineffectual 
 retreat. It shoves by the selfish. The history of man and 
 human progress is an eternal story of sacrifice, devotion, 
 and of self-denial. 
 
 We know where in this struggle the departed dead stood ; 
 and let us reflect, as has been said, that if he does not take 
 his place among those meteoric successes which come from 
 genius, yet he ranks among those men whose names live in 
 history, not by the noise which they have made for them 
 selves only, as the Caesars and the Napoleons, but in the 
 rhythm of those gentle streams and strains that flow from 
 their heart s sympathy for the welfare of mankind. We 
 admire genius; but genius is the gift of God rather than the 
 virtue of attainment. We look up to a Homer, a Dante, a 
 Shakespeare, and a Goethe as to the inspired of God; but 
 when, in solemn judgment, we pass on the merits of men 
 in the light of their practical service and usefulness, the 
 civilized acclaim goes up to the jurist and the soldier, the 
 philosopher and the legislator, the inventor and the reformer, 
 as the pillars on which the temple of development is erected. 
 Behold Solon and Leonidas, Guttenberg and Luther, Frank 
 lin and Washington ! And, Mr. Speaker, if not among these 
 men as leaders, still among them, as a class, we place the 
 name of Mr. CRISP. 
 
 Not to repeat a threadbare quotation (if Shakespeare 
 ever can be threadbare), he was of that robust directness 
 which is always honest and honorable; firm as a rock and 
 candid as the light. Aggressive, perhaps, at times to the 
 
72 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 point of severity, he was ever consistent and conscientious. 
 Self-reliant without ostentation, fixed to his purpose like 
 the northern star, his ambition cast in the high mold of 
 patriotism and general welfare, he will hold his place, all 
 in all, in that rank of men of giant and heroic mold, of 
 all the elements of manhood well compact, of which the 
 majestic Brutus will ever be the literary and historic type. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, it is grateful to render these testimonials 
 of affection and approval to the departed dead. It is 
 grateful to live with them to remember them, as it were 
 in the pure atmosphere of spiritual conception, gathering 
 the good they have done into tangible shape as examples 
 for emulation and pledges for the growth and happiness 
 of the future of mankind. So with our honored dead. 
 However inadequate our tributes may be while what he 
 leaves behind him in the memory of his perfect character 
 and patriotic service is already secure for all time they 
 give vital movement to the good which he accomplished; 
 and its present influence will go out at once to the Ameri 
 can people, that they may know and feel how glorious a 
 thing is the perfect American citizen. 
 
 In this great republic of humanity, where in every 
 village churchyard the willow shades the graves of sover 
 eign masters; where every even the humblest heart 
 may swell with the passions of a destiny grander and 
 nobler than the majesty of kings, public virtue is a public 
 need and public recognition a duty and a consecration. 
 
 The republics of antiquity made their great men and their 
 heroes gods, not only to honor the dead, but to incite the 
 living to emulate their illustrious careers. The great people 
 of these United States, for once and ever, should turn back 
 the slander that republics are ungrateful. Let them ever 
 
A a dress of Mt\ Buck. 73 
 
 recognize greatness and reward service, honor character, 
 and glorify achievement. With that will come regard for 
 constituted authority and reverence for law, which mean 
 peace and order. So shall we develop the perfect citizen 
 ship and consummate the highest aims of self-government ; 
 so shall we adorn our liberties and make sacred our sense of 
 justice ; and so, Mr. Speaker, and so best, will be served and 
 honored the glorious dead, whose strong arms were their 
 country s and whose heart-throbs were the aspirations 
 of humanity. Among these, transfigured in the light of 
 immortality, will stand Mr. CRISP. He will live long in 
 the affections of his people, and the virtues of his patriotism 
 and the record of his services will shine out among the 
 brightest in the uplifting spheres of human liberty and the 
 unmatched heavens of American citizenship. Thus the 
 living render their devotions, that the dead may be at rest. 
 
 Such honors Ilium to her hero paid, 
 
 And peaceful sleeps the mighty Hector s shade. 
 
74 Life and Cliaracter of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. COOPER. 
 
 Mr. COOPER. Mr. Speaker, I well remember the first day 
 that I ever saw CHARLES FREDERICK CRISP. It was during 
 the preparations for the opening of the Fifty-third Congress. 
 He stood apparently in all the vigor of manhood s prime, 
 surrounded by the leaders of his party in this House, full of 
 life and hope, of vitality and courage, yet receiving all 
 with that cordiality, that easiness of access, that charm of 
 manner that was characteristic of the man, and was but the 
 outward reflection of an inward kindliness of heart. 
 
 It seems but yesterday. It is but a few short years as days 
 are counted, and yet within that space of time we have 
 made much history. We have seen many hopes fade, we 
 have witnessed many misfortunes; but nothing sadder than 
 the event that draped that desk in mourning and cut short 
 in mid course the high career of Mr. CRISP. 
 
 Truly, Mr. Speaker, these things are beyond human 
 understanding. He was surrounded by a loving family, by 
 troops of friends. He had the esteem and good wishes of 
 thousands of his fellow-countrymen. He stood just upon 
 the threshold of yet further official preferment and honor 
 from that great State that has so often honored him and 
 that he has so honored, when, at the very noon time of his 
 life, when his sun seemed to be at the very zenith, suddenly 
 it declined and went out. 
 
 Sir, it is not merely an individual loss that we lament 
 here to-day. It is the loss to a great party and the loss to 
 his country. When the leader of one of the great parties 
 of this country, full of experience, yet in the prime of life, 
 
Address of Mr. Cooper. 75 
 
 full of capability and patriotism, of vigor and of force, and 
 yet conservative as Mr. CRISP was, is taken away, his loss is 
 at any time a calami ty in such a country as ours. But a 
 such a day as this, when dissensions and discords distract us; 
 when, look where we will, we see but threatening clouds; 
 when all circumstances call upon us to realize the need of 
 those high attributes which the great State of Georgia 
 which he represented, and where I had the honor to be 
 born has engraved upon her coat of arms as the chief sup 
 porters of the governmental fabric justice, wisdom, and 
 moderation how great is our loss in such a man! I had 
 hoped much from the wisdom and the moderation of Mr. 
 CRISP. He was never a theorist or an extremist. He hoped 
 for the perpetuity of his party, which he regarded as one of 
 the instruments of good government, and he loved his coun 
 try. With his wide knowledge of public men, with a high 
 career before him, with the open field of opportunity, I 
 looked for years of usefulness and honor, in which he would 
 have not only advanced his own reputation, but in which he 
 would have been of most material assistance to his people, to 
 the preservation of his party, and to securing the prosperity 
 and welfare of his country. But, sir, that, too, has passed. 
 When I rose here, it was not with the idea that anything 
 I could say would be of any consequence to his fame or 
 add aught to him. He has written his own memorial in 
 the records of this House and on the pages of his country s 
 history. When I was asked to assist in these services, I felt 
 it to be a high honor. Others who have been much longer 
 here have dwelt iipon his qualities and upon his course in 
 this House. I can add nothing to that ; but to one charac 
 teristic it is peculiarly appropriate that I should render 
 my testimony. I came to the Fifty-third Congress a new 
 
76 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 member, comparatively a young man, and I know that 
 everyone who participated in that Congress, and who so 
 came here, will join me in the tribute which I pay to Mr. 
 CRISP when I say that his generous hand, guided by that 
 kindly heart, held wide open always, when it was possible, 
 the gates of opportunity to the inexperienced and to those 
 who could do naught for him, but for whom he could do so 
 much. It is a pleasure to me indeed to-day to be able to 
 testify in some small degree my gratitude for that constant 
 kindness. He has gone beyond the reach of our words, 
 but he is not dead. "As the tall ship, whose lofty prow 
 shall never stem the billows more," he has merely sought 
 a haven of rest. No man is dead while he is borne in 
 affectionate or grateful remembrance, and, Mr. Speaker, 
 Mr. CRISP will live long in the hearts of many. 
 
Address of Mr. Swanson. 77 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. SWANSON 
 
 Mr. SWANSON. Mr. Speaker, a great public career has 
 ended. One of tlje foremost public men of our country has 
 been stricken down. One of the greatest parliamentary 
 leaders of this age is no more. One of the shining lights 
 of this House, whose splendid achievements have and will 
 ever shed luster upon it, is no longer with us. The recog 
 nized leader of this side of the House, who counseled and 
 directed us, has departed and left us to mourn a loss which 
 is irreparable. A great heart, warm, generous, kind, and 
 magnetic, no longer pulsates. A mind, clear, strong, and 
 masculine, of great depth and grasp, no longer gives us its 
 scintillations of thought. A tongue of great eloquence 
 and power, which has so often stirred and swayed this 
 House, is now silent in death. A life in which can be 
 traced much of shadow and shine, much of privation and 
 much of triumph, inspiring in its success over difficulties, 
 admirable in development and attained proportions, has 
 terminated, and we to-day pause in our deliberations to pay 
 merited tribute to and to do reverence to one who has left 
 behind him such a life. 
 
 I rise to deliver no elaborate eulogium others have done 
 that but simply on behalf of my State and myself to place 
 a modest chaplet of love and admiration upon the grave of 
 CHARLES FREDERICK CRISP. Virginia has ever felt toward 
 Mr. CRISP an affection akin to that entertained for one of her 
 own distinguished sons. When the storms of the late civil 
 war burst over this country, Mr. CRISP, then a youth in 
 Virginia, enlisted in one of her regiments, and became a 
 
78 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 gallant and brave soldier in defense of her soil. These 
 years of his, consisting of triumphs and privations, of 
 glory and disappointments, are interwoven with the history 
 of Virginia and her sons. No section rejoiced more than 
 she at his increasing success and fame; now in mourning 
 his loss she is second to none. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, Emerson, one of the greatest of American 
 thinkers and writers, has said : 
 
 A man s fortunes are the fruits of his character. A man s 
 friends are his magnetisms. 
 
 How fully is this truth illustrated in the life of Mr. 
 CRISP. His life was one crowned with great fortune, 
 blessed with friends innumerable. Thus we find in him 
 a sterling, honest character, a strong masculine mind, 
 blended with a warm, generous, magnetic heart. To be 
 great and to be loved as much as admired, to wield great 
 power and influential leadership, with each day bringing 
 an increasing devotion, indicates the possession of the 
 highest order of intellect, the very best qualities of heart. 
 Mr. CRISP possessed all this. No leader ever enjoyed in 
 a greater degree the combined confidence and affection of 
 his followers than Mr. CRISP did that of his party asso 
 ciates in this House. We all felt he was our individual 
 friend and our matchless party leader. We shall ever hold 
 his personal traits in loving remembrance, his public career 
 in proud recollection. Who can ever forget that straight, 
 strong form, that handsome face, that unfailing courtesy, 
 that warm grasp of the hand, that genial, pleasant smile, 
 that carried sunshine and happiness wherever he went? 
 
 Mr. Speaker, Mr. CRISP will ever be remembered for 
 his participation in exciting scenes and debates in this 
 House which have become historical. Our memory and 
 the imagination of our successors, aided by tradition and 
 
Address of Mr. Swanson. 79 
 
 history, will ever recall his wonderful powers as a parlia 
 mentary debater. With a voice at times slightly tinged 
 with hesitancy, but clear, strong, and resonant, with a 
 presence pleasing and attractive, with thoughts pertinent 
 and incisive, a repartee quick and pointed ; cool, calm, and 
 collected amid the greatest excitement and passion, he was 
 well equipped for the rough-and-tumble debates of this 
 House, and it was in these that he showed himself pre 
 eminently great. This House has had few if any Speakers 
 superior to him. He will be classed among its greatest 
 and most noted. As Speaker, he presided with dignity 
 and grace, transacted business promptly, decided points of 
 order quickly, was firm and decisive. He was courteous, 
 deferential, and fair to his political opponents. His whole 
 public life is without spot or blemish. For four years as 
 Speaker, an office in responsibility and power second only 
 to that of the Presidency, he practically controlled the 
 legislation of this country. He exercised the vast powers 
 thus placed in his hands with prudent care, patriotically, 
 and conscientiously, for what he conceived the best interest 
 of his country. No corrupt job, no vicious, no unjust 
 legislation ever received countenance from him. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, the life of Mr. CRISP is instructive. It 
 comes like an inspiration to the poor boy, situated as he 
 was, possessed of high yearning, yet confronted with pov 
 erty and difficulties, and tells him not to despair, but to 
 build high the pedestal of his ambition. It teaches the 
 ambitious that great success and permanent fame can only 
 come to those who have clean hands, pure hearts, and 
 patriotic motives. It proclaims how a legislator can and 
 should close his ears to the seductions of the rich few, 
 but can and should listen to the heart beat of toiling and 
 struggling humanity. 
 
8o Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. LACEY. 
 
 Mr. LACEY. Mr. Speaker, it is fitting that in the hurry 
 and bustle of public affairs we should pause for a time and 
 remember that all men are but mortal. The painful truth 
 is thrust upon us from time to time as one of our associates 
 falls out of the ranks. 
 
 Our friend, whose death brings us again face to face with 
 the great problem that we all in time must solve, had risen 
 high among his fellow-men. There is but one official place 
 among his countrymen higher than that to which he climbed. 
 
 The Speakership, it has been often said, is the second 
 place in this country in rank, if its power and influence be 
 considered. The General Commanding the Army holds a 
 more desirable place, because his office tenure is for life. 
 The Chief Justice and Vice-President both take a higher 
 rank theoretically, but the actual second place in the nation 
 is that of the Speakership of the House of Representatives. 
 
 All revenue bills must originate in the House, and that 
 body in the most direct degree represents the people. Their 
 term of office is so short that its members are kept in con 
 stant touch with the people. A member of Congress is 
 elected in November and does not, except in case of an 
 extra session, take his seat until thirteen months after his 
 election. He has hardly entered upon his duties until the 
 selection of his successor begins to be agitated. In every 
 official act he is face to face with his constituents. 
 
 The supreme position in a body of this kind is a leadership 
 of the people themselves. 
 
 The House contains 357 members, and so large a body 
 would be hopelessly inefficient and unwieldy if great power 
 
Address of Mr. Lacey. 8r 
 
 were not lodged in the Speaker s hands. He selects the 
 committees and designates the seniority of their members 
 and even appoints their chairmen. The committee is the 
 workshop of the House, and no member can accomplish any 
 results in his legislation unless he is assigned to committees 
 in which he is able to perform his chosen work. He is like 
 an actor in a play who has been given a walking part if he 
 is placed upon committees where he has no opportunities for 
 action, or in a line of work for which he is unprepared or to 
 which he is unadapted. 
 
 The Speaker may, in the very beginning of a session of 
 Congress, place a member where he may have opportunities, 
 or so shelve him that he can accomplish nothing. This 
 power extends to the minority membership as well as to 
 those of the dominant party, and its influence is felt in every 
 Congressional district in the Union. 
 
 But the power of the Speaker does not end here. He has 
 the right to recognize members upon the floor and he may 
 refuse to do so, and there is no redress. He can shape the 
 course of legislation by giving opportunities to present the 
 measures which he may approve. He is the chairman of 
 the Committee on Rules, and this committee is composed 
 of only five members, three of whom are of his own party. 
 In selecting this committee he is practically enabled to 
 bring forward any measure he may wish at almost any time, 
 and the House can only prevent action by voting against 
 the present consideration of the proposed measure. 
 
 Usually less than 10 per cent of all the proposed legisla 
 tion in Congress is ever considered at all, owing to the 
 enormous amount of business brought before that body. 
 
 This being the case, of necessity there must be a power 
 
 and discretion resting somewhere by which the necessary 
 H. Doc. 255 6 
 
82 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 business may be selected and considered out of the great 
 mass of the measures introduced. In the last Congress pre 
 sided over by Mr. CRISP, 11,797 Senate and House bills 
 were presented, and of these, 563 public and 593 private bills 
 were enacted into laws. Congress is generally entitled to 
 more credit for the bills that it permits to die than for any 
 other part of its work, so that the failure to consider bills is 
 not usually an evil. The power of the Speaker to prevent 
 legislation is therefore a most important function. The 
 Speaker has the power to delegate his authority temporarily 
 as presiding officer by selecting some other member for that 
 purpose, and he also names the chairmen of the Committee 
 of the Whole from time to time. 
 
 New members are apt to chafe at first because of the extra 
 ordinary powers of the presiding officer, but upon further 
 service they realize that in so large an organization, having 
 such a multiplicity of important business, the system of 
 which they complained at first is essential to the transaction 
 of the business of the country. 
 
 A Congress which must consider the appropriation and 
 expenditure of from eight hundred to a thousand millions 
 of dollars in two years must be under a complete system of 
 rules, or they could not have sufficient time for their duties. 
 But, with all his power, the Speaker is still the servant of 
 the House, and constantly recognizes that fact. Strong and 
 able men are almost invariably selected for this place, and 
 they are almost always strong partisans. 
 
 The responsibility of Congress to the people, and the fact 
 that the Speaker himself must also stand for reelection in 
 the near future, places him in a position where he must not 
 abuse his power. He not only is in a place where his own 
 future and that of most of the members is in his hands, but 
 the future of his party is also largely dependent upon the 
 
Address of Mr. Lacey. 83 
 
 wisdom and skill with which he exercises his important 
 prerogatives. He can shape the course of his party with 
 almost as much certainty as the President himself. 
 
 The speakership of the English House of Commons, on 
 the other hand, is not political, but is rather judicial in its 
 character. The ministry upon the floor of that chamber 
 are responsible to the House and to the country, and the 
 Speaker s duties are more like those of a mere presiding 
 officer in a court of justice. 
 
 All who have seen service in this House will readily con 
 cede to our presiding officer a place second only to that of 
 the President of the United States. 
 
 Mr. CRISP S first term of office followed immediately after 
 the Fifty-first Congress, where the powers of the office had 
 been so fully demonstrated by Speaker Reed. The atten 
 tion of the country had been called in an unusual degree to 
 the Speaker s chair, and Mr. CRISP took the place at a time 
 when the people looked upon the office with a full appreci 
 ation of its importance. Having personally assailed the 
 prerogatives of the position when in the minority, he was 
 embarrassed in his first term by his own utterances in debate. 
 But in his second term, when his party was distracted by 
 questions which almost threatened its existence, he was 
 compelled to exercise to the uttermost the very powers that 
 he had so severely criticised, even adopting, in a modified 
 form, the same rules that had given a nickname to his 
 Republican predecessor. 
 
 Speaker CRISP was too great a man to allow the reins to 
 slip from the hands of his party in the mere effort to be 
 consistent. He recognized the necessity of adopting meth 
 ods which would enable the dominant party to enact the 
 measures for which that party must answer to this country. 
 Those who served with him knew how ablv he conducted 
 
84 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 himself in the most trying and difficult positions in which 
 he had been placed. 
 
 While the Speaker s chair is the seat of influence, yet in 
 a stirring popular assembly it is the object of constant par 
 tisan assault, and he whose memory we commemorate to-day 
 in turn was the attacking and the assaulted party. But it 
 is one of the pleasant features of parliamentary life that 
 partisan foes are so often personal friends. Mr. CRISP 
 loved a good fighter, and was a hard hitter himself. 
 
 His career is a striking example of the possibilities of 
 life in our Republic. 
 
 In the Fifty-third Congress Galusha A. Grow was sworn 
 in by Speaker CRISP as a member at large from the State of 
 Pennsylvania. This was an impressive act, and brought 
 into comparison two great periods in the history of our 
 people. In 1861 Mr. Grow was chosen as the war-time 
 Speaker of this House. Mr. CRISP was then a young lieu 
 tenant in a company of Confederate infantry, and the civil 
 war was raging with all its fury. 
 
 In 1864 Mr. CRISP was a prisoner of war, and was not 
 released until after hostilities had ceased, in June, 1865. 
 Now, after thirty years, the veteran statesman from Penn 
 sylvania returned again to the Halls of Congress, and the 
 young lieutenant of 1861 had become the Speaker of the 
 House of Representatives of our reunited country and 
 administered the oath of office to his predecessor, the ex- 
 Speaker of that Congress which had enacted the measures 
 to prosecute the war. 
 
 Who could say in the face of such an event as this that 
 we have not laid aside the prejudice and bitterness of the 
 stuggle of 1861? 
 
 And as a citizen of Iowa I wish to lay a tribute upon the 
 tomb of the gallant Georgian, remembering only that we 
 
Address of Mr. Laccy. 85 
 
 were both in a higher sense fellow-citizens of the United 
 States of America. 
 
 My first service in this House was on the Elections Com 
 mittee with our deceased friend, in the heated and stormy 
 sessions of the Fifty-first Congress. Election contests are 
 proverbial for the partisan feeling that they engender. 
 
 Mr. CRISP on these occasions showed himself a sturdy 
 partisan, and it was in these controversies that he won 
 the influence with his party associates that brought him 
 to the Speaker s chair in the succeeding Congress. He was 
 a good parliamentarian, subtle, quick-witted, and always 
 ready for any occasion that might arise, and his party friends 
 rallied around him with that instinct which teaches men 
 to involuntarily recognize a leader. 
 
 In his private relations he was an agreeable and pleasing 
 gentleman, and made friends on both sides of this Chamber 
 at a time when the political forces were nearly equally 
 divided and when party feeling ran high. But all his con 
 flicts of the past in the tented field, at the bar, on the 
 hustings, and in the Halls of Congress are ended. Already- 
 pointed out by common consent for a certain election to a 
 seat in the Senate, he was struck down in the very zenith of 
 his career, mourned by those who knew him, of all parties. 
 
 It was a graceful and gracious act on the part of the 
 generous people of his old district to elect his son and 
 namesake to fill the seat which his death had rendered 
 vacant, and this pleasing circumstance showed how strong 
 a hold he had upon the constituency which he had so long 
 represented, and how fully they appreciated the beauty 
 and purity of his private life and domestic relations. 
 
 The applause with which members of all parties greeted 
 the son upon taking the oath of office showed in what kindly 
 remembrance thev held the sire. 
 
86 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. BELL. 
 
 Mr. BELL. Mr. Speaker, during the latter part of October, 
 1896, while crossing the plains of Nebraska, I glanced at 
 a morning paper. My eyes immediately fastened upon a 
 familiar picture, with an inscription below, "Ex-Speaker 
 CRISP is dead!" That sad announcement was followed 
 by the crowding upon me of the many reasons he had for 
 coveting a long life. I was forcibly reminded that nature 
 had generously given him a comely and commanding pres 
 ence ; that his nature had been formed into such a happy 
 blending of sunshine, good-fellowship, and frank hospital 
 ity that his society was greatly sought, and life should have 
 been to him an unbroken pleasure ; that through his many 
 commendable attributes he had become preeminently the 
 favored son of his own great State, and was in sight of the 
 goal of his political ambition the United States Senate 
 when death overtook him and ended earthly ambition. 
 But sad as these misfortunes are for him and his immediate 
 friends, the calamity is infinitely more deplorable as a great 
 public loss. 
 
 The death of an individual rarely disturbs the general 
 current of the orderly course of human action, but occa 
 sionally one does fall by the wayside who leaves such a 
 void as is difficult to fill. Such a one we lament to-day. 
 His mental alignment approximated perfect equilibrium. 
 No one faculty had been dwarfed to give a surplus to others. 
 Therefore he never startled the world with any phenom 
 enal outburst of genius, nor did he ever disappoint his 
 friends by descending to mediocrity. He was of the solid, 
 
Address of Mr. Bell. 87 
 
 even-tempered, well-balanced order of men to whom only 
 can the safety and perpetuity of a great country be confi 
 dently intrusted. 
 
 It is true he was imbued with a laudable ambition to 
 serve his countrymen in public places, not for pecuniary 
 compensation, as mercenary aspirations were beneath his 
 high standard. He was not ambitious that he might revel 
 in the glare of official society, as such were too empty and 
 sterile for his strong common-sense view of the real pleas 
 ures and amenities of human life. He sought to serve his 
 fellows because they evinced a desire for his services and 
 because he believed that he could serve them well, and he 
 believed that his policies enacted into law would inure to the 
 greatest good to the greatest and most deserving number. 
 
 The Populist party in Congress, for whom I speak as 
 well as for myself, has every reason to pay high tribute 
 to his memory. While Speaker, we were few in number, 
 misunderstood, and grossly misrepresented by politicians 
 and the partisan press, often intentionally, and more fre 
 quently through ignorance of our intentions and aspira 
 tions; but he was too large to be tainted with bigotry or 
 intolerance, the worst enemies of mankind. He never 
 wavered a hair s breadth in doing us complete justice at 
 all times. We never visited him at his private apartments 
 that his easy geniality and open hospitality did not con 
 vince us that he fully recognized that he was Speaker of 
 the whole House. We never approached him in the 
 Speaker s chair that the hand of good-fellowship and some 
 friendly verbal greeting was not extended. He never 
 denied our petitions without giving such cogent reasons 
 therefor and in so becoming a manner that we acquiesced 
 in the conclusion that he could not be expected to do less. 
 
88 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 He granted our applications in such an unostentatious 
 manner that we were sent away feeling that a right and 
 not a favor had been granted. 
 
 He possessed none of the elements of the bigot never 
 fastened any doors between him and the public. He 
 preferred to be with and of the people. None knew 
 better than he the danger of tyrannical majorities visiting 
 oppression and injustice on struggling minorities. He was 
 never a representative of any special class or section of the 
 country. He was a statesman of the highest and purest 
 type, and a representative of the whole people of the 
 whole country. In this matchless contest for the suprem 
 acy of the people the loss of such a representative, so pure 
 a type of the founders of this Government, is indeed a 
 great public calamity. When I returned to Washington 
 and met the colored boy who used to care for his room, 
 with moistened eyes, he said, We have sustained a great 
 loss since you went away in the death of Speaker CRISP, 
 and added, "Everything that knew that man loved him." 
 
 That is greater eulogy than I am capable of pronounc 
 ing. After all is said and done, the real character of a 
 man is most truly photographed and known in his home 
 life and by those who serve him. 
 
Address of Mr, Wheeler. 89 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. WHEELER. 
 
 Mr. WHEELER. Mr. Speaker, when the Angel of Death 
 received the spirit of CHARLES FREDERICK CRISP, a man 
 was taken from this world who had won the love of his 
 State, the confidence and admiration of the entire South, 
 and the respect of our whole country. As a native Georgian, 
 I take special pride in the great distinction achieved by him 
 whose death we mourn. 
 
 Mr. CRISP always performed every duty in a most credit 
 able manner. When little more than a boy, he was a brave 
 soldier and officer in the Army of Northern Virginia, follow 
 ing the sword of Robert E. Lee in the many battles fought 
 by that illustrious commander. With the return of peace 
 he retired to his home and became a lawyer, respected 
 for his ability, learning, and fidelity. As solicitor-general 
 of his district and as judge of one of the superior courts of 
 Georgia, he earned the highest commendations. 
 
 He was twice elected to preside over the popular branch 
 of the Congress of the United States, and during a service 
 of fourteen years in this body he certainly reached a most 
 exalted place among the statesmen of America. His repu 
 tation as a parliamentarian and a just presiding officer had 
 extended throughout the civilized world. 
 
 While in the midst of the performance of these high 
 duties, he was appointed and urged by the governor of 
 Georgia to accept a seat in the Senate of the United States, 
 but his high conception of the duty he owed to those who 
 had elected him to preside over this body constrained him 
 to decline the proffered honor; but the people of Georgia, 
 appreciating his noble character and superb qualities, seized 
 the first opportunity after the expiration of his term as 
 Speaker to do him honor, and with almost unprecedented 
 
90 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 unanimity elected him to the office which but a short time 
 before he had felt it his duty to decline the highest office 
 in their gift one which he was qualified in an eminent 
 degree to adorn; but just as the decree of the people was to 
 be recorded, it was met by the dread messenger, Death. 
 
 Well may it be said of him, right worthily he fought 
 life s battle and won his way to fame; and the people who 
 loved to honor him in life will revere and cherish his mem 
 ory in death, and his name will be arrayed among those 
 illustrious statesmen of Georgia who did their full part in 
 perfecting the system of government which has built up 
 this great and prosperous Republic. 
 
 In the midst of his strength and usefulness, before age 
 had made slow his footstep, or chilled the warmth of his 
 heart, or dimmed the brightness of his eye, or withered the 
 brilliancy of the intellect which had served his country and 
 his State so long and so well, surrounded by the shadows 
 and hills and sunshine of his own beloved Georgia, in the 
 midst of his countrymen and the beloved family which 
 knew his greatness best of all, he fought his last battle 
 with sickness and pain, and answered to the roll call of the 
 Great Captain, and passed from the mystery of this life upon 
 earth into that greater life "whose portals we call death," 
 though there can be no death to those who leave their 
 names enshrined in the hearts of their countrymen. 
 
 In our journey of life, in the Halls of Congress, in his old 
 accustomed place, in the sunny vales of his home in the far 
 Southland, we shall greet CHARLES FREDERICK CRISP no 
 more. He has met his Pilot face to face, and has crossed 
 over the river and is at rest under the shade of the trees. * 
 
 I can but echo the words of one who knew him well: 
 "Over his dreaming face, in the shadow of the Georgia 
 hills, we say good night to him, but good morning to his 
 enduring fame." 
 
Address of Mr, Woodard. 91 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. WOODARD. 
 
 Mr. WOODARD. Mr. Speaker, it is a loving service to 
 those who knew, valued, and honored him, to speak in mem 
 ory of the life and character of CHARLES FREDERICK CRISP. 
 
 As a private soldier, he was brave and faithful; as judge 
 of the superior court, he shed luster upon the judiciary of 
 his State; as a member of Congress, he was long the trusted 
 leader of his party; as Speaker, he was a master of parlia 
 mentary procedure, a model presiding officer, firm and reso 
 lute, but always courteous; with an attractive personality, 
 indomitable courage, great prudence, an earnest partisan 
 because he believed the policies of his party, if enacted 
 into laws, would redound to the honor and welfare of 
 his country ; a statesman in its best and broadest sense, his 
 party and his country have sustained a great loss in his 
 untimely death. 
 
 I do not propose, Mr. Speaker, to review in detail the 
 early history or services of Mr. CRISP. That has been done 
 by others who have known him longer, and who have in 
 appropriate and eloquent words portrayed his exalted worth 
 as a citizen, his valuable services to his party and country. 
 
 I first met him at the beginning of the Fifty-third Con 
 gress, when I entered upon my service as a member of this 
 House, and my admiration for his character as a man and 
 as a statesman increased with the passing years. 
 
 When but a boy, only 16 years of age, animated by that 
 patriotic spirit which followed him through life, we find him 
 a volunteer soldier in the Confederate Army, where he served 
 until the end of the war. Immediately after its close he 
 
92 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 commenced the study of law, and in a few years attained a 
 high rank in his chosen profession. He was elected solicitor- 
 general and judge of the superior court, and while on the 
 bench was elected to Congress. He had served in the House 
 but a short time when his conspicuous ability pointed him 
 out, as if by intuition, as the leader of his party on the 
 floor. Having been assigned by common consent to that 
 honorable and responsible position, it was manifest that he 
 was a born leader, equal to every emergency, always ready, 
 always wise, always able, and ever true to his convictions 
 of duty. While possessed of that firmness and true courage 
 so necessary to constitute a successful leader, Mr. CRISP was 
 withal a modest gentleman, and never forgot the amenities 
 and courtesies due his opponents. On all occasions he 
 exhibited those manly and gentle virtues which never fail 
 to win our warmest admiration and tenderest regard. 
 
 In the Fifty-second and Fifty-third Congresses he was 
 elected Speaker of this House, and in that delicate and 
 responsible position he more than sustained his justly earned 
 reputation for ability, firmness, fairness, and courtesy. His 
 record as presiding officer will compare favorably with that 
 of the most distinguished parliamentarians who preceded 
 him. In every position he was called upon to fill, Mr. 
 CRISP measured up to the fullest expectations of his friends, 
 and his whole life affords a bright example for the young 
 men of our country to emulate. 
 
 As a soldier, as a citizen, as a judge, as a member of Con 
 gress, as Speaker, as the great leader of a great party, he 
 was ever faithful to himself, to his people, to his party, to 
 his country, and to his Maker. Those high, noble, and sin 
 cere virtues which made Mr. CRISP a conspicuous leader in 
 American politics and constituted him a pure and unsullied 
 
Address of Mr, Woodard. 93 
 
 statesman were a part of his nature, and they appear with 
 equal beauty and brightness in his private character. In 
 all the private and social relations of life the same purity of 
 character, honesty of purpose, and noble aspirations which 
 distinguished his public life made him a model citizen, a 
 true and constant friend, a loving and tender husband, an 
 affectionate father, and a Christian gentleman. 
 
 It was my fortune, Mr. Speaker, to be constantly asso 
 ciated with him during the last four years, as we boarded 
 at the same hotel in this city. The more I saw of him the 
 more I appreciated his high qualities and the beauties and 
 virtues of his private life. During the latter part of the 
 first session of this Congress the health of Mr. CRISP 
 became impaired, but his friends hoped his suffering would 
 be only temporary. After adjournment he sought relief 
 in the pure and invigorating climate of western North 
 Carolina; but the disease which had attacked him was 
 a fatal malady, and his indomitable will and brave heart 
 struggled in vain against the inevitable result. Death 
 came to him in the very zenith of his career. It came to 
 him when his party and country seemed to be in special 
 need of his wise counsel and safe leadership. It came when 
 he was so soon to receive at the hands of a grateful people 
 the high office which had been the ambition of his life. 
 Why should he have been taken at this time? We would 
 not question God s providences, so mysterious in so many 
 ways. Beautifully has it been said by another: 
 
 There is an existence beyond the present life where all shall be 
 made clear. We shall see as we are seen ; we shall know even 
 as we are known. Mr. Dickens made the poor, idiotic Barnaby 
 and the coarse, strong Hugh, of the Maypole Inn, hold conver 
 sation about the visible wonders of the heavens, and they 
 inquire of each other whence comes the light of the innumerable 
 
94 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 stars that dot the skies. When they were both under sentence 
 of death, and just before the dawn of day were led across the 
 prison yard toward the place of execution, Barnaby, looking 
 upward toward the myriad lights of the night, exclaims: 
 " Hugh, we shall know what makes the stars shine now." 
 
 Our faith here to-day ought to exceed that of the poor 
 simpleton created by the imagination of the novelist. Not 
 only shall we know what makes the stars shine, but all 
 the wonders of the vast universe shall be open to our 
 search. Our homes shall be among the heavens; the prob 
 lems that our burdened souls have studied so despairingly 
 shall be happily solved, and we may even become partici 
 pators in the knowledge and power of Him 
 
 Whose power o er moving worlds presides, 
 Whose voice created and whose wisdom guides. 
 
 To this felicity the friend we now with tenderness 
 remember has already fully advanced. We would not, if 
 we could, bring him back to earth, slowly and painfully to 
 die again. We wait, reverently and hopefully, for the 
 summons to us to join him in some star that is shining, 
 from eternity to eternity, with unfading luster in God s 
 illimitable wilderness of worlds. 
 
Address of Mr. Layton. 95 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. LAYTON. 
 
 Mr. LAYTON. Mr. Speaker, what is an ideal man? Who 
 is a perfect man? Who can fully describe him? Where 
 can he be found? These questions present a fruitful and 
 varied field for the writer and speaker, so broad and varied 
 in fact that I do not deem it wise or appropriate to enter 
 thereon or therein save only for the purpose of making a 
 few observations this afternoon more or less pertinent to the 
 occasion. 
 
 Hence I would inquire, What is your ideal of an Ameri 
 can statesman? Where say you he can be found? How 
 would you describe him to your hearers? Have you ever 
 seen his counterpart? Is he now living or dead? Should 
 these inquiries be addressed to myself, I would be con 
 strained to answer in substance: I have never yet seen in its 
 entirety my ideal of an American statesman; neither do I 
 know where he can be found, nor can I fully or satisfactorily 
 describe him to you. Yet I well remember one who came 
 so near to my ideal that I do not now hesitate to accept him 
 as such; but with a sadness I can but illy express, I would 
 say he is no longer living. 
 
 Perhaps my ideal is too exalted. Perhaps in fact he never 
 existed, can not, nor ever will. If so, I much regret it, for 
 as I now view it in the light of more or less intercourse and 
 association with many of our American statesmen, during 
 the last six years especially, I do not regard my ideal as 
 unreasonable or impossible of attainment. And as an 
 American citizen who loves and admires her men and her 
 institutions and believes in her continuing progress and 
 
96 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 advancement, it affords me great pleasure to say that, while 
 none of her statesmen of my acquaintance come up to the 
 exact mark or line, yet many come so near it that I shall 
 ever refer to the fact with pride and satisfaction. So near 
 have so many come to this exacting ideal that I can have 
 no fear for the future growth and welfare of our now great 
 Republic under their continuing care and guidance. 
 
 In my humble judgment, an ideal, a real American 
 statesman, in these times especially, when aristocracy and 
 plutocracy are so freely referred to and censured, should 
 at all times be purely democratic in his ways, manner, and 
 conduct with all his fellow-men, and yet always dignified. 
 He should of course, be educated, able, and intellectual. 
 He should never be a demagogue. He should be affable 
 and pleasant and still dignified. He should be firm and 
 decisive, yet considerate and forbearing, especially with 
 his inferiors in intellect and experience. He should not 
 be sarcastic to individuals, no matter how caustic he may be 
 in his references to criticism of classes or parties, and above 
 and beyond all, unselfishness and patriotism should guide 
 and control his every public utterance and action. We 
 doubtless have had in the past and now have many Ameri 
 can statesmen who fulfill most of these requirements, if not 
 quite all. I can pay no higher or more just tribute to the 
 memory of CHARLES FREDERICK CRISP than to say that, 
 taking him all in all, he came nearer doing so than any 
 other with whom I have ever had the honor of an acquaint 
 anceship. None who knew him well will resent this state 
 ment or take offense thereat. He was always manly and 
 dignified in his manner and conduct, yet ever affable and 
 pleasant, whether on the floor of this House, in the com 
 mittee room, in the Speaker s chair, on the street, in public 
 
Address of Mr. Layton. 97 
 
 gatherings, or in his own household. He was always posi 
 tive and firm in his convictions and opinions, and yet ever 
 kind and considerate with those who might differ with him. 
 In all matters he was totally unselfish, and true patriotism 
 the general welfare of his country seemed to guide him in 
 all his official conduct. He was not a great orator, but was 
 a great, concise debater. As a husband and father, he 
 was ever loving, kind, and gentle. Those who knew him 
 best appreciated him the most. 
 
 Term after term the people of his Congressional district 
 returned him to Congress with an almost unanimous voice. 
 In the Fifty-second Congress, when his party came in power, 
 he was elected to the high and important office of Speaker 
 of this House the most important position in the Union 
 next to that of President. The Firty-third Congress again 
 so honored him without any opposition from his own party. 
 He administered the office with great ability and impar 
 tiality. At the beginning of the present Congress he was 
 honored by his party associates as their choice for the same 
 position. While serving in this exalted position the gov 
 ernor of his State, in willing obedience to the wishes of the 
 people, tendered him the Senatorship by appointment to fill 
 a vacancy in the United States Senate. And yet, while 
 desiring the position thus so kindly offered him, he promptly 
 declined the appointment on the sole and patriotic ground 
 that he could serve his country and party the better by 
 retaining the Speakership. Soon afterwards he was duly 
 recommended as a candidate for the United States Senate 
 by his party in Georgia with substantial unanimity. But, 
 alas, before he could take his seat therein, ruthless Death 
 cut him down. But recently his young but worthy son, 
 Charles R. Crisp, was elected a member of this House 
 
 H. Doc. 255 7 
 
98 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 without opposition to succeed his illustrious father and fill 
 out his unexpired term in this Congress. On the first day 
 of this session Mr. CRISP S untimely death was acknowl 
 edged by an appropriate resolution, followed by immediate 
 adjournment for the day in honor of his memory. All, 
 regardless of section or party, conceded that his premature 
 death in the prime of his manhood was a great loss to his 
 State and the nation. No man, no newspaper, said an un 
 kind word of him, but all, as we are now doing, sincerely 
 regret and mourn his loss. Indeed may we say: 
 
 None knew him but to love him, 
 None named him but to praise. 
 
 Ohio mourns with Georgia over the loss of her distin 
 guished son. 
 
 To every American citizen who desires or intends to fol 
 low public official life I most sincerely commend the life, 
 character, and history 7 of Mr. CRISP. May we, our children, 
 and our children s children ever emulate his noble example. 
 
Address of Mr. Bankhcad. 99 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. BANKHEAD. 
 
 Mr. BANKHEAD. Mr. Speaker, to-day we stop for a brief 
 season the onward current of our everyday duties to pay 
 tribute to one who in life was most himself when engaged, 
 as we are daily engaged, in the business and affairs of this 
 House. In the death of CHARLES FREDERICK CRISP, rep 
 resentative life in America lost one of its most brilliant 
 ornaments and our nation one of its purest and most exalted 
 statesmen. 
 
 Standing now in this presence, about to speak my words 
 of tribute to our dead friend and associate, I feel crowding 
 on me emotions of peculiar sadness. All the keen pain 
 and anguish that touched my heart at the immediate occa 
 sion of his death are renewed, and what I would say is 
 almost stayed. In our greetings and farewells we have no 
 set and studied phrases. When we grasp the hand of one 
 we may not have seen for years, or come to part with 
 one we may never see again, then it is that speech is hollow 
 and but sound, and the beaming eyes, the quivering lips, 
 the whole face give expression to an emotion beyond the 
 reach of words. 
 
 Sir, when Mr. CRISP died, he had barely passed the half- 
 century mark. Born in the year 1845, educated in the 
 common schools of his State, a mere lad of 16 he entered 
 the Confederate Army. From his enlistment in May, 1861, 
 to his capture in May, 1864, he was a brave soldier, win 
 ning the confidence and love of his superiors. He knew 
 the true import of the word duty, and all his subsequent 
 career shows the influence on his life of the rigorous 
 
ioo Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 discipline of active warfare. Of the part he took in this 
 mighty conflict I know how he felt, and that feeling I find 
 embodied in the tribute paid by the distinguished Senator 
 from Ohio [Mr. Sherman] on the late Senator Randall 
 Lee Gibson, of Louisiana: 
 
 We have come to regard this fierce and sanguinary struggle 
 as an inheritance from our fathers, growing out of an honest 
 difference of opinion as to the framework of our Government. 
 Poor human nature could provide no arbitrator to settle this 
 contention, but now that it has been settled by a sacrifice of 
 life and treasure almost unexampled in human history, it can 
 be truly said that the result is heartily acquiesced in, and that 
 no slumbering fires can rise from the ashes of the civil war to 
 disturb the unity, integrity, and power of this great Republic. 
 
 One year after the close of hostilities found him admitted 
 to the bar and located at Ellaville, Ga., in the practice of the 
 law, called by Burke " one of the first and noblest of human 
 sciences." For six years he toiled at his profession, strug 
 gling as its younger members do with an effort to build up 
 a paying practice. However, in 1872 his success had won 
 him the first of the series of offices which was to end by his 
 being the choice of the Empire State of the South for 
 Senator in the United States Congress. In this year he 
 was appointed solicitor-general of the southwestern judicial 
 circuit, and after a twelvemonth he was reappointed for four 
 years. In 1873 ^ ie removed to Americus, where he spent 
 the remainder of his life. From 1877 to 1882 he was one 
 of the superior court judges. The latter year closed his 
 professional work as an active practitioner. These sixteen 
 years of his life represent a career full of interest. He was 
 a successful lawyer. His ability commanded his first office 
 and enabled him to hold it. As an advocate he was earnest 
 and fearless. Transferred to the bench, his facilities easily 
 
Address of Mr. Bankhead. 101 
 
 adjusted themselves to the severe exactions of the position, 
 and he was all that is looked for in the term an "upright 
 and a just judge." 
 
 Taking his seat in the Forty-eighth Congress, he early 
 assumed that prominent place and developed those splendid 
 qualities of leadership which won for him the Speaker s 
 chair of the Fifty-second and Fifty-third Congresses. His 
 life and work here are known and read of all men. I know 
 that I am in the limits of exact statement when I say that 
 there are no acts of his while in this body that will net 
 stand the test of the most searching criticism. In his rela 
 tions with his fellow-members he was always genial and 
 pleasant. He seemed always happy; and while he might 
 be leading a galloping charge on this floor, his natural 
 manner never became offensive, and at its conclusion his 
 perennial humor and serene temper returned. In his work 
 as a Representative he was always busy, and no duty did 
 he leave unperformed if possible of attention. His con 
 stituents had unbounded confidence and trust in him and 
 in his power to serve them. 
 
 Perhaps it was in his course as Speaker in this body that 
 he displayed qualities of a higher order than in any other 
 field. His ability as a parliamentarian was remarkable. 
 In his incumbency of this exalted seat and in his adminis 
 tration of its duties he won the admiration of his political 
 opponents and was the idol of his friends. He was essen 
 tially fair and just. It was his desire to do right, and this 
 he did at all times, as he conceived it. Quick, decisive, 
 impartial, unfailing in resource, he must be ranked with 
 his greatest predecessors. 
 
 While he was a good soldier, a successful lawyer, a 
 learned judge, and a leader in the greatest representative 
 
 Scho 
 
 Religion 
 
io2 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 assembly in the world, it is as a Christian gentleman he 
 must be accorded the greatest honor. In his home life, 
 which I can not here invade, he was the devoted, tender, 
 and loving husband, and the ever fond, indulgent parent. 
 I was first attracted to him because of his orderly habits of 
 life and his loyal love of his home. Day by day I saw him 
 come and go, in the Halls of Congress, in his intercourse 
 with the world, in the bosom of his family, and I saw in 
 his life the well-nigh perfect man. 
 
 But he is gone from us now. In a little while we should 
 have seen him take his seat in the other end of the Capitol, 
 but instead he has gone up higher, "to where, beyond these 
 voices, there is peace." The journey done, he is resting 
 now; he is sleeping the sleep that knows no waking, care 
 less alike of the day dawn or the twilight. For him the 
 dark night of death was the sunburst of an eternal hereafter. 
 
 I will not say, God s ordinance 
 
 Of death is blown in every wind, 
 For that is not a common chance 
 
 That takes away a noble mind. 
 
 His memory long will live alone 
 
 In all our hearts, as mournful light 
 That broods above the fallen sun 
 
 And dwells in heaven half the night. 
 
Address of Mr. McLaurin. 103 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. MCLAURIN. 
 
 Mr. McLAURiN. Mr. Speaker, no man can foretell the 
 mysterious issues of life and death. Few who saw CHARLES 
 FREDERICK CRI C P at the close of the last session thought 
 that death would so soon cast its pale shadow upon that 
 apparently robust body and vigorous mind. 
 
 How uncertain is the future ! To-day life is bright, the 
 sea is calm, the tide swells high and strong. To-morrow 
 the tide turns; business trouble, sickness, or death robs us of 
 hope and pleasure. From the calm and beautiful harbor 
 where we floated so confidently we are rudely tossed out 
 upon the wide ocean. The horizon stretches far beyond 
 our vision, and the heave of its restless waves comes from 
 depths that are unfathomable. Vainly struggling, we 
 either sink to the tranquil depths, where all is peace, or, 
 tempest-torn and faint, are cast upon the shore. Well 
 may the poet exclaim: 
 
 What is life? A brief delight; 
 A sun, scarce brightening ere it sink in night; 
 A flower, at morning fresh, at noon decayed; 
 A still, swift river, gliding into shade. 
 
 The man who would know its true secret must learn to 
 live "in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths; in feel 
 ings, not in figures on a dial" to count time in heart 
 throbs. He most lives who thinks most, feels noblest, acts 
 best. 
 
 I think Mr. CRISP grasped the true meaning of life and 
 lived "in deeds, not years; thoughts, not breaths." 
 
 The first time I saw him, the thing that struck me most 
 forcibly was the strong, cheerful, and kindly expression of 
 his face. He had a hearty, genial manner, with a pleasant 
 
IO4 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 smile and kind word for everyone. I can well believe 
 that in the home circle he was gentle, tender, and consid 
 erate ; his sunny nature must have gladdened the hearts 
 and lives of those who were traveling the journey with 
 him. It is, however, for those more intimate to speak of 
 him in private life. As a colleague from a sister State, it is 
 simply my wish to pay a brief but sincere tribute to him as 
 a public man. Those who differed with him politically 
 will testify that, while firm in his convictions, he was gen 
 erous and tolerant of the opinion of others, while those of 
 us who accepted his leadership will say that, like Joseph 
 of Arimathea, "He was a just man and good counsellor." 
 
 For the great, patient, toiling masses he had an active and 
 sincere sympathy. He never lost sight of the fact that he 
 was a public servant, sent here to represent the will of the 
 majority. He was an ideal Representative, never imagining 
 himself wiser than the collective thought of the people who 
 sent him here. He was in close touch with his people, with 
 a thorough knowledge of their sentiments upon all public 
 questions ; and, after all, true statesmanship in a representa 
 tive government simply means the needs and wishes of the 
 people translated into law. The people love and appreciate 
 a faithful representative. What a graceful and touching 
 compliment they paid Mr. CRISP. 
 
 When death came, they sent his son to occupy his vacant 
 chair in this House. Indeed, there was no more beautiful 
 sight than the almost brotherly confidence and intimacy that 
 seemed to exist between this father and son, and the people 
 of Georgia honored themselves in paying such a tribute to 
 the memory of their dead. I am sure that the mantle fell 
 upon worthy shoulders, and that the trust will be regarded 
 sacred by his successor and namesake. 
 
Address of Mr. McLaurin. 105 
 
 It was while engaged in a canvass of his State for the 
 Senatorship that the premonitory symptoms were felt of 
 that disease which ended his life. Although apparently 
 sound and vigorous, he probably had full knowledge of 
 this vital weakness, but he did not allow it to deter him 
 from his work. I met him day after day in the committee 
 room, cheerful and confident, while he was always at his 
 post on the floor of the House, prompt and vigilant. It 
 may literally be said that "he died in the harness." We 
 are told that when that knight of old, without fear or 
 reproach, Chevalier Bayard, was wounded unto death, he 
 commanded his attendants to prop him up against a tree 
 with his face to the enemy ; he then, after taking the sacra 
 ment, died with this beautiful sentiment on his lips: "The 
 justice of Almighty God will be tempered by the blood 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ. With a character as pure and 
 spotless, with a courage as chivalrous, and a like trust in 
 the justice and mercy of the same God, died, without fear 
 or reproach, this gallant knight of a modern day. 
 
 The State of Georgia, Mr. Speaker, has been prolific in 
 great men. At the mention of her name the mind reverts 
 to Alexander H. Stephens, the conservative and sagacious 
 statesman; to Ben Hill, the eloquent and gifted orator; 
 to the lion-like and majestic Toombs, with his fiery and irre 
 sistible logic; but, sir, great as are these, Mr. CRISP is 
 well worthy a place in their ranks. The times did not 
 afford him the same opportunity to display the most striking 
 qualities of statesmanship that they did Stephens, and his 
 tory may not accord him as high rank; in the realms of 
 oratory he was not, perhaps, the equal of Toombs or Hill, 
 but as an allround man statesman, orator, and debater 
 he was the peer of Georgia s greatest. Of great practical 
 
io6 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 common sense, modest, imperturbable, evenly poised, and 
 cool, it was impossible to throw him off his balance. 
 
 As the representative of a powerful majority, wielding the 
 Speaker s gavel, he was impartial, courteous, and kind; as 
 the leader of the minority, he was cautious, tactful, and 
 ready of resource, and it seemed to me that his masterly 
 qualities were never better displayed than in the latter role. 
 He had a clear, clean-cut, incisive style, with an entire 
 absence of attempt at display. In a calm, sensible, business 
 like manner, he went right to the marrow of a question. 
 
 He inspired confidence, and men trusted Mr. CRISP and 
 accepted his leadership because they knew that he would 
 never say or do a foolish thing nor be caught in an untenable 
 position. Preeminently a safe man, it could be confidently 
 counted upon that he would say the right thing at the right 
 time and do the right thing in the right place. Fully devel 
 oped mentally, physically, and morally, he was ready for and 
 equal to every emergency. No one in this House ever saw 
 him on any occasion, however difficult, when he did not meet 
 the requirements in every respect. He saw in an instant a 
 weakness in the position of an adversary, and his thorough 
 knowledge of parliamentary usage enabled him to seize 
 every advantage. Under the most trying circumstances he 
 fully met and often exceeded the expectation of his friends. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, it is in such an hour as this, when the great 
 and powerful are cut short in the midst of their career, that 
 we are most forcibly reminded of our weakness and depend 
 ence upon God. Death is the great leveler; he makes no 
 distinction between prince and pauper. It is the same 
 everywhere; in the humble cot or the bright palace, in the 
 wild forest or the brilliant city, in the swamps or upon the 
 mountain top, to the humble laborer or the great statesman, 
 
Address of Mr. McLaurin. 107 
 
 the same dread summons chills the blood and freezes the 
 heart. Christ, and Christ alone, can dispel the pall of 
 gloomy terror that hovers about the bed of death. The 
 genius of man and the wisdom of the ages offer no other 
 solution. The " Go in peace " and " Thy sins are forgiven 
 thee must be spoken to each, and is our safe retreat. 
 
 It is not given to many to rise to the elevated position 
 occupied by Mr. CRISP. All can not be eagles, but each of 
 us has his work, great or small; and we are taught that the 
 manner in which it is performed is of more account than the 
 magnitude of the task accomplished. If the trend of our 
 life is for good, if its course is ever upward and onward, if 
 its thought and inspiration are in harmony with the purpose 
 of Providence in creating us, however insignificant our work 
 may appear to others, surely we shall find in the great final 
 day of account that we have not lived and toiled in vain. 
 
 As members of this House we lead here busy, active lives, 
 and when we are at home the turmoil, strife, and jealousies 
 of political rivalry leave little time to prepare for the 
 "great beyond." It is well, therefore, on occasions of this 
 character to pause a moment and draw home the solemn 
 lesson each for himself. 
 
 Let us not be unmindful of the fact that a great leader, 
 one of the busiest in our number, yet found time to seek 
 that peace which will sustain the faltering soul in that last 
 dark hour and make it radiant with the never-dying hope of 
 eternal life. Mr. CRISP was a consistent and faithful member 
 of the Methodist Church. After all the triumphs which 
 crowned a brilliant and successful career, I doubt not that 
 if to-day his well-known voice could be heard in this Cham 
 ber he would reecho the dying words of the founder of his 
 Church, John Wesley, " Best of all, the Lord is with us." 
 
io8 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. MCCREARY. 
 
 Mr. McCREARY. Mr. Speaker, there is no arena which 
 death does not invade. There is no place too sacred for 
 its touch. There is nothing living on earth, no matter how 
 great or small, how pure or vile, how rich or poor, but 
 must finally succumb to the dread destroyer. There is 
 always somewhere 
 
 Some heart that is bleeding, 
 Some eye that is weeping, 
 Some home that is draped, 
 Some loved person dead. 
 
 When our comrade dies, when our coworker is stricken 
 down full of hope and high purposes and great achieve 
 ments, when he who has helped to make history and par 
 ticipated with us in the important legislation of our country 
 is taken away in the prime and vigor of a splendid man 
 hood, when his ability, integrity, and devotion to the public 
 weal are most appreciated and most needed, we realize fully 
 that death is very near to us, and that our affliction is 
 severe, and our country s loss is great. 
 
 Others have given detailed accounts of the life and 
 career of CHARLES FREDERICK CRISP. I shall speak 
 mainly of his character and his services in the legislative 
 forum, where I knew him best and where I respected and 
 admired him as a leader and loved him as a friend. 
 
 I first met him when I commenced my service as a Rep 
 resentative in Congress in 1885. My admiration for him 
 grew as I became better acquainted with him, and I was 
 deeply impressed with his genial, pleasant nature, and with 
 the promptness and readiness with which he met every 
 emergency. 
 
Address of Mr. McCreary. 109 
 
 I regarded him as a noble type of American manhood, 
 able, logical, self-made, and self-reliant, and always cour 
 teous, courageous, and true. 
 
 He was firm and sincere in his convictions, faithful to 
 his friends, liberal to his opponents, fair, just, and con 
 scientious, and unceasing in the discharge of his duties as 
 a Representative. 
 
 He was the faithful friend and champion of the people. 
 He loved liberty, civil, political, and religious, and he was 
 devoted to popular government. 
 
 He was both a patriot and a philanthropist. No man 
 gave greater and more continued evidence of his love of 
 country, and no man was more prompt to aid a friend or 
 give freely to the needy and deserving. 
 
 He worked for what he regarded as the rights of the 
 people, and did all in his power to protect the interests and 
 promote the welfare and prosperity of the Republic, and the 
 radiance of his integrity and the brightness of his honor 
 were never assailed or questioned. 
 
 He was devoted to his wife, his children, and his home, 
 and no husband or father was ever the recipient of more 
 love and respect. His family circle was full of affection and 
 sweet communion, and here he illustrated how happy a 
 man could be who was trying to do his duty to his God, his 
 family, and his country. 
 
 His life and achievements illustrated not only the splendid 
 opportunities of our great Republic, but showed also the 
 honorable success and great renown that will crown earnest 
 efforts, strict integrity, and steadfast devotion to duty. 
 
 The first and last conspicuous events in his life showed 
 not only his courage, ability, and self-reliance, but also the 
 confidence, admiration, and love lavished upon him by those 
 
no Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 who knew him best. At 16 years of age he proved his 
 courage and self-reliance by enlisting as a soldier in the 
 Confederate Army and bravely fighting until the close of 
 the war for what he believed to be right. When he was 51 
 years of age, the people of Georgia, who had for more than 
 a quarter of a century studied his public service and his 
 fidelity to his State and nation, sought to confer upon him 
 the highest honor in their gift by making him a. United 
 States Senator, and practically all of the State senators and 
 representatives elected were instructed by the people to 
 honor him with this great office; but his death prevented 
 this great trust and well-merited distinction from being con 
 ferred upon him. 
 
 His views on finance, taxation, education, commerce, agri 
 culture, an economical administration of the Government, 
 the sovereignty of the people, and the independence of the 
 coordinate departments of the Government, and on all other 
 important questions presented, were often announced in 
 strong and eloquent speeches, which are found in nearly 
 every volume of the Congressional Record issued since his 
 service as Representative commenced. 
 
 As an earnest, fearless champion of Democracy, he was 
 always ready to defend his party and his principles, and he 
 loved to uphold and support the teachings and doctrines of 
 Jefferson and Jackson. 
 
 It was as Speaker of the House of Representatives he 
 gained his highest honors and made himself most conspic 
 uous before the country. His knowledge of parliamentary 
 law and procedure, his equipoise, and the ease, dignity, 
 firmness, and fairness with which he presided made him 
 popular with the members of all political parties and 
 enabled him to conduct the business with order and dispatch. 
 
Address of Mr. McCreary. in 
 
 I believe the dispassionate judgment of those over whom 
 he presided for four years is that he is entitled to be remem 
 bered as one of the ablest and most accomplished of the 
 Speakers of the House of Representatives. 
 
 The history of Georgia is luminous with the names of 
 brilliant, earnest, and faithful statesmen. Among the ablest 
 and strongest of that great galaxy the name of Mr. CRISP 
 has taken its permanent place. His fame does not belong 
 to Georgia alone nor to the South, but to the whole 
 Republic, and in Kentucky we will cherish his memory, 
 and his fame will survive along with that of the other 
 dead statesmen, jurists, and heroes Hill, Toombs, Colquitt, 
 and Brown who did so much to make Georgia conspicuous 
 and illustrious. 
 
 It is written in one of the tender and beautiful legends 
 which the Talmud has preserved that at the moment of the 
 death of a good man memories of his love and charity and 
 good deeds float through his mind to cheer and console him 
 as his spirit soars away from the cares and conflicts, the 
 joys and sorrows, of life. If this be true, our friend in his 
 last moments, when the darkness of death was settling upon 
 him and the first glimpse of immortality was beginning to 
 be seen, had much to soothe and comfort him. Reviewing 
 his life, his early manhood, his mature years, he could see 
 glittering and glistening along his way good deeds which 
 benefited his fellow-men in the State and in the nation. 
 He could see fidelity and devotion to loved ones at home; he 
 could see charity and love, fragrant as flowers in spring-time, 
 beautifying and chastening a life well spent in the service 
 of his God and his country, and at the end of it all I believe 
 he could hear the welcome plaudit, "Well done, thou good 
 and faithful servant; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." 
 
112 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. WELLINGTON. 
 
 Mr. WELLINGTON. Mr. Speaker, amid the lengthening 
 shadows of this midwinter afternoon the Representatives of 
 our nation have met to mourn the untimely ending of a 
 great career. The strong voice of active legislation is at 
 rest, the fierce contention of partisan debate is hushed, and 
 in their stead solemn decorum and order reign. To-day we 
 are concerned not with the living, in the present or the 
 future, but the dead and the past. We call a halt in the 
 march of life; we turn from the busy scenes and activities 
 of living men to the grave that nestles with many others in 
 distant Georgia, in that place set apart for the habitations 
 of the dead; and, as we stand before it with sad and sorrow 
 ful mien, I would lay a simple flower there while others 
 may place a wreath of amaranth upon it as a tribute to the 
 memory of CHARLES FREDERICK CRISP. 
 
 From the quiet portals of the grave there come none but 
 "fond regrets and tender recollections." Resentments are 
 forgotten, faults forgiven, and remembrance portrays to 
 us in vivid pictures the virtues and noble actions of the 
 departed. 
 
 As we unroll the canvas of the last half century, whereon 
 time hath painted in ineffaceable colors the life history 
 of the distinguished man whom we mourn, there are few 
 foibles to condone and much that was noble to commend. 
 
 The annals of a nation are written in the biography of its 
 great men. The mass of the people have no history. The 
 record of their lives is short and simple, and remains ever 
 the same. They are born, they live, they die, and are for 
 gotten; generation after generation meets the same fate. 
 
Address of Mr. Wellington. 113 
 
 We blunder through youth, struggle in manhood; and if 
 perchance we are fortunate enough to reach old age, it is a 
 scene of vain and unavailing regrets. But there are men 
 who, by the force and power of talent or genius, indomi 
 table will, or never-ceasing perseverance, lift themselves 
 above their fellows, and in the record of their lives write 
 history for their people. Such a man was Mr. CRISP. 
 Not a brilliant man, perhaps; not one whose name will 
 flash with lustrous light, for he did not live in a time 
 when splendid effulgence reigned. Yet when the records 
 of this commonplace period of American national life are 
 made up, his figure will stand out in bold relief as one who 
 stood by his section, who partook of the bitterness of sec 
 tional strife, and yet was broad enough to rise above rancor, 
 and developed into a national character, which, though 
 tinged with sectionalism, grew gradually until he reached 
 the loftier elements of patriotism, humanity, and a gentle 
 ness rarely observed among men. 
 
 Born in the stormy times when the unavoidable conflict 
 was rapidly approaching, he had reached the days of youth 
 when sectional strife began. The bitter struggles of that 
 eventful period have become a story of the past, and a gen 
 eration of men have been born and grown into manhood 
 since the great civil war. To me it is a memory of child 
 hood. Yet I can well remember when the two opinions of 
 government, which had existed antagonistic to each other 
 since the formation of the Republic, divided our land and 
 arrayed one part against the other. 
 
 In the North there had grown the idea of a strong Federal 
 Government, such as had been portrayed by the Declaration 
 of Independence. In the South there was the sentiment of 
 a Confederation of States, such as had been contemplated 
 in the Articles of Federation which bound the Colonies in 
 
 H. Doc. 255 8 
 
ii4 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 the Revolutionary war. These two rival principles met 
 upon the border; there sentiment was divided, and there 
 fore upon the borderland can be found that judgment which 
 perhaps will give in more impartial manner credit to each 
 and both for the valor, heroism, and self-sacrifice with which 
 each section maintained what it believed to be right. 
 
 When the great struggle came, Mr. CRISP, who was then 
 a youth, cast his fortunes with his native State. Georgia 
 had broken the bonds that bound her to the Federal Union. 
 She had joined herself to that other government which had 
 been named by the Southern States. Mr. CRISP had been 
 reared in the school of State rights, of sovereignty for the 
 Commonwealth, and therefore it was but natural to him to 
 give allegiance to the Commonwealth which, though not 
 the place of his birth, had given him sustenance through 
 childhood and youth, and from which he had received all 
 she had to give. 
 
 Amid all the changeful fortunes and vicissitudes of inter 
 necine strife the days of his youth passed into manhood, 
 and in the fortunes of war he became a prisoner in the 
 hands of the Federal troops. There he remained until 
 the conflict was ended and the great question upon which 
 the perpetuity of this Government depended was forever 
 put at rest. The first period of his life was closed. The 
 sentiment of State sovereignty, which had colored his 
 youth and led him to take up arms at the behest of his 
 State against the General Government, was dead aye, 
 more ; buried beneath four years of weary marching, 
 attacks and repulses, victories and defeats, a million lives, 
 and billions of treasure. It was a lesson in national life 
 which every nation must learn, and which, thanks be to 
 God, the American nation has successfully committed to 
 memory. It made a deep impression upon Mr. CRISP S 
 
Address of Mr. Wellington. 115 
 
 life ; it fashioned all the years that were to come, and con 
 verted much of the partisan into a judicial temperament. 
 He began life on his own account, studied law, and entered 
 into its practice. Success attended his efforts, judicial 
 honors were given him, and then there came into his life 
 another ambition, which led him into the path where he 
 was most needed. The bitter passions and intense preju 
 dices of sectional strife do not pass away in the fading of a 
 moon nor yet in the circling of the seasons of one short 
 year. They die gradually, and the people who would 
 throw them off need the calm judgment, the sober second 
 thought of men who can lead them conservatively, who 
 will appeal to nobler sentiments and broader views, and no 
 man in the past two decades has rendered greater service 
 to his common country in this direction than Mr. CRISP. 
 His whole course in the House of Representatives, while it 
 manifested the fact that he was true to the atmosphere in 
 which he lived and faithful to the people whom he served, 
 demonstrated that he could look beyond the narrow confines 
 of his State, view the broad expanse of our country, and, 
 step by step, guide the Southern States to the common 
 vantage ground where hands should be clasped and com 
 mon cause made for the whole American people. 
 
 When I met him first, but little over a year ago, I knew 
 him only by the reputation he had made as the leader of 
 the political organization to which he belonged ; knew him 
 by the record he had made as Speaker of the House of 
 Representatives. I esteemed him, admired him, honored 
 him, and personal contact but intensified that sentiment 
 and feeling. 
 
 As a leader of men of his own opinion, he was neither 
 rude nor masterful. To the opposition he was very fair, 
 just, and frequently charitable. To tyros and beginners he 
 
n6 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 was not only gentle, but generous, and he had about him 
 the subtle quality of standing firm upon his own ground, 
 yet winning the confidence, trust, and good graces of his 
 adversaries. 
 
 I saw him last upon the floor of this House, when insid 
 ious disease had begun its work, but he bore it bravely, and 
 by strength of will and nerve attempted to win the terrible 
 battle of life against death. Even then the silent angel 
 poised the dread shaft which ere long was to speed and 
 strike him down. The flowers of spring had bloomed and 
 faded when he departed for his home, there to engage in 
 the contest which was to bring him further honors from 
 the people of his State. Summer passed, the harvests of 
 autumn were gathered, and the winds of approaching win 
 ter were beginning to sigh and moan among the trees when 
 the final summons came, and the wires flashed to friend and 
 foe the news that saddened one and all, giving the tidings 
 of his death. 
 
 The record of his life is made up. It is fair and beauti 
 ful ; and the characteristic which shall make him loved most 
 among our people is that he was just and generous toward 
 all, and mingled with justice and generosity that love which 
 is the best part of all men, for, in the language of the 
 Ancient Mariner 
 
 He prayeth well who loveth well 
 Both man and bird and beast; 
 He prayeth best who loveth best 
 All things both great and small; 
 For the dear God who loveth us, 
 He made and loveth all. 
 
 Thus we may leave him, life s faithful mission accom 
 plished and the enigma of the hereafter solved. His mem 
 ory may be safely intrusted to the people with whom he 
 lived and who now dwell where his ashes rest. 
 
Address of Mr. Tate. 117 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. TATE. 
 
 Mr. TATE. Mr. Speaker, we pause amidst the stormy 
 strife of life s fierce battles and the busy, bustling scenes of 
 party contention and international disturbance to pay trib 
 ute to the memory, recall the services, tell of the exalted 
 character, and recount the many virtues of one who has 
 left his impress upon the age in which he lived. A great 
 leader has fallen. When the future historian comes to 
 record the names of the illustrious statesmen who have 
 been the pride and glory of our common country, that of 
 CHARLES FREDERICK CRISP will shine forth among the 
 first and the foremost and shed luster upon the greatest and 
 the best. 
 
 When Attorney-General Gushing, on December 9, 1853, 
 announced to the Supreme Court the death of that great 
 and good man William R. King, Vice-President of the 
 United States, he said, among other beautiful things con 
 cerning the dead statesman, these grand words, which are 
 so appropriate to this occasion that I take the liberty of 
 transcribing them : 
 
 He stands to the memory in sharp outline, as it were, against 
 the sky like some chiseled column of antique art, or some con 
 sular statue of the imperial republic, wrapped in its marble 
 robes, grandly beautiful in the simple dignity and unity of a 
 faultless proportion. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, death extinguished a great light when Mr. 
 CRISP died. He was not an orator like Clay, nor a logician 
 like Webster, nor a metaphysician like Calhoun, yet he 
 possessed in harmonious combination in a great degree 
 all of these distinguishing attributes, and was, sir, the 
 
n8 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 best-rounded character I ever knew. He was a pleasing, a 
 charming speaker; graceful in manner, clear in statement, 
 fair in his representation of his opponent s position and 
 argument, and candid in his search for the truth. 
 
 He knew how to be at the same time a partisan and a 
 patriot. He was a partisan, because he believed that the 
 principles and policy of his party involved the highest 
 interest of his country and his race. He was a patriot, 
 because he recognized in the beneficent Constitution and 
 institutions of his country the world s last and best hope 
 for constitutional liberty and free representative govern 
 ment. He was no specialist, but he stood among the first 
 in all things which go to make greatness. He was a wise 
 counselor, an able statesman, an eloquent advocate, an 
 accomplished parliamentarian, a courtly gentleman, and a 
 true friend. His life is an inspiration to the young men 
 who are to come after him a beacon light to guide them 
 to a higher sense of public duty, and give them a more 
 exalted idea of unselfish patriotism. I do not care to dwell 
 at length upon the public career of the illustrious dead, 
 because it is a part of the history of the country and 
 familiar to all. His name is indissolubly associated with 
 all the events of importance which have occurred in the 
 last decade. 
 
 From the time when, a mere youth, he first entered public 
 life, down to the moment when death called him from us, 
 his career was a series of brilliant successes. As solicitor- 
 general, judge, president of conventions, member of Con 
 gress, Speaker, everywhere and at all times, he met every 
 obligation and discharged the duties of every trust com 
 mitted to him with honesty, fidelity, and ability. Right 
 here, upon the floor of this House, was the scene of his 
 greatest triumphs his most brilliant achievements. Cool, 
 
Address of Mr, Tate. 119 
 
 self-poised, and well-balanced, he could always husband 
 his resources at the right time and direct his energies with 
 the best possible effect. Never did he develop his matchless 
 powers or show his wonderful resources so well as when 
 leading the forlorn hope of the minority ; amid the fire and 
 clash of party contention he would always parry the blows 
 of the opposition, and by well-directed aims send his own 
 darts with fatal precision into the heart of the enemy. He 
 never voluntarily gave offense, and frequently disarmed 
 opposition by his kindness and urbanity. Those, however, 
 who met him in debate found that "there were blows to 
 take as well as blows to give. 
 
 Some men may have surpassed Mr. CRISP in the subtle 
 forces of thought; others may have excelled him in the 
 divine gift of eloquence; still others may have been his 
 equal in soundness of judgment and the judicial fairness 
 with which he exercised power, and perhaps he had his 
 peers in the high social qualities for which he was so emi 
 nently distinguished, but men possessing all these high 
 attributes in combination are rarely found. Mr. CRISP 
 possessed them all. His was a clean, active, incisive intel 
 lect. He was a fluent and eloquent speaker, an upright and 
 impartial judge, an able and faithful Representative, a 
 ready and skillful parliamentarian, and as a Speaker of 
 this House for ability and fairness he goes into history the 
 peer of Blaine and Randall. He was a polished and courtly 
 gentleman, genial in manner and spirit as an "incense- 
 breathing morn in May, a bold and fearless antagonist, a 
 faithful and confiding friend, and more than this, than 
 these, than all, he was that "noblest work of God, an hon 
 est man. His was 
 
 One of the few, the immortal names, 
 That were not born to die. 
 
I2O Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 Mr. CRISP sent the sunshine of joy and gladness into the 
 hearts of those who came in contact with his magnetic 
 presence. It has been said that he never lost a friend nor 
 made an enemy. Those of us who enjoyed the pleasure 
 of comradeship with this golden-hearted man, who luxu 
 riated, as it were, in the bright light of his genial 
 companionship, can attest how great is our loss, how sad 
 our bereavement. A gentler, kindlier heart never beat 
 within a human breast. Would that I could speak of him 
 in fitting language as a friend. He was my friend in all that 
 term can suggest, and my personal loss is greater than I can 
 tell. I loved him and I loved to follow where he led. But 
 above all I loved to sit and hold sweet converse with him. 
 
 He has departed from among us, and we will never see 
 his like again. Silently and sorrowfully he was laid away 
 in the bosom of the Commonwealth he loved so well and 
 served so faithfully. The grief of thousands of stricken 
 hearts followed his funeral train. We have embalmed him 
 in our hearts forever, and Georgia continues to weep upon 
 the new-made grave of her best beloved son. Friend of 
 my life 
 
 Farewell; my lips may wear a careless smile, 
 
 My words may breathe the very soul of lightness, 
 
 But the touched heart must deeply feel the while 
 That life has lost a portion of its brightness. 
 
 Mr. CRISP was ambitious, " that glorious fault of angels 
 and gods." He had ambition for official position not- for 
 its empty honors and perishing emoluments, but for the 
 privilege and opportunity it gave him to serve his country. 
 His ambition was neither selfish nor inordinate. He was 
 ambitious to do the most good within the compass of a 
 life s duration, and to that end he consecrated the best 
 energies of his great mind and his honest heart. He 
 
Address of Mr. Tate. 121 
 
 wanted to go to the Senate, the sine qua non of every 
 statesman s ambition, but his desire to attain this exalted 
 station did not overcome his fixed purpose to serve his 
 country where he could do his country most good. While 
 we can not say of him what Antony said of Julius Caesar, 
 "I thrice presented him a kingly crown, which he did 
 thrice refuse," yet we all do know that he was once 
 presented with a seat in the American Senate and that 
 he did once refuse it, because his friends and his party 
 thought he could render the country greater service by 
 remaining Speaker of this House, and with him their 
 wish was law. He was assured by the present able and 
 patriotic junior Senator from Georgia [Mr. Bacon], who 
 was at the time an aspirant for the position, that if he 
 would accept the appointment to the office of Senator 
 tendered him by Governor Northen, made vacant by the 
 death of the beloved and lamented Colquitt, he would 
 have no opposition for the succession before the legislature; 
 therefore his acceptance at that time meant the fulfillment 
 of the cherished ambition of his life. Yet he made the 
 personal sacrifice for the public good. Some men are 
 stimulated to great achievements by the love of glory, 
 others by the thirst for power, but the sentiment that 
 absorbed the thought and thrilled the heart of Mr. CRISP 
 was love of country. 
 
 Breathes there the man with soul so dead 
 Who never to himself hath said, 
 This is my own, my native land ! 
 
 The greatest heroes of the world s history are those who 
 fought -the battles against self and conquered. Mr. CRISP 
 did this. He fought this fight, he kept the faith, he gained 
 the victory, and wears the crown. 
 
122 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 Pure and unselfish patriotism was his distinguishing char 
 acteristic. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, Georgia, ever proud of the achievements of 
 her sons, looked upon this her favorite with peculiar pride 
 and fondness, and her people, unforgetful of the sacrifices 
 he had made for them, with a unanimity unsurpassed, had 
 named him for the highest position within her gift, when 
 his great heart ceased to beat. And thus this light was 
 extinguished in the very blaze of his greatest political 
 triumph ; he reached forth his hand to take the Senatorial 
 toga and grasped a shroud. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, as the stars go down to rise on some fairer 
 shore, so our friend passes through the gloom of the grave 
 to another and immortal condition of life. To those annealed 
 in the blood of the crucified Galilean, there is no death. 
 
 There is no death ! What seems so is transition ; 
 
 This life of mortal breath 
 Is but a suburb of the life elysian, 
 
 Whose portal we call Death. 
 
 Divine revelation flashes from the sheen of the cross upon 
 the darkness of the grave, the light of life, and anchors the 
 broken heart of humanity, by the cable of faith, to the cher 
 ished truths of the resurrection and immortality. The relig 
 ion of Christianity offers the only rational solution of the 
 problems of life and death. We shall meet our friend and 
 associate again, with all those who have preceded us. 
 
 We may not sunder the veil apart, 
 
 That hides from our vision the gates of day. 
 
 We only know that their barks no more 
 May sail with us o er life s stormy sea ; 
 
 Yet somewhere, I know, on the unseen shore, 
 They watch and beckon and wait for me. 
 
 Our distinguished colleague and beloved friend was as 
 felicitious in death as he was successful in life. He had 
 
Address of Mr. Tate. 123 
 
 lived long and well in a few brief years. He had served his 
 country well and faithfully in positions of high trust and 
 great honor. He was in the high tide of matured intellect 
 ual manhood, and in the noonday splendors of national fame. 
 Age had not palsied his great powers, disappointment had 
 not paled the star of his hope, nor frozen the current of his 
 love. His work well done, his fame assured as part of his 
 country s history, he "wraps the drapery of his couch about 
 him and lies down to pleasant dreams," with every flower 
 on his tomb wet with a nation s tears. 
 
124 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR, LIVINGSTON. 
 
 Mr. LIVINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, when I first knew 
 CHARLES FREDERICK CRISP, he was a very, very young 
 man. He had been appointed solicitor-general of one of 
 the circuits in the State of Georgia, and so well and so 
 faithfully did he perform his duties as solicitor that when 
 he asked an appointment to the judgeship of the same cir 
 cuit, he received it at the hands of the governor. So well 
 did he perform the duties of judge no stain, no criticism, 
 no slander was cast upon him or his administration that 
 at the end of his first term he was elected by the Georgia 
 legislature for a second term. 
 
 In all his life he performed his duties well. Beginning 
 without much of this world s goods, with but few friends, 
 and with a limited education, he learned to trust implicitly 
 in that old adage that 
 
 Honor and shame from no condition rise; 
 Act well your part, there all the honor lies. 
 
 From his early manhood until the day of his death he 
 was a practical, upright, honest official in every capacity, 
 whether State or national. 
 
 In 1883 we had a very noted political contest, such as had 
 not taken place for many years in Georgia. There was 
 opposition to. the nomination and election of the then act 
 ing governor, and there was a combination to beat him. 
 There were, I believe, four or five candidates who were 
 prominent. Two of them were very nearly equal, and con 
 trolling almost the entire vote of the convention. Mr. 
 
Address of Mr. Livingston. 125 
 
 CRISP was a delegate at that time in behalf of a man who 
 had but 13 votes in the convention. I was a delegate, and 
 when we met, the great question to solve was who should 
 act as the permanent president of that convention. Neither 
 of the dominant candidates could afford to allow his rival 
 to name the presiding officer. There was a committee of 
 thirteen appointed to suggest a presiding officer, and I am 
 glad that I had the pleasure, as a member of that committee, 
 of suggesting Mr. CRISP, and of stating in the committee 
 room that, of all the men who were accredited as delegates 
 to that convention on that day, Mr. CRISP was, in my hum 
 ble opinion, one of the fairest-minded and most impartial 
 and honest men in the convention. The suggestion was 
 accepted; he was elected, and well and satisfactory did his 
 selection prove to all interested parties. That was the 
 beginning of his political life. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, so much has been said of Mr. CRISP to-day, 
 both as to his life and as to his character, and the day has 
 worn so far away and there are so many others who are 
 anxious to say something in his behalf, that I shall only 
 consume a moment or two more of time. I was with him 
 much during the last year. I have been intimate with 
 him for many years. I have seen him in sunshine and 
 under the clouds. I have seen him in prosperity and in 
 adversity, but never in all my life did I see Mr. CRISP so 
 sorely tried as during the last year. When he thought of 
 entering the race for United States Senator before the people 
 of Georgia, the proposition was that this question should 
 be remanded to the people, by primaries that should select 
 the name of the Senator, believing that the Georgia legis 
 lature would indorse their action. It is well remembered 
 by everybody on the floor of the House that a very strong 
 
126 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 man a young man, strong in mind and in body met 
 him on the hustings in Georgia, contesting his claim to 
 the Senatorship on account of his financial views. 
 
 It was intimated when Mr. CRISP left the field and failed 
 to fill the engagements on hand, that it was for other 
 reasons than his physical condition. He was criticised by 
 the papers at home in some instances and by newspapers 
 abroad. No one knew but Mr. CRISP his real condition. 
 No physician who had attended him or prescribed for him 
 knew his sufferings and the peculiar condition physically 
 under which he labored. He withdrew. He submitted to 
 those adverse criticisms and talked to me about it more than 
 once. I was with him, Mr. Speaker, when he made his 
 last speech on earth. Called by the people of Rome, Ga., 
 and the surrounding country last fall to deliver a political 
 speech, he had a magnificent audience, and never in my life 
 did I see a speaker who nerved himself so thoroughly 
 to do his full duty and measure up to his full capacity as 
 did Mr. CRISP on that occasion. It was painful to see the 
 effort he made to meet the expectations of the vast crowd 
 that was hanging upon his lips. Yet he partially failed; it 
 was his last effort. He only talked for a few minutes, and 
 had to sit down. There were but few, perhaps including 
 Mr. CRISP himself, who were aware of how fatal the malady 
 was or would be, and how soon it would take him from his 
 sphere of action. 
 
 Permit me to say in conclusion, Mr. Speaker, that his 
 death was a national loss, but a much greater loss to 
 Georgia, and to his home circle and to his personal friends 
 an irreparable loss. He was an honest man, a good man, 
 a discreet man, a wise man, a kind man, a liberal man, a 
 manly man. 
 
Address of Mr. Lawson. 127 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. LAWSON. 
 
 Mr. LAWSON. Mr. Speaker, on the 23d day of October 
 last the soul of CHARGES FREDERICK CRISP, a great Geor 
 gian and an honored member of this body, passed through 
 the gates of death into the presence of God. On that day 
 his eyes rested for the last time on the autumnal splendors 
 of his Southern skies. At such a season life is precious. 
 For no artist, however deep his inspiration or exalted his 
 imagination, has ever conceived a picture that rivaled in 
 beauty and grandeur the surpassing loveliness of forest and 
 landscape when "every leaf is an opal, and every tree a 
 bower of varied beauty. From such a scene the soul of 
 Mr. CRISP, conscious of its impending voyage and with no 
 loved one absent, fearlessly launched upon the serene and 
 placid sea of eternity. The places that knew him once will 
 know him no more forever. But in a potent sense he still 
 lives lives in the virtues which he illustrated and in the 
 successes which he achieved. These are invulnerable to the 
 leaden scepter. 
 
 For the emulation of youth a nobler example than our 
 deceased friend can scarcely be presented. Ardent, cour 
 ageous, patriotic, and loyal to his adopted State, he, at the 
 age of 16 years, grasped the sword in defense of her sover 
 eign rights. Through four years of fatigue, hardships, and 
 untold privations he followed the immortal Lee, the incom 
 parable soldier and peerless citizen, amid the vicissitudes of 
 fortune, to his final defeat. Then, at the age of 20 years, 
 located in a small south Georgia town, he began a new life. 
 A stranger, without either fortune or ancestral distinction, 
 
128 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 he began that long civic combat which, protracted through 
 many years, ended only with his life. There was nothing 
 in the physical aspect of the country, nor in its social and 
 political condition, to animate the buoyancy of his youthful 
 spirits or to guide him to an elevated plain of manhood and 
 usefulness. Physical desolation all around and a thorough 
 social upheaval, united with a galling oppression from with 
 out, tended to make the prospect cheerless and hopeless. 
 But that manly courage and hardihood acquired in his 
 soldier life qualified him for the conquest of adverse condi 
 tions and for his final triumph over all discouragements. 
 
 His education was meager, such only as he had acquired 
 in the common schools; yet he was inducted into the learned 
 profession of the law, a profession which in his Southern 
 home had always held aloft the highest standards of learn 
 ing, integrity, and honor. But, by dint of native ability, 
 strenuous effort, and unfailing industry, he soon won a firm 
 foothold in the profession, and was promoted to the office 
 of solicitor-general, and charged with the prosecution of all 
 infractions of the criminal laws in his circuit. His able 
 and faithful discharge of the duties of his office is evidenced 
 by the fact that on the first opportunity thereafter he was 
 elected one of the judges of the superior courts of the State, 
 courts which are vested with the highest original civil and 
 criminal jurisdiction. Responsibilities of the most grave 
 and onerous nature now devolved on him none could be 
 more so. To hold the scales of justice evenly between the 
 contending animosities and passions of personal strifes, and 
 to determine the issues of life and death impartially accord 
 ing to law, is a responsibility and a duty more exacting 
 of the intelligence, the patience, the integrity, and the 
 humanity of the judge than can otherwise be imposed. 
 
Address of Mr. Lawson. 129 
 
 Yet Mr. CRISP bore this burden with fortitude, with a 
 sound understanding, and with conscientious loyalty to 
 justice and fidelity to the State, eminently displaying in 
 all emergencies the immovable and calm equipoise of an 
 impartial magistrate. 
 
 His countrymen, to attest their approval of his able 
 judicial administration, transferred him to a sphere of less 
 serious responsibilities, but of higher honor and wider 
 usefulness. They elected him to the Congress of the 
 United States. I will not undertake to portray his labors 
 and successes here. That will be much better done by 
 his colaborers and contemporaries. 
 
 I did not witness any part of his Congressional career 
 until he was chosen Speaker of the House of Representa 
 tives. As his colleague, and representing in part the same 
 people, I witnessed, with a pardonable exhilaration of feel 
 ing, the industry, aptitude, ability, and fairness with which 
 he deported himself in that great office. Quick to perceive, 
 prompt to act, resolute of purpose, calm, composed, and 
 suave in manner, he was a model officer. The stormy ebul 
 lition of partisan fury did not appall him, nor did sudden 
 parliamentary entanglements disconcert him. Deliberate, 
 just, self-poised, courteously according equal consideration 
 to political friend and foe, he pursued the even tenor of his 
 way. His personal bearing, and the unique blending of his 
 moral and intellectual qualities, fitting him well and equally 
 for action or for the council board, plainly marked him for 
 the leadership of his party in the House. His sagacity, if 
 not unerring, was of the keenest description. For these rea 
 sons, when his party suffered defeat, and when he descended 
 from the chair to the floor of the House, party leadership 
 was accorded him spontaneously, without rivalries, and 
 H. Doc. 255 9 
 
130 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 without criticisms or comparisons. And though he knew 
 that disease was corrupting the fountains of life, and 
 though, haggard and wasted in strength, he sometimes 
 seemed to bend beneath the burden, he resolutely main 
 tained his station at the head of the column. - Thus, as 
 lawyer, jurist, legislator, Speaker, and statesman, he was a 
 conspicuous figure and filled a large space in the public 
 eye. His was 
 
 Th applause of listening senates to command, 
 And read his history in a nation s eyes. 
 
 Cut down in the midst of his years, in the prime and ma 
 turity of manhood, in the zenith of his fame and usefulness, 
 his death is an irreparable loss to his State and country. 
 
 It may be remarked that his history was complete as it 
 progressed. He advanced step by step from one degree of 
 honor and usefulness to a higher, but every inch traversed 
 was thoroughly conquered ground, and he did not need the 
 brilliancy of a later achievement to reflect back and supple 
 ment or amend the deficiencies, the errors, or the failures 
 of an earlier period. 
 
 One event in his political career stands out as a conspic 
 uous illustration of his self-sacrificing patriotism. It was 
 well known to his friends, and a fact which he did not hesi 
 tate to admit, that he coveted a seat in the United States 
 Senate. That seemed to be the goal of his ambition, the 
 capstone to an unbroken series of political conquests. But 
 when, on the death of Senator Colquitt, the governor of 
 Georgia offered to fill the vacancy in the Senate by the 
 appointment of Mr. CRISP, he patriotically put aside the 
 coveted prize, esteeming the services he was performing 
 as Speaker of the House of Representatives to be of far 
 greater value to the country than his services as a Senator. 
 
Address of Mr. Lawson. 131 
 
 His countrymen warmly appreciated and applauded his 
 self-denial, and in the fullness of time, when he could 
 accept the office without a sacrifice of duty, they, with 
 practical unanimity in a primary election, indicated him as 
 their choice for the Senatorship. All that remained to 
 consummate the people s choice and his own ambition was 
 the vote of the general assembly, which would have been 
 cast before the passing of those beautiful October days. 
 Had death spared him a few days longer, an admiring 
 people would have crowned him with the laurels long 
 coveted. But he is gone ; and the glittering prize which, 
 like ripened fruit, was just dropping into his hands, has 
 fallen to the lot of another. 
 
 I can not close this brief sketch without some reference 
 to the private and unofficial life of the honored dead. I 
 will not profane the sanctuary of his domestic life by any 
 allusion to it except to say that he was a loving, dutiful, and 
 indulgent husband and father. No man s life is faultless. 
 No man s life is as good as he wishes it to be and strives to 
 make it. Life is a drama of alternate defeat and victory. 
 The private life of Mr. CRISP, leaving out the foibles and 
 follies that human nature in the best of men is heir to, was 
 untarnished and spotless. No one ever questioned his 
 integrity, and no suspicion or slander ever cast a film upon 
 the clear surface of his character. It was above reproach. 
 His affable manners and singularly democratic habits drew 
 men to him and "grappled them with hooks of steel." No 
 as ersion of his political foes ever escaped his lips ; they 
 even shared the beneficence of his Christian charity. His 
 bonhommie was perennial ; his cheerfulness a never-failing 
 stream. It was a delight to share in the pleasantries of his 
 sunny disposition. As greatness grew upon him he did not 
 
13^ Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 forget his early and less-favored friends. The great poet 
 
 tells us that 
 
 Tis a common proof, 
 
 That lowliness is young ambition s ladder, 
 Whereto the climber upward turns his face ; 
 But when he once attains the upmost round, 
 He then unto the ladder turns his back, 
 Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees 
 By which he did ascend. 
 
 Not so with Mr. CRISP. A friend once gained was a 
 friend forever. The friends of his early days were the 
 stancher friends of his last days. The period of his suffer 
 ing and decline was wreathed in their admiration and love. 
 And if any sacrifice which they could have offered could 
 have beaten back the stealthy and relentless approach of 
 the grim monster, he to-day, strong and militant, would be 
 an active leader among us. 
 
 I conclude with one other remark. Death came to him 
 as it comes to but few. It did not with a sudden and resist 
 less stroke mercifully cut him down. It did not, through 
 wasting disease, always nearing the inevitable end, assure 
 him that recovery was impossible. But it tantalized him 
 with alternate hope and dread. Now it approached; again 
 it receded; but the dread Reaper was ever dimly present. 
 In the noisy altercations of these Halls, in the privacy of 
 his home, in the council chamber, on the highway, in the 
 hall of assemblies, in solitude, in society, at funerals and 
 at marriage feasts, everywhere and always, Death, toying 
 with his heartstrings, mocked him. Whether his end was 
 near or far off, he knew not; but he did know that his sleep 
 less enemy was inexorable and relentless. For months he 
 stood near and listened to the lashing of the waves upon 
 the eternal shore and feared not. Surely the valiant never 
 taste of death but once. 
 
Address of Mr. Morse. 133 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR, MORSE. 
 
 Mr. MORSE. Mr. Speaker, at this late hour I promise 
 that my words will be very few. The great dramatist has 
 
 said: 
 
 All the world s a stage, 
 And all the men and women merely players. 
 
 Of this, Washington, with its ever-changing life, seems 
 to me to be a fit illustration. I often think, as I ascend the 
 steps of this Capitol building, of all the men who have 
 served here and walked these streets, ascended these steps 
 and had their little day of honor, fame, and pleasure, and 
 have joined the silent majority. 
 
 CHARLES FREDERICK CRISP, in whose honor we have 
 met here this afternoon, like all the rest, is but an illustra 
 tion, to quote from Gray s immortal Elegy in a Country 
 Churchyard, that 
 
 The paths of glory lead but to the grave. 
 
 These considerations should lead us to look away to that 
 undiscovered country, should lead us to seek for honor and 
 treasure laid up "where neither moth nor rust doth cor 
 rupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal." 
 How it should lead us to strive for that incorruptible crown 
 of glory that fadeth not away, for those enduring honors 
 that will stand when the marble crumbles, when the bronze 
 turns to dust, and when the canvas fades will stand when 
 the elements have melted with fervent heat and the works 
 thereof are burned up. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, to know Mr. CRISP was to love the man. 
 I disagreed with this distinguished statesman upon nearly 
 
134 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 every political question, upon economic and financial ques 
 tions, but I am here to bear testimony to the fact that I 
 believe he was a thoroughly honest and sincere man. I am 
 here to say that he was a refined and courteous gentleman ; 
 and I am here to say that he bore the duties of that great 
 office which you enjoy, Mr. Speaker, and whose responsi 
 bilities you know so well I am here to say that he bore 
 those great honors with a quiet modesty and dignity. Mr. 
 CRISP was a gentleman in the widest, broadest sense of 
 those words. Shakespeare says: 
 
 The evil that men do lives after them; 
 The good is oft interred with their bones. 
 
 I have often thought when reading that, that he spoke 
 ironically. I think exactly the opposite is true. I think 
 we love to recount the virtues of our deceased friends rather 
 than their failings and faults. The distinguished gentle 
 man from Pennsylvania [Mr. Dalzell] has said that Speaker 
 CRISP had faults; but he has truly and justly said that his 
 virtues far outshone them; his gentleness, his culture, his 
 urbanity of manner, even to his political opponents as well 
 as his friends, was a marked characteristic of this great 
 man, who now sleeps in the soil of his own loved State, 
 the great Empire State of Georgia. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, Mr. CRISP died in the zenith of his fame. 
 He died at the post of duty, as one should wish to die. 
 You remember, Mr. Speaker, when the surgeons gathered 
 around Mr. Garfield in the depot when he was stricken 
 down by the vilest assassin that ever cursed the earth, he 
 asked Dr. Bliss: "Doctor, is the wound mortal?" And you 
 remember the answer that the doctor made. Said he: "Mr. 
 Garfield, we fear the worst." And that great man said: 
 "Doctor, I am not afraid to die." Why not? Because he 
 
Address of Mr. Morse. 135 
 
 was at the post of duty. One of my illustrious and distin 
 guished predecessors, who for sixteen years represented in 
 yonder Hall the district which I have the honor to repre 
 sent John Quincy Adams, the Old Man Eloquent died in 
 yonder Hall in 1848. He died as he lived at the post of 
 duty, like this man. He died on his shield, and his last 
 words were: "This is the last of earth. I am content." 
 Surely the place where a statesman would wish to die! 
 
 Some of the oldest people who live in my country will 
 tell you that their grandparents told them about a dark 
 day. It occurred on the igth da}- of May, 1780. It began 
 to grow dark at 10 o clock in the morning, and at noon it 
 was so dark in New England that people could not see to 
 read out of doors. Our fathers had very few books besides 
 the Bible, and in that book they read that God had 
 appointed a day in which He would judge the world. 
 Very many of the good people of New England thought 
 the Day of Judgment was at hand. Indeed, Mr. Speaker, 
 as you know, the strange phenomenon has never been 
 explained. The only explanation ever offered was that 
 the smoke from dense forest fires in the West met a dense 
 fog from the East. At any rate, on the igth day of May, 
 1780, at noonday in New England a man could not see to 
 read out of doors. This dark day overtook the Connecticut 
 house of assembly in session ; and amid profound silence 
 and gloom one of the members arose in his place and 
 said : 
 
 Mr. Speaker, it is evident that some strange and wonderful 
 providence of Almighty God is upon us, by which we can not 
 see to read at noon time. It may be, sir, that the Day of Judg 
 ment is at hand. In view of this strange and wonderful provi 
 dence of God, I move you, sir, that the Connecticut house of 
 assembly do now adjourn. 
 
136 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 There was another member of the house of assembly, 
 whose name was Abraham Davenport, and he was a 
 Quaker; and he stood up in his place and opposed the 
 motion. He said: 
 
 Mr. President, I am opposed to the motion to adjourn. I am 
 utterly unable to explain the darkness. It may be that some 
 strange and wonderful providence of God is upon us. It may 
 be, as my brother has said, that the Day of Judgment is at 
 hand. But, sir, as I know of no better place to be overtaken by 
 death and the judgment than at the post of duty, I move you, 
 sir, that the candles be brought in and the act be read again. 
 
 It was done; and the business of the house went on. 
 
 Now, Mr. Speaker, I have faith to believe that if you 
 and I, like CHARLES F. CRISP, and John Quincy Adams, 
 and James Abram Garfield, and Abraham Davenport, are 
 found at the post of duty, in the largest meaning of those 
 words, having our peace made with God, we need not fear 
 death or the judgment. Surely this man died at the post 
 of duty; he died bravely and he sleeps well; his name and 
 his memory and his record will be revered by his country 
 men to the remotest time. Fare you well, CHARLES F. 
 CRISP! We shall see you no more on the shores of time. 
 We say to you a last and sad farewell. 
 
Address of Mr. Tucker. 137 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. TUCKER. 
 
 Mr. TUCKER. Mr. Speaker, in the death of CHARLES 
 FREDERICK CRISP the country has lost a valuable states 
 man, the Democratic party one of its most loyal and effi 
 cient leaders, the State of Georgia one of her most devoted 
 sons, and his family an affectionate husband and father. 
 The qualities of mind and traits of character which dis 
 tinguished him in this Hall have been amply portrayed as 
 well by his political friends as by his adversaries. They 
 were of no mean caliber, and history will accord to Mr. 
 CRISP a high and honorable place in the long catalogue of 
 distinguished American statesmen. 
 
 The province of eulogy too often runs into the extrava 
 gant; but a just tribute to our friend need not exceed the 
 bounds of truth in according him a high and honorable 
 position among the great leaders of his party. I would not 
 claim for him the powers of analysis of a Calhoun, or the 
 ponderous eloquence of a Webster, or the masterful, impe 
 rious leadership of a Clay, or the brilliant dash of a Elaine; 
 but combining, it may be in a lesser degree, many of the 
 strongest qualities of each, with a coolness of judgment and 
 equipoise of mind which has rarely been equaled, he made 
 available his powers, and all of them, in the discharge of 
 public duties, as effectively as any man I have ever seen in 
 public life. If he was not so great a logician as Mr. Cal 
 houn, his powers of logic were always thoroughly available, 
 and wielded with telling force against his adversary. 
 
 If he lacked the highest type of eloquence, his intense 
 earnestness in debate supplied what the rhetorical art might 
 
138 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 have suggested. His leadership was always won by the 
 arts of persuasion rather than by arbitrary dogmatism. He 
 was one of the most resourceful as well as forceful men in 
 the maintenance of his position in debate that has appeared 
 in this Hall for years. Few men possessed the power of 
 drawing upon their resources and utilizing their every 
 power in action as did Mr. CRISP. 
 
 His manners were simple, unostentatious, and cordial. 
 A natural playfulness of spirit, united with a dignity and a 
 self-reliance of character, repelled none who sought his 
 counsel, and drew the closer to him all who sought his 
 society. He did not hesitate to lend his ready counsel in 
 molding the policy of his party nor did he shirk the respon 
 sibility which rested upon him as one of its trusted leaders. 
 As a leader on the floor or as Speaker he was always bold, 
 aggressive, and oftentimes defiant. The elements of char 
 acter in him were harmonized in a certain simplicity of 
 style which offended no man s self-love and commanded the 
 respect and confidence of all. 
 
 It was not always my fortune to agree with him as to 
 matters of party policy, and in the memorable fight for the 
 Speakership in the Fifty-second Congress I felt it my pub 
 lic duty, against my personal inclination, to advocate the 
 claims of another. Such action on my part, however, so 
 far as I know, never created any breach in our personal 
 friendship. 
 
 The State of Virginia has always felt the deepest interest 
 in the life and career of Mr. CRISP. In those days which 
 tried men s souls he freely spilled his blood on her soil, 
 and from May, 1861, until May, 1864, when Virginia was 
 u a looming bastion fringed with fire," he mingled with 
 her people, enlisted with her sons, and fought by their 
 
Address of Mr, Tucker. 139 
 
 sides. As a soldier, Mr. CRISP exhibited the highest quali 
 ties of excellence. With a cheerful temper, he bore the 
 privations of war in the camp, on the field, or on the march, 
 and he was ever obedient to command, and ready to respond 
 to his country s call. 
 
 He enlisted at Luray, in the Valley of Virginia, in 
 Company K of the Tenth Virginia Infantry, while his 
 father and his brother Harry enlisted in an artillery com 
 pany in the county of Shenandoah. He served first under 
 Col. S. A. Gibbons in the brigade of the gallant Elzey, 
 afterwards commanded by Gen. W. H. Taliaferro (now 
 Judge Taliaferro), of Gloucester County, Va., and subse 
 quently commanded by Gen. George H. Stewart. 
 
 In speaking of his services as a soldier, his old captain, 
 Capt. R. S. Parks, of Luray, Va. , says : 
 
 In the spring of 1862 our regiment was transferred from Joe 
 Johnston s command on the Rappahannock to Jackson s com 
 mand in the Valley, and remained in that command until the 
 sun set at Appomattox. Most of the regiment was captured 
 with Ed Johnson s division in the " bloody salient " on the nth 
 of May, 1864, where perhaps occurred the fiercest struggle and 
 more blood was spilled than at any place during the war. 
 CRISP was captured at that time and was not released until 
 after the war. He enlisted at the age of 16 years as a private, 
 and was second lieutenant when lie was captured. He was 
 quite small, not disposed to be corpulent, as he grew to be in 
 after life. He was very quiet and unobtrusive ; in fact, retiring 
 in his manner ; a great reader, he was never without a book. 
 He carried one in his knapsack always, if he had one (but 
 "Jackson s Foot Cavalry" did not like to carry superfluous 
 baggage), or in his blanket. Often when the regiment was 
 halted to rest on the march, he would immediately sit down 
 and read from his book. He had a most remarkable memory, 
 and could read a book and then relate everything in it, giving 
 in many instances the exact language. 
 
140 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 Like all the members of Company K, he was a soldier from 
 head to foot, for no man ever commanded a better set of men 
 or harder fighters than those who composed that company. 
 Taps for " lights out " have been heard by many since 1865, 
 and one by one they are passing to the other shore. Each one, 
 so far as I have seen or heard, drew the drapery of death around 
 him as coolly as he wrapped himself in his own blanket and laid 
 down to sleep and dream on the field of carnage to await the 
 call to arms at early dawn. 
 
 In the infantry there was little chance for promotion for gal 
 lant sendee. They were under orders, and had only to fight 
 and die on the heights of Gettysburg, in the tanglewood of the 
 Wilderness, or the swamps of the Chickahominy. CHARUK 
 was a soldier without a stain, a statesman without guile, and in 
 war and peace a gentleman. 
 
 The people of Virginia, in common with those of the 
 whole country, mourn at the grave of their friend, defender, 
 and protector, and claim the privilege through her Repre 
 sentatives here of placing a flower upon his open grave in 
 commemoration of their lasting gratitude for his fidelity to 
 her and to his country. 
 
Address oj Mr. Hooker. 141 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. HOOKER. 
 
 Mr. HOOKER. Mr. Speaker, it was my pride and good 
 fortune to enjoy the friendship of CHARLES FREDERICK 
 CRISP, and I feel a better man for having been allowed that 
 inestimable privilege. 
 
 The more than ordinary solemnity of this sad occasion 
 deeply impresses me, and I am fully cognizant of my utter 
 incompetency to add anything to the remarks that have 
 already been so feelingly, justly, and appropriately made; 
 yet I am unwilling to let this opportunity pass without 
 paying my heartfelt tribute to him whose memory we honor 
 to-day. 
 
 My acquaintance with him began at the beginning of the 
 Fifty-second Congress, when he had just been honored by 
 his party as its candidate for the Speakership, and I look 
 back upon my short political career and my heart teems 
 with gratitude to our lamented friend for the many words 
 of counsel and encouragement which his benevolent and 
 generous nature prompted him to bestow upon those who 
 sought his aid and advice. 
 
 Among the prominent characteristics of this leader among 
 men I would call attention to one that particularly stands 
 forth when observing his eminent career, and that is the 
 universal and kindly consideration which he extended to 
 the younger and less experienced members of this body. 
 
 However burdened with the cares of a busy public life, 
 lie was always ready to listen to the appeals of his younger 
 colleagues and give them the assistance of his masterlv 
 
142 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 mind, so rich in experience, so trained in the affairs of 
 legislation. 
 
 Time alone will disclose the true wisdom of his course; 
 and though he has departed, his memory will be treasured 
 in the hearts of all who have been associated with this 
 noble character. 
 
 He was a careful and conscientious legislator, yet so 
 strong in his convictions, when once formed, that he fol 
 lowed the lines of duty as he saw them with untiring zeal 
 and energy. 
 
 His pluck and perseverance soon gained for him distinc 
 tion, and the party whose principles he espoused quickly 
 recognized him as a leader, and he was ever afterwards a 
 prominent figure in its affairs. 
 
 Strong partisan that he was, he never forgot the rights of 
 others. Honored as he was by the unbounded confidence 
 of his fellow-men, he never denied to others the considera 
 tion due them. 
 
 Though many of us differed with him on the leading 
 political issues of the day, yet we admired this progressive, 
 resolute, national figure, who played so important a part in 
 many of the leading events of recent years. 
 
 Simple, courteous in manner, forcible in expression, 
 fearless in conflict, the virtues and qualities of this distin 
 guished servant, faithful, upright, honorable, raised him to 
 the pinnacle of high esteem in the minds and hearts of his 
 fellow-countrymen. 
 
 His private and public career furnish a most noble 
 example to the American youth endeavoring to attain 
 laudable ambition, and to those of the older generation who 
 may be discouraged and disheartened an inspiration to an 
 awakened and renewed activity. 
 
Address of Mr. Bartlett. 143 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. BARTLETT. 
 
 Mr. BARTLETT. Mr. Speaker, to those distinguished gen 
 tlemen who have spoken and who will address the House 
 on this sad occasion, and whose gifted tongues are so well 
 aided by a long and familiar association with him in these 
 Halls, might well be left the fit memorial of this our late 
 colleague and honored friend. To me the effort to speak of 
 the life and death of him whose memory we memorialize 
 to-day is difficult indeed, for my tongue almost refuses to 
 convey into speech what my heart feels, and it is with much 
 distrust of myself that I have ventured to speak at all; 
 indeed, it is with an emotion that almost stifles utterance I 
 approach the altar of his hallowed memory to lay upon it 
 my simple flower of feeble tribute. I shall not attempt to 
 relate in detail the various epochs in his illustrious career, 
 nor to delineate the many admirable and exalted virtues 
 he possessed. That will be done by others more able and 
 eloquent than myself. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, again has Death invaded this House again 
 with relentless greed has borne a trophy from our ranks. 
 Again we pause amid the busy scenes of public duties to pay 
 tribute to the dead. This time the insatiate Archer has 
 hurled his shaft with unerring and fatal precision at one of 
 its brightest and most shining marks, and not only this 
 House, but this whole Union, has lost one of its loveliest 
 and purest ornaments. The mind in which genius and real 
 worth had already erected a temple to fame and usefulness, 
 and which but awaited the opportunity, already at hand, to 
 make it grander, greater, and more useful, is no more; the 
 
144 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 heart in which the noblest virtues dwelt is stopped forever. 
 The Representative of his people on this floor, who was soon 
 to bear the commission of his State as a member of the 
 Senate of the United States, has ended his earthly career 
 and taken tip his abode in the "silent halls of death." 
 
 With bowed heads and sorrowing hearts, but with sweet 
 and hallowed recollections of his life, his friendship, and 
 association, we stand to-day over the new-made grave of 
 CHARLES FREDERICK CRISP. 
 
 On the 23d of October last the reluctant wires conveyed 
 to the world the sad intelligence that Mr. CRISP, for many 
 years a member of this House, twice its presiding officer, 
 was dead. A great bereavement fell upon my State and upon 
 the whole people a sudden and most untimely bereavement. 
 The blow went straight to the heart of the great State he 
 represented on this floor, and Georgia laments the loss more 
 than words can express. The flower of her hope withered 
 because the new and highest honor in her gift, prepared for 
 him by the almost unanimous voice of her people, remained 
 unbestowed by her hands. 
 
 He died when but little advanced beyond the prime of life. 
 His success had been equal to that of the favored ones of the 
 day. He left us at a time when the past yielded a great deal 
 for gratifying retrospection, when the present afforded the 
 richest elements of happiness, and the future invited him 
 to higher honors and ampler resources of enjoyment, and 
 assured him success in a field of greater usefulness for his 
 State and the people of this great Government. But all 
 that he possessed, all that he hoped for, could not stay the 
 hand of the great destroyer. 
 
 Mr. CRISP filled many important positions, and he met and 
 performed the duties of each in a manly, straightforward, 
 
Address of Mr. Bartlett. 145 
 
 honest way. As a young volunteer soldier in the cause 
 of the Confederate States, he was brave, determined, and 
 obedient to authority. He was a member of the legal 
 profession, a profession which is "as ancient as magistracy, 
 as noble as virtue, as necessary as justice," and which, above 
 all others, shapes and fashions the institutions under which 
 we live ; a profession "which is generous above all others, 
 and in which living merit in its day is bestowed according 
 to its deserts. " As a member of the bar of the southwestern 
 circuit of Georgia, a bar noted at all times for the learning 
 and ability of its members, he soon forced his way to the 
 front rank, and at an early period after entering practice was 
 appointed solicitor-general of that judicial circuit. 
 
 As a lawyer, while he always represented the interest of 
 his client, he never undertook to mislead judge or jury by 
 specious sophistry, but he adhered to the same scrupulous 
 sincerity in his advocacy of his client s cause which he 
 observed in the other transactions of life. As prosecuting 
 officer for the State, while he fearlessly pursued the viola 
 tors of the law, no innocent man, however poor or humble, 
 was permitted to suffer. 
 
 He was judge of the superior court of his State, the court 
 of the highest jurisdiction, other than the supreme court 
 of the State, for the correction of errors of law. Though 
 quite a young man when he was made judge, and with 
 somewhat limited experience at the bar, he soon proved 
 himself to be an ideal judge. He was patient and courte 
 ous, not given to that vice possessed by some judges, first to 
 find that which he might in due time have heard from the 
 bar. He never met the case halfway nor gave occasion 
 to parties to say their counsel or proofs were not heard. 
 His integrity was above even suspicion, and though the 
 H. Doc. 255 10 
 
146 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 judgment may have been erroneous at times, the counsel 
 and the parties knew that the law had been pronounced as 
 he believed it to be for at last, above all things, integrity 
 is the portion and proper virtue of a judge. 
 
 Mr. CRISP S intellectual excellence and power were due 
 to his very extraordinary common sense and an innate con 
 trolling impulse to know and do what was right. His mind 
 was a distinctly judicial mind; his education was by no 
 means thorough, because the years of his early youth were 
 spent in the Confederate Army, and the time usually de 
 voted to education was given in defense of the South and 
 her cause. When he was appointed judge, he had had little 
 experience at the bar, and that only as solicitor-general; 
 yet when he was appointed judge, he soon took rank among 
 the ablest of our judges, and became and was regarded one 
 of the best, if not the best, in Georgia. His charges to the 
 juries were models of clearness and directness of speech. 
 He always u dug deep for the justice of the case," and 
 when found, permitted no technicalities to defeat it. He 
 belonged to that class of lawyers and judges who rely upon 
 their clear perception of what is just and right and true 
 rather than upon books and cases more upon principle 
 than precedents 
 
 Juvat accedere fontes. 
 
 His mind was preeminently practical, and his oratory was 
 in admirable keeping with his strong natural sense. Ho 
 invariably spoke for use, and never for display. Mr. CRISP 
 was of a most gentle and kindly disposition ; he was an 
 amiable man ; the law of love dwelt in his heart, and the 
 "milk of human kindness" mingled in his blood. His 
 manners were the most bland and agreeable, and this, 
 added to the intuitive quickness of his mind, exuberant 
 
Address of Mr. Bartlett. 147 
 
 and good temper, his devotion to the truth, and attachment 
 to his friends made him the favorite he was with his breth 
 ren at the bar, his associates in this House, and the public. 
 Though ambitious to be distinguished and useful, he was 
 not in the slightest degree selfish. Those who did not 
 know him well or understand him might have supposed 
 that he was always on the alert to make friends for his 
 political purposes ; but the truth was he was so broad, so 
 catholic in his kindness and gratitude, that it was perfectly 
 natural for him to be more than merely courteous and 
 polite ; it was perfectly natural for him to compliment all 
 with whom he came in contact with his attentions and 
 courtesy. 
 
 And thus he bore without abuse 
 The grand old name of gentleman. 
 
 True, indeed, it is we can say of Mr. CRISP that he was 
 distinguished in the humbler walks of life by his devotion 
 to family and friends, by his simplicity in manner and 
 speech, and a warm welcome to all who approached him. 
 
 His was a soul of honor everywhere, 
 That to ignoble actions scorned to bend ; 
 
 True to his trust in friendship s faith, he ne er 
 Forgot a favor or forsook a friend. 
 
 He possessed in a degree that is worthy of emulation by 
 us all "that humanity that meets in every man a brother; " 
 that sympathy which enters with warmth into the feelings of 
 others; that friendship which glows with generous emotions 
 and binds us to those we love with most indissoluble ties; 
 that charity that puts on every dubious action and appear 
 ance the most favorable interpretation; that philanthropy 
 that feels with quickness the distresses of others, and that 
 spirit of justice that accords to all their due. 
 
 Of his services in the Hall of Congress others have 
 
148 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 spoken, and I will not endeavor to say more, except that as 
 a national character his fame stands out before the world 
 preeminently great. A man of broad, conservative views, 
 honest convictions, zealous in patriotic endeavor, courage 
 ous in the defense of right, gentle, modest, and merciful, 
 he stood above his compeers a statesman of the nation 
 and defender of the South and her people. He was never 
 recreant to a single trust. His love for home, his love for 
 Georgia and for the Union, and his bold stand for his people 
 against oppression of every character have won for him a 
 place in the hearts of his countrymen and among the 
 imperishable names in the Halls of Congress, where he was 
 the peer of his ablest opponent. 
 
 It may be and is true that he did not possess that brilliant 
 genius that marks a meteoric fame; but his was that worth 
 and ability that with steady glow grew brighter as it swept 
 into the sphere of usefulness. Though he has gone from 
 among us, though his warm, sympathetic heart will beat 
 no more, and though his body is beyond mortal view, his 
 name and fame are written among that constellation of the 
 great men of the South and of this Union, where it will 
 live on and on through the life of the Republic. 
 
 The great beauty of Mr. CRISP S character was his con 
 stant, tender, loving, and enthusiastic devotion to his wife 
 and children. His family life was, after all, his chiefest 
 grace. With a tender and gentle courtesy and with a lov 
 ing nature, he lavished his heart s best gifts on her whom 
 God gave to him, and with a fond father s love and devo 
 tion he cherished the children who grew up around him. 
 No change that years and sickness wrought brought any 
 change in the gentleness, care, and love that were bestowed 
 upon the wife. Though sickness and affliction had made 
 
Address of Mr. Bartlett. 149 
 
 the wife almost an invalid, yet upon her and to her he 
 always bestowed all gentleness, all care, all devotion. To 
 him, indeed, the afflicted wife seemed "dearer than the 
 bride." 
 
 But neither his fame as a lawmaker nor love of his people 
 nor the devotion and prayers of his loved one could stay the 
 hand of the great destroyer. Silent and sure and remorse 
 less, death heeds neither youth nor age; genius, learning, 
 poverty, nor wealth; the tears of relatives and friends, nor 
 the cold indifference of strangers. " All equally the uni 
 versal reaper gathers to his ever-filling yet ever unfilled 
 garner the tomb." 
 
 On a calm, still Sabbath day, at deep twilight, with hands 
 of reverent love, we laid him in the bosom of the universal 
 mother, by the side of two of his children who had gone 
 before, there to rest under Georgia s soil, beneath Southern 
 skies and the city he loved so well and the section he served 
 with so constant fidelity; there, where the shapely shafts of 
 Parian white tell of the peace within, where the everlasting 
 hills uplift their rugged crests to catch the first ray of the 
 morning sun, symbols to the eye of faith of the glorious 
 coming of the new dawn ; there, in the company of son and 
 daughter, he awaits the final destiny of greatness. 
 
 What a noble example has Mr. CRISP set to the young 
 men of his State, of this great Union, of diligence in busi 
 ness, of truth and devotion to principle and justice, honesty 
 and uprightness in all his conduct toward his fellow-men 
 and in public life, which is the basis of our social connec 
 tions. This was the means by which he achieved success 
 in life; and here is an example on which our young men 
 should be proud to form themselves, an example that refutes 
 "the dull maxims of idleness and profligacy," and points 
 
150 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 out the real road, and the only highway, in a Republic to 
 honor, fortune, and fame. 
 
 I utter no idle words when I say for the people of Georgia 
 that, "living, we all loved him; dead, we will cherish his 
 memory in our innermost hearts. 
 
 His virtues he bequeathed us, that we yet 
 May meet him in a lovelier land than this, 
 
 Where darkness is unknown, suns never set, 
 And sorrow never comes, but all is bliss. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, I append as part of my remarks the account 
 of the funeral services had at the church in Americus on 
 October 25, 1896, and the funeral oration delivered by his 
 old army commander, that distinguished Georgia divine, 
 Gen. C. A. Evans, the old commander of the "Stonewall 
 Brigade." 
 
 The church was reached at 2.30 p. m., around which had 
 assembled another vast crowd. It is a frame building of quaint 
 architecture. The vestibule has two large octagonal columns, 
 back of which is a deep recess. Round these two massive sup 
 ports were entwining long folds of black crape, from chapiter 
 to plinth. Broad steps, the entire width of the church front, 
 led up from a gentle slope to the vestibule. The church is 
 embowered in a grove of oaks, which is inclosed by an old 
 fence. The very place has an air of solemnity; but the 
 occasion gave a deeper funereal aspect to the church and 
 surroundings. 
 
 VIEWED THE REMAINS. 
 
 An hour was allotted to those who desired to have a last look 
 at their friend and townsman. A single-file procession began, 
 and the entire time was consumed in this sad privilege. The 
 face, so familiar in life to all the people of Americus, still bore 
 the same calm, peaceful expressions that had won the hearts 
 and esteem of all who knew him. Pale though it was, still the 
 pallor of death had not robbed it of serenity nor of its former 
 lifelike semblance. Though his last words were, "Oh, what 
 
Address of Mr. Bartlett. 151 
 
 pain! " the features bespoke that calm resignation to God s will 
 and the trust he had placed in his Creator s promise of salva 
 tion. Thus the people saw him, and thus his memory will be 
 cherished. 
 
 The bells of the city were still pealing their requiem when 
 the hour for the last sad rites arrived. The casket rested on a 
 bier in front of the chancel, buried in beds of rarest flowers. 
 The pulpit and other places were covered with floral emblems, 
 donated by admirers of the deceased. 
 
 While the people were gathering into the church, the organ 
 in softest notes pealed forth a funeral dirge. After this solemn 
 rendition the choir sang, There is rest for the weary, so feel 
 ingly that many of the congregation shed tears. 
 
 Rev. T. M. Christian, of the First Methodist Church, then 
 read the one hundred and third psalm, after which Rev. Leroy 
 Henderson, pastor of the Presbyterian Church, read the thir 
 teenth chapter of ist Corinthians. Then Rev. Mr. Turpin, 
 of the First Baptist Church, offered the following prayer : 
 
 " O God, beneath whose throne Thy people in all ages have 
 dwelt secure, regard us in great compassion, we beseech Thee, 
 for Thy hand hath touched us. 
 
 O Thou who makest sore and bindest up, draw us with the 
 cords of Thy love, for we are sorely smitten before Thee. 
 
 Look in mercy upon a nation whose citizens are saying one 
 to another : Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man 
 fallen this day in Israel ? 
 
 May the great loss we have sustained serve to rebuke the 
 bitterness of party spirit and to calm the turbulent passions of 
 the people. 
 
 Visit with Thy salvation our public servants gathered here 
 from different sections of our State and country, and profitably 
 remind us all that the paths of glory lead but to the grave. 
 Help us to remember what shadows we are and what shadows 
 we pursue. 
 
 "Bless, we implore Thee, our community, which so deeply 
 mourns the loss of her distinguished citizen, for we were accus 
 tomed to lean upon his words, and are fain to cry out: 
 
 " O fall n at length that tower of strength 
 Which stood four-square to all the winds that blew! 
 
152 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 "Lord God of all comfort, bind up the broken hearts of this 
 family circle, whose bitter grief would almost make them say, 
 Behold and see if there is any sorrow like unto our sorrow. 
 
 Strengthen with Thy might in the inner man Thy vener 
 able servant, as he receives back under his fatherly protection 
 to-day the daughter who in the days of her youth so confidingly 
 gave her heart to him, who became so worthy of her unfaltering 
 trust, but who has now, alas, been parted from her. 
 
 "We invoke, O God, Thy tenderest mercies upon our sister. 
 O Thou who art the light of the world, abide with her, for 
 Thou hast taken away from her the light of her eyes. May 
 Thy everlasting arms be underneath her, and do Thou comfort, 
 sustain, and keep her as she sighs 
 
 " For the touch of a vanish d hand, 
 And the sound of a voice that is still. 
 
 " Be merciful, O L,ord, to all the members of the household. 
 Sanctify to the bereaved sons and daughters their deep distress. 
 
 lyook down with Thine all-pitying eye upon Thy young 
 servant, who so tenderly leaned upon her father s bosom, and 
 who was such a joy to his heart. Hold not Thy peace at her 
 tears. Lord God, bless these manly boys, and may the mantle 
 of their father fall upon them. 
 
 "We praise thee, O God, that w r e sorrow not as those who 
 have no hope. We thank Thee for the belief of Thy servant 
 who has finished his course in those Holy Scriptures which are 
 able to make us wise unto eternal life, and for his simple trust 
 in the Redeemer of the world. And we thank Thee that 
 throughout his public career he ever wore the \vhite feather of 
 a blameless life. For Thou hast taught us to ask: Who shall 
 ascend into the hill of the L,ord or who shall stand in His holy 
 place? and Thou hast said: He that hath clean hands and 
 a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor 
 sworn deceitfully. Glory be to God for the hope, the blessed 
 hope, when days and years are o er, we all shall meet in 
 Heaven, where 
 
 The saints of all ages in harmony meet, 
 Their Saviour and brethren transported to greet, 
 While the anthems of rapture unceasingly roll, 
 And the smile of the Lord is the feast of the soul, 
 
A ddress of Mr . Ba rtlett. 1 5 3 
 
 through Jesus Christ, who was delivered for our offenses, and 
 was raised for our justification. Amen." 
 
 The choir then sang, "We shall sleep, but not forever." A 
 stillness akin to death impressed the solemnity of the occasion 
 upon every heart. The bereaved ones sat near the casket, hav 
 ing the sympathy of their friends from every section. 
 
 THE FUNERAL ORATION. 
 
 A moment of silence, and Georgia s noble old soldier and 
 Mr. CRISP S warmest and truest friend, Gen. Clement A. Evans, 
 stood in the presence of the dead to pay a tribute to his unblem 
 ished life and express sorrow at his early death. Following is 
 the oration: 
 
 GENERAL EVANS S ORATION. 
 
 A great bereavement has befallen a whole people a sudden, 
 sad, and most untimely bereavement. The strong, tender ties 
 which bind men together in the closest relations of human life 
 are sundered. I say most untimely, in reverent, humble sub 
 mission to the good will of Almighty God. Death aimed his 
 shaft at the brightest mark which for the moment shone upon 
 the public field. With startling emphasis the quick stroke, ring 
 ing throughout the State, announced the imperial authority of 
 the insatiate archer to strike down the most exalted human fig 
 ure as surely and easily as to bring a sparrow to the ground. 
 
 Our State takes this blow to heart, for it has cut off her beloved 
 son in his prime, and she laments the loss as Jacob mourned for 
 Joseph. Her pride is wounded to the quick, for in him she had 
 gloried as a valiant supporter of her fame. The flower of her 
 hope withereth because the new and lustrous honor prepared for 
 him by her sovereign will remains unbestowed by her hands. 
 To-day Georgia embodies the sorrow s of a great, sympathetic 
 people, and by every token tells that a whole State can feel a 
 common grief. Using the language of another, We expect the 
 sun to go down in the evening, we expect the flower to wither 
 in the fall, we expect the stream to be frozen in the winter, but 
 that the sun should go down at noon , that the flower should 
 wither in the summer, that the stream of life should be frozen 
 
154 Lift an d Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 before the chill of age had come upon it, is a reflection that 
 saddens the soul in man. 
 
 It is my sad duty in the present ministrations of this sanctuary 
 to give some expression to this common sentiment and to speak 
 of a noble life so thoroughly known as not to require minute 
 description. 
 
 It is commonly commented on that the career of Mr. CRISP 
 was a steadily ascending, uninterrupted rising from the first level 
 on the shore line of a citizen s duty, upward from grade to grade, 
 until he had reached that lofty table-land where all supreme 
 distinctions become possible. Such a career illustrates the free 
 course laid open by the peculiar principles of our American Union 
 to honorable aspiration, as well as the wisdom of our political 
 laws, which give to the people the privilege of a wide range in 
 selecting their representatives and rulers. Without special pres 
 tige, without fortune, without the favoring gale of association 
 formed by residence, and beginning business life obscurely in a 
 little Georgia town as a returned soldier a youth of 20 he 
 enters on the work of life amidst the unfavorable conditions that 
 prevailed in 1865 throughout this Southern land. The reflec 
 tion has interested me personally that at this precise period we 
 were not a day s ride on horse apart, both just returned from the 
 same scenes, the same fields, possessing the same spirit, and look 
 ing alike landward from the shore line ; behind us the sea where 
 a nation had been wrecked ; before us an unknown wilderness 
 of political possibilities. 
 
 It is not on this warp, however, I would weave the suggestive 
 event of his nobly successful life, but instead thereof I would 
 point the young men of the State to the clean truth that Mr. 
 CRISP attained his fame by industrious, honorable, and patriotic 
 discharge of the duties devolved upon him from time to time. 
 Few public men in Georgia have gained great distinction by 
 their sole reliance upon the adventitious aid of fortune and 
 ancestral name. That illustrious roll which we are proud to call 
 is answered by a multitude of noble men who overcame disad 
 vantage by the sweat of the brow, the throb of the brain, the 
 tension of nerve, the pulse of heart by men who " stopped the 
 mouths of lions and quenched the violence of fire;" by men who 
 patiently waited while they earnestly worked out their manifest 
 
Address of Mr. Bartlctt. 155 
 
 destiny, and who, in a heroic scorn of obstacles, achieved great 
 ness in all those various departments of human endeavor open to 
 all men through the regulated liberties of our free land. Ambi 
 tion requires no liaison with corruption in order to attain a 
 glorious fame. The path to human glory should be as "the 
 path of the just that groweth brighter unto the perfect day." 
 In the battle of life the aspirant for fame should indeed be a hero 
 in the strife, and if in the encounter he should go down, let it be 
 said of him at the roll call of human names, He died on the 
 field of honor ! 
 
 The life of Mr. CRISP as a lawyer is above reproach. After 
 a year of preparation he was admitted to the bar, and then came 
 on six years of that experience which brings discouragement to 
 many young barristers and during which some unhappily pre 
 destinate their total failure. But baffling, rather than being 
 baffled, and seizing opportunities as they moved within the circle 
 of his grasp, and rising by gradations which demanded and were 
 met by the toil that gains ascensions, the young lawyer of Ella- 
 ville became the solicitor-general of his judicial circuit, and after 
 four years experience rose by appointment and elections to an 
 honorable and responsible position upon the bench of the supe 
 rior court of Georgia. 
 
 Tested in these offices of delicate, difficult, and often embar 
 rassing duties, Mr. CRISP won the esteem of the bar, satisfied 
 the demands of the law, proved himself an able, just, incorrupti 
 ble judge, and increased his popularity as his intercourse with 
 the people widened. 
 
 The result was his transference from the bench to the Halls 
 of Congress, where services were rendered as occasions came, 
 which gained him increasing attention until even in a Congress 
 where he was at a disadvantage by being in the minority, and 
 especially because he represented a Southern district, he com 
 manded such respect for his courage, his parliamentary skill, 
 his fidelity to his party, and his patriotic devotion to his country 
 that he was conceded the position of leader of his side of the 
 House. His field battles with the eminent Speaker a foeman 
 worthy of his steel will always be memorable parliamentary 
 history. Gallant as any chivalrous Southern knight, skilled 
 in the tactics of Congressional proceeding, ready in running 
 
156 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 skirmish, and steady as a stone wall under assault, he stood 
 foremost among national party men on the floor of Congress 
 until the great change in the political situation gave his friends 
 the opportunity to reverse positions between himself and his able 
 antagonist by elevating him to the Speakership, one of the most 
 commanding offices created by the Constitution. With many 
 other Georgians I have proudly witnessed in Washington the 
 contests and the triumphs of this conspicuous Representative 
 from our own State. Recalling the old historic names of Geor 
 gia recalling the days when Berrien charmed the Senate with 
 his pellucid speech, when Toombs in torrents of eloquence stirred 
 the House, when Stephens, like a river, made glad with limpid 
 logic the hearts of his countrymen, when Cobb, illustrious 
 from his youth, held the Speaker s gavel, and on to Hill the 
 superb, Brown the wise, and Colquitt the tribune, and others 
 who like these requited the State with fadeless luster for the 
 honors she had conferred on them I say, recalling these his 
 toric men, I am not loath to place among them the name and 
 fame of the statesman whose loss from the national councils 
 we so sadly deplore. 
 
 I will venture to say that no more magnificent display of 
 political self-denial ever occurred in the lives of aspiring men 
 than that which shines out in splendor like the noonday sun in 
 one well-known event of Mr. CRISP S political life. I refer, of 
 course, to the occasion when he put aside the Senatorial toga 
 proffered him by Governor Northen on the death of the lamented 
 Senator Colquitt. I will not try your patience nor party fealty 
 by asking what you would have done. L,et us imagine that 
 others would have acted as he did, and yet his act remains 
 unparalleled by any similar instance. Consider that the office 
 of Georgia Senator was the shining goal of his just aspirations; 
 that in the judgment of the governor he was the proper recip 
 ient of the great trust; that the popular mind coincided with 
 the governor s views; that the tide in politics was turning 
 against his party and would sweep him from the Speakership, 
 and that to lose the Senator s place then might cause its loss to 
 him forever; consider this situation, and a view of his declina 
 tion of the office of Senator will glow upon your admiration as 
 
Address of Mr, Bartlett. 157 
 
 a sunlit summit of fealty to official trust and party principles 
 whose height will not be often climbed by mortal man. 
 
 But he lived to see his course justified. The people of the 
 State kept him in mind. By an unusual popular vote they 
 had this year requested the legislature to make him the State s 
 ambassador in the United States Senate, and their will would 
 have been performed a few days from this sad date when he lies 
 before us wrapped in the slumbers of death. Once by his own 
 act, once by the act of God, the Senatorial crown has been put 
 aside. We are glad he etched into his enduring fame the self- 
 denial which so much exalted his character; we are glad he 
 lived to know that the high trust had been given him by the 
 people of his beloved State; and since he has been deprived by 
 the just will of God of the high position, we will lay the 
 unworn Senatorial robe at the base of his monument and write 
 his great name among those of the patriotic statesmen of our 
 country. 
 
 I can not justly omit that eventful period of four years in 
 which, as a young Virginia soldier, he espoused the cause and 
 bravely fought the battles of the Confederate war. When 16 
 years old, a stripling youth, a boy of handsome form and 
 gallant mien, but spirited as a cavalier, he put on the gray 
 jacket and offered himself for slaughter. It is just such food 
 as war craves, and too often gets. The flower of the South 
 decorated the grim battlefields with their slain bodies and made 
 them glorious. CRISP was among the number of that Army of 
 Northern Virginia which Lee, Jackson, and Stuart depended on 
 for victories which made them an immortal fame. The first 
 year brought Manassas, with its unobscured triumph of the 
 Southern army. The second year, the "Seven days around 
 Richmond," when Lee rolled McClellan s outspread columns 
 like a scroll back upon the River James. The third year, 
 Gettysburg, with its first day of glory and its third day of 
 bloody repulse. The fourth year, the Wilderness series 
 of interlapping horrors, centering on the i2th of May, when a 
 whole day s titanic wrestling in garments rolled in blood 
 ended with the fraternal foes confronting each other in rifle 
 range. Through these scenes, with their intermediate events, 
 
158 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 all equally momentous our young soldier served with his com 
 rades, terminating his field service by his capture in the bloody 
 angle" of the isth of May. Imprisonment followed, but when 
 released in 1865, he turned his steps to Georgia and became 
 her loyal, faithful, and honored son. Not once has he claimed 
 political reward for this heroic service in the cause of the 
 South. He knew that patriotism has no price. The tender of 
 life to the state in its peril is only a real tribute of righteous 
 sovereignty, and the offering has no place on any pay roll; it 
 thrusts no key into the public treasury, and makes no demand 
 on the popular ballot. But the record of our comrade is with 
 us his highest honor, and his consciousness of patriotic duty 
 faithfully done is his highest reward. 
 
 But the State can not take to itself the keenest pangs which 
 this public bereavement has caused. I,et it stand aside in its 
 open sorrow, made expressive by many honoring testimonials, 
 and let it be silent before the poignant grief which wrings the 
 heart of the family whose prop and pride, whose crown and 
 chief, is gone; whose tender fatherhood is now but sweet poten 
 tial memory. His family life was, after all, his chiefest grace. 
 With a loving nature, he lavished his heart s best gifts on her 
 whom God gave to him and on the children who grew up under 
 his care. If words of consolation could be effectively spoken, we 
 would all speak them in sheer pity for her whose heart is broken 
 by this blow. But no wine press is for the tramping of many 
 feet in concert. She must tread the wine press of her affliction 
 alone. There is One only who can come to her whose comfort 
 ing is barred by no ceremony and lacking in no quality. I will 
 not leave you comfortless; I will come to you." And so, if 
 words of counsel were needed by these children, they would be 
 offered by thousands of friendly tongues. But the counsel is 
 not needed. The heritage of a wise father s life is wealth for 
 his offspring. By the memory of his words they will direct their 
 ways. We therefore commit this stricken household to the God 
 who guided their head, and to the memories of his noble life. 
 I do not know how to speak further, in the presence of an audi 
 ence who knew him so well, of his personal traits and his pri 
 vate life. I am conscious of repeating your sayings when I would 
 
Address of Mr. Bartlett. 159 
 
 describe his genial, hopeful, generous disposition. The smile 
 which lighted his face was an issue of his heart. The face itself 
 inspired confidence; his social mien won affection; his tongue 
 was free from the guilt of detraction; he was kind in speech 
 even when he spoke of his adversaries. Genuine charity had 
 its home in his heart and directed his hand to help the weak and 
 the poor. The masterpiece of Paul s pen, as recorded in the 
 thirteenth chapter of the first letter to the Corinthians, was his 
 most favorite study. His nearest neighbors esteemed and loved 
 him, his friends trusted him, his political opponents respected 
 him. 
 
 In early manhood he embraced the faith taught in the 
 Scriptures, united with the church, loved the brethren in its 
 communion, and died in the hope which his religion inspired. 
 Separated now from all that delighted or tried him on earth, he 
 is gone to that mysterious sphere where duty to God will be 
 done in perfection and the joy of the service will be the heavenly 
 rewards. 
 
 We may suffer ourselves to be counseled even by death. 
 Meet it we must; meet it daringly we may; meet it reverently 
 we should, for it is designed to be but the priest in the black 
 gown sent to conduct us to the Prince of Life Eternal. 
 
 The last object that man beholds on earth is not the state 
 and its officials; not the church and its ministers; not the family 
 of loved ones, and not friends in tears; but the last Being alone 
 with man on earth is Almighty God. In the article of death, 
 after every mortal citadel has been stormed, the eyes of the 
 unassailable soul turns from the delightful scenes as well as 
 from the ghastly horrors of Time to look with clairvoyant power 
 and boundless interest upon the serene eternity of infinite things. 
 In that moment of an indescribable crisis the alone soul looks 
 before it springs, and as it looks it encounters the face of God. 
 The Almighty God! The immortal soul! Face to face! Does 
 the soul reflect the image and likeness of Him into whose face 
 it looks? That is life s crucial question. Blessed in such a 
 crisis are the pure in heart. 
 
 In the crucible of every human career, after all fires have 
 burned down and the vessel is cold, there should remain at last 
 
160 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 refined and prepared for eternal use an immortal soul which 
 serenely reflects in character the face of God. 
 
 It is well for us who are here, and who know each other s 
 natures well, to understand that in our inmost unexpressed 
 thought we believe there is something better than the poor 
 prizes for which we are all contending. 
 
 The question being taken on the resolutions, they were 
 unanimously agreed to, and in accordance therewith (at 5 
 o clock and 55 minutes p. m.) the House adjourned. 
 
PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE. 
 
 JANUARY 18, 1897. 
 
 A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. 
 Chapell, one of its clerks, communicated to the Senate the 
 intelligence of the death of CHARLES F. CRISP, late a mem 
 ber of the House from the State of Georgia, and trans 
 mitted the resolutions of the House thereon. 
 
 Mr. GORDON. Mr. President, I desire to give notice that 
 on Thursday next, at 3 o clock p. m., I shall ask the Senate 
 to suspend business to receive resolutions upon the subject 
 to which the message from the House of Representatives 
 relates, and to hear some remarks in connection therewith. 
 
 H. Doc. 255 ii 161 
 
MEMORIAL ADDRESSES. 
 
 JANUARY 25, 1897. 
 
 The Vice-President laid before the Senate the resolutions 
 of the House of Representatives, and they were read. 
 
 Mr. GORDON. Mr. President, I submit the resolutions 
 which I send to the desk. 
 
 The resolutions were read, as follows: 
 
 Resolved, That the business of the Senate be now suspended, 
 that opportunity may be given for tributes to the memory of 
 the Hon. CHARLES F. CRISP, late a Representative from the 
 State of Georgia. 
 
 Resolved, That as a further tribute to his memory and in 
 recognition of his distinguished ability as a public servant, the 
 Senate, at the conclusion of these memorial ceremonies, shall 
 stand adjourned. 
 
 Resolved, That the Secretary communicate these resolutions 
 to the House of Representatives; and 
 
 Resolved, That the Secretary be instructed to communicate a 
 copy of these resolutions to the family of the deceased. 
 
 The VICE-PRESIDENT. The resolutions are before the 
 Senate. 
 
 163 
 
164 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. GORDON. 
 
 Mr. GORDON. Mr. President, during the last session of 
 Congress, and near its close, I met on this floor for the last 
 time the great Georgian in whose honor we speak, and 
 whose death an appreciative people so sincerely mourn. 
 Were it permissible to refer to the purpose which brought 
 him from the other end of the Capitol, it would reveal, as 
 his every act, public and private, revealed, the innate 
 nobility of the man. 
 
 CHARLES FREDERICK CRISP was born in England, but 
 was transferred before his first anniversary to his future 
 home in southwest Georgia. Richly endowed with native 
 abilities and notably with those attributes of character so 
 quickly and infallibly discerned by the open-hearted peo 
 ple of that section, in his early manhood he commanded 
 their respect and enlisted their support. In a district 
 where competition was an impassable barrier against medi 
 ocrity, he rose steadily and rapidly in their esteem and 
 confidence until he held without a rival the supreme place 
 in their affections. 
 
 Mr. President, if it be true that our temperament and 
 sensibilities and character are permanently affected by the 
 scenes amid which we are reared, this fact w r ould in some 
 measure explain the strikingly attractive characteristics of 
 our deceased friend. His youthful imagination, his gentle 
 nature, receptive and impressible, received their earliest 
 touches and strongest tints from the peculiar civilization, 
 the sunlight, and soft air of that genial clime. His child 
 hood was passed in a locality where an unaffected cordiality 
 was the genius of social life, where daily associations were 
 
Address of Mr. Gordon. 165 
 
 elevating and refining, and where all nature tended to 
 soften the heart and lift the soul where home was the 
 synonym of hospitality, and where every open field, made 
 beautiful by the white, the yellow, and the crimson cotton 
 blooms, was rimmed by majestic pines, whose weird music, 
 like the distant murmur of the sea, tranquillized the spirit 
 and turned the thoughts to God. 
 
 He was soldier, lawyer, solicitor, judge, national legisla 
 tor, and Speaker of the House of Representatives. In all 
 these positions of responsibility and trust, in the holier 
 relations of Christian, husband, and father, through all the 
 stages of a great career, in all the activities of life, he was 
 brave, unselfish, strong, and pure. English by birth and 
 blood, he was American in thought, sentiment, and pur 
 pose in every throb of his brain and fiber of his being. 
 
 The achievements of his maturer years were but the 
 fulfillment of his early promise. The courage and conse 
 cration of the youthful soldier were but the prophecies of 
 the career and crown of the illustrious statesman. 
 
 At the age of 1 6 he won a commission in the Confederate 
 Army under "Stonewall" Jackson. He was with that 
 phenomenal soldier when he fell in the Wilderness. He 
 marched with him, fought under him, felt the power of his 
 majestic presence, and caught inspiration from his dazzling 
 genius and from that inflexible Christian faith and fortitude 
 which are better than genius. Beardless boy as he was, 
 Mr. CRISP met the hardships and dangers of the field with 
 the nerve of a veteran, and endured the privations of prison 
 with the patience of a philosopher. 
 
 Mr. President, a character so symmetrical and complete 
 as Mr. CRISP S deserves to be studied and imitated. Called 
 to an unusual number of positions, he was efficient in all, 
 
1 66 Lif& and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 and in many excelled. Doubtless this very diversity in his 
 active life, like exercises in training schools for the develop 
 ment of complete physical manhood, was a source of strength 
 in his mental and moral equipment. 
 
 As a soldier, he learned obedience to constituted authority, 
 the necessity of promptness, the value and power of organ 
 ized effort. 
 
 As a lawyer, he was taught the efficacy of analysis and of 
 that close, clear, and forceful style of reasoning from premise 
 to conclusion which constitute the strength and charm of 
 his public utterances. 
 
 As State s attorney, it was his duty to analyze and de 
 nounce crime and to bring the perpetrators to punishment, 
 and he discharged that duty with absolute fidelity and 
 marked ability. 
 
 As judge, he was charged with the high function of de 
 claring the law protecting the citizen s rights, his property, 
 his life, and his liberty, and no man ever met these grave 
 obligations more conscientiously and bravely. The judicial 
 ermine never rested upon worthier shoulders, nor was it 
 ever kept whiter or more immaculate. 
 
 As member of the National Congress, he was confronted 
 by the gravest problems of government, and he supported 
 or antagonized measures with an eye single to the welfare 
 of the people. 
 
 As Speaker, he had placed in his hands a power greater 
 in many important particulars than that intrusted to the 
 President, and he wielded it, in the judgment of political 
 friend and opponent, with an ability rarely equaled and a 
 courtesy and an impartiality never surpassed. 
 
 As professing Christian, he assumed obligations to the 
 Christian Church and to its Divine Founder and Head 
 which he never disowned and never dishonored. 
 
Address of Mr. Gordon. 167 
 
 Mr. President, there remains but one other phase of our 
 deceased friend s life of which I wish briefly to speak. In 
 those stations to which I have already alluded his record was 
 far more conspicuous and related itself to a vastly wider 
 constituency. The responsibilities of those public stations, 
 so faithfully met, were to his country, to society, and church. 
 The honors he won by a great career and a noble life are the 
 heritage of the whole American people. But the realm into 
 which I now enter, while far more circumscribed, is infinitely 
 more sacred than any except the church itself. It is due to 
 the occasion, due to my own sense of propriety, to say that 
 the curtain is drawn from the sanctuary of my friend s 
 domestic life by a reverent hand, and that the delicate task 
 is legitimately sanctioned; but it is also due to his memory 
 and to those whom he loved above honors and held dearer 
 than life to say that no home ever lost a nobler head than 
 the home of Mr. CRISP. 
 
 Great and lasting as are the honors he won in the public 
 service, sincere and just as are the eulogiums pronounced 
 by his associates in Congress, earnest and universal as are 
 the benedictions of his people, and precious as will be this 
 heritage to the unspeakably bereaved wife and children, yet 
 his constant, daily acts of unselfish devotion as husband and 
 father are to them the richest and most cherished legacy. 
 His unfailing solicitude and tenderness exhibited through 
 out his busy, absorbing career, and singularly manifested in 
 the very hour of dissolution, when his tongue was no longer 
 capable of utterance, will constitute to this stricken house 
 hold the sweetest and most hallowed memory. 
 
 The life of such a man, Mr. President, is a sermon, a 
 psalm, an inspiration. The death of such a man is a 
 bereavement to society, to the State, to the Republic. Both 
 his life and his death to those of us who served with him 
 
1 68 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 and who now survive him are full of encouragement and at 
 the same time of warning of encouragement to virtuous 
 living in the discharge of duty, and of solemn warning to 
 be ready for the inexorable summons of the mute messenger, 
 who will come we know not how nor when, but will come 
 surely and come to all. 
 
 Standing in the gloom of this national loss, the radiance 
 of the highway he trod becomes the more plainly visible. 
 From its opening to its close his career was one of unbroken 
 success. From year to year, from station to station, from 
 one official height to another still higher, his shining 
 course was a constant, continuing ascent, with no blemish 
 to mar, no stain to dim its luster. Holding the great office 
 of Speaker, he declined a seat in this Chamber tendered him 
 by the governor of his State. Though laudably ambitious 
 to represent Georgia in this august body, he turned his back 
 on ambition at the call of duty, whose every command was 
 to him an imperative fiat. He died with the echoes of his 
 last political victory still ringing in his ears. He died near 
 the convening of the legislature which, in obedience to the 
 formally expressed and emphatic popular will, would have 
 sent him triumphantly to the Senate as a partial recompense 
 for his previous self-abnegation. 
 
 Providence denied him the coveted seat in this Chamber, 
 but called him, as we confidently hope and believe, to an 
 infinitely more exalted station in the invisible, everlasting 
 convocation of the just. 
 
Address of Mr. Gallinger. 169 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. GALLINGER. 
 
 Mr. GALLINGER. Mr. President, in response to the request 
 of the distinguished senior Senator from Georgia, whose 
 eloquent and touching words of eulogy have charmed our 
 ears to-day, I will very briefly pay tribute to the great Geor 
 gian, whose virtues and accomplishments are matters of 
 history. It was my privilege to serve with CHARLES FRED 
 ERICK CRISP during the Forty-ninth and Fiftieth Con 
 gresses, and it is an exceedingly pleasant memory that we 
 were friends as well as associates during those four eventful 
 years. Mr. CRISP had not then risen to the high eminence 
 as an orator and parliamentarian that he achieved in later 
 years, but even then, almost at the threshold of his Con 
 gressional career, he impressed himself upon the House as 
 a man of marvelous gifts and commanding powers. I recall 
 more than one instance when he surprised his associates 
 by an exhibition of tact, ability, and skill in the manage 
 ment of legislation, while his occasional outbursts of fervid 
 oratory are not forgotten by his fellow-members. At times 
 Mr. CRISP was intensely partisan, as all strong men are, but 
 he was always courteous and usually fair. The rancor of 
 debate left no scars on his tender mind, and the turbulent 
 waters of party strife did not soil the purity of his soul. 
 Looking back over the years that have come and gone to 
 the time that I passed with Mr. CRISP at the close of the 
 Fiftieth Congress, my heart goes out to him even as it did 
 when we daily met. His kindly words are remembered, 
 and his strong and pervading personality is vividly and 
 tenderly recalled. But the good friend, the courtly gentle 
 man, the intellectual giant is no more. At the very zenith 
 
170 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 of his fame the chosen leader of his party associates and 
 the idol of his State he was summoned from earth to the 
 great beyond. Mr. CRISP has gone to his reward, to receive 
 the plaudit of Well done, good and faithful servant. 
 
 Mr. President, it is a single blossom that I bring to be 
 laid on the casket of my dead friend; but the tribute, 
 though brief, is sincere and heartfelt. A man of marvelous 
 powers, grand achievement, and noble purposes has passed 
 away. The place he so well filled in the halls of legislation 
 is vacant; but his place in the hearts of his family, his 
 friends, and his countrymen will forever be bright and 
 glorious. Farewell, thou man of strength and grandeur; of 
 tenderness and heroism; of mighty achievement and exalted 
 purpose. Earth s work is done, life s fitful fever is ended, 
 and the joys of a better world are the reward for the faith 
 ful performance of earth s duties and obligations. Farewell 
 the true friend, the convincing orator, the great Speaker, a 
 fond and tender farewell. 
 
Address of Mr. Gorman. 171 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. GORMAN, 
 
 Mr. GORMAN. Mr. President, my purpose on the present 
 sad occasion is briefly to express my great personal esteem 
 and my high admiration for a great leader in the public 
 councils of our country, whose life added luster to American 
 character and illustrated the possibilities in American polit 
 ical life. 
 
 It can not be too often noted and emphasized that there 
 is no insurmountable bar to preeminence in the politics of 
 our country when to personal traits of exalted character 
 there are added incorruptible integrity, firm resolution, and 
 positive courage. When these high qualities are graced 
 with kindliness of disposition, urbanity in intercourse, and 
 a high sense of justice and fair dealing toward adversaries, 
 we have that truly American character which was illustrated 
 in the public life of the late CHARLES FREDERICK CRISP. 
 
 His early schooling was obtained in the camp, upon the 
 march, and in the very forefront of the battle. It was amid 
 the hardships, restraints, and sacrifices incident to four years 
 of civil conflict that he laid fast and sure the foundation of 
 self-reliance, indomitable resolution, and high purpose, 
 which in a few years brought him forward as one qualified 
 to lead and to shape the course of political affairs. His 
 promotion was rapid. Admitted to the bar in 1866, he was 
 raised to the bench in 1877, and from that high position 
 was elected to the House of Representatives in 1882. There, 
 in committees, on the floor in debate, and in earnest work, 
 he so impressed his political associates that in the Fifty- 
 second Congress his party elected him Speaker of the House 
 the most exalted position within the gift of the House, and 
 
172 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 second only to the Presidency in point of power in our 
 system of government. 
 
 These accomplished results illustrate not only the high 
 character and attainments of Mr. CRISP, but they emphasize 
 the possibilities of popular government, whose highest hon 
 ors are at all times open to the free competition of those 
 who are worthy to fill them. 
 
 The public life of Mr. CRISP illustrates the truth of the 
 remark that "nothing is denied to well-directed labor, and 
 nothing is obtained without it." Leadership in the House 
 exacts the most constant and assiduous labor from those 
 who aspire to its high emprize, and can not be purchased at 
 a lesser price. His administration of the duties of the 
 Speakership, during periods of intense excitement and 
 amid the conflicts of contending interests, left not a sting 
 among his party adversaries, nor failed to bring intensest 
 satisfaction to his supporters. He was preeminently fair, 
 considerate, just, and impartial, and left the well-earned 
 reputation of a great Speaker. A like career on this floor 
 was frustrated by the rude hand of death immediately after 
 the people of Georgia had expressed their purpose to elect 
 him to the Senate. 
 
 There must have been in such a career a dominating prin 
 ciple to which thought and action were at all times subordi 
 nated. We shall not improve occasions like this if we fail 
 to eliminate the motive and the principle which made the 
 public career of Mr. CRISP so worthy of study and so full 
 of noble example. He was a partisan in the purest sense 
 of that word. He had satisfied his conscience that more 
 substantial good, more positive progress was possible to the 
 country from the principles, measures, and organization of 
 the political party to which he was attached than was possi- 
 
Address of Mr. Gorman. 173 
 
 ble from any other organization. Hence his advocacy, as 
 well as his opposition, was directed at all times to the tri 
 umph before the people of the principles and measures of 
 his party. But that partisanship was destitute of every 
 unworthy motive, free from all asperity, and unattended 
 with epithet, innuendo, or aspersion. Those who differed 
 from him listened to his earnest advocacy, confident that it 
 was inspired by sincerity and prompted by a high sense of 
 duty. If to "party he gave up what was meant for man 
 kind," it was because he identified his party with all that 
 was best and safest for the general welfare of the people, 
 the progress of the country, and the advancement of her 
 civilization. 
 
 By disposition, as well as from conviction, he was a con 
 servative of that form of government and that distribution 
 of its functions which under the Federal Constitution can 
 alone render permanent the blessings of popular govern 
 ment. At the same time he was a pronounced radical in 
 his conviction that all power emanates from the people, and 
 that the administration of government can never be safe 
 and successful unless it be conformable to the wishes and 
 opinions of the people as expressed by their representatives, 
 and that the regular, orderly, and authentic expression of 
 public opinion was obligatory at all times upon the legisla 
 tive and the executive departments of the Government. 
 
 Such exalted principles qualify and modify partisanship 
 into patriotism, and teach the lesson that intensity of advo 
 cacy is at all times compatible with a just consideration for 
 the convictions of an adversary. That was the preeminent 
 characteristic of the political career of Mr. CRISP. In the 
 most excited and embittered contests over measures like 
 those for the repeal of the election laws or the different 
 
174 Ltf c an( l Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 phases of the tariff discussion, he exhibited the highest 
 qualities of leadership, but at the same time the fullest 
 recognition of the same earnestness of conviction in his 
 opponents. 
 
 Without the brilliancy of oratory or the graces of rhetoric, 
 his very earnestness and the manifest sincerity of his char 
 acter became persuasive and convincing, and made him a 
 natural leader and his party willing and enthusiastic fol 
 lowers. There was in his personality every element which 
 made association pleasant and agreeable. With warm 
 hearted geniality he won the affections, while his dignity 
 of bearing impressed all who came within its influence. 
 But there was no compromise of principle within his nature; 
 what conscience approved, expediency could not compro 
 mise. It was that full and complete subordination of 
 expediency to principle that carried into the Speakership 
 the integrity of the judge and clothed the politician with 
 the ermine of justice. 
 
 It was natural that such a character should impress the 
 people far beyond the borders of Georgia; hence his popu 
 larity was as widespread as his party, and in every State he 
 won the respect and confidence alike of Democrats and 
 Republicans. Citizens of every party recognized the 
 purity and sincerity of that "hope" for "our beloved 
 country " when uttered by him upon being elected Speaker. 
 
 No review of his public and private character would do 
 justice to our departed friend which did not emphasize that 
 unselfish devotion to duty which declined the appointment 
 to the Senate by the governor of Georgia because he was 
 more useful to his party at that time in the House. The 
 seat in the Senate was the goal of all his hopes, the crown 
 of his ambition. But the opportunity oT his life came at 
 
Address of Mr, Gorman, 175 
 
 a moment when duty to his party demanded its declension. 
 He was equal to the sacrifice, and set aside his personal 
 promotion for the good of his party. There is a deep sad 
 ness in the fact that after such unselfish devotion to duty 
 death should have robbed him of his reward when tendered 
 by the suffrages of the people of that great State of which 
 he was a noble citizen and an honored Representative. 
 
 My acquaintance with him was close and intimate; my 
 confidence in his judgment, discretion, and ability was full 
 and complete. He measured up to every occasion, and 
 never was a flaw or crevice found in that armor of prin 
 ciple, integrity, and zeal for "our beloved country," which 
 enveloped him like a "garment of praise." 
 
176 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. BERRY. 
 
 Mr. BERRY. Mr. President, I met CHARLES FREDERICK 
 CRISP for the first time when I came here in 1885. He 
 was then serving his second term in Congress, and had 
 already attracted attention as a man of ability and high 
 character. Subsequently I knew him intimately and knew 
 him well. We lived together in the same hotel in this 
 city for eight years. During the sessions of Congress I 
 saw him daily. I saw him in his associations with his 
 family, with members of Congress, and with numerous 
 friends from all sections of the country. That he was a 
 man of high character and splendid ability I need not say. 
 That he met bravely and was equal to each responsibility 
 and that he did his duty faithfully and well to his constit 
 uents and his country is known to all. 
 
 Mr. CRISP was one of the few men in public life of whom 
 it could be truly said that he was always equal and never 
 superior to any place or station where duty called him to 
 go. He rose steadily and continuously in the public esti 
 mation and grew greater year by year as his duties and 
 responsibilities increased, and he was more honored and 
 loved at the time of his death than at any time before. The 
 most prominent and striking traits in his character as they 
 appeared to me were his self-poise and remarkable self- 
 control, his uniform cheerfulness, his great patience and 
 kindliness toward all with whom he came in contact, his 
 quick perception, and great power to condense and con 
 vince in argument. I saw him every day and many times 
 each day during the exciting and heated contest for 
 Speaker in December, 1891. I saw him at the time when 
 
Address of Mr. Berry. 177 
 
 many of his friends thought he was beaten. I saw him in 
 the hour of his victory, and no one could detect in his 
 manner or bearing the least sign of despondency in the 
 one instance or elation in the other. I saw him after 
 the contest was over, when the pressure came upon him 
 for committee assignments. From early in the morning for 
 many days until late at night his rooms overflowed with 
 members of the House of Representatives, Senators, and 
 many others. He saw and heard all who came, and never 
 for one moment did he lose his patience, his cheerfulness, 
 or his kindliness of manner. If he felt the criticisms and 
 abuse which came from the disappointed and he did feel 
 it, for he told me so long afterwards he made no sign and 
 uttered no complaint, and I think now that it was these 
 high and admirable qualities in his character that enabled 
 him afterwards to lead and control his party so absolutely 
 in the House of Representatives. Many strong men, many 
 great men, have presided over the House of Representa 
 tives; but I think none of them ever surpassed Mr. CRISP 
 in his ability to lead, and none ever had more devoted and 
 willing followers. That he was a great Speaker and pos 
 sessed qualities that peculiarly fitted him for the position 
 all will admit, but that which made him really great was 
 his devotion to duty and love of country. 
 
 These were the same qualities in his character that 
 caused him when a lad of 16 years of age to inarch forth 
 to battle for his home, his people, and the faith of his 
 fathers, and this same devotion to duty and love of country 
 remained with him in the exalted position he afterwards 
 obtained. And he was as true and loyal to our common 
 country and to the flag of the Republic when presiding 
 over the House of Representatives as he had been true and 
 H. Doc. 255 12 
 
178 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 loyal to the flag of the South when he upheld it and faced 
 death upon the battlefields of Manassas and Spottsylvania. 
 
 The greatest lesson taught by the life of Mr. CRISP is that 
 it shows the possibilities of success for the American youth. 
 It is the glory of our Republic that the poorest boy in the 
 land, if he has the courage to be honest and upright and 
 the energy to persevere, may aspire to any place within the 
 gift of the American people. 
 
 Mr. CRISP returned from the war in 1865, a youth of 20, 
 absolutely without means or influential friends; without the 
 advantage of college training; dependent alone upon his 
 own resources; and yet at the age of 45 he had served as 
 district attorney, judge of the superior court, member of 
 Congress, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, 
 and had discharged the duties of all these positions in such 
 way as to command the respect of friend and foe. During 
 all of his career he never forgot the people of Georgia; 
 those with whom he had marched and suffered in time of 
 war; those who had been loyal and true to him in every 
 ambition of his life. He never believed that he was wiser 
 than they; he never sought to secure what is called a na 
 tional reputation by antagonizing or sacrificing the people 
 of his State. He was true to them, and they supported him 
 with a devotion and unanimity seldom if ever surpassed. 
 
 The last contest he ever made, the last speeches he ever 
 delivered, were in a contest within his own party upon a 
 great question of party policy, and in this, as in the past, 
 he was in full sympathy with and true to the great body of 
 his constituents who had so often honored him, and they 
 showed their appreciation by giving him an overwhelming 
 majority for a seat upon the floor of the Senate of the 
 United States. 
 
Address of Mr. Berry, 179 
 
 The last conversation I ever had with him was upon his 
 return from that canvass, where he had met the then Secre 
 tary of the Interior in joint debate. He told me that his 
 physician had insisted that he should quit the canvass and 
 of his regret for the necessity. He spoke of his failing 
 health, the intense pain that he suffered, and that he feared 
 it was the beginning of the end. He did not speak of it 
 lightly, nor did he speak of it in any gloomy or despondent 
 way, but calmly and courageously, as a brave man would 
 speak of something that could not be avoided and that he 
 was ready to meet without fear, but that he hoped might 
 be postponed for the sake of those dependent upon him. 
 
 I never saw anyone more devoted to his family than Mr. 
 CRISP. During all the years that we lived in the same 
 house no one ever heard him speak an unkind or impatient 
 word to wife or child. He was the intimate friend of and 
 loved by all children; he was deferential to all womanhood 
 and courteous to all manhood. He was always a gentleman 
 in his manner and deportment; a Southern man in his 
 instincts and feelings; a Southern soldier true to that cause 
 until its flag was furled forever. He never paraded his serv 
 ices, nor did he ever express regret or offer excuse for the 
 course he had pursued. When he laid down his arms and 
 pledged his word for future allegiance to this Government, 
 he kept his promise in letter and spirit, and when he arose 
 to the high position that he afterwards reached, he was as 
 true and loyal to the Government of the United States as 
 the men whom he had faced in battle. The people of the 
 South have much cause to love and honor his memory, and 
 the people of the entire nation have much cause to be proud 
 of such a citizen. 
 
I So Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. MILLS. 
 
 Mr. MILLS. Mr. President, there are some reasons which 
 have impressed me that I should join the people of Georgia 
 and the friends of her distinguished son in paying to his 
 memory all the honors which the living can pay to the dead. 
 The remains of his father and mother have for many years 
 been sleeping in the warm and generous bosom of Texas. 
 Side by side with her own children, Texas has seen that 
 their graves are kept green. There are still living in Texas 
 those who knew intimately the father and mother and who 
 cherish their memories, and who knew the son in his young 
 manhood, whose name in after years became a household 
 word around all their firesides. If there were no other 
 considerations which moved me, this would constrain me 
 to go with the people of Georgia and drop a flower for 
 Texas in the grave of Georgia s distinguished son. But 
 there are other considerations which to my mind make it 
 appropriate for me to speak of him. During the great civil 
 war the greatest in the annals of mankind he and I were 
 soldiers on the same side. We fought with those who lost. 
 He served with the army which defended Virginia; I with 
 the army which defended Georgia. We both passed through 
 all the vicissitudes incident to the life of a soldier. One 
 by one the old gray-jackets are passing away. Even those 
 who, like him, entered the service at 16 come fewer and 
 fewer to the annual reunions. During the last summer I 
 went to a reunion of Confederate soldiers in a county in 
 Texas from which I had a company in my regiment num 
 bering more than a hundred. Not many returned from 
 the bloody fields of Tennessee and Georgia, and of those 
 
Address of Mr. Mills. 181 
 
 who did return there was not one present to call the roll. 
 As a comrade in arms, I would come to his bier and help 
 his loved ones lower him to that last sleep from which only 
 the reveille of Heaven shall awake him. 
 
 In that fearful contest it was my fortune to be three 
 times severely wounded, two of them on the same day. I 
 was sent from the field to the hospital at Lagrange, Ga. , 
 where I received from the mothers, wives, and daughters 
 of Georgia soldiers the kindest care and the tenderest nurs 
 ing, without which I should be sleeping to-day in the 
 Confederate cemetery at Lagrange. I remember how like 
 angels they hovered about our rude cots, and while pour 
 ing balm into our wounds, they poured consolation into 
 our ears and hope into our hearts. I remember how noise 
 lessly they passed from cot to cot, watching the life struggle 
 of the torn and lacerated soldiers, ever ready with hand and 
 heart to help the sinking pulse to strike back toward life, 
 and the lusterless eye to relume and burn again with life s 
 brilliancy. Lingering long after the sun had gone, folding 
 tenderly the winding sheet around those appointed to die, 
 and administering the opiate prescribed by the surgeon to 
 soothe the suffering to sleep, they bade all good night with 
 lips and eyes burdened with prayers, and hied them to their 
 homes. At early dawn their footsteps were heard again at 
 our bedsides, to go over and over again the labors which 
 their brave and patriotic hearts had made a labor of love. 
 These are memories which are indelibly stamped upon my 
 brain. How could I ever forget the people of Georgia ! 
 
 I come now in this hour of grief, when the hand of the 
 Reaper has cut down a son whom she honored and loved, 
 and one who loved and honored her, and take my place 
 with her in rendering to his memory every tribute which 
 
1 82 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 pride and affection can pay to the memory of her loved and 
 lost son. In life he served her faithfully and well ; he 
 achieved honors for himself and heaped honors upon a 
 noble people whose servant he was. I remember when he 
 came a Representative to the Forty-eighth Congress. He 
 had been a lawyer of prominence at the bar of his State. 
 From that he rose to the bench. He was equipped with 
 the knowledge and accomplishments that such positions 
 give to a man of labor. He soon stood among the leading 
 members of the House, and easily maintained the place 
 which thorough study and preparation had enabled him 
 to win. 
 
 The House of Representatives is as much unlike the 
 Senate as the stormy waters of the Atlantic are unlike the 
 waveless waters of the Dead Sea. The House is the focus 
 of the concentrated power and passion of the people. 
 There the popular heart beats with its strongest pulsation. 
 There the popular voice speaks with its clearest emphasis. 
 It is a field where the people assemble in the galleries and 
 look on and are quick to express approbation or disappro 
 bation. They applaud, laugh, shout, and jeer the combat 
 ants. They are severe, merciless critics. The leader who 
 puts on the armor of Saul but can not wear it like Saul 
 will soon discover his mistake. In the House the party 
 leader must be ready for battle at any moment, for he 
 knows not at what moment his forces may be assailed. 
 He stands in the arena of combat, and to command the 
 confidence of his followers he must be able to give and 
 take the blows of battle in such a way as to retain the 
 approval and affection of his comrades. This is the ordeal 
 through which all leaders of the House have passed and 
 must continue to pass. In this ordeal CHARLES FRED- 
 
Address of Mr. Mills. 183 
 
 ERICK CRISP bore himself well, and continually won his 
 way toward the top. In the Fiftieth Congress John G. 
 Carlisle, of Kentucky, was elected Speaker. His seat as a 
 member of the House was contested. He very properly 
 declined to appoint the Committee on Elections, because he 
 could not with propriety appoint the judges who were to 
 pass upon his own title. The Democratic caucus desig 
 nated several gentlemen who were authorized to select that 
 committee and appoint its chairman. I had the honor of 
 being the chairman of the committee appointed by the 
 caucus. When we met, I proposed the name of Mr. CRISP 
 as chairman of the Committee on Elections, and he was 
 unanimously chosen. He discharged the duties of that 
 exacting and laborious position with conspicuous ability. 
 
 He was a good lawyer, a good student, well informed in 
 the rules of parliamentary law, and an able debater. He 
 was conciliatory and kind in his disposition, and grappled 
 his friends to him with hooks of steel. In the Fifty-second 
 Congress he was elected Speaker of the House, and so dis 
 charged the duties of that high station that he was reelected 
 as long as his party was in power. So strong was his hold 
 upon the affections of the people of Georgia that they had 
 designated him as a member of this body, and had he lived 
 until the 4th of March next he would have taken his seat 
 here ; but on the 23d day of October, 1896, "God s finger 
 touched him, and he slept." There is now nothing left us 
 but to bow with resignation to the decree which sooner or 
 later will come to us all. Peace to his ashes! 
 
184 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR, CARTER, 
 
 Mr. CARTER. Mr. President, on my appearance in the 
 Chamber this morning the eminent senior Senator from 
 Georgia [Mr. Gordon] kindly accorded me the privilege of 
 addressing the Senate briefly on the character and services 
 of CHARLES FREDERICK CRISP. 
 
 When I first became acquainted with Mr. CRISP he was 
 in the prime of life. We stood together before the Speaker s 
 desk and took the oath of office at the same time as mem 
 bers of the Fifty-first Congress. My service was then 
 beginning. He had to his credit six years of honorable and 
 distinguished service in that body. He was an accom 
 plished parliamentarian and a veritable legislative gladiator. 
 He was a modest, unassuming man. 
 
 In the stormy scenes of that memorable Congress he was 
 a constant and forcible but not a noisy participant. With 
 out boisterous demonstration as a representative of his 
 party views, he resisted the parliamentary reforms proposed 
 by the opposition with a skill which commanded the respect 
 of his opponents and the affectionate admiration of his party 
 associates. 
 
 I can recall him now as a calm, self-reliant debater, rising 
 in the midst of the excited Representatives to present and 
 support his convictions concerning the moving cause of the 
 existing commotion. His self-control became contagious, 
 and agitated members quickly became attentive listeners. 
 His career in that Congress gave notice to the country that 
 in any parliamentary emergency liable to arise in the history 
 of the Government Mr. CRISP would prove one of the most 
 competent and thoroughly reliable of American statesmen. 
 
Address of Mr. Carter. 185 
 
 The Speakership of the next House of Representatives 
 was accorded him by his party associates in recognition of 
 the eminent ability displayed by him in the course of his 
 service in the House. While his partisanship goes unques 
 tioned, we observed with intensified regard the moral cour 
 age which impelled him to adopt views he had previously 
 opposed when those views became confirmed and approved 
 in the severe test of parliamentary experience. 
 
 It was as a new member of the House of Representatives 
 that my first impressions of this great man were formed. 
 He was a generous man; he was a just man; he was all 
 that is embodied in the phrase so often applied to him a 
 fair-minded man. To the new member of the House he 
 extended the hand of cordial good-fellowship and welcome. 
 His great experience and logical mind always stood at the 
 ready disposal of the new member. It is the recollection 
 of his many acts of considerate kindness to which I ascribe 
 the affectionate regard in which his memory is held. While 
 others in studied phrase analyze his character and the les 
 sons of his life, I gratefully avail myself of the sad privilege 
 of recognizing his early and unfailing courtesy to me by 
 placing the tribute of my humble praise upon his honored 
 "rave. 
 
i86 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. DANIEL. 
 
 Mr. DANIEL. Mr. President, a noble character has disap 
 peared from the conspicuous scenes of American public 
 life a man who had the good will and the confidence of 
 all who knew him, and the affection of all who knew him 
 well. 
 
 The death of CHARLES FREDERICK CRISP is a great 
 national loss. To the people of his own State it is a poign 
 ant affliction, and to the many friends whom he made 
 in his career in the capital city of the United States 
 it is a source of deep personal grief. A number of those 
 who knew him and associated with him in the House of 
 Representatives and in the conferences and consultations of 
 our public affairs have analyzed the peculiar features of his 
 mind and have painted those virtues which the public had 
 thoroughly realized that he possessed. I shall not attempt, 
 Mr. President, to do more for my part than to allude to a 
 few of the conspicuous characteristics of Mr. CRISP and to 
 express my own profound sympathy with those upon whom 
 his death has so heavily fallen. 
 
 I think it may be said of him that no man has taken so 
 conspicuous a position in public life, has exercised such 
 great responsibility, has been thrown in conflict with such 
 great antagonisms and such influential interests, who at the 
 same time has so conducted himself as to achieve more 
 thoroughly the good will of all who came in contact with 
 him. 
 
 Mr. CRISP was a man of solid and substantial character 
 and of useful gifts. That character was always thrown as 
 a great weight upon the side which he deemed to be right, 
 and those gifts were always employed in patriotic interests. 
 
Address of Mr. Daniel. 187 
 
 It may be truly said of Mr. CRISP that he was a patriot. 
 There was nothing small, nothing mean, nothing narrow, 
 nothing sectional, in any offensive sense, in the characteris 
 tics or in the history of the man. He was a manly man, a 
 man of broad, humane, and catholic sympathies, of high 
 and noble purposes, and he never thought of, much less did 
 he ever condescend to, questionable methods or offensive 
 methods in achieving his purposes. 
 
 I think that the great weight which Mr. CRISP acquired 
 in the House of Representatives was due to the equilibrium 
 of his temperament and to the well-ordered adjustment of 
 his fine faculties. His mental and moral virtues were well 
 fused; they made a compact and wholesome unit. Every 
 one always knew where he stood; everyone felt the good 
 influence of his presence, of his association, and of his 
 counsel. 
 
 I had much in common with Mr. CRISP in the courses of 
 our varied lives. We entered the army of the Confederate 
 States in the same command, in that immortal band known 
 as "the Stonewall Brigade," which made its debut in his 
 tory on the first field of Manassas, and bore its shredded battle 
 flags in the last conflict at Appomattox. He entered that 
 brigade when a boy of 16, as a member of the Tenth Vir 
 ginia Infantry. He acquired the reputation among his 
 comrades of being a good soldier. He never seemed to 
 desire the honors or shows of military distinction, but he 
 became an officer before he was yet a man. He was con 
 tent, as were the great body of patriots all over this land 
 who gave themselves to a cause and to a flag, to do his duty 
 as he thought it should be done, and was content that it 
 had been done. 
 
 Mr. CRISP was a man who had in him the elements of 
 inevitable success. He was steady of purpose. When he 
 
1 88 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 set his head in any direction, he persevered and continued 
 to persevere in that direction. Concentration is the secret 
 of success. Mr. CRISP possessed concentration. He did not 
 seek many thing s at once. He took in hand the thing that 
 was before him; he did it well, and he was always called 
 np higher because he had done well that which went before. 
 
 It has been well said, Mr. President, by a fine writer, that 
 self-control is the highest form of self-assertion. Mr. CRISP 
 possessed self-control. He was well-poised; he was always 
 self-possessed. Whatever of ability and of talent he pos 
 sessed were always ready and available. His judgment was 
 almost always a wise judgment. He was a man well fitted 
 to elevate and honor the bench. He was judicial in bear 
 ing, judicious in decision. He was a good man. His heart 
 was in the right place. His instincts made him do right 
 without reflection in those moments of exigency which give 
 little time for reflection. His studious disposition made 
 him find the right when it was involved in perplexities 
 and complications. 
 
 The House of Representatives, Mr. President, is a forum 
 which puts to sternest tests the qualities of men in public 
 life. Of all the theaters in which political ambition and 
 political usefulness are exercised it is the most exacting. 
 In the House of Representatives, among the many brilliant 
 men who represent the different sections of this great and 
 diversified country, there is soon an evolution to the front 
 of the strong men. We often see there men of great 
 scholastic ability making little impression upon the affairs 
 of the country. We see men of brilliant oratorical qualifi 
 cations and forensic talents making little headway in influ 
 ence, and reaching but small consummations. It is because 
 there is necessary to success in that body a peculiar combi- 
 
Address of Mr. Daniel. 189 
 
 nation of talents, a mixture of tact, judgment, courage, 
 skill, ability to speak, and ability to keep silent a certain 
 practical common sense withal, a certain indefinable and 
 predominant quality which we can never exactly estimate, 
 which we can never thoroughly analyze, which we can 
 never paint and fully describe, but which is ere long dis 
 covered to be in one man or another when large assemblies 
 are brought together. We all know that Mr. CRISP was 
 well versed in parliamentary law, able in debate, often 
 times powerful and effective in oratory. We all know that 
 he was fair-minded, discreet, and capable in counsel. But, 
 however we attempt to analyze his qualities and qualifica 
 tions, we all realize that he had such as made men honor 
 and follow him. 
 
 I had the pleasure of first making the acquaintance of Mr. 
 CRISP in the Forty-ninth Congress. He was then a young 
 member, gathering his earlier experiences of Congressional 
 life. He never seemed to seek position of conspicuous dis 
 tinction. He never made a speech for the mere sake of 
 making it. He never showed any desire for display or effect 
 or applause in the speeches which he did make ; but when 
 he did speak, he spoke at the proper time, he said the right 
 thing, and in effect his services had already at that early 
 stage in his career marked him as a man who would lead 
 and influence and guide men, and would make his mark in 
 the affairs with which he was associated in conducting. Year 
 by year he became more prominent. He came in collision 
 with the ablest minds in American politics. It is enough 
 to say that he always held his own. He was thrown in most 
 fierce antagonism with the great interests which influence 
 legislation and in hot conflict upon the most partisan ques 
 tions which have ever engaged the minds of the American 
 
190 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 people. He came to the front rank of the disputants. In 
 his addresses he always commanded attention. In his posi 
 tions he always attracted support. In his decisions as 
 Speaker and on the policies he pursued he made but few 
 mistakes. In his conduct of party affairs he always showed 
 that tact and wisdom which achieve results, or come as near 
 achieving results as it is possible. Though, sir, he was in 
 the heat of battle for many years, although he was thrown 
 in antagonism with the ablest minds, although he was often 
 suddenly precipitated into debate with the keenest and 
 subtlest intellects, although day after day he had to show 
 preference between one man and another or make sharp and 
 far-reaching decisions, the fact speaks that at the end of that 
 career all who were associated with him, whether in sym 
 pathy or conflict, whether in concurrence or disagreement 
 all say, "This was an honorable champion; this was a just 
 man; this was a true patriot; this was a noble and useful 
 character; this was a good citizen." 
 
 All bowed their heads as the cortege which bore his 
 remains passed by, and all would fain throw a flower upon 
 his tomb. 
 
 I knew Mr. CRISP in other capacities than that of legis 
 lator. I had the privilege of enjoying his personal friend 
 ship, of meeting him often in genial and social scenes. 
 This but attracted me the more to him. 
 
 Mr. CRISP was a man of fine manners and address, natural 
 and unaffected. He had the instinctive courtesy which is 
 not that of mannerism, but which is born in the heart and 
 which expresses itself in the many small and nameless 
 kindnesses which make life worth living. He was a genial 
 and kind companion; he was a true friend; and though, 
 sir, there are many who have decorated his name with more 
 
Address of Mr. Daniel. 191 
 
 fitting praise than my poor words convey, there are none 
 here who mourn him more deeply or who will more sin 
 cerely cherish his memory. 
 
 Georgia has sent to both Houses of Congress many able 
 and brilliant men. Among them the name and fame of 
 Mr. CRISP will always shine with a calm and steady luster. 
 
192 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. BACON. 
 
 Mr. BACON. Mr. President, the many touching, beau 
 tiful, and appropriate eulogies which have been paid to the 
 memory of our friend both in the House and in the Senate 
 leave little need that I should attempt to add anything, 
 however brief. I may be pardoned, however, for a few 
 words before asking for the adoption of the resolutions 
 submitted by my colleague. 
 
 It is a great thing for one to be an acknowledged leader 
 among men. It is still greater for one to be recognized by 
 voluntary acclaim as the leader among a concourse of those 
 who are themselves leaders. But greater than this high 
 distinction is the honor, when such a one falls on that 
 high arena in the thick of the combat, that the strife 
 ceases and that there are offered by Representatives and 
 Senators of all parties and sections as well those who 
 have contended with him as opponents as those who have 
 striven with him as allies such tributes to his character 
 and achievements as in the anticipation would fill the 
 measure of any man s ambition. 
 
 Most tenderly will these words of affection and praise be 
 cherished by those of his own blood, by the host of men 
 knit to him by the ties of friendship, and by the State 
 which has most lovingly and proudly enrolled his name 
 upon the list of her most distinguished sons. 
 
 Mr. President, I need not say more of those qualities 
 and achievements which have won for him the praise and 
 admiration not only of his associates, but also of the 
 nation; and yet I can not forbear to say that as I have 
 listened in the House and Senate to the words which 
 
Address of Mr. Bacon. 193 
 
 have been uttered during the consideration of these resolu 
 tions the thought has come to me that if it were mine to 
 write his epitaph in the portrayal of his personal character, 
 I would inscribe but the single line, "All men loved him." 
 
 Twice, Mr. President, within less than three years has the 
 State of Georgia stood a mourner within this Chamber 
 lamenting the loss of a cherished son who held her com 
 mission in the National Congress. The first of these had 
 been for nearly twelve years an honored member of this 
 body. He to whom we to-day do honor, while never a Sen 
 ator, occupied a peculiar relation to the Senate. As has 
 been told, he was once appointed a Senator, but duty, whose 
 voice to him was a command, denied him entrance here; 
 again, two years later, at the time when he was stricken 
 down as with a lightning shaft, his foot was on the very 
 threshold of this Chamber. Already chosen by the well- 
 nigh unanimous voice of the people expressed through a 
 primary election, with no opposition to his election by the 
 legislature which was to assemble within a week, the arm 
 of the State was already outstretched to place within his 
 hand her commission to him as one of her ambassadors to 
 this high council of the representatives of States. 
 
 From one point of view there was never a sadder picture 
 of disappointed hope. The dream, the ambition of his life, 
 was to be a Senator of the United States. Neither in public 
 nor in private had he disguised its avowal. From boyhood 
 he had set his gaze upon it, and through all his manhood it 
 was the goal of his desire. All undaunted by obstacles, he 
 strove to reach it. Step by step for thirty years, unwearied, 
 never failing in resolve, always steadfast in endeavor, he 
 had climbed the steep ascent, he had scaled the rugged cliffs, 
 he had gained the dizzy height where shone the prize, when 
 in a moment the sun of his life went out at noonday! 
 
 H. Doc. 255 13 
 
194 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 The vainness of regret stifles not the tender emotion which 
 this contemplation must inspire in every sympathetic heart. 
 When the full span of life has been accomplished, when the 
 life work to which one has set his hand has in his labor 
 found full fruition, still the death of even such a one, the 
 end of a career where no more remains for achievement, 
 nevertheless brings inevitable sorrow to all who have the 
 instinct of life and who shrink back from the mystery of 
 death. But deeper must be the emotion, more tragic in its 
 nature the catastrophe, when in mid career one falls in life, 
 as fell in estate the great cardinal, while he 
 
 Bears his blushing honors thick upon him. 
 
 Mr. President, it is sad to see even the shrunken and 
 withered giant trunk sway in the blast and fall before the 
 fury of the storm ; but when in the peaceful sunshine, when 
 no winds blow, when no cloud is in the sky, all suddenly 
 falls the green and sturdy oak, we start back shocked and 
 dismayed. 
 
 Humanity can not suppress its moan in the presence of 
 death. Around it there is such impenetrable mystery ; 
 between the living and the dead there is such an unspeak 
 able, fathomless, unmeasured gulf. Beside the bier there 
 is only remembrance of the great change, the life that has 
 gone from among us and can never return. In the presence 
 of the physical ruin the heart echoes the wail of Antony by 
 the dead body of Caesar : 
 
 Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils, 
 Shrunk to this little measure ? 
 
 And yet, sir, sad as is this contemplation, wrung and torn 
 as are the hearts of those who mourn his loss, who can view 
 the life of our departed friend, so rounded and so symmet- 
 
Address of Mr. Bacon. 195 
 
 rical, so steady in its upward progress, so full and overflow 
 ing in its fruition, and not say it may be through blinding 
 tears, but still in loving pride tis well? 
 
 And, sir, while I would not dry one tear that is shed for 
 him, while I would not suppress one moan that breathes 
 out the sorrow of those who mourn for him, yet I take 
 heart in the glad thought that in those things which made 
 our friend beloved of all, in those things which made him 
 a leader among men, in those things which marked him in 
 the nation s view as a great man, in all these things he is 
 not dead and can not die. 
 
 More lasting than the marble which will mark his last 
 resting place, in the unfading memory of all who knew him 
 in life, in the imperishable archives of his State and of this 
 great nation, will ever live the enduring record of this good 
 and great man. 
 
 And not as a memory only will he live. The teaching of 
 Revelation finds its strongest confirmation in the conviction 
 of the inner consciousness that the sun of this life does not 
 go down into an eternal night. Who is there of the most 
 skeptical who believes that the soul and the intellect which 
 looked out from the eyes of CHARLES FREDERICK CRISP, 
 and beamed in his countenance and inspired his lips, have 
 perished with the body that we have tenderly laid away 
 from our sight? There is that within that tells us it 
 can not be. When or how we know not, but the undying 
 yearnings for the loved ones gone before tell us that we 
 shall meet again. 
 
 In the drama of Ion, the young heathen Greek, forewarned 
 by the Oracles of impending death by violence, comes to 
 part with the maiden he loves. She asks him, "Shall we 
 meet again?" He replies that he has asked that dread 
 
196 Life and Character of Charles Frederick Crisp. 
 
 question of the hills that look eternal; of the streams that 
 flow on forever; of the stars amid whose azure fields his 
 spirit had walked in glory. To that question they all had 
 been dumb. But now, he adds, while thus I gaze upon 
 thy living face, I feel the love that kindles through its 
 beauty can never wholly perish. We shall meet again. 1 
 
 Mr. President, I ask for the adoption of the pending 
 resolutions. 
 
 The resolutions were unanimously agreed to; and (at 4 
 o clock and 20 minutes p. in.) the Senate adjourned until 
 to-morrow (Tuesday), January 26, 1897, at 12 o clock 
 meridian. 
 
Date Due 
 

 
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