-NRLF 
 
 664 
 
 U5 
 
LIBRARY 
 
 JNIVERSfTY OF 
 
 CALIFORNIA 
 SANTA CRUZ 
 
 SANTA CRUZ 
 
 Gift of 
 MARION R. WALKER 
 
 in memory of his grandfather 
 THE HON. MARION CANNON ; 
 M.C. 1892-94 i 
 
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 PC 
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 SANTA CRUZ 
 
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WQ Q.Q.O ACQ 
 
U. S 
 
 MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 
 
 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 WILLIAM MUTCHLER, 
 
 A REPRESENTATIVE FROM PENNSYLVANIA, 
 
 DELIVERED IN THE 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND IN THE SENATE, 
 
 FIFTY-THIRD CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF CONGRESS. 
 
 WASHINGTON: 
 
 GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
 1893. 
 
Resolved by the House of Representative* (the Senate concurring), That there 
 be printed, of the eulogies delivered in Congress upon the Hon. WILLIAM 
 MUTCHLER, late a Representative from the State of Pennsylvania, eight 
 thousand copies, of which number two thousand copies shall be delivered 
 to the Senators and Representatives of the State of Pennsylvania, which 
 shall include fifty copies to be bound in full morocco to be delivered to 
 the family of the deceased; and of those remaining two thousand shall be 
 for the use of the Senate, and four thousand for the use of the House of 
 Representatives ; and the Secretary of the Treasury is directed to have 
 engraved and printed a portrait of the said WILLIAM MUTCHLKR to accom- 
 pany the said eulogies. 
 
 Agreed to in the House of Representatives December 11, 1893. 
 
 Agreed to in the Senate January 3, 1894. 
 2 
 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 E 
 
 664 
 N197 
 
 US' 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Announcement of death 5 
 
 Address of 
 
 Mr. Breckinridge, of Arkansas 18 
 
 Mr. Breckiuridge, of Kentucky 46 
 
 Mr. Biugham 21 
 
 Mr. Brosius .- 29 
 
 Mr. Dockery 28 
 
 Mr. Erdman 44 
 
 Mr. Holman 41 
 
 Mr. McAleer 37 
 
 Mr. Reilly 8 
 
 Mr. Sayers 34 
 
 Mr. Springer *. 24 
 
 Mr. Charles W. Stone 15 
 
 Mr. Wilson, of West Virginia 32 
 
 Mr. Wolverton 39 
 
 SENATE. 
 
 Announcement of death 53 
 
 Address of 
 
 Mr. Hansbrough 63 
 
 Mr. Mitchell 60 
 
 Mr. Quay 56 
 
 Funeral sermon by Rev. Mayne 67 
 
 Resolutions and addresses of the Northampton County Bar 73 
 
 3 
 
PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 
 
 ANNOUNCEMENT OF DEATH. 
 
 AUGUST 8, 1893. 
 
 Mr. REILLY, of Pennsylvania: Mr. Speaker, since the 
 adjournment of the House, a few short months ago, Death in 
 his inexorable tyranny has laid claim to one of the most hon- 
 ored and faithful members of this body, and it becomes my 
 painful duty to formally announce to the House the death of 
 our late lamented colleague, Hon. WILLIAM MUTCHLER, a 
 Eepresentative in this House for many years from the State 
 of Pennsylvania. 
 
 In doing so it is not my purpose or that of his colleagues at 
 this time to indulge in any eulogy on his life, his valuable 
 services, and his high character, but we propose to ask the 
 House at an early day to lay aside its public business and pay 
 such tribute to his life and character as his memory deserves. 
 
 On the 23d of June last, at his home in the city of Easton, 
 surrounded by his beloved family, his spirit passed away. 
 
 Pennsylvania, that great Commonwealth which he so much 
 honored and so long and ably served, has in his death, as has 
 his country at large, suffered a great, irreparable loss. I think 
 I may say that there never has been shown by the services of 
 a member of this House any higher degree of zeal, fidelity, and. 
 ability in the discharge of duty than characterized the life and 
 services of Mr. MUTCHLER on this floor. 
 
 5 
 
6 Proceedings in the House of Representatives. 
 
 . He was esteemed and respected by all, and I think I may 
 safely say and echo the sentiments of his fellow members, that 
 he bore that highest test of manhood, " that he who knew him 
 best loved him most." 
 
 I now offer the resolutions which I send to the Clerk's desk. 
 
 The Clerk read as follows : 
 
 Resolved, That the House has heard with deep regret and 
 profound sorrow of the death of Hon. WILLIAM MUTCHLER, 
 late a Kepresentative from the State of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Resolved, That the Clerk be directed to communicate a copy 
 of these resolutions to the Senate, and send a duly attested 
 copy to the widow of the deceased. 
 
 Resolved, That as a further mark of respect to our deceased 
 colleague the House do now adjourn. 
 
 The resolutions were unanimously adopted 5 and accordingly 
 (at 4 o'clock and 30 minutes p. m.) the House adjourned until 
 Thursday next, at 12 o'clock m. 
 
EULOGIES. 
 
 OCTOBER 19, 1893. 
 
 The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. O'NEIL, of Massachusetts). 
 The Clerk will report the special order. 
 The Clerk read as follows : 
 
 Resolved, That Thursday, October 19, 1893, at 2 o'clock p. 
 m., be fixed as the time for paying appropriate honor to the 
 memory of Hon. WILLIAM MUTCHLER, late a Bepresentative 
 from the State of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Mr. EEILLY. Mr. Speaker, I offer the resolutions that I 
 send to the desk. 
 The resolutions were read,' as follows : 
 
 Resolved, That the House has heard with profound sorrow 
 the announcement of the death of Hon. WILLIAM MUTCHLER, 
 late a Eepresentative from the State of Pennsylvania, and 
 tender to his family assurances of sympathy in their sad be- 
 reavement. 
 
 Resolved, That the business of the House be suspended 
 that opportunity may be given for fitting tribute to the mem- 
 ory of our deceased colleague and to his eminent public and 
 private virtues and great public services. 
 
 Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be transmitted 
 to the Senate, and, as a further mark of respect, that upon 
 the conclusion of these ceremonies the House shall adjourn. 
 
8 Address o/,Mr. Reilly, of Pennsylvania, on the 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. REILLY, OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 Mr. SPEAKER: WILLIAM MUTCHLER, a Kepresentative in 
 Congress from the Eighth district of Pennsylvania during 
 several terms, departed this life at his residence in the bor- 
 ough of Easton, Pa., on the 23d day of June last at fifteen 
 minutes before 3 o'clock a. m. Soon after our assembling here 
 in August I made formal announcement of the fact to the 
 House, stating that at some future date his colleagues would 
 ask the House to lay aside its public duties and set apart a 
 day, that fitting tribute might be paid to the memory of our 
 lamented brother. 
 
 In asking the House at this time to suspend its usual delib- 
 erations for this purpose, we but observe a very praiseworthy 
 custom that has obtained in both Houses of Congress from the 
 formation of our Government. Nor do we ask it as a mere 
 formal ceremony, but to testify our appreciation of a faithful 
 member of this body and our admiration for an esteemed col- 
 league. To me it is a painful duty, characterized by grief for 
 a long cherished friend. Of all the tributes of the human 
 heart, of all the sentiments and feelings incident to human 
 nature, there is, Mr. Speaker, perhaps none so ennobling in 
 their character, so refining in their influence, and so elevating 
 in their tendencies as that feeling of reverence for the loved 
 one dead. Who can depict the anguish of the heart stricken 
 widow left to mourn the loss of her devoted companion through 
 life, or the heavy-laden sorrow of the affectionate child for the 
 devoted father. We are so constituted that, in the attach- 
 ments men form for each other in their associations through 
 life, the separation by death awakens the noblest impulse of 
 our heart and arouses the keenest pang of sorrow. 
 
Life and Character of William Mutchler. 9 
 
 I am sure, Mr. Speaker, that such sentiments as these prompt 
 the members of this House to participate in and witness these 
 memorial exercises to our departed colleague, for I may say no 
 higher evidence of the esteem in which he was held can be found 
 than the many sincere expressions of regret made by mem- 
 bers over his death ; and the fact that the most prominent 
 members of this House, and those who were most intimately 
 acquainted with Mr. MUTCHLER, made known their desire to 
 testify their admiration and respect for the man by taking 
 part in these ceremonies. 
 
 WILLIAM MUTCHLER was born December 21, 1831, at 
 Chain Dam, Northampton County, Pa. He was the son of John 
 and Margaret Mutchler, and one of seven sons. His father was 
 a descendant of that sturdy German stock who, imbued with 
 love of our free institutions, left their native land, took up 
 their abode in our young Republic, and contributed so much to 
 its development and marvelous growth. Mr. MUTCHLER'S 
 father settled many years ago, moving from the State of New 
 Jersey, in Northampton County. Pa., engaging in the business 
 of a farmer. He died when the subject of our sketch was only 
 7 years of age, and young MUTCHLER was thus early in life 
 compelled to assist in supporting the family. He did not have 
 any of the usual advantages of life in the way of enjoying facil- 
 ities for education, but in his younger years he manifested 
 those sturdy traits of character, of self-reliance, industry, and 
 perseverance, which so strongly characterized his career as a 
 man. 
 
 Later, profiting by the industries of himself and his brothers, 
 William was enabled to acquire facilities for a better educa- 
 tion, and for several years, though at considerable inconven- 
 ience, he was enabled to attend the famous academy of Dr. 
 Vandever in Easton, and later in life began the study of law 
 in the office of his brother, H. M. Mutchler, esq. Although 
 
10 Address of Mr. Reilly, of Pennsylvania, on the 
 
 not favored with the means or facilities of obtaining an exten- 
 sive education during his minority, yet Mr. MUTCHLER became 
 and was quite an accomplished scholar. He was a close stu- 
 dent, a great reader, and was thoroughly well informed upon 
 all branches of literature. He was familiar with all the works 
 of the great authors, with history, poetry, arts and sciences, 
 as well as the Scriptures. He was particularly well versed in 
 the sacred writings, and it afforded him great pleasure to dis- 
 cuss and discourse upon the Books of the Testament, both old 
 and new, their origin and history. 
 
 Whilst reading law he was made deputy sheriff of his county 
 and served in that capacity for several years; and was married 
 to Miss Louisa Cope, daughter of Jacob Cope, then sheriff 
 of said county, to whom was born six children, all of whom 
 are dead save one Howard who is the worthy successor of 
 his father in this body. In 1860 Mr. MUTCHLER was elected by 
 the people of his county to the office of prothonotary, and 
 reelected to the same office, serving from 1860 to 1866, and it 
 was in these positions that he acquired that practical educa- 
 tion which so well equipped him, and which he found of so 
 much value afterwards in the practice of his profession. He 
 also held the office of assistant assessor of internal revenue 
 from 1867 to 1869, and was chairman of the Democratic State 
 committee of Pennsylvania for the years 1869 and 1870, in 
 which position he displayed extraordinary executive ability 
 and qualities of leadership. 
 
 Mr. MUTCHLER was, as we all know, a man of splendid 
 physique and appearance, one that would attract attention in 
 any assembly, and clearly indicated the strength of character, 
 the generosity of heart, and power of intellect that character- 
 ized him. It was apparent at once that he w r as a man destined 
 to be and to become prominent among his fellow-men. He 
 enjoyed the unbounded confidence and respect of his people. 
 
Life and Character of William Mutchler. 1 1 
 
 as was demonstrated by his repeated elections by handsome 
 majorities, and the fact that in his own county he never had 
 opposition for a nomination, and this was the secret of his long- 
 continued power with his fellow-citizens. 
 
 As a lawyer he brought to the practice of his profession a 
 zeal and fidelity that made his client's cause his own. Honor- 
 able and honest in all his dealings with court and client, he 
 enjoyed the respect of all, and the eloquent and sincere tribute 
 of the bench and bar of his county at the time of his death is 
 the highest testimonial of his standing with them. He was of 
 sound judgment, studious and painstaking to seek the right, 
 and untiring in his efforts to sustain it. He was first elected 
 to this House as a member of the Forty-fourth Congress, in 
 which he served with distinction and ability. He was also a 
 member of the Forty- seventh, Forty-eighth, Fifty-first, Fifty- 
 second, and Fifty-third Congresses, and his associates here can 
 and will cheerfully testify that his service all of these years 
 was characterized by a degree of fidelity, ability, and patriot- 
 ism that distinguished him as a devoted Kepresentative of his 
 people and his country. He served as a member of various 
 important committees of the House, and in the last Congress 
 rendered invaluable service as a member of the important Com- 
 mittee on Appropriations. 
 
 Mr. MUTCHLER was a man of kindly disposition, social and 
 generous in all his relations. He was a most devoted husband 
 and affectionate father, who idolized his family, and who wor- 
 shiped at the hearthstone as at an altar. As a friend he was 
 sincere, unflinching, and unswerving in that loyalty that he 
 made his own standard of friendship, and as a man he was 
 broad and charitable enough to make all mankind like him. 
 He was a great lover of nature in all its phases, and found much 
 pleasure in communing with it in all its forms. He seemed 
 desirous of delving into and unraveling all the great mysteries 
 
12 Address of Mr. Reilly, of Pennsylvania, on the 
 
 of nature which surround us, and its study was a source of 
 interest and pleasure to him. He was of that disposition that 
 could "find tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, ser- 
 mons in stones, and good in everything." 
 
 A subject of especial interest to him, and one upon which 
 he loved to dilate, was the science of astronomy, with which 
 he was quite familiar. To read the stars, to watch the course 
 of the planets, to admire all the grandeur and beauties and 
 wonders of the heavens, was always a matter of enjoyment, and 
 nothing afforded him more genuine pleasure than, on a clear 
 night, when the heavens were brilliantly studded, to visit the 
 Observatory and, with the aid of a powerful telescope, look in 
 admiring wonder on the grand panorama there presented. The 
 heavens seemed to have an especial attraction for his mind, and 
 the sun, that "great orb of day," the fountain of all light and 
 life, challenged his unbounded admiration, and often he 
 expressed the wish, "When I die, bury me with the setting of 
 the sun." This wish of their lamented dead was gratified by 
 his family and friends, and as the last remains of WILLIAM 
 MUTCHLER were lowered into the cold and silent grave in the 
 beautiful cemetery near his home the setting sun was sinking 
 below the western horizon. 
 
 Mr. MUTCHLER had been ailing for some time prior to his 
 demise, but until very shortly prior to his death it was not 
 thought that his condition was at all serious or alarming. I 
 know that he was complaining and had been unwell during 
 the last session of this House, and I am strongly inclined to 
 think, Mr. Speaker, that his indefatigable labors, his earnest 
 application to the laborious duties which devolved upon him 
 as a member of the Appropriations Committee, tended to 
 exhaust his vitality and wear upon his system. We parted 
 after the adjournment, when in company with his \\ il'c, he made 
 a visit to Florida with a view of recuperating his wasting 
 
Life and Character of William Mutchler. 13 
 
 energies and regaining his wonted health. He returned from 
 the trip apparently considerably benefited by it. 
 
 I met him here in Washington shortly after his return, when 
 he appeared to be enjoying tolerably fair health, but his malady 
 had done its work and its ravage on his system was telling. 
 In the month of June last, in company with several friends, he 
 went on a fishing expedition up into the mountains of Penn- 
 sylvania, but immediately on their arrival there he was seized 
 with an attack of illness that was alarming in its character. 
 He was taken back home, and for a few days seemed to be 
 recovering, but the inexorable decree had gone forth, and he 
 was compelled to bow to that inevitable decree, "That it. is 
 appointed for all men once to die," and in his home, to him so 
 dear, attended by his devoted wife, without any apparent 
 struggle or pain, our lamented colleague, as I have stated, 
 passed away as if in sleep. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, I bring this garland and place it on the tomb 
 of my departed friend, and pay this humble tribute to his 
 memory. We entered upon our careers as members of this 
 House at the same time, and stood side by side in front of 
 your desk when for the first time the oath of office was admin- 
 istered to us. We were acquainted prior to that, but from that 
 time an intimacy and friendship grew up between us that, I 
 am glad to say, continued up to his death. During our service 
 together here we were close companions, enjoying each other's 
 confidence, and, I am proud to say, each other's friendship. 
 If at any time our course on public matters were not in har- 
 mony it was only because of a difference of conviction as to 
 our respective duty and in no way estranged our pleasant per- 
 sonal relations. 
 
 When 1 visited Easton to attend his funeral and viewed his 
 remains I felt from the habit of long association as if I must 
 get some recognition from him, and instinctively, as I stood by 
 
14 Address of Mr. Reilly, of Pennsylvania, on the 
 
 his bier, I reached out my hand as for the usual greeting 
 between us, but only to be reminded by his cold and irrespon- 
 sive hands that he was silent in death, and I must be com- 
 pelled in parting to bid him only a silent farewell. As in life 
 I esteemed my friend, so in death shall I cherish his memory. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, generations of men come and go, and follow 
 each other as do the billows on the ocean's crest, rising in their 
 majestic form, crystal-crowned, only to fall and be dashed to 
 pieces on the shore and disappear; but it can not be, Mr. 
 Speaker, that all there is of this mystery of life is the narrow 
 span between the cradle and the grave. Must we be forced 
 to the belief that all these great endowments given to men, 
 such as our lamented friend was gifted with, bright intellect, 
 exalted virtue, nobility of character, and all that we admire 
 in mankind, die with the body and are buried in the grave? 
 
 It is not given to us, Mr. Speaker, to know all these great 
 mysteries, but though it may be above it is not against reason 
 to indulge in the confident hope and entertain the firm con- 
 viction that beyond the grave there is a brighter and happier 
 world where the beloved ones on earth shall meet again. The 
 great mystery beyond is revealed to our friend. Let us hope 
 that he is at rest. 
 
 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but 
 we shall all be changed, 
 
 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: 
 for the trumpet shall sqund, and the dead shall be raised 
 incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 
 
Life and Character of William Mutchler. 15 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. CHARLES W. STONE, OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 Mr. SPEAKER : WILLIAM MUTCHLER was my friend, and I 
 deplore his death as a personal bereavement. 
 
 He was a Pennsylvanian, and the great State we both loved 
 mourns the loss of a filial and devoted son. 
 
 He was an American, and from the ranks of the nation's law- 
 makers has gone a loyal, brave, and true public servant. 
 
 Bounteous tributes of reverence and affection have already 
 been offered to his memory by his brethren of the bar and 
 sorrowing neighbors and constituents. To these it is befitting 
 that his associates in this House add their testimony to his 
 high qualities as a Representative, and the expression of their 
 sorrow at the loss of a trusted, honored, and loved associate. 
 
 My acquaintance with Mr. MUTCHLER commenced before 
 we met as members of this House, but it was not intimate, and 
 came only through the courteous intercourse of casual meet- 
 ings. We differed politically, and were far separated geo- 
 graphically, but during our common service in this House we 
 drew gradually nearer together until, during the last session, 
 we often ate at the same table and enjoyed many of the con- 
 fidences of intimate friendship. In many respects we stood on 
 common ground. Our early lives showed many instances of 
 parallel experience, and each day's intercourse enlarged our 
 sympathy and strengthened our mutual regard ; and the news 
 of his death brought to me all the shock and grief of a per- 
 sonal loss. 
 
 Mr. MUTCHLER was a man of attractive and winning quali- 
 ties, and attached his friends to him as with bands of iron. He 
 was always true to them with a loyalty that knew no thought 
 of desertion or betrayal, and they trusted him without question, 
 

 16 Address of Mr. C. W. Stone, of Pennsylvania, on the 
 
 without hesitation, and without doubt. His rugged honesty, 
 his entire candor, his fidelity to every trust and to every friend 
 were the solid underlying traits of a noble character. He was 
 modest, unostentatious, sincere, generous-hearted, broad- 
 minded, and level-headed. He disliked display, never posed, 
 and did nothing simply for effect; in short, to use the expres- 
 sive words of another, he was "a perfectly natural man." He 
 was simple in his habits, plain in his tastes, quiet in demeanor, 
 straightforward in action. He was manly, independent, self- 
 respecting. He asserted and guarded his rights with gentle 
 modesty, but with manly dignity. He bowed to no dictation, 
 he acknowledged no master. He owned himself. 
 
 As a lawyer he attained greater success than most men who 
 come to the bar as late in life as he did. He was not accom- 
 plished in the learning of the schools. His early education 
 was but the average academic training of his day. His prep- 
 aration for the bar came largely through the practical experi- 
 ence of the prothonotary's and sheriffs offices, and only later 
 did jje grapple with the science and philosophy of the law. 
 His logical mind, clear insight, direct methods, and untiring 
 industry speedily gave him efficiency, and he became a strong 
 and successful lawyer, enjoying the fullest confidence and 
 respect of both bench and bar. 
 
 As a member of this House he commanded the confidence 
 and respect of all, and the closer attachment and affection of 
 those who knew him intimately. He could not be called 
 eloquent, but was clear, logical, direct, and candid in state- 
 ment, and his perfect fairness, large views, and broad states- 
 manship gave significance and force to his utterances, and 
 always commanded respectful attention. He was a solid 
 rather than a brilliant man. What he accomplished was by 
 no sudden flight, no meteoric flash of genius, but by quiet, 
 faithful, persistent labor. 
 
Life and Character of William Mutchler. 17 
 
 I can not better delineate, his Congressional career than to 
 quote his own words, uttered in this House in the chaste and 
 feeling tribute paid by him to the memory of the late Samuel 
 J. Kandall. Said he: 
 
 The one great end and aim of his Congressional life was to 
 do his duty and 
 
 " He walked attended 
 By a strong-aiding champion, conscience" 
 
 bringing to the labors of every day the strong common sense 
 and vigorous interest of an earnest, faithful, honest man. 
 
 Every word of this is true of WILLIAM MUTCHLER. In 
 uttering them he but gazed into the mirror and pictured his 
 own character. Strong common sense, earnestness, fidelity, 
 and sincerity were his distinguishing characteristics. He was 
 always true to his word, to his friends, to himself. 
 
 He was a zealous partisan, strong in his allegiance to the 
 party to which he belonged, but stronger in his loyalty to the 
 commands of his own conscience, and when in the Fifty-first 
 Congress his party, with almost unbroken front, rallied to the 
 standard of the free coinage of silver he had the courage to 
 separate from them on that question. On that subject he 
 had positive and well-defined convictions, the result of careful 
 thought and study, and he stood resolutely to them. His 
 love of his party was strong, but for his country stronger. 
 
 He was a true representative of his people. He knew them, 
 loved them, sympathized with them, and was their counselor 
 and confidant as well as leader. His early life on the farm 
 and later services as prothonotary and sheriff of his county 
 and collector of internal revenue of his district brought him 
 into daily, close, and intimate contact and sympathetic asso- 
 ciation with them, and he came to understand their views, 
 sentiments, motives, and characters with more than ordinary 
 thoroughness, and gained a place in their affections and con- 
 H. Mis. 93 2 
 
18 Address of Mr. Breckinridge, of Arkansas, on the 
 
 fidence from which no assaults o political rivalry could dis- 
 lodge him. 
 
 
 
 But, sir, his work is done; his career is ended. His place in 
 this House is filled and worthily filled by another, and the name 
 of MUTCHLER still remains on our rolls; but the void in the 
 hearts of loving friends and trusting constitutents has not 
 been filled. They will long cherish the memory and mourn the 
 loss of a friend always loyal and true, of a Representative 
 always faithful, diligent, and efficient. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. BRECKINRIDGE, OF ARKANSAS. 
 
 Mr. SPEAKER : I have no formal remarks to submit upon the 
 death of my friend, and our former associate, Mr. MUTCIILER, 
 of Pennsylvania. But for one who knew him during a con- 
 siderable portion of his Congressional life, and who was asso- 
 ciated with him in the close and intimate work of committee 
 labor, it is not difficult to say a few words, though they be 
 impromptu and wholly informal. 
 
 My acquaintance with Mr. MUTCHLER was as a member of 
 this House. Living as we did in distantly separated portions 
 of our vast country, it was never my pleasure to meet him 
 except when we were thrown together in public life. But he 
 was not a man to meet, to know, and to be forgotten. He was 
 a man of that true and strong type of character, of that clear- 
 ness and soundness of judgment, and of that kindliness of 
 nature which made a lasting impression upon those who were 
 intimately thrown with him. I know of no one who has served 
 in this House during the course of my service here who brought 
 to the discharge of his public duties more earnestness of pur- 
 pose, sounder judgment, more conscientious labor, or a higher 
 
Life and Character of William Mutchler. 19 
 
 sense of patriotism and honor than did the gentleman whose 
 memory we seek to honor to-day. 
 
 He was not one of our associates who figured frequently in 
 the proceedings of the House as published and spread broad- 
 cast over the country, but his influence was out of all propor- 
 tion to what may be called his visible activities. His associates 
 learned to trust his judgment, particularly in all things espe- 
 cially intrusted to his care. Not a few of the most important 
 steps taken in this House were taken upon his advice. It 
 became the desire, the increasing desire, of those who knew 
 him to know what he thought, whenever it was understood 
 that he had given attention to any branch of public affairs. 
 We listened always with respect to his clear and impressive 
 statements, and he was beyond doubt, from confidence in his 
 ability and accuracy and confidence in his character, one of 
 the most influential members of this body. 
 
 As a public man, he was, in the very best sense of the term, 
 a statesman. He loved his whole country. While a strong 
 partisan, he was in no sense a narrow one. With his frank 
 and generous heart there was free play for all the kindly senti- 
 ments of human nature; and with his fearless spirit there was 
 the courage, under all circumstances, to do what he conceived 
 to be his duty. I have often thought that there was no posi- 
 tion in public life that he could not have filled with credit and 
 honor. 
 
 During the many years that he served with us, often taking 
 decided ground both upon questions within the party of which 
 he was a member, and upon which there were strong differences 
 of opinion, and upon such questions between the two great 
 parties upon this floor, yet it can be said of him, as it can be 
 said of few, that he so deported himself, he so addressed him- 
 self to all public questions, as never to have his motives called 
 in question from any quarter, and to meet in all of his associa- 
 
20 Address of Mr. Breckinridge, of Arkansas, on Ihc 
 
 tions, botli in and outside of his party, with unbroken and 
 supreme public and personal respect. 
 
 I do not know that in the whole of his positive career there 
 has ever passed between him and any of his associated upon 
 this floor any colloquy that was calculated to leave a sting 
 behind it. When contemplating the quiet demeanor of my 
 friend and the great influence that he exercised, when I have 
 considered the increasing confidence which I myself have 
 always had in his judgment and conclusions, I have often 
 thought how much he was indebted in his reasoning processes, 
 not only to the soundness of judgment which he possessed, 
 but to the excellencies of his personal character. He showed 
 as clearly as any man of whom I have known that "out of the 
 heart proceedeth the issues of life." And I believe that out 
 of his pure, kind, and brave heart there never proceeded a 
 sentiment that was unjust toward any living being. 
 
 It was my duty, Mr. Chairman, in common with other mem- 
 bers of this House, to attend the final exercises upon the occa- 
 sion of his burial. It is the only occasion when I have ever at- 
 tended the burial of a deceased member of this body ; and I will 
 say that if we are to judge by the respect that was shown to 
 his memory, by the deference and regard that marked all those 
 who participated in what was associated with his burial, we 
 must conclude that these finaV exercises on our part in connec- 
 tion with those with whom we have been associated here are 
 not idle ceremonies. 
 
 And when I went to the old town of Easton where and about 
 which he had passed his whole life, I could see some of the 
 reasons why Mr. MUTCHLER was the man that he was. An old, 
 quiet, and established place, where the people have homes, and 
 the homes have cherished traditions. There was comfort, there 
 was intelligence, there were all the vital sentiments and sub- 
 stantial elements most cherished in our American civilization, 
 
Life and Character of William Mutchler. 2 1 
 
 the whole illumined by the ancieut aud eminent seat of learning 
 that presides upon a hilltop over the city about it. There, 
 with that people, in the shadow of that college, with its vine- 
 covered walls, we could see the associations that could give us 
 such a product as WILLIAM MUTCHLER. 
 
 I consider that he was a model as a Kepresentative; that 
 he was a model as a gentleman; and it makes me realize how 
 closely our people are allied when I say that he was in my 
 estimation a perfect type of a Southern gentleman. I can 
 wish nothing better to our country, I can wish nothing better 
 to these halls, than that among our people and here among 
 our Representatives we may never lack for men like unto him. 
 And when we come to* pass over the river, may we rest in as 
 sweet and as beautiful a place as where his body now lies, and 
 be the recipients of that profound respect which all classes of 
 his people united with his representative associates in bestow- 
 ing at his burial. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. BINGHAM, OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, it becomes my sad duty to cast my votive 
 tribute of honor upon the narrow resting place of my late 
 colleague from Pennsylvania, the Hon. WILLIAM MUTCHLER. 
 I need not say to you who knew him so well, respected him so 
 much, and loved him so dearly, what a melancholy pleasure it 
 is to me, since we can no more recall him to life, in approach- 
 ing the duty of adding a few words to the memory of the 
 good and great associate and colleague gone. I can only 
 regret my inability to find expression adequate to his sterling 
 worth as a man, his conspicuous integrity and ability as a 
 statesman, his pure and lofty patriotism which always lifted 
 country above party. 
 
22 Address of Mr. Bingham, of Pennsylvania, on the 
 
 To his marked physical conditions as well as strong mental 
 force he owed his steady and withal rapid rise in life. Inured 
 to toil from boyhood, he learned self-denial in the hard but 
 effective school of necessity. From the habit of labor he 
 acquired the nobility of self-reliance. Kising from the ranks 
 by his own exertions, he early became possessed of a spirit of 
 equality taught by intimate association with humanity in all 
 its phases and multiform relations. As he rose from hum- 
 bler to higher grades of labor and responsibility he never lost 
 nor yet abated his sympathy with his first surroundings and 
 early struggles for the obligations above which he so steadily, 
 so splendidly rose. His large heart was in as close, intelli- 
 gent, sympathetic touch with the humblest and most unlet- 
 tered as it was with the most influential and wisest of his 
 constituents. His people knew his great and noble creed; 
 they trusted him and he never faltered, never grew weary in 
 his work for them. He was a man without prejudice, a friend 
 without hypocrisy, a politician without malice, a statesman 
 without guile, a philanthropist without pretense, a Christian 
 without cant. He was bigger than any party platform, broader 
 than any church creed. 
 
 A strict partisan, when the behest of a great body of his 
 party meant not the good of his country, his rugged integrity 
 shook off all allegiance at the call of patriotism. He could 
 neither be cajoled, bribed, nor intimidated. His statesman 
 ship was as wide as his constituency and State; his patriotism 
 was as broad as his country; his philanthropy embraced the 
 universal world of humanity everywhere, regardless of creed, 
 color, or conditions, and held it in intimate, sympathetic touch. 
 I ! \v;is safe in counsel, prompt in action, as grnlh- ;is he was 
 brave. He was true to self, loyal to friends, faithful to obliga- 
 tions. Naturally proud of popularity which he deserved, he 
 shrank from even a shadow of hypocrisy. His chief aim was 
 
Life and Character of William Mutchler. 25 
 
 to do right whether he seemed right or not. So his constitu 
 ents came to know and hence their unswerving trust in him. 
 So his fellow-members on this floor came to know and hence 
 their admiration, confidence, and love for him. 
 
 Good in all things, great in many, he owed his success most 
 largely to his unusual talent of labor. He had learned how 
 to labor and to wait in the school of necessity, and the habit 
 thus formed became his solid stepping-stone to fortune and 
 fame. Nature, which had lavishly endowed him with talent, 
 bestowed upon him none of the glitter and glow of genius. 
 He toiled and climbed, never soared to the object of his ambi- 
 tion. His ascent was rapid and steady, not brilliant and fitful ; 
 among the stars of his country's constellation his fame will 
 burn on forever with the steady flame of the fixed star rather 
 than glimmer, flash, glow, and disappear like the erratic 
 comet. 
 
 His forceful, yet gentle, life is an object lesson for the Ameri- 
 can youth of to-day, to-morrow, and for all time. Showing, as 
 it does, that to him who wills and fortifies that will with labor 
 and perseverance there is nothing impossible, the career of 
 Hon. WILLIAM MCTCHLER is at once an incentive to honor- 
 able ambition and a chart to show the road to wealth, renown, 
 a;id all the world holds dear in pursuit and achievement. 
 
 But he has gone from among us. His chair is vacant. Fully 
 as his honored and distinguished son, his successor, may fill 
 his place to his constituents, there is an aching void in the 
 hearts of his late associates which no successor, not even a son, 
 can fill. These walls may echo back words as wise, sentiments 
 as lofty, patriotism as pure, but the echoes of his voice will 
 often be heard above them, and in the sacred hours of retro- 
 spection which come to all of us and come in welcome in the 
 silent watches of the night, in the idle daydreams of midsum- 
 mer, the echoes of his manly voice will ring again through the 
 
24 Address of Mr. Springer, of Illinois, on the 
 
 vaults of memory and incite us, I trust, to higher thoughts, 
 loftier purposes, deeds of nobler daring, of purer self-abnega- 
 tion. 
 
 A few years ago, in the prime of his splendid manhood, in 
 the perfection of his rare physical and mental endowments, he 
 was the last one whom Death would have seemcjd to mark for 
 his early passing away. But his life work was not to be meas- 
 ured by years, but by achievements, and his life work is done 
 and well done. His brain is still; his voice is hushed; his 
 hands are numbed, but the influence of that life work will go 
 on forever, inciting to new effort by its example, blessing new 
 generations with its results. 
 
 " Every moment dies a man, 
 Every moment one is born." 
 
 For every such noble life as that of our late fellow-member 
 that thus goes up to its reward there comes down to earth a 
 score of such spirits by the ragged rent through which the glad 
 soul clove its way through Heaven's dome in its impatient 
 flight. Though we do not lack for statesmen, patriots, and 
 friends here, the place of our late colleague will never be filled 
 in our hearts, for our heads will be low in the dust before the 
 good spirit that came to earth to compensate for him shall have 
 matured for life's noblest actions, highest purposes, and needed 
 work. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. SPRINGER, OF ILLINOIS. 
 
 Mr. SPEAKER: I thoroughly agree with all that has been so 
 well said by the distinguished gentlemen who have preceded 
 me with reference to the character and public services of Mr. 
 MUTCHLER, and it must be gratifying indeed to the friends 
 and family of our deceased brother to hear the tributes to his 
 memory which have been paid by gentlemen representing both 
 
Life and Character of William Mutchler. 25 
 
 the great political parties of this country which we have heard 
 hereto-day. Too much, in my judgment, can not be said in 
 reference to the high character and noble work of our deceased 
 friend. 
 
 Pope in his immortal Essay on Man says: 
 "Worth makes the man, and want of it the fellow." 
 It is not great wealth, it is not so-called royal blood, it is not 
 learning or official position that makes the true man. It is a 
 life of noble deeds, of true manhood, of unselfish devotion to 
 family, to home, and country, and a walk and conversation 
 void of offense that constitute true worth. Such was the life 
 of our deceased brother, to commemorate whose virtues we 
 have, for the time, suspended public business. I desire to add 
 my tribute to his worth, and will be as brief as possible. 
 
 WILLIAM MUTCHLER was born in Northampton County, 
 Pa., nearly sixty-two years ago. There he grew up to manhood 
 and there he died. He was attached to his home, and never 
 left it to seek his fortune elsewhere. He belonged to a race of 
 people who have made Pennsylvania what it is to-day a great 
 Commonwealth, the second State in the Union. They had a 
 language of their own, which is known as Pennsylvania Dutch, 
 "a dialect of South Germany with an infusion of English." 
 The word "Dutch" as applied to this language and to these 
 people is a misnomer, for it does not imply a Holland origin. 
 
 Tbe early settlers of Pennsylvania came from South Ger- 
 many and the Upper Ehine and the Neckar regions. They 
 met in Pennsylvania and mingled with English-speaking 
 colonists, and the two languages became merged into a 
 dialect, which was neither German nor English, but a lan- 
 guage greatly resemblingboth of the others. The language was 
 characteristic of the people. It was simple, but strong, 
 perfectly adapted to a people of plain habits and striking 
 personality. Mr. MUTCHLER was a typical Pennsylvanian. He 
 
26 Address of Mr. Springer, of Illinois, on the 
 
 was a plain, unassuming, quiet, dignified gentleman. He was 
 all that lie assumed to be, and more than that. He was better 
 than he appeared to be. So modest and unassuming was he 
 that one might have been with him and near him for years 
 without discovering one-half his merit or learning but little 
 of his true worth. 
 
 He was a lawyer by profession, and his mind was clear anti 
 his reasoning logical. He was well informed in history, in 
 political economy, and in the useful sciences. He was emi- 
 nently practical and always thorough and conscientious in the 
 investigation of legal, political, or economic subjects. He held 
 responsible public positions in his own State before his advent 
 into Congress, and always performed his official duties faith- 
 fully and with due regard to the public interests. He served 
 ten years as a member of this House, and was elected a mem- 
 ber of this Congress, but died before the first session assembled. 
 His constituents paid a high but deserved tribute to his mem- 
 ory by electing his worthy son to be his successor. If the 
 father could appear among his people again, he would doubt- 
 less assure them that, in thus honoring his sou, they had con- 
 ferred the highest honor and greatest satisfaction upon. him. 
 
 Mr. MUTCHLEH'H Congressional career was not continuous. 
 He first appeared in the Forty-fourth Congress, when I first 
 made his acquaintance, as we entered that Congress together. 
 I learned during the exciting scenes of that Congress, being 
 the Congress that settled the contest between Tilden and 
 Hayes for the J 'residency, to admire him for his fidelity to 
 his party, for his quiet and gentlemanly demeanor. ;ui<l lor his 
 strong and manly character. He was not elected to the Forty 
 fifth and Forty-sixth Congresses, nor to the Forty-ninth of 
 Fiftieth. These breaks in his Congressional career interfered 
 greatly with his promotion in committee service, for custom 
 assigned him to the position of a new member at each new 
 
Life and Character of William Mutchler. 27 
 
 appearance. But his usefulness was not impaired or his worth 
 less appreciated by those who knew him. He was always 
 faithful to the public weal, prompt in attendance, and thorough 
 in his committee and legislative work. 
 
 Those who knew him best loved him most. He was a devoted 
 husband, a kind father, an honest and able statesman. He 
 was devoted to his family, to his friends, to his State, and to 
 the whole country. He was faithful to every trust confided to 
 him. He performed every duty that devolved upon him. He 
 lived the life of an honest man, a good citizen, and a true 
 patriot. His death is deplored by all who knew him. 
 
 We, who knew him as a brother member of this House, have 
 especial reason to mourn his loss; we miss his wise counsels, 
 his solid and mature judgment, his untiring efforts in the cause 
 of good government. Our loss, however, will be his gain. He 
 rests from his labors. He has gone to reap the reward of those 
 wM>, while living, loved their fellow-men. With such, all must 
 be well, not only in this mortal life, but in the higher and 
 nobler life beyond the tomb. 
 
 I can not close this brief tribute to his memory more appro- 
 priately than by quoting the tender words of the Quaker poet, 
 Whittier : 
 
 He has done the work of a true man; 
 
 Crown him, honor him, love him ; 
 Weep over him tears of woman, 
 
 Stoop manliest brows above him. 
 ***** 
 No duty could overtask him, 
 
 No need his will outrun; 
 Or ever our lips could ask him 
 
 His hands the work had done. 
 
28 Address of Mr, Dockery, of Missouri, on the 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. DOCKERY, OF MISSOURI. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, I regret that circumstances have operated to 
 prevent ine from offering any extended observations on the life 
 and character of WILLIAM MUTCHLEE. I can not allow the 
 occasion to pass, however, without a single word. 
 
 My acquaintance with the deceased began in the Forty-eighth 
 Congress. The friendship established then was strengthened 
 as by hooks of steel in the Fifty- first and Fifty- second Con- 
 gresses through the intimate relations incident to fellow- 
 membership on the Committee on Appropriations. 
 
 Our friend was an effective speaker, clear, vigorous, and 
 logical in the statement of a proposition j but it was in the pains- 
 taking deliberations of the committee room that he appeared, 
 as it seemed to me, to best advantage. In that relation he was 
 tireless in energy, impartial in consideration, just in judgment, 
 and delightful in social qualities. His conclusions upon all 
 questions before that great committee, which provides for the 
 expenditure of the larger part of the people's money, always 
 commanded re.spectful attention at the hands of his colleagues. 
 
 He was a loving father, a true friend, a patriotic citizen, and 
 a wise, conscientious legislator. 
 
 Our friend worked diligently, achieved nobly, and passed 
 away while yet in the prime of his usefulness. 
 
 Life ! I know not what thou art, 
 
 But this I know, that thou and I must part; 
 
 And when or where or how we meet, 
 
 I own to me's a secret yet. 
 
 * * * * # 
 
 Life! we've been long together, 
 
 Through pleasant and through cloudy \\rather. 
 
 'Tis hard to part when friends are dear, 
 
 Perhaps 't will cost a sigh, a tear 
 
 Then steal a\\;iy give little warning, 
 
 Choose thine own time, say not "(Jood night!" 
 
 But in some brighter clime bid me "Good morning!" 
 
Life and Character of William Mutchler. 29 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. BROSIUS, OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 Mr. SPEAKEK : Sharing the very common illusion that words 
 are a proper mode of testifying our sense of loss, when a 
 friend whom we loved, or a public character whom the coun- 
 try can ill afford to lose, is called away, I embrace the oppor- 
 tunity which the occasion affords to add my feeble tribute to 
 the eloquent, graceful, and touching words which have already 
 been said concerning the character and public services of our 
 departed friend, to add one little flower to the chaplet with 
 which respect, esteem, and affection have garlanded his 
 memory. 
 
 In this world, Mr. Speaker, we meet with no other event so 
 profoundly impressive as death. It is useful to survivors only 
 as they comprehend its lessons. This may excuse the public 
 occasion we make of the ceremonies commemorative of the 
 character and services of departed members of this House, 
 justifying in this conspicuous fashion, and raising into public 
 notice, over this new-made grave, illustrious examples of pri- 
 vate worth and public usefulness. 
 
 Those whose acquaintance with our distinguished friend 
 commission them to speak only of those excellencies of 
 character which found their illustration in an interesting and 
 distinguished career in the service of his country, which he 
 decorated and adorned with strict fidelity and disinterested 
 devotion, find an inviting subject for eulogy and a deserving 
 example to extol in the public ear. 
 
 It seems, from what has been said on the floor to-day, that 
 WILLIAM MUTCHLER was a self-made man. Whatever emi- 
 nence he attained was due to an earnest and courageous effort 
 to make the most of the endowments that had been given him 
 
30 Address of Mr. Brosius, of Pennsylvania, on the 
 
 under the stimulating inspiration of high and noble ideals. 
 Every success he achieved was a victory over difficulties which, 
 to him, were always incentives to exertion. Every distinction 
 he won was a triumph in honorable encounter. In every strug- 
 gle he was doubly armed, for he never contended without feel- 
 ing a sense of the justice of his cause. He fought with honest 
 weapons, and nobly won or nobly lost; brought back from 
 every field of encounter, or was brought back on a stainless 
 shield of honorable defense. 
 
 From what I have heard here to-day and from my own 
 observation of his career, among the attributes which summed 
 up a strong character and a vigorous personality, there are a 
 few traits preeminently worthy to be set before the world as 
 examples, and these are expressed by the words honor, cour- 
 age, and duty. These were the precious and conspicuous 
 jewels in the crown of his character, and I set them apart 
 to-day and lift them over his new-made grave into public notice 
 as the golden texts in the lesson of his life. 
 
 Honor; Mr. Speaker, is the noble mind's distinguishing per- 
 fection 5 and I have the happiness to believe that in no age of 
 the world has this perfection been so much in fashion in public 
 life as now. Still, occasional notable exceptions which strew 
 our public life, emphasize the beauty and excellence of that 
 high sense of public probity which makes this perfection oft- 
 times blaze in the public eye, in public servants who, like the 
 virtuous Andrew Fletcher, would give their lives to serve their 
 country, but would not do a base thing to save it. Our 
 departed friend was the soul of honor, and in this distin- 
 guished excellence of his character his example should be 
 both cherished and commended. 
 
 I think also that Mr. MuTCHLEK's courage was conspicuous. 
 The only Aladdin's lamp that he ever knew was the quench- 
 less fire of a heroic soul that no difficulty ever daunted. His 
 courage never wavered before, an adverse cast of fortune. 
 
Life and Character of William Mutchler, 31 
 
 He despised servility ; he spurned the collar of the master. 
 His conscience was his harness; he wore no other. The crack 
 of the boss's whip filled him, not with cringing terror, but with 
 sharp, back-striking resentment. He hated the "thrift that 
 follows fawning." He walked erectin the majesty, dignity, and 
 conscious rectitude of his manhood. 
 
 In this elevated arena in which he spent many years of 
 useful service and which was the scene of his latest and best 
 exertions, he evinced on more than one occasion the virile 
 qualities which have their root in a manly courage. When 
 inspired by conviction and commanded by duty he was a heroic 
 fighter. The man who broke a lance with him was likely 
 
 To know the joy that warriors feel 
 In foemen worthy of their steel. 
 
 But he had none of the pride that is ashamed to yield when 
 convicted of error; none of the obstinacy that delights in con- 
 tention for its own sake. He never wasted the public time in 
 needless words. He had the amazing courage to leave off when 
 he was done, an example which statesmen of high and low 
 degree might imitate with profit to their own and their coun- 
 try's fame. 
 
 Then we have a right, Mr. Speaker, to infer from what has 
 been so fittingly said of him that our friend has been twice 
 ennobled. Duty and death ennoble all men. Promptitude and 
 unremitting attention to his public duties were conspicuous 
 traits of his character. To WILLIAM MUTCHLER the command 
 of duty was a " Thus saith the Lord." 
 
 In this excellence of his character he emulated the fidelity 
 of the shipmaster in the story, who in the midst of storms ever 
 kept his rudder true. And his entire life exemplified the truth 
 that the path of duty is always the upward way; that 
 
 Not once or twice in our fair land's story 
 The path of duty was the way to glory. 
 
32 Address of Mr. Wilson, of West Virginia, on the 
 
 My soul, Mr. Speaker, bows in adoration before the human 
 temple that enshrines the divinity of duty. These superb 
 characters are the rarest fruit of earth, and their surviving 
 countrymen ought to garner the fine vintage of their example 
 for their perpetual refreshment. 
 
 So I say in conclusion, to all whom it may concern here or else- 
 where: Time-server, demagogue, politician, calculator, stand 
 aside ! A faithful public servant, and an honest man, passes 
 to his reward. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. WILSON, OF WEST VIRGINIA. 
 
 Mr. SPEAKER : In rising to take the very brief part in this 
 memorial service, which alone is possible for me, I respond not 
 less to the suggestions of public duty than to the prompting of 
 private friendship. Had I known Mr. MUTCHLER only in his 
 public and official character, I should feel myself fully justi- 
 fied in speaking of him in words of high and unfeigned eulogy. 
 But it was my privilege from my first entrance in this House 
 to know him well ; to welcome him after a brief retirement, 
 back into its membership, and during all this period to associ- 
 ate with Mm on terms of cordial friendship. To myself, as to 
 all in the circle of his intimate friends, his death has been a 
 personal bereavement; but I am not less convinced that it has 
 been to his district, to his State, and to his country a great 
 public loss, and it is to WILLIAM MUTCHLER, the member of 
 Congress, rather than to the man and friend, that our chief 
 tribute here is due and fitting. 
 
 As a legislator he belonged to that class who take up pub- 
 lic service as a grave and serious commission; who meet its 
 demands with a strong and constant sense of personal duty; 
 who give to public questions their best jind sinccrest thought, 
 
Life and Character of William Mutchler. 3& 
 
 and who deal with them, not in the spirit of self-seeking, but 
 of dedication to the welfare of their country. Such men wear 
 well at home, and grow in influence in this Hall. No one ever 
 heard Mr. MUTCHLER speak here without knowing he was 
 listening to the utterances of an honest man, not the honesty 
 of ignorance or narrowness, or the conclusions of haste and 
 carelessness, but the expressions of a thoughtful inind, guided 
 by broad and patriotic principles and enlightened by a wide 
 and patient examination of facts. 
 
 Such a man faced his public duties with simplicity and 
 bravery. Of this the country had a signal illustration in the 
 last Congress, when as chairman of a subcommittee it fell to 
 Mr. MUTCHLER'S lot to prepare and attempt to carry through 
 this House some reforms of our pension system. He failed in 
 his effort, as any other man would have failed ; but few who 
 witnessed the long struggle will forget his quiet firmness, his 
 thorough equipment for his task, and the unfaltering courage 
 with which he took up day after day and attempted to per- 
 form an unpopular duty; and to myself it is a pleasant thought 
 that, having watched him daily in this invidious work, I sug- 
 gested and secured some acknowledgment of his efforts in 
 one of the leading papers of the country. 
 
 But I will not dwell on his merits or his unblemished record 
 as a public servant. He was faithful to his trust, and what 
 higher epitaph can be inscribed on any man's monument? He 
 was a thoughtful, intelligent, earnest, and patriotic repre- 
 sentative of his people, and their long retention of him in their 
 service is conclusive proof that they knew and appreciated 
 his worth. 
 
 As a man and friend Mr. MUTCHLER had the sterling virtues 
 of kindliness, sincerity, and truth. 
 H. Mis. 93 3 
 
34 Address of Mr. Sayers, of Texas, on the 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. SAYERS, OF TEXAS. 
 
 Mr. SPEAKER: Tbe House having p;msed from its current 
 labor to do honor to the memory of the departed member, Mr. 
 Mutchler of Pennsylvania, I shall avail myself of the oppor- 
 tunity to join in the tributes that are being offered to his char- 
 acter and his worth, as well in his individual as in his repre- 
 sentative capacity. 
 
 To those of us who knew him in this Hall and in the rooms 
 of the committees to which he was assigned Mr. Mutchler was 
 one who possessed our entire confidence. His every state- 
 ment was always accepted as the very language of truth, and 
 upon the correctness of his judgment we were accustomed to 
 rely with entire safety. He gave to his duties at this capital 
 a conscientious and untiring industry, and every question that 
 claimed his consideration was so carefully and so thoroughly 
 investigated in all its phases that his conclusions were received 
 as those of a man who was not only willing but entirely able to 
 speak the truth in its entirety. 
 
 His manners were simple and natural, his courtesy to every 
 one was unfailing, and his kindliness of disposition gave con- 
 fidence to all who approached him. Added to these social 
 graces, which he possessed in an eminent degree, was an 
 unyielding integrity of character that never forgot itself, 
 whatever the presence in which he chanced to stand or 
 however potent the influence that was brought to bear upon 
 him. Kigid in his ideas as to personal propriety and as to 
 professional and political conduct, he swerved neither to the 
 right nor to the left, but courageously trod the path along 
 which the uprightness of his character bade him travel. 
 
 His mind was well disciplined, ;md unless under extraordi- 
 
Life and Character of William Miitchler. 35 
 
 nary circumstances and even then but seldom never over- 
 leaped the restraints which a careful training had environed 
 it to indulge in waywardness of fancy or intemperance of pas- 
 sion. His was a strong intellect, possessing the ability to 
 absorb, to reflect, and to construct. His mental methods were 
 entirely of a practical kind, looking rather to substantial and 
 useful accomplishments than to those performances and crea- 
 tions which glitter and attract, melting away into airy nothing- 
 ness. These qualities well fitted him to be a safe legal adviser 
 and a wise legislator. 
 
 Summing up his character, I knew him as a man of strong 
 intellect, without superficial adornment, and of an unbending 
 integrity, embellished with an unusual grace of manner and 
 an attractive softness of disposition in his whole intercourse 
 with his fellows, of whatever degree in life. 
 
 It was my good fortune, Mr. Speaker, to be associated with 
 Mr. Mutchler during two Congresses upon the Committee on 
 Appropriations, and during those years we were so thrown 
 together upon terms of close intimacy that I learned to know 
 him welL His career as a member of this House during the 
 Forty-fourth, Forty- seventh, Forty-eighth, Fifty-first, and 
 Fifty-second Congresses was alike honorable to himself and to 
 the great constituency which he represented. No constituency 
 in all this country was better represented than the people by 
 whom he was thus honored, and but few constituencies have 
 been served as. well. His reputation is solid and enduring, 
 and the manner of his life at this great capital and the character 
 of his work in this House illustrated an ideal republican sim- 
 plicity and the highest and best type of wise, sagacious, and 
 practical statesmanship. In his death, not only his own dis- 
 trict, not only the State of Pennsylvania, but the entire Union 
 has suffered a great loss. Few are the men that could not 
 have been better spared than he. 
 
36 Address of Mr. Saycrs, of T^.MVJ-.V, on tJic 
 
 Others, Mr. Speaker, well acquainted with him prior to his 
 coining here, have spoken and will speak of Mr. MUTCIILER'S 
 earlier life, its struggles, its embarrassments, and its suc- 
 cesses. I shall content myself with speaking of him only as I 
 knew him in the Fifty-first and Fifty-second Congresses. His 
 entire career, from the field of hard manual labor to the judi- 
 cial forum, where the greatest intellectual effort is required in 
 order to attain permanent success, thence through the several 
 gradations of official life until he reached this branch of the 
 Federal Congress, is worthy the highest commendation, and 
 furnishes to the aspiring sous of America a wellspring of hope 
 and confidence that by strict integrity and constant labor the 
 brightest and most substantial honors are surely within their 
 reach, however unpromising the lines of their early youth. 
 
 And more than that, Mr. Speaker, it creates and sustains a 
 well-grounded belief aye, a sure certainty in every Ameri- 
 can heart that, under the influence and through the workings 
 of our free institutions, men will continue to rise, as WILLIAM 
 MUTCHLER rose, to take part in our Federal councils and to 
 shape and guide them for the welfare and for the happiness of 
 the people. In all sincerity and in entire truth, therefore, can 
 it be said of our deceased associate and friend that his life 
 was, within its limits, a rich blessing to his people, a bright 
 example to his colaborers and to those who are to follow him, 
 a comfort to his friends and to his family. And, finally, it may 
 be justly said of this strong but kindly man, that 
 
 His life was gentle, and the elements 
 
 So mixed' in him, that Nature might stand up 
 
 And say to all the world, " This was a man !" 
 
Life and Character of William Mutchler, 37 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. MCALEER, OF PENNSYLVANIA, 
 
 Mr. SPEAKER : It was not my pleasure to have personally 
 knowii the distinguished Representative from the Eighth dis- 
 trict as long as some of my colleagues from Pennsylvania 
 knew him. 
 
 But his name and fame were well known to the people of 
 every city and town throughout the State. In conjuuction 
 with thousands of my fellow-citizens, I felt a just pride in the 
 distinguished position held by Mr. MUTCHLEB in the national 
 halls of legislation; taking, as he did, a prominent place 
 among its ablest statesmen. Mr. MUTCHLER was a man of 
 decided convictions, and when he made up his mind to his 
 course of duty, could no more be moved from it than could the 
 hills of his own State. He was a Democrat from principle, 
 believing implicitly in the teachings of his party. To him it 
 was a source of great gratification that the district of which 
 he was so long the honored Representative had never sent to 
 this House any other than a Democrat to represent it since 
 the foundation of the Government. 
 
 Notwithstanding this firmness in his own convictions of 
 what he regarded as those truths which would best perpetuate 
 the interests of his country, he was always tolerant to those 
 who differed from him, ever willing to concede to them the 
 same rights which he desired for himself, believing they were 
 governed by the same true principles of patriotism. 
 
 On first meeting Mr. MUTCHLER, after becoming a member of 
 Congress, I was very much impressed with his simplicity of 
 manner, his kindly disposition, and desire to assist by his aid 
 and counsel those who were inexperienced. 
 
38 Address of Mr. McAleer, of Pennsylvania, on the 
 
 No jealousy ever found its way into his warm and generous 
 heart. On the contrary, he 'was always ready to lend a helping 
 hand in assisting a colleague. Coming, as I did, from a great 
 city that required large appropriations for public improve- 
 ments, I felt how invaluable his assistance, how unselfish his 
 character. Although his energy, his influence, his untiring 
 work accomplished vast results, he never sought the credit 
 for himself. I never knew a man in public life who was more 
 earnest, more conscientious in the discharge of his duties. 
 While a Pennsylvania!!, with a love for his native State, 
 which could not be surpassed, yet that strong and 'patriotic 
 love for his whole country would at all times prompt him to 
 promote the interests of the nation rather than his State alone. 
 
 Although for the past few years in feeble health, his interest 
 in public affairs never relaxed. As a member of the Committee 
 on Appropriations, one of the most important of the House, he 
 never shrunk from performing his share of its arduous labors. 
 
 While many of us noticed his large frame fast wasting away, 
 we could not believe that the hand of death was upon him, but 
 looked for an early recovery. As we received messages of his 
 condition from time to time, we hoped that in the quiet of his 
 own home, with a loving and devoted wife to look after his every 
 comfort, that his health would be restored. Vain hope! Day 
 by day he continued to grow weaker, and finally passed away as 
 gently as a summer's day. When I attended his funeral I was 
 much impressed by the thousands of people who lined the streets 
 of his beloved Easton to catch the last glimpse of all that 
 remained of their honored neighbor and friend. Sad, indeed, 
 was this, each and every one giving vent to their feelings as 
 they recognized this to be the last of all on earth. 
 
 At his own request he was buried "as the sun went down" 
 beneath the hills he loved so dearly, and will sleep (lie sweet 
 sleep of peace until the resurrection morn. 
 
Life and Character of William Mutchler. 39 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. WOLVERTON, OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 Mr. SPEAKER : As a member of the Pennsylvania delegation 
 who had the privilege of serving with Mr. MUTCHLER during 
 the Fifty- second Congress, I can not allow this occasion to 
 pass without adding a few words as a tribute to his memory 
 in addition to what has been so well said by others. 
 
 Mr. MUTCHLER was for many years deservedly considered a 
 leader of his party in Pennsylvania. He was cool, clear- 
 headed, and conservative, having the good of his party and 
 the people of his State at heart. His counsel was always 
 sought after and had great weight with all who came in con- 
 tact with him. He was naturally and without effort looked up 
 to as a counselor and leader. 
 
 He was a Democrat from principle, and believed religiously 
 that his party embodied the true principles of a representative 
 form of government. He believed the success of his party 
 was essential to good government and the prosperity of the 
 whole county. He was a true, honest, and fearless man in 
 whatever position placed. He had convictions of his own 
 upon every subject which came before him, they controlled 
 him and he was not afraid to express them, regardless of any 
 public clamor or any fear of public opinion. He despised 
 demagogy in every form from the bottom of his heart. One 
 of the strongest elements of Mr. MUTCHLER'S character was 
 his constitutional disposition to be fair to everyone. 
 
 No person, whether an opponent in his own party, or of the 
 opposing political party, could ever accuse him of duplicity or 
 deception. He always took his position, gave his reasons 
 and maintained them, fearlessly and in such open and unmis- 
 takable manner that everyone knew where to find him on all 
 
40 Address of Mr. Wolverton, of Pennsylvania, on the 
 
 occasions. It was this trait of character perhaps more than 
 any other that endeared him to friend and foe alike. He was 
 loyal to his friends and fair to everyone. He naturally 
 despised ambush, deception, and trick of every kind, but 
 respected an open and fearless adversary. 
 
 This trait of character won for him the respect and confi- 
 dence of his associates in Congress of every political faith. 
 His party honored and respected him throughout his own 
 State, and the people of his own district had frequently hon- 
 ored him with a seat in this body. His long service here had 
 made him familiar with his duties as a member, and made him 
 not only a faithful representative of the people of his district 
 and the people of his State, but a valuable member of this 
 body, and one whose advice was sought after, and whose 
 untimely death will be regretted by all alike. 
 
 Mr. MUTCHLEB was a plain, unassuming man, not demon- 
 strative. He dealt in facts, and was always equipped with 
 good reasons to justify his acts. He accomplished what he 
 undertook by steady progress in his work and intensity of 
 purpose. He made no pretensions to oratory, but none sur- 
 passed him in making his points clearly understood and in 
 carrying conviction to those who gave him their attention. 
 
 His personal, professional, and political integrity was beyond 
 the reach of suspicion. This was the foundation of his influ- 
 ence with the people of his State and district. In this unex- 
 pected death this body, the people of his State and district 
 have suffered a loss which will be long felt, and to us who 
 knew him long and honored him for his ability, integrity, and 
 fairness, his memory will always be dear. 
 
Life and Character of William Mutchler. 41 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. HOLMAN, OF INDIANA. 
 
 Mr. SPEAKER : In the death of WILLIAM MUTCHLER, so long 
 an honored member of this House, his friends have lost a sin- 
 cere, generous, and unselfish friend; his constituents, who 
 stood by him with unfaltering confidence for so many years, a 
 wise counselor and an accomplished Eepresentative, and the 
 whole country one of the most valuable of its citizens engaged 
 in public affairs. 
 
 I first became acquainted with Mr. MUTCHLER at the open- 
 ing of the Forty-fourth Congress. I think I was introduced 
 to him by Samuel J. Randall, who so long and honorably rep- 
 resented in this House one of the districts of Pennsylvania, 
 and by his great abilities and unswerving integrity honored 
 his State and his country. From my first acquaintance with 
 Mr. MUTCHLER until we parted at the close of the Fifty-sec- 
 ond Congress, we were friends. It was always a joy for me 
 to meet the frank, kindly, and courteous gentleman. How 
 often have I left my seat in the House to visit his, that I might 
 get his views on current affairs! I never consulted Mr. 
 MUTCHLER without being benefited and instructed. 
 
 There was nothing sensational in his methods. As a speaker 
 there was in his style no attempt at what is called oratory, no 
 flights of fancy; he was content with submitting facts, but he 
 presented his facts, and the just and fair conclusions to be 
 drawn from them, with a force and clearness I have seldom, if 
 ever, seen excelled in this Hall. 
 
 Mr. MUTCHLER only occasionally addressed the House; he 
 seldom mingled in the running and generally unprofitable 
 debates which constantly occur, but whenever he addressed 
 the House he at once commanded the respectful attention of 
 
42 Address of Mr. Holman, of Indiana, on the 
 
 members on both sides of this Chamber. He always spoke 
 with deliberation; he spoke as if the matter he presented was 
 of such value the House would be glad to hear him; and the 
 House always heard him with pleasure, even if his views were 
 not accepted by the House. 
 
 There was such a manifest sincerity and truthfulness in his 
 speeches, such a manifest effort to present the facts, without 
 any attempt or appearance of willingness to obscure the truth, 
 that commanded the respect and confidence of the members. 
 
 He was, as a Representative in Congress, as he was in social 
 life, a straightforward, courteous, and accomplished gentle- 
 man, valuing truth and honor as beyond all price. 
 
 He was devoted to his country, and as a legislator he was 
 controlled and animated by a high sense of its greatness. He 
 believed that it was the duty of its representatives, under all 
 conditions, to uphold its honor. 
 
 He was hostile to every form of favoritism in legislation, and 
 demanded for the whole people equality of rights. 
 
 I think this is a just expression of the views of Mr. MUTCH- 
 LEB, as expressed in this House during the long period of his 
 service, as to the scope and duty of the Federal Government. 
 He adhered with unfaltering fidelity to the views of Thomas 
 Jefferson in relation to the powers of the Federal system and 
 the rights of the States. 
 
 But my admiration of the character of WILLIAM MUTCHLEB 
 was greatly increased during the last Congress. I had the 
 honor, as then chairman of the Committee on Appropriations, 
 after consultation with him, and with his approval, and with 
 the approval of that committee, to place him at the head of one 
 of the leading subcommittees of that committee, having in 
 charge one of the most important appropriation l>ills before 
 that Congress. Mr. O'Neil, of Massachusetts, a gentleman of 
 the same sterling qualities of courage and manhood that char- 
 acterized Mr. MUTCHLEB, was one of his associates. 
 
Life and Character of William Mutchler, 43 
 
 Mr. MUTCHLER believed that radical reforms should be 
 organized in the branch of the public service under his charge. 
 While I did not wholly sympathize with him in the reforms he 
 aimed at, I saw with un bounded satisfaction his patient and 
 untiring industry month after month in pursuing his investi- 
 gations. He became the complete master of our pension 
 system, and made a masterly presentation of the subject to 
 the House. 
 
 It was manifest that it was indifferent to him whether the 
 views which he found himself compelled to express were, for 
 the time, popular or not. He was manifestly controlled by the 
 single sentiment of what was just and proper as between the 
 soldiers of the former wars and the whole people. 
 
 The House was manifestly against him, yet I have seldom, 
 if ever, seen the House listen so closely as to the speech he 
 delivered. 
 
 In my last conversation with Mr. MUTCHLER he expressed 
 views in relation to Federal taxation for the support of the 
 Government which greatly interested me. He had intended 
 to bring them to the attention of the present Congress. They 
 were such views as would give honor to a strong, able, and 
 conscientious man dealing with a great public subject. I need 
 not enter into the details. 
 
 When I heard of his sickness and death my sadness was 
 greatly increased by the fact that his powerful aid in behalf 
 of a financial policy of the Government, which he was confident 
 would be beneficial to the country, and in which I fully con- 
 curred with him, was forever lost. 
 
 But WILLIAM MUTCHLER, the clear-headed, conservative 
 legislator, always honest and sincere, is dead. The death of 
 such a man in the prime of life, a pure, upright, honest man, 
 fully informed in all that pertains to the interest and welfare 
 of his country, is a sad event from the standpoint of human 
 
44 Address of Mr. Erdman, of Pennsylvania, on the 
 
 intelligence, but those who believe that the soul of man is 
 immortal, and that there is an overruling Providence, ail 
 Infinite Spirit, which guides and directs the whole frame of 
 the universe, in all of its limitless details, as I do, will see in 
 the death of WILLIAM MUTCHLER only the loss and sadness 
 of an earthly parting. A good man is dead after years of 
 usefulness to his fellowmeu and his country. What loftier 
 realms of life have been opened to him, and soon will be to us 
 all, the future only will disclose. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. ERDMAN, OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 Mr. SPEAKER : In the early part of the eighteenth century, 
 when the wave of immigration from the Rhine Palatinate was 
 flowing toward the shores of the New World, came the ances- 
 tors of WILLIAM MUTCHLER, and found a new home. 
 
 Inured to hardships in the trials anti^ difficulties of the 
 struggle to subdue the wild woods of Nature, and to bring 
 under control the fertile soil, the early settlers soon developed 
 the character of the Pennsylvania German. 
 
 Of strong and stately physique, they are swift in charity and 
 helpfulness slow in anger. Lacking in the power of aggres- 
 sion and domination, they are forceful and masterful in attain- 
 ing their ends and purposes by their quiet persistence. 
 
 Humane, in so much that the barns on their fields are as 
 palaces compared with the shelter of some people; so gener 
 ous that the cheer of their households has become proverbial. 
 Industrious, Clod- fear ing, plain, they have increased and mul- 
 tiplied until to-day their number is millions. 
 
 In naming the virtues of this people that he loved so well, 
 I have described Mr. MuTCHLKU. Of them he was a true type. 
 
Life and Character of William Mutchler. 45 
 
 In early life he was permitted to enjoy but sparingly the 
 advantages of a great institution of learning reared near by 
 many years ago. While this was a source of great regret to 
 him, often so expressed, yet his strong intellect was matured 
 and his mind well fortified by constant reading, observation, 
 and reflection. 
 
 Overcoming difficulties which might have appalled men of 
 less force and energy, he found his way to the bar. 
 
 As a lawyer and active practitioner he soon acquired a large 
 clientage, and became a confidential adviser, safe and reliable, 
 rather than a brilliant orator. 
 
 Hisrare sound judgment and ripe legal attainments brought 
 him success and distinction at home and in the appellate tri- 
 bunal of his State. 
 
 While it may not have been his ambition, yet it was the 
 judgment and purpose of his friends, knowing full well that he 
 possessed all the qualifications, that he should round out the 
 full measure of his useful life on the bench. 
 
 Endowed by nature with great personal magnetism and 
 those qualities which make enduring. friendships, he entered 
 the field of politics. He rose step by step, ever retaining the 
 confidence and esteem of his people by an honest and consci- 
 entious observance of his duties. 
 
 Kectitude, fidelity, and courage marked his public life. 
 When once he saw the right his duty became plain and he 
 never faltered. Affectation and hollow pretense were as obnox- 
 ious to him as sincerity and frankness were admired. Had he 
 lived it was his purpose to spend much of his time in the fur- 
 ther investigation of pensions. Actuated by the purest mo- 
 tive, liberal and generous towards the deserving, he had the 
 courage to eliminate fraud and corruption. 
 
 I recall how on a dreary night in the past winter, when the 
 subject under discussion was the great mystery of life and 
 
46 Address of Mr. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, on the 
 
 death, infinity and eternity, lie suddenly exclaimed: u 
 soon shall know it all." 
 
 lie knows it now. Death has led him into the realm of light. 
 
 On a quiet afternoon in June there assembled a vast concourse 
 of his neighbors in the city of Easton to pay him the last trib- 
 ute. The farmer took a brief respite from his plow, the artisan 
 from his hammer, and the mechanic from his machine. Genuine 
 grief and sorrow were depicted on every face. With the beau- 
 tiful and simple rites of the common service of the church of his 
 fathers, he was laid to rest. 
 
 The mournful sounds of the requiem chant echoed back from 
 the neighboring hills, and the solemn pageant became but a 
 memory. 
 
 He sleeps on the banks of the Bushkill to await the coming 
 of his Eedeemer. 
 
 After all, the noblest and best that can be said is, he lived 
 and died a man and a Christian. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. BRECKINRIDGE, OF KENTUCKY. 
 
 Mr. SPEAKER : It is one of the sorrows of service in this House 
 that the friendships made in it have an element of unusual 
 transitoriness. In the comparatively few years during which 
 I have served here how few remain compared to the large num- 
 ber who during those years have held seats on this floor. The 
 country is so large, and the necessities for absorbed occupa- 
 tion so numerous that even separation has an element of final 
 parting scarcely less final than death. The frequency of death 
 in this body has grown with its constant increase in number 
 until these occasions of solemn commemoration of the virtues 
 of our colleagues who have passed before us to the great here- 
 
Life and Character of William Mutchlcr. 47 
 
 after and of our own sense of loss at their death have become 
 so frequent that the House has grown somewhat callous, and 
 the empty benches frequently reveal that the cares and duties 
 of life are too intense to give more than a passing salute to the 
 soul of a dead brother. 
 
 To be elected a Eepresentative of the people is of itself con- 
 clusive proof of some qualities of unusual force, for no district 
 composed of American freemen would consent to be represented 
 by a man without such force; not that every Representative is 
 great or necessarily a conspicuous man, but he must have a 
 certain force of character, a certain power of will and be pos- 
 sessed of capacities, qualities, and gifts which secure the con- 
 fidence of the people among whom he lives to justify them in 
 his election; and he who in this body rises to fair leadership 
 must necessarily possess more than the usual force found among 
 his brethren. This is a kindly but an exacting body ; it is gen- 
 erous, but it gives its confidence slowly; it is friendly, but it 
 retains respect only for those who deserve it; and if this lead- 
 ership has been acquired by one of unusual modesty, without 
 self-seeking, devoid of every element of aggression for selfish 
 purpose, this demonstrates conclusively that it was deserved. 
 
 WILLIAM MTJTCHLER was a rather striking demonstration 
 of the truth of these observations. I have never served with 
 a more modest man, nor with one who, while he discharged his 
 duties faithfully and conscientiously, was more disposed to 
 allow others leadership, and give to those who deserved it con- 
 spicuity. Whatever of power, influence, or fame became his, 
 came to him; he did not seek them; and yet he could have 
 served in no body of men in which he would not have gradu- 
 ally become a member of influence and weight. He was the 
 victim of an exceedingly bad system, by which the counties of 
 his district in alternate sequence secured a Eepresentative. 
 If he had remained a member of this body continuously from 
 
48 Address of Mr. Breckinridgc, of Kentucky, on the 
 
 the time he first entered it, it is not saying too much to say 
 that lie would have been one of the most conspicuous Repre- 
 sentatives, and would in all probability have been the Speaker 
 of the House and succeeded to the leadership of his party. 
 
 It may not be a wise custom of the House that a member 
 shall rank from his last entry, and go to the foot of the com- 
 mittees to which he is assigned; but such a custom has pre- 
 vailed, and as in every Congress nearly one-third of its mem- 
 bers are new members, a break in the service here is of great 
 injury to the development and growth of the power of a Rep- 
 resentative. Continuous service, with its experience, its as- 
 signments to the heads of committees, its national reputation, 
 and a certain self-assurance which comes with it, gives to a 
 Representative an influence that is sometimes out of proportion 
 to his natural gifts or to his acquirements; mere expertness in 
 the rules of the House, familiarity with its customs, the ease 
 which such assurance gives, and the position on committees 
 thus acquired, give weight that can hardly be estimated. 
 
 Mr. MUTCHLER'S physical appearance would have made him 
 a marked man anywhere stalwart in form, broad of shoulder, 
 deep of chest, with raven hair and swarthy complexion, bright 
 and stable eye, mobile and expressive features, simple but self- 
 possessed, and courteous towards others, gave him an impres- 
 sive appearance, which both attracted and commanded respect. 
 He was a fine specimen of the Pennsylvania Dutchman, ;i 
 handsome and attractive type of that stalwart and manly race, 
 which has given to Pennsylvania much of her best blood and 
 her unusual and extraordinary success. In this physical casket 
 were incased a brain and soul fully worthy of it. I served 
 with him on the Committee on Appropriations, and our seats 
 at the committee table were side by side; I enjoyed the hospi- 
 tality of his elegant and sweet home, and I think I had his 
 personal and political confidence. 
 
Life and Character of William Mutchler. 49 
 
 There were matters upoii which we did not agree, there were 
 questions of policy concerning which we saw differently; they 
 were the subject of frequent and earnest conference between 
 us; I sought his advice, his company, and even his assistance. 
 He was simple, sincere, frank, intelligent, manly; he never 
 paltered with you, he never used language in a double or 
 ambiguous sense; prudent and conservative in his utterances, 
 charitable and courteous in his judgment to those who differed 
 from him, he was yet earnest, decided, and candid. The pro- 
 cesses of his mind were absolutely honest; he was never self- 
 deceived; the conclusions to which he came were reached after 
 a thoughtful and honest meditation, without haste and with 
 patience, and not altogether free from prejudice. It was the 
 prejudice of a high-minded and noble nature seeking to do and 
 to think what was right. 
 
 Courageous in his convictions as well as in his life, he was 
 yet moderate in his utterances, prone to seek common ground 
 of action with those with whom he in the main agreed. Always 
 clear in his own conviction, he was yet tolerant of opposition 
 in others and careful to avoid any utterances which might 
 increase differences and anxious to do whatever was honorable 
 to produce harmonious action in the party to which he belonged 
 and the committee of which he might happen to be a member. 
 He was in the truest sense of the word a lovable man gentle, 
 thoughtful, kindly, always meeting you with a smile, but it 
 was the smile of a manly friend upon whose courage you knew 
 you could depend, and upon whose manhood you felt you could 
 rely. 
 
 I deplore his death, not only as a personal loss, but as a loss 
 to the party and to the country. He had reached the prime of 
 a matured intellect; he had secured the respect and confidence 
 of the House; he had become favorably known to the country; 
 he came from a section where the Democratic party needed 
 H. Mis. 93 4 
 
50 Address of Mr. Brcckinridge, of Kentucky, on the 
 
 such a man; we had come out from opposition into tli<> domain 
 of positive legislation; we were not consolidated, we had to 
 go through the process of fermentation before we became a 
 compact national party; it seemed to me that he would be one 
 of the most useful Representatives on this floor; with his gen- 
 eral views, with his moderate nature, with his courage and 
 disposition, with his popular address, with his gifts as a 
 speaker, with his perhaps greater gifts at the committee table, 
 he struck me as being one of the men the party in the House 
 most needed, who could do most to nationalize and consolidate 
 it, and that there was before him a conspicuous, profitable, 
 and useful career. 
 
 The Democratic party has needed and does need men of 
 Northern environments of just his type, and it seemed to me 
 that he could till a peculiar and needed position. Pennsyl- 
 vania had once been Democratic; I yearned to see it come back 
 again as the keystone State of the Democratic party. I trust 
 this is not passing beyond the bounds of propriety on such an 
 occasion as this, for I speak it respectfully of all, to whatever 
 party they may belong and whatever views they may hold. 
 The views of different sections are diverse; some common 
 ground must be found. Here was a wise, conservative, able, 
 moderate man would that more were like unto him and with 
 his aid and the aid of such the country could be better gov- 
 erned and better served. His death, therefore, came as a 
 shock. 
 
 I mourned him as a friend, I grieved over his death as a col- 
 league, I missed him from the committee table, but I deplore 
 his loss as a patriot. And I lay this simple tribute of my judg- 
 ment rather than of my affection upon his grave. Standing as 
 a representative of the people in this Hall, I record my solemn 
 conviction that in the long list of men who have composed this 
 august body none served the country more faithfully nor more 
 
Life and Character of William Mutchler. 51 
 
 conscientiously nor lived a sweeter, purer life than he whose 
 place on this floor has been filled by a beloved son, but whose 
 place in our hearts can be never filled except by his own image. 
 
 Mr. EEILLY. I now move the adoption of the resolutions as 
 read from the Clerk's desk. 
 
 The resolutions were agreed to; and in accordance with the 
 terms thereof (at 3 o'clock and 45 minutes p. m.) the House 
 adjourned until to-morrow, Friday, October 20, at 12 o'clock 
 noon. 
 
PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE. 
 
 ANNOUNCEMENT OF DEATH. 
 
 AUGUST 31, 1893. 
 
 Mr. CAMERON. Mr. President, I ask that the resolutions 
 which came from the House of Kepreseutatives relative to the 
 death of my late colleague in that House be laid before the 
 Senate. 
 
 The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair lays before the Senate 
 resolutions from the House of Representatives, which will be 
 read. 
 
 The Secretary read as follows: 
 
 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 
 
 August 8, 1893. 
 
 Resolved, That the House has heard with deep regret and 
 profound sorrow of the death of Hon. WILLIAM MUTCHLER, 
 late a Representative from the State of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Resolved, That the Clerk be directed to communicate a copy 
 of these resolutions to the Senate, and send a duly attested 
 copy to the widow of the deceased. 
 
 Resolved, That as a further mark of respect to our deceased 
 colleague the House do now adjourn. 
 
 Mr. CAMERON. Mr. President, I offer the resolutions which 
 I send to the desk, and I desire to accompany them with the 
 statement that at some appropriate time in the future I shall 
 address some remarks to the Senate in reference to my late 
 colleague in the House of Representatives. 
 
 53 
 
54 Proceedings in the Senate. 
 
 The PRESIDING OFFICER. The resolutions submitted by the 
 Senator from Pennsylvania will be read. 
 The Secretary read as follows : 
 
 Resolved, That the Senate has heard with profound sorrow 
 the announcement of the death of Hon. WILLIAM MUTCHLER, 
 late a Bepresentative from the State of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Resolved, That as a mark of respect to the memory of the 
 deceased the Senate do now adjourn. 
 
 The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to 
 the resolutions. 
 
 The resolutions were unanimously agreed to; and (at 3 
 o'clock and 13 minutes p. m.) the Senate adjourned until to- 
 morrow, Friday, September 1, 1893, at 12 o'clock m. 
 
EULOGIES. 
 
 FEBRUARY 8, 1894. 
 
 Mr. QUAY. Mr. President, I now ask, in pursuance of the 
 notice given some days ago, that the resolutions of the House 
 of Representatives upon the table of the Senate relative to the 
 death of Hon. WILLIAM MUTCHLER, of Pennsylvania, be laid 
 before the Senate. 
 
 The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair lays before the Senate 
 resolutions of the House of Representatives, which will be read. 
 
 The Secretary read as follows : 
 
 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 
 
 October 19, 1893. 
 
 Resolved, That the House has heard with profound sorrow 
 the announcement of the death of Hon. WILLIAM MUTCHLER, 
 late a Representative from the State of Pennsylvania, and 
 tender to his family assurances of sympathy in their sad 
 bereavement. 
 
 Resolved, That the business of the House be suspended that 
 opportunity may be given for fitting tribute to the memory of 
 our deceased colleague and to his eminent public and private 
 virtues, and great public services. 
 
 Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be transmitted to 
 the Senate, and, as a further mark of respect, that uppn the 
 conclusion of these ceremonies the House shall adjourn. 
 
 Mr. QUAY. I offer the resolutions which I send to the desk, 
 and I ask their immediate consideration. 
 
 The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Pennsylvania 
 asks for the immediate consideration of the resolutions sub- 
 mitted by him, which will be read. 
 
 55 
 
56 Address of Mr. Quay, of Pennsylvania, on the 
 The Secretary read the resolutions, as follows: 
 
 Resolved, That the Senate has heard with profound sorrow 
 the announcement of the death of Hon. WILLIAM MUTCHLER, 
 late a Representative from the State of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Resolved, That the business of the Senate be now suspended, 
 in order that fitting tribute be paid to his memory. 
 
 Resolved, That, as an additional mark of respect, the Senate, 
 at the conclusion of these ceremonies, do adjourn. 
 
 The Senate, by unanimous consent, proceeded to consider 
 the resolutions. 
 
 Mr. QUAY. I ask that the question may be now put on the 
 resolutions. 
 
 The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to 
 the resolutions of the Senator from Pennsylvania, which have 
 been read. 
 
 The resolutions were unanimously agreed to. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. QUAY, OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 Mr. PRESIDENT: Pennsylvania is sorely chastened. Her 
 furnace fires are going out. The wheels of her mills are mo- 
 tionless. Her farm lands are shrinking in value and passing 
 into the hands of the officers of the law. Her labor is unem- 
 ployed and in a condition of tremulous and dangerous unrest. 
 Not many days ago some of her citizens were compelled to 
 defend with armed hands their lives and property from a mob 
 of hungry men at the cost of the shedding of blood. To this 
 distress is added a deeper affliction. It is not likely it has 
 ever occurred since the establishment of this Government that 
 in any delegation to Congress from any State a mortality so 
 sudden and appalling has been experienced as that which 
 Pennsylvania has encountered. Of her thirty Representatives 
 elected to the Fifty-third Congress, three have been borne 
 
Life and Character of William. Mutchler. 57 
 
 hence to be laid in the earth while we are yet upon the outer 
 threshold of our deliberations. 
 
 The eastern portion of Pennsylvania, lying between the 
 Susquehanna and the Upper Delaware, was settled by pio- 
 neers of two distinct races. The Protestant-Irish came in from 
 the north of Ireland very soon after the colonization by William 
 Penn. They were hardy, aggressive, bold, and enterprising, 
 and held with their rifles the outer borders of the colony. 
 They constituted the skirmish line of our advancing civiliza- 
 tion and followed the frontier as it pushed westward and 
 southward, drifting through the valley of Virginia into the 
 Carolinas, pressing the Frenchman and the savage beyond the 
 Ohio, and floating down its waters to Kentucky and Tennessee 
 with little attachment to locality and ready abandonment of 
 their earliest settlements. 
 
 An entirely different population came out of Germany into 
 the same region and at about the same period. These were 
 frugal and industrious, obdurate and resolute in the defense 
 of their rights. They were patriotic, intelligent, and coura- 
 geous. Their names are on the rolls of our chief executives 
 and our judiciary, and are bright in the military history of all 
 the wars in which Pennsylvania has borne arms as colony and 
 Commonwealth. They were sedentary; where they kindled 
 their fires and made their clearings nearly two centuries ago 
 most of their descendants live to-day. Estates are held 
 amongst them for which not a title deed has passed since 
 the proprietary grant to the original settler. 
 
 The Scotch-Irish have largely passed into other regions, but 
 the Pennsylvania Germans populate the fertile valleys their 
 fathers tilled, now smiling with plenty, with ideas, manners, and 
 language to a large extent unchanged. It was to the latter 
 class of our population that my late colleague in the other 
 House of Congress, the Hon. WILLIAM MUTCHLER, belonged. 
 
58 Address of Mr, Quay, of Pennsylvania, on the 
 
 He was a descendant from the earliest settlers of eastern 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 Mr. MUTCHLER was born December 21, 1832, at Chain Dain, 
 Northampton County, Pa., and died at his home in Easton, 
 Pa., on the 23d of June, 1893. 
 
 He was but 7 years old at the death of his father, and upon 
 him and his brothers devolved the support of his mother. By 
 the proceeds of his own industry he acquired a classical educa- 
 tion, and close application and natural talent soon made him 
 familiar with the arts and polite literature. He studied 
 law in the office of his brother, and shortly after qualifying 
 himself for the practice of his profession he entered the office 
 of the sheriff of his county, where he served for a number of 
 years. He was twice elected prothonotary of his county, but 
 resigned during his second term to accept an appointment in 
 the internal-revenue department. 
 
 In politics, Mr. MUTCHLER was a Democrat and attained 
 prominence in the councils of his party. He was first elected 
 to the Forty-fourth Congress, and after an interval he was 
 chosen as a Representative to the Forty-seventh, Fifty-first, 
 Fifty-second, and Fifty-third Congresses. At the time of his 
 death he represented the Eighth Congressional district of 
 Pennsylania, comprising the counties of Carbon, Monroe, Pike, 
 and Northampton. 
 
 It was in 1869 that I first met Mr. MUTCHLER. He was then 
 chairman of the Democratic State Committee of Pennsylvania, 
 and I had the honor to occupy an important position in the 
 organization of the party to which 1 belong. The campaign 
 was perplexing, but Mr. MUTCHLER conducted the affairs of 
 his committee with admitted ability. After that campaign he 
 \va> not to any great extent within my observation, but I under- 
 stand that he resumed the practice of law and gained a high 
 and honorable position at the bar. 
 
Life and Character of William Mutchler. 59 
 
 During his Congressional service he was to the best of my 
 recollection always a Pennsylvanian, wedded absolutely to 
 what he considered to be the interests of his district and of his 
 State. With the people of his Congressional district he was 
 extremely popular. An evidence of the esteem in which he 
 was held by his constituents was shown when they selected 
 without contest his son, Hon. HOWARD MUTCHLER, to fill the 
 seat made vacant by the death of my late colleague. 
 
 As I have intimated, my acquaintance with my deceased 
 colleague was of the slightest character, and of the many ex- 
 cellent qualities he is said to have possessed I have had no 
 personal knowledge or experience. Therefore, as to his per- 
 sonal characteristics, it is not improper that I should quote 
 from a tribute paid to Mr. MUTCHLER'S memory by a fellow- 
 member of the other branch of Congress, whose relations with 
 him were of the closest nature : 
 
 As a lawyer he brought to the practice of his profession a 
 zeal and fidelity that made his client's cause his own. Honor- 
 able and honest in all his dealings with court and client, he 
 enjoyed the respect of all, and the eloquent and sincere tribute 
 of the bench and bar of his county at the time of his death 
 is the highest testimonial of his standing with them. He was 
 of sound judgment; studious and painstaking to seek the 
 right, and untiring in his efforts to sustain it. 
 
 Mr. MUTCHLER was a man of kindly disposition, social and 
 generous in all of his relations. He was a most devoted hus- 
 band and affectionate father, who idolized his family and who 
 worshipped at the hearthstone as an altar. As a friend he 
 was sincere, unflinching, and unswerving in that loyalty that 
 he made his own standard of friendship; and as a man he was 
 broad and charitable enough to make all mankind love him. 
 He was a great lover of nature in all its phases, and found much 
 pleasure in communing with it in all its forms. He seemed 
 desirous of delving into and unraveling all the great mysteries 
 of nature which surround us, and its study was a source of 
 interest and pleasure to him. He was of that disposition that 
 could " find tongues in trees, books in the running brook, ser- 
 mons in stones, and good in everything." 
 
60 Address of Mr. Mitchell, of Wisconsin, on the 
 
 A subject of especial interest to him, and one upon which he 
 loved to dilate, was the science of astronomy, with which he 
 was quite familiar. To read the stars, to watch the course of 
 the planets, to admire all the grandeur and beauties and won- 
 ders of the heavens, was always a matter of enjoyment, and 
 nothing afforded him more genuine pleasure than on a clear 
 night when the heavens were brilliantly studded to visit the 
 observatory, and, with the aid of a powerful telescope, look in 
 admiring wonder on the grand panorama there presented. The 
 heavens seemed to have an especial attraction for his mind, 
 and the sun, that "great orb of day," the fountain of all light 
 and life, challenged his unbounded admiration, and often he 
 expressed the wish: "When I die bury me with the setting of 
 the sun." This wish of their lamented dead was gratified by 
 his family and friends, and as the last remains of WILLIAM 
 MUTCHLER were lowered into the cold and silent grave in the 
 beautiful cemetery near his home the sun was sinking below 
 the western horizon. 
 
 This eulogium, Mr. President, I believe to be just as it is 
 generous. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. MITCHELL, OF WISCONSIN. 
 
 Mr. PBESIDENT: As stated by the Senator from Pennsyl- 
 vania, Mr. WILLIAM MUTCHLER was born sixty-two years ago 
 near Easton, Pa. His people were farmers. The early loss of 
 his father threw him upon his own resources. The support of 
 a widowed mother devolved upon an elder brother and himself. 
 A hard struggle for existence gave him a self reliance which 
 became a predominant characteristic, and the pinch of pov- 
 erty in his youth taught him a sympathetic humanity which 
 made him universally beloved. From the farm to the academy ; 
 from the scholar's desk to the lawyer's study ; from the law 
 ottice to a seat iu the House of Representatives these are the 
 successive steps which mark Mi'. Mi.'TCiiLKifs career. 
 
Life and Character of William Mutchler. 61 
 
 Mr. MUTCHLER served some six terms in Congress. A 
 neighbor of his gives with friendly warmth of expression the 
 secret of his political strength: 
 
 The confidence of those who have political power to bestow 
 lie obtained early and held fast. It is a plant of slow growth, 
 but when its roots take hold it is sturdier than the forest oak. 
 He acquired that confidence because he deserved it. Even 
 from the beginning the people trusted his honesty no less than 
 his judgment, and he never deceived them. In the heated 
 conflicts for political supremacy, which he so long maintained, 
 adversaries stubbornly fought, criticised, censured, often tra- 
 duced; so was it ever. But when the fight was ended and 
 the temper cooled, it was seen the popular will went not astray. 
 He was strongly conservative; those he represented were not 
 quick to adopt new beliefs; he waited until they were ready 
 to accept new forms and a new faith, and when he pushed 
 onward they knew the time had come. 
 
 He was in closest touch with the material interests of his 
 State and country; he often stood in the minority, but not for 
 temporary advantage would he surrender conviction, and time 
 was his avenger. It was sometimes thought he was a master 
 in political art, but the secret of his success lay upon the sur- 
 face; his long ascendancy was maintained because he was 
 honest. His enemies sought for the key as if concealed in the 
 meshes of a diplomatic skill, or looked for wires which they 
 conceived turned the distant switches. But honesty is some- 
 times the best policy, even in politics. His word was truth 
 itself^ he never made a political promise that he did not keep, 
 if he could, with the same observance as a personal bond. 
 Others have maintained brief power, but they were willing to 
 sacrifice friends to placate enemies, and now their names are 
 writ in water. 
 
 At the opening of the Fifty-second Congress I met Mr. 
 MUTCHLER for the first time. The Democratic members were 
 then up in arms over the Speakership. Mr. MUTCHLER and I 
 found ourselves in the camp of Mr. Mills, now the brilliant 
 Senator from Texas. At our frequent consultations Mr. 
 MUTCHLER attracted me. His hair of raven black, his 
 swarthy hue, his prominent features and deep set eyes, together 
 with the gravity of his countenance, overspread at times with 
 a look of sadness, made his an impressive face. The earnest- 
 
62 Address of Mr. Mitchell, of Wisconsin, on the 
 
 ness of his utterances and the perfect serenity of his temper 
 drew me toward him. I sought an acquaintance and secured 
 a friend. When our leader went down in the conflict, from 
 Mr. MUTCHLER there came no murmur of discontent. There 
 was no chafing about committee appointments, for hewas made 
 of knightly stuff', and he enlisted at once right loyally under 
 the banner of his party's chosen chieftain. 
 
 The organization of the Democratic Congressional committee 
 brought me into intimate association with Mr. MUTCHLER. 
 Few of the members of the committee took their duties seriously. 
 Attendance at a meeting or two and the subject passed out of 
 mind. Not so with Mr. MUTCHLER. Not a meeting did he 
 miss. There he stood with his native sagacity, reenforced by 
 a wealth of political experience, ever ready to advance the 
 interests of his party. In the last Congress, Mr. MUTCHLER 
 was charged by the Committee on Appropriations with the 
 conduct and defense of the pension bill. Conscientious, scrupu- 
 lously exact, his statements commanded the confidence of the 
 House. With him the consideration of this measure, carrying 
 many millions, was not a mere matter of money to be expended. 
 Into his advocacy of the bill he threw a patriot's fervor. Said 
 he, speaking of the pensioners: 
 
 The names of these men are found among those who, when 
 the life of the Eepublic was in peril, went forth to meet the 
 foe and nobly saved it from dismemberment and destruction. 
 And who will say that they ought not now to be provided for 
 out of the abundant revenues of that Government which, only 
 for them, would be but a fragment of its former self, and whose 
 glory and magnificence would be in fragments also? I repeat, 
 who will claim that the Government is doing better by the old 
 soldier than he deserves? 1 do not understand that our Dem- 
 ocratic brethren really claim this. They scold about the enor- 
 mous appropriations for pensions. * * * They criticise the 
 administration of the Pension Bureau and clamor for investi- 
 gation, which every one is willing they should have. * * * 
 
 In short, they keep up a sort of running tire on the subject, 
 suggesting fraud, extravagance, and the political use of the 
 
Life and Character of William Mutchler. 63 
 
 Pension Bureau, none of which they prove, however ; but I do 
 not understand anyone in this Hall, and but few throughout 
 the country, North or South, have the hardihood to deny that 
 the Union soldier is entitled not only to a liberal pension, but 
 to the thanks of the American people, and especially the 
 thanks of those whom he met and overcame on the field of 
 strife, for now they realize that this great country is not only 
 a splendid but a happy land more splendid and happy th#n 
 any that could have been built out of any portion of it. 
 
 "Bury me at the setting of the sun." These were Mr. 
 MUTCHLER'S parting words. This pathetic injunction was ten- 
 derly observed, and now upon his grave fall thick the perfected 
 flowers of eloquence. I ask the privilege to place among them 
 my simple tribute of aifection and respect for the man, the 
 legislator, and the patriot. 
 
 ADDRESS OF MR. HANSBROUGH, OF NORTH DAKOTA. 
 
 Mr. PRESIDENT : My acquaintance with WILLIAM MUTCH- 
 LER was not of that intimate character that usually grows out 
 of long and close association ; yet it was more than a casual 
 acquaintance. I saw him almost every day as a member of the 
 Fifty-first Congress, and came in contact with him so far as to 
 feel that he was a man of many rare good qualities. There 
 are those in this Chamber, however, knowing him intimately 
 through many years, who are better able than I to pay tribute 
 to his memory. 
 
 As I knew him he was a quiet, unassuming gentleman, 
 always frank and courteous. He impressed me as a person 
 embodying also those other admirable attributes, honesty and 
 sincerity. To my mind there should be a joyous future for 
 such a character a bright hereafter filled with perpetual 
 peace; and, reasoning thus, I believe there is. Is it so with 
 him who has pursued a life the exact reverse of the one I have 
 
64 Address of Mr. Hansbrough, of North Dakota, on the 
 
 described? It is difficult to believe it. But of this it was not 
 designed that mortal man should know. Science lias failed to 
 find it out; philosophy is content to speculate. 
 
 After all, why should we consume the short hours of our 
 lives in attempting to go further than to deserve the best that 
 the mysterious future may have in store for the deserving? 
 The ardent aspiration of man to peer beyond the curtains that 
 shut out eternity has never been rewarded. A modern essay 
 ist, who was asked what became of spiritual man after death, 
 replied by igniting a match, and when only the charred stem 
 remained, he said: "If you will tell me where the flame we 
 just saw has gone, I will give you a theory concerning the 
 final abode of the soul." The questioner was silent. Had he 
 been a less thoughtful man he would have reminded the essay- 
 ist that the flame had simply "gone out," and the essayist 
 would have replied, "So does the light of man go out." 
 
 The ancients knew as much as this. They, too, believed a 
 great deal more in regard to the future state than we claim to 
 believe. And they came quite as near verifying it. The soul 
 which passed the trying ordeal before Osiris secured a blissful 
 and eternal rest, according to the code of Egyptian morals, but 
 it was obliged to defend itself in no unmistakable terms. "I 
 have not been idle; I have not been intoxicated; I have not 
 told secrets ; I have not told falsehoods ; I have not defrauded ; 
 I have not slandered ; I have not caused tears ; I have given 
 food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, and clothes to the 
 naked." These were the credentials upon which the spirit of 
 the Xile dweller rested its case before the bar of eternal judg- 
 ment. Four thousand years have elapsed since this catechism 
 came in vogue. The human mind seems to have been as capa- 
 ble of ideals and ideas at that date as it is now. There is 
 greater simplicity perhaps since the world became steadied by 
 Christianity, but there has been indifferent progress toward 
 the absolute certainty of the spirit's destiny. 
 
Life and Character of William Mutchler. 65 
 
 Applicants for admission at the portals of eternity in our time 
 must have obeyed the Ten Commandments, just as the devout 
 Egyptian who passed before Osiris had obeyed his ritual for 
 the soul's journey beyond the tomb. 
 
 It was the eternal hope and belief of the Hindoo a thousand 
 years before Christ that the righteous would be glorified by 
 absorption as a part of the Supreme Being. Few modern 
 theologians can picture a more beautiful condition ; nor will 
 they advance a more reasonable solution of the after life. 
 
 When the Buddhists, as they aimed to do, "reformed" the 
 Brahmin faith, they laid dwn six transcendent virtues alms, 
 morals, science, energy, patience, and charity. These were 
 their stepping stones to eternal repose. A thousand years later 
 Constantine espied the flaming cross in the midday sky, and 
 though the emblem of faith has been carried in triumph to every 
 spot upon this globe our struggles toward a higher and better 
 estate upon earth have not yet opened the door upon the future 
 so that we may see within. 
 
 But there has been some progress. In the midst of a great 
 diversity and a wide disparity of faiths hope has grown stronger. 
 There has been much reasoning. We are drawn to a common 
 conclusion concerning the after world by what we know of that 
 which has passed. With the dawning of an age full of practi- 
 cal things the footing of the faithful has become firmer. The 
 basis of belief has broadened. 
 
 So that when we stand at the grave of our departed friend we 
 regret but do not mourn his loss, for, with the record of his 
 good deeds before us and knowing that he led an upright life, 
 our intuition teaches us that his compensation is full and com- 
 plete. By whatsoever theory we may contrive to satisfy our 
 natural curiosity as to his spiritual condition we are doomed 
 eventually to confess our helplessness. If we know that his was 
 a correct life that seems to be all that we are to know. The 
 H. Mis. 93 5 
 
66 Address of Mr. Hansbrongh, of North Dakota. 
 
 rest may safely be left with the Giver of all Good. It is enough 
 for us, as Pindar has stated it, that 
 
 All human bodies yield to death's decree, 
 The soul survives to all eternity. 
 
 The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Gallinger in the chair). Under 
 the last of the series of resolutions adopted the Senate stands 
 adjourned. 
 
 Accordingly (at 3 o'clock and 25 minutes p. m.) the Senate 
 adjourned until Monday, February 12, 1894, at 12 o'clock m. 
 
FUNERAL SERMON. 
 
 REV. MAYNE. 
 ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-EIGHTH PSALM. EIGHTH VERSE. 
 
 " The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me." 
 
 Grace be unto you and peace from God the Father and our 
 Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, Amen. 
 
 "Bury me at the setting of the sun." We are here, my 
 friends, to put this the frequently expressed, touching and 
 long cherished wish of the distinguished dead now into exe- 
 cution. The dead the husband, the father, the friend, the 
 man, the Congressman. 
 
 It needs not that I should laud to-day him whom death has 
 claimed. No tongue, however eloquent, can do justice to a 
 great and good life. Such a life speaks its own eulogy. It 
 proclaims its own true, just and all-sufficient praise, and the 
 sentiment it utters must stand forever undisputed and uncon- 
 tradicted. 
 
 Mr. MUTCHLER was a man with a life's mission. A mission 
 such as men adopt as their calling voluntarily yet uncon- 
 sciously guided in their selection by the invisible hand of 
 Divine providence, and the will of Divine omniscience. For 
 his mission to which God, through the voice of the people, 
 called him to a career extending over a period of forty years 
 of public services, He eminently endowed him. Physically, 
 it needed but that the toga should be thrown about his 
 
 67 
 
68 - Funeral Sermon, 
 
 shoulders and be would have been an ideal Roman Senator. 
 Mentally, He gave him the mind and genius of a statesman. 
 Morally, He made him the soul of honor. Spiritually, He 
 made him a man whose religion was not in the meaningless 
 words of the tongue, but within himself, in his proud bosom. 
 With the energy of which his combined nature was capable, 
 he betook himself to the work of fulfilling his solemn trust. 
 
 I can not banish from my own mind the thought that has 
 been uppermost in the minds of thousands since his death; 
 that, humanly thinking and speaking, death claimed him all 
 too soon. 
 
 Too soon for himself and his ambition an ambition pure 
 and unselfish, cherished alone for the good he might do. As 
 one dear to his heart, the son of his heart, the son of his own 
 bosom, said a day ago " it seemed that father had just thrown 
 up his hand and grasped the top round of the ladder of his 
 ambition." 
 
 His star was indeed in the ascendency. It crept up slowly, 
 yet none the less surely, over the horizon, and up the east- 
 ern heavens to take its place in the galaxy of great men which 
 shine in the firmament of our country. He died too soon for 
 the nation to the maintenance of whose honor and well-being 
 he consecrated himself. Too soon, all too soon, for the gallant 
 constituency whom he served so long and so well, and who 
 placed implicit trust and unlimited confidence in his integrity 
 and ability. 
 
 His life work, then, seems to stand before us in this hour 
 like a proud, yet uncompleted temple a temple, though in- 
 complete, yet bearing in every arch and pillar, anglrand stone, 
 the marks of a master builder. 
 
 And although God hasbiddrn tln> workman stop, with what 
 haste have men great men far and near hurried to do honor 
 to his memory and bring tributes to his worth. 
 
Funeral Sermon. 69 
 
 These gracious words are uttered by men not strangers to 
 him, but men who stood shoulder to shoulder with him in the 
 momentous affairs of state and politics, or faced him the 
 chivalrous antagonist he was in the bitter conflict of political 
 warfare. Surely their praise must be just, their garlands 
 unfading! I will let them speak now. Hear them. They are 
 worthy of your attention : " His was a grand and unsullied 
 life." " He was a man of integrity and honor." "An earnest, 
 honest, faithful man." "A man of elevated purpose." "A 
 man of loyal heart." "A faithful, fearless Representative." 
 "He was one of the most able and efficient members of Con- 
 gress." " Randall alone was his equal." This is praise indeed, 
 my friends ! 
 
 Such a structure as he builded can not remain unfinished. 
 That which the passage of God's holy word which I have 
 quoted foreshadows shall not fail, for "God will perfect that 
 which concerneth him." I can well see how a structure reared 
 on foundations of sand and built of stones with nothing to 
 bind them together, must fall when two or three storms have 
 spent their fury upon it. But, oh, my friends, a structure 
 whose foundations rest upon the solid rock of principle, in 
 which every stone is cemented and bound to the other, in solid 
 compact mass, will defy the storm. Such a structure, I say, 
 must endure through the years. 
 
 It never can be, that a noble life well spent, whatever its 
 sphere may have been, shall be despoiled of its glory or lost 
 in its effect. That life is hidden in the hand of God and it 
 rests secure there. 
 
 And in this confident assurance lies the answer to the ques- 
 tion so often asked with apparent anxiety in these days, "who 
 shall succeed him?" and who shall represent with equal pro- 
 ficiency, satisfaction, and honor the important Eighth district 
 in Congress? It may be years; it must be years before that 
 can be possible, but the man will be found. 
 
70 Funeral Sermon. 
 
 Is he within reach of my voice to-day ? Then let him mark 
 the nobility of the heritage which this death brings him. If 
 the mantle of the distinguished Eepresentative has fallen upon 
 him. let him not forget that it is only by the decree of a Divine 
 Providence that a door so eminent as this stands open before 
 him. For I venture to say that had Mr. MUTCHLER lived 
 twenty years longer he would have died a Congressman still, 
 and that, too, one in continuous and uninterrupted service. 
 Before the force of a pure, able, strong political life, the rights 
 and claims of individuals, sections, and even parties, other- 
 wise to be recognized, are all swept away. 
 
 But why longer speak of these things? - Death has changed 
 all. ?To, no; I will correct myself. There are things which 
 death even can not alter the force and benign influence of the 
 whole life of him now sleeping here the man of unstained 
 character, of unsullied honor a great and good man. 
 
 And now, dear ones, you, whose loss is great beyond all 
 others, what shall I say to you? 
 
 The tributes of men, friend and foe foes only by necessity 
 and not in fact will go far to reconcile you, I am sure, to your 
 loss to-day, and make it lighter to be borne. The honor his 
 distinguished career in public service and in private life 
 attaches to the name you bear his name can do something 
 to lessen the bitterness of this hour to you. Yet these things 
 can not and will not satisfy all that your stricken hearts crave 
 to-day. 
 
 It is said that men are great as rulers of nations; great 
 when they sit in councils of state; great in legislative halls; 
 great when they stand in defense of their country's liberty; 
 great when they enact laws that shall continue to secure the 
 country's prosperity, and regulate the affairs of men with 
 justice and equity. 
 
 Will you say, as men say in these days, and have repeatedly 
 
Funeral Sermon. 71 
 
 t 
 said of him, that he was greatest in the part he played in some 
 
 of these things ? I know you will not. You will say he was 
 greatest in the capacity of husband and father, and you give 
 expression to a universal truth all too little acknowledged and 
 recognized. 
 
 To you, in this phase also of his life now concluded, much 
 seems uncompleted. You cry out and say, "Oh, for a few 
 more rays of the sunlight that fell from his presence ! Oh, 
 for more of his tender, sincere, childlike love ! Oh, for a few 
 more years of the many precious one now* dead!" 
 
 He loved you. He loved his home. It was his sanctuary 
 of peace. Back to it he came when the din of political warfare 
 was hushed. Back to it he loved to come to refresh himself 
 with its sweet stillness, its undisturbed quiet, when weary 
 and worn by the cares incident to his public life. 
 
 Back he came to you, faithful companion, wife of his youth; 
 and to you, son, the fearless champion of your father's honor, 
 to have you draw out with the gracious hand of love the 
 bitter arrows shot into his heart by the enemy in the day of 
 tumultuous strife. Back he came to you, then, that you might 
 assuage these bleeding wounds by the sweet balm of a holy 
 affection, and that he might receive from you that gracious 
 comfort which all else denied him, save God and you alone. 
 
 In the text word which I have made the expression of the 
 lips which shall never open to speak again on earth, when it 
 is said, "The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me," I 
 need not emphasize the fact that in the term "me," "mine" is 
 also included, and preeminently so. To the true father the term 
 " mine " is expressive of more precious things than are embraced 
 in the designation "me." This word comprehends the most 
 sacred things God has associated with human life. 
 
 Shall you doubt that all which the heart, now silent, once 
 cherished and hoped in your behalf shall be consummated, at 
 
72 Funeral Sermon. 
 
 least to that extent which a gracious God may deem best for 
 you? 
 
 At your feet, faded like beautiful flowers, lies much which 
 your heart fondly cherished. You say it is imperfect! But, 
 stricken ones, you would be favored above all other men whom 
 I have ever known could you confess to-day " all we prayed, 
 hoped, and lived for has been realized." 
 
 God has reserved perfection for a brighter clime and a hap- 
 pier world than this will ever prove to be; for a day whose 
 morning may break very, very soon ! 
 
 The stars and suns that set, only go dowc to rise and shine 
 again upon other and fairer lands. There God will give to 
 His own fullest satisfaction! complete satiety! There "we 
 shall be satisfied." To that glad day you are rapidly borne 
 forward on time's swift-flowing stream. 
 
 And now to God, whose ever gracious, though oft heavy 
 hand, has wrought all this, we reverently commend the spirit 
 of him whom he has called away. To Him we lovingly com- 
 mend you, and to His faithful care and keeping. Till life's 
 latest day may this " God ' who doeth all things well ' be your 
 refuge and underneath you the everlasting arms." Amen. 
 
MEETING OF THE NORTHAMPTON COUNTY BAR. 
 
 EASTON, PA., June 26, 1893. 
 
 Resolved, That we, the members of the Bar of Northampton 
 County, recognize in the death of Hon. WILLIAM MUTCHLER 
 the loss of a most distinguished brother. He was of eminent 
 standing here, had rare social and engaging characteristics 
 as a man, and was stamped with the seal of most unflinching 
 honesty; the country to which his long service was given, 
 needing wise counsels, never more than now, will greatly miss 
 his presence in her legislative halls; and we, his friends at 
 home, who knew him best, will hold it in unfading memory 
 that of his many virtues, his private and public life were both 
 without a stain. 
 
 Resolved, That we attend his funeral in a body as a mark of 
 our sincere respect and admiration. 
 
 Resolved, That our secretary be hereby instructed to for- 
 ward a copy of these resolutions to the family of the deceased, 
 and that he move the court to put upon its records a minute 
 of these proceedings. 
 
 ADDRESS OF HON. W. W. SCHUYLEB, PBESLDENT 
 
 JUDGE. 
 
 It is my painful duty to announce the death of the Hon. 
 WILLIAM MUTCHLER, a member of the bar, respected and 
 beloved. It is a somewhat remarkable coincidence that our 
 brother's death occurred on the twenty-fourth anniversary, 
 to the very day, of his admission to our ranks. I was one of 
 the committee before whom he passed his final examination. 
 
 73 
 
74 Meeting of the Northampton County Bar. 
 
 At this late day I am unable to recall the particulars of that 
 examination. I can only remember that it was eminently sat- 
 isfactory, and that our brother at once entered upon the duties 
 of his profession, which he continued to practice down to the 
 date of his death uninterruptedly, except when called away 
 by a loving constituency into a wider field of usefulness as a 
 member of the United States Congress. 
 
 He was a strong and able lawyer, but what appealed to me 
 most in his professional character was his rugged integrity and 
 his high sense of professional duty and propriety. Between us 
 this day let there be truth. I would not insult our brother's 
 memory by asking you to throw over his faults the mantle 
 of charity, for if he had any faults I never discovered them. 
 But I do not trust to my own knowledge. Tell me, you have 
 known him intimately during these years; tell me if in his 
 relations as a lawyer, whether to the court, or his clients, or 
 to yourselves, he has not been ever and always the very soul 
 of honor! 
 
 As an illustration of his nice sense of professional propriety 
 may 1 not be permitted to refer to a matter personal to myself? 
 Prior to my nomination and election to the bench, in which he 
 took a leading part, we had been the closest of friends for 
 nearly or quite twenty years, with the obligations all on my 
 side. During this long period I had received favors from him 
 almost innumerable, which, unfortunately, I seldom had an 
 opportunity to return. What more natural than a feeling on 
 his part that the time had arrived when he might justly lay 
 claim to my gratitude. If he ever had such a feeling I never 
 discovered the slightest indication of it. I have decided caea 
 against him in which he had the deepest interest, but when. wo 
 next met the same kind and cordial greeting awaited me. 
 And I now declare with the utmost sincerity and truth that 
 during the eleven years I have sat ui>on this bench he has 
 
Address of Hon. W. W. Schuyler, President Judge. 75 
 
 never by the slightest word or sign, either directly or indirectly, 
 attempted to influence uiy action as judge otherwise than by 
 fair argument in open court. He would have loathed me if he 
 had supposed that I could have been influenced in any other 
 way. Even in the matter of appointment to public office, 
 where something might be excused to friendship, I have had 
 to seek his better judgment, knowing full well that my confi- 
 dence would not be abused. 
 
 Of Mr. MUTOHLER'S career in Congress, I can speak only from 
 history. What that history is, we read in the public records 
 of the nation, in the messages of condolence received by his 
 family from every point of the compass, and in the comments 
 of the press of every political faith. We read, and read, and 
 read, and it is ever the same old story of sturdy virtue and 
 fidelity to duty. But, grand and unsullied as has been his 
 public life, it is not as a statesman or even as a lawyer that 
 we who know him best most delight to think of him, but of his 
 noble qualities as a man. Intolerant of wrong, whatever its 
 disguise, courageous in the defense of right, large hearted, 
 true to his word as the magnet to the pole, faithful to society, 
 thoughtful, kind, generous almost to a fault, was there ever a 
 truer type of genuine manhood? And what a following he 
 had! He had his enemies, as every man of positive character 
 must have, and these sometimes speak of him as a "boss." 
 Never was there a greater mistake. " The friends he had and 
 their adoption tried," and their name was legion, "he grappled 
 to his soul with hooks of steel," and they flocked to his stand- 
 ard because they loved him, and there is not one of them who 
 would not voluntarily have gone through fire to do him service. 
 Of my own personal loss in the death of Mr. MUTCHLER I dare 
 not trust myself to speak, even if the occasion were fit. I will 
 only say, in the language of another, that " I did love the man 
 
76 Meeting of the Northampton County Bar, 
 
 and do honor his memory, on this side idolatry, as much as 
 any." 
 
 And now, as a token of respect for the memory of our 
 departed brother, it is ordered that the court do now adjourn. 
 
 ADDRESS OF HON. O. H. MEYEES. 
 
 BRETHREN OF THE NORTHAMPTON COUNTY BAR: The 
 court having announced to us the death of Mr. MUTCHLER, a 
 member of this bar, it seems to me fit and proper that the bar of 
 Northampton County, of which Mr. MUTCHLER was an honored 
 member, should assemble and take fitting action upon this sad 
 occasion. Before making a motion to that effect I desire to 
 say a few words, for the reason that probably no member of 
 the bar, except his surviving brother, Henry M. Mutchler, 
 knew Mr. MUTCHLER longer than I did. I have known him, 
 personally and well, for over forty years. We were born and 
 bred in adjoining townships. He was born in Palmer Town- 
 ship. I did not meet him personally until after I was admitted 
 to the bar in 1849. My first acquaintance with him dated 
 from the time when I was acting as deputy sheriff for John 
 Bachman, then sheriff of this county. Mr. MUTCHLER was 
 then a young man about eighteen years of age and was attend- 
 ing the school of Dr. John Vandeveer. 1 used to see him on 
 the streets, and his jet black hair, dark eyes, and swarthy 
 complexion form an ineffaceable picture upon my mind, no 
 less than the modest, sober, almost sad expression of his coun- 
 tenance. 
 
 My first personal knowledge of him, as I have said, was after 
 the termination of my duties in the sheriff's office, when la- 
 became my successor under Sheriff Cope, and I remember well 
 when he came to the office the first time and announced that 
 he would take rny place, and the kindly spirit that he niani- 
 
Address of Hon. O. H. Meyers. 77 
 
 fested when lie said to me that he was sorry to do so, and tell- 
 ing me at the same time that Mr. Cope had requested him to 
 tell me that I should act as counsel for him while he was ill 
 that office. Mr. MUTCHLER occupied the office of deputy 
 sheriff under Mr. Cope, and also under Mr. Biegel and Thomas 
 Heckman, and in that way formed an acquaintance through- 
 out this county which, beginning then, lasted until this day. 
 I knew nothing of his family; though, after Mr. MUTCHLER 
 became somewhat of a power in this county, my father, who 
 was intimately acquainted with Mr. MUTCHLER'S father, used 
 to speak to me of Mr. MUTCHLER in high praise, telling ine 
 that his father was a hard-working man, a farmer, a man of 
 positive force and character, of sound integrity and honesty, 
 and whose word was as good as his bond, and that he has 
 raised a large family of stalwart sons who worked hard, and 
 that he had taught them to rely on their own resources and 
 upon their own labor for success in life. It was upon the farm 
 in Palmer Township, at the plow handle, and at the handle of 
 the scythe and pitchfork, and in the arduous labors of the 
 field in tilling the soil that Mr. MUTCHLER first learned his 
 duties to himself and others. 
 
 Of course he received a fair academical education at Van- 
 deveer's school. I used to meet him as we all did at the 
 old county house. In those days he was a man of noticeably 
 strong physique, and he took a certain pride in his strength 
 and vigor. I recollect one time when I sat in my office in 
 Lelm's court he came in, and I was reading a book at the time, 
 and asked me, " What are you reading?" calling me by rny 
 first name, and I told him that I was reading how Horatius 
 defended the bridge in the days of old Eome, and it struck me 
 that that would suit him because of his loyalty to courage and 
 strength, and I told him to read it, and I well remember his 
 expressions of admiration of the deed. I was acquainted with 
 
78 Meeting of the Northampton County Bar. 
 
 Mr. MUTCHLER intimately and closely from that time on until 
 his death. I met him more frequently prior to 1874 in per- 
 sonal, social, and political relations than I did afterwards, 
 because in 1875 I left the bar and then met him only as a mem- 
 ber of the bar, and of course only occasionally in a social and 
 personal way. 
 
 Mr. MUTCHLER was a man of high character; one of the 
 strongest characteristics of the man Was his integrity. He 
 was a man of untiring industry, and faithful to his friends 
 beyond the common degree of faithfulness. He was a faith- 
 ful servant of the public. He occupied, as I have said, the 
 office of deputy sheriff for nine years ; he served as prothono- 
 tary for six years; he afterwards served as internal-revenue 
 collector under the administration of President Johnson 
 and we all know how great the difficulty that President John- 
 son had, by reason of his dispute with the Senate, in filling 
 the offices of the Government. But there was no trouble in 
 regard to the confirmation of the appointment of Mr. MUTCH- 
 LER, for he received the indorsement not only of the leading 
 Democrats of the county and State, but he received as well 
 the indorsement of the leading Republicans of this county and 
 of this State, and was appointed to the office without difficulty, 
 and was confirmed in it by the Senate of the United States 
 without objection. After he retired from that position, with- 
 out taking the intermediate steps as a member of the lower 
 house or senate of this State, he was elected to be the Repre- 
 sentative of this district in the Congress of the United States. 
 He was a candidate four years before 1874, when he \v;is 
 elected, at the time when Mr. Storm received the nomination, 
 and after that for six, though not successive, terms he has 
 been elected to that high office. 
 
 Mr. MUTCHLER, to a great extent, belies the adage that "a 
 prophet is not without honor save in his own country," because 
 
Address of Hon. O. H. Meyers. 19 
 
 Mr. MUTCHLER to-day is held in high honor not only in his own 
 county and in his own State, but he is respected and esteemed 
 by his political associates in Congress from every State in the 
 Union without respect to party. 
 
 He had his faults. Who has not ? He had enemies political 
 enemies and such is always the fate of a man of positive 
 convictions and of strong force of character. But it gives me 
 great pleasure to say that he has outlived the slanders and the 
 abuse of his enemies, and that he has gone on in the path on 
 which he started forty years ago, and has gathered around 
 him in this county and this State a cohort of friends political, 
 social, and personal whom he has bound to him with bands 
 of iron and hooks of steel, and who are faithful to him with a 
 fidelity which few men in his life can claim for themselves. 
 
 Mr. MUTCHLER was only 62 years of age. He had reached a 
 commanding position in public affairs. He had not reached 
 the highest point of a noble and laudable ambition, nor a point 
 due to his deserts, and, though not a young man, strictly 
 speaking, he was still in the prime of life when he was stricken 
 down in the strength of his power and in the height of his use- 
 fulness. When I heard two weeks ago that he was taken 
 seriously ill in Pike County I was shocked, as everybody was, 
 and I know that we all felt a relief when we heard that it was 
 but a temporary trouble; and few of us knew after he had 
 returned that there was a relapse, and when his death was 
 announced on Friday morning we were shocked at his sudden 
 death. 
 
 Mr. MUTCHLER'S health had begun to fail several years 
 ago, and I recollect only too well when standing by the death- 
 bed of Cassius M. Anstett last summer in Washington Mr. 
 MUTCHLER called there, as he always did upon those of his 
 friends in affliction, how he tried to condole with me and the 
 soon to be a widow, and I recollect that it was then forced 
 
30 Meeting of the Northampton County Bar. 
 
 upon my observation that Mr. MUTCHLEB looked haggard 
 and pale, that he complained that he was not feeling well, and 
 at the same time he showed his deep solicitude and sympathy 
 for Mrs. Anstett and myself upon that trying occasion. 
 
 The court having adjourned in respect to the memory of 
 Mr. MUTCHLER, I now move that the members of the bar 
 meet to give expression to their sentiments in memory of our 
 brother, the Hon. WILLIAM MUTCHLER, and I move that the 
 Hon. W. W. Schuyler act as chairman of this meeting. 
 
 ADDRESS OP HEKRY W. SCOTT. 
 
 Mr. CHAIRMAN AND GENTLEMEN OF THE BAR : This was 
 no ordinary man. That rugged frame lies pale and pulseless 
 now, but it seemed made to last a hundred years. That soul 
 which dreamed, which doubted, yet believed, now unvexed by 
 temporal bonds, speculates no longer upon the great problems 
 of futurity; the books of science, of prophecy, of revelation, 
 which so often he explored, are turned down; the hands are 
 closed; for him the truth is known. But when he lived, he 
 was no coward, and did not fear to face Cartesian doubts. 
 
 He was such a familiar presence to most of us that it is not 
 easy to believe that he is gone; these walls still hear his 
 homely, but robust speech; these floors his feet so often 
 pressed still bear his measured tread. We still expect to 
 grasp that welcoming hand, to listen to that wholesome laugh- 
 ter which approved the friendly jest. 
 
 His birth was humble and his life was plain; he loved the 
 simple virtues ; he began poor and never acquired expensive 
 tastes ; his manners were those of the country people among 
 whom he lived; they all greeted him with the same friendly 
 ;ind common speech they were wont to use when he was young. 
 He became strong and powerful, but he never for one hour 
 lost the affections of those who loved him in earliest years. 
 
Address of Mr. Henry W. Scott. 81 
 
 He grew to manhood with royal bearing. In physical stature 
 he was "every inch a king." He bore the front of Jove him- 
 self ; his dark eyes set in cavernous depths, under a lofty dome 
 of forehead, reflected the impress of a greatness where Divinity 
 had set its seal. When he died his hair was yet dark as the 
 raven's wing ; and as Bulstrode Whitelocke said of the great 
 Earl Straffordj " his countenance was manly black." 
 
 The confidence of those who have political power to bestow 
 he obtained early and held long. It is a plant of slow growth, 
 but when its roots take hold it is sturdier than the forest oak. 
 He acquired that confidence because he deserved it ; from the 
 beginning the people trusted his honesty, no less than his 
 judgment, and he never deceived them. In the heated con- 
 flicts for political supremacy, which he so long maintained, 
 adversaries stubbornly fought, criticised, censured, often tra- 
 duced ; so was it ever. But when the fight was ended, and 
 the temper cooled, it was seen the popular will went not 
 astray. He was strongly conservative ; those he represented 
 were not quick to adopt new beliefs ; he waited until they 
 were ready to accept new forms and a new faith, and when he 
 pushed onward they knew the time had come. 
 
 He was in closest touch with the material interests of his 
 State and country; he often, stood in the minority, but not 
 for temporary advantage would he surrender conviction, and 
 time was his avenger. It was sometimes thought he was a 
 master in political art; but the secret of his success lay upon 
 the surface; his long ascendency was maintained because he 
 was honest. His enemies sought for the key as if concealed in 
 the meshes of a diplomatic skill, or looked for wires which they 
 conceived turned the distant switches. But honesty is some- 
 times the best policy, even in politics. His word was truth 
 itself; he never made a political promise that he did not keep, 
 if he could, with the same observance as a personal bond. 
 H. Mis. 93 6 
 
82 Meeting of the Northampton County Bar. 
 
 Others have maintained brief power, but they were willing to 
 sacrifice friends to placate enemies, and now their names are 
 writ in water. 
 
 Let it be well remembered that thirty years of personal supe- 
 riority in politics can not be sustained by dishonest methods; 
 let it be known, too, that for most of all those years he could 
 not dispense national patronage as rewards to his faithful fol- 
 lowing. The mass of the people may sometimes be u fickle 
 changelings and poor discontents," but their final judgment is 
 seldom or never wrong; they may gaze with wonder, it may 
 be with admiration, at a brilliant political comet of the season ; 
 but that passes beyond the horizon, and they turn with rest- 
 ful contemplation to the fixed star that sheds its steady radi- 
 ance in the sky. 
 
 His tastes were pure and childlike ; he loved plain people, 
 plain living, plain thinking; he was close to nature's heart; 
 he found no enjoyment in the noise and turmoil of large 
 cities; he loved the country and its simple pleasures, never 
 happier than when with a few friends he could get to the 
 green fields or shady woods ; and it was in such a place the 
 summons came to him that the end was near. His mind was 
 clean ; he could not tolerate the broad and suggestive hint of 
 vulgar jokes. All those who knew him in most familiar moods 
 will not recall a single phrase he ever uttered that the most 
 pure-minded woman might not hear without a blush to tinge 
 the cheek with shame. 
 
 To-day these dripping skies give fit expression to our pur- 
 pose here ; to-morrow we follow his funeral pall to the tomb 
 now open to receive its guest; in that grave there will be rest 
 for him, whose life was full of struggles, of contentions, of 
 triumphs, yet not exempt from the censorious judgments of 
 baffled and disappointed ambitions. Such examples are not 
 wholly lost either in life or death, for now all controversy ends; 
 
Address of Hon. W. S. Kirkpatrick. 83 
 
 it is only remembered how that poor boy of half a century ago 
 became a leader of thought in his country's councils, and that 
 country now mourns for him, that the wires are laden with 
 messages from high officers of State, that when he died the 
 flags in the city of his home were displayed at half-mast, and 
 newspapers that mold the opinions of the world filled their 
 columns with memorials of the dead. 
 
 ADDRESS OF HON. W. S. KIRKPATRICK. 
 
 In rising to second these resolutions I can not refrain from 
 saying a word, a friendly word, of affectionate remembrance 
 of our departed friend and brother. The general sorrow which 
 prevails in this community, the expression of sadness which 
 we see upon every face, is a mute testimony, stronger than 
 words of eulogistic phrase, of the loss which we feel has befallen 
 us. But Mr. MUTOHLER was a man whose life and character 
 can not be lost a man whose memory will always be treasured 
 by a host of warm and devoted friends and companions. My 
 acquaintance with Mr. MUTCHLEB commenced before my pro- 
 fessional career began. From my first relations with him I 
 have ever felt a deep and warm admiration for him, an affec- 
 tionate feeliog inspired and intensified by his kindly and friendly 
 manifestations of interest, and the warm and helpful sympa- 
 thy which he always manifested in the vicissitudes and diffi- 
 culties which it has been my lot to encounter. He was a man 
 in whose life and character there is no flaw, although, as has 
 been suggested, he has been the subject of hostile criticism, 
 as all men in public and active life must be. His was a career 
 and a life which will, as time goes on, and as we reflect upon 
 and recall that life, grow brighter in our memories in spite of 
 the receding years. 
 
84 Meeting of the Northampton County Bar. 
 
 He was a type of a strong-limbed and strong-minded race, 
 the best exponent of a people among whom he spent his life 
 and in whose service he labored so devotedly for so many 
 years. Not only has he been appreciated at home, where, 
 upon a near view, perhaps, a man's faults are more likely to 
 be more prominently disclosed than his virtues, but abroad 
 and in the wider walks of public life he had the respect and 
 confidence of all who came in contact with him, of all with 
 whom and for whom he labored in the public service. His 
 calm judgment, his conservative disposition, his strong com- 
 mon sense, his directness of speech, were qualities that com- 
 mended him to the attention, the respect, and the confidence 
 of public men, of men high in the public service, of men close 
 to the sources of national life and power. 1 think that all 
 that is said in these resolutions, all that has been said by your 
 honor in the performance of the sad and solemn ceremony of 
 adjourning the court as a token of respect to the memory of 
 our departed friend and brother, all that has been said by my 
 brethren of the bar who have preceded me is but commensurate 
 with his merit and his character, for he was in all respects a 
 large-minded man, a generous hearted man, an honest man, 
 and he was a great power and influence in this community for 
 good, a man whose example and whose memory will be among 
 the most precious inheritances of this bar and of this people 
 among whom he had his lot and to whom he ever rendered 
 faithful and devoted service. 
 
 ADDRESS OF HON. WILLIAM BEIDELMAN. 
 
 I have known Mr. MUTCHLER for nearly thirty years, and 
 it is now just twenty-five years ago since we were brought 
 together into close intimate and personal relations, which only 
 ceased to exist on the early morn of Friday last, when he, 
 
Address of Hon. William Beidelman. 85 
 
 whose voice is now stilled in death, met the inevitable, which 
 sooner or later will come to us all. 
 
 Since the commencement of those relations there have been 
 very many mutual confidences between us as we traveled along 
 together, often in pursuit of the same purpose, aiming at a 
 common end. It is through such means that I .learned to know 
 Mr. MUTCHLER well, acquiring a complete knowledge and 
 insight into all the traits of his character as a man, a citizen, 
 and a friend. There are many incidents which transpired 
 during that time, personal to ourselves, which have tended to 
 endear him to me, the recollections of which call forth the 
 sublimest emotions of the human heart, and which are too 
 sacred to be told even here upon this sorrowful occasion at a 
 time when the springs of our human sympathies are made to 
 flow by a common grief. 
 
 But these are matters which do not concern the world, but 
 we are permitted to refer to them because they are the sources 
 of a friendship which only death could sever. 1 will leave it 
 to others to speak of Mr. MUTCHLER'S honorable public career, 
 his unstained public and private character, and the ability, 
 fidelity, and fearlessness with which he met every public and 
 private duty. 
 
 He has been so long and prominently before the people that 
 all who knew him learned to honor and respect him for his great 
 personal worth. The universal esteem in which he has been 
 held is manifested by the sorrow which prevails throughout 
 this entire community, amongst all classes, irrespective of party 
 or political affiliations, and also as is shown by the many mes- 
 sages of condolence to his family, coming from the most dis- 
 tinguished throughout the State, as well as from beyond. The 
 encomiums of the press, including many papers opposed to Mr. 
 MUTCHLER politically, show how the better side of our human- 
 ity can hush all political resentments in the presence of the 
 
86 Meeting of the Northampton County Bar. 
 
 death of a good and useful citizen. These eulogies in honor 
 of the virtues and high character of our friend who has now 
 passed away, much too early, betoken a much more disinter- 
 ested praise than our own kind but feeble words can do; and 
 they should, as we stand by his open grave, bring humility to 
 those who still harbor resentment, if any such there be. 
 
 It is the fate of all brave men possessed of honest convic- 
 tions and the courage to seek their enforcement, to have ene- 
 mies rise up against them. Mr. MUTCHLER was not exempt 
 from this common fate. But his enemies are of a class of whom 
 no serious note was ever taken, for they are not the enemies 
 of an honest and generous rivalry, who command respect, but 
 rather of the envious, whose hearts are filled with the rancor 
 of disappointed hopes or wounded ambition enemies who are 
 chafing because they have failed to receive that recognition, 
 which they vainly imagine their importance demands. How 
 little such people can injure an honest and upright man, is 
 shown by the repeated and unqualified indorsement of Mr. 
 MUTCHLER by the people of his Congressional district. While 
 we witness all around the evidences of genuine sorrow and 
 true, manly grief of his neighbors, friends, and of those from a 
 distance who have for a long time been associated with him in 
 his spotless public career, because he is no more, we who 
 remain behind will still have a pleasing heritage of having 
 known such a man as WILLIAM MUTCHLER, and to have been 
 honored by his confidence and friendship. To commemorate 
 his virtues we need not indulge in meaningless words of ful- 
 some praise and flattery, but a single line will tell the whole 
 story in trumpet tones, and that is, "He was an honest man." 
 
Address of Mr. Thomas F. Emmens. 87 
 
 ADDRESS OF THOMAS F. EMMENS. 
 
 Mr. CHAIRMAN, GENTLEMEN OF THE BAR : We are brought 
 together to-day by one of the highest motives that can actuate 
 the minds of men. We come to honor those nobler qualities 
 of the soul which are the attributes of an earnest, honest, 
 faithful man. This meeting is more than the formal observ- 
 ance of a courteous custom. The instinctive reverence of 
 humanity for truth and justice, for purity of heart, honesty 
 of purpose, and righteousness of life, dignifies and solemnizes 
 this assemblage. The tears that are shed well up from throb- 
 bing hearts because the true heart of a good man which was 
 full of kindness and love towards his fellows is forever still in 
 death. Such tears are sacred. 
 
 I had looked forward to this meeting with dread in my mind 
 that I might not be able so far to control myself as to pay my 
 poor tribute to the memory of my friend ; but since I have 
 read that which is written of him, since I have pondered on 
 the story of his life, and have listened to those who have 
 spoken of him, I have had a feeling akin to exultation in the 
 thought that the hand of death, which has torn the heart- 
 strings of his friends, has opened for him the doors of fame 
 and has closed forever the gates of envy. He was my friend. 
 I loved him. And I love to honor his memory. 
 
 WILLIAM MUTCHLER occupied so large a place in public 
 life that the mere casual observer never comprehended the 
 height and depth and length and breadth of his services and 
 influence in the councils of the nation. Modest and retiring, 
 he shrank from notoriety. The public work that kept him 
 busy was done without ostentation quietly and as a matter 
 of course, because it was his duty. But it is recorded. And 
 when the truth as to his arduous, painstaking, faithful labors 
 in public life comes to be written it will be found that in the 
 
88 Meeting of the Northampton County Bar. 
 
 expenditure of vital force in the discharge of his duty as a rep- 
 resentative of the people at Washington he as truly gave up 
 his life for his country as any soldier who died upon the battle- 
 field. 
 
 During his years of public service he saw men grow rich on 
 the spoils of office and made famous by the selfish use of politi 
 cal power. He saw his motives misconstrued, his purposes 
 misrepresented, his conduct harshly and unjustly criticised. 
 But none of these things had power to move him. He was 
 always quietly confident in the belief that Truth prevails. And 
 again and again his vindication came in a triumphant return 
 to Washington and the ever-increasing consideration and re- 
 spect of the people. And now, as we stand by the body that 
 was his and do reverence to the loftiness and purity of the 
 soul that has taken its flight, many for the first time begin to 
 realize how great a man we had among us. His spotless char- 
 acter and unsullied fame honored the county of his birth and 
 the people he represented. 
 
 If it had been in the nature of the man to use the political 
 power he possessed for his own personal advantage, he could 
 have acquired wealth. But he preferred that good name 
 which is better than great riches. Thank God for our dear 
 dead friend ! Not all the wealth a dozen Goulds or Vander- 
 bilts might command could have bought him to do a mean or 
 a dishonest thing. 
 
 He was a man to trust. A distinguished member of Con- 
 gress, now deceased, said: " If I were now about to die and 
 leave a fortune to my orphaned daughters, I would put it in 
 the hands of WILLIAM MUTCIILER as their guardian, and die 
 without a fear of their future." 
 
 Those who knew him best loved him most and relied upon 
 him most implicitly. In his career the promise of the Scrip 
 ture to him that walketh righteously and spcakcfh uprightly 
 
Address of Mr. Thomas F. Emmens. 89 
 
 was fulfilled. And in death there is the same sure promise 
 that his eyes shall see the King in his beauty; they shall be- 
 hold the land that is very far off. 
 
 The good influence of such an earnest, honest man in 
 public life can scarcely be overestimated. The politics of 
 the country were cleaner and purer because he was a lead- 
 ing spirit among politicians. Fraud slunk away from his 
 presence and rascality hid itself when he was near. The 
 cleanness of his life and the purity of his motives compelled 
 the respect of all men, while the breadth of his political 
 vision, his excellent judgment and staunch adherence to 
 principle, made him wise in counsel and strong in action. 
 A deep thinker, a close reason er, and a logical debater, he 
 was a power on the floor of the House of Representatives, 
 and as a legislator has done valuable service for his country. 
 
 In the work of his profession his sterling integrity and hon- 
 est devotion to the interests of his clients made him an able 
 advocate and a powerful adversary, while his unfailing kind- 
 ness and courtesy endeared him to every member of this court. 
 He had the cheerful disposition which belongs to a kind heart 
 and the pleasant manners of a true gentleman. 
 
 Of my personal relations with him I can scarcely trust my- 
 self to speak. They were so close and cordial that the calam- 
 ity which has befallen this bar and this community strikes me 
 with the painful force of personal bereavement. We read 
 together. We discussed books and men and current events 
 with the frankness and freedom of friendship. He had read 
 so much and thought so deeply on some of the graver prob- 
 lems of life and later discoveries of science that he was a most 
 instructive as well as entertaining companion. And his views 
 on every subject were so tempered by his kindly nature and 
 gentle spirit of charity towards all men that it was a lesson in 
 tolerance and liberality to hear him talk. I long since learned 
 
90 Meeting of the Northampton County Bar. 
 
 the secret of his power over men. It was his absolute honesty 
 and perfect truthfulness that charmed all who were abie to ap- 
 preciate the beauty of goodness. I have traveled far and in 
 many lands, and have mingled much with my fellow-men. In 
 all my experience in life I never met a truer, kinder, nobler gen- 
 tleman than WILLIAM MUTJHLER. I saw him in his home life, 
 and know how deep and tender was his love for those who are 
 now most deeply bereaved. But of that I can not speak. And 
 after all what are words! It seems almost a sacrilege to try 
 to clothe in speech those deep emotions of our souls which can 
 find no articulate sound ! 
 
 A loyal, true friend, a dear companion, a faithful, honest 
 public servant has passed out of this life, and until in the 
 progress of evolution, we shall have followed in the way that 
 he has gone, we shall hear his voice no more. His cordial 
 greeting, his kindly smile, his ready sympathy are now only 
 memories. But, as we recall the history of his life, we know 
 it is true, that the steps of a good man are ordered by the 
 Lord. The path of this just man has been as a shining light, 
 and as this immortal soul goes onward and upward to that 
 great source of all good to which the whole creation moves, it 
 will shine more and more unto the perfect day. 
 
 ADDRESS OF H. J. STEELE. 
 
 My relations with Mr. MUTCHLER were of so close and 
 intimate a character, and I am indebted to him for so many 
 personal kindnesses, that I would feel recreant to a duty if I 
 did not add a few words of praise to his memory. My close 
 contact with him dates back to the time when I first became 
 a law student, almost sixteen years ago, when, as since, he 
 happened to have his law office in the same building and upon 
 the same floor where I was located. During his leisure 
 
Address of Mr. H. J. Steele. 91 
 
 moments his office was a favorite resort for lawyers and citi- 
 zens generally, who were charmed by the keenness of his 
 humor and his instructive as well as entertaining conversation. 
 From this intimate personal knowledge of the man I was early 
 impressed with his sterling virtues, his rugged honesty, and 
 his unselfish devotion to his friends. 
 
 We all know that the law is a jealous master and brooks no 
 rivals. As a science it is not to be acquired in a day or a year, 
 but only after many long years of toil, can one feel that he has 
 fully obtained "that gladsome light of jurisprudence" spoken 
 of by Lord Coke. Our departed friend did not choose to travel 
 the old and thorny road of exclusive practice, and devoted the 
 greater part of his time to public affairs. But he was thor- 
 oughly grounded in legal principles, and to all his legal argu- 
 ments he brought that clear and accurate reasoning for which 
 he was noted. Who can doubt that if he had given his pro- 
 fession his undivided attention he would have become one of 
 its great masters f 
 
 It was in public affairs, however, that he achieved his great- 
 est distinction. He filled numerous public positions in city, 
 county, and nation, and always with credit to himself and 
 honor to his constituents. Elected to the Federal House of 
 Representatives for six full terms, his ability and integrity 
 soon won him leadership in that body. It has been my privi- 
 lege during visits to Washington to sit by his side in that 
 body and to witness the universal respect and esteem in which 
 he was held by his colleagues. He numbered among his 
 warmest friends those who differed most widely from his polit- 
 ical views. Firm and inflexible as he was in his own opinions, 
 he was no bigot, and his public life was of the highest, noblest, 
 and broadest type. 
 
 But, -Mr. Chairman, all who came closely in contact with 
 him, also know how kind and genial he was in all his personal 
 
92 Meeting of the Northampton County Bar. 
 
 relations, how affectionate to the last degree to his family, and 
 how gentle, unpretentious, and unaffected he was in his man- 
 ners. His nature was not spoiled by his success or great rep- 
 utation, and his heart was not touched by the chilling influ- 
 ences of public life. His great manhood stood by him to the 
 last, and he died as he had lived a simple, direct, and earnest 
 man. 
 
 ADDRESS OF HON. HOWARD J. REEDER. 
 
 I have prepared no written words expressive of my regard 
 tor Mr. MUTCHLER to place with what has already been offered 
 here this morning upon the bier of our friend. He was my 
 friend. 
 
 Opponents, politically, we always were, meeting in the 
 fiercest and hottest political battles often with visors closed 
 and lances down, with no mercy asked and no mercy given. Yet 
 personally we were always friends. 
 
 He was as close to me in friendship as he was to many of 
 you who were politically fighting always by his side. I was 
 one of those who urged upon Mr. MUTCHLER, more than twenty 
 years ago almost thirty years ago the study of law. 
 
 He had already familiarized himself with the practice during 
 his service of six years in the office of the prothonotary, and 
 which had equipped him to some extent for the active practice 
 of the profession; equipped him perhaps better than many 
 others who were admitted simply by the study of law books in 
 an office. Mr. MUTCHLER deliberately, yet hesitatingly, 
 determined to study law. 
 
 I was always welcome in his office as he was always welcome 
 in mine. Yet never did either of us swerve from our opposing 
 political positions. But never did we abate one jot or tittle of 
 our personal friendship for each other. 
 
 As an illustration of what I am saying, I may say that at one 
 
Address of Hon. Howard J. Reeder, Judge. 93 
 
 time when I was a candidate for a public office Mr. MUTCHLER, 
 hearing that I was sanguine of success, and believing defeat 
 to be inevitable, came, the day before election, to my office, 
 and sat down at my side at my desk, with the generosity so 
 characteristic of his nature, tried to prepare me for my coming 
 disappointment lest defeat would fall too heavily upon me. 
 But he never abated one jot in his position, never swerved 
 from the line of duty to his political fellows, yet in his exalted 
 idea of personal friendship he did that, and all that, which, in 
 loyalty to his party, he could do, and thus manifested, as he 
 did always and everywhere, and upon every occasion, the man- 
 hood which was in him. 
 
 His rugged integrity, his great generous heart, his broad level 
 mind would have made him admired and loved everywhere, 
 and no man ever lived within the boundaries of Northampton 
 County that was more loved than WILLIAM MUTCHLER. 
 
 He h ad some enemies. B ut no man that is worthy of the friend- 
 ship and lasting esteem of his fellow-citizens ; no man who has 
 positive convictions and strong force of character and clear 
 ideas of the right; no man who has made himself felt and who 
 has made himself prominent in public affairs but will have 
 enemies. 
 
 Mr. MUTCHLER was all this, and therefore, of course, he 
 had enemies. But, after all, I do not believe that Mr. MUTCH- 
 LER ever had an enemy other than political enemies those 
 that were embittered because of the disappointment of political 
 ambition, or hostile to him on account of political theories. 
 
 Outside of these I do not believe that Mr. MUTCHLER ever 
 had an enemy. If he had I never heard of one, and I never 
 heard of a political enemy of his that did not recognize in Mr. 
 MUTCHLER, and esteem in him, that which we ajl esteemed 
 the good qualities which made him so preeminently a man. 
 
94 Meeting of the Northampton Comity Bar. 
 
 ADDRESS OF JAMES W. WILSON. 
 
 I feel that I can add but little to what has been so well said 
 here this morning about our deceased brother, but I want to 
 bear iny tribute to the memory of my departed friend. My 
 acquaintance with him, and my admiration for him, dates back 
 to a period before I reached manhood. He has been a warm 
 personal friend of mine for twenty years. Since the sad news 
 of his death has come to us I have often thought what honors 
 might have been his had his life been spared even for a few 
 years more. We all know the position to which he had attained. 
 We all know, too, as Mr. Scott has well said, that it was not 
 by any meteor flash, not by any brilliant single act, not by any 
 lucky chance, that our departed Mend reached the command- 
 ing position which he held. We know that it was patient, 
 conscientious, hard work, with constant faithfulness to duty 
 and unswerving integrity, that brought him the honors which 
 he wore so well. He had reached that point where the field 
 was broad and the opportunities were great. Who can meas- 
 ure the added honors which might have been his had he been 
 spared to round out the allotted three score years and ten ? 
 But his summons came and he has gone. His familiar face 
 and friendly smile were ever the same, whether in social con- 
 verse or in the fierce heat of political strife, always showing 
 the same genial, kind-hearted man. 
 
 Eloquent eulogies upon the life and services of our deceased 
 brother have been pronounced here this morning by those far 
 better fitted than I am to frame them in words such as they 
 merit, but I want to add this personal expression of the respect 
 
 
 
 and affection which I felt for my departed friend. I feel his 
 loss more than I can describe. The recollection of his friend- 
 ship for me, and his never-failing kindness to me, will be one 
 of the most pleasant memories of my life. 
 
Address of Mr. A. C. La Barre. 95 
 
 ADDRESS OF A. C. LA BARRE. , 
 
 Elevated to official station so recently by the suffrages of 
 the people, I feel I but perform a public duty and voice the 
 sentiments of a large constituency of him whom we now 
 honor, as well as add my tribute of respect, in giving brief 
 expression at this time. 
 
 It is not my fortune to have had a long and intimate 
 acquaintance or close association with the departed com- 
 moner and friend of the people. 
 
 A great man has gone from us a giant has fallen. His 
 compeers at the bar can speak of him as a lawyer, his asso- 
 ciates as a friend, many as a political leader, but I speak of 
 him as of the noblest work of God, in that he was an honest 
 man. To say this of one who has been so long in political 
 life, whose experience has been so varied, whose influence has 
 been so wide, is to speak volumes, and more impressive than 
 rhetorical embellishment. 
 
 In the death of Hon. WILLIAM MUTCHLER the loss is more 
 than local; it is in deepest sorrow felt everywhere throughout 
 old Northampton and throughout all neighboring counties, 
 but his loss is a national one and is deplored in every part of 
 our country. Mr. MUTCHLER was a statesman, a man of large 
 brain and of large heart. Indoctrinated and believing in 
 Jeffersouian principles, his statesmanship embraced the whole 
 country, and his political deeds and achievements were for the 
 welfare of all the people of the whole land. 
 
 He had more than " a local habitation and a name." He 
 was a sage in counsel, and the great men of the land often 
 sought his advice and counseled with him on great occasions, 
 and concerning momentous questions. And now, when his 
 experience and wisdom were about to be brought to the fullest 
 test, his days of usefulness to be greater than ever, his career 
 
96 Meeting of the Northampton County Bar. 
 
 to be exceptionally grand, to be so suddenly cut down by "the 
 fell destroyer," it seems to us who enjoyed his acquaintance 
 and who could call him father, brother, associate, friend, 
 almost too great to bear. 
 
 The embodiment of manly virtues, the very soul of integrity, 
 all manly men can but grieve at his death; but in our deepest 
 sorrow we have the consolation to know how great the honor 
 he reflected on us whose representative in part he was, and 
 what an inspiration there is, especially to young men, in his 
 life, his manhood, and rugged, lofty character, for here, indeed, 
 was one of nature's noblemen, and the life he lived so truly 
 will ever be " a great and noble creed." 
 
DATE DUE 
 
 PRINTED IN U.S.A. 
 
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