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MKMOKIAL ADDRHSSKS 
 
 UFK AND CIIARA(TKIi 
 
 THOMAS II. HKRNDON 
 
 h 
 
 (A KKI KMSKVl ATIVK KKOM ALABAMA). 
 
 i I r. i 1:1 i< i\ i HI 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND IN THE SENATE, 
 
 FORTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY OKMKK OF r<)X<;i:i>s 
 
 WASHINGTON: 
 
 UOVKRNMKNT I KINTINU OKFICK, 
 
 I -- I. 
 
JOINT RESOLUTION to print twelve thousand five hundred copies of eulogies on Thomas 
 H. Ilerndon, late a Representative in Congress. 
 
 Jlesolred by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of 
 America in Congress assembled, That there be printed of the eulogies delivered 
 in Congress upon the late Thomas II. Herndon, a Representative-elect in the 
 Forty-eighth Congress from the State of Alabama, twelve thousand five hun 
 dred copies, of which throe thousand copies shall be for the use of the Senate, 
 and nine thousand five hundred for the use of the House of Representatives. 
 And the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is hereby, directed to have 
 printed a portrait of the said Thomas II. Herndon to accompany said eulo 
 gies, and for the purpose of engaving and printing said portrait the sum of 
 five hundred dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby ap 
 propriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. 
 
 Approved, May 3, 18H4 
 
ADDRESSES 
 
 DI.AIII 01- THOMAS II. HERNDON. 
 
 PROCEEDINGS IN THE IKH SE. 
 
 IN THK HOFSK OF REPRESENTATIVES, 
 
 l><;r,nb<r "), 18S.-J. 
 
 Mr. JOXKS, of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, it is my painful duty to 
 announce the death of my pwlm-ssor, lion. THOMAS II. HKKNDON, 
 which occurred on the 2Sth day of March last, at his homo in Mobile, 
 Ala. At some future time I shall ask that a day be set aside for 
 the consideration of appropriate obituary resolutions. I now offer 
 the resolution which I send to the desk. 
 
 The Clerk read as follows: 
 
 mf, That tliis House has heard with profound regret of the death of 
 Hon. THOMAS H. HKKNDON, late a Kepresrntative-eleet front the State of 
 Alabama. 
 
 AYxo/m/, That, as a mark of respect to the memory of the deceased, this 
 House tin now adjourn. 
 
 The resolutions were unanimously agreed to; and accordingly 
 
 (at 12 o clock and 4<> minutes p. m.) the House adjourned. 
 
4 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THOMAS H. HERNDON. 
 
 MARCH 12, 1884. 
 
 Mr. JONES, of Alabama. 1 ask unanimous consent that Satur 
 day, the 12th clay of April, be fixed as the time for the delivering 
 of tributes to the memory of the late THOMAS H. HERNDON, late 
 a Representative-elect from the State of Alabama. 
 
 There was no objection, and it was so ordered. 
 
 APRIL 12, 1884. 
 
 The SPEAKER. By resolution of the House this day at 2 o clock 
 was assigned for the offering of resolutions expressive of regret at 
 the death of the late THOMAS H. HERNDON, a Representative- 
 elect of this House. That hour has now arrived. 
 
 Mr. JONES, of Alabama. I offer the resolution which I send to 
 the desk. 
 
 The Clerk read as follows: 
 
 Resolred, That this House has hoard with deep regret of the deatli of 
 THOMAS II. HERNDON, late Representative-elect to this House from the State 
 of Alabama. 
 
 Resolved, That, as a testimony to his memory, the officers and members of 
 this House will wear the usual badge of mourning for the space of thirty 
 days. 
 
 Resolved, That a- copy of this resolution be transmitted by the Clerk of this 
 House to the family of the deceased. 
 
 Resolred, That the Clerk be, directed to communicate a copy of these pro 
 ceedings to the Senate, and that, as a further mark of respect to the deceased, 
 this House do now adjourn. 
 
 Address of Mr. JONES, of Alabama. 
 
 Mr. SPEAKER: As Colonel HERNDON S successor in this House 
 it becomes my duty, as his friend it is my privilege, to pay a humble 
 tribute of respect to his memory. His well-known modesty and 
 his aversion to everything like ostentation forbid that I should in 
 dulge in the language of extravagant praise so common on an oc 
 casion like this. I shall, therefore, in what I have to say simply 
 call attention to a character of rare symmetry and completeness, 
 
A i) in; ESS or J/A*. JONKS, (>/ A LA HA MA. 5 
 
 and endeavor to liold up to public view the record of a lite full of 
 honors and full of usefulness. 
 
 THOMAS II. HKUNDON was a native of Alabama. He was edu 
 cated in the schools and at the University of that State. After 
 reading law at Harvard University he was admitted to the bar, 
 and thereafter devoted his life and his talents to the service of his 
 people. He was several times a meml>er of the legislature. II<- 
 was a delegate to two of the most important conventions ever held 
 in the State. During the late war he was colonel of an Alabama 
 regiment, and was several times severely wounded in battle. His 
 command was engaged in the thickest of the fight at Chickamauga, 
 where he received a wound which was at the time supposed to be 
 mortal. 
 
 In 1872 he was earnestly supported by his party friends as can 
 didate for the office of governor. His friends, who were numerous 
 and devoted to him, justly considered him worthy to represent Al 
 abama in the Senate of the United States, and frequently and 
 zealously supported him for that exalted position. He was thrice 
 returned to represent the Mobile district in this House. After a 
 long and honorable career of public service, on the 28th of 
 March, 1883, only a few days after his term of service in this 
 Congress commenced, he died at his home in Mobile, in the bosom 
 of his family, and in the midst of constituents who were all his 
 friends. 
 
 It was my good fortune, Mr. Speaker, to know Colonel HKKN- 
 DOX well. I knew him at the bar, and in public and private life. 
 He was a representative man. He was a type of the best elements 
 of his State. Always and everywhere he was u gentleman. Horn 
 in Alabama, he had grown with her growth. He had fought and 
 sntli-red with his people in war, and in }>eaee he had labored to re 
 store the blessings of good government. He was thoroughly 
 identified with the people of Alabama by birth, by association, and 
 by common pursuits and common sufferings. He knew their 
 wants, and was in warm sympathy with their purposes and their 
 expirations. Hence it is not surprising that the people of Ala 
 bama dc-ired that his abilities should not be confined to the bar. 
 
6 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THOMAS H. HERNDON. 
 
 Had he lived, it was the hope of his friends that his influence in 
 public affairs should not be confined to the limits of a Congres 
 sional district, but might sweep out into broader fields of useful 
 ness. 
 
 Colonel HERNDON was a model soldier, illustrating that rare 
 combination of courage and gentleness which immortalized Sir 
 Philip Sidney 
 
 Mild in manner, fair in favor, sweet iu temper, fierce in light. 
 
 And in all the positions of trust to which he was elevated in 
 civil life he exhibited the same modesty and courage that had ren 
 dered him conspicuous in the field. He was true at all times to 
 his convictions and never swerved from the path of duty. 
 
 In private life Colonel HERNDON was modest as a woman, gentle 
 as charity, and possessed a genial magnetism that attracted men and 
 bound them to him "as with hooks of steel." While he lived 
 laborious days he did not scorn the delights of life. But it was in 
 the sacred precincts of the home circle that his social nature shone 
 with the purest luster. Upon his hearthstone the fires of domestic 
 happiness always burned brightly. In his home peace and love 
 were enthroned; there he found an incentive to his ambition and 
 rest from his public labors. Learned and successful as a lawyer, 
 brave and chivalrous as a soldier, enlightened as a statesman, sin 
 gularly fortunate in all his family relations, his life was blessed with 
 a larger share of happiness and brightened with more of "sweetness 
 and light" than usually fall to the lot of mortals. 
 
 I will be followed by other gentlemen whose remarks will show 
 in what high estimation Colonel HEKNDON was held by his fellow- 
 Congressmen. It was my desire, and it would have been highly 
 gratifying to the family of our departed, friend, that to-day s obse 
 quies should have been graced by the taste and eloquence of the 
 gentleman from New York [Mr. Cox], but I am this moment in 
 receipt of a letter from him informing me of his being confined to 
 his bed by sickness. In this letter he incloses to me a letter ad 
 dressed to him by Mr. John Bigclow, formerly our distinguished 
 
r Mi;. rui;.\l J, <>! ALAHAMA. 1 
 
 minister to Krancc, which contains sentiments so appropriate to 
 
 this occasion and >o fitly illustrating the utilities of occasions like 
 this that I send it to IK: read at the desk. 
 The Clerk read as follows: 
 
 Al HIL 10, 1HMJ. 
 
 I >r \ i: MK. Cox : Until to-day I have had no opportunity of running through 
 the memorial addresses which yon were good enough to send me and for which 
 please accept my cordial thanks. 1 thank you not only for sending them tonic 
 IHI! for uttering them. Any man who docs or .says anything to cultivate and 
 cherish a respect among our people for their benefactors gives power It) the 
 Government, ctlicacy to the laws, and new guarantees to public order. In 
 doing all this he in ftOORMpOHdinf decree checks and discourages the safanic 
 spirit of detraction and irreverence with which the privileges of a free pres.s 
 are always conditioned. 
 
 Mortuary eloquence is neither history nor biography nor criticism, but the 
 commendation in high places of those virtues which should illustrate public 
 life helps to elevate and sustain the national standard of otlicial duty, and in 
 that respect answers a purpose as important perhaps as if it embodied the full 
 ness, the accuracy, and the discrimination of all three. The higher we raise 
 the popular standard the more will the people find to admire and respect in 
 those who have had a part in shaping the history of their country. 
 
 The taste and skill with which you have, decorated the tombs of your de 
 parted friends one at least of your readers gratefully appreciates. 
 Very truly, yours, 
 
 JOHN ItlUKLOW. 
 
 Address of Mr. FORNEY, of Alabama. 
 
 Mr. SPEAKER : It was my good fortune during the life of my 
 dec-eased colleague, Hon. THOMAS H. HERXDOX, to be numbered 
 among his friends. We had known each other for more than a 
 third of a century. During this long period our relations had 
 been the most cordial, friendly, and intimate. What [ have to say 
 upon this sad and solemn occasion I know but voices the general 
 sentiment of the people of his State from the mountains to the (Julf. 
 No citizen of Alabama from its organization as a State was more 
 beloved, esteemed, or respected. He was a native of Alabama, born 
 and raised in the county of Greene, the most l>eautiful section of 
 the South, lying in the heart of the cotton-belt, with its broad acres 
 and fertile fields. 
 
8 LIFE AND CHARACTER Ob TMOMAS If. HERN DON. 
 
 My colleague was brought up in the midst of a refined and 
 highly cultivated community. He had all the advantages of learn 
 ing that the country afforded. He received a classical education at 
 his State university; after graduation entered the law school of 
 Cambridge, Mass, lie commenced his professional career in the 
 city of Mobile. His education, training, and natural ability rap 
 idly secured for him a high position at the Mobile bar, then as well 
 as now noted for the number of learned, prominent, and distin 
 guished lawyers. 
 
 THOMAS H. HKRNDON was a true Southerner; a representative 
 man of the South; the soul of honor; chivalrous, polished, and 
 courtly in manners; kind and generous in spirit; conservative in 
 temper and action ; considerate of the feelings of others, but brave in 
 principle and true to every trust confided in him. He had occupied 
 many prominent positions in Alabama. The people of Mobile, 
 when he was quite young in 1857 knowing his great worth, ap 
 preciating his ability, integrity, and high character, elected him to 
 the legislature. During the great excitement which pervaded the 
 South in I860 he was elected a delegate from Greene County to the 
 convention known as the secession convention of Alabama. He 
 took a prominent position in that body. The result of that con 
 vention was the adoption of the ordinance of secession, on the llth 
 of January, 18(51, which separated Alabama from the Federal 
 Union. My colleague voted for that ordinance. He was one of 
 those who honestly and conscientiously believed it was right. So 
 believing, when the hour came for action, thoroughly in feeling and 
 sympathy with his people, he joined the Confederate army. By his 
 valor, coolness, and efficiency in camp and field he was promoted to 
 the rank of colonel. He had the entire confidence of the officers 
 and men of his regiment; upon many fields of battle won the ad 
 miration of his general, who on several occasions mentioned him in 
 his reports of engagements with the enemy for his bravery and gal 
 lantry upon the field. 
 
 During the war he was twice wounded so severely that he could 
 with credit and honor to himself have retired from the army ; yet so 
 soon as his wounds were healed, like a true patriot, he would re- 
 
. I /*/*/, />> O/- MI{. F01i\KY, OF ALABAMA. { .) 
 
 turn to his command. Tin* re lie remained to the clone of the war, 
 until lii> chief surrendered and the must; which lie so nobly and 
 gallantly espoused was hst. The war over, his fortune destroyed 
 and gone, he resumed the practice of his profession, and soon took 
 rank with the leading lawyers of his State-. The people of Mobile 
 again called him from private life elected him as a delegate in 
 187") to the constitutional convention of Alabama. No one dele 
 gate took a more active part in that convention than he did or had 
 more to do in the formation of the present constitution of Alabama. 
 
 In 1870- 77 he was again elected to the legislature of his State, 
 and was regarded as one of the leading members of that body, occu 
 pying the most prominent positions and taking an active part in 
 the discussion of all important measures. In 1878 he was chosen 
 a memlHT to the Forty-sixth Congress from the first district of 
 Alabama. He had not sought the position. At the time of his 
 nomination he wsis actively engaged in his profession, and was fast 
 regaining his lost fortune. The people called him and he accepted 
 the trust tendered. His course in the Forty-sixth Congress met 
 the approval of his constituents, and he was re-elected to the 
 Forty-seventh and Forty-eighth Congresses, serving with distinc 
 tion and ability upon the Committees of Foreign A flairs and 
 Commerce. 
 
 Hut, Mr. Speaker, he was not permitted to take his seat in this 
 Congress. After a long and severe illness, with intense.- suffering, 
 he dejmrted this life on the 28th of March, 1883, in the midst of 
 friends, and surrounded by the loved ones at home. Mr. Speaker, 
 HKUNDON has gone from among us ; gone to a letter, brighter, 
 and purer world. - The family circle; will miss the kind, tender, 
 and indulgent father, the affectionate, loving, and devoted hus 
 band ; society, the genial, affable, and pleasant companion, the 
 generous, noble, and true friend ; the client, the able, faithful, and 
 reliable counselor; the bar of Alabama, one of its leading law 
 yers and brightest ornaments ; the State, one who may be truly 
 classed among the bravest of her brave sons, a patriot, a statesman 
 whose garments were unstained, pure, and sj>otless, one who had 
 been faithful to every official obligation during his public life. 
 
10 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THOMAS H. HERN DON. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, I was present at his burial and witnessed the uni 
 versal demonstration, the grand outpouring of , the people of Mo 
 bile to do honor to their distinguished Representative, to pay the 
 last tribute of respect to one whom they had esteemed and honored 
 in life. From the church to the cemetery the streets were alive 
 with thousands of people, all classes, both races, the aged and the 
 young. The various military organizations, secret societies, orders, 
 and associations of the city followed the cortege to the grave. 
 This demonstration told unmistakably and truly how he was loved 
 at his home. He had lived with them from early manhood; with 
 them he had commenced his professional career; they had watched 
 his course through life with pride and admiration. They knew 
 him well. They loved him for his sterling worth, the purity of 
 his character, the sincerity of his friendship, for that noble, true, 
 generous, and liberal heart that beat within his breast. As we 
 stood around his grave there was another pleasing incident. The 
 floral offerings, numerous and beautiful designs of rare flowers, 
 covered the casket. After it was lowered to its last resting-place 
 and all was over, garlands of choicest flowers, wrought by fair 
 hands, encircled his grave. This pure, chaste, and beautiful offer 
 ing from the daughters of Mobile spoke more eloquently than 
 words how he was loved by his people at home, a people who will 
 hold him in memory as fragrant as the magnolia groves that line 
 the bay shore where he now quietly, peacefully, and calmly sleeps. 
 
 Address of Mr. HoRR, of Michigan. 
 
 It (alls to my lot to do perhaps an unusual thing, and that is to 
 talk for a few moments to the members of the House in reference 
 to our deceased brother and friend without that preparation which 
 is usually made for such occasions. I shall make this attempt 
 simply because of my respect for Mr. HERNDON, and my lack of 
 preparation arises entirely from the fact that my other duties 
 have been such that it has been impossible for me to find time to 
 
, OF MH Hiu.ix. } \ 
 
 do what I should like to liave done. Therefore whatever I may 
 
 ~.iv at thi> time, while it inav lack tin- finish which is due to such 
 an orra-iou, will i>erhaps have OIK; advantage it will be simply 
 what comes into my mind from the memories that cluster around 
 the name of our departed friend. 
 
 Mr. S|>eaker, we learn but little of the real chaarcter of men as 
 we serve with them upon the floor of this Mouse. What I mean 
 is this: That here it is always u sort of intellectual arena a sort 
 of liirht which simply brings out one-half or one side of a man, so 
 that you may serve here with a member year in and year out and 
 yet know little of the qualities which go to make up his real 
 character. Some one has said, I do not know who, that no one 
 ever knows a jH-rson well unless he lives in the family with him, 
 sees him in his own home, meets him in the little every -day atliiirs 
 of life; and I sometimes think that perhaps that is in every re- 
 s|>eet true. 
 
 Hut while we may learn but little of men as we meet them here- 
 from dav to dav on the floor of the House, is it not equally true 
 that we do often come to know men well with whom we serve 
 upon the active, laborious committees of this House? For two 
 years I served with Mr. HEIINDON upon the Committee on Com 
 merce. It was a laborious committee. I had there the opportu 
 nity to meet him almost every day of the session ; for in the 
 Forty-seventh Congress we were at work constantly in that com 
 mittee. In that way I think I learned more of his character than 
 I could have learned by meeting him on the floor of this House: 
 in j)erhaps ten years service. During those entire two years, Mr. 
 S]>eaker, I do not recollect a single instance of anything but the 
 most pleasant relations between Mr. HKKNDOX and every meml>er 
 of the committee. And what is perhaps still stranger, while he 
 and I differed as widely as two men could differ on questions of 
 polities, I do not now remember to have had the least difference 
 with him on any question of business, and that committee, as you 
 all know, was devoted entirely to business, to the development of 
 the business interests of the country. 
 
12 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THOMAS H. IlEUNDON. 
 
 I very well remember the last time that I ever saw him. The 
 committee had been postponing for clays matters which pertained 
 to his State and district on account of his illness in order that we 
 might learn from him his wishes as to the different matters be 
 fore the committee. He finally came in feeble, but with the same 
 quiet, mobtrusive manner that so attached to him every member 
 of the committee. And I recollect as he went over the list and 
 [minted out the instances in which his people were affected by the 
 legislation we were proposing, how careful and conscientious he was 
 to demand only what his people ought to have. And I reveal no 
 secrets of the committee when I say that in a list of twenty re 
 quests we adopted without a dissenting voice every one of his rec 
 ommendations. He was a safe man to follow. He was a man 
 whose head was always level, and whose judgment was accurate on 
 questions of public business or public policy. 
 
 Some of you gentlemen around me here who were his neighbors 
 will no doubt speak of Mr. HERXDOX as you knew him socially. 
 I knew nothing of his family relations; but from my intimate ac 
 quaintance with him during those two years of laborious committee 
 service I feel the utmost confidence in saying that he was a kind 
 father and an excellent husband. And when you have said that 
 of a man you have said more than when you call him a statesman. 
 A great many men have been statesmen who have not been the 
 best of citi/ens. But there was never a man who was among the 
 best of citi/ens, a kind father and husband, who might not have 
 been, if given the opportunity, an excellent statesman. 
 
 I look back upon my relations with Mr. HERXDOX as among 
 the pleasant recollections of my life. I -revere his memory simply 
 for those quiet, sterling qualities which in our every-day life we 
 recognize as the elements that dignify and ennoble the character of 
 men in the genuine relations of life. More than this I could 
 hardly say of any one; less than this I could not say of my friend, 
 Mr. HERXDOX, and do him justice or do justice to my own feelings 
 toward him. 
 
.I/I/J///--NX OF MR. DOtri), OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 13 
 
 Address of Mr. Down, of North Carolina. 
 
 Mr. SPEAKER: It is related of an eminent English statesman 
 that Wing about to sit for his portrait he was interrogated by the 
 artist with reference to certain splotches on his face, whether they 
 should appear in the picture or not, and he answered with emphasis, 
 " Paint me as I am, blemishes and all." And when the late Gov 
 ernor Graham, of my own State, had delivered a well-considered 
 eulogy UJKHI the life and character of Hon. George E. Badger, be- 
 in"- asked whv he had not l>een more fulsome and ornate in his 
 
 * 
 
 descriptions and characterizations, his reply was : 
 
 It was not my jmrpo.se to see what a tlaming picture I could draw, nor to 
 makf a grandiloquent sketch of an ideal orator, lawyer, .statesman, suited to 
 no one in particular; Imt I was trying to describe George E. Badger just as 
 lie was, to draw a picture that would look like him and nohotly else. 
 
 So in this instance. The highest eulogy that could be pro 
 nounced upon THOMAS II. HKRXDON would l>c to describe him 
 just as he was. 
 
 Whether as the youthful orator in his graduating s|>eeeh, de 
 claiming in tones of thrilling and fiery eloquence upon that patri 
 otic sentiment, "Our country, right or wrong;" whether as the 
 slender and handsome bridegroom, twenty years of age, leading to 
 the altar a lovely bride of only sixteen summers; whether as the 
 young husband and father, kissing adieu his wife and children 
 and hastening to the front at the sound of war; whether lifting 
 his voice above the din of battle and dauntlessly leading his com 
 rades into the very vortex of destruction and death, or lying upon 
 a soldier s couch, pale and exhausted from fractured limbs ami loss 
 of blood; whether thoughtful and grave over the problem of re 
 construction, or bearing down carpetbagism with the terrific force 
 of his invective and ridicule; whether as the young barrister or 
 maturer lawyer, whether in victory or defeat; whether rolling in 
 pain and torture at his hotel while a member of this House, or 
 cracking jokes to groups of member*) and pages in the corridors 
 and Ix hind the railing in this Hall, wherever he was, whatever 
 
14 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THOMAS H. HERNDON. 
 
 he was doing, his highest praise, his best eulogy would be to hold 
 him up before the public and let him appear ipsum, ipsissimum, 
 THOMAS H. HERXDOX, just as he was. 
 
 It is not my purpose to make any extended sketch of the life 
 and public services of the deceased, nor to dwell at length upon 
 the topics suggested by this occasion. I shall only refer very 
 briefly to some of the leading events in his life and mention a 
 few of his many excellent traits of character. 
 
 His father was a Virginian, born in Spottsylvania in 1794. 
 At the age of sixteen he came to Washington to seek employment 
 and formed the friendship of Gales & Seaton, of the old National 
 Intelligencer, and retained that friendship unabated through life. 
 
 His mother was a daughter of Judge Henry Toulmin, of an 
 old English family who fled trom the persecutions of the reign of 
 the Second James and sought repose as well as political and reli 
 gious liberty in the new colonies, settling first in Kentucky and 
 afterward upon the Tombigbee, in Alabama. Judge Toulmin, 
 the maternal grandfather, was a man of marked ability. In Ken 
 tucky, in early life, lie was secretary of state and compiler of the 
 laws. In Mississippi, a few years later, he occupied a high judi 
 cial station, and won great distinction by his decisions of questions 
 then attracting the attention of the whole country. And still later 
 in life he held high positions in the State of Alabama, being en 
 gaged, as the last work of his long and useful life, by the legisla 
 ture of that State to make a digest and compilation of its laws. 
 
 THOMAS H. HEUNDON was born July 1, 1828. His father 
 was a successful merchant and farmer, having settled after leaving 
 Washington on the Black Warrior, in Eric, Green County. 
 THOMAS was a bright and intellectual boy and had good advan 
 tages. One of his first teachers was Judge Sam Houston, still 
 living in Mississippi. Having taken a preparatory course at La 
 Grange, he entered the sophomore class in the University of Ala 
 bama at the age of seventeen. Graduating with distinction in 
 1847, lie went in September of that year to Harvard College, 
 Cambridge, Mass., where, in July, 1848, he took his degree of 
 bachelor of laws. In December, 1848, he was married, being only 
 a little more than twenty years of age and his bride sixteen. 
 
Ainu;*:** or MI;. itn\vit t OF NOKTH CAROLINA. 15 
 
 Mrs. Herndon, his excellent and devoted wife, is a daughter of 
 Dr. Al>rain Franklin Alexander, an eminent physician and a North 
 ( ;in>liniun by birth, whose ancestors for several generations lived 
 in the county of Mecklenburg, which I have the honor to repre 
 sent in this House and to call my home. Dr. Alexander was the 
 grandson of Abraham Alexander, the president of the series of 
 meetings which formulated, and of the convention which in May, 
 1775, promulgated the Mecklenburg declaration of independence, 
 more than a year in advance of the national declaration of July 4, 
 1776. 
 
 Mr. HEUXDON early took an interest in politics. In 1851 he 
 was the nominee of the Democratic party for the legislature, and 
 though the county had a large Whig majority he was defeated by 
 onlv a few votes. In 185- > he moved to Mobile and l>ecame a 
 member of the law firm of Chandler, Smith & ITerndon, which 
 had a large and successful practice. He was elected to the legis 
 lature from Mobile in 1857, and was a member of the secession 
 convention in 1800. On the breaking out of the war he entered 
 the army with the rank of major, and was soon promoted to that 
 of colonel, and was twice severely wounded. After the close of 
 the war he returned home and resumed the practice of the law, but 
 soon l)ccame again engaged in politics. He was among the fore 
 most in that desperate struggle which resulted in wresting the 
 State of Alabama from the hordes of ear|>ct-baggers and plunderers 
 who had obtained control in the dismal period of reconstruction. 
 
 In 1872 he was the Democratic nominee for governor of the 
 State, receiving the full party vote, but was defeated by a small 
 majority. In 1870 he was again a member of the legislature, and 
 had a considerable following for United States Senator in the Dem 
 ocratic caucus when Senator Morgan was nominated. He was 
 elected a Representative to the Forty-sixth, Forty-seventh, and 
 Forty-eighth Congresses, and died on the 28th day of March, 188. . 
 
 My acquaintance with Mr. HEKXPOX began with the Forty- 
 seventh Congress, and knowing him somewhat intimately I should 
 say his most prominent characteristic was his extreme amiability 
 and mildness of t-emper. His cheerfulness seemed never to desert 
 him. 
 
16 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THOMAS H. HERNDON. 
 
 A long, painful, and hopeless illness did not render him morose 
 nor drive away the softness and sweetness of his disposition. And 
 yet he was fond of life, and had the keenest relish of its pleasures. 
 An earnest and faithful worker in whatever he had to do, he was 
 yet fond of amusements, and keenly enjoyed his hours of recrea 
 tion. Patient of lab:r, enduring with fortitude the cares and toils 
 of life, he did not scorn its delights nor refuse to pluck a rose on 
 his pathway because, forsooth, he might encounter a thorn. He 
 seemed to appreciate the philosophy of life and pleasure as typified 
 in the familiar stanzas: 
 
 There s a ripple of rhyme 
 
 On the river of time, 
 As it lloats thro the years and the ages, 
 
 And a sunny gleam 
 
 Or a. golden dream 
 On (he saddest of life s sad pages. 
 
 There s a sad refrain 
 
 To the sweetest strain, 
 The longest day soon closes; 
 
 And so we ll take, 
 
 For their sweet sake, 
 The thorns mid life s sweet roses. 
 
 The daylight fades 
 
 In deepest shades, 
 And life has many phases ; 
 
 The falling dew 
 
 And snnheams, too, 
 Make buttercups and daises. 
 
 In his friendships he was both ardent and steadfast. Warm 
 hearted and genial, close and confidential with his friends, he united 
 dignity with complaisance in that rare proportion which at once 
 commands the highest respect and the warmest affection. It was 
 only the beautiful and the good in the world that seemed to have 
 any affinity for him. It was impossible for him to have an 
 enemy, as there was no place in his heart for envy or hatred or 
 
 malice. 
 
 To his life, has tlow d 
 
 From its mysterious urn a saercd stream, 
 In whose calm depth the heantifnl and pure 
 Alone are mirror d. 
 
<>F MK. Doiri), OF NORTH CAROLINA. 17 
 
 With all this gentleness and suit ness of heart he adhered to prin 
 ciple with the firmness and heroism of a stoic, and he was as open 
 and frank with an adversary as he was close and confidential with 
 a I rientl, "as gentle as a woman as stalwart as a grenadier. 1 
 
 In his marriage he was most fortunate. His wile was indeed a 
 helpmeet for him. Engaged when he was nineteen and she fif 
 teen, it could have been nothing but a love match; and no two 
 h carts could have been more closely united, or two dispositions 
 more perfectly assimilated and blended than theirs. Much of his 
 success in life was due to the strong sense and inspiring devotion 
 of his faithful wife. In the field of his enterprises and labors she 
 was ever his bright incentive; in adversity, his stay and support ; 
 in the hour of triumph she was his pride and his joy; and in afllic- 
 tion and sorrow his solace and comforter. 
 
 As their voting hearts were cemented in the enchanted season of 
 early love, so their wedded life seems to have been an unbroken 
 spell of love. Theirs was truly a love-life. In a recent letter 
 written with reference to this occasion, Mrs. Herndon uses this em 
 phatic! language: 
 
 I feel that I should le moiv rt signt d to God s will in this sad bereavement 
 IM-OHUSO of tin- long, hiippy, and blissful lift- I liuvo onjoyud. 
 
 To them love must have been the morning and evening star and 
 the bright IM>W to span all the dark clouds that overhang the jour 
 ney of life. It bla/ed upon the marriage altar and shed its radi- 
 upon the |>eaceful tomb. In their home it was the source of 
 , the parent of melody, and its voiw was music. It was the 
 builder of their every hope, "the magician that changes worthless 
 things to jov and makes right roval kings and queens of common 
 clav ; the perfume of that wondrous Hower, the heart a sacred 
 passion without which we are less than beasts and with which earth 
 is heaven and we are gods." 
 
 Mr. Speaker, there is no appeal from that inexorable decree which 
 dooms us all to death. Generations of men will appear and disap 
 pear as spring and autumn and day and night, and the multitudes 
 which now people the earth will soon IK- gone as the flight of spar 
 rows or the mists of the morning. Death is the antagonism of life, 
 
 U HE 
 
18 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THOMAS H. HERNDON. 
 
 and the thought of the tomb is the skeleton at every feast. We do 
 not want to go down into the dark valley, although its gloomy pas 
 sages may lead to perennial sunshine and happiness 
 
 For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, 
 When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, 
 
 Must give us pause. 
 
 * * * * * 
 
 The dread of something after death, 
 
 The midiscover d country, from whoadDonrn 
 
 No traveler returns, puzzles the will ; 
 
 And makes UH rather bear those ills we have, 
 
 Than fly to others that we know not of. 
 
 The hope of immortality was eloquently uttered by the death-de 
 voted Greek in the beautiful dream of u Ion," and finds a deep re 
 sponse in every thoughtful heart. When about to yield his life a 
 sacrifice to fate, his Clemanthe asked if they should meet again, and 
 his response was, " That dreadful question I have asked of the 
 hills that look eternal, of the clear streams that flow forever, of the 
 stars among whose azure fields the raised spirits walk in glory." 
 
 Address of Mr. CuLBERSON, of Texas. 
 
 Mr. SPEAKER: The history of the life and eminent career of 
 Mr. HERNDON has been well told by those who have preceded me, 
 and I come now only to express my sorrow for his loss and to offer 
 a brief but sincere tribute to his virtues and his memory. I was 
 reared in the State of Alabama, and from my earliest boyhood what 
 ever has concerned the well-being and honor of that State or the 
 character, virtues, and lives of her prominent men has been of great 
 interest to me. 
 
 Although I had never met Mr. HERNDON until the organization 
 of the Forty -sixth Congress, his character and public services were 
 well known to me. I was prepared to appreciate his inestimable 
 worth. Our personal acquaintance began with that Congress, and 
 our relations soon became most intimate and friendly. He was 
 my friend, and when his bright life closed in death I sincerely de 
 plored his loss. 
 
OF MH. CULKERSON, OF TEXAS. 19 
 
 Mr. 1 1 1 i;\ IH)X was DO ordinary DIED. In private and social life 
 In- \\a> a ehanning companion. He was the pride and admiration 
 <.f every circle of friends. Hjs finely cultured mind, the warmth 
 and frankness of his genial nature, and his pleasing manners gave 
 him a cordial welcome to every social circle. Indeed, in every ele 
 ment that ennobles banian nature none excelled him, and no one in 
 all the range of my acquaintance seemed to possess in such a re 
 markable degree all of those qualities of head and heart that make 
 human nature lovable. There was no station in life for which he 
 was unfitted, and none filled by him he did not adorn by his learn 
 ing, ennoble by his virtue, and endear by his genial deportment. 
 
 He was a thorough and accomplished lawyer, and was greatly 
 devoted to his profession. At the very outset of his professional 
 career he took rank among the foremost members of the bar of 
 Alabama, then and now renowned throughout the South for 
 its thorough learning and integrity. His mind was incisive, ana 
 lytical, and thorough. Though he possessed genius of the highest 
 order, he reached his conclusions after patient consideration, and 
 when reached he had the courage of his convictions, and main 
 tained them with all the fervor and power of his nature. lie was 
 indeed an ornament to the legal profession, and his career as a 
 lawyer is worthy of the highest emulation. 
 
 As a soldier serving the " lost cause" his noble characteristics 
 shone resplendently. Whether in the pride ami pomp of the open 
 ing of the great struggle between the sections, in the suffering and 
 privations of actual war, upon the battle-field, or in the gloom 
 and disaster of defeat, he was the same true, hopeful, and devoted 
 patriot, beloved by all. In all the ranks of that great army that 
 went to battle inspired by what it deemed a patriotic duty then- 
 was none gentler, braver, truer than the lamented HKUNDON. 
 
 His name in camp and field was the synonym of all that is heroic 
 in courage, noble in patriotic devotion to duty, magnanimous in 
 victory, or hopeful in defeat. He loved his home, his native State, 
 with more than filial devotion, and served her cause in peace and 
 war with all the energy of his tireless nature. When the noble 
 deeds of the sons of Alabama in that great struggle shall be 
 
20 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THOMAS H. HERN DON. 
 
 gathered up by the historian there will be no brighter, purer, or 
 lovelier chapter than that which shall record the sacrifices, the 
 unselfish love of home and country, the indomitable courage and 
 fortitude of her gifted son whose virtues we commemorate and 
 whose death we now deplore. 
 
 His devotion to Alabama cost him years of physical pain, and 
 finally his life. A wound received upon the battle-field shattered 
 his frail form. Surgery was powerless to repair the injury. Year 
 by year he walked in the very shadow of death. At last, in the 
 meridian of his useful life, his spirit yielded to the conqueror, and 
 one more victim lay upon the altar of patriotic duty. 
 
 When the war closed Mr. HERXDON returned to his home in 
 the lovely city of Mobile and resumed the practice; of the law. 
 The vicissitudes and results of the war had swept away his fortune. 
 He carried the wound which daily wasted his vital energies, but 
 neither adversity nor privation, nor wounded health broke his 
 manly spirit. Success crowned his toil. 
 
 He was not, however, permitted to enjoy but for a short time 
 the quiet and comforts of private life and the undivided pursuit of 
 his profession, so congenial to his tastes and nature. Alabama had 
 entered upon the most critical period of her history. She was in 
 the jaws of reconstruction. The wisdom of his counsel was de 
 manded in the service of the State. With that self-denial which 
 ever characterized his eventful life, he abandoned his private busi 
 ness and entered the legislature of Alabama. This occasion forbids 
 allusion to partisan or political subjects that would mar its solemni 
 ties. In the presence of a common loss and a universal grief the 
 voice of party is hushed, and Qulogy records the merits which all 
 alike concede. His election to Congress was a fitting recognition 
 of the great service he rendered his people and State in the days of 
 their trial, and with what industry, fidelity, and intelligence he 
 served his constituents his colleagues bear willing testimony. 
 
 Mr. HKRNBON was not a politician in the ordinary acceptation 
 of that character, but he was a scholar, an accomplished lawyer, a 
 brave and generous soldier, and cultured statesman. He scorned, 
 as unworthy his noble nature, the ordinary arts of the politician 
 
ADD1WSS OF MR. UKMHMSON, OF ILLINOIS. 21 
 
 and the misleading artifices of the demagogue. lie was a profound 
 and independent thinker. His frail and wasted physical condi 
 tion in some degree unfitted him for an equal part in the usual 
 tumultuary proceedings of i\v\ House of Representatives, but in 
 all those departments of labor devolving upon a mcnd>er of Con 
 gress in which laws are primarily shaped and policies determined, 
 in the council chambers of committees, in party conferences, lie was 
 the peer of any member who sat with him upon this floor. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, the family circle, composed of husband, wife, 
 daughters, and sons, broken by the death of our friend, was a true 
 type of domestic happiness. Whatever of the gloom of adversity 
 obtruded upon it, whatever of disquiet and solicitude invaded its 
 sacred precincts, was speedily expelled by the presence of its head. 
 
 His countenance was sunshine itself; his voice the expression 
 of confiding love, and his deportment, under all circumstances, the 
 offspring of the nobility of human nature. 
 
 He was a devoted husband gentle, kind, and confiding ; a gen 
 erous, indulgent, loving father. All these virtues, and more, im 
 pressed themselves upon the modest home of that. bright and happy 
 circle. The gloom which now enshrouds that once happy home 
 tells in unmistakable language the irreparable loss of wife and 
 children, and proclaims in silent eloquence the virtues of the la 
 mented dead. 
 
 Address of Mr. HENDERSON, of Illinois. 
 
 Mr. SPEAKER: It is not my purpose at this time to sjM-ak at 
 length of the life and character of the late THOMAS II. IIiOUN- 
 IM)N. That has been done by others more familiar with his char 
 acter and l)etter prepared to speak of his many virtues than I am. 
 
 My acquaintance with Mr. UKUNDON began soon after he be 
 came a meml>er of this body, and was brought about by a simi 
 larity of names, on account of which I often received his letters 
 and opened them through mistake, and he quite as often received 
 and opened mine. In this way an acquaintance began between us 
 which became quite intimate and cordial, so much so that it was 
 with deep regret and sorrow I heard the sad intelligence of his death. 
 
22 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THOMAS H. HERNDON. 
 
 But, Mr. Speaker, I only intended on this occasion to ex 
 press the respect which I entertained for Mr. HERNDON, and to 
 say that in all my acquaintance and association with him he 
 always impressed me as a man of high and noble character. 
 
 I never had the honor of serving with him upon any of the 
 committees of the House, nor did our legislative duties bring us 
 in contact with each other very often. But I had opportunities 
 to observe, and did observe, his deportment here as a member of 
 this House, and I always found him to be, as my friend from 
 Alabama [Mr. Jones] has said, a perfect gentleman. He was quiet, 
 dignified, honorable in his intercourse with his fellow-members, 
 
 O / 
 
 and able and faithful in the discharge of his public duties. I 
 have been impressed with the belief that owing to failing health 
 Mr. HERNDON never exhibited to the House fully the ability, the 
 high and manly qualities which he really possessed. But certainly, 
 Mr. Speaker, no one who observed the amiable" character, the ex 
 emplary life of Mr. HERNDON could fail to respect and admire the 
 man for his many noble qualities. 
 
 I will detain the House but a moment longer. I only desired, 
 as I have said, to pay a brief tribute to the memory of Mr. HERN- 
 DON, and in conclusion will say that I shall always remember him 
 as one whose character it was profitable to study. He was a man 
 of ability and sterling worth ; a gentleman who brought to the dis 
 charge of his public duties the highest integrity and fidelity, and 
 we but honor ourselves in cherishing his memory. 
 
 Address of Mr. HERBERT, of Alabama. 
 
 Mr. SPEAKER : TIIOMAH H. HERNDON was a typical Southerner, 
 one of that class we proudly point to as the outgrowth of South 
 ern civilization. There is not a virtue that embellishes true man 
 hood that did not find in him a perfect exemplification. 
 
 He was modest as a woman, tender as a girl, brave as a lion, 
 generous to a fault, and, amid all the vicissitudes of an eventful 
 
 O 
 
 life, whether radiant among his friends in the calm sunshine of 
 
ADDKESS OF MK. HE K RE It T, OF ALARAM.l. 23 
 
 peace, or in tho vaogtiard of his comrades breast! ug the dark .storm- 
 eli.iid- of war, he was absolute]) true to his convictions of right. 
 His character shone like a star, and like a planet in the heavens it 
 luvame brighter and brighter 88 the night grew darker. 
 
 Intellectually he was not so pre-eminent, and yet he was pos 
 sessed of distinguished ability. He was highly efficient as a legis 
 lator and devoted to the interests of his constituents ; but ill health 
 impaired his usefulness when a member of this House. He was 
 a successful lawyer, elear in his perception of legal propositions and 
 forceful in their statement. Here as everywhere his character came 
 to liis aid. He enjoyed the confidence of all men, and this gave 
 him weight as a jurist and effectiveness as an advocate. In sarcasm 
 he had the power to excel, but he restrained himself. His wit 
 sometimes flashed and cut like a falchion, but he carried it as a 
 sword asleep in its scabbard. The casual acquaintance seldom knew 
 he possessed it. He also had fine executive capacity. In the dark 
 days that came upon the South in 18<57- (j8, when began that 
 terrible political struggle which culminated in the great campaign 
 of 1M74, when of those who believed with him the stoutest hearts 
 had lost hope, HKUXDOX came to the front, an appointed leader, 
 and to him more than any other was his party in the beautiful city 
 of Mobile indebted for the grand triumph it ultimately won. For 
 his devotion, his patriotism, his unselfishness, the people loved him, 
 and as they loved him so he loved them. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, it has lx?en my melancholy pleasure to attend two 
 great funerals. I was at Cleveland, Ohio, where so many of the 
 American people were gathered around the bier of the murdered 
 (Jarfield. Xeverdid the pomp and pride and luxury of grief find 
 more fitting illustration. As I looked on the vast sea of humanity 
 that surged to and fro it seemed as if the North and the South, the 
 East and the West had met on one common ground. As the eye 
 ran over the floral decorations, it appeared that Mother Earth had 
 given up all her flowers that the florist might weave them into forms 
 of beauty in honor of a favorite son ; and when the black plumes 
 waved and the grand cavalcade moved, and Euclid avenue, the 
 most !>eautiful street in America, was packed for miles and miles 
 
24 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THOMAS H. 11ERNDON. 
 
 with the procession, civic and military, that pageant was a revela 
 tion a testimonial to the genius of the dead statesman the like of 
 which eye had never seen before. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, there was grief there; the Union was mourning 
 over the victim of the assassin. But, sir, there was something 
 more than grief. The place that had been vacated was too great, 
 the occasion was too momentous, the elements comprising it were 
 too diverse, to permit that vast assembly to be animated solely by a 
 single impulse. Even under the shadow of the tomb, though the 
 thrill of horror that followed the shot of the murderer yet vibrated 
 in the hearts of the people, there were hope and fear and wonder 
 ment and other impulses contending with the grief that permeated 
 that mighty concourse of people. 
 
 Two years later I attended the other funeral. It was a beauti 
 ful April morning in a quiet Southern city by the sea. No tragedy 
 had brought about the death of him we had come to bury. Hu 
 man hands had not assailed, but human aid had been exhausted 
 in the effort to save. He had died quietly at home, amid kindred 
 and friends, the victim of a slow, merciless, incurable disease. If 
 it had been possible, expectation had discounted grief. 
 
 He was not a great orator, whose words had rung over the Union. 
 He was not a dead President ; none came out of curiosity to see 
 the face of the great man for the first time; but every home in that 
 city seemed as silent as the grave. Its more than thirty thousand 
 people had gathered to bury a dear, familiar friend. One impulse 
 animated all ; everywhere the paraphernalia of woe ; everywhere 
 flowers, tokens of affection ; in every face of high or low, rich or 
 poor, the signs of sadness and sorrow. It was a touching sight to 
 see the merchant, the lawyer, the laborer, the old and the young, 
 the -white and the colored man, pass one by one around the coffin, 
 each taking a last sad look at the face of him who was the friend 
 of all. 
 
 And so with mingled grief we laid our dead colleague away to 
 sleep among the flowers. Rest thee, HEKNDON ! Your life was as 
 beautiful as the flowers of the field, and it teaches a lesson that will 
 not, like them, fade away and die. 
 
<n MI;. siir.LLEY, OF ALAKAUA. 25 
 
 Address by Mr. SHELLEY, of Alabama. 
 
 Mr. SPKAKKU: THOMAS H<H>I> HKUM>ON was born at the vil 
 lage of Kric, on the Warrior River, in Green County, Alabama, on 
 the 1st day of July, 1828, and died at Mobile, Ala., on the 28th day 
 ol March, 188. $. He spent his boyhood at the place of his nativity, 
 surrounded by the best influences of a home abounding in all 
 that can refine the heart, improve the intellect, exalt the character, 
 and develop manhood. From there lie went to the State Univer 
 sity at Tus<:aloo>a, where be graduated in theyear 1847. He read law 
 with Hon. Joseph W. Taylor, a distinguished lawyer anil orator, 
 and at Harvard, and was admitted to the bar in 1849. He set 
 tled at the town of Kutaw, in his native county. Before lie reached 
 the years of maturity he was an ardent Democrat. He took an 
 active interest in polities and became associate editor of the Kutaw 
 Democrat, of whose editorial columns he had entire charge during 
 the exciting times of 1850. 
 
 In 1851 he was elected a member of the house of representatives 
 of the State legislature and served for one year. During the 
 month of September of that year he wrote a series of letters, over 
 the signature of "John Taylor of Caroline," to the Montgomery 
 Advertiser and Gazette, which exhibited his varied learning and 
 brilliant literary attainments. After the expiration of his term in 
 the legislature he returned to his home and devoted his time to 
 his profession, without any abatement, however, of his deep inter 
 est in the politics of the country. 
 
 In the year 1853 he removed to Mobile, and in the year 1857 
 was elected by the Democratic party to represent Mobile County 
 in the lower house of the State legislature. He returned to Ku 
 taw in 1859, and was chosen in 1800 a delegate, with Hon. James 
 I>. Webb, to represent Green County in the secession convention 
 of the State of Alabama. He was conspicuous as a leader of the 
 younger members of the convention, among whom were many of 
 the most brilliant young men of the State. 
 
26 LIVE AND CHARACTER OF THOMAS H. HERNDON. 
 
 As soon as possible after the adjournment of the convention he 
 entered the Confederate army as major of the Thirty-sixth Ala 
 bama Infantry. He was afterwards chosen colonel of that regi 
 ment and served with that rank until the close of the war. He 
 was distinguished for high courage and gallantry as a soldier. He 
 was wounded at the battles of Chickarnauga and Atlanta, and sur 
 rendered at Meridian, Miss. After the close of the war he set 
 tled again at Mobile, where he engaged actively in the practice of 
 the law, in partnership with his brother-in-law, Col. Robert H. 
 Smith, the firm doing the leading practice in the city. 
 
 Colonel HERNDON never shirked the duties of a good citizen ; 
 consequently the drafts made upon him by his fellow-citizens, 
 which were constant and heavy, were always promptly met. He 
 was chosen president of the central council of the Democratic 
 party of Mobile County in 1868, during the Presidential campaign 
 of that year, in which position he displayed rare executive capac 
 ity and eternal vigilance. He was nominated by the Democratic 
 party for governor of Alabama in 1872, but was defeated by Hon. 
 P. D. Lewis, the Republican nominee, after a heated campaign, in 
 which he fully sustained his reputation as -a brilliant debater and 
 enlightened statesman. 
 
 In September, 1876, Colonel HERNDON was chosen by his 
 fellow-citizens of Mobile County as one of the delegates to repre 
 sent that county in the constitutional convention which framed the 
 present constitution of the State of Alabama. He was chairman 
 of the committee on the executive department, and the people of 
 the State are probably more largely indebted to him than any other 
 delegate for the compact and methodical manner in which that con 
 stitution now exists. 
 
 Colonel HERNDON was again elected a member of the house of 
 representatives of the State legislature from Mobile County, in 
 November, 1876, and served as chairman of the judiciary commit 
 tee of that body. He received a very complimentary vote in the 
 legislature that year for United States Senator. 
 
 He was first chosen a member of this House in November, 1878. 
 He received the nomination from the convention of his party while 
 
ti>in;i >N or .MI:. SJIKU.KY, or ALAHAMA. 27 
 
 from the State, without solicitation. He hesitated to actvpt 
 the Humiliation, notwithstanding the complimentary manner in 
 which it had been tendered, as by its acceptance he sacrificed a 
 I:ii-L;r and very lucrative law practice. The record which he made 
 during his service here is known to the country. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, with my feeble words I feel that I will not In- 
 able to do justice to the character of my dead friend. Sublime in 
 his courage, exalted in his ambition, noble in his patriotism, pure 
 in his instincts, honorable in his actions, true in his friendships, 
 THOMAS H. HKKNDON combined in his character more of the 
 human virtues and graces than any man I ever knew. His cour 
 age manifested itself in the very beginning of his career, and was 
 alwavs a conspicuous element in his character. Born of pure mo 
 tives and lofty aspirations, it sustained him in the pursuits of pri 
 vate life and in the discharge of public duties, and enabled him to 
 do right alwavs, even in opposition to popular sentiment. (iuidcd 
 by wisdom and prudence, quickened by a sensitive conscience, he 
 confronted danger when encountered in the discharge of duty with 
 a calm fearlessness that made him invincible. 
 
 His ambition was of that exalted kind which lifts .a man above 
 mere personal considerations. He accepted position more to en 
 large his field and increase his powers of usefulness than to gratify 
 selfish ends. He was not indifferent to popular applause, but he 
 never sought it. His highest ambition was to do his duty well. 
 His patriotism was instinctive. He loved his country with devo 
 tion. He believed in her republican institutions, and favored the 
 largest degree of liberty consistent with the good of society and the 
 well-l>eing of the citizen. At the same time he recognized the 
 claims of Government upon the citizen, and was ever prompt to 
 respond to the call of public duty to spend and l>e spent in t In- 
 service of his country. 
 
 In his actions he was ever honorable. His appreciative sense 
 of honor led him to make any sacrifice for its vindication, for he 
 was utterly incapable of doing a dishonorable act. In his nature 
 he was refined. His instincts were pure, his feelings cultivated. 
 He was a rare combination of bravery, tenderness, and truth. In 
 
28 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THOMAS II. HERN DON. 
 
 his friendships ho was sincere and faithful. No man ever enjoyed 
 his friendship who was not impressed with the nobility of his char 
 acter and the fidelity of his nature. His intellectual attainments 
 were of a high order. He did not have that rugged strength of 
 intellect which attracts attention by its brusqueness rather than its 
 force, but his mind possessed all the elements of intellectuality in 
 their purest form and so well organized that he enjoyed powers 
 far above most men. To these great natural gifts, improved and 
 strengthened by industrious and careful culture, may be ascribed 
 the large measure of success which he attained in the various 
 walks of life. His exalted character, his intellectual powers, his 
 extensive and varied learning, his brilliant literary attainments, 
 united with his industrious, systematic, and painstaking habits, 
 gave him capabilities for usefulness that bore abundant fruit all 
 through his active life. 
 
 His life was devoted to public interests. He loved his native 
 State, and his best years were given to her service. In peace and 
 in war his wisdom and courage have made their impress upon 
 every page of her history. To him as much as to any other man 
 in the State are we indebted for the restoration of our government 
 to the control of our intelligent and virtuous classes. To his wis 
 dom and patriotism we owe many of the wisest provisions in our 
 present State constitution. 
 
 Alabama will always hold in grateful remembrance the valuable 
 services of her gifted son, whose courage so strikingly illustrated 
 her manhood, and whose wise counsels contributed so largely to 
 her prosperity and the advancement of her civilization. 
 
 My personal relations with Colonel HEKNDOX cannot be described 
 in language. I loved him as I loved my own soul. Drawn to 
 him by a mysterious power which I could not resist, the feelings, 
 aspirations, and secrets of -my heart were confided to him with 
 perfect faith. His tender sympathy was my consolation in the 
 hour of my sorrows; his thoughtful advice was my ready assist 
 ance in the hour of trouble. I miss his friendship; I miss his 
 love. He is gone ; he is dead. He has crossed over the river and 
 is resting gently ill the shade of the tree of eternal life. His toils 
 
AltnitKSS OF MR. GATES, OF ALARAMA. 29 
 
 and his sorrows are ended. Ho is now gathering the fruits of his 
 great and good life. r Plio joys of Heaven aro his. 
 
 Decorated with a crown of glory, the reward of the virtues 
 which adorned his pure lifo hero, ho awaits ns beyond the grave. 
 Mav (Jod help mo so to live that when this life is ended I mav ho 
 permitted to join him in that haven of rest, where the friendship 
 and love which united ns here may be revived and intensified 
 through all eternity. 
 
 Address of Mr. GATES, of Alabama. 
 
 Mr. SPEAKER: That day in a man s destiny which is like no 
 other is his death day, " a transition out of visible time into invis 
 ible eternity," and if not to be lamented, because the inevitable for 
 all, vet it awakens a fooling of a wo and deepest interest in the hearts of 
 all, who must experience profound sorrow when one of the best and 
 most useful is called hence. After what has been so well said con 
 cerning the character and virtues of my late colleague I fear that 
 anvthing I may add will but mar the beautiful imagery and pa 
 thetic eloquence which have been expressed in words as perspicu 
 ous, pure, and select as the characteristics of him whose career thev 
 so faithfully portray. 
 
 But, sir, I know and loved him too well to remain silent when 
 the last sad tributes here in this grand old Hall, where he served 
 his people and country long and faithfully, are l>cing paid to his 
 memory. No oulogium, however high ; no feeling we can express, 
 however deep; no praise we can utter, however extravagant, can 
 l>enefit him now or add to his spotless name; that is as unsullied 
 and enduring as the placid waters of the beautiful bay on whose 
 shores he lived and loved so well and where his honored ashes now 
 repose. 
 
 As the great rock in midoceau serves as the (sternal beacon to 
 the mariner, so his solid character stands a model, challenging emu 
 lation by the young men of his native Alabama. His scholarly 
 attainments and thorough elementary training made him an accu 
 rate logician and gave him reputation a> a lawyer. He wasasensi- 
 
30 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THOMAS H. HERNDON. 
 
 ble talker rather than an eloquent speaker. He was less ornate 
 than solid. He knew that in this practical age eloquence of speech 
 is of secondary importance to scope and variety of knowledge ; but 
 the delicacy of his constitution limited his research and hindered 
 his progress. Cf medium height, slender stature, and sallow com 
 plexion, his manner, while civil, respectful, and dignified, was also 
 classical, clerical, and proud, rather than cordial ; hence with those 
 who did not know him well he was not popular. But beneath his 
 cold exterior there was nowhere a warmer, more generous, sympa 
 thetic, or braver heart. 
 
 He was of high social qualities. His hospitality and liberality 
 were bounded only by the extent of his means. If lie had a fault 
 and who has not? it was prodigality for his family and friends. 
 To know him was to love him, and witli those who knew him lie 
 was immensely popular. 
 
 My acquaintance with him began in 1867, and during the four 
 succeeding years we served together on the Democratic State ex 
 ecutive committee. In comprehensiveness and breadth of thought 
 he was equaled by few, and in executive ability surpassed by none. 
 In 1872 he was my successful rival for the Democratic nomina 
 tion for governor of Alabama. But this, instead of estranging us, 
 as such rivalries too frequently do, made us faster friends. Dur 
 ing the sixteen years of our acquaintance our friendship grew 
 stronger, and was attested by tears at our final separation. 
 
 Novalis, a German writer, has said that a strong character is 
 but a completely fashioned will. This found illustration in mv 
 late lamented colleague. His intellect was the servant of his will. 
 That deep conviction, that firm resolve, like the electric lamp on 
 the Dome of the Capitol, shed its gentle yet steady effulgence on 
 all around him and won their admiration. 
 
 Brilliant intellects with deficient will-power are too often like 
 the threads of silver ore which lie scattered here and there, daz 
 zling and encouraging by their brilliancy and surface richness, but, 
 alas! when the deluded miner s expectancv is at its zenith the vein 
 vanishes and his hope sinks with it. But that of my departed 
 friend light placer on the surface deep down was a Comstock 
 lode. The strong will is the strong man. 
 
AIHWKSS OF MR. WILLIAMS, Of ALABAMA. 31 
 
 His devoted wife and grief stricken orphans remain (o cherish 
 his name, hut the loving husband, the indulgent and tender father, 
 tlir true friend, the hrave soldier, the wise statesman, the sterling 
 patriot, the |>erfect gentleman, THOMAS IIo.\m> HKUMMIN, is 
 gone from us forever, leaving to his children the richest of all in 
 heritances, a sjwtlcss reputation. 
 
 Address of Mr. WILLIAMS, of Alabama. 
 
 Mr. SPKAKF.U: The relation the cradle hears to the grave, is pain- 
 fullv suggestive, of hoth their near and natural kiudredship. The 
 one, is succeeded hy the other, as surely as wave follows wave, in 
 the el)h and flow of the tide. The shrieks ushering into the familv 
 home the one, unerringly foretell their approaching counter response, 
 in the wails at the hrink of the other. The one, is the known re 
 ceptacle of our helpless loved ones for the time, the other for all 
 remaining time. 
 
 In the one, undisturbed quietude and repose, are the conditions 
 sought and fostered; in the other, attained in a spell unhrokeu, bv 
 our most pitiful endeavors. In the one, we deposit the opening 
 flowers of our love, sweetly dimpling in angelic beauty; in the 
 other, their faded and dissolving forms, distressingly precious, to 
 our bleeding hearts. The one, invokes our wakeful vigils, for the 
 continued vitality and healthful forthcoming of its loved occu 
 pants; the other, our most agonizing solicitude for their revitalitv 
 and immortal uprising. Around the one, our hearts carol the lays 
 of sweet affection and love; over the other, afford heaven and earth, 
 incontestable proof of their depth and devotion. 
 
 This untiring devotion to the sleeping dead, quickens into exist 
 ence an attendant genius, standing upon the prostrate demon of 
 skepticism, dissipating the clouds of his foul doubts, wherewith he 
 had sought to obscure the light of the shir of Bethlehem ; and 
 proclaiming it all around the world, that the love enkindled over the 
 
32 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THOMAS II. HERNDON. 
 
 cradle, will not expire or flicker, but shall survive with increased 
 and increasing luster, at and beyond the grave. 
 
 That the divine agency of the grave, in its exercises upon our 
 hearts, is to our affection and love, rather that of the crucible to 
 the treasures of the refiner. That phoenix-like, rising from the 
 desolation and dust of that sorrowful and instrumental test, and 
 free of all base alloy, our affections and love are divinely enstainped 
 with the seal of an immortality, proclaiming its birthright in the 
 Heaven -ordained resolve to go to our loved ones, by acting out 
 through God s revealed means a 
 
 Life that shall send 
 
 A challenge to its end, 
 
 And when if, comes say, Welcome friend. 
 
 That, this Heaven-ordained resolve, grounded in its firm founda 
 tion upon the immovable rock of ages, nurtures and commissions 
 forthward, the invigorated and entwining tendrils of our indestruc 
 tible affections and love. That, these tendrils, emanating from a 
 sacred soil of the heart, not of the earth earthy, and wherein it is 
 the pleasure of the divine Husbandman to culture his immortal 
 exotics, lap over into the unknown world in pursuit of the absent 
 loved ones, inspired by the truth of faith s conviction, that 
 
 Who in life s battle firm doth -stand, 
 Shall bear hope s tender blossoms 
 Into the silent land. 
 
 That, in their ascending and unvarying course homeward, they 
 will entwine and thread the golden trackway of faith, up to that 
 happy land, that is fairer than day. 
 
 That, in the sweet by and by, and while awaiting us over there, 
 they will be trailed by a faith, reuniting our hearts in indissoluble 
 ties with the dear loved ones gone before. 
 
 Could the innumerable tendrils of love, which throughout the 
 ages have entwined their ascent homeward, all be unveiled to the 
 human eye, if for an instant only, methinks the domain of space 
 would glisten and glitter with their heaven-tinted weft and woof, 
 
.un>i:i:ss OF MI:, n //././. I.MS, or ALAKAMA. 33 
 
 while the boundless dome tit tin mansions of the blest would ap 
 pear in the enchanting distance, canopied with their felicitous beautv 
 :md unrivaled splendor. 
 
 O, liiiul! O, iaiid! 
 For all the broken-hearted 
 
 The niil<!< -I herald hv our fate allotted 
 Iteekons, aiul with inverted torch doth stand 
 To load us with a gentle hand 
 
 Unto the land of the great departed, 
 Into the silent land ! 
 
 What fragrant clusters of love s undying tendrils, would bo seen 
 in that silent land, embosoming and emlx>wering in their special 
 entwinings the sweel and lovable spirit of the late and honorable 
 THOMAS II. HKKNDON, of Alabama, could only be dependent upon 
 how many there were who came to a true knowledge ^)f him while 
 dwelling here upon the earth ; for, Mr. Speaker, I ha/ard nothing 
 in saying to those who truly knew him, none came to that knowl 
 edge but to love him. 
 
 Would that within range of subserviency to my call, slumbered 
 supernatural powers, the very inherent magnetism whereof, when 
 awakened, evolved original and elaborate skill, in the striking and 
 refined tracings, the pure and delicate touch, and the polished, cor 
 rect finish of subjects, eliciting their transcendent dealing. 
 
 Kven then won-ld I barely lx i equal to the emergency of present 
 ing him as he truly existed, than which no tongue or pencil ever 
 described a more pleasing and attractive image. Even then would 
 I be trammeled with, if not overcome bv misgivings of success, in 
 an effort to hold him forth to those unfavored with a knowledge of 
 his physical, mental, and moral outfit, robed in the grandeur of his 
 finished and vivid portraiture. Powers thus scarcely less than mi 
 raculous in their exhibitions, should at least be commanded to unveil 
 to their enraptured view his stately person, magnificent figure, manlv 
 face, and towering, polished brow, ornamented in the majestv of 
 exquisite features, and wondrous in their enkindled and enkindling 
 inspiration. 
 
 Prominent among these gems of nature s royalty, were his eagle- 
 Ix amiug eyes, the luster whereof, was irresistible iu the fascinations 
 3 HE 
 
34 LIFK AXD CHARACTER OF THOMAS //. HKRXIWN. 
 
 of their unexcelled charms; his finely marked, well defined, ex 
 tended mouth, whoso thin, seamed, compressed lips, uttoringly 
 besj>oke volumes, in character and will-power ; his well set, thor 
 oughly architects!, Saxon nose, jaw, and chin, whose classic mold, 
 significantly indicated their inseparable attendance upon rare, lumi 
 nous forces and well -grounded jxnvcrs. I would alike be depend 
 ent upon that miraculous power, for the ability to depict with a 
 vitality corresponding to that of life, his penetrating and captivat 
 ing expression of countenance; his looks, which had something in 
 them so superexcellent and that was so wanting in a name; expres 
 sion and looks, generated and born of, nurtured and matured by 
 the inspiring glow and light, illuming and wreathing this blended 
 association, this grand assemblage of facial features and parts, pro 
 nouncedly imposing in the display of his thoroughbred pirson- 
 n o- a personage calmly reposing upon its conscious and unstinted 
 strength, as it unfolded an entirety, embodying the richest and 
 rarest profusion of nature s unbounded liberality, promoting him 
 to the high rank reserved for those enstamped with her marked 
 favoritism, and sweetly inducing the conviction that none was ever 
 more fashioned, favored, and finished after the divine creative 
 image of his Maker. 
 
 In despair of attaining to the goal of an ambition invoked in 
 the interest of a consummately achieved portraiture of him, I find 
 myself remitted to the. cheerless undertaking, and with faltering 
 expectations of its fulfillment, of what I crave may at least suffice- 
 as an acceptably wrought reminder thereof in pursuit of this last 
 resort, I affirm, nnd what was so well known to those acquainted 
 with him, that in the particulars mentioned, including withal his 
 entire mental and physical conformation, a total exemption therein 
 from any deformity or blemish, afforded the least significant feature 
 in his prepossessing and brilliant array. In the meanwhile, their 
 clustered and inspiring beauties, their diffused and animating en 
 chantment, sealed with nature s impress of rare forces and high-born 
 j>owers, would have invested the most exacting and unyielding 
 critic, with a spirit of positive inhibition to all promptings, the 
 least suggestive of any change whatever, in a make up and finish 
 
.1 //i/; /><> OF >//;. U////M/Y "I Al.AllAMA. 35 
 
 win-rein, all wen- -< loval.lv li;iriiinii>ii~, impressively engaging, and 
 
 attractively majefttic. 
 
 Iii hi- -lately jK rson, in his sinew ami muscles, his nerve, ener 
 gies, power, and lx>ttom, Mr. HKKXDO.N, like the eagle or thorough 
 bred courser, was uoenoomibered with any of the dross or incubus 
 resulting from redundancy of physical matter. If in his j>ersoii 
 apparent delicacy was to IK- seen, it may well IK- remarked it was 
 untrainmeled with any latent physical or mental effeminacy. Man 
 ifestations unmistakable in their teachings, abounded in the texture 
 and filter of his heft and elements, foretelling his ample capacity 
 for active lal>or, thought, and s|>eed, interlinked with correspond 
 ing |Mwcrs of clastic endurance, and that when brought into lull 
 play, they would not fail to put upon their highest mettle any and all. 
 who essayed in the commendable, if jn-rilous task, of continuing 
 ahrcast with him. 
 
 In his grand figure, he would have been a conceded and esteemed 
 model for .symmetry to have pursued and copied, while in his man 
 ners, he was so courtly, in his action, so unaffectedly dignified, ami 
 in his courtesies of standard and hii;h hrecdin^, so sweet, he could 
 have l>een successfully presented as their hailed preceptor, whose 
 exemplary tutorage would have challenged the profound attention, 
 if not the unqualified approval of all. Moreover, in the particu 
 lars pertaining to pleasing neatness and commendable taste and tidi- 
 IM , he was what all would have held him to lx-, a finished pat 
 tern, disjK-nsinjr with suggestions of improvement. 
 
 From his bewitching countenance, uniformly Hashed and radiated 
 a beaming and bright expression of intelligence, sparkling as the 
 diamond. Indeed, he was in every particular and essential enter 
 ing into and constituting his elements, finish, and polish, naught 
 less in his brilliant display and superb excellencies, than a veritable 
 diamond of nature in the great multitude of the human nice; one, 
 according to our American taste, too superexcellent and invaluable 
 in its ingredients and composition to IK- misapplied in associations 
 or comparisons with crowns of royalty, andy<t never more fitly in 
 its impressive place, than when immortally bedecking the divinely 
 royal brow of its own maternity, Dame Nature. 
 
36 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THOMAS H. HERNDON. 
 
 Besides, this blight, intelligent express! on , acquired new and in 
 creasing luster and attractiveness from a wreathed and savored 
 sweetness of temper, profusely gentle, kind, true, and manly; a 
 temper and disposition highly relishable in its refreshing and reviv 
 ifying influences to all mingling and associating with him. For his 
 was inherently a genial and companionable nature, enticing and 
 luring in its exhilarating savor and fragrancy, insomuch its happy 
 effects would have been no more apparent and palatable had they 
 been susceptible to, and substantially realized by its fortunate recip 
 ients, through the tests of their natural senses. 
 
 As a resulting out-turn, a natural and crowning finish to a com 
 bination so uniquely interesting, he embodied and prefaced an in 
 terwoven beauty of person and countenance, adjudging him rightly 
 and decreeing him justly to be " a joy forever." This pronounced 
 beauty, in which he was so strikingly arrayed, was attractively ar 
 resting, even to the listless observer favored only with a passing 
 view, and who could not fail to render him the just homage of his 
 involuntary admiration. 
 
 Supcradded to all this wealth of his enrichment by these most 
 enviable parts, traits, and characteristics, was his pre-eminence as 
 the soul of honor, truth, and unalloyed physical and moral courage. 
 Indeed, he never looked, spoke, nor acted otherwise, and was thus 
 marked and unerringly emblazoned to mankind, insomuch those 
 little acted upon by these noble and ennobling attributes, failed not 
 to recogni/e and appreciate his birthright and divine title to them. 
 
 A most brilliant and eloquent son of America, deplorably pros 
 trated upon the ground by the baneful effects of inebriate habits, 
 was stumbled upon at night by one, then, now, and likely ever to 
 be, the most eminent of all her renowned jurists. In reply to his 
 apologetic inquiry as to whom he had so regretfully thus offended, 
 the recumbent brother, with eyes peering up into the presiding 
 beauties of the evening firmament, and in a voice ringing out in the 
 stilly night musical and touching, responded, "A fallen star, yet 
 beautiful and brilliant in the dust." The star of Mr. HERNDON S 
 beauty and brilliancy, unsubjected to intrusions in the dust, moved 
 grandly and triumphantly on in the safe and sublime orbit outlined 
 
AIHtRKSS OF MR. WILLIAMS, OF ALAHAMA. 37 
 
 lv tin- King of all true nobility fur iwtmv s ordained barons of 
 liberu, among whom ho stood by divine right a born and tower 
 ing chieftain. 
 
 His mental parts were pre-eminently appropriate, and exaltedly 
 becoming, ID the endowment and adornment of our brother in his 
 native dignity and truly majestic display, rather than as so feebly 
 and inadequately herewith sketched. His innate and imperial 
 mental forces, were robustly musenlai and active. Unconscious of 
 burden therefrom, they were, in massiv eeapability, equal to the 
 most extended thought, and linking enforcing argumentation for 
 he was mentally stout, erectly balanced, and firmly planted by 
 nature upon the unwavering feet of an intuitive logician of mag 
 ical skill and power. 
 
 His perceptive faculties, potently penetrating and pellucidly clear, 
 were marshaled and presided over by no less a luminary than if 
 continuously conipanionated with some morning star, one of a 
 glittering host apparently bestudding his intellectual firmament. 
 Likewise with his descriptive forces, equally acted upon from 
 the same brilliant canopy, rendering them vividly photographic 
 in their nature and verifying action, even so much, the object or 
 theme he sought to array seemed present with, and visibly standing 
 Ix fore you. 
 
 His exhaustless fund of startling and inimitable humor, his blist 
 ering and withering satire, and his soul-upheaving, heart-melting 
 pathos never failed to come to the front when occasion demanded, 
 nor of robing his subject or theme in the attire and style suitable 
 to, and sufficiently substantial for a full journey down the columns 
 and currents of enduring history. For the lightnings of genius 
 Hashed from his eyes no less perspicuously, than the thunders of 
 eloquence audibly pealed from his lips. His sense of the ridicu 
 lous, was simply the keenest of the keen, while his tact in its ex- 
 [>osure, through rib-testing exhibitions, could not have well IXHJII 
 surpassed. When thus engaged, his memorable part was upheld 
 and sustained amid surroundings of ludicrous scenery, most adroitly 
 arousing, in its arrangement by him, and peformed in a manner 
 never to be forgotten by the multitudes inexpressibly refreshed 
 while thrown into unrestrainable hilarity thereat. 
 
38 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THOMAS H. HEENDON. 
 
 His fancy, or imagination, eorruscating with the brilliancy in 
 fused from his mental firmament, and aboundingly intnitioned for 
 all the grand purposes of illuming with the heat and glow of a Pro- 
 methian fire his mental furnace, of reseating his sublime thoughts 
 and ideas in colors and beauties suitable to their natural dignity 
 and correctly ascertained magnitude, did not, however, sway the 
 scepter of power in his well-ordered and solid mind. It was sub 
 ordinated to the enforced position of an ever-present and ready 
 auxiliary to his sterner, more useful and enduring forces forces 
 which exhumed and prepared the ore, forged and welded the grand 
 links, constituting the steeled, marvelous, and resistless chain of 
 ponderous argumentation and fiery logic ; faculties capable, and 
 with electric thought, of eliminating from his subject, and down to 
 the bed-rock thereof, all whatsoever foreign thereto or incongru 
 ous therewith ; intellectual instrumentalities, fraught with the power 
 in their chemicalizing action, of dissolving down to its original 
 units the constituent elements of that subject, of divining and dis 
 playing them, with whatever pertained or related thereto, in all its 
 phases and bearings, and with an accuracy, fullness, and power at 
 once herald ing the presence and dealing of the master-magician spirit 
 of the same; mentalities imbued with Vulcan strength in their 
 intuitive grasp of the fruitful and exhaustive results flowing from 
 his profound investigations and powerful analysis; and in their 
 gigantic stretches of his sweeping and overwhelming combinations 
 they upheld, marshaled, and thundered his deductions and conclu 
 sions, with a perspicuity and an intensity of feeling and thought, 
 few if any would dare wantonly to provoke, and fewer still would 
 volunteer to improve. 
 
 No renowned, invincible chieftain, ever descried with more un 
 erring certitude the line upon which to plant the legions of his 
 bristling columns for the approaching fray, and in more frightful 
 array to the foe, than, with a strategy born of Omnipotence, did he 
 align the assemblage of his grand mental marshals pending mo 
 mentous struggles, invoking their rally around his talismanic ban 
 ner. With a skill that was consummate and a tact that was supreme, 
 they were wielded and hurled upon the lines of the opposing forces 
 
.i />/>/;/ <>r MI;. WILLIAMS, OF .tL.in.iM.i. 31) 
 
 with telling -elllvt. No redoubtable knight II|M>M thenrena of a tour- 
 nainriii. \\iili hi- plumed fame rendering illustrious the legends of 
 literature, and acting under a cordon of the inspiring eye* nparkliug 
 from the circles of assembled beauty and grace, ever displayed a 
 nioiv gallant mien and chivalrie coimige, than did he unveil, when 
 baring his helmet to the foe, he poised his trenchant Made, braced 
 upon the lion-hearted breast of his indomitable will-power, and 
 crowned with the dauntless majesty of his own native grandeur. 
 
 Powers so august and knightly in their brilliant army and ac 
 tion, so pronounced and defiant in their development and out 
 come, could have l>een no otherwise than manifestly and essentially 
 Herculean in their origin. Their pre-eminence, however, was aug 
 mented in no inconsiderable degree, by being the stalwart factors 
 of a mind thoroughly organized and ramified in its unbounded 
 area, height, and depth factors rarely combined in one, whose 
 unification was properly a notice to mankind of increase in their 
 separately formidable, but when aggregated, their then accumula 
 tive and aggressive force. They were crowned with the prowess 
 of a signal and rigorous training by, and a royal investiture in, the 
 classic armory of thorough, finished, scholastic attainments. Thus 
 armed and equipped with all the needful instrumentalities for what 
 ever contests might arise, however heated, or to the hilt, if you 
 please, lie stood ever ready for the combat, and with his incisive 
 wca uis Hashing with the burnished polish resultant from a 
 t .rough research, a profound investigation, and a wise understand 
 ing of his subject. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, generations will come and go, before Alabama 
 again may be able and equally so fortunate, as to honor this Hall 
 with the presence of another such son, another rarely endowed, ex 
 quisitely adorned, and wisely matured THOMAS H. HKHXDON; one, 
 whose dutiful bearing toward and in her behalf, was without com- 
 _plaint or reproach, and above suspicion; one, whose recognized re 
 lations to her, whether as a private citi/en or a public servant, 
 whether she was engulfed in the horrors of war or blissful in the 
 possession of i>eace, whether reveling in prosperity s outturn or 
 cast iuto the pits of adversity, could have been rendered no more 
 
40 LIFE -AND CHARACTER OF THOMAS H. HERNDON. 
 
 pure, true, and filial in its sacredly fulfilled obligations and devo 
 tion, than if borne toward the affectionate and honored mother of 
 his birth ; one, who ever stood calmly ready to launch, with a 
 heroism rivaling that of the bravest of the brave, his earnest, 
 honest, and tireless endeavors, even to the extremity of the pledge 
 of his life, fortune, and saered honor, in the defense of her rights 
 and the preservation of her untarnished fame, who was ever saga 
 cious, wise, fearless, and faithful in all his aets in that behalf, ever 
 unswerved or moved therein by selfish considerations, other than 
 those conspiring to her growth and prosperity, ever uncramped or 
 acted upon thereby, through any personal ambition, other than in 
 so far as it promised to promote her honor and glory, embedding 
 his dauntless stand unyieldingly by her fortunes and honor, he 
 contended with all the power of his regal forces for, and by every 
 honorable method attainable, enforced, enlarged, and elevated her 
 material, civil, social, and political existence and liberty, as a great 
 American Commonwealth, her constitutional duties, rights, privi 
 leges, and immunities, as a proud State of this grand family union 
 of States. 
 
 His unwavering devotion to, and unfaltering endeavors for the 
 good and glory of his own Commonwealth, were not without their 
 correlative blessings alike to all the other States; for the whole 
 some well-being of no member of the body politic could well be 
 promoted, without a resulting good therefrom to the entire mem 
 bership, even when not so intended. But, sir, it would be a rank 
 injustice to his revered memory, for lodgment to be suffered a con 
 viction, that the fervid patriotism, generating, nourishing, and matur 
 ing this sublime devotion to, this unbounded interest in the general 
 welfare and honor of his own State, was confined alone to her borders, 
 or those of her soil. 
 
 Not wishing to encumber your time with a recital of his many 
 private and public acts, and whose very essence was fraught with 
 overwhelming refutations of an implication his instincts would 
 have scorned, and rebelled interminably against, allow me, with 
 all becoming modesty, to suggest that the patriotism, like charity, 
 its parent stem, which distills its benign influences and blessings 
 
I /</</, />.-, l .//, . \\~ILUAM8, Of ALAItAMA. 41 
 
 profusely throughout tlic thresholds of its own borders, is the alone 
 one ever yet commissioned by nature and countersigned by Heaven 
 lor a journey abroad; lor that philanthropic visitation on \vhieh it 
 was his Ixdil and fond delight actively to engage, whose; confines 
 were never loss contracted than the Ixmmls of his own glorious 
 country vea, from the outposts of whose bounds, it was his c<[iial 
 satisfaction, imrofrainingly to wing his fruitful thoughts and bliss 
 ful conceptions in the interest of the entire human family of the 
 world, speeding them to an uncalled halt, at the line defined bv 
 Deity, as the exterior boundary of all finite advances; a boundary 
 presenting, not only an impassable barrier to all finite efforts, but 
 also, clearly defining the line of separation between the realizing 
 present and the mysterious, unknown future, and whose alone ex 
 tended limits, constituted the only pent-up Utica, known to his ag 
 gressive spirit in its towering career of his grandly superendowed 
 powers. 
 
 The sunbeam sparkled with no more brightness to his radiant eve, 
 than to his illumed mind, flashed and glittered, the grand truth and 
 its essential philosophy, so sublimely expressed by Britain s world- 
 renowned bard, when into words his pen ingemmed the undying 
 utterance that 
 
 Heaven from all creatures hides the book of fate. 
 
 All but the. page ]> rest- ri bed, the present state; 
 
 From brutes what men, from men what angels know. 
 
 Or who could suffer being here below? 
 
 The lamb thy riot dooms to bleed to-day, 
 
 Had he thy reason would he skip and play? 
 
 Pleased to the last, he^-rops the flowery food, 
 
 And lieks the hand just raised to shed his lilm.il. 
 
 Oh! blindness to the future kindly given, 
 
 That each may tread the road marked out by Heaven, 
 
 Who sees with equal eye, as God of all, 
 
 A hero perish, or a sparrow fall ; 
 
 Atoms or systems into ruin hurled, 
 
 And now a bubble burst, and now a world. 
 
 If in my feeble efforts thus far made in the display of our brother, 
 yon have failed to see him, grappling in tireless heroism with all 
 the difficulties and troubles encountering the usefulness and honor 
 
42 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF TIIO11AS II. HERNDON. 
 
 of his pathway in life ;* if you have not seen him, standing upon 
 mid muster of the highest eminence of human thought attainable 
 by finite capacity ; if you have not seen him, in the throes of a 
 genius, pressing restively upon the limits prescribed to finite en 
 deavors for room wherein to afford vent to cramped powers, with a 
 mettle, physical, mental, and moral, no counterfeit in mankind could 
 face, any more than darkness can confront the silvery dawn of light ; 
 with a devotion to right calmly unshaken by the prospects of im 
 mediate death ; with a disinterested care and concern for the well- 
 being of his species, obscuring self entirely from view, then, and 
 indeed, have I failed to remind you whatever of him. These were 
 priceless muniments of his more than enriched heritage. They 
 were his birthright, descending as heirlooms from an ancestry who 
 preserved them unimpaired and untarnished, and by him they have 
 been alike transmitted to his own blood. 
 
 He descended from a lineage immortalized, more than a quarter 
 of a century ago, by William Lewis Hcrndon, of the United States 
 Navy, who sealed his devotion to duty with his life while in com 
 mand of the mail steamship Central America. That noble sire, of 
 the lines of lineage from whence our brother hailed, had passed 
 through a terrific hurricane at sea only to find his craft disabled and 
 irremediably sinking. Eliciting aid from some small vessels, hap 
 pily in sight, he effected the safety of about one-fourth of the six 
 hundred passengers and crew aboard the doomed craft, and to one 
 thus escaping from her deplorable fate, he committed his watch and 
 other keepsakes, consigned to his wife, then a resident of this city, 
 and the mother of the late and lamented consort, of our present and 
 highly esteemed most excellent President. 
 
 The abandonment of his sinking craft, with nearly five hundred 
 souls yet remaining aboard and unprovided for, was so wholly 
 at variance with his keen sense of the honor due to his country s 
 service, that he remained upon her deck, wedded in death to his post 
 of duty. The last seen of him by those escaping a watery grave 
 through the aid of his unselfish and supremely noble nature, was 
 his proud person, clad in the full uniform of his rank and service, 
 erectly standing at the wheel-house of his fast disappearing steamer. 
 
OF MI:, nil ri IMS, or AL.UI.IM. i. 43 
 
 In this position, undaunted ho -i",,, I. until iln- waters had passed 
 over am! do>ed forever from (ht ir view this commander of heroic 
 blood. In language somewhat after that of another, may I not 
 
 sav 
 
 Whilu lu ;i>kril not tluit faim- should hi.s merits rein-arse, 
 Though ho asked not a shaft to lie sculpt invil in vorse, 
 The world beheld, in hi.s stand, as lit* gave up tho^host, 
 r.l. iul. In -i mi- to i he last, when hi; wont down at his post. 
 
 Among the "full many gems of purest rays serene, the dark 1111- 
 f atlioined caves of ocean " will reveal to the light of the last dav, 
 none will measure higher in the peerage of deathless devotion to 
 the post of duty, ever the post of honor, than that of William 
 Lewis Herndon. 
 
 The blush of shame should mantle the fair cheek of our country 
 at the thought, that until this day, no monumental tribute has been 
 reared to the imperishable memory of one, who held that country s 
 honor infinitely higher than he did his life. Such was the heroic 
 blood coursing the blue veins and animating the big heart and 
 brainy power of our deceased brother, the deserved kinsman of the 
 immortal commander of the ill-fated Central America. 
 
 Sir, may I not, without the indulgence of any undue pride, 
 mingle congratulations with my condolences to Alabama, in her 
 good fortune to have afforded this House, and the world, a specimen 
 of our race so rare, noble, and commendable? And whose relation 
 to her, 1x3 it said to her honor, though it may add to the poignancy 
 of her grief, " was to the manner born." His treasured dust, rests 
 and mingles with the perennially swarded, the flowery odori/ed 
 soil from whence it hailed. And the precious spot wherein that 
 priceless dust is entombed, will be pyramided by the hearts of her 
 people in more arousing, enduring grandeur, and with more pul 
 sating, thrilling expression of thought and feeling, than was ever 
 inspired or prompted by any of those materiali/ed, stupendous 
 structures of the East. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, however inscrutable the decrees of an all-wise 
 Providence may appear to our finite capacity, the unconditional 
 and trust-reposing surrender of our will to that of His own, is only 
 
44 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THOMAS H. HEKNDOX. 
 
 the more necessitated thereby; becoming, as it should ever be 
 esteemed, our imperative duty. But how sublimely does it ascend 
 to the pinnacle prominence of the highest of all privileges, as well 
 as a pleasing duty when, facing up to and beholding the unalter 
 able decree suspended from the scepter of His omnipotent power, 
 we read therein from His proclaimed will to mankind, that all 
 things shall work together for good to those who love Him. 
 
 With what awakened gratitude and heart-bounding delight, 
 should we hail and embrace a duty so profound in its blessings, a 
 privilege so exalting in its exercises, as thus to combine and har 
 ness all things together in the interest of earnest coworkers for our 
 present and eternal good ; by whose consolidated strength the mass 
 of darkness and torturous doubt surrounding and obscuring us from 
 His divine favors would be dispelled, as it would open up and wall 
 with His everlasting promises a clearly defined way from the foot 
 stool of duty, to the elysium fields of unlimited and unending bless 
 ings; happily conspicuous among which would be a coinheritance 
 as an adopted joint heir of His beneficent and exhaustless estate. 
 
 But grander and more munificent than all else, would be our unre 
 strained privilege of mingling and participating with those, unceas 
 ingly glorifying His divine will. To this inheritance of that estate, 
 and to this admission of that grandest of all privileges, our esteemed 
 friend and dearly beloved brother was ushered, on the twenty-eighth 
 day of March, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred 
 and eighty-three, and in the fifty-fifth year of his earthly existence. 
 
 He had fought the fight, had kept the faith, and clad in the 
 whole armor of God, he stood poised upon the crumbling brink, 
 traced by the dread elements of the dark river, its unbaffled pilot 
 skillfully untying the last tinsel cable confining his game spirit to 
 the shores of earth. With a heart undismayed by any stings there 
 from, unterrified by its somber, turbid surges, and reclining bliss 
 fully upon the hope which he had as an anchor of his soul both 
 sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil, he 
 calmly looked out upon the approach ing scenes, shifted and shifting 
 under the guiding hand of the Pale Messenger. Moving out 
 upon its eventful and awfully critical currents, he uplifted the tel- 
 
AlHtRESS OF MR. WILLIAMS, OF ALABAMA. 45 
 
 eseo|)o of a faith in his Mediatorial Master, the twin sister of his 
 inspiring hope, and saw revealed there through the extending hand 
 of deliverance from the arm of omnipotent |>ower of his Merciful 
 and Heavenly Father. 
 
 Withdrawing for the moment his attention from the glorious in 
 sight thus afforded within the borders of the silent land, and 
 intentlv conscious that he was upon the eve of closing his eves in 
 instant death, he turned them for the last time here upon the heart 
 broken partner of his toils, sorrows, and joys; bidding farewell to 
 this fitful dream of existence, he whispered in his dying voice to 
 that justly dear, untiringly devoted, and tenderly loving helpmate, 
 as he mingled there with his last good -by on earth: "All is well 
 with me." God succor, comfort, and provide for her desolate, dis 
 tressed, and sorely tried heart in this overwhelming bereavement, 
 is the breathing prayer of his and her innumerable friends 
 
 That he should have passed away from earth poor in this world s 
 goods, yet rich in his unproclaimed deeds of charity, was a late in 
 evitable to him a fate induced, yea, fixed, by a generous benevo 
 lence and whole-souled charity for his fellows, too genuine ever to 
 allow its jK-rishable trash to accumulate in hands, never closed in 
 the presence of the needy and distressed, or under appeals for their 
 relief. His wealth of intellectuality and Samaritan spirit, inter 
 dicted that badge of poverty, proclaiming there were none to do 
 him homage. Thousands of scores there were of those who real- 
 
 o 
 
 i/ed a special delight therein. Acres who had ever thus been 
 acted upon, embracing all shades, grades, and conditions of society, 
 stood in sorrow-breathing silence, and with eyes bedewed in tears 
 around his bier, wherewith, under the soil of his birth, his idol 
 form was being consigned to rest in the narrow confines of its long 
 home multitudes, embracing not only his own State, but scattered 
 hither and thither throughout this broad land, though absent in 
 person, were present and participating in heart-aggrieved contem 
 plations, the solemn ceremonies of that mournful occasion. 
 
 The fiat for his transition, found him in the fruitful maturings 
 of the golden autumn of his earthly career, richly ladened with 
 and abounding useful, rare, and snperexcellent fruits; fruits en- 
 
46 LIFE AND CTJAILiCTEE OF THOMAS H. HERN DON. 
 
 (lowing a life of unmixed blessings to his fellows and of assured 
 immortality to himself. Our deprivations, as recipients, of those 
 so much esteemed and coveted blessings, are full enough to prompt 
 our natures to arise in rebellion thereat, and to deplore a calamity so 
 calamitous. But the comforting unction conies in soothing bene 
 dictions to our aching hearts, imbuing them with the consoling as 
 surance, that our temporary loss has been his eternal gain. And 
 while the loss mav weaken the ties of earth, the gain will more 
 than correspondingly strengthen the attractions of Heaven. 
 
 Dour, beauteous Doatli, the jewel of the just! 
 
 Shining nowhere- but in the dark; 
 What mysteries <lo lie beyond thy dust, 
 
 Could mail outlook that mark! 
 
 That Mr. HKRXPON S career, should have unfolded a life glow 
 ing with the inborn inspirations of a lofty genius, rich in its inci 
 dents and exhibitions of all the elements of innate and high-born 
 manhood, and fruitful in its manifold feats of paramount useful 
 ness and signal honors, can be no matter of surprise to the least 
 thoughtful. 
 
 That he should have inherently scorned, loathed, and repulsed, 
 everything unbecoming, low, or mean ; that lie should have en 
 ticingly led his fellow-man by precept and example onward, up 
 ward, and steadfastly in all that was noble, grand, and true, none 
 who knew him would not, could not gainsay. 
 
 That he should have been one to whom mankind, in unsolicited 
 choice, cheerfully and cordially tied in the closest bonds of unself 
 ish friendship, unreserved confidence, and, as was so apparent to 
 them, without the semblance of any hazard whatever to their con 
 fided trusts, is too plain not to be seen by all. 
 
 That he should have been one deeply, lastingly beloved by his 
 people, should have been their special pride, the apple of their eye, 
 the gem of their hearts citadel, and should have been exalted and 
 honored by them with lavishing hands and with fond delight, 
 should not, could not excite any wonder. 
 
 That he should have been a cherished and finished ornament to 
 society, one ever welcomed to its gay and festive midst by the 
 
AlHUtKSS OF Mil. WILLIAMS, OF ALABAMA. 47 
 
 alive with the warmth of fond hearts alone; that he 
 should have been a lawver of unquestioned eminence, a warrior of 
 unchallenged heroism, and a statesman of enlarged resourees, re- 
 -iimTs coextensive with his growing country s increasing and vast 
 demands, none can doubt. That his good name should have been 
 (steemed and <leereed by his people, and those who eame truly to 
 know him, as a jewel-coined synonym of the J^eautiful and bright, 
 the brave and true, who could, if ho would dare, deplore? 
 
 That this endeared name is thus enshrined and scntried in the 
 hearts of the sons and daughters of his own loved, flowery land of 
 rest, a land whose interest and honor it was his pride and delight 
 jealouslv and /ealously to guard on this floor, as one of her cheer- 
 fullv accredited, unboundedly intrusted Representatives, their en 
 tire united voice from her mountains; to his own orange-grove sea 
 board, promptly would declare; that he should have IK-CII a eiti/en 
 of prominence in living up to the lull requirements of the law, 
 undauntedly maintaining on all occasions the majesty and suprem 
 acy of its mandates; that he should have been an endeared and an 
 endearing friend, a devoted, affectionate, and tender husband, a 
 loving, kind, and honored father, needs no affirmance from any 
 one whatever. 
 
 That, though absent, he never will be forgotten by those favored 
 with his acquaintance or blessed with his friendship; that though, 
 alas! alas! dead, his memory will never cease to be treasured hv 
 them, and with increased and increasing fondness therefor; that 
 though the gravo, so beautifully defined as the footprint of angels, 
 for the time may hide from us all that was mortal of our dear 
 friend and brother, and yet that we shall IK- permitted to see him 
 again, arc all divinely bottomed intendments and glorious expec 
 tations, we most confidently entertain. Their realization and en- 
 jovment, may l>e called in question, doubted or denied: but, if so, 
 it will hail from those, and from those only, who in their hearts 
 have said " There is no (iod." 
 
 If a star were confined into a toinli, 
 
 HT captive (lame must needs burn there; 
 
 Hut \\lien the hand that Ineked her up jave room, 
 
 She d shine through all the sphere. 
 
48 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THOMAS H. HERNDON. 
 
 Within man s mortal tenement burns a captive flame, lit up by 
 the same infinite hand that enkindled "all the constellations that 
 gem, like a diadem, night s brow." The beams of intelligence, 
 ever emitting from that immortal flame, go ont in quest of nature s 
 mysteries, as they sport in their contemplations amid the beauties, 
 relations, distances, and orbits of the glittering host marshaled on 
 the nightly plains, and eagerly seek to know more of the source 
 of their own Promethian fire. These fugitive beams, eluding the 
 fetters of an irksome confinement, and with a speed in their flight 
 unknown to electricity, bound to the outer circle of the remotest of 
 those orbits. Even though disallowed the divine pre-eminence 
 whereon Israel s great leader stood, when he viewed the landscape 
 o er, nevertheless, if guided by the light of the Star of Bethlehem, 
 as they survey tlie limitless domain of space spread out before 
 them, they may see through a glass darkly into Jehovah s pre 
 emption area, wherein His children arrived, arriving and home 
 ward bound will find mansions prepared for them upon his eternal 
 camping ground. 
 
 How oft recalled to our contemplations is it as a melancholy 
 fact, that the flowers we so tenderly nurture and so much enjoy in 
 their fragrant array of unsurpassed glory, that the objects unceas- 
 inirly caressed by our love s fondest affections and joyfully afforded 
 
 O / */ V 9f * 
 
 favored niches within the temple of our hearts as idols of our life s 
 devotion, all had the seed of death implanted within them when 
 those of life were quickened into existence. But, sir, in our musings 
 thereon, how important that we fathom with earnestly inquiring 
 thought deep down into the philosophy therefor, would we content 
 edly learn and consolingly realize, why all earthly pleasures and 
 treasures of the heart are so transitory and fleeting. 
 
 When thus fathomed and comprehended, we cannot fail to recog 
 nize in them witnesses of Almighty God, whose testimony is sure, 
 making wise the simple; whose evidence, disregarding all perad- 
 venture, wisely institutes and promulgates, as an anchoring convic 
 tion of the heart, the momentous truth that our Maker never in 
 tended this earth as man s abiding place. We hear it proclaimed 
 on every hand that nothing dies but in fulfillment of His omnis- 
 
,!/>/>/;/ in MI;. it I I.LI. t MS, OF ALABAMA. 49 
 
 y established decrees, while by His divino agency we alike 
 Bee and know its place is at once resopplied with newness of life. 
 
 Throughout all nature these reproductive links have l>een coin 
 ing in continuous order from creation s dawn, and will so transpire 
 until the hand that suspended this earth in the orbit of its exist 
 ence, and concentrated upon its prepared bosom the creative power 
 of II is own omnipotent will, shall withdraw it therefrom. In man 
 alone, has He breathed the inspiration to look with confident hope 
 l>eyond the dissolution of his earthly house of this tabernacle, and 
 to know that he has a building of God, a house not made with 
 hands, eternal in the heavens. In his decay, step by step, as he 
 descends to the grave, Faith illumes with extended and extending 
 ken, and Hope invigorates with increased and increasing brightness, 
 the grand truth embraced by Charity with unyielding devotion, 
 that with those wisely prepared therefor, to be absent from the body, 
 is to IK: present with the Lord. 
 
 For this cause, though the outward man is perishing, vet will 
 the inward man be renewed day by day. When thus reverent Iv 
 understood and spiritually realized, death becomes the unfolding 
 door of entrance upon renewed, increased, and increasing vitality, 
 wherein mortality is swallowed up of life. Through the thresholds 
 of this unclosed door, open and to remain open for the reception 
 of the last pilgrim of the human race, will continue to pass those 
 more than golden links in the countless strand of the family of hu 
 manity, among whom will shine with a luster not of earth, a luster 
 inherited and reflected alone from the face of their Divine Master, 
 those of our race, ransomed, purified, and redeemed, by His atoning 
 grace. This onward march to the source of all good will never 
 halt, until it shall have encircled and environed to the full measure 
 of His own divine purpose, the supreme throne of our Heavenly 
 Father. 
 
 In accordance with His own eternal decrees, the last pilgrim of 
 earth will have then passed through and closed forever behind him 
 the door of death, and will have been added to that grand army, 
 enlisted, marshaled, and encamped upon the Klysian fields of His 
 unending glory. 
 
 4 HE 
 
50 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THOMAS H. HERNDON. 
 
 We stand in the midst of the progress of this startling, mo 
 mentous, and solemnly eventful existence, mingling therewith while 
 borne upon its resistless currents to those near and nearing tran 
 scendent changes. 
 
 Clad in the livery of our dearest esteem, affection, and love for 
 onr so much-missed, lamented brother, and planted within the in 
 spired circle, reflected from, and lined by the crowning halo of the 
 immortal genii of our devotion, we proclaim it here and now, and 
 with a resolve which shall know no varying, or the shadow of 
 change, that God being onr helper, we will go to onr brother. 
 
 Pie that hath found some fledged bird s nest may know, 
 
 At first sight if the bird be flown ; 
 But what fair field or grove he sings in now, 
 
 That is to him unknown. 
 
 And yet as angels, in some brighter dreams, 
 
 Call to the soul when man doth sleep, 
 So some strange thoughts transcend our wonted themes, 
 
 And into glory peep. 
 
 Address of Mr. RANDALL, of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Mr. SPEAKER : There are men whose lives have been so rue 
 and gentle that the exaggerated language of eulogy is rendered 
 unnecessary, and for whom the simple recital of duty bravely done 
 and noble purposes carried out without fear or favor is their 
 most eloquent obituary. Of such was the late THOMAS H. HERN- 
 DON, of Alabama. Of spotless personal character, with mental 
 faculties cultured and self-poised, with courage equal to his con 
 victions, yet in the ordinary business of this House he was modest, 
 unassuming, and affable until principle was at stake and right was 
 to be sustained, and then no rock was more firmly rooted. The 
 denunciations of enemies, the seductions of interested parties, and 
 the blandishments of power were equally unavailing to move him 
 from the position he took after careful consideration. 
 
 He was my friend, and none had a truer one. And such friend 
 ship is a consolation beyond all power of words to depict. It is 
 the solace and support of men who try, however feebly, to pursue 
 
ADDRESS OF MR. RAXDALL, OF PENNSYLVANIA. 51 
 
 the course which they Iwilieve to IHJ just and proper. It is easy 
 and delightful to do the wishes of (hose who would aggrandi/e 
 tlu ir fortunes from the public Treasury, or to grant inonoplies to 
 those already too powerful, while on the contrary to battle in l>e- 
 half of the rights of the many, which are ever absorbed by the few 
 unless prevented by ceaseless vigilance, brings unstinted abuse and 
 the most cruel misrepresentation, and all the more unjust, because 
 it is deliberately done. I fit were not for the companionship and 
 warm-hearted help and confidence of men from every section and 
 of all parties, men like Mr. HEUXPOX, the vexation and labor 
 of public life would be unendurable. 
 
 The men who appear most conspicuously in our public pro 
 ceedings arc not always the l>est legislators. There arc those who 
 work earnestly and noiselessly, attentive and watchful, too faith 
 ful to themselves and their constituents to decide without the 
 fullest information, ami who are a.s steady to the principles they 
 profess as the needle to the pole, and who moreover, on the great 
 field-day when wrong is to be routed and right made victorious, 
 are always to l>c found in the ranks ready to do and dare to the 
 utmost. Such a legislator and such a friend was Mr. HEHXPOX. 
 
 I feign no stately sorrow on this occasion. I sincerely mourn 
 for one I esteemed deeply. In coming into this Hall I miss the 
 bright glance and hearty welcome of a true friend. There have 
 vanished the refinement and courtesy of a genial and worthy as 
 sociate. Something has dropped from the comfort of my daily 
 life which cannot easily be replaced. 
 
 Alabama has sent to Congress men of surpassing eloquence, and 
 others who have won the highest positions on the floor of this 
 House and in the other Chamber, but none of them left behind 
 them the memory of a purer life, a sounder public record, or a 
 sweeter character than Mr. HEUXPOX. Such memories are the 
 undying glory of every commonwealth, and are a valuable incent 
 ive to honest ambition everywhere. 
 
 The resolutions wen 1 then unanimously adopted, and, in accord 
 ance therewith, the House adjourned. 
 
PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE. 
 
 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 April 14, 1881. 
 
 A message from the House of Representatives, by John H. Clark, 
 jr., its Clerk, communicated to the Senate the intelligence of the death 
 of Hon. THOMAS H. HERNDON, late a Representative-elect to the 
 House from the State of Alabama, and transmitted the resolutions 
 of the House thereon. 
 
 Mr. PUGH. I ask that the resolutions may lie on the table, on 
 account of the absence of Senators who desire to make remarks 
 UJMIH the resolutions. 1 give notice that I shall not call them up 
 for action by the Senate until 4 o clock on Friday next. 
 
 APRIL 18, 1884. 
 
 Mr. MORGAN. I move that the resolutions from the House of 
 Representatives commemorative of the death of Mr. HKRNDON l>e 
 laid Ix. fore the Senate. 
 
 The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Ingalls in the clutir). The Secre 
 tary will read the resolutions at length. 
 
 The Chief Clerk read as follows: 
 
 IN THE HOUSE OK REPRESENTATIVES, April \ Z, 1*84. 
 
 Rt*uh ed, That this House has heard with deep regret of the death of Hon. 
 THOMAS H. HEKNIMJX, late a Representative-elect to this House from the State 
 of Alabama. 
 
 Rewired, That an a testimony of respect to his memory the officers and mem- 
 liersof this House will wear the usual badge of mourning for the space of thirty 
 days. 
 
 Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions bo transmitted by the Clerk of this 
 House to the family of the deceased. 
 
 Resolved, That the Clerk be directed to communicate a copy of these proceed 
 ings to the Senate ; and that, as a further mark of respect to the memory of the 
 deceased, this House do now adjourn. 
 
 53 
 
54 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THOMAS H. HERNDON. 
 
 Mr. MORGAN. Mr. President. I offer resolutions which I usk may 
 be read. 
 
 The PRESIDING OFFICER. The resolutions will be read. 
 The Chief Clerk read as follows: 
 
 Rcxolvcd, That the Senate shares with the House of Representatives in its ex 
 pressions of sorrow at the death of Hon. THOMAS H. HEHNDON, lately a Repre 
 sentative in that body from the State of Alabama. 
 
 Rewired, That, as a mark of sympathy toward the family of the deceased, the 
 Secretary of the Senate will transmit to them a copy of these proceedings. 
 
 Address of Mr. MORGAN, of Alabama. 
 
 Mr. PRESIDENT: After our friends have passed away it is a 
 grateful privilege to commemorate their virtues, and to draw from 
 the history of their lives the lessons which teach us how to emulate 
 them in their good deeds and aspirations. It is not often that a 
 man has departed beneath the meridian sun of life whose taking off 
 has left a deeper sorrow, or has deprived society of a more beloved 
 friend and the country of a wiser or more useful citizen than 
 THOMAS II. HERNDON. To say that he was endeared to all who 
 knew him is only to express their confidence in the purity of his 
 life and in his fidelity to all good principles, and to repeat toward 
 the departed the earnest friendship which he inspired by his noble 
 and generous bearing, and which he extended to every good man 
 with cordial sincerity. He was a native of Alabama, born at Erie 
 on the 1st July, 1828, when the State had been but nine years in 
 political existence. He was educated chiefly by Professor Tut- 
 wiler, a great teacher and a man of the highest worth, and after 
 ward took his degree in the University of Alabama. He was a 
 representative in the legislature for several terms, was a delegate 
 to the secession convention in 1861, and served with distinction in 
 the civil war in command of the Thirty-sixth Alabama Regiment. 
 Afterward he was elected thrice in succession as a member of the 
 House of Representatives of the United States, and died while in 
 the service of his State as a member of Congress. 
 
ADDRESS OF MR. MORC.AN, OF A LA HAM A 55 
 
 This is a good record in its outline, and .sj>eaks eloquently of the 
 public confidence he enjoyed during all his manhood, and it was 
 filk-d ii]) in all the stages of his public service with conscientious 
 diligence, and with honest, faithful, wise, and able counsels, that 
 greatly benefited the country and added much to the influence and 
 reputation of Alabama. He was the dutiful and loving son of 
 Alabama a proud and noble mother. His ashes are at rest in her 
 bosom, and his memory is in her sacred keeping. His last sick 
 ness was very protracted and wearing, but he quietly and patiently 
 confronted death, for months together, without the least agitation 
 of spirit, and with a degree of confidence and cheerful resignation 
 that made his sick-chamber a place of attraction more than of 
 grief to his anxious friends. He was not a stoical philosopher, 
 but of broad and enlightened Christian faith. Those who gathered 
 around him in his long suffering were deeply moved as they wit 
 nessed how he was attended during every moment with a tender 
 ness and gentle devotion that it would be rudeness to describe 
 here, which makes the better side of life radiant with beauty and 
 lovely with its excellence. 
 
 His mental composure and strength of will never yielded to the 
 depressing influences which left him physically prostrate after long 
 months of severe illness; and his mind was so clear and vigorous 
 that he was able to give useful advice to his colleagues respecting 
 public affairs in which he took great interest while in the daily ex 
 pectation o death. When the Forty-seventh Congress adjourned 
 he was ready to go home and die, but not until then. He rallied 
 all his remaining powers to the task of returning to his native 
 land that he might yield up his spirit in Alabama, his beloved 
 home. Consecrated in every affection of his nature, Alabama re 
 ceived him with the grief of a stricken mother. I am proud to 
 accept this man and his life and character as the true type of a 
 native Alabamian. 
 
 Colonel HKIJNDON inherited the qualities which compelled him 
 to the highest and noblest aspirations; and his lineage and the 
 surroundings of his youth directed his thoughts and his ambition 
 toward the service of his country in the maintenance of the con- 
 
56 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF I /fQMAS TL HERNDON. 
 
 stitutional rights of the people. This was a labor of love with 
 him in which he never faltered or grew \vearv. 
 
 A chivalrous spirit inherited from honorable ancestors, and de 
 voted to the holy cause of justice, is something that lifts up the 
 people to a proper conception of their dignity and power in a 
 Government like ours. In this sense Colonel HERXDON was a 
 chevalier without reproach. He served his State as one who loved 
 its people and was jealous of its honor. He had many peers, but 
 none were more truly noble. In the many severe battles of the 
 civil war, from which he narrowly escaped with his life, but with 
 wounds of which he at last died, he left numbers of his peers and 
 comrades dead on the field. At Chickamauga he received his 
 summons to an early death. His comrades were a glorious host 
 of the true men of the South whose fame is still more illustrious 
 now that he has again joined them. As the years recede they are 
 not forgotten. Their memory is still precious to the hearts of 
 millions of people, and their heroism becomes more impressive in 
 its grateful and romantic interest to the new generations as they 
 arise. Tears still well up in the dimmed eyes of their surviving 
 comrades, whose bosoms, though chilled with age and penury, still 
 grow warm with love as their tongues whisper the praises of their 
 heroic dead. Rivers and mountains and plains, baptized with their 
 blood, have become the enduring landmarks of their fame, and 
 will forever commemorate their deeds of honor. 
 
 It is fitting that I should describe briefly the characteristics of 
 the people who found a true and worthy representative in THOMAS 
 H. HEKNDON. Their qualities gave tone and strength to his man 
 hood, and he was thus in every sense their representative. The 
 attractions of a fresh and beautiful country acquired from the In 
 dian tribes drew to Alabama in the early days of its history a 
 large number of people from all the Atlantic States, from Massa 
 chusetts to Georgia. They were mainly of the classes who had 
 means to purchase the best lands in considerable bodies, and had 
 the fortitude to endure the hardships of a pioneer life. In such 
 communities are usually found great enterprise and intelligence, 
 and much of native ability and independence of character, and 
 
AHDBESS OF MR. MORGAN, OF ALABAMA. 57 
 
 these are safe foundations upon which to build all social and polit 
 ical institutions. 
 
 With the assistance of slave lalxir the work of reducing the wil 
 derness to cultivation was rapidly accomplished, and the land was 
 s|M i edily covered with productive farms and many of the public 
 conveniences which are netrssary to a prosj>orous people. 
 
 The people thus drawn together were largely composed of the 
 I letter classes from the older States, having letl behind them the 
 prejudices and peculiarities they may have adopted in their earlier 
 lives. The country rapidly acquired wealth, and with it the peo 
 ple had leisure for mental improvement, for indulgence in agree 
 able pursuits and diversions, and for the cultivation of their tastes. 
 Their homes were not pretentious in architecture or in ornamenta 
 tion. They preferred the beautiful forest trees and flowers in 
 their ample grounds to costly decorations or splendid mansions. 
 It was not unusual to find in the newly opened farms a cosy log- 
 house, surrounded with rough fences, but convenient, roomy, and 
 comfortable, furnished with elegance and taste, and provided with 
 every appliance to make home pleasant and attractive. The wives 
 and daughters of these families took great pride in dispensing a 
 generous hospitality with elegance and grace. They were saved 
 from much of the drudgery of ordinary domestic work, and had 
 leisure to devote to social duties and to their mental improvement. 
 Thev were happy in their homes and reflected their happiness on 
 others. The wealth of these new communities was only great 
 enough to give them leisure for useful reflections, and to stimulate 
 them to rivalry in the education of their children and in self-im 
 provement, without affording them the means or the inducement 
 to idleness or the indulgence of a love of ease. They were active 
 and efficient workers, in full sympathy with the vigorous growth 
 and prosperity of the country; and the comfort of their families 
 was an object that engaged their most earnest care. 
 
 Alxwe all else they valued the sacred character and the holy mis 
 sion of woman, and in this resjK ct the reward of their honorable 
 sentiments was reali/ed in the highest degree. Their sons were 
 found cajiable of any sacrifices which duty and honor required, and 
 
58 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THOMAS R. HERNDON. 
 
 were proud their lineage. They rejoiced in their families and homes, 
 where their sisters and mothers were honored. A sense of duty 
 and a sentiment of honor deeply rooted in the affections of the home 
 circle are the surest guarantees to society and to the State of the in 
 tegrity and fidelity of any man. It is in this way that their chaste 
 regard for social duty, their love of home and family, their devout 
 faith in Christianity, their zeal for the excellent results which only 
 the truth, and grace, and moral strength of woman can create in 
 society, have so deeply impressed the benignant influence of woman 
 upon the character of the Southern people that these blessings will 
 remain with them to the latest generations. 
 
 It was among this class of people that the mother of THOMAS H. 
 HERNDON was found. A descendant of the Toulmins of England, 
 she inherited the qualities which caused her ancestors to seek an 
 asylum in America from religious persecution in England, prefer 
 ring the hardships of voluntary exile in the wilderness to ease and 
 comfort at the expense of liberty of conscience. 
 
 In the first dawn of his manhood the beautiful guiding light of 
 his whole life shone upon him. He married a young girl who was 
 descended from Abram Alexander, the president of the Mecklen 
 burg convention, which declared the independence of North Caro 
 lina, in May, 1775. The faith of her great ancestor in the justice 
 of the cause of American Independence was repeated in the faith of 
 this gentle wife in the cause in which her husband made a sacrifice 
 of his fortune and finally of his life. The president of the Meck 
 lenburg convention transmitted to his descendants those heroic qual 
 ities which led him to espouse and to abide by a cause" which was 
 sacred to him, although it was denounced as treason from the throne 
 of Great Britain. His great-granddaughter was not less true or 
 heroic than he was in her devotion to a cause that she espoused, 
 and yet she was not more devoted to her principles than were mill 
 ions of the women of the South, among whom there was no dis 
 senting opinion and no diversity of sentiment during the terrors of 
 the civil war. They were the soul of the Confederacy. 
 
 On his father s side Colonel HEKNDON was descended from a 
 family distinguished for abilities and integrity of character. Thus 
 
AIWKESS OF MR. GlliSOy, OF LOUISIANA. .VJ 
 
 it is apparent that in knowing the people that he represented in his 
 linage, and among whom liis eliaraeter was formed, we know him. 
 Their blood coursed in his veins, giving strength to his principles, 
 courage to his soul, breadth to his intellect, l>eauty and grace to his 
 manly form, gentleness to his spirit, elevation to his sentiments, 
 and steadfastness to his devotion to duty. His earnest and ever- 
 ready response to the noble impulses which this rich tide imparted 
 to his thoughts and feelings made him a typical son of the South. 
 
 Colonel HKUNDON S high sense of honor kept him always true 
 in his conduct to his convictions of duty. When he was in the se 
 cession eon vent ion of Alabama and in the Confederate army, no 
 man was more faithful than he was to the cause in which he wus 
 enlisted. When he again resumed his allegiance to the United 
 States his fidelity to that Government was true and heartfelt. He 
 was incapable of deception, and would never have accepted an at 
 titude toward the United States that would have caused him the 
 least embarrassment in the faithful service of that Government. 
 He was always honest, and therefore he was always true. 
 
 His acquaintance was very extensive, but it was not wider than 
 that atmosphere of warm and appreciative affection which pervaded 
 all classes of people to whom he was known. 
 
 A soldier; a scholar, a jurist, a statesman; a Christian, genuine, 
 true, faithful, and devout, he is entitled to the honors which the 
 American Senate are now awarding to his memory. But in the 
 more endearing character of friend and comrade, the silent tribute 
 of a tear moistens the eye of the grateful poor and steals down the 
 bron/ed cheek of the warrior to utter higher praises than we can 
 embody in resolutions. " Let him rest in peace, for he has nobly 
 earned his high reward." 
 
 Address of Mr. GIBSON, of Louisiana. 
 
 Mr. PRESIDENT: The interesting sketch which has been pre 
 sented by the Senator from Alabama [Mr. Morgan] of the life 
 and public services of the late THOMAS H. HKHNDOX informs us 
 that he enjoyed unusual opportunities for education and for moral 
 
60 LIVR AND CHARACTER OF THOMAS H. HERNDON. 
 
 and social discipline and that he filled many positions of public 
 honor and responsibility. 
 
 Born in Hale County, Alabama, July 1, 1828, educated at the 
 University of the State, he had hardly completed the study of the 
 law in the University at Cambridge, Mass., and entered his pro 
 fession before he embarked in public life. He was a representa 
 tive in the General Assembly and a trustee of the University of 
 Alabama, a member of the constitutional convention, a major, lieu 
 tenant-colonel, and colonel in the Confederate Army, and the can 
 didate of the Democratic party for the governorship of the State 
 in 1872; again a member of a constitutional convention and of the 
 general assembly of the State, he was finally elected to be a Repre 
 sentative from the First Congressional district in the Forty-sixth, 
 Forty-seventh, and Forty-eighth Congresses, but he did not live 
 to take his seat in the Forty-eighth Congress. 
 
 His honors survived him. He was called away from a loving 
 fireside and associations most dearly prized, from a confiding con 
 stituency, from the enjoyment of every favor of fortune, and from 
 the performance of great public trusts, while in the meridian of 
 life and in the full maturity of his powers, while 
 
 Hope elevates, and joy 
 Brighteiis his crest. 
 
 Come when it may to the young or old, the inevitable and uni 
 versal summons must always impress us with the profound mystery 
 of life and death, the uncertainty of humanity; but whenever I 
 behold a strong man fall midway his journey, arrested at the very 
 moment when earthly rewards and honors were being reaped and 
 when his usefulness was greatest to his fellow-men, I can only re 
 peat again and again the mournful exclamation of Burke over his 
 dead son, "What shadows we are; what shadows we pursue!" 
 
 I was his comrade and friend in the Southern army and his as 
 sociate in the House of Representatives, and I trust therefore I may 
 be pardoned if I take this opportunity to pay a passing tribute to 
 his memory and to give utterance to my deep sorrow at his un 
 timely death. 
 
 It can not be said that Mr. HERNDON had achieved a national 
 reputation as a statesman or that he has left a name illustrious in the 
 
ADDRESS OF MR. GIBSON, OF LOUISIANA. 61 
 
 <>f Inter-, philosophy, science, or war; yet in many rcsjK cts 
 he was a remarkable man and in all an admirable one. 
 
 Throughout his whole lite he appeared rather to avoid than to 
 attract public attention, and though possessing profound eonvic- 
 ions, earnestness of purpose, and a noble ambition, he shunned all 
 mere parade and the pursuit of distinction as an object. His 
 watchword was duty, and the practice of self-denial and manly 
 imxlesty was a part of his nature. The superficial observer would 
 have said that he was too undemonstrative and reserved, too little 
 of a self-seeker and flatterer, too little schooled in the arts of the 
 vulgar politician, too independent and frank, ever to obtain or to 
 hold the favor of the public; that he was not sufficiently sensa 
 tional and the "hail fellow well met " to go before the people. 
 But here we have the spectacle of a man who from the bottom of 
 his heart despised all wire-pulling, all machine politics, all clap 
 trap, who was self-contained and self-respecting, yet won and held 
 the confidence and affection of the people of the State of Alabama. 
 No man was more esteemed, none more beloved. The record of 
 his services, covering a period of nearly thirty years, discloses the 
 fact that there were ties of a lasting character binding the deceased 
 to the people among whom he lived. 
 
 Upon what foundation did they rest? What was the secret of 
 his power? It was not because he possessed the gift of popular 
 oratory, for while he spoke always with fullness and clearness and 
 force, many others far less esteemed surpassed him in the ability 
 to sway the masses of the people or select audiences with the 
 splendors and charms of their eloquence. 
 
 Nor can it be said that it was owing to his achievements as a 
 soldier, for while these were creditable and brilliant they were 
 confined within circumscribed and narrow limits, while -many 
 others less beloved than he performed exploits that have linked 
 their names to imperishable renown. 
 
 You cannot ascribe it altogether to his robust common sense, 
 his sound judgment, his zealous attention to daily tasks and en 
 gagements, to his qualifications and accomplishments as a lawyer, 
 to his rectitude and public spirit, nor to his well known fidelity to 
 friendships, for these were qualities possessed by hundreds who 
 
62 LIFE ANT) CHARACTER OF THOMAS H. HERNDON. 
 
 failed to make any ijiipression whatever upon the public consid 
 eration. 
 
 To what then can we attribute his popularity and usefulness as 
 a public man? It is true that his intellectual endowments com 
 manded respect, but the source of his superiority is to be found in 
 the resources of a matchless character. In this respect he had few 
 equals and no superiors. Representative and typical of the better 
 elements and aspirations of the people, he was their cherished favor 
 ite, for they saw in him the finished product of the civilization 
 the moral and intellectual forces of the society which they com 
 posed. For it may be said that as a general rule public men are 
 the logical expressions of the tone and temper, the outgrowth of 
 the local conditions and habits and culture and institutions of 
 the people, and indicate their characteristics and qualities as surely 
 as certain plants and fruits and trees do particular soils and cli 
 mates. 
 
 His family had emigrated from about Fredericksburg, a part of 
 the Old Dominion which has been prolific in men celebrated for all 
 the virtues that adorn human nature as well as polished manners 
 and intellectual accomplishments. They belonged to the country 
 people of Virginia who have given to the world names that com 
 mand its admiration and homage. But of those who composed that 
 remarkable class how many there were who neither sought nor 
 would accept public stations, but were content to remain on their 
 plantations pursuing their daily avocations and contributing to 
 the welfare of their neighborhoods; distinguished alike for their 
 fondness for classical learning, their hospitality, a certain reserve 
 and stateliness of manner and high moral standards men who 
 have left their impress upon country life throughout the South, the 
 George Washingtons and the George Masons of private life, whose 
 virtues fertilized the soil from which these great characters sprung 
 and made of Virginia in some sense what Ithaca was to Ulysses 
 
 A rough, wild nurse-laml, but whoso crops arc men. 
 
 Inheriting traditions so elevating and representing a people them 
 selves intelligent, brave, and virtuous, how could he prevaricate or 
 
ADDRESS OF HfK. GIRSOX, OF LOUISIANA. t t l\ 
 
 :itt(iupt t dnvivc or descend to subterfuge or play the demagogue 
 
 or betray any trust or fail of duty any where or his name IHJ less 
 than what it was the synonym for honor. 
 
 The country ean never forget the magnificent example of heroic 
 devotion to duty left by his kinsman, Capt. William Louis Hern- 
 don, who sacrificed his own life to save the passengers of the ill- 
 fated steamer the Central America, which went down in a terrific 
 gale on our coast in 1857. It will In 1 remembered with what me 
 thodical care and cool intrepidity he made all the arrangements for 
 the safety of the passengers, insisting that the women and children 
 should he rescued first and then the other passengers and finally 
 the crew, and how at last when the foundering ship had l>ccome 
 unmanageable and was about to be ingulfed, and it was apparent 
 that all must instantly perish and his men besought him to aban 
 don her and to save himself for the sake of his wife and children, 
 his brave spirit, deaf to all entreaties, heard above the roar of the 
 tempest the call of honor and duty, and, ol>eying, met death like 
 a martyr. 
 
 Col. THOMAS H. HERNDOX had a spirit equally unselfish and 
 courageous. I well remember during the evacuation of the lines 
 near Spanish Fort, in Mobile Bay, in the closing hours of the civil 
 war, the commander called for volunteers for a perilous service, 
 and that Colonel HERXDOX came forward, and in a quiet and 
 modest manner offered to Undertake the duty, and performed it 
 with such skill and heroism that he saved the lives of hundreds of 
 his comrades, a duty the performance of which could bring no eclat, 
 no public distinction, no governmental rewards, and that appeared 
 to involve the certain loss of his own life. I doubt if he ever al 
 luded to the circumstance. Such was the man ! His whole char 
 acter may IMJ summed up in one word. He was a gentleman, respect 
 ing all the ties of life, honoring all its obligations, and knowing no 
 fear but the fear of God. He realized all our ideas of an Ameri 
 can gentleman called from the walks of private life into the public 
 service, bringing with him that exquisite sensibility, that genuine 
 benevolence, that genial tolerance, that scorn of deceit and vulgar 
 ity, that brave devotion to principle which characterized the good 
 
64 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THOMAS H. HERN DON. 
 
 people who upheld and honored and loved him as their represent 
 ative, and by whom they were themselves honored. He was the 
 embodiment of that ideal character drawn by the matter hand of 
 Geoffrey Chaucer over five hundred years ago : 
 
 A knight ther was, and that a worthy man, 
 That from the tyme that he ferst bigan 
 To ryden out, he lovede chyvelrye, 
 Trouthe and honour, fredom and curtesie. 
 
 ***** 
 
 And though that he was worthy he was wya, 
 And of his port as meke as is a mayde, 
 He never yit no vilonye ue sayde, 
 In al his lyf, unto no inauer wight. 
 He was a veray parfit gentil knight. 
 
 Address of Mr. JONES, of Florida. 
 
 Mr. PRESIDENT: The imperfection of human language is so 
 great that even on ordinary occasions and subjects we all feel that 
 we cannot give expression to our thoughts and feelings. I never 
 felt so keenly the poverty of speech as I do to-day. My heart is 
 so full of the memories of the good man whose untimely death 
 has been just officially announced in the Senate that I cannot say 
 half that I feel about him. 
 
 THOMAS H. HERNDON was my warm personal friend long be 
 fore cither he or I came to Washington in an official character. I 
 am aware that occasions like this are often employed to speak of 
 virtues and character officially. The service that I perform to 
 day is not an official or lip service; it comes from my heart. Mr. 
 HERNDON and I lived very near to each other. A surveyor s 
 line, a few miles, and separate State organization, were all that 
 separated us. Occasionally he came to the bar at my home and 
 more frequently I went to the bar at his. If there is anything 
 that tests the quality of true friendship it is the intercourse of 
 professional life. 
 
 The professional man who shows to the world that he is above 
 that littleness of mind and heart which makes some men incapa- 
 
I />/>/, />N <>! Ml;. ./o.Y/X OF l< f,0!tlD.t. 65 
 
 ble of according tu other-* the credit which is due to tlicm for their 
 t;il( nt- ;iiid worth i- the possessor of great and uncommon virtue. 
 Mr. UKUXDON was a man of great generosity, high character, and 
 extrusive attainments. In the city in which he lived, one of the 
 litivmost in the South, he was beloved by evervl)ody for the purity 
 of his private life, his eminent professional ability, as well its for 
 the broad conservative principles which he adhered to after he 
 entered public life. He was a man of genuine convictions and 
 high sense of honor, and I do not think that he ever cast a vote 
 or made a speech that did not emanate from his heart and with 
 the sole purpose of advancing the interests of his country. He 
 had few of the qualities of a trained politician. He was a man 
 who would never act an insincere part to gain favor in any 
 quarter. 
 
 He often said to me when here that there was much about pub 
 lic life that was distasteful to him because he found that it was 
 difficult for a mind like his to conform to political methods and 
 to do all that usage had sanctioned to win popular applause. In 
 his intercourse with his fellow men he was modest and unobtru 
 sive, and so perfectly conscious was he at all times of the purity 
 of his own character and the integrity of his principles that he 
 made no effort to impress them upon the minds of others. 
 
 He did not belong to that class of public men who suddenly 
 build themselves up by sensations and little methods and then fall 
 to pieces by the weight of their own dullness and incapacity as 
 soon as they become known. His was the slow, steady but certain 
 growth which always follows the exertions of real character and 
 merit; and had health and life permitted him to develop his fine 
 abilities in the field of politics, he would have occupied a position 
 in the councils of the country that would have given strength, 
 courage, and power to all those who labor to infuse dignity, 
 wisdom, independent spirit, impartial and temperate judgment, as 
 well as genuine patriotism, into the administration of the affairs 
 of government. 
 
 I have no hesitation in saying that in all the relations of life, 
 private, social, professional, and political, Mr. IlKii> PO>" was one 
 5 HE 
 
66 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THOMAS H. HERNDON. 
 
 of the best men I ever knew. He was a scholar without affecta 
 tion or pedantry; a Christian without intolerance or bigotry ; a 
 lawyer upright and fearless, ever commanding the confidence of 
 the court, and who was never known to neglect or betray the in 
 terests of a client. The loveliness of his domestic life was only 
 equaled by the purity of his professional and political character. 
 He had strong convictions as a party man, but they were never 
 exhibited in undignified or intemperate disputation. He was 
 always true to the principles of his party, but they never carried 
 him far enough to prevent him from doing full justice to those who 
 differed from him. I have in my memory an instance ol his im 
 partiality and the freedom of his character from all taint of that 
 littleness and hate which too often spring from party differences. 
 It is only the man of real brain and heart that knows how and 
 where to draw the line which separates private worth and integrity 
 from party" principles and responsibility. 
 
 When an appointment was to be made to a great judicial office 
 from among the leading Republicans of the country I remember 
 my deceased friend coming here from his business and his home to 
 give his personal testimony of the worth and character of the per 
 son who was finally appointed, and without the knowledge of the 
 latter. " Go with me," he said to me, " to official quarters ; tell 
 them who I am, so that I can speak, after long experience at the 
 bar over which this gentleman presides as a judge, of his great 
 ability, integrity, and purity of character." The moral of this 
 ought not to pass without observation. It is this : That after all 
 that has been said touching the treatment of United States officers 
 in the South, whenever a gentleman is sent tlxere he never fails to 
 inspire confidence and receive justice. Long before either Mr. 
 HEENDON or myself contemplated entering the field of politics 
 we were professional friends and often engaged together at the bar. 
 He was the most conscientious lawyer I ever knew. He would 
 not address an argument to a court unless he had the clearest con 
 viction not only of the justice but of the law of the case. 
 
 I was once his associate in an admiralty cause before the United 
 States circuit court of Alabama. The equity of the case was clearly 
 
ADDRESS OF MR. JONES, OF FLORIDA. 67 
 
 with our client. who was the victim of a gross fraud about to be 
 consummated and carried through the forms of law. [n arranging 
 about the argument ho said to me, with great emotion, "The jus 
 tice and right of the ease is clearly with us, but I have great doubt. 
 in regard to the legal principle for which yon contend, and while 
 I will assist you in every way in my power I must leave the argu 
 ment to you." We gained the wise Ix fore a full court. " You 
 never could have succeeded," said he. " unless you were before a 
 court that had the courage and justice to follow the example of 
 Ixml Mansfield who, putting aside the hard principles of the com 
 mon law, declared that he never would permit a trustee to recover 
 in ejectment against h\8(Xtu/i qite truxt in possession of the estate." 
 Mr. President, my poor offering to the memory of THOMAS IT. 
 IlKUXix)X this day is not what I could wish it to be. Had I the 
 language of a Webster or Choate T could not do justice to my feel 
 ings for the memory of this honest, true man. I have seen too 
 much of the hollowness, the treachery, the insincerity of the human 
 heart not to hold in proper estimation the character of the deceased. 
 The House of Representatives has had and now has many men better 
 known to the world for long public service and showing of talents 
 than my departed friend ; but, sir, neither that bodv nor this at 
 any time in our history had a member who in all the high quali 
 ties of genuine manhood was the superior of the deceased. I do 
 not speak, of course, about intellectual powers, for it is well known 
 that a bright mind and a rotten heart have often been found 
 together, but I speak of those great moral qualities which make 
 friendship steadfast and enduring, charity boundless, religion toler 
 ant, politics respectable, human nature itself worthy of its Divine 
 Creator. It matters not where such a man is born, his home is 
 the universe ; responsive sympathies and open arms and warm 
 hearts will greet him in every clime. And when death ends his 
 earthly career and he enters into a better and happier life beyond 
 the grave the ministering angels around the throne of God kneel 
 in solemn heavenly reverence and pay homage to his labors and 
 virtues as his soul passes the awful portals of eternity. 
 
o8 LIFE AND CHAEACTFAi OF THOMAS U. HKRNDON. 
 
 Address of Mr. PUGH, of Alabama. 
 
 Mr. PRESIDENT : The custom of the two Houses of Congress 
 claims a suspension of our duties to the living that we may pay 
 our last sad tribute to the memory of the dead. This is a mourn 
 ful duty to all of us, and to me it is especially painful. My recol 
 lection of THOMAS H. HERN DON is so fresh I have not yet been 
 able to realize the melancholy fact that he is gone from us forever. 
 My relations with him had grown to be so intimate, cordial, and 
 confiding it will take a long time to efface from my memory the 
 impression that he still lives. How often are we reminded by the 
 appearance of the merciless Destroyer " what shadows we are and 
 what shadows we pursue." And yet we press on, grasping these 
 shadows as if they were priceless jewels, and making our prepara 
 tions to live as if our earthly existence were immortal. 
 
 What a striking illustration is furnished in this delusion of the 
 beautiful truth that " we are fearfully and wonderfully made." 
 How utterly blind and helpless we feel when confronted as we are 
 every moment of our existence by the bewildering mysteries of our 
 creation. If we had been so constituted as to be able to understand 
 the delusive and unsatisfying nature of all the earthly objects of 
 our desires, aspirations, and pursuits, and had been made capable 
 of accepting and acting upon the truth as it really is in the begin 
 ning of our lives, who could comprehend or imagine the effects of 
 such a radical change in our capacity and knowledge upon our 
 lives and destinies? No higher wisdom could have been shown in 
 the visible works of creation than is seen in the wonderful perfec 
 tion of the adaptation of material elements and objects to our 
 wants and aspirations and in the unchangeable affinities existing 
 in the mysterious and incomprehensible combinations of mind and 
 matter. How unwilling we are to accept the undeniable truth 
 that disappointments, reverses, failures, trials, sorrows, and trou 
 bles of all kinds are inseparable from our existence^ because they 
 are indispensable agencies and influences employed in the execution 
 
ADDRESS OF MR. PUCH, OFALAHAMA. 69 
 
 of immutable laws and the consummation of the designs of an all- 
 wise Providence. 
 
 These reflections remind us that there is a philosophy in life 
 and death that furnishes more or less consolation and compensa 
 tion to alleviate our sorrows and reconcile us to our losses. Every 
 human life is a history, and in that of our lamented friend, which 
 has l)cen portrayed with so much force and fidelity by mv col 
 league, there is everything to love and admire and nothing want 
 ing in qualities or action that a longer lease of life could have 
 supplied to make a character more deserving our commemoration. 
 I never knew a more perfectly organized man than THOMAS II. 
 HKRNPOX. There were remarkable uniformity and harmonv in 
 all his faculties. His natural endowments have been excelled in 
 degree but not in quality, and their combination made an extra 
 ordinary man. lie was kind, gentle, polite, liberal, and unselfish. 
 He had a keen sense of right, justice, honor, and duty, supported 
 by strong convictions and affections and unfaltering courage and 
 manhood. His powers of thought were remarkable for activity, 
 clearness, and accuracy. 
 
 His natural gifts were developed and greatly improved and em- 
 Ix-llished by educational cultivation and acquirements, and by up 
 right and honorable living and intercourse. His most conspicuous 
 traits were strong convictions, sound judgment, spotless integrity, 
 scrupulous sense of duty, and faultless manhood. These quali 
 ties established him above suspicion in the esteem and confidence 
 of every person who knew him personally or by reputation. He 
 was social, genial, and refined in his intercourse with all classes, 
 and enjoyed from the beginning of his manhood merited popu 
 larity with the people under whose scrutiny and with whose sup 
 port he grew to distinction. As a friend he was always true under 
 any trial. As a citizen he was exemplary, public spirited, and 
 useful. No man was ever happier in his domestic relations. As 
 a husband and parent he was kind, indulgent, and affectionate. 
 
 As a lawyer he was efficient, faithful, and successful. As a rep 
 resentative in the legislature of his native State and in the consti 
 tutional convention of IHTS and in the other House of Congress 
 
70 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THOMAS H. HERNDON. 
 
 he devoted all his powers of mind aud heart to the honor, rights, 
 interest, and welfare of his constituents. As a Confederate officer 
 and soldier he verified on many battle-fields the highest qualities 
 of manhood and patriotism. In his protracted illness and suffer 
 ings and in full view of certain death his heroic nature maintained 
 its supremacy and suppressed all proof that death had any sting 
 or the grave any victory. 
 
 I move the adoption of the resolutions. 
 
 The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on the adoption of 
 the resolutions submitted by the senior Senator from Alabama 
 [Mr. Morgan]. 
 
 The resolutions were agreed to unanimously. 
 
 Mr. MORGAN. I submit the following resolution : 
 
 Resolved, That, as a further mark of respect to the memory of THOMAS II. 
 HKKNDON, the Senate do now adjourn. 
 
 The resolution was agreed to unanimously, and ihe Senate ad 
 journed. 
 
 O 
 


 
 
 
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