time I met him I felt drawn to him by a kind of uncontrollable magnetism, and as time wore on I became more attached to him, notwithstanding he belonged to one political faith and I to another. While I was an uncompromising Democrat and he as much of a Republican, yet I always felt whenever I met him and clasped his hand that I had met an honest, conscientious man; one who, though differing widely with his fellowman, was ready to accord to him honesty of purpose while claiming it for himself. In the Fifty-sixth Congress Speaker Henderson placed me on the Committee on Banking and Currency, where my esteem for him continued to grow.

There is one thing, Mr. Speaker, that is certain, and that is death, while there is also nothing more uncertain than life. As said by his home paper on the morning after his untimely death, no more shocking exemplification of the uncertainty of life and the swiftness of death could have happened than the passing away of MARRIOTT BROSIUS.

A flash of the lightning, a break of the wave,
Man passes from life to his rest in the grave.

It is hard to realize that the distinguished Congressman has passed from time into eternity and is no more. Methinks

I can almost hear his voice even now reverberating around the walls of this Hall, and one can well imagine his robust form coming in to take his seat in his accustomed style on the other side of this Chamber. His associates over there will miss him, and we will miss him over here as well. Only the work he wrought and the life he lived remain as a monument to his memory, constituting a peculiar heritage for the emulation of struggling youth and for the sweet solace and comfort of his family and the people he served so well.

MARRIOTT BROSIUS, as he was familiarly known by his nearest friends, was a self-made man, going from the farm to the forum of national legislation. While yet on his father's

farm he enlisted at the age of 18 in the early part of the civil war, and it is said by those who knew that his record as a soldier was one of which any man might well be proud. For bravery on the battlefield he was promoted and commissioned a lieutenant. His service in the Army was brought to a close at the battle of Green Plains, a most bloody and desperate encounter, in which he was disabled for life by a bullet smashing through his shoulder. As a lawyer he won success and forged to the front at the Lancaster bar. The Democratic papers of his city and district and State all spoke kindly and favorably of him as a man, as did his own Republican organs.

It was his nature to be fair and generous toward everybody. It is not my purpose to frame any formal epitaph, but it is for those who have known and loved him almost a lifetime to speak of his true life and service. But I want to say that, from an acquaintance of nine or ten years with him, I believe he was also a true soldier in civil life, a soldier of the Master, and when the final summons came he was not afraid, but, heroically as ever a Knight of the Cross, saluted with a stainless sword the spotless majesty of the risen Saviour, and bowed his head to death. Then why should we mourn? Our friend and brother is infinitely better off, and our loss, after all, is Heaven's gain, for we have the assurance, from all we can learn of him, that he was a Christian man and not afraid to die, and in spite of his ambition to make a name for himself, and to write it high on the roll of fame, he never forgot his God and his duty to Him.

But, rightly realizing that the real and true object of life is, after all, to prepare for death, he lived the life of a devoted Christian and simply fell asleep only to awake in a better land. And when we consider carefully his life and his remarkable career along with many others of a similar type, how he rose

from obscurity to prominence, and that in spite of many obstacles and adverse circumstances, we are prone to acknowledge the truth of the little verse which says:

Who hath not learned in hours of faith

The truth, to flesh and sense unknown,

That life is ever lord of death,
And love can never lose its own.

1

1

ADDRESS OF MR. THAYER, OF MASSACHUSETTS.

Mr. SPEAKER: I had not the pleasure of a personal acquaintance with the Hon. MARRIOTT BROSIUS prior to the first session of the Fifty-sixth Congress. At that time, being upon the Com-" mittee on Banking and Currency, of which committee he was the honored, able, and efficient chairman, the opportunity was presented for me to know him quite intimately. I also had the good fortune to be at the same house and eat at the same table with Mr. BROSIUS for some considerable time. As I judged him, he was a man of great simplicity of personal character. He seemed to pursue the even tenor of his way in this House among his many friends, and in the lofty walks of public life, unscathed by criticism, unslandered by adverse report. He was modest and sufficiently reserved, yet vigilant in asserting his rights and protecting the interests of those he represented. Always studious and industrious; attentive to substance as well as to taste in style, he was eloquent, logical, and forcible in debate. He was loyal to his convictions and friends. He despised hypocrisy, treachery, and ingratitude, whether in public or private life. He was not only intensely loyal to his State and district, which he never ceased or hesitated to praise with just pride, but he loved his party, its principles, and policies with an affection equaled by few. He was a party man, but would not permit his partisanship to becloud and bedim his patriotism.

In our strenuous American life, alive with the vast activities,

the keen competitions, and the boundless aspirations that a free government stimulates in a land of opportunity, with new problems continually springing up for solution, we must of necessity dwell in perpetual conflict of opinion. Yet differences which invite debate must cease, results must be obtained, compromises must be made. In the committee room and on this floor Mr. BROSIUS was the great pacifier, who brought order out of chaos, peace and harmony out of disorder, and achieved results where others might have failed.

He was a diligent student; his reading took a wide range; he gleaned from every field of knowledge and possessed an aptitude of intelligence which made him a valuable acquisition to every social or professional circle. His devotion to his constituents was a conspicuous feature of his public life. He believed that the career of every successful public man teaches that the only way for a public servant to securely hold the confidence and affection of his constituents is in the demonstration of his worthiness by integrity, fidelity, and loyalty in their service.

I leave it to others more conversant with his ardent and useful life to speak of his public achievements in military and civic life, where he acquitted himself with great honor and distinction in positions other than that of an able, distinguished, and influential member of Congress for many years.

Why Mr. BROSIUS was cut off in the full tide of usefulness, before he had scarcely passed the meridian of life, in the full enjoyment of his cultured faculties, before the evening of life had come on, and while the fires of being yet burned with a steady glow, is a mystery that eternity alone will unveil to us. But death comes as the dread messenger of pain and sorrow; the rude foe to happiness; the maker of widows and orphans; that banishes hope and installs despair; that blots out sun and moon and stars, and brings around the sable clouds of rayless