farther than in voting for selected candidates. Originally, he was an
anti-slavery Whig, and, upon the formation of the Republican party, he
became identified with it.

When he retired from the office of mayor, in January, 1858, it was his
intention to devote himself exclusively to business; but an unexpected
concurrence of circumstances in the third congressional district led to
his nomination and election to Congress by the Republicans, although
the partisan opposition was largely in the majority. He continued to
represent the district for eight consecutive years, and until he
declined further service. He entered Congress just before the breaking
out of the Civil War, and became a participant in the momentous
legislative events of that period. He witnessed the secession of the
Southern members from the two houses of Congress, and served through the
whole period of the war and through one Congress after the war closed,
embracing one half of President Buchanan's administration, the whole of
Lincoln's, and one half of Johnson's. He served on the committees on the
Pacific Railroad, on the District of Columbia, and on naval affairs, of
which last important committee he was chairman during the two closing
years of the war. In this last position he won much reputation by his
mastery of information relating to naval affairs at home and abroad, and
by his thorough devotion to the interests of the American Navy. Mr. Rice
did not often partake in the general debates of Congress, but he had the
confidence of its members to an unusual degree, and the measures which
he presented were seldom successfully opposed. When occasion called,
however, he distinguished himself as a debater of first-class ability,
as was shown in his notable reply to the Honorable Henry Winter Davis,
of Maryland, one of the most brilliant speakers in Congress, in defence
of the navy, and especially of its administration during the war period.