the amalgamation of such spirits in Virginia in 1676 which demanded the
right of personal liberty, of universal suffrage, and of representation;
and here was fought the prelude of that great drama one hundred years
later, when a Virginian, in the name of a whole nation, penned the
immortal words which proclaimed to all the world the "inalienable right
to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Here were the Lees, the
Patrick Henrys, the Randolphs, the Jeffersons, the Madisons, and the
Masons of Virginia; and here, to close the drama with freedom's
triumphant army, was the most illustrious of them all--George
Washington. It was from such an ancestry our late colleague was
descended, and it was from such teachings and such examples he imbibed
his zealous convictions of right and his sturdy regard for the exalted
prerogatives of a free people.




ADDRESS OF MR. WASHINGTON, OF TENNESSEE.


Mr. SPEAKER: On the 15th of last October death again invaded the ranks
of this House. The mysterious messenger laid the summons of his cold
silent hand upon one who had immeasurably endeared himself to all whose
good fortune it had been to know him. To-day we pause amid the rush of a
nation's public business to mourn the country's loss and to pay a just
tribute to the noble dead. When such a man as our late colleague, Gen.
WILLIAM H.F. LEE, is taken from our midst, a void is made which can
nevermore be filled. It is not his visible presence or his tangible body
that we shall so much miss. It is the magnetism of a pure mind, the
silent, potent influence of a spotless character, the power of a great,