of the ship Nightingale; which was read a first and second time, referred to a Committee of the Whole House, and ordered to be printed.

COLLECTION OF THE REVENUE.

Mr. SHEFFIELD, from the same committee, reported back House bill No. 136, to expedite the collection of the revenue and the final disposition of suits arising therefrom; which was postponed for two weeks, and ordered to be printed.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA BUSINESS.

The SPEAKER announced that the morning hour having expired, the business before the House was the consideration, as a special order, of bills relating to the District of Columbia.

MEDICAL STOREKEEPERS.

Mr. BLAIR, of Missouri. I ask the gentleman from Massachusetts, the chairman of the Committee for the District of Columbia, to give way for a moment to allow me to report back, and have put on its passage, a bill for the appointment of medical storekeepers and chaplains of hospitals.

Mr. DELANO. I cannot consent, for the reason that this is the only day set apart for the transaction of the business of the District of Columbia. Mr. BLAIR, of Missouri. I will move the previous question on it.

Mr. DELANO. Without debate?
Mr. BLAIR, of Missouri. Yes, sir.

Mr. DELANO. Well, sir, with the understanding that I will not again yield, I will give way to the gentleman.

Mr. BLAIR, of Missouri, by unanimous consent, then reported back Senate bill (No. 304) to authorize the appointment of medical storekeepers and chaplains of hospitals.

The bill was read. It provides that the Secretary of War be authorized to add to the medical department of the Army medical storekeepers, not exceeding six in number, who shall have the pay and emoluments of military storekeepers in the quartermaster's department, who shall be skilled apothecaries or druggists, who shall give the bond and security required by existing laws for military storekeepers in the quartermaster's department, and who shall be stationed at such points as the necessities of the Army may require; provided that the provisions of this act shall remain in force only during the continuance of the present rebellion."

The bill also legalizes the appointments heretofore made by the President for military hospitals, and authorizes him to appoint as many additional chaplains for hospitals as he may deem advisable, at the same rate of compensation allowed by law to chaplains of the volunteer forces.

Mr. BLAIR, of Missouri. This bill authorizing the appointment of medical storekeepers is one that is demanded by the exigencies of the service. The medicine necessary for the wounded and sick soldiers cannot be distributed properly and at the proper time under the present organi

zation.

As to the second section of the bill, it makes precisely the same provision in reference to chaplains for military hospitals that the House has already passed. 1 now move the previous question on the third reading of the bill.

The previous question was seconded, and the main question ordered to be put.

The bill was ordered to a third reading; and was accordingly read the third time, and passed...

Mr. BLAIR, of Missouri, moved to reconsider the vote by which the bill was passed; and also moved to lay the motion to reconsider on the table. The latter motion was agreed to.

PUBLIC BUILDINGS FOR THE DISTRICT. Mr. DELANO reported back House bill (No. 470) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior, in conjunction with the Mayors of Washington and Georgetown, to locate and contract for the construction of a penitentiary, jail, and house of correction in the District of Columbia; which was referred to the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, and ordered to be printed. CODIFICATION OF THE LAWS OF THE DISTRICT. Mr. DELANO, from the Committee for the District of Columbia, reported back Senate bill (No. 222) to provide for the codification and revision of the laws of the District of Columbia, with amendments.

First amendment:

Strike out the words "a suitable person," and in lieu thereof insert, "three suitable persons;" so that it will read:

That the President of the United States be, and he is hereby, authorized and empowered to appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, three suitable persons, learned in the law, to revise and codify the laws of the District of Columbia.

The amendment was concurred in.

Second amendment:

Strike out the words, "that the person who shall be thus appointed shall receive ten dollars per day for his services while so employed, and shall render a final report of his revision and codification to Congress on or before the 10th day of May next," and in lieu thereof insert the following:

That the persons who shall be thus appointed shall render a final report of their revision and codification to Congress on or before the first Monday in December next. The amendment was concurred in.

Mr. WICKLIFFE. I do not believe that this Congress ought to pass that bill at this time. With the permission of the House I will state some facts which I happen to know in regard to this matter. Some fifteen or twenty years ago Congress passed a law providing for the revision and codification of the laws of the District of Columbia. For that purpose a board of commissioners was created, upon which were placed the most distinguished lawyers of that time which could be found in this District. Those gentlemen, after laboring some ten or twelve months-I do not recollect exactly how long-made an elaborate report to Congress, accompanied with a code containing the laws as revised and codified, but a quorum of members never could be kept together for the purpose of listening to them, and they fell, as a matter of course, a dead letter. I understand that Congress did the same thing in 1857 or 1858. Another board of commissioners was appointed to codify the laws of this District. They went to work and made a report, which was never acted upon by Congress. The same fate that befell the former reports will, in my judgment, be the fate that will await the report of any new board of commissioners we may create by passing the pending bill. The three commissioners will go to work, receive their salary, make their report, and that will be the end of it. I know that it is a very

pleasant way to provide for three men, at very good salaries. I know that, in the two instances I have cited, the commissioners went to work at a great expense to the Government, and that their reports were never rejected or adopted, but that, on the contrary, they were permitted to become a dead letter. If tolerable at any other time, such an expense is utterly unnecessary in the present condition of the Government, when it is under such heavy necessary expense.

We ought not to create this additional expense to the Government for another reason. There has been a class of the population here clothed very recently with important rights-I will not say how properly-such as giving evidence, &c., and I think we had better wait, before making this codification, until we see how that class gets along. We shall have nothing left of the United States, if we go on in the way that we have. We establish boards of commissioners for everything. It would seem that we can do nothing without commissioners. Let us do away with the commissioners in this matter, and save the expense to the Government. Let the members of the Committee for the District of Columbia take up the reports that have heretofore been made by these codification commissioners, examine them, and submit to the House the conclusions at which they have arrived for our action. If we create this board of commissioners, they will do no more. They will draw their salaries, look into the previous codifications, and submit them, or one of them, to us for our action. Under all of the circumstances, therefore, I think it proper to move that this bill be recommitted to the Committee for the District of Columbia, with instructions that they examine the code which was reported five or six years ago, and report it with such modifications as they may suggest.

Mr. DELANO. Mr. Speaker, if the honorable gentleman from Kentucky will give me his attention, I will convince him that this bill is a proper one, and ought to be passed. It has met the approval not only of the Senate Committee on the District of Columbia, but of the same committee in this House. They have given it careful exam

ination, and know exactly what was done by Congress in past years for the codification of the laws of this District. I have in my hand the code to which the gentleman has referred. It was drawn up under a law to reduce, simplify, digest, and modify the laws of said District, and also the rules and principles of practice of pleading, of evidence, and of conveyancing. Because that code was well prepared by the board of commissioners, and because it has met with general approval, it is now relied upon substantially as the code to be adopted by the new board of commissioners.

Let us look at this matter historically. If the House will give me its attention, I will show that there are no such dangers as those which the gentleman from Kentucky apprehends. Prior to 1855, various laws, statutes, and usages and rules applicable to proceedings in court were lying in an indiscriminate and an undigested mass for years. It was then thought, as every respectable State or municipality in the Union had its code, that it was time the laws of the District should be revised and codified. Under the lead of the honorable gentleman from Maryland, [Mr. MAY,] a distinguished lawyer who now occupies a seat upon this floor, in 1855, commissioners were appointed by the President to revise, simplify, and codify the laws of this District. The act was passed March 3, 1855. I understand it was mainly by the advice and under the supervision of the gentleman from Maryland that the code was matured. It was reported in the most perfect state, as I understand from lawyers here and elsewhere. The bill provided, not only that there should be a board of codifiers, but that there should be a committee of five citizens from Washington, two from Georgetown, and one from the county of Washington, to have the supervision and revisal of the work of the commissioners. The commissioners were two years in compiling their code. I am told that they did the work most thoroughly, that there was not a man on the committee of citizens who did not approve it. They made a unanimous report, recommending the adoption of the code by the citizens of the District. Unfortunately, the gentleman who drew the bill made the further provision that, after the code had stood the test of the judgment of the commissioners, and after it had met with the approval of the committee of citizens, it should be submitted to the vote of the people of the District. The code was submitted to the people and the people voted it down.

The theory of the Senate bill is that one commissioner is enough, because it is expected he will report at once the code of 1857. We think that not only is the time fixed too short, but that it would better subserve the interests of the District to have three commissioners. They are to report at the next session whatever suggestions they may have by way of amendment to the code. That, I think, would be better than to leave the matter to be decided by a single commissioner. There is scarcely an instance in the different States where the Legislatures have provided for less than three commissioners, for the purpose of revising and codifying the laws. Less than three has nowhere been deemed an adequate commission for that purpose.

The Senate bill provided that the report should be made to Congress on the 16th of May. That day has passed, and the House, on the recommendation of the committee, has amended the bill so that the report shall be made on the first Monday of next session. I demand the previous question on the third reading and passage of the bill. The previous question was seconded, and the main question ordered.

Mr. JOHNSON moved that the bill be laid upon the table; and on that motion demanded the yeas and nays.

The yeas and nays were ordered.

The question was taken; and it was decided in the negative-yeas 49, nays 71; as follows:

YEAS-Messrs. Allen, Ancona, Bingham, Jacob B. Blair, George H. Browne, William G. Brown, Casey, Cobb, Frederick A. Conkling, Roscoe Conkling, Cox, Diven, Fisher, Hall, Harding, Hickman, Holman, Johnson, Knapp, Law, Lazear, Leary, Anson P. Morrill, Morris, Noble, Nugen, Olin, Pendleton, John S. Phelps, Porter, Price, Richardson, Robinson, James S. Rollins, Segar, Shiel, Smith, William G. Steele, Francis Thomas, Trimble, Vallandigham, Vibbard, Voorhees, Charles W. Walton, Ward, Albert S. White, Wickliffe, Wood, and Woodruff-49.

NAYS-Messrs. Aldrich, Alley, Ashley, Babbitt, Baker, Baxter, Samuel S. Blair, Blake, Buffinton, Calvert, Camp bell, Chamberlin, Clark, Clements, Crisfield, Cutler, Davis,

Dawes, Delano, Duell, Dunlap, Edgerton, Eliot, Ely, Fenton, Fessenden, Franehot, Frank, Grider, Haight, Hale, Harrison, Horton, Julian, Kelley, Francis W. Kellogg, William Kellogg, Lehman, Loomis, Lovejoy, McKnight, McPherson, Mallory, Maynard, Menzies, Moorhead, Justin S. Morrill, Timothy G. Phelps, Pike, Potter, Alexander H. Rice, John H. Rice, Edward H. Rollins, Sargent, Sedgwick, Sheffield, Sloan, Jolm B. Steele, Stevens, Benjamin F. Thomas, Train, Van Horn, Van Valkenburgh, Wall, Wallace, E. P. Walton, Webster, Wheeler, Chilton A. White, Wilson, and Windom-71.

So the bill was not laid upon the table.

The previous question was seconded, and the main question ordered to be put.

The question recurring on the motion to recommit with instructions,

Mr. WICKLIFFE, by unanimous consent, withdrew the same.

The bill was then ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, and being engrossed it was accordingly read the third time and passed.

Mr. DELANO moved to reconsider the vote by which the bill was passed; and also moved to lay the motion to reconsider on the table. The latter motion was agreed to.

ENROLLED BILL.

Mr. COBB, from the Committee on Enrolled Bills, reported that they had examined and found truly enrolled an act (S. No. 259) for the relief of Lieutenant Colonel Charles F. Ruff, of the United States Army; when the Speaker signed the same. JAIL WARDEN IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

Mr. DELANO, from the Committee for the District of Columbia, reported back, with a recommendation that it do not pass, an act (S. No. 197) to authorize the appointment of a warden of the jail in the District of Columbia.

The bill was laid upon the table.

J. W. NYE.

Mr. CALVERT, from the Committee for the District of Columbia, reported back a bill (H. R. No. 297) for the relief of J. W. Nye; which was referred to a Committee of the Whole House on the Private Calendar, and ordered to be printed. CLAIM OF J. W. NYE.

Mr. CALVERT, from the same committee, reported back a bill (H. R. No. 298) to provide for the payment of the claim of J. W. Nye, assignee of Peter Bargy, jr., and Hugh Stewart; which was referred to a Committee of the Whole House on the Private Calendar, and ordered to be printed.

POTOMAC WATER WORks.

Mr. CALVERT, from the same committee, reported a joint resolution transferring the supervision of the Potomac water works to the Department of the Interior.

The resolution was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time; and being engrossed, it was accordingly read the third time, and passed.

Mr. CALVERT moved to reconsider the vote by which the bill was passed; and also moved to lay the motion to reconsider on the table. The latter motion was agreed to.

EDUCATION OF NEGROES.

Mr. ROLLINS, of New Hampshire, from the same committee, reported back an act (S. No. 290) to provide for the education of colored children of the cities of Washington and Georgetown, District of Columbia, and for other purposes.

The bill was read.

Mr. ROLLINS, of New Hampshire, moved the previous question. The previous question was seconded, and the main question ordered to be put; and under the operation thereof the bill was ordered to be read a third time, and it was accordingly read the third time.

Mr. ROLLINS, of New Hampshire, moved the previous question on the passage of the bill.

The previous question was seconded, and the main question ordered to be put; and under the operation thereof the bill was passed.

Mr. ROLLINS, of New Hampshire, moved to reconsider the vote by which the bill was passed; and also moved to lay the motion to reconsider on the table.

The latter motion was agreed to. -QUALIFICATION OF ELECTORS IN WASHINGTON.

Mr. ASHLEY, from the same committee, reported back a bill (S. No. 271) prescribing the

qualification of electors in the cities of Washington and Georgetown in the District of Columbia. The bill was read.

Mr. ASHLEY called the previous question.

The previous question was seconded, and the main question ordered to be put; and under the operation thereof the bill was ordered to be read a third time; and it was accordingly read the third time.

Mr. ASHLEY demanded the previous question upon the passage of the bill.

The previous question was seconded, and the main question ordered to be put; and under the operation thereof the bill was passed.

Mr. ASHLEY moved to reconsider the vote by which the bill was passed; and also moved to lay the motion to reconsider on the table. The latter motion was agreed to.

QUALIFICATION OF ATTORNEYS, ETC.

Mr. ASHLEY, from the same committee, reported back a bill (H. R. No. 467) prescribing the qualification of attorneys and solicitors in the courts of the United States and in the District of Columbia, and for other purposes.

The bill was read.

Mr. ASHLEY moved the previous question. The previous question was seconded, and the main question ordered to be put; and under the operation thereof the bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time; and being engrossed, it was accordingly read the third time.

Mr. ASHLEY moved the previous question upon the passage of the bill.

The previous question was seconded, and the main question ordered to be put; and under the operation thereof the bill was passed.

Mr. ASHLEY moved to reconsider the vote by which the bill was passed; and also moved to lay the motion to reconsider on the table. The latter motion was agreed to.

GUARDIAN SOCIETY IN THE DISTRICT, ETC. Mr. ASHLEY, from the same committee, reported back a bill (H. R. No. 425) to incorporate the Guardian Society to Reform Juvenile Offenders in the District of Columbia. The bill was read.

Mr. ASHLEY moved the previous question. The previous question was seconded, and the main question ordered to be put; and under the operation thereof the bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time; and being engrossed, it was accordingly read the third time.

Mr. ASHLEY moved the previous question upon the passage of the bill.

The previous question was seconded, and the main question ordered to be put; and under the operation thereof the bill was passed.

Mr. ASHLEY moved to reconsider the vote by which the bill was passed; and also moved to lay the motion to reconsider on the table. The latter motion was agreed to.

UNION GAS LIGHT COMPANY.

Mr. ASHLEY. I am directed by the Committee for the District of Columbia to report a bill to incorporate the Union Gas Light Company, and ask that it may be printed, and recommitted to the committee.

The bill was reported, recommitted to the Committee for the District of Columbia, and ordered to be printed.

INSTRUCTION IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS.

Mr. FESSENDEN, from the Committee for the

District of Columbia, reported back a bill (S. No. 240) to provide for the public instruction of youth in primary schools throughout the county of Washington, in the District of Columbia, without the limits of the cities of Washington and George

town.

The bill was read.

Mr. FESSENDEN moved the previous question.

The previous question was seconded, and the main question ordered to be put; and under the operation thereof the bill was ordered to be read a third time. It was accordingly read the third time, and passed.

Mr. FESSENDEN moved to reconsider the vote by which the bill was passed; and also moved to lay the motion to reconsider on the table. The latter motion was agreed to.

WATER TAX IN GEORGETOWN.

Mr. STEELE, of New York, from the Committee for the District of Columbia, reported back a bill (S. No. 211) to authorize the corporation of Georgetown, in the District of Columbia, to lay and collect a water tax, and for other purposes. The bill was read.

The bill was then ordered to be read a third time; and it was accordingly read the third time, and passed.

Mr. STEELE, of New York, moved to reconsider the vote by which the bill was passed; and also moved to lay the motion to reconsider on the table.

The latter motion was agreed to.

ORDER OF BUSINESS.

Mr. DELANO. I believe the Committee for the District of Columbia have made all their reports, and it seems to me that it would be a waste of time to call over the other committees for reports upon District of Columbia business. I therefore move that the House resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole House.

Mr. DAWES. I would inquire of my colleague for what purpose?

Mr. DELANO. To take up business relating to the District of Columbia.

Mr. DAWES. I would like to have the gentleman postpone that for other matters in which he, as well as other of the members from Massachusetts, is interested.

Mr. DELANO. I will say to my colleague that, so far as I am concerned, there is no objection to postponing this. matter, if the Committee for the District of Columbia can be assured of having another early day for the purpose of concluding the unfinished business relating to the District of Columbia.

Mr. DAWES. I presume the House will have no objection to that. It is generally understood that arrangements have been made for another matter at this time; and it seems to be rather necessary, to accommodate certain gentlemen about to leave, that this matter should be postponed.

Mr. DELANO. I will say that there are one or two bills relating to the District of Columbia, in the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, and if they could be placed at the head of the Calendar, so that they would come up when we next go into committee, I should have no objection to postponing the matter now.

I will ask, however, now, that the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union may be discharged from the further consideration of the bill for the incorporation of an institution for the deaf and dumb. A bill has already been passed which renders that bill unnecessary.

No objection being made, the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union were discharged from the further consideration of said bill, and the bill was laid on the table.

By unanimous consent the remaining bills relating to the District of Columbia, pending in the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, were ordered to be placed at the head of the Calendar.

Mr. DELANO. I now withdraw my motion to go into committee.

MESSAGE FROM THE SENATE.

A message from the Senate by Mr. FORNEY, its Secretary, announced that the Senate had agreed to the report of the committee of conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on the amendments of the Senate to bill of the House

(No. 125) to secure homesteads to actual settlers on the public domain.

The message also announced that the Senate ferenice on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses had agreed to the report of the committee of conon the bill (S. No. 178) to incorporate the Washington and Georgetown Railway Company.

The message further announced that the Senate had concurred in the amendment of the House to the joint resolution of the Senate (No. 67) in relation to the claim of Marshall O. Roberts for the loss of the steamer Star of the West.

LAND DISTRICT IN NEVADA.

Mr. CRADLEBAUGH. I ask the unanimous consent of the House to discharge the Committee of the Whole from the further consideration of the bill of the Senate (No. 442) to establish a land

district in the Territory of Nevada and for other purposes, with a view to put it upon its passage. Mr. SHEFFIELD. object.

HOMESTEAD BILL.

Mr. POTTER, from the committee of conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on the homestead bill, submitted a report in writing, and moved the previous question upon it. The report was read, as follows:

The committee of conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses of Congress on the bill (H. R. No. 125) "to secure homesteads to actual settlers on the public domain," &c., having met, after full conference have agreed to recominend to their respective Houses as follows:

That the House recede from their disagreement to the Senate's amendments, numbered 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, and 13.

That the House recede from their disagreement to the Senate's second amendment, and agree to the same with the following amendment: after the word "section," in the Senate's amendinent, insert or a less quantity;" and in the twelfth line of the first section, after the word" acre," insert "or less." At the end of the first section add, "Provided, That any person owning and residing on land may, under the provisions of this act, enter other land lying contiguous to his or her said land which shall not, with the land so already owned and occupied, exceed in the aggregate one hundred and sixty acres."

That the House recede from their disagreement to the Senate's third amendment, and agree to the same with the following amendment: after the word "age," in the second line of the second section, and before the Senate amendment, insert "or shall have performed service in the Army or Navy of the United States." Also, in the third and fourth lines, second section, strike out the words "and those specially mentioned in this act," and insert as follows: "and that said entry is made for the purpose of actual settlement and cultivation."

That the Senate recede from their eighth amendment with the following amendment: strike out the word "entry," in the seventh line of the fifth section, and insert" land."

That the House recede from their disagreement to the Senate's twelfth amendment, and agree to the same with the following amendment, to be added at the end of the sixth section:

Provided further, That no person who has served, or may hereafter serve, for a period or not less than fourteen days in the Army or Navy of the United States, either regular or volunteer, under the laws thereof during the existence of an actual war, domestic or foreign, shall be deprived of the benefits of this act on account of not having attained the age of twenty-one years.

JOHN F. POTTER, CYRUS ALDRICH, EDWIN H. WEBSTER, Managers on the part of the House.

JAMES HARLAN, JOSEPH A. WRIGHT, DANIEL CLARK, Managers on the part of the Senate.

Mr. HOLMAN. I trust the gentleman from Wisconsin will withdraw the demand for the previous question.

learn that as printing is the most encyclopedic of arts, so the printing office is among the best places of instruction. In diffusing knowledge, the pupil acquires it, and in preparing the instruments for educating others, educates himself. I have revered the art from my forefathers, as Paul would have said, and mine, therefore, may be a partial judgment; but some of the best educated men it has been my pleasure to know, received their degrees at the printer's college.

Mr. BAILEY, having learned his art, was for some time the associate printer, publisher, and editor of a country newspaper, a business, I suspect, not very lucrative or attractive. It did not fill the measure of his hopes; and in 1845 he left the printing office for the study of the law. He pursued his studies in the office of Messrs. Torrey & Wood, of Fitchburg, sound lawyers and most estimable men. Their appreciation of their student was such that, upon his admission to the bar, in December, 1848, he was received into the firm as a partner.

Mr. BAILEY had been in the practice of his profession some thirteen years before his election to this House. A leading position at the bar in New England is seldom attained in thirteen years, and especially at a bar which, even from days before the Revolution, has been so eminent as that of the county of Worcester. But Mr. BAILEY had acquired high rank among his brethren, and by courteous manners, careful learning, sound judgment, and sterling integrity, had secured the respect of the people, and of courts and juries.

His public life was very brief. In 1856 he was elected a representative in the Legislature of Massachusetts, and in 1858 and 1860 was a member of the State Senate. In this new field of labor he was eminently successful, and in his second year in the Senate it may be fairly said there was no man in the body in whom his colleagues or the public reposed more confidence.

The ability and fidelity with which he discharged these high duties attracted the attention and won the regard of the people of his district; and in November, 1860, in a canvass warmly contested by an able and popular man, he was elected to this House.

He took his seat at the extra session in July. But over his new and expanded horizon the night was already shutting down. The hand of death was laid visibly upon him. You could hear the very rustling of his wings.

He came back in December apparently a little better. It was but the glow of sunset, the flick

is unanimous.

The previous question was seconded, and the main question ordered.

Mr. HOLMAN demanded the yeas and nays on agreeing to the report.

The yeas and nays were not ordered.
The report was agreed to.

Mr. POTTER moved to reconsider the vote by which the report of the committee of conference was agreed to; and also moved to lay the motion to reconsider upon the table.

The latter motion was agreed to.

DEATH OF HON. GOLDSMITH F. BAILEY.

Mr. THOMAS, of Massachusetts. My colleagues, Mr. Speaker, have assigned to me the duty of announcing to the House the death of one of our number, Hon. GOLDSMITH F. BAILEY, at his home in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, on the 8th

instant.

The story of his life is a brief and manly one. He was born on the 17th of July, 1823, in Westmoreland, New Hampshire, a State that has given to her sisters so many of her jewels, and yet always kept her casket full and sparkling. An orphan at the age of two, he was thrown wholly upon his own resources at the age of twelve. What we ordinarily call education (schooling) was finished substantially at the age of sixteen. But he early discovered that the only true culture is self-culture, the only true development self-development; that in the sweat of a man's own face he must cat the bread of knowledge; and that in the school of narrow fortune and of early struggle are often to be found the most invigorating disciplines and the wisest teachers.

At the age of sixteen he began to learn the art of printing. We need but glance at our history, or look around us at either end of the Capitol, to

strength from day to day, and at last went home to die-to realize the Spanish benediction, "may you die among your kindred," and, what is of infinitely greater moment, the divine benediction, "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord."

To our narrow vision, Mr. Speaker, such a life seems imperfect, such a death premature. To wrestle with adverse fortune, as Jacob with the angel, until you wrest from it its blessing; to struggle through youth and early manhood; to reach the threshold of mature life, of usefulness, and of honor, and to sink weary and exhausted before the open door.

It is a narrow view, Mr. Speaker, which a serene trust in God and in His infinite wisdom and infinite goodness at once dispels. We wipe the mist from our eyes, and see that all is well. In the presence and with the consciousness of an immortal life, what matters it whether much or little be spent this side the vail, provided, as with our departed brother, it is well spent.

us.

Mr. Speaker, death is busy everywhere around The accomplished jurist, the pure patriot, the statesman wise and good, passes away in the Sabbath stillness. Amid the thunders of artillery rocking like a cradle land and sea, amid fire and smoke, the shrieks of the wounded, the groans of the dying, the wail of defeat, and the shouts of triumph, the angel reapers are garnering in fields seemingly not white for the harvest. The flower of our youth, the beauty of our Israel, is slain in our high places. The victories in this holy struggle for national life and "liberty in law" are sealed with our most precious blood. Yet in this hour of chastened triumph, of mingled joy and sadness, that tranquil death in a far off New England home comes very nigh to us, with its solemn, I trust not unheeded warning: be ye also ready.

I offer the following resolutions: Resolved, That the House has heard with profound sorrow the announcement of the death of Hon. GOLDSMITH F. BAILEY, a member of this House from the ninth congressional district of the State of Massachusetts.

Resolved, That this House tenders to the widow and relatives of the deceased, the expression of its deep sympathy in this afflicting bereavement.

Resolved, That the Clerk of this House communicate to the widow of the deceased a copy of these resolutions. Resolved, (as a further mark of respect,) That a copy of these resolutions be communicated to the Senate, and that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. ASHLEY. Mr. Speaker, another member of this House sleeps the sleep of death. GOLDSMITH F. BAILEY, a Representative from the State of Massachusetts, departed this life on Friday last, at his home in Fitchburg, surrounded by family and friends. Not alone in the home of our departed friend, or in this House is there mourning. Throughout the length and breadth of our beloved country, in every city and hamlet,

"The air is full of farewells to the dying,

And mourning for the dead."

Mourning for those who have fallen and are falling on the battle-field in defense of their country, as well as for those reserved from such a fate, and dying from disease, consequent upon exposure to the damps and miasmas of a pestilential climate. The clarion notes of victory as they reach us from New Orleans and Williamsburg, and all the hard-fought fields of the war, though assuring us of the speedy and certain reestablishment of the Union, are robbed of half their cheer, when we reflect upon the many brave and patriotic men whose lives have been sacrificed to crush this wicked rebellion. It is indeed melancholy, while these realities are daily pressing upon us, to be called to mourn the loss of one of our own number, so true and faithful as the deceased.

ance.

I well remember, Mr. Speaker, the first time Mr. BAILEY came into the committee room, at this session, from which, on official occasions, he was only absent when his health prevented his attendIt was a disagreeable, cold, snowy morning. The effort was too much for him, and he gave unmistakable signs of fatigue and decay. After he withdrew, I remarked to one or two of the members of the committee who remained, that I feared the leaves and flowers of spring would not find him with us. He appeared conscious of this himself, as I afterwards learned, from my visits, when he was unable to leave his room. He thought the month of April or of May, or as he would express it, "the budding of the leaves and flowers will be the time." How appropriately he might have quoted and applied to himself the beautiful words written by Mrs. Osgood, when first informed that she could not survive the spring:

"I'm going through the Eternal gates,
Ere June's sweet roses blow."

Mr. Speaker, my acquaintance with Mr. BAILEY commenced after we became members together of the Committee on Territories. Though necessarily limited, it was of such a nature as to enable me to form a correct opinion of his character, and I assure you, sir, that no one who knew so little of him mourns his loss more sincerely than myself. From our first acquaintance, I was impressed with the amiabilities of his nature and the frank and genial qualities of his disposition, and as my knowledge of him increased I felt that he was as truthful and earnest as he was frank and genial. His ill health prevented him from mingling often in the society of his fellow members, or of interchanging views with them, but he never left those friends with whom he acted politically on this floor in any doubt as to the principles by which he was governed, or the devotion with which he was attached to his country. Had his health permitted, his earnestness of purpose would have prompted him to take an active part in the proceedings of this House, and no one who knew him doubts the line of conduct he would have adopted. He was a friend of the oppressed, an ardent patriot, devoted to the preservation of the Constitution and the Union, and believed that a permanent and enduring peace could alone be secured by removing the admitted cause of the rebellion. With his whole soul he hated tyranny and wrong. Opposition to injustice, to special privileges in legislation, to the protection of privileged classes, was, with him a life-long, life-governing principle.

Quiet and unpretending in his manners during his brief career in this House Mr. BAILEY became

acquainted with but few of its members; but among that few, limited as his acquaintance was, he was warmly esteemed and will be deeply regretted.

Mr. Speaker, death, when it comes to the old, brings with it nothing inscrutable, nothing to make us wonder at the decrees of a kind Providence; but when it visits one, who like Mr. BAILEY, has but just, as it seems, reached the moment of the realization of hopes long cherished, and the culmination of an honorable ambition, the moment of life's true enjoyment, we are sometimes prone to ask, not so much indeed in a spirit of complaint as in a spirit of wonder, why it is so. We look back upon a life yet young, which has passed through numberless hardships, been exposed to various youthful privations, and brought, by a force entirely its own, into full communion with the high purposes and great resolves which have formed its early and its latent dreams of true manhood, and see it suddenly, in the very moment of its triumph, cut down, and with it all the hopes so eagerly indulged forever destroyed. There is a meaning to events like this which reaches beyond the ken of mere mortality. It is particularly applicable to our friend. Born in New Hampshire, in 1823, at the early age of two years he was left an orphan, and at a tender period of life obliged to make his way in the world by the employment of his own resources. He learned the trade of a

printer, which he followed until 1845. During that year he commenced the study of law which he pursued with a diligence and perseverance which soon enabled him to overcome all the unfavorable circumstances of his earlier life. He was admitted to the bar in 1848, and followed his profession with success until 1856. His talents won for him the confidence as his amiable character did the esteem of his fellow-citizens, and in that year he was elected a member of the House of Representatives of Massachusetts. He performed his duties in that body so acceptably to those who sent him there that they elected him to the Senate of that State in 1858, and again in 1860, and from this latter position he was elected by the same appreciative constituency to a seat in this body.

Mindful of his failing health, Mr. BAILEY, after his election to this House, by the advice of his physician, went to Jacksonville, Florida, where he remained through the opening scenes of the rebellion. His health was improved by the mild climate and genial atmosphere of the sunny South, and he made arrangements for remaining there until it should be firmly reestablished. While indulging this determination, intelligence of the attack upon Sumter came to his retreat, and in a moment everything was changed. The pleasant associations he had formed were all broken; and in the countenances of those, who but the previous day were friends, he met the frown of anger, and the sinister glance of distrust. He was soon after told to leave, "nor stand upon the order of his going." It was with great difficulty that he finally, after a tedious journey, partly by land and partly by water, during which he was rudely interrupted and grossly insulted, reached his home in his own beloved Massachusetts. This he left, indulging the delusive hope characteristic of his disease that he would be able to discharge his duties to his country and his constituency on this floor. Too feeble during his residence here to take any active part in our proceedings, he yet gave to some of us the benefit of his counsel, and has left to us all for our imitation the light of his pure and noble exemple.

Mr. Speaker, our grief for the dead should sharpen our sympathies for the living. We should not forget that our deceased friend left behind him one who mourns his loss more than we can, and whose widowed heart is now full to overflowing. While we assure her of our heartfelt sympathy, we can only, as the sum of our consolation, in this, the deepest and darkest hour of her affliction, direct her to the widow's God and the orphan's protector. In our faith in Him, we may find comfort when all else fails. He will mellow our sorrows and dry our tears, as in the eye of a trusting faith we can behold, through the means He has vouchsafed to us, the prospect and enjoy the hope of a blissful reunion with the dear ones who have preceded us, in a world where sorrow and death can never come.

I have thus, Mr. Speaker, briefly sketched the career of our departed friend, and such of his char

acteristics as, upon a brief acquaintance, seemed to me just and proper. Truly we may adopt for him the epitaph chosen by the sensitive Keats, "Here lies one whose name was writ in water. And yet, Mr. Speaker, shall not the name of our friend be written upon more durable tablets? He was a good, a true, a devoted man, an ardent patriot, a kind husband, a faithful parent, the friend of his

race.

"His life was gentle; and the elements

So mixed in him, that nature might stand up And say to all the world, this was a man." Mr. TRAIN. Mr. Speaker, in the grand march of events in this Republic, the death of those we love, and with whom we are associated in the enactment of history, alone gives us time and opportunity to pause and reflect on the feeble tenure by which we keep our hold on life.

Mr. BAILEY had been for years my friend, and although the intelligence of his death has not come to us without premonition, I cannot forbear to mingle my private grief with these public manifestations. He was one whom to know was to love. He was one of those men whose qualifications, so rarely combined, had made him a most valuable member of a deliberative assembly. He was in his own convictions of what was his duty as a remarkable for his modesty of character. Firm public man, he moved among those from whom he differed in opinion in such a manner as to compel their respect and to win their personal regard. With a power of logic and an ability in the use of language, which made him, whenever he chose to exercise his gifts, a most able debater, he preferred the more quiet and to him more certain mode of obtaining consent to his opinions by the unobtrusive efforts of private intercourse. He had no ambition to appear to lead in the halls of legislation, but preferred the less ostentatious duties of the committee room, and by assiduous attention to them, he gave, as many others have done, the chief but least appreciated value to congressional

service.

As a member of the bar of Massachusetts, no man more fully enjoyed the confidence of the courts, their officers, and the suitors; and as a member of the Senate and House of Representatives of my State for several years, no man had more thoroughly secured the confidence and esteem of men of all parties with whom he was associated.

For several years his health had been such as to make life almost a burden; but such was the tenor of that life that, as each succeeding day brought him nearer to its close, he could aptly apply to himself these beautiful lines of the great Christian poet

"Here in the body pent,

Absent from Him I roam,
Yet nightly pitch my moving tent,
A day's march nearer home."

A devoted husband, a fond father, a sincere friend, he has gone, alas, too early, for the wife, the son, and loving friends, to Heaven.

The Spanish salutation, "may you die among your kindred," was happily realized by my colleague. He died at home. That home is now desolate, and I know that words of consolation to his bereaved widow and child are idle. I can only say to them, your kind husband and father, after a weary pilgrimage here, has at length wandered into life."

Mr. ELIOT. Mr. Speaker, upon the bier of our brother I would cast a single leaf. His wreath shall be entwined by those who were more fortunate than I, and knew, by intimacy closer than had been permitted to me, his strength of gentleness and the quiet firmness of a character lovable always, and loved most deeply by those who knew him best. It is not given to us to weep"above the pall,

And mourn the dying out of noble powers; The Christian's clearer eye should see in all

Earth's seeming woe the seed of Heaven's flowers."

And yet, why should we not mourn? The clear eye of faith beholds the love of the Father, and the bowed head submits with cheerfulness to the will of the All-Wise. The tear may follow faith and sanctify submission.

A gentle and pure spirit, a faithful man, a trusted friend, and tried counselor has been taken from We could not spare him. While the turbulent passions aroused by war, and the din of

us.

armed men and commotion, social and political,
are disturbing us in every fiber of Church and
family and State, the firm courage of that peace
which is "more strong than war" finds room and
sphere for action and influence. It is in times like
these that the calm and quiet strength of the true
man, courageous and self-reliant always, are
needed to direct and control the conduct of affairs.
Such men as Mr. BAILEY was, firm and unswerv-
ing in his own action, clear in his perceptions of
political right, brave to act, and regardful always
of the judgment and feelings of other men: such
men we cannot spare from among us now.
"Yet Thou hast called him; nor art Thou unkind,
O Love divine, for 'tis Thy will

That gracious natures leave their love behind
To work for freedom still."

In the home where he was known, among the friends who had watched his early aspirations and waited with earnest expectation for the rich fruits which the promise of his youth foretold, many voices will more fitly speak of him than we can do who tell not by knowledge but by the praise of those who trusted and who loved him.

It had not been my fortune to know Mr. BAILEY until I met him here. In his days of buoyant health he was a stranger to me. He had engaged ardently and with success in his profession. Its honors and rewards had followed him. In the Legislature of his Commonwealth he had ably and him; and in this wider field of labor he was comacceptably discharged the trusts committed to missioned to close his work. Before entering upon his duties in this House he had been compelled to seek health and strength under a warmer sun; but the unrelenting hand of disease retained its hold upon him; and when you, sir, administered to him the oath of office his spirit was standing near unto his God. It was then that I first knew

him; but I did not know by how frail tenure he

held office and honor and home and wife and child. him. On either side of him were those he loved When afterwards he was confined at home I saw most dearly. May the blessing of the Father rest upon them, the wife of his bosom and the child of his love. He said to me that his failing strength yearned for the familiar faces and the loved scenes admonished him that the change was near, and he

of home. In the heart of the Commonwealth he had lived, and there he died, his family and friends around him. They are bereaved; he has found rest.

"This laurel leaf I cast upon thy bier,

Let worthier hands than these thy wreath entwine; Upon thy hearse I shed no useless tear,

For us weep rather thou, in calm divine." The resolutions were agreed to; and thereupon (at twenty minutes to four o'clock, p. m.) the House adjourned.

IN SENATE.

FRIDAY, May 16, 1862. Prayer by Rev. Mr. McFALLS. The Journal of yesterday was read and approved.

PERSONAL EXPLANATION.

Mr. SHERMAN. I desire to make a statement in the character of a personal explanation. My attention is called to the remarks of Mr. HOLMAN, a member of the House of Representatives from Indiana, and reported in the Globe of yesterday. They were made in reference to payments made to members of a special committee of the House, of which Mr. HOLMAN is a member; and, as I understand, for mileage or traveling allowances, in the nature of additional compensation. Mr. HOLMAN says:

"My attention has been called to two committees to which have been assigned special duties by this House. I refer to the John Sherman committee and the committee on Government contracts. The former of the two, the Sherman committee, received eight dollars a day, while the latter one, to which the gentleman refers, barely received its traveling expenses while engaged in the service of the Government. The members of that committee were engaged in several parts of the country attending to the interests of the Government when the other members of this House were at their homes attending to their private affairs."

I do not know what committee is referred to by the phrase "John Sherman committee;" but presume it must be either the Kansas committee of the Thirty-Fourth Congress, or the naval investigating committee of the Thirty-Fifth Congress. Aslam the only member of either committee now a member of Congress, it is due to the gentlemen com