Christianity; finally, as a man courageous, honest, true, whose character is marred by no taint and whose career reflects every virtue.

It can be justly said of him he was born not merely to fill up an empty space on the earth, but for a purpose; that his existence was not an idle vanity, but a real boon to mankind. We may conceive that in bidding adieu to the world our friend in ecstacy declared: 'Tis a blessing to live, but a greater to die; And the best of the world is its path to the sky.

It is fashionable in this world of ours when one passeth away to descant in this melancholy strain: "When his body perisheth, man is no more; he fades from memory, and it is as though he had not been." There is no warrant for this mournful philosophy in any law, physical or moral. In the economy of God what is good cannot die. Good actions are seeds deep sown, and, as Southey says:

Sometimes the shoot is choked with weeds or withers on a stone;
But in a kindly soil it strikes its root

And flourisheth, and bringeth forth abundant fruit.

It is no mean and vulgar condition to be born in the image of a God. ALPHEUS S. WILLIAMS so upheld himself as not to shame that image. Therefore

He lives in glory, and his speaking dust

Has more of life than half its breathing moulds.

ADDRESS OF MR. SLEMONS, OF ARKANSAS.

Mr. SPEAKER: If the name and fame of ALPHEUS S. WILLIAMS were not the common heritage of the American people, I should on this occasion content myself simply by uncovering my head and remaining silent as the mournful cortege passes. Were those who loved him most, and who now vent their woes in secret, present to

speak, I would not come between them and the dead hero. Sir, in one short month the darkest shadow of widowhood and the deepest wail of orphanage which ever entered this Hall has been seen and heard by all of us. In that brief space of time the startling announcement "he is dead," like the fire-bell by night, has broken upon this House four times, awakening and calling us again to witness the cumulative evidence that every beating pulse is an additional note in the funeral march to the great hereafter, about which we believe so much and know so little, and that none may escape the remorseless enemy of all life; the king on his throne, the peasant in his hovel, are alike doomed.

And that nightly we pitch our moving tent

A day's march nearer home.

Sir, I keenly distrust my ability to express in fitting terms, with the barren language at my control, my high appreciation of the heroic life of ALPHEUS S. WILLIAMS. Whether at the head of his conquering columns, cheered on by the rallying cry of his comrades, or side by side with his counciling brothers in this Hall, his every act was characterized by a devotion to the right. He was as retiring in council as he was conspicuous in war, at all times retaining a strong hold upon the loftier affections of the citizen and the soldier. When fratricidal war had ended, his hand no longer grasped the blade, but seized the flag of his country beneath and around which the conquering and the conquered could rally and forget the terrible past.

In him was beautifully blended the sublime courage of the soldier and the exalted patriotism of the statesman. In him the partisan was lost in the patriot; the hand that struck the conquering blow reached forth to rescue the vanquished from the despoiler.

And now, while all that is mortal of ALPHEUS S. WILLIAMS rests in a lonely grave, drowned by the storms of winter, he is present and lives in every heart in which the sound of a generous footfall finds

a generous welcome. He bivouacs on that eternal camping-ground, awaiting the verdict of stern but impartial history.

It is not, sir, for me to enter the charmed circle of the domestic hearth-stone to inquire whether he contributed to the luster of those gentle and lofty virtues which cluster there; this I leave to the faithful biographer who may by courtesy inquire of the stricken ones of the domestic life of the husband and father.

Although the chain that bound him to us has been broken, still its dissevered links lie in sparkling ruin about us. The unlettered peasant may rush to battle with a death-menacing impetuosity, his faithful cheek unblanched, while the treacherous statesman may falter when confronted with a solemn public duty. The head that is turned by the laurels of the soldier will bow at the shrine of power. The civic chieftain who retires amid the plaudits of a grateful people wins a triumph much loftier than the battle-scarred veteran of a hundred fields returning amid the greetings of a maddened populace. This highest ambition our friend had achieved; this assured he "laid him down to die," and while frail dust that furnished him a dwellingplace for so long now rests secure from the bolts of war, I trust his good name is ransomed from the breath of calumny.

A hero in the cause of truth

And elemental strife,

His armor buckled on in youth

He laid aside with life.

Thus has fallen another of the gallant spirits who carried the flag of our country to the gates of Mexico, and laid at the feet of an ungrateful nation the glittering empire on the Pacific slopes. And, though he is dead, his appeals for justice to his intrepid companions of 1846 will linger near until the hisses of scorn with which his comrades are met shall be silenced, and long-delayed justice be meted. out to them.

At a time like this the country could illy spare one like him. He had the courage to rebuke tyranny in the ruler and licentiousness in

the people, and for which he was ostracised politically by the people for whom he had given and received so many blows.

He is dead.

Can it be the manly voice,

Whose tones so oft have stirred

And bid the patriot's heart rejoice,

Shall never more be heard?

The SPEAKER. The question, then, is upon the adoption of the resolutions offered by the gentleman from Michigan [Mr. HUBBELL].

The question being taken, the resolutions were unanimously agreed to; and then, in accordance with the last resolution, the House (at ten o'clock and thirty-five minutes p. m.) adjourned.

PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE.

FEBRUARY 21, 1879.

A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. GEORGE M. ADAMS, its Clerk, communicated to the Senate the intelligence of the death of Mr. ALPHEUS S. WILLIAMS, late a member of the House from the State of Michigan, and transmitted the resolutions of the House thereon.

Mr. FERRY. I move that the business of the Senate be suspended that the resolutions of the House of Representatives announcing the death of Mr. WILLIAMS, a Representative in that body from the State of Michigan, be read in order that fitting tribute be paid to the public virtues and private worth of the deceased.

Mr. WITHERS. I withdraw the motion for an executive session.
Mr. EDMUNDS. I yield to its being withdrawn.

Mr. FERRY. I ask that the resolutions of the House be read.
The Secretary read as follows:

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

February 20, 1879.

Resolved, That this House has heard with deep regret of the death of Hon. ALPHEUS S. WILLIAMS, a member of this House from the State of Michigan.

Resolved, That as a testimony of respect 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 these resolutions be 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 proceedings to the Senate, and that as a further mark of respect to the memory of the deceased this House do now adjourn.

Mr. FERRY. Mr. President, in view of the resolutions just read, I

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