ides. Yet I have
no memory of him that is not tender and affectionate, and
there is nothing that I can honestly say of him except words
of respect and of honor.
"He was a typical Southerner. He had the virtues and the
foibles that belonged to that character in the generation
the last of whom are now passing from the stage of public
action. He was a man of very simple and very high qualities.
He was a man of absolute frankness in public behavior and
in private dealing. The thought that was in his heart corresponded
absolutely with the utterance of his lips. He had nothing
to conceal. I was about to say he was a man without the gift
of diplomacy; but he was a man with the gift of the highest
diplomacy--directness, simplicity, frankness, courage--qualities
which make always their way to their mark and to their goal
over all circumlocutions and ambiguities.
"He was a man of brief, clear and compact speech. He would
sum up in a few vigorous and ringing sentences the argument
to which other men would give hours or days. He had an instinct
for the hinge or turning point of a debate.
"He was a man of absolute integrity and steadfastness. What
he said, that he would do. Where you left him, there, so
long as he lived, you would find him when you came back.
He was a man of unflinching courage. He was not afraid of
any antagonist, whether in the hall of debate or on the field
of battle.
"He was an acknowledged master of parliamentary law, a system
upon which not only the convenient procedure of legislative
bodies largely depends, but which has close relations to Constitutional
Liberty itself. How often a few simple and clear sentences
of his have dispersed the clouds and brought order out of
confusion in this Chamber.
"His great legislative experience made him invaluable as
a servant of his own State, of the country and as a counsellor
to his younger associates.
"He was a pleasant man in private intercourse. He had great
sense of humor, a gift of portraiture, a good memory. So
he brought out of the treasure-house of his varied experience
abundant matter for the delight of young and old. There is
no man left in the Senate who was better company in hours
of recreation.
"His influence will be felt here for a long time. His striking
figure will still seem to be hovering about the Senate Chamber,
still sitting, still deliberating, still debating.
"Mr. President, it is delightful to think how, durin
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