The chairman of the committee, Mr. Ingersoll,
brother of the famous Robert G. Ingersoll, declared that
the words of Mr. Voorhees were unparliamentary, and ruled
that my language was "rather pungent but not unparliamentary."
Whereupon the committee arose amid great laughter, and the
transaction ended.

CHAPTER XV
THE NATIONAL HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES IN 1869

The House, when I entered it, contained many very able men.
Some of them remained long enough in public life to fill a
large and prominent place in the history of the country. Others
retired early. I will mention only a few.

I do not think his countrymen have estimated Nathaniel P.
Banks at his true value. When he left office at the ripe
age of seventy-five a public service ended surpassed in variety
and usefulness by that of few citizens of Massachusetts since
the days of John Adams. He bore a great part in a great history.
Men who saw him in his later life, a feeble, kindly old man,
with only the remains of his stately courtesy, had little
conception of the figure of manly strength and dignity which
he presented when he presided over the Constitutional Convention
in 1853, or took the oath of office as Governor in 1858. He
raised himself from a humble place, unaided, under the stimulant
of a native and eager desire for excellence. He was always
regarded by the working people of Massachusetts as the type
of what was best in themselves and as the example and representative
of the great opportunity which the Republic holds out to its
poorest citizens and their children. He was a natural gentleman,
always kindly and true. From this trait and not because of
a want of fidelity to his own convictions he found as warm
friends among his political opponents as among his political
associates.

Gen. Banks was Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations
in 1869. He was then beginning to lose somewhat his oratorical
power and the splendid qualities which made him so important
a force in the history of Massachusetts and of the country.
But still on fit occasions he showed all his old vigor and
brilliancy. When the delegation gave a dinner to William
B. Washburn on his election as Governor Banks presided. He
kept up a running stream of eloquence and wit as he introduced
the different speakers and punctuated their remarks with interjections
of his own, which I have never known equalled, though I have
attended many like occasions. Banks was a man of humbl