In current, playful conversation
with friends he quoted right and left, in brief and at length, from the
classics, ancient and modern, and from the drama, tragic and comic. In
his speeches, on the contrary, he quoted but little, and only when he
seemed to run upon a thought already expressed by some one else with
singular force and appositeness. He was the best scholar I ever met for
his years and active life, and was surpassed by very few, excepting mere
book-worms. He has for many years been engaged in collecting extracts
from newspapers, containing the leading facts and public documents of
the day; but he never commonplaced from books. His thesaurus was his
head.

I have but little personal knowledge of Mr. DAVIS as a lawyer. It was
never my good fortune to be associated with him in the trial of a cause;
nor have I ever been present when he was so engaged. But at the time of
his death he filled a high position at the bar, and was chosen to lead
against the most distinguished of his brethren. On public and
constitutional questions, as distinguished from those involving only
private rights, he was a host, and in the argument of the cases which
grew out of the adoption of the new constitution of Maryland he won
golden laurels, and drew extraordinary encomiums even from his opponents
in that angry litigation. He was thoroughly read in the decisions of the
federal courts, and especially in those declaring and defining
constitutional principles.

Possessed of a mind of remarkable power, scope, and activity; with an
immense fund of precious information, ready to respond to any call he
might make upon it, however sudden; wielding a system of logic formed in
the severest school, and tried by long practice; gifted with a rare
command of language and an eloquence well nigh superhuman; and withal
graced with manners the most accomplished and refined, and a person
unusually handsome, graceful, and attractive. Mr. DAVIS entered public
life with almost unparalleled personal advantages. Having boldly
presented himself before the most rigorous tribunal in the world, he
proved himself worthy of its favor and attention. He soon rose to the
front rank of debaters, and whenever he addressed the House all sides
gave him a delighted audience.

I shall not attempt a review of the topics discussed in the
thirty-fourth and thirty-fifth Congresses. The day was fast coming when
contests for the Speakership and battles over appropriation bill