confidence in his integrity and justice. These
obstructions in the paths of public men, often fatal, did not affect
him. For thirty years he was the chosen Representative of one
constituency, in our country an unexampled event. In the House of
Representatives, famous for its sudden changes, he was for many
years "the father of the House," and no doubt, if his life had been
prolonged to the extreme period allotted to man, his seat in the
House would have been safe for him.

On the 8th of July a similar announcement was made of the death of
Samuel S. Cox, late a Representative of the city of New York. He
had been a Member of Congress from Ohio before the Civil War, and
shared in the exciting and dangerous scenes in Congress at that
time, and I felt it became my duty, as one of the few surviving
actors in those events, to pay a just tribute to the qualities of
head and heart that made him and kept him a leader among the public
men of our country for a period of more than thirty-three years,
longer than the average life of a generation. This duty was the
more imperative upon me as he was a native of Ohio, for forty years
a resident, and for eight years a Representative in Congress from
that state, honored and respected by all of whatever party or creed,
and beloved by his associates as but few in political life can hope
to be.

I could also speak of him from a longer personal acquaintance than
anyone in either House, for I had known him or his kindred from
almost the days of my boyhood. We were born in neighboring counties,
he one year later than I. My father and his were associated as
judge and clerk of the supreme court of Ohio. I knew of him as
early as 1853, as the editor of the "Ohio Statesman," a Democratic
paper published at Columbus, the organ of that party in Ohio, but
my personal acquaintance and association with him commenced with
his election, in 1856, as a Member of the House of Representatives.

While Mr. Cox was a successful leader in political life, and rendered
his party due fealty on purely political questions, he was not
always in harmony with the majority of his party. In his first
speech in Congress, which was the first one made in the new hall
of the House of Representatives, an opportunity carefully chosen
by him with the skill of an actor, he took ground against the
Lecompton constitution, strongly recommended by Mr. Buchanan's
administration. He supported several measures during the wa