Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1893-02-08
Tho Barbour EuIocies.

The Barbour EuloSies.
The following is the full text of tht
eulogy upon the late Senator John S
Barbour by Senator Daniel in the I. 5
Senate last Friday:
Mr.. President, my late colleague. the
Hon. John Strode Barbour, to whom Wt
now pay our parting tribute, filled ex'
allied stations in the public service o.
his State and country with commensur'
ate ability, and closed here amidst his
senatorial labors The rounded period ol
a well-spcnt life. Gas are our days, SC
NAV our strength be-" is the prayer OF
him who would fill earthly existence
with unfailug measure of good works
70 him this prayer was answered.
Although the hoary locks of three
store wears and ten crowned his brow,
decay had not married his powers nor
the burden Of age bent his form. While
will, energy, and faculty responded to
every call OF duty and the heart still
found satisfaction in the tasks Of to-day
and the hopes Of tomorrow, the last
message that comes TO the living from
our Lord aud Master came unto him,
and he closed his eyes in peace: We
shall miss the good cheer of his friend
ship, the help Of his counsel, and the
fruit of his toll. We shall mourn alike
the public loss of their valued servant
and the personal bereavement that af-
hicts the hearts Of many friends. But
for him, shall we not rejoice that his
mortal pang was brief and that his
length of days was flied to the utter
most with the worthy deeds of Il use
ful, an honorable, and a distinguished
life?
John Strobe Barbour was born in
Culpepcr county, Va, on December the
29th, iS20, ard died suddenly at his
residence in this city about 5 o'clock in
the morning of Saturday, May the l4th,
1892, in the I'D year Of his age. The
day before he occupied his seat in the
Senate, and had been busy with his ac-
customed tasks the evening he had
spent in dispatching his correspondence
and in social converse with few of
his friends and neighbors who had call
ed upon him. When he retired to rest
it was with the prospect that years of
continued usefulness stretched before
him, and those who said "Good night"
to him had little notion the last farewell
was spoken. About daylight he awoke
with pain. and physician was sent for,
but before remedial agencies could be
effective, heart failure had done the
work of death, and as the city awoke
to its labors his spirit passed to its eter-
nal rest.
At the time of this sad occurrence /
was detained at my home in Virginia
by sickness aud was denied the privi-
legc of sharing with the Senate in the
funeral honors paid to our dead friend (;
but had the opportunity of hearing
amongst his constituents the general ex-
pressions of grief which were elected
by his death and of realizing how great
" he was esteemed and how deeply he
was deplorcd. From all sections of the
State and by all classes of the people
were manifested tokens of sorrow, ap-
probation, and regard from those
who had been with him and under him
in the railroad service, those who had
shared his political labors, and from
that wide circle Of neighbors and friends
who were his associates in the diversi-
fed walks of life.
The State felt throughout its borders
that it had lost q citizen whose life
had been worthily devoted to the SER
vice of his people, and whose loss it
would be difficult to supply. In terms
of singular eloqucnce and power, his
friend, the Hon. John +. Kenna, of
West Virginia (now, alas no more),
announced his death in the Senate on
the day of its occurrence, and here in
the Senate Chamber his funeral rites
were conducted. Hence his remains
were borne, attended by the Congress
slonal committee appointed for the pur-
pose and by u concourse of friends to
the family seat of his deceased wife in
Prince Georges county, Md, and there
by the side of his beloved companion
who made life's journey with him and
who had few years preceded him in
death, Earth to earth, dust to DUST y
was spoken over him.
The life of John 5. Barbour was not
one whose great success was attained
by sudden sallies of energy or by bril-
liant strokes Of genius. 1t was more
than this-a life sustained by q stable.
steadfast, and lofty purpose aud by that
: regular, persistent, and continuous eff.
fort which alone can build that which
endures. He was descended from q
family which has furnished many
names distinguished in public annals
One of his ancestors. named James Bar
bour, represented Culpeper in the
House of Burgesses in colonial days.
His father, whose name he bore and
whose Oldest son he was, wIs promi.
nent lawyer of his county and mem,
Der of the Virginia convention that
framed its constitution in 1929 and so
and later a Representative in Congress
His kinsman, Philip Pendleton Bar.
Der, was Speaker of the House of Rep
( resentatives and an Associate Justice
of the Supreme Court of the United
States. Another kinsman, James Bar.
bour, was governor of Virginia during
the war OF 1872, and served as Senator
Of the United States, Secretary of War
ana minister to Great Britain. Other.
, OF the same family have made note
worthy names in legal, literary, politi
: cal and business circles.
John ). Barbour early in life deyel
oped the ambitious tendencies ant
: large capacities of the family to which
he belonged. After being we'll prepar